Leaked memo suggests India sought backdoor access from mobile device firms to spy on U.S.
An internal memo from India’s Military Intelligence that hackers have posted online suggests that manufacturers of mobile devices have provided “backdoor” access to the Indian government in exchange for access to the Indian market. The manufacturers, referred to collectively in the memo as “RINOA,” include RIM, Nokia, and Apple.
Indian blogger Manan Kakkar, who may have been the first to realize the implications 
of the memo, wrote late on Friday, “Earlier today I came across scans of a set of documents that are internal communications between the Indian Military. The documents claim the existence of a system known as RINOA SUR. While I did not find what SUR stands for but RINOA is RIM, NOkia and Apple. And this is where things start to get very interesting, according to the set of documents, the RINOA SUR platform was used to spy on the USCC—the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission.”
Scans of the memo can be viewed here.
According to its website, “The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission was created by the United States Congress in October 2000 with the legislative mandate to monitor, investigate, and submit to Congress an annual report on the national security implications of the bilateral trade and economic relationship between the United States and the People’s Republic of China, and to provide recommendations, where appropriate, to Congress for legislative and administrative action.”
Both South Korea and China disregard US oil sanctions on Iran
South Korea has announced that it will buy around 10 percent of its needed crude from Iran in 2012, which will be slightly higher than last year. Meanwhile, China also defies US sanctions, stating it will resume its normal trade with Iran.
Press TV
January 4, 2011
Seoul’s demand for more Iranian oil follows the approval of a new act by the US Senate for imposing tougher sanctions on Iran’s financial and energy sectors.
Ignoring the sanctions, South Korea, which is the world’s fifth largest oil importer, is planning to buy 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Iranian crude this year, a little more than the 190,000 bpd in 2011.
According to Reuters, South Korean authorities are going to meet with US officials to lobby for an exemption to US sanctions which will enable the country to buy and pay for Iran’s oil.
SK Energy Company will buy the additional amount of Iran’s crude by increasing its Iran oil import 10,000 bpd compared to last year’s figure.
Hyundai Oilbank, the only other South Korean refiner that buys Iranian crude, will import 70,000 bpd in 2012, unchanged from 2011, a Hyundai spokesman said on Wednesday. He added that Hyundai is also making contingency plans for any disruption in oil flow.
“We are planning for various scenarios, including diversifying supply lines, if the situation changes,” the spokesman said.
On Saturday, US President Barack Obama signed into law fresh economic sanctions against Iran’s Central Bank in an apparent bid to punish foreign companies and banks that do business with the Iranian financial institution.
The bill aims to prevent refiners across the world from paying for Iran’s oil, while the European Union is considering measures that would ban its member states from importing the crude.
Read More:http://www.presstv.ir/detail/219297.html
China wants to set up bases in Pakistan, reveals intelligence report
China might be allowed to use Pakistan‘s military facilities, a secret intelligence report accessed by Headlines Today has revealed.
The intelligence report has set alarm bells ringing in the government circles. Moreover, all this
is being done without any public announcement.
China has been keen on building military bases in federally administered tribal areas (FATA) in the northwest region of Pakistan. In the last few months there have been several high level meetings of Pakistani and Chinese officials.
The intelligence report says: "China’s desire for a military presence in Pakistan has been discussed by the political and military leadership of that country in the recent months. China’s deepening strategic penetration of Pakistan and joint plans to set up… oil pipelines/rail/roads as well as naval and military bases are a matter of concern."
According to the assessment report, Chinese presence in this area might enable People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to counter the Muslims separatists operating from this part of Pakistan for terrorist activities in its Xinjiang province.
Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/china-wants-to-set-up-bases-in-pakistan/1/167052.html?id=3922
Caesar In Amerika!
By Jim Kirwan
But turning every American into nothing but parts of a national pool of potential enemy-agents for unknown-powers that are supposedly threatening the entire nation for a period of time without end amounts to proving that he is insane and unfit to hold any office in this or any other government. So how can this man without a valid birth-certificate and no personal history even run for president, much less stand for re-election in a political election that now no longer has any meaning whatsoever? Chomsky on “Occupy Wall Street” and Israel Imminent Collapse
In an interview with RT’s Marina Portnaya, prominent scholar Professor Noam Chomsky gives his take on some of the world’s political hot topics.
