Deep beneath Vegas’s glittering lights lies a sinister labyrinth inhabited by poisonous spiders and a man nicknamed The Troll who wields an iron bar. But astonishingly, the 200 miles of flood tunnels are also home to 1,000 people who eke out a living in the strip’s dark underbelly.
Adding to already rising food prices due to monetary inflation and weather related supply problems around the globe, one of the world’s leading food distribution companies, Sysco Corporation, is advising clients and their customers that the recent freeze across North America has significantly impacted growing operations in Mexico (as well as parts of the U.S.) leading to 80% - 100% crop damage:
With Egypt’s melodramatic implosion, many Americans are asking, “What has this got to do with us?” The short answer: everything. We propped up Mubarak because he’s good for Israel, yet most Egyptians want Israel gone. So why not take all our troops out of everywhere? Why not cease all aid to all countries? Why not let the world figure out its own problems and simply buy stuff from people who are willing to sell it to us? Unlike liberals, I don’t purport to know everything there is to know about everything, so I defer to the smart community. The problem is, they don’t agree.
Where Wiki plugged up many leaks, Al Jazeera came to the rescue. Hopefully this was the start of the end of the double occupation in the West Bank by both Israel and the Palestinian Authority. They further redeemed themselves by their brilliant reporting from Egypt during the recent (ongoing) crisis there. This resulted in their operations being closed down by the Mubarak thugs.
He now wants to overthrow governments and knows how: "The best way to nurture changes in Iran, North Korea and Cuba will involve broadcasts, mobile phones and proxy servers to leap over Internet barriers." Notice that he only picked three oppressive governments that are 1) not allies of the US. 2) not allies of Israel.
- The guns recovered from the crime scene, the weapons used to kill Agent Terry were two of three WASR-10s sold by Arizona’s Lone Wolf Trading gun dealer to one Jaime Avila. [page 16]
the ATF allegedly encouraged the dealer to continue selling to suspected traffickers and asked the dealer to forward information about the sale to the Bureau . . .
- The inclusion of two documents indicating delayed trace request—issued by the ATF to the Department of Justice—suggests that the ATF initially engaged in a cover-up of the murder weapons’ source. [page 23]
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
AFP/Activist Post ABIDJAN (AFP) - Laurent Gbagbo's government on Sunday denounced the "serious and inadmissible interference" in Ivorian affairs by the United States which has been pushing for the strongman's departure...
I chose the best photos I could find given the subject matter. Photo #2 for state #2 is pretty funny. Some of you might remember it from last Summer, as it made national news then.
Number #1 most likely to go bankrupt might surprise you...
The Feds have made sexual molestation a condition of travelling by air in the United States; they’re working on making it a condition of travel, period. There is no more graphic or heart-stopping proof of the despotism devouring the country. Meanwhile, the State dramatically out-guns us: it can coerce us to anything it likes – rape, torture, murder, betrayal of family and friends, secrecy about its depredations. So why do Our Rulers fool with charades like The Perv’s quest for ideas, or software to "address privacy issues," or the illusion of "trusted [oh, the irony!] travellers"? Because Boobus Americanus happily hugs his chains so long as his masters feign that he’s in charge.
There are a number of major forces in the world today but by far the most aggressive of them is the force that lies behind the state of Israel, Zionism. And the force that lies, in turn, behind Zionism is the international bankers and, in particular, those bankers that form the Jewish clique who are by far the biggest players within the banking circle. They control the two most influential central banks in the world, the Bank of England and the Federal Reserve Bank of the the US. They also control the body that co-ordinates central banks throughout the world, the Bank for International Settlements in Basle Switzerland.
Organizations in the United States that are working towards the release of Jonathan Pollard have begun a new campaign in which they are asking the American public to call the White House and ask President Obama to free Pollard. The new campaign comes in the form of a 30-second long infomercial which has already begun to air on stations such as CNN, Fox News and NSNBC.
