The New Dark Age

11 October, 2010 — Information Clearing House

In the Crosshairs of US Drones
By Kamal Hyder
Residents live under a constant fear of being hit as dozens of unmanned drones buzz the skies over North and South Waziristan. The drones frighten children and women who sometimes become the victims, especially if the intended targets are anywhere close to their homes.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article26557.htm

Welcome to a new theocracy
The Jewish Republic of Israel
By Gideon Levy
From now on, we will be living in a new, officially approved, ethnocratic, theocratic, nationalistic and racist country. Anyone who thinks it doesn’t affect him is mistaken.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article26551.htm

US Often Weighed North Korea `Nuke Option’
By CHARLES J. HANLEY and RANDY HERSCHAFT
From the 1950s Pentagon to today’s Obama administration, the United States has repeatedly pondered, planned and threatened use of nuclear weapons against North Korea, according to declassified and other U.S. government documents released in this 60th-anniversary year of the Korean War.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article26552.htm

Surprise — The Very Dark Side of U.S. History
By Peter Dale Scott and Robert Parry, Consortium News
When the United States inflicts unnecessary death and destruction, it’s viewed as a mistake or an aberration. In the following article Peter Dale Scott and Robert Parry examine the long history of these acts of brutality, a record that suggests they are neither a “mistake” nor an “aberration”
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article26550.htm

World Job Crisis is a Threat to Democracy, Says IMF Head
By Larry Elliott in Washington
The International Monetary Fund was seeking to defuse growing tensions over global currencies yesterday amid fears that the US will respond to its stubbornly high unemployment figures by slapping tariffs on Chinese goods.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article26555.htm

S&P: 60% of Countries Will Be Bankrupt Within 50 Years
By Daniel Tencer
S&P:Predicts US will have a debt of 415% of GDP by 2050 – Some sixty percent of the world’s economies will be so in debt by 2060 that their debt will be downgraded to “junk” status, effectively bankrupting the countries.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article26554.htm

Government had Been Warned about Troubles in Mortgage Servicer Industry
By Zachary A. Goldfarb
Consumer advocates and lawyers warned federal officials in recent years that the U.S. foreclosure system was designed to seize people’s homes as fast as possible, often without regard to the rights of homeowners.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article26556.htm

How Do You Take Your Tea?
With Heaping Spoonfuls of Irony, Of Course
By David Michael Green
The people who created endless disaster as far as the eye can see are now completely beside themselves in outrage that someone is spending a few dollars to clean up the mess these same folks have made by convincing America to follow their policies over the last thirty years.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article26553.htm

US Attack Kills 7 People In Pakistan:
The strike came just hours after Islamabad agreed to reopen a crucial border crossing to Afghanistan, ending a protest over the fatal shooting of two Pakistani guards by US troops.
bit.ly/cSwrxQ

Five Taliban killed in clash with forces:
Security sources told our sources that five Taliban belonging to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Swat group were killed in a clash with security forces at Totano Bandai in Swat.
paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?232359

Pakistan reopens border ending Nato convoy blockade:
Nato supply convoys began driving into Afghanistan on Sunday after Pakistan ended a 10-day border blockade imposed in protest at a US helicopter strike which killed two Pakistani soldiers.
bit.ly/dBC23O

NATO loses 150 tankers in Pakistan:
Almost 150 NATO oil tankers and supply trucks turned to ashes and at least 20 people were killed in Pakistan with 29 more containers burnt in a sixth terrorist attack on Saturday morning since the beginning of October.
news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-10/09/c_13548885.htm

Demonizing Pakistan:
Blunt US warnings to Pakistan prompted by terrorism fear:
The failed Times Square bombing in May and the recent terrorism alert for Europe fueled fears of an attack, prompting the stepped up drone attacks in Pakistan’s rugged northwest and pointed U.S. comments pressing Islamabad’s to pursue militants more aggressively.
alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N09292036.htm

Nine Afghan civilians killed by insurgent bomb: NATO:
An improvised bomb laid by insurgents killed nine civilians, including women and children, in eastern Afghanistan on Sunday, according to a NATO statement.
news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101010/wl_asia_afp/afghanistanunrestcivilians

Four Italian occupation force soldiers killed in Afghanistan attack:
Four Italian soldiers were killed and one was seriously injured in Afghanistan today when a bomb blew up their vehicle, Italian Minister of Defence Ignazio La Russa said.
bit.ly/ddDjsN