Chomsky vividly shares his reflections on the wall street protests and warns of an impending serious poverty and real unemployment similar to the great depression, he talks about the 2012 American presidential campaign spending and how positions in both the white house and the congress are being bought, not earned and he refers to the killing of Osama Bin Laden and how this marks a shift of American policy from Bush’s abducting and torturing whoever the CIA thought posed a threat to the U.S to Obama’s “just kill `em when you spot `em” approach regardless of the legalities overlooked in the process.
He concludes that the killing of Osama Bin Laden was done, in such a way, as to infuriate, and may be implicate the Pakistani military, something he seriously regards as extremely dangerous.
In regard to the Arab spring, Chomsky acknowledges that the U.S and its western allies did not support the Tunisian or the Egyptian revolutions; rather they opposed them, and backed the dictator till the last minute and then shifted policy when they were overthrown.
Pinning its hopes on the sole support of the US, Chomsky warns “the Zionist state would risk a collapse if that support was to be withdrawn or compromised – much like apartheid-era South Africa.” He recalls how South Africans felt safe to ignore a UN embargo and corporations pulling out of their country throughout the 1980s, as long as the Reagan administration continued to support them.
As soon as the US withdrew its support, the apartheid regime collapsed. "For 35 years, the US and Israel have been rejecting a political settlement that is supported virtually by the entire world.
A couple of months ago, there was a meeting of the oligarchs — people who pretty much run the economy of Israel," Chomsky says, "and they warned the government that it better accept something like this resolution, because otherwise, Israel will be, as they put it, South Africanized: even more isolated, with boycotts, refusal to load ships, and their economy will collapse."
US Ambassador Tells Pakistan to ‘Get Beyond’ Complaints About Attack
Speaking today in an interview on Pakistan’s Geo News channel, US Ambassador to Pakistan Cameron Munter chided Pakistanis for continuing to express anger about the US attack on a pair of military bases just over two weeks ago.
“We have pledged a full inquiry,” reasoned Munter, expressing surprise that the killings were still a subject of discussion inside Pakistan, and advising viewers to “not forget that Pakistan and US are on the same side” and “get beyond” criticism.
“When people die, whether they are Pakistanis or Americans, it is too many,” insisted Munter, added that “we have really tried to make it clear how sorrowful we are about this event. We feel the pain of the Pakistani people.”
The November 26 attack killed 24 Pakistani soldiers, and top Pakistani military officials say the attack was not only deliberate but was “pre-planned.”
Obama asks Iran to return downed U.S. surveillance drone
President Barack Obama is pressing his request that Iran return the U.S. surveillance drone captured by the country’s armed forces.
Obama said he would not comment "on intelligence matters that are classified." But, he said during a White House news conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki that the U.S. wants the top-secret aircraft back. "We have asked for it back. We’ll see how the Iranians respond," Obama said.
Iran TV reported earlier Monday that Iranian experts were in the final stages of recovering data from the RQ-170 Sentinel, which went down in Iran this month.
Iran TV reported earlier Monday that Iranian experts were in the final stages of recovering data from the RQ-170 Sentinel, which went down in Iran this month.
Video: How CIA Was Expelled From Pakistan’s Shamsi Airbase
As Pakistani soldiers took positions around the base two days before the deadline, US military conveyed to a reluctant CIA that this was the end of its decade-long expedition in Pakistan.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan—The events of the weekend of 10 and 11 December show how a reluctant and arrogant CIA was forced to leave a base in southwestern Pakistan amid fears that Pakistani military might seize sophisticated equipment on the base used to operate drones. The American intelligence agency was also let down by the waning resolve of the US government and the military, both of whom conveyed to the agency they would not contest a Pakistani move to seize the base and all of the equipment on it if the facility was not vacated by the midnight of Sunday, December 11, Pakistan standard time.
If CIA had any doubts about Pakistani resolve to expel American agents from a base in southwestern Pakistan, those doubts ended when Pakistani soldiers took position around the base two days before end of the deadline yesterday.
CIA officers at the base, in Kabul and back in the US were resisting pressure from the White House and the State Department to leave Pakistan in accordance with the deadline given by Islamabad. They were hoping for a last minute break that would allow them to keep some kind of presence in the strategic base that provides easy access to Iranian, Pakistani and Afghan air spaces.
