'U.S. and Iran discuss Syrian crisis in back channel diplomacy'

from alarabiya.......

"Iranian and U.S. government representatives have discussed ways to prevent Syria descending into bloody chaos should the regime of embattled President Bashar al-Assad collapse, French daily newspaper Le Figaro reported Sunday quoting a Syrian opposition figure in exile.

The paper said the back channel diplomacy between American and Iranian diplomats occurred at two meetings, one at the end of August and one at the beginning of September, but it did not indicate where.

“They spoke about putting in place a high military council on the Egyptian model, with generals running the country and responsible for making senior strategic option,” the paper quoted the Syrian opposition figure as saying.

According to a French diplomat in charge of the Syrian crisis quoted in the report, Iranian officials have adapted to the idea of a new government in Damascus and “even to a change at the top of the regime”................READ MORE

'Washington Fears Israeli Attack Against Iran Without Notification'

from yeshiva........

"Acting on a growing fear that Israel will be launching a military assault against Iran without prior coordination with the White House, the US is seeking harsher sanctions against Iran, turning to the UN Security Council, the daily Yediot Achronot reports. The US administration believes stiffer sanctions will bring about the desired change to persuade Jerusalem that a military strike is not required".............READ MORE

'A World Without Water'

'Israel defense chief: Iran our main threat'

from upi....

"Amid continuing concern that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is inclined to order military action against Iran's nuclear program, a key Defense Ministry chief says, "Iran is out central threat."

The comments by Amos Gilad, director of policy and political-security affairs at the ministry, followed a report by the Hebrew-language newspaper Yediot Ahoronot that Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak were pushing for pre-emptive strikes against Iran".........READ MORE

'Home Prices Heading For Triple-Dip'

from wplg miami.....


"The besieged housing market has even further to fall before home prices really hit rock bottom.

According to Fiserv, a financial analytics company, home values are expected to fall another 3.6 percent by next June, pushing them to a new low of 35 percent below the peak reached in early 2006 and marking a triple dip in prices".....READ MORE

'Food Insecurity on the Rise'

from treehugger......

''Food insecurity has many causes -- poverty and distribution of food are two of them. Other causes that we cover routinely on TreeHugger include the lack of access to diverse and locally grown crops and the sheer amount of food wasted every year for no good reason.

In fact, the impact of food waste in the US equates to 1/4 of all freshwater consumption and 300 million barrels of oil a year. And this is in addition to all the empty stomachs that should not be empty when so much perfectly good food is going into dumpsters -- a problem which has led to the trend of dumpster diving as a method of shopping, even for those with a steady income'...........READ MORE

'Honda cuts production in Ohio because of flooding in Thailand'

another hit to world GDP.......from columbus dispatch.....

"Auto production will drop to about 50 percent of normal until about Nov. 10 and all Saturday overtime is canceled. 

Further changes may be announced as the company continues to assess the situation".....READ MORE

''Occupy America and Friendly Fascism: Life in the Corporate Police State''

a must read...........from the rutherford institute.....

"While the Occupy protests are an encouraging sign that Americans are not completely oblivious to the creeping despotism that is overtaking the nation, time alone will tell whether the Occupy Wall Street movement and its companion protests throughout the country amount to anything more than an expression of discontent on the part of the 99% with the so-called 1%. What has been made clear, however, by the naked aggression of the corporate-state against these protesters is that the 1% is protected by its own security force—the police—funded ironically enough by the very 99% against whom they are waging war with pepper spray, rubber bullets, tear gas and other instruments of compliance"...................READ MORE

'Slouching toward the 1930s'

from american thinker.....


"The current economic crisis rivals the one of the 1930s.  Despite shameless propaganda by government and its cronies in the media, people understand that the situation is getting worse.  Consumer confidence continues to decline as does confidence in the future.

We are headed for an event that history will record as worse than the Great Depression.  It is unavoidable"....READ MORE

'Glenn Beck Mocks Marine Who Protested NYPD Police Brutality'

from think progress....

