Link: http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_5130.shtml

A virologist who has been researching the A/H1N1 virus has concluded after months of research that the ”novel” influenza was re-assorted in a laboratory from eight genes consisting of avian, swine and human type influenza A virus. The scientist does not believe, based on intensive laboratory research of the A/H1N1 virus, that its sudden appearance in Mexico this past spring was a natural occurrence. Global Research News Show: SWINE FLU'S VACCINE'S DEVASTATING INGREDIENT - SQUALENE Video: Dr. Laibow explains how about 25% of troops deployed to the Gulf War were injected with Vaccine A, which led to Gulf War syndrome - a lethal attack on the immune system on the body. The ingredient of Vaccine A that triggered this syndrome is called squalene. According to Dr. Laibow, the amount of squalene present in the swine flu vaccine is over 1,000,000 times that of Vaccine A. If you receive this vaccine she states the consequences would be: swollen and immobile joints, plummeting energy level, headaches, unsoothable rashes , fevers, weakness, gastrointestinal problems (vomit, diarrhea, cramps), memory loss, loss of intelligence, and dementia. In short, swine flu vaccine will cause an invasion of the body by its own immune system.

Link: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article6836939.ece

Japan’s new Defence Minister is a strong opponent of the country’s military support for the US, making it more likely than ever that the Government of Yukio Hatoyama will withdraw its naval ships from the war in Afghanistan early next year. Mr Hatoyama was formally elected Prime Minister by the Diet, days after his Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) won a crushing election victory on a platform of bureaucratic reform, welfare spending and a less deferential relationship with the United States.

Link: http://original.antiwar.com/lobe/2009/09/15/obama-confronts-democratic-skepticism-about-afghanistan/

Growing skepticism among key Democratic lawmakers about the U.S. commitment to the war in Afghanistan is certain to pose one of the most difficult political challenges faced by President Barack Obama in his first year in office. AntiWar: CNN Poll: Afghan War’s Popularity Continues to Fall: 58% Now Opposed to Continued War.

Link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/sep/16/preparations-new-afghanistan-vote-election

Second round will take place in five weeks if Hamid Karzai's share of vote in disputed presidential election drops below 50%. Afghan election officials have begun logistical preparations for a second round of voting to determine the controversial presidential election marred by allegations of large-scale rigging in favour of Hamid Karzai, it emerged today. The second round will take place in five weeks only if Karzai's share of the vote – which currently stands at 54% – falls to less than 50%. With 10% of ballots currently under scrutiny, that scenario appears increasingly likely.

Link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/6193292/UN-chief-in-Afghanistan-should-be-sacked-over-failure-to-tackle-vote-rigging.html

Kai Eide, the head of the United Nations mission in Afghanistan, should be sacked for failing to stand up to massive vote rigging in the presidential election, a senior UN source has alleged. The mission has effectively become complicit in fraud and deceit in the poll, the source claimed, and is now ignoring the Afghan people. The deeply critical attack on Kai Eide, head of the Afghanistan mission (Unama), came as UN diplomats appeared bitterly divided how to respond to an election mired in fraud. Eide is a corrupt public servant and a cynic. Ukeavisen/Ledelse: Eide må bort. (Eide has got to go.) Al Jazeera: EU: Afghan vote fraud widespread.

Link: http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/sep2009/tiff-s16.shtml

A WSWS reporter noted that the decision to single out Tel Aviv for celebration seemed especially provocative in light of the massacre in Gaza, an event that horrified public opinion. “To which different proportions of insularity, political indifference and more mercenary motives do you attribute the film festival’s decision?”

Link: http://walt.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2009/09/10/theyre_baaaaack

Well, I hate to say I told you so, but ... Right on cue, Wednesday's Wall Street Journal had an op-ed from former Senators Dan Coats and Chuck Robb and retired Air Force general Chuck Wald, recommending that Obama "begin preparations for the use of military options" against Iran's nuclear facilities. CommonDreams: Iran War Drums Begin Beating in Washington. Bloomberg: Bipartisan Panel Tells Obama to Ready Iran Strike. NYT: Clinton Lays Out Iran Demands.

Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=106309&sectionid=351020704

"How can the secretary of state say Venezuela is involved in an arms race when it is her country installing seven military bases [in Colombia]?" Maduro said Tuesday.

Link: http://rebelreports.com/post/187866521/cheney-and-rumsfelds-close-friend-throws-out-suit

Should Judge Laurence Silberman have recused himself from a case involving alleged torture for which his buddies were ultimately responsible? On September 11, the US appeals court for the District of Columbia announced in a 2-1 decision that it was throwing out a lawsuit against CACI International and L-3 Communications Titan unit, which are being sued by Iraqi civilians for their alleged role in the torture and abuse at the Abu Ghraib prison. The companies provided interrogators at the prison at the height of the abuses there. The suit alleges that employees of the companies conspired with U.S. Army reservist Charles Graner, who was convicted of prisoner abuse on January 14, 2005 and is currently serving 10 years at Fort Leavenworth, and others to torture prisoners at Abu Ghraib. Several of the plaintiffs are Iraqis whose torture was depicted in graphic photos revealed over the past several years.