This reluctance was part of the agency’s overall intention of not leaving Afghanistan and the region at any cost, despite popular US demands to end the war.
Pakistan had a bitter experience with the arrogance of CIA officials operating in Afghanistan, which is their biggest base of operations in the world today, and wanted to take no chances.
The CIA had ignored an earlier Pakistani request, in May, to leave the base. Islamabad waited then but did not pursue the matter in deference to the United Arab Emirates, an ally whose royal family leased what was a simple airstrip back in 1992 for use as a landing point for its private hunting trips. In October 2001, the UAE leased the base to CIA with the consent of Gen. Pervez Musharraf.
But this time, Pakistan had a contingency plan for the worst case scenario. In case CIA agents refused to leave, the Pakistani military was going to storm the base and expel CIA and its agents and technicians by force and seize whatever CIA drones found parked on the base.
When the Pakistan Army and Frontier Corp units assumed positions around the base on Dec. 8, CIA operatives knew they had to leave by the midnight of Dec. 11, the end of the two-week deadline given by Pakistani federal government. There was no way CIA was going to risk its prized equipment falling in Pakistani hands.
Unlike CIA, the US military decided early on not to take chances. Transport aircraft belonging to US military started arriving as early as Dec. 4 to take away soldiers and equipment. US military officers also conveyed to CIA that they would not resist or help CIA counter any move by Pakistani military to seize the base.
Finally, the last US transport plane left the base at 1500 hours on Sunday, Pakistan time. CIA agents on the ground destroyed bunkers and barracks and some equipment to render them useless for Pakistanis.
US media outlets linked to CIA are trying to downplay the impact of this move on CIA’s operations in the region.
The expulsion of CIA and its drones from the base marks an end to the decade-long CIA footprint on Pakistani soil. Tens of CIA agents have already been expelled by Pakistan earlier this year.
Gilad Atzmon: The United States of Denial
Newt Gingrich is no doubt a revolutionary political thinker.
He has managed to offer an adequate solution to the Israeli Palestinian conflict. In an interview with Steven Weiss of The Jewish Channel, Gingrich said that the Palestinians are an ‘invented people.’
"I think that we’ve had an invented Palestinian people, who are in fact Arabs, and were historically part of the Arab community. And they had a chance to go to many places.”
Such an approach to world affairs is consistent with both Walt Disney’s phantasmic vision of reality and Zionist Golda Meir who back in 1969 announced that there was “no such thing as a Palestinian people… It is not as if we came and threw them out and took their country. They didn’t exist."[1]
No doubt, Gingrich’s/Meir’s ‘genius’ visionary idea should be applied to every American war and conflict. I guess that it is just a question of time before Gingrich announces that the Iraqi people are also ‘invented’, like the Palestinians they were also part of the Arab community. They may also have to schlep around and leave their beloved country to America and its Zionist rulers.
In fact Gingrich’s approach can be applied to every people in the region and beyond. The Libyans, Syrians, Egyptians, Pakistanis and Afghanis are all invented and should look for a new place to accommodate them. But it can also be applied to the current Western financial turmoil and ethical crisis. All we have to do is just to agree that the current crisis is ‘invented’. We should then close our eyes and hope that once we open them again, peace and prosperity would flourish.
In psychological terms Gingrich is subject to a state of denial. Considering Gingrich being a leading Republican candidate for the presidency, we have good reason to believe that if elected to lead America, the United States of America may as well become the United States of Denial.
Source:http://www.gilad.co.uk/writings/gilad-atzmon-the-united-states-of-denial.html
Pakistan: Gateway to the Zionist Endgame
Israel’s plan to eviscerate the Arab and Muslim states, eyes nuclear Pakistan as the final hurdle. In the wake of NATO’s deadly November 26 attack on Pakistan, the S.I.T.E. 
Intelligence Group rears its head to carry forward the Zionist deceptions.
