Ukraine Seeks Austrian Help In Opposing South Stream Project

VIENNA, Austria — Visiting Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov sought the Austrian government’s help on Monday to block the planned South Stream gas pipeline project led by Russia, which was designed to bypass Ukraine.

Proposed South Stream gas pipeline.
Azarov, who was on a working visit to Austria, made the suggestion while meeting with his Austrian counterpart, Werner Faymann.

The Austrian government did not provide the details of the talks, but some media reports quoted Azarov’s comments that the project would have a negative impact on his country, and he hoped Austria would address the Ukrainian concern on the issue and help to persuade Russia and the EU to give up the project.

He also urged relevant countries to make maximum use of Ukrainian pipeline systems by increasing investments in upgrading projects.

Announced in 2007, the South Stream gas pipeline is a joint project of Russian energy giant Gazprom and Italy’s Eni that envisions exports of Russian gas to Western Europe through the Black Sea. The gas pipeline’s annual throughput was estimated at around 63 billion cubic meters.

While visiting Brussels last month, Azarov also spoke against the project, insisting Ukraine was a reliable transit country for Russian gas to be transported to “whatever direction” that the Russian side wishes.

Disputes over gas price have strained Russia-Ukraine relations in past years and affected supplies to European customers as Ukraine hosts a major transit route for Russian gas supplied to Europe. The Russian government has accused Ukraine of repeated diversion of gas bound for Europe without making due payment.

Despite improvement in Russia-Ukraine relations in recent months, disputed issues have remained, including those on the formula for determining the price of the Russian gas.

Source: Xinhua

14 Pieces Of Bad Economic News That Are So Horrifying You Might Not Want To Read Them Standing Up

Today the financial world was buzzing with excitement because there was one moderately good piece of news for the U.S. economy.  U.S. employers added 151,000 jobs during the month of October and the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 9.6%.  This is certainly welcome news, but these days it seems as though there are at least ten pieces of bad economic news for every hopeful economic signal.  So don’t get fooled when the U.S. economy takes one step forward, because it is about to take another dozen or so steps backwards.  We are living in the middle of a nightmarish long-term economic decline that has been building for generations.  The deindustrialization of the United States, the horrific trade deficit caused by globalization and the skyrocketing national debt are problems that have taken decades to develop.  The Federal Reserve has been ripping the guts out of our financial system since 1913.  These are not things that are going to be fixed overnight.  In fact, there are some statistics that just keep getting worse and worse and worse as time goes by.  We are heading straight for a devastating economic collapse and hopefully we can all warn as many people as possible while there is still time.

The more research that you do into our economic situation the more depressing it becomes.  We are in big, big, big trouble.  The following are 14 pieces of bad economic news that are so horrifying you might not want to read them standing up….

#1 More than 42 million Americans were on food stamps during the month of August.  That is a new all-time record, and that number is 17 percent higher than it was one year earlier.  In fact, the number of Americans on food stamps is up more than 58 percent since August 2007.

#2 The number of “persons not in the labor force” in the United States has set another new all-time record.  The United States has not had such an extended bout of mass unemployment since the Great Depression.  The “official” unemployment rate in the United States has been at nine and a half percent or above for 14 consecutive months.

#3 More than 1000 people now live in the 200 miles of flood tunnels that exist under the city of Las Vegas.  Once one of the most prosperous cities in the United States, Las Vegas is now little more than a shiny, glittering corpse that it rapidly decaying.

#4 Poverty is absolutely exploding and it is hitting those who are the most vulnerable the hardest.  According to one recent study, approximately 21 percent of all children in the United States are living below the poverty line in 2010.

#5 In the past 60 days alone, the price of cotton is up 54%, the price of corn is up 29%, the price of soybeans is up 22%, the price of orange juice is up 17%, and the price of sugar is up 51%.

#6 One out of every six Americans is now enrolled in at least one anti-poverty program run by the federal government.

#7 The American Bankruptcy Institute says that there will be about 1.6 millionconsumer bankruptcies in 2010.  That would represent a huge increase over 2009.

#8 According to one recent survey, 28% of all U.S. households have at least one member that is looking for a full-time job.

#9 The individual U.S. states are mostly flat broke.  For example, it is being reported that the 15 largest U.S. states spent on average over 220% of their tax receipts over the past decade.  Clearly this is not even close to sustainable.

#10 The U.S. government is completely and totally broke.  After analyzing Congressional Budget Office data, Boston University economics professor Laurence J. Kotlikoff concluded that the U.S. government is facing a “fiscal gap” of $202 trillion dollars.

#11 In an attempt to keep our financial system solvent, the U.S. Federal Reserve has announced plans to create $600 billion out of thin air and pump it into the U.S. economy.  The Fed is calling this “quantitative easing“, but what they should really be calling it is “cheating, debasing and inflating”.

#12 Many of the major trading partners of the United States are expressing deep resentment regarding the new quantitative easing policy announced by the Fed.  Ambrose Evans-Pritchard recently described the growing animosity this way….

Li Deshui from Beijing’s Economic Commission said a string of Asian states share China’s “deep bitterness” over dollar debasement, and are examining ways of teaming up to insulate themselves from the tsunami of US liquidity.

#13 For many analysts, the economic collapse of the United States comes down to cold, hard math.  For example, the former CEO of the tenth largest bank in the United States says that it is a “mathematical certainty” that the U.S. government will eventually go bankrupt.

#14 According to a recent article on CNBC, the financial world is already buzzing about QE3….

“They’re already talking about QE3,” said Dave Rovelli, managing director of US equity trading for Canaccord Adams. “Eventually we’re going to be printing so much money the dollar is going to really go down and everybody’s going to try to deflate their currency against us. I just don’t know how this could end well.”

So is that all the Federal Reserve has left?

Are they just going to keep pouring bags of money into the economy until things get back to “normal”?

Are we going to have “Quantitative Easing 3″, “Quantitative Easing 4″, and “Quantitative Easing 5″?

It has been a long-running joke, but perhaps by the end of this thing Ben Bernanke will literally go up in a helicopter and start shoveling out huge piles of cash over the countryside.

The era of great prosperity that we have all enjoyed for so long is coming to an end.  It would be advisable to use the remaining period of economic stability that we still have to prepare for what is ahead.

These economic problems could have been fixed decades ago if people would have actually listened and would have followed sound economic principles on an individual and on a corporate level, but that did not happen.

Now we are up to our eyeballs in debt and the greatest economic machine in history is rotting all around us.

We are in deep, deep, deep trouble and denying it is not going to make it go away.

Bush Claims Musharraf Tricked Him With Conspiracy Theories About Indian Subversion

[It has been the power of the Pakistani Army to generate a credible "Islamist" threat to Pakistan's nuclear security which has so far prevented the American invasion of Pakistan.  If even Bush admits to it, then it must be true.  This is the most powerful motivation imaginable to push the ISI into destabilizing Pakistan, as a means to stave-off an American invasion.  This places the blame for creating the Pakistani Taliban not on either India or the US, but upon the Pakistani Army itself.]

US planned to send spl forces into Pak post 9/11 & 2008: Bush

WASHINGTON: US came on the verge of marching its special forces into Pakistan to smash Taliban and Al Qaeda safe havens twice, post 9/11 and then again in mid-2008, but the country’s rulers each time thwarted the attempt, former President George Bush has revealed.

The former military dictator Pervez Musharraf had frustrated him from the move by conjuring up a spectre of a revolt in Pakistan and the possibility of militants taking over the reins of power and the country’s nuclear arsenal, Bush said.

And then in 2008 he himself changed his mind and instead ordered deployment of drones, the former President said.

Breaking his silence on the tumultuous days after the dreadful 9/11 terror attacks on the US, Bush said that Musharraf and Pakistani Generals had always sought to misled him by saying that it was Indians who were influencing Americans against Pakistan.

Pushing himself back into the public eye after a two year hibernation, the former President has come out with these startling new disclosures in his new book which he has titled “Decision Points”, where he says that post 9/11 some in the Pakistan Intelligence Services maintained relationship with the Taliban and in fact provided them safe havens.

