Puppet MastersS


War Whore

American who vanished in Iran was on 'unsanctioned' CIA mission


RT
Fri, 13 Dec 2013 03:52 UTC
Image
© AFP/Getty ImagesRobert Levinson went missing in Iran nearly six years ago. He was revealed to have been working for the CIA.
The retired FBI agent who seemed to vanish in Iran seven years ago was in fact on a strange unauthorized mission for the CIA that was organized by intelligence agents who did not have the authority to do so, a shocking new report has revealed.

Robert Levinson, a former DEA and FBI employee who gathered intelligence in Latin America for the Central Intelligence Agency after leaving the bureau, was long believed to have flown to an Iranian resort in 2007.

Known as Kish Island, the small Persian Gulf outpost is known to be a place where tourists and international criminals mingle. Levinson then disappeared just days after meeting with an admitted killer, with the US government maintaining all along that his fate was that of a private citizen whose status was unknown.

Yet, in a report published Thursday, the Associated Press revealed that the popular narrative that has pervaded in the media for the last seven years was not entirely true. The White House, FBI, US State Department, and CIA would all learn that Levinson's trip was planned by three CIA analysts who did not follow the proper vetting process or seek approval for the mission from the necessary supervisors.

Levinson was paid to gather intelligence on US foes in South America and was paid by the CIA to gather intelligence on the Iranian government in 2007.
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Briefcase

Former Thai premier Abhisit formally indicted on murder charges

Warangkana Chomchuen and Wilawan Watcharasakwet
The Wall Street Journal
Thu, 12 Dec 2013 07:16 UTC
abhisit
© Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesFormer Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva gestures as he arrives at the court in Bangkok on Thursday.
Thailand's former Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva was formally indicted Thursday on murder charges over a military crackdown on street protests in 2010 that left scores dead.

The indictment comes amid the biggest political upheaval in the country since the 2010 protests and risks further inflaming tensions. Antigovernment protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban, who served as Mr. Abhisit's deputy at the time, faces similar charges.

Mr. Suthep was due to appear for the indictment session Thursday, but he didn't show up. A public prosecutor told reporters that Mr. Suthep's lawyer had asked the court to postpone Mr. Suthep's appearance to mid-January, which prosecutors were considering. Both men deny the charges against them.

Comment:

A Relaxed and Comfortable Putsch
A little history regarding Thailand: who is Abhisit Vejjajiva, the man behind the color revolution?

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Pyramid

Flashback A Relaxed and Comfortable Putsch


German-Foreign-Policy.com
Tue, 18 May 2010 06:03 UTC
thailand coup
A photo published on the internet by the Naumann Foundation, shows an advisor in the course of Klein's debriefing on the "Thailand Project". On the screen depicting the project, one can read the allegation that a "coup d'état is a necessary evil" - supposedly in a "democratization process"
Following last weekend's bloodbath, the government in Thailand - led by long-time partners of the German Friedrich Naumann Foundation (FDP) - is threatening to continue its use of military force against mass protests in Bangkok. As observers note, the escalating confrontation between demonstrators demanding new elections and the army is bringing Thailand "to the brink of civil war". The country's old elite - made up of the military, big industry and the royal dynasty - fear that the growing democratic movement will restrict their predominance. Some in the old elite, particularly the Democrat Party of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, have for years already been cooperating with the Friedrich Naumann Foundation. Alone since May 14, they are responsible for the deaths of at least 36 protesters. The Naumann Foundation had shown sympathy toward a putsch by the traditional elite in 2006 and the subsequent, heavily contested outlawing of a popular party, because "it could not have been done democratically". The assistant, who was responsible for the Naumann Foundation's activities at the time and for the support of the traditional elites from 2007 to 2009, is today head of the Asia department in the German Ministry for Development.
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Snakes in Suits

A little history regarding Thailand: who is Abhisit Vejjajiva, the man behind the color revolution?