Link: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_PATRIOT_ACT?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

As a presidential candidate, Barack Obama said he would take a close look at the law, based on his past expertise in constitutional law. Back in May, President Obama said legal institutions must be updated to deal with the threat of terrorism, but in a way that preserves the rule of law and accountability. 180 degrees later: Obama "supports" giving indiscriminate, dictatorial power to himself.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKMRgnXUwd8

A United Nations report on Israel's war on Gaza says war crimes were committed by both sides in the conflict. But most of the criticism was directed at Israel's conduct. Richard Goldstone, the judge leading the investigation, said Israel had used excessive force and deliberately targeted Palestinian civilians. On behalf of the UN's Human Rights Council, the investigators collected evidence, testimonies and even satellite imagery to get an idea of whether Israel or Palestinian factions were in breach of international humanitarian law. SMH: Israel and Hamas must heed UN report: At the end of his 574-page report, Justice Goldstone made the unsurprising observation that a prolonged situation of impunity has created a justice crisis in Gaza that warrants action. Yet instead of introspection, Israel has reacted with a blaze of irrational fury. Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Gabriela Shalev, said the UN report ''was conceived in sin''. WYFUS: Israel says it has investigated Israel's war crimes and found Israel innocent. No need for UN inquiry!

Link: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1114920.html

[DeesIllustration.com] Israel began fighting the diplomatic battle yesterday to prevent the Goldstone Commission report on Israel's Cast Lead Operation in the Gaza Strip from being brought before the United Nations Security Council and from there to the International Criminal Court in The Hague, where charges could be brought against Israeli officials involved in the military campaign. The report, compiled by a commission headed by former war crimes prosecutor Richard Goldstone, accuses both Israel and the Palestinians of actions amounting to war crimes during the December 27 to January 18 battle in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. BBC: Israel "committed actions amounting to war crimes, and possibly crimes against humanity". OpinioJuris: Goldstone Commission Report Released: The UN Fact-Finding Mission led by Justice Richard Goldstone on Tuesday released its long-awaited report on the Gaza conflict, in which it concluded there is evidence indicating serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law were committed by Israel during the Gaza conflict, and that Israel committed actions amounting to war crimes, and possibly crimes against humanity. The report also concludes there is also evidence that Palestinian armed groups committed war crimes, as well as possibly crimes against humanity, in their repeated launching of rockets and mortars into Southern Israel. You can find all 574 pages of it HERE (.pdf). The Independent: UN says Israel should face war-crimes trial over Gaza.

Link: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/09/16/2687558.htm?section=justin

A pet cat which went missing in Tasmania and turned up in outback Queensland has been reunited with its owners in the Derwent Valley. The long-haired Himalayan named Clyde disappeared from home when he was just 12-months-old. He was eventually found in Cloncurry in north-west Queensland, 3,800 kilometres away. Earlier this year, Clyde walked into the local hospital and followed a nurse home.

Link: http://www.forbes.com/2009/09/15/europe-richest-region-markets-economy-assets.html

U.S. wealth, measured in assets under management, has fallen farther than its transatlantic cousin's. As market participants reflect on the anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers, so emerges the sobering consequence of the market crash that followed: North America's wealth has now fallen the most out of any other region in the world, allowing Europe to step up to the plate as the world's richest continent. North America, defined as the United States and Canada, had $29.3 trillion in assets under management in 2008, while Europe had $32.7 trillion, according to a survey by the Boston Consulting Group.

Link: http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,648925,00.html

The recent bombing of two tanker trucks in an attack ordered by a German military colonel has led to major international criticism of the Bundeswehr. The incident has given a black eye to a country whose politicians have never been shy of telling others what's best in Afghanistan.

Link: http://www.redress.cc:80/palestine/slittlewood20090916

“The Israel Project”, a US media advocacy group, has produced a revised training manual to help the worldwide Zionist movement win the propaganda war, keep their ill-gotten territorial gains and persuade international audiences to accept that their crimes are necessary and conform to “shared values” between Israel and the civilized West. It’s a clever document. The manual teaches how to justify the slaughter, the ethnic cleansing, the land-grabbing, the cruelty and the blatant disregard for international law and UN resolutions, and make it all smell sweeter with a liberal squirt of the aerosol of persuasive language. It is designed to hoodwink us ignorant and gullible Americans and Europeans into believing that we actually share values with the racist regime in Israel and that its abominable behaviour is therefore deserving of our support.