Could Food Shortages Bring Down Civilization?
"The biggest threat to global stability is the potential for food crises in poor countries to cause government collapse," Lester Brown of the Earth Policy Institute writes for the magazine Scientific American.

Energy is everything
"Energy decline can be just as deadly as any human enemy but, like climate change, its effects are slower and most people do not understand enough about energy to fear its loss," writes John Michael Greer for the Australian website On Line Opinion.

Cybersecurity Act would give president power to 'shut down' Internet
"A recently proposed but little-noticed Senate bill would allow the federal government to shut down the Internet in times of declared emergency, and enables unprecedented federal oversight of private network administration," Raw Story reports.

Homelessness up as families on the edge lose hold
"Cities and counties are reporting a sharp increase in homeless families as the economic crisis leads to job loss and makes housing unaffordable," USA Today reports.

The Slumming of Suburbia
The financial meltdown has produced a vast patchwork of foreclosed and abandoned single-family homes across America, accelerating the decades-long migration of our nation's poor from cities to the suburban fringe. In 2005, as rising property values reduced affordable-housing stock in inner-city neighborhoods, suburban poverty, in raw numbers, topped urban poverty for the first time.

Where we are headed: Peak oil and the financial crisis
"The current financial crisis is a direct result of peak oil," writes Gail E. Tverberg for the Oil Drum. "There may be oscillations in the economic situation, but generally, we can't expect things to get much better. In fact, there is a very distinct possibility that things may get very much worse in the next few years."

Cities Deal With a Surge in Shantytowns
"Like a dozen or so other cities across the nation, Fresno is dealing with an unhappy déjà vu: the arrival of modern-day Hoovervilles, illegal encampments of homeless people that are reminiscent, on a far smaller scale, of Depression-era shantytowns, the New York Times reports.

Iraqi and U.S. soldiers battle U.S.-backed Sunni fighters
"On Sunday, Iraqi soldiers backed by U.S. combat helicopters and American troops swept into a central Baghdad neighborhood, arresting U.S.-backed Sunni fighters in an effort to clamp down on a two-day uprising that challenged the Iraqi government's authority and its efforts to pacify the capital," the Washington Post reports.

Protests Across Country Focus on Workers' Strife, Citizen Journalists Report
"Protesters took to the streets on Thursday to express their outrage over the bonuses being dolled out by firms that received billions in taxpayer dollars," citizen journalists report for the Huffington Post. "The nationwide demonstrations, organized by groups including Service Employees International Union, MoveOn.org and ACORN, featured events in 32 states and over 100 cities."

In American crisis, anger and guns
"Tent cities for the homeless have expanded outside a string of American cities, from Sacramento and Phoenix to Atlanta and Seattle, for people who are living the American dream in reverse," writes Reuters columnist Bernd Debusmann. "First they lose their jobs, then their health insurance, then their homes, then their hopes." As the crisis deepens and major financial firms receive government bailouts, public outrage and gun sales are both on the rise.

Our Worst Enemies Aren't Terrorists: Rethinking National Security on a Sinking Planet
"The chances of being affected by a terrorist attack are slim, but disruptions to our far-flung supply lines for food, water and energy are a reality," Chip Ward reports for Tom Dispatch.

Treasury to give banks unlimited refills
"Taking the wraps off its much anticipated bank-rescue plan, the Obama administration on Wednesday announced that it will provide a virtually unlimited solvency guarantee to the nation's 19 largest banks," McClatchy reports.

Bush Lawyers Approved Constitution-Free Domestic Military Ops, Docs Show
"The Justice Department secretly authorized President George Bush to use the military inside the United States to snoop on, raid and even kill citizens in order to fight terrorism without regard to the Fourth or Fifth Amendment, according to a Oct 23, 2001 memo released by the Obama Administration Monday," Wired reports.

British police prepare for summer of rage
British police are "preparing for a 'summer of rage' as victims of the economic downturn take to the streets to demonstrate against financial institutions," the Guardian reports.

The Geopolitics of Food Scarcity
"In some countries social order has already begun to break down in the face of soaring food prices and spreading hunger," writes Lester Brown of the Earth Policy Institute. "Could the worldwide food crisis portend the collapse of global civilization?"

Rise in Jobless Poses Threat to Stability Worldwide
"From lawyers in Paris to factory workers in China and bodyguards in Colombia, the ranks of the jobless are swelling rapidly across the globe," the New York Times reports.

