Category: Journal ISSN 1078-1935

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NIGHTWATCH: Turkey Joining Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)?

Strategy

Turkey: Prime Minister Erdogan called on Russian President Putin to let Turkey join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) during a joint press conference the two leaders held in St. Petersburg.

“Include us in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and relieve us from this pain,” Erdogan told Putin in a reference to Turkey's long European Union membership process.

“Besides, we are also ready to ink free trade agreements with countries in Eurasia,” added Erdogan. The SCO is a mutual-security organization that was founded in 2001 in Shanghai by the leaders of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The other countries, with the exception of Uzbekistan, had been members of the Shanghai Five, founded in 1996; after the inclusion of Uzbekistan in 2001, the members renamed the organization.

Comment: On Friday, press sources said Erdogan first had a tête-à-tête with Putin and then the two leaders attended the fourth meeting of the High Level Cooperation Council (ÜDIK), which was created between the two countries on May 12, 2010. Erdogan, accompanied by a group of Turkish ministers and journalists, has been in St. Petersburg since Thursday for top-level talks and was due to return to Turkey late Friday.

Turkey was accepted as a dialogue partner by the Shanghai Five at its annual summit in Beijing on 7 June 2012.

Membership in the SCO would not replace membership in NATO, but would signify that European Union requirements for membership would carry less weight with the Erdogan regime.

In his talk with Putin, Erdogan was playing to his audience, but, cumulatively, Turkey's recent actions indicate a shift in Turkey's strategic outlook. Turkey's purchases of Chinese air defense systems and ballistic missiles are early manifestations of a gathering trend. Turkey's strategic tilt means NATO is less relevant. It is also a setback for Uighur separatists in western China who obtain support from Turkey.

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NIGHTWATCH: Pakistan Closing Kyber Pass to NATO?

04 Inter-State Conflict, 10 Transnational Crime, IO Deeds of War, Peace Intelligence

Pakistan-US: The government of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan has vowed to close the Khyber Pass to NATO in reaction a US drone attack in the province this week. Chief Minister Imran Khan said his provincial administration will blockade the pass to all NATO traffic

Comment: Khan had initially threatened such a blockade after the 1 November US drone strike that killed Hakimullah Mehsud, just 24 hours before Hakimullah was set to open peace talks with the Pakistani government, but delayed his plans when no US strikes followed.

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David Swanson: Switzerland Limits CEO Pay [But Shelters Predatory Banking]

Commercial Intelligence, Cultural Intelligence
David Swanson
David Swanson

Switzerland Shows U.S. How to Handle CEOs

In Switzerland a petition from 100,000 people, or about 1.25% of the population, creates a public referendum.  By this means, last March, Swiss voters created strict limits on executive pay.

On November 24, the Swiss will vote on whether to take a further step — limiting executive pay to no more than 12 times the lowest salary in the company. Such a maximum wage policy allows the CEO pay increases, but only if workers get at least a twelfth as much.

A movement in the U.S. is asking: If Switzerland can do it, why can't we?

The Swiss are also set to vote, on a date yet to be set, to create a guaranteed basic income of $2,800 (2,500 Swiss francs) per month for every adult. That's about $16 per hour for a full-time worker, but it's guaranteed even for those who can't find work.

You know what country can afford such a measure even more easily, given its vast supplies of wealth? The United States of America.

Here in the United States, had the minimum wage kept pace with productivity since the 1960s it would now be $21.72 an hour, or $3,722 a month. The Congressional proposal of $10.10 an hour, which President Obama now says he supports, equals $1,751 a month for a fulltime job. The actual U.S. minimum wage of $7.25, which does not apply to all workers, makes $1,242 a month. But only if you can find work.

That's less than half what the Swiss are voting on, and Swiss workers also have their healthcare paid for, public transportation widely available, quality education and higher education free or affordable, 14 weeks paid parental leave, and a nearly endless list of other advantages provided by the government.

Continue reading “David Swanson: Switzerland Limits CEO Pay [But Shelters Predatory Banking]”

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SchwartzReport: Truths That Matter

Commercial Intelligence, Cultural Intelligence, Earth Intelligence

schwartzreport newI read stories like this and wonder what is our culture thinking? Children, as everyone says, yet few in public office seem to believe, are our future. On the basis of stories like this, our future is increasingly bleak. Where do you have to be in your own mind when feeding children, and seeing they get a good start, is not important?

Early Childhood Poverty Damages Brain Development, Study Finds
ALLIE BIDWELL – US News & World Report

Yet another story illustrating why the Theocratic Right is the most dangerous toxic social movement in America today. It's hard to believe that people think this way.

GOP Finds Cure for Bad Public Schools in Pennsylvania: God!
AARON KASE – Salon

Here is a study from the University of Maryland that holds considerable implications for each of our lives.

