The TRUTH about the British Monarchy; the “Golden Jubilee” (50 year reign) of the queen who never was …
and The GOSPEL of The Kingdom.
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Libya War = Deaths + Profits – Exxon Mobil’s quarterly profit jumps 69% as revenue hits $114 billion
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Exxon Mobil’s quarterly profit jumps 69% as revenue hits $114 billion 28 Apr 2011 Exxon Mobil Corp. said Thursday its first-quarter profit rose to $10.65 billion, or $2.14 a share, from $6.3 billion, or $1.33 a share, in the year-ago period. Revenue rose to $114 billion, from $90.3 billion. Wall Street analysts expected Exxon Mobil to earn $2.04 a share on revenue of $112.6 billion, according to a survey by FactSet Research.
Exxon, Shell Post Huge 1Q Profits on High Oil Prices 28 Apr 2011 The world’s two largest oil companies Thursday reported multi-billion-dollar first-quarter profits, up from a year ago, on higher crude oil prices. Exxon Mobil Corp.’s net income was $10.56 billion, or $2.14 per share, up from $6.3 billion, or $1.33. It was the world’s largest oil company’s biggest profit since its record $14.83 billion in the third quarter of 2008. Revenue rose 26% to $114 billion. Royal Dutch Shell earned $8.78 billion, up from $5.48 billion a year ago. Revenue rose 28% to $110 billion.
Libyan doctor claims Nato air strike ‘killed 12 rebels’ 28 Apr 2011 A Nato airstrike has killed 12 rebels in the besieged city of Misrata in the latest friendly fire incident in Libya’s battlefield, a doctor in the city said Thursday. Dr. Hassan Malitan said he believed the attack was a mistake but insisted it was caused by Nato aircraft. Malitan said he was surprised to see rebels so far east, and said they assured him that they had been in contact with Nato forces about their location.
British troops could be deployed to Tunisia —After the Cabinet was warned this week to prepare for the “long haul” in Libya, Dr Fox acknowledged that the conflict could last months.28 Apr 2011 British troops could be deployed to the Libyan border to guard refugees fleeing the Gaddafi regime [aka NATO’s bombs], Liam Fox signalled yesterday. Although the Government has repeatedly stressed it would not send ground troops into Libya, Dr Fox [the Defence Secretary] suggested UK soldiers could be dispatched to its border with Tunisia to enforce “safe havens” protecting refugees from attacks by Gaddafi’s troops.
US: Libya death toll could be as high as 30,000 27 Apr 2011 The death toll in Libya after more than two months of violence could reach as high as 30,000, an Obama administration official said Wednesday. Gene Cretz, the U.S. ambassador to Libya, said it is very hard to gauge how many people have died in Moammar Gadhafi’s crackdown on protesters and the subsequent fighting between ‘rebels’ and pro-government forces [and NATO’s bombings]. But he said that U.S. officials have seen figures ranging from 10,000 to 30,000.
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Modern British Royalty: Eugenicists, Nazis and Neo-Feudalists
| Secrets Of The Royal Wedding Exposed
Steve Watson & Alex Jones The upcoming royal Wedding of William Mountbatten-Windsor, heir in waiting to the British throne has the UK media in a frenzy of vomit inducing worship and stomach churning sycophantic fawning. Even the US media is pouring over the royals to such an extent that commentators have pointed out that had the modern day corporate media covered the Revolutionary War, it would have firmly supported the British. The US fought a bloody war of independence against British control of its government and economy, yet the American media has fast become fascinated with an institution that represents everything America is not. This despite the fact that in a recent poll only 6% of Americans said they were at all interested in the event. Two billion people are estimated to watch this weekend’s royal wedding. Despite the three war fronts, radioactive meltdown in Japan, the evolving 2012 presidential field and any number of other stories, the media’s collective lens will be turned exclusively on a snobbish pompous ceremony that is costing already extremely strained British taxpayers tens of billions to stage. While the British government balks at the unfolding events in Syria and elsewhere where protests and demonstrations are being brutally curbed, those wishing to protest the antiquated old world elitist values Britain is still forced to accept as “cultural” under the monarchy will be met with stern resistance and a gargantuan police presence this weekend on the streets of London. Meanwhile, over 40 monarchs from around the world will take their seats at the wedding, among them the dictators and ambassadors from countries with appalling human rights records such as Swaziland, |
