Private First Class Bradley Manning (BMSN)

(1) Gulet Mohamed -- the Somali-born American citizen who just turned 19 and who described how he spent a week being interrogated, beaten and tortured by unknown captors -- remains in custody in Kuwait despite not being charged with any crimes or wrongdoing of any kind. As his lawyer said in an interview with me on Tuesday, it is the Americans, not the Kuwaitis, who are responsible for his ongoing detention by virtue of placing him on the U.S.'s no-fly list -- likely, they believe, in order to enable his ongoing interrogations by the FBI without a lawyer or other legal protections to which he'd be entitled if he returned to the U.S.

(2) Jacob Appelbaum -- the WikiLeaks volunteer who was detained and interrogated for hours and had his electronic goods seized the last time he attempted to re-enter the U.S., and who was told that this would happen each time he left the country and came back -- indeed encountered similar treatment on Sunday when he returned home from Iceland. This time at the Seattle airport, he was again detained, questioned, and had his electronic goods taken -- all without a warrant -- though this time he purposely traveled without a laptop or cellphone (the only item he had with him was a memory stick onto which he embedded the Bill of Rights). Appelbaum recounted his ordeal yesterday on Twitter, and BoingBoing has collected his narration here.

(3) This morning, the Bradley Manning Defense Fund announced that WikiLeaks has given the fund $15,000. That brings the total raised for Manning's defense to more than $100,000, which guarantees that he will be able to pay for a vigorous defense.

And despite the pressure the website has been under, reports of trouble at WikiLeaks are greatly exaggerated, claims Assange. "There is no 'fall'. We have never published as much as we are now. WikiLeaks is now mirrored on more than 2,000 websites. I can't keep track of the spin-off sites - those who are doing their own WikiLeaks... If something happens to me or to WikiLeaks, 'insurance' files will be released."

The contents of these files are unknown, but, according to Assange, "[t]hey speak more of the same truth to power." It is not just government that should be worried about the content of these files, however. "There are 504 US embassy cables on one broadcasting organisation and there are cables on Murdoch and News Corp," says Assange.

The attempts by the US to indict Assange should worrying the mainstream press, he adds.

[Transcript HERE.]

Salon.com: Sarah Palin will never be president

Revealed: Second undercover police officer who posed as activist. Spy spent four years living in Leeds and played a central role in planning a demonstration to shut down the Drax power station. The controversy over a police surveillance network embedded in the environmental protest movement has deepened dramatically after the Guardian identified a second undercover officer who spent years living a double life as an activist. The woman's name has been known to a group of six activists since Mark Kennedy – the police infiltrator identified as having spent seven years inside the movement – claimed she was also a police officer when confronted by them about his own identity last October.

[A] second spy spent four years living as an environmental activist in Leeds, gaining the trust of dozens of activists and playing a central role in planning a demonstration to shut down Drax power station in North Yorkshire.

Afghan and foreign forces caused unreasonable damage to homes and orchards, just as the harvest was about to begin, and displaced a number of people. Tens of thousands of foreign and Afghan troops are deployed in Kandahar, a traditional stronghold of the Afghan Taliban, where they have been conducting military offensives over the past year. The government delegation, led by President Hamid Karzai's adviser, Mohammad Sadiq Aziz, said Afghan and foreign forces caused unreasonable damage to homes and orchards, just as the harvest was about to begin, and displaced a number of people.

RAWA: Fighting hunger in rural Afghanistan

The list of conservatives who are questioning our involvement in Afghanistan is growing. As Josh Rogin at Foreign Policy magazine reported:

"Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist said he wants to build a center-right coalition to advocate for considering pulling out of Afghanistan in order to save the hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars being spent there."

One of the first prominent conservatives to sound the alarm on Afghanistan was Tony Blankley, a columnist and press secretary for former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Blankley has written several columns on the topic over the years. Questioning President Obama's strategy in Afghanistan, Blankley recently wrote,

"I do not understand how, as a country, we can continue to send our troops into that cauldron with no rational expectation of success."

