“Iran will use all of its potentials to stop the repression of the disadvantaged in the U.K. and [secure] the release of political prisoners.”-Zohreh Elahian, Chairwoman of the Iranian Human Rights Committee
Elahian went on to demand that Britain allow human rights observers into their country.
“This situation will definitely take place in other countries, because the people do not completely approve of their rulers, and, in many countries, the people do not want their governments, because, on the one hand, there is dictatorship and, on the other hand, the people’s demands are ignored.”-Kazem Farahmand, Iranian legislator
Many Iranian officials are comparing the unrest in Europe with the uprising of Arab people against their governments. They believe the same will happen to “western” countries.
Turkey, a member of the U.S. led NATO, has ordered more troops to the border with Syria, and is recalling retired officers to active duty.
Turkish leaders say the troop build up is officially for an anticipated wave of refugees coming out of Syria. Why are they anticipating a huge wave of refugees? Is it because when NATO attacked Libya, European countries, like Italy and France, were swamped with refugees?
It’s interesting that the troop build up is being done at bases of “strategic importance”. Turkish official do admit that any NATO action against Syria would put Turkey in a bad position with the Muslim world.
“In the past couple of weeks, the world has moved from a troubled multi-speed recovery to a new and more dangerous phase.”-Robert Zoellick, World Bank president
In an interview with Australian media, the president of the World Bank says things are not getting better, and anyone who complains about the drastic cuts in their taxpayer funded social programs is a terrorist!
“We are in the early moments of a new and different storm, it’s not the same as [the] 2008 [financial crisis].”
Zoellick says the debt situation in Europe is much worse than what’s being reported. He also says governments took too long to take action. Because of the slow response, of Europe and the United States, to deal with economic and financial problems, the world’s financial power is rapidly moving in China’s favor.
Zoellick also said that public protests over drastic government cuts in social programs are a threat, and he agrees with government crack downs on protestors: “I believe what British Prime Minister David Cameron is doing in the U.K. is really necessary.”
So you see the new terrorists in the new global economic war, is you!
“BART officials are showing themselves to be of a mind with the former president of Egypt, Hosni Mubarak.”-Electronic Frontier Foundation
August 11, the city of San Fransisco, California, shut off cell phone service to prevent people from protesting a police crime.
Residents had planned to protest the killing of a man by BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) police. The man was shot back in July. Police claim he was attacking them with a knife. It’s not the first time BART police have shot and killed someone in a questionable incident.
BART officials admitted, on their web site, they shut off several cell towers, to prevent demonstrators from using their cell phones to launch another protest. On July 11, people disrupted transit service by protesting the killing of the homeless man.
“Shutting down access to mobile phones is the wrong response to political protests.”-Rebecca Farmer, ACLU
BART police say they’re within the law by cutting off cell phone service, however FCC (Federal Communication Commission) regulations say cell customers must be notified “in writing” when their cell service is about to be cut off “for any reason”.
If you’ve lost cell phone service without being notified visit www.fcc.gov/complaints or call 1-888-CALL-FCC.
In 2009 a man was beaten unconscious by Springfield, Massachusetts, police. A witness recorded video of the crime. Now that witness is being threatened with a lawsuit, and even criminal charges.
Officials are citing a Massachusetts law that prohibits “…the secret use of such devices [recorders] by private individuals…”. However, attorney’s for the woman who recorded the police crime, say the law was meant to be applied to organized crime, not individual citizens: “Even a cursory review of the law would show that the Legislature took the time to insert a preamble into the statute showing that it is specifically aimed at organized crime prosecutions.”-Daniel D. Kelly, attorney
The woman posted the video on the internet, you can see it in a report posted by masslive.com. The victim tries to run from police, but is caught. One police officer then proceeds to beat him, sometimes the blows are so loud you can hear them in the video. You can also hear people in the background begging police not to hurt him. The beating continues until the man is unconscious. For more than 15 minutes police stand around, as if they’re trying to figure out what to do, some are laughing. After eleven or twelve minutes some of the residents of the neighborhood come out, asking for an explaination.
Massachusetts is one of several states that use a law that requires “consent” before you can record a conversation. Other states include California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Washington. Massachusetts is claiming the woman who video recorded the police crime, violated the two-party consent law because she recorded audio. Apparently if she had recorded silent video she would have been within the law.
August 12, the FDIC took over six branches of the First National Bank of Olathe, in Kansas. This makes the 64th failed U.S. bank this year.
For 2011 most of the failed banks are small regional, or local banks.
To see the list of failed banks go to the FDIC website.
During Ramadan the Iranian government is officially encouraging local Farmer’s Markets, called Direct Markets in Tehran. This is in response to consumers demand for lower food prices.
However, comments from shoppers have been mixed. Some Direct Market shoppers claim the prices are cheaper and they can find what they need, while an almost even number of people said the opposite. One man said the price difference was only slight. It just proves the saying that you need to “shop around” for the best price.
During Ramadan Muslims fast during the day, and eat after the sun goes down.
Friday August 12, the 11th Circuit Court of appeals, in Atlanta, Georgia, ruled that forcing people to buy insurance is unconstitutional. The health care reform law would have forced every U.S. citizen to buy health insurance, or be punished with fines.
The ruling said forcing people to buy anything is beyond the power of the U.S. government!
However, the three Federal Court judges said all other aspects of the health care reform law can remain in effect.
The ruling adds to the chances that the health care reform law won’t even be implemented. Many politicians say they’re going to block funding of the law, and it appears U.S. Congress is set for massive arguments over how to put the law into effect.
Because of incorrect reporting, by the mainstream right wing controlled media, of the Independent Police Complaints Commission’s initial conclusions about the shooting, that led to the English riots, the commission has restated that the police were the only ones who fired their weapons.
There was no exchange of gunfire, as the right wing media continues to report: “Any reference to an exchange of shots was not correct and did not feature in any of our formal statements, although an officer was taken to hospital after the incident.”-latest IPCC statement
The commission also stated that any shots that hit police, came from police. They pointed out that the police radio that was hit, was hit by a jacketed police issue bullet.
The right wing media has also been reporting that police claim the shooting victim had a pistol that was illegally converted to fire live ammo. As I reported earlier, the Independent Police Complaints Commission said there is no evidence the victim shot at police, and that he was not armed!
The commission stated in its latest press conference, that the pistol police claim to have belonged to the shooting victim, was no where near the scene of the shooting.
The riots started after a a crowd of about 200 people gathered to protest he shooting. A 16 year old girl approached the line of police officers and was beaten by them (right wing reports say she attacked police). That’s when the peaceful protesters went violent.
There’s video on YouTube, it’s a little dark, but you can hear someone yelling at the British Bobbies that they’re beating a “F**cking girl!”. Of interest is that YouTube has been blocking some earlier posts of the video, as “potentially offensive” even though it’s hard to see what’s happening in the video.