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Gear

Thailand Finds Iran Link Between Bangkok and Delhi Attacks

Thai investigators believe they have found a link between this week's bomb blasts in Bangkok and New Delhi, a senior security official said on Wednesday, two of three botched attacks Israel has blamed on Iran.
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© ReutersThe three men suspected of being involved in three blasts in Bangkok

Iran, whose leaders had threatened to retaliate for Israel's alleged car-bomb assassination of several of its nuclear scientists, denied involvement in the attacks on Monday and Tuesday, including a bomb that failed to explode in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi.

Asked whether the explosives used in India and Thailand were the same, a senior Thai security official said they both had the same "magnetic sheets".

"The individual was in possession of the same magnets and we are currently examining the source of the magnet," National Security Council Secretary Wichian Podphosri said.

Laptop

Anti-Piracy Agreement ACTA is Falling Apart in Europe

ACTA
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Bulgaria won't be ratifying the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) any time soon.

On Tuesday, Bulgaria followed some of its European neighbors, including Germany and Poland, in halting approval of the controversial intellectual property treaty.

Bulgaria will "practically stop its participation" until it sees a clear and unified European stance on the treaty, according to Traicho Traikov, the Bulgarian economy and energy minister.

"I'm a pessimist when it comes to regulating an industry, which hasn't adapted to the digital age, through sanctions rather than market means," Traikov told the press, according to Bloomberg.

Mr. Potato

Canada: Tory Minister Accuses Bill Opponents of Siding with Child Pornographers

Vic Toews
© unknownVic Toews
The government says anyone who opposes federal plans to make electronic surveillance easier for police and spies is siding with child pornographers.

It's the first salvo in a battle that will resume Tuesday when the government reintroduces legislation that would expand online monitoring powers.

The issue pits the desire of intelligence and law-enforcement officials to have easier access to information about Internet users against the individual's right to privacy.

Asked Monday in the House of Commons about the coming bill, Public Safety Minister Vic Toews told a Liberal MP he could either stand with the government or "with the child pornographers" prowling online.

Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart has warned against simply resurrecting a trio of previous federal bills to expand surveillance powers, citing several shortcomings.

Nuke

Russia Faced Major Nuclear Disaster in 2011: Report

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© Reuters/Lev FedoseevThe Yekaterinburg submarine and crew in 2006.
Russia came close to nuclear disaster in late December when a blaze engulfed a nuclear-powered submarine carrying atomic weapons, a leading Russian magazine reported, contradicting official assurances that it was not armed.

Russian officials said at the time that all nuclear weapons aboard the Yekaterinburg nuclear submarine had been unloaded well before a fire engulfed the 167-metre (550 feet) vessel and there had been no risk of a radiation leak.

But the respected Vlast weekly magazine quoted several sources in the Russian navy as saying that throughout the fire on December 29 the submarine was carrying 16 R-29 intercontinental ballistic missiles, each armed with four nuclear warheads.

"Russia, for a day, was on the brink of the biggest catastrophe since the time of Chernobyl," Vlast reported. The 1986 disaster in modern-day Ukraine is regarded as the world's worst nuclear accident.

Neither the Russian Defence Ministry nor the office of Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, who has responsibility for military matters, would immediately comment on the report. A spokesman for the navy could not be contacted.

Bizarro Earth

Bangkok Blasts Wound Iranian Attacker, 4 Others a Day After India Bomb; More Explosives Found

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© Agence France-PresseThai bomb squad officials inspect the site of an explosion in Bangkok.
An Iranian man carrying grenades blew off his own legs and wounded four civilians Tuesday after an earlier blast shook his house in Bangkok, Thai authorities said. The explosions came a day after an Israeli diplomatic car was bombed in India - an attack Israel blamed on Iran.

Authorities say it's unclear whether the Bangkok explosions were linked to the New Delhi attack, but Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said, "we can't rule out any possibility."

Thai security forces found more explosives in a house where the Iranian man was staying in Bangkok, but the possible targets were not known, Police Gen. Pansiri Prapawat said.

A passport found at the scene of one blast indicated the assailant was Saeid Moradi from Iran, Pansiri said. Authorities in Tehran could not immediately be reached for comment.

Tuesday's violence began in the afternoon when a stash of explosives apparently detonated by accident in Moradi's house, blowing off part of the roof. Police said two foreigners quickly left the residence, followed by a wounded Moradi.

"He tried to wave down a taxi, but he was covered in blood, and the driver refused to take him," Pansiri said. He then threw an explosive at the taxi and began running.

Attention

Iranian Suspect Held as Blasts Rattle Bangkok

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© Agence France-PresseA suspected Iranian bomber had his legs blown off as he hurled a grenade at Thai police Tuesday, officials said, with Israel accusing Tehran of being behind the third attack in world capitals this week
A suspected Iranian bomber had his legs blown off as he hurled a grenade at Thai police Tuesday, officials said, with Israel accusing Tehran of being behind the third attack in world capitals this week.

