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<p>What are Curies, Becquerels, Rems, Rads, Grays, Sieverts, Roentgens, Q, RBE etc.?</p>
<p>Here are some answers (quotes are taken from my book, The Code Killers (URL for free download: www.acehoffman.org ).</p>
<p>Let’s start with a Curie: “An amount of radioactivity defined as 3.7 *10^18 decays per second… about equal to the radioactivity of one gram of pure radium. Replaced by the Becquerel (Bq).”</p>
<p>Becquerel: “Exactly one radioactive decay per second. Abbreviated Bq.”</p>
<p>So those are just different measurements for the same thing: Radioactive decays per unit of time, regardless of strength or type of radioactive emission.</p>
<p>A Curie is a lot of radiation. A single Becquerel… not so much.</p>
<p>One Bq is equal to 27 picocuries, which makes sense because a picocurie (a millionth of a millionth of a Curie) is 0.037 disintegrations per second, and mathematically 0.037 times 27 equals (approximately) one. Radioactive disintegrations, of course, don’t actually happen in fractional amounts. They either happen or they don’t. WHEN they are likely to happen can be guessed at by the isotope’s half-life, but it’s only a guess.</p>
<p>But knowing the disintegrations per second doesn’t tell you very much, really. To guess at the damage a given amount of radiation causes, you still need to know the average energy of the disintegrations. And of course, you need to know the type of emission: alpha, beta, gamma, x-ray, etc.. Each type has different properties, and each isotope’s type(s) of emissions have average energy levels. Some occur together — a gamma ray and an alpha emission. Some follow in short sequence: A beta emission followed by a gamma ray shortly thereafter.</p>
<p>Sometimes the decay product is also radioactive. This can go on for dozens of steps.</p>
<p>Gamma rays are very penetrating but have no mass and no charge. They are pure energy, traveling at the speed of light.</p>
<p>X-rays are less penetrating than gamma rays, having less energy, but are still damaging or “ionizing”.</p>
<p>Alpha particles (also sometimes called alpha rays) are relatively massive (the size of helium atoms minus their two electrons) and don’t travel very far before they’ve collided with so many things that they’ve slowed down, and become a helium atom out of place, grabbing two electrons and floating away. It’s said that a single alpha decay has enough energy to visibly reposition a grain of sand on the beach.</p>
<p>Alpha particles travel at “only” about 98% if the speed of light when they are first emitted during a radioactive decay. Compared to beta particles, gamma rays and x-rays, that’s slow!</p>
<p>Alpha particles are not much of an external radiation hazard because they can be blocked by a sheet of newspaper or dead layers of your skin (mucus membranes, eyes, and a few other exposed areas can be damaged by external alpha radiation).</p>
<p>But alpha particles released inside your body can do a lot of damage to molecules they collide with, and they have a double positive charge, which is also very damaging as they pass by many thousands of molecules before they slow down and capture two electrons.</p>
<p>Beta particles (also known as beta rays) are negatively charged particles which are ejected from the nucleus of an atom at 99.7% the speed of light or even faster. Beta particles are tiny: They are only as big as electrons, which is what they are once they slow down. Beta particles do most of their damage as their negative charge passes by other charged things — protons and electrons.</p>
<p>When beta particles are traveling very quickly, their charge is not near any particular thing long enough to have any significant effect. Most of the damage occurs when they’ve slowed down most of the way. For this reason, the health effects for the exact same TOTAL energy “dump” per kilogram of body tissue for beta particles with low energy emission values, such as tritium, are HIGHER than for isotopes of elements with higher beta energy emission values.</p>
<p>But knowing the decays per second and the type of emissions, and their average energy levels, is still only a small part of understanding the potential damage from any particular radioactive release such as Fukushima Daiichi.</p>
<p>You also need to know the isotopic composition of the sample. Otherwise, you won’t be able to estimate what the Bqs or Curies will be in a minute, or a day, or a year, or a thousand years. You need to know the half-lives of the isotopes that have been released, and the ratios of each isotope and each element.</p>
<p>A sample of plutonium-239 giving off one curie of radiation per hour (wow! that’s a lot!) will give off about 99.999…% as much radiation tomorrow, or next year. But a sample of Iodine-131 giving off the same amount of radiation today, will give off half as much radiation in just eight days, and half as much as that — a quarter curie per hour– eight days after that. In a few months it will be gone completely.</p>
<p>But even knowing all THAT isn’t nearly enough.</p>
<p>The next step is to estimate the absorbed dose. One measure of this is the Radiation Absorbed Dose or RAD. Grays are another way to measure absorbed dose.</p>
<p>But, absorbed dose still doesn’t provide an estimate of the damage the radiation may do. For that, there is effective dose, which is measured in REM (“roentgen equivalent man”) or sieverts. Background radiation varies greatly by location and other factors, but is usually given as almost a third of a REM per year, expressed as “320 millirem” for instance. How much that will go up because of Fukushima Daiichi is hard to estimate, but will surely be the subject of a future newsletter and much debate.</p>
<p>One additional, traditional, measurement of radiation is the roentgen (pronounced rent-gen (like rent again without the “a”)) which is defined as 0.876 RADs “in air”.</p>
<p>All of these yardsticks are blunderbuss attempts to estimate the potential damage from radiation as a function of energy dumped into the body. One rad equals an absorbed dose of 0.01 joules of energy per kilogram of body tissue. For ongoing radiation assaults, a time factor needs to be included: “1000 milli-sieverts per hour” or something like that. They might call that “one sievert per hour” too. Same thing. (About 6 sieverts or 6 grays, or about 600 rem or 600 rads, is considered a fatal dose, the slow and painful death coming within a few weeks of exposure. 400 to 450 rem received over a short time will kill about half the population that receives it within about 30 days.)</p>
<p>What is really happening when radiation damages the body, in large or small doses, is a very complex microscopic assault on living tissue. Certain elements concentrate in certain organs: Iodine in the thyroid, strontium in bones, astatine in the brain, etc.. If the percentage of radioactive strontium isotopes goes up compared to non-radioactive strontium isotopes (as it is in Japan today), the radioactive strontium will concentrate in bones and teeth. And, sometime in the future, the incidence of bone cancer and leukemia will increase.</p>
<p>So simply averaging the assault across “whole bodies” can miss things and is improper. Another adjustment factor is needed.</p>
<p>That’s expressed by assigning each isotope of each element a Q (Quality factor) or RBE (relative biological effectiveness value), or the more modern “radiation weighting factor” (which works better with computers).</p>
<p>Analysts use these numbers to try to compare apples to oranges, or, more specifically, for example, tritium exposure in drinking water to an xray of your knee after you blow it out on the tennis court.</p>
<p>None of these values consider the effects of bioaccumulation: Radioactive isotopes build up in the edible portions of one living thing (strontium concentrates in beans, for instance) and are then eaten by another (beans concentrate in Mexicans, for instance) up the food chain to us, at the “top”. When that happens, a dose that had been dispersed into the environment becomes concentrated again.</p>
<p>It’s all a very inexact science, and that inexactitude is used by the nuclear industry to hide what is really nothing short of premeditated murder.</p>
<p>RUSSELL D. HOFFMAN is author of The Code Killers: An Expose of the Nuclear Industry. Free download: &#160; <a href="http://acehoffman.org/" type="external">acehoffman.org</a>. He lives in Carlsbad, California, 25 miles south of the San Onofre nuclear generating station and runs a blog: <a href="http://acehoffman.blogspot.com/" type="external">acehoffman.blogspot.com</a></p>
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<p /> | true | 4 | curies becquerels rems rads grays sieverts roentgens q rbe etc answers quotes taken book code killers url free download wwwacehoffmanorg lets start curie amount radioactivity defined 37 1018 decays per second equal radioactivity one gram pure radium replaced becquerel bq becquerel exactly one radioactive decay per second abbreviated bq different measurements thing radioactive decays per unit time regardless strength type radioactive emission curie lot radiation single becquerel much one bq equal 27 picocuries makes sense picocurie millionth millionth curie 0037 disintegrations per second mathematically 0037 times 27 equals approximately one radioactive disintegrations course dont actually happen fractional amounts either happen dont likely happen guessed isotopes halflife guess knowing disintegrations per second doesnt tell much really guess damage given amount radiation causes still need know average energy disintegrations course need know type emission alpha beta gamma xray etc type different properties isotopes types emissions average energy levels occur together gamma ray alpha emission follow short sequence beta emission followed gamma ray shortly thereafter sometimes decay product also radioactive go dozens steps gamma rays penetrating mass charge pure energy traveling speed light xrays less penetrating gamma rays less energy still damaging ionizing alpha particles also sometimes called alpha rays relatively massive size helium atoms minus two electrons dont travel far theyve collided many things theyve slowed become helium atom place grabbing two electrons floating away said single alpha decay enough energy visibly reposition grain sand beach alpha particles travel 98 speed light first emitted radioactive decay compared beta particles gamma rays xrays thats slow alpha particles much external radiation hazard blocked sheet newspaper dead layers skin mucus membranes eyes exposed areas damaged external alpha radiation alpha particles released inside body lot damage molecules collide double positive charge also damaging pass many thousands molecules slow capture two electrons beta particles also known beta rays negatively charged particles ejected nucleus atom 997 speed light even faster beta particles tiny big electrons slow beta particles damage negative charge passes charged things protons electrons beta particles traveling quickly charge near particular thing long enough significant effect damage occurs theyve slowed way reason health effects exact total energy dump per kilogram body tissue beta particles low energy emission values tritium higher isotopes elements higher beta energy emission values knowing decays per second type emissions average energy levels still small part understanding potential damage particular radioactive release fukushima daiichi also need know isotopic composition sample otherwise wont able estimate bqs curies minute day year thousand years need know halflives isotopes released ratios isotope element sample plutonium239 giving one curie radiation per hour wow thats lot give 99999 much radiation tomorrow next year sample iodine131 giving amount radiation today give half much radiation eight days half much quarter curie per hour eight days months gone completely even knowing isnt nearly enough next step estimate absorbed dose one measure radiation absorbed dose rad grays another way measure absorbed dose absorbed dose still doesnt provide estimate damage radiation may effective dose measured rem roentgen equivalent man sieverts background radiation varies greatly location factors usually given almost third rem per year expressed 320 millirem instance much go fukushima daiichi hard estimate surely subject future newsletter much debate one additional traditional measurement radiation roentgen pronounced rentgen like rent without defined 0876 rads air yardsticks blunderbuss attempts estimate potential damage radiation function energy dumped body one rad equals absorbed dose 001 joules energy per kilogram body tissue ongoing radiation assaults time factor needs included 1000 millisieverts per hour something like might call one sievert per hour thing 6 sieverts 6 grays 600 rem 600 rads considered fatal dose slow painful death coming within weeks exposure 400 450 rem received short time kill half population receives within 30 days really happening radiation damages body large small doses complex microscopic assault living tissue certain elements concentrate certain organs iodine thyroid strontium bones astatine brain etc percentage radioactive strontium isotopes goes compared nonradioactive strontium isotopes japan today radioactive strontium concentrate bones teeth sometime future incidence bone cancer leukemia increase simply averaging assault across whole bodies miss things improper another adjustment factor needed thats expressed assigning isotope element q quality factor rbe relative biological effectiveness value modern radiation weighting factor works better computers analysts use numbers try compare apples oranges specifically example tritium exposure drinking water xray knee blow tennis court none values consider effects bioaccumulation radioactive isotopes build edible portions one living thing strontium concentrates beans instance eaten another beans concentrate mexicans instance food chain us top happens dose dispersed environment becomes concentrated inexact science inexactitude used nuclear industry hide really nothing short premeditated murder russell hoffman author code killers expose nuclear industry free download 160 acehoffmanorg lives carlsbad california 25 miles south san onofre nuclear generating station runs blog acehoffmanblogspotcom 160 160 | 786 |
<p>By Michael T. Klare / TomDispatchThis piece first appeared at TomDispatch. Read Tom Engelhardt’s introduction <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/176063/tomgram%3A_michael_klare%2C_are_resource_wars_our_future/#more" type="external">here</a>.</p>
<p>At the end of November, delegations from nearly 200 countries will convene in Paris for what is billed as the most important climate meeting ever held.&#160; Officially <a href="http://www.cop21paris.org/about/cop21" type="external">known</a> as the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP-21) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (the <a href="http://unfccc.int/essential_background/convention/items/6036.php" type="external">1992 treaty</a> that designated that phenomenon a threat to planetary health and human survival), the Paris summit will be focused on the adoption of measures that would limit global warming to less than catastrophic levels. If it fails, world temperatures in the coming decades are likely to exceed 2 degrees Celsius (3.5 degrees Fahrenheit), the <a href="http://www.carbonbrief.org/two-degrees-the-history-of-climate-changes-speed-limit/" type="external">maximum amount</a> most scientists believe the Earth can endure without experiencing irreversible climate shocks, including <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/oct/26/extreme-heatwaves-could-push-gulf-climate-beyond-human-endurance-study-shows" type="external">soaring temperatures</a> and a <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jul/10/scientists-predict-huge-sea-level-rise-even-if-we-limit-climate-change" type="external">substantial rise</a> in global sea levels.</p>
<p>A failure to cap carbon emissions guarantees another result as well, though one far less discussed.&#160; It will, in the long run, bring on not just climate shocks, but also worldwide <a href="http://nypost.com/2014/03/30/climate-change-will-push-world-into-war-un-report" type="external">instability</a>, insurrection, and warfare.&#160; In this sense, COP-21 should be considered not just a climate summit but a peace conference —perhaps the most significant peace convocation in history.</p>
<p>To grasp why, consider the latest scientific findings on the likely impacts of global warming, especially the <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/" type="external">2014 report</a> of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).&#160; When first published, that report attracted worldwide media coverage for predicting that unchecked climate change will <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/environment/climatechange/10733764/IPCC-report-No-one-will-be-untouched-by-climate-change.html" type="external">result in</a> severe droughts, intense storms, oppressive heat waves, recurring crop failures, and coastal flooding, all leading to widespread death and deprivation.&#160; Recent events, including a punishing drought in California and crippling heat waves in Europe and Asia, have focused more attention on just such impacts.&#160; The IPCC report, however, suggested that global warming would have devastating impacts of a <a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2014/03/30/ipcc_2014_u_n_climate_change_report_warns_of_dire_consequences.html" type="external">social and political</a> nature as well, including economic decline, state collapse, civil strife, mass migrations, and sooner or later <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/0805055762/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20" type="external">resource wars</a>.</p>
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<p>These predictions have received far less attention, and yet the possibility of such a future should be obvious enough since human institutions, like natural systems, are vulnerable to climate change.&#160; Economies are going to suffer when key commodities — crops, timber, fish, livestock — grow scarcer, are destroyed, or fail.&#160; Societies will begin to buckle under the strain of economic decline and massive refugee flows. Armed conflict may not be the most immediate consequence of these developments, the IPCC notes, but combine the effects of climate change with already existing poverty, hunger, resource scarcity, incompetent and corrupt governance, and ethnic, religious, or national resentments, and you’re likely to end up with bitter conflicts over access to food, water, land, and other necessities of life.</p>
<p>The Coming of Climate Civil Wars</p>
<p>Such wars would not arise in a vacuum.&#160; Already existing stresses and grievances would be heightened, enflamed undoubtedly by provocative acts and the exhortations of demagogic leaders. &#160;Think of the current outbreak of violence in Israel and the Palestinian territories, touched off by <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/07/world/middleeast/fears-of-new-intifada-accompany-surge-in-mideast-violence.html" type="external">clashes</a> over access to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_Mount" type="external">Temple Mount</a> in Jerusalem (also known as the Noble Sanctuary) and the inflammatory rhetoric of assorted leaders. Combine economic and resource deprivation with such situations and you have a perfect recipe for war.</p>
<p>The necessities of life are already unevenly distributed across the planet. Often the divide between those with access to adequate supplies of vital resources and those lacking them coincides with long-term schisms along racial, ethnic, religious, or linguistic lines.&#160; The Israelis and Palestinians, for example, harbor deep-seated ethnic and religious hostilities but also experience vastly different possibilities when it comes to <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-11101797" type="external">access</a> to land and water.&#160; Add the stresses of climate change to such situations and you can naturally expect passions to boil over.</p>
<p>Climate change will <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/01/science/earth/climate.html" type="external">degrade or destroy</a> many <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/176054/tomgram%3A_michael_klare,_tipping_points_and_the_question_of_civilizational_survival/" type="external">natural systems</a>, often already under stress, on which humans rely for their survival.&#160; Some areas that now support agriculture or animal husbandry may become uninhabitable or capable only of providing for greatly diminished populations.&#160; Under the pressure of rising temperatures and increasingly fierce droughts, the southern fringe of the Sahara desert, for example, is now being <a href="http://oceanworld.tamu.edu/resources/environment-book/desertificationinsahel.html" type="external">transformed</a> from grasslands capable of sustaining nomadic herders into an empty wasteland, forcing local nomads off their ancestral lands. Many existing farmlands in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East will suffer a similar fate. &#160;Rivers that once supplied water year-round will run only sporadically or <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/16/AR2007061600461.html%20" type="external">dry up</a>altogether, again leaving populations with unpalatable choices.</p>
<p>As the IPCC report points out, enormous pressure will be put upon often weak state institutions to adjust to climate change and aid those in desperate need of emergency food, shelter, and other necessities. “Increased human insecurity,” the report says, “may coincide with a decline in the capacity of states to conduct effective adaptation efforts, thus creating the circumstances in which there is greater potential for violent conflict.”</p>
<p>A good example of this peril is provided by the outbreak of civil war in Syria and the subsequent collapse of that country in a welter of fighting and a wave of refugees of a sort that hasn’t been seen since World War II.&#160; Between 2006 and 2010, Syria experienced a <a href="http://www.npr.org/2013/09/08/220438728/how-could-a-drought-spark-a-civil-war" type="external">devastating drought</a> in which climate change is believed to have been a factor, turning nearly 60% of the country into desert.&#160; Crops failed and most of the country’s livestock perished, forcing millions of farmers into penury.&#160; Desperate and unable to live on their land any longer, they <a href="http://www.irinnews.org/report/85963/syria-drought-driving-farmers-to-the-cities" type="external">moved</a> into Syria’s major cities in search of work, often facing <a href="http://climateandsecurity.org/2012/02/29/syria-climate-change-drought-and-social-unrest/" type="external">extreme hardship</a> as well as hostility from well-connected urban elites.</p>
<p>Had Syrian autocrat Bashar al-Assad responded with an emergency program of jobs and housing for those displaced, perhaps conflict could have been averted.&#160; Instead, he cut food and fuel subsidies, adding to the misery of the migrants and fanning the flames of revolt.&#160; In the <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/112/11/3241" type="external">view</a> of several prominent scholars, “the rapidly growing urban peripheries of Syria, marked by illegal settlements, overcrowding, poor infrastructure, unemployment, and crime, were neglected by the Assad government and became the heart of the developing unrest.”</p>
<p>A similar picture has unfolded in the Sahel region of Africa, the southern fringe of the Sahara, where severe drought has combined with habitat decline and government neglect to provoke armed violence.&#160; The area has faced many such periods in the past, but now, thanks to climate change, there is less time between the droughts.&#160; “Instead of 10 years apart, they became five years apart, and now only a couple years apart,” <a href="http://www.npr.org/2013/09/08/220438728/how-could-a-drought-spark-a-civil-war" type="external">observes</a> Robert Piper, the United Nations regional humanitarian coordinator for the Sahel.&#160; “And that, in turn, is putting enormous stresses on what is already an incredibly fragile environment and a highly vulnerable population.”</p>
<p>In Mali, one of several nations straddling this region, the nomadic <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuareg_people" type="external">Tuaregs</a> have been particularly <a href="http://www.economist.com/node/21550324" type="external">hard hit</a>, as the grasslands they rely on to feed their cattle are turning into desert.&#160; A Berber-speaking Muslim population, the Tuaregs have long faced hostility from the central government in Bamako, once controlled by the French and now by black Africans of Christian or animist faith.&#160; With their traditional livelihoods in peril and little assistance forthcoming from the capital, the Tuaregs <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Mali_conflict" type="external">revolted</a> in January 2012, capturing half of Mali before being driven back into the Sahara by French and other foreign forces (with U.S. logistical and intelligence <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-expands-aid-to-french-mission-in-mali/2013/01/26/3d56bb5c-6821-11e2-83c7-38d5fac94235_story.html" type="external">support</a>).</p>
<p>Consider the events in Syria and Mali previews of what is likely to come later in this century on a far larger scale.&#160; As climate change intensifies, bringing not just desertification but rising sea levels in low-lying coastal areas and increasingly devastating <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/27/science/intolerable-heat-may-hit-the-middle-east-by-the-end-of-the-century.html" type="external">heat waves</a> in regions that are already hot, ever more parts of the planet will be rendered less habitable, pushing millions of people into desperate flight.</p>
<p>While the strongest and wealthiest governments, especially in more temperate regions, will be better able to cope with these stresses, expect to see the number of <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/colin-j-fleming/climate-terror-global-war_b_427608.html%20" type="external">failed states</a> grow dramatically, leading to violence and open warfare over what food, arable land, and shelter remains. &#160;In other words, imagine significant parts of the planet in the kind of state that Libya, Syria, and Yemen are in today.&#160; Some people will stay and fight to survive; others will migrate, almost assuredly encountering a far more violent version of the <a href="http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Refugees-Immigrants-Met-with-Racist-Violence-Across-Europe-20151023-0015.html" type="external">hostility</a> we already see toward immigrants and refugees in the lands they head for.&#160; The result, inevitably, will be a global epidemic of resource civil wars and resource violence of every sort.</p>
<p>Water Wars</p>
<p>Most of these conflicts will be of an internal, civil character: clan against clan, tribe against tribe, sect against sect.&#160; On a climate-changed planet, however, don’t rule out struggles among nations for diminished vital resources — especially access to water.&#160; It’s already clear that climate change will <a href="http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/12/16/study-climate-change-could-put-millions-more-at-risk-of-water-scarcity" type="external">reduce</a> the supply of water in many tropical and subtropical regions, jeopardizing the continued pursuit of agriculture, the health and functioning of <a href="http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2015/oct/22/why-water-running-out/" type="external">major cities</a>, and possibly the very sinews of society.</p>
<p>The risk of “ <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/oct/8/the-coming-water-wars/" type="external">water wars</a>” will arise when two or more countries depend on the same key water source — the Nile, the Jordan, the Euphrates, the Indus, the Mekong, or other trans-boundary river systems — and one or more of them seek to appropriate a disproportionate share of the ever-shrinking supply of its water.&#160; Attempts by countries to build dams and divert the water flow of such riverine systems have already <a href="http://e360.yale.edu/feature/mideast_water_wars_in_iraq_a_battle_for_control_of_water/2796/%20" type="external">provoked</a> skirmishes and threats of war, as when Turkey and Syria erected dams on the Euphrates, constraining the downstream flow.</p>
<p>One system that has attracted particular concern in this regard is the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahmaputra_River" type="external">Brahmaputra River</a>, which originates in China (where it is known as the Yarlung Tsangpo) and passes through India and Bangladesh before emptying into the Indian Ocean.&#160; China has already <a href="http://thediplomat.com/2015/04/water-wars-china-india-and-the-great-dam-rush/" type="external">erected</a> one dam on the river and has plans for more, producing considerable unease in India, where the Brahmaputra’s water is vital for agriculture.&#160; But what has provoked the most alarm is a <a href="http://japanfocus.org/-Brahma-Chellaney/2458/article.html" type="external">Chinese plan</a> to channel water from that river to water-scarce areas in the northern part of that country.&#160;</p>
<p>The Chinese insist that no such action is imminent, but intensified warming and increased drought could, in the future, prompt such a move, jeopardizing India’s water supply and possibly provoking a conflict.&#160; “China’s construction of dams and the proposed diversion of the Brahmaputra’s waters is not only expected to have repercussions for water flow, agriculture, ecology, and lives and livelihoods downstream,” Sudha Ramachandran <a href="http://thediplomat.com/2015/04/water-wars-china-india-and-the-great-dam-rush/" type="external">writes</a> in The Diplomat, “it could also become another contentious issue undermining Sino-Indian relations.”</p>
<p>Of course, even in a future of far greater water stresses, such situations are not guaranteed to provoke armed combat.&#160; Perhaps the states involved will figure out how to share whatever limited resources remain and seek alternative means of survival.&#160; Nonetheless, the temptation to employ force is bound to grow as supplies dwindle and millions of people face thirst and starvation.&#160; In such circumstances, the survival of the state itself will be at risk, inviting desperate measures.</p>
<p>Lowering the Temperature</p>
<p>There is much that undoubtedly could be done to reduce the risk of water wars, including the adoption of cooperative water-management schemes and the introduction of the wholesale use of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drip_irrigation" type="external">drip irrigation</a> and related processes that use water far more efficiently. However, the best way to avoid future climate-related strife is, of course, to reduce the pace of global warming.&#160; Every fraction of a degree less warming achieved in Paris and thereafter will mean that much less blood spilled in future climate-driven resource wars.</p>
<p>This is why the Paris climate summit should be viewed as a kind of preemptive peace conference, one that is taking place before the wars truly begin.&#160; If delegates to COP-21 succeed in sending us down a path that limits global warming to 2 degrees Celsius, the risk of future violence will be diminished accordingly.&#160; Needless to say, even 2 degrees of warming <a href="http://www.yaleclimateconnections.org/2013/12/hansen-2-degree-c-goal-for-global-warming-disastrous/" type="external">guarantees</a> substantial damage to vital natural systems, potentially severe resource scarcities, and attendant civil strife.&#160; As a result, a lower ceiling for temperature rise would be preferable and should be the goal of future conferences.&#160; Still, given the carbon emissions <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/may/06/global-carbon-dioxide-levels-break-400ppm-milestone" type="external">pouring</a> into the atmosphere, even a 2-degree cap would be a significant accomplishment.</p>
<p>To achieve such an outcome, delegates will undoubtedly have to begin dealing with conflicts of the present moment as well, including those in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Ukraine, in order to collaborate in devising common, mutually binding climate measures.&#160; In this sense, too, the Paris summit will be a peace conference.&#160; For the first time, the nations of the world will have to step beyond national thinking and embrace a higher goal: the safety of the ecosphere and all its human inhabitants, no matter their national, ethnic, religious, racial, or linguistic identities.&#160; Nothing like this has ever been attempted, which means that it will be an exercise in peacemaking of the most essential sort — and, for once, before the wars truly begin.</p>
<p>Michael T. Klare, a <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/176054/tomgram%3A_michael_klare,_tipping_points_and_the_question_of_civilizational_survival/" type="external">TomDispatch regular</a>, is a professor of peace and world security studies at Hampshire College and the author, most recently, of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/1250023971/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20" type="external">The Race for What’s Left</a>. A documentary movie version of his book Blood and Oil is available from the Media Education Foundation. Follow him on Twitter at @mklare1.</p>
<p>Follow TomDispatch on <a href="https://twitter.com/TomDispatch" type="external">Twitter</a> and join us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/tomdispatch" type="external">Facebook</a>. Check out the newest Dispatch Book, Nick Turse’s&#160; <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/1608464636/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20" type="external">Tomorrow’s Battlefield: U.S. Proxy Wars and Secret Ops in Africa</a>, and Tom Engelhardt’s latest book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/1608463656/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20" type="external">Shadow Government: Surveillance, Secret Wars, and a Global Security State in a Single-Superpower World</a>.</p>
<p>Copyright 2015 Michael T. Klare</p> | true | 4 | michael klare tomdispatchthis piece first appeared tomdispatch read tom engelhardts introduction end november delegations nearly 200 countries convene paris billed important climate meeting ever held160 officially known 21st conference parties cop21 united nations framework convention climate change 1992 treaty designated phenomenon threat planetary health human survival paris summit focused adoption measures would limit global warming less catastrophic levels fails world temperatures coming decades likely exceed 2 degrees celsius 35 degrees fahrenheit maximum amount scientists believe earth endure without experiencing irreversible climate shocks including soaring temperatures substantial rise global sea levels failure cap carbon emissions guarantees another result well though one far less discussed160 long run bring climate shocks also worldwide instability insurrection warfare160 sense cop21 considered climate summit peace conference perhaps significant peace convocation history grasp consider latest scientific findings likely impacts global warming especially 2014 report intergovernmental panel climate change ipcc160 first published report attracted worldwide media coverage predicting unchecked climate change result severe droughts intense storms oppressive heat waves recurring crop failures coastal flooding leading widespread death deprivation160 recent events including punishing drought california crippling heat waves europe asia focused attention impacts160 ipcc report however suggested global warming would devastating impacts social political nature well including economic decline state collapse civil strife mass migrations sooner later resource wars predictions received far less attention yet possibility future obvious enough since human institutions like natural systems vulnerable climate change160 economies going suffer key commodities crops timber fish livestock grow scarcer destroyed fail160 societies begin buckle strain economic decline massive refugee flows armed conflict may immediate consequence developments ipcc notes combine effects climate change already existing poverty hunger resource scarcity incompetent corrupt governance ethnic religious national resentments youre likely end bitter conflicts access food water land necessities life coming climate civil wars wars would arise vacuum160 already existing stresses grievances would heightened enflamed undoubtedly provocative acts exhortations demagogic leaders 160think current outbreak violence israel palestinian territories touched clashes access temple mount jerusalem also known noble sanctuary inflammatory rhetoric assorted leaders combine economic resource deprivation situations perfect recipe war necessities life already unevenly distributed across planet often divide access adequate supplies vital resources lacking coincides longterm schisms along racial ethnic religious linguistic lines160 israelis palestinians example harbor deepseated ethnic religious hostilities also experience vastly different possibilities comes access land water160 add stresses climate change situations naturally expect passions boil climate change degrade destroy many natural systems often already stress humans rely survival160 areas support agriculture animal husbandry may become uninhabitable capable providing greatly diminished populations160 pressure rising temperatures increasingly fierce droughts southern fringe sahara desert example transformed grasslands capable sustaining nomadic herders empty wasteland forcing local nomads ancestral lands many existing farmlands africa asia middle east suffer similar fate 160rivers supplied water yearround run sporadically dry upaltogether leaving populations unpalatable choices ipcc report points enormous pressure put upon often weak state institutions adjust climate change aid desperate need emergency food shelter necessities increased human insecurity report says may coincide decline capacity states conduct effective adaptation efforts thus creating circumstances greater potential violent conflict good example peril provided outbreak civil war syria subsequent collapse country welter fighting wave refugees sort hasnt seen since world war ii160 2006 2010 syria experienced devastating drought climate change believed factor turning nearly 60 country desert160 crops failed countrys livestock perished forcing millions farmers penury160 desperate unable live land longer moved syrias major cities search work often facing extreme hardship well hostility wellconnected urban elites syrian autocrat bashar alassad responded emergency program jobs housing displaced perhaps conflict could averted160 instead cut food fuel subsidies adding misery migrants fanning flames revolt160 view several prominent scholars rapidly growing urban peripheries syria marked illegal settlements overcrowding poor infrastructure unemployment crime neglected assad government became heart developing unrest similar picture unfolded sahel region africa southern fringe sahara severe drought combined habitat decline government neglect provoke armed violence160 area faced many periods past thanks climate change less time droughts160 instead 10 years apart became five years apart couple years apart observes robert piper united nations regional humanitarian coordinator sahel160 turn putting enormous stresses already incredibly fragile environment highly vulnerable population mali one several nations straddling region nomadic tuaregs particularly hard hit grasslands rely feed cattle turning desert160 berberspeaking muslim population tuaregs long faced hostility central government bamako controlled french black africans christian animist faith160 traditional livelihoods peril little assistance forthcoming capital tuaregs revolted january 2012 capturing half mali driven back sahara french foreign forces us logistical intelligence support consider events syria mali previews likely come later century far larger scale160 climate change intensifies bringing desertification rising sea levels lowlying coastal areas increasingly devastating heat waves regions already hot ever parts planet rendered less habitable pushing millions people desperate flight strongest wealthiest governments especially temperate regions better able cope stresses expect see number failed states grow dramatically leading violence open warfare food arable land shelter remains 160in words imagine significant parts planet kind state libya syria yemen today160 people stay fight survive others migrate almost assuredly encountering far violent version hostility already see toward immigrants refugees lands head for160 result inevitably global epidemic resource civil wars resource violence every sort water wars conflicts internal civil character clan clan tribe tribe sect sect160 climatechanged planet however dont rule struggles among nations diminished vital resources especially access water160 already clear climate change reduce supply water many tropical subtropical regions jeopardizing continued pursuit agriculture health functioning major cities possibly sinews society risk water wars arise two countries depend key water source nile jordan euphrates indus mekong transboundary river systems one seek appropriate disproportionate share evershrinking supply water160 attempts countries build dams divert water flow riverine systems already provoked skirmishes threats war turkey syria erected dams euphrates constraining downstream flow one system attracted particular concern regard brahmaputra river originates china known yarlung tsangpo passes india bangladesh emptying indian ocean160 china already erected one dam river plans producing considerable unease india brahmaputras water vital agriculture160 provoked alarm chinese plan channel water river waterscarce areas northern part country160 chinese insist action imminent intensified warming increased drought could future prompt move jeopardizing indias water supply possibly provoking conflict160 chinas construction dams proposed diversion brahmaputras waters expected repercussions water flow agriculture ecology lives livelihoods downstream sudha ramachandran writes diplomat could also become another contentious issue undermining sinoindian relations course even future far greater water stresses situations guaranteed provoke armed combat160 perhaps states involved figure share whatever limited resources remain seek alternative means survival160 nonetheless temptation employ force bound grow supplies dwindle millions people face thirst starvation160 circumstances survival state risk inviting desperate measures lowering temperature much undoubtedly could done reduce risk water wars including adoption cooperative watermanagement schemes introduction wholesale use drip irrigation related processes use water far efficiently however best way avoid future climaterelated strife course reduce pace global warming160 every fraction degree less warming achieved paris thereafter mean much less blood spilled future climatedriven resource wars paris climate summit viewed kind preemptive peace conference one taking place wars truly begin160 delegates cop21 succeed sending us path limits global warming 2 degrees celsius risk future violence diminished accordingly160 needless say even 2 degrees warming guarantees substantial damage vital natural systems potentially severe resource scarcities attendant civil strife160 result lower ceiling temperature rise would preferable goal future conferences160 still given carbon emissions pouring atmosphere even 2degree cap would significant accomplishment achieve outcome delegates undoubtedly begin dealing conflicts present moment well including syria iraq yemen ukraine order collaborate devising common mutually binding climate measures160 sense paris summit peace conference160 first time nations world step beyond national thinking embrace higher goal safety ecosphere human inhabitants matter national ethnic religious racial linguistic identities160 nothing like ever attempted means exercise peacemaking essential sort wars truly begin michael klare tomdispatch regular professor peace world security studies hampshire college author recently race whats left documentary movie version book blood oil available media education foundation follow twitter mklare1 follow tomdispatch twitter join us facebook check newest dispatch book nick turses160 tomorrows battlefield us proxy wars secret ops africa tom engelhardts latest book shadow government surveillance secret wars global security state singlesuperpower world copyright 2015 michael klare | 1,337 |
<p>I just got through watching Episode 5 of the Burns/Novick Documentary “The Vietnam War.” The title of the episode is: This Is What We Do (July 1967-December 1967) I am only going to make remarks about this episode. Please keep that in mind. I have probably watched 7 episodes of this 18-hour series. I felt that Episode 5 had a tremendous amount of information in it, along with some powerful historical footage. You can critique that information and put it under a microscope if you want to. But, I want to refine what I saw to write this article.</p>
<p>If I were a conservative Vietnam veteran, I would find this episode very disturbing. I have not forgotten my conservative upbringing. &#160;I was raised in the military. My father was a career Army Officer and combat veteran in North Africa during World War II.</p>
