Lessons from the First New Deal for the Next One (tags)
Time to Start Imagineering a Post-Ayatollah Iran (tags)
1 year later, Viva L'Iranian People's Revolution To Gain Freedom, From the Dictatorship of the Mullahs
Time to Start Imagineering a Post-Ayatollah Iran (tags)
This article looks at the events in Iran, and asks how the US and Israel can help the Iranian people overthrow the Mullahs, to regain their freedom.
Time to Start Imagineering a Post-Ayatollah Iran (tags)
This article looks at the events in Iran, and asks how the US and Israel can help the Iranian people overthrow the Mullahs, to regain their freedom.
A David & Goliath Story in Iraq (tags)
An Interview with Filmmaker David Ritter
“None Dare Call It Conspiracy:” How U.S. Elites Made Islamist Militants the New Red Menace (tags)
The American Establishment’s Quarter-Century Scheme to Replace Defunct Soviet Communism with “Expansionist” Militant Islam. And Why We Need Former U.S. Senator turned diplomat Gary Hart, Who “Thinks Differently” About U.S.-Russia Relations, to Join the 2016 Presidential Race
Are the Times A-Changin' at UC Berkeley’s School of Law? (tags)
Torture Memo, Racial Unrest & (Perhaps) a Job Applicant’s Cover Letter Wake Up the School’s Faculty, Staff and Once-Floundering Social Justice Center
Cracks in US/Israeli Special Relationship? (tags)
Israel
Veteran and Families of Military hold Press Conference (tags)
Press conference to be held outside Veterans Administration to highlight heath care crisis at the VA. Today, it has become increasingly likely that the U.S. government will once again take military action in Iraq.
Argentina Battles in Two World Cups (tags)
While National Team Prepares to Face Bosnia, Government Fights Hedge Funds at US Supreme Court
The Snowdown - Wikileaks - Sibel Edmonds - Whistleblower Effect By Zahir Ebrahim (tags)
Just look for the core-lies and unquestioned axioms of empire that are typically retained in the “leaks” and reportage which, in order to sound credible, often openly expose what is mostly already known anyway or judiciously employ some variation of “Limited Hangout” wrapped in a veneer of dissent, 'freedom of the press', and often accompanied by the facade of angst and opposition from the state to afford a veneer of legitimacy to the whistleblowing revelations of supposed state-secrets having caused some great harm to the state. The extravagance enacted in the mainstream media, alternately making heroes of the whistleblowers and demonizing them, is a giveaway to the circus show being enacted for plebeian consumption.
Argentina Files Final Supreme Court Appeal in Global Hedge Fund Debt Case (tags)
Religious Community Joins IMF, Legitimate Investors and Governments in Opposing Exploitative Hedge Fund Behavior
30 Kinds of (approved) TORTURE currently being used by the C.I.A. (tags)
Bush administration’s program of kidnapping “suspects,” a covert operation also known as “rendition,” continues under the Obama administration according to Reprieve Founding Director, Attorney Clive Stafford Smith. The following is a partial list of C.I.A. forms of torture:
TPP Protesters Greet President Obama in Beverly Hills — in Pictures (tags)
[This is a subset of the full article, which was posted to LA Progressive. http://www.laprogressive.com/tpp-protesters-obama/ ]
Corporate power grab of Trans-Pacific Partnership clearer, but opposition building (tags)
The Trans-Pacific Partnership is crammed with corporate giveaways, confirmed by WikiLeaks publishing the intellectual property chapter.
Challenging Wrongful Convictions (tags)
police state
Washington and Israel Conspire to Oust Assad (tags)
Syria
Obama’s War Grows as Support Shrinks (tags)
Some careful listening has exposed the lie that a U.S. attack (war) against Syria would be, as Obama put it, “a shot across the bow,” i.e. a “tiny war.” But even before the first missile is launched the birth of Obama’s baby war began to grow, and when it’s eventually unleashed it will resemble any other fully matured war, complete with massive destruction, the death of untold innocents and yet another Middle Eastern nation torn to pieces.
Duplicitous Anti-Syrian Editorials (tags)
Syria
Heightened Russia Bashing (tags)
Russia
When you are on top, ‘might makes right’ is ‘rule of law’ (tags)
The U.S. government has consistently refused to extradite former dictators, accused terrorists, torturers and others wanted by other countries. It is the height of hypocrisy for the Obama administration to give lectures about international obligations in its blunderbuss efforts to get Edward Snowden.
Nobel Peace Laureates Urge Obama and Kerry to Nix Keystone XL (tags)
Firmly linking the Keystone XL pipeline with climate change, 10 Nobel Peace Prize winners are urging President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry to reject the project.
