Most people use social media like Facebook and Twitter to share photos of friends and family, chat with friends and strangers about random and amusing diversions, or follow their favorite websites, bands and television shows. But what does the US military use those same networks for? Well, we can't tell you: That's "classified," a CENTCOM spokesman recently informed Raw Story.

One use that's confirmed, however, is the manipulation of social media through the use of fake online "personas" managed by the military. Raw Story recently reported that the US Air Force had solicited private sector vendors for something called "persona management software." Such a technology would allow single individuals to command virtual armies of fake, digital "people" across numerous social media portals.

These "personas" were to have detailed, fictionalized backgrounds, to make them believable to outside observers, and a sophisticated identity protection service was to back them up, preventing suspicious readers from uncovering the real person behind the account. They even worked out ways to game geolocating services, so these "personas" could be virtually inserted anywhere in the world, providing ostensibly live commentary on real events, even while the operator was not really present.

Over 500 activists gathered at the Iowa Statehouse in Des Moines to show solidarity with the protesters in Wisconsin and rally against legislation that would limit state workers' bargaining rights.

"This is not an assault on public workers," Ken Sagar, president of the Iowa Federation of Labor, told The Associated Press. "This is an assault on the middle class." "There are people who think that you have all gathered here today just because of something that’s happening in Wisconsin," Congressman Bruce Braley said at the protest. "But you know and I know that the real reason we’re here today is because the middle class and working women are under attack and it’s our job to stand up and set the record straight."

Legislation introduced to the Iowa House would prevent public workers from negotiating health benefits with their employers and also decrease their pensions. Republican Rep. Lance Horbach, who heads the House Labor Committee, said the legislation only limits a modest portion of public workers bargaining rights and that "90 percent" still remains.

Union supporters in Wisconsin are pointing to a new poll they say shows support for Gov. Scott Walker (R) is straining under the weight of the thousands of protesters gathered in and around the state capitol in Madison. The poll of Wisconsin voters, conducted by Democratic pollster GQR Research for the AFL-CIO between Feb. 16 and 20, shows public feelings toward the union supporters versus the Republican governor are vastly different. Sixty-two percent of respondents to the poll said they view public employees favorably, while just 11% said they had an unfavorable view of the workers whose benefits packages Walker says are breaking the state budget.

USA Today: Poll: Americans favor union bargaining rights
Salon: The goal should be to do away with employer-based benefits in favor of universal social insurance programs

HEBRON (Ma'an) -- The five tents giving shelter to some 50 Bedouin residents of Amniyr, a tiny community north of Susiya in the south Hebron hills, were torn down on Monday, their olive trees uprooted and water sources covered over. An observer with the Christian Peacemaker Teams said Israeli demolition crews arrived before sunrise, at about 5:30 a.m., and began taking down the tents, then filled a well and a water cistern with earth. "They uprooted several olive trees and buried them under the dirt," he said. All that was left of the small herding community was a cave, where residents took shelter during the demolition, and a small bread oven made of stone, the observer said.

[Gaddafi going mental:] "I am in Tripoli and not in Venezuela. Do not believe the channels belonging to stray dogs." Libyan dictator Colonel Gaddafi vowed to fight on and die a "martyr" this afternoon, as he called on his supporters to take back the streets from pro-democracy protesters. He declared himself "a warrior" and proclaimed, "Libya wants glory, Libya wants to be at the pinnacle, at the pinnacle of the world." (London Evening Standard)

The Libyan leader says protesters should be executed. As violence spreads and key advisors defect, he appears out of touch and out of control.

