12/13/14 ~ The Raw Story

Saturday, 13 December 2014

Kiss your grass-fed beef goodbye! GMO grass about to be approved

While many of us rely on grass-fed beef as a source of healthful, properly raised meat, that option of healthy eating may just move down a peg. Why? Not because cattle may have to switch to GM grain, but rather because cattle may be forced to indulge in genetically modified grass.

The Scotts 'Miracle-Gro' Company which created genetically modified RoundUp-Ready Kentucky Bluegrass has announced that it will conduct field trials at the homes of Scotts' employees. What's more, they can do so without any government oversight because there are no laws that prohibit or limit the planting of GMO grass.

We already know that RoundUp ready crops have been linked (retracted, but read more on that here) via independent peer reviewed studies to inflammatory, genotoxic, neurotoxic, carcinogenic, and endocrine disrupting diseases, as well as infertility. RoundUp also chelates important minerals from the body, robbing you of your good health.

Now, cattle will graze upon GMO Kentucky Bluegrass and people will ingest the RoundUp chemicals sprayed on the cow's favorite meal.

You can guess who is behind this latest GMO development.

Scotts is Monsanto's exclusive agent for the marketing and distribution of consumer RoundUp.

We are running out of time to try and get Scott's from being able to market and sell this latest GMO product. You can sign this petition which will be sent to Hagedorn, along with the CEOs of Lowe's and Home Depot who are expected to sell the GMO grass.

Read: The GMO lawn engineered to eat copious amounts of pesticides

"...GMO Roundup Ready grass will result in a further increase in the use of Roundup, which will contaminate our groundwater and drinking water. Imagine your children & pets frolicking around in a sea of herbicidal poison. Because of inevitable contamination, the grass is likely to be eaten by grass grazing animals. There has been no toxicity testing and the potential harm to animals eating this GMO grass is unknown. Will we be saying good-bye to pasture raised meat? Lastly, it is a scientific fact that weeds will evolve to develop resistance to Roundup, leading to ever increasing amounts being applied."

Additionally, you can request that your grocery store only carry certified GMO-free grass-fed beef. The game is changing yet again as biotech tries to infiltrate every conceivable agricultural market on the planet.

While Jim Hagedorn, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, is likely doing a happy promenade, those who love their grass-fed beef and rely upon it as a healthier source of meat can kiss it goodbye.

Want something else to read? How about 'Grievous Censorship' By The Guardian: Israel, Gaza And The Termination Of Nafeez Ahmed's Blog

Time lapse video shows massive amount of people who protested police brutality today

The whole country, and the world, stood up to police brutality and institutionalized racism today.

This short time lapse video puts the protests into perspective. While the mainstream media may report hundreds or maybe a thousand, you need to know the truth. You are not alone, many many other young people around the country have also awaken to the injustices we face.

Here's the proof:

[embedded content]

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© AP/Ted S. Warren

Police with wooden sticks stand guard next to a protester with a sign that reads “Justice for Mike Brown, Eric Garner, and justice for us all” Monday in downtown Seattle.

There is a pattern emerging in my Facebook feed this week. One group of friends has been posting stories of police brutality and protests accompanied by personal statements of outrage. Another group has been remarking on the disgusting revelations from the Senate Intelligence Committee's CIA torture report and the need for accountability. There is little overlap between the two groups, and yet the common threads between the U.S.' foreign and domestic policies are disturbingly uncanny.

Whether on the streets of Baghdad or Ferguson, soldiers and militarized police forces have historically enforced control, not law. Behind the prison walls of Guantanamo and Texas, some authorities have tortured and brutalized rather than interrogated. They have not protected nor served; they have attacked and killed. They have not gathered intelligence; they have violated people's humanity.

I am an immigrant to the United States. The names of those killed and tortured in Iraq and Afghanistan invoke in my imagination people who look like me, people I could have known, who could be my family. In the faces of those killed and tortured in Ferguson and Los Angeles, I see my neighbors and friends, people I know and love and think of as family. These are not separate and distinct. The pain I feel while reading the CIA report is as strong as the grief that comes from perusing the images of unarmed people of color who have been killed by U.S. police. The U.S. tortures and imprisons people of color both at home and abroad.

Mass incarceration disproportionately impacts people of color, in particular black men in the U.S., while detainees from the "war on terror" in Guantanamo, Bagram, Abu Ghraib and elsewhere, have been almost entirely brown, Muslim men. Just as people of color, in particular black men, are disproportionately more likely to be killed domestically by police officers, U.S. soldiers have been deployed in poor countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan, where the nonwhite populations of Muslim men, women and children are victimized through shootings and raids.

Among the revelations in the report on CIA tactics is the story of an Afghan man named Gul Rahman who literally froze to death while in U.S. custody. Rahman was chained with only a single piece of clothing covering the top half of his body and "died of hypothermia." In 2012, at least 10 inmates in the Texas prison system died of heat stroke. An unnamed corrections officer told The that he worried about "boiling [inmates] in their cells."

Also revealed in grisly detail in the report on CIA practices is the barbarism of waterboarding detainees such as Abu Zubaydah and Khalid Sheikh Mohammad. But water torture is an age-old American tradition, historically practiced domestically, as professor Anne-Marie Cusac discussed in her 2009 book "Cruel and Unusual: The Culture of Punishment in America." Inmates in CIA custody were also subjected to a horrific practice called "rectal feedings," which resulted in serious injuries. But similar techniques have been used on U.S. inmates domestically, as this report on torture in American prisons reveals. Inmates in federal and state prisons describe being sodomized by flashlights and even having chemical fire extinguishers sprayed inside them.

The brutality of CIA interrogators as revealed in the Senate committee report was part of the project of war that includes the open aggression of U.S. troops on the streets of Baghdad and Kabul in the post 9/11 years. Similarly, the savagery inside U.S. prisons goes hand in hand with the killings of Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice and the countless slayings of unarmed black men in the U.S. Our wars abroad are mirror images of the war at home.

Simply comparing photographs of police in Ferguson to U.S. troops on the battlefield is instructive. We have turned cities into war zones and those cities could be either here in the U.S. or in Iraq or Afghanistan. It is not the case that U.S. police are simply hoping to emulate the military. In fact, the Pentagon has literally outfitted domestic law enforcement with the weapons of war.

Often used to justify the trigger-happy behavior of U.S. police is an assertion that policing is a dangerous and "thankless" job and that, in facing off with potential criminals at every turn, "it's either you or them." Similarly, U.S. soldiers in the battlefield have fired at civilians, claiming they were under attack. This siege mentality is a convenient cover by armed men using the authority of their badge or uniform to condone their killings.

Just as police officers such as Darren Wilson and Daniel Pantaleo are almost never convicted for killing people, it is similarly rare for U.S. soldiers to face justice despite overwhelming evidence of their wrongdoing. For example, Amnesty International maintains that of the 1,800 Afghans killed by U.S. troops in the five year period 2009-2013, only six cases actually went to trial.