Challenging Unconstitutional Spying (tags)
police state
The intellectual dead end of liberalism (tags)
Each fresh outrage by the Obama administration is met by a shrug of the shoulders or outright support by Democrats. With no clear ideas to fall back on, they meekly bleat “me, too” when the world’s industrialists and financiers pronounce their verdict on what is to be done.
Media Gets Targeted by Obama, Discovers No One Cares Except the Media (tags)
It remains to be seen whether the media will start doing its job now that it’s been subjected to a small taste of what the public has been bludgeoned with for years via FISA, CISPA, the NDAA, the PATRIOT Act, et cetera. All these laws basically allow unlimited spying on and detention of Americans without any due process guaranteed by the Constitution.
How Obama and Al-Qaeda Became Syrian Bedfellows (tags)
For a president that is executing Bush’s “war on terror” against Al-Qaeda and “its affiliates,” it seems odd that President Obama has targeted the secular Syrian government for “regime change.”
VIDEO: Bill Moyers' "Going to Jail for Protesting" (tags)
“Lobbyists have spent years making sure these loopholes are put into the tax code.” -@NYTimes' Gretchen Morgenson http://ow.ly/lnEI1 “Corporations have a role to play in our economy, but don't have a role to play in our government.” -@dechristopher http://ow.ly/lnEz2
How Obama Chose War Over Peace in Syria (tags)
With Syria on the brink of national genocide, outside nations have only two options: help reverse the catastrophe or plunge this torn nation deeper into the abyss. Countries can either work towards a peaceful political solution or they can continue to pour money, guns, and fighters into the country to ensure a steady gushing into the bloodbath.
The Sacrificial Lambs, the Innocent; Those That Got Caught In the Middle (tags)
The reason we as Americans are okay with giving a certain portion of our hard earned dollars towards foreign aid, is that we want to help those in need. There are certainly people around the world that need help financially, and we have all seen and read the stories. It's important to remember that we are blessed and fortunate to live in this great nation of ours. There are many more less than fortunate people living far below the standard of those in a Western nation, than those living at that level or even close to it. We often forget, but when the time comes, we are compassionate - most of us anyway.
Chavez Succeeded Where Obama Failed (tags)
When President Obama campaigned in 2008 in Portland, Oregon over 70,000 people came to hear his speech. And although I missed the event, I was intrigued by the raw emotion that the candidate’s words inspired in my community. Obama re-visited Oregon during his 2012 campaign, but the inspiration had faded from his voice, and the audience had drastically changed.
Democrats and Labor: A Tale of Abuse (tags)
The Democratic Party’s participation in the recent national “sequester” cuts is yet another big dent in their love affair with organized labor. But break-ups are often a protracted process. Before a relationship ends there is usually a gradual deterioration based on irreconcilable differences, until the split becomes inevitable. The decades-long marriage of labor unions and the Democratic Party is nearing such a divorce. Labor unions are becoming frustrated as the Democrats flaunt their affair with corporate America and Wall Street.
Obama Wades Deeper Into Syria’s Morass (tags)
The recent announcement that the United States would increase its “non lethal” military aid to Syria’s rebels shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. Some speculated that Obama — having been repeatedly proved wrong about the Syria government’s stability — would leave Syria in silent humiliation.
Policy makers leave HUD's housing programs at risk (tags)
More than 900 organizations nationwide have spoken out against the massive spending cuts scheduled to take place. In a call to action, activists continue to urge low-income families in the federally subsidized housing programs to immediately contact their representatives, and to urge the Obama administration and Congress to stop the automatic spending cuts scheduled to go into effect on March 1, that could result in the eviction of 250,000 voucher holders in HUD housing programs!
Stop Sale of A123 (lithium battery maker) SALE TO CHINA (tags)
You can view and sign the petition here: http://wh.gov/ymro Here's some more information about this petition: *Company received nearly $300 million dollars in bailout money from American Taxpayers! Stop the Sale of Lithium Battery Maker A123 to China. Stop US Government Sale of A123, (A Corporation specializing in the manufacture and distribution of lithium batteries) to the country of China.
U.S. Cannot Tell Iran to Abandon its Nuclear Program (tags)
Interview conducted by Iranian journalist Kourosh Ziabari with Mark Vorpahl
Fiscal Cliff deal leaves HUD's housing programs at risk (tags)
In a call to action, activists urge all low-income families in the federally subsidized housing programs to immediately contact their representatives, and to urge the Obama administration and Congress to stop the automatic spending cuts scheduled to go into effect on March 1, 2013, that could result in the eviction of 250,000 voucher holders in HUD housing programs!
anti-war
MARKETWATCH REPOSTS BANKSTER LAWSUIT STORY AFTER NEWS EXEC'S CHILDREN MURDERED (tags)
Marketwatch bravely reposts $43 trillion racketeering lawsuit story after CNBC takes it down
Could Obama use NDAA To Arrest Militias? (tags)
Pres. Obama could use NDAA provisions to order U.S. Military Forces to round up without evidence, millions of Americans including militias by alleging they are belligerents or a threat to National Security.
