Der Spiegel: 'Consensus Is Growing' for ECB and IMF Takeover of Euro-Crisis

French Finance Minister Christine Lugarde, IMF

Source: The Daily Bell

Run For Your Lives' ... Euro Zone Considers Solution of Last Resort: The ink on the most recent European Union summit agreement was hardly dry before it became clear that it was insufficient. With investors now increasingly wary of Italy, the consensus is growing that the European Central Bank – and the IMF – will have to play an even greater role. But will it be enough? – Der Spiegel Online

 

Dominant Social Theme: We didn't want it. We didn't mean to suggest it. We don't think it's a good idea. But it looks like the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund will simply have to take a bigger role in solving this terrible crisis.

Free-Market Analysis: It is all too predictable. We've been writing for months on the possibility that the entire EU crisis is a kind of contrived one and this article post at Der Spiegel Online does nothing to discourage this supposition.

It's likely nothing more than a power elite dominant social theme, that the Euro-crisis is a deadly one and that the EU simply cannot figure out what to do. The meme is simple: Financial leaders with power and common sense must come to the rescue.

Isn't it obvious who the heroes are going to be? Why, the central bankers, of course! These good, gray men with careful phraseology and elliptical sentiments are the hope of mankind. When politicians dither and markets act irrationally these mavens of monetary price-fixing will get the job done.

A central banker is looking to lead the Greek unity government – which is unified with the efficiency of a shotgun marriage – and now Der Spiegel, Germany's leading elite mouthpiece, informs us that consensus is "growing" to have the IMF and ECB "play a greater role." What a coincidence.

An Iraq-WMD Replay on Iran?

Source: Global Research.ca
Robert Parry
 

The U.S. press corps and “independent” American weapons experts got almost everything wrong about Iraq’s purported WMD before the U.S. invasion in 2003. Now, much the same cast is returning to interpret dubious intelligence about Iran’s nuclear program, reports Robert Parry.

The American public is about to be inundated with another flood of “expert analysis” about a dangerous Middle Eastern country presumably hiding a secret nuclear weapons program that may require a military strike, although this time it is Iran, not Iraq.

In the near future, you will be seeing more satellite photos of non-descript buildings that experts will say are housing elements of a nuclear bomb factory. There will be more diagrams of supposed nuclear devices. Some of the same talking heads will reappear to interpret this new “evidence.”

You might even recognize some of those familiar faces from the more innocent days of 2002-2003 when they explained, with unnerving confidence, how Iraq’s Saddam Hussein surely had chemical and biological weapons and likely a nuclear weapons program, too.

For instance, back then, former United Nations weapons inspector David Albright was all over the news channels, reinforcing the alarmist claims about Iraq’s WMD that were coming from President George W. Bush and his neocon-dominated administration.

Today, Albright’s Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) is issuing a flurry of alarmist reports about Iran’s nuclear bomb progress, often accompanied by the same kind of satellite photos and diagrams that helped persuade many Americans that Iraq must possess unconventional weapons that turned out to be fictitious.

Ventura: Media Lied Over Citizenship Controversy

Source: Prison Planet
Paul Joseph Watson

Former Governor chastises establishment press over indictment of his patriotism.

Former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura today slammed the media for lying in their suggestion that his effort to seek Mexican citizenship meant he was giving up his U.S. citizenship, calling the smear an attempt to portray him as unpatriotic.

Ventura set the record straight during an appearance on the Alex Jones Show, saying he had been misquoted on “wanting to give up my U.S. citizenship, I never once stated that,” adding that he was merely seeking dual citizenship because he and his wife lived half the year in Mexico anyway.

In the aftermath of his press conference on Friday, some reports announced that Ventura was “abandoning his citizenship” and running away to Mexico in response to a judge tossing out his case against TSA groping in airports.

“I love my country, not my government,” Ventura remarked in response to reports that had characterized him as unpatriotic.

“I never said that I’m giving up my U.S. citizenship, that’s a lie….they don’t even focus on what the case is about,” said Ventura, criticizing the media for focusing on provocative statements rather than why Ventura was denied a trial.

Drums of War: Is Iran Next?

Source: GRTV

Government and media are experts at manipulating popular opinion, using subversive but often open techniques to deliver their message to the public and further advance their own agendas.

"Beware the leader who bangs the drums of war in order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic fervor, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword. It both emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind.

