Chile, September 11, 1973: The Ingredients of a Military Coup. The Imposition of a Neoliberal Agenda

Chile, September 11, 1973: The Ingredients of a Military Coup. The Imposition of a Neoliberal Agenda

http://www.globalresearch.ca/chile-september-11-1973-the-ingredients-of-a-military-coup-the-imposition-of-a-neoliberal-agenda/5545251

By: Prof Michel Chossudovsky
Date: 2016-09-12

Forward

Forty-three years ago on September 11, 1973, the Chilean military led by General Augusto Pinochet, crushed the democratically elected Unidad Popular government of Salvador Allende.

The objective was to replace a progressive, democratically elected government by a brutal military dictatorship.

The military coup was supported by the CIA. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger played a direct role in the military plot. (Nixon and Kissinger, image right)

For details see: http://globalresearch.ca/articles/KOR309A.html  and references below.

Bush Angle to Reagan Shooting Still Unresolved as Hinckley Walks

Bush Angle to Reagan Shooting Still Unresolved as Hinckley Walks

A Story I Had to Leave Out of My Book

http://whowhatwhy.org/2016/08/16/bush-angle-reagan-shooting-still-unresolved-hinckley-walks/

By: Russ Baker
Date: 2016-08-16

President Reagan with the Bush family. Left to right: Neil Bush, Marvin Bush, Reagan, George W. Bush, George H.W. Bush, Jeb Bush. Photo credit: Reagan Library

Why did George H.W. Bush and his cabinet determine that John W. Hinckley Jr. — the man who in 1981 tried to kill the newly inaugurated President Ronald Reagan — was a lone nut, and no conspiracy, foreign or domestic, was involved? How did they arrive at this conclusion just five hours after the shooting, without any thorough examination?

And why won’t the Federal Bureau of Investigation release its documents on the shooter?

Veteran Suicides — A Hidden Epidemic

Veteran Suicides — A Hidden Epidemic

How Many Veterans Are Killing Themselves Per Day?

http://whowhatwhy.org/2016/08/25/veteran-suicides-hidden-epidemic/

By: Michael Rock
Date: 2016-08-25

When Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump address the American Legion’s upcoming national convention,  they will no doubt explain why they are the right choice to be the next commander-in-chief.

What they probably won’t talk about is the high number of veterans who will die by their own hand during the week-long conference.

According to a recent report by the Department of Veteran Affairs, 7,300 veterans killed themselves in 2014 — an average of 20 per day.  This is more than the entire number of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan to date.

If this trend keeps up, by the end of the American Legion conference, 140 veterans will have killed themselves.

Flags decorate the graves of US service members. Photo credit: Adapted by WhoWhatWhy from Beverly / Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

The Percentage Of Working Age Men That Do Not Have A Job Is Similar To The Great Depression

The Percentage Of Working Age Men That Do Not Have A Job Is Similar To The Great Depression

http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2016/09/the-percentage-of-working-age-men-that-do-not-have-a-job-is-similar-to-the-great-depression.html

By: Michael Snyder
Date: 2016-09-07

Why are so many men in their prime working years unemployed?  The Obama administration would have us believe that unemployment is low in this country, but that is not true at all.  In fact, one author quoted by NPR says that “it’s kind of worse than it was in the depression in 1940?.  Most Americans don’t realize this, but more men from ages 25 to 54 are “inactive” right now than was the case during the last recession.  We have millions upon millions of strong young men just sitting around doing nothing.  They aren’t employed and they aren’t considered to be looking for employment either, and so they don’t show up in the official unemployment numbers.  But they don’t have jobs, and nothing the Obama administration does can eliminate that fact.

According to NPR, “nearly 100 percent of men between the ages of 25 and 54 worked” in the 1960s.

In those days, just about any dependable, hard working American man could get hired almost immediately.  The economy was growing and the demand for labor was seemingly insatiable.

But today, one out of every six men in their prime working years does not have a job…

Campaign Question: Is Upward Mobility a Thing of the Past?

Campaign Question: Is Upward Mobility a Thing of the Past?

http://whowhatwhy.org/2016/08/18/campaign-question-upward-mobility-thing-past/

By: Bob Hennelly
Date: 2016-08-18

Janet Yellen, the head of the Federal Reserve, can’t explain the disconnect between middle-class frustration and the national statistics on the economy that show a low jobless rate, a healthy stock market, and a strong dollar.

Similarly, the mainstream media were taken by surprise when populist anger stoked the success of Sen. Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, campaigning for the presidency, understands there are pockets of bad news in some parts of the country. The economy, she concedes, is “not peachy keen.”

But in hundreds of neighborhoods across the country, particularly in hard-hit states like Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania, the reality is very far from “peachy.” Indeed, the economic reality in  three counties in those states, often considered accurate predictors of the results of presidential elections, remains bleak.

Classic Who: The Ferguson Report, Part 2: African-Americans, Cash Cow for the City

Classic Who: The Ferguson Report, Part 2: African-Americans, Cash Cow for the City

Ferguson Cops Relentlessly Preyed on African-Americans — How Are Things Changing?

http://whowhatwhy.org/2016/07/26/classic-ferguson-report-part-2-african-americans-cash-cow-city/

By:
Date: 2016-07-26

The recent murders of police officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge were acts of violence that no one condones. But we should keep in mind the seemingly endless incidents of violence black men and women have been subjected to by police — for decades.

Even when no one is killed, some of these stories are especially searing: Earlier this month a Miami cop shot and wounded an unarmed black man lying in the street with his hands up. The victim was a therapist at a group home who was trying to coax an autistic man to come back inside. The patient was playing with a toy truck.  Someone called the police. When they arrived, the therapist lay on his back, put his hands up, and shouted,

“All he has is a toy truck in his hand. That’s all it is. There is no need for guns.”

The policeman fired anyway. Three times. One bullet hit the therapist in the leg.

Later the policeman claimed he was aiming for the man with the toy truck, that he thought the toy was a gun, that he was trying to protect the therapist.

But here is what is especially telling: The police still handcuffed this unarmed man, the one who was not holding the toy, even after he was shot, even after he had repeatedly identified himself as a therapist — and left him lying on the hot Miami pavement for 20 minutes while waiting for an ambulance.

***

There are other, more insidious ways in which African-Americans are abused — economic exploitation. The Department of Justice (DOJ) exposed this form of abuse after an especially explosive incident in Ferguson, Missouri.

On August 9, 2014, in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson, a white police officer shot and killed Michael Brown, an 18-year-old unarmed African-American. After the officer was cleared of all charges, there were peaceful protests as well as rioting.

The Ferguson Report. Part 1: Breathing While Black, and Other Offenses

The Ferguson Report. Part 1: Breathing While Black, and Other Offenses

http://whowhatwhy.org/2015/07/29/the-ferguson-report-part-1-breathing-while-black-and-other-offenses/

By: 2016-07-29
Date:

It has been said that African-Americans are often arrested for “driving while black.” In fact, African-Americans seem to be arrested for walking, talking—or just breathing—while black.

This is not news. What is news is that the Department of Justice investigated the city, the police department, and the judicial system of Ferguson, Missouri—which is apparently just one of many places in America where such racially driven abuses occur on a regular basis.

Out of this came The Ferguson Report.

Here we present anecdotes from that report, a catalog of grinding daily harassments, humiliations—and worse—by a police department intent on keeping a people “in their place” while earning revenue for the city by writing as many tickets as possible.

Photo Credits: Steven Melkisethian/Flickr The shooting of Michael Brown sparked protests and rallies in Ferguson and beyond, including this one hosted by the Montgomery County Civil Rights Coalition in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Experts Sought: The Great 9/11 Building Debate

Experts Sought: The Great 9/11 Building Debate

http://whowhatwhy.org/2016/09/06/experts-sought-great-911-building-debate/

By: The WhoWhatWhy Team
Date: 2016-09-06

This September 11 will mark the 15th anniversary of the terror attacks on New York and Washington. These were events unlike any other in history, and they changed America and our world in profound ways — some of which have yet to become apparent.

WhoWhatWhy believes it is the mandate of journalism to not only report news as it happens, but to dig deep, and to stay on important stories for the long haul.

We also believe the public should hear all sides of critical issues, including those considered highly controversial, and, at least by traditional media, too “ludicrous” or too “hot” to address.

