Obama to Approve Indefinite Detention and Torture of Americans...

Obama to Approve Indefinite Detention and Torture of Americans...

Courtesy of rt.com

Less than a month after he threatened to veto terrifying legislation that would cease constitutional rights as we know it, Obama has revoked his warning and plans to authorize a bill allowing indefinite detention and torture of Americans.

After passing in the House of Representatives earlier this year, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 went before the US Senate last week, where it was met with overwhelming approval. In the days before, the Obama administration issued a policy statement on November 17 saying explicitly that the president would veto the bill, as it would challenge “the president’s critical authorities to collect intelligence incapacitate dangerous terrorists and protect the nation.”

Opposition from the White House seemed all but rampant until RT revealed earlier this week that Senator Carl Levin told lawmakers that the legislation was altered because “the administration asked us to remove the language which says that US citizens and lawful residents would not be subject to this section.”

On Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said that those last minute changes yielded legislation that would “not challenge the president’s ability to collect intelligence, incapacitate dangerous terrorists and protect the American people,” and therefore “the president’s senior advisers will not recommend a veto.”

Originally the White House said that the administration objected to matters in the bill that applied to detainees. Under the act, Americans could be arrested and held indefinitely in military-run prisons and tortured without charges ever being brought forth, essentially making Guantanamo Bay a threat for every American citizen.

Under the legislation, a literal police state will be installed over the United States. Republican Congressman Ron Paul said earlier this week that “this should be the biggest news going right now,” as the legislation would allow for  “literally legalizing martial law.”

“This step where they can literally arrest American citizens and put them away without trial….is arrogant and bold and dangerous,” said the congressman and potential Republican Party nominee for president.

In its threat of a veto last month, the White House said it had similar sentiments, writing in an official statement from Washington that “The Administration strongly objects to the military custody provision of section 1032, which would appear to mandate military custody for a certain class of terrorism suspects.”

“This unnecessary, untested and legally controversial restriction of the President's authority to defend the Nation from terrorist threats would tie the hands of our intelligence and law enforcement professionals,” added the White House.“Moreover, applying this military custody requirement to individuals inside the United States, as some Members of Congress have suggested is their intention, would raise serious and unsettled legal questions and would be inconsistent with the fundamental American principle that our military does not patrol our streets.”

Despite Obama’s promise from last month, a veto seemed questionable after it was revealed that the bill, which approves the budget for the Department of Defense, came at a price tag much lower than the president had asked for.

It is expected to be in Obama’s hands anytime this week.

Anonymous Declares Cyber War on Congress Over Indefinite Detention Act...

Anonymous Declares Cyber War on Congress Over Indefinite Detention Act...

Courtesy of rt.com

Hacktivists are continuing their mission to take on politicians causing the collapse of constitutional rights in America, with operatives from the online collective Anonymous keeping up a campaign against the signers of controversial legislation.

As RT reported on Thursday, members of Anonymous began a campaign this week to expose information on the lawmakers who voted in favor of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012, a bill that will allow for the indefinite detention of American citizens, the reinstating of torture methods and the creation of the United States as a battlefield. Despite the implications of the act, the Senate allowed for the bill to leave Capitol Hill on Thursday, leaving only the inking of President Barack Obama’s name as the final step for ratification.

President Obama had earlier insisted on vetoing the bill, but the White House retracted that statement in the days before it cleared Congress. Before the final draft left the Senate yesterday, Sen. Carl Levin asked that a statement from the administration be added to the record in which the president’s press secretary, Jay Carney, said that the president will not be advised to strike down the bill.

On Thursday, Anonymous hacktivists launched a campaign against Senator Robert Portman, a Republican from Ohio. Not only did Portland vote in favor of NDAA FY2012, he received $272,853 from special interest groups that also backed the bill.

“Robert J. Portman, we plan to make an example of you,” an Anonymous operative posted to the Internet on Thursday. Along with the warning was personal information pertaining to the senator, including his home address and phone number.

On Friday, Anonymous says that this is just the beginning of the campaign against those that are creating the collapse of the US Constitution. With NDAA FY2012 almost guaranteed to be approved by Obama any moment, a second piece of legislation, the Stop Online Piracy Act, is close to clearing a Congressional committee. Should that bill be brought before the president and signed into law as well, Internet access and content across America and the world will become largely censored.

“We've been watching you systematically destroy the rights of your own people, one law at a time. No longer shall we stand by and watch you enslave our fellow citizens,” writes an Anonymous operative in an open letter to Congress posted Friday. “You have continued down this path of treason by creating acts such as the National Defense Authorization Act, Stop Online Piracy Act, Protect IP Act, and more. You've tried to conceal the true purpose of these bills, and pass them without the consent of the American people.”

As a result of the recent legislation which has managed to make its way through Congress, Anonymous operatives write on Friday, “We are now here to undo your sordid life's work in its entirety. No longer will your transgressions go unnoticed. No longer will you enslave the people. The world will know of your violations against the rights of the citizens you were elected to represent.”

In the memo from the hacktivists, they include a copy of the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the US Constitution that have been crushed in-part by the latest congressional meetings. “Every time you violate these amendments we will ensure the people are aware of your actions,” says Anonymous. “You may have previously succeeded in concealing your actions, but that time has come to an end. You were elected by us, and you can be removed by us.”

Anonymous members are using the trending topic #OpAccountable on Twitter to spread the campaign against the congressman involved in the legislation. On Friday, one hacktivist tweeted that the topic is even being used by known members of the Tea Party movement.

“Goes to show this year’s outrage is far stretching," adds the operative.

Secret Documents Reveal Truth About American Massacre in Iraq...

Secret Documents Reveal Truth About American Massacre in Iraq...

Courtesy of rt.com

President Barack Obama may have declared the war in Iraq over, but unearthed documents thought to have been destroyed are bringing to light gruesome details from a skirmish that the military wishes hadn’t happened.

Scouring a junkyard outside of Baghdad, a reporter for The New York Times recently came across 400 pages of interrogations detailing the truth behind a massacre of dozens of Iraqi civilians that was carried out by American troops in 2005 in the town of Haditha. The documents, once under lock-and-key, were supposed to be destroyed. The reporter, however, came upon the remnants of the slightly-charred file as he picked through the debris in the dump.

