Case 330 - Suez-Lyonnaise Des Eaux (SLDE)

Suez-Lyonnaise Des Eaux (SLDE), now named just Suez is a leading French-based multinational corporation headquartered in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, with operations primarily in water, electricity and natural gas supply, and waste management. Suez was result of a 1997 merger between the Compagnie de Suez and Lyonnaise des Eaux, a leading French water company. In the early 2000s Suez also owned some media and telecommunications assets, but has since divested these. According to the Masons Water Yearbook 2004/5, Suez served 117.4 million people around the world. The company conducted a merger of equals with fellow utility company Gaz de France on 22 July 2008 to form GDF Suez. The water and waste assets of Suez were spun off into a separate publicly-traded company, Suez Environnement.



The privatization of water has had a disastrous impact on the human right to clean water, and the French company Suez is the worst perpetrator of this abuse. The company’s billions of dollars in profit come at the expense of poor people living in countries where thousands lack access to potable water, and, because of private water contracts, are also facing skyrocketing water prices.

Suez goes by many names around the world-<>Ondeo, SITA and others-to mask its worldwide net of controversial activities. In Manila, Philippines, after seven years of water privatization under a Suez company (Maynilad Water) contract, studies showed that water rates increased in some neighborhoods by 400 to 700 percent. These studies also showed that the negligence of the company resulted in cholera and gastroenteritis outbreaks that killed six people and severely sickened 725 in Manila’s Tondo district.

In Bolivia, a Suez company (Aguas de Illimani) left 200,000 people without access to water and caused a revolt when it tried to charge between $335 and $445 to connect a private home to the water supply. Countless people were unable to afford this charge in a country whose yearly per capita GDP is $915.

Unfortunately, the IMF and World Bank are playing a key role in pushing water privatization all over the world. Many countries have been required to open up their water supply to private companies as a condition for receiving IMF loans, and the World Bank has approved millions of dollars in loans for the privatization of water systems.

CASE 329 - False flags

"False flag terrorism" occurs when elements within a government / corporation or even the elite stage a secret operation whereby the banks or government forces pretend to be a targeted enemy while attacking their own forces or people. The attack is then falsely blamed on the enemy in order to justify going to war against that enemy.



False flag operations are covert operations conducted by governments, corporations, or other organizations, which are designed to deceive the public in such a way that the operations appear as if they are being carried out by other entities. The name is derived from the military concept of flying false colors; that is, flying the flag of a country other than one's own. False flag operations are not limited to war and counter-insurgency operations, and have been used in peace-time; for example, during Italy's strategy of tension. The term comes from the old days of wooden ships, when one ship would hang the flag of its enemy before attacking another ship in its own navy. Because the enemy's flag was hung instead of the flag of the real country of the attacking ship, it was called a "false flag" attack. There are many examples of false flag attacks throughout history. For example, it is widely known that the Nazis, in Operation Himmler, faked attacks on their own people and resources which they blamed on the Poles, to justify the invasion of Poland. And it has now been persuasively argued — as shown, for example, in this History Channel video — that Nazis set fire to their own parliament, the Reichstag, and blamed that fire on others. The Reichstag fire was the watershed event which justified Hitler's seizure of power and suspension of liberties.



And in the early 1950s, agents of an Israeli terrorist cell operating in Egypt planted bombs in several buildings, including U.S. diplomatic facilities, then left behind "evidence" implicating the Arabs as the culprits (one of the bombs detonated prematurely, allowing the Egyptians to identify the bombers). Israel's Defense Minister was brought down by the scandal, along with the entire Israeli government. Click here for verification.

The Russian KGB apparently conducted a wave of bombings in Russia in order to justify war against Chechnya and put Vladimir Putin into power (see also this essay and this report). And the Turkish government has been caught bombing its own and blaming it on a rebel group to justify a crackdown on that group. Muslim governments also play this game. For example, the well-respected former Indonesian president claimed that their government had a role in the Bali bombings.

CASE 328 - Tourism

Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people who "travel to and stay in places outside their usual environment for more than twenty-four (24) hours and not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes not related to the exercise of an activity remunerated from within the place visited."
Tourism has become a popular global leisure activity. In 2010, there were over 940 million international tourist arrivals, with a growth of 6.6% as compared to 2009. International tourism receipts grew to US$919 billion (euro 693 billion) in 2010, corresponding to an increase in real terms of 4.7%. As a result of the late-2000s recession, international travel demand suffered a strong slowdown beginning in June 2008, with growth in international tourism arrivals worldwide falling to 2% during the boreal summer months. This negative trend intensified during 2009, exacerbated in some countries due to the outbreak of the H1N1 influenza virus, resulting in a worldwide decline of 4% in 2009 to 880 million international tourists arrivals, and an estimated 6% decline in international tourism receipts.



Tourism is vital for many countries, such as France, Egypt, Greece, Lebanon, Israel, United States, Spain, Italy,and Thailand, and many island nations, such as The Bahamas, Fiji, Maldives, Philippines and the Seychelles, due to the large intake of money for businesses with their goods and services and the opportunity for employment in the service industries associated with tourism. These service industries include transportation services, such as airlines, cruise ships and taxicabs, hospitality services, such as accommodations, including hotels and resorts, and entertainment venues, such as amusement parks, casinos, shopping malls, music venues and theatres.



Wealthy people have always traveled to distant parts of the world, to see great buildings, works of art, learn new languages, experience new cultures and to taste different cuisines. Long ago, at the time of the Roman Republic, places such as Baiae were popular coastal resorts for the rich. The word tourism was used by 1811 and tourist by 1840. In 1936, the League of Nations defined foreign tourist as "someone traveling abroad for at least twenty-four hours". Its successor, the United Nations, amended this definition in 1945, by including a maximum stay of six months, but it wasn't until the 60's when the working class could hop on a plane and soak up the beaches of torremolinos, Costa brava, Marbella, san tropez, Ibiza.

Leisure travel

Leisure travel was associated with the Industrial Revolution in the United Kingdom – the first European country to promote leisure time to the increasing industrial population. Initially, this applied to the owners of the machinery of production, the economic oligarchy, the factory owners and the traders. These comprised the new middle class. Cox & Kings was the first official travel company to be formed in 1758.
The British origin of this new industry is reflected in many place names. In Nice, France, one of the first and best-established holiday resorts on the French Riviera, the long esplanade along the seafront is known to this day as the Promenade des Anglais; in many other historic resorts in continental Europe, old, well-established palace hotels have names like the Hotel Bristol, the Hotel Carlton or the Hotel Majestic – reflecting the dominance of English customers.
Many leisure-oriented tourists travel to the tropics, both in the summer and winter. Places of such nature often visited are: Bali in Indonesia, Colombia, Brazil, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Malaysia, Mexico the various Polynesian tropical islands, Queensland in Australia, Thailand, Saint-Tropez and Cannes in France, Florida, Hawaii and Puerto Rico in the United States, Barbados, Sint Maarten, Saint Kitts and Nevis, The Bahamas, Anguilla, Antigua, Aruba, Turks and Caicos Islands and Bermuda.

