Puppet MastersS


Bizarro Earth

Violence Escalates on Gaza Border

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© Agence France-Presse/Getty Images/Mohammed AbedPalestinian relatives grieve during the funeral of Osama Ali after he was killed in an Israeli strike on Gaza City on June 23, 2012.
Despite a pledged ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel, attacks escalated on both sides of the Gaza border June 23, killing at least three Palestinian men and a 6-year-old boy in Gaza, and wounding an Israeli man in Sderot, officials said.

Ayman Taha, spokesman for the Hamas government, which rules Gaza, said Saturday night that the Egyptian-brokered agreement, reached June 21, did not specify "a certain hour for the ceasefire to take effect."

"We will be committed to the ceasefire as long as Israel does," he said by telephone.

Spokesmen for the Israel Defense Forces and for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would not discuss the ceasefire. But as two dozen rockets rained down on the weary neighbourhoods near Gaza City, the Israeli military chief, Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, called a rare Sabbath meeting of top aides to "determine the next course of action," according to a military spokeswoman.

Netanyahu, meanwhile, was briefed by Gantz and Defense Minister Ehud Barak, and told them "to do what needs to be done to protect Israel's population," a senior aide said.

War Whore

40-60 German Mercenaries Caught in Syria, 200-300 Private Security Company Employees Captured

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© AFP Photo / HO / Shaam News Network
While insurgents try to recapture at least some of the areas lost in the last week and make it to the outskirts of towns in western Syria, more details on foreign detainees come to light, which may start political discussions back home.

­Consultant and peace activist Christoph R. Hörstel told RT that his information "is directly obtained from Syrian security personnel of various origins personally taking part in battles and other operations, and/or close relatives of such personnel - some are even well-known people".

"The information reaches me through a partner in Turkey. I counter-check all information obtained this way as best as possible under the circumstances," Hörstel said.

Insurgents and terrorists are trying to infiltrate back to the lost strongholds in Hafeh and Idlib. They try to return from the rural areas, but face strong army resistance in these areas, plus in Homs and Hama. As the rebels lost most of their weapon stockpiles, they intend now to carry out terror attacks in civilian areas, using improvised bombs.

Bad Guys

Pretext to Wage War on Syria. Turkey and the Gulf of Tonkin Redux?

Lyndon Johnson in Situation Room
© n/aLyndon Johnson in Situation Room studying map of Vietnam.
Lyndon Johnson wanted war on Vietnam and got it.

The August 1964 false flag Gulf of Tonkin incident initiated full-scale conflict after Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution.

War was authorized without declaring it.

It's an American tradition. Big lies launch wars. Manufactured pretexts initiate them. Mass killing and destruction follow.

One nation after another is ravaged. Syria's next, then Iran, followed by other states on Washington's hit list.

On June 22, Turkey provocatively flew two warplanes at low altitude over Syrian airspace. It wanted a response and got it.

On June 23, Syria's SANA state media headlined "Military Spokesman: Anti-Air Defenses Intercepted a Target That Violated Syrian Airspace Over Territorial Waters, Shot It Down West of Lattakia," saying:
"At 11:40 AM on 22/6/2012, an unidentified aerial target violated Syrian airspace, coming from the west at a very low altitude and at high speed over territorial waters, so the Syrian anti-air defenses counteracted with anti-aircraft artillery, hitting it directly as it was 1 kilometer away from land, causing it to crash into Syrian territorial waters west of Om al-Tuyour village in Lattakia province, 10 kilometers from the beach."
Syria's military spokesman also said naval forces from both countries were "searching for the two missing pilots."

Some media sources said both crew members were rescued. Others said they're still missing.

Question

SOTT Focus: Le Monde Hit Piece on Sott.net's Analysis of the Merah Case and 'Conspiracy Theorists'

The following article appeared in the French Le Monde newspaper on the 19th June 2012. We are running it, with commentary, because it stands as a perfect example of the 'yellow journalism' so favored by the mainstream media in their efforts to dupe the public. Yellow journalism is defined as "journalism that presents little or no legitimate well-researched news and instead uses eye-catching headlines to sell more newspapers." In this case however, the specific aim of Le Monde is to discredit and ridicule rational deductive reasoning around the actions of alleged 'Muslim terorrist' Mohamed Merah.
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Authoritarian Followers stick their necks out for the government
The Merah Case: A Trip to ConspiracyLand

Soren Seelow
Le Monde

Grey areas, contradictory statements, media hype, political hijacking, shades of the Palestinian/Israeli conflict, police forces blunders, shady role of the Intelligence services... the Mohamed Merah case, where a young man was accused of murdering seven people last March in Toulouse and Montauban, has all the ingredients to feed conspiracy theories. Since the beginning of the case, suspicions of political manipulations have emerged, strengthened by the case's inconsistencies, and have spread around, giving rise to alternative theses running in parallel with the official version. Let's take a plunge into this shady world of conspiracy, and let's take a look at its reflexes, techniques and ideological agendas.

