Puppet MastersS

Snakes in Suits

Arundhati Roy: Tony Blair is a psychopath - and Obama's no better

Writer and activist Arundhati Roy, interviewed on Democracy Now, on the tenth anniversary of the Iraq invasion, 19 March 2013. She also says Barack Obama is no different from Bush or Blair.


Beaker

Playing with our lives: Monsanto Baseball


If you are Monsanto, you can commit the most egregious crimes against humanity but you are never guilty of any safety violations. In Fact the EPA, FDA and USDA approve your products for public consumption.

Monsanto is a glaring example of everything that is wrong with Congress, the White House, the FDA, the EPA, the USDA, Media and Corporate America.

Representative Democracy ? Ya Right !

Cult

Flashback French media tycoon, cult leader and condemned 'corrupter of minors' Pierre Bellanger locks himself in office in Skyrock Radio takeover stunt

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Pierre Bellanger, founder of Skyrock - France's biggest station for under-25s - has won the support of the country's politicians after staging a sit-in over plans to replace him

The cult French radio station Skyrock, which launched the careers of the country's biggest hip-hop stars and started France's social network craze, is in crisis as its eccentric founder has locked himself in his office over a shareholder row.

Pierre Bellanger, a one-time pirate radio pioneer known for his unconventional private life, is staging a sit-in protest in his office as a rush of politicians take to the airwaves in support after shareholders tried to replace him.

At stake is the heart of French youth culture and the irreverent 25-year-old radio station, which revolutionised the musical tastes of teenagers and the multiracial suburban tower blocks. In the pre-Facebook era, Skyrock's website became one of the most important social network sites in Europe and it still hosts more than 33.5m French blogs. With 4 million listeners a day, it is France's biggest radio station for under-25s and at election time, politicians fight to appear on shows to up their street cred.

Pirates

Completing the cycle of terror: French citizens fighting in the ranks of al-Qaeda in Syria

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The French Interior Minister Manuel Valls confirmed in a recent interview with France 2, which was aired yesterday evening, that at least 50 French citizens are currently fighting alongside the armed terrorists in Syria and this also means that they are probably fighting in the ranks of the armed jihadists and Syrian Al Qaeda branch against the secular Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad in the capital, Damascus.

French Interior Minister Manuel Valls also stated in this interview with France 2 that these French nationals could be "enemies to France" if they will return to France after their battles and fighting in the Arab nation. Of course, the French Interior Minister Manuel Valls warned about these at least 50 French citizens that are currently actual fighting in Syria against the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and the government in the capital, Damascus.

In this interview with the known channel of France 2, the French Interior Minister Manuel Valls also stated that these nationals of France could be "enemies of France" when they will return to France after they fought in the Arab nation in the ranks of jihadists and terrorists.


Comment: These guys are as much 'jihadistes' as the following were 'peace observers': 13 undercover French army officers seized in Syria


Attention

British women among those joining 'al-Qaeda-in-Syria'

It's the jihad, innit!

Can there be any doubt that the 'war' in Syria is an Anglo-French affair on behalf of the Empire?


Comment: We don't believe for a minute that they're driving those 4-wheel drives and carrying Kalashnikovs on a wage of $150 per month... Syria is riddled with European mercenaries and fundamentalists, bought and paid for by the CIA, MI6, DGSE and the Mossad...

Former French foreign minister: UK government prepared war in Syria two years before 'Syrian revolution' began
French navy officer, two others, charged with Syria-jihadi network links
French Jihadists in Syria
At least 50 French citizens 'waging jihad in Syria'
Kurds capture British commander of 'al Qaeda in the Levant and Syria'
Anglo-French arms industry forces EU to lift official embargo on sending Weapons of Mass Destruction to Al Qaeda in Syria
Syria: 120 French Troops Captured Fighting With Al Qaeda Terrorists


Arrow Up

Bill Maher: Get rid of the Department of Homeland Security

DHS
© Unknown
HBO's Bill Maher thinks the Department of Homeland Security has outlived its usefulness.

On Friday's episode of "Real Time," Maher and his guests debated the DHS's usefulness during a discussion of the debate between Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul and New Jersey Republican Gov. Chris Christie.

"There was a huge verbal slap by the Republican Party this week between Chris Christie, the governor of New Jersey, and Rand Paul," Maher said. "And it was sort of I think a fight for the soul of the Republican Party - where they're going to go because, OK, next month is the 12th anniversary of 9/11. Some people in the Republican Party are saying let's move on. That's Rand Paul. He is saying, you know, we spy on each other too much. We spend too much on defense. So Chris Christie is from the neocon-wing, fired back and said come to New Jersey and tell that to the widows and orphans. He played that Giuliani card, which I think is sleazy. And then Rand Paul made a fat joke. But who's going to win this battle is my question to this panel in the Republican Party?"