According to the reporter, the junkyard attendant was using pages of the paper for kindling as he roasted a dinner of smoked carp in a trailer on the site.

The documents closely detail the exact events of November 19, 2005, a gruesome day in the Iraq War which was yet to reach its halfway mark yet. By the end of the attack by US Marines on Iraqi civilians that day, 24 non-combatants were dead, including several small children. According to the newly discovered papers, however, the bloodbath outside of Baghdad had little impact on the American soldiers, who were already desensitized to the ways of war.

In a testimony from Major General Steve Johnson included in the paperwork, he described the toll of civilian lives as “a cost of doing business.” Other soldiers said that stumbling upon 20 dead civilians was no longer a site viewed as“remarkable,” but rather routine.

Colonel Thomas Cariker, a commander in Anbar Province at the time, mentions in the reports that grenade attacks at checkpoints would often cause “collateral with civilians.”

“I mean, whether it’s a result of our action or other action, you know, discovering 20 bodies, throats slit, 20 bodies, you know, beheaded, 20 bodies here, 20 bodies there,” carelessly remarked the soldier.

On that November day in Haditha , women, children and a 76-year-old civilian sitting in a wheelchair were among those executed. An investigation opened up over the incident, though charges were dropped against six of the Marines linked to the incident, and a seventh was acquitted. Only one Marine remains to go to court for the incident, but not until next year — seven years after the massacre.

When asked for comment, Colonel Barry Johnson, a spokesman for US military involvement in Iraq, told the Times,''Despite the way in which they were improperly discarded and came into your possession, we are not at liberty to discuss classified information.”

Half of America is Officially Poor...

Half of America is Officially Poor...

Courtesy of rt.com

While it’s no surprise that nearly 50 million Americans live below the poverty line, new statistics from the US Census show that almost 100 million others are counted as low-income citizens, making half of the population of America officially poor.

The latest figures out of the US Census Bureau show that in addition to the 49.1 million Americans who fall below the official poverty line, those that rake in enough to be between that level and the income equitable to double it fall into a new “low-income” category, which counts an additional 97.3 million people. Altogether, that clump of nearly 150 million Americans living in dire economic standing accounts for around 48 percent of the US population.

American officials have deemed the current poverty line to be at around $22,000 for a family of four, but the new category just about doubles that figure to $45,000 and places those that fall between the numbers as low-income. The Associated Press reports that for families that fit in that range, often half of the household income is spent on child-care costs and housing bills.

Taking into account medical, commuting and other living costs, the number of people living below 200 percent of the poverty level has been drastically changed and not for the better. Before those factors were taken into consideration, the US Census reported in September that only one-in-three Americans qualified as poor or low-income.

As RT reported earlier this year, the number of Americans living below half, or 50 percent of the poverty level, is equally as alarming. Around 20.5 million Americans — or 6.7 percent — have personal incomes that place them in that bracket, which equates to annual incomes of less than $5,570 for an individual or $11,157 for a family of four. In Washington DC, which is part of the wealthiest metropolitan region per-capital in the country, one-in-ten residents are grouped into that category.

Don’t fret though. It isn’t all doom and gloom! Some Americans are in fact seeing a turn for the better. While half of the country might be considered poor now, some citizens recently saw pay raises in the last year that were to the tune of 40 percent. Unfortunately, they probably didn’t necessarily need that bump. According to the Guardian, the top CEOs in America saw pay hikes between 27 and 40 percent last year. The paper adds that the highest paid exec in the US racked up more than $145.2 million last year, and the median value of their profits on stock options jumped 70 percent.

Indefinite Detention Bill Passes In Senate...

Indefinite Detention Bill Passes In Senate...

Courtesy of rt.com

Exactly 220 years to the date after the Bill of Rights was ratified, the US Senate today voted 86 to 13 in favor of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012, allowing the indefinite detention and torture of Americans.

After a back-and-forth in recent days between both the Senate and House yielded intense criticism from Americans attempting to hold onto their Constitutional rights, NDAA FY2012 is now on its way to the White House, where yesterday the Obama administration revealed that the president would not veto the legislation, cancelling out a warning he offered less than a month earlier.

Obama has finally brought about change to America, but it’s nothing to be hopeful about.

Speaking before the Senate this afternoon, Sen. Lindsey Graham (Rep-SC) told his colleagues, “I hope you believe America is part of the battlefield.” The United States is at war, he insisted, and anyone alleged to be in opposition to the US government’s game will now be subjected to military-style detention indefinitely.

As RT reported earlier, one provision in NDAA FY2012 will allow for the reinstatement of “enhanced interrogation techniques,” essentially making waterboarding and forms of psychological torture a very possible reality for anyone America deems to be a threat, including its own citizens who, prior to the ruling, had the US Constitution on their side.

Among the corporations which have lobbied in support of NDAA FY2012 are several military contractors, including Honeywell and Bluewater Defense, who together have received millions of dollars in Pentagon guarantees this year alone.
In his remarks Thursday afternoon, Senator Graham attacked America’s current legal system, critiquing it for allowing suspected terrorists to be treated as “common criminals.”
“We think al-Qaeda operatives, citizens or not, are not common criminals. We think they are crazy people,” he said.
“If you’re an American citizen and you want to help…destroy your own country, here is what’s coming your way,” cautioned the senator. The threat he went on to impose involved indefinite military detention for everyone.
“What this legislation does,” lectured Levin, “says from the Congress’ point-of-view, that we expressly authorize the indefinite detention” of someone deemed a threat. “We recognize the authority of this president and every other president to hold an enemy combatant indefinitely, whether they are captured home or abroad, because that only makes sense.”
Under the Act, those suspected of “belligerent” crimes can be subjected to the treatment. Graham tried to calm fears by insisting that suspected criminals will all be allowed a day in federal court, but made it clear that as long as a judge deems someone a suspect in a crime, that indefinite detention can begin without the help of any legal counsel for the defense.
“How long can you hold them? As long as it takes to make us safe,” said Graham.
The senator added that, “when you join the enemy…we aren’t worried about how we’re going to prosecute you right away.” Because of this, Miranda Rights should not be read to suspected criminals and additionally the right to an attorney is also suspended under the act.
In his closing marks, Graham ironically recited that in respect to “civil liberties and the American way of life,” US citizens must fight. “If we don’t fight for it, we’re going to lose it.”
Before the Senate came to their final vote today, Sen. Levin asked that a remark from the White House yesterday insisting that the president’s aides will no longer recommend a veto be added to the record.
Opposition in the Senate was thin but existent today. Senator Mark Udall (Dem-CO) cautioned lawmakers that these provisions will “deny American citizens their due process rights,” and thus not only “make us less safe, but would serve as an unprecedented threat to our constitutional liberties.”
“If we start labeling our citizens as enemies of the United States without any due process, I think we will have done serious damage” to the Constitution, he added, before also calling the legislation politically expedient.

