UN demands prosecution of Bush-era crimes

PressTVGlobalNews

Published on Mar 7, 2013

The UN Special Rapporteur on Counter-Terrorism is calling on the US and Britain to release documents proving the two member states committed torture during the Iraq War. British lawyer Ban Emmerson is also calling on other states that were complicit in US prisoner activity to come forward with information. The UN Special Rapporteur who monitors counter-terrorism is calling on the US government to release the Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA rendition during the Bush/Cheney years. Ben Emmerson — the rapporteur — who also asked for the British government to hand over its version of the same report as well — said that the time has come to account for criminal behavior — no matter the source.

Hank Flynn, Press TV, New York

Related articles

• UN Demands Prosecution of Bush-era CIA Crimes (salem-news.com)
• UN investigator urges US govt to pursue Bush-era ‘abuses’ (arabtimesonline.com)
• UN demands prosecution of Bush-era CIA crimes (rt.com)
• UN Demands Prosecution of Bush-era CIA Crimes (fromthetrenchesworldreport.com)
• UN Demands Prosecution of Bush-era CIA Crimes (prn.fm)
• Britain and US asked to release secret torture reports (guardian.co.uk)
• UN demands prosecution of Bush-era CIA crimes (amresolution.com)
• UN Demands US To Release Classified Documents Of Torture Program To Prosecute George W. Bush & Public Officials (princevega.com)
• ‘Time for a Reckoning’: UN Investigator says US/UK Must Account for Torture, Human Rights Violation (commondreams.org)
• UN demands prosecution of Bush-era CIA crimes (EndtheLie.com)

Over the past two years, the Obama administration has been secretly developing a new blueprint for pursuing terrorists, a next-generation targeting list called the “disposition matrix.”

Politics, Legislation and Economy News

*******************************************************************************************************

I wonder if  the  People of the  United  States  understand  that  with  the permanency  of  this “War on  Terror”, comes the permanency  of the  NDAA as well. The  war  has  been brought  home with a  vengeance without  even one  shot being  fired………

*******************************************************************************************************

 

Plan for hunting terrorists signals U.S. intends to keep adding names to kill lists

Video: Over the past few years, the Obama administration has institutionalized the use of armed drones and developed a counterterrorism infrastructure capable of sustaining a seemingly permanent war.

By Greg Miller, Published: October 23

Editor’s note: This project, based on interviews with dozens of current and former national security officials, intelligence analysts and others, examines evolving U.S. counterterrorism policies and the practice of targeted killing. This is the first of three stories.

Over the past two years, the Obama administration has been secretly developing a new blueprint for pursuing terrorists, a next-generation targeting list called the “disposition matrix.”

The matrix contains the names of terrorism suspects arrayed against an accounting of the resources being marshaled to track them down, including sealed indictments and clandestine operations. U.S. officials said the database is designed to go beyond existing kill lists, mapping plans for the “disposition” of suspects beyond the reach of American drones.

Graphic

The process behind targeted killing

Graphic

Although the matrix is a work in progress, the effort to create it reflects a reality setting in among the nation’s counterterrorism ranks: The United States’ conventional wars are winding down, but the government expects to continue adding names to kill or capture lists for years.

Among senior Obama administration officials, there is a broad consensus that such operations are likely to be extended at least another decade. Given the way al-Qaeda continues to metastasize, some officials said no clear end is in sight.

“We can’t possibly kill everyone who wants to harm us,” a senior administration official said. “It’s a necessary part of what we do. . . . We’re not going to wind up in 10 years in a world of everybody holding hands and saying, ‘We love America.’ ”

That timeline suggests that the United States has reached only the midpoint of what was once known as the global war on terrorism. Targeting lists that were regarded as finite emergency measures after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, are now fixtures of the national security apparatus. The rosters expand and contract with the pace of drone strikes but never go to zero.

Meanwhile, a significant milestone looms: The number of militants and civilians killed in the drone campaign over the past 10 years will soon exceed 3,000 by certain estimates, surpassing the number of people al-Qaeda killed in the Sept. 11 attacks.

The Obama administration has touted its successes against the terrorist network, including the death of Osama bin Laden, as signature achievements that argue for President Obama’s reelection. The administration has taken tentative steps toward greater transparency, formally acknowledging for the first time the United States’ use of armed drones.