Webmaster's Commentary:
Although I have not seen this spot, I would encourage those who have to remember the following: Johnathan Pollard was a traitor to his country who compromised US security gravely regarding the old Soviet Union. He should have been executed, as were Julius and Ethyl Rosenberg when they betrayed America's nuclear secrets to the Soviets!
Secondly, when you do see those spots running, call the station, and tell them or email them to the effect that you are boycotting every product sold on that station. Then, leave a message for senior executives of those companies who advertise on those channels that you will no more be buying products advertised on those stations due to their airing the pro-Pollard infomercials. Tell them that anyone spending money to lobby for Pollard's release is an accessory to treason against the United States. Make it courteous and quick.
We will see how long after such a campaign starts that those stations continue airing those pro-Pollard spots.
Arghh! Mateys! Aye! Let me tell you the story of The Great White Whale Moby Dick! HONOLULU
A fierce sperm whale sank the first whaling ship under George Pollard's command and inspired the classic American novel "Moby-Dick". A mere two years later, a second whaler captained by Pollard struck a coral reef during a night storm and sank in shallow water. Marine archaeologists scouring remote atolls 600 miles northwest of Honolulu have found the wreck site of Pollard's second vessel — the Two Brothers — which went down in 1823.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, former Arizona governor and state attorney general, has made calls over the past few weeks to gauge support for a Senate bid. She could emerge as the early frontrunner. Wealthy businessman Jim Pederson, who challenged Kyl in 2006, isn’t saying no, and Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon could run. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords — currently recovering from an attempted assassination — could enter the race as late as April 2012 and still raise enough money to be competitive.
Webmaster's Commentary: Given her absolute contempt for and disgust with the Constitution and Bill of Rights, as clearly revealed by her actions and statements during her tenure at Homeland Security, Napolitano is absolutely the wrong person for the job.
Fifty inmates at the central prison in the city of Amara in southern Iraq have began a hunger strike, claiming they had made confessions under torture and should be freed, a lawmaker said on Saturday. In recent, both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have said that Iraqi security forces operate secret prisons where torture is routine.
Webmaster's Commentary: So, this is what the "new democracy" looks like in Iraq, where torture has become institutionalized.
Faced with complaints from a citizen watchdog group, Atlanta police will stop interfering with people who videotape officers performing their duties in public, an agreement reached with the city Thursday says. The settlement, which also calls for the city to pay $40,000 in damages, requires city council approval.
A suicide bomber blew himself up on Saturday near a crowd of Shi'ite pilgrims at a bus depot in the Iraqi city of Samarra, killing 38 people and wounding scores, police and officials said. Skip related content In depth The attack was the second suicide bombing this week near Samarra, where Shi'ite pilgrims are commemorating the death of one of their 12 revered imams, and followed a series of recent attacks by insurgents as U.S. troops prepare to fully withdraw.
Webmaster's Commentary: More "progress" in Iraq, I see.
"I have been explaining to everybody on CNBC for two years now that food prices are going to go through the roof, they're going to explode. We have serious shortage of everything developing, including shortages of farmers."
While the Obama administration is set to release its 2012 budget request Monday, Congress still has not approved a final 2011 budget for the military. Now the Pentagon is warning that it faces a crisis situation.
For weeks, Defense Department officials have said that unless lawmakers pass the Obama administration's 2011 budget request, they will be unable to start new weapons programs and may have to limit training, maintenance and even personnel pay and other activities. Officials have also said that they will be forced to continue programs the Obama administration had sought to terminate, because the funding has not been formally cut off.
Webmaster's Commentary: It appears that the Pentagon is threatening Congress over proposed cuts in its budget. But for the Pentagon, apparently, enough is never enough from the US taxpayer, and this country is never really more safe, for all the expenditures made in this area.
What this country desperately needs is a Department of Peace, which explains to the White House and Congress how various geopolitical agendas can be achieved without firing a shot.
And for those of you naysayers, please take a look at what China has been doing, particularly in terms of energy security; they have been going around the world, signing development deals.
