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Decline and Fall - Snoop Daddy ECHELON, Real Unemployment, Syria
Michael Collins
A chronicle of the spectacular incompetence of those who purport to lead us
WASHINGTON - Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor, revealed a government process of spying on citizens and organizations, not information about the subjects of cyber spying. If not illegal, it is a process that should be illegal. The real term for what Snowden did is whistleblowing: acting to serve the public by revealing important information kept secret by the government.
Snowden was indicted for his good work.
Last week we found out that President Obama has been lying about providing lethal assistance to the terrorist-infested Syrian rebels. The public has a right to an accurate version of United States foreign policy.
Obama and the in-the-know members of his administration and Congress were not indicted.
We live in a lawless nation where enforcement of the law is the exclusive province of those in charge.
Washington v. Edward Snowden Update
by Stephen Lendman
Events are fast-moving. On June 23, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region's (HKSAR) press release said:
"Mr Edward Snowden left Hong Kong today (June 23) on his own accord for a third country through a lawful and normal channel."
"The US Government earlier on made a request to the HKSAR Government for the issue of a provisional warrant of arrest against Mr Snowden."
"Since the documents provided by the US Government did not fully comply with the legal requirements under Hong Kong law, the HKSAR Government has requested the US Government to provide additional information so that the Department of Justice could consider whether the US Government's request can meet the relevant legal conditions."
Presidential Rule by Deception: Obama, the Master Con-man
James Petras
Introduction
In an electoral system, run by and for a corporate oligarchy, deception and demagoguery are essential elements - entertaining the people while working for the wealthy.
Every US President has engaged, in one fashion or another, in ‘play acting’ to secure popular approval, neutralize hostility and distract voters from the reactionary substance of their foreign and domestic policies.
Every substantive policy is accompanied by a ‘down home’ folksy message to win public approval. This happened with President ‘Jimmy’ Carter’s revival of large-scale proxy wars in Afghanistan in the post-Viet Nam War period; Ronald Reagan’s genocidal wars in Central America, George Bush Sr.’s savaging of Iraq in the First Gulf War; ‘Bill’ Clinton’s decimation of social welfare in the US while bombing civilians in Yugoslavia and deregulating Wall Street; George Bush Jr.’s invasion and partition of Iraq and Afghanistan, the attempted coup in Venezuela and massive tax cuts for the rich; and Barack Obama’s staggering bailout of the biggest Wall Street speculators, unprecedented launching of five consecutive wars, and arrest and deportation of millions of immigrant workers. Each President has elaborated a style in order to ingratiate himself with the public while pursuing his reactionary agenda.
Enemies of Syria Plan Escalated Aggression
by Stephen Lendman
So-called "Friends of Syria" are their worst enemies. They're a rogue's gallery of scoundrels. They're complicit with Washington's imperium. They violate core international law principles.
They're no friends of peace, stability and freedom. Umbrella group members America, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, UAE, and Qatar met in Doha.
They agreed on "secret" escalating measures. They hope to tip the military balance. They're desperate to counter Assad's impressive victories. He's routing insurgents convincingly. They're no match against Syria's military strength.
Nepal: The View From The Top Is Not Pretty
By: Sufyan bin Uzayr
With the exception of Mt. Everest, Nepal has very little that the mainstream media finds newsworthy. You cannot really blame the Western media though -- this small land-locked country of South Asia does not get much coverage in regional Asian press either. Naturally, anything that is hidden from the eye tends to acquire a sense of enigma over a period of time, and the Nepalese nation has done just that. Enigmatic or not, but such seclusion comes at a price: most of the time, progress tends to slow down, and in this article, I shall attempt to analyze the state of Nepal and its current situation.
Edward Snowden Charged Under the Espionage Act
by Stephen Lendman
On June 21, Obama's Justice Department charged Snowden with espionage. It did so ruthlessly, irresponsibly and unconstitutionally. It wrongfully accused him of violating 1917 Espionage Act provisions.
It was enacted during WW I. It's long ago outdated. It has no current relevance. It belongs in history's dustbin.
It was about interfering with military operations, supporting enemies, promoting insubordination in the ranks, or challenging military recruitment.
At stake are fundamental First Amendment rights. Without them all others are at risk. In Texas v. Johnson, Supreme Court Justice William Brennan wrote the majority opinion, saying: "(I)f there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea offensive or disagreeable."
