Puppet MastersS


Attention

Bankers Have Seized Europe: Goldman Sachs Has Taken Over

Goldman Sachs Tower
© Activist PostGoldman Sachs Tower.

On November 25, two days after a failed German government bond auction in which Germany was unable to sell 35% of its offerings of 10-year bonds, the German finance minister, Wolfgang Schaeuble said that Germany might retreat from its demands that the private banks that hold the troubled sovereign debt from Greece, Italy, and Spain must accept part of the cost of their bailout by writing off some of the debt.

The private banks want to avoid any losses either by forcing the Greek, Italian, and Spanish governments to make good on the bonds by imposing extreme austerity on their citizens, or by having the European Central Bank print euros with which to buy the sovereign debt from the private banks. Printing money to make good on debt is contrary to the ECB's charter and especially frightens Germans, because of the Weimar experience with hyperinflation.

Obviously, the German government got the message from the orchestrated failed bond auction. As I wrote at the time, there is no reason for Germany, with its relatively low debt to GDP ratio compared to the troubled countries, not to be able to sell its bonds.

If Germany's creditworthiness is in doubt, how can Germany be expected to bail out other countries? Evidence that Germany's failed bond auction was orchestrated is provided by troubled Italy's successful bond auction two days later.

Strange, isn't it. Italy, the largest EU country that requires a bailout of its debt, can still sell its bonds, but Germany, which requires no bailout and which is expected to bear a disproportionate cost of Italy's, Greece's and Spain's bailout, could not sell its bonds.

In my opinion, the failed German bond auction was orchestrated by the US Treasury, by the European Central Bank and EU authorities, and by the private banks that own the troubled sovereign debt.

Mr. Potato

Senator Lieberman asks Google to add 'terrorist' label to Blogger posts

Senator Lieberman
© Reuters/Mike SegarU.S. Senator from Connecticut Joe Lieberman pauses during remarks at news conference in Stamford, CT, January 19, 2011.

Terrorist suspect Jose Pimentel had a blog on Blogger, owned by Google. Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT) wants Google to add a "terrorist" flag so readers can label terrorist content.

Lieberman sent a letter (yes, on paper, but that's the best way to show the United States Senate letterhead) to Google CEO Larry Page taking him to task because "Blogger's Content Policy does not expressly ban terrorist content," and some other details. Lieberman goes on to point out that YouTube, also owned by Google, does ban terrorist content. He adds, quote, "Google's inconsistent standards are adversely affecting our ability to counter violent Islamist extremism online." So Blogger could hold back terrorists if it wanted to?

Unfortunately, Lieberman doesn't define what he considers "terrorist content" or whether deleting posts with such content is within the purview of Blogger or the First Amendment. Google, not surprisingly, has yet to comment. Wonder if Larry Page still wished he had Eric Schmidt to handle such political fun and games.

X

Israeli starts jail term for leaking army secrets

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© UnknownAnat Kam
A young Israeli woman convicted of spying and leaking classified military documents to Israel's Haaretz newspaper, began her four-and-a-half year prison sentence on Wednesday.

Former soldier Anat Kam, 24, entered Neve Tirza women's prison, at Ramle near Tel Aviv, on Wednesday morning an AFP photographer at the scene said.

She was convicted in February under a plea bargain which saw her admitting to charges of "serious espionage" and "passing on classified data" in return for the prosecution dropping a charge of intent to harm state security, which carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

Last month she was sentenced to 54 months in jail, with an additional 18 months suspended for three years from completion of the term.

Stormtrooper

The Egyptian Military is Lifting Its Mask

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Different outward features, same sub-species: homo psychopathicus. The one on the right you know. The one on the left is Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, Egypt's defense minister and chairman of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, the military group that took power on Feb. 11, 2011, after weeks of unrest directed at President Hosni Mubarak. He is currently the country’s de facto leader. It is Mr. Tantawi, perhaps more than any other single person, who is now driving events in Egypt.
The killing under torture in a maximum security prison in Cairo of Essam Ali Atta Ali, a 24-year-old Egyptian, raises concern on the role of the Egyptian military in the "New Egypt." His death was likened to that of Khalid Said, who was beaten to death by the police in Alexandria last year. What Atta's death show is that the same abuses that were perpetrated under former president Hosni Mubarak continue, and that true democracy and respect for people's rights are still a long way off in Egypt.

Atta was arrested last February, convicted of "thuggery." He was sentenced to two years in prison. According to the Interior Ministry, he was also carrying an unlicensed weapon. He is one of 12,000 cases who, according to human rights activists in the country, have been tried by military, instead of civilian, courts. In contrast, Mubarak and his cronies are being tried in civilian courts and their trials are expected to last for months or even years.

"The military justice system should never be used to investigate or prosecute civilians. Military courts are fundamentally unfair, as they deprive defendants of basic fair trial guarantees," states Amnesty International. One may recall, in this regard, George Clemenceau's statement that, "Military justice is to justice as military music is to music."

What makes his case special, however, is that it proves that torture and assassination continue to be practiced in Egyptian jails. Atta was sodomized to death by prison guards who used hoses to inject water into his mouth and anus which produced profuse bleeding leading to his death. A statement from the military government attributed Atta's death to "unknown poisoning" and said that prison guards tried to save him.

Comment: Since this article was written, protests in Cairo have swelled to levels seen earlier this year.


