11 Society – Page 177 – Public Intelligence Blog

To be Jedi is to face the truth, and choose. Give off light, or darkness, Padawan. Be a candle, or the night.

–YODA, Dark Rendezvous

China's Urban Air Kills Rural Plants

As people in Beijing and northern China struggle with severe air pollution this winter, the toxic air is also making life hard for plants and even food crops of China, say researchers who have been looking at how China's plants are affected by air pollution.

Beijing's extreme smog event this week has made headlines, with the American Embassy calling the pollution levels “hazardous” and Beijing writer Zheng Yuanjie blogging that “the air smells like sulfur perfume, as the capital city currently looks like a poisonous huge gas can,” according to a report on Al Jazeera.
BLOG: 7 of 10 Most Air-Polluted Cities Are in China

“In the last 50 years there has been a 16-fold increase in ozone pollution” in the Beijing area, said Hanqin Tian of Auburn University in Alabama, who studies the effects of China's pollution and climate change on plants. He said the soup of pollutants, including harmful sulfur and nitrogen compounds “is definitely expanding into new areas; into the countryside.”

Read full article.

Continue reading “Yoda: China — A Focal Point”

2013/01/182013/01/18

David Isenberg: How Responsible is the Chain of Command? IS THERE a “Chain of Command?” Does Yamashita Standard Apply to Commander in Chief?

07 Other Atrocities, 09 Justice, 11 Society, Ethics, Government, Military

Military Justice

Lawbreakers at War: How Responsible Are They?

By David Isenberg Jan. 18, 2013

Anybody around here remember Tomoyuki Yamashita?

He was an Imperial Japanese Army general during World War II. In terms of battles he was most famous for conquering the British colonies of Malaya and Singapore.

But his historical legacy comes from being tried in late 1945 by an American military tribunal in Manila for war crimes relating to the massacre of civilians in Manila, and atrocities in Singapore against civilians and prisoners of war, such as the Sook Ching massacre.

Even though the massacre in the Philippines was carried out by a subordinate commander, Imperial Japanese Navy Rear Admiral Sanji Iwabuchi, against Yamashita’s specific order – and without his knowledge or approval – a U.S. military tribunal held Yamashita responsible for the conduct of his troops. He was executed on February 23, 1946.

Nowadays most legal scholars acknowledge that Yamashita’s execution was a case of victor’s, not legal, justice. Nevertheless his case become a precedent regarding the command responsibility for war crimes and is known as the Yamashita Standard.

An interesting tidbit of history, you’re thinking, but what’s its relevance to today’s U.S. military?

Read full article.

Phi Beta Iota: Morality is even more important in war than in peace. Extreme violations will have a lasting negative effect. The USS Liberty, 34 KIA, 171 WIA, is a classic modern example. No one is Israel has been held accountable for this atrocity, and for over 30 years no one in Washington has been held accountable for covering it up and abusing the surviving crew and families. We continue to recommend Truth & Reconciliation — educating the public on what has actually happened, why, and its consequences — rather than individual punitive measures that do nothing for the greater good of society.

2013/01/172013/01/17

Mini-Me: Sandy Hook, Israel’s “Art Students” in Purple Van, Greenwich Safehouse, Nurse’s False Testimony — Four Competing Narratives

07 Other Atrocities, 11 Society, Corruption, Government, Idiocy, Ineptitude, IO Deeds of War, IO Impotency, Law Enforcement

Huh?

Obama “Gun Address” Misses Real Terrorism Threat

by Gordon Duff, Senior Editor

Despite attempts to blame a seemingly endless group of lunatic mass murderers for the equally endless number of devastating mass killings now plaguing the United States, our government, our “protectors” and, most damnably, our president, are failing to react to real terror attacks that are becoming an almost daily occurrence.

Ambassador Susan Rice was “sacrificed” for failing to cite the Benghazi attack as terrorism.

However, when something worse, when a dozen “somethings worse” happens, not in North Africa, but here at home, our schools, movie theatres, military bases, college campuses, the use of the term “terrorism” is forbidden.

Why?

. . . . . . . . .

The US Army has recognized a pattern of terrorist activity in several of the recent mass shootings, based on timing, type of target, control of media, lost evidence, poor investigations, a pattern that shows signs of the involvement of a military type operation against “soft targets” in the US.

Sandy Hook, we are told, is a total failure as an “false flag” terror attack, having left too many “loose threads.” Some are listed in the video below. In truth, there are hundreds:

Initial suspicions led investigators to extremist groups in the US, the National Socialist Movement, the US Border Patrol and the Hutarees.

However, investigations found these groups to be both almost entirely inactive or with a majority of members FBI informants.

Read full article with video and photos.

Continue reading “Mini-Me: Sandy Hook, Israel's “Art Students” in Purple Van, Greenwich Safehouse, Nurse's False Testimony — Four Competing Narratives”

2013/01/172013/01/17

Warren Edward Pollock: Ann Barnhardt on the Record — SENTINEL & Other Frauds Stealing Your Future

03 Economy, 09 Justice, 10 Transnational Crime, 11 Society, Commerce, Commercial Intelligence, Corruption, Government, Law Enforcement

Published on Jan 16, 2013

Ann Barnhardt – August 14, 2012 – reposted by request

This was the 2007 pre-fraud, with full complicity from the US Government which “did not understand” and therefore “went ahead and signed off.” As Ann calls it, “evil incompetence” combined with malicious auditing and malicious litigation used to silence critics. Customer segregated funds no longer off limits, allows banks to use customer funds as collateral to fund proprietary bank speculation.