Less visible is the extent to which Obama has institutionalized the highly classified practice of targeted killing, transforming ad-hoc elements into a counterterrorism infrastructure capable of sustaining a seemingly permanent war. Spokesmen for the White House, the National Counterterrorism Center, the CIA and other agencies declined to comment on the matrix or other counterterrorism programs.

Privately, officials acknowledge that the development of the matrix is part of a series of moves, in Washington and overseas, to embed counterterrorism tools into U.S. policy for the long haul.

White House counterterrorism adviser John O. Brennan is seeking to codify the administration’s approach to generating capture/kill lists, part of a broader effort to guide future administrations through the counterterrorism processes that Obama has embraced.

 

CIA Director David H. Petraeus is pushing for an expansion of the agency’s fleet of armed drones, U.S. officials said. The proposal, which would need White House approval, reflects the agency’s transformation into a paramilitary force, and makes clear that it does not intend to dismantle its drone program and return to its pre-Sept. 11 focus on gathering intelligence.

The U.S. Joint Special Operations Command, which carried out the raid that killed bin Laden, has moved commando teams into suspected terrorist hotbeds in Africa. A rugged U.S. outpost in Djibouti has been transformed into a launching pad for counterterrorism operations across the Horn of Africa and the Middle East.

 

Graphic

The process behind targeted killing

Graphic

Explore documented drone strikes in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia

JSOC also has established a secret targeting center across the Potomac River from Washington, current and former U.S. officials said. The elite command’s targeting cells have traditionally been located near the front lines of its missions, including in Iraq and Afghanistan. But JSOC created a “national capital region” task force that is a 15-minute commute from the White House so it could be more directly involved in deliberations about al-Qaeda lists.

The developments were described by current and former officials from the White House and the Pentagon, as well as intelligence and counterterrorism agencies. Most spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.

These counterterrorism components have been affixed to a legal foundation for targeted killing that the Obama administration has discussed more openly over the past year. In a series of speeches, administration officials have cited legal bases, including the congressional authorization to use military force granted after the Sept. 11 attacks, as well as the nation’s right to defend itself.

Critics contend that those justifications have become more tenuous as the drone campaign has expanded far beyond the core group of al-Qaeda operatives behind the strikes on New York and Washington. Critics note that the administration still doesn’t confirm the CIA’s involvement or the identities of those who are killed. Certain strikes are now under legal challenge, including the killings last year in Yemen of U.S.-born al-Qaeda operative Anwar al-Awlaki and his 16-year-old son.

Counterterrorism experts said the reliance on targeted killing is self-perpetuating, yielding undeniable short-term results that may obscure long-term costs.

“The problem with the drone is it’s like your lawn mower,” said Bruce Riedel, a former CIA analyst and Obama counterterrorism adviser. “You’ve got to mow the lawn all the time. The minute you stop mowing, the grass is going to grow back.”

 

An evolving database

The United States now operates multiple drone programs, including acknowledged U.S. military patrols over conflict zones in Afghanistan and Libya, and classified CIA surveillance flights over Iran.

Strikes against al-Qaeda, however, are carried out under secret lethal programs involving the CIA and JSOC. The matrix was developed by the NCTC, under former director Michael Leiter, to augment those organizations’ separate but overlapping kill lists, officials said.

Explore documented drone strikes in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia

 

 

Read Full Article Here

More on this Story

• Behind the U.S. targeted killing program
• Plan for hunting terrorists signals U.S. intends to keep adding names to kill lists
• Tracking America’s drone war
• CIA veteran reshapes counterterrorism policy

