Puppet MastersS

Better Earth

Russia Ready to Recognize Palestine


Press TV
Tue, 24 May 2011 08:43 UTC
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has vowed to throw his weight behind recognition of an independent Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders.

"Every nation needs unity, or the more so the Palestinian people... (who are) striving to create a Palestinian state in accordance with UN resolutions, the Quartet of international mediators (the UN, the EU, Russia, and the US), and the Arab peace initiative," the Russian foreign minister said.

Lavrov voiced his support in a meeting with representatives of Hamas and Fatah in Moscow. The Palestinians and Russians later issued a joint statement.
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Magnify

Copyfight: EFF co-founder enters e-G8 "lion's den," rips into lions

Nate Anderson
Arstechnica
Wed, 25 May 2011 03:10 UTC
jbarlow
© e-G8John Barlow
"I just arrived at the Tuileries for the #eG8, already a hoot. Unfounded smugness to rival the World Economic Forum."

John Perry Barlow - EFF co-founder, Grateful Dead lyricist, and, improbably, now a rancher - arrived in Paris and began tweeting up a storm from the e-G8 summit gathered there this week to discuss the future of the Internet.

After listening to French President Nicolas Sarkozy call repeatedly for Internet regulation and more copyright protection, Barlow added, "You'd have thought from Sarkozy's talk he was addressing a convocation of Anonymous and the Pirate Party. He wasn't."

And then it was his turn to take the stage: "I am about to enter the Lion's Den at #eG8."
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Attention

Palestinians Slam Netanyahu Claims


Press TV
Wed, 25 May 2011 12:29 UTC
Image
© unknownIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses Congress Tuesday on Capitol Hill.
Palestinians have slammed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for refusing to withdraw to borders set before the 1967 Israeli-Arab war as the basis for negotiations.

Addressing the US Congress on Tuesday, Netanyahu ruled out a return to what he has repeatedly described as "indefensible" pre-1967 borders.

He also pledged to keep key parts of the occupied West Bank, including East al-Quds (Jerusalem) -- which is widely regarded as the future capital of an independent Palestinian state.

Wrapping up his chaotic visit to Washington, the Israeli premier, however, claimed that he was willing to make "painful compromises" and abandon "some" Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.
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Dollar

US: Stocks slip amid worries about Europe


Associated Press
Tue, 24 May 2011 16:22 UTC
New York - Continued worries about Europe's lingering debt crisis overshadowed a small rebound in oil prices and pushed stocks slightly lower on Tuesday.

Oil rose nearly $2 to $99.59 per barrel after major banks raised their forecasts for crude prices. Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan and Morgan Stanley analysts predicted a rise in global demand would drive oil prices higher later this year. Goldman analysts say oil prices could reach $135 a barrel by the end of 2012.

Stocks swung between gains and losses throughout the day, with Chevron Corp. and other energy companies posting the largest gains. Energy companies in the S&P 500 rose 1.3 percent, the most of the ten industry groups in the index.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 25.05 points, or 0.2 percent, to close at 12,356.21. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 1.09 point to 1,316.28. The Nasdaq composite fell 12.74, or 0.5 percent, to 2,746.16.
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Heart - Black

Psychopath: Netanyahu says he's open to painful compromises for peace


MSNBC
Tue, 24 May 2011 12:40 UTC
Washington - In an address to a joint meeting of Congress, Israel's prime minister pledged to make "painful compromises" for peace with the Palestinians, but said he would not agree to any deal that threatens Israel's security or its identity as a Jewish state.


Netanyahu, who received a rapturous reception from lawmakers on both sides of the political divide, said Israel wants and needs peace but repeated his flat rejection of a return to what he called the "indefensible" borders that existed before the 1967 Mideast war. He also restated Israel's refusal to entertain the return of millions of Palestinian refugees and their families to land in Israel. And, he maintained that Jerusalem, claimed by both sides as their capital, could not be divided.

"Israel will never give up its quest for peace," Netanyahu said, adding that he is "willing to make painful compromises to achieve this historic peace."

"Now this is not easy for me. It's not easy, because I recognize that in a genuine peace we will be required to give up parts of the ancestral Jewish homeland,'' he said, referring to the occupied West Bank.

Comment: History shows that each time such statements are made by Israeli leadership, more Palestinians perish.

See: Pathocracy Disease

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Star of David

Netanyahu Says Will Give Up Some Land for Peace

Jeffrey Heller
Reuters
Tue, 24 May 2011 15:25 UTC
Image
© Reuters / Jason ReedIsrael's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the annual American Israel Public Affairs
Israel is prepared to make "painful compromises" for peace with the Palestinians, including the handover of land they seek for a state, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Congress on Tuesday.

