Puppet MastersS


Arrow Down

Commuters herded like cattle as China escalates its own "War on Terror"

Michael Krieger
Liberty Blitzkrieg
Wed, 28 May 2014 13:56 UTC
I have often said that while 9/11 was a horrible event, our collective response to it has been the real tragedy (read my How I Remember September 11, 2001 post). A terrible event is no excuse to become such scared children that we would relinquish the basic freedoms our ancestors fought so hard to secure for us.

The only people who really benefit from an expansion of the surveillance state and a loss of liberties are the rich and powerful. With China's economy in free fall and increased violence occurring, it appears the leadership there is taking a page out of our post 9/11 playbook. This is what the commute looks like at train stations in Beijing:
Chinese Train Commuters
© Liberty Blitzkrieg
This is what cattle in pens look like:
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Vader

New Kiev president bombs his own people: West AWOL


RT
Wed, 28 May 2014 13:25 UTC
Image
Shelled school in Slavyansk, eastern 'Ukraine'
A school and a kindergarten have been shelled in Slavyansk as the city becomes increasingly unsafe in the intensified Kiev military campaign. At least 9 civilians were injured in Wednesday's shelling incidents, including a child.

Ukrainian mortar shells have for weeks been raining down on the checkpoints and positions of the Slavyansk self-defense, but much of the shelling occurred outside the city. Italian journalist Andrea Rocchelli and his Russian interpreter, veteran human rights activist Andrey Mironov, were almost "torn to pieces" in one such shelling.

However, this week the battleground apparently moved right into civilian quarters of Slavyansk, as shells started hitting residential blocks and nearby buildings, killing three people on Monday.

On Wednesday, there was a shocking reminder of how the situation might unfold if the likely president-elect Petro Poroshenko pushes on with the military operation in the region, as shells struck the city's streets, yards, a school and a kindergarten.

RT talked to a male schoolteacher from Slavyansk school number 13, who asked not to be named.

"Around midday there was a loud explosion in the school, and I fell to the floor, taking cover," the teacher told RT over the phone.

Comment: What happened to 'R2P' (right to protect)? And 'humanitarian intervention'? What about 'preventing ethnic cleansing'?

What happened to those vaunted Western ideals that were rolled out to justify the airstrikes against Libya, Yugoslavia and Iraq?

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Health

Italian reporter and his Russian interpreter 'torn to pieces' by mortar shelling in Eastern Ukraine during armed assault by Kiev military on self-defense forces


RT
Tue, 27 May 2014 11:17 UTC
Image
Andrey Mironov (L) and Andrea Rocchelli (R)
Witnesses have revealed new details of the killings in Ukraine of an Italian reporter and his Russian interpreter, Andrey Mironov - who was also a veteran human rights activist, a journalist and a Soviet dissident.

Mironov's body is currently in a morgue in Slavyansk and might soon delivered to Russia, media report.

Mironov, 60, was killed along with Italian photojournalist Andrea Rocchelli, 30, by mortar fire on Saturday near the village of Andreevka, a couple of kilometers from Slavyansk, eastern Ukraine. French journalist, William Roguelon was wounded in the attack.

The journalists were in the area to report on fighting between local self-defense squads and Kiev forces amid an ongoing military operation launched weeks ago by the coup-imposed government to suppress protesters who seek more autonomy.
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Eiffel Tower

Former French FM criticizes French stances on Syria and calls elections in Syria a good move


Fars News Agency
Wed, 28 May 2014 06:13 UTC
Roland Dumas
© Unknown
Former French Foreign Minister Roland Dumas criticized the French stances on the upcoming presidential elections in Syria, calling them ridiculous, politicized and morally unacceptable as Paris is taking a side in a struggle it should not interfere in.

Dumas said France has taken an unacceptable position providing a new example of ridiculousness, referring to a previous example made by a French foreign minister who once said that US President should step down.

He described holding elections in Syria as a "good" move as the military option alone cannot solve the crisis, adding that the Syrian government has struggled and is gaining more ground and expecting more surprises in the next few weeks.

While the election will be definitely criticized, Dumas said, it is good and its timing is appropriate.

On the French decision to prevent the Syrians in France from voting, he said this stance is politicized, illegal and unacceptable at the moral level, adding that the French decision runs counter to the international law that has been followed for a long time, and is considered an unacceptable interference in the Syrian internal affairs.