FUKUSHIMA, Japan Latest – Storms knock out 3 TVA nuclear reactors – Apr 28 2011
| Storms knock out 3 TVA nuclear reactors –Units among 23 U.S. reactors similar in design to Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant 28 Apr 2011 Severe storms and tornadoes moving through the U.S. Southeast dealt a severe blow to the Tennessee Valley Authority on Wednesday, causing three nuclear reactors in Alabama to shut and knocking out 11 high-voltage power lines, the utility and regulators said. All three units at TVA’s 3,274-megawatt Browns Ferry nuclear plant in Alabama tripped about 5:30 EDT (2230 GMT) after losing outside power to the plant, a spokesman for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said. The Browns Ferry units are among 23 U.S. reactors that are similar in design to the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan where backup generators were swept away in the tsunami that followed the massive earthquake on March 11. |
Radiation Readings in Fukushima Reactor Rise to Highest Since Crisis Began – Apr 28 2011
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Radiation Readings in Fukushima Reactor Rise to Highest Since Crisis Began –Tepco plan to flood containment vessel of reactor No. 1 with more water to speed emergency cooling efforts announced yesterday ‘may not be possible now’ 27 Apr 2011 Radiation readings at Japan’s Fukushima Dai-Ichi station rose to the highest since an earthquake and tsunami knocked out cooling systems, impeding efforts to contain the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl. Two robots sent into the reactor No. 1 building at the plant yesterday took readings as high as 1,120 millisierverts of radiation per hour, Junichi Matsumoto, a general manager at Tokyo Electric Power Co., said today. Fukushima city removing radioactive topsoil in schools 27 Apr 2011 A city in Fukushima Prefecture started Wednesday to remove topsoil from playgrounds in its elementary and nursery schools, following radiation leaks from a crisis-hit nuclear power plant nearby. Heavy machinery began scooping off surface soil at Kaoru Elementary School and Tsurumidan Nursery School in Koriyama, city officials said, adding that the removed soil will be ‘discarded’ in landfills in the inland city. |
Miss USA Susie Castillo Sexually Assaulted TSA Style – (VIDEO) Miss USA Sexually Molested by TSA
| From Susie’s BLOG:
Dear Friends, –snip- To be quite honest, I almost didn’t post this video and blog because I kept asking myself, “Am I just being a baby?” I’m also not one to stir up controversy. In fact, I do my best to live a very positive and healthy life. However, in the situation I’m about to describe, I felt truly violated and believe I should let my voice be heard. Ultimately, I hope others will do the same. Mahatma Gandhi famously said, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” So, that’s what I’m doing by sharing this experience: On my flight back to Los Angeles last week after hosting the red carpet premiere for “Fast Five” in Rio De Janeiro, I connected in Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) where I had the misfortune of being selected to go through one of those full body scanners that emits radiation. Now, if you don’t fly very often, you might not worry about it. But I’m a frequent flyer and don’t wish to be irradiated more than I already am on flights (we get a pretty large dose of radiation while flying due to our proximity to the sun; the longer your flight, the more your radiation exposure) and in life in general (we’re exposed to radiation all day every day; it’s called “background radiation”). So I will always “opt out” of going through these body scanners, especially since the long-term effects of radiation are quite well documented: it mutates our cells, often in irreversible ways, and causes cancer. I’m all set with that! Anyway, after “opting out,” I proceeded to follow a very nice older female TSA employee to the “pat down” area. It was an inconvenience, but I thought, “No biggie. I just went through this at LAX for the first time and it wasn’t too bad, so let’s just get it over with.” Well, this pat down was completely different. It was MUCH MORE invasive than my first one at LAX, just a week before. To say that I felt invaded is an understatement. What bothered me most was when she ran the back of her