Media Blacks Out New Snowden Interview The Government Doesn’t Want You to See

This past Sunday evening former NSA contractor Edward Snowden sat down for an interview with German television network ARD. The interview has been intentionally blocked from the US public, with virtually no major broadcast news outlets covering this story. In addition, the video has been taken down almost immediately every time it’s posted on YouTube.

In contrast, this was treated as a major political event in both print and broadcast media, in Germany, and across much of the world. In the interview, Mr. Snowden lays out a succinct case as to how these domestic surveillance programs undermines and erodes human rights and democratic freedom.

He states that his “breaking point” was “seeing Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, directly lie under oath to Congress” denying the existence of a domestic spying programs while under questioning in March of last year. Mr. Snowden goes on to state that, “The public had a right to know about these programs. The public had a right to know that which the government is doing in its name, and that which the government is doing against the public.”

It seems clear that the virtual blackout of this insightful interview is yet another deliberate attempt to obfuscate the truth from the view of the American public. The media has continually attempted to shill the official government lies about mass domestic surveillance programs, justifying them as necessary to fight the “War on Terror”, while attempting to painting Mr. Snowden as a traitor.

Ben Swann Truth In Media

Remains of 55 found at notorious former Florida reform school

For decades, relatives of some boys dispatched to the notorious Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys have struggled to find out what became of them after they went missing amid reports of beatings, torture and sexual assaults at the reform school in Marianna, Fla. On Tuesday, researchers and forensic anthropologists moved a step closer to providing answers. The remains of 55 people have been uncovered on school grounds, University of South Florida researchers announced – five more than previous field work had indicated and 24 more than listed in school records.

"Locating 55 burials is a significant finding, which opens up a whole new set of questions for our team,’’ said Erin Kimmerle, a University of South Florida associate professor and forensic anthropologist who has led researchers on a nearly two-year project aimed at uncovering lingering mysteries at the school, which operated from 1900 to 2011. From September to December of last year, researchers led excavations at or near Boot Hill, an unmarked cemetery on school grounds. Using ground-penetrating radar, DNA samples and search dogs, they probed for unmarked graves of boys reported missing over the years.

Bones, teeth and other artifacts were recovered for all 55 bodies, Kimmerle said Tuesday. Bone and teeth samples will be submitted for DNA testing. Meanwhile, researchers are attempting to collect DNA from survivors of boys sent to the school as "incorrigible,’’ or for truancy or petty crimes. So far, DNA has been collected from 11 surviving family members of former Dozier residents. Researchers are seeking DNA from 42 more.

LA Times

thewhitehouseboys.com - White House Boys Survivors Organization: Victims of Fl. School Boys

Tom Rhodes Interviews Willem Oltmans

People Of Euromaidan

Spectacular images of riots and clashes in the streets of the Ukrainian capital Kiev have made the rounds of newspapers and social media in the past weeks. A new video by Max Zabolotnyi, however, shows a completely different side of the protests.

In the 3-minute compilation, Zabolotnyi gives viewers a glimpse into the world of Kiev's demonstrations and barricades, highlighting the sense of camaraderie and community among the protesters. The film was shot over a 3-day span in mid-December at the Maidan Nezalezhnosti, or Nezalezhnosti Square, in the heart of the city.

Huffington Post

Meanwhile: One of Maidan leaders kidnapped, tortured and crucified - English pravda.ru

DPRK: The Land Of Whispers

North Korea lies somewhere between a 1930′s Soviet Union frozen in time and a dark, futuristic vision of society... as imagined back in the 70′s.
"Land of Whispers" invites you to visit arguably the most unique and isolated travel destination in the world - not to criticize, but to observe and listen. Aside from usual highlights such as Pyongyang or Arirang, this unique one-man documentary brings you to areas such as Chongjin or Wonson, still virtually unknown to even google or wikipedia. There, I attempt to pierce through the ever-present 'national mythology' and as much as possible, I try to connect with people - such as the waitress mesmerized by tablet computers, or a tour guide cautiously fascinated by modern pop culture.

The Ancient Mystery of the Carpathian Sphinx

The missing link of human evolution and the soul of man, as we explore the Ancient Mystery of the Carpathian Sphinx and evidence of an intervening leap in human evolution that occurred deep in our ancient past. The Mystery of The Carpathian Sphinx website

Also see Osmanagić pyramid hypothesis on Wikipedia

American Anthrax

September 11, 2001, shook the United States to the core, a country that had been nearly untouchable since its democratic inception. However, immediately following this horrific tragedy, another equally as impactful ‘terrorist attack’ occurred when weaponized anthrax was sent to multiple Congressman and journalists through the U.S. Postal Service.

The attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were both one-time events that happened in two prominent cities. Unlike 9/11, the Anthrax Attacks localized terrorism and spread fear to every corner of American life, where the simple act of getting your mail could prove to be fatal. Five people died as a result of breathing in the deadly anthrax spores, including postal workers and one NY Post reporter. Countless others were infected.

