Gilad Atzmon

Professor Richard A. Falk, UN Special
Rapporteur on "the situation of human
rights in the Palestinian territories occu-
pied since 1967."

I was amused and proud to see my latest book The Wandering Who? held aloft by Israeli chief Sayan Hilllel Neuer at the UN’s Human Right Council. The book was presented as ‘exhibit B’ in a farcical self-appointed Talmudic kangaroo court against the great Professor Richard Falk who lent his name, amongst many other leading humanists and intellectuals, in support of my work.

Infamous Hasbara spin-doctor Neuer doesn’t like Falk, this is clear. Along the years Zionists have developed a collective anathema towards humanists and humanism. Neuer Insisted that The Wandering Who? is ‘Anti-Semitic.’ In order to support his ridiculous claim, he recruited Ali Abunimah, the man who single-handedly managed to reduce the Intifada to an electronic blog.

So here is some bad news Neuer better take into consideration: 24 hours before Abunimah published his peculiar ‘interpretation’ of my thoughts, he was foolish enough to admit to Professor Norton Mezvinsky that he actually had not read The Wandering Who or “anything else by Atzmon.” How embarrassing. At the time, Professor Mezvinsky, gave me his full consent to publicise Abunimah’s confession.

In his relatively short intellectual career, Abunimah has managed to produce some of the most mind-boggling statements in the history of contemporary intellectual exchanges. I guess that Neuer could do with the support of someone who is familiar with my work or at least clever enough to hide his ignorance.

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Anonymous
(161719)

[xymphora] - Can you imagine what the American 'left' would be saying if the NSA revelations had occurred on Bush's watch? Since Barry - the most progressive man who ever walked the planet - is behind it, everything is fine. This is why Barry was such a brilliant choice for President. The right, except for that tiny fringe that is truly libertarian, is torn between thinking the revelations are a Chinese government plot to weaken the United States, and thinking that real (i.e., white) Americans have nothing to hide and need all of the unconstitutional outrages the NSA can muster to save real Americans from those scary Mooooooslims under their beds.

Has anyone noticed that the American government has never successfully used its spying to uncover a real terrorist plot? They completely missed the Boston bombing with the Russians repeatedly begging the Americans to look into Tamerlan (of course, why would you look into your own employee?). The only terrorist plots the American government ever finds are the ones set up by the FBI, and they don't even stop all of those (Oklahoma City). [The Null Device]

I live in a country generally assumed to be a dictatorship. One of the Arab spring countries. I have lived through curfews and have seen the outcomes of the sort of surveillance now being revealed in the US. People here talking about curfews aren't realizing what that actually FEELS like. It isn't about having to go inside, and the practicality of that. It's about creating the feeling that everyone, everything is watching.

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Paul Craig Roberts

In America there is no democracy that holds government accountable. There is only a brainwashed people who are chaff in the wind.

It has been public information for a decade that the US government secretly, illegally, and unconstitutionally spies on its citizens. Congress and the federal courts have done nothing about this extreme violation of the US Constitution and statutory law, and the insouciant US public seems unperturbed.

In 2004 a whistleblower informed the New York Times that the National Security Agency (NSA) was violating the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) by ignoring the FISA court and spying on Americans without obtaining the necessary warrants. The corrupt New York Times put the interests of the US government ahead of those of the American public and sat on the story for one year until George W. Bush was safely reelected.

By the time the New York Times published the story of the illegal spying one year later, the law-breaking government had had time to mitigate the offense with ex post facto law or executive orders and explain away its law-breaking as being in the country’s interest.

Last year William Binney, who was in charge of NSA’s global digital data gathering program revealed that NSA had everyone in the US under total surveillance. Every email, Internet site visited and phone call is captured and stored. In 2012 Binney received the Callaway Award for Civic Courage, an annual award given to those who champion constitutional rights at risk to their professional and personal lives.

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Stephen Lendman

America's dark side threatens everyone.