In February 1982 an important Hebrew paper appeared in a Jewish journal named KIVUNIM (Directions). Penned by Oded Yinon and titled ‘A Strategy for Israel in the Nineteen Eighties‘, the essay delineates strategies for Israel to become a regional hegemon in the Middle East. The short and long term strategies discussed involve the dissolution of the surrounding Arab states, and the expansion of Israel beyond its current (undeclared) borders. Over a decade later in 1996, a Zionist study group led by arch Jewish Zionist Richard Perle wrote a paper entitled ‘A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm‘. ‘A Clean Break‘ was largely a rehashing of Oded Yinon’s essay, adapting the same strategies to the contemporary geopolitical landscape of the Middle East.
The Mossad false flag attacks of September 11, 2011 ushered in the Zionist-designed ‘War on Terror’. Before the attacks had even concluded, before any conclusive proof of the perpetrators could possibly have been attained, a prominent architect of the attacks appeared(1) on BBC World in order to name the states that had to be dissolved under Israel’s grand strategy (including Iraq, Libya, Syria and Iran). The U.S. Military was to be used as a mere tool, a ‘host body’ that would act as the American glove protecting the Israeli hand from the blood and treasure that would be spilled and spent. Since that time the geopolitical landscape of the Middle East and Central Asia has changed radically; we have seen the ‘Clean Break’ strategy unfold. In 2011 alone, Israel’s plan has lurched forward to engulf Libya and Syria. A major conflagration looms in the Middle East as Bashar Al-Assad faces a concerted destabilisation attempt mounted by Israel, the U.S, Jordan, Turkey and Saudi Arabia.
Oded Yinon’s plan is centred around the exploitation of ethnic, religious and tribal divisions within the Arab world. He notes that the Arab states have been largely defined by Britain and France, with arbitrary borders drawn that are not faithful to the ethnic, religious, and tribal differences between the different peoples in the region. Likening the Arab world to a house of cards, Yinon surmises that the entire region can be easily broken up into tiny states based on ethnic, religious, or tribal lines. This would preclude any centralised governance, and ensure that power is only localised to these ‘mini-states’. In effecting this strategy, Israel would remove any real opposition to its regional dominance.
Read More:http://theuglytruth.wordpress.com/2011/12/07/pakistan-gateway-to-the-zionist-endgame/
President Zardari suddenly leaves Pakistan — is he on the way out?
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari left Pakistan suddenly on Tuesday, complaining of heart pains, and is now in Dubai. His planned testimony before a joint session of Pakistan’s parliament on the Memogate scandal is now postponed indefinitely. 
On Dec. 4, Zardari announced that he would address Pakistan’s parliament about the Memogate issue, in which his former ambassador to Washington Husain Haqqani stands accused of orchestrating a scheme to take power away from Pakistan’s senior military and intelligence leadership and asking for U.S. help in preventing a military coup. Haqqani has denied that he wrote the memo at the heart of the scheme, which also asked for U.S. support for the Zardari government and promised to realign Pakistani foreign policy to match U.S. interests.
The memo was passed from Pakistani-American businessman Mansoor Ijaz to former National Security Advisor Jim Jones, to then Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen on May 10, only nine days after U.S. forces killed Osama bin Laden in the Pakistani military town of Abbottabad.
Ijaz has repeatedly accused Haqqani of being behind the memo, and Ijaz claims that Haqqani was working with Zardari’s implicit support.
Early on Tuesday morning, Zardari’s spokesman revealed that the president had traveled to Dubai to see his children and undergo medical tests linked to a previously diagnosed "cardiovascular condition."
A former U.S. government official told The Cable today that when President Barack Obama spoke with Zardari over the weekend regarding NATO’s killing of the 24 Pakistani soldiers, Zardari was "incoherent." The Pakistani president had been feeling increased pressure over the Memogate scandal. "The noose was getting tighter — it was only a matter of time," the former official said, expressing the growing expectation inside the U.S. government that Zardari may be on the way out
U.S.’s Afghan Headache: $400-a-Gallon Gasoline
Parachuting a barrel of fuel to a remote Afghan base takes sharp flying skills, steady nerves and flawless timing. It also costs a lot of money—up to $400 a gallon, by military estimates.
But the Pentagon is stuck with the expense for the foreseeable future, especially given the recent deterioration in U.S.-Pakistani relations.
The U.S. Air Force’s 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron flew an airdrop mission over eastern Afghanistan in October. Pictured, a C-130 cargo aircraft seen from another C-130.
