About ten hours before a warplane roared down the Red Sea, crossed into Sudanese airspace and let fly a missile at a sedan, killing both of the people inside, Maj. Gen. (ret.) Amos Gilad offered a piece of advice about secret military actions to audience of diplomats and journalists in a Jerusalem hotel.
"Never boast," Gilad said. "Be humble. Be modest. Do it, what you have to do. Don't talk.''
The topic was Iran's nuclear ambitions, and what Israel might do military to impede them. As director general of political-military affairs for Israel's defense ministry, Gilad may be the person in Israel in the best position to answer, but he demurred on the grounds that saying things in public tended to impede the ability to do them. So it is that when asked about the Stuxnet worm that wreaked havoc with Iran's centrifuges at the Natanz nuclear facility, or the assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists on their way to the office, Israeli officials limit themselves to a knowing smile and a "no comment."
Puppet Masters
During Operation Cast Lead Israel committed massive war crimes for all the world to see. Among these crimes the use of White Phosphorus in densely populated areas, use of Depleted Uranium, bombing civilian targets of all sorts without military necessity, destroying civilian infrastructure with no military justification and the infamous massacre of the Samouni family... among many other crimes.
In the aftermath of Cast Lead, Justice Richard Goldstone, a Zionist Jew, was commissioned by the United Nations to write a report on the alleged war crimes. Although the report did not go nearly far enough in exposing the brutality of all the crimes committed, crimes committed by the fourth largest military in the world against a essentially defenceless and captive population, it did allege that Israel (and Hamas) was almost undoubtedly guilty of war crimes and possibly, crimes against humanity.
But on April 1st, 2011 Justice Goldstone had an apparent change of heart and effectively said that he was wrong. With regard to the Samouni family he said, Israel simply made a mistake. It seems that the world in which we live in, a world of impunity for the favoured Israeli state, is set to continue. Unless of course we the people decide enough is enough.
In the aftermath of Cast Lead, Justice Richard Goldstone, a Zionist Jew, was commissioned by the United Nations to write a report on the alleged war crimes. Although the report did not go nearly far enough in exposing the brutality of all the crimes committed, crimes committed by the fourth largest military in the world against a essentially defenceless and captive population, it did allege that Israel (and Hamas) was almost undoubtedly guilty of war crimes and possibly, crimes against humanity.
But on April 1st, 2011 Justice Goldstone had an apparent change of heart and effectively said that he was wrong. With regard to the Samouni family he said, Israel simply made a mistake. It seems that the world in which we live in, a world of impunity for the favoured Israeli state, is set to continue. Unless of course we the people decide enough is enough.
Comment: By all accounts Judge Goldstone tried to make as fair and unbiased report on Operation Cast Lead in Gaza, as was possible in the aftermath of the invasion. One wonders what pressure was brought to bear by the Zionist regime to recant now?
Israeli defense exports for 2010 are expected to match the all-time high reached in 2009, according to Defense Ministry officials. The record year of 2009 saw exports reach $7.4 billion.
Based on calculations of new orders from Israeli defense companies, the export totals for 2010 exceeded $7.3 billion and will probably match those of 2009 once figures for support and follow-on contracts are finalized.
Some 80 percent of all Israeli defense production is sold on the export market. The country's export order totals have steadily grown, reaching $3.5 billion in 2005, $4.9 billion in 2006, $5.6 billion in 2007, and $6.6 billion in 2008.
Based on calculations of new orders from Israeli defense companies, the export totals for 2010 exceeded $7.3 billion and will probably match those of 2009 once figures for support and follow-on contracts are finalized.
Some 80 percent of all Israeli defense production is sold on the export market. The country's export order totals have steadily grown, reaching $3.5 billion in 2005, $4.9 billion in 2006, $5.6 billion in 2007, and $6.6 billion in 2008.
Will remain tiny compared to inventory of obsolete crap
The UK expects to double its fleet of "Reaper" robot hunter-killer aircraft, according to the machines' manufacturer.
General Atomics, which developed the famous Predator drone warplane and its bigger successor the Predator-B/Reaper, announced last week that it is opening a new office in London to support the British Reaper fleet. The company says that it has thus far supplied six of the robot aircraft to the UK forces - though one of these crashed and was destroyed in Afghanistan three years ago.
The company announcement adds that the UK Reaper fleet is "expected to nearly double in size over the next few years". Presumably this might indicate that the Ministry of Defence (MoD) expects to field as many as ten roboplanes in the near future.
The UK expects to double its fleet of "Reaper" robot hunter-killer aircraft, according to the machines' manufacturer.
© The Register
Better than a Tornado bomber.
Better than a Tornado bomber.
The company announcement adds that the UK Reaper fleet is "expected to nearly double in size over the next few years". Presumably this might indicate that the Ministry of Defence (MoD) expects to field as many as ten roboplanes in the near future.
Remove your penis from this hornets' nest
Several Sony PlayStation sites are unavailable this morning thanks to what looks like a distributed denial of service attack launched by Anonymous.
The hacktivists have left the Scientologists alone in order to harass the console-makers because of Sony's action against two lads for jailbreaking PS3s.
In a strangely self-important and sanctimonious message, the hackers said:
Several Sony PlayStation sites are unavailable this morning thanks to what looks like a distributed denial of service attack launched by Anonymous.
The hacktivists have left the Scientologists alone in order to harass the console-makers because of Sony's action against two lads for jailbreaking PS3s.
In a strangely self-important and sanctimonious message, the hackers said:
Congratulations, Sony.
You have now received the undivided attention of Anonymous.