The US, on the other hand, has been waging war in various parts of the world, either directly, or by proxy, to achieve the same outcome. And what is wrong with this picture?!? Everything.
These are pictures of the Egyptian Martyrs, murdered by the police and military. Let us hope they did not die in vain. Never give up! Never give in! Never surrender!
A woman was handcuffed and 'treated like a hardened criminal' after she helped herself to food worth £200 that had been thrown away by a Tesco store following a power cut. Dozens of people could not believe their luck after the outlet of the supermarket giant bagged up thousands of pounds of spoiled stock and left it out in the street. Sasha Hall, 21, helped herself to potato waffles, pies and ham from outside the Tesco Express in Great Baddow, Essex.
But she was stunned when police arrived at her home and arrested her for suspected 'theft by finding' and took her to the station in handcuffs.
Webmaster's Commentary: OK, let me get this straight: the woman was arrested for having picked up food TESCO THREW OUT AFTER A POWER CUT?!?!?
Forgive me, but TESCO should have some relationships in place to enable them to call various private or public charities to get food distributed under circumstances like this, to prevent it from going to waste. And notice that while this woman was arrested, named, and shamed, the person who had her arrested remains just an anonymous corporate shill.
For now, the Muslim Brotherhood, Israel's most vociferous critic in Egypt, says it will respect the peace agreement with Israel. But Mohamed Morsi, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood's guidance bureau, says the Brotherhood wants the peace treaty to be reviewed by a new parliament.
"It talked about a just and comprehensive peace, and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state," he said. "Where is that peace, and where is that state?"
While the Egyptians are celebrating the ouster of Hosni Mubarak, many are concerned about US Israeli plans with senior Egyptian military personnel to steal and depress the revolution.
The formation of a civilian government, configuration of a body to draft the new constitution, lifting the state of emergency, releasing political prisoners, disbanding military courts, allowing freedom of media, dissolving the cabinet recently appointed by Mubarak, suspending the Parliament elected in 2010 and prosecuting those responsible for the deaths of hundreds of protesters are among other demands of the demonstrators.
The European Union and the International Monetary Fund have been accused of interfering in Greece's domestic affairs after demanding asset sales to ease the country's debt burden.
Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou accused the EU and the IMF of practicing “unacceptable behavior,” on Saturday.
On Friday EU and IMF inspectors, along with European Central Bank experts had been monitoring Greece's implementation of a bailout plan which saved Athens from bankruptcy, AFP reported. After finding revenue shortfall and reform processes being at risk in a quarterly audit, the three bodies demanded that Athens should act towards reforms at a faster pace and sell more public assets, a 50-billion-euro asset sale being among the demands.
Hundreds of people have held demonstrations across Italy to protest against Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's unethical conduct. The demonstrators banged pots and pans in Rome and Milan on Saturday and demanded that the premier resign. Anger over the sexual scandals facing Berlusconi has led to calls for his resignation, with many Italians demanding that the courts take legal action against him.
The gatherings came one day before demonstrations scheduled for Sunday, when thousands of women are expected to turn out in 200 Italian cities to denounce what they say is Berlusconi's debasing of females. Prosecutors want to try Berlusconi for allegedly paying a 17-year-old Moroccan girl for sex. Paying for prostitution with a minor is a crime in Italy.
Unusually cold weather has seriously damaged Mexico's corn crop in the northern state of Sinaloa, with an estimated loss of more than four million tons of corn.
Frost has affected more than 400,000 hectares (1.5 million acres) of the harvest in Sinaloa, an area with some of Mexico's richest farmland, the state-funded BBC reported. The loss amounts to approximately 16 percent of the country's annual harvest.
In Sinaloa, an estimated 26,000 hectares of other vegetables, or 71 percent of the crops, were also destroyed. Green beans, cucumbers and squash crops were largely affected, according to Patricio Robles, director of the Confederation of State Farming Associations of Sinaloa.