<p>The pathology of this episode was that the war was over by November 1967. Of course, you could say the war was over before it started. As someone on the left, I think most of us know this. The United States was nothing more than the identical twin sibling of French Imperialism. It is not that complicated.</p>
<p>So, I’m going to look at just this episode and I’m going to put another hat on that says, “Proud To Be A Vietnam Veteran.” If a Vietnam veteran is wearing that baseball cap when he is watching Episode 5, he might later become very depressed. If he was watching that episode with some other Vietnam veterans at a Vet Center, he might want to drive his car off a cliff when he left that Vet Center to drive home.</p>
<p>Now, why would he want to do that?</p>
<p>It’s 1969, and this veteran is in the Central Highlands of Vietnam with an Army unit attached to the 4th Infantry Division. His platoon is caught in an ambush in the mountains 15 miles South of An Khe. In a matter of minutes, 14 of his fellow soldiers are killed with AK-47 small arms fire. Four others are critically wounded, including both medics. Within minutes after the ambush, the Viet Cong vanished. The RTO (Radio Telephone Operator ) calls in Medevac helicopters from Fort Radcliff.</p>
<p>The Vietnam veteran who watched Episode 5, was on that mission, and lost three very close buddies, one of them on the helicopter during the flight back to 8th Field Hospital, who happened to be one of the medics. The two of them read each other’s letters from home. They knew every member of each other’s family, and had shared many pictures.</p>
<p>When this soldier returned to the United States, he suffered from many years of depression and lost just about everything due to his alcoholism. Eventually, he was able to sober up, and joined three communities that saved his life. Between AA, church, and the Vet Center, he was able to put his life back together. Twice a month, he meets with half a dozen close friends who are also vets, who share similar conservative values.</p>
<p>Now, let’s go back to Episode 5, and remember all the dead Marines who were killed near the DMZ, called, “Dead Marine Zone,” by one Marine who was interviewed in the episode. Remember, these Marines are not too empathetic about all the Vietnamese being killed. Because, at the time, their instincts are obsessed with moment to moment survival.</p>
<p>And then, there is Hill 875, involving the Army 173rd Airborne, also covered in the episode.&#160; A lot of Americans were killed and wounded on Hill 875. One of my best friends was on Hill 875. He put his best friend in a body bag, piece by piece. That experience has never left him. &#160;I see him occasionally in Salem, Oregon. He has devoted his life to helping veterans who get caught up in the criminal justice system because of their raging PTSD.</p>
<p>After soldiers of the 173rd finally got to the top of the hill, the enemy was gone, and the U.S. Military High Command decided to abandon Hill 875. Later, a U.S. commander said, “It wasn’t worth it.”</p>
<p>So, my friend who was on Hill 875 might be watching Episode 5, as I need to talk to him. I wonder what he has to say about it, although I have heard him express some very angry opinions in the past.</p>
<p>By November 1967, 20,000 Americans have been killed in Vietnam. Secretary of Defense, Robert McNamara is replaced by Clark Clifford. McNamara privately admits to President Johnson that he believes the war in Vietnam is unwinnable, and that is brought out in Episode 5.</p>
<p>Now, let’s go back to the Vietnam veteran who was in that ambush in 1969. He is the one who watched Episode 5. Let’s get this straight: President Johnson decides not to run for reelection in 1968, and President Nixon is elected. By the time Nixon leaves office in utter disgrace on August 9, 1974, over 58,000 Americans are killed in Vietnam. That’s 38,000 more dead after Robert McNamara tells President Johnson that the war in Vietnam is unwinnable. When the war is over, 300,000 Americans are wounded, and more Vietnam veterans will commit suicide than were killed in Vietnam. Can you imagine what is going through the head of that veteran who was ambushed in 1969 by the Viet Cong, and… by his own government? He went to Vietnam in a cattle car, riddled with bull shit. The Viet Cong tried to kill him, but they did not betray him like his immoral government. As Malcolm X once said: “To me, the thing that is worse than death is betrayal. You see, I could conceive death, but I could not conceive betrayal.”</p>
<p>Can you imagine what is going through the heads of every soldier who served in Vietnam after November 1967, when the war was over, and we stayed in that war under President Nixon to Save Face! Can you imagine what is going on with tens of thousands of Vietnam veterans who will be watching Episode 5? The war had its own momentum. How do you stop a war that is making millions and millions of dollars for corporations across the United States? For me, W A R stands for, Wealthy Are Richer. When politicians and the rich start sending their kids to war, I’ll start believing in noble causes.</p>
<p>When Episode 5 finished, it ended with the Rolling Stones playing, “Paint It Black.” When I got to Vietnam in 1970, as an Army medic, my naive little head was eventually catapulted into another world. My core belief system as someone who was raised in the military, was completely dismantled.</p>
<p>There was a Medevac helicopter in my unit that had the word, WHY painted on the nose in large white letters. I saw American teenagers die in Vietnam for absolutely no noble cause.</p>
<p>The philosophical denial part of me died a long time ago. And, for the millions of Vietnamese, Cambodians, and Laotians, who were killed in that war, along with millions who were wounded, and the physical and spiritual destruction of those countries, it will be a genocide that haunt the ages. The most powerful military force the world has ever seen, bombed the holy hell out of three of the poorest countries in the world. That is an immorality that is almost beyond comprehension.</p>
<p>America, you will get away with nothing…</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | got watching episode 5 burnsnovick documentary vietnam war title episode july 1967december 1967 going make remarks episode please keep mind probably watched 7 episodes 18hour series felt episode 5 tremendous amount information along powerful historical footage critique information put microscope want want refine saw write article conservative vietnam veteran would find episode disturbing forgotten conservative upbringing 160i raised military father career army officer combat veteran north africa world war ii pathology episode war november 1967 course could say war started someone left think us know united states nothing identical twin sibling french imperialism complicated im going look episode im going put another hat says proud vietnam veteran vietnam veteran wearing baseball cap watching episode 5 might later become depressed watching episode vietnam veterans vet center might want drive car cliff left vet center drive home would want 1969 veteran central highlands vietnam army unit attached 4th infantry division platoon caught ambush mountains 15 miles south khe matter minutes 14 fellow soldiers killed ak47 small arms fire four others critically wounded including medics within minutes ambush viet cong vanished rto radio telephone operator calls medevac helicopters fort radcliff vietnam veteran watched episode 5 mission lost three close buddies one helicopter flight back 8th field hospital happened one medics two read others letters home knew every member others family shared many pictures soldier returned united states suffered many years depression lost everything due alcoholism eventually able sober joined three communities saved life aa church vet center able put life back together twice month meets half dozen close friends also vets share similar conservative values lets go back episode 5 remember dead marines killed near dmz called dead marine zone one marine interviewed episode remember marines empathetic vietnamese killed time instincts obsessed moment moment survival hill 875 involving army 173rd airborne also covered episode160 lot americans killed wounded hill 875 one best friends hill 875 put best friend body bag piece piece experience never left 160i see occasionally salem oregon devoted life helping veterans get caught criminal justice system raging ptsd soldiers 173rd finally got top hill enemy gone us military high command decided abandon hill 875 later us commander said wasnt worth friend hill 875 might watching episode 5 need talk wonder say although heard express angry opinions past november 1967 20000 americans killed vietnam secretary defense robert mcnamara replaced clark clifford mcnamara privately admits president johnson believes war vietnam unwinnable brought episode 5 lets go back vietnam veteran ambush 1969 one watched episode 5 lets get straight president johnson decides run reelection 1968 president nixon elected time nixon leaves office utter disgrace august 9 1974 58000 americans killed vietnam thats 38000 dead robert mcnamara tells president johnson war vietnam unwinnable war 300000 americans wounded vietnam veterans commit suicide killed vietnam imagine going head veteran ambushed 1969 viet cong government went vietnam cattle car riddled bull shit viet cong tried kill betray like immoral government malcolm x said thing worse death betrayal see could conceive death could conceive betrayal imagine going heads every soldier served vietnam november 1967 war stayed war president nixon save face imagine going tens thousands vietnam veterans watching episode 5 war momentum stop war making millions millions dollars corporations across united states w r stands wealthy richer politicians rich start sending kids war ill start believing noble causes episode 5 finished ended rolling stones playing paint black got vietnam 1970 army medic naive little head eventually catapulted another world core belief system someone raised military completely dismantled medevac helicopter unit word painted nose large white letters saw american teenagers die vietnam absolutely noble cause philosophical denial part died long time ago millions vietnamese cambodians laotians killed war along millions wounded physical spiritual destruction countries genocide haunt ages powerful military force world ever seen bombed holy hell three poorest countries world immorality almost beyond comprehension america get away nothing 160 | 641 |
<p>Is Google making us stupid? Is Facebook making us lonely? Are robots going to steal our jobs? These, it seems, are the anxieties that afflict many today.</p>
<p>Capitalism is defined by the drive to maximize profits, and one of the surest paths to that goal has always been reducing the cost of wage labor. Hence, the constant push to increase productivity through new production techniques, automation, and now computerization and robotization.</p>
<p>Anxiety about the effects of capitalist technology on labor is as old as industrial capitalism itself. In folklore, one of the most famous representations of this unease is the legend of <a href="http://americanfolklore.net/folklore/2010/07/john_henry.html" type="external">John Henry</a>, a railroad worker who died trying to keep up with the prowess of the steam-powered hammer.</p>
<p>But now, worries about the obsolescence of the worker have reached a fever pitch. The confluence of wage stagnation, a jobless economic recovery, and rapid improvements in automation and artificial intelligence have stoked the fear of mass unemployment that has always haunted discussions of technology.</p>
<p>Widely circulated studies project that up to <a href="http://robotenomics.com/2014/04/16/study-indicates-robots-could-replace-80-of-jobs/" type="external">80&#160;percent of current jobs</a> are susceptible to automation in the near future. Some of this is hyperbole, but it is clear that automation is moving out of the factory and into the realm of intellectuals and writers — the very people responsible for producing much of the literature of techno-skepticism. (Hence the <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/media/2013/05/robots-artificial-intelligence-jobs-automation" type="external">timid plea</a> of Mother Jones writer Kevin Drum: “Welcome, Robot Overlords. Please Don’t Fire Us?”)</p>
<p>The socialist movement, and Marxism in particular, has a complicated relationship with the tools of capitalist production. Our challenge is to see in capitalism’s technical development both the present-day instruments of employer control and the preconditions for a future post-scarcity society.</p>
<p>The mainstream discourse tends toward the facile view that technology is a thing that one can be for or against; perhaps something that can be used in an ethical or unethical way. But technology in the labor process, just like capital, is not a thing but a social relation. Technologies are developed and introduced in the context of the battle between capital and labor, and they encode the victories, losses, and compromises of those struggles. When the terms of debate shift from the relations of production to a reified “technology,” it is to the benefit of the bosses.</p>
<p>Take, for example, the 2013 strike of San Francisco’s transportation workers. The San Francisco BART trains serve many of the Silicon Valley elites, who vented their frustration at being inconvenienced by a labor action. In the process, they <a href="" type="internal">attempted</a> to frame the strike as an argument about the merits of technology: the workers were supposedly resisting the introduction of time- and labor-saving technologies in the transit system.</p>
<p>The union, however, saw things differently. The workplace rules they were attempting to preserve were largely unrelated to implementing new technologies, and had to do mostly with things like “preventing BART management from making punitive work assignments to employees who have filed workplace complaints.”</p>
<p>The question, then, becomes how to incorporate technology into social thought and political strategy without treating it as external to social relations or falling into the crude techno-utopian versus techno-skeptic dichotomy, all the while recognizing that the technical mediations of labor and capital do have some relatively autonomous existence. Sometimes political struggles turn on the use of certain technologies, but they are never just about those technologies; they are ultimately about the balance of class power. What’s needed might be called “enlightened Luddism,” if that term can indeed be reclaimed.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/350725/Luddite" type="external">Luddites</a> were nineteenth-century English artisans known for smashing labor-saving machinery. Today, their name symbolizes either heroic resistance against repressive machines, or intransigent hatred of all technological progress.</p>
<p>It’s no surprise that the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a think tank funded by the likes of Google and IBM, bestows its Luddite Awards on those it deems insufficiently pro-technology. Yet the recipients are often more interested in advancing egalitarian social policy than in derailing technology; the report on the <a href="http://www.itif.org/publications/2014-itif-luddite-awards" type="external">2014 awards</a> denounces hotel regulation and dismisses concerns about privacy in health records.</p>
<p>The original Luddites are similarly misunderstood. As Marxist historian <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nnd2Pu9NNPw" type="external">Eric Hobsbawm</a> wrote in a 1952 article, machine breaking was a common tactic of labor resistance during the Industrial Revolution. Rather than directing their anger at technology per se, workers broke machines “as a means of coercing their employers into granting them concessions with regard to wages and other matters.” Such sabotage “was directed not only against machines, but also against raw material, finished goods, and even the private property of employers.”</p>
<p>The modern figure of the Luddite is valuable to capitalists and their ideologues for primarily rhetorical reasons: if workers can be portrayed as hostile to some method or device that has manifestly positive qualities, they can be dismissed as selfish or irrational. Never mind that in many cases, the problem is that useful and potentially emancipatory technologies are trapped within a capitalist integument, optimized to maximize private profit rather than social wealth.</p>
<p>That’s not to say the arguments of the tech titans aren’t logical on their own terms. From the standpoint of capital, there is little difference between machine sabotage and other kinds of labor action. For the owner of the machines, after all, their value is not in the specific thing they produce, but in how much money they return. A machine is just part of the greatest capitalist production process of all: M-C-M’, the method of turning money into more money by passing it through a process of hiring, producing, and selling.</p>
<p>As soon as a machine is bought, it costs its owner money: loans must be paid back, physical plants begin deteriorating, and new machines constantly threaten to make existing ones competitively unusable. Thus anything that slows down or stops production has the effect of destroying some of the value of the machine as capital, which to the capitalist is its real substance. Whether it is a <a href="https://libcom.org/history/flint-sit-down-strike-1936-1937-jeremy-brecher" type="external">sit-down strike</a> or a monkey wrench that stops production is immaterial, since in both cases value is destroyed. For owners, all worker resistance is Luddism.</p>
<p>Hostility to new technologies, the suspicious regard of all “innovation” as a capitalist plot, has a logic for labor, albeit a shortsighted one. The Luddites are often invoked as a talisman against all criticism of technology, a warning that it is impossible to resist the inevitable march of progress. This mystifies the politics of progress by draining it of its conflict and political stakes. But if worker resistance amounts to no more than standing athwart technical change shouting “Stop!” it can only preserve a thoroughly capitalist status quo.</p>
<p>Anti-technology leftism casts workers as intransigent conservatives, clinging to existing technologies that — if the crisis of industrial labor in the full-employment days of the 1960s and 1970s is any indication — are not particularly beloved. The industrial manufacturing that some now want to preserve was once considered a monstrous imposition on the prerogatives of craft labor. Moreover, resistance to technology encourages fragmentation, pitting workers against consumers, who appreciate access to the social wealth made possible by capitalist development.</p>
<p>An alternative strategy to resisting today’s technology is to address questions of class power and distribution. Some of the first socialists in the United States to directly confront this dynamic were communist autoworkers in Detroit, grappling with the impact of robotization. Nelson Peery, a radical autoworker in the <a href="" type="internal">League of Revolutionary Black Workers</a>, saw automation as a process that would render older forms of industrial organization irrelevant and herald a new stage of class struggle.</p>
<p>Of course, most autoworkers ended up with neither high-wage jobs nor a rising share in social wealth, as industry restructuring and de-unionization proceeded alongside the dismantling of the Keynesian welfare state.</p>
<p>So what would it mean to fight for social rights in a framework that moves beyond industrial nostalgia? The case of the West Coast <a href="" type="internal">longshoremen’s union</a> provides an illustrative example, both for its possibilities and for its limits.</p>
<p>Confronted with the automation and containerization of ports and the concomitant collapse in demand for labor starting in the 1960s, the port union struck <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/06/weekinreview/the-nation-the-100000-longshoreman-a-union-wins-the-global-game.html" type="external">a deal</a>. As New York Times labor reporter Steven Greenhouse recounted: “Management promised all longshoremen a guaranteed level of pay, even if there was not work for everyone.” The actual terms of the deal and the context in which it was struck were far from ideal, but demands like these highlight the need to carve out a little piece of post-scarcity within the wider capitalist world.</p>
<p>Dockworkers, of course, do not generalize well to the broader working class. Because of their strategic position at the choke points of commodity distribution, and their resulting ability to shut down large parts of the economy, they enjoy a strategic leverage that most of us lack. Moreover, they were ultimately unable to protect their bubble and have suffered a series of recent defeats. Winning a share of the fruits of automation for the rest of us requires victory at the level of the state rather than the individual workplace.</p>
<p>This could be done through a universal basic income, a minimum payment guaranteed to all citizens completely independent of work. If pushed by progressive forces, the UBI would be a non-reformist reform that would also quicken automation by making machines more competitive against workers better positioned to reject low wages. It would also facilitate labor organization by acting as a kind of strike fund and cushion against the threat of joblessness.</p>
<p>A universal basic income could defend workers and realize the potential of a highly developed, post-scarcity economy; it could break the false choice between well-paid workers or labor-saving machines, strong unions or technological advancement.</p>
<p>The strength of labor and the development of the forces of production, after all, are dialectically intertwined. Breathless robot hype aside, productivity growth in recent years has in fact been at historic lows, leading some pundits to warn of a “ <a href="http://books.google.com/books/about/The_Great_Stagnation.html?id=Aq7-tgAACAAJ" type="external">great stagnation</a>.”</p>
<p>One way to explain this is that when workers are cheap and controllable, it is easier for the boss to treat the worker herself as a machine than to find a machine to replace her. Thus, the strengthening of the working class both inside and outside the workplace becomes the force that pushes us toward the utopian ideal of a post-scarcity society and the abolition of wage labor.</p> | true | 4 | google making us stupid facebook making us lonely robots going steal jobs seems anxieties afflict many today capitalism defined drive maximize profits one surest paths goal always reducing cost wage labor hence constant push increase productivity new production techniques automation computerization robotization anxiety effects capitalist technology labor old industrial capitalism folklore one famous representations unease legend john henry railroad worker died trying keep prowess steampowered hammer worries obsolescence worker reached fever pitch confluence wage stagnation jobless economic recovery rapid improvements automation artificial intelligence stoked fear mass unemployment always haunted discussions technology widely circulated studies project 80160percent current jobs susceptible automation near future hyperbole clear automation moving factory realm intellectuals writers people responsible producing much literature technoskepticism hence timid plea mother jones writer kevin drum welcome robot overlords please dont fire us socialist movement marxism particular complicated relationship tools capitalist production challenge see capitalisms technical development presentday instruments employer control preconditions future postscarcity society mainstream discourse tends toward facile view technology thing one perhaps something used ethical unethical way technology labor process like capital thing social relation technologies developed introduced context battle capital labor encode victories losses compromises struggles terms debate shift relations production reified technology benefit bosses take example 2013 strike san franciscos transportation workers san francisco bart trains serve many silicon valley elites vented frustration inconvenienced labor action process attempted frame strike argument merits technology workers supposedly resisting introduction time laborsaving technologies transit system union however saw things differently workplace rules attempting preserve largely unrelated implementing new technologies mostly things like preventing bart management making punitive work assignments employees filed workplace complaints question becomes incorporate technology social thought political strategy without treating external social relations falling crude technoutopian versus technoskeptic dichotomy recognizing technical mediations labor capital relatively autonomous existence sometimes political struggles turn use certain technologies never technologies ultimately balance class power whats needed might called enlightened luddism term indeed reclaimed luddites nineteenthcentury english artisans known smashing laborsaving machinery today name symbolizes either heroic resistance repressive machines intransigent hatred technological progress surprise information technology innovation foundation think tank funded likes google ibm bestows luddite awards deems insufficiently protechnology yet recipients often interested advancing egalitarian social policy derailing technology report 2014 awards denounces hotel regulation dismisses concerns privacy health records original luddites similarly misunderstood marxist historian eric hobsbawm wrote 1952 article machine breaking common tactic labor resistance industrial revolution rather directing anger technology per se workers broke machines means coercing employers granting concessions regard wages matters sabotage directed machines also raw material finished goods even private property employers modern figure luddite valuable capitalists ideologues primarily rhetorical reasons workers portrayed hostile method device manifestly positive qualities dismissed selfish irrational never mind many cases problem useful potentially emancipatory technologies trapped within capitalist integument optimized maximize private profit rather social wealth thats say arguments tech titans arent logical terms standpoint capital little difference machine sabotage kinds labor action owner machines value specific thing produce much money return machine part greatest capitalist production process mcm method turning money money passing process hiring producing selling soon machine bought costs owner money loans must paid back physical plants begin deteriorating new machines constantly threaten make existing ones competitively unusable thus anything slows stops production effect destroying value machine capital capitalist real substance whether sitdown strike monkey wrench stops production immaterial since cases value destroyed owners worker resistance luddism hostility new technologies suspicious regard innovation capitalist plot logic labor albeit shortsighted one luddites often invoked talisman criticism technology warning impossible resist inevitable march progress mystifies politics progress draining conflict political stakes worker resistance amounts standing athwart technical change shouting stop preserve thoroughly capitalist status quo antitechnology leftism casts workers intransigent conservatives clinging existing technologies crisis industrial labor fullemployment days 1960s 1970s indication particularly beloved industrial manufacturing want preserve considered monstrous imposition prerogatives craft labor moreover resistance technology encourages fragmentation pitting workers consumers appreciate access social wealth made possible capitalist development alternative strategy resisting todays technology address questions class power distribution first socialists united states directly confront dynamic communist autoworkers detroit grappling impact robotization nelson peery radical autoworker league revolutionary black workers saw automation process would render older forms industrial organization irrelevant herald new stage class struggle course autoworkers ended neither highwage jobs rising share social wealth industry restructuring deunionization proceeded alongside dismantling keynesian welfare state would mean fight social rights framework moves beyond industrial nostalgia case west coast longshoremens union provides illustrative example possibilities limits confronted automation containerization ports concomitant collapse demand labor starting 1960s port union struck deal new york times labor reporter steven greenhouse recounted management promised longshoremen guaranteed level pay even work everyone actual terms deal context struck far ideal demands like highlight need carve little piece postscarcity within wider capitalist world dockworkers course generalize well broader working class strategic position choke points commodity distribution resulting ability shut large parts economy enjoy strategic leverage us lack moreover ultimately unable protect bubble suffered series recent defeats winning share fruits automation rest us requires victory level state rather individual workplace could done universal basic income minimum payment guaranteed citizens completely independent work pushed progressive forces ubi would nonreformist reform would also quicken automation making machines competitive workers better positioned reject low wages would also facilitate labor organization acting kind strike fund cushion threat joblessness universal basic income could defend workers realize potential highly developed postscarcity economy could break false choice wellpaid workers laborsaving machines strong unions technological advancement strength labor development forces production dialectically intertwined breathless robot hype aside productivity growth recent years fact historic lows leading pundits warn great stagnation one way explain workers cheap controllable easier boss treat worker machine find machine replace thus strengthening working class inside outside workplace becomes force pushes us toward utopian ideal postscarcity society abolition wage labor | 948 |
<p>Dear Person Deciding Whether or Not to Add the I,</p>
<p>After Spike Lee’s latest film Chi-Raq premiered, Chicagoans like myself witnessed why <a href="" type="internal">intentions aren’t indicative of outcomes</a>. By attempting to help “save Chicago,” the film relied on racist tropes such as <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rasheena-fountain/black-on-black-crime-the-_b_8228738.htm" type="external">the</a>myth that Black folks kill each other more than other races, instead of focusing on crime’s actual ingredients like structural racism, inequality, and poverty.</p>
<p>The film’s suggestion that Black women should withhold sex from men until they put down their guns was ignorant, sexist, and misguided.</p>
<p>Instead of highlighting the organizing against the <a href="http://www.modelsforchange.net/newsroom/419" type="external">school-to-prison pipeline</a>, <a href="http://www.usprisonculture.com/blog/2016/03/15/byeanita-and-justice4laquan" type="external">criminalization</a>&#160;of black and brown folks, and police brutality led by young Black, <a href="http://www.usprisonculture.com/blog/2015/12/03/a-love-letter-to-chicago-organizers/" type="external">especially queer Black and trans women</a>, Spike ended up supporting the narrative the Right uses to increase criminalization — the opposite of his stated intentions.</p>
<p>Sometimes when trying our best to <a href="http://www.thenation.com/article/chi-raq-reveals-spike-lees-outdated-race-politics/" type="external">do the right thing</a>, we might cause more harm.</p>
<p>Yet, when pondering whether or not to add the I to the ever-expanding LGBTQA+ acronym, there unfortunately isn’t a clear-cut answer.</p>
<p>Earlier this week, someone who started a GSA at their high school reached out to me on Twitter. They told me, “There was a person on Tumblr who is intersex who was saying it’s bad if we (LGBTQ) people include y’all in our community, is this true? I always thought the I was included?”</p>
<p>Their question illuminates the debate embedded in the act of adding the I.</p>
<p>Proponents of the move point to increased visibility, funding, and larger support for the intersex justice movement. But others point out that conflating intersex — <a href="" type="internal">a biological phenomenon</a> — with LGBTQ may have unintended consequences due to existing in a queerantagonistic culture.</p>
<p>It’s possible that, like Spike Lee’s film, this move could end up accomplishing the opposite of our goals.</p>
<p>The following is a list of considerations highlighting the pros and cons that I — a non-binary queer intersex person — find myself contemplating each time I’m asked about this question.</p>
<p>Being born intersex is a biological reality for <a href="https://www.unfe.org/system/unfe-65-Intersex_Factsheet_ENGLISH.pdf" type="external">up to 1.7% of the population</a>.</p>
<p>Intersex genetic variations – expressed usually in a person’s sex traits, like their chromosomes, reproductive organs, or anatomy – prevent intersex people like myself from being easily categorized as either entirely male or female.</p>
<p>As a result, many intersex people experience what surgeons euphemistically refer to as <a href="" type="internal">“cosmetic genital surgeries” to “normalize”</a> the appearance of our genitalia.</p>
<p>Not all intersex people have genitalia that is obviously intersex at birth. Yet, when it does happen, it’s important to note that it’s not a guarantee that the person will grow up to identify on the queer spectrum.</p>
<p>In fact, many often grow up to identify as heterosexual adults with no qualms about the sex or gender they were assigned with at birth.&#160;</p>
<p>As such, I’m unsure whether or not it makes sense to add intersex, a biological sex variation, to the LGBTQ+ acronym.</p>
<p>Intersex is our sex, the ship we steer throughout our existence, not a sexual identity.</p>
<p>It’s an embodied experience that’s already extremely difficult for non-intersex folks to understand. Adding the I could possibly make it more difficult to understand if folks begin assuming intersex is just another sexual orientation or identity.</p>
<p>Proponents of adding the I often point to queer and intersex people’s shared history of pathologization and exploitation by the medical industrial complex.</p>
<p>While this is true, it’s also true that intersex people have been treated by the medical community in vastly different ways. For example, intersex babies experience clitorectomies in this country, and abroad, every single day.</p>
<p>These clitorectomies, and other unnecessary genital surgeries, often take away people’s ability to reproduce, create hormones, and experience sexual pleasure.</p>
<p>And we’re not alone.</p>
<p>Almost every marginalized group – especially people of color, disabled folks, people with mental illness, and conjoined twins – have had similar violating experiences.</p>
<p>And yet, no one is pushing for these identities to be added to the LGBTQ+ acronym. It’s widely understood that these are unique experiences that deserve their own individual attention.</p>
<p>Thanks to the combination of intense stigma and shame, intersex people are often left feeling extremely isolated. As one intersex person recently said to me, “we’re unable to see reflections of ourselves anywhere in society.”</p>
<p>In contrast, conversation around LGBTQA+ identities has evolved into becoming a daily part of our national discourse.</p>
<p>Due to our experience of being hyper-pathologized by the medical industrial complex, our shame and isolation is not on par, I don’t believe, with most LGBTQA+ folks who aren’t intersex.</p>
<p>It’s true that adding the I to the well-established LGBTQA+ acronym definitely helps spread the message that we’re out here and that we exist.</p>
<p>Yet, is increased representation worth it if we have to camouflage parts of our identities and selves in order to fit into an established identity politic?</p>
<p>With representation, it’s important to ask who is being represented, who isn’t, and why.</p>
<p>For much of history, the face of the queer movement has often been white, cis, Christian, able-bodied, and heteronormative.</p>
<p>In 2001, <a href="http://srlp.org/about/who-was-sylvia-rivera/" type="external">Sylvia Rivera</a>, “a tireless advocate for all those who have been marginalized as the ‘gay rights’ movement…mainstreamed,” <a href="http://www.transadvocate.com/in-revolution-the-trans-terms-sylvia-rivera-used_n_13623.htm" type="external">argued</a> that, “Transvestites are the most oppressed people in the homosexual community… The only reason they [the mainstream gay rights movement] tolerated the transgender community in some of these movements was because we were gung-ho, we were front liners… We had nothing to lose. You all had rights. We had nothing to lose.”</p>
<p>What ripple effects will radiate from merging our movement with a mainstream gay rights movement that has a history of invisibilizing the work and identities of its most marginalized members?</p>
<p>At this year’s Creating Change conference, Reina Gossett and Charlene Carruthers challenged organizers and participants to understand that the conference was <a href="https://unicornbooty.com/black-feminists-take-down-police-ice-israeli-occupation-in-creating-change-2016-opening-plenary/" type="external">hypocritical and unsafe for LGBTQ+ people of color</a> because it invited a pink-washing Zionist group and Immigration Control Enforcement (ICE).</p>
<p>They called out the movement’s belief in, and reliance on, a criminal justice system that criminalizes, locks up, and kills LGBTQ+ Black people every day.</p>
<p>Instead of making institutions like ICE and occupations like the one in Palestine more “gay friendly,” they argued, we instead need to be fighting for queer liberation that doesn’t involve the police, military, or prison industrial complex.</p>
<p>Because of this, I have doubts about whether or not the mainstream LGBTQ movement would be a safe space for all Black and Brown intersex folks.</p>
<p>Are funding dollars worth forgoing safety?</p>
<p>For the majority of our movement’s history, we’ve had virtually no funding.</p>
<p>Since the I has been added more often lately, intersex activists and organizations all over the globe have seen new funding avenues open up.</p>
<p>I’m super grateful for this new source of funding that helps pay for the work that many intersex activists around the world have been doing pro-bono for far too long. But I wonder why we aren’t fundable alone as a movement?</p>
<p>I’ve always believed that the intersex movement should garner support from all types of people interested in funding human rights activism.</p>
<p>I’m not saying we should isolate ourselves and not work with others to achieve our goals of bodily autonomy and intersex justice.</p>
<p>But doesn’t it make sense to consider linking with other movements that have more similar experiences, and thus more to offer us – like the reproductive justice and disability rights movements?</p>
<p>Yet, people have to eat. And the reality is that funding hasn’t come without attaching ourselves to the LGBTQA+ umbrella acronym.</p>
<p>On the other hand, I don’t believe that non-profits and the traditional funding structure they utilize, which pools large sums of money and then distributes it in a competitive fashion, is a sustainable path forward in helping us reach our goals.</p>
<p>As <a href="http://coavp.org/sites/default/files/social%20service%20vs%20change.pdf" type="external">Paul Kivel</a> points out, there is a conflict of interest built into a non-profit industrial complex that has salaries paid out based on the inequalities it purportedly seeks to erase.</p>
<p>This catch-22 makes me skeptical about whether our movement will ultimately attain bodily autonomy and justice for intersex people via the non-profit industrial complex.</p>
<p>Recently, we’ve also seen more funding and awareness arise as a result of strategically reframing our movement as human rights struggle.</p>
<p>At the end of last year, the UN’s ’s high commissioner for human rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, met with a group of intersex activists and formally stated that intersex people are experiencing human rights violations&#160;with <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/azeenghorayshi/intersex-surgeries-human-rights-violation?utm_term=.dh1bOJJ2O#.jfELONNwO" type="external">genital normalizing practices often disguised as “medical treatment.”</a></p>
<p>This shift towards framing our movement in this context is smart – and it’s already paying off. The positive impact can be seen in the recent passage of <a href="http://tgeu.org/malta-adopts-ground-breaking-trans-intersex-law/" type="external">a law in Malta</a> that prevents doctors and from performing genital normalizing surgeries on intersex babies.</p>
<p>But if we add the I to the LGBTQA+ acronym, will our specific demands get lost amidst the demands of the larger LGBTQA+ movement?</p>
<p>How much can one umbrella really cover, before failing to prevent some rain from falling upon those huddled underneath?</p>
<p>Being one of the last kids to the move onto the LGBTQA+ block, we might (unintentionally) be left exposed to the elements a lot more than the other established letters.</p>
<p>Adding the I to LGBTQA+ may leave out most people in the intersex community because most don’t identify as queer, and possibly make some straight intersex people feel as though they have nothing to offer the movement.</p>
<p>But that isn’t my biggest fear.</p>
<p>Living in a queerantagonistic society means we have to be strategic with the choices we make regarding queer representation in the public.</p>
<p>Every day, we hear examples ranging from <a href="" type="internal">conversion therapy</a> to <a href="" type="internal">the senseless violence and murders</a> aimed mostly at working class trans women of color.</p>
<p>As such, my biggest fear with adding the I to LGBTQA+ is that it may have the unintended consequence of making parents of intersex babies assume their child will grow up to identify as queer, and as such, opt for surgeries as a twisted way of cutting away the gay.</p>
<p>Our community already has <a href="http://scholarship.shu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1006&amp;context=student_scholarship" type="external">evidence</a> to suggest that surgeries, <a href="https://rewire.news/article/2015/03/11/im-disturbed-screening-intersex-traits-utero/" type="external">and pre-natal screenings for intersex traits</a>, and subsequent abortions occur more frequently when the intersex child in question has a higher likelihood of growing up to identify as queer.</p>
<p>For instance, “ <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15371809" type="external">A study examining parental decisions</a> to have cosmetic surgery performed on genitals of girls with CAH found that a large percentage of parents ‘considered social or cultural factors such as ‘genital appearance’ or ‘sexual orientation’ to be important in making their decision.’”</p>
<p>There’s a need to have more conversation about whether or not implicating intersex with queerness may play into vile and queerphobic “treatment” of intersex kids.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>This obviously is a tricky question. As we move forward as a movement, I look forward to the conversations we will hopefully have as we grapple with this question.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>Pidgeon Pagonis a Contributing Writer for Everyday Feminism. They are an intersex activist based in Chicago, working to help create a world in which every intersex baby that’s born has the right to bodily autonomy.</p>
