The France reorganized its military presence in the Sahel around four bases
StratRisks
Jan 26, 2014
This is a huge field of operations as large as Europe, but almost entirely desert. “Armed terrorist groups” (GAT, according to military acronym) that travel does not know national boundaries, with a line drawn by former colonial administrations in the middle of … nothing. As his enemies, the French army, which is at the forefront in the war against the jihadists in the Sahel, decided to abstract these boundaries. To this end, the Ministry of Defence in depth reorganizes its military presence in Africa.This “regionalization of the Sahel” is being implemented: no ads mirobolantes but a discrete adjustment work here are the highlights.
Everything starts with an analysis of the threat after defeating – but not entirely removed – TGA in northern Mali in the first half of 2013, the French army and intelligence services, not surprisingly, found that these were, in part, scattered in neighboring states. Particularly in the south-western Libya, where has been a real “safe black hole” in the Fezzan around the triangle Oubari-Sebha-Mourzouk. It is from this base that the jihadists back back north Mali – nineteen of them were killed during a special operation in December – and Niger, where a significant terrorist act has recently been thwarted. The GAT borrow a line more than a thousand kilometers, after the pass of El Salvador, following the border between Niger and Algeria. The tracks also borrowed going well on the Algerian territory that Nigerian. France’s strategy is to cut the jihadists their rear base in Libya, where it is impossible to speak openly.
For the French military, three states in the region now form a single theater Mali, Niger and Chad.Their three governments involved in the fight against terrorism and cooperate with France.
In the region, France will have four main bases: N’Djamena (Chad), Niamey (Niger), Gao (Mali) and Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso). A N’Djamena: combat aircraft Rafale and Mirage 2000, supported by tankers and ground forces – and the staff who will control operations in the Sahel. In Niamey, intelligence assets, including two new Reaper drones purchased in the United States and will be operational in the coming days. These monitoring devices controlled from the ground in Niamey are collocated with those of the U.S. Air Force. This base can also accommodate combat aircraft and Atlantique 2 maritime patrol, used both above the desert of the ocean. In Gao, land forces, with a large helicopter detachment. Finally, more discreetly, in Ouagadougou, the group of special forces Sabre operates throughout the area from the rear base. These four main bases, the French army will add support points further north, that is to say, closer to possible interception areas of terrorist groups. Two of them were chosen: Tessalit, in the far north of Mali, and Faya-Largeau in northern Chad. Another is still being sought in the north-eastern Niger, knowing that special forces are already present in the Arlit mining (northwest) area. These support points must have airstrip, even briefly, for depositing light vehicle or implement helicopters. Not to mention the collection of intelligence, human or electronic … In total, this device in the Sahel mobilize 3,000 French soldiers permanently with air assets nearly thirty aircraft (fighter, transport, helicopters, drones, etc).
The whole of this new device, which has not received baptism generic name, will be supported by three rear bases in Africa: Dakar (Senegal), Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire) and Libreville (Gabon). To compensate for the rise in the Sahelian zone, the number of Dakar and Libreville and those of Djibouti will be revised downwards. The abandonment of Abidjan, a time considered, is no longer valid, quite the contrary. Logistical role is even considered as a priority towards the Sahel. Djibouti, turned to another theater of operations – including Somalia – will see its numbers continue to decline.Relations between France and Djibouti government are no longer what they were … A regiment, the 13th DBLE has already left the country to settle in the United Arab Emirates.
In total, about 6,000 French soldiers who remain active in Africa, permanently, half the Sahel. That’s a lot. More so than any other Western country. The idea to withdraw from the continent, caressed in the drafting of the previous White Paper of Defence (2008), fizzled. France remains more than ever, a permanent African military power far beyond operations decided by François Hollande, Serval Sangaris Mali and the Central African Republic.
[…CONTINUE READING THIS ARTICLE]
[h/t: MediaMonarchy]
Illinois proposes ‘legalizing’ medical marijuana as long as patients surrender Second Amendment rights
by L.J. Devon, Staff Writer
Natural News
Jan 25, 2014
(NaturalNews) Lawmakers from the state of Illinois have proposed new medical marijuana rules that coerce patients to surrender their Second Amendment right in the application process.
The new medical marijuana “legalization” bill requires Illinois citizens to undergo a background check, be fingerprinted and pay an additional $150 fine for using marijuana for medical purposes.