Other northern states have reported crop damage as well, including corn, wheat, soy and vegetables.
Locals however have reported strange shifts in the ground, odd movements and bizarre noises as the Earth moves beneath them. They claim that the tremors began when a gas company began drilling nearby in a geological formation called the Fayetteville shale. The companies dig deep wells which are injected with water, sand and chemicals at high pressure to get access to to gas pockets. Secondary wells have to be dug for disposal of the waste, putting further strain on the area.
Ministers still do not know when wind power will pay for itself, the Government admitted tonight. Energy Minister Charles Hendry told MPs governments had spent £2.2 billion supporting wind power over eight years - and it was impossible to predict when the energy source would prove profitable without grants.
A six-letter password in lower-case text takes a hacker's computer just ten minutes to crack, according to statistics collated by Bloomberg Businessweek. But make those letters upper-case and it takes ten hours for it to randomly work out your password.
An anti-terrorism court judge has issued an arrest warrant for former Pakistani military ruler Pervez Musharraf in connection with the 2007 assassination of ex-premier Benazir Bhutto, state-run television reported.
The warrant is the latest legal trouble to face the retired general, a one-time U.S. ally who left Pakistan for Britain in 2008 after being forced out of the presidency he secured in a 1999 military coup.
Gunshots heard near Egypt MinistrySeveral gunshots were heard on Sunday as thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators refuse to leave the streets in the capital city Cairo, a Press TV correspondent reported. Earlier reports said the Egyptian army beat protesters that refused to leave Cairo's Liberation Square, trying to disperse the stream of the masses.
Thousands of protesters chanting "revolution revolution until victory," streamed back to Liberation Square in the early hours of Sunday. They vowed to remain on the major square until their demands were met.
Pro-democracy protesters warned of holding further rallies if the military fails to fulfill its promise of a peaceful transition of power to a democratic civilian system.
Of course, what was really involved was money. War is good for business. Business had been great during WW2 and the newly created "Cold War" was just a way to keep business good. The Military Industrial Complex NEEDED Hollywood to demonize the Soviets. Otherwise, too many people were going to ask why we were being told to be so afraid of them, and few in the government had a really convincing answer for that question. So, in order to perpetuate the Cold War, those in Hollywood who might sympathize with the designated villains had to be removed; their ruined lives a small price to pay for unending access to the taxpayers' wallets.
Thousands of Egyptian protesters have returned to Liberation Square shortly after the army tried to disperse them on Sunday. The developments come two days after President Hosni Mubarak handed over power to Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which is headed by Defense Minister Gen. Mohammed Tantawi. Protesters say they will not leave until the army fulfills its promise of a peaceful transition of power to a democratic civilian system.
A brigade of the security forces repelled a massive anti-regime demonstration with thousands of protesters from approaching the Presidential Palace in Yemen's capital Sanaa on Sunday, beating them with electrical batons and rifle butts.
The protesters called for ousting President Ali Abdullah Saleh and expelling his family members from top military and security positions, including Saleh's eldest son Ahmed Ali who commands the special forces.
"People have one demand, ousting Saleh along with his family members in military," protesters shouted as they approaching the Presidential Palace, marching in long and crowded rows from Sanaa University.
Egyptian protesters slam military ruleThe developments come two days after Mubarak handed over power to Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which is headed by Defense Minister Gen. Mohammed Tantawi. Meanwhile, protesters want all their demands met, including the transition of power from the military to a civilian, democratic government. Clashes have erupted between the army and the protesters as troops tried to disperse thousands of demonstrators out in Cairo's Liberation Square, a Press TV correspondent reported.
The wave of demonstrations in and around the square is showing no signs of stopping. Hundreds of thousands of protesters continue to rally in Liberation Square.
Her movie career was cut short after congressmen forced her husband, actor Larry Parks, to testify in 1951 about his earlier membership in the Communist Party.
Later in life she became well-known to TV audiences with recurring roles in the 1970s sitcoms “All in the the Family” and “Laverne and Shirley.” We liked her especially when she would give Archie a shot!