Next Stop: NDAA Hell for Americans' Civil Liberties? (tags)
Under NDAA, the U.S. Government or President could claim anyone was (directly aligned with militants) e.g. any political or other association; charge any activity, statement, writing or communication was (directly aligned) with an individual or group the government deemed (militant) to arrest and indefinitely detain Americans.
Sucking Up Shamelessly to Israel (tags)
Israel
How President Obama Created (tags)
Paul Ryan is suddenly a household name after becoming Mitt Romney’s vice presidential running mate. Before that, Ryan had only become right-wing leadership material in the last year, based on his proposed national budget that hacks away at the core of many national social programs, including Medicare.
U.S. Navy $176+ Million Unmanned Drone Crashed in Maryland Swamp (tags)
One would think for $176+ million we could get a drone that would fly without crashing into a Maryland swamp? Amazing how when Republican politicians grouse about the deficit they forget to mention how much those unmanned drones cost and how poorly they function. Then there's that 17% civilian casualites that just keeps pissing off occupied people enough for them to give up their families and their lives to become terrorists. Sounds like a cycle for perpetual warfare at the expense of the U.S. taxpayers for the sole benefit of the military-industrial complex..
The U.S. Labor Movement at the Crossroads, in the Crosshairs (tags)
The labor movement had better do some deep soul searching, and fast. Although the defeat in Wisconsin is the horrible end to a local drama, the corporate winners hope to turn their victory into the beginning chapter of a national novel.
Archive Of Housing News by Lynda Carson: Struggle for Just Cause / Tenant's Rights (tags)
The battle over rent control, just cause eviction protections, tenant's rights and poverty issues are a never ending struggle.
Obama's Defense of Strip Searching for Traffic Violations (tags)
The US Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling that guards can strip search and visually inspect the body cavities of people arrested for minor offenses who are admitted into a jail’s general population is based largely on arguments contained in the amicus curiae “friend of the court” brief filed in the case on behalf of the Obama administration.
'No Public Option! No Public Option!' (tags)
They don't fight for our rights to be measured fairly in defense - is what it is, to deny the evidence of war crimes to speak as ourselves falling further plundered
Under Obama, guest-worker visa policy creates left-right conflict (tags)
Under the Obama administration, skilled foreign professionals like doctors and software engineers find dim hope in Emma Lazarus’s poetic lamp lifted “beside the golden door.”
BTL:Environmental Opponents Take Credit for Obama Administration's Delaying Keystone XL Ta (tags)
Interview with Susan Casey Lefkowitz, director of the Natural Resources Defense Council’s international program, conducted by Scott Harris
Occupy Reality: It’s The Corruption Stupid (tags)
This level of community angst (there were a lot of people marching and a lot of occupied cities) is not so much about capitalism as a form of economic viability as it is about how criminality infiltrates capitalistic tendencies. There is probably “no” country more corrupt that our current empire here in the United States. That is the main issue. Not just corporate greed but its caustic effects in bribing Congress, the news media, the Executive branch of government, and the alienation of the majority of other countries against our lies, deceit, our government corrupting other peoples, the wars, and the torture, etc.
Free the Equality Nine! Action Sept. 28 in Downtown San Diego (tags)
Over a year has passed since the ?Equality Nine? ? members and supporters of the San Diego Alliance for Marriage Equality (S.A.M.E.) ? were arrested on August 19, 2010 at the San Diego County Administrative Center. Now the Equality Nine plan to present their petitions to City Attorney Jan Goldsmith at a rally Wednesday, September 28, 4 p.m. outside the City Attorney?s office, 1200 Third Avenue downtown. The next court hearing in the case is scheduled for Monday, October 17 in the San Diego County Courthouse downtown.
Report Back: LA Forum on and Fundraiser for Haiti (tags)
Over 200 people, overwhelmingly Black people, came out for the Public Forum on and Fundraiser for Haiti. Actor and activist Danny Glover, Pierre Labossiere, co-founder of Haiti Action Committee, and Robert Roth, board member of Haiti Emergency Relief Fund were featured speakers at the event which both helped get the word out about what's happening on the ground in Haiti and raised funds to support the Haitian grassroots. Margaret Prescod, host of KPFK's Sojourner Truth and Women of Color in the Global Women's Strike, chaired.
