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By Robert Singer
Let’s say you wanted to create negative energy in the media [as if there weren’t enough already]. How would you do it?
Sandy Hook, I think everyone will agree, created a lot of negative energy.
Are we sure we know what really happened? Here are four possible scenarios.
Which explanation best fits the Sandy Hook Event?
Still not sure? Keep reading.
by Stephen Lendman
Since 2008, America, Britain and other European nations force-fed austerity harshness. Neoliberal and imperial priorities take precedence.
Bankers, war profiteers, other corporate favorites, and privileged elites alone benefit. Ordinary people lose out entirely. Public needs go begging. Human misery grows. Things go from bad to worse. Nothing ahead looks promising.
Britain made things harder. Parliament imposed the largest welfare cuts in modern times. More on them below.
They come when Prime Minister David Cameron wants UK nuclear defenses upgraded. He wants billions of pounds spent doing so. He claims Britain faces threats that don't exist. An "ultimate weapon" is needed, he says.
by Stephen Lendman
In summer 2010, sporadic protests began. In mid-February 2011, major ones erupted. Bahrainis want democracy. They want King Sheikh Hamad bin Isa al-Khalif's repressive regime replaced.
They rally courageously. They defy government diktats. They brave beatings, tear gas, rubber bullets, live fire, arrests, torture and disappearances. They persist. They refuse to back down. They want freedom replacing police state terror.
The Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) promotes civil, political and economic freedom, ending racial discrimination, disseminating human rights culture, and protecting victims' rights.
Any Bahraini doing so risks life, limb and freedom. Al-Khalifa despots spurn human rights, justice and other democratic values. Iron-fist governance is policy.
by Ellen Brown
Cyprus-style confiscation of depositor funds has been called the “new normal.”
Bail-in policies are appearing in multiple countries directing failing TBTF banks to convert the funds of “unsecured creditors” into capital; and those creditors, it turns out, include ordinary depositors. Even “secured” creditors, including state and local governments, may be at risk.
Derivatives have “super-priority” status in bankruptcy, and Dodd Frank precludes further taxpayer bailouts. In a big derivatives bust, there may be no collateral left for the creditors who are next in line.
by Stephen Lendman
Obama, Republicans and most democrats are in lockstep. They claim Medicare and Social Security are going broke. They lie saying so. When properly administered, both programs are sound. Modest adjustments only are needed to assure it.
They're federally mandated. They're not entitlements. They're contractual obligations. They're for eligible recipients who qualify. Payroll taxes fund them.
Social Security provides retirement, disability, survivorship, and death benefits. It's America's most effective poverty reduction program. It's worked remarkably well since inception.
It provides secure inflation-adjusted retirement or disability income. Personal savings aren't risked. It's not going bankrupt.
The same holds for Medicare.
It's America's largest health insurance program. Payroll deductions defray costs. Tens of millions rely on it. It covers eligible recipients aged 65 or older, some disabled ones under age 65, and people of all ages with end-stage renal disease.
by Stephen Lendman
Thatcherism represents Chicago School fundamentalism writ large. She’s gone. She won’t be missed.
She launched a corporatist revolution. She headed Britain down a slippery slope toward unfettered predatory capitalism.
She transferred public wealth to private hands. She privatized British Telecom, British Gas, British Airways, British Steel and other state enterprises.
She force-fed deregulation. She cut social benefits. She enacted corporate-friendly tax cuts. She cracked down hard on non-believers. She waged war on labor.
Khaled Amayreh in Hebron
Palestinians are convinced that Arafat Jaradat was tortured to death, whatever Israel claims.
Thousands during the funeral of Jaradat in the West Bank town of Saeer, near Hebron (photo: AP)
Tension continues to flare all over the occupied Palestinian territories following the untimely death in an Israeli jail of Arafat Jaradat earlier this week.
Jaradat, 30, died ostensibly as a result of intensive physical torture and was laid to rest in his native town of Saeer east of Hebron amid angry and impassioned scenes as the Palestinian Authority (PA) sought to prevent the tension from evolving into an all-out uprising.
by Stephen Lendman
On April 6, John Kerry began a multi-nation tour. He'll travel to Europe and East Asia. His first stop is Turkey. He'll meet with Netanyahu and Abbas. He wants peace talks restarted. More on that below.
Peace process deception is policy. It's always been a charade. It is now. Israel wants it that way. So does Washington.
by Stephen Lendman
It doesn't surprise. When America goes to war or plans one, Times editors march in lockstep. They support imperial lawlessness. More on that below.
America's AfPak war is illegal. Tactics include targeted killings. Drones, helicopters and other conventional air strikes are used.
On April 8, Russia Today headlined "Twelve civilians, including 11 children killed in Afghanistan NATO strike," saying:
Civilians were killed in Kunar province's Shigal district. Provincial spokesman Wasifullah Wasifi said:
"Eleven children and a woman were killed when an air strike hit their houses."
Timothy Gatto
The current situation regarding North Korea is playing right into what could be a bonanza for American interests in the Far East. The rhetoric coming from North Korea is laying right into American hands. If North Korea ratchets up the rhetoric, or if a missile test goes awry and heads towards Japan or South Korea, the missile will be destroyed.
We are not intimidated by North Korea by any means. In fact, American military leaders are wringing their hands in anticipation of a ground war on the Korean peninsula. This would entail an artillery barrage of Seoul by the North Koreans that would cause terrible destruction and loss of life. Millions could die if the city in enveloped in a firestorm. This is the scenario of a North Korean attack. It’s not their nuclear weapons, but their conventional weapons that South Koreans fear. They have had decades of preparation. The mountains overlooking Seoul are peppered with howitzers.
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