'Iran to unleash e-warfare with U.S.'

from trend azerbaijan.......

"Iran's Civil Defense agency has received an order to a special squad to defend the country against cyber attacks, Mehr News Agency quoted Head of the agency Golam Reza Jalali as saying on Monday.

Jalali first announced an idea of creation the special unit in August when some media reported that US President Barack Obama's administration is actively engaged in the process of establishing "shadow" Internet and mobile phone systems throughout the world"......READ MORE

South Korea: "Parties inch closer to physical brawl over Free Trade Agreement"

from koreajoongangdaily........

"The ruling and opposition parties inched closer to a physical showdown at the National Assembly yesterday over the still-pending U.S. free trade agreement with the Lee Myung-bak administration renewing pressure on the ruling Grand National Party to pass the pact and the opposition digging in its heels.

The Foreign Affairs, Trade and Unification Committee is scheduled to meet today in what could be the final vote before sending the agreement to the National Assembly floor, despite vows from opposition lawmakers to physically block any move to advance the bill".........READ MORE

'People & Power - The Koch Brothers'

from aljazeera..........

NATO ends 'regime change' mission in Libya

from hurriyetdailynews.....

"We have fully complied with the historic mandate of the United Nations to protect the people of Libya, to enforce the no-fly zone and the arms embargo," NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in a statement announcing the decision.

"Operation Unified Protector is one of the most successful in NATO history. We are concluding it in a considered and controlled manner -- because our military job is now done." The mission was terminated even though Libyan interim leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil had asked for the alliance to stay until the end of the year, warning that Gadhafi loyalists still posed a threat"...........READ MORE

'NZ forces 'war gaming' in South China Seas'

from new zealand stuff.........

"New Zealand defence forces, led by the frigate HMNZS Te Kaha, are taking part in war-games in one of the world’s more strategic settings – the South China Seas.

Te Kaha, along with an air force Orion and the navy dive team are part of Bersama Lima exercises out of Singapore involving Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, Australia and the United Kingdom".............READ MORE

'India’s naval assertions'

from asian age.........

"To put things in perspective, the Indian Navy currently has sufficient forces to tackle piracy, counter maritime terror and meet its coastal security needs. To provide a sustained “credible” presence by a single aircraft carrier battle group in the Asia Pacific Region, the Indian Navy will need to create a dedicated “APR Maritime Task Force” and a “logistics base” in Vietnam".........READ MORE

'Netanyahu cabinet boosts taxes on Israel's rich after social protests'

from haaretz.........

"The Trajtenberg taxation recommendations, which were voted in unanimously on Sunday, included raising the highest tax bracket from 45% to 48%, as well as raising the tax on interest, dividends, stock market profits by 5%.

An additional tax of 2% will also be levied on those with exceptionally high salaries, and the corporate tax is planned to go from 24% to 25% in 2012"...........READ MORE

'FTC accuses debt collection agency of abusive practices'

from california watch.......

"The Federal Trade Commission claims that Rincon Management Services LLC of Corona called consumers’ family and workplaces, falsely claiming that a lawsuit was being filed against them. Debt collectors told consumers that they would be served with legal papers, arrested, or even have their property or wages garnisheed if they did not call back promptly. In fact, none of the consumers had lawsuits filed against them, and the company was not authorized to serve legal papers, withhold wages or arrest anyone, according to the FTC"..........READ MORE

'Colombia politicians fear for their lives'

didnt we just do a trade agreement with this country?.........from aljazeera

'India plans duties on import of Cheap Chinese power equipment'

from livemint..........

"In a move that may spell trouble for private sector utilities and Chinese makers of power generation equipment, heavy industries minister Praful Patel has called a meeting on Thursday to discuss and push for the imposition of customs duties on imports of such equipment.

The meeting will be attended by officials from the ministries of heavy industries, commerce and power, and follows demands by local manufacturers to restrict Chinese power equipment imports"..........READ MORE

'Islamophobia vs Islamism: West losing the battle?'

from ibnlive..........

