Athens rioting update

155 Greek Parliamentarians got on their hands and knees and forced Greece to swallow an "economic suicide pill" yesterday.
Naturally, the people weren't too thrilled about that.

Greece entered a new age of austerity last night with central Athens in flames, shops and businesses vandalised and police hunting hooded rioters through ransacked office buildings and the tourist district in the shadow of the Acropolis.
-The Independent

Then the cops used chemical warfare against the people.

Case against DSK might collapse?

“It is a mess, a mess on both sides.”

The case against former IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn is aparently not going so well. Forensic evidence confirms that there was a sexual encounter between DSK and the Sofitel Hotel housekeeper, but her credibility is eroding.

According to the two officials, the woman had a phone conversation with an incarcerated man within a day of her encounter with Mr. Strauss-Kahn in which she discussed the possible benefits of pursuing the charges against him. The conversation was recorded.

That man, the investigators learned, had been arrested on charges of possessing 400 pounds of marijuana. He is among a number of individuals who made multiple cash deposits, totaling around $100,000, into the woman’s bank account over the last two years. The deposits were made in Arizona, Georgia, New York and Pennsylvania.

According to the two officials, the woman had a phone conversation with an incarcerated man within a day of her encounter with Mr. Strauss-Kahn in which she discussed the possible benefits of pursuing the charges against him. The conversation was recorded.

That man, the investigators learned, had been arrested on charges of possessing 400 pounds of marijuana. He is among a number of individuals who made multiple cash deposits, totaling around $100,000, into the woman’s bank account over the last two years. The deposits were made in Arizona, Georgia, New York and Pennsylvania.
-New York Times

DSK might be freed from house arrest, and the felony charges may be dismissed. Too bad Christine Lagarde already has his old job already.

Ron Paul is pro-bankruptcy

Last week, Ron Paul introduced legislation to allow states to regulate their own marijuana industries. He is pro-decriminalization.
Not surprisingly, he's pro-bankruptcy too.
This week, the Texas Congressman and Presidential Candidate said that the US should stop paying it's debts and default.
Yes he did.
He'd settle for not paying the Fed, whom he wants to audit.

"We owe, like, $1.6 trillion because the Federal Reserve bought that debt, so we have to work hard to pay the interest to the Federal Reserve," Paul said. "We don't, I mean, they're nobody; why do we have to pay them off?"
-CNN

Update from the re-birthplace of democracy

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Flyover footage of flooded Fort Calhoun Nuclear Plant

It's an indefensible industry. The situation is profit vs. public safety. The latter stands no chance over the long term.
-CounterPunch

A floodwall at the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Plant has collapsed under the pressure of the rising waters of the Missouri river.

The 2,000-foot berm collapsed about 1:25 a.m. Sunday due to “onsite activities,” OPPD officials said. The Aqua Dam provided supplemental flood protection and was not required under NRC regulations.

“We put up the aqua-berm as additional protection,” said OPPD spokesman Mike Jones. “(The plant) is in the same situation it would have been in if the berm had not been added. We're still within NRC regulations.”
-Omaha World-Herald

That's the official story.
However, coming the heels of the less-than-acceptable results of a recent investigation into nuclear power plant safety in the US, a de facto mainstream media blackout surrounding the situation at Fort Calhoun, which is only about 19 miles north of Omaha, is to be regarded with the utmost interest and skepticism.
Obviously, people were concerned enough about the flooding that they filled up a 2,000 foot aqua berm...and now that berm has failed.
A second Nulcear Plant in Nebraska that sits on higher ground is also allegedly fine.

Spratly Islands row heating up

"We are determined and committed to supporting the defense of the Philippines."
-US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

As tensions in the South China Sea/West Philippine Sea have risen dramatically over the past few weeks, the US has dangled some shiny new (used) baubles to reassert its commitment to its puppet regime in Manila.
This past week, in response to repeated Chinese incursions into waters claimed by China, Vietnam, the Pilippines, Taiwan, and Malaysia, Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario was summoned by his real handlers to come begging in Washington for new lease agreements on equipment to upgrade the Philippine military's largely outdated fleet of post-war hand-me-downs from its neo-colonial patron.

Del Rosario, with Mrs Clinton at his side, said: "While we are a small country, we are prepared to do what is necessary to stand up to any aggressive action in our backyard."

The Philippines has announced the deployment in disputed waters of its navy flagship, the Rajah Humabon. One of the world's oldest warships, the Rajah Humabon was a former US Navy frigate that served during World War II.

The Philippines has historically bought second-hand hardware, but del Rosario said that President Benigno Aquino has allocated 11 billion pesos (£157 million) to upgrade the navy.

Shortly ahead of his talks with Mrs Clinton, Mr del Rosario said that the Philippines was asking the United States for "an operational lease so that we can look at fairly new equipment and be able to get our hands on that quickly."

"We need to have the resources to be able to stand and defend ourselves and, I think, to the extent that we can do that, we become a stronger ally for you," he said at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
-The Telegraph

The Philippines claims that over the past four months, there have been nine intrusions by Chinese warships in its territorial waters off Palawan.
Not only has the US puppet regime sent a WWII-era bucket to the area, but the two imperial bedfellows have also scheduled 11 days worth of naval excercises in the disputed waters as well. The excercises, dubbed Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT), are scheduled to begin this coming week.

Lieutenant Noel Cadigal of the Philippine navy said two U.S. guided missile destroyers and a salvage ship would join four Philippine gunboats for gunnery, patrol and interdiction drills off the southern tip of Palawan island.

"We will also hold anti-piracy and anti-smuggling exercises and test the interoperability and readiness of the two navies in responding to various scenarios, such as security, disaster and humanitarian assistance," Cadigal said.
-News Daily

Sounds like the US Navy is going to train the Philippine Navy on how to ride shotgun along with US missile frigates as the world's largest exporter of democracy asserts itself into some neighborly drama between other, allegedly-sovereign nations.

World Revolution Update