Puppet Masters
Bloc Québécois swamped by NDP surge
Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe is quitting his position after an NDP wave swept through Quebec.
Duceppe lost in his riding of Laurier-Sainte-Marie, falling to the NDP's Hélène Laverdière.
Duceppe told a crowd of supporters that he accepted responsibility for the dismal electoral performance.
"Democracy has spoken, I respect this choice and I assume responsibility for it," Duceppe said.
"I assume responsibility on behalf of the Bloc Québécois. As a result I announce I am leaving my position."
© Paul Chiasson / The Canadian Press
Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff announces his resignation as party leader after losing his seat in Monday's federal election on May 2, 2011 in Toronto.
Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff announces his resignation as party leader after losing his seat in Monday's federal election on May 2, 2011 in Toronto.
The Liberals were reduced to 34 seats in the House of Commons down from 77 and won only 18.9 per cent of the popular vote.
Not only did Ignatieff lead the party to its worst showing in its history, but he also lost his Toronto-area seat in Etobicoke-Lakeshore.
Ignatieff told a news conference that he will "not remain leader of party" and "will arrange succession in due time."
Ignatieff said he's asked Liberal Ralph Goodale to call a caucus meeting next Wednesday in Ottawa.
Despite his party's disastrous showing, Ignatieff said he believes the party can return as a political force. He said the Liberals were devastated in 1958 by John Diefenbaker's Progressive Conservatives and returned with Lester B. Pearson's minority governments.
© The Telegraph
Conspiracy theorists will say bin Laden is alive
Conspiracy theorists will say bin Laden is alive
The Islamic world is amazingly receptive to what I call "counterknowledge". Let's start by reminding ourselves that most people in Muslim countries have their doubts about 9/11, and millions them believe unquestioningly that it was plotted by the CIA. One of the most important features of what sociologists call the cultic milieu is that political and religious extremists happily exchange conspiracy theories, irrespective of their origin. We've seen this in the popularity of the far-Right Russian Protocols of the Elders of Zion in the Arab world. We've also seen young, Left-wing disciples of Noam Chomsky and Michael Moore happily draw on 9/11 "truther" theories constructed in the American fascist underground.
© Sott.net
This essay attempts to make it easier for you to identify the quality and character of military officers and civilian bureaucrats, to increase your awareness and recognition of careerism and its consequences. As Americans, we all must exercise more care and caution in our appraisal of our senior military officers and the Washington "suits" that exert dominating influence on the cost of defense and the conduct of American national security policy.
The Department of Defense (DOD) that I have observed all too closely for over three decades is an overgrown bureaucracy committed to standing still for, if not actively promoting, poorly conceived policy agendas and hardware programs funded and supported by Congress. Coupled to that is the task of attracting the blind loyalty of senior military and civilian actors on the Washington, D.C. stage. For the careerists in America's national security apparatus, it is all about awarding contracts and personal advancement, not winning wars.
Careerists serve for all the wrong reasons. They weaken national defense, rob the military of its warrior ethos and drive away the very highly principled mavericks that we need to reverse the decay. This can only be remedied by rekindling the time honored principles of military service (i.e. duty, honor, country) among both officers and civilians.
© Unknown
British intelligence reported in February 2002 that the Israeli Mossad ran the Arab hijacker cells that were later blamed by the US government's 9/11 Commission for carrying out the aerial attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. WMR (Wayne Madsen Reports) has received details of the British intelligence report which was suppressed by the government of then-Prime Minister Tony Blair. The contents of this report are as follows:
A Mossad unit consisting of six Egyptian- and Yemeni-born Jews infiltrated "al Qaeda' cells in Hamburg (the Atta-Mamoun Darkanzali cell), south Florida, and Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates in the months before 9/11. The Mossad not only infiltrated cells but began to run them and give them specific orders that would eventually culminate in their being on board four regularly-scheduled flights originating in Boston, Washington Dulles, and Newark, New Jersey on 9/11.
© openmarket.org
Know where to vote - Polls have not changed
Know where to vote - Polls have not changed
Spokeswoman Francine Bastien said Elections Canada has confirmed that complaints are coming in from several key ridings - ridings many are aware that are important to the success of Stephen Harper and the Conservatives.
In a statement to the CBC "We just want to make sure that both the media and the voters know that there have not been any changes in the voting [locations] ... and that the documents they receive from Elections Canada [and] the Elections Canada website is the accurate information they should trust in order to vote tomorrow," Bastien said.
Local and federal law enforcement agencies said Monday that the nation must remain vigilant against potential reprisals following the U.S. killing of Osama bin Laden.
To enhance security locally, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced the awarding of $4 million to improve security and communications along the Canadian border.
Federal law enforcement and security agencies were on heightened alert across the nation Monday, but said public threat levels would be raised only if the government learns of credible terrorist threats.
"Our security posture, which always includes a number of measures both seen and unseen, will continue to protect the American people from an evolving threat picture both in the next days and beyond," Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said.
Ron Smith, chief of the Bureau of U.S. Customs and Border Protection Detroit office, said no specific threat warnings had been issued Monday for the region's border with Canada.
To enhance security locally, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced the awarding of $4 million to improve security and communications along the Canadian border.
Federal law enforcement and security agencies were on heightened alert across the nation Monday, but said public threat levels would be raised only if the government learns of credible terrorist threats.
"Our security posture, which always includes a number of measures both seen and unseen, will continue to protect the American people from an evolving threat picture both in the next days and beyond," Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said.
Ron Smith, chief of the Bureau of U.S. Customs and Border Protection Detroit office, said no specific threat warnings had been issued Monday for the region's border with Canada.
© Agence France-Presse
"This does remind us why Canadian armed forces personnel have been deployed to Afghanistan, to deny al-Qaida and organizations like it the use of Afghanistan where the 9/11 attack was conceived and planned." he said. "We will continue to stand firm with our allies against the threat of global terrorism. "
The U.S. government announced Sunday its special forces had killed the terrorist mastermind at a compound in Pakistan, ending a decade-long search.
Canada entered Afghanistan in 2002 as part of the operation to find bin Laden, suppress terrorism and take out the Taliban threat to stable government.
The Conservatives and Liberals have both pledged to continue our military's post-combat training role in Afghanistan, while NDP Leader Jack Layton has promised a government led by him would bring the troops home.
© Unknown
Can US Offer Final Proof Of Osama's Death?
Can US Offer Final Proof Of Osama's Death?
The circumstances surrounding Osama bin Laden's reported death raise urgent questions over how the US is so sure it got its man.
US officials have said DNA testing has proved the al Qaeda leader was killed in a villa in Pakistan.
They have also identified him by facial recognition.
But photographs of Bin Laden after his reported death have not been released.
The fact his body was buried at sea has so far only added to the speculation, although as a Muslim, he had to be laid to rest as quickly as possible.
Under Islamic law, people can only be buried at sea if they died there, or if there is a risk their body will be exhumed or dug up if buried in the ground.
Comment: An excellent book that gives amazing perspective into how the psychopathic mindset infects normal human beings as well as various organizations is Political Ponerology by Andrew M. Lobaczewski.