Winter tourism

Although it is acknowledged that the Swiss were not the inventors of skiing it is well documented that St. Moritz, Graubünden, became the cradle of the developing winter tourism: Since that year of 1865 in St. Moritz, many daring hotel managers choose to risk opening their hotels in winter but it was only in the seventies of the 20th century when winter tourism took over the lead from summer tourism in many of the Swiss ski resorts. Even in Winter, portions of up to one third of all guests (depending on the location) consist of non-skiers.
Major ski resorts are located mostly in the various European countries (e.g. Andorra, Austria, Bulgaria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Norway, Poland, Serbia, Sweden, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland), Canada, the United States (e.g. Colorado, California, Utah, Montana, Wyoming, New York, New Jersey, Michigan, Vermont) New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Chile, Argentina, Kenya and Tanzania.

Mass tourism

High rise hotels such as these in Benidorm, Spain, were built across Southern Europe in the 1960s and 1970s to accommodate mass tourism from Northern Europe.
Mass tourism could only have developed with the improvements in technology, allowing the transport of large numbers of people in a short space of time to places of leisure interest, so that greater numbers of people could begin to enjoy the benefits of leisure time.

In the United States, the first seaside resorts in the European style were at Atlantic City, New Jersey and Long Island, New York.
In Continental Europe, early resorts included: Blackpool, Brighton and scarborough in the UK and Ostend, popularised by the people of Brussels; Boulogne-sur-Mer (Pas-de-Calais) and Deauville (Calvados) for the Parisians; and Heiligendamm, founded in 1793, as the first seaside resort on the Baltic Sea. The future of tourism, is said to be Space tourism

CASE 327 - The history of Poland

The History of Poland is rooted in the arrival of the Slavs, who gave rise to permanent settlement and historic development on Polish lands. During the Piast dynasty Christianity was adopted in 966 and medieval monarchy established. The Jagiellon dynasty period brought close ties with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, cultural development and territorial expansion, culminating in the establishment of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1569.
The Commonwealth in its early phase constituted a continuation of the Jagiellon prosperity. From the mid-17th century, the huge state entered a period of decline caused by devastating wars and deterioration of the country's system of government. Significant internal reforms were introduced during the later part of the 18th century, but the reform process was not allowed to run its course, as the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia and the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy through a series of invasions and partitions terminated the Commonwealth's independent existence in 1795.
From then until 1918 there was no independent Polish state. The Poles had engaged intermittently in armed resistance until 1864. After the failure of the last uprising, the nation preserved its identity through educational uplift and the program called "organic work" to modernize the economy and society. The opportunity for freedom appeared only after World War I, when the partitioning imperial powers were defeated by war and revolution.



The Second Polish Republic was established and existed from 1918 to 1939. It was destroyed by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union by their Invasion of Poland at the beginning of World War II. Millions of Polish citizens perished in the course of the Nazi occupation. The Polish government in exile kept functioning and through the many Polish military formations on the western and eastern fronts the Poles contributed to the Allied victory. Nazi Germany's forces were compelled to retreat from Poland as the Soviet Red Army advanced, which led to the creation of the People's Republic of Poland.
The country's geographic location was shifted to the west and Poland existed as a Soviet satellite state. Poland largely lost its traditional multi-ethnic character and the communist system was imposed. By the late 1980s Solidarity, a Polish reform movement, became crucial in causing a peaceful transition from a communist state to the capitalist system and parliamentary democracy. This process resulted in the creation of the modern Polish state.

CASE 326 - LulzSec

Lulz Security, commonly abbreviated as LulzSec, is a 6 man computer hacker group that claims responsibility for several high profile attacks, including the compromise of user accounts from Sony Pictures in 2011. The group also claimed responsibility for taking the CIA website offline. The group has been described as a "cyber terrorism group" by the Arizona Department of Public Safety after their systems were compromised and information leaked. Other security professionals have applauded LulzSec for drawing attention to insecure systems and the dangers of password reuse. It has gained attention due to its high profile targets and the sarcastic messages it has posted in the aftermath of its attacks.

At just after midnight (BST) on 26 June 2011, LulzSec released a "50 days of lulz" statement, which they claimed to be their final release, confirming that LulzSec consisted of six members, and that their website is to be taken down. This breaking up of the group was unexpected. The release included accounts and passwords from many different sources. Despite claims of retirement, the group committed another hack against newspapers owned by News Corporation on 18 July, defacing them with false reports regarding the death of Rupert Murdoch. London Metropolitan Police have announced the arrests of two teenagers they allege are LulzSec members T-flow and Topiary. The group helped launch Operation AntiSec, a joint effort involving LulzSec, Anonymous, and other hackers.




Overview

LulzSec draws its name from the neologism "Lulz", (from LOLs), "laughing out loud", which often signifies laughter at the victim of a prank, and "Sec," short for "Security". The Wall Street Journal has characterized its attacks as closer to Internet pranks rather than serious cyber-warfare, while the group itself claims to possess the capability of stronger attacks. It has gained attention in part due to its brazen claims of responsibility and lighthearted taunting of corporations that have been hacked. It frequently refers to Internet memes when defacing websites. The group first emerged in May 2011, and has successfully attacked the websites of several major corporations. It specializes in finding websites with poor security, and then stealing and posting information from them online. It has used well-known straightforward methods, such as SQL injection, to attack its target websites. Several media sources have described their tactics as grey hat hacking. Members of the group may have been involved in a previous attack against the security firm HBGary.

The group has used the motto "Laughing at your security since 2011!" and its website, created in June 2011, plays the theme from The Love Boat. It announces its exploits via Twitter and its own website, often accompanied with lighthearted ASCII art of boats. Its website also includes a Bitcoin donation to help fund its activities. Although exact motivation of the group is unknown, Ian Paul of PC World has written that, "As its name suggests, LulzSec claims to be interested in mocking and embarrassing companies by exposing security flaws rather than stealing data for criminal purposes."[13] The group has also been critical of white hat hackers, claiming that many of them have been corrupted by their employers.

Some in the security community have lauded them for raising awareness of the widespread lack of effective security against hackers. They have also been credited with inspiring LulzRaft, a group which has been implicated in several high-profile website hacks in Canada.

The group's first recorded attack was against Fox.com's website. It claimed responsibility for leaking information, including passwords, altering several employees' LinkedIn profiles, and leaking a database of X Factor contestants containing contact information of 73,000 contestants. They claimed to do so because the rapper Common had been referred to as "vile" on air.

The group has begun taking suggestions for sites to hit with denial-of-service attacks. The group has also been redirecting telephone numbers to different customer support lines, including the line for World of Warcraft, magnets.com, and the FBI Detroit office. The group claims this sends five to 20 calls per second to these sources, overwhelming their support officers. On 24 June 2011, The Guardian released leaked logs of the one of the group's IRC chats, revealing that the core group is a small group of hackers with a leader Sabu who exercises large control over the group's activities. It also reveals that the group has connections, though is not formally affiliated with, Anonymous. Some LulzSec members had once been prominent Anonymous members, including member Topiary.

At just after midnight (GMT) on the twenty-sixth of June, LulzSec released a "50 days of lulz" statement, which they claimed to be their final release, confirming that LulzSec consisted of six members, and that their website is to be taken down.[22] The group claimed that they had planned to be active for only fifty days from the beginning.[23] "We're not quitting because we're afraid of law enforcement. The press are getting bored of us, and we're getting bored of us." a group member said in an interview to The Associated Press. Members of the group have been reported to have joined with Anonymous members to continue the AntiSec operation. However, despite claiming to retire, the group attacked the websites of British newspaper The Times and The Sun on 18 July, leaving a false story on the death of owner Rupert Murdoch.
Members and associates

LulzSec consists of six core members. The online handles of these six have been established through various attempts by other hacking groups to release personal information of group members on the internet, leaked IRC logs given to The Guardian, and through confirmation from the group itself.

