Exposing The Truth

“China Will Not Hesitate To Protect Iran Even With A Third World War” (Subtitles)

December 2, 2011 By T Kelly Leave a Comment

A military General from the Chinese National Defense University says that China should not hesitate to protect Iran, even if it means launching World War III, as more US warships are dispatched to the region amidst heightening tensions.

According to NDTV, a Chinese news station based outside the country, in regard to recent speculation that Iran would be the target of a US-Israeli military assault, Major General Zhang Zhaozhong commented that, “China will not hesitate to protect Iran even with a third World War,” remarks described as “puzzling to some”.

The news report also quotes Professor Xia Ming as paraphrasing Zhaozhong’s quote that, “not hesitating to fight a third world war would be entirely for domestic political needs.”

China has vehemently reaffirmed its alliance with Iran in recent weeks, most notably yesterday when it refused to criticize Iran for a raid on the British Embassy in Tehran launched by Iranian students earlier this week.

Both China and Russia have made it clear that they will veto any UN authorization of military action against Iran in the aftermath of claims that Iran is on the verge of developing a nuclear weapon.

“China has noted the tough reactions made by the relevant countries over this event and is concerned over the development of the situation,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei told reporters today.

“We hope relevant countries will keep calm and exercise restraint and avoid taking emotional actions that may rachet up the confrontation.

Meanwhile, in a related development, three more US warships have been dispatched to join the USS John C. Stennis in the 5th fleet region.

With the Stennis, a Nimitz-class nuclear-powered supercarrier, already stationed just outside Iranian territorial waters, the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier has just been deployed from its home port to join the U.S. 5th Fleet AOR.

“In addition to the USS Carl Vinson’s departure, guided-missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill and guided-missile destroyer left in the morning, and the USS Halsey will depart at 2 p.m,” reports NBC SanDiego, adding that the ships are headed for the Middle East.

Fears of an imminent military assault on Syria were sparked when the USS George H.W. Bush left its usual theater of operations to position itself just off the Syrian coast, but the warship has now completed its mission and is sailing back to its home port in Norfolk Virginia.

Filed Under: China, Iran, Russia, Warning Tagged With: World War III

Fuel Poverty Affects A Quarter Of UK’s Households As Bills Soar And Pay Freezes

December 2, 2011 By T Kelly Leave a Comment

Figure rises from a fifth of homes last year, meaning coalition will fail to meet its legal duty to end fuel poverty by 2016

A quarter of all households in England and Wales have now fallen into fuel poverty following an autumn of steep increases in energy bills and stagnating incomes, the Guardian can reveal.

The dramatic increase in fuel poverty – up from nearly one in five households last year to one in four now – will be highly embarrassing to the government, which has a statutory obligation to eliminate fuel poverty by 2016. It now looks certain to fail to meet its legal duty.

Previous government projections forecast that this year would see 4.1m households in fuel poverty, which is defined as those who have to spend 10% or more of their income to achieve adequate warmth and light.

But these estimates were calculated before the huge prices rises announced last summer by the big six energy suppliers. New calculations, provided to the statutory consumer body Consumer Focus and seen by the Guardian, based on actual bills, show the figure for England alone is now over 5m households.

The revelation comes as figures show that average families now face the worst squeeze on incomes since records began in the 1950s. In its analysis of George Osborne‘s autumn statement, the influential Institute of Fiscal Studies said median income families would be worse off in 2015 than they were in 2002, pinpointing the relentless rise in fuel prices as one of the main factors, along with stagnating wages and government welfare cuts.

The summer price hikes saw the biggest supplier, British Gas, put its gas and electricity prices up by 18% and 16%, which means that an average annual dual-fuel bill for its 9m customers has risen from £1,096 to £1,288.

The new figures show sharp regional differences in the levels of fuel poverty. In Wales, an additional half a million households, over 40% of the total, are now fuel poor. The north-east and West Midlands have levels of fuel poverty over 30%, while the north west has just under 30%. The figure for the south-east, meanwhile, is just 17%.

