Netanyahu envoy says U.S. should expand arms aid to Israel

A special envoy of the Israeli prime minister said the United States should expand its arms aid to Israel in light of the increased threats posed by the unstable aftermath of the "Arab Spring" revolutions.

Zalman Shoval, a former Israeli ambassador to the United States and foreign policy advisor to Benjamin Netanyahu's  Likud Party, said in an interview Friday that the instability in Egypt, Libya and Syria suggest that the U.S.-Israel security ties will be “probably more important than ever before.”

He said the United States should consider increasing its emergency inventory of military equipment in Israel, and step up joint military exercises with the Israel Defense Forces to demonstrate to neighboring governments the U.S. commitment to regional stability. Since 1990, the United States has stored military equipment in Israel for use by U.S. armed forces or by the IDF in an emergency.

Shoval said political instability and violence in the region and the advance of Islamist parties show that Americans were generally too optimistic about the uprisings.

latimes.com

Psychopathic Garbage in Uniform

psychopath psy·cho·path (sī'kə-pāth')
n.
A person with an antisocial personality disorder, especially one manifested in perverted, criminal, or amoral behavior.

Also called: sociopath a person afflicted with a personality disorder characterized by a tendency to commit antisocial and sometimes violent acts and a failure to feel guilt for such acts.

Blackwater Founder’s Mercenary Army Abandoned in Somali Desert

Last year it was revealed that Blackwater USA founder Erik Prince had been put in charge of building a mercenary army in northern Somalia, with funding from the United Arab Emirates and a goal of attacking the various pirate factions along the Somali coast.

It apparently seemed like a good idea at the time, but the United Arab Emirates has gotten sick of throwing money at the operation and pulled the plug. Now, the hundreds of mercenaries are sitting on a secret desert base with potentially millions of dollars in heavy weapons illegally smuggled into Somalia and nothing to do.

The decision apparently came after an April incident when the fighters attacked and killed a South African trainer. The corporation put in charge of the mission, the shadowy Sterling Corporate Services, insisted at the time that it was an isolated incident, but quickly withdrew its trainers, leaving the recruits stranded on a base in the Puntland desert.

But they likely won’t stay on that base for long, as those familiar with the situation say that the fighters, who were not ideologically motivated to join the anti-piracy fight in the first place, are liable to take their weapons and head out looking for new employers, with pirates among the likely bidders.

Antiwar.com - stratrisks.com

Rock me

Big Mama Thornton - 1971

Dark Mission

Ancient Alien ruins on the Moon? Is it possible? The Moon/Mars Connection uses NASA's own data to make a compelling scientific case for the existence of ancient alien artifacts on the earth's nearest neighbour in the Solar System. As no one has done before, Hoagland uses state-of-the-art computer image processing and other analytical techniques to take the viewer into an extraordinary world of possible gigantic structures where NASA says there are none. Have some officials within the U.S. Government, for over 30 years, been hiding the truth? The Moon/ Mars Connection opens the mind to these amazing possibilities.
This 3-Hours presentation was given and filmed at Ohio State University in 1994 and to this day remains a vitally important source of research about ancient extraterrestrial artifacts discovered on the Moon.
Richard C. Hoagland, author of The "Monuments of Mars," is a former science consultant to NASA and CBS News.

Dress to Kill

Eddie Izzard - 1999

Hey White Guys: Violence

Who's beating the crap out of Americans? Bureau of Justice Violent Crime statistics for 2010

Born under a bad sign

Nina Simone - Paris Olympia 1968

US Presidential Debate Highlights Songified!

It is time. It is time to listen to the presidential hopefuls sing their best, lifting their promises and pleas to soaring heights and rousing melodies. May the best voice win.

Alan Turing's Death Shows 'Cost Of Intolerance Is A Loss To The Nation'

The head of intelligence agency GCHQ has paid tribute to World War II codebreaker Alan Turing, saying that the "cost of intolerance was a loss to the nation" during centenary celebrations of the mathematician's birth.

