HaHa
Putin shot down MH17, it’s a ‘citizen journalist’ report being transmogrified through the ZioMedia, ahead of NATOs complaint that ‘Russia broke the cease fire’, so the Saints Go Marching In.
Buk this:https://www.bellingcat.com/news/uk-and-europe/2016/02/23/53rd-report-en/

Posted by: Chipnik | Feb 26 2016 22:35 utc | 104

Another twist in the bizarro Republican primary contest:
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-trump-idUSKCN0VZ2I7
That’s right. Chris Christie endorses Trump.

Posted by: Thirdeye | Feb 26 2016 22:59 utc | 106

Grieved | Feb 26, 2016 3:40:03 PM | 95 and Hoarsewhisperer | Feb 26, 2016 4:10:01 PM | 100
Me too. Once upon a time, I started my own blog writing posts about daily events. All I know is it was time intensive, hard work. No one in alt national security news, the niche ‘b’ has rightly carved out for himself, wishes to fall for the propaganda line, no matter how slight, but rather, reports to his readers his ‘tell’ on what is really happening, to the best of his ability, the mind numbing, gazillion different agendas that are in play on the ground in Syria.
To achieve such a worthy goal takes tons of reading multiple sources, talking to a cadre of like minded folk and sifting through an onslaught of information/intel. Then taking all of that information and writing a succinct post on it. ‘b’ is so far ahead of most who are reporting on Syria and that includes all in the lamestream media. To achieve this takes a real commitment to truth and facts, hours upon hours of work all while balancing all of the other responsibilities life throws at you.
Obviously, at least to me, his integrity is beyond reproach when reporting on the facts of the sheer evil were all witnessing in Syria (I’ve been a lurker for quite awhile now). Man, reading this shit everyday, seeing the horrors up close, watching the slow mo train of policy, it wears down the best man/woman.
I say good for ‘b’ for doing what is necessary to take care of himself when needed. It’s so important to do weekly…and he does it all for free…how lucky we are…

Posted by: h... | Feb 27 2016 0:08 utc | 108

does anybody here follow Venezuela?
Zerohedge periodically writes about the Maduro government’s eminent collapse, but ZH is also a nutty libertarian hangout.

Posted by: aaaaaa | Feb 27 2016 0:12 utc | 110

@107 So Trump gets Christie and Clinton gets Kagan….
https://consortiumnews.com/2016/02/25/neocon-kagan-endorses-hillary-clinton

Posted by: dh | Feb 27 2016 0:27 utc | 112

Bernie Sanders is already finished. So, the Pussy chick is irrelevant these days.. He will not beat Killary in heavy Latino and Black populated areas..

Posted by: Nick | Feb 27 2016 0:53 utc | 114

ALberto @81:
In my President Bernie scenario, I think the teaching moments for the American public will be on economic side, when Bernie tries to push through his economic program and gets completely blocked by Congress, right down to appointments to the National Labor Board and so on. He’ll get angry and go on TV, the mainstream media will be unanimous attacking his populist Keynesian deficit spending and sensible (and pro-growth) wealth redistribution (including a $15 minimum wage). I think that might drive a lot of folks to alternative media, might make a lot of folks question whose side their radio and TV station is on. At the very least the media/political complex loses credibility and influence, and more people ‘get’ that we need a democratic media.
I agree and said that I think the imperialists would generate serious overseas crises — probably before he even takes office — to distract Bernie from his economic policy and to delegitimize him.
Creating chaos and disorder and then blaming it on the guy in power is the standard capitalist PTB response to leftist mayors — sometimes we elect them in the US — and it would be the same with a leftist President. The idea is to create a link in people’s minds: leftist = chaos/scary/incompetent, right-wing business as usual = calm.