Another 9/11 Intrigue: Dick Cheney, John Yoo, and “Continuity in Government” (COG) Measures on 9/11

Another 9/11 Intrigue: Dick Cheney, John Yoo, and “Continuity in Government” (COG) Measures on 9/11

http://www.globalresearch.ca/another-911-intrigue-dick-cheney-john-yoo-and-continuity-in-government-cog-measures-on-911/5545654

By: Prof. Peter Dale Scott
Date: 2016-09-14

In 1993 I wrote a book, Deep Politics and the Death of JFK, in which I said at the outset I was not going to try to solve the mystery of JFK’s murder but to examine the politics of it.

I wish to argue here for similar research into the politics of 9/11. For the political consequences of 9/11 have been toxic, regardless of how the towers fell or who was responsible. The unusual process of their implementation deserves close study, a study which I believe will cast more light on 9/11 itself.

I hope in this paper to show that Dick Cheney responded to 9/11 by using devious means to install a small cabal of lawyers – most notoriously John Yoo – who proceeded conspiratorially in the next weeks to exclude their superiors, while secretly authorizing measures ranging from warrantless surveillance and detention to torture.

Post-9/11 Wars Have Cost Nearly $5 Trillion (and Counting): Report

Post-9/11 Wars Have Cost Nearly $5 Trillion (and Counting): Report

As nation remembers 9/11 victims, report calculates cost of military response to attacks

http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/09/13/post-911-wars-have-cost-nearly-5-trillion-and-counting-report

By: Nadia Prupis
Date: 2016-09-13

The U.S. military interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan have cost taxpayers nearly $5 trillion and counting, according to a new report released to coincide with the 15th anniversary of the attacks.

Dr. Neta Crawford, professor of political science at Brown University, released the figures in an independent analysis (pdf) of U.S. Departments of Defense, State, Homeland Security, and Veteran Affairs spending, as well as their base and projected future spending. Crawford is also a director at Brown's Costs of War Project, which works to draw attention to the human, economic, and political toll of the military response to 9/11.

In total, the wars already boast a price tag of $4.79 trillion, she found. And the cost is still climbing.

Welcome to Your Delusional Democracy

Welcome to Your Delusional Democracy

http://www.globalresearch.ca/welcome-to-your-delusional-democracy/5545129

By: Joel S. Hirschhorn
Date: 2016-09-11

For some years I have used the term “delusional democracy” to describe the condition of the US .  It seemed obvious to me that the vast majority of Americans have deliberately chosen to fool themselves.  They have been brainwashed to believe what no longer is true.  Become convinced that you do not live in a true and terrific democracy, or that your democracy is the best in the world. 

I stopped believing this myth many years ago.  All the objective evidence I saw over fifty years of paying intense attention both as a citizen and someone who worked within the political system showed me that American democracy had steadily declined in quality, integrity and effectiveness.  And now in this 2016 presidential race you have powerful and painful evidence that we are saddled with a delusional democracy.  Thank Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump for opening your mind and eyes to reveal this revolting truth.

Delusional democracy refers to delusional Americans.  So this year the key question for you to consider is whether you still choose to keep falsely believing that American democracy is worth being proud of.  I just cannot see how Americans can accept these two major party presidential candidates as reflecting a first rate democracy.  They are, in fact, a major embarrassment that should make every American, regardless of their political party loyalty or previous political beliefs, cringe at the ugly reality that these two presidential candidates are worthy of any respect, loyalty or votes.

How could it come to this?  Two world class liars.  Two of the most widely known untrusted and untrustable unpopular politicians ever produced here or anywhere.  Two sick narcissists in it for themselves, not the country.

The US political system produced this reality.  A two-party duopoly serving the rich and powerful, corporate contributors and many special interests, but not the ordinary, general public is what we have had for a long time.  What gave this nation awful economic inequality, destruction of good paying middle class jobs in manufacturing, and horrendous national debt also gave us these two losers.  Can you settle into voting for the lesser of two evils, when each of the two evils makes you gag?  Evil does not accurately describe these two options.  Choose the lesser of two embarrassments, of two calamities, of two democracy destroyers.

Consider this way of thinking about this ugly reality.  Once a democracy has become delusional playing the game of being responsible citizen and voting no longer makes sense.  It is more like joining a criminal conspiracy to maintain the illusion that we have a legitimate democracy.  Voting no longer is the path to have a revolution to restore American democracy.  That is exactly where we have arrived.  When most Americans have little respect and trust for Congress or just about every other institution and most believe we are on the wrong track, then how can you still cling to the belief that voting is what you can and should do?  When it comes to Trump and Hillary how can you still keep deluding yourself that you live in a legitimate democracy worth voting in?

America and the Plague of ‘Moral Idiocy’

America and the Plague of ‘Moral Idiocy’

When it comes to applying rules of international law and ethics, the U.S. government and its mainstream media operate with stunning hypocrisy, what might be called “moral idiocy”

http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/09/06/america-and-plague-moral-idiocy

By: Lawrence Davidson
Date: 2016-09-06

It was on Aug. 12, 1949, that the nations of the world, with Nazi atrocities still in mind, updated what are known as the Geneva Accords. This constituted an effort to once again set limits on the wartime behavior of states and their agents.

Among other things, the accords set the range of acceptable behavior toward prisoners of war, established protections for the wounded and the sick, and the necessary protections to be afforded civilian populations within and approximate to any war-zone. Some 193 countries, including the United States, have ratified these agreements. Now, as of August 2016, they are 67-years-old. Have they worked? The answer is, in all too many cases, no.

In just about every major conflict since 1949 the Geneva Accords have been partially or completely ignored. Certainly that was the case in the Vietnam War, where civilian deaths came close to 1.5 million people. The treaties have had minimal impact in Afghanistan (during both the Russian and U.S. invasions), Iraq, the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, Russia’s military activity in Chechnya, and various conflicts in Africa and Asia.

The International Red Cross, which oversees observance of the accords, has not been able to do much more than shine lights on the breaches of the law and pick up the bloody pieces in the aftermath. At the rate our nation-states slaughter the innocent, it is a wonder there is an overpopulation problem.

Hillary Clinton and Henry Kissinger. (Photo: Atlantic Council/flickr/cc)

Fair Processes, Better Outcomes

Fair Processes, Better Outcomes

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2016/09/fair-processes-better-outcomes

By: Jeremy Malcolm
Date: 2016-09-30

Yesterday we exposed the dangers of Shadow Regulation; the secretive web of backroom agreements between companies that seeks to control our behavior online, often driven by governments as a shortcut and less accountable alternative to regulation.

Today we are proposing a set of criteria, summarized in the infographic below, which turns this critical account of private agreements gone wrong, into a positive agenda for how they could be done better. EFF co-founder John Perry Barlow wrote:

You claim there are problems among us that you need to solve. You use this claim as an excuse to invade our precincts. Many of these problems don't exist. Where there are real conflicts, where there are wrongs, we will identify them and address them by our means. We are forming our own Social Contract. This governance will arise according to the conditions of our world, not yours. Our world is different.

Liberal, Moderate or Conservative? See How Facebook Labels You

Liberal, Moderate or Conservative? See How Facebook Labels You

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/24/us/politics/facebook-ads-politics.html

By: Jeremy B. Merrill
Date: 2016-08-23

You may think you are discreet about your political views. But Facebook, the world’s largest social media network, has come up with its own determination of your political leanings, based on your activity on the site.

And now, it is easy to find out how Facebook has categorized you — as very liberal or very conservative, or somewhere in between.

New dengue vaccine could instead cause more cases, experts warn

New dengue vaccine could instead cause more cases, experts warn

http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/01/health/dengue-vaccine-increase-disease/

By: Mera Senthilingam
Date: 2016-09-01

Everything You Need To Know About Medical Marijuana

Everything You Need To Know About Medical Marijuana

http://whowhatwhy.org/2016/08/26/everything-need-know-medical-marijuana/

By: Jeff Schechtman
Date: 2016-08-26

Marijuana, which has been around for over 2700 years, is said to alleviate all kinds of problems — nausea associated with chemotherapy, pain, insomnia, anxiety, depression, dementia, the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease and other neurological disorders. It may even stop the spread of cancer, but this hasn’t been proven conclusively.

In this week’s WhoWhatWhy podcast, Dr. David Casarett of the University of Pennsylvania Medical School talks about its medical value, how we can measure dosing and blood levels, as well as the role of the medical community and government.