Some 2.5m people are already in debt to their energy supplier, and the depth of debt is increasing rapidly. The average debt for gas of those in arrears is now £320.

The main political parties attacked the big six energy suppliers at their autumn conferences this year for price rises that have averaged 21% since last year. Over the past five years, average prices have gone up 88%. At the Lib Dem conference, Chris Huhne, the energy secretary, accused the six suppliers, who provide 99% of UK household energy, of malpractice. In their defence, the companies argue that the price rises reflect the soaring cost of energy on global markets. The regulator Ofgem is conducting an audit of where the companies make their profits and is expected to report by end of the year.

Dr Brenda Boardman, fellow at Oxford University’s environmental change institute, said that the pressure was building on politicians to act against the energy sector, as MPs encounter fuel poverty in their constituencies every week. Each 1% price rise pushes at least another 40,000 households into fuel poverty, forcing people to make decisions about turning heating off or cutting back on food or building up debt, she said. Inadequate heating contributes to “excess” winter deaths, which are already running at 27,000 a year. It also puts more pressure on a health service already strained by cuts, since it contributes to health problems.

The Department of Energy and Climate Change commissioned an independent review of fuel poverty after last autumn’s comprehensive spending review. Its interim findings, published earlier this month, proposed changing the definition of fuel poverty. If adopted, the proposals would halve the numbers of households defined as being in fuel poverty.

The Guardian has learned that the DECC approached various former Labour ministers in 2010 to conduct the review in an effort of defuse the political storm likely to brew over fuel poverty. Lord Whitty, former chair of Consumer Focus, confirmed that he and others had been approached but said he had declined because he felt the Treasury was putting too much emphasis on redefining fuel poverty in an attempt to minimise the problem. The review was eventually overseen by Professor John Hills, a respected poverty expert at the London School of Economics. A DECC spokesperson said the Hills review would help it direct resources to those who needed them most.

Boardman said the government’s “Achilles heel is what it is doing to push up prices itself”. As part of its annual energy review last week, DECC showed that its measures to tackle climate change, such as the new Energy Company Obligation and the Green Deal finance for households to improve energy efficiency, would increase average bills by £280 by 2020. It also calculated that its policies would help bring reductions in energy use and savings of an average £373, so there would be a net decrease. However, fuel poverty campaigners say the averaging of savings across all households is misleading since only some will be beneficiaries. They fear that the measures will be taken up by richer households but paid for in taxes on all households, in effect requiring the poor to subsidise the more affluent.

Source: https://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/dec/01/fuel-poverty-affects-quarter-households

Filed Under: Economy, Energy, Health, Politics, Population, Poverty, United Kingdom, Warning Tagged With: Fuel Poverty

China Says Either WW3 or New World Order

December 1, 2011 By T Kelly Leave a Comment

China says we are at the crossroads of either World War III or a New World Order.

Filed Under: China, New World Order, War, Warning

Vietnam-Style Exit: Russia Could Deliver Death Blow To NATO in Af-Pak War Theater

December 1, 2011 By T Kelly Leave a Comment

Russia could deliver death blow to Nato, say analysts

ISLAMABAD: With the Russian threat to cut land routes for supplies to NATO troops in Afghanistan, the Afghan battleground may turn into a cold death trap for NATO, defence analysts believe. They say that Pakistan should utilise the opportunity for a peaceful and prosperous Pakistan by pulling it out of the American war.

Russia has threatened to cut off NATO supply routes to Afghanistan if the alliance doesn’t compromise on its missile defence plans. “If NATO doesn’t give a serious response, we have to address matters in relations in other areas,” Russian news services reported. Russia’s cooperation on Afghanistan may be an area for review, the news services reported.

