Regionalized Occupy Protests? (tags)
"But this is no time to stop and give up. Our gains have been great. And Like Michael Moore said: "Most of America is with us now." How fucking huge? How about them apples? Looks like our leaders just bided their time and lulled us to sleep? We must not and cannot continue to allow them to do that. Get real are they more creative than we are?"
President Hugo Chávez, backed by South American Presidents, Condemns the Attack on Libya (tags)
"Oppressed people around the world have only recently begun to unite in opposition to empire as awareness of the horror grows. In North Africa and the Middle East it began as a revolt against US backed dictators in Tunisia, then Egypt and spread to Bahrain, Algeria, Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen. In South America the rebellion grew out of the Bolivarian Revolution, spreading over the last decade from Venezuela to other Latin American states. Tonight, behind President Chavez' condemnation of the monster on VTV, Venezuela National Radio and TeleSur, Venezuelans have gathered en masse in Caracas and at the US and French embassies to declare their rebellion against the imperial war on the sovereign state of Libya."
Latin American Nations Pledge for Peace in Libya (tags)
"For its part, ALBA member states also articulated their unanimous opposition to intervention on the part of the United States in the Libyan conflict. According to its published statement, the regional alliance, “categorically rejects any intervention from NATO or any foreign power in Libya as well as any attempt to take advantage…of the tragic situation in order to justify a war of conquest of the energy and water resources which are the patrimony of the Libyan people.”
Japan Atomic Emergency Bulletin #3 (tags)
"As incredible as it may sound, governments and corporations and they’re spin masters are busy trying to convince us that all is well and that nuclear energy “is still a wise and clean source for meeting our future energy demands.” Sorry Mr. Obama, but if can’t grow a pair and face your corporate masters down, you’re done and so are they."
Accused WikiLeaker Bradley Manning claims rough justice (tags)
"At night, if the guards cannot see me clearly because I have a blanket over my head or I am curled up towards the wall, they will will wake me in order to ensure that I am OK."
Remember Saddam Hussain? (tags)
"The capture of numerous British military and intelligence operatives—six SAS men and an MI5 agent—by rebel forces in Benghazi made clear that the powers that be are already hard at work to this end. It has since been revealed by the Daily Mail that ministers have approved “a presence on the ground” of the SAS and MI6, who “will link up with Special Forces already in Libya to provide protection and give informal military advice to the Libyan opposition.”
Down with Gaddafi! No to US-NATO intervention! (tags)
"In this time when events seem to be moving so fast, we must maintain focus on the essential meaning and purpose of imperialist efforts. Elites in Washington and other capitals of the west are desperate and working with full dedication to "roll back" the popular advances being made in the Mideast and across North Africa. This article is offered in the effort to support a progressive analysis while the mainstream media works triple time to confuse and obfuscate an understanding of the "full on class war" unfolding before us. No to the budget cuts. No to intervention in Libya. Organize to stand up and fight wall street and the banksters, and ther're "agents" in media and government. Organize in your communities and beyond quickly now. "You have a world to win and only your chains to lose."
America's secret plan to arm Libya's rebels (tags)
"These “actions” by the US military can not be explained/excused away as “terrible, unfortunate. accidents. As was the case of the collateral murder release, the capacity of present day optics used by US pilots and gunners would have left no doubt that the human beings targeted were unarmed, often children. The US is simply engaged clearing vast areas of unwanted human populations. This is also known as imperialism."
Imperialist Hands off Libya (tags)
""The "lap dog presses" in western nations will not assist in revealing the horrific imperial grab now shaping up in North Africa. The western powers are on the "counter attack" as naval might is now poised to "intervene" in Libya to "save the day," read still the victory, after the people themselves have deposed the dictator and begun to set up their own government. That is the west's' worst nightmare. Normal human beings, peacefully governing themselves? That would be a disaster and the most feared example from the "great white mans" perspective. And of course they want the oil and a potential launch pad for attacks (remember the contra war against revolutionary Nicaragua) on the new governments in Tunisia and Egypt should they deem to be too independent from the dictates of capital. Eh gads! They might decide to meet the needs of their citizens! The people of Libya will need to state to the entire world that they will defend they're independence and sovereignty with the force of arms from all invaders. Only then will the imperialist consider backing off. Expose the imperialist plan! "
WikiLeaks at the Forefront of 21st-Century Journalism (tags)
"WikiLeaks is filling a void in traditional media, as the level of distrust of the mass media is now at record highs. A recent Gallup Poll found 57 percent of Americans do not trust the media, and a Pew Poll found a record low 29 percent trust the media. There is good reason for distrust. The New York Times helped start the Iraq War by publishing the false weapons of mass destruction story. It recently misled the public about a Blackwater employee arrested in Pakistan by hiding the fact that he worked for the CIA, while reporting that Obama said he was a diplomat. Even the way the Times and the Washington Post reported on WikiLeaks documents showed reason for distrust. WikiLeaks described Iranian long-range missiles that could hit European cities but also reported that Russian intelligence refuted the claim. The Times and the Post evidently made a decision to exaggerate Iranian capability and mislead readers by excluding the Russian intelligence report. The Times admits it provides WikiLeaks documents to the government in advance and excludes material at the request of the government."
On supporting the emerging freedom and justice movements in the Mid-east and beyond. (tags)
"t is up to the citizens to make democracy work. It is for this reason that I call upon people of good will everywhere to insure that justice be done by the democracy movement that is emerging today in the middle east and indeed, all over the world. Many of our governments, particularly of the developed west, have demonstrated an unwillingness to allow this freedom to take root. Therefore they should not and cannot be allowed to pretend a leading role in this advance toward liberation now. They absolutely can not be trusted. Please spread very widely. In addition, discussion groups, teach-ins, reading tables, and all manner of creative activities can support and encourage this drive to liberation. Our willingness to gather and cooperate can achieve amazing feats for love and human dignity. Let’s get started."
Calls for military intervention in Libya? (tags)
"The Imperialist powers, they’re economies wrecked by the hubris endemic to their systems, would like nothing better than to seize, Libya’s petroleum assets during this time of eternal turmoil. And why wouldn’t they desire to invade now? They get to derail revolution and they get the oil! This would be London and Washington’s wet dream. And it would be a disaster for the people everywhere! In fact we may ultimately find that their dirty, greedy hands were behind the disaster in Libya in order to create pretexts for actions “imperial in nature” all over Africa. At any rate, no progressive person can believe that “western intervention” will be other than another grotesque rape of the people of the African continent. Please do all you can to resist this horrible possibility? The western powers simply cannot be trusted. Defend the Libyan nations’ right, and indeed all the revolutionary peoples’ of Africa’s’ right to self-determination. No less, and in fact, much more is at stake."
Democracy promotion: America’s new regime change formula (tags)
"By the 1980s, the reign of terror that blazed across Latin America was too much for most people to stomach. From death squads to torture chambers and various massacres, the Latin American generals who trained in the US to spread democracy around the world quickly gained reputations for major human rights abuses. To replace the overt support for dictatorships, a new concept for regime change was born; one that sounds and looks better – democracy promotion."
Wall Street versus the Poor and the Middle Class: Obama’s FY 2012 Budget Is A Tool Of Clas (tags)
"Please help alert the people before it’s too late. Share these articles with everyone. Organize teachings in your churches, union halls, schools, or other community groups, etc. We can stop this but we have to act. Don’t wait on someone else to do it. We can’t allow the people of this country to be fooled any longer. This is a life or death situation for our citizens, for most all of us. Spread everywhere. "
Strikes, workers’ protests spread throughout Egypt (tags)
“According to a detailed account published by Al Ahram, the dictator had intended to step down but was persuaded by his wife and son Gamal not to. When this threatened to provoke a further upsurge in the revolutionary movement, the military stepped in and seized power to try to maintain control over the situation. Notably, none of the official middle class “opposition” parties—including the Muslim Brotherhood and Mohamed ElBaradei’s National Association for Change—has condemned the military’s threats against the working class. Striving to maintain illusions in the role of the army, these forces have urged an end to the demonstrations and strikes. ElBaradei and his colleagues are now preparing to enter the military regime. Britain’s Foreign Minister William Hague said yesterday that Egypt’s Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq told him that the current government would be reshuffled to include opposition figures by next week. While the successful elevation of these “opposition” forces would open up opportunities for the individuals involved, for the Egyptian working class it would signify no more than providing a civilian fig-leaf for the military government.”
'The Egyptian Revolution enters a new stage' and more (tags)
"The struggle that is now unfolding in Egypt will be of a protracted character. The responsibility of revolutionary Marxists is to develop among workers, as they pass through colossal political experiences, an understanding of the necessity for an independent struggle for power. The revolutionary Marxists must counsel workers against all illusions that their democratic aspirations can be achieved under the aegis of bourgeois parties. They must expose ruthlessly the false promises of the political representatives of the capitalist class. They must encourage the creation of independent organs of workers’ power which can become, as the political struggle intensifies, the basis for the transfer of power to the working class. They must explain that the realization of the workers’ essential democratic demands is inseparable from the implementation of socialist policies. Above all, revolutionary Marxists must raise the political horizons of Egyptian workers beyond the borders of their own country. They must explain that the struggles that are now unfolding in Egypt are inextricably linked to an emerging global process of world socialist revolution, and that the victory of the revolution in Egypt requires not a national, but an international strategy. After all, the fight against the Mubarak-Suleiman regime and the Egyptian ruling class is, in the final analysis, a struggle against the entire Arab bourgeoisie, the Zionist regime in Israel and American and European imperialism."
Essentials on the situation in Egyp (tags)
"Then, over the weekend, came the public statement by Frank Wisner, the former ambassador to Cairo tapped by the Obama administration to serve as its envoy to Mubarak. Speaking at a security conference in Munich, Wisner declared, “President Mubarak remains utterly critical in the days ahead as we sort our way toward the future.” He added that the dictator “must stay in office in order to steer those changes through.” The State Department immediately responded that Wisner was speaking in a personal capacity and had not cleared his remarks first with the US government. While mortified that Wisner had the audacity to say publicly what the administration—behind all its phony rhetoric about democracy—is actually doing, no one disputed the content of Wisner’s statement. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs found a somewhat more elegant way to echo Wisner’s view, declaring that the issue was one of “process not personality.”
Heroic resistance in Cairo to state-orchestrated repression (tags)
"A significant piece of direct evidence of collusion is the texts sent out by the government via various mobile phone networks to rally its forces. One published on Flickr gallery states, “The Armed Forces asks Egypt's honest and loyal men to confront the traitors and criminals and protect our people and honor and our precious Egypt.” The fact is that the army and the police are headed by the same people who control the government, with Mubarak's newly appointed vice-president, Omar Suleiman, acting as the prime culprit."
Some notes and observations on the insurrection in Egypt (tags)
"The US is attempting to appear to support “democratic rights.” Mubarak will leave and the US will trumpet a great “victory for democracy and the Egyptian people.” If the masses are fooled by this, little will change. It is the current ruling clique that must be deposed from power. And this is the deepest desire of the Egyptian nation. The U.S. has chosen Omar Suleiman to be there’re next strong man and faithful servant in Egypt. In all likelyhood, the Egyptian people will reject this cynical move."
Are We Witnessing the Start of a Global Revolution? (tags)
"Understand that the “War on Terror” is a complete lie, a concoction meant to obscure the imperial attack on the worldwide insurrection of the people’s revolt the imperialist ruling class knew would be coming. Of course 911 was a false flag attack perpetrated largely by imperialism to serve as a defense against this revolt. But before that the outlines of this “defense of the system” was likely behind the crash of a jumbo jet in the ocean when an Egyptian pilot, with no record of radical ideas, supposedly crash dived a fully loaded passenger plane shouting, “God is great.” One can review and study these manipulations and begin to see the strategy and heartless efforts being waged by our rulers in a desperate attempt to maintain our world in bondage. The U.S. will claim to be defending democracy and human welfare while attempting to utterly crush both."