On top of that and most disturbing of all, Illinois citizens will also be required to sign away their right to own a firearm in the application process.
Personal liberty and responsibility has become a dead idea in the state of Illinois, as the right to bear arms becomes a perishable right dictated through laws regulating strict control of a plant.
Illinois forcing citizens to give up their guns if they want medical pot
Under the new rules, people who want to treat themselves with something other than dangerous pharmaceutical drugs will be required to give up their guns in the process.
Both caregivers and patients will be required to surrender their firearms, and any state-approved FOID cards or concealed carry permits. According to the proposal, state police will be in charge of enforcing the gun control sanctions.
Moreover, the Department of Agriculture will be enlisted to develop rules for cultivation centers, and the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation will be employed to draw up rules for dispensaries. More power to the state!
The plan also dictates the reasons for which caregivers can prescribe cannabis, outlining 41 specific medical conditions that pre-qualify patients to seek a patient registry medical marijuana ID card. The ID card will permit approved patients access to 2.5 ounces of medical marijuana every two weeks, to be administered by a certified caregiver.
Isn’t it strange how the state limits the potential of a plant but turns a blind eye toward the mass distribution, destruction, and death coming from many pharmaceutical drugs?
Regulations like these encourage continual, exaggerated health complaints
Additional rules require that patients be at least 18 years old and have a “bona fide” relationship with their caregiver. The caregiver will be required to certify a patient’s medical condition. This may inevitably encourage many people to exaggerate their medical condition while caregivers overprescribe just so users can get a recreational high. This will weaken entire defenseless generations who have given up their Second Amendment right just to get high. Regulations like these will make users more likely to mentally fabricate and overstate their “medical condition” just to “legally” obtain pot.
Breakthrough allows scientists to watch how molecules morph into memories (w/ video)
medicalxpress.com
Jan 23, 2014
Credit: Albert Einstein College of Medicine
In two studies in the January 24 issue of Science, researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University used advanced imaging techniques to provide a window into how the brain makes memories. These insights into the molecular basis of memory were made possible by a technological tour de force never before achieved in animals: a mouse model developed at Einstein in which molecules crucial to making memories were given fluorescent “tags” so they could be observed traveling in real time in living brain cells.
Efforts to discover how neurons make memories have long confronted a major roadblock: Neurons are extremely sensitive to any kind of disruption, yet only by probing their innermost workings can scientists view the molecular processes that culminate in memories. To peer deep into neurons without harming them, Einstein researchers developed a mouse model in which they fluorescently tagged all molecules of messenger RNA (mRNA) that code for beta-actin protein – an essential structural protein found in large amounts in brain neurons and considered a key player in making memories. mRNA is a family of RNA molecules that copy DNA’s genetic information and translate it into the proteins that make life possible.
“It’s noteworthy that we were able to develop this mouse without having to use an artificial gene or other interventions that might have disrupted neurons and called our findings into question,” said Robert Singer, Ph.D., the senior author of both papers and professor and co-chair of Einstein’s department of anatomy & structural biology and co-director of the Gruss Lipper Biophotonics Center at Einstein. He also holds the Harold and Muriel Block Chair in Anatomy & Structural Biology at Einstein.
In the research described in the two Science papers, the Einstein researchers stimulated neurons from the mouse’s hippocampus, where memories are made and stored, and then watched fluorescently glowing beta-actin mRNA molecules form in the nuclei of neurons and travel within dendrites, the neuron’s branched projections. They discovered that mRNA in neurons is regulated through a novel process described as “masking” and “unmasking,” which allows beta-actin protein to be synthesized at specific times and places and in specific amounts.
3 killed, 5 injured in Maryland mall shooting
RT
Jan 25, 2014
Police patrol outside a Sears store at Columbia Mall after a fatal shooting on January 25, 2014, in Columbia, Maryland. (AFP Photo/Jewel Samad)
A shooter opened fire at a mall in Columbia, Maryland on Saturday, killing two people and injuring one before apparently taking his own life, police say.
Four others were injured in the ensuing chaos. Howard County police say they do not know the motive behind the shooting. There is an indication that the suspect may have intended to kill more people.
“Because of concerns about any other weapons he may have or explosives, we are approaching this with an abundance of caution,” Howard County Police Chief Bill McMahon said, stressing that an investigation had just begun. “We’re getting assistance from some of our federal partners and making sure there are no explosives on the body of the deceased.”