Posted by: fairleft | Feb 27 2016 1:12 utc | 116

Pussy Riot, a Bernie supporter? ……..for performing a crude “punk prayer” against Putin and his ties to the Russian Orthodox church in Moscow’s main cathedral. Putin said. “…….they (Pussy Riot) were engaged in such disgraceful behavior, which in my view was degrading to the dignity of women.”
Emily Ratajkowski could be the new “Susan Rice” in Bernie Sanders administration and soon regime change in Russia Federation Putin must go!

Posted by: Jack Smith | Feb 27 2016 1:34 utc | 118

Jack Smith
Found an interesting link about the possible discovery of the Americas by Zheng He;
http://www.economist.com/node/5381851
Posted by: V. Arnold | Feb 26, 2016 7:20:04 AM | 61
====================
This story is a serious blot on The Economist which is supposed to be a serious periodical. It is totally impossible that Zheng Ho accumulated in 15-th century nautical knowledge represented in that map, “18-th century copy of a 15-th century original”. The map is a uniformly distorted compendium of European knowledge in 18-th century, so it has fairly decent contours of the Atlantic, complete with Brazil, isthmus of central America and Alaska. Australia is separated from the Antarctic, and so on and so on. The author of the map had surprising knowledge of the Arctic Ocean. If you have read some books about the history of geographical discoveries you realize enormity of the effort that was involved in knowing all those facts, many lifetimes of expeditions on land and sea.
In other words, this is a Chinese copy, not made by a cartographer and surely, not by a navigator, of an European map, and perhaps quite sensible as an illustration in a Chinese book about Zheng Ho, but that can be only a speculation.

Posted by: Piotr Berman | Feb 27 2016 1:58 utc | 120

DavidKNZ 41
yeah i knew that video.
even when reading the etan report yrs ago, its enough to make your blood boil..
*the river turned red with flowing blood and later it’s clogged by the rotting corps*
this was *ambassador* green’s words, sob almost sounded breathless ,choking with exitement,
“we have bonanza chance to nail chicoms on disastrous events in indonesia,”
green wrote the state department. [sic !]
that son of bitch was talking about using cia cache of chinese arms to incriminate china for an alleged impending coup, his *brilliant* plan sent 3m to their grisly death !
bear in mind that the son of bitches wanted that *cia’s greatest hit* to be a *template* for later regime change ops, cuz that was a *model operation*, successful beyond their wildest imagination !
————————
chip 47
**There, fixed it for you. Thailand is not a democracy. Anyone wondering about the outcome of the Thai:China deal for the Thai people should Google Sukarno and Timor, or Marcos and Mindanao. China and the USA are butt buddies when it comes to hegemonic Tibetanization.*
nobody is talking about democracy except u ,
u believe in that democrazy crap ?
timor was invaded by clinton’s *our kind of guy* suharto, with full consent from washington,
marcos was another murkkan puppet who’s deposed when he had passed the used by date,
sounds familiar ?
[peoples power my ass !]
mindano was another cia’s playground, paying both sides to kill each other to get murkkan boots on the ground, sounds familiar ?
so whats your point ??
54
*Red Army or Blue Army, same internationalist global mafia in Beijing as in NYC as in Brussels, doing G-d’s work*
once more, speak for yourself. !
murkkans are the only ones invoking god the almighty in their killing spree !
so we’ve got another *china is just as bad if not worse * propagandist here !
anybody who could say this inspite of tons of evidence to the contrary can only be
a moron or a shill !
are u another grayling, that prof of philosophistry , or johnnie carlson ?
62
*When did MoA become a soft hangout for the Dong primitivists?*
thats a bit rich doncha think so ?
*the Mongols at least had a reason – their troops needed the leather of the bindings to make shoes.*
http://web.archive.org/web/20050107123218/http://richardneville.com/Journal/2004/journal161204.html

Posted by: denk | Feb 27 2016 2:16 utc | 122

@ psychohistorian 40
Robert Reich discussed how the elites control the US on PBS News Hour last night. He also mentioned a report from 2014 “Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens”
https://scholar.princeton.edu/sites/default/files/mgilens/files/gilens_and_page_2014_-testing_theories_of_american_politics.doc.pdf
A lot of what they’re pushing is that the elites to this to enrich themselves and their business interests but they leave out those who are on board with the overall ideology.