Two NATO occupation force soldiers killed in Afghan blast:
Two coalition service members were killed on Sunday when they were struck by an explosion in southern Afghanistan, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said.
www.newkerala.com/news/world/fullnews-59907.html

Linda Norgrove’s Afghanistan captors ‘set off explosion’ during rescue attempt:
Reports suggest British aid worker’s captors detonated a grenade or a suicide vest when US forces stormed compound
www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oct/10/linda-norgrove-afghanistan-aid-worker

170 accused of Afghan vote fraud:
Of those candidates accused, 136 were referred by the Independent Election Commission and 39 by security institutions, ECC spokesman Ahmad Zia Rafaat told reporters.
www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1378606/170-accused-of-Afghan-vote-fraud

25 Afghan MPs Accused of Electoral Fraud:
Officials in the Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) said on Sunday that 25 Afghan members of Parliament are accused of committing electoral fraud
www.tolonews.com/en/afghanistan/739-25-afghan-mps-accused-of-electoral-fraud

Over 60 percent of Afghans suffer mental health problems:
Women and children are at particular risk from stress disorders and mental problems in a country which has suffered more than three decades of war and has an illiteracy rate of over 70 percent.
bit.ly/cg1l44

3 guards killed in Fallujah:
Iraqi police officials said on Saturday a hit squad disguised in military uniforms killed three brothers who worked as bodyguards for the government.
gulftoday.ae/portal/9aeef478-fcb2-457c-b0c9-792f0d2e0358.aspx

Israel approves loyalty oath, for non-Jewish new citizens:
Cabinet ministers on Sunday approved by a majority vote a controversial proposal which would require every non-Jew wishing to become a citizen of Israel to pledge loyalty to “the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state.”
bit.ly/a8KTzX

‘New Israeli bill whiff of fascism’:
An Israeli minister has strongly condemned a new bill that would force non-Jews people to pledge their loyalty to Israel, saying it carries a “whiff of fascism.”
www.presstv.ir/detail/146043.html

‘Shas will vote in favor of new building moratorium’: Report:
Attias told Security Cabinet that Rabbi Ovadia Yosef will allow a 60-day extension if US promises it will be the last; Yishai: “Shas will oppose any freeze.”
www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=190882

Arab summit fails to address issues:
Foreign ministers wrap up two-day meeting in Libya without consensus on reforms to the Arab League and ties with Iran.
english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/10/201010100374795946.html

Hamas leader slams Arab League decision on “peace” talks:
The Hamas prime minister in Gaza Strip, Ismail Haniyeh, criticized the decision on Saturday, arguing a return to the negotiating table would let Israel off the hook and encourage Israeli violations of Palestinians’ rights
www1.albawaba.com/main-headlines/hamas-leader-slams-arab-league-decision-peace-talks

Gaza teens brave IDF fire to collect salvaged building materials:
In three months, soldiers shot and wounded 10 youths collecting building materials in expanded buffer zone.
bit.ly/aP4IZn

Israel. Gaza flotilla raid violated law, UN probe finds in scathing report:
A UN probe said Wednesday there was clear evidence to back prosecutions against Israel for killing and torture when its troops stormed a Gaza-bound aid flotilla in May.
bit.ly/96Dvbm

Syria: Israel-U.S. funded fighter jet deal destabilizes region:
Under the contract signed Between Israeli and U.S. delegates in New York last week Israel will get 20 of the warplanes for more than $3 billion, which would be delivered by approximately 2016. It has an option for 75 more. The entire deal will be funded by American military.
bit.ly/bgITU4

Iranian group makes kidnap claim:
Jundallah, the Sunni separatist group in Iran, has claimed it kidnapped a scientist working for the country’s nuclear programme. The group is also threatening to reveal his secrets about Iran’s nuclear ambitions, unless members of Jundallah are released from prison.
english.aljazeera.net/video/middleeast/2010/10/2010101016024116222.html

Iran Acknowledges Espionage At Nuclear Facilities:
Iran acknowledged Saturday that some personnel at the country’s nuclear facilities were lured by promises of money to pass secrets to the West but insisted increased security and worker privileges have put a stop to the spying.
www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/09/iran-acknowledges-espiona_0_n_756850.html

Torture victim sues Obama administration over `Kafkaesque nightmare’:
A Syrian man now living in Europe is suing the U.S. government for damages from what he calls a “Kafkaesque nightmare.” The 44-page lawsuit by Abdul Razak al Janko, 32, described a decade-long odyssey of detention — first in Taliban-era Afghanistan, where he was tortured as an alleged pro-American Israeli spy, and later in U.S. military prisons
bit.ly/ddV6Xt

