Nancy is a Kenyan girl about to face a brutal passage to womanhood.
10 Jun 2011
9 Jun 2011
Bilderberg 2011 Meeting
A secretive cabal of some of the world’s most influential people known as the Bilderberg group will be meeting from June 9 to the 12th in St. Moritz, Switzerland — but this year, more attention than usual is being afforded to the gathering in the world press.
The shadowy organization — made up of about 120 central bankers, top CEOs, academics, European royalty, big bankers, high-ranking politicians and even representatives of the establishment media — has been getting together once a year since the mid-1950s. The group of “leading citizens,” as attendees are described on the group’s purported official website, gets its name from the Bilderberg Hotel in Holland where the first meeting was held in 1954.
Until recently, almost the entire international media establishment maintained an apparent information blackout of the yearly gatherings. Despite the fact that representatives of some of the world’s largest news outlets are always present at the conference, the vast majority of event coverage has generally come from the alternative press.
The rise of the Internet and widespread media choice, however, appear to have had a major effect. This year, the Bilderberg conference is attracting far more scrutiny than past gatherings — in line with a steady trend over the last few years of increasing awareness surrounding the affair.
Several major media outlets around the world have already picked up the story. And news of the gathering is expected to continue making headlines in the coming days as the conference kicks off Thursday. Some of the mainstream press coverage thus far, however, has focused primarily on downplaying the meeting’s importance and painting its critics in a negative light.
Guatemala victims of US syphilis study still haunted by the 'devil's experiment'
In 1946 orphans in Guatemala City, along with prisoners, military conscripts and prostitutes, had been selected for a medical experiment which would torment many, and remain secret, for more than six decades.
The US, worried about GIs returning home with sexual diseases, infected an estimated 1,500 Guatemalans with syphilis, gonorrhoea and cancroid to test an early antibiotic, penicillin.
The US government admitted to the experiment in October when the secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, and the health secretary, Kathleen Sebelius, issued a joint statement apologising for "such reprehensible research" under the guise of public health. Barack Obama phoned his Guatemalan counterpart, Alvaro Colom, to say sorry too.
Susan Reverby, a professor at Wellesley College in the US, uncovered the experiment while researching the Tuskegee syphilis study in which hundreds of African American men were left untreated for 40 years from the 1930s.
The Guatemalan study went further by deliberately infecting its subjects. Not only did it violate the Hippocratic oath to do no harm but it echoed Nazi crimes exposed around the same time at the Nuremberg trials.
Embed a video, go to jail
It looks like three US Senators have had enough of Brasscheck TV and sites like it. Just when you've seen everything, they are proposing a law that basically says: "Embed a video on your blog and go to jail."
I kid you not.
Watch it...while you still can.
8 Jun 2011
Australia halts cattle exports to Indonesia
The Australian government says it has suspended all cattle exports to neighbouring Indonesia after an outcry over alleged abusive treatment of livestock in the country.
Joe Ludwig, Australia's agriculture minister, said on Wednesday that the suspension would remain until Indonesia establishes new regulations to protect livestock from mistreatment.
"Last night I ordered the complete suspension of all livestock exports to Indonesia for the purposes of slaughter, until new safeguards are established for the trade," he said.
Greenpeace says Barbie doll is forest vandal
Greenpeace on Wednesday accused Mattel, the US maker of Barbie dolls, of contributing to the wanton destruction of carbon-rich Indonesian forests and habitats of endangered species like Sumatran tigers.
The environmental group said packaging used in Barbie and Ken boxes contained timber products from Asia Pulp and Paper (APP), which it described as a "notorious" destroyer of Indonesia's dwindling natural forests.
"Barbie destroys natural forests and pushes rare species such as tigers to the brink of extinction," Greenpeace Indonesia forest campaigner Bustar Maitar said.
"Mattel, which makes Barbie, must stop wrapping the worlds most famous toy in rainforest destruction." He said APP was a "notorious rainforest destroyer which has been exposed many times for wrecking Indonesia's rainforests to make throw-away packaging".