Spy chief Iain Lobban described Turing as "one of the great minds of the 20th century" whose breakthroughs have laid the foundations of the modern information age". Turing worked at the Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park - the forerunner of GCHQ - where he devised the techniques which cracked the German Enigma code.

But despite his achievements he was found guilty of "gross indecency" in 1952, a conviction for the-then illegal act of homosexual sex. Turing chose to be chemically castrated by being injected with female hormones rather than go to prison. Two years after his conviction he died of cyanide poisoning, a verdict recorded as suicide at his inquest. Although his mother and other academics have maintained his death was accidental, many have argued he took the poison deliberately to end the persecution he was suffering for being homosexual.

Further reading at Huff Post

Hacking Democracy

Election Fraud in the USA - Full Length documentary

The Atheist Experience

Episode #780 (full episode)

The Atheist Experience is a weekly cable access television show in Austin, Texas geared at a non-atheist audience. The Atheist Experience is produced by the Atheist Community of Austin.
The Atheist Community of Austin is organized as a nonprofit educational corporation to develop and support the atheist community, to provide opportunities for socializing and friendship, to promote secular viewpoints, to encourage positive atheist culture, to defend the first amendment principle of state-church separation, to oppose discrimination against atheists and to work with other organizations in pursuit of common goals.
We define atheism as the lack of belief in gods. This definition also encompasses what most people call agnosticism.

The Atheist Community of Austin - The Atheist Experience TV Show - More shows and video clips can be found in the archive

Nina Hagen Band

Nina Hagen Band - Live in the Westfalenhall, Dortmund, December 1978 (full concert)

The Ten Commandments

Christopher Hitchens revises the Ten Commandments. "The Ten Commandments were set in stone, but it may be time for a re-chisel. With all due humility, the author takes on the job, pruning the ethically dubious, challenging the impossible, and rectifying some serious omissions."
Hitch's article on the subject on vanityfair.com.

'Banks rob us!'

Canadian girl becomes Internet sensation after exposing banksters. Economists around the world are struggling to break free of the clutches of the financial crisis. But a twelve-year-old Canadian knows what needs to be done. Victoria Grant took the Internet by storm overnight, after a video of her slamming Canada's banks for robbing the people went viral. RT talks to internet sensation Victoria Grant and her mother Marcia Grant. See her full speech here.

Jane Goodall 'Fascinated' By Bigfoot

The most famous primatologist in the world is ape about Bigfoot. Jane Goodall made her name studying chimpanzees in Africa and by discovering that they, like humans, use tools.

Since then, she has been working to preserve their decreasing numbers via the Jane Goodall Insititute. She also admitted to an interest in the mysterious creature known as Bigfoot, Sasquatch or the Yeti. "I'm not going to flat-out deny its existence," Goodall said during an exclusive interview with The Huffington Post before a benefit dinner in La Jolla, Calif. "I'm fascinated and would actually love them to exist. "Of course, it's strange that there has never been a single authentic hide or hair of the Bigfoot, but I've read all the accounts."

More on Huff Post (with video) - Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization

Ukraine Moves Toward Gay Propaganda Law

Ukrainian lawmakers passed in the first reading on Tuesday a draft law making promotion of homosexuality a criminal offense, in a move similar to a recent legislative measure adopted by the city authorities in Russia’s St. Petersburg.

The draft law, approved by 289 out of 350 lawmakers at a parliament session on Tuesday, envisions amendments to several existing laws which would impose prison terms of up to five years and hefty fines for spreading the “propaganda of homosexuality.”

RIA Novosti

Know Your Product

The Saints (1978)

Australian Now Spies on Its Citizens More than the US Does

The Australian Government has now been labelled as the most intrusive government in the Western world.
It has been revealed that on a per-capita basis, the Australian government spies on its citizens more than any other Western government.

