US military attack on Syria could begin Thursday and will involve three days of missile strikes

An American military attack on Syria could begin as early as Thursday and will involve three days of missile strikes, according to "senior U.S. officials" talking to NBC News. The Washington Post has the bombing at "no more than two days," though long-range bombers could "possibly" join the missiles. "Factors weighing into the timing of any action include a desire to get it done before the president leaves for Russia next week," reports CNN, citing a "senior administration official."

The New York Times, quoting a Pentagon official, adds that "the initial target list has fewer than 50 sites, including air bases where Syria's Russian-made attack helicopters are deployed." The Times adds that "like several other military officials contacted for this report, the official agreed to discuss planning options only on condition of anonymity."

Thus do the legal and moral requirements of secret military operations lose out in this Administration to the imperatives of in-the-know spin and political gestures.

It's always possible that all of this leaking about when, how and for how long the U.S. will attack Syria is an elaborate head-fake, like Patton's ghost army on the eve of D-Day, poised for the assault on Calais. But based on this Administration's past behavior, such as the leaked bin Laden raid details, chances are most of this really is the war plan. Read more >>

Top Security Expert: Treating EVERYONE Like a Potential Terrorist Weakens Our Ability to Protect America

Bruce Schneier is an internationally-recognized security expert who regularly writes for CNN, Wired and other publications. Schneier’s blog was just listed by Time as one of the 25 best blogs in the world. Schneier trounced the former head of the TSA (87% to 13%) in a recent debate on airport security hosted by the Economist.

Washington’s Blog asked Schneier 3 questions by email.

[Q] Many top experts (including you) have said that mass surveillance on Americans is harmful to national security, as it makes the haystack too big to search meaningfully for bad guys.

As a layperson, it seems to me that the same is true with many of our counter-terrorism efforts since 9/11.

[A] Yes.

[Q] For example, Nobel prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz calculates that the U.S. will end up spending $3-5 trillion dollars in the Iraq war [a Brown University study actually concluded that the Iraq war could end up costing $6 trillion dollars]. Yet the 9/11 Commission found that Iraq had no connection to 9/11.

[A] Right.

Read more >>

For First Time Majority Finds President Untrustworthy

Whatever the deteriorating economy could not achieve (courtesy of Ben Bernanke's relentless bubble blowing and pumping of the S&P 500-driven "wealth effect" distraction) for the past four years, one NSA whistleblower succeeded in a few short days, when earlier today, CNN - hardly a media known for its criticism of the administration - released a new poll according to which not only did Obama's approval rating drop by 8% in the past month, "one of the sharpest, fastest plunges in his presidency" to 45% from 53% (the first time the majority had a negative opinion of the president), not only did the majority find Obama to not be honest and trustworthy for the first time ever in his presidency, but Obama's support with one of his core constituencies - young Americans under 30 - imploded, plunging by 17 points. CNN adds:

"That's particularly discouraging heading into 2014 because Democrats have felt they have a lock on the youth vote after the 2012 elections. "The drop in Obama's support is fueled by a dramatic 17-point decline over the past month among people under 30, who, along with black Americans, had been the most loyal part of the Obama coalition," CNN Polling Director Keating Holland said."

Ted Turner's news network adds the following:

The president also dropped 10 points among independent voters, from 47 percent last month to 37 percent. Obama's disapproval among independents jumped 12 points to 61 percent. Again, more bad news for Democrats because those independents are especially important in mid-term elections in which older, more conservative Americans predominate.

The network pointed to several major scandals as evidence for the drop.

"The White House has been under siege over telephone and Internet surveillance, the Internal Revenue Service's targeting of conservative groups, its handling of the terror attack on the U.S. consular post in Benghazi, Libya, and the Justice Department's collecting journalists' phone records as part of the government's investigation into leaks of classified information," CNN reported.

"It is clear that revelations about NSA surveillance programs have damaged Obama's standing with the public, although older controversies like the IRS matter may have begun to take their toll as well," Holland told the network. Read more >>

Time Warner To Dump All Magazine Titles

Time Warner is now seeking to sell off all of its most iconic magazine titles, the New York Times reported Wednesday.

The media conglomerate was already in talks with fellow publisher Meredith about selling most of the titles in its Time Inc. stable, but Time Warner was said to be keeping a hold on four major brands: Time, Sports Illustrated, Fortune and Money.