None of this should surprise us. After all, presidents have explicitly declared wars on both domestic and foreign fronts. After Nixon pronounced a "war on drugs" in 1971 during the late stages of the Vietnam War, that domestic war has been extended by every president since. Criminalizing drug use and sales has driven much of the U.S.' domestic incarceration. And with the advent of the post 9/11 war on terror, our imprisonment of "terror suspects" and foreign fighters has increased dramatically. The two wars have occurred in parallel with each other. Armed men have been perpetrators, protected by elites, while poor people of color have been the primary targets and victims.

Not enough progressive Americans make the connection between these wars we wage simultaneously. Whether it is our federal or state officials that are responsible for killings and torture at home or abroad, ultimately we fund it all through our tax dollars and sanction it all through our silence. Too many liberal activists fixate on the effects of U.S. foreign policy while ignoring what is happening on our doorstep. And too many of us who work for justice domestically overlook what is done to our brothers and sisters abroad. If we are to transform the U.S.' approach to violence we need to draw links between right here and far away. Ferguson is Baghdad is New York is Kabul.

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CIA report: It's not just my body that America has tortured, but the truth as well

The world is busy expressing outrage and disbelief after revelations by the US Senate that the CIA used brutal torture methods against prisoners, allegedly to prevent further attacks on the USA in the wake of September 11.

In reality everything that's been admitted in the CIA torture report has already been described by us, the victims of America - whether free or still imprisoned - in excruciating detail to our lawyers, to the media, academics, politicians and even to the police, from the day we were released. The greatest revelation to me at least is that this report was released at all.

As an exercise in openness at least it appears there has been some progress. While it must be noted that the report only details abuses carried out by CIA agents (without mentioning the US military or FBI), there has been far more transparency compared to the countries that were co-opted into the CIA torture programme. In fact, these countries' complicity is even more sinister, considering 25 of them were from Europe. Yet none have made similar confessions. Britain's complicit role in US torture, and the outsourcing of terror suspects to dictatorships in Libya, Egypt and Syria remains woefully unreported, and that was main reason I visited these countries following the so-called Arab spring.

Maybe the leaders of the 54 countries which facilitated the torture can't remember that the Bush administration was committing these crimes on their soil, with their intelligence agencies, with their permission and full cooperation. But those of us who were the recipients of 'American justice' can never forget.

Inside the US military detention facility in Bagram, Afghanistan, in 2002, CIA and FBI agents had me hog-tied (with my hands shackled from behind to my ankles) while they waved pictures of my children in front of me. As they punched and kicked me while I heard the sounds of a woman screaming which I was led to believe was my wife being tortured in the next cell they asked: "what do you think is going to happen to your family?"

Then, the CIA officer said that he'd decided to send me to Egypt or Syria. An interrogator told me that he genuinely feared for me because they'd already sent several people to both countries. One of them was Ibn al-Shiekh al-Libi, upon whose false tortured testimony the invasion of Iraq was based. He'd been sat where I was sitting I was told and questioned by the same CIA agent. I was terrified (yes, the effects of torture cause terror). I agreed to sign a confession that I was a member of Al-Qaeda - and anything else. I was looking forward to Guantanamo after this.

It's not just our broken bodies that tell the torture tale. The truth itself has been tortured. It seems until this report was aired the world convinced itself, or worse still, didn't care that "enemy combatants" were prisoners of war, "extraordinary rendition" was kidnap and abduction, "enhanced interrogation techniques" was torture, "rectal hydration" was anal rape, "mock executions" and "Russian roulette" was attempted murder, "rightful detention'"was false imprisonment and "waterboarding'"was simulated drowning. ( or torture of the water, was first used during the Spanish Inquisition. Japanese soldiers who practiced it on US prisoners of war in WWII were convicted for war crimes). All of these things and more were done to the "detainees".

It doesn't take a legal expert to explain the unlawful nature of these crimes. In both civilian and military courts people are prosecuted for them all the time. If our police or lawyers tried to say they were legal we wouldn't believe them for a second.

The attorney general is the most senior legal adviser to a government. In the US he is the head of the department of justice and the top law enforcement government officer. He tells the president what is and isn't illegal. In 2002, US Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez's office officially advised the Whitehouse that if the violence used in interrogations isn't "equivalent in intensity to the pain accompanying serious physical injury, such as organ failure, impairment of bodily function, or even death," then it's not torture. This redefinition was passed on to the CIA. After Obama came to office he officially stopped the use of torture but quickly offered immunity to CIA operatives who had committed these crimes. But they had destroyed evidence of some of the worst torture well in advance.

For those who argue the case for torture I say this: an illegal war was launched directly based on torture evidence. That war brought al-Qaeda into Iraq, a place where it had never operated. After more shocking torture was carried out in Iraqi prisons like Abu Ghraib, Camp Bucca and others and were Guantanamoised by US army General Miller, further retaliations and brutality followed.

In 2006 the Islamic State of Iraq, the forerunner to Isis, was born. Seventeen of its top commanders were imprisoned by the US in Iraq. President Obama blocked the publication of hundreds of images of abuse carried out by US soldiers in Iraq for fear it would endanger soldiers' lives. But it was too late. These prisoners had already been brutalised by the occupation - images or not. Dressed in yellow and orange jumpsuits, just like us in Guantanamo, the brutalisation took effect. Years later they took their ruthless revenge on innocent aid workers and reporters, because they were Britons and Americans. The cycle of torture and terror was complete. But no one in power could see it.

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Washington-- The U.S. Senate passed a measure authorizing the nation's defense programs Friday, and along with it managed to give lands sacred to Native Americans to a foreign company that owns a uranium mine with Iran.

The $585 billion National Defense Authorization Act of 2015 is one of the must-pass pieces of legislation that Congress moves every year. But like they did in attaching extraneous riders to the must-pass government funding bill, lawmakers used the defense bill as a vehicle to pass a massive public lands package.

The bill sailed through on a vote of 89 to 11.

Many of the land measures were popular. But one, the Southeast Arizona Land Exchange and Conservation Act, had twice failed to win support in the House of Representatives, blocked both by conservationists and conservatives.

The deal gives a subsidiary of the Australian-English mining firm Rio Tinto 2,400 acres of the Tonto National Forest in exchange for several other parcels so it can mine a massive copper deposit.

The Iran connection comes from a uranium mine in Namibia, in which Tehran has owned a 15 percent stake since the days of the shah.

Rio Tinto, which removed Iran's two members of the mine board in 2012, has argued that Iran gets no benefit from the property, that there is no active partnership, and that it has discussed the issue with the U.S. State Department to ensure that no sanctions against Iran are violated.

A State Department spokesperson confirmed that officials had discussed the site, but declined to say that they could assure there were no violations of sanctions.

"We are aware of the mine in question and have discussed relevant compliance issues with the company," the spokesperson said.

The official also declined to say if, as might be expected, Iran would be able to benefit from the mine if Secretary of State John Kerry is successful in negotiations to limit the regime's nuclear aspirations, and sanctions are lifted. "We are not going to speculate on any hypotheticals," the official said. A Rio Tinto official also declined to speculate, but noted that under the current sanctions and Namibian law, it's impossible to buy out Iran's share or sever the tie.

