03/23/12

Permalink U.S. Resurrects Shuttered Bush Administration 'Total Information Awareness' Data Mining Program

The Obama administration is moving to relax restrictions on how counterterrorism analysts may retrieve, store and search information about Americans gathered by government agencies for purposes other than national security threats. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. on Thursday signed new guidelines for the National Counterterrorism Center, which was created in 2004 to foster intelligence sharing and serve as a terrorism threat clearinghouse. The guidelines will lengthen to five years - from 180 days - the amount of time the center can retain private information about Americans when there is no suspicion that they are tied to terrorism, intelligence officials said. The guidelines are also expected to result in the center making more copies of entire databases and "data mining them" using complex algorithms to search for patterns that could indicate a threat.

John Glaser: Government Now Allowed to Store Info on Innocent Americans
Michael Gould-Wartofsky: Big Brother on campus
Russia Today: Pentagon creating new-generation cyberweapon
Russia Today: File extension: US to keep innocent civilians' data 10 times longer
Russia Today: Did Obama sign a martial law executive order?


Permalink TSA Nabs Suspected Al Queda Terrorist At Chicago Airport, A toddler in a wheelchair

This video was taken in in the spring of 2010 at either O'Hare or Midway Airport. A toddler in a wheelchair is stopped by the TSA at the Airport in Chicago and forced to into a sequestered area. On his way to a family vacation in Disney, this 3 year old boy is in a body cast for a broken leg. Despite assurances from his father that "everything is ok", he is physically trembling with fear while he watches his two siblings, mother, father, grandfather and grandmother pass through along with everyone else...only to be singled out. He simply does not understand what is happening and why.


Permalink In America, TV watches you: CIA to spy on people through household items

With a growing number of ‘smart gadgets,’ spying on homes may start to become much easier. In fact, CIA Chief David Petraeus admitted that Americans were effectively bugging themselves and making it easy for spy agencies to peek in on their lives. Speaking at a summit for In-Q-Tel, the CIA’s venture capital firm, Petraeus noted that new devices that link ‘dumb’ home appliances such as refrigerators, ovens and lighting systems to the Internet could “change our notion of secrecy.”


Permalink Afghanistan Massacre: A revenge promised by US soldiers?

The Pentagon now has to deal with accusations by Afghans that it was not an accidental shooting committed by a possibly mentally-unstable soldier, but rather a planned revenge by US troops. - Residents from the villages where the rampage took place claim soon after a roadside bomb accident that happened on March 7 or 8, some US soldiers came and threatened that the habitants would be punished for what they called “supporting anti-US forces”. "The soldiers called all the people to come out of their houses and from the mosque," Ghulam Rasool, a tribal elder from Panjwai district said. According to Rasool, the soldiers told the villagers: “A bomb exploded on our vehicle. We will get revenge for this incident by killing at least 20 of your people.” Resident of Mokhoyan village Naek Mohammad also described how the soldiers assembled the villagers. A US soldier, speaking through a translator, told the Afghans: "I know you are all involved and you support the insurgents. So now you will pay for it – you and your children will pay for this," Mohammad told journalists.

Justin Raimondo: Robert Bales – Lone Nut or Scapegoat? - A few days before Bales went postal, there was a bomb attack on a US convoy in which a friend of Bales’s lost a leg: Bales’s lawyer has been detailing his client’s anger at this incident, implying it precipitated the murder spree. There are indications, however, that this is not the whole story. One local resident relates how the Americans paid a visit to the village where the killings took place and threatened residents with retaliation.


Permalink Outrage over Trayvon Martin shooting spreads

Fury over the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin is spreading. - Marchers took to the streets in New York City and Miami Wednesday, demanding the arrest of the shooter, neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman. And he's not the only one under fire. In Manhattan, hundreds demonstrated, seeking justice, they said, for Martin. The "Million Hoodie March" got its name because Martin was wearing a hoodie on Feb. 28, the night Zimmerman shot him. Martin's parents were at the New York protest, surrounded by supporters. "Our son was not committing any crime," said Martin's mother, Sybrina Fulton. "Our son is your son. I want you guys to stand up for justice and stand up for what's right." That got a loud "yeah" from the crowd.


Permalink China vows to slow reliance on executed inmates' organs

A Chinese health official has vowed executed inmates will no longer be the main source of organs for transplants in three to five years, as the country sets up a donation system, state media said. - China has long vowed to reduce its reliance on death-row inmates for organs, but high demand and a chronic shortage of donations mean they have remained a key source -- a situation that has generated heated controversy. But Huang Jiefu, vice health minister, said the government wanted to abolish this practice altogether and was in the process of setting up a nationwide organ donation system, the official Xinhua news agency reported. "China... promises that within three to five years, it will completely change the abnormal method of relying mainly on death row inmates to obtain transplant organs," Huang was quoted as saying in the report late Thursday.


Permalink Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in Occupied Palestine

Israeli violations of international law and humanitarian law in the OPT continued during the reporting period (15 – 21 March 2012)

Shooting: During the reporting period, IOF wounded 3 Palestinian civilians, including a child, in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. During the reporting period, IOF used excessive force to disperse peaceful demonstrations organized in protest to Israeli settlement activities and the construction of the annexation wall in the West Bank. As a result, two Palestinian civilian were wounded, and dozens of Palestinian civilians and international human rights defenders suffered from tear gas inhalation. IOF also arrested two Palestinian civilians. News agencies published a photo that showed a dog belonging to IOF violently attack a Palestinian civilian before IOF arrested him. Additionally, Israeli soldiers attacked a journalist and destroyed his camera. In the Gaza Strip, a 6-year-old Palestinian child was wounded by a bullet to the right thigh when he was at home as IOF positioned at the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel to the east of Rafah opened fire at Palestinian communities.

