I'll keep this quick and simple. We have Russia trying to bring forces down from the north (it'll take awhile too), but they are politically engaged which could be dangerous. We have some new information that the U.S. is lining up it's stealth forces in the region (to use or just in case); if we elect a Republican President for the U.S. this November the chances go up.

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A Greek choir of the "disgusted" and the "outraged" predictably greeted BRICS members Russia and China double veto to the United Nations Security Council resolution imposing regime change in Syria. The resolution was backed by that haven of democracy, the GCC League, the organization controlled by the six monarchies/emirates of the Gulf Cooperation Council formerly known as the Arab League.

United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called the double veto a "travesty". Then Clinton duly incited "friends of democratic Syria" to keep working for regime change, which was the object of the resolution. The copyright for this idea is held by the liberator of Libya, neo-Napoleonic French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who said Paris was already working to create a NATOGCC "Friends of the Syrian People Group" in charge of implementing the Arab League's regime change plan.

Right on cue, Paris puppet Burhan Ghalyun, the head of the Syrian National Council (SNC) - the opposition umbrella group - also summoned these countries "friendly to the Syrian people". Everybody knows who they are; the US, Britain, France, Israel and GCC members Qatar and Saudi Arabia. With "friends" like these, the "Syrian people" certainly don't need enemies.

More: Pepe Escobar: Syria and those 'disgusting' BRICS

Related: Report of Arab League Observer Mission (PDF)


Now compare it to your local news headlines/articles.

We've imposed economic sanctions on Iran, in order to punish them for opposing Israel. But Iran is taking those sanctions very seriously.
In fact, they've recently threatened to cut of the Oil supply to the USA.

What does this mean? It may mean that the Iranians think war with the USA is inevitable.
https://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/12/27-7?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/the-most-powerful-photos-of-2011

Some of these photos are absolutely amazing.

Everyone knows that it's feasible for Israel to be bombing Iran at any moment now.
Even though there's a million reasons for Israel not to bomb Iran.

What people don't know, is that Iran is part of the Chinese political bloc. If the forthcoming Iran bombing escalates into an invasion of Iran, China (who currently has a small army) will be forced into the fight. So, we'll have a world war in however long that takes to happen.

http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/136402/george-packer/the-broken-contract

You do have to register to get full access to it, but it is very good. Nothing particularly new, but very well written imo.

EDIT - Nevermind, I should have just copied it in from the start:

Iraq was one of those wars where people actually put on pounds. A few years ago, I was eating lunch with another reporter at an American-style greasy spoon in Baghdad's Green Zone. At a nearby table, a couple of American contractors were finishing off their burgers and fries. They were wearing the contractor's uniform: khakis, polo shirts, baseball caps, and Department of Defense identity badges in plastic pouches hanging from nylon lanyards around their necks. The man who had served their food might have been the only Iraqi they spoke with all day. The Green Zone was set up to make you feel that Iraq was a hallucination and you were actually in Normal, Illinois. This narcotizing effect seeped into the consciousness of every American who hunkered down and worked and partied behind its blast walls -- the soldier and the civilian, the diplomat and the journalist, the important and the obscure. Hardly anyone stayed longer than a year; almost everyone went home with a collection of exaggerated war stories, making an effort to forget that they were leaving behind shoddy, unfinished projects and a country spiraling downward into civil war. As the two contractors got up and ambled out of the restaurant, my friend looked at me and said, "We're just not that good anymore."

The Iraq war was a kind of stress test applied to the American body politic. And every major system and organ failed the test: the executive and legislative branches, the military, the intelligence world, the for-profits, the nonprofits, the media. It turned out that we were not in good shape at all -- without even realizing it. Americans just hadn't tried anything this hard in around half a century. It is easy, and completely justified, to blame certain individuals for the Iraq tragedy. But over the years, I've become more concerned with failures that went beyond individuals, and beyond Iraq -- concerned with the growing arteriosclerosis of American institutions. Iraq was not an exceptional case. It was a vivid symptom of a long-term trend, one that worsens year by year. The same ailments that led to the disastrous occupation were on full display in Washington this past summer, during the debt-ceiling debacle: ideological rigidity bordering on fanaticism, an indifference to facts, an inability to think beyond the short term, the dissolution of national interest into partisan advantage.

