Day: July 13, 2011

French Ship Carries Freedom Flotilla’s “Dignity” to Gaza By Begoña Astigarraga

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13 July 2011 — IPS

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Activists on hunger strike in Spanish embassy. Credit:Bego Astigarraga/IPS

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ATHENS, Jul 12, 2011 (IPS) – The French vessel Dignité-Al Karama is the only boat from the Freedom Flotilla II actually sailing for Gaza in an attempt to break the Israeli blockade imposed in 2006. At the same time, six Spanish members of the humanitarian aid mission went on hunger strike in the Greek capital.

The hunger strikers, who have occupied the Spanish embassy in Athens since Jul. 5, were travelling on the Spanish ship Gernika (Guernica) that was part of the flotilla carrying 500 activists from 45 different countries, and 5,000 tonnes of aid, bound for the Gaza Strip.

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Libya Newslinks 13 July 2011

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13 July 2011 — williambowles.info

Libya campaign duration cannot be predicted, Liam Fox warns
Telegraph.co.uk
The duration of the Libya campaign cannot be predicted Liam Fox has said, suggesting that military commanders could be preparing for the conflict to last for months. The campaign was originally mandated for 90 days but it is now approaching four months …
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8635613/Libya-campaign-duration-cannot-be-predicted-Liam-Fox-warns.html

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Black Agenda Report 13 July 2011: Obama Sells Out Soc Sec / Somalia Worst World Crisis / Atlanta Cheating

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13 July 2011 — Black Agenda Report – News, commentary and analysis from the black left

Obama’s “Big Deal”: Wallowing with Pigs in Search of a Grand Center-Right Coalition

by BAR executive editor Glen Ford
Barack Obama is salivating at the prospect of concluding his Big Deal with the Republicans, the one that will move the center robustly – even transformatively – to the Right, where this president really lives. The debt-limit deadline is Obama’s big chance to panic a significant part of the Democratic Party into joining in the rape of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. “When the debt-limit showdown arrives, pray for gridlock, which would at least mean there is still resistance to Republican extortion.”

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World’s Worst Humanitarian Crisis in Somalia: So U.S. Sends in the Marines and Drones

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13 July 2011 — Black Agenda Report

A Black Agenda Radio commentary by Glen Ford

A U.S. Marine task force is about to be deployed in the war against Somalia, where American drones are stepping up their predations. For the second time in four years, U.S. aggression threatens the lives of multitudes in the Horn of Africa. ‘A United Nations spokesman describes the food and refugee emergency in Somalia as the ‘worst humanitarian crisis in the world,’ with millions at immediate risk. Continue reading →

Yemen Newslinks 13 July 2011

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13 July 2011 — williambowles.info

YEMEN: TV appearance sparks fresh wave of violence
IRINnews.org
SANA’A, 13 July 2011 (IRIN) – A surprise 7 July appearance on Yemeni state TV by President Ali Abdullah Saleh is behind a recent country-wide spike in violence, say observers. Analyst Adel al-Shujaa said the TV appearance surprised opposition leaders …
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=93214 Continue reading →

Egypt Newslinks 13 July 2011

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13 July 2011 — williambowles.info

The Path to Democracy in Egypt
The Atlantic
By Daniel Brumberg Cairo is full of a hundred metaphors for the incoherence, fragmentation, and spirited improvisation that animate Egypt’s unfolding transition. My favorite was the traffic cram that erupted at a major intersection near Cairo …
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/07/the-path-to-democracy-in-egypt/241712/

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Statewatch News Online, No 2 of 2: 13 July 2011 (19/11)

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Home page: http://www.statewatch.org/
e-mail: office@statewatch.org

  1. ITALY: Statewatch Analysis: Italy: Series of defeats in court for the ‘security package’
  2. UK: Still spooked – Greater emphasis on the Channel project in the revised Prevent strategy gives much cause for concern
  3. EU: Statewatch Analysis: ?The Dialogue for Migration, Mobility and Security with the Southern Mediterranean countries
  4. EU: Council of the European Union: Frontex
  5. EU: Council of the European Union: Minimum standards for the qualification and status of third country nationals
  6. EU: Meijers Committee Opinion on: Use of PNR data for the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of terrorist offences and serious crime
  7. EU: Fundamental Rights Agency Report: Migrants in an irregular situation employed in domestic work
  8. EU: “SMART BORDERS”: Commission Background Note
  9. EU: Council of the European Union: Implementing the infamous Returns Directive: Questionnaire
  10. EU: Council of the European Union: Polish, Danish and Cyprus Presidencies: JHA External Relations
  11. COE-EU-ECHR: Draft final agreement: Accession of the European Union to the European Convention on Human Rights
  12. EU: 1st reading trilogue discussions between the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament
  13. EU-ACTA: Opinion of European Academics on Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement
  14. EU: Council of the European Union: Provisional agendas for Council meetings, during the second semester of 2011

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Wikileaks Newslinks 13 July 2011: WikiLeaks’ Founder Julian Assange in U.K. Court for Extradition Appeal

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13 July 2011 — williambowles.info