"We’re going to burn a lot of gas to drop a lot of gas," said Capt. Zack Albaugh, a California Air National Guard pilot deployed with the 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron. He spoke just before a recent mission to supply a remote base near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, scene of cross-border rocket attacks that have heightened regional tensions this fall.
Such security issues were addressed Monday at an international meeting over Afghanistan in Bonn, Germany, where President Hamid Karzai appealed for continuing international funding well after most coalition forces withdraw in 2014.
But for now, nearly 100,000 U.S. troops are on the ground in Afghanistan, often stationed in difficult-to-reach outposts that depend on pallets of food, water, ammunition and fuel that are dropped by parachute out of cargo planes.
Capt. Albaugh’s recent supply flight over the country’s Paktika province underscored a simple fact of the U.S. military presence: War is inherently costly, and that is keenly felt when the military’s budget is under growing strain and vital supply lines come under pressure.
Source:http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204903804577080613427403928.html?mod=topix
Iceland Recognises Palestinian State
‘Iceland has become the first western european country to recognise Palestine as an independent state.
The Icelandic parliament said in a statement on its website that it had passed a motion with 38 of 63 votes in favour of a resolution to recognse Palestine "as an independent and sovereign state" based on borders predating the six-day war of 1967.
"Iceland is the first country in western europe to take this step," Ossur Skarphedinsson, the minister for foreign affairs, told RUV, the Icelandic national broadcasting service. He said the vote had given him the authority to make a formal declaration on the government’s behalf, but before doing so he would discuss the move with other Nordic countries.’
80% Of Bond Managers Expect QE3 In 2012, Says JPMorgan
Ever the contrarian, we were somewhat taken aback by the overwhelming majority of respondents to JPMorgan’s fixed income manager survey who expect LSAPs in 2012. With 80% expecting QE3, a majority expecting to add to Agency MBS (and high yield and investment grade credit), it seems the Fed’s bang for buck from actually enacting the balance sheet expansion will be significantly lower than it hopes. Maybe third time is the charm but it seems evident from discussions that traders have become numb to this manipulation – even if it does have short-term portfolio rotation impacts – but the difference between managers who expect to reduce EUR assets and those that expect to increase USD assets suggests everyone and their cat is waiting to jump in.
The diversification/currency trade seems popular as local denominated EM assets are among the classes managers expect to add the most to but duration risk seems very evenly split as the great majority expect 10Y to hold the 1.5% to 2.5% range.
It also seems they are more positive on the European endgame (despite a view to reduce EUR assets) as two-thirds do NOT expect Greece to leave the Euro next year and 75% do not expect any other country to leave by 2013.
It seems the lack of belief in any significant fiscal stimulus is being discounted by the strong belief that the Fed will ride to the rescue once again.
Source:http://www.zerohedge.com/news/80-bond-managers-expect-qe3-2012-says-jpmorgan
Pak orders US to vacate airbase within 15 days
Pakistani flags cover the coffins of soldiers killed in the Nato border attack on Saturday. Photograph: Reuters
Islamabad says US must leave Shamsi base in 15 days after deaths of at least 24 Pakistani soldiers in mistaken attack
Pakistan has given the US 15 days to vacate an airbase used as a key launchpad for drone strikes in Afghanistan in retaliation for a mistaken attack on a Pakistani border outpost that killed at least 24 soldiers and injured 13.
American forces were told to leave the remote Shamsi airbase, secretly given over to the US after 9/11, following an emergency meeting of Pakistan’s top civilian and military leadership late on Saturday. Pakistan has also blocked supply routes for US-led troops in Afghanistan.
Shamsi was used heavily for launching the war in Afghanistan in late 2001, and later served as the base for the US drone programme. Set in sparsely populated desert in the western Baluchistan province, Shamsi is highly controversial within Pakistan for its association with drones, which Islamabad officially condemns.
Location of Nato attack and Shamsi airbase.
The decision of the country’s defence committee of the cabinet is an admission that Shamsi remains in American hands. The committee announced that the government would "revisit and undertake a complete review of all programmes, activities and co-operative arrangements" with the US, and US-led forces in Afghanistan, "including diplomatic, political, military and intelligence".
