Puppet MastersS


War Whore

Report: New Navy Map Shows U.S. Had 'Multitude of Forces' in Region Surrounding Libya During Benghazi Attack

Jason Howerton
TheBlaze
Wed, 12 Feb 2014 19:03 UTC
Government watchdog group Judicial Watch published a U.S. Navy map on Wednesday showing the locations of ships in the region surrounding Libya on the night of the deadly Benghazi Attack.

The unclassified map was obtained by Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Randall R. Schmidt via a Freedom of Information of Act (FOIA) request. Schmidt is reportedly investigating the U.S. military's response to the Benghazi attack and provided a copy of the map to the group.

"The U.S. military had a multitude of forces in the region surrounding Libya when terrorists attacked the Special Mission in Benghazi and murdered four Americans," Judicial Watch writes.

"Destroyers could have responded to the attack," Schmidt said.

He also said the military had "rapid reaction forces" and "armed predators" in the region. So far, the Department of Defense has refused to provide him records on the air fleet on Sept. 11, 2012.

"The point is there were enough forces to respond," Schmidt added.
navy fleets benghazi attack
© via Townhall
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Pirates

Monsanto "Goes Organic" and wins "Sustainability Award" - Right!


Alliance for Natural Health
Tue, 18 Feb 2014 18:30 UTC
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This isn't a spoof. In addition to this story, we'll provide you with a round-up of GMO-related news, including why your neighbor may shortly be planting GMO grass right next to you. Action Alerts!

We won't spend time in this article reiterating past research on why genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are dangerous - you probably already know that they can randomly produce toxic effects; introduce alarming levels of chemicals into our ecosystems and diet; and have been shown to cause serious health problems - but there have been some recent developments in GMO politics, science, and regulation that we want to share with you.

Here are the news items we'll cover:
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Snakes in Suits

Apartheid ended? Whites still mostly control South Africa economy

Jon Herskovitz & Peroshni Govender
Reuters
Tue, 26 Jun 2012 17:52 UTC
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South Africa's economy is still mostly under the control of whites who held power under apartheid and the government needs to take more drastic steps to make sure the black majority can benefit from its wealth, President Jacob Zuma said on Tuesday.

Zuma, speaking at the start of a major policy meeting of his ruling African National Congress, said the challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality posed long-term risks for Africa's richest country 18 years after the end of apartheid.

"The structure of the apartheid-era economy has remained largely intact," Zuma told several thousand ANC delegates.

"The ownership of the economy is still primarily in the hands of white males as it has always been," he said.

The ANC has drafted a raft of policy documents that call on mining firms to pay more to the state to help finance welfare spending. The proposals also advocate relying on state-owned enterprises to be engines of job creation and growth.
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Vader

And then there were 4: America's two biggest media corporations, Comcast & Time Warner, in $45 billion merger

Tom Eley
World Socialist Web Site
Mon, 17 Feb 2014 17:09 UTC
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Cable and media giant Comcast has made a $45 billion bid to acquire its rival Time Warner Cable, a merger that would create the largest cable and Internet supplier in the US by far, along with one of the world's biggest media content conglomerates. Comcast is currently the largest US cable provider; Time Warner is number two.

The new Comcast would deliver Internet and cable service to some 33 million households from the start - about a 30 percent market share - and would vastly expand its operations, only three years after having acquired NBC Universal.

According to Comcast, the new company would save $1.5 billion annually in gained "synergies," a euphemism for money saved through layoffs.

Comcast executives have expressed confidence the deal will be approved by federal regulators in spite of the obvious threat it poses to consumers. Media analysts point to the firm's lobbying operations and political clout in Washington.

David Cohen, Comcast's executive vice president, is linked closely to the Democratic Party and President Obama. Last week, Cohen and his wife dined in the White House with the Obamas and French President François Hollande.
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Pistol

Thailand counter-revolution: Four killed as rooftop snipers and grenade-throwing 'protesters' keep pressure up on democratically-elected Thai government


The Guardian
Tue, 18 Feb 2014 15:55 UTC
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© AFP/Pornchai KittiwongsakuThai 'protest' (coup) leader Suthep Thaugsuban (center) emerging from more planning meetings with the country's military generals.
Hundreds of riot police attempted to clear out anti-government protest sites around Thailand's capital on Tuesday, triggering clashes that left four people dead and 64 others injured.

