Once one trudges through the heavy handed spin ,contained in numerous paragraphs, to finally reach the actual subject of this Al Monitor article, dated September 30/13: Turkish Court Investigates Syrian Jihadist Use of Chemicals we all get to read about NATO/Israel's hired killers ability and success at getting the ingredients to make a noxious, toxic chemical weapon. Not that i
By Mike Masnick | Techdirt | September 30, 2013
The latest revelation from the Snowden docs published by The Guardian is that the NSA’s MARINA metadata system for internet data stores the information it gets for up to a year.
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Allied Command Operations
September 24, 2013
Ukraine joins NATO’s counter-piracy operation Ocean Shield
A Ukrainian navy frigate is steaming towards the Horn of Africa to join NATO’s counter-piracy mission Operation Ocean Shield after NATO Allies gave their final approval to Ukraine’s participation in the mission. Ukraine will be the first partner nation to join the operation.
Press TV – September 30, 2013
American President Barack Obama once again repeats Washington’s warmongering rhetoric against Tehran over its nuclear energy program, saying the US will take no options off the table with regard to Iran.
Over the weekend, Barbara Lee (D-CA), an icon for peace, sent out an appeal to her supporters to back Alan Grayson. In 2001 Rep. Lee was the only Member of Congress to just say no to the Bush-Cheney request for authorization to attack Afghanistan.
By Cyrus Safdari | Iran Affairs | September 30, 2013
I have been hesitant to write anything about the current situation because I think there’s already far too much hype and speculation about the US-Iran nuclear talks and not enough actual knowledge. So, I’m just going to sit this one out and wait to see what happens once the dust settles. I also don’t want to prejudge or prejudice the issue in any way.
By Christopher Busby | RT | September 28, 2013
The recently published World Health Organization report on its study of congenital birth anomalies in Iraq is nothing short of a disgrace.
by Judith Curry Well here it is, the pause discussion is buried in Box 9.2 of the IPCC Working Group I Report. The Final Draft SPM summed it up correctly as: “Models do not generally reproduce the observed reduction in … Continue reading →
According to government officials speaking to the New York Times, traditional mainstream newspaper reporting of a single incident last month caused more damage to national security than everything Edward Snowden leaked.
MEMO | September 29, 2013
The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) marked the 13th anniversary of the Aqsa Intifada (uprising) with a declaration that it “would not recognize any agreement or promise which leads to the recognition of Israel” and “would not abandon Palestinian rights and the holy sites in any form.”
Given the divisive political climate up on Capitol Hill right now, one might think the greatest liability to the Obama administration for its positive reaction to Iran’s diplomatic overtures would be Republicans who prefer sanctions and war over détente. But one would be wrong. The real pressure to rebuff Iran’s extended hand comes from America’s closest allies in the Middle East: Israel and Saudi Arabia.
James Corbett appears on The Power Hour with Joyce Riley to discuss the panic over the impending US government shutdown. They also break down the truth behind the banking cartel and their bail-in scheme, Fukushima, gold, and much more.
Saturday night House Republicans passed 248-174 a repeal of a medical device tax as part of the CR that threatens to shut down the government. They are demanding a one year delay to the Affordable Care Act and the repeal of the medical device tax.
A few days ago, Jochem Marotzke, an IPCC Coordinating Lead Author and, according to Der Spiegel, “president of the German Climate Consortium and Germany’s top scientific representative in Stockholm”, was praised (e.g.
China.org.cn
September 30, 2013
The Obama Doctrine
By Zhao Jinglun
In his lengthy and tedious remarks delivered at the UN General Assembly, President Obama, bold as brass, tried to portray Washington as peace-loving and war-hating. But its record clearly shows the contrary: it is a hegemon of war and intervention.
New Hampshire has two House districts. The first district, represented by Carol Shea-Porter, is most of the eastern part of the state, including Manchester, Portsmouth and Dover. The second district, represented by Anne Kuster, encompasses the western and northern parts of the state from Nashua and Concord to Keene and Dixville Notch. NH-02 is strongly Democratic with a PVI of D+3. Obama beat McCain there 56-43% and beat Romney 54-44%. Last year Kuster beat the Republican incumbent, mainstream conservative Charlie Bass 168,954 (50%) to 151,858 (45%).
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Anti-war essays, poems, short stories and literary excerpts
Russian writers on war
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Mikhail Sholokhov
From And Quite Flows the Don (1928-32)
Translated by Stephen Garry
ht to karin for this article. And yes, I was steaming! This is a subject I have talked on more then once. The sale of priceless stolen artifacts. The effect on the countries having their history stolen and the wider loss to humanity as a whole. I am surely not the only person who understands how disgraceful these thefts are?As I have mentioned previously most of these stolen items end up in the hands and homes of the moneyed classes.
By Alice Su | MEMO | September 29, 2013
Jonathan Brenneman packed for his second attempt at crossing the Jordan-West Bank border with a jacket, fully charged iPod, letters of official invitation and 500-page collection of Flannery O’Connor stories.
