29 June 2013 — Information Clearing House
Lifting the Arms Embargo on Syria
A Decision Whose Results Will Be Measured In Hecatombs
By Steve McGiffen
To begin, anyone who confidently tells you what’s going on in Syria, who are the ‘good guys’ and who the bad, and whether indeed there is any meaning to these handy categories, is either a liar or a fool.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article35446.htm
Syria, The Faces Behind The Terror
By Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich
Backing and arming the so-called Syrian opposition distracts from the threat posed by Israel and its expansionist agenda by internalizing the enemy in order to weak the State.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article35450.htm
Full Disclosure
What the Media Isn’t Telling You About War in Syria
Video
“The War in Syria is not a true civil war”
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article35442.htm
White House Threatens to Cut-off Aid if Palestine Joins ICC
By Franklin Lamb
The White House and its allies are not pleased by prospects for an eventful next few years at the ICC.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article35448.htm
Starving for Justice
Must Watch Short – Video
“The won’t let us live in peace and now they won’t let us die in peace” – Fayiz :
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article35440.htm
Ecuador Cools on Edward Snowden Asylum
President Correa revokes Snowden’s temporary travel document.
By Rory Carroll in Quito and Amanda Holpuch in New York
The plan to spirit the surveillance whistleblower Edward Snowden to sanctuary in Latin America appeared to be unravelling on Friday, amid tension between Ecuador’s government and Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article35433.htm
Edward Snowden: A Conscience, Just Waiting For a Cause
By William Blum
So what is a poor National Security State to do? Well, they might consider behaving themselves. – Stop the bombings, the invasions, the endless wars, the torture, the sanctions, the overthrows, the support of dictatorships, the unmitigated support of Israel
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article35435.htm
Exposing the Dark Forces Behind the Snowden Smears
By Max Blumenthal
Whoever planted the story with Buzzfeed appeared to have scored a major success, exploiting the Snowden drama to tarnish the image of Ecuador’s government.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article35436.htm
Glenn Greenwald Speaks Out
Video
Glenn Greenwald speaks via Skype to the Socialism 2013 conference in Chicago regarding Edward Snowden’s revelations about the NSA’s mass surveillance program.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article35439.htm
The Criminal N.S.A.
By JENNIFER STISA GRANICK and CHRISTOPHER JON SPRIGMAN
It’s time to call the N.S.A.’s mass surveillance programs what they are: criminal.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article35437.htm
The Duty of Lawyers
By Ralph Nader
In the United States, we are seeing the rule of law eroded by those at the top levels of our government. We are witnessing the dismantling of the guiding principles of justice and the rule of law. Our legal system has been gamed to preferentially serve the needs of the few rather than those of the many.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article35441.htm
Hypocrisy Unveiled
Unequal Responses to Leaked Secret Information
Video
Chris Hayes points to the unequal and uneven response to leaked information that advances the Pentagon’s agenda and leaked information that doesn’t.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article35434.htm
Washington Is Driving The World To The Final War
By Paul Craig Roberts
If you, an American, living in superpower America lack the courage to stand up to the evil that is “your” government, perhaps the courage of Edward Snowden, Bradley Manning, Julian Assange, and tiny Ecuador will give you heart.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article35443.htm
“What Country Is This?”
DUI suspects face forced blood draws
Must Watch – Video
Suspected drunk drivers in some metro counties are getting a rude surprise when they refuse a breathalyzer test.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article35444.htm
Government Agencies Are Keeping Records Of Your Credit Card Transactions
By Michael Snyder
Were you under the impression that your credit card transactions are private? If so, I am sorry to burst your bubble.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article35445.htm
Rachel Jeantel Gets the Trayvon Martin Treatment
By Justin Peters
Pundits, – criticized Jeantel’s weight, her attitude, her manner of dress, and her mumbling, inarticulate answers to West’s questions. These observations are an excuse to point and laugh at a poor, black teenager who comes from an America that we’d rather not acknowledge exists.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article35447.htm
Postcard from the End of America: Camden
By Linh Dinh
“Yeah, man, Camden is broke. Philly is broke. The whole country is broke! Didn’t you hear about all the cops they laid off?”