US ‘tortured suspects’ in secret prison in Poland:
The CIA used a secret prison in Poland to detain and torture its key 9/11 suspect, it has been alleged.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-11470379

Canadian jailed in U.S. on terrorism charge released:
The 10-year-long saga of a Canadian man convicted in the United States of sending money to al-Qaeda may have drawn to an end Friday as he was released from prison and returned to Canada.
bit.ly/cRn99Y

FBI Spies on Student, Retrieves GPS Device:
Yasir Afifi, a 20-year-old student and U.S.-born citizen found a GPS tracking device on his car. A friend posted pictures of the device, which resulted in the FBI coming by Afifi’s Santa Clara, Calif., apartment to retrieve the surveillance equipment. It seems the FBI was tracking Afifi’s movements, taking advantage of a recent controversial 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in favor of warrantless GPS tracking
www.cbsnews.com/8301-501465_162-20019113-501465.html

Pakistan accuses the White House of exaggerating Al Qaeda terror threat:
The U.S. has been accused by a top Pakistani diplomat of exaggerating the terror threat from Al Qaeda for political ends. Intelligence officials also suggested the White House has tried to ‘stitch together’ rumours of attacks to ramp up security fears.
bit.ly/c9jZXK

War against terror taking massive toll on human rights, conference hears:
Governments and law-enforcement agencies around the world are using the war against terrorism as a pretext to clamp down on legitimate protest and free themselves from constraints on their activities, an international conference on human rights heard this weekend in Montreal.
bit.ly/bZDIq2

Gwynne Dyer: The rapid rise of Brazil’s Green party:
Marina Silva, leader of Brazil’s Green party, has already done something remarkable: she persuaded one-fifth of Brazil’s voters to support the Green party.
www.straight.com/article-352155/vancouver/gwynne-dyer-rapid-rise-brazils-green-party

Military suicide rates surge:
For John Helfert, the problems started with the mortar shells screaming into the Abu Ghraib prison compound, the explosions sending furious shock waves.
www2.tbo.com/content/2010/oct/10/na-military-suicide-rates-surge/

Suicidal soldiers are humiliated by superiors with fatal results, military medical experts say:
The bullying involves “humiliating-type behavior in ranks, formations, where soldiers were singled out and identified as someone who is suicidal, publicly ridiculed, and things along that nature,” said Army Maj. Gen. Philip Volpe.
bit.ly/9yeE9N

Wells Fargo: No halt to foreclosures:
Wells Fargo said Friday it has no plans to adopt a foreclosure moratorium despite Bank of America’s decision today to halt all foreclosures.
www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2010/10/04/daily66.html

US banks fake documents to rush foreclosures:
Major US banks systematically faked documents in order to speed up foreclosures for hundreds of thousands of homeowners, a mounting body of evidence shows. It appears likely that federal and state laws were broken in the process.
www.wsws.org/articles/2010/oct2010/mort-o07.shtml

10,000 wait in line at Cal Expo in bid to save their homes:
An estimated 10,000 people were in line Friday morning when the Cal Expo Pavilion’s doors opened on a five-day event aimed at helping distressed homeowners avoid foreclosure.
www.sacbee.com/2010/10/09/3091190/10000-wait-in-line-at-cal-expo.html

A record 30% of unemployed out of work at least a year:
A record 30% – or 4.4 million – of the nation’s 14.7 million unemployed workers were out of work at least a year in August, up from 23% in December, according to an analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data
usat.ly/deRfrI

Third world America:
Collapsing bridges, street lights turned off, cuts to basic services: the decline of a superpower
www2.macleans.ca/2010/09/14/third-world-america/

72,000 stimulus payments went to dead people:
More than 89,000 stimulus payments of $250 each went to people who were either dead or in prison, a government investigator says in a new report.
www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39566021/ns/business-economy_at_a_crossroads/

Number Of Iraqis Slaughtered Since The U.S. Invaded Iraq “1,366,350″
www.justforeignpolicy.org/iraq/iraqdeaths.html

Number of U.S. Military Personnel Sacrificed (Officially acknowledged) In America’s War On Iraq:  4,742
icasualties.org/oif/

Number Of  International Occupation Force Troops Slaughtered In Afghanistan : 2,144

Cost of War in Iraq & Afghanistan
$1,091,010,204,039
www.costofwar.com/

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