What The Fucks Going On Blog

Hash Use in Afghan Army--"80, 85 percent of the army"

The fledgling Afghan National Army faces numerous obstacles in its efforts to become a force capable of maintaining security on its own; the situation is made all the more difficult by the persistent use of hashish among troops.

"I think if they introduced drug testing to the Afghan army we would lose probably three-quarters to maybe 80, 85 percent of the army," says one U.S. soldier.

(SEE VIDEO: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/22/afghan-armys-hashish-smok_n_400441.html)

The U.S. marines training the Afghan army come across as consistently frustrated by how unfocused, and often high, many of the Afghans are. They complain repeatedly of soldiers coming to training without a lot of their gear, including their helmets.

One U.S. Marine summed up the situation succinctly by saying: "Ultimately, it effects their ability to protect their nation and get Afghanistan on its feet."

Secret North American Union--"hostile takeover"--"coup d’etat over government operations of Canada, US, Mexico.”

EARL NASH,  WTFG   National   Soveriegnty Correspondent      

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>  “It’s news to you…”  <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Militarization includes the US Northern Command (NORTHCOM), established in October 2002, which has air, land, and sea responsibility for the continent regardless of Posse Comitatus limitations that no longer apply or sovereign borders that are easily erased. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) also have large roles. So does the FBI, CIA, all US spy agencies, militarized state and local police, National Guard forces, and paramilitary mercenaries like Blackwater USA. The

“The Militarization and Annexation of North America”
 by Stephen Lendman

Under Bush 42, the elected leaders of Canada, the US, and Mexico met secretly and  expanded the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with “deep integration” of a more militarized tri-national Homeland Security force.

Taking shape under the radar of the respective governments and without public knowledge or consideration, the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP)—headquartered in Washington—aims to integrate the three nations into a single political, economic, and security bloc.

The SPP was launched at a meeting of Presidents George W. Bush and Vicente Fox, and Prime Minister Paul Martin, in Waco, Texas, on March 31, 2005. The official US web page describes the SPP as “. . . a White House-led initiative among the United States and Canada and Mexico to increase security and to enhance prosperity . . .” The SPP is not a law, or a treaty, or even a signed agreement. All these would require public debate and participation of Congress.

The SPP was born in the “war on terror” era and reflects an inordinate emphasis on US security as interpreted by the Department of Homeland Security. Its accords mandate border actions, military and police training, modernization of equipment, and adoption of new technologies, all under the logic of the US counter-terrorism campaign. Former Head of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, along with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Finance Carlos Gutierrez, were the three officials charged with attending SPP ministerial conferences.

Measures to coordinate security pressured Mexico to militarize its southern border. US military elements already operate inside Mexico and the DEA and the FBI have initiated training programs for the Mexican Army (now involved in the drug war), federal and state police, and intelligence units.

Stephen Lendman states that a Pentagon briefing paper hinted at a US invasion if the country became destabilized or the government faced the threat of being overthrown because of “widespread economic and social chaos” that would jeopardize US investments, access to oil, overall trade, and would create great numbers of immigrants heading north.

Canada’s influential Department of National Defence; its new Chief of Defence Staff, General Rick Hillier; and Defense Minister Gordon O’Connor are on board as well. They’re committed to ramping up the nation’s military spending and linking with America’s “war on terror.”

The SPP created the North American Competitiveness Council (NACC) that serves as an official tri-national SPP working group. The group is composed of representatives of thirty giant North American companies, including General Electric, Ford Motors, General Motors, Wal-Mart, Lockheed-Martin, Merck, and Chevron.

NACC’s recommendations centered on “private sector involvement” being “a key step to enhancing North America’s competitive position in global markets and is the driving force behind innovation and growth.” The NACC stressed the importance of establishing policies for maximum profits.

The US-guided agenda prioritizes corporate-friendly access to resources, especially Canadian and Mexican oil and water. The NACC’s policy states that “the prosperity of the United States relies heavily on a secure supply of imported energy.”

US energy security is seen as a top priority encouraging Canada and Mexico to allow privatization of state-run enterprises like Mexico’s nationalized oil company, PEMEX. In January 2008, Halliburton signed a $683 million contract with PEMEX to drill fifty-eight new test holes in Chiapas and Tabasco and take over maintenance of pipelines. This is the latest of $2 billion in contracts Halliburton has received from PEMEX during Fox’s and current Mexican president Felipe Calderone’s administrations, which the opposition warns has become the public front for US monopoly capital privatization.

