The California state senate is considering what is perhaps the coolest piece of legislation in modern America. The bill, introduced by Democrat Ted Lieu and Republican Joel Anderson, would ban all of California from providing “material support” — access to water and electricity — to any NSA facilities inside or outside the state. This could be a huge problem considering that the NSA’s new data center in Utah, for example, requires 1.7 million gallons of water every single day just to stay up and running.

Aletho News

Professor Cyrus Bina relates the facts that (outside of Zionism) the colonial era ended decades ago and that the oil industry and markets have been globalized. The various theories that have been put forward from both the left and the right regarding war rationales that rely on demonisation of OPEC are essentially nothing more than outdated fear mongering. Cyrus Bina has been vindicated by more recent events which have shown that oil prices have been determined by Western financial markets rather than exporters.

Press and Information Office of the Federal Government
January 8, 2014
Bundeswehr to Continue to Help Protect Turkey

German troops will continue to help protect Turkey. Germany’s air defense missiles are part of the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) integrated air defense.

Let me reiterate an old story. Bush I signed the NAFTA treaty at the end of 1992. Bush couldn't get it through Congress so he left his Wall Street/Chamber of Commerce baby in Clinton's hands and Clinton put responsibility for getting House Dems to get on board in the hands of a then little known White House thug from Chicago, Rahm Emanuel. Emanuel was still bragging, threateningly, at the time that he had lost a finger fighting off a Syria tank on the Golan Heights.

Itar-Tass
January 9, 2014
Estonian PM advisor: U.S. deployment near Russia “unwelcome”
TALLINN: Deployment of U.S. military forces near the Russian border would not benefit good-neighborly relations but only bring about unnecessary tensions, the Estonian Prime Minister’s advisor, former commander-in-chief, Ants Laaneots, stated.
“This would be an unwelcome step,” he said.

For 2014 though, plenty of signs point to a tectonic shift in the geopolitical map of Eurasia, with Iran finally emerging as the real superpower in Southwest Asia over the designs of both Israel and the House of Saud. Now that's (geopolitical) entertainment. Happy New Year. The post All in play in the New Great Game appeared first on BSNEWS.

By Georgina Reeves | January 8, 2014

Unfree in Palestine: Registration, Documentation and Movement Restriction – Nadia Abu-Zahra Adah Kay, Pluto Press, 2013
The opening lines of Mahmoud Darwish’s poem Bitaqat Hawiyyah (identity card) are a poignant reminder of reality for Palestinians throughout the world:
“Register me!
I am an Arab
And my identity card number is fifty thousand”

Voice of Russia
January 8, 2014

Fallujah falls to Al Qaeda, veterans question illegal Iraq war
John Robles

Photo: EPA

The US secretary of state vowed Washington’s support for the Iraqi government in its fight to regain control of towns in its western province taken over by militants belonging to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

That’s rich. The government of Syria is battling to root out these same al-Qaeda-linked militants. But in that country, Washington offers no such support.The post Al-Qaeda’s real origins exposed appeared first on BSNEWS.

Anti-war essays, poems, short stories and literary excerpts
Martin Andersen Nexø
From Ditte, Child of Man (1917-1921)
Translated by A.G. Chater and Richard Thirsk

Robert Parry, Consortium News joins Thom Hartmann. Al Qaeda is back - with a vengeance. Islamic militants linked to the terrorist group have taken over two Iraqi cities - almost 10 years after the American military took those same cities from insurgents during the bloody early days of the Iraq War. Has Bush's Invasion of Iraq doomed the people of the Middle East to decades of sectarian violence?The post 10 Years Later, Bin Laden & Al Qaida Have Won appeared first on BSNEWS.

On the same day that the government announced it was scrapping the £180-million-a-year Social Fund for the destitute, a new survey showed that the big US internet companies operating in Britain have increased their UK sales last year by 18 per cent but paid even less tax to the Treasury than the year before.The post Tory Priotities Writ Large appeared first on BSNEWS.

Geopolitical analyst Eric Draitser on Press TV explained what is behind recent infighting between foreign-funded fighters battling along and within Syria's borders.

The bill would permit injunctions against anyone of 10 or older who "has engaged or threatens to engage in conduct capable of causing nuisance or annoyance to any person". It would replace asbos with ipnas (injunctions to prevent nuisance and annoyance), which would not only forbid certain forms of behaviour, but also force the recipient to discharge positive obligations.

