Military Attacks American Citizens With Sound Weapons & Tear Gas At G20

National Guard, police, and other military units attacked American citizens with tear gas and deployed sound cannons today in response to an “unpermitted protest” as bedlam hit the streets on the first day of the G20 summit in downtown Pittsburgh.

The First Amendment is officially dead in the United States. If this isn’t martial law then we don’t know what is. Associated Press photographs show National Guard troops in full fatigues with active duty military running checkpoints that make the roadblocks in Iraq positively friendly. Like Iraq, America is now a conquered nation occupied by troops whose primary function is to oppress anyone who tries to express the freedoms that they once enjoyed.

Infowars.com

More UK veterans in justice system than soldiers serving in Afghanistan

The number of former servicemen in prison or on probation or parole is now more than double the total British deployment in Afghanistan, according to a new survey. An estimated 20,000 veterans are in the criminal justice system, with 8,500 behind bars, almost one in 10 of the prison population.

The proportion of those in prison who are veterans has risen by more than 30% in the last five years.

The study by the probation officers' union Napo uncovers the hidden cost of recent conflicts. The snapshot survey of 90 probation case histories of convicted veterans shows a majority with chronic alcohol or drug problems, and nearly half suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder or depression as a result of their wartime experiences on active service.

Those involved had served in Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan. They are most likely to have been convicted of a violent offence, particularly domestic violence.

The Guardian

Gazprom Wins Final Approval to Build Disputed Petersburg Tower

OAO Gazprom, Russia’s natural-gas exporter, won final approval from the city of St. Petersburg to build what may become Europe’s tallest skyscraper, overcoming objections from local residents and UNESCO.

St. Petersburg Governor Valentina Matviyenko awarded Gazprom exemptions to the former czarist capital’s zoning laws that allow for the 400-meter (1,300-foot) Okhta Center project to proceed, the city government said in a statement today.

St. Petersburg’s 306-year-old historic city center may be removed from the World Heritage Site list if the skyscraper is built, UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, warned last month. Designed by U.K.-based RMJM Architects, the Okhta Center will serve as the headquarters for state-run Gazprom’s oil unit, OAO Gazprom Neft, and include a concert hall, art museum, hotel and a business center.

“This is a monstrous, barbaric decision,” said David Sarkisyan, director of the Moscow Museum of Architecture. “This tower is a symbol of political ego and people will always resent it,” Sarkisyan said by phone from the Russian capital.

Bloomberg.com

Military Checkpoints in the US

WeAreChange Ohio traveled to Newport, Kentucky to investigate the military checkpoints that appeared around the downtown area on September 6, 2009. Officially, this was done for traffic control purposes during the annual Riverfest celebration that is held on both sides of the Ohio River.
Military Police from the U.S. Army National Guard performed a series of tasks throughout the day, which included aiding the local police to close bridges across the river, and to reverse traffic along Monmouth Street in Newport.

We Are Change Ohio

Qaddafi Hijacks Spotlight at U.N.

In his first appearance at the United Nations, Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi railed against the Security Council, saying it should be called the "Terrorism Council."

After briefly congratulating President Barack Obama on his first U.N. appearance as president, Qaddafi launched into an attack of the U.N. charter and the makeup of the Security Council, saying the institutions are outdated and unfair. The Libyan president said the U.N.'s General Assembly was "like a décor" for the permanent members of the Security Council.

The five permanent members of the Security Council are China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States. All five hold veto powers. There are an additional 10 rotating members, including Libya, whose membership ends this year. "This is terrorism," Qaddafi said through a translator. "Anyone who says 'I am higher than the General Assembly' should leave and be alone."
The Libyan leader's speech ran 1 hour and 36 minutes, no threat to the record set by Cuban leader Fidel Castro in 1960, at 4 1/2 hours. Speakers are supposed to limit themselves to 15 minutes.