Connie Fogal of Canadian Action Party says, “The SPP is the hostile takeover of the apparatus of democratic government . . . a coup d’etat over the government operations of Canada, US and Mexico.”

A fourth SPP summit was held in New Orleans from April 22 to 24, 2008. George Bush, Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and Mexico’s President Felipe Calderon attended. Protesters held what they called a “people’s summit.” They were in the streets and held workshops to inform people how destructive SPP is, strengthen networking and organizational ties against it, maintain online information about their activities, promote efforts and build added support, and affirm their determination to continue resisting a hugely repressive corporate-sponsored agenda.

Opponents call the “Partnership” NAFTA on steroids. Business-friendly opposition also exists. The prominent Coalition to Block the North American Union (NAU) is backed by the Conservative Caucus, which has a “NAU War Room,” a “headquarters of the national campaign to expose and halt America’s absorption into a North American Union with Canada and Mexico.” It opposes building “a massive, continental ‘NAFTA Superhighway.’”

This coalition has congressional allies, and on January 2007, Rep. Virgil Goode and six co-sponsors introduced House Concurrent Resolution 40, which expresses “the sense of Congress that the United States should not engage in (building a NAFTA) Superhighway System or enter into a NAU with Mexico and Canada.”

The April summit reaffirmed SPP’s intentions—to create a borderless North America, dissolve national sovereignty, put corporate giants in control, and assure big US companies most of it. It’s also to create fortress-North America by militarizing the continent under US command.

SPP maintains a website. Its “key accomplishments” since August 2007 are updated as of April 22, 2008. The information is too detailed for this update, but can be accessed from the following link: http://www.spp.gov/pdf/key_accomplishments_since_august_2007.pdf.

The website lists principles agreed to; bilateral deals struck; negotiations concluded; study assessments released; agreements on the “Free Flow of Information”; law enforcement activities; efforts related to intellectual property, border and long-haul trucking enforcement; import licensing procedures; food and product safety issues; energy issues (with special focus on oil); infrastructure development; emergency management; and much more. It’s all laid out in deceptively understated tones to hide its continental aim—to enable enhanced corporate exploitation with as little public knowledge as possible.

Militarization includes the US Northern Command (NORTHCOM), established in October 2002, which has air, land, and sea responsibility for the continent regardless of Posse Comitatus limitations that no longer apply or sovereign borders that are easily erased. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) also have large roles. So does the FBI, CIA, all US spy agencies, militarized state and local police, National Guard forces, and paramilitary mercenaries like Blackwater USA.

They’re headed anywhere on the continent with license to operate as freely as in Iraq and New Orleans post-Katrina. They’ll be able to turn hemispheric streets into versions of Baghdad and make them unfit to live on if things come to that.

Consider other militarizing developments as well. On February 14, 2008, the US and Canada agreed to allow American troops inside Canada. Canadians were told nothing of this agreement, which was drafted in 2002. Neither was it discussed in Congress or in the Canadian House of Commons. The agreement establishes “bilateral integration” of military command structures in areas of immigration, law enforcement, intelligence, or whatever else the Pentagon or Washington wishes. Overall, it’s part of the “war on terror” and militarizing the continent to make it “safer” for business and being prepared for any civilian opposition.

Mexico is also being targeted, with a “Plan Mexico” a Mexican and Central American security plan called the Merida Initiative, supported by $1.4 billion in allocated aid. It’s a “regional security cooperation initiative” similar to Plan Colombia and presented as an effort to fight drug trafficking.

In fact, the Merida Initiative is part of SPP’s militarization of Mexico and gives Washington more control of the country. Most of the aid goes to Mexico’s military and police forces, with a major portion earmarked for US defense contractors for equipment, training, and maintenance. The touchy issue of deploying US troops will be avoided by instead employing private US security forces, i.e., Blackwater and DynCorp.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at [email protected]. Also visit his blog at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to The Global Research News Hour on RepublicBroadcasting.org, Mondays from 11 am to 1 pm CT. 

Global Research, August 2, 2007
Title: “North American Union: The SPP is a ‘hostile takeover’ of democratic government and an end to the Rule of Law”
Author: Constance Fogal

Student Researchers: Rebecca Newsome and Andrea Lochtefeld

Faculty Evaluator: Ron Lopez, PhD

Immigrations Enforcement "disappearing" people to "Mini-Gitmos"--in your neighborhood?