Obama: The Worst of Nixon/Bush II Writ Large
by Stephen Lendman
Obama's a war criminal multiple times over. He bears full responsibility for genocidal crimes.
In a May London Guardian interview, Cornel West said:
"We elected a black president and that means we are less racist now than we used to be. That's beautiful."
"But when you look at the prison industrial complex and the new Jim Crow: levels of massive unemployment and the decrepit unemployment system, indecent housing: white supremacy is still operating in the US, even with a brilliant black face in a high place called the White House."
Obama's "tied to Wall Street. And at this point he is a war criminal. You can't meet every Tuesday with a killer list and continually have drones drop bombs."
"You can do that once or twice and say: 'I shouldn't have done that, I've got to stop.' But when you do it month in, month out, year in, year out - that's a pattern of behavior."
"I think there is a chance of a snowball in hell that he will ever be tried, but I think he should be tried and I said the same about George Bush."
America in Afghanistan: Warriors in Search of Peace Talks
Mahboob A. Khawaja, PhD.
“…war is not accessible through the understanding, rationally, intellectually, by watching a film or by reading a book. To "know" war, you have to experience it, live it, feel it in your gut the anxiety, fear, frustration, boredom, hopelessness, despair, anger, rage, etc. In truth, warriors exist in a world totally incomprehensible to those who have never had the misfortune of experiencing the horrors of the battlefield.” (Professor Camillo "Mac" Bica, School of Visual Arts, New York City and an activist of Peace and Justice (“Atrocity and War”, OpenedNews, 4/28/2010)
Wars are planned and executed by sadistic and cruel minds - the characters which cultivate fear and hatred by the mankind, certainly not by the rational people exercising human intellect, foresight, dignity and accountability in global affairs. Most could best be described as human beings equipped with monstrous ego and divided consciousness pursuing favorite perversion like the historical Russian Ivan the Terrible, who specialized in torture and killings of innocent people for fun and enjoyment. If you were to ask for the reason why did American invade Afghanistan some 12 years ago? American moral and intellectually bankruptcy would fail to reason the unreason. George W. Bush posted a 48 hrs ultimatum to the then Taliban led Government of Afghanistan to hand-over Osama bin Laden, the accused master mind of the 9/11 attacks on America. The Taliban led Afghan Government asked for proof of the accusations. America had none except theories and frustrated words. Hurriedly, American troops supported by Britain and other hired nations landed there to occupy the land of the Afghan people. NATO was instantly transformed to take up a new role but ill-defined war against Afghanistan.
Triple Crisis Raises Threshold for Global War
by Jeffrey Steinberg
June 16—The convergence of three global crises has placed the world on the very edge of a potential war of extinction. While no one—not even the most deranged genocidalists within the upper echelons of the Anglo- Dutch imperial system—necessarily intends to provoke global war, the situation surrounding the Syria crisis has reached the point that any one of a number of triggers could ignite the global conflagration.
This danger was reflected in the past 48 hours by a senior Israeli strategist, an advisor to the chief of staff of the Israeli Defense Forces, who commented that Israel is “caught in a Greek tragedy,” with no clear exit. He warned that Israel could be driven to carry out a military attack on Russia in the form of the threatened Israeli destruction of Russian S-300 air defense systems that have been promised to Syria, fully recognizing that this could spark a much larger confrontation. The Israeli strategist blamed especially President Obama, asserting that the U.S. had put Israel in an impossible situation, starting with the overthrow of Qaddafi in Libya.
Socialism Can Save Our Cities & Small Businesses
Philip A Farruggio
We live in a country that is so top heavy financially it borders on obscene. If we think that Charles Dickens’ novel Scrooge was powerful, imagine if he wrote today about our Scrooges. Bottom line: America needs fixing or the one percent of our population who control things will take the 99% of us down with their greed and avarice. Yes kiddies, the time has come for some sort of Socialism to save our economy and our citizenry. Let’s get one thing out of the way before we begin. There are many different types of socialism. Webster’s defines it as ‘A system of social organizations in which the producers possess both political power and production and distribution means ‘. Whew! Rather than go into semantics etc. allow me to just express how things could get a lot better for the 99% of us, in a more just and fair economic system.
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