'We hate the United States'

For some folks in Texas, the prospect of a universal health care scheme isn't just cause for protest and debate -- it's reason enough to secede from the United States altogether.

Some 200 people rallied at the State Capitol in Austin on Saturday, a small but vocal crowd that set itself in opposition to pro-health care reform protesters.

Larry Kilgore, a Christian activist that the Texas Observer says has advocated execution for homosexuals, "drew some murmurs of disapproval" when he told the crowd: “I hate that flag up there. ... I hate the United States government. … They’re an evil, corrupt government. They need to go. Sovereignty is not good enough. Secession is what we need!”

“We hate the United States!” he declared later in his address.

Although the Texas independence movement is nothing new, observers say it has been given new life by the debate over health care, which some secessionists see as an attack on the US Constitution, and therefore grounds for abandoning the Union.

But many observers place responsibility for the movement's growth in prominence on Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who in April suggested that the Obama administration's policies may drive Texas to leave the United States. More

Was Bubonic Plague Knight's Templar Revenge?

The Knights Templar were a military and religious order that also accumulated great wealth through their banking and lending practices. They were disbanded and brought under the Inquisition in 1307. They transferred their massive gold and silver holdings to Switzerland and turned their fleet of vessels into Pirates that plundered the vessels of Catholic Europe.

The Order was organized after Plato's Republic with the "Philosopher Kings" at its head; the second level was the Knights military leadership and the third was its Merchant and Banking Leadership. The Order was reformed as free-masonry and the top three degrees are reserved for the same three levels of leadership. These top three levels became known as the Rosicrucians at first, and now form our present Illuminati leadership. They worship the god Lucifer and his mythical nemesis Satan.

Their motto is and has always been "Order out of Chaos". More

Coalition strategy in Afghanistan failing, admits US

General Stanley McChrystal, the top American commander in Afghanistan, fears that the Western fight against the Taliban is failing.

In a long-awaited review of strategy, General Stanley McChrystal compares the campaign to a bull's futile charges against a matador - with the bull getting weaker with each small "cut" that is inflicted.

His graphic analogy forms the centrepiece of a wholesale review of the way the eight-year-long war in Afghanistan has been prosecuted, which will be delivered to US Central Command on Monday. More

Anti-war groups turn against Barack Obama after Afghanistan surge
Anti-war protesters are planning an autumn campaign against President Barack Obama's extension of operations in Afghanistan to coincide with the eighth anniversary of the first bombing of the Taliban.

Cindy Sheehan: America needs to wake up
In an exclusive interview with RT's Anastasia Churkina, anti-war protester Cindy Sheehan talks about the need of accountability, an end to Iraq and Afghanistan, and the American psyche ignoring the truth.

AU holds Israel responsible for Africa woes

The president of the African Union (AU) holds Israel responsible for all the woes facing Africa, calling on member-states to cut diplomatic ties with Tel Aviv.

Israel is "behind all of Africa's conflicts," Muammar Gaddafi said on Monday and demanded the closure of all Israeli embassies across Africa.

The Libyan leader, who holds the rotating AU presidency described Israel as a "gang" which uses the "protection of minorities as an excuse to launch conflicts."

Gaddafi made the remarks at a meeting of 30 African leaders, who had convened in Tripoli for a one-day summit on the continent's trouble spots, including Sudan's Darfur and Somalia.

Israel has acknowledged operating what it called a forward policy in Africa between the 1960s and 1980s, intervening in wars from Ethiopia to Uganda and Sudan, he stressed.

"As African brothers, we must find solutions to stop the superpowers who are pillaging our continent," the president of the AU added.

The one-day meeting ended without any agreement on concrete steps. The leaders merely adopted a 'Tripoli Declaration' and a plan of action 'to find urgent solutions to crises and conflicts' in Africa.

That plan urges member-states who have pledged to contribute troops to reinforce the AU peacekeeping force in Somalia (AMISOM) to honor their promises "rapidly". PressTV

US accuses Pakistan of illegally modifying weapons for use against India

US officials have accused Pakistan's armed forces of illegally modifying American-supplied weapons for use against India.

The allegation that Harpoon anti-ship missiles sold to Pakistan under the Reagan administration as a defensive weapon were modified to strike targets on land caused uproar in New Delhi.

But they were denied by Pakistan, where the accusations were seen as a naked attempt by Washington to put pressure on Islamabad over its co-operation in anti-terror efforts against the Talban and al-Qaeda.

The charge was made at an awkward time for Islamabad as legislation that would provide Pakistan with $7.5 billion (£5 billion) in non-military US aid is currently stuck in the US Congress, which has longstanding concerns about Pakistan's development of nuclear and conventional military capability. Washington believes that Pakistan is still not doing enough to combat Taliban extremists on its soil, remaining fixated on the Indian threat instead. More

The U.S. Invades and Occupies Pakistan

Russia and Poland trade insults on 70th anniversary of World War Two

The dignity of ceremonies to mark the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of the Second World War in Poland is being marred by furious spats between Russia and Eastern European states over their respective wartime roles.

As world leaders gather in the Polish city of Gdansk today to commemorate the first shots of the conflict, Poles are fuming over what they perceive as an insulting Russian propaganda campaign targeting their nation.

In the days leading up to anniversary, Russian media has aired a string of accusations against Poland, claiming that Warsaw intended to collaborate with Hitler in an invasion of the Soviet Union, and that Jozef Beck, Poland's foreign minister in 1939, was a German agent. Moscow broadcasters have also claimed that there was a "German hand" in the 1940 Katyn massacre of thousands of Polish PoWs, an atrocity generally held to have been the exclusive work of Stalin's secret police. More

The bomb in our back yard

“On Sunday, the 15th of July, about noon, we were at Hunters Point and they put on us what we now know was the atomic bomb.” – Capt. Charles B. McVay III, U.S. Navy commanding officer, USS Indianapolis (from the Operational Archives Branch, Naval Historical Center)

Heavy is the head that wears the crown! On Aug. 2, 1945, U.S. President Harry S Truman, acting on the advice of military and civilian advisors, gave the order to drop the atomic bomb on a Japanese target. On Aug. 6, the first bomb fell on Hiroshima; on Aug. 9, the second was dropped on Nagasaki in Western Japan. On Aug. 14, 1945, Japanese Emperor Hirohito agreed to an unconditional surrender, thus bringing to an end the final tragic combat theatre of World War II.

On Aug. 6, 2009, in commemoration of the 64th anniversary of the world’s first atomic bomb attack, the mayor of Hiroshima, Tadatoshi Akiba, urged global leaders to back President Barack Obama’s call to abolish nuclear weapons.