Whistleblowing reflects doing the right thing. It exposes wrongdoing. It does so because it matters. Edward Joseph Snowden follows a noble tradition. Others before him established it. Daniel Ellsberg called his NSA leak the most important in US history. More on him below.

Expressions of patriotism can reflect good or ill. Samuel Johnson said it’s the last refuge of a scoundrel. Thomas Paine called dissent its highest form. So did Howard Zinn. According to Machiavelli:

"When the safety of one's country wholly depends on the decision to be taken, no attention should be paid either to justice or injustice, to kindness or cruelty, or to its being praiseworthy or ignominious."

Tolstoy said:

"In our day the feeling of patriotism is an unnatural, irrational, and harmful feeling, and a cause of a great part of the ills from which mankind is suffering; and…consequently, this feeling should not be cultivated, as is now being done, but should, on the contrary, be suppressed and eradicated by all means available to rational men."

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Deniz Erkmen

When There Is No Other Way But Resistance! - A Personal Account Of The Early Days Of #Occupygezi

Tarihinde Yayımlandı: This is a piece -her personal story- written by my dear friend Deniz Erkmen on the recent Social Protest Movement (Occupy Gezi). If you are still curious about what is happenning in Istanbul (well by now it is whole Turkey) please keep reading! Thank you so much for your support!

At home in Istanbul, grading student papers while trying to follow a continuous facebook updates of events, I am getting more and more anxious to leave. It is impossible to concentrate. I read few lines from the paper, stop and think “do I have vinegar at home”?

I read a few more lines, stop and wonder “does the pharmacy sell gas masks?” Not able to sit any longer, I call, text and facebook message a few friends; a marine biologist first, a graduate student in history second, then a film director and an environmental engineer… Everyone is planning to head to the Taksim square. I pack some vinegar and a bandanna into my backpack; I make sure I wear sneakers so I can run fast and I leave home not quite sure what is ahead of me.

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Eric Peters

Kevin Bailey, 22, got into a fatal shootout with Solon, Ohio cops the other day. It all began over a minor traffic violation – failure to signal before changing lanes. Once he had Bailey pulled over, the cop claimed he “smelled marijuana” – and it went bad from there. Bailey took off, ran off the road and – as the cops closed in on him, fired his gun at the cops. The cops were better shots and Bailey was killed at the scene.

Natürlich, the cops are portrayed as “heroic” – and have been exonerated of any wrongdoing.

Arguably, it was actually heroic – if foolishly so – for Bailey to have attempted to get away from the costumed enforcers who ultimately killed him. This will shock some readers, no doubt. Having been conditioned from youth to reflexively kowtow to authority (however constituted) they instinctively side with authority whenever there is a confrontation. But, consider: What was Bailey’s initial crime? Had he done anything to justify being waylaid by costumed enforcers? Oh, yes – a “law” was (allegedly) ignored. But who did Bailey harm by not using his turn signal before changing lanes? Obviously, the answer is – no one. Yet this was – is – sufficient pretext for costumed enforcers to begin a “harass and collect” traffic stop. (Which, by the way, now entitles the costumed enforcers to forcibly take a DNA sample as well as perform a strip search. Before you have been convicted of anything. The Supreme Court has ruled both measures to be “constitutional.” See here and here.)

If we lived in a free country – one in which people were free to go about their business without being stopped and fleeced at gunpoint by costumed agents of the state – Bailey would never have been stopped in the first place.

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Thomas Gaist

Former CIA employee Edward Joseph Snowden announced on Sunday that he is the source of recent leaks to the Guardian and Washington Post exposing systematic police-state surveillance conducted under the Obama administration by the National Security Agency.

Snowden, who is 29 years old and has served as an undercover intelligence employee, referred to the massive surveillance program as an “architecture of oppression” with virtually limitless aims: “They are intent on making every conversation and every form of behaviour in the world known to them.”

The leaks have uncovered a government spying program that includes the accumulation of detailed phone records on nearly every individual in the United States, as well as a program of Internet spying involving the close collaboration of major tech companies, including Microsoft and Google.

