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Obama waging economic warfare on several fronts, including Japan http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_5573.shtml

The Obama administration has expanded its economic warfare against other countries, first reported on January 18 by WMR in the case of an authorized financial campaign against Venezuela. The Obama administration, according to WMR’s Asian sources, is waging an economic warfare campaign, coupled with industrial sabotage, against Japan through a pre-planned operation directed against the Japanese automobile manufacturer, Toyota.

WMR has learned that the Obama administration authorized the anti-Toyota campaign as a warning shot to Japan over its reformist government’s insistence that the U.S. pull its military troops out of Okinawa. WMR has learned that Obama and his chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, have decided to turn the screws on Japan, not only for auto market leverage, but also to punish Japan over the insistence by Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and the newly-elected anti-U.S. military mayor of Nago on Okinawa to move the U.S. military off of Okinawa.

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Olympic Flame Parades Through Ravaged Northern British Columbia http://axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/Article_58474.shtml

THE VANCOUVER Winter Olympic Games torch relay wound its way across northern British Columbia in early February. When it arrived in the coastal town of Kitimat, the celebration was subdued. Like most towns on the relay's route, Kitimat is suffering huge economic blows from the barons of the natural resource industries that are the mainstay of the province's economy.

Since it was first elected in 2001, the Liberal Party government in B.C. has offered the natural resources of the province to the highest bidders. A mad scramble has opened - drilling for oil and gas in the north, damming or channelling of hundreds of rivers for 'green' electrical production, plans for yet more coal and hard rock mines, regardless of environmental impact, and relentless clear cutting of the forests.

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An Olympic Failure At least 137 Native women missing and murdered in BC since 1980 http://www.dominionpaper.ca/articles/2982

The problem of missing and murdered Indigenous women is systemic, and an extension of ongoing racist and sexist colonial policies such as the Indian Act. The issue is also country-wide, with the frequency of violence against Indigenous women growing in eastern provinces. BC, though, is still the site of the most alarming level of gendered and racialized violence toward Native women in the country.

Ironically, when deciding where to hold the 2010 Olympics, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) faced a choice between Pyeongchang, South Korea, and Vancouver. While South Korea pitched itself as the "peace" candidate, Vancouver sold itself as the "safety and security" candidate. The provincial government presented BC as a place where everybody gets along: rich and poor, rural and urban, Native and non-Native.

Considering the extremely poor record of police investigations into violence against sex trade workers and Indigenous women in Canada, it is unlikely that any real attempt to check these practices during 2010 will take place

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CHILE: Another Chance for Reparations for Pinochet Victims http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=50297

Over the next six months, a new commission will receive testimony from victims of the 1973-1990 dictatorship of the late General Augusto Pinochet, who have not qualified for reparations since Chile's return to democracy. A bill signed into law in December by President Michelle Bachelet that created the National Institute for Human Rights also established an advisory commission to certify victims of forced disappearance, politically-motivated murder or imprisonment and torture under the dictatorship. 

The commission, which will be active for 12 months, will be an extension of the work of two previous commissions created after this South American country's return to democracy.As soon as the regulatory decree is published in the official gazette - sometime before Feb. 15 - the six-month period will begin for victims or their relatives to present their documents at the new commission's Santiago office, regional government offices, or Chilean consulates abroad. In the first week of March, Bachelet is expected to preside at the installation ceremony for the new commission, which will be comprised of the same eight members who sat on the Valech Commission.

Herrera said it was highly unlikely that the reparations process would be upset by the Mar. 11 swearing-in of rightwing president-elect Sebastián Piñera, who is backed by two parties that include among their members individuals who directly participated in the Pinochet regime.Senate president Jovino Novoa, of the ultra-conservative Independent Democratic Union (UDI) party, which supports Piñera, announced that he is in favour of invoking the 1978 amnesty law issued by Pinochet, which blocked the prosecution of those implicated in certain crimes committed between the Sept. 11, 1973 coup d'état and Mar. 10, 1978.

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MNN: Canada's French and English internal military conflict http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2010/02/mnn-canadas-french-and-english-internal.html

The two military factions in Canada are the French Separatists-Europeans-Jesuits-Catholic Church who are the Liberals, NDP, Bloc Quebecois and Ontario and Quebec provincial governments. The other is the English-Americans who are the Conservatives. The Liberals control Ontario and Quebec and the Conservatives the rest of Canada. They are fighting over our territory and resources. The military and para-military are controlled by the liberals through language laws brought in by Prime Minister Trudeau. Only bilingual can get top jobs, which means French speaking.

Coincidentally, an anti-Mohawk campaign was launched to demonize us as racists. For 500 years we watched conflicts between these combating colonists. We were always neutral. Quebec is trying to eliminate a Mohawk enclave south of Montreal Quebec. Though Canada’s own laws provide only natives can live here, public pressure is being mounted to bring in non-natives to outnumber us.

The minister must uphold the law. He cannot make statements contrary to his trust position. They may also be infiltrators.This age old strategy to accuse dissidents of sexual abuse, child molestation and other crimes has been used many times before. The press convicts the victim before the trial and lynches them regardless of the facts. We don’t know if Col. Williams is a murderer. By law he must be presumed innocent until proven guilty. Mohawks always give the benefit of the doubt.