The United States is the only nation that has deployed atomic bombs in combat. So much as we cower from the prospect of a nuclear Iran or North Korea, American leadership changed the history of mankind forever with the ultimatum – drafted by Truman, Winston Churchill and the joint chiefs of staff – sent to Japan on July 26, 1945, demanding it “surrender in safety or face utter destruction.” More

CIA/Blackwater(Xe) - Operatives Post as Journalists

Settlement cat out of the bag

The Jewish House Party chairman, Daniel Herschkowitz, made official what everyone knows: many “illegal” outposts are built with full government support and approval in order to grab strategic hilltops from the Palestinians. Through municipalities, the government pays for roads and power lines to the outposts.

Scores of ministers and MKs protested Netanyahu’s acceptance of Obama’a settlment freeze. Bibi’s move is not that wrong: during the nine-month moratorium, settlers will complete 2,500 housing units without hindrance, and be ready to start new construction.

The freeze is not a done deal: Obama and the Palestinians need an official stop to East Jerusalem construction, which Netanyahu cannot offer. Abbas has hardened his position because he cannot sign peace, anyway, as there is Hamas. Arab countries have taken hardline positions because they want Obama to concentrate on Iran and dump the peace process for now. http://samsonblinded.org/news/settlement-cat-out-of-the-bag-13260

Olmert becomes first premier to face trial

For the first time in the history of the State of Israel, a person who served as prime minister will sit on the defendant's bench. The State Prosecution filed charges Sunday against former prime minister Ehud Olmert, attributing to him a litany of violations that include accepting bribes, fraud, breach of trust, falsifying documents and income tax evasion.

The indictment focuses on three investigations against Olmert for which he was questioned by police: the Talansky Affair, Rishon Tours, and the Investment Center. The charges also refer to false declarations made to the State Comptroller regarding funds he received from a U.S. citizen and an assessment of the value of his pen collection.

Olmert's former bureau chief, Shula Zaken, was also indicted with similar charges. She is also accused of wire tapping Olmert's conversations with politicians and ministers, without his knowledge. More

Cheney: Possible Investigation By Obama "Outrageous Political Act"

Dick Cheney says that the Obama administration possibly pursuing an investigation of lawyers from the Bush administration regarding torture "an outrageous precedent to set," calling it an "intensely partisan politicized look back" at the prior administration.

"I think it's an outrageous political act that will do great damage long-term."

He added that the fact that the Obama administration is even thinking about such an investigation after their "track record of defending the nation" for eight years "offends the hell out of me."

He goes on to say that "advanced interrogation techniques" such as waterboarding were "absolutely essential."

Cheney advocated attack on Iran, but Bush wanted diplomacy

Torture indictment for George Bush: a draft

ISRAELI OCCUPATION SOLDIER SHOOTS BLINDFOLDED, HANDCUFFED PALESTINIAN BOY

Via What really Happened

Webmaster's Commentary:

This video was sent to me without explanation. When I posted it to YouTube it was deleted for "terms of use violation" even before it finished conversion. This video appears to show an Israeli soldier shooting a bound and blindfolded Palestinian.

Anyone have any further info on this video or why YouTube would be in such a hurry to kill it?

DOWNLOAD QUICKTIME OF THIS MOVIE

DOWNLOAD WINDOWS MEDIA FILE OF THIS MOVIE

UPDATE: The video has been identified, and yes it is an authentic video and does indeed show an Israeli soldier shooting a bound and blindfolded Palestinian. The incident, which took place last year, prompted outrage around the world.

Side note, what Israel means when they say "Rubber bullet" is not the over-sized soft crowd dispersal devices used in other countries but a steel bullet with a rubber coating. At close range it is capable of inflicting serious injury.

This brings us back to YouTube. The video is confirmed authentic. The human rights group which video taped it intended it for public distribution. There is no copyright violations issue, yet YouTube deleted this video from my channel for "terms of use violation."

Why?

Spread it around!

Noam Chomsky in Venezuela: 'A better world is being created'

U.S. author, dissident intellectual, and Professor of Linguistics at the Massachussetts Institute of Technology Noam Chomsky met for the first time with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in Caracas and analyzed hemispheric politics during a nationally televised forum on Monday.

Chomsky is well known in Venezuela for his critiques of U.S. imperialism and support for the progressive political changes underway in Venezuela and other Latin American countries in recent years. President Chavez regularly references Chomsky in speeches and makes widely publicized recommendations of Chomsky's 2003 book, Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance.

"Hegemony or survival; we opt for survival," said Chavez in a press conference to welcome Chomsky. He compared Chomsky's thesis to that of German socialist Rosa Luxemburg in the early 1900s, "Socialism or Barbarism," and referred to Chomsky as "one of the greatest defenders of peace, one of the greatest pioneers of a better world." More

USSA MAKES 50 BILLION A YEAR FROM AFGHANISTAN DRUG TRAFFICKING

Jesus of Siberia

The Russian ex-traffic policeman who claims he is the son of God

The beard and long hair are both present and correct. And with his flowing linen robes and beatific smile he certainly does a fine impression of a holy man.

But to his believers in this remote corner of Siberia, Sergei Torop, a former traffic policeman, is the literal reincarnation of none other than Jesus Christ.

Torop, 48, is the spiritual leader of at least 5,000 devoted followers, among them intellectuals, artists and professionals who flock to worship him in the small isolated village of Petropavlovka - more than 2000 miles from Moscow.

Torop was ‘reborn’ as ‘Vissarion’ in 1991 just as Russia was facing a crisis of confidence following the collapse of the iron curtain.

He is just the latest example of Russia’s predilection for 'personality cults' - a national obsession that leads back all the way to the days of Rasputin.

Both Lenin and Stalin tapped into the Russian people’s eagerness to embrace powerful figures and actively fostered the almost religious fervour with which they were worshipped.

After time spent in the Army, Torop had been working as a traffic policeman on the night shift in the small Siberia town of Minusinsk until he was made unemployed. More

India loses contact with moon satellite

INDIA'S national space agency said communications with the country's only satellite orbiting the moon were lost yesterday and that its scientists were no longer controlling the spacecraft.

Radio contacts with Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft were lost abruptly at 9pm on Friday, the Indian Space Research Organisation said. The agency's monitoring unit near the southern city of Bangalore is no longer receiving data from the spacecraft, said spokesman S Satish.

The spacecraft had completed 312 days in orbit and orbited the moon more than 3,400 times.

"We are studying the telemetry data and trying to figure out what is the problem," said Satish. The space agency had received a large volume of data from the spacecraft – which is slotted in an automatic orbit of the moon – and most of the scientific objectives of the mission had been met, he said.

