Macedonian soldiers train with NATO (Reuters photo)
NATO’S NEW “PARTNERSHIPS” ARE “SPRINGING UP LIKE POISONOUS MUSHROOMS AFTER A SPRING RAIN.”
(Boiling Frogs)
This month’s summit in Chicago demonstrated the aggressive expansion of NATO, which is the cover entity for the worldwide military presence of the United States. An especially active area of expansionism involves such Balkan states as Macedonia and Bosnia, to whom the allure of full NATO membership makes them vulnerable to acceptance of “cooperative” relations that are expected to result in the like of placement of “missile shield” facilities in those countries.
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ISRAEL TRYING TO “WORM” ITS WAY INTO IRAN’S ALLEGED PROJECT TO DEVELOP NUCLEAR WEAPONS.
(IPS News)
A Russian cyber-security company, under direction from a UN agency, has found a super-effective internet “worm” that is said to be fully capable of “stealing” any data on which any such project would depend. An IPS commentator on this suggests that it is possible to nurture a “euphoric dream” that such virtual detection and dismantling of a nuclear weapons program could substitute for a far more lethal military action by Israel and its allies against the supposed “existential threat” that Iran poses for Israel.
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WANT A “DECENT” COMPENSATION IF YOU ARE KILLED BY SOMEONE’S NEGLIGENCE? BETTER HOPE YOU ARE KILLED ON AN AIRLINE FLIGHT
(Counterpunch)
An international convention decrees that $175,000 is the minimum compensation to victims of air crashes, even if there is no negligence by the airline. In the case of employers penalties in work situations covered by OSHA, $70,000 is the maximum that can be levied IF there is employer negligence and $5,900 if there is no negligence. New legislation in Congress seeks to upgrade these penalties, but the bi-partisan consensus that largely ignores problems of worker welfare is likely to stop any such legislagtion from passing.
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THE AWESOME POWER OF A LAW SUIT: WELLS FARGO MAKES A SETTLMENT IN MEMPHIS.
(Memphis Commercial Appeal)
The city of Memphis, Tennessee and the county of Shelby in 2009 filed a suit against the bank for its alleged improper lending practices which led to the housing crisis with numerous home foreclosures. The city now announces a $7.5 million settlement which will provide funds to help ease the ability of stressed home owners to stay in their homes. However, with grants from the settlement averaging around $15,000 per homeowner, perhaps this is a small effort to solve a large problem.
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WHO WILL BE HURT IF THE ST. JOHNS RIVER FERRY SERVICE AT JACKSONVILLE IS DISCONTINUED?
(Florida Times Union)
As the Jacksonville Port Authority decides it will no longer fund the popular service after September, a ridership survey is undertaken to determine the categories of people who use the service, conducted by a commission for help in seeking alternative forms of funding. In order of frequency the most common users are “locals” seeking beach-side amenities, those who use the ferry to commute for work or shopping and “tourists” whose trips emanate from outside the area. Does that provide any funding clues?
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Quote of the day…
Today’s Obama, as packaged by the Times, is not opposed to wholesale drone murder from the skies, routine trampling of international law, and evisceration of the U.S. Bill of Rights. Rather, he has “reserved to himself the final moral calculation.” The difference between his “dark side” and Cheney’s, presumably, is that Obama engages in deeper moral introspection before turning out the lights.
Glen Ford, commenting on yet another exercise in refurbishing the image of Obama in a New York Times article detailing how he routinely supervises personally the selections for a “hit list” of those deemed to be terrorists.
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