Reporting from Cairo and Salum, Egypt — Libyan strongman Moammar Kadafi offered no concessions to protesters who have shaken his regime by capturing several major cities, denouncing them as drunkards, terrorists and "drug-fueled mice" who should be executed. But Kadafi's tough 75-minute nationwide speech on Tuesday may not save a regime that after four decades in power seemed to be quickly disintegrating. With violence flaring in city after city, and key defections from his inner circle, he appeared out of touch and increasingly out of control. In the speech, Kadafi praised one of his closest and most powerful aides, Interior Secretary and army Gen. Abdul Fatah Younis. Several hours later, however, Younis made clear in his own televised statement that he had joined the opposition, urging "all the armed forces to be at the service of the people … to help them achieve victory." [More photos HERE]

LIVE: Al Jazeera English: Live Stream
PressTV: Gaddafi comments signal genocide
PressTV: Libyan interior minister resigns

After New Year’s Day 2009, Western media reported that Seif al-Islam el-Qaddafi, a son of the Libyan leader Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, had paid Mariah Carey $1 million to sing just four songs at a bash on the Caribbean island of St. Barts. As the Qaddafi clan conducts a bloody struggle to hold onto power in Libya, cables obtained by WikiLeaks offer a vivid account of the lavish spending, rampant nepotism and bitter rivalries that have defined what a 2006 cable called “Qadhafi Incorporated,” using the State Department’s preference from the multiple spellings for Libya’s troubled first family.

Aftenposten: 29.09.2009: A GLIMPSE INTO LIBYAN LEADER QADHAFI´S ECCENTRICITIES

A Libyan warship arrived in Malta on Tuesday after its crew refused to carry out orders to bomb Benghazi, the satellite network Al Jazeera reported. A second Libyan ship has also reportedly been sighted in the area, the network reported. A Libyan pilot, speaking from Switzerland, told Al Jazeera on Tuesday that he had flown a planeload of mercenaries into Libya. The pilot said he did not realize what he was doing at the time, according to Al Jazeera, but that the group was chanting, although the members did not speak Arabic. He urged fellow pilots not to go to work or answer their phones, Al Jazeera reported. He said that, in the chaos of Tripoli, they would not be found and he was sure that they and their families would be safe as the regime collapsed and lost power, according to Al Jazeera.

Houston: Lawyers for a group of Indian guest workers, trafficked to the US from India to work in ship yards after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, have sued an American company, Signal International, along with its co-conspirators and other entities for human trafficking and racketeering. If class status is granted, the lawsuit could be the largest human trafficking case in US history, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has said in a statement. Workers were allegedly lured here with dishonest assurances of becoming lawful permanent US residents, the statement said.

The ACLU joined a class action lawsuit brought on behalf of over 500 guest workers from India charging that the workers were trafficked into the US through the federal government's H-2B guest worker programme with dishonest assurances of becoming lawful permanent US residents and subjected to squalid living conditions, fraudulent payment practises, and threats of serious harm upon their arrival.

G. Edward Griffin, author of 'The Creature From Jekyll Island', and numerous other books and documentary films, and Anthony Patchett, retired assistant Head Deputy District Attorney, Los Angeles County Environmental Crimes/ OSHA Division explain the consequences of the Monsanto contract in the video above. Here is the paragraph that defines Monsanto's limit of liability that shifts it to the farmer:

"GROWER'S EXCLUSIVE LIMITED REMEDY: THE EXCLUSIVE REMEDY OF THE GROWER AND THE LIMIT OF THE LIABILITY OF MONSANTO OR ANY SELLER FOR ANY AND ALL LOSSES, INJURY OR DAMAGES RESULTING FROM THE USE OR HANDLING OF SEED (INCLUDING CLAIMS BASED IN CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE, PRODUCT LIABILITY, STRICT LIABILITY, TORT, OR OTHERWISE) SHALL BE THE PRICE PAID BY THE GROWER FOR THE QUANTITY OF THE SEED INVOLVED OR, AT THE ELECTION OF MONSANTO OR THE SEED SELLER, THE REPLACEMENT OF THE SEED. IN NO EVENT SHALL MONSANTO OR ANY SELLER BE LIABLE FOR ANY INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES."

Fed up with what he views as crappy treatment from the TSA, the owner of a restaurant near Seattle-Tacoma International Airport has decided to put all TSA agents on his No-Eat List.

