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Crusader

Bush, Blair Found Guilty of War Crimes by Tribunal


A War Crimes Tribunal in Malaysia has found former US President George W. Bush and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair guilty of war crimes for their roles in the Iraq war, Press TV reports.

The five-panel Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Tribunal decided that Bush and Blair committed genocide and crimes against humanity by leading the invasion of Iraq in 2003, a Press TV correspondent reported on Tuesday.

In 2003, the US and Britain invaded Iraq in blatant violation of international law and under the pretext of finding weapons of mass destruction allegedly stockpiled by former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

Arrow Down

US: Federal Reserve 2012 bank stress test simulates conditions reminiscent of a 1st stage economic collapse

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© tidesofpewpew via Flickr
The dark clouds in the Federal Reserve's 2012 annual stress test are keeping bankers up at night, as banks are being asked to imagine their balance sheet situation under some horrible economic scenarios.

Under the Fed's bleakest black sky scenario, financial institutions will have to weather 13.1% unemployment, the Dow at 5,600, and Europe in severe recession.

The test, known as the Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review, includes 12 other metrics for the U.S. market including GDP and inflation, with another 11 points for global economies.

Radar

Medvedev: Russia may target missile defense sites

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© AP Photo/Alexander Nemenov, Pool
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev speaks at an award ceremony in the Gorki residence outside Moscow, Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2011.
Moscow - Russia will deploy new missiles aimed at U.S. missile defense sites in Europe if Washington goes ahead with the planned shield despite Russia's concerns, President Dmitry Medvedev said Wednesday.

Russia will station missiles in its westernmost Kaliningrad region and other areas if Russia and NATO fail to reach a deal on the U.S.-led missile defense plans, he said in a tough statement that seemed to be aimed at rallying domestic support.

Russia considers the plans for missile shields in Europe, including in Romania and Poland, to be a threat to its nuclear forces, but the Obama administration insists they are meant to fend off a potential threat from Iran.

Moscow has agreed to consider NATO's proposal last fall to cooperate on the missile shield, but the talks have been deadlocked over how the system should operate. Russia has insisted that the system should be run jointly, which NATO has rejected.

Attention

Egypt protesters battle on to end army rule

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© Reuters/Mohamed Abd El-Ghany
Protesters chant slogans against the head of the ruling military council Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, at Tahrir Square in Cairo November 22, 2011.
Street clashes rumbled on in Cairo on Wednesday as protesters derided a deal struck between Egypt's ruling generals and mostly Islamist parties for a faster transfer to civilian rule.

The death toll in five days of violence climbed to 37 by a Reuters count after a man was killed in the city of Alexandria. Hardcore protesters battled police through the night in Cairo.

The Health Ministry said 32 people had been killed and 2,000 wounded in disturbances across the country of 80 million.

Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, head of the military council that has run Egypt since Hosni Mubarak fell on February 11, promised on Tuesday that a civilian president would be elected in June, about six months sooner than the army had planned.

"Leave, leave," responded crowds in Cairo's Tahrir Square. "The people want to topple the marshal."

Eye 2

Psychopaths Rule The World: The Devaluation of Human Life

Why is it that what our leaders say is completely betrayed by what they do?


Comment: Educate yourselves:

Political Ponerology: The Scientific Study of Evil Adjusted for Political Purposes

Puzzling People: The Labyrinth of the Psychopath

Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us

The Sociopath Next Door


Black Cat

Goldman Sachs' cEUp d'état: Introducing Italy's unelected PM Mario Monti

It's Europe's second unelected Prime Minister in just a few weeks, as Italy's government succumbs to the will of 'the market' and our ECB / IMF overlords. Following our look at the BBC's introduction of Greece's Lucas Papademos, here's a quick look at their profile of Monti.
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© BBC

It's the most glowing profile of a public official / unelected (or for that matter) elected official you're ever likely to see. Here's a quick selection of glowing tributes:
"Mr Monti is a well-respected economist, well connected to the upper ranks of the EU machine"

"he earned the nickname "Super Mario" for the way he took on vested interests"

"the soft-spoken economist from Lombardy"

"He is a tough negotiator, head of a university with the reputation for producing Italy's finest thinkers.

