Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable

"I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that his justice cannot sleep forever." - Thomas Jefferson

  "Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable... Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals."  - Martin Luther King, Jr. 

"At his best, man is the noblest of all animals; separated from law and justice he is the worst." - Aristotle

"I'm for truth, no matter who tells it. I'm for justice, no matter who it's for or against." - Malcolm X

'Zero Dark Thirty' Falling on the World
John Galt

War 2017: Next Generation Drones Ensure It
Nicholas West

Soldiers, PTSD and the Shamanic Plant Medicine Iboga
Dylan Charles

Electric Shock Handcuffs, Biometric Glasses and
Audio Surveillance on Public Transportation
Susanne Posel

US-Backed Syrian Opposition Demands Support for Al Qaeda
Tony Cartalucci

Who Are The Klingons?
Clint Ward

New Must-See Videos

2012 - Massive Shift in Human Consciousness

War 2017: Next Generation Drones Ensure It

Soldiers, PTSD and the Shamanic Plant Medicine Iboga

Shock Handcuffs, Biometric Glasses and Surveillance on Public Transport

Doctor Tells Food Industry to Stop Lying to Customers

FEMA Temp Housing for Sandy Victims Sit Empty

Outrunning Collapse: The alternative currency solution

Nigel Farage - EU leaders are like drug addicts


Today's Forum Topics

C.I.A. Sponsored Trolls Monitor Internet & Interact W/ Users To Discredit Factual Information

 European Court of Human Rights Finds US/CIA Guilty of Torture

By Amrit Singh

The CIA stripped, hooded, shackled, and sodomized el-Masri.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33307.htm

Susan Rice and American Evil

By Margaret Kimberley

It was during the Bush administration that the black face in the high place joined in committing the worst kinds of dirty work to be carried out by the United States around the globe.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33309.htm

Why The U.S. Shouldn't Let The Syrian Rebels Win

By Glenn E. Robinson

Breathless supporters of Syria's revolution need to be careful what they wish for.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33308.htm

Why Western Military Intervention in Syria is Coming Soon: To Protect Israel

By Abdel Bari Atwan

The question is: Will military intervention take place end of this year? Or will it wait for a declaration of war against Iran in the coming spring at the most?
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33312.htm

The Cowardice at The Heart of Our Relationship With Israel

By Peter Oborne

The brutal truth is that Benjamin Netanyahu is leading his country down the path to self-destruction.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33306.htm

US Intelligence Analysts: American Power is in Terminal Decline

By Dave Lindorff

The US is on the way out as a hegemonic power.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33311.htm

Spy Agency Conducts Surveillance on All US Citizens

By RT

A little-know intelligence agency outside of Washington, DC has been able to circumvent the Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution and conduct dragnet surveillance of the entire country.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33310.htm

7 Shocking Ways the Military Wastes Our Money

By Laura Gottesdiener

Hint: none of them have anything to do with national defense.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33305.htm

Matt Taibbi: How Did HSBC Executives Avoid Jail?

Video

"Here we have a bank that laundered $800 million of drug money, and they can't find a way to put anybody in jail for that?
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33313.htm

Hard News  

   

Rebels kill at least 24 civilians in Syria car bombing: : At least 24 civilians, including a large number of children, were killed in two separate car bombings southwest of Damascus on Thursday, state media reported.
http://is.gd/fLj5sM

Rebels kill seven children in Damascus blast: The explosion occurred in a residential area for soldiers in Qatana, which is near several army bases, according to the head of the pro-opposition Syrian Observatory of Human Rights.
http://is.gd/3Rh5nM

US Training Syrian Rebels In Jordan: Jordanian authorities, along with their U.S. and British counterparts, have organized training for Syrian rebels on sophisticated anti-aircraft weapons.
http://is.gd/He9Hrz

Head of new U.S.-backed Syrian coalition endorses al Qaida-linked rebel faction :
Right after the United States formalized its backing of a new Syrian opposition group Wednesday, the mutual unease underpinning the partnership surfaced as the group's leader openly criticized the United States for declaring the rebel movement's Nusra Front a terrorist group linked to al Qaida in Iraq.
http://is.gd/Bcpgvm

Syria opposition chief invited to US: The head of the Syrian National Coalition has been invited for talks in Washington following US recognition of the opposition bloc as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people, a senior US envoy said on Wednesday.
http://is.gd/nlFilF

Syria denies using Scud missiles - Foreign Ministry statement: Syria denied on Thursday that it had used Scud missiles in its fight against "terrorist groups," a Foreign Ministry statement posted on state news agency SANA said.
http://is.gd/EEx8mf

2 bombings kill 6 in Iraq: Police officials said that the bloodiest attack took place when a car bomb went off in a commercial street in western Baghdad, killing four people and wounding eight others.
http://is.gd/AwIQTt

