Christina Sarich ■ The United States has taken action in light of the recent Ebola outbreak in Dallas, appearing to want to keep the issue isolated. The U.S. government has forced quarantine and blood draws from the family in Dallas where a member was found to have the virus. They face arrest if they don’t comply. My question is – if the government was so keen on keeping this ‘virus’ (biowarfare) in control, why didn’t they restrict travel from countries where it is running rampant? Why have they not informed hospitals of the possible dangers? Why was this man, who sought medical attention, turned loose to possibly contaminate hundreds more people before the government then decided to use militia tactics for lock down? Government-mandated medical procedures of any kind is a very slippery slope to go sliding down. If they will do this to a family in Dallas, they will do it to anyone ‘suspected’ of having Ebola.

The following video has deeply moved me. In a way, it is emblematic of the entire conflict in the (now ex-) Ukraine. It shows the profound simplicity and humanity of one of those combatants whom the AngloZionists and the Nazis in Kiev call “terrorists” and the equally profound in-humanity of those Junta Repression Forces whom we can hear in the background using heavy artillery to indiscriminately murder Novorussian civilians (Novorussian Armed Forces are not harmed in any way by such random city shelling). See for yourself. - The Saker

Britain’s mobile phone companies have made customers’ call records available to the country’s police and spy agencies through automated systems, media reports say. ● A Guardian investigation revealed on Friday that phone companies EE, Vodafone, and Three delivered customer’s data to intelligence agencies and security forces at the click of a mouse and without the involvement of any phone company staff. The British law requires mobile operators to store a year of call records of all customers. Security forces and intelligence agencies can then access this data without any warrant, using the controversial Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA). RIPA is the same interception law that provides the authority for much of mass spying activities by Britain’s eavesdropping agency, the GCHQ. Britain’s Home Office has repeatedly claimed that its use of RIPA was “necessary and proportionate.”

The Guardian: EE, Vodafone and Three give police mobile call records at click of a mouse

To infiltrate foreign networks and gain access to sensitive systems, the NSA has been using the tactics of “physical subversion” – deploying undercover agents in Chinese, German, South Korean and possibly even American companies, The Intercept reports. ● Past reports on the National Security Agency (NSA) have typically depicted a government organ that hacks other systems or works with private corporations to bypass their own encryption protections, but the latest report based on files leaked by Edward Snowden suggests the agency could be embedding operatives into foreign, as well as domestic, “commercial entities.” In a 13-page document published by The Intercept, the NSA describes six different programs that it considers to be “core secrets,” all of which are filed under the banner of “Sentry Eagle.” The document warns that any disclosure of the “secrets” will cause “exceptionally grave damage to US national security” and should not be done without an authorization from a senior intelligence official.

Amnesty International has criticized the United States for permitting execution of mentally-impaired prisoners. ● The human rights organization issued a report on Friday saying the US actions run contrary to international laws. Amnesty said there is so much ambiguity in US law on the right of these people to avoid “cruel and unusual punishments” despite protections for the criminally insane. According to the UK-based rights group, disabilities remain unidentified during criminal processes in numerous cases. The document provided information on several mentally-disabled inmates in the US who either have been or are scheduled to be executed in 2014. Among them are prisoners for whom there is strong evidence that they are suffering mental impairment or have a long history of intellectual disabilities. ● So far this year, a number of 30 inmates have been executed, while 18 more will receive capital punishment. In 2013 alone, 39 people were executed in the United States. In September, a mentally-ill inmate in the US state of North Carolina, who was held in solitary confinement for 35 days, died of dehydration. Michael Anthony Kerr, who suffered from schizophrenia, died of thirst in the back of a van on March 12 while being transported from his prison to a mental hospital. The prison population of the United States is by far the largest in the world. Just under one-quarter of the world's prisoners are held in American prisons, according to a report published in May by the National Research Council.

AI: Death Penalty: Countries continue to execute people with mental and intellectual disabilities

Stefan Steinberg ■ Over the month of September, a number of Balkan states declared their support for the current US-led military campaign in the Middle East. Balkan states in both NATO and the EU, such as Croatia, Bulgaria and Romania, joined the US-led coalition. Those non-EU and non-NATO states backing the Western military campaign in Iraq and Syria include Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. For many of these states, their practical commitment to the military campaign will be minimal. Nevertheless their decision to back the military campaign is significant, not least because it gives credence to the US and its allies, which are conducting military operations in Iraq and Syria in complete defiance of international law.

Andrei Tudora & Tina Zamfir ■ Romania joins imperialist war drive against Russia || The drive by American and German imperialism towards confrontation with Russia is exacerbating regional conflicts in Eastern Europe, returning the region to conditions that prevailed in the first half of the 20th century. It is transforming the region into a tinderbox that could trigger a devastating armed conflict between nuclear-armed powers. Romania’s bourgeois elites have used the crisis instigated by Washington and Berlin in Ukraine to transform the country into a hotbed of imperialist intrigues. They seek to revive irredentist and nationalist nostrums, previously associated with the fascist fringes of society, and elevate them to the status of official state policies.

Dear friends, Tonight I want to share two videos with you. The first one is of a young but very talented Novorussian commander known has “Givi” who is one of the two commanders tasked with securing the Dontesk Airport (the other one being “Motorola”). In this video Givi explains what that problem is. But while I am at it, I wanted to share another short video showing Givi being interviewed at the moment when the Ukies fire a volley from their “Grad” MLRS. The rockets land very close to Givi and yet while everybody runs for cover, Givi remains absolutely impassible. His cool is most impressive and says a lot about the kind of man Givi is. Enjoy, The Saker

Ukraine SITREP October 11th, 13:05 UTC/Zulu: no Novorussian “sellout” after all First, here is the latest map of the combat situation: (for high res click here). Second, Colonel Cassad is confirming that the Russians are finishing the pipeline which will bring Russian gas to some areas of Novorussia over the course of the upcoming winter. Third, Cassad also confirms that while the voentorg (Russian covert military aid) is currently closed, the Novorussians command have received ironclad guarantees that in case of Ukie attack the voentorg would be fully reopened. This agreement between Russia and Novorussia was finalized yesterday. Lastly, as you have probably read elsewhere, the Novorussians and the Ukies, which have been negotiating under the watchful eyes of officially invited Russian General Staff officers, have agreed to a demarcation line although Kiev has immediately denied that. What Kiev says really does not matter at all – they always spew nonsense – but it appears that the deal was made or is very close to being finalized. Conclusion: all the panic about Russia “selling out” Novorussia now turns out to be utter nonsense.

Iran and Russia plan to establish a joint bank as an effort to multiply bilateral trade and bypass sanctions on the Islamic Republic’s banking sector. ● Head of the Iran-Russia Joint Chamber of Commerce Asadollah Asgaroladi said that Tehran and Moscow are studying the possibilities of opening a new chapter in trade relations that could break the domination of Western currencies over bilateral exchanges. “Since Russian banks fear the implications of working with Iran due to sanctions, we want to establish the joint Iran-Russia bank with the help of our central banks and private sectors,” Asgaroladi said. “Such a bank would be able to exchange money between the two sides using rials and rubles and put aside dollars, euros and pounds,” he added. Unilateral sanctions imposed on Iran’s banking sector by the US and the European Union over Tehran’s nuclear energy program and the recent Western bans against Russia over Ukraine have prompted the two countries’ trade officials to boost economic cooperation.