Space Junk: The full list

USSA: 3758
USSR: 3941
EU : 259
Palestine: 0

Netanyahu 'doesn't care what Britain thinks of Israel'

The editor of The Jewish Chronicle has accused Israel's Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, of not caring about British public opinion after he refused to give any interviews during his visit to London last week.

In a comment piece in the newspaper, Stephen Pollard – though essentially supportive of Mr Netanyahu – concludes of his office:

"The truth of it is that for all they moan about coverage of the Middle East, they don't actually care. They don't care if Brits end up thinking they are warmongers. They don't care if they are losing the PR war. And they don't care if those of us who do care are left fuming at their wilful refusal to do anything to help us counter Israel's appalling image." More

US must make the Israelis see sense (When Pigs start to fly)

Secret Lockerbie letters reveal Libyan oil deal

The British government decided it was “in the overwhelming interests of the United Kingdom” to make Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, the Lockerbie bomber, eligible for return to Libya, leaked ministerial letters reveal.

Gordon Brown’s government made the decision after discussions between Libya and BP over a multi-million-pound oil exploration deal had hit difficulties. These were resolved soon afterwards.

The letters were sent two years ago by Jack Straw, the justice secretary, to Kenny MacAskill, his counterpart in Scotland, who has been widely criticised for taking the formal decision to permit Megrahi’s release.

The correspondence makes it plain that the key decision to include Megrahi in a deal with Libya to allow prisoners to return home was, in fact, taken in London for British national interests. More

Flashback 1 week
Gordon Brown today broke his silence on the release of the Lockerbie bomber, saying that the UK government had done no deal with Libya and that he was "angry and repulsed" at the scenes of jubilation in Tripoli.

Megrahi stood in way of oil deal

Time to shine light on a murky deal

Your life is not your own

Always remember there is a way. Every barricade in life has a way around it; whether it's over, under, around, or flat out busting through, it is able to be done. Remember You can really always walk away. No one is holding a gun to Your head, and making You pay the debt. I cannot stress this enough. The banks, and Corporate Elite caused this mess, and got their TARP bailout(s). They got that, and still charge us? If You want to remain a debt slave, then that is Your choice, but should You decide to walk away, then all the Power to You. There are many of Your fellow Americans doing it daily. Our country has been hyjacked by evil People, with an evil agenda.

Original Inhabitants ask UN for refugee status

A group of Australian Aborigines has asked the United Nations to register them as refugees, claiming emergency laws brought in to curb alcoholism and sexual abuse have made them outcasts in their own land.

Richard Downs, a spokesperson for the Alywawarra nation which represents around 4000 indigenous people in central Australia, said the request had been given to James Anaya, a UN official visiting Australia on a fact finding mission.

The request urged the UN to register the Alywawarra under the international refugee convention as internally displaced persons.

Mr Downs said his people had been left with no choice because the 2007 Federal Intervention into indigenous communities in the Northern Territories had taken away their rights.

"We've got no say at all. We feel like an outcast in our community, refugees in our own country," Mr Downs told ABC radio. More

Mystery ship suspects charged with piracy and kidnapping

Russia had tracked ship all along, amid tales of a secret cargo of arms or drugs

Russia charged eight men with piracy and kidnapping yesterday over the hijacking of the Arctic Sea, the ship with a 15-man Russian crew that disappeared en route to Algeria several weeks ago.

The 7,000-tonne freighter, carrying timber worth £800,000 from Finland, was apprehended off Africa on 17 August. But in the days since she was "found" by the Russian anti-submarine ship Ladny, mystery surrounding the story has only increased, with each statement by Russian officials muddying the waters further.

Seven of the men are charged with piracy and kidnap, and the eighth is charged with organising the crime that started in the Baltic, two days after the vessel set sail. They are said to be two Russians, one Latvian, one Estonian and four stateless persons (israelis?).

Secret cargo?

Israel assembles Iron Dome unit

Israel's drive to deploy the Iron Dome anti-missile shield against short-range rockets fired by Hezbollah and Hamas has moved up a gear with the induction of the first battalion to man the batteries that will operate on the borders with Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.

Iron Dome intercepted three 122mm Grad rockets, the type used by Hezbollah and the Palestinians, in southern Israel July 15-16.

The system came into being in response to constant rocket attacks by Hezbollah on Israel's northern front and Hamas on the southern desert frontier over the last decade.

Both fronts have been relatively calm for some time, although the threat remains palpable.

Hezbollah has not fired any rockets since the end of the 34-day war with Israel in August 2006.

But Israeli President Shimon Peres claimed Sunday that the Iranian-backed militants have now amassed 80,000 rockets of various calibers, some with ranges of up to 160 miles and reportedly able to reach Tel Aviv, since that conflict ended.

During the 2006 war, Hezbollah unleashed some 4,000 Iranian and Syrian rockets into Israel in the most sustained bombardment of the Jewish state since it was founded in 1948. More

Underage Afghan detainee in Guantanamo to sue U.S.

One of the youngest detainees ever incarcerated at Guantanamo Bay will sue the United States for compensation for his seven years behind bars without charge, his lawyer said Thursday.

'I was 12 when I was arrested and sent to Guantanamo'
Guantánamo inmate to sue over 'lost teen years'

Mohammed Jawad, a minor when detained by US forces in Afghanistan, was put on a US military plane and returned home this week after a US federal judge gave the government until August 24 to release him.

"The way forward right now is to avail the Afghanistan government and the US government of funding to help train him and get him back to normalcy," lawyer Major Eric Montalvo told a news conference in Kabul.

"If you've deprived somebody of their liberty for seven years, nobody's going to be happy about that. So to now then not give him any compensation -- any way to help him back to civilisation -- this is unacceptable. More

Arabs paying the price of the Holocaust

"The lesson that Israel must learn from the Holocaust is that it can never get security through fences, walls and guns," Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu of South Africa told Haaretz Thursday.

Commenting on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's statement in Germany Thursday that the lesson of the Holocaust is that Israel should always defend itself, Tutu noted that "in South Africa, they tried to get security from the barrel of a gun. They never got it. They got security when the human rights of all were recognized and respected."

The Nobel Prize laureate spoke to Haaretz in Jerusalem as the organization The Elders concluded its tour of Israel and the West Bank. He said the West was consumed with guilt and regret toward Israel because of the Holocaust, "as it should be."

"But who pays the penance? More

Nazi Kibbutz blueprints given to Israel

Terrorists found in Afghanistan

As the US continues to step up war efforts in Afghanistan, the number of US soldiers refusing deployment to war zones is also increasing. On the ground, they find themselves being terrorists, says writer Dahr Jamail.