Posted by: Curtis | Feb 27 2016 2:22 utc | 124

@ Curtis & Robert Reich stuff
What they leave out is any discussion of the historical implications of private finance, inheritance and ongoing private ownership of property. As is now obvious to many, politics is subservient to finance and has been for some time. The smoke and mirrors just don’t make it look like that.
And yes, once again, a hat tip to the keep!

Posted by: psychohistorian | Feb 27 2016 3:38 utc | 126

I do not know what to make of this??
VT editor Gordon Duff claims SCOTUS Justice Scalia had a meeting at the White House with President Obama and then was murdered in Texas. He does not name his sources?
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2016/02/26/scalia-murdered-after-obama-meeting/

Posted by: ALberto | Feb 27 2016 4:06 utc | 128

@127 thanks re: Venezuela.. It’s so easy to forget that there are many other flashpoints beyond syria, iraq, turkey, ksa, etc..
Hell, Palestine is now completely backburned, and it’s worse than ever for the Palestinians now.

Posted by: aaaaaa | Feb 27 2016 4:42 utc | 130

>> ZH link
I continue to skim every ZH headline but roll my eyes a LOT at their editorial slant.
Stuff like this:
>> the US faces the danger of being dragged
>> into World War III for the worst of
>> reasons
What’s with the passive voice?? Oh, dear, look what we’re being “dragged” into!
>> “Democracy Is Overrated”
As though that’s what we have!? “Democracy” has been made impossible by the constant lying. With all the false flags, astroturfing, etc., it’s been impossible for people to vote their conscience.
>> Tocqueville saw democracy and liberty
>> as almost polar opposites.
Yeah, more plutocrat propaganda masquerading under the “liberty” brand. “Drown government in the bathtub” they say, except for the part about enforcing oligarchs’ claims to property. Property uber alles!

Posted by: dumbass | Feb 27 2016 6:14 utc | 132

JOHNNIE CARSON, U.S. ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR AFRICAN AFFAIRS,
*CHINA IS A “VERY AGGRESSIVE AND PERNICIOUS ECONOMIC COMPETITOR WITH NO MORALS.*
————————
exhibit p for philippines,
an amusing anedote from the marcos era.
*Edward Lansdale [a cia mole] had just installed Ramon Magsaysay as Philippine defense minister and planned to run him for president, but first he had to deal with the peasants. “In an area thought to be harboring a team of Huk guerrillas, Lansdale’s ambushers snatched a peasant one night, punctured his neck with two holes, vampire-fashion, hung the body by the ankles to drain it of blood, then put the corpse back on the trail. When the peasants found the toothmarked bloodless corpse, the entire Huk unit moved away. The novelty of these games amused Lansdale, who slyly passed them on as combat anecdotes, enchanting his CIA superiors…. Lansdale’s experiments were given top priority.” *(page 145)
http://www.namebase.org/books85.html

Posted by: denk | Feb 27 2016 7:00 utc | 134

124
Let 100 Flowers Bloom!
“One Belt, One Road levers existing plans for Chinese investment up the East-African coast. Most notable is the $10 billion-plus loan for the Bagamoyo port in Tanzania. If realized, it would dwarf Mombasa, 300 kilometers to the north in Kenya, which currently serves as the naval gateway of East Africa. Chinese firms have also been awarded major contracts to build railways connecting the ports of Mombasa and Dar-es-Salaam — Tanzania’s commercial capital, with inland countries.”
So Tanzania gets stuck with the $10B credit-debt plus rollover interest, China gets all the construction contracts with token Tanzanian labor, and China gets all the tropical hardwoods and minerals, ripped out from under the feet of the Tanzanian people by armed mafia contractors, without any environmental regulations or worker laws whatsoever, and sold on the black market to Chinese middlemen.
That’s the IMF:WB Zio Model, …but because it’s the softer, kinder Dongist flavor, that’s OK. 让我们庆祝美好时光 !!!