The performance of the US economy from the mid-1970s to the present was no match for its relatively robust performance during what economists call the Golden Age – 1949 to 1973. This was in fact the longest period of sustained growth in US history, when most (white) working people had achieved a degree of material security unknown earlier and unattainable since.

contrary to the frequent assertions in the last week (including by Fred Kaplan) that Snowden is particularly reprehensible because he "broke his OATH of secrecy," neither Snowden nor anyone else broke such a secrecy "oath."

Such an oath doesn't exist (look up "oath" on the web). Rather he—and I—broke an agreement (known as Standard Form 312) which was a condition of employment. The post On Secrecy, Oaths, and Edward Snowden appeared first on BSNEWS.

On March 8, 1971, a group of eight Vietnam War protestors broke into a Federal Bureau of Investigation field office in Media, Pennsylvania and stole hundreds of government documents that shocked a nation.

Last week, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., wrote to Gen. Keith Alexander, director of the National Security Administration (NSA), and asked plainly whether the NSA has been or is now spying on members of Congress or other public officials. The senator’s letter was no doubt prompted by the revelations of Edward Snowden to the effect that […]

A picture is indeed sometimes worth a thousand words. A photo of Secretary of State John Kerry disembarking from his plane in Tel Aviv showed chief US negotiator Martin Indyk walking along at his side with a grin on his face as if he had just heard a new Palestinian joke in the plane on […]

Kabul – The fire in the Chaman e Babrak camp began in Nadiai’s home shortly after noon. She had rushed her son, who had a severe chest infection, to the hospital. She did not know that a gas bottle, used for warmth, was leaking; when the gas connected with a wood burning stove, flames engulfed […]

 
 
 The Palestinian leadership won’t do it – will you?
by Stuart Littlewood

Gallup was out with some interesting findings this morning: Record-High 42% of Americans Identify as Independents. Look at that chart! It should be sending waves of fear through the hearts of the worthless careerists who run the Beltway establishments of the two corrupt political parties.

At least 62 people were killed, including a Saudi Arabian, and 54 more were wounded in the latest round of violence. Few casualties were reported in Anbar province today. The deadliest attacks took place, instead, north of Baghdad.

A worst case scenario is unfolding in Syria, and Palestinian refugees, particularly in the Yarmouk refugee camp, are paying a heavy price for Syria’s cruelest war. They are starving, although there can be no justification, nor logistical explanation for why they are dying from hunger.

I have long said that the Sandy Hook "massacre" of December 14th, 2012 was a complete HOAX!  The fact is, readers, that Sandy Hook was a criminal government controlled operation for the sole purpose of creating the propaganda of fear and grievance to try to convince the American people to give up their second amendment right to bear arms to resist their own tyrannical government....

by KenIf you're thinking that the Mssrs Maddux, Glavine, and Thomas fall outside DWT's normal purview, I think I can explain why it seems to me important to celebrate them by means of a simple analogy to our more familiar political and journalistic spheres. Take "Mo" Dowd -- please!

By Martin Iqbal | EmpireStrikesBlack | January 7, 2014

A big thanks is being sent out to Gallier.  He is keeping you and I in the know regarding the QuenelleMerci mon ami!

President Obama is meeting with a range of people, including the ACLU and critical senators, about changes to surveillance programs…Click here for free audiobook download that generates $15 for PBC podcast from Audible!
Oooops! When first uploaded, this podcast opened with dead air.  It’s fixed now, with thanks to Carl Howard for alerting me.

Usurping constitutional amendment that would allow prime minister to sign foreign treaties without Parliamentary approval is overturned.

By Tim Cushing | Techdirt | January 8, 2014

By Mike Masnick | Techdirt | January 7, 2014

US AFRICOM, Israel, and Uganda's Dictator-for-Life Yoweri Museveni set up in South Sudan, inflame conflict, push out China and prepare to take over oil. January 9, 2014 (LD) - RT's report "Who is to blame for the crisis in South Sudan?" gave a succinct background on the warring factions inside the new "nation" of South Sudan and the Western genesis of the conflict. The report would state: 

Stars and Stripes
January 7, 2014
Missile destroyers to raise the significance of Rota and the Mediterranean

Politics isn't something polite people people discuss at dinner, especially not with strangers. Not since high school when the class year book referred to me as gallant, has anyone accused me of being polite. The first day of my Galapagos cruise a few weeks ago, we hadn't even boarded the ship yet when I ferreted out that one of my fellow passengers was not just a Republican from Chicago, but a Republican from Chicago enamored of Rahm Emanuel!