Bush recalls that as the Taliban and Al Qaeda were on the run from Afghan capital Kabul, he wanted to send special forces inside Pakistan to take head on these terrorists safe havens, but Musharraf warned him of revolt in the Pak Army in which the extremists could take control of the country including its nuclear arsenal.

“He (Musharraf) told me that sending troops into combat in Pakistan would be viewed as a violation of Pakistani sovereignty. A revolt would likely ensue. His government would probably fall. The extremists could take over the country including its nuclear arsenal,” Bush said adding that in that case he told him that Pak soldiers needed to take the lead and for several years the arrangements worked.

In return, the US lifted sanctions and the Congress provided $3 billion in economic aid to Pakistan.

Dylan Ratigan: The Answer To America’s Woes Is ‘Obviously’ Revolution

by Frances Martel

Given the polarized nature of American politics in the last several years, accusations of inciting violence on both sides have become somewhat cliched. But this afternoon, MSNBC’s Dylan Ratigan took to his show to yell fire in a crowded theater, asking viewers, “Are things in our country so bad that it might actually be time for a revolution? The answer is obviously ‘yes.’”

It’s difficult to explain the following clip without appearing to indulge in hyperbole, so it’s probably best to simply state the facts: Ratigan invites on cartoonist Ted Rall to talk about his new book The Anti-American Manifesto, and argue the case for violent overthrow of government. Quoting John Locke, Rall argues that “the people have an obligation to revolt,” and that “nothing will radicalize the American citizen more than being thrown out of their home by a bank.” Citing frustration with both parties, who he called “in bed with the duopoly,” Rall also noted that “the American left has been very peaceful since the early ’70s… and where has it gotten us?”

Ratigan did not seem particularly flustered by the proposition, though he did ask if Rall saw any alternatives, especially peaceful political dissent, or what he called “European semi-violent revolt.” “If you could get everybody to do it,” Rall responded, “it could work, but you can’t even get everyone to stop littering.”

So yes, the following clip is a discussion on cable news over the various merits of violent left-wing overthrow of the American government– signed, sealed, and delivered with a cherry on top for those on the right looking for evidence to counter the claim that it’s their side that’s doing the fearmongering. The clip via MSNBC below:

Mandate for Revolution.mp4, posted with vodpod

Fierce battles in Germany as protesters fight ‘nuclear waste’ trucks

Stop Castor! Fierce battles in Germany as prote…, posted with vodpod

‘Certain Circles’ In Pakistan Funding Insurgency: Afghanistan

Outlook
(RTTNews) – The Afghan government alleged on Tuesday that “certain circles” in Pakistan were funding an insurgency plaguing both the nations–an apparent reference to that country’s intelligence agency, the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI).

“There are certain circles, unfortunately that are not only not helping bring peace to the region but are instigating insecurity and supporting illegitimate terrorist activities,” a spokesman for President Hamid Karzai said.

He said Islamist insurgency has been raging in Afghanistan for more than nine years (since the US-led invasion of the country ousted the Taliban regime in 2001), and is likely to continue unless Pakistan “joined the world” to stamping out the menace.

The Afghan government’s stance has always been that Pakistan can play a very effective role in bringing peace to Afghanistan, the region and Pakistan itself, the spokesman said, but unfortunately it has not yet played that role very effectively.

His comments echoed that of U.S. officials who say they believe elements of Pakistan’s ISI continue to support some Taliban factions in an attempt to wield influence in Afghanistan once U.S. troops leave.

The spokesman was reacting to U.S. President Barack Obama’s comments on Sunday in India that Pakistan was making progress against the “cancer” of extremism, but not quickly enough.

“We will continue to insist to Pakistan’s leaders that terrorist safe havens within their borders are unacceptable,” Obama told a joint sitting of the Indian Parliament on Monday.

“We must also recognize that all of us have an interest in both an Afghanistan and a Pakistan that is stable, prosperous and democratic – and none more so than India,” the U.S. president asserted.

by RTT Staff Writer

For comments and feedback: contact editorial@rttnews.com

Russian Hands to Pull America’s Chestnuts Out of the Afghan Fire?

Gathering of participants – 4 November, from 12.00 to 13.00 at the station. m. Lyublino.

American chestnut RUSSIAN HANDS OF AFGHAN FIRE Prokhanov

More recently, our paramount chiefs vowed that no Russian soldiers had not set foot on Afghan soil. Now these pledges and promises revoked. Apparently, the people, led by our most August leaders are not worthy to be in front of him to keep their promises and vows. This people, they suggest, can endure all, any cheats and any duplicity. Just in Afghanistan, a joint US-Russian special operation to eliminate several drug laboratories. The operation – in essence, fighting – was carried out with weapons, and participate in the Russian units were the very same soldiers whose foot should never have set foot on its territory. Why Americans needed to invite the province of Nangarhar in the rural hinterland of Afghanistan Russian troops? Did the Americans themselves were not able to strike at these rural laboratories? Do Americans have vast experience defeat drug labs in Colombia, the extermination of the drug lords in Latin America, combating drug trafficking that passes through Latin America in the U.S. and Canada? This joint operation was necessary as a way to engage Russian troops in the new Asian war in Afghanistan. There are a sequence of actions, the algorithm behavior, a special technology of this involvement. More recently, we were told that Russia is providing its air corridors to supply U.S. troops peacefully goods – such as fresh water, medicines, clothing. That the Russian air transport companies, entering into contracts with the U.S. Army, shipped to Afghanistan, not bombs, no guns, no napalm bombs, and gauze, iodine, quilts. Now we see that Russia is no different from other military groups: Georgian, Ukrainian, Baltic States – the Americans involved in the Afghan conflict. The next step, as we promised the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the mouth of its leader, Lavrov, a joint American and Russian operation against terrorist units in Afghanistan. This means that the Russian “Alpha” or the Russian GRU special forces would be moved to the center of the conflict and the bloody infighting vvyazhetsya acting in the interests of the United States of America. The Americans plan to withdraw from Afghanistan, which is bogged down in lengthy, not having finished, the war. Leaving Afghanistan, they intend to transfer the burden of an endless war in Russia. As soon as the Russian side, even more in small amounts vvyazhutsya in Afghan massacre, Russia will be declared an enemy of al-Qaida, were announced by these enemies of America, Britain and France. “Technology of involvement will include large-scale terrorist attack on Russian territory – such, for example, as an explosion or the destruction of the Luzhniki one of the buildings of the Moscow City. Terrorist attack, which will be decommissioned at the saboteur of Al Qaeda, the terrorist attack that would result in the shedding of blood the heart of Moscow, after which the entry of Russian troops in Afghanistan will be a nationally justified, will swing public opinion in Russia is so easy to manipulate, the need for a new war. Russia’s war in Afghanistan shall lead from the U.S. hit the Islamic world, will make Russia’s war with the Islamic world total and lasting for the whole XXI Century, relieve tired of this war, Europe and the United States. And this, after another 20-30 years ago, the entire liberal Russian army called the Soviet military contingent in Afghanistan, defending the national interests of our country, the throng of executioners, bloody punitive, demonizing the Soviet Army and the Soviet Union. Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan was a tragedy, after which came not just fall of the Soviet Union and the invasion of radical Islam in Central Asian republics. After the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan was followed by two bloody Chechen war and a continuous series of acts of terrorism, persisting to this day. After Russia’s involvement in an unnecessary and tragic for us to have a war with the Islamic world will be, America will bleed the problem between Russia and China. It is hard to tell what technology this etching, a number of “Damanski” will happen on the Russian-Chinese border before the catastrophe. But there is no doubt that in the depths of a giant mysterious organism called NATO, there is such a technology. In the middle of the XXI century Russian will be cannon fodder, which gets into the meat grinder in the interests of the golden billion. Mr Jurgens, if you – not NATO officer, why are you advocating such a development?