5 militants killed in Afghanistan: Five rebels were killed during an operation in the Tagab district of central Kapisa province, an official said on Wednesday.
http://paktribune.com/news/5-militants-killed-in-Kapisa-255633.html

Two Afghan and One US occupation force soldier killed in Kandahar suicide bombing: "Insurgents detonated a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device," said Pentagon Press Secretary George Little, in a statement.
http://is.gd/y1lygp

Two killed in Afghan blast: A suicide car bomber has killed two Afghan civilians and wounded 14 others near the main US military base in southern Afghanistan.
http://is.gd/9YxsDr

US soldier ignored 'We are children!' shouts, Afghan witnesses say: "He killed my man," their neighbor's wife cried as she ran into their home. Sadiqullah, 13, hid behind a curtain. His older brother, Quadratullah, shouted "We are children! We are children!" only to see the soldier shoot his sister.
http://is.gd/J7JBD9

Israel's foreign minister (Lieberman) indicted for fraud: Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman will be indicted for fraud and breach of trust, the Justice Ministry said on Thursday. Lieberman has denied all wrongdoing but had said he would resign if indicted. He is expected to speak later on Thursday.
http://is.gd/Hj3Rvx

EU says: Lieberman's Holocaust reference is inappropriate and offensive to Europeans: Ashton says 'dismayed' by FM's comparison of EU's policy toward Israel and the behavior of Europe during the Holocaust.
http://is.gd/R1DljK

Anti Semitic its a Holocaust trick we always use it : Video -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeWAoCkWeV8

Israeli forces fire on Gaza Farmers and Internationals: Gaza- Israeli forces fired live ammunition and tear gas at unarmed farmers and international solidarity activists working in Khuza'a, a small village outside of Khan Younis located near the Israeli border
http://is.gd/3PFxCd

Israeli "settlers" vandalise church in Jerusalem: Jewish vandals targeted sites in Jerusalem and near Ramallah overnight Tuesday, spraying extremist graffiti and puncturing car tires.
http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?id=295596

3 dead, others raped by Guinea army: Witnesses say three people were killed, dozens wounded and at least three women raped in an army crackdown on protesters in the town of Gueckedou, located 700 kilometers (430 miles) southeast of Guinea's capital, Conakry.
http://is.gd/6gTk26

The trouble with Libya's revolutionaries: The unauthorized invasion of Bani Walid and allegations of human rights abuses leveled against these revolutionaries reflect the failure of the transitional government, suggesting that Libya's future as a successful state may be in question.
http://is.gd/7mrlex

Colombian Rebels Kill 1 in Attack on Town: One person was killed and three others were wounded in an attack by FARC guerrillas on a town in southwestern Colombia, the army said.
http://is.gd/XE4x62

India test fires nuclear-capable missile that can reach China: India test-fired a long range missile capable of reaching deep into China and Europe on Thursday, thrusting the emerging Asian power into an elite club of nations with intercontinental nuclear weapons capabilities.
http://is.gd/YoxVHc

Hypocrisy?
India condemns N Korea rocket launch, tests own missile: India condemned North Korea's long-range rocket launch on Wednesday even as it tested one of its own ballistic weapons, which were developed when India was a nuclear pariah itself.
http://is.gd/p6b2v2

China defies US pressure over North Korea: CHINA has resisted US-led pressure to bring its ally North Korea to heel for launching a long-range rocket, arguing that any response from the United Nations should be "prudent" and measured.
http://is.gd/u2cM50

U.S. planned all-out nuclear attack on China and Soviet Union if President was killed:Classified plan, code-named 'Futherance,' allowed U.S. to use nuclear weapons on U.S.S.R. and China, even if they weren't responsible for attack
http://is.gd/f99URh

About time! Right, left call for defense cuts: A group of 22 House lawmakers - 11 Democrats and 11 Republicans - sent a letter Monday to President Obama and House and Senate leaders calling for cuts to defense spending to be part of a deal to replace scheduled spending cuts and tax hikes set for January.
http://is.gd/yJNCr0

It's time to cut the waste at the Pentagon. Video -  1 Minute video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=4RshFQ4Y_Ug#!

Video shows girl, 15, battered in Florida juvenile prison: Video - A guard at a juvenile prison found herself behind bars this week after she was caught on tape battering a teenage detainee.
http://is.gd/kq6SOJ

The US' school to prison pipeline:
For the first time, a US congressional panel is looking into what the American Civil Liberties Union calls a disturbing trend - one that criminalises rather than educates many US children.
http://is.gd/jQZlL8

U.S. Projected to Become Majority-Minority Nation in 2043: The white population will no longer be the majority in the United States by 2043, two years after the general population is forecast to exceed 400 million, according to demographic projections published on Wednesday by the Census Bureau.
http://is.gd/p1PWcd

US Kidnappinga and Torture Condemned: The court found that the treatment suffered by Mr. Masri in 2003 "at the hands of the special C.I.A. rendition team," at an airport in Skopje, the capital of the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia, "amounted to torture."
http://is.gd/3EhET1