In an interview with the Guardian’s Glenn Greenwald (available online here), Snowden detailed the vast spying capabilities assembled by US government agencies: “The NSA has built an infrastructure that allows it to intercept almost everything. With this capability, the vast majority of human communications are automatically ingested without targeting.”

“The NSA specifically targets the communications of everyone… I sitting at my desk certainly had the authority to wiretap anyone, from you or your accountant, to a federal judge or even the president if I had a personal email.”

“I don’t want to live a society that does these sort of things,” Snowden said. “I do not want to live in a world where everything I do and say is recorded. That is not something I am willing to support or live under.”

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Paul Craig Roberts

June 7, 2013. The payroll jobs report for May released today continues the fantasy. Goods producing jobs declined, with manufacturing losing another 4,000 jobs, but the New Economy produced 179,000 service jobs. Are these jobs the high-powered, high-wage “innovation jobs” that economists promised would be our reward from Globalism. I’m afraid not. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the jobs created are the usual lowly paid non-exportable domestic service jobs–the jobs of a third world country.

■ Retail trade accounts for 27,700 of the jobs.
■ Wholesale trade accounts for 7,900 jobs.
■ Ambulatory health care services accounts for 15,300 of the jobs.
■ Waitresses and bartenders account for 38,100 of the jobs.
■ Local government accounts for 13,000 of the jobs.
■ Amusements, gambling, and recreation account for 12,500 of the jobs.
■ Temporary help services provided 25,600 jobs.
■ Business support services provided 4,300 jobs.
■ Services to buildings and dwellings provided 6,400 jobs.
■ Accounting and bookkeeping services provided 3,100 jobs.
■ Architectural and engineering services provided 4,900 jobs.
■ Computer systems design and related provided 6,000 jobs (most likely filled by H-1B work visas).
■ Management and technical consulting services provided 3,200 jobs.

For a decade this has been the jobs profile of “the world’s most powerful economy.” It is the profile of third world India 40 years ago. The jobs that made the US the dominant economy have been moved off shore by corporations threatened by Wall Street with takeovers if they did not increase their profits.

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Stephen Lendman

Avraham Shalom, Ami Ayalon, Yaakov Peri, Yuval Diskin,
Avi Dichter and Carmi Gillon (Sony/Allstar Picture Library)

It doesn't surprise. On June 8, Haaretz headlined "What was the Israeli involvement in collecting US communications intel for NSA?" More on that below.

On April 3, 2012, James Bamford headlined "Shady Companies with Ties to Israel Wiretap for US for the NSA." He said NSA chief General Keith Alexander's "having a busy year." He's "cutting ribbons at secret bases and bringing to life the agency’s greatly expanded eavesdropping network." "In January he dedicated the new $358 million CAPT Joseph J. Rochefort Building at NSA Hawaii, and in March he unveiled the 604,000-square-foot John Whitelaw Building at NSA Georgia." It's for around "4,000 earphone-clad intercept operators, analysts and other specialists, many of them employed by private contractors." Spies "R" Us defines US policy. NSA's "mammoth 1-million-square-foot, $2 billion Utah Data Center is far more sweeping."

It's located at Camp Williams. It's a Utah National Guard training facility. Once fully operational, says Bamford, it'll "become, in effect, the NSA Cloud." It'll receive data from NSA satellites, overseas listening posts, and nationwide multiple telecom facility monitoring rooms. What's planned is an unprecedented global spy network. NSA operatives and hackers will harvest around 2.1 million gigabytes of data per hour. It'll do so on the world's most powerful computer. It's called the Titan Supercomputer. It can handle over 20,000 trillion calculations per second or 20 petaflops. One petaflop = one quadrillion instructions per second. Supercomputer power will be used to collect and analyze foreign and domestic communications from all possible sources.

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Stephen Lendman

Fascism wasn’t vanquished. It was transplanted to America. It’s visible in plain sight.

