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Israeli Business As Usual
by Stephen Lendman
Hardline extremists run Israel. Netanyahu's the worst. He's lawless. He's unprincipled. He's duplicitous.
So are other coalition partner members. They say one thing. They do another. Same old, same old is policy.
Netanyahu's incorrigibly hardline. He exceeds the worst of previous Israeli leaders. On August 12, Haaretz said he takes "(o)ne step forward, three steps back."
If he "wants the Americans, Palestinians and most of all the Israelis to take him seriously, he must leave his old tactics behind." He shows no signs of doing so.
On August 14, peace talks resume. At the same time, 26 Palestinian political prisoners will be released. They've been held longterm.
Monsanto can still sue farmers for GMO contamination event
By Rady Ananda
Activist Post
At the Justice Begins with Seeds biosafety conference held in Seattle August 2-3, it was announced that a recent court decision prevented Monsanto from suing farmers for patent infringement when their crops become genetically contaminated with lab-engineered patented seeds.
But the ruling is insufficient to protect farmers in the real world, where contamination events are often much higher than only one percent of a field, as specifically prescribed in the ruling.
Larry Summers: Wall Street's Man
by Stephen Lendman
When his Fed chairmanship term ends in January, Bernanke's expected to step down. Wall Street wants Summers replacing him. It usually gets what it wants. More on that below.
Money power runs America. The Federal Reserve isn't federal. It's privately owned and controlled. Wall Street decides who runs it.
Bankers choose chairmen and governors. It's always been this way. It's more than ever so now. Presidents have no say. They announce pre-selected choices. They pretend otherwise.
America's founders knew the dangers. Letting bankers control money assures trouble.
James Madison called them "Money Changers," saying:
EU a Key NSA Target
by Stephen Lendman
Previous articles discussed institutionalized NSA spying. It's a rogue agency. It's out-of-control. It operates lawlessly. It manufactures fake security threats. The only real ones are state-sponsored.
NSA subverts fundamental freedoms. It targets dissent. It wants whistleblowers silenced. It conducts espionage on allies. EU nations are prime targets.
On August 10, Der Spiegel headlined "Secret Documents: NSA listens to EU representations with bugs." More on that below.
A previous discussed NSA spying on Europe. It's longstanding practice. Enormous amounts of meta-data are collected. It's unrelated to national security.
It's pure espionage. It's for economic advantage. It's to be one up on foreign competitors. It's for information used advantageously in trade, political, and military relations.
Israeli Democracy: A Convenient Illusion
by Stephen Lendman
Israel's more hypocrisy than democracy. Rhetoric belies longstanding policy. Nothing ahead suggests change.
Democracy exists in name only. Arundhati Roy calls India a "limbless, headless, soulless torso left bleeding under the butcher's cleaver with a flag driven deep into her mutilated heart."
America's the same. So is Israel. They're pariah states. They're rogue states. They abhor fundamental freedoms. They prioritize war and instability. They deplore peaceful conflict resolution.
Israel's an ethnocracy. It's polar opposite democracy. Israeli leaders refer to "Jewish democracy." It's Orwellian. Structural inequalities explain.
Israeli Arabs are citizens. They compromise 20% of the population. They can vote. They can sit in parliament. They're little more than potted plants.
Jews alone have power. Arabs have no say. The Law of Return affords it to solely to Jews. Arabs are unwanted. They're persecuted. Institutionalized racism denies them equal rights.
Obama Spurns NSA Spying Reform
by Stephen Lendman
Huey Long once said fascism will arrive "wrapped in an American flag." In "Friendly Fascism," Bertram Gross (1912 - 1997) called Ronald Reagan its prototype ruler. Gross didn't know Obama.
He represents the worst of rogue governance. He advances America's imperium. He heads its police state apparatus. He's waging war on humanity. He's doing it abroad and at home.
He puts a smiling face on repression. He's hardline. He's ruthless. He's done what supporters thought impossible. He exceeds the worst of George Bush. He says one thing. He does another. He demands it.