This story has a familiar ring! Several major pieces have been stolen from the Egyptian museum, including a statue of King Tutankhamun, Egypt’s minister of state for antiquities Zahi Hawass said on Sunday.
The objects missing from the famed museum included “a gilded wood statue of the 18th Dynasty king Tutankhamun being carried by a goddess” and parts of “a gilded wood statue of Tutankhamun harpooning,” Hawass said in a statement.
Looters broke into the museum in Cairo’s Tahrir Square on January 28 when massive protests against then-president Hosni Mubarak drove his despised police from the streets in a series of running battles.
My favorite photographer - Julie Dermansky - just sent me the following pictures she took from Tahir Square in Cairo. Her normal camera was confiscated by the Mubarak regime, and so these pictures were taken with a flip phone.
The Founders, many of whom promptly went into the Congress, turned around and regulated the value of the dollar at 371 ¼ grains of pure silver. The law through which they did that, the Coinage Act of 1792, noted that the amount of silver they were regulating for the dollar was the same as in a coin then in widespread use, known as the Spanish milled dollar. And they said a dollar could also be the free-market equivalent in gold. They never expected the value of the dollar to be changed any more than the persons who locked away that cylinder of platinum and iridium expected the cylinder to start losing its mass.
THE popular uprising that started three weeks ago in TUNISIA had claimed its second autocratic government: EGYPT, the largest country in the Arab world. With more protests planned in coming days, some governments were clearly worried they could be next.
Webmaster's Commentary:
The uprising did not start in Tunisia. It started in Iceland when people tired of being looted fired their government and threw the bankers in prison! Since then the protests have spread across Europe and only now are hitting the Middle East, nor will they stop there!
The Obama administration's Justice Department has asserted that the FBI can obtain telephone records of international calls made from the U.S. without any formal legal process or court oversight, according to a document obtained by McClatchy Newspapers.
While the Deepwater Horizon well has been capped since July, another group of wells about 10 miles away has been leaking oil into the Gulf since 2004, according to federal records.
Dr Zahi Hawass, has been promoted in the shake up of Egyptian President's Hosni Mubarak's new cabinet according to a report from AP. Formerly the Vice Minister for Culture, and the Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), Dr Hawass will now take the role as Minister of a newly created department - the State Ministry for Antiquities. Literary critic Dr Gaber Asfour has been named the new Minister of Culture, replacing the long-serving Farouk Hosni.
Webmaster's Commentary:
I certainly hope that Dr. Hawass will continue in this role for the new Egypt. His global stature brings a great deal of attention to Egypt's cultural heritage at a time when Egypt's tourism will need rebuilding. As much as has already been found, it is estimated that 2/3 of ancient Egypt's artifacts and buildings remain to be discovered.
The top United States military officer heads to Jordan and Israel next week for high-level talks meant to reassure key allies at a moment of heightened uncertainty after Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's ouster.
Webmaster's Commentary:
"Don't you worry. No matter how many trillions of tax dollars it takes; no matter how many millions of Americans kids have to die, we'll make sure you have the freedom to go on stealing Palestinian lands as much as you want! Because you are all God's chosen people. I mean, I still don;t understand why you need our money and our kids to die, if God is supposed to take care of you and all, but I guess that;s what faith is for, right? Not asking logical questions that get in the way of the flow of money and blood, right?" -- Official White Horse Souse
Egypt's military has dissolved parliament and suspended the constitution, two days after Hosni Mubarak, the long-serving president, stepped down in the wake of a popular uprising. The country's Supreme Council of Armed Forces announced on Sunday that it would remain in charge of the country for six months until a new government is formed. The military council announced the move in a statement on state television, adding that it would form a panel to amend the constitution before submitting the changes to a popular referendum.
The announcement came shortly after Egypt's prime minister announced that the cabinet appointed by Mubarak shortly before he stepped down, would stay in place.