Hanna: An "Alternative" Movie Review (as more interesting and informative than your typica (tags)
This review is not meant to give you all the typical facts and highlights of the movie. Standard movie reviewers have already presented their perspectives, the basic story line. Whereas this essay is meant to take more seriously what is really a rather stupid plot, but still within a beautiful movie and action packed piece of entertainment, and to speculate how it may fit ?within? the too often vacuous audience culture that might watch it, as well as the movie industry that created it and critiqued it. And, granted, it is often presumptuous to interpret a work of art as something that can be criticized as more subjectively serious?but the idea of juxtaposing a fairy tale with CIA operatives is just too tempting to ?not? deconstruct.
The Mighty Wurlitzer: Wikileaks and Imperial Mobilization By Zahir Ebrahim (tags)
This 'grand organ' is now able to even more effectively synthesize, implant, and reinforce, all the right set of beliefs (myths) among the entire world's public – by suitably combining 'events' with imaginative 'expos' writing – which appropriately primes the world populations to acquiesce to the oligarchic agendas. While playing this orchestra is now an integral part of all state-craft, its major musical themes are entirely determined by the behind the scenes owners of the system. While some might refer to the underlying techniques as propaganda and psy-ops, 'Mighty Wurlitzer' singularly captures the messaging-system controlled under a unified purpose of command which is both highly compartmentalized and cellularized. Only the Mighty Wurlitzer knows the entire tune.
Libya: Is Washington Pushing for Civil War to Justify a US-NATO Military Intervention? (tags)
“There is now talk about a “humanitarian intervention” in Libya, similar to Yugoslavia and Iraq. A “no-fly zone” over Libya has been mentioned, as has NATO military intervention. The aims behind such statements are not humanitarian, but are intended to justify foreign interference, which could potentially lead to an invasion. Should this come to fruition, Libya would become an occupied country. Its resources would be plundered and its assets privatized and controlled by foreign corporations as in the case of Iraq. Today, in Libya and the Arab World the ghosts of Omar Mukhtar and Saladin are still very much alive and active. Getting rid of Gaddafi and his sons alone is not the solution. The entire corrupt system of governance in Libya and the culture of political corruption must be dismantled. At the same time, however, foreign interference or domination should also not be allowed to take root in Libya. If the Libyan people are mobilized and steadfast, they can fight such schemes.”
Prepping Minds for War Against China (tags)
You'd think the U.S. was already at war with China, given the immense amount of anti-China rhetoric spouting from the government and media. But selling wars takes time. The average American hasn't bought in to this false advertising yet. So the big lie will be repeated until its roots are deeply sunk into the American psyche: China, says the U.S. government, is a threat that needs to be "dealt with.” This propaganda assault is multi-faceted, taking aim from all directions. Any China-related issue -- military, economic, and social -- is open for attack. For example, the head of the U.S. Department of Defense, Robert Gates, recently visited Asia and focused much of his trip talking about China as a "military threat.”
USDA; Try "Coexistence" w/ Monsanto; HELL NO! (tags)
Scientific studies show increasing links between consumption of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and severe health risks, yet under Obama's USDA censorship remains business as usual. Lack of truth in labeling of GMO products deprive consumers of freedom of choice and the right to know what is in the food we are eating. Instead of protecting consumers, the USDA becomes the "long arm of Monsanto" by protecting their unregulated experiments on consumers in North America and elsewhere by exposing people to GMO products against their knowledge and consent.
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."
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."
The KPFA/KPFK/Pacifica NPR Evening News (tags)
One segment on the Tuesday broadcast demonstrates the ongoing disconnect between the news staff and some station staffers and the political and economic reality that Obama has brought us and make many ask why contribute to a second NPR.
11/22 - Last Day for Public Comment on GMO Salmon! (tags)
Today is the last day for public comment on genetically modified salmon. Please tell Pres. Obama and the FDA that people do not want to risk tampering with natural ecosystems by releasing genetically engineered (GE/GMO) salmon into the oceans and rivers that currently support struggling populations of wild salmon. GMO salmon is the latest trick from Monsanto attempting to control our food supply by replacing wild salmon with genetically engineered "Frankenfish" salmon that have less nutritional value and greater risks of illness, including potential extinction of wild salmon populations by the Monsanto version of GMO salmon.
The Democrats Prepare to Move Right (tags)
On the eve of the Republican-dominated mid-term election, working people were told to vote Democrat to prevent a "truly dangerous" Republican party from taking power. There is an element of truth in this: the Republican Party has been sprinting to the far right for decades, to the point where they are incapable of speaking sensibly about political issues. But in a close second place in this rightward scramble are the Democrats, who've spent decades racing into the arms of the corporations that dominate both political parties unchallenged.