View all Items in this Story

Related articles

• Permanent War: Plan for hunting terrorists signals U.S. intends to keep adding names to kill lists (sott.net)
• It’s Not a Kill List. It’s a “Disposition Matrix.” (reason.com)
• Enter the ‘disposition matrix’: White House institutionalizes kill list (tv.msnbc.com)
• NOBEL PEACE PRIZE UPDATE: Plan for hunting terrorists signals U.S. intends to keep adding names to … (pjmedia.com)
• Obama moves to make the War on Terror permanent | Glenn Greenwald (guardian.co.uk)
• The Never Ending War On Terror (outsidethebeltway.com)
• Kill-list 2.0: Obama’s ‘disposition matrix’ maps out extrajudicial murders for years to come (rt.com)
• Exposed ‘Kill Matrix’ Gives Permanence to US ‘War on Terror’ (commondreams.org)
• Plan for hunting terrorists signals U.S. intends to keep adding names to kill lists (washingtonpost.com)
• Crusading on a Budget: (brothersjuddblog.com)

Police across Europe will “patrol” Facebook, Google and Twitter for postings supporting terrorism under an EU project says leaked report

Crossroads News : Changes In The World Around Us And Our Place In It

IT  – War on terror :  Security – Collection of Personal Data – Social Networks

Police to ‘patrol’ Facebook and Twitter for terrorists under EU plan

Police across Europe will “patrol” Facebook, Google and Twitter for postings supporting terrorism under an EU project detailed in a leaked report.

Officials preparing proposals for ‘semi automated detection’ systems and buttons to allow users to report suspicious activity on social networks and chatrooms to authorities Photo: Bloomberg

By Christopher Williams, Technology Correspondent

Internet firms also face an array of new obligations to monitor their services for extremist material, according to a document about the “Clean IT” initiative seen by The Telegraph.

“It must be legal for police officers to ‘patrol’ on social media. This includes having a profile, joining user groups, sending and receiving messages, on the platform,” the document says.

Officials are also preparing proposals for “semi automated detection” systems and buttons to allow users to report suspicious activity on social networks and chatrooms to authorities.

“Users must be provided a way to flag/report terrorism and radicalising content as a separate, specific category to flag/report,” the report, produced last month, recommends.

“Providers of chat boxes, email services, messaging systems, social networks, retailing sites, voice over internet protocol ad web forums must have flagging systems.”

The monitoring and flagging systems would be linked to law enforcement agencies, with data shared across Europe.

The plan is likely to spark alarm among internet companies, who have long argued it would be impractical and repressive to force them to police the web. It calls for new legislation that would force internet companies to offer filtering software as a condition of trading in the EU.

Civil rights activists warned that Clean IT, funded by a 400,000 euro grant and led by Dutch counter-terrorism officials, could mandate “vigilantism” online and a clampdown on free speech.

Joe McNamee, chief executive of the civil rights organisation EDRi” warned that the project could have unintended consequences for web users.

“I’m not a terrorist, as long as a Greek or Estonian policeman doesn’t accidentally think I’m a terrorist,” he said.

“The initiative has become little more than a protection racket (use filtering or be held liable for terrorist offences) for the online security industry.

“The initial meetings, with their directionless and ill-informed discussions about doing “something” to solve unidentified online ‘terrorist’ problems were mainly attended by filtering companies, who saw an interesting business opportunity.

“Their work has paid off, with numerous proposals for filtering by companies and governments, proposals for liability in case sufficiently intrusive filtering is not used.”

British counter-terrorism officials have been involved in the discussions, which are due to result in final recommendations to be implemented by EU members over the next two years. They are understood to have concerns about the direction and competence of the Clean IT project.

The Office of Security and Counter Terrorism, a secretive Home Office unit, already maintains a blacklist of terrorist websites used in filtering software at universities, libraries and other public networks.

Among proposals yet “to be discussed” by the Clean IT project are measures to discourage anonymity online, under the label “real identity policies.

“Internet companies must only allow real, common names,” the leaked document suggests.

“These must be entered when registering. On request of an internet company, a registrant must provide proof of the real or common name.”

“Social media companies must only allow real pictures of users.”

While Facebook already insists its members use their real names, Twitter has long advocated anonymity as a vital part of free speech online and resisted attempts to uncover its members’ identities by American authorities investigating the Occupy protests.

Mr McNamee suggested that repressive regimes would “laugh till they choke when the EU next lectures them regarding free speech online”.