Pakistan: "US doesn't have permission for drone strikes: Yousuf Raza Gilani"

from times of india.......

"Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has categorically said no permission has been given to the US to launch drone strikes inside Pakistan's territory. 

"There is no such permission," the Associated Press of Pakistan quoted Gilani as telling a group of Pakistani expatriates Saturday. 

According to reports, at least 55-60 drone strikes have taken place in Pakistan in 2011. Over 460 people, most of them believed to be militants, have been killed in the strikes"...........READ MORE 

'Terms for Proposed Foreclosure Fraud Settlement Shock the Conscience'

from firedoglake.........

"Cutting to the chase: if you thought this was the deal that would hold banks accountable for filing phony documents in courts, foreclosing without showing they had the legal right to do so and generally running roughshod over anyone who opposed them, you are likely to be disappointed [...]

As things stand, the settlement, said to total about $25 billion, would cost banks very little in actual cash — $3.5 billion to $5 billion. A dozen or so financial companies would contribute that money.

The rest — an estimated $20 billion — would consist of credits to banks that agree to reduce a predetermined dollar amount of principal owed on mortgages that they own or service for private investors. How many credits would accrue to a bank is unclear, but the amount would be based on a formula agreed to by the negotiators. A bank that writes down a second lien, for example, would receive a different amount from one that writes down a first lien"...........READ MORE

This Is why we PROTEST----Wall St Got DRUNK and The Banks Own The SENATE

THROW IN THE MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX TOO.......

'Video Of Denver Cops Pepper Spraying & Shooting Rubber Bullets At Occupy Protesters'

'U.S. Planning Troop Buildup in Gulf After Exit From Iraq'

WTF?.........i thought we were fricking broke?............get ready for more endless wars..................from nytimes.....

"The Obama administration plans to bolster the American military presence in the Persian Gulf after it withdraws the remaining troops from Iraq this year, according to officials and diplomats. That repositioning could include new combat forces in Kuwait able to respond to a collapse of security in Iraq or a military confrontation with Iran"..........READ MORE

'Is the National Security Complex Too Big to Fail?'

from tomdispatch.....

"The dimensions of the National Security Complex now beggar the imagination.  In fact, everything about it should make it the global yardstick for “too big to fail.”  The Pentagon budget is, for instance, about 50% higher today than the Cold War average and accounts for nearly half of all military expenditures globally. And yet it has kept right on growing; and if bailed-out bankers continue to take home their bonuses as thanks for practically sinking the country, top Pentagon types continue to take home their golden pensions with future revolving-door opportunities in the military-industrial complexalways available.

If you really want to grasp the enormity of the National Security Complex, just consider this stat: today, 4.2 million federal workers and employees of private contractors have security clearances -- about, that is, the population of New Zealand or Lebanon"..........READ MORE

'China enters the Arctic equation'

from vancouversun.........

"It may be that they (the Danes) feel that getting close to the Chinese would leverage Denmark's position in the Arctic Council," says David Bercuson, a historian at the University of Calgary and senior fellow at the Canadian Defence & Foreign Affairs Institute (CDFAI).

"From the Chinese perspective . . . they want to find out for themselves what there is (in terms of potential resource wealth) and they're going to stake a claim because they are not going to let the Canadians and Russians and the Americans divide it up for themselves".......READ MORE

'Is The Trillion Dollar F-35 program in danger during budget cuts?'

we support infrastructure over war products..........from pnj.com.....

"The F-35's cost overruns have led some politicians and Pentagon officials to consider trimming the program, but the number of jobs tied to it nationwide lend it plenty of support"...........READ MORE

'80 volunteers help scrub radiation'

from japan times......

"Fukushima has secured the services of around 240 volunteers, who will carry out decontamination work every weekend in highly contaminated areas in the city.

The municipal government has set a maximum limit of 1 millisievert per year for the volunteers' radiation exposure"..........READ MORE

'Foreclosure's financial devastation is only the beginning of the pain'

from mercurynews........


"The wave rolls on. Another day, another family moved out of a house that it could no longer afford. It's tempting to simply sigh and sadly move on.