Russian public demands an end to violence in Khimki

7 November Russian President Dmitry Medvedev directed treatment, signed by the famous human rights activists, environmentalists, community leaders, in connection with recent incidents of violence against civil society – the assassination of Khimki activist Konstantin Fetisov, who is now in the hospital is between life and death, and severe beatings of journalists ” Businessman Oleg Kashin (which including in publicizing protests in Khimki).

The public demands to remove from power the Mayor of Khimki Vladimir Strelchenko and immediately launch an independent investigation of the crimes at the federal level.K-treated attached list of criminal offenses against Khimki activists and journalists, for whom the city may well compete with the North Caucasus.

Open letter to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev

Dear Mr. President!

November 4, 2010 assassination attempt on Constantine Fetisov, an organizer and participant of many stocks in forests and protection of Khimki, in general, a defender of human himchan, who heads the local branch of the party “just cause”. With a fractured skull in a coma, he was taken to the hospital, his condition remains extremely difficult.

This is another crime against civil society activists in Khimki, a short list of which sounds like a summary of the battle area and in the Annex.

All the attacks were carried out on those citizens who actively opposed the illegal actions of the Head of Administration, Khimki, accusing him of violating Russian law.All of them have remained uninvestigated. There is no hope and that the attempt on Fetisov will be revealed.

In cases where the assailants were found, it was as hired thugs, and law enforcement officials. However, all the killings can be traced interest in the District and its associated businesses.

In this regard, we urge the President of Russia to impeach the prosecutor Khimki District, Head of the Department of the Interior and the Chief District Office Federal Security Service, did nothing to uncover these crimes.

Also, ask the Russian President to order an investigation into these crimes at the federal level – the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation and the Interior Ministry – to not only identify those responsible in the attack on K. Fetisov, but also to investigate the whole system of custom attacks and corrupt relations prevailing in Khimki district of Moscow region. Please also assist in removing V. Strelchenko of his duties as head of the administrative district Khimki during the investigation, since there is a reasonable assumption that his party will to resist an objective and fair investigation.

The process of collecting signatures, we learned about the assassination of journalist Oleg Kashin. He responded one of the first crimes against civil society activists in Khimki. Attack on Constantine Fetisov and Oleg Kashin are in the same row custom crimes.

Saving in Khimki area brazenly and openly the current system of organized crime is not only an affront to the rule of law in Russia, but also discredits the whole system of Russian power in the eyes of citizens.

Lyudmila Alekseeva, Chairman of the Moscow Helsinki Group

Lev Ponomarev, executive director of the movement “For Human Rights”

Oleg Orlov, Aleksandr Cherkasov, Human Rights Centre “Memorial”

Gozman, co-chairman of “Just Cause”

Svetlana Gannushkina, chairman of the Civic Assistance

Alla Gerber, president of the Holocaust, a member of the Public Chamber

Boris Altshuler, NGO “Right of the Child, a member of the Public Chamber

Elena Topoleva, a member of the Public Chamber

Oleg Zykov, a member of the Public Chamber

Alexander Brod, a member of the Public Chamber

Valentin Gefter, director of the Institute of Human Rights

Elena Panfilov, director of the Anti-Corruption Research and Initiative Transparency International – Russia

Yuri Dzhibladze, president of the Center for Democracy and Human Rights

Alexei Simonov, chairman of the Glasnost Defense Foundation “

Ilya Ponomarev, the deputy of the State Duma

Alexei Yablokov, corresponding member. RAS, chairman of the faction “Yabloko”

Sergei Kanaev, leader of the Federation Russian Motorists

Alexander Nikitin, Nikolai Rybakov, Environmental Human Rights Center “Bellona”

Elena Zubakin, Development Director Russian Bird Conservation Union

Eugene Schwartz, Director of Conservation Policy, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) – Russia

Elena Kostyuchenko, journalist, Novaya Gazeta

Andrew Margulev, coordinator of the NGO “Union of environmental NGOs”

Yaroshenko, Director of Forest Programme Greenpeace Russia

Alex Zimenko, CEO of the Biodiversity Conservation Center

Appendix

SUMMARY Attacks on civilian activist in Khimki

2006 Attacks on the two journalists of the independent newspaper Khimki “Civil Forum” Yuri and Yuri Granina Slyusareva – one broke his head, another a broken jaw, both of them, fortunately, survived, but the newspaper has ceased to exist.

April 2007 beatings by local police, the protesters who opposed the barbaric reburial of the remains of soldiers – defenders of Moscow.

May 2007 blew up a car M. Beketov, chief editor of Khimkinskaya true. “

February 2008 attack on the fund manager “Civil Harmony” Yurov. Suffer the eight stab wounds. According to him, it was the site of administration for his letter to President Vladimir Putin in which he severely criticized the existing power Khimki.

February 2008 beaten by police and sentenced to 15 days A. Buslaev – organizer of the rally against the rising prices for housing services.

July 2008 – approved an environmental rally in MCR similar groups of drunken youths led by two deputy heads of administration of Khimki – E. Piterimova and Alexander Danilov – in fact, was disrupted and turned into a mass brawl.

November 2008 Attempted M. Beketov, chief editor of Khimkinskaya truth. “ He was found near her home in a coma with a fractured skull. The next day unidentified call to the hospital with a threat to finish Beketov.

January 2009 in central Moscow shot dead a prominent human rights lawyer Markelov, M. Beketova defended in the case of libel W. Strelchenko.

January 2009 In his porch beaten defender Khimki Forest A. Parfenov.

March 2009 has died after a severe beating coder newspaper “civil harmony” Sergei Protazanov. He is preparing to release a number of newspapers on violations in the elections of the City of Khimki.

July 2009 Beat A. Pchelintsev, head of the local fund “against corruption, deceit and dishonesty.” He shot into his mouth from a traumatic gun. Fortunately, the doctors managed to save him.

November 2009 At 70-year-old defender Khimki Forest W. Kapyttseva committed two attacks: attempted to kill him, to arrange an explosion in his house.Fortunately, he was not injured.

July 2010 Opposition defenders Khimki forest and woodcutters, who destroy the forest without permits under the highway Moscow – St. Petersburg. Attacks on activists CHOP with sledgehammers, activist Ye Chirikov trying to bring down the machine are unknown, and on 23 July, environmentalists attacked about 50 people with masks on their faces and Nazi symbols on their clothes. Occasioning actual bodily harm peaceful forest defenders and journalists delays riot.

August 2010 Unprecedented brutally by force in central Moscow after a press conference near Moscow detained by riot police leader advocates Khimki Forest E. Chirikov for forced delivery of an interrogation.

September 2010 The first attack on K. Fetisov, he was beaten.

November 2010 K. Fetisov attacked.

November 14, the anniversary of the attack on the chief editor “Khimkinskaya truth” Michael Beketov, on which so no one was punished for Chistoprudny Boulevard in Moscow Khimki Stir in the forest together with the opposition and human rights activists intend to hold a protest rally and march against the creator of lawlessness in Russia.