“More troops are realizing that, given that they join the military swearing to defend and support the constitution of the US, the part of the oath says they have to follow lawful orders. So by definition, the invasion and occupation of Afghanistan, since it happened without UN Security Council ratification, in fact this is not self-defense. It wasn’t the nation of Afghanistan that attacked the US. So a soldier who follows a direct order to deploy to Iraq or Afghanistan is actually violating his own uniform code in military justice that says to follow lawful orders,” More

World's Stocks Controlled by Select Few

A recent analysis of the 2007 financial markets of 48 countries has revealed that the world's finances are in the hands of just a few mutual funds, banks, and corporations. This is the first clear picture of the global concentration of financial power, and point out the worldwide financial system's vulnerability as it stood on the brink of the current economic crisis.

A pair of physicists at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich did a physics-based analysis of the world economy as it looked in early 2007. Stefano Battiston and James Glattfelder extracted the information from the tangled yarn that links 24,877 stocks and 106,141 shareholding entities in 48 countries, revealing what they called the "backbone" of each country's financial market. These backbones represented the owners of 80 percent of a country's market capital, yet consisted of remarkably few shareholders.

"You start off with these huge national networks that are really big, quite dense," Glattfelder said. “From that you're able to ... unveil the important structure in this original big network. You then realize most of the network isn't at all important." More

The History of the “Money Changers”

“Thanks to the power of our International Banks we have forced Christians into countless wars. Our banks grow fat on Christian wars. Millions of Christians have been swept off the face of the earth by wars - and the end is not yet.”

Financial Parasites Have Killed the American Economy

Michael Hudson is a highly-regarded economist. He is a Distinguished Research Professor at the University of Missouri, Kansas City, who has advised the U.S., Canadian, Mexican and Latvian governments as well as the United Nations Institute for Training and Research. He is a former Wall Street economist at Chase Manhattan Bank who also helped establish the world’s first sovereign debt fund.


Hudson has frequently described Wall Street as "parasitic". For example, in a 2003 interview, Hudson said:

The problem with parasites is not merely that they siphon off the food and nourishment of their host, crippling its reproductive power, but that they take over the host's brain as well. The parasite tricks the host into thinking that it is feeding itself.

Something like this is happening today as the financial sector is devouring the industrial sector. Finance capital pretends that its growth is that of industrial capital formation. That is why the financial bubble is called "wealth creation," as if it were what progressive economic reformers envisioned a century ago. They condemned rent and monopoly profit, but never dreamed that the financiers would end up devouring landlord and industrialist alike. Emperors of Finance have trumped Barons of Property and Captains of Industry.

More recently, Hudson said: More

SECRETS OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE

Fed urges secrecy on banks in bailout programs

Video that reveals truth of Sri Lankan 'war crimes'

Last night the Sri Lankan army dismissed the footage as the latest in a series of fabrications designed to damage the country's image. But campaigners and Tamil politicians said it was vital that a full inquiry be carried out into the alleged killings. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has voiced his support for an investigation into possible war crimes if convincing evidence emerged. More

AFGHANISTAN: Seven years after CIA abduction, prisoner still held without charge

Seven years after being abducted from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, by the CIA and shipped to the U.S. air base in Bagram, Afghanistan, Haji Pacha Wazir was hoping he would finally be free.

The Afghan government had cleared him for release, and a recent court ruling allowed him to petition his case in a U.S. federal court.

But Wazir's petition was dismissed based on "lack of jurisdiction," despite the fact that Wazir, an Afghan national, has been in the sole custody of the U.S. government since his arrest, according to the nonprofit organization representing him.

Now, the International Justice Network, which also represents a number of other detainees, has announced that it will appeal Wazir's case.

"Unlike our Yemeni and Tunisian clients whose cases were not dismissed, Mr. Wazir is being denied fundamental legal and human rights based on his Afghan citizenship," the group's executive director, Tina Monshipour Foster, said in a statement released Thursday. "We will ask the Court of Appeals to remedy the obvious injustice of denying Afghan nationals the same rights afforded other foreign nationals at Bagram." More

The Secret Government

It is now clear that we are facing an implacable enemy whose avowed objective is world domination by whatever means and at whatever cost. There are no rules in such a game. Hitherto acceptable norms of human conduct do not apply. If the United States is to survive, long-standing American concepts of "fair play" must be reconsidered.

Though these words echo his famous endorsement of working "the dark side" in order to triumph in the "war on terror," they were not, in fact, written by Dick Cheney. They come from the Doolittle Report, which was commissioned by President Eisenhower in 1954 to craft an intelligence strategy for winning the cold war. From a strategic perspective, the threat posed by global communism, headquartered in a massive, nuclear-armed superpower with almost 6 million men under arms, and Al Qaeda, a networked, globally distributed group of thousands of nonstate actors, could not be more different. But the national security state's understanding of each as an existential threat was, and continues to be, nearly identical. The enemy is ingenious, relentless and unencumbered by the procedural and moral niceties that hamstring the bureaucrats of a liberal democracy. Victory--indeed, survival--requires us to become more like them. Morehttp://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=4054548226624404635&postID=3163137989761869680

Growing Poverty and Despair in America

In 1962, Michael Harrington's "The Other America" exposed the nation's dark underside enough for John Kennedy to ask his Council of Economic Advisor chairman, Walter Heller, to look into the problem and for Lyndon Johnson to say (on January 8, 1964) that his administration "today, here and now, declares unconditional war on poverty in America."

In fact, it was little more than a skirmish that fell way short of addressing the real problem in the world's richest nation. Today it's even greater and increasing exponentially under a president who, unlike Johnson, declared war on the poor and disadvantaged to favor privilege over growing needs and essential social change.

In his book, Harrington wrote:

"In morality and in justice every citizen should be committed to abolishing the other America, for it is intolerable that the richest nation in human history should allow such needless suffering. But more than that, if we solve the problem of the other America we will have learned how to solve the problems of all of America." Sadly, we didn't then nor have we now. More

Bomb the World

PaydayUK Quantcast Swine flu could hospitalize 2 million in U.S. this winter

As many as 300,000 could clog intensive care units in heavily affected regions, a new report says. But the CDC director notes that the H1N1 outbreak also could be much milder.

Nearly 2 million Americans could be hospitalized during this winter's novel H1N1 influenza pandemic, with as many as 300,000 clogging intensive care units in heavily affected regions, according to a report released Monday by the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.