hands down my behind, felt around my breasts, and even came in contact with my vagina! Honestly, I was in shock, especially since the woman at LAX never actually touched me there. The TSA employee at DFW touched private area 4 times, going up both legs from behind and from the front, each time touching me there. Was I at my gynecologist’s office? No! This was crazy! I felt completely helpless and violated during the entire process (in fact, I still do), so I became extremely upset. If I wanted to get back to Los Angeles, I had no choice but to be violated, whether by radiation or a stranger. I just kept thinking, “What have I done to deserve this treatment as an upstanding, law-abiding American citizen?” Am I a threat to US security? I was Miss USA, for Pete’s sake! Besides, is this procedure really protecting us? I remember hearing about an Al Qaeda terrorist successfully evading security detection by placing a bomb in his rectum. All in an attempt to assassinate Saudi Prince Mohammed Bin Nayef. So what if that happened in the US? Would we then be subjected to random rectal exams in addition to x-rays and being groped by strangers? How far is this going to go? More specifically, how far will WE let this go? As they say, if you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything. I think it’s time to stand up for our personal liberty. As a frequent flyer, I knew getting a “pat down” was inevitable, but I never expected it to make me so upset. When it was over, I grabbed my things, walked over to my husband who was waiting for me, and was completely overcome with emotion. I have never felt more violated in my life than I did that morning at DFW, and I’ve heard of others feeling the same way after these “pat downs.” Just a couple weeks ago, a video of a six-year-old girl being patted down by TSA made headlines. Talk about unjust and unacceptable. So I decided to speak to a TSA supervisor about how I felt, and make a video about what happened to post on my blog. This “pat down” is a total violation of our rights (we shouldn’t be searched this way without probable cause or a search warrant), therefore I will be filing a complaint via phone, online and also in writing with the TSA to complain each and every time for as long as the TSA is violating my rights. GOOGLE: The Official Website of Susie Castillo – BLOG – My TSA Pat Down … |
Putin “Gobsmacked” By NATO’s Bombing Of Libya
Video By RT, Posted April 27, 2011TRANSCRIPT At a news conference following Russian-Swedish talks, Putin said the coalition is quick to act no matter the cost. Putin says: “It’s well-known that I used to serve in the KGB. At that time, the Soviet Union was waging a war in Afghanistan. Many of my friends served in Afghanistan. One of them was the head of the advisors group on the security bodies in Herat. One day, he went on leave, and I asked him, ‘Listen Sasha, how’s the situation there?’ And at that time, our country had a very patriotic spirit. We believed that we were doing a very good thing having this war in Afghanistan. His reply came back unexpectedly: Sometimes I contemplate how easily decisions on using force are made today in international affairs, and it leaves me gobsmacked. And that happens against the background of all the fuss around human rights and humanism which the modern civilized world seemingly practices. Don’t you see a significant contradiction here between theory, the words and deeds, the practice of international affairs? And we should do our utmost to eliminate this imbalance. |
Betrayal of a Nation: Why U.S. health authorities are keeping you vitamin D deficient and who stands to gain
| Dr. Anne Looker and colleagues at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recently made vitamin D legend, Professor Hector DeLuca of University of Wisconsin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hector…), and certain folks at big pharma very happy with her widely-reported analysis of the vitamin D status of Americans. Using definitions of deficiency straight from the November 2010 Food and Nutrition Board (FNB) Vitamin D Report – definitions that no vitamin D scientist I know agrees with, except perhaps Professor DeLuca – Dr. Looker reassured Americans their vitamin D levels were sufficient. Instead of a lower limit of 40, 30, or even 20 ng/ml, Dr. Looker and her CDC colleagues actually said any American with vitamin D levels below 12 ng/ml were “at risk of vitamin D deficiency.” That’s right, she wouldn’t say “deficient” for a person less than 12 ng/ml, all she said is they are “at risk” of being deficient! Why?