The Bush administration initially tried to link this ‘second wave of terrorism’ to al-Qaeda with zero proof. Once that talking point out-lived its usefulness, the official narrative began leaning towards Saddam Hussein and his mythological biological weapons program.

disinformation

I Don't Like Disco

Amanda Lear

There Are No Gay People In My City, Says Sochi Mayor

How Russia Is Censoring Reporting On Sochi Olympics Controversies

Russian state-controlled media outlets, which include the nation's largest television networks and news agencies, are unlikely to air reports questioning the country’s costly preparations for the games, the concerns of LGBT athletes, or the environmental impact of drastically changing the landscape in Sochi -- essentially, anything that doesn't help project the image Putin wants for the Olympics.

In CPJ’s report, an unnamed Sochi correspondent for a Russian news organization recalled filing three stories to editors in Moscow. The first cast doubt on authorities’ claims about a journalist arrested for narcotics possession, while two others looked at dysfunction at a newly built Sochi residential complex for the games and a major storm expected to hit Sochi. All three were rejected in Moscow.

“You may have a storm, a twister, and even a 9-Richter-scale earthquake; still, we have to write that all skies are clear over Sochi,” the correspondent recalled her editor saying. Censorship in authoritarian countries can be overt, as when negative stories are spiked, or more subtle, creating a climate where journalists self-censor out of fear of risking their livelihoods.

“Nobody calls me; nobody says to me what I should or should not write about,” Svetlana Sagradova, the editor-in-chief of a local business magazine, told CPJ. “But I know what the topics that would anger the authorities are, and I have imposed self-censorship when it comes to those. Because -- one move by the prosecutors -- and my publication could lose its license.”

Since many Sochi-based news outlets receive funding from the government, it’s expected that Olympics stories that upset the Kremlin could lead to funds getting cut off.

The World Post

Paris Demonstrators Chant 'Jew, France is Not Yours'

A chilling new video clip recorded yesterday captures the reality of rising anti-Semitism in France. In it, a group of anti-government demonstrators march through Paris, singing the French national anthem and chanting “Juif, la France n’est pas a toi” (“Jew, France is not yours”)–all on the eve of International Holocaust Remembrance Day:

Perhaps the most disturbing quality of the video is its vantage point–peering out a window onto the streets of Paris. The implication of the image is as disturbing as it is mundane. Today, in the capital of a European Union member state, one can look out the window and see demonstrators march proudly down the street while shouting anti-Semitic slogans. (A minority of viewers, in an attempt to dispute the chant’s prejudice, have claimed that the protesters are not denouncing “Juif,” but rather “CRIF,” which is the acronym for the Representative Council of the French Jewish Institutions, as though this ameliorates the problem.)

Tablet Magazine

Willem Oltmans, The Eight Million Dollar Man

Willem Leonard Oltmans (10 June 1925 – 30 September 2004) was a Dutch investigative journalist and author who did not hesitate to pro-actively intervene in international politics.

Due to the highly critical and opposite stance he often took towards Dutch global politics, as of 1956 the Dutch government conspired to keep him out of work. During a lingering lawsuit (1991–2000), involving the Royal family, parties agreed to a binding arbitration in which the state had to pay him 8 million guilders in damages in 2000 (approx. 4 million in 2000 US dollars, 3.6 million euros, over 5.6 million dollars these days). As an erudite orator Oltmans' straightforward and uncompromising behaviour made him a striking media personality and unique phenomenon in Dutch society.

Wikipedia

Pete Seeger Dies At 94

Pete Seeger, the banjo-picking troubadour who sang for migrant workers, college students and star-struck presidents in a career that introduced generations of Americans to their folk music heritage, died on Monday at the age of 94.

More on Huffington Post

Jesus is Magic

Sarah Silverman – Facebook

Super-Rich Businessman Compares Treatment Of The Rich To The Holocaust

A billionaire has compared the treatment of the wealthy to the treatment of the Jews during the Holocaust.

Venture capitalist Thomas Perkins wrote an eyebrow-raising letter to the editors at the Wall Street Journal, comparing the plight of the rich to the mass murder by the Nazis, called "Progressive Kristallnacht Coming?"... and the WSJ published it.

"I would call attention to the parallels of fascist Nazi Germany to its war on its 'one percent,' namely its Jews, to the progressive war on the American one percent, namely the 'rich,'" Perkins writes. Thomas Perkins, one of the founders of venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers, was comparing taxes on the super rich to the slaughter of millions in the Holocaust.

Huff. Post

Bob Marley - Live at Rockpalast

Dortmund - 1980 (Full concert) (Bob enters the stage at 20 min. into the video)

Over 100 arrested in Brazil as anti-World Cup protesters clash with police

Over 100 people were arrested in Sao Paulo, Brazil’s largest city, during a protest against this summer’s World Cup which will be hosted in the country. Around 2,500 people took to the streets on Saturday for the demonstration which ended in clashes with police late in the night.