Overall, 20% to 40% of the population could develop symptoms of the strain commonly known as swine flu, and 30,000 to 90,000 could die, according to the report. During a normal flu season, the virus kills about 35,000 Americans. More

US helps Egypt tighten screws on Gaza

US military experts have presented a detailed plan to Egyptian security officials and donated high-tech equipment to uncover tunnels.

US officials told their Egyptian counterparts that Congress has approved the allocation of $50 million to secure the 13.5-km (8.4-mile) long border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip.

They added that the Congress-supported plan is sponsoring the installation of US-donated high-tech devices to prevent smuggling on the border.

US officials visited the Rafah border area, where the meeting was held, and inspected the tunnels that were uncovered and blown up by Egypt. Over 300 tunnels have so far been uncovered.

The officials also observed the ongoing installation of surveillance cameras and monitoring systems along the border and thanked Egypt for its efforts to destroy the tunnels on its border with Gaza.

The donated equipment can detect underground tunnels and can also detect any underground movement even if it is far away.

As a result of the crippling land, sea, and air blockade of the Gaza Strip imposed by Israel and Egypt following the democratic victory of Hamas in Palestinian elections, Gaza's 1.5 million inhabitants have had to rely on 'illicit' and perilous tunnels as the sole means of obtaining essential supplies such as food and medicines. PressTV

Sidney Poitier "predicts" Barack Obama (1967)

In the movie "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" (1967) Sidney Poitier talks about his children from his planned mixed marriage who would become President

Bernanke Victimized

If ever there were living proof that identity theft can strike the mighty and powerful as well as hapless consumers, look no further than the nation's chief banker: Ben Bernanke.

The Federal Reserve Board chairman was one of hundreds of victims of an elaborate identity-fraud ring, headed by a convicted scam artist known as "Big Head," that stole more than $2.1 million from unsuspecting consumers and at least 10 financial institutions around the country, according to recently filed court records reviewed by NEWSWEEK.

Last summer, just as he was dealing with the first rumblings of the financial crisis on Wall Street, Bernanke learned that a thief had swiped his wife's purse—including the couple's joint check book. Days later, someone started cashing checks on the Bernanke family bank account, the documents show. "It's fair to say he was not pleased," said one close associate of Bernanke, who asked not to be identified discussing what the Fed chairman considers a private matter. More

Letter to the Poor

U.S. Jews: Ted Kennedy's death is a loss for the Jewish people

Israel and U.S. Jews on Wednesday expressed sorrow over the passing of Senator Edward M. Kennedy who died at age 77 on Tuesday night following a battle with cancer.

In tribute to the late senator, President Shimon Peres said Kennedy was a particularly respected leader with an interest in helping society, and added that his death was a great loss for every thoughtful person in the world.

"Kennedy was a clear friend of Israel the whole way, and in every place that he could help us he did help," he added.

The UJC/ Jewish Federations of North America, a leading Jewish advocacy and charitable organization, called Kennedy's death "a loss for the Jewish people and our nation."

William C. Daroff, vice president for public policy and director of the UJC/The Jewish Federation of North America's Washington office, released a statement terming Senator Kennedy a 'good friend' to the Jewish community worldwide: More

Iran enlists support for ban on striking nuclear sites

Iran has enlisted the support of more than 100 nonaligned nations in its push for a ban on attacks against nuclear facilities, according to documents shared with The Associated Press.

The 118-nation Nonaligned Movement backs Tehran in a letter submitted to the International Atomic Energy Agency endorsing Iran's plan to submit a resolution on the topic when IAEA nations meet next month.

While Iran says the language of any resolution will be kept general, the move is clearly directed against Israel and to a lesser extent the United States. More

Congressman: Obama violating law by not investigating Bush officials

President Barack Obama will be “violating the law” if his administration declines to investigate Bush officials for their role in torturing detainees, a prominent House Democrat said in a little noticed interview Friday.

The congressman, liberal New York Democrat and Judiciary Committee member Jerrold Nadler, made the comments in an interview with The Huffington Post’s Sam Stein published Friday. His comments come on the heels of a CIA report being released Monday that promises to offer more details into the abuse of prisoners under the Bush Administration’s watch — including the use of “mock executions” and threatening inmates with power drills.

Nadler’s comments also come as The New York Times is reporting that the Justice Department will recommend pursuing abuse cases in court. More

British PM hints more pressure ahead for Iran

The British prime minister says the international community could step up sanctions against Iran if the West fails to halt Tehran's nuclear program through talks.

“If there is no further progress immediately then I believe the world will have to look at stepping up sanctions against Iran as a matter of priority,” Reuters quoted Gordon Brown as saying at a news conference in London with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday.

Israel, which is the only player in the Middle East that possesses a nuclear arsenal, hypocritically accuses Iran of attempting to develop a nuclear weapons program. However, Iran insists that its nuclear program is totally peaceful.

Asked about the prospects of Iran producing a nuclear weapon, Netanyahu said, “Time is running out, it is late in the day, but it is not too late.”

In the 5+1 group talks on September 2, the US, Britain, France, and Germany are expected to urge Russia and China to consider a fourth round of UN sanctions, if talks on Iran's nuclear program fail. More

Peres: Russia pledges review of air defence sale to Iran

President Dmitry Medvedev has promised to review Russia's controversial planned sale of its sophisticated S-300 air defence system to Iran, Israeli President Shimon Peres said Wednesday.

"President Medvedev promised to review this issue once again after I explained that it would have an impact on the balance of force in our region," Peres said a day after he held talks with the Russian leader.

The contract for the S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems is reported to have been signed back in 2005 but has proved hugely controversial as the weapons would significantly upgrade Iranian air defence capabilities. More

'No one dares to attack a nuclear facility'

Israel says UN covering up Iran's nuclear arms drive

Gordon Brown finally breaks silence on Lockerbie to condemn Libya

Gordon Brown today broke his silence on the release of the Lockerbie bomber, saying that the UK government had done no deal with Libya and that he was "angry and repulsed" at the scenes of jubilation in Tripoli.

Forget the Great in Britain

Evidence Reveals Libyan Convicted of Lockerbie Bombing Innocent

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Jackson Death: Arrest of Dr. Conrad Murray Seems Imminent

Details of Michael Jackson's death outlined in a coroner's report make it seem almost certain that Jackson's personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, will be charged in the pop icon's death, according to a noted defense attorney who has been following the case.

"I have no doubt he's going to be indicted," attorney Roy Black told "Good Morning America" today.

Black pointed to the two months of intense investigation -- the search warrants, the interviews, the raids in two states -- as evidence investigators will look to Murray as causing Jackson's June 25 death from a drug overdose.

"Just the amount of work tells us that," Black said.