Why would the US Congress, which supposedly exists to serve the will of the AMERICAN people, be obeying the will of Israel? Well, maybe because Israel's PACs, including lobbying/spying organization AIPAC, are PAYING THEM TO! (And may have used money looted from American investors by Bernie Madoff to do it!)
You heard me. Members of AIPAC, the organization suspected of spying for Israel, donate vast sums of money to the members of US Congress. And the US Congress has sold our young men and women in uniform to go off and fight and die in wars Israel has created.
Webmaster's Commentary:
The people of Egypt just dumped a ruler who was working for a foreign government. It looks like other nations like Jordan, Tunisia, and Yemen are about to do the same.
When will Americans stand up for freedom and to regain their own country?
Israel attacked foreign flagged ships in international waters (the very activity the 6th fleet is killing Somali coastal patrol crews for), hijacked a US-flagged ship, and kidnapped 12 Americans, shooting one of them in the head 4 times. A real President, who remembers that his job is to take care of America and Americans, would not rush to the UN to protect the nation that just attacked Americans.
A real Congress, who remembers that their job is to take care of America and Americans, would not hand Israel a license to murder more Americans anywhere in the world Israel decides they are an inconvenience! No government can serve two masters, and a government that serves Israel cannot serve the American people.
A friend to Israel is no friend of America. Webmaster's Commentary:
Relinked in light of how ready the US Government was to abandon the Declaration of Independence to keep Mubarak in power for Israel.
When U.S. politicians are forced to discuss critical Middle East matters, more often than not, their remarks either display an ignorance of facts, are shaped more by political needs than reality, or are just plain dumb. Commentary about the popular revolt in Egypt provides a case in point.
There was no doubt that the events in Cairo were momentous and, therefore, deserving of response. In the case of most U.S. political leaders, however, struggling to come up with the right TV sound bite didn't require actually knowing anything about Egypt. All that was needed was to frame the issue through either the prism of partisanship or that of unbending loyalty to Israel. The result was a string of comments, some bizarre, others dangerous.
Israel's obstinacy in Middle East peace talks could further anger an already volatile Arab public opinion, Jordan's Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit told a senior U.S. official on Saturday, adding that he hoped Israel would give up its so-called "fortress mentality."
The man, alleged to be Ukrainian-born Maksim Gelman, 23, was armed with five knives when he went on a stabbing spree early Friday, officials said. Four other people were also knifed but survived the attacks. Webmaster's Commentary:
"What can I say? He didn't look like a Muslim, so we left him alone!" -- Homeland (In)Security
On a more serious note, I don't expect we will see too much of this story since he used knives, which means the gun-grabbers cannot use this to push for disarmament of the public.
Egyptian TV read out the communicate, saying that elections will take place in September, and the military will only run the country until September. This is a very important news, the protesters have been asking for a specific timeline, they wanted to know when this transition was going to take place, and when there was going to be an elected civilian government, and now the military supreme command have answered that.
It is interesting that This military communicate came out shortly after the prime minister spoke to the nation, I think that they are showing where the power is, making it clear that for now the military high command replaces the president in the structure, and the prime minister does what he is told."
Webmaster's Commentary:
I commented on my radio show that Suleiman did not look happy when he announced Mubarak was gone. He did not look like a man who just got the top job. He looked like a man who had just realized he was an impotent figurehead.
About 700 British Army regulars, under Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith, were ordered to capture and destroy military supplies that were reportedly stored by the Massachusetts militia at Concord. Dr. Joseph Warren alerted the colonists of this. The Patriot colonists had received intelligence weeks before the expedition which warned of an impending British search, and had moved much, but not all, of the supplies to safety. They had also received details about British plans on the night before the battle, and information was rapidly supplied to the militia.
Swiss voters have rejected a proposal to tighten their country's liberal firearms laws. Official results showed on Sunday that at least 14 of Switzerland's 26 cantons (states) voted against the proposal to ban army rifles from homes and impose new requirements for buying other guns.