Washington Post columnist George Will was even more explicit in September 2009, when he authored a column simply titled: "Time to Get Out of Afghanistan."

Horowitz, a member of Mertz Party, [has] disclosed the new suggestions made by the McCarthyite Knesset Commission of Inquiry into Human Rights Organizations. According to Horowitz, the commission is now considering the following measures:

● New bills and regulations restricting the entry to Israel of anyone who may be affiliated with left activity. This may take place without the need for court.
● Putting an end to foreign citizens status, including parents who are married to Israelis
● Reducing drastically the rights of prisoners and detainees - along with new initiatives of minimum prison terms, increased enforcement, penalties and so forth
● Denial of Israeli citizenship from an increasing numbers of Israelis convicted of various offences
● Stripping Knesset members of their rights.
● Giving judicial powers to administrative proceedings; for example, the establishment of a clerical tribunal for foreigners
● Preventing the entry of Arab communities
● Seize funding to cultural institutions that are promoting ‘leftist materials’
● Eliminating tax exemption on donations to human rights organizations
● Cancellation of contracts with public bodies associated with human rights organizations.
● Allocated assigning posts for civil service volunteers to human right associations will be cancelled.
● Restricting access to the websites of human rights organizations and public institutions
● Preventing the entry of representatives of human rights organizations to educational institutions

I guess that the picture is clear. Israel turns against itself. Its days are numbered.

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Following an agreement that would give private US security group Blackwater access to the West Bank, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said the move meant Palestinians were "under double attack." Chief of the PA security forces in the West Bank Adnan Dmeiri, who confirmed the arrival of the security personnel, said the agents would only be fulfilling their mandate to protect US officials when they are in the West Bank and institutions in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

Hamas' Barhoum, however, accused the PA of coordinating with US intelligence, and called the move a reflection of the "multinational authority" ruling the West Bank, which aims to "oppress the freedom of the Palestinians, their sovereignty on their land enable the Israeli occupation to apply its agenda of rubbing out all those defending the Palestinian cause." The arrival of Blackwater security personnel to Palestine "represents the largest danger to the lives and sovereignty of Palestinians," Barhoum said, adding that he believed it "confirmed the existence of US-Israel security cooperation," and would add to the "violations of freedoms and human rights already carried out in the West Bank."

Palestinian homes and other structures in East al-Quds and the occupied West Bank are demolished by Israel on a regular basis. Israel claims the demolitions are only ordered for structures that were built without permits. The Palestinians, however, say it is virtually impossible to get a building permit, particularly for housing in the city, according to an Israeli civil rights group. The civil rights group, Ir Amim, said the rise in demolitions is a calculated move to drive Palestinians out of the city.

PFHR: New PHR-Israel Report Finds: The “Humanitarian Minimum” Policy is Camouflage for Continuing Harm to the Inhabitants of the Gaza Strip

Nation Books has just published our new book -- The Goldstone Report: The Legacy of the Landmark Investigation of the Gaza Conflict, which is an abridged copy of the UN report accompanied by a dozen essays, exploring the political, legal and social legacy of the report and the Israeli attack on Gaza in the winter of 2008-2009. The book comes out at an important new moment in the history of the conflict, with the collapse of talks between the two sides, and growing international calls for accountability for Israel’s conduct in the occupied territories.

[The weblog of Ken O'Keefe] The Samouni Family Children – Survivors of the Israeli Massacre

January 12, 2011 is a day I will never forget, visiting the Samouni family could not possibly be anything but a life-changing event. Words simply cannot describe the devastation wrought upon this family by a marauding band of Israeli psychopaths, otherwise known as the Givati Brigade of the Israeli Defence Forces.

Today my team heard from mothers and fathers and children the story of the hell on Earth created by Operation Cast Lead. Forty-eight people were killed in this family, children shot in front of parents, parents shot in front of children, a group of 97 in one home blasted to bits by rockets and mortars. Made to live amongst the mutilated and dead for several days, ambulances were kept away and some died slowly over hours and even days.