Multiple gunshots were heard near the prime minister's offices, where riot police had started to remove protesters and dismantle a makeshift stage. Witnesses said shots were fired by both sides. Police later withdrew.

In another blow for the prime minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, the state anti-corruption agency accused her on Tuesday of improperly handling an expensive rice subsidy scheme, putting her in jeopardy of being impeached.

The National Anti-Corruption Commission said Yingluck's government proceeded with the scheme despite advice from experts that it was potentially wasteful and prone to corruption. The government has been months late in making payments to farmers for the rice they pledged to sell at above-market prices.

Comment: This 'poor people's protest movement' has its own TV channel and is led by this man:

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Suthep Thaugsuban


Does he look like a 'working man of the people' to you?! Thaugsuban has a long history of corrupt and unethical behaviour.

He doesn't want to reform the government in the people's favor: he wants to 'reform' it back to the way things were before his kind lost out in the revolution.

This is not a 'people's revolution': it's a mob backed (and armed) by the military regime and the country's billionaires who detest Thaksin because he actually used his power and wealth to help ordinary Thais.

See also:

Strategy of Tension: Five injured by organized mob armed with guns and bombs trying to prevent election taking place in Thailand

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

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Arrow Down

85 Billionaires and the better half - Poverty is spreading as wealth accumulates

Michael Parenti
Common Dreams
Tue, 18 Feb 2014 16:27 UTC
Hanoi Slum
© Flickr/United Nations/Creative CommonsAn urban slum in Hanoi, Viet Nam.
The world's 85 richest individuals possess as much wealth as the 3.5 billion souls who compose the poorer half of the world's population, or so it was announced in a report by Oxfam International. The assertion sounds implausible to me. I think the 85 richest individuals, who together are worth many hundreds of billions of dollars, must have far more wealth than the poorest half of our global population.

How could these two cohorts, the 85 richest and 3.5 billion poorest, have the same amount of wealth? The great majority of the 3.5 billion have no net wealth at all. Hundreds of millions of them have jobs that hardly pay enough to feed their families. Millions of them rely on supplements from private charity and public assistance when they can. Hundreds of millions are undernourished, suffer food insecurity, or go hungry each month, including many among the very poorest in the United States.

Most of the 3.5 billion earn an average of $2.50 a day. The poorest 40 percent of the world population accounts for just 5 percent of all global income. About 80 percent of all humanity live on less than $10 a day. And the poorest 50 percent maintain only 7.2 percent of the world's private consumption. How exactly could they have accumulated an amount of surplus wealth comparable to the 85 filthy richest?

Hundreds of millions live in debt even in "affluent" countries like the United States. They face health care debts, credit card debts, college tuition debts, and so on. Many, probably most who own homes - and don't live in shacks or under bridges or in old vans - are still straddled with mortgages. This means their net family wealth is negative, minus-zero. They have no propertied wealth; they live in debt.
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Dollar Gold

Does the trail of dead bankers lead somewhere?

Michael Snyder
The Economic Collapse Blog
Tue, 18 Feb 2014 16:10 UTC
trail
© Unknown
What are we to make of this sudden rash of banker suicides? Does this trail of dead bankers lead somewhere? Or could it be just a coincidence that so many bankers have died in such close proximity? I will be perfectly honest and admit that I do not know what is going on. But there are some common themes that seem to link at least some of these deaths together.

First of all, most of these men were in good health and in their prime working years. Secondly, most of these "suicides" seem to have come out of nowhere and were a total surprise to their families. Thirdly, three of the dead bankers worked for JP Morgan. Fourthly, several of these individuals were either involved in foreign exchange trading or the trading of derivatives in some way. So when "a foreign exchange trader" jumped to his death from the top of JP Morgan's Hong Kong headquarters this morning, that definitely raised my eyebrows. These dead bankers are starting to pile up, and something definitely stinks about this whole thing.