Documents released Monday show that Murray administered a continuous cocktail of sedatives the morning Jackson died in an effort to put the singer to sleep. It was the propofol, a powerful anesthetic typically used in operating rooms, that caused him to stop breathing, according to the report.

Russia accuses Ukraine on Georgia

Ukrainian troops fought alongside Georgian forces in the brief conflict last August between Georgia and Russia, Moscow prosecutors say.

Regular soldiers, as well as 200 members of a Ukrainian nationalist group, took part in the fighting, the prosecutor general's office said.

The statement comes amid worsening relations between Moscow and Kiev.

Ukraine denied it helped Georgian attempts to re-assert control over the breakaway region of South Ossetia.

It is believed to be the first time a Russian official has made such a direct accusation in a long war of words between Moscow and Kiev about the conflict, says the BBC's Richard Galpin in Moscow.

Air France 'black box' hunt ends

France's accident investigation agency has abandoned a search for the 'black boxes' from the Air France passenger jet that crashed in the Atlantic Ocean.

The research ship leading the hunt had left the area of the crash and would soon arrive in Senegal, concluding the "second phase" of the effort, it said.

Experts will gather in the coming weeks to decide whether to launch a third.

The Airbus A330 crashed in a storm en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris on 1 June, killing all 228 people on board.

Pieces of wreckage which have been recovered indicate that it broke up on contact with water, and not in the air.

Investigators also believe the plane's speed sensors had been "a factor but not the cause" of the crash. There had been speculation that old-style sensors may have given the pilots faulty information. More

Obama Approves Torture Team

The White House has confirmed that U.S. President Barack Obama has approved the creation of an elite team of interrogators to question key terrorism suspects.

White House spokesman Bill Burton said the team will be headquartered at the FBI and will bring together all “different elements” involved in interrogations. He said the team’s operation will be consistent with U.S. Army Field Manual regulations.

The Washington Post quotes senior administration officials as saying President Obama approved the so-called High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group last week. According to The Post, the group will be made up of experts from several intelligence and law enforcement agencies, and will be overseen by the National Security Council, giving the White House direct oversight of it.

President Obama already has banned severe interrogation measures such as waterboarding, or simulated drowning, which were permitted under the previous administration of President George W. Bush. Consistent with the Army Field Manual, banned techniques also include playing loud music and depriving prisoners of sleep.

Separately, The New York Times reports that the Justice Department ethics office is recommending reopening some prisoner abuse cases from the Bush administration, which could expose CIA employees and contractors to criminal prosecution.

A White House spokesman said the decision on whether to reopen the cases is solely up to Attorney General Eric Holder.

The developments come Monday, as a report by the CIA’s internal investigator is to be released, providing details of the controversial Bush-era interrogation techniques. More

China holding the (US dollar) bag

Chinese Assassination Squads

Webster Tarpley-Obama's False Flag-Waiting In The Wings

New World Order Eugenicists to Relaunch Swine Flu With Hidden Soft-Kill Weapons

"New World Order Eugenicists to Launch Swine Flu Through Vaccine Needles Sept 22 through Oct 31, 2009"

THE NEW WORLD ORDER IS REAL

There is a worldwide conspiracy being orchestrated by an extremely powerful and influential group of genetically-related individuals which include many of the world's wealthiest people, top political leaders, and corporate elite whose goal is to create a One World (fascist) Government, stripped of nationalistic and regional boundaries, that is obedient to their agenda. Their intention is to effect complete and total control over every human being on the planet and to dramatically reduce the world's population by 5.5 Billion people. While the name New World Order is a term frequently used today when referring to this group, it's more useful to identify the principal organizations, institutions, and individuals who make up this vast interlocking spiderweb of elite conspirators.

The Illuminati is the oldest term commonly used referring to 13 bloodline families (and their offshoots) that make up a major portion of this controlling elite. . More

'Inhumane' CIA terror tactics spur criminal probe

The Obama administration launched a criminal investigation Monday into harsh questioning of detainees during President George W. Bush's war on terrorism, revealing CIA interrogators' threats to kill one suspect's children and to force another to watch his mother sexually assaulted.

At the same time, President Barack Obama ordered changes in future interrogations, bringing in other agencies besides the CIA under the direction of the FBI and supervised by his own national security adviser. The administration pledged questioning would be controlled by the Army Field Manual, with strict rules on tactics, and said the White House would keep its hands off the professional investigators doing the work.

Despite the announcement of the criminal probe, several Obama spokesmen declared anew — as the president has repeatedly — that on the subject of detainee interrogation he "wants to look forward, not back" at Bush tactics. They took pains to say decisions on any prosecutions would be up to Attorney General Eric Holder, not the White House. More

Rendition of Terror Suspects to Continue Under Obama

Full Spectrum Dominance and the NWO

William Engdahl on his book Full Spectrum Dominance: Totalitarian Democracy in the New World Order

Guantanamo prisoner detained as teen meets with Karzai

A young Afghan whose six-year detention at Guantanamo came to symbolize many of the problems of the Bush administration's war on terror detention policies arrived in his home country today, less than a month after a federal judge in Washington ordered his release.

Mohammed Jawad, whose confession to throwing a hand grenade that wounded two U.S. soldiers in 2002 was rejected as coerced by torture, was helicoptered into Kabul from Bagram Air Base and taken to the office of the Afghan attorney general.

One of his defense attorneys, Marine Major Eric Montalvo, said Jawad then met with President Hamid Karzai and afterwwards was released to an uncle.

"It's still not over until he can walk free, but he is almost there," said Montalvo, who flew as a private citizen to Afghanistan after the Pentagon refused him permission to witness his client's release. "I don't trust anything until I see him in his house with his family."

Another of Jawad's defense attorneys, Air Force Reserve Maj. David Frakt, credited Montalvo's decision to travel to Afghanistan with ensuring that Jawad was freed and not imprisoned again. More

Embeds Screened by Controversial Company

Stars and Stripes reveals that journos seeking to embed with U.S. troops in war zones are now being screened by the controversial Rendon Group. The story opens:

As more journalists seek permission to accompany U.S. forces engaged in escalating military operations in Afghanistan, many of them could be screened by a controversial Washington-based public relations firm contracted by the Pentagon to determine whether their past coverage has portrayed the U.S. military in a positive light.

U.S. public affairs officials in Afghanistan acknowledged to Stars and Stripes that any reporter seeking to embed with U.S. forces is subject to a background profile by The Rendon Group, which gained notoriety in the run-up to the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq for its work helping to create the Iraqi National Congress. That opposition group, reportedly funded by the CIA, furnished much of the false information about Iraq’s supposed weapons of mass destruction used by the Bush administration to justify the invasion.