If you knew the details of this story you would conclude as one mother did, those soldiers that committed these acts, could not be considered human. These were demons with the latest high-tech weapons, courtesy of the US tax-payer and if the good people of the US knew what was done in their name here, they would be sick to their stomachs. Shame on all of us for allowing this to happen and to go completely unpunished.

But amidst all the horrifying memories the children still have their moments of childhood, even if they quiver with terror in the night as the Israeli jets fly overhead as they do to this day nearly every night. I love these people, we are all touched beyond words by the experience of being with them, I wish we could take the whole world on a date with this most incredible family.

One year after the January 12, 2010 earthquake, more than 1 million people remain homeless in Haiti. Homemade shelters and tents are everywhere in Port-au-Prince. People are living under plastic tarps or sheets in concrete parks, in encampments that sprawl up to the edges of major streets, in the side streets, behind buildings, in between buildings, on the sides of hills - literally everywhere. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) estimates that more than 1 million people - 380,000 of them children - still live in displacement camps.

Stephen Lendman: Post-Quake Haiti: One Year Later

London, (Pal Telegraph) - Heavy rains and flooding in Brazil have caused 260 deaths in the states of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, CNN affiliate TV Record reported Wednesday. The greatest damage was in a cluster of towns in a mountainous area northeast of the city of Rio from Tuesday night to Wednesday morning, where civil defense officials said 147 lost their lives. That included 114 people reported killed in Teresopolis by a mudslide, local officials told CNN. Some 1,000 others were left without shelter and were being moved to a local gym and schools.

And, in nearby Petropolis, 18 deaths were recorded, the state government said, according to Agencia Brasil. Three deaths were reported in Itaipava, while in Nova Friburgo there were 12. Among the victims in Rio state were three firefighters who were involved in rescue operations when they were buried by a subsequent mudslide, Agencia Brasil reported. A fourth firefighter was missing. Nearly 75,000 people were without power in the region as a result of the heavy storms.

NYT: Mudslides in Brazil Kill Hundreds
BBC: More than 350 people have now been killed by flooding and mudslides in south-east Brazil, say officials. -Video

At least 18 people have been killed in flash floods and mudslides and 120,000 people have been forced from their homes. The Disaster Management Centre said on Tuesday that more than 120,000 people have been forced from their homes and were living in camps. Many were staying in government buildings set up as makeshift lodgings. The eastern and northeastern areas of the country have been worst hit, with vast areas of rice paddies destroyed. The government has deployed the air force and navy to drop food and rescue stranded residents, mainly in the district of Batticaloa. Al Jazeera's Minelle Fernandez, reporting from the capital Colombo, said sustained rains in recent days had hampered rescue efforts.

"Another problem has been the saturation on the ground, the very slow pace at which flood waters are receding," she said. "In the future, livelihoods will be affected. Over 130,000 acres of paddy land have been washed away. Drinking water wells will also be affected, lots of them have been polluted and contaminated."

London, (Pal Telegraph) - Much of New England appeared to be quickly recovering from snowstorms that have pummeled the region and snarled air traffic across the Northeast. Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino said the city's snow emergency and parking ban will be lifted at 9 a.m. Thursday, but public schools will be closed as crews continue clearing roads. He urged citizens to use public transportation. Amtrak, which had suspended rail service between New York City and points north was to resume Thursday.

"Amtrak plans to operate a normal schedule from New York City to points in New England and Upstate New York on Thursday, January 13," the Amtrak website said. "Crews have repaired damage from a winter storm that curtailed Amtrak service north of New Haven, CT."

Forecasters said accumulation in scattered areas across Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Vermont could reach between 25 and 34 inches, while most areas expected 8 to 16 inches of snow. Snowfall in the heaviest areas reached rates of 2 to 3 inches per hour on Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service.