Lost U.S. Weapons May Be Going to Taliban, GAO Says
"Tens of thousands of assault rifles and other firearms in Afghanistan are at risk of being stolen because U.S. officials have lost track of them, according to a congressionally ordered audit that warns that some weapons may already be in Taliban hands," the Washingotn Post reports.

U.S. Taxpayers Risk $9.7 Trillion on Bailout Programs
"The stimulus package the U.S. Congress is completing would raise the government’s commitment to solving the financial crisis to $9.7 trillion," Bloomberg reports.

Governments across Europe tremble as angry people take to the streets
"France paralysed by a wave of strike action, the boulevards of Paris resembling a debris-strewn battlefield. The Hungarian currency sinks to its lowest level ever against the euro, as the unemployment figure rises. Greek farmers block the road into Bulgaria in protest at low prices for their produce. New figures from the biggest bank in the Baltic show that the three post-Soviet states there face the biggest recessions in Europe. It's a snapshot of a single day – yesterday – in a Europe sinking into the bleakest of times," the Guardian reports.

Climate Change Here to Stay
"Even if by some miracle the nations of the world could bring carbon dioxide levels back to those of the pre-industrial era, it would still take 1,000 years or longer for the climate changes already triggered to be reversed, scientists said Monday," the Los Angeles Times.

Terrorists working for Western countries
"We have been told that Western countries would do everything they could to eradicate Al-Qaeda in the 'war on terror,' Kristin Aalen reports for Norway's Stavanger Evening News. "But Western intelligence has from the 1990s, used terrorists to do dirty work in a number of countries."

More nonsense from the climate skeptics
I regularly receive angry e-mails from people who believe global warming is just a big hoax. These folks always have a new piece of misinformation to share. The latest comes from Michael Asher at DailyTech.com.

Cocaine plane busted in December tied to U.S. intelligence
An aircraft caught last month attempting to transport 850 kilos of cocaine in Colombia "sported a U.S. tail number and FAA registration history that connect it to a number of other 'cocaine planes' that have apparent links to covert U.S. intelligence operations focused, at least in part, on Venezuela and the government of Hugo Chávez," Bill Conroy reports for NarcoSphere.

Martial Law, the Financial Bailout, and War
"The financial bailout legislation of September 2008 was only passed after members of both Congressional houses were warned that failure to act would threaten civil unrest and the imposition of martial law," writes author Peter Dale Scott. "It is still entirely appropriate," Scott writes, "to link such talk to the Army’s rapid moves to redefine its role as one of controlling the American people, not just protecting them."

Peak Soil
"Oil is what most of us think of as a strategic resource, yet in the long run it is soil which is more important," writes David Montgomery for the New Internationalist. "A crisis in global agriculture remains hidden," he says, "we are, and have long been, using up the supply of topsoil we rely on to grow our food."

U.S. proxy kills Iranian hostages, Saudis implicated
The Jundullah, a Pakistani-based militant group reportedly backed by the U.S. against Iran, has apparently killed more than a dozen kidnapped Iranian police officers.

For the fans at USAISC
The United States Army Information Systems Command (USAISC) appears to be a big fan of the this site.

Dissecting Prison Planet's Nonsense on Climate Change
In a article published on Alex Jones’ popular website, prisonplanet.com, writer Paul Joseph Watson accuses the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) of using deception and fear mongering in a scientific study evaluating the potential effects of climate change. At first glance, Watson’s argument may seem compelling, but a close analysis exposes the writer’s research as fundamentally flawed and misleading.

9/11 Victims Target Saudis With Deep State Ties
Law firms representing victims of the 9/11 attacks in an ongoing legal dispute with individuals and organizations suspected of financing al-Qaeda have recently turned their attention to two wealthy Saudis with unique ties to the U.S. government

Shedding Light on the Shadow Government, Part II
Executive Order 12656, signed by President Ronald Reagan in November of 1988, assigns a wide range of emergency powers to the executive branch. The Bush Administration is reserving the right to exercise these extra-constitutional authorities at any time.

Shedding Light on the Shadow Government, Part I
A revealing television report aired by CNN in 1991 sheds light on the ultra-secretive Continutity of Government (COG) program and the existence of a top secret succession plan that would allow a small group of individuals to suspend the Constituion and appoint a new government in the event of disaster.

Continued: Sibel Edmonds, Narco-Terror, 9/11
Another brief selection of resources closely connecting the U.S. government to a web of individuals said to be responsible for facilitating money transfers to the 9/11 hijackers.

Sibel Edmonds, Narco-Terror, 9/11...
A short selection of resources linking the case of FBI whistleblower Sibel Edmonds to U.S.-sponsored narco-terrorists and the 9/11 attacks.