Rendon examines individual reporters’ recent work and determines whether the coverage was “positive,” “negative” or “neutral” More

Report: CIA threatened detainee families

A newly declassified CIA report says interrogators threatened to kill the children of a Sept. 11 suspect.

The document, released Monday by the Justice Department, says one interrogator said a colleague had told Khalid Sheikh Mohammed that if any other attacks happened in the United States, "We're going to kill your children."

Another interrogator allegedly tried to convince a different terror suspect detainee that his mother would be sexually assaulted in front of him - though the interrogator in question denied making such a threat.

The report, written in 2004, examined CIA treatment of terror detainees following the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. It has been declassified as part of a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

More Proof of Israeli Support of International Terror

Manila detains ship smuggling Israeli weapons into the Philippines

Philippine authorities have seized a Panama-registered cargo ship and its crew after the vessel was found to contain crates of assault rifles when it docked at a local port without prior notice, officials said yesterday.

Customs and coast guard officials boarded the 5,421 gross ton ship on Thursday and found five crates containing 50 Israeli-made Galil assault rifles, they said. Ten empty crates were also found.

The ship came in to the Mariveles port, northwest of the capital. The ship just docked at the port of Mariveles without any prior notice, which made port and customs officials suspicious, said coast guard spokesman Armand Balilo. More

PHILIPPINES: SHIP WITH ISRAELI WEAPONS STOPPED
Authorities in the Philippines have seized a cargo ship sailing under Panamanian flags for alleged weapons trafficking. On board the ship, the 'Captain Ufuk', were 14 cases loaded with assault rifles manufactured in Israel, which were probably destined to rebel groups or criminal organisations in the Philippines. The Coast Guard intercepted the cargo ship when it entered the Port of Mariveles without prior warning, at the entrance of the Bay of Manila. According to documents on the ship, the 'Captain Ufuk' departed from Turkey and stopped in Indonesia before continuing to the Philippines. The South African captain and 12 crew members, all Georgian nationals, were arrested and are now awaiting trial. Source

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Lockerbie release could topple Scottish government

Scotland’s government faces a fight for its survival as the furore over its decision to free the Lockerbie bomber escalated last night.

Opposition parties north of the Border are preparing to hold a confidence vote over the decision by Kenny MacAskill, the Scottish Justice Secretary, to free Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi. Alex Salmond, the First Minister, has confirmed that he would resign if the Holyrood vote went against him.

The development comes after a weekend of fierce criticism from the United States of the decision on the ground of compassion to return al-Megrahi to Libya, where he was fêted as a hero on his return.

Admiral Mike Mullen, the Chairman of the Pentagon’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he was appalled by the freeing of al-Megrahi, echoing the earlier attack by Robert Mueller, the FBI Director, who accused Scotland of “making a mockery of the rule of law” and giving “comfort to terrorists around the world”. Threats by Americans to boycott Scottish goods and services on the back of the al-Megrahi decision are being taken seriously by the British Government. More

Barack Obama orders creation of new White House interrogation unit

President Barack Obama has ordered the creation of a new White House unit for interrogating terror suspects, taking responsibility away from the CIA.

The High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group will be run by FBI officials and follow guidelines set by the US army's field manual, which conforms to international law.

The Democratic president has already outlawed severe methods such as waterboarding, which simulates drowning, but now other techniques such as such as subjecting prisoners to loud music for long periods and sleep deprivation will also be a thing of the past.

It came as the US Justice Department called for a special prosecutor to investigate up to a dozen cases of alleged abuse by CIA officers or contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan that went beyond limits set by the Bush administration. More

[This High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group is overseen by the NSC, where former CIA rendition torture planner John Brennan now serves as deputy National Security Adviser.]

CIA threatened 'al-Qaeda' prisoner with 'power drill'

US army spends $117m on soldiers' psychological resilience

Blogger sues Google for $15m

Google faces $15 million lawsuit for releasing blogger information in model row. Google is being sued for $15 million (£9 million) by a blogger, Rosemary Port, whose details were released after Liskula Cohen, a Vogue cover girl, was smeared as a "skank" on the internet.

Rosemary Port has accused Google of failing to protect her right to privacy when it released her name and other details to Vogue cover model Liskula Cohen.

Miss Cohen had become concerned that someone in her private circle was releasing personal information when a blog post said she was a "psychotic, lying, whoring ... skank"

But Miss Port, a 29-year-old fashion student, told the New York Daily News that Miss Cohen had attacked attention to the remarks by demanding that Google release the records of ownership and traffic to the site on Google's blogger.com.

Google said it was within its rights to release the information because users agree to a privacy policy that allows the company to share personal information if required by a legal action. More

Elders of peace come to Israel for dialogue

The one thing common to members of the Global Elders, a forum of elder statesman, businessmen and peace activists, is that their future is behind them. Three of them have Nobel peace prizes in their cupboards. They are coming here, today, in the height of the summer heat, to listen to what plagues Israelis and Palestinians, and to try to convince them that there is another way.

Former US president Jimmy Carter has become of late a regular visitor to Jerusalem and Ramallah. The last time Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa came to the region, he protested from Gaza Strip that he was not allowed to break the siege and pass from there into Israel. Their colleagues in the delegation include former Brazilian president Fernando Henrique Cardoso, former Norwegian prime minister Gro Brundtland, former Irish president and former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson, Indian human rights activist Ela Bhatt, and renowned businessmen Richard Branson and Jeff Skoll who co-founded the organization in 2007 and have supported it ever since.

The forum was established by former South African president Nelson Mandela, ahead of his 89th birthday. It aims to engage the experience and prestige of celebrated global leaders to recruit popular support for peace building, and for dealing with humanitarian problems in crisis areas. The delegation will meet with President Shimon Peres, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, peace activists and public figures. More

Common Sense 2009

The American government -- which we once called our government -- has been taken over by Wall Street, the mega-corporations and the super-rich. They are the ones who decide our fate. It is this group of powerful elites, the people President Franklin D. Roosevelt called "economic royalists," who choose our elected officials -- indeed, our very form of government. Both Democrats and Republicans dance to the tune of their corporate masters. In America, corporations do not control the government. In America, corporations are the government.

This was never more obvious than with the Wall Street bailout, whereby the very corporations that caused the collapse of our economy were rewarded with taxpayer dollars. So arrogant, so smug were they that, without a moment's hesitation, they took our money -- yours and mine -- to pay their executives multimillion-dollar bonuses, something they continue doing to this very day. They have no shame. They don't care what you and I think about them. Henry Kissinger refers to us as "useless eaters."