Sabu – One of the group's founders who seemed to act as a kind of leader for the group, often Sabu decides what targets to attack next and who could participate in these attacks. He may have been part of the Anonymous group that hacked HBGary. Various attempts to release his real identity have claimed that he is an information technology consultant with the strongest hacking skills of the group and a knowledge of the Python programming language.
Topiary – Topiary is also a suspected former member of the Anonymous AnonOps, where he used to perform media relations, including hacking the website of the Westboro Baptist Church during a live interview. Topiary ran the LulzSec Twitter account on a daily basis; following the announcement of LulzSec's dissolution, he deleted his own Twitter page. Police arrested a man from Shetland, United Kingdom suspected of being Topiary on 27 July 2011. The man was later identified as Jake Davis and was charged with five counts, including unauthorized access of a computer and conspiracy.
Kayla – Also identified as "lol" in LulzSec chat logs, Kayla owns a botnet used by the group in their distributed denial-of-service attacks. The botnet is reported to consist of about 8,000 infected computer servers. Kayla also may have participated in the Anonymous operation against HBGary.
T-flow – The fourth founding member of the group identified in chat logs, attempts to identify him have labelled him a PHP coder, web developer, and performer of scams on PayPal. The group placed him in charge of maintenance and security of the group's website lulzsecurity.com. London Metropolitan Police announced the arrest of a 16 year-old hacker going by the handle Tflow on 19 July 2011.
Avunit – He is one of the core six members of the group, but not a founding member. He left the group after their self-labelled "Fuck the FBI Friday". He was also affiliated with Anonymous AnonOps HQ.
Pwnsauce – Pwnsauce joined the group around the same time as Avunit and became one of its core members.[27]

Associates and former members include:

M_nerva – M_nerva, once a member of the group, leaked some of the group's chat logs to The Guardian. May have participated with LulzSec in the attack on Fox.com. In response to the leak, LulzSec published M_nerva's personal information and records of the illegal hacking activity performed with them.
Joepie91 – Though he is one of the most frequent participants in LulzSec IRC chat logs, the group stated that he is not a core member.
Neuron – Neuron is not a core member of the group, but may have supported them by building software and taking part in some of their distributed denial-of-service attacks. He is thought to be an engineering student in the United States.
Ryan Cleary – A 19-year-old from Essex, United Kingdom who was arrested by Metropolitan Police on 21 June 2011 and charged with violating the Computer Misuse Act and the Criminal Law Act 1977. Though not a member of the group, LulzSec admitted that he did run one of the IRC channels that they used for communicating.

An ASCII graphic used by the group in its Chinga La Migra torrent, an associated statement, and also appearing in press coverage.

LulzSec does not appear to hack for financial profit. The group's claimed main motivation is to have fun by causing mayhem. They do things "for the lulz" and focus on the possible comedic and entertainment value of attacking targets. The group occasionally has claimed a political message. When they hacked PBS, they stated they did so in retaliation for what they perceived as unfair treatment of Wikileaks in a Frontline documentary entitled WikiSecrets. A page they inserted to the PBS website included the title "FREE BRADLEY MANNING. FUCK FRONTLINE!" The 20 June announcement of "Operation Anti-Security" contained justification for attacks on government targets, citing supposed government efforts to "dominate and control our Internet ocean" and accusing them of corruption and breaching privacy. The media has most often described them as grey hat hackers.

Karim Hijazi, CEO of security company Unveillance, has accused the group of blackmailing him by offering not to attack his company or its affiliates in exchange for money. LulzSec responded by claiming that Hijazi offered to pay them to attack his business opponents and that they never intended to take any money from him. LulzSec has denied responsibility for misuse of any of the data they breach and release. Instead, they place the blame on users who reuse passwords on multiple websites and on companies with inadequate security in place.

In June 2011, the group released a manifesto outlining why they perform hacks and website takedowns. In it they reiterated that "we do things just because we find it entertaining" and that watching the results can be "priceless". However, they also claim to be drawing attention to computer security flaws and holes. They contend that many other hackers exploit and steal user information without releasing the names publicly or telling people they may possibly have been hacked. LulzSec said that by releasing lists of hacked usernames or informing the public of vulnerable websites, it gives users the opportunity to change names and passwords elsewhere that might otherwise have been exploited.

The group's latest attacks have had a more political tone. They claim to want to expose the "racist and corrupt nature" of the military and law enforcement. They have also expressed opposition to the War on Drugs. Lulzsec's Operation Anti-Security has been characterized as a protest against government censorship and monitoring of the internet. In a question and answer session with BBC Newsnight, LulzSec member Whirlpool said, "Politically motivated ethical hacking is more fulfilling". He claimed the loosening of copyright laws and the rollback of what he sees as corrupt racial profiling practices as some of the group's issues.

Initial targets

The group's first attacks came in May 2011. Their first recorded target was Fox.com, which they retaliated against after they called Common, a rapper and entertainer, "vile" on the Fox News Channel. They leaked several passwords, LinkedIn profiles, and the names of 73,000 X Factor contestants. Soon after on 15 May, they released the transaction logs of 3,100 Automated Teller Machines in the United Kingdom. In May 2011, members of Lulz Security gained international attention for hacking into the American Public Broadcasting System (PBS) website. They stole user data and posted a fake story on the site which claimed that Tupac Shakur was still alive and living in New Zealand. In the aftermath of the attack, CNN referred to the responsible group as the "Lulz Boat".

Lulz Security claimed that some of its hacks, including its attack on PBS, were motivated by a desire to defend WikiLeaks and Bradley Manning.[50] A Fox News report on the group quoted one commentator, Brandon Pike, who claimed that Lulz Security is affiliated with the hacktivist group Anonymous. Lulz Security claimed that Pike had actually hired it to hack PBS. Pike denied the accusation and claims it was leveled against him because he said Lulz Security was a splinter of Anonymous.

In June 2011, members of the group claimed responsibility for an attack against Sony and took data that included "names, passwords, e-mail addresses, home addresses and dates of birth for thousands of people." The group claimed that it used a SQL injection attack, and was motivated by Sony's legal action against George Hotz for jailbreaking into the PlayStation 3. The group claims it will launch an attack that will be the "beginning of the end" for Sony. Some of the compromised user information has since been used in scams. The group claimed to have compromised over 1,000,000 accounts, though Sony claims the real number was around 37,500

CASE 325 - Marranos

The Marranos were Sephardic Jews or some say cryptic jews, or Jewish people living in the Iberian peninsula, who had converted to Catholicism-Christianity in Castile and Aragon (Spain) yet secretly practiced their old rites. They attained a vast amount of wealth in just a couple of decades, but were banished, almost fazed out of all of the European countries, so.. they needed an order.

The Jesuits control the Jews but all spawned from the Marranos

The Jesuits created by a cyrpto jew Marrano St. Ignatius of Loyola, have used ‘the Jews’ or 'zionist powerhouse' as a ‘smokescreen’ – as a ‘cover’ for their own nasty activities throughout the centuries. The Jesuit Order (i.e., The Society of Jesus – the Company, led by the Jesuit Superior General) has frequently put some high-profile Jews in their ‘front groups’ (such as occurred during the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia) while they remained hidden “behind the scenes”. As it was during the Bolshevik Revolution (where a large number of the first Politburo members were Jews, and a large number of gulag camp commandants were Jews), so it now appears in modern America (where a significant number of the ‘Neo-Conservatives’ in and around the U.S. government are Jews)! Yet, who is pulling the ‘strings’ from “behind the scenes”?