He assures us that marijuana overdoses are not fatal and that, given the current efforts toward legalization, we all need to learn more.

David Casarett, M.D., author of “Stoned” Photo credit: Current and Dr. David Casarett

Lawyer: Dark Web Child Porn Site Ran Better When It Was Taken Over by the FBI

Lawyer: Dark Web Child Porn Site Ran Better When It Was Taken Over by the FBI

https://motherboard.vice.com/read/lawyer-dark-web-child-porn-site-ran-better-when-it-was-taken-over-by-the-fbi

By:
Date: 2016-08-23

In February 2015, the FBI took control of Playpen, the largest dark web child pornography site at the time. But instead of shutting the site down, the agency kept it going for just under two weeks, in order to deliver malware to its visitors in the hope of identifying suspects in its investigation.

Newly filed court exhibits now suggest that the site performed substantially better while under the FBI's control, with users commenting on the improvements. The defense for the man accused of being the original administrator of Playpen claims that these improvements led to the site becoming even more popular.

“The FBI distributed child pornography to viewers and downloaders worldwide for nearly two weeks, until at least March 4, 2015, even working to improve the performance of the website beyond its original capability,” Peter Adolf, an assistant federal defender in the Western District of North Carolina, writes in a motion to have his client’s indictment thrown out.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Exposed 1000s of Pornographic, Racist Government Emails But Now Faces Her Own Scandal

Pennsylvania Attorney General Exposed 1000s of Pornographic, Racist Government Emails But Now Faces Her Own Scandal

http://abcnews.go.com/US/pennsylvania-attorney-general-exposed-1000s-pornographic-racist-government/story?id=40030106

By: Byron Pitts, Michelle Kessel, and Geoff Martz
Date: 2016-06-21

Pennsylvania’s Attorney General Kathleen Kane is used to going up against criminals, not her own colleagues, but after she helped expose an email scandal win the state government, her career has been in jeopardy.

In 2014, Kane’s office released close to 400 pages of emails between state government employees, including some high-ranking state officials, exchanged on the state’s email server that were full of racism, sexism and pornography. The scandal was dubbed Porngate, and Kane said it involved a number of judges, prosecutors and law enforcement officials.

“I couldn’t believe there was violence involved, and I couldn’t believe this wasn’t just some Playboy photos ... 398 pages, much of it hard-core porn,” Kane told “Nightline.”

“The hard-core pornography shared on state computers, on state time, between state actors … That is not boys being boys,” she continued. “It's assault upon our criminal justice system and quite honestly it’s unacceptable.”

Embattled Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane sat down for an interview.

Pope Francis: Capitalism Is ‘Terrorism Against All of Humanity’

Pope Francis: Capitalism Is ‘Terrorism Against All of Humanity’

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/pope_francis_capitalism_is_terrorism_against_all_of_humanity_20160802

By: Nika Knight
Date: 2016-08-02

Pope Francis surprised reporters on a flight from Krakow to the Vatican late Sunday when he blamed the “god of money” for extremist violence in Europe and the Middle East, saying that a ruthless global economy leads disenfranchised people to violence.

“Terrorism grows when there is no other option, and as long as the world economy has at its center the god of money and not the person,” the pope told reporters, according to The Wall Street Journal. “This is fundamental terrorism, against all humanity.”

Pope Francis during a 2013 visit to Brazil. (Tânia Rêgo / ABr - Agência Brasil / CC BY-SA 3.0)

'Be Afraid': Largest Corporations Wealthier Than Most Countries

'Be Afraid': Largest Corporations Wealthier Than Most Countries

The power of corporations is so great within our society that they have undermined the idea that there is any other way to run society'

http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/09/12/be-afraid-largest-corporations-wealthier-most-countries

By: Nika Knight
Date: 2016-09-12

Corporations are running the world, according to new figures released Monday from the U.K.-based Global Justice Now.

The economic and social justice advocacy group discovered (spreadsheet) that the ten largest corporations are wealthier than most countries in the world combined.

Banks Get Tax Deductions for Paying Out Huge Bonuses to Execs

Banks Get Tax Deductions for Paying Out Huge Bonuses to Execs

http://www.truth-out.org/buzzflash/commentary/banks-get-tax-deductions-for-paying-out-huge-bonuses-to-execs-new-report-reveals

By: Mark Karlin
Date: 2016-09-01

The Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, DC released a report yesterday that details how taxpayers are subsidizing banks and massive CEO bonuses. The 34-page "Executive Excess 2016: The Wall Street CEO Bonus Loophole" confirms that Wall Street financial firms and their executives make out like bandits at the expense of everyday taxpaying Americans:

The more U.S. corporations hand out in CEO bonuses, the less they pay in taxes. This is the result of a loophole that allows firms to write off unlimited amounts of executive pay from their federal taxes, as long as it is in the form of so-called "performance-based" compensation.

I Am A Syrian Living in Syria: “It was Never a Revolution nor a Civil War. The Terrorists are sent by your Government”

I Am A Syrian Living in Syria: “It was Never a Revolution nor a Civil War. The Terrorists are sent by your Government”

http://www.globalresearch.ca/i-am-a-syrian-living-in-syria-it-was-never-a-revolution-nor-a-civil-war-the-terrorists-are-sent-by-your-government/5544450

By: Mark Taliano
Date: 2016-09-07

Two years ago, “Majd” wrote these words on a Facebook posting:

“ I am Syrian… living in Syria in the middle of everything. We have seen horrors. It was never a revolution nor a civil war. The terrorists are sent by your goverment. They are al Qaeda Jabhat al Nusra Wahhabi Salafists Talibans etc and the extremist jihadists sent by the West, the Saudis, Qatar and Turkey. Your Obama and whoever is behind him or above him are supporting al Qaeda and leading a proxy war on my country.

We thought you are against al Qaeda and now you support them.

The majority here loves Assad. He has never committed a crime against his own people… The chemical attack was staged by the terrorists helped by the USA and the UK,  etc. Everyone knows that here.

American soldiers and people should not be supporting barbarian al Qaeda terrorists who are killing Christians, Muslims in my country and everyone.

Every massacre is committed by them. We were all happy in Syria: we had free school and university education available for everyone, free healthcare, no GMO, no fluoride, no chemtrails, no Rothschild IMF- controlled bank, state owned central bank which gives 11% interest, we are self-sufficient and have no foreign debt to any country or bank.

High Hitler: how Nazi drug abuse steered the course of history

Clerk Note: {forgotten}

+++

High Hitler: how Nazi drug abuse steered the course of history

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/sep/25/blitzed-norman-ohler-adolf-hitler-nazi-drug-abuse-interview

By: Rachel Cooke
Date: 2016-09-25

The German writer Norman Ohler lives on the top floor of a 19th-century apartment building on the south bank of the river Spree in Kreuzberg, Berlin. Visiting him there is a vertiginous experience. For one thing, he works – and likes to entertain visitors – in what he calls his “writing tower”, a flimsy-seeming, glass-walled turret perched right on the very edge of the roof. (Look down, if you dare, and you will see his little boat moored far below.) For another, there is the fact that from this vantage point it is possible to discern two Berlins, one thrusting and breezy, the other spectral and grey. To our left, busy with traffic, is the Oberbaum Bridge, where there was once a cold war checkpoint, and beyond it the longest remaining section of the Berlin Wall, its doleful length rudely interrupted by the block of luxury flats that went up in 2013. As for the large building immediately opposite, these days it’s the home of Universal Music. Not so very long ago, however, it was the GDR’s egg storage facility.

Does all this press on Ohler as he sits at his desk, the light bouncing off the screen of his laptop? Is it ghostly sometimes? “Yes, it is strange,” he says, smiling at my giddiness. But then he has long believed in a certain kind of time travel. “I remember the 90s. The wall had just come down, and I was experimenting with party drugs like ecstasy and LSD. The techno scene had started up, and there were all these empty buildings in the east where the youth [from east and west] would meet for the first time. They were hardcore, some of those guys from the east – they didn’t understand foreigners at all – and the ecstasy helped them to lose some of their hatred and suspicion. Sometimes, then, you could step into a room, and you could just see the past. Of course, it’s not like that now. I don’t take drugs any more. But I can remember it, and maybe that was why I was able to write this book.”