But now, nearly five years into this mess, evidence is mounting that the housing crash is more than a financial crisis, or a social crisis or even a moral crisis (in some cases stoked by unscrupulous bankers and in some cases by irresponsible homebuyers). It is beginning to look like the national housing tragedy is also a public health crisis, leaving those who lose their homes both broke and broken".............READ MORE

"U.S. dependence on foreign oil wanes as domestic production booms"

from the latimes........

"In a downtown Los Angeles skyscraper, Hal Washburn is drilling for oil.

Using a black high-definition computer screen, the petroleum engineer traces the ghostly white outlines of century-year-old vertical oil wells punctuated by the bright green and red of more recent efforts. The newer wells flare with what look like thousands of tiny hairs; the hotter the color, the greater the amount of oil"...........READ MORE

"By 2025, 1.8 billion people will be living in water-scarce countries or regions"

from wall st 24/7..........

"The World Resources Institute predicts that “By 2025, 1.8 billion people will be living in water-scarce countries or regions, with alarming implications for human wellbeing and global security.” Much of this water will be needed to irrigate crops. That makes the problem a dual one — water for drinking and water for food.

The institute blames developed nations for the overuse of water. That may be true, but a solution assumes that water is portable. It is not, at least not from continent to continent. Water in the U.S. cannot be transported in any significant amount to Africa"..............READ MORE

Assad: "challenge Syria at your peril"

from the telegraph........

"In his first interview with a Western journalist since Syria's seven-month uprising began, President Assad told The Sunday Telegraph that intervention against his regime could cause "another Afghanistan".

Western countries "are going to ratchet up the pressure, definitely," he said. "But Syria is different in every respect from Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen. The history is different. The politics is different.

"Syria is the hub now in this region. It is the fault line, and if you play with the ground you will cause an earthquake … Do you want to see another Afghanistan, or tens of Afghanistans?

"Any problem in Syria will burn the whole region. If the plan is to divide Syria, that is to divide the whole region"..............READ MORE

'Taliban suicide bomber attacks NATO convoy'-13 KILLED

and these idiots in washington want more wars........

'Online hackers threaten to expose Drug cartel's secrets'

from chron.com.......

"An international group of online hackers is warning a Mexican drug cartel to release one of its members, kidnapped from a street protest, or it will publish the identities and addresses of the syndicate's associates, from corrupt police to taxi drivers, as well as reveal the syndicates' businesses.

The vow is a bizarre cyber twist to Mexico's ongoing drug war, as a group that has no guns is squaring off against the Zetas, a cartel blamed for thousands of deaths as well as introducing beheadings and other frightening brutality.

"You made a huge mistake by taking one of us. Release him," says a masked man in a video posted online on behalf of the group, Anonymous"...........READ MORE

'Noam Chomsky on the State-Corporate Complex'

from tvo.......10/11/2011

'Syrian forces pound Homs; activists say over 50 dead'

from alarabiya......

"Syrian tanks pounded an old district in the city of Homs on Saturday and three people were killed, activists said, after one of the bloodiest days of the seven-month-old uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.

Activists and residents said Syrian forces shot dead 40 civilians on Friday when they fired on demonstrators calling for international protection from Assad’s crackdown"...........READ MORE

Op-Ed: "The Vanishing Arctic"

from moscowtimes......

"Largely unnoticed, a silent drama has been unfolding over the past weeks in the Arctic. The long-term consequences will far outstrip those of the international debt crisis or the demise of the Libyan dictatorship, the news stories now commanding media attention. The drama — more accurately, a tragedy — playing out in the north is the rapid disappearance of the polar ice cap, the Arctic Ocean’s defining feature.

In September, the sea-ice cover on the Arctic Ocean melted all the way back to the record-low level recorded in September 2007. At 4.4 million square kilometers, it was the smallest ice cover since satellite observations began 40 years ago, with 40 percent less ice than in the 1970s and 1980s"............READ MORE

Alex Jones: "Toxic Assets is The Financial Equivalent of Plutonium with Max Keiser"

a must view as Max and Alex destroy the bankster industrial complex

ANOTHER BANKSTER LAWSUIT: "Goldman Sacks sued for $1.07 billion over Timberwolf collateralized debt obligation"

everybody knows they are GUILTY.........from economic times......

