http://www.sott.net/signs/list_by_category/16-Puppet-Masters Signs of the Times: The World for People who Think. Featuring news and commentary on world events. en-us Original content Copyright 2012 by Signs of the Times/Sott.net. For other content, see our Fair Use Policy at www.sott.net. Wed, 22 Feb 2012 14:03:00 -0600 http://www.sott.net/images/sottlogo_rss.jpg SOTT.net http://www.sott.net http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241920-The-Global-Crises-of-Capitalism-Whose-Crises-Who-Profits- From the Financial Times to the far left, tons of ink has been spilt writing about some variant of the "Crises of Global Capitalism". While writers differ in the causes, consequences and cures, according to their ideological lights, there is a common agreement that "the crises" threatens to end the capitalist system as we know it. There is no doubt that, between 2008-2009, the capitalist system in Europe and the United States suffered a severe shock that shook the foundations of its financial system and threatened to bankrupt its 'leading sectors'. However, I will argue the 'crises of capitalism' was turned into a 'crises of labor'. Finance capital, the principle detonator of the crash and crises, recovered, the capitalist class as a whole was strengthened, and most important of all, it utilized the political, social, ideological conditions created as a result of "the crises" to further consolidate their dominance and exploitation over the rest of society. In other words, the 'crises of capital' has been converted into a strategic advantage for furthering the most fundamental interests of capital: the enlargement of profits, the consolidation of capitalist rule, the greater concentration of ownership, the deepening of inequalities between capital and labor and the creation of huge reserves of labor to further augment their profits. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241920-The-Global-Crises-of-Capitalism-Whose-Crises-Who-Profits- Wed, 22 Feb 2012 14:02:08 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241917-Some-Greeks-Might-Have-to-Pay-for-Their-Jobs It's being called the "negative salary": Due to austerity measures in Greece, it's being reported that up to 64,000 Greeks will go without pay this month, and some will have to pay for having a job. Numbers in austerity reports have usually reflected figures in the millions, since they reflect industry-wide cuts (i.e. a 537-million euro cut to health and pension funds). And plans of cutting minimum wage by up to 32% is all but a given in the country. Today's "negative salary" deal - which could have government employees returning funds - reveals the real human impact of the austerity measures. As Zero Hedge and the Press Project report: Salary cutbacks (called "unified payroll") for contract workers at the public sector set to be finalized today. Cuts to be valid retroactively since november 2011. Expected result: Up to 64.000 people will work without salary this month, or even be asked to return money. Amongst them 21,000 teachers, 13,000 municipal employees and 30,000 civil servants. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241917-Some-Greeks-Might-Have-to-Pay-for-Their-Jobs Wed, 22 Feb 2012 13:04:57 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241916-French-socialists-Latin-revolt-against-Germany The half-century habits of Franco-German condominium die hard. It is a painful process for French elites to admit that monetary union is asphyxiating their economy and must inevitably trap France in mercantilist subordination to Germany. The Carolingian union is all that anybody in French public life can really remember. It worked marvellously for two generations, levering French power on the global stage, and the euro was of course their own creation, intended to tie down a reunited Germany with "silken cords". How can they now face the awful truth that this elegant strategy has blown up in their faces, enthroning Germany as undisputed hegemon? Yet they can hardly ignore the evidence. While German unemployment has fallen to a post-Reunification low of 5.5pc, France's jobless rate has crept up to a post-EMU high of 9.9pc and is certain to rise further as recession bites again. While both countries had the same sorts of export surplus in the early 1990s, they have diverged massively since the D-Mark and franc were fixed in perpetuity. Germany has a current account surplus of 5pc of GDP: France has a deficit of 2.7pc, anathema for Colbertistes. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241916-French-socialists-Latin-revolt-against-Germany Wed, 22 Feb 2012 11:47:15 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241915-Greece-and-the-Rape-by-the-Rentiers Here's the draft of the supposed agreement to "sort out" the Greek debt problem once and for all. According to Bloomberg, here are the essentials: Greece's 2012 GDP will shrink by as much as 5%. Greece is expected to return to growth in 2013. Greece will cut 15,000 state jobs in 2012. Minimum wage will be cut by 20 percent. There will be no increase to sales tax. The government will cut medicine spending from 1.9% to 1.5% and merge all auxiliary pension funds. It will also sell stakes in six companies - in particular, energy companies and refineries. Of course, the current thrust of fiscal policy will almost certainly guarantee that there still will be a default, involuntary or otherwise, in spite of this agreement. If you don't have a mechanism to allow growth, then how can the Greeks service their debt, even with the reduced debt burden? http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241915-Greece-and-the-Rape-by-the-Rentiers Wed, 22 Feb 2012 11:29:17 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241914-Greece-begrudgingly-cedes-sovereignty-in-exchange-for-bailout-funds The conditions the European Union set for Greece in exchange for a second bailout represent a very unusual amount of outside control and oversight of a sovereign country. The $172 billion Greek bailout package hammered out in Brussels Tuesday averts a looming Greek default and, its architects hope, will ward off dangerous financial consequences for neighbors. The sheer size of the bailout and a promised debt write-off of roughly 100 billion euros ($132 billion) represents a more favorable outcome than Greek officials expected. But the bailout comes with rigorous budget cuts demanded by northern European states and other requirements that represent an unprecedented amount of European Union control over a sovereign member. "We have been learning for years how to share sovereignty in Europe," says Loukas Tsoukalis of the University of Athens and head of the think tank Eliamep, which deals with European and foreign policy. "With the crisis, we are all being asked to take some difficult steps further. It is uncharted territory. If you are a country on the verge of default, such as Greece, sovereignty and economic survival may create awkward tradeoffs." http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241914-Greece-begrudgingly-cedes-sovereignty-in-exchange-for-bailout-funds Wed, 22 Feb 2012 11:13:46 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241903-U-N-watchdog-says-nuclear-talks-with-Iran-failed Vienna - The U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Wednesday it had failed to secure an agreement with Iran during two days of talks over disputed atomic activities and that the Islamic Republic had rejected a request to visit a key military site. In the second such trip in less than a month, a senior team from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had travelled to Tehran to press Iranian officials to start addressing mounting concerns that the Islamic Republic may be seeking to develop nuclear weapons. The outcome seems likely to add to already soaring tension between Iran and Western powers, which have ratcheted up sanctions on the major oil producer in recent months. "During both the first and second round of discussions, the agency team requested access to the military site at Parchin. Iran did not grant permission for this visit to take place," the Vienna-based IAEA said in a statement after the Feb 20-21 talks. The IAEA named Parchin in a detailed report in November that lent independent weight to Western fears that Iran was working to develop an atomic bomb, an allegation Iranian officials reject. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241903-U-N-watchdog-says-nuclear-talks-with-Iran-failed Tue, 21 Feb 2012 22:57:39 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241902-Obama-to-address-AIPAC-before-talks-with-Netanyahu-on-Iran Barack Obama will address the annual convention of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) on March 4, a day before he and visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hold talks expected to focus on Iran, the White House announced Tuesday. With the Middle East peace process stalled, the president and his guest are likely to focus on the best way to confront Iran over its suspect nuclear program, as well as the response to Syria's bloody crackdown on opponents of President Bashar al-Assad's regime. The president's speech to the most powerful US pro-Israel lobby group could also have an election-year flavor: Republicans have tried to portray Obama as insufficiently supportive of Israel's security, a charge rejected by several high profile Israeli officials including Defense Minister Ehud Barak. The announcement came after Obama's national security adviser, Tom Donilon, paid a two-day visit to Israel. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241902-Obama-to-address-AIPAC-before-talks-with-Netanyahu-on-Iran Tue, 21 Feb 2012 22:56:31 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241885-US-Religious-Right-Graham-Doubts-Obama-s-Christianity-Santorum-Warns-of-Satan The 2012 race turned to God, Satan and religion when Franklin Graham said he's surer that Rick Santorum is a Christian than President Obama and a 2008 Santorum speech surfaced in which the top GOP candidate told a religious audience that Satan is attacking U.S. institutions. Franklin Graham, son of Billy Graham, said on MSNBC Tuesday that he could not verify that President Obama is a Christian. "I just have to assume that he is," Graham said. But he has no question about Rick Santorum. "His values are so clear on moral issues. No question about it. ... I think he's a man of faith." Santorum's faith was in the news for another reason, too. The Pennsylvania Republican said in 2008, two years after losing his Senate seat and four years before seeking the presidency, that Satan was attacking U.S. institutions in government and religion. The comments, not before mentioned during the 2012 election cycle, were the lead item on the Drudge Report Tuesday. Santorum has surged to even or even ahead of Mitt Romney in opinion polls, including in Romney's home state of Michigan, where Republican voters cast their preference for the GOP nominee next Tuesday. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241885-US-Religious-Right-Graham-Doubts-Obama-s-Christianity-Santorum-Warns-of-Satan Tue, 21 Feb 2012 18:50:12 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241884-US-The-50-State-Foreclosure-Settlement-Why-Hasn-t-Anyone-Gone-to-Jail- Under the terms of the 50-state mortgage foreclosure settlement, US taxpayers could end up paying billions in penalties that were supposed to be paid by the banks. That's the gist of a front-page story which appeared in the Financial Times on Thursday, February 17. The widely-cited article by Shahien Nasiripour notes that the 5 banks that will be effected by the settlement - Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Wells Fargo and Ally Financial - will be able to use Obama's mortgage modification program (HAMP) to reduce loan balances and "receive cash payments of up to 63 cents on the dollar for every dollar of loan principal forgiven." And that's not all. If borrowers stay current on their payments after their loans are restructured, the banks could qualify for additional government funds which (according to the FT) "could then turn a profit for the banks according to people familiar with the settlement terms." How do you like them apples? Leave it to the bank-friendly Obama administration to turn a penalty into a windfall. In effect, the settlement will help the banks avoid losses on mortgages that are vastly overpriced on their books and which were probably headed into foreclosure anyway. Taxpayers will stump up the money for the principle writedowns that will allow the banks to extract even more tribute from underwater homeowners. What kind of penalty is that? http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241884-US-The-50-State-Foreclosure-Settlement-Why-Hasn-t-Anyone-Gone-to-Jail- Tue, 21 Feb 2012 18:36:22 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241878-What-price-the-new-democracy-Goldman-Sachs-conquers-Europe While ordinary people fret about austerity and jobs, the eurozone's corridors of power have been undergoing a remarkable transformation. The ascension of Mario Monti to the Italian prime ministership is remarkable for more reasons than it is possible to count. By replacing the scandal-surfing Silvio Berlusconi, Italy has dislodged the undislodgeable. By imposing rule by unelected technocrats, it has suspended the normal rules of democracy, and maybe democracy itself. And by putting a senior adviser at Goldman Sachs in charge of a Western nation, it has taken to new heights the political power of an investment bank that you might have thought was prohibitively politically toxic. This is the most remarkable thing of all: a giant leap forward for, or perhaps even the successful culmination of, the Goldman Sachs Project. It is not just Mr Monti. The European Central Bank, another crucial player in the sovereign debt drama, is under ex-Goldman management, and the investment bank's alumni hold sway in the corridors of power in almost every European nation, as they have done in the US throughout the financial crisis. Until Wednesday, the International Monetary Fund's European division was also run by a Goldman man, Antonio Borges, who just resigned for personal reasons. Even before the upheaval in Italy, there was no sign of Goldman Sachs living down its nickname as "the Vampire Squid", and now that its tentacles reach to the top of the eurozone, sceptical voices are raising questions over its influence. The political decisions taken in the coming weeks will determine if the eurozone can and will pay its debts - and Goldman's interests are intricately tied up with the answer to that question. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241878-What-price-the-new-democracy-Goldman-Sachs-conquers-Europe Tue, 21 Feb 2012 16:14:20 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241876-Afghan-drug-war-debacle-Blair-said-smashing-opium-trade-was-a-major-reason-to-invade-but-10-years-on-heroin-production-is-up-from-185-tons-a-year-to-5-800 The West is losing the heroin war in Afghanistan - ten years after Tony Blair pledged that wiping out the drug was one of the main reasons for invading the country. Despite spending £18billion and a conflict which has so far cost the lives of almost 400 British troops, production of the class-A drug by Afghan farmers rose between 2001 and 2011 from just 185 tons to a staggering 5,800 tons. It increased by 61 per cent last year alone. Such has been the failure to combat the problem that more than 90 per cent of the heroin sold on Britain's streets is still made using opium from Afghanistan. The United Nations yesterday warned that the situation was out of control. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241876-Afghan-drug-war-debacle-Blair-said-smashing-opium-trade-was-a-major-reason-to-invade-but-10-years-on-heroin-production-is-up-from-185-tons-a-year-to-5-800 Tue, 21 Feb 2012 15:58:48 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241847-America-Hypnotized-Into-an-Endless-Dirty-War America has decided it has the right to kill whoever it wants, whenever it wants. If in the year 2000 the U.S. president had told the American people that the government would soon begin using robot planes to track people, including U.S. citizens, all over the world, and would reserve to itself the right to kill them without trial, it is safe to say there would have been an enormous uproar. But that is exactly what is happening today, and nobody cares. The majority of Americans, including those who were opposed to the war in Iraq, have no problems with their government killing at will, so long as the killing is done in the name of "national security." How did this happen? In retrospect, the war in Afghanistan was the prime culprit. That endless, Sisyphean war was the thin end of the wedge. In that murky, shifting struggle, it was normal for the U.S. to arrogate to itself the right to kill the Taliban wherever they were in Afghanistan or Pakistan. Once that precedent was established, it was an small step to killing bad guys in Iraq, Somalia, Yemen and Libya. And so, by imperceptible steps we arrived at the place we are now, where 77 percent of liberals support President Obama's vastly expanded killer drone campaign, where an American citizen can be remotely vaporized at the touch of a button and no one cares. The war on Afghanistan set the precedent that shaped the entire "war on terror" paradigm. The chimera of "safety from terrorism" led us by easy stages to begin waging dirty war across the globe - changing the definition of war, eroding moral and legal standards and greatly increasing the likelihood of ugly future consequences. What makes this subject so tricky is that morally, legally and by any standard, the war on Afghanistan was completely justified. Recall the situation before we launched the invasion. 