Norman Ohler photographed in Berlin last week. Photograph: MalteJaeger/laif

The book in question is The Total Rush – or, to use its superior English title, Blitzed – which reveals the astonishing and hitherto largely untold story of the Third Reich’s relationship with drugs, including cocaine, heroin, morphine and, above all, methamphetamines (aka crystal meth), and of their effect not only on Hitler’s final days – the Führer, by Ohler’s account, was an absolute junkie with ruined veins by the time he retreated to the last of his bunkers – but on the Wehrmacht’s successful invasion of France in 1940. Published in Germany last year, where it became a bestseller, it has since been translated into 18 languages, a fact that delights Ohler, but also amazes him.

Does the U.S. Ignore Its Civilian Casualties in Iraq and Syria?

Does the U.S. Ignore Its Civilian Casualties in Iraq and Syria?

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/18/opinion/does-the-us-ignore-its-civilian-casualties-in-iraq-and-syria.html

By: Chris Woods
Date: 2016-08-17

LONDON — In barely a generation, air power has shifted from indiscriminate to discriminating. Thanks to advances in precision guidance, American bombs and missiles now generally get to where they’re intended. But human or machine error, bad luck or faulty military math still lead to unforeseen civilian deaths. And as the United States and its allies continue their bombing campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, many more noncombatants are perishing than they seem prepared to admit.

During July, the number of reported civilian casualties from coalition airstrikes reached the highest level since the air war began in August 2014. On July 19, 78 or more civilians were reported killed near the Islamic State-occupied city of Manbij, Syria, many of them women and children. In the successful battle for Manbij alone, at least 200 civilians were reportedly killed.

The United States and its allies have taken care to mitigate harm to civilians, and the United States Central Command is investigating the July 19 incident. But with the fight moving deeper into the towns and cities of Iraq and Syria — where millions remain under the Islamic State’s thumb — the risk is rising. Denmark, a member of the coalition, recently warned that civilian deaths might be “unavoidable” in this new phase of the war. Yet the allies appear poorly equipped to properly assess the numbers already being killed.

The Untold Financial Story of 9/11: Bailing Out Alan Greenspan’s Legacy. Billions of Financial Dealings by the Fed in Immediate Wake of 9/11

Clerk Note: Follow the money. 9/11 was a robbery on many levels, from the gold below WTC-4; to the Black Eagle & Marcos Funds used for black ops and as collateral for playing with the Russian markets whose note was to come due 9/11; to the missing Pentagon $2.3 Trillion on 9/10; to the Hallibuton-style war profiteering in Afghanistan & Iraq; to Homeland Security and TSA and TSA machines; to the billions laundered in the days after 9/11. Connect the dots and the housing bubble and financial crisis were spawns.

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The Untold Financial Story of 9/11: Bailing Out Alan Greenspan’s Legacy. Billions of Financial Dealings by the Fed in Immediate Wake of 9/11

http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-untold-financial-story-of-911-bailing-out-alan-greenspans-legacy-billions-of-financial-dealings-by-the-fed-in-immediate-wake-of-911/5545246

By: Pam Mertens and Russ Mertens
Date: 2016-09-11

Today marks the 15th Anniversary of the tragic events of September 11, 2001 and yet the American public remains in the dark about critical details of hundreds of billions of dollars of financial dealings by the Federal Reserve in the days, weeks and months that followed 9/11.

What has also been lost in the official 9/11 Commission Report, Congressional hearings and academic studies, is how Wall Street, on the day the planes slammed into the World Trade Towers, was on the cusp of being exposed by the New York State Attorney General, Eliot Spitzer, as the orchestrator of a fraud of unprecedented proportion against the investing public. That investigation was stalled for more than six months. It would have been politically incorrect to do perp walks outside Wall Street’s biggest investment banks as families mourned the loss of their loved ones; as U.S. savings bonds were renamed Patriot Bonds to rally patriotism around the country; and Congress paid homage to the heroes at the big banks, the stock exchanges and the Federal Reserve for getting the system back up and running in less than a week.

The loony policies of laissez-faire capitalism of Fed Chair Alan Greenspan, who worshiped at the feet of Ayn Rand, were also bailed out by the events of  9/11. Members of the Senate Banking Committee praised him on September 20, 2001 for his performance. Amazingly, at this hearing, just nine days after the attack, not one Senator asked Greenspan how much money the Fed had spent or to whom it went. The percolating collapse of Wall Street was held off for seven more years until 2008 when it finally became impossible to deny that Greenspan’s brand of financial deregulation and the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act he had pushed for, had left Wall Street in ruins – without any assault from the skies.

Why I Don’t Speak of 9/11 Anymore

Why I Don’t Speak of 9/11 Anymore

http://www.globalresearch.ca/why-i-dont-speak-of-911-anymore/5545103

By: Edward Curtin
Date: 2016-09-11

Tuesday, September 11, 2001, was a non-teaching day for me.  I was home when the phone rang at 9 A.M.  It was my daughter, who was on a week’s vacation with her future husband.  “Turn on the TV,” she said.  “Why?” I asked. “Haven’t you heard?  A plane hit the World Trade Tower.”

I turned the TV on and watched a plane crash into the Tower.  I said, “They just showed a replay.”  She quickly corrected me, “No, that’s another plane.”  And we talked as we watched in horror, learning that it was the South Tower this time.  Sitting next to my daughter was my future son-in-law; he had not had a day off from work in a year.  He had finally taken a week’s vacation so they could go to Cape Cod.  He worked on the 100^th floor of the South Tower.  By chance, he had escaped the death that claimed 176 of his co-workers.

That was my introduction to the attacks.  Fifteen years have disappeared behind us, yet it seems like yesterday.  And yet again, it seems like long, long ago.

Over the next few days, as the government and the media accused Osama bin Laden and 19 Arabs of being responsible for the attacks, I told a friend that what I was hearing wasn’t believable; the official story was full of holes.  It was a reaction that I couldn’t fully explain, but it set me on a search for the truth.  I proceeded in fits and starts, but by the fall of 2004, with the help of the extraordinary work of David Ray Griffin and other early skeptics, I could articulate the reasons for my initial intuition.  I set about creating a college course on what had come to be called 9/11.

But I no longer refer to the events of that day by those numbers.  Let me explain why.

September 11, 2001: The 15th Anniversary of the Crime and Cover-up of the Century

September 11, 2001: The 15th Anniversary of the Crime and Cover-up of the Century

http://www.globalresearch.ca/september-11-2001-the-15th-anniversary-of-the-crime-and-cover-up-of-the-century/5544414

By: Dr. Gary G. Kohls
Date: 2016-09-07

WTC Building exploding into fine dust (it is not burning down) by pre-planted explosives in an obvious controlled demolition.

The arrow points to a “squib” of exploding gas which is commonly seen with controlled demolitions. Some of the “splinters” seen (the only solid objects that did not pulverize into dust) are actually chunks of steel beams that were being exploded upward and laterally. The nicely-sectioned steel beams and girders were soon ordered by New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani to be trucked away and shipped to China – an order that constitutes disturbing a crime scene – which is a federal crime.

I just received the latest PBS (Public Broadcasting System) monthly schedule for September and discovered that PBS’s newest documentary, entitled “9/11: Inside the Pentagon” will be broad-casting and the re-broadcasting the program a total of 8 times over the week surrounding 9/11/16!

Facebook and Israeli Government Team Up to Censor Posts

Facebook and Israeli Government Team Up to Censor Posts

Justice minister says Facebook already complies with 95 percent of Israel's take-down requests

http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/09/12/facebook-and-israeli-government-team-censor-posts

By: Andrea Germanos
Date: 2016-09-12

Israel and Facebook will team up to delete content the country views as inciting violence, the Associated Press reports Monday.

"The joint Facebook-Israel censorship efforts, needless to say, will be directed at Arabs, Muslims and Palestinians who oppose Israeli occupation," Glenn Greenwald writes at The Intercept.

Groups Worry About Impact Of Police Moves To Block Social Media

Groups Worry About Impact Of Police Moves To Block Social Media

http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2016/08/30/491826167/groups-worry-about-impact-of-police-moves-to-block-social-media

By: Martin Kaste
Date: 2016-08-30

When should police be able to deactivate your social media account?

The question is becoming more urgent, as people use real-time connections in the middle of critical incidents involving law enforcement.

In the case of Korryn Gaines in Baltimore County, Md., earlier this month, police said that a suspect actively using a social media connection makes a standoff worse.

