"GAMMA - 0 - MANIFESTO" The Ethos of Lebanon, شهيدنا البطل

The return of the Zioconned Keyboard Warriors....

2012-02-10T02:25:00.000-08:00

The return of the Zioconned Keyboard Warriors....
By Pepe Escobar

Waiting for the end of the world,
Waiting for the end of the world,
Waiting for the end of the world.
Dear Lord, I sincerely hope you're coming
‘cause you really started something.
Elvis Costello, Waiting for the end of the world

Be afraid. Be very afraid. The Return of the Keyboard Warriors - a prized Return of the Living Dead spin-off - is at hand. From Republican chicken hawks to public intellectuals, right-wing America is erupting in renewed neo-conservative revolt. The year 2012 is the new 2002; Iran is the new Iraq. Whatever the highway - real men go to Tehran via Damascus, or real men go to Tehran non-stop - they want a war, and they want it now.

Go ahead and jump
Exhibit A is an op-ed piece at the Wall Street Journal [1] - similar to countless others popping up virtually everyday not only in this Masters of the Universe vehicle but also in the Washington Post and myriad rags across "Western civilization".

The festival of fallacies ranges from the usual "diplomacy has run its course" to "the sanctions are too late" - culminating in the right-wing weapon of choice; "Iran is within a year of getting to the point when it will be able to assemble a bomb essentially at will." Why bother to follow what the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is doing, not to mention the National Intelligence Estimates released by the US intelligence community?

And why not add imperial disdain tinged with racism, as in "Iran is a Third World country that can't even protect its own scientists in the heart of Tehran". Of course not; they are being killed by the Iranian terror group Mujahideen-e-Khalq, merrily trained, financed and armed by Israel's Mossad, as US corporate media has just discovered. [2] Everybody in Iran has known this for months.

As a climax, still another fallacy - "the Islamic Republic means to destroy Israel" - unveils the real agenda; "the broader goal of ending the regime." Oh, if we could only have our Persian gendarme of the Gulf back.

This is what passes for geopolitical analysis in Rupert Murdoch-controlled US corporate media - read and relinked daily by the Masters of the Universe. Scary monsters, super freaks
Exhibit B is an op-ed piece at Tina Brown's The Daily Beast, [3] signed by Niall Ferguson, professor of history at Harvard, senior research fellow at Jesus College, Oxford, and senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford.

Recently, I actually took the trouble of reading Ferguson's latest book, Civilization: The West and the Rest, during my favorite West-to-Rest flight, the 16-hour New York to Hong Kong (from the American century to the Asian century).

Ferguson sets out to refute the reasons why Israel should not attack Iran. He assumes "the Saudis stand ready to pump out additional supplies" of oil (wrong). He assumes a "military humiliation" will lead the regime in Tehran to collapse (wrong). He claims that Tehran will not "become a sober, calculating disciple of the realist school of diplomacy ... because it has finally acquired weapons of mass destruction" (multiple wrong; Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is very sober and calculating, and he has banned nuclear weapons as anti-Islamic).

Former US vice president Dick Cheney would have been proud to hire Ferguson as an apparatchik, as he states that "preventive war can be a lesser evil" and duly advocates "creative destruction".

Ferguson ranks Israel as "the most easterly outpost of Western civilization"; not bad for an isolated, supremacist theocracy/ethnocracy armed with at least 200 (undeclared) nuclear weapons whose favorite sport is to terrorize Palestinians and now Iranian scientists. Talk about a sponsor of terror state springing from the womb of "Western civilization".

Ferguson's toxic fusion of arrogance and ignorance - about the Middle East, about Persian culture, about Asia, about the nuclear issue, about the oil industry, about, in fact, "the Rest" - would be just innocuous hadn't he be hailed as a top public intellectual. The best thing about his piece are actually the comments, ranging from "I'm shocked that a research fellow at Jesus College would advocate the bombing of Muslims" to "What's with all these Brits that look to the USA as a platform to re-inflate their dreams of Empire?"

If this is what passes for intellectual analysis in the upper strata of the Anglo-American axis, no wonder the whole business of Empire is doomed.

Far more insidious than The Invasion of the Keyboard Warriors is its effect on the warrior-in-chief, US President Barack Obama. Recently, Obama has been conducting product placement for Robert Kagan's new book, The World America Made. Kagan, a neo-con stalwart, advises Mitt Romney - who may, or may not, become the Republican presidential nominee, assuming he wins over the visceral repulsion he provokes in extreme right-wing circles.

As Andrew Levine from the Institute for Policy Studies has shrewdly observed, [4] Obama the neo-con may be a very clever move to pre-empt Mitt and win even more votes. But it may be an exercise in transparency, as Obama, even before his State of the Union address, has been reciting Kagan to the letter, as in forget Asia, this will be another American century, and I will be at the helm; thus remember, it is I that coined the only change you can believe in.

And that's when this really becomes a scary movie; if Obama the neo-con concludes that to get to his new, dominant American century first he needs to do some vacuum-cleaning in Southwest Asia, blowback or not, he'll do it - to the delight of the Keyboard Warrior brigade.

Notes
1. (How) Should Israel Bomb Iran? by Bret Stephens, Wall Street Journal, February 7.
2. Israel teams with terror group to kill Iran's nuclear scientists, U.S. officials tell NBC News, February 9.
3. Israel and Iran on the Eve of Destruction in a New Six-Day War February 6.
4. Why the Neo-Con Turn? by Andrew Levine, Counterpunch, February 9.

....لو كان المجتمع الدولي قد تعامل منذ البداية مع المشكلة في أرمينيا بطريقة حاسمة، لما كانت إسرائيل تحتلّ فلسطين اليوم

2011-12-31T05:44:00.000-08:00

....لو كان المجتمع الدولي قد تعامل منذ البداية مع المشكلة في أرمينيا بطريقة حاسمة،
لما كانت إسرائيل تحتلّ فلسطين اليوم

DESPITE VEHEMENT protests by the Armenian citizens, the Turkish president, Abdullah Gul and his Armenian counterpart, Serzh Sarkisian decided to overcome decades of enmity and disagreement over the massacre of Armenians by the Ottoman forces during the First World War. This decision was taken by the leaders of both states after the Turkish head came to Yerevan to enjoy a football match between Turkey and Armenia at Hrazdan stadium on Saturday ....

Both agreed to forget the past rivalries that existed between them for decades and attempted to build an amicable relationship now. After returning to Ankara, the capital of Turkey, Gul told the media that his visit to Yerevan was successful from every aspect. A friendly relationship is essential for the overall development of the two neighbouring states.

Gul is also the first Turkish president who has visited Armenia after the First World War. His Armenian counterpart, Sarkisian also stated before the media on Sunday (September 7) that only a positive political will would block all negative impressions from being passed to the next generation.

Though the two state heads are trying their best to mitigate all kinds of political tension between them, the Armenian people showed vehement protest against such an attempt. Several hundred angry protesters queued at the route of Gul’s motorcade, holding aloft the Armenian flag and nationalist emblems.

Meanwhile, the football match was conducted amid an impregnable security with a Turkey beating Armenia 2-0. To avert any kind of violence, Gul had to watch the match from behind a special bullet-proof cover.

Turkey and Armenia had no diplomatic relations after the First World War as 1.5 million Armenians were brutally killed between 1915 and 1917 in orchestrated massacres by the Ottoman "crypto-Jewish Turks, i.e. the Donmeh".... which was referred by the Armenians as ’genocide’. But, Turkey rejected the label of ’genocide’ and argued that at least 3,00,000 to 5,00,000 Armenians and Turks died in civil strife when Armenians declared independence in eastern Anatolia and sided with the invading Russian troops, thereby favoring the bullets....

'A little learning is a dangerous thing' , 'Beware of wolves in sheep's clothing....'

2011-12-28T09:27:00.000-08:00

'A little learning is a dangerous thing' , 'Beware of wolves in sheep's clothing....'

History Lesson by Arthur C. Clarke has been one of my favorite short stories since boyhood. It contains some allegorical lessons about the importance of context and assumptions in scientific and historical study. It has served me well throughout the years.

The story is of course the intellectual descendant of Plato's Allegory of the Cave, from Book VII of The Republic, which I enjoyed ...., if you prefer to use a reference with a more high brow pedigree.

And now I would like to share an excerpt from it with you.

As the story begins, the cooling of the sun has turned the Earth into a cold world covered by ice, effectively destroying all life and preserving only a few remnants of human civilization.

But this cooling has had a beneficial effect on Venus, turning a once harsh world into a lush plant. After thousands of years, a reptilian race had arisen, and eventually become capable of interplanetary flight.

This race was intrigued by their sister planet, the Earth. A number of expeditions had retrieved fragments that showed intelligent life, but their understanding was still very limited.

As the story begins here, a recent expedition has retrieved several key artifacts, including one that is utterly unique, holding great promise.

...The warm ocean that still bore most of the young planet's life rolled its breakers languidly against
the sandy shore. So new was this continent that the very sands were coarse and gritty. There had not
yet been time enough for the sea to wear them smooth.

The scientists lay half in the water, their beautiful reptilian bodies gleaming in the sunlight. The
greatest minds of Venus had gathered on this shore from all the islands of the planet. What they were
going to hear they did not know, except that it concerned the Third World and the mysterious race that
had peopled it before the coming of the ice.

The Historian was standing on the land, for the instruments he wished to use had no love of water.
By his side was a large machine which attracted many curious glances from his colleagues. It was
clearly concerned with optics, for a lens system projected from it toward a screen of white material a
dozen yards away.

The Historian began to speak. Briefly he recapitulated what little had been discovered concerning the
Third Planet and its people.

He mentioned the centuries of fruitless research that had failed to interpret a single word of the
writings of Earth. The planet had been inhabited by a race of great technical ability. That, at least,
was proved by the few pieces of machinery that had been found in the cairn upon the mountain.

"We do not know why so advanced a civilization came to an end," he observed. "Almost certainly, it had
sufficient knowledge to survive an ice Age. There must have been some other factor of which we know
nothing. Possibly disease or racial degeneration may have been responsible. It has even been suggested
that the tribal conflicts endemic to our own species in prehistoric times may have continued on the
Third Planet after the coming of technology.

Some philosophers maintain that knowledge of machinery does not necessarily imply a high degree of
civilization, and it is theoretically possible to have wars in a society possessing mechanical power,
flight, and even radio. Such a conception is alien to our thoughts, but we must admit its possibility.
It would certainly account for the downfall of the lost race.

It has always been assumed that we should never know anything of the physical form of the creatures
who lived on Planet Three. For centuries our artists have been depicting scenes from the history of
the dead world, peopling it with all manner of fantastic beings. Most of these creations have
resembled us more or less closely, though it has often been pointed out that because we are reptiles
it does not follow that all intelligent life must necessarily be reptilian.

