Michael Snyder ■ Do you know people that seem like they have had their souls sucked out of them? On dictionary.com, a “zombie” is defined as “the body of a dead person given the semblance of life, but mute and will-less, by a supernatural force, usually for some evil purpose”. And that sounds very much like what has happened to tens of millions of Americans. When you look into their eyes, it doesn’t look like anything is even there. That is because who they once were is now dominated and controlled by the overwhelmingly powerful “matrix” that is being constructed all around us. As I wrote about the other day, virtually all news, information and entertainment that Americans consume is controlled by just six monolithic corporations. And today, Americans are more “plugged in” than ever before. The average person watches 153 hours of television a month in addition to spending countless hours watching movies, playing video games, listening to music, reading books and surfing the Internet. In the end, all of that “programming” turns many of us into virtual zombies, and that is the way that the elite like it. Just think about it. What was the biggest news story in the entire country over the holiday weekend? It was the fact that some hackers had taken down the Sony Playstation and Microsoft Xbox networks and millions of kids could not log in and play the video games that they had just received for Christmas.

Robert Parry ■ The Victory of ‘Perception Management’

Chris Hedges ■ The code word that the Israel lobby and its facilitators at universities use to silence critics is “civility.” Israel supporters are permitted to spout hate and calls for indiscriminate violence against Palestinians. Critics of Israel, however, even if they are careful to denounce violence and not to demonize Jews, are banned in the name of “civility.” It is the height of academic duplicity.

Even if you're not guilty, you can still be sent to jail if you're too poor to pay "court costs" ● Cities across the country are increasingly turning to what are known as private probation companies to collect unpaid fines. But are indigent people ending up in jail because they can't afford to pay? Since NewsHour Weekend's first story on this issue aired last spring, the Childersburg Municipal Court issued a “standing order” stating that “In no case shall an indigent defendant be incarcerated … based solely on his or her inability to pay fines.” But the practice continues elsewhere in the country. Special correspondent John Carlos Frey takes an in-depth look at what some are calling the return of the debtors' prison.

A senior official of the State Department said two officials have allegedly been involved in the cover-up of the death of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who died in prison in 2009 after revealing corruption. The officials are Deputy Prosecutor General Victor Grin and investigator Andrei Strizhov. Two senior officials of the Chechen Republic have also entered the list over alleged kidnapping and torture of an activist.

An autopsy report for an unarmed black man, who was killed by police officers in Los Angeles in summer, shows he was shot three times at close range. ● Ezell Ford, 25, was fatally shot on August 11 by two Los Angeles Police Department officers. Police allege that Ford tried to grab one of the officers’ guns, but his family and witnesses have denied the allegations. According to a copy of the report, posted online by The Los Angeles Times on Monday, a muzzle imprint left on Ford’s skin by a wound to the back suggests that the black man was shot at close range. The report also shows that Ford was shot three times, once in the back, once in the arm and once in the abdomen. The autopsy report was published after residents complained of a lack of transparency in police investigations.

RT.com: Autopsy reveals LAPD shot unarmed black man Ezell Ford in back, side, arm
Good4Utah: Purple Heart Recipient Killed by Police After 9-1-1 Call for Medical Emergency

Robert Stevens ■ General elections are to be held in Greece on January 25 after the parliament on Monday failed to elect Stavros Dimas, the candidate of the New Democracy (ND)-PASOK governing coalition, as president. The collapse of the coalition government testifies to a profound crisis of rule in Greece and heightens social and political instability throughout Europe. [...] Six years of brutal austerity cuts imposed by successive ND and PASOK governments working with the European Union (EU), the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) “troika” have devastated the Greek working class. ND and PASOK, the Greek bourgeoisie’s traditional parties of rule, are now widely hated.

Christoph Dreier ■ As Greek government collapses, Berlin demands more austerity || The collapse of the Greek government is an expression of the deep social tensions across the continent. Prime Minister Antonis Samaras was no longer able to impose the European Union’s austerity dictates in the face of popular opposition. At the same time, the political crisis in Athens has sharpened divisions within the EU. High-ranking representatives of German politics and big business responded aggressively to the failure of the Greek presidential election. They made clear that they will not give an inch on austerity policies that have produced a social catastrophe in Greece and across Europe.