Medvedev worries about all the journalists in the country

Kashin Medvedev wished a speedy recovery. He worries about all the journalists in the country

Published: November 8, 2010, 17:53 Last update: 08:54 Russian President Dmitry Medvedev wished speedy recovery to journalist Oleg Kashin, savagely beatenover the weekend. Topic attacks on Kashin, as well as the safety of Russian journalists in general, the president had to raise at the meeting with the staff of “Rossiyskaya Gazeta”. Attacks on journalists, Kommersant is not, in the words of Dmitry Medvedev, “ordinary crimes” – is his impression. ”Normally, so do not steal purses,” – said the president, was quoted by ITAR-TASS. “If that is so – it’s purposeful action, and people who are party to it must be exposed and punished,” – said Medvedev. He answered the question editor in chief of the Russian newspaper “Vladislav Fronin.Medvedev reminded him that immediately after the attack on Kashin “reacted very hard, talking to law enforcement agencies.” Did it for understandable reasons, explained Medvedev. Oleg Kashin was brutally beaten in Moscow on Nov. 6 about 00:40. A broken jaw, leg and fingers. In serious condition journalist was hospitalized in intensive care the 36 th city hospital. Now he is under surveillance by police. - Version colleagues: Mayor of Khimki, Yakimenko, “CP LIMITED Turchak,” Mikhalkov - Cashin joins list of injured opponents, Mayor Strelchenko - Video beatings Kashin angered police. The network has got 2 rolls - In Saratov, too beaten up journalist. He said: Because of his work - “ER” urged not to tie the attack on Kashin with his criticism of the “MHER” - Banner in support of Kashin’s been hanging on the building of Moscow State University 10 minutes - Nurgaliyev reported: the operatives can not get out on the trail Speaking about the attack on the Oleg Kashin, Medvedev recalled that it was not the first time such an event. ”This shows that the level of crime in our country is still very high and, secondly, that there are forces who believe that using such methods can silence anyone – journalists, politicians – and that to solve their own problems, all means are good “- said Medvedev. If it is ordinary motives, the president continued, they must be proved clearly the investigation. Medvedev: reporters need greater protection of the state Russian President Dmitry Medvedev also said that reporters need greater protection of the state than any other professional. “The government should very carefully monitor the work of journalists, to take necessary decisions in case of attacks on health, on the life of journalists to a greater extent than for the other cases because of the social significance of labor journalists,” – said the head of state employees, “Rossiyskaya Gazeta” . Medvedev referred to the views, hear them on the Internet. In Twitter, he read these opinions: that the president does not respond to other crimes. ”Every day in the country there are crimes, not only in Russia, and very heavy, but the president reacts to some reason only one of them and makes this address” – said Medvedev, who had previously devoted an attack on Kashin separate post.”I did it intentionally, because journalists – people who are at heightened risk,” – explained the president. According to the president, the government should pay more attention to the performance of journalists. ”The problem of journalists – to tell the truth about people and events in the country and do it professionally and honestly. Therefore, the work of journalists, whatever they were – right, left, moderate or radical views – they will always cause very different reactions,” – said Medvedev . The Russian leader said that “many people do not like that they have been saying and writing.” ”Politicians do not like many, that they are saying and writing, and I probably do not always like what they say and write about me, our country,” – listed Medvedev. However, he is sure that “This is the calling of a journalist, so that through their own views, using his own reasoning, the authority, to talk about these or other events, yes, giving them a subjective color, because we are all people.” ”To this right was guaranteed by the state should very carefully monitor the work of journalists,” – said Medvedev.

After beating Kashin media revealed a wave of attacks on journalists and activists

[At this point, it is fair to ask whether it is Russian security forces or skinhead gangs who are taking Putin's words to heart, about busting a few heads?

"Putin robustly defended police crackdowns on pro-democracy protesters in an interview published on Monday. "Go without permission, and you will be hit on the head with batons. That's all there is to it,"

"You will be beaten upside the head with a truncheon. And that's it," Putin declared."]

Publication time: 12:19 Last Updated: 13:42 Once it became aware of the brutal beating of a Moscow correspondent for the newspaper Kommersant, Oleg Kashin, the media found out that in the regions investigated several similar attacks on journalists and representatives of social movements. Thus, in the Perm journalist of the local branch of Kommersant, received in the summer brain injury in the attack, accuses his son in a crime police officer.In Saratov Oblast police started checking on the fact of beating of the chief editor of “Saratov reporter Sergei Mikhailov. Remains in the trauma ward of the city of Zhukovsky a journalist Zhukovsky to Anatoly Adamchuk. On Tuesday, as it became known that donors give blood for battered in Khimki activist environmentalists Constantine Fetisov. According to the newspaper Kommersant , in Perm, another court overturned the decision not to institute criminal proceedings in connection with the beating of reporter of the local branch of the publication of Mikhail Lobanov. During the attack, the journalist received a closed head injury. According to the publication, although the examination established that the victim suffered serious bodily injury, the police do not want to investigate the crime, because to him, according to some involved in the unemployed son of an inspector at large regional police Ivan Pohorje – Sergei Pohorje. - In the case of Kashin, a new version - … and a mysterious third offender - who beat the journalist Kashin press seeking among soccer fans and skinheads - Medvedev to worry about all the journalists in the country - The Western press: everything goes to yet another scandal According to the newspaper, two young men attacked Mikhail Lobanov morning of June 24. At the hospital, the journalist was diagnosed with bone fracture arch and base of skull, brain contusion of moderate severity, epidural hematoma, subarachnoid hemorrhage, contusion, hemorrhagic foci of the right hemisphere, bruised face and scalp. As clarified newspaper, in a summary of Internal Affairs in the Perm region, first reported that the crime had been detained the suspect did not work Sergey Pohorje and his minor accomplice, but later there were a statement of the Pohorje that he at the time the crime was at home. As a result, a criminal investigation into the attack the journalist was denied four times. As stated in the decree, according to the investigation, serious consequences for the health of Mikhail Lobanov came as a result of an accident. According to police, the attack actually happened, but the journalist was injured himself after falling down the stairs after a kick to the face and severe shock. Meanwhile, he Lobanov said that before the attack Sergei Pohorje boasted to his connections in the police. On the alleged reasons for the attack on the journalist does not write. Saratov journalist Sergei Mikhailov told about the attack Editor in chief of the Saratov reporter Sergei Mikhailov, beaten 5 November by two unidentified, told the radio station Ekho Moskvy on how it all happened. Law enforcement authorities on beating Mikhailova started checking. According to Sergei Mikhailov, it is awkward to call the incident an attack, since there were only two strokes. According to the journalist, the attack was committed in an uninhabited place, in his opinion, likely to act professional athlete. After the kick in the head Mikhailov fell to the pavement and lost consciousness. As the journalist says, saved him what took place next to a man who intervened and began to scream. Two of the attackers took fright and fled. Once a journalist came to, he helped to stand up and walk to the house. According to Mikhailov, it seems, was “a signal from the external environment, prevention.” On the eve it was reported that the police department of Saratov Volga opened a criminal investigation into the attack, but it does not associate it with the journalist’s professional activity. As noted by the victim, he did not insist that the attack is related to his professional activities, but in his opinion, the police department of the Saratov region still draw hasty conclusions. Strange showed journalists the haste with which it was made such a statement. ”In my opinion, everything is sewn with white thread, ie ATC have probably wanted to disown some more important inquiry addressed to me. Well, probably yes. Bytovuha. Maybe it still will make a statement that I was Drunk? It can also be, though I was sober, “- said Mikhailov. The journalist believes that the most stable version might just be his journalistic activities. He advised the investigators to open a file of the latest issues to see “which way the wind blows.” ”If we talk about some other things that I have no enemies in his personal life, nor professionally”, – said Sergei Mikhailov. On the question of threats, Sergei Mikhailov said that six weeks before the attack came to him an interesting sms-ka from a very wealthy businessman and deputy of the regional legislature. The letter, written in verse, he hinted that he is doing what a journalist for him just will not end. Beaten in Zhukovsky journalist remains in hospital A journalist to Zhukovsky Anatoly Adamchuk is still in the trauma unit of urban hospitals in the town of Zhukovsky, reported “Interfax” the chief editor Natalia Znamenskaya. According Znamenskaya, Adamchuk by telephone on Tuesday morning told his colleagues that he had a headache. Doctors have put a journalist diagnosed with a concussion, “he also recorded a hematoma on his face. As reminded by the editor, on the eve Adamchuk came to emergency room to examine their beating, after which doctors hospitalized him to the city of CDB.Earlier it was reported that unknown persons attacked the journalist as he was leaving at two am on Monday from the newspaper on the street in the heart of Mendeleev Zhukovsky. The victim and his colleagues have linked the incident with the journalist’s professional activity, which, in particular, has recently reported the detention of children protesting against the cutting of local forests. The police believe that a journalist just trying to rob. For the environmentalist beaten Fetisov give blood Remains in the hospital and brutally beaten on Nov. 4 Khimki ecologist Constantine Fetisov. As told RIA Novosti on Tuesday, the leader of the Movement for Khimki Forest Eugene Chirikov, the first donors have donated blood for Fetisov, who is in intensive care, 67-th city hospital in Moscow. According to Chirikov, the blood of the first group of negative Rh factor is still needed. As noted by Evgeny Chirikov, any predictions about the state ecologist doctors do not. After a week and a half it must withdraw from the state of an artificial coma. Blood for Constantine Fetisov can be taken in Moscow blood transfusion center at: Polikarpov street, house number 14, Block 2, or the streets of Baku, house number 31. As previously reported, Fetisov was found unconscious in Khimki, on November 4. Brutally beaten by an ecologist, was hospitalized in the central hospital of Khimki and then transferred to 67-th city hospital in Moscow. The victim had also been stolen bag in which there were personal items and a camera. In fact the attack was a criminal case under part 1 of Article 111 of the Criminal Code (deliberate infliction of grievous bodily harm). As noted in the police department, law enforcement agencies have a few major releases, including the social activities of the victim. Employees outside Moscow police are currently searching for a BMW 7-th model in black and without license plates. Criminal investigation is the chief of police of the Moscow Oblast Nikolay Golovkin under special control. Oleg Kashin state remains grave. The media are discussing a “trace Petrick” Condition beaten by unidentified journalist of the newspaper “Kommersant” Oleg Kashin, who is in the neurosurgical intensive care unit of the 36 th Clinical Hospital in Moscow, is still serious but stable. As reported by Interfax in the hospital, observed positive dynamics: thus, the patient’s temperature decreased. On Monday morning, it exceeded 38 degrees, last night was 36.8 degrees, the morning temperature dropped to 36.5 degrees. The night before the spouse Oleg Kashin Eugene Milov told Interfax that her husband is still in a state of artificial coma, alone, he is not breathing, and doctors still do not give a prediction about his condition. According to his wife, next to the journalist are constantly physicians and intensive care. As soon as the experts see the background, they bail him out of the state of medication sleep. As recalled by RIA Novosti news agency on Monday, doctors reported that the attack was Kashin open brain injury, injury of the facial skeleton and fracture of the lower extremities. Meanwhile, the media offer another version of the reasons for the attack on Oleg Kashin. As has found out the agency Rosbalt , some time ago a journalist met with the inventor of the infamous Victoria Petrik. Following the meeting, he made a sarcastic article about RANS, promote their dubious filters to clean water by the United Russia party. “ Recently, Petrick sued the agency Rosbalt and journalist Eugene Zubarev. By way of compensation for moral harm academic demands to recover from the Zubarev, Inc. Information agency Rosbalt, “RIA Novosti” to 1 million rubles, and to reimburse him attorneys’ fees. The lawsuit also a claim to the CJSC “Publishing House” Novaya Gazeta “and CJSC” Publishing house “Komsomolskaya Pravda”. Total Viktor Petrik wants to get 21 million 162 thousand 700 rubles for moral damage. In addition, Petric has filed a lawsuit to the Arbitration Court of St. Petersburg, where the case was heard on the protection of business reputation of the company “Holding” Golden Formula “, whose owner he is. Petrik The lawsuit argues that the negative publications in the Russian media have undermined the business of selling its filters. According to the agency, Oleg Kashin was going to speak in the Kuibyshev federal court in St. Petersburg and tell us how Petryk asked him to buy a vial of osmium worth about 10 thousand dollars. Writes Rosbalt, Kashin News reported that Petrick had threatened him in to interview him. About this journalist also going to inform the process. The last meeting on the case was held on 8 November, Cashin was to become the fourth witness in the lawsuit. As reported by Interfax on Thursday, colleagues and relatives Oleg Kashin will gather at the authorized rally in downtown Moscow’s Pushkin Square, demanding customers find the attack of a journalist. According to the organizer shares Anatoly Globa-Mikhailenko, the city authorities agreed to picket, setting the number of participants to 200. The picket will take place from 19:00 to 21:00 at Pushkin Square near the monument to Pushkin.