Among the curious spectacles of our moment, the strangeness of the Obama presidency hasn’t gotten its full due. After decades in which "the imperial presidency" was increasingly in the spotlight, after two terms of George W. Bush in which a literal cult of executive power – or to use the term of that moment, "the […]
Thanks to Edward Snowden, Glenn Greenwald, and Laura Poitras, we know the National Security Agency (NSA) is collecting a huge amount of information about American citizens. But what are they doing with it? Government officials have been quick to deny any "misuse" of this huge data bank – beyond the to-be-expected eavesdropping on spouses, and […]
The demonization of Russia is permitting the US to hide its own role in the conflict and may yet, provide the cover necessary for Washington to violate the wishes of the Syrian people, the American people and the international community to intervene into the Syrian conflict directly in an attempt to oust Assad. The media […]
Politics as a bloodsport even predates Ted Cruz immigrating to the United States. Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr weren't dueling over a damsel. That video above may win a congressional seat for Carl Sciortino because people like the message. No, not especially the messages on the Blue America billboards based on the video, although those are popular messages in MA-05. But it is the message of comity between an unabashed progressive and a Tea Party member that makes it so compelling.
At least 83 people were killed and 162 more were wounded in attacks that took place across Iraq, even into Kurdistan. The Islamic State in Iraq staged a complicated attack against security forces there. Meanwhile, to the south of Baghdad, a suicide bomber compounded the misery of mourners by attacking a funeral. More attacks took place across northern and eastern Iraq.
CPTnet | September 24, 2013
* The word “entry” is intentionally misspelled to reflect the misspelling on the Israeli “Entery Denied” stamp.
I made a second attempt to cross the border. Spoiler alert, I didn’t make it.
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
September 25, 2013
NATO Secretary General holds talks with Libya, Turkey
The Alliance remains open to help the Libyan government rebuild its security sector, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan during talks on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Wednesday (25 September 2013).
This interview with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif on ABC’s This Week is well worth watching, despite the horrible Stephanopoulos.
In the wake of the NSA revelations, Dilma Rousseff, President of Brazil, socked it to Barack Obama on September 24, 2013, at the same 68th session of the UN General Assembly. Obama then replied, arguing the US was only spying on everyone and bombing countries for the common good. Read the speeches before voting on […]
Sine Bundgaard as Nedda and Fredrik Zetterström as Tonio in Copenhagen, December 2011 -- there are full English texts farther along in the post.To deal for now with just the beginning:
Sunday... And time again for my usual weekly rant....First and foremost, I have received some very unusual comments the last few days, especially about my post and my calling out the fact that the Kenyan "massacre" is a complete scam and hoax... There has been the usual "anonymous" trolls that have come out calling me every name under the sun and a few other superlatives... I do NOT put up comments at this site that contain any types of slurs or insults, and usually I have pegged the many Anonymous trolls for the true JIDF scum they really are, and do not post their comments period...
This week, PPP found that Ted Cruz is now the number one choice of Republican voters to be their 2016 nominee.
In recent days, you’ve probably heard ad nauseum that the UN’s new IPCC report claims that it is “95% certain” that humans are causing climate change.
95% is a very specific number. So where does it come from?
by Judith Curry [Marotzke] attributed the oversight to a tendency of each group working on each of the 14 chapters to rely on some other chapter to deal with the issue. And anyone who was thinking about it at all … Continue reading →
The IPCC chairman’s 2010 work of fiction and the credibility of the IPCC’s 2013-2014 climate report are now inextricably linked.
I’ve just published a book that argues that Rajendra Pachauri, the chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), is a disgrace. If we were facing a genuine planetary emergency, someone dramatically different would be leading that organization.
The latest IPCC report will not bridge the ideological divide on climate change so it is up to governments to find the sensible centre. – Warwick McKibben The Australian media continues with thought provoking articles on climate change. This week, … Continue reading →
Al-Manar | September 29, 2013
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu headed for the United States on Sunday claiming he wants to tell the truth to counter Iran’s “charm offensive.”
Over the years I on occasion get mistaken for other Kinsella’s. Our name is rare in the US. Usually when I sign a bill people say “hey like that guy Ray Kinsella from Field of Dreams, right?” That is my claim to fame. Unclean head. Dirty head. That’s what Kinsella means. Not King of the Islands. […]
Voice of Russia
September 29, 2013
UN resolution on Syria may allow for actions against supporters of rebels – Rick Rozoff
Audio
Interview is longer than transcript indicates
On Saturday, John Culberson (R-TX), marched out of the GOP House caucus meeting that had resolved to shut down the government, shouting "Let's Roll," a true suicide-bombing terrorist. Except his neatly gerrymandered R+13 district (which Romney won 60-39%) won't extract any penalty from its harebrained congressman.
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Anti-war essays, poems, short stories and literary excerpts
Erich Maria Remarque: Selections on war
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Erich Maria Remarque
From A Time to Love and a Time to Die (1954)
Translated by Denver Lindley
Al-Manar | September 29, 2013
A Bahraini court on Sunday sentenced 50 people to up to 15 years in jail, including a prominent Iraqi cleric, for forming an opposition group, a judicial source said.
Sixteen defendants were handed 15-year terms, while four others were jailed for 10 years and the other 30 sentenced to five years behind bars, the source said.
Hypocrisy of the paranoid
Paul Balles
The true hypocrite is the one who ceases to perceive his deception, the one who lies with sincerity. –Andre Gide
Hypocritical behaviour:
(MANAMA, Bahrain ) - Carry fire in one hand and water in the other. To be duplicitous, to engage in double-dealing; to be two-faced, to speak with forked tongue.
Bomb explosions once again reverberated across the greater Baghdad area, but today's attacks were spread far and wide to the east and north of the capital. At least 23 people were killed today and 65 more were wounded in them.