Demonstrators gathered in front of the Sao Paulo Art Museum for about one hour before heading out to another part of the city chanting slogans against the tournament. Several chanted “If we have no rights, there will be no Cup.”

Police responded with tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the crowd, after some anarchist demonstrators wrecked an empty police car, attempting to overturn it, while others smashed the windows of banks and started fires.

The Independent - The Guardian - Press TV - BBC

All relatives of Jang executed too

All relatives of the executed uncle of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, including children and the country's ambassadors to Cuba and Malaysia, have also been put to death at the leader's instruction, multiple sources said Sunday.

Jang Song-thaek, the once-powerful uncle, was executed last month on charges of attempting to overthrow the communist regime, including contemplating a military-backed coup. All direct relatives of Jang have also been executed, the sources said.

"Extensive executions have been carried out for relatives of Jang Song-thaek," one source said on condition of anonymity. "All relatives of Jang have been put to death, including even children."
The executed relatives include Jang's sister Jang Kye-sun, her husband and Ambassador to Cuba Jon Yong-jin, and Ambassador to Malaysia Jang Yong-chol, who is a nephew of Jang, as well as his two sons, the sources said.

All of them were recalled to Pyongyang in early December and executed, they said. The sons, daughters and even grandchildren of Jang's two brothers were all executed, they said. It was unclear exactly when they were killed, but they are believed to have been put to death after Jang's death on Dec. 12. "Some relatives were shot to death by pistol in front of other people if they resisted while being dragged out of their apartment homes," another source said.

Yonhap News Agency

Sabali

Amadou & Mariam

Qatar World Cup: 185 Nepalese died in 2013 – official records

The extent of the risks faced by migrant construction workers building the infrastructure for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar has been laid bare by official documents revealing that 185 Nepalese men died last year alone.

The 2013 death toll, which is expected to rise as new cases come to light, is likely to spark fresh concern over the treatment of migrant workers in Qatar and increase the pressure on Fifa to force meaningful change. According to the documents the total number of verified deaths among workers from Nepal – just one of several countries that supply hundreds of thousands of migrant workers to the gas-rich state – is now at least 382 in two years alone. At least 36 of those deaths were registered in the weeks following the global outcry after the Guardian's original revelations in September.

The revelations forced Fifa's president, Sepp Blatter, to promise that football would not turn a blind eye to the issue following a stormy executive committee meeting. Qatar's ministry of labour hired law firm DLA Piper to conduct an urgent review and Hassan al-Thawadi, chief executive of the World Cup organising committee, said the findings would be treated with the utmost seriousness, vowing that the tournament would not be built "on the blood of innocents". The DLA Piper report is expected to be published in the coming weeks.

The Nepalese make up about a sixth of Qatar's 2 million-strong population of migrant workers. Verified figures for the 2013 death rates among those from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and elsewhere have yet to emerge.

"Fifa firmly believes in the positive power that the Fifa World Cup can have in Qatar as a platform for positive social change, including an improvement of labour rights and conditions for migrant workers."

Full story on The Guardian

Mathematics

Hollie Mcnish

Bullshit - Holier than Thou

Penn and Teller take on the lives of folks such as Gandhi, Dalai Lama, and Mother Teresa.

‘Hotel Rwanda’ Scribe Keir Pearson Tapped To Pen Mother Teresa Biopic

Jesus Christ visits Sarah Silverman

How Corporations Are Cashing In On The Worldwide Immigration Crackdown

Nearly a decade ago, Australian authorities discovered major problems inside detention centers run by a private, for-profit company entrusted with immigrants locked up for entering the country illegally.

The company, Global Solutions Ltd. -- now owned by the British corporation G4S, the world's largest security firm -- was failing to administer care to detainees with serious health problems, according to a government investigation. A separate inquiry found that guards transporting detainees on a seven-hour drive had denied them food, water and access to bathrooms, ignoring pleas for help.

Amid public outcry over the investigation and protests by detainees who set fires and rioted at a detention center, the Australian government gradually phased out its contracts with the company. But as it now intensifies a crackdown on undocumented immigrants entering its waters, yielding growing numbers of detainees, the government has again turned to G4S to manage the flow.

More on The World Post

Wanderers

Carl Sagan on human evolution, exploration [Carl Sagan Tribute Series]

Edie's Dream

Suuns

3.5 billion people living in poverty is 'fantastic news'

Christian Bullshit

Nailed by Bill Maher

The Reason NASA Never Returned To The Moon

Have you ever wondered why we haven't returned to the moon again? The truth is that NASA is hiding a very dark secret from us.

Kiev mass riots

The onslaught by Ukraine police is ongoing as embattled rioters are banging on their shields and barricades are being taken apart by force.