Hamas invites Ahamdinejad to Gaza

Islamist group calls on Iranian president to visit Strip after his October tour of Lebanon, however estimates say visit unlikely to take place

Dudi Cohen

Published: 11.08.10, 21:26 / Israel News

Hamas has invited Iranian President Mahmoud Ahamdinejad to visit the Gaza Strip on Monday. Ahmed Youssef, deputy Hamas foreign minister told Iranian news agency Fars that a visit from the Iranian president would lift the spirits of “the resistance front” as it did with Hezbollah in Lebanon last month.

“We are certain his visit would be very significant,” Youssef said in an interview with the news agency. Iran has yet to provide an official response to the invitation, however such a visit is unlikely to take place as Iranian officials do not usually visit the Gaza Strip, despite politically supporting Hamas.

Hamas sources confirmed that Ahmadinejad had been invited to Gaza as part of Palestinian efforts to break the blockade. They told Ynet that the Iranian president had a positive response to the invitation. Nevertheless, Gaza elements estimated the visit is not likely to occur in the near future.

Last month, Ahmadinejad held his first visitto Lebanon, during which he met with Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah. Tens of thousands of Lebanese rallied in his honor across the country including in Bint Jbeil and Kafr Kana.

Ahmadinejad’s visit was meant to send a message of support to Hezbollah and assist the Shiite group in its internal conflict ahead of an international report on the assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Studying Psychopathic Thinking

Psychopaths’ Decisions Studied [Albuquerque Journal, N.M.]

Nov. 08–A study by University of New Mexico psychologists has found that psychopaths can differentiate between right and wrong, but they fail to weigh the difference when making decisions.

The findings were recently published in Psychological Science, a highly regarded national research journal in psychology.

To reach the conclusion, UNM researchers Elsa Ermer and Kent Kiehl surveyed 67 prison inmates. Although 1 percent of the population is classified as psychopathic, 20 percent of prison inmates fit the characterization.

Ermer and Kiehl tested logical reasoning to find that psychopaths struggle to understand the social contracts and personal risks that influence decisions on how to behave.

Average people who were tested understood the expected behavior when someone said, “If you borrow my car, then you have to refuel it.” Psychopathic subjects, however, failed to connect that borrowing the car required action or compensation in response.

Psychopaths also demonstrated an inability to connect potential negative outcomes with risky situations, such as “If you work with tuberculosis patients, then you must wear a surgical mask.”

The inability to make logical connections and correct behavioral responses in real-life situations could influence criminal behavior among psychopaths, Ermer said.

“I think it is significant because a lot of past research has found that psychopaths can give normal responses on answers to moral dilemmas or things like that where it’s clear they know the right answer and can parrot the right answer, but it doesn’t seem to affect their behavior,” Ermer said. “… Here’s an example where they do poorly, where they’re asked to make an inference and they have difficulty doing that.”

The research has been conducted over the past three months. Ermer declined to say whether the prisoners tested were in New Mexico, citing ethical research restrictions.

UNM research that is published in a recognized national journal reflects well on the university, Psychology Department Chair Jane Ellen Smith said.

“When (UNM research) appears in a really good journal, then we get very important recognition because it’s obviously more difficult to get articles published in the top journals,” Smith said. “That is a reflection not only on the researcher, but the environment. UNM is seen as an environment that supports good research.”

To see more of the Albuquerque Journal, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.abqjournal.com.

Copyright (c) 2010, Albuquerque Journal, N.M.