Palestinians swiftly dismissed the Israeli leader's terms for a deal as placing more obstacles in diplomacy's way, casting doubt as to whether frozen peace talks would resume anytime soon.

Netanyahu received frequent standing ovations in addressing the joint meeting of Congress, a bastion of support for Israel. The speech came after a testy exchange last week with President Barack Obama over the contours of a future Palestine and Netanyahu used it to reiterate his expectations ahead of any talks.

They included Palestinian recognition of Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people and the scrapping of Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' unity accord with the Islamist movement Hamas.

"Tear up your pact with Hamas. Sit down and negotiate. Make peace with the Jewish state," Netanyahu said.
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MIB

Feds to require black box event recorders in all new cars

Michael Trei
Dvice
Tue, 24 May 2011 17:09 UTC
Image

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is expected to issue new regulations next month, that will require a black box style data recorder be fitted in all new cars.

Similar in concept to the familiar black boxes used in commercial aircraft for decades, the boxes are expected to record information about speed, seat belt use and brake application in the final seconds leading up to an accident, the data can be retrieved for later analysis.

Before you start screaming about government overreach, you should know that almost every new car already has a device like this fitted at the factory. For example, GM has fitted one to almost every new car they've built since the early 1990s.
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Document

Court of Appeals Dismisses Monsanto's Appeal of Biotech Beets Case, Preserves Victory for Farmers, Environment


Center for Food Safety
Fri, 20 May 2011 16:16 UTC
Image
© sitfu.com
Litigation Over USDA's Interim Approval of Planting Continues

Today the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a summary order concluding a long-standing lawsuit over the impacts of genetically engineered (GE) "Roundup Ready" sugar beets. As a result, previous court rulings in favor of farmers and conservation advocates will remain, including the order requiring the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to prepare a rigorous review of the impacts of GE sugar beets, engineered to be resistant to Monsanto's Roundup herbicide, before deciding whether to again allow their future commercial use.

Center for Food Safety (CFS) attorney George Kimbrell:
"Today's order cements a critical legal benchmark in the battle for meaningful oversight of biotech crops and food. Because of this case, there will be public disclosure and debate on the harmful impacts of these pesticide-promoting crops, as well as legal protections for farmers threatened by contamination."
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Bad Guys

New Federal Rules To Require Black Boxes to Record Driver Activity in Every Car

Rebecca Boyle
PopSci
Mon, 23 May 2011 17:46 UTC
Crashed Car
© Cha già José via FlickrCrashed car.

Someday your car will give you recommendations on where to eat, suggest more efficient routes between home and work, and even monitor your health. But for now it's just keeping tabs on your driving habits, recording your behavior in case it needs to be reconstructed after an accident.

Federal officials are poised to announce next month that all cars must contain a black box, similar to that installed on airplanes, to give authorities a glimpse of your activities in the event of a car wreck. The devices could help pin down what happened in the moments before a crash, helping authorities determine who is at fault for what, and eliminating uncertainty from human witnesses.

Many cars with airbags and other systems already use electronic data recorders, but there are no clear federal rules about how the data can or should be used, as Wired's Autopia blog points out. Some states allow automobile black box data to be used in court, but others do not. Automakers have different, proprietary data storage systems, and there is no clearly defined method to retrieve it.
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Pills

The Small Group of Thoughtful, Committed Citizens Has Been Drugged

David Swanson
Democratic Underground
Tue, 24 May 2011 12:58 UTC
Image
© Unknown
Movements for justice have historically been driven by a small percentage of any population. One percent of Americans nonviolently occupying Washington, D.C., could make Cairo and Madison and Madrid look like warm-up acts. It is certainly true that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens is the only thing that ever has changed the world for the better.

So, what happens if a society picks out a significant slice of its population, one including many thoughtful and committed citizens, and drugs them?

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) held a first-time, one-day, little publicized event last September that allowed people to turn in their extra prescription drugs. The DEA reports collecting 242,000 pounds or 121 tons. A second such day was held in April with 376,593 pounds or 188 tons of pills collected. This is the stuff nobody wants and is willing to hand in to the government. This is not the amount that's out in circulation. That amount is no doubt in proportion to the roaring flood of television ads for the stuff. "More Americans currently abuse prescription drugs," says the DEA, "than the number of those using cocaine, hallucinogens, and heroin combined. . . . Individuals that abuse prescription drugs often obtained them from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet." And that's just the users said to be abusing.
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