Puppet MastersS


Briefcase

Banks were 'complicit' in scheme to steal billions of dollars, claims jailed financier Bernard Madoff


Daily Mail
Fri, 18 Feb 2011 05:48 UTC

Madoff: 'The attitude was sort of, "If you're doing something wrong, we don't want to know" '

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© Agence France-Presse/GettyScheme: Bernard Madoffhas claimed that banks were 'complicit' in fleecing billions of dollars fromvictims
In his first interview for publication since his 2008 arrest, former Nasdaq chairman Madoff told The New York Times the financial institutions 'were complicit in one form or another', but did not name any.
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Vader

First solve Iranian threat, Israeli Foreign Minister demands


M & C News
Fri, 18 Feb 2011 05:31 UTC
Avigdor Lieberman
© unknownAvigdor Lieberman
Israel would be prepared to take more risks for peace if the threat from a nuclear Iran was dealt with first, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Tuesday.

'The main problem at present, in the Middle East, in the world, is the problem of Iran,' he said as he met visiting EU Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton in Jerusalem.

'First try solve the Iranian problem, then our readiness to take risks and solve the Palestinian problem will be higher,' he said.

Israel regards Iran as its biggest existential threat, because of its nuclear programme and repeated statements by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that the Jewish state should be wiped form the map.
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Info

Turkey: Israel Must Apologize for Flotilla Raid Regardless of UN Findings


Haaretz
Tue, 15 Feb 2011 05:23 UTC
Turkish official says Ankara believes UN report will be unbiased, but remains firm in its demand that Israel make amends for raid that killed nine pro-Palestinian activists.

Turkey will insist on an apology from Israel for its bloody raid on a Gaza-bound Turkish aid ship as a condition for mending ties, regardless of the findings of a United Nations investigation, a Turkish diplomatic official said.

"We expect the UN investigation to be balanced so we won't get what we want and Israel won't get what it wants, but apology and compensation are a red line for us," the official told a group of reporters in Ankara on condition of anonymity.

Turkey, a predominantly Muslim former ally of Israel, has scaled back ties, demanding Israel apologize and pay damages for the raid, which caused an international outcry.

Nine Turks were shot dead in the May 31 clash when Israeli marines stormed a flotilla organized by a Turkish Islamist charity, which ignored orders to turn back as it tried to breach an Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip.

"We will not back off on our demands. We cannot forget the loss of nine lives. Israel is our friend. If a friend is in error, then he or she should apologize."

Israel has broached the issue of compensation but has not admitted it was at fault.
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Arrow Down

US backs protests in Iran


The Telegraph, UK
Tue, 15 Feb 2011 02:51 UTC
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has expressed support for protesters in Iran, saying they "deserve the same rights as they saw being played out in Egypt".

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Bomb

"Pawn in larger US government plot" - Haskells interviewed on Fox about US intel patsy, the 'Underwear Bomber'


Fox News
Fri, 18 Feb 2011 04:51 UTC
Comment: Detroit attorneys Kurt and Lori Haskell witnessed the bizarre incident at Amsterdam's Schipol airport in which the so-called "Underwear Bomber", 16 year old Nigerian national Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, was led through the gates and onto Flight 253 to Detroit without either an airline ticket or a passport, by a "well-dressed man" of Indian complexion and an American accent, who reassured the airline's flight desk officer that "we do this all the time". Abdulmutallab's trial is coming up soon and the Haskells are confident their story will be heard. We pray for their safety in the meantime...


Comment: The Underwear Bomber - Crushing Freedom With Phony Arab Terrorism

Underwear Bomber Redux - Was Mutallab An Israeli "Secret Weapon"?

Haskell Blows Whistle on Underwear Bomber, Government Op

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Laptop

U.S. Anti-Child Pornography Operation Accidentally Shuts Down 84,000 Sites

Amy Lee
Huffington Post
Thu, 17 Feb 2011 02:22 UTC
monitor w/ eye
© n/a
In an effort to crack down on child pornography, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the seizure of 10 domains as a part of a new initiative called "Operation Protect Our Children" but they also shut down 84,000 seemingly innocent sites in the process.

"For all its positive impact, the Internet has also unfortunately created a new way for child predators to commit their inexcusable crimes," said Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the DOJ in a statement. "The production and distribution of child pornography wreak havoc on innocent lives. With these domain seizures, we are taking our fight against child pornography to websites that facilitate the exchange of these abusive images."