<p>Filed Under: <a href="" type="internal">Articles</a>, <a href="" type="internal">Posts</a> Tagged With: <a href="" type="internal">LGBTQIA</a></p> | true | 4 | dear person deciding whether add spike lees latest film chiraq premiered chicagoans like witnessed intentions arent indicative outcomes attempting help save chicago film relied racist tropes themyth black folks kill races instead focusing crimes actual ingredients like structural racism inequality poverty films suggestion black women withhold sex men put guns ignorant sexist misguided instead highlighting organizing schooltoprison pipeline criminalization160of black brown folks police brutality led young black especially queer black trans women spike ended supporting narrative right uses increase criminalization opposite stated intentions sometimes trying best right thing might cause harm yet pondering whether add everexpanding lgbtqa acronym unfortunately isnt clearcut answer earlier week someone started gsa high school reached twitter told person tumblr intersex saying bad lgbtq people include yall community true always thought included question illuminates debate embedded act adding proponents move point increased visibility funding larger support intersex justice movement others point conflating intersex biological phenomenon lgbtq may unintended consequences due existing queerantagonistic culture possible like spike lees film move could end accomplishing opposite goals following list considerations highlighting pros cons nonbinary queer intersex person find contemplating time im asked question born intersex biological reality 17 population intersex genetic variations expressed usually persons sex traits like chromosomes reproductive organs anatomy prevent intersex people like easily categorized either entirely male female result many intersex people experience surgeons euphemistically refer cosmetic genital surgeries normalize appearance genitalia intersex people genitalia obviously intersex birth yet happen important note guarantee person grow identify queer spectrum fact many often grow identify heterosexual adults qualms sex gender assigned birth160 im unsure whether makes sense add intersex biological sex variation lgbtq acronym intersex sex ship steer throughout existence sexual identity embodied experience thats already extremely difficult nonintersex folks understand adding could possibly make difficult understand folks begin assuming intersex another sexual orientation identity proponents adding often point queer intersex peoples shared history pathologization exploitation medical industrial complex true also true intersex people treated medical community vastly different ways example intersex babies experience clitorectomies country abroad every single day clitorectomies unnecessary genital surgeries often take away peoples ability reproduce create hormones experience sexual pleasure alone almost every marginalized group especially people color disabled folks people mental illness conjoined twins similar violating experiences yet one pushing identities added lgbtq acronym widely understood unique experiences deserve individual attention thanks combination intense stigma shame intersex people often left feeling extremely isolated one intersex person recently said unable see reflections anywhere society contrast conversation around lgbtqa identities evolved becoming daily part national discourse due experience hyperpathologized medical industrial complex shame isolation par dont believe lgbtqa folks arent intersex true adding wellestablished lgbtqa acronym definitely helps spread message exist yet increased representation worth camouflage parts identities selves order fit established identity politic representation important ask represented isnt much history face queer movement often white cis christian ablebodied heteronormative 2001 sylvia rivera tireless advocate marginalized gay rights movementmainstreamed argued transvestites oppressed people homosexual community reason mainstream gay rights movement tolerated transgender community movements gungho front liners nothing lose rights nothing lose ripple effects radiate merging movement mainstream gay rights movement history invisibilizing work identities marginalized members years creating change conference reina gossett charlene carruthers challenged organizers participants understand conference hypocritical unsafe lgbtq people color invited pinkwashing zionist group immigration control enforcement ice called movements belief reliance criminal justice system criminalizes locks kills lgbtq black people every day instead making institutions like ice occupations like one palestine gay friendly argued instead need fighting queer liberation doesnt involve police military prison industrial complex doubts whether mainstream lgbtq movement would safe space black brown intersex folks funding dollars worth forgoing safety majority movements history weve virtually funding since added often lately intersex activists organizations globe seen new funding avenues open im super grateful new source funding helps pay work many intersex activists around world probono far long wonder arent fundable alone movement ive always believed intersex movement garner support types people interested funding human rights activism im saying isolate work others achieve goals bodily autonomy intersex justice doesnt make sense consider linking movements similar experiences thus offer us like reproductive justice disability rights movements yet people eat reality funding hasnt come without attaching lgbtqa umbrella acronym hand dont believe nonprofits traditional funding structure utilize pools large sums money distributes competitive fashion sustainable path forward helping us reach goals paul kivel points conflict interest built nonprofit industrial complex salaries paid based inequalities purportedly seeks erase catch22 makes skeptical whether movement ultimately attain bodily autonomy justice intersex people via nonprofit industrial complex recently weve also seen funding awareness arise result strategically reframing movement human rights struggle end last year uns high commissioner human rights zeid raad al hussein met group intersex activists formally stated intersex people experiencing human rights violations160with genital normalizing practices often disguised medical treatment shift towards framing movement context smart already paying positive impact seen recent passage law malta prevents doctors performing genital normalizing surgeries intersex babies add lgbtqa acronym specific demands get lost amidst demands larger lgbtqa movement much one umbrella really cover failing prevent rain falling upon huddled underneath one last kids move onto lgbtqa block might unintentionally left exposed elements lot established letters adding lgbtqa may leave people intersex community dont identify queer possibly make straight intersex people feel though nothing offer movement isnt biggest fear living queerantagonistic society means strategic choices make regarding queer representation public every day hear examples ranging conversion therapy senseless violence murders aimed mostly working class trans women color biggest fear adding lgbtqa may unintended consequence making parents intersex babies assume child grow identify queer opt surgeries twisted way cutting away gay community already evidence suggest surgeries prenatal screenings intersex traits subsequent abortions occur frequently intersex child question higher likelihood growing identify queer instance study examining parental decisions cosmetic surgery performed genitals girls cah found large percentage parents considered social cultural factors genital appearance sexual orientation important making decision theres need conversation whether implicating intersex queerness may play vile queerphobic treatment intersex kids obviously tricky question move forward movement look forward conversations hopefully grapple question pidgeon pagonis contributing writer everyday feminism intersex activist based chicago working help create world every intersex baby thats born right bodily autonomy filed articles posts tagged lgbtqia | 1,026 |
<p>Army Spc. Natasha Scheutte, 21, was sexually assaulted by her drill sergeant during basic training.Mary F. Calvert/&lt;a href="http://www.zreportage.com/"&gt;ZReportage/ZUMA Press&lt;/a&gt;</p>
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<p>Editor’s note: Mary F. Calvert won the 2013 <a href="http://www.visapourlimage.com/female_photojournalist_award.do" type="external">Canon Female Photojournalist Award</a> for this body of work and it was shown at the <a href="http://www.visapourlimage.com/index.do;jsessionid=MT+NTrpZr8wN33Uc1iokam7v" type="external">2014 Visa Pour l’image</a> in Perpignan, France. Calvert also just won the <a href="http://http://www.alexiafoundation.org/blog/2014/09/03/announcing-the-2014-alexia-foundation-womens-initiative-grant-recipient/" type="external">Alexia Foundation 2014 Women’s Initiative Grant</a> to help fund her related project, Missing in Action: Homeless Female Veterans. She also was a co-winner (along with Mother Jones contributing photographer Marcus Bleasdale) of the W. Eugene Smith Award in Humanistic Photography for the work. Congratulations Mary!</p>
<p>Women in the US military are being raped and sexually assaulted by their colleagues in record numbers. An estimated 26,000 rapes and sexual assaults took place in the military in 2012, the last year that statistic is available; only 1 in 7 victims reported their attacks, and just 1 in 10 of those cases went to trial.</p>
<p>According to mental-health experts, the effects of military sexual trauma (MST) include depression, substance abuse, paranoia, and feelings of isolation. Victims spend years drowning in shame and fear as the psychological damage silently eats away at their lives. Many frequently end up addicted to drugs and alcohol, homeless, or take their own lives.</p>
<p>In 2013, Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) introduced the Military Justice Improvement Act, which was designed to change the ways the military prosecutes sexual-violence crimes and restricts commanding officer’s power to set aside or overturn convictions for sexual violence. But in March 2014, the bill fell 5 votes short of the 60 required to avoid a filibuster.</p>
<p>In May, the Department of Defense Annual Report on Sexual Assault in the Military for fiscal year 2013 found that reports of sexual assault were up 50 percent. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has implemented a variety of measures to combat sexual assault, including the examination of gender-responsive and appropriate military culture, a review of alcohol policies and sales, the evaluation and improvement of sexual-assault prevention and response training for commanders, and encouraging more male victims to report sexual assaults.</p>
<p>But the violence of rape and the ensuing emotional trauma are still compounded by what victims see as the futility of reporting the attacks to their commands. Take the case of Kate Weber, who says she was raped one week into an Air Force deployment to Germany when she was 18. After she reported the attack, she says she was stalked and harassed. “I just lost everything,” Weber says. “I know he was a repeat offender the moment he touched me. He was able to get away with it because the chain of command allowed it.”</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
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<p>US Army Spc. Natasha Schuette says she was sexually assaulted by her drill sergeant during basic training and subsequently suffered harassment by other drill sergeants after reporting the assault at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. Schuette’s assailant is serving four years in prison for assaulting her and four other trainees; she says she suffers from PTSD.</p>
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<p>While stationed in Bahrain, Brittany Fintel says she was grabbed and pinned down on a bed by a superior. She says she reported the assault and was told she had an “adjustment disorder,” was taken off the ship, and eventually left the Navy due to PTSD. “They kick the victim out. The victim is more fucked up in the head than apparently the rapist,” she says, weeping at her home in San Diego. Her PTSD service dog, Indiana, is never far from her side.</p>
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<p>Gary Noling stands in his daughter Carri’s bedroom in Alliance, Ohio, on the anniversary of her death. Noling says Carri Goodwin faced severe retaliation after reporting her rape to her Marine superiors. Five days after going home with a bad-conduct discharge, she died from drinking to excess. “It destroyed my family,” Noling says.</p>
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<p>Melissa Bania holds her banner before hanging it on the foot bridge across from the entrance to Naval Station San Diego. Earlier that evening, military sexual-trauma survivors had gathered at Brittany Fintel’s San Diego home to make banners inscribed with their sexual-assault experiences in the Navy.</p>
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<p>Jessica Hinves meets with fellow military rape survivors in Biloxi, Mississippi, while her son plays. Hinves was an Air Force fighter jet mechanic and says she was raped by a member of her squadron at Nellis Air Force Base. Her case was thrown out the day before the trial was to begin.</p>
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<p>Connie Sue Foss says she was raped while in the Army. She bears scars from punching a window during a PTSD episode and holds a molar she lost from grinding her teeth at night.</p>
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<p>Since the assault, Foss says hasn’t been able to hold down a job to care for herself and her daughter.</p>
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<p>Kate Weber says she was raped one week into an Air Force deployment to Germany when she was 18 and now suffers from severe PTSD. Here, she carries the uniforms of a fellow military rape survivor whom she’s helping move.</p>
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<p>Suzie Champoux mourns the death of her daughter, Army Sgt. Sophie Champoux, who committed suicide under suspicious circumstances after allegedly being repeatedly raped while in the military. Suzie places a picture of her daughter in a display case at her local Veterans of Foreign Wars chapter in Clermont, Florida.</p>
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<p>Dr. Nancy Lutwak, a VA emergency room physician in New York, opened up a room just for female vets so they could have a safe place to share their experience of being raped in the military and the health problems they face due to the assaults.</p>
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<p>Jennifer Norris says she was drugged and raped after joining the Air Force. In tech school, Norris says, she fought off the advances of other superiors. “It’s like being in a domestic-violence marriage that you can’t get divorced from,” she says. Norris reported the assaults, rape, and harassment and saw her attackers punished—but then says she endured a sustained campaign of retaliation by her peers at work. Now she suffers with PTSD and has become an advocate, counseling MST survivors in Maine.</p>
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<p>Tiffany Berkland and Elisha Morrow were sexually harassed by the same man when in basic training after joining the Coast Guard. “He haunts your person by day and your dreams at night,” Morrow says. They did not report the harassment for fear of being kicked out but came forward when they met a third victim. When their case went to trial, they met a fourth young woman who had been raped recently by the same superior. Berkland and Morrow say they’re guilt-ridden for not coming forward sooner.</p>
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<p>Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) is fighting to take military rape cases outside the chain of command. A recent Senate vote for her proposed Military Justice Improvement Act fell five votes short.</p>
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<p>Jennifer Norris testifies on Capitol Hill before a sparsely attended House Armed Services Committee hearing on sexual misconduct by basic training instructors at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio.</p>
<p /> | true | 4 | army spc natasha scheutte 21 sexually assaulted drill sergeant basic trainingmary f calvertlta hrefhttpwwwzreportagecomgtzreportagezuma pressltagt editors note mary f calvert 2013 canon female photojournalist award body work shown 2014 visa pour limage perpignan france calvert also alexia foundation 2014 womens initiative grant help fund related project missing action homeless female veterans also cowinner along mother jones contributing photographer marcus bleasdale w eugene smith award humanistic photography work congratulations mary women us military raped sexually assaulted colleagues record numbers estimated 26000 rapes sexual assaults took place military 2012 last year statistic available 1 7 victims reported attacks 1 10 cases went trial according mentalhealth experts effects military sexual trauma mst include depression substance abuse paranoia feelings isolation victims spend years drowning shame fear psychological damage silently eats away lives many frequently end addicted drugs alcohol homeless take lives 2013 sens kirsten gillibrand dny barbara boxer dcalif introduced military justice improvement act designed change ways military prosecutes sexualviolence crimes restricts commanding officers power set aside overturn convictions sexual violence march 2014 bill fell 5 votes short 60 required avoid filibuster may department defense annual report sexual assault military fiscal year 2013 found reports sexual assault 50 percent defense secretary chuck hagel implemented variety measures combat sexual assault including examination genderresponsive appropriate military culture review alcohol policies sales evaluation improvement sexualassault prevention response training commanders encouraging male victims report sexual assaults violence rape ensuing emotional trauma still compounded victims see futility reporting attacks commands take case kate weber says raped one week air force deployment germany 18 reported attack says stalked harassed lost everything weber says know repeat offender moment touched able get away chain command allowed 160 us army spc natasha schuette says sexually assaulted drill sergeant basic training subsequently suffered harassment drill sergeants reporting assault fort jackson south carolina schuettes assailant serving four years prison assaulting four trainees says suffers ptsd stationed bahrain brittany fintel says grabbed pinned bed superior says reported assault told adjustment disorder taken ship eventually left navy due ptsd kick victim victim fucked head apparently rapist says weeping home san diego ptsd service dog indiana never far side gary noling stands daughter carris bedroom alliance ohio anniversary death noling says carri goodwin faced severe retaliation reporting rape marine superiors five days going home badconduct discharge died drinking excess destroyed family noling says melissa bania holds banner hanging foot bridge across entrance naval station san diego earlier evening military sexualtrauma survivors gathered brittany fintels san diego home make banners inscribed sexualassault experiences navy jessica hinves meets fellow military rape survivors biloxi mississippi son plays hinves air force fighter jet mechanic says raped member squadron nellis air force base case thrown day trial begin connie sue foss says raped army bears scars punching window ptsd episode holds molar lost grinding teeth night since assault foss says hasnt able hold job care daughter kate weber says raped one week air force deployment germany 18 suffers severe ptsd carries uniforms fellow military rape survivor shes helping move suzie champoux mourns death daughter army sgt sophie champoux committed suicide suspicious circumstances allegedly repeatedly raped military suzie places picture daughter display case local veterans foreign wars chapter clermont florida dr nancy lutwak va emergency room physician new york opened room female vets could safe place share experience raped military health problems face due assaults jennifer norris says drugged raped joining air force tech school norris says fought advances superiors like domesticviolence marriage cant get divorced says norris reported assaults rape harassment saw attackers punishedbut says endured sustained campaign retaliation peers work suffers ptsd become advocate counseling mst survivors maine tiffany berkland elisha morrow sexually harassed man basic training joining coast guard haunts person day dreams night morrow says report harassment fear kicked came forward met third victim case went trial met fourth young woman raped recently superior berkland morrow say theyre guiltridden coming forward sooner sen kirsten gillibrand dny fighting take military rape cases outside chain command recent senate vote proposed military justice improvement act fell five votes short jennifer norris testifies capitol hill sparsely attended house armed services committee hearing sexual misconduct basic training instructors lackland air force base san antonio | 689 |
<p><a href="" type="internal" /> <a href="" type="internal" />In response to the establishment media’s contrived ‘fake news’ crisis designed to marginalise independent and alternative media sources of news and analysis, 21WIRE is running its own <a href="" type="internal">#FakeNewsWeek</a>&#160;awareness campaign, where each day our&#160;editorial team at 21st Century Wire will feature media critiques and analysis of mainstream corporate media coverage of current events – exposing the government and the mainstream media as the real purveyors of ‘fake news’ throughout modern history…</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /> <a href="" type="internal">21st Century Wire</a>says…</p>
<p>Amnesty International has released a report entitled, <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde24/5415/2017/en/" type="external">Syria: Human Slaughterhouse: Mass Hangings and Extermination at Sadnaya Prison.</a>&#160;It is the follow up to a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysgnadic3Yo" type="external">slick video</a> produced by Amnesty International back in August 2016. The timing of this report is crucial, as is the fact that Amnesty International has, for years, been exposed as a US State Department soft power tool and propaganda producer.&#160;</p>
<p>The report is produced at a critical juncture in the dirty war that has been waged against Syria for the last six years by the US, NATO and Gulf states, Jordan and Israel – all driving their geopolitical objectives in the region, primarily regime change and the weakening of the Syrian state. Amnesty International to the rescue with its formulaic damning report containing&#160;the now, familiar, absence of credible evidence or divergent views.</p>
<p>The following real events should be considered when evaluating the timing of Amnesty International’s propaganda release this week:&#160;</p>
<p>1. The liberation of Aleppo and Syrian Army military progress against NATO and Gulf State funded terrorists across Syria.</p>
<p>2. The Astana Peace Talks.</p>
<p>3. Russian-Turkish brokered ceasefire. Partially successful.</p>
<p>4. Tulsi Gabbard trip to Syria and her very successful “ <a href="https://gabbard.house.gov/news/press-releases/video-rep-tulsi-gabbard-introduces-legislation-stop-arming-terrorists" type="external">Stop Arming Terrorists”</a> bill.</p>
<p>5. Uncertain Trump policy on Syria, threatening to undermine US coalition, regime change objectives.</p>
<p>6. Syria’s pivot towards Russia and China [BRICS New Development Bank] for reconstruction of Syria, thus depriving NATO states of their usual mop-up profit and private sector benefits.</p>
<p>7. “Criminal” investigation will be largely sponsored by UK who are the deep state masterminds in the dirty war against Syria.</p>
<p>8.&#160;Two weeks before Geneva Peace talks are scheduled to begin, between Syrian government and the NATO/Gulf state funded opposition factions.</p>
<p>In so many ways, the defamatory tactics being deployed against Syria by western media, governments and NGOs like Amnesty International – are identical to the criminal operation which was carried out against&#160;the nation state of Libya in 2011.&#160;</p>
<p>The following report was made by Syriana Analysis, an independent research and analysis media outlet, based in Damascus.</p>
<p>“As many as 13,000 people have been executed at Saydnaya prison, north of the capital Damascus, a report by Amnesty International claims. Syriana Analysis addresses the shortcomings of Amnesty report and reveals its poor methodology that does not even meet the lowest mark of scientific or legal veracity.”Watch ~</p>
<p>Compilation of Articles Exposing Amnesty International as an Integral part of the NATO State ‘Smart’&#160;Power Industrial Complex &amp; the “Human Slaughterhouse” Report as a Hoax</p>
<p><a href="http://ahtribune.com/world/north-africa-south-west-asia/syria-crisis/1501-amnesty-international-syria.html" type="external">Amnesty International’s International Kangaroo Court Report on Syria,</a> by Rick Sterling:</p>
<p>“The Amnesty International report is a combination of accusations based on hearsay and sensationalism. Partially because of Amnesty’s undeserved reputation for independence and accuracy, the report has been picked up and broadcast widely.&#160; Liberal and supposedly progressive media outlets have dutifully echoed the dubious accusations. In reality this report amounts to a Kangaroo court with the victim being the Syrian government and people who have borne the brunt of the foreign sponsored aggression. If this report sparks an escalation of the conflict, which Amnesty International seems to call for, it will be a big step backwards not forward ….just like in Iraq and Libya.”</p>
<p><a href="http://landdestroyer.blogspot.fr/2017/02/amnesty-international-admits-syrian.html" type="external">Amnesty International Admits Syrian “Saydnaya” Report Fabricated Entirely in UK,</a>by Tony Cartalucci:</p>
<p>“However, there is another aspect of the report that remains unexplored – the fact that Amnesty International itself has openly admitted that the summation of the report was fabricated in the United Kingdom at Amnesty International’s office, using a process they call “forensic architecture,” in which the lack of actual, physical, photographic, and video evidence, is replaced by 3D animations and sound effects created by designers hired by Amnesty International.”</p>
<p>VIDEO: Amnesty International Fake News: Sadnaya Prison for Al Qaeda:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.activistpost.com/2017/02/amnesty-international-human-slaughterhouse-report-lacks-evidence-credibility-reeks-of-state-department-propaganda.html" type="external">Amnesty International “Human Slaughterhouse” Report Lacks Evidence, Credibility, Reeks Of State Department Propaganda,</a>by Brandon Turbeville</p>
<p>“The Amnesty International report is, at best, a faulty and poorly produced distortion of some disturbing reports from dubious sources, exaggerated for the purposes of demonizing Assad and the Syrian government. It simply cannot be believed and has no credibility whatsoever. The lack of understanding of Syrian culture, the straws being grasped when it comes to the satellite photos, dubious NGO influence, terrorist-linked sources, and lack of credible “witnesses” as well as the fact that virtually “evidence” being produced rests on these incredible “witnesses” all serve the purpose of destroying AI’s own propaganda before it can even get off the ground. Amnesty International may now officially join the ranks of Human Rights Watch in the running for which NGO and “human rights” organization can produce the most ridiculous yet effective propaganda against the Syrian government. Indeed, Amnesty International has long been known as a State Department propaganda organ designed to attack fake and even sometimes real human rights abuses of target governments. This new report has virtually no evidence to back up its claims and, until it can produce real verifiable evidence, the report itself must be disregarded.”</p>
<p><a href="http://angryarab.blogspot.fr/2017/02/amnesty-internation-report-on-syria.html" type="external">The Amnesty International Report – Response from Former Syrian Dissident</a>, by the Angry Arab Blogspot:</p>
<p>“This is about the Amnesty International report on Syria. &#160;Western human rights organizations–specifically Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch–don’t have any credibility among most Arabs about human rights. Their reputation has sunk far lower ever since the Arab uprisings in 2011, where they have been rightly perceived as propaganda arms of Western governments.</p>
<p>Nizar Nayouf (Syrian Dissident):</p>
<p>” The white prison is the one on the shape of Mercedes. It is the main building (the old and big). As for the red prison, it is the new and small [structure], and contrary to what is contained in the report–which it seems does not distinguish between the two. The first was inaugurated in 1988 while the second was not inaugurated until 2001. As for the main White building, it is quite impossible for it to accommodate 10,000 prisoners.&#160;We know it inch by inch, and know how much it can accommodate, at maximum, and assuming you put 30 prisoners in a cell like pickles (or Syrian style pickles, makdus), it can’t accommodate more than 4500 prisoners (in fact it was designed for 3000 prisoners). The red building is much smaller and is exclusive to public defendants among the military members (traffic, desertion, various criminal offenses, etc), and can’t accommodate more than 1800 prisoners, and even if you put 3 on top of one another…READ ON.”</p>
<p><a href="http://www.moonofalabama.org/2017/02/amnesty-report-hearsay.html" type="external">Amnesty International Report Hearsay,</a> by Moon of Alabama:</p>
<p>“A new Amnesty International report claims that the Syrian government hanged between 5,000 and 13,000 prisoners in a military prison in Syria. The evidence for that claim is flimsy, based on hearsay of anonymous people outside of Syria. The numbers themselves are extrapolations that no scientist or court would ever accept. It is tabloid reporting and fiction style writing from its title “Human Slaughterhouse” down to the last paragraph…”</p>
<p><a href="https://willyloman.wordpress.com/2017/02/08/the-farce-that-is-amnesty-internationals-human-slaughterhouse-study-it-is-quite-literally-fake-news-gone-viral/" type="external">The Farce that is Amnesty International’s “Human Slaughterhouse Study”: Quite Literally Fake News Goes Viral,</a> by Scott Creighton:</p>
<p>“All day yesterday, Amnesty International was trending on Twitter. Thousands of people left comments reflecting their outrage at Assad “the monster” and various news organizations published the baseless comments as news. It was a megaphone project that worked perfectly… for a little while. You’ll notice the story has been relegated to the back pages today and some publications&#160; have actually pulled their articles on it. There’s a reason for that. The AI report is complete and total bunk. It’s baseless, technically flawed <a href="http://www.moonofalabama.org/2017/02/amnesty-report-hearsay.html#more" type="external">and as they accurately reported over at Moon of Alabama</a>, it wouldn’t stand up in even the most rigged kangaroo court on the planet. Do you want to know many of those 13,000 victims of “torture, hanging and extermination” that AI has actual evidence of?</p>
<p>Zero.”</p>
<p><a href="https://timhayward.wordpress.com/" type="external">How we were Misled about Syria: Amnesty International</a>, by Tim Hayward:</p>
<p>“Since it is not just the strength of the condemnation that is noteworthy, but the swiftness of its delivery – in ‘real-time’ – a question that Amnesty International supporters might consider is how the organisation can provide instantaneous coverage of events while also fully investigating and verifying the evidence.”</p>
<p><a href="http://landdestroyer.blogspot.fr/2012/08/amnesty-international-is-us-state.html#_blank" type="external">Amnesty International is US State Department Propaganda,</a> by Tony Cartalucci:</p>
<p>“Amnesty does indeed cover issues that are critical of US foreign policy, toward the bottom of their websites and at the back of their reports. Likewise, the corporate-media selectively reports issues that coincide with their interests while other issues are either under-reported or not reported at all. And it is precisely because Amnesty covers all issues, but selectively emphasizes those that are conducive to the interests of immense corporate-financiers that makes Amnesty one of the greatest impediments to genuine human rights advocacy on Earth.”</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" />Infograph by Prof Tim Anderson, author of <a href="http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-dirty-war-on-syria/5491859" type="external">The Dirty War on Syria.</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.countercurrents.org/boyle231012.htm" type="external">Amnesty International, Imperialist Tool</a>, by Prof Francis Boyle:</p>
<p>“Once it became clear that there never were any dead babies in Kuwait as alleged by Amnesty International, AI/London proceeded to engage in a massive coverup of the truth. For all I know, the same people at AI/London who waged this Dead-Babies Disinformation Campaign against Iraq are still at AI/London producing more disinformation against Arab/Muslim states in the Middle East in order to further the political and economic interests of the United States, Britain, and Israel. Because of its Dead-Babies Disinformation Campaign against Iraq and its ensuing coverup, Amnesty International will never have any credibility in the Middle East!”</p>
<p><a href="http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/05/08/amnesty-international-whitewashing-another-massacre/" type="external">Amnesty International Whitewashing Another Massacre</a>, by Paul de Rooij</p>
<p>“Amnesty urges Palestinians to address their grievances via the ICC. It is curious that while international law provides the Palestinians no protection whatsoever, AI is urging Palestinians to jump through international legal hoops. It is also questionable to suggest a legal framework meant for interstate conflict when dealing with a non-state dispossessed native population. And of course, AI fails to mention that Israel has avoided and ignored international law with the complicity and aid of the United States.”</p>
<p><a href="http://dissidentvoice.org/2015/05/eight-problems-with-amnestys-report-on-aleppo-syria/" type="external">Eight Problems with Amnesty’s Report on Aleppo</a>, by Rick Sterling:</p>
<p>“There is little or no evidence provided regarding most of the alleged victims. Photographs and video evidence is provided for a small minority of the cases. The spokesman and advocacy director for VDC is Bassam al Ahmad. &#160;He is based in Istanbul and closely connected to the United States as shown in his recent participation in a “Leadership Conference” as shown in photograph #4 below.&#160;In short, Amnesty’s report and conclusions are based on dubious data from a biased source closely aligned with foreign powers actively seeking “regime change” in Damascus.”</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">George Soros Anti-Syria Campaign Impresario,</a> by Vanessa Beeley:</p>
<p>“In some countries, local NGOs also have been funded to mount “people power” campaigns. As in the recent “color revolutions,” these campaigns are aimed at opening up political regimes to opposition parties and ousting leaders who were holding onto power through irregular methods. Viewed more broadly, all these programs supporting NGO activities and capacity-building are seen as ways to foster the progressive emergence of a broad civil society, one that both supplements the state in providing for public needs and makes governments more responsive to their populations.” &#160;The gloves appear to be off. &#160;Here, the Wilson Centre is blithely exposing the NGO’s trojan horse policy with regards to its role as outreach agents for Imperialism in any resource rich or strategically important, prey nation. It explains perfectly the funding of the people power,&#160;time for change campaigns that run in synch with any regional or national schisms that are then piggybacked by imported or locally fostered&#160;opposition movements to propel&#160;the Imperialist friendly&#160;movements towards regime change.”</p>
<p><a href="http://journal-neo.org/2015/12/18/soros-plays-both-ends-in-syria-refugee-chaos/" type="external">Soros Plays Both Ends Against the Middle,</a> by William Engdahl:</p>
<p>“Another Soros-financed NGO active demonizing the Assad government as cause of all atrocities in Syria and helping build publc support for a war in Syria from the US and EU is Amnesty International. Suzanne Nossel, until 2013 the Executive Director of Amnesty International USA, came to the job from the US State Department where she was Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, not exactly an unbiased agency in regard to Syria”&#160;</p>
<p><a href="http://www.wrongkindofgreen.org/2013/12/06/amnesty-international-infamous-tool-of-conspiracies/" type="external">Amnesty International, Infamous Tools of Conspiracies,</a>&#160;by Wrong Kind of Green Files:</p>
<p>“Nayirah’s fairy tale is one of the many deceiving act of drama orchestrated by such organizations like “Amnesty International” designed to serve Washington’s political, security and military objectives of the US. Dr. Francis Boyle, one former Board Member of “Amnesty International”, disclosed that at the time the Security Council was voting in favor of the invasion of Iraq, and as they confessed later, was based on the false report by “Amnesty International”. <a href="http://dissidentvoice.org/2013/08/amnesty-international-war-propaganda-and-human-rights-terrorism/" type="external">Amnesty International, War Propaganda and Human Rights Terrorism,</a> by Gearoid O’Colmain:</p>
<p>“We must document crimes such as the massacre of Jaramana and &#160;expose those who attempt to cover for their perpetrators, not because they are violations of human rights but because they are violations of humanity and the social networks that sustain meaningful human relations. We must stand up for the human being and consign human rights to the dustbin of history.”</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Smart Power and the Human Rights Industrial Complex,</a> by Patrick Henningsen:</p>
<p>“Here we see a powerful public relations resumé, combined with established links to Washington’s foreign policy core, and at a time when multiple Middle Eastern nation states, like Libya and Syria, were being forced into submission under the yoke of US-led international pressure. Projecting Washington’s preferred narrative is paramount in this multilateral effort and Nossel would be a key bridge in helping to project US foreign policy messaging internationally through top tier NGO Amnesty.”</p>
<p><a href="https://ingaza.wordpress.com/syria/human-rights-front-groups-humanitarian-interventionalists-warring-on-syria/" type="external">Human Rights Front Groups Warring on Syria,</a> by Eva Bartlett:</p>
<p>“Amnesty does take money from both governments and corporate-financier interests, one of the most notorious of which, Open Society, is headed by convicted financial criminal George Soros (whose Open Society also funds Human Rights Watch and a myriad of other “human rights” advocates). Suzanne Nossel, Executive Director of Amnesty International USA, for instance was drawn directly from the US State Department …Amnesty International’s website specifically mentions Nossel’s role behind US State Department-backed UN resolutions regarding Iran, Syria, Libya, and Cote d’Ivoire… Nossel’s “contributions” then are simply to dress up naked military aggression and the pursuit of global corporate-financier hegemony with the pretense of “human rights” advocacy.” [citation from: <a href="http://landdestroyer.blogspot.ie/2012/08/amnesty-international-is-us-state.html#_blank" type="external">Amnesty International is US State Department Propaganda</a>]</p>
<p><a href="http://www.wrongkindofgreen.org/2012/10/01/suzanne-nossel-executive-director-of-amnesty-international-usa/" type="external">Suzanne Nossel Executive Director of Amnesty International USA,</a> by Human Rights Investigations:</p>
<p>“Given that Suzanne Nossel is an advocate for war, particularly against Israel’s enemies, and a firm believer in NATO and US power, what has this meant for Amnesty in the last few months?&#160;Well not surprisingly Nossel has used her platform as Executive Director to focus on the State Department’s current main concerns which are Syria and Iran as well as China and Russia, who through their membership of the UN Security Council and insistence on the principles of national sovereignty and non-aggression towards other member states constitute obstacles to US foreign policy.”</p>
<p>VIDEO: LIBYA: Amnesty International Confessing:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.wrongkindofgreen.org/2013/01/25/human-rights-geopolitics-and-the-union-for-the-mediterranean/" type="external">Human Rights, Geopolitics and the Union for the Mediterranean,</a> by Centre for Study of Interventionism</p>
<p>“The Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies is a key NGO within the Network and it is also a member of the International Federation of Human Rights.&#160; It was founded in 1993 by Bahey El Din Hassan who was elected member of the Executive Committee of the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network at its second meeting in 1997.&#160; In December 2011, he participated in a meeting of the Atlantic Council co-organised by the Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East dealing with Egypt which is his country or origin. (7) &#160;That meeting discussed the arrest of members of Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the National Endowment for Democracy who were accused of interference in Egyptian internal affairs.”</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>READ MORE SMART POWER&#160;NEWS AT: <a href="" type="internal">21st Century Wire Smart Power&#160;Files</a></p>
<p>READ MORE ABOUT MSM FAKE NEWS AT:&#160; <a href="" type="internal">FAKE NEWS WEEK</a></p>
