CIA whistle blower Edward Snowden has reportedly been stopped from flying to the UK. The man who lifted the lid on America's secret surveillance activities is being pursued by Washington. For his latest revelation, he told a Hong Kong newspaper that the U.S. repeatedly hacks into Chinese computer networks. For more about the leaks and Snowden's future we're now joined live by Pepe Escobar, a roving correspondent for the Asia Times.

Almost unnoticed, the UN is about to fight its first war. 3,000 Soldiers from South Africa, Tanzania and Malawi wearing UN insignia will take on the irregulars who sow mayhem in Congo’s east. - African economies are rising steadily, but in the Democratic Republic of Congo life for many is as bad as ever. Armed men rape and plunder with impunity. Rebel groups terrorise vast stretches of land rich in minerals and agricultural potential. Millions have died as a result. And for years the outside world has done little more than shrug. Its main effort—a 14-year-old UN peacekeeping mission—has failed to end “Africa’s world war”, which started as an ethnic conflict sparked by the genocide next door in Rwanda before descending into murderous anarchy farther afield. Now things are changing. The Rwandan government backed Congolese rebels until recently but, shamed by their cruelty and by international outrage, it has abandoned them. That presents an opportunity too good to waste, so the UN Security Council is trying a new tack (see article), deploying 3,000 troops to fight at least some of the rebels. Soldiers from South Africa, Tanzania and Malawi wearing UN insignia will take on the irregulars who sow mayhem in Congo’s east.

Israeli TV, Channel 1, aired an interview with Israeli deputy Defense Minister, Member of Knesset (MK) Danny Danon, who said that there will never be a Palestinian State, and that the Palestinians are “settlers”, should be part of Jordan. - During the interview, Danon said that “the Public should not be misled”, as Israel would never allow the establishment of a Palestinian state, whether the United States sends envoys or not, whether it presents initiatives or not. When asked if Israel would “annex” the West Bank, Dannon said that Israel will not do so, but will continue its settlements activities “on vacant lands in the West Bank”, and will act onto turning the Palestinian areas into “settlements”. “Jews in the West Bank aren’t settlers anymore, they are citizens of the state of Israel”, the Israeli official said, “Israel will turn the Palestinians into settlers under Jordanian authority, and this is that…” He further stated that several Israeli members of Knesset agree with his opinions despite the fact they do not go public about them.

Image © Dees Illustration

Henry Makow: If you understand the big picture, the pieces will fall into place, and revelations like edward snowden's will not surprise you. Mankind is being enslaved by the illuminati central banking cartel in order to protect their monopoly on credit creation. Most of our political, economic and cultural "leaders" constitute a colonial elite that serves the bankers' satanic agenda. "terror' is manufactured as a pretext to build this police state. The charade must end. Society is in denial, an accomplice to its own enslavement. The turkey thinks it is a guest at the thanksgiving table.

Pepe Escobar: See you on the dark side - From now on, it's just a matter of carefully, gradually guiding US public opinion to fully "normalize" Total Information Awareness (TIA).

Daniel Ellsberg: 'We're A Turnkey Away From A Police State' - Famed Pentagon Papers leaker Daniel Ellsberg had harsh words for the Obama Administration during an event here Tuesday evening, charging that the rapid expansion of government surveillance since 9/11 has left the country "a turnkey away from a police state." "We're not a police state yet, but the foundation has been set," he continued. "It could happen overnight."

Julian Assange: The internet is being transformed into a military-occupied space - PRISM-style surveillance is global, Julian Assange says "Edward Snowden revealed something that I've been speaking about for a long time, providing clear concrete proof that the internet has penetrated every aspect of society, right along with it is mass surveillance." "Right along with it is mass surveillance - mass surveillance by the National Security Agency of the US, working in co-operation with its partners and other countries trying to do the same thing, although not nearly as effectively."

