Puppet MastersS


USA

In Amerika, law no longer exists: The extermination of truth

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In the 21st century Americans have experienced an extraordinary collapse in the rule of law and in their constitutional protections. Today American citizens, once a free people protected by law, can be assassinated and detained in prison indefinitely without any evidence being presented to a court of their guilt, and they can be sentenced to prison on the basis of secret testimony by anonymous witnesses not subject to cross examination. The US "justice system" has been transformed by the Bush/Obama regime into the "justice system" of Gestapo Germany and Stalinist Russia. There is no difference.

In an article available here Stephen Downs, formerly Chief Attorney with the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct and Kathy Manley, a criminal defense attorney and member of the New York Civil Liberties Union, report on how the US government destroyed a charity, the Holy Land Foundation, which provided money for feeding the poor and for building schools and hospitals in Palestine.

The charity, aware of the perils of being based in the US and doing anything for Palestinians, relied on the US State Department and the US Department of Justice (sic) for guidance on where to send humanitarian aid. The charity sent its aid to the same aid committees in Palestine that the US Agency for International Development and the UN used to distribute aid to the Palestinians.

Dollar

UK authorities probe Barclays over Qatar loan: FT

Barclays
© Reuters/Phil NobleA logo of Barclays bank is seen outside a branch in Altrincham, northern England April 26, 2012.
British authorities are looking into an allegation that Barclays (BARC.L) loaned Qatar money to invest in the bank as part of its rescue fundraising at the height of the 2008 financial crisis, the Financial Times reported.

Qatar Holding is not accused of any wrongdoing, the FT said.

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) and Serious Fraud Office (SFO) have been looking into Barclays' emergency fundraising since July.

Qatar Holding invested 5.3 billion pounds ($8.4 billion) in Barclays in June and October 2008, helping it avoid being bailed out by the government, unlike rivals Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY.L) and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L).

Allegations over a loan to the Qataris is a new thread of the investigation, the FT said, citing two sources familiar with the situation.

A Barclays spokeswoman said: "Both the FSA and SFO investigations are on-going and, as such, we are unable to comment further."

The FSA and SFO both declined to comment.

New Barclays chief executive Antony Jenkins has been trying to restore the bank's reputation after a string of scandals, including a $450 million fine in June for rigging Libor interest rates that prompted the resignations of previous CEO Bob Diamond and chairman Marcus Agius.

The deal with Qatar was controversial from the outset. Shareholders were angry Qatar was offered more attractive terms to invest than existing investors, and a sale of warrants in November left Qatar sitting on a gain of 1.7 billion pounds from its investment, according to Reuters estimates.

Comment: Excerpt fro the FT : "UK authorities investigations into whether Barclays gave a loan to Qatar to fund the bank's cash call in 2008 have highlighted its desperate and ultimately successful attempt to avoid a state bailout at the height of the financial crisis. The Financial Times this week revealed that the UK's Financial Services Authority and the Serious Fraud Office are looking into such allegations, adding yet another blow to Barclays attempts to repair its tarnished image ... Qatar Holding was one of two Qatari investors that participated in Barclays' two cash calls in 2008. The other one was Challenger, an investment vehicle of Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr al-Thani, the prime minister of Qatar, and his family."

Conclusion: When you are a bank, you can do a bit of trafficking with your account to avoid nationalisation.


War Whore

Best of the Web: Calling out the hypocritical, war-loving left

For much of the last decade, the left participated in activism and protests condemning the Bush administration's wars of aggression, and calling for the President's impeachment. Now that it is a Democrat in the White House, however, these self-same activists are suddenly shying away from impeachment as a way to stop the American war machine. Find out more about the movement to impeach Obama -- and its opponents in the phoney "anti-war" left -- in this week's GRTV Backgrounder.


Yoda

Best of the Web: George Galloway: Drones, Palestine, 'Tony Blair belongs at the Hague'

Abby Martin speaks to George Galloway, author and politician of UK's Respect Party about Iraq, Palestine, US drone wars, and the British Parliament.


Bad Guys

We need a House of Commons rebellion - not a stupid war in Timbuktu

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Another war for Britain because we're good at it
This is why I despise almost all Members of Parliament: our Prime Minister is taking us into yet another stupid war, and most MPs do not even care. Where is the rebellion? Where is the Opposition? Where are the demands for an emergency debate in which our motives and reasons for this latest nonsense are examined, torn to pieces and flung on the floor?

There is no case at all for Britain to send soldiers to Mali, or any other part of North Africa. We have no interest there, never will have and never have had. If we truly fear terrorism so much, then this adventure is doubly moronic.