Scott Creighton
American Everyman
Mon, 09 Dec 2013 05:41 UTC
Abhisit Vejjajiva
© WikiAbhisit Vejjajiva
Upon his appointment as Prime Minister in 2008, Abhisit's officially declared personal assets worth 51.8 million baht (nearly $2 million). This increased to 54.4 million upon leaving office. Given that Abhisit has never worked in the private sector, the vast majority of his wealth was either inherited or given to him.[76]

Since today is "judgement day" according to the minority protesters in Thailand who refuse to work with the current elected government and who also refuse to participate in the upcoming emergency elections being held because they took their balls and went home (quit the House seats they occupied (150 out of 500) because they couldn't get their way, I thought I would provide some history to the conflict in order to give readers here a little perspective.

Comment: Former Thai prime minister to face murder charge

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Info

U.S. and UK report that they suspend non-lethal aid for Syria rebels


BBC News
Wed, 11 Dec 2013 05:32 UTC
syria rebels aid
The non-lethal aid includes medicine, vehicles and communications equipment
The US and UK have suspended all "non-lethal" support for rebels in northern Syria, but not humanitarian aid.

A US spokesman said it was concerned about reports that Islamist rebels had seized bases belonging to the Western-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA).

Fighters from the Islamic Front, a new alliance of rebel groups, ousted FSA-aligned fighters from the Bab al-Hawa border crossing with Turkey last week.

The non-lethal aid includes medicine, vehicles and communications equipment.
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Red Flag

Spain 'won't have enough tanks': Catalonia to vote on independence, defy Madrid


Russia Today
Fri, 13 Dec 2013 09:35 UTC
Catalan Rally
© Reuters / Gustau NacarinoThe crowd is seen during the Concert for Freedom event at Nou Camp stadium, where artists will sing in support of Catalonia's desire for independence from Spain, in Barcelona
The Catalan regional parliament has set November next year for a referendum on the Spanish province's independence. The government in Madrid blandly said the vote won't happen, but activists wonder how it might be stopped.

Catalonia's four pro-independence parties, which hold a majority in the regional parliament, announced Thursday that the rich industrial Spanish province will hold a referendum on whether to gain greater autonomy or even total independence from the country's central government.

The vote's preliminary date is November 9, Catalan regional government head Artur Mas said. The people will be asked two questions: "Do you want Catalonia to be a state?" and "Do you want that state to be independent?"

The former question was added for those Catalans who seek to change Spain into a federation, with Catalonia forming part of it. According to a Metroscopia poll in newspaper El Pais last month, 46 percent of Catalans favor separatism versus 42 percent who wish to remain within Spain. The support for greater autonomy, however, is very strong.
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Arrow Up

Dent, Faber, Celente, Maloney, Rogers - What do they say is coming in 2014?

Michael Snyder
TheEconomicCollapseBlog
Thu, 12 Dec 2013 21:45 UTC
Earth from Space
© TheEconomicCollapseBlog

Some of the most respected prognosticators in the financial world are warning that what is coming in 2014 and beyond is going to shake America to the core. Many of the quotes that you are about to read are from individuals that actually predicted the subprime mortgage meltdown and the financial crisis of 2008 ahead of time.

So they have a track record of being right. Does that guarantee that they will be right about what is coming in 2014? Of course not. In fact, as you will see below, not all of them agree about exactly what is coming next. But without a doubt, all of their forecasts are quite ominous. The following are quotes from Harry Dent, Marc Faber, Gerald Celente, Mike Maloney, Jim Rogers and nine other respected economic experts about what they believe is coming in 2014 and beyond...

-Harry Dent, author of The Great Depression Ahead: "Our best long-term and intermediate cycles suggest another slowdown and stock crash accelerating between very early 2014 and early 2015, and possibly lasting well into 2015 or even 2016. The worst economic trends due to demographics will hit between 2014 and 2019. The U.S. economy is likely to suffer a minor or major crash by early 2015 and another between late 2017 and late 2019 or early 2020 at the latest."

