Puppet Masters
If the Mumbai terrorists' background was consistent with the single captured survivor, then the terrorist actions were not performed by Muslims, but by mercenaries, that is soldiers of fortune, hired criminals, paid to murder and terrorize, for non-religious reasons, and funded by unknown criminal gangs for purposes also unknown. The obvious motivation of such gangs might be to encourage political instability in the region, and heighten military and diplomatic pressure on the government of Pakistan. This certainly suggests that the criminal gangs who hired the mercenary terrorists in Mumbai, were like their soldiers, motivated also by financial gain, as criminal gangs tend to be so engaged, and that the gangs themselves were hired by perhaps non-Pakistani actors, with ambitions for control of the government of Pakistan.
© Matson
World stock indexes fell the week ending 16th February led by the Dow losing more than 5% while gold continued to inch its way towards the psychologically important $1,000/oz level, driven by the approach of what looks like another emerging market crisis in Eastern Europe which is driving the Euro and Sterling lower, sending - it would seem - mobile money towards gold. The big US news, however, was the passage of the almost $800 billion stimulus package in the United States and the decidedly lukewarm reception to US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's much heralded $2 trillion bank rescue plan.
The G7 finance ministers met in Rome in an exercise in hot air generation, stating, as if we needed reminding, that the "downturn" will persist through 2009 and that the various "stimulus measures" won't have any noticeable effect for a while as they "build over time". The ministers did pledge to restore confidence to financial markets and growth to the world economy but didn't happen to mention how they plan to do it. Timothy Geithner demanded "exceptional measures" from his counterparts which we can only assume means "exceptionally large amounts of money" to prop up the international banking system so that it can continue to concentrate even greater wealth in even fewer hands.
© Unknown
Ali al-Jarrah: Mossad mole
Ali al-Jarrah: Mossad mole
To Israel, he appears to have been a valued spy, sending reports and taking clandestine photographs of Palestinian groups and Hezbollah since 1983.
Now he sits in a Lebanese prison cell, accused by the authorities of betraying his country to an enemy state. Months after his arrest, his friends and former colleagues are still in shock over the extent of his deceptions: the carefully disguised trips abroad, the unexplained cash, the secret second wife.
© World Net Daily
By Way of Deception: 'former' Mossad Chief Shabtai Shavit
By Way of Deception: 'former' Mossad Chief Shabtai Shavit
"I don't believe there is a political solution which can be achieved through negotiations with Iran," he said.
"My concern is that until Obama finishes his learning curve of the subject, the Iranians are going to have maybe the first or even more nuclear bombs."
Anti-Semitic graffiti sprayed on the walls of the Caracas synagogue
"Just days after the international community commemorated the Holocaust in ceremonies of remembrance throughout the world, a synagogue in Caracas was the scene of a modern day Kristallnacht. For five hours, violent anti-Semites profaned and vandalized the most sacred space and objects of Jewish life, leaving behind graffiti that said "Get out," "Death to All," and "Damn Israel, Death." This violent attack occurring on the Jewish Sabbath is reminiscent of the darkest days leading to the Shoah, when Jews were attacked and synagogues and Torahs vandalized and destroyed under the guard of the Nazi regime."
In Nigeria oil workers are protesting the ongoing wave of violence against their industry which operates with legal impunity among the poorest people on earth.
Unemployment soared in the US and Canada; while Obama's dreams of bipartisan support for the rescue of the US economy took a beating as the pathological Republicans in the Senate played their usual games of economic dogma and political mendacity seemingly oblivious to the risk that when the whole house of cards comes down they might not have that cozy seat in an underground bunker they think is reserved in their name. But at least one US politician has had the courage to tell defaulting homeowners to resist eviction for as long as possible.
Unemployment is rising the world over while the social infrastructure in many countries, weakened by years of deliberate destruction from pernicious application of Friedmanite free market ideology, is already struggling under the strain. We are living the Shock Doctrine in real time.
