Puppet MastersS


Heart - Black

Afghan massacre: Robert Bales Refuses 'Sanity' Examination

Robert Bales
© unknownStaff Sgt. Robert Bales during an exercise at the National Training Center in Fort Irwin, California
The U.S. soldier charged with murdering 17 unarmed Afghan civilians last month is refusing to participate in an examination aimed at determining his mental state, according to his lawyers.

Staff Sgt. Robert Bales was due to be examined in what's called a "sanity board" examination by Army doctors from Walter Reed Army Medical Center, seeking to evaluate his mental health and find out what his mental state might have been at the time of the massacre.

John Henry Browne, Bales's attorney, said Friday he advised Bales to invoke his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent because the Army will not allow Bales to have an attorney present at the sanity board review.

Comment: For more information on this story read the Sott Focus: US Soldiers Look Deep Inside Their Souls - Find Vacuum - Decide To Kill Afghan Villagers by Joe Quinn.

Also read:
Child witnesses to Afghan massacre say Robert Bales was not alone
Robert Bales: Mass Murderer and PTSD Poster Boy


Gear

Israel Admits that Iran didn't say they will wipe Israel off the map

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© EPADan Meridor, Israel's deputy prime minister
Was it a momentary lapse of concentration or an honest admission?

Last week, in an interview with Israel's Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor in Jerusalem, I heard something I have not heard before.

Let's start with the background.

With the P5+1 (the US, UK, France, Russia, China and Germany) talks on Iran's nuclear programme about to kick off, and the air thick with talk of a military attack on Iran, it seemed appropriate to try to gain some perspective from the Israeli establishment.

As Minister of Intelligence and Atomic Energy with a background in Iran issues, Meridor was the perfect man to talk to to.

Bad Guys

What Ever Happened To the Arab Spring? Revolution vs. Counterrevolution

hands in protest
© n/a
Within the first few months of 2011, the U.S. and its allies lost three loyal "friends": Hosni Mubarak in Egypt, Zine el-Abbidine Ben Ali in Tunisia and Saad Hariri in Lebanon. While Mubarak and Ali were driven out of power by widespread popular uprisings, Hariri was ousted by the parliament.

Inspired by these liberating developments, pro-democracy rebellions against autocratic rulers (and their Western backers) soon spread to other countries such as Bahrain, Yemen, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

As these revolutionary developments tended to politically benefit the "axis of resistance" (consisting of Iran, Syria, Hezbollah and Hamas) in the Middle East, the US-Israeli"axis of aggression"and their client states in the region mounted an all-out counterrevolutionary offensive.

Caught off-guard by the initial wave of the Arab Spring in Egypt and Tunisia, the US and its allies struck back with a vengeance. They employed a number of simultaneous tactics to sabotage the Arab Spring. These included (1) instigating fake instances of the Arab Spring in countries that were/are headed by insubordinate regimes such as those ruling Iran, Syria and Libya; (2) co-optingrevolutionary movements in countries such as Egypt, Tunisia and Yemen;(3) crushing pro-democracy movements against "friendly" regimes ruling countries such as Bahrain, Jordan and Saudi Arabia"before they get out of hand," as they did in Egypt and Tunisia; and (4) using the age-old divide and rule trick by playing the sectarian trump card of Sunnis vs. Shias, or Iranians vs. Arabs.

Bad Guys

Best of the Web: The Rise of Psychopaths in US Governance

Psychopaths
© Signs of the Times
An International Man lives and does business wherever he finds conditions most advantageous, regardless of arbitrary borders. He's diversified globally, with passports from multiple countries, assets in several jurisdictions and his residence in yet another. He doesn't depend absolutely on any country and regards all of them as competitors for his capital and expertise.

Living as an international man used to be just an interesting possibility. But few Americans opted for it, since the US used to reward those who settled in and put down roots. In fact, it rewarded them better than any other country in the world, so there was nothing pressing about becoming an international man.

Things change, however, and being rooted like a plant, at least if you have a choice, is a suboptimal strategy for surviving and prospering. Throughout history, almost every place has at some point become dangerous for those who were stuck there. It may be America's turn.

For those who can take up the life of an international man, it's no longer just an interesting lifestyle decision. It has become, at a minimum, an asset saver, and it could be a life saver. That said, I understand the hesitation you may feel about taking action; pulling up one's roots (or at least grafting some of them to a new location) can be almost as traumatic to a man as to a vegetable.

Comment: For more information on psychopaths and Ponerology - the science of evil, see these SOTT.net links:

Psychopaths Among Us

Political Ponerology: A Science of Evil Applied for Political Purposes

Political Ponerology: A Science on The Nature of Evil adjusted for Political Purposes


Pills

The US Military Stocking Up On Anti-Radiation Pills In Preparation for Nuclear Fallout

The US Military is currently seeking a large amount of potassium iodide, this according to a listing on the FBO.gov website by the Defense Logistics Agency.

In the listing it is made clear that they want to be ready in the event of nuclear fallout which has lead many to speculate that this could be in response to the Fukushima nuclear disaster or perhaps in anticipation for an attack on an active Iranian nuclear facility.

The DLA is apparently looking for upwards of 400,000 dollars worth of the thyroid protecting tablets at a time when many government officials have openly told American citizens NOT to buy potassium iodide.

In an article published by Business Insider on March 10th, some of the possibilities as to why this order has been put in were explored.

