Author: Admin

The Guardian – by Patrick Wintour

The US secretary of state has said that President Bashar al-Assad has one week to hand over his entire stock of chemical weapons to avoid a military attack. But John Kerry added that he had no expectation that the Syrian leader would comply.

Kerry also said he had no doubt that Assad was responsible for the chemical weapons attack in east Damascus on 21 August, saying that only three people are responsible for the chemical weapons inside Syria– Assad, one of his brothers and a senior general. He said the entire US intelligence community was united in believing Assad was responsible.   Continue reading “John Kerry gives Syria week to hand over chemical weapons or face attack”

The Guardian – by Simon Tisdall and Josie Le Blond

President Bashar al-Assad did not personally order last month’s chemical weapons attack near Damascus that has triggered calls for US military intervention, and blocked numerous requests from his military commanders to use chemical weapons against regime opponents in recent months, a German newspaper has reported , citing unidentified, high-level national security sources.

The intelligence findings were based on phone calls intercepted by a German surveillance ship operated by the BND, the German intelligence service, and deployed off the Syrian coast, Bild am Sonntag said. The intercepted communications suggested Assad, who is accused of war crimes by the west, including foreign secretary William Hague, was not himself involved in last month’s attack or in other instances when government forces have allegedly used chemical weapons.   Continue reading “Assad did not order Syria chemical weapons attack, says German press”

Washington’s Blog

Obama Ramps Up War Pitch Even As Basic Arguments Fall by the Wayside

Obama is going on a whirlwind media blitz this week in an attempt to sell a very skeptical public on war with Syria.

Yet the Washington Post notes:   Continue reading “U.S. Admits No Imminent Threat from Syria, No Clear Evidence Assad Ordered Chemical Weapons Attack”

Washington Examiner -by PAUL BEDARD

Washington police are operating under orders to arrest tourists and other non-residents traveling with spent bullet or shotgun casings, a crime that carries a $1,000 fine, a year in jail and a criminal record, according to a new book about the city’s confusing gun laws.

“Empty shell casings are considered ammunition in Washington, D.C., so they are illegal to possess unless you are a resident and have a gun registration certificate,” pens Emily Miller in her investigative book, “Emily Gets Her Gun: … But Obama Wants to Take Yours.”   Continue reading “Warning: D.C. cops under orders to arrest tourists with empty bullet casings”

CTV Calgary News – by Colleen Schmdit

Police in High River entered dozens of homes during the floods to ensure people and property were safe but some say their actions were inappropriate and an invasion of privacy.

Glenys Russell is still fixing the damage done to her house during the flood but she’s not focused on the water anymore.   Continue reading “High River residents angry over actions of RCMP during flood”

USA Today, January 21, 2013

Saudi Arabia has sent death-row inmates from several nations to fight against the Syrian government in exchange for commuting their sentences, the Assyrian International News Agencyreports.

Citing what it calls a “top secret memo” in April from the Ministry of Interior, AINA says the Saudi offered 1,239 inmates a pardon and a monthly stipend for their families, which were were allowed to stay in the Sunni Arab kingdom. Syrian President Bashar Assad is an Alawite, a minority Shiite sect.   Continue reading “April 2012 Report: Saudis sent death-row inmates to fight Syria”

TribLive – by Associated Press

TRIPOLI, Libya — Libya’s prime minister heard increasing calls for his ouster on Saturday as strikes by government employees at oil export terminals cost the North African country more than $5 billion.

Bilqasim Shindeer el-Shibany, a board member of Libya’s National Oil Corp., said oil exports almost entirely have stopped. Late last month, officials said exports were about 300,000 barrels per day, down dramatically from pre-war levels in early 2011.   Continue reading “Libyan leader under pressure to step down”

Washington Post – by Ylan Q. Mui and Amrita Jayakumar

Americans are participating in the workforce at the lowest level in 35 years, according to government data released Friday, as lackluster job growth fails to offset the droves of people who have given up looking for work.

According to the Labor Department, the economy added a disappointing 169,000 jobs in August. In addition, the government lowered its estimate of the number of jobs created in June and July by 74,000 positions.   Continue reading “Unemployment dips to 7.3 percent, but only 63% of Americans are in labor force”

Occupy Corporatism – by Susanne Posel

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has begun an initiative to discover the viability of sequencing American infant’s DNA through the “heel stick” blood drawn screening conducted on newborns in hospitals to determine the propensity toward life-threatening diseases.

This scheme will cost $25 million over 5 years to understand each individual genetic code in lieu of having DNA routinely mapped and stored in a medical record.   Continue reading “Gov Wants to Sequence DNA of All Infants Born in US”

Fox News

Even as Congress considers President Obama’s push for military strikes on Syria, the details of that plan continue to change by the day — with one source telling Fox News that military officials have been asked to revise their plans 50 times since the Pentagon first began considering a “limited” action.

Still to be resolved is what method of attack the U.S. would use. While missile-equipped ships are at the ready in the Mediterranean Sea, a senior defense official told Fox News that the possibility of launching military aircraft strikes was one of the range of options presented to Obama.   Continue reading “US military has revised Syria strike plan 50 times, source says”

Sun Sentinel – by Robert Nolin

Amid the explosions, smoke, roaring vehicles and chattering gunfire of a terrorist attack Thursday afternoon at Port Everglades, one fact became chillingly clear:

These weren’t foreign-born America-hating terrorists. These were native-born America-hating terrorists. And they were making things difficult for the good guys.   Continue reading “Florida Police State Exercise: ‘Sovereign citizens’ assault Port Everglades”

Reuters – by Tetsushi Kajimoto and Katya Golubkova

Emerging and developed G20 powers struggled to find common ground on Thursday over the turmoil unleashed by the prospect of the United States reducing a flood of dollars to the world economy.

The Group of 20, which united in response to global crisis in 2009, now faces a U.S. economypicking up, Europe lagging and developing economies facing blowback from the looming ‘taper’ of the Federal Reserve’s monetary stimulus.   Continue reading “Emerging market pain dominates G20 economy talks”

Fox News

Applications for gun purchases in Maryland are soaring ahead of the start of a tough new firearms law that sets new magazine capacity limits and bans the sale of certain types of assault weapons.

The Washington Times reported that state police received 85,141 gun-purchase applications this year through Aug. 31. That’s compared with 70,099 applications in all of 2012 and 46,339 applications in 2011. Maryland State Police have increased staffing to cope.   Continue reading “Maryland gun applications soar as stricter control law looms”

The US military has killed, maimed and made homeless well over 20,000,000 people since the Vietnam War.

Very few countries have violated as many humanitarian laws and codes of war on such a large scale, and for such an extended period. The vast political leverage of the United States, the rising indifference of media coverage, and the alleged need of secrecy for matters of national security have largely enabled one of the bloodiest 50 years in human history.   Continue reading “Infographic: War Crimes in America”

Yahoo News

Investigators believe a hunter sparked the monster wildfire which spread into America’s world-renowned Yosemite National Park and became California’s fourth biggest blaze ever, officials said Thursday.

They dismissed earlier reports that the so-called Rim Fire, which is now 80 percent contained, was caused by activity on an illegal marijuana farm near the US landmark park.   Continue reading “Hunter sparked massive Yosemite fire: investigators”