Imminent Peak Oil Could Burst Global Economic Bubble: Study
NAFEEZ AHMED, Executive Director of the Institute for Policy Research & Development – The Raw Story/The Guardian

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Winslow Wheeler: Stop the Assassination of the A-10

Corruption, Government, Military
Winslow Wheeler
Winslow Wheeler

Usually ignored by the press as insufficiently interesting to technology dazzled editors and reviled by the civilian and military leadership of the Air Force as not what they think they should spend money and careers on, the A-10 “Warthog” has broken through into Washington DC's consciousness.  Interestingly, the attention was provoked by a heavy handed effort by the Air Force to wipe out the entire remaining fleet of approximately 350 A-10 close air support aircraft in order to plough the money saved into “higher priority” programs, most specifically the F-35.

Five articles in major national or regional news media just this week make painfully obvious that in attempting to get rid of the A-10, the Air Force has kicked itself into a hornet's nest.  Most importantly, the growing controversy is revealing that in warfare since Operation Desert Storm in 1991, the A-10 has performed spectacularly well, significantly better than other more complex and costly aircraft, in its primary mission (helping Soldiers and Marines fight on the ground) and it performs–equally well–missions for which it was not originally intended.

The issues go to the very nature of the Air Force, how to fight effectively in the twenty-first century, and what kinds of weapons should be bought (and how to buy them).

These issue will be the focus of a seminar tomorrow (Friday): “Close Air Support with and without the A-10: Will US Troops Get the Help They Need?” sponsored by the Straus Military Reform Project and the Project On Government Oversight.  It's located at the Carnegie building at 1779 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, very near the DuPont Circle (South) Metro stop. Sessions will start at 9:30, lasting until 3:30. 

Find details (Speakers and their bios, specific issues to be addressed and more) at http://www.pogo.org/our-work/straus-military-reform-project/weapons/2013/a-seminar-on-combat-effectiveness.html.

We hope to see you there.  Below are the five articles and their links discussed above.
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Paul Craig Roberts: JFK’s Assassination 50 Years On…

07 Other Atrocities, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, Government, Military, Peace Intelligence
Paul Craig Roberts
Paul Craig Roberts

The Kennedy Assassination (November 22, 1963) 50 Years Later

November 22, 2013, is the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The true story of JFK’s murder has never been officially admitted, although the conclusion that JFK was murdered by a plot involving the Secret Service, the CIA, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff has been well established by years of research, such as that provided by James W. Douglass in his book, JFK And The Unspeakable, published by Simon & Schuster in 2008. Ignore Douglass’ interest in the Trappist monk Thomas Merton and Merton’s prediction and focus on the heavily documented research that Douglass provides.

Or just turn to the contemporary films, taken by tourists watching JFK’s motorcade that are available on YouTube, which show clearly the Secret Service pulled from President Kennedy’s limo just prior to his assassination, and the Zapruder film that shows the killing shot to have come from President Kennedy’s right front, blowing off the back of his head, not from the rear as postulated in the Warren Commission Report, which would have pushed his head forward, not rearward.

I am not going to write about the assassination to the extent that the massive information permits. Those who want to know already know. Those who cannot face the music will never be able to confront the facts regardless of what I or anyone else writes or reveals.

Continue reading “Paul Craig Roberts: JFK's Assassination 50 Years On…”

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Veterans Today: JFK’s Assassination — Seek Truth

07 Other Atrocities, 09 Justice, 09 Terrorism, 10 Transnational Crime, 11 Society, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, Government

VT logoKevin Barrett: Confession, jury verdict prove CIA killed JFK

At least fifty people have been murdered to cover up the CIA’s assassination of JFK, as explained in the book Hit List by Richard Belzer and David Wayne. A few of them, including Dorothy Kilgallen and Mary Meyer, were journalists or writers who were poised to blow the case wide open. But in the US stealth police state, unlike overt police states, psychological rather than physical means are usually employed to silence serious opposition.

Several people involved in the CIA’s assassination of JFK have confessed, including Chauncey Holt, David Sanchez Morales, and even Lyndon Johnson. But the star witness among the confessed JFK assassins is CIA officer E. Howard Hunt, who, on February 6th, 1985, was legally found by a jury to have participated in the CIA’s assassination of JFK.

Bob Johnson: The Mistake the Killers of JFK Made

Includes copy of John McCone letter on Oswald being trained by and working for the CIA. Focus on how technology — the Zapruder film — undermined the best-laid plans.

President Kennedy made a profound and very true statement when he said,

“With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God’s work must truly be our own.”

Allen L. Roland: JFK Assassination – The Death of Hope

Here, in a nut shell, is what really happened on November 22,1963

The Secret Service stood down.

Dallas and Texas law enforcement stood down.

Military intelligence, which is normally enrolled to provide presidential security, stood down.

The FBI stood down.

These elements opened the door to the assassination, but did not have the resources to deliver the shooters and the complicated cover story and witness elimination program that followed.

Corrupt elements of the CIA and their long term friends and colleagues in organized crime did. And they did it because their very survival was at stake.

After decades of non-investigation by the epically corrupt J. Edgar Hoover, organized crime was on the receiving end of a massive attack by Robert Kennedy ~ the president’s brother and Attorney General.

At the same time, his brother was going after organized crime, JFK was going after the criminal elements that had taken over the CIA.

Continue reading “Veterans Today: JFK's Assassination — Seek Truth”

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