Later in that segment, Maher suggested just eliminating the Department of Homeland Security.

"Do you think we could get rid of the Department of Homeland Security?" Maher said. "This is one of those monstrosities that came out of 9/11. It has, I think, 240,000 regular employees. Janet Napolitano quit at the top. The top 15 jobs there are vacant because no one wants to work there. It's thankless because some shit is going to happen and it's mostly luck whether or not you're there when it happens. You can't stop everything. No one wants the job. Why don't we just get rid of it?"

Syringe

Best of the Web: Monsanto hates democracy: Fascism seems to work best

Monsanto hates democracy because democracy doesn't work for Monsanto.

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© MillionsAgainstMonsanto/Creativecommons.org
Nine out of 10 of us want to know where Monsanto's been hiding the GMOs in our food and a most of us wouldn't eat those GMOs if we knew where they were.

If everything in this country were decided democratically, most of the food we eat would be non-GMO and Monsanto would be driven out of business.

We don't have a problem convincing people we're right, we have a problem with our democracy when we can't get the politicians to pass the laws that the majority of us want.

But no government, no matter how corrupted by corporate money, will be able to stop us when we get the nine out of 10 people who agree with us to take action with us. And that's what's starting to happen.

Bad Guys

Israeli 'sphere of influence': Mossad agents interrogated Lebanese nationals in Nigeria

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© AFPCache of weapons discovered at home of suspected Hezbollah operatives in Kona, Nigeria.
Two Lebanese nationals accused of plotting attacks against Israeli targets in western Africa say Israeli interrogators identifying as Mossad agents used sleep deprivation, other harsh techniques in questioning.

Two Lebanese nationals charged with plotting terror attacks in western Africa told a court in Nigeria on Monday they were interrogated by Mossad agents, AFP reported.

Mustapha Fawaz, Abdallah Thahini and Talal Ahmad Roda, allegedly Hezbollah members, were arrested in May after Nigerian police discovered they had amassed a secret weapons stock.

The prosecution alleges the three planned attacks on Israeli and Western targets in Nigeria and nearby countries, but they have denied the charges and belonging to Hezbollah, according to AFP.

Gear

Lies, damn lies: U.S. warns citizens to leave Yemen after Feds issue fake terror alert - prelude to more Americans being assassinated by Obama's drones?

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© Getty Images
The US State Department has told citizens and non-emergency government staff to leave Yemen "immediately" due to security threats.

It comes after the sudden closure of 20 US embassies and consulates on Sunday.

This was prompted by intercepted conversations between two senior al-Qaeda figures, including top leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, US media said.

The US earlier said the closures in North Africa and the Middle East were "out of an abundance of caution".

'Extremely high'

A global travel alert issued on Tuesday said: "The US Department of State warns US citizens of the high security threat level in Yemen due to terrorist activities and civil unrest.

"The department urges US citizens to defer travel to Yemen and those US citizens currently living in Yemen to depart immediately."

It added that "the security threat level in Yemen is extremely high".

The BBC's Abdullah Ghorab, in Sanaa, says the Yemeni capital has been experiencing unprecedented security measures, with hundreds of armoured military vehicles deployed to secure the presidential palace, vital infrastructural buildings and Western embassies in the capital.

Comment: Terminator Obama-2013: The Rise of Domestic Killer Drones


Camcorder

Egyptian anti-Obama video goes viral, blames him for siding with Muslim Brotherhood

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Egyptian army chief in interview says Defense Secretary Hagel calls him almost every day, but Obama has not called.

US President Barack Obama appears to have angered supporters of ousted Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi, as well as supporters of the army coup that toppled him on July 3.

Leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood, which is at the vanguard of the street protests against Morsi's ouster, claim the US supported the coup. Those opposed to the Brotherhood claim Washington has been and still is supporting the Islamists.

An example of the vitriol in the country can be seen in a new video clip featuring a song by Egyptian performer Sama Elmasry. Titled "You Obama, Your Father, Mother," it attacks the US president for allegedly preferring Islamic radicals over the army. It has gone viral, with over 160,000 views since last week.

The clip features Obama in traditional Islamic dress. Elmasry curses him while mentioning that he had called for former president Hosni Mubarak to leave immediately, seeming to imply that this proved he was pro-Brotherhood.

The song also mentions Obama's support for Islamistled Turkey as well as Israel. It is highly nationalistic in tone and ends with a photo of Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who led the anti-Morsi coup.

In an interview with The Washington Post published on Saturday, Sisi said Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood party had been seeking to restore the Islamic empire. He added that the ousted leader had not acted like a president for all Egyptians, but only for his supporters.