This term came into use in 1492 with the Castilian Alhambra Decree, reversing protections in the Treaty of Granada (1491), and used for conversos, or 'confirmed converts', at first. However, soon Marranos was used for people who continued to practice Judaism secretly, crypto-Jews preserving their Jewish identity, 'the secret Jews' or judíos escondidos. In Hebrew, forced converts were known as anusim, which means forced ones, though the term would also include those who did not retain their Judaism.

Marrano in 15th century Spanish first meant pig, from the ritual prohibition against eating pork, practiced by both Jews and Muslims. Marrano acquired connotations of "filthy-dirty" (sucio) and "unscrupulous" (sin escrúpulos) during the time of the Spanish Inquisition, when the term was used to impugn the character of the recalcitrant crypto-Jew. In contemporary Spanish the word is no longer associated with Jews. In contemporary Portuguese the word refers only to crypto-Jews, with marrão meaning the animal pig or swine.

The converts were also known as conversos, and as Cristianos nuevos and Cristãos novos (new Christians) in Spain and Portugal, respectively.

Within Jewish tradition there was sympathy for forced converts and an assumption that they would prefer to practice their original faith.

Under state pressure in the late 15th century, an estimated 100,000–200,000 Jews in the Iberian Peninsula converted to Christianity. The numbers who converted and the effects of various migrations in and out of the area have been the subject of considerable debate by historians. A phylogeographic study in 2008 of 1150 volunteer Y-chromosome DNA haplogroups appeared to support the idea that the number of forced conversions has been significantly underestimated, as 20% of the tested Iberian population had haplogroups consistent with Sephardic ancestry. This percentage was suggested as representing the proportion of Sephardi in the population at the time of mass conversions in the 14th and 15th centuries. However, these results have not been replicated in the broad array of genetic studies that have looked at Iberian heritage, and the conclusion has been questioned even by the authors themselves and by Stephen Oppenheimer, who pointed out that much earlier migrations, 5000 to 10,000 years ago from the Eastern Mediterranean, might also account for these haplogroup proportions. Indeed, in a different study the same year the same authors attributed most of those haplogroup lineages in Iberia and the Balearic Islands to Phoenician origin.

CASE 324 - The watch tower cult

Jehovah's Witnesses have often found themselves on the receiving end of sharp criticism where ever they go as they seek to spread their gospel. Why is this? A variety of reasons may be cited, ranging from blatantly religious bigotry to ignorant mockery, attacks we certainly in no way support but would roundly condemn. Roughing anyone up verbally or physically is certainly the work of carnally insensitive and ignorant individuals that no one should have to endure. However, one of the charges that is often leveled at Witnesses by those they call upon is that their organization, far from being a Christian ministry, is instead a destructive cult group that has adversely affected the members of the community. This unpleasant accusation follows Jehovah's Witnesses where ever they go, and has increasingly been a serious impediment to their work. It puts fear into the witness families, section them from other non witness families, very strange beliefs and its all linked to freemasonry, in fact its inventor Charles Taze Russell, who was born in 1852 and worked in Pittsburgh as a haberdasher is buried in a freemason graveyard. He was raised a Congregationalist, but at the age of seventeen he tried to convert an atheist to Christianity and ended up being converted instead—not to outright atheism, but to agnosticism. Some years later he went to an Adventist meeting, was told that Jesus would be back at any time, and got interested in the Bible.



The leading light of Adventism had been William Miller, a flamboyant preacher who predicted that the world would end in 1843. When it didn’t, he "discovered" an arithmetical error in his eschatological calculations and said it would end in 1844. When his prediction again failed, many people became frustrated and withdrew from the Adventist movement, but a remnant, led by Ellen G. White, went on to form the Seventh-Day Adventist Church.

It was this diminished Adventism which influenced Russell, who took the title "Pastor" even though he never got through high school. In 1879, he began the Watch Tower—what would later be known as the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, the teaching organ of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. In 1908 he moved its headquarters to Brooklyn, where it has remained ever since.

Before he got his religious career well underway, Russell promoted what he called "miracle wheat," which he sold at sixty dollars per bushel. He claimed it would grow five times as well as regular wheat. In fact, it grew slightly less well than regular wheat, as was established in court when Russell was sued. Later he marketed a fake cancer cure and what he termed a "millennial bean" (which a wag has said probably got that name because it took a thousand years to sprout).

The February 15, 1994 issue of The Watchtower magazine represents one of the more recent efforts by the Watchtower Society to counter the numerous charges made against it that it is not a Christian fellowship but a destructive cult. The title of the issue, which reads "Jehovah's Witnesses: A Cult or Ministers of God," is the first sign the casual reader may have that the Society has been experiencing a serious amount of mounting trouble trying to convince both it's Witness constituency and outsiders that it is not a cult that destroys lives.


How They Make Converts

Most religions welcome converts, and the Witnesses’ very reason for existence is to make them. To accomplish this they follow several steps.

First they try to get a copy of one of their magazines into the hands of a prospective convert. They lead off with a question designed to tap into universal concerns such as, "How would you like to live in a world without sickness, war, poverty, or any other problem?" If the prospect is willing to speak with them, they arrange what’s known as a "back call"—that is, they return in a week or so for more discussions. This can be kept up indefinitely.

At some point the missionaries invite the prospect to a Bible study. This is not the usual sort of Bible study, where passages are examined in light of context, original word meaning, relevance to other verses in Scripture, etc. Instead, this "Bible study" is really an exposition of Witness doctrine by means of Watchtower literature. Simple questions are presented in the literature which are derived directly from the text. The answers, therefore, are readily discernible, making the prospective convert feel spiritually astute, since he or she can answer all the questions "correctly." The Bible study is directed along lines mandated by the officials in Brooklyn, and the prospect is there to learn, not to teach. If he progresses well, he’s invited to a larger Bible study, which may be held at a Kingdom Hall.

About this time he’s invited to attend a Sunday service. At the Kingdom Hall, which resembles not so much a church but a small lecture hall, the prospect hears a Witness discuss a few verses of Scripture and how those verses can be explained to non-Witnesses or how to "refute" standard Christian doctrines such as the Trinity, hell, the immortality of the soul, etc. The service includes taped music to accompany the singing of hymns, and there is always time allotted for obtaining Watchtower literature and publications.


Sharing Techniques

The prospective convert gets still more of this if he proceeds to the next step, which consists of going to meetings on Wednesday or Thursday nights. At those meetings Witnesses trade stories, explaining how they’ve done that week in going door to door, giving advice to one another, figuring out better ways to get the message across, and logging their hours. (Every month each Kingdom Hall mails to the headquarters in Brooklyn a detailed log of activities, including hours spent "witnessing" door-to-door, the number of converts made, and the number of pieces of literature distributed.)

If the prospect goes through all these steps, he’s ready for admission to the sect. That involves baptism by immersion and agreeing to work actively as a missionary. Many missionaries take only part-time jobs so they can devote more time to their evangelization. Witnesses will typically spend 60-100 hours each month in their evangelizing work. Some will even go so far as to work full time for the WTS, receiving little more than room and board for their efforts.