"He has been seen as rather above politics"

Black Cat

Introducing Greece's new PM Lucas Papademos

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Lucas Papademos: technocrat
"The euro area financial system is robust and well-capable of withstanding shocks...balance sheets of...banks...have continued to strengthen" [Lucas Papademos, ECB Financial Stability Review June 2006]

Papademos has an interesting CV, one that is lovingly glossed over by the BBC:
BBC: "As head of the Bank of Greece, he oversaw his country's move from the drachma to the euro in 2002."
Alternative: "Papademos was head of Greece's Central Bank when Goldman Sachs was helping 'the Greek government to mask the true extent of its deficit with the help of a derivatives deal that legally circumvented the EU Maastricht deficit rules'."

BBC: "More recently, as an adviser to outgoing Prime Minister George Papandreou, he took part in the negotiations between Athens and the "troika" of international creditors (the IMF, the European Commission and the European Central Bank) bailing out the Greek government."

Bad Guys

Astounding Corporate Ties of "Humanitarian" USAID with Monsanto in Nepal

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© southasiarev.wordpress.com
After a decade of fighting, ending in 2006, Nepal's Maoist insurgents had finally achieved their dream of ending the nation's 240-year-old monarchy and establishing a secular "federal republic" in 2008. For those keeping score, the terms "Maoist" and "Marxist" and even "secular" or "federal republic" are for rhetorical consumption only, as Nepal's new "Maoist" government built on the back of a violent revolution, fully funded and supported by the West now flirts with the forces of Wall Street/London corporate-fascism in a predictable turn of events that fully betray the "People's War" propaganda that sent tens of thousands of well-intentioned, heroic men to their deaths on both sides.

Natural News has exposed that USAID along with Monsanto and the Nepalese government have started a "pilot program" indoctrinating some 20,000 farmers in the use of patented, poisoned, economy-wrecking GMO crops, in particular Monsanto's infamous hybrid maize breeds. The program has also received backing from members of neighboring India's government who have already helped introduce Monsanto's GMO crops throughout their country - beginning the wholesale destruction of India's food security and domestic farming industry.

Chess

Theft in progress: Big Ag raids the treasury - with help from Congress

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© Grist
If the straight-up taxpayer swindle taking place in the supercommittee isn't making you angry, you're probably not paying attention. I'm talking about the attempt by agribusiness and a group of willing farm-state representatives to put billions of taxpayer dollars into the pockets of industrial farmers during the ongoing super committee Farm Bill negotiations.

According to The Hill, the moment of truth is upon us: The supercommittee is indeed poised to rewrite the Farm Bill behind closed doors and with no input from reform-minded congresspeople, let alone the public. Many of us have known this was going on, but the Environmental Working Group (EWG) found some new developments that are nothing short of shocking.

Star of David

John F. Kennedy Opposed Israel's Power

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© N/A
John F. Kennedy and family.
Tomorrow, November 22, 2011 is the 48th anniversary of the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy. One part of JFK's character which will not be covered by the mass media is his courageous opposition to the power Israel enjoys over the United States of America.

In the thought provoking book, They Dare to Speak Out by Paul Findley we read on page 114 that during Kennedy's campaign for president in 1960 he had a meeting with some prominent Jews. Kennedy was very insulted when one of the Jews said they knew Kennedy's campaign was in financial difficulty and that he and his Jewish friends would "help and help significantly" John Kennedy's campaign if, as president, Kennedy "would allow them to set the course of Middle East policy over the next four years." It was this meeting that made JFK want to work for a law that would have the U.S. Treasury pay a set and equal amount for all politicians running for president who secured a to be determined percentage of signatures of people supporting their campaign. He saw this as the only way to prevent the nightmare of today, which has not only the President, but the overwhelming majority of people in Congress bought and paid for by the very powerful Israeli lobby. Israel's lobby is so strong that hardly any politician will disobey their orders regarding U.S. Middle East foreign policy. And that includes starting wars, such as the war in Iraq, which benefit Israel and harm America and the rest of the world.