V

SOTT Focus: The Cs Hit List 08: Of Oracles and Conspiracies: TWA 800, 9/11, H1N1, and VISA

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Evelyn de Morgan - Ariadne in Naxos (1877)
So far in this series, I've focused a lot on history and science, albeit some of it of a particularly paranormal persuasion. To jog the reader's memory, the first installment began with a discussion of prophecy and prediction and asked some questions such as: Can prophecies be true? If so, are they all true? All fake? How can we weed out the cons from the clairvoyants, and can a good source give a bad prediction? How come? Well, today I want to veer in a slightly different direction - no climate science, companion stars, catastrophic comets, or non-coding DNA. No, I want to ground this one in something a little more SOTT-ish: politics and conspiracies.

Over the course of the Hit List series, some readers may have wondered what place so-called 'paranormal' research has on an alternative news website. And others may, as I did just under a decade ago, wonder what on earth political conspiracies have to do with so-called 'spirituality'. I hope the answer to the former question is at least partially clearer by now, after seven installments. In a world as controlled as our own, where lies can be glibly passed off as indisputable fact, with media, corporations, academia, and government acting as shapers of public opinion on every subject, an individual finds him or herself in a situation not dissimilar to that of Theseus in the Minotaur's labyrinth. At every turn we are confronted by lies, even (and perhaps especially) when it comes to our most basic views about the nature of reality. And we would be lost if not for the thread of Ariadne.

While I'm on a Greek bent, let me share something a forum member recently pointed out from Manly P. Hall's The Secret Teachings of All Ages:
It is generally admitted that the effect of the Delphian oracle upon Greek culture was profoundly constructive. James Gardner sums up its influence in the following words: "Its responses revealed many a tyrant and foretold his fate. Through its means many an unhappy being was saved from destruction and many a perplexed mortal guided in the right way. It encouraged useful institutions, and promoted the progress of useful discoveries. Its moral influence was on the side of virtue, and its political influence in favor of the advancement of civil liberty."
In other words, there's our answer to the second question: a good oracle (or spiritual source) doesn't shy away from politics. Like a Greek cynic, or the proverbial Cassandra, the prime role of an oracle is to present a vision of the world as it is, no matter how painful or unpopular the view, and provide the only alternative fit for a lie: the truth. So, yes, we track 'high strangeness', and our worldview is quite at odds with the materialistic dictum peddled and enforced by PhD's and media pundits the world over. Everything you 'know' is a lie, and that includes all your metaphysical assumptions about the way the 'reality' really works. Luckily there's a way out of the labyrinth, and (please excuse me for going Biblical here!) the truth will set you free.

MIB

UN Chief Slams US Opposition to Iran's Inclusion in Syria Talks

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© Fars NewsUnited Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon pressed the US to accept Iran as part of a broader coalition of nations discussing the violence in Syria.

"It is better to have broader participants," Ban told reporters late yesterday at the Group of 20 summit in Los Cabos, Mexico.

Asked specifically about including Iran in negotiations, he said, "yes."

Ban's comments came hours after US President Barack Obama said he and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to work with "all interested parties" to bring an end to the Syrian conflict. Obama didn't address whether Iran should take part in the talks, as Russia proposed last week.

The situation on the ground in Syria has intensified differences between Putin and Obama on responding to turmoil in the Arab world.

The Russian leader is mistrustful of American motives, and suspects the Obama administration is trying to topple regimes it doesn't like and replace them with US-friendly governments, according to Andrew Kuchins, a senior fellow of the Russia and Eurasia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

Comment: We know the Helicopter claim by Clinton was a lie: US backtracks on claims Russia is arming Syrian regime


Vader

Saudis will pay salaries of rebel Syria army

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© Agence France Presse/Getty ImagesFighters with the Free Syria Army are shown at an undisclosed location on Thursday.
Saudi Arabian officials will pay the salaries of the Free Syria Army in order to encourage mass military defections and increase pressure on the regime of President Bashar al-Assad's, the Guardian of London newspaper reported Friday.

The move has been discussed by Riyadh with senior U.S. and Arab world officials, the Guardian said.

The Guardian did not specify sources for its report. However, it said, Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., an active supporter of the Syrian opposition, recently endorsed the idea of ensuring pay for armed Syrian opposition, though not necessarily with U.S funds.

The plan is gaining support as weapons sent recently to rebel forces by Saudi Arabia and Qatar make a difference on battlefields in Syria.