Dreams of Pipelineistan–vs- the reality of worn-out transmission systems

[The global epidemic of leaking oil and gas lines demonstrates the faulty thinking of the people who own and operate these energy lifelines.  Almost all of the pipeline leaks are from faulty maintainance, most of that is a problem of pipelines that have been used beyond the lifetimes of the steel they are all made of.  Oil and gas companies are there to squeeze every available easy dollar out of their products and their transmissions systems.  Just like the aging infrastructure in the former Soviet space, our pipelines, like what is left of our civilian industry, is simply worn-out.] Just plain lucky Not a lot of people know it, but multinational petroleum company Shell owns 40 percent of First Philippine Industrial Corp., the firm that in turn owns the busted gas pipeline that is threatening to cause so much havoc in Makati City and that is forcing gas stations all over Metro Manila to run out of fuel to sell. But by making it appear that the Lopez family wholly owns FPIC, Shell apparently wants to avoid any culpability and the bad PR fallout that came in the aftermath of the oil leak.Of course, Shell spokesman Roberto Kanapi still felt he had to explain why his company is raising pump prices at this time, when world oil rates are relatively stable and the peso continues to strengthen against the dollar. The tightening of supplies in some Metro Manila Shell stations may be blamed on the temporary shutdown of the Batangas-to-Manila “white line” that brings fuel to the metropolis after the pipe began leaking—but the raising of pump prices just seems like a naked attempt to pass on to consumers the cost of the lost gasoline and the expensive repairs on the line that will certainly have to be made. Kanapi has declared that increased demand for fuel during the colder months is driving up prices, not any plan to recoup losses from the shutdown of the pipeline in Makati’s Magallanes area. But when no other fuel player, big or small, apart from Shell is raising prices locally, you have to wonder if the spokesman isn’t just attempting some damage control after his employer was caught with its hand in the oil-soaked cookie jar. After all, if Shell will not even declare that it is a major owner of the pipeline (probably to avoid paying damages in the lawsuits that some are threatening to file against FPIC, to say nothing of the bad publicity that the accident will generate for the oil giant), why should we believe that Shell is not using the oil leak as an excuse to make some additional profit? Talk about turning adversity into opportunity—and frying us in our own oil products. * * * Speaking of the Makati oil pipeline leak, perhaps some good can come about from the incident, no matter how belatedly. Of course, we should be so lucky next time, when a real catastrophe could take place if some other part of the 117-kilometer pipeline ruptures, catches fire and causes a conflagration that would rival the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. There is, after all, enough blame to pass around, going back decades ago, when government ignored warnings about building part of the Magallanes interchange on top of a preexisting pipeline carrying gasoline and other extremely volatile fuel products, right up to the time when investigators from Makati City inexplicably tried to blame the residents of the West Tower condominium for supposedly stockpiling fuel that leaked from below their building. But the more important job right now is to institute measures that will mitigate the risk and prevent similar occurences on other parts of an important fuel supply pipeline. The facts of the matter seem pretty clear: after decades of coming under severe pressure from both the interchange and the vehicles that use it, FPIC’s white line ruptured at a point near the basement of West Tower in Barangay Bangkal underneath a retaining wall of the Magallanes interchange. Months after the West Tower incident, geologists from the University of the Philippines confirmed what many suspected from the very beginning—that an oil pipeline under the ground had burst and was sending up gasoline, aviation fuel, kerosene and other volatile and highly combustible products that are sent through the pipe up into the ground. Sadly, we still get flashbacks of the lack of planning and unnecessary blame-tossing that caused the problem of the leaking pipe in the first place. This is clearly the case when some government officials prematurely declared that excavations to check the integrity of the pipeline were causing structural damage to the much-used interchange. It turns out that the Magallanes structure had already been compromised long before the excavations by FPIC and other agencies checking the pipeline for further leaks started. And that it was a good thing these structural problems were discovered before anything worse could have taken place—meaning not just more gas leaks but also severe damage to the traffic-heavy piece of infrastructure and even the collapse of the interchange itself. The discovery that a reinforced concrete wall sitting just half a meter on top of a portion of the pipeline had sagged, putting too much pressure on the pipe and also endangering the road structure overhead that forms part of the South Luzon Expressway has transformed the controversy over a leaking gas line into a question of the structural integrity of the entire Magallanes interchange. And if the government wants to avert not only a fire from a busted gas pipe but also the collapse of a vital part of the road network, it will let experts assess the damage and act quickly to prevent it from happening in the future. We may have escaped another disaster by the proverbial skin of our teeth in Makati. But we can’t rely on our luck to hold if we don’t act to avoid future disasters—especially now that we are already aware of the extent of the danger. * * * As for the residents of West Tower who had to suffer the indignity of first reporting the danger, only to be falsely blamed for causing it themselves, they have every reason to feel vindicated. But all this talk about filing a class-action suit for damages, fomented mostly by ambulance-chasing lawyers eager to make a killing in the form of court-ordered damages, may be a bit extreme. Unless the would-be litigants are willing to engage in a costly lawsuit that will include not just FPIC and the oil companies that used the pipeline but also the government—both national and local, as well as the various regulatory agencies that have gotten involved in the entire mess over the years—as respondents, it would probably not be a good idea to sue. And all the glib promises of the lawyers who are courting the West Tower folk regarding vast sums of money from those whom they think will pay up will soon be exposed as legal pies in the sky, as soon as the extent of the litigation becomes clear. What all of us really want to see, really, is a thorough investigation and prompt, decisive action from all stakeholders in the important pipeline and the officials in charge of maintaining the interchange, to prevent a future disaster that we were just lucky to avoid this time around. The rest is just the self-interest noise of those who want to make some quick political hay and some fast, undeserved money out of a bad situation.

Copyright Manila Standard Today 2005-2009

The Baloch Hal Banned Again

[Democrats of the world, UNITE!

The truth-tellers of the world are humanity's best hope.  Stand by them.  Pakistan's fear will show the world that all the bad things being said about them just might be true.]

The Baloch Hal Banned

QUETTA/ISLAMABAD: The government of Pakistan has decided to ban Balochistan’s first online English newspaper, The Baloch Hal, on the advice of sensitive government departments, reported Dawn News.

According to the details, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), which monitors the internet operations in the country, has confirmed to have received instructions from high-ups in the government to ban the Baloch Hal, which is currently the most widely quoted newspaper about Pakistan’s gas-rich province of Balochistan.

“We deeply regret the official decision,” said Malik Siraj Akbar, editor-in-chief of the newspaper, “we have always provided equal and balanced coverage to the government and the opposition in our newspaper. The government should bring public whatever “objectionable” material it ever found in our newspaper. The ban is intended to disconnect Balochistan’s news link with the rest of the world. This is a setback to the freedom of press.”

The Baloch Hal was launched on November 20, last year and was preparing to celebrate its first launching anniversary in the next two weeks. The government had also banned another Baloch newspaper, Daily Asaap, last year and besieged the offices of Daily Azadi and Balochistan Express.

The signs of ban appeared on Saturday when readers of the newspaper complained from different Pakistani cities saying they were unable to access the newspaper.

“Every time I try to access the site, I get a message which says it has been blocked on the instructions of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA),” said Zubir Baloch, a resident of Karachi and a user of the services of World Call Group, a telecommunication Company.

The government of Balochistan had also been recently disturbed with the critical editorials of the newspaper.

” The spokesman of the chief minister of Balochistan accused us of dictating the government but we still published his point of view because we believe in the freedom of the press,” said Nazia Baloch, Op-Ed editor of the newspaper.

Editorial: Don’t Panic; We Are Liberals

Pakistan’s leading news source, Dawn News, broke the story about Pakistan Telecommunication Authority’s (PTA) decision to block this newspaper throughout the country on the instructions of the country’s military. The ambiguous reason cited for blocking Balochistan’s first online newspaper has been reported as the publication of “anti-Pakistan material”.  Neither the authorities have specified any news story or an article which they found anti-anyone nor has this newspaper been able to identify any such reports as we have reported from Balochistan as a responsible newspaper. The Baloch Hal , as a law-abiding media outlet, is willing to apologize if the authorities substantiate their allegations.

In fact we do not know who the competent authorities are that make these funny decisions. If sending a text message against the president of the country is also “anti-Pakistan” then the government should also block millions of cell phone connections. If criticizing the government is “anti-Pakistan” then all Urdu newspapers, which call Pakistan as “an American colony” should be banned too. It is simply ridiculous to deprive people of their right of expression in the 21st century under such shallow pretexts like being responsible for publishing “anti-state remarks”.