<p>SUPPORT 21WIRE –&#160;SUBSCRIBE &amp; BECOME A MEMBER @&#160; <a href="https://21wire.tv/membership/plans/" type="external">21WIRE.TV</a></p> | true | 4 | response establishment medias contrived fake news crisis designed marginalise independent alternative media sources news analysis 21wire running fakenewsweek160awareness campaign day our160editorial team 21st century wire feature media critiques analysis mainstream corporate media coverage current events exposing government mainstream media real purveyors fake news throughout modern history 21st century wiresays amnesty international released report entitled syria human slaughterhouse mass hangings extermination sadnaya prison160it follow slick video produced amnesty international back august 2016 timing report crucial fact amnesty international years exposed us state department soft power tool propaganda producer160 report produced critical juncture dirty war waged syria last six years us nato gulf states jordan israel driving geopolitical objectives region primarily regime change weakening syrian state amnesty international rescue formulaic damning report containing160the familiar absence credible evidence divergent views following real events considered evaluating timing amnesty internationals propaganda release week160 1 liberation aleppo syrian army military progress nato gulf state funded terrorists across syria 2 astana peace talks 3 russianturkish brokered ceasefire partially successful 4 tulsi gabbard trip syria successful stop arming terrorists bill 5 uncertain trump policy syria threatening undermine us coalition regime change objectives 6 syrias pivot towards russia china brics new development bank reconstruction syria thus depriving nato states usual mopup profit private sector benefits 7 criminal investigation largely sponsored uk deep state masterminds dirty war syria 8160two weeks geneva peace talks scheduled begin syrian government natogulf state funded opposition factions many ways defamatory tactics deployed syria western media governments ngos like amnesty international identical criminal operation carried against160the nation state libya 2011160 following report made syriana analysis independent research analysis media outlet based damascus many 13000 people executed saydnaya prison north capital damascus report amnesty international claims syriana analysis addresses shortcomings amnesty report reveals poor methodology even meet lowest mark scientific legal veracitywatch compilation articles exposing amnesty international integral part nato state smart160power industrial complex amp human slaughterhouse report hoax amnesty internationals international kangaroo court report syria rick sterling amnesty international report combination accusations based hearsay sensationalism partially amnestys undeserved reputation independence accuracy report picked broadcast widely160 liberal supposedly progressive media outlets dutifully echoed dubious accusations reality report amounts kangaroo court victim syrian government people borne brunt foreign sponsored aggression report sparks escalation conflict amnesty international seems call big step backwards forward like iraq libya amnesty international admits syrian saydnaya report fabricated entirely ukby tony cartalucci however another aspect report remains unexplored fact amnesty international openly admitted summation report fabricated united kingdom amnesty internationals office using process call forensic architecture lack actual physical photographic video evidence replaced 3d animations sound effects created designers hired amnesty international video amnesty international fake news sadnaya prison al qaeda amnesty international human slaughterhouse report lacks evidence credibility reeks state department propagandaby brandon turbeville amnesty international report best faulty poorly produced distortion disturbing reports dubious sources exaggerated purposes demonizing assad syrian government simply believed credibility whatsoever lack understanding syrian culture straws grasped comes satellite photos dubious ngo influence terroristlinked sources lack credible witnesses well fact virtually evidence produced rests incredible witnesses serve purpose destroying ais propaganda even get ground amnesty international may officially join ranks human rights watch running ngo human rights organization produce ridiculous yet effective propaganda syrian government indeed amnesty international long known state department propaganda organ designed attack fake even sometimes real human rights abuses target governments new report virtually evidence back claims produce real verifiable evidence report must disregarded amnesty international report response former syrian dissident angry arab blogspot amnesty international report syria 160western human rights organizationsspecifically amnesty international human rights watchdont credibility among arabs human rights reputation sunk far lower ever since arab uprisings 2011 rightly perceived propaganda arms western governments nizar nayouf syrian dissident white prison one shape mercedes main building old big red prison new small structure contrary contained reportwhich seems distinguish two first inaugurated 1988 second inaugurated 2001 main white building quite impossible accommodate 10000 prisoners160we know inch inch know much accommodate maximum assuming put 30 prisoners cell like pickles syrian style pickles makdus cant accommodate 4500 prisoners fact designed 3000 prisoners red building much smaller exclusive public defendants among military members traffic desertion various criminal offenses etc cant accommodate 1800 prisoners even put 3 top one anotherread amnesty international report hearsay moon alabama new amnesty international report claims syrian government hanged 5000 13000 prisoners military prison syria evidence claim flimsy based hearsay anonymous people outside syria numbers extrapolations scientist court would ever accept tabloid reporting fiction style writing title human slaughterhouse last paragraph farce amnesty internationals human slaughterhouse study quite literally fake news goes viral scott creighton day yesterday amnesty international trending twitter thousands people left comments reflecting outrage assad monster various news organizations published baseless comments news megaphone project worked perfectly little youll notice story relegated back pages today publications160 actually pulled articles theres reason ai report complete total bunk baseless technically flawed accurately reported moon alabama wouldnt stand even rigged kangaroo court planet want know many 13000 victims torture hanging extermination ai actual evidence zero misled syria amnesty international tim hayward since strength condemnation noteworthy swiftness delivery realtime question amnesty international supporters might consider organisation provide instantaneous coverage events also fully investigating verifying evidence amnesty international us state department propaganda tony cartalucci amnesty indeed cover issues critical us foreign policy toward bottom websites back reports likewise corporatemedia selectively reports issues coincide interests issues either underreported reported precisely amnesty covers issues selectively emphasizes conducive interests immense corporatefinanciers makes amnesty one greatest impediments genuine human rights advocacy earth infograph prof tim anderson author dirty war syria amnesty international imperialist tool prof francis boyle became clear never dead babies kuwait alleged amnesty international ailondon proceeded engage massive coverup truth know people ailondon waged deadbabies disinformation campaign iraq still ailondon producing disinformation arabmuslim states middle east order political economic interests united states britain israel deadbabies disinformation campaign iraq ensuing coverup amnesty international never credibility middle east amnesty international whitewashing another massacre paul de rooij amnesty urges palestinians address grievances via icc curious international law provides palestinians protection whatsoever ai urging palestinians jump international legal hoops also questionable suggest legal framework meant interstate conflict dealing nonstate dispossessed native population course ai fails mention israel avoided ignored international law complicity aid united states eight problems amnestys report aleppo rick sterling little evidence provided regarding alleged victims photographs video evidence provided small minority cases spokesman advocacy director vdc bassam al ahmad 160he based istanbul closely connected united states shown recent participation leadership conference shown photograph 4 below160in short amnestys report conclusions based dubious data biased source closely aligned foreign powers actively seeking regime change damascus george soros antisyria campaign impresario vanessa beeley countries local ngos also funded mount people power campaigns recent color revolutions campaigns aimed opening political regimes opposition parties ousting leaders holding onto power irregular methods viewed broadly programs supporting ngo activities capacitybuilding seen ways foster progressive emergence broad civil society one supplements state providing public needs makes governments responsive populations 160the gloves appear 160here wilson centre blithely exposing ngos trojan horse policy regards role outreach agents imperialism resource rich strategically important prey nation explains perfectly funding people power160time change campaigns run synch regional national schisms piggybacked imported locally fostered160opposition movements propel160the imperialist friendly160movements towards regime change soros plays ends middle william engdahl another sorosfinanced ngo active demonizing assad government cause atrocities syria helping build publc support war syria us eu amnesty international suzanne nossel 2013 executive director amnesty international usa came job us state department deputy assistant secretary state exactly unbiased agency regard syria160 amnesty international infamous tools conspiracies160by wrong kind green files nayirahs fairy tale one many deceiving act drama orchestrated organizations like amnesty international designed serve washingtons political security military objectives us dr francis boyle one former board member amnesty international disclosed time security council voting favor invasion iraq confessed later based false report amnesty international amnesty international war propaganda human rights terrorism gearoid ocolmain must document crimes massacre jaramana 160expose attempt cover perpetrators violations human rights violations humanity social networks sustain meaningful human relations must stand human consign human rights dustbin history smart power human rights industrial complex patrick henningsen see powerful public relations resumé combined established links washingtons foreign policy core time multiple middle eastern nation states like libya syria forced submission yoke usled international pressure projecting washingtons preferred narrative paramount multilateral effort nossel would key bridge helping project us foreign policy messaging internationally top tier ngo amnesty human rights front groups warring syria eva bartlett amnesty take money governments corporatefinancier interests one notorious open society headed convicted financial criminal george soros whose open society also funds human rights watch myriad human rights advocates suzanne nossel executive director amnesty international usa instance drawn directly us state department amnesty internationals website specifically mentions nossels role behind us state departmentbacked un resolutions regarding iran syria libya cote divoire nossels contributions simply dress naked military aggression pursuit global corporatefinancier hegemony pretense human rights advocacy citation amnesty international us state department propaganda suzanne nossel executive director amnesty international usa human rights investigations given suzanne nossel advocate war particularly israels enemies firm believer nato us power meant amnesty last months160well surprisingly nossel used platform executive director focus state departments current main concerns syria iran well china russia membership un security council insistence principles national sovereignty nonaggression towards member states constitute obstacles us foreign policy video libya amnesty international confessing human rights geopolitics union mediterranean centre study interventionism cairo institute human rights studies key ngo within network also member international federation human rights160 founded 1993 bahey el din hassan elected member executive committee euromediterranean human rights network second meeting 1997160 december 2011 participated meeting atlantic council coorganised rafik hariri center middle east dealing egypt country origin 7 160that meeting discussed arrest members amnesty international human rights watch national endowment democracy accused interference egyptian internal affairs read smart power160news 21st century wire smart power160files read msm fake news at160 fake news week support 21wire 160subscribe amp become member 160 21wiretv | 1,641 |
<p>“My wife washed her face with rain water the day after they fumigated farmland about three kilometers from here and she started getting rashes on her arms and her body. That was a year ago. Now she’s very affected, she’s been diagnosed with lupus and is undergoing chemotherapy.” Jorge Mérola, a farmworker from Villa del Carmen in the middle of Uruguay’s soy region, speaks from the depths of a pain that is easy to understand, but almost impossible to relay to others.</p>
<p>A local doctor explained that the marks on Mérola’s skin are caused by “agrochemicals” sprayed over fields from small planes. “Six of my calves died with the same symptoms. They go stiff, they have no muscular mobility, and their jaws lock. The same thing happened to some neighbors,” he explains between long pauses.</p>
<p>When asked why he didn’t report what happened to his wife, Mérola reveals his abysmal distrust of authorities: “I didn’t want to report this to the Ministry of Livestock because a while ago there were a lot of fish dying in the Yi river, and their response was that it was because there wasn’t enough oxygen in the water. With that kind of response, I didn’t want to report anything.”</p>
<p>Mérola’s testimony is one of the many included in the video&#160;Collateral Damages&#160;(Efectos Colaterales), a documentary made by Redes Amigos de la Tierra Uruguay (Friends of the Earth in Uruguay) and the Programa Uruguay Sustentable (Sustainable Uruguay Program). Reporters Ignacio Cirio and Edgardo Matiolli led the production and it will be released in early February. It can be found on Radio Mundo’s&#160; <a href="http://www.radiomundoreal.fm/es" type="external">web page</a>. It’s the first visual work that presents proof of the serious human consequences of fumigations.</p>
<p>Breaking the Silence</p>
<p>All the workers interviewed by Cirio demonstrate a keen understanding of the changes in local production: the introduction of crops like soy and fumigation with agrochemicals, the spread of monoculture farming to such an extent that “you see yourself getting closed in on,” as Isabel Olivo, from the Rural Women’s Group Network, puts it. Despite being active in grassroots organizations, Olivo admits “you feel like you have no weapons to fight it.”</p>
<p>Mérola’s case shows the solitude of those affected by fumigations—a solitude characterized by the distance and absence of the State and the complicity of actors like doctors who should be playing an active role. In spite of the seriousness of what happened to his wife, Mérola did only one interview, on the Sarandí del Yi radio station, which Cirio picked up and turned into the beginning of his investigation. Today his project is one of the very few to break the silence.</p>
<p>“Those affected don’t see the State as an entity that guarantees their rights,” he affirms, after traveling hundreds of kilometers across the areas most affected by fumigations like Florida, Flores, Durazno, Paysandú and Salto.</p>
<p>“Professor Elsa Gomez filed a complaint after her school was sprayed two times in a row. When public health workers interviewed her, they demanded proof that would link the health problems with agrochemicals. The State doesn’t protect them, but it makes demands of them,” concludes Cirio. Gomez teaches in a small town in the province of Durazno. In Collateral Damages she explains how the planes sprayed pesticides just meters from the school over the course of several days in 2009 without anyone showing, at least publicly, the slightest sign of concern.</p>
<p>“There are many things that people don’t want to come out and say, because they’re neighbors, because they rely on each other, but I know of cases that have been covered up and I see how they go out to fumigate with broken equipment,” says Luis Ferreira, who was president of the school commission in Merinos, in the province of Paysandú. His son, like other children, has stomach problems and vomits every time the planes fumigate less than 100 meters away from the school.</p>
<p>In his film, Cirio interviews beekeepers who have watched their hives disappear, small-scale livestock owners and farmers, village neighbors, nurses and teachers who discover the consequences of agrochemicals for their students’ bodies. He didn’t interview any doctors. When asked about the silence of those who are aware of the situation and its causes, he reflects: “Businesses make deals with schools, social clubs and hospitals. The doctors don’t say anything.”</p>
<p>On several occasions the team that made Collateral Damages had problems with “mosquito” (a vehicle for land fumigation) drivers who saw them filming. Some of them got out of their vehicles and wanted to know what the piece was about. “They have orders not to let themselves be filmed,” Cirio concludes.</p>
<p>In spite of the difficulties, he found that rural and small town inhabitants were aware of the growing problem they are facing. This is because, among other things, “they are informed, they travel, they ask questions and, for this reason, they demand that the government carry out an in-depth study of the situation.” Onelia Dominguez, a nurse’s assistant in the town of Rincón de Valentín, believes that the workers don’t demand adequate working conditions because they’re afraid they’ll lose their jobs. She agrees with Cirio that “no one has ever come to investigate.”</p>
<p>Overcoming the Solitude</p>
<p>Although the indifference of both the government and the university is the main cause for the silence among the victims, this is also a population with little opportunity to make itself heard.</p>
<p>In March of 2001, the Uruguayan Ministry of Livestock, Agriculture and Fishing prohibited aerial spraying closer than 500 meters from schools and land spraying closer than 300 meters “to diminish the risk of exposure to intrinsically dangerous substances.” But to comply with the rules, someone must control or report abuses. Isabel Cárcamo, from the Red de Acción en Plaguicidas (RAP-AL), said, “We have had the experience of working with communities that find it very difficult to denounce the impact of fumigations, either because they have relatives working in crop-dusting or because it’s their livelihood, or because they live in small towns where everyone knows everyone and the business even ‘helps’ the community.”</p>
<p>It’s the same problem that the anthropologist Carlos Santos detected. Beekeepers, for example, “confront the dilemma of not reporting the death rate of the bees so they don’t get kicked off the place where they’ve been allowed to set up their hives or lose whatever space they have,” because filing a complaint causes trouble for the landowner who rents the land used for growing soy.</p>
<p>Dr. María Elena Curbelo pointed out that in the vicinity of Bella Unión, an agroindustrial city where she’s been working for 16 years, rice and sugar cane plantations are sprayed with pesticides. This has led to congenital deformities in newborns and year-round respiratory problems.</p>
<p>She affirmed that there are various cases of pediatric leukemia in the region. She recognized that “while there were fumigations on the edge of town and one part of the population wanted to complain, the workers preferred to not risk their jobs and the people opted to remain silent.”</p>
<p>Most people affected by fumigation live in small towns, where everyone knows each other and there exists a persistent “cultura de esperar”–a culture of expecting someone else to solve their problems. People look to rural bosses (caudillos), landowners, and now businessmen or the government. In Uruguay, they are small towns with between 400 and two thousand inhabitants.</p>
<p>The rural population is systematically declining throughout Latin America. Uruguay is perhaps the most alarming case– only five percent of Uruguayans live in rural areas. Adults between the ages of 50 to 65 represent 42% of the rural population. It’s not hard to conclude that the population is in a slow process of extinction. The model of production with its disastrous health effects adds to out-migration by making rural life inhospitable.</p>
<p>“The Ministry of Public Health can’t recruit doctors who want to live in these places. Under such conditions,” Cirio says, “there’s an awareness of the seriousness, but there are only a few isolated efforts made with little support from organizations or professional associations.”</p>
<p>Cárcamo insists that powerful interests are behind the silence surrounding the effects of agrochemicals. “There is no political interest. If there were, it would be necessary to question the country’s so-called production model and the use of biofuel, among other things. The issue will really only be exposed when a political decision is made. One example is the contrast between the aggressive campaign against tobacco, while nothing is said about the impacts of the daily ingestion of agrochemicals through food and water. And the worst thing is that smoking is something you can choose, but eating and drinking water aren’t.”</p>
<p>Brazil, World Champion in Agrochemicals</p>
<p>According to a recent report by the Movimento Sem Terra (MST), Brazilian society is more and more aware of the health problems caused by agrochemical contamination. “Toxins are one of the pillars that sustain the agribusiness production model,” the organization affirms. It defines the model as export-oriented and characterized by the expulsion of families from the countryside.</p>
<p>Since 2008, Brazil holds first place in world rankings of agrochemical use, even though it is not the largest agricultural producer. Billions of liters are poured onto crops, and this is a practice that even the MST has not escaped. In 2010, a national campaign against agrochemicals was born and created official entities like the National Cancer Institute (INCA), Fiocruz and the Sanitary Vigilance Agency. Specialists have no doubt that agrochemicals are related to cancer. According to the INCA, in the next two years one million Brazilians will be diagnosed with cancer and only six out of every ten of those affected will recover. Furthermore, there will be consequences for millions of people who experience a number of afflictions every year. In a recent conference in Rio de Janeiro, Joâo Pedro Stédile, MST coordinator, complained that in the movement’s settlements “there are instances of breast cancer in 13 and 14 year-old girls” (Carta Maior, December 20).</p>
<p>Brazil’s 2011 Human Rights report, released in December by the Social Network of Justice and Human Rights explains that each year 5,600 people are poisoned with agrochemicals while only half the cases are reported. Based on reports from the Ministry of Health, the report concludes that every year there are 2,300 “suicide attempts” made with agrochemicals. The southern region prides itself on agribusiness, but at the same time this model explains 75 percent of deaths there. This surprising revelation led various scientists to undertake field studies.</p>
<p>One study published in the Revista Brasileira de Saúde Ocupacional by the Ministry of Labor notes the connection between suicides and the massive use of agrochemicals because organophosphates, among other things, produce psychological disorders. “Scientific evidence shows that exposure to pesticides can cause irrevocable health damages. For example, advanced neuropathy is a result of overexposure to organophosphates. Indeed, exposure is associated with a long list of symptoms and with significant deficits in neurobehavioral performance and abnormalities in nervous system functions.</p>
<p>The journal of the Brazilian Association of Postgraduates in Public Health also published case studies based on a survey of 102 rural workers from Nova Friburgo. They concluded that there is a direct relationship between emotional and psychological disturbances and exposure to agrochemicals.</p>
<p>Argentina: Doctors in Fumigated Towns</p>
<p>In the agricultural cycle of 1990, the Argentine countryside received 35 million pounds of pesticides. In 2010, agribusinesses used more than 300 million liters of toxins. The numbers continue to grow. In 1996, when fumigation with glyphosate began, about two liters were used per hectare. By 2010, the figure had increased to more than ten liters, and there is some land fumigated with more than twenty liters per hectare.</p>
<p>This data was presented during the First National Conference of Doctors in Fumigated Towns, in August 2010 in Córdoba, Argentina. The conference was held by the Department of Medical Sciences of the National University of Cordoba. A hundred and sixty doctors from ten provinces and dozens of towns attended.</p>
<p>The conference led to the creation of the University Environment and Health Network, committed to following up on health problems created by agrotoxins.</p>
<p>The event’s final report states, “The doctors pointed out that, generally speaking, they have served the same populations for more than 25 years, but they find that recent years have been completely different, and they link the differences directly to systematic fumigation with pesticides.” Rodolfo Páramo, pediatric and neonatal doctor at the Malabrigo hospital in the Norte de Santa Fe reported the disturbing rate of twelve deformations of 200 births in 2006.</p>
<p>The neonatal service at the Perrando Hospital in Resistencia, Chaco, released its own statistics: in 1997, there were 19.5 deformities in every 10,000 newborns. In 2008, the number tripled to 85.3. In the same period, the land area planted in soybeans in the province quadrupled.</p>
<p>The final conference report took into account the many testimonies and reports presented and concluded, “It’s important to point out that official epidemiological reports are scant. According to what the doctors say —relying on their own figures acquired through observation— public health officials haven’t heeded the alarm from health groups and reports from the general population.” The Chaco report is “one of the only such reports generated publicly with interjurisdictional participation.”</p>
<p>Medardo Ávila Vázquez, coordinator of the medical network, stated that despite the scientific evidence presented, authorities from national and health care sectors are unwilling to accept reality and, in particular, unwilling to acknowledge the pathological changes in the rural population.</p>
<p>He decided to work with groups like the Mothers of Ituzaingó, a neighborhood group in Córdoba surrounded by soy where 300 out of 5,000 inhabitants have cancer, or the Stop Fumigating Collective that opted to protest instead of dying in silence. This group insists that “there is no controllable or safe fumigation,” which is why all fumigation should be stopped.</p>
<p>The Ituzaingó case shows that fumigations affect the poorest of the poor. Without organization and public protest, nothing will be gained. Back in 2002 the Mothers condemned “endosulfan and heavy metals in water tanks in people’s homes,” but to this day their children keep dying of leukemia and suffering from deformities.</p>
<p>Avila’s data is deeply disturbing. “There are more than 12 million people affected by fumigation in the country. In these areas, the rate of birth defects is four times higher than in the cities. Cancer is responsible for 33% of deaths in Barrio Ituzaingó—the leading cause of death— while in big cities the primary causes are cardiovascular problems, which accounts for 27% of the deaths, followed by cancer at 19%.”</p>
<p>Raul Zibechi&#160;is an international political analyst from the weekly Brecha de Montevideo, a professor and researcher on grassroots movements at the Multiversidad Franciscana de América Latina, and adviser to many grassroots groups He writes the monthly “Zibechi Report” for the Americas Program <a href="http://www.cipamericas.org" type="external">http://www.cipamericas.org</a></p> | true | 4 | wife washed face rain water day fumigated farmland three kilometers started getting rashes arms body year ago shes affected shes diagnosed lupus undergoing chemotherapy jorge mérola farmworker villa del carmen middle uruguays soy region speaks depths pain easy understand almost impossible relay others local doctor explained marks mérolas skin caused agrochemicals sprayed fields small planes six calves died symptoms go stiff muscular mobility jaws lock thing happened neighbors explains long pauses asked didnt report happened wife mérola reveals abysmal distrust authorities didnt want report ministry livestock ago lot fish dying yi river response wasnt enough oxygen water kind response didnt want report anything mérolas testimony one many included video160collateral damages160efectos colaterales documentary made redes amigos de la tierra uruguay friends earth uruguay programa uruguay sustentable sustainable uruguay program reporters ignacio cirio edgardo matiolli led production released early february found radio mundos160 web page first visual work presents proof serious human consequences fumigations breaking silence workers interviewed cirio demonstrate keen understanding changes local production introduction crops like soy fumigation agrochemicals spread monoculture farming extent see getting closed isabel olivo rural womens group network puts despite active grassroots organizations olivo admits feel like weapons fight mérolas case shows solitude affected fumigationsa solitude characterized distance absence state complicity actors like doctors playing active role spite seriousness happened wife mérola one interview sarandí del yi radio station cirio picked turned beginning investigation today project one break silence affected dont see state entity guarantees rights affirms traveling hundreds kilometers across areas affected fumigations like florida flores durazno paysandú salto professor elsa gomez filed complaint school sprayed two times row public health workers interviewed demanded proof would link health problems agrochemicals state doesnt protect makes demands concludes cirio gomez teaches small town province durazno collateral damages explains planes sprayed pesticides meters school course several days 2009 without anyone showing least publicly slightest sign concern many things people dont want come say theyre neighbors rely know cases covered see go fumigate broken equipment says luis ferreira president school commission merinos province paysandú son like children stomach problems vomits every time planes fumigate less 100 meters away school film cirio interviews beekeepers watched hives disappear smallscale livestock owners farmers village neighbors nurses teachers discover consequences agrochemicals students bodies didnt interview doctors asked silence aware situation causes reflects businesses make deals schools social clubs hospitals doctors dont say anything several occasions team made collateral damages problems mosquito vehicle land fumigation drivers saw filming got vehicles wanted know piece orders let filmed cirio concludes spite difficulties found rural small town inhabitants aware growing problem facing among things informed travel ask questions reason demand government carry indepth study situation onelia dominguez nurses assistant town rincón de valentín believes workers dont demand adequate working conditions theyre afraid theyll lose jobs agrees cirio one ever come investigate overcoming solitude although indifference government university main cause silence among victims also population little opportunity make heard march 2001 uruguayan ministry livestock agriculture fishing prohibited aerial spraying closer 500 meters schools land spraying closer 300 meters diminish risk exposure intrinsically dangerous substances comply rules someone must control report abuses isabel cárcamo red de acción en plaguicidas rapal said experience working communities find difficult denounce impact fumigations either relatives working cropdusting livelihood live small towns everyone knows everyone business even helps community problem anthropologist carlos santos detected beekeepers example confront dilemma reporting death rate bees dont get kicked place theyve allowed set hives lose whatever space filing complaint causes trouble landowner rents land used growing soy dr maría elena curbelo pointed vicinity bella unión agroindustrial city shes working 16 years rice sugar cane plantations sprayed pesticides led congenital deformities newborns yearround respiratory problems affirmed various cases pediatric leukemia region recognized fumigations edge town one part population wanted complain workers preferred risk jobs people opted remain silent people affected fumigation live small towns everyone knows exists persistent cultura de esperara culture expecting someone else solve problems people look rural bosses caudillos landowners businessmen government uruguay small towns 400 two thousand inhabitants rural population systematically declining throughout latin america uruguay perhaps alarming case five percent uruguayans live rural areas adults ages 50 65 represent 42 rural population hard conclude population slow process extinction model production disastrous health effects adds outmigration making rural life inhospitable ministry public health cant recruit doctors want live places conditions cirio says theres awareness seriousness isolated efforts made little support organizations professional associations cárcamo insists powerful interests behind silence surrounding effects agrochemicals political interest would necessary question countrys socalled production model use biofuel among things issue really exposed political decision made one example contrast aggressive campaign tobacco nothing said impacts daily ingestion agrochemicals food water worst thing smoking something choose eating drinking water arent brazil world champion agrochemicals according recent report movimento sem terra mst brazilian society aware health problems caused agrochemical contamination toxins one pillars sustain agribusiness production model organization affirms defines model exportoriented characterized expulsion families countryside since 2008 brazil holds first place world rankings agrochemical use even though largest agricultural producer billions liters poured onto crops practice even mst escaped 2010 national campaign agrochemicals born created official entities like national cancer institute inca fiocruz sanitary vigilance agency specialists doubt agrochemicals related cancer according inca next two years one million brazilians diagnosed cancer six every ten affected recover furthermore consequences millions people experience number afflictions every year recent conference rio de janeiro joâo pedro stédile mst coordinator complained movements settlements instances breast cancer 13 14 yearold girls carta maior december 20 brazils 2011 human rights report released december social network justice human rights explains year 5600 people poisoned agrochemicals half cases reported based reports ministry health report concludes every year 2300 suicide attempts made agrochemicals southern region prides agribusiness time model explains 75 percent deaths surprising revelation led various scientists undertake field studies one study published revista brasileira de saúde ocupacional ministry labor notes connection suicides massive use agrochemicals organophosphates among things produce psychological disorders scientific evidence shows exposure pesticides cause irrevocable health damages example advanced neuropathy result overexposure organophosphates indeed exposure associated long list symptoms significant deficits neurobehavioral performance abnormalities nervous system functions journal brazilian association postgraduates public health also published case studies based survey 102 rural workers nova friburgo concluded direct relationship emotional psychological disturbances exposure agrochemicals argentina doctors fumigated towns agricultural cycle 1990 argentine countryside received 35 million pounds pesticides 2010 agribusinesses used 300 million liters toxins numbers continue grow 1996 fumigation glyphosate began two liters used per hectare 2010 figure increased ten liters land fumigated twenty liters per hectare data presented first national conference doctors fumigated towns august 2010 córdoba argentina conference held department medical sciences national university cordoba hundred sixty doctors ten provinces dozens towns attended conference led creation university environment health network committed following health problems created agrotoxins events final report states doctors pointed generally speaking served populations 25 years find recent years completely different link differences directly systematic fumigation pesticides rodolfo páramo pediatric neonatal doctor malabrigo hospital norte de santa fe reported disturbing rate twelve deformations 200 births 2006 neonatal service perrando hospital resistencia chaco released statistics 1997 195 deformities every 10000 newborns 2008 number tripled 853 period land area planted soybeans province quadrupled final conference report took account many testimonies reports presented concluded important point official epidemiological reports scant according doctors say relying figures acquired observation public health officials havent heeded alarm health groups reports general population chaco report one reports generated publicly interjurisdictional participation medardo Ávila vázquez coordinator medical network stated despite scientific evidence presented authorities national health care sectors unwilling accept reality particular unwilling acknowledge pathological changes rural population decided work groups like mothers ituzaingó neighborhood group córdoba surrounded soy 300 5000 inhabitants cancer stop fumigating collective opted protest instead dying silence group insists controllable safe fumigation fumigation stopped ituzaingó case shows fumigations affect poorest poor without organization public protest nothing gained back 2002 mothers condemned endosulfan heavy metals water tanks peoples homes day children keep dying leukemia suffering deformities avilas data deeply disturbing 12 million people affected fumigation country areas rate birth defects four times higher cities cancer responsible 33 deaths barrio ituzaingóthe leading cause death big cities primary causes cardiovascular problems accounts 27 deaths followed cancer 19 raul zibechi160is international political analyst weekly brecha de montevideo professor researcher grassroots movements multiversidad franciscana de américa latina adviser many grassroots groups writes monthly zibechi report americas program httpwwwcipamericasorg | 1,385 |
<p>My God, these people are shameless.</p>
<p>Shameless, craven, and sick.</p>
<p>Donald Trump, that sunlamped mediocrity, his stomach bloated with the flesh of half-digested extinct species, his third-rate combover hardened to a bomb-resistant sheen &#160;with seven layers of biohazard compounds—you know, Donald Trump–lumbers onto the rostrum of the United Nations, in one of those god-damn too-long neckties he wears down to crotch level because some cute stylist in 1983 told him it was “slimming,” and in front of God and mankind he openly threatens to commit genocide against twenty-five million innocent people.</p>
<p>I find that to be a rather strange thing to do.</p>
<p>What made it even stranger was the way this nauseating moron enjoyed himself.&#160;&#160; Right after he indulged himself in the Oscar Wilde witticism of calling the head of North Korea “Rocket Man,” he paused for a little inward giggle–what a naughty boy I am—-boy oh boy, Mommy will be so ticked off! &#160;And Daddy likes it when I make Mommy mad!</p>
<p>I won’t describe it further.&#160; If you saw it, you know.&#160; If you didn’t, you can imagine it.&#160; You know—Donald Trump.&#160; But this was acid-trip Trump, Trump as flat-out Jack D. Ripper, co-starring the entire rest of the planet Earth as the hapless Group Captain Mandrake.&#160; Beyond a certain point, of course, his actual blatherings at the rostrum didn’t matter. Picture Trump reading a few words off one teleprompter, then slowly and clumsily swinging his whole putrid bulk around so as to face the other teleprompter, and to everyone in the General Assembly, listening to the simultaneous translation in their headphones, it must’ve sounded like:</p>
<p>“Do you realize that in addition to fluoridating water, why, there are studies underway to fluoridate salt, flour, fruit juices, soup, sugar, milk, ice cream? Ice cream, Mandrake? Children’s ice cream!…You know when fluoridation began?…1946. 1946, Mandrake. How does that coincide with your post-war Commie conspiracy, huh? It’s incredibly obvious, isn’t it? A foreign substance is introduced into our precious bodily fluids without the knowledge of the individual, and certainly without any choice. That’s the way your hard-core Commie works. I first became aware of it, Mandrake, during the physical act of love…Yes, a profound sense of fatigue, a feeling of emptiness followed. Luckily I was able to interpret these feelings correctly. Loss of essence. I can assure you it has not recurred, Mandrake. Women, er, women sense my power, and they seek the life essence. I do not avoid women, Mandrake…but I do deny them my essence.”</p>
<p>Only the great Terry Southern could’ve scripted it: an American madman standing in front of the nations of this world in all his naked, toxic, Other-hating Old Glory, for all intents and purposes telling the assembled dignitaries that yes, women seek his life essence, but he denies it to them, because of that feeling of emptiness which follows the physical act of love…</p>
<p>…And by the way, I may want to kill twenty-five million people.</p>
<p>You wondered how this sickest of all sick Trump tropes would be dissected by those scalpel-wits at MSNBC.&#160; Surely this would be an opportunity for them to have some cheap pulpy fun at Trump’s expense? After all, this is the network that employs Joy Reid, who is so desperate to red-bait Trump that she insists on pretending that Russia is still a communist country.&#160; Surely they would seize upon Trump’s genocide threat to lay bare the horror of the entire speech.</p>
<p>Actually, they loved it.</p>
<p>Brian Williams—the man who contorted a Leonard Cohen lyric so he could rhapsodize about the beauty of American bombs—had two “experts” on to break down the speech.&#160; And how Williams’ voice quavered with patriotic fervor as he announced them—-we are in the presence of greatness!—-“John Negroponte and Colonel Jack Jacobs.”</p>
<p>Negroponte, of course, is famous for being Our Man in Honduras in the 1980s, a tough job that required a lot of co-ordinating with death squads and torturers, many of whom spoke limited English.&#160; He always played dumb when called to testify before Congress, but as The National Catholic Register reported, he “deceptively downplayed human rights violations, and played a key role in supporting the activities of Battalion 316, a CIA-backed Honduran-based regional counterinsurgency unit subsequently found to be among the cruelest of the cruel.”</p>
<p>Oh, in addition to his crimes against humanity, Negroponte also endorsed Hillary Clinton, who obviously shared his interest in perpetuating mass suffering among nonwhite, non-loyal Hondurans. And she trumpeted his endorsement loudly, as she did with Henry Kissinger. Not that there’s anything tone-deaf about that.</p>
<p>It turns out that old John Negroponte was very impressed with Trump’s speech—only Benjamin Netanyahu was more girlish in his excitement.&#160; But surely Jack Jacobs, decorated war hero, would call out the insanity of threatening to commit war crimes in a speech at The United Nations.&#160; And Williams teed it up for him, asking Jacobs how America could start to “walk back” Trump’s Jack D. Ripper idiocy.</p>
<p>I don’t think we do want to walk it back, said Colonel Jacobs.&#160; He too felt good about the speech.&#160; The way it showed our toughness.&#160; Our resolve.</p>
<p>Our bipartisan resolve, he might’ve added, because it turns out that he too was a Hillary supporter.&#160; And wasn’t Hillary the one who threatened to “obliterate” Iran?</p>
<p>Look, MSNBC, I understand: it’s been a tough week for you.&#160; Hurricanes and earthquakes have occasionally forced you to steal time and attention from the latest Robert Mueller deposition.&#160;&#160; But you may have inadvertently done us a great service: in real time, you helped us connect the genocidal madness of Donald Trump, via the connections of two neo-con hacks, directly back to Hillary Clinton.&#160; Which is a fancy way of saying-—heck, we’re all Americans, at the end of the dayTo quote a great American,&#160; “God willing, we will prevail, in peace and freedom from fear, and in true health, through the purity and essence of our natural bodily fluids.”</p> | true | 4 | god people shameless shameless craven sick donald trump sunlamped mediocrity stomach bloated flesh halfdigested extinct species thirdrate combover hardened bombresistant sheen 160with seven layers biohazard compoundsyou know donald trumplumbers onto rostrum united nations one goddamn toolong neckties wears crotch level cute stylist 1983 told slimming front god mankind openly threatens commit genocide twentyfive million innocent people find rather strange thing made even stranger way nauseating moron enjoyed himself160160 right indulged oscar wilde witticism calling head north korea rocket man paused little inward gigglewhat naughty boy amboy oh boy mommy ticked 160and daddy likes make mommy mad wont describe further160 saw know160 didnt imagine it160 knowdonald trump160 acidtrip trump trump flatout jack ripper costarring entire rest planet earth hapless group captain mandrake160 beyond certain point course actual blatherings rostrum didnt matter picture trump reading words one teleprompter slowly clumsily swinging whole putrid bulk around face teleprompter everyone general assembly listening simultaneous translation headphones mustve sounded like realize addition fluoridating water studies underway fluoridate salt flour fruit juices soup sugar milk ice cream ice cream mandrake childrens ice creamyou know fluoridation began1946 1946 mandrake coincide postwar commie conspiracy huh incredibly obvious isnt foreign substance introduced precious bodily fluids without knowledge individual certainly without choice thats way hardcore commie works first became aware mandrake physical act loveyes profound sense fatigue feeling emptiness followed luckily able interpret feelings correctly loss essence assure recurred mandrake women er women sense power seek life essence avoid women mandrakebut deny essence great terry southern couldve scripted american madman standing front nations world naked toxic otherhating old glory intents purposes telling assembled dignitaries yes women seek life essence denies feeling emptiness follows physical act love way may want kill twentyfive million people wondered sickest sick trump tropes would dissected scalpelwits msnbc160 surely would opportunity cheap pulpy fun trumps expense network employs joy reid desperate redbait trump insists pretending russia still communist country160 surely would seize upon trumps genocide threat lay bare horror entire speech actually loved brian williamsthe man contorted leonard cohen lyric could rhapsodize beauty american bombshad two experts break speech160 williams voice quavered patriotic fervor announced themwe presence greatnessjohn negroponte colonel jack jacobs negroponte course famous man honduras 1980s tough job required lot coordinating death squads torturers many spoke limited english160 always played dumb called testify congress national catholic register reported deceptively downplayed human rights violations played key role supporting activities battalion 316 ciabacked honduranbased regional counterinsurgency unit subsequently found among cruelest cruel oh addition crimes humanity negroponte also endorsed hillary clinton obviously shared interest perpetuating mass suffering among nonwhite nonloyal hondurans trumpeted endorsement loudly henry kissinger theres anything tonedeaf turns old john negroponte impressed trumps speechonly benjamin netanyahu girlish excitement160 surely jack jacobs decorated war hero would call insanity threatening commit war crimes speech united nations160 williams teed asking jacobs america could start walk back trumps jack ripper idiocy dont think want walk back said colonel jacobs160 felt good speech160 way showed toughness160 resolve bipartisan resolve mightve added turns hillary supporter160 wasnt hillary one threatened obliterate iran look msnbc understand tough week you160 hurricanes earthquakes occasionally forced steal time attention latest robert mueller deposition160160 may inadvertently done us great service real time helped us connect genocidal madness donald trump via connections two neocon hacks directly back hillary clinton160 fancy way sayingheck americans end dayto quote great american160 god willing prevail peace freedom fear true health purity essence natural bodily fluids | 564 |
<p>Lightning strikes above the Iowa Capitol in Des Moines. ( <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/64248265@N02/15449710122/" type="external">Brian Abeling / CC 2.0</a>)</p>