On June 5, London's Guardian reported part of it. "NSA collecting phone records of millions of Verizon customers daily," it headlined.

On June 6, a follow-up article headlined "NSA taps in to systems of Google, Facebook, Apple and others, secret files reveal."

The Washington Post followed with its own report. It said the NSA and FBI "are tapping directly into the central servers of nine US Internet companies, extracting audio, video, photographs, e-mails, documents and connection logs that enable analysts to trace a person’s movements and contacts over time."

Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, Paltalk, AOL, Skype, YouTube, Apple, and other online companies willingly cooperate with lawless government spying. Doing so, in part, reflects old news. Institutional spying on Americans is longstanding. Previous articles discussed it. More on the Guardian articles below.

According to retired NSA/US Air Force/Naval Intelligence/Defense Intelligence Agency intelligence analyst-turned whistleblower Russell Tice: What's ongoing "is much larger and more systemic than anything anyone has ever suspected or imagined."

It's been widely known for years. Little was revealed publicly. Pervasive spying is much worse than suspected. Other media reports followed London's Guardian revelations. Few people knew before. Many more do now. A firestorm of public anger is needed to have any chance to stop it. Nothing less stands a chance. What follows remains to be seen. Based on post-9/11 extremism, expect worse ahead, not better.

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Gilad Atzmon

Syria uprising nears 2-year anniversary: Free Syrian Army
fighters talk to Syrian army soldiers (not pictured) who want
to defect in Aleppo. (Maysun/European Pressphoto Agency)

In the last week we have been following British and French’s desperate attempts to push for a military intervention in Syria. It is far from being a secret that both British and French government are dominated by the Jewish Lobby. In Britain it is the ultra Zionist CFI (Conservative Friends of Israel) - apparently 80% of Britain’s conservative MPs are members of the pro Israeli Lobby. In France the situation is even more devastating, the entire political system is hijacked by the forceful CRIF.

But in case anyone fails to grasp why the Jewish Lobby is pushing for an immediate intervention, Debka, an Israeli news outlet provides the answer. Seemingly, the Syrian army is winning on all fronts. Israel’s military and geo-political calculations are proved to be wrong.

According to Debka, “the battle for Damascus is over”. The Syrian army had virtually “regained control of the city in an epic victory”. The rebels, largely mercenaries, have lost the battle they “can’t do much more than fire sporadically. They can no longer launch raids, or pose threats to the city centre, the airport or the big Syrian air base nearby.

"The Russian and Iranian transports constantly bringing replenishments for keeping the Syrian army fighting can again land at Damascus airport after months of rebel siege.”

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Paul Craig Roberts

The article below is reprinted from CounterPunch, January 12, 2011. Since the article was first published, Washington has added the slaughter of Libyans, Yemeni, and Syrians along with that of wolves to its accomplishments. An addendum describes the wicked new “sport” of “canned hunting.”

Hribal’s “Fear of the Animal Planet”
A Brief for Animals
by Paul Craig Roberts

Jason Hribal in a book just off the Counterpunch/AK press, Fear of the Animal Planet: The Hidden History of Animal Resistance, regales the reader with tales of animal rebellion and escape from captivity. In Hribal’s account, when big cats, elephants, and orcas injure or kill their trainers and keepers they are inflicting retribution for the abuse and exploitation that they suffer.

One of Hribal’s most convincing examples is Tatiana, a Siberian tiger in the San Francisco zoo. On December 25, 2007, Tatiana cleared the 12 foot high wall of her enclosure to decimate the teenagers who enjoyed themselves tormenting her. Tatiana ripped one of her tormenters to pieces, and, during her 20 minutes of freedom, she searched the zoo grounds for the other two, ignoring zoo visitors, park employees, and emergency responders. As Hribal puts it, “Tatiana was singular in her purpose.” She could have killed any number of people, but ignored them in pursuit of her tormentors. Obviously, Tatiana could have escaped from her enclosure whenever she had wished, but had accepted her situation until torment ended her acceptance.

