AllGov: Chicago Police Accused of Running Secret Interrogation Center 2015-02-26 A warehouse on Chicago’s west side known as Homan Square has been in use for years by special police units as the equivalent of a black site interrogation center, reminiscent of those used by the CIA. Those questioned there, even children as young as 15, are denied their constitutional protections and are reportedly beaten and shackled. People brought there aren’t even logged in. When you go in, no one knows what’s happened to you, said Brian…

The Epoch Times: Chicago Police Deny Operating a Secret ‘Black Site’ Interrogation Facility 2015-02-27 The Chicago Police Department and the Guardian are embroiled in a debated over reports of detainee abuse at Homan Square.

EBONY.com…: Chicago Police Had Secret Facility to Detain Suspects 2015-02-26 The Chicago police department operates an off-the-books interrogation compound, rendering Americans unable to be found by family or attorneys while locked inside what lawyers say is the domestic equivalent…

Huffington Post: CHICAGO’S “BLACK SITE” DETAINEES SPEAK OUT 2015-02-26 On Tuesday, The Guardian’s Spencer Ackerman reported on the equivalent of a CIA black site operated by police in Chicago.

Truthdig: Chicago Police Accused of Running Secret ‘Black Site’ 2015-02-26 An explosive new report in The Guardian claims the Chicago police have created a secret compound for detentions and interrogations where abusive methods are often used. -

People’s Cube (satire): Luxury KGB Jail In Chikagostan 2015-02-26 What would you expect from the home of the father of the revolution, komrade Saul Alinksy, and the politikal training grounds of Komrade Glorious Leader…

OpEdNews: The Disappeared: Chicago Police Detain Americans at Abuse-Laden ‘Black Site’ 2015-02-25 Quicklink: The Disappeared: Chicago Police Detain Americans at Abuse-Laden ‘Black Site’ – Quicklink: From the outside, you have to concentrate to realize Homan Square is a police facility. At first glance, it’s an unremarkable red brick warehouse, one of a handful on Chicago’s west side that used to belong to Sears Roebuck, complete with roll-up aluminum doors. No prominent signage tells outsiders it belongs to the police. The complex sits…

Truthdig: Homan Square: A ‘Domestic Black Site’ Where US Citizens Are ‘Disappeared’ 2015-02-26 Think you need to be apprehended overseas by American authorities in order to be held in a black site? Think again. -

Blue Nation Review: Report: Chicago Police Operate ‘Black Site’ 2015-02-26 Wow… so apparently the Chicago Police Department operates an off-the-books interrogation compound. That sounds TOTALLY legal… NOT!

Huffington Post: This Isn’t ‘Police Brutality’ — This Is Guantanamo 2015-02-25 Was the creation of a domestic Guantanamo-style black site made inevitable by the Pentagon’s practice of unloading military surplus weapons on local police departments? Maybe — but it’s remarkable how many inevitable things can be avoid…

Western Journalism: Chicago Police Have A ‘Black Site’ Where US Citizens Get Treated Like Terrorists 2015-02-25 Suspects are not read their Miranda rights and don't have access to lawyers.

Mic: Chicago Police Warehouse Used ‘Extraordinary Rendition’ on American Citizens 2015-02-25 It’s a prison for people who haven’t been convicted of anything.

Carbonated.tv…: Chicago PD Has Its Own Guantanamo-Style ‘Black Site’ For U.S. Citizens 2015-02-25 This is the place where all the missing suspects of Chicago are held.

Hip-Hop Wired: Chicago Police Are Operating Off The Books ‘Black Site’ [VIDEO] 2015-02-25 The Chicago Police Department allegedly operates a “Black Site” warehouse facility in where officers interrogate, beat, and hold suspects for hours without due process. This facility, located on the city’s troubled west side, was the focus of an exclusive investigative report about the site which is similar to locations the CIA uses for terrorists.

Libya’s foreign minister has asked for the ban on arms being supplied to the country from abroad to be lifted in order to contain terrorist groups operating there – including ISIS. However, political analyst Chris Bambery believes that renewed Western engagement will not resolve the crisis.

More….

Ukraine, to use a technical term, is broke. That’s what you call a country whose currency has lost half its value in just two days.

The problem is simple: Ukraine has no money and barely any economy. [snip] Why is Ukraine so doomed? Well, it’s been mismanaged on a world-historical scale by oligarchs who, for decades, have skimmed billions off the country’s nonexistent growth. That last part’s not hyperbole. It seems almost impossible, but Ukraine’s economy has actually shrunk since communism ended in 1991. Or since 1992. Or even 1993.

More….

Tens of thousands of people have massed in central Madrid for a rally organised by radical Spanish leftists Podemos.

The “March for Change” is one of the party’s first outdoor mass rallies, as it looks to build on the recent victory of its close allies Syriza in Greece.

Podemos has surged into the lead in recent opinion polls, and says it will seek to write off part of Spain’s debt if it wins elections later this year.

