Puppet MastersS


Control Panel

EPA vastly misjudges methane leaks, new study confirms

EPA_Methane_Measurement
© UnknownMethods for detecting natural gas emissions. Top-down methods take air samples from aircraft or tall towers to measure gas concentrations remote from sources. Bottom-up methods take measurements directly at facilities.
The federal government has underestimated methane emissions from the United States by 50 percent for the past 20 years, according to a comprehensive new study.

Methane, also called natural gas, is a powerful but short-lived greenhouse gas. It lasts just nine years in Earth's atmosphere but is about 34 times more potent at trapping infrared radiation (the greenhouse effect) than carbon dioxide, which is more abundant and lasts longer. While methane spews into the sky from both natural sources, such as wetlands, and human activities, including oil and gas production, the government estimates only track manmade sources.

The review of scientific studies of methane emissions suggests that Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) methane counts are about 50 percent too low, though the underestimate could range from 25 percent to as much as 75 percent. That means the United States is pumping about 14 million tons more methane than thought into the atmosphere each year, according to the findings, published today (Feb. 13) in the journal Science.

"Evidence from numerous studies consistently suggest that methane emissions are larger than those estimated by the EPA inventory," said Adam Brandt, lead study author and an energy resources engineer at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif.

The review analyzed the results of more than 200 studies that traced methane emissions across the United States and were published in the past 20 years. The results were compared to the EPA's Greenhouse Gas Inventory, which records methane emissions and other climate-changing gases.

Star of David

Israel spies sent after boycott backers

A report says Israeli spies have been ordered to try to link supporters of an economic boycott against Tel Aviv to terrorists and enemy states.

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Israeli Minister for Intelligence and Strategy, Yuval Steinitz
Israel has convened a ministerial meeting to discuss how to respond to the growing number of foreign companies refusing to do business with Israeli entities operating in illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, The Times reported on Tuesday.

The United Nations regards the Israeli settlements as illegal because the territories were captured in the war and are hence subject to the Geneva Conventions, which forbid any constructions on the occupied lands.

The meeting saw Israeli Minister for Intelligence and Strategy, Yuval Steinitz tabling a plan for media propaganda against organizations advocating boycotts.

Earlier in the month, US Secretary of State John Kerry pointed to "an increasing de-legitimization" campaign building up against Israel internationally and "talk of boycotts" if the Israeli-Palestinian conflict did not end.

Eye 1

In America the gestapo has replaced the rule of law

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© Alex Wong / Getty Images / AFP(L-R) National Counterterrorism Center Director Matthew Olsen, FBI Director James Comey, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, CIA Director John Brennan, Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn testify during a hearing before Senate (Select) Intelligence Committee January 29, 2014
RT is the best English language news source available to Americans. On January 29, RT published a photo of 5 presidential appointees lying through their teeth to Congress.

All five of these Gestapo wannabes are in violation of their oath of office to protect the Constitution of the United States. They have relentlessly violated the Constitution, which makes these five, who are in charge of US intelligence and black operations, traitors to the United States. Yet, they have not been arrested and put on trial. Congress is content to sit there and listen to their ongoing lies time after time after time, despite the fact that these 5 have committed more and worse crimes against our country than the "terrorists" that serve as an excuse for the crimes committed by the intelligence agencies.

Remember, dear readers, it is a crime for you to lie to any federal agent even if you are not under oath or before Congress. How much more evidence do you need that you are not a citizen of the United States but a mere serf of the federal government? Will you ever wake up?

Arrow Down

German cabinet minister warned lawmaker of global child porn investigation

Hans-Peter Friedrich
© Agence France-PresseGerman minister Hans-Peter Friedrich.
A German cabinet minister was under intense pressure Friday over suspicions he may have breached official secrecy in a widening scandal sparked by an international child porn investigation.

Agriculture Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich, in his former post as interior minister, tipped off the party leader of a prominent lawmaker whose name had cropped up in an international probe, Friedrich's spokesman said.

The move dates back to October, a month after German general elections when Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives were in the process of building a coalition government with the centre-left Social Democrats.

Friedrich, a conservative ally of Merkel in her left-right "grand coalition", insisted Friday he did not believe he had done anything wrong politically or legally but said he would resign if a legal inquiry was launched.

Merkel had held an "intensive discussion" with Friedrich on Friday, said her spokesman Steffen Seibert, adding that the minister "is aware of the dimension of the case".

The case has blown up after news broke early in the week that searches as part of a child pornography investigation had been carried out at the home and offices of Social Democrat (SPD) lawmaker Sebastian Edathy.

Lemon

The new US-Russia cold war

Victoria Nuland
© UnknownVictoria Nuland, previously foreign policy adviser to vice-president Dick Cheney. Married to neo-con Robert Kagan. Her slogan sums up the US' attitude towards the EU.
Meet the new (cold) war, same as the old (cold) war. Same same, but different. One day, it's the myriad implications of Washington's "pivoting" to Asia - as in the containment of China. The next day, it's the perennial attempt to box Russia in. Never a dull moment in the New Great Game in Eurasia.

On Russia, the denigration of all things Sochi - attributable to the inherent stupidity of Western corporate media "standards" - was just a subplot of the main show, which always gets personal; the relentless demonization of Russian President Vladimir Putin. [1]

Yet Nulandgate - as in US Assistant Secretary of State Victoria "neo-con" Nuland uttering her famous "F**k the EU" - was way more serious. Not because of the "profanity" (praise the Lord!), but for providing what US Think Tankland hailed as "an indicator of American strategic thinking".