Pakistan has already cut NATO supply routes after the Mohmand Agency attack by NATO troops that killed twenty-six Pakistani soldiers. Lt General (retd) Hameed Gul, while talking to The News, said that Russia would utilise every option to take revenge on the Americans and the time has come for the Russians to do this. He said that Russia wants to join hands with Pakistan and Pakistan should re-consider its policy towards Russia. “Americans and NATO troops have been strangled in Afghanistan and the time has come for Pakistan to avail itself of the opportunity that it missed on 9/11 to regain respect and sovereignty”, Gul said.

He mentioned that Americans will have to leave Afghanistan and will ask for concessions and Pakistan should negotiate with them on their exit. If Russia cuts its supply routes then the route will be from Georgia to Baku and then to Azerbaijan, which means NATO will never get the supplies, said Gul.

“Now NATO troops will have to exit Vietnam-style, and that too by using Pakistan’s airspace because Iran will never let the USA use its airspace”, the retired General said. He mentioned that the war against terror that was started with our own people will come to an end at once and there will be peace in no time once the Americans leave Afghanistan. He said that Indian interests in Afghanistan were growing but India will get nothing from Afghanistan.

Maria Sultan, defence analyst, while talking to this correspondent said that if the Russians also cut the supply line of NATO then it will turn out to be a cold death for NATO troops. “They will literally be strangled in Afghanistan with 90,000 troops, and as they admit that they have reserves for three months, which actually means they have reserves for two months, then NATO will have to airlift the troops and during the airlift only 15 to 20 percent can get out alive out of the 90,000 troops”, Maria said.

She mentioned that in Afghanistan everything comes from outside and the insurgency this year has been very high as 700 [NATO] causalities have been reported. Therefore, after the Russian decision, Afghanistan will turn into a reverse Kargil for NATO. “They will have weapons but no bullets to fire; and if Pakistan shuts the air corridors to NATO then it would be a cold death for them and America will have to renegotiate with Pakistan”, she said.

Source: https://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=27964

Filed Under: Afghanistan, America, NATO, Pakistan, Politicians, Russia, Warning

Pharmaceutical Industry Payouts Prompt Conflict of Interest Concerns

December 1, 2011 By T Kelly 3 Comments

How would you feel knowing that the doctor insisting that smoking is completely safe is actually being paid by the tobacco industry?

This kind of information would be extremely off-putting to say the least. But unfortunately this conflict of interest is absolutely rampant among the mainstream health community, especially in the pharmaceutical industry.

In fact, recent news has come out revealing that thousands of doctors, researchers, and medical experts in Texas are being paid handsomely by the pharmaceutical industry.

A Conflict of Interest Between Doctors and the Pharmaceutical Industry

It seems that a large number of healthcare professionals and researchers — many of whom are state employed — are supplementing their salary with a nice sum of money paid out by the pharmaceutical industry.

More than 25,000 physicians and researchers in Texas received a combined amount of at least $57 million in cash from the pharmaceutical industry in research money, free meals, travel, and more, from 2009 to early 2011.

Many of the medical professionals, some of which were already attaining a state salary as much as $500,000/year, were bringing in $100,000 between 2009 and early 2011 thanks to the pharmaceutical industry financial push.

These medical professionals were paid for various tasks such as assessing products, speaking engagements, and ultimately anything that would increase sales for the industry.

As much as $100,000 is more than enough money to influence opinions and decisions. With having a family to take care of and a house to payoff, it is no surprise that many individuals accept the money, even while knowing at heart that it is for the opposite of the greater good. These payments issued by the pharmaceutical industry, while legal, are simply bribes and payoffs to support and place their product on the market by having it both FDA and publicly approved. This is the kind of “behind the scenes” situations that occur within the shadows.

The practice ‘puts patients and tax dollars at risk,’ said Lee Spiller, the policy director for the Texas branch of the Citizens Commission on Human Rights, a nonprofit mental health watchdog. ‘It taints the whole process. I’d hate to think donations were shaping state mental health policy in particular.’