Podemos says politicians should “serve the people, not private interests”.

The BBC’s Tom Burridge in Madrid says that there has been an impressive turnout and a carnival atmosphere at the rally.

Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias spelt out the party’s message to the crowd.

“We want change,” he said, quoted by the Associated Press. “I know that governing is difficult but those who have serious dreams can change things.”

BBC News – Spain rally: Podemos holds Madrid mass ‘March for Change’.

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By: BrandonJ — Sunday January 25, 2015

SYRIZA won 149 seats out of 300 in Greek parliament with more than 75 percent of voters already tallied. While the coalition did not gain the majority, it basically achieved a massive victory after the assault by European elites warning Greeks not to vote for SYRIZA.

Thirty-six percent of Greeks voted for the coalition compared to 28 percent who voted for New Democracy, the conservative party that will lose its majority in the Hellenic Parliament. Golden Dawn, the fascist organization where half of its members are jailed, received more than six percent of the vote and came in third.

Its success is obvious as the failure of austerity politics pushed for by the troika (the European Central Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the European Commission) caused mass devastation in the country. Unemployment hovers around 26 percent and youth unemployment is around 50 percent. Two in five children in Greece live in poverty, suicide rates are higher than before the crisis and youths are leaving the country for better opportunities in countries also suffering from global stagnation.

In general, austerity failed and the votes for SYRIZA reinforced this.

SYRIZA Achieves Victory in Greek Elections | FDL News Desk.

NYTimes.com…

ATHENS — Greece rejected the harsh economics of austerity on Sunday and sent a warning to the rest of Europe as the left-wing Syriza party won a decisive victory in national elections, positioning its tough-talking leader, Alexis Tsipras, to become the next prime minister.

With almost 98 percent of the vote counted, Syriza had 36 percent, almost nine points more than the governing center-right New Democracy party of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, who conceded defeat. The only uncertainty was whether Syriza would muster a parliamentary majority on its own or have to form a coalition.

Appearing before a throng of supporters outside Athens University late Sunday, Mr. Tsipras, 40, declared that the era of austerity was over and promised to revive the economy. He also said his government would not allow Greece’s creditors to strangle the country.

Greeks Vote In Austerity Foes, a Major Shift – NYTimes.com….

So as royalty rode in 1910, symbols of imperial hubris, in 2015, world leaders walked, decrying the violent suppression of speech and religious freedom, although many of them have been guilty of the same crimes in their own nations. In the words of media watchdog Reporters without Borders, “It would be unacceptable if representatives of countries that silence journalists were to take advantage of the current outpouring of emotion to improve their international image and then continue their repressive policies when they return home.”

“On what grounds are representatives of regimes that are predators of press freedom coming to Paris to pay tribute to Charlie Hebdo, a publication that has always defended the most radical concept of freedom of expression?

“Reporters without Borders is appalled by the presence of leaders from countries where journalists and bloggers are systematically persecuted…”
“Je Suis Charlie” — But Not in My Backyard.

Link.

Monsters of Our Own Creation

by JOHN WIGHT

The huge march and rally in Paris that took place in the wake of the horrific events that took place in the French capital was a festival of nauseating hypocrisy.

Watching the leaders of governments which, between them, have been responsible for carnage and mayhem on a grand scale – the likes of Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, for example – leading a march against terrorism and extremism qualified not so much as the theatre of the absurd but as the theatre of the grotesque; impostors at an event that millions of people allowed themselves to hope would mark a step-change in a world scarred by war, barbarism, and injustice.

Sadly, they will be disappointed, as the circular relationship that exists between Western extremism and Islamic extremism will not be broken anytime soon. Indeed, if at all, it will be strengthened after the massacre in Paris, as the congenital condition of Western exceptionalism reasserts itself.

More: www.counterpunch.org…

youtube.com…: The Afghan War is Not Over: U.S. Ends 13-Year Combat Mission, But 10,000+ Troops Continue the Fight 2014-12-30

The Guardian: Stop believing the lies: America tortured more than ‘some folks’ – and covered it up 2014-12-09 Trevor Timm: CIA defenders are out in force now that a historic report has exposed a decade of horrific American shame. Torture didn’t work, but why aren’t the architects of torture in jail?

youtube.com…: Eric Garner protesters flood New York after grand jury clears NYPD officer in chokehold death case 2014-12-04Protests have started in several New York City locations after a US Grand Jury cleared an NYPD policeman of killing a black man last July. Eric Garner choked…

youtube.com…: Peace Activist Kathy Kelly Heads to Prison for Protesting U.S. Drone War 2014-12-30 [blockquote]Peace activist Kathy Kelly is about to begin a three-month prison sentence for protesting the U.S. drone war at a military base in Missouri earlier this year. Kelly, along with another activist, was arrested after offering bread and an indictment against drone warfare. Kelly is the co-coordinator of Voices for Creative Nonviolence, a campaign to end U.S. military and economic warfare. [/blockquote]