"We have posted signs on our doors basically saying that they aren't allowed to come into our business," one employee tells travel journalist Christopher Elliott. "We have the right to refuse service to anyone." She says that whenever a TSA agent attempts to dine at the restaurant, "we turn our backs and completely ignore them, and tell them to leave... Their kind aren't welcomed in our establishment." "Until TSA agents start treating us with the respect and dignity that we deserve, then things will change for them in the private sector," says the employee.

The restaurant claims that 90% of its patrons are in agreement with their stance and that the local police have actually helped escort TSA workers of the premises.

One would think that the effort to downplay the killings of as many as 64 civilians, including a large number of children, would be enough to spark considerable anti-US outrage, but apparently Gen. David Petraeus saw an opportunity to make things even worse, and took it.

In a closed door meeting aimed at explaining why they had killed so many civilians, Gen. Petraeus actually accused parents in the region of burning their own children in an attempt to raise the death count and make the US look bad. Of course if there is one thing the occupation forces don’t need any help with, it’s looking bad, and the shocking accusation sparked considerable anger amongst the Karzai government. It was quickly dismissed by provincial officials, of course, but did immeasurable damage to US credibility on the matter of the rising civilian toll.

Jason Ditz: New US Drone Strikes Kill 15 in Waziristan -At least 15 people were killed today in a new flurry of US drone strikes against Pakistani tribal areas. The first strike killed seven people in South Waziristan, while a second strike killed another eight in North Waziristan. The strikes were the first in nearly a month, an atypical lapse that has fueled reports that the detained CIA spy and US ‘consulate worker’ Raymond Davis, who police say was captured with GPS tracking devices on him, played a key role in the strikes.

Reuters: US/NATO forces kill 64 civilians

The people of Lahore now see CIA agents like game hunters, operating under paid immunity. Last summer in Lahore, I had a little party at my house for the final of the football World Cup. It was a pretty relaxed affair, maybe 20 people, cushions on the TV room floor, pizza on the dining room table. Some of my friends brought friends of their own. One was an American man. He was wearing a light jacket. After he left, my wife told me he was also wearing a gun. Now, I'm open to my friends bringing their friends to my house. But I'm not very accepting of a friend bringing a gun – or, worse, bringing a complete stranger with a gun. Yet that's what happened, and it left me angry and disturbed.

Like everyone else I knew, I'd heard the stories about large numbers of armed Americans in Lahore, staying at such-and-such hotels or working out at such-and-such gyms. Maybe I became more sensitive to their presence after the incident at my house, but suddenly I began to see them all around town. To be precise, I didn't know if the men I was seeing were armed. But they looked like Americans, and they didn't look like rock guitarists or maths teachers or irrigation specialists or heart surgeons. They looked, to my unschooled eye, like what I'd expect trained killers to look like.

Then, last month, in broad daylight on a main Lahore road, one such man, Raymond Davis, shot dead two Pakistani citizens with his Glock, and a US consular car sent to retrieve him killed another Pakistani citizen while speeding the wrong way down a street. On Sunday, the Guardian revealed that Davis is in fact a CIA agent.

Salon: The NYT's journalistic obedience
AWIP: Pak intel: US killer official linked to CIA

New WikiLeaks releases, accessed by Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten, continue to embarrass the Norwegian government as well as the US’, with latest revelations suggesting that Norway’s ambassadors joined their US-led NATO allies in attempts to avoid a messy debate on civilian casualties in Afghanistan. Leaked cables from the American delegation to NATO, written in September 2008, allege that "Norway’s ambassador emphasized the need to avoid a public debate about the reporting of the number of civilians killed." They claim to record then-Norwegian ambassador and former deputy foreign minister Kim Traavik pouring scorn on the UN’s civilian death toll figures, stating that "UN employees themselves in Kabul doubt the method that is used."