UK pays Libyan $3.5m over rendition: Lawyers say a Libyan military commander and his family have accepted £2.2m from the British government to settle a claim that the UK approved their rendition to face imprisonment by Muammar Gaddafi's regime.
http://is.gd/7tciT0

British Government Admits Agents 'facilitated the murder' of Belfast solicitor: Sir Desmond de Silva's review confirmed that agents of the state were involved in the 1989 killing and that it should have been prevented.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-20662412

Pat Finucane report: army handlers 'helped loyalist gunmen select targets': British army agent handlers "deliberately" helped loyalist gunmen select their targets in Northern Ireland in the 1980s, a damning official report has revealed.
http://is.gd/1dV4k4

Litvinenko worked for 'MI6 and gave Spain intel on Russian Mafia' - widow's lawyer: Former FSB officer Aleksandr Litvinenko, who died in London of polonium poisoning in 2006, worked for the British foreign intelligence service as well aiding Spain in their fight against the Russian mafia, the UK inquest revealed Thursday.
http://rt.com/news/mi6-spain-agent-litvinenko-982/

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Media Advisory

Robin Hood Isn't News
Wall Street Transaction Tax Missing from 'Cliff' Coverage

If the rhetoric about the so-called "fiscal cliff" is to believed, the United States is faced with monumental budget problems--short-term deficits and a long-term debt crisis.

Though there are good reasons to question those assumptions (Dean Baker, Guardian, 12/3/12; Paul Krugman, New York Times, 12/6/12), the consensus in the elite press is that these are indeed serious concerns, and that the solution to them must include cutting government spending and increasing revenue.

But one way to do the latter is mostly left out of the conversation: A small tax on financial transactions--otherwise known as a "speculation tax" or a Robin Hood tax.

The idea has been discussed among activists and economists, especially since the financial crash. Such a tax could raise between $170-$350 billion annually, according to the Center for Economic & Policy Research (CEPR) and the Political Economy Research Institute (12/21/09). An analysis of the bill written by Rep. Peter DeFazio of Oregon and Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin found it could generate a more modest $353 billion over 10 years. Aside from the revenue argument, proponents argue that it could serve as a check on some of the riskier forms of high-frequency, high-volume trading.

So where is the Robin Hood tax in the media discussion about increasing revenues? Almost nowhere, it turns out. Since the 2012 election, the concept has received a handful of passing mentions. It appeared just once in the New York Times (11/28/12)--only because several ACT UP activists staged a protest in House speaker John Boehner's office, chanting "End AIDS with a Robin Hood Tax." The Times explained that as "ostensibly a tax on the rich for AIDS research and treatment." The financial tax was mentioned in passing by the Washington Post (11/8/12) because Rep. DeFazio was targeted by a New York hedge fund manager's super PAC.

The tax has come up twice on MSNBC's Up with Chris Hayes ( 11/17/12, 12/9/12), and once on CNN (12/1/12). It does not appear to have been discussed on any of the broadcast networks.

The most extensive discussion came on the Washington Post's op-ed page, in a December 2 column by veteran activist Ralph Nader, who wrote that "both sides are unwilling to consider a minuscule tax on financial transactions that could be a major source of income."

If "both sides" are ignoring the idea, the same is certainly true for the nation's press. But this hasn't always been the case. As CEPR noted (11/12), several major papers like the Boston Globe, the New York Times and USA Today have voiced editorial support for the tax idea in recent years, as have columnists like the Times' Nicholas Kristof. The amount of potential revenue, Nader pointed out, makes a transaction tax a more attractive option than other fiscal proposals that receive significantly more coverage.

One thing is certain: It is decidedly unpopular among the "Fix the Debt" CEOs who many in the press consider important voices in the discussion of the nation's finances--and are the people who bankroll political careers. So it's understandable that politicians aren't eager to talk about this. What's the media's excuse?















TheYoungTurks uploaded and added to The Young Turks Show YouTube Playlist December 12, 2012 8 hours ago 2:05 Holiday Membership Offer from The Young Turks 304 views Check out these exclusive membership offers from TYT Network! http://www.tytnetwork.com/m...

THIS WEEK'S MUST-READ

CHARTS: Newspapers Don't Care When Notable Women Die

If a notable woman dies and a major national newspaper doesn't report it, did it actually happen?

Big papers' lists of significant deaths in 2012 overwhelmingly feature men. The Washington Post put 18 women and 48 men on its list. On the other side of the country, the Los Angeles Times listed 36 women and 114 men. And lest you think this is some kind of freak 2012 phenomenon, the New York Times has consistently listed many more men than women over the last five years.

So is the issue that notable women aren't dying—or that newspapers aren't reporting it? [READ MORE]

.....................keep fighting the good fight, with your minds as weap0ns...................
.........................kosmicdebris.......................................