"If you don't have enough evidence to charge someone criminally but you think he's illegal, we can make him disappear. "  North Carolina had 629,947 immigrants and at least six subfield offices, compared with Massachusetts, with 913,957 immigrants and one listed field office.”

EARL NASH,  WTFG   Secret   Prisons   Correspondent      

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>  “It’s news to you…”  <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

If you were appalled by the Soviet Gulags, Gitmo, and the secret prisons in Eastern Europe, you may be shocked to discover that there is one in your neighborhood.

People in the United States are being "disappeared" daily and denied legal counsel and their habeas corpus right to appear before a judge. 

Although, theoretically, the government must provide "an impartial authority to review the lawfulness of custody. Part and parcel is the ability of somebody to find the person and to make their presence known to a court." the locations of these mini-Gitmos is kept secret.

(The Nation magazine has published a partial list of the 186 unlisted and unmarked subfield offices at  http://www.jacquelinestevens.org/ICEFieldSubfield0909.PDF)

To avoid laws and regulations for incarceration, the ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) simply claims the captives are "in transit" and moves them, usually twice daily, from a jail to a hidden "ICE house."

In Los Angeles, "you're putting people in a warehouse, the occupants become inventory. Inventory does not need showers, beds, drinking water, soap, toothbrushes, sanitary napkins, mail, attorneys or legal information, and can withstand the constant blast of cold air. The US residents held in B-18, as many as 100 on any given day, were treated likewise. B-18, it turned out, was not a transfer area from point A to point B but rather an irrationally revolving stockroom that would shuttle the same people briefly to the local jails, sometimes from 1 to 5 am, and then bring them back, shackled to one another, stooped and crouching in overpacked vans. These transfers made it impossible for anyone to know their location, as there would be no notice to attorneys or relatives when people moved. At times the B-18 occupants were left overnight, the frigid onslaught of forced air and lack of mattresses or bedding defeating sleep. The hours of sitting in packed cells on benches or the concrete floor meant further physical and mental duress." (The Nation)

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20100104/stevens

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Obama's two "reliable partners"--Kriminal Karzai and "10% Zadari"--are sinking in cesspools of corruption

EARL NASH,  WTFG   Unreliable  Partners  Correspondent      

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>  “It’s news to you…”  <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

With Heroin Hamid--wallet-deep in U. S. money and marrow in a cesspool of drugs and corruption--playing the support role of "reliable partner" in Afghanistan, a clown clone has reared his ugly head on the other hind cheek; meet Pakistani President “Mr. Ten Percent”  Zardari,  up to his nostrils in scandal’s stench, standing impotently between the country's nuclear stockpile and "terrorists" with the U. S.  rapidly losing confidence in his ability to play "reliable partner"--or even remain in office.

Lurking stage right, the understudy to the "relaiable partner" role is Gen. Ashfaq Kiyani and 617,000 troops;  while President Zardari is on his cell phone skimming money, General Kiyani is on his secure phone to the Pentagon, making plans.

Pakistanis see the U. S. as an arrogant interloper flying drones over its airspace without the knowledge of the Zardari government, whom they see as a puppet of Washington.

With both flanks crumbling from corruption, President Obama is squinting through militarty binoculars  to see "victory"at the end of an endless war against terrorism--or at least that "light at the end of the tunnel," but there is only endless death and endless darkness.

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December 24, 2009 "Huffington Post" By Eric Margolis

I've not met Pakistan's current president, Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of Benazir Bhutto. But I've written for decades about corruption charges that relentlessly dog him. At one point, I was threatened with having acid thrown in my face if I kept writing about the Bhutto-Zardari's financial scandals.

Asif Ali Zardari became known to one and all as "Mr. 10%" from the time when he was a minister in his wife's government, in charge of approving government contracts. Critics say the 10% and other kickbacks produced millions for the Zardari-Bhutto family.

But Benazir Bhutto repeatedly insisted to me that she and her husband - who was tortured and jailed for years on corruption charges - were innocent and victims of political persecution in Pakistan's utterly corrupt legal system where "justice" goes to the biggest payer of bribes, and politicians use courts to punish their rivals. Small wonder so many Pakistanis are calling for far more honest Islamic justice.

In 2008, Washington sought to rescue Musharraf's foundering dictatorship by convincing the popular but still self-exiled Benazir Bhutto to front for him as democratic window-dressing for continued military rule. Her price: amnesty for a long list of corruption charges against her and her husband. The US and Britain quietly arranged the amnesty for the Bhuttos and thousands of their indicted supporters (and other political figures).