 

 

Related Articles

• Google backs network of former terrorists

  25 Apr 2012

• Counter-terror ‘hack’: what happened

  12 Apr 2012

• Google reveals YouTube terror crackdown by authorities

  26 Oct 2011

• Al-Qaeda website shut down ‘by intelligence services’

  30 Jun 2011

Related articles

• Anti-Terrorism Police Across Europe Planning To Patrol Facebook, Google And Twitter (businessinsider.com)
• European online counter-terrorism group considering widespread surveillance (pcadvisor.co.uk)
• Police to ‘Patrol’ Facebook and Twitter for Terrorists Under EU Plan (libertycrier.com)
• Leak shows EU’s plans for largescale surveillance of all communications (edri.org)
• Clean IT – Leak shows plans for large-scale, undemocratic surveillance of all communications | EDRI (sunnyromy.wordpress.com)
• European police to ‘patrol’ Facebook, Twitter for ‘posts supporting terrorism’ (indiavision.com)
• EU Stasi to Patrol Internet for Politcal Enemies Opposed to “European Integration” (dprogram.net)

Politics, Legislation and Economy News – Sunday March 25th, 2012

Politics and Legislation

Republican leaders racking up ‘yes’ votes on Rep. Ryan’s budget

By Erik Wasson and Russell Berman

Conservative House Republicans on Thursday said they support the 2013 budget resolution, leaving GOP leaders increasingly confident they will be able to pass the measure on the floor next week.

http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/budget/217693-gop-leaders-racking-up-yes-votes-on-ryan-budget

Kony resolution catches on in Senate

By Carlo Munoz

Much like the viral video that reintroduced the world to the atrocities committed by Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony, a Senate resolution condemning his actions is rapidly gaining support on Capitol Hill.

Introduced by Sens. Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), the resolution calls upon the Obama administration to increase assistance to the Ugandan military’s efforts to take out Kony and his Lord’s Resistance Army.

Lawmakers have been falling all over themselves to sign on as co-sponsors to the Coons-Inhofe resolution. By Thursday, 37 senators had signed on.

http://thehill.com/blogs/defcon-hill/policy-and-strategy/217719-kony-resolution-picks-up-steam-in-senate-

Senate to vote on bill killing oil tax breaks

By Andrew Restuccia

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has scheduled a procedural vote Monday on legislation to repeal billions of dollars in tax breaks for the largest oil companies.

A Senate Democratic aide told The Hill that Reid filed cloture on the bill, authored by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), on Thursday, setting up a procedural vote on Monday at 5:30 p.m.

The legislation faces major hurdles to passage, but will nonetheless rally many Senate Democrats, who have made killing the tax breaks a top political priority amid soaring gas prices.

http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/217701-senate-slated-to-vote-on-bill-killing-oil-tax-breaks-monday

Senate passes House GOP’s JOBS Act

By Josiah Ryan

The Senate on Thursday passed an amended version of House Republicans’ Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act, a bill supporters say would generate jobs by easing capital formation regulations for small companies.

The legislation, which soared through the House earlier in March, 390-23, survived fierce opposition in the Senate from powerful Democrats including Assistant Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and several attempts to gut and replace many of its key provisions through the amendment process.

http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/217621-senate-clears-house-gop-jobs-act-

New counter terrorism guidelines permit data on U.S. citizens to be held longer

By Sari Horwitz and Ellen Nakashima

The Obama administration has approved guidelines that allow counter terrorism officials to lengthen the period of time they retain information about U.S. residents, even if they have no known connection to terrorism.

The changes allow the National Counter terrorism Center (NCTC), the intelligence community’s clearinghouse for terrorism data, to keep information for up to five years. Previously, the center was required to promptly destroy — generally within 180 days — any information about U.S. citizens or residents unless a connection to terrorism was evident.

The new guidelines, which were approved Thursday by Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., have been in the works for more than a year, officials said.

The guidelines have prompted concern from civil liberties advocates…….

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/new-counterterrorism-guidelines-would-permit-data-on-us-citizens-to-be-held-longer/2012/03/21/gIQAFLm7TS_story.html

Chinese Security Chief Lost Power Struggle in Coup

Zhou Yongkang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of CPC attends the opening session of the National People’s Congress (NPC) on March 5. A suddenly announced ideological training session is the latest sign that things are changing in Beijing.

