0 The Big Picture: War on Libya is War on Entire Africa

In 2010 Gaddafi offered to invest $97 billion in Africa to free it from Western influence, on condition that African states rid themselves of corruption and nepotism. Gaddafi always dreamed of a Developed, United Africa and was about to make that dream come true – and nothing is more terrifying to the West than a Developed, United Africa.

source: http://af.reuters.com

Here is a selection of the initiatives Libya has already put in place in Africa, as well as some of the projects it is planning, explaining why the West’s illegal war against Libya also is a war against Entire Africa.

AFRICAN UNION:

Libya is one of the biggest contributors to the budget of the African Union. A Libyan diplomat told Reuters Libya is one of five countries — the others are Algeria, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa — which cover 75 percent of the Union’s budget. “Libya makes its full required contribution to AU funds. Not all countries do and that buys it influence,” a senior African Union official said.

MALI:

For several years Mali has been confronted with the activities of the radical Islamist militia Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb in its northern deserts. Gaddafi’s money and diplomacy have helped to resolve conflicts in northern Mali between rebels and the government. In 2010 Libya has given Mali two security planes to combat insecurity in the north of the country. These conflicts could flare up again if Gaddafi exits the stage.

Nowadays Gaddafi has many supporters in Mali who regularly march to protest against the Western-led military intervention in Libya.

CONGO:

Libya has put $65 billion into sovereign wealth funds, including one which is specifically designed to make investments in Africa. The Libyan Arab African Investment Company, a vehicle of Libya’s Africa sovereign wealth fund, owns Le Meridien, one of the biggest hotels in Congo. The hotel is undergoing refurbishment paid for by Libyan investment. In 2010, Libya planned to fund the building of a highway north of Congo’s capital Brazzaville, where also the building of a mosque is planned.

LIBERIA:

Libya has provided millions in investment projects, helping to strengthen the rule of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in one of Africa’s most impoverished nations. Gaddafi’s helpincludes the funding of a rubber processing factory built in Gbarnga, Bong County, a technical and vocational school for the handicapped, as well as Libyan assistance in helping Liberia tackle the food crisis and renovation for the Ducor Intercontinental Hotel.

 

NIGER:

Also in Niger Gaddafi has helped to prop up the government and the authorities would become more fragile without his financial help. Libyan Prime Minister Al-Baghdadi Ali al-Mahmoudi visited Niger in August 2010 and announced the creation of a $100 million investment fund for Niger as part of a strengthening of bilateral ties. Under earlier agreements, Libya is contributing 100 million euros for the construction of a Trans-Sahara highway in the north of Niger, according to sources close to Niger’s foreign ministry. The local subsidiary of Libya Oil, along with Total, are the major players in Niger’s fuel retailing business.

CHAD:

Gaddafi has been a key supporter of the government, which would weaken if it lost his aid revenue. Chad has been plagued by civil wars and invasions after its independence from France in 1960. After years of unrest, Gaddafi seals a peace agreement for Chad between four Chadian rebel groups and the Chadian government in 2007, which agreement was signed in Sirte.
In 2010 Libya made a huge investment in Chad’s National Telecom, which meant a boost of the number of the Chadian mobile phone users from 100,000 to two million.

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC:

Libya has helped to prop up the fragile government, sending paratroopers into the capital in 2001 to defeat a rebel assault. In 2008 Gaddafi played a role in the formation of a peace agreement between the government and rebel groups.

MAURITANIA:

Gaddafi was the first head of state to visit after a 2008 coup which brought President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz to power. Aziz, who subsequently won a presidential election, has visited Gaddafi several times since then. Even Mauritanian opposition politicians have gone to Tripoli to pledge allegiance to the Libyan leader. Mauritania has debts to Libya of about $200 million. During discussions on debt relief in May 2010, the Libyan Central Bank announced Libya would provide $50 in grants to build a hospital and a university. The university is to be named after Gaddafi.

SUDAN:

The 20,000-troop peacekeeping mission in Dafur, jointly supported by the African Union and the United Nations, could be hampered if the African Union (AU) loses funding from Gaddafi and destabilize the country. Gaddafi, who blamed the crisis in Darfur on Israel, made a number of attempts to broker peace talks between Darfur rebels and the Sudanese government.

In October 2010, Gaddafi warned ahead of a vote on possible independence for South Sudan that a partition of the country would be a “contagious disease” that could spread to other African states.

ETHIOPIA:

The African Union, based in Ethiopia’s capital, could find itself in financial trouble if it loses the massive support that Gaddafi gives it. Under his rule, Libya supplied 15% of the AU’s membership dues, and it also paid the dues of many smaller and poorer African nations.

To seek for a solution of the Eritrea-Ethiopia conflict, Gaddafi has sent a special envoy to Ethiopia in 2000. In 2008, Libya’s OiLibya bought Shell Ethiopia. This agreement also included retaining all Shell employees, who were hoping to work in a better environment since a long time.

SOMALIA:

The African Union peace keeping mission, whose 8,000 soldiers are crucial to the battle against Islamic radicals in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu, could be severely weakened if the AU lost the financial support of Gaddafi.

In 2008 Libya decided to grant an investment fund to Somalia through the Sahel-Saharan Investment and Trade Bank to fund infrastructures such as roads and bridges within Somalia.