"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."
A view from Afghanistan (tags)
A view from Afghanistan
New Internet Censorship Bill Introduced (tags)
New censorship attempt
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?"
As Iraq War Continues, a Surge in Contractors (tags)
Lawsuit Challenges Obama Administration's Targeted Assassination Policy (tags)
lawless killing now US policy
Neocons resurfacing in Obama administration: (tags)
Neocons resurfacing in Obama administration
Teachers and Democrats Head for Divorce (tags)
It’s best to quickly recognize the red flags in any failing relationship. This way, ties can be severed instead of allowing things to linger forever in dysfunction. For Democrats and teachers’ unions, the writing is on the wall. The two are simply going in opposite directions. The Democrats continue on the road to corporate-inspired charter schools, using the tried and true method of “stronger teacher evaluations” to undermine “underperforming” schools and teachers — thus opening the door wide to private charter schools with their non-union workforce.
OCHA's Special Focus on Occupied Palestine (tags)
horrific Gaza conditions under siege
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."
The Rift between Teachers and Democrats Widens (tags)
The corporate media is brutally honest on rare occasions. Take for example a recent article in The New York Times Magazine, titled The Teachers’ Union’s Last Stand (05-23-10). The title itself is surprisingly sincere, since it admits that the nation’s teachers are being targeted for attack by the Obama Administration, through his “Race to the Top” education reform. And although the article has an inherently corporate bias, it contains many revelations that have been otherwise ignored in the mainstream media.
Israel's Specialty: Targeting Civilians (tags)
how rogue states operate
HUD's Public Housing Privatization Scheme "PETRA" Is Rejected (tags)
People across the nation are speaking out against the scheme to privatize 1.2 million public housing units, under a HUD proposal called Transforming Rental Assistance (TRA) initiative. The struggle against the privatization of public housing in Berkeley and Oakland has blossomed into a nation wide struggle against the profiteers that are trying to terminate public housing programs across the nation! On May 25, 2010, at a congressional hearing, Congresswoman Maxine Waters and many housing advocacy organizations from across the country spoke-out against HUD's proposals, and submitted written statements for the hearing record opposing TRA, including the Los Angeles Coalition to End Hunger and Homelessness and other Los Angeles housing and human rights organizations.
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."
SAVE AMERICA's PUBLIC HOUSING - No on PETRA! - NO on TRA! (tags)
Public housing in Berkeley and Oakland are under attack by corporate profiteers, and if HUD and the Obama Administration have it their way, public housing across the nation will be next on the chopping block of corporate privatization! Join the struggle against the privatization of public housing!
Labor Fights Back at Goose Island (Book Review) (tags)
Kari Lydersen has penned an absorbing book, “Revolt on Goose Island.” It chronicles how 250 members of the UE, a progressive union, occupied a factory, “Republic Windows,” located in Chicago, IL, rather then just meekly submit to its closing. It’s labor history at its best. This “direct action” came not long after AFL-CIO labor leader Richard L. Trumka denounced the evils of “globalization,” and the predatory schemes of the Wall Street boy-ohs.
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."
Obama Promoting Secret Police Idea (tags)
Obama Promoting Secret Police Idea
Obama Provokes War Against Iran and China (tags)
The possibility of yet another U.S. war became more real last week, when the Obama administration sharply confronted both China and Iran. The first aggressive act was performed by Obama’s Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, who “warned” China that it must support serious economic sanctions against Iran (an act of war). Clinton said: “China will be under a lot of pressure to recognize the destabilizing effect that a nuclear-armed Iran would have, from which they receive a significant percentage of their oil supply.” The implication here is that China will be cut off from a major energy source if they do not support U.S. foreign policy — this, too, would equal an act of war.
Torture Never Stopped Under Obama (tags)
What is Torture? It can be physical or physchological, quick or unhurried. It implies lasting trauma unbefitting a human. The U.N. defines torture as: “ ...any act by which severe pain or suffering, physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him, or a third person, information or a confession…” (U.N. Convention Against Torture). By this definition the U.S. continues to practice torture. Yes, Obama outlawed some especially shocking forms of torture — water boarding, for example — but other types of torture were not labeled “torture” and thus continue.
Remarks by Richard L. Trumka, President, AFL-CIO, National Press Club, Washington, DC (tags)
Our economy does not work without good jobs, so we must take action now to restore workers' voices in America. The systematic silencing of American workers by denying our right to form unions is at the heart of the disappearance of good jobs in America. We must pass the Employee Free Choice Act so that workers can have the chance to turn bad jobs into good jobs, and so we can reduce the inequality which is undermining our prospects for stable economic growth. And we must do it now—not next year, not even this summer. Now.