…….On March 15, Zhou’s handpicked successor to head the PLAC, Bo Xilai, was placed under house arrest by the Central Guard Bureau, the agency responsible for the security of the CCP’s top leaders. Many bloggers assumed Zhou has now suffered Bo’s fate.

“The PLAC will be holding a massive training course for over 3,300 secretaries. Don’t you guys think there’s something fishy about it? Perhaps Zhou Yongkang is in trouble now,” wrote a blogger.

“It looks like Zhou Yongkang has been arrested. The PLAC wants its people to pledge their loyalty,” wrote one blogger.

Another blogger wrote, “It looks like the Party secretary of the PLAC is a goner, and Party officials have to realign the formation.”

http://beforeitsnews.com/story/1925/119/Chinese_Security_Chief_Lost_Power_Struggle_in_Coup.html

Federal Judge Okays Flag Desecration

By toddstarnes

A federal judge has declared Missouri’s flag desecration law is unconstitutional and cannot be enforced. U.S. District Judge Carol E. Jackson issued a permanent injunction in the case of Frank Snider, who was arrested in 2009 for cutting up an American flag and throwing it into the street.

http://radio.foxnews.com/toddstarnes/top-stories/federal-judge-okays-flag-desecration.html?utm_source=Todd+Starnes+Website&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=4af0db1143-STARNES_RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN

Economy

Southern leg of Keystone pipeline a ‘priority,’ Obama says

Amid criticism he isn’t doing enough to beat back rising gas prices, President Obama Thursday said he is calling on his administration “to cut through red tape, break through bureaucratic hurdles,” and make the Southern leg of the controversial Keystone pipeline “a priority.” Mr. Obama’s stop in Cushing was part of a four-state, two-day tour in which the president touted his [corpora-terrorist overlords’] energy policies. Standing next to the giant TransCanada pipes that will make up the Southern leg of the Keystone pipeline, Mr. Obama sought to remind voters that he’s not opposed to domestic oil drilling

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57402437-503544/southern-leg-of-keystone-pipeline-a-priority-obama-says/

Saudi Arabia And China Team Up To Build A Gigantic New Oil Refinery – Is This The Beginning Of The End For The Petrodollar?

The largest oil exporter in the Middle East has teamed up with the second largest consumer of oil in the world (China) to build a gigantic new oil refinery and the mainstream media in the United States has barely even noticed it. This mammoth new refinery is scheduled to be fully operational in the Red Sea port city of Yanbu by 2014. Over the past several years, China has sought to aggressively expand trade with Saudi Arabia, and China now actually imports more oil from Saudi Arabia than the United States does. In February, China imported 1.39 million barrels of oil per day from Saudi Arabia. That was 39 percent higher than last February. So why is this important? Well, back in 1973 the United States and Saudi Arabia agreed that all oil sold by Saudi Arabia would be denominated in U.S. dollars. This petrodollar system was adopted by almost the entire world and it has had great benefits for the U.S. economy. But if China becomes Saudi Arabia’s most important trading partner, then why should Saudi Arabia continue to only sell oil in U.S. dollars? And if the petrodollar system collapses, what is that going to mean for the U.S. economy?…..

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/saudi-arabia-and-china-team-up-to-build-a-gigantic-new-oil-refinery-is-this-the-beginning-of-the-end-for-the-petrodollar

Dangerous and Bizarre Obama Nominee for World Bank Prez
This looks like major trouble.

President Obama has nominated Dartmouth College President Jim Yong Kim for the position of President of the World Bank. All bets were on Jeffrey Sachs. Sachs even thought he was the man, as countries around the world were lining up behind him.

However, President Obama out of the blue nominates Kim. It should be noted that Kim has zero financial background, which in itself may not be bad, since it means he is not a regime bankster. But, his credentials suggest that Obama sees some kind of global social health program along the lines of Obamacare, with the World Bank as a key player.

Kim has been a Professor of Medicine and Social Medicine and Chair of the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School. What’s “Social Medicine”. Wikipedia explains it well:

The field of social medicine seeks to:

understand how social and economic conditions impact health, disease and the practice of medicine and foster conditions in which this understanding can lead to a healthier society.