<p>What is the real cost of being poor? The federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour is a cruel joke. If it had kept pace with increases in U.S. labor productivity since the 1970s, it would be <a href="http://topforeignstocks.com/2017/01/11/us-minimum-wage-adjusted-for-productivity/" type="external">$19 an hour</a> today. Assuming full-time, year-round employment, the current minimum wage <a href="https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/pay-administration/fact-sheets/computing-hourly-rates-of-pay-using-the-2087-hour-divisor/" type="external">yields $15,131 per year</a>, well below the <a href="http://familiesusa.org/product/federal-poverty-guidelines" type="external">federal poverty level</a> for a three-person family ($20,160).</p>
<p>That’s why 29 states have <a href="http://www.paywizard.org/main/salary/minimum-wage" type="external">increased their minimum wage</a> beyond the federal level, with bottom hourly standards ranging from $7.70 in Missouri to $10 in Arizona, California, Connecticut and Vermont and $11 in Washington and Massachusetts. In the District of Columbia, the figure is $11.50, and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/dc-gives-final-approval-to-15-minimum-wage/2016/06/21/920ae156-372f-11e6-8f7c-d4c723a2becb_story.html?utm_term=.65d3e8ac7a4c" type="external">will rise to $15 in 2020</a>.</p>
<p>The poverty level is another cruel measure. It is based on an <a href="http://billmoyers.com/2013/09/18/why-is-the-federal-poverty-line-so-low/" type="external">antiquated 1950s formula</a> that multiplies a minimum food budget three times. Like the federal minimum wage level, the poverty level is not adjusted for significant variations in the cost of living across the nation.</p>
<p />
<p>What does it cost just to get by today? The <a href="http://www.epi.org/resources/budget/" type="external">family budget calculator</a> of the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) shows that the annual expense of adequate, no-frills living for two parents with two children in Iowa City (the most expensive city in the state of Iowa) is $67,710. This sounds high until you add up the monthly expenses: housing ($851), food ($782), child care ($1,046), transportation ($608), health care ($843), other necessities ($789), and taxes ($724), for a total monthly outlay of $5,643. (As a resident of Iowa City for the past decade, I find these estimates low.) The basic two-parent-two-kid family budget is lower but still daunting in rural Iowa ($60,650) and other Iowa cities such as Davenport ($61,792), Des Moines ($63,741) and Council Bluffs ($66,064).</p>
<p>The cost of a decent living diverges much more widely across the United States. The national cost of just getting by, as measured by the EPI, is $59,852 in Hibbing, Minn. (Bob Dylan’s hometown), $60,246 in rural Arkansas, $69,636 in Minneapolis, $71,995 in Chicago, $85,793 in Boston, $91,785 in San Francisco, $98,722 in New York City and $106,493 in Washington, D.C. In the nation’s capital, the recent new minimum wage puts the earnings of two full-time, year-round workers at 42 percent of the city’s basic family budget.</p>
<p>Keep the EPI’s figures in mind next time the U.S. Chamber of Commerce or the American Enterprise Institute expresses horror at the notion that the minimum wage should go as “astronomically” high as $15 an hour. That would mean $30,000 a year for a full-time worker fortunate enough to stay employed year-round. In rural Iowa, two parents working full-time at that supposedly exorbitant wage would still fall short of an adequate standard of living. In Iowa City, those parents would be more than $7,000 short.</p>
<p>HF295: Like Something Out of Dickens</p>
<p>Responding to the stark penury of the federal minimum wage and to differences in the cost of living, elected boards staffed mainly by Democrats in four Iowa counties recently have increased their minimum wages to $10 an hour. Johnson County, home to Iowa City, is already at $10. The three other counties—Polk (home to Des Moines), Linn (Cedar Rapids) and Wapello (Ottumwa)—are scheduled to hit that mark at the beginning of 2019.</p>
<p>The $10 minimum is a real step forward, but it translates to just $20,000 a year. Two parents with two children working full-time and year-round at $10 an hour come in at less than two-thirds of the EPI’s modest basic family budget cost.</p>
<p>But for the reigning Republicans in Iowa, where the GOP now controls both the governor’s office and the state legislature, that’s just too kind to full-time workers at the bottom of the wage scale. The state House recently passed legislation, <a href="http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2017/03/09/iowa-house-debates-bill-blocking-local-minimum-wage-hikes/98967188/" type="external">House File 295</a> (HF295), that would nullify the recent county-level minimum wage increases and prohibit local and county jurisdictions from passing such measures in the future. It’s like something out of Charles Dickens.</p>
<p>The Center for Worker Justice of Eastern Iowa has asked Johnson County employers to “ <a href="http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/2017/03/08/international-womens-day-marchers-fight-keep-wage-up-johnson-county/98909848/" type="external">stand up for our workers</a>, and our values, and pledge that you will continue to honor the Johnson County minimum wage—no matter what the politicians in Des Moines decide.” That’s a modest request.</p>
<p>Red States Versus Blue Cities</p>
<p>It’s part of a bigger national story. As of last February, more than 40 U.S. cities and counties had enacted <a href="http://www.nelp.org/content/uploads/Fighting-Preemption-Local-Minimum-Wage-Laws.pdf" type="external">local minimum wage ordinances</a> to address the inadequacies of federal and state minimum wage laws as well as differences in the cost of living. Under a measure passed by the Seattle City Council two years ago, that city’s minimum wage will be $15 in 2021. Other cities, including Baltimore and Minneapolis, also are considering hikes to $15.</p>
<p>Big business has swiped back at these local initiatives. Under pressure from corporations and the lobbyists and right-wing think tanks they pay for, <a href="http://www.nelp.org/content/uploads/Fighting-Preemption-Local-Minimum-Wage-Laws.pdf" type="external">23 states</a> have passed laws that “preempt” cities from passing their own local minimum wage laws. In 2016, for example, Alabama passed a preemption bill after the city of Birmingham passed a local minimum wage law. The legislation blocks future local minimum wages and invalidates Birmingham’s measure.</p>
<p>Republican-controlled North Carolina has lost <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/north-carolina-hb2-economic-impact-2016-9" type="external">hundreds of millions of dollars</a> due to an economic boycott sparked by its passage of House Bill 2 (HB2), widely known as “the bathroom bill.” The bill achieved notoriety by requiring transgender people to use bathrooms consistent with the gender listed on their birth certificates. But a <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/nc-discriminatory-law-bigger-which-bathroom-you-can-use-n546746" type="external">less-known part</a> of the “Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act” also removes the ability of city and county officials to set minimum wage standards for private employers.</p>
<p>The rash of preemption bills is concentrated in Republican-controlled states largely in the South. A national map highlighting these <a href="http://www.nelp.org/content/uploads/Fighting-Preemption-Local-Minimum-Wage-Laws.pdf" type="external">states in red</a> shows that preemption bills recently passed in every Southern state except Arkansas, Virginia and West Virginia. (The non-Southern preemption states include Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Idaho, Colorado and Utah.)</p>
<p>The “Patchwork” and “Competitiveness” Ruses</p>
<p>Why such vicious legislation? In Iowa, as across the nation, Republicans pushing for the preemption of local minimum wage ordinances typically claim to be concerned about having a hodgepodge of wage levels across the state. HF295 sponsor Iowa House Rep. John Landon, R-Ankeny, channels the standard Republican conventional wisdom when he says that his measure seeks to create “ <a href="http://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/government/iowa-lawmakers-clash-with-local-representatives-over-home-rule-authority-20170303" type="external">a level playing field</a>” in all Iowa communities. He told The (Cedar Rapids) Gazette: “This comes because of the patchwork effect that it creates on trying to operate businesses that are multicounty, that are multistate. It makes it difficult to keep track of each and every initiative that is passed that would impact that business as far as wages or other conditions.” Preemption proponents also argue that cities and counties become less competitive with surrounding areas when they implement a higher local minimum wage.The “patchwork” complaint is misleading and probably disingenuous. As the National Employment Law Project notes, the real goal behind the preemption bills is to <a href="http://www.nelp.org/content/uploads/Fighting-Preemption-Local-Minimum-Wage-Laws.pdf" type="external">help business keep wages down</a>:</p>
<p>[B]usinesses are accustomed to dealing with varying rules across cities and counties. … Businesses have adapted to varying rules concerning traffic, business licenses, construction, zoning, and many other local laws. Local minimum wages are no different. Most minimum wage preemption laws have been pushed and adopted by largely conservative state legislatures in recent years in response to pressure from big business, which generally opposes minimum wage increases. In other words, the real motivation behind recent state preemption bills is not uniformity, but rather a desire to limit the ability of local elected officials to raise pay.</p>
<p>At the same time, studies by academic economists at the University of California, University of Massachusetts and University of North Carolina have found <a href="http://www.nelp.org/content/uploads/Fighting-Preemption-Local-Minimum-Wage-Laws.pdf" type="external">no negative competitiveness impact</a> of increased local minimum wages.</p>
<p>A False Paradox</p>
<p>It might seem paradoxical that the Republicans—who claim to trumpet small and local over big and centralized government—would so blatantly quash local power. But there’s no contradiction, really. The real issue isn’t big and central government versus small and local government. It’s big and small government—state power—favoring the business class over the working poor. The right-wing Republicans and their moderate Republican and corporate Democratic allies in the nation’s state governments side with the business elite, which has vast financial and organizational resources to invest in local, state and national politics and policy.</p>
<p>The Preemption Champion</p>
<p>Nullifying local control over wages has become a significant priority for the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a powerful corporate-backed group with huge lobbying influence at the state level. Founded in 1973, ALEC has linked corporate America to lawmakers to generate hundreds of “model policies” that have <a href="http://www.alecexposed.org/wiki/ALEC_Exposed" type="external">entered state codes</a> from coast to coast. The exchange council has been drafting “model” state measures to preempt local minimum wages for 15 years.</p>
<p>ALEC’s preemption agenda goes beyond minimum wages. It has worked to preempt liberal and progressive local measures on a large number of issues, including guns, tobacco, wages, family and medical leave for workers, racial discrimination, immigrant rights (including sanctuary cities), recycling, fracking, pesticides and bans on sugar drinks and plastic bags. (Iowa’s HF295 also forbids local governments from implementing a soda tax or banning the use of plastic bags by retailers.)</p>
<p>Thirty-six states introduced legislation <a href="https://grassrootschange.net/issues/preemption/" type="external">preempting cities’ laws</a> in 2016. There should be more preemption bills in 2017, thanks to Republican electoral victories last fall. State-level preemption is largely a <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Gubernatorial_and_legislative_party_control_of_state_government" type="external">Republican phenomenon</a>. The Republicans now control 34 state legislatures and hold both the governor’s office and the state legislative chambers in 25 states.</p>
<p>Preemption measures generally survive judicial review. As <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/03/red-state-blue-city/513857/" type="external">David Graham noted in The Atlantic</a>, “[T]he Constitution doesn’t mention cities at all, and since the late 19th century, courts have accepted that cities are creatures of the state. … Some states delegate certain powers to cities, but states remain the higher authority.”</p>
<p>Why Boycott Iowa?</p>
<p>Collective Bargaining Rights Stripped</p>
<p>If North Carolina can suffer economic boycotts for violating transgender people’s civil rights, might progressives want to consider a boycott of Republican-controlled Iowa for its deepening assault on working people of all genders and sexual identities? Last month, the state government in Des Moines followed in the footsteps of Wisconsin’s right-wing Scott Walker-led state government by abolishing public sector workers’ <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/midwest/ct-iowa-public-union-bill-20170216-story.html" type="external">rights to collective bargaining</a>.</p>
<p>Workers’ Comp Rollback</p>
<p>Bills introduced in the Iowa House and the Iowa Senate this year are designed to significantly roll back compensation benefits for injured workers. In addition, the bills would allow employers to deny benefits if an injured worker tested positive for drugs or alcohol.</p>
<p>Preempting Family Leave</p>
<p>Iowa HF295 also would prevent local and county governments from requiring private employers to provide workers with paid family leave.</p>
<p>Preempting Sanctuary Cities and Campuses</p>
<p>Along with their assault on workers, Iowa Republicans are moving ahead with numerous other right-wing policies. An “anti-sanctuary city” measure (HF265) would forbid cities, counties and public universities from creating a “safe haven” for undocumented immigrants. Law enforcement officers would not be able to be directed to not gather and communicate to federal authorities information on the immigration status of local residents and students.</p>
<p>Steve King: An Open White Nationalist in the U.S. House</p>
<p>On issues of race, ethnicity and immigration, perhaps Iowa should be boycotted until it convinces its westernmost congressman, Steve King, to resign from the U.S. House of Representatives. Last Sunday, the openly racist and nativist white nationalist <a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/house/324223-dem-blasts-rep-kings-somebody-elses-babies-comments-on-house-floor" type="external">sparked public outrage</a> when he tweeted in support of the anti-Muslim Dutch politician Geert Wilders: “Wilders understands that culture and demographics are our destiny. We can’t restore our civilization with somebody else’s babies.”</p>
<p>King <a href="http://thehill.com/homenews/house/323633-king-says-he-meant-tweet-endorsing-far-right-dutch-politician" type="external">doubled down on his remarks</a>, going on CNN to add: “I’d like to see an America that’s just so homogenous that we look a lot the same, from that perspective.” King also went on an Iowa radio station to “predict … that Hispanics and the blacks will be fighting each other” before whites become a minority in the U.S. He said that his “somebody else’s babies” comment wasn’t racist but was about “our stock, our country, our culture, our civilization.” He added that “we need to have enough babies to replace ourselves.” Getting King to resign, however, might not be so easy. Many <a href="http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/03/why-steve-king-keeps-winning-214913" type="external">Iowans appreciate his bluntness</a>, the same way many Americans appreciate Donald Trump’s brusqueness.Anti-Abortion</p>
<p>Turning to women’s rights, the Iowa Senate recently passed <a href="https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ba=SF2" type="external">Senate File 2</a>. This measure would block public funding to Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers. Most abortions would be outlawed 20 weeks after fertilization under Iowa <a href="https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ba=SF53&amp;ga=87" type="external">Senate File 53</a>, which has cleared a Senate committee. (Editor’s note: You can see the disposition of all of the bills in the Iowa Legislature <a href="https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/billTracking/billDisposition" type="external">here</a>.)</p>
<p>Gunfighter State</p>
<p>Iowa <a href="https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ga=87&amp;ba=hsb133" type="external">House Study Bill 133</a> would rewrite Iowa’s weapons laws to include “stand your ground” provisions. It also would allow children to use handguns and ease some permitting processes. An amended version has cleared the House Judiciary Committee.</p>
<p>Rolling Back Voter Rights</p>
<p>Iowa <a href="https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ga=86&amp;ba=HSB%2093" type="external">House Study Bill 93</a> and <a href="https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ga=86&amp;ba=SSB%201163" type="external">Senate Study Bill 1163</a> would implement new voter identification requirements—a measure designed to suppress the Democratic-leaning votes of minorities and college and university students.</p>
<p>Dismantling a Blue Water Utility</p>
<p>Iowa <a href="https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/LGI/87/HF484.pdf" type="external">House File 484</a> and <a href="https://legiscan.com/IA/research/SSB1146/2017" type="external">Senate Study Bill 1146</a> would dismantle the longstanding Des Moines Water Works (DmWW)—a metropolitan water utility under the control of a board appointed by Des Moines’ mayor. The measure is red-state retaliation against the blue-city water board for filing a federal lawsuit against four rural northwest Iowa counties that have permitted toxic nitrate farm runoff to pollute water used by the Des Moines region. The lawsuit antagonized <a href="http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/money/agriculture/2017/02/23/iowa-farm-bureau-des-moines-water-works-dismantling/98240904/" type="external">Republican-leaning agriculture interests</a>, which spend a lot on elections and lobbying.</p>
<p>As a result of this big ag activism, <a href="http://www.iowapolicyproject.org/2014Research/140717-nutrient.html" type="external">The Des Moines Register noted</a> four years ago, “Iowa counties that have zoning laws regulating the placement of factories and homes are forbidden by state law from regulating the sites of animal confinements. Farmers are asked only to voluntarily comply with conservation programs designed to reduce nitrates in rivers, lakes and ultimately the Gulf of Mexico.” The lawsuit would be dropped under the new Republican-sponsored legislation.</p>
<p>An Ecocidal “Public Utility”</p>
<p>Speaking of water, last year, Iowa’s governor-appointed Iowa Utilities Board approved the construction of the <a href="" type="internal">ecocidal Dakota Access pipeline</a> across 18 Iowa counties on grounds that the project was a “public utility” serving the people of Iowa. It is no such thing. The Dakota pipeline will carry fracked oil from North Dakota to Illinois for the profit of drillers and the pipeline’s corporate builder, Energy Transfer Partners. It carries no discernible benefits for Iowa while it helps big carbon cook the planet past its climatological tipping point and threatens numerous rivers, streams and fields across the state.</p>
<p>This alone might be grounds for caring consumers, businesses, investors and convention- and event-planners to think seriously about boycotting the state of Iowa. If we don’t take dramatic action to get off fossil fuels and avert the global-warming specter of environmental catastrophe in the next 10 years or so, nothing else that liberals and progressive care about—livable wages, gun laws, immigrant and abortion rights, union bargaining power, universal health insurance, rights of free assembly—will matter all that much.</p>
<p>Anti-Protest/Free Speech</p>
<p>Iowa Republican legislators have joined their counterparts in at least 15 other Republican-controlled states in advancing measures to discourage and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/02/us/when-does-protest-cross-a-line-some-states-aim-to-toughen-laws.html?_r=1" type="external">criminalize popular protest actions</a>. A state Senate bill, filed after 100 anti-Trump protesters (including this writer) <a href="http://littlevillagemag.com/anti-trump-protest-rallies-through-the-streets-to-i-80/" type="external">closed Interstate Highway 80</a> near Iowa City, would make blocking high-speed roads a felony punishable by up to five years in prison and $7,500 in fines.</p>
<p>But it may be unfair to single out Iowa. Many, if not most, U.S. states are boycott-worthy in this dark right-wing moment. Policy developments at the national level are all too often overshadowed by mainstream media’s obsession with the rolling <a href="http://www.counterpunch.org/2017/03/08/why-trump-continues-to-beat-the-democrats/" type="external">“This Week in Trump”</a> spectacle. But the great Trump matador’s cape of distraction can be even more deadly at the state level, where big money may speak louder than it does in Washington—and where many policies that matter to ordinary citizens and workers are made.</p> | true | 4 | lightning strikes iowa capitol des moines brian abeling cc 20 real cost poor federal minimum wage 725 hour cruel joke kept pace increases us labor productivity since 1970s would 19 hour today assuming fulltime yearround employment current minimum wage yields 15131 per year well federal poverty level threeperson family 20160 thats 29 states increased minimum wage beyond federal level bottom hourly standards ranging 770 missouri 10 arizona california connecticut vermont 11 washington massachusetts district columbia figure 1150 rise 15 2020 poverty level another cruel measure based antiquated 1950s formula multiplies minimum food budget three times like federal minimum wage level poverty level adjusted significant variations cost living across nation cost get today family budget calculator economic policy institute epi shows annual expense adequate nofrills living two parents two children iowa city expensive city state iowa 67710 sounds high add monthly expenses housing 851 food 782 child care 1046 transportation 608 health care 843 necessities 789 taxes 724 total monthly outlay 5643 resident iowa city past decade find estimates low basic twoparenttwokid family budget lower still daunting rural iowa 60650 iowa cities davenport 61792 des moines 63741 council bluffs 66064 cost decent living diverges much widely across united states national cost getting measured epi 59852 hibbing minn bob dylans hometown 60246 rural arkansas 69636 minneapolis 71995 chicago 85793 boston 91785 san francisco 98722 new york city 106493 washington dc nations capital recent new minimum wage puts earnings two fulltime yearround workers 42 percent citys basic family budget keep epis figures mind next time us chamber commerce american enterprise institute expresses horror notion minimum wage go astronomically high 15 hour would mean 30000 year fulltime worker fortunate enough stay employed yearround rural iowa two parents working fulltime supposedly exorbitant wage would still fall short adequate standard living iowa city parents would 7000 short hf295 like something dickens responding stark penury federal minimum wage differences cost living elected boards staffed mainly democrats four iowa counties recently increased minimum wages 10 hour johnson county home iowa city already 10 three countiespolk home des moines linn cedar rapids wapello ottumwaare scheduled hit mark beginning 2019 10 minimum real step forward translates 20000 year two parents two children working fulltime yearround 10 hour come less twothirds epis modest basic family budget cost reigning republicans iowa gop controls governors office state legislature thats kind fulltime workers bottom wage scale state house recently passed legislation house file 295 hf295 would nullify recent countylevel minimum wage increases prohibit local county jurisdictions passing measures future like something charles dickens center worker justice eastern iowa asked johnson county employers stand workers values pledge continue honor johnson county minimum wageno matter politicians des moines decide thats modest request red states versus blue cities part bigger national story last february 40 us cities counties enacted local minimum wage ordinances address inadequacies federal state minimum wage laws well differences cost living measure passed seattle city council two years ago citys minimum wage 15 2021 cities including baltimore minneapolis also considering hikes 15 big business swiped back local initiatives pressure corporations lobbyists rightwing think tanks pay 23 states passed laws preempt cities passing local minimum wage laws 2016 example alabama passed preemption bill city birmingham passed local minimum wage law legislation blocks future local minimum wages invalidates birminghams measure republicancontrolled north carolina lost hundreds millions dollars due economic boycott sparked passage house bill 2 hb2 widely known bathroom bill bill achieved notoriety requiring transgender people use bathrooms consistent gender listed birth certificates lessknown part public facilities privacy security act also removes ability city county officials set minimum wage standards private employers rash preemption bills concentrated republicancontrolled states largely south national map highlighting states red shows preemption bills recently passed every southern state except arkansas virginia west virginia nonsouthern preemption states include wisconsin michigan ohio indiana pennsylvania idaho colorado utah patchwork competitiveness ruses vicious legislation iowa across nation republicans pushing preemption local minimum wage ordinances typically claim concerned hodgepodge wage levels across state hf295 sponsor iowa house rep john landon rankeny channels standard republican conventional wisdom says measure seeks create level playing field iowa communities told cedar rapids gazette comes patchwork effect creates trying operate businesses multicounty multistate makes difficult keep track every initiative passed would impact business far wages conditions preemption proponents also argue cities counties become less competitive surrounding areas implement higher local minimum wagethe patchwork complaint misleading probably disingenuous national employment law project notes real goal behind preemption bills help business keep wages businesses accustomed dealing varying rules across cities counties businesses adapted varying rules concerning traffic business licenses construction zoning many local laws local minimum wages different minimum wage preemption laws pushed adopted largely conservative state legislatures recent years response pressure big business generally opposes minimum wage increases words real motivation behind recent state preemption bills uniformity rather desire limit ability local elected officials raise pay time studies academic economists university california university massachusetts university north carolina found negative competitiveness impact increased local minimum wages false paradox might seem paradoxical republicanswho claim trumpet small local big centralized governmentwould blatantly quash local power theres contradiction really real issue isnt big central government versus small local government big small governmentstate powerfavoring business class working poor rightwing republicans moderate republican corporate democratic allies nations state governments side business elite vast financial organizational resources invest local state national politics policy preemption champion nullifying local control wages become significant priority american legislative exchange council alec powerful corporatebacked group huge lobbying influence state level founded 1973 alec linked corporate america lawmakers generate hundreds model policies entered state codes coast coast exchange council drafting model state measures preempt local minimum wages 15 years alecs preemption agenda goes beyond minimum wages worked preempt liberal progressive local measures large number issues including guns tobacco wages family medical leave workers racial discrimination immigrant rights including sanctuary cities recycling fracking pesticides bans sugar drinks plastic bags iowas hf295 also forbids local governments implementing soda tax banning use plastic bags retailers thirtysix states introduced legislation preempting cities laws 2016 preemption bills 2017 thanks republican electoral victories last fall statelevel preemption largely republican phenomenon republicans control 34 state legislatures hold governors office state legislative chambers 25 states preemption measures generally survive judicial review david graham noted atlantic constitution doesnt mention cities since late 19th century courts accepted cities creatures state states delegate certain powers cities states remain higher authority boycott iowa collective bargaining rights stripped north carolina suffer economic boycotts violating transgender peoples civil rights might progressives want consider boycott republicancontrolled iowa deepening assault working people genders sexual identities last month state government des moines followed footsteps wisconsins rightwing scott walkerled state government abolishing public sector workers rights collective bargaining workers comp rollback bills introduced iowa house iowa senate year designed significantly roll back compensation benefits injured workers addition bills would allow employers deny benefits injured worker tested positive drugs alcohol preempting family leave iowa hf295 also would prevent local county governments requiring private employers provide workers paid family leave preempting sanctuary cities campuses along assault workers iowa republicans moving ahead numerous rightwing policies antisanctuary city measure hf265 would forbid cities counties public universities creating safe undocumented immigrants law enforcement officers would able directed gather communicate federal authorities information immigration status local residents students steve king open white nationalist us house issues race ethnicity immigration perhaps iowa boycotted convinces westernmost congressman steve king resign us house representatives last sunday openly racist nativist white nationalist sparked public outrage tweeted support antimuslim dutch politician geert wilders wilders understands culture demographics destiny cant restore civilization somebody elses babies king doubled remarks going cnn add id like see america thats homogenous look lot perspective king also went iowa radio station predict hispanics blacks fighting whites become minority us said somebody elses babies comment wasnt racist stock country culture civilization added need enough babies replace getting king resign however might easy many iowans appreciate bluntness way many americans appreciate donald trumps brusquenessantiabortion turning womens rights iowa senate recently passed senate file 2 measure would block public funding planned parenthood abortion providers abortions would outlawed 20 weeks fertilization iowa senate file 53 cleared senate committee editors note see disposition bills iowa legislature gunfighter state iowa house study bill 133 would rewrite iowas weapons laws include stand ground provisions also would allow children use handguns ease permitting processes amended version cleared house judiciary committee rolling back voter rights iowa house study bill 93 senate study bill 1163 would implement new voter identification requirementsa measure designed suppress democraticleaning votes minorities college university students dismantling blue water utility iowa house file 484 senate study bill 1146 would dismantle longstanding des moines water works dmwwa metropolitan water utility control board appointed des moines mayor measure redstate retaliation bluecity water board filing federal lawsuit four rural northwest iowa counties permitted toxic nitrate farm runoff pollute water used des moines region lawsuit antagonized republicanleaning agriculture interests spend lot elections lobbying result big ag activism des moines register noted four years ago iowa counties zoning laws regulating placement factories homes forbidden state law regulating sites animal confinements farmers asked voluntarily comply conservation programs designed reduce nitrates rivers lakes ultimately gulf mexico lawsuit would dropped new republicansponsored legislation ecocidal public utility speaking water last year iowas governorappointed iowa utilities board approved construction ecocidal dakota access pipeline across 18 iowa counties grounds project public utility serving people iowa thing dakota pipeline carry fracked oil north dakota illinois profit drillers pipelines corporate builder energy transfer partners carries discernible benefits iowa helps big carbon cook planet past climatological tipping point threatens numerous rivers streams fields across state alone might grounds caring consumers businesses investors convention eventplanners think seriously boycotting state iowa dont take dramatic action get fossil fuels avert globalwarming specter environmental catastrophe next 10 years nothing else liberals progressive care aboutlivable wages gun laws immigrant abortion rights union bargaining power universal health insurance rights free assemblywill matter much antiprotestfree speech iowa republican legislators joined counterparts least 15 republicancontrolled states advancing measures discourage criminalize popular protest actions state senate bill filed 100 antitrump protesters including writer closed interstate highway 80 near iowa city would make blocking highspeed roads felony punishable five years prison 7500 fines may unfair single iowa many us states boycottworthy dark rightwing moment policy developments national level often overshadowed mainstream medias obsession rolling week trump spectacle great trump matadors cape distraction even deadly state level big money may speak louder washingtonand many policies matter ordinary citizens workers made | 1,729 |
<p>BARRY BONDS: Home Run King. As the San Francisco Giants slugger approaches Henry Aaron’s record for career homers, this probability seems to be turning otherwise rational people upside down, as Bonds has encountered an almost surreal level of hostility. The rage was on full display this past weekend in Boston, where Bonds had already made friends in 2004 by saying, “Boston is too racist for me.” (To read background on that particular tempest in a Boston teapot, check out “ <a href="" type="internal">Barry Bonds vs. Boston”</a> )</p>
<p>But the bellowing fury directed at Bonds is hardly resigned to the good people of Beantown. Outside the San Francisco Bay Area, it has become a peculiar kind of national obsession.</p>
<p>Sports has always had its anti-heroes, but the antipathy directed at Bonds by both media and “fans” has been of a different texture. It doesn’t just boo: it seethes.</p>
<p>Some say they can’t stand Bonds because they suspect -with the smug certitude of having received holy writ -that he has used steroids. (For a full discussion on the hypocrisy of anti-steroid hysteria, check out my article, “ <a href="" type="internal">The juice and the noose,</a>”</p>
<p>Others say it is his “surly attitude,” or “bad sportsmanship.”</p>
<p>But much of the reaction to Bonds is simply bad old-fashioned racism. Not since Jack Johnson has an athlete become the repository for so much racial animus -and revealed broader gaps in Black and white perceptions-as Barry Lamar Bonds.</p>
<p>JACK JOHNSON</p>
<p>In 1908, when Jack Johnson became the first Black heavyweight boxing champion, his victory created a serious crisis in the “conventional wisdom” about race. When Johnson told the world to go to hell and openly consorted with white women, crisis became hysteria. The media whipped up a frenzy around the need for a “great white hope” (a phrase coined by author Jack London) to restore order to the boxing world-and the world in general. Former champion Jim Jeffries was coaxed out of retirement and said, “I am going into this fight for the sole purpose of proving that a white man is better than a Negro.”</p>
<p>In the weeks before their fight, Johnson-in stark contrast to the standard African-American posture of the day-was more than willing to be heard. In a July 4, 1910, Philadelphia Inquirer story titled, “Johnson believes he’s Jeff’s master,” he is quoted as saying, “I honestly believe that in pugilism I am Jeffries’ master, and it is my purpose to demonstrate this in the most decisive way possible. Let me say in conclusion that I believe the meeting between Mr. Jeffries and myself will be a great test of strength, skill, and endurance. The tap of the gong will be music to me.”</p>
<p>This might seem tame by contemporary standards, but at the time it was verbal TNT. To say he was a white man’s master a mere fifty years after the formal end of chattel slavery was simply explosive.</p>
<p>But Johnson wasn’t merely despised: he was hated by one Americaand revered-if not loved-by another.</p>
<p>A piece in the Dallas Morning News titled, “Negroes praying for Johnson,” reads, “Some others fear trouble if he [Johnson] wins and are consequently boosting Jeffries. For the first time Independence Day will be enjoyed as a real holiday by the Negroes tomorrow.”</p>
<p>When Jeffries and Johnson finally squared off, the ringside band played, “All Coons Look Alike to Me,” and promoters led the all-white crowd in the chant “Kill the nigger.” But Johnson was faster, stronger, and smarter than Jeffries, knocking him out with ease. In an early incarnation of the information superhighway, young children working as “telegram runners” ran through city streets shouting out the progress after each round.</p>
<p>As Johnson wrote in his autobiography,</p>
<p>More than 25,000 people had gathered to watch the fight, and as I looked about me, and scanned that sea of white faces I felt the auspiciousness of the occasion. There were few men of my own race among the spectators. I realized that my victory in this event meant more than on any previous occasion. It wasn’t just the championship that was at stake-it was my own honor, and in a degree the honor of my own race. The “white hope” had failed.</p>
<p>This was no idle boast. As the New York World wrote, “That Mr. Johnson should so lightly and carelessly punch the head of Mr. Jeffries must come as a shock to every devoted believer in the supremacy of the Anglo-Saxon race.”</p>
<p>But far more important than respect gained from the New York World, was his folkloric status in the Black community. As one spiritual sang,</p>
<p>“Amaze an’ Grace, how sweet it sounds,</p>
<p>Jack Johnson knocked Jim Jeffries down.</p>
<p>Jim Jeffries jumped up an’ hit Jack on the chin,</p>
<p>An’ then Jack knocked him down agin.</p>
<p>The Yankees hold the play,</p>
<p>The white man pulls the trigger;</p>
<p>But it make no difference what the white man say,</p>
<p>The world champion’s still a nigger”</p>
<p>After Johnson’s victory, there were race riots around the country-in Illinois, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Texas, and Washington, D.C. Most of the riots consisted of white lynch mobs attacking Blacks, and Blacks fighting back.</p>
<p>This reaction to a boxing match was the most widespread racial uprising that the U.S. had ever seen-or would see-until the 1968 assassination of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Right-wing religious groups immediately organized to ban boxing. Congress actually passed a law banning boxing films.</p>
<p>Even some Black leaders pushed Johnson to condemn African Americans for rioting, and to toe the line. But Johnson remained defiant. For this mortal sin-and a variety of venal ones-he faced harassment and persecution for most of his life. He was forced into exile in 1913 on the trumped-up charge of transporting a white woman across state lines for prostitution. As Johnson wrote in his autobiography, “In the Ring and Out,” as soon as he defeated Jeffries, “From that minute on, the hunt for the ‘white hope’ was redoubled, and when it proceeded with so little success other methods were taken to dispose of me.</p>
<p>Booker T. Washington, the Black leader who founded the Tuskegee Institute and believed that Blacks should abstain from any kind of agitation, couldn’t stand Johnson. He said with unvarnished scorn,</p>
<p>I can only say at this time, that this is another illustration of the almost irreparable injury that a wrong action on the part of a single individual may do to a whole race. It shows the folly of those persons who think that they alone will be held responsible for the evil that they do. Especially is this true in the case of the Negro in the United States today. No one can do so much injury to the Negro race as the Negro himself. This will seem to many persons unjust, but no one can doubt that it is true. What makes the situation seem a little worse in this case, is the fact that it was the white man, not the black man who has given Jack Johnson the kind of prominence he has enjoyed up to now and put him, in other words, in a position where he has been able to bring humiliation upon the whole race of which he is a member.</p>
<p>Washington’s contempt for Johnson didn’t stop him, however, from setting aside a special assembly room at his Tuskegee Institute to hear special telegraphic reports of Johnson’s fights.</p>
<p>A far different reaction to Johnson was articulated by Washington’s great rival, W. E. B. DuBois. DuBois, a towering intellectual, was one of the first to try to put the moralizing about “violence” in sports-and the street violence associated with Jack Johnson-in some sort of context. As he wrote in the Crisis, the organ of the NAACP, in 1914,</p>
<p>“There is today some brutality connected with boxing, but as compared with football and boat racing it may be seriously questioned whether boxing deserves to be put in a separate class by reason of its cruelty. Certainly it is a highly civilized pastime as compared with the international game of war which produces so many “heroes” and “national monuments.” Boxing has fallen into disfavor-into very great disfavor. The cause is clear: Jack Johnsonhas out-sparred an Irishman. He did it with little brutality, the utmost fairness and great good nature. He did not “knock” his opponent senseless. Apparently he did not even try. Neither he nor his race invented prize fighting or particularly like it. Why then this thrill of national disgust? Because Johnson is Black.”</p>
<p>BONDS</p>
<p>Barry Bonds is today’s Jack Johnson. Like Johnson, he is a dominator in his sport, a pantheon player: the only person in baseball history with 500 home runs and 500 stolen bases, a seven-time Most Valuable Player, and eventual home run king.</p>
<p>He is also, like Johnson, someone who plays with a mammoth chip on his shoulder, a chip handed down-as one writer put it-“like an heirloom” from his father, Bobby Bonds, a talented player of the 1960s skewered by the media and front offices for his own pro-pride, pro-union politics.</p>
<p>It is hardly difficult to find sportswriters or sports fan blogs slamming Bonds as a steroid using, foul-mouthed malcontent. But even players have broken ranks to jump on his back. Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, a man with GOP senatorial aspirations said, “He admitted to cheating on his wife, cheating on his taxes, and cheating on the game.” (Actually, none of that is true. Leaked grand jury testimony had Bonds saying he unintentionally used a steroid cream. The other two allegations are unproven.) It was so bombastic, sports columnists and talk radio yappers criticized Schilling and he was forced to offer an apology.</p>
<p>But the same writers who slammed Schilling perhaps did so because he was taking their shtick. The amount of media detritus hurled at Bonds boggles the mind.</p>
<p>As Jeff Pearlman, a writer for ESPN wrote,</p>
<p>Barry Bonds is an evil man. A truly evil man. As a husband, he has cheated on both his wives. As a father, he has been absent and indifferent. As a role model, he has spit at autograph seekers and directed kids to “f– off.” As a Giant, he has held a franchise hostage and refused to help teammates in need. As a blatant abuser of steroids and human growth hormone, he has deprived the game of integrity and turned its record books into mush.</p>
<p>Jemele Hill, one of the scant few African-American women with a high profile voice in sports wrote,</p>
<p>God, can you smite Barry Bonds before he breaks Major League Baseball’s all-time home run record? (OK, maybe smiting is a little extreme. Could you conjure up some locusts every time he bats? Give him a few boils? Crack a stone tablet over his head?) I know the Bible says vengeance is your department. But might you consider speeding things up?</p>
<p>Dan Le Batard, a columnist for the Miami Herald, said something very incisive about Bonds’ relationship to the media in an interview with the remarkable sports blog The Starting Five:</p>
<p>He’s got no use for us. Every step of the way we agitate his defiance all the more. Every step of the way he has less reason to trust us. Think about it this way. If Barry Bonds and Terrell Owens are the two most controversial athletes in sports, do they have an arrest between them? What are they really doing that makes them so polarizing? They are urinating on some of our Utopian ideas of sportsmanship.</p>
