Puppet Masters

Corporate political conspiracy behind bankruptcy of Detroit revealed

Kate Randall
World Socialist Web Site
Mon, 17 Feb 2014 00:00 UTC

Workers and youth from throughout Detroit, across the US and internationally gathered at Wayne State University (WSU) on Saturday for the Workers Inquiry into the Bankruptcy of Detroit & the Attack on the DIA and Pensions.

The meeting drew more than 100 people, including students from Wayne State University and other campuses, Detroit city workers, teachers, artists and tenants fighting eviction from the Griswold Apartments in downtown Detroit. Delegates attended from Illinois, New York, Virginia, California and other states, as well as from Germany and Australia.

The Inquiry, sponsored by the Socialist Equality Party and the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE), was the product of a months-long campaign to organize working class opposition to the bankruptcy. Reports provided a detailed exposure of the political conspiracy involving both major political parties, the courts and the mass media.

Opening the meeting, Workers Inquiry Chairman Lawrence Porter explained, "This is an historic gathering, a true working class investigation into one of the crimes of this century: the premeditated plan to install an emergency manager with immense powers and take the city into bankruptcy in order to destroy rights won in over 80 years of struggle."

Western 'democracy': Unelected party secretary Matteo Renzi appointed as Italy's youngest ever prime minister

Josephine McKenna
The Telegraph
Mon, 17 Feb 2014 12:15 UTC

Matteo Renzi outlined an ambitious plan for Italy on Monday as he was appointed the country's new prime minister, vowing to urgently pursue far-reaching financial and political reforms in his first few months in office.

Mr Renzi was summoned to the Quirinale, the presidential palace, following the resignation of Enrico Letta on Friday and will spend the next few days seeking to form a coalition and fill key cabinet positions after facing rejections from several candidates at the weekend.

"For the legislature that we are proposing we need a few days to confirm the government," Mr Renzi, who at 39 would be the country's youngest-ever prime minister, said immediately after the president confirmed his position.

"But I assure you I will give this commitment all the energy I have."

The former premier was ousted in an internal party vote orchestrated by Mr Renzi who called for a "new phase" to push through economic and electoral reforms.

Provided his government is approved, as is expected, in a parliamentary confidence vote later this week, Mr Renzi will be Italy's third unelected prime minister in three years. He was named after the president held talks with leaders across the political spectrum at the weekend to decide on a new leader.

Merkel, Hollande to discuss possible European communication network that excludes U.S.

Erik Kirschbaum and Julien Ponthus
Yahoo! News
Sat, 15 Feb 2014 13:11 UTC

© Reuters/Yoan Valat/Pool
French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel (R) meet in President's office prior to a dinner at the Elysee Palace, in Paris, December 18, 2013.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday she would talk to French President Francois Hollande about building up a European communication network to avoid emails and other data passing through the United States.

Merkel, who visits France on Wednesday, has been pushing for greater data protection in Europe following reports last year about mass surveillance in Germany and elsewhere by the U.S. National Security Agency. Even Merkel's cell phone was reportedly monitored by American spies.

Merkel said in her weekly podcast that she disapproved of companies such as Google and Facebook basing their operations in countries with low levels of data protection while being active in countries such as Germany with high data protection.

"We'll talk with France about how we can maintain a high level of data protection," Merkel said.

"Above all, we'll talk about European providers that offer security for our citizens, so that one shouldn't have to send emails and other information across the Atlantic. Rather, one could build up a communication network inside Europe."

Hollande's office confirmed that the governments had been discussing the matter and said Paris agreed with Berlin's proposals.

Western terrorists' car bomb killed dozens outside mosque in southern Syria

The Guardian
Fri, 14 Feb 2014 14:51 UTC

Explosion in Yadouda after Friday prayers ignites nearby oil tanker, causing large fireball at mosque in Deraa province

A car bomb has exploded outside a mosque in southern Syria, killing dozens of people and filling clinics and hospitals with the wounded, anti-government activists have said.

The explosion in Yadouda, as worshippers were leaving after Friday prayers, charred nearby vehicles and damaged the white-domed mosque, according to video images posted by activists who are fighting to oust President Bashar Assad.

The motive for the blast could not immediately be determined and activists provided varying death tolls ranging from 29 to 43. State-run TV confirmed the bombing but said only three people were killed.