GAMBIA:

Libyan firms own two hotels and the “Dream Park” entertainment centre in Gambia. Gambian agriculture has received support from Libya, including a donation of seven new tractors. In 2009 Gaddafi gave two camels to Gambian President Yahya Jammeh as a gift. The Libyan and Gambian presidents have exchanged visits and senior Gambian officials attended ceremonies in September to mark the anniversary of Gaddafi coming to power.

On September 7, 2009, Gambia celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Al Fateh Revolution: “In Libya everyone enjoys Freedom!”.

Source: Mathaba.net

0 'NATO after Libya's natural wealth'

 

"The NATO military coalition's “strategy is to install what will become a puppet regime ... in Libya and then its great oil resources will be turned over to the imperialist oil companies,” Richard Becker, with the ANSWER Coalition, said."

Becker further said that NATO started its air campaign over the North African country to enforce a UN-backed no-fly zone and protect Libyan people but the alliance's airstrikes are actually hurting Libyan civilians.

“Right now they have a blockade on Libya; they are trying to prevent everything from going in -- food, energy products, everything that people need -- in order to try and starve out the population,” he said.

NATO launched a major air campaign against the forces of the Libyan democratic government  in mid-March, saying the UN Security Council Resolution 1973 gave the military bloc a mandate to “protect the Libyan population.”

NATO has also recently intensified its attacks on Libya in an alleged attempt to increase pressure on popular Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

The attacks by the US-led military alliance have nevertheless killed scores of civilians and wounded many others in key Libyan cities.

http://www.mathaba.net/news/?x=627721 

0 Video of Tripoli TV damage by NATO airstrikes

NATO warplanes bombed Libyan state TV satellite transmitters in Tripoli overnight on Friday. A series of loud explosions echoed across the capital before dawn. There was no immediate comment from Libyan officials on what had been hit, but state TV was still on the air in Tripoli on Saturday morning. NATO said the air strikes aimed to degrade Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's "use of satellite television as a means to intimidate the Libyan people and incite acts of violence against them". The attempt to silence the government's TV broadcasts comes at a sensitive time for the rebels, who appeared to be in disarray after the mysterious death of their chief military commander.

1 Iranian Governor: gas pipeline explosion caused by" Zionist's and US mercenaries"

Governor of Iran's northwestern border city of Makou Hamid Ahmadian said gas cut problem caused following a blast in Iran-Turkey pipeline would be solved by Saturday evening.

Governor of Makou added Iran’s gas export to Turkey was temporarily halted due to the explosion occurred during gas swap.

Ahmadian continued, “the explosion happened 2:07 a.m. Friday by Zionist regime and the US mercenaries and those deceived by them."

“From the beginning of the bombing, all the forces were on alert and managed to extinguish the fire in 35 minutes," Ahmadian told ISNA.

The Governor of Makou pointed out, ”the bombing left no casualty," as expressing hope the problem would be solved by Saurday evening.

Ahmadian added the degree of loss has not estimated yet and that, “police and military forces have been on alert since the blast came and are searching for perpetrators behind the explosion."

End Item

Source:  http://www.isna.ir/ISNA/NewsView.aspx?ID=News-1816611&Lang=E

2 26 AK47's and 1 Sniper Rifle stolen from California military base

More than two dozen assault rifles have been stolen from a Southern California military base. 

Investigators sought the public's help as they looked to arrest suspects and recover the weapons, federal officials said Friday.

Twenty-six AK-74 assault rifles and one Dragunov sniper rifle were stolen from a supply warehouse at Fort Irwin in San Bernardino County on July 15, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives says in a statement.

Some arrests have been made and one rifle has been recovered, but the agency is offering a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to further arrests, the statement said.

"Community participation is necessary to improve the likelihood that ATF and our law enforcement partners will track down the firearms as well as the criminals who have sought to destabilize our community through illegal activity," ATF Special Agent in Charge John A. Torres said in the statement.

ATF spokesman Special Agent Christian Hoffman could not say when reached by phone how many were arrested, whether they were military or civilian or what motive they may have had.

He referred those questions to military officials, who made the arrests. Phone and email messages left late Friday for a spokesman from the U.S. Army Criminal Investigations Command, which is investigating the theft along with the ATF and the FBI, were not immediately returned.

Hoffman also could not say why word of the theft did not become public for two weeks, but said his agency decided to issue a news release because of the potential danger the loose weapons posed.

"We determined that there was a public safety issue with the guns getting out on the street," he said.

 http://www.usatoday.com/news/

The larger question is WHY a Dragunov sniper rifle (pictured)

was being stored on a US military base?

In the early 1990's a small batch of the authentic military SVD rifles came into the country, only to be banned a short time later. Only 100 of these rifles were imported.

They have never been used by the US military, and are only used by Russian (inc some surrounding territories), and Asian military .
and how do they get "stolen"?...if they got "lost" yes I'd believe that, the US Army has a habit of losing large amounts of military equipment... but stolen? from a Base like Fort Irwin?
I might be over analysing this but something is really stinking about this story.....
Comment's or added info always welcome...



 

0 MMMmmmmm.....

0 US "PSYOP" Unit Stage Manage "Saddam Statue Pull-down".....Look Familiar?

Look familiar?....think Libya.