Read More:http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/27/pakistan-orders-us-leave-shamsi-airbase
Imran asks rulers to end alliance in ‘war on terror’
Pakista Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI) Chief Imran Khan on Saturday strongly condemned the unprovoked Nato attack on Salala Check Post in the Momand Agency and called upon civilian leadership to immediately withdraw from its alliance from US-led war against terrorism.
While terming the attack as an insane and immoral brutality, Khan said such attacks reflected the hollowness and counter-productivity of Pakistan’s involvement in the aimless ‘war on terror’ that had been unleashed to subdue the proud people of the region.
The PTI chief was speaking to a public gathering in Shujaabad.
He said Pakistan had already sacrificed 40,000 people and an equal number of people had been maimed and become handicapped. Pakistan had also incurred a loss of over $75 billion in the bargain, yet it was being incessantly targeted by the forces of its so-called ‘ally’, he added.
The PTI chief said that the government had failed to safeguard Pakistan’s security and strategic interests because of the compromises it had made under the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) with foreign forces to come to power in the country.
He said government did not have the moral stature to stand up for defending Pakistan’s strategic interests and should, therefore, quit immediately.
Imran Khan said that Pakistan’s involvement in the war had radicalised its society and was also breeding anti-Americanism.
“Time has come for the government to pull out of this inhuman conflict and initiate a purposeful dialogue to bring peace to the country and the region,” said the PTI chief. Pakistan’s continued involvement in this war would only produce more militancy and destruction, he added.
F-22s Gobble Up More Billions
The U.S. Air Force is upgrading its F-22 fighters, at a cost of $39 million each. This is just the latest of several upgrades for the F-22, which entered service six years ago. Upgrading combat aircraft is common, and necessary. But the F-22 upgrades have been more expensive than previous aircraft. The F-22 is also more expensive to maintain. That costs $44,000 per flight hour, compared to $30,000 per hour for the older F-15 that the F-22 is replacing. The F-22 per-hour cost is nearly twice what it is for the F-16. While it requires 19 man hours of maintenance for each F-16 flight hour, the F-22 requires 34 hours. The manufacturer originally said it would be less than ten hours. Most of this additional F-22 expense (and man hours) is for special materials and labor needed to keep the aircraft invisible to radar.
The main problem is the radar absorbent material used on the aircraft. The B-2 had a similar problem, which was eventually brought under control. But even then, the B-2 cost more than twice as much to operate than the half century old B-52. The B-2 and F-22 use different types of radar absorbent materials, so many of the B-2 solutions will not work for the F-22. Some of the F-22 electronics were not as reliable as the air force expected.
The F-35 uses a different approach to defeating radar signals, and the manufacturer insists that F-35 maintenance costs will be closer to that for the F-15. But Lockheed Martin has been saying, for years, that its F-22 would be cheaper to maintain than existing aircraft. The air force never challenged this, at least not in public. Instead, the air force tried to keep the high operating costs a secret.
In addition, the F-22 costs more than three times as much as the aircraft it was replacing. The air force wants to build more than 187, and has allies in Congress who want the jobs (and votes) continued production would generate. But the Department of Defense was reluctant to spend that kind of money, especially when there so many other programs seeking funds (like electronic warfare aircraft, UAVs and upgrades for F-15s and F-16s). Thus, two years ago, the Department of Defense decided to terminate F-22 production at 187 aircraft. This resulted in each aircraft costing (including development and production spending), $332 million. Just the production costs of the last F-22s built was $153.2 million. Added to the cost of the last few aircraft was a $147 million fee the Department of Defense agreed to pay if the production line was shut down. This goes to pay for shutting down facilities and terminating contracts with hundreds of suppliers.
Read More:http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htairfo/articles/20111126.aspx
The Roads To War And Economic Collapse
The day before the Thanksgiving holiday brought three extraordinary news items. One was the report on the Republican presidential campaign debate. One was the Russian President’s statement about his country’s response to Washington’s missile bases surrounding his country. And one was the failure of a German government bond auction.
As the presstitute media will not inform us of what any of this means, let me try.
With the exception of Ron Paul, the only candidate in either party qualified to be the president of the US, the rest of the Republican candidates are even worse than Obama, a president who had the country behind him but sold out the American people to special interests.
