The New Dark Age

31 December, 2010 — Information Clearing House

Assange: I’ll Reveal Info That Will Spark Arab World Coups
By Roee Nahmias
WikiLeaks founder tells Al Jazeera leaked documents in his possession show top Arab officials disclose sensitive information to CIA.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27161.htm

Justice Has Prevailed
Khodorkovsky’s Trip to the Slammer: “Booyah, Putin”
By Mike Whitney
Khodorkovsky was convicted because he’s a crook and because the Russian justice system is less corrupt than the one in the US.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27162.htm

America Has Gone Away
Paul Craig Roberts
Anyone who doesn’t believe that the US is an incipient fascist state needs only to consult the latest assault on civil liberty by Fox News (sic). Instead of informing citizens, Fox News (sic) informs on citizens.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27158.htm

2010: The Big Con Continues
By Ted Morgan
While the Republican party holds our government hostage, Democrats typically collaborate in public policies that don’t have a prayer of resolving the deeply serious problem we face.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27159.htm

‘The Next Financial Crisis is Not Far Off’
By Jayati Ghosh
We were told the world economy was back on track, but festering problems threaten to hit developing countries hard.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27160.htm

US kills 8 in Pakistan:
A fresh Unauthorized US drone strike has killed at least eight people and wounded several others in Pakistan’s northwestern tribal belt.
www.presstv.ir/detail/158036.html

Ivory Coast in ‘a civil war situation’:
Mr. Soro told reporters Friday that if Mr. Gbagbo steps aside by midnight, “he will be guaranteed all the privileges of a former head of state.” Mr. Gbagbo, though, already has rebuffed a high-level delegation of West African leaders who paid him two personal visits, and shows no signs he plans to go. Soro did not say what action might be taken early Saturday if the deadline passes unheeded.
bit.ly/fdqCer

Plan to force out Gbagbo ‘ready’:
West African military chiefs agree on “last resort” plan to forcefully remove defiant Cote d’Ivoire leader from power.
english.aljazeera.net//news/africa/2010/12/2010123113916520360.html

Britain would support military action in Ivory Coast:
Britain is prepared to support military action to force Laurent Gbagbo to relinquish power in Ivory Coast, according to William Hague.
bit.ly/hYSWcd

Gbagbo blames France for Ivory Coast problems:
In an exclusive interview with euronews Laurent Gbagbo began by blaming France for the current political problems in the Ivory Coast.
www.euronews.net/2010/12/30/gbagbo-blames-france-for-ivory-coast-problems-/

Ivory Coast president refuses to take phone call from Barack Obama:
The president of Ivory Coast is hardening his resistance to international pressure to stand down, even refusing to take a phone call from Barack Obama.
bit.ly/dRXC43

Hypocrisy:
UN warns defeated president he will be held accountable for abuses:
“No longer can heads of State, and other actors, be sure that they can commit atrocious violations and get away with it,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said in Geneva today.
www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=37187&Cr=ivoire&Cr1=

British ambassador in 1980 said Israel ready to use bomb: –
A British ambassador to Israel warned as early as 1980 that Israel would detonate a nuclear bomb in case of a new war with the Arabs, according to previously secret state documents released on Thursday.
uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE6BT3CU20101230

Brazil hosts first Palestinian ’embassy’ in Americas:
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas lays foundation stone for future embassy in capital Brasilia.
bit.ly/hAh9xJ

Palestinian draft condemning Israeli settlements designed to win U.S. support:
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says proposed UN Security Council resolution uses the same language that the U.S. has in criticizing settlements.
bit.ly/f5chHk

Israel’s dependence on the United States – economic and especially military – is tremendous.
It stretches over many issues: the military equipment the U.S. Army keeps in emergency depots in Israel, the provision of F-35 aircraft, and backing in the UN Security Council on issues like leveraging the Goldstone report and international sanctions on Iran.
www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/there-s-no-substitute-for-washington-1.334418

December 30, 2010

At least 20 suspected militants killed in Pak tribal region:
Helicopter gunships pounded the militant hideout, killing at least 20 suspected insurgents and also destroying an explosives-laden vehicle, the Dawn reports.
www.newkerala.com/news/world/fullnews-115354.html

Pakistani Taliban kill 2 over espionage charges:
A note in the local Pashto language was placed near the bodies, saying that the slain men were spying on Taliban for the Americans.
english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/90851/7246512.html

One killed as NATO tankers set ablaze in Quetta:
At least one person was killed when some unidentified persons opened fire on Nato oil tankers while two tankers set ablaze, sources said on Thursday.
bit.ly/fGCy8M