                       THE SCENE FROM THE AIR

                          YOU THINK THIS IS JUST 

A CONSPIRACY THEORY?
READ ON.....

The NATO-led intervention in Libya and the unrest in Syria are both steps in a decades-long plan by the US and its allies to completely reshape the face of Africa, believes independent journalist and peace activist Thierry Maysan. "It's quite obvious that the USA wanted to enter war at the same time with Libya and Syria.
That wish was made public by John Bolton in 2002. The plan was passed over to France and Britain, who decided to bring it to life in November last year," the author believes.

What is called public uprising of the free-loving people are actually coup attempts staged by the Western nations, Maysan says. The operation in Libya in particular is marked by an astounding number of lies fed to the public, he added. "By the time of the UN Security Council vote everyone had decided on the basis of reports submitted to the council. And the Security Council was certain that during the demonstrations in Benghazi the government killed 6,000 citizens -- a terrible number.
But now five months later the prosecutor at the International Criminal Court, which accused the Libyan leadership, has reduced the number... Now the prosecutor is building up his evidence on 208 victims instead of 6,000," he pointed out. In another example, footage was circulated by foreign TV channels allegedly showing Gaddafi's soldiers raping women in retribution for the uprising. 
The video later turned out to be a rare Libyan amateur porn flick, Maysan said. The lies are meant to hide what the West wants to do in the region, the journalist believes. "NATO keeps lying at every stage, which is surprising, because during the war in Kosovo NATO would normally lie only to conceal its mistakes. This time it's being done not to conceal the mistakes, but to conceal the strategy," he told RT.

    THINK HE'S JUST 

A CONSPIRACY THEORIST? 

 THEN WHAT IF A RETIRED 

CIA ANALYST

WHO WORKED UNDER 

7 PRESIDENTS OVER 27 YEARS

SAID THE FOLLOWING?
((Ray McGovern))

DONT BELIEVE HIM?

THEN WHAT ABOUT A

RETIRED HIGHLY DECORATED

GENERAL IN THE US ARMY?

(Wesley Clark Ret)

I COULD GO ON....BUT SURELY BY NOW

YOU ARE STARTING TO SEE A PATTERN HERE,

THESE WARS ARE STAGED, THEY HAVE BEEN FOR QUITE SOME TIME.....

IT MAY HAVE TAKEN A LITTLE LONGER THAN THE 5 YEARS STATED,

BUT IT'S BEING ROLLED OUT NOW!...

YOU ONLY HAVE TO SWITCH ON THE TV

TO SEE THAT FACT.

0 FOX NEWS: Norwegian Terror Attack "Is Such A Godsend For The Liberal Media"

EXCLUSIVE

Wow! FOX(turd) News reaches new lows. 

0 Euromerica, New Shanghai, United Federation Of Britian...but no Mars?, Total Recall Remake

The usual complaint about remakes is that they don’t bring anything new. 

Len Wiseman seems to have taken that to heart, and is trying something totally different with his “Total Recall” remake. The Philip K. Dick story (“We Can Remember It For You Wholesale”) has been adapted before by Paul Verhoeven in the 1990 Arnold Schwarzenegger action blockbuster. Unlike that version, Wiseman’s will not be set on the planet Mars, will probably not feature all sorts of mutants, and certainly won’t have any 3-breasted Martian hookers. So how can it be any good, then?

Well, by honouring the core story, and then giving it a fresh spin. The story is about a construction worker named Douglas Quaid who agrees to have vacation memories implanted by Rekall, Inc only to have his mind get all messed up as he starts remembering another identity — that of a secret agent. In this new version, the fresh spin comes via an Earthbound setting, a world where countries have merged into large conglomerate-like entities. Having Colin Farrell as Quaid creates a decidedly different feel for the character compared to Arnie. Many fanboys are skeptical about Wiseman (“Die Hard 4.0″) at the helm, but he can bring the thrills… when he has a good script.

Here is your first-ever look at some shots and props from the film, which shows Quaid in trouble. This version sees him as a suspected spy for both Euromerica and New Shanghai, so those troops must belong to either side.
http://electroshadow.com/?p=5985

A little helping of Federal Policing & future world politics programming anyone??

0 Jeremy Scahill "CNN Playing Ball With C.I.A. For Spin" On Secret Prisons In Somalia Story

1 Outfoxed: Bill O'Reilly attacks 9/11 victim's son

Famous clip from Outfoxed telling the story of Jeremy Glick being ruthlessly attacked and smeared by Bill O'Reilly for years. Get alerts on FOX News smears and other videos from Brave New Films.

http://www.outfoxed.org/ 

                                                                  
                                    GET BACK IN THERE YOU TURD!!

0 From The Horse's Mouth ...Chabad-Lubavitch IS Zionist, Rabbi Says

A spokesman for the Chabad-Lubavitch Chassidic movement says the sect is Zionist in its support for Israel. 

A spokesman for the Chabad-Lubavitch worldwide Chassidic movement says the sect is Zionist in its support for Israel.

Rabbi Menachem Brod of Kfar Chabad told Arutz Sheva in an exclusive interview Tuesday that the traditional definition of the term has morphed into one that has become unclear.

Brod set about clarifying what the Chabad-Lubavitch movement defines Zionism to mean “in the practical sense of the word,” making it clear that its Jewish origins have not changed.

“If the definition of 'Zionism' is defined as detachment from Jewish roots and becoming a nation like any other, we oppose that – and so did all the great Torah leaders. But if Zionism is about loving the land, about national security, settling the land, then Chabad definitely supports those important activities,” he declared.

Brod, who serves as the movement's spokesman in Israel, was responding to criticism from the Reform movement-affiliated group Hiddush (Hebrew for “innovation”).

The group had attempted to persuade Knesset members to call off a Knesset event – an evening to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS. The event was held to honor Chabad for its decades-long outreach to Jews in the former Soviet Union.

Hiddush argued that the Knesset should not support Chabad because it is “anti-Zionist.”

No MKs responded to the appeal, however, and the event was held as scheduled.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who addressed a Tel Aviv hall filled to capacity at the event, told the Chabad emissaries, “You stand atop of the mountain, and the Jewish people gathered at its base salute you. I am the first .”

Among the hundreds of Chabad emissaries from the former Soviet Union to attend the event were Russia's Chief Rabbi, Berel Lazar and philanthropist Lev Leviev, head of Africa-Israel.

 http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/145899#.TibqwIJRbjU

0 Jury levies $10M judgment against Taser, Taser to appeal judgement

Taser International plans to appeal a $10 million verdict delivered by a North Carolina jury.

 

Scottsdale-based Taser (Nasdaq:TASR), which manufactures electronic stun guns and other equipment, was found partially responsible for the death of 17-year-old Darryl Turner after police in Charlotte, N.C., used a Taser device on him during an altercation at a grocery store on March 21, 2008.

Taser officials expressed their condolences to the family, but said their company’s device was not responsible for his death.

“This was a sad and tragic incident, and our hearts go out to Mr. Turner’s family,” said Doug Klint, president and general counsel of Taser International. “We can certainly understand how the jury felt deep compassion for Mr. Turner’s family, and how this compassion may have overwhelmed the scientific evidence presented in this case.”

Taser officials pointed to several pieces of evidence that were either excluded or ignored during the trial, and said the company plans to appeal the verdict.

“Taser will contest the verdict even before entry of judgment,” said spokesman Steve Tuttle. “If the judgment is entered, we will appeal.”

Among the items the company pointed to were testimony that Turner had a heart condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, as well as questions about marijuana found on Turner after the incident.

The company also suggested that jury instructions were not clear about what Taser could be held responsible for in Turner’s death.

Taser was ruled responsible for about $9.23 million of the total award; about $6 million of that will be covered by insurance. The city of Charlotte will cover $730,000 as part of a settlement, and $40,000 will be covered by workers’ compensation insurance.

Read Full Article

0 Nabi shares in meltdown after NicVAX flunks Phase 3 trials

Shares of Nabi Biopharmaceuticals ($NABI) went into a meltdown this morning after the developer announced that the first of two late-stage studies for its experimental nicotine addiction vaccine failed to hit its primary endpoint. 

And the troubling news is spurring management to explore "any and all appropriate alternative actions," signaling potentially big changes for the Rockville, MD-based developer.

Researchers said that 11% of the patients taking NicVAX quit smoking after 16 weeks of treatment, which was similar to the cessation rate among patients given a placebo. And the news caused a rout among its investors as the stock plunged 70%.

Read more: FierceBiotech http://www.fiercebiotech.com/story/nabi-shares

0 Man fires back with $2M suit after Taser attack by Off-duty deputies

Since Ralph Williams Jr. was Tased by an off-duty Prince George’s County sheriff’s deputy a year ago after an event at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Forestville, he said he has experienced nightmares and insomnia.

“I haven’t even been able to go back to the place since it happened,” Williams said. “I couldn’t go to the hospital, since I don’t have health insurance. It would just be another bill.”

Williams has filed a $2 million lawsuit(see link below) against Forestville-based SPX Building Corp., which rents out the Knights of Columbus Hall and employed the deputies for security. 

In the case, which is scheduled for a jury trial July 25 in Prince George’s County Circuit Court, he claims charges of assault, battery false imprisonment and negligence.

Williams is not suing the Prince George’s County Office of the Sheriff, because the deputies were acting as employees of the building owner, not the sheriff’s office, during the incident.

On July 11, 2010, Williams, a Baltimore resident, was leaving a party at the Forestville hall. 

He said he was talking to some friends from out of town when an off-duty Prince George’s County sheriff’s deputy, who was working security for the event, cursed and got into an argument with him.

After 20 to 30 minutes, Williams began to walk away, when he said the deputy, referred to as “Lt. Saunders” in the lawsuit, stepped into his way, while a second off-duty deputy, Cpl. Lee, shot him in the back with a Taser. Williams’ attorney, Jimmy Bell, whose office is in Bowie, said they did not have the first names of the deputies.

“[The first deputy] said some derogatory things to me, and I said some things back to her,” Williams said. “We continued to argue for a little while, but there was a distance between us, it wasn’t like we were arguing up close.”

Representatives for SPX Building Corp. declined to comment on the case.

Mark Spencer, the inspector general for the county sheriff’s office, confirmed that the two deputies named in the lawsuit are currently employed by his office, but pointed out that the deputies were not named as defendants. He said his office is conducting an internal investigation into the incident.

According to the lawsuit, Williams claims the deputies did not follow guidelines put forth by Maryland Attorney General’s Task Force on Electronic Weapons issued in December 2009.

“Officers should be permitted to use [electronic weapons] only when an individual poses an imminent threat of physical injury to themselves or others,” the guidelines say.

Williams also said that the deputy who Tased him pulled the metal barbs out of his skin himself, which is against the attorney general’s Taser recommendations that dictate that they should be treated as “a biohazard” and removed only by trained individuals.

Spencer said his office is aware of the recommendations for electronic weapon use.

“At present we are looking at all of our standards in terms of general orders and best practice standards,” Spencer said. “We are aware of the attorney general’s published standards and guidelines in the use of ECW weapons, but we don’t see them as mandates.”

Bell said he and his client filed a complaint with the Prince George’s County Office of the Sheriff, but does not know if any action was taken as a result.

“What I do know is that a jury will hear the case on July 25, and we’ll let the chips fall where they may,” Bell said.

Spencer said he was unaware of an official complaint made to the sheriff’s office, but that an investigation was already launched when the office learned of the lawsuit.

PLAINTIFFS CIVIL ACTION PDF 

Gazette Article LINK

0 Aircraft brings snow?

As airplanes fly through clouds, they often punch holes through the ones that contain super cooled water, or water that has remained in liquid form below its freezing point. Latest findings say this might result in more snowfall near airports. Scientists used images from NASA’s satellite and weather forecasting models to examine how often this type of cloud seeding may occur within 100 km of six commercial airports, writes Kalyan Ray
Many times, these holes were mistaken for mysterious unidentified flying objects (UFOs), even though they are actually caused by airplanes flying through clouds. Now, researchers say, this phenomenon can lead to increased snowfall around many major airports around the world. The findings were published in the July 1 issue of the journal Science. As airplanes fly through the clouds, they often punch holes through the ones that contain super cooled water, or water that has remained in liquid form below its freezing point. The effect is similar to cloud seeding. Numerous private and commercial flights have been drilling holes and canals through clouds all along and in the process influencing the snow and rainfall below them. Led by scientists from National Center for Atmospheric Research, the new research focuses on these hole punch and canal clouds that form when planes fly through certain mid-level clouds, forcing nearby air to rapidly expand and cool. This, the scientists said, might result in more snow fall near airports compelling the authorities to de-ice the planes more. The consequences would be more pronounced in mid-and high-latitudes rather than a tropical country like India. Piercing of the cloud causes water droplets to freeze to ice and then turn to snow as they fall toward the ground, leaving behind odd-shaped gaps in the clouds. “Whether an airplane creates a hole or a canal in the clouds depends on its trajectory. When they climb through a super-cooled cloud layer, they can just produce a hole. But when they fly level through the cloud layer, they can produce long canals,” said NCAR scientist Andrew Heymsfield who led the study. Comment:....but "Chemtrails" are still a conspiracy theory...apparently. READ MUCH MORE HERE: http://www.deccanherald.com/content/177276/aircraft-brings-snow.html

0 Pedicabbers Up In Arms After Seeing Driver Tased On Mall

July 18, 2011 - D.C. pedicab operators are once again calling attention to their treatment by the U.S. Park Police after they say one of their own was unfairly arrested and subdued with a Taser on the National Mall.

The pedicabbers say an officer with the U.S. Park Police confronted pedicab driver Charles Guillon, as he was picking up customers in his bicycle-drawn rickshaw Friday afternoon.

Tyler Clark, a law student driving a pedicab this summer, saw the whole thing.

A group of pedicabbers at impromptu vigil outside U.S. Park Police Headquarters near Haines Point in Southwest D.C.

"It was like an episode of Cops, where the officer screams, 'you're resisting arrest!' when it appeared like the guy wasn't resisting arrest," Clark says. "And the officer was just being way too forceful for anyone to comply with what he was asking them to do."

Clark says Guillon began to reach for his glasses in his shirt's breast pocket, when the officer un-holstered his Taser, pressed it against Guillon's ribcage, and fired.

AUDIO OF NEWS REPORT

"The pedicab driver dropped to the ground, was writhing and screaming in pain and agony," Clark says. "And the police officer shot him with the Taser one more time."

Pedicab drivers on the National Mall say Park Police officers are using brutal tactics this summer in a crackdown on their fledgling industry. One of them, Sarah Roberts, told WAMU last month that she was injured by a Park Police officer after refusing to provide identification.

The Park Police didn't respond to our phone calls and emails, but officials from the agency have previously denied the existence of a crackdown.

http://wamu.org/news/11/07/18/pedicabbers_up_in_arms_after_seeing_driver_tased_on_mall.php 

0 Armed police in West Midlands fired tasers over 140 times between april and march last year

ARMED police officers in the West Midlands drew their Taser stun guns almost 800 times in the past year, according to new figures.

And officers opened fire with the weapons – which shoot needle-tipped darts to deliver a crippling 50,000-volt shock – 140 times between April last year and the end of March.
The increase came after the controversial weapons were handed to specially-trained frontline officers across the force last summer. A total of 485 officers are now trained to use them.
Senior officers predicted the use of Tasers would be “minimal” following the roll-out but the figures showed they were drawn by officers 780 times – an average of more than twice a day.

They were used just 98 times between 2005 and 2009.
Human rights experts described the increase as “worrying” but West Midlands Police said the weapon was effective in the right setting.
Amnesty International’s UK campaigns director Tim Hancock said: “Tasers are dangerous weapons.
“They are potentially lethal and should only be used in a very limited set of circumstances where there’s a real threat to life.”
But a police spokesman said officers had to go through vigorous training before being armed with the stun guns.
“Taser is considered an effective way of restraining individuals that are violent and/or present a threat to members of the public and police,” he said.
“Officers have to justify using Taser, in the same way as they judge the use of CS spray or batons.
“It’s recognised that Tasers, compared with conventional firearms, are safer for the police and public, particularly in situations where there is a possibility of someone being seriously injured or killed.
“In many cases, Tasers have contributed to resolving incidents without injury.
“In a significant proportion of cases they have not even needed to be fired.”

Read More http://www.birminghammail.net/news/top-stories/2011/07/18/armed-police-in-west-midlands-fired-taser-guns-800-times-97319-29071007/#ixzz1SSlz1Xfk

0 Schoolboys fined £20 for skipping rush to buy £1 train ticket

EXETER schoolboys are being fined for not paying their rail fares between Topsham and Digby – even though they have the money and want to buy a ticket.

The boys are pupils at St Peter's Church of England School who catch the Avocet line train from Exmouth to Exeter at Topsham.
The mother of one boy who has twice been fined £20 for not having a ticket said: "It is terrible because they have the money – it's only £1 return – but there is only one ticket machine on Topsham platform.
"The train is already crowded when it arrives at Topsham and there is a rush to get on.
"Some children get left behind and others jump on without a ticket rather than miss the train.
"It is only a four or five-minute trip to Digby but when they get off they are fined £20 even when they offer to pay.
"The other day 12 boys got fined – although a group of four or five girls without tickets were just waved through.
"At £20 a time it is a nice little earner for the railway company.
"There should at least be another ticket machine at Topsham to give people a better chance of getting a ticket before the train pulls out."
A spokesman for First Great Western, which operates the train service, said they would be looking into the situation at Topsham.
 http://www.thisisexeter.co.uk/Schoolboys-fined-skipping-rush-buy-train-ticket/story

0 How Banks, Credit Cards Will Get Around Restrictions On Selling Your Info

Credit card companies are sitting on a wealth of information about their clients — they have a running record of everything they buy.

Due to strict rules entitling consumers to financial privacy, though, banks are limited in the secondary use of that data. However, they’ve happened upon a rather ingenious way to....                                        work around that restriction.

The Chicago Tribune reports on banks’ “billion dollar plan” to “sell your shopping data.” The story starts off (rather salaciously):

"Many of the nation’s leading banks and card issuers, including Wells Fargo, Citi, USAA,* Sovereign Bank and Discover, are selling information about consumers’ shopping habits — how much they spend, where they shop and what they buy — to retailers."

That’s a misleading description (and CNN Money later revised that article). Banks don’t actually hand any information about their users over to retailers. They’re “selling” shopping habits the same way Facebook “sells” personal data about its users: in-network.

It’s a clever privacy work-around. Just as Facebook allows advertisers to specifically target certain kinds of users based on their profile information (without actually providing that profile information to the advertisers), banks plan to allow advertisers to send deals and coupons to their customers based on what they’ve bought before. That way, no user data actually leaves the network — instead, deals just enter the network. Each time a customer cashes in on one of those deals, the bank gets a commission.

0 Jim Traficant "Israel has used us like a whore!"

It wasn't easy, finding Jim Traficant. Without the help of the American Free Press, (AFP), we never would have found him. Traficant of Youngstown Ohio was running for his old Congressional seat. What sort of campaign could he be running? After all, we'd seen the Greta von Susteren Fox News interview (Sept. 9, 2009, just a few days after Traficant was released from prison).

Here's some of what Traficant had said, "I believe that Israel has a powerful strangle hold on the American government. They control...the House and Senate. "They have us involved in wars of which we have little or no interest. Our children are coming back in body bags. Our nation is bankrupt over these wars, and if you open your mouth, you get targeted. And if they don't beat you at the polls, they'll put you in prison... It's an objective assessment that no one will have the courage to speak about."

They're controlling much of our foreign policy. They're influencing much of our domestic policy. Wolfowitz as Under Secretary of Defense manipulated President Bush #2 back into Iraq. They pushed definitely, definitely to try and get Bush, before he left, to move into Iran. We're conducting expansionist policy of Israel and everybody's afraid to say it. They control much of the media..."

WAS IT POSSIBLE somewhere in Ohio someone could say such things and not be ostracized, denounced, trounced? Actually, no. There really was no campaign. Few in the political business dared have anything to do with him, donate to him, invite him, quote him. Only a maverick Tea Party organizer offered him an evening campaign event. Otherwise, the popular sheriff and then Congressman was pretty much shunned. And yet he came in a close third on Nov.2, 2010, with over 30,000 votes.

0 Devon, UK, Angry car owner shot with Taser

Devon and Cornwall Police have said they were were forced to tackle a man with a Taser stun gun after he became aggressive when his car was towed away.

 

DVLA officials took the car away because the man had failed to pay road tax. When they came to remove the vehicle the owner became angry and threatened them, police said.

The incident happened at around 6pm on Tuesday in the Tip Hill area of Ottery St Mary.

An officer shot the 44-year-old with a Taser to subdue him. He was then arrested and bailed.

The man is due to appear before magistrates in Exeter on July 19 charged with two counts of assault and one of resisting arrest.

 http://www.rac.co.uk/news

0 UK Police probe after pensioner, 82, is Tasered by officers

A police watchdog was today probing why an 82-year-old man was Tasered by armed officers and hospitalised for six days.

The pensioner was shot with the 50,000-volt stun gun after apparently 'threatening' a man.

A team of armed police officers swooped on him in a west London street before firing the electroshock weapon.

He was later arrested on suspicion of carrying an offensive weapon and criminal damage to a vehicle in Ealing, west London.
However, he was later rushed to hospital by ambulance after complaining of 'pain' after arriving to Acton police station.
The gun fires darts attached to lengths of wire which carry an electric charge causing temporary paralysis.
The 82-year-old was kept in Central Middlesex Hospital for six days after being Tasered before being discharged.
The case is now being investigated by the Independent Police Complaints Commission following the shooting on the morning of June 28.
IPCC Commissioner Rachel Cerfontyne said: 'Our investigation will examine whether the use of a Taser in these circumstances was proportionate and appropriate.'
A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police refused to comment while the investigation is being managed by the watchdog.
An 89-year-old man from Llandudno, North Wales, is the oldest man to have been shot by a Taser.
The war veteran was shot by officers after escaping from his care home and threatening to cut his throat with a piece of broken glass.
North Wales Police said they shot the retired carpenter for his own safety in January 2009.
Hailed as a non-lethal alternative to firearms, Tasers, which have a range of around 20ft, have been linked by human rights groups with hundreds of deaths in the U.S. and Canada.
Experts have warned against using them on children and vulnerable adults because of the risk that they can trigger a heart attack.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2013458/Pensioner-82-hospitalised-days-tasered-police.html#ixzz1RnpIei00

0 HOW THE WTC TOWERS WERE DESTROYED, WHAT WAS USED, HOW THEY ACHIVED IT.

The One 25 minute clip you need to watch.

0 Explained In Under 3 Minutes, Why Do Banks Make So Much Money?

http://www.positivemoney.org.uk

Banks make so much money because they can create money, effectively out of nothing, by lending. Every single pound in your bank account was created by a bank, not by your government.

0 Tarpley from Tripoli: Obama you are cut off.

0 Amazing Speech about Terrorism

An amazing 3 minute speech that will truly open your eyes to the situation we now find ourselves in...

0 Blue Sky to No Sky, Effects of Chemtrails ....2 Minute time lapse

0 UFO fleet Over London BBC radio building UK 24th June 2011

From youtube description:
UFO Mothership spotted Fleet Over London UK 24th June 2011 HD

UFOs Over London BBC Radio 1 Building
Right - took over a week to get it....but finally managed to get these critters on camera on a clear day, and even get a close-up. It seems to be attracting quite a crowd now when they appear. Can anyone explain what on earth these lights are please?

0 Ghost City Appears in China

IT looks like any other city skyline with skyscrapers, a few mountains and trees – except it isn’t real. The giant mirage appeared across the skyline near in East China earlier this month after heavy rainfall and humid conditions along the Xin’an River.

As mist settled over the river at dusk, tall buildings appeared to rise from nowhere, leading residents in nearby Huanshan City to speculate that the vision may be a “vortex” to a lost civilisation. “It’s really amazing, it looks like a scene in a movie, in a fairlyland,” one resident told UK news channel ITN.
The mysterious city had vanished just as quickly as it had come. Scientists have quashed the vortex theory and, as per usual, have a simple explanation for the incredible sight. They believe it may have been a mirage, caused when moisture in the air becomes warmer than the temperature of the water below. When rays of sunlight cross from the colder air into the warmer air they are refracted or bent – creating a reflection in the air that looks similar to a reflection in water. It’s a common sight for many travellers on Australian roads. But we Australians tend to see puddles of water that disappear when you get close, not entire cities floating on rivers.

Winston Smith knows there is something wrong with the world. Surely it hasn’t always been tasteless food, gray, stringy clothing, a dispiriting job, and always the same fear and suspicion of everyone around you? But if life did used to be different, how does he know it was? What makes him question Big Brother, who is always watching, and the Party, who is always right? Why does he instinctually avoid the all-knowing tele-screen, and secretly abhor the Two Minute Hate that everyone else revels in?

These are the questions that plague Winston’s mind constantly. He knows he’s different, but doesn’t know why, and doesn’t know how to find out without detection. The world as he knows it is filled with hate, anger, and fear, but deep down he longs for answers, and for beauty. He’s always wondering about the past, and whether the facts that Big Brother comes out with daily are the truth, or nothing but lies. The past is constantly being rewritten by the Party, and it’s Winston’s job to help change the facts to suit the current day’s needs. He both loves and is horrified by his job but sees nothing he can do about it.

Winston can’t take the monotony anymore and one day starts a very small rebellion of his own by starting a diary, which is forbidden (and punishable by death). A chance meeting with a dark haired girl at the Ministry where he works slowly leads to an illicit affair, which awakens feelings in him he never knew existed. He is filled with love and lust for Julia, and their passionate romance awakens another feeling- all out rebellion against the party. They meet secretly as often as they can, talking about the world and making love in secret rooms. To Winston, it’s paradise.

Another chance meeting leads him to O’Brian, an Inner Party member he believes to be associated with a conspiracy against the Party, part of a secret society known only as the Brotherhood. He and Julia immediately join, and promise to do whatever they can to help the Brotherhood. O’Brian promises them that nothing will ever happen in their lifetime, and their service with the Brotherhood will most certainly lead to torture and death by the Party. This doesn’t bother them in the slightest.youp

It doesn’t take them long to get caught, however (betrayed, ultimately, by a kindly shopkeeper they trusted, who turns out to be a member of the Thought Police), and they’re both taken to the Ministry of Love for torture and interrogation.

Winston is held there for months, getting tortured by O’Brian himself, who turns out to be a member of the Party. He holds out against him and his brainwashing for a long time, but in the end he betrays Julia, and himself. He submits to their brainwashing and learns to love Big Brother, and Big Brother only. He has no individualism, no thoughts that are not approved by the party, and no love for his fellow man. He is released from his prison, considered a “perfect specimen” by the Party and safe for society.

ARE YOU A WINSTON SMITH?....

OR WILL YOU FIGHT WITH EVERYTHING YOU HAVE TO BE TRULY FREE?

0 Zombie Americans have forgotten why 4th of July is a holiday!!!

http://markdice.com/

Mark Dice talks with beachgoers in San Diego, California to ask them why the 4th of July holiday was started. Many of them have no clue at all and simply agree with him when he insinuates blatantly false explanations. Check out Mark's new book Big Brother: The Orwellian Nightmare Come True on Amazon.com, Kindle or Barnes and Noble's Nook e-reader.

Mark Dice is a media analyst, social critic, political activist, and author who, in an entertaining and educational way, gets people to question our celebrity obsessed culture, and the role the mainstream media plays in shaping our lives.

Mark frequently stirs up controversy from his commentaries, protests, and boycotts, and has repeatedly been featured in major media outlets around the world.

0 French leader Sarkozy dodges bullet, due to man in crowd grabbing him 30/06/11

And that's the thanks you get.....typical,
the man deserves a medal.

0 Over 1000 people take part in Taiwanese military drills to simulate potential nuclear and biological attacks.

Over a thousand people took part in Taiwanese military drills to simulate potential nuclear and biological attacks. The country's military police and firefighters also re-enacted a hostage situation on a bus and a biological attack on board a ship. Government officials say the drills are aimed at improving the response to unconventional warfare.

0 Station crew 'shelters' from "space debris" travelling at 5 miles per second (18,000miles per hour)

The six-member crew of the International Space Station took shelter in two Russian Soyuz spacecraft early Tuesday because of a predicted close approach by an unknown piece of space debris. 

International Space Station

Radar tracking indicated the debris could pass within about 820 feet of the space station at 8:08 a.m. EDT (GMT-4), but no impact was detected and the crew was told to resume normal operations. 

"We are currently at TCA plus four minutes and you are clear to egress Soyuz," Kjell Lindgren radioed the crew from mission control in Houston at 8:12 a.m., four minutes after the time of closest approach.

"Copy that. Thank you," replied Expedition 28 flight engineer Satoshi Furukawa.

Safety procedures are put into effect when radar tracking indicates debris could pass within an imaginary box around the space station that takes into account tracking errors to provide a margin of safety. "Sheltering in place" aboard the Soyuz crew ferry craft is required when notification of a possible debris "conjunction" occurs too late to orchestrate a space station maneuver to get out of the way.

"We have a fourth update from (tracking) and the probabilities are still in the red threshold and we are still planning to have you shelter in place," a flight controller radioed from Houston a few minutes before 7:30 a.m. EDT (GMT-4). The time of closest approach is still 12:08 GMT (8:08 a.m. EDT)."

Soyuz TMA-02M

Station commander Andrey Borisenko, Alexander Samokutyaev and Ronald Garan took shelter aboard the Soyuz TMA-21 spacecraft docked to the Poisk module. Sergei Volkov, Michael Fossum and Furukawa sheltered aboard the Soyuz TMA-02M spacecraft docked to the Rassvet module.

The size and source of the debris were not immediately known.

Space debris is an ongoing concern for space station crews because of the extreme velocities of objects in low-Earth orbit -- about five miles per second.

"The way we do all of this is we get tracking data from Space Command on the objects that are a threat to the space station," space station flight director Ron Spencer said before a debris event in 2009. "Initially, we have a screening box, which is .75 kilometers radial miss, which would be up or down, by 25 kilometers in cross track, which would be left or right, by 25 kilometers down track, which is either in front or behind us.

"Space Command will alert us of any debris objects out there that are going to get that close to us. Then they increase tasking on those objects to try to get a better solution and decrease the uncertainty. And then we calculate a probability of collision on that, based on the data Space Command gives us, on the object and if the probability of collision is greater than 10 to the minus five, then we will begin to start looking at taking action."