Translation: It’s about central planning for the medical industry.

http://www.economicpolicyjournal.com/2012/03/dangerous-and-bizarre-obama-nominee-for.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+economicpolicyjournal%2FYZSb+%28EconomicPolicyJournal.com%29

Wars and Rumors of War

Ex-FBI informant on terror traps:

‘There is no real hunt. It’s fixed’

Craig Monteilh says he did not balk when his FBI handlers gave him the OK to have sex with the Muslim women his undercover operation was targeting. Nor, at the time, did he shy away from recording their pillow talk. “They said, if it would enhance the intelligence, go ahead and have sex. So I did,” Monteilh told the Guardian as he described his year as a confidential FBI informant sent on a secret mission to infiltrate southern Californian mosques. It is an astonishing admission that goes to the heart of the intelligence surveillance of Muslim communities in America in the years after 9/11. While police and FBI leaders have insisted they are acting to defend America from a terrorist attack, civil liberties groups have insisted they have repeatedly gone too far and treated an entire religious group as suspicious.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/mar/20/fbi-informant

U.S. Sergeant Faces 17 Counts of Murder in Afghan Killings

Staff Sgt. Robert Bales will be charged on Friday with 17 counts of murder and various other charges, including attempted murder, in connection with the March 11 shooting deaths of Afghan civilians, a senior United States official said on Thursday. Sergeant Bales, who is 38 and had been serving his fourth combat tour overseas, is being held at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. He is accused of walking away from his remote base in southern Afghanistan and killing 16 17 civilians in a nighttime ambush…

Afghan villagers told they would pay for bomb days ahead of massacre of 16

Residents of an Afghan village near where an American soldier is alleged to have killed 16 civilians are convinced that the slayings were in retaliation for a roadside bomb attack on US forces in the same area a few days earlier. In accounts to The Associated Press and to Afghan government officials, the residents allege that US troops lined up men from the village of Mokhoyan against a wall after the bombing on either March 7 or 8, and told them they would pay a price for the attack.

http://video.theaustralian.com.au/embed/2211758652/Friends-of-US-soldier-react-to-Afghanistan-massacre-allegat?player=narrow

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/afghan-villagers-told-they-would-pay-for-bomb-days-ahead-of-massacre-of-16/story-e6frg6so-1226305886039

Environmental

Poland’s Monsanto action lays 1000s of dead bees on Govt steps

By Rady Ananda
Food Freedom

On March 15, over 1,500 beekeepers and their allies marched thru the streets of Warsaw, depositing thousands of dead bees on the steps of the Ministry of Agriculture, in protest of genetically modified foods and their requisite pesticides which are killing bees, moths and other agriculturally-beneficial insects around the globe.

Later that day the Minister of Agriculture, Marek Sawicki, announced plans to ban MON810, which has become ineffective at deterring pests in the US.

GM crops and the pesticides used with them have led to a host of problems (itemized here), including the development of new pathogens. One is associated with spontaneous abortion in cattle and another is responsible for massive methane foaming on manure lagoons which explode, killing thousands of animals in the US since 2001.

The Polish Beekeepers Association organized the protest, joining forces with International Coalition to Protect the Polish Countryside (ICPPC) and the Coalition for a GMO Free Poland. Targeting Monsanto’s MON810 GM corn in particular, they also called for a complete ban on all GM crops and harmful pesticides……

http://foodfreedomgroup.com/2012/03/22/319/

Cyber Space

Sarkozy: Jail those who browse terror websites

By RAPHAEL SATTER

PARIS

France’s president proposed a sweeping new law Thursday that would jail those who visit extremist web sites — one of several tough new measures floated in the wake of a murderous shooting spree.

The proposed rules, unveiled by Nicolas Sarkozy after the death of an Islamist fanatic wanted for a horrifying series of execution-style murders, have alarmed journalists and legal experts, who say they risk pulling the plug on free expression.

Sarkozy argued that it was time to treat those who browse extremist websites the same way as those who consume child pornography.

