Following the global outcry around the recent footage of a militant eating the heart of a Syrian solider, two videos have surfaced showing a public execution being carried out in the city of Ar-Raqqah. - Ar-Raqqah is the capital of the province Al-Raqqah in North-Central Syria. In 2012 the city counted about 220,000 inhabitants. Since the city is situated on the shores of the Euphrates river and is a center of major roads, it could be considered as one of the most strategic cities in Syria. On March 4 the city fell in the hands of three Jihadist organisations; the infamous Jabhat an-Nusra (see previous posts), Harakat Ahrar as-Sham (known as the Syrian Islamist Front) and the brigade of Huthaya bin al-Yaman. Since it’s fall, the media narrative has been adjusted to reflect the predominance of extremist groups among what is commonly referred to as “the opposition”. Elizabeth O’Bagy, of the Institute for the Study of War said: “My sense is that there are no seculars”. Indeed, a New York Times article in April declared: “Nowhere in rebel-controlled Syria is there a secular fighting force to speak of.” In the video, three men can be seen kneeling, bound and blindfolded as armed and masked men guard them. Noticeable is the black standard of the Islamic State of Iraq. A speech is then read out to the gathered crowd, stating the executions are in retaliation for the massacres of Sunnis and singles out Alawites in particular. Sectarian rhetoric such as this appears to be growing in regularity in recent weeks.

Whereas the 2nd Amendment recognizes the right of the people to keep and bear arms, and whereas the right to keep and bear arms need not be demonstrated, and whereas Adam Kokesh's planned armed march into Washington DC is an unnecessary and dangerous provocation that may be used to demonize guns and gun owners, the undersigned petitioners, while supporting the right to keep and bear arms, state their opposition to Adam Kokesh's planned armed march into Washington DC on July 4th, 2013.

This is a government of and for the rich. - On the eve of her confirmation hearing, President Obama’s nominee for commerce secretary, Penny Pritzker, admitted that she had underreported her 2012 income to the tune of $80 million, blaming a clerical error. Pritzker is worth an estimated $1.85 billion and would become the wealthiest US cabinet member in history. Her nomination underscores the increasingly plutocratic character of the Obama administration and the US government at large. The $80 million in earnings that had been omitted were related to Pritzker’s role managing trust funds—financial instruments used by wealthy families to control vast sums of money across generations—and $54 million of it was related to an offshore fund based in the Bahamas. This admission comes in the wake of a recent study showing that as of 2012, wealthy Americans are hoarding up to $32 trillion in offshore accounts to avoid paying taxes.

A month after an explosion at a fertilizer plant in the city of West, Texas killed 15 people, injured more than 200 others, and destroyed 37 blocks, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the State Fire Marshall’s Office (SFMO) have virtually shut out investigators from the explosion site, hampering any kind of investigation. Rafael Moure-Eraso, chairman of the US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has stated that “to date, the CSB has experienced significant obstacles that potentially compromise and delay our ability to complete the comprehensive investigation.” The statement was included as part of an appeal to Senator Barbara Boxer of California, who has stated that she intends to conduct hearings on the West explosion. No response to media inquiries from either the ATF or the SFMO has been delivered.

McKinney fears bloggers and 'truthers' who could use the images in their attempt to refute the shootings [That's because, the images refute the shootings.] - After days of on-again, off-again talks with Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's office and Chief State's Attorney Kevin Kane, the eight-term Republican from Fairfield, whose district includes Newtown, said he's working for a "very narrow" exemption that will keep graphic photos of the 20 dead children and six adults from ever being released.

'Syria war revenge act by Israel, allies'

The Syria conflict erupted in March 2011. And soon after, it escalated into an armed insurgency, backed by the US and its allies, including regional countries like Saudi Arabia, and Qatar.

A rising death toll, new reports of atrocities by the insurgents, suspicion that chemical arms may have been used, and a dual approach by the UK and US in particular, calling for a Geneva-style conference, yet throwing more aid to the insurgents on the ground, the Israeli threat of yet another attack should Assad fall are just some of the topics we will cover in this edition of the show.

Watch this video on our website.

UK Home Secretary [the very evil] Theresa May said on Sunday that it is “essential” to grant intelligence agencies the capacity to access communications data, despite overwhelming opposition to the Draft Communications Data Bill, first published last year. The bill – widely known as the ‘Snooper’s Charter’– is making a comeback, alongside tighter controls on extremist groups, after a proposed stepping-up of Internet surveillance following the Woolwich murder. Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg withdrew his support from the bill in April on the grounds that it was an invasion of privacy.

