Small family/peasant farms pro­duce most of the world's food. They form the bedrock of global food pro­duc­tion. Yet they are being squeezed onto less than a quar­ter of the planet's farm­land. The world is fast los­ing farms and farm­ers through the con­cen­tra­tion of land into the hands of rich and pow­er­ful land spec­u­la­tors and agribusi­ness corporations.

By def­i­n­i­tion, peas­ant agri­cul­ture pri­ori­tises food pro­duc­tion for local and national mar­kets as well as for farm­ers' own fam­i­lies. Big agritech cor­po­ra­tions on the other hand take over scarce fer­tile land and pri­ori­tise com­modi­ties or export crops for profit and for­eign mar­kets that tend to cater for the needs of the urban afflu­ent. This process dis­places farm­ers from their land and brings about food inse­cu­rity, poverty and hunger.

What big agribusi­ness with its indus­trial model of glob­alised agri­cul­ture claims to be doing - address­ing global hunger and food short­ages - is doing noth­ing of the sort. There is enough evi­dence to show that its activ­i­ties actu­ally lead to hunger and poverty - some­thing that the likes of GMO-agribusiness-neoliberal apol­o­gists might like to con­sider when they pro­pa­gan­dize about choice, democ­racy and hunger: issues that they seem unable to grasp, at least beyond a self-serving super­fi­cial level.

Over the centuries there have been many stories, some based on loose facts, others based on hearsay, conjecture, speculation and outright lies, about groups of people who "control the world." Some of these are partially accurate, others are wildly hyperbolic, but when it comes to the historic record, nothing comes closer to the stereotypical, secretive group determining the fate of over 7 billion people, than the Bank of International Settlements, which hides in such plain sight, that few have ever paid much attention.

The following is an excerpt from TOWER OF BASEL: The Shadowy History of the Secret Bank that Runs the World by Adam LeBor. Reprinted with permission from PublicAffairs.

A group of electronic reconnaissance satellites disguised as space junk has been disclosed by Russian aerospace defense troops. The devices were put into orbit to spy specifically on facilities on Russian territory.

"Most recently, experts of the Main Space Intelligence Center disclosed a tyro group of electronic reconnaissance satellites. This satellite constellation is being developed to carry out communications surveillance of the facilities based inside Russian Federation territory," commander of the Space Command, Major-General Oleg Maidanovich, informed Zvezda TV channel.

The developed satellites were disguised as space trash, which is a normal practice, noted the commander.

Major-General was reluctant to report on state affiliation of the exposed space vehicles, saying "So far, there is no need for this."

Maidanovich said that one of the top priority tasks of the space command is to reveal satellite constellation in development.

Solar panels finally brought electricity to the Bedouin village of Khan al-Ahmar in the West Bank, but the residents' joy was short lived.

A few weeks after the panels were installed, Israeli authorities confiscated them, indicating the latest chapter in Israel's long battle to quash the strategically located village.

PNN reports that, on Wednesday, policemen and Israeli soldiers escorted employees of the Israeli Civil Administration (the governing body of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank) on a trip to Khan al-Ahmar, a Bedouin village located a few kilometers from occupied East Jerusalem. There, they dismantled 11 solar panels, most of which had just been donated and installed by the Palestinian NGO Future for Palestine to give this village a few hours of electricity a day.

Washington —The two major political parties' unconscionable waste of money officially commences this weekend, as Democrats and Republicans will soon begin spending an estimated five billion dollars of their corporate puppet masters' assets in an unquenchable pursuit of power.

The billions, which could be spent rebuilding the nation's crumbling infrastructure, improving schools, or reducing the scourge of malaria in Africa, will instead be squandered in a heinous free-for-all of slander and personal destruction, alienating voters as never before.

The media will inevitably focus on the personalities of the bloated roster of narcissists lusting after the White House, but scant attention will be paid to the Wall Street bankers, industrial polluters, and casino magnates whose grip on American democracy will remain vise-like.

While attention this weekend turns to the Democrats, the Republicans remain quietly confident about their chances of purchasing the nation's highest office. In the words of one top operative, "Our billionaires can beat their billionaires."

Source: Antifashist - Translated from Russian by Alexey Tatu
A parallel government was formed in Odessa, declaring its secession from Ukraine and the formation of the Odessa People's Republic. This information was distributed by the "Agency of Information Reports". (http://vg-news.ru/)

According to the publication, the editorial office is in posession of a document entitled the "Declaration on the State Sovereignty of the Odessa People's Republic". The document is dated on April 6, 2015:

In light of tragic events that took place in Kiev (in February 2014) and Odessa (in May 2014), we declare a unilateral exit of the Odessa People's Republic from Ukraine, and the urgent formation of the Cabinet of Ministers. As the head of state, I emphasize that this measure is designed to protect the democratic values of the region from attacks by right-wing formations, brought to the territory of the former Odessa region on the orders of the so-called authorities in Kiev.

Until the normalization of the situation, the Cabinet of Ministers of the Odessa People's Republic will be represented by the following public officials:

Defense Minister: Shilov N. A.

The Minister of Internal Affairs: Luzgin, A. A.