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) mounted a bid to strip the entire lands package from the bill, but secured only 18 votes in his favor.

It's not only people concerned about any benefit Iran might get who were worried about giving American forest land to a foreign firm that has such a connection.

Native Americans, particularly the Apache tribe in the area, say digging a massive mine under their ancestral lands will destroy sacred ceremonial and burial grounds.

Rio Tinto says it will work closely with the tribes to ensure their concerns are heard, and will work with the U.S. Forest Service to protect the environment.

The measure was added into the NDAA largely thanks to the efforts of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who, along with fellow Arizona Republican Sen. Jeff Flake, sees the project as an economic boon that will create 3,700 jobs over several decades.

Flake acknowledged that the deal never would have passed on its own, even as he lamented the process that got it through the Senate.

"It's never good to see big packages with so many things in them -- that's what we want to get away from," Flake said. "But it's been very difficult to move individual pieces of legislation over the last few years."

In this case, the addition of the Arizona swap and the other land measures were never discussed in public, and were added during secret negotiations between the House and Senate Armed Services Committee. the deal was never publicly revealed until the House started work on passing the entire defense bill last week.

It will become law as soon as President Barack Obama signs it. Rio Tinto, though subsidiary Resolution Copper, will take possession of the land a year later. Although the land will then be private property and federal environmental reviews will no longer be enforceable, the company said in a statement after the measure passed that it would abide by such reviews. It also pledged to be a good neighbor:

"Resolution Copper Mining is pleased that the Southeast Arizona Land Exchange and Conservation Act passed the House of Representatives and the Senate with strong bipartisan support. Passage of the legislation means that Resolution Copper can move forward with the development of this world-class ore body which will create approximately 3,700 jobs, generate over $60 billion in economic impact and result in almost $20 billion in state and federal tax payments," said project director Andrew Taplin.

"There is much more work to be done before commercial mining can begin and Resolution Copper looks forward to working with all stakeholders as we continue to progress through the regulatory review process toward responsible development and operation of a world-class copper mine that will safely produce over 25 percent of the current annual demand for copper in the United States."

Once the legislation is signed into law by President Obama, Resolution Copper will focus on the comprehensive environmental and regulatory review under NEPA, where there will be broad public consultation, government-to-government consultation with Arizona Native American tribes and a comprehensive valuation appraisal of the copper deposit as required by Congress.

Resolution Copper plans to work to expand existing partnerships and create new ones with neighboring communities and Native American Tribes. The company will endeavor to hire locally and regionally whenever possible.

The heart of the legislation is the exchange of 2,400 acres of federally owned land above the copper deposit for 5,300 acres of land owned by Resolution Copper composed of valuable recreational, conservation and culturally significant land throughout Arizona. Congressional leaders made significant improvements to the legislation to address community, environmental and tribal concerns. These changes include provisions for completion of a full Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) prior to the exchange of title, extraordinary protections for historic Apache Leap, and safe access to the Oak Flat Campground after the exchange has been completed.

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© AP/Ted S. Warren

Police with wooden sticks stand guard next to a protester with a sign that reads “Justice for Mike Brown, Eric Garner, and justice for us all” Monday in downtown Seattle.

Among the revelations in the report on CIA tactics is the story of an Afghan man named Gul Rahman who literally froze to death while in U.S. custody. Rahman was chained with only a single piece of clothing covering the top half of his body and "died of hypothermia." In 2012, at least 10 inmates in the Texas prison system died of heat stroke. An unnamed corrections officer told The New York Times that he worried about "boiling [inmates] in their cells."

Want something else to read? How about 'Grievous Censorship' By The Guardian: Israel, Gaza And The Termination Of Nafeez Ahmed's Blog

Exactly 199 years ago, in 1815, a "temporary" committee was established in the US Senate called the Committee on Finance and Uniform National Currency.

It was set up to address economic issues and the debt accrued by the US government after the War of 1812.

Of course, because there's nothing more permanent than a temporary government measure, the committee became a permanent one after just one year.

It soon expanded its role from raising tariffs to having influence over taxation, banking, currency, and appropriations.

In subsequent wars, notably the American Civil War, the Committee was quick to use its powers and introduced the union's first income tax. They also detached the dollar from gold to help fund the war.

This was all an indication of things to come.

Over the subsequent decades there was a sustained push to finally establish the country's central bank that will control money and credit, as well as institute a permanent income tax to feed the expanding aspirations of government.

They succeeded in 1913 when the Federal Reserve Act was passed and the 16th Amendment ratified, binding the country in the shackles of central banking and taxation of income.

Over the century that followed, the US has gone from being the biggest creditor in the world to its biggest debtor.

Decades of expanding government programs, waste, endless and costly wars, etc. have racked up such an enormous pile of debt that it has become almost impossible to pay it down.

A lot of folks don't realize that, since the end of World War II, the US government's total tax revenue has been almost constant at roughly 17% of GDP.

In other words, even though the actual tax rates themselves rise and fall, the government's 'slice' of the economic pie is almost always the same - 17%.

I've worked out a mathematical model which shows that, even with absurd assumptions (7%+ GDP growth for years at a time, low interest rates, etc.), it is simply not feasible for the US government to 'grow' its way out.

Default has become the only option. And that could mean a number of things.

They could default on their creditors (other governments like China who loaned money to the US government). But this would spark a global financial and banking crisis.

They could default on the Federal Reserve, which owns trillions of dollars of US debt. But this would create an epic currency crisis for the US dollar.

They could also default on their obligations to their citizens - primarily to future beneficiaries of Social Security (who collectively own trillions of dollars of US debt).

Or they could choose to default on their obligations to every human being alive who holds US dollars... and engineer rampant inflation.

None of these is a good option. And simply put, the US government has reached a point of no return.

I aim to demonstrate this to you in today's video podcast episode. It's a very sobering realization.

Join me to see it for yourself:

[embedded content]

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Negotiations on forging a UN pact to fight climate change headed into an unscheduled 13th day on Saturday in a frantic quest to bridge a rift between rich and poor countries.

Ministers and senior officials from 195 states were to examine a compromise for calming a bustup over who bears responsibility for fighting climate change.

The talks in Lima had been scheduled to end at 6:00 pm (2300 GMT) Friday, but ran into the pre-dawn as countries horse-traded over elements of a draft text.

Exhausted delegates were then given the chance of a few hours' sleep before a meeting at 1500 GMT Saturday to sound out opinion in a working group tasked with finalizing the big document.

On the table is a text for shaping a worldwide accord to roll back carbon pollution which is now on track to ravage Earth's climate system.

Theoretically sealed in Paris in December 2015 and taking effect by 2020, the deal would for the first time bring all members of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) into a single arena for cutting greenhouse gases.

Its objective would be to ratchet down annual gas emissions so that global warming, driving climate shift, would never exceed two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-industrial levels.

But the talks in the Peruvian capital to pave the way to this historic agreement have run into a familiar problem - finger-pointing about which countries should do the heavy lifting.

The source of this lies in a principle of burden-sharing, enshrined in the UNFCCC's charter in 1992

The greatest friction has been over what to include in the core of the pact: national pledges for curbing Earth-warming fossil fuel emissions.

