TheHill.com

Kucinich: Syria strike would turn US into ’al Qaeda’s air force’ - The Hill’s Global Affairs
▻http://thehill.com/blogs/global-affairs/middle-east-north-africa/319037-kucinich-syria-strike-will-turn-us-into-al-qaedas-air-force

So what, we’re about to become Al Qaida’s air force now?”

Le jeudi, tu ne sais pas quoi faire aux États-Unis ? Invente des accusations farfelues et décrète des « sanctions » contre des membres supposés du Hezbollah. Par exemple : une équipe clandestine du Hezbollah qui préparait des attaques touristiques contre ces cibles terroristiques en Égypte. Attends, attends, ça c’est une accusation véhiculée par Morsi ou par Sisi ?
▻http://thehill.com/blogs/defcon-hill/policy-and-strategy/318289-new-us-sanctions-target-hezbollah-in-yemen-syria-and-iraq-

Harb, according to department officials, was a former leader of Unit 1800 and coordinated terrorist attacks inside Israel before being moved to Yemen. 

In Yemen, Harb oversaw money transfers and other funding activities flowing from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to support extremists in that country,

Mansur and Qabalan were members of the unit’s clandestine cell in Egypt, responsible for targeting tourist destinations and other so-called soft targets in the country for attack.

Comme tu le vois, c’est facile, c’est amusant et ça n’a même pas besoin d’être crédible.

EPA abandons study that linked fracking, Wyoming water pollution - The Hill’s E2-Wire
▻http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/306961-epa-wont-confirm-fracking-link-to-wyoming-water-pollution-

La Environmental Protection Agency du gouvernement US interrompt brutalement les recherches qu’elle menait dans le Wyoming depuis 2011 (1) après de fortes- et inédites- présomptions en faveur d’un lien entre la pollution de l’eau et la fracturation hydraulique, sans toutefois renier le lien en question.

(1) ▻http://www.propublica.org/article/feds-link-water-contamination-to-fracking-for-first-time

House members introduce bill to stop TV devices from monitoring consumers at home
▻http://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-valley/technology/305625-house-members-introduce-bill-to-stop-tv-devices-from-spying-on-consu

Reps. Mike Capuano (D-Mass.) and Walter Jones (R-N.C.) filed legislation that would regulate a new technology that targets TV ads to people by observing their activities and conversations while they watch TV via their set-top boxes and DVRs.

Verizon, Intel and other tech companies have developed technology that utilizes infrared cameras and microphones built into cable boxes and DVRs to serve up targeted TV ads to people based on their conversations and activities while watching TV.

#surveillance #marketing

With Bags of Cash, C.I.A. Seeks Influence in Afghanistan

Tens of millions of dollars have flowed from the C.I.A. to the office of President Hamid Karzai, according to current and former advisers to the Afghan leader.

“We called it ‘ghost money,’ ” said Khalil Roman, who served as Mr. Karzai’s deputy chief of staff from 2002 until 2005. “It came in secret, and it left in secret.”

The C.I.A., which declined to comment for this article, has long been known to support some relatives and close aides of Mr. Karzai. But the new accounts of off-the-books cash delivered directly to his office show payments on a vaster scale, and with a far greater impact on everyday governing.

▻http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/29/world/asia/cia-delivers-cash-to-afghan-leaders-office.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&

▻http://www.parismatch.com/Actu-Match/Monde/Depeches/Les-sacs-d-argent-de-la-CIA-en-Afghanistan-481019 (extrait, en français)

#corruption #Afghanistan #USA

AIPAC’s legislative agenda dividing members of Congress - The Hill’s Congress Blog
▻http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/foreign-policy/292069-aipacs-legislative-agenda-dividing-members-of-congress

L’influence de l’AIPAC auprès des législateurs étasuniens aurait des limites,

The unprecedented dearth of support for parts of AIPAC’s legislative agenda this year may be a sign the façade of invincibility surrounding the Israel lobby is beginning to erode. In the case of ‘The United States-Israel Strategic Partnership Act of 2013’ (S. 462, H.R. 938) (qui comprend entre autres la proposition de loi sur l’annulation des visas ▻http://seenthis.net/messages/130375), members of Congress appear to have defected en masse; weeks after introduction, the Senate version has only 15 cosponsors. 



Numerous public reports and off-the-record accounts from legislators and staff signaled that the brazenness and late release of the Israel lobby’s legislative demands blindsided both individual members and various committees. Provisions appeared tone deaf and legally problematic, even among Israel’s strongest supporters.