Despite his reservations, Senator Udall reluctantly stated that he was voting in favor, noting that America’s military depends on a quick passing of the act. Still, he said of the dangerous provisions to the act that will allow for the indefinite detention, “I remain unconvinced of their benefit.”

“Now we may be jeopardizing entire cases by adding new layers of bureaucracy and questionable legal processes,” added Udall. He said the legislation will present “numerous constitutional questions” and will go against a counterterrorism community he described as “already nimble.”

“For those of you who join me in voicing opposition to the detention provisions, I want to thank you,” said Udall.

“Though I intend to vote for the final passing of the bill…I want to make clear that I do not fully support this bill. I sincerely believe that this debate is not over and there is much work to do.”

Udall waved a copy of the US Constitution from the Senate floor before his colleagues as he made his closing remarks, reminding them that they all took an oath to uphold it. In the first ten amendments, collectively called the Bill of Rights, the Constitution grants Americans freedoms against searches, arrests and seizure without a probable cause. That legislation would have turned 220 years old today, had Congress not crushed it on the Senate floor.

Paul Targets Federal Reserve, Military Spending...

By Joey Cresta

jcresta@seacoastonline.com

December 01, 2011 2:00 AM

PORTSMOUTH — During what organizers described as perhaps the most widely attended town hall-style meeting Ron Paul has held yet, the Republican presidential hopeful said he would "slash" military spending, stated a goal of eliminating the Federal Reserve and took jabs at recent campaign flubs of a fellow candidate.

Paul, a Texas congressman, took a handful of questions from moderator Andy Sanborn, R-Henniker, before opening it up to a crowd of roughly 250 packed into the ballroom at the Sheraton Harborside Hotel. His overriding message was shrinking the government, cutting spending and defending personal liberties. He told the audience the government drains from the economy, distorts markets and has broad impacts when it makes bad decisions.

Individuals, on the other hand, can stand or fall when given freedom to make their own decisions, Paul said.

"I want people to spend the money," he said. "It's your money; it's your life."

Paul said he has a "modest approach" for reducing the size of government, but added he would "slash" spending on military efforts overseas. America may have an obligation to uplift people around the world, but the current system is failing, taking money from American people in need and spending it ineffectually in other countries, he said.

"I want to spend this money back at home," he said, adding America can have more international influence by setting a good example than by imposing its will by force.

Paul also said there are five government departments he would eliminate, and in the process he poked fun at fellow Texan Rick Perry, who during a recent debate blanked on which agencies he would do away with. Paul said he would eliminate the departments of Energy, Education, Housing and Urban Development, Commerce and Interior.

He added that some functions of the agencies are needed and should not disappear. Nuclear materials, for instance, should be regulated, but the Department of Energy should not be setting energy policy, he said.

"The market does the energy policy, and not the government," he said.

He expressed strong opposition to the Federal Reserve, or "Fed," as well. The Fed is an independent federal entity but is subject to congressional oversight. Paul said Congress should demand to know more about the Fed, advocating for it to be audited and saying the country should return to the gold standard and legal private mints.

On the issue of mandates, such as those in health-care reform that require everyone to purchase health insurance, Paul said he would provide "blanket exemptions" and tax credits to people who opt out of certain programs.

"Opting out should always be the principle that we're looking at," he said.

Paul will be in the area today, as well, with scheduled visits to the Portsmouth Health Food Store on Congress Street at 10 a.m. and a Portsmouth Rotary Club meeting at the Portsmouth Country Club in Greenland at 11:45 a.m.

 

Poverty Pulverizes School-Age Demographic...

Poverty Pulverizes School-Age Demographic...

Courtesy of rt.com

The last great recession that ripped Americans of their income played a tremendous toll on most everyone. According to new US Census data though, perhaps hit hardest by the economic turmoil is the youth of the country.
Experts mulling over 2010 data out of the US Census Bureau report that while much of America has been plagued with a poverty epidemic, one of every five counties in the country has seen significant increases in the percentage of their school-age poor over the last few years.
Going over just the largest 100 school districts in America, 96 percent saw a growth in children stricken with poverty between 2007 and 2010. That puts over 45 percent of the 54-million school-age children in districts experiencing high poverty.
In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, nearly 50 percent of school-aged children are living in poverty, with overall state experiencing an increase in three percentage points in that same span. In the state of Alabama, children 18 and under saw the same surge.
"I've been doing this for eight years, and I don't ever remember seeing this much of an increase (in child poverty rates)," John Johnson of the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction tells the Journal Sentinel. "The recession has had an impact on children and their families."
In many cities, children’s only comfort from a crumbling household comes thanks to the school. In Milwaukee, 82 percent of attendees in the district qualify for free or reduced-price lunches. In the Monticello district outside of New York City, those that are served up free meals have jumped ten percentage points in just the last year alone.
"For some students, it's the only warm meal that they may have that day," Monticello Superintendent Daniel Teplesky tells the Times Herald-Record.
"When they walk into the classroom, many didn't get sleep the night before, and they might be dozing during the day. They might not be able to focus because they're too hungry," advocate HyeSook Chung adds to the Washington Examiner.
Statistical jumps are seen from coast-to-coast, with only a few miles often separating the poorest from the poor with the richest of the rich. In Montgomery Country, Maryland outside of Washington DC, the poverty rate doubled between 2007 and 2010. In Washington itself, the District becomes one of only 73 jurisdictions nationwide to surpass the 30 percent mark, with 30.9 percent of the school children living below the poverty line, which is around $22,000 for a family of four; including all ages, more than one-in-ten residents in DC live below half of that level. Yet, only a few miles away in Falls Church, VA, the posh suburb boasts only a 3 percent poverty level according to new Census data.