Obama Is Preparing for War in South America (tags)
"The first and foremost important achievement during the Chávez administration is the 1999 Constitution, which, although not written nor decreed by Chávez himself, was created through his vision of change for Venezuela. The 1999 Constitution was, in fact, drafted - written - by the people of Venezuela in one of the most participatory examples of nation building, and then was ratified through popular national referendum by 75% of Venezuelans. The 1999 Constitution is one of the most advanced in the world in the area of human rights. It guarantees the rights to housing, education, healthcare, food, indigenous lands, languages, women's rights, worker's rights, living wages and a whole host of other rights that few other countries recognize on a national level. My favorite right in the Venezuelan Constitution is the right to a dignified life. That pretty much sums up all the others. Laws to implement these rights began to surface in 2001, with land reform, oil industry redistribution, tax laws and the creation of more than a dozen social programs - called missions - dedicated to addressing the basic needs of Venezuela's poor majority. In 2003, the first missions were directed at education and healthcare. Within two years, illiteracy was eradicated in the country and Venezuela was certified by UNESCO as a nation free of illiteracy. This was done with the help of a successful Cuban literacy program called "Yo si puedo" (Yes I can). Further educational missions were created to provide free universal education from primary to doctoral levels throughout the country. Today, Venezuela's population is much more educated than before, and adults who previously had no high school education now are encouraged to not only go through a secondary school program, but also university and graduate school.??The healthcare program, called "Barrio Adentro", has not only provided preventive healthcare to all Venezuelans - many who never had access to a doctor before - but also has guaranteed universal, free access to medical attention at the most advanced levels. MRIs, heart surgery, lab work, cancer treatments, are all provided free of cost to anyone (including foreigners) in need. Some of the most modern clinics, diagnostic treatment centers and hospitals have been built in the past five years under this program, placing Venezuela at the forefront of medical technology.??Other programs providing subsidized food and consumer products (Mercal, Pdval), job training (Mission Vuelvan Caras), subsidies to poor, single mothers (Madres del Barrio), attention to indigents and drug addicts (Mission Negra Hipolita) have reduced extreme poverty by 50% and raised Venezuelans standard of living and quality of life. While nothing is perfect, these changes are extraordinary and have transformed Venezuela into a nation far different from what it looked like 10 years ago. In fact, the most important achievement that Hugo Chávez himself is directly responsible for is the level of participation in the political process. Today, millions of Venezuelans previously invisible and excluded are visible and included. Those who were always marginalized and ignored in Venezuela by prior governments today have a voice, are seen and heard, and are actively participating in the building of a new economic, political and social model in their country.??2 MW---On Monday, President Chavez threw a Venezuelan judge in jail on charges of abuse of power for freeing a high-profile banker. Do you think he overstepped his authority as executive or violated the principle of separation of powers? What does this say about Chavez's resolve to fight corruption?"
Undocumented workers face new repressive state tactics (tags)
On Dec. 15, Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) introduced HR 4321, the “Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America’s Seurity and Prosperity Act of 2009,” into the House with 89 cosponsors. The Obama administration has stated that it will not act on the bill until health care legislation is passed, but there is a good chance it is also waiting for a more conservative compromise proposal to emerge from the Senate subcommittee on immigration. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is also supposed to introduce an administration bill next year.
Editorial Cartoon: "2012: They Were Warned" (tags)
Those of you who've followed my work for any length of time will remember my complaints about the early start of the Presidential "election" cycle (John Edwards announced on Christmas Week, 2006) in the form of the four-part "Jackass Slate for 2008".
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."
JOEL SCHALIT - San Francisco radio interview: Are US-Israel Relations at a Turning Point? (tags)
Are U.S.-Israel Relations supposedly at a Turning Point? On November, 11, 2009, the San Francisco radio program, KALW's (91.7fm) "Your Call" radio show, was joined by Joel Schalit, Israeli-American Jew, author of Israel Versus Utopia, to discuss the future of Israel. Israel is the number one recipient of U.S. military and economic aid (receiving more U.S. economic aid than the entire African continent), but its right-wing Likud government, and it's current prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, like all its other prime ministers, has bluntly rejected the Obama Administration's (peudo) calls (but no economic/military aid threats) for an "end" to internationally-illegal Jewish Israeli settlements. Meanwhile, the J Street (so-called, "liberal") Zionist lobbying project is setting, supposedly, "a new course" for the Jewish-American relationship with Israel. Could a new U.S.-Israeli relationship emerge? And will any of it make real change, or any real positive difference at all, for the Palestinian people?