Swiss banker supplies documents to WikiLeaks (tags)
The Logic of Imperial Insanity and the Road to World War III plus many mirrors (tags)
"Obama wasted no time in rapidly accelerating America’s imperial adventures. While dropping the term “War on Terror” from usage, the Pentagon adopted the term, “overseas contingency operations.”[4] This was to be the typical strategy of the Obama administration: change the appearance, not the substance. The name was changed, but the “War on Terror” remained, and not only that, it was rapidly accelerated to a level that would not have been possible if undertaken by the previous administration."
This Is The Wikileak That Sparked The Tunisian Crisis (tags)
"One of the U.S. government cables released by WikiLeaks (via @spbaines) exposed the corruption of Tunisia's President's family, its reach into business in the country, and ability to transcend the rule of law. President Ben Ali's family was called "The Family" throughout the leak. The government attempted to block access to WikiLeaks earlier this month."
US government demands Twitter account information of WikiLeaks and followers (tags)
Wikileaks SEP-ISSE Public Meetings (tags)
"The significance of the WikiLeaks exposures can be measured by the fact that the organization’s founder, Julian Assange, has faced death threats from US politicians and media figures as well as calls for his trial and execution. Assange is currently threatened with extradition to Sweden on trumped-up sex charges, while the Obama administration has labeled the WikiLeaks founder a "high-tech terrorist.” The attack on WikiLeaks and Assange poses a grave threat to democratic rights and to all those who seek to expose the crimes of the US government."
WikiLeaks: Police trained Bangladeshi death squads (tags)
"Crossfire" killings are a euphemism for an execution. Acting as judge, jury and executioner, a government-appointed Star Chamber decides who should die for their so-called crimes against the interests of the ruling clique and then the order goes out to the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB). The WikiLeaks cables show that the British government facilitates this execution squad—providing it with training, the exact nature of which, in light of the ongoing brutal behaviour of British forces and inhumane conduct in Iraq and Afghanistan, remains somewhat cloudy. "The training of the Bangladeshi RAB members in the UK has been carried out by the West Mercia and Humberside police forces. The courses are approved by the British Association of Chief Police Officers."
Washington’s “humanitarian” war and the KLA’s crimes (tags)
"This may come as no surprise to those who have witnessed his rise from terrorist thug to head of the newly “independent” state. But what will be a shock to many is the grotesque way in the KLA helped finance its operations—by removing and selling body organs from kidnapped Serb and Kosovan Albanian civilian prisoners." "Any prosecution of the KLA was made “impossible” by Washington, which has been its main sponsor since at least 1998. Following the Bosnian war of 1995, the KLA, seeking to capitalise on popular resentment among Kosovan Albanians against the regime of Slobodan Milosevic in Serbia, pursued a strategy of destabilising Kosovo by acts of terrorism in the hope of provoking Western intervention." "US Senator Joseph Lieberman declared that “Fighting for the KLA is fighting for human rights."
Opposition to war in Afghanistan at all-time high (tags)
"Maybe we should "be the media," I mean, help get the word out? Spread widely."
Assange: Many Top Arab Officials Are CIA Spies (tags)
“These officials are spies for the US in their countries,” reported Assange, adding that there was also information proving allegations that the US regularly sends “suspects” to some nations for torture."
The Nation joins the campaign against Julian Assange (tags)
“Feminist opinion—as the Assange case and the Polanski affair before it have demonstrated—has become one of the means of legitimizing the suppression of nonconformists and political dissidents, and of changing the subject from the great social issues, above all, class oppression and social inequality, to stale and self-pitying concerns. Those supervising the attack against Assange are no doubt congratulating themselves on its clever design. Mounting it in the guise of a campaign against the sexual molestation of women… how else could such a filthy operation, with its threat of a sweeping assault on democratic rights, be mounted and even legitimized today? The powers that be know the Pollitts of this world, and the Nation. The magazine’s editor, Katrina vanden Heuvel, is, after all, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a leading ruling class think tank whose membership has included numerous CIA directors, along with dozens of US generals and admirals.”
Kosovo's Prime Minister Accused of Running Human Organ, Drug Trafficking (tags)
"As and when the transplant surgeons were confirmed to be in position and ready to operate, the captives were brought out of the 'safe house' individually, summarily executed by a KLA gunman, and their corpses transported swiftly to the operating clinic." Once organs were removed from the victims they were auctioned off to the highest bidder and sold by a global trafficking ring still "operating" today.
Beware of Wikileaks: Or at least those leaks chosen by western “imperialist press" (tags)
"What is interesting here is the suggestion that the remarks are deep and valuable due to the author’s so-called ‘knowledge’ of the Euro-Asian mafia. The inclusion of Belarus in this ‘leak’ is particularly puzzling. Belarus has one of the lowest crime rates in Europe. The President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko has been continuously re-elected since 1994, due to his progressive social policies and no one denies his obvious popularity. Yet he is consistently slandered as a ‘dictator’. While Belarus does have close connections with Russia, relations between the two countries have soured recently over energy disputes, geopolitical differences and Belarus’s refusal to pursue free-market policies. Belarus and Alexander Lukashenko in particular, has been indefatigably demonised in the international press for his refusal to privatise the Belarusian economy, opening up publicly owned industries to international, finance capital mafia. President Lukashenko’s refusal to indebt his country through IMF loans together with the robust performance of the Belarusian economy since the outbreak of the global economic crisis, have won the Belarusian leader the praise and close friendship of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, who has described Belarus as model socialist economy. Yet Wikileaks considers a flippant and mendacious comment by a Spanish prosecutor to be ‘deep and valuable’? Here we can see ideology masquerading as objective truth. A flippant opinion by a Spanish prosecutor is considered ‘deep and valuable’ because he should know such things. The Wikileak is in reality not a revelation at all. It is simply the publication of a highly dubious statement with an ideological assumption appended. Here the Wikileak serves to bolster the negative view of the country engineered by the acolytes of the corporate media to demonise a respectable socialist democracy. Far from undermining US imperialism, this Wikileaks ‘revelation’ slanders a law-abiding country by associating it with criminality and terrorism."
Assange should be Person of Year: Time needs a pair (tags)
"Reaction, meanwhile, was swift by readers on Time's website, including Avijit Paul who wrote, "So I guess Time has chickened out by not making Julian Assange as the person of the year. It's a shame when [Assange] was not the top when the biggest chunk of readers say he is." Time reader Tony Castro pondered: "Wasn't Mark Zuckerberg in tenth place? I will spread this injustice like wildfire knocking your readership down to zero."
Why I'm Posting Bail Money for Julian Assange (tags)
" The corporate owners have decimated newsrooms, making it impossible for good journalists to do their job. There's no time or money anymore for investigative journalism. Simply put, investors don't want those stories exposed. They like their secrets kept ... as secrets. I ask you to imagine how much different our world would be if WikiLeaks had existed 10 years ago. Take a look at this photo. That's Mr. Bush about to be handed a "secret" document on August 6th, 2001. Its heading read: "Bin Ladin Determined To Strike in US." And on those pages it said the FBI had discovered "patterns of suspicious activity in this country consistent with preparations for hijackings." Mr. Bush decided to ignore it and went fishing for the next four weeks. But if that document had been leaked, how would you or I have reacted? What would Congress or the FAA have done? Was there not a greater chance that someone, somewhere would have done something if all of us knew about bin Laden's impending attack using hijacked planes? But back then only a few people had access to that document. Because the secret was kept, a flight school instructor in San Diego who noticed that two Saudi students took no interest in takeoffs or landings, did nothing. Had he read about the bin Laden threat in the paper, might he have called the FBI? (Please read this essay by former FBI Agent Coleen Rowley, Time's 2002 co-Person of the Year, about her belief that had WikiLeaks been around in 2001, 9/11 might have been prevented.) Or what if the public in 2003 had been able to read "secret" memos from Dick Cheney as he pressured the CIA to give him the "facts" he wanted in order to build his false case for war? If a WikiLeaks had revealed at that time that there were, in fact, no weapons of mass destruction, do you think that the war would have been launched -- or rather, wouldn't there have been calls for Cheney's arrest?"
Desperate to stop the "truth telling" (tags)
"The imperialists of the world are desperate to stop the "truth telling" of wikileaks. To do so they have thrown away the cover of respect of "freedom of speech" in particular and "support of democratic principals" in general. They are naked now in their hatred of democracy. Organize, resist, do all that you can to protect these true heros from attack. Most importantly, aid them in their efforts to reveal the truths that just may "set us free."
Don't be fooled: Imperialism trys to hide the importance of Wikileaks docs. (tags)
"Again, the wikileaks documents are a godsend to those who want to create fainess and justice, and to help save planet earth for all of humanity. But in order to assure that they have this impact we must investigate, along with trusted independent media, the wikileaks materials and work hard to get the truths out to activate the masses to liberate themselves. Media owned and managed by these people for whom we need "Nuremberg like trials" will never do that job for us. "
1697 duplicate wikileaks sites and growing (tags)
"Also this document has those 1697 links/urls to wikileaks mirror sites. Make it impossible for this information to be “disappeared” like so many victims of CIA/client state butchery. This is an opportunity that will not come often. Take advantage of it now. Spread very, very widely."
Antitrust Settlement: Visa, MasterCard Payoff for Anti-WikiLeaks Moves? (tags)
"While the and terms of the “settlement” certainly suggest Visa and MasterCard are on the receiving end of some very nice benefits for helping the Obama Administration with its efforts to censor WikiLeaks, this is hardly the first time the administration has made shilling for the companies a matter of public policy. Indeed a February cable from the US Embassy in Moscowshowed that the State Department conspired to lobby the Russian Duma (parliament) on behalf of credit card companies, fighting a draft law that would create a new national credit card payment system organized through Russia’s central bank, on the grounds that it would make Visa’s Russia operations unprofitable. A redacted commenter in the cable says the Russian government “assumes” that both Visa and MasterCard routinely spy on their customers on behalf of the US government, and that the attempt to make all payment processing in Russia a domestic venture was an attempt at countering this."
The persecution of WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange (tags)
"The documents obtained by WikiLeaks—only a small fraction of which have been released so far—help expose what is a permanent conspiracy against the democratic rights of the world’s population: from covering up US bombings of civilians in Yemen, to working behind the scenes to obstruct the prosecution of CIA agents guilty of torture, to spying on UN officials in violation of international treaties. Those who are leading the campaign against WikiLeaks are themselves responsible for horrific atrocities. In the face of allegations from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that WikiLeaks had placed lives in danger, Assange gave an appropriate response in an interview with Time magazine. WikiLeaks, he noted, “has never caused an individual … to come to any sort of physical harm or to be wrongly imprisoned and so on. That is a record compared to the organizations that we are trying to expose who have literally been involved in the deaths of hundreds or thousands or, potentially over the course of many years, millions.”
WikiLeaks cables fuel hostility to US role in Pakistan (tags)
"Indeed, another cable cites a discussion between US Vice President Joe Biden and Zardari in early 2009 in which the Pakistani president expressed his concern that the “ISI director and [Gen. Ashfaq Parvez] Kayani will take me out.” The US government apparently knew more than it was sharing with Zardari. Another cable describes a conversation held during the same period in which General Kayani told Ambassador Patterson that he “might, however reluctantly,” move to force Zardari from office. Many of the cables expose Washington and Islamabad as partners in carrying out bloody crimes and deception against the Pakistani people. As the US has stepped up its military operations in the region, dubbing its intervention the “Afpak war,” the Zardari government has attempted to assuage popular anger by posing as an opponent of US violations of Pakistani sovereignty."