Let them starve to protect US corporate interests
The Nation has teamed up with the Haitian weekly newspaper Haiti Liberté, to analyze some 2,000 Haiti-related diplomatic cables obtained by WikiLeaks. The cables will be featured in a series of Nation articles posted each Wednesday for several weeks. The first in the series, "PetroCaribe Files," reveals, among other things, how the United State, with pressure from Exxon and Chevron, tried to interfere with an oil agreement between Haiti and Venezuela that would save Haiti, the poorest country in the Western hemisphere, $100 million per year or 10 percent of the country's budget.
The second piece, set to publish this week, "Let Them Live on $3/Day," reveals Washington's willingness to keep Haitian sweatshop wages at near slave labor levels to save American corporations a few bucks. US clothing makers with factories in Haiti, such as Hanes and Levi Strauss, were infuriated after the Haitian government raised the minimum wage from a puny slave wage of 24 cents an hour, to a slightly less puny slave wage of 61 cents an hour.
In a clear symbol of who it serves, the US State Department stepped in to exert pressure on Haiti’s president, who duly carved out a $3 a day minimum wage for textile companies. But, according to the Nation's expose, that was still too much: "Still the US Embassy wasn’t pleased. A deputy chief of mission, David E. Lindwall, said the $5 per day minimum “did not take economic reality into account” but was a populist measure aimed at appealing to “the unemployed and underpaid masses.”
At least 23 people have been killed and several more are still missing after seven days of heavy rain and flooding in Haiti. SKY
Syed Saleem Shahzad’s Courage
The Pakistani journalist Syed Saleem Shahzad knew he was a marked man. Mr. Shahzad, who covered national security and terrorism, had received repeated threats from Pakistan’s powerful spy agency. Yet he courageously kept doing his job — until somebody silenced him. His body, his face horribly beaten, was buried on Wednesday.
Suspicion inevitably falls on Inter-Services Intelligence, Pakistan’s chief intelligence agency. For the sake of justice, and the shredded credibility of Pakistan’s government, his murderers must be found quickly and held accountable.
Mr. Shahzad disappeared from Islamabad on Sunday, two days after he published an article suggesting a militant attack on a naval base in Karachi was retaliation for the navy’s attempt to crack down on Al Qaeda militants in the armed forces. American analysts doubt an Al Qaeda cell infiltrated Pakistani security, but they have long worried about individual sympathizers.
Whatever the case, the attack humiliated the ISI and the armed services. They were already fending off allegations that they sheltered Osama bin Laden and criticism for failing to stop the American raid that killed him.
An ISI spokesman described Mr. Shahzad’s death as “tragic” but dismissed as “absurd” charges of his agency’s involvement and said ISI would help bring the perpetrators to justice. That is not enough. The ISI’s chief, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha, and his boss, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, the army chief of staff, must personally pledge a robust and transparent hunt for whoever was responsible. They must make clear to all who work for them that they will not tolerate attempts to silence reporters or anyone who dares to raise questions.
More here: Pakistani Journalist Who Covered Security and Terrorism Is Found Dead (June 1, 2011)
Forensic evidence emerges that European e.coli superbug was bioengineered to produce human fatalities
Even as the veggie blame game is now under way across the EU, where a super resistant strain of e.coli is sickening patients and filling hospitals in Germany, virtually no one is talking about how e.coli could have magically become resistant to eight different classes of antibiotic drugs and then suddenly appeared in the food supply.
This particular e.coli variation is a member of the O104 strain, and O104 strains are almost never (normally) resistant to antibiotics. In order for them to acquire this resistance, they must be repeatedly exposed to antibiotics in order to provide the "mutation pressure" that nudges them toward complete drug immunity.
So if you're curious about the origins of such a strain, you can essentially reverse engineer the genetic code of the e.coli and determine fairly accurately which antibiotics it was exposed to during its development. This step has now been done (see below), and when you look at the genetic decoding of this O104 strain now threatening food consumers across the EU, a fascinating picture emerges of how it must have come into existence.
There's really only one way this happens (and only one way) -- you have to expose this strain of e.coli to all eight classes of antibiotics drugs. Usually this isn't done at the same time, of course: You first expose it to penicillin and find the surviving colonies which are resistant to penicillin. You then take those surviving colonies and expose them to tetracycline. The surviving colonies are now resistant to both penicillin and tetracycline. You then expose them to a sulfa drug and collect the surviving colonies from that, and so on. It is a process of genetic selection done in a laboratory with a desired outcome. This is essentially how some bioweapons are engineered by the U.S. Army in its laboratory facility in Ft. Detrick, Maryland.