CBS News

Al Gore Talks about Global Governace and the NWO

Calais Immigrant 'Jungle' Evacuation: French Police Begin Dismantling Camp

French police have begun an operation to clear a notorious immigrant squatter camp on the outskirts of Calais.

Police public order teams gathered at local barracks in the French port, ahead of an operation to detain illegal immigrants and demolish the make-shift camp, known as 'the Jungle'.

As the first dozen officers entered the camp a small group of rights activists formed a human chain trying to bar access to the migrants, shouting "no border, no nation, stop deportation".

Police started leading out the migrants one by one who followed without resistance amid the angry shouts of the protesters and with dozens of journalists looking on.

A dozen immigrants who were refusing to move were dragged and carried out of the camp by police.

Some migrants were still eating their breakfast in tents when police descended on the site.
The main focus is on an area about half a mile south-east of the main port, known as the 'Pashtun jungle' due to the fact it is largely populated by Afghan migrants.
It is estimated there are currently around 300 migrants living in the Pashtun jungle, which is significantly fewer than in previous months.

Sky News

Swine Flu Internment Camp Documents Revealed

See the documents here... , here... and here...

David Icke Website

Anger at Iranian Holocaust denial

The Iranian president's latest denial of the Nazi Holocaust has drawn strong condemnation from Western powers.

Speaking in the capital, Tehran, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the Holocaust was a "a lie based on an unprovable and mythical claim".

Germany said the comments were a "disgrace to his country" while the US said they would "isolate Iran further". Mr Ahmadinejad made the remarks at an annual rally where opposition supporters clashed with police.  BBC NEWS

Colombia scraps scandal-hit agency

Colombia's state intelligence agency is to be dismantled following a series of scandals involving it agents, the Bogota government has said.  
More than 40 agents have been accused of illegally tapping the telephones of judges, journalists, human rights workers and opposition politicians.

"The DAS will be dissolved in order to make way for a new civilian intelligence agency," Felipe Munoz, the intelligence agency chief, said in a statement posted on Colombia's presidential website on Friday.
"A definitive change is needed."

A bill will be presented to congress next week proposing the end of the DAS and outlining the structure of the new intelligence agency, according to the statement. Munoz said that the majority of the current agency's 6,000 employees would be transferred to the criminal investigative unit of the police and other investigative bodies.  More on Al Jazeera

Poles, Czechs: US missile defense shift a betrayal

Poles and Czechs voiced deep concern Friday at President Barack Obama's decision to scrap a Bush-era missile defense shield planned for their countries.

"Betrayal! The U.S. sold us to Russia and stabbed us in the back," the Polish tabloid Fakt declared on its front page.

Polish President Lech Kaczynski said he was concerned that Obama's new strategy leaves Poland in a dangerous "gray zone" between Western Europe and the old Soviet sphere.

Recent events have rattled nerves throughout central and eastern Europe, a region controlled by Moscow during the Cold War, including the war last summer between Russia and Georgia and ongoing efforts by Russia to regain influence in Ukraine. A Russian cutoff of gas to Ukraine last winter left many Europeans without heat.

"Russia is testing us. It is testing how much we are afraid of it. It's pity that we won't be able to complete the test," said former Czech President Vaclav Havel.

The Associated Press

Former CIA Chiefs Ask Obama to Stop CIA Probe

Seven former CIA directors sent a letter to President Obama on Friday urging him to use his authority to reverse Attorney General Eric Holder’s decision to re-open and pursue cases of prisoner abuse within the CIA in the wake of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

In August, Holder appointed a U.S. prosecutor to begin a criminal probe of CIA questioning of terror suspects during the Bush administration, reversing the course set by the Bush administration. The investigation potentially exposes CIA employees and agency contractors to criminal prosecution.
"Attorney General Holder's decision to re-open the criminal investigation creates an atmosphere of continuous jeopardy for those whose cases the Department of Justice had previously declined to prosecute," the former officials wrote. "Moreover, there is no reason to expect that the re-opened criminal investigation will remain narrowly focused."