Urgent: Stop the U.S./S Korean Attack - Know the Facts and take action (tags)
"Here in New York City we were immersed at the IAC in planning an action on Tuesday, Nov 30 at 5:00 pm at the Tree Lighting Ceremony at Rockefeller Center at 50th and 5th Ave with the slogan: "Take back our Trillions from the War Corporations. Bring all Troops Home! Jobs or Unemployment Benefits for all". This holiday event traditionally draws many tens of thousands of people. Tuesday, Nov 30 is the date that more than 2 million workers in the U.S. will loose all extended jobless funding or unemployment benefits. They will be left totally destitute. So we were working with some of the workers loosing benefits on that day. So one proposal was to refocus with signs and flyers this action to include more prominently the U.S. threats against DPRK, the cost of sending nuclear powered aircraft carriers, destroyers, jet aircraft half way around the world while continuing to cut the most basic necessities here at home."
Report: WikiLeaks Docs to Show US Military Supporting PKK in Turkey’s Civil War (tags)
" It is doubly problematic in this case, however, as the PKK has been fighting Turkey, a NATO member and close military ally of the US." But they told us that there was nothing else of significance in the wiki docs?
Sweden issues international arrest warrant for WikiLeaks founder Assange (tags)
Assange has repeatedly offered to be interviewed, first in Sweden before he left that country, and subsequently in Britain, “either in person or by telephone, videoconferencing or email and he has also offered to make a sworn statement on affidavit. All of these offers have been flatly refused by a prosecutor who is abusing her powers by insisting that he return to Sweden at his own expense to be subjected to another media circus that she will orchestrate,” explains Stephens. He continues, “This behavior is not a prosecution, but a persecution.” A letter from one of Assange’s Swedish lawyers, Björn Hurtig, has also been made public, which documents the numerous attempts by his legal team to organize Assange’s questioning by Swedish authorities, to no avail. Stephens concludes his press statement, “Our client has always maintained his innocence. … As a result of these false allegations and bizarre legal interpretations our client now has his name and reputation besmirched. Thousands of news articles and 3.6 million web pages now contain his name and the word ‘rape.’
Ruling on Behalf of Wall Street's "Super Rich": The Financial End Time has Arrived (tags)
"Alas, the Obama administration has backed the Geithner-Bernanke policy that “the economy” cannot recover without saving the debt overhead. The reality is that it is the debt overhead that is destroying the economy. So we are dealing with the irreconcilable fact that the Obama position threatens to lower living standards from 10% to 20% over the coming few years – making the United States look more like Greece, Ireland and Latvia than what was promised in the last presidential election. Something has to give politically if the economy is to change course. More to the point, what has to give is favoritism for Wall Street at the expense of the economy at large. What has made the U.S. economy uncompetitive is primarily the degree to which debt service has been built into the cost of living and doing business. Post-classical “junk economics” treats interest and fees as payment for the “service” for providing credit. But interest (like economic rent and monopoly price extraction) is a transfer payment to bankers with the privilege of credit creation. The beneficiaries of providing tax favoritism for debt are the super-rich at the top of the economic pyramid – the 2% whom Mr. Obama’s tax giveaway will benefit by over $700 billion. If the present direction of tax “reform” is not reversed, Mr. Obama will shed crocodile tears for the middle class as he sponsors the Deficit Reduction Commission’s program of cutting back Social Security and revenue sharing to save states and cities from defaulting on their pensions. One third of U.S. real estate already is reported to have sunk into negative equity, squeezing state and local tax collection, forcing a choice to be made between bankruptcy, debt default, or shifting the losses onto the shoulders of labor, off those of the wealthy creditor layer of the economy responsible for loading it down with debt."
Ecuador, Venezuela: Danger South of the Borde (tags)
"The reason there is a bizarre attempt to pretend that this coup attempt never happened, is to hope that people won’t ask who might have benefited from such an action. A quick examination of the actions of President Correa sheds considerable light on that. In 2006, working with President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela, Correa moved to increase state control over oil production in the country.[9] In 2008, he announced that Ecuador would not pay several billions of its more than $10 billion foreign debt, calling it “illegitimate.”[10] In 2009, he refused to renew the lease of the U.S. military airbase in Manta, saying that “the only way the US could keep their military base in Ecuador, is if Ecuador were allowed to have one of its own in Florida.”[11] In 2009, he officially brought Ecuador into ALBA – the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas led by Venezuela, Cuba and Bolivia. When a country increases state control, challenges illegitimate foreign debt, pushes the U.S. military out of the country and joins a regional alliance with Venezuela, Bolivia and Cuba – it is clear that the forces that would benefit from a coup would be: a) corporate interests inside Ecuador; b) International Financial Institutions; and c) the United States and its allies. There is another reason why the right-wing, corporate elite and the imperialist countries might have an incentive to minimize what happened September 30. There is now a shamefully long list of recent coup attempts in Latin America and the Caribbean – four of them against members of ALBA."
Obama administration braces for WikiLeaks release (tags)
'This article suggests that there is no need for you to investigate these doucments. As before they tell us there is nothing of interest in them? How quickly they read them? I think they are hoping many will not bother. So please get ready to head back to Wikileaks and spread widely."
"Pakistan warned Washington against future attacks. However, US military officials, under pressure from Obama to show progress in the endless Afghan war, responded to Pakistan’s warning by calling for expanding the Afghan war into Pakistan. On October 5 the Canadian journalist Eric Margolis wrote that “the US edges closer to invading Pakistan.” In his book, Obama’s Wars, Bob Woodward reports that America’s puppet president of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari, believes that terrorist bombing attacks inside Pakistan for which the Taliban are blamed are in fact CIA operations designed to destabilize Pakistan and allow Washington to seize Pakistan’s nuclear weapons."
New War Rumors: U.S. Plans To Seize Pakistan’s Nuclear Arsenal (tags)
"“The free-wheeling access to US covert military and intelligence operatives, both officials and private contractors, is another destabilising factor that we seem to be unable or unwilling to check. And now there are the NATO incursions into our territory and targeting of even our military personnel, which shows how servile a state we are living in at present. [10] As the war in Afghanistan, the largest and longest in the world, proceeds with record casualties among civilians and combatants alike on both sides of the Afghan-Pakistani border, plans are afoot to further expand the war into Pakistan and to threaten Iran as well. Comparisons to Washington’s war in Indochina have been mentioned. [11] But Pakistan with its 180 million people and nuclear weapons is not Cambodia and Iran with its population of over 70 million is not Laos."
Striking port workers in Marseille know the truth (modified by General Joe) (tags)
"They (French workers) are “fighting privatization,” as we all should be. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be a slave to private capital either! This article, like most in the capitalist press, omits this essential information to benefit the owners and bosses. Get a clue folks and stand up and fight back or be prepared to have everything stolen from you. Remember, the rich don’t want but one thing. And that’s “everything.” Kind a makes the bank bailouts a little more understandable don’t you think. See “class war” all around you."
Ecuador se repone del intento de golpe (tags)
"La declaración final de la reunión de emergencia convocada para ayer en Buenos Aires, repudió "enérgicamente el intento de golpe de Estado y el secuestro" sufrido por el presidente de Ecuador, Rafael Correa, a la vez que advirtió que "no tolerarán" desafíos "a la autoridad institucional ni golpes de Estado" en Sudamérica. Mientras, el presidente Correa decretó tres días de duelo nacional por las víctimas de la crisis estallada ayer, tras la sublevación de miembros de la policía e intentos de "boicotear" el estado de derecho, publicó EFE. El país retorna a la normalidad y se inician investigaciones para determinar los culpables y juzgarlos."
The Neoliberal Experiment and Europe's anti-Austerity Strikes (tags)
"The neoliberals are fully in control of the bureaucracy, and they are reviving Margaret Thatcher's slogan, TINA: There Is No Alternative. But there is, of course. In the small Baltic economies, pro-labor parties have made it clear that the alternative to government shrinkage is to simply repeal the debts, withdraw from the Euro and break the banks. It is either the banks or labor - and Europe has just realized that this is truly a fight to the economic death. And the first test will come this Saturday, when Latvia holds its national parliamentary elections."
Ecuador's Correa Haunted by Honduras (tags)
"The co-ordinated actions in various cities, the takeover of Quito's airport by a section of the armed forces – all this indicated a planned coup attempt."
The Road to World War III - The Global Banking Cartel Has One Card Left to Play (tags)
"The global elite have consistently used a strategy of arming and funding both sides of armed conflicts. While opposing populations kill each other off, they make off with their natural resources. When they confront a government that cannot be bribed or provoked into civil or regional war, they fund brutal death squads, attempt military coups and intimidate them by giving weapons to undemocratic neighboring regimes. If all that doesn’t work, they are declared a threat to national security and the US military, private contractors and NATO forces invade and occupy the country. These terrorist strategies are not limited to the Middle East and Africa, just ask our neighbors throughout Latin America about the School of the Americas. Contrary to popular belief, the horrendous torture techniques inflicted upon people in Abu Ghraib, Iraq were not an isolated incident. Many of those brutal torture techniques were developed over years by torturing innocent civilians throughout Latin America."
Justice Dept. Assinations and Drone Attacks (tags)
"Between our area and Waziristan is an 8 hour journey. The drone attack happened at night time and we all knew about it by the following morning. People who had witnessed the attack had come to tell us and described what they saw of the remnants and damage in the aftermath. They said the attack was so severe that they could not even distinguish the bodies from one another- even the bones of the people were completely blown apart. The dead were completely unrecognisable. My brother in law’s coffin was tightly sealed and we were not allowed to open it to view anything. We had the coffin with us for 30 minutes before it was taken away for burial." "In fact the papers filed by the Justice Department attempting to quash the case argue that the court system should have absolutely no oversight over the administration’s sudden, bizarre claim that it can assassinate any American citizen it wants on the basis of national security, arguing that such issues are “for the executive branch of the government to decide rather than the courts.”
"Manufacturing Dissent": the Anti-globalization Movement is Funded by the Corporate Elites (tags)
"How is the process of manufacturing dissent achieved? Essentially by "funding dissent", namely by channelling financial resources from those who are the object of the protest movement to those who are involved in organizing the protest movement. Co-optation is not limited to buying the favors of politicians. The economic elites --which control major foundations-- also oversee the funding of numerous NGOs and civil society organizations, which historically have been involved in the protest movement against the established economic and social order. The programs of many NGOs and people's movements rely heavily on both public as well as private funding agencies including the Ford, Rockefeller, McCarthy foundations, among others. The anti-globalization movement is opposed to Wall Street and the Texas oil giants controlled by Rockefeller, et al. Yet the foundations and charities of Rockefeller et al will generously fund progressive anti-capitalist networks as well as environmentalists (opposed to Big Oil) with a view to ultimately overseeing and shaping their various activities."
Days of Action for Bradley Manning (tags)
"On September 16-19, groups and individuals will call on the United States government to drop the charges against Army Private First Class Bradley Manning. Twenty-two year old Manning, held in solitary confinement since May, has been charged with releasing classified documents including a video that shows American troops shooting and killing Reuters journalists in 2007. (Watch the video at www.collateralmurder.com) Manning’s imprisonment has resulted in an international outcry, with groups and activists throughout the US and abroad demanding his release and calling for transparency in America’s war policies. Famed Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg has called Mr. Manning, “A new hero of mine.” Act Locally! Activists should work within their communities to organize events locally during the International Days of Action. If you aren’t involved with a local group, contact your local affiliate of Veterans for Peace, Iraq Veterans Against the War or Code Pink, or look for activist groups in your area. Be Creative."