Posted by: Chipnik | Feb 27 2016 8:37 utc | 136

@Grieved
Thanks , I do appreciate. This confirms my personal experience with Shia Iran and Sunni GCC.

Posted by: virgile | Feb 27 2016 10:30 utc | 138

Hundreds of Thousands of Al-Sadr Supporters Protest Corruption in Baghdad

Hundreds of thousands of Shiite Muslims, supporters of the influential cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, have taken to the streets of Baghdad to protest corruption in the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.
The partisan Kurdish news agency Rudaw has claimed up to a million Sadarists took up the call for anti-corruption protests, however estimated numbers from Arabic language media outlets have been lower.

Hope the Iraqis are able to throw the bums … US and their stooges … out, and become a full-fledged member of the Syria-Iraq-Iran + friends and allies regional power.

Posted by: jfl | Feb 27 2016 11:10 utc | 140

The “ceasefire” started out great:
http://www.gayshore.com/videos/hardcore/

Posted by: Chipnik | Feb 27 2016 13:01 utc | 142

in re 79
I don’t know who you’re talking with at 70, but it ain’t me. Do I strike you as the sort that is incapable of making their own excitement, cowboy?
So I’m thinking it’s 92 talking to themselves. That’s one way to describe it, anyway.
Posted by: rufus magister | Feb 26, 2016 7:03:57 PM | 108
Well … yes. Look at it this way:
1. “So long and thanks for all the fish.”
2. X weeks of excruciating boredom…
3. Pretty soon, MoA starts to look better than any alternative soapbox a bored
‘rufus’ can think of.
Q.E.D.

Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Feb 27 2016 13:27 utc | 144

chip 138
the economic hit men clan , after raping africa for centuries, fret about the africans getting a *raw deal* from the *primitive chinamen*.
hehehehe

Posted by: denk | Feb 27 2016 14:05 utc | 146

???

Posted by: Chipnik | Feb 27 2016 14:20 utc | 148

@ 150
You post utter nonsense and when you are challenged; you post a shit storm of nonsense to counter criticism to your nonsense.
Grow up. Your juvenile mentality is your tell…
It fools nobody…

Posted by: V. Arnold | Feb 27 2016 14:35 utc | 150

in re 146 —
The second term of your syllogism is false and your proof fails, cowboy.
It seemed like a big wuss-out to let myself get run off by some uninformed asshole with OCD. Especially with Banderastan continuing its slo-mo implosion.

Posted by: rufus magister | Feb 27 2016 14:39 utc | 152

98;Israel is a fascist as one can get.Are they your buddies?F*ck fascism,f*ck communism.I hate those who plan the lives of others,as would be gods.

Posted by: dahoit | Feb 27 2016 14:51 utc | 154

@54 @ Chipnik 138
@ denk 148 So right. We who are the lesser under-developed or developing nations accept the Chinese as a fair exchange for our resources. At least we are left with infrastructure: roads, bridges, hospitals, health clines, schools and stadiums. Our lack of capital deters, so we barter.
The ‘hit men’ tells us we’re here to help but first we must kick down your doors and we want 105 acres for a military base
The western countries plundered with a straight face and forked tongue: 2 cents per lb for our sugar, cocoa, rice; and to avoid royalties, shipped our gold in used auto engines declared as scrap or “being sent overseas for repairs to be returned.” Unlike the Chinese, “ we need your lumber but you have no roads to bring it to ship; also we see you have no modern hospitals, schools, water supply too low and what are your other needs?”
Oh, btw in building these facilities, we gain and are taught technologies.