The Pakistan People’s Party should learn that being democratic in the 21st century is much different from what it used to be in 1970s. No longer do the people only want roti, kapra, makan. Today’s democrats also fight for their right to tweet, blog and Facebook. Until these rights are granted to the citizens, the government falls short to qualify as truly democratic.

Media must not be blamed for the mess that exists in Balochistan. The job of newspapers and television channels is only to state the facts as they are. Therefore, it is insane to kill the messenger. The ongoing conflict in Balochistan has attracted more attention than the 1970s rebellion. There are faster and more reliable sources of communication. Yet, Press is not utterly free and journalists working in Balochistan face serious hardships while conveying the truth to their readers, listeners and viewers. With an increase in the means of communication, the demand for more coverage to people’s issues has also increased. In the backdrop of that situation, Balochs believe they are not being properly and sufficiently represented in the Pakistani media. They accuse the mainstream national media of deliberately snubbing the problems faced by the Balochs.

As far as the ban on the Baloch Hal is concerned, we would like to reassure the government, both in the province and the center, that we do not either love or hate them. This newspaper is solely committed to report the truth from Balochistan. Plus, the Baloch Hal is straining to encourage a generation of young reporters and writers from the country’s most backward province to learn to write in English. We provide them a platform to get a byline and a link to their stories.This is a process of preparing future journalists.

The Baloch Hal team does not have any hard feelings towards the government nor is it going to boycott the government news in the wake of the ban. We will continue to provide equal space to the government and its rivals. By blocking a liberal and progressive newspaper, the government and the military have enormously embarrassed themselves.

Bans on media outlets that report from and about Balochistan will only increase the Baloch sense of alienation and deprivation. Balochs will assume that they are denied job opportunities in the national media. On the top of it, they refuse to listen to a  local perspective.

We would like to invite the representatives of Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Pakistan army, and Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to sit on the negotiation table with the Baloch Hal and discuss whatever complaints they have in a highly civilized and dignified manner. Blocking websites, whisking away political activists and murdering prisoners is not the hallmark of a civilized society. There is no need to panic in front of an educated, progressive and liberal generation of Balochs who can put their perspective before a global audience.

Lastly, we wish to deeply thank all progressive print and broadcast journalists, bloggers and writers who have bravely stood with The Baloch Hal at this critical time. They have confirmed that democracy may be dead in Pakistan but democrats still exist.

Anti-war vets to protest Clinton meeting

• From:AAP

A GROUP of Australian veterans against the war in Afghanistan will protest against the Australia United States Ministerial (AUSMIN) talks being held in Melbourne.

Stand Fast, a national association of veterans against the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, will protest against the talks being held between US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd and Australian Defence Minister Stephen Smith.

While the ministers from the two countries discuss defence alliance issues at Government House, Stand Fast members will protest a few hundred metres away outside Victoria Barracks.

Stand Fast spokesman Hamish Chitts said as well as wanting troops out of Afghanistan, Stand Fast was opposed to Australia being part of an alliance with the US and was protesting against the US being allowed to use Australian military bases.

“It’s been foreshadowed they’re going to be doing this deal that bases are made available to the US,” Mr Chitts said.

“So we’re protesting against that because for one we don’t think the Australian military should be as closely integrated into the US military as it currently is and it seems to be heading to be more so.”

He said the US kept putting Australia into “unwinnable wars that are illegal by international law” and motivated by greed.

The protest will be the sixth Stand Fast has held at army locations across Australia in recent months.

Writing wrongs–the crime of asking questions

Writing wrongs

by F.R. and A.R. | DELHI

THE politics of the latest attacks by Hindu nationalists on Indian authors is not terribly hard to divine. One extremist bunch, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), an outfit often banned by India’s government, has threatened Arundhati Roy, a prize-winning Indian novelist turned political activist. Ms Roy’s crime? That in recent weeks she dared to speak out in favour of protesting (Muslim) Kashmiris, some 110 of whom have been killed in a police crackdown that began in the summer. Ms Roy’s call for an inquiry into those deaths has lead the RSS to demand that she be charged with sedition. Hindu Nationalists reportedly attacked Ms Roy’s home in Delhi at the end of October, determined to settle scores personally.

This followed a similar move by another Hindu outfit to ban a book by Rohinton Mistry, an Indian-born Canadian novelist. In this case the thuggish Shiv Sena, a powerful political party in the western state of Maharashtra, has fiercely objected to Mr Mistry’s “Such a Long Journey”, a novel that has become part of the university curriculum in Mumbai, the state capital. At issue is the fact that the book lampoons Bal Thackeray, a Mumbai kingpin who founded the Hindu nationalist Shiv Sena party over four decades ago. Aditya Thackeray, his grandson and a student in Mumbai, helped to whip up a storm against the novel, ultimately encouraging the university to drop the book from its classes. Even the chief minister of the state has called “Such a Long Journey” abusive.

But why make a fuss now, considering the book was published nearly 20 years ago? It seems that the young Mr Thackeray has political ambitions of his own, and this was a handy way to draw attention to his Hindu nationalist credentials. Indeed, Shiv Sena has a reputation for being tetchy towards even moderate Hindus who dare to suggest that Muslims or Pakistanis might have views worth listening to. Early this year when Shah Rukh Khan, a Bollywood star, pointed out the stupidity of leaving Pakistani cricketers out of the Indian Premier League, the elder Mr Thackeray threatened to disrupt the release of his latest film.

Hindu nationalists work up a lather in such cases to put pressure on the Congress party, which looks powerful at the national level but much less so at the state level. If Congress slips in Maharashtra, where a property scandal could yet bring down many of Congress’s leaders, the likely political beneficiaries would be Hindu nationalists of various stripes, including Shiv Sena and the Thackerays.

As for Mr Mistry, the 58-year-old author has published just three novels, but each has been shortlisted for the Man Booker prize. Though slow, he is an elegant writer. When his last novel, “Family Matters”, came out in 2002, The Economist praised him as “one of the best of the Indian writers in English”. His publisher is eagerly awaiting his latest book, which is nearly finished. A new book would raise Mr Mistry’s profile among critics and readers, and perhaps stiffen the spine of Mumbai university.

Sweden opens probe of U.S. embassy surveillance

STOCKHOLM

(Reuters) – Sweden is investigating to see whether the U.S. embassy has committed any crime by carrying out surveillance measures, the prosecutor’s office said on Monday in a case similar to one that has blown up in neighboring Norway.

The probe to see if illegal intelligence gathering has taken place was launched after the Swedish Security Police at the weekend confirmed the U.S. embassy had a surveillance system in place since 2000, without informing the local authorities.

The Swedish office of public prosecution said in a statement that a preliminary probe had been opened to see whether the U.S. measures constituted a crime and to see who had carried out such a crime, if one had been committed.

“The investigation concerns American measures to protect the U.S. embassy in Stockholm and American personnel,” the statement said.

The U.S. embassy in Stockholm said in a statement at the weekend that it did have a program to detect suspicious activities around its facilities. It said the system was neither secret nor an intelligence program.

The issue first came up in Norway last week when television network TV2 reported that a team of U.S. agents and retired Norwegian security officers had been conducting illegal systematic surveillance from a base near the U.S. embassy in Oslo.

The Norwegian Foreign Ministry has said it is seeking an explanation from the U.S. side.

(Reporting by Patrick Lannin; Editing by Charles Dick)

Retired general confesses to burning mosque to fire up public

Retired Gen. Sabri Yirmibeşoğlu A retired general who has recently been accused of having conducted an assassination attempt on the life of Turkey’s eighth president, Turgut Özal, has inadvertently confessed that he ordered the burning of a mosque as part of psychological warfare operations in 1974.