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article35449.htm
96 people killed in operation in north-west Pakistan:
Pakistani security forces have killed 75 militants while losing 21 troops during the 34 day operation against ultras, in the country’s tribal region close to the Afghanistan border.
Suicide attack in Farah leaves 8 civilians killed or injured:
According to local authorities the incident took place in Bala Bolok district after a suicide bomber detonated his explosives near the convoy of coaition forces.
Taliban militants kill five soldiers in Afghanistan’s Ghazni:
FIVE soldiers were killed by Taliban militants in an attack in the Ab Band district of Afghanistan’s Ghazni province on 25 June, Pajhwok reported. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.
‘We should have talked to Taliban’ says top British officer in Afghanistan: Exclusive:
General Nick Carter says west could have struck a deal with Taliban leaders after they were toppled a decade ago
Eight soldiers killed by roadside bomb in south Thailand:
It is the single deadliest attack on Thai security forces in several years.. More than 5,000 people have been killed since a separatist insurgency reignited in the Muslim-majority region in 2004.
Iraq attacks in Sunni areas kill 10:
Attacks in Sunni Arab areas of Iraq killed 10 people on Saturday, the latest in spiralling violence that has left more than 420 dead this month and sparked fears of renewed sectarian war.
Maliki Blames Morsi, Brotherhood for Continuing Syria Bloodshed:
“I am astonished to see the head of a state telling people ‘go to Syria and fight,'” Premier Nuri al-Maliki told a religious gathering of Faili Kurds in Baghdad on Thursday. “He openly gathers clerics and endorses the fight in Syria,” he added, “They also ask for the killing of Shiites,” he charged.
Syrian regime forces launch attack on rebel-held area of Homs:
State television says troops loyal to Assad are making ‘great progress’ in Khalidiyah district of Syria’s third-largest city
Syrian rebels capture major army post in southern city of Daraa after days of fighting:
Rebels captured a major army post in the southern city of Daraa Friday after nearly two weeks of intense fighting, as battles raged between troops and opposition forces in the province that borders Jordan, activists said.
Syrian Jihadists behead Catholic priest – WARNING GRAPHIC VIDEO – :
The Vatican is confirming the death by beheading of Franciscan Father, Francois Murad, who was martyred by Syrian jihadists on June 23.
US Sends Two Planeloads of Heavy Arms to Syrian Rebels from Afghanistan: Report:
“The United States sent two huge cargos of its heavy weapons and ammunitions in Afghanistan to the Syrian rebels through Jordan on June 18, the day NATO ceded control of security affairs to the Afghan army and government,” A ranking member of the US marine troops deployed in Afghanistan told FNA on Saturday.
Europe likely to stay on sidelines when U.S. ships arms to Syria rebels:
When the Obama administration begins arming Syrian rebels through the CIA, something news reports say will happen within the next month, it probably it will be acting without help from its European allies.
Sniper fire kills two in north Lebanon:
Sniper fire in Tripoli Saturday claimed the lives of at least two people as tensions escalated between rival neighborhoods in the northern Lebanese city, security sources said.
Jordan Does Not Welcome US Troops, Weapons:
The United States has kept F-16 warplanes and Patriot missiles in Jordan since a joint military exercise ended on June 20, and a defense official says Washington now has 1,000 troops in the country, reports France 24.
US student among dead as riot-ridden Egypt descents into ‘security crisis’:
A day of nationwide pro- and anti-Morsi protests in Egypt has spilled into violence as armed rival parties scuffled, leaving three people dead, including an American, and nearly 140 injured. Police had to use tear gas to prevent the violence spreading.
‘Fig leaf democracy not enough, expect Egyptian boil-over’: Video –
Egypt’s main opposition has rejected President Morsi’s offer of dialogue on reconciliation and insists on holding early elections.
Turkish government combing Twitter in search of protest organizers to arrest:
Turkish government officials are investigating Twitter and similar social media platforms in an attempt to identify and eventually prosecute the organizers of mass demonstrations, Erodgan administration officials said this week.
