While newspapers are talking about news not important, the Observatory on threatened reporters has appealed to media not to forget the reporters threatened from the north Mafia. Giulio Cavalli is one of these, but the Italian Government has other problems to face. http://www.inaltreparole.net/en/news/mafiagiuliocavalli061109.htmlWhile newspapers are talking about news not important, the Observatory on threatened... more
Companies Like Top 10 Produce LLC and Harvestmark are putting technology in place to read the small stickers on produce items by using mobile phones. Once Accessed, these stickers can let consumers use social media to communicate directly with the farmer or to leave reviews about the produce. Also, the sustainability of the growing practices can be considered by consumers who are interested in supporting sustainable agriculture. And, because the produce is traceable, consumers can confirm if the produce is locally grown.
Top 10 Produce only licenses independent producers and limits the amount that any single grower can label under the Top 10 label to 1 million dollars or less per year, to even the playing field between small and large farming operations.
Top 10 uses the Databar codes already used by in-store scanners and Harvestmark has 2d codes unique to Harvestmark.
The global crisis of newspaper has a new victim: Gourmet Magazine. Now there's a photographic blog that reports the last days of the magazine, between boxes and white walls. http://www.inaltreparole.net/en/theweb/gourmetmagazinechiude061109.htmlThe global crisis of newspaper has a new victim: Gourmet Magazine. Now there's a... more
Associated Newspapers plans to close freesheet London Lite, the company said today. Will anyone miss it?Associated Newspapers plans to close freesheet London Lite, the company said today.... more
The New York Times reports today that the paper will cut 8 percent of its newsroom staff, or around 100 people by the end of 2009.The New York Times reports today that the paper will cut 8 percent of its newsroom... more
In Monrovia, Liberia few can afford to buy newspapers, electric power is scarce, and internet access is far from universal.
Alfred J. Sirleaf is the founder and managing editor of Daily Talk, a chalkboard news service. In 2006, the NYT referred to Mr. Sirleaf an information evangelist, "fervent in his belief that a well-informed citizenry is the key to the rebirth of his homeland."In Monrovia, Liberia few can afford to buy newspapers, electric power is scarce, and... more
An 18-year Counterintelligence and Counterterrorism Manager for the FBI has called for a Special Counsel to be appointed to investigate the allegations of FBI translator-turned-whistleblower Sibel Edmonds. John M. Cole, who now works as an intelligence contractor for the Air Force, made his comments during an audio interview released late last week with radio journalist Peter B. Collins.
He also offered a detailed insider's look at the concerns among high-level officials inside the Bureau as Edmonds' disturbing allegations began coming to light back in 2002, before they would be quashed for seven long years by the Bush Administration's unprecedented use of the so-called "State Secrets Privilege" to gag her.
Earlier last week, following the publication of a remarkable American Conservative magazine cover story interview with Edmonds --- detailing a broad bribery, blackmail, and espionage conspiracy said to have been carried out between current and former members of the U.S. Congress, high-ranking State and Defense Department officials and covert operatives from Turkey and Israel, resulting in the theft and sale of nuclear weapons technology on the foreign black market --- Cole had been quoted by the magazine confirming one of Edmonds' key allegations.
"I am fully aware of the FBI's decade-long investigation of" Marc Grossman, he said in response to the AmCon article/interview. Grossman had served as the third-highest ranking official in the Bush State Department and was alleged by Edmonds in the interview, and in a sworn, video-taped deposition a month earlier, to have been the U.S. ringleader for a massive Turkish espionage scandal reaching through the halls of power and into top-secret nuclear facilities around the country to the benefit of allies and enemies alike. Cole said that the FBI's counterintelligence probe "ultimately was buried and covered up," and that he believes it is "long past time" for an investigation of the case to "bring about accountability."
In his subsequent interview with Collins last week (audio and text excerpts posted below) Cole elaborated on those comments in much greater detail, noting that Edmonds has been "one hundred percent right on the money, on the mark" and confirming the existence of an "ongoing and detailed effort by Turkey to develop influence in the United States" through various illegal activities.
