American author and political analyst Stephen Lendman says the United States is torturing detained suspected al-Qaeda operative Abu Anas al-Libi on a warship in order to get a confession. ● “Al-Libi is being held on a US torture prison ship, the USS San Antonio,” Lendman told Press TV on Tuesday. “He’ll be tortured. He’ll be forced to sign a confession. And if you torture somebody long enough, painfully enough they’ll say anything to get the pain to stop,” he added. On Saturday, al-Libi was abducted on the Libyan soil by a team of US commandos for allegedly involving in attacks against US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998.

A friend once told me that the wealthy elite didn't want to just "roll back" the New Deal, they wanted to roll back the entire 20th Century. His point was that all the social gains of the 20th Century were granted to us in order to combat global communism, and that with the collapse of communism the wealthy elite are going it take it all back. I didn't fully appreciate his sentiments until recently.

■ Big Labor ■ Second Gilded Age ■ The New Asylums ■ Worse than Slavery ■ Return of Debtor Prisons ■ The Return of Preventable Diseases ■ The Return of Monopolies ■ Return of Gilded Age Politics

RJ Eskow: 7 signs America has regressed — to the 19th century ■ Of course they shut the Federal government down. Tea Party Republicans long for the days when there were no government authorities to enforce laws and restrain the power of unchecked wealth, the days when there was no Justice Department, no SEC, no other agencies protecting Americans from the misdeeds of bankers and corporate titans. But it already seems as if our entire country has secretly been transported back in time. We may think we’re living in the 21st century, but all the signs suggest we’re living in an earlier and harsher era.

As the Government shutdown in the US enters its second week, the country is just 10-days away from default, and the country’s main creditor China has urged Washington to take decisive steps to avoid bankruptcy and ensure safety of Chinese investments. China, the US government's largest foreign creditor, is "naturally concerned about developments in the US fiscal cliff", as Reuters quoted Vice Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao giving the Chinese government's first public response to the Oct 17 US deadline for raising the debt ceiling. China currently holds 22.85 percent of the US $16.7trln debt, which makes it the biggest US creditor.

The Guardian: US government shutdown: our experts predict how it ends

Two scientists have won the Nobel prize in physics for their work on the theory of the Higgs boson. ● Peter Higgs, from the UK, and Francois Englert from Belgium, shared the prize. In the 1960s they were among several physicists who proposed a mechanism to explain why the most basic building blocks of the Universe have mass. The mechanism predicts a particle - the Higgs boson - which was finally discovered in 2012 at the Large Hadron Collider at Cern, in Switzerland. Professor Higgs is renowned for shying away from the limelight, and he could not be located for interview in the immediate aftermath of the announcement. "He's gone on holiday without a phone to avoid the media storm," his Edinburgh University physics colleague Alan Walker told UK media, adding that Higgs had also been unwell. But the university released a prepared statement from Higgs, who is emeritus professor of theoretical physics: "I am overwhelmed to receive this award and thank the Royal Swedish Academy. "I would also like to congratulate all those who have contributed to the discovery of this new particle and to thank my family, friends and colleagues for their support. "I hope this recognition of fundamental science will help raise awareness of the value of blue-sky research."

HuffPost: Nobel Prize For Physics 2013: Francois Englert And Peter W. Higgs Honored For Higgs Boson Research

'My country needs your knowledge and expertise,' prime minister Abe says. ● Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Sunday that Japan is open to receiving overseas help to contain widening disaster at the crippled nuclear plant in Fukushima, where radioactive water leaks and other mishaps are now reported almost daily. "We are wide open to receive the most advanced knowledge from overseas to contain the problem," Abe said in his English speech to open the conference on energy and environment at an international science forum in Kyoto in western Japan.