[News in English: Norway joined NATO in suppressing reports of civilian Afghan deaths]

A major earthquake in Christchurch has left at least 65 people dead, hundreds more injured and toppled buildings in what the prime minister has described as "New Zealand's darkest day". Rescue workers scrambled to free scores of people trapped in buildings, some crews arriving by helicopter because streets were blocked by rubble and jammed traffic. Officials fear the death toll could double amid reports that more than 200 were trapped in collapsed buildings and wreckage of homes. Bodies were seen lying in the streets, untended until emergency services were able to reach them. A special "person finder" established by Google, the search engine giant, said it was currently tracking more than 3600 "records".

Daily Mail: At least 65 dead as huge earthquake rocks New Zealand with fears that the toll may rise to 300

The Prime Minister said that popular uprisings now flaring across the Middle East showed the West had been wrong to support dictators and oppressive regimes. Speaking to the Kuwaiti Parliament, Mr Cameron said Britain would back democracy campaigners seeking greater rights across the Middle East. "History is sweeping through your neighbourhood," he said. "Not as a result of force and violence, but by people seeking their rights, and in the vast majority of cases doing so peacefully and bravely." Britain and other Western countries supported Hosni Mubarak, ousted by protests in Egypt. They have also backed authoritarian regimes in the Gulf region, making few efforts to push allies towards democratic reform. That approach was wrong and counter-productive, Mr Cameron said.

PressTV: West flawed policies behind uprisings
Andy Worthington: Revolution in Libya: Protestors Respond to Gaddafi’s Murderous Backlash with Remarkable Courage; US and UK Look Like the Hypocrites They Are

Mercenaries from Russia and former Soviet nations are fighting Libyan protesters on behalf of Muammar Gaddafi, it has emerged.

The embattled Libyan leader has launched a brutal crackdown as his bloody 41-year grip on power appears to be nearing its end and Eastern European gunmen have been spotted with black African mercenaries from French-speaking African nations such as Chad. The mercenaries, many of whom are white, are believed to have received up to £18,000 each to prop up but hey also face being shot or hanged if they are captured by the growing number of armed revolutionaries in Libya. Tripoli woke today to find bodies littering the streets after security forces loyal to embattled leader Muammar Gaddafi opened fire on protesters.

PressTV: Libya hires African mercenaries

In a fresh wave of violent crackdown on protests which have rocked the North African nation for nearly a week, Libyan army warplanes have bombed the capital city of Tripoli. Reports suggested that army warplanes bombed protesters in Tripoli early on Tuesday. Residents reported gun

Meanwhile, cracks have been reported between Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi's supporters as several army personnel and politicians take side with people protesters.

Government control and repression of civil society remain the norm in Libya, with little progress made on promised human rights reforms. While releases of large numbers of Islamist prisoners continued, 2010 saw stagnation on key issues such as penal code reform, freedom of association, and accountability for the Abu Salim prison massacre in 1996. Libya maintains harsh restrictions on freedom of assembly and expression, including penal code provisions that criminalize “insulting public officials” or “opposing the ideology of the Revolution,” although there has been slightly more media debate in recent years, particularly online.

Libya appeared to slip further from the grip of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi on Tuesday, as opposition forces in eastern Libya moved to consolidate control of the region, arming themselves with weapons taken from security warehouses, and fighting continued in Tripoli, witnesses said. In Tripoli, the capital, the government was striking back at protesters challenging Colonel Qaddafi’s 40-year rule. Security forces and militiamen backed by helicopters and warplanes besieged parts of the city overnight, according to witnesses and news reports from Tripoli. Fighting was heavy at times on Monday night, witnesses said, and the streets were thick with special forces loyal to Colonel Qaddafi fighting alongside mercenaries. Roving the streets in trucks, they shot freely as planes dropped what witnesses described as “small bombs” and helicopters fired on protesters. Hundreds of Qaddafi supporters took over the central Green Square in the capital after truckloads of militiamen arrived and opened fire on protesters, scattering them. Residents said they now feared to leave their houses.

Two Libyan Air Force fighter pilots defected on Monday and flew their jets to Malta where they told authorities they had been ordered to bomb protesters, Maltese government officials said. They said the two pilots, both colonels, took off from a base near Tripoli. One of them has requested political asylum. The pilots are being questioned by the Maltese police. The two said they decided to fly to Malta after being ordered to bomb anti-government protesters in Libya's second largest city of Benghazi, the sources said.