What would cause a young man that is making really good money to jump off of a 30 story building? The following is how the South China Morning Post described the dramatic suicide of 33-year-old Li Jie...
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Info

Russia prepares crackdown on Bitcoin

Kathrin Hille and Stephen Foley
Financial Times
Sun, 09 Feb 2014 19:40 UTC
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© Financial Times
Russian authorities are preparing to crack down on Bitcoin and have warned that those who use "cryptocurrencies" are breaking the law, as regulatory scrutiny of the virtual payment system intensifies around the world.

The promise of new measures to curb the virtual currency was made after Russia leapfrogged China to become the second-fastest growing territory for Bitcoin software downloads, behind the US.

Russia's intervention comes at another turbulent time for Bitcoin, the price of which dropped sharply over the weekend because Mt Gox, one of the largest exchanges, stopped letting customers withdraw their money. It cited technical issues and promised an update on Monday.

Law enforcement organs in Russia and the country's central bank are working on joint steps to prevent "illegal acts in the sphere of money circulation in Russia and prevent the violation of property rights of citizens and legal persons associated with the use of 'cryptocurrencies'," the general prosecutor's office said in a statement posted on its website over the weekend.

It added: "Anonymous payment systems and cryptocurrencies that have gained considerable circulation, including the most famous of them, Bitcoin, are money substitutes and cannot be used by individuals and legal persons."
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Snakes in Suits

CIA-sponsored coup: At least nine protesters killed as Kiev clashes continue

Ian Traynor
The Guardian
Tue, 18 Feb 2014 13:42 UTC
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© Stringer/Reuters Clashes in Kiev
Report of deaths comes as demonstrators are told to end their efforts to occupy government buildings

The foreign ministries of Ukraine and Russia issued what appeared to be co-ordinated statements blaming Europe for fomenting the unrest.

It appeared that the Kremlin had a hand in the political machinations behind Tuesday's eruption and the crackdown. As well as blaming Europe for the rioting, it offered $2bn (£1.2m) to Yanukovych and sought to influence the appointment of the new prime minister.

Women and children were being evacuated from the crucible of the protest, Independence Square, amid reports that riot police were firing smoke and stun grenades. Opposition sources also said police snipers were firing on demonstrators from rooftops.

Opposition organisers said seven civilians had been killed and around 150 injured, many seriously. The authorities said 37 police officers were injured.

Comment:
See also: Thousands hold CIA-sponsored anti-government protest in central Kiev
US regime-change operation in Ukraine exposed in leaked diplomatic phone call
Propaganda exposed: Fake images in Ukraine
US will give US tax-payer's money to Ukraine if Kiev makes necessary reforms - Nuland
"F**k The EU" - U.S. State department blasts Europe; revealed as alleged mastermind behind Ukraine unrest

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Arrow Down

China bans Bitcoin


RT
Thu, 09 Jan 2014 08:46 UTC
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© AFPWorkers sorting out packages at an Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba in Beijing.
Bitcoin faces a fresh obstacle in China as Alibaba,the country's largest e-commerce group, will ban bitcoin transactions starting January 14.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's Taobao, China's largest online marketplace, will not allow any transactions of virtual currencies or related products, the Financial Times reports.

Alibaba Group, an internet group of e-commerce businesses that handled over $170 billion in sales in 2012, expects to hold an initial public offering later this year, and banning bitcoin and steering clear of the sale of counterfeit goods is seen as an extra precaution.

Banning the anonymous virtual currency will "promote the healthy development of the Taobao Marketplace and to more effectively protect the interests of Taobao members," Alibaba said in a statement posted on its website on Tuesday.

Users will not only be barred from buying and selling bitcoins, but all related activities, including "mining" the currency, which is the creation of new bitcoins through solving complex logarithmic equations.

The move is part of a larger government crackdown on the cryptocurrency, which has fast gained traction in China, the world's second-largest economy and home to the largest bitcoin trading platforms.

Comment: Bitcoin tumbles after PBOC rumors confirmed

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