Life as a Witness

Although not every Witness can put in so many hours, every Witness is expected to do what he can by way of missionary work. There is no separate, ordained ministry as is found in Protestant churches. Their sect operates no hospitals, sanitariums, orphanages, schools, colleges, or social welfare agencies. From their perspective it will all disappear in a few years anyway, so they don’t expend their energies in these areas.

Jehovah’s Witnesses live under a strict regimen. They may be "disfellowshipped" for a variety of reasons, such as attending a Catholic or Protestant church or receiving a blood transfusion. Disfellowshipping is the sect’s equivalent of excommunication, though somewhat more harsh. A disfellow-
shipped Witness may attend Kingdom Hall, but he is not allowed to speak to anyone, and no one may speak to him. The others are to act as though he no longer exists. This applies even to his family, who may only communicate with him as much as absolutely necessary.

They recognize the legitimacy of no governmental authority, since they believe all earthly authority is of Satan. They will not serve in the military, salute the flag, say the Pledge of Allegiance, vote, run for office, or serve as officials of labor unions.

No matter how peculiar their doctrines, they deserve to be complimented on their determination and single-minded zeal. However, as Paul might have said concerning them, "I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge"

CASE 323 - Motor cars

By definition an automobile or car is a wheeled vehicle that carries its own motor and transports passengers. The automobile as we know it was not invented in a single day by a single inventor. The history of the automobile reflects an evolution that took place worldwide.
It is estimated that over 100,000 patents created the modern automobile. You can point to the many firsts that occurred along the way to producing the modern car

Starting with the first theoretical plans for a motor vehicle that had been drawn up by both Leonardo da Vinci and Isaac Newton.

In 1769, the very first self-propelled road vehicle was a military tractor invented by French engineer and mechanic, Nicolas Joseph Cugnot (1725 - 1804). Cugnot used a steam engine to power his vehicle, built under his instructions at the Paris Arsenal by mechanic Brezin. It was used by the French Army to haul artillery at a whopping speed of 2 1/2 mph on only three wheels. The vehicle had to stop every ten to fifteen minutes to build up steam power. The steam engine and boiler were separate from the rest of the vehicle and placed in the front. The following year (1770), Cugnot built a steam-powered tricycle that carried four passengers.

In 1771, Cugnot drove one of his road vehicles into a stone wall, making Cugnot the first person to get into a motor vehicle accident. This was the beginning of bad luck for the inventor. After one of Cugnot's patrons died and the other was exiled, the money for Cugnot's road vehicle experiments ended.

Steam engines powered cars by burning fuel that heated water in a boiler, creating steam that expanded and pushed pistons that turned the crankshaft, which then turned the wheels. During the early history of self-propelled vehicles - both road and railroad vehicles were being developed with steam engines. (Cugnot also designed two steam locomotives with engines that never worked well.) Steam engines added so much weight to a vehicle that they proved a poor design for road vehicles; however, steam engines were very successfully used in locomotives. Historians, who accept that early steam-powered road vehicles were automobiles, feel that Nicolas Cugnot was the inventor of the first automobile.




After Cugnot Several Other Inventors Designed Steam-Powered Road Vehicles

•Cugnot's vehicle was improved by Frenchman, Onesiphore Pecqueur, who also invented the first differential gear.
•In 1789, the first U.S. patent for a steam-powered land vehicle was granted to Oliver Evans.
•In 1801, Richard Trevithick built a road carriage powered by steam - the first in Great Britain.
•In Britain, from 1820 to 1840, steam-powered stagecoaches were in regular service. These were later banned from public roads and Britain's railroad system developed as a result.
•Steam-driven road tractors (built by Charles Deitz) pulled passenger carriages around Paris and Bordeaux up to 1850.
•In the United States, numerous steam coaches were built from 1860 to 1880. Inventors included: Harrison Dyer, Joseph Dixon, Rufus Porter, and William T. James.
•Amedee Bollee Sr. built advanced steam cars from 1873 to 1883. The "La Mancelle" built in 1878, had a front-mounted engine, shaft drive to the differential, chain drive to the rear wheels, steering wheel on a vertical shaft and driver's seat behind the engine. The boiler was carried behind the passenger compartment.
•In 1871, Dr. J. W. Carhart, professor of physics at Wisconsin State University, and the J. I. Case Company built a working steam car that won a 200-mile race.



Early Electric Cars

Steam engines were not the only engines used in early automobiles. Vehicles with electrical engines were also invented. Between 1832 and 1839 (the exact year is uncertain), Robert Anderson of Scotland invented the first electric carriage. Electric cars used rechargeable batteries that powered a small electric motor. The vehicles were heavy, slow, expensive, and needed to stop for recharging frequently. Both steam and electric road vehicles were abandoned in favor of gas-powered vehicles. Electricity found greater success in tramways and streetcars, where a constant supply of electricity was possible.



Combustion engine and the 'clean car era' conspiracy
Electric cars are a conspiracy of the worst kind. They are heralded as a ticket to a new age when in fact they are a mere link in the chain of energy in the United States. Opponents of the old Henry Ford world of combustion engines are embracing electric car technologies with open arms, but they fail to realize that electric cars perpetuate the same problems as their more common ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) brethren.

Still have a question?
Ask it in the Solar & Alternative Energy forum Companies like Chevrolet, Nissan, Honda, and others pushing electric and various alternative transportation technologies are announcing these ideas with trumpets as if they have ushered in a new era or a transportation revolution. Consumers readily embrace these new ideas with commensurate enthusiasm, but all concerned fail to realize that the revolutionary nature of the new cars is predicted upon a reality that does not exist.

Advocates of the green energy movement point to the use of electric cars as a method of reducing air pollution. The fact that the new Nissan Leaf can advertise itself as lacking an exhaust pipe has customers lined up more than 20,000 reservations in advance to purchase their own piece of “history.” Even the Leaf’s name is designed to inspire thoughts of clean, renewable energy and environmental concern. But where does the electricity in the United States come from?

Overwhelmingly, the electrical power grid is supplied by fossil fuels. More than half of all the nation’s electricity comes from disgustingly polluted coal power plants, many of which are outdated and pump out more carbon dioxide and monoxide than they should because of obsolete technology still in use. But, the government continues to give these antiquated plants a pass instead of forcing them to update their technology. About a quarter of our power comes from natural gas, which is a fossil fuel as well. While on the natural gas subject, it should be noted that Honda’s touted FCX Clarity fuel cell car requires hydrogen. Current hydrogen production is the result of either expensive hydrolysis (splitting of water) or (largely) from natural gas.

What does this mean? Basically, the electric cars that companies say are bringing clean fuel options to consumers are really just perpetuating the old system. It is a great gimmick to remove one bottleneck from the fossil fuel chain, but without cheap, reliable ramping up of American electrical output through solid sources like nuclear power, we will still be utilizing fossil fuels. The new designs bring some good efficiency to the table, but the U.S. power grid will have to follow the example of the French nuclear program in order for us to truly benefit from electric cars.

