21 July 2013 — Information Clearing House
The Road to Nowhere – Kerry Mideast Journey
By Eric Margolis
Israel is “negotiating” with a PLO that has become a sock puppet for the US and Israel after its former leader, Yasser Arafat, was very likely assassinated to make way for the compliant Mahmoud Abbas. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article35610.htm
Advocates of Iran Engagement Get Unexpected Boost
By Jim Lobe
“Public support in Congress for engaging Iran at the negotiating table has grown markedly since Rouhani’s election,” according to Dylan Williams, director of government affairs for J Street, a “pro-Israel, pro-peace” group.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article35612.htm
NATO: Assad, Prevailing in Syria
By World Tribune
The NATO assessment asserted that most of the Syrians involved in the revolt – including those in the Free Syrian Army – were no longer fighting the Assad regime. Instead, the bulk of combat has been assumed by foreign fighters, most of them affiliated with Al Qaida.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article35608.htm
Egyptian Coup Should Trigger Broad Re-examination of U.S. Militarization of Middle East
By Kevin Martin and Josh Ruebner
Not only is the Obama administration clearly ignoring the law by keeping open the spigot of weapons to Egypt in the aftermath of the military’s coup; it also turns a blind eye to the law by providing Israel $3.1 billion in military aid per year, despite the fact that Israel clearly violates the Arms Export Control Act.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article35605.htm
I’d Rather Kill Myself
11 Year Old Yemeni Girl on Forced Marriage
Video
Video features a profound monologue by an 11 year-old Yemeni girl whose family attempted to force her into an arranged marriage.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article35613.htm
Journalist James Risen Ordered to Testify in CIA Leaker Trial
By Ed Pilkington
Appeals court rules that reporters have no first amendment protection that would safeguard confidentiality of their sources.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article35604.htm
Bradley Manning ‘Aiding the Enemy’ Charge is a Threat to Journalism
By Yochai Benkler
Without an informed and free press, there cannot be an enlightened people. That’s what this trial is really about.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article35606.htm
This Is Your Future:
Ordering a Pizza In 2015, NSA Style
Video
It will soon be possible for not just the government, but companies you patronize on a daily basis to know your most intimate secrets.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article35614.htm
The World is Aghast over Trayvon Martin. The US Needs to Look at Itself
By Deborah Orr
One wonders how the US can have pretensions to being the world’s policeman, when it doesn’t even police its own citizens with impartiality.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article35611.htm
Detroit, and the Bankruptcy of America’s Social Contract
By Robert Reich
The geo-political divide has become so palpable that being wealthy in America today means not having to come across anyone who isn’t.
Is Religion Good or Evil?
Video
Scientist and atheist Richard Dawkins is challenged on whether religion is a force for good or evil in the world.
Bush- Blair Legacy Continues:
65 people killed and 190 wounded in Iraq, worst violence since 2008:
A wave of bombings on Saturday night in Baghdad province have killed 65 people and wounded 190, officials said. Iraq has seen its worst violence since 2008; over 520 people have died in July.
Former head of MI6 threatens to expose secrets of Iraq ‘dodgy dossier’:
Sir Richard, who provided intelligence about Saddam Hussein’s Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs) that was apparently ‘sexed up’ by Tony Blair’s government, has revealed that he could go public after the Chilcot Inquiry publishes its findings.
War criminal released:
Marine ordered freed in Iraq war crime case:
Hutchins led an eight-man squad accused of kidnapping an Iraqi man from his home in April 2006, marching him to a ditch and shooting him to death in the village of Hamdania. Hutchins has said he thought the man – who turned out to be a retired policeman – was an insurgent leader.
Syria activists say family of 13 killed in Sunni village: Report:
Forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad killed at least 13 members of a family in the Sunni Muslim village of Baida on Sunday, in what activists said was the second massacre there.
Syria: FSA Spokesman: We Have Received New Weapons that Will Have Big Impact in 72 Hours:
Spokesperson for the “Free Syrian Army” (FSA) Muhammad al-Fateh has made a statement that a recent shipment of weapons will help the FSA decisively win ongoing fights in Homs, Damascus, Daraa, and Syria’s north.
Saudi Crown Prince Meets With Syrian National Coalition:
Saudi Arabia has became the exclusive patron of the Syrian National Coalition [SNC]. Two weeks after removing Qatar from the leadership of one of the most prominent Syrian opposition formations and putting in place a leadership composed of tribal, secular and Muslim Brotherhood types, Saudi Crown Prince Salman bin Abdul Aziz received a SNC delegation headed by Ahmad al-Jarba.
Foreign Fighters Flocking to Syria Stirs Terror Concerns:
The U.S. and European Union are seeing an increasing number of radicalized young Muslims going to Syria to fight, a development that raises the danger that they will return to conduct terrorist attacks at home.
Aid workers ‘targetted by jihadists in Syria’:
British aid workers in Syria are being targeted by jihadists who are seeking to radicalise them, security sources have said.
Syria Kurds expel jihadists, seize weapons: NGO:
The advance comes just days after Kurdish fighters loyal to the Democratic Union Party (PYD) expelled jihadists allied to Al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) from the strategic Kurdish town of Ras al-Ain.
