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Imperial Madness
by Stephen Lendman
Benjamin Franklin once said there's no such thing as a good war or bad peace. His advice went unheeded.
Big Lies launch wars. One after another follows. Doing so reflects imperial madness. America's a warrior nation. It's addicted to war. It ravages and destroys one country after another.
It does so claiming humanitarian intervention. Mass killing and destruction follow. So do charnel house conditions. No nation in world history caused more bloodshed and human misery than America.
Historian Gabriel Kolko called the 20th century "the bloodiest in all history. More than 170 million people were killed." Most were civilians.
According to Kolko, America bears most responsibility. It does so through imperial interventions. It's the world's largest arms producer and exporter. Mass killing and destruction follow.
NSA Bugs UN Headquarters
by Stephen Lendman
Spying is official US policy. It's conducted at home and abroad. It's lawless. Big Brother watches everyone. Even UN headquarters is vulnerable. More on that below.
Spying on the world body is illegal. Doing so violates the 1946 UN convention. It states:
"The premises of the United Nations shall be inviolable."
"The property and assets of the United Nations, wherever located and by whomsoever held, shall be immune from search, requisition, confiscation, expropriation and any other form of interference, whether by executive, administrative, judicial or legislative action."
The 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations states "the official correspondence of the mission shall be inviolable."
Israel Poised to Attack Syria?
by Stephen Lendman
Israel partners with Washington's regional wars. A separate article said America and Britain may attack Syria in days.
Perhaps other NATO partners and Israel will be involved. Hawkish Israeli comments suggest it. On Sunday, Netanyahu said Israel's "finger is on the pulse" of what's ongoing. It need be, it'll move to the trigger.
Shimon Peres called for joint action "to remove all chemical weapons from Syria." International Relations/Intelligence/Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz said it's "crystal clear" Assad used chemical weapons last week.
Selling War on Syria
by Stephen Lendman
Waging war requires manufacturing consent. Public opinion's manipulated to do so. Big Lies substitute for full and accurate reporting.
Truth is systematically avoided. Americans get a steady diet of managed news misinformation. On August 20, Al Jazeera America (AJAM) debuted. Qatar's monarchy controls programming.
It's waging war on Syria. AJAM didn't explain. It claims to offer "unbiased, fact-based, in-depth stories of US in international news."
On August 22, it said "Syrian activists (offered) horrific images of dead and dying children from near Damascus." AJAM called it "proof of a chemical-weapons attack by forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad." It did so despite no verifiable evidence whatever. It repeated the Big Lie.
Britain's Middle East Spy Station
by Stephen Lendman
It doesn't surprise. Washington operates the same way. It's longstanding imperial policy. It relates to waging war on freedom.
On August 23, The Independent headlined "Exclusive: UK's secret Mid-East internet surveillance is revealed in Edward Snowden leaks."
Did Snowden provide information to The Independent? He categorically denies doing so. Perhaps its "exclusive" stopped short of telling all. More on that below.
"Data gathering is part of a ($1.5 billion) web project still being assembled by GCHQ," said The Independent. It's involved in "intercept(ing) and process(ing) vast quantities of emails, telephone calls and web traffic on behalf of Western intelligence agencies, The Independent has learnt."
The 2005 Bankruptcy Bill: Knowing a Financial Crisis Was Imminent, Banks Lobbied Government to Pass Laws to Preserve Their Wealth
by chycho
Our government representatives would like us to believe that the subprime mortgage crisis (2, 3, 4, 5) could not have been predicted. The truth is, the collapse was expected and authorities were well aware that crimes were being committed.
I. Introduction
It is said that if you want to find the corrupt, follow the money. This catchphrase, however, cannot be used as a preventative measure; it can only be used in retrospect to punish perpetrators of a crime. It does very little to protect us from predators. This is unfortunate when applied to our current crony capitalistic system; a wrong decision in our personal finances can mean the difference between living a life of debt servitude or one of freedom.
In our current centralized economic system, the best way to avoid pitfalls and preserve wealth, improving lifestyle, is to pay close attention to changes in laws and be mindful of their implications. Take, for example, the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (BAPCPA):
A rush to judgment is a rush to war
Michael Collins
On Sunday and Monday, representatives of President Barack Obama and Prime Minister David Cameron claimed that it is "too late" to effectively examine the nature and source of the chemical weapons event near Damascus, Syria last Wednesday (August 21). (Image: Tim Green)
Are these coordinated, self-serving statements by those who want to attack Syrian government without regard to the source of the chemical weapons attack?
The "too late" statements came four and five days after the attack. The clear implication is that the limit for a chemical weapons investigation is four to five days after the event.
The Leveraged Buyout of America
by Ellen Brown
Giant bank holding companies now own airports, toll roads, and ports; control power plants; and store and hoard vast quantities of commodities of all sorts. They are systematically buying up or gaining control of the essential lifelines of the economy. How have they pulled this off, and where have they gotten the money?
In a letter to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke dated June 27, 2013, US Representative Alan Grayson and three co-signers expressed concern about the expansion of large banks into what have traditionally been non-financial commercial spheres. Specifically:
[W]e are concerned about how large banks have recently expanded their businesses into such fields as electric power production, oil refining and distribution, owning and operating of public assets such as ports and airports, and even uranium mining.
Pentagon Preparing for War on Syria
by Stephen Lendman
Washington's rage for war won't quit. It sacrifices truth. Big Lies substitute. Syria bears no responsibility for Wednesday's incident. Convincing evidence blames insurgents.
They used chemical weapons multiple times before. They've been caught red-handed. Don't expect media scoundrels to explain. They feature biased reporting. They ignore hard facts. They do so consistently.
They're in lockstep with US policy. They do so right or wrong. They support regime change. They back direct military intervention. They ignore international law.
Latin America: Class Struggle and Resistance in the Age of Extractive Capitalism
James Petras
Introduction
Class struggle is central in framing the issues of political rule, the relations of classes, the economic structures and strategies and the distribution of wealth.
Especially in the era of imperialist globalization, the class struggle takes on an international character, as multi-national corporations, international financial organizations and imperial states directly intervene, or act through proxy collaborator states, in ‘the class struggle between labor and capital’. This is especially evident in Latin America with the ascendancy of extractive capital: giant agro-mineral corporations play a major role in shaping state economic policies, to the detriment of labor, communities and indigenous peoples.
Classes in struggle vary over time and place, depending on their social-economic and political conditions, organization, past trajectory, the distribution of income and the locus of economic exploitation and dispossession.
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