CASE 322 - The history of Bolivia

Famous since Spanish colonial days for its mineral wealth, modern Bolivia was once a part of the ancient Inca empire. After the Spaniards defeated the Incas in the 16th century, Bolivia's predominantly Indian population was reduced to slavery. The remoteness of the Andes helped protect the Bolivian Indians from the European diseases that decimated other South American Indians. But the existence of a large indigenous group forced to live under the thumb of their colonizers created a stratified society of haves and have-nots that continues to this day. Income inequality between the largely impoverished Indians who make up two-thirds of the country and the light-skinned European elite remains vast.

By the end of the 17th century, the mineral wealth had begun to dry up. The country won its independence in 1825 and was named after Simón Bolívar, the famous liberator. Hampered by internal strife, Bolivia lost great slices of territory to three neighboring nations. Several thousand square miles and its outlet to the Pacific were taken by Chile after the War of the Pacific (1879–1884). In 1903, a piece of Bolivia's Acre Province, rich in rubber, was ceded to Brazil. And in 1938, after losing the Chaco War of 1932–1935 to Paraguay, Bolivia gave up its claim to nearly 100,000 sq mi of the Gran Chaco. Political instability ensued.

In 1965, a guerrilla movement mounted from Cuba and headed by Maj. Ernesto (Ché) Guevara began a revolutionary war. With the aid of U.S. military advisers, the Bolivian army smashed the guerrilla movement, capturing and killing Guevara on Oct. 8, 1967. A string of military coups followed before the military returned the government to civilian rule in 1982, when Hernán Siles Zuazo became president. At that point, Bolivia was regularly shut down by work stoppages and had the lowest per capita income in South America.

In June 1993, free-market advocate Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada was elected president. He was succeeded by former general Hugo Bánzer, an ex-dictator turned democrat who became president for the second time in Aug. 1997. Bánzer made significant progress in wiping out illicit coca production and drug trafficking, which pleased the United States. However, the eradication of coca, a major crop in Bolivia since Incan times, plunged many Bolivian farmers into abject poverty. Although Bolivia sits on South America's second-largest natural gas reserves as well as considerable oil, the country has remained one of the poorest on the continent.

In Aug. 2002, Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada again became president, pledging to continue economic reforms and to create jobs. In Oct. 2003, Sánchez resigned after months of rioting and strikes over a gas-exporting project that protesters believed would benefit foreign companies more than Bolivians. His vice president, Carlos Mesa, replaced him. Despite continued unrest, Mesa remained popular during his first two years as president. In a July 2004 referendum on the future of the country's significant natural gas reserves (the second largest in South America), Bolivians overwhelmingly supported Mesa's plan to exert more control over foreign gas companies. Mesa managed to satisfy the strong antiprivatization sentiment among Bolivians without shutting the door on some limited form of privatization in the future. But rising fuel prices in 2005 led to massive protests by tens of thousands of impoverished farmers and miners, and on June 6 Mesa resigned. Supreme court justice Eduardo Rodriguez took over as interim president.



Landlocked Bolivia is equal in size to California and Texas combined. Brazil forms its eastern border; its other neighbors are Peru and Chile on the west and Argentina and Paraguay on the south. The western part, enclosed by two chains of the Andes, is a great plateau—the Altiplano, with an average altitude of 12,000 ft (3,658 m). Almost half the population lives on the plateau, which contains Oruro, Potosí, and La Paz. At an altitude of 11,910 ft (3,630 m), La Paz is the highest administrative capital city in the world. The Oriente, a lowland region ranging from rain forests to grasslands, comprises the northern and eastern two-thirds of the country. Lake Titicaca, at an altitude of 12,507 ft (3,812 m), is the highest commercially navigable body of water in the world.

CASE 321 - News international

News International Ltd is the United Kingdom newspaper publishing division of News Corporation. Until June 2002, it was called News International plc.

The company's major titles are published by three subsidiary companies, Times Newspapers Ltd, News Group Newspapers and NI Free Newspapers Limited. These newspapers were until 2010 written at a large site in Wapping in east London, near Tower Hill, which earned the nickname "Fortress Wapping" after a fierce dispute with the union to which the workforce had previously belonged. The printing of the papers is now undertaken at Broxbourne, Knowsley and Lanarkshire (the largest and fastest print press in the world).


Between 1987 and 1995, News International owned, through its subsidiary News (UK) Ltd, Today, the first UK national newspaper to be printed in colour. All of News International's newspapers (with the exception of The London Paper, launched in 2006) were founded by other owners, in some cases hundreds of years ago.

In October 2005 News International sold TSL Education, publishers of Times Educational Supplement and other education titles, for £235m ($415m). The Times Literary Supplement, previously part of TSL Education, has been retained by News International as part of this deal. Darwin Ltd, who had taken over the company, continued to produce the same product.

Tower Hamlets has granted permission for the re-modelling of the main building at the News International Wapping compound. The HQ will give a united home to News International, Harper Collins, Dow Jones, Fox and related businesses for the first time and will help to regenerate the Wapping site.

Its main competitor is Associated Newspapers, which is in turn owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust.



Phone hacking allegations - News of the World phone hacking scandal



In July 2009 The Guardian, a newspaper owned by Guardian Media Group reported that News Group Newspapers paid in excess of £1m to settle legal cases that threatened to reveal News Group journalists' use on repeated occasions of illegal methods in the pursuit of stories. It has been alleged that News Group staff, including Clive Goodman, illegally accessed voicemail for the mobile phones of thousands of public figures, including politicians and celebrities. Goodman was jailed in 2007 for tapping the mobile phones of three members of the royal staff; this is an offence under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act. It was stated by News International at the time that Goodman had acted without their knowledge, and that no other journalists made use of such methods.

The evidence uncovered by The Guardian apparently shows that many more figures were in fact the subject of phone-taps, including Nigella Lawson, Lenny Henry, Gwyneth Paltrow, John Prescott, Boris Johnson and Tessa Jowell. In 2008, the News of the World paid in excess of £400,000 in damages to Gordon Taylor, the chief executive of the Professional Footballers' Association, who was suing the newspaper for its involvement in the illegal interception of messages to his mobile phone. According to The Guardian, this payment, made in exchange for Taylor's silence 'prevented the public from knowing anything about the hundreds of pages of evidence which had been disclosed in Taylor's case.'

In contrast to News International's earlier denials of knowledge, The Guardian cites suppressed evidence revealing that News of the World's editorial staff were involved with private investigators who engaged in illegal phone-hacking, and that both reporters and executives were commissioning purchases of confidential information; this is illegal unless it is shown to be in the public interest. Apparently, these activities were well-known within the News of the World, being "openly paid for by the accounts department with invoices which itemised illegal acts". The paperwork is alleged to show that the above occurred during the tenure of Andy Coulson, who was chief press advisor to David Cameron, leader of the UK's Conservative Party, until his resignation on January 21, 2011.

On 4 July, the Guardian reported that a private investigator at News of the World had hacked into the phone of the murdered teenager Amanda Dowler causing both her parents and police investigating her murder to wrongly believe she was still alive. This occurred during the period that Rebekah Brooks (née Wade) was editor.

On 7 July, British newspaper The Daily Telegraph alleged that the families of dead British service personnel were targeted by private investigators working for the News of the World. This lead to the Royal British Legion severing ties with the paper until such allegations are proved false. On 7 July, James Murdoch announced the final edition of the British newspaper, News of the World, would be published on Sunday 10 July 2011, due to the allegations.