"Yes, I can confirm that," Cole told Collins, "That's true."
The FBI veteran executive also offered an insider's account of the panic that ensued inside the highest echelons of the bureau following Edmonds' first disclosure of information in 2002, recounting how an executive assistant director admitted to him at the time, just after the story first broke, "Well, all I know is that everything that Sibel is stating is true. I read her file. Everything she stated is, in fact, accurate."
Cole further describes how the concerns about Edmonds ultimately led to the Bush Administration's two-time use of the Draconian "State Secrets Privilege" in hopes of keeping her extraordinary information from becoming public. "Everybody at headquarters level at the bureau knew that what she was saying was extremely accurate."
"I know they didn't want her to go out and speak about it at all," Cole revealed, "and I know they were trying to figure out ways of keeping this whole thing quiet, because they didn't want Sibel to come out."
He also offered information which directly counters one of the criticisms of Edmonds' allegations as frequently offered by skeptics. Namely, that as a short time FBI contract translator --- even though she was tasked to review some seven years of counterintelligence wiretaps made from 1996 to 2002 --- she couldn't have had enough understanding of the full scope of the investigations to understand what was really going on.
More...An 18-year Counterintelligence and Counterterrorism Manager for the FBI has called for... more
"A cynical, mercenary, demagogic press will produce in time a people as base as itself"
- Joseph Pulitzer
"The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country."-Edward Bernays, Propaganda
"That great whistleblower Tom Paine warned that if the majority of the people were denied the truth and the ideas of truth, it was time to storm what he called the Bastille of words.
That time is now. " - John Pilger
1. US Congress Sells Out to Wall Street
2. US Schools are More Segregated Today than in the 1950s
3. Toxic Waste Behind Somali Pirates
4. Nuclear Waste Pools in North Carolina
5. Europe Blocks US Toxic Products
6. Lobbyists Buy Congress
7. Obama’s Military Appointments Have Corrupt Past
8. Bailed out Banks and America’s Wealthiest Cheat IRS Out of Billions
9. US Arms Used for War Crimes in Gaza
10. Ecuador Declares Foreign Debt Illegitimate
11. Private Corporations Profit from the Occupation of Palestine
12. Mysterious Death of Mike Connell—Karl Rove’s Election Thief
13. Katrina’s Hidden Race War
14. Congress Invested in Defense Contracts
15. World Bank’s Carbon Trade Fiasco
16. US Repression of Haiti Continues
17. The ICC Facilitates US Covert War in Sudan
18. Ecuador’s Constitutional Rights of Nature
19. Bank Bailout Recipients Spent to Defeat Labor
20. Secret Control of the Presidential Debates
21. Recession Causes States to Cut Welfare
22. Obama’s Trilateral Commission Team
23. Activists Slam World Water Forum as a Corporate-Driven Fraud
24. Dollar Glut Finances US Military Expansion
25. Fast Track Oil Exploitation in Western Amazon
“Look who the corporate media is today. The beneficiaries of 9/11 – the biggest beneficiaries have been Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, the Carlyle Group, Boeing, Halliburton, the military industrial contractors, each of those have had 300 to 400 percent increase in their stock value in the last five years, and when we look at those groups and the memberships of their boards, Carlyle has someone sitting on the New York Times board, Bechtel sits on NBC, Boeing sits on ABC, Halliburton sits on ABC, Lockheed Martin sits on Gannett. They’re interconnected.” - Peter Phillips / Project Censored http://www.projectcensored.org/
Meanwhile...
"We are watching a poorly staged rendition of Wag the Dog , interpreted for the morbidly stupid and performed by the criminally insane." - Jules Carlysle
PS : If you think today's media is hiding a few things; America's history, as a whole, has effectively disappeared from the nation's consciousness.
Check this for size... http://mtwsfh.blogspot.com/
MAKING THE WORLD SAFE FOR HYPOCRISY
THANKS MINDFUCK INC. !"A cynical, mercenary, demagogic press will produce in time a people as base as... more
The US Olympic Committee is attempting to block a newspaper from trademarking the name "The Olympian" – despite the paper being from Olympia, Washington.