The explosion in central Bangkok came a day after bombers targeted Israeli embassy staff in the capitals of India and Georgia, with a female diplomat critically wounded in New Delhi, in attacks Israel said were plotted by Iran.

Thai bomb squad experts were called out to the Sukhumvit Road area in the east of the city after a blast at a house, following which three men were seen fleeing, authorities said.

One of the men hurled an explosive device at a taxi, which refused to stop, and then tried to throw another at police, triggering a blast at the side of a busy road which tore off his legs, they said.

Police said they found Iranian identification on the injured man, who was admitted to a Bangkok hospital for emergency treatment.

Gear

False Flag? Examining the Attacks on Israeli Targets in India and Georgia

India bombing scene
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The first thing I noticed when reading the reports of the bombings of targets remotely related to Israel was that one of the attacks had all of the hallmarks we have come to associate with assassinations carried out by agencies like the Israeli Mossad, American CIA, etc. and/or their proxies like the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) and Jundallah.

In this article we will also be looking at the possible motives for the attacks, if the attacks came out of Iran as individuals like Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have claimed, or if indeed they were false flag attacks carried out by Israel itself.

The piece of information that set alarm bells ringing immediately was the mention of a magnetic device being used to attach the explosive to the minivan carrying an unnamed Israeli diplomat's wife to pick up her children at the American Embassy School in New Delhi.

Delhi Police Commissioner B.K. Gupta reported that the attack occurred soon after 3 PM just a few hundred yards away from the prime minister's residence.

In the vast majority of assassinations in Iran, usually targeting nuclear scientists, the assailants use a motorcycle and a magnetic bomb.

Propaganda

Propaganda Alert: Heightened Security in US Over Iran Threat

New York Police
© Spencer Platt/Getty ImagesMembers of the New York Police Department are seen Jan. 26, 2012 in New York City.
With Iran allegedly striking out at Israeli citizens and Jewish targets around the world, Israeli and American security officials in the U.S. are on high alert.

"We expect it and we are ready," one senior Israeli official told ABC News.

Israeli officials told ABC News that the level of personal security on high-ranking Embassy officials as well as other, lower profile officials in the U.S. is at its highest in at least five years, a response to what they called "a coordinated series of attacks." When Israeli officials travel to and from events, ABC News has observed a notable increase in the security presence.

Federal officials told ABC News that there is so far no specific intelligence of any threat to Israeli interests in the U.S. They also noted that in cities like New York and Washington, D.C., "the targets are much harder" than in countries like India, Georgia and Thailand, where Iran has allegedly attacked or attempted to attack in the past two days. But they also added that Iran can be "belligerent."

Bad Guys

Fracking's Toll on Pets, Livestock Chills Farmers: Commentary

Fracking
© Andrew Harrer/BloombergAn anti-hydraulic fracturing (fracking) sign outside the White House
Smelling gas one morning, a southern Pennsylvania farmer almost passed out when he went outside to check on his bellowing cows.

One of the animals did keel over, kicking its feet in spasms. A couple of days later, a calf was fighting for its life, the farmer said. It died.

Something awful is happening over the Marcellus Shale, the vast geological formation in eastern North America where energy companies are looking for natural gas.

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, a process for extracting gas by injecting high volumes of water and chemicals into deep wells, has sparked complaints about ruined landscapes and fouled groundwater. Increasingly there is evidence, mostly anecdotal, that animals are suffering.

A new study by veterinarian Michelle Bamberger and Robert Oswald, a professor of veterinary medicine at Cornell University, chronicles case studies of dozens of farmers and pet owners in six states over the Marcellus Shale.

Dollar

The Divine Right of Money

money / suit
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Is Western Democracy Real or a Facade?

The United States government and its NATO puppets have been killing Muslim men, women and children for a decade in the name of bringing them democracy. But is the West itself a bastion of democracy?

Skeptics point out that President George W. Bush was put in office by the Supreme Court and that a number of other elections have been decided by electronic voting machines that leave no paper trail. Others note that elected officials represent the special interests that fund their campaigns and not the voters. The bailout of the banks arranged by Bush's Treasury Secretary and former Goldman Sachs chairman, Henry Paulson, and Washington's failure to indict any banksters for the fraud that contributed to the financial crisis, are evidence in support of the view that the US government represents money and not the voters.

Recent events in Greece and Italy have created more skepticism of the West's claim to be democratic. Two elected European prime ministers, George Papandreou of Greece and Silvio Berlusconi of Italy, were forced to resign over the sovereign debt issue. Not even Berlusconi, a billionaire who continues to lead the largest Italian political party, could stand up to the pressure brought by private bankers and unelected European Union officials.