CASE 320 - The love police

The love police a British activist group set up by Charlie veitch who was from a rich well travelled family (in his own words) started off with fantastic video's, spreading peace, justice and truth in such a good way, it was honest and possitive, people were protesting with love and it was working, but as time went on the 'Love police message' started fading and it seemed to move over to the 24/7 life show of Charlie veitch and his girlfriend Silkie Carlo, he even did a Charlie veitch exposes Charlie Veitch video where he explaines all his jobs and family history, he worked for the rothschilds and various other banking firms in the city of London, but fails to mention that the current job at that time was an intelligence front with links to the MI5, Tavistock and various other circles. His fame had grown in such a short amount of time. He was meeting, interviewing and being interviewed by controlled gatekeeping shills such as Alex Jones, David Icke, we are change, so of course it was growing. At one point the whole 'love police message' was non existant, it had now fazed into a weekly show of Charlie getting arrested in a major protest somewhere in a far destination in the world with his bullhorn, and somehow he always managed to let the world know he was locked up and it being like hell

'help me', 'send money to silkie for my bail'



Much respect to Charlie and the love police for standing up to the Iron fist of the corporate prison system we live in, but he always seemed to be in the wrong place at the right time, and always got away with charges and being sent to prison unlike a lot of protesters are for a lot less then what Charlie did. Then in July of 2011 he hit the nail into his own coffin by announcing after 3 days of interviewing 9/11 victims, visiting the 9/11 site and exhuasted all various other ideas that '9/11 was not an inside job, and everyone is just getting lost in conspiracy theories'. I always from the start kept a close eye on the Love police and sat at the sideline and watched it grow, but I was never led away from the truth by the 'pied piper of the truth movement' Charlie veitch and the love police



Charlie Veitch Exposed By Freedom Central
http://worldundercontrol.blogspot.com/2011/07/charlie-veitch-exposed-by-freedom.html

Charles veitch and the shill police
http://www.atlanteanconspiracy.com/2011/07/charlie-veitch-and-shill-police.html



Love police video's
http://www.theultimateconspiracyguide.com/i-do-love-the-love-police.html

CASE 319 - Ford

Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK. Ford's former UK subsidiaries Jaguar and Land Rover were sold to Tata Motors of India in March 2008. In 2010 Ford sold Volvo to Geely Automobile. Ford discontinued the Mercury brand after the 2011 model year.

Ford introduced methods for large-scale manufacturing of cars and large-scale management of an industrial workforce using elaborately engineered manufacturing sequences typified by moving assembly lines. Henry Ford's methods came to be known around the world as Fordism by 1914. They prevented the world from upgrading or long lasting materials on cars with the combustion engine, Henry Ford himself also knew about the great dangers hemp had towards his empire and even had a car made with hemp.



Ford is the second largest automaker in the U.S. and the fifth-largest in the world based on annual vehicle sales in 2010. At the end of 2010, Ford was the fifth largest automaker in Europe. Ford is the eighth-ranked overall American-based company in the 2010 Fortune 500 list, based on global revenues in 2009 of $118.3 billion. In 2008, Ford produced 5.532 million automobiles and employed about 213,000 employees at around 90 plants and facilities worldwide. During the automotive crisis, Ford's worldwide unit volume dropped to 4.817 million in 2009. In 2010, Ford earned a net profit of $6.6 billion and reduced its debt from $33.6 billion to $14.5 billion lowering interest payments by $1 billion following its 2009 net profit of $2.7 billion. Starting in 2007, Ford received more initial quality survey awards from J. D. Power and Associates than any other automaker. Five of Ford's vehicles ranked at the top of their categories and fourteen vehicles ranked in the top three.

CASE 318 - Glencore

Glencore International plc is a multinational mining and commodities trading company headquartered in Baar, Switzerland and with its registered office in Saint Helier, Jersey. It is the world's largest commodities trading company, with a 2010 global market share of 60 per cent in the internationally tradeable zinc market, 50 per cent in the internationally tradeable copper market, 9 per cent in the internationally tradeable grain market and 3 per cent in the internationally tradeable oil market.
Glencore has production facilities around the world and supplies metals, minerals, crude oil, oil products, coal, natural gas and agricultural products to international customers in the automotive, power generation, steel production and food processing industries. The company was formed in 1974 by a management buyout of Marc Rich & Co AG.

Glencore listed on the London Stock Exchange in May 2011 and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It has a secondary listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange



Early historyAccording to an Australian Public Radio report, "Glencore's history reads like a spy novel". The company was founded as Marc Rich & Co. AG in 1974 by now-billionaire commodity trader Marc Rich, who was charged with tax evasion and illegal business dealings with Iran in the U.S., but pardoned by President Bill Clinton in 2001. He was never brought before U.S. justice before his pardoning, therefore there was never a verdict on these charges.

In 1993 commodity trading and marketing company Trafigura was "split off from" Marc Rich's group of companies. As physical commodities traders, along with Trafigura, Glencore's main rivals in 2011 were identified as Vitol and Cargill,[11] amongst a number of others.

In 1993 and 1994, after failing to control the zinc market, losing $172 million and nearly bankrupting the company, Rich was forced to sell his majority share in Marc Rich & Co. AG back to the company. The enterprise, renamed Glencore, is now owned and run by Marc Rich's secretive inner-circle of "lieutenants", including founding Glencore CEO Willy Strothotte and present CEO Ivan Glasenberg.

CASE 217 - The history of Tibet

Status : Occupied Territory
Population : 6 million (Tibetans) & 7,5 million (Chinese)
Areas : 2.5 million km2
Language : Tibetan
Religion : Tibetan Buddhism

2 different views of the history of Tibet

The Chinese History of Tibet

Tibet has been part of China since the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368). Centuries ago Mongol and Manchu Emperors ruled or influenced large parts of Asia. During the Tang period (618-907), the Tibetan King, Songsten Gampo, married Princess Wen Cheng. The Princess is thought to have had alot of influence in Tibet. During the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368), Tibet was part of the Mongol Empire which was under Yuan rule. At this time, the Yuan Government implemented residence registration, levied taxes, and imposed corvee duties in Tibet. China's "White Paper" claims that the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) "replaced the Yuan dynasty in China and inherited the right to rule Tibet." During the Manchu rule (1644-1911), the Qing army on a number of occasions entered Tibet to protect it. Finally, in 1951, China and the Tibetan Local Government signed a 17-point agreement concerning the peaceful liberation of Tibet. During this time, The 14th Dalai Lama supported this liberation and acknowledged Tibet is one part of China.