 LIVE UPDATES - RT LIVE

Did Animal Planet Mistreat Its Stars to Fake Reality Drama?

James West's reporting reveals "numerous cases of alleged animal mistreatment and possible infringement of state and federal law," and "evidence of a production culture that tolerated legally and ethically dubious activities, including using an animal that had been drugged with sedatives, in contravention of federal rules; directing trappers to procure wild animals to be 'caught' again as part of a script, and wrongly filling out legal documents detailing the crew's wildlife activities for Kentucky officials."

Mother Jones on YouTube

Russia's Sochi Confronts Massive Problems Behind Olympics Facade

In the village of Akhshtyr, residents complain about an illegal landfill operated by an Olympics contractor that has fouled the air and a stream that feeds the Sochi water supply. Waste from another illegal dump in the village of Loo has slid into a brook that flows into the already polluted Black Sea.

In the village of Mirny, just outside the Olympic Park, rumbling trucks have damaged foundations and caused homes to sink. And right across the railroad tracks from the Akatsy building, another multi-family residence has become prone to flooding after an Olympics-related road was built nearby.

Sochi residents also complain about widespread environmental damage, including the destruction of forests and the contamination of a river running down to the sea. Near the Olympic Park, a popular sandy beach was paved over for the development of a port that was never built.

The Winter Games were intended to showcase the Russia's resurgence from the collapse of the Soviet Union two decades ago. From drab sanatoriums to gleaming ski resorts. From outdoor markets with counterfeit clothes to boutiques filled with international brands. When an AP correspondent asked the Sochi mayor last year what had changed in the city for the better, Anatoly Pakhomov started talking about a new shopping mall and a Louis Vuitton store as symbols of positive change.

huffingtonpost.com - The World Post

Shocking video emerges of police brutality in Ukraine

Evidence of 'industrial-scale killing' by Syrian regime

The UN and independent human rights groups have documented abuses by both Bashar al-Assad's government and rebels, but experts say this evidence is more detailed and on a far larger scale than anything else that has yet emerged from the 34-month crisis.

The three lawyers interviewed the source, a military policeman who worked secretly with a Syrian opposition group and later defected and fled the country. In three sessions in the last 10 days they found him credible and truthful and his account "most compelling".

They put all evidence under rigorous scrutiny, says their report, which has been obtained by the Guardian and CNN. (Read here)

The authors are Sir Desmond de Silva QC, former chief prosecutor of the special court for Sierra Leone, Sir Geoffrey Nice QC, the former lead prosecutor of former Yugoslavian president Slobodan Milosevic, and Professor David Crane, who indicted President Charles Taylor of Liberia at the Sierra Leone court.

The defector, who for security reasons is identified only as Caesar, was a photographer with the Syrian military police. He smuggled the images out of the country on memory sticks to a contact in the Syrian National Movement, which is supported by the Gulf state of Qatar. Qatar, which has financed and armed rebel groups, has called for the overthrow of Assad and demanded his prosecution

More on The Guardian

Ukraine Pandemonium

Anti-government protesters and riot police in Ukraine have clashed on the sidelines of a rally in defiance of new laws aimed at curbing public protests.

Tens of thousands of pro-EU demonstrators gathered in Kiev's Independence Square to protest against the laws, which were passed on Thursday with a quick show of hands by MPs loyal to President Viktor Yanukovych.

See BBC for more

A Universe Not Made For Us

Carl Sagan on religion. Milky Way Musings - Home of the Carl Sagan Tribute Series

Young and Gay in Putin's Russia

Other parts of this series on YouTube

29 cultures and tribes at risk of disappearing

It took over four years for photographer Jimmy Nelson to document 29 cultures and tribes at risk of disappearing from their remote corners of the world. He set out to "celebrate the beauty of these cultures and their traditional ways of life" and beautifully captured his subjects.

Glenn Greenwald: Obama NSA Speech A 'PR Gesture'

Glenn Greenwald dismissed President Obama's Friday speech outlining his reforms of the NSA as a "PR gesture," and mocked Obama's comments about the effect caused by Edward Snowden's leaks.

Obama announced a series of proposed changes to the way the NSA collects some data, though he emphasized that the data collection would continue. Speaking to Al Jazeera America before the speech, Greenwald did not appear to place much faith in Obama's intentions:

“It’s really just basically a PR gesture, a way to calm the public and to make them think there’s reform when in reality there really won’t be. And I think that if the public, at this point, has heard enough about what the NSA does and how invasive it is, that they’re going to need more than just a pretty speech from President Obama to feel as though their concerns have been addressed.”

Greenwald was just as critical during the speech itself. He noted that Obama was framing the debate around where citizens' data would be stored, rather than whether it needed to be collected in the first place:

"Store all citizens' communications records" is a radical policy. But it's been transformed to normal- only allowed debate is: who holds it?