Saudi officials embraced the pay idea when it [was] suggested by Arab officials in May, sources in three Arab states told the Guardian.

At that time, weapons started to flow across the southern Turkish border to Free Syria Army leaders, the Guardian said.

Comment: Turkey is a NATO ally and an associate member of the EU. They are moving arms for Western countries.

The West's war on Syria is beginning to unfold. The psychopaths are increasing their own air time to convince people that it's far better to go in and murder than it is to use diplomacy.

"Brzezinski is no political light-weight. He has been on the Washington scene for 40 years and served as Jimmy Carter's National Security Adviser not to mention his long-term membership of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Bilderberg group.
...
"Psyops messages will often be replayed by the news media for much larger audiences, including the American public"..." -Joe Quinn Wikileaks and the War for your Mind


Play

Financially-strapped city declared disaster

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© Associated Press/Julie JacobsonThe new North Las Vegas City Hall building is seen, Thursday, June 21, 2012, in North Las Vegas, Nev.
There are no signs of rioters, wind-damaged homes or flooding. The brand new City Hall features gleaming marble floors and the public recreation centers offer Zumba, karate and Pilates classes.

Despite all of its suburban trimmings, North Las Vegas is officially a disaster area.

After five years of declining property taxes, massive layoffs and questionable spending, leaders of the blue-collar, family-oriented city outside Las Vegas declared a state of emergency, invoking a rarely used state law crafted for unforeseen disasters.

No matter that the statute, which allows municipalities to suspend union contracts and avoid paying scheduled salary increases, doesn't actually include fiscal emergencies among the list of potential disasters.

"It says, in case of 'emergency such as.' You can't list how many different types of emergencies there are in the world," City Council member Wade Wagner said of the move, which will save the city $9 million.

Laptop

Battle for Internet freedom as UN meeting nears

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© Salvatore Di Nolfi/Associated PressUnited Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, center, speaks with Hamadoun Toure, Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU),during a photo session of the UN Chief Executive Board in Geneva, Switzerland.
Secret negotiations among dozens of countries preparing for a United Nations summit could lead to changes in a global treaty that would diminish the Internet's role in economic growth and restrict the free flow of information.

The U.S. delegation to the World Conference on International Telecommunications to be held in Dubai in December has vowed to block any proposals from Russia and other countries that they believe threaten the Internet's current governing structure or give tacit approval to online censorship.

But those assurances have failed to ease fears that bureaucratic tinkering with the treaty could damage the world's most powerful engine for exchanging information, creating jobs and even launching revolutions, according to legal experts and civil liberties advocates who have been tracking the discussions. Social networks played a key role in the Arab Spring uprisings that last year upended regimes in Egypt and Tunisia.

Russia, for example, has proposed language that requires member states to ensure the public has unrestricted access and use of international telecommunication services "except in cases where international telecommunication services are used for the purpose of interfering in the internal affairs or undermining the sovereignty, national security, territorial integrity and public safety of other states, or to divulge information of a sensitive nature," according to a May 3 U.N. document that details the various proposals for amending the treaty.

Comment: A word combo list from the article: "Secret negotiations", "online censorship", "bureaucratic tinkering", "camouflaged subterfuge".

And while the article denies censorship is going to be allowed, censorship already being done and has been done.
So You Still Think the Internet is Free
10 Reasons Why Nothing You Do On The Internet Will Ever Be Private Again
Internet censorship
Freedom of Speech, Internet Censorship and SOPA

What appears to happen is similar to civil liberties. They take two- three steps forward into taking essential liberties, people complain, they take one step back and people think, progress. But leaders still gained 1-2 steps into taking away personal freedom(s). Wash, rinse, repeat and soon we'll be thankful for the victory of having our cuffs loosened a notch.


Dollar

Stockton bankruptcy likely to be costly mess

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© Stockton Bank
A costly mess, including court battles with employees and lenders that could stretch over years, is likely to await Stockton, California, if it cannot reach a last-minute deal with creditors and becomes the largest U.S. city ever to file for bankruptcy.

"A Chapter 9 bankruptcy proceeding is complicated, expensive, time-consuming and uncertain," said James Spiotto, a lawyer and municipal bankruptcy specialist at the Chapman and Cutler law firm in Chicago. "More likely than not, you're not going to get your desired result."

Stockton on Wednesday provided an initial outline of what a "bankruptcy budget" might look like for the city of 292,000 as a June 25 deadline for mediation talks with bond holders, employee unions and others approaches. The city proposes to stop payments on much of its debt and impose wage and benefit cuts including the elimination of all retiree healthcare benefits after a one-year transition period.

Stockton has already slashed its workforce sharply in recent years, cutting the police force by 25 percent, the fire department by 30 percent, and all other departments by more than 40 percent.