Just before her assassination, Benazir told me jealous associates of Musharraf were gunning for her.

Asif Zardari then inherited Benazir's Pakistan People's Party, the nation's largest. He became president, thanks to strong US and British political and financial support.

Zardari repaid this support by facilitating the US war in Afghanistan, and allowed the Pentagon to keep using Pakistan's bases and military personnel, without which the war in Afghanistan could not be prosecuted. Washington promised Pakistan's elite, pro-western leadership at least $8 billion.

That sleazy deal has now come unstuck thanks to Pakistan's newest, rather improbable democratic hero, Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry. As chief justice of the Supreme Court under Musharraf, he was expected to rubber stamp government decisions.

Instead, Justice Chaudhry began enforcing the law by reinstating the dismissed corruption charges and examining the legality of Musharraf's self-appointed second term.
Musharraf, with shameful backing from Washington and London, had Justice Chaudhry kicked off the bench. He, and a score of fellow judges who would not toe the line, were placed under house arrest. Some were beaten. Their pensions were canceled.

But the ebbing of Zardari's power has resulted in the reinstatement by parliament of Justice Chaudhry, who promptly reinstated all the old charges. For the first time, Pakistan was tasting the true institutions of democracy at work.

Zardari has presidential immunity against criminal charges. But his chief lieutenants face prosecution, notably regime strongman, Interior Minister Rehman Malik, and Defense Minister Ahmed Mukhtar. Both are key supporters and facilitators of US military operations in Afghanistan, America's use of Pakistani bases, and Pakistan's war against its own rebellious Pashtun tribesmen (AKA "Taliban").

Opposition parties are demanding Zardari and senior aides resign. Islamabad is in an uproar just when Washington needs Pakistan's government to intensify the war against the so-called Pakistani Taliban and support President Barack Obama's expanded war in Afghanistan. Washington is also intensifying drone attacks inside Pakistan, that are provoking fierce public outrage against the US, and weighing air attacks on Baluchistan Province.

Skeletons are dancing out of Zardari's closets: $63 million in illegal kickbacks and commissions allegedly hidden in Swiss bank accounts; accusation of laundering $13.7 million in Switzerland. Charges of kickbacks on helicopter and warplane deals. In 2003, Swiss magistrates found Zardari and Bhutto guilty of money laundering, sentencing them to a six month suspended jail term, a fine of $50,000, and ordering them to repay $11 million to Pakistan's government.

Zardari has an estimated personal fortune of $2 billion; luxurious properties in the US, France, Spain and Britain, and on it goes. He avoided trial in Switzerland by claiming mental illness.

In 2008, Gen. Musharraf had all charges against the Bhuttos dropped as part of the US-engineered plan for a diumverate with Benazir.

The Bhuttos remain one of the largest feudal landowners in a desperately poor nation where annual income is US$1,027 and illiteracy over 50%. Pakistan has been ruled since its creation in 1947 by either callous feudal landlords, who bought and sold politicians like bags of Basmati rice, or by generals.

It appears that Zardari's days as Washington's man in Islamabad are numbered. Anti-American fury is surging, with popular claims that Pakistan has been "occupied" by the US, treated like a third-rate banana republic, and is run by corrupt, US-installed stooges and crooks. Shades of Iran under the Shah, and Egypt under Sadat.

Many Pakistanis blame the current bloody wave of bombings in their nation on US mercenaries from Xe (formerly Blackwater), and old foe India staging attacks in revenge for decades of bombings in Kashmir, Punjab and its eastern hill states by Pakistani intelligence.

Most Pakistanis believe Washington is bent on tearing apart their unstable nation to seize its nuclear weapons.

Washington is almost back to square one in turbulent Pakistan. When Zardari goes or is kicked upstairs as an impotent figurehead, attention will turn to Pakistan's 617,000-man military and its commander, Gen - or should we say "president-elect" Ashfaq Kiyani? He is already in almost constant contact with the Pentagon.

In 2010, the ugly acronym, "Afpak," will bedevil, befuddle, and consume the Obama White House that so unwisely and rashly ignored Gen. Douglas MacArthur's wise warning to avoid land wars in Asia.

As the US expands the Afghan War, its strategic rear area in Pakistan is up in flames.

FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml

Food Crisis of 2010 covered-up by USDA

by Eric deCarbonnel | www.marketskeptics.com

There is no precedence for the panic and chaos that will occur next year. The global food supply/demand picture has NEVER been so out of balance. The 2010 food crisis will rearrange economic, financial, and political order of the world.