CBS News

Almost 4 million Kenyans on food aid as drought deepens

The devastating drought sweeping across Kenya is causing widespread hunger, thirst and, in the case of cattle, death. Pictures of hundreds of cow carcasses being tipped into a mass grave near Nairobi highlight the scale of the natural disaster – and the clumsy or even negligent efforts of the government to deal with it.

Aware that the drought was likely to cause pastoralists to lose significant parts of their herds, the government announced a 500m shilling (£4.1m) plan last month to buy weak animals from farmers for 8,000 shillings (£65) each. The plan provided for the animals to be transported by truck to the Kenya meat commission depot in Athi River, a town near Nairobi, where they would be held, fed, and slaughtered, with the meat sold to recoup costs.

But many of the trucks transporting the cows hundreds of miles from as far away as north-eastern province, had insufficient water and food on board, causing large numbers of animals to die along the way. Of those that arrived alive, many soon perished owing to a lack of pasture in the holding bay.

The botched operation has caused anger and embarrassment among MPs, especially given that the government has been asking donors for urgent financial help in feeding the nearly 10 million Kenyans who are food insecure.

The Guardian

Has Osama Bin Laden been dead for seven years - and are the U.S. and Britain covering it up to continue war on terror?

Written by political analyst and philosopher Professor David Ray Griffin, former emeritus professor at California's Claremont School of Theology, it is provoking shock waves - for it goes into far more detail about his supposed death and suggests there has been a cover-up by the West.

The book claims that Bin Laden died of kidney failure, or a linked complaint, on December 13, 2001, while living in Afghanistan's Tora Bora mountains close to the border with Waziristan.

His burial took place within 24 hours, in line with Muslim religious rules, and in an unmarked grave, which is a Wahhabi custom.

The author insists that the many Bin Laden tapes made since that date have been concocted by the West to make the world believe Bin Laden is alive. The purpose? To stoke up waning support for the war on terror in Iraq and Afghanistan.

To understand Griffin's thesis, we must remember the West's reaction to 9/11, that fateful sunny September day in 2001. Within a month, on Sunday, October 7, the U.S. and Britain launched massive retaliatory air strikes in the Tora Bora region where they said 'prime suspect' Bin Laden was living 'as a guest of Afghanistan'.

This military offensive ignored the fact that Bin Laden had already insisted four times in official Al Qaeda statements made to the Arab press that he played no role in 9/11.

More on Mail Online

US to Pump Thousands of ‘Combat Enablers’ Into Afghanistan

Top US defense officials say that roughly 3,000 additional troops, which are classified not as combat troops but rather “combat enablers,” will be deployed to Afghanistan in the coming days.

Officials say the decision was made roughly two weeks ago, which puts it at about the same time that the Pentagon was publicly announcing that it was pulling 14,000 support troops from the nation to add 14,000 more “trigger pullers” to the conflict.

Rather, it now seems that the non-combat troops are being replaced by the combat troops, and then new non-combat troops are being added as well, effectively an escalation of the number of troops involved in the conflict under the guise of adding “non-combat” troops. This escalation comes in addition to the expected request of another 20,000 troops from Gen. McChrystal.

Antiwar.com

Privatized Prisons and Prison Labor IS Slavery

UN condemns 'war crimes' in Gaza

There is evidence that both Israeli and Palestinian forces committed war crimes in the recent Gaza conflict, the official UN report says.

The report criticises Israel for using "disproportionate force" and "collective punishment " during the three-week assault ending January 2009. It also condemned Palestinian rocket attacks, which sparked the offensive.

Palestinians and human rights groups say more than 1,400 Gazans were killed, but Israel puts the figure at 1,166.

Israel, which had refused to co-operate with the UN fact-finding team, said the report was "clearly one-sided".