Kurdish militants replace FSA flag with PYD’s in Ras al-Ain:
A Syrian Kurdish party with links to the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) has replaced the flag of the opposition Free Syrian Army (FSA) with their own after seizing control of a Syrian town on the Turkish border following days of clashes with fighters affiliated with the al-Nusra Front.
Syria Kurds plan temporary autonomous government:
We think that the crisis in Syria will not end anytime soon, so we need to create democratic self-rule in western Kurdistan,” said Salih Muslim, head of Syria’s Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD).
Turkey warns Syrian PYD against seeking autonomy:
Syria’s embattled President al-Bashar Assad agreed at a meeting held last week with representatives of the PYD to grant autonomy to Kurds in northern Syria, the Yeni Safak daily maintained on Friday.
Dagan questions wisdom of PM’s ‘threats’ to Assad:
Former Mossad chief responds to Netanyahu’s Syria comments, saying now Assad has “legitimate claim” to retaliate.
Netanyahu: Palestinians must make concessions at ‘tough talks’:
Palestinians must make concessions to Israel’s national interests for the future Middle East peace talks to bring fruit, says the Israeli prime minister
Israeli ministers oppose illegal settlement freeze:
Hardline ministers in Israel’s right-wing government came out swinging on Sunday against any possible slowdown in Jewish settlement building as part of a deal to kickstart peace talks.
Israeli-Palestinian peace talks’ resumption put in doubt by both sides:
Hostility within Israel’s government towards preliminary talks forged by US secretary state matched by Palestinian rebuttals
Iran Slams US Efforts to Revive Israeli-Palestinian “Peace” Talks:
Iran criticized the efforts made by the US to resume the so-called “peace talks” between Israel and the Palestinians, saying that the Zionist regime is a warmonger which is not after peace.
Iran invites US, EU to inauguration:
Iran’s Foreign Ministry has for the first time invited representatives from the United States and the European Union to attend the inauguration ceremony of its new president, the ISNA news agency reported Sunday.
US, Israel launch joint aerial drill:
It’s held at Uvda Base in the southern Negev Desert, during which pilots will practice air-to- air combat maneuvers, mid-air refueling, bombing runs and other missions.
30 “Taliban militants” killed in Afghan operations: gov’t:
Thirty Taliban militants have been killed and 22 others injured in separate Afghan provinces since Saturday morning, the Interior Ministry said Sunday.
Afghan mayor, among 6 killed:
The mayor of Spera district in Afghnistan’s eastern province of Khost was killed today along five other people, Xinhua reported.
Pakistan: 22 “militants”, 6 soldiers killed in clashes:
At least 22 militants and six soldiers were killed in clashes between security forces and Taliban fighters in northwest Pakistan’s restive Khyber tribal region, officials said on Saturday.
Four killed in two Karachi blasts:
At least four persons, including a police guard of Karachi’s metropolitan commissioner, were killed and four others injured in two separate bomb blasts within an hour at different locations in the city on Saturday, police and hospital sources said.
US conditions for release of Dr Aafia unacceptable: PTI:
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) expressed concern on Sunday over the US government’s prisoner swap agreement with Pakistan, which called for a release of Shakil Afridi in exchange for the release of Dr Aafia Siddiqui.
‘Qaeda officials’ killed in Algeria ambush: Report:
At least two of four “Islamists” killed by security forces in a raid southeast of Algeria’s capital were members of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), press reports said on Sunday.
Three women killed in Egypt clashes :
Egyptians backing ousted president Mohamed Morsi say peaceful protesters were attacked on Friday, when three women died.
3 Policemen Shot to Death in Egypt’s Sinai:
The official says the coordinated attacks killed police guarding an administrative building, a TV station and a police station in El-Arish, the main city in northern Sinai near the border with Gaza and Israel.
‘I saw people burning after drone attack’:
“Some of the injured were crawling away from the scene,” he said. “The injuries were severe – the clothes had fused to the survivors’ skin and some bits of skin had burned off.”
U.S. military drone surveillance is expanding to hot spots beyond declared combat zones:
The camera-equipped Predators hover above the rugged border with Iraq and beam high-resolution imagery to the Turkish armed forces, helping them pursue PKK rebels as they slip back and forth across the mountains.
Australian outback station at forefront of US spying arsenal:
Pine Gap remains an enduring symbol of the unshakeable bond between Australian and US intelligence services. It’s a piece of America. At least that’s the vibe in the large cafeteria at the top secret Joint Defence Facility at Pine Gap near Alice Springs.
Judge Challenges White House Claims on Authority in Drone Killings:
Judge Collyer said she was “troubled” by the government’s assertion that it could kill American citizens it designated as dangerous, with no role for courts to review the decision.
Clashes between Colombia army, FARC kill 10:
The country’s military said the fighting took place on Saturday in the town of El Doncello, located in the department of Caqueta, a stronghold of the southern bloc of FARC.
Colombia’s FARC capture US soldier:
COLOMBIAN FARC guerrillas say they captured a US soldier last month and are offering his release as a “gesture” towards peace with Bogota.