Dr. Looker falsely reassured Americans that everything is pretty much OK because around 80% of white Americans have levels higher than 20 ng/ml (although only 30% of African Americans do). I carefully read her entire paper; why didn’t I see a “CDC Action Plan for African Americans” for the 70% of Blacks with levels less than 20 ng/ml? Probably for the same reason I didn’t see any “FNB action plan for African Americans” in their recent vitamin D report. Where did Dr. Looker get the idea that 20 ng/ml was OK? From the FNB. Where did the FNB get that idea? Professor Hector DeLuca and the vitamin D analogue scientists, that’s where. What I am about to tell you is a failure of a system, not a person. The National Academy is responsible, as scientists to the USA, to see that the processes that occur in its name are fair, above the appearance of impropriety, and free from avoidable conflicts of interest. I have been to enough vitamin D conferences to know that about half of the scientists who attend these conferences are looking for the new patent that will secure or extend their financialfortune. They do not need America alarmed right now about the fact more than 80% of Americans are actually vitamin D deficient; no, the governmentmight need to do something now, an action that would threaten the value of something that I have just learned about: an imminent river of new vitamin D knockoff commercial patents. Vitamin D knockoff scientists want the government to say that 20 ng/ml is fine, at least until all the phase 2 and phase 3 FDAtrials are finished on their newly patented vitamin D “analogue” drugs. In a few years it won’t matter because dozens of knockoff analogues will have been approved for treating vitamin D deficiency, yes prescription-only vitamin D knockoff drugs to treat vitamin D deficiency, instead of vitamin D, I kid you not. After these scientists get their analogues past the FDA, I predict the same scientists will change their tune and start crying for 40 ng/ml as the desirable lower limit, ensuring a vast market for their knockoffs. The creation of vitamin D knockoff patent prescription-only drugs goes something like this: take the cholecalciferol or 25-hydroxy-cholecalciferol molecule, change its structure enough – without changing its actions – and Ola, you can patent it. It must be structurally different enough from natural cholecalciferol to be a unique drug but it must retain its vitamin D efficacy. Ergocalciferol (Drisdol) – the only prescription drug available to treat vitamin D deficiency in the USA – is an example of an analogue, although the path to its discovery and its patent was quite different. The patent on ergocalciferol made the University of Wisconsin’s Department of Chemistry the richest chemistry department in the world. In some countries, ergocalciferol is still the only vitamin D available. For a detailed discussion of how these patents put the National Academies in a very difficult position, read the following blog: Conflict of Interest at National Academy of Science? (http://pandemicsurvivor.wordpress.c…) As I write this, I understand additional vitamin D patent applications are being prepared (I actually know of one application by a member of the recent FNB committee member). These analogue scientists need time; the nutrient, vitamin D, needs to take a back seat for a while. Vitamin D was getting too hot, too many good things being said about it, and too many press stories about too many Americans being deficient. The analogue scientists want a big market when they finish with the FDA. Anyway, after you have your new vitamin D molecule and your patent, you approach the FDA, who will require that you do randomized controlled trials, pitting your new vitamin D analogue drug against . . . what? Vitamin D, right? No: placebo. That’s right, placebo. As I understand the process, and I hope I am wrong, the vitamin D knockoffs only have to prove they are better than placebo, which, if they keep their efficacy, will be a cinch. I even know of a patent application for a drug to treat vitamin D deficiency by inhibiting the 24-hydroxylase (the enzyme that gets rid of vitamin D in the body). If you inhibit the 24-hydroxylase, you will raise 25(OH)D levels and thus treat vitamin D deficiency; this is what big pharma is up to (I kid you not). Can you imagine taking a drug that interferes with a natural enzyme that metabolizes vitamin D in order to increase the amount of vitamin D in your blood, instead of just taking vitamin D? Is this the best that American medicine can do? Very few people seem to know that the recent FNB committee had an unusual guest, an overseer, an official vitamin D advisor, Professor Hector DeLuca (http://host.madison.com/news/articl…), one of the true giants in the field of vitamin D, both academically and financially. Talk about mother-load analogue patents, he wrote the book. He has created so many activated vitamin D knockoffs that he named one after himself, “Hectorol.” Another fact often gets lost; Dr. DeLuca is the only member of the vitamin D community who is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, an extremely difficult membership to achieve, a shadowy process requiring inside advocates and secret votes. I’m told, but could not confirm by calling the National Academies, that blackballing is still used; if so, one negative vote and, “I’m sorry Dr. Holick,” “I’m sorry Dr. Heaney,” and “I’m sorry Dr. Norman.” Anyway, Professor DeLuca and his Department of Chemistry at the University of Wisconsin are experts in making knockoff analogue vitamin D drugs. To be fair, his analogues of activated vitamin D have saved thousands of lives, mainly patients with kidney failure, although activated vitamin D itself works in kidney failure. If the new analogues