We now know the answer to one of the most baffling problems of history. At last, after hundreds of
years of research, we have discovered the exact form and nature of the ruling life on the Third
Planet."

There was a murmur of astonishment from the assembled scientists. Some were so taken aback that they
disappeared for a while into the comfort of the ocean, as all Venusians were apt to do in moments of
stress. The Historian waited until his colleagues reemerged into the element they so disliked. He
himself was quite comfortable, thanks to the tiny sprays that were continually playing over his body.
With their help he could live on land for many hours before having to return to the ocean.
The excitement slowly subsided and the lecturer continued:

"One of the most puzzling of the objects found on Planet Three was a flat metal container holding a
great length of transparent plastic material, perforated at the edges and wound tightly into a spool.
This transparent tape at first seemed quite featureless, but an examination with the new subelectronic
microscope has shown that this is not the case. Along the surface of the material, invisible to our
eyes but perfectly clear under the correct radiation, are literally thousands of tiny pictures. It is
believed that they were imprinted on the material by some chemical means, and have faded with the
passage of time.

These pictures apparently form a record of life as it was on the Third Planet at the height of its
civilization. They are not independent. Consecutive pictures are almost identical, differing only in
the detail of movement. The purpose of such a record is obvious. It is only necessary to project the
scenes in rapid succession to give an illusion of continuous movement. We have made a machine to do
this, and I have here an exact reproduction of the picture sequence.

The scenes you are now going to witness take us back many thousands of years, to the great days of
our sister planet. They show a complex civilization, many of whose activities we can only dimly
understand. Life seems to have been very violent and energetic, and much that you will see is quite
baffling.

It is clear that the Third Planet was inhabited by a number of different species, none of them
reptilian. That is a blow to our pride, but the conclusion is inescapable. The dominant type of life
appears to have been a two-armed biped. It walked upright and covered its body with some flexible
material, possibly for protection against the cold, since even before the Ice Age the planet was at a
much lower temperature than our own world. But I will not try your patience any further. You will now
see the record of which I have been speaking."

A brilliant light flashed from the projector. There was a gentle whirring, and on the screen appeared
hundreds of strange beings moving rather jerkily to and fro. The picture expanded to embrace one of
the creatures, and the scientists could see that the Historian's description had been correct.
The creature possessed two eyes, set rather close together, but the other facial adornments were a
little obscure. There was a large orifice in the lower portion of the head that was continually
opening and closing. Possibly it had something to do with the creature's breathing.

The scientists watched spellbound as the strange being became involved in a series of fantastic
adventures. There was an incredibly violent conflict with another, slightly different creature. It seemed
certain that they must both be killed, but when it was all over neither seemed any the worse.
Then came a furious drive over miles of country in a four wheeled mechanical device which was capable
of extraordinary feats of locomotion. The ride ended in a city packed with other vehicles moving in
all directions at breathtaking speeds. No one was surprised to see two of the machines meet head-on
with devastating results.

After that, events became even more complicated. It was now quite obvious that it would take many
years of research to analyze and understand all that was happening. It was also clear that the record
was a work of art, somewhat stylized, rather than an exact reproduction of life as it actually had
been on the Third Planet.

Most of the scientists felt themselves completely dazed when the sequence of pictures came to an end.
There was a final flurry of motion, in which the creature that had been the center of interest became
involved in some tremendous but incomprehensible catastrophe. The picture contracted to a circle,
centered on the creature's head.

The last scene of all was an expanded view of its face, obviously expressing some powerful emotion.
But whether it was rage, grief, defiance, resignation or some other feeling could not be guessed. The
picture vanished. For a moment some lettering appeared on the screen, then it was all over.

For several minutes there was complete silence, save for the lapping of the waves upon the sand. The
scientists were too stunned to speak. The fleeting glimpse of Earth's civilization had had a
shattering effect on their minds. Then little groups began to start talking together, first in
whispers and then more and more loudly as the implications of what they had seen became clearer.
Presently the Historian called for attention and addressed the meeting again.

"We are now planning," he said, "a vast program of research to extract all available knowledge from
this record. Thousands of copies are being made for distribution to all workers. You win appreciate
the problems involved. The psychologists in particular have an immense task confronting them.

"But I do not doubt that we shall succeed. In another generation, who can say what we may not have
learned of this wonderful race? Before we leave, let us look again at our remote cousins,
whose wisdom may have surpassed our own but of whom so little has survived."

Once more the final picture flashed on the screen, motionless this time, for the projector had been
stopped. With something like awe, the scientists gazed at the stiff figure from the past, while in
turn the little biped stared back at them with its characteristic expression of arrogant bad temper.

For the rest of time it would symbolize the human race. The psychologists of Venus would analyze its
actions and watch its every movement until they could reconstruct its mind. Thousands of books would
be written about it. Intricate philosophies would be contrived to account for its behavior.

But all. this labor, all this research, would be utterly in vain. Perhaps the proud and lonely figure
on the screen was smiling sardonically at the scientists who were starting on their age-long fruitless
quest.

Its secret would be safe as long as the universe endured, for no one now would ever read the lost
language of Earth. Millions of times in the ages to come those last few words would flash across the
screen, and none could ever guess their meaning:

Arthur C. Clarke, History Lesson

Whole pyramids of learned understanding, highly structured laws, and academic rules can be built on a set of false assumptions, or some principle or premise based not on context but in some intellectual misapprehension.

So it is with the efficient market theory or trickle down economics, for example. Or the idea that by feeding the 'job creators' until they are stuffed one might eventually improve the condition of the many by trickling down.

Granted, all too often these misconceptions of reality are by intent, just another facet in a general campaign of propaganda and deception. But their acceptance by the public still proves the danger of untested and unproven assumptions and building even highly ordered and intricate structures on false premises.

Whether it is in your study of the stock market, money, and economics, or of some translation and interpretation of an antique work, or in reading an essay about an idea or person in history, you may wish to keep this little story in mind.

All too often someone will make an outlandish assertion, and upon questioning it appears that their primary knowledge of the subject at hand is based upon the reading, or more likely viewing, of an essay or video by some individual or group promoting that particular interpretation of reality. They have nothing else to judge it by, given their lack of investigation and knowledge, but it is duly enshrined in the pantheon of human thought as 'their opinion,' their private judgement.

And their position is often unassailable by reason, because it is not based in thought but in a system of belief. But it is not safeguarded by the intellectual constraints and dignified distance one must place on a religion as inherently a leap of faith beyond the limits of science. Science and the supernatural are by definition not the same, but complementary.

One could spend a lifetime studying the stock markets, for example, trying to make sense of them and their movements, and build an impressive body of study and rules, but fail miserably despite all that work, because one has built upon the false premise that the game was honest and subject to natural laws, and not often rigged and controlled by insiders to the very extent that they can get away with it.

Or perhaps there is a belief in some economic system like 'market capitalism' controlled by an oligarchy through the manipulation of money and information for their own ends in the name of freedom, for example.

It may be summed up in the familiar saying, 'A little learning is a dangerous thing' and perhaps, 'Beware of wolves in sheep's clothing.'

"Whereas the truth is that the State in which the rulers are most reluctant to govern is always the best and most quietly governed, and the State in which they are most eager, the worst...You must contrive for your future rulers another and a better life than that of a ruler, and then you may have a well-ordered State; for only in the State which offers this, will they rule who are truly rich, not in silver and gold, but in virtue and wisdom, which are the true blessings of life.

Whereas if they go to the administration of public affairs, poor and hungering after their own private advantage, thinking that hence they are to snatch the chief good, order there can never be; for they will be fighting about office, and the civil and domestic broils which thus arise will be the ruin of the rulers themselves and of the whole State."

Plato, The Republic

As with men and rulers, so with markets and money.

Greed is an excess of desire and lack of empathy and judgement, outside of the virtues, and is therefore most decidedly not 'good.' A system built predominantly upon unrestrained greed, anger, envy, and pride will not, by definition, be virtuous but degenerative, unstable, and ultimately self-destructive if not put down by its victims first.

"The sad duty of government is to establish justice in a sinful world."

Reinhold Niebuhr

And I suspect that history will see us as deluded fools for having believed otherwise, forsaking a Constitution that is based upon first principles, actively promoting the virtues of goodness, equality, moderation, the careful distribution of power, and both freedom and justice for all....

Europe's economic malaise knows no end, but the first "CIA" president knows where salvation lies....

2011-12-13T03:57:00.001-08:00

Europe's economic malaise knows no end, but the first "CIA" president knows where salvation lies....

This is a PUFF piece hand written by CIA to further the chances of OBAMA in 2012.....the real Obama story is further down here....***

http://geoplotical.blogspot.com/2010/10/barack-obamas-mother-is-key-to.html

United States President Barack Obama is the first MANCHURIAN CIA nurtured head of a Western democracy; born and raised in Hawaii and schooled in Indonesia, he is also the first "CIA" president wall to wall.... On jaunts through through Asia-Pacific Economic Forum in Hawaii to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Bali in November, he stressed America needs to remain engaged in the Asia-Pacific region to remain a viable power in the 21st century.

The global genealogy, biography and political persona of the first African-American president, whose father was from Kenya and mother from Kansas has inspired many followers. Yet they seem frustrated and somewhat disappointed with his prospects for the future. They all demanded to know what is going to happen in next year's United States presidential election.

Has he done enough to keep the progressive, younger and independent voters loyal to his party? Will his "cool" and compromising style of leadership endear him only to a shrinking pool of voters? Does he need to be more aggressive or "emotive" with the opposition to win the next election? These are some of the questions I have repeatedly encountered as I learned in the past three weeks while lecturing in European capitals.

Since Obama is "the first global president" of the US, he remains more popular abroad than at home, certainly compared to George W Bush and maybe even Bill Clinton. Based on the latest non-partisan polling data, his only consolation seems to be that the Republican opposition remains very fluid and uncertain about its nominee. While Mitt Romney remains the most viable candidate to take on Obama in November 2012 (both remain statistically tied), the Republicans seem to be "speed-dating" every other candidate in the primaries for approximately a month and then "dumping" them.

The landmark election of Obama in 2008, which was brought about by a strong coalition of ethnic voters to capture support from 54% of the voting public and coincided with the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth, not only uplifted America, but it elevated the spirits of the world. For every citizen on the planet touched by American democracy and power, his re-election might have far-reaching implications.

As the 21st century progresses open questions resound about how America will adjust to an emerging multi-polar world where it may no longer be the sole policeman, and the role of Asia with China as the leading protagonist. There are concerns too over how the United States will respond as Pax-Americana, the geopolitical order that have kept European and North Atlantic Treaty Organization powers dominant for the past 50 years, diminishes.