Obama Supports Food Inc.'s World Domination and All We Get Is the White House Garden? (tags)
While Michele Obama took the needed steps in tearing out the White House lawn and planting an organic garden, her husband isn't so quick to drop the old pandering to biotechnology habits of big agribusiness corporations. With Obama's chosen staff of Tom Vilsack, Rajiv Shah, and Islam Siddiqui we have a continuation of the revolving door between corporate agribusiness, biotechnology and government regulators.
obama can't answer Goldstone's question (tags)
Because he is trying to cover up war crimes for Israel
The Steady Stream of Lies about Venezuela or The Killers and Liars Prepare (tags)
"The fourth big lie is saved up to the end, and follows on that grand tradition of the great human rights abusers accusing others to deflect attention from themselves. Chavez is said to be “cultivating” regimes that are characterised by “rigged elections, media censorship, the criminalisation of dissent and leaders for life”. Not a touch of irony, as the death squads in Colombia murder trade unionists and civil leaders unchecked, as the Obama Administration pussyfoots around the coup regime in Honduras (which deposed a Chavez ally), as election fraud and bloody war rages in Afghanistan and as the US launches missile attacks on Pakistan. It can be tedious to document such lies. They are so common and, no sooner is one lot done than the next day’s lies appear – if not in The Economist then in the Washington Post, The Australian or The Times. These monopolies count on the vulnerable, who do not have alternate sources of information, who do not read history and are able to be swayed by crude and often racist agitation. In the bigger picture, this is a delegitimising process, organised by the private media monopolies which, in their hatred for the sort of popular democracy led by Chavez (as also in the past by Allende), are preparing the ground for coups, wars of intervention and conquest. It has been done before and – while these monopolies remain unchecked – it will be done again."
Global Warming Accelerates While US Backpedals (tags)
Two recent studies have shocked the world in regard to global warming. A phenomenon that was to happen “possibly in our lifetime” has evolved into a threat capable of transforming the world in ten years time. A recent, extensive study of the northern polar ice caps released by climate expert Professor Peter Wadham, concluded that the Arctic Ocean would be “mostly” ice free in 10 years during the summer months. This study is a stunning compliment to research done by NASA at the South Pole, which noted that ice sheets have been losing 30 feet a year in thickness since 2003. The research concluded that the rate of melting is accelerating, creating a “runaway effect.”
Patriot Act still unconstitutional (tags)
Last week, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to reauthorize three expiring provisions in the USA PATRIOT Act. While the bill they passed allegedly strengthened civil liberties in reality, the Committee failed to make any meaningful improvements to the Patriot provisions that violate citizen’s basic rights
Declaration about the Situation in Honduras by ALBA Member Countries in the OAS (tags)
"We add our voice to the regional, national, and world organisations and institutions that have expressed their rejection of these barbaric acts that the coup leaders and supporters have committed in Honduras. We demand an end to the repression, a definite suspension of the curfew, respect of the inviolability of the Brazilian diplomatic headquarters, and the immediate and unconditional restitution of President Zelaya to his functions as Constitutional and Democratic President of Honduras."
What Some US Reporters Don't Get About Brazil and the Honduras Crisis (tags)
"The international community demands that Mr Zelaya immediately return to the presidency of his country and must be alert to ensure the inviolability of Brazil's diplomatic mission in the capital of Honduras." The United Nations isn't likely to ignore Lula's plea. As a body, it owes Brazil heavily for its leadership of UN Peacekeeping forces in Haiti, and also for its unique role as a respected organizer and spokes-country of "developing world" states as a force for global social and economic justice. Wealthier nations, meanwhile, from the US to China to Europe, are greatly dependent (or would like to be more so) on the gigantic consumer market that is Brazil. In eight short years, Lula has greatly risen Brazil's status and respect across the globe by playing these factors upon each other very shrewdly."
Hatemongering in America—the Post-Carter Dilemma Versus Conservative Opposition (tags)
The venom and vile the spews forth from America’s body politic is endemic of a people infected with fear and prejudice; but this learned hatred of a democratic agenda is not one based primarily on racism—yet hostility and resentment is very much its spirit. Rather this anima of animosity is one that seeks scapegoats for any instability felt or imagined of America’s middle and lower class realities, and all presumptions of a relatively naïve and misinformed society.
Can You Afford Proposed Health Bill OPT-OUT Penalties? (tags)
Proposal calls for charging individuals a $900 penalty and families $3,800 that Opt-Out buying health insurance...
