Link: http://www.haaretz.com/blogs/west-of-eden/j-street-s-ben-ami-u-s-congressmen-live-in-fear-of-pro-israeli-intimidation-1.430842

Many American senators and congressmen “keep quiet” and refrain from criticizing Israeli policies because they “live in fear” and are “intimidated” by pro-Israeli groups such as the Emergency Committee for Israel (ECI), according to J Street founder and President Jeremy Ben-Ami.

Link: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/05/16-11

A friend who works in Congress and actually reads the Congressional Record suggested that a collection of excerpted falsehoods by Republicans on the floor of the House of Representatives and Senate would make compelling evidence for the truth of economist Albert Hirschman’s book, The Rhetoric of Reaction (1991).

Link: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/05/16-12

An Executive order seeks to punish U.S. citizens even for "indirectly" obstructing dictatorial rule in Yemen. Hadi became President as part of an “election” in which he was the only candidate (that little fact did not prevent Hillary Clinton from congratulating Yemen “on today’s successful presidential election” (successful because the U.S. liked the undemocratic outcome)).

Link: http://wsws.org/articles/2012/may2012/pers-m16.shtml

With a display of cynicism that is hard to top, the Obama reelection campaign on Monday launched a public attack on Republican Mitt Romney’s role as a job-destroying asset stripper at Bain Capital, the same day that Obama raised more than $2 million from equally rapacious private equity sharks at a reception in New York City.

Link: http://12160.info/forum/topics/wikileaks-obama-paid-jesse-jackson-six-figures-to-keep-his-mouth?xg_source=activity

According to Wikileaks' hacking of Stratfor Intelligence, the Reverend Jesse Jackson had received a handsome six figure "donation" to, as quoted by WND, "keep his mouth shut".

Link: http://articles.philly.com/2012-05-15/news/31711956_1_president-obama-mitt-romney-julia

The Obama brain trust in Chicago recently rolled out its new campaign slogan: “Forward.” If the president’s most extreme detractors had wanted to give him a rallying cry more freighted with leftist baggage, they could not have done better.

Link: http://www.alternet.org/news/155431/don%27t_look_now_--_banks_are_still_ruining_america%3A_6_harsh_lessons_from_the_jp_morgan_fiasco/

JP Morgan Chase is part of an entwined system of too-big-to-fail institutions that are ripping us off.

Link: http://www.activistpost.com/2012/05/living-in-banksters-paradise-part-1-of.html

As Coolio said, we spend our lives living in a gangsta’s paradise. What he failed to mention is that throughout history the most sinister and dangerous gangsters are banksters. There is no shortage of historical quotes to prove this point.

Link: http://www.policyshop.net/home/2012/5/14/jpm-chase-chairman-jamie-dimon-the-whale-man-and-glass-steag.html

It was fitting that while President Obama and his Hollywood apostles broke fundraising records at a sumptuous $40,000 per plate dinner at George Clooney’s place, word of JPM Chase’s ‘mistake’ rippled through the news. Not long ago, Dimon’s name was batted about to become Treasury Secretary. But as lines are drawn and pundits take sides in the Jamie Dimon ego deflation saga – or, as I see it - why big banks should be made smaller and then, broken up into commercial vs. speculative components ala Glass Steagall – it’s important to look beyond the size of the $2 billion dollar (and counting) beached whale of a trading loss.

Link: http://lonestarwatchdog.blogspot.com/2012/05/will-dhs-inside-source-obama-may-try.html

Everything points to some major and spectacular event getting ready to happen. The President is in desperation mode to hold onto power. This is nothing new; false flag operations have been practiced in the past by other dictators as a way to gain the people’s confidence and to clamp down on the population.

Link: http://zeenews.india.com/news/world/tit-for-tat-obama-won-t-attend-russia-summit_774797.html

Moscow: US President Barack Obama will not attend major annual summit of Asia-Pacific nations in Vladivostok in September, reports said on Friday. The White House has not confirmed the reports doing rounds in the Russian media. The reports came after Russia President Vladimir Putin decided to skip a planned high-profile visit to the United States next week by saying he needs to finish setting up his new government.