Was it ever any different? Is it really true that we're just not that good anymore? As a thought experiment, compare your life today with that of someone like you in 1978. Think of an educated, reasonably comfortable couple perched somewhere within the vast American middle class of that year. And think how much less pleasant their lives are than yours. The man is wearing a brown and gold polyester print shirt with a flared collar and oversize tortoiseshell glasses; she's got on a high-waisted, V-neck rayon dress and platform clogs. Their morning coffee is Maxwell House filter drip. They drive an AMC Pacer hatchback, with a nonfunctioning air conditioner and a tape deck that keeps eating their eight-tracks. When she wants to make something a little daring for dinner, she puts together a pasta primavera. They type their letters on an IBM Selectric, the new model with the corrective ribbon. There is only antenna television, and the biggest thing on is Laverne and Shirley. Long-distance phone calls cost a dollar a minute on weekends; air travel is prohibitively expensive. The city they live near is no longer a place where they spend much time: trash on the sidewalks, junkies on the corner, vandalized pay phones, half-deserted subway cars covered in graffiti.

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How will this protesting movement end? What are your thoughts and predictions?
What will happen if this continues up to the elections?

Here's my thoughts for outcomes

1) It fizzles out. A major world event takes up the headlines and people tickle away losing interest

2) The winning president at the election promises to investigate 'Change' People cheer and disperse regardless of actual change.

3) Occupy Wins: Lets say Obama steps to the podium tonight to make orders that satisfy the occupy movement.
He opens his mouth: What is his command?

4) The 1% wins. Hostility increases. More people are attacked and arrested. Protesters fight back.... maybe even take action to damage a wall street building. The 99% get likened to domestic terrorists. Anti-terrorism powers like the Patriot Act are used to take control and remove the threat.

I have 0 faith in the political process. I have close to 0 faith in protest movements in America. I went to one today anyhow.

I went to check out the first day of Occupy Fort Worth. As a protest movement, or a solidarity march, or whatever, I believe there is little if any chance of success. Politicians may consider changing their rhetoric after a while, but no real changes will be made. Corporations are not going to wheedle their way out of government or give up any of their power because people march around banking districts in their nikes and tweet about it on their iphones. These things will not change business as usual. I donated some food to the hand full of people camping out over night on the sidewalk. It was peanut butter manufactured by a subsidary of proctor&gamble. This will change nothing because at the end of the day, we're still financing the top 1%. Our every move finances our oppression.

However, occupations are springing up in cities all over the world. Thousands of frustrated people, with very very common problems are meeting in parks to commune and share their struggles, explore direct democractic processes, meet their police officers, and then share their ideas and experiences with other people thousands of miles away. This is pretty damn cool.

It's pretty damn cool because I think, if it has a chance to do anything at all it's to build communities to solve their individual problems together. A lot of the people I met today were worried and frustrated about their student loan debt... what if all the general assemblies within all the occupy movements simultaneously voted to just to stop paying? Thousands and thousands of people just default on their student loan debt? What then? I saw the people at Occupy Houston voted to withdrawal all of their money from large banks. I'm sure similar measures will be adopted at others if not all Occupy movements. Occupy Dallas opened a day care. The thousands at Occupy Wallstreet are voting to adopt a new currencies to use amongst themselves. At Occupy Fort Worth we discussed guerilla gardening tactics and what to do about the oil & gas companies who are lying to the population, polluting our beautiful city and leaving dead ugly worthless patches of land all over. What if occupy movements grow and start clothes shares? and ride shares? and bike shares? and food shares? and land shares? and house shares? What if all the new friends we're making collectively decide on ways to consume less, alternative ways to educate our children together, alternatively support each other in sickness and in poverty? I do not think all the signs and standing and camping and chanting is going to change anything ever, but I do think this is the first time communities have been formed this rapidly, this vastly, this simultaneously all over the world with instant access to each other and I do think communities are where people become empowered and I think it will be fascinating to participate in and watch unfold.

Anyone else attending any occupy events?? tell me about them!!

http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/08/31/308528/scientist-the-murdoch-media-empire-has-cost-humanity-perhaps-one-or-two-decades-of-time-in-the-battle-against-climate-change/

Thought some sifters might find this interesting and relevant to a few of the videos making rounds these days.

Given the Riots in London, British Prime Minister David Cameron wants to block Twitter, Facebook, text messages during riots.
link

I think we have a consensus against the rioters as being criminal and illegitimate, but should we pull the plug on the social networks they are using?

I need to know your opinions. Thank you sifters!

While the world goes bonkers over Libya, the Syrian government continues to repress its own people in impunity and relative media silence. Sucks not to have oil, eh?


Video of Syrian not-so-secret police (according to reddit poster) throwing protesters' bodies into a river while chanting Allahu Akbar.

http://youtu.be/jGWGnBHBAm4

So, the world's going to end tomorrow. I just wanted to know if anyone wanted to share some thoughts. Maybe apologize to some sifters you might not have treated with respect, or maybe tell off the ones that you've held back on for so long. This is an open forum so, you know, go nuts.

