Who is Kofi Annan? The United Nations "Peacekeeper" Handpicked by the CIA (Global Research)

Global Research, March 31, 2012
by Thierry Meyssan

Kofi Annan, credit: Info-Wars.org

Although Kofi Annan’s track record at the UN is an indisputable success in terms of management and efficiency, he has been sharply criticized for his political shortcomings. As Secretary General, he aspired to bring the Organization into line with the unipolar world and the globalization of U.S. hegemony. He called into question the ideological foundations of the UN and undermined its ability to prevent conflicts. Notwithstanding, he is today in charge of resolving the Syrian crisis.

Former UN Secretary General and Nobel Peace Prize, Kofi Annan, has been designated by Ban Ki-moon and Nabil El Arabi as joint special envoy to negotiate a peaceful solution to the Syrian crisis. With Annan’s extraordinary experience and shiny brand image, his appointment was welcomed by all.

What does this top international official really represent? Who propelled him to the highest-ranking positions? What were his political choices, and what are his current commitments? These questions are met with a discreet silence, as if his previous functions were in themselves a guarantee of neutrality...

(click here to read the full article)

Blix: US, Israel source most of IAEA allegations (Press TV)

Press TV
Sun Mar 25, 2012 1:23PM GMT

Former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Hans Blix (file photo) 

A former chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency has challenged a report delivered by the IAEA in November on Iran’s nuclear activities, pinpointing that the agency receives unverified intelligence, mostly from the US and Israel.

In an exclusive interview with Qatar-based news network, Al Jazeera, on Saturday, Hans Blix stated that the IAEA received information from a variety of sources, mostly from the United States and Israel.

“My view is that they must assess it very carefully and critically because otherwise they can be pulled by their noose,” he asserted.

“I remember from inspections in 2002 and 2003 that there was a famous document that allegedly to be a contract between Iraq and Niger for the import of yellow cake of uranium oxide quoted by [former US] President [George W.] Bush in his State of the Union message. The IAEA had it for one day and concluded that it was a forgery. [Former IAEA head, Mohamed] ElBaradei then announced it was not authentic. That shows how careful you have to be,” Blix stated.

The UN nuclear agency’s current Director General Yukiya Amano issued a report on November 8, accusing Iran of pursuing military objectives in its nuclear energy program.

Iran dismissed the report as “unbalanced, unprofessional, and prepared with political motivation and under political pressure mostly by the United States.”

Tehran argues that, as a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the IAEA, it is entitled to develop and acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

The IAEA has conducted numerous inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities, but has never found any evidence of diversion in the country's nuclear activities.

Regarding the Western hype over Iran’s Parchin military site, Blix said, “They (the inspectors) have been there several times,” adding, “Parchin is a military site with thousands of buildings. Any country would be reluctant to let international inspectors go anywhere near their military sites.”

“In a way the Iranians have been more open [about their nuclear activities] than most other countries would be,” he added.

Blix also questioned the Israeli warnings of Iran’s bid to build a nuclear bomb, saying according to Tel Aviv, Tehran should have had a nuclear bomb a long time ago.

“If you ask the Israelis, it (the Iranian nuclear bomb) is just around the corner all the time, but they have said that for years, so I think one ought to be a bit cautious about it,” he said.

The former IAEA chief further criticized Tel Aviv’s rhetoric regarding a potential bid to launch a strike on Iran.

"When I hear [Israeli Prime Minister] Netanyahu saying it’s not a question of days or weeks, but also not years, I think that sounds like a terrible threat," he said.

Israel, always vociferous in its accusations against Iran’s nuclear energy program, is itself widely known to possess between 200 and 400 nuclear warheads. Tel Aviv, however, refuses to allow its nuclear facilities to come under international regulatory inspections and rejects all the regulatory international nuclear agreements.

Blix also called on the Western powers to alter their “menacing” and “threatening” attitude toward Iran so that the standoff over Tehran’s nuclear energy program might be resolved.

“Very frequently I think the western world has been unwise in the way they treat Iran. They say that Iran must behave itself as it were a minor they were talking to” Blix said, adding that they should not expect Tehran to "kneel" before them as this is “a hopeless way” of arriving at an agreement.

Blix further called on the Western states to support Iran’s bid to join the World Trade Organization (WTO) and assist the Islamic Republic’s civilian nuclear program.

The former IAEA chief also condemned the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientists, describing such acts as “terrible” and “counterproductive” as they “blur the border between civilians and combatants.”

MP/HN/HMV/IS

Mastermind behind KONY 2012 campaign video is arrested for public masturbation, vandalizing cars and under the influence of drugs...I guess he cracked under pressure

Man behind ‘Kony 2012’ arrested – for masturbating in public
RT News
Published: 17 March, 2012

Jason Russell, co-founder of non-profit Invisible Children 

and director of "Kony 2012" viral video campaign. 

(Reuters / Brendan McDermid) 

The blonde-haired, blue-eyed, Christian filmmaker behind the Internet’s most recent famous activism campaign, “Kony 2012,” has been arrested. For masturbating. And being drunk. And vandalizing cars. In public. In the morning.