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Stephen Lendman

Their ideal world isn't fit to live in. They may end up destroying it in the process. They want one world government. They want unchallenged global dominance. It's hard imagining a more malevolent force.

On June 5, the London Evening Standard headlined "No minutes, no press conferences - just the world's power brokers chewing the fat on the issues of the day. It's the Bilderberg conference - and it's coming to a suburb near you."

On June 6, it convened. It continues through June 9.

It's a rite of spring. A previous article said British political economist Will Hutton calls attendees the "high priests of globalization." Powerful movers and shakers have their own agenda. They're up to no good. They meet annually face-to-face. They conspire, collude and collaborate against populist interests. Their's alone matter. According to Bilderberg Meetings.org:

■ "Founded in 1954, Bilderberg is an annual conference designed to foster dialogue between Europe and North America."
■ "Every year, between 120 -150 political leaders and experts from industry, finance, academia and the media are invited to take part in the conference."
■ "About two thirds of the participants come from Europe and the rest from North America; one third from politics and government and the rest from other fields."
■ "The conference is a forum for informal, off-the-record discussions about megatrends and the major issues facing the world."
■ "Thanks to the private nature of the conference, the participants are not bound by the conventions of office or by pre-agreed positions."
■ "As such, they can take time to listen, reflect and gather insights. There is no detailed agenda, no resolutions are proposed, no votes are taken, and no policy statements are issued."
■ "The 61st Bilderberg meeting will take place at the beginning of June 2013 in the UK."

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Stephen Lendman

Barak Obama, Susan Rice & Samantha Power (A. Wong/Getty)

Obama's cabinet, national security team, and other close advisors reflect a virtual rogues gallery of scoundrels. Susan Rice as National Security Advisor and Samantha Power as UN envoy are on board in new capacities. Rice shifts from UN ambassador to the White House. A previous article quoted the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity saying "she belongs in the big house, not in the White House."

Given her notion of humanitarian intervention, Power belongs there with her. On June 5, Obama announced both appointments. He was right calling Power "a relentless advocate for American interests and values." He was wrong saying doing so reflects "building partnerships on behalf of democracy and human rights." He called Power "an indispensable member of my national security team." He stopped short of explaining her imperial role. Senate confirmation is required.

Expect it to be rubber-stamp. Democrats control the body. Based on John McCain's comment, Republicans aren't likely to object. He called her "well-qualified for this important position." He urged swift confirmation. Other notable neocons praised her nomination. Former Senator Joe Lieberman said he's "very encouraged by the president's appointment." Alan Dershowitz called her "a perfect choice." Uberhawk Max Boot said she's "a very capable and principled advocate of humanitarian intervention." He stopped short of explaining the mass death and destruction it causes. The Islamophobic Anti-Defamation League said "(W)e are heartened that the US will be represented by an individual whose moral resolve and fierce pragmatism will serve our country well."

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Stephen Lendman

Barak Obama, Susan Rice & Samantha Power (A. Wong/Getty)

Previous articles discussed her. Calling her controversial stops short of accurately characterizing her. Moral depravity explains best.

Vishay Prashad calls her the "queen of interventionist hawks." South African journalist Getahune Bekele said she's a "consummate ally of grubby despots." Ray McGovern says she believes "hawkishness" is "safer" for career advancement than "thoughtful diplomacy." Reuters called her "sharp-tongued." Others condemn her bloody hands. Banality of evil describes her. Death and destruction don't bother her. She was quoted once saying, "The only thing we have to do is look the other way."

Reports suggest humanitarian warmonger Samantha Power will replace her as UN ambassador. Senate confirmation is needed. She and Rice played leading roles in urging "humanitarian war" on Libya.

Genocidal slaughter followed. Africa's most developed nation was ravaged. So-called responsibility to protect is code language for show no mercy. When America intervenes, with or without NATO partners, death, destruction, resource theft, exploitation and human misery follow.

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