"Goldman Sachs Group Inc has been hit with a new $1.07 billion lawsuit for having allegedly sold risky debt that it expected would tumble in value to an Australian hedge fund, causing that fund to become insolvent. 

The lawsuit by the Basis Yield Alpha Fund alleges fraud, breach of contract and negligence, and seeks to recoup $67 million of losses plus $1 billion of punitive damages"...........READ MORE

'Dozens die in surge of violence in Iraq'

kudos to the war department for a great "nation building" job............from alarabiya..........

"A series of blasts and shootings rocked Iraq leaving at least 35 people dead, officials said on Friday, as security forces imposed a tight cordon around the scene of twin bombings in Baghdad.

The double roadside bombing in Baghdad’s Urr neighborhood Thursday evening, in which at least 32 people died and 71 were wounded, marked the deadliest violence in the country since August"..........READ MORE

'US quietly assumes military posture in Africa'

i thought we were broke?????????????????...................endless wars in africa now??????????WTF...............from arabnews........

"While putting few US troops at risk, the United States is playing a growing role in Africa’s military battles, using special forces advisers, drones and tens of millions of dollars in military aid to combat a growing and multifaceted security threat.

Once again, the focus is Somalia, the lawless nation that was the site of America’s last large-scale military intervention in Africa in the early 1990s. By the time US forces departed, 44 Army soldiers, Marines and airmen had been killed and dozens more wounded".............READ MORE

'Outraged Marine speaks out on Occupy Oakland attack'

from rt.com..........

'Libya is open for business'

from arab news........

"It's not just the Qaddafis, Saddams, Mubaraks, Ben Alis, Salehs and Assads that Arabs have suffered over the past half a century or so. There's a long history of tyranny and oppression across the region that goes way back. Yet they never learn from history, condemning themselves to repeat it again and again. Just as Qaddafi failed to learn from the fate of Ben Ali and Mubarak. Just as Assad and Saleh and others choose to overlook what has just happened to Qaddafi.

Today, it's all very well for our friends in the West to claim moral high ground and champion democracy and freedom. Those who are lustily cheering the Arab street today conveniently forget and would want the world to forget that they are the ones who put such tormentors there in the first place. They have protected and pampered them all these years, aiding and abetting in their crimes"............ READ MORE

'Exxon's Profits Hit $31 Billion So Far This Year, Yet Big Oil Subsidies Flourish'

from treehugger.........

"I'm not sure this can even be considered news anymore, given the regularity with which it happens: ExxonMobil has posted massive earnings. Again. The oil giant claims quarterly earnings of $10.3 billion dollars, bringing the yearly total thus far to $31 billion. And yet, this obscenely profitable company still gets annual federal handouts to the tune of billions of dollars a year. To make matters worse, leading GOP presidential candidates' energy plans include expanding federal handouts to Big Oil"..........READ MORE

Google to cops: "Police brutality videos will stay on YouTube"

from zdnet......

"Summary: Google’s role as archivist for important videos that capture history in the making will not be removed from YouTube just because they portray police officers behaving badly.

Regardless of its intentions, Google has given the protesters involved with the Occupy Wall Street a bit of hope that freedom of speech in the United States is still alive and well - and comes in the form of YouTube videos"............READ MORE

'MERS subpoenaed by New York, sued by Delaware'

from reuters.........

"New York's attorney general also took action against MERS, subpoenaing the registry this week for information about how it is used by major banks and a foreclosure law firm, a person familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

The suit and subpoena were part of a joint New York-Delaware mortgage probe, the person told Reuters"..........READ MORE

House speaker to supercommittee- Spare the Military Industrial Complex.....

translation: more endless wars.....thats why we protest..........from wapo.........