Here's the game in a nutshell. Germany remote controls one of the leaders of the Ukrainian protests, heavyweight boxer Vitali Klitschko. [2]

"F**k the EU" is essentially directed towards Berlin and Klitschko, its key protege. Washington sees this going nowhere, as Germany, after all, has been slowly building a complex energy-investment partnership with Russia.

The Obama administration wants results - fast. Nuland herself stressed (check it out, starting at 7:26) that Washington, over the past two decades, has "invested" over US$5 billion for the "democratization" of Ukraine. So yes: this is "our" game and the EU is at best a nuisance while Russia remains the major spoiler. Welcome to Washington's Ukrainian "strategy".

Laptop

Arab states step up policing of online media‏

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© AFP Photo/Yasser al-ZayyatKuwaiti activists gather outside the courthouse in Kuwait City on November 3, 2011 where two fellow leading youth activists were questioned for allegedly making remarks on their Twitter accounts deemed offensive to the status of the Gulf state ruler.
Fearful of Arab Spring-inspired unrest, Gulf monarchies have stepped up efforts to monitor and control the media, particularly online, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said Wednesday.

Saudi Arabia, which is on the group's "Enemies of the Internet" list and ranks 164 out of 179 on its 2014 World Press Freedom Index, has been particularly aggressive in policing the Internet, including by arresting those who post critical articles or comments, it said.

Flashlight

Ukraine: Nuland's cookies

Nuland's cookies
© RT
How will Victoria Nuland's embarrassing leak impact the political battlefield in Ukraine? How will it change EU-US relationships? And is the opposition in Ukraine now losing legitimacy? CrossTalking with Alexander Mercouris, Nebojsa Malic and Taras Kuzio.


Comment: See also:
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland says Washington has spent $5 billion trying to subvert Ukraine
The Anglo-American axis: Losing Ukraine, losing Europe
US regime-change operation in Ukraine exposed in leaked diplomatic phone call
What about apologizing to Ukraine, Mrs. Nuland?
US will give US tax-payer's money to Ukraine if Kiev makes necessary reforms - Nuland


Arrow Down

Italy's prime minister announces resignation

Enrico Letta
© REUTERS/Susana Vera
Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta has announced his resignation after the leader of his centre-left party, Matteo Renzi, pulled his support for the government.

On Thursday, Letta issued a statement saying he will tender his resignation to President Giorgio Napolitano on Friday at the Quirinale palace.

Letta's decision to quit came after the Democratic Party (PD), the largest party in the ruling coalition, supported a call by Renzi, the party leader and mayor of Florence, for a new government capable of opening "a new phase" of reform and pulling the economy "out of the quagmire."

"Italy cannot live in a situation of uncertainty and instability. We are at a crossroads," Renzi told a meeting of the PD's 140-strong leadership committee on Thursday.

Renzi, 39, has been criticizing the premier for failing to act aggressively enough to combat Italy's protracted economic downturn.

Napolitano is expected to accept Letta's resignation and then call on Renzi to form a new administration.

Pistol

Court strikes down California's concealed-weapons rules

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© Randall Benton / RBenton@sacbee.com
A divided federal appeals court on Thursday struck down California concealed-weapons rules, saying they violate the Second Amendment right to bear arms.

The 2-1 ruling of a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said California counties were wrong to require law-abiding applicants to show "good cause" beyond self-defense to receive a concealed-weapons permit.

California prohibits people from carrying handguns in public without a concealed-weapons permit. State law requires applicants to show good moral character, have good cause and take a training course. It's generally up to the state's sheriffs and police chiefs to issue the permits, and the vast majority require an applicant to demonstrate a real danger or other reasons beyond simple self-defense to receive a permit. The 9th Circuit on Thursday said that requirement violates the 2nd Amendment.

Attention

Mind control research and freedom

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© Unknown

There is a whole brand of mind control that is little more than torture.

In other words, by inflicting duress, coercion, making threats, causing pain and disorientation, an "expert" can make a victim do and say many things. That's no secret. There are obviously drugs and hypnotic techniques that will soften up a person and/or put him into tremendous confusion, where he is pliable. And microwaves create pain.

One of the foremost lunatic practitioners of torture was world-famous Canadian psychiatrist, Ewen Cameron, who carried out experiments on unwitting patients during the 1950s. Partially funded by a CIA front, Cameron's method was called psychic driving.

After horrendous electric shocks, very heavy drugs were given to place patients in days of prolonged sleep. Cameron then subjected them to audio tapes he made, in which he repeated phrases thousands of times, in order to produce "new personalities" for them.

This is murderous coercion. There is nothing sophisticated about it.

A 2012 lawsuit filed by veterans' groups, against the CIA and the DOD, refers to Cameron's methods. The suit also states that two researchers, Dr. Louis West and Dr. Jose Delgado, working together under the early CIA MKULTRA subproject 95, utilized two protocols: brain implants ("stimoceivers") and RHIC-EDOM to program the minds of victims. RHIC-EDOM stands for Radio Hypnotic Intracerebral Control-Electronic Dissolution of Memory.

Translation: bury memory, and insert new data. But here again, burying memory, the first phase, is achieved through force. The force of subjecting the brain to massive electromagnetic disruption.