The Alpine nation has a long tradition of men keeping army rifles at home even after completing their military service. Gun clubs and supporters of Switzerland's distinctive citizen soldier militia fiercely opposed the ban on army rifles in secure storage and imposition of new requirements for buying other guns. Proponents saw it as a way to reduce domestic violence and Switzerland's comparatively high rate of firearms-related suicide.
Scuffles have broken out in Cairo's Tahrir Square as soldiers tried to remove activists from the epicentre of Egypt's uprising which resulted in the president stepping down. Hundreds of protesters remained in the square on Sunday and organisers said they would not leave until more of their demands are met. Meanwhile, normality was slowly returning to the rest of Egypt, at the start of the first working day since Hosni Mubarak was toppled during the weekend.
Soldiers shoved pro-democracy protesters aside to force a path for traffic to start flowing through Tahrir Square for the first time in more than two weeks.
The tents, where protesters camped out during the 18 days of protests, were removed.
Egyptians welcomed military rule Friday with a massive display of joy. Protesters across Cairo reveled at the victory they had wrought, and Egyptian reporters on cable TV channels were reduced to tears as they sought to convey their happiness. But many questions remain about what comes next — and there are strong doubts about whether military rule will lead to the demonstrators' ultimate goal: a credible transition to democracy.Still, Jason Brownlee, of the University of Texas, Austin, questions whether Egypt's military really has a sovereign, civilian government in mind.
"I don't see evidence the military is willing to go backstage," he says. The message could be "we've heard you, we've responded, congratulations, now go home."
CAIRO - As Abdul Rahman al-Sharkawi danced with the infectious joy gripping Cairo on Saturday, he was unable to shake one image - his father languishing in a tiny prison cell in a town in Egypt's western desert. Fears for his 61-year-old father, who has been imprisoned for years under an emergency law that allows detention without judicial review, have haunted him since childhood.
"He's an old man and he spent half his life in prison," Sharkawi, 30, said Saturday, looking bleary-eyed but triumphant as he celebrated the ouster of Egypt's long-time authoritarian leader Hosni Mubarak.
"The army has met our demands," said Google executive and political activist Wael Ghonim. "I think it's over. They see the Egyptians are no longer going to accept a dictatorship."
But analysts in Cairo, Washington and Tel Aviv say the situation remains too volatile to be sure that the military council will ultimately permit free elections, accede to civilian control and allow transparency.
No popular civilian leaders or independent political parties were allowed to emerge during Mubarak's long tenure. His departure has left a political void, and some analysts fear that the generals may seek to stifle any threat to the status quo.
Egypt's new military administration and the pro-democracy protesters who brought down Hosni Mubarak are at odds over the path to democratic rule.
The army sought to stave off pressure from jubilant protesters to swiftly hand power to a civilian-led administration by saying that it was committed to a "free democratic state".
The military leadership gave no timetable for the political transition, and many of the demonstrators who filled Cairo's Tahrir Square for 18 days rejected the military's appeal to dismantle the barricades and go home.
They said they were waiting for specific commitments from the military on their demand for a civilian-controlled interim administration, the lifting of the oppressive state of emergency and other steps toward liberalisation.
WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President Barack Obama unveils his fiscal 2012 budget Monday, an election year plan forged from conflicting needs to cut spending and stoke the economic recovery...
One hundred more Reno city employees have received layoff notices, prompting the immediate closure of a downtown police substation to the public.
The Reno Gazette-Journal reports the workers were advised by the personnel office of their options Friday, including unemployment benefits and self-paid, extended health coverage...
The book describes how leaders of the wartime OSS, including William Donovan and Allen Dulles, lobbied for the creation of the CIA through the National Security Act of 1947. At the same time, however, they created private alternatives for covert operations that would operate outside of government control, such as the World Commerce Corporation (WCC).