In 2010-2011, more than 3,400 Australians had been spied on by more than 17 government law enforcement agencies. This includes state and federal police agencies, the Australian Tax Office (ATO) and Medicare.
The shocking truth is that these government agencies can access telephone and Internet data records without a warrant from a judge.
On a per capita basis, the Australian government is 18 times more likely to intercept telephone calls than the United States government (Source: Sydney Morning Herald).
Even more disturbing, these government agencies accessed telephone and Internet data records an astonishingly 250,000 times without even recording why and when these intercepts had taken place.

Activist Post

American Christian Broadcasters Awaiting Jesus Christ's Return Prep for Live Coverage of Messiah

Here’s an extreme case of Biblical literalism: two major evangelical Christian broadcasters have bought places in Jerusalem to give them the perfect perch to witness the coming of the Messiah down from the Mount of Olives.

The Los Angeles Times’ Edmund Sanders reports that Daystar  Television Network  and Trinity Broadcasting Network have set up shop in Jerusalem studios on a hill that overlooks the Old City. 

“The duelling studios are part of an aggressive push by U.S. evangelical broadcasters seeking to gain a stronger foothold in the holy city,” writes Sanders. “Their presence not only offers boasting rights with American viewers and contributors, but also — and more controversially — a platform for spreading the gospel of  Jesus Christ  to Jews in Israel.”

Alternet

Space Boat Concept Could Explore Saturn's Moon Titan

While rovers are ideal for exploring Mars, a boat is best for Titan, Saturn's largest moon. Scientists are proposing a new mission to explore this alluring world that would send a floating probe to land in a lake on Titan.

Huygens confirmed that lakes, rivers and seas of liquid hydrocarbons abound on Titan. Now scientists want to send a follow-up mission to explore them.

That's where the Titan Lake In-situ Sampling Propelled Explorer (TALISE) comes in. The proposed mission would land a boat, propelled by wheels, paddles or screws, to float around Ligeia Mare, the largest lake on the moon, located near Titan's north pole. After splashing down, TALISE would make its way to the coast over the course of a trip lasting six months to a year.

Space.com

British Police Drones

Police drones could be used for car chases, tracking hidden suspects, monitoring riots or protests or traffic violations - but UK airspace is so crowded complex restrictions would need to be reworked before they could be used.

Huw Williams, unmanned systems editor for Jane's Defence Weekly, the authoritative military journal, told HuffPost UK that police drones would be cheaper in money and manpower, but could currently not be used in UK airspace.

On Monday, Police minister Damian Green backed the use of controversial unmanned drones to patrol the UK's skies, to monitor criminal activity and provide air support, saying they should be treated like "any other piece of police kit."

Huffington Post

Ukrainian journalists protest against defamation bill that muzzle media

Ukrainian journalists have protested outside the country's parliament against a bill they fear will be used to muzzle the media, holding up empty posters to highlight their concerns about censorship.

The bill, backed by the party led by President Viktor Yanukovych, calls for toughened punishment for defamation, including prison terms of up to five years. International watchdogs have criticized the measure as a government attempt to silence independent journalism.

Several leading Ukrainian newspapers and magazines have protested in recent days by publishing editions with blank covers. More than 100 journalists took part in Monday's rally. The legislature is set to consider the bill in the final reading next week, even though its author had sought to rescind it.

Calgary Herald - Ukraine on Wikipedia

This Is Not A Love Song

Public Image Ltd (1983)

US military manipulates social media

The US military is developing software that will let it secretly manipulate social media sites by using fake online personas to influence internet conversations and spread pro-American propaganda.

A Californian corporation has been awarded a contract with United States Central Command (Centcom), which oversees US armed operations in the Middle East and Central Asia, to develop what is described as an "online persona management service" that will allow one US serviceman or woman to control up to 10 separate identities based all over the world.

The project has been likened by web experts to China's attempts to control and restrict free speech on the internet. Critics are likely to complain that it will allow the US military to create a false consensus in online conversations, crowd out unwelcome opinions and smother commentaries or reports that do not correspond with its own objectives.

The Guardian on Facebook