How to Lower the U.S. Deficit Without Killing Social Security (tags)
When it was recently announced that the federal deficit was $2 trillion higher than previously estimated, corporate vultures — after years of high-altitude circling — began their descent. The dying entity they’re after is the U.S. social safety net — Social Security, Medicare, etc. Years of waiting have finally paid off; the long awaited pretext for scavenging has arrived in the huge federal deficit.
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."
Obama Watch: August 11, 2009 (tags)
Six months of O'BS, the current president, is more than enough time to make the promised "change" and the only change is for the worse for the workingclass. There are now daily news reports of the horrors perpetrated by the Democrat O'BS.
Stop the I-9 Audits and use of E-Verify (tags)
What is "Real Reason" Supreme Court Overturned "Miranda"??? (tags)
Another dire warning and eventual outcome of summarily eradicating human and civil rights by the fascists (i.e.Obama and his "owners" in Corporate America) will be the systematic arrests and imprisonment of anyone who is seen as an enemy or a threat to the Bush-Obama-Corporate America Mafia!!! ..........................................................................
Avoiding Bailout Questions (tags)
Systemic and structural analysis is more difficult than scapegoating. Speculative greed was at the heart of the dotcom, Asian, Mexican, Argentinian and Russian crises.
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."
Immigrants Marched For Reform, Despite H1N1 Flu Treat (tags)
30,000 Immigrants Marched in Milw., Wisconsin For Immigration Reform, Despite Flu Treat
Obama and torture: Why did he go to CIA Headquarters? (tags)
Last week the Obama administration released more of the “torture memos” written by Department of Justice lawyers during the Bush regime. These and previous memos were written to provide legal cover for the torture of prisoners taken in the war of terror conducted by the Bush regime. After being given this legal cover, President Bush and other top officials of his criminal regime ordered torture and other illegal acts. We now know that there were regular meetings held at the White House where the specifics of torture were discussed by top administration officials.
Poll projects low voter turnout in Haiti: Protests banned (tags)
Whether or not the polling information and conclusions of the Haiti Priorities Project are correct, the upcoming elections in Haiti are shaping up to be the first real foreign policy debacle of the Obama administration since it took office.
ALERT: Chicago's Nuclear Obama -- False Flag Unfurled (tags)
An all-star set of intelligence experts announce and defend a well-considered argument that the Obama administration is no different from the Bush administration in the key areas of the global war, the Homeland State and false flag terror.
The Obama Government: Take from the Poor and Give to the Rich (tags)
These past several weeks have witnessed a stunning attack on working people, with the Obama administration leading the charge. It started with Larry Summers, Obama’s chief economic adviser, responding to the A.I.G. bonuses by pontificating about the sanctity of contracts: “We are a country of law. There are contracts. The government cannot just abrogate contracts.” Like a mad dog pursuing its prey, he pounced on the conclusion that absolutely nothing could be done about the bonuses. Unfortunately, Summers voiced no similar outcry when the Obama administration, only weeks earlier, insisted that the U.A.W. contracts be renegotiated as a condition for the auto industry receiving a bailout, suggesting that a different set of rules applies to the rich than to the rest of us who constitute the majority and work for a living.
Media Release: ELF Press Office Applauds the Removal of General Motors' CEO Rick Wagoner (tags)
Force GM into Bankruptcy!
Obama to send even more troops to Afghanistan while he threatens to expand war more deeply (tags)
Using the “terrorist” excuse to justify escalation and the spreading of the war President Barack Obama continued with his latest escalation of the war in Afghanistan by announcing his plans to send an additional 4,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan to train Afghan government puppet forces. He also announced plans to send hundreds of additional civilians to the country. Like his predecessor George W. Bush, he raised the specter of “terrorism” to justify his actions.
Dodd and Geithner should resign (tags)
Scahill: President Obama, Why Did You Pay Blackwater $70 Million in February? (tags)
For those already outraged at the AIG bonus scandal, here is a fact that should add more fuel to the fire: The Obama administration has paid the mercenary firm formerly known as Blackwater nearly $70 million to operate in Iraq and, according to The Washington Times, may keep the company on the payroll months past the official expiration of its Iraq contract in May. I reviewed Blackwater's recent transactions with the Obama State Department and discovered a $45 million payment to Blackwater on February 4, 2009 for "protective services-Iraq." It is described as a "funding action only." Here is the interesting part: The estimated "Ultimate Completion Date" is 5/07/2011.
Big change from the moron-Bush.
From the Churches for Middle East Peace (tags)
A request from the churches for Peace in the Middle East
Media Release: ELF Press Office to Obama - Protect the Environment or the ELF Will (tags)
http://www.elfpressoffice.org