Once again the interests of Israel take pride of place in American politics. This time at the Democratic Convention recently held in North Carolina, when the Mayor of Los Angeles decided to take it upon his ears, alone, to judge whether or not the delegates agreed with instating or reinstating a contentious piece of party policy which accepted Jerusalem as being the capital of Israel. It really doesn't matter who wins the upcoming Presidential Election. Either way the American people and the rest of the world will lose.

The Teleprompter was pre-scripted. Please see: "Reality Check: DNC Runs Over Delegates With Scripted Platform Vote"

Trade negotiators from the US and eight other Pacific Rim countries met outside of Washington, DC Wednesday, commencing a new round of the secretive Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement negotiations, also known as 'Nafta on steroids.' - The TPP negotiations began in 2007 and have been carried through by the Obama administration and several Pacific nations under conditions of 'extreme secrecy' without press, public or policymaker oversight. Although most of the content involved in the discussions have been kept in secret, document leaks have revealed that negotiators are working out deals which could hamper free speech on the Internet, reduce access to affordable medicines, deregulate environmental laws, and harm labor rights around the world. Earlier this year Public Citizen posted a leaked document from a past TPP meeting on their website revealing that the pact will give multinational corporations radical new political powers in global trade, including the allotment of vast legal powers to multinational corporations over governments. Today, Amnesty International called on the participating countries, which currently include the U.S., Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam, to ensure that any new rules adhere to core principles of transparency and uphold human rights.

Mark Zuckerberg is watching you.. Facebook really is watching your every move online. - In testing out a new diagnostic tool called Abine DNT+, we noticed that Facebook has more than 200 "trackers" watching our internet activity. Abine defines trackers as "a request that a webpage tries to make your browser perform that will share information intended to record, profile, or share your online activity." The trackers come in the shape of cookies, Javascript, 1-pixel beacons, and Iframes. Cookies are tiny bits of software that web pages drop onto your device that identify you anonymously but nonetheless signal useful behavior about your background interests to advertisers who might want to target you. Critics call this spying. Advertisers call it targeting.

Business Insider: This Is How Facebook Is Tracking Your Internet Activity

Home Front Command annual disaster simulation drill, joint Israel-US 'Austere Challenge 12' drill set to begin on same day at end of October but officials say date is 'coincidence'. - The Home Front Command and the US and Israeli militaries will hold separate drills which will begin at the same time at the end of October. The Home Front Command will hold its annual drill, Turning Point 6, while the US military and IDF will launch joint military maneuvers. The Home Front drill will simulate an earthquake scenario but will also include Home Front Command, fire and rescue services, police and Magen David Adom drills which will simulate disaster sites as a result of rocket attacks. The military drill which has been called the "biggest drill both armies have ever held" will simulate a rocket attack on Israel. The date of both the drills was postponed several times over the past year. Military sources explained that "there was no link between the two drills and the overlapping dates are a coincidence."

Sunday: 107 Killed, 484 Wounded; Hashemi Condemned to Death

The deaths of at least 107 Iraqis in seemingly coordinated attacks eclipsed the expected but still shocking news that Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi has been sentenced to death by a Baghdad criminal court. Another 484 Iraqis were wounded in the violence, which occurred even deep into southern Iraq where such bloodshed is rare. One attack took place at a French consulate in Nasariya.

Although some of the attacks occurred earlier than the sentencing announcement, it cannot be ruled out that several of the later attacks were in response to it. Surges in violence have accompanied significant points in the Hashemi trial, and the evening attacks targeted Shi’ite neighborhoods in Baghdad. Hashemi is Sunni.

Iraq’s Sunni VP sentenced to death after court convicts him of masterminding 2 murders

Reuters: Iraq blasts kill 100 as fugitive VP gets death sentence - Car bombs tore through mainly Shi'ite Baghdad districts on Sunday after Iraq's fugitive Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi was sentenced to death, as more than 100 people were killed across the country in one of the bloodiest days this year.

Hypocritcal USociopaths at work: US Export-Import Bank backs $2 billion loan for UAE nuclear plant 09 Sep 2012 The U.S. Export-Import Bank said on Friday it authorized a $2 billion direct loan to Barakah One Co of the United Arab Emirates to purchase U.S. equipment and construction services to build one of the world’s largest nuclear power plants. The move comes as the United States and other Western powers continue to heap sanctions on Iran for its nuclear program, which they believe is aimed at developing atomic weapons and Tehran says is for peaceful energy purposes.