Panama sent ex-CIA officer to US, not Italy:
U.S. efforts to help Seldon Lady escape punishment in Italy opened the Obama administration to charges of hypocrisy when they are considered in light of a U.S. push to bring National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden back to the U.S. for trial.
Court renews NSA telephone surveillance program:
The secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court renewed the government’s authority Friday to continue the collection of millions of Americans’ telephone records, one of the classified counter-terrorism programs disclosed by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden.
Police need warrants to track cell-phone data, N.J. Supreme Court rules:
In a trailblazing decision that expands electronic privacy rights in New Jersey, the state Supreme Court ruled today that law enforcement agencies must get warrants if they want to track crime suspects by tracing the signals from their cell phones.
Bill requiring warrants for email searches nears Senate vote:
The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee is pushing to fast-track legislation that would require police to obtain a warrant before accessing emails and other private online messages.
Bipartisan Backlash Grows Against Domestic Surveillance:
The Obama administration faced a growing Congressional backlash against the National Security Agency’s domestic surveillance operations on Wednesday, as lawmakers from both parties called for the vast collection of private data on millions of Americans to be scaled back.
How CIA Black Ops Teams Are Hacking Into Computers Worldwide:
In a detailed account on Foreign Policy, the Central intelligence Agency, in concert with the National Security Agency, has been demonstrated to conduct what is referred to as “black bag” operations, or the manual hacking of a target’s computer by uploading spyware onto anything ranging from personal laptops to large-scale servers.
Greenwald: ‘Explosive’ NSA Spying Reports Are Imminent:
Glenn Greenwald said he expected stories to appear in the coming days that would be even “more explosive” in Germany than reports previously published about cooperation between the National Security Agency and German intelligence authorities.
German Intelligence Used NSA Spy Program:
This is evident in secret documents from the US intelligence service that have been seen by SPIEGEL journalists. The documents show that the Office for the Protection of the Constitution was equipped with a program called XKeyScore intended to “expand their ability to support NSA as we jointly prosecute CT (counterterrorism) targets.”
Bill requiring warrants for email searches nears Senate vote:
The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee is pushing to fast-track legislation that would require police to obtain a warrant before accessing emails and other private online messages.
Appeals court restricts Dodd-Frank protection for whistle-blowers:
In 2010, the U.S. government joined a whistleblower lawsuit alleging that employees in KBR’s transportation department accepted bribes in the form of meals, gifts and entertainment, from companies seeking to secure subcontracts with KBR to transport military goods around the globe.
Our treatment of Guantanamo detainees offends justice and diminishes us all : Op-Ed:
A quote worth recalling when it comes to the U. S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is Nixon Attorney General John Mitchell’s: “Watch what we do, not what we say.”
Frankie Boyle joins hunger strike in support of Guantánamo prisoner:
Scottish comedian tweets updates to fans while fasting to protest treatment of last British detainee Shaker Aamer
Ralph Nader: There Will Never Be Another Helen Thomas:
There will never be another Helen Thomas. She shattered forever one anti-woman journalistic barrier after another in the Washington press corps and rose to the top of her profession’s organizations.
Helen Thomas RIP: Helen Thomas Get’s Tough with Bush : Video –
Helen Thomas doesn’t hold back with Bus at press conference.
‘Nobody understands’ spills at Alberta oil sands operation:
Oil spills at an oil sands operation in Cold Lake, Alberta have been going on for weeks with no end in sight, according to a government scientist.
UK: Bloody clashes erupt at far-right march: Video –
Hundreds of far-right English Defense League members marched through Birmingham on Saturday, with violence flaring up between opposition group Unite Against Fascism after EDL members reportedly broke through police barriers. At least 15 people have been arrested.
Archbishop of York calls low pay in Britain a ‘national scandal’:
John Sentamu, who will chair a commission on the feasibility of ‘living wage’, criticized the British government for not taking enough measures to tackle low pay in the country and said those in power have offered little more than a “sticking plaster” solution to the crisis which affects people’s lives.
Austerity Axe: More Greek jobs to be cut for intl lenders’ sake: Video report:
The Greek government is pressing ahead with austerity – having approved more public-sector job cuts, struggling to please its international lenders.
Detroit Bankruptcy Filing Unconstitutional, Must Be Withdrawn, Judge Orders:
Ingham County Circuit Judge Rosemarie Aquilina said that Detroit’s bankruptcy filing violates the Michigan Constitution, which bans any action that threatens to cut the pension benefits of public employees, according to the Detroit Free Press.
The big lie behind food stamps:
Congress is currently busy arguing about cutting food stamps. The Paul Ryan budget would cut $33 Billion over 10 years. The theory is that programs like food stamps discourage work
Food stamps helped me serve my country. Don’t cut them now:
Memories of growing up poor still bring a tingling flush of shame to my cheeks.
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 : 3,350
Cost of War in Iraq & Afghanistan
Total Cost of Wars Since 2001
$1,457,740,266,655http://www.costofwar.com/
The New Dark Age 