Glenn Greenwald: Obama NSA Speech A 'PR Gesture'

What in the World Are They Spraying?

Edward Snowden, the hacker who gained access to every secret corner of the Internet during his tenure at the NSA, has come forward with details of a classified project to alter the world’s climate. The shocking truth, as he says, is that chemtrails are part of a benevolent program aimed at countering global warming. By cooperating in secret with jet fuel manufacturers, government agents have carefully kept the massive chemtrail efforts completely under wraps. (WorldTruth.tv)

2013 Year in Review

The Human Rights Channel

UN warns of genocide in the Central African Republic

A senior UN humanitarian official warned on Thursday of the risk of genocide in the Central African Republic without a massive scaling up in the international response to the crisis. “It has all the elements that we have seen elsewhere, in places like Rwanda and Bosnia. The elements are there, the seeds are there, for genocide. There’s no question about that,” John Ging, director of operations for the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, told a news conference in Geneva.

The CAR’s new interim leader ordered the deployment of hundreds more troops in the capital Bangui on Monday with instructions to shoot troublemakers ‘at point blank range’ in a bid to end months of religious violence. Fighting, attacks on mosques and the looting of Muslim-owned shops have persisted in Bangui since the resignation of rebel leader-turned-president Michel Djotodia last Friday under intense international pressure. Djotodia seized power last March at the head of the Muslim Seleka rebel coalition, unleashing a wave of killings and looting targeting the majority Christian population which in turn sparked revenge attacks by ‘anti-balaka’ Christian militia.

Eyewitness News

KLF-Megamix Trilogy

KLF

EU to Ban Seeds and Criminalize Unregistered Gardens

The U.S. has already seen its fair share of cases where backyard gardens and rain collectors are raided by SWAT teams, shut down through regulations and otherwise intimidated out of proliferation. Now, official policies to support this kind of dominance by biotech, pesticide companies and other playsa in big agribusiness are being pushed through in Europe, in this case by the European Commission through a truly bunk proposed law.

Arjun Walia, from Collective-Evolution.com, writes: The European Commission is changing the European Union’s plant legislation, apparently to enhance food safety across the continent. This move has sparked a heavy opposition from many, saying that the measure will threaten seed diversity and favour large agrochemical businesses. This new law creates new powers to classify and regulate all plant life anywhere in Europe.

The “Plant Reproductive Material Law” regulates all plants. It contains restrictions on vegetables and woodland trees, as well as all other plants of any species. It will be illegal to grow, reproduce, or trade any vegetable seed or tree that has not been been tested and approved by the government, more specifically the “EU Plant Variety Agency.” [...] The new law basically puts the government in charge of all plants and seeds in Europe, and prevents home gardeners from growing their own plants from non-regulated seeds. If they did, they would now be considered criminals.

If this takes root as law in Europe and elsewhere, it will contribute towards the total subjugation of the people to the undue powers granted to biotech and Big Agra.

Truthstream Media - Government Bans Americans from Growing Vegetables! (Wealth Daily)

Editing Truth by Mob Rule

Abby Martin goes over the editing practices of the online encyclopedia, Wikipedia, and calls out the websites editors for their lack of all-encompassing points of view.

The dying remorse of Mikhail Kalashnikov

It´s a question that seems to have haunted Mikhail Kalashnikov, inventor of the AK-47 assault rifle, as he pondered the fate of his own soul towards the end of his life – despite his public protestations to the contrary.

He may have made little money from the wildly successful weapon of choice for the world’s revolutionaries, drug cartels, terrorists, kidnappers, pirates and soldiers, saying once he would have been better off making a lawn mower. But he was feted by the Russian Motherland for whom it was developed towards the end of World War II and perfected in 1947, the year for which the Avtomat Kalashnikova is named. His awards from the Soviet authorities included the Order of Lenin and the Hero of Socialist Labour.

Now, however, it has emerged that Mr Kalashnikov was suffering “spiritual pain” at the thought of the slaughter his invention had wrought, and the “devilish desires of envy, greed and aggression” his assault rifle fed.

More on Independent.ie

Afghan atheist to get asylum in Britain on religious grounds

An Afghan man is understood to have become the first atheist ever to secure asylum in Britain on religious grounds.

His case was accepted by the Home Office on the basis there was a risk he could face persecution in Afghanistan for having rejected Islam. Although he was brought up a Muslim, since living in the UK he has gradually turned away from it and is now an atheist. The young man – who does not want to be identified for fear of being rejected by the Afghan community in Britain – fled to the UK from a conflict involving his family in Afghanistan.

The Independent

Media Disinformation and the Framing of the Syrian War

Months after the events took place, Pulitzer prize winning journalists and others are finally reporting about the lies and manipulations of the US government regarding the recent chemical weapons attack in Syria. Far from shining a light on the true situation in the country, however, these reports continue to avoid the underlying causes and explanations for what is happening in Syria, and the forces that are behind it.