"Top congressional Republicans, Democrats and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta are united in a single message to the special bipartisan committee looking for ways to cut the deficit: Leave military spending alone"...........READ MORE

Max Keiser: Debt slash - a debt hike, collapse guaranteed! 10/27/2011

from rt.com......

'Europe's rescue euphoria threatened as Portugal enters 'Grecian vortex'

the whole system is insolvent......from the telegraph......

"A mix of fiscal austerity and monetary tightening by the ECB earlier this year appear to have tipped the Iberian region into a downward slide. "The trends are less awful in Ireland and Italy, suggesting that both are rescuable if the ECB acts aggressively," said Mr Ward.

A shrinking money supply is dangerous for countries with a high debt stock. Portugal’s public and private debt will reach 360pc of GDP by next year, far higher than in Greece".......READ MORE

'Mortgage Registry MERS Sued by Delaware Attorney General'

from bloomberg......

"The MERS database, which tracks ownership interests in mortgages, impeded the ability of homeowners to fight foreclosures and obscures its data, Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden said in a complaint filed today.

“MERS engaged and continues to engage in a range of deceptive trade practices that sow confusion among consumers, investors and other stakeholders in the mortgage finance system, damage the integrity of Delaware's land records, and lead to unlawful foreclosure practices,” Biden said"..................READ MORE

Noam Chomsky Addresses Occupy Boston Protesters: 10/22/2011

'Thirty Years of Unleashed Greed'

from truthdig.........

"It is class warfare. But it was begun not by the tear-gassed, rain-soaked protesters asserting their constitutionally guaranteed right of peaceful assembly but rather the financial overlords who control all of the major levers of power in what passes for our democracy. It is they who subverted the American ideal of a nation of stakeholders in control of their economic and political destiny.

Between 1979 and 2007, as the Congressional Budget Office reported this week, the average real income of the top 1 percent grew by an astounding 275 percent. And that is after payment of the taxes that the superrich and their Republican apologists find so onerous"...........READ MORE

'YouTube Killed The TV (infographic)'

zero trust of the main stream media...........from treehugger.....

An interesting infographic from FreeMake calls out YouTube as the winner in a smackdown between online content and televisions. Goes this mean watching shows could be more energy efficient?

The site states, "The golden age of TV is already long gone. Today all major TV services stream their content online and viewers have more power to choose from than ever. The death warrant of TV was signed with the emergence of the Internet, in particular with the flourishing of one company that was the embodiment of its destruction: YouTube"............READ MORE

'The rise and fall of ex-Goldman Sacks director Rajat Gupta'

from inblive.......

Pakistan's terror nexus: 'Afgan bomber admits ISI link'

from newsx........

Pepe Escobar: 'NATO is the global Robocop'

a must watch.........from rt.com.....

'Saudis weigh retaliation for Iran plot'

from asia times online........

"Saudi Arabia is already concerned about protests in Bahrain, where Shi'ites are seeking greater rights from the Sunni monarchy. Protests earlier this month in Qatif in Eastern province calling for the release of prisoners being held without trial has unnerved Riyadh. Saudi officials have said the protests were provoked by an unnamed foreign power, which is usually code for "Iran". 


Oil as a weapon 
Some four months ago, according to Newsweek, Prince Turki al-Faisal, who was previously the head of Saudi Arabia's intelligence agency and ambassador to the United States, told a group of North Atlantic Treaty Organization officers at a military base in Britain that in response to Iran's negative influence in the region, his country could squeeze Iran's economy, which is overwhelmingly dependent on oil revenue"............READ MORE 

'Vatican Council Calls for World Government, Central Bank'

from thenewamerican.............

"A “global political authority” and a “central world bank”: These are the solutions that the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace recommends for the worldwide financial crisis. “Towards Reforming the International Financial and Monetary Systems in the Context of Global Public Authority,” the document outlining the council’s recommendations, is, in the words of author and Roman Catholic Thomas E. Woods, Jr., “deeply confused,” at once recognizing that central bank-driven inflation and easy credit are at the root of the world’s financial woes and prescribing even bigger government and more highly centralized banking as the cure".............READ MORE

'Saudi Power Struggle'-News Analysis-10-25-2011

from presstv.........