Lawyers from the US Olympic Committee say the name will cause confusion through its similarity to the Olympic brand.The US Olympic Committee is attempting to block a newspaper from trademarking the name... more
Possibly one of the most insensitive headlines I've ever seen, but by god it's funny!
Red Pepper is one of Ugandas biggest newspapers. Their site www.redpepper.ug features such stories as 'Weasel Bonks Debby'. Great stuff.Possibly one of the most insensitive headlines I've ever seen, but by god it's funny!... more
On October 3 in Piazza del Popolo in Rome, 300,000 people demonstrated for press freedom. Italians citizens who are worried by the increasingly menacing authoritarianism of this government, headed by a prime minister who doesn't want talks on television about his many dark sides, enact laws like the return to nuclear power, the security decree, the destruction of public school, the rejections of refugees and other not-so-good things.On October 3 in Piazza del Popolo in Rome, 300,000 people demonstrated for press... more
The London Evening Standard will transform itself in a free newspaper in ten days time.
Its publishers confirmed this morning that from October 12 it will become one of the first quality newspapers in the world to stop charging readers – ending nearly 200 year tradition of people paying for the title.
The switch will see the paper more than double its daily circulation of around 250,000 to more than 600,000.
...
From Press GazetteThe London Evening Standard will transform itself in a free newspaper in ten days... more
GIRALDI: And Grossman received money as a result. In one case, you said that a State Department colleague went to pick up a bag of money…
EDMONDS: $14,000
GIRALDI: What kind of information was Grossman giving to foreign countries? Did he give assistance to foreign individuals penetrating U.S. government labs and defense installations as has been reported? It’s also been reported that he was the conduit to a group of congressmen who become, in a sense, the targets to be recruited as “agents of influence.”
EDMONDS: Yes, that’s correct. Grossman assisted his Turkish and Israeli contacts directly, and he also facilitated access to members of Congress who might be inclined to help for reasons of their own or could be bribed into cooperation. The top person obtaining classified information was Congressman Tom Lantos. A Lantos associate, Alan Makovsky worked very closely with Dr. Sabri Sayari in Georgetown University, who is widely believed to be a Turkish spy. Lantos would give Makovsky highly classified policy-related documents obtained during defense briefings for passage to Israel because Makovsky was also working for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
GIRALDI: Makovsky is now working for the Washington Institute for Near Eastern Policy, a pro-Israeli think tank.
EDMONDS: Yes. Lantos was at the time probably the most outspoken supporter of Israel in Congress. AIPAC would take out the information from Lantos that was relevant to Israel, and they would give the rest of it to their Turkish associates. The Turks would go through the leftovers, take what they wanted, and then try to sell the rest. If there were something relevant to Pakistan, they would contact the ISI officer at the embassy and say, “We’ve got this and this, let’s sit down and talk.” And then they would sell it to the Pakistanis.
GIRALDI: ISI—Pakistani intelligence—has been linked to the Pakistani nuclear proliferation program as well as to al-Qaeda and the Taliban.LINK TO FULL ARTICLE: http://amconmag.com/article/2009/nov/01/00006/
Who’s... more
Corporate pranksters The Yes Men launched Climate Week in style this morning by blanketing New York City with a million copies of a special climate edition of the New York Post, its Post-like headline screaming: “We’re Screwed”
Of course, their phony Post — not sanctioned by the Rupert Murdoch-owned tabloid — went in for the shock and awe with 32 pages filled with a different kind of mayhem: warnings from climate scientists and government reports about the future effects of climate change.Corporate pranksters The Yes Men launched Climate Week in style this morning by... more
Florida law firm Morgan and Morgan filed a first-of-its-kind lawsuit alleging that a company's collection calls were so frequent and harassing that they contributed to a person's death because they increased Stanley McLeod's blood pressure and stress levels.
McLeod's debt problems stemmed from the fact that he had difficulty paying his mortgage because he had to quit his job at Sears after suffering a massive heart attack.