Antiwar: Senior Libyan Pilots Defect to Malta After Orders to Attack Protesters

A leaked manuscript by one of Sarah Palin's closest aides from her time as governor charges that Palin broke state election law in her 2006 gubernatorial campaign and was consumed by petty grievances up until she resigned. The unpublished book by Frank Bailey was leaked to the media and widely circulated on Friday. The manuscript opens with an account of Palin sending Bailey a message saying "I hate this damn job" shortly before she resigned as Alaska's governor in July 2009, less than three years into her four-year term. The manuscript goes on for nearly 500 pages, a mixture of analysis, gossip and allegation. Copies of the manuscript were forwarded around Alaska political circles on Friday. The Daily News received copies from multiple sources, the first from author Joe McGinniss, who is working on his own Palin book. McGinniss didn't respond to a message asking where he obtained the manuscript and the reason he circulated it. Bailey, a political insider who joined Palin's 2006 campaign for governor and became part of her inner circle, has never before told his version of the Palin story. Bailey has consistently refused requests for interviews and did so again Friday. The book was co-written with California author Ken Morris and Jeanne Devon of Anchorage, who publishes the popular anti-Palin website Mudflats.

Pakistani intelligence has linked a US Consulate employee who shot dead two Pakistani citizens last month to America's Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), a report says.

A Pakistani intelligence official said Monday that Raymond Davis, an American official arrested last month for killing two Pakistani men in Lahore, was working undercover for the CIA.

"It is beyond any shadow of a doubt that he was working for CIA," AFP quoted an unnamed official from Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency. "He's on contract. He's not a regular CIA guy, but he's working for CIA. That's confirmed," the Pakistani official added. "He was sort of working behind our backs. Normal CIA guys -- we know who they are. We interact with them regularly. We know they're CIA, but in this particular case we had no knowledge of him," he went on to say.

Washington has been putting pressure on Islamabad to officially declare Davis a diplomat in an attempt to end his prosecution.

AWIP: CIA agent Davis linked to Taliban

Nato has said it will "investigate" reports that it has killed dozens of civilians in recent days in ground and air strikes in eastern Afghanistan. The governor of Kunar province has said 64 civilians have been killed in recent Nato-led air strikes in a remote mountainous district. Afghan President Hamid Karzai later said more than 50 civilians had died. Nato claims to have killed more than 30 insurgents in an overnight raid in the area two days ago. A spokesman for the Nato forces in Afghanistan told the BBC that they had no evidence of any civilian casualties, but that they were looking into the reports.

Members of a Libyan army unit told Benghazi residents on Sunday they had defected and "liberated" the city from forces supporting veteran leader Muammar Gaddafi, two residents said. Habib al-Obaidi, who heads the intensive care unit at the main Al-Jalae hospital, and lawyer Mohamed Al-Mana, told Reuters members of the "Thunderbolt" squad had arrived at the hospital with soldiers wounded in clashes with Gaddafi's personal guard. "They are now saying that they have overpowered the Praetorian Guard and that they have joined the people's revolt," Mohamed said by telephone. It was not possible to independently verify the report.

Sydney Morning Herald: Libyan city falls to anti-goverment forces
Haaretz: Witnesses: Libya army says Benghazi liberated from pro-Ghadafi forces

[Message From Libya]TELL THE WORLD WHAT IS HAPPENING TO US!

[Gun taken from sniper] اسلحة القناصة المرتزقة (شباب من بنغازى يعرضون اسلحة القناصة المرتزقة اسلحة غريبة الشكل) :You Tube
LIBYA: Soldiers burned for allegedly refusing to shoot protesters – GRAPHIC Video
Al Jazeera: Libya protests spread and intensify: The dictatorship using planes to kill protesters
You Tube: MASSACRE IN LIBYA 21 FEBRUARY 2011 (EXTREME SHOCK IMAGE +18)