<p>Owens is a revealing parallel. He has never been accused of ingesting anything anabolic, but still is torn apart by the press for our entertainment. But it’s the comparison to Jack Johnson that carries more than abstract similarities. Like Johnson, Bonds has also earned the ample attention of the federal government that has joined the media in the Get Barry Brigade.</p>
<p>In 2004, Attorney General John Ashcroft, a man perhaps best known for losing his Missouri Senate seat to a dead man while slobbering on the Confederate flag, hosted a press conference to announce a forty-two-count indictment against four men in the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO) case. It was odd for the U.S. Attorney General to be front and center, with the cameras on full blast. This was like shooting a fawn with an AK-47-a case of extreme overkill. The worst-kept secret was that the case had nothing to do with BALCO’s leader, a former bassist for the band Wild Cherry named Victor Conte. This was about BALCO’s most famous client-Barry Bonds.</p>
<p>Since that time the FBI has even approached players about wearing a wire in an effort to get Bonds on tape admitting steroid use. The FBI could then presumably prosecute him for perjury in the BALCO case, where he said he unintentionally used a steroid cream. Mike Celizic, who reported the story for MSNBC, called the investigation a “witch hunt. It’s not about cleaning up the game; it’s about putting Barry Bonds in jail.” He is right. Federal prosecutors have made it all too clear that they want to imprison Bonds for perjury, tax evasion, anything short of kidnapping the Lindbergh baby. One writer cited an agent saying, “He’s our Capone.”</p>
<p>The anti-Bonds cottage industry has become so bombastic, so disproportionate to his alleged offenses, that it is having an ugly and divisive effect on society.</p>
<p>Consider an ESPN/ABC News poll released in May. Black fans are more than twice as likely as their white counterparts to want Bonds to break Aaron’s record of 755 homers (74 percent versus 28 percent) and nearly twice as likely to think that the slugger has been treated unfairly (46 percent versus 25 percent), according to the poll. Black and white supporters of Bonds were then asked why they believed that the slugger is so hated. About 41 percent of Black fans said suspected steroids use was the reason, while 25 percent cited race and 21 percent blamed Bonds’ “in your face” attitude. By contrast, two-thirds of white sympathizers cited the steroids issue, with virtually none mentioning race.</p>
<p>When asked about the poll, Jemele Hill said: “It’s too bad some people are more concerned with race than right. Blacks have been unjustly persecuted in the court of law and public opinion, but supporting one lout doesn’t erase, compensate [for] or change those injustices.”</p>
<p>But the Black-white divide on Bonds is not about people being “more concerned with race than right.” Rather, it represents a visceral response to the way Bonds has been subjected to criticism when white players with reputations of steroid use haven’t gotten nearly the heat he has. For instance, suspicions have swirled around future Hall of Fame pitcher Roger Clemens, but he hasn’t come close to receiving Bonds’ level of media and investigative scrutiny.</p>
<p>I have been a guest on both mainstream sports and Black radio, and the Bonds discussion is like visiting two alternate universes. Mainstream radio is a veritable “I hate Barry” parade. Callers typically deflect charges of racism by saying: “We’re not racists. We just hate his guts because he’s a cheater!” But on Black radio, I am sometimes seriously asked, “Do you think Bonds will be physically harmed?” That I’m asked such a question points up how dangerous the atmosphere surrounding Bonds’ march to history has become.</p>
<p>AARON’S STANCE</p>
<p>Many make hay of the fact that Aaron has said that he himself would not be there when Bonds breaks the record. As Hill wrote, “Hank Aaron deserves better than to see his record broken by an unlikable, arrogant cheater who has done nothing but heighten stereotypes of Black athletes. He is unquestionably a Hall of Famer and the best player of this generation-but he is not nearly the man Aaron is, and should not surpass him in any way.”</p>
<p>Others make the case that Aaron’s refusal to be there is proof positive that there is no racism-abject or otherwise-in their despising Barry Bonds.</p>
<p>Aaron’s refusal to attend is more than a little ironic.</p>
<p>In April 1974, Henry Aaron of the Atlanta Braves broke Babe Ruth’s seemingly unbreakable home run record when he hit his 715th home run off Al Downing. The racism that surrounded Aaron was off the charts. In 1973, as he closed in on the record, the U.S. Post Office reported that Aaron received 930,000 letters, the most of anyone not named Richard Nixon. Much of it was in the category of death threats. Samples read,</p>
<p>“Dear Hank Aaron, How about some sickle cell anemia, Hank?” “Dear Nigger, You black animal, I hope you never live long enough to hit more home runs than the great Babe Ruth.”</p>
<p>And so on. This was not some bygone, pre­civil rights era-but the 1970s, right on the heels of the civil rights and Black Power movements.</p>
<p>Aaron later wrote, “The Atlanta fans weren’t shy about letting me know what they thought of a $200,000 nigger striking out with men on base.”</p>
<p>When Aaron finally broke the mark, baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn didn’t show. Today Bud Selig-a close friend of Aaron-has given every indication that he will follow in this proud tradition and not be at the game when Bonds breaks the mark. Ironically, this is happening right when baseball is wringing its hands over the historically low number of African-American players-8.5 percent, the smallest number since the days of Jackie Robinson. Torii Hunter, the All Star Centerfielder for the Minnesota Twins said in April that maybe these two things were connected. “The one big, Black face in baseball is Barry Bonds, and they see he is constantly being scrutinized and he has never tested positive for anything,” Hunter says. Black kids “think, ‘That game is not for us.'”</p>
<p>It’s worth noting that despite all the speculation, we don’t know why Aaron is refusing to be there when Bonds breaks the mark. He won’t say-although he hasn’t been shy about doing interviews where he makes clear that he will not attend.</p>
<p>Barry Bonds’ brother Bobby Jr. took Aaron to task, saying,</p>
<p>Hank Aaron does not even want to support Barry. Being a Black man going through what he went through in the past and not supporting my brother, it kind of makes me look at him like, “Are you serious, brother? Are you serious?” Cut the steroids out, just look at my brother as a human being. He stole bases, he ran, he caught the ball. It’s so hard to justify what’s going on with baseball and how they’re treating him.</p>
<p>TWO AMERICAS</p>
<p>The constant decrying of Bonds has resulted-once again, as in the case of Jack Johnson-in two decidedly different schools of thought. I’ve already cited the ESPN poll revealing a clear racial divide on Bonds. A majority of fans-58 percent-think Bonds should be in the Hall of Fame. That’s ten points higher than a similar poll conducted last summer. Among Blacks, 85 percent think Bonds belongs in Cooperstown, compared to 53 percent of whites.</p>
<p>Of course we live in different times than the days of Jack Johnson. Stadiums don’t play, “All coons look alike to me” when Bonds goes to the plate. And as I have written before, the Bonds obsession in the media and among fans is not purely about bigotry run amok. Envy, rage, grudges, and anger combine to make a gumbo of resentment (Pearlman and Jemele Hill for example have both written some excellent antiracist sports articles.)</p>
<p>The argument is not that everyone who is against Bonds is a racist or anyone who believes in harsh penalties for steroid use is a racist. People are free to hate Bonds all they want. But they should ask themselves from where all this animus springs. Almost a century ago, DuBois said of Jack Johnson, “Of course some pretend to object to Mr. Johnson’s character. But we have yet to hear, in the case of white America, that marital troubles have disqualified prize fighters or ball players or even statesmen. It comes down, then, after all, to this unforgivable blackness.”</p>
<p>At the end of the day, being a surly, press-hating, arrogant sports superstar has proven to be something all-too-excused by media conglomerates and fans. But to be all these things and also have black skin? That clearly has remained unforgivable.</p>
<p>DAVE ZIRIN is the author of “ <a href="" type="internal">The Muhammad Ali Handbook</a>” (MQ Publications) and “ <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1931859418/counterpunchmaga" type="external">Welcome to the Terrordome: The Pain, Politics and Promise of Sports</a>” . You can receive his column Edge of Sports, every week by e-mailing <a href="http://www.edgeofsports-subscribe@zirin.com/" type="external">edgeofsports-subscribe@zirin.com</a>. Contact him at <a href="mailto:edgeofsports@gmail.com" type="external">edgeofsports@gmail.com</a></p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | barry bonds home run king san francisco giants slugger approaches henry aarons record career homers probability seems turning otherwise rational people upside bonds encountered almost surreal level hostility rage full display past weekend boston bonds already made friends 2004 saying boston racist read background particular tempest boston teapot check barry bonds vs boston bellowing fury directed bonds hardly resigned good people beantown outside san francisco bay area become peculiar kind national obsession sports always antiheroes antipathy directed bonds media fans different texture doesnt boo seethes say cant stand bonds suspect smug certitude received holy writ used steroids full discussion hypocrisy antisteroid hysteria check article juice noose others say surly attitude bad sportsmanship much reaction bonds simply bad oldfashioned racism since jack johnson athlete become repository much racial animus revealed broader gaps black white perceptionsas barry lamar bonds jack johnson 1908 jack johnson became first black heavyweight boxing champion victory created serious crisis conventional wisdom race johnson told world go hell openly consorted white women crisis became hysteria media whipped frenzy around need great white hope phrase coined author jack london restore order boxing worldand world general former champion jim jeffries coaxed retirement said going fight sole purpose proving white man better negro weeks fight johnsonin stark contrast standard africanamerican posture daywas willing heard july 4 1910 philadelphia inquirer story titled johnson believes hes jeffs master quoted saying honestly believe pugilism jeffries master purpose demonstrate decisive way possible let say conclusion believe meeting mr jeffries great test strength skill endurance tap gong music might seem tame contemporary standards time verbal tnt say white mans master mere fifty years formal end chattel slavery simply explosive johnson wasnt merely despised hated one americaand reveredif lovedby another piece dallas morning news titled negroes praying johnson reads others fear trouble johnson wins consequently boosting jeffries first time independence day enjoyed real holiday negroes tomorrow jeffries johnson finally squared ringside band played coons look alike promoters led allwhite crowd chant kill nigger johnson faster stronger smarter jeffries knocking ease early incarnation information superhighway young children working telegram runners ran city streets shouting progress round johnson wrote autobiography 25000 people gathered watch fight looked scanned sea white faces felt auspiciousness occasion men race among spectators realized victory event meant previous occasion wasnt championship stakeit honor degree honor race white hope failed idle boast new york world wrote mr johnson lightly carelessly punch head mr jeffries must come shock every devoted believer supremacy anglosaxon race far important respect gained new york world folkloric status black community one spiritual sang amaze grace sweet sounds jack johnson knocked jim jeffries jim jeffries jumped hit jack chin jack knocked agin yankees hold play white man pulls trigger make difference white man say world champions still nigger johnsons victory race riots around countryin illinois missouri new york ohio pennsylvania colorado texas washington dc riots consisted white lynch mobs attacking blacks blacks fighting back reaction boxing match widespread racial uprising us ever seenor would seeuntil 1968 assassination civil rights leader dr martin luther king jr rightwing religious groups immediately organized ban boxing congress actually passed law banning boxing films even black leaders pushed johnson condemn african americans rioting toe line johnson remained defiant mortal sinand variety venal oneshe faced harassment persecution life forced exile 1913 trumpedup charge transporting white woman across state lines prostitution johnson wrote autobiography ring soon defeated jeffries minute hunt white hope redoubled proceeded little success methods taken dispose booker washington black leader founded tuskegee institute believed blacks abstain kind agitation couldnt stand johnson said unvarnished scorn say time another illustration almost irreparable injury wrong action part single individual may whole race shows folly persons think alone held responsible evil especially true case negro united states today one much injury negro race negro seem many persons unjust one doubt true makes situation seem little worse case fact white man black man given jack johnson kind prominence enjoyed put words position able bring humiliation upon whole race member washingtons contempt johnson didnt stop however setting aside special assembly room tuskegee institute hear special telegraphic reports johnsons fights far different reaction johnson articulated washingtons great rival w e b dubois dubois towering intellectual one first try put moralizing violence sportsand street violence associated jack johnsonin sort context wrote crisis organ naacp 1914 today brutality connected boxing compared football boat racing may seriously questioned whether boxing deserves put separate class reason cruelty certainly highly civilized pastime compared international game war produces many heroes national monuments boxing fallen disfavorinto great disfavor cause clear jack johnsonhas outsparred irishman little brutality utmost fairness great good nature knock opponent senseless apparently even try neither race invented prize fighting particularly like thrill national disgust johnson black bonds barry bonds todays jack johnson like johnson dominator sport pantheon player person baseball history 500 home runs 500 stolen bases seventime valuable player eventual home run king also like johnson someone plays mammoth chip shoulder chip handed downas one writer put itlike heirloom father bobby bonds talented player 1960s skewered media front offices propride prounion politics hardly difficult find sportswriters sports fan blogs slamming bonds steroid using foulmouthed malcontent even players broken ranks jump back boston red sox pitcher curt schilling man gop senatorial aspirations said admitted cheating wife cheating taxes cheating game actually none true leaked grand jury testimony bonds saying unintentionally used steroid cream two allegations unproven bombastic sports columnists talk radio yappers criticized schilling forced offer apology writers slammed schilling perhaps taking shtick amount media detritus hurled bonds boggles mind jeff pearlman writer espn wrote barry bonds evil man truly evil man husband cheated wives father absent indifferent role model spit autograph seekers directed kids f giant held franchise hostage refused help teammates need blatant abuser steroids human growth hormone deprived game integrity turned record books mush jemele hill one scant africanamerican women high profile voice sports wrote god smite barry bonds breaks major league baseballs alltime home run record ok maybe smiting little extreme could conjure locusts every time bats give boils crack stone tablet head know bible says vengeance department might consider speeding things dan le batard columnist miami herald said something incisive bonds relationship media interview remarkable sports blog starting five hes got use us every step way agitate defiance every step way less reason trust us think way barry bonds terrell owens two controversial athletes sports arrest really makes polarizing urinating utopian ideas sportsmanship owens revealing parallel never accused ingesting anything anabolic still torn apart press entertainment comparison jack johnson carries abstract similarities like johnson bonds also earned ample attention federal government joined media get barry brigade 2004 attorney general john ashcroft man perhaps best known losing missouri senate seat dead man slobbering confederate flag hosted press conference announce fortytwocount indictment four men bay area laboratory cooperative balco case odd us attorney general front center cameras full blast like shooting fawn ak47a case extreme overkill worstkept secret case nothing balcos leader former bassist band wild cherry named victor conte balcos famous clientbarry bonds since time fbi even approached players wearing wire effort get bonds tape admitting steroid use fbi could presumably prosecute perjury balco case said unintentionally used steroid cream mike celizic reported story msnbc called investigation witch hunt cleaning game putting barry bonds jail right federal prosecutors made clear want imprison bonds perjury tax evasion anything short kidnapping lindbergh baby one writer cited agent saying hes capone antibonds cottage industry become bombastic disproportionate alleged offenses ugly divisive effect society consider espnabc news poll released may black fans twice likely white counterparts want bonds break aarons record 755 homers 74 percent versus 28 percent nearly twice likely think slugger treated unfairly 46 percent versus 25 percent according poll black white supporters bonds asked believed slugger hated 41 percent black fans said suspected steroids use reason 25 percent cited race 21 percent blamed bonds face attitude contrast twothirds white sympathizers cited steroids issue virtually none mentioning race asked poll jemele hill said bad people concerned race right blacks unjustly persecuted court law public opinion supporting one lout doesnt erase compensate change injustices blackwhite divide bonds people concerned race right rather represents visceral response way bonds subjected criticism white players reputations steroid use havent gotten nearly heat instance suspicions swirled around future hall fame pitcher roger clemens hasnt come close receiving bonds level media investigative scrutiny guest mainstream sports black radio bonds discussion like visiting two alternate universes mainstream radio veritable hate barry parade callers typically deflect charges racism saying racists hate guts hes cheater black radio sometimes seriously asked think bonds physically harmed im asked question points dangerous atmosphere surrounding bonds march history become aarons stance many make hay fact aaron said would bonds breaks record hill wrote hank aaron deserves better see record broken unlikable arrogant cheater done nothing heighten stereotypes black athletes unquestionably hall famer best player generationbut nearly man aaron surpass way others make case aarons refusal proof positive racismabject otherwisein despising barry bonds aarons refusal attend little ironic april 1974 henry aaron atlanta braves broke babe ruths seemingly unbreakable home run record hit 715th home run al downing racism surrounded aaron charts 1973 closed record us post office reported aaron received 930000 letters anyone named richard nixon much category death threats samples read dear hank aaron sickle cell anemia hank dear nigger black animal hope never live long enough hit home runs great babe ruth bygone precivil rights erabut 1970s right heels civil rights black power movements aaron later wrote atlanta fans werent shy letting know thought 200000 nigger striking men base aaron finally broke mark baseball commissioner bowie kuhn didnt show today bud seliga close friend aaronhas given every indication follow proud tradition game bonds breaks mark ironically happening right baseball wringing hands historically low number africanamerican players85 percent smallest number since days jackie robinson torii hunter star centerfielder minnesota twins said april maybe two things connected one big black face baseball barry bonds see constantly scrutinized never tested positive anything hunter says black kids think game us worth noting despite speculation dont know aaron refusing bonds breaks mark wont sayalthough hasnt shy interviews makes clear attend barry bonds brother bobby jr took aaron task saying hank aaron even want support barry black man going went past supporting brother kind makes look like serious brother serious cut steroids look brother human stole bases ran caught ball hard justify whats going baseball theyre treating two americas constant decrying bonds resultedonce case jack johnsonin two decidedly different schools thought ive already cited espn poll revealing clear racial divide bonds majority fans58 percentthink bonds hall fame thats ten points higher similar poll conducted last summer among blacks 85 percent think bonds belongs cooperstown compared 53 percent whites course live different times days jack johnson stadiums dont play coons look alike bonds goes plate written bonds obsession media among fans purely bigotry run amok envy rage grudges anger combine make gumbo resentment pearlman jemele hill example written excellent antiracist sports articles argument everyone bonds racist anyone believes harsh penalties steroid use racist people free hate bonds want ask animus springs almost century ago dubois said jack johnson course pretend object mr johnsons character yet hear case white america marital troubles disqualified prize fighters ball players even statesmen comes unforgivable blackness end day surly presshating arrogant sports superstar proven something alltooexcused media conglomerates fans things also black skin clearly remained unforgivable dave zirin author muhammad ali handbook mq publications welcome terrordome pain politics promise sports receive column edge sports every week emailing edgeofsportssubscribezirincom contact edgeofsportsgmailcom 160 160 160 | 1,913 |
<p>It’s easy to argue that a magazine can’t tackle as complex an issue as water and get it right–the same way that an academic or a scientific analysis might. But the tradeoffs are easily outweighed by the considerable resources of the National Geographic Society. And the result: a mixture of stunning photography, graphic text, and imaginative essays. So even if the issues of an increasing worldwide shortage of water are simplified, the accomplishments of accessibility for the layman in this special issue on Water are major, likely to draw attention to the looming crisis in a way no other media can explain the problem.</p>
<p>Let’s begin with Tina Rosenberg’s unforgettable account (“The Burden of Thirst”) of one woman’s Sisyphus-like daily struggle to provide water for her family. The essay begins as follows, “Aylito Binayo’s feet know the mountain. Even at four in the morning she can run down rocks to the river by starlight alone and climb the steep mountain back up to her village with 50 pounds of water on her back. She has made this journey three times a day for nearly all her 25 years. So has every other woman in her village of Foro, in the Konso district of southwestern Ethiopia. Binayo dropped out of school when she was eight years old, in part because she had to help her mother fetch water from the Toiro River. The water is dirty and unsafe to drink; every year that the ongoing drought continues, the once mighty river grows more exhausted. But it is the only water Foro has ever had.”</p>
<p>All that’s the part easiest understood. Binayo and other women carry water eight hours a day; their husbands sit around, talking and drinking home-made beer (brewed from the water). Much of the water she fetches is for the farm. For herself, it’s a different issue. “The average American uses a hundred gallons of water just at home every day; Aylito Binayo makes do with two and a half gallons.” She washes her hands maybe once a day, her clothes once a year, her body only occasionally. The nearest district health center is sixteen miles away; “almost half the 500 patients treated daily [are] sick with waterborne diseases.” Some women in Foro make the trip five times a day. Yet, Binayo’s story has a happy ending, because the villages of Konso are about to receive pipe-born water.</p>
<p>Many people in the developing are not so fortunate. “Millions of the world’s poorest subsist on fewer than five gallons [per day]. Forty-six percent of the people on earth do not have water piped into their homes. Women in developing countries walk an average of 3.7 miles to get water. In fifteen years, 1.8 billion people will live in regions of severe water scarcity.” The problem—as much as anything—is that 97.5 percent of the earth’s water is salty. Of the 2.5 percent remaining, two-thirds is ice. That does not leave much for human consumption. “The amount of moisture on Earth has not changed. The water the dinosaurs drank millions of years ago is the same water that falls as rain today.”</p>
<p>Worse, as everyone but Republicans know, the climate is changing. In an equally impressive essay—“The Gods Must Be Furious”—Brook Larmer explains why the highest places of the world are heating up faster than the lower altitudes. “Of the 680 glaciers Chinese scientists monitor closely on the Tibetan Plateau, 95 percent are shedding more ice than they’re adding…. Full-scale glacier shrinking is inevitable…it will lead to ecological catastrophe.” China’s situation—in spite of so many new dams—is bleak. The country “has less water than Canada but 40 times more people.” The Third Pole (the Tibetan Plateau) is the source of water for much of the Indian subcontinent. Delhi is only “180 miles south of the Himalayan glaciers,” yet already in some areas of the city, residents spend hours searching for or waiting for water deliveries.</p>
<p>The scariest aspect of the water problem is the growing likelihood of water conflicts across borders (in the United States, it’s across state lines). In the Middle East, these conflicts have already begun. Don Belt’s essay describes the 90 percent decline of the Jordan River during the last five decades. It doesn’t help—anywhere—that so much water is necessary for agriculture.</p>
<p>There’s a fold-out map of the world’s rivers included with the Geographic Water issue, filled with fascinating information. But the flip-side of the map is even more revealing because it delineates the amount of water necessary for food production. Beef is at the high end, requiring 1857 gallons in order to produce one pound; at the extreme end are strawberries, needing only 33 gallons.</p>
<p>Other figures on the chart list the gallons required for common goods: 2900 gallons for a pair of blue jeans; 766 gallons for a t-shirt made of cotton; 634, for a hamburger; 9 gallons for a cup of tea. The figures are not only revealing but thoroughly depressing, considering the earth’s growing population, recreational needs (golf courses), water lost by leaky pipes in most urban sanitation systems, though here and there there are genuine success stories such as Joel K. Bourne, Jr’s opening to “Pipe Dream”: “On a blistering day in the megalopolis that is southern California, Shivaji Deshmukh of the Orange County Water District offers me a cup of cool, clean water that just yesterday was swirling around in an Anaheim toilet bowl.”</p>
<p>Besides recycling, there’s hope for greatly improved and less expensive methods of desalinization, but probably the single most important aspect of man’s need to learn how to live with the only water he has is raising the awareness of everyone on earth. Barbara Kingsolver—in her lead essay in the issue–has the right approach; we need to begin regarding the place where we all reside as Mother Water. Most of us haven’t yet begun to think about the problem.</p>
<p>Rush out and get a copy of the National Geographic’s Water issue before they all disappear from the news stands. Marvel at the extraordinary photographs; digest the dozens of graphs and charts that describe everything you’ll ever want to know about water. And cheer the editors for taking on such an urgent topic.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Water: Our Thirsty World</a> The National Geographic Society, April 2010, 184 pp., $5.99</p>
<p>CHARLES R. LARSON is Professor of Literature, American University, Washington, D.C.</p>
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<p><a href="http://greentags.bigcartel.com/" type="external">WORDS THAT STICK</a></p>
<p /> | true | 4 | easy argue magazine cant tackle complex issue water get rightthe way academic scientific analysis might tradeoffs easily outweighed considerable resources national geographic society result mixture stunning photography graphic text imaginative essays even issues increasing worldwide shortage water simplified accomplishments accessibility layman special issue water major likely draw attention looming crisis way media explain problem lets begin tina rosenbergs unforgettable account burden thirst one womans sisyphuslike daily struggle provide water family essay begins follows aylito binayos feet know mountain even four morning run rocks river starlight alone climb steep mountain back village 50 pounds water back made journey three times day nearly 25 years every woman village foro konso district southwestern ethiopia binayo dropped school eight years old part help mother fetch water toiro river water dirty unsafe drink every year ongoing drought continues mighty river grows exhausted water foro ever thats part easiest understood binayo women carry water eight hours day husbands sit around talking drinking homemade beer brewed water much water fetches farm different issue average american uses hundred gallons water home every day aylito binayo makes two half gallons washes hands maybe day clothes year body occasionally nearest district health center sixteen miles away almost half 500 patients treated daily sick waterborne diseases women foro make trip five times day yet binayos story happy ending villages konso receive pipeborn water many people developing fortunate millions worlds poorest subsist fewer five gallons per day fortysix percent people earth water piped homes women developing countries walk average 37 miles get water fifteen years 18 billion people live regions severe water scarcity problemas much anythingis 975 percent earths water salty 25 percent remaining twothirds ice leave much human consumption amount moisture earth changed water dinosaurs drank millions years ago water falls rain today worse everyone republicans know climate changing equally impressive essaythe gods must furiousbrook larmer explains highest places world heating faster lower altitudes 680 glaciers chinese scientists monitor closely tibetan plateau 95 percent shedding ice theyre adding fullscale glacier shrinking inevitableit lead ecological catastrophe chinas situationin spite many new damsis bleak country less water canada 40 times people third pole tibetan plateau source water much indian subcontinent delhi 180 miles south himalayan glaciers yet already areas city residents spend hours searching waiting water deliveries scariest aspect water problem growing likelihood water conflicts across borders united states across state lines middle east conflicts already begun belts essay describes 90 percent decline jordan river last five decades doesnt helpanywherethat much water necessary agriculture theres foldout map worlds rivers included geographic water issue filled fascinating information flipside map even revealing delineates amount water necessary food production beef high end requiring 1857 gallons order produce one pound extreme end strawberries needing 33 gallons figures chart list gallons required common goods 2900 gallons pair blue jeans 766 gallons tshirt made cotton 634 hamburger 9 gallons cup tea figures revealing thoroughly depressing considering earths growing population recreational needs golf courses water lost leaky pipes urban sanitation systems though genuine success stories joel k bourne jrs opening pipe dream blistering day megalopolis southern california shivaji deshmukh orange county water district offers cup cool clean water yesterday swirling around anaheim toilet bowl besides recycling theres hope greatly improved less expensive methods desalinization probably single important aspect mans need learn live water raising awareness everyone earth barbara kingsolverin lead essay issuehas right approach need begin regarding place reside mother water us havent yet begun think problem rush get copy national geographics water issue disappear news stands marvel extraordinary photographs digest dozens graphs charts describe everything youll ever want know water cheer editors taking urgent topic water thirsty world national geographic society april 2010 184 pp 599 charles r larson professor literature american university washington dc 160 160 words stick | 620 |
<p>He’s America’s Joseph Goebbels. As a 21-year old Young Republican in Texas, Karl Rove not only pimped for Richard Nixon’s chief political dirty tricks strategist Donald Segretti but soon caught the eye of the incoming Republican National Committee Chairman, George H. W. Bush. Rove’s dirty tricks on behalf of Nixon’s 1972 campaign catapulted Rove onto the national stage. From his Eagle’s Nest in the West Wing of the White House, Rove now directs a formidable political dirty tricks operation and disinformation mill.</p>
<p>Since his formative political years when he tried to paint World War II B-24 pilot and hero George McGovern as a left-wing peacenik through his mid-level career as a planter of disinformation in the media on behalf of Texas and national GOP candidates to his current role as Dubya’s “Svengali,” Rove has practiced the same style of slash and burn politics as did his Nixonian mentor Segretti. Many of us remember the Lincolnesque Senator Ed Muskie breaking down in tears during the 1972 campaign over Segretti-planted false stories in a New Hampshire newspaper that accused Mrs. Muskie of being a heavy smoker, drinker, and cusser and accused Muskie of uttering a slur in describing New Hampshire’s French Canadian population. Rove’s hero also forged letters on fake Muskie campaign letterhead, disrupted rallies and fundraising dinners, and spread false stories about the sex lives of candidates. Segretti’s brush also smeared George McGovern, George Wallace, Shirley Chisholm, and McGovern’s first vice presidential choice, Senator Tom Eagleton. Segretti of course did not go on to a high-level White House job — he was sentenced to six months in federal prison for distributing illegal campaign material.</p>
<p>In many respects, however, the apprentice Rove has far exceeded the chicanery and evil-mindedness of his mentor Segretti. Rove is a tech-savvy puppet master for Bush. Take, for example, last June’s discovery of a “lost” CD-ROM in Lafayette Park across from the White House. Contained on the CD was a PowerPoint presentation given by White House political director Ken Mehlman to Rove on the strategy for next Tuesday’s off-year election. The slide show showed First Brother Jeb Bush being vulnerable in Florida. Jeb Bush later joked that the disc was part of a plot cooked up by him and his brother to make it appear that he was vulnerable in order to rally an otherwise complacent GOP base in the Sunshine State. Or was it a joke? Jeb Bush and his political minions like Katherine Harris have shown us that if anyone thinks what the GOP has done in Florida is funny they have an incredibly sick sense of humor.</p>
<p>Rove’s own tendency to be sick-minded originates with his mentor Segretti. The 2000 GOP primary was a chance for Rove to hone his skills in dirty tricks. His target then was Senator John McCain who appeared to be within striking distance of Dubya in South Carolina after the then-GOP maverick’s surprise upset victory in New Hampshire. Rove’s operation proceeded to target McCain with false stories: McCain was a stoolie for his captors in the Hanoi Hilton (this from a lunatic self-promoting Vietnam “veteran”); McCain fathered a black daughter out of wedlock (a despicable reference to McCain’s adopted Bangladeshi daughter); Cindy McCain’s drug “abuse”; and even McCain’s “homosexuality.” In the spirit of Segretti, Rove engineered a victory for Dubya but at the cost of trashing an honorable man and his family. Muskie, McGovern, Carter, Mondale, Dukakis, Gore, Hart, Tsongas, Clinton, Biden, Dole, Perot, and others had all seen the Segretti/Rove slash and burn tactics before.</p>
<p>And Rove’s penchant for fascistic demagoguery and outright lying continues to this very day. After Paul Wellstone’s sons asked that Vice President Dick Cheney not attend the Minneapolis memorial service for their father, mother, and sister, the White House explained that the real reason wasn’t the surviving Wellstone family’s abhorrence for Cheney but the fact the family didn’t want Cheney’s Secret Service protection to interfere with public access to the service. Of course, the Rove and Ari Fleischer disinformation machine forgot to take into account that two attendees, Bill and Hillary Clinton, had their own Secret Service details. But such is the case with a White House that takes its lessons from Goebbels and the editorial staff of the old Soviet News Agency Tass.</p>
<p>Rove’s dirty fingerprints could also be seen in the Iowa Senate race between Tom Harkin and GOP candidate Greg Ganske. A few months ago, a story was leaked that the Harkin campaign had employed a spy within the Ganske campaign. To put this in a Rove context, we must go back to the 1986 Texas gubernatorial race in which Rove’s candidate Bill Clements was taking on Democratic Governor Mark White. Just before a debate between the two candidates, Rove spun the story that his office had been bugged. No proof. But the insinuation that White’s people had carried out the bugging was reported by the media. In the election, Clements defeated White. Rove stashed away more political capital into his already heavy knapsack of ill-gotten IOUs.</p>
<p>During the 2000 presidential campaign, we were obviously treated to more Rove chicanery when the following Associated Press story hit the wires: “A woman who worked for a media company that produced ads for President George W. Bush’s campaign was indicted for secretly mailing a videotape of Bush practicing for a debate to Vice President Al Gore’s campaign.” Yes, that videotape, along with a 120-page briefing book, just happened to turn up in Gore’s headquarters as fast as the CD-ROM turned up in Lafayette Park. The sourcerer Segretti must be very proud of his apprentice. In 1980, no Republican bemoaned the fact that Jimmy Carter’s debate briefing book was swiped and found its way into the hands of the Reagan-Bush campaign. In Rove’s world, its only an affront when someone “steals” your own campaign secrets and not when your are on the receiving end of a heist.</p>
<p>“If you’re not with me, you’re against me.” Bush’s binary view of “good and evil” and “friend and enemy” sits well with the Rove strategy. Georgia’s conservative but libertarian-minded Representative Bob Barr found out about this in last August’s primary when his GOP primary opponent John Linder began spreading around stories that Barr was “soft on terrorism.” Because Barr was skeptical about a number of aspects of the Bush-Ashcroft USA PATRIOT Act, he became a target for the Rove machine. However, it was likely that Barr became a target earlier on when he supported Steve Forbes against Bush in the 2000 primary. Bush apparently means to say, “If you’ve not always been with me, you’re against me.” It must have really been a dilemma for Bush and Rove to have to come to the support of John Sununu, Jr. in the New Hampshire Senate race. Although Daddy made George W. unceremoniously give the axe to Sununu’s father as White House Chief of Staff during the Bush 41 administration, the man who the junior Sununu defeated in the primary, Bob Smith, was even more of a problem. He had the temerity to quit the Republican Party in 2000 and run against Dubya for President. So in Bushspeak, which is obviously borrowed from Forrest Gump’s scripts, “if you’re less with me than the other guy, you’re more against me.”</p>
<p>Undoubtedly, Rove was also behind the campaign to “get” Georgia Representative Cynthia McKinney who was the first nationally-known politician to question what Bush may have known beforehand about 9-11. She was defeated by a former Republican state judge who had supported the wacky Alan Keyes for President in 2000. Never mind, McKinney was “less with Bush” than Keyes, so it was more important to get McKinney who was “more against” Bush.</p>
<p>In all seriousness, rewarding the GOP on November 5 will only increase the appetite of Rove to amass more and more power into the White House. The advent of a Democratic-controlled Senate and House might even begin to spell the end of the road for Segretti’s star pupil. German opposition figures in the mid-1930s often lamented the fact that they could have stopped the rise of the Nazis if only they had been more united in a common front when they had a chance. However, they fell prey to the media manipulation of Goebbels and fought among themselves more than they did against the menace from the far right. We Americans also have an early opportunity to stem an out-of-control and anti-constitutional regime with the Rasputin-like Rove at the after steerage helm of our ship of state. That opportunity presents itself next Tuesday–Election Day.</p>
<p>WAYNE MADSEN is a Washington, DC-based investigative journalist and columnist. He wrote the introduction to <a href="" type="internal">Forbidden Truth</a>.</p>
<p>Madsen can be reached at: <a href="mailto:WMadsen777@aol.com" type="external">WMadsen777@aol.com</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | hes americas joseph goebbels 21year old young republican texas karl rove pimped richard nixons chief political dirty tricks strategist donald segretti soon caught eye incoming republican national committee chairman george h w bush roves dirty tricks behalf nixons 1972 campaign catapulted rove onto national stage eagles nest west wing white house rove directs formidable political dirty tricks operation disinformation mill since formative political years tried paint world war ii b24 pilot hero george mcgovern leftwing peacenik midlevel career planter disinformation media behalf texas national gop candidates current role dubyas svengali rove practiced style slash burn politics nixonian mentor segretti many us remember lincolnesque senator ed muskie breaking tears 1972 campaign segrettiplanted false stories new hampshire newspaper accused mrs muskie heavy smoker drinker cusser accused muskie uttering slur describing new hampshires french canadian population roves hero also forged letters fake muskie campaign letterhead disrupted rallies fundraising dinners spread false stories sex lives candidates segrettis brush also smeared george mcgovern george wallace shirley chisholm mcgoverns first vice presidential choice senator tom eagleton segretti course go highlevel white house job sentenced six months federal prison distributing illegal campaign material many respects however apprentice rove far exceeded chicanery evilmindedness mentor segretti rove techsavvy puppet master bush take example last junes discovery lost cdrom lafayette park across white house contained cd powerpoint presentation given white house political director ken mehlman rove strategy next tuesdays offyear election slide show showed first brother jeb bush vulnerable florida jeb bush later joked disc part plot cooked brother make appear vulnerable order rally otherwise complacent gop base sunshine state joke jeb bush political minions like katherine harris shown us anyone thinks gop done florida funny incredibly sick sense humor roves tendency sickminded originates mentor segretti 2000 gop primary chance rove hone skills dirty tricks target senator john mccain appeared within striking distance dubya south carolina thengop mavericks surprise upset victory new hampshire roves operation proceeded target mccain false stories mccain stoolie captors hanoi hilton lunatic selfpromoting vietnam veteran mccain fathered black daughter wedlock despicable reference mccains adopted bangladeshi daughter cindy mccains drug abuse even mccains homosexuality spirit segretti rove engineered victory dubya cost trashing honorable man family muskie mcgovern carter mondale dukakis gore hart tsongas clinton biden dole perot others seen segrettirove slash burn tactics roves penchant fascistic demagoguery outright lying continues day paul wellstones sons asked vice president dick cheney attend minneapolis memorial service father mother sister white house explained real reason wasnt surviving wellstone familys abhorrence cheney fact family didnt want cheneys secret service protection interfere public access service course rove ari fleischer disinformation machine forgot take account two attendees bill hillary clinton secret service details case white house takes lessons goebbels editorial staff old soviet news agency tass roves dirty fingerprints could also seen iowa senate race tom harkin gop candidate greg ganske months ago story leaked harkin campaign employed spy within ganske campaign put rove context must go back 1986 texas gubernatorial race roves candidate bill clements taking democratic governor mark white debate two candidates rove spun story office bugged proof insinuation whites people carried bugging reported media election clements defeated white rove stashed away political capital already heavy knapsack illgotten ious 2000 presidential campaign obviously treated rove chicanery following associated press story hit wires woman worked media company produced ads president george w bushs campaign indicted secretly mailing videotape bush practicing debate vice president al gores campaign yes videotape along 120page briefing book happened turn gores headquarters fast cdrom turned lafayette park sourcerer segretti must proud apprentice 1980 republican bemoaned fact jimmy carters debate briefing book swiped found way hands reaganbush campaign roves world affront someone steals campaign secrets receiving end heist youre youre bushs binary view good evil friend enemy sits well rove strategy georgias conservative libertarianminded representative bob barr found last augusts primary gop primary opponent john linder began spreading around stories barr soft terrorism barr skeptical number aspects bushashcroft usa patriot act became target rove machine however likely barr became target earlier supported steve forbes bush 2000 primary bush apparently means say youve always youre must really dilemma bush rove come support john sununu jr new hampshire senate race although daddy made george w unceremoniously give axe sununus father white house chief staff bush 41 administration man junior sununu defeated primary bob smith even problem temerity quit republican party 2000 run dubya president bushspeak obviously borrowed forrest gumps scripts youre less guy youre undoubtedly rove also behind campaign get georgia representative cynthia mckinney first nationallyknown politician question bush may known beforehand 911 defeated former republican state judge supported wacky alan keyes president 2000 never mind mckinney less bush keyes important get mckinney bush seriousness rewarding gop november 5 increase appetite rove amass power white house advent democraticcontrolled senate house might even begin spell end road segrettis star pupil german opposition figures mid1930s often lamented fact could stopped rise nazis united common front chance however fell prey media manipulation goebbels fought among menace far right americans also early opportunity stem outofcontrol anticonstitutional regime rasputinlike rove steerage helm ship state opportunity presents next tuesdayelection day wayne madsen washington dcbased investigative journalist columnist wrote introduction forbidden truth madsen reached wmadsen777aolcom 160 | 857 |