Der Spiegel: The legitimacy of a president does not rest on slogans and promises, but on actions. As a result of the gas attack against your people, you forfeited every right to be in your position.
President Assad: We did not use chemical weapons; this is not true. And the picture you are drawing of me is not true. The United States, the entire western world, the richest countries in the Arab world and neighbouring Turkey are against me, and terrorists are crossing the borders from Iraq. On top of all of this, I kill my people, who support me nevertheless! Am I superhuman? No. So, why am I still in power two and half years on? The answer is simple: because a large segment of the Syrian people support me, they support the government and the state. Whether they constitute 50% or less, that is a different issue. But this large segment also means ‘legitimacy.’ This is how things are in reality.

Der Spiegel: After the U.N. investigation of this crime, U.S. President Obama had no doubt that your regime used chemical weapons on August 21 in an attack that claimed the lives of over a thousand people, including hundreds of children.
President Assad: Once again, Obama never provided one shred of evidence. The only things he provided were lies.

Video emerges of unmarked truck-mounted launcher surrounded by militants, firing same ordnance used in August 21 Damascus (and other) chemical attacks. ■ The US maintains that the chemical weapons attack in Damascus in late August could only have been the work of the Syrian government because the militants do not possess the means to carry out such an attack. The report below proves that the technology used to fire the rockets allegedly used in the attack require nothing more than a modified flatbed truck, and that the militants on record have received training and are assisted by Western contractors specifically to handle weapons inside of Syria. The very concept of a false flag attack is to use weapons that one's framed enemy would have at their disposal. This report lays to rest the myth of exotic, inaccessible technology preventing US-backed terrorists from carrying out the Damascus attacks. Considering which party stood the most to gain from the attacks, and the amount of time that has passed with the West still unable to produce convincing evidence, it is clear America and its allies have failed (and will be unable) to make their case.

Turkish students in Istanbul University put the so-called former leaders of ' Istanbul council' George Sabra and Abdul-Baset al-Sida into a critical situation when they displayed pictures of terrorism victims of the crimes committed by Jabhat al-Nusra in Syria to be faced by these crimes perpetrated under their patronage. The students then asked them to leave Turkey to the USA where they really belong, according to the students, as one of the students said "you thought that you will find a safe place here but you are mistaken." A video published on social communication websites exposed the degree of humiliation the two aforementioned persons underwent when students from Istanbul University raised pictures of victims of Jabhat al-Nusra during a forum under the title of 'Syria in Eyes of Opposition,' describing 'the opposition' as killers.

A report in the Journal of Men's Health says that divorced men experience more health problems after the break-up and are more likely to die younger. ■ According to the research, cons of a divorce for men include a higher number of heart attacks, high blood pressure and strokes, cancer and even colds. ● The same study estimates the rate of suicides among divorced men to be 39% higher than among their married peers. They are also likelier to consume more alcohol and drugs, have less sex and be less satisfied with their life in general. ● The research shows that divorcees tend to enjoy less emotional support, including that from their kids who often get estranged from their fathers as a result of break-up, while depression rates among divorced men stand at 10.4 percent, compared to just 2 percent among married ones. ● This year’s research by a University of Helsinki also says that divorced couples reported 1% higher usage of antidepressant drugs over the next five years after they split up than those who stayed married. However, this figure rose to 7% for men and 8% for women in the six to nine months before the divorce.

With polls consistently showing that approximately 50% of Canadians and Americans doubt the official story of 9/11, the feat of keeping the lid on a public debate for over 12 years has been nothing short of miraculous. This article presents a simple case study showing that this miracle is being performed with the assistance of Google and YouTube search engine interference. ■ 'Bigger than Watergate': US 'regular' meetings with Al-Qaeda's leader; documented White House 'false flag terrorism' moving people 'like sheep'; the father of Twin Towers victim tell us why he backs this month's 9/11 campaign on Times Square and around the world; & the protests calendar for September. Seek truth from facts with Bob McIlvane, whose son Bobby was killed in the lobby of the North Tower; NATO's Secret Armies author Dr. Daniele Ganser; Elizabeth Woodworth of Consensus911; Journal of 9/11 Studies co-editor Dr. Graeme MacQueen; Dr. Kevin Barrett author of Questioning the War of Terror, civil engineer Jon Cole of Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth; and Rachel Maddow of The Rachel Maddow Show.