“Anyone who regularly consults Internet sites which promote terror or hatred or violence will be sentenced to prison,” he told a campaign rally in Strasbourg, in eastern France. “What is possible for pedophiles should be possible for trainee terrorists and their supporters, too.”……

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/2012-03/D9TLMR9G1.htm

Activism

Paramilitary-Style Police Detain And Search Individuals From Occupy Miami

Summary of post by James Cox

Members of Occupy Miami were leaving to do a march and a rally, when multiple trucks and cars filled with paramilitary SWAT-looking officers, with military weaponry pulled. According to reports, these ‘paramilitary-looking’ police officers drew their weapons on the occupiers and rounded them up, along with tenants of the apartment complex, and put them on the ground… These officers were in full riot gear and had assault rifles, tactical gear and shotguns. They were also accompanied by FBI agents and the City of Miami police.

http://freedividual.com/2012/03/13/para-military-style-police-detain-and-search-individuals-from-occupy-miami/

Dozens arrested in Vermont Yankee protest

Scores of protesters were arrested at the corporate headquarters of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant Thursday, the first day of the plant’s operation after the expiration of its 40-year license. A heavy police presence and ropes blocked off access to the offices in Brattleboro. The arrests were made calmly and without any confrontation, with obvious signs that protesters and police had worked out the logistics beforehand. A crowd estimated at more than 1,000 gathered in a downtown Brattleboro park before they marched the 3 1/2 miles to the headquarters.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/03/22/dozens-arrested-in-vermont-yankee-protest/

Radiation

The Rage Against Radiation

by Zen Gardner

The outrage against nuclear power is totally under reported. Naturally. Who in the corporate media would want to fight corporate interests in a corporately controlled world?

The amazing video below is the soul of conscious Japan revealed and well worth the full watch. It’s extremely powerful, lucid, comprehensive, consciously aware and emotionally moving.

All the right stuff.

http://beforeitsnews.com/story/1927/859/The_Rage_Against_Radiation.html

Misc

Marine facing dismissal over Obama criticism

The Marine Corps on Wednesday notified a sergeant who has been openly critical of President Barack Obama that he is violating Pentagon policy barring troops from political activities and that he faces dismissal. Camp Pendleton Marine Sgt. Gary Stein started a Facebook page called Armed Forces Tea Party to encourage fellow service members to exercise their free speech rights. He declared a few weeks ago that he would not follow the unlawful orders of the commander in chief. Stein stated that he would not follow orders from the president if those orders included detaining U.S. citizens, disarming them or doing anything else that he believes would violate their constitutional rights.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57402088/marine-facing-dismissal-over-obama-criticism/

People & Power – America’s Dangerous Game

Uploaded by AlJazeeraEnglish on Mar 1, 2012

This film reveals the full scale of Washington’s covert war in Yemen and asks: Is the US creating more enemies than it can capture or kill?

Politics, Legislation and Enonomy News – Friday March 2nd, 2012

Politics and  Legislation

Senate rejects Blunt amendment to limit birth-control mandate

By Josiah Ryan and Sam Baker – 03/01/12 03:18 PM ET

http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/213615-senate-rejects-blunt-amendment-to-kill-birth-control-mandate

Punchy Obama hits Republicans over auto bailout

http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=379091

Amid rising gas prices, Obama to call for vote on killing oil tax breaks

By Ben Geman – 03/01/12 06:08 AM ET

http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/213527-obama-to-demand-capitol-hill-vote-on-killing-oil-tax-breaks

Israel legalizes unsanctioned settler enclave

http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article581707.ece

Defense Ministry clarifies presence of Iran warships in Jeddah

http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article579690.ece

Economy

GDP Records 3 Percent Annual Increase in Fourth Quarter

http://www.newsroomamerica.com/story/220743/gdp_records_3_percent_annual_increase_in_fourth_quarter_.html

Stop Starving Public Universities and Shrinking the Middle Class

http://www.nationofchange.org/stop-starving-public-universities-and-shrinking-middle-class-1330615050

The Keystone XL Flim-Flam

http://www.nationofchange.org/keystone-xl-flim-flam-1330611946

Financial Firm Fined for Misleading Investors on Magnetar Bets

http://www.nationofchange.org/financial-firm-fined-misleading-investors-magnetar-bets-1330621789

On Regaining a Spirit of Defiance: “I’m Worried Now But I Won’t Be Worried Long”

http://www.nationofchange.org/regaining-spirit-defiance-i-m-worried-now-i-won-t-be-worried-long-1330620411