Dianne McLeod, Stanley's wife, described how he would get 10 to 12 calls each day. With each call his face would turn red and he'd experience shortness of breath.
McLeod saved tapes of some of the messages left on their answering machine. One message even commented on the expensive helicopter ride that saved Stanley's life: "Get your act together and make the payments on your mortgage. Why don't you have that helicopter pick you up and bring that payment to the office."Florida law firm Morgan and Morgan filed a first-of-its-kind lawsuit alleging that a... more
World's tallest man revealed as 8ft 1in Sultan Kosen, The Guinness Book of Records revealed 27-year-old Sultan Kosen as the world's tallest man during the launch of the 2010 edition of the book.World's tallest man revealed as 8ft 1in Sultan Kosen, The Guinness Book of Records... more
Are micropayments the answer for print news outlets, or will content simply migrate to free blogs? Join the debate ...Are micropayments the answer for print news outlets, or will content simply migrate to... more
Dennis Hastert, Stephen Solarz, Bob Livingston, Tom Lantos, Roy Blunt, Dan Burton and an Unnamed Congresswoman ~ All Named IN MAJOR WASHINGTON DC SCANDAL
A long tale of massive corruption that has been hidden throughout the eight years of the Bush administration is finally surfacing. After years of Federal Gag Orders issued by the Department of Justice , the Obama White House has refused to continue the coverup and has opened the doors to criminal investigation.
What has surfaced, is a scandal that like no other. Showing clearly the selling of American influence and nuclear defense secrets to the highest bidder. The names that have floated to the surface are some of the most trusted highest ranking US government officials. Starting with The Ex-Speaker of the House; Republican, Dennis Hastert, then on to Stephen Solarz, Bob Livingston, Tom Lantos, Roy Blunt, Dan Burton and an (Unnamed Congresswoman) ~ All whom were named (Under Oath) as what appears to be the largest US Scandal of all time.
More will be surfacing as Pandora's box has just begun to open...
Gérartd Angé
------------------------------ Begin Quoted Text: ------------------------------
In this first break-down article, we'll look at the answers given by Edmonds during her deposition in regard to bribery and blackmail of current and former members of the U.S. Congress, including Dennis Hastert (R-IL), Bob Livingston (R-LA), Dan Burton (R-IN), Roy Blunt (R-MO), Stephen Solarz (D-NY), Tom Lantos (D-CA, deceased) and an unnamed, currently-serving, married Democratic Congresswoman said to have been video-taped in a Lesbian affair by Turkish agents for blackmail purposes.
Though Edmonds was careful to not "discuss the intelligence gathering method by the FBI," she notes in her deposition that her claims are "Based on documented and provable, tracked files and based on...100 percent, documented facts."
In further breakdown articles, we'll look at her disclosures concerning top State and Defense Department officials including Douglas Feith, Paul Wolfowitz and, perhaps most notably, the former Deputy Undersecretary of State, Marc Grossman, the third-highest ranking official in the State Department. Also, details on the theft of nuclear weapons technology; disclosures on Valerie Plame Wilson's CIA front company Brewster-Jennings; items related to U.S. knowledge of 9/11 and al-Qaeda prior to September 11, 2001; infiltration of the FBI translation department and more.
---------------------------------------------------------
Brad Friedman: Investigative journalist, broadcaster,
BradBlog.com creator,
Commonweal Institute Fellow.
Posted: September 5, 2009 03:14 PM
When Alex and Jess find out the company is downsizing, it's a race against time to please the boss...When Alex and Jess find out the company is downsizing, it's a race against time to... more
"With this information, poor Italy. For them, press freedom is freedom of insult, misrepresentation, defamation. About 90% of the information leads a subversive campaign against democracy and the country risks to become a tyranny that oppresses the people." It's a summary of what Berlusconi said on one of its televisions. We have to say that he's absolutely right.
The situation of italian information could really turn the country into a tyranny of fact. Yet Berlusconi isn't happy with all he has done so far to destroy press freedom in Italy. He wants to give the coup de grace."With this information, poor Italy. For them, press freedom is freedom of insult,... more