 There is overwhelming, undeniable evidence that the world will run out of food next year. When this happens, the resulting triple digit food inflation will lead panicking central banks around the world to dump their foreign reserves to appreciate their currencies and lower the cost of food imports, causing the collapse of the dollar, the treasury market, derivative markets, and the global financial system. The US will experience economic disintegration.

The government bailouts and central bank interventions, which have held the financial world together during the last two years, will be powerless to prevent the 2010 Food Crisis from bringing the global financial system to its knees.

Early in 2009, the supply and demand in agricultural markets went badly out of balance. The world experienced a catastrophic fall in food production as a result of the financial crisis (low commodity prices and lack of credit) and adverse weather on a global scale.

Meanwhile, China and other Asian exporters, in an effort to preserve their economic growth, were unleashing domestic consumption long constrained by inflation fears, and demand for raw materials, especially food staples, exploded as Chinese consumers worked their way towards American-style overconsumption, prodded on by a flood of cheap credit and easy loans from the government.

Normally food prices should have already shot higher months ago, leading to lower food consumption and bringing the global food supply/demand situation back into balance. 

This never happened because the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), instead of adjusting production estimates down to reflect decreased production, adjusted estimates upwards to match increasing demand from china. In this way, the USDA has brought supply and demand back into balance (on paper) and temporarily delayed a rise in food prices by ensuring a catastrophe in 2010.

The production of agricultural goods is a fixed, once a year cycle (or twice a year in the case of double crops). The wheat, corn, soybeans and other food staples are harvested in the fall/spring and then that is it for production. It doesn’t matter how high prices go or how desperate people get, no new supply can be brought online until the next harvest at the earliest. The supply must last until the next harvest, which is why it is critical that food is correctly priced to avoid overconsumption, otherwise food shortages occur.

The USDA—by manufacturing the data needed to keep supply and demand in balance—has ensured that agricultural commodities are incorrectly priced, which has lead to overconsumption and has guaranteed disaster next year when supplies run out.

the USDA has declared half the counties in the Midwest to be primary disaster areas, including 274 counties in the last 30 days alone. These designations are based on the criteria of a minimum of 30 percent loss in the value of at least one crop in the county. The chart below shows counties declared primary disaster areas by the secretary of Agriculture and the president of the United States.

The same USDA that is predicting record harvests is also declaring disaster areas across half the Midwest because of catastrophic crop losses! To eliminate any doubt that this might be an innocent mistake, the USDA is even predicting record soybean harvests in the same states (Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Alabama) where it has declared virtually all counties to have experienced 30 percent production losses.

USDA motivated by fear of higher food prices

The USDA is terrorized by the implications of higher food prices for the US economy, most likely because it knows the immediate consequence of sharply higher food will be the collapse of the US Treasury market and the dollar, as desperate governments and central banks dump their foreign reserves to appreciate their currencies and lower the cost of food imports. Fictitious USDA estimates should be seen as proof of the dire threat posed by higher food prices, as the USDA would not have turned its production estimates into a grotesque mockery of reality if it didn’t believe the alternative to be apocalyptic.

FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml

INTERPOL-ICPO issue arrest notices for Israelis charged with war crimes

EARL NASH,  WTFG   ICPO   Correspondent      

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>  “It’s news to you…”  <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO) has issued a circular calling for the arrest of 15 top Israeli officials over war crimes.

At a news briefing on Sunday, Tehran’s Public Prosecutor, Saeed Mortazavi, said that Iran had referred the case to the organization, known as Interpol, drawing on the Interpol charter and Israel’s violation of the Geneva Conventions.

“ICPO has notified governments of 180 countries to arrest the suspects,” who were involved in the 23-day Israeli offensive on Gaza in December and January he said.

In December, Iran’s judiciary announced its decision to set up a court to look into complaints made by the Palestinian envoy in Iran and wounded Palestinians delivered to Iran, against Israeli atrocities in Gaza, saying it was ready to try the Israelis in absentia.

“In the current week, we have completed our investigation of about 15 individuals who were among those criminals,” IRIB, Iran’s State Television, quoted Mortazavi as saying.

“Based on our investigation and according to article 2 of the Interpol charter, we asked Interpol to arrest these suspects.”

Mortazavi said the charges included war crimes, invasion, occupation, genocide and crimes against humanity.

