Puppet MastersS


Newspaper

Russian Governor beaten and robbed of $275,000 in French home


RIA Novosti
Mon, 16 Dec 2013 09:30 UTC
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© RIA Novosti/Aleksander PaniotovLev Kuznetsov, governor of Krasnoyarsk region in Siberia.
The governor of a Russian region has been assaulted and robbed of $275,000 worth of jewelry while in his house in the south of France, his spokeswoman said Tuesday.

Lev Kuznetsov, the governor of Krasnoyarsk region in Siberia, was shot with an air gun by intruders and his wife was hit with a baton during the attack on Saturday, according to his spokeswoman Stella Alekseeva.
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Eye 1

Google reveals sharp rise in requests for removal of political content

Dominic Rushe
The Guardian
Thu, 19 Dec 2013 11:10 UTC
google
© AlamyGoogle says it complied with less than one-third of government removal requests.
Google revealed a sharp rise in requests from governments asking for political content to be removed from the web in its latest transparency report published on Thursday.

From January to June the search giant received 3,846 government requests to remove content from its services - a 68% increase over the second half of 2012.

"Over the past four years, one worrying trend has remained consistent: governments continue to ask us to remove political content. Judges have asked us to remove information that's critical of them, police departments want us to take down videos or blogs that shine a light on their conduct, and local institutions like town councils don't want people to be able to find information about their decision-making processes," Susan Infantino, legal director, said in a blogpost.

"These officials often cite defamation, privacy and even copyright laws in attempts to remove political speech from our services. In this particular reporting period, we received 93 requests to take down government criticism and removed content in response to less than one third of them. Four of the requests were submitted as copyright claims," she said.
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People

U.S. academic boycott of Israel game changer: Analyst


Press TV
Wed, 18 Dec 2013 13:58 UTC


The American Studies Association's boycott of Israeli academic institutions is a landmark development and a game changer in an international effort to isolate the regime in Tel Aviv, a British political commentator says.

Professor Jonathan Rosenhead, who is a member of the British Committee for Universities of Palestine, made the remarks during an interview with Press TVon Tuesday.

On Sunday, the American Studies Association (ASA) approved the academic boycott of Israel to protest its treatment of Palestinians, indicating that a movement to isolate the apartheid regime of Israel that is gaining momentum in Europe has also hit the US.

"The ASA condemns the United States' significant role in aiding and abetting Israel's violations of human rights against Palestinians and its occupation of Palestinian lands through its use of the veto in the UN Security Council," the organization said in a statement explaining the endorsement.

"I think it is a game changer. It is an extraordinary event in the history of the academic boycott," Rosenhead said.
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Wall Street

UK, U.S. govts in bed with with criminal bankers


RT
Fri, 13 Dec 2013 15:53 UTC

Iceland is a great example of a country which had the courage to prosecute bankers, and that's largely because it's not controlled by the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England, Max Keiser, financial analyst and host of the Keiser Report on RT, says.

Four former bank bosses in Iceland have been jailed for financial fraud. They were accused of hiding the fact that a Qatari investor bought into the firm [Kaupthing Bank], with money lent illegally by the bank itself. It went bust in 2008, helping to cripple Iceland's economy.

Keiser says, what is considered a crime in Iceland is flourishing thanks to government support in the UK and the US.
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Binoculars

UN votes for end to excessive electronic spying


RT
Thu, 19 Dec 2013 11:01 UTC
electronic spying
© Reuters / Pawel Kopczynski
The UN General Assembly has unanimously called on a curb of supernormal surveillance of communications. The resolution drafted by Brazil and Germany was in response to revelations over the eavesdropping conducted by the US on a global scale.

All 193 UN member states agreed "to respect and protect the right to privacy, including in the context of digital communication."
The document maintains that internationally recognized human rights should be applied to a person online, specifically singling out the right of privacy.

The resolution suggests making sure national legislation complies with international human rights law to prevent possible breaches.

"While concerns about public security may justify the gathering and protection of certain sensitive information, States must ensure full compliance with their obligations under international human rights law," the resolution states.

Comment: "...the UN General Assembly resolution is not legally binding."
Do UN resolutions really even matter to the psychopathic elite? We see how ineffective they've been with regard to illegal occupations and human rights issues in other matters.
Does the UN actually believe a resolution that is not legally binding will accomplish something meaningful when it comes to international espionage?

Who's going to enforce the resolution? Who is the compelling authority?

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Eye 1

Putin: I envy Obama, because he can 'spy' and get away with it


RT
Thu, 19 Dec 2013 14:34 UTC
putin
© RIA Novosti / Michail Metcel
"I envy Obama because he can spy on his allies without any consequences," said Putin when asked about how his relations had changed with the US following Snowden's espionage revelations.