Jacob Appelbaum, a security researcher, Tor developer, and volunteer with Wikileaks, reported today on his Twitter feed that he was detained, searched, and questioned by the US Customs and Border Patrol agents at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on January 10, upon re-entering the US after a vacation in Iceland. He experienced a similar incident last year at Newark airport. An archive of his tweeted account from today follows. [Click HERE]

THIS MAN IS AN IRISH NATIONAL HERO !!

NYT: Can Europe Be Saved?

I don't know the motivations or mental state of this 30 year old Ft. Campbell soldier but he may be on to something. Refusing to re-deploy to Afghanistan and checking himself into a mental health treatment program is the best thing this young man can do for himself, his wife and two kids. He needs a little gentle deprogramming if he hasn't done that himself already. He deserves a chance to live as normal a life as possible.

After all, he was manipulated into 'volunteering.' His training included a form of mind control. Who knows what he saw and learned and physically encountered in his first tour of Afghanistan? Maybe he found out that everything he knew was wrong and wants no more of the lies? Maybe he just needs a little help in separating himself from the madness? There was a time when we called AWOL "another week of life." It's still the same today. Refusing to deploy or better yet not volunteering ... it's he healthiest thing a young man or woman can do.

To hear a number of prominent economists tell it, it doesn't look good for the U.S. economy, not this year, not in 10 years. The United States will need to come to terms with the fact that its prevalence in the world is fated to come to an end, Jorgenson said. This will be difficult for many Americans to swallow and the United States should brace for social unrest amid blame over who was responsible for squandering global primacy, he said. In the long run, the United States must face up to inevitably being overtaken by China as the world's largest economy. And it may have missed a chance to rein in its largest financial institutions, many of whom remain too big to fail and are getting bigger.

MIT's Simon Johnson put it more bluntly, saying the damage from the financial crisis and its aftermath have dealt U.S. prominence a permanent blow.
"The age of American predominance is over," he told a panel. "The (Chinese) Yuan will be the world's reserve currency within two decades."

Senior Iranian lawmaker Esmail Kowsari says the assassins of an Iranian nuclear scientist have confessed to being supported by the Israeli intelligence service. Senior Iranian lawmaker Esmail Kowsari says the assassins of an Iranian nuclear scientist have confessed to being supported by the Israeli intelligence service. In July 2010, Iranian nuclear physics scientist Massoud Ali-Mohammadi was killed when a remote-controlled bomb detonated near his house in the north of the Iranian capital, Tehran. Following security operations, Iran finally succeeded in arresting the main agents behind the terrorist incident and dismantled a network comprising of spies and terrorists commissioned by Israel, Intelligence Ministry announced on Monday. Long before the assassination of Ali-Mohammadi, the intelligence officials of Israel, the UK and the US had publicly threatened to kill our nuclear scientists, Kowsari said on Monday.

Lebanon’s unity government has collapsed after the Hezbollah movement and its political allies resigned from the cabinet over arguments stemming from a UN investigation into the assassination of Rafiq al-Hariri, the former Lebanese prime minister, in 2005. There has been growing political tension in Lebanon amid signs that Hezbollah members could be indicted by the UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL).

Al Jazeera: Lebanese government collapses
Al Jazeera: Hariri asked to be caretaker PM
Maan News Agency: Israel, EU, UN watching Lebanon 'closely'
Palestine Telegraph: Syria-Saudi fail on Hariri deal

List of Cables released 2011-01-07, 2011-01-09, 2011-01-10, 2011-01-11 + Summaries

Is there a VIX index of climatic and/or geologic activity? Cause the last few weeks have been off the charts. Breaking News shares pictures showing that the Etna volcano has erupted (or at least is projectiling magma far more potently than it traditionally does in its dormant state). As of now, it is unclear if millions of birds, crabs, or fish have fallen out of the sky surrounding Vesuvius. Conveniently this occurs hours after we presented Nigel Farage's rather "glass half emptyish" outlook on Italy's prospects.