US, Iraqi Troops Kill Civilians in Fallujah Raid. No accident (tags)
"Imperialism Means Killing Civilians. The U.S., though, must kill them slowing in time. Otherwise the process and method are too clear. See the imperialism in Iraq and Afghanistan?"
"The right way to spend this day is to demand the truth through a new and truly independent investigation. Why do you think they melted the evidence down and sent it too be buried in third World landfills?"
U.S. Aim in "Peace Process": Liquidation of Palestinian struggle (tags)
"On the day the talks began, a press conference in Gaza City by 12 Palestinian organizations including Hamas, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Islamic Jihad, Popular Resistance Committees, Palestine People's Party and others denounced the Washington talks as a sham and announced their intention to intensify the resistance against Israeli occupation. Renewed negotiations are taking place against a backdrop of the accelerated seizure of Palestinian land in the West Bank, a vast expansion of Israeli settlements and the continued blockade of Gaza. Today, there are more than 500,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank. The extreme right-wing Israeli government, which includes outright fascist elements, has intensified repression against Palestinians who make up 20 percent of the population inside the 1948 borders"
A fake! A “1984 fake” to be clear. (tags)
"Trouble is we are not calling them out on it. We are letting them march us back to some kind of "pre-democratic feudalism" without so much as a peep. No, we don't own the media. But we can still speak! Mostly without legal restriction as yet. And we have the net for another minute at least. We need to be talking to everyone about this tragic, vicious sham. Your brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers, neighbors. mailmen and cashiers. Everyone can be encouraged to see the reality we exist in. And what will happen when the people start to laugh at their "experts," and at their "news commentators." Clearly for logical. economic, environmental, and intellectual reasons, etc., this system is on it’s death bed. We will best be in position to replace it with a more humane and just order if the lie of the “war on terror” is widely known and spoken to directly (as is done in much of the world outside the states)."
US Tells Lebanon: Israel Can Destroy Your Entire Army in 4 hrs. (tags)
"I imagine that when S300 surface to air missiles start tagging those F16’s new thoughts will alight in long calcified minds. France has every right to supply Lebanon with those weapons. Given Israel’s proven imperialist nature the “real international community” will demand it."
Dear friends of justice (tags)
"Imperialism means simply invading other people’s homelands and killing them in order to secure something that our rulers want. This is how they are “removed,” or otherwise encouraged to get the hell out of the way. This is the “mission” of the troops. Forget “Democracy,” liberation, “nation building,” bravery, heroes, anything you hear from the talking head “experts” you may have heard on some NPR talk show, or any other pretty words on the subject."
False Charges Ricochet in the War on WikiLeaks (tags)
"Assange, however, quickly laid the blame on the Pentagon. He stated that he had been warned by Australian intelligence to be on guard against “honey traps”—the time-honored ploys that intelligence services use to lure a target into a sexual encounter with someone who then uses the encounter to damage the target’s reputation. Earlier today, however, Assange reversed course on these charges, telling the Sydney Morning Herald, “We don’t have direct evidence that this is coming from a U.S. or other intelligence service, but we can have some suspicions about who will benefit, but without direct evidence I won’t be making direct allegations.” The Pentagon quickly denounced the charges as “absurd.” But there is no doubt that the Pentagon is seeking to gain from them in its information war with WikiLeaks: when the case first emerged, the accusations were aggressively spread by the Pentagon via Twitter. As I wrote in “WikiLeaks: The National-Security State Strikes Back,” a highly classified Army Counterintelligence Center 32-page memorandum noted that to eliminate the threat presented by WikiLeaks, the United States would have to strike not simply servers and databases, but against the individuals who were critical to the operation of WikiLeaks. It repeatedly identifies Assange as a target, describes the leaks as criminal acts and advocates “successful prosecutions” to “destroy the center of gravity” of WikiLeaks. The suspicions raised by Assange are thus hardly unwarranted—they match the Pentagon’s own plan to take WikiLeaks out of action. However, there is as yet no direct evidence for the claim that the accusations leveled at Assange were the work of some intelligence service, and even if there were, Assange has plenty of governments anxious to shut him down aside from the United States. But as this incident makes clear, the war on WikiLeaks will be fought with unconventional tools and those following the story are advised to accept nothing at face value."
Why won't the Pentagon help WikiLeaks redact documents? (tags)
"But yesterday, WikiLeaks the DoD itself released a letter -- dated August 16 (two days before the Newsweek article) -- which makes clear that WikiLeaks did exactly that which DoD officials denied they did: namely, they asked DoD for help redacting these remaining documents. That letter, written by DoD Legal Counsel Jeh Charles Johnson to WikiLeak's counsel, Timothy Matusheski, explicitly recounts -- contrary to the emphatic denials in Newsweek -- that WikiLeaks' lawyer had contacted the Pentagon and requested help in the "harm minimization" process. The DoD, however, is explicitly refusing to offer any help whatsoever."
‘Miami Herald’ breaks US taboo on describing Palestinians’ second-class citizenship (tags)
"Consider what it would be like if: • Our Constitution defined the union as a “white Christian democratic state?” • Our laws still barred marriage across ethnic-religious lines? • Our government appointed a Chief Priest, empowered to define membership criteria for the white Christian nation? • Our government legally enabled immigration by white Christians while barring it for others?"
BP's Insidious Coverup and Propaganda Campaign: Out of Sight, Out of Mind (tags)
"Yesterday I spoke with Clint Guidry, a Louisiana fisherman who is on the Board of Directors of the Louisiana Shrimp Association and the Shrimp Harvester Representative on the Louisiana Shrimp Task Force created by Executive Order of Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal. “Right now, there is more oil in Barataria Bay than there has been since this whole thing started on April 20,” Guidry told me." BP oil is now turning up under the shells of post-larval blue crabs all across the northern Gulf of Mexico. Nearly all the crab larvae collected to date by researchers, from Grand Isle, Louisiana all the way over to Pensacola, Florida, have oil under their shells. Further analysis is showing that the crabs likely also contain BP’s Corexit dispersant. On August 5th it was reported that a pair of fishermen in Mississippi “made an alarming discovery that has many wondering what’s happening below the surface” of the Gulf of Mexico. They found several full-sized crabs filled with oil." To para phrase Orwell: "If you're going to lie, lie big!"
Don't let darkness fall (tags)
"The corporate giants Google and Verizon have a plan to destroy freedom. Yes free speech is now at risk like never before. For the latest on this visit www.Democracynow.org today (08/10/2010). Yes, the plan is to create a corporate "fast lane" and a "kiddy path" for the rest of us."
Why World War II ended with Mushroom Clouds (tags)
"Truman himself, however, hypocritically declared at the time that the purpose of the two nuclear bombardments had been “to bring the boys home,” that is, to quickly finish the war without any further major loss of life on the American side. This explanation was uncritically broadcast in the American media and it developed into a myth eagerly propagated by the majority of historians and media in the USA and throughout the “Western” world. That myth, which, incidentally, also serves to justify potential future nuclear strikes on targets such as Iran and North Korea, is still very much alive - just check your mainstream newspaper on August 6 and 9!" "These conditions mean that we are back to an August 1945 scenario. However, the consequences of a U.S./Israel atomic attack on Iran will constitute the greatest crime in human history. To destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities will require the use of multiple nuclear weapons of various types delivered in diverse ways. The U.S./Israel will be guilty in real time of the very actions they claim to be defending the world from. The flow of oil from multiple regions of the world be at risk to say the least. Millions could die. World opinion might be cemented against us for a hundred years."
Wkileaks founder 'dissapointed' in Gates (tags)
"Secretary Gates could have used his time, as other nations have done, to announce a broad inquiry into these killings," the statement said. "He could have announced specific criminal investigations into the deaths we have exposed. He could have announced a panel to hear the heartfelt dissent of U.S. soldiers, who know this war from the ground. He could have apologized to the Afghani people. "But he did none of these things. He decided to treat these issues and the countries affected by them with contempt. Instead of explaining how he would address these issues, he decided to announce how he would suppress them. "This behavior is unacceptable. We will not be suppressed. We will continue to expose abuses by this administration and others."
Goto and see www.democracynow.org tonight! (07/27/2010)! (tags)
"Everyone in this country (and others) that are aware of the Wlkileaks release of classified documents on the Afghan war and who are concerned about the course of this conflict should take an hour of their evening tonight to see and hear an interview with Julian Assange (founder of Wikileaks) speak about his organization’s efforts. Right now Julian is free to continue to follow his conscience and report the facts of the Afghan war in particular and military crimes in general. This may not last?"
Obama Preparing to Attack Iran (tags)
f"Obama campaigned for the presidency quite explicitly as a warmonger in regards to Afghanistan, although his constant claim to have opposed the Iraq war left many voters with the false impression that he was less bellicose than Bush. In reality, Obama was always adamant about his desire to bomb and invade Pakistan in pursuit of the phantomatic “Osama bin Laden.” Barone comments: ‘It would be ironic if the professorial Barack Obama launches a military attack when his supposedly cowboy predecessor George W. Bush declined to do so….But I take it seriously when … nonhawks Joe Klein and Walter Russell Meade say Obama might bomb Iran."
We Stand With Bradley Manning (tags)
"865 Fri Jul 23 13:23:58 EDT 2010 Darlene Wallach Justice for Palestinians Bradley Manning is a courageous hero for doing what is right! Free Bradley Manning. Arrest, indict, prosecute the real war criminals the Bush administrationl, the Obama administration, all members of congress."
Does anybody really care? (tags)
“They” have an awful future planned for most of us and it’s time to get wise to this setup b4 it is too late!
Ugandan Bomb Attack May Herald Spread of Somalia’s Instability: Be afraid! (tags)
“This very tragic event is a reminder of the wider regional risks that exist,” Rhazia Khan, an economist at Standard Chartered Plc in London, said in a phone interview. “It seems to reinforce that what is happening in the Horn of Africa region may have cross-border implications.” Thus we are told to fear!
Time could running out for the imperial mission in Afghanistan? (tags)
"Six U.S. service members were among nine people killed in Afghanistan on Saturday, the latest casualties in a bloody summer for coalition soldiers."
CNN’s Objectivity Questioned in Sacking of Mideast Reporter (tags)
"Nasr’s comment was enough to spark fierce outrage from the various precincts of the neocon blog/twittersphere, who went after Nasr for her egregious failure to reduce Fadlallah to an anti-Israel, anti-American terrorist bogeyman," blogged Matt Duss, a National Security Researcher at the liberal Center For American Progress."
Afghanistan : The "Graveyard of Empires" Strikes Back. Coalition Forces are in Retreat (tags)
"General McChrytal is sacked, General Petrayus has fainted, David Cameron's flight was diverted on his last visit to Afghanistan, due to the base he was going to visit being under sustained attack. He turned tail, so to speak, in mid-air and fled, whilst committing others to potential death sentences. The sign at the entrance to the British base at Sangin reads: "Welcome to Sangingrad." The name of David Loyn's excellent new book on Afghanistan, from which the Lepel Griffin quote is taken, is: "Butcher and Bolt." A recent newspaper heading read: "We can beat something in Afghanistan - a retreat."
Overwhelmed by Oil and Toxic Pollutants: The Destruction of an Entire Coastline (tags)
"Fifty dolphin have so far, been reported found dead. Experts estimate only one tenth of species which die will be washed up. The full toll of big oil's "collateral damage", now, previously and in the future, will likely never be known."