BBC NEWS

Schwarz zu Blau

Today some German music by Peter Fox. More here

Photo a Big Problem for Petite Prez

It was a short photo-opportunity that's turned into a long story. Something about French President Nicholas Sarkozy's visit to an auto parts plant in northern France didn't measure up.

None of the workers in the white coats chosen to stand around Sarkozy was taller than the French president, who's listed in the program as five-foot-five and is known to be a little vertically sensitive. Sarkozy surrounded by shorter people does not happen often - and this wasn't an accident.

The President's aids are accused of busing in workers who satisfied one small criteria: size. When one worker was asked if she was chosen for her size, she replied, "oui."
Sarkozy's office says the idea they shrunk the audience is stretching the truth, but the French public has become used to their president's attempts to gain stature.

CBS News

Morales: US planning coups in Latin America

The Bolivian president has accused the United States of planning coups in Latin America after Washington reached an agreement with Colombia over military bases.
"In Latin America, where there is a US military base there are military coups," Evo Morales told Bolivian immigrants living in Spain on Sunday.

Morales along with his allies in South America have repeatedly criticized the deal between Colombia and the US that would give the US military access to seven Colombian bases for a 10 year period.
"To the social movements of Europe and the world: Help us put an end to military bases in Latin American," he said, citing the Bolivian constitution that bans foreign bases on its soil.
According to US officials, American troops will continue to be involved in helping Colombia in counter-drug operations and in supporting its fight against leftist rebels.

Press Tv

Hillbilly Anti-Obama protest

This event had been promoted as a taxpayer “tea party,” but the crowd’s concerns were wide ranging, from outrage at ACORN and Obama’s socialist cadre known as Czars, to Obama’s untruthfulness. Protesters also displayed signs mocking Nancy Pelosi and others for smearing the grassroots movement as “astroturfers” and as an angry mob.

whatreallyhappened.com

The ghost fleet of the recession

on a sleepy stretch of shoreline at the far end of Asia, is surely the biggest and most secretive gathering of ships in maritime history. Their numbers are equivalent to the entire British and American navies combined; their tonnage is far greater. Container ships, bulk carriers, oil tankers - all should be steaming fully laden between China, Britain, Europe and the US, stocking camera shops, PC Worlds and Argos depots ahead of the retail pandemonium of 2009. But their water has been stolen.

They are a powerful and tangible representation of the hurricanes that have been wrought by the global economic crisis; an iron curtain drawn along the coastline of the southern edge of Malaysia's rural Johor state, 50 miles east of Singapore harbour.  More on Mail Online

Charlie Sheen's Video Message to President Obama

Gay Enigma codebreaker Alan Turing finally gets apology for 'appalling' persecution

Gordon Brown last night issued a posthumous apology to Enigma codebreaker Alan Turing for the 'appalling' way he was punished for being gay.

The Prime Minister said he was 'deeply sorry' for the inhumane treatment of the Cambridge mathematician  -  53 years after his death.  Mail Online

Turing reported a crime to the police. During the investigation Turing acknowledged a sexual relationship with Murray. Homosexual acts were illegal in the United Kingdom at that time, and so both were charged with gross indecency under Section 11 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885, the same crime that Oscar Wilde had been convicted of more than fifty years earlier.

Turing was given a choice between imprisonment or probation conditional on his agreement to undergo hormonal treatment designed to reduce libido. He accepted chemical castration via oestrogen hormone injections, which lasted for a year. One of the known side effects of these hormone injections was the development of breasts, something which plagued Turing for the rest of his life.

Turing's conviction led to the removal of his security clearance, and barred him from continuing with his cryptographic consultancy for GCHQ. At the time, there was acute public anxiety about spies and homosexual entrapment by Soviet agents, possibly due to the recent exposure of the first two members of the Cambridge Five, Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean, as KGB double agents. Turing was never accused of espionage but, as with all who had worked at Bletchley Park, was prevented from discussing his war work.  Wikipedia

Jesus Christ, The Musical