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Brazil To Donate 260,000 Tons Of Food To Poor Countries http://www.insidecostarica.com/dailynews/2010/february/12/latam-10021201.htm

BRASILIA - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva signed a decree authorizing donation of about 260,000 tons of food to 11 poor countries. The measure, published in the Official Journal on Thursday, will benefit Haiti, El Salvador, Guatemala, Bolivia, Zimbabwe, Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau, Mozambique, Sao Tome and Principe and Timor Leste. Some of the food can be donated to other countries affected by "adverse socio-natural events or in acute food insecurity situation."

The state-owned National Supply Company (Conab) will be responsible for loading "free and unembarrassed" food in the ships to be sent abroad departing from the country's main ports, and operations costs will be covered by resources from the National Budget.The government may donate up to 100,000 tons of beans, 100,000 tons of maize or its industrial equivalent, 50,000 tons of rice or its milled equivalent and 10,000 tons of powdered milk.

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Colombia: Magazine Closure Deals Major Blow to Investigative Reporting  http://upsidedownworld.org/main/news-briefs-archives-68/2360-colombia-magazine-closure-deals-major-blow-to-investigative-reporting

But in recent weeks, the publication's investigative reporting drove the circumspect officials at the Foreign Ministry to distraction by revealing details of the deal under which Colombia agreed last year to grant the United States the use of seven military bases. The magazine also broke a scandal implicating former agriculture minister Andrés Felipe Arias, who is close to rightwing President Álvaro Uribe, in the handout of farm subsidies to wealthy business families, under the government's Agro Ingreso Seguro (roughly, "stable farm income") programme. 

The programme enabled the government to distribute millions of dollars over the last three years to some of the country's largest landholders who have made sizeable contributions to Uribe's campaigns.What they  are doing is punishing and shutting down are Cambio's investigations of public figures close to the government," wrote columnist Héctor Abad

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MUST READ-History Repeats: Committee of Relatives of the Detained-Disappeared of Honduras  http://upsidedownworld.org/main/honduras-archives-46/2359-history-repeats-committee-of-relatives-of-the-detained-disappeared-of-honduras

Researcher Robinson Salazar Pérez analyzes: “The coup d'état in Honduras on June 28th, 2009, clearly marks a turning point in the future path of Latin American politics. Three issues in particular, have been clearly signaled and appear to be the target of right-wing hardliners: Avoid any economic alternative [i.e. ALBA] that may block the markets of multinational corporations, detain the progressive advance of the nationalist governments of Bolivia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Nicaragua and El Salvador, and sow the seeds of fear among Latin American leaders, by reminding them that extra-national interests are well above legitimate internal governance, even if this latter one is backed up by votes.”

The powerful Hall of Living Memories, inside COFADEH’s headquarters, reminds us that certain chapters in history must not repeat themselves. Nevertheless, in Honduras, the oppressors of the past, using proven methods, once again apply their tyrannical despotism in 2010. A concerned Bertha Oliva concludes: “I am convinced that this is a project they want to emulate throughout Latin America. If they succeed in Honduras, they will also try to do so in other countries that have already been identified.”

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Correo del Orinoco International Read the Correo del Orinoco International in english http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/files/pdf/cdoi_0_20100212.pdf

Our Correo del Orinoco International this week has in depth articles on the celebration of National Youth Day this Friday, February 12, which also commemorates la Batalla de la Victoria (The Battle of Victory), a definitive battle during the War of Independence victoriously won by students; an analysis of the mass media manipulation campaign against Venezuela, evidenced in recent articles in The Washington Post, Miami Herald and other major newspapers; an interesting study of geo-strategic interests in Africa and Latin America placing China and the US at odds

a remarkable story of a free solar energy project being implemented in rural Venezuela; a spotlight on Carmen Clemente Travieso, the founder of Venezuela's Feminist Movement at the turn of last century; and other interesting stories about the creation of socialist communes and a new national program to fight crime and violence in Venezuela. We are also really excited that this week's stellar columnist is John Perkins, author of Confessions of an Economic Hitman and Hoodwinked!

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Israel's war on protest :: Army used to deport activists against the Wall http://usa.mediamonitors.net/content/view/full/71468

"Human rights lawyers say Israel’s new offensive is intended to undermine a joint non-violent struggle by international activists and Palestinian villagers challenging a land grab by Israel as it builds the separation wall on farmland in the West Bank....

The Israeli police also have been harshly criticised by the courts for beating and jailing dozens of Israeli and Palestinian activists protesting against the takeover of homes by settlers in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah."

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Colombian army destroys FARC hospital http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/8187-colombian-army-destroys-farc-hospital.html

The Colombian army destroyed a FARC hospital hidden in the jungle in the south Colombian department of Guaviare, authorities announced Thursday.The hospital was located near the municipality of Miraflores and consisted of 16 rooms, as well as huts and an electricity plant.