Report: Israel, US preparing for war with Iran (tags)
"At the same time, Iran’s Press TV reported that a very large contingent of US ground forces had massed in neighboring Azerbaijan. The independent Azerbaijani news website Trend confirmed the report."
The Global Political Awakening and the New World Order (tags)
"The global debt crisis, which is beginning in Greece, and spreading throughout the euro-zone economies of Spain, Portugal, Ireland and ultimately the entire EU, will further consume the UK, Japan and go all the way to America.[50] This will be a truly global debt crisis. Government measures to address the issue of debt focus on the implementation of ‘fiscal austerity measures’ to reduce the debt burdens and make interest payments on their debts. ‘Fiscal austerity’ is a vague term that in actuality refers to cutting social spending and increasing taxes. The effect this has is that the public sector is devastated, as all assets are privatized, public workers are fired en masse, unemployment becomes rampant, health and education disappear, taxes rise dramatically, and currencies are devalued to make all assets cheaper for international corporations and banks to buy up, while internally causing inflation – dramatically increasing the costs of fuel and food. In short, ‘fiscal austerity’ implies ‘social destruction’ as the social foundations of nations and peoples are pulled out from under them. States then become despotic and oppress the people, who naturally revolt against ‘austerity’: the sterilization of society."
Brazil’s 2010 Elections, Part 2: Dilma Rousseff (tags)
"If elected, Dilma would likely carry on many of the same policies that Lula has advanced. This means a strong role in the economy for state companies and the continued development of Brazil’s social programs. Dilma would also be likely to maintain Lula’s foreign policy strategy of creating alliances with other developing nations, especially China, India, and Russia, as well as the friendly outreach to bordering countries that has made Brazil the leading nation in South America. Dilma, like Lula, would probably be generally friendly towards the US and the rest of the first world, but she would probably also be unafraid to take an independent stance on many key issues. Brazil’s continued opposition to US plans for renewed sanctions against Iran is an example of the type of independent stance that Dilma would likely continue. She is also likely to continue Brazil’s push for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council."
Was the Obama Administration involved in the Planning of the Israeli Attack (tags)
"The Israeli Navy Commando had prior knowledge of who was on the Turkish ship including where passengers were residing in terms of cabin layout. According to Swedish author Henning Mankell, who was on board the Marmara , "the Israeli forces attacked sleeping civilians."
Irish Free Gaza ship heading toward Gaza coast and... (tags)
"Despite the tears and sobbing at Istanbul's Fatih Mosque on Thursday, many of the people gathered for the activists' funeral called this week a "victory," because it brought international attention to Israel's 3-year blockade of Gaza. Turkey, once Israel's closest Muslim ally in the Middle East, has accused Israel of committing an act of international piracy." and " It has also been reported that the angle of some of the entry wounds indicates that the victims were shot from above. This suggests the Israelis did shoot from the helicopters as the activists have stated and as Israel has denied."
Condemnation Follows Israeli Raid On Flotilla (tags)
" Hamas won an election for control of Gaza over the more conservative pro U.S. Fatah group favored by the U.S. and Israel. In the aftermath of a bloody struggle the more centrist faction was defeated militarily and by the ballot. Please remember this as most western press services have consigned important setails to Orwell’s “memory hole.” "Officials in Israel said the elite naval units were attacked as they attempted to board one of the ships, and that the commandos used live fire only when they felt their lives were threatened. Dozens of passengers and at least five Israeli soldiers were wounded in the confrontation in international waters."
The sinking of the Cheonan: Another Gulf of Tonkin incident (tags)
"Defense Ministry officials added that they had not detected any North Korean submarines in the area at the time of the incident. (4) According to Lee, “We didn’t detect any movement by North Korean submarines near” the area where the Cheonan went down."
The BP oil spill and American capitalism (tags)
"BP of course has done us wrong, as all corporations do. But it is capitalism that should be put on trial. This is an opportunity to move the people to that understanding. All who stand for progress and human advancement must seize this moment. In every conversation, every letter to the editor, every email, every blog post and every twit we must work to put the transformation to a different society on the table. Only an economy based on fairness and sharing can save us from the disease of capitalism that is ravaging this earth. Now is a time to scream this from every corner of the globe. In our groups and associations and as individuals we can begin this now. We may not stop until we have a new world!"
Iran Urges West to Accept Enrichment Deal (tags)
"The deal is materially the same one the Obama Administration endorsed just a few months ago and was demanding that Iran agree to as recently as last month, but the US has condemned the deal, demanding Iran submit the offer formally for consideration by the IAEA, which they did today. But diplomats familiar with the situation say that the prospect of a deal is very unlikely, particularly as the Obama Administration moves forward with plans to sanction Iran which were nominally designed to punish them for not agreeing to the deal in the first place."
U.S. And NATO Accelerate Military Build-Up In Black Sea Region (tags)
"The establishment of U.S. and NATO naval, air and infantry bases and interceptor missile installations in Black Sea nations is the prototype for expansive and permanent military build-ups in Eastern Europe and into former Soviet space, which is being replicated in the Baltic Sea region. An imaginary Iranian threat is the subterfuge employed to justify the presence of U.S. and NATO warplanes, warships, troops, mechanized and airborne units, missile batteries, training centers and radar facilities in the Black Sea and Baltic Sea regions. Iran does not border either of the two seas and has neither the ability nor any reason to threaten nations that do."
Giant Plumes of Oil Forming Under the Gulf (tags)
"Many scientists had hoped the dispersants would cause oil droplets to spread so widely that they would be less of a problem in any one place. If it turns out that is not happening, the strategy could come under greater scrutiny. Dispersants have never been used in an oil leak of this size a mile under the ocean, and their effects at such depth are largely unknown."
Possible a very important note. Please consider this from a observer of the "leak." (tags)
"There are no satellite photo's of the oil slick since May 10, Anywhere on the Internet."
Someone is on the right track on the Gulf disaster (tags)
“It is this writer’s opinion that our government should seize all the assets of BP in this country and put this capital to work to rebuild and restore our communities.”
Look Out, Obama Seems to Be Planning for a Lot More War (tags)
"econd, while in the past the US concentrated on the ability to fight two big wars simultaneously, the QDR suggests that's not enough. Now, the Obama administration posits the "need for a robust force capable of protecting US interests against a multiplicity of threats, including two capable nation-state aggressors. Now it's two-plus wars - the plus being the obligation to "conduct large-scale counter-insurgency, stability and counter-terrorism operations in a wide range of environments", mainly in small, poor countries like Afghanistan. Other "plus" targets include "non-state actors" such as al-Qaeda, "failed states" such as Somali, and medium-size but well-defended states that do not bend the knee to Uncle Sam, such as Iran or the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and some day perhaps Venezuela."
Gulf oil spill threatens economic, environmental catastrophe (tags)
"According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig lacked a device called an acoustic switch that could have shut off the flow of oil. The remote controlled device sends acoustic impulses through the water that can trigger an underwater valve to shut down the well. All offshore rigs have one main switch to shut off the flow of oil by closing a valve located on the ocean floor. There is also supposed to be a backup, a so-called “dead man,” that will shut down the well in the event of a catastrophe on the rig. Apparently neither of these devices worked on the Deepwater Horizon rig. The crewmembers who would have been closest to the shutoff switch are among those missing and presumed dead. With an acoustic trigger a crew can shut down a well even if the rig is damaged or evacuated. However, BP, which reported profits of $5.598 billion for the first quarter of 2010, vigorously resisted changes to US regulations that would have required acoustic triggers on deep sea rigs, citing effectiveness and costs, about $500,000 per unit. Compliant US regulators agreed, saying other backup plans were sufficient. They called the acoustic triggers unreliable and prone to causing unnecessary shutdowns."
Venezuela: Coup and Countercoup, Revolution (tags)
"But the coup resistance grew to millions of people, flooding the areas surrounding the presidential palace, and the presidential guard, still loyal to Chavez, moved to retake the palace. Word of the resistance reached military barracks throughout the country, and one in Maracay, outside of Caracas, acted quickly to locate and rescue Chavez and return him to the presidential palace.??By the early morning hours of April 14, Chavez had returned, brought back by the will and power of the Venezuelan people and the loyal armed forces.??These events changed Venezuela forever and awoke the consciousness of many who had underestimated the importance and vulnerability of their Revolution."
The Global Economic Crisis: Riots, Rebellion and Revolution (tags)
"In the same month, the highest-ranking general in the United States, “Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, ranks the financial crisis as a higher priority and greater risk to security than current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.” He explained, “It's a global crisis. And as that impacts security issues, or feeds greater instability, I think it will impact on our national security in ways that we quite haven't figured out yet.”[22] Rest assured, they’ve figured it out, but they don’t want to tell you."
Disappearing the Truth in Honduras (tags)
Protect Detroit and protect the nation. (tags)
"Protect Detroit and protect the nation. The following articles show what we’re up against. Also see reports on DemocracyNow.org (04/02/10)." "While the Mayor’s urban renewal plan has high-level backing, many have condemned it as a form of land-grabbing. I’m joined now by a vocal critic of the proposed downsizing of Detroit. Sharon “Shea” Howell is an activist and a professor of communication and journalism at Oakland University. She writes a weekly column for the Michigan Citizen."
Preparations for a Hit against Iran: Stopping Israel’s Next War (tags)
"Subjectively, the time could not be more propitious for a concerted international drive to force a transformation in Tel Aviv. Israel’s standing in the world has been vanishing like snow under a hot spring sun, as even President Peres was forced to recognize. Israeli diplomats no longer feel free to travel abroad, fearing that international arrest warrants might be slapped on them as perpetrators of war crimes committed during the Gaza war. As reported in the March 15 Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the Israeli government has launched a desperate public relations campaign, through a website for “Public Diplomacy and the Diaspora,” aimed at preparing Israelis to project a positive image of their country while travelling abroad. If citizens have to study government-issued brochures handed out at the airport, to learn how to defend the reputation of Israel, then the moral crisis the country has entered is quicksand."
Transcript of Cindy Sheehan's Interview with Hugo Chavez (tags)
"Hugo Chavez: In the first place, personally, I am against dictatorships. I’m an anti-dictator. We are here in Uruguay, in Montevideo. You know how many dictatorships were in this country. The Guerilla army. I’m an anti-Guerilla. In addition to that, from a political point of view, I’ve been elected one, two, three, four times, by popular vote. In Venezuela, we have elections all the time. Every year, we have elections in Venezuela. One time, Lula, the president of Brazil… when he was in Europe, someone asked him “Why are you friends with that dictator Chavez?” And Lula said a big truth: “In Venezuela, there is an excess of democracy. Every year there are elections. And if there aren’t any, Chavez invents them. Referendums, popular consultations, elections for governors, mayors. Right now, soon we are starting national assembly elections, this year. In 2012 there is going to be a presidential election again. What dictator is elected so many times? What dictator convenes referendums? I’m an anti-dictator. I am a revolutionary. A democratic revolutionary."
Internet revolution in Venezuela and No Going Back (tags)
"There's an Australian journalist and documentary film-maker, John Pilger, who said that, 'What you're seeing is really an unprecedented propaganda campaign that's being waged against the Chavez government' – FF: It's a media war – KJ: It really is a media war. And I think if you go to Venezuela and see what the media says, this will become clear immediately. You often hear the claim that there is no freedom of speech and so on, but internally in Venezuela there are more than 50 daily newspapers and about 45 of those newspapers support the opposition and are constantly attacking the government everyday – including having front page headlines calling for the military overthrow of the government... Then you have those 4 newspapers that support the Bolivarian process; and then you have one newspaper that, you know, presents itself as being neutral. So, on the level of the print media, the opposition to the government is overwhelmingly dominant... A lot of the television stations are extremely hostile as well. The other important aspect to note is that, as a result of the Bolivarian process, you actually have a massive explosion of community media in Venezuela, in particular community radio stations in the Barrios...but also a number of community television stations and other independent media websites and so on. So this is like the first time where a lot of the grassroots groups and Venezuelan poor are actually getting to participate themselves in the production of the their own media; whereas prior to the Chavez government, they didn't have a voice in politics or the media."