Woolwich murder [perpetrated by MI5]: Theresa May vows to get tough on extremist websites
Standard Media: Woolwich Attacker Was Freed in Kenya After UK Request
BBC: Woolwich attack: MI5 'offered job to suspect'

Two well-trained Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents who were involved in the killing of a Boston bombing suspect have suspiciously died. - Two well-trained Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents who were involved in the killing of a Boston bombing suspect have suspiciously died. The FBI said in a statement that 41-year-old Christopher Lorek and 40-year-old Stephen Shaw were killed on May 17 as they fell out of a helicopter into water during a training mission off the coast of Virginia Beach. US officials have blamed bad weather for the tragedy but some have questioned the credibility of the official account, considering it a cover-up. They say the agents’ death adds to the suspicious death of a friend of the Boston bombing suspect, Ibragim Todashev, who was killed in his own apartment by an FBI agent. Lorek and Shaw were part of the bureau's Critical Incident Response Group and were both members of the team investigating the Boston Marathon bombings in mid-April.

John Pilger: Like characters from The Great Gatsby, Britain and the US have arrogantly turned their backs and left a country in ruins. - The dust in Iraq rolls down the long roads that are the desert's fingers. It gets in your eyes and nose and throat; it swirls in markets and school playgrounds, consuming children kicking a ball; and it carries, according to Dr Jawad Al-Ali, "the seeds of our death". An internationally respected cancer specialist at the Sadr teaching hospital in Basra, Dr Ali told me that in 1999, and today his warning is irrefutable. "Before the Gulf war," he said, "we had two or three cancer patients a month. Now we have 30 to 35 dying every month. Our studies indicate that 40 to 48% of the population in this area will get cancer: in five years' time to begin with, then long after. That's almost half the population. Most of my own family have it, and we have no history of the disease. It is like Chernobyl here; the genetic effects are new to us; the mushrooms grow huge; even the grapes in my garden have mutated and can't be eaten."

In one of the most devastating acts of destruction of its own credibility, Facebook engaged in yet more censorship of Free Speech with the suspending of an account that posted a photo of children rallying against Monsanto during today's global March Against Monsanto. The picture shows two children of Natural News reader Andrea Lalama. They are carrying hand-drawn signs that read:

"ORGANIC FOOD It's My Medicine - Label GMOs - Say NO to GMO" and "BIOPESTICIDES = AUTISM - SAY NO TO GMO".

After this picture was shared on Facebook by Natural News, Andrea's account was immediately suspended. Facebook displayed a message on her account which read: "FACEBOOK: You have been restricted from Interacting With Pages until Saturday, June 8, 2013 at 6:47pm."

At this point, Andrea can only re-post other people's content but is disallowed from posting her own content. Why? Because children with signs are obviously very, very dangerous to the establishment.

James Corbett & Tami Canal: The World Against Monsanto: Holding the Corrupt Accountable

Dan Roberts: Human rights groups wary after president asks Congress to establish special court or board to authorise legal drone action. Proposals to vet future US drone strikes risk creating "kill courts" according to human rights campaigners who say Barack Obama's promise of new legal oversight does not go far enough to end what they regard as extrajudicial executions. The president has asked Congress to consider establishing a special court or oversight board to authorise lethal action outside warzones under a new counter-terrorism doctrine which he says will end the "boundless war on terror". But responses to his speech from leading campaign groups, though broadly welcoming, highlight how little change Obama is proposing to the underlying principle that the US has a legal right to kill suspected terrorists abroad without trial.

Colleague Yara Abbas, reporter of Al-Ikhbariya TV, was martyred on Monday by terrorists' gunfire near al-Daba'a airport in al-Qseir countryside, Homs province. - Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi said in a statement that Syrian media lost with Abbas' martyrdom a fastidious, assiduous, active and faithful colleague who had strong confidence in Syria, Syrians, Syrian media and in herself. Al-Zoubi said that this is a tragic and regrettable incident, but Abbas knew well that she could be martyred for the sake of Syria like many others, voicing hope that she will be the last of the martyrs in Syria.

MI5 asked Woolwich murder suspect Michael Adebolajo if he wanted to work for them about six months before the killing, a childhood friend has said. Abu Nusaybah told BBC Newsnight his friend - one of two men arrested after Drummer Lee Rigby's murder in south-east London on Wednesday - had rejected the approach from the security service. The BBC could not obtain any confirmation from Whitehall sources. Abu Nusaybah was arrested at the BBC after giving the interview.

The Independent: MI5 'tried to recruit' Woolwich attack suspect Michael Adebolajo
AWIP: MI5 faces probe over Woolwich killing
PressTV: Woolwich case alibi to suppress Muslims

In the wake of President Obama’s big speech about restraining the war on terrorism, a member of the House intelligence committee is working on a bill to undo the basic authorities to wage it. - Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) is preparing a piece of legislation that would “sunset” the 2001 Authorization to Use Military Force (AUMF), a foundational law passed in the days after the 9/11. “The current AUMF is outdated and straining at the edges to justify the use of force outside the war theater,” Schiff tells Danger Room. Repealing the AUMF would be the boldest restriction of presidential war powers since 9/11. Both the Bush and Obama administrations have relied on the document to authorize everything from the warrantless electronic surveillance of American citizens to drone strikes against al-Qaida offshoots that did not exist on 9/11. Getting rid of it is certain to invite fierce opposition from more bellicose members of Congress, who have repeatedly demagogued efforts to roll back any post-9/11 wartime authority, let alone the most important one.