Gaines posted videos to Instagram of the unfolding standoff with police, who were outside her apartment trying to get her to surrender. After an hours-long standoff, Gaines was shot and killed by Baltimore County police.

The Slot Machine in Your Pocket

The Slot Machine in Your Pocket

http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/smartphone-addiction-is-part-of-the-design-a-1104237.html

By: Tristan Harris
Date: 2016-07-27

When we get sucked into our smartphones or distracted, we think it's just an accident and our responsibility. But it's not. It's also because smartphones and apps hijack our innate psychological biases and vulnerabilities.

I learned about our minds' vulnerabilities when I was a magician. Magicians start by looking for blind spots, vulnerabilities and biases of people's minds, so they can influence what people do without them even realizing it. Once you know how to push people's buttons, you can play them like a piano. And this is exactly what technology does to your mind. App designers play your psychological vulnerabilities in the race to grab your attention.

I want to show you how they do it, and offer hope that we have an opportunity to demand a different future from technology companies.

If you're an app, how do you keep people hooked? Turn yourself into a slot machine.

The average person checks their phone 150 times a day. Why do we do this? Are we making 150 conscious choices? One major reason why is the number one psychological ingredient in slot machines: intermittent variable rewards.

If you want to maximize addictiveness, all tech designers need to do is link a user's action (like pulling a lever) with a variable reward. You pull a lever and immediately receive either an enticing reward (a match, a prize!) or nothing. Addictiveness is maximized when the rate of reward is most variable.

Playpen: The Story of the FBI’s Unprecedented and Illegal Hacking Operation

Playpen: The Story of the FBI’s Unprecedented and Illegal Hacking Operation

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2016/09/playpen-story-fbis-unprecedented-and-illegal-hacking-operation

By: Mark Rumold
Date: 2016-09-15

In December 2014, the FBI received a tip from a foreign law enforcement agency that a Tor Hidden Service site called “Playpen” was hosting child pornography. That tip would ultimately lead to the largest known hacking operation in U.S. law enforcement history.

The Playpen investigation—driven by the FBI’s hacking campaign—resulted in hundreds of criminal prosecutions that are currently working their way through the federal courts. The issues in these cases are technical and the alleged crimes are distasteful. As a result, relatively little attention has been paid to the significant legal questions these cases raise.

But make no mistake: these cases are laying the foundation for the future expansion of law enforcement hacking in domestic criminal investigations, and the precedent these cases create is likely to impact the digital privacy rights of Internet users for years to come. In a series of blog posts in the coming days and weeks, we'll explain what the legal issues are and why these cases matter to Internet users the world over.

Alien life, or noise? Russian telescope detects 'strong signal' from sun-like star

Alien life, or noise? Russian telescope detects 'strong signal' from sun-like star

Signal detected a year ago from HD164595, only 95 light years away and with at least one planet, but Seti scientists are scanning the area and have yet to find it

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/aug/29/russian-radio-telescope-strong-signal-hd164595-seti

By: Sam Thielman
Date: 2016-08-29

As David Bowie might have sung: is there life on HD164595b?

A Russian radio telescope scanning the skies has observed “a strong signal” from a nearby star, HD164595, in the constellation Hercules. The star is a scant 95 light years away and 99% of the size of Earth’s own sun. It has at least one planet, HD164595b, which is about the size of Neptune and has a 40-day year.

How Solar Panels Work

How Solar Panels Work

https://www.saveonenergy.com/how-solar-panels-work/

By: Save On Energy
Date: 2016-09-27

Solar power is talked about a lot these days. Whether it’s a new solar panel installation on your neighbor’s roof or one of the growing numbers of solar panel “farms” located near many highways, this technology is showing up more and more in our daily lives.

This is an exciting time for solar power. According to industry reports, solar power made up about 40% of all new electric capacity installed in 2014. In addition, the nation’s solar capacity by the end of 2016 is projected to be double what it was at the beginning of 2015, while costs continue to decline and panel efficiencies increase.

The question many people have is: How exactly do those panels work? Unlike power from a wind turbine or even a power plant, solar panels don’t seem to have any moving parts -- so how exactly is that energy being produced?

Analog: The Last Defense Against DRM

Analog: The Last Defense Against DRM

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2016/09/analog-last-defense-against-drm

By: Elliot Harmon
Date: 2016-09-08

With the recent iPhone 7 announcement, Apple confirmed what had already been widely speculated: that the new smartphone won’t have a traditional, analog headphone jack. Instead, the only ways to connect the phone to an external headset or speaker will be via Bluetooth, through the phone’s AirPlay feature, or through Apple’s proprietary Lightning port.

Apple’s motivations for abandoning the analog jack are opaque, but likely benign. Apple is obsessed with simple, clean design, and this move lets the company remove one more piece of clutter from the phone’s body. The decision may also have been a part of the move to a water-resistant iPhone. And certainly, many people choose a wireless listening experience.

As Oceans Continue to Warm, Consequences Grow More Dire, Study Says

As Oceans Continue to Warm, Consequences Grow More Dire, Study Says

Much of the heat of global warming has been absorbed by the sea, with a steep cost to marine life, ecosystems and the people that depend on them.

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/07092016/oceans-climate-change-marine-global-warming-temperatures-study-coral-reef-bleaching

By: Nicholas Kusnetz
Date: 2016-09-07

The coming century will likely bring dangerous and dramatic changes to the planet's oceans, with ever strengthening storms, annual bleaching of almost all coral reefs, loss of biodiversity and severe impacts on fisheries and aquaculture unless humans slash greenhouse gas emissions.

These are the findings of a comprehensive review of the effects of warming oceans, issued Monday by International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and compiled by more than 80 scientists from 12 countries. The report chronicles how the seas have absorbed the vast majority of the excess heat trapped in the atmosphere by carbon emissions in recent decades, and how that energy is already altering the planet's weather systems and ecology, from deep ocean trenches to alpine glaciers.

"Ocean warming is one of this generation's greatest hidden challenges—and one for which we are completely unprepared," Inger Andersen, IUCN's director general, said in a statement. "The only way to preserve the rich diversity of marine life, and to safeguard the protection and resources the ocean provides us with, is to cut greenhouse gas emissions rapidly and substantially."

How Obama Is Enabling the Next President to Launch Illegal Wars

How Obama Is Enabling the Next President to Launch Illegal Wars

If his administration gets its way, it would be even easier for future commanders in chief to take military action without approval from Congress.

http://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2016/08/how-obama-enabling-next-president-launch-illegal-wars/131005/

By: Bruce Ackerman
Date: 2016-08-24

Podcast: Why nuclear war looks inevitable

Podcast: Why nuclear war looks inevitable

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-nuclear-war-podcast-idUSKCN11K23T

By: Jason Fields
Date: 2016-09-21

Several developments have the potential to move the hands of the nuclear doom clock closer to midnight.

A new U.S. nuclear policy has a chance of destabilizing the balance of terror by creating a larger arsenal of smaller weapons.

Why?

The NSA Abroad: The UK Base That Makes US Targeted Killing Possible

The NSA Abroad: The UK Base That Makes US Targeted Killing Possible

Newly revealed documents leaked by Edward Snowden and reported by The Intercept detail the inner workings of the NSA's largest overseas base

http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/09/06/nsa-abroad-uk-base-makes-us-targeted-killing-possible

By: Lauren McCauley
Date: 2016-09-06

In a damning exposé published Monday, The Intercept reporter Ryan Gallagher dives into the inner workings of National Security Agency's (NSA) largest overseas spying base, the U.K.'s Menwith Hill Station, and reveals concrete evidence that the British government is complicit in the United States' targeted killing program.

Citing top-secret documents obtained from NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, Gallagher reports, "The files reveal for the first time how the NSA has used the British base to aid 'a significant number of capture-kill operations' across the Middle East and North Africa, fueled by powerful eavesdropping technology."

And given the British government's repeated assertion that activities at Menwith Hill "have always been, and continue to be" carried out with its "knowledge and consent," the findings are all the more damning.

The National Security Agency's largest overseas spying base, Menwith Hill. (Photo: Trevor Paglen via The Intercept)

Senate report on CIA torture claims spy agency lied about 'ineffective' program

Senate report on CIA torture claims spy agency lied about 'ineffective' program

Report released by Senate after four-year, $40m investigation concludes CIA repeatedly lied abou

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2014/dec/09/cia-torture-report-released

By: Spencer Ackerman, Dominic Rushe, and Julian Borger
Date:

The full extent of the CIA’s interrogation and detention programmes launched in the wake of the September 11 terror attack was laid bare in a milestone report by the Senate intelligence committee on Tuesday that concluded the agency’s use of torture was brutal and ineffective – and that the CIA repeatedly lied about its usefulness.