The Iranian prosecutor was referring to Israeli strikes that started on December 27 on the densely populated Palestinian coastal territory and did not end until it had claimed the lives of more than 1,330 Gazans, mostly civilians.

Many international NGOs and human rights organizations, Palestinians wounded in the Gaza onslaught, more than 5,700 Iranian lawyers and attorneys in the Iranian Bar Association along with a large number of medics were also among those who filed complaints against Tel Aviv, Mortazavi added.

The list of Israeli war criminals includes:

1 Outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
2 Defense Minister Ehud Barak
3 Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni
4 Chief of the General Staff Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi
5 Commander in Chief of the Israeli Air Force Ido Nehoshtan
6 Commander of the Gaza war — Operation Cast Lead — Maj. Gen. Yoav Galant
7 Head of Military Intelligence Directorate Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin
8 Commander of Battalion 13 in the Golani Brigade Lt. Col. Oren Cohen
9 Deputy to the Givati Brigade Col. Ron Ashrov
10 Commander of the Israel Paratroopers’ Brigade in Gaza Col. Hertzi Halevy
11 Commander of 401st Armored Corps Brigade convoy Col. Yigal Slovik
12 Commander of the 101st Battalion in the Paratrooper Brigade Lt. Col. Avi Blot
13 Lt. Col. Yoav Mordechai, who served as a commander of the Golani infantry brigade’s 13th Battalion in Gaza
14 Givati squad commander Col. Tomer Tsiter
15 Brigade commander in Battalion 51 Col. Avi Peled

http://pakalert.wordpress.com/2009/

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"Interpol, acronym for the International Criminal Police Organization, a worldwide clearinghouse for police information."--(Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th edition, 2003)

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"Super Flu"--killing 6 in 10--would incubate in Asia, Combining Swine and Bird Flu Strains

EARL NASH,  WTFG   Super   Flu   Correspondent      

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>  “It’s news to you…”  <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

A "Super Flu"--far worse than the 1918 Spanish Flu--would marry the 60% mortality rate of the H5N1 Bird Flu to the infectiousness of the H1N1 Swine Flu and would be spawned in Asia. 

“The possible recombination of H5N1 and H1N1 viruses or a pandemic trend of bird flu is of great concern.  So Taiwan had to organize expert groups to survey and exchange information about bird flu through communicating with Guangzhou China, Thailand, Vietnam, and Hong Kong.” Professor Su Ih-jen, former director of Centre for Disease Control in Taiwan, told Sound of Hope radio.

Beijing, has not made the mainland’s real pandemic status public and has not published reasonable data of the H1N1 pandemic in China for international experts to evaluate.  This secretive attitude is raising concerns that China may deny and hide the emergence of a "Super Flu," as they did during the SARs epidemic.  The H1N1 containment in China is more expensive and time-consuming, and increases the risk of contagion, Su said. Thusfar, Beijing has acknowledged that the core issue for global experts is a recombination and mutation that creates a super flu.

Su said Asia would be the first victim in the case of a new wave of bird flu as the virus already exists in poultry and birds in many Chinese cities.

“The bird flu has become an epidemic in Southern China’s provinces and cities such as Fujian or Guangzhou, especially in local communities, spreading among chickens and ducks,” Su said. “About 3 percent of terrestrial or aquatic birds are carriers. Because of this, what WHO is concerned about, besides the H1N1 flu, is whether H5N1 flu will become a pandemic in the next few years.

Su added that the disease control system in Taiwan improved following the SARS outbreak and it can now monitor and help stop the spread of flu in Taiwan. Taiwan has controlled the spread of the H1N1 flu without using patient isolation methods that the mainland regime has adopted, he said.

Su said with Taiwan’s 12 laboratories, analysis and results can be provided within several hours of a case being reported. He said the lack of effective systems to report H1N1 infections in China, means international experts do not accept the number of H1N1 flu cases officially reported by Beijing.

The H1N1 flu was originally a kind of swine influenza, caused by Type A influenza virus.

FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml

INTERPOL, UN will "groom" a Global Police Force

EARL NASH,  WTFG   INTERPOL   Correspondent      

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>  “It’s news to you…”  <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

 

By DOREEN CARVAJAL, NYT

Published: October 11, 2009

PARIS — Interpol and the United Nations are poised to become partners in fighting crime by jointly grooming a global police force that would be deployed as peacekeepers among rogue nations riven by war and organized crime, officials from both organizations say.