Jason Russell, 33, was arrested Thursday morning by the San Diego Police Department in Southern California and the earliest reports detailing the incident suggest it was one hell of a day already for the Invisible Children co-founder and proclaimed “mastermind” behind the Kony 2012 viral video. Police say he was described as "in his underwear" when the first 911 calls were made.

San Diego Police Department Lieutenant Andrea Brown tells a local NBC affiliate that Russell was found masturbating in public, vandalizing cars and possibly under the influence of an unknown substance at around 11:30 am on Thursday. Authorities detained him at the intersection of Ingraham Street and Riviera Drive in San Diego, only a stone’s throw from the Pacific Ocean.

When the Kony 2012 campaign was released earlier this month, Russell’s activism group, Invisible Children, described him on their website as being the “grand storyteller and dreamer” behind their operation. By Friday afternoon, however, the bio page of the Invisible Children website was unavailable.

Within minutes of the news of his arrest being released on Friday, the group issued a statement. Invisible Children CEO Ben Keesey published an one-paragraph press release, but did not touch on the topic of arrest. Instead, Keesey says, “Jason Russell was unfortunately hospitalized yesterday suffering from exhaustion, dehydration and malnutrition."

"He is now receiving medical care and is focused on getting better. The past two weeks have taken a severe emotional toll on all of us, Jason especially, and that toll manifested itself in an unfortunate incident yesterday," added Russell.

Speaking on behalf of the San Diego PD, Lt. Brown also made an announcment. NBC reports she described Russell as acting “very strange,” but when your charges include public masturbation and auto vandalism a few feet from the shores of the Pacific while stumbling incoherently on a Thursday night, that’s pretty much a given.

"He was no problem for the police department, however, during the evaluation we learned that we probably needed to take care of him," Brown explained to the media. "So officers detained him and transferred him to a local medical facility for further evaluation and treatment."

Answering allegations earlier this month that Invisible Children were profiting off of donations assumed to go towards ousting African warlord Joseph Kony, Russell defended the practices of his charity group by saying that their funds are funneled through an array of different endeavors.

"We're an unorthodox organization," Russell said at the time.

Not only is the USDA using 'pink-slime' beef to feed your kids in school but is coming soon to a fast-food joint near you

USDA plans to keep feeding 'pink slime' to your kids

Ethan A. Huff, staff writer
Natural News
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Image (left) credit: NaturalNews

(NaturalNews) After garnering nationwide attention for being secretly added to processed hamburgers and beef products, including those served in school lunchrooms, "lean finely textured beef," aka "pink slime," is reportedly on its way out from the menu offerings of McDonald's, Taco Bell, and Burger King. 

But according to Mother Jones, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) plans to keep ordering this imitation, ammonia-laced product for use in its National School Lunch Program (NSLP), a taxpayer-funded government food program that serves low-income students.

Pink slime gained much notoriety after being featured in the acclaimed 2008 documentary Food Inc.. Robert Kenner, the film's director, revealed an inside look into Beef Products International (BPI), a South Sioux City, Neb.-based processing plant that produces most of the nation's supply of pink slime. The product, which is composed of bovine connective tissue and random beef scraps doused in ammonia and formed into a paste, is commonly used as a beef filler because it is low-cost and supposedly less risky compared to conventional ground beef.

You can watch a disturbing clip from Food Inc. featuring footage from the BPI plant and commentary by BPI founder Eldon Roth at the following link:
http://youtu.be/RHQHPNoyO7c


FDA, USDA say ammonia-laced 'pink slime' is safe for children

Though BPI claims that pink slime is safer than conventional ground beef because of the ammonia treatment, tests conducted by NSLP between 2005 and 2009 have revealed that the meat-like matter routinely tests positive for salmonella at four times the rate of conventional beef. Ammonia is also a highly-corrosive poison that is known to cause respiratory illness and lung damage, liver problems, and cancer. The Chemical Encyclopedia says ammonia is "highly toxic" if swallowed (http://healthychild.org/issues/chemical-pop/ammonia/).

And yet both the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the USDA insist that pink slime is safe, even though there is absolutely no evidence to prove this. And now the USDA's NSLP is reportedly ordering seven million pounds of pink slime to serve to students, a shocking move that even the nation's most notoriously unhealthy fast-food chains are unwilling to make.

Reports indicate that top USDA officials have routinely ignored all data showing that pink slime is a "high risk product," and have instead continued to endorse the product as safe for human consumption. And the worst part about the situation is that, just like with genetically-modified (GM) products, pink slime is secretly added into raw ground beef without being properly labeled.

"They've taken a processed product (ammonia), without labeling it, and added it to raw ground beef," said microbiologist Gerald Zirnstein recently to The Daily. "Science is the truth, and pink slime at this point in time is a fraudulent lie" (http://www.takepart.com/article/2012/03/05/pink-slime-still-menu).