China Dumps $100+ Billion In USTs In December Per Revised TIC Data; UK Is Now Russia’s Shadow Buyer

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/china-dumps-100-billion-usts-december-revised-tic-data-uk-now-russias-shadow-buyer

Fed officials flag soft economy but mum on easing

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/fed-officials-flag-soft-economy-235647241.html;_ylt=Ar6NA7DNLmIaxADmLEx3TkuiuYdG;_ylu=X3oDMTQ0c3J1czEyBG1pdANGaW5hbmNlIEZQIFRvcCBTdG9yeSBSaWdodARwa2cDYzZkZTYyMGYtMTllNy0zNWU3LWFiZjktMmFhMDc3MjhhNDg4BHBvcwMyBHNlYwN0b3Bfc3RvcnkEdmVyA2QzNzI2OTUwLTYzZmEtMTFlMS1iOWZjLWI1NThhNTkwZTI1Zg–;_ylg=X3oDMTFvdnRqYzJoBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANob21lBHB0A3NlY3Rpb25zBHRlc3QD;_ylv=3

Factory growth cools, spending stagnant

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/factory-income-data-support-growth-075906195.html;_ylt=AmDI1doYqhA.Da7ntekvURaiuYdG;_ylu=X3oDMTQ0Nm5vaWc2BG1pdANGaW5hbmNlIEZQIFRvcCBTdG9yeSBSaWdodARwa2cDZWEyNzkwMmQtOTc0Mi0zNWY4LTk3OGQtZDM3ZDdkOTY4ZDg2BHBvcwMzBHNlYwN0b3Bfc3RvcnkEdmVyAzczNTQ1ZTUwLTYzZjItMTFlMS1iY2E3LTc0YmU1MjllZDU3Ng–;_ylg=X3oDMTFvdnRqYzJoBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANob21lBHB0A3NlY3Rpb25zBHRlc3QD;_ylv=3

Inflation Is A Tax And The Federal Reserve Is Taxing The Living Daylights Out Of Us

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/inflation-is-a-tax-and-the-federal-reserve-is-taxing-the-living-daylights-out-of-us

Nasdaq cracks 3,000; stocks dip as Bernanke speaks

http://washingtonexaminer.com/news/2012/02/nasdaq-cracks-3000-stocks-dip-bernanke-speaks/323556

IRS battling conservatives over tax-exempt status

http://washingtonexaminer.com/news/2012/03/irs-battling-conservatives-over-tax-exempt-status/327396

Kingdom’s foreign trade jumps to $358 billion

http://arabnews.com/economy/article581881.ece

New Exposé Tracks ALEC-Private Prison Industry Effort to Replace Unionized Workers with Prison Labor

http://www.democracynow.org/2011/8/5/new_expos_tracks_alec_private_prison

 

Oil price jumps to 43-month high on Saudi blast reports

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17229025

 

Wars  and  Rumors of War

Pentagon prepares “aerial refueling” for Israeli planes striking Iran

http://www.debka.com/article/21780/

Israel unveils sophisticated bomb shelters in Tel Aviv

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Israel-unveils-sophisticated-bomb-shelters-in-Tel-Aviv/articleshow/12100497.cms

US confirms placement of US forces at a radar site in Malatya

http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=379120

Russia Upgrades Air Defense Radar; Iranian Underground Nuke Facilities Vulnerable

http://www.newsroomamerica.com/story/221099/russia_upgrades_air_defense_radar;_iranian_underground_nuke_facilities_vulnerable.html

Senators Concerned About Risk to U.S. Forces over Syrian Chemical Weapons

http://www.newsroomamerica.com/story/220848/senators_concerned_about_risk_to_u.s._forces_over_syrian_chemical_weapons.html

Creator Explains Message Behind “Bomb Iran” Billboard

http://www.bombiran.org/

Counter-terrorism: US special forces stationed in India, reveals Pentagon

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Counter-terrorism-US-special-forces-stationed-in-India-reveals-Pentagon/articleshow/12107378.cms

Misc

Fracking Bans that Can Stand

http://www.nationofchange.org/fracking-bans-can-stand-1330618484

Occupy Education: Teachers, Students Fight School Closings, Privatization, Layoffs, Rankings