His promises ring hollow. He broke every major one made. He's a serial liar. He's a moral coward. On August 9, he defended the indefensible. He did so disingenuously.
He deplores transparency and reforms. He claimed otherwise. He lied saying so. He paid lip service to policies he won't change. He hardened them on his watch.A disingenuous White House press release headlined "Background on the President's Statement on Reforms to NSA Programs," saying:
"President Obama believes that there should be increased transparency and reforms in our intelligence programs in order to give the public confidence that these programs have strong oversight and clear protections against abuse."
NSA Spying: Worse Than You Think
by Stephen Lendman
It's ugly. It's lawless. It's out-of-control. It''s worse than most people think. It's not getting better. It's getting worse.
Not according to Obama, saying:
"We don't have a domestic spying program. What we do have is some mechanisms that can track a phone number or an email address that is connected to a terrorist attack...That information is useful."
An unnamed NSA official told The New York Times it's not spying on America. It just "overcollect(ing)" data. Doublespeak duplicity is official US policy.
So is doublethink. US officials know what's going on. They lie. They speak with forked tongue. They claim otherwise. They do it with a straight face.
They practice doublethink. They don't lie. They just speak in the least truthful manner. Coverup, denial and stonewalling reflect it.
Be the Change
Timothy Gatto
The news coming from Yemen is disconcerting to anyone that has viewed the movie "Dirty Wars" by Jeremy Scahill. The insensitivity of the United States government is astounding. I can't believe we are seeing a dozen drone strikes in Yemen without any backlash in the US. We are told of a nefarious "terror plot" without details because they claim that they have no details, yet they seem to have enough information to kill people with illegal drone strikes into a country that we are not at war with.
This act alone is warfare kept hidden by the American government from the American people. Waging warfare in a foreign nation without Congressional approval in this scenario of "The War on Terror" is a sham. We have an administration that thinks the use of military force anywhere in the World is acceptable. Internationals law says otherwise. It is amazing when you consider that most of the nations that signed on to Laws of Warfare are silent about the United States violating most of these laws.
The recent debate with Russia over Edward Snowden shows just how worried the US is over the information Snowden has on the surveillance network that the United States operates. The United States acted like a petulant child in dealing with Putin. Snubbing Putin at the G10 meeting is ridiculous. The Obama administration is using this matter as a distraction to what the United States is doing in the Middle East militarily.
Work is the new retirement -- Saving Social Security
It is hard to sort the wheat from the chaff when it comes to the Social Security. Will the system survive through 2033, the current drop-dead date for full benefit funding? Are cuts in the program really necessary? Is killing off Social Security the ultimate wet dream of sadistic billionaires without regard to the realities of the system? (Image Work up to 100)
The solution to the problems of social security is right before our eyes and nobody is talking about it.
Work is the new retirement
That's right. Long-term negative economic factors have created a survival path for Social Security. The negatives allow expanded benefits and assure the financial health of the system. As people keep working well past the assumed retirement age of 65, Social Security looks a whole lot better.
Why shouldn't people keep working? Which genius decided that we get to retire at any age, let alone 65? Retirement isn't exactly safe.
What economic factors provided this opportunity to secure Social Security?
Traditional pensions are a thing of the past. Those in place are subject to cancellation anytime. Just ask retirees who worked for energy companies bought by Enron or cities like Detroit. When the man doesn't want to pay anymore, it's over.
Anti-American Sentiment in Egypt
by Stephen Lendman
On August 9, the Wall Street Journal headlined "Anti-US Hostility Ramps Up in Egypt. Media Outlets Blast American Policies, Further Straining Ties."
More on that below. Throughout the region, America and Israel are the two most hated countries. It's for good reason. It doesn't surprise.
It reflects anger against imperial lawlessness. It supports long denied Palestinian justice. It demands US regional wars end. It wants America out of the region entirely. Its presence stokes rage.
Intermittent anti-American protests erupt across the Middle East. US flags burns. Signs and banners reflect public anger. In Egypt some say:
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