Now, the Times' Amy Chozick and Christine Haughney wrote, Time Warner wants to dispense with those too:

Time Warner still wants to complete the deal, but if talks fall through, the media giant could spin off Time Inc. on its own, without a partner, or keep its 21 magazines, the people said.

Time Warner had considered keeping the four news and sports magazines, which executives originally believed have synergies with its CNN cable channel. But the thinking on the magazines, which like the rest of the industry have faced industry-wide downturns in revenue, has changed, these people said. Read more >>

Only 6% Rate News Media As Very Trustworthy

Most voters still get their news from television and consider the news reported by the media generally trustworthy.

Fifty-six percent (56%) of Likely U.S. Voters say they get most of their news from TV, including 32% who get it from cable news networks and 24% who get it from traditional network news. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that another 25% use the Internet as their main source of news, while only 10% still rely on print newspapers. Seven percent (7%) get most of their news from radio.

Fifty-six percent (56%) of all voters regard the news reported by the media as at least somewhat trustworthy, but that includes just six percent who think it is Very Trustworthy. Forty-two percent (42%) don’t trust the news media, with 12% who believe the news it reports is Not At All Trustworthy.

Last September, as the final stretch of the presidential race heated up, 40% of American Adults said the Internet was the best way to get news and information in today’s world, while 37% viewed television that way. Nine percent (9%) rated radio as the best source, and seven percent (7%) chose print newspapers. TV broadcast news was considered the most reliable, followed by the Internet and newspapers. Read more >>

Virginia Wants to Mint Its Own Coins

Virginia is apparently for haters of the Federal Reserve: One state legislator wants the state to mint its own coins in case the US dollar collapses. It may sound pie-in-the-sky, but Virginia's House of Delegates agreed yesterday to set up a $17,000 panel to explore the move, reports the Washington Post. The Virginian-Pilot sees the measure by Republican Bob Marshall as a "conservative shout-out," but Marshall insists he's serious.

“We can’t mint money, but we can mint gold and silver coins,” he explained previously, reports NBC News. “It sounds like a small difference, but it is a difference legally. If you look closely on a [dollar] bill, it doesn’t say that it’s money. It says it is legal tender ‘for all debts, public and private.’” What's more, Virginia isn't alone in considering the notes, reports CNN. Here's the nitty-gritty of Marshall's bill.

Source

CNN Hits 20-Year Weekly Primetime Low

Primetime is not good news for CNN lately. Amidst having its least watched month in primetime in two decades in May and the lowest rated month in total viewers in 10-years in April, CNN has now hit a 20-year all time primetime weekly low. The latest fall came during the week of July 30 to August 5, 2012. Both primetime hosts Anderson Cooper and Piers Morgan were on full time duty that week, with no substitutes. 

The decline was among total viewers and the key 25-54 demo. During the week of July 30 to August 5, Piers Morgan Tonight at 9 PM averaged 314,000 viewers overall, with a mere 81,000 in the 25-54 demo, according to Nielsen. 

That average is the lowest week Morgan has had since he took over Larry King’s spot on January 17, 2011. During the same time slot over on Fox News, Sean Hannity averaged 1,749,000 total viewers and 324,000 in the 25-54 demo. On MSNBC, The Rachel Maddow Show averaged 933,000 total viewers that week, with 271,000 in the key demo. 

Bookending Morgan’s show, Anderson Cooper 360 at 8 PM averaged 349,000 viewers for the week, also with 81,000 in the demo. Cooper’s 360 10 PM repeat had 97,000 among the 25-54 demo, the sixth lowest the network has had in two decades, but a slight 259,000 average total viewers for the week. Read more >>

Americans' Confidence in Television News Drops to New Low

Lymari Morales
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Americans' confidence in television news is at a new low by one percentage point, with 21% of adults expressing a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in it. This marks a decline from 27% last year and from 46% when Gallup started tracking confidence in television news in 1993.

The findings are from Gallup's annual update on confidence in U.S. institutions, conducted June 7-10 this year. As such, the findings preceded the erroneous initial reports by cable-news networks CNN and Fox News regarding the U.S. Supreme Court's June 28 decision about the constitutionality of the U.S. healthcare law.
Among 16 U.S. institutions tested, television news ranks 11^th, following newspapers in 10^th place. The 25% of adults who express a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in newspapers is down slightly from 28% last year. Confidence in newspapers is now half of what it was at its peak of 51% in 1979.