Developing nations insist Western economies bear the bigger burden because they were the first to use polluting fossil fuels to power their way to prosperity.

Industrialized countries retort that rich and poor countries are now at historical parity in their respective contributions to the carbon problem.

The big source of tomorrow will be developing giants like China and India, which are voraciously burning coal, the dirtiest fossil fuel, to power their rapid growth, they say.

Anger over compromise

Campaigners in Lima lashed the proposed compromise as wishy-washy.

"The latest text released during the night was left completely bare," lamented Mohamed Adow of Christian Aid.

If approved, it meant "almost no progress would be made at Lima and all the work punted down the road to be fought over next year in Paris."

"There would be essentially no outcome for people and the planet. It would be the weakest of weak political statements," said Asad Rehman of Friends of the Earth.

The draft compromise would gut demands - contested by rich countries - to spell out adaptation help or finance commitments in their pledges.

And it would strip out requirements, opposed by China, for the process to be closely reviewed to see if it is in line with the 2 C goal.

Instead, it mentions a "non-intrusive and facilitative dialogue, respectful of national sovereignty."

Poor countries and small island states at risk of sea-level rise are also concerned that the draft mentions no mechanism to help them foot the bill for damage induced by climate change.

Scientists say a temperature rise of 2 C would be roughly half of the warming that can be expected by 2100 on current emissions trends.

A 4 C world, they say, would be a grim place. It would be a planet gripped by drought, flood, storms and rising seas.

Emissions must be slashed by 40-70 percent by 2050 from 2010 levels and to near zero or below by 2100 for a good chance of reaching 2 C, the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said in a report issued this year.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin has topped the list of "most influential people of 2014," according to Agence France Presse news agency. About 380 journalists took part in compiling the list of most outstanding personalities of the outgoing year that the agency published on Friday.

"Vladimir Putin tops the chart of most important and influential people of 2014," Agence France Presse said in its comment.

The list of influential people according to the French news agency also includes Pope Francis and a young Pakistani human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner, Malala Yusufzai; the leader of the protesters in Hong Kong Joshua Wong; schoolgirls from Nigerian district CIBC kidnapped as a result of the attacks attributed to members of the radical Islamist group Boko Haram; parents of executed American journalist James Foley - Diane and John.

Agence France Press is publishing its list of influential people of 2014 for the second consecutive year. The leader of 2013 ratings was a former U.S. intelligence employee Edward Snowden who found shelter in Russia; Iranian Leader Hassan Rouhani and Pakistani human rights activist Malala Yusufzai who remained on the list in 2014.

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Thousands of people have taken to the streets in Warsaw to protest recent election results. Law and Justice party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski says the ballots were falsified with almost 20 percent of the votes being declared invalid.

Kaczynski's supporters are marching under the slogan in support of democracy.

The organizers of the rally claim that over 100,000 people have turned out to protest, which would be the largest demonstration in the history of post-war Poland. However, reports from the Polish newspaper, Wyborcza, say this figure has been significantly inflated. Other estimates have put the figure at around 60,000, the paper adds.

Joachim Brudzinski, the President of the Law and Justice Executive Committee, made a plea for calm earlier in the march, as previous rallies have ended in violence. We do not want any provocative banners," he said. "We want this march to be peaceful. To the people of Poland - the whole of Europe saw our determination to fight for a democratic, sovereign, independent Republic," he added, as reported by Wyborcza.

© Reuters/Jacek Marczewski/Agencja Gazeta

Jaroslaw Kaczynski (C rear), leader of the Polish Law and Justice (PiS) party, takes part in a demonstration march in Warsaw December 13, 2014.

The controversy was caused by a computer glitch, which delayed the release of results, while many ballot papers were annulled because voters became confused and marked them incorrectly, according to AP.

More than 1,000 challenges to the results have so far been registered in various courts around Poland. A group of MEP's have also raised questions concerning the validity of the local elections, with both the first round on November 16 and the second round two weeks later being affected.

© (Reuters/Jacek Marczewski/Agencja Gazeta)

People carry Polish flags during a demonstration march in Warsaw December 13, 2014.

Concerns over the legitimacy of the results have also been raised by a group of MEP, and more than 1,000 challenges to the results have so far been registered in courts around Poland.

Thousands of people on streets in Poland against falsified elections. Is there any Capitol in Europe without protests? #euromajdant

- Szczepan Bentyn (@Bentyn) December 13, 2014

Critics of Kaczynski say he is making false claims about the local elections to boost his own profile and to influence the electorate ahead of next year's national elections, Inside Poland reports.

The march coincided with the 33rd anniversary of the start of martial law in Poland on December 13, 1981, when tanks rolled through the streets and those with connections to the Solidarity movement were arrested.

On November 11, at least 276 people were arrested and just under 50 people were injured after clashes broke out in the Polish capital, as nationalists took to the streets to mark National Independence Day.

© Reuters/Adam Stepien/Agencja Gazeta

Protesters carry Polish flags during a demonstration march in Warsaw December 13, 2014.

Tens of thousands marched through the Polish capital on Tuesday, with many carrying the national flag. Extremist nationalist groups, such as the Radical Camp and the All-Polish Youth, attended the march.

In 2013, police had to deploy rubber bullets and pepper spray to disperse demonstrators, who were besieging the Russian Embassy in Warsaw with firecrackers and bottles.

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A 71-year-old man has died after he was attacked by cattle in County Fermanagh.

Robert Brown was killed at his farm at Knockmanoul, near Ballinamallard.

It is believed that it happened on Saturday night as he was preparing cows for a routine TB test.

He was found in his cattle yard by a neighbour after a family member could not get in touch with him. The Health and Safety Inspectorate is carrying out an investigation.

Ulster Unionist MLA Tom Elliott knew Mr Brown and said it was an extremely sad day for the community.

"Robbie Brown has lived there all his life," he said.

"He is very much part of the community. His sister lives close to him as well.

"He was just a character who was extremely well known and, I have to say from what I know, he wouldn't have had an enemy in the country."

Last year, another farmer, Benny Foster, 71, died after he was gored by a bull near Killea.

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A 65-year-old ranch hand is in the hospital after a cow attacked him during a branding operation at a ranch on Wednesday in the Cuyama Valley.

Shortly after 10 a.m., the cow charged the man and pinned him against a corral causing chest and upper body injuries. Firefighters responded to the ranch near the intersection of Highway 166 and Cottonwood Canyon Road to find the man having difficulty breathing.

Emergency medical personnel then transported the man in a medical helicopter to the trauma unit at Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara.

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© REUTERS/Idhad Zakaria/Antara Foto

Indonesian soldiers and rescue team members lift a cattle trapped in the mud after a landslide hit the village of Sampang in Banjarnegara, December 13, 2014

A landslide destroyed a remote village in Indonesia, killing at least 17 people, an official said on Saturday, as rescuers used their bare hands and sticks to search through the mud for scores of missing in the absence of heavy-lifting equipment.