Op-Ed Libya: 'Here come the Muslim ‘fanatics’

from arabnews.......

"Mustafa Abdul Jalil, chairman of Libya's National Transitional Council and the country's de facto leader, promised on Tuesday that Shariah law would be the basis of all new legislation, and that this would involve getting rid of certain existing laws — like the ban on polygamy.

On the same day Tunisia announced that Ennahda, an Islamic party, had won the most votes in that country's first free election. Here come the Muslim fanatics.

Or so the Western media think, at least. Even since the “Arab Spring” began, they have been worrying aloud about the risk that in overthrowing the dictators, most of whom were secular rulers, the revolutionaries were simply opening the door to rule by religious fanatics. And the fanatics would, of course, hate the West and launch terrorist attacks against it"..........READ MORE

'The End of the American Era'

from national interest.....

"THE UNITED States has been the dominant world power since 1945, and U.S. leaders have long sought to preserve that privileged position. They understood, as did most Americans, that primacy brought important benefits. It made other states less likely to threaten America or its vital interests directly. By dampening great-power competition and giving Washington the capacity to shape regional balances of power, primacy contributed to a more tranquil international environment"..............READ MORE

'China stresses ‘non-political cooperation’ with Pakistan'

from indian punchline.......

"The decoded message may be read as follows: “Common antipathies or hostility toward India used to provide the bedrock of the China-Pak friendship, but this co-relation is changing. Past pattern of cooperation was overwhelmingly political (India-centric) but is becoming unsustainable. China’s priority lies in external partnerships that enhance its development. Therefore, Pakistan should apply new thinking, get its act together and burnish its continued attractiveness as China’s partner in a regional milieu that accentuates non-political cooperation"...............READ MORE 

'Even if the eurozone crisis is solved, a bigger challenge lies ahead'

from the guardian........

"Imagine for a second that the crisis in the eurozone is over. A deal has been struck with Greece to cut its debts. Banks have sufficient capital to withstand losses on sovereign debt. Enough firepower has been marshalled to scare off the markets. Bond yields in Italy and Spain are on the way down; the heavy mob from the International Monetary Fund has jetted back across the Atlantic to Washington.

At that point, the temptation for policymakers will be to breathe a huge sigh of relief and relax. That, though, would be the wrong response since an even bigger challenge will present itself: how to get the economies of the 17 countries that make up monetary union moving again. The looming recession this winter will highlight the fact that, deep down,Europe's debt crisis is really a growth and employment crisis"........READ MORE

Eric Schneiderman on Rachel Maddow

must see interview............from firedoglake............

"You can see Eric Schneiderman, above, in his first national TV interview in months, expressing a form of this with Rachel Maddow. “I’m a prosecutor,” Schneiderman says, explaining that he and his allies like Beau Biden, Delaware’s AG, felt they needed to do an actual investigation on the misdeeds of the mortgage lending industry during the bubble years".

“It’s really not all that obtuse… this was a man-made crisis, it was caused by regulatory neglect and greed… we think we’re going to be able to obtain real, meaningful relief… we think we have to hold accountable the people who caused this disaster, and just as important, we gotta get this out in the open so they can’t rewrite history.”.......READ MORE

Bernie Sanders: 'The big banks rule the Fed, here's how to fix it'

jailtime would be a good start for the bankers who crashed the economy............from fortune.......

"At a time when the rally against Wall Street and corporate greed gains momentum, a U.S. government report released last week raises a question few protesters probably think about: Are too many members of the U.S. Federal Reserve board of directors from the banking sector? After all, the Fed regulates many of the very same companies that its members run, and so this potentially poses a conflict of interest, according to the Government Accountability Office".............READ MORE

Google: 'The technology giant's biannual transparency report reveals a 70% rise in takedown requests from US government or police'

goodbye america, it was nice to know ya.............from the guardian........