   

Among the most critical tasks for a global police force are combating illegal arms and drug trafficking.

It is the first step toward creating what Interpol calls a “global policing doctrine” that would enable Interpol and the United Nations to improve the skills of police peacekeepers, largely by sharing a secure communications network and a vast electronic trove of criminal information, including DNA records, fingerprints, photographs and fugitive notices.

“We have a visionary model,” said Ronald K. Noble, secretary general of Interpol and the first American to head the international police organization, which is based in Lyon. More than 187 member nations finance the organization.

“The police will be trained and equipped differently with resources,” Mr. Noble said. “When they stop someone, they will be consulting global databases to determine who they are stopping.”

Modern peacekeeping has evolved dramatically since the blue-helmeted U.N. military force won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1988. Since 2005, the number of police officers within the total force of 95,400 peacekeepers has more than doubled from about 6,000 to 12,200 in 17 countries.

U.N. police are already battling kidnappings and drug crime in Haiti and illicit lumber trading in Liberia. The aim of the joint effort is to increase the ability to track the movement of criminals around the world by sharing resources and common standards, according to Mr. Noble. He is also pressing ahead with plans for special electronic passports for the agency’s staff of more than 600 Interpol investigators to speed border crossings.

The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is contributing more than $2 million to finance the development of international global policing standards, according to Andrew Hughes, an Australian who currently heads the U.N.’s force of police officers.

The ambition is to create a series of networks to counter borderless organized criminal operations, Mr. Hughes said. Women, in particular, are being recruited, with a goal of reaching 20 percent of the U.N. force and the development of all-female units like the group of 140 peacekeepers from Bangladesh that is about to be deployed.

“We’re working with refugees,” Mr. Hughes said. “Many of the victims of atrocities are women, and they’ve had enough of men with guns and uniforms.”

He said that among the most critical tasks for a global police force were combating illegal arms and drug trafficking. His own officers in West Africa have watched the growth of cocaine smuggling by Colombian and Venezuelan drug cartels through weakened countries like Sierra Leone and Liberia to the lucrative consumer markets in Europe.

The United States remains the biggest market for cocaine, according to the U.N.’s annual report on drugs and crime. But in the past three years, South American cartels have moved more drugs to Europe using transit points like Guinea Bissau, where the president and the head of the military were killed in sophisticated bombing attacks in March. Each year, at least 50 tons of cocaine from Andean countries passes through West Africa to the streets of Europe, where the drugs are worth almost $2 billion, according to the U.N. report.

“Organized crime is a business that looks for opportunity to expand their market enterprise,” Mr. Hughes said. “When you have a breakdown in police and courts and corrections, organized crime is ripe. We also see the toxic effect of corruption, because they are able to corrupt officials, which makes it difficult to build a functioning society.”

In Afghanistan, where heroin and hashish trafficking is also a thorny issue, NATO announced plans this month to start training the local police — a move it has avoided in the past to concentrate on military responsibilities.

But Mr. Noble of Interpol says he takes a dim view of transforming warriors into beat cops, because the mind-sets are so different.

“We caution on making the delegation of civil police development tasks to military structures,” Mr. Noble said, citing the example of an attack that freed hundreds of Taliban from a prison in Kandahar, Afghanistan, last year. Although Interpol immediately asked for information about the missing prisoners, he said, “we were really shocked and dismayed to learn there were no fingerprints and photographs despite billions spent to train police there.”

With the meeting of justice ministers on Monday, which coincides with a general assembly of Interpol police members, the group is expected to debate the global police issue and to craft a declaration that would lead to an action plan for international police peacekeeping within 12 months.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/12/world/europe/12iht-interpol.html?_r=1

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"We The People" disillusioned by Congress--"The Wee People," Their President

EARL NASH,  WTFG   "Your Check Is In The Mail"   Correspondent      

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>  “It’s news to you…”  <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

During the Presidential campaign candidate Barack Obama promised to give the country a wonderful Holiday gift:  a new bicycle with bells and whistles.  When he became President, he was so busy cleaning up the mess from the wet bag of garbage a smiling cowboy handed to him, he left the building of the bike to the elves and trolls in the Congressional sheltered workshop. 

 

When some people peeked in the windows at the bike building process, they became concerned that some parts were missing.  President Obama implied that he would make sure that the final product was what he promised the people during the campaign.

 

Finally the day arrived for the bike to be delivered to The People the President and the Congress represented.  Based on past experience with gifts from the President and the Congress, The People we not naïve enough to believe the bike would have all the bells and whistles that they might have imagined; they were realistic and were prepared to be reasonable.