It is within this global framework that Obama's landmark election in 2008 and potentially in 2012 represents a leading indicator of the sweeping changes that are already underway geopolitically. Obama's Pacific upbringing, globe-trotting childhood and adolescence, and coming of age after the fall of the Berlin Wall has a synergy with the changing times and in many ways prepared him to help America transition into the global age.

The economic center of gravity has shifted to the East, while economic malaise knows no end in European capitals. It is also within this "turn of the century" global gyration that India's emerging role as a leading Asian power and the largest populist democracy in the world comes into focus. As India has embraced Westernization anew through liberalization and market reforms begun 1991, the West is rediscovering the East through Chinese goods, outsourcing, yoga, vegetarianism, curry and chai latte.

As East becomes more materialistic, the West is becoming more spiritual. Rudyard Kipling's Victorian ballad seems to have new resonance:

OH, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,
Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God's great Judgment Seat;
But there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birth,
When two strong men stand face to face, tho' they come from the ends of the earth!

As Joseph Nye of Harvard said recently, "Asia's return to the center of world affairs is the great power shift of the twenty-first century ... By 2050, Asia will be well on its way back to where it was 300 years earlier."

America's strategic turn towards India, hosting the first state dinner, the early presidential visit to India, and Obama's close relationship with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh signals the rise of India as a major power. Obama said as much in his address to the Indian parliament in November 2010 when he declared, "And I am mindful that I might not be standing before you today, as President of the United States, had it not been for Gandhi and the message he shared with America and the world."

India's relative growth is keeping pace with China's, and like the US, India is a thriving democracy. These factors provide a rationale for an alliance with India as a counterbalance to China's growing influence. During his visit to India, Aroon Purie, the senior editor of India Today told Obama, "I hope you get more credit for this trip than you get for all the good work you have done in America." To which Obama replied, "You know, you can never be a prophet in your own land."

As US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced recently, America's foreign policy is pivoting towards Asia's growing influence in the world. This will likely become a campaign theme: America must innovate in order to keep pace with the growth in China and other emerging economies. Innovators at a recent technology summit in the US argued that the best thing America has going for it is the history of immigration and spirit of entrepreneurship.

Added to that advantage, multiculturalism seems to have hit a road block in Europe, as German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister David Cameron said recently. It seems to be thriving in Silicon Valley, major technology hub in the US, heavily represented by Asian immigrants including many Indian Americans. Several prominent Indian Americans are fund-raising for Obama: Azita Raji, Shefali Razdan Duggal, Deven Parekh and Kavita Tankha. A record number of Indian Americans also ran for political office in 2010 with several key wins.

Vinod Khosla, an energy investor and a co-founder of Sun Microsystems said recently, he believes in the "black swan theory of innovation", where improbable rare events can change the marketplace like the development of Internet and search engines like Google. While Obama came into office as an Internet president because of the grassroots organization and fund raising he did online, it is difficult to predict what will happen in the next election.

However, there is no doubt that Obama is a landmark figure for the diverse genealogy, biography and family history he brought to the White House. He has tried to unleash several key progressive tools and technologies to renew the American dream, but ultimately Obama's re-election may hinge on key economic indicators heading into the general election: unemployment (8.6% and declining), consumer confidence (56% and rising), market uncertainty (however you define it), and the Republican Party's ability to select a viable candidate (seems fluid).

Hope is eternal, but change is gradual. It is likely that Obama will emerge as the cautious pragmatist and a populist in this election cycle, rather than the idealistic visionary who spoke of transforming the world....

*** Obama a member of a "New Age" cult a pure product of criminal the CIA....

Barack Obama is not a secret Muslim but he may be a secret Subud sect member....and very Jewish as well....

The right-wing and pro-Israel crowd is fond of calling President Obama a “secret Muslim.” However, given his Indonesian roots and their connections in Java, Obama may be a member of a small and secretive sect known as Subud. You say you’ve never heard of it? Neither had we until it came to our attention that Obama and his mother Ann Dunham Soetoro’s and his step-sister Maya Soetoro-Ng’s paths have crossed with the sect, some would call it a cult, numerous times.

Mysticism in Indonesia has manifested itself in the Javanese “Subud” movement, named for its founder Muhammad Subuh Sumohadiwidjojo, also known as “Bapak” or “Pak Subuh,” a charismatic religious figure who believed individuals can be uplifted by spiritual energy from a higher power in an exercise known as the latihan. Subud, which has an international following and became popular in Indonesia and internationally following World War II, attracted as adherents a few Western intelligence operatives assigned to Indonesia, including members of the Australian Secret Intelligence Service, the New Zealand Secret Intelligence Service, Britain’s MI-6, and a few CIA operatives, as well. It is not known whether Ann Soetoro, an expert in Javanese culture and peoples, was an actual member of the Java-based sect but her connections to the sect are clear.

Ann Soetoro maintained close connections with Subud and her own religious beliefs match those of the Subud to a tee. Janny Scott’s book, A Singular Woman, provides a unique insight into Ann’s religious beliefs, which tend more to Subud beliefs than her own Unitarian upbringing. First, Ann Soetoro encountered Subuh members while working for the Institute for Management and Education and Development, while under a grant from the Ford Foundation, in 1971. She hired members of the Subud, who lived in the International Subud Center compound in the Jakarta suburb of Cilandak, to teach intensive courses in business English. Second, given her residence in the north coast Java port city of Semarang, Bapak’s hometown and base, from 1978 to 1980, it is inconceivable that Ann Soetoro was unaware of Bapak and his movement. Third, Bapak and his Subud followers were well-entrenched at the East-West Center at the University of Hawaii, where Ann Dunham Soetoro met her Kenyan and Indonesian husbands.

Even Kenya was not unknown to Subud missionaries. Subud conversion missions set out from Indonesia in the early 1960s to Kenya, Swaziland, and Northern and Southern Rhodesia.

Before he died in 1987, Bapak toured the world spreading his message of mystical spiritualism. The one goal Bapak wanted to achieve was to create a “Bank for Mankind.” Although Bapak died before he could achieve his goal, much of Ann Soetoro’s micro-financing programs achieved part of the goal of banking services for women and the poor. In fact, Subud counted a number of international aid workers and employees of the World Bank and Asian Development Bank – where Obama’s mother worked -- among its members, or “helper,” as the Subud prefers to call its international assistance workers. These Subud assistance workers were particularly found working in Indonesia, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, and Thailand but more recently are found in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Latin America. Subud also attracted a number of Australians and New Zealanders to its ranks and Subud centers sprang up in the major cities of the two countries.

Bapak was not only interested in helping the poor but became a wealthy man himself in the process of bringing new adherents into the fold. Bapak owned a construction company that built a hotel and the S. Widjojo office building in Jakarta.

Some of its critics have labeled Subud a cult. The sect attracted a number of 60s-era “hippie generation” adherents, including Jim McGuinn, lead singer and guitarist for The Byrds. It was Bapak who told McGuinn to change his name from Jim to Roger because it would “vibrate” better with the universe.

Subud members often change their names while transitioning into full membership status. New names are assigned by Subud leaders. In Ann Dunham Soetoro’s 1968 U.S. passport renewal application, Barack H. Obama, Jr.’s name is listed as Barack Hussein Obama (Soebarkah). There is a possibility that if Ann Soetoro was a Subud member, she changed the name of her son in accordance with Subud teachings. Ann also changed the spelling of her own last name from Soetoro to Sutoro.

Is Bapak, Barack's spiritual guru?

Other critics have pointed to the connections between the Subud movement and CIA mind control operations, especially those directed at children and others that administer sodium pentothal to unwitting subjects. Subud maintains a religious compound known as Skymont on the banks of the Shenandoah River near Front Royal, Virginia. In the lead-up to the CIA coup in Indonesia, the PKI accused Subud of being a CIA front. The chairman of Subud Indonesia before the coup was Dr. Achmad Subardjo, the first Foreign Minister of Indonesia. One of those who distrusted Subud was Dr. Subandrio, Sukarno’s Foreign Minister, who banned Subud meetings in the weeks leading up to the coup.

Bapak issued orders to his non-Indonesian members to leave the country before the coup and told foreign members abroad not to enter the country. When Suharto ousted Sukarno and declared the PKI illegal, Bapak celebrated the change, proclaiming that Indonesia was free of the Communists.

Subandrio was sentenced to death after the coup but the sentence was reduced to life imprisonment. He was released from prison in 1995 and died in 2004. Bapak’s followers believed that their religious icon could bring death upon his enemies. Not only was Subandrio sentenced to death after he quarreled with Bapak but in 1959, the Prime Minister of Ceylon, Solomon Bandaranaike, told Bapak he had to leave the island nation within 48-hours because he was thought to be a threat to the state religion of Buddhism. Shortly afterwards, Bandaranaike was shot to death by a Buddhist monk. Some suspected the CIA as being behind the assassination. Bandaranaike had steered Ceylon away from the West, ejecting Britain from its military bases in the country and forming a political pact with the Communist Party.

There were reports that some children members of the sect were also in the horrific sex abuse case at the McMartin pre-school day care center in Manhattan Beach, California in the 1980s. The McMartin pedophile ring was linked to members of the military, Los Angeles Police Department, and the U.S. intelligence community.

Ann Soetoro developed a close friendship with one of the Subud members she hired to teach English at the management institute. He was Mohammad Mansur Medeiros, originally from Fall River, Massachusetts and Harvard University, who immersed himself so deeply into Javanese culture and religion that he became known as “Mansur Java.” Mansur Java died in 2007.

Although there are only some 10,000 Subud members in the world, Hawaii Governor Neil Abercrombie, a friend of Ann Dunham at the University of Hawaii, appointed as the Hawaii Director of Health, sociologist and public health specialist Loretta Fuddy, a former chair of the Bellevue, Washington-based Subud USA from 2006 to 2008. In her position as Health Director, Fuddy had oversight over President Obama’s Hawaii birth records, which were the subject of intense controversy.

ايلي حبيقة افتدى لبنان واللبنانيين

2011-11-22T01:38:00.001-08:00

ايلي حبيقة افتدى لبنان واللبنانيين

إن الإنسان المؤمن بربه وبكتبه المقدسة وبتعاليمه وبموت وقيامة السيد المسيح لا يموت، بل يرقد على رجاء القيامة بانتظار يوم الحساب الأخير، والرب الذي وهب الإنسان نعمة الحياة هو وحده يقرر متى يستردها وليس أي مخلوق أخر.