Attention

Ukraine: Tymoshenko accused of murder link

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© unknownUkraine's former Prime Minister and leading opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko
The office of Ukraine's prosecutor general has announced there is "irrefutable evidence" that former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko was involved in the murder of a Ukrainian lawmaker in the 1990s.

"Money has been transferred to the killers' bank accounts from firms owned by [former Prime Minister Pavel] Lazarenko and Tymoshenko," Russian news agency Ria Novosti quoted first deputy Chairman of the Prosecutor General's office Renat Kuzmin as saying on Saturday.

The Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office previously said it was examining Tymoshenko's possible involvement in Yevgeny Shcherban's murder case.

Tymoshenko's spokeswoman Natalia Lysova has dismissed the accusations as "rubbish."

In November 1996, Shcherban, a member of Supreme Rada (Ukraine's Parliament) and chairman of the financial corporation Anton, was shot and killed along with his wife and an airport employee at the airport in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk.

Nuke

UK extremely worried about stolen nukes

nuke
© unknown
Did we the British public know that our current Prime Minister was instrumental in the loss of three illegal nuclear weapons?

Is the UK frantically trying to find out where they were sold on the "Black Market"?

We know something that you don't...... but can't talk about it Under the Nuclear Explosions Act otherwise we will all end up in goal for life.

Chris McGreal of the Guardian newspaper published an article 24th of May 2010 revealing how Israel offered to sell nukes to South Africa during the apartheid era. What he failed to reveal was that Israel struck up a deal with South Africa to move its technicians down to the high-security weapons research and development facilities at Pelindaba.

It was at this location that the Israeli technicians managed to covertly give themselves nuclear weapons but also under the table gave South Africa its own nuclear capability but guess what?.......the US and UK knew all about the programme but the UN did not!!!.......what was even more amazing was the fact that the UN sent a team to South Africa where they were convinced that South Africa had curtailed its nuclear weapons programme when in actual fact it had not!!

It is fairly obvious why Israel is totally consumed in trying to find these stolen weapon and needless to say the US and British Governments are equally as concerned and yet are not in a position to admit to their loss as in doing so would incriminate past and current very senior politicians including our current Prime Minister David Cameron.

Bizarro Earth

Pakistan stops NATO supplies after raid kills "up to 25"

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© John Moore/Getty ImagesPakistan says a Nato helicopter has flown over the border from Afghanistan and killed dozens of Pakistani troops at a checkpoint.
NATO helicopters attacked a military checkpoint in northwest Pakistan on Saturday, killing up to 25 troops and prompting Pakistan to shut the vital supply route for NATO troops fighting in Afghanistan, Pakistani officials said.

The attack comes as relations between the United States and Pakistan, its ally in the war on terror, are already badly strained following the killing of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden by U.S. special forces in a secret raid on the Pakistani garrison town of Abbottabad in May.

Pakistan called that raid a flagrant violation of its sovereignty.

A Pakistani military spokesman confirmed Saturday's pre-dawn cross-border attack in the tribal region of Mohmand and said casualties had been reported, but gave no details.

"NATO helicopters carried out an unprovoked and indiscriminate firing on a Pakistani check post in Mohmand agency, casualties have been reported and details are awaited," the spokesman told Reuters.

Dollar

"Awful" Italy debt sale heightens euro zone stress

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© Reuters/Stefano RellandiniA union workers flag CGIL is seen in front of a bank during a protest downtown Milan, November 25, 2011.
Italy paid a record 6.5 percent to borrow money over six months on Friday and its longer-term funding costs soared far above levels seen as sustainable for public finances, raising the pressure on Rome's new emergency government.

The auction yield on the six-month paper almost doubled compared to a month earlier, capping a week in which a German bond auction came close to failing and the leaders of Germany, France and Italy failed to make progress on crisis resolution measures.

Though Italy managed to raise the full planned amount of 10 billion euros, weakening demand and the highest borrowing costs since it joined the euro frightened investors, pushing Italian stocks lower and bond yields to record highs on the secondary market.

Yields on two-year BTP bonds soared to more than 8 percent in response, a euro lifetime high, despite reported purchases by the European Central Bank.

Wolf

Australia: Immunise or lose benefits, parents told

girl,flu shot
© Jewel Samad: AFPFamilies who refuse vaccinations face losing up to $2,100 per child in benefits

Parents who do not have their children fully immunised will be stripped of family tax benefits under a scheme announced by the Federal Government.

The Government says 11 per cent of five-year-olds are not immunised and has announced a shake-up of the system which will take effect from July 1 next year.

Under the changes, families who refuse vaccinations face losing up to $2,100 per child in benefits.

Families will need to have their children fully immunised to receive the Family Tax Benefit (FTB) Part A end-of-year supplement.

A new immunisation check will be introduced for one-year-olds to supplement the existing immunisation checks at two and five years of age.

Bad Guys

US: Senate To Vote On Legislation That Allows U.S. Military to Detain Americans Without Charge or Trial

FEMA detention camp
© n/aFEMA detention facility.
Remember that debate between Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich, where Mr. Gingrich suggested we should expand and strengthen the Patriot Act in the name of protecting US citizens from terrorists? Mr. Gingrich indicated that there exists a line between criminal law and the war on terror, and that we need not worry the government will overstep its bounds.

While Americans enjoy the Thanksgiving weekend and join the annual running of the bulls celebration at malls and retail outlets, something sinister is taking place in Congress - and it should scare the hell out of you. If the President and Senate have their way, your front lawn will soon become a battlefield, and you'll be subjected to military, not criminal, law.