Blast kills at least 14 civilians in Afghanistan:
A roadside bomb blew up next to a minibus at a crowded intersection on a major highway in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, killing at least 14 civilians, officials said.
www.twincities.com/national/ci_16971301?nclick_check=1

‘Taliban shadow governor killed in Afghanistan’:
Taliban commander and his bodyguard were killed during an overnight operation by Afghan and NATO forces in northern Afghanistan, police said on Friday.
news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101231/wl_sthasia_afp/afghanistanunrestnatotaliban

Taliban attacks kills two Nato occupation force soldiers in Afghanistan::
Two Nato soldiers were killed Friday in separate rebel attacks in southern and western Afghanistan on the last day of 2010, NATO said, taking the death toll for foreign forces to at least 711 for the year.
bit.ly/eYP6AO

US military investigates ‘death squad’ accused of murdering Afghans:
Brigadier general to conduct review of 5th Stryker brigade as evidence emerges of widespread complicity in deaths
bit.ly/eFNP3P

West quickly agreed to back Afghan resistance in 1980: files
Western powers met in secret soon after the Soviet “invasion” of Afghanistan and formed plans to back Islamic resistance, according to British files from 1980 released Thursday.
yhoo.it/gt2J9d

Somali government: 18 militants killed in Mogadishu confrontations:
Troops of the transitional federal government of Somalia killed 18 Al Shabaab extremist fighters during fierce clashes in parts of Mogadishu, an official said.
bit.ly/g23A7m

4,000 civilians killed in Iraq in 2010:
The Britain-based organisation said that the “persistent low-level conflict will continue to kill civilians at a similar rate for years to come.”
www.morningstaronline.co.uk/index.php/news/content/view/full/99337

Judith Miller: From the Times to the nuts:
Since her early days at the Times, when she inserted CIA misinformation into a piece on Libya, she’s always been a tool of power. She was the voice of the Defense Department, embedded at the Times. She was hyping bullshit stories about Iraq’s WMD capabilities as far back as 1998, and in the run-up to the war
bit.ly/dU2GD5

US against anti-settlement resolution in Security Council:
The draft resolution reaffirms Palestinian claims that “Israeli settlements established in the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967, including east Jerusalem, are illegal and constitute a major obstacle to the achievement of a just, lasting and comprehensive peace.”
www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=201488

Why Israelis emigrate? :
Those remaining in Israel are increasingly ethno-nationalists such as religious Zionists, Russians, traditional-minded Sephardim and Ethiopians.
www.jpost.com/Opinion/Editorials/Article.aspx?id=201477

Report: Israelis Paid Spy $1.5M for Info on suspected Syrian reactor:
Egyptian media released more details today about the breakup of an alleged Israeli spy ring, including leaked interrogation transcripts indicating Israeli intelligence was given information about a suspected Syrian nuclear reactor in exchange for $1.5 million.
aol.it/hmlZ7l

US Embassy Cables: : US Spies on Iran from Turkey
According to the cable released from the U.S. embassy in Turkey, the information was gathered through Iranian citizens living in Turkey
www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/200994

WikiLeaks, Indian official says U.S. cable a lie:
A former Indian official criticised for making unauthorised contact with the United States embassy and angling for a junket in order to “feed” American views on Iran into the Indian system, has accused a senior American diplomat of fabricating the contents of the confidential cable – published by WikiLeaks earlier this month – which “outed” him.
www.thehindu.com/news/national/article1018941.ece

Manning chat logs contain no smoking gun, Wired editors claim:
Editors with Wired Magazine have finally come forward to say that the chat logs in their possession contain no further evidence of a conspiracy between WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and the soldier accused of leaking 250,000 US State Department cables.
www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/12/manning-chat-logs-smoking-gun-iwiredi-editors-confirm/

The US embassy cables:
Omar Bongo pocketed millions in embezzled funds: Gabon’s late president allegedly channelled money to French political parties in support of Nicolas Sarkozy
www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/30/wikileaks-omar-bongo-nicolas-sarkozy

Wikileaks : US killed up to 4000 civilians in Panama invasion:
The Noriega military dictatorship was supported by the United States as Noriega played a double role in Central America under the supervision of the CIA. George H.W. Bush was head of the CIA 1976-77.
crowdleak.net/1989-coup-in-panama/

In case you missed it:
The Panama Deception:
This film shows how the U.S. attacked Panama and killed 3 or 4 thousand people in an invasion that the rest of the world was against. (Sound familiar?) : The untold story of the December 1989 U.S. invasion of Panama; the events which led to it; the excessive force used; the enormity of the death and destruction; and the devastating aftermath.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article4078.htm

Assange Alerts His Hostages:
Julian Assange just made it clear who his hostages are:
emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2010/12/29/assange-alerts-his-hostages/