December 26, 2001 - Usama bin Laden has died a peaceful death due to an untreated lung complication, the Pakistan Observer reported, citing a Taliban leader who allegedly attended the funeral of the Al Qaeda leader. "The Coalition troops are engaged in a mad search operation but they would never be able to fulfill their cherished goal of getting Usama alive or dead," the source said. Bin Laden, according to the source, was suffering from a serious lung complication and succumbed to the disease in mid-December, in the vicinity of the Tora Bora mountains. The source claimed that bin Laden was laid to rest honorably in his last abode and his grave was made as per his Wahabi belief.

How to separate creative genius from creative mistakes? Not with peer-review. It is a consensus filter. Classical peer review is a form of scientific gatekeeping (it’s good to see that term recognized in official literature). Unpaid anonymous peer review is useful at filtering out some low quality papers, it is also effective at blocking the controversial ones which later go on to be accepted elsewhere and become cited many times, the paradigm changers. And the more controversial the topic, presumably, the worse the bias is. What chance would anyone have of getting published if, hypothetically, they found a consequential mathematical error underlying the theory of man-made global warming? Which editors would be brave enough to even send it out for review and risk being called a “denier”? Humans are gregarious social beings, and being in with the herd affects your financial rewards, as well as your social standing. Even high ranking science journal editors are afraid of being called names.

Data obtained by the Guardian substantiates claims that hundreds of innocent people banned from attending lawful demonstrations. Police are being accused of trying to muzzle protest movements as figures obtained by the Guardian reveal the widespread use of bail to ban hundreds of innocent people from attending lawful demonstrations. The data shows that around 85% of those barred from protesting when bailed have not been subsequently charged with any crime. Civil liberties and protest groups accused police of dealing out their own justice and called for a change in the law. The figures show that a least 732 people have been banned by police forces in England and Wales since 2008 but then never charged. They come as the government confirms it is considering overhauling the police bail rules.

RT.com: UK police misuse pre-charge bail to ban activists from protesting || Since 2008 police have arrested at least 855 people in England and Wales and then released them on pre-charge bail, setting a date to return to the police station. Until their return, those bailed were prohibited from attending any demonstration. However, 85 percent, or about 732 people, have never been charged, according to data the Guardian collected using the Freedom of Information Act.

Russia has warned that Ukraine’s attempts to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) threaten Europe’s security. ● “The very idea of Ukraine’s efforts to join NATO are [sic] dangerous, not only for Ukrainian people, because there is no unity over that issue, it is dangerous for European security,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday. “There are a few Western countries that want to maintain the crisis in Ukraine and to maintain and boost the confrontation between Ukraine and Russia, including through provocative efforts toward membership in the Atlantic alliance,” he added, in reference to NATO.

Israeli police have fired a rubber bullet at a five-year-old Palestinian boy’s face as he was getting out of a school bus on his way home, the child’s family told Palestinian media. He sustained a skull fracture under his eye. The incident happened when Muhammad Jamal Ubeid and his 14-year-old sister stepped out of the school bus and started walking home in al-Issawiya, an Arab village and neighborhood in East Jerusalem, on Wednesday. Muhammad was taken to the nearby Hadassah Medical Center on Mount Scopus, where the doctors said the boy had a fracture in the bone below his eye. The hospital confirmed that his wound was typical of ones inflicted by rubber bullets. The hospital officials told Haaretz that the boy’s condition was satisfactory and he was headed for surgery.

PressTV: Virginia police handcuff, shackle 4-year-old boy with ADD [Attention-Deficit Disorder]

First Coalition Warplane Lost in ISIS War. ● The US-led coalition has lost its first warplane of the ISIS war in Syria today, as ISIS shot down a Jordanian F-16 with a heat-seeking missile, capturing the pilot. The US denied that ISIS was the one that shot the plane down, but the capture was confirmed. ISIS issued images of the captured pilot being paraded around their capital city of Raqqa. Jordan warned they are holding ISIS responsible for the safety of the captured pilot. That’s probably not going to be a serious concern for ISIS, since Jordan and the other coalition members are already at war with them and bombing them on a daily basis. It’s a much bigger concern for the coalition, as now that ISIS has proven its capability to shoot down coalition warplanes, it’s only a matter of time before they down some more, and as the losses mount, the lack of progress in the war is likely to become a more serious concern.