Senate Set to Vote for Indefinite Detention of Americans...

Senate Set to Vote for Indefinite Detention of Americans...

Courtesy of rt.com

A terrifying bill that will turn the US into a battlefield with dire effects for Americans has snuck into the Senate, and as lawmakers rush legislation through Congress, the nightmare National Defense Authorization Act is close to becoming a law.
Bipartisan support has allowed for the National Defense Authorization Act to quickly go through Congress, and while opponents of a particular amendment attempt to strike the bill from becoming a law, trickery on the Senate floor is keeping the Act on its way to approval. If a Senate vote this week passes, Section 1031 of the legislation would turn America into a “battlefield,” says supporter Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina.), and everyday citizens could be indefinitely detained by the military and held without charge.
An amendment to the act proposed by Colorado Senator Mark Udall was shot down via vote on Tuesday, and on Wednesday lawmakers moved to limit debate on legislation. A vote could now come as early as Thursday of this week. Should the Senate follow through as did the House, only the president of the United States of America himself could save his citizens from military rule.
President Barack Obama has vowed to veto the legislation should it make it all the way to the oval office, but with support waning for the commander-in-chief, a Republican could usurp Obama within a year and pass the bill into law. The defense bill, with a price tag of $662 billion, is actually substantially more affordable than what Obama had asked Congress to come up with. Given the country’s dire economic condition and the president’s plea to the public that he can save the country, pinching pennies by way of approving the National Defense Authorization Act could be more than likely for the Obama.
“He has said he will. Whether he will is a difficult question because, politically, it’s difficult to veto a defense spending bill that [is] 680 pages long and includes authorization to spend on a whole range of military programs,” Daphne Eviatar, senior associate of Human Rights First’s Law and Security Program, adds to Democracy Now.
Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) has attempted to propose an amendment that would explicitly remove Section 1031 right off the bill, but with lawmakers agreeing 88-12 today to hurry through legislation, his counter-clause is likely to never be brought up. The result? An amendment that gives the government the ability to imprison Americans without charge, indefinitely, that Republican Congressman Justin Amash has called “one of the most anti-liberty pieces of legislation of our lifetime.”
Goodbye, state detention centers and holding cells in cities far and wide. The National Defense Authorization Act stands to send Americans — guilty or not — all the way to Guantanamo. Ready your orange get-up and pray the president follows through with his promise to sink the bill, lest you want the US military to be the one doing the sinking on you. As RT reported earlier today, Congress is also on the move to legalize torture techniques, a ruling that will welcome waterboarding back into the repertoire at Gitmo.

Obama Won't Apologize for Deadly Raid in Pakistan...

Obama Won't Apologize for Deadly Raid in Pakistan...

Courtesy of rt.com

Days after a NATO airstrike killed two dozen Pakistani soldiers amid worsening tensions between Islamabad and Washington, the White House says that President Obama does not plan to offer an apology for the executions.
There will be no “oops.” There won't be any “whoopsy daisy.” According to the officials within the administration, apologizes offered already — but not from Obama himself — will have to suffice for now.
“The US government has offered its deepest condolences for the loss of life, from the White House and from Secretary Clinton and Secretary Panetta,” Tommy Vietor, spokesman for the National Security Council said Wednesday, “and we are conducting an investigation into the incident.”
Vietor added that no further comments will be issued until the full details of the weekend’s events come to light, reports the New York Times.
With Obama’s approval rate slumping into some of its lowest numbers to date so soon before Election Day, an acknowledgment of the attack out of the Oval Office — if any — could be as far away as post-November 2012, lest the commander-in-chief wants to align himself as a president that projects his support towards a country unfavorable with many conservatives.
"Some administration aides also worried that if Mr. Obama were to overrule the military and apologies to Pakistan, such a step could become fodder for his Republican opponents in the presidential campaign," White House officials, speaking under condition of anonymity, tell the Times.
In Pakistan, however, the days that go by until the United States discovers and discloses the truth over Saturday’s incident, which led to a loss of life of 24 Pakistani soldiers — soldiers fighting for an army that the United States considers an ally but has humiliated time and time again — will only further hostilities between the two nations.
In the years since the United States first began building up a military presence in Pakistan while fighting its War on Terror against insurgents in neighboring Afghanistan, Pakistani citizens have become increasingly irritated with the US military. The assault and execution of former al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in May this year escalated tensions between the two countries after American authorities failed to inform Pakistan that they would be conducting the clandestine raid in conjunction with the government there, instead relying on local informants to coordinate the effort. A month earlier, Pakistani Army General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani asked the CIA to scale back its operations there, and in June, Defense Minister Ahmed Mukhtar echoed that call by ordering American drones out of an air force base in Shamsi.
In September, Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, testified before Congress that he thought Pakistan’s official intel-gathering agency, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), was responsible for a truck bomb attack in Afghanistan. Responding to his claims at the time, Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar told Geo TV, "You cannot afford to alienate Pakistan, you cannot afford to alienate the Pakistani people. If you are choosing to do so and if they are choosing to do so it will be at their (the United States') own cost.”
As tensions only worsened after the latest raid, America’s ambassador to Pakistan suggested that only an apology from President Obama himself could help ease sentiments between the countries. And although two top figures in his own administration have offered condolences, an apology from the president itself — perhaps the only remedy for the worsening relationship between the nations — seems unlikely now. The New York Times reports that White House officials say that the United States ambassador to Pakistan, Cameron Munter, told Washington on Monday that the anger overseas against America has “reached a fever pitch” and need to be snuffed as soon as possible.
“I do think that it’s important for them to recognize that political dynamics in the United States will lead to a hardening of US positions, and the president will have less and less flexibility to accept the kind of behavior that he has in the past,” former Clinton administration official David Rothkopf adds to the Times. “The prognosis for US-Pakistani relations is bleak.”
This past weekend’s attack by NATO was aimed at two military border posts in the northwest section of Pakistan and marks the most severe incident from the organization since Pakistan formed an allegiance with American after the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Jobless Numbers Jump in the US...