Launching new research blog
The American Monitor's new blog will feature raw research and notes on a variety of underreported topics.

Boston-area convicts linked to CIA nexus
Three leaders of an Islamic charity with ties to the CIA were recently convicted of tax and fraud violations in Boston. This case, like so many others, proves the government’s so-called “war on terror” is really a chase for its own tail.

Join the The American Monitor's New Email List
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Nature's Last Word on Energy
Since the dawn of man, humankind has been defying nature, especially when it comes to energy production...but nature will always have the last word.

Still Playing With Fire
The U.S. may have been complicit in the highly publicized 'plot' to bomb multiple trans-Atlantic airliners last summer, and they may have also interfered with a British investigation to prevent the truth from being exposed.

U.S. Proxy Linked to Liquid Explosive Plot
A Pakistani-based militant group recently identified in the media as a recipient of covert U.S. support has been linked to the alleged plot to bomb multiple trans-Atlantic flights last summer.

Private intelligence firm targets The American Monitor
A corporation specializing in private investigation and online surveillance has begun monitoring this website for suspicious activity, adding The American Monitor to a list of millions being watched by Cyveillance Inc.

Assets of reported CIA front-man frozen in Turkey
A court in Turkey has ruled to freeze the assets of Yasin al-Qadi, a reported CIA asset and “chief money launderer” of Osama bin Laden.

Unacceptable solution
Ethanol energy proposal would starve people to fuel cars
The following article, republished from the Daily Gazette and the Troy Record, explains why ethanol is no cure to America's energy addiction.

9/11 Press For Truth Accused of Spreading Disinformation
A full rebuttal to recent accusations that the documentary 9/11 Press For Truth contains disinformation.

Ptech owner's assets confiscated in Albania
The Albanian government has seized the assets of a wealthy Saudi that, for several years, reportedly maintained simultaneous connections to both al-Qaeda and the U.S. government while serving the interests of the CIA.

Illegal 'terror ops' may explain White House censorship
A former National Security Council official who recently accused the White House of censoring his op-ed piece for the New York Times may be threatening to expose the Bush Administration’s protection and utilization of an anti-Iranian terrorist organization.

9/11 'paymaster' back in court, may be cleared of Pearl's death
Omar Sheikh, a suspected Western intelligence asset and reported moneyman behind 9/11 attacks, is back in court to appeal his conviction in the Daniel Pearl murder case.

Drug mafia, CIA blamed for sacking of Afghan governor
In a country flooded with narcotics traffickers and corrupt government officials, one of Afghanistan’s few remaining ‘clean’ governors, Mohammed Daud, has been removed from his position, and many are blaming the drug mafia and the CIA for his abrupt dismissal. Updated.

Response to Chris Hedges article defending Sami al-Arian
Respected writer Chris Hedges has written a misguided article defending admitted terrorist financer and one-time associate of President Bush Sami al-Arian.

US-terror links kept in the dark as former Bush associate refuses to testify
Fearing for his life, Sami al-Arian, an admitted terrorist financer and one-time acquaintance of President George W. Bush, has refused to provide information to a federal grand jury regarding a Northern Virginia-based criminal network with connections to the U.S. government.

Another 'double agent'
Omar Nasiri worked for al-Qaeda and Western intelligence simultaneously...and apparently so did his friends Abu Zubayda and Abu Hamza al-Masri.

Al-Qaeda leader now 'key informant'
Abu Zubaydah, the one-time al-Qaeda leader turned secret CIA detainee, has been identified as a “key informant” in the Jose Padilla trial. Zubaydah, who fought for the CIA in Afghanistan during the 1980s, went on to train militants during the 1990s for operations in Bosnia and Chechnya.

Scratching the Surface
Writing for Spero News, Adrian Morgan scratches the surface of the CIA-supported al-Qaeda network, mentioning Yassin al-Qadi's alleged support for Bosnia's war-time president Alija Izetbegovic. Al-Qadi, a 'friend' of Dick Cheney and alleged "chief money launderer" of Osama bin Laden, owned a US-government contracted company and reported CIA-front known as Ptech.

Musharraf names 9/11 suspect as possible British asset
Fails to mention links to 9/11, ISI, CIA
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's new book identifies Omar Sheikh, the alleged 9/11 'paymaster', as a possible asset of the British intelligence agency MI6. Omar reportedly financed the 9/11 attacks under orders from General Mahmud, the head of Pakistan's ISI who was in Washington on 9/11, a fact omitted from Musharraf's book.