Philip Giraldi : Turkish Spring: Op-Ed:
The Turkish people have begun to refer to the Syrian conflict as Ankara’s Vietnam, while secular Turks unite to push back against Islamization, and the country’s security services warn about a new wave of al-Qaeda style terrorism.
Six killed in Central Africa clashes:
Clashes between ex-rebels and armed civilians killed six people in Bangui as anger mounted over abuses by the Central African Republic’s new rulers, police and medics said on Saturday.
Iran Stuxnet leak probe: US Gen James Cartwright ‘target’:
A retired high-ranking US general is under investigation for allegedly leaking classified information about a covert cyber attack on Iran’s nuclear programme, US media report.
Iran, Russia to Hold Joint Navy Drills in Caspian Sea:
The Russian and Iranian navies are planning to hold joint exercises in the Caspian Sea in the second half of this year, a Russian military commander said Friday.
Scuffles break out in South African protests against Obama: Video –
Scuffles between protesters and South African police erupted at the University of Johannesburg’s Soweto campus, as people gathered to demonstrate against US President Barack Obama receiving an honorary doctorate.
S. African police fire stun grenades at anti-Obama protesters:
Police fired stun grenades on Saturday at hundreds of protesters rallying against President Barack Obama’s visit to South Africa, an Agence France-Presse correspondent said.
Guantanamo ‘procedure lapses’ resulted in inmate’s drug OD suicide:
A Yemeni detainee found dead in Guantanamo Bay last year committed suicide by overdosing on antipsychotic drugs and a mix of other narcotics, a report revealed. Guards and medics are facing accusations of lack of oversight and procedure lapses.
NSA leaker’s dad says son would return to US:
Meanwhile, Ecuadorean officials say Russian authorities have stymied the country’s efforts to approve a political asylum application from the former National Security Agency systems analyst
Blackout: Defense Department Blocks All Articles About NSA Leaks From ‘Millions’ of Computers:
“Should any website choose to post information the department deems classified, that particular content on the website will be filtered and remain inaccessible from DoD networks so long as it remains classified,”
Charlie Rose – Alan Rusbridger and Janine Gibson :
Video Guardian editors Alan Rusbridger and Janine Gibson on Edward Snowden and the NSA leaks
Obamacare Will Collect and Share Americans’ Data ‘Without the Consent of the Individual’:
It turns out that the concerned folks slapping together Obamacare plan to hoover up your personal information in something called a Data Services Hub in order to determine your privileges and exemptions under the new government health care regime. Even better, officials intend to share your data with federal and state agencies, private contractors and consultants, explicitly without asking for your leave to do so.
FBI sued over secretive facial recognition program:
Soon the FBI will be done building a database containing the photographs, fingerprints and other biometric data for millions of Americans, but the agency has been far from forthcoming with the details. A new lawsuit filed this week aims to change that.
Texas Carries Out 500th Execution:
Texas marked a solemn moment in criminal justice Wednesday evening, executing its 500th inmate since it resumed carrying out capital punishment in 1982.
The Cruel Gap Between CEO Pay and the Stagnant Minimum Wage:
Walmart CEO Mike Duke makes approximately $11,000 an hour. Think about that — $11,000 every hour. Think about an hour of your day, the tasks you accomplish, and the compensation you receive from your employer.
Americans pay 3x more for gasoline than Russians:
The average price of gas for Americans is almost three times more than what Russians pay at the pump, according to Gazprom Senior Financial Director Andrey Kruglov.
Congress to double student loan interest rates:
Seven million college students will see their student loan costs double on Monday, after a group of bipartisan lawmakers failed to agree on a plan to keep interest rates down.
http://rt.com/usa/congress-double-student-loan-390/
Cost Of War
Number Of Iraqis Slaughtered In US War And Occupation Of Iraq “1,455,590“
Number of U.S. Military Personnel Sacrificed (Officially acknowledged) In America’s War On Iraq: 4,801
Number Of International Occupation Force Troops Slaughtered In Afghanistan : 2,344
Cost of War in Iraq & Afghanistan
Total Cost of Wars Since 2001
$1,451,735,987,134http://www.costofwar.com/
The New Dark Age 