United States European Command
January 6, 2014
Hagel Praises Estonia’s Commitment in Afghanistan
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON: Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel praised Estonia’s commitment in Afghanistan in a Pentagon meeting today with Estonian Defense Minister Urmas Reinsalu.

By Michael Rivero | What Really Happened | January 7, 2014

"They are the children of Buono voters."When Blue America endorsed Barbara Buono for governor of New Jersey last year, it wasn't because she's pretty and it wasn't because she's a Democrat. It's because she's an outstanding, principled progressive and because she was running against the corrupt transpartisan New Jersey political machine headed by one of America's worse governors ever, Chris Christie.

Voice of Russia
January 7, 2014

The US Government would support the devil himself – Dr. Michael Parenti
John Robles

Collage: Voice of Russia

 
Download audio file

by James Corbett
BoilingFrogsPost.com
December 17, 2013
Despite what Time Magazine would have us believe, there is no doubt that the most influential newsmaker of the year has been Edward Snowden, a former CIA employee and NSA subcontractor who at the age of 29 became the unlikely center of global attention with his release of documents allegedly detailing the inner workings of various NSA spying programs.

Al-Akhbar | January 8, 2014

Dutch pension asset manager PGGM, one of the largest in the country, said on Wednesday it was divesting from five Israeli banks because they finance illegal settlements.
The announcement comes a month after a major Dutch water supplier ended a partnership with an Israeli water company which supplies Israeli towns and settlements in the occupied West Bank.

by Garth Paltridge There is more than enough uncertainty about the forecasting of climate to allow normal human beings to be at least reasonably hopeful that global warming might not be nearly as bad as is currently touted.  Climate scientists, … Continue reading →

The list of civil wars, government crackdowns, and pesky militant safe-havens that interventionists demand the United States meddle in seems endless. There is no corner of the Earth that doesn’t call for some measure of U.S. intervention, apparently.
The latest call for intervention is coming from G. Pascal Zachary writing at The Atlantic in a piece unabashedly titled “Post-Colonialism: Why the U.S. Should Help Govern South Sudan.”

The row over Harvey’s edition of Today is likely, of course, to be little more than a brief storm in a media teacup. Yet it comes as a sharp reminder that what was once a normal left-of-centre agenda in Britain has now become so exotic that people react to its presence on Radio 4 with various degrees of shock. Most of the points made by Harvey’s contributors may have been accurate, truthful and based on fact.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Allied Command Operations
January 8, 2014
THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF NATO AIR POLICING IN THE BALTIC REGION
Story by HQ AIRCOM Public Affairs Office

North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Allied Command Operations
January 8, 2014
NATO CONDUCTS COUNTER PIRACY TRAINING WITH REPUBLIC OF KOREA NAVY
Story by HQ MARCOM Public Affairs Office
GULF OF ADEN: Last week, NATO warship TCG GELIBOLU, part of NATO’s counter-piracy Operation OCEAN SHIELD, conducted a meeting and a joint training with the Republic of Korea Navy ship ROKS CHOI YOUNG.

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Anti-war essays, poems, short stories and literary excerpts
C. Virgil Gheorghiu: Armies composed of mercenaries fighting for the consolidation of robot society
====
C. Virgil Gheorghiu
From The Twenty-Fifth Hour (1949)
Translated by Rita Eldon

After Kennedy took office, he was unaware that the CIA, in accord with an OK from President Eisenhower and working with the Belgians, had overseen the gruesome torture and brutal murder of the Congo's popular first prime minister, Patrice Lumumba. With Lumumba already dead a month and his body dissolved in sulphuric acid, Kennedy called for him to be reintegrated into the new nation's government. The CIA-- Allen Dulles, who JFK foolishly kept on as director-- hadn't told him that they had carried out Eisenhower 's orders to have him murdered as a commie dupe.