No newly elected president in memory, neither John F. Kennedy nor Ronald Reagan, had the extraordinary response to his election as Barack Obama. A record-breaking number of people braved the cold to witness his swearing in ceremony. The mall was filled for miles distant from the Capitol with Americans who could not see the ceremony except as televised on giant screens.
Obama had convinced the electorate that he would end the wars, stop the violation of law by the US government, end the regime of illegal torture, close the torture prison of Guantanamo, and attend to the real needs of the American people rather than stuff the pockets of the military/security complex with taxpayers’ money.
Once in office, Obama renewed and extended the Bush/Cheney/neoconservative wars.
He validated the Bush regime’s assaults on the US Constitution. He left Wall Street in charge of US economic policy, he absolved the Bush regime of its crimes, and he assigned to the American people the financial cost necessary to preserve the economic welfare of the mega-rich.
One would think such a totally failed president would be easy to defeat. Given an historic opportunity, the Republican Party has put before the electorate the most amazingly stupid and vile collection of prospects, with the exception of Ron Paul who does not have the party’s support, that Americans have ever seen.
In the November 22 presidential “debate,” the candidates, with the exception of Ron Paul, revealed themselves as a collection of ignorant warmongers who support the police state. Gingrich and Cain said that Muslims “want to kill us all” and that “all of us will be in danger for the rest of out lives.”
Bachmann said that the American puppet state, Pakistan, is “more than an existential threat.” Bachmann has no idea what is “more than an existential threat.”
However, it sounded heavy, like an intellectual thing to say for the candidate who previously declared the long-defunct Soviet Union to be today’s threat to the US.
Unfortunately for Americans and the world, the US electorate lacks the intelligence and awareness of their plight as denizens of a police state to elect Ron Paul, the last defender together with Rep. Dennis Kucinich of the US Constitution. Nevertheless, there would be a silver lining in one of the Republican morons being elected president of the “world’s only superpower.” Once the rest of the world realized that a war-crazed idiot had his or her finger on the nuclear button, the rest of the world would organize and close down the Washington horror before it destroys life on earth.
Any sentient American who watched or read about the Republican presidential debate must wonder what there is to be thankful for as the national holiday approaches.
The Russian government, which prefers to use its resources for the economy rather than for the military, has decided that it has been taking too many risks in the name of peace. The day before Thanksgiving, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said, in a televised address to the Russian people, that if Washington goes ahead with its planned missile bases surrounding Russia, Russia will respond with new nuclear missiles of its own, which will target the Amerikan bases and European capital cities.
The President of Russia said that the Russian government has asked Washington for legally binding guarantees that the American missile bases are not intended as a threat to Russia, but that Washington has refused to give such guarantees.
Medvedev’s statement is perplexing. What does he mean “if Washington goes ahead?” The American missile and radar bases are already in place. Russia is already surrounded. Is Medvedev just now aware of what is already in place?
Russia’s and China’s slow response to Washington’s aggression can only be understood in the context of the two countries experience with communism. The sufferings of Russians and Chinese under communism was extreme, and the thinking part of those populations saw America as the ideal of political life. This delusion still controls the mentality of progressive thinkers in Russia and China. It might prove to be a disaster for Russia and China that the countries have citizens who are aligned with the US.
Belief in Washington’s trustworthiness even pervades the Russian government, which apparently, according to Medvedev’s statement, would be reassured by a “legally binding guarantee” from Washington. After the massive lies told by Washington in the 21st century–”weapons of mass destruction,” “al Qaeda connections,” “Iranian nukes”–why would anyone put any credence in “a legally binding guarantee” from Washington. The guarantee would mean nothing. How could it be enforced? Such a guarantee would simply be another deceit in Washington’s pursuit of world hegemony.
The day prior to Thanksgiving also brought another extraordinary development–the failure of a German government bond auction, an unparalleled event.
Why would Germany, the only member of the EU with financial rectitude, not be able to sell 35% of its offerings of 10-year bonds? Germany has no debt problems, and its economy is expected by EU and US authorities to bear the lion’s share of the bailout of the EU member countries that do lack financial rectitude.
I suspect that the answer to this question is that the failure of the German government’s bond auction was orchestrated by the US, by EU authorities, especially the European Central Bank, and private banks in order to punish Germany for obstructing the purchase of EU member countries’ sovereign debt by the European Central Bank.