"The French government is twisting laws and regulations in accordance with its interests," the former French foreign minister said.

He also slammed the French media outlets and their coverage of the events in Syria, warning that the so-called "European jihadists" could create security problems and that France would be endangered because of those jihadists.

Dumas was the Foreign Minister of France for ten years and the Head of the French Constitutional Court for five years.
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Gold Coins

Broke due to wars! UK wars cost British taxpayers £30 billion


Press TV
Wed, 28 May 2014 03:43 UTC
British Troops in Afghanistan
© Unknown
Britain's military involvement in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have cost UK taxpayers almost £30 billion, a think tank says.

In a book published on Tuesday, the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) said that the UK's contribution to the US-led wars in Afghanistan and Iraq was £19.59 and £9.56 billion respectively.


Comment: To that price tag comes also the war on Libya and various destabilising measures such as the support of terrorists in Syria and elsewhere. And it is nowhere near finished.


The think tank described the invasions as "strategic failures" despite their high costs, which do not even include the money needed for the UK troops' withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2014.

The figures, released in the book, which is titled "Wars in Peace," translate into £1,000 in losses for every taxpayer in Britain.

Referring to the British intervention in Afghanistan's southern provinces, the think tank also argued, "[opium] cultivation in Helmand is higher today than it was before the British arrived."

Britain joined the United States in an invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 under the pretext of combating terrorism. The offensive removed the Taliban from power, but Afghanistan remains insecure despite the presence of tens of thousands of US-led forces there.

UK forces also participated in the US-led invasion of Iraq in a blatant violation of international law in 2003 under the pretext that the regime of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction. No such weapons were ever discovered in Iraq.

The UK participated in the controversial wars under former Prime Minister Tony Blair. He currently faces accusations of impeding the publication of the Chilcot Inquiry into the Iraq war. He denies the accusation.

Comment: In the meantime, infrastructure in Britain is falling apart, public services are being privatized and austerity measures are hitting the average person. The only place in Britain that is still raking it in is the financial centers in the City of London, but that is only to the benefit of the elite.

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Recycle

Recycled regime change? US sends 1,000 marines on assault ship to Libya as Americans are advised to 'depart immediately'


RT
Wed, 28 May 2014 03:21 UTC
US warship near Libya
© AFP Photo / Justin WebsterUSS Bataan
The US is sending 1,000 Marines in an amphibious assault ship to Libya's coast as a "precautionary" move should the US embassy require evacuation, a US official said. Security concerns also led the US to suggest Americans in Libya "depart immediately."

Adding to tensions, gunmen attacked the Tripoli home of Libya's new prime minister, Ahmed Maiteeq, on Tuesday. Businessman Maiteeq, 42, and his family escaped harm, according to AFP.

An aide to Maiteeq said "there was an attack with rockets and small arms on the prime minister's house" in Tripoli at 3:00 a.m. (0100 GMT). Maiteeq's guards opened fire on the attackers, wounding and arresting two of them, the official added.

In reaction to the heightened strife in Libya, the USS Bataan, stocked with several helicopters in addition to the Marines, is to be in the nation's coastal area "in a matter of days," an anonymous US defense official said, according to AFP.

The preemptive move is a reaction to increasingly violent militia battles, which could threaten the American embassy's security, the official said.

Comment: It is worth noting that Libya under Gaddafi had the highest standard of living in Africa. The no-fly zone was sold as humanitarian assistance and a means to bring democracy, freedom to women and free speech etc. It was only a cover to destroy a country and take its resources.

Here is an exerpt from an article from September 2011:
Against the backdrop of war propaganda, Libya's economic and social achievements over the last thirty years, have been brutally reversed:

The [Libyan Arab Jamahiriya] has had a high standard of living and a robust per capita daily caloric intake of 3144. The country has made strides in public health and, since 1980, child mortality rates have dropped from 70 per thousand live births to 19 in 2009. Life expectancy has risen from 61 to 74 years of age during the same span of years. (FAO, Rome, Libya, Country Profile,)


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Laptop

Wise move! China urges banks to remove IBM servers over espionage concerns


RT
Wed, 28 May 2014 03:10 UTC
IBM
© Reuters / China Daily
China is calling on banks to stop using IBM servers and replace them with local-made machines amid fears that the nation's financial security might be compromised via the US-based company's servers, a Bloomberg report has revealed.

The new request comes amid an intensified spy scandal between China and the US.