US officials handed over formal control of Afghanistan's only large-scale US-run prison to Kabul today, even as disagreements between the two countries over the thousands of Taliban and terror suspects held there marred the transfer. - The handover ceremony took place at the prison next to a sprawling US airfield in Bagram, just north of Kabul. President Hamid Karzai has called the transfer a victory for Afghan sovereignty. The prison, formally known as the Parwan Detention Facility, has been the focus of controversy in the past but never had the notoriety of the prisons at Guantanamo Bay or Abu Ghraib in Iraq.

Russia Today: US returns notorious prison to Afghan control

American legendary band Red Hot Chili Peppers has now reacted to the BDS call to cancel their scheduled concert in Tel Aviv. As they landed this morning in the Holy Land, the band hurried straight to the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem - the band will also, I’m sure, visit Yad Vashem and the Museum of Jewish Tolerance. By now I’d expect that some within the BDS movement would have gathered the obvious: that ‘show-business’ like banking, media and so much other ‘business’ is controlled by tribal interests. Show-biz, as the Red Hot Chili Peppers today proved, is just a continuation of Hasbara. Understanding this might just help BDS enthusiasts around the world achieving a little more next time.

Israeli settlers’ attack on Latron Church near
occupied Jerusalem

■ IOF launched a number of air strikes and opened fire at areas in the Gaza Strip.
■ IOF used force to disperse peaceful protest organized by Palestinian civilians in the West Bank.
■ IOF conducted 49 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank.
■ Israeli gunboats fired at Palestinian fishing boats in the Gaza Strip.
■ Israel has continued to impose a total closure on the OPT and has isolated the Gaza Strip from the outside world.
■ IOF have continued settlement activities in the West Bank and Israeli settlers have continued to attack Palestinian civilians and property.

Israeli violations of international law and humanitarian law in the OPT continued during the reporting period (30 August – 05 September 2012):

Shooting: During the reporting period, IOF killed 3 Palestinians and wounded another 7 ones, including a woman, in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. In the Gaza Strip, on 05 September 2012, an Israeli warplane fired a missile at a number of members of the Palestinian resistance. As a result, 3 members were killed and a fourth one was seriously wounded. On 01 September 2012, 3 members of the Palestinian resistance were wounded when Israeli warplanes bombarded two training sites of the Palestinian resistance in Gaza City. Additionally, two schools and a house were damaged. On 03 September 2012, Israeli warplanes bombarded a training site of the Palestinian resistance in al-Nussairat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. No casualties were reported. IOF continued to fire at Palestinian fishing boats in the Gaza Strip. On 03 September 2012, Israeli gunboats opened fire at Palestinian fishing boats in the northern Gaza Strip. No casualties were reported. During the reporting period, IOF used force to disperse peaceful demonstrations organized in protest to the construction of the annexation wall, settlement activities and other Israeli practices in the West Bank. As a result, 3 Palestinian civilians, including a woman, were wounded. Additionally, IOF detained 5 Palestinian civilians, including two women, for several hours.

Washington has rushed a beefed-up contingent of CIA operatives to Turkey’s southern border in a bid to escalate the war for regime change in neighboring Syria. - Citing US officials familiar with the plan, the Associated Press reported Friday that this “modest surge” by the US intelligence agency over the past few weeks “has helped improve rebels’ political organizing skills as well as their military organization.” The AP describes the buildup as “part of a two-pronged effort by the Obama administration to bolster the rebels militarily without actually contributing weapons to the fight, and politically, to help them stave off internal power challenges by the well-organized and often better-funded hardline Islamic militants who have flowed into the country from Iraq and elsewhere in the Persian Gulf region.”

A bomb rocked the flashpoint Syrian city of Aleppo on Sunday, killing up to 27 people and leaving dozens wounded. A rebel group claimed responsibly for the attack, saying it was targeting government troops. - The state-run SANA news agency reported that a “terrorist bombing” hit al-Malab neighborhood in Aleppo, killing 27 civilians and injuring 64. The attack took place near the local al-Hayat Hospital, according to the regional governor. The bombing targeted makeshift barracks and military police headquarters, Reuters news agency says citing residents and opposition activists. A rebel group has claimed responsibility for the attack. The Noble Aleppo brigade of the Free Syrian Army said in a statement it has behind the bombing which injured over 100 government troops. It added the bombs were planted inside the buildings in cooperation with a loyalist sympathizer. The attack in Aleppo comes after a Jordanian militant leader, linked to al-Qaida, warned that his extremist group will launch "deadly attacks" in neighboring Syria to oust Bashar Assad. Mohammad al-Shalabi, better known as Abu Sayyaf, said addressing the Syrian leader "our fighters are coming to get you."

[With a little help from the CIA] 'Foreign Islamists seek to turn Syria into Sharia state' (Russia Today)