These kind of actions are not the only profit-driven, corrupt actions that occur within the confides of the mainstream health community. It was reported earlier this year that key California legislators who were instrumental in the passing of legislation received financing from vaccine titan Merck. The bill, now passed, allows for Gardasil vaccinations to be given to children as young as 12.

This kind of corruption is more widespread than most truly know, and it is vital that people know of these kinds of actions before placing their trust in any mega corporations.

Source: https://www.activistpost.com/2011/11/pharmaceutical-industry-payouts-prompt.html

Filed Under: America, Big Pharma, Corporations, Corruption, Drugs, Health, Human Rights, Lobbying, Medical Industry, Warning

In Modern America, Questioning War Is Considered Terrorism

December 1, 2011 By T Kelly

According to the Department of Justice’s Inspector General (via AP), the FBI spied on an anti-war rally in Pittsburgh sponsored by a nonviolent anti-war and anti-discrimination group, pretending it was preventing terrorism:

The FBI gave inaccurate information to Congress and the public when it claimed a possible terrorism link to justify surveilling an anti-war rally in Pittsburgh, the Justice Department’s inspector general said Monday in a report on the bureau’s scrutiny of domestic activist groups.

Inspector General Glenn Fine said the FBI had no reason to expect that anyone of interest in a terrorism investigation would be present at the 2002 event sponsored by the Thomas Merton Center, a nonviolent anti-war and anti-discrimination group.

The surveillance was “an ill-conceived project on a slow work day,” the IG stated in a study of several FBI domestic terrorism probes of people affiliated with organizations such as Greenpeace and the Catholic Worker.

Earlier, in statements to Congress and in a press release, the FBI had described the surveillance as related to a terrorism investigation.

***

The FBI has broad definitions that enable it to classify matters as domestic terrorism that actually are trespassing or vandalism, the inspector general said.

Regarding the Pittsburgh rally, controversy erupted in 2006 over whether the FBI had spied on protesters at the event several years earlier because of their anti-war views.

Promoters of peace in Maryland, Minneapolis, Chicago and elsewhere were also considered potential terrorists, as was an individual Quaker peace activist.

The Inspector General’s report confirms that – at least in some instances – anti-war views werespecifically targeted:

The report concluded that, while the FBI probes were not generally predicated simply on the views of the targets, at least one FBI field office was focused on a group “as a result of its anti-war views.” It also found that “FBI agents and supervisors sometimes provided the [Office of the Inspector General] with speculative, after-the-fact rationalizations for their prior decisions to open investigations that we did not find persuasive.”

In addition, anti-war websites like AntiWar.com are listed on various terrorist watchlists: see number 16 here, and number 37 here.

AntiWar’s sin? It is (according to the watchlists):

An unusual site, essentially an isolationist right-wing/libertarian site consciouslydesigned to appeal to anti-war activists from the left as well.

The irony, of course, is:

Americans want to put a stop to perpetual warfare:

Ron Paul is [partly] gaining popularity because he is against the never-ending War On Terror, and wants to bring the troops home. Americans are sick of the never-ending, ever-creeping war. See this, this and this.

As Talking Points Memo reported earlier this month:

“…Only about a quarter say the wars in Iraq (26%) and Afghanistan (25%) have lessened the chances of terrorist attacks in the United States,” the Pew report reads. “In both cases majorities say the wars either have increased the risk of terrorism in this country or made no difference.”

Top American military leaders agree, saying that the war on terror has weakened our national security [and it was planned before 9/11, and has little to do with terrorism.]

And a CBS News poll from November 11th found:

Three-quarters of Americans support US withdrawal from Iraq.

Two-thirds of Americans believe the Iraq War was not worth fighting.

Half of Americans oppose US involvement in Libya.

More than half of Americans want to end the war in Afghanistan.