Yemen: Saleh could be president for life: party:
Yemen’s parliament is discussing a draft amendment to the constitution under which President Ali Abdullah Saleh could be made life-president, a lawmaker with the ruling party said yesterday.
bit.ly/fdOogP

lsraeli ex-president guilty of rape:
An Israeli court found Moshe Katsav, the country’s former president, guilty of rape and other offences in a unprecedented conviction for a former head of state.
english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/12/2010123083812287264.html

Italian judge upholds seizure of Vatican assets:
A judge has upheld the seizure of euro23 million ($30.2 million) in Vatican assets in a money-laundering probe involving the Holy See’s bank, the second time the bank has been denied the return of the funds.
www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40754048/ns/world_news-europe/

US revokes Venezuela ambassador’s visa amid “Chavez row”:
“If the US government wants to expel our ambassador there, let them. If they cut off diplomatic relations, let them,” Mr Chavez said on state television.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-12091689

Bomb explodes outside Athens court building : Raw video:
A bomb hidden on a parked motorcycle exploded outside two court buildings in central Athens on Thursday, damaging cars and shattering windows but leaving no one hurt. The powerful rush-hour blast occurred at 0820 (0620GMT) following a warning telephone call to a newspaper and private TV station.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfP5mltBKXU

UK: Police demand new powers to stop and search terror suspects:
Police have asked the government for a new counter-terrorism power to stop and search people without having to suspect them of involvement in crime, the Guardian has learned.
www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/dec/29/police-stop-and-search-powers

US pushed for ISP data retention in Sweden, leaked cable reveals:
The US was the driving force behind a Swedish plan to require Internet service providers (ISPs) to retain information that tracked Internet users in an effort to prevent file sharing.
bit.ly/i4EGOz

TSA bans bikini woman for ‘unusual contour’ around buttocks:
A woman who became a YouTube sensation earlier this month when she went through airport security in a bikini spent a night at the airport Tuesday because of TSA agents’ concerns about an “unusual contour” around her buttocks.
www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/12/tsa-bans-bikini-woman-buttocks/

Sending Money Overseas for the Holidays? The Government Wants to Know.:
What do an online donation to the International Red Cross, a bank transfer to family members living in Vietnam, and a payment sent through PayPal for an expensive rug in Turkey have in common? The government wants to know about them.
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/12/sending-money-overseas-holidays-government-wants

Congressman John Hall Warns Against Creeping Fascism:
In a wide-ranging interview before he prepares to leave the House of Representatives, Hudson Valley Congressman John Hall warned that the nation could quickly descend into Fascism if more is not done to curb the influence of corporate money in politics.
bit.ly/fjadKO

Judge warns of ‘Orwellian state’ in warrantless GPS tracking case:
Police in Delaware may soon be unable to use global positioning systems (GPS) to keep tabs on a suspect unless they have a court-signed warrant, thanks to a recent ruling by a superior court judge who cited famed author George Orwell in her decision.
www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/12/judge-warns-orwellian-state-gps/

Tax cuts move U.S. closer to fiscal crisis:
President Barack Obama is receiving congratulations for moving to the center on the tax agreement with Republicans last week. – The truth is, the deal moved us closer to a fiscal crisis, just as the euro zone now is experiencing.
bit.ly/hROVGh

As Home Prices Drop, ‘Serious Reasons To Worry’ About Economy (VIDEO):
Six cities — Atlanta, Miami, Seattle, Tampa, Charlotte, North Carolina, and Portland, Oregon — have hit new lows since the housing market began to struggle in 2006 and 2007. Atlanta showed the steepest decline, with prices falling 2.9 percent from the prior month.
www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/29/home-prices-drop_n_802325.html

Wish you were here?
President spends $1.5m on his holiday in Hawaii… while the rest of America faces a bleak New Year
bit.ly/fhwuQn

New Home Foreclosures Rose 31% in Third Quarter:
The 382,000 foreclosures recorded represented a 31.2% jump over the second quarter, and 3.7% over the same quarter last year. Homes already in the process of foreclosure increased to 1.2 million, up 4.5% over the second quarter and 10.1% over last year.
bit.ly/hIM6Xs

Number Of Iraqis Slaughtered Since The U.S. Invaded Iraq “1,421,933″
www.justforeignpolicy.org/iraq/iraqdeaths.html

Number of U.S. Military Personnel Sacrificed (Officially acknowledged) In America’s War On Iraq: 4,745
icasualties.org/oif/

Number Of International Occupation Force Troops Slaughtered In Afghanistan : 2,281

Cost of War in Iraq & Afghanistan
$1,128,423,265,830
www.costofwar.com/

Wikileaks Mirrors
Wikileaks is currently mirrored on 2194 web sites
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27007.htm