Marc Rogers ■ The FBI and the President may claim that the Hermit Kingdom is to blame for the most high-profile network breach in forever. But almost all signs point in another direction. ● The news that the satirical movie—which revolves around a plot to murder Kim Jong-Un—will have a Christmas Day release as planned, will prompt renewed scrutiny of whether, as the US authorities have officially claimed, the cyber attack on Sony really was the work of an elite group of North Korean government hackers. All the evidence leads me to believe that the great Sony Pictures hack of 2014 is far more likely to be the work of one disgruntled employee facing a pink slip. I may be biased, but, as the director of security operations for DEF CON, the world’s largest hacker conference, and the principal security researcher for the world's leading mobile security company, Cloudflare, I think I am worth hearing out.

PressTV - A report says Israeli businessmen are buying properties belonging to the displaced minorities in the ISIL-held regions in northern Iraq to prepare the ground for accommodation of more than 2,000 people there.

Rixon Stewart ■ Why on earth would Israelis buy property in ISIL occupied territory in Iraq, even if it was at bargain prices? There can only be one reason: Israelis are buying property there in anticipation of the expansion and establishment of a “Greater Israel“. This was one of the objectives envisaged by the original Zionists, before Israel had even been established as a modern nation state. According to the founding father of Zionism Theodore Herzl: “the area of the Jewish State stretches: “From the Brook of Egypt to the Euphrates.” This area would encompass parts of northern and western Iraq. Moreover, we know that Al Baghdadi, the leader of ISIL, is reputed to be a Mossad trained operative. Indeed there have been numerous reports linking Al Baghdadi with Mossad and this is more than speculation. Although the corporate media have largely ignored them they have been corroborated by NSA documents. Elsewhere reports have appeared claiming that Al Baghdadi’s real name is Elliot Shimon, a Jew by birth. This would also explain reports that Israel was covertly assisting Islamic State militants. Although largely ignored by the corporate Western media, Alexander Prokhanov, a senior aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin, maintains that Israel has been providing intelligence and training assistance to ISIL militants. From these disparate reports we can conclude that Israel is covertly working toward the establishment of a “Greater Israel”.

Thousands of people protested in Spanish cities Saturday against a proposed law that would set hefty fines for offenses such as burning the national flag and demonstrating outside parliament buildings or strategic installations. ● The Public Security Law was approved by one house of parliament last week and is expected to be accepted by the other government-controlled one next month. The bill has been heavily criticized by opposition parties and human rights groups as an attempt by the conservative government to muzzle protests over its handling of Spain's financial crisis. The largest demonstrations occurred in cities such as Barcelona, Bilbao and Madrid, while smaller ones took place in Almeria, Granada and Valencia. Some protesters wore tape covering their mouths and carried placards calling the measures a “gagging law.”

A few dozen protesters rallied in front of a gas station in Berkeley, St. Louis on Wednesday night, where another African-American teenager was shot by a police officer. They faced off against a phalanx of officers, and gunfire has been reported. While the night began peacefully, bursts of violence were reported on social media. Reporters, including RT’s Marina Portnaya, said they heard gunshots. Police have generally cleared the area.

The Telegraph: US police shoot dead black teenager near Ferguson

Russia’s Investigative Committee has confirmed the claims by a Ukrainian, who said he witnessed the deployment of a Ukrainian warplane armed with air-to-air missiles on the day the Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 was shot down. ● The interview was conducted on Tuesday, spokesman for the committee Vladimir Markin told the media on Wednesday. This followed a report in a Russian newspaper, in which the Ukrainian citizen, who preferred to remain anonymous, voiced his allegations. The investigators used a polygraph during the interview, which showed no evidence of the witness lying, he added. “The facts were reported by the witness clearly and with no inconsistencies. The investigators lean towards considering them truthful. A polygraph examination confirmed them too,” the official said.

Sputnik News: Lavrov: MH17 Crash Investigation Violates ICAO Rules
PressTV: Ukrainian warplane behind MH17 crash: Russian investigators

This is the updated version (as of December 2014) of my 911 production originally broadcast on The Peoples Voice in January 2014. It has additional footage and commentary, improved graphics and is a direct response to David Cameron's rediculous speech at the UN General Assembly in 2014.

Washington's Blog: Why the Bad Guys Keep Winning
Alternet: Many Still Believe That Saddam Hussein Was Behind 9/11, and Now We Have Some Idea Why

They have been intentionally granted unlimited power, the power of judge, jury, executioner, and torturer. They have been given the power to destroy thousands of innocent American lives every year. The police are almost never punished. Most of the rights Americans once enjoyed have been stripped away by the Bush and Obama puppet regimes. The police and government serve one master, the international banking system and a handful of multi trillionaires otherwise known as globalists. They decide if the American people are ground down and brutalized.