Hundreds have been evacuated from around Jemblung village in the Banjarnegara regency of central Java, about 450 km (280 miles) from the capital, Jakarta, where media pictures showed a flood of orange mud and water cascading down a wooded mountainside after Friday's disaster.

Mudslides are common in Indonesia during the monsoon season, which usually runs from October until April. Large swathes of forest land, power lines and houses were buried.

Hampering the rescue effort was a lack of a telephone signal and earth-moving equipment in the isolated, rural area.

"There was a roaring sound like thunder," Imam, who lives in a neighboring village, told television. "Then I saw trees were flying and then the landslides. People here also panicked and fled."

Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman for the National Disaster Mitigation Agency, said 17 people had been killed, 15 rescued, 91 were missing and 423 people from the surrounding areas had been taken to temporary shelters.

He said there was a history of similar disasters in the area.

© REUTERS/Idhad Zakaria/Antara Foto

Indonesian soldiers and rescue team members walk through the mud after a landslide hit the village of Sampang in Banjarnegara, December 13, 2014

Eleven of the 15 rescued were receiving hospital treatment, he said. A government agency official added that the rescue effort had been suspended as light faded and would resume on Sunday.

Five of the dead were found in one car, television reported. It showed rescuers using bamboo stretchers to carry bodies away.

"Jemblung village was the most affected," Nugroho said. "The challenge is that the evacuation route is also damaged by the landslide."

A rescue team of about 400 people, which included police, military and local volunteers, used their bare hands and makeshift tools to search for people and clear the area.

A second resident said there had been no warnings of the likelihood of a landslide.

Want something else to read? How about 'Grievous Censorship' By The Guardian: Israel, Gaza And The Termination Of Nafeez Ahmed's Blog

Did you know that 65 percent of all children in the United States live in a home that receives aid from the federal government? We live at a time when child poverty in America is exploding. Yes, the U.S. economy is experiencing a temporary bubble of false stability for the moment, but even during this period of false stability the gap between the wealthy and the poor continues to rapidly expand and the middle class is being systematically destroyed. And sadly, this is having a disproportionate impact on children. This is happening for a couple of reasons. First of all, poorer households tend to have more children than wealthier households. Secondly, most people tend to have children when they are in their young adult years, and right now young adults are being absolutely hammered by this economy. As a result, things just continue to get even worse for children living in this country. Here are 14 facts that show that the number of children in America living in poverty this Christmas is at an all-time record high...

#1 The National Center for Children in Poverty says that 45 percent of all U.S. children belong to low income families.

#2 According to a Census Bureau report that was released just this week, 65 percent of all children in America are living in a home that receives some form of aid from the federal government...

"Almost two-thirds (65 percent) of children," said the Census Bureau, "lived in households that participated in at least one or more of the following government aid programs: Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), Medicaid, and the National School Lunch Program."

#3 According to a report recently released by UNICEF, almost one-third of all children in this country "live in households with an income below 60 percent of the national median income".

#4 When it comes to child poverty, the United States ranks 36th out of the 41 "wealthy nations" that UNICEF looked at.

#5 An astounding 45 percent of all African-American children in America live in areas of "concentrated poverty".

#6 40.9 percent of all children in the United States that are living with only one parent are living in poverty.

#7 These days, a lot of single mothers are really, really struggling to survive. A decade ago, the number of women in America that had jobs outnumbered the number of women in America on food stamps by more than a 2 to 1 margin. But now the number of women in America on food stamps actually exceeds the total number of women that have jobs.

#8 It is hard to believe, but right now 49 million Americans are dealing with food insecurity.

#9 According to a report that was released last month by the National Center on Family Homelessness, the number of homeless children in the United States has reached a new all-time high of 2.5 million.

#10 There are more than half a million homeless children in the state of California alone.

#11 One recent survey found that about 22 percent of all Americans have had to turn to a church food panty for assistance.

#12 This year, almost one out of every five households in the United States will go through the holiday season on food stamps.

#13 One of the primary reasons why kids are suffering so much is because their parents are simply not making enough money. This is especially true for parents of young children. For example, check out the following numbers from the Atlantic...

Since the Great Recession struck in 2007, the median wage for people between the ages of 25 and 34, adjusted for inflation, has fallen in every major industry except for health care.

These numbers come from an analysis of the Census Current Population Survey by Konrad Mugglestone, an economist with Young Invincibles.

In retail, wholesale, leisure, and hospitality - which together employ more than one quarter of this age group - real wages have fallen more than 10 percent since 2007. To be clear, this doesn't mean that most of this cohort are seeing their pay slashed, year after year. Instead it suggests that wage growth is failing to keep up with inflation, and that, as twentysomethings pass into their thirties, they are earning less than their older peers did before the recession.

#14 Overall, the quality of the jobs in America continues to decline. At this point, most Americans do not bring home enough income to support a middle class lifestyle for their families. Below I have shared an excerptfrom an article that I published a while back...

The following are some statistics about wages in the U.S. from a Social Security Administration report that was recently released...

-39 percent of American workers made less than $20,000 last year.

-52 percent of American workers made less than $30,000 last year.

-63 percent of American workers made less than $40,000 last year.

-72 percent of American workers made less than $50,000 last year.

In addition to all of these numbers, there is also a lot of anecdotal evidence that families with children are really struggling right now.

For example, McDonald's has traditionally been a place where poor and middle class families have taken their children for a cheap meal. But the restaurant chain just released the worst sales numbers that we have seen in more than a decade.

And the really bad news is that this is just the beginning of the economic pain for families with children. The U.S. economy is in a bubble period right now, and the authorities have been trying with all of their might to keep the bubble inflated.

Just imagine a bodybuilder that is pressing with all of his might to do one more rep on the bench press. That is essentially where we are at. In a recent piece, Brian Pretti summarized some of the extraordinary measures that global central banks have taken to keep the economic bubble inflated...

Since early 2009, central banks globally have printed more than $13 trillion. In addition, governments across the planet have increased their borrowings at historic proportions (the US just crossed $18T - another new high!), all in an effort to stimulate economies and avoid deflationary pressures. Total US Federal debt has more than doubled in five years, an increase of $9.5 trillion and counting.

Despite all of these efforts, the best that we have achieved is economic stagnation.

And now it is becoming clear that the overwhelming deflationary forces around the globe are starting to win the battle. The central banks have used up their ammunition and they still have not turned things around. In fact, as Ambrose Evans-Pritchard so eloquently put it recently, what we see all around us is "evidence of a 1930s-style depression, albeit one that is still contained"...

What is clear is that the world has become addicted to central bank stimulus. Bank of America said 56pc of global GDP is currently supported by zero interest rates, and so are 83pc of the free-floating equities on global bourses. Half of all government bonds in the world yield less that 1pc. Roughly 1.4bn people are experiencing negative rates in one form or another.

These are astonishing figures, evidence of a 1930s-style depression, albeit one that is still contained. Nobody knows what will happen as the Fed tries to break out of the stimulus trap, including Fed officials themselves.

But will it still be contained once the next major financial crash strikes?

As I discussed yesterday, there has never been a time when conditions have been more ideal for a financial crisis since the last one happened in 2008.