Cependant, avertit l’auteur, ce n’est pas certain,

Although the number of co-sponsors continues to be low by AIPAC standards, the language would set a dangerous precedent. And even without a large number of co-sponsors, it could pass under unanimous consent or other rules used by members of Congress to stymie debate or give the impression that legislation has more support than is really the case.

Leak reveals Bush administration’s strategy for undermining Chávez
▻http://thehill.com/blogs/global-affairs/americas/292131-leaked-cable-reveals-bush-administrations-strategy-for-undermining-c

WikiLeaks on Friday released a 2006 State Department cable detailing the Bush administration’s strategy for undermining Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez by supporting alleged pro-democracy groups.

The cable, signed by then-Ambassador William Brownfield, outlines a five-point strategy that includes “penetrating Chavez’s political base,” “dividing Chavismo,” “protecting vital U.S. business” and “isolating Chavez internationally.” Those goals are to be obtained by strengthening “democratic institutions,” according to the cable.

[…] Strengthening democratic institutions, he wrote, “represents the majority of USAID/OTI work in Venezuela.

[…]

The cable is all but certain to rekindle criticism of U.S. support for civil society groups in foreign countries with limited democratic freedom, notably Russia, which has been cracking down on nongovernmental organizations. The cable was first reported by Russia Today, a Kremlin-funded media organization.

#cablegate

Obama and the Palestinian detainee generation - The Hill’s Congress Blog
▻http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/foreign-policy/289635-obama-and-the-palestinian-detainee-generation

Amid the clamor around the presidential visit to Israel and the occupied West Bank stands an important voice President Barack Obama should hear. It does not belong to the leaders or elites. It is young, shackled, and locked up behind bars. It is the voice of invisible children who hold the power to shape the future in the region.

Instead of enjoying universal safeguards, these leaders of tomorrow are bound, blindfolded, and convicted. Since 1967, Palestinian children have been living under Israeli military law and prosecuted in military courts. Current estimates suggest that every year 500-700 children, some as young as 12 years old, are detained, interrogated and imprisoned within the Israeli military court system where ill treatment is widespread and systematic and fair trial guarantees are seriously lacking.

The majority of children are detained from their West Bank homes during the middle of the night by heavily armed Israeli soldiers. Several hours after their arrest, children arrive at an interrogation and detention center alone, sleep deprived and often bruised and scared. Interrogations tend to be coercive, including a variety of verbal abuse, threats and physical violence that ultimately result in a confession.

Poll: World opinion of US leadership at lowest point of Obama’s tenure - The Hill’s Global Affairs
▻http://thehill.com/blogs/global-affairs/foreign-aid/287955-gallup-worldwide-opinion-of-american-leadership-falls

According to the poll, which measures attitudes across 130 countries, median approval across the international community of America’s leadership was just 41 percent. That figure marked a drop from 49 percent in the president’s first year in office, and from 46 percent a year ago.

By contrast, 25 percent of those surveyed disapprove of the job performance of America’s leadership, up from 21 percent in 2009.

The declines were driven primarily by souring opinions of the United States in Europe and Africa. A mere 36 percent of Europeans approve of American leadership, down from 47 percent at the start of Obama’s first term. In Africa, seven in 10 approve of American leadership — an impressive number, but down 15 percent from just four years ago. The two nations that saw the sharpest drops from last year were Zambia (a loss of 24 percentage points) and Madagascar (down 22 points from last year.)

Shock doctrine and the debt limit - The Hill’s Congress Blog
►http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/economy-a-budget/175641-shock-doctrine-and-the-debt-limit

Washington’s recently staged drama of dysfunction over the federal debt limit sadly distracted attention from real crises occurring outside the beltway. These include unemployment, housing foreclosures, torched 401k plans that have stalled earned retirements, and college graduates struggling to begin their careers with paying jobs. But there’s a more profound problem with this farce: This fabricated debt “crisis” was really nothing more than a veiled attempt to destroy the last vestiges of FDR’s New Deal utilizing “shock doctrine” to pacify resistance.

Appallingly, the bankster/predators now use the state and federal budget shortfalls they caused when they trashed the entire tax-generating economy as grounds to bust unions and cut social spending.

#usa

Despite 14 million unemployed, and millions more with undesirable jobs, both political parties have only been talking about the debt limit. This only diverts attention away from America’s real problems and allows the predators to go after the last of the Roosevelt-inspired social safety nets on the false argument that the government is broke.

And that is the ultimate irony. The predators who created the crisis, crashed the economy and created the deficit are able to use shock doctrine to eliminate the only protections their prey have left.