Your recent legal action against our fellow hackers, GeoHot and Graf_Chokolo, has not alarmed us, it has been deemed wholly unforgivable....
Now you will experience the wrath of Anonymous.
You saw a hornets' nest, and stuck your penises in it.
You must face the consequences of your actions.
Anonymous style."
© Agence France-Presse
View of an oil pump in Havana
View of an oil pump in Havana
"We're about to move to the drilling phase," said Manuel Marrero, an official with the government authority tasked with overseeing Cuba's oil sector.
"We're all really hopeful that we will be able to discover large reserves of oil and gas," said Marrero, who added that the ventures would be undertaken with the help of unspecified foreign companies.
He said the deepwater wells were to be drilled between 2011 and 2013, and would be in waters ranging in depth between 400 meters (a quarter mile) and 1,500 meters (1.6 miles). He did not specify which countries would be among the foreign partners working with Havana on the project.
Some studies estimate Cuba has probable reserves of between five and nine billion barrels of oil in its economic zone in the Gulf of Mexico. Cuban authorities have said their crude reserves are as high as 20 billion barrels.
In 2010, Cuba produced 21 million barrels of oil, about the same as it had extracted the previous year, representing a little less than half of its annual energy needs.
© foodfreedom.wordpress.com
A landmark lawsuit filed on March 29 in US federal court seeks to invalidate Monsanto's patents on genetically modified seeds and to prohibit the company from suing those whose crops become genetically contaminated.
The Public Patent Foundation filed suit on behalf of 270,000 people from sixty organic and sustainable businesses and trade associations, including thousands of certified-organic farmers.
"As Justice Story wrote in 1817, to be patentable, an invention must not be 'injurious to the well being, good policy, or sound morals of society,'" notes the complaint in its opening paragraphs.
The suit points to studies citing harm caused by Monsanto's Roundup herbicide, including human placental damage, lymphoma, myeloma, animal miscarriages, and other impacts on human health.
Soldiers use live ammunition on protesters demanding removal of President Saleh, killing at least 12
Yemeni security forces and gunmen in civilian clothes have fired on protesters marching through the southern city of Taiz , killing at least 12 people amid reports that the US now wants President Ali Abdullah Saleh to quit.
Witnesses described troops and gunmen, some on nearby rooftops, shooting wildly on thousands of people in a second successive day of violence. Some of the protesters, including elderly people, were trampled and injured as the crowds tried to flee, they said.
"It was heavy gunfire from all directions. Some were firing from the rooftop of the governor's building," said one man in the crowd, Omar al-Saqqaf. He said he saw military police load the bodies of two dead protesters into a car and speed away.
Television showed a row of men, apparent teargas victims, lying motionless and being tended by medics on the carpeted floor of a makeshift hospital in Taiz, 120 miles (200km) south of Sana'a.
The violence began when thousands of demonstrators marched down the main street toward the protest camp in Freedom Square, surrounded by security forces. As the march passed the governor's headquarters, troops blocked the procession, and clashes broke out, with some protesters throwing stones, witnesses said.
© Reuters
A wounded protester lies on a bed at a makeshift clinic after clashes with Yemeni troops in Taiz.
A wounded protester lies on a bed at a makeshift clinic after clashes with Yemeni troops in Taiz.
Witnesses described troops and gunmen, some on nearby rooftops, shooting wildly on thousands of people in a second successive day of violence. Some of the protesters, including elderly people, were trampled and injured as the crowds tried to flee, they said.
"It was heavy gunfire from all directions. Some were firing from the rooftop of the governor's building," said one man in the crowd, Omar al-Saqqaf. He said he saw military police load the bodies of two dead protesters into a car and speed away.
Television showed a row of men, apparent teargas victims, lying motionless and being tended by medics on the carpeted floor of a makeshift hospital in Taiz, 120 miles (200km) south of Sana'a.
The violence began when thousands of demonstrators marched down the main street toward the protest camp in Freedom Square, surrounded by security forces. As the march passed the governor's headquarters, troops blocked the procession, and clashes broke out, with some protesters throwing stones, witnesses said.
© unknown
An Israeli soldier prepares to open fire at Palestinian demonstrators during a protest against Israel's controversial separation barrier in the West Bank.
An Israeli soldier prepares to open fire at Palestinian demonstrators during a protest against Israel's controversial separation barrier in the West Bank.
The troops targeted the Palestinians while they were collecting gravel in the area, a Press TV correspondent quoted witnesses as saying.
Medics also said that "The ambulance service was being prevented from reaching them."
The Israeli army also confirmed that its forces opened fire at "someone in the northern Gaza Strip."
© Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images
"If the president is presented with a resolution of disapproval that would not safeguard the free and open Internet, his senior advisers would recommend that he veto the resolution," the Office of Management and Budget said in a Statement of Administration Policy.
The House Rules Committee voted on Monday evening to send the resolution to the House floor. The resolution would repeal the Federal Communications Commission's so-called "network-neutrality" regulations, designed to prevent Internet carriers from blocking websites that use too much bandwidth. The committee voted to allow one hour of debate on the issue. House aides say a vote is expected on Tuesday but the resolution is not expected to make it past the Senate.
Reps. Greg Walden, R-Ore., and Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., duked it out one-on-one at the hearing on the issue.
The debate between Walden and Eshoo, who opposes the resolution, included not only familiar arguments over the merits of the rules, but also a lot of he-said, she-said disagreement over what witnesses said.
Comment: Amazing how much can be revealed about the psychopathic nature of Israel, even in "cheer-leading the Zionist state" pieces like this one.