Link: http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2012/05/12/bush-convicted-of-war-crimes-in-absentia/

Kuala Lumpur — It’s official; George W Bush is a war criminal. In what is the first ever conviction of its kind anywhere in the world, the former US President and seven key members of his administration were yesterday (Fri) found guilty of war crimes. Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and their legal advisers Alberto Gonzales, David Addington, William Haynes, Jay Bybee and John Yoo were tried in absentia in Malaysia. The trial held in Kuala Lumpur heard harrowing witness accounts from victims of torture who suffered at the hands of US soldiers and contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Link: http://www.thenation.com/blog/167840/scott-walker-promised-500k-donor-he-would-divide-and-conquer-unions

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has long denied that he has a secret strategy to destroy public-sector unions as part of a long-term plan to make Wisconsin a “right-to-work” state where unions are dramatically weakened.

Link: http://andrewgavinmarshall.com/2012/05/10/meet-canadas-ruling-oligarchy-parasites-a-plenty/

As hundreds of thousands of students in the province of Québec continue to strike into their 13th month against tuition increases, as the provincial government continues to employ legal repression and state violence against the youth, as Canadian families are over $100,000 in debt, as a looming housing crisis begins to rear its ugly head, as youth unemployment increases, student debt explodes, jobs vanish, poverty deepens, and oppression increases, it’s time to meet those responsible, those who are doing better than ever, those who are making record profits, sitting comfortably in their estates which are larger than the entire island of Manhattan, who travel by helicopter and private jet, who co-mingle with the Rockefellers, Rothschilds, Spanish royalty, presidents and prime ministers at home and abroad: meet Canada’s ruling oligarchy.

Link: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/05/10-9

What is the defining image in the Washington Post’s story on Mitt Romney, as a student at the Cranbrook School, bullying a gay teen-age boy? Maybe it’s Romney, the eighteen-year-old son of a governor, spotting the student, John Lauber, with, as a classmate remembered, “bleached-blond hair that draped over one eye,” and saying, “He can’t look like that. That’s wrong. Just look at him!” Or Romney, a few days later, “marching out of his own room ahead of a prep school posse shouting about their plan to cut Lauber’s hair.” Or the Post’s description of the attack itself: They came upon Lauber, tackled him and pinned him to the ground. As Lauber, his eyes filling with tears, screamed for help, Romney repeatedly clipped his hair with a pair of scissors.

Link: http://www.alternet.org/news/155379/how_the_corporate_right_hijacked_america%27s_courts_to_enrich_the_top_1_percent/

America's political-economy is caught in a vicious cycle, with concentrated wealth at the top leading to outsized political power. For a generation, America's political-economy has been gripped in a vicious cycle. Those at the top of the economic pile have taken an ever-growing share of the nation's income, and then leveraged that haul into ever-greater political power, which they have in turn used to rewrite the rules of “the market” in their favor. Wash, rinse and repeat.

Link: http://thinkprogress.org/security/2012/05/10/481764/romney-military-spending-2-trillion/?mobile=nc

Mitt Romney is campaigning for president on fiscal responsibility. “The mission to restore America begins with getting our fiscal house in order,” he says. At the same time, the presumptive GOP nominee says he wants to increase military spending. His campaign website claims that a President Romney will peg the Pentagon’s budget to Gross Domestic Product “at a floor of 4 percent of GDP.” What will that mean in dollars? CNNMoney reports that under Romney’s plan, “the additional spending really piles up in future years”:

Link: http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/budget/226703-house-votes-to-replace-pentagon-cuts-mandated-by-debt-deal

The House voted Thursday to override steep cuts to the Pentagon’s budget mandated by last summer's debt deal and replace them with spending reductions to food stamps and other mandatory social programs.

