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Tiptoeing Toward War on Syria
by Stephen Lendman
Events in Syria resemble the run-up to Obama's Libya war. Victims are called aggressors. Pretexts are created for intervention.
Washington appears headed for more war. Lack of public support doesn't matter. A New York Times/CBS poll showed 62% of respondents don't believe America has a "responsibility" to intervene.
A new Pew survey at best found lukewarm support. Asked how Washington should respond if Assad used chemical weapons, 45% supported intervention while 31% opposed. Another 25% had no opinion.
Americans remain largely indifferent. Only 18% of Pew respondents said they follow Syrian events closely. The Times/CBS poll registered 10%. Apathy gives Obama more leverage. Expect him to take full advantage.
Goliath Squashes David - Facebook Spikes Activist Ad
Michael Collins
I respect entrepreneurs who build something from nothing, particularly the vast class of entrepreneurs in the United States who build small businesses and smaller medium sized firms. They are the backbone of any employment growth we have with very little help from the government(s). It's all Wall Street and very little Main Street. (Image: Creative Commons)
It is natural and probably correct most of the time to impute great skills and intelligence to entrepreneurs who start out with nothing and build huge companies. The accomplishments of Gates and Jobs are works of genius, undeniably (regardless of what you think of the brand). But occasionally, someone makes it big who also happens to be a moron.
For whatever reason, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has some group supporting the approval of the Keystone XL pipeline. When CREDO ran their ad with Zuckerberg's image (creative commons) in the ad, it was pulled for lack of proper permissions. (See Think Progress)
This is where the "moron" part comes in.
Institutionalized Spying on Americans
by Stephen Lendman
Big Brother no longer is fiction. It hasn't been for some time. It's official US policy. According to ACLU's Technology and Liberty Program director Barry Steinhardt:
"Given the capabilities of today's technology, the only thing protecting us from a full-fledged surveillance society are the legal and political institutions we have inherited as Americans."
"Unfortunately, the September 11 attacks have led some to embrace the fallacy that weakening the Constitution will strengthen America."
Manufactured national security threats matter more than fundamental freedoms. Domestic spying is institutionalized.
Anyone can be monitored for any reason or none at all. Privacy rights are lost. Patriot Act legislation authorized unchecked government surveillance powers.
What's Ahead for Syria?
by Stephen Lendman
Syria's being systematically destroyed. Washington planned doing so years ago. Sovereign independence isn't tolerated. It's longstanding US policy.
Numerous states learned the hard way. Syria is America's latest victim. It's falsely blamed for Washington's war. The pattern by now is familiar.
Ravaging the world one country at a time or in multiples is policy. Terrorism is what they do, not us. Reasons for imperial wars are suppressed.
Wealth, power, privileged and unchallenged dominance alone matter. Sacrificing human lives and freedoms are small prices to pay. Regime change is prioritized. False pretexts facilitate intervention. Media propaganda glorifies war. It's done in the name of peace. Propaganda wars precede hot ones. Managed news misinformation enlists public support.
How the Boston Bombings May Change the World for the Worse!
James Petras
The relation between the suspected Boston Marathon bombers and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Massachusetts State Police (MSP) and the Boston Police (BP) is a point of contention and controversy.
The FBI, at first, claimed no knowledge of the bombing suspects but later was forced to admit having received at least two sets of intelligence reports, one from Russian officials and another from the CIA, identifying one of the suspected bombers, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, as a potential security threat -linked to a Chechen terrorist organization. Testimony from Tsarnaev’s mother and father indicates that the FBI was active in following, harassing and interrogating the suspect before the bombing. Despite general directives from the US Departments of Justice and Homeland Security mandating US security to aggressively pursue ‘Islamist terrorists’, the FBI claims to have made no effort to follow-up on the Russian and CIA security alerts, especially after Tamerlan Tsarnaev returned from Russian state of Dagestan last year where he allegedly met six times with a known Chechen terrorist, Gadzhimurad Dolgatov, in a fundamentalist Salafi mosque.
Bail-out Is Out, Bail-in Is In: Time for Some Publicly-Owned Banks
by Ellen Brown
“[W]ith Cyprus . . . the game itself changed. By raiding the depositors’ accounts, a major central bank has gone where they would not previously have dared. The Rubicon has been crossed.”
—Eric Sprott, Shree Kargutkar, “Caveat Depositor”
The crossing of the Rubicon into the confiscation of depositor funds was not a one-off emergency measure limited to Cyprus. Similar “bail-in” policies are now appearing in multiple countries. (See my earlier articles here.) What triggered the new rules may have been a series of game-changing events including the refusal of Iceland to bail out its banks and their depositors; Bank of America’s commingling of its ominously risky derivatives arm with its depository arm over the objections of the FDIC; and the fact that most EU banks are now insolvent. A crisis in a major nation such as Spain or Italy could lead to a chain of defaults beyond anyone’s control, and beyond the ability of federal deposit insurance schemes to reimburse depositors.
Simpson-Bowles 2.0Â
by Stephen Lendman
Both men represent the nation's ruling class. They want more wealth transferred from ordinary people to corporate America and privileged elites like themselves. They're back with plan B. More on that below.
On February 18, 2010, Obama issued Executive Order 13531. It established the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform (NCFRR).
Two neoliberal ideologues head it: former Senator Alan Simpson (R. WY) and former Clinton White House chief of staff Erskine Bowles.
They head a 19-member team. It's stacked with like-minded members. Their mandate then and now includes fiscal austerity for most people, unlimited wealth opportunities for corporate America and super-rich elites.
Syria: Upping the Stakes
by Stephen Lendman
Things appear heading closer toward full-scale US intervention. The fullness of time will have final say.
On April 28, The New York Times headlined "Lawmakers Call for Stronger US Action in Syria," saying:
Republicans "took President Obama to task Sunday for what they characterized as dangerous inaction in Syria…."
What's so funny Mr. President?
Michael Collins
The president and the mainstream media, along with the capital in-crowd, celebrate their wonderfulness each year at the White House Correspondents Association Dinner. The format consists of an invited comedian who pokes fun at the president and press with some shtick from the current leader of the free world. The event is by invitation only, no common folk allowed.
After watching the dinner on C-Span, I have just one question. What's so funny Mr. President?
The president will never be asked that question. But if just one of those White House correspondents hosting the event had the courage, the answer would be in two parts.
How can the president and the press get together and yuck it up when we're in such a dreadful state of affairs. The nation is in an economic dead calm. Millions of jobs left the country in the past decade, probably for good. Many more jobs were lost due to the ongoing recession. Not many were created to take their place, unless we count minimum wage jobs at Walmart (with benefits from Medicaid).
Watch Out, World! Even Amerika's Wealthy Are Losing Ground
By Daniel Patrick Welch
Cognitive dissonance among the US sub-elite means more war and death for everyone else.
Occasionally the tip of the iceberg pokes through, and the reported facts corroborate the experience of most of the people. The recent Pew Center report that has now reached broad circulation shows that a full 93% of US households *lost* ground in the much vaunted recovery of 2009-2011. burlingtonfreepress.com This just validates what we are all living through, glossed over by averages, smoke and mirrors. There is no "recovery." Sectors *within* the top quintile are holding on, barely.
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