Cult

Flashback Policeman's son organised Toulouse prostitution business, providing children to Mayor and other politicans for sadomasochistic orgies at courthouse

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Dominique Baudis, then Mayor of Toulouse, now a state ombudsman and ' Defender of Rights', is plagued by rumours of there being skeletons in his closet, as was his successor as Mayor of Toulouse, Philippe Douste-Blazy. Has anything changed in Toulouse politics? We may never know because no investigation followed Allegre's claims.
France's most notorious serial killer has claimed that he murdered at least one victim on the orders of highly placed personalities in Toulouse because of a blackmail threat linked to sadomasochistic orgies involving politicians, judges and police.

Dominique Baudis, the city's former mayor and current head of the Conseil Supérieur de l'Audiovisuel, an independent broadcasting watchdog, said through a lawyer yesterday that he was among four people named by the murderer, Patrice Alègre, who is serving a life sentence for five killings, involving extreme cruelty, and six rapes.

Mr Baudis's lawyer, Francis Szpiner, dismissed Alègre's claim that the former mayor took part in orgies and "was involved in the organisation of a murder".

But his client, a former television presenter and newsreader, wanted to be interrogated so that he could "regain his honour", claiming that he was a victim of a political conspiracy.

X

Israel blocks pro-Palestinian "fly-in" activists, threatens deportation

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© Sebastien Pirlet/ReutersA would-be passenger lays on the ground as around 100 pro-Palestinian activists stage a protest at Brussels national airport in Zaventem early April 15, 2012. Some 1,200 Palestinian supporters throughout Europe have bought plane tickets for an April 15 visit to the West Bank as part of a campaign called "Welcome to Palestine".
A pro-Palestinian "fly-in" to Tel Aviv got off to a slow start on Sunday after Israel scrambled to block activists from boarding flights in Europe.

"Four activists have been detained after arriving on an El Al flight from Paris and are being questioned at (Tel Aviv) airport," police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.

An Interior Ministry spokeswoman said the Immigration Authority had on Wednesday given airlines the names of some 1,200 activists whose entrance to Israel would be barred. Israel made clear the airlines would have to shoulder the costs of sending any deported activists back to their port of origin.

Leehee Rothschild, a "Welcome to Palestine" activist, said that dozens of campaigners had since been informed by airlines that their tickets to Tel Aviv have been cancelled.

Organizers said some 1,200 Palestinian supporters throughout Europe had bought plane tickets to Israel and had planned to travel on to the occupied West Bank, an hour's drive from Tel Aviv, as part of a campaign called "Welcome to Palestine".

The aim of the so-called "flytilla", organizers said, was to help open an international school and a museum in Bethlehem. But Israel has denounced the activists as provocateurs and said it would deny entry to anyone who threatened public order.

Bomb

3 Small Explosions in Colombia on Eve of Americas Summit, No Damage or Injuries Reported

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© William Fernando Martinez /The Associated Press An Attorney General Office agent stands guard at the site where a small explosive device went off in the area where the U.S. embassy and public offices are located in Bogota, Colombia, Friday April, 13, 2012. No deaths or injuries were reported.
Cartagena, Colombia - Colombian officials are reporting no injuries or damage from three small explosions as Western Hemisphere leaders arrived for a summit.

Two of the low-intensity blasts occurred in Cartagena where the summit is being held and one was close to the U.S. Embassy in Bogota.

The explosions occurred as more than 30 presidents and prime ministers arrived for the sixth Summit of the Americans.

A senior military official says two bags of gunpowder exploded in a vacant lot about a quarter mile (400 meters) from Cartagena's bus station Friday evening. The official spoke only on condition he not be further identified.

Bogota security officials say the third explosive device was set off near a tree in a drainage ditch near the U.S. Embassy, which is heavily fortified.

Source: The Associated Press

Comment: Sott wonders if there is a connection between these "3 explosions" and the recent events involving US secret service and the US military in Cartagena, Colombia.

Obama Secret Service Agents Sent Home from Colombia Over Alleged Misconduct

Prostitution Scandal: 5 Members Of U.S. Military Accused Of Misconduct At Same Hotel As Secret Service


Dollar

Harper's Baseball Trip Hit Taxpayers with $45,000 Tab

Stephen Harper
© Tom MurroPrime Minister Stephen Harper, in the white shirt and khakis, signs an autograph for a baseball fan at Yankee Stadium last fall.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Labour Day-weekend trip to Manhattan last fall, which included coveted tickets to a New York Yankees game and a Broadway show, cost Canadian taxpayers at least $45,000, documents reveal.

Documents obtained under Access to Information reveal only some of the trip's cost. They include $34,633 for the use of the Challenger Jet and another $11,026 for the expenses of four staffers who joined the prime minister during the private family trip.

However, government officials have declined to provide CBC News with other costs linked to the trip last September, such as expenses incurred by the prime minister, two more aides and a defence attaché who took part in the three-day excursion.

Costs were not provided related to the RCMP officers who accompanied the prime minister on this personal trip. RCMP officials say the documents detailing those expenses can't be released because they contain sensitive information that could affect security and the conduct of international affairs. RCMP are required to accompany Harper for security reasons even on personal travels.

MIB

Prostitution Scandal: 5 Members Of U.S. Military Accused Of Misconduct At Same Hotel As Secret Service


Cartagena, Colombia -- The U.S. military says five service members supporting the Secret Service in advance of President Barack Obama's visit may have been involved in inappropriate conduct and have been confined to quarters. Obama is in Colombia for a Summit of the Americas.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said the incident with the military personnel stems from the same episode involving about a dozen members of the Secret Service who were called back to the U.S. for an investigation into possible misconduct.

Carney referred questions about the episode, which includes allegations that U.S. personnel procured prostitutes, to the Secret Service and to the military.

Carney said the president retains confidence in the Secret Service and said the incidents under investigation, which preceded Obama's arrival, had no impact on presidential security.

Source: The Associated Press