Seventy per cent of Americans do not support military intervention to change dictatorships into democracies.

55% of Americans say Iran can be contained via diplomacy.

Only 15% of Americans support military intervention in Iran.

And Nobel-prize winning economists say war is destroying our economy.

Top American military and intelligence leaders, economists and the majority of Americans, by this logic, must be terrorists.

Nazi leader Hermann Goering’s famous statement is relevant to this issue:

Why of course the people don’t want war … But after all it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship … Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, anddenounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.

Is Everyone Who Criticizes the Government a Terrorist?

Of course, anti-war protesters shouldn’t take it too personally, since they are in good company:

According to Department of Defense training manuals, protest is considered “low-level terrorism”.

***

The government is also using anti-terrorism laws to keep people from learning what pollutants are in their own community.

Claims of “national security” are also used to keep basic financial information – such as who got bailout money – secret. That might not bode for particularly warm and friendly treatment for someone persistently demanding the release of such information.

The state of Missouri tried to label as terrorists current Congressman Ron Paul and his supporters, former Congressman Bob Barr, libertarians in general, anyone who holds gold, and a host of other people.

***

And according to a Law School Professor, pursuant to the Military Commissions Act:

Anyone who … speaks out against the government’s policies could be declared an “unlawful enemy combatant” and imprisoned indefinitely. That includes American citizens.

***

Government apologists are also eager to label anyone “taking a cynical stance toward politics, mistrusting authority, endorsing democratic practices, … and displaying an inquisitive, imaginative outlook” as worthy of a Stalinist trip to the insane asylum.

Source: https://www.washingtonsblog.com/2011/11/in-modern-america-liking-peace-is-considered-terrorism.html

Filed Under: America, Crime, Dissenters, legalisation, Peace Movement, Politicians, Protests, Rights, Sanctions, Terrorism, Warning Tagged With: Patriotism

A Second Iranian Nuclear Facility Has Exploded, As Diplomatic Tensions Rise Between The West And Tehran

November 30, 2011 By T Kelly Leave a Comment

AN IRANIAN nuclear facility has been hit by a huge explosion, the second such blast in a month, prompting speculation that Tehran’s military and atomic sites are under attack.

Satellite imagery seen by The Times confirmed that a blast that rocked the city of Isfahan on Monday struck the uranium enrichment facility there, despite denials by Tehran.

The images clearly showed billowing smoke and destruction, negating Iranian claims yesterday that no such explosion had taken place. Israeli intelligence officials told The Times that there was “no doubt” that the blast struck the nuclear facilities at Isfahan and that it was “no accident”.

The explosion at Iran’s third-largest city came as satellite images emerged of the damage caused by one at a military base outside Tehran two weeks ago that killed about 30 members of the Revolutionary Guard, including General Hassan Moghaddam, the head of the Iranian missile defence program.

Iran claimed that the Tehran explosion occurred during testing on a new weapons system designed to strike at Israel. But several Israeli officials have confirmed that the blast was intentional and part of an effort to target Iran’s nuclear weapons program.

On Monday, Isfahan residents reported a blast that shook tower blocks in the city at about 2.40pm and seeing a cloud of smoke rising over the nuclear facility on the edge of the city.

“This caused damage to the facilities in Isfahan, particularly to the elements we believe were involved in storage of raw materials,” said one military intelligence source.

He would not confirm or deny Israel’s involvement in the blast, instead saying that there were “many different parties looking to sabotage, stop or coerce Iran into stopping its nuclear weapons program”.

Iran went into frantic denial yesterday as news of the explosion at Isfahan emerged. Alireza Zaker-Isfahani, the city’s governor, claimed that the blast had been caused by a military exercise in the area but state-owned agencies in Tehran soon removed this story and issued a government denial that any explosion had taken place at all.

On Monday, Dan Meridor. the Israeli Intelligence Minister, said: “There are countries who impose economic sanctions and there are countries who act in other ways in dealing with the Iranian nuclear threat.”