And when the drums of war have reached a fever pitch and the blood boils with hate and the mind has closed, the leader will have no need in seizing the rights of the citizenry.

Rather, the citizenry, infused with fear and blinded by patriotism, will offer up all of their rights unto the leader and gladly so.

How do I know? For this is what I have done. And I am Caesar."

The drums are beating again for Iran. Who do you trust?

Berlusconi To Resign After Parlimentary Setback

Source: Reuters

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said on Tuesday he would resign after suffering a humiliating setback in parliament that showed a party revolt had stripped him of a majority.

Berlusconi confirmed a statement from President Giorgio Napolitano that he would step down as soon as parliament passed urgent budget reforms demanded by European leaders after Italy was sucked into epicenter of the euro zone debt crisis.

The votes in both houses of parliament are likely this month and they would spell the end of a 17-year dominance of Italy by the flamboyant billionaire media magnate.

His failure to implement reforms fueled a party revolt and Berlusconi told his own Canale 5 television station that the only option was an early election. However, this could prolong the uncertainty that has sapped market confidence.

 

Israel Could Be Forced To Go It Alone On Iran Attack

Source: Infowars
Paul Joseph Watson

Developments over the last 24 hours suggest that Israel could be forced to go it alone in launching a military assault on Iran’s nuclear facilities, with the United States and NATO backing away from becoming involved in a conflict that would spark economic and geopolitical turmoil.

During a private conversation with Barack Obama at last week’s G20 meeting, French President Nicolas Sarkozy was overhead by journalists to say, “I cannot bear Netanyahu, he’s a liar.” Obama responded by remarking, “You’re fed up with him, but I have to deal with him every day!”

The comments were caught after a microphone was accidentally left on following the conclusion of the conference.

“A Reuters reporter was among the journalists present and can confirm the veracity of the comments, which were relayed by a French internet outlet on Tuesday,” reports Haaretz.

The exchange highlights a deepening gulf between western powers and Israel over plans to attack Iran, with French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe making it clear today that France does not support a military campaign.

“If the IAEA report, due out this week, indicates Iran is building atomic weapons capabilities, then France would firmly back further UN sanctions, he said, but would do all it can to stop military action,” reports the Jerusalem Post.

Meanwhile, the Obama administration has reportedly backed away from plans to impose new economic sanctions on Iran, fearing, “Severe penalties against Iran’s central bank and its fuel exports would exacerbate the turmoil on international financial markets,” reports DebkaFile.

With Russia and China also expressing their opposition to an attack, it seems likelier that Israel will exploit a contrived pretext to prove that Iran represents an imminent threat to its security, an event that will carry far more shock value than the text of an IAEA report.

Should Israel wish to stage a Gulf of Tonkin-style provocation, it will call on Mossad agents to pose as terrorists and carry out attacks that will be blamed on Iran, similar to how Palestinian militants were offered cash and weapons by Israel to pose as an Al-Qaeda cell and carry out bombings in 2002.

Even if Israel is forced to launch an attack on Iranian nuclear facilities without the support of the United States and other NATO powers, don’t expect them to not get involved at some point.

The inevitable reprisal attacks that Iran will launch through its proxies like Hezbollah will be seized upon by the establishment media (‘how dare they defend themselves’) and cited as a pretext for US involvement to ‘maintain security in the region’ – and America will find itself embroiled in yet another conflict.

Why a Dollar & Euro Collapse Is Guaranteed

Source: StormCloudsGathering


Watch The Money Masters for a better understand of how this fraudulent, debt based system was forced onto the people and how it has managed to continue for so long unchecked.

Adam Kokesh: Super Class Elite to "Fade Away" in Time

Source: Infowars
Adam Kokesh
 
Alex talks with Activist and Journalist Adam Kokesh about the feds and their attack on the right of people to produce and consume raw milk. Adam also talks about his mixed feelings toward what really happened on 9/11.

CIA Increases Drone Killings of Pakistanis Who “Might be Militants”

Source: AllGov
Noel Brinkerhoff

To the chagrin of American diplomats and military commanders, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has expanded its targeting criteria for drone attacks in Pakistan to include anyone who might be associated with al-Qaeda or other terrorist organizations.

 

In effect, the CIA has authorized the killing of foreign nationals whose identities aren’t known and who are only suspected of terrorist associations. Attacks against such groups of people are referred to as “signature” strikes by the CIA, as opposed to “personality” strikes which target known suspects. The vast majority of CIA drone attacks are of the “signature” variety. They were first used during the administration of President George W. Bush, but they have been enthusiastically pursued by Barack Obama’s CIA.

 

The change in policy has raised the question, according to Spencer Ackerman at Wired’s Danger Room, of “whether it’s acceptable for the CIA to kill someone without truly knowing if he’s the bombsmith or the laundry guy.”

 

Officials in the Departments of Defense and State are not happy with the CIA’s expanded targeting of Pakistanis. Diplomats worry that the broader rationale for increased aerial assaults will foment even more anti-American sentiments in Pakistan, while military planners fear a backlash that will lead to the U.S. losing key supply routes into Afghanistan.

US Prepares to Censor Internet Access While Urging Internet Freedom for the Rest of the World!

Source: Boiling Frogs Post
Linda Lewis

At the London Conference on Cyberspace, November 1-2, Vice President Joe Biden urged other nations to protect internet freedom of expression.

“Biden did not name countries he felt were offenders. But he criticized the efforts of some nations pursuing an “international legal instrument that would lead to exclusive government control over Internet resources, institutions and content and national barriers on the free flow of information online.” (PCWorld)

Meanwhile, back in the US, Congress was preparing to pass a law granting extraordinary powers to censor the internet. The proposed law, described as “the Great Firewall of America,” has the support of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who also favors Internet freedom for other countries. If the US government still had any credibility on this issue after banning access to websites posting leaked cables, the latest hypocrisy should have killed it.

Last week, Representatives Lamar Smith (R-TX), John Conyers (D-MI), Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) and Howard Berman (D-CA) introduced a House bill called the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). A Senate version, called the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA), had been introduced last May by Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), and Charles Grassley (R-IA). The bills propose to let the federal government block public access to websites accused of violating intellectual property rights. They would also require Internet access providers, search engines and payment providers to deny services to websites upon request from rights holders.

A devil in the lack of details
The bills have been criticized for their vague language and lack of due process, making them ripe for abuses.

Corporate Media Stumped on How to Cover Occupy Movement

Source: WhoWhatWhy.com
Russ Baker

Conventional journalism is increasingly irrelevant in a time of crisis. We find abundant proof in a recent column from the New York Times’ so-called “Public Editor,” who is supposed to somehow magically represent the public interest and rarefied ethical values to the rest of the paper.

In this column, he says the media is having difficulty figuring out how to cover Occupy Wall Street and its offshoots.

What are the themes? How should The New York Times cover this movement that resembles no other in memory?

Certainly, media organizations are intrinsically better able to cover snapshot moments like official actions and pronouncements than movements or complex and subtly if rapidly evolving situations—like climate change, or Occupy.

In any case, for answers, the Public Editor turns to colleagues outside The Times, and solicits their wisdom:

Stephen Buckley, dean of faculty, The Poynter Institute; former managing editor, St. Petersburg Times

To my mind, the compelling question driving the Occupy Wall Street story is: How come these people are so angry? And maybe more compellingly: Why did it take them so long to get angry? (We’ve been feeling the effects of a recession for more than four years….)

[Snip]

First of all, “we” (being Mr. Buckley) presumably are not feeling the effects of the recession in quite the same way as those who lost their homes and jobs. Second of all, this is not a protest over the recession. It is the result of a few brave souls who finally had had enough of a lousy system and took to the streets, inspiring others to (gradually) follow.

Here’s another deep thinker:

10 Reasons America Will Be Judged as the Most Brutal Empire in History

Source: Activist Post

Good and evil doesn't have a grey zone.  Killing and stealing is bad.  Violence is never "good" or necessary unless it is used to defend against killers and thieves. Indeed, that is the morality behind the "just war" principle as defined by international laws and treaties.

Yet, this simple concept of right and wrong gets muddled by differing ideas about religion, patriotism, economics and many other divisions.  The "just war" rule has crumbled under the ambitions of empires throughout history.  The American-led Anglo Saxon empire is no different.

This empire has been brutally conquering and colonizing territory since the fall of Rome.  However, it has only gained an American face in the last century.  The United States quickly emerged as the world's "superpower" primarily through its economic might.  For some time, many believed the U.S. to be a shining example of economic freedom for other nations to emulate.  Indeed, America was eager to promote "economic freedom" globally to open new markets for U.S.-based corporations.