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Mission Accomplished, Says Snowden
by Stephen Lendman
On December 23, he told the Washington Post:
"For me, in terms of personal satisfaction, the mission’s already accomplished. I already won."
"As soon as the journalists were able to work, everything that I had been trying to do was validated. Because, remember, I didn’t want to change society. I wanted to give society a chance to determine if it should change itself."
"All I wanted was for the public to be able to have a say in how they are governed. That is a milestone we left a long time ago. Right now, all we are looking at are stretch goals."
Syrian Refugee Crisis results in UN's Largest Emergency Appeal
by Brian McAfee
According to the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees the number of Syrian refugees is now over 2.3 million. The UNHCR also says that within Syria there are 4.2 displaced people as a result of the civil war that has been going on between Syria's president Bashar al-Assad and primarily an Al Quada lead rebel force, with both sides allowing and engaging in attacks on civilian targets. The Kurds, who are about 9% of the Syrian population and traditionally have had a role in the Syrian government now are targeted from both al-Assad and the al-Quada like rebels.
Israel Attacks Gaza
by Stephen Lendman
It wasn't the first time. It won't be the last. It's done it numerous times before. It strikes aggressively. It does it lawlessly. It's longstanding Israeli policy.
Cast Lead and Pillar of Cloud attacks were major acts of aggression. Many other strikes were modest by comparison.
Israel lies claiming only militants are targeted in response to attacks on its territory.
Samer Issawi's Liberating Struggle
by Stephen Lendman
Thousands of political prisoners languish in Israel's gulag. It's one of the world's harshest. Detainees face torture, intimidation, humiliation, and other abuses.
Administrative ones are held indefinitely without charges or trials. Children are treated like adults.
Horrific conditions include severe overcrowding. Poor ventilation and sanitation makes things worse. Inadequate clothing is policy.
Conflict in South Sudan
by Stephen Lendman
Until July 2011, Sudan was Africa's largest country. Balkanization changed things. It's now the third largest.
South Sudan broke away. It did so by national referendum. Ordinary people were lied to. They were told independence would elevate living standards.
100 Years Is Enough: Time to Make the Fed a Public Utility
by Ellen Brown
December 23rd, 2013, marks the 100th anniversary of the Federal Reserve, warranting a review of its performance. Has it achieved the purposes for which it was designed?
The answer depends on whose purposes we are talking about. For the banks, the Fed has served quite well. For the laboring masses whose populist movement prompted it, not much has changed in a century.
Thwarting Populist Demands
The Federal Reserve Act was passed in 1913 in response to a wave of bank crises, which had hit on average every six years over a period of 80 years. The resulting economic depressions triggered a populist movement for monetary reform in the 1890s. Mary Ellen Lease, an early populist leader, said in a fiery speech that could have been written today:
100 Years of Financial Terrorism
by Stephen Lendman
December 23, 1913 will live in infamy. Three days before Christmas, House members passed the Federal Reserve Act (FSA).
On December 23, Senate members did so. President Woodrow Wilson was a tool of big money. He was JP Morgan's man in Washington. He signed FSA into law straightaway. He acted disgracefully.
So did Congress. It passed FSA in the middle of the night. Most congressional members hadn't read it.
They wouldn't have understood it anyway. It was cleverly worded to deceive them. Only its creators knew its purpose. Ellen Brown explained what happened as follows:
"In plain English, the Federal Reserve Act authorized a private central bank to create money out of nothing, lend it to the government at interest, and control the nation's money supply, expanding or contracting it at will."
Weeks before FSA was enacted, the 1913 Revenue Act became law. It imposed a federal income tax. It did so to pay bankers interest on America's money. It let taxpayers do it.
Rogue State Israel
by Stephen Lendman
Israel is no democracy. It never was. For sure it's not now. Its current government is its worst ever. It's dominated by right-wing ideologues.
Belligerence, state-sponsored terrorism, militarized occupation, racist persecution, settlement expansions, and neoliberal harshness reflect official policy.
Netanyanu's a world class thug. His coalition partners are militantly hardline. They're ideologically over the top.
They abhor peace, stability, equity and justice. Their policies reflect racist hate. They prioritize occupation harshness. They threaten regional security.
They consider Palestinians "foreigners." They call them "infiltrators." So-called peace talks assure none at all. They're a sham.
Netanyahu demands unconditional surrender. He wants Palestinians denied all rights. He has full US support.
Israeli author Eyal Megged calls Netanyahu's government "fascist." He does so for good reason.
An Obama Presidency: More of the Same - Only Worse (Part 1)
By Larry Pinkney
BlackCommentator.com Editorial Board
If the masses of people in this nation knew or had known the pertinent facts pertaining to the war mongering “we can fight the war better,” pro-apartheid Zionist, corporate Wall Street-backed, slippery tongued Barack Obama, it is doubtful they would have been so thoroughly bamboozled and hoodwinked to their own detriment and that of the world. Wall Street and the corporate media, however, have, to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars, engaged in a relentless, ruthless, and absolutely unprecedented campaign of corporate branding and marketing on behalf of Barack Obama, with the peoples of the United States as their targets.
Assuming that the corporate Wall Street elite and its concomitant opinion-forming, omission, and misinformation machinery of the U.S. corporate media successfully installs their favorite choice - Democratic Party Republicrat Barack Obama - as the first colored President of the U.S. Empire, the majority of people in the United States are in for a rude awakening in the form of increased economic austerity, internal political repression, deepened racial disharmony, external U.S. military adventurism, and an endless stream of misleading disinformation from the corporate government. The peoples of the world will face intensified imperialistic and military assault and attempts at U.S. hegemony. This time, however, the imperialism of the U.S. Empire will be conveniently spearheaded, condoned and rationalized by its newest and most potent weapon: the dangerously double-talking “Emperor” in black face - Barack Obama. Moreover, in one fell and foul swoop, the corporate / military elite of the U.S. Empire intends to utilize Barack Obama as the “messiah” (created by none other than corporate America and its corporate media) to neutralize and destroy the ongoing Black liberation struggle for justice and equality in this nation, and in people’s liberation struggles throughout the world.
Washington Abuses Indian Diplomat
by Stephen Lendman
India's New York consular official was targeted. Devyani Khobragade is Deputy Consul General. On December 12, US marshals abused her.
They arrested, handcuffed, detained, and strip-searched her multiple times. India's government had to post a $250,000 bond for her release.
She's charged with visa fraud and failing to pay her Indian maid proper wages. True or false doesn't justify treating her abusively.
Doing so compromised her diplomatic immunity. Her lawyer, Daniel Arshack, said she'll plead not guilty.
Her diplomatic status protects her from prosecution, he said. Regardless of pending charges, she deserved respect.
Under the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, she should have enjoyed full diplomatic immunity. Host countries are obligated to provide it.
It grants foreign officials free movement and travel. It requires treating them respectfully. All appropriate steps must be taken. Article 29 states:
"The person of a diplomatic agent shall be inviolable. He shall not be liable to any form of arrest or detention. The receiving State shall treat him with due respect and shall take all appropriate steps to prevent any attack on his person, freedom or dignity."
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