Link: http://wideawakenewsdata.yolasite.com/ronpaulterrifiestheredandblueteam.php

GOP presidential contender Ron Paul has shocked mainstream media outlets and the GOP with some upset victories in recent weeks. Ron Paul supporters have managed to win a majority of delegates in states like Nevada, Maine, Iowa, Louisiana, and Massachusetts at district caucuses. In several of those states, the delegates are not bound by the popular vote, which means they can vote for Ron Paul at the convention, regardless of who emerged victoriously at the primary caucuses.

Link: http://www.geopoliticalmonitor.com/explaining-norwegian-euroskepticism-4674/

Shortly after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Sweden and Finland decided to join the European Union. However, their Scandinavian counterpart, Norway, decided against it. This decision is indicative of a euro-scepticism grounded in a unique history that will keep Norway independent, says Saadna Sheriffdeen of Geopoliticalmonitor.com.

Link: http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/05/06/why-can-t-obama-bring-wall-street-to-justice.html

Despite his populist posturing, the president has failed to pin a single top finance exec on criminal charges since the economic collapse. Are the banks too big to jail—or is Washington’s revolving door at to blame? Peter J. Boyer and Peter Schweizer investigate:

Link: http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=107687

The voting out of conservative governments in France and Greece this weekend heralds the end of harsh European austerity programmes and ushers in an era of new economic, investment, and social policies aimed at restoring growth and employment across the continent.

Link: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-05-06/news/ct-oped-0506-chapman-20120506_1_anti-war-candidate-air-war-barack-obama

Ninety-six years ago, when President Woodrow Wilson ran for re-election, two notable things happened: 1) His campaign used the slogan "He kept us out of war," and 2) he won. It has been a long time since any president could seek a second term while making that boast.

Link: http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2012/05/04/disinformation-on-every-front/

Some readers have come to the erroneous conclusion that the Matrix consists of Republican Party disinformation as if there is no disinformation from the left. Others think that propaganda is the business of Obama and the Democrats. In fact, propaganda from the right, the left and the middle are all part of the disinformation fed to americans.

Link: http://www.alternet.org/world/155212/mitt_romney%27s_dangerous_foreign_policy_team%3A_nostalgic_for_bush%2C_hellbent_on_war_with_iran/

It's hard to watch the Romney campaign with a straight face. Their latest crackup has one Romney adviser, John Lehman, warning of the “Soviet threat," and another, Pierre Prosper, complaining that the administration hasn't done enough to stand with Czechoslovakia. And those comments were hardly the first time we've heard throwbacks to the Cold War in this campaign. But don't laugh too hard—it might distract from the dangerous and discredited worldview Romney's foreign policy team is pushing.

Link: http://www.infowars.com/youtube-sends-hundreds-of-ron-paul-videos-to-memory-hole/

Google property YouTube has closed down a popular Ron Paul channel after “multiple third-party notifications of copyright infringement,” most notably establishment media tool CNBC. The message here is: you will love war and death just as Romney the war monger does, and you won't criticize the privately owned Federal Reserve banking system as Ron Paul does. The last three presidential elections were totally rigged. Romney will be the next pre selected puppet. Never ending war and never ending servitude to the banks will continue.

Link: http://www.alternet.org/story/155178/gop_suicide%3A_why_can%27t_republicans_stop_alienating_women%2C_young_people_and_hispanics/

Republicans can't stop pissing off the three demographic groups whose electoral impact is growing fastest. What are the three demographic groups whose electoral impact is growing fastest? Hispanics, women and young people. Who are Republicans pissing off the most? Latinos, women, and young people.