9/11 had just happened. The Taliban were in control of Afghanistan. They had aided and abetted Osama bin Laden, and refused to hand him over. This was an intolerable situation. As accomplices to mass murder, they could not be allowed to get away with their monstrous crimes. Moreover, if bin Laden remained at large he could plan another attack. Removing the Taliban was a matter of self-defense. We had to do everything possible to reduce the chances of another 9/11. Comment: Of course, none of this argumentation amounts to a hill of beans when you consider that 9-11 was NOT due to Osama bin Laden, but was rather, an inside job carried out by MOSSAD, the CIA, the MIC, and more... http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241847-America-Hypnotized-Into-an-Endless-Dirty-War Tue, 21 Feb 2012 01:14:05 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241844-Consequences-To-Expect-If-The-U-S-Invades-Iran Let's be honest, quite a few Americans love a good war, especially those Americans who have never had to bear witness to one first hand. War is the ultimate tribally vicarious experience. Anyone, even pudgy armchair generals with deep-seated feelings of personal inadequacy, can revel in the victories and actions of armies a half a world away as if they themselves stood on the front lines risking possible annihilation at the hands of dastardly cartoon-land "evil doers". They may have never done a single worthwhile thing in their lives, but at least they can bask in the perceived glory of their country's military might. This attitude of swollen ego through proxy is not limited to the "Right" side of the political spectrum as some might expect. In fact, if the terrifyingly demented presidency of Barack Obama has proven anything so far, it is that elements of the "Left" are just as bloodthirsty as any NeoCon, and just as ready to blindly support the political supremacy of their "side" regardless of any broken promises, abandoned principles, or openly flaunted hypocrisies. No matter how reasonable or irrefutable the arguments against a particular conflict are, there will ALWAYS be a certain percentage of the populace which ignores all logic and barrels forward to cheerlead violent actions which ultimately only benefit a select and elite few. They do this, though they rarely openly admit it, because of unbalanced and irrational biases which drive their decision making processes. In the case of the wars in the Middle East, the common public argument boils down to one of "self defense". "They are coming to get us!" At least, that is what we are constantly told. And I'm sure that some Americans out there truly believe this. However, in their heart of hearts, others instead relish the idea of imposing their world views and philosophical systems upon others, even if it means using cluster bombs and predator drones. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241844-Consequences-To-Expect-If-The-U-S-Invades-Iran Mon, 20 Feb 2012 21:00:43 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241839-US-Sends-Drones-Over-Syria-as-Fighting-Spreads US military officials confirmed Saturday that US drones are flying over Syria, as fighting spreads inside the country and US officials discuss military or "humanitarian" intervention to topple Syrian President Bashar al Assad. The drone flights, which flagrantly violate Syrian air space, include a "good number" of both military and US intelligence drones, according to US defense officials. These officials said the drones' mission is to obtain "intercepts of Syrian government and military communications in an effort to 'make the case for a widespread international response.'" The Israeli daily Ha'aretz also reported Saturday that Syrian forces had captured 40 Turkish intelligence operatives working with the "opposition" inside Syria. It said the Turkish operatives confessed to working with the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad to train the US-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA), and claimed that Mossad operatives were working with Al Qaeda operatives in Jordan planning operations in Syria. This echoes testimony Thursday before the US Senate Armed Services Committee by US Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. He said that recent bombings in Damascus and Aleppo "had all the earmarks of an al Qaeda-like attack. So we believe that al Qaeda in Iraq is extending its reach into Syria." http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241839-US-Sends-Drones-Over-Syria-as-Fighting-Spreads Mon, 20 Feb 2012 17:31:40 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241836-West-s-Poker-Face-at-Middle-Eastern-Grand-Chessboard The planned neo-colonial takeover of the Middle East is gearing up. As the heat rises, the West finds it increasingly difficult to proceed with its grab for dominance and maintain a brave face, says political analyst Adrian Salbuchi. ­Things are happening very fast in the Middle East. Tensions are mounting, threats are being made, and strange assassinations are taking place... Even stranger diplomatic, political, global media, military and economic strings are being pulled; sometimes so quickly, that they're getting tangled! The atmosphere is becoming very rarefied indeed! A bit of historical perspective might even lead you to think we're re-living August 1939: the last days before World War II. But what is really happening over there and why? Well, to begin with, we witnessed twenty years during which the US, UK, France, other NATO members, and Israel have variously attacked, bombed and overrun Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya, and Palestine almost constantly and unimpaired. Millions of Muslims have died as a consequence of these aggressions which have been based either on flagrant lies like Iraq's non-existent WMDs, or Iran's alleged A-Bomb program. Blatant double-standards make the media systematically ignore Israeli ethnic cleansing in Palestine. Last year we saw a fabricated and engineered social turmoil throughout the region - dubbed the "Arab Spring." http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241836-West-s-Poker-Face-at-Middle-Eastern-Grand-Chessboard Mon, 20 Feb 2012 16:59:57 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241829-US-Rick-Santorum-Sings-The-Praises-Of-Income-Inequality Rick Santorum has said a lot of dumb things in his feeble existence. He has pushed extreme religious views, accused President Obama of wanting to exterminate religious people and he has made many hateful statements about women and the LGBT community. Santorum has largely avoided making as many gaffes about the economy which may be one reason why Romney is falling in the polls, but Santorum decided to talk about the auto industry bailout during a speech at the Detroit Economic Club on Thursday, and made some stunningly stupid comments about income inequality. There is income inequality in America. There always has been and hopefully, and I do say that, there always will be. Why? Because people rise to different levels of success based on what they contribute to society and to the marketplace and that's as it should be. We shouldn't have a society that has a President who envies or creates class warfare or envy between one group of people and another. We should celebrate like we do in the small towns all across American as you do here in Detroit. You celebrate success. You build statues and monuments. Buildings, you name after them. Why? Because in their greatness and innovation, yes, they created wealth, but they created wealth for everybody else, and that's a good thing, not something to be condemned in America. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241829-US-Rick-Santorum-Sings-The-Praises-Of-Income-Inequality Mon, 20 Feb 2012 16:14:29 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241828-US-Senators-Ramp-Up-Fear-Mongering-To-Try-To-Rush-Through-Cybersecurity-Bill We're still waiting for any actual evidence that this new cybersecurity bill is really necessary. An actual description of the real problem being dealt with would be a good start. Instead, we just get pure fear mongering. While some Senators are asking supporters of the bill to slow down and carefully consider the issue, the bill's backers, led by Senator Lieberman seem to be on "full speed ahead" mode -- trying to skip hearings and markups to take the bill straight to the Senate floor for a vote. In this case, Senator John McCain is urging caution, and pushing back at claims that because totally different cybersecurity bills have been introduced in the past, this one can be rushed: To suggest that this bill should move directly to the Senate Floor because it has 'been around' since 2009 is outrageous," McCain said. "First, the bill was introduced two days ago. Secondly, where do Senate Rules state that a bill's progress in a previous congress can supplant the necessary work on that bill in the present one?" Of course, it isn't that McCain is "the voice of reason" here. He's actually pushing for a different bill that will give NSA broad spying powers over the internet. The dispute between McCain and Lieberman is really a long-running territorial dispute -- concerning whether Homeland Security or the Defense Department get to control the "cybersecurity" budget. The Lieberman bill gives the power to Homeland Security. McCain wants to give it to the DoD. Neither seem to want to bother with evidence of the actual need here. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241828-US-Senators-Ramp-Up-Fear-Mongering-To-Try-To-Rush-Through-Cybersecurity-Bill Mon, 20 Feb 2012 16:10:52 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241825-Santorum-uses-Hitler-analogy-to-describe-Obama Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum on Sunday likened the upcoming U.S. election to World War II. While the candidate's comments to a packed First Redeemer Church in Cumming, Georgia were somewhat vague, NBC news noted that he "seemed to compare President [Barack] Obama to [Adolph] Hitler." The former Pennsylvania senator told his supporters that this election was like World War II, "where our closest ally, Britain, was being bombed and leveled." "And America sat from 1940 when France fell to December of '41 and did almost nothing," he explained. "Why? Because we're a hopeful people. We think, 'You know it will get better. Yeah, I mean, he's a nice guy. It won't be near as bad as what we think. You know, this will be OK. You know, maybe he's not the best guy.' After a while, you found out some things about this guy over in Europe and maybe he's not so good of a guy after all. But you know what? 'Why do we need to be involved? We'll just take care of our own problems, just get our families off to work and our kids off to school and we'll be OK.'" http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241825-Santorum-uses-Hitler-analogy-to-describe-Obama Mon, 20 Feb 2012 15:38:47 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241824-GMO-Crops-Remain-a-Global-Failure Wednesday 8 February 2012, Sydney: Greenpeace responded today to a report on the perceived success of genetically modified (GM) crops around the world, which was published by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA), a bio-tech industry lobby organization. Contrary to claims in the report, GM crops remain a global failure with only about 1% of global farmers cultivating GM crops.[i]" said Greenpeace campaigner Éric Darrier. "There are so many oversights and exaggerations in this report that is hard to know where to start," said Mr Darrier. For example, the 'acreage' of GM crops is completely exaggerated in the report through the presentation of acreage by 'trait' rather than the actual acreage of a crop. If a particular plant is cultivated on 100 hectares, ISAAA does not calculate its acreage as 100 hectares; they consider how many traits (characteristics) have been inserted into the ground. In the case of a crop that is stacked with three traits (e.g. pesticide producing + tolerance to 2 herbicides), the acreage is presented as 3 times 100 hectares = 300 hectares, wrongly tripling the acreage and misleading alike. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241824-GMO-Crops-Remain-a-Global-Failure Mon, 20 Feb 2012 15:33:25 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241823-UK-government-to-demand-access-to-all-phone-and-internet-user-data The British government is in the process of developing a scheme whereby all phone companies and broadband internet providers will be required to store customer transaction data for a year and hand it over to security services upon request. The databases would also include Facebook communications, Twitter posts - including direct messages between subscribers - and even communications between players in online video games. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241823-UK-government-to-demand-access-to-all-phone-and-internet-user-data Mon, 20 Feb 2012 15:30:42 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241821-Banking-s-SWIFT-Says-Ready-to-Block-Iran-Transactions Belgium-based SWIFT, which provides banks with a system for moving funds around the world, bowed to international pressure on Friday and said it was ready to block Iranian banks from using its network to transfer money. Expelling Iranian banks from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication would shut down Tehran's main avenue to doing business with the rest of the world - an outcome the West believes is crucial to curbing Iran's nuclear ambitions. SWIFT, which has never cut off a country before, has been closely following efforts in the United States and the European Union to develop new sanctions targeting Iran that would directly affect EU-based financial institutions. The United States and EU have already moved to sanction Iran's central bank. "SWIFT stands ready to act and discontinue its services to sanctioned Iranian financial institutions as soon as it has clarity on EU legislation currently being drafted," the company said in an emailed statement. The United States has been pushing the European Union to force SWIFT to evict the Iranian firms but it was unclear whether the EU would reach an agreement. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241821-Banking-s-SWIFT-Says-Ready-to-Block-Iran-Transactions Mon, 20 Feb 2012 15:10:24 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241820-New-York-Police-Department-monitored-Muslim-students-all-over-Northeast New York - One autumn morning in Buffalo, N.Y., a college student named Adeela Khan logged into her email and found a message announcing an upcoming Islamic conference in Toronto. Khan clicked "forward," sent it to a group of fellow Muslims at the University at Buffalo, and promptly forgot about it. But that simple act on Nov. 9, 2006, was enough to arouse the suspicion of an intelligence analyst at the New York Police Department, 300 miles away, who combed through her post and put her name in an official report. Marked "SECRET" in large red letters, the document went all the way to Commissioner Raymond Kelly's office. The report, along with other documents obtained by The Associated Press, reveals how the NYPD's intelligence division focused far beyond New York City as part of a surveillance program targeting Muslims. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241820-New-York-Police-Department-monitored-Muslim-students-all-over-Northeast Mon, 20 Feb 2012 15:04:34 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241818-New-York-State-inundated-with-public-comments-on-fracking From Upstate nuns to downstate doctors, from Jews Against Hydrofracking to the Gases for God Coalition, tens of thousands of New Yorkers have told the state what they think about hydrofracking. The state Department of Environmental Conservation has received more than 61,000 comments, from one-paragraph, hand-written notes to 85-page technical dissertations, all in response to an environmental report released in September. And now the DEC must review those comments - plus the 13,000 comments submitted on the 2009 draft report - and respond to them. "It's a massive undertaking," said Gregory Sovas, a former DEC official who now works for mining companies and landowners. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241818-New-York-State-inundated-with-public-comments-on-fracking Mon, 20 Feb 2012 14:51:12 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241816-Greece-Throws-in-the-Towel-Bows-to-German-Jackboot Greeks expect to agree a deal with the Eurozone leaders today, Monday, that will cede much of their country's independence. Greece will become an economic - and to a large extent a political - colony of Germany and its allies. Berlin will have a say in everything from the choice of prime minister to the types of medicines dispensed by pharmacies. In return for €230bn, made up of €130bn in fresh loans and €100bn in write-downs on privately held Greek government bonds, Greece is relieved from its immediate debt burden. But the money does not go to the Greek government, still less to the Greek people. It simply leaves them to live off the money they earn. For all the television pictures of rioting protesters, clouds of tear gas and burning buildings in central Athens over the last week, a striking feature of the political landscape is the lack of resistance to the German terms. The Greek political elite sound and look stunned, grudgingly surrendering to the demands of the Troika (EU, IMF and European Central Bank), but bereft of ideas about what else to do. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241816-Greece-Throws-in-the-Towel-Bows-to-German-Jackboot Mon, 20 Feb 2012 14:23:07 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241815-Capitol-Hill-terror-suspect-ensnared-by-US-intelligence-agencies On Friday Amine El Khalifi was arrested on charges of attempting to carry out a suicide bombing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The circumstances of his arrest immediately raise suspicions that he was the target of entrapment by US intelligence and law enforcement agencies. El Khalifi was arrested in a parking lot near Capitol Hill with what he believed were an explosive vest and a submachine gun. Both items, which were actually inoperable dummies, had just been given to him by undercover government agents who had driven him to the scene and given him instructions. El Khalifi apparently believed he was part of an Al Qaeda terrorist cell, but the individuals he thought were his Al Qaeda companions were in fact working for the US government. Because the explosive vest was a fake, El Khalifi "posed no threat to the public," Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd said Friday. Nevertheless, the Obama administration went out of its way to characterize the arrest as a "foiled terror plot" and a national victory in the "war on terror." http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241815-Capitol-Hill-terror-suspect-ensnared-by-US-intelligence-agencies Mon, 20 Feb 2012 14:16:26 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241799-U-N-Inspectors-to-Press-Iran-Over-Nuclear-Concerns U.N. nuclear inspectors headed to Iran on Sunday for talks aimed at getting Tehran to start addressing their mounting concerns that it may be seeking to develop atomic bombs. "We hope to have a couple of good and constructive days in Tehran," Herman Nackaerts, deputy director general of the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said at Vienna airport as the five-member team prepared to depart. "The highest priority remains of course the possible military dimensions of Iran's nuclear programme," he told reporters, making clear he wanted to see concrete results in the discussions with Iranian officials. Western diplomats have played down any hopes of a major breakthrough in the February 20-21 meeting, even though it comes just a few days after signs of a possible opening for diplomacy in the long-running nuclear dispute. "I'm still pessimistic that Iran will demonstrate the substantive cooperation necessary," one envoy said. The outcome, after an inconclusive first round of discussions last month, could determine whether the international stand-off over Iran's uranium enrichment programme escalates further or offers scope to reduce tensions. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241799-U-N-Inspectors-to-Press-Iran-Over-Nuclear-Concerns Mon, 20 Feb 2012 00:56:11 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241789-Saudi-Arabia-Mujtahidd-A-Tweeting-Thorn-in-the-Side-of-Al-Saud A controversial campaign by the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia to discredit twitter has failed to silence @mujtahidd, a rising tweeting star exposing the corruption of the royal family. In an exclusive interview with Al-Akhbar, @mujtahidd spoke about his motives and vision for change in the Saudi kingdom. Last month, Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia Abdul-Aziz al-Sheikh issued a statement calling on Muslims to avoid Twitter. He argued that Twitter is used to "spread lies," "issue fatwas without basis and not supported by evidence," and "smear" important religious and political figures. Many were not convinced by this argument and began to speculate about the real reason behind the Saudi mufti issuing such an injunction against Twitter in particular, as opposed to the other websites and forums popular among Saudis. So what is happening on Twitter in Saudi Arabia, where the highest number of users in the Middle East are found? There is indeed something out of the ordinary, and he goes by the twitter tag of @mujtahidd (studious in Arabic). Since last November, @mujtahidd has been tweeting about the most prominent members of the ruling family. In the process he has revealed a great deal about their various acts of corruption and financial scandals, in addition to details about their extravagant lifestyles supported by state coffers. The list of individuals linked to the royal family targeted by @mujtahidd thus far includes the Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz and a number of his sons, including Royal Diwan chief of staff Khaled Tuwaijri, Saudi Crown Prince Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz (who @mujtahidd revealed has recently undergone bypass surgery), and Nayef's son Prince Saud, who is currently serving as his father's chief of staff. Others targeted include Minister of Defense Salman bin Abdul-Aziz, Deputy Minister of Defense Khaled bin Sultan, Prince Talal bin Abdul-Aziz, Chairman of Al Hilal Saudi Football Club Abdulrahman bin Musa'ad, Prince Nayef bin Mamdouh, and head of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice Abdul Latif al-Sheikh. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241789-Saudi-Arabia-Mujtahidd-A-Tweeting-Thorn-in-the-Side-of-Al-Saud Sun, 19 Feb 2012 16:43:42 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241781-Canada-Baird-speech-dropped-pro-Palestinian-remark-docs-reveal A Canadian expression of goodwill toward the Palestinian people was left on the cutting-room floor when Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird addressed the United Nations General Assembly last fall. Baird rejected early departmental drafts of his maiden address to the UN that said Canada is a "leading supporter" of the Palestinian people and outlined major spending that backed that assertion, The Canadian Press has learned. Baird ended up delivering a much tougher address than envisioned by his speech writers, one that unequivocally emphasized Canada's support for Israel -- a position for which he makes no apologies and which has generated much criticism of the Harper Conservatives. Copies of the draft texts of the speech, obtained under the Access to Information Act, show Baird used a radically reworked text when he represented Canada for the first time at the General Assembly on Sept. 26, 2011. In his address, Baird drew a parallel with pre-Second World War appeasers of Nazi Germany, saying: "Canada will not accept or stay silent while the Jewish state is attacked for defending its territory and its citizens. The Second World War taught us all the tragic price of 'going along' just to 'get along.' http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241781-Canada-Baird-speech-dropped-pro-Palestinian-remark-docs-reveal Sun, 19 Feb 2012 14:47:08 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241778-Germany-drawing-up-plans-for-Greece-to-leave-the-euro Plans for Greece to default, potentially leaving the euro, have been drafted in Germany as the European Union begins to face up to the fact that Greek debt is spiralling out of control - with or without a second bailout. The German finance ministry is actively pushing for Greece to declare itself bankrupt and to agree a "haircut" on the bulk of its debts held by banks, a move that would be classed as a default by financial markets. Eurozone finance ministers meet on Monday to approve the next tranche of loans from the EU and the International Monetary Fund, designed to stave off national bankruptcy while the new Greek government puts the country's finances in order. But the severe austerity measures being demanded have caused such fury in Greece, and the cuts required are so deep, that Wolfgang Schäuble, the German finance minister, does not believe that any government would be able to implement them. His pessimism has been tipped into despair with a secret European Commission, Central and IMF report that even if Greece made good on its promises, it would not be enough to reach the target of bringing total debt to 120 per cent of GDP by 2020. "He just thinks the Greeks cannot do what needs to be done. And even if by some miracle they did what has been promised, he - and a growing group - are convinced it will not pull Greece out the hole," said a eurozone official. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241778-Germany-drawing-up-plans-for-Greece-to-leave-the-euro Sun, 19 Feb 2012 14:34:24 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241770-Shootings-Bombings-Across-Iraq-Leave-22-Dead Twenty-two people have been killed and several others injured in shootings and bomb attacks in the capital Baghdad and the cities of Baqouba and Samarra, security officials say. Iraqi security officials said 15 people were killed and 21 others wounded in a car bombing at the entrance of the Baghdad police academy on Sunday. Elsewhere, gunmen killed four people in an attack in the city of Baqouba, about 63 kilometers (40 miles) north of Baghdad, on Sunday. In a separate shooting in the town of Abu Khamis, north of Baqouba, gunmen also attacked a police checkpoint on Sunday, killing three people and bringing the death toll to 22. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241770-Shootings-Bombings-Across-Iraq-Leave-22-Dead Sun, 19 Feb 2012 13:38:03 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241768-US-Secretive-Navy-SEALs-Take-Starring-Role-in-New-Film The secretive Navy SEALs are coming out of the shadows for a new Hollywood film, with elite commandos cast in starring roles in a radical departure for America's special forces. In Act of Valor, the select troops who call themselves "the quiet professionals" take a turn as leading men on the big screen, reciting lines from a script as they race to prevent terrorists from carrying out an attack on the United States. Filming began in 2007, before the Navy's Sea, Air and Land Teams were catapulted to fame for their daring raid last May that killed Al-Qaeda mastermind Osama bin Laden. US defense officials did not find out about the movie until after the fact, causing consternation at the Pentagon, which has an office that vets scripts and negotiates cooperation deals with Hollywood producers. Although troops have appeared in movies before, such as Black Hawk Down, this film ventures into uncharted territory, possibly jeopardizing the anonymity that the special forces have sought to safeguard. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241768-US-Secretive-Navy-SEALs-Take-Starring-Role-in-New-Film Sun, 19 Feb 2012 13:32:41 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241767-Iran-Stops-Oil-Sales-to-British-French-Companies Iran has stopped selling crude to British and French companies, the oil ministry said on Sunday, in a retaliatory measure against fresh EU sanctions on the Islamic state's lifeblood, oil. "Exporting crude to British and French companies has been stopped ... we will sell our oil to new customers," spokesman Alireza Nikzad was quoted as saying by the ministry of petroleum website. The European Union in January decided to stop importing crude from Iran from July 1 over its disputed nuclear program, which the West says is aimed at building bombs. Iran denies this. Iran's oil minister said on February 4 that the Islamic state would cut its oil exports to "some" European countries. The European Commission said last week that the bloc would not be short of oil if Iran stopped crude exports, as they have enough in stock to meet their needs for around 120 days. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241767-Iran-Stops-Oil-Sales-to-British-French-Companies Sun, 19 Feb 2012 13:09:56 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241761-US-Britain-Urge-Israel-Not-to-Attack-Iran The U.S. and Britain on Sunday urged Israel not to attack Iran's nuclear program as the White House's national security adviser arrived in the region, reflecting growing international jitters that the Israelis are poised to strike. In their warnings, both the U.S. joint chiefs of staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey, and British Foreign Minister William Hague said an Israeli attack on Iran would have grave consequences for the entire region and urged Israel to give international sanctions against Iran more time to work. Dempsey said an Israeli attack is "not prudent," and Hague said it would not be "a wise thing." Both Israel and the West believe Iran is trying to develop a nuclear bomb - a charge Tehran denies. But differences have emerged in how to respond to the perceived threat. The U.S. and the European Union have both imposed harsh new sanctions targeting Iran's oil sector, the lifeline of the Iranian economy. With the sanctions just beginning to bite, they have expressed optimism that Iran can be persuaded to curb its nuclear ambitions. On Sunday, Iran's Oil Ministry said it has halted oil shipments to Britain and France in an apparent pre-emptive blow against the European Union. The semiofficial Mehr news agency said the National Iranian Oil Company has sent letters to some European refineries with an ultimatum to either sign long-term contracts of two to five years or be cut off. The 27-nation EU accounts for about 18 percent of Iran's oil exports. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241761-US-Britain-Urge-Israel-Not-to-Attack-Iran Sun, 19 Feb 2012 12:04:39 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241760-Scoring-the-Global-War-on-Terror-From-Liberation-to-Assassination-in-Three-Quick-Rounds An Introduction by Tom Engelhardt: If all goes as planned, it will be the happiest of wartimes in the U.S.A. Only the best of news, the killing of the baddest of the evildoers, will ever filter back to our world. After all, American war is heading for the "shadows" in a big way. As news articles have recently made clear, the tip of the Obama administration's global spear will increasingly be shaped from the ever-growing ranks of U.S. special operations forces. They are so secretive that they don't like their operatives to be named, so covert that they instruct their members, as Spencer Ackerman of Wired's Danger Room blog notes, "not to write down important information, lest it be vulnerable to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act." By now, they are also a force that, in any meaningful sense, is unaccountable for its actions. Although the special ops crew (66,000 people in all) exist on our tax dollars, we're really not supposed to know anything about what they're doing -- unless, of course, they choose the publicity venue themselves, whether in Pakistan knocking off Osama bin Laden or parachuting onto Hollywood's Sunset Boulevard to promote Act of Valor. In case you somehow missed the ads, that's the new film about "real terrorist threats based on true stories starring actual Navy SEALs." (No names in the credits please!) Of course, those elite SEAL teams are johnnies-come-lately when compared to their no less secretive "teammates" in places like Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Somalia -- our ever increasing armada of drones. Those robotic warriors of the air (or at least their fantasy doppelgangers) were, of course, pre-celebrated -- after a fashion -- in the Terminator movies. In Washington's global battle zones, what's called our "traditional combat role" -- think big invasions, occupations, counterinsurgency -- is going, going, gone with the wind, even evidently in Afghanistan by 2013. War American-style is instead being inherited by secretive teams of men and machines, both hunter-killers who specialize in assassination operations, and both of whom, as presented to Americans, just couldn't be sexier. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241760-Scoring-the-Global-War-on-Terror-From-Liberation-to-Assassination-in-Three-Quick-Rounds Sun, 19 Feb 2012 11:59:16 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241755-In-Russia-Putin-Allies-Sharpen-Anti-American-Attacks-Ahead-of-Elections A nasty spate of anti-Americanism set off by Vladimir V. Putin has grown into waves of attacks aimed at the new American ambassador and Russian opposition leaders, raising questions about the future of U.S.-Russian relations. The attacks started just before the December parliamentary elections and have intensified as the March 4 presidential vote approaches. Although widely viewed as aimed primarily at a domestic audience, they have grown shriller and more aggressive, provoking debate about whether Russia is deliberately giving a cold shoulder to President Obama's effort to promote more productive relations. A main target of the attacks is Michael McFaul, the new ambassador, a longtime democracy advocate and Russia expert who as a top aide to Obama has been an architect of what the White House calls a "reset'' with Moscow. The anti-American campaign bears trademark Soviet and KGB thinking, reflecting the mindset of many of the high-level officials appointed by Putin as well as their efforts to protect their power and privileges from the gathering opposition. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241755-In-Russia-Putin-Allies-Sharpen-Anti-American-Attacks-Ahead-of-Elections Sun, 19 Feb 2012 11:19:02 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241748-FBI-Latest-Government-Agency-to-Target-Social-Media The US Federal Bureau of Investigation posted a Request for Information last month calling on IT companies to demonstrate their ability to design software for monitoring, mapping and analyzing social media. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241748-FBI-Latest-Government-Agency-to-Target-Social-Media Sun, 19 Feb 2012 07:45:15 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241743-Azerbaijan-Safe-Haven-for-Mossad-Terrorists-Report The Azerbaijani government has reportedly aided a terrorist element, involved in the killing of Iranian nuclear scientists, who belongs to the Israeli spy agency of Mossad. According to the report, the Jewish man who worked as a Mossad agent in Baku using the assumed name Javidan had a major role in the assassination of Iranian nuclear experts Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan and Massoud Ali-Mohammadi. Ahmadi Roshan was killed in January after a motorcyclist attached a magnetic bomb to his car in Tehran. He served as the deputy director of marketing at the Natanz nuclear facility. According to the report, Azeri secret service helped Mossad agents in terrorist attacks against Iranians by providing technical and logistical support. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241743-Azerbaijan-Safe-Haven-for-Mossad-Terrorists-Report Sun, 19 Feb 2012 03:29:32 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241742-Iran-s-18th-Fleet-Enters-Mediterranean The commander of the Iranian Navy says the country's 18th Fleet has sailed through Egypt's Suez Canal and into the Mediterranean Sea. Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari made the remarks during a meeting with Iranian Navy commanders and personnel on Saturday. "The Navy's 18th fleet will... carry the message of peace and friendship to regional countries and display the might of the Islamic Republic of Iran," he stated. Sayyari said that this is the second time that an Iranian naval fleet has passed through the Suez Canal since the Islamic Revolution of 1979. He noted that the mission shows that the sanctions the enemies imposed on the country have not hindered Iran's scientific progress and military capabilities. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241742-Iran-s-18th-Fleet-Enters-Mediterranean Sun, 19 Feb 2012 03:22:28 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241741-Military-Attack-on-Iran-Not-Prudent-US-General-Dempsey Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey has warned against a military invasion of Iran over its nuclear program, describing such a move as imprudent. "It's not prudent at this point to decide to attack Iran," Dempsey told CNN in an interview that is reportedly scheduled to be broadcast Sunday morning. "I think it would be premature to exclusively decide that the time for a military option was upon us," he further stated. According to the US-based news network, Dempsey believes that a military strike against Iran would be destabilizing and that it would not serve the interests of anybody, especially the Israelis. "A strike at this time would be destabilizing and wouldn't achieve their (the Israelis') long-term objectives," Dempsey added. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241741-Military-Attack-on-Iran-Not-Prudent-US-General-Dempsey Sun, 19 Feb 2012 03:18:32 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241739-Ron-Paul-U-S-Slipping-into-a-Fascist-System- Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul warned the U.S. is "slipping into a fascist system" dominated by government and businesses as he held a fiery rally Saturday night upstaging established Republican Party banquets a short distance away. The Texas congressman drew a couple thousand standing and chanting people to Kansas City's Union Station as the party's establishment dined on steak across the street at the Missouri GOP's annual conference. Kansas Republicans were holding a similar convention in a suburb across the state line. Paul staged his rally near the nation's World War I museum, asserting that the U.S. got off track about 100 years ago during the era of President Woodrow Wilson, who led the nation through World War I and unsuccessfully advocated for the nation's involvement in a forerunner of the United Nations. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241739-Ron-Paul-U-S-Slipping-into-a-Fascist-System- Sun, 19 Feb 2012 03:00:48 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241737-Turkey-Will-Not-Allow-NATO-to-Share-Intelligence-with-Israel Turkey will never allow any third country, particularly Israel, to use intelligence obtained by a NATO radar system, its foreign minister said on Friday. "We will never allow any third country to use any NATO facility. Our position will be even more clear if it is particularly Israel," Davutoglu told a joint news conference with visiting NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen in Ankara. His remarks came after some media outlets reported that the United States and Israel have carried out a joint missile test by using intelligence gathered by a NATO radar system based in eastern Turkey. Last year Ankara decided to host in a military facility base near Malatya in the southeast an early warning radar as part of NATO's defense architecture. "It is a NATO system and we appreciate that Turkey has agreed to host one of the facilities," said Rasmussen. "Data are shared within our alliance among the allies. It is a defence system to protect the populations of NATO allies," he added without mentioning Israel, which is not a NATO member. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241737-Turkey-Will-Not-Allow-NATO-to-Share-Intelligence-with-Israel Sun, 19 Feb 2012 02:39:00 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241734-Exclusive-Algeria-Seizes-Missiles-Smuggled-from-Libya Algerian security forces have found a large cache of weapons, including shoulder-fired missiles, which they believe were smuggled in from neighboring Libya, a security source briefed on the discovery told Reuters on Saturday. The find follows warnings from governments in the region that instability in Libya after the end of Muammar Gaddafi's rule is allowing weapons taken from Gaddafi's arsenal to fall into the hands of al Qaeda's north African branch and other insurgent groups across the Sahara desert. The weapons cache was discovered in the desert about 60 km (40 miles) south of In Amenas, an energy-producing Algerian region near the border with Libya, said the source, who spoke to Reuters on condition on anonymity. The source said the cache was located following a tip-off from a smuggler who had been arrested. He said it contained a "large quantity" of arms including the shoulder-launched missiles - a weapon which, in some variations, could be used to bring down an aircraft. "This weapons seizure shows that the chaos in Libya is dangerous for the whole region," the source said. There was no official confirmation of the discovery from the Algerian government and there was no way of independently verifying the source's account. Western security experts tracking arms which have disappeared from Gaddafi's looted arms depots say the shoulder-fired missiles - also known as man-portable air defense systems, or MANPADS - are one of their biggest concerns because they could be used with relative ease by insurgent groups. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241734-Exclusive-Algeria-Seizes-Missiles-Smuggled-from-Libya Sun, 19 Feb 2012 02:28:07 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241732-Not-a-coincidence-Mossad-chief-visited-New-Delhi-days-before-attack Mossad chief Tamir Pardo visited New Delhi just days before an attack on Israeli officials in the Indian capital this week, the Times of India reported yesterday. But the Mossad chief's talks with local intelligence heads did not deal with a possible terror attack in India, and Pardo is cited as saying Israelis were safer in India than in Turkey, countries in East Asia or South America. On Monday, the wife of an Israeli diplomat was moderately wounded when a car bomb exploded in New Delhi. The attack was one of three this week that targeted Israeli officials abroad, with failed attempts to strike at diplomats reported the same day in Tbilisi and on the following day in Bangkok. None of the attacks was preceded by a specific intelligence alert. Pardo reportedly arrived at the head of a high-level Mossad team for meetings with the heads of local Indian intelligence. They discussed the possibility of an Iranian counterattack against Israeli targets, but the possibility of an attack taking place in New Delhi did not even come up. The attack "appears to have come as a surprise to Mossad," the newspaper said. Comment: Oh, really? And we think, Mossad probably planned a little encouragement and demonstation for its Indian "friends" in case they wouldn't be cooperative enough regarding Iran issue. The newspaper reported that Israel's deputy envoy to India, Yahel Vilan, and the embassy's security officer, Shahar Gal Nero, sent a letter on February 1 to the New Delhi police warning of the possibility of attacks targeting Israeli citizens ahead of the anniversary of Hezbollah's Imad Mughniyeh's death, and following attacks against Iranian nuclear scientists. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241732-Not-a-coincidence-Mossad-chief-visited-New-Delhi-days-before-attack Sun, 19 Feb 2012 02:15:30 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241731-Greek-Cabinet-Backs-Extra-Austerity-Measures Greece's cabinet on Saturday approved a final set of austerity measures sought by the EU and IMF as a condition for a 130-billion euro ($171 billion) rescue package, raising the chances of a deal next week to avert a chaotic default on its debt. The approval was largely a formality after Athens last week unveiled details of the extra budget and public sector wage cuts worth 325 million euros to euro zone partners. Lingering doubts over whether Greece can bring its mountain of debt down to more manageable levels in coming years could still hold up the rescue package. Some officials in the 17-nation currency union warn chances of a deal at a euro zone meeting on Monday are little higher than 50-50. "The 325 million euros worth of measures were approved unanimously," said one minister, speaking on condition of anonymity, about the cuts, part of a 3.3-billion-euro package of austerity measures that have triggered riots in Athens. A government official said cabinet had also agreed to launch by March 8 a debt swap for private creditors with the aim of completing it by March 11. The swap is intended to accompany the rescue deal and will mean that creditors take a 70 percent cut in the real value of their holdings. After months of often acrimonious negotiations, Greek hopes are rising that Monday's meeting in Brussels will endorse the rescue which Athens needs to avoid bankruptcy on March 20 when major debt repayments fall due. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241731-Greek-Cabinet-Backs-Extra-Austerity-Measures Sun, 19 Feb 2012 02:10:42 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241730-France-Prostitution-Probe-to-Quiz-Strauss-Kahn Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn is to be questioned next week by police investigating an alleged prostitution ring in Lille, northern France, a police source said. The former finance minister, who left the International Monetary Fund (IMF) last May to face attempted rape charges in New York that were later dropped, had publicly demanded to be interviewed in the separate Lille case. Strauss-Kahn has been summoned for 3:00 a.m. EST on Tuesday, the source said, confirming a report in La Voix du Nord newspaper on Saturday. He is to be taken into custody and questioned for up to 48 hours, according to the regional daily. Messages left for Strauss-Kahn's Paris attorney were not immediately returned. Once seen as a likely contender against French President Nicolas Sarkozy in upcoming elections, Strauss-Kahn bowed out of public life after his U.S. arrest on allegations that he attempted to rape a Guinean hotel maid. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241730-France-Prostitution-Probe-to-Quiz-Strauss-Kahn Sun, 19 Feb 2012 01:59:33 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241729-Report-Israel-s-Mossad-still-using-foreign-passports-in-undercover-operations According to The Times, new evidence indicates that foreign nationals in Israel willingly allow the Mossad to use their passports in order to carry out undercover operations abroad. Israeli Mossad spies are still using foreign passports, including those of British nationals, when conducting undercover operations abroad, according to The Times of London. According to the report, new evidence suggests that foreign nationals in Israel continue to allow the Mossad to use their passports - on many occasions willingly. The Times article stated that two young men agreed to be interviewed on condition of anonymity - and only once they had had their passports returned. A third man said he had been involved in a similar scheme, but was still serving in the Israeli military and declined to be interviewed. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241729-Report-Israel-s-Mossad-still-using-foreign-passports-in-undercover-operations Sun, 19 Feb 2012 01:59:26 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241726-US-officials-believe-Iran-sanctions-will-fail-making-military-action-likely Growing view that strike, by Israel or US, will happen 'Sweet spot' for Israeli action identified as September-October White House remains determined to give sanctions time Officials in key parts of the Obama administration are increasingly convinced that sanctions will not deter Tehran from pursuing its nuclear programme, and believe that the US will be left with no option but to launch an attack on Iran or watch Israel do so. The president has made clear in public, and in private to Israel, that he is determined to give sufficient time for recent measures, such as the financial blockade and the looming European oil embargo, to bite deeper into Iran's already battered economy before retreating from its principal strategy to pressure Tehran. But there is a strong current of opinion within the administration - including in the Pentagon and the state department - that believes sanctions are doomed to fail, and that their principal use now is in delaying Israeli military action, as well as reassuring Europe that an attack will only come after other means have been tested. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241726-US-officials-believe-Iran-sanctions-will-fail-making-military-action-likely Sat, 18 Feb 2012 22:38:54 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241720-Washington-DC-FBI-Foils-Own-Terror-Plot-Again- The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has once again proven that the only thing Americans need fear, is their own government, with the latest "terror attack" foiled being one entirely of their own design. USA Today reports that a suspect had been arrested by the FBI who was "en route to the U.S. Capitol allegedly to detonate a suicide bomb." While initial reports portrayed the incident as a narrowly averted terrorist attack, CBS would report that a "high ranking source told CBS News the man was "never a real threat."" The explosives the would-be bomber carried were provided to him by the FBI during what they described as a "lengthy and extensive operation." The only contact the suspect had with "Al Qaeda" was with FBI officials posing as associates of the elusive, omnipresent, bearded terror conglomerate. The FBI, much like their MI5 counterparts in England, have a propensity for recruiting likely candidates from mosques they covertly run. This is but the latest in a string of national terror plots carried out from start to finish by the FBI, who has made a business of approaching likely candidates and grooming them to carry out terror attacks. In September 2011, another FBI terror operation targeting the Capitol was "foiled," involving a patsy who believed he was to take part in an assault that would involve multiple gunmen and even a drone bomber provided to him by the FBI. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241720-Washington-DC-FBI-Foils-Own-Terror-Plot-Again- Sat, 18 Feb 2012 12:46:40 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241712-Elite-Think-Tanks-Neuroscience-and-Military-Mind-Wars The elite UK think-tank, The Royal Society, which has openly admitted to studying how to play God with the climate, has kicked off a new program that reveals another level of control entirely: the human brain. The Brain Waves project is divided into four modules, each tasked with studying the impact of developments in the field of neuroscience and neurotechnology. The titles of the modules reflect the areas of examination: Module 1: Society and policy Module 2: Implications for education and lifelong learning Module 3: Conflict and security Module 4: Responsibility and the law The results from these modules have been published, and clearly illustrate how this panel views the lower public masses in light of their status as the elite arbiters of human destiny. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241712-Elite-Think-Tanks-Neuroscience-and-Military-Mind-Wars Sat, 18 Feb 2012 11:46:29 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241693-US-Israel-invoke-fake-terror-to-ratchet-up-war-threats-against-Iran Both Washington and Israel have seized upon a string of abortive bomb plots in India, Georgia and Thailand to escalate war threats against Iran. In India, an unknown individual on a motorcycle attached a bomb to a car in which the wife of an Israeli diplomat was riding in Delhi on February 13. The woman and the car's driver were lightly injured. On the same day in Tbilisi, Georgia, a bomb was discovered attached to an Israeli embassy vehicle and defused. And in Bangkok, Thailand, three individuals identified as Iranians were arrested after a bizarre incident Tuesday in which explosives detonated inside their apartment and one of them blew off his own legs with a homemade grenade. The three incidents, in which there were no fatalities, were immediately labeled by the Israeli government as terrorist attacks organized by Tehran that, in the words of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, demonstrated why all nations must draw "red lines against Iranian aggression." http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241693-US-Israel-invoke-fake-terror-to-ratchet-up-war-threats-against-Iran Fri, 17 Feb 2012 19:11:14 -0600