The report represented the most scathing congressional indictment of the Central Intelligence Agency in nearly four decades. It found that torture “regularly resulted in fabricated information,” said committee chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, in a statement summarizing the findings. She called the torture programme “a stain on our values and on our history”.

“During the brutal interrogations, the CIA was often unaware the information was fabricated.” She told the Senate the torture program was “morally, legally and administratively misguided” and “far more brutal than people were led to believe”.

The report reveals that use of torture in secret prisons run by the CIA across the world was even more extreme than previously exposed, and included “rectal rehydration” and “rectal feeding”, sleep deprivation lasting almost a week and threats to the families of the detainees.

Could the U.S. election be hacked? It's not so unlikely

Could the U.S. election be hacked? It's not so unlikely

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/pringle-election-hacking-1.3713911

By: Ramona Pringle
Date: 2016-08-10

Recent attempts at campaign-directed cyber-attacks have raised red flags about just how vulnerable the upcoming U.S. election is to hackers.

With the FBI currently investigating alleged Russian efforts to undermine the Democratic Party through hacking attempts, how concerned should elections officials – and voters — be about the security of electronic voting procedures?

What is to keep the U.S. election process free of hackers when even large corporations can't keep their data secure?

Yes, It's Possible to Hack the Election

Yes, It's Possible to Hack the Election

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/hack-election/story?id=41489017

By: Richard Clarke
Date: 2016-08-19

After reports of alleged Russian hacking into Democratic Party computer networks, some commentators have suggested that the Russians could hack the results of the U.S. elections. Other analysts have, well before this year’s campaign, suggested that election results in the U.S. could be electronically manipulated, including by our fellow Americans. So could an American election’s outcome be altered by a malicious actor on a computer keyboard?

I have had three jobs that, together, taught me at least one thing: If it’s a computer, it can be hacked. For Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, I served as the White House senior cybersecurity policy adviser. For President Barack Obama, I served on his five-person post–Edward Snowden investigative group on the National Security Agency, intelligence and technology. And for over a decade I have advised American corporations on cybersecurity.

Those experiences confirm my belief that if sophisticated hackers want to get into any computer or electronic device, even one that is not connected to the internet, they can do so.

The "Shocking" Truth About Election Rigging in the United States

The "Shocking" Truth About Election Rigging in the United States

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/37486-the-shocking-truth-about-election-rigging-in-america

By: Victoria Collier
Date: 2016-09-05

RICK: How can you close me up? On what grounds?
POLICE CAPTAIN RENAULT: I'm shocked! Shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!
CROUPIER (handing Renault a pile of money): Your winnings, sir.
CAPTAIN RENAULT: Oh, thank you, very much... Everybody out, at once!
(Scene from  Casablanca.)

If there is anything positive to say about the 2016 elections, it's that they have finally forced an end to the official denial of computerized election rigging. In the past month, the fact that our voting technology is a hacker's paradise has been validated by no less than all the major TV news networks: NBC, ABC, CBS, Reuters, The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Atlantic, USA Today, The Hill, The Guardian, Mother Jones, Politico, and a dozen other outlets.

Of course, the corporate media and political parties are now professing "shock" at the very prospect that US elections can be manipulated, and yes, even stolen. 

Yet it has long been an open secret that game-changing races have been decided not by voters, but by insiders; from the presidential race of 1960, appropriated for John Kennedy by Democratic muscle in Chicago, to the two victories secured for George W. Bush by GOP fixers in  Florida and hackers in  Ohio. Among other  suspect elections in recent years are key Congressional races hijacked by combinations of voter suppression, gerrymandering, dark money and the ugly little secret of American elections: rigged voting machines.

Eustace Moitt checks voting booths for supplies at a polling station in New York, on June 26, 2012. (Todd Heisler / The New York Times)

Fabricated Claims About Russian “Covert Plot” to Disrupt US Elections

Fabricated Claims About Russian “Covert Plot” to Disrupt US Elections

http://www.globalresearch.ca/fabricated-claims-about-russian-covert-plot-to-disrupt-us-elections/5544484

By: Stephen Lendman
Date: 2016-09-08

Hillary is so irreparably tainted and unfit to serve, her key strategy is diverting attention from her wrongdoing two ways – bashing Trump beyond customary campaign jousting and spreading misinformation and Big Lies about Russia, using the media as press agents to do her dirty work.

Neocon Washington Post editors and staff one-sidedly support her, one of many examples of how low US media scoundrels have sunk – transforming themselves into disgraceful laughing stocks.

The way to stay misinformed and brainwashed is by following their reports. WaPo’s latest anti-Russia harangue is claiming a potential covert plot to disrupt November elections.

The Dirty Tricks of Election Thieves

The Dirty Tricks of Election Thieves

http://whowhatwhy.org/2016/08/31/dirty-tricks-election-thieves/

By: Dan Engelke
Date: 2016-08-31

Republican operatives have employed a series of “dubious practices” that will result in millions of eligible voters to be purged from the rolls ahead of the election, investigative reporter and filmmaker Greg Palast told WhoWhatWhy.

Among these tactics is the implementation of the “Interstate Voter Registration Crosscheck Program” that is used in 30 GOP-controlled states. Its stated purpose is to make sure that voters are not registered in different states. Supposedly, a strict methodology is applied to guarantee that eligible voters are not inadvertently included.

However, Palast claims the program is being used to prevent millions of likely Democrats from voting. In his new film “The Best Democracy Money Can Buy,” he details the “scams” used to steal the 2016 presidential election.

Greg Palast Photo credit: Greg Palast / YouTube

Open Letter to NBC Moderator Calls for Candidates to Debate 'Democracy Itself'

Open Letter to NBC Moderator Calls for Candidates to Debate 'Democracy Itself'

Issues such as voting rights, campaign finance, and freedom of the press impact, "at the most fundamental level, who has power in this country and who doesn't"

http://commondreams.org/news/2016/09/08/open-letter-nbc-moderator-calls-candidates-debate-democracy-itself

By: Deirdre Fulton
Date: 2016-09-08

Before they tackle foreign policy, climate change, the economy, or public education at upcoming presidential debates, "the candidates must first debate democracy itself," reads an open letter to NBC's Lester Holt, who will moderate the first face-off between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump later this month.

"As the moderator of this year's first presidential debate, you have significant flexibility to select the topics you chose to cover," says the letter, co-signed by a coalition of more than 30 organizations representing millions of Americans nationwide. "While there are a number of critical policy differences between the candidates, there is one subject so fundamental to our future—so essential to our national identity—that its inclusion in this debate must be guaranteed."

"It's critical that Lester Holt give voters a chance to hear from our presidential candidates about their take on our democracy and how they plan to restore people's faith in the system," said Rahna Epting, chief of staff at Every Voice. (Photo: AP)

Only 9% of America Chose Trump and Clinton as the Nominees

Clerk Note: Worth going to the source URL to see the interactive images as you scroll down the short article.

+++

Only 9% of America Chose Trump and Clinton as the Nominees

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/08/01/us/elections/nine-percent-of-america-selected-trump-and-clinton.html?_r=0

By: Alicia Parlapiano and Adam Pearce
Date: 2016-08-01

The United States is home to 324 million people. Each square here represents 1 million people.

Justice Department Pressed to Intervene When Police Arrest Grassroots Journalists

Justice Department Pressed to Intervene When Police Arrest Grassroots Journalists

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2016/08/justice-department-pressed-intervene-when-police-arrest-grassroots-journalists

By: Shahid Buttar
Date: 2016-08-25

Across the country, civilian journalists have documented government violence using cell phones to record police activities, forcing a much-needed national discourse. But in case after case after case after case, the people who face penalties in the wake of police violence are the courageous and quick-witted residents who use technology to enable transparency.

Earlier this month, the International Documentary Association launched an online petition to the Department of Justice asking the federal government to intervene when local police arrest or otherwise harass civilians who document and record police violence. EFF was proud to sign the petition, since this is an issue on which we have been increasingly active.

Third Party Loyalists: Insanity Redefined or Political Attention Deficit Disorder?