Brandon Smith: Why The Surveillance State Must Be Erased - It would seem that our government has somehow overlooked the 4th Amendment of our Constitution, and statist rationalists would do well to study it before defending their actions. Let’s read it, shall we? The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Washington Post: A Story of Surveillance (November 7, 2007) + (BSNews) - His first inkling that something was amiss came in summer 2002 when he opened the door to admit a visitor from the National Security Agency to an office of AT&T in San Francisco. “What the heck is the NSA doing here?” Mark Klein, a former AT&T technician, said he asked himself.

A U.S. military proposal for arming Syrian rebels [aka cannibals, terrorists, and rapists] also calls for a limited no-fly zone inside Syria that would be enforced from Jordanian territory to protect Syrian refugees and rebels who would train there, according to U.S. officials. Asked by the White House to develop options for Syria, military planners have said that creating an area to train and equip rebel forces would require keeping Syrian aircraft well away from the Jordanian border. To do that, the military envisages creating a no-fly zone stretching up to 25 miles into Syria which would be enforced using aircraft flown from Jordanian bases and flying inside the kingdom, according to U.S. officials. The White House is currently considering proposals to arm the rebels in Jordan, according to U.S. officials.

Peter Symonds: Pretext for a new war: Obama lies about Syrian chemical weapons - In a statement issued Thursday, the Obama administration has declared that the Syrian regime of President Bashar al-Assad has violated “international norms” by using chemical weapons on multiple occasions over the past year. The claim is a transparent lie that will be used by the US and its European allies, Britain and France, as the pretext for arming their right-wing Islamist proxies and for military intervention. The allegations are no more credible than the lies about weapons of mass destruction that were used to justify the criminal US-led invasion of Iraq. The statement by Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes claimed that US intelligence agencies had “high confidence” in their assessment, but acknowledged that physiological evidence of sarin gas exposure did “not tell us how or where the individuals were exposed or who was responsible.” The US claims simply ignored evidence that anti-Assad militias had chemical weapons and may have used them.

Itar-Tass: US support for Syria opposition may lead to direct military interference
SANA: Russia slams ‘fabricated’ information on Syria’s use of chemical weapons
PressTV: Russia: Information on the use of chemical weapons is ‘fabricated’
Russia Today: Syria chemical weapons accusations ‘a means of justifying further military action’
Russia Today: Moscow unconvinced by US evidence of Syrian chemical weapons use
CBS News: Lying Again: U.S.: Syria used chemical weapons, crossing "red line"
ironicsurrealism.com: CIA's "Rebels" were caught red handed with chemical weapons

The State Department has hired an alarming number of law-enforcement agents with criminal or checkered backgrounds because of a flawed hiring process, a stunning memo obtained by The Post reveals. - The background problems are severe enough that many of the roughly 2,000 agents in State’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security can play only limited roles in agency efforts to police bad conduct and prosecute wrongdoers. The problems in the bureau are the latest revelation in an exploding scandal that also involves accusations that members of former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s security detail and those of the US ambassador to Belgium solicited prostitutes overseas. A whistleblower charges that State tried to cover up multiple scandals by removing them from an inspector general’s report.

Pigs fed a combination of genetically modified soy and corn suffer more frequent severe stomach inflammation and enlargement of the uterus than those who eat a non-GM diet, according to a new peer-reviewed long-term feeding study published Tuesday in the Organic Systems Journal. The five-month study combined “real on-farm conditions” with “strict scientific controls,” according to lead researcher Judy Carman of Flinders University in Australia. Using pigs was important not only because “we eat them,” but because humans and pigs share similar digestive systems, Carman said in a statement.

Silvio Berlusconi asked Italy’s secret services to bump off Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, so the then premier could end his increasingly embarrassing ties with the Libyan dictator, it was claimed today.

Mr Berlusconi’s unusual request to Italy's then spy chief Gianni De Gennaro, came in 2011, shortly after the start of the Nato-backed Libyan rebellion that saw Gaddafi ousted and eventually killed by one of his own countrymen. Today’s claims come in the left-wing Italian daily, Il Fatto Quotidiano, which quotes unnamed but "well placed” diplomatic sources in its front-page story. A spokesman for Mr Berlusconi, 76, who is currently battling sex, corruption and tax fraud charges, has dismissed the report as “totally false”. The paper claims, however, that with Gaddafi’s star waning, the tycoon-premier decided it was time to switch sides, after years in which he had led Italy’s obsequious overtures to the eccentric North African despot in order to win big oil deals.