Unemployment soared in the US and Canada; while Obama's dreams of bipartisan support for the rescue of the US economy took a beating as the pathological Republicans in the Senate played their usual games of economic dogma and political mendacity seemingly oblivious to the risk that when the whole house of cards comes down they might not have that cozy seat in an underground bunker they think is reserved in their name. But at least one US politician has had the courage to tell defaulting homeowners to resist eviction for as long as possible.
Unemployment is rising the world over while the social infrastructure in many countries, weakened by years of deliberate destruction from pernicious application of Friedmanite free market ideology, is already struggling under the strain. We are living the Shock Doctrine in real time.
The basis on which these dire warnings are being made is the dramatic drop in the Baltic Dry Index. The article that seems to have set this wave off is posted on one of the less reliable alternative news websites which gives us immediate cause for concern.
We agree that the free market capitalist system is in the process of collapsing from its current form into a new form. It seems to us that there are forces at work that wish to see a total collapse into financial, and ultimately social, anarchy while there are other forces that are seeking to establish a new world economic order modeled to their design. In the midst of such immense events it is important to remain sober and calm and not succumb to the agitation and panic that many commentators seem eager to generate.
The US military has failed to keep track of thousands of weapons shipped to Afghanistan, leaving them vulnerable to being lost or stolen, a report says.
The report has been compiled by congressional auditors, the US Government Accountability Office (GAO).
It found that, in the four years up to June 2008, the US military failed to keep complete records on some 222,000 weapons entering the country.
The report will be discussed in the US House of Representatives on Thursday.
It states that weapons supplied by the US to the Afghan military "are at serious risk of theft or loss".
The report has been compiled by congressional auditors, the US Government Accountability Office (GAO).
It found that, in the four years up to June 2008, the US military failed to keep complete records on some 222,000 weapons entering the country.
The report will be discussed in the US House of Representatives on Thursday.
It states that weapons supplied by the US to the Afghan military "are at serious risk of theft or loss".
Tel Aviv, Asharq Al-Awsat- Israeli sources have revealed that Hezbollah Commander Imad Mughniyeh was assassinated by Israeli Mossad agents and aided by information gathered by the Central Intelligence Agency from Hezbollah commander Ali Moussa Daqduq, who was arrested in Iraq in January 2007.
The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth revealed that the CIA arrested Daqduq, a commander in the Lebanese movement near Karbala, Iraq, in 2007. He had been sent to Iran by Mughniyeh in order to receive training, following this Daqduq helped to train elements of the Mahdi army in Iraq.
Yedioth Ahronoth also alleges that Daqduq had given an accurate physical description of Mughniyeh, as well as providing information regarding his behavior, his military tactics, his known acquaintances, and the secret phone number that Mughniyeh used.
The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth revealed that the CIA arrested Daqduq, a commander in the Lebanese movement near Karbala, Iraq, in 2007. He had been sent to Iran by Mughniyeh in order to receive training, following this Daqduq helped to train elements of the Mahdi army in Iraq.
Yedioth Ahronoth also alleges that Daqduq had given an accurate physical description of Mughniyeh, as well as providing information regarding his behavior, his military tactics, his known acquaintances, and the secret phone number that Mughniyeh used.
© Unknown
While the world slithers into the black hole of economic collapse, those that head the institutions that sit astride its nations and peoples met in Davos, Switzerland last week for the World Economic Forum. Attendance was, as always, by invitation only and that included the press so we can be sure that whatever came out of Davos 'on-the-record' was intended to. In case you doubt the ability of conference organizers to manage the information flow consider two things; there are numerous "off-the-record" briefings throughout the conference the details of which we never hear, and all those attending, including journalists, want to be invited back for they are members of the Inner Circle and rely on their membership for their place in life.
We were not invited which is somewhat galling given that in October 2005 (The Economic Collapse: An Insider's View) and then again in August 2006 (Signs of the Economic Apocalypse - Update) sott.net (or signs-of-the-times.org as it was then) was hosting podcasts in which the forthcoming collapse of the free market capitalist system was discussed in detail as well as our consistent warnings over the last five years. It is even more galling to find that Nouriel Roubini is being treated as some sort of god for saying exactly the same thing as sott.net after we said it. The upside of not being invited is that you, dear reader, can rest assured of our continued independence of both mind and spirit.