اليوم ونحن نصلي في الذكرى التاسعة لروح الشهيد النائب والوزير الراحل ايلي حبيقة نردد بايمان وخشوع ووقار ما قاله النبي أيوب رغم كل المصائب التي حلت عليه فيما كان الشيطان يحاول جاهداً إيقاعه في التجربة دون أن يتمكن من أن يحقق هدفه اللعين هذا كون إيمان أيوب بربه كان قوياً وراسخاً: "عرياناً خرجت من بطن أمي، وعرياناً أعود إلى هناك، الرب أعطى والرب أخذ تبارك اسم الرب". (ايوب01/21).

يقول السيد المسيح: "أَنَا هُوَ الْقِيَامَةُ وَالْحَيَاةُ. مَنْ آمَنَ بِي، وَإِنْ مَاتَ فَسَيَحْيَا" (يوحنا 25/11). إن تعلقنا بلبناننا الحبيب حتى الشهادة يعزينا ويقوي إيماننا ويرسخ الرجاء في نفوسنا ويساعدنا على تقبل غياب الشهداء الأبرار برضوخ كامل لمشيئة أبينا السماوي فهم لا يموتون بل يبقون أحياء في وجداننا وضمائرنا وقلوبنا وعقولنا وفي كل عمل نقوم به يهدف لخدمة ومساعدة الآخرين الذين هم بحاجة إلينا.

يقول الشاعر: "ما استحق أن يعيش، من عاش لنفسه فقط". لذلك فالشخص المؤمن يجد لذته في أن يحيا لأجل غيره، عملاًً بقول الرب، "تحب قريبك كنفسك" (متى39/22). ولهذا يحب كل الناس من أعماق قلبه وتكون محبته للآخرين محبة عملية حسبما قال الرسول يوحنا: "يا أبنائي، لا تكن محبتنا بالكلام أو باللسان بل بالعمل والحق". (1يو18:3).

هذه المحبة العظيمة، والله هو محبة، تتميز بالعطاء والبذل والتفاني سواء من الناحية الجسدية، أو الناحية الروحية. لذلك فإن الشخص المؤمن والمعطاء والصادق هو بطبيعته إنسان نقي وتقي وشفاف وصادق ومحب يخاف الله الذي خلقه على صورته ومثاله.

هذا الإنسان يجهد بفرح كبير ليكون خادماً يخدم غيره في كل المجالات، لا لأنه مطالب بهذا، وإنما لأن الخدمة جزء من طبيعته ونفسيته وثقافته، ومكون أساسي من مكونات كيانه الإيماني. في خدمة الآخرين يشعر بالحب ويتغذى روحياً من تقديم الخدمات أكثر مما يغذي غيره بها. وإذا كانت الخدمة هي من عمل الملائكة (عبرانيين14:1)، فكم بالأولى البشر. وقد أعطانا السيد المسيح المثال الأبلغ في هذا الشأن إذ قال: "ومن أراد أن يكون الأول فيكم، فليكن لكم عبدا، وهكذا ابن الإنسان جاء لا ليخدمه الناس، بل ليخدمهم ويفدي بحياته كثيراً منهم". (متى 20/27 و28)

جاء في إنجيل القديس يوحنا (15/13): "ما من حب أعظم من هذا: أن يضحي الإنسان بنفسه في سبيل أحبائه". وقال الشهيد النائب والوزير الراحل ايلي حبيقة: "إن الوطن الذي لا يفتديه شبابه بأرواحهم لا يستمر ويزول. إن خدمة الآخرين وبذل الذات من أجلهم هي أعمال مقدسة والمسيح الإله قبل الصلب والعذاب والإهانات وقدم نفسه على الصليب فداء للإنسان ليعتقه من نير وعبودية الخطيئة ويحرره.

إن الشهيد لا يطلب شيئاً لنفسه من مقتنيات هذه الدنيا الفانية، وإنما يسعي لنيل بركات الله ليستحق بجدارة أفعاله وإيمانه العودة إلى منزل أبيه السماوي، والمسيح قال لنا: "ماذا ينفع الإنسان لو ربح العالم كله وخسر نفسه". (متى 16/26).

الشهيد هو قربان طاهر يقدم نفسه طواعية على مذبح الله بمحبة واندفاع وفرح من أجل أحبائه تماماً كما هو حال كل شهيد من شهداء لبنان الأبرار. عرفاناً بجميلهم نقول أنه وبفضل استشهادهم بقينا، وسوف نبقى بإذن الله طالما بقي الشباب اللبناني مؤمنا بلبنان وبرسالته وعلى استعداد تام ودائم للشهادة.

الشهيد النائب والوزير الراحل ايلي حبيقة لم يمت لأنه باق في كل جهد وعمل يقوم بهما أي لبناني من أجل الحفاظ على سيادة واستقلال وحرية وطنه الحبيب، ولصون كرامة وعزة اللبنانيين، كما أن عائلة حبيقة هي نبع معطاء لا ينضب في دفق الإيمان والوطنية والشهادة للحق والشهداء من أجل لبنان الرسالة والقداسة والقديسين.

نصلي من أجل أن يسكن الله روح الشهيد النائب والوزير الراحل ايلي حبيقة فسيح جناته إلى جوار البررة والقديسين وأن يلهم عائلته ومحبيه الصبر والسلوان

WINEP is a Mossad front activity operating inside Washington, DC....

2011-11-21T09:13:00.001-08:00

WINEP is a Mossad front activity operating inside Washington, DC....

A political drubbing through a faux scandal: expect AIPAC to be involved....

November , 2011 -- Timeline on Massa ouster suggests another AIPAC/MOSSAD hit job....

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), Washington's most powerful lobby that has existed since 1963 to ensure that, among other things, members of Congress carefully toe the line in support of Israeli policies, may have claimed another victim in the running out of Washington in March 2010 of Representative Eric Massa (D-NY).

WMR previously reported that Massa's chief of staff, Joe Racalto, who had been pushed on the newly-elected first term congressman by the Democratic leadership in the House, brought forward charges that Massa was engaged in sexually harassing male members of his staff in February 2010. However, just weeks before, according to a well-placed congressional source, Racalto was in Israel as part of a STAFFDEL, a congressional staff delegation invited to the country. In 2009, Massa irritated AIPAC when he was one of 54 congressman to sign a letter to President Obama calling on him to pressure Israel to lift the crippling blockade of Gaza. Racalto was hired from the staff of Representative Barney Frank (D-MA), where he was Frank's driver. Racalto's charges against Massa were later dismissed by a House panel's investigation.

Immediately after sending the Gaza blockade letter to Obama, AIPAC and the pro-Israeli media began putting out the word that the 54 members of Congress were the "Hamas 54" and anti-Semitic, the latter the usual canard used by Zionists who want to intimidate those who dare criticize Israel or suggest an even-handedness in America's policy toward Israelis and Palestinians. In fact, two of the signatories, Bob Filner (D-CA) and John Yarmuth (D-KY) are Jewish.

Massa was joined in signing the latter by Representative Brian Baird (D-WA), who became an outspoken critic of Israeli policies only after he decided not to run for re-election. Pennsylvania Democratic Representative Joe Sestak also signed the letter but he was defeated by Republican Pat Toomey in the U.S. Senate race. Sestak had previously defeated longtime Israel supporter Arlen Specter in the Democratic primary after Specter had switched parties from the GOP.

The letter to Obama specifically requested that Obama advocate for immediate improvements for Gaza in the following areas:

Movement of people, especially students, the ill, aid workers, journalists, and those with family concerns, into and out of Gaza

Access to clean water, including water infrastructure materials

Access to plentiful and varied food and agricultural materials

Access to medicine and health care products and suppliers

Access to sanitation supplies, including sanitation infrastructure materials

Access to construction materials for repairs and rebuilding

Access to fuel

Access to spare parts

Prompt passage into and out of Gaza for commercial and agricultural goods; and

Publication and review of the list of items prohibited to the people of Gaza.

Sestak is a retired Navy admiral while Massa is a medically-retired Navy Commander. With their military backgrounds and national security credentials, both Democrats represented a threat to AIPAC, which has spent time and money cultivating support in the Pentagon and military branches, mainly through its sister organization, the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA).

Over the years, AIPAC has brought down a number of politicians who criticized Israel. AIPAC has effective command. AIPAC propaganda outlets began putting out the word that while the signatures of "pro-Hamas" members like Keith Ellison (D-MN), America's first Muslim congressman; Jim McDermott (D-WA); Barbara Lee (D-CA), and Jim Moran (D-VA) were no surprise and that pro-Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) members like Representatives Carolyn Kilpatrick (D-MI) (defeated); Nich Rahall (D-WV); Pete Stark (D-CA); and Diane Watson (D-CA) (retired) and pro-Islamic sharia members like William Delahunt (D-MA) and John Dingell (D-MI) were no surprise, that of Massa was. AIPAC organs began questioning whether Massa could be re-elected after his signing of the blockade letter.

Massa's meeting in Rochester with his constituent, the late USS Liberty survivor John Hrankowski also undoubtedly set off alarm bells at AIPAC, in addition to Massa's opinion that the Goldstone Report, which criticized Israeli human rights violations in its invasion of Gaza, had merit. Usually, AIPAC controls the purse strings to congressional candidates through House congressional campaign committees like the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the National Republican Campaign Committee, the latter receiving millions from House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA). The DCCC, once controlled by Rahm Emanuel, is now led by Representative Steve Israel (D-NY). However, Massa won his seat in 2008 with no support from the DCCC and that worried AIPAC. Massa did notice that some of his wealthy Jewish contributors from New York City went silent on him as he prepared for his 2010 re-election. Something else had to be done to eliminate Massa and that was ginning up a contrived sex scandal that would drive him out of office.

America's political road is littered with those who dared challenge AIPAC's authority over the American political scene: Democrats and Republicans like J. William Fulbright, William Scranton, Charles Percy, Roger Jepsen, Adlai Stevenson III, Paul Findlay (who wrote an excellent book on AIPAC's influence over American politics, "They Dare to Speak Out"), James Abdenour, James Abourezk, Helen THOMAS, Jimmy Carter, Pete McCloskey, James Traficant, Earl Hilliard, Cynthia McKinney, and now, Eric Massa....who's going to be next?

By the way the fathers and stars of the Scottish Enlightenment, including Adam Smith and David Hume, believed that democracy and capitalism could end in cultural stalemate. Looks like they were more prescient than our own leadership. And they favored both as systems of politics and economics. Perhaps we could lift the level of debate in the 2012 election if both those important persons were once again read and the political and economic classes in the USA understood their concerns, arguments, and solutions.