The Minister of Health: V. S. Evseev

The Minister for Civil Defense and Emergencies: Zharkov D. N.

The Minister of Culture and Tourism: Shevchenko M.K.

Military Commandant of Odessa: Kovalenko P.S.

The Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Odessa People's Republic, Kovalenko P. S. (signed)

April 6, 2015

"Anti-fascist" at the moment has no confirmation of this information from other sources. Once this information becomes available, details will be published. Please follow our updates.

Washington's policy makers have been ignoring the needs of the world's emerging economies for too long, treating them as a group of banana republics, noted F. William Engdahl, a historian and researcher, adding ironically - "they haven't had their eyes checked since 1944 apparently."

"At the 2014 BRICS summit in Fortaleza, Brazil, the five heads of state declared bluntly, 'We remain disappointed and seriously concerned with the current non-implementation of the 2010 International Monetary Fund reforms, which negatively impacts on the IMF's legitimacy, credibility and effectiveness,' the historian pointed out.

Indeed, in 2010 China, Brazil and other fast-emerging countries proposed a reform pledging to double the funds of the IMF in exchange for greater voting rights for such states as China, Russia, India, Brazil and some other countries.

Broadcasting from deep in the heart of the American Empire, join your hosts Harrison Koehli and Elan Martin, and fellow Sott.net editors, as they discuss everything from current events and the latest machinations and manipulations of the global elite to history, science, and religion, and how it all fits together.

This week, join our hosts as they discuss the freak show world we live in, where practically everything we think we know is wrong, where obvious lies get peddled as truth, and the truth is almost always the total opposite of what we are told, in science, politics, history, religion, and more.

The Truth Perspective is brought to you by the SOTT Radio Network and SOTT.net, your one-stop source for independent, unbiased, alternative news and commentary on world events.

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France's intelligence chief has questioned NATO's claims of Russia preparing to attack Ukraine as their agents failed to spot any activities signaling this - either before or after the crisis began.

A statement by the chief of France's military intelligence, General Christophe Gomart, was published on the National Assembly's website.

"NATO announced that the Russians were about to invade Ukraine. But, according to French intelligence, there is nothing to corroborate this hypothesis - we determined that the Russians were deploying neither command posts nor logistical facilities, including field hospitals, needed for a military incursion," General Gomart told a parliamentary hearing.

Général #ChristopheGomart du #DRM condamne les mensonges de la foutaise #USA et du #KievJunta http://t.co/Vgq60V0kgS pic.twitter.com/jra3Wy9O6m

— ☭ #VivaSAA Rafiq ☭ (@Rafiq_al_Taneen) April 11, 2015

NATO's top brass has been incanting mantras about a "Russian invasion" ever since the crisis in Ukraine began a year ago. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, as well as his predecessor Anders Fogh Rasmussen, have lashed at Russia on numerous occasions, claiming that the Russian military is present on the ground in Ukraine, but failing to provide evidence supporting these claims.

With the official government narrative of the 9/11 attack filled with a plethora of lies that have since been subsequently exposed, the next biggest "war on terror" event on US soil that the feds failed to stop was the April 2013 Boston Marathon bombings. And now the lone living suspect from that horrific crime that killed three people, left 17 limbless and injured 264 victims (though that number's been accused of being purposely inflated) has now been found guilty of all 30 counts after the jury's 11 hour deliberation earlier this week. As we mark the second anniversary of this tragic event and the second and final phase of the trial beginning on Monday that will decide the fate of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev - whether he'll live out the rest of his life in prison or be put to death, a critical review of preceding events and developments surrounding his high profile, extremely significant case seems both timely and much needed.

Despite Dzhokhar Tsarnaev pleading not guilty to the 30 counts (17 carrying the death penalty) he was charged within a week after the April 15th bombings in 2013, his lead defense attorney Judy Clark several days ago conceded to the jury that her client was guilty in her closing argument. Apparently blaming the dead brother whose due process was denied became Dzhokhar's only defense strategy. The defense team insisted that he was coerced and bullied by his older brother into committing alleged acts of terrorism. Considering no real solid proof other than photos placing Dzhokhar and older brother Tamerlan both wearing backpacks at the scene of the crime where the two bombs exploded was even presented at the trial, no justice for either the Tsarnaevs nor the many victims can possibly come from this guilty verdict.

If the purpose of the US judicial system in criminal trials is to ensure that all factual evidence surrounding an alleged crime or crimes be accurately and fairly presented so that the jurors can properly assess the best semblance of the truth as presented by both prosecution and defense in order for the jury to adjudicate and decide a defendant's true guilt or innocence, this trial was a complete travesty of justice. And if a basic tenet of the justice system in the United States holds that a defendant is considered innocent until proven guilty, then again this verdict outcome is an obscene farce and a shameful joke exposing America's justice system for its gross injustice. Just as the 9/11 commission failed to adequately address and answer dozens of questions that its official narrative failed to deliver, and years earlier the Warren Commission failed JFK and America, so does the prosecution's case of evidence of Tsarnaev's guilt fail to be convincing, much less provide definitive and unequivocal proof that the 21-year old Chechen American with his brother committed the Boston Marathon crimes.