This year's updates mark a setback from last year for both television news and newspapers, when Americans appeared to be regaining some confidence in these institutions, though they are more in line with 2007-2010 readings. Read more >>

CNN Sinks To 21-Year Primetime Ratings Low

 deadline.com
 DOMINIC PATTEN
Coming off its least-watched month in primetime in 20 years in May, CNN has taken another big ratings blow: The cable news network has registered to its lowest-rated quarter in primetime since 1991. For this year’s second quarter, CNN hit a low among total viewers and the key adults 25-54 demographic, with all primetime programs posting steep declines.

USS Ponce Heads Towards Persian Gulf

The amphibious transport dock ship USS Ponce

A U.S. warship designed as a floating base for naval special forces is scheduled to transit through the Suez Canal for the first time as early as Friday, Navy officials say. The USS Ponce, an amphibious transport ship, recently finished a complete overhaul that now has it configured to operate as a floating staging platform for the military. It is being launched into the oil shipping lanes at a time of heightened tensions across the region, U.S. Navy officials told CNN.

The ship began approaching Suez on Thursday and is expected to enter the canal shortly on its way to the Persian Gulf. The ship will function as a staging base for special operations forces and small patrol boats, including mine countermeasure vessels, in gulf waters that Iran has previously threatened to shut down.

Gen. James Mattis, commander of U.S. Central Command, which oversees U.S. military operations in the Middle East, had long pressed for the conversion of the Ponce in order to have a mobile platform from which troops could quickly deploy at a time when budget cuts are restricting large-scale deployments. Read More >>

RFK Assassination Witness: "There Was a Second Shooter"

Boris Yaro's photograph of Robert F. Kennedy lying wounded on the floor immediately after the shooting. Kneeling beside him is 17-year-old Juan Romero, "PHOTOS: A busboy kneels again next to RFK". Los Angeles Times . . who shook Kennedy's hand when the shots fell. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As a federal court prepares to rule on a challenge to Sirhan Sirhan's conviction in the Robert F. Kennedy assassination, a long overlooked witness to the murder is telling her story: She heard two guns firing during the 1968 shooting and authorities altered her account of the crime.

Nina Rhodes-Hughes wants the world to know that, despite what history says, Sirhan was not the only gunman firing shots when Senator Kennedy was murdered a few feet away from her at a Los Angeles hotel.

"What has to come out is that there was another shooter to my right," Rhodes-Hughes said in an exclusive interview with CNN. "The truth has got to be told. No more cover-ups." More...

1,500 oil cleanup workers sickened says BP's lead doctor in Gulf

AC 360, CNN, July 7, 2010: Dr. Sanjay Gupta: Today Dr. Kevin O'Shea -- he's the physician in charge of BP's medical response in Gulf -- he told me that in the four states affected by the spill, more than 1,500 cleanup workers have now complained of some illness or injury.

See also:
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/US/07/07/...
Rough weather remains Gulf obstacle for connecting ship, well, CNN, July 7, 2010: BP doctor says up to 1,500 cleanup workers sickened... CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta sat down Wednesday for an exclusive interview with the man in charge of BP's medical response, Dr. Kevin O'Shea. He said more than 1,500 workers have sought medical care through BP, a significant increase from previously reported numbers.

Major Networks Threatened Boycott of White House in Support of Fox

Obama has resorted to paranoid Stalinist tactics which simply cannot be tolerated. What's next, dissident concentration camps?

Minneapolis Conservative Examiner

Officials invited the White House press pool to 5 minute interviews with Pay Czar Kenneth Feinberg to discuss Feinberg's announcement to cut executive pay at at least 7 companies.

The press pool is made up of the 5 major news organizations including CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX. FOX has been a member of the White House press pool since 1997.



Officials invited the entire press corps to the round robin interview process with the express exception of FOX News. The Washington Bureau Chiefs of all of the 5 major networks consulted. The group agreed that if FOX were not allowed to participate, that they would boycott the interview with Feinberg in protest.

The White House eventually relented and granted 2 minute interviews for each network including FOX.

This comes on the heels of several Obama administration officials making the rounds on the weekend talk shows on the other 4 major networks and claiming that FOX News is more like "talk radio" and "not really a news organization" like ABC or CNN.

http://www.examiner.com/x-2927-Minne...corps-protests

Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich on War and Lies

"I've noticed in the past few months how the mainstream media have conveniently chosen to ignore discussion or debate on this topic. I remember CNN's Anderson Cooper dedicating a special on discussing the release of Paris Hilton some time ago. 100 Iraqi civilians died in one day last month due to a miscalculated US air strike, and none of them gave a shit.