The German government has been trying to defend the terms on which Germany gave up control over its own currency and joined the EU. By insisting on the legality of the agreements, Germany has been standing in the way of the ECB behaving as the US Federal Reserve and monetizing the debt of member governments.
From the beginning the EU was a conspiracy against Germany. If Germany remains in the EU, Germany will be destroyed. It will lose its political and economic sovereignty, and its economy will be bled in behalf of the fiscally irresponsible members of the EU.
If Greeks will not submit to the tyranny, why should Germans?
Source:http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=27838
By Dr.Paul Craing Roberts
US to Install New Bahraini King: Report
The US administration is reportedly planning to replace the Bahraini ruler, King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, over his failure to end months of protests in the country. 
According to a report published by Islam Times, Washington has urged King Hamad to restore peace and stability to the country by end of 2011 even at the price of his resignation.
The report also says that Washington wants to replace King Hamad with a Sunni ruler upon agreement with Saudi Arabia.
It also said that the US has announced it will not tolerate Manama’s delay in crushing nationwide anti-government protests.
Al-Wefaq, the main opposition bloc in Bahrain, has also said that Washington is dissatisfied with the current situation in the country, which is home to the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet, and is pressuring the Manama government to go back to its previous situation.
Thousands of anti-government protesters have been staging demonstrations in Bahrain since mid-February, demanding political reforms and a constitutional monarchy, a demand that later changed to an outright call for the ouster of the ruling Al Khalifa family following its brutal crackdown on popular protests.
Scores of people have been killed, many others injured and more than 2,000 public sector workers were fired during the government crackdown.
On Wednesday, a long-awaited report on the Manama government’s rights abuse during the crackdowns concluded that Bahraini security forces had used "excessive force" against protesters, physically and mentally tortured detainees and violated their human rights.
In response to the report, King Hamad vowed to reform Bahrain’s laws and to do everything possible to prevent the repetition of "those painful events”.
He also said that officials involved in abuse during a crackdown on anti-government protests would be held accountable and replaced.
What’s killing America? U.S. ranks 28th in life expectancy (lower than Chile and Greece) while it pays the MOST for health care
A new survey on health care is revealing that you may not be getting what you pay for if you check into a U.S. hospital.
The U.S. healthcare system is more effective at delivering high costs than quality care than other developed nations, according to the study, conducted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, or OECD.
It found first-rate treatment for cancer but insufficient primary care for other ailments.
The study said Americans pay more than $7,900 per person for healthcare each year – far more than any other OECD country – but still die earlier than their peers in the industrialized world.
The cost of healthcare in the United States is 62 percent higher than that in Switzerland, which has a similar per capita income and also relies substantially on private health insurance.
Meanwhile, Americans receive comparatively little actual care, despite sky-high prices driven by expensive tests and procedures. They also spend more tax money on healthcare than most other countries, the study showed.
U.S. primary care system is plagued by shortages of family doctors and high rates of avoidable hospital admissions for people with asthma, lung disease, diabetes, hypertension and other common illnesses.
The growth in U.S. life expectancy over the past half century is also below average, gaining only 8.3 years since 1960 compared with an 11.2-year OECD average.
LIFE EXPECTANCY AGES
1. Japan: 86.4
2. Spain: 84.9
3. Switzerland: 84.6
4. France: 84.4
5. Australia: 83.9
6. Korea: 83.8
7. Israel: 83.5
8. Finland: 83.5
9. Sweden: 83.4
10. Iceland: 83.3
…
24. Chile: 79.5
25. UNITED STATES: 80.6
26. Czech Republic: 80.5
27. Estonia: 80.1
28. Poland: 80
The OECD said U.S. life expectancy of 78.2 years ranked 28th – just behind Chile’s and well below the average of 79.5 years among member nations.
The United States was ranked fourth from the bottom for premature mortality, which focuses on deaths among younger people.
The measure, which reflects dangers posed by violence, accidents and environmental hazards, puts America behind all others except Hungary, Mexico and Russia.
Mark Pearson, head of the OECD health division, said researchers believe national mortality rates increasingly reflect the quality of healthcare, though more than half of the equation is still believed to lie with other indicators including lifestyle and diet.
The country with the highest life expectancy is Japan (83).
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