Thursday, September 29, 2011

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Clear Present Danger

TSA screener accused of stealing from handicapped woman at Newark Airport
http://www.infowars.com/tsa-screener-accused-of-stealing-from-handicapped-woman-at-newark-airport/

Full-Body Scanners to Fry Travelers With Radiation
http://www.infowars.com/full-body-scanners-to-fry-travelers-with-radiation/

Baby sent though airport X-ray machine
http://www.infowars.com/articles/ps/airport_security_baby_sent_through_x_ray_machine.htm

Quote from: "The Colossal Deceit Known As The Underwear Bomber Case" Article

5. TSA admitted knowledge of the threat while the flight was over Canada/Atlantic Ocean. No measures were taken to notify the pilot or to divert the flight for an emergency landing elsewhere.

PrisonPlanet Forum:

Caught:

TSA Chief John Pistole is a bona fide lying sack of shit, faces felony charges
http://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?topic=212268.0

TSA vs. passenger tussle caught on tape, now focus of lawsuit
http://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?topic=48754.0

DHS Caught Trolling WeWon’tFly Blog - WEBSITE DOWN - TOO MUCH TRAFFIC!
http://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?topic=196092.0

TSA Illegally Confiscates Pregnant Woman’s Insulin As “Explosives Risk”
http://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?topic=214083.0

Baywatch Babe and Ron Paul supporter Donna D'Errico single out by TSA.
http://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?topic=194355.0

Gulf Activists Harassed By TSA Agents Who Claim Filming Is Illegal
http://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?topic=196591.0

**TSA SHOCK** WWII HERO HAS MEDAL OF HONOR CONFISCATED BY TSA!!!
http://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?topic=196530.0

TSA Germ ALERT: Doctors warn of TSA spreading disease from person to person
http://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?topic=193331.0

Umm more TSA - Child strip search in line, wtf? - Video
http://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?topic=192791.0

WTF is going on at the SLC airport? Pants around the knees, TSA? Really?
http://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?topic=193409.0

TSA Screener Accosts 3 Year Old Child at Security Checkpoint (VIDEO)
http://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?topic=191988.0

TSA AGENT ROBS WHEEL CHAIR WOMAN IN THE SECURITY LINE!!!
http://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?topic=171664.0

TSA Employee Arrested Stealing100 Items Out of Luggage Putting them on Ebay
http://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?topic=191739.0

TSA has gone 100% insane!! TSA chief John Pistole needs to be fired ASAP!!!
http://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?topic=192267.0

TSA agent steals $200K worth of gear, resells it on eBay
http://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?topic=65721.0

General Electric uses Al-Qaeda to market their Nazi X-Ray Scan Machines!
http://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?topic=138160.0

Admit:

TSA Admits: "Our job is to destroy the American way of life one child at a time"
http://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?topic=205995.0

TSA admits to missing radiation issues for entire history of scanners
http://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?topic=204177.0

TSA Admits Bungling of Airport Body-Scanner Radiation Tests
http://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?topic=203641.0

TSA Admits to Keeping ‘Enhanced Screening’ Plans Secret
http://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?topic=193027.0

TSA Officer Arrogantly Admits Plot to Post Porn on Christian Site
http://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?topic=206129.0

Other:

TSA Threatens: "Body scan boycott may short circuit our treasonous cyberslavery"
http://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?topic=192931.0

TSA Agents Must Read This Shit, Your Masters Are Systematically Killing You!
http://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?topic=211948.0

TSA Porno Scanners – the Height of U.S. Paranoia?
http://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?topic=212016.0

TSA want to poke their fingers up girls' vaginas so they claim "surgical bombs"
http://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?topic=211969.0

Ron Paul on ‘Opt-Out':‘If we tolerate’ the TSA, ‘there’s something wrong with us
http://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?topic=193226.0

TSA exempt from it's own rules
http://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?topic=59501.0

Paying To Be Raped - By Sibel Edmonds
http://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?topic=191892.0

Thursday, September 22, 2011

If the West wanted peace they would respect the peace process. Instead they walk out like children, refusing to listen. It shows that if the Security Council doesn't hear what it wants, it just walks out.

This is NO model for "world government" when there is no discussion, no respect, no process. They claim they want to have a discussion with Iran, but whenever Ahmadinejad speaks they just leave. I'm not saying he's some sort of hero, but if what he says is so unimportant, why do they have to make such a big scene about it?? They're only making themselves look like idiots to the rest of the world.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

More Recent News

California City Closes Down Bible Study in Private Home

Kurt Nimmo
Inowars.com
September 21, 2011

In Orange County, California, it is illegal to hold a religious meeting in your home.

This is what Chuck and Stephanie Fromm, of San Juan Capistrano, discovered when they were fined $300 earlier this month for holding a Bible study class on their property.

Officialdom in the county said the couple were singled out because it is considered illegal to hold “a regular gathering of more than three people” on private property. Officials stated that the Fromms require a license to hold meetings in their home.

San Juan Capistrano authorities claim home Bible study is not allowed because it is a “church,” and churches require a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) in residential areas.

The Fromms face additional fines of $500 per meeting for any further “religious gatherings” in their home, according to the Pacific Justice Institute.

The city’s action is a brazen violation of the First Amendment, which guarantees free worship without government intervention.

PJI and the Fromms plan to appeal a decision made by the city to uphold the fine and restriction to the California Superior Court in Orange County, according to KCOY 12 News, a Fox affiliate.

Ironically, the city of San Juan Capistrano was founded as a mission in the late 1700s by Catholic priest Junipero Serra. A local chapel established by Serra is the oldest standing building in California.

Judge Declares Case Against Man for Recording Police Unconstitutional

Kurt Nimmo
Infowars.com
September 21, 2011

A judge in Illinois has thrown out a case against Michael Allison for recording a conservation he had with police.

The state wanted to throw Allison in prison for 75 years – tantamount to a death sentence – for violating Illinois’ strict eavesdropping statute.

Circuit Court Judge David Frankland cited First Amendment protections when he wrote in his opinion that Allison had a right to record police officers and court employees.

“A statute intended to prevent unwarranted intrusions into a citizen’s privacy cannot be used as a shield for public officials who cannot assert a comparable right of privacy in their public duties,” the judge wrote in his decision.

Crawford County State Attorney’s Office may appeal case in next 30 days. Allison told Infowars.com that he believes they will appeal, but for now have dropped the charges against him.

Allison credited Infowars.com and Alex Jones with prompting a large public outcry over his case. Hundreds of phone calls opposing the prosecution were made to the mayor, district attorney’s office, and police in Robinson, Illinois.

Alex Jones interviewed Allison on September 8, 2011:

Moody’s Downgrades Bankster Trifecta

Kurt Nimmo
Infowars.com
September 21, 2011

Too big to fail? Moody’s has lowered its debt ratings for Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Citigroup.

The ratings agency said today it decided to downgrade after it became apparent the government would not bailout the banking behemoths in a crisis. Moody’s attributed its decision in part on new laws under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act, according to the Associated Press.

Bank of America fared the worst of the trifecta – Moody’s downgraded its key long-term debt ratings two notches, to Baa1 from A2. Wells Fargo & Co.’s long-term debt rating fell one notch to A2 from A1 and Citigroup Inc.’s rating remained the same at A3, although its short-term debt was downgraded.

The downgrade serves as a warning to investors that they might get taken to the cleaners if they buy debt from the banks. It will also lead to higher interest rates for the banks.

Credit default swaps increased and financial stocks tumbled on the news.

“That is so absurd I can’t believe anyone would even write it. This is the largest bank in the United States,” said Rochdale Securities analyst Dick Bove. “It has business with one out of every five households in the country. The assumption is that the United States government would allow this bank to go under and pull all of those other people under with it! … In my view, I think Moody’s has lost its mind.”

Following the downgrade, Bank of America said that it will now call in $940 billion in loans if it fails.

In addition, Bove noted, Bank of America “has $1.38 trillion in deposits. You think the FDIC can cover that?… The idea that the U.S. government would allow it to fail is beyond the realm of possibilities.”

Chip Your Pets

New City Law Would Sterilize, Microchip All Cats And Dogs

By Chad Garrison Wed.
Sep. 21 2011 at 9:57

A bill under consideration in the St. Louis Board of Aldermen could make St. Louis one of the most restrictive cities in the nation when it comes to owning cats and dogs.

Board Bill 107 would require all pet owners to spay or neuter their dogs and cats and microchip them for identification. Those who don't want to sterilize their pets would be assessed a fee of $200 per year.

The sponsor of the bill, Alderwoman Lyda Krewson (Ward 28), tells Daily RFT that the goal of the bill is to encourage responsible pet ownership. Krewson worked with the city's Department of Health in drafting the legislation, which comes on heels of the city of St. Louis facing something of a stray animal crisis with the closing last year of the city's animal shelter.

"The goal of this, over time, is to cut down on the number of stray dogs and cats in the city," says Krewson. "When we take on pets, we also take on the responsibility of caring for them. We already require that pets be vaccinated for rabies and that people abide by the leash law. This is just another step in that direction of caring for our pets."

Krewson notes that most shelters require micro-chipping and spay or neutering before adopting animals out. And other cities -- including Las Vegas, Denver, Dallas, Memphis and Tulsa -- have similar laws requiring that pet owners sterilize their dogs and cats. Yet that information didn't stop what Krewson calls a "lively debate" during last Friday's board meeting when the bill was up for perfection. . . read more

IMF financial fear

International Monetary Fund warns the world is in 'a dangerous new phase'

AAP
September 21, 2011 7:39AM

International Monetary Fund cuts global growth forecasts
Warns global economy is in a "dangerous new phase"
Small business staff left depressed and uninspired

THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) has cut its world growth forecasts and warns the global economy has entered a "dangerous new phase", although the Asia Pacific region is in a better position to face the risks.

In its latest World Economic Outlook, the IMF says global activity has weakened and become more unstable, confidence has fallen sharply, and downside risks are growing.

"Strong policies are urgently needed to improve the outlook and reduce the risks," the IMF's economic counsellor Olivier Blanchard says.

The Washington-based institution has cuts its world growth forecast to four per cent for both 2011 and 2012, down from its June predictions of 4.3 per cent and 4.5 per cent respectively, and having grown at 5.1 per cent in 2010.

Advanced economies are expected to grow by an anaemic 1.6 per cent this year and 1.9 per cent next year.

Even then, this assumes that European policymakers contain the crisis in the Euro area, that US policy makers strike a judicious balance between support for the economy and medium term fiscal consolidation, and that volatility on global financial markets does not escalate.

However, the Asia Pacific region is in a better position to face current global risks.

Last summer's natural disasters had only temporarily slowed Australia's economic growth, and despite earthquakes, New Zealand's recovery had gained traction, "supported by strong terms of trade and positive trade spillovers from the region", it said.

Still, the IMF has slashed Australia's growth forecast to 1.8 per cent for 2011, from a 3.0 per cent prediction made in April, and to 3.3 per cent for 2012, from 3.5 per cent.

New Zealand is now expected to grow by two per cent this year and by 3.8 per cent next year, compared with previous forecasts of 0.9 and 4.1 per cent.

The IMF also welcomed Australia's planned return to a budget surplus in 2012/13, saying it would increase the economy's "fiscal room", while taking pressure off monetary policy and the exchange rate.

"The mining boom also provides an opportunity to build fiscal buffers further over the medium term and contribute to national saving," it says.

New Zealand's fiscal balances have been adversely affected by the earthquakes, but its planned medium term consolidation will help contain its current account deficit and put the budget in a stronger position to deal with costs related to ageing and health care.

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/business/world-in-dangerous-phase-imf/story-e6frfm1i-1226142321334#ixzz1YdDOthvk

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Paris Muslims Pray

Hundreds of Muslims Defy Street Prayer Ban

Quelle Surprise! They don’t answer to French Law, only the Sharia. Prayer with menaces continues on the streets of Paris, despite a government ban:

Hundreds of Muslims defied a French street prayer ban which came into force Friday, taking to the streets and sidewalks of Paris to pray. The French government announced Thursday it was banning praying outside, with officials pledging to enforce the ban from Friday.

But 200 Muslims ignored the street prayer ban and prayed on the streets in the neighbourhood of La Goutte d’Or, Le Parisien newspaper reported.

French interior minister Claude Gueant said he had nothing against Islam but wanted it out of the public eye because France was a secular state.

He added, “Street prayers must stop because they hurt the feelings of many of our compatriots who are shocked by the occupation of the public space for a religious practice.” Although officials would persuade people to pray in mosques, Muslims who continued to pray in the street would be arrested, Gueant warned.

The ban angered French Muslim leaders [what doesn't anger them? - Ed.] who said Muslims only prayed outdoors because of a lack of space in mosques in France.

The outdoor street prayer ban is the latest move by the French government to remove Islam from the public sphere. Laws prohibiting students wearing headscarves in schools and banning women from wearing the full Muslim veil — the niqab –in public came into force in April.

Contrary to the likely whining of the Islamo-Left coalition, this is not an issue of freedom of religion.

Although officially a secular country with a large Catholic majority, France bends over backwards to accomodate all faiths – but for the usual suspects it is never enough. Their campaign of street prayer (or ‘Aggravated Prayer’ as we prefer to call it), has meant thousands of ‘devout’ Muslim men blocking the streets of Paris on Fridays for some time – accompanied with an extremely aggressive atmosphere, designed deliberately to intimidate those Parisians who might object.

Despite the fact that news of the ban was widely broadcast, these diehards chose to flout the law, while claiming they knew nothing about it. Nonsense.

These are not the actions of immigrants anxious to integrate with their host nation. They are the actions of colonisers – and the street prayers themselves an act of Jihad.

The French authorities need to make some examples and enforce the street prayer ban they have put in place, in order to protect the majority of citizens.

http://undhimmi.com/2011/09/17/paris-hundreds-of-muslims-defy-street-prayer-ban/

After years of unfurling prayer mats on streets, pavements and in bicycle lanes, Parisian Muslims on Friday were finally able to put their foreheads to the ground somewhere they knew they weren’t stopping traffic. Not quite a mosque yet, their new place of worship is a 2,000-square-metre disused fire station in the north of the capital.

The building’s inauguration Friday afternoon, which saw thousands of Muslims welcomed from across Paris, also marked the first day of a ban on street prayers that had long been promised by France's right-wing government. “Praying in the streets will stop [on Friday],” Interior Minister Claude Gueant told French conservative daily Le Figaro Thursday. “We could go so far as to use force if needed,” he added, although he said he believed it unnecessary.

The Muslim community had scrambled to find a suitable space for the capital’s growing number of worshippers after Gueant, a close ally of President Nicolas Sarkozy, gave them until September 16 to get off the streets. “Prayers in the street are unacceptable, a direct attack on the principle of secularism,” he told AFP last month. Just two days before the deadline and after complex negotiations, local Muslim leaders signed a three-year deal with the authorities for the disused hangar.

http://www.france24.com/en/20110916-paris-mosque-deprived-muslims-pray-fire-station-public-prayer-ban-france

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Twin suicide bombs

Twin suicide bombs kill 24 in Quetta

AFP

(3 hours ago) Today

Fire-fighters extinguish a burning vehicle at the site of a suicide bomb attack in Quetta on September 7, 2011. — Photo by AFP

QUETTA: Twin suicide bombs targeting security forces responsible for the recent capture of senior Al Qaeda operatives killed 24 people and wounded 82 others in southwest Pakistan Wednesday, police said.

One attacker detonated his bomb-laden car outside the residence of the deputy chief of the Frontier Corps in Quetta city, before a second attacker blew himself up inside the house, said senior police official Hamid Shakil.

The attack on the home of deputy chief Farrukh Shahzad wounded him, killed his wife and injured at least one of his children, security officials said.

“The death toll has gone up and 24 deaths are now confirmed. There were at least 82 people wounded and taken to different hospitals. We have reports that at least seven of them are seriously hurt,” said Shakil.

Flames from the blast engulfed security vehicles and motorcycles parked outside Shahzad’s residence, where paramilitary forces had been waiting to escort the deputy inspector-general to work.

Two children and at least 11 troops from the Frontier Corps and army — including an army officer — were among the dead, Shakil said.

A mosque and official residences nearby were also badly damaged, he said.

Shakil said the car had been packed with 50 kilograms of explosives. He said the head of one of the bombers was found, along with an identity card that indicated he could have been from Afghanistan’s Kunduz province.

The Frontier Corps is Pakistan’s paramilitary force. On Monday the army announced the corps had arrested a senior Al Qaeda leader believed to have been responsible for planning attacks on the United States, Europe and Australia.

Younis al-Mauritani was picked up in the suburbs of Quetta, the main town of Balochistan province bordering Afghanistan and Iran, along with two other high-ranking operatives, after US and Pakistani spy agencies joined forces.

The army named the two other senior operatives as Abdul Ghaffar al-Shami and Messara al-Shami.

http://www.dawn.com/2011/09/07/twin-blasts-near-quetta-commissioner-office.html

A night time aerial view of the city

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Reactor 3 Cooling?

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110906a3.html

The temperature of the Fukushima No. 1 power plant's No. 3 reactor is below 100 degrees, indicating that a cold shutdown may be within reach, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Monday

It is the first time the temperature at the bottom of unit 3's pressure vessel has fallen below 100 since the nuclear crisis was triggered by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

Reactor 1 is even lower — below 90 — but Tepco said it is too early to determine whether it achieved cold shutdown because it needs to re-evaluate the amount of fuel left inside.

Tepco said a new cooling method that involves showering the reactor core with water probably helped lower the temperature of reactor 3 and that it is considering applying the method to reactor 2 as well.

The cores of reactors 1 through 3 are assumed to have melted, and the fuel is believed to have sunken and solidified at the bottom of their pressure vessels.

The vessels must be below 100 degrees to achieve cold shutdown, which is defined by the government and Tepco as a state in which the release of radioactive materials is under control and exposure doses have been significantly reduced.

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110906p2g00m0dm018000c.html

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japan's new industry minister Yoshio Hachiro said Monday he aims to resume operation of idled nuclear reactors in Japan "as soon as possible" once local governments approve their resumption.

Hachiro suggested in a group interview with media organizations that the resumption of reactors idled for regular checks could take place before the detailed cause of the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant becomes clear, saying it is "impossible" to investigate the cause within a few months.

"If people in the local areas (hosting nuclear power plants) approve, I hope (the resumption) will take place as soon as possible, although I cannot foresee whether it will be before the end of this year," Hachiro said.

With Shikoku Electric Power Co. having halted a reactor at its Ikata nuclear power plant in Ehime Prefecture on Sunday for a scheduled checkup, only 11 of Japan's 54 commercial reactors are currently in operation.

Halted reactors are required to pass so-called nuclear "stress tests" introduced by the government in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear crisis to allay public concern about the safety of nuclear power.

Even if the idled reactors are not reactivated, Hachiro said the government will likely be able to avoid issuing an electricity savings order this winter as utility companies across the nation are expected to help each other in ensuring sufficient power supply capacity.

The Japanese government restricted electricity consumption by large-lot users in eastern and northeastern Japan this summer for the first time in 37 years, to avert a power crunch in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear crisis triggered by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

On the export of nuclear power plants, Hachiro said, "Considering contracts with partner countries, and if they still wish (to import,)...I think exporting would be necessary."

But he added that the government needs to place priority on bringing the Fukushima nuclear crisis under control soon, decontamination of released radioactive materials, and investigation of the Fukushima accident.

He refrained from commenting on whether he would decide on Japan's participation in the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade negotiations by the time of a summit meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in November.

"Given the issue of disaster-hit areas and the issue of the hollowing out of (Japan's) industry under the impact of the yen's appreciation, we face various challenges and we are not at the stage to make a judgment."

Nine Asia-Pacific countries including the United States and Australia have been negotiating on the TPP hoping to conclude their talks at the APEC summit meeting, to be held in Honolulu.

Japan had aimed to decide by around June whether to join the TPP negotiations, but the deadline was effectively put off after the March disaster.

Hachiro, meanwhile, said the government needs to swiftly implement a five percent cut in corporate tax planned by the government under the previous Prime Minister Naoto Kan.

"A five percent cut in corporate tax is undoubtedly necessary at this stage," Hachiro said, citing concern over the adverse economic impact of the yen's recent appreciation to a postwar record high against the dollar.

But the tax cut is a matter that requires the agreement of both the ruling and opposition parties, he added.

Meanwhile, Hachiro said Tuesday that the number of Japan's nuclear power plants would be "zero" in the future, based on Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's policy of not building new nuclear power plants and decommissioning aged ones.

"Considering the premier's remarks at press conferences, it would be zero," Hachiro told reporters in answer to the question whether the number of nuclear plants would reduce to none in the future.

Hachiro added that it would be "difficult" to proceed with plans to build new nuclear plants whose construction has yet to begin, such as Chugoku Electric Power Co.'s Kaminoseki plant in Yamaguchi Prefecture.

(Mainichi Japan) September 6, 2011

Israel Practices Attack

IDF to simulate missile attack on Dimona nuclear reactor

http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?id=236779

Home Front Command, Israel Atomic Energy Commission to hold large exercise called “Fernando”; drill will simulate Hezbollah, Hamas attack.

The IDF Home Front Command and the Israel Atomic Energy Commission will hold a large exercise on Tuesday to simulate a missile attack against the Dimona nuclear reactor in the Negev.

Called “Fernando,” the drill is named for the nuclear meltdown in 1959 in the San Fernando Valley near Los Angeles.

RELATED:
Nuclear scientist warns of dangers at Dimona plant
'Israel tested Stuxnet virus at Dimona reactor'

It took workers a month to regain control of the reactor and more than 50 years for the United States to clean up the contaminated site.

The drill will simulate a number of scenarios including a possible missile attack by Hezbollah, Syria or Hamas against the reactor or a possible earthquake that could destabilize the reactor’s core and spark a nuclear meltdown.

Israel has closely studied the recent crisis in Japan following the earthquakes in Fukushima that led to a nuclear meltdown at a number of reactors, to draw lessons that can be applied in the event of a missile strike on the Dimona facilities.

The last “Fernando” exercise was held in 2004. On Monday, the IAEC released a statement ahead of the drill claiming that its facilities were secure and that high-safety measures were in place to prevent nuclear disasters.

“The chance that a problem will occur and radioactive material will escape at a level that will endanger the public is extremely small,” the commission said.

Euro Zone Done

Josef Ackermann just gave a terrifying speech about the fragility of the Euro banking sector right now.

At a conference in Frankfurt he said, "It is an open secret that numerous European banks would not survive having to revalue sovereign debt held on the banking book at market levels."

We have translated the speech based on Handelsbatt's, the organizer of the event where Ackermann spoke, account of it.

"In recent weeks, the distrust of the financial markets has spread to the banks because they are now suffering from the debt crisis in Europe and have a lot of exposure to, for example, Greek bonds."

"Since the financial crisis, some European banks have lost a third or more of their market capitalization," he said, according to Google Translate.

"Most institutions have a rating of "below the book value or at best."

There are three major stress factors crushing Euro banks right now, he says: the debt crisis, structural factors and financial regulation. With them together, it will be hard for the European banks to increase their revenues.

The implication is that not just Eurozone countries are buckling under the pressure of Greece's, France's, and Italy's debts, but banks are too. It sounds like a desperate call for a bailout. Now.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/josef-ackermann-euro-banks-speech-frankfurt-2011-9#ixzz1X9YSIbA6

Philippine King Croc

KING CROC alive in Philippines

Villagers and veteran hunters have captured a one-ton saltwater crocodile which they plan to make the star of a planned ecotourism park in a southern Philippine town, an official said Monday.

Mayor Edwin Cox Elorde said dozens of villagers and experts ensnared the 21-foot (6.4-meter) male crocodile along a creek in Bunawan township in Agusan del Sur province after a three-week hunt. It could be one of the largest crocodiles to be captured alive in recent years, he said, quoting local crocodile experts.

Elorde said the crocodile killed a water buffalo in an attack witnessed by villagers last month and was also suspected of having attacked a fisherman who went missing in July.

He said he sought the help of experts at a crocodile farm in western Palawan province.

"We were nervous but it's our duty to deal with a threat to the villagers," Elorde told The Associated Press by telephone. "When I finally stood before it, I couldn't believe my eyes."

After initial sightings at a creek, the hunters set four traps, which the crocodile destroyed. They then used sturdier traps using steel cables, one of which finally caught the enormous reptile late Saturday, he said.

About 100 people had to pull the crocodile, which weighs about 2,370 pounds (1,075 kilograms), from the creek to a clearing where a crane lifted it into a truck, he said.

The crocodile was placed in a fenced cage in an area where the town plans to build an ecotourism park for species found in a vast marshland in Agusan, an impoverished region about 515 miles (830 kilometers) southeast of Manila, Elorde said.

"It will be the biggest star of the park," Elorde said, adding that villagers were happy that they would be able to turn the dangerous crocodile "from a threat into an asset."

Despite the catch, villagers remain wary because several crocodiles still roam the outskirts of the farming town of about 37,000 people.

They have been told to avoid venturing into marshy areas alone at night, Elorde said.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=74f_1315272769

Monday, September 5, 2011

Enson At Fukushima

Enson Inoue Reveals Covert Trip to Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant

Since the devastating March 11 earthquake and tsunami, former Shooto heavyweight champion and Pride veteran Enson Inoue has been tireless in his charity efforts, repeatedly traveling to northeast Japan to directly help those in need.

Inoue's work has helped countless people and brought much needed light to the situation in Fukushima and the areas affected by the disasters. This work has been costly though, Inoue sacrificing a gym, his pets and spending an incredible amount of money and time in the process.

On his last trip, Enson Inoue possibly made the greatest sacrifice of all - he risked his life by traveling to one of the most dangerous places on earth.

Speaking exclusively with MMA Fighting, Enson Inoue describes his journey directly into the highly radioactive Fukushima evacuation zone and his covert visit to the the heavily damaged Fukushima power plants.

MMA Fighting: How many times have you been to the Tohoku region now?

Enson Inoue: Nine times. Nine times already.

How have you seen things progress since you've been up working up there? What is happening with the people in the evacuation centers?

The last time I went to Fukushima prefecture and everyone was starting to move into the temporary housing. They are given these temporary houses and allowed to stay there for up to two years. They are free but the problem is that the moment they leave the evacuation centers, they are being cut off from most of the aid. A lot of people need support though so basically, they don't want to leave.

The evacuation centers are short staffed though and they need to get the people out of there so they are doing things to make it less comfortable - turning the lights out super early for example. That caused a lot of big fights of course, so now people are just leaving.

Are evacuees given assistance in moving or setting up their new homes?

In Fukushima, they are given 30,000 yen (approximately $390 US) by the government or TEPCO, they are basically the same thing, for bills – water, electricity or whatever and they are also given five items: a refrigerator, washing machine, TV, rice cooker and a microwave. In other places, like Iwate, they are just given a 10-pound bag of rice.

Most of these people lost their cars and businesses or jobs so it's really hard for them to get back on their feet. What I'm doing now is going to the people in these temporary houses and giving them things they need to get set up. Soap, you know, basic things you need to buy when you move into a house.

What are these temporary houses like?

They are actually pretty nice, I guess. They are adequate, but they are temporary. A lot of people in these temporary houses will never be able to return to their real homes because of the radiation. They are talking about not being able to live in some places in Fukushima for at least a century.

What I've heard lately is that some of the older people are committing suicide. They think that even if they have these places to live for two years, they can't pay the bills. They can't support themselves now. They are too old to get jobs and so they just commit suicide. There's a lot of suicides.

What do they need? How do you think they can be helped?

The last time I was there, the people were really cold. I don't know why. I guess I haven't met a lot of these people before so they are wary of me. I try to help them but they just say they are OK. You know they aren't OK. They are hurting. They lost everything. I think it'll just be a matter of time until they are comfortable with me, until I get to know them.

You've also been making trips into the Fukushima evacuation zone to feed abandoned pets. This last time though, you went right into the Fukushima power plant?

The last time I was up in Fukushima I met one of my friends for drinks. He's a contractor who works inside the evacuation zone. We were sitting at a bar and he told me, "Enson, if you want to go in, this is the time."

I said, "What do you mean?"

He said, "The security. All the security is really going down. We can get you in easy."

I was with another friend so I asked if he could get him in too. He said OK, but because he isn't Japanese, he has to hide under blankets.

Why did you want to go in there though? It's one of the most dangerous places on earth right now.

I felt like it was an opportunity. No one can go in there. My mother asked me why too. She said, 'Why do you want to go in there? You want to go in just feed dogs?! Why?!'

No one can go in there, and I don't know if I'll ever get the opportunity to go in there again. It wasn't about the dogs. I mean, while I was in there I brought more food for the dogs, but it was just being able to go in there and not turning this opportunity down.

She never could understand that. I just told her to drop the conversation. I told her, 'One – You're in Hawaii and you're not here. Two – you don't consider Japan your home.' So I told her, 'You are not here in my shoes. The bottom line is you're there, I'm here. We are coming from completely different places.' She never completely understood that.

What did you want to do inside evacuation zone though? Was it just curiosity?

I wanted to go in for two reasons.

One was to feed the animals, and I also wanted to see what the radiation was really like and see how far I could get towards the plant. It was out of curiosity but also to let people know what I found there. I had bought two radiation meters, they were both geiger counters and dosimeters, and I wanted to put one inside of my suit and one outside of my suit.

What kind of suit?

Those white radiation suits you see on TV. They are thin, almost like paper. The contractors have a whole bunch of them. Masks and everything. We were completely sealed off. They have to burn them after every time they go in so they had a bunch of them.

So what did you find out?

Well those suits aren't working. They do nothing. If the meter on the outside of my suit was reading 19 micro seiverts or whatever, the one on the inside was reading around 17. The suits don't do jack s***. They aren't protecting those workers. I don't understand how those people are allowed to go in. They have a false sense of security.

Did you tell the contractors about this?

Yeah I showed my friend the meters, and he kind of freaked out, and said it was his last week working there. You don't feel anything, you get a real false sense of security. We weren't really supposed to be there though so we didn't talk to anybody else.

Once you were in there though, you went right up to the power plant?

Yeah, we just kept driving further and further in and there was no security or anything. We got to the plant and there was a checkpoint, but we just kind of waved our way through with these fake IDs and my other friend hid under some blankets.

What did you do in there?

We got out to take a few pictures, or whatever, but then our driver got really freaked out. We were right there, you know? We were standing right next to one of these reactors and it was completely blown up (pictured above). Our driver jammed the car into reverse and raced out of there so we had to go too. We were never checked or monitored or anything.

What did you feel in there? No fear at any point?

It's hard to fear radiation because you can't feel anything. I was talking to a former marine nuclear expert and he told me everything I needed to know. I was watching the meters, and I knew what levels were safe. I felt educated so I felt safe. It is kind of scary in a way though. It's so bad for you, but you can't feel a thing.

Do the contractors hired to work in there have the same amount of information as you?

No, they don't know anything. They take off their masks all the time, and they don't have meters or anything. All the workers are like that. When they first started going in they were freaking out over every little thing, but as time goes by, because you don't feel it or see it, you get careless.

You know what was crazy though? There is no one checking you as you leave either. We could have gone to a restaurant or something before cleaning and radiated all those other people. No one is really checking that. I was thinking about going to the doctor actually, just to check.

What was the rest of Fukushima evacuation zone like?

Like a ghost town. Convenience stores cleaned out, no one around. The animals that are still alive are walking all through the towns. There are some real hot spots of radiation in there but some places, I guess because of the mountains and valleys or something, have almost nothing. I don't understand why the people who live there can't be allowed to go in and retrieve their things. They aren't allowed to make that choice.

What do you learn from an experience like this?

There are three kinds of things in your life. Three circles I guess. The circle of things that annoy you, the circle of things you don't care about and the circle of things you appreciate and enjoy.

Before I went to jail, the circle of things that annoyed me was pretty big. (Note: Inoue was jailed in 2008 for possession of marijuana. Inoue spent 30 days in prison and is currently serving a three-year probation.)

You know, sitting in traffic used to p*** me off, having to do chores or whatever, people that get to you. That circle was pretty big in my life. Your every day things like eating breakfast, going for a run, showering – they were in the circle of things I didn't care about. Going out and meeting friends, eating a really good meal – they were the things that I enjoyed.

When you go to jail though, your values change. Having miso soup for breakfast is all of a sudden something you really enjoy. You look forward to taking a shower. You become much more patient so traffic doesn't p*** you off. The circle of things that annoyed me shrank and the circle of things that I enjoyed grew. It really made me a lot happier and a more relaxed person.

After jail, I did the pilgrimage and that helped me enjoy and appreciate things more. (Note: after his release from prison, Inoue completed a 30-day 750-mile pilgrimage on foot, visiting 108 temples in Shikoku.)

Just getting a bottle of water from someone was amazing! When I was in jail I knew what it was like to have nothing and on the pilgrimage I had nothing there too. Before I would say thank you and forget about it. But now, I'm so appreciative! I still haven't forgotten the people that helped me!

Appreciation is what drives me to go up north. I can understand what they are going through, to some extent. I can't compare going to jail to what the tsunami victims and people from Fukushima are going through, but I know what it's like to have everything taken away from you. I know how good the small things can feel.

Going into the Fukushima power plant is part of me appreciating my freedom. Yeah it's dangerous, but when I was in jail, I had no opportunities to make any choices - even dangerous ones. They told me when and how to do everything. Enjoying my freedom and making the most of all the opportunities I get in my life - doing the pilgrimage, going into Fukushima, spending all my time helping the people up north - it allows me to shrink that circle of annoyance even more. It makes me a more appreciative and happy person.

Support Enson Inoue's work by purchasing a handmade rosary. Proceeds go towards Inoue's charity efforts.

Read More: MMA Fighting Exclusive interview Japan

http://www.mmafighting.com/2011/09/04/enson-inoue-takes-covert-trip-to-fukushima-nuclear-power-plant/

35000 Terrorists

At least 35,000 people worldwide have been convicted as terrorists in the
decade since the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States. But while some
bombed hotels or blew up buses, others were put behind bars for waving a
political sign or blogging about a protest.

In the first tally ever done of global anti-terror arrests and
convictions, The Associated Press documented a surge in prosecutions under
new or toughened anti-terror laws, often passed at the urging and with the
funding of the West. Before 9/11, just a few hundred people were convicted
of terrorism each year.

The sheer volume of convictions, along with almost 120,000 arrests, shows
how a keen global awareness of terrorism has seeped into societies, and
how the war against it is shifting to the courts. But it also suggests
that dozens of countries are using the fight against terrorism to curb
dissent and throw political opponents in jail.

___

EDITOR'S NOTE: After the 9/11 attacks, the world launched a war on terror.
Here, in the first tally of anti-terror prosecutions ever done, The
Associated Press examines how many people have been put behind bars under
anti-terror laws, and who they are. AP reporters in more than 100
countries filed requests under freedom of information laws, conducted
interviews and gathered data for this story.

___

The AP used freedom of information queries in dozens of countries, law
enforcement data and hundreds of interviews to identify 119,044 arrests of
terrorism suspects and 35,117 convictions in 66 countries, accounting for
70 percent of the world's population. The actual numbers undoubtedly run
higher because some countries refused to provide information.

That included 2,934 arrests and 2,568 convictions in the United States,
which led the war on terror — eight times more than in the decade before.

The investigation also showed:

— More than half the convictions came from two countries that have been
accused of using anti-terror laws to crack down on dissent, Turkey and
China. Turkey alone accounted for a third of all convictions, with 12,897.

— The range of people in jail reflects the dozens of ways different
countries define a terrorist. China has arrested more than 7,000 people
under a definition that counts terrorism as one of Three Evils, along with
separatism and extremism.

— The effectiveness of anti-terror prosecutions varies widely. Pakistan
registered the steepest increase in terror arrests in recent years, AP's
data shows, yet terror attacks there are still on the rise. But in Spain,
where convictions per year are more or less steady, the armed Basque
separatist group ETA has not planted a fatal bomb in two years.

— The broad use of anti-terror laws to get rid of dissent can backfire.
Authoritarian governments in the Middle East relied on strict anti-terror
laws as one way to keep order, only to face a backlash in the Arab Spring
uprisings.

AP's findings start to fill in the largely blank picture of what has
happened with the global war on terror, launched by the United Nations
with the strong backing of the United States.

"There's been a recognition all around the world that terrorism really
does pose a greater threat to society and that it needs to be nipped in
the bud early," said John Bellinger, who as legal adviser to the National
Security Council was in the White House Situation Room during the al-Qaida
attack on the World Trade Center. "Also, more authoritarian countries are
using the real threat of terrorism as an excuse and a cover to crack down
in ways that are abusive of human rights."

___

After 9/11 the U.S. and the U.N. declared war not just on al-Qaida, but on
terrorism worldwide. The U.N. immediately sent millions of dollars in
foreign aid and lucrative contracts to press countries to adopt or revise
their anti-terror laws. The term "global war on terror" was born.

Since then, almost every country has passed new or revised anti-terror
laws, from tiny nations like Tonga and Luxembourg to giants like China.

Over the last nine months, AP reporters in more than 100 countries set out
to find how — and how much — anti-terror laws were used. But some
countries claimed they had no records, declared anti-terror information
top secret or were reluctant to report any terrorism at all, lest it hurt
their image.

The numbers show how much countries have come to rely on anti-terror laws,
and how thin the line is between use and abuse.

Turkey, long at odds with its Kurdish minority, tops all other countries
AP could tally for how many anti-terror convictions it has and how fast
the number is rising.

One of Turkey's terrorists is Naciye Tokova, a Kurdish mother of two who
lives in a small village in arid southeastern Turkey. Last year she held
up a sign at a protest that said, "Either a free leadership and free
identity, or resistance and revenge until the end."

She couldn't read the sign, because she cannot read. Tokova said she was
asked to hold a banner she thought was about peace.

She was convicted and sentenced to seven years in prison.

"Of course, I'm not a terrorist," Tokova, who is free on appeal, said as
she sat on a floor cushion in her home, wearing a traditional flowered
shawl. She was defiant, replying curtly to questions after long pauses.

In the past, Tokova has inked her thumb print on a petition honoring the
Kurdish rebel chief and gone to a rally where protesters clashed with
police. And she speaks only Kurdish, a language Turkey has barred in
schools, parliament and most official settings, including court.

Kurds make up 20 percent of Turkey's 75 million people, and the Kurdistan
Workers' Party is responsible for much of the violence in the country. The
U.S. and European Union label the Kurdish party as terrorist, but urges
Turkey to do more for the Kurdish people.

While Turkey has for decades imprisoned Kurds, it stepped up its campaign
against Kurdish autonomy in 2006, when it followed the lead of its
European neighbors and revised anti-terror laws. The new laws considered
peaceful protests as security threats, and gave protesters sentences
similar in length to those of convicted guerrillas.

Anti-terror convictions shot up from 273 in 2005 to 6,345 in 2009, the
latest year available, according to information from an AP request under
Turkey's right to information law.

Turkey's prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, says the country is fair to
its Kurds.

"We have never compromised on the balance between security and freedom,"
Erdogan said.

___

The broad use of anti-terror laws worldwide shows that what constitutes a
terrorist depends largely on where you are.

The day after the 9/11 attacks, President George W. Bush told the U.N.
General Assembly that the world stood "at a difficult and defining
moment."

The trouble is, no one actually agrees on what makes a terrorist.
Definitions range from those who set an almost impossibly high bar for
terrorism to those who sweep up anyone who might oppose the government.

"If anything should have revealed to the world the essence of unacceptable
terrorism, it was 9/11. Unfortunately, a decade later, we seem no closer
to reaching agreement," said law professor Kent Roach at the University of
Toronto, whose book on 9/11 and its impact on anti-terrorism will be
published in September.

Even the U.S., which fought to get anti-terror laws passed, has come under
criticism for allegedly not handling terrorist suspects fairly, especially
at the military detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and for not
defining terrorism clearly. In fact, the FBI, the CIA, the Defense
Department and the State Department don't agree on what terrorism is.

China has an anti-terrorism statute, but it prefers to consider terrorism
part of a vague charge of "endangering state security," under which it has
arrested more than 7,000 people, mostly in Xinjiang, according to the
government's annual crime reports. Xinjiang is known as East Turkistan to
ethnic Uighurs fighting for an independent homeland.

Strong anti-terror laws are necessary to crack down on violence and ensure
safety, State Councilor Meng Jianzhu said during a national anti-terror
conference this summer. Meng pledged to handle terrorists with an "iron
fist."

That doesn't mean just violent offenders.

Two years ago, Dilshat Perhat, an Uighur entrepreneur in China, asked
visitors to his popular Uighur-language website not to post political
comments because he knew they were illegal. Even so, someone posted a call
for a demonstration on the website in the middle of the night.

Perhat deleted the comments the next day and informed the police, as
required. But he was arrested anyway, amid an outbreak of violence that
killed 197 people in China's Muslim-majority northwest. Perhat was
convicted in a one-day trial last year, and sentenced to five years in
prison on charges of endangering state security.

China quickly accused Uighur activists abroad of organizing the violence
as an act of terrorism. Hundreds, possibly thousands, of Uighurs were
rounded up in house-to-house sweeps and arrested. At least two dozen were
executed, and an unknown number remain unaccounted for.

Even those with no hand in the violence, like Perhat, were sentenced to
prison for up to 15 years. Two other website operators were sentenced to
three and 10 years respectively.

Perhat is now in Xinjiang's No. 4 prison.

"They wanted to use him as an example, to threaten and show their power to
the Uighur people," said Perhat's brother Dilmurat, a graduate student in
the U.S. "Inside China, any peaceful protest by the Uighurs is labeled as
an act of terrorism by the Chinese government."

___

The increase in anti-terror prosecutions reflects how much they have
become a weapon, however blunt, in the fight against terrorism. But when
it comes to actually stopping violence, the record is mixed.

The rise in terror arrests in Pakistan was steeper than in any other
country the AP examined, with the help of billions of dollars from the
United States. Arrests have gone up from 1,552 in 2006 to 12,886 in 2009,
partly because of four military operations that year.

Since amending its terror laws in 2004, Pakistan has made 29,050 arrests
in all, according to the independent Pak Institute for Peace Studies.

Yet terror attacks in Pakistan are still on the rise. Pakistan suffers
more deaths from terror than any other country in the world, except for
Iraq.

Only about 10 percent of terrorism cases in Pakistan end in conviction,
according to the country's human rights commission. That compares with 90
percent in the U.S. Pakistani witnesses usually refuse to testify because
of death threats and the lack of protection. And prosecutors have no power
to make plea bargains, making it hard to get co-defendants to turn on each
other.

Pakistan's anti-terror laws may even make things worse, at least in the
short term.

When arrests go up, so do attacks, according to Syed Ejaz Hussain, a
Pakistani police officer who studied thousands of cases for his doctorate
at the University of Pennsylvania. And when police arrest hard-core
terrorists, Hussain found, casualty rates go up almost 25 percent.

"It's defiance. Terrorists want to punish the government in a bigger way
after the arrest of their hard-core group member, and one way to do so is
to commit a mass-killing event," says Hussain, whose house in Lahore was
bombed while he was in the U.S. Back in Pakistan now, he says that despite
his standard-issue gun and bullet-proof jacket, terror is never far from
his mind.

Like Pakistan, Spain is no stranger to terrorism, but has had some success
fighting it. Spain stands out for how steadily it has convicted people
over the past decade, with about 140 convictions a year, according to data
from AP's freedom of information request.

ETA, the Basque separatist group, once was responsible for killings every
month. Today it is severely weakened.

No one is shouting victory yet — this is ETA's 11th ceasefire — but the
group annnounced earlier this year that it has ended a "revolutionary tax"
levied for decades on Basque businesses to finance its terror campaign.

"The terrorist attacks 10 years ago on the World Trade Center and the
Madrid bombings helped forge a strong feeling of rejection toward ETA,"
said Spanish journalist Gorka Landaburu, who is Basque and himself a
victim of an ETA mail bomb in May 2001 that blew off his thumb and
fingertips. "Society lost a bit of its fear."

After 9/11, Spain passed a tough new law under which it can ban political
parties that support terrorist acts, collaborate with terrorist groups or
refuse to condemn violence. By 2003, Spain had outlawed Basque political
party Batasuna, which had ties to ETA. Convicted terrorists in Spain face
a maximum of 40 years, 10 more than for other crimes, including murder.

Political science professor Roman Cotarelo of Spain's National Open
University notes that Spain's Political Party Law was introduced "in a
period made fertile" by the Sept. 11 attacks.

"Every democratic country has to resort at one time or another to
exceptional measures to defend itself," Cotarelo said.

A new Basque pro-independence political coalition won a local election
after it made clear it rejected violence — something unimaginable a decade
ago. It now controls dozens of Basque town halls. And polls say ETA is no
longer Spaniards' chief worry.

For Landaburu, a gray-haired, chatty journalist who runs the magazine
Cambio 16, the terror is still there, in his pinched brow and in the two
bodyguards who follow him to work, to a bar for a beer or even just
walking with his family. When he gestures with his hands, which he often
does, there's a stump where his thumb once was.

But he feels ETA's days are numbered.

"Things are much calmer," he said. "People can breathe more easily."

___

Anti-terror laws are still playing out in unexpected ways, particularly in
the Middle East, long seen as the cauldron of terrorism.

After the terrorist attacks on the U.S., many Middle Eastern countries
quickly adopted strict anti-terror laws. But the laws inadvertently united
activists of all stripes — trade unionists, Islamists, Internet bloggers —
in the Arab Spring.

Tunisia passed its anti-terror laws in 2003. The staunchly secular regime
used the laws to crack down on signs of piety, to protect itself and to
prevent the rise of Islamic militancy. It convicted 62 people under the
laws in 2006, 308 in 2007 and 633 in 2009, according to the U.N.

One of those convicted was Saber Ragoubi, a slim, soft-spoken young man
with a full beard and an engaging smile. The smile is a recent addition —
he was just fitted with two new front teeth to replace the ones kicked out
of his mouth by the heavy boot of a prison guard, he says.

Ragoubi joined an anti-government group in 2006, because he says he wanted
religious freedom. The group was trained by an Algerian group that later
declared allegiance to al-Qaida.

Ragoubi says he never held or planned to hold a weapon, but he did support
plans to attack police stations and the much-hated secret police.

When the police found him, Ragoubi was tried and sentenced to life in
prison. For years, he says, he was kicked and beaten, his hands and legs
chained to an iron bar in what was called the "chicken on a spit"
position. He says he was shackled him to a metal chair and electrically
shocked, and told his mother and sisters would be raped in front of him if
he didn't sign a confession.

"To this day, I don't know how I bore all that torture during that time,"
said Ragoubi, who now lives in an unfinished neighborhoood where goats
graze under straggly olive trees in trash-filled empty lots.

Under former leader Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, as many as 2,000 Tunisians
were detained, charged or convicted on terrorism-related charges,
according to a 2009 State Department report. The U.N. says some were
tortured.

But five days after Ben Ali fled in January, the new ministers released
everyone convicted under the anti-terror laws — even those who had indeed
committed violent crimes. The danger is now that militant Islam could rise
without the check of strong anti-terror laws. At least one formerly banned
Islamist party, the progressive and nonviolent Ennahda, is back, and
Ragoubi says he has turned down an offer to represent it.

The role of anti-terror laws in — and against — the Arab Spring continues.

Bahrain and Syria have charged protesters under their own anti-terror
laws. Saudi Arabia, concerned with keeping al-Qaida from taking root in
the kingdom, is considering an anti-terror law that would carry a minimum
prison sentence of 10 years for challenging the integrity of the king.

"Regional unrest provides a breeding ground for new threats," a statement
from Saudi authoritites read.

___

Ten years after 9/11, the push for a global assault on terrorism still
runs strong. Mike Smith, director of the U.N.'s Counter-Terrorism
Committee, calls prosecuting terrorists "incredibly important."

"These are not ideological warriors, these are common criminals," said
Smith, one of the highest-ranking officials in the world dedicated to
anti-terror laws. "When prosecutions are carried out, it helps to take the
glamour out of what they are doing."

But almost everyone, including the U.N. and the U.S., agrees that the cost
is some erosion of human rights.

In 2005, the U.N. named Finnish law professor Martin Sheinin as special
rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism. His job is to report on
how anti-terror prosecutions are playing out. After six years, Sheinin
agrees with the need to sweep out terrorists but concludes that the brush
being used is too broad.

"Originally the approach was the more the merrier, the stronger
counter-terror laws, the better for the security of the world. But that
was a serious mistake," he said. "Nowadays people are realizing the abuse
and even the actual use of counterterror laws is bad for human rights and
also bad for actually stopping terrorism.

http://breakallchains.blogspot.com/2011/09/35000-worldwide-convicted-for-terror.html

Iran Goes Nuclear

http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2011/09/05/iran_nuclear_power_plant_begins_generation/

TEHRAN - Iran’s first nuclear power plant has been connected to the national power grid for a test run, Iran state radio reported yesterday.

The report quoted Mohammad Ahmadian, Iran’s deputy nuclear chief, as saying the plant began to generate 60 megawatts of electricity at about midnight.

Ahmadian said a ceremony marking the connection to the power grid will be held today. He expressed hope that the plant would feed the grid at full capacity in coming months.

The power plant in the southern Iranian port of Bushehr has a generating capacity of 1,000 megawatts.

The plant, built by Iran with Russian help, was supposed to go into operation over the past years but that had been repeatedly postponed.

Also yesterday, Iran state media reported that the speaker of Parliament had postponed a visit to North Korea and China.

The report quoted Hossein Sobhaninia, a member of Parliament, as saying a visit by Ali Larijani to Pyongyang and Beijing has been postponed.

But another member of Parliament said the postponement came after Larijani was not scheduled to meet with sufficiently high-ranking North Koreans.

The lawmaker spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk about the case.

The visit to North Korea would have been the first by an Iranian Parliament speaker since 1980s.

Iranian and North Korean officials have said in the past that the two countries are in “one trench’’ in the fight against the West.

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Twin suicide bombs kill 24 in Quetta

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

IDF to simulate missile attack on Dimona nuclear reactor

Home Front Command, Israel Atomic Energy Commission to hold large exercise called “Fernando”; drill will simulate Hezbollah, Hamas attack.

Monday, September 5, 2011

Enson Inoue Reveals Covert Trip to Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant

Wake Up Forum Topics

Blog Archive

Reuters: Top News

Gulf SeaFloor Party

Important Links

When Did You Wake Up?

AI Blog

The World Is Awakening

RFID Planet Stealing Your UHF

April 2010

March 2010

February 2010

Where Are We?

Timewave Zero