Major-General Giora Eiland, Israel’s former director of national security, told Israel’s army radio that the Isfahan blast was no accident. “There aren’t many coincidences, and when there are so many events there is probably some sort of guiding hand, though perhaps it’s the hand of God,” he said.

A former Israeli intelligence official cited at least two other explosions that have “successfully neutralised” Iranian bases associated with the Shahab-3, the medium-range missile that could be adapted to carry a nuclear warhead. “This is something everyone in the West wanted to see happen,” he added.

Iran has repeatedly denied the existence of a nuclear weapons program, and strongly condemned the International Atomic Energy Agency’s report last month that accused Iran of trying to build a nuclear weapon.

Source: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/a-second-iranian-nuclear-facility-has-exploded-as-diplomatic-tensions-rise-between-the-west-and-tehran/story-e6frg6so-1226209996774

Filed Under: America, Environment, Iran, Israel, Nuclear Power Stations, Radiation, Warning Tagged With: Explosion

UK Banks Urged To Prepare For Euro Break-Up

November 30, 2011 By T Kelly Leave a Comment

Britain’s biggest banks are being urged by the City regulator to prepare for a break-up of the eurozone.

The head of the Financial Services Authority (FSA), Hector Sants, has told financial institutions to accelerate plans for a separation of the single currency area, Sky’s City editor Mark Kleinman has learned .

Senior excutives from Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, RBS, Santander UK and Standard Chartered were given the warning at a private meeting with the FSA boss.

Although the meeting was not specifically set to issue the warning, Mr Sants said the banks should run a wide range of stress tests as part of their contingency planning.

However, he stopped short of prescribing specific instructions or scenarios.

People close to the FSA told Kleinman that Sants’ warning was “the kind of contingency planning expected in a situation like this”.

The impact on different banks of a eurozone break-up would vary, depending on their exposures to sovereign debt of member countries.

Whereas Barclays holds billions of pounds worth of European government bonds, Santander UK and Standard Chartered have very little direct exposure.

Source: https://uk.news.yahoo.com/uk-banks-urged-prepare-euro-break-154737202.html

Filed Under: Banks, Debt, Economy, European Union, Financial Crisis, Politics, United Kingdom, Warning

US Govt Demands Wikileaks Destroy All Files About Them – Assange

November 28, 2011 By T Kelly Leave a Comment

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has told a media summit that the US government has ordered him to destroy all the material WikiLeaks holds on them – published and unpublished - and to stop using government insiders to gather fresh material.

“[When we released our documents] the Pentagon said we must destroy everything we published and were going to publish,” Assange said. ”And if we didn’t, we would be ‘compelled to do so,’” the summit’s website says.

Assange made the allegation as he addressed the News 2011 Summit in Hong Kong via Skype. News executives and media owners from over 80 countries have gathered there to discuss editorial principles and tools as well as business models for the news media. Reports say Assange has been under police pressure to stop talking – exactly the kind of oppressive official action he has been working to highlight.

He was met with a storm of applause from journalists as he appeared on the screen.

Speaking about modern journalism, Assange claimed it was facing crisis of a legitimacy today and accused the mainstream press of corruption and bias.

Answering a question from the moderator on whether he considers himself a journalist, Assange said, “Of course I’m a goddamned journalist,” and emphasized the role WikiLeaks played in some significant events, such as the revolution in Tunisia.

The WikiLeaks founder has dubbed the Internet the biggest surveillance machine ever built: “Any information stored in Gmail or Yahoo is accessible by any government agency.”

Julian Assange is facing extradition from the UK to Sweden on rape charges. His defense believes the move could lead to their client facing prosecution in America for his involvement in WikiLeaks.

Source:

https://rt.com/news/us-wikileaks-assange-summit-371

Filed Under: America, Warning, Whistleblowers Tagged With: Journalism, Wikileaks