Jobless Numbers Jump in the US...

Courtesy of rt.com

After a month of what looked to be a positive trend popping up for the American economy, jobless claims have once again surged above the 400,000 mark last week, halting hopes of a recovery from the recession.
The US Labor Department announced on Thursday that the number of Americans filing for state benefits for the first time came in at around 402,000 for the week ending November 26, 2011, denoting a surge of 6,000 since the previous week, dousing what was thought to be a developing relief from the stagnant unemployment epidemic that has put jobless numbers nationwide at or above 9.0 percent for months upon months now.
Economists polled by Reuters had predicted that jobless claims for last week would have peaked at only 390,000. The Labor Department had originally put the tally of claims for the week prior to that at 393,000, but a revision issued this week says that a figure of 396,000 is more accurate. Those numbers marked a seven-month low in claims, but with the latest news, however, filings have once against increased past the crucial 400,000 mark.
"There was an uptick in jobless claims after seeing a declining trend,” Wells Fargo Chief Macro Strategist Gary Thayer tells Reuters. “We need to watch claims closely. If claims start to rise from here it would not be a good sign for the economy.”
Decision Economics’ Pierre Ellis agrees, adding, "Jobless claims are not falling” and that “They're not in a danger zone, but the trend is not becoming healthier.”
A report released on Wednesday from ADP reveals that the private-sector has shown potential in tackling the unemployment problem, but a drastic cut in government jobs has largely led to the latest dire statistics.
April 2011’s figure of 478,000 first-time jobless benefit claims signaled the worst numbers in eight months, though unemployment overall has been in an unfavorable range for more than twoyears.
In recent weeks, economists have suggested that the grave conditions for the economy in the Eurozone will cause a domino effect that will only expedite the crumbling of America’s financial sector and thwart job growth even further.
"If the Eurozone blows up, it all gets worse,” noted economist Nouriel Roubini allegedly told party guests at a gathering last month.

Congress on the Move to Legalize Torture...

Congress on the Move to Legalize Torture...

Courtesy of rt.com
Yearning for the George W Bush administration of yesteryear and the inhuman torture and interrogations that was commonplace in American-run prisons? Needn’t you worry! Congress hears your cries.
Kelly Ayotte, a freshman Republican senator from New Hampshire, has proposed legislation that would repeal current laws that make harsh torture techniques illegal, a move that the American Civil Liberties Union says would "dangerously roll back" restrictions that Congress approved in 2005’s McCain Anti-Torture Amendment.
Ayotte’s amendment, snuck into the Defense Authorization bill that will soon go up for vote,

would cancel in-part both the 2005 legislation and the 2009 Executive Order issued by President Obama that allowed only “lawful” interrogations.

Additionally, officials would draft a list of top-secret techniques that would be used to interrogate suspected terrorists and war criminals.
"Terrorists shouldn't be able to view all of our interrogation practices online, and the measure I introduced fixes that glaring flaw," says the senator.
In opposition to the proposal, the ACLU and 30 other organizations have sent a letter to the Senate urging them to strike Ayotte’s amendment.
We “cannot afford to return to practices that degraded our country in the eyes of the general public,” reads the letter, dated November 22, 2011. “Amendment 1068 offered by Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) threatens to revive the use of torture and other cruelty in US interrogations, flying in the face of American values and US legal obligations as well as obstructing US military missions and endangering troops deployed abroad.”
The ACLU reminds lawmakers of the photos from the Abu Gharib that caused international outrage over America’s torture and interrogation abuses, which it says cost the United States “hearts and minds that are critical to US counterterrorism and counterinsurgency efforts.” That scandal led in part to the Detainee Treatment Act and struck controversial interrogation techniques from the books. Reinstating those practices would not only challenge the overwhelming decision that lawmakers made in the legislation, but bring back outrageous torture techniques that have caused not just outrage, but death. From an international standpoint, writes the ACLU, the installation of Ayotte’s amendment could once against tarnish “the international standing of the United States,” as did the revelations out of Abu Gharib.
While the amendment has a worthy opponent in the ACLU, contenders for the Republican Party’s nomination for the presidency have also gone on the record as of late to say that current torture policies are too lax. Michele Bachmann stated recently that the “CIA has no ability to have any form of interrogation for terrorists,” and declared that President Obama had forfeited its ability to torture alleged criminals by siding with the ACLU. Texas Governor Rick Perry has added that the Obama administration has been an “absolute failure” at expanding intelligence gathering amongst the military and CIA.
In addition to the ACLU, signees of the plea include Human Rights USA, Amnesty International USA and the International justice Network. On their website, the Union calls Congress’ consideration of the amendment “unthinkable” and has offered a petition for citizens to sign in objection to the legislation.

Fed Bailing Out the Euro...

Fed Bailing Out the Euro...

Courtesy of rt.com

A surprising (if you don't want to say secretive) meeting of the world's most influential central bankers produced even more surprising results.
The US Central bank – the Federal Reserve – promised the cash-strained European Central bank a practically unlimited amount of American taxpayer money for cheap, effectively bailing out the Euro.
Markets are rallying, traders are full of optimism and the Euro is up. The only loser is the dollar: the good old buck has weakened compared to other currencies. The reason? An announcement from the Fed, the European Central Bank, the Bank of Canada, the Bank of Japan, the Bank of England and Swiss National Bank reveals that they are going to provide troubled European banks with massive amounts of cash – cheaper and faster than ever before. Obviously, the lion’s share of assets will be provided by the US Federal Reserve.
"The purpose of these actions is to ease strains in financial markets and thereby mitigate the effects of such strains on the supply of credit to households and businesses and so help foster economic activity," reads an announcement issued as a result of the meeting — and"ease strains in financial markets" is probably an understatement. For many European banks that found themselves on the brink of collapse because of the debt crisis that plagued the continent, it might have been the last chance. After Germany strongly opposed any unconditional bailouts for the Eurozone countries, many economists expected the US to interfere and do for European banks what the Fed did for American financial institutions in 2008 – bail them out. One way or another.
The Obama administration always denied such speculations. But after a Monday meeting this week with the two top European officials, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, US President Barack Obama said the European debt crisis is of“huge importance”to the United States, and that Americais“ready to do our part”in keeping the economy overseas afloat.
No further details of what he meant by"our part"were offered — probably because any attempt by the administration to hand out taxpayers' money to overseas banks would meet furious opposition in Congress and across the country.
But only two days later, the Fed, which is not accountable neither to Congress nor . . . basically anybody else, announced this deal.
Under the agreement, the FED lends dollars to the ECB, which has to transfer the money to European banks. Now it will be two times cheaper: the central banks must now pay the Fed a private-sector overnight lending rate plus 0.5 percentage point; they previously paid plus 1 percentage point. And there's no doubt that European banks that lost money on junk debt obligations of European governments will line up for almost free American cash.
Welcome to the Bailout 2.0!