Phi Beta Iota: This is a video that should go viral. Bottom line: the US legal system is corrupt to the bone and no longer represents “Justice.”

2013/01/162013/01/16

Owl: Aaron Swartz — Prosecutors as Persecutors — Call to End All Donations to MIT — Burn MIT to the Ground, Metaphorically Speaking

07 Other Atrocities, 09 Justice, 11 Society, Academia, Commerce, Corruption, Crowd-Sourcing, Culture, Governance, Government, Knowledge, Law Enforcement, Media

Following up on the excellent post, Mongoose: Moti Nissani on Who Killed Aaron Swartz? it is now clear MIT refuses to cut any kind of deal, and the prosecutor went nuclear on what should have been a matchbook case. Now it emerges that the prosecutor going after Swartz went after another young man involved with computers who also died, allegedly from suicide, as supposedly did Swartz. “Prosecutor Stephen Heymann has been blamed for contributing to Swartz's suicide. Back in 2008, young hacker Jonathan James killed himself in the midst of a federal investigation led by the same prosecutor. James, the first juvenile put into confinement for a federal cybercrime case, was found dead two weeks after the Secret Service raided his house as part of its investigation of the TJX hacker case led by Heymann — the largest personal identity hack in history. He was thought to be “JJ,” the unindicted co-conspirator named in the criminal complaints filed with the US District Court in Massachusetts. In his suicide note, James wrote that he was killing himself in response to the federal investigation and their attempts to tie him to a crime which he did not commit.”

So one scenario is, as mentioned by Nissani, that the government directly killed – by hanging – Swartz. But in light of this newly emergent pattern, perhaps it indicates another scenario equally sinister but more simple: that Heymann mercilessly and severely harasses his victims to death by suicide. No need to send in wet boys (a DOJ slang term for on-the-payroll DOJ killers specifically) to murder someone, just drive them insane or to self-destruction. The outcome is the same as someone putting a bullet in one's head. It's about prosecuting by persecuting. A capsule definition of what comprises much of what is called the US legal system. See this link for more:

Internet Activist's Prosecutor Linked To Another Hacker's Death

It seems like outrage at the official US government persecution-leading-to death of Aaron Swartz is picking up steam. Check out this excellent list of recent links from the Naked Capitalism site:

Berners-Lee Calls Prosecution of Aaron Swartz ‘Travesty’ Bloomberg. Notice how slanted the story is. Calls what he did “hacking” when was not, see here.
How the Legal System Failed Aaron Swartz—And Us New Yorker
TOWARDS LEARNING FROM LOSING AARON SWARTZ Center for Internet and Society
‘Aaron was killed by the government’ – Robert Swartz on his son’s death RT
On humanity, a big failure in Aaron Swartz case Boston Globe. Makes it clear MIT refused to cut a deal. I hope tech donors never give a dime to MIT again.

Continue reading “Owl: Aaron Swartz — Prosecutors as Persecutors — Call to End All Donations to MIT — Burn MIT to the Ground, Metaphorically Speaking”

2013/01/162013/01/16

Mini-Me: NRA President Hints at Impeachment Over Gun Control Legislation

05 Civil War, 07 Other Atrocities, 11 Society, Corruption, Government, Law Enforcement

Huh?

Keene to Newsmax: Obama Presidency ‘At Risk' If He Acts Alone on Gun Ban

National Rifle Association President David Keene tells Newsmax that President Obama could be violating the Constitution if he circumvents Congress and imposes gun control by executive order — and his presidency will be “at risk” if he proceeds.

Keene also says gun control advocates will ultimately fail in their efforts to ban assault weapons, despite Obama’s “rabid advisers” who will push the ban.

And he asserts that the administration is asking the “wrong questions” in the wake of the Newtown, Conn., shootings and is instead seeking to politicize the tragedy.

Read full article.

Continue reading “Mini-Me: NRA President Hints at Impeachment Over Gun Control Legislation”

2013/01/162013/01/16

Rickard Falkvinge: 25,000 Sign Petition to Fire Aaron Swartz’ Prosecutor

07 Other Atrocities, 09 Justice, 11 Society, Crowd-Sourcing

Petition To Fire Aaron Swartz’ Prosecutor Reaches Goal

Activism: Early Tuesday morning, the petition to the U.S. Administration to fire Carmen Ortiz reached the prerequisite 25,000 signatures. Carmen Ortiz was the prosecutor that drove the prosecution against Aaron Swartz, which many mean contributed or led to his tragic suicide. The U.S. Administration, by its own rules, must now take the petition seriously and respond to it.

Read full article.

Continue reading “Rickard Falkvinge: 25,000 Sign Petition to Fire Aaron Swartz' Prosecutor”