Posted by: likklemore | Feb 27 2016 15:08 utc | 156

Thank you likklemore and denk
I keep trying to get my fellow Americans to read books like the Shock Doctrine to understand what sort of “democracy” we are exporting around the world. Americans are brainwashed into the feeling of being better than others just like many/most of those that grow up with inheritance.
I am hopeful that humanity will gain clarity about how those who own private finance undeservedly run our world. We are in an ugly dead end and must evolve or perish trying.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Feb 27 2016 16:17 utc | 158

Jules at 152: Yeah, Tulsi Gabbard, and from what I remember she swings Republican/Democrat, doesn’t really care about labels. Multi-racial, easy on the eye … kills many birds with one stone.

Posted by: fairleft | Feb 27 2016 16:36 utc | 160

@dahoit 154
It’s kind of an irrational hatred because Trump is subjectively pro-Israel and Jewish in-laws. He makes an analogy between the way Israel manages its borders and
the way he wants the US to manage its borders. That pisses off the Israelis because so many of their supporters lean towards an open border policy in the US. There might
be a glimmer of recognition that Trump’s spotty foreign policy realism – not much, but even that pittance distinguishes him – suggest that he would be more difficult to
manipulate by the Israel First crowd. Trump’s stance on the necessity of recognizing Russia’s interests and Assad’s status as legitimate head of state could be construed to be
objectively against what Israel is trying to achieve.

Posted by: Thirdeye | Feb 27 2016 18:56 utc | 162

PS My previous comment was in response to rufus @153.

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Feb 27 2016 19:20 utc | 164

Like I said, OCD.

Posted by: rufus magister | Feb 28 2016 2:42 utc | 166

@151
What’s up with the ID theft here? I did not post that comment.
Hmm…

Posted by: V. Arnold | Feb 28 2016 6:27 utc | 168

158
Denk, I like you. I do, even if you’re a Dong Primitivist.
I have three business associates in China, two in Russia, two in India and one in Brazil. I also have several associates in Thailand and Cambodia.
So you can fap,fap,fap on the Little Dragon all you want from your Red Book, but the Thais and the Cambodians (and my associates in Indonesia for
that matter) all uniformly hate the Chinese, the same way the rest of the world hates the IMF:WB, and everyone on MoA can see by your personal
flame attacks against me, the hollow charade of your vapid Dongist cheerleading.
Quit while you’re ahead, close with some languid haiku about the beauty of Tibet, and don’t let the door hit you in the ass on your way out.

Posted by: Chipnik | Feb 28 2016 8:12 utc | 170

Plan B?
https://www.rt.com/news/333840-damascus-shelling-residential-military/

Posted by: x | Feb 28 2016 9:53 utc | 172

PS;The NYlying times just printed an expose on the hell bitch’s Libyan disaster.Weird timing.

Posted by: dahoit | Feb 28 2016 14:44 utc | 174

i’ve in fact rested my case but….
indonesians, cambodians *hated* chinese ?
i’d have thought they have 1001 reasons to hate murkkans gut, what with the 1965 bloodbath, the carpet bombing ! [1]
thais are amongst people most friendly to chinese, many in fact have chinese blood running their bodies.
given the kind of shit murkka has been dishing out to china , im surprised there aint any murkkan embassy burning so far !
fact is, im surprised there aint murkkan embassy burning anywhere right now, given the
kind of shit murkka is dumping on the world !
pcr
*the evil empire has the world in a death grip*
u’r detracting the fight to stop this monster.
as for my *personal attack* against u [sic]
i’d let the readers decide on that.
[1]
chinese dramas are very hot in combodia.
currently a period drama is showing in tv, practically every houshold is tuned in and every coffee shop
has a tv on to attract customers. people are glued to the tube even if they cant comprehend the language !
p.s.
fuck tibet, free navajo !!