The Anti-Venezuela Election Campaign (tags)
"The Venezuelan economy was in recession in 2009, but will likely begin to grow again this year. The business press will ignore the economic growth and hype the inflation, as they have done for the past six years, when the country's record economic growth cut the poverty rate by half and extreme poverty by 70% (which was also ignored). Resolutions will be introduced into the US Congress condemning Venezuela for whatever."
The War in Afghanistan and the Central Asia Pipeline Plan (tags)
"When you check the maps above a clearer picture emerges. The bottom map is the proposed pipeline route to move Caspian Sea oil through Turkmenistan into Afghanistan and then finally through Pakistan to ports along the Arabian Sea where U.S. and British tankers would gorge themselves with the black gold. The whole reason the U.S. is in Afghanistan and Pakistan today is to deny those pipelines from being routed through Russia, China, or Iran."
Permanent Aggression, War on the horizon in Latin America (tags)
"A military conflict is not initiated from one day to the next. It’s a process that involves first influencing public perception and opinion – demonizing the target leader or government in order to justify aggression. Subsequently, armed forces are strategically deployed in the region in order to guarantee an effective military action. Tactics, such as subversion and counterinsurgency, are utilized in order to debilitate and destabilize the target nation from within, increasing its vulnerability and weakening its defenses. This plan has been active against Venezuela for several years. The consolidation of regional unity and Latin American integration threatens US possibilities of regaining domination and control in the hemisphere. And the advances of the Bolivarian Revolution have impeded its “self-destruction”, provoked by internal subversion funded and directed by US agencies. However, the Empire will not cease its attempts to achieve its final objective, and a potential military conflict in the region remains on the horizon." "The time to defend Venezuela is now. The empire is preparing to destroy this beacon of hope. Certain nations have the potential to lead the world away from destruction. Venezuela with it’s progressive leadership, a well mobilized working class, and other “conscious” sectors, in addition to abundant natural wealth which includes oil, can any one doubt what U.S. planners are preparing? No serious person who wishes to help preserve our world can deny her need to take this stand and become involved in this work. You out there who were involved in the Central American solidarity actions are called upon again now. Your efforts then in the face of the empire helped make this day possible. We did not save the world then. We helped keep it alive. We should rejoin the effort now. How beautiful the outcome may be this time."
Descent Into Barbarism: The US and NATO Wage War on the World (tags)
"In our time, war, it seems, has already begun. The US oligarchy and its NATO allies are waging a veritable war on the world: killing, disappearing and incarcerating millions of civilians in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan – a war that is expanding into Yemen, Somalia and the rest of the Horn of Africa, with the militarisation of sea lanes and oceans (see Chossudovsky, www.Globalresearch.ca) and the setting up of “forward projecting” military and missile bases in every continent (see Rozoff, ditto). On top of ordinary poverty and misery, the world is truly seeing another historic descent into barbarism. Given this war-mongering dynamic, the growing US antagonism with Iran, Russia and China is far from an idle threat. It is the logical next step for a deeply illogical economic system. But history is not inevitable. We are not necessarily programmed to repeat its horrors. A combination of global communications among citizens and political and social consciousness may be enough to prevent a military conflagration and overthrow the misrule of the oligarchy. What is needed is a) a widening of the recognition that capitalism as a system of social production is finished; and b) the case has to be confidently made that an alternative is very possible."
The Planning of War Behind Closed Doors: Brussels, London, Istanbul: Week Of Western War (tags)
"If any further evidence was required that the United Nations is at the service of NATO and not vice versa, that the EU is NATO's civilian valet de chambre, and that all three are subordinated to the United States, the last week's events and the roster of attendees at them should suffice. ??The chain of command begins in Washington and orders barked out there work their way down to Brussels and New York City."
Haití Can Awaken from the Dark Night of the Boar (tags)
Haití Can Awaken from the Dark Night of the Boar by Amanda Huerta "In 1986, Duvalier Jr. was toppled by a popular uprising, that watched the continuance of the dictatorship for two more years until in 1988 Leslie Manigat was elected to the presidency of the Republic, a noble government that was toppled by General Henri Namphy who was replaced that same September by General Prosper Avril. Avril, in power until 1990, had to contend with new revolts. His resignation opened the path to elections under international control and an apparent normalization of political life. Jean-Bertrand Aristide, a Catholic priest who had advocated for the poor, obtained a brilliant victory in December of 1990. Coups d’etat, forced exile and return to power were all part of the first Aristide term, who was succeeded by René Preval. Aristide returned to power democratically, and in 2004 a coup d’etat organized and covered by the US obligated him to resign. In this brief summary of the history of Haiti I omitted “small details” like the economic embargos, assassinations, persecutions, etcetera. Since 2004 the Haitian people have lived, anew, under old and new military occupations at the hands of the US, a country that to this day remains in military control with the collaboration (by omission or commission) of the UN and allied countries. This same North American occupation force is that which today controls the airport, impeding and/or delaying the arrival of aid for Haiti, as has been denounced by the government of France and an infinity of journalists and reporters in Port au Prince."
The Coups d'État in Latin America and the Dangers Facing Venezuela (tags)
"For its part, the CIA provided Special Operations Group personnel under the command of a lieutenant colonel assigned by the Special Operations Command in Fort Bragg, N.C. They had been in Venezuela since 2001 and belonged to the U.S. Special Operations Intelligence Support Activity. They reportedly made contact with high-ranking officers in the Venezuelan Armed Forces, including Gen. Lucas Rincón, Vice Minister of Security; Gen. Luis Camacho Kairuz; businessmen and labor union leaders from the Venezuelan Workers Federation, among others. “The coup was also supported by Special Operations psychological warfare (PSYOPs) personnel deployed from Fort Bragg, North Carolina. They put together Spanish-language television announcements, purportedly from Venezuelan political and business leaders and aired by Venezuelan television and radio stations, saying Chavez "provoked" the crisis by ordering his supporters to fire on peaceful protesters in Caracas. U.S. electronic warfare technicians also helped to jam cell phone and radio frequencies in Caracas and other major cities in co-operation with the Intelligence Battalion Brig. Gen. Andrés Ibarra of the Venezuelan Army's high command.” The threat against Venezuela is certainly not a bizarre idea. It is up to all of us, as this year begins, to redouble our solidarity with the Venezuelan people and the defense of their Revolution." ----- 10,000 US Troops just arrived in Haiti... Are we sure their mission will be pruely a humanitarian one? Please spread widely. General Joe
Iranian Scientist Assassinated as US Steps Up War Threats (tags)
"In the absence of Security Council approval, Washington will likely impose its own unilateral sanctions, with the support of Britain and other allies. Legislation now pending in the US Congress would give the Obama administration the power to enforce an embargo on Iran’s importation of refined petroleum. With Iran dependent on imports for 40 percent of its refined petroleum, such a measure would have a crippling effect and would be tantamount to the launching of a war."
ALBA Declaration on Copenhagen Climate Summit (tags)
"It’s clear that we can’t consider the issue of climate change without considering changing the system. The model of capitalist production and consumption is bringing life on the planet to the point of no return and to a crucial moment in human history, and the debate in these situations can’t be reduced to the economic interests of a small group."
Deep six the health care bill (tags)
"The "health care reform" produced by the U.S. senate must be rejected. The only winner of this "process" will be the insurance industry. We might as well give away the keys to our homes as support this additional give-away to the rich! Scrap this awful bill. Demand real healthcare for all not more billions for the rich."
Honduras: Two Detained and Fear of Evictions (tags)
"We are worried about people being detained, given that the judicial system is now on holidays," explained COFADEH lawyer Carol Cardenas, as she prepared an habeas corpus writ shortly after the detention of Ulloa Flores and Ayala by masked men in an unmarked car was reported in the Aguan. The entire judicial system of Honduras is on vacation from December 15th until January 2nd, with courts and offices minimally staffed by a rotating roster of judicial employees."
The Great Game: U.S., NATO War In Afghanistan: Is the Entire World the Target? (tags)
"The longest war in American history prior to the current one was that in Vietnam. U.S. military advisers were present in the country from the late 1950s onward and covert operations were carried on in the early 1960s, but only in the year after the contrived Gulf of Tonkin incident - 1965 - did the Pentagon begin major combat operations in the south and regular bombing raids in the north. The last American combat unit left South Vietnam in 1972, seven years later. The U.S. (and Britain) began bombing the Afghan capital of Kabul on October 7, 2001 with Tomahawk cruise missiles launched from warships and submarines and bombs dropped from warplanes and shortly thereafter American special forces began ground operations, a task that has been conducted since by regular Army and Marine units. The bombing and the ground combat operations continue more than eight years later and both will be intensified to record levels in short order."
Alba: Una integración sin precedentes (tags)
"En el terreno de las ideas es indispensable contribuir a la integración de América Latina y el Caribe y de ahí la importancia de los proyectos culturales del ALBA. En las investigaciones, estudios y programas encaminados a la promoción de la cultura bolivariana y martiana y de otros grandes próceres y pensadores se encuentra el fundamento de esa "alma del ALBA" que podrá hacer frente a los desafíos que tiene la humanidad en su conjunto."
Elections in Honduras: Whitewashing a Path to a Past of Horrors (tags)
"Except that it’s probably the beginning of a story. One that we thought had been left to rest in Latin America years and years ago. One of fear and repression and deaths and disappearances. We know the litany all too well, and we remember the names of its thousands of victims each November. This year we had to add too many new names from Honduras. And, if our government chooses to recognize these elections, this massive whitewash, I fear that many more names will be read from the stage in front of Ft. Benning next year. And perhaps not just from Honduras."
Call to the Peoples of México to Organize the Revocation of the Presidency of Felipe Calde (tags)
"This crisis brings into question the future of the Mexican Nation and it’s people. In this political scheme by the grand capitalists, domestic and foreign, we lack hope. The Mexican people do not have a place in this world of neoliberal globalization except as pariahs and a disposable labor force. Given these circumstances, we need a patriotic transformation and a democratization of the political system, the economy and the culture that can confront this deep crisis of our country and the problems of the Mexican people. We need a transformation that will push out the bourgeois oligarchy and the political class that governs the state and the imperialist domain of Mexico. There is a need to construct a new majority that includes all of the patriotic forces that will install a new government and a new state. A new majority that is capable of taking back control and the property of the productive forces and strategic resources of the nation, and also able to guarantee sustainable development, social justice, national sovereignty, the autonomy of the indigenous pueblos and the practice of popular democracy."
U.S. Still Plans Assault on Latin America. Will We Stop this Madness? (tags)
"In an explicit attempt to hide Washington’s military objectives in South America, a U.S. Air Force document submitted to Congress in May 2009 that provoked deep concerns in the region has been modified and re-published on November 16, 2009. The official U.S. Air Force document, revealed and denounced by this author on November 4th, explained the justification for a $46 million request to improve the military installations in one of the seven bases Washington will occupy under the military accord signed on October 30th between Colombia and the United States. The modified document has eliminated all mention of war and military operations in the region, as well as offensive language directed at Colombia’s neighbors, Venezuela and Ecuador."