Incursions: During the reporting period, IOF conducted at least 56 military incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank, during which they arrested 8 Palestinian civilians, including 3 children and a woman. In the Gaza Strip, IOF conducted one limited incursion into the northern Gaza Strip, during which they leveled areas of Palestinian land which they had already razed.

IMEMC: PCHR Weekly: “Army Conducts 56 Invasions Into W. Bank, 1 In Gaza”


Permalink Israel refuses to cooperate with UN probe into Jewish settlements

Israel announced that it refuses to cooperate with an independent international fact-finding mission which is due to “investigate the implications of the Israeli settlements on the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of the Palestinian people.” - Israeli sources quoted an Israeli official as saying: “Israel will not cooperate with the fact finding mission,” describing the performance of the UN Human Rights Council as "preposterous". The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu denounced the move and described the Council as hypocritical, “This is a hypocritical council with an automatic majority against Israel,” he said. The UN Human Rights Council on Thursday adopted a resolution to set up an independent probe into the effects of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem on the Palestinians. The resolution was passed by 36 votes for, US against and ten abstentions.

PressTV: UN draws Israeli ire with HR probe bid


Permalink France: The end of the mission

"Al Qaeda fanatic is DEAD: Serial killer jumps out flat window with all guns blazing in dramatic end to 32-hour siege" - comment by 'The Questioner, Earth' at 22/3/2012 16:18:

"Do you really believe he "escaped" from an Afghan prison? Do you really believe his mother had weapons in her car? Who was watching him on the train "hours before the shooting"? Convenient isn't' it? What happened to the mystery woman? Interesting timing on that, no? Why were his mother and brother arrested but the mystery woman disappeared? Wouldn't one of the last people to speak to him be a priority? Do you think killing him before he stands trial is a good way to shut him up? Do you think arresting his family is a good way to shut them up? isn't letting the mystery woman get away a good way to protect your own operative? Isn't it possible that he did not escape an Afghan jail but was released in exchange for working with "counter-terrorism" units, who duped this useful idiot into "running an exercise" that turned real world? Isn't it possible that he may have told his mother and brother what he was involved in? Is it possible that the woman on the train was his handler?"

The exercise was to assist in Sarko's reelection. Sarko is running a campaign based on xenophobia, and these incidents fit right into the plan.

Gilad Atzmon: Is it an Israeli False Flag Again?

Gilad Atzmon: The ‘Pressure Cooker’ tactics – A Glimpse Into Israeli Psychosis - The Israeli Ynet (Hebrew edition) published a few hours ago an interview with retired Israeli police commissioner, Major General Assaf Hefetz. Hefez is highly critical of the French police’s recent operation in Toulouse. According to the Israeli Major General, the French waited for too long (32 hours). He contends that the French police should have been more assertive and far more aggressive. I hope that you have a hard stomach to read how Israel would handle a similar situation. They should have implemented the ‘pressure cooker tactics’ says Hefetz- “massive fire at the walls of the house, throwing grenades around the building followed by bulldozer erasure of the building walls till the suspect turns himself.” Frightening isn’t it? Welcome to occupied Palestine. It seems as if Major General Hefetz came short of suggesting to evacuate the city and to nuke the neighborhood.

Alex Lantier: Political issues in the Toulouse shootings - The attack is a political event requiring a political explanation, particularly as it comes in the context of the French presidential elections. The response of France’s leading political parties is deeply cynical, aiming to exploit the tragedy to shift politics further to the right. This event is a godsend for incumbent President Nicolas Sarkozy, who is trying to burnish his right-wing, law-and-order credentials and win the election despite his deep unpopularity. The shootings have also boosted Marine Le Pen of the neo-fascist National Front (FN).


Permalink “Pirating” UK Student to be Extradited to the US

Richard O’Dwyer, the UK-based ex-administrator of the video linking website TVShack will be extradited to the US to face copyright infringement charges. Despite public outrage Home Secretary Theresa May approved the extradition order today. The 23-year-old student has never visited United States, but now faces several years in a US prison. - Last year Richard O’Dwyer was arrested by police for operating TVShack, a website that carried links to copyrighted TV-shows. Following his detention in the UK’s largest prison, the site owner fought a looming extradition to the US, but without success. After a UK judge gave the green light to extradite the student two months ago, Home Secretary Theresa May officially approved the request from US authorities today. Julia O’Dwyer, Richard’s mother, is severely disappointed with the decision and says that her son has been “sold” to the US. The extradition may disrupt his life for years. “Today, yet another British citizen is betrayed by the British Government,” she said.

Wales Online: Fury as student extradition cleared


Permalink Dennis Kucinich declines to endorse Ohio rival Marcy Kaptur in general election

Rep. Dennis Kucinich joins Cenk to talk about the Keystone XL pipeline, President Obama’s challenges in getting millions back to work and his loss in the Ohio primary to Rep. Marcy Kaptur after redistricting left the state with two fewer seats. “I’ve lost before,” Kucinich says. “I probably have more defeats registered than most members of Congress… My problems are minimal compared to the fact that you’ve 10 million Americans out of work… I’m going to continue in every way that I can not just to be a voice but to be someone who proposes ways that we can move this country ahead.” Cenk asks whether Democrats should now support Kaptur in November’s general election. “I’m not going to talk about that campaign at all,” Kucinich says. “There are some things that need to be resolved.”


Health topic page on womens health Womens health our team of physicians Womens health breast cancer lumps heart disease Womens health information covers breast Cancer heart pregnancy womens cosmetic concerns Sexual health and mature women related conditions Facts on womens health female anatomy Womens general health and wellness The female reproductive system female hormones Diseases more common in women The mature woman post menopause Womens health dedicated to the best healthcare
buy viagra online