So as bad as things are for the children of America right now, they are only going to get worse.

In the years ahead may we all have great compassion for these victims of our incredibly foolish economic mistakes.

Want something else to read? How about 'Grievous Censorship' By The Guardian: Israel, Gaza And The Termination Of Nafeez Ahmed's Blog

On occasion a reader will ask if I can give readers some good news. The answer is: not unless I lie to you like "your" government and the mainstream media do. If you want faked "good news," you need to retreat into In exchange for less stress and worry, you will be led unknowingly into financial ruin and nuclear armageddon.

If you want to be forewarned, and possibly prepared, for what "your" government is bringing you, and have some small chance of redirecting the course of events, read and support this site.

It is your site. I already know these things. I write for you.

The neoconservatives, a small group of warmongers strongly allied with the military/industrial complex and Israel, gave us Granada and the Contras affair in Nicaragua. President Reagan fired them, and they were prosecuted, but subsequently pardoned by Reagan's successor, George H.W. Bush.

Ensconced in think tanks and protected by Israeli and military/security complex money, the neoconservatives reemerged in the Clinton administration and engineered the breakup of Yugoslavia, the war against Serbia, and the expansion of NATO to Russia's borders.

Neoconservatives dominated the George W. Bush regime. They controlled the Pentagon, the National Security Council, the Office of the Vice President, and much else. Neoconservatives gave us 9/11 and its coverup, the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, the beginning of the destabilizations of Pakistan and Yemen, the U.S. Africa Command, the invasion of South Ossetia by Georgia, the demise of the anti-ABM Treaty, unconstitutional and illegal spying on American citizens without warrants, loss of constitutional protections, torture, and the unaccountability of the executive branch to law, Congress, and the judiciary. In short, the neoconservatives laid the foundation for dictatorship and for WW III.

The Obama regime held no one accountable for the crimes of the Bush regime, thus creating the precedent that the executive branch is above the law. Instead, the Obama regime prosecuted whistleblowers who told the truth about government crimes.

Neoconservatives remain very influential in the Obama regime. As examples, Obama appointed neoconservative Susan Rice as his National Security Advisor. Obama appointed neoconservative Samantha Power as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Obama appointed neoconservative Victoria Nuland as Assistant Secretary of State. Nuland's office, working with the CIA and Washington-financed NGOs, organized the U.S. coup in Ukraine.

Neoconservatism is the only extant political ideology. The ideology is "America ." Neoconservatives believe that History has chosen the United States to exercise hegemony over the world, thereby making the U.S. "exceptional" and "indispensable." Obama himself has declared as much. This ideology gives neoconservatives tremendous confidence and drive, just as Karl Marx's conclusion that history had chosen the workers to be the ruling class gave early communists confidence and drive.

This confidence and drive makes the neoconservatives reckless.

To advance their agenda neoconservatives propagandize the populations of the U.S. and Washington's vassal states. The presstitutes deliver the neoconservatives' lies to the unsuspecting public: Russia has invaded and annexed Ukrainian provinces; Putin intends to reconstitute the Soviet Empire; Russia is a gangster state without democracy; Russia is a threat to the Baltics, Poland, and all of Europe, necessitating a U.S./NATO military buildup on Russia's borders; China, a Russian ally, must be militarily contained with new U.S. naval and air bases surrounding China and controlling Chinese sea lanes.

The neoconservatives and President Obama have made it completely clear that the U.S. will not accept Russia and China as sovereign countries with economic and foreign policies independent of the interests of Washington. Russia and China are acceptable only as vassal states, like the UK, Europe, Japan, Canada, and Australia.

Clearly, the neoconservative formula is a formula for the final war.

All of humanity is endangered by a handful of evil men and women ensconced in positions of power in Washington.

Anti-Russia propaganda has gone into high gear. Putin is the "new Hitler."

Daniel Zubov reports on a joint conference held by three U.S. think tanks.

The conference blamed Russia for the failures of Washington's foreign policy. Read this article to see how neoconservatives operate in order to control the explanations. Even Henry Kissinger is under attack for stating the obvious truth that Russia has a legitimate interest in Ukraine, a land long part of Russia and located in Russia's legitimate sphere of influence.

Since the Clinton regime, Washington has been acting against Russian interests. In his forthcoming book, Professor Michel Chossudovsky presents a realistic appraisal of how close Washington has brought the world to its demise in nuclear war. This passage is from the Preface:

"The 'globalization of war' is a hegemonic project. Major military and covert intelligence operations are being undertaken simultaneously in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, sub-Saharan Africa, Central Asia and the Far East. The US military agenda combines both major theater operations as well as covert actions geared towards destabilizing sovereign states.

"Under a global military agenda, the actions undertaken by the Western military alliance (US-NATO-Israel) in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Palestine, Ukraine, Syria and Iraq are coordinated at the highest levels of the military hierarchy. We are not dealing with piecemeal military and intelligence operations. The July-August 2014 attack on Gaza by Israeli forces was undertaken in close consultation with the United States and NATO. In turn, the actions in Ukraine and their timing coincided with the onslaught of the attack on Gaza.

"In turn, military undertakings are closely coordinated with a process of economic warfare which consists not only in imposing sanctions on sovereign countries but also in deliberate acts of destabilization of financial and currency markets, with a view to undermining the enemies' national economies.

"The United States and its allies have launched a military adventure which threatens the future of humanity. As we go to press, US and NATO forces have been deployed in Eastern Europe. US military intervention under a humanitarian mandate is proceeding in sub-Saharan Africa. The US and its allies are threatening China under President Obama's

'Pivot to Asia'.

"In turn, military maneuvers are being conducted at Russia's doorstep which could lead to escalation. "The US airstrikes initiated in September 2014 directed against Iraq and Syria under the pretext of going after the Islamic State are part of a scenario of military escalation extending from North Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean to Central and South Asia.

The Western military alliance is in an advanced state of readiness.

"And so is Russia."

As I have often remarked, Americans are an insouciant people. They are simply unaware. Suppose they were aware, suppose that the entire population understood the peril, could anything be done, or have the insouciant Americans fallen under the control of the police state that Washington has created?

I don't think there is much hope from the American people. The American people cannot tell genuine from fake leadership, and the ruling private elites will not permit real leaders to emerge. Moreover, there is no organized movement in opposition to the neoconservatives.

The hope comes from outside the political system. The hope is that the House of Cards and rigged markets erected by policymakers for the benefit of the One Percent collapses. David Stockman regards this outcome as a highly likely one. The collapse that Stockman sees as being on its way is the same collapse about which I have warned. Moreover, the number of Black Swans which can originate collapse are even more numerous than the ones Stockman correctly identifies. Some financial organizations are worried about a lack of liquidity in the fixed income (bonds) and derivatives markets. Barbara Novack, co-chair of Black Rock, is lobbying hard for a derivatives bailout mechanism.

David Stockman's article is important. Read it until you understand it, and you will know more than most everyone.

Many will ask: If the wealth of the One Percent is vulnerable to economic collapse, will war be initiated to protect this wealth and to blame the Russians or Chinese for the hardships that engulf the American population? My answer is that the kind of collapse that I expect, and that David Stockman and no doubt others expect, presents government with such social, political, and economic insecurity that organizing for a major war becomes impossible.