Posted by: denk | Feb 29 2016 1:41 utc | 176

Just why is Turkey spending $682,900,000 on BLU-109 2000lb penetrator bomb bodies and components with contract completion by December 31, 2020. The unit price for a BLU-109 bomb is $31,414 and at that price it means that Turkey is buying over 21,000 bombs. If they’re only buying bodies and components, that suggests that they’re providing the explosives so the unit price should be lower and the quantity supplied greater. What does Turkey need so many bombs for? Why is the United States selling Turkey so many bombs?
http://www.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract-View/Article/674538
http://www.bga-aeroweb.com/Defense/General-Purpose-Bombs.html

Posted by: blowback | Feb 29 2016 4:11 utc | 178

Socialism and the Fight Against War

  Fifteen years after the United States launched the “war on terror,” the entire world is being dragged into an ever-expanding maelstrom of imperialist violence. The invasions and interventions organized by US imperialism have devastated Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria. NATO is engaged in a massive rearmament program in preparation for war with Russia. Africa is the target of relentless US and European neo-colonial machinations. Border disputes between neighboring states are provoking tensions and outright clashes in Eastern Europe, the Trans Caucasus, the Indian subcontinent and South America. In East Asia, the Obama administration’s “pivot to Asia” is embroiling the entire region in the United States’ confrontation with China.
  The “war on terror” — riddled with imperialist deceit and limitless hypocrisy — has traumatized, maimed and killed uncounted millions, and triggered the greatest refugee crisis since the end of World War II. Sixty million people have been driven from their countries. The hundreds of thousands who have made it to Europe, after desperate and life-threatening journeys, are being herded into detention centers, compelled to live in appalling conditions, and even stripped of their meager belongings. To undermine working class solidarity, the imperialist governments, the capitalist political parties and the media are promoting national chauvinism and racist bigotry. In the 1930s, the Jews were made the scapegoats of political reaction. Today, in North America, Europe and Australia, it is Muslims who are the victims of media vilification, state-sponsored discrimination and racism, and fascist violence.
  For 15 years, the “war on terror” has involved crimes for which no government officials or military-intelligence personnel have been held accountable. International law is a dead letter, with the White House leading the way in asserting the “right” to kidnap, imprison, torture and assassinate its victims without legal due process. The pretext of fighting terror has served a critical political function within the imperialist countries. Terrorist acts, often involving individuals who had been under state surveillance, have been exploited to shred democratic rights. The lockdowns in Boston, Ferguson and other cities have amounted to dress rehearsals for martial law. All of France has now been placed under a “state of emergency” following the Paris attacks of November 2015. Intelligence agencies conduct unchecked spying, accumulating vast databases on tens of millions of people. Police brutality and killings are a daily reality in working class areas as the ruling class seeks to contain the explosive tensions produced by social inequality and prepares to answer opposition with permanent police state repression.
  The world stands on the brink of a catastrophic global conflict. The statements of heads of capitalist governments grow increasingly bellicose. The proxy wars in Ukraine and Syria have drawn NATO and Russia closer to a full-scale confrontation. Turkey, a NATO member, has already fired on Russian warplanes. At the start of 2016, a leading Swedish military commander, Major General Anders Brännström, issued the following warning to troops under his command:
    “The global situation we are experiencing … leads to the conclusion that we could be at war within a few years.”
  As in the years that preceded the outbreak of World War I in 1914 and World War II in 1939, political leaders and military planners are approaching the conclusion that a war between major powers is not a remote possibility, but, rather, highly probable and, perhaps, even inevitable.
  At a certain point, such military fatalism becomes a significant contributing factor to the outbreak of war. As a specialist in international relations has recently written:
    “Once war is assumed to be unavoidable, the calculations of leaders and militaries change. The question is no longer whether there will or should be a war, but when the war can be fought most advantageously. Even those neither eager for nor optimistic about war may opt to fight when operating in the framework of inevitability.”
  [ The Next Great War: The Roots of World War I and the Risk of U.S.-China Conflict, edited by Richard N. Rosencrance and Steven E. Miller (Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2015), p. xi. ]

Of course those both eager for and optimistic about war will opt to fight when operating in the framework of inevitability.