Third Party Loyalists: Insanity Redefined or Political Attention Deficit Disorder?

http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/09/02/third-party-loyalists-insanity-redefined-or-political-attention-deficit-disorder

By: Tom Gallagher
Date: 2016-09-02

One audience member on the comment line following a recent Oakland, CA Green Party discussion panel—titled "Growing the Political Revolution: What's Beyond Bernie?"—cited Albert Einstein for having once defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over and expecting things to turn out differently. This maxim is actually invoked with some regularity these days as a caution against American left efforts within the Democratic Party. As the argument goes, these endeavors have been so obviously unsuccessful that any non-insane observer can see the futility of their continuation and recognize the need for a "third party" candidacy instead. The presence of this viewpoint at a Green Party event is to be expected, naturally. Nonetheless, standards of evidence should still prevail and it seems fair to pose the question of what you call it when someone fails to notice that things have turned out differently.

Insanity? Perhaps not.

Political attention deficit disorder? Maybe.

Supporters of Democratic U.S. presidential candidate Bernie Sanders cheer during a Sanders rally at Safeco Field in Seattle, Washington March 25, 2016. (Photo: Reuters)

Amazing Classical Mashup between 33 composers

Amazing Classical Mashup between 33 composers

http://vlocal.ca/amazing-classica-mashup/

57 famous classical tunes by 33 composers woven together . How many can you identify?

Get the Sheet music here !!

Solution:

Dark Journalist: Deep State Occult Election 2016

Dark Journalist: Deep State Occult Election 2016 – Dr. Joseph Farrell

http://forbiddenknowledgetv.net/dark-journalist-deep-state-occult-election-2016-dr-joseph-farrell/

By: Dr. Joseph Farrell
Date: 2016-09-11

Clinton vs. Trump: Is the Deep State at war with itself? Dark Journalist, Daniel Liszt and ‘Giza Death Star’ book series author, Dr. Joseph Farrell examine the covert elements at work behind the scenes in the 2016 US Presidential Election.

Some of Farrell’s most exciting research is about the rise of Donald Trump, which he opines may originate from that part of the Deep State that’s connected with the Mafia, a longstanding relationship that is well-documented.

Entire US Presidential Election is Fake, From Start to Finish

Entire US Presidential Election is Fake, From Start to Finish

http://freedom-articles.toolsforfreedom.com/us-presidential-election-fake-start-end/

By: Makia Freeman
Date: 2016-09-06

The US presidential election just keeps getting fa

the more it goes on. Yes, it’s bread and circus time again in America, but this time around the rulers are putting on an entertainment show which has lost its ability to convince and persuade. It’s just too damn fake. We know the US and many other Western “democracies” are rigged one-party states where all the major candidates are controlled, bribed and/or blackmailed. We know that US presidents are selected, not elected. In the 2016 US presidential election, we’ve witnessed all sorts of fakery right from the start. Hillary blatantly rigged the Democratic Primaries in several states (Iowa, Nevada, Arizona and California just to name a few). She colluded with the DNC board, led by the disgraced Wasserman-Schultz, to keep Bernie out of the nomination. Then, at the DNC convention, she pulled out all the stops with a grand display of riggery and fakery, including paying people to sit there to hold her signs, playing white noise machines to drown out protests, having DNC officials turn off the lights above Bernie supporters to plunge them into darkness and all sorts of other dirty tricks.

Hillary’s Fake Health and Fake Transparency

The fakery continued after Clinton’s nomination coronation as queen at the DNC. Ever since the topic of Hillary’s health has come to light, Hillary has been in damage control mode, trying to convince a skeptical public she is well enough for the office of president, despite her coughing fits, bouts of dizziness and confusion, struggling to walk up stairs, tripping and falling, bouts of inappropriate laughter, wild crossed-eyed looks and her public seizures (see The Real Hillary Clinton for more info). Wikileaks apparently discovered that Hillary was searching online for adult diapers. Maybe she currently wears them.

Meanwhile, corrupt Hillary continues her campaign without conducting press conferences, which is highly unusual for a US presidential candidate. Zero Hedge reports it has been 273 days (absolute zero) since her last press conference! Clearly we can deduce from this that Hillary is scared of being asked some tough questions, given how flooded she is with scandal after scandal (Clinton Foundation fraud and corruption, email deletions, foreign bribery, pay to play shenanigans, the growing Clinton Body Count, etc.). There’s nothing open and transparent about her; she’s barely holding on, keeping quiet and hoping Trump will shoot himself in the foot some more between now and November 8th.

The Scourge of Neoliberalism: Why the Democratic Party Is Failing the Poor

The Scourge of Neoliberalism: Why the Democratic Party Is Failing the Poor

http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/08/22/scourge-neoliberalism-why-democratic-party-failing-poor

By: Jake Johnson
Date: 2016-08-22

When Democrats began their rightward lurch in the late 1960's, they were not content to merely broaden their coalition in order to quell the rise of the ultra-reactionary right; they have been concerned, also, with preventing left-wing insurgencies that could spook their patrons and push the party left.

After Ronald Reagan's decisive victories — first in 1980 against an incumbent president whose administration had, in many ways, fueled the neoliberal turn, and again in 1984 — the efforts of Democrats eager to transform the party, both superficially and ideologically, intensified.

"The only alternative for Democrats now was to modernize," notes Shawn Gude, summarizing the prevailing attitude of the Democratic leadership. "Anything but a wholesale rethink of the party's more social-democratic commitments would invite future electoral disaster."

'The problem is, ultimately, systemic: It is about who writes the rules, and how these rules act in the real world to create extraordinary gains for some while leaving others to compete, endlessly and ruthlessly, for the rest.' (Image: DonkeyHotey/flickr/cc)

Race, Class and Justice in America

Race, Class and Justice in America

http://www.globalresearch.ca/race-class-and-justice-in-america/5540711

By: Abayomi Azikiwe
Date: 2016-08-12

I am gratified to honor another invitation from the Detroit Unitarian Universalist Church where I have spoken before from this pulpit and other areas of this historic structure. It is important that this institution remains within this area now known as Midtown as a beacon of solidarity with an open door to those who have ideas and personal instincts that challenge the dominant intellectual and spiritual cannons that have shaped the United States and world over the last several centuries.

Our topic today addresses three of the most important unresolved questions of the 21^st century where we find ourselves in a global community with the capacity to rapidly and effectively communicate and influence those around the world. Despite our technological achievements in the ability to generate, calculate, analyze, disseminate, and file data the world system of capitalism has failed to provide an adequate standard of living to the majority of humanity.

Right here in the city of Detroit people are being driven out through state-sponsored efforts utilizing the tax revenue of working families to evict and displace those who are literally paying for their own oppression and exploitation. Thousands more households remain without water due to the egregious cut-offs–and in the case of Flint, the water is not fit to drink.

Although there have been nine indictments related to the Flint water crisis and a civil suit filed by the Michigan Attorney General’s office in Lansing, no real effort is being made to rebuild the majority African American city as a wholesome and safe place to live and work. Now a situation has arose over the disposal of trash compounding the social ills related to lead poisoning in children, legionnaire’s disease, skin problems and inflated water bills for an unclean product.

The Shocking Advance Hints of the 9/11 Attacks

Clerk Note: I don't find many of the "coincidences" in the following so coincidental. "Lazy" is a better word. If you want people to think of money or wealth, simply show the dollar sign ($). So are we programmed by repetition. If you are in marketing or propaganda, use what works and keep re-enforcing the brand. If you want readers to think of the military in any way, simply flash a picture of the Pentagon. Likewise, if you want readers to think of financial power, simply flash a picture something so pompously named the World Trade Center.

Although promoted by sources that I consider disinformation, one 9/11 theme is that the WTC was never really completed or fleshed out on the inside. This and under-occupancy at the time of destruction helps explain the relatively low 9/11 death count, why more survivors aren't vocal about the WTC, why simvictims are a very real and plausible thing with regards to 9/11 and were promoted by the military as early as 1960 in Operation Norwood presented to JFK with regards to Cuba. [Simvictims being made-up, their actor families are easy to stage and get promoting other agenda milking emotions for all their worth. Control the message: a military objective in all conflicts.]