Police have disabled what they described as “two crude devices that appeared to be an attempt at making explosives using fireworks.”
Maryland State Police patrol the Columbia Mall after a fatal shooting on January 25, 2014, in Columbia, Maryland. (AFP Photo/Jim Watson)
The victims were identified as Brianna Benlolo, 21, and Tyler Johnson, 25. Both were employees of Zumiez, the skate shop where the shooting took place. The name of the gunman has not yet been released.
“Investigators have tentatively identified the shooter and are following up on investigative leads. It is believed he died from a self-inflicted gun shot wound,” said the police statement
As the scene unfolded, customers were ordered by police to remain inside stores. The mall, which opens at 10:00 a.m. EST on Saturdays, was crowded with weekend shoppers.
The mall will remain closed on Sunday.
Naked Gold Shorts: The Inside Story of Gold Price Manipulation
By Dr. Paul Craig Roberts and David Kranzler
Global Research
Jan 18, 2014
The deregulation of the financial system during the Clinton and George W. Bush regimes had the predictable result: financial concentration and reckless behavior. A handful of banks grew so large that financial authorities declared them “too big to fail.” Removed from market discipline, the banks became wards of the government requiring massive creation of new money by the Federal Reserve in order to support through the policy of Quantitative Easing the prices of financial instruments on the banks’ balance sheets and in order to finance at low interest rates trillion dollar federal budget deficits associated with the long recession caused by the financial crisis.
The Fed’s policy of monetizing one trillion dollars of bonds annually put pressure on the US dollar, the value of which declined in terms of gold. When gold hit $1,900 per ounce in 2011, the Federal Reserve realized that $2,000 per ounce could have a psychological impact that would spread into the dollar’s exchange rate with other currencies, resulting in a run on the dollar as both foreign and domestic holders sold dollars to avoid the fall in value. Once this realization hit, the manipulation of the gold price moved beyond central bank leasing of gold to bullion dealers in order to create an artificial market supply to absorb demand that otherwise would have pushed gold prices higher.
The manipulation consists of the Fed using bullion banks as its agents to sell naked gold shorts in the New York Comex futures market. Short selling drives down the gold price, triggers stop-loss orders and margin calls, and scares participants out of the gold trusts. The bullion banks purchase the deserted shares and present them to the trusts for redemption in bullion. The bullion can then be sold in the London physical gold market, where the sales both ratify the lower price that short-selling achieved on the Comex floor and provide a supply of bullion to meet Asian demands for physical gold as opposed to paper claims on gold.
The evidence of gold price manipulation is clear. In this article we present evidence and describe the process. We conclude that ability to manipulate the gold price is disappearing as physical gold moves from New York and London to Asia, leaving the West with paper claims to gold that greatly exceed the available supply.
The primary venue of the Fed’s manipulation activity is the New York Comex exchange, where the world trades gold futures. Each gold futures contract represents one gold 100 ounce bar. The Comex is referred to as a paper gold exchange because of the use of these futures contracts. Although several large global banks are trading members of the Comex, JP Morgan, HSBC and Bank Nova Scotia conduct the majority of the trading volume. Trading of gold (and silver) futures occurs in an auction-style market on the floor of the Comex daily from 8:20 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. New York time. Comex futures trading also occurs on what is known as Globex. Globex is a computerized trading system used for derivatives, currency and futures contracts. It operates continuously except on weekends. Anyone anywhere in the world with access to a computer-based futures trading platform has access to the Globex system.
In addition to the Comex, the Fed also engages in manipulating the price of gold on the far bigger–in terms of total dollar value of trading–London gold market. This market is called the LBMA (London Bullion Marketing Association) market. It is comprised of several large banks who are LMBA market makers known as “bullion banks” (Barclays, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JPMorganChase, Merrill Lynch/Bank of America, Mitsui, Societe Generale, Bank of Nova Scotia and UBS). Whereas the Comex is a “paper gold” exchange, the LBMA is the nexus of global physical gold trading and has been for centuries. When large buyers like Central Banks, big investment funds or wealthy private investors want to buy or sell a large amount of physical gold, they do this on the LBMA market.