Global Research TV

Dictator

Taiwan's New Special Forces Uniforms Are Wearable Nightmare Fuel

Like the Samurai's mempo, the uniforms of many of today's Special Forces units play dual roles. Not only do they protect the wearer's face and conceal his identity, they terrify the pants off of the enemy. Take the newly unveiled uniforms of Taiwan's Special Forces for example. They look like something out of Army of Two.

These Kevlar ballistics masks measure 11.2-inches long by 7.2-inches wide and weight about 2.5 pounds. Rated at Threat Level II, the mask can stop anything up to a .357 Magnum slug.

Gizmodo

Sharon's Legacy Includes Massacres of Palestinians and Lebanese

Shir Hever: Despite disobeying direct orders and overseeing a number of massacres, Ariel Sharon's military career advanced because he was willing to terrorize Palestinians and nearby countries.

Part 2  on The Real News

Blair's Government Face Crime Probe Over Iraq War Crimes

The British government has insisted it will fight a bid to trigger prosecutions of former ministers and senior military figures over alleged war crimes in Iraq. Two senior ministers in Tony Blair’s government are facing a possible criminal probe over the alleged torture and unlawful killing of hundreds of Iraqis by British soldiers.

A complaint filed with the International Criminal Court (ICC) has accused British forces of abusing and killing detainees in their custody. The shocking dossier says "those who bear the greatest responsibility" for alleged war crimes "include individuals at the highest levels" of the British Army and political system. UK military commanders "knew or should have known" that forces under their control "were committing or about to commit war crimes". The head of the army, General Sir Peter Wall, ex-defence secretary Geoff Hoon, and former defence minister Adam Ingram are among those named in the 250-page dossier, according to the Independent on Sunday. Human rights lawyers have drawn on the cases of more than 400 Iraqis, arguing they represent "thousands of allegations of mistreatment amounting to war crimes of torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment". They describe incidents ranging from "hooding" prisoners to burning, electric shocks, threats to kill and "cultural and religious humiliation".

Huffington Post

Bounty Hunters Search for Tony Blair After Latest Sightings of UK's Most Wanted War Criminal

Ex-Israeli PM Ariel Sharon dies

The iconic but controversial former Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, has died after his medical condition significantly deteriorated, his son confirmed to the media. The 85-year-old politician died in Tel Aviv’s Tel Hashomer hospital, also known as the Chaim Sheba Medical Center, where he had been in a coma since January 2006 after suffering a stroke and brain hemorrhage. For nearly eight years Sharon was on respiratory life support, occasionally opening his eyes and moving fingers. He was supported by fluids through a feeding tube.

RT News - The Crimes of Ariel Sharon (Counterpunch)

Organasm

Orgel Vreten

Unseen Alfred Hitchcock Holocaust documentary ‘Memory of the Camps’ to be released

An Alfred Hitchcock documentary about the Holocaust which was suppressed for political reasons is to be screened for the first time in the form its director intended after being restored by the Imperial War Museum, reports the Independent.

Hitchcock was asked to assemble footage shot by a British army film unit cameraman of the liberation of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in 1945. But the resulting documentary, which had been commissioned in an attempt to inform and educate the German populace about the atrocities carried out by the Nazis in their name, was ultimately held back.

It was not shown at all until 1984, in an incomplete version at the Berlin film festival, and was missing a sixth reel and in poor quality when it was screened on the PBS network in the US a year later. Now the film, retrospectively titled Memory of the Camps, is to finally see the light of day in a format Hitchcock would have approved of.

“It was suppressed because of the changing political situation, particularly for the British,” Dr Toby Haggith, senior curator at the Department of Research for the Imperial War Museum told the Independent. “Once they discovered the camps, the Americans and British were keen to release a film very quickly that would show the camps and get the German people to accept their responsibility for the atrocities that were there.”

The Raw Story

Using Mirrors To Show Police What They Have Become

At noon on Dec. 30, protesters in central Kyiv held mirrors in front of police for 30 minutes to commemorate the night of Nov. 30 when riot police used excessive force to breakup a peaceful rally on Independence Square consisting mostly of university students.

In a gesture to remind the police of their violent actions that memorable night, EuroMaidan demonstrators lined up with mirrors to show law enforcement personnel their reflections. The civic demonstration took place near walkways and streets that lead to the government building district where police have been stationed. The buildings include the president’s headquarters, Cabinet of Ministers and central bank, among others.

Protesters also held posters that read, “Who and what are you protecting?” in reference to President Viktor Yanukovych and his appointed government whose ouster they have called.

Full story on PopularResistance.Org

America's First Openly Pastafarian Politician Sworn Into Office

A small-town council member from New York is making national headlines this week after becoming the first openly Pastafarian politician to be sworn into public office.