-Marc Faber, editor and publisher of the Gloom, Boom & Doom Report: "You have to say that we are again in a massive financial bubble in bonds, in equities, in [other] asset prices that have gone up dramatically."

-Gerald Celente: "Any self-respecting adult that hears McConnell, Reid, Boehner, Ryan, one after another, and buys this baloney... they deserve what they get. And as for the international scene... the whole thing is collapsing. That's our forecast. We are saying that by the second quarter of 2014, we expect the bottom to fall out... or something to divert our attention as it falls out."
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Windsock

Congressmen Want to Haul Obama into Court for failure to follow the law

Daniel Halper
The Weekly Standard
Thu, 12 Dec 2013 20:00 UTC
Congressman Tom Rice of South Carolina, a Republican, is sponsoring a resolution in the House of Representatives that would, if adopted, direct the legislative body "to bring a civil action for declaratory or injunctive relief to challenge certain policies and actions taken by the executive branch." In other words, Rep. Rice wants to take President Obama to court for not faithfully executing the laws.

"President Obama has adopted a practice of picking and choosing which laws he wants to enforce. In most cases, his laws of choice conveniently coincide with his Administration's political agenda. Our Founding Fathers created the Executive Branch to implement and enforce the laws written by Congress and vested this power in the President. However, President Obama has chosen to ignore some of the laws written by Congress and implemented by preceding Presidents," Rice wrote in a letter to fellow House members to ask them to co-sponsor this resolution.

"This resolution allows the House of Representatives to bring legal action against the Executive Branch and challenge recent actions, inactions, and policies."
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Heart - Black

Investigators describe horrifically graphic child porn on hard drive of Alexander aide

Alexis Levinson
The Daily Caller
Thu, 12 Dec 2013 13:22 UTC
Loskarn
© The Daily CallerLoskarn attempted to hide hard drive outside his window.
Jesse Ryan Loskarn, the former chief of staff to Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander, appeared in a Washington, D.C. federal court Thursday on charges of possession and distribution of child pornography.

Alexander fired Loskarn on Thursday after learning he was under investigation.

Loskarn - who goes by his middle name - was caught during a joint investigation between the Toronto Police Service and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service into a website that was selling DVDs and streaming movies, most of which "feature young nude boys." Investigators found that Loskarn "made several purchases between November 2010 and March 2011," according to the official complaint document.

In early October this year, USPIS "identified Loskarn's residential IP address on the Gnutella peer to peer network offering files with names that are consistent with child pornography broadcasting as a download candidate," according to the complaint. Investigators obtained partial downloads of the files and discovered that they were indeed videos of pornography featuring young children in sexual situations.
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Bad Guys

The corruption of America and JP Morgan Chase

Professor Robert Reich
robertreich.org
Sun, 08 Dec 2013 00:00 UTC
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Robert Reich - former Secretary of Labor during the Clinton Administration

The Justice Department has just obtained documents showing that JPMorgan Chase, Wall Street's biggest bank, has been hiring the children of China's ruling elite in order to secure "existing and potential business opportunities" from Chinese government-run companies. "You all know I have always been a big believer of the Sons and Daughters program," says one JP Morgan executive in an email, because "it almost has a linear relationship" to winning assignments to advise Chinese companies. The documents even include spreadsheets that list the bank's "track record" for converting hires into business deals.

It's a serious offense. But let's get real. How different is bribing China's "princelings," as they're called there, from Wall Street's ongoing program of hiring departing U.S. Treasury officials, presumably in order to grease the wheels of official Washington? Timothy Geithner, Obama's first Treasury Secretary, is now president of the private-equity firm Warburg Pincus; Obama's budget director Peter Orszag is now a top executive at Citigroup.

Comment: The corruption in Washington and on Wall Street is, indeed, "beyond outrage".

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