Lack of scientific rigor at MIVILUDES exposed by sociologist Olivier Bobinneau, former scientific expert on MIVILUDES

The French envoy to the UN has warned Iran that it risks a military strike if it continues pursuing its nuclear program.

"If we don't succeed today to reach a negotiation with the Iranians, there is a strong risk of military action," Ambassador Gerard Araud said on Tuesday during a panel discussion at the UN's New York headquarters, AFP reported.

The strike, he said, "would be a very complicated operation. It would have disastrous consequences in the region... all the Arab countries are extremely worried about what is happening."

Last Sunday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called on Iran to "freeze the production of centrifuges," saying that such a step would prevent fresh sanctions against it.

Washington - Public disclosure of graphic photos and video taken of Osama bin Laden after he was killed in May by U.S. commandos would damage national security and lead to attacks on American property and personnel, the Obama administration contends in a court documents.

In a response late Monday to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by Judicial Watch, a conservative watchdog group seeking the imagery, Justice Department attorneys said the CIA has located 52 photographs and video recordings. But they argued the images of the deceased bin Laden are classified and are being withheld from the public to avoid inciting violence against Americans overseas and compromising secret systems and techniques used by the CIA and the military.

The Justice Department has asked the court to dismiss Judicial Watch's lawsuit because the records the group wants are "wholly exempt from disclosure," according to the filing.

Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, accused the Obama administration of making a "political decision" to keep the bin Laden imagery secret. "We shouldn't throw out our transparency laws because complying with them might offend terrorists," Fitton said in a statement. "The historical record of Osama bin Laden's death should be released to the American people as the law requires."

Ever wonder why you get different search results from entering the same keywords as your friends? Google et al's takeover of the internet has turned it into a mirror which feeds back the junk in our minds because search results are tailored by algorithmic gatekeepers to create individualised "filter bubbles". Watch Eli Pariser explain how it works:

A fictitious scenario written in 1992 at the request of Colin Powell currently circulates among US military officers. The writing describes a coup d'état in 2012. The armed forces have replaced the civil power and are running social welfare and medical care, education, transportation, have established a unified command to guarantee the "homeland defense". Twelve years after its publication, neo-conservatives have made true most of this script: four central commands are under the single command of General Eberhart, who has developed programs for the surveillance and filing on the population. Just one last catastrophe is needed before the so much feared coup takes place.

In 1991, the victory of the US army during Operation Desert Storm (invasion of Iraq or the first Gulf War) not only was an easy victory over Saddam Hussein but also marks the beginning of a new era. The Pentagon can no longer find a match adversary. What is left of the Red Army has seemingly accepted American leadership for the establishment of a new world order. The new situation offers unlimited prospects and certain officers see the chance for interfering in political issues.

It is in this context that Parameters, the US War College Cadre magazine, decides, with the clear approval of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Colin Powell, to open a debate on the role of the army in society. The magazine, till then dealing only with studies, publishes in the winter of 1992 a fiction written by a US Air Force officer, Charles J. Dunlap Jr., describing the U.S. regime in 2012, headed by General "Brutus" after a military coup.

"Governments don't rule the world, Goldman Sachs rules the world."

That's what a purported London-based independent trader named Alessio Rastani told the BBC on Monday in a jaw-dropping interview that quickly went viral.

But just as quickly, rumors swirled that Rastani was actually a member of the Yes Men, a loose-knit group of merry pranksters and imposters that attempt to manipulate the media with the goal of exposing the dubious conduct of big corporations.

The Yes Men publicly denied that Rastani is a member. And the BBC said in a statement that it doesn't think he is, either: "We've carried out detailed investigations and can't find any evidence to suggest that the interview with Alessio Rastani was a hoax. He is an independent market trader and one of a range of voices we've had on air to talk about the recession."

"We've never heard of Rastani," the group said in a statement of its own. "He isn't a Yes Man. He's a real trader who is, for one reason or another, being more honest than usual."

Rastani has an active Twitter feed, Facebook account and blog--all consistently updated. And Rastani gave an extensive interview to Forbes insisting he is who he says he is--an independent trader who works from his South London home.