Think about it. If you wanted to create two symbols of over-towering wealth and power, if money was tight, and if their full usage could torpedo the local real estate market and overwhelm localized services, would you really need to finish every single god-damn floor in both towers?!! No. You could cut corners by concentrating on, say, only the lower 1/3 and the upper 1/3 (if not less). Flesh out various levels only when demand says so.

The point is, hollow (or mostly empty) symbols to wealth & power can be constructed, advertised, worshiped, hyped, etc. without ever really having to prove, floor by floor, that they are anything more than a fascade.

Be that as it may, hollow or not, empty or not, if you got symbols that you want to flash to the world, "all publicity is good publicity" even if symbolically targeted and "destroyed" in a fictional movie or on an album cover. Easy. And lazy to get your message across.

Doesn't make the following any less fascinating.

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THE SHOCKING ADVANCE HINTS OF THE 9/11 ATTACKS

http://www.tomatobubble.com/id884.html

By: Mike King
Date:

As even the most novice student of the 9/11"conspiracy theory" is aware of, several media hints and warnings precededthe horrific events of that unforgettable history-altering day. But what many aren't aware of is just how many of these in-your-facehints there actually were and, in some case, just how diabolically detailed they were. Most disturbing of all isthat the trail of hints stretches back as much as 25 years before the big event!

That may seem unbelievable to some - "coincidental" they will say. Butwhen we study the long term planning of this 250 year old thing we call "The New World Order",we find that 10, 30 or even 50 year plans, within the multi-century Grand Plan, are quite common. You see, unlike the self-obsessed,live-for-the-day little political servants of The New World Order; the inner-core planners play the long game for the sakeof their Tribe's posterity or, for the deluded but idealistic ones, for the sake of some great Global civilization of thefuture.

With this reality in mind, some of the older hints of the 9/11 attacks begin to take on the appearance of a deliberate ritualistic mockery over what is to come.Even if some of these messages can be dismissed as "coincidental"; the sheer amount of the "coincidences",coupled with the fact that we KNOW that the official story of 9/11 is a Globalist-Zionist monster-lie, proves that many predictivesigns (some of them outrageous in scope) were indeed deliberately placed in front of our collective faces. Evidently,these Satanic psychos derive some perverse kick out of this ghoulish game of demonic deceit.

Noting that the Zionist-Globalist influence in the world of Comic Books, HollywoodFilms, TV Shows, Advertising, Video Games, and Music is immense - let us now review, in reverse chronological order, a comprehensivecollection of the hints and 'predictive programming' of the pivotal event which has since altered the course of world historylike no other event since Pearl Harbor. 

"I Kinda Like It When a Lotta People Die" unreleased audio

"I Kinda Like It When a Lotta People Die" unreleased audio

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6BtEM1w19Q

By: George Carlin -
Date: 2016-09-11

George Carlin - "I Kinda Like It When a Lotta People Die" unreleased footage shot on the two days prior to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The footage remained unreleased until now due to the coincidental timing of the stand-up routine and the terrorist attacks.

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The article is reproduced in accordance with Section 107 of title 17 of the Copyright Law of the United States relating to fair-use and is for the purposes of criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.

Once too raw, a George Carlin special resurfaces

Once too raw, a George Carlin special resurfaces

http://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/2016/09/04/once-too-raw-carlin-special-resurfaces/PjkoqNmm5yxJmzt3P0MJOP/story.html

By: Jason Zinoman
Date: 2016-09-04

NEW YORK — On Sept. 10, 2001, George Carlin, the greatest political comic in history if measured only by stand-up specials, recorded a bracing hour of social commentary for his new HBO special. The next day, he shelved it.

It wasn’t only the title, “I Kinda Like It When a Lotta People Die,” that seemed in bad taste after nearly 3,000 people were killed a day later in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Carlin also told a joke about a fart so potent it blew up an airplane. “You know who gets blamed? Osama bin Laden,” Carlin joked. “The FBI is looking for explosives. They should be looking for minute traces of rice and bok choy.”

If timing is everything, Carlin had nothing.

Fifteen years later, his lost special is finally being released. (It is on Sirius XM, though it will be for sale as a download or DVD on Sept. 16, at Amazon and iTunes, among other outlets.) It will be a revelation for comedy fans nostalgic for the days when you could expect a series of articulate salvos from Carlin about every two years. This special is not bonus track material. It’s a polished hour of new jokes with a virtuosic centerpiece, an intricate and elusive nearly 10-minute story that inspired its title, firmly in the tradition of Carlin’s comedy but also a fascinating departure.

A long-shelved recording of a George Carlin routine — taped Sept. 10, 2001 — will soon be released. In it, he makes a joke about Osama bin Laden being blamed for the downing of an airplane.

Pentagon Has No Idea Where Hundreds of Thousands of Guns Went in Iraq and Afghanistan

Pentagon Has No Idea Where Hundreds of Thousands of Guns Went in Iraq and Afghanistan

Over half of 1.4 million guns U.S. shipped into Iraq and Afghanistan after 9/11 are unaccounted for in DoD's own records, watchdog discovers

http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/08/25/pentagon-has-no-idea-where-hundreds-thousands-guns-went-iraq-and-afghanistan

By: Nika Knight
Date: 2016-08-25

The U.S. government has shipped over 1.4 million guns to Iraq and Afghanistan since 9/11, according a new analysis by the U.K.-based watchdog Action on Armed Violence (AOAV), but the Pentagon is only able to account for fewer than half of them.

AOAV released its analysis of publicly available data on U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) contracts on Wednesday, and added that when requested to provide its own accounting for the small arms provided to the war-torn nations, "the DoD data shows that over 700,000 small arms were sent from the U.S. to Iraq and Afghanistan within these periods. However, this amount only accounts for 48 percent of the total small arms supplied by the U.S. government that can be found in open source government reports."

"What to do?" writes C.J. Chivers in the New York Times. "If past is precedent, given enough time one of the United States' solutions will be, once again, to ship in more guns." (Photo: Rahmat Gul/Associated Press)

Provoking Nuclear War by Media

Provoking Nuclear War by Media

http://www.globalresearch.ca/provoking-nuclear-war-by-media/5542176

By: John Pilger
Date: 2016-08-23

The exoneration of a man accused of the worst of crimes, genocide, made no headlines. Neither the BBC nor CNN covered it. The Guardian allowed a brief commentary. Such a rare official admission was buried or suppressed, understandably. It would explain too much about how the rulers of the world rule.

The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague has quietly cleared the late Serbian president, Slobodan Milosevic, of war crimes committed during the 1992-95 Bosnian war, including the massacre at Srebrenica.

Far from conspiring with the convicted Bosnian-Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, Milosevic actually “condemned ethnic cleansing”, opposed Karadzic and tried to stop the war that dismembered Yugoslavia. Buried near the end of a 2,590- page judgement on Karadzic last February, this truth further demolishes the propaganda that justified Nato’s illegal onslaught on Serbia in 1999.

Drones in the Sky: Operating the Mechanized Kill Machine

Drones in the Sky: Operating the Mechanized Kill Machine

http://www.globalresearch.ca/drones-in-the-sky-operating-the-mechanized-kill-machine/5541239

By: Dr. Binoy Kampmark
Date: 2016-08-16

Never tell a soldier that he does not know the cost of war. Lt. Gen. Frank Benson (Alan Rickman), Eye in the Sky(2015)

All it takes is a boffin on the trigger, then goodnight all.  That is the gist of Horace Rumpole’s words in John Mortimer’s legal creation by that name – the ever direct barrister who finds himself acting in a court martial in Germany on behalf of a British soldier, member of the famed Seraphs.

Such is the ethics of modern affair: the lethal trigger instead of the bloody sword; the weapon fired at a safe distance against a human opponent with little if no chance to retaliate in fair play.  Gone are the days of empty headed light brigades charging foolishly yet breathtakingly against strong positions.

Mortimer’s reflection was penned some decades ago, primarily on the issue of potential nuclear extinction. The button of contemplation (watch those nuclear keys!), the bomb, the nuclear deterrent, had done away with the traditional players, who were essentially frustrated thespians uniformed for life’s great show.

From triggers to sticks, the emergence of the drone system, remote, piloted warfare, has further given cause to the soldier actor, where simulation has greater significance than what is being simulated.  What matters now is that the computer addled actor is a true killer, a veritable Xbox-trained murderer.  The soldier in that setting becomes a games operator framed by a world of piloted projections. Never mind that these simulations somehow disperse themselves into the effulgent destruction of a target, in all its carnage.