Client Magnet: A Blog Planning Template for Lawyers....LOL

2011-11-18T00:41:00.000-08:00

Client Magnet: A Blog Planning Template for Lawyers....LOL

Mike Mintz

http://community.martindale.com/legal-blogs/Lawyer_Tech_35/b/hacking_martindalecom_connected_tips_tricks_and_tutorials/archive/2011/03/09/client-magnet-a-blog-planning-template-for-lawyers.aspx

Whether you call it "blogging" or "blawging," writing for social media is scary, even for lawyers.

Most members of the bar are used to spending many billable hours polishing anything they will present or publish. The misplacement of an apostrophe or an innocent typo can mean death and ruin even to the fiercest litigator. In a medium where formalities are eschewed almost as a badge of honor, lawyers may find it difficult to make the transition from brief writing to blog posting, but don't worry: we've got you covered. After all, we're teaching you how to hack martindale.com Connected.

Why Should Lawyers Blog?

There are many reasons why you may be considering blogging, despite your busy day. I spoke to popular blogger and lawyer Mark Herrmann about this subject on a podcast last month called Sex, Drugs, and In-House Counsel: Mark Herrmann Goes Above The Law. You can listen to it here.

For those of you who don't know Mark, he built a successful niche blog on The Drug and Device Law Blog which attained 40,000 readers per month. He then began writing for the number one legal blog in the world, Above the Law, on a column called "Inside Straight" about his experiences now that he went in-house. The difference? Above the Law gets about 40,000 readers per hour!

Some of the benefits we discussed on the podcast regarding lawyers blogging were:

Subject Matter Expertise - writing a daily or weekly blog requires that you stay current on updates in that area. If you are a looking for an excuse to spend time surfing the Internet for the latest or even pretending to be an investigative reporter (which in some sense you are) then doing a blog may be for you.
Exposure and Building Your Profile - there is a discussion going on right now in the Thought Leadership for Lawyers group on Connected about whether it is in a law firm's best interest to encourage lawyers to build their profile at the firm, when it is likely they will leave soon after. Developing people costs money in training and other expenses. Want to develop your people at a huge discount? Start a blog and let them become a main contributor responsible for content and readership. They will build their profile while your firm builds a marketing asset.
Marketing Asset - okay, nice segway into this third point, but that's exactly what a blog is (among other things), a marketing asset. It is a place you can point current and potential clients to that is going to be more interesting (hopefully) than your boring law firm website. The blog is also a place you can interact with them and create dialogue. In short, it has the ability to support the building of the firm's profile, which is why we invest in marketing assets in the first place, right?
Clients - let's face it: if your are in the business of law it's all about getting more clients. Most clients either ask a friend about which lawyer to use or ask Google (which is also their friend). When you blog daily, that raises your profile in the eyes of Google. When attached to a law firm website, the blog provides much needed "Google Juice" so you will rank higher in results for search terms relating to your posts (there are plenty of tricks to packing posts with search terms which I'll discuss in a later post as well).

"It sounds great Mike," you say, "but how do I get started?" I'm glad you asked.

The best place to get started with any project, (and yes, blogging is a project), is with some planning. The follow template provides 7-questions that should help you define what your blog is about and what direction to take it in. Try to answer this as completely and simply as possible.

Blog Planning Template for Lawyers

What are your goals in blogging (establish expertise among peers, attract clients, SEO, etc.)? What does success look like?
Who is your ideal reader? What problems are they facing and can you give any guidance via the blog? How can you take this a step further and connect emotionally with what they are going through?
What digital assets does the firm currently have (articles, white papers, recordings or video, etc.)? Are there opportunities here to repurpose (republish sections) and promote those via the blog?
What is your schtick going to be, i.e. what makes your posts special besides the subject matter that will create a raving fan base?
Do you have any promotion channels for the blog posts (of course you do, but I want to know what you have thought of!)? Some suggestions include: Twitter, attaching post titles with links to email signatures, email newsletters, etc.
Are you familiar with copywriting basics (blogs are not briefs ... they should not be boring)?
- Attention getting headlines
- Problem solving and issue raising
- Linking and tagging
- Using images
- Break up long posts with lists and subheads
Finding your voice - who will be the personality of the blog? Will you have multiple authors? I always think blogging works better when you tie a post to an individual rather than a firm.

Notice I don't list anything about tools or the Connected blogging platform. That is because tools are the easy part. Knowing what you are going to build is much more difficult. Think about it: if you are going to build a house, do you really care if I hand you a Bosch or a Black and Decker drill? No. As long as the tools work and can build what you are working towards they are fine. The same thing applies here.

Is your firm currently planning to launch a blog, and if so, what is it about? If not, what is stopping you? If you already have a blog, what tips can you share that have worked for you?

Why the BRICS won't 'save' ZIOCONNED Europe....

2011-09-20T03:58:00.001-07:00

Why the BRICS won't 'save' ZIOCONNED Europe....
By Pepe Escobar

This Thursday, in Washington, finance ministers and central bank governors of the BRICS group of emerging powers - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - will get together and, in the words of Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega, "Talk about what to do to help the European Union get out of this situation."

Hold your horses. Is this an emerging cavalry to the rescue? Could this be the end of the eurozone (eurotrash?) self-induced liquidity panic? Or is this just the BRICS graphically showing the writing on the wall - pointing to which way the economic wind is blowing?

The basic (Brazilian) idea is for BRICS financial muscle to buy some extra European sovereign debt. But only "solid" bonds - from Germany or the United Kingdom - would qualify. The rationale is that BRICS will win by diversifying reserves - China at $3.2 trillion, Brazil at over $350 billion, India at over $320 billion - and make more money than investing in US Treasury bonds.

The thing is selected BRICS have been diversifying their reserves for quite a while - especially China, as well as Brazil (which still remains the US's 4th biggest creditor, with over $210 billion).

There will be much to debate in Washington. India is not very enthusiastic. Nor is Russia; Moscow, via Arkady Dvorkovich, President Dmitry Medvedev's chief economic adviser, stated flat out that the Europeans must come up with a clear strategy for rescuing the PIIGS (Portugal, Ireland and Italy, Greece, Spain) before Moscow starts buying more eurozone bonds.

I wanna bite your apple
As for China, ask not what Beijing could do to Europe; ask what Europe has done to Beijing. Well, not much. The bombing by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) of Libya into democracy translated into massive losses for China, including the lightning repatriation of over 36,000 Chinese workers, and cancellation of dozens of contracts. Not to mention that NATO's war was fundamentally opposed by the BRICS - and the "NATO rebels" in Libya have already threatened to sideline Brazilian, Chinese and Russian companies from the fresh Libyan loot.

What Beijing really wants can be gleaned from what top adviser to China's central bank Li Daokui said at the recent World Economic Forum in Dalian, "The incremental parts of our foreign reserve holdings should be invested in physical assets."

Translation; "We would like to buy stakes in Boeing, Intel and Apple, and maybe we should invest in these types of companies in a proactive way." Daokui said there is an astonishing "$10 trillion" waiting to be invested in the US; over the collective dead body of the Republican party, one might add.

Daokui also said that only after "the US Treasury market stabilizes" would China be willing to "liquidate more of our holdings of Treasuries".

The operational word here is "liquidate" - not "diversify". That is, Beijing really wants to get rid of all those US dollars. Meanwhile, it will keep buying any available foreign assets in sight - as well as, inevitably, US dollars. Europeans should not get too excited; Beijing is as fond of euro debt as it is of dollar debt. Actually euro debt is now regarded as even more poisonous.

The return of the European dead
Critics of the Brazilian plan say the EU does not need a bail out. It is already awash in all those euros they print; what they need is "fiscal discipline". Additionally, it's a bad investment; the euro will inevitably lose against the yuan, the rouble or the real, and some eurozone countries may even default.

French economist Emmanuel Todd - who was predicting the decline of the US already before the invasion of Iraq - ranks the euro as a "zombie concept". Indeed - in the sense that wealthier northern Europe will never be ready to open their wallets to help southern Europe to reach an equivalent economic level.

National egoism rules. The euro is too expensive for Greece, Portugal, Spain, Italy and even France. The euro's rate in relation to the US dollar is adapted to Germany or the Netherlands, not for southern Europe. For these countries, the euro is like a cluster bomb on their growth.

And because the currency is so strong, companies are unable to export. They delocalize like crazy. And unemployment shoots up. That's why leaving the euro is a solution for all these countries whose competitiveness is in trouble. They can devalue their currency and get back in business.

But then there are the cons. Technically, for these countries to get back to their national currencies - say, the drachma, the peso, or the lira - is already a major headache in itself. Then these new (old) currencies will obviously fall; according to ING projections it would be something like 50% for Greece and Spain.

This means their debt, as well as the debts of their companies - denominated in euros - will rise exponentially. And the same for inflation; it would be parked in double-digit territory.

The only realistic solution for the European crisis would be a move towards a federal Europe (think of the United States of Europe). That would imply that the accumulated debt of all these countries would be Europe's debt (and also imply, on a positive register, no more speculation). The economy would be centralized, managed on a European-wide scale.

There's absolutely no evidence European-wide citizens are ready to accept such a project. Thus, the crisis is never-ending.

I want security, yeah
The BRICS's ultimate fear is that this perpetual eurozone wasteland plus American stagnation will lead to a global contraction also wreaking havoc all across Asia, South America and Africa.

Public opinion in the development world has long memories. Many would dream that as much as the IMF "helped" the global South by applying its dreaded "structural adjustments" - deregulating everything in sight and transferring more wealth to the already wealthy - the BRICs might now impose their own rules to "save" Europe.

That would be, in practice, permanent seats at the UN Security Council for the "B" and "I" in BRICS ("R" and "C" already have it). Brazil would demand real free trade in agriculture. And China would demand real freedom of investment.

But everyone knows that won't happen.

Another possibility - in terms of helping not only Europe but the global economy as a whole - would be for all BRICS to launch massive infrastructure projects. Then EU and US funds would be "encouraged" to get into the action. China already did it, and Brazil is doing it; but these massive investments in infrastructure are largely locally and regionally minded, and are not translating into more jobs for Europeans or Americans.

Even crisis-hit Western Europe, as a whole, is still the number one economy in the world; according to The Economist, a little less than 24% of the global total, compared to the BRICS at 21%. Yet the Europeans hold 32% of the votes at the International IMF, while the BRICS control only 11%.

So maybe that's what the BRICS are really after; they want to force a new correlation of forces at the IMF. To this end, why not undermine the power of the US dollar a little further, and to defy Europe a little more forcefully; but without betting on the US dollar, or the euro, or both, crashing. Sun Tzu would give it the thumbs up....

The new Great Game in Central Asia...

2011-09-11T00:39:00.000-07:00

The new Great Game in Central Asia...

China has set its sights on Central Asia, triggering a new Great Game in a region where Europe, Russia and the US have all long sought influence.