The People's Bank of China and the Ministry of Finance have been asking banks to suspend operation of the International Business Machines (IBM) servers as part of a trial program, while the Chinese government analyzes security risks concerning the use of the servers. Bloomberg cited four sources familiar with the matter.

The complete analysis is to be transferred to a working group on internet security headed by President Xi Jinping.

IBM responded that it is not aware of such a policy. "IBM is not aware of any Chinese government policy recommending against the use of IBM servers within the country's banking industry," Bloomberg quoted IBM spokesman Jeff Cross as saying. "In fact, news reports now state that China's National Development and Reform Commission has not heard of any alleged directive to that effect. IBM is a trusted partner in China and has been for more than 30 years."

Comment: See also:

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Syringe

A human experimenter was Vice-President of The American Cancer Society

Esther Inglis-Arkell
io9
Tue, 27 May 2014 08:40 UTC
Cancer Cells
© National Cancer Institute
A doctor who was once vice president of the The American Cancer Society turns out to have had a dark history. He twice experimented on human beings, injecting them with cancer cells. Learn about the human experimentation of Chester Southam.

In 1964, Doctor Chester Southam, a well-known cancer researcher, got elected vice-president of the American Cancer Society. The American Cancer Society was established in 1913, and publishes research, supports cancer patients, and looks into new treatment options.

The Society's inclusion of Southam was not entirely inappropriate, as Southam had been researching cancer for over a decade, but the timing was a bit awkward. Southam was elected just after his license was reinstated after a temporary suspension for human experimentation.

In fact, a lot of Southam's research involved human experimentation. In 1952, he had injected inmates at the Ohio State Prison with cancer cells. Human experimentation on prisoners had gained popularity in the 1940s, and despite it being used as a defense for Nazis at the Nuremberg trials, was going strong in the United States in the 1950s.

It wasn't until the 1970s that experimentation on prisoners was banned, so that wasn't the reason Southam was a controversial choice for the society's vice presidency.
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USA

US stirs the pot again: Thousands of protesters in Abkhazia demand resignation of president and government


RT.com
Tue, 27 May 2014 14:35 UTC
protests sukhum abkhazia
Screenshot from youtube.com/user/wwwASARKIAinfo
Up to 5,000 anti-government demonstrators have gathered in Sukhum, Abkhazia to demand reforms and the resignation of the president and government of the partially-recognized republic in the South Caucasus.

Tuesday's rally in the center of the republic's capital was organized by a united opposition which claims the government's actions could ruin the country.

"The country is drifting as it leans only on external aid, having neither understanding nor a plan for future development," said Vitaly Gabnia, chair of Arua veterans organization, as quoted by local news portal Nyzhnaya Gazeta.

"A country cannot be sovereign when two-thirds of its budget is formed by another state's subsidies," he added, referring to Russia's financial assistance to the republic.

Comment: Is the USA in its hubris fomenting yet another 'rebellion' near Russian borders?
  • Ukraine and the Great Asian Enclosure
  • Assassination Attempt on Abkhazia President Fails


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Eye 1

Germany's spy agency 'in bed' with US says Snowden


RT.com
Tue, 27 May 2014 14:23 UTC
snowden masks
© Reuters / Tobias Schwarz
NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden says he has more revelations about Washington's spying on German citizens, but Berlin is reluctant to invite him to testify because Germany has used the exact same surveillance methods as the US, Stern magazine reported.

The former NSA contractor - wanted by the US for disclosing its surveillance program - told the German magazine that he had been "personally involved with information stemming from Germany" and that the "constitutional rights of every citizen in Germany were infringed" during the process.

Snowden said he had used systems able to intercept large amounts of data, adding: "I'd be surprised if German lawmakers learnt nothing new if I laid out all the information."

The rights activist suggested that the only reason Merkel's government does not want him to testify is because Germany's foreign intelligence agency, the BND, used the same methods of mass surveillance.

"The BND is with the Americans in bed," he told Stern.

Comment: Germany isn't the only country that has been colluding with the NSA. According to Wayne Madsen, a former US navy lieutenant who first worked for the NSA in 1985, other countries which include Denmark, the Netherlands, France, Spain and Italy have secret deals with the US.

Merkel's public indignation a scam: Snowden says Germans and other Western states in bed with NSA

Ex-NSA agent: Secret deals between U.S. and European governments to hand over private data to NSA have been in place for decades

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