During an annual question-and-answer session with journalists, Putin praised Edward Snowden's actions, saying that he was working for a "noble cause." At the same time he accepted the importance of espionage programs in the fight against global terrorism, but said the NSA needed guidelines to limit its powers.

"There is nothing to be upset about and nothing to be proud of, spying has always been and is one of the oldest professions," said Putin.

Referring to the vast amounts of metadata gathered on citizens by the NSA, Putin said it is impossible to sift through all of that information. It is "useless" to look at the analysis of spy agencies because it is the opinion of analysts and not facts and as such can be misleading.

"You need to know the people who analyze them, I know, I did it," said Putin, harking back to his career as a KGB agent. The Russian president described Snowden as a "curious character" and said it was not clear why the former CIA contractor had decided to blow the whistle on the NSA's international espionage program at such a young age.
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Dollar

State can seize your assets to pay for care after you're forced into Medicaid by Obamacare

Mary Katharine Ham
Healthy Debates
Tue, 17 Dec 2013 00:00 UTC
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© Healthy Debates

My, this is an unpleasant consequence of Obamacare. I'm not going to call it unintended because in its current form, it potentially earns a bunch of money for states, so I'm pretty sure that's intentional. What I think is unintentional is anyone noticing this is what they're up to.

But the Seattle Times noticed:
It wasn't the moonlight, holiday-season euphoria or family pressure that made Sophia Prins and Gary Balhorn, both 62, suddenly decide to get married.

It was the fine print.

As fine print is wont to do, it had buried itself in a long form - Balhorn's application for free health insurance through the expanded state Medicaid program. As the paperwork lay on the dining-room table in Port Townsend, Prins began reading.

She was shocked: If you're 55 or over, Medicaid can come back after you're dead and bill your estate for ordinary health-care expenses.
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Rocket

Russia confirms tactical missile deployment on NATO borders


RIA Novosti
Mon, 16 Dec 2013 17:53 UTC
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© RIA Novosti/Aleksei DanichevIskander mobile theater missile system.
Russia confirmed Monday that it has deployed tactical ballistic missiles near its borders with NATO but said the move did not violate international agreements.

Bild newspaper in Germany reported over the weekend that Russia had "quietly" moved 10 Iskander-M (SS-26 Stone) missile systems into its Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad and along its border with the Baltic States and NATO members Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

The deployment marks the realization of threats from Moscow to respond with a firm gesture to NATO plans to place elements of the so-called European missile shield close to Russian borders.

"The deployment of Iskander missile battalions on the territory of the Western Military District does not violate any respective international agreements," ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said.
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Handcuffs

Best of the Web: OUTRAGEOUS: Texas police can now obtain search warrants based on 'prediction of a future crime'

Jodie Gummow
Alternet
Wed, 18 Dec 2013 00:00 UTC
Welcome to the brave new world of 'pre-crime' policing.
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Last week, an appeals court in Texas ruled that police may obtain a search warrant based on the prediction of a future crime, heightening public fears that we may be heading toward a 'predictive policing' era in which we see police powers rapidly growing at the cost of our constitutional rights.

The decision arose from a 2010 incident where police officers took Michael Fred Wehrenberg and some associates into custody after watching his home for about a month because of a tip-off from a confidential informant that Wehrenberg and others were "fixing to" cook methamphetamine, Raw Story reported.

Hours later, without a search warrant, officers waltzed through Wehrenberg's front door and searched the house while he and his friends stood outside in handcuffs for an hour and half.

Before they seized the boxes of pseudoephedrine, stripped lithium batteries and materials used to make meth, the cops attempted to cover their tracks by obtaining a search warrant. However, they conveniently failed to mention the unlawful search in the warrant application and based their request entirely on the informant's tip.
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Light Sabers

India says it will transfer deputy consul at center of crisis over strip-search arrest

Annie Gowen
The Washington Post
Wed, 18 Dec 2013 13:43 UTC
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© Jefferson Siegel/New York Daily NewsDevyani Khobragade, left, leaves Manhattan Federal Court after her arrest Thursday for allegedly cheating her housekeeper and babysitter by paying her $3.31 an hour and lying on a visa application.
The young Indian diplomat already had prestigious postings in Pakistan, Italy and Germany. Last year, as she prepared for an assignment in pricey New York, she decided to hire a babysitter to accompany her, her husband and two daughters.

Devyani Khobragade thought she had found the right employee in a woman named Sangeeta Richard. U.S. labor rules required that the sitter be paid $9.75 an hour.

But authorities allege that Khobragade drew up two contracts - one with the proper amount and one with the actual amount paid (about $3.31 an hour for a 40-hour workweek, a wage that would often amount to much less because of longer hours worked).

Khobragade's arrest last week on visa fraud charges and her subsequent treatment by U.S. authorities have touched off a major diplomatic row with the United States, India's ally, culminating with the New Delhi government demanding an unconditional apology and curtailing U.S. diplomats' privileges and security measures.
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