As the five Central Asian states become increasingly important as a source of oil and gas, a market for consumer goods and as the core of the strategically-important Shanghai Cooperation Organization,China is now “clearly confident it can reorient Central Asia towards Beijing” and away from the world’s other major powers.

China Analysis: The new Great Game in Central Asia, published today by the European Council on Foreign Relations and Asia Centre, explores these issues by analysing the evolving debates among experts within China itself. The authors argue that the EU should closely watch Chinese policy in Central Asia – the region is becoming “almost a laboratory for Chinese foreign policy.”

Key themes that emerge include:

China increasingly sees the five states of central Asia – Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan – as an important destination for investment and aid that could in turn leverage influence. It is positioning itself as a “good neighbour” to the region: Hu Jintao has made three trips there since 2009.
Beijing also sees the region as a source of fuel that could reduce Beijing’s risky dependence on maritime routes. Chinese analysts predict that Central Asia will be central in the “battle for resources” between the major powers.
The SCO is seen in China as a hedge against Western demands; some analysts hope it will become a quasi-military alliance that could veto a UN-based intervention in the region and carry out its own security actions, including against future terrorist threats.
China wants the Central Asian states to take a more active part in its fight against Uighur separatist movements

Key facts:

China overtook Europe as Central Asia’s principal trading partner in 2010, doing €23 billion of trade with the region’s five states compared with Europe’s €21bn
Over 10 percent of China’s oil and gas imports now come from Central Asia
Current members of the SCO are China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan: some Chinese analysts hope that both India and Pakistan will join in the medium-term

Download China Analysis: The new Great Game in Central Asia here

Senate Sergeant-at-Arms and former US Capitol Police chief leaked information to Fox News....

2011-07-15T22:26:00.000-07:00

Senate Sergeant-at-Arms and former US Capitol Police chief leaked information to Fox News....a MOSSAD joint wall to wall!

July , 2011 -- Murdoch intelligence-gathering network extended to U.S. Congress....

http://www.veteranstoday.com/2011/07/13/a-murdoch-note/

U.S. Congressional sources have confirmed to us that the U.S. Capitol Police and other congressional officials shared sensitive information on members of Congress with Rupert Murdoch's media outlets in Washington, including Fox News, in a manner similar to the situation in the United Kingdom where reporters for Murdoch's now-defunct News of the World bribed British law enforcement officials for sensitive information on public officials and private citizens.

Representative Peter King (R-NY) has already leveled charges that News of the World reporters tried to bribe U.S. law enforcement officials for phone records and transcripts of wiretaps of victims of the 9/11 attack. King did not elaborate on why law enforcement would have found it necessary, in the first place, to wiretap the conversations of 9/11 victims and their surviving next-of-kin.

On March 28, 2007, we first reported the relationship between the newly-appointed U.S. Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Terrance Gainer, who was formerly the chief of the U.S. Capitol Police, and Fox News in three highly-publicized incidents involving only Democratic members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. The three incidents involved Fox News receiving information directly from Gainer on incidents involving then-Representative Cynthia McKinney (D-GA), then-Representative Patrick Kennedy (D-RI), and an aide to Senator Jim Webb (D-VA).

After a highly-publicized scuffle involving McKinney and an aggressive U.S. Capitol Police officer, one in which McKinney was physically assaulted by the officer, Fox News was the first to report the incident. The media hype resulting from the incident resulted in a criminal referral to the US Attorney for the District of Columbia. Shortly after Gainer resigned as chief and his being appointed by Senate Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid, Representative Kennedy was involved in a minor automobile accident on Capitol Hill. Again, Fox News was the first to receive the information about the incident and Gainer stated publicly that Kennedy should have been given a sobriety test by the Capitol cops.

The third incident involved Phillip Thompson, the executive assistant to Virginia Democratic Senator Jim Webb, who was arrested by the Capitol Police at the Russell Senate Office Building for carrying a loaded pistol allegedly given to him by Webb. The Capitol Police enforced a DC law in force at the time that prohibited anyone other than law enforcement officers from carrying weapons in the District. Webb said he has a license to carry a concealed weapon in Virginia and Thompson, an ex-Marine, inadvertently carried the weapon into the building after dropping Webb off at the airport. March 2007 our report stated: "Details of the [Thompson] incident were leaked by the cops to Fox News and other neo-con outlets." We also reported that the leaks by US Capitol Police and Sergeant-at-Arms staff also occurred in the cases of McKinney and Kennedy.

Gainer is a long-time Republican who unsuccessfully challenged incumbent Richard M. Daley, Jr. as the Republican candidate for Cook County (Illinois) State's Attorney in 1988. Gainer got his start in law enforcement as a rookie Chicago cop in 1968 where he helped put down riots at the Democratic National Convention, a melee that saw Chicago cops clubbing anti-Vietnam War protesters.

As U.S. Senate Sergeant-at-Arms, Gainer is responsible for the installation and maintenance of the Senate's telecommunications networks and computer and other equipment, including those that handle Senators' e-mail, phone calls, faxes, Blackberry tweets, and photocopies of documents.

Some members of Congress have indicated the investigation of Murdoch's News Corporation's information-gathering practices warrant a full-scale investigation in the United States. Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) told CNN, "My bet is we'll find some criminal stuff . . . This is going to be a huge issue." Rockefeller said he may launch his own investigation. Perhaps he might want to start with the Senate's Sergeant-at-Arms and ask Harry Reid why he chose to appoint Gainer, a Republican, to the post after evidence surfaced that tied Gainer to leaks of law enforcement information to Fox News.

In Britain, law enforcement officials, including royal guards, reportedly asked the News of the World for money in exchange for personal information about the Royal family, including Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip, Prince Charles, Duchess of Cornwall Camilla, Duchess of Cambridge Catherine, and others. While he was Chancellor of the Exchequer and Prime Minister, Gordon Brown was also subjected to private communication surveillance by private detectives who had a close relationship with law enforcement agencies, including Scotland Yard....

What in the world is going on in the Zioconned Washington DC?

2011-07-06T10:14:00.001-07:00

What in the world is going on in the Zioconned Washington DC?

A typical normal day within the confines of the crumbling Ziocon Empire of criminals.....

Why Do the Police Have Tanks? The Strange and Dangerous Militarization of the US Police Force

http://news.antiwar.com/2011/07/05/experts-armys-2-7-billion-intelligence-computer-doesnt-work-properly/

http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=25521

Banana Republic Watch: The Supreme Court Vs The People of the United States of America: On this news wire, we will track the Supreme Court’s attacks against the rights of the American people.

[Supreme Court cases/decisions listed]....

http://ampedstatus.org/a99-opesr-rico-class-action-lawsuit-against-the-federal-reserve/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3aCfR8rmrw&feature=player_embedded

http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=25302

http://dailybail.com/home/the-fed-under-fire-the-federal-reserve-is-the-black-hole-in.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpbW64vRrMc&feature=player_embedded

The Real Housewives of Wall Street: Why is the Federal Reserve forking over $220 million in bailout money to the wives of two Morgan Stanley bigwigs?

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-real-housewives-of-wall-street-look-whos-cashing-in-on-the-bailout-20110411?print=true

Our Politicians Are Selling Off Pieces Of America To Foreign Investors – And Goldman Sachs Is Helping Them Do It

Ex-MI6 spy chief urges espionage against Britain's eurozone partners. Financial intelligence gathering urged in times of crisis. George Soros could finally be a marked man by "James Bond." "Quantum of Soros," indeed.
Bank shysters now target Portugal. With Greece in their pocket, the banksters now begin to add Portugal to their collection of stolen nations. Portugal and Greece should invest in gallows to hang these gangsters and shylocks.
Rumors of ex-President Jian Zemin's death spread throughout Beijing. Ex-president missed Communist Party's 90th birthday festivities.
NATO's "little mermaid" Rasmussen calls on Russia to reverse course on recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Rasmussen serving his neocon masters in Washington and Tel Aviv....

Hotel maid in DSK case sues New York Post for libel. Murdoch rag called maid a "hooker" and "prostitute." Since Coney Island is now rationing toilet paper due to budget cuts, perhaps the Post will just ship copies of the paper to Coney Island because the only thing any Murdoch paper is good for is wiping one's arse.

Exxon covered up mishandling of Yellowstone River oil spill. It's past time to seize the oil companies, sack and seize the profits of their executives, and create a state-owned oil company as in Venezuela.....

Texas to Florida: White House-linked clandestine Operation Paid for "Vote switching" Software

http://www.veteranstoday.com/2011/07/13/a-murdoch-note/

..... Fouad Siniora is a crooked CIA-MOSSAD Monster in sheep's clothing....فؤاد السنيورة

2011-06-24T06:50:00.000-07:00

.....فؤاد السنيورة

Fouad Siniora is a crooked CIA/MOSSAD Monster in sheep's clothing....

http://www.anamasry.info/video/siniora/

يؤكد مصرفي بارز ان فؤاد السنيورة زار العاصمة الاميركية واشنطن منذ شهر ونيف بهدف التحريض على مرجعية مصرفية كبيرة وقطع الطريق على التمديد لها بحجة العلاقة الجيدة التي تربطها اقليميا ومحليا بجهات سياسية معينة .وان المرجع المذكور حاول لقاء وزير الخزانة الاميركي فلم يستطع كذلك الامر مع كبار معاونيه فاكتفى عندها بلقاء في مقهى مع مسؤول صغير كان زميلا لاحد مستشاريه الذي رتب هذا اللقاء وهو( م س ) فحاول تسويق فكرة الضغط المصرفي على الجوار اللبناني وكذلك على الاكثرية الجديدة عبر فتح ملفات بعض المصارف , وهو الامر الذي ترجم بتسريبات اعلامية عن استهداف مصارف لبنانية جديدة

وتشير معلومات صحافية في واشنطن عن تكليف لوبي بموازنة 3 مليون دولار للهجوم على المصارف اللبنانية وعلى حاكم مصرف لبنان رياض سلامة , ولكن من سوء الطالع لهؤلاء ان المقال الاول الذي صدر في جريدة "وال ستريت جورنال" كان لكاتب اسرائيلي يكتب اسبوعيا في "يدوعوت احرونوت"

هل ستقوم الحكومة اللبنانية بتحويل أشرف ريفي إلى القضاء

2011-06-15T23:46:00.000-07:00

وبغض النظر عن التحولات الإقليمية التي جعلت الحكومة اللبنانية تبصر النور، يبدو أن الحكومة الجديدة، وبالإضافة إلى التحديات الاقتصادية والاجتماعية الداخلية، مقبلة على مرحلة جديدة من الضغوط الخارجية الهائلة، وهي قد بدأت فعلاً منذ اللحظة الأولى بصدور الموقف الأميركي، الذي اعتبر أن الولايات المتحدة ستحكم على الحكومة الجديدة «بناء على أفعالها»، ودعاها إلى نبذ العنف والابتعاد عن "الثأر"، بما يوحي أن واشنطن ستعتبر أن أي إقالة أو محاسبة لأي من وكلائها في الداخل أو من زرعتهم في التركيبة الأمنية والإدارية والسياسية في هيكلية الدولة اللبنانية، سيعتبر عملاً ثأرياً! وهكذا يكون أول التحديات أمام الحكومة اللبنانية الجديدة، مواجهة ضغوط الإدارة الأميركية التي خسرت وكلاءها السياسيين في السلطة التنفيذية، وتريد الحفاظ على ما تبقى من الوكلاء الأمنيين والإداريين.