Car bombs have frequently been used by Islamic extremists both against the government and against moderate rivals in the Sunni-led opposition movement. Government forces also have been known to use explosive-packed vehicles and the two sides frequently trade blame in attacks targeting mosques.

An activist in the nearby region of Quneitra, Jamal al-Golani, said the car bomb killed at least 29 people, of which 18 were identified. He gave the Associated Press a list of the names of the identified men who were killed.

U.S. DHS contracted to purchase 704 millions rounds of ammo

Ali Meyer
CNS News
Wed, 19 Feb 2014 15:54 UTC

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is contracted to purchase 704,390,250 rounds of ammunition over the next four years, which is equal to a total of about 2,500 rounds per DHS agent per year, according to a January 2014 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report entitled Ammunition Purchases Have Declined Since 2009.

"If DHS were to purchase all 704 million rounds over the next four years, and if they were used by 70,000 DHS agents and officers, it would be roughly 2,500 rounds per agent per year," David Maurer, author of the GAO report, told CNSNews.com.

"That would be higher than what we saw in past years at DHS and higher than the average annual number of rounds per agent or officer at the Department of Justice (DOJ)," he said.

"The 704,390,250 number of rounds is like a ceiling or credit limit which DHS wouldn't have to fully execute," said Maurer. "It's there to use over the next four years until fiscal year 2018, if DHS needed to purchase those rounds."

In Appendix III of the GAO report, "Department of Homeland Security Ammunition Contracts, as of October 1, 2013," it states that "the 29 existing DHS ammunition contracts extend over the next 4 fiscal years and have a remaining contract limit of approximately 704 million rounds (for various ammunition types) if every option for purchasing ammunition were exercised into fiscal year 2018."

US Hypocrisy and 'Regime change': The Simple Truth About Ukraine - Video

Democracy Now
Sat, 22 Feb 2014 10:01 UTC

California senator charged in big corruption case

Washington Post
Sat, 22 Feb 2014 09:41 UTC

© Rich Pedroncelli/AP
Calif. State Senator Ron Calderon. Calderon and his brother, Tom Calderon, were indicted by a federal grand jury on multiple political corruption charges

A California state senator was charged Friday with accepting $100,000 in bribes, lavish trips and no-show jobs for his children in exchange for pushing legislation to benefit a hospital engaged in billing fraud and participating in a film industry tax scheme that actually was an FBI sting.

The 24-count federal indictment against Sen. Ron Calderon, a Democrat from a politically prominent family in Los Angeles' blue-collar suburbs, depicts a rogue legislator eager to trade his clout at the state Capitol to enrich himself and his family. His brother Tom, a former state lawmaker-turned-lobbyist, was charged with money-laundering for funneling bribes through a tax-exempt group he controlled, prosecutors said.

"When public officials choose to callously betray the trust of the people they serve and selfishly abuse the privileges of public office, then we will take all necessary steps to hold those persons fully accountable for their behavior," U.S. Attorney Andre Birotte said.

The charges come after a long-running corruption investigation that has tarnished the state's majority party - Democrats hold every statewide office and control both chambers in the Legislature. The charges also threaten the patriarchs of a family that rose to political prominence from the heavily Hispanic, working-class communities southeast of Los Angeles.

Latest from Ukraine: Military signals support for coup d'état, regional deputy says foreign agents spent $10 billion laying groundwork over many years, Yanukovich quashes Western rumors that he's resigned

RT
Sat, 22 Feb 2014 08:17 UTC

The goals of this "revolution" come into focus...

Protests in Kiev continue despite President Viktor Yanukovich and opposition leaders signing an EU-brokered agreement which seeks to end the bloody political crisis in the country.

Saturday, February 22

14:17 GMT

Ukraine's armed forces cannot and will not be involved in political conflict, the Ministry of Defense has stated.

"Units of the armed forces of Ukraine are located in places of permanent deployment and perform scheduled tasks," the statement published on the Ministry's webpage reads.

"Armed forces are faithful to their constitutional duty and cannot be dragged into an internal political conflict," the Chief of General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said. "Now I am fully controlling the situation in the Armed forces of Ukraine."

14:06 GMT

Yanukovich has accused the opposition of staging a coup d'etat and has no plans to resign, according to advisor Anna German, a Party of Regions deputy, who was interviewed by UNIAN news agency.

13:48 GMT

Party of Regions deputy Vadim Kolesnichenko has blamed "foreign agents" for the unfolding events.