Honduran President Zelaya earns high marks for governance (tags)
"MCC's eligibility criteria include a commitment to "just and democratic governance." The pattern of actions taken by Honduras beginning on June 28, 2009, is inconsistent with this commitment and MCC's eligibility criteria. For the record, under the Zelaya administration, according to the MCC fiscal year 2010 scorecard, Honduras turned in grades well above passing with respect to “political rights,” “civil liberties” and “voice and accountability” — the latter, described by MCC, as “the ability of institutions to protect civil liberties; the extent to which citizens of a country are able to participate in the selection of governments; and the independence of the media.”
The Washington establishment suffers a serious defeat (tags)
"Today was Waterloo for Fed secrecy," a victorious Grayson said afterwards. The bill still faces substantial hurdles in becoming law, of course, but yesterday's vote has made that outcome quite possible, and it's worth noting several important points highlighted by what happened here: (1) Our leading media outlets are capable of understanding political debates only by stuffing them into melodramatic, trite and often distracting "right v. left" storylines. While some debates fit comfortably into that framework, many do not. Anger over the Wall Street bailouts, the control by the banking industry of Congress, and the impenetrable secrecy with which the Fed conducts itself resonates across the political spectrum, as the truly bipartisan and trans-ideological vote yesterday reflects. Populist anger over elite-favoring economic policies has long been brewing on both the Right and Left (and in between), but neither political party can capitalize on it because they're both dependent upon and subservient to the same elite interests which benefit from those policies. For that reason, many of the most consequential political conflicts are shaped far more by an "insider v. outsider" dichotomy than by a "GOP v. Democrat" or "Left v. Right" split. The pillaging of America's economic security by financial elites, with the eager assistance of the government officials who they own and who serve them, is the prime example of such a conflict. The political system as a whole — both parties' leadership — is owned and controlled by a handful of key industry interests, and anger over the fact is found across the political spectrum. Yesterday's vote is a very rare example where the true nature of political power was expressed and the petty distractions and artificial fault lines overcome.
Drones: A slam-dunk weapons system or our ticket to hell? (tags)
"Whatever the short-term gains from introducing drone warfare in these past years, we are now locked into the 24/7 assassination trade - with the US's own set of non-suicide bombers on the job into eternity. This may pass for sanity in Washington, but it's surely helping to pave the road to hell. Haven't any of these folks ever seen a sci-fi film? Are none of them Terminator fans? Are they sure they want to open the way to unlimited robot war, keeping in mind that, if this is the latest game in town, it won't remain mainly an American one for long. And just wait until the first Iranian drone takes out the first Balochi guerrilla supported by American funds somewhere in Pakistan. Then let's see just what we think about the right of any nation to summarily execute its enemies - and anyone else in the vicinity - by drone. Is this actually what we Americans want to be known for? And if we let this happen, and General Atomics is working double or triple shifts to turn out ever more, ever-newer generations of robot warriors, while the nation suffers 10.2% unemployment, who exactly will think about shutting them down?
US Rep. Jan Schakowsky’s Three-Day Fact-Finding Mission in Honduras (tags)
"Schakowsky’s three day visit from November 10-12 included meetings with family members of victims that have died directly from violence from the coup, media outlets such as Channel 36 and Radio Globo that have been attacked for honestly reporting on the resistance movement, and also a visit to the Brazilian Embassy where ousted President Zelaya and approximately 40 others have taken refuge for the last 53 days. The Chicago Congresswoman commented on her opportunity to hear a recording of some of the sounds bombarded into the Embassy and see the blinding lights set up outside, in addition to the crane set up for the military to spy into the Embassy."
Trouble in U.S. Ranks and Not All Powerful Nations Bow to Israel (tags)
"Sixteen American soldiers killed themselves in October, an unusually high monthly toll that has senior military officers worried about the impact of sending tens of thousands of new troops into Afghanistan. WSJ's Yochi Dreazen reports. .The Army's top generals worry that surging tens of thousands more troops into Afghanistan could increase the strain felt by many military personnel after years of repeated deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. The October suicide figures mean that at least 134 active-duty soldiers have taken their own lives so far this year, putting the Army on pace to break last year's record of 140 active-duty suicides. The number of Army suicides has risen 37% since 2006, and last year, the suicide rate surpassed that of the U.S. population for the first time. The health of ground combat forces is emerging as an element of the Obama administration's review of its Afghanistan strategy. Conditions there have deteriorated in recent months amid lingering political instability and a worsening Taliban-led insurgency. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top American commander in Kabul, wants more than 40,000 new troops, in addition to the 68,000 that will be in Afghanistan by year-end, and has warned that the U.S. faces possible "mission failure" unless it adopts a new strategy and quickly deploys significant reinforcements." and "Ever since the 22 day brutal and merciless bombardment of homes, schools, hospitals and mosques in Gaza by the Israeli criminal regime, many Israeli tourists are receiving the cold shoulder in countries they visit and some do not want them at all. It is no surprise that high level Israeli government and military officials do not dare set foot in certain countries for fear of being arrested but snubbing the regular Israeli citizen is a relative new phenomena."
Next: A Popular Referendum for a New Honduras Constitution? (tags)
"The coup was held on June 28 precisely to stop a non-binding referendum – one that asked if Hondurans wanted the right to vote for or against a new Constitution – but the regime’s own insistence on holding faux “elections” on November 29 inadvertently provides the people with the opportunity to do the very thing the coup was intended to stop: To put up ballot boxes outside of every “official” polling place and survey the people on that original question. Now that the Honduran civil resistance and its diverse social movements are so much better organized in every town and city than ever before, the little bird asked, why not utilize the November 29 date of the regime’s sham “elections” to hold a real referendum? The suggestion is to place a “First Ballot Box” (“primera urna”), outside of every official polling place, that asks the first question anew: “Do you favor convening a national Constituent Assembly to democratically write a new Constitution for the Republic of Honduras?” “Yes” or “No?” That little bird must have likewise carefully listened to the voices from below. We heard it - and reported it to you - from the northeastern cities of Trujillo, Tocoa, and Saba and the nearby farms of Guadalupe Tepayac. We heard it throughout our reporting from coastal La Ceiba and from the Afro-Honduran and Garifuna communities throughout that coast. From the popular barrios of San Pedro Sula and the highway blockades of Comayagua the same central demand was on everyone’s lips: ¡Constituente! From the colonias in resistance throughout greater Tegucigalpa, ¡Constituente!"
Chavez’s Lines: ¡¡Viva El Che!! (tags)
"As I write today Saturday, in the early hours of the morning I receive fresh news about the evolution of the crisis: “According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), the economic crisis pushed 61 million people into unemployment in 2009, and the world there are now 241 million unemployed workers, the largest number of unemployed persons in history.” (IAR Noticias) “It is expected that the number of poor people [in the U.S.], will grow to 90 million by 2010, while at least 59 million will join the ranks of the unemployed, as stated by the Central Bank president Robert Zoellick.” (IPS) There's nothing coincidental that Venezuela is one of four countries in the world that advanced four positions in terms of Human Development Index according to the United Nations Human Development Report 2009. And it is no coincidence that, according to the report, we are the country with the best distribution of income across Our America, that is, with the best rate, to use Bolivar’s term, of established and practiced equality."
The still-missing central fact in the Iran drama (tags)
"Obviously, it's possible that the U.S. really did learn three years ago that Qom was an enrichment facility, that Iran somehow found out that this was the case, and that it was this that prompted the Iranians to disclose to the IAEA. But that's a mere possibility, an unproven assertion from government officials which, at least as of now, they're not even claiming is certain. But it's also obviously quite possible that Iran voluntarily disclosed this facility to the IAEA because they're willing to allow inspections, believe their NPT obligations require disclosure 180 days prior to operability (which is what they've claimed since 2007), and intend to use it for civilian purposes and thus have nothing to hide. Since the claim about Iran's motives for disclosure is the linchpin of all the hysteria — the vital fact that makes what Iran did appear sinister — shouldn't newspapers refrain from repeating it as though it's proven and make clear to their readers that this is but one of several possibilities: one for which absolutely no evidence has been presented?"
The justification offered for the new military bases in Colombia is the "war on drugs (tags)
"The justification offered for the new military bases in Colombia is the "war on drugs." The fact that the justification is even offered is remarkable. Suppose, for example, that Colombia, or China, or many others claimed the right to establish military bases in Mexico to implement their programs to eradicate tobacco in the U.S., by fumigation in North Carolina and Kentucky, interdiction by sea and air forces, and dispatch of inspectors to the U.S. to ensure it was eradicating this poison-which is, in fact, far more lethal even than alcohol, which in turn is far more lethal than cocaine or heroin, incomparably more than cannabis. The toll of tobacco use is truly fearsome, including "passive smokers" who are seriously affected though they do not use tobacco themselves. The death toll overwhelms the lethal effects of other dangerous substances."
Behind the Coup Regime Curtain (tags)
"Providing an example of what else these citizens in civil resistance are up against, the pro-coup media then takes the demonstrators’ attempt to remain within the coup decree’s 20-person limit on public assemblies, and portrays it as a sign that the resistance has lost steam. The daily Heraldo, for example, covered that same demonstration with these dishonest words: “The security lines remain, and an important number of national and international journalists, and, of course, demonstrations, which are already almost insignificant for the number of participants."
Contact CNN and tell them to Stop Lying (tags)
"Contact CNN and tell them to Stop Lying, Please fess up to the fact: President Zelaya has not asked to be given the opportunity to have an additional term as president."
Money talks in U.S. policy toward Honduran putsch regime (tags)
"So, in effect, since the earliest days of the coup regime in Honduras, the U.S. has done little more than repackage and rebroadcast the same aid cuts to appease the media and to compliment its rhetorical position of being against the coup. But behind the scenes, the economic effect of the aid cuts has been little more than symbolic posturing." "Henry Kissinger was brutally honest about the U.S. diplomatic reality in Latin America, when commenting decades ago on the government of democratically elected President Salvador Allende of Chile — who was overthrown in a 1973 U.S.-backed coup that led to Allende’s assassination and a subsequent reign of terror by the dictator General Augusto Pinochet. I don't see why we need to stand by and watch a country go communist due to the irresponsibility of its own people. The issues are much too important for the Chilean voters to be left to decide for themselves." Henry Kissinger, Secretary of State under President Richard Nixon Under Secretary of State Clinton, that fundamentally anti-democratic foreign policy appears to continue to be the status quo for Latin America — absent a much more hands-on effort to change that course by the president of the United States.
The drumbeat of fear mongering propaganda continues: What are State and the Pentagon plan (tags)
"The AUC were a phenomenon that was changed by drug-smuggling....so they looked for cultivation and smuggling zones, so this is what permeated the [border] zone, including today [the phenomenon] is still present in [Venezulean border state] Tachira with [paramilitary group] the Black Eagles." Venezuelan journalist Alberto Nolia, analysing the interview, said, "Its clear the Colombian government was completely involved in the conspiracy...Garcia has linked the government of Uribe with the paramilitaries and with drug smuggling."
Honduran coup has been far from bloodless (tags)
"Women protesters can face worse. On Aug. 14, a young mother was grabbed by police while participating nonviolently in a large protest. They separated her from male detainees and drove her out of town, where four officers of the National Police raped her and then raped her again with a baton. Rapes while in custody, assassinations and disappearances that are terrorizing Hondurans remain largely unreported in the U.S. press. On July 11, for example, Roger Ivan Bados, a longtime trade unionist and activist in the opposition party Union Democrática, was forcibly removed from his home and killed. Others who participate in demonstrations or other activities have been kidnapped, then found dead."