Learn more here
7 Jun 2011
French media tweet and poke ban
French TV and radio presenters have been banned from mentioning social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter on air. The country's broadcasting watchdog has ruled that doing so would break guidelines on advertising.
Stations can still talk about services without naming them, it said. The French government is seen by many internet watchers as overly keen to regulate in relation to new media and the web.
In a ruling, published online, the Conseil Superieur de l'Audiovisuel (CSA), said: "Referring viewers or listeners to the page of the social network without mentioning it has the character of information.
"Whereas the referral by naming the social network in question has the character of advertising, contrary to the provisions of Article 9 of the decree of 27 March 1992 forbidding covert advertising."
Doctors asked to identify potential terrorists under government plans
Doctors and other health professionals will be asked to identify people who are "vulnerable to being drawn into terrorism" as part of the government's redrawn counter-terrorism programme to be detailed on Tuesday.
The home secretary, Theresa May, will also try to deflect criticism that the £60m-a-year Prevent programme has been used to spy on the Muslim community by extending its coverage to the far right and animal rights extremists, as well as Islamist groups.
May has indicated that 20 of the organisations funded by the government over the past three years are to have their cash withdrawn after the decision to stop working with non-violent extremists.
David Cameron has pushed through the change despite opposition from Nick Clegg and Charles Farr, the head of the office of security and counter-terrorism, arguing that such engagement is like "turning to a rightwing fascist party to fight a violent white supremacist movement".
6 Jun 2011
The End of Poverty
Global poverty did not just happen. It began with military conquest, slavery and colonization that resulted in the seizure of land, minerals and forced labor. Today, the problem persists because of unfair debt, trade and tax policies — in other words, wealthy countries taking advantage of poor, developing countries. Renowned actor and activist, Martin Sheen, narrates THE END OF POVERTY?, a feature-length documentary directed by award-winning director, Philippe Diaz, which explains how today's financial crisis is a direct consequence of these unchallenged policies that have lasted centuries.
Anonymous claims control of Iranian government servers
Hackers claiming to be part of protest group "Anonymous" published on Friday over 10,000 internal emails from the Iranian government's ministry of foreign affairs, as part of an ongoing campaign against the authoritarian regime.
The emails were published to torrent file sharing website The Pirate Bay, along with usernames and passwords. Members also claimed they had taken control of the government's servers.
In a chat with Raw Story, members of Anonymous on the #OpIran server said they were leading the charge because they want Iranians to know they're not alone in their struggle against the regime of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
They also pointed to a declaration of intent to attack the Iranian government, which they published to YouTube in February.
Apart from the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the hackers said they were targeting servers containing information about the Kahrizak detention center in Iran, a notorious site human rights campaigners have raised alarms about for years.
The Raw Story – The Next Web – Facebook
UK Plans 'Sexualisation' Of Children Prevention
A raft of measures to protect children from 'sexualisation' are set to be unveiled, as retailers agree to restrict the sale of inappropriate clothing to youngsters.
Mothers' Union chief executive Reg Bailey will publish his recommendations in a Government-commissioned review later.
The British Retail Consortium has also launched new guidelines in response to demands for restrictions on inappropriate children's clothing - including lace lingerie and push-up bras. Nine stores - Asda, Debenhams, Argos, John Lewis, Next, Marks & Spencer, Peacocks Sainsbury's and Tesco - have signed up, with others being urged to participate.
David Cameron has backed moves to make it easier to block adult content on mobile phones, ban raunchy billboard posters near schools and bar the use of youngsters to market products.
Israel kills 20 as Syrians march on Golan
Israeli forces kill at least 20 people and injure nearly 325 others near Syria's Golan Heights, attacking the protesters, who were marking the anniversary of occupation of Arab lands by Tel Aviv.
Israeli forces have opened fire on protesters inside Syria as they were approaching the occupied territories on Sunday. According to the Syrian TV, a child is among those killed by the Israeli gunfire.