"The situation in Kiev has taken years to prepare. Foreign agents of influence have spent over $10 billion in recent years to execute this coup. The money has been channeled into so-called non-governmental organizations," Kolesnichenko told the ITAR-TASS news agency.

13:47 GMT

Opposition deputies claim they have received verbal assurances from Yanukovich that he will resign.

"We have received a verbal promise from Yanukovich that he will step down. Now, we are waiting for written confirmation," said Nikolay Kerinchuk from Yulia Tymoshenko's Fatherland party.

Venezuela revokes CNN journalists' press credentials for 'war propaganda'

RT
Fri, 21 Feb 2014 08:24 UTC

© Reuters / Carlos Garcia Rawlins
Supporters of opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez stand at a barricade during a protest against President Nicolas Maduro's government, in a middle-class neighbourhood in Caracas February 20, 2014.

Venezuela has revoked or denied press credentials for seven CNN journalists working in the country for what President Nicolas Maduro called "war propaganda" amid coverage of anti-government protests.

Before the conditions on credentials were announced, Maduro said he would eject CNN from the country if it did not "rectify" its coverage amid a spike in the unrest that has gripped Venezuela. According to officials, at least eight people have been killed since demonstrations mounted by the opposition turned violent last week.

"They want to show the world that there is a civil war in Venezuela," Maduro said of CNN in a televised speech on Thursday.

He added that CNN was not showing "the people working, studying, building the homeland."

Imperialist Meddling: France triggered slaughter in Africa

Finian Cunningham
Press TV
Thu, 13 Feb 2014 21:23 UTC

© Rebecca Blackwall/AP

French soldiers fire tear gas as they attempt to contain a demonstration calling for the departure of French forces.

As the Central African Republic descends into a charnel house of mass killing, hunger and fleeing refugees, one country bears full responsibility for the catastrophe - France.

This week, France's defence minister Jean-Yves Le Drian had the brass neck to tour the former French colony where hundreds of people - mainly Muslims - have been lynched in the streets in recent weeks, their corpses left to rot along the roadsides.

Thousands more have been burnt out of their homes and have fled to the jungles for refuge from inter-communal clashes. A Muslim man happened to fall off a truck ferrying refugees from the violence. He was then beaten, hacked to death by a frenzied mob on the street below.

An entire country has been turned upside down, and that chaos and suffering is all down to French imperialist meddling.

Le Drian had the nerve to claim that the dispatch of French troops to the Central African Republic in early December "had prevented even more deaths from occurring". How dare the French minister distort the facts and exonerate his country from the cold-blooded mass murder and an unfolding humanitarian crisis that it - and it alone - has triggered.

Comment:
France sends military to deal with another 'ex'-colony, Central African Republic, under pretext of intervening in 'humanitarian crisis' it helped create

French military oversees power-sharing deal in 'former' colony, the Central African Republic

Of course it's over 90% black on Asian. Why? Because BFM set them up to do it, just like the St. George (Floyd) riots last year. If the poor SOB's...

Rowan Cocoan

So it seems that every other commercial I see in the whole hour a day I spend watching local news is a new drug for AIDS. Do I tell my friend that...

cracker

.. .. if it's on Katz's Court TV is an over propagandized ruse? or, (the late) H. Wayne the Carver, coroner?

Jibrish

.. .. A bot in lipstick is still a bot [Link]

Jibrish

Link to the video on YT: [Link]

Jean Michel

Puppet Masters

Corporate political conspiracy behind bankruptcy of Detroit revealed

Western 'democracy': Unelected party secretary Matteo Renzi appointed as Italy's youngest ever prime minister

Merkel, Hollande to discuss possible European communication network that excludes U.S.

Western terrorists' car bomb killed dozens outside mosque in southern Syria

U.S. DHS contracted to purchase 704 millions rounds of ammo

US Hypocrisy and 'Regime change': The Simple Truth About Ukraine - Video

California senator charged in big corruption case

Latest from Ukraine: Military signals support for coup d'état, regional deputy says foreign agents spent $10 billion laying groundwork over many years, Yanukovich quashes Western rumors that he's resigned

Venezuela revokes CNN journalists' press credentials for 'war propaganda'

Imperialist Meddling: France triggered slaughter in Africa

Latest News

Picture of the Day

Quote of the Day

Recent Comments

Quantum Quirk

Contact Us