Who do you think will have been right all this time? The Mormons? The Jews? The reformed Baptist Church of snake dancing?

In ~10 mins there will be a live feed here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/live
and here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/42852646#42852646

Twitter confirmation: http://twitter.com/#!/jacksonjk/status/64879954264997888

probably more places...

Apparently they have his body...

Might edit later when more info comes in

Hopefully this isn't snuff...

http://videosift.com/video/President-Obama-s-Statement-on-Osama-bin-Laden-s-Death
live feed was here too, guess it will be switched to youtube embed when available?

http://narcosphere.narconews.com/notebook/bill-conroy/2011/04/us-backed-programs-supplying-firepower-mexico-s-soaring-murder-rate

http://narcosphere.narconews.com/notebook/bill-conroy/2011/02/pentagon-fingered-source-narco-firepower-mexico

Interesting article by Joseph Stiglitz in this month's Vanity Fair.

link
http://www.vanityfair.com/society/features/2011/05/top-one-percent-201105

This is the opening talk (I believe) at the newest TED speech conference. This speech is specifically done by Wadah Khanfar (the speech should be open to eith lefties or righties, political wise) head of Al Jazeera. It is a excellent speech having to do with the recent middle east demonstrations and protests.

It's one of the best talks I've heard from TED in a long time--so whoever gets this I'm sure it should do well, as long as a there isn't a bunch of ADHD sifters only watching it!

Here is the TED site link, get the embed there:

TED Talks page on Wadah Khanfer's, head of Al Jazeera, talk about the middle east protests/situation.

Please put this up someone; it is a great speech and no other video site has it yet--it's been out a few days already and no one has it sifted; kinda surprised me--as it made waves in the news, that I've been paying attention to.

Thanks. Send me a profile message @kceaton1 and give me the Videosift link so I can upvote it and get it linked elsewhere, if you don't mind.

Since it's not a standard embed, I post it here on the talk.

http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=23193

So, after a to long a hiatus from Videosift I'm ready to use my ruby-powers for the betterment of humankind. I will do this by creating a horrendous style sheet for a channel, but the which one?

I have heard requests for a *fantasy channel which I could preside over. I've also got my sights on a *europe channel with videos about European politics and matters.

Any other suggestions?

I met Rop Gonggrijp a few times here in Berlin, Germany a few years back. He was very personable/charismatic, and had pretty much dedicated his life to stopping governmental abuse of technology (mostly in Europe). In the Netherlands he showed on television how easily an electronic voting machine could easily be hacked, Campaigned against 'data-retention' and RFID's in Europe, helped Wikileaks release the "Collateral Murder" video, and a multitude of other 'techno-social' issues. He is one of those people who sees a problem and tries to do something about it and I never heard a bad thing about him. Well last week he was thrown into the Wikileaks scandal as “Julian Assange’s adjudant” and called a ”a left-wing terror activist”. It's kind of upsetting. If anything, he's one of the few people that I've met that was impressive by both their words and actions. Don't take my word on it, check it out for yourself. I just wanted to give you a heads up because this info is kinda off the radar.


Links to his blog on this topic:
Remarkable transformations
On the Twitter court order

Link to a recent hit-piece article (It's in Dutch so you have to Google translate):
'Gonggrijp Assanges adjudant'

Video of Rop Gonggrijp talking about Election Transparency

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/craig-aaron/google-verizon-pact-it-ge_b_676194.html

Here are the basics of what Google and Verizon are proposing:

1. Under their proposal, there would be no Net Neutrality on wireless networks -- meaning anything goes, from blocking websites and applications to pay-for-priority treatment.

2. Their proposed standard for "non-discrimination" on wired networks is so weak that actions like Comcast's widely denounced blocking of BitTorrent would be allowed.

3. The deal would let ISPs like Verizon -- instead of Internet users like you -- decide which applications deserve the best quality of service. That's not the way the Internet has ever worked, and it threatens to close the door on tomorrow's innovative applications. (If RealPlayer had been favored a few years ago, would we ever have gotten YouTube?)

4. The deal would allow ISPs to effectively split the Internet into "two pipes" -- one of which would be reserved for "managed services," a pay-for-pay platform for content and applications. This is the proverbial toll road on the information superhighway, a fast lane reserved for the select few, while the rest of us are stuck on the cyber-equivalent of a winding dirt road.

5. The pact proposes to turn the Federal Communications Commission a toothless watchdog, left fruitlessly chasing consumer complaints but unable to make rules of its own. Instead, it would leave it up to unaccountable (and almost surely industry-controlled) third parties to decide what the rules should be.

If you havn't told the FCC why we need Net Neutrality yet please do it now: http://savetheinternet.com/fcc-comments