The Fed’s gold manipulation operation involves exerting forceful downward pressure on the price of gold by selling a massive amount of Comex gold futures, which are dropped like bombs either on the Comex floor during NY trading hours or via the Globex system. A recent example of this occurred on Monday, January 6, 2014. After rallying over $15 in the Asian and European markets, the price of gold suddenly plunged $35 at 10:14 a.m. In a space of less than 60 seconds, more than 12,000 contracts traded – equal to more than 10% of the day’s entire volume during the 23 hour trading period in which which gold futures trade. There was no apparent news or market event that would have triggered the sudden massive increase in Comex futures selling which caused the sudden steep drop in the price of gold. At the same time, no other securities market (other than silver) experienced any unusual price or volume movement. 12,000 contracts represents 1.2 million ounces of gold, an amount that exceeds by a factor of three the total amount of gold in Comex vaults that could be delivered to the buyers of these contracts.
This manipulation by the Fed involves the short-selling of uncovered Comex gold futures. “Uncovered” means that these are contracts that are sold without any underlying physical gold to deliver if the buyer on the other side decides to ask for delivery. This is also known as “naked short selling.” The execution of the manipulative trading is conducted through one of the major gold futures trading banks, such as JPMorganChase, HSBC, and Bank of Nova Scotia. These banks do the actual selling on behalf of the Fed. The manner in which the Fed dumps a large quantity of futures contracts into the market differs from the way in which a bona fide trader looking to sell a big position would operate. The latter would try to work off his position carefully over an extended period of time with the goal of trying to disguise his selling and to disturb the price as little as possible in order to maximize profits or minimize losses. In contrast, the Fed‘s sales telegraph the intent to drive the price lower with no regard for preserving profits or fear or incurring losses, because the goal is to inflict as much damage as possible on the price and intimidate potential buyers.
Senate committee OKs industrial hemp bill
Sun-Commercial: News
Jan 26, 2014
Associated Press
INDIANAPOLIS — Allowing farmers to grow hemp in Indiana could help boost the economy and dispel myths about a crop that can be used to make everything from paper to car parts, supporters told lawmakers Friday.
The testimony helped convince the Senate’s agriculture committee to unanimously approve a bill that would enable farmers to legally grow industrial hemp, but only if they or the state gets federal approval. Hemp is marijuana’s non-intoxicating cousin but it cannot be grown under federal law, though many products made from hemp, such as oils and clothing, are legal.
The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Richard Young, D-Milltown, said hemp fields flourished in Indiana before and during World War II, but petrochemical industries and other industries later lobbied against hemp — which can also be used to make fuel — to cut competition.
“This is a plant that has been used for centuries throughout the world and has tremendous potential,” Young said.
But lingering stereotypes have haunted efforts to legalize the crop ever since, said Neal Smith, chairman of Indiana National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. He wore a pin with showing the five-branched hemp leaf, which looks almost identical to a marijuana leaf but has two fewer branches.
Kentucky passed similar legislation last year, and eight other states have done the same, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
The 1970 Controlled Substances Act requires hemp growers to get a permit from the Drug Enforcement Administration. The last permit was issued in 1999 — and expired in 2003 — for an experimental plot in Hawaii. U.S. Sens. Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky are co-sponsoring legislation that would federally legalize industrial hemp farming.
The economic benefits remain unclear, however, and whether Indiana would receive a permit is uncertain.
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[h/t: ActivistPost]
Mark of the Beast for your feast? Microchipped food texts you when it spoils
by J.D. Heyes
Natural News
Jan 25, 2014
(NaturalNews) Technology continues to improve our lives, but as we’ve often reported here at Natural News, technology – the Technology Age, for lack of a better term – is also a double-edged sword.
Consider new technology that essentially allows your food to notify you when it is spoiled. No, we’re not making that up.
Some analysts wonder if it is akin to the mark of the beast for your dinner table.
As reported by Britain’s The Telegraph:
Computer chips in futuristic food packaging could warn consumers when their food is about to go off, it has been reported.
Scientists have developed the gadget that can be inserted into packets of perishable foods, which will be able to assess when the contents are nearing their use-by date, an EU committee of peers has heard.
In a separate report, Britain’s Daily Mail said the technology would enable your food to – get this – text you when it is approaching its shelf life:
If you have trouble deciding what to have for dinner, help could soon be at hand – with your food texting to tell you it needs eating.
Scientists have developed a computer chip that can be inserted into food packaging and is able to assess when the contents are nearing their use-by date.
PN 