Posted by: jfl | Feb 29 2016 10:21 utc | 180

Yemeni infrastructure reduced to rubble in Saudi raids: Group

Yemen’s Human Rights Center, in a report released on Sunday, announced that more than 800 schools, 240 medical centers and hundreds of fuel depots and power plants have been targeted ever since Saudi Arabia launched its military strikes late March last year to bring fugitive former Yemeni President Abd Rabbu Mansur Hadi back to power.
The rights group added that Saudi military assaults have also destroyed airports, docks, harbors, bridges and hundreds of roads across Yemen.
The report indicated that many tourism centers, historical sites, mosques, food warehouses, water reserve tanks, communications towers and stadiums have also been struck in Saudi attacks.

The Saudis are just like their mentors, arms suppliers, and hand-holders/’intelligence’ providers : the USA. The rich showering death, devastation, and destruction on the poor.

Posted by: jfl | Feb 29 2016 12:40 utc | 182

Cruz being born in Canada and living there for the first four years of his life.
Remember the Obomba birther deal where they suspected him of being born in Indonesia?Here is an actual case,and not one word from the Zionists.And who were behind the Obomba rumors,of his parentage and birthplace?Zionists.
The hell bitch will pick Rubio for her Zioparty ticket!Wouldn’t surprise me at all.

Posted by: dahoit | Feb 29 2016 15:46 utc | 184

California inmate firefighter, 22, crushed to death protecting Malibu mansions

Shawna Lynn Jones, sustained life-threatening injuries when a boulder rolled 100 feet down a hill and crushed her head. She was taken off life support Friday at UCLA’s Ronald Reagan Medical Center.
A brushfire broke out Thursday in the early morning, threatening homes valued at $2 million to $8 million. Alongside more than 100 professional firefighters, 63 inmates were sent to fight the fire. Jones, who was serving time for drug possession, was scheduled to be released in six weeks.
Thirty percent of California’s firefighters are prisoners. The state has heavily relied on chain gang firefighters after years of budget cuts to state and federal fire prevention programs, with state officials boasting that the inmate firefighter program saves up to $100 million each year.
Paul Wright, editor of Prison Legal News, told Vice: “It’s not just slave labor, it’s very dangerous slave labor. … If they weren’t having the prisoners do the work for whatever pittance they pay them, they would be paying non-prisoners 15-20 dollars an hour plus benefits.”
Forcing prisoners to fight fires is so cost-effective that the state wants to keep prisoners incarcerated in order to force participation in the program. Arguing against a proposed 2014 reform to facilitate release of nonviolent offenders, California’s Democratic attorney general Kamela Harris’s office argued in court that releasing nonviolent prisoners “would severely impact fire camp participation, a dangerous outcome while California is in the middle of a difficult fire season and severe drought.”
Most inmates make between $0.23 and $1.25 an hour, with tens of thousands of prisoners producing material for the US military. By 2014, 37 states had legalized the exploitation of prison labor by private corporations, with corporations like IBM, Boeing, Motorola, Microsoft, AT&T, Dell, Honeywell, Intel, and Nordstrom’s making billions in profits from prison labor.
Shawna Lynn Jones, like thousands of prisoners in the US, never lived to see her release date. She spent her last day outside the prison, unconscious, and under observation by the police in a Los Angeles hospital.
Her firefighting crew accomplished their task. As the Los Angeles Times reported Friday after the fire was extinguished: “No structures were damaged.”

Under Barack Obama, slavery is making a big comeback in the USA.

Posted by: jfl | Mar 1 2016 14:36 utc | 186

@33 Since when does the US President lead anything?

Posted by: Gene Poole | Mar 1 2016 14:56 utc | 188

Neoconservatives Declare War on Donald Trump

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Mar 2 2016 19:08 utc | 190

This is a question.
can anyone give me any ideas as to why ISIL commanders …
(e.g. recent photo: https://cdn.rt.com/files/2016.03/original/56d74bc6c361881c7e8b45d7.jpg)
… are always wearing balaclavas.
If these people are in an existential struggle, why are the hiding their faces?
Are the concerned that they will get on a no-fly list, and dash their chances of visiting Disneyland?