Christopher Schaeffer, the newest member of the Pomfret Town Council, isn't just an ordinary member of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster — he's a full-fledged minister.

For those who have yet to be touched by His noodly appendage, Pastafarianism, it is a satirical movement with a serious mission: Keeping the teaching of intelligent design and creationism out of public classrooms.

More on Gawker

Geoengineering could bring severe drought to the tropics

Reversing climate change via huge artificial volcanic eruptions could bring severe droughts to large regions of the tropics, according to new scientific research. The controversial idea of geoengineering – deliberately changing the Earth's climate – is being seriously discussed as a last-ditch way of avoiding dangerous global warming if efforts to slash greenhouse gas emissions fail.

But the new work shows that a leading contender – pumping sulphate particles into the stratosphere to block sunlight – could have side-effects just as serious as the effects of warming itself. Furthermore, the impacts would be different around the world, raising the prospect of conflicts between nations that might benefit and those suffering more damage. "There are a lot of issues regarding governance – who controls the thermostat – because the impacts of geoengineering will not be uniform everywhere," said Dr Andrew Charlton-Perez, at the University of Reading and a member of the research team.

The study, published in the journal Environmental Research Letters, is the first to convincingly model what happens to rainfall if sulphates were deployed on a huge scale. While the computer models showed that big temperature rises could be completely avoided, it also showed cuts in rain of up to one-third in South America, Asia and Africa. The consequent droughts would affect billions of people and also fragile tropical rainforests that act as a major store of carbon. "We would see changes happening so quickly that there would be little time for people to adapt," said Charlton-Perez.

More on The Guardian

Depeche Mode Megamix

Meryl Streep attacks Walt Disney on antisemitism and sexism

While honouring Emma Thompson at a dinner for the National Board of Review on Tuesday night, Meryl Streep made an extraordinary speech that criticised Walt Disney for being a "gender bigot" who was a member of an antisemitic lobbying organisation.

Streep, perhaps Hollywood's most respected and beloved actor, showed she is far from a cosy establishment figure as she carefully trod a line between praising Thompson and attacking Disney. The very film Thompson was being celebrated for, Saving Mr Banks, is based around Walt Disney's persuading of PL Travers to allow him to adapt Mary Poppins.

According to Variety's Ramin Setoodeh, Streep called Thompson "a beautiful artist" who is "practically a saint", and read out a self-penned poem to the actor, before launching into her criticisms of Disney. She quoted a letter he wrote to a female animator that read: "Women do not do any of the creative work in connection with preparing the cartoons for the screen, as that task is performed entirely by young men." She also noted that Disney's colleague Walter Kimball said that his boss "didn't trust women or cats."

The Guardian

The Age-Old Rumors of Walt Disney’s Dark Side (Vulture.com) - The 9 Most Racist Disney Characters on Cracked.com - Are These Disney Movies Racist (Buzzfeed.com)

Honduras and the dirty war fuelled by the west's drive for clean energy

The west's drive to reduce its carbon footprint cheaply is fuelling a dirty war in Honduras, where US-backed security forces are implicated in the murder, disappearance and intimidation of peasant farmers involved in land disputes with local palm oil magnates.

More than 100 people have been killed in the past four years, many assassinated by death squads operating with near impunity in the heavily militarised Bajo Aguán region, where 8,000 Honduran troops are deployed, according to activists. Farmers' leader Antonio Martínez, 28, is the latest victim of this conflict. His corpse was discovered, strangled, in November.

Peasant farmers say they are the victims of a campaign of terror by the police, army and private security guards working for palm oil companies since a coup in June 2009 ended land negotiations instigated by the deposed president, Manuel Zelaya.

Witnesses have implicated Honduran special forces and the 15th Battalion, which receives training and material support from the US, in dozens of human rights violations around the plantations of Bajo Aguán.

Full story on The Guardian - The Bajo Aguan Region - A Laboratory for the New Global Counterinsurgency, and a Laboratory for Neoliberalism (Rights Action)

Former Defense Minister of Canada: 'Aliens could share more tech with us, if we warmonger less'

Former Canadian minister of Defense Paul Hellyer to SophieCo: A lot of the things we use today we got from aliens – led lights, microchips, Kevlar vests. We could get a lot more too, especially in the fields of medicine and agriculture if we would go about it peacefully. But some of us are more interested in getting the military technology.

RT SophieCo

Sea Shepherd whaling footage fuels call for Australian intervention

Anti-Whaling group Sea Shepherd has accused the Australian government of reneging on a promise to monitor Japanese whaling, after capturing graphic images of the latest slaughter in the Southern Ocean. Former Greens leader and Sea Shepherd Australia chairman Bob Brown said the Abbott government had failed to deliver on its promise to send an aircraft to the Southern Ocean to monitor the annual whaling season.