The Tibetan History of Tibet

Tibet has a recorded history of statehood extending back to 127 B.C. In the seventh to ninth centuries, the Tibetans often bested the Tang dynasty in battle. Additionally, during this dynasty, the marriage of Princess Wen Cheng and King Gampo was viewed as a strategic move to achieve cooperation and peace between Tibet and China. In 821, after centuries of periodic fighting, China and Tibet signed a treaty where boundaries were confirmed, and each country promised respect for the other's territorial sovereignty. During the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368), the Mongol leader, Genghis Khan, conquered most of Eurasia including China. Thus, instead of China claiming a right to Tibet, Mongolia could assert claim to both China and Tibet. There is no historic evidence to support the assumption that the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) ruled Tibet. In fact, the Qing Emperor in 1652 not only accepted The Fifth Dalai Lama as a leader of an independent state, the Emperor also treated Him as a Divinity on Earth. During this period, Tibet was known in Chinese as Wu-si Zang or Wu-si Guo (guo meaning country). During the Manchu rule (1644-1911), the Qing army was asked by Tibetans to settle disputes. But, this does not support China's right to Tibet. If it did, then the U.S.A. should claim Kuwait and Haiti since it assisted these countries. In fact, on a number of occasions, Tibet exercised power over China, suggesting that perhaps Tibet should claim China! At the time of China's invasion in 1949, Tibet possessed all the attributes of an independent country recognized by international law, including a defined territory, a government, tax system, unique currency, unique postal system and stamps, army, and the ability to carryout international relations. Two years later, the 17-point agreement was imposed on the Tibetan Government by the threat of arms after 40,000 PLA troops had already seized Tibetºs eastern provincial capital, Chamdo. The Tibetan delegates were threatened. The seal of the Tibetan Government was forged by Peking. In Tibet, The 14th Dalai Lama could not freely express His disapproval. However, soon after arriving in India, He repudiated this Agreement stating it was "thrust upon the Tibetan Government and people by the threat of arms." If Tibet had always been a part of China, why was there a need for the 17-point agreement? Finally, the Atlas of Chinese History Maps (published by Chinese Social Science Institute in Beijing) depicts Tibet as an independent country that was never part of China at least before 1280.



Chinese History of Tibet | Tibetan History of Tibet
World Governments Do Not Recognize Tibet | World Governments Do Recognize Tibet Tibet Was Liberated | Tibet Was Not Liberated


World Governments Do Not Recognize Tibet: China's Perspective
China asserts that no country has ever recognized Tibet. China also contends that Britain masterminded the Simla Conference (1913-1914) in collusion with Tibetan pro-British individuals. Both wanted to separate Tibet from China. At the time of the Simla Conference, even though the "McMahon Line" was negotiated between Tibet and Britain, at the end of the tripartite conference on Tibet's status and boundaries, Chinese officials who were present refused to recognize the "Line" on the grounds that Tibet was subordinate to China and had no power to make any treaties.

World Governments Recognize Tibet: The Tibetan Perspective
International law states that recognition can occur by explicit or implicit acts including treaties, negotiations, and diplomatic relations. Mongolia and Tibet signed a formal treaty of recognition in 1913. Historically, Nepal and Tibet had peace treaties. Tibetºs independence was also confirmed at the Treaty of Simla (1914) which was concluded by Tibet and British India. In 1949, Tibet maintained diplomatic, economic, and cultural relations with such countries as Nepal, Sikkim, Mongolia, China, British India, and to some extent, Russia and Japan. Further, Nepal maintained an Ambassador in Lhasa and told the U.N. in 1949 that it conducted international relations with Tibet. In fact, Britian, Bhutan, India, and even China also maintained diplomatic missions in Tibet's capitol, Lhasa. The Tibetan Foreign Office conducted talks with President Franklin D. Roosevelt when he sent representatives to Lhasa to discuss the allied war effort against Japan during World War II. In 1950, El Salvador formally requested that China's aggression against Tibet be placed on the agenda of the U.N. General Assembly. The issue was not discussed. However, during four U.N. General Assembly debates on Tibet (1959, 1960, 1961, & 1965), many countries (e.g., Philippines, Nicaragua, Thailand. United States, Ireland) openly stated that Tibet was an independent country illegally occupied by China. In fact, the U.N. passed three resolutions (1959, 1961, & 1965) concerning Tibet stating that Tibetans were deprived of their inalienable rights to self-determination. Even Mao Zedong during the Long March admitted that Tibet was an independent country when he passed through the border regions of Tibet remarking, "This is our only foreign debt, and some day we must pay the Mantzu (sic) and the Tibetans for the provisions we were obliged to take from them." Tibetans clearly constitute a people under international law, as described, for instance, by the UNESCO International Meeting of Experts on Further Study of the Concept of the Rights of Peoples. They are a distinct people and fulfill all the characteristics of this concept: commonality of history, shared language, culture, and ethnicity.




Chinese History of Tibet | Tibetan History of Tibet
World Governments Do Not Recognize Tibet | World Governments Do Recognize Tibet Tibet Was Liberated | Tibet Was Not Liberated

Tibet Was Liberated: Chinaºs Perspective
China states that its invasion and occupation of Tibet was designed to liberate Tibetans from medieval feudal serfdom and slavery. Tibetan serfs were thought to have no freedoms. They were regarded by their masters as talking animals. China argues that the masses of Tibetan serfs lived in extreme poverty. Since the liberation in 1959, China asserts that Tibetans have enjoyed all rights of equality and they have embarked on the road of freedom and happiness. China claims that Tibet is now a modernized community benefitting from economic growth and social progress. Millions of serfs are now the masters of their fate, and large numbers of Tibetan workers, intellectuals, and officials have taken up the task of building and managing Tibet. China argues that all Tibetans now have equal rights in politics, the economy, and in their daily life. Tibetans are also thought to enjoy full religious freedom. China claims that Tibetans have greatly benefitted from their presence. There are now over 2,500 primary schools in Tibet. Moreover, according to Chinaºs White Paper, China has invested 1.1 billion yuans to develop education in Tibet. Big strides have been made in education, science, culture, and public health. For instance, China argues that it has rebuilt Tibetan Monasteries, Nunneries, and monuments. Further, it asserts that the Tibetan population has soared to 2 million from 1 million in the 1950's. China also claims that the Tibetans fully support the Communist Party and Government officials in Tibet. China argues that negotiation is the only solution for Tibet, stating that The 14th Dalai Lama should size up the situation, go with the tide of historical development and make a correct choice.

Tibet Was Not Liberated: The Tibetan Perspective

Old Tibet was not perfect. The current Dalai Lama has admitted this. However, The 14th Dalai Lama initiated far-reaching reforms in Tibet as soon as He assumed temportal authority. Throughout Tibet's history, the mistreatment of peasants was forbidden by law and social norms. The largest portion of land in Tibet was held by peasants. Famine and starvation were unheard of in Tibet. The "liberation" has resulted in the death of over 1.2 million Tibetans and the destruction of over 6,000 Tibetan Monasteries and cultural centers. Before the "liberation" in 1959, the population of Tibet was 6 million. Prior to the invasion, Tibet was a simple and self-reliant nation with a very rich cultural heritage. Tibetºs citizens, in comparison to its' neighbors, enjoyed much greater freedom. Currently, Tibetans have become veritable serfs. In independent Tibet, over 6,000 Monasteries and Nunneries served as schools. Most were destroyed, and many have been reconstructed as result of Tibetan finances and labor. The teachers in China's "new schools" are unqualified to teach the Tibetan language, culture, or history. Chinese students are the main beneficiaries of these schools. Since 1980, over 15,000 Tibetan children have fled Tibet to receive education in India.The primary beneficiaries of Chinaºs presence in Tibet have been the Chinese settlers, their government and military, and their business enterprises. Former Communist Party Secretary, Hu Yaobang, even admitted in 1980 that the living standard of Tibetans had declined since 1959 and that the large Chinese presence was an obstacle to development. China's policies in Tibet do not even receive full support from Tibetan cadres, let alone the Tibetan people. China has never found a trustworthy Tibetan to serve in a key government post in Tibet. For the past 21 years, The Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Government In-Exile have offered a number of proposals for negotiations for the mutual benefit of Tibet and China. All have been ignored or rejected by China.



Also check out
CASE 177 - Dalai Lama’s Yellow Hat Sect

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-13798650