The FARC constructed the facility in the late 90s and it was run by the guerrillas who kept former hostage Ingrid Betancourt captive until her rescue in 2008, the army announced.

Govt resources used to fund election campaigns: IG http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/8185-govt-loses-2-million-per-year-in-bribes-ig.html

The Inspector General's Office expressed concern that government employees pay private "contractors" to fund election campaigns, using public funds."There are companies that sponsor parliamentary campaigns and then are hired as contractors so that they can recoup their money. This concerns the Inspector General's Office and we need to stop it," said Carlos Augusto Mesa, inspector general of decentralization and territorial entities.According to the IG's Office, around $2 million of state funds are lost to corruption annually.

"70% of the entire national budget is spent on state contracting. If we go by what [British magazine] The Economist says, then in Colombia between 19 and 25% of contracting may be lost to corruption," Mesa told El Espectador.According to Mesa, it is becoming harder for enforcement agencies to detect fiscal irregularities, due to the development of more sophisticated corruption techniques.

The IG's Office is investigating 38,000 cases of corruption around the country. Of these cases more than 78% are related to "contracting," El Pais reported.Colombian magazine Semana http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/8092-arias-election-campaign-funded-by-ais-beneficiaries-semana.htmlhas accused former agricultural minister and pre-election candidate Andres Felipe Arias of such electoral corruption.Colombian army destroys FARC hospital

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Britain: Police UAVs Might be Armed with Non Lethal Weapons http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2010-02/10/future-police-meet-the-uk's-armed-robot-drones.aspx

Police forces all over the UK will soon be able to draw on unmanned aircraft from a national fleet, according to Home Office plans. Last month it was revealed that modified military aircraft drones will carry out surveillance on everyone from protesters and antisocial motorists to fly-tippers, and will be in place in time for the 2012 Olympics.

Surveillance is only the start, however. Military drones quickly moved from reconnaissance to strike, and if the British police follow suit, their drones could be armed — but with non-lethal weapons rather than Hellfire missiles.

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US attempts to demonize and destabilize Venezuela will not work http://english.pravda.ru/hotspots/conflicts/10-02-2010/112149-us_attempts_to_demonize_venezue-0 

One of the most serious accusations being made by the US against Venezuela is linking it to terrorism and supposedly terrorist groups. Venezuela seeks especially to attack the conditions that allow terrorism to grow, while on counter-drug operations Venezuela believes strongly in shared responsibility approaches that escape the failed military and supply-side based models. It bears mentioning that drug seizures in Venezuela increased by 38% after 2005, the year that cooperation ended with the DEA.

However, fighting terrorism works both ways. Venezuela has been waiting for Luis Posada Carriles, a known terrorist living freely in South Florida, to be extradited to Venezuela for his role in the 1976 bombing of a civilian airliner. In the US, he has only been accused of lying to immigration officials. This is a travesty of justice and a blatant example of gross hypocrisy.

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"COLLATERAL DAMAGE"---Savage and brutal pictures and footage from Afghan War http://www.youtube.com/v/oNgYymznA4g&hl=en_US&fs=1

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Capitalist Terrorism http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/sociopolitica/sociopol_globalbanking41.htm

Cabal capitalists are terrorists in the same sense that any other terrorist group is:  they engage in violent or life-threatening acts that are a violation of the criminal laws of the State and are intended to intimidate or coerce the civilian population, to influence the policy of the government by intimidation or coercion, and to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping.In the real world of geopolitical factuality, America is brutally manhandled by a demonic cabal that does what it wants - including the current economic 9/11, part II, terrorist attack.

Klein recognizes that economic idiots like Milton Friedman and his conservative confreres such as Greenspan, soon changed the economic landscape into the capitalist terrorism nightmare we now suffer. Like so many current daydreamers, Klein has evidently been taken in by the cabal's slick propaganda swindle that President-Elect Obama is a reincarnated FDR or Lincoln come to save the people from the evil Wall Street hippogriffs and create a Keynesian economic New Millennium.

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Defense source: US to spread training in Pakistan http://www.indiareport.com/India-usa-uk-news/latest-news/757773/International/2/20/2

 The US military is planning to set up new training centers inside Pakistan where American special operations trainers would work with Pakistani forces close to the Afghan border battle zone, a senior defence official said.The new centers would supplement two already operating in Pakistan, and they would be used to accelerate and expand the training of Pakistani forces considered key to rooting out al- Qaida leaders hiding along the mountainous border, the official said.

Staffing the new centers will require an increase in the more than 100 US special operations forces in Pakistan for the training effort, but Pentagon officials do not yet know how much of a boost will be needed, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to talk about internal discussions.

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Totally Occupied: 700 Military Bases Spread Across Afghanistan http://www.alternet.org/world/145631/totally_occupied:_700_military_bases_spread_across_afghanistan

Today, according to official sources, approximately 700 bases of every size dot the Afghan countryside, and more, like the one in Shinwar, are under construction or soon will be as part of a base-building boom that began last year.

Existing in the shadows, rarely reported on and little talked about, this base-building program is nonetheless staggering in size and scope, and heavily dependent on supplies imported from abroad, which means that it is also extraordinarily expensive.