 

Then, while the President was turning his attention to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and how much blood and treasure to send to his “Three-Legged-Race” partner, President Heroin Hamid Korruption Karzai to assure him a Poppy Holiday, the little people in the Congress started bickering about the composition of the bike.  Soon, all the trolls got together and, putting down their hammers and tongs, they folded their arms over their chests and said they would not work on the bike.  Then, getting anxious to go home for the holidays, some of the dwarves and elves got grumpy, so they compromised and removed a few parts.  First, they removed one wheel (the end to the Big Pharma prescription monopoly) and then, to balance the bike, they yanked off the other wheel (a public option to create competition). 

 

The People heard the noises and worried that the bike was losing its bells and whistles, but the President and the wee people in the Congress told them not to worry—they would love the swell present anyway.

 

Actually the bells and whistles were still on the bike when the dwarf from the “Corn-hole” state insisted on aborting the chain.  “Oh, well,” sighed Sen. Wimpy Weed, the Leader of the House of little people, “The People will see the bells and whistles and  still love their swell bike, anyway.”  Then, some tiny person was worried that the bike for The People was almost as good as the one that the Congress, The Wee People, rode; so they fixed that by removing the pedals.

 

With time running out, The Wee People of Congress were anxious to get home to stuff their cheeks with corncobs, pork and goose. Oh, yes, of course, the bike; they really wanted to give it to The People.

 

Just when it looked like the Leader of the Sennets’ slapstick clowns, Sen. Wimpy Weed, could put a bow on the bike, a few of the elves realized that he needed their votes to get the job done.  In the spirit of the season of giving, they asked The People to give them something.  The Independent Senator from Connecticut, “Mo” Dweeberman, whined; he threatened to take away his football and go home.  But, when Leader Wimpy Weed gave him a double scoop ice cream cone, he licked and licked.  Suddenly, the Sen. from the state famous for its corncobs and huge hogs realized he was the last holdout and smacked his lips, anticipating a big treat from Mr. Wimpy.  All the elves and dwarves worried when Leader Wimpy and Big Ben Fleesum went into the Smoke Filled Room, but they were relieved when the door opened again and a grinning Fleesum had only two cones, each with three scoops and sprinkles.  But, when the media reported that Wimpy had promised the dwarf from the “Corn-Hole” state ice cream for everyone in Nebraska FOREVER, the Wee People in Congress were jealous and We The People were furious.

 

At last, after much anticipation and high hopes, The President and the Congress, rolled out, uh, dragged out the new bike.  The adults and children of We The People were stunned; the trolls were very pleased.

 

A little boy finally spoke, pointing toward the President:  “Sir, that is not the new bike that you promised…”

 

“I never promised you a new bike.” said The President.

 

A little girl added angrily, pointing toward the Congress:  “Yes, you did! And, besides, that thing is not even a bike; it’s a pile of junk!”

 

The President and the Congress were shocked at the ingratitude of The People.

Sen. Wimpy and The President asked the crowd:

“Well would you rather have no bike at all?”

 

The People, disillusioned and angry, turned their backs and silently walked away, their tightened fists at their sides.

 

“Ha!” laughed the trolls, “Let We The People say ‘We, We, We all the way home’.”

 

After all, what can they DO?

In the fall, what WOULD they do?

 

 

FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml

Three Mutations of H1N1 Swine Flu Virus Emerge, D225G causes Ukraine-like lung hemorrhaging, Vaccine and Tamiful Useless

EARL NASH,  WTFG   Flu   Mutation   Correspondent      

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>  “It’s news to you…”  <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

The worst-case scenario has arrived: three mutations of the H1N1 Swine flu virus-- D225G,H274Y and H275Y--are spreading rapidly and swine flu deaths have been increasing and the D225G mutation causes the lung hemorrhaging reported earlier in the Ukraine.

The D225G mutation attacks surface cells in the lungs, which can cause the complete destruction of the lower respiratory system, and lung hemorrhaging. 

Despite all the hysteria to get the world innocuated with the H1N1 vaccine, it will very likely not prevent infection with the D225G mutation.

As H1N1 mutations--H274Y/H275Y and D225G--infect patients in France and the United States there is a concern that patients will assume that their H1N1 vaccination will protect them and assume that Tamiflu will protect them, although it has been shown to be nearly useless against any flu virus.

FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml