Why are they so interested in counting the collateral damages & the violence!?

A human rights revolution featuring John Hurt

Uploaded by HumanTV on Feb 16, 2012 ; 2011 was a year without precedent for the people of the Middle East and North Africa. In this animation John Hurt gives a quick recap of a year of change and rebellion.

20 June : World Refugee Day

Refugees and Forcibly Displaced Persons

Facts and Figures

At the end of 2011:

• 42.5 million forcibly displaced people, of which
  • 5 - 7% people living with disabilities, one third of them children
• 15.2 million were refugees, of which:
  • 46% were children under the age of 18
  • 48% were women and girls
• 895,000 asylum-seekers
• 26.4 million IDPs
• 12 million stateless persons
• 3.7 million returnees

Source: UNHCR's Global Trends 2011 

There are several types of forcibly displaced persons. But all one one thing in common:

Every minute eight people leave everything behind to escape war, persecution or terror.

If conflict threatened your family, what would you do? Stay and risk your lives? Or try to flee, and risk kidnap, rape or torture?

For many the choice is between the horrific or something worse.

Refugees

A refugee is someone who fled his or her home and country owing to “a well-founded fear of persecution because of his/her race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion”, according to the United Nations 1951 Refugee Convention. Many refugees are in exile to escape the effects of natural or human-made disasters.

Developing countries hosted four-fifths of the world’s refugees. The 48 Least Developed Countries provided asylum to 2.3 million refugees.

Asylum seeker

Asylum seekers say they are refugees and have fled their homes as refugees do, but their claim to refugee status is not yet definitively evaluated in the country to which they fled.

Internally Displaced Persons

Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) are people who have not crossed an international border but have moved to a different region than the one they call home within their own country.

full report here :

FP 2012 : failed states index

click here to go to the site:

Assange asks for political asylum in Ecuador

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange (pic) has requested political asylum and is under the protection of the Ecuadorian embassy in London, according to the site's Twitter.

Ecuador's foreign minister Ricardo Patino says Assange has taken refuge in the South American nation's embassy in London and is seeking political asylum.

"Ecuador is studying and analyzing the request," Patino told reporters in Quito.

The country's embassy in London has also confirmed the information and released a statement on its website. 

"While the department assesses Mr Assange’s application, Mr Assange will remain at the embassy, under the protection of the Ecuadorian Government.

The decision to consider Mr Assange’s application for protective asylum should in no way be interpreted as the Government of Ecuador interfering in the judicial processes of either the United Kingdom or Sweden", the statement says. 

The South American nation has already offered Assange residency, back in 2010. Deputy Foreign Minister Kintto Lucas said his country is "open to giving him [Assange] residency in Ecuador". Lucas also said Ecuador was "very concerned" by information revealed by Wikileaks linking US diplomats with spying on friendly governments. 

Julian Assange, the founder of whistleblower website WikiLeaks, has been under house arrest in the UK since 2010, after Sweden issued an international arrest warrant over allegations of sexual assault.

Swedish authorities accuse him of raping one woman and sexually molesting and coercing another in August that year, while on a visit to Stockholm to give a lecture. He claims both encounters were consensual, and maintains that the case is politically motivated.

Full report RT  |  19 June, 2012

AWOL from US Air Force since 1984.

Published on Jun 19, 2012 : David Hemler became disillusioned with the policies of then - US President Ronald Reagan and decided to ditch his job with Uncle Sam in exchange for a new life in a new world. For 28 years, he hid his true identity from everyone — even his family.

Car stolen while owner saves drowning girl.

A brave man jumped into a Moscow river after seeing a car crash through the fence and plunge into the water. As he was struggling to save lives of the occupants, his own car was stolen.

The driver of a Volvo (pic) apparently lost control of his vehicle as it was travelling next to the Yauza River in central Moscow. The car carrying two people careened across the sidewalk border, crushed a fence and fell into the water.

A man driving by his Audi SUV saw the incident, and jumped to the rescue.

A young woman passenger managed to escape the sinking Volvo and get to safety with the help of the rescuer. However the driver, her 27-year-old husband, was trapped inside and drowned.

As the tragic events unfolded, a sneak thief drove away in the rescuer’s Audi, including the owner’s clothes and ID.

The unfortunate rescuer, who is identified as businessman from the Moscow Region, says the situation was certainly irritating for him.

“I don’t even have apartment keys now. I wonder how I get home. At least the car was insured,” he commented to LifeNews tabloid website.

Police was unable to immediately intercept the stolen car, which is worth more than $92,000, according to the victim of the crime.

Full report from RT |  19 June, 2012 

New ICC chief prosecutor sworn in.

Published on Jun 15, 2012 by AlJazeeraEnglish ; Fatou Bensouda has been sworn in as the new head of the International Criminal Court.The first female and African to lead the team of prosecutors at the tribunal, she was elected on December 12.

Infallible - in this age,in theory & practice!

Published on Jun 14, 2012 by PressTVGlobalNews : A renowned American political analyst says Israel gets away with numerous violations of international law as the Jewish entity is a client of the US and therefore enjoys "total impunity," Press TV reports.

Why Obama Will Free Jonathan Pollard 

President accepts Israel infallibility doctrine

The US Department of Justice has released new files about convicted spy Jonathan Pollard’s bid for presidential clemency. Pollard was sentenced to life in prison in 1987 after passing more than a million highly classified documents to Israel while working as an intelligence analyst for the US Navy. Documents in the Freedom of Information Act response (PDF) reference 32 pages of government agency deliberative communications and 37 pages of new communications between Pardon Attorney Ronald Rogers and Pollard’s legal team — all produced since July of 2011. While the contents have been withheld, their existence signals that the Pollard commutation request may be nearing a conclusion within the Obama administration. June 18 could mark the culmination of a massive lobbying campaign for release. Obama’s dismal record on Israeli accountability suggests Pollard will soon walk free.

Released documents reveal that the Rabbinical Assembly — claiming to represent "1.5 million Jews worldwide" — passed a formal resolution asking Obama to commute Pollard’s sentence. Rabbi David Zwiebel of Agudath Israel of America and Moshe Kantor of the European Jewish Congress also urged Pollard’s release. Letters demanding release also continue to flood in from former and current members of the US Congress. Steve Symms, Matt Salmon, Alan Simpson, Robert Wexler, Barney Frank, and Gary Ackerman joined the ranks of fellow representatives already demanding release. Moshe Kahalon, Israel’s Minister of Communications, gushed to Obama "I have no doubt that your decision to release Jonathan Pollard now as a humanitarian expression of justice and compassion will bring great relief to many, and will remove this impediment to the friendship between our nations." Former New York City Mayor David Dinkins is also now rooting for Pollard’s release. Upping the ante, Israeli President Shimon Peres has explicitly linked his receipt of a US Presidential Medal of Freedom during a special June 18 White House dinner to Pollard’s freedom gambit — channeling even more intense pressure on Obama to take action in a specific context, place and time.

by Grant Smith, June 09, 2012 | Original post :

Cops blow up car at Westminster.

London parking boom:

Policemen and women line-up on Parliament Square (Reuters/Eddie Keogh)

Parking offences are subject to punishment everywhere, but only in London might one find his vehicle destroyed by a controlled explosion by an anti-terror police squad. While in London, never park your car in front of the Houses of Parliament! Illegal parking on the streets of London is punished – as in most capitals – by compulsory and expensive relocation of the vehicle. 

But in London only, police have been instructed to blow up suspicious cars – and make no bones about doing so. On Wednesday a Newcastle tourist Nima Hosseini Razi had to park his blue Ford Mondeo in downtown London because its brakes failed right on Parliament Square. 

 Instead of waiting in the car for the tow truck, Razi decided to abandon the vehicle to pay a visit to Buckingham Palace – a mere five minutes’ walk away – leaving on the dashboard a note saying “This car is broken down. I am just waiting for the AA to arrive. Please do not fine! Thank you, yours sincerely”. That was a big mistake. 

Were it parked somewhere else, the car would have aroused no suspicion whatsoever. But in the Storey’s Gate any orphaned object looks suspicious. Not to mention a driverless car.

It only took a call from a vigilant pedestrian to bring police to the car. Having examined the unfortunate vehicle, they called explosive ordnance disposal specialists from the London anti-terrorist police squad on the scene.

Bomb experts opted to take no chances and followed their standing instructions. Eat your heart out, Hollywood! Operation Ford Mondeo was carried out on an unprecedented scale. Britain’s main square was sealed off, all civilians were evacuated and bomb technicians opened the trunk of the unfortunate vehicle like a tin can with a controlled explosion – just meters from Britain’s Parliament and the Palace of Westminster.

But that was not the end of the story for Nima Hosseini Razi. Once bomb disposal experts had done their job, traffic police officers appeared on the scene and issued a road ticket for incorrect parking of Razi’s shattered car.

Razi says he is planning to claim some sort of restitution from the London police for the destroyed vehicle, or even a replacement. Police maintain, however, they were merely complying with instructions to ensure security in the country’s most sensitive area.

This story, though showing a certain naivety on the part of the unfortunate driver, may well serve as a warning for people who tend to leave their cars in strange places. Who knows what instructions local law enforcement might have up their sleeves?

Original report : RT 14 June, 2012

Muslims Under Surveillance

Published on Jun 1, 2012 by IWitnessIslamChannel : Last year journalists at the Associated Press revealed that the New York Police Department had placed the city's Muslim communities under near constant surveillance.Working with the CIA, undercover officers infiltrated student groups, video-taped mosque goers and collected their car license plates while they prayed.

An entire community has been singled out as a threat for no other reason, than for being Muslim.Well after a 3 month review, New Jersey's attorney general has concluded that the police have acted lawfully, provoking anger from both Muslims and Civil Liberties campaigners.

Spying on Muslim community groups and student organisation has also been a widespread practice here in the UK. In today's show we'll be looking at how far these controversial tactics infringe on our civil liberties and what can be done to challenge them.

John Rees is joined in the studio by Massoud Shadjareh, Chair of the Islamic Human Rights Commission and Fahd Ahmed from Desis Rise Up and Moving (DRUM), a civil society action group in New York.

Produced for the Islam Channel by Alex Crutcher 29th June 2012.

Supplying Israel with nuclear-armed subs sparks controversy in Germany.

Published on Jun 13, 2012 by PressTVGlobalNews : The sale of six Dolphin-class submarines to Israel continues to cause controversy in Germany.

Last week news weekly DER SPIEGEL reported that the three submarines already delivered were being armed with nuclear-tipped missiles by Israel. Defense minister Thomas de Maiziere now defended his government's decision: The deliveries were a continuation of previous administration's policies.

How the U.S. Army Is Using Bloggers

Here are some of the things you’ll learn in this video:

The story behind Army Strong Stories

How the U.S. Army uses social media and technology to share stories

How to encourage authenticity and transparency to build credibility

How to actively listen and why that is important for developing advocates

The reasons to consider a blogger outreach campaign

How to look for the influencers relevant to your business

How to use alternative channels to connect with influencers

Falling Oil Prices Prompt Russian Economic Fears.

Will this be enough to get a Russian 'aye' to the attack on Iran? 

 Published on Jun 11, 2012 by VOAvideo : Oil prices have shown a steady fall in the last few months, prompting fears that the Russian economy, which relies heavily on energy exports, could suffer. Meanwhile, new sources of oil are coming on line and helping to drive down the price at the pump. VOA's Henry Ridgwell takes a look at the state of the global oil market at a precarious time for the world economy.

The Federal Reserve & Money control.

An Interview with Eustace Mullins - 4 years ago :

Eustace Mullins was the first author who has exposed the true nature of the Federal Reserve Bank of the United States. He is also the last living protegee of Ezra Pound and was a good friend of the great Author Anthony Sutton. Even thought he would have deserved a nobel prize in literature for his writings, he is unfortunately mostly unknown to the public, because his books concern the hottest topics you can write about.

whistle-blower .. the CFR runs the US Government

The whistle-blower, Hillary Clinton admits that,

Feb 19, 2011

Brazil's worst drought in more than 40 years.

Millions threatened by Brazil drought.

Published on Jun 7, 2012 by AlJazeeraEnglish Just two weeks ahead of the Earth Summit in Rio, the UN issued a disturbing report on the environment. One of the top priorities that will be discussed at the summit is access to water. Brazil's northeast region is going through its worst drought in more than 40 years. Brazilians planted their crops but they simply will not grow.

900 hundred towns in the northeast part of the country have declared states of emergency. The government has released more than 3 billion dollars to the region, but people say that their monthly government stipend are not enough. As rain is not expected until October or November,a civil defense official says the the federal government will have to think of a new strategy to save the livelihoods of millions who rely on agriculture to survive.

Exposing Global Governance

The notion of mutually assured destruction is a military strategy and national security policy wherein each side has enough weaponry to destroy the other side, thus ensuring mutual destruction in the event of war. But in the 21st century, mutually assured destruction is not limited solely to militarism. Our increasingly global economy has virtually assured that when one nation’s economy collapses, all economies suffer. As such, nations feel compelled to interfere in the economies of other nations to protect their own interests. What typically results is a loss of national sovereignty and an increase in the influence of the international community on the internal affairs of nations.

Ultimately, the agenda behind such a system is the achievement of global government.

This isn’t just some conspiracy theory to be written off. Most global government advocates are vocal about those aspirations.

SEIU’s Andy Stern, for example, said, “We created global trade, we created global finance. We created global companies, but we forgot to create a global government.”

Likewise, Jean-Claude Trichet, former President of the European Central Bank, touted the many “benefits” of global governance during a lecture at Bocconi University in April 2010. He concluded, “In my view, international interdependencies are too large for purely national or regional rules to be optimal and there is a clear need to strengthen global governance, in particular in the financial field.”

Just last week, Trichet recommended that the European Union could be strengthened by allowing European politicians to declare a sovereign state bankrupt and take over its fiscal policies.

And Gustave Speth, former head of the World’s Resource Institute, declared back in 1997, “”Global governance is here to stay. And driven by economic and environmental globalization, global governance will inevitably expand.”

Speth laid it all out for us. Using economic and environmental issues, global governance can be expanded. Think debt crises and climate change.

Full article : 

Surveillance big time in USA?

Electronic Tracking Of Students - Texas Schools See Big Money

Published on Jun 4, 2012 by TheYoungTurks | "Following the lead of two other school districts in the state, San Antonio, Texas' Northside Independent School District is planning a pilot program that tracks students using transmitters inside identification cards. Why? For the money, apparently. Next year, ID cards outfitted with Radio Frequency Identification System (RFID) technology will be given to students at John Jay High School, Anson Jones Middle School, and all special education students who use district buses — totaling around 6,290 students, according to The San Antonio Express-News. If the pilot program is successful, the district wants to use the ID cards at all of its 111 schools, with a student population of almost 100,000..."

The assassination of Rwandan president Juvenal Habyarimana

Document raises questions over build-up to genocide

The assassination of Rwandan president Juvenal Habyarimana on 6 April 1994 lit the torchpaper for the genocide that killed 800,000 Rwandan Tutsis. No one has ever claimed responsibility for shooting down Habyarimana's plane, but until now some blamed Tutsi militants. Now a document revealing the existence of French missiles in the Rwandan army's arsenal raises new questions about who was behind the killing.