Sources for this article include:

http://motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2012/03/pink-slime-school-lunch

http://www.naturalnews.com

http://www.naturalnews.com/035241_pink_slime_beef_ammonia.html

• Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/035255_pink_slime_USDA_school_lunches.html#ixzz1pDYB2HKi

• 'Pink Slime' (beef parts paste with ammonia) good for kids, says Beef Products, Inc

Dangers of Facebook, now a massive government spying machine

The Terrible Truth About Facebook

Uploaded by TheVideoPatriot on Jul 19, 2009
http://youtu.be/UJqGbA2tLww

Think you have any privacy when it comes to a social networking site? Think again. Just take a look at who has invested in the site and open your eyes.
[Video property and courtesy of The Video Patriot`s Channel, please give proper credit and citation]    

Zack says FB is losing ground with young people
who find the relationships built there are shallow
ones., credit: NYPost/Angel Chevrestt

Why I quit Facebook
A New York City high-school senior, 18, explains why he quit Facebook
By ZACH PROCHNIK
NY POST
Last Updated: 2:23 AM, February 12, 2012
Posted: 10:34 PM, February 11, 2012

It’s Saturday night, and I am at the house of a good friend. After the usual hours spent playing Xbox and watching “1000 Ways To Die,” I ask him if it would be OK if I used his computer. I want to check my Facebook, because I’d last checked it that morning — and who knows what I’d been missing since then? Best-case scenario: a notification from the girl who — despite the fact that our passion is unspoken — has posted on my wall claiming that she was checking my page and has suddenly realized her true feelings for me. Maybe on top of that a cool, funny kid sent me a friend request saying that I was “the man” and we should be homies for life. No big deal, I get that all the time.

I hit enter. My eyes immediately jump to the top left of the screen. The page loads and my heart drops. All I can see is blue. Blue, the color of 21st century social mediocrity. The color of people’s indifference towards you. I quickly realize the reality of my situation: The world does not revolve around me. My friends all have other friends. Every minute that I spend navigating the Facebook universe, I am shrinking.
But as I scroll down my home page, I realize that I’m not the only one desperate for attention. Every status and post seems to be saying “I’m here! Tell me that I’m somebody!” Hundreds of kids are selling their identities — like livestock at a market — for a couple of comments and “likes.”

As I scan my alleged friends’ profiles, I’m seized with feelings of jealousy and rejection. I want to say to them “I thought I was your friend! So who the are these 200 other guys commenting on your stuff?” As our circles get wider, our interactions become fewer.
I joined Facebook four years ago. and at first it was amazing. You’d friend someone, and you’d be linked to all their friends. In fact, the standard that classified a kid as your friend was quickly dropped. That girl your friend told you about was now your “friend”; that friend of your sibling was now your “friend.” You now shared everything with anyone whose name or face looked vaguely familiar.

This quickly wore me down. Being constantly informed that you make up just a small portion of another person’s life erodes the feeling that you are at all meaningful to them.
Adolescence, to begin with, is a time of awful social anxiety. Now a website exists that exacerbates your most irrational social fears to the point of paranoia. Instead of just a private hormonal case of nerves, this is a massive, corporate crowd-sourced paranoia that a huge economic sector is encouraging us to take part in.
On Facebook, I saw how I was taking time away from being with my real friends to feel bad about all the other people who were hardly even part of my life.

Leaving it was easier said than done, however. I couldn’t find where to deactivate my account. I had to look up “how to deactivate Facebook” on Google. After navigating multiple pages, I found a tiny link at the bottom of the security-settings page. After clicking the link, a page popped up with bright photos of my good friends and me. “Jake will miss you,” one caption read. “Jules will miss you,” and another saying “Aaron will miss you.” All of my friends were smiling at me and telling me they would miss me.

I was struck by the irony of this statement about how my different friends would miss me when I left. When you’re an adolescent, what Facebook is really all about is creating a sense of distance between you and your friends, not about strengthening the relationships. Distance because it makes you realize that you’re both lost in a crowd. Worse still, this website that profits off the data it collects about me by selling it to advertising companies is now trying to hold onto me by enlisting my friends to seduce me into staying.

Why are my friends going to miss me? My friend Raymond is still sitting next to me playing video games. I’m still talking to people in the halls at school. Maybe next time someone takes a cool picture, they’ll call me up to hang out and stare at a screen side-by-side, which is what real friends do.

I’m not the only one who is deactivating my Facebook account. I’ve had other friends tell me that they’re sick and tired of going on Facebook everyday hoping to connect, but ending up feeling only more disconnected. Lost in the hype of the company’s stock-market debut this year is that while Facebook is ubiquitous, it may also be a fad.

Before I went off Facebook, my friend made a status update saying,“Deleting your Facebook is like running away from home. You do it for attention but you’ll be back one day.” But I’m not doing it for attention. I’m doing it so I won’t go there when I’m hungry for attention, only to end up feeling more alone.

Zach Prochnik attends a Manhattan public high school.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/unfriend_VhP9QLXispf2RzznaNHPNK#ixzz1mPdgmpnn

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