<p>AlexHliv/Shutterstock</p>
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<p>“Friends, I need your help,” Greg Evers <a href="https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=918701878251691&amp;id=882110315244181" type="external">wrote to his Facebook followers</a> last Wednesday. “Over the last 48 hours as I have taken on Washington and the liberal Obama/Clinton policies of Gun Control I have become the target of a well organized liberal machine.” He implored his supporters, “I need your help combating those who would tear our constitution to shreds.”</p>
<p>Evers, a Republican candidate for Congress from Florida, had just launched the “Homeland Defender Giveaway” on his Facebook campaign page, <a href="http://www.gregevers.com/evers_homeland_defender_giveaway" type="external">offering an AR-15</a> rifle to one randomly chosen resident of his district. The gun, similar to the assault rifle recently used to <a href="" type="internal">kill 49 people</a> at a gay club in Orlando, Florida, “proudly displays the 2nd amendment [sic] on the right side of the receiver,” read a <a href="http://www.gregevers.com/evers_homeland_defender_giveaway" type="external">press release</a> from the Evers campaign.</p>
<p>Evers didn’t get the response he was expecting. The “well organized liberal machine” he referred to is the disparate collection of individuals who have taken it upon themselves to flood Facebook with reports of suspected gun sales and get the site to take down posts promoting unlicensed firearms transactions. <a href="https://twitter.com/jeffromaniuk/status/746123193560207361" type="external">Several</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/SpencerDan/status/745104590794690560" type="external">of</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/AndrewSchmidtFC/status/746133808026529793" type="external">them</a> took issue with Evers’ AR-15 giveaway, seeing it as callous move in the wake of the Orlando massacre.</p>
<p>“I want it to be hard to get a gun. I’m opposed to how easy it is to take out 50 people in a two-minute period. And I’m pissed off at how little our government has done about it,” says Mike Monteiro, a web design director in San Francisco whose <a href="https://twitter.com/monteiro" type="external">Twitter feed</a> has become a repository for his and others’ handiwork in getting groups where guns are sold <a href="https://twitter.com/battis/status/746180505134047232" type="external">kicked off</a> of Facebook for violating the site’s rules. He estimates that he and his “army of little miscreants” have gotten at least 400 groups banned.</p>
<p>“We found something simple that we could do,” Monteiro says. “I don’t know how big of an effect it’s having. Probably very fucking little, but it’s at least something.” He is unapologetic about reporting Evers to Facebook. “He was offering a free AR-15,” he notes. “I love that we pissed off some Congressman. I hope we ruined his dinner.”</p>
<p>In January, when <a href="" type="internal">Facebook banned</a> private sales of guns and ammunition, it was assumed buying a gun on the site would become <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2016/01/29/its-now-a-lot-harder-to-buy-a-gun-on-facebook/" type="external">significantly more difficult</a>. For years the social network had unintentionally facilitated unregulated weapons sales. (There were some limits. In 2014, Facebook <a href="https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2014/03/facebook-instagram-announce-new-educational-and-enforcement-measures-for-commercial-activity/" type="external">restricted posts</a> discussing firearms sales to users over 18 and warned sellers to abide by state and federal laws.) Now, six months after the ban went into effect, it’s clear that Facebook continues to host a bustling arms marketplace, where everything from handguns to rifles are <a href="http://www.vocativ.com/326191/its-still-remarkably-easy-for-criminals-to-buy-guns-on-facebook/" type="external">easy to procure</a>, often without a background check.</p>
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<p>The anti-gun Facebook vigilantes readily recount their scores. Malachi Smith says that he’s gotten 93 groups removed, and has “30+ reports in the queue for review right now. My success rate is over 80%,”&#160;he wrote in an email. Chris Tacy has <a href="https://twitter.com/cbtacy/status/746069564362915844" type="external">taken 74 groups</a> down. Jough Dempsey claims 18 takedowns, including that of <a href="https://twitter.com/jough/status/746160668362031104" type="external">a group</a> with 11,000 members. Some discuss their numbers as if they’re setting exercise records. “I have to stop for the day, but hit pers best, 48,” <a href="https://twitter.com/jbsibley/status/745714988761890817" type="external">tweeted</a> John Sibley, who has also <a href="https://medium.com/@jbsibley/5-at-a-time-chasing-guns-from-facebook-b8fec2751539#.akt24ii6m" type="external">written a guide</a> to “chasing guns from Facebook.” Gun violence prevention advocates affiliated with groups like Everytown for Gun Safety have reported thousands more removals.</p>
<p>A few months after it implemented its gun-sale ban, Facebook rolled out a feature that makes it easier for users to report posts or pages that describe “the purchase or sale of drugs, guns or regulated products.” But enforcement of the ban is entirely reliant on user reporting. Monteiro and others recount Facebook telling them that flagged groups had not violated its community standards, only to see that determination reversed as more people reported the same groups. One group called Sell Guns for Cash <a href="https://twitter.com/InsoOutso/status/746025811841531905" type="external">was not removed</a> after being flagged, nor was another group with posts showing images of firearms with prices on them. “When we found out that Facebook had this policy, we thought it was great. We were going to use it to get rid of this stuff. But it’s frustrating how inconsistently it’s being supported,” says Monteiro.</p>
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<p>Overzealous gun-group flaggers sometimes hit the wrong targets. The gun-sale ban only affects sales between individuals, not sales by federally licensed firearms dealers. But Facebook has no way of vetting licensed gun sellers. According to Monteiro, pages for brick-and-mortar gun shops have been taken down&#160;wrongfully at times.</p>
<p>Gun-selling Facebook groups have found ways to circumvent the site’s restrictions. In March, <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/mattdrange/2016/03/10/gun-sales-thrive-on-facebook-despite-recent-ban/#61d6e6585214" type="external">Forbes</a> reporter Matt Drange found that some groups were becoming private to avoid scrutiny. Others switched from “closed” to “secret,” a status that’s all but invisible to users not already in the group or invited by current members. Some sellers use codes when listing weapons for sale.</p>
<p>These workarounds may indicate something more significant than loopholes in the site’s policy. Chuck Rossi, Facebook’s director of engineering, has become an advocate for gun groups&#160;within the company and has helped reinstate gun groups. As also reported by Drange at <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/mattdrange/2016/05/03/as-facebook-struggles-to-combat-gun-sales-one-of-its-own-brings-gun-groups-back-online/#4cc75fde3cb3" type="external">Forbes</a>, some of the groups Rossi has helped rescued from removal have continued to be forums for private gun deals. Rossi also became the leader of a secret group of administrators for gun pages called “Admin Contact.” According to Forbes, in February Rossi wrote to the group’s members: “I am 100% laser focused on getting your groups back to you so you have a chance to get them to comply with the new policy. It is my sole freaking purpose in life until it is done.” His efforts have helped many groups get out of what’s known as “Facebook jail.”</p>
<p>In a statement to Mother Jones, a Facebook spokesperson emphasized that “The purchase, sale or trade of firearms, ammunition and explosives between private individuals isn’t allowed on Facebook… When a reported post violates Facebook’s policies, that post will be removed, however the group it appeared in will not necessarily be taken down.”</p>
<p>“I report these sites because I’m really, really, really fucking angry. Why isn’t Facebook policing their backyard?” says one flagger, who wishes to remain anonymous. “Why is it still so easy to get a gun? Why can they sell and swap in the open using dirty loopholes? It was maddening to see people pricing, bargaining, and exchanging weapons in the open. The goal of this was to do something—anything.”</p>
<p /> | true | 4 | alexhlivshutterstock friends need help greg evers wrote facebook followers last wednesday last 48 hours taken washington liberal obamaclinton policies gun control become target well organized liberal machine implored supporters need help combating would tear constitution shreds evers republican candidate congress florida launched homeland defender giveaway facebook campaign page offering ar15 rifle one randomly chosen resident district gun similar assault rifle recently used kill 49 people gay club orlando florida proudly displays 2nd amendment sic right side receiver read press release evers campaign evers didnt get response expecting well organized liberal machine referred disparate collection individuals taken upon flood facebook reports suspected gun sales get site take posts promoting unlicensed firearms transactions several took issue evers ar15 giveaway seeing callous move wake orlando massacre want hard get gun im opposed easy take 50 people twominute period im pissed little government done says mike monteiro web design director san francisco whose twitter feed become repository others handiwork getting groups guns sold kicked facebook violating sites rules estimates army little miscreants gotten least 400 groups banned found something simple could monteiro says dont know big effect probably fucking little least something unapologetic reporting evers facebook offering free ar15 notes love pissed congressman hope ruined dinner january facebook banned private sales guns ammunition assumed buying gun site would become significantly difficult years social network unintentionally facilitated unregulated weapons sales limits 2014 facebook restricted posts discussing firearms sales users 18 warned sellers abide state federal laws six months ban went effect clear facebook continues host bustling arms marketplace everything handguns rifles easy procure often without background check antigun facebook vigilantes readily recount scores malachi smith says hes gotten 93 groups removed 30 reports queue review right success rate 80160he wrote email chris tacy taken 74 groups jough dempsey claims 18 takedowns including group 11000 members discuss numbers theyre setting exercise records stop day hit pers best 48 tweeted john sibley also written guide chasing guns facebook gun violence prevention advocates affiliated groups like everytown gun safety reported thousands removals months implemented gunsale ban facebook rolled feature makes easier users report posts pages describe purchase sale drugs guns regulated products enforcement ban entirely reliant user reporting monteiro others recount facebook telling flagged groups violated community standards see determination reversed people reported groups one group called sell guns cash removed flagged another group posts showing images firearms prices found facebook policy thought great going use get rid stuff frustrating inconsistently supported says monteiro overzealous gungroup flaggers sometimes hit wrong targets gunsale ban affects sales individuals sales federally licensed firearms dealers facebook way vetting licensed gun sellers according monteiro pages brickandmortar gun shops taken down160wrongfully times gunselling facebook groups found ways circumvent sites restrictions march forbes reporter matt drange found groups becoming private avoid scrutiny others switched closed secret status thats invisible users already group invited current members sellers use codes listing weapons sale workarounds may indicate something significant loopholes sites policy chuck rossi facebooks director engineering become advocate gun groups160within company helped reinstate gun groups also reported drange forbes groups rossi helped rescued removal continued forums private gun deals rossi also became leader secret group administrators gun pages called admin contact according forbes february rossi wrote groups members 100 laser focused getting groups back chance get comply new policy sole freaking purpose life done efforts helped many groups get whats known facebook jail statement mother jones facebook spokesperson emphasized purchase sale trade firearms ammunition explosives private individuals isnt allowed facebook reported post violates facebooks policies post removed however group appeared necessarily taken report sites im really really really fucking angry isnt facebook policing backyard says one flagger wishes remain anonymous still easy get gun sell swap open using dirty loopholes maddening see people pricing bargaining exchanging weapons open goal somethinganything | 623 |
<p>‘They want, as my fellow inmates like to say, “the whole enchilada.” ... By 2008, the entire banking and home mortgage industry had been corrupted by the Left.’</p>
<p>If Inspector Javert and Captain Ahab were to collaborate on a screed, the results would likely not be half as demented—or one-fortieth as megalomaniacal—as the politics laid out in right-wing pundit Dinesh D’Souza’s latest broadside, Stealing America: What My Experience&#160;with Criminal Gangs Taught Me About Obama, Hillary and the Democratic Party.</p>
<p>With the 2012 film 2016: Obama’s America and its chiliastic sequel, America: Imagine the World Without Her, D’Souza has of late eclipsed Michael Moore as the country’s best-known political documentarian. Though, as Stealing America makes abundantly clear, “documentarian” is a stretch. “Agitprop sensationalist” is closer to the mark, and “paranoid fantasist” may be the best term.&#160;</p>
<p>The rumpus begins with D’Souza’s own fantasies of political martyrdom. D’Souza pled guilty in 2014 to charges that he evaded federal campaign laws when he enlisted a pair of his friends to funnel donations on his behalf to the 2012 New York Senate campaign of Wendy E. Long, a former classmate of his at Dartmouth. Stealing America uses D’Souza’s sentencing trial before Manhattan Federal District Court Judge Richard Berman as the departure point for the first of many forays into political victimology. D’Souza spins out a conspiracy theory about the government’s&#160;determination to punish him for his Obama-baiting publications and films. It’s simple: Manhattan federal prosecutor Preet Bharara was angling to replace Eric Holder as attorney general— and what would please his Oval Office masters more than the specter of their truth-telling enemy, Dinesh D’Souza, behind bars? “How much ingenuity,” our narrator asks, “does it take to recognize the possibility of a deal between Holder and Bharara?”</p>
<p>Not much ingenuity, if you believe, as D’Souza passionately does, that a random anonymous detractor denouncing 2016 on D’Souza’s website was none other than—da-duhn!—President Obama himself. “The article, unsigned and incoherent,” D’Souza writes in high “gotcha” dudgeon (and also as though he’s never previously encountered an anonymous comment) is “in keeping with Obama’s distinctive style.”&#160;</p>
<p>D’Souza’s sentence turns out to be light—eight months in a halfway house in San Diego that D’Souza only has to bunk down in at night. But it’s a trait of conspiracy theorists to fit all evidence, no matter how contradictory, into the grand schemes upsetting their lives. So when Loretta Lynch was picked to succeed Holder, the moral, to D’Souza, was plain: “Sorry, Preet, you didn’t come through for us, and now we’re not going to come through for you.”&#160;</p>
<p>D’Souza did not let his eight-month tour among hardened felons go to waste. Those sleepovers, we are led to believe, served as a tutelage in the criminal underworld, supplying fodder for Stealing America’s reinterpretation of Obama’s rule and “progressivism” generally as a vast conspiracy aimed at the expropriation of everything produced, marketed and squirreled away by every single American. D’Souza intends his title literally: Obama and Hillary Clinton are out to seize “the entire wealth of the nation: the full $75 trillion. … From Wall Street to Silicon Valley, they want, as my fellow inmates like to say, ‘the whole enchilada.’ ”</p>
<p>How D’Souza makes this tremendous leap is something to behold. It stems from an exchange with a fellow&#160;inmate, whom D’Souza calls Ramon, about how practiced thieves “case the joint” before carrying out a heist. The lightbulb goes off in D’Souza’s head: “Maybe the government is casing the joint—or more accurate, casing the citizen. … The Clintons have soared from zero to $100 million at warp speed. Obama is setting up to join them, so&#160;that he too can live like a king when he leaves office. Ramon raises a valid question: How did this happen?”</p>
<p>How indeed? Armed with this slender hypothetical, D’Souza spins out countless more. The case for reparations for oppressed groups, including Native and African Americans (which occupies no place in Democratic Party platforms), eats up an entire chapter, because, well, it’s just so gangsterish! Is the Community Reinvestment Act blamed for the entire financial crisis? You’d better believe it. Saul Alinsky laid the ground for the 2008 collapse in those communityactivism manuals that collected dust on so many college bookshelves—including, of course, Obama’s and Hillary’s. “If Alinsky had never lived, none of this would have ever happened,” our narrator informs us in a breathless flourish. (Fun fact: this sort of reasoning works just as plausibly in the affirmative, e.g., “If Batman had lived, none of this would have ever happened.”) But why stop at the long-dead figure of Alinsky? The fact is: “By 2008, the entire banking and home mortgage industry had been corrupted by the Left.”&#160;</p>
<p>And on it goes. Clinton, taking all her cues from cult master Alinsky, hatched her plan for nationwide wealth expropriation at Wellesley. Sure, Alinsky himself had offered her a job after graduation, but she had set her sights on bigger game: “Hillary realized that if she could figure out a way to take over the government, she’d&#160;have all the powerful instruments of government, from the military to the FBI to the IRS, at her disposal.”&#160;</p>
<p>Everything, you see, oscillates around the progressive mania to appropriate more and more wealth and power. As for us, the gullible progressive masses, we’ve been tutored by our leaders in crass class envy. We don’t know how to innovate or create wealth, so when the progressive hucksters tell us to start baying for this or that noble entrepreneur’s head on a pike, we all lunge as one terrifying pack.&#160;</p>
<p>There is, needless to say, much to critique, and more to defenestrate, in D’Souza’s account of the thuggish tendencies of those Americans who do not worship “wealth creators.” But let’s just linger a bit on the psychology of envy. Like Barack Obama, D’Souza is, after all, an American with recent family roots in the Global South. Like both Clintons, D’Souza has profited from his work as a tireless manufacturer of economic fabulism and cableready talking points. And like them, he’s disposed to dismiss criticism as evidence of persecution.</p>
<p>The telltale signs of organized progressive thievery would seem to apply to D’Souza himself. Maybe all this talk of envy is a projection, designed to shield poor D’Souza from the truth: He wants to be a world-class gangster, just like the progressive phantasms in the nearly 300 hallucinatory pages of Stealing America. The book, for all its righteous indictment of left-wing larceny, can only be read sympathetically as a desperate cry for help. Someone should bring a stop to this tortured psychic display by offering D’Souza a high-rolling gig as a Democratic lobbyist—or better yet, a PAC bundler. I’m sure he’s got the hang of political fundraising by now.</p>
<p>Like what you’ve read? <a href="https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/itt-subscription-offer?refcode=WS_ITT_Article_Footer&amp;noskip=true" type="external">Subscribe to In These Times magazine</a>, or <a href="https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/support-in-these-times?refcode=WS_ITT_Article_Footer&amp;noskip=true" type="external">make a tax-deductible donation to fund this reporting</a>.</p>
<p>Chris Lehmann, a contributing editor of In These Times, is editor-in-chief at Baffler and the author of <a href="http://www.mhpbooks.com/books/the-money-cult/" type="external">The Money Cult: Capitalism, Christianity, and the Unmaking of the American Dream</a> (Melville House, 2016).</p> | true | 4 | want fellow inmates like say whole enchilada 2008 entire banking home mortgage industry corrupted left inspector javert captain ahab collaborate screed results would likely half dementedor onefortieth megalomaniacalas politics laid rightwing pundit dinesh dsouzas latest broadside stealing america experience160with criminal gangs taught obama hillary democratic party 2012 film 2016 obamas america chiliastic sequel america imagine world without dsouza late eclipsed michael moore countrys bestknown political documentarian though stealing america makes abundantly clear documentarian stretch agitprop sensationalist closer mark paranoid fantasist may best term160 rumpus begins dsouzas fantasies political martyrdom dsouza pled guilty 2014 charges evaded federal campaign laws enlisted pair friends funnel donations behalf 2012 new york senate campaign wendy e long former classmate dartmouth stealing america uses dsouzas sentencing trial manhattan federal district court judge richard berman departure point first many forays political victimology dsouza spins conspiracy theory governments160determination punish obamabaiting publications films simple manhattan federal prosecutor preet bharara angling replace eric holder attorney general would please oval office masters specter truthtelling enemy dinesh dsouza behind bars much ingenuity narrator asks take recognize possibility deal holder bharara much ingenuity believe dsouza passionately random anonymous detractor denouncing 2016 dsouzas website none thandaduhnpresident obama article unsigned incoherent dsouza writes high gotcha dudgeon also though hes never previously encountered anonymous comment keeping obamas distinctive style160 dsouzas sentence turns lighteight months halfway house san diego dsouza bunk night trait conspiracy theorists fit evidence matter contradictory grand schemes upsetting lives loretta lynch picked succeed holder moral dsouza plain sorry preet didnt come us going come you160 dsouza let eightmonth tour among hardened felons go waste sleepovers led believe served tutelage criminal underworld supplying fodder stealing americas reinterpretation obamas rule progressivism generally vast conspiracy aimed expropriation everything produced marketed squirreled away every single american dsouza intends title literally obama hillary clinton seize entire wealth nation full 75 trillion wall street silicon valley want fellow inmates like say whole enchilada dsouza makes tremendous leap something behold stems exchange fellow160inmate dsouza calls ramon practiced thieves case joint carrying heist lightbulb goes dsouzas head maybe government casing jointor accurate casing citizen clintons soared zero 100 million warp speed obama setting join so160that live like king leaves office ramon raises valid question happen indeed armed slender hypothetical dsouza spins countless case reparations oppressed groups including native african americans occupies place democratic party platforms eats entire chapter well gangsterish community reinvestment act blamed entire financial crisis youd better believe saul alinsky laid ground 2008 collapse communityactivism manuals collected dust many college bookshelvesincluding course obamas hillarys alinsky never lived none would ever happened narrator informs us breathless flourish fun fact sort reasoning works plausibly affirmative eg batman lived none would ever happened stop longdead figure alinsky fact 2008 entire banking home mortgage industry corrupted left160 goes clinton taking cues cult master alinsky hatched plan nationwide wealth expropriation wellesley sure alinsky offered job graduation set sights bigger game hillary realized could figure way take government shed160have powerful instruments government military fbi irs disposal160 everything see oscillates around progressive mania appropriate wealth power us gullible progressive masses weve tutored leaders crass class envy dont know innovate create wealth progressive hucksters tell us start baying noble entrepreneurs head pike lunge one terrifying pack160 needless say much critique defenestrate dsouzas account thuggish tendencies americans worship wealth creators lets linger bit psychology envy like barack obama dsouza american recent family roots global south like clintons dsouza profited work tireless manufacturer economic fabulism cableready talking points like hes disposed dismiss criticism evidence persecution telltale signs organized progressive thievery would seem apply dsouza maybe talk envy projection designed shield poor dsouza truth wants worldclass gangster like progressive phantasms nearly 300 hallucinatory pages stealing america book righteous indictment leftwing larceny read sympathetically desperate cry help someone bring stop tortured psychic display offering dsouza highrolling gig democratic lobbyistor better yet pac bundler im sure hes got hang political fundraising like youve read subscribe times magazine make taxdeductible donation fund reporting chris lehmann contributing editor times editorinchief baffler author money cult capitalism christianity unmaking american dream melville house 2016 | 668 |
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<p>Matthew P. Hoh, a former U.S. combat marine captain and Department of Defense civilian in Iraq starting in 2004 and until September a political officer in the Foreign Service stationed in Afghanistan is giving some consternation to President Obama’s advisors as the Commander in Chief considers sending more soldiers to that war-torn country next to Pakistan.</p>
<p>Mr. Hoh wrote a letter of resignation to the State Department in September. His four page letter frames his doubts about what he said is the “why and to what end” behind “the strategic purposes of the United States’ presence in Afghanistan. He notes that like the Soviets’ nine year occupation, “we continue to secure and bolster a failing state, while encouraging an ideology and system of government unknown and unwanted by its people.”</p>
<p>Mr. Hoh focuses on the giant Pashtun society composed of 42 million people and moves to his conclusions. Read his words:</p>
<p>The Pashtun insurgency, which is composed of multiple, seemingly infinite, local groups, is fed by what is perceived by the Pashtun people as a continued and sustained assault, going back centuries, on Pashtun land, culture, traditions and religion by internal and external enemies. The U.S. and NATO presence and operations in Pashtun valleys and villages, as well as Afghan army and police units that are led and composed of non-Pashtun soldiers and police, provide an occupation force against which the insurgency is justified. In both RC East and South, I have observed that the bulk of the insurgency fights not for the white banner of the Taliban, but rather against the presence of foreign soldiers and taxes imposed by an unrepresentative government in Kabul.</p>
<p>The United States military presence in Afghanistan greatly contributes to the legitimacy and strategic message of the Pashtun <a href="" type="internal" />insurgency. In a like manner our backing of the Afghan government in its current form continues to distance the government from the people. The Afghan government’s failings, particularly when weighed against the sacrifice of American lives and dollars, appear legion and metastatic:</p>
<p>• Glaring corruption and unabashed graft;</p>
<p>• A President whose confidants and chief advisers comprise drug lords and war crimes villains, who mock our own rule of law and counternarcotics efforts;</p>
<p>• A system of provincial and district leaders constituted of local power brokers, opportunists and strongmen allied to the United States solely for, and limited by, the value of our USAID and CERP contracts and whose own political and economic interests stand nothing to gain from any positive or genuine attempts at reconciliation; and</p>
<p>• The recent election process dominated by fraud and discredited by low voter turnout, which has created an enormous victory for our enemy who now claims a popular boycott and will call into question worldwide our government’s military, economic and diplomatic support for an invalid and illegitimate Afghan government.</p>
<p>Our support for this kind of government, coupled with a misunderstanding of the insurgency’s true nature, reminds me horribly of our involvement with South Vietnam; an unpopular and corrupt government we backed at the expense of our Nation’s own internal peace, against an insurgency whose nationalism we arrogantly and ignorantly mistook as a rival to our own Cold War ideology.</p>
<p>I find specious the reasons we ask for bloodshed and sacrifice from our young men and women in Afghanistan. If honest, our stated strategy of securing Afghanistan to prevent al-Qaeda resurgence or regrouping would require us to additionally invade and occupy western Pakistan, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, etc. Our presence in Afghanistan has only increased destabilization and insurgency in Pakistan where we rightly fear a toppled or weakened Pakistani government may lose control of its nuclear weapons. However, again, to follow the logic of our stated goals we should garrison Pakistan, not Afghanistan. More so, the September 11th attacks, as well as the Madrid and London bombings, were primarily planned and organized in Western Europe; a point that highlights the threat is not one tied to traditional geographic or political boundaries. Finally, if our concern is for a failed state crippled by corruption and poverty and under assault from criminal and drug lords, then if we bear our military and financial contributions to Afghanistan, we must reevaluate and increase our commitment to and involvement in Mexico.</p>
<p>“Eight years into war, no nation has ever known a more dedicated, well trained, experienced and disciplined military as the U.S. Armed Forces. I do not believe any military force has ever been tasked with such a complex, opaque and Sisyphean mission as the U.S. military has received in Afghanistan. …</p>
<p>“’We are spending ourselves into oblivion’ a very talented and intelligent commander, one of America’s best, briefs every visitor, staff delegation and senior officer. We are mortgaging our Nation’s economy on a war, which, even with increased commitment, will remain a draw for years to come. Success and victory, whatever they may be, will be realized not in years, after billions more spent, but in decades and generations. The United States does not enjoy a national treasury for such success and victory. …</p>
<p>“Thousands of our men and women have returned home with physical and mental wounds, some that will never heal or will only worsen with time. The dead return only in bodily form to be received by families who must be reassured their dead have sacrificed for a purpose worthy of futures lost, love vanished, and promised dreams unkept. I have lost confidence such assurances can anymore be made. As such, I submit my resignation.”</p>
<p>Will Mr. Hoh’s highly regarded experience, sensitivity and judgment reach the attention of millions of Americans? That will depend on whether President Obama meets with him, whether Congressional committees will provide a hearing for him and others of similar persuasion, and whether the mass media will suspend their dittoheading and trivia long enough to report these views, so that we the people can deliberate better about avoiding a devastating, worsening quagmire replete with serial tragedies over there and boomerangs back here.</p>
<p>RALPH NADER is the author of <a href="" type="internal">Only the Super-Rich Can Save Us!</a>, a novel.</p>
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<p /> | true | 4 | matthew p hoh former us combat marine captain department defense civilian iraq starting 2004 september political officer foreign service stationed afghanistan giving consternation president obamas advisors commander chief considers sending soldiers wartorn country next pakistan mr hoh wrote letter resignation state department september four page letter frames doubts said end behind strategic purposes united states presence afghanistan notes like soviets nine year occupation continue secure bolster failing state encouraging ideology system government unknown unwanted people mr hoh focuses giant pashtun society composed 42 million people moves conclusions read words pashtun insurgency composed multiple seemingly infinite local groups fed perceived pashtun people continued sustained assault going back centuries pashtun land culture traditions religion internal external enemies us nato presence operations pashtun valleys villages well afghan army police units led composed nonpashtun soldiers police provide occupation force insurgency justified rc east south observed bulk insurgency fights white banner taliban rather presence foreign soldiers taxes imposed unrepresentative government kabul united states military presence afghanistan greatly contributes legitimacy strategic message pashtun insurgency like manner backing afghan government current form continues distance government people afghan governments failings particularly weighed sacrifice american lives dollars appear legion metastatic glaring corruption unabashed graft president whose confidants chief advisers comprise drug lords war crimes villains mock rule law counternarcotics efforts system provincial district leaders constituted local power brokers opportunists strongmen allied united states solely limited value usaid cerp contracts whose political economic interests stand nothing gain positive genuine attempts reconciliation recent election process dominated fraud discredited low voter turnout created enormous victory enemy claims popular boycott call question worldwide governments military economic diplomatic support invalid illegitimate afghan government support kind government coupled misunderstanding insurgencys true nature reminds horribly involvement south vietnam unpopular corrupt government backed expense nations internal peace insurgency whose nationalism arrogantly ignorantly mistook rival cold war ideology find specious reasons ask bloodshed sacrifice young men women afghanistan honest stated strategy securing afghanistan prevent alqaeda resurgence regrouping would require us additionally invade occupy western pakistan somalia sudan yemen etc presence afghanistan increased destabilization insurgency pakistan rightly fear toppled weakened pakistani government may lose control nuclear weapons however follow logic stated goals garrison pakistan afghanistan september 11th attacks well madrid london bombings primarily planned organized western europe point highlights threat one tied traditional geographic political boundaries finally concern failed state crippled corruption poverty assault criminal drug lords bear military financial contributions afghanistan must reevaluate increase commitment involvement mexico eight years war nation ever known dedicated well trained experienced disciplined military us armed forces believe military force ever tasked complex opaque sisyphean mission us military received afghanistan spending oblivion talented intelligent commander one americas best briefs every visitor staff delegation senior officer mortgaging nations economy war even increased commitment remain draw years come success victory whatever may realized years billions spent decades generations united states enjoy national treasury success victory thousands men women returned home physical mental wounds never heal worsen time dead return bodily form received families must reassured dead sacrificed purpose worthy futures lost love vanished promised dreams unkept lost confidence assurances anymore made submit resignation mr hohs highly regarded experience sensitivity judgment reach attention millions americans depend whether president obama meets whether congressional committees provide hearing others similar persuasion whether mass media suspend dittoheading trivia long enough report views people deliberate better avoiding devastating worsening quagmire replete serial tragedies boomerangs back ralph nader author superrich save us novel 160 160 | 563 |
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<p>The high and dry Great Basin Desert covers much of western Utah and most of Nevada. Its vast scenery — barren gray ranges and sage covered plains — are an acquired taste that few Americans have acquired. Most consider the lonely drive from Salt Lake City to Reno a sleep-inducing and bladder-busting ordeal. Home to flash floods, wildfires, coyotes and seismic catastrophes, the Great Basin is unloved and, therefore, easily abused. It is where we once practiced atomic, then chemical and biological warfare. It is covered with bombing ranges. Today, it is becoming a time-bomb graveyard for nuclear waste that cannot be abided where it is generated.</p>
<p>Those of us who live on the boundaries of such Great Basin facilities as the Nevada Test Site, or the nuclear reservation at Hanford, Washington, or Dugway Proving Grounds have been “downwinders” before. We know how the economics of costs, risks, and liabilities can get translated not only into federal policy but also into ecological disaster and human tragedy. We know that nuclear utilities and their federal facilitators would turn our landscape into a radioactive wasteland and that we are on the frontline of a national struggle.</p>
<p>At first glance, this does not bode well for those who have long fought nuclear technology and its corporate owners. The Great Basin, after all, is sparsely populated and its citizens are politically weak. Mostly Mormon, they are inexperienced in the art of grassroots politics. A local joke goes: how many Utahns does it take to screw in a light bulb. The answer: five – one man to pronounce Heavenly Father’s will, another to lead prayer while screwing in the bulb, and three women to provide childcare and refreshments. Recently, however, political activists in Utah won a big one, a hinterland victory that has gone mostly unnoticed but should encourage activists everywhere. If a handful of determined citizens can beat the big boys in Utah, we can win anywhere.</p>
<p>Facing a Mobile Chernobyl</p>
<p>Utah and Nevada get it both ways. After enduring the insidious consequences of fallout from a hundred above-ground tests of our atomic arsenal, plus leakage from hundreds of underground nuclear tests, we are now asked to abide the results of the “peaceful atom” as well. Utilities that own nuclear power plants elsewhere in the country have for decades been accumulating the waste stream from Hell. So-called “spent” fuel rods from reactor cores are the most irradiated substances on the planet and, unshielded, can kill the unwary bystander within minutes of exposure. They remain dangerous for 20,000 years. After fifty years of studying what to do with such “high-level” nuclear waste, the federal government has assumed responsibility for imposing a “solution” where there is none. Nevada is slated to get forty years’ worth of accumulated spent fuel, now stored near reactors across the nation. A “permanent” repository under construction at Yucca Mountain near the Nevada Nuclear Test Site will be the most expensive taxpayer-funded engineering project in history.</p>
<p>Permanence is a dicey concept out here. Yucca is not as safe as an easterner might suspect. The desert only appears static. We live in a dynamic landscape where the earth cracks and shifts suddenly and unimpeded winds lift dust into the jet stream. As Mount St. Helen showed in 1980, even supposedly dormant volcanoes sometimes blow and drift eastward.</p>
<p>The feds also promised the nuclear industry that they would facilitate the development of a “temporary” site to park used fuel rods while they await transfer to Yucca Mountain. When they failed to do so, a consortium of several nuclear utilities came up with a Plan B. Calling themselves Private Fuel Storage, they are trying to ship their accumulated spent-fuel rods to a dirt-poor Goshute Indian reservation in Skull Valley, Utah, until the Yucca Mountain facility can be completed in ten years or so. The state of Utah has held PFS off, arguing that the “temporary” site will sooner or later become permanent because an additional twenty or more years down the road, when Yucca Mountain is filled, there will be enough accumulated fuel rods to fill Skull Valley as well, and still leave more in storage around the power plants that generated them.</p>
<p>Far from solving a staggering and intractable problem, Nevada and Utah argue, Yucca Mountain and Skull Valley simply allow that problem to be replicated and compounded again and again. The Great Basin is slated to be used as an enabler for some very toxic collective behaviors. In the meanwhile, all that dangerous high-level nuclear waste will be hauled across watersheds, over aquifers, and through communities — thousands of shipments vulnerable to terrorist attacks and inevitable accidents along the way. Most will carry the cesium equivalent of more than two hundred Hiroshima-sized bombs. Millions of Americans will be in the path of what critics are calling “Mobile Chernobyl.”</p>
<p>But wait, there’s more. The nation’s nuclear power infrastructure is aging and must be rebuilt if nuclear power is to continue. Since it is no longer possible to site a new nuclear power plant anywhere that lobotomy-free citizens live, the industry cannot perform the usual “walk-away-and-let-the-government-clean-up” act it perfected while mining and processing the uranium that is its raw material. No, the old power plants will have to be torn apart and rebuilt in place. The result will be yet more hot and dangerous debris, hundreds of thousands of tons of “low-level” nuclear waste generated by ripping out and rebuilding that infrastructure. Low-level radioactive waste comes in three alphabetic categories: A, B, and C. B and C wastes are the hottest and most problematic. Previous attempts to isolate and store such wastes failed badly in wet climes like South Carolina. After all, radioactive materials migrate easily once they reach water. To upgrade and go on, nuclear utilities desperately need a dry rug to sweep their hot debris under, so our desert lands are now targeted.</p>