It will give terrorists a pretext to attack our country that they did not have before. Like the Afghan war, it will also allow terrorists to kill us without needing to travel here.

Comment: When your country is ruled by psychopaths, their influence gradually takes over and infects most everyone and everything. Indeed, the last available recourse at this point is rebellion.

But people need to be smart about it. The psychopaths in power are more than happy to meet violence with violence. Educating each other and talking to each other about the situation is a great place to start:

Are Psychopaths Cool? Uncovering the predators among us


Network

Hacker in chief: Obama given right to launch 'preemptive' cyberattacks

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© AFP Photo / Jewel Samad
A secret review has concluded that US President Obama has the authority to launch a preemptive cyber attack on any country on the basis that they are considered a 'cyber threat' - even if there is no concrete evidence of this threat.

It may not be long before the US conducts crippling attacks on foreign soil with little more than a mouse click, thereby sparing itself the effort of sending its military oversees or declaring war.

The Obama administration is currently drawing up a set of rules about how the US military can defend against or conduct cyberattacks, the New York Times reports. The Obama administration is also allowing intelligence agencies to declare potential threats. But even if these threats are nothing more than a suspicion without evidence, the military now has the authority to attack foreign nations, regardless of whether or not the US is involved in a conflict with them.

This would not only spare the US from sending its own troops overseas, but it would also allow the administration to make decisions without the deliberation that usually occurs before sending Americans into a conflict zone. And if the administration conducts an attack based on false premises, it would be saved the embarrassment that occurred when President George W. Bush sent thousands of US troops into a war with Iraq that lasted nearly 9 years, based on the false premise that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction and was a security threat.

Chalkboard

Maryland county school board to own all students' work with copyright policy

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© Shutterstock
A county school board in Maryland has proposed a copyright policy that would allow it to take ownership of all work produced by students and faculty - even work created off campus during personal time.

A Prince George's County Board of Education proposal obtained by WTOP says that "any works" created by students or employees "are properties of the Board of Education even if created on the employee's or student's time and with the use of their materials."

University of Missouri law professor David Rein told The Washington Post that some universities have "sharing agreements" with students and faculty, but he had never heard of a local school board of trying to profit from a student's work.

Sheriff

NYPD accused of violating civil rights agreement in new lawsuit

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© Shutterstock
The New York Police Department's surveillance of the local Muslim community constitutes a violation of rules governing the department's monitoring of political activity, according to a lawsuit filed Monday in U.S. District Court.

The Associated Press reported that the suit, filed by a group of civil rights lawyers, accuses the department of breaking from the Handschu guidelines (PDF), established in 1985. The agreement sets rules for how long the department can conduct an investigation, as well as for the types of records it can keep.

Stormtrooper

Guantánamo judge: defence cannot prove CIA eavesdropping on meetings

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© Photograph: Paul Richards/AFP/Getty ImagesAl-Nashiri has been imprisoned at Guantánamo since 2006, after being held by the CIA in a series of secret prisons.
After surprise incident last week, lawyers for accused USS Cole bomber fear privileged conversations are being monitored

A judge at Guantánamo Bay refused Monday to suspend a pretrial hearing for the prisoner accused of orchestrating the attack on the USS Cole, ruling that defense lawyers had offered no evidence supporting their suspicion that the CIA can eavesdrop on private conversations with their client.

Army Col James Pohl said that unless the defense can offer evidence of eavesdropping, the hearing for Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri would continue.

"I can't stop a trial simply because something might happen," Pohl told defense attorney navy Lt Cmdr Stephen Reyes during a heated exchange at the start of the scheduled four-day hearing.

Health

Egyptian protester dies after suspected police torture

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© Photograph: Nameer Galal/Demotix/CorbisEgyptian protesters at the funeral of Mohamed el-Guindy, who is said to have been beaten and strangled by police.
President promises investigation into death of Mohamed el-Guindy, days after footage of police violence sparked fury

An Egyptian protester has died after allegedly being beaten and strangled for four days by police, just days after another high-profile case of alleged police brutality, strengthening fears among the opposition that Egypt's new democratically elected government has as little respect for human rights as the dictatorship it replaced.

According to official hospital records, Mohamed el-Guindy died on Monday as a result of injuries sustained in a car crash. But activists allege that Guindy, a 28-year-old activist arrested following protests in Tahrir Square on 27 January, was left in a coma by police after officers took him to a police camp, strangled him with a cord and beat him until his ribs and jaw cracked - before abandoning him at a hospital in central Cairo on 31 January.

"You couldn't recognise his face from a photograph, it was so swollen," said Islam Khalifa, a human rights lawyer investigating Guindy's death, who visited him in hospital before he died. "It was horrible."