As CIA executive director, Buzzy Krongard, would later say – “"the whole OSS was really nothing but Wall Street bankers and lawyers." Scott confirms this by writing that, when the CIA was created, it was dominated by “aristocratic elements of the New York overworld.” Despite this fact, and despite the creation of privately controlled CIA-like alternatives, a secret government funded organization was authorized by the National Security Council a year later. This was the OPC, led by Allen Dulles and Frank Wisner, a State Department official who wielded unprecedented power due to his position in New York law and financial circles.
Book stores are wonderful places to browse for that great novel a friend recommended, get a cup of coffee or sometimes just to chill out with your laptop or listen to a local singer.
But the day for such places is apparently numbered. Borders Group, the country’s second largest traditional bookstore chain, may file for bankruptcy reorganization as early as Monday or Tuesday, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.
And it will be shutter some of its stores. WSJ, citing unnamed sources, said about 200 of its 674 stores could close. I contacted the manager of the Borders store in Central Park, one of two in the Fredericksburg area, and was told to call Borders Group spokeswoman Mary Davis...
CIA officers who were involved in cases of wrongful imprisonment, mistreatment and even detainee deaths have often avoided serious punishment and in many cases been promoted within the agency [1], an investigation by the Associated Press has found...
The move toward a North American Union received another big boost last week as President Barack Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper met in Washington, D.C. to hammer out a deal on creating a common “perimeter” around the two countries while diminishing the role of the nations’ shared border and developing a biometric system to track North Americans.
“We intend to work together in cooperation and partnership to develop, implement, manage, and monitor security initiatives, standards, and practices to fulfill our vision,” the document notes, without a reference to the legislatures of either nation.
The toppling of the regime in Cairo does not alter this strategic logic. The revolutionaries at Tahrir Square were motivated by Egyptian national pride and not by their adoration of the Islamic Revolution in Iran. Whoever succeeds Mubarak will want to follow this line, even bolster Egyptian nationalism, and not transform Egypt into an Iranian satellite. This does not mean that Mubarak's successor will encourage Israel to strike the Iranian nuclear installations.
If the streets of Cairo have taught us anything, they have demonstrated that vigilance against those who would control out of arrogance, oppress with indifference, deceive with impunity, and humiliate without feeling, have abandoned all natural sympathies and become , in fact, non-human and must be exposed for all to see. Such vigilance unfortunately can never end.
Yes, a fine sentiment. But when has it ever and, when it has, how long did it last? Freedom, Liberty and the dignity of man, must be built on more than slogans!
Where is the popular leadership who will muster and guide this power? Suleiman? The Army? ElBaradei? The US Embassy? The Israeli Embassy?
These seem to be the only power points in view, the only spearheads on the table.
When the tumult in Tunisia and Egypt shattered the deep freeze that has afflicted Arabs for almost four decades, countries fond of touting democracy should have been leading the celebrations. Instead, the reigning mood among elites in the United States, and especially in Israel, was one of fear and trepidation.
Egyptians celebrate the departure of Mubarak, while the US continues to plan behind the scenes with their bought Egyptian military to retain the same old age imperialistic agenda against democracy.
Egypt's army has clashed with protesters, refusing to leave Cairo's Liberation Square two days after the US-backed dictator Hosni Mubarak left the country.
Consumer Advocate Target of San Bruno "Explosion"? February 12, 2011 What are the odds that Jacqueline Grieg, a whistle blower advocating for customers of PG&E, was at home in San Bruno at the epicenter of the "explosion" and died that day, along with her 13 year old daughter. She had previously exposed PG&E for proposing a cost for pipeline upgrades at a rate increase of $4.2 billion, which her research revealed was exaggerated by $3.2 billion. What are the odds of her house being "ground zero" for that blast?
In 2008, the Alliance of Youth Movements held its inaugural summit in New York City. Attending this summit was a combination of State Department staff, Council on Foreign Relations members, former National Security staff, Department of Homeland Security advisers, and a myriad of representatives from American corporations and mass media organizations including AT&T, Google, Facebook, NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, and MTV.
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