Bloomberg: 'I have my own army'...

Bloomberg: 'I have my own army'...

Courtesy of rt.com

Call it martial law or call it a police state. Either one you chose isn’t too far off and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg knows it. At a speaking engagement Tuesday night, Bloomberg referred to the NYPD as his own army.
Addressing suggestions that he should vie for the White House and leaving the Big Apple behind in favor of joining the race for the presidency, Bloomberg told an audience at MIT on Tuesday that he doesn’t need to tackle Washington; according to the mayor, his reign over New York trumps anything that a throne in the oval office could offer.
"I have my own army in the NYPD, which is the seventh biggest army in the world,” said Bloomberg, reports The New York Observer. "I have my own State Department, much to Foggy Bottom's annoyance. We have the United Nations in New York, and so we have an entree into the diplomatic world that Washington does not have."
Yes, Bloomberg said he has his own army. He said he has his own State Department. Yes, he said that New York and his title there gives him practically as power as the commander-in-chief. And yes, once again, Bloomberg said that he has an army.
An army seventh in size at roughly 35,000 soldiers — er, police officers — and first in corruption it would seem. While Bloomberg has been elected to three terms as ruler of New York, his “army” has been plagued with scandal since even before his tenure began. In recent years, however, the cops of the New York Police Department has been caught on the other side of the crime line, with allegations of brutality, rape, cover-ups and corruption becoming just as common in NYC as a pile of pigeon poop.
In the last month alone, officers within the NYPD have admitted to planting drugs on innocent civilians to meet arrest quotas, conspiring within other officers in those very crimes and squashing the First Amendment time after time. The NYPD bypassed the FBI to go after an alleged planner of a bomb attack earlier this month and has also in recent weeks claimed that the force has the firepower to take down an aircraft.
After the police department assaulted peaceful protesters with pepper spray during the early days of the Occupy Wall Street movement, outrage erupted but inhumane and illegal tactics out of Manhattan’s One Police Plaza have only escalated. During crackdowns aimed at OWS demonstrations in recent weeks, cops were caught brutally assaulting protesters and reporters alike, barring members of the media from covering events in public spaces, stripping them of their constitutional rights. Now in its third month, the movement continues to gain momentum, despite the mayor’s refusal to acknowledge the protester’s own rights.
An ongoing investigation that RT has reported on throughout this year reveals that, thanks to some digging of dirt from the Associated Press, the NYPD has even been installing undercover officers in Muslim-majority neighborhoods to conduct clandestine surveillance on followers of Islam — who, if you asked presidential hopeful Rick Santorum, are “obviously” the group of people that are most likely to carry out terrorist attacks.
If Bloomberg doesn’t want the White House, maybe Santorum should forfeit the race and set sights on the mayoral mansion.
Bloomberg has even acknowledged to the AP that civil liberties are being stripped so that his army can enforce laws in New York, saying, "As the world gets more dangerous, people are willing to have infringements on their personal freedoms that they would not before.”
Even if Mayor Bloomberg hyperbolized a bit with his blurb about his military regime, he added on Tuesday that perhaps even the president himself can’t stop him from continuing his reign.
"I don't listen to Washington very much, which is something they're not thrilled about," Bloomberg said.
“The difference between my level of government and other levels of government is that action takes place at the city level. The cities and mayors are where you deal with crime, you deal with real immigration problems, you deal with health problems, you deal with picking up the garbage."
Is it safe to say that that’s just metaphorical trash that Lieutenant Bloomberg alluded to at his speech this week? It’s good to know that the people of New York have such a thoughtful man calling the shots.

Is Washington Arming Anti-Iran Coalition?

Is Washington Arming Anti-Iran Coalition?

Courtesy of rt.com

The Pentagon is selling 4,900 smart-bomb kits to the United Arab Emirates in what many see as a move to equip an armed military bloc against Iran. Meanwhile, the EU is cutting all diplomatic channels with the troublesome country.
­The Pentagon has addressed Congress over a large arms deal with the UAE worth some $304 million. The proposed arms package will allow the UAE to convert its unguided bombs into high accuracy missiles.
At least 600 of the bombs to be converted are of the hard-target penetrator class also known as “bunker-busters,” which are capable of penetrating two meters of concrete-steel constructions.
The Pentagon sees the deal as a chance to "improve the UAE's capability to meet current and future regional threats." The upgraded weaponry would give the country “one of the most capable air forces in the region, thereby serving US interests by deterring regional aggression,” its Wednesday statement said.
The United Arab Emirates already has a fleet of F-16 fighters capable of carrying those bombs. Moreover, it already has several hundred smart missiles in stock that were earlier supplied by the US.
The UAE is a major purchaser of US weapons, but it is not the only one in the region. According to media reports Washington is actively arming other Middle East countries such as Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait to build a unified counterweight to Iran.
Iran’s nuclear program is clearly unacceptable to the US and its allies. But a direct military strike is something that seemed a measure of last resort until recently.
Speculation about the US forming a Middle East coalition is growing amid concerns that Iran is becoming a diplomatic outcast as European countries recall their ambassadors to Iran one by one.

The Spy Files: WikiLeaks Releases Surveillance Docs...

The Spy Files: WikiLeaks Releases Surveillance Docs...