Playing the ‘Anti-Semitism’ Card Against Venezuela (tags)
"Although the arrests helped ease the anxieties of Venezuela’s Jewish community, the international media pressed on with the storyline of a politically motivated attack. The very week that the Venezuelan Israelite Association issued a statement praising the swift and successful investigation, The Washington Post ran an editorial titled “Mr. Chavez vs. the Jews,” which again blamed the robbery on the government, or, more specifically, on an ugly comment left on a “pro-government Web site,” demanding “that citizens ‘publicly challenge every Jew that you find in the street, shopping center or park’ and called for a boycott of Jewish-owned businesses, seizures of Jewish-owned property and a demonstration at Caracas’s largest synagogue.”4 The editorial concluded that the synagogue was then “duly attacked.”5 The idea that the sacking of the Caracas synagogue was based purely on anti-Semitism has persisted, even showing up in a recent piece authored by two academics in the high-brow Boston Review. The authors claim the attack is a sign of “state-directed anti-Semitism.”
The “Rape Rooms” are now in Honduras (tags)
"In the article you will find the interview with Al and an audio report from a female victim."
Noam Chomsky Meets with Chavez in Venezuela (tags)
"Chomsky said the growing disappointment with the Obama administration in the U.S. was predictable because the corporate media marketed Obama's presidential candidacy on the slogan of "Change We Can Believe In" but omitted concrete proposals for effective changes, and the Obama administration has since shown an incapacity to institute such changes."
Juan and Pedro Enter the Honduras Oil Import Business, Coup d’Etat Follows (tags)
"Padre Fausto later chronicled his own share of detentions, which included being kidnapped by paramilitaries in Honduras in 1981 on charges of inciting guerrilla activity based on his concern for campesino and indigenous rights. In captivity, Fausto was subjected to a schedule of sitting in rooms with torture instruments and being removed whenever someone needed to be tortured physically rather than psychologically. He subsequently spent a number of years in exile in Mexico; as for other Hondurans in exile, Fausto boasted that Zelaya had spoken with him and other Hondurans for four hours the previous day in Managua, neglecting a group of visiting European parliamentarians."
Cuban connection: Honduran coup (tags)
"Nodarse has a very long trajectory in Miami mafia circles that do not act only against Cuba, but also against Central America, most recently Honduras. None is safe from the long murderous arm of the counterrevolutionary Cubans of Miami. The fragile democratic institutions of Central America will serve as easy targets for Posada and Nodarse."
Cracks in the Honduran Coup Regime Grow Wider (tags)
"Micheletti is in fact declaring the military a scapegoat for doing just once what Micheletti himself has ordered them to do a second and third time. He doesn’t really want Zelaya to stand trial because, first, the so-called evidence against the President is flimsy and falsified, and, second, because the regime fears that the very people of Honduras might assemble to break down any wall that might hold their elected president."
Honduras Coup Dictator Micheletti Calls Out the Geezer Patrol or "a country for old m (tags)
"At the celebration a group of war veterans attended from Honduras’ 1957 conflict with Nicaragua and with El Salvador in 1969… “I don’t know if the war veterans want to consider me part of them because I – here is the proof, dated August 4, 1969, that shows that I participated in the defense of the sovereignty of our country, here it is, nobody can deny it, and we will do the same as long as we are alive,” said President Micheletti…"
Coup regime in Honduras seeks to close media that report it’s activities (tags)
"This morning’s televised threat by coup General Romeo Vásquez Velásquez to “go after them” – the leaders of the civil resistance to the coup – also included broadcasters and journalists. Radio Globo, after its first shutdown at the hands of military soldiers, won a court order to reopen and has broadcasted constantly since June 29. If not for its news team and conductors and the thousands of calls they have received live on the air from Honduran citizens, the nationwide public would not know the real facts about what has been happening to their country."
AFP in Honduras Hung By Its Own Photograph (tags)
Honduras imposes State of Siege in South: The Struggle Shaking "America" (tags)
"People here have been fighting for Zelaya’s return for a month now. They are incredibly committed and won’t back down,” he said. He urged people to call Congress and the White House and demand that the U.S. government pressure Micheletti to lift the siege. White House comment line: 202-456-1111 Congressional switchboard: 202-224-3121 Send an email to Barack Obama using the Latin America Solidarity Coalition/School of the Americas Watch site http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/727/t/3823/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=27531
Peaceful Blockades vs. Coup Paralyze Honduras (tags)
"Support the Honduran people in this important struggle to beat back the coup. Obama is sure not going to do it. "
Lobbyist Lanny Davis Seeks a Rematch with Obama over Honduras Coup (tags)
"And Zelaya is right. Playing along with such talks with an illegitimate coup regime any longer than they've gone on already would be folly. Diplomacy is for dealing with legitimate governments, not for criminals and terrorists. And, Mr. President, even if that story blows over in the news media, because Honduras is a relatively small country, you just know that if the Honduras coup succeeds in remaining in power that other military generals in other Latin American countries are going to take it as a green light to do the same. And when that happens, the next coup - in Bolivia, perhaps? El Salvador? Nicaragua? Or completing the circle from 1955, Guatemala, Señor Presidente? - will be known far and wide as “Obama’s coup,” because your administration will then be accurately perceived as having not lowered the boom – in all the economic, political and judicial ways that everybody knows you can and must do - on its predecessor. Worse, they’ll say you got beat by Lanny Davis. They’ll even say that kooky Lanny fellow was right about you in 2008. Those are his chips on the card table. Now show us yours. ----- Most Damning: Many will come to see that that (facilitate the coups) was what you were "hired" to do?" General Joe
Honduras Newspaper Impressed that Daughter of Pinochet Backs Coup (tags)
"No, it's not parody. Rather, it's instructive of the state of mind of the coup defenders. (You can see it in repeated online comments on Twitter and elsewhere attacking Organization of American States chairman Jose Miguel Insulza because he was part of the elected Allende government before Allende was assassinated by Pinochet's forces.) They see the Pinochet coup of 36 years ago as a heroic act, and long for the bad old days when they could simply stamp out democratic will by rounding all dissenters into a stadium and assassinating more than 3,000 in a single week, which is what happened after September 11, 1973 in Santiago de Chile. It is another proof positive that they are trying to start that ball rolling all over again throughout the hemisphere. And it demonstrates exactly why not a single government in América or in the entire world recognizes their illegitimate regime."
Zelaya Doesn't Blink: Two Airplanes Heading South Today (tags)
As president, I am going to accompany my people, and I appeal for calm… To the Honduran people: stay peaceful… nobody should use any weapon. Our weapon is democracy.”
9/11: Scientific Evidence Flight 77 Did Not Strike The Pentagon (tags)
"Given the topography and obstacles in its path, forces generated by the transition from downward flight to level flight would cause the aircraft to disintegrate before striking the Pentagon. A simple formula, familiar to high school students, may debunk the official account of American Airlines Flight 77 that is alleged to have struck the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. "
On health care "reform" (tags)
"But the public option would be a great start. And the insurance industry knows it. They have correctly dubbed it a "trogan horse." And they may be right. That is why they are fighting like hell to prevent it from coming into being."
Global Crisis: How Much Time do We Have? (tags)
"Rather, what began Monday, September 15, 2008 was the beginning of a terminal and irreversible collapse of the global financial system, which is part of a controlled Model through which other objetives will be achieved."
What “incredibly tough” foreign policy actions is Obama preparing? (tags)
"Obama won the Democratic presidential nomination by presenting himself as the more consistent antiwar candidate, and the Democratic ticket in public pledges to end the war in Iraq and adopt a less militaristic stance. But behind closed doors, before select audiences of the financial and political elite, Biden has given a glimpse of the real perspective of the Democratic wing of American imperialism."
See this youtube video: Who attacked who? (tags)
"See this youtube video: Who attacked who? Another Neocon falseflag frameup?"
"Yet as the years wear on and the facts pointing to the validity of my thesis accumulate, the reality can no longer be ignored. Why, in the name of all that's holy, are we expanding a war that has proven to be such a monumental failure? Why are our leaders ignoring the evaluation of our own National Intelligence Estimate on the question of Iran's nuclear program – which shows that they abandoned their nascent nukes, just as Saddam did – and insisting that Tehran will soon wield a nuclear sword, perhaps against Israel? Why are American politicians defying their own war-weary people and launching a conflict that will doubtless prove even less popular than the one in which we are currently engaged? None of this makes any sense unless we accept the hijacking thesis: U.S. policy is the captive of foreign interests, specifically Israeli interests. We are, all of us, held hostage by the Israel lobby, which has a stranglehold on the political establishment in this country. That's not a "conspiracy theory," because it's no secret: the effort to mold U.S. policy to suit Israeli interests is open to the point of brazenness."
The economy is not what they are saying!5 (tags)
"And another horror is that the stock market went up, which is Pretty Freaking Strange (PFS) since Barron’s reports that the earnings of the Dow Jones Industrials went down, dropping to $225.53 from $234.49. This has produced the unbelievable price-to-earnings ratio of 57! Earnings are going down, but the stocks are going up! To a P/E of 57! Un-freaking-believable!"
Despite ‘good news,’ Iraq is not OK (tags)
"There are more sources that are closer to credibility than any of the ones above. Independent reports such as the survey of Iraqi households in the Lancet, estimating that by July 2006, 655,000 Iraqis died as a consequence of war. UK-based polling agency Opinion Research Business reached even a higher number, in September 2007, suggested that 1.2 million people might have died as a result of the war. But no number can do justice to the hurt felt by Iraqi people, so many of whom perished by the firepower of their “liberators.” On Dec. 28, 14 Iraqis were reportedly killed, and 64 others were wounded in a Baghdad square crowded with shoppers following the Friday prayer. I wonder if the many families that collectively share the latest tragedy in Baghdad will find some peace and comfort in the figures and statistics issued by the US military and disseminated cheerfully be the media. I wonder how the people of the bloody Tayaran Square would respond to the question: “Is Iraq getting better?” Would any reporter even bother to ask them their thoughts?"
Galloway points finger at Musharaf... (tags)
"The professionalism of the assassination, the way in which the killer managed to get within pistol range of the opposition leader, the decoy "suicide bomb" story.. all point to the intelligence apparatus of the dictatorship being involved."
Turning Ahmadinejad Into Public Enemy No. 1 (tags)
"Demonizing the Iranian president and making his visit to New York seem controversial is all part of the neoconservative push for yet another war."
War Against Iran: Hawks Winning the Argument? (tags)
"It could just stop exporting oil itself. Pulling only Iran’s three and a half million barrels per day off the market, in its present state, would send oil prices shooting up into the stratosphere. Or it could get tough and close down all oil-tanker traffic that comes within range of those missiles — which would mean little or no oil from Iraq, Saudi Arabia or the smaller Gulf states either. That would mean global oil rationing, industrial shutdowns, and the end of the present economic era." Maybe we should share this around? I wonder if these outcomes are what Cheney and his Neocon pals really want? Great for the price of "their" oil. Good cover for crimes of treason.
Iran Nuclear Conflict Is About U.S. Dominance (tags)
"Donnelly's analysis of the issue of Iran and nuclear weapons, published last October in the book "Getting Ready for a Nuclear-Ready Iran", makes it clear that the real objection to Iran becoming a nuclear power is that it would impede the larger U.S. ambitions in the Middle East -- what Donnelly calls the administration's "project of transforming the Middle East".
Collective punishment in Baquba (tags)
"They termed the operations 'collective punishment' in Baquba, the capital of Diyala province which lies 57 kilometres north-east of Baghdad." This is what imperialists always do when all their lies are so transparent. GJ