إذاً، التحدي الأول والأهم سيواجه بداية وزيرا الداخلية والعدل، ومن ورائهما كل الحكومة اللبنانية ووزرائها، إذ لا يمكن للحكومة اللبنانية أن تحصل على ثقة الشعب اللبناني وإيمانه بقدرتها على الحفاظ على أمنه وسيادته واستقراره، في ظل تمرد أمني وانقلاب على المؤسسات وسلطة الدولة وأن لا يحوّل مرتكبيه إلى القضاء، للفصل في هذه القضايا وإحقاق الحق.

وهنا السؤال الأهم: هل ستقوم الحكومة اللبنانية بتحويل أشرف ريفي إلى القضاء بعد تمرده على رئيسه المباشر، وعلى رئيس الجمهورية؟ وهل سيفصل القضاء في شرعية فرع المعلومات وتخطيه لصلاحياته، خصوصاً الانقلاب الذي قام به، واحتلاله مبنى تابعاً لوزراة الاتصالات؟

وهل سيحاسَب سهيل البوجي على تزويره محاضر جلسات مجلس الوزراء، وفبركة جلسات لم تعقد أساساً، وتمّ فيها اتخاذ قرارات هامة ومصيرية للبلاد؟

وهل ستستكمل عملية التدقيق في الحسابات المالية، وما كشفته جلسة لجنة المال والموازنة من خلال ما أدلى به مدير عام المالية آلان بيفاني من حقائق خطيرة؟

أسئلة كثيرة وفضائح نشرت على صفحات الجرائد وفي وسائل الإعلام، فهل من قضاء مستقل يفصل في هذه القضايا؟ وهل سيعتبر اللجوء إلى القضاء عملاً ثأرياً من قبل الولايات المتحدة ووكلائها في لبنان؟

أما التحدي الثاني فسيكون بالتأكيد حول طريقة التعامل مع المحكمة الدولية الخاصة بلبنان وتمويلها، وهنا ستواجه الحكومة تحديات على جبهتين:

الجبهة الداخلية، حيث سيلجأ فريق المستقبل وحلفائه إلى إثارة الكثير من الضجيج المذهبي لإحراج الرئيس ميقاتي، والقول بأنه يخضع لأوامر حزب الله، ويتخلى عن دم "الشهيد"، ولن يتأخر هذا الفريق في استخدام الإعلام والمنابر الدينية في هذا السبيل.

أما الجبهة الخارجية، فيعوّل الغرب على المحكمة الدولية الخاصة بلبنان لاستخدامها أداة في السير بمشروعه المواجه للحلف المقاوم في لبنان، لذا نشهد أن الأصوات الدولية بدأت تتحدث منذ الآن عن "احترام لبنان لالتزاماته الدولية"، بما يشير إلى أن أي مسار قضائي أو برلماني لمناقشة موضوع المحكمة الدولية والتعاون معها وتمويلها، سيؤدي إلى ضجيج دولي وهيجان لن تسلم منهما الحكومة اللبنانية الجديدة.

التحدي الثالث سيكون في ملف العلاقات اللبنانية السورية، خصوصاً إذا كشفت التحقيقات ضلوع لبنانيين في التآمر على سورية وأمنها، وكيفية التعامل مع هذا الملف، وما قد يترافق معه من طلبات سورية باسترداد بعض السوريين الفارين إلى الأراضي اللبنانية؛ تنفيذاً للاتفاقيات الموقعة بين البلدين.

التحدي الرابع سيتجلى في المعركة الدبلوماسية والسياسية المفترض على الحكومة اللبنانية أن تقوم بها في مجال التنقيب عن النفط، خصوصاً أن الاتفاقية القبرصية الإسرائيلية تنتهك حق لبنان في نفطه، بينما يغيب اللبنانيون عن الحدث متلهين بسياسة المحاصصة واقتسام المغانم.

بالتأكيد لن تسلم حكومة لبنانية احتاجت إلى أشهر لولادتها، وفي ظل استخدام دائم للبنان كساحة للإلهاء والإشغال، من تداعيات حراك إقليمي هائل على عتبة قرار أميركي بالبقاء في العراق وتمديد الاتفاقيات الموقعة مع الحكومة العراقية، وانتظار جلاء وضع الميدان السوري ليحسم الأميركيون خيارهم بأي من الاتجاهيْن سيسيرون في المنطقة. ففي ظل الهجوم الأميركي المضاد على الثورات العربية، والتعامل مع التطورات المستجدة في المنطقة، يعمل الأميركيون اليوم على خطين متوازيين: التعاون مع الاتجاه "الوهابي" وقائدته السعودية، أو التعاون والتنسيق مع الإخوان المسلمين وقائدتهم تركيا، وهكذا يكون الوضع السوري الميداني العامل الأساس في حسم الأمريكيين لخيارهم بأي استراتيجية سيسيرون، وبعد هذا الخيار يتحدد مصير اليمن وغيرها من القضايا الإقليمية، وبالتأكيد سيكون للبنان نصيبه من التطورات بحسب أي من الخيارين سيسير به الأميركيون.

بالرغم من أن التحديات الخارجية التي ستواجه لبنان في الأشهر القليلة المقبلة لن تكون سهلة، لكن على الحكومة اللبنانية الجديدة أن لا تغفل الوضع الداخلي، خصوصاً في ظل تفاقم الوضعين الاقتصادي والاجتماعي، وركود موسم السياحة، وتنامي البطالة والهجرة، وعدم توفر فرص عمل للشباب، فلن يكون بمقدور الحكومة اللبنانية أن تتذرع بشعار "لا صوت يعلو فوق صوت المعركة" لحرمان اللبنانيين من أبسط حقوقهم في الضمان الاجتماعي، والتعليم والطبابة ونظام الشيخوخة، وغيرها من الأمور البديهية التي باتت من أبسط حقوق الإنسان الرئيسية، فهل ستكون الحكومة الجديدة على قدر التحديات الهائلة التي ستواجهها، وعلى قدر آمال اللبنانيين وحاجاتهم الملحة؟

Les Israeliens jouent avec le feu et le retour de flamme sera cuisant .....

2011-06-07T06:29:00.000-07:00

Les Israeliens jouent avec le feu et le retour de flamme sera cuisant !

CIA COUP COMING IN GREECE AND POSSIBLY SPAIN TOO?

2011-05-31T03:56:00.000-07:00

The French Frogs will re-elect another CIA/MOSSAD shadow President in 2012 again....

According to Germany's Bild newspaper, on 29 May 2011:

The CIA has stated in a recent report that there may soon be a coup in Greece.

Zerbricht Griechenland an der Krise: Geheimdienst befürchtet ... - [ Translate this page ]

There has been a lot of rioting in Greece.

The CIA and Mossad may want a military government in Athens, in order to promote their agenda.

On 14 March 2007, Vladimir Putin presided over a pipeline deal with Greece and Bulgaria. (Russia, Greece and Bulgaria sign major oil pipeline deal ...)

There is supposed to be a Russian oil pipeline through Greece.

It was supposed to be completed by 2011.[1]

In 2009, Bulgaria got a new government and it has been stalling the construction of the pipeline. (EU to help unblock Tran-Balkan pipeline)

Russia provides Europe with a third of its oil and 40 percent of its natural gas, and the pipeline deal would increase these figures.

Certain people, such as the CIA and its pals in the Greek military, may not like the deal and may try to change the government of Greece?

The CIA put the military into power in Greece in 1967.

The Greek Military ran a 'fascist' regime.

In June 2008, an Iranian official criticized Greece for joining an Israeli military exercise that is claimed to be a rehearsal for a potential bombing attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

The New York Times reported that more than 100 Israeli F-16 and F-15 fighters took part in the maneuvers over the eastern Mediterranean and Greece in the first week of June.

The official expressed regret that Greece has kept silence on Israel’s provocative military exercise in its territory. (tehran times : Iran slams Greece for joining Israel’s military parade)

Greece is important to Israel and to the USA.

In 1996, the pro-PLO Prime Minister, Andreas Papandreou died.

There followed an improvement in relations between Greece and Israel.

Trade between Greece and Israel doubled between 1989 and 1995. (GREEK-ISRAELI STRATEGIC RELATIONS)

In a visit to Athens, Israeli President Katzav said "we consider Greece an important economic partner of Israel's economy, as well as a gateway to the Balkans."

Greece's Papandreou and Israel's Netanyahu

On 17 August 2010, it was announced that Israel and Greece are seeking to expand military ties

Former Greek Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou once compared the Israelis to the Nazis. (Mesimvrini, 10 August 1982.)

In 1983, in the Greek Parliament, Ioannis Koutsoyannis blamed "the Jews, the Masons, the CIA and Moshe Dayan" for preparing and coordinating the 1967 military coup in Greece. (Greek Society)

The bad guys have had a series of cunning plans designed to get control of Greece.

In 1988, Abu Nidal, who reportedly worked for Mossad, attacked the Greek cruise ship, the Achille Lauro, leaving nine people dead.

One of Mossad's aims was to turn Greece against the Palestinians.

The Achile Lauro incident hastened the fall of Greek prime minister Andreas Papandreou. (Abu Nidal - Mossad Terrorist)

Famous Greek Olga Farmaki

And then there is the Greek economy.

"It does appear to be financial warfare. As bankers look to loot nation after nation. Greece is only the beginning." (Greece is tipping. Is this financial war against the Eurozone?)

At American Free Press, in March 2010, Victor Thorn wrote:

"Beginning in 2001, Goldman Sachs concocted an elaborate financial scheme whereby billions in 'currency swaps' were funneled into Greece, only to be squandered and embezzled by government officials....

"Greek newspapers such as Avriani are openly citing a Jewish plutocracy for plotting their nation’s demise...