The Greek tragedy: no money, no hope ... Despairing middle classes could be the biggest threat to Greece's future, writes Paul Mason in Athens ... Dmitris Andreou made the last sale out of his small estate agents business in June. His wife Mary, makes her living preparing high-school students for English exams. But her living has dried up. Their savings are exhausted, their disposable income has dropped by about 50 per cent in two years, and they are angry. - UK Telegraph

Dominant Social Theme: Once the Greeks - and the PIGS generally - get used to austerity, the Eurozone will rebound.

Free-Market Analysis: This story is interesting because it is written by a mainstream journalist and actually tells the truth about Greece - that Greece, or its citizens, are ready to explode. One can extrapolate from Greece to the rest of the EU, or at least its Southern half. Push "austerity" a little further, as a solution to the "sovereign debt" crisis and all Europe may begin to detonate.

It is not just the Southern PIGS which are reeling. It is Northern Europe, too. The Northerners, especially Germany, do not want to pay for Southern profligacy. And Southern Europeans are well aware the fault does not lie with them, especially, but with elite political and financial interests.

It was not the average Greek or Spaniard who borrowed the money that has put the South in debt. The analyses of the European situation make it sound as if each individual was guilty. Not true. The Anglosphere banks arranged the lines of credit that are throttling the PIGS now.

On the tenth anniversary of the 9-11 attacks on the USA, which caused the deaths and injuries of thousands of innocent people, many people spent the day reflecting and remembering the loss of life, and on what has happened to America since that fateful day. The deaths and injuries were, in themselves, an appalling tragedy but an ongoing serious consequence of the attacks has been, and still is, the gradual erosion of civil rights and privacy of US citizens.

My time of reflection on September 11 was spent in the delightful company of Dave vonKleist, an American patriot, who for many years was on the frontline of the battle to keep America free from government tyranny and to protect the civil rights and freedom of the American people. Using humor and the politically incorrect music that he wrote, performed and recorded, Dave vonKleist entertained and informed listeners with his unique style of broadcasting on a radio show, The Power Hour which he co-hosted with Joyce Riley.

Dave vonKleist is also well known for the production of two video documentaries, "911 In Plane Site" and "911 Ripple Effect". These documentaries were an examination, by experts, of the video evidence of the attacks on the twin towers and the pentagon and posed questions that could not be answered with any credibility. To this day, Dave vonKleist is still on the receiving end of a mix of warm accolades and vicious attacks for daring to raise questions that needed to be asked.

Now living in Argentina, Dave vonKleist is a world away from the life when he relentlessly spent his days working towards increasing the American people's awareness of the corruption and tyranny that are slowly eating away at their rights and freedoms.

Wall Street has shown Americans how they feel about protests. This video shows unidentified occupants watching protests from the balconies of Wall Street in amusement while sipping champagne.

"US Day of Rage"

Demonstrations began on September 17 to show U.S. citizens anger over a financial system that favors the rich over all other American citizens. Chanting, "We are 99 percent," thousands of protesters gathered near Zucotti Park, close to Wall Street and began their march. Around 5 pm, while attempting to enter the financial district at 55 Wall Street, they were met by curious onlookers from the balconies who were leisurely watching the protesters and doing the unthinkable--drinking champagne.

The Federal Reserve wants to know what you are saying about it. In fact, the Federal Reserve has announced plans to identify "key bloggers" and to monitor "billions of conversations" about the Fed on Facebook, Twitter, forums and blogs. This is yet another sign that the alternative media is having a dramatic impact. As first reported on Zero Hedge, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York has issued a "Request for Proposal" to suppliers who may be interested in participating in the development of a "Sentiment Analysis And Social Media Monitoring Solution". In other words, the Federal Reserve wants to develop a highly sophisticated system that will gather everything that you and I say about the Federal Reserve on the Internet and that will analyze what our feelings about the Fed are. Obviously, any "positive" feelings about the Fed would not be a problem. What they really want to do is to gather information on everyone that views the Federal Reserve negatively. It is unclear how they plan to use this information once they have it, but considering how many alternative media sources have been shut down lately, this is obviously a very troubling sign.

You can read this "Request for Proposal" right here. Posted below are some of the key quotes from the document (in bold) with some of my own commentary in between the quotes....

"The intent is to establish a fair and equitable partnership with a market leader who will who gather data from various social media outlets and news sources and provide applicable reporting to FRBNY. This Request for Proposal ("RFP") was created in an effort to support FRBNY's Social Media Listening Platforms initiative."