The press release did not contain the names of the ten domains that were seized. However, the domain mooo.com, a part of the DNS provider FreeDNS was shut down in the process, with sites using the domain to host their pages displaying a banner reading as follows:
"Advertisement, distribution, transportation, receipt, and possession of child pornography constitute federal crimes that carry penalties for first time offenders of up to 30 years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine, forfeiture and restitution."
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Laptop

House Republicans Move To Block FCC Internet Regulations

Joelle Tessler
Huffington Post
Thu, 17 Feb 2011 02:15 UTC
Rep. Greg Walden
© APRep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., sponsor of the amendment.
House Republicans on Thursday moved to block the Federal Communications Commission from enforcing new rules that prohibit broadband providers from interfering with Internet traffic on their networks.

With a 244-181 vote, Republican leaders succeeded in attaching an amendment to a sweeping spending bill that would bar the FCC from using government money to implement its new "network neutrality" regulations.

The rules prohibit phone and cable companies from favoring or discriminating against Internet content and services, including online calling services like Skype and Web video services like Netflix that could compete with their core operations. The FCC's three Democrats voted to adopt the regulations late last year over the opposition of the agency's two Republicans.

The rules are already facing court challenges from Verizon Communications Inc. and Metro PCS Communications Inc. Republicans in both chambers of Congress have introduced legislation to try to repeal the rules outright.
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Display

FBI Urges Congress to Expand Internet Wiretapping

Eric W. Dolan
Raw Story
Fri, 18 Feb 2011 00:00 UTC
control room
© n/a
The FBI urged members of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security on Thursday to update the Communications Assistance to Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) and make it easier for authorities to eavesdrop on Internet.

The act was passed in 1994 and requires telecommunication companies to design their equipment and services to ensure that law enforcement and national security officials can monitor telephone and other communications whenever necessary.

"Over the years, through interpretation of the statute by the Federal Communications Commission, the reach of CALEA has been expanded to include facilities-based broadband internet access and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services that are fully inter-connected with the public switched telephone network," FBI General Counsel Valeria Caproni told the subcommittee.

"Although that expansion of coverage has been extremely helpful, CALEA does not cover popular Internet-based communications modalities such as webmail, social networking sites or peer-to-peer services."

"As a result, although the government may obtain a court order authorizing the collection of certain communications, it often serves that order on a provider who does not have an obligation under CALEA to be prepared to execute it," she explained. "Such providers may not have intercept capabilities in place at the time that they receive the order."
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Nuke

Russia May Deploy Rockets on Southern Kurils


The Moscow Times
Wed, 16 Feb 2011 00:00 UTC
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© Sergey Ponomarev / APMembers of the Stal youth group picketing the Japanese Embassy with signs reading "The Kurils are our land."
Russia will send new air defense systems, possibly including S-400 rockets, to islands at the center of a territorial dispute with Japan, RIA-Novosti reported Tuesday, citing a General Staff source.

Russia, which occupied the four islands off Japan at the end of World War II, has pressed its claim to the territory with plans to boost investment and its military presence.

"The division will be given a brigade of air defense troops," the news agency quoted the General Staff source as saying.

The air defense systems will consist of short- and long-range weapons, possibly including the Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile defense system, he said.

Interfax quoted a General Staff source as denying the report. A spokesman for the Defense Ministry refused to confirm or deny it.

The Russian-made S-400 can intercept and destroy airborne targets at a distance of up to 400 kilometers, meaning that they could hit aircraft, cruise missiles or ballistic missiles over Japan, RIA-Novosti said.
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Star of David

Israel Warns It Might Act on Iranian Warships Passing Through Suez Canal


Fox News
Wed, 16 Feb 2011 00:00 UTC
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© ReutersAn Iranian warship and speed boats take part in a naval war game in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, southern Iran on April 22, 2010.
Israel is monitoring two Iranian warships about to pass through the Suez Canal for Syria and warn they might act.

The Israeli Navy will be tracking the two warships as they cross the Suez Canal for the Mediterranean Sea, according to defense officials.

Israel's Defense Minister Ehud Barak said in a statement that it had alerted "friendly nations" about the warships, Reuters reports.

Israel's Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman says that "Israel cannot ignore these provocations," according to ynetnews.com.

"Unfortunately, the international community is not ready to deal with Iran's repeated provocations," Lieberman said, according to the Jerusalem Post.

Lieberman added that the warships were "a provocation that proves Iran's nerve and self-esteem is growing from day to day."

The Egyptian body that runs the Suez Canal denied the claim.

Ahmed el-Manakhli, head of the canal operations room, said warships must get permission 48 hours before crossing, and "so far, we have not been notified."

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said in an e-mailed statement that "Israel is closely following the movements of the Iranian ships and has updated friendly states on the issue. Israel will continue to follow the ships movements."
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