Whereas the political impotence of the American people and the vassalage of the Western World impose no constraints on Washington, economic collapse brings revolutions and the demise of the existing order.

As hard as collapse would make it for people to survive, the chances for survival are higher than in the event of nuclear war.

Want something else to read? How about 'Grievous Censorship' By The Guardian: Israel, Gaza And The Termination Of Nafeez Ahmed's Blog

The Senate Intelligence Committee released its long-awaited report on CIA torture of detainees and the reaction has been strong. While some still maintain that torture is justified, the emerging details of the program have left most of the country disgusted and ashamed.

Many in the current Administration blame the Bush people for this dark chapter, claiming that President Obama finally put an end to what his predecessor started.

Senator John McCain, an advocate for war and an interventionist foreign policy, has nevertheless been one of the strongest voices opposing torture. He has recalled his time as an abused prisoner of war in Vietnam to argue the importance of facing up to the recent behavior of the US government and making necessary corrections.

He said he knows from personal experience that torture does not produce good intelligence, as the victims will say whatever they believe their captors want to hear to gain some relief from their agony. Torture is morally wrong and it doesn't work, he maintains.

I believe the Senator is sincere and that his intentions are good when it comes to the torture outlined in the report. I also believe that President Obama is sincere when he denounces the practices outlined by the Senate Committee.

But I think both President Obama and Senator McCain are being disingenuous and selective in their opposition to torture.

It is one thing to argue that people should not have their feet broken and be forced to stand cuffed to a wall, to oppose rectal force-feeding, and to condemn water-boarding a detainee 50 or 100 times. Most of us reject this kind of torture for both moral and practical reasons.

But is that the only kind of torture? Is it not torture to go to a wedding in Pakistan and watch as your family is blown up by a US drone? Is it not torture to have your village water treatment plant bombed by NATO planes seeking to overthrow Gaddafi? Is it not torture for parents of the 500,000 Iraqi children who were killed by US sanctions? Is endorsing pre-emptive war, knowing that thousands of civilians are sure to be "collateral damage," not support for torture?

Both Senator McCain and President Obama take the moral high ground with regard to CIA torture, but both are enthusiastic supporters of past and current US military interventions that have the same effect on millions. It is one thing to oppose horrific practices that leave perhaps dozens killed or maimed. But what about practices that do the same for tens of thousands or millions?

A consistent anti-torture position would also reject sanctions, "humanitarian" interventions, regime change, and preemptive war. Anything less is missing the whole point.

Want something else to read? How about 'Grievous Censorship' By The Guardian: Israel, Gaza And The Termination Of Nafeez Ahmed's Blog

The words "possible criminal actions" by CIA employees are used in the report.

The terms unethical and immoral are mentioned. The criminality of those who ordered these actions at the highest levels of government, however, is not acknowledged.

The actions directed against alleged jihadists are categorized as ineffective in the process of revealing intelligence. This in itself is a red herring. The objective of torture was not to reveal intelligence.

What of course is not acknowledged is that the alleged terrorists who were tortured were framed by the CIA.

Known and documented the Al Qaeda network is a creation of US intelligence. The jihadists are "intelligence assets". Torture serves to perpetuate the legend that the evil terrorists are real and that the lives of Americans are threatened. Torture is presented as "collateral damage." Torture is an integral part of war propaganda which consists in demonizing the alleged terrorists.

And the Senate committee report ultimately upholds the legitimacy of the US intelligence apparatus, the US government, its military and intelligence agenda and its "humanitarian wars" waged in different parts of the World.

Guantanamo Camp (right)

The term "legally misguided" is mentioned but the fact that these actions were "illegal" and "criminal" is casually dismissed.

According to Senator Feinstein: "The CIA plays an incredibly important part in our nation's security and has thousands of dedicated and talented employees."

The actions documented by the Senate report were undertaken from 2001-2009, namely during the Bush administration, overlapping into the Obama presidency. This inevitably raises the issue of responsibility of the current US administration. There is no evidence that these practices were abandoned by the Obama presidency. In fact quite the opposite.

And the "Global War on Terrorism" prevails with new initiatives on the drawing board of the Pentagon.

The Role of 9/11

9/11 serves as a justification for the torture program in the same way as it served as a justification to wage war on Afghanistan and Iraq. According to Senator Feinstein:

"All of us have vivid memories of that Tuesday morning when terror struck New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.

"Make no mistake, on September 11, 2001 war was declared on the United States.

"Terrorists struck our financial center. They struck our military center. And they tried to strike our political center and would have, had brave and courageous passengers not brought down the plane.

"We still vividly remember the mix of outrage and deep despair and sadness as we watched from Washington.

Enemy Number One: Osama bin Laden, alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks

"Smoke rising from the Pentagon. The passenger plane lying in a Pennsylvania field. The sound of bodies striking canopies at ground level as innocents jumped to the ground below from the World Trade Center.

The tacit argument - which is contained in the Senate report - is that America was under attack. Evil folks are lurking. The security of the Homeland was at stake.

And these evil people knew things (namely intelligence) which were threatening our security. They were arrested by the CIA. And the CIA had a mandate "to go after the terrorists".

Yet we all know by now that the 9/11 official narrative is a fabrication. The official 9/11 story is that Osama bin Laden was behind the 9/11 attacks. Lest we forget, bin Laden was hospitalized in a Pakistani military hospital in Rawalpindi on September 9, 2001.

9/11 was used as a pretext, a casus belli to wage an illegal war against Afghanistan. What we are dealing with is the criminalization of the US State apparatus.

Jihadists were not behind the 9/11 attacks. The evidence points to a conspiracy at the highest levels of the US government including the involvement of the intelligence apparatus.

We must "learn from our mistakes", says Senator Feinstein.

These decisions were from an administrative point of view "misguided", according to the Senate Committee. It was all a "big mistake", according to the Senate report.

The evidence contained in the report, nonetheless, points to criminal wrongdoing at the highest levels of government. Yet the political statements underlying the report as well as the media coverage constitute a whitewash.

The September 11, 2001 attacks provided the green light to wage a "Global War on Terrorism". While the report acknowledges CIA brutality, it does not question the legitimacy of the "Global War on Terrorism". The acts of torture were all for a good cause.

The truth is that the CIA is a criminal entity within the US State apparatus.

Nobody is to be held responsible. The report is in essence a political whitewash. In substance what the report says is:

(paraphrase)

But history will judge us by our commitment to a just society governed by law and the willingness to face an ugly truth and say 'never again.'"

Never again? The ugly truth underlying the "Global War on Terrorism" has not acknowledged.

The fact that torture has been routinely applied since the establishment of the CIA under the Truman presidency, extensively applied in Latin America, Africa and South East Asia, is casually dismissed.

President Bush is not alone. What he did was to implement a policy which was already firmly entrenched in the intelligence community. Blaming Bush is a convenient scapegoat. it avoids opening up a can of worms.

Every single administration since the end of World War II has endorsed the practices of torture.

