Puppet Masters
A New Book Transforms Our Understanding of What the Vietnam War Actually Was
For half a century we have been arguing about "the Vietnam War." Is it possible that we didn't know what we were talking about? After all that has been written (some 30,000 books and counting), it scarcely seems possible, but such, it turns out, has literally been the case.
Now, in Kill Anything that Moves, Nick Turse has for the first time put together a comprehensive picture, written with mastery and dignity, of what American forces actually were doing in Vietnam. The findings disclose an almost unspeakable truth. Meticulously piecing together newly released classified information, court-martial records, Pentagon reports, and firsthand interviews in Vietnam and the United States, as well as contemporaneous press accounts and secondary literature, Turse discovers that episodes of devastation, murder, massacre, rape, and torture once considered isolated atrocities were in fact the norm, adding up to a continuous stream of atrocity, unfolding, year after year, throughout that country.

Martin Luther King at Washington DC's Lincoln Memorial in 1968. Barack Obama used the day before his inauguration to honour the spirit of King.
The civil right achievements of Martin Luther King are quite justly the focus of the annual birthday commemoration of his legacy. But it is remarkable, as I've noted before on this holiday, how completely his vehement anti-war advocacy is ignored when commemorating his life (just as his economic views are). By King's own description, his work against US violence and militarism, not only in Vietnam but generally, was central - indispensable - to his worldview and activism, yet it has been almost completely erased from how he is remembered.
State Sen. David Hold (R) authored Senate Bill 327 after discovering that Oklahoma law actually protects smokers from workplace discrimination.
"I was just kind of incredulous that there was a protection like this because, as I said, these are the kinds of protections you'd think we have for race and gender, not smokers," he told KFOR-TV in Oklahoma City.
It seems that the establishment media has intensified their attack on "conspiracy theorists". It's long been their feeble attempt to discredit anyone who dares question the "official" narrative of events. But why the sudden deluge of attacks?
First, what does conspiracy theory even mean?
con·spir·a·cy - An agreement to perform together an illegal, wrongful, or subversive act.
the·o·ry - A set of statements or principles devised to explain a group of facts or phenomena.
con·spir·a·cy the·o·ry - The belief that the government or a covert organization is responsible for an event that is unusual or unexplained.In short, a conspiracy theorist seeks the full facts about covert subversive acts, and unusual or unexplained events. Put another way, when the story of an event doesn't add up, theories arise to explain what really happened.
Given the abominable track record of the establishment media, it's become more common to question everything we hear rather than blindly swallowing their script.
As the initial reporting of the Sandy Hook school massacre was so scattered, and policymakers immediately seized the crisis to promote a long desired agenda of strict gun control, it's no wonder that some have questioned the authenticity of the "official" version of events.
WikiLeaks said it was divulging this information "due to the investigation into the Secret Service involvement with #AaronSwartz."
Swartz, who committed a suicide on Jan. 11, was arrested two years ago for breaking and entering into an MIT storage closet and accessing an Acer laptop that he programmed to download millions of scholarly articles from the JSTOR database. The Secret Service took charge of the Swartz investigation two days before his arrest and provided the prosecution with information that led to its harsh pursuit of the 26-year-old.
While it is unclear why WikiLeaks decided to disclose Swartz's involvement with the document archive organization, some have suggested that the alliance may have prompted the US Attorney's Office and the Secret Service to pursue Swartz more harshly.

Mr Bratton (L), former head of New York City Police and the Los Angeles Police Department, was drafted in by David Cameron to advise on tackling gang warfare in Britain in 2011.
Changes rip up tradition of only British citizens serving in the police
Foreign crimebusters such as US supercop Bill Bratton will be given the chance to take over British police forces under radical new plans to be unveiled by Home Secretary Theresa May.
And former Army officers will be recruited as police superintendents in an attempt to end the 'closed shop' police culture blamed for bungled investigations and corruption. The changes, set to be fiercely opposed by police chiefs, rip up the centuries-old tradition of only British citizens serving in the police.
They also abolish the rule that senior policemen have to work their way up from being a bobby on the beat.

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Bulgaria
Bulgarian gas pistol attack 'was stunt'
Gunman reportedly wanted to show politician he was 'not untouchable', while some suggest whole incident was staged
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Miriam Elder in Moscow
The Guardian, Sunday 20 January 2013 19.00 GMT
Ahmed Dogan, the leader of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms party in Bulgaria, escapes an apparent assassination attempt
It was a shot almost heard around the world as millions watched a man storm a stage in Bulgaria and then point his gun at a prominent opposition politician live on television.
But many in Bulgaria are now trying to separate fact from fiction as they try to be clear about what motivated the attack.
Police took Oktai Enimehmedov, 25, into custody after he pulled the gun on Ahmed Dogan, the leader of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF), a party supported by Muslim voters including some Turks in Bulgaria.
Police now say Enimehmedov was holding a gas pistol that was loaded with pepper spray, with two other "bullets" being simply noisemakers. He pointed the gun at Dogan's head during a party congress in the capital, Sofia, but failed to shoot. He was tackled to the ground and beaten by guards and party members as TV cameras continued to roll.

Protesters hold signs and pray during a gathering billed as the “Stand Up for Religious Freedom Rally” in MIami in June 2012.
The next legal challenge to the Affordable Care Act is moving quickly to the high court, and bringing potent questions about religious freedom, gender equality and corporate "personhood."
The issue is the health-care law's requirement that employers without a specific exemption must provide workers with insurance plans that cover a full range of birth-control measures and contraceptive drugs.
Inclusion of the no-cost contraceptive coverage for female workers has always been a controversial part of the legislation. It has now sparked more than 40 lawsuits around the nation involving more than 110 individuals, colleges, hospitals, church-affiliated nonprofits and private companies.
"The ministry of information is under siege," a diplomat said.
Amanuel Ghirmai, an Eritrean journalist in Paris for independent Radio Erena, said that around a 100 army mutineers stormed the hill-top ministry -- which towers over the capital of the Red Sea state -- early on Monday morning. They reportedly ordered news readers at the government-run television and radio station -- the only source of media for the authoritarian state -- to read a statement that they will implement the country's constitution.
The statement also reportedly ordered the release of prisoners of conscience.
"We do not know who is leading the situation... everybody has been put into the same room (in the ministry)," Amanuel said, adding that he had spoken to sources in Asmara. Britain's foreign office updated its travel advice Monday to say it had received reports of "unusual military movements in and around Asmara", without giving further details.
The senior lawyer acting for jailed former Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko says he is under criminal investigation and fears imminent arrest.
Serhiy Vlasenko told reporters on Monday that he had been accused of car theft, robbery and failing to obey a court ruling stemming from his divorce several years ago.











Comment: For an in-depth disection of Sandy Hook listen to this link of SOTT Talk Radio's recent broadcast. Why and how it happened and what these kinds of mass shootings by alleged 'lone nuts' mean, not just for American citizens, but the people of the world.