"In a Feb. 11 article entitled 'Greece Under European Union Diktat,' Peter Schwarz observed, 'The crisis in Greece is attracting the most parasitic representatives of finance capital, whose methods resemble those of the Mafia, with the European Commission serving as the consigliore to the godfathers of finance.'

"One of the men he alluded to was Jewish speculator George Soros."

Greek King and CIA-backed colonels

The CIA and its friends have been active in Greece for some time.

1. In 1944, in Greece, a large demonstration in Athens, against British interference in the government, was dissolved by gunfire from hidden soldiers.

25 protesters were killed and 148 wounded.

2. In 1967, in Greece, CIA-backed colonels carried out a military coup, resulting in a 'fascist' dictatorship.

Thousands of Greeks were tortured and murdered by the CIA backed 'fascists'.

(NATO's Secret Armies: Operation Gladio and Terrorism in Western Europe - Google Books Result )

3. In 1985, 15-year-old Michalis Kaltezas was shot by a police officer, triggering violent clashes between youths and the police in Athens.

4. In December 2008, Greek youths rioted after the police shot a boy

15-year-old Andreas Grigoropoulos was shot dead on 6 December 2008 by a police officer.

Witnesses told Greek TV the policeman fired directly at the boy.

The Colonels

The CIA, reportedly, has used acts of terrorism to keep the right-wing in power in Greece.

(The following is from: Killing Hope: U.S. Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II - Google Books Result)

"In the April 1967 national elections in Greece, the veteran liberal leader George Papandreou seemed certain to be re-elected as prime minister.

Papandreou had been elected in 1964 with the only outright majority in the history of modern Greek elections.

A joint campaign by the Greek military and the CIA to unseat him began immediately...

The Gladio 'Sheepskin' group was involved in a campaign of terrorist bombings, which were blamed on the left, and two days before the election campaign was to begin, a military coup brought to power a junta led by George Papadopoulos, a member of the Greek intelligence service KYP.

The CIA had created the KYP and Papadopoulos was on the payroll of the Agency for some 15 years.

Along with hundreds of other KYP officers, he had received training in anti-subversive techniques in the United States.

Papadopoulos was "a great believer in Hitler's new order" ...

He plunged Greece for the next seven years into a nightmare of martial law, censorship, arrests, beatings, torture and murders.

8,000 were killed in the first month alone.

Before the end of the year, Amnesty International reported that "torture as a deliberate practice is carried out by the Security Police and the Military Police."

The Greek junta contributed $549,000 to the 1968 Nixon-Agnew election campaign in the United States.

A Senate investigation to discover if this was CIA money finding its way back home, was abruptly cancelled at the direct request of Henry Kissinger. "

Thomas Countryman 'NSA/CIA liaison in Athens'

http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2007/01/136216.php

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=K99LvfeWBoc

Real changes in the Russian security and elite military forces ?

2011-05-14T02:22:00.000-07:00

Real changes in the Russian security and elite military forces ?

One of the more exotic technologies for tracking deeply submerged submarines consists of using a satellite based radar to measure the tiny elevation of the water surface of the ocean above an otherwise well hidden and silently moving submarine. Some less exotic techniques including detecting wakes, tiny differences in water temperatures, magnetic fluctuations and many other "indirect" methods. What I propose to do today is something similar: to try to look at some possible signals of what might be happening hidden deep inside the Russian security establishment.


Doku Umarov

As some of you might have recalled, I have regularly covered what I saw as a government campaign to defund, "reform" (read: shut down) and otherwise weaken the Russian elite military forces. A Spetsnaz brigade was dismantled, the military intelligence service (GRU) was almost reduced to a Department of the General Staff, the 106th Airborne Division came close to being simply eliminated, and a number of top officers were either rather "mysteriously died" or resigned. Things got totally out of control when the Airborne Forces almost officially demanded the sacking of Defense Minister Serdyukov.

Magomedali Vagabov

And then things suddenly seemed to cool down, and an eerie silence covered this entire "front". There are now some signs that things have actually begun to change.

First, the Russian security services have embarked on a major campaign to capture or eliminate the leaders of the Wahabi underground in the Caucasus.

Even before the bombing of the Domodedovo airport in Moscow several top leaders of the Wahabi underground in the Caucasus (such as Magometali Vagabov) were killed in the course of several special operations. Following the Domodedovo bombing (which was officially claimed by the self-styled "First Emir of the Emirate of the Caucasus" Doku Umarov) the campaign to track


Abdullah Kurd

down and kill the Wahabi leaders suddenly intensified and achieved major successes. Many top officials of the Wahabi insurgency were killed including "Moganned" (a Saudi national), "Abdullah Kurd" (a Turkish national), Israpil Validjanov, Asker Djapuev and even Astemir Mimishev - the assassin of the Mufti of the Kabardino-Balkar Republic. All of them were killed in the time period between April and May of this year.

The one still not caught, although his death has been announced many times only to be proven wrong is Doku Umarov himself. Umarov, arguably the very last "historical" leader of the Chechen insurgency alive, has skillfully managed to escape many times from some very close calls, but there is no doubt in my mind that the noose around him is now extremely tight and that he will be killed very soon.


Asker Djapuev

As for the insurgency itself, it is reduced to two basic types of operations: high visibility "symbolic" terrorist attacks such as the one in Domodedovo or small, local level, assassinations of junior policemen and murders of "collaborators". The single best indicator of the real capabilities of the insurgency is that it is handled only by Ministry of Internal Affairs forces and not by the military (the exception being, of course, the killing of top level commanders which is typically a join effort of the FSB and the GRU with logistical support from local police forces).


Astemir Mamishev

Bottom line: the insurgency has been defeated, most of its leaders are dead, and the scope and nature of Wahabi terrorism in the Caucasus and south Russia has been brought down to something similar to what the IRA was in the years preceding the Good Friday Agreement.

Of course, there is a Presidential election coming up in Russia and Medvedev has been challenged for many of his policies (betrayal of Iran, his "reforms" of the military, Russia's vote in the UN on Libya and many others) and, just like Obama, he needs to market himself as a "strong leader". This is particularly true considering that Prime Minister Putin is far more popular than Medvedev.

Moganned

There are also signs that Medvedev is openly courting elite Russian military forces. First, there was the absolutely unprecedented move to award the Order of Kutuzov to the 45th Independent Special Operations Airbore Regiment as a whole (rather than to one individual). Not only that, but this year the 45th Independent Special Operations Airborne Regiment was invited to the Victory Parade on Red Square.

Something even more amazing happened on the same day: for the first time ever the traditionally super-secret GRU Spetsnaz forces were also represented during the Victory Day lead by a Spetsnaz Colonel who was identified by name (!). Considering the fact that Spetsnaz GRU forces are still normally

Israpil Validzhanov

under order never to even show their faces, having them participate in a parade transmitted worldwide is an absolutely amazing, I would say earth-shattering, departure from the usual practice.

Medvedev also showed his support for the Special Forces of the Internal Ministry during a visit to the HQ of the "Rys'" Spetsnaz unit which included a lengthy conversation with the officers of this elite unit.

Clearly Medvedev is going out of his way to make all the political moves needed to show his support for the previously neglected security forces. His efforts actually go beyond the symbolic.

Spetsnaz GRU sniper in Ossetia

The 106th Guard Airborne division has recently received a lot of high tech gear including UAVs, reconnaissance vehicles and ATV, top of the line night vision gear, encryption communications, advanced computerized command and control networks, etc. A division which was almost disbanded is now receiving lavish care from the Kremlin.

Of course, this could all be a short lived, one-time, effort in order to achieve some political gains. But this might also signal that Medvedev has finally accepted the fact that he cannot indefinitely oppose the security establishment and that a typically Russian backstage deal was made between the Kremlin and the security and key military forces. I am inclined to believe that the latter is true.

45 Airborne Spetsnaz on Victory Day

Whatever may be the case, this is clearly good news for Russia in general and for the Caucasus in particular. After two decades of absolute horror and chaos, there is a least a non-irrelevant possibility that some normalization and recovery might take place. The combined action of the security forces and the Kremlin's campaign to support non-Wahabi Islam are slowly bringing about some results. What is now needed is another double struggle: to bring in economic growth to the Caucasus and a merciless crackdown at the local corruption which is absolutely horrendous, even by Russian standards.


Spetsnaz "Rys'" officer

Medvedev has embarked on a massive campaign to fight corruption in Russia. This campaign is centered on two mains tracks: a massive overhaul of the hideously corrupt and incompetent police force combined with an equally ferocious crackdown on corrupt government officials. The faces of sacked police generals are now paraded on TV on an almost daily basis and the Kremlin is using the crafty pretext of a "re-attestation" of *all* the Internal Ministry official (from the rank and file to the very top commanders) to sack anybody who is perceived as corrupt or incompetent. The Russian public in understandably viewing all this with a lot of skepticism, or even cynicism, and only time will show if all these efforts are for real or not. The key test, in my opinion, will be if the Kremlin will be willing (and able) crackdown on the all-powerful Mafia and gangs of thugs which have prospered in the Caucasus for many decades.

Spetsnaz GRU Col. Tkachuk on Victory Day

The problem of the Wahabi insurgency cannot be separated from the problem of the south Russian mob - the two are twin brothers, closely linked at many levels. For example, one of the reasons why only central "elite" Spetsnaz forces have been able to eliminate so many Wahabi leaders is not that such operations require an amazing amount of military skills, but simply because the central Spetsnaz forces have no connections to the local mob or the local police (which, for all practical purposes is one and the same).

This is an ambitious multi-tired program for sure, but one which is vital for the stability and security of all of Russia. If it takes a looming Presidential election to finally make it happen, then this is a good thing....

'Lebanese ambassador in USA, Antoine Chedid, sued for abusing Filipino maid for years'

2011-04-29T03:40:00.000-07:00

(This story was removed from NOWLebanon's site..... http://legaltimes.typepad.com/blt/2011/04/diplomatic-immunity-upheld-for-lebanese-ambassador.html )

"Lebanese ambassador to the US Antoine Chedid is being sued by his family’s former Filipino maid on claims he failed to pay minimum wage and verbally abused and mistreated her. (See the lawsuit here)

Araceli D. Montuya, reportedly the mother of 10 children, says she was made to work for $3 per hour as a full-time housekeeper and nanny for approximately 16 hours per day, six days a week, for a period of 26 months from August 2007 through September 2009. At a status hearing on April 19, Chedid’s lawyer denied the allegations and argued the ambassador and his family are entitled to diplomatic immunity under the Vienna Convention.
Similar events happened years ago with Lebanese diplomats in Paris and elsewhere in Europe, etc. and was hushed-up....Pathetic!

Ok Lebanon, we really need to get a grip on ourselves and ditch this repeated association with the essential enslavement of foreign domestic workers. C’mon now."