Link: http://www.juancole.com/2012/04/rubio-calls-for-war-on-iran-syria-as-israeli-army-rejects-it.html

GOP Vice-Presidential hopeful Marco Rubio on Wednesday called for unilateral US military action against Syria and Iran and blamed President Barack Obama for declining to send troops to Syria in the absence of a UN Security Council resolution authorizing the use of force. He also said that in addition to sanctioning Iran, “We should also be preparing our allies, and the world, for the reality that unfortunately, if all else fails, preventing a nuclear Iran may, tragically, require a military solution.”

Link: http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/ND24Ae01.html

China has beefed up its naval might around the Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, threatening a clash as the United States and Philippines hold joint military exercises in the vicinity of the potentially energy rich disputed maritime territory.

Link: http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2012/04/23/how-liberty-was-lost/

“From the beginning,” answer some. English colonists, themselves under the thumb of a king, exterminated American Indians and stole their lands, as did late 18th and 19th century Americans. Over the course of three centuries the native inhabitants of

Link: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article31153.htm

His years at Bain represent everything you hate about capitalism. It was the early 1990s, and the 750 men and women at Georgetown Steel were pumping out wire rods at peak performance. They had an abiding trust in management's ability to run a smart company. That allegiance was rewarded with fat profit-sharing checks. In the basement-wage economy of Georgetown, South Carolina, Sanderson and his co-workers were blue-collar aristocracy.

Link: http://blog.alexanderhiggins.com/2012/04/21/walmart-covered-millions-bribes-mexico-125321/

Walmart covered up millions of dollars in bribes paid out year after year to officials all over Mexico in order to obtain and expedite building its stores. An investigation has revealed evidence that Walmart has paid out over $24 million dollars in bribes to officials all over Mexico in order to obtain and expedite building of the companies stores.

Link: http://blog.alexanderhiggins.com/2012/04/18/romney-felony-investigation-violating-voting-laws-122691/

Waukesha County District Attorney Brad Schimel today opened an investigation into the Romney Campaign felony violation of Wisconsin vote laws.

Link: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/04/15/romney-to-welfare-mothers-you-need-to-go-to-work/

Republicans have spent the last week attacking President Barack Obama after a Democratic CNN contributor said that Ann Romney, who is the mother of five, had “never worked,” but it turns out that presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney has also said mothers on welfare “need to go to work.”

Link: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/04/14/gop-rep-i-have-little-tolerance-for-those-with-high-student-loans/

If someone is looking for sympathy for their high student loans, Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) would not be among those providing any support. According to audio obtained by Think Progress, the congresswoman appeared on G. Gordon Libby show Friday afternoon, saying she “never borrowed a dime of money” during her time in college before lashing out at those burdened with heavy loans.

Link: http://current.com/community/93741229_club-obama-president-compromised-by-secret-service-orgy-with-hookers-in-cartagena.htm

There was a time when the Secret Service represented the best of the best, dependable men beyond reproach and most importantly, they were incorruptible. They were those chaps who would do anything in order to keep their country safe. In short, they were America’s finest. Five military members accused of misconduct in Secret Service scandal

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPhxLaq8aLQ

Rigged elections, looting the country, un-regulated oil company profits, endless wars based on endless lies...

Link: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article31061.htm

The usual suspects are at it again — doing their damnedest to escalate a war they have no intention of either fighting in or paying for themselves, and to involve you in it. US Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Joe Lieberman (of the “Connecticut for Lieberman” Party, in which the ordering of names conveys his boundless sense of personal entitlement) visited Turkey this week for a photo opp with officers of the “Free Syrian Army” and to grandstand for further US intervention in Syria’s year-long “civil” war.

Link: http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2012/04/12/washington-leads-world-into-lawlessness/

The US government pretends to live under the rule of law, to respect human rights, and to provide freedom and democracy to citizens. Washington’s pretense and the stark reality are diametrically opposed.

Link: http://wsws.org/articles/2012/apr2012/syri-a11.shtml

With Tuesday's passing of the deadline under a UN peace plan for the withdrawal of Syrian army troops from major population centers, Washington and its allies have escalated their threats of intervention in the Middle Eastern country.