The demonstrators have announced that they plan to stage a sit-in along the border in protest at the Israeli occupation and atrocities.
The state-run television also said three of the wounded where in critical condition from Sunday's shooting.
The television showed footage of Israeli soldiers on top of a tank opening fire on the protesters. Israeli troops have been beefed up near Syria and Lebanon as well as in Jerusalem al-Quds.
The protesters flocked to Golan border on Naksa Day to mark the 44th anniversary of the beginning of Israel's 1967 Six-Day War against Arabs. Israel declared northern Golan a closed military zone.
5 Jun 2011
Bio Station Alpha on Mars
This could be the most important discovery on Mars yet! This structure is 700' x 150', and is colored white with blue and red stripes against the red Martian soil. This is not a rock or mountain. It is a manufactured structure. This is not something that I created, this is something that is currently on Google Mars. NASA wont talk to me about it. I've sent them a few emails, and no reply. Go see for yourself. The coordinates are: 71 49'19.73"N 29 33'06.53"W - David Martines
Bilderberg Meeting 2011
Bilderberg's ongoing plan to make crude oil cost much more and strangle national economies with their debt schemes, conquering the world with the military industrial complex who has driven the Europe in wars are finally being felt by everyone—up close and personal. That is why American Free Press, We Are Change Switzerland and others are sounding the alarm more loudly than ever. This year in St. Moritz Switzerland 9-12 June 2011. Stay tuned on Bilderberg-Transparency
The Slutwalk Arrives In Scotland
Demonstrators march on a Slutwalk on June 4, 2011 in Glasgow, Scotland. Glasgow's first ever slut walk made its way through the town center streets in a bid to raise awareness about commonly-held attitudes towards rape and sexual assault.
Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke has been battling to save his job after appearing to suggest there was a distinction between "serious rape" and other forms of the crime.
The former shadow finance minister was taking part in a BBC radio phone-in on Wednesday when he replied to host Victoria Derbyshire's assertion that "rape is rape" by saying "no, it's not".
Clarke later clarified he believed "all rape was a serious crime" but only said it was a "mistake" if his comments had "given any other impression" and refused to say sorry, angering women's rights groups.
Fearmongering: Food chain at risk of being poisoned by terrorist groups
Manufacturers and retailers have been told that their sector is vulnerable to attacks by ideologically and politically motivated groups that may seek to cause widespread casualties and disruption by poisoning food supplies.
The warning from the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure [CPNI], which operates as part of the Security Service, comes as experts warned the deadly E.coli outbreak in Germany has highlighted the vulnerability of the food chain and how quickly bacteria can spread.
The highly virulent strain has claimed 18 lives and left more than 1,800 seriously ill, with the true number of cases expected to be far higher.
A senior German doctor last night called for an investigation into the possibility that the bacteria had been spread deliberately.
The BBC’s disgraceful censorship
So, what’s next for the Big Brainwashing Challenge for Black and Brown Children? You’ve guessed it kids; it’s your favourite hip-hop and R ‘n’ B radio DJ, Tim Westwood, broadcasting LIVE from a British military camp in Afghanistan!
The day after I wrote an article on the BBC’s disgraceful censorship of a Bigz freestyle on Charlie Sloth’s 1Xtra show, in which the words ‘Gaza Strip’ had been edited out, the freestyle was re-uploaded in its full, uncensored form. For a second, I thought the BBC might be wanting to divert attention from their blatant, consistent use of bias throughout their reporting but, alas, I thought wrong. The British Broadcasting Corporation have, once again, proved their value as an instrument of imperialist propaganda.
Since the words ‘Free Palestine’ were censored from a Mic Righteous freestyle, also on 1Xtra radio, the excuses have been repeated over and over again; preserving ‘impartiality’, and the need to present both sides of the story. The Tim Westwood coverage, from Camp Bastion, where British soldiers occupying Afghanistan are stationed, blows each one of these fake explanations out of the water. There is nothing ‘impartial’ about a broadcast from a military base. Where are the voices of the Afghan resistance, who are fighting to get a foreign occupier out of their country? Where is the Afghan ‘side of the story’?
Tim Westwood the war-monger by Jody McIntyre on Independent Editor's choice Blogs
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)