Posted by: DM | Mar 3 2016 0:05 utc | 192

rufus @194:

I’m just asking questions…

Bullsh!t (as usual). Both PCR and I have made it clear that although we are each skeptical of ‘conspiracy theories’, there are legitimate questions that should be answered. Your comment strikes me as an attempt to shut down questioning.
You seem to be better at avoiding questions (like these @164) than asking them.

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Mar 3 2016 3:51 utc | 194

Jackrabbit @ 190,
Thank you for becoming open-mnded enough to at least consider what previously seemed unthinkable to you. I had seen the Wheeler
link before. Did you watch it til the end, where it appears he may be one of the patrolman actors at Sandy Hook?
Gene Rosen was only Little Theatre, hence his somewhat maudlin acting. There is an out-take of Robbie Parker available online
where he uses the old actor’s trick of hyperventilating to make his voice all weak and thready. But the most dumb-founding is
the coroner, who says during his press conference, speaking of his employees, “I hope that they and I hope that the citizens of
Newtown don’t have this crash on their heads later.”
—
http://mediasolidarity.com/watch_video.html Outs a few participants. Legislation to block death certificates after official
refuses them to the AP & the Washington Post & other media. Start @37:00 for most outrageous.
A brand-new state law said children’s autopsies didn’t have to be revealed. When the AP and the Washington Post asked
at least for the death certificates, Newtown town clerk refused to supply them. (It’s a felony to falsify one). She went so far
as to introduce a bill to ban release of ALL death records and witness information — and marrriage records (!)
Today, in the state of Connecticut, the release of ANY unauthorized info about ANY homicide will get you 5 years in the State pen.
Truly, you can’t make this stuff up!
—
If you ever decide you want more info on this topic, you’ve only to ask. The various demonstrations of falseness are comprehensive.
But if you want to find out in short order if any of these “occurrences” are phoney, I suggest the most efficient
use of your time is the Boston Marathon. There are two sets of photos of the actors taken from an office above the sidewalk
where they are awaiting their turn w the photographer/videographer. You see one woman put her blood makeup on. You see another
stop her “lookout” role in order to lie down & “become dead”.
http://deepinsidetherabbithole.com/The_Boston_Bombing_Hoax.html
http://www.davesweb.cnchost.com/
You’ve gone this far, Jackrabbit; you might as well resolve it to your own satisfaction.

Posted by: Penelope | Mar 3 2016 5:41 utc | 196

Turkey Prohibits Helicopter With German Defense Minister From Landing

The Turkish authorities have not allowed a helicopter with the Minister of Defence of Germany, Ursula von der Leyen, to land at the airport of the city of Mytilene on the Greek Island of Lesbos.

Three billion euros – per year – don’t buy what they used to, do they?
Former Google CEO Schmidt to head new Pentagon innovation board

Schmidt, now the executive chairman of Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O), the parent company of Google, said the board would help bridge what he called a clear gap between how the U.S. military and the technology industry operate.

Google’s apotheosis. The privatization of the NSA is complete.

Romney calls on Republicans to reject ‘phony’ Trump

Mitt Romney, the Republican nominee for the 2012 White House race, has implored Republican voters to reject the candidacy of Donald Trump, who is “a phony, a fraud.”

The formation of the Democrat superpower is coming along nicely. Mittens hasn’t yet endorsed The Hil, but who else is there?

Posted by: jfl | Mar 3 2016 23:18 utc | 198

What a mess. The earlier presentations of the Boston Marathon photographic record were more
straightforward. At this point the quickest way to see something conclusive is
http://deepinsidetherabbithole.com/Boston_Videos.html Go to the 6th video regarding the Brassard family
re the Boston Marathon. This is brief & conclusive.
If you are then interested in the general photo coverage
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzgON_5sg4Q DavesWeb mat’l is now on John B Wells Show but it’s much too spread out.
Begin to watch at 2:00:00.

Posted by: Penelope | Mar 4 2016 2:08 utc | 200