"Google faced down demands from a US law enforcement agency to take down YouTube videos allegedly showing police brutality earlier this year, figures released for the first time show.

The technology giant's biannual transparency report shows that Google refused the demands from the unnamed authority in the first half of this year"............READ MORE

'Rio Tinto accused over Bougainville 'war crimes'

this is why we protest..........from radioaustralianews.......

"A US federal appeals court has revived a lawsuit seeking to hold Rio Tinto responsible for human rights violations and thousands of deaths linked to a Bougainville copper and gold mine it once ran.


The 6-5 decision on Tuesday revives an 11-year-old lawsuit on behalf of about 10,000 current and former residents of the South Pacific island of Bougainville, where a late 1980s uprising led to the use of military force and many deaths.

The Bougainville residents claimed Rio Tinto's Panguna mine operations polluted the island and the company forced native workers to live in "slave like" conditions.

They also contended that after workers began to sabotage the mine in 1988, Rio Tinto goaded the government of Papua New Guinea into exacting retribution and conspired to impose a blockade that resulted in the deaths of 10,000 civilians by 1997"............READ MORE

'Icelandic People Said No' To The BANKS......So Can We

from real news network.......

'Qatar admits it had boots on the ground in Libya; NTC seeks further NATO help'

from alarabiya........

"Qatar revealed for the first time on Wednesday that hundreds of its soldiers had joined Libyan rebel forces on the ground as they battled troops of veteran leader Muammar Qaddafi.

“We were among them and the numbers of Qataris on ground were hundreds in every region,” said Qatari chief of staff Major General Hamad bin Ali al-Atiya.

The announcement marks the first time that Qatar has acknowledged it had military boots on the ground in Libya".............READ MORE

'Iraq rounds up Baathists ahead of US forces pullout'

from arabnews.......

" Iraq has arrested at least 240 former members of Saddam Hussein’s banned Baath Party and ex-military officers over what some senior officials described as a plot to seize power after US troops withdraw at year’s end.

While several officials characterised the round-up which began this week as the foiling of a specific plot, others said it was a precautionary measure before the US withdrawal, nearly nine years after the 2003 invasion that ousted Saddam"............READ MORE

Pepe Escobar: "Real wimps go to Tehran via Baghdad"

from asia times online.......


"Yet the bottom line, which Washington neo-conservatives will never process, is that the US lost the Iraq war, period".

"It's essential to remember that this Shi'ite-majority Iraqi government - which inherited a totally devastated country - was arrived at via US-approved democratic elections. Now that entails two poetic justice developments; a democratic Iraq getting closer to the Islamic Republic of Iran; and democracy expelling the militarized face of empire. 

No wonder Washington is dazed and confused. Naturally the Pentagon, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the State Department and/or all of the above are already working around the clock to come up with any number of mischief scenarios".............READ MORE 

'Waging war over Pentagon budget cuts'

from the hill........

"Pentagon budget combatants traded blows Tuesday, with one faction warning of 1 million lost jobs and another arguing that strategic cuts will not damage the world’s most lethal military.

The dueling assessments offered a glimpse of the closing arguments each side will make to the congressional supercommittee that has been tasked with finding at least $1.2 trillion in deficit cuts by Thanksgiving".........READ MORE

'It Has Begun: Suburbs Are Turning Into Slums'

from treehugger..........

"To say that the suburbs once embodied the American dream is beyond cliche at this point, so we'll just get to the guts of this: The erstwhile epitomes of Americana are decaying. Experts have taken to speculating that rising oil prices will eventually render Levittowns everywhere unlivable and transform suburbs into slums, but few would have thought that it would happen so fast.

The New York Times has a front-page report today about the ballooning poverty rate in suburbs, which has surged 53% since 2000. That's compared with a 26% rise in cities. According to a new report from the Brookings Institution, 55% of the nation's poor who live in metropolitan areas now reside in suburbs. The trend is driven by declining property values, spikes in foreclosures, and the increasing allure of the city to the affluent"..............READ MORE