of cholecalciferol and 25-hydroxy-vitamin D effectively treat vitamin D deficiency, they too will save millions of lives. However, there is just a much easier and cost effective way of treating vitamin D deficiency: plain old, cheap old, nutrient old, vitamin D. As far as the recent FNB report on vitamin D, can you visualize all the scientists on the FNB hard at work, under the watchful eye of their “Special Advisor,” National Academy of Sciences member, Professor Hector DeLuca. I would venture a guess that more than one member of the FNB vitamin D panel dreamt about being in the National Academy himself or herself one day. Then they pondered which lower limit to vote for, the 40 ng/ml opined by most vitamin D scientists or the 20 ng/ml opined by “Special Advisor” DeLuca. Let us see, what will get me into the National Academy of Sciences the quickest? I can’t really complain. First, this is America and I suspect the quickest way to treat the massive vitamin D deficiency pandemic is going to be through private industry, like it or not. Second, it is possible one of the vitamin D knockoff drugs will actually work better than vitamin D; “possible” I said. Third, I get royalties on my own brand of vitamin D so I have my own conflicts of interest. Fourth, before you get too high on your horse about Dr. DeLuca, ask yourself how many lives have you saved in your lifetime? He discovered activated vitamin D, trained dozens of the top vitamin D researchers, and saved thousands of lives. Also, I have no way of knowing how exceptional was the FNB’s decision to make secret the critiques of the 12 top vitamin D experts, experts who were asked to review the FNB’s work. Does the FNB invoke such secrecy frequently? When did it do so last? Did the final FNB report change, based on the opinions of the 12 vitamin D experts, or did the FNB Board (most who admit to not being vitamin D experts) simply comply with Professor DeLuca’s judgment? If the final FNB report did change, what did the report look like before the vitamin D experts’ opinions were weighed? I understand at least one vitamin D expert charged the FNB with racism for its failure to consider the vitamin D plight of African Americans. Is that true? Most members of the Vitamin D Council would like to read all 12 critiques by the 12 top vitamin D experts in the world but – unlike Professor DeLuca or the vitamin D-knockoff pharmaceutical companies – we don’t have the money to legally fight the FNB’s proclamation that the 12 expert critiques by the top vitamin D experts in the world are – and will remain – secret, beyond the reach of Federal Freedom of Information Laws. Sources for this article include:http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databr… Source: NaturalNews.com, April 27, 2011 Articles Related to This Article:• Vitamin D Halts Growth of Breast Cancer Tumors • Vitamin D prevents breast cancer • Vitamin D is nutritional key for prevention of breast cancer • Vitamin D prevents heart disease • It’s Winter – Do You Know Where Your Vitamin D Is? • Sunlight emerging as proven treatment for breast cancer, prostate cancer and other cancers |
Britain, the Traitor Nation: Media Disinformation and Crimes against Humanity in Libya
| By: Dr. David Halpin “All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations…Nothing contained in the present Charter shall authorize the United Nations to intervene in matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state or shall require the Members to submit such matters to settlement under the present Charter.” UN Charter – 1: Purposes and Principles http://www.un.org/en/documents/charter/chapter1.shtml The vultures wheel over Libya beside the drones but roasted carrion is not their usual feast. The flag of the Kingdom of Libya is being waved in victory. The jubilant rebels have decided on discretion rather than valour. The charred skeletons of the government tank crew have been left below and cannot join the party. Perhaps the celebrants know that the ‘coalition’ dispense U238 as liberally as their illusory democracy.
The vultures scent the sweet crude and see all that easy land for US bases banished by Ghaddafi. These predators are being assisted, as per usual, by the State Broadcaster (BBC) with Channel 4 close behind. Tanks are being ‘taken out’ but never, never are the crews within mentioned by the news readers. The significance of these olive skinned humans are as grains of sand. But it is over in a flash. ‘So humane, so why refer to the brothers and the fathers?’ A millisecond or two after the armour is punctured by uranium depleted of U235 alone, the fireball cremates the crew within a few more milliseconds. The minute solid particles resulting from combustion of the U238 with its infinite half life of 4.5 billion years rise in the thermals above the blistered tank. Some will settle, and some will stay in the air at all levels, eventually |
America’s War on the World. Libya, NATO, and the American Empire
– 2011-04-24
The Protest Movement in Bahrain Radio Interview. Live from Manama with Timothy V. Gatto
– by Finian Cunningham – 2011-04-23
Obama Approves Drone Strikes in Libya – by Jason Ditz – 2011-04-22
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Financial Heist of the Century: Confiscating Libya’s Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWF)
 The objective of the war against Libya is not just its oil reserves (now estimated at 60 billion barrels), which are the greatest in Africa and whose extraction costs are among the lowest in the world, nor the natural gas reserves of which are estimated at about 1,500 billion cubic meters. In the crosshairs of “willing” of the operation “Unified Protector” there are sovereign wealth funds, capital that the Libyan state has invested abroad.
The Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) manages sovereign wealth funds estimated at about $70 billion U.S., rising to more than $150 billion if you include foreign investments of the Central Bank and other bodies. But it might be more. Even if they are lower than those of Saudi Arabia or Kuwait, Libyan sovereign wealth funds have been characterized by their rapid growth. When LIA was established in 2006, it had $40 billion at its disposal. In just five years, LIA has invested over one hundred companies in North Africa, Asia, Europe, the U.S. and South America: holding, banking, real estate, industries, oil companies and others. In Italy, the main Libyan investments are those in UniCredit Bank (of which LIA and the Libyan Central Bank hold 7.5 percent), Finmeccanica (2 percent) and ENI (1 percent), these and other investments (including 7.5 percent of the Juventus Football Club) have a significance not as much economically (they amount to some $5.4 billion) as politically. Libya, after Washington removed it from the blacklist of “rogue states,” has sought to carve out a space at the international level focusing on “diplomacy of sovereign wealth funds.” Once the U.S. and the EU lifted the embargo in 2004 and the big oil companies returned to the country, Tripoli was able to maintain a trade surplus of about $30 billion per year which was used largely to make foreign investments. The management of sovereign funds has however created a new mechanism of power and corruption in the hands of ministers and senior officials, which probably in part escaped the control of the Gadhafi himself: This is confirmed by the fact that, in 2009, he proposed that the 30 billion in oil revenues go “directly to the Libyan people.” This aggravated the fractures within the Libyan government. U.S. and European ruling circles focused on these funds, so that before carrying out a military attack on Libya to get their hands on its energy wealth, they took over the Libyan sovereign wealth funds. Facilitating this operation is the representative of the Libyan Investment Authority, Mohamed Layas himself: as revealed in a cable published by WikiLeaks. On January 20 Layas informed the U.S. ambassador in Tripoli that LIA had deposited $32 billion in U.S. banks. Five weeks later, on February 28, the U.S. Treasury “froze” these accounts. According to official statements, this is “the largest sum ever blocked in the United States,” which Washington held “in trust for the future of Libya.” It will in fact serve as an injection of capital into the U.S. economy, which is more and more in debt. A few days later, the EU “froze” around 45 billion Euros of Libyan funds. The assault on the Libyan sovereign wealth funds will have a particularly strong impact in Africa. There, the Libyan Arab African Investment Company had invested in over 25 countries, 22 of them in sub-Saharan Africa, and was planning to increase the investments over the next five years, especially in mining, manufacturing, tourism and telecommunications. The Libyan investments have been crucial in the implementation of the first telecommunications satellite Rascom (Regional African Satellite Communications Organization), which entered into orbit in August 2010, allowing African countries to begin to become independent from the U.S. and European satellite networks, with an annual savings of hundreds of millions of dollars. Even more important were the Libyan investment in the implementation of three financial institutions launched by the African Union: the African Investment Bank, based in Tripoli, the African Monetary Fund, based in Yaoundé (Cameroon), the African Central Bank, with Based in Abuja (Nigeria). The development of these bodies would enable African countries to escape the control of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, tools of neo-colonial domination, and would mark the end of the CFA franc, the currency that 14 former French colonies are forced to use. Freezing Libyan funds deals a strong blow to the entire project. The weapons used by “the willing” are not only those in the military action called “Unified Protector.” Il Manifesto, April 22, 2011 Translated from Italian by John Catalinotto Source: GlobalResearch.ca |
Britains Royal Wedding Fiasco and its “Dirty little Secret” in Bahrain
| The British royal wedding is turning swiftly into a public relations disaster, with news that Bahrain’s Crown Prince is respectfully turning down his invitation to the event because of the “situation reigning” in the Persian Gulf kingdom.
However, the real story behind the headlines is that the diplomatic shuffle reveals that the British establishment is well aware of the vicious repression being conducted by the Bahraini rulers along with the armed forces of neigbouring Gulf states, including Western allies Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman. Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa reportedly said that that he did not want his presence to “tarnish” the royal wedding due to take place at Westminster Abbey in London this Friday. The Bahraini prince was among 40 monarchs from around the world who have been invited by the British establishment to join some 2,000 other guests, including government leaders and celebrities, at the nuptials of Prince William and his long-time fiancé Kate Middleton. William is the son of Britain’s heir to the throne, Prince Charles.
Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa The British royals were in recent days coming under fire in some of the UK press for inviting the Bahraini prince, who is also the deputy supreme commander of the Bahrain Defence Forces. Despite a lack of coverage in the British and Western mainstream media generally, nonetheless there has been a public outcry in Britain over the brutal crackdown on the pro-democracy movement. More than 30 civilians have been killed in state violence – which escalated on March 16 after Saudi-led forces from the other Gulf countries entered the diminutive island of some 700,000 indigenous population. Thousands others have been injured from army and police opening fire on peaceful protests. Up to 1,000 people have been unlawfully detained, or “disappeared”, including doctors, nurses, lawyers, human rights workers and bloggers. Four people, including Bahraini journalist Karim Fakhrawi [1], have died while in custody, showing signs of torture. The Shia majority in Bahrain is particularly targeted by the Sunni rulers and their Gulf allies. Hundreds have been sacked from workplaces, accused of being supportive of the anti-government uprising that began on February 14. While the ongoing violations, including the military take-over of hospitals and unlawful detention of injured patients, have elicited condemnations from the UN Committee on Human Rights, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Doctors Without Borders and the US-based Physicians for Human Rights, the British government, along with Washington and other Western governments, has been conspicuously muted. Bahrain’s former colonial ruler, Britain, and the US government are well aware of the repression. The US Fifth Fleet is based in the strategic Persian Gulf island, which serves as a listening and watching post for Western geopolitical power projection in the region, in particular against Iran. It beggars belief that Western governments are unaware of the repression. Indeed, it is most likely that these governments have given their approval to the Bahraini and Gulf rulers carrying out the crackdown on the pro-democracy movement and the Shia population generally. Only days before the Saudi-led forces moved into Bahrain, the Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa received separate personal visits from US secretary of defence Robert Gates and Britain’s top national security advisor Sir Peter Ricketts, the latter reporting directly to British prime minister David Cameron. Britain and the US are major suppliers of military equipment to Bahrain – including teargas, helicopters and armoured personnel carriers that are being deployed to crush the pro-democracy protests. Britain has a particularly important role in the repressive policies of the Bahraini regime. When Britain granted nominal independence to the oil-rich shaikhdom in 1971, many of the British state security personnel remained in place. The head of Bahrain’s security between 1968 to 1998 was Colonel Ian Henderson, who is believed to still act as an advisor to the king. Henderson has in the past been the subject of several reports by international human rights groups for his involvement in overseeing torture and repression in Bahrain. [2] Since the latest crackdown began, the Bahraini rulers and their Gulf allies have sought to legitimize the state of emergency declared on March 14 as a necessary measure to crush a “subversive plot” in the country and the region fomented by Iran. US secretary of state Hillary Clinton has endeavoured to shore up such claims by denouncing “Iranian interference”. But as the British royal wedding fiasco indicates, Britain (and the US) are acutely aware of the disturbing humanitarian concerns in Bahrain. Officially, the Bahraini Crown Prince “uninvited” himself. In a statement, he said: “I was hoping that the Kingdom of Bahrain would have a high-profile representation at this glamorous event, thus reflecting the friendship bonding our countries. However, the current situation reigning in Bahrain prevents me from attending.” The bets are that the British foreign office became alarmed at the growing media controversy in Britain over the planned attendance at the wedding by the Bahraini monarch and advised the latter to uninvite himself. If the British government really did believe the official justifications for the repression in Bahrain, it would not have made such a move. The Bahraini monarch’s wish not to tarnish the occasion seems to be an off-guarded, inadvertent admission that there are disturbing violations being perpetrated by the regime. And the British government knows full well that it is harbouring a dirty little secret in Bahrain and that more media delving could expose that. But the British establishment has not limited the damage entirely. Still planning to attend the royal wedding is one of the princes from the House of Saud. Which will bring up more questions about Britain’s connections to the repression in Saudi Arabia against its own pro-democracy movement as well as the latter’s ongoing involvement in Bahrain. Furthermore, the guest list points to cynical double standards in Britain’s foreign policy. As media analyst Paul Kane points out: “It is so telling, on so many different levels, for example, the contrast between Bahraini rulers, who get invited to the British royal wedding – something that is taken to epitomize and define the gentility and nobility and cultural achievement of the western elites – and Libyan rulers, who get munitions, presumably loaded with depleted uranium, on their heads.” Finian Cunningham is a journalist and musician. He is Global Research’s Middle East Correspondent. NOTES[1] http://www.cpj.org/killed/2011/karim-fakhrawi.php [2] http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=23619 Finian Cunningham is a frequent contributor to Global Research. Global Research Articles by Finian Cunningham |
Anti Oligarch 