In remarks published in the Haber Türk daily yesterday as part of an interview with Gen. Sabri Yirmibeşoğlu, who led the Special War Department in 1971 and also worked to mobilize civilian resistance during Turkey’s military intervention on Cyprus in 1974, said: “In Special War, certain acts of sabotage are staged and blamed on the enemy to increase public resistance. We did this on Cyprus; we even burnt down a mosque.” In response to the surprised correspondent’s incredulous look the general said, “I am giving an example,” in an attempt to clear things up. The retired general is also believed to have wide-ranging information concerning many alleged crimes and activities of behind-the-scene organizations such as JİTEM. He was also implicated in the Sept. 6-7, 1955 pogrom in İstanbul against minorities, which today is widely believed to have been part of a manipulative plan concocted by Ergenekon-like structures. Yirmibeşoğlu has admitted that the Sept. 6-7 events were organized by the Special War Department, documented by journalist Fatih Güllapoğlu in his book “Operation with No Tanks or Arms.” In the book, Yirmibeşoğlu is quoted as saying, “Sept. 6-7 is the work of Special War [department], and it is a spectacular organization.” In the interview with Haber Türk, Yirmibeşoğlu also attempted to clarify this point. He partially denied what was in the book saying, “In 1971 I was assigned as the senior [head] of the Special War Department. At the time, there was actually no department called the Special War Department, there was only the Mobility Investigation Board that was set up for Cyprus.” The confession brings to mind the Balyoz (Sledgehammer) coup plot, allegedly drafted by a clique in the military to undermine the government. Dozens of military officers were arrested, although most were later released during the investigation into the Sledgehammer document, which includes plans to bomb the Fatih and Beyazıt mosques and down a Turkish jet over the Aegean to fuel problems with Greece with the ultimate aim of discrediting the government. When allegations regarding the Sledgehammer plan first arose after the document was leaked to the press earlier this year, then-Chief of General Staff Gen.İlker Başbuğ dismissed the accusations as nonsense. Başbuğ said a military whose troops are known for shouting “Allah Allah” as they attack the enemy could not possibly think of burning the house of God. However, Yirmibeşoğlu’s revelation shows that this has actually been done before.

24 September 2010, Friday

TODAY’S ZAMAN  İSTANBUL

NATO GENERAL CONFESSES TO FALSE FLAG OP.

The general

On 8 November 2010, we learn that:

A former NATO general has admitted to carrying out an act of false flag terrorism.

The general said “Certain acts of sabotage are staged and blamed on the enemy to increase public resistance.

“We did this on Cyprus.

“We even burnt down a mosque.”

The general concerned is General Sabri Yirmibesoglu, the Turkish general who helped prepare the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus.(Retired general confesses to burning mosque to fire up public)

Henry Kissinger wanted Turkey to invade Cyprus. (CIA Document confirms Kissinger’s involvement in selling Cyprus …)

So the Turkish Cypriots had to be made angry.

In the early 1970s, Greece was run by colonels who were assets of the CIA; and the military in Turkey were also friends of the CIA.

According to Michael Jansen, athttp://www.greece.org/cyprus/Takism6.htm :

In the early 1970s, a deal was discussed by Greek and Turkish ministers.

According to this deal:

1. Cyprus would be split.

2. A Turkish military base would be set up on Cyprus.

3. The mainly Greek part of the Island would join up with Greece.(The Importance of Cyprus)

Fatih Mosque

NATO generals seem fond of attacking mosques.

The Sledgehammer document, a military document unearthed in Turkey, included plans by NATO generals to bomb the Fatih and Beyazıt mosques in Istanbul and down a Turkish jet over the Aegean.

(OPERATION SLEDGEHAMMER AIMED TO DOWN AN AIRCRAFT /KILLING KIDS ON A FIELD TRIP; ERGENEKON AND 9 11 /
SLEDGEHAMMER; 9 11)

The Excavator asks When Will U.S. Leaders Confess To The American People That America Carries Out False-Flag Attacks As Part of Its Foreign Policy?

“In September of this year, a retired Turkish general named Sabri Yirmibeshoglu admitted on Turkish television that the Turkish government carried out false-flag attacks on the island of Cyprus in the 1960s in order to instill feelings of hatred and revenge in Turkish Cypriots against the Cyprus government.

“The false-flag operations successfully destabilized the island, and helped Turkey’s military objectives.”

“Yirmibeshoglu was the former Secretary-General of the National Security Council (MGK), and the chief of Turkey’s Special Warfare Department.”

According to Elias Hazou’s report, on 24 September 2010, in the Cyprus Mail:

Created in 1953 as part of the Turkish secret service, the Special Warfare Department is believed by commentators in Turkey to be the executive branch of the so-called ‘deep state.’

Turgut Ozal died in mysterious circumstances.

According to The Excavator:

Yirmibeshoglu was named by Ahmet Özal as one of the suspects involved in the assassination attempt on his father, Turgut Özal, in 1988.

Özal served as Turkey’s Prime Minister from 1983 to 1989, and as President from 1989 to 1993.

According to an article in Today’s Zaman, 30 September 2010:

Özal said his father was killed because he had resolved to find a peaceful and democratic solution to the Kurdish question.

He said deep state elements, which were said to be Ergenekon by some and JİTEM by others, worked hard to destroy peace in Turkey in 1993, a year filled with politically motivated assassinations and suspicious deaths of important public, military and political figures.

Agents of the CIA and and NATO have been blamed for the 1980 Bologna Bomb.

According to The Excavator

America’s secret state orchestrated false-flag events and executed bombing campaigns … in order to produce a sense of fear and helplessness in their populations.

Daniele Ganser’s deep research into this scandalous activity, which was done by a network of stay-behind armies organized by NATO, led him to write a book called “NATO’s Secret Armies: Operation GLADIO and Terrorism in Western Europe.”

NATO’s secret terrorists were of great help to the U.S. establishment.

Prior to the military coup d’état in Turkey on September 12, 1980, the CIA and NATO in cooperation with the Turkish military funded and trained secret groups to carry out false-flag attacks and terrorism with the purpose to undermine civil society, and create the condition in which a military takeover would be feasible.

It’s known as the strategy of tension, and it is considered standard operation procedure by military/deep-state insiders in America, Turkey, Israel, England, and other countries in the world that are dominated by anti-democratic interests.

Since the end of World War Two, Western democratic governments have fallen prey to the powerful individuals who operate secretly against the public interests inside the deep-state apparatus of each nation.

Americans have a history of killing Indians on more than one continent (MORE EVIDENCE CIA DID TERROR ATTACKS IN INDIA?)

According to professor Peter Dale Scott, the attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 was part of a long series of “deep events” in America.

Peter Dale Scott:

However to call 9/11 a coup d’état exaggerates the difference between the current weakened condition of the public state, and the prior state of affairs that has been building for years, indeed for decades, towards just such a dénouement.

For half a century the constitution and laws of the open or public state have been first evaded, then eroded, then increasingly challenged and subverted, by the forces of the deep state.

I wish to suggest that this erosion has been achieved in part through a series of important deep events in post-war American history – events aspects of which (it is clear from the outset) will be ignored or suppressed in the mainstream media.

Recent history has seen a number of such events, such as the assassination of John F. Kennedy, that are so inexplicable by the public notions of American politics that most Americans tend not even to think of them.

Instead most accept the official surface explanations for them, even if they suspect these are not true. Or if others say they believe that “Oswald acted alone,” they may do so in the same comforting but irrational state of mind that believes God will reward the righteous and punish the wicked.

According to The Excavator:

The nature of the deep-state is such that not everybody in the government knows what is going on behind the scenes.

Military officials and public representatives who are part of the deep-state are unlikely to confess to the press and the public about their involvement and knowledge, as they would be admitting to committing high treason, and great crimes.

Their confession would be followed by their hanging, basically.

Some government officials, like Sen. Patrick Leahy, and Rep. Dennis Kucinich, have called for a truth and reconciliation commission to fully investigate the government’s secret torture programs, illegal surveillance, and the questions surrounding the Sept.11 events.

Aside from a few crickets, nobody in the media has made any noise about the suggestion to set up some type of truth commission in the United States.

Instead of the truth about 9/11 and the deep-state getting filtered through mainstream sources, or the alternative media, it is grassroots organizations like the International Center for 9/11 Studies and anti-establishment media outlets like the Alex Jones show and Coast to Coast AM that are exposing the war criminals and informing the public about the dark corruption…