Courtesy of rt.com

WikiLeaks has released the first portion of sensitive data revealing a new global surveillance and interception industry spanning 25 countries.
Site founder Julian Assange has held a press conference, revealing the secrets of the industry.­
The whistleblowing site has published some 287 documents from its huge database, collected from 160 international intelligence contractors. The database includes internal documents of such companies like Gamma corporation in the UK, Ipoque of Germany, Amesys and Vupen in France, VASTech in South Africa, ZTE Corp in China, Phoenexia in the Czech Republic, SS8 and Blue Coat in the US, among others.
And this was only the first step of the WikiLeaks Spy Files project, established to expose companies, which are making billions of dollars selling sophisticated tracking and surveillance tools. They published an interactive map of surveillance companies operating around the globe.
The industry is completely unregulated and modern technology created by commercial companies in developed nations can easily find their way to any country of the world.
According to the leaked data, the devices produced by British, French, South African, and Chinese corporation were used by the regimes of Mubarak in Egypt and Gaddafi in Libya to track and monitor every move of those states’ citizens.
­“Intelligence agencies, military forces and police authorities are able to silently, and on mass, and secretly intercept calls and take over computers without the help or knowledge of the telecommunication providers ,” says the statement on the official WikiLeaks Spy Files sites. “Users’ physical location can be tracked if they are carrying a mobile phone, even if it is only on stand by.”
­The pieces of software created by surveillance companies are capable of hijacking personal computers and popular mobile phones, including those with Android, iOS, and Blackberry operating systems.
Another branch of the industry is voice recognition tools, which help identify and track down individual by his unique “voiceprint”. The CIA is believed to be using those tools for analyzing the voice data collected by Predator drones in the Middle East and identifying the exact location of most wanted individuals.
In the new reality there is no need for intelligence services to focus on tracking down an individual person of interest. They have access to relevant sensitive information about any person in whom they may become interested in the future.
Declassified documents are available on the project's official website.

Assange: Using iPhone, gmail, Blackberry? You're Screwed!

Assange: Using iPhone, gmail, Blackberry? You're Screwed!

Courtesy of rt.com
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange says that governments worldwide have been using electronic devices, such as smart-phones and computers, to monitor what people are saying, where they are going and what they are writing.
The controversial journalist spoke at a panel of the Bureau of Investigative Journalism held at the City University in London on Monday. The panel inaugurated Wikileak’s new project: the Spyfiles. They provide details on the deals private surveillance companies made with various governments all over the globe to design monitoring software integrated into electronic devices, which could be used to monitor the activities of whoever these governments want to keep track of.
“Who here has a BlackBerry? Who here uses Gmail? Well you are all screwed!” Assange exclaimed. “The reality is intelligence contractors are selling right to countries around the world mass surveillance systems for all of those products.”
The Wikileaks founder went on to say that these international surveillance companies, based mostly in “more technologically sophisticated countries,” often sold their technology to less advanced countries: states that have often been despised by the West for their allegedly authoritarian political regimes.
These include the Gaddafi regime in Libya, to which French company Amesys sold equipment designed to keep track of the then opposition members living abroad. Some of these dissidents are now part of the current ruling elite, but what raises eyebrows is that Gaddafi’s intelligence was able to pry on his opponents in the US, the UK and Finland.
“Today we release over 287 files documenting the reality of the international mass surveillance industry – an industry which now sells equipment to dictators and democracies alike in order to intercept entire populations” Assange told reporters.
But software users in the West are not safe either. Assange and other members of the panel told reporters how western intelligence services used electronic devices to monitor the activities of its citizens. In Britain MI5 apparently used specialized voice recognition software implanted into cell phones that could make out who was speaking to whom. Other intelligence agencies had the ability to figure out where exactly the user was located, what they were typing and what they looked like. One of the programs allowed agencies to take photos of unsuspecting victims by using cameras implanted into their phones.
“The user’s physical location can be tracked if they are carrying a mobile phone, even if it is on standby” Assange said.
Wikileaks recently celebrated the first anniversary of the controversial publication of US diplomatic cable leaks – a publication that made Julian Assange a household name.
Assange is currently under house arrest in London, where he is planning to launch an appeal against the recent ruling of a British court, which decided to extradite the journalist to Sweden, where he is accused of sexually harassing two women. Assange fears that his extradition to Sweden may eventually end up being one to the United States and will be appealing the ruling once again next Monday.

Crossing Police Lines: US Cops Defect to OWS...

Crossing Police Lines: US Cops Defect to OWS...

Courtesy of rt.com

Almost 5,000 people have been arrested during Occupy protests across the US since the movement started on September 17 in New York. And as it is showing no signs of slowing, even some police seem to be defecting to the other side.
­Retired Philadelphia police Captain Ray Lewis became the game changer on November 17.  Arrested while demonstrating with Occupy protesters on the streets of New York City, the 24-year veteran of the force was held in police custody for 11 hours and received one comment from a New York cop.
“Nobody talked to me. This one individual later on told me that I had the testicles of an elephant,” says Ray Lewis.
Occupy Wall Street has become an undeniable American household name.
Police crackdowns against the democratic movement have become something of the norm. But what is not so normal is seeing one side endorse the other.
Although all of America’s police force is part of the 99 per cent, Captain Lewis says cops secretly supporting OWS face dire consequences by going public.
“A tremendous fear of losing their job. Being disciplined, being fired and then what do they do?  Everybody in the 99 per cent have that fear and police officers also. They have children, they have wives. What would they do if they were fired? There are no jobs available,” Lewis says.
The arrests of dozens of journalists covering the story at the Zuccotti Park are among many reasons Captain Lewis says he temporarily transplanted to Manhattan.
“That’s close to a dictatorship. When you exclude the media, that’s what dictators from all over the world do and that is very scary,” he says.
Despite his arrest, Captain Lewis is back at Zuccotti Park, showing unwavering support for the Occupy movement, standing nearby a group of New York City police officers. They are here securing the area, but some are beginning to show a little interest.
“For the first time, I had an officer break ranks at the barricade line. A white officer named Officer Murray. He introduced himself and he started asking me a few questions and I asked ‘Do you know the risk you’re taking?’ He was so brave that he said, ‘Hey this is still America and until a supervisor orders me back to the line, I’m going to talk with you.’
"I hope to get mainstream America involved, the police involved. Realizing we’re all victims of corporate America and that corporate America has got to be stopped,” Lewis says.
Oakland police Officer Fred Shavies is the only active cop who has gone on record with his support.
“I totally agree with Occupy Wall Street. Even to an extent with Occupy Oakland. I am a part of the 99 per cent. For the most part people are peaceful and they want to see change,” Shavies says.
Brutal scare tactics such as pepper spray, batons, and flash grenade canisters have been used against Occupy camps throughout the US. Oakland, California, resembled something of an urban war zone this fall, leaving a war veteran in critical condition and the eyes of an 84-year-old burning from tear gas.
Many in the US believe the biggest change, what the protesters across the country are demanding, could come when or if law enforcement officials stop suppressing the right to assemble and begin supporting it.
Meanwhile, nearly 300 arrests have been made in Los Angeles as the police have cleared one of the last and longest-standing Occupy camps, the Occupy LA City Hall Camp.