Europe Online Magazine: Italy's Berlusconi wanted Gaddafi dead - sources

Stephen Lendman: Late Tuesday evening, Greek state TV and radio (Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation - ERT) was pulled off air. Saying it was to save money to satisfy creditors doesn't wash. Rogue governments claim anything to justify policy. ■ Greece reflects failed state governance. It's the epicenter of banker occupation. Neoliberal priorities alone matter. It's economy was ravaged and destroyed. Unemployment tops 27%. Youth unemployment exceeds 60%. An entire new generation is being systematically destroyed. Millions of working Greeks don't earn enough to live on. It's zombie banks are black holes of insolvency. It's dysfunctional economy awaits its obituary to be written. Its government betrays its own people. It bears full responsibility. It's beholden more to foreign interests than its own. EU banker needs take precedence. Troika authority outside Greece dictates policy. Public services are denied when most needed. They've gravely eroded en route to eliminating them altogether. Democracy's birth place spurns its fundamental principles. Killing the messenger isn't new policy. Shutting down state broadcaster ERT is the latest blow.

Christoph Dreier: Conservative Prime Minister Antonis Samaras (ND) ordered the shutdown of the 75-year-old ERT and the immediate dismissal of its 2,700 workers on Tuesday evening without any warning. In a sudden operation on the stroke of midnight, police cut off electricity to the antennas and threatened remaining workers with arrest if they did not leave the building. Since then, the workers have occupied the main building of the ERT station in the Athens suburb of Agia. They are supported by thousands of workers, who are demonstrating in front of the building to show their solidarity. At noon Thursday, the crowd swelled to well over 10,000.

Pepe Escobar: No question: the 11th presidential election in the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) this Friday is going to be a cliffhanger. Campaigning has been extremely lively. Last-minute polls predict a run off. Yes, this is democracy with Iranian characteristics; imagine something remotely similar happening in the neo-medieval House of Saud or the Persian Gulf petro-monarchies. The last-minute plot twist has pragmatic conservative Hassan Rowhani – a former head of the National Security Council (1989-2005) - being endorsed by reformist former President Mohammad ‘Dialogue of Civilizations’ Khatami and none other than The Shark himself, also-former-President Hashemi Rafsanjani, who was disqualified by the Guardian Council. As an extra bonus, what could be described as the lone reformist candidate, Mohammad Reza Aref, dropped out. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei may be excused to wonder things are not exactly going according to script. His script. The affable Rowhani, 65, is essentially a moderate cleric (the only one among the candidates, by the way), reform-minded and, crucially, a close ally of Rafsanjani. Under Khatami, he was a nuclear negotiator. In three recent debates on national television, he has promised to avoid “noisy rhetoric” in foreign policy, to “normalize” relations with the West and even to try to spring Green movement leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi out of house arrest. He’s also in favor of freedom of the press. Arguably the whole reformist movement will vote for him in bulk – especially after Khatami’s call, which addressed, “In particular those who seek the dignity and elevation of the nation.”

Robert Fisk: Farewell Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, we’ll miss you – but not that much...

The Supreme Court ruled unanimously Thursday that human genes cannot be patented, a decision that could shape the future of medical and genetic research and have profound effects on pharmaceuticals and agriculture. - The ruling was a split decision for Myriad Genetics Inc., which holds patents on genes that have been linked to breast and ovarian cancer. Justice Clarence Thomas, writing for the court, said that merely isolating those specific genes — called BRCA1 and BRCA2 — was not worthy of a patent. “Myriad found the location of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, but that discovery, by itself, does not render the BRCA genes . . . patent eligible,” Thomas wrote. On the other hand, Thomas wrote, Myriad’s creation of a synthetic form of DNA — called cDNA — based on its discovery does deserve patent protection. “The lab technician creates something new when cDNA is made,” Thomas wrote.