Assange Presses Appeal to Head Off Extradition
Wall Street Journal
By JEANNE WHALEN LONDON—WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange unveiled a narrower set of legal arguments in a UK court on Tuesday as he continued his fight to avoid extradition to Sweden to face a sexual-assault investigation. Lefteris Pitarakis/Associated …
http://europe.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303812104576441462672745124.html

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Bradley Manning Newslinks 13 July 2011: UN torture official accuses US of rule violations

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13 July 2011 — williambowles.info

Manning visits ‘breach UN rules’
BBC News
UN special rapporteur on torture Juan Mendez said the US had has broken rules by insisting on monitoring conversations with Pte Bradley Manning. Mr Mendez says he needs unrestricted access to Pte Manning to do his job. Pte Manning, 23, is being held in …
http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/world-us-canada-14126223

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Statewatch News Online, No 1 of 2: 13 July 2011 (18/11)

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  1. EU: Statewatch Analysis: The Frontex Regulation – Consolidated text after 2011 amendments
  2. EU “SMART BORDERS”?: Frontex Call for Tender: “Rapid Deployment Unattended Ground Sensor systems for Land border surveillance”
  3. EU: Council of the European Union: ECRIS and Prum
  4. EU: Member States to be bound by new security rules, Parliament adopts same restrictions
  5. UPDATED: EU: Council of the European Union: Informal Justice and Home Affairs Council
  6. EU: Appeal: A flotilla to stop deaths in the Mediterranean
  7. EU: European Data Protection Supervisor: EDPS safeguards for online behavioural advertising
  8. EU: European Arrest Warrant (EAWs): Updated figures
  9. EU: Council of the European Union: Classified information, COSI (Internal Security), IMS, JAI-EX, Pirates, Customs, JHA Presdiencies
  10. European Parliament Study: EU Bodies Competent in the Area of Police and Judicial Cooperation
  11. EU: European Commission: Progress Report on the development of the Second Generation SIS II
  12. EU: Statewatch Briefing: ECRE Call for a harmonised and upgraded Common European Asylum System
  13. UK-ECHR: United Kingdom required to investigate deaths of six civilians killed in Iraq in 2003

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Murdoch’s News Corp Generated $10.4 Billion Profits And Received $4.8 Billion In “Taxes” From The IRS By Tyler Durden

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12 July 2011 — Information Clearing House

July 12, 2011 “Zero Hedge” – – Call it the gift that keeps on giving (if one is a corporation that is): the US Tax system, so effective at extracting income tax from America’s working class, is just as “effective” at redistributing said income tax at the corporate level. Case in point: News Corp, which after generating $10.4 billion in profits over the past 4 years, and which would have been expected to pay the IRS $3.6 billion at the statutory corporate tax rate, instead received $4.6 billion back from Uncle Sam. Bottom line: Murdoch’s corporation had a cash paid tax rate of -46% between 2007 and 2010. The culrpit: two little somethings called Deferred Tax Assets and Net Operating Loss Carry-forwards.

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Murdoch's News Corp Generated $10.4 Billion Profits And Received $4.8 Billion In "Taxes" From The IRS By Tyler Durden

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12 July 2011 — Information Clearing House

July 12, 2011 “Zero Hedge” – – Call it the gift that keeps on giving (if one is a corporation that is): the US Tax system, so effective at extracting income tax from America’s working class, is just as “effective” at redistributing said income tax at the corporate level. Case in point: News Corp, which after generating $10.4 billion in profits over the past 4 years, and which would have been expected to pay the IRS $3.6 billion at the statutory corporate tax rate, instead received $4.6 billion back from Uncle Sam. Bottom line: Murdoch’s corporation had a cash paid tax rate of -46% between 2007 and 2010. The culrpit: two little somethings called Deferred Tax Assets and Net Operating Loss Carry-forwards.

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"Syrians angry with US and France meddling in their country’s affairs" — RT

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11 July 2011 — RT

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the Syrian government had lost legitimacy, after hundreds of angry government supporters attacked the American and French embassies in the Syrian capital, Damascus.

­The US top diplomat said that the Syrian authorities failed to provide adequate protection to diplomatic missions and announced that the State Department will take its own investigation to find out who organized the unrest.

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Syria Newslinks 13 July 2011

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13 July 2011 — williambowles.info

Activist: Bomb hits gas pipeline in eastern Syria
The Associated Press
BEIRUT (AP) — A human rights activist says a bomb has damaged a natural gas pipeline in eastern Syria. It’s the first attack on the country’s oil industry amid a monthslong uprising against the regime. Rami Abdul-Rahman from the London-based Syrian …
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jn26YdhdIN7QZkdmY79SEfBE3Bsw?docId=0cbed338b8154a2cb34fed18e5e06cc4

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Video: Bent Cops on Parade By Craig Murray

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13 July 2011 — Craig Murray

The great airline bomb plot was a totally impractical idea in the minds of a very small number (four) of isolated extremists, penetrated from the start by the state, who never did make their liquid bomb cocktail work, never did blow anything up, never did buy plane tickets and for the most part hadn’t actually got round to applying for passports yet. However, these deluded fantasists provided the excuse for billions of taxpayers’ money to be pumped to the security industry, and made air travel even more annoying with the crazy war on shampoo. Continue reading →