Iranian Quest for Casus Belli...

Iranian Quest for Casus Belli...

Courtesy of rt.com

A string of attacks on Iran, from assassinations of key nuclear and military personnel to attempts to alienate it internationally, ring the bell. Is the West hunting for a pretext for a new war in the Middle East?
We believe that the integrity of embassies should always be honored; there is no justifying any country attacking any other country’s embassy. Even if war breaks out, embassies are the last thread that should be severed.
That being said, and whilst it is unclear who agitated and mobilized Iranian protesters to attack the British Embassy in Tehran, the local police certainly came out in full force trying to restore order in what has become an all-too-common scene throughout the Middle East and North Africa.
First question: who benefits from this attack which the Western media are highlighting in red alert colors and harsh tones? British Foreign Secretary William Hague immediately ordered the closure of the Iranian Embassy in London, whilst US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton condemned this as an “affront on the British, but also on the International Community,” on whose behalf (i.e., the “international community’s”) the US and UK somehow feel they are empowered to speak.
Could it be that the US, UK, the EU and Israel are working hard to gather winds of war against Iran, knowing full well that their credibility is at an all-time low following years of flagrant lying to justify attacks on Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and more recently Libya? Attacking Iran won’t be easy to pull off.
This embassy episode brings back memories of the 1979 taking of the US Embassy in Tehran, and even the Iranians are not all that clear as to exactly what is happening. Iran’s Parliamentary Speaker Ali Larijani said that this was in part the result "several decades of domination-seeking behavior of Britain." And he is right, considering Britain invaded Iran during World War I, again during World War II, and yet again planned to invade in 1951 over Iran’s nationalization of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (aka. BP), but were stopped by then-US President Eisenhower, who feared a close encounter of the violent kind with the former USSR.
Instead, two years later the US’s CIA and the UK’s MI6 executed covert “Operation Ajax” orchestrating a violent coup that ousted the democratically-elected government and consolidated dictator Shah Reza Pahlevi, who – as Hilary would say – imposed “the kind of democracy that we (the US) want to see…”
Second question: Are we seeing a new Pearl Harbor in the making? As with Japan in the ’30s and ’40s, a target country is repeatedly threatened, coaxed, cornered, embargoed, misrepresented and misquoted in the media, sanctions imposed, etc., hoping that one day they get really fed up and do something rash. Like attacking the British Embassy and – presto! – we have another “day that will live in infamy!”
Is this yet another complex war engineering exercise where the target country (Iran) and its allies (e.g. Syria) are exposed to a swarm of controlled and varied attacks?
This time the UK seems to be the spearhead ever since in early November they said they were drafting plans for military attack, supported by Israel. The US is staying a few steps behind knowing that when things get really hot – especially for “little nuclear Israel” – the buck always stops with the US Military.
There is strong evidence that the US, UK and Israel are carrying out very sophisticated covert operations inside Iran with the intent of overwhelming its government.  The Israeli press openly admits this. Over the past year, key Iranian nuclear physicists have been mysteriously assassinated; some months ago their nuclear program centrifuges suffered a catastrophic cyber-attack; two weeks ago a huge bomb destroyed a missile facility killing many people, including Iran’s Ballistic Missile Program commander Major General Moghaddem; and only a few days ago yet another bomb severely damaged a nuclear facility in Isfahan.
The Iranians won’t admit this was done by foreign agents, which is understandable from a national security viewpoint (no government likes having to admit foreign terrorists are out of control inside its territory).
Third question: Who could be doing this if not the US, UK and Israeli intelligence services, their private military contractors and a wide array of organizations used, coaxed, subcontracted, controlled and operated by those countries?.
We’ll probably never know for sure. Just as we will never really know what’s really happening inside Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Palestine, Libya and so many other target countries throughout Africa, Latin America, South East Asia that have suffered so much imported violence and destruction in recent decades.
But, if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, has webbed feet like a duck and goes “quack!” like a duck, what do you think it might be?
And if the US’s, UK’s and Israel’s enemies suffer highly sophisticated terrorist attacks, following patterns that can be related to or back-engineered to State-sponsored terrorism emanating from the US, UK and Israel, then what do you think it might be?

Labor Unions March for Economic Justice in NYC...

Labor Unions March for Economic Justice in NYC...

Courtesy of rt.com

Thousands of labor union members are marching for jobs and economic fairness in the streets of New York City, the heart of the Occupy movement. RT’s Marina Portnaya is reporting from the scene.
The Thursday march was organized by the New York City Central Labor Council, which called on everyone “who is frustrated and worried about the growing economic disparity in this country” to take to the streets.
RT’s Marina Portnaya reports that there some 20,000 people taking part in the march demanding accountability from their elected officials. The people are from various labor unions and include teachers and electricity workers. The event has been peaceful so far.
According to RT’s correspondent there are about 1,000 police officers on the streets and three helicopters hovering over the crowd
The crowd is chanting “We are the 99 per cent” and say that there is an attack on the working class and that hard-working Americans are losing their jobs while the rich are getting richer.
New York City Central Council explained on its website: “The March for Jobs and Economic Fairness on Dec. 1 is a call to action and a show of unity – we want to march down Broadway and fill the street from curb to curb, so government and big business get our message: enough is enough.”
­Debra Sweet, director of the World Can't Wait movement, told RT that the occupations across the United States send a message criticizing not only the government but criticizing the whole economic set-up.
She says that US politicians have not even figured out how to get into the phenomenon of occupation as its message is much too profound to fit into a two-party system. “There is an increasing sophistication from occupiers,” she argues.