Plans To Take Children From Schools For Mass Vaccinations And Quarantines

A Must Watch

Click here for the text of the document ...

Netanyahu due in London for piss talks

“Bringing President Obama’s dream to fruition in two years, including an overall agreement and a [Palestinian] state, is unrealistic,” he said.

Netanyahu Mastermind of London Bombings:

Terror Expert Backs Up Claim Of Netanyahu Warning Before First Blast

Israel Orders Officials Not To Speak To Media About Bombings

Stratfor Consulting Intelligence Agency: ’Israel Warned United Kingdom About Possible Attacks’

Ex-Mossad Chief Calls For World War After London Attack

and 9/11:



Netanyahu enters Sweden organ row

‘After 8 years of a president sent by God to lead the American people and rescue us from the horrors of 911 and Islamo-fascists, it now boils down to

A Black Witch?

Yesterday your Wonkette took its turn to write about the “hot new Internet article,” this thing from Townhall, about how Michelle Obama’s mother Marian Robinson has been practicing Satanic witchcraft — or “witchcraft mumbo-jumbo,” as Barack Obama calls it — inside the White House.

The author of this important piece of investigative blog journalism, however, was not pleased with your editor’s dissection of the article. She has sent us an e-mail with complaints and makes a number of provocative political arguments.

Dear Wonkette editors,

I posted a very serious article recently in Townhall.com about witchcraft in the White House, and later realized that your website had made a farce out of it. I saw that your staff and readers made a lot of extremely cruel comments about me and my story. Why are you people so rude? Does anybody take anything seriously anymore? More

Witchcraft in the White House

Is Barack Obama’s Mother-In-Law A Black Witch?

Berlusconi urged to attend clinic for sex addiction

MEMBERS of Silvio Berlusconi’s entourage are urging the prime minister to seek treatment in a clinic for sex addiction.

The 72-year-old billionaire’s private life has been the focus of a long-running scandal since he attended the 18th birthday party of Noemi Letizia in April.

His wife, Veronica Lario, 53, has demanded a divorce and Patrizia D’Addario, a prostitute, has said she spent a night at Berlusconi’s Rome residence last November — which he has denied.

The Veronica Trend, an updated biography of Lario, a former actress, to be published on Wednesday, tells her side of the story. It is based on interviews with the prime minister’s wife of 19 years. More

Berlusconi's wife talks about divorce

China outraged as Japan calls for nuclear arms

A TROUBLING insight into ultra-conservative thinking at the top of Japan’s armed forces has emerged after the dismissal of Toshio Tamogami, the chief of the air staff.

He has become a hero to right-wing groups since being sacked last year for writing an article that said imperial Japan was not an aggressor in the second world war. His popularity has caused outrage in China and it could provide an early diplomatic headache for the opposition Democratic Party of Japan if, as expected, it wins the general election on August 30.

A book outlining his philosophy has sold 100,000 copies since March and 20,000 copies of a second book calling for Japan to develop an atomic bomb were printed earlier this month. Tamogami, 61, is giving 20 speeches a month on conspiracy theories and anti-western themes of Japanese victimhood. More

Afghan challenger alleges fraud

The main challenger in presidential elections held in Afghanistan last week, Abdullah Abdullah, has alleged widespread fraud.

Mr Abdullah said he had evidence that voting had been widely rigged in favour of incumbent President Hamid Karzai.

The allegations had been sent to the Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) for investigation, he said. A leading group of election observers has also said intimidation and voting fraud occurred in Thursday's poll.

The campaign teams for Mr Karzai and Mr Abdullah - a former foreign minister - each claim their candidate won an outright majority. Preliminary results are due in the coming days, but the final result is not expected for several weeks. More

Could Afghanistan Become Obama’s Vietnam?
Democracy? We're just wasting brave lives on a country we'll never free

Pinochet's lost millions: the UK connection

British authorities and the financial sector are linked for the first time to the late Chilean dictator's £1bn fortune.

Two-and-a-half years after the death of General Augusto Pinochet, a report by the Chilean police task force charged with investigating money-laundering has claimed that British authorities and the financial sector were complicit in hiding his massive ill-gotten fortune.

Though the Pinochet family protects the details of its wealth with the help of bankers and advisers from Britain and other countries, the pile of assets in cash, gold, government bonds and shares controlled by the family of the late dictator is now believed to amount to as much as £1bn.

The report by Brilac, the Chilean police task force, says that the freeze on the dictator's funds issued in 1998 by the Spanish investigating magistrate Baltasar Garzon, who was seeking the ex-dictator's extradition to Spain on charges of torture and murder, was in effect ignored by the financial sector in Britain, despite the fact that Britain was under an obligation to enforce it. More

'Explosive' revelations about CIA coming Monday

The IG report is said to be the most extensive look yet at the Bush administration’s torture programs. RAW STORY will have more details when the report is released to the public.

Extraordinary rendition for … white-collar criminals?

William Calley Apologizes For My Lai Massacre

William Calley, the former Army lieutenant convicted on 22 counts of murder in the infamous My Lai Massacre in Vietnam, publicly apologized for the first time this week while speaking in Columbus.

“There is not a day that goes by that I do not feel remorse for what happened that day in My Lai,” Calley told members of the Kiwanis Club of Greater Columbus on Wednesday. His voice started to break when he added, “I feel remorse for the Vietnamese who were killed, for their families, for the American soldiers involved and their families. I am very sorry.”

In March 1968, U.S. soldiers gunned down hundreds of civilians in the Vietnamese hamlet of My Lai. The Army at first denied, then downplayed the event, saying most of the dead were Vietcong. But in November 1969, journalist Seymour Hersh revealed what really happened and Calley was court martialed and convicted of murder. More.

4 US soldiers charged with abusing fellow comrades

Four American soldiers serving in Iraq have been charged with cruelty and abuse of their fellow troops, the US army says in a statement.

Charges were laid two days ago against the accused, all of whom serve with B Troop, 2nd Squadron, 13th Cavalry Regiment, a unit based out of Fort Bliss, Texas.

"Accusations of cruelty and maltreatment are taken very seriously, and we will investigate this isolated incident thoroughly," said Brigadier General David Elicerio, Deputy Commanding General for Multi-National Division-South, headquartered in the southern city of Basra.

The statement named the soldiers charged as Staff Sergeant Bob Clements, Staff Sergeant Enoch Chatman, Sergeant Jarrett Taylor and Specialist Daniel Weber.

The Obama administration has retained services of the notorious Blackwater mercenaries to carry out drone attacks in Afghanistan, a new report reveals.''

Jeremy Scahill Exposes Blackwater

Bill heads toward US