What distinguishes the Bush and Obama administrations in relation to the historical record of U.S. sponsored crimes and atrocities, is that the concentration camps, targeted assassinations and torture chambers are known to the public and are openly considered as legitimate forms of intervention, which sustain "the global war on terrorism" and support the spread of Western democracy.

The Criminalization of Justice: Will the Architects of Torture be Indicted for Crimes against Humanity?

Today's legal system in America has all the essential features of an inquisitorial order, which supports torture and provides a green light to CIA atrocities.

The Senate report ultimately upholds clearly defined "guidelines" of the Department of Justice adopted in the immediate wake of 9/11. Torture is permitted "under certain circumstances", according to an August 2002 Justice Department "legal opinion" which had been requested by the CIA:

"if a government employee were to torture a suspect in captivity, 'he would be doing so in order to prevent further attacks on the United States by the Al Qaeda terrorist network,' said the memo, from the Justice Department's office of legal counsel, written in response to a CIA request for legal guidance. It added that arguments centering on "necessity and self-defense could provide justifications that would eliminate any criminal liability" later. (See , June 7, 2004)

What the above DoJ report confirms is that the CIA had received a green light to torture alleged "jihadists" inasmuch at contributes to preventing further attacks by Al Qaeda directed against the US. It follows that "interrogation methods" bordering on torture do not imply an unconstitutional infringement according to the U.S. Justice Department:

"Even if an interrogation method might arguably cross the line drawn in Section and application of the stature was not held to be an unconstitutional infringement of the President's Commander in Chief authority, we believe that under current circumstances [the war on terrorism] certain justification defenses might be available that would potentially eliminate criminal liability." (Complete pdf memorandum, Department of Justice, August 1, 2002: "Justice Dept. Memo Says Torture 'May Be Justified'" Washington Post, June 13, 2004

Screenshot of first page of original memo

According to the ,

"The memo was written at the request of the CIA. The CIA wanted authority to conduct more aggressive interrogations than were permitted prior to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The interrogations were of suspected al Qaeda members whom the CIA had apprehended outside the United States. The CIA asked the White House for legal guidance. The White House asked the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel for its legal opinion on the standards of conduct under the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhumane and Degrading Treatment or Punishment." (WP, June 13, 2004)

A legal opinion is an interpretation of the law. It cannot under any circumstances be considered as providing "legal authority".

In other words, a legal opinion by the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel for Alberto R. Gonzales, who was counsel to President Bush does not imply that CIA actions are legal. The Justice department cannot override the law by issuing an enabling "carte blanche" legal opinion to the CIA. What this legal opinion entails - when it is used to bypass the law - is the de facto criminalization of Justice. The White House instructed the Justice Department to instruct Alberto R. Gonzalez

Under a criminalized judicial system, the "Inquisitors" in high office cannot be indicted or prosecuted. In a twisted irony, anybody who doubts the legitimacy of the American inquisition (i.e. 9/11 and the "Global War on Terrorism") is a heretic conspiracy theorist or an accomplice of the terrorists, who can be indicted on criminal charges.

Want something else to read? How about 'Grievous Censorship' By The Guardian: Israel, Gaza And The Termination Of Nafeez Ahmed's Blog

A horrific zoo attack saw a monkey rip off a small boy's testicle, run off and eat it.

The eight-month-old was reportedly having his dirty diaper changed by his mom at Guiyang Qianling Wildlife Park, in south west China, when the animal attacked.

State media reports that the monkey pounced on the youngster and hacked off a chunk of his genitals.

It dropped the flesh on the ground, allowing an elderly passerby to pick it up.

But the aggressive ape quickly snatched it back, bounded off and ate it before he could be caught.

The boy was rushed to hospital. He received treatment and his condition is described as "not life-threatening."

[embedded content]

But doctors fear "his reproductive abilities may have been irreparably damaged," reports CCTV, which has also published images of the injured boy sat in his hospital bed.

Staff at the tourist attraction told local news channels they thought the monkey had mistaken the boy's private parts for food.

The zoo is famous for letting its 500 monkeys roam free.

Want something else to read? How about 'Grievous Censorship' By The Guardian: Israel, Gaza And The Termination Of Nafeez Ahmed's Blog

Ferguson Protesters Filed Restraining Order Against Cops. It Worked! Tear Gas Use Restricted

A federal judge ordered St. Louis-area police to grant warnings before firing tear gas in order to give crowds “reasonable” time to disperse, following a lawsuit over wanton use of tear gas by militarized police during race-related protests in Ferguson.

US District Judge Carol Jackson ruled after hearing arguments in a lawsuit against local and state law enforcement officials that stemmed from police action in Ferguson, a suburb in St. Louis County, and in areas of St. Louis city on November 24, following a grand jury decision not to indict Darren Wilson, a former Ferguson police officer who killed unarmed black teenager Michael Brown in August.

The fatal shooting triggered months of protests and civil unrest, both locally and nationwide, over the case and, in general, racial profiling, police brutality, and race- and class-based inequality within the American legal system.

The plaintiffs said that crowds, including children and elderly people, were fired on by police with tear gas cannisters without warning, were boxed in by police without means to disperse, and that police failed to wear proper identification.

Protesters retreat while police officers deploy teargas to disperse a crowd comprised largely of student protesters during a protest against police violence in the U.S., in Berkeley, California December 7, 2014 (Reuters / Noah Berger)

Police used tear gas “in a manner designed to inflict pain and anguish rather than accomplishing any legitimate law enforcement objective,” the plaintiffs alleged.

The six plaintiffs, according to Reuters, included a coffee shop owner; two area activists; a legal observer; a professor from St. Louis University; and a college student. They called for a temporary restraining order against St. Louis City Police Chief Sam Dotson, St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar, and Missouri Highway Patrol Captain Ron Johnson.

In court, police said smoke and tear gas were used used to protect the safety of officers and to prevent property destruction, particularly in an area of south St. Louis city.

St. Louis County Police Captain Kurk Frisz, commander of the county’s tactical unit responsible for tear gassing crowds, said the chemical was used to aid seven officers he said were surrounded by demonstrators. Tear gas was necessary because there “was a lot of violence, shots fired and assaults on police officers,” he said, according to KTVI.

A demonstrator throws backs a teargas canister toward the police line during the fourth night of demonstrations over recent grand jury decisions in police-involved deaths on December 6, 2014 in Berkeley, California (AFP Photo / Stephen Lam)

While calling for police to give adequate warning before firing tear gas, Judge Jackson did not side completely with conditions sought by the plaintiffs, including one seeking an order that tear gas be used strictly as a “last resort to prevent significant threats to public safety.”

Nevertheless, the plaintiffs’ legal team hailed the decision.

“This was a victory today,” said Brendan Roediger, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, according to Reuters. “At its core it accomplishes what we were asking for.”

Another representative of the plaintiffs, Denise Lieberman of the Advancement Project, said, according to KTVI, that the ruling means police must curtail indiscriminate mass punishment via use of tear gas.

Police did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.

The Raw Story

A non-profit news blog, focused on providing independent journalism.

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