I remember how all the candidates who unequivocally opposed the war in the last elections were sidelined and at times ridiculed. They were labelled "impractical".

I remember that the guy (Ron Paul) who asked for an immediate pull out of our troops from Iraq and Afghanistan received the largest donations from the military. Maybe, our men and women in the military are also impractical.

This is dedicated to every single life that we have lost in this needless and mindless war. This is my protest to "how things are", and my contribution to change them to "how they ought to be".

We will not be swayed by the Government propaganda and be silenced at the expense of being called unpatriotic'."

Dissent is the highest form of patriotism
- Howard Zinn

More airport detection: Move the wrong muscle and you don't fly

Mike Smith writes:

Nervous flyers, beware: a Department of Homeland Security-funded project is investigating whether Wii Fit Balance Boards might be good ways to detect signs of tension or unease in airport security lines.

The next step in the War on Terrorism?

As somewhere over 20 million Wii Fit owners know, the Balance Board can detect your precise balance point, making it a perfect keep-fit tool -- but the Future Attribute Screening Technology project hopes detecting physiological signs -- including rapid shifts in balance -- will help identify passengers who may have hostile intentions.

"Researchers took a Wii balance board...and altered it to show how someone's weight shifts. Studies are now under way to determine whether there is a level of fidgeting that would suggest the need for secondary screening," CNN said.

The Balance Board is just one of a suite of sensors the Boston-based project is trialing; others include eye trackers and devices that record respiratory and heart rates. Researchers say their goal is to have a system ready for field tests in 2011.

Ron Paul discusses his new book "End The Fed"

Congressman Ron Paul discusses his new book "End The Fed," as well as other economic issues and Federal Reserve-related topics on CNN's "American Morning."

"Way to go, Joe!"

CNN Capitol Hill correspondent Lisa Desjardins does a live report from the National Mall in Washington on the day of a huge Taxpayer March or "tea party protest" against the government.

At the start of the interview, anchor Fredricka Whitfield "forewarns" the audience that there might be some yelling during the report.

Desjardins struggles to get through the interview in front of chants of "tell the truth" and "go home, CNN". After Whitfield asks Desjardins to "give it one more shot," the tea partyers start chanting Glenn Beck's name, lol.

The brave reporter then attempts to ask the protesters a question: "What do you think of Congressman Joe Wilson?" The crowd reacts with applause, then starts chanting, "Way to go, Joe."

Barter Exchange Services Skyrocket

As congress, the Obama people, and the financial elite continue their green shoot charade, aided by mainstream media whores who serve as nothing but stenographers for those in power, a subculture is forming across America in preparation for what most people know is already upon us: a protracted depression. In a world where cash is king, business owners have turned to barter exchange services to preserve cash. The U.S. currently boasts some 500 barter exchanges, up from about 40 in 1980, according to CNN's Justin Martin, and that's the official count; many businesses barter informally to avoid the IRS.

Martin writes about Christian Kar, the founder of Silver Cup Coffee, a company with 16 employees that make high-end espresso machines and custom coffee blends. "In recent months," writes Martin, "Kar has bartered for Web site design, a walk-in freezer, a phone system, vehicle maintenance, plumbing, catering for a company holiday party and a parking lot paint job. Kar estimates that 5% of his company's expenses are covered through barter.

"Tina Ames owns the Craftsmen Cafe, a Clarence, N.Y. eatery that specializes in organic comfort fare such as chicken soup and apple pie. Recently she needed to replace her restaurant's roof, a $7,000 job. Ames was loath to part with that much cash and didn't want to take out a loan. Her solution? She cut a deal with a local contractor who handled the roofing job in exchange for a Ford F-150 pickup that Ames no longer needed."

"I grew up on a farm," she says. "If you had eggs and someone else had corn, you traded. It's an old way of doing things, and it makes a lot of sense."

It's an old way of doing things that's about to become new again, new and permanent. The depth and length of Depression 2.0 will be the most severe depression in history. When the unemployment benefits run out for great swaths across America, who will they turn to when bankrupt states slash welfare and food stamp programs? As our global economy comes to a full stop, trade will begin to flourish in local communities out of necessity. An unemployed carpenter will barter for fresh eggs or produce from a local farmer in exchange for a new chicken coop. We will all be forced to depend more on ourselves and our abilities -- it's a good thing.