Gilad Atzmon ■ A lack of self-reflection is embedded in Jewish culture, ideology and politics. This elementary observation helps to explain why many Jews regard anti-Semitism as strictly a collective psychosis or general disease of the Goyim. This week we learned that a French-Jewish organization has been distributing a remedy for anti Semitism – it is labeled "Antisemitox, the first treatment against anti-Semitism." This treatment for anti Jewish tendencies suggests that at least from a Jewish perspective opposition to Jews is a Goy disease. The Antisemitox boxes contain three honey candies, several detox patches, and the text of a law outlining the penalties faced by those who publicly express ‘anti-Semitic’ views. The Jewish group has produced 10,000 such boxes. [...] In the last few months there has apparently been a tidal wave of resentment towards Jews in France. Instead of blaming the French people and offering them honey candies, Jews need to look in the mirror and reflect upon the actions of their lobby, their state and their leaders. This may help to calm things down.

There are three lessons that many people will learn in the coming months. If you do not have it already you may not be able to get it. If you do not have it physically in your hands you do not own it. If you cannot protect it you will not have it for long.

Has President Obama delivered on his pledges? Whose interests has he been protecting? Radio Sputnik is looking into the issue with Dr. Paul Craig Roberts (US), Fredrik Erixon (EU) and Peter Koenig (Switzerland). So what exactly has President Obama achieved and how has he handled what still remains the biggest global economy – as of now? Dr. Paul Craig Roberts, Former Assistant US Treasury Secretary says: He has achieved the agenda of the neoconservatives and the military security complex. He has demonized Russia and its President. He has broken up the economic and political relationships between Russia and Europe. He has secured the agenda of the Wall Street, by establishing through the Department of Justice that there would be no prosecution of the criminal gangsters that dislocated the American financial system and ripped off millions of people. He has achieved the agenda of the lawlessness of the US, having determined that the people who tortured detainees will not be prosecuted, even though torture is a felony under the US law and is also prohibited under the international law. ● He has achieved the agenda of the Israeli lobby by continuing the wars against the Muslims in the ME. And he’s done his best to achieve the agenda of agro business and Monsanto, by continuing to allow the production and sale of genetically modified organisms, without any studies proving their safety. And he has done his best to achieve the agenda of the extractive industries – oil, mining and timber. So, on the whole, from the standpoint of the six powerful private interest groups that rule the US, and indeed much of the world, Obama has been amazingly successful. Perhaps, the most successful of all presidents. AUDIO

A Palestinian official says Israel has allocated some USD 17 billion to Judaize East Jerusalem al-Quds in the occupied West Bank. ● The assistant secretary general for Palestine and authority on issues in the occupied territories for the Arab League, Mohammed Sabih, warned that al-Quds is in real danger and in the dire need of concerted international efforts to defend itself. Palestinian officials are warning that Israel demolishes Palestinian houses in Jerusalem al-Quds to force their owners to leave the city. On Monday, Israeli forces issued demolition orders for several Palestinian-owned homes as part of its settlement expansion projects there. According to the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, Tel Aviv has destroyed more than 360 structures in the West Bank so far this year as part of its settlement expansion plans. More than half a million Israelis live in illegal settlements built since Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem al-Quds, in 1967.

In what points to a US cyber-attack, North Korea completely lost its connections to the Internet for several hours on Monday after days of unusual instability, according to several Internet monitoring companies. The loss of access came just days after the FBI accused Pyongyang of hacking into Sony Pictures Entertainment and President Barack Obama declared that the US would carry out an unspecified “proportionate response” against North Korea at “a time and place of our choosing.”

In a move unprecedented in recent memory, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio called Monday for a nearly week-long halt to demonstrations against police violence following the shooting of two New York City police officers. De Blasio’s statement comes amidst a broader drive in the media and political establishment to pin the blame for the officers’ deaths on ongoing protests against police violence, thereby painting them as “violent” and illegitimate. Earlier in the day, New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton told NBC News that the shooting was a “direct spinoff of this issue of these demonstrations.” Police nationwide have already begun using this attempt to link the shooting and protests against police violence as a means of intimidating opposition.

Bill Van Auken ■ Torture, police killings and the militarization of America
Juan Thompson ■ Don’t Stop the Protests Against Police Brutality — Black Lives Still Matter