Dr Brown went further, using the graphic footage of the carcass and blood-strewn deck of the Japanese vessel Nisshin Maru to urge Australia and New Zealand to send naval vessels to uphold the region's international whale sanctuary. "This bloody operation would simply not be occurring if we had prime ministers in Canberra and Wellington with the spine to stand up to this illegal operation," he said in Hobart.

"There should be naval vessels down there to defend Australia's sovereignty and its whales in our backyard. A Customs vessel was promised, with surveillance. That hasn't happened. As a minimum (they should) keep that election promise."

From The Australian - Sea Shepherd Operation Relentless

Love Me Again

John Newman

Mexican Government Releases Proof of E.T.’s and Ancient Space Travel

Newly released Mayan documents, i.e. artefacts, dating back at least 1300-years reveal that the human race is not alone and highly advanced technologies including space travel have likely existed for quite some time. Not only does this documentation released by the Mexican government show the existence of an explorer race, it may also reveal the roots of mankind.

Some consider the government’s presentation of the information to be a major step forward for humanity as the truth is finally being slowly let out. Hopefully this will prompt other governments around the world to be more forthcoming with such information, turning the tide in the UFO and extra-terrestrial research community for good.

[1] The two circles near the centre of the artefact appear to be earth. [2] This appears to be a spacecraft of some type. [3] This appears to be a massive comet or asteroid headed toward earth. [4] Appears to be a specially designed spacecraft capable of deflecting a large comet or meteor, such as NASA “Deep Impact”. [5] Appears to be an astronaut in control of a craft. [6] What appears to be an intelligently controlled spacecraft.

More on INTELLIHUB

The Shift towards an Authoritarian Future: Why the West Slowly Abandons its Civil Liberties

Politicians on both sides of the Atlantic who construct an image of toughness – tough on crime, on terrorism, on humanistic-inspired idealism etc. – are tapping into a sensitive spot that blocks critical thought among the public. Obama’s brute and harsh reaction on Edward Snowden’s revelations is just another example. Somehow it seems like  “We, the people…”  lost track of ourselves. Four main reasons why we abandon our once hard fought civil rights.

Many countries in the West, like Britain, France, Spain the US and the Netherlands have experienced in recent years an exponential increase in technological surveillance and a resolute decline in parliamentary and judicial control over state police and secret service.

Issues like the ban on torture, the possibility of detention without charge, privacy and freedom of speech were in the public debate reframed in favour of state control. And everybody accepted it. To be fair, there was some opposition – but it lacked intensity. Why is this happening?

To give an example, under former British Prime Minister Tony Blair 45 criminal laws were approved creating 3000 new criminal offences. British writer John Kampfer argues that in the past ten years more criminal offences were made in his country than in a hundred years before. All this was legitimized by the idea that a ‘terroristic’ virus attacked Western civilization. Of course, there is some truth in it – but these risks were grossly exaggerated. Still, we fearfully went along with the proposed measures.

This cultural shift towards perhaps a more authoritarian future for the West is no coincidence of nature. It is manmade. If the opportunity is there, top down induced shifts happen only if politicians, corporations, media pundits and other cultural icons are able to find the right symbols and techniques to get a new message across.

Full article on Global Research

Kim Jong-Un's uncle executed stripped naked and fed to 120 starving dogs as tyrant watched

Kim Jong-Un's uncle was stripped naked and fed to 120 starving dogs as the tyrant watched on, a shocking report has claimed. The ruthless North Korean leader ordered the execution of Jang Song-Thaek - his mentor and the country's second in command - last month.

At the time, it was believed he had been executed by firing squad with machine guns after being sentenced to death by a military tribunal. But now an official report in China says Jang was stripped naked and thrown into a cage, along with his five closest aides.

Then 120 dogs, who had been deprived of food for three days, were allowed to eat them in a process called "quan jue", or execution by dogs. The report added the entire process lasted for an hour, with Kim, 30, supervising it along with 300 senior North Korea officials.

Mirror Online - (This story is based on rumours and probably not true as it is brought to you by Wen Wei Po)

 

Forever

HAIM

2013 in Unnecessary Censorship

Drone Survival Guide

Our ancestors could spot natural predators from far by their silhouettes. Are we equally aware of the predators in the present-day? Drones are remote-controlled planes that can be used for anything from surveillance and deadly force, to rescue operations and scientific research. Most drones are used today by military powers for remote-controlled surveillance and attack, and their numbers are growing. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) predicted in 2012 that within 20 years there could be as many as 30.000 drones flying over U.S. Soil alone. As robotic birds will become commonplace in the near future, we should be prepared to identify them. This survival guide is an attempt to familiarise ourselves and future generations, with a changing technological environment.

This document contains the silhouettes of the most common drone species used today and in the near future. Each indicating nationality and whether they are used for surveillance only or for deadly force. All drones are drawn in scale for size indication. From the smallest consumer drones measuring less than 1 meter, up to the Global Hawk measuring 39,9 meter in length.

Drone Survival Guide