<p>The government’s policy for dealing with this developing component of our intractable nuclear waste dilemma has also collapsed and is being conceded to the private sector. An entrepreneur named Khosrow Semnani is becoming the nation’s first radioactive-waste multimillionaire and wants to become even richer by filling the gap between the drive to keep nuclear utilities profitable and the inability of federal agencies to pimp their tainted waste stream. Semnani, who gave his corporation the tree-hugging moniker Envirocare, operates a large landfill for A-level radioactive waste, mostly contaminated soils, on Utah’s West Desert. He has come close to establishing a monopoly of the market for A-level radioactive waste and is now bidding to corner the emerging market in B and C-level debris.</p>
<p>The federal government has been an expensive, unresponsive, and careless steward of the nation’s nuclear waste. Any citizen who has tried to influence a hearing of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission knows that its relation to sound science, open information, and citizen inclusion is a lot like the relationship between justice and a drive-by shooting. But the experiment in privatizing the radioactive-waste problem on Utah’s western desert has revealed the dramatic shortcomings of that alternative.</p>
<p>When Semnani was applying to Utah for a permit to develop his dump, he paid $600,000 in gold coins and condos to the director of the state’s radioactive waste agency who is now serving time in prison, not for extorting the money or receiving a bribe but for failing to report his ill-gotten gains to the IRS. Semnani’s lawyers first kept him out of jail and then turned their attention to the corporation’s peskier critics — the Sierra Club’s Cindy King, for example, is fighting off a $142 million defamation suit. Despite his less than stellar reputation, Semnani went on to become a major contributor to many Utah gubernatorial, congressional, and legislative candidates. Utah’s political patriarchs who zealously guard their flock against the dangers of sex education and beer commercials saw no problem in accepting Semnani’s glowing largesse.</p>
<p>High Noon and the Mormon Temple of Doom</p>
<p>Just three years ago, Envirocare looked unbeatable and was rolling toward whatever regulatory and legislative permission it needed to expand into the B and C market when a handful of determined activists threw themselves in its path. A grassroots group, Families Against Incinerator Risk, originally formed to oppose the incineration of chemical weapons, led the resistance. FAIR created literature and a web site, taught workshops, held debates, wrote letters, turned out citizens for hearings, lobbied, generated news stories, held demonstrations, cultivated allies, and finally morphed into a broader coalition, the Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah, or HEAL Utah.</p>
<p>FAIR/HEAL’s task was made harder by a local political culture that could not be more hostile to change initiated from the bottom. Utah has a thin history of grassroots and labor organizing and we haven’t acquired the skills and native leadership to resist powerful corporations and their government agency allies. Culturally, the Mormon majority is not disposed to challenge authority. My heck, as we would say here, we don’t even have a viable two-party system. Except for Salt Lake City itself, Republicans utterly dominate the state legislature and local governments and a rightwing “Cowboy Caucus” dominates the Republican Party. Here the notion of checks and balances applies mostly to banking transactions. Debate in Utah’s Legislature tends to be the intellectual equivalent of marrying your cousin.</p>
<p>State regulators get their budgets and marching orders from legislators hostile to regulation in general and environmental notions in particular. Because the ideal Mormon family includes five to ten kids, our population profile is closer to Bangladesh than Bangor, Maine, and our legislators are desperate for the revenue necessary to educate so many. They are pleased when deserts once used as military toilets for nerve gas and anthrax can be turned into pay toilets for commercial hazardous waste. The result is a notoriously weak interpretation of environmental law and policy followed by timid enforcement. Under former governor, now EPA director Michael Leavitt, Utah regulators were more like lap dogs than watch dogs with only one trick in their repertoire: roll over. Predatory corporations peddling toxic waste disposal, who knew an anemic civic environment when they saw one, took full advantage. Each new environmental horror pried opened the gate a bit further for the next poisonous monster to slither in.</p>
<p>Semnani’s bid to take on hotter radioactive wastes was held off through three legislative sessions before a task force, stacked with Envirocare supporters, was assigned to study the issues and resolve the debate once and for all. The outlook seemed bleak. But within months, FAIR/HEAL, under the leadership of 27 year-old activist Jason Groenewold, managed to strip the task force of its credibility. Recent polls show more than 85 percent of Utahns are opposed to importing the hotter wastes.</p>
<p>The fat lady might have cleared her throat, but she wasn’t quite ready to sing. Then Utah’s newest congressman, aptly named Rob Bishop, jumped into the fray. A former paid lobbyist for Envirocare, he quietly facilitated a Department of Energy attempt to circumvent the company’s failure to get state permission to import C-level wastes from Ohio that the feds were desperate to move. Three years of vigorous civic dialogue was, it seemed, about to be short-circuited with a wink and a nod. Utah citizens were outraged.</p>
<p>Crowds of angry citizens dogged Bishop’s appearances, shouting to be heard. His arrogant response to their criticism — that “lay” people, too dumb to grasp such complicated scientific issues, should stand aside and let the technicians do their job — only heightened the backlash. Letters to the editor flooded the newspapers. Talk radio chimed in loud n’clear. Every major media outlet denounced the importation of radioactive waste. When we found out that our top political patrician, Senator Bob Bennett, had tried to create a backdoor loophole through which Envirocare might slip the waste, the crowds turned on him, too.</p>
<p>Then a funny thing happened. Olene Walker, our quiet, bumbling, grandmotherly 72 year-old lieutenant governor took office when Leavitt moved to the EPA. We were told that our first female governor would just fill Mike’s place for a year until a new patriarch could be chosen. But on her first day in office she sternly denounced the Bishop-Envirocare deal as well as the importation of hotter waste in general and vowed to block any of it from happening. Bennett, noting the cheers for Olene and the punishment doled out to Bishop, immediately did a 180 turn and proclaimed himself ever against radioactive waste. The co-chair of the legislative task force then promptly abandoned Envirocare, followed by two prominent Republican candidates for governor.</p>
<p>A tipping point had been reached. The final blow was delivered by the Alliance for Unity, a coalition of the state’s top religious leaders, and Salt Lake City’s Mayor Rocky Anderson, Utah’s most progressive political leader. It includes a very high official in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints — that is the Mormon Church. When the Alliance came out against importing hotter waste, a gasp could be heard from one end of the state to the other. The Mormon member would never have accepted the statement without the explicit agreement of the church’s prophet and leaders. The almighty Church itself had spoken. Envirocare admitted defeat and withdrew its bid for the Ohio waste.</p>
<p>A grassroots citizen movement driven by an organization led by a 27 year-old with only three staff members and an annual budget of less than $150,000 had just soundly thrashed a well-connected corporation with an annual income of at least $50 million and a team of top-drawer lawyers, lobbyists, and PR flacks. While the citizen David stood triumphant, the nuke-waste Goliath covered his wounded eye and howled. Supporting the importation of even “low level” radioactive waste into Utah is now seen as politically suicidal and the nuclear industry has lost a crucial option for avoiding a problem it must, but cannot, solve.</p>
<p>There is never closure in politics. The campaign to keep high-level nuclear waste out of Utah and Nevada and to expose the coming Mobile Chernobyl that will be heading to Yucca Mountain is just beginning. We must educate our fellow Americans in the East whose utilities are so ready to tag us with the risks, costs, and liabilities of a power source we neither used nor benefited from. Our slogan must be: “No more enabling the nuclear industry anywhere – stop the madness now.” Other greedy and dangerous schemes will, no doubt, be hatched. But on this one, we won — hands down. If we can win here, hope is alive and well.</p>
<p /> | true | 4 | high dry great basin desert covers much western utah nevada vast scenery barren gray ranges sage covered plains acquired taste americans acquired consider lonely drive salt lake city reno sleepinducing bladderbusting ordeal home flash floods wildfires coyotes seismic catastrophes great basin unloved therefore easily abused practiced atomic chemical biological warfare covered bombing ranges today becoming timebomb graveyard nuclear waste abided generated us live boundaries great basin facilities nevada test site nuclear reservation hanford washington dugway proving grounds downwinders know economics costs risks liabilities get translated federal policy also ecological disaster human tragedy know nuclear utilities federal facilitators would turn landscape radioactive wasteland frontline national struggle first glance bode well long fought nuclear technology corporate owners great basin sparsely populated citizens politically weak mostly mormon inexperienced art grassroots politics local joke goes many utahns take screw light bulb answer five one man pronounce heavenly fathers another lead prayer screwing bulb three women provide childcare refreshments recently however political activists utah big one hinterland victory gone mostly unnoticed encourage activists everywhere handful determined citizens beat big boys utah win anywhere facing mobile chernobyl utah nevada get ways enduring insidious consequences fallout hundred aboveground tests atomic arsenal plus leakage hundreds underground nuclear tests asked abide results peaceful atom well utilities nuclear power plants elsewhere country decades accumulating waste stream hell socalled spent fuel rods reactor cores irradiated substances planet unshielded kill unwary bystander within minutes exposure remain dangerous 20000 years fifty years studying highlevel nuclear waste federal government assumed responsibility imposing solution none nevada slated get forty years worth accumulated spent fuel stored near reactors across nation permanent repository construction yucca mountain near nevada nuclear test site expensive taxpayerfunded engineering project history permanence dicey concept yucca safe easterner might suspect desert appears static live dynamic landscape earth cracks shifts suddenly unimpeded winds lift dust jet stream mount st helen showed 1980 even supposedly dormant volcanoes sometimes blow drift eastward feds also promised nuclear industry would facilitate development temporary site park used fuel rods await transfer yucca mountain failed consortium several nuclear utilities came plan b calling private fuel storage trying ship accumulated spentfuel rods dirtpoor goshute indian reservation skull valley utah yucca mountain facility completed ten years state utah held pfs arguing temporary site sooner later become permanent additional twenty years road yucca mountain filled enough accumulated fuel rods fill skull valley well still leave storage around power plants generated far solving staggering intractable problem nevada utah argue yucca mountain skull valley simply allow problem replicated compounded great basin slated used enabler toxic collective behaviors meanwhile dangerous highlevel nuclear waste hauled across watersheds aquifers communities thousands shipments vulnerable terrorist attacks inevitable accidents along way carry cesium equivalent two hundred hiroshimasized bombs millions americans path critics calling mobile chernobyl wait theres nations nuclear power infrastructure aging must rebuilt nuclear power continue since longer possible site new nuclear power plant anywhere lobotomyfree citizens live industry perform usual walkawayandletthegovernmentcleanup act perfected mining processing uranium raw material old power plants torn apart rebuilt place result yet hot dangerous debris hundreds thousands tons lowlevel nuclear waste generated ripping rebuilding infrastructure lowlevel radioactive waste comes three alphabetic categories b c b c wastes hottest problematic previous attempts isolate store wastes failed badly wet climes like south carolina radioactive materials migrate easily reach water upgrade go nuclear utilities desperately need dry rug sweep hot debris desert lands targeted governments policy dealing developing component intractable nuclear waste dilemma also collapsed conceded private sector entrepreneur named khosrow semnani becoming nations first radioactivewaste multimillionaire wants become even richer filling gap drive keep nuclear utilities profitable inability federal agencies pimp tainted waste stream semnani gave corporation treehugging moniker envirocare operates large landfill alevel radioactive waste mostly contaminated soils utahs west desert come close establishing monopoly market alevel radioactive waste bidding corner emerging market b clevel debris federal government expensive unresponsive careless steward nations nuclear waste citizen tried influence hearing nuclear regulatory commission knows relation sound science open information citizen inclusion lot like relationship justice driveby shooting experiment privatizing radioactivewaste problem utahs western desert revealed dramatic shortcomings alternative semnani applying utah permit develop dump paid 600000 gold coins condos director states radioactive waste agency serving time prison extorting money receiving bribe failing report illgotten gains irs semnanis lawyers first kept jail turned attention corporations peskier critics sierra clubs cindy king example fighting 142 million defamation suit despite less stellar reputation semnani went become major contributor many utah gubernatorial congressional legislative candidates utahs political patriarchs zealously guard flock dangers sex education beer commercials saw problem accepting semnanis glowing largesse high noon mormon temple doom three years ago envirocare looked unbeatable rolling toward whatever regulatory legislative permission needed expand b c market handful determined activists threw path grassroots group families incinerator risk originally formed oppose incineration chemical weapons led resistance fair created literature web site taught workshops held debates wrote letters turned citizens hearings lobbied generated news stories held demonstrations cultivated allies finally morphed broader coalition healthy environment alliance utah heal utah fairheals task made harder local political culture could hostile change initiated bottom utah thin history grassroots labor organizing havent acquired skills native leadership resist powerful corporations government agency allies culturally mormon majority disposed challenge authority heck would say dont even viable twoparty system except salt lake city republicans utterly dominate state legislature local governments rightwing cowboy caucus dominates republican party notion checks balances applies mostly banking transactions debate utahs legislature tends intellectual equivalent marrying cousin state regulators get budgets marching orders legislators hostile regulation general environmental notions particular ideal mormon family includes five ten kids population profile closer bangladesh bangor maine legislators desperate revenue necessary educate many pleased deserts used military toilets nerve gas anthrax turned pay toilets commercial hazardous waste result notoriously weak interpretation environmental law policy followed timid enforcement former governor epa director michael leavitt utah regulators like lap dogs watch dogs one trick repertoire roll predatory corporations peddling toxic waste disposal knew anemic civic environment saw one took full advantage new environmental horror pried opened gate bit next poisonous monster slither semnanis bid take hotter radioactive wastes held three legislative sessions task force stacked envirocare supporters assigned study issues resolve debate outlook seemed bleak within months fairheal leadership 27 yearold activist jason groenewold managed strip task force credibility recent polls show 85 percent utahns opposed importing hotter wastes fat lady might cleared throat wasnt quite ready sing utahs newest congressman aptly named rob bishop jumped fray former paid lobbyist envirocare quietly facilitated department energy attempt circumvent companys failure get state permission import clevel wastes ohio feds desperate move three years vigorous civic dialogue seemed shortcircuited wink nod utah citizens outraged crowds angry citizens dogged bishops appearances shouting heard arrogant response criticism lay people dumb grasp complicated scientific issues stand aside let technicians job heightened backlash letters editor flooded newspapers talk radio chimed loud nclear every major media outlet denounced importation radioactive waste found top political patrician senator bob bennett tried create backdoor loophole envirocare might slip waste crowds turned funny thing happened olene walker quiet bumbling grandmotherly 72 yearold lieutenant governor took office leavitt moved epa told first female governor would fill mikes place year new patriarch could chosen first day office sternly denounced bishopenvirocare deal well importation hotter waste general vowed block happening bennett noting cheers olene punishment doled bishop immediately 180 turn proclaimed ever radioactive waste cochair legislative task force promptly abandoned envirocare followed two prominent republican candidates governor tipping point reached final blow delivered alliance unity coalition states top religious leaders salt lake citys mayor rocky anderson utahs progressive political leader includes high official church jesus christ latter day saints mormon church alliance came importing hotter waste gasp could heard one end state mormon member would never accepted statement without explicit agreement churchs prophet leaders almighty church spoken envirocare admitted defeat withdrew bid ohio waste grassroots citizen movement driven organization led 27 yearold three staff members annual budget less 150000 soundly thrashed wellconnected corporation annual income least 50 million team topdrawer lawyers lobbyists pr flacks citizen david stood triumphant nukewaste goliath covered wounded eye howled supporting importation even low level radioactive waste utah seen politically suicidal nuclear industry lost crucial option avoiding problem must solve never closure politics campaign keep highlevel nuclear waste utah nevada expose coming mobile chernobyl heading yucca mountain beginning must educate fellow americans east whose utilities ready tag us risks costs liabilities power source neither used benefited slogan must enabling nuclear industry anywhere stop madness greedy dangerous schemes doubt hatched one hands win hope alive well | 1,411 |
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<p>Since July, an anti-abortion group’s <a href="http://mediamatters.org/research/2015/08/31/a-comprehensive-guide-to-the-deceptively-edited/205264" type="external">deceptively edited videos</a> targeting Planned Parenthood&#160;for allegedly profiting off sales of fetal tissue appear to have prompted at least <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2015/10/02/four-arsons-74-days-planned-parenthood-clinics" type="external">four arson attacks</a> on Planned Parenthood clinics. And <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/health/2015/08/15/3691997/planned-parenthood-investigations-fall-flat/" type="external">even though the allegations were bogus</a>, the vilification of the women’s health organization has done additional damage: Violent threats and a political chill in the wake of the videos have begun to undermine potentially life-saving research on diseases including diabetes, Parkinson’s, and Alzheimer’s. Fetal-tissue donation programs essential to such research have been shut down, supplies of the tissue to labs have dwindled, and legislation is brewing in multiple states that could hinder cutting-edge scientific studies.</p>
<p>“It’s anti-progress,” says Gail Robertson, a veteran researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who uses cell lines derived from fetal tissue to study heart disease, including sudden cardiac death, the <a href="http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/guide/sudden-cardiac-death" type="external">largest cause of natural death</a> in the United States. “We’re in a fight for the future of cures to the diseases that will affect us all.”</p>
<p>Since the 1990s, Robertson and her colleagues have developed pharmaceutical technology using cells from embryonic tissue known as the HEK line—research credited with saving lives from fatal heart disease. “If lawmakers were to say, ‘You can’t use HEK cells because they come from fetal tissue,’ it would be impossible to continue my work in my lab,” Robertson says. “It’s something we use every single day.”</p>
<p>According to Theresa Naluai-Cecchini, a scientist at Birth Defects Research Lab at the University of Washington in Seattle, the political controversy has hurt the work at her lab, which is funded by the National Institutes of Health and also supplies other scientific researchers with fetal tissue. “We are in the last year of funding, and if we are unable to supply tissue to the research community we would have to close,” she says. “We may be able to obtain an extension, but the climate in DC does not look favorable in an election cycle.”</p>
<p>Naluai-Cecchini told <a href="http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/health/fetal-tissue-uproar-affects-under-the-radar-uw-lab/" type="external">the Seattle Times</a> that over the past year her lab has distributed 1,109 tissue samples to more than 60 researchers elsewhere who are working on solutions for spinal cord injuries, eye disease, cancer, and HIV. That supply line relies on about two to three samples per day coming into Birth Defects Research Lab, which has long been the lab’s norm. But over the past month, Naluai-Cecchini told Mother Jones, only five specimens in total have come in. If that trend continues, she says, “promising research would stop until a commercial alternative is found. The cost of research would increase dramatically, and new findings would take considerably longer.”</p>
<p>Before the videos were released by anti-abortion activist <a href="" type="internal">David Daleiden</a> and his group, <a href="" type="internal">the Center for Medical Progress</a>, a total of six Planned Parenthood affiliates in Washington state and California had tissue donation programs. Three of the programs have since been shut down, Liz Clark, a spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood Federation of America, told Mother Jones. One clinic discontinued donations to labs after the videos prompted personal threats against some of its employees, according to Clark. Two other programs lost their contracts with biomedical companies due to the controversy.</p>
<p>One of those companies, StemExpress, a tissue provider in Placerville, California, cut ties in August following the <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/07/us-usa-plannedparenthood-idUSKCN0QC2CG20150807" type="external">congressional inquiry</a> into Planned Parenthood—and after personal threats against the company’s CEO, Cate Dyer. According to a <a href="" type="internal">complaint</a> filed in a Northern California district court by the National Abortion Federation, an anonymous commenter threatened Dyer, calling her a “death-profiteer” and offering a $10,000 bounty on her head. “The CEO of StemExpress&#160;should be hung by the neck using piano wire and propped up on the lawn in front of the building with a note attached,” the commenter said, also posting Dyer’s home address. The threats <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/abortion-providers-face-death-threats-in-wake-of-planned-parenthood-videos_55e88bbae4b0b7a9633c3f47" type="external">were posted on Fox Nation</a> by someone using the handle “Joseywhales,” according to the Huffington Post.</p>
<p>The legal complaint was filed on July 31; on August 15, StemExpress released a <a href="http://stemexpress.com/stemexpress-statement-regarding-termination-of-activities-with-planned-parenthood/" type="external">statement</a>: “We value our various partnerships but, due to the increased questions that have arisen over the past few weeks, we feel it prudent to terminate activities with Planned Parenthood.”</p>
<p>The legal complaint ( <a href="" type="internal">read it here</a>) states that Planned Parenthood’s medical director, Deborah Nucatola, who appeared in the first of 10 videos released by the anti-abortion group, received similar death threats. Mother Jones contacted additional researchers who work with fetal tissue, but they declined to speak on the record about threats, fearing for their safety.</p>
<p>Daleiden and the Center for Medical Progress did not respond to inquiries from Mother Jones about the fallout from their videos.</p>
<p>In Wisconsin,&#160;where scientists at the&#160;University of Wisconsin-Madison in the 1990s pioneered research with <a href="http://news.wisc.edu/on-wisconsin/soft-cell/" type="external">human embryonic stem cells</a>‚ lawmakers are now considering a <a href="http://www.nbc15.com/home/headlines/Bill-banning-use-of-aborted-fetal-tissue-gets-hearing-321269831.html" type="external">ban</a> on the use of fetal tissue that could hinder today’s cutting-edge research. That includes ongoing efforts at the university <a href="https://biochem.wisc.edu/labs/kiessling" type="external">to find new antibiotics</a> as existing ones <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/drugresistance/" type="external">grow ineffective</a>. The bill’s lead sponsor, Republican Rep. Andre Jacque, originally proposed legislation that would make it a felony to sell, donate, or experiment with fetal tissue in any capacity.</p>
<p>“My immediate reaction was, ‘Oh, I’m going to have to move the lab’,” says Laura Kiessling, one of the researchers in Madison. “Because you can’t stop—you really want to do the research.”</p>
<p>Jacque has since revised the bill to allow for the use of cell lines that were obtained before January 1 this year. But the latest version would still outlaw the scientific use of fetal tissue obtained after that date, potentially halting progress on treatments for spinal injuries and Parkinson’s disease, according to Kiessling. “I think what’s upsetting is that the logic of the legislation is not clear,” she says.</p>
<p>Robertson adds that the legislation doesn’t allow for scientific advancement down the road. “The HEK line was so critical,” she says, “but we don’t know what [new lines] will be critical in the future.”</p>
<p>Thirty-eight states explicitly permit fetal-tissue donation for research, while six states currently ban such research, including Ohio, which is now also moving to make reimbursement for fetal-tissue samples <a href="http://ohiosenate.gov/larose/press/larose-moves-to-end-sales-of-aborted-fetal-tissue" type="external">illegal</a>. In mid-October, Planned Parenthood announced that it would no longer accept reimbursements for its fetal-tissue donations in order to “remove beyond the shadow of a doubt the ludicrous idea that Planned Parenthood has any financial interest in fetal tissue donation.”</p>
<p>Now, lawmakers in nine states are <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/state-lawmakers-target-fetal-tissue-research-1440028500" type="external">proposing</a> bans similar to the one on the table in Wisconsin, and more are likely to follow, says Elizabeth Nash, a state policy expert at the Guttmacher Institute, which studies sexual and reproductive health. Americans United for Life, a prominent anti-abortion group, has included <a href="http://www.aul.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/AUL-Unborn-Infants-Dignity-Act-2016-LG-FINAL-8-05-16.pdf" type="external">a fetal-tissue ban</a> in its model legislation for 2016, and Nash anticipates that AUL’s language will surface in a wave of legislation proposed in 2016 in light of the group’s past collaborations with conservative lawmakers. (In 2010, for example, AUL’s <a href="http://www.aul.org/initiative/opt-out/" type="external">Federal Abortion Mandate Opt-Out Act</a> was used as a model in Tennessee and Louisiana for opting out of <a href="http://www.guttmacher.org/statecenter/spibs/spib_RICA.pdf" type="external">insurance coverage for abortion in any circumstance</a>.)</p>
<p>At the federal level, Republican Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin has sponsored <a href="http://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/3171/text" type="external">a bill</a> expected to be taken up at the beginning of next year that would outlaw fetal-tissue research nationwide.</p>
<p>“I would ask the public to reflect on family members—people you care about who have been saved by this technology,” Robertson says. “Think about the unanticipated implications of supporting these kinds of legislation.”</p>
<p /> | true | 4 | since july antiabortion groups deceptively edited videos targeting planned parenthood160for allegedly profiting sales fetal tissue appear prompted least four arson attacks planned parenthood clinics even though allegations bogus vilification womens health organization done additional damage violent threats political chill wake videos begun undermine potentially lifesaving research diseases including diabetes parkinsons alzheimers fetaltissue donation programs essential research shut supplies tissue labs dwindled legislation brewing multiple states could hinder cuttingedge scientific studies antiprogress says gail robertson veteran researcher university wisconsinmadison uses cell lines derived fetal tissue study heart disease including sudden cardiac death largest cause natural death united states fight future cures diseases affect us since 1990s robertson colleagues developed pharmaceutical technology using cells embryonic tissue known hek lineresearch credited saving lives fatal heart disease lawmakers say cant use hek cells come fetal tissue would impossible continue work lab robertson says something use every single day according theresa naluaicecchini scientist birth defects research lab university washington seattle political controversy hurt work lab funded national institutes health also supplies scientific researchers fetal tissue last year funding unable supply tissue research community would close says may able obtain extension climate dc look favorable election cycle naluaicecchini told seattle times past year lab distributed 1109 tissue samples 60 researchers elsewhere working solutions spinal cord injuries eye disease cancer hiv supply line relies two three samples per day coming birth defects research lab long labs norm past month naluaicecchini told mother jones five specimens total come trend continues says promising research would stop commercial alternative found cost research would increase dramatically new findings would take considerably longer videos released antiabortion activist david daleiden group center medical progress total six planned parenthood affiliates washington state california tissue donation programs three programs since shut liz clark spokeswoman planned parenthood federation america told mother jones one clinic discontinued donations labs videos prompted personal threats employees according clark two programs lost contracts biomedical companies due controversy one companies stemexpress tissue provider placerville california cut ties august following congressional inquiry planned parenthoodand personal threats companys ceo cate dyer according complaint filed northern california district court national abortion federation anonymous commenter threatened dyer calling deathprofiteer offering 10000 bounty head ceo stemexpress160should hung neck using piano wire propped lawn front building note attached commenter said also posting dyers home address threats posted fox nation someone using handle joseywhales according huffington post legal complaint filed july 31 august 15 stemexpress released statement value various partnerships due increased questions arisen past weeks feel prudent terminate activities planned parenthood legal complaint read states planned parenthoods medical director deborah nucatola appeared first 10 videos released antiabortion group received similar death threats mother jones contacted additional researchers work fetal tissue declined speak record threats fearing safety daleiden center medical progress respond inquiries mother jones fallout videos wisconsin160where scientists the160university wisconsinmadison 1990s pioneered research human embryonic stem cells lawmakers considering ban use fetal tissue could hinder todays cuttingedge research includes ongoing efforts university find new antibiotics existing ones grow ineffective bills lead sponsor republican rep andre jacque originally proposed legislation would make felony sell donate experiment fetal tissue capacity immediate reaction oh im going move lab says laura kiessling one researchers madison cant stopyou really want research jacque since revised bill allow use cell lines obtained january 1 year latest version would still outlaw scientific use fetal tissue obtained date potentially halting progress treatments spinal injuries parkinsons disease according kiessling think whats upsetting logic legislation clear says robertson adds legislation doesnt allow scientific advancement road hek line critical says dont know new lines critical future thirtyeight states explicitly permit fetaltissue donation research six states currently ban research including ohio also moving make reimbursement fetaltissue samples illegal midoctober planned parenthood announced would longer accept reimbursements fetaltissue donations order remove beyond shadow doubt ludicrous idea planned parenthood financial interest fetal tissue donation lawmakers nine states proposing bans similar one table wisconsin likely follow says elizabeth nash state policy expert guttmacher institute studies sexual reproductive health americans united life prominent antiabortion group included fetaltissue ban model legislation 2016 nash anticipates auls language surface wave legislation proposed 2016 light groups past collaborations conservative lawmakers 2010 example auls federal abortion mandate optout act used model tennessee louisiana opting insurance coverage abortion circumstance federal level republican rep jim sensenbrenner wisconsin sponsored bill expected taken beginning next year would outlaw fetaltissue research nationwide would ask public reflect family memberspeople care saved technology robertson says think unanticipated implications supporting kinds legislation | 734 |
<p>Shatila Palestinian Refugee Camp, Beirut</p>
<p>As of mid-April 2010 there are no fewer than six draft laws, half of them ‘embargoed for now’ being circulated and debated in Lebanon, any one of which if adopted by Parliament, would grant Lebanon’s Palestinians, for the first time since their 1948 expulsion from Palestine, some elementary civil rights including the right to work, to have an ID, and to own a home.</p>
<p>In a future report I will reveal publicly for the first time, with the permission of the various drafting committees, the changes in Lebanon’s laws each one advocates.Despite the fact that bookies and odd makers at Lebanon’s main Casino in Jounieh decline to give odds on any of the drafts actually being enacted by Parliament, Lebanon’s political leaders are talking sweet.“If it were up to me, I would give the Palestinians the right to work tomorrow!” Prime Minister Saad Hariri exclaimed during a Future TV channel interview recently and to various visiting delegations who are increasingly inquiring about the subject of basic civil rights for Palestine refugees as awareness spreads in Lebanon and internationally about camp conditions in Lebanon. The PM’s polite interviewer demurred from asking him why the Prime Minister thought it was not up to him and indeed not up to all members of Parliament to correct this shameful and dangerous injustice.</p>
<p>Hezbollah’s leadership, including Sayeed Hassan Nasrallah and his deputy, former chemistry professor, Naim Qasim, and Hezbollah’s Parliamentary delegation, among other party leaders, have repeatedly endorsed civil rights for Palestinians in Lebanon as obligatory given the Resistance movement’s “religious, moral, national and humanitarian duty”.</p>
<p>No Lebanese political leader has been more consistently out front in support of Palestinian civil rights than Druze leader Walid Jumblatt. He advocates ‘civil rights now’ and organized and funded a Progressive Socialist Party conference last January which brought together scores of leaders to push for Parliamentary passage of the right to work, to own a home and social security entitlements.</p>
<p>Other leaders have also expressed their views that granting Palestinians civil rights is needed for many reasons including lifting Lebanon’s shame.</p>
<p>So why are the odd makers at Casino in Beirut so skittish about giving some friendly odds on passage of civil rights for Palestinian refugees?“ You foreigners are so naïve with short memories also!” Saddam (not his real name), an “entrepreneur” and bon vivant explained from the Casino parking lot last week, as he surveyed his domain which includes ‘comfort vans’ in dark corners of the adjacent parking structure.</p>
<p>“Nobody should bet one Lira on the word of a Lebanese politician!”, he explains.“Consider just the past year. Remember all those young people who worked so hard during the last election for candidates all over Lebanon who swore on the heads of their children that the youth would get to vote next time and the voting age would absolutely be lowered from 21 years to 18? And then refused to change the law and betrayed the youth and now ask why the young are so cynical about politics? And women. Don’t get me started on the subject of women’s rights! Women in Lebanon were promised all during the 2009 election that they would finally be granted civil rights so at least they could bestow Lebanese nationality on their children. They were also ‘guaranteed’ a fair share of slots on the municipal elections ballots. They were betrayed and got no civil rights and were limited to a mere 20 per cent of the municipal election slots although they number more than 50 per cent of the voters. Four women out of 128 members in Parliament? What kind of a democracy is this? Politicians have promised Lebanese women civil rights for more than 100 years and they got nothing.</p>
<p>“I am from Saida and every election the local politicians say the Saida Trash Mountain, which pollutes the sea and everything else around Saida and up the coast of Lebanon, will be removed and cleaned up. Last election my MP Fuad Sinioria, a guy I like, promised it ‘for sure’ this time. As usual, nothing was done. Then just last week, with an eye on the coming municipal election my MP Sinioria again announced–here look at this. Do you read Arabic?” Saddam shows me a newspaper with Sinioria’s photo on the front page next to a photo of Saida’s huge Trash Mountain, which has been growing higher and wider for 37 years—since the start of the Lebanese civil war. “Here’s what it says: ‘Local political leaders announce that solutions to Sidon’s collapsing waste dump are on the horizon’ What does this mean, ‘on the horizon’? Well, so is judgment day!’’ Saddam fumes, as he continues, “In short, that is why no one should hold his breath waiting for Parliament to do what should have been done as soon as the refugees came from Palestine.”“Excuse me, I have to look after business.”</p>
<p>Saddam mumbles as he approaches one of his vans, looking at his watch and shaking his head while muttering, “Time’s up! Ya Allah! (Let’s go!) She rents by the hour, not the week!” In addition to general skepticism about Lebanese politicians “sweet words” there are plenty of doubts being expressed about granting civil rights to Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. Among them is the following sampling with rebuttals from the Palestine Civil Rights Campaign-Lebanon: “If we grant civil rights to Palestinian Refugees it would interfere with their Right of Return!” The spurious “would interfere with the Right of Return” argument has been used by some in Lebanon to justify all manner of discriminations against Palestine refugees. For example, in relation to the prohibitions against improving or renovation of existing refugee camps, some politicians have claimed that the renovation ban is to prevent the consolidation of the Palestinian presence in Lebanon and prevent the US-Israel backed resettlement hence destroying the principle behind the right of return.</p>
<p>In point of fact, the granting of civil rights to Lebanon’s Palestinian refugees, including the economic, social, and cultural rights in no way prejudices their Right of Return. The right to return to one’s own country is based in international law and is the most obvious way to redress the situation of those who were forced to live in exile. The internationally mandated Right to Return applies not just to those who were directly expelled and their immediate families, but also to those of their descendants who have maintained what the United Nations has declared are “close and enduring connections” with the area.</p>
<p>Anyone who has visited Palestinians in Lebanon, including youngsters in Lebanon’s camps and gatherings knows of their “close and enduring connections” to Palestine. This observer will never forget young Mr. Hamid, a nine year old who last year in Al-Buss Refugee Camp near Tyre proudly recited to a delegation of visiting Americans the names of “214 of the more than 500 villages in my country that the Zionists destroyed during the Nakba. They must all be rebuilt so we must hurry up and go home to do it” Hamid articulately explained to his astonished visitors.</p>
<p>Palestinians who were expelled from any part of Palestine including the West Bank or Gaza Strip, along with those of their descendants who have maintained links with the area, can exercise their right to return. Meanwhile, granting interim basic civil rights to help them live in dignity in Lebanon will in no way interfere with their Return, but will likely expedite it as the refugees in Lebanon gain the wherewithal to press their claim more effectively in the international arena.</p>
<p>“If Lebanon grants civil rights to the Palestinian Refugees, they may become too comfortable and seek permanency in Lebanon and Naturalization.”This argument is one of the most flimsy being raised by a few in Lebanon on the issue of granting some civil rights to Palestine refugees. Virtually the whole of the Palestine refugee community as well as all Lebanon’s confessions and political parties are in agreement that despite the history of Washington and Tel Aviv floating of ‘trial balloons”, naturalization (Tawtin) is out of the question and will not happen. The refugees insist that their home is south of the border and nowhere else. Virtually all of Lebanon agrees with the Palestinian position on this. Yet this tired bromide still surfaces in the media from time to time. On March 3, 2010 even the hold-out American Embassy in Beirut, on instructions from the State Department and after years of waffling, announced that Washington no longer favors Tawtin for Palestine refugees in Lebanon, abandoning Israel as this chimeras only advocate.</p>
<p>“The Palestinian refugee population poses a security risk for Lebanon and before any civil rights are granted this danger must be resolved.” The Palestinian leadership in Ramallah and Lebanon have held the consistent position that Camp arms are for camp security and would never be turned against Lebanon. The arms and fighters that turned up in Nahr al Bared Camp near Akkar in 2007 came from outside Lebanon and had nothing to do with the Camp inhabitants.Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas recently expressed in Lebanon the communities’ view that the national Palestinian leadership ”supports the Lebanese Government decisions on Palestinian arms inside and outside refugee camps. We are with Lebanese authorities, with the Lebanese government and with Lebanese sovereignty. We as Palestinians are not above the law,” Abbas explained in meetings with Lebanese leaders including President Michel Suleiman, President Obama, his Middle East envoy, George Mitchell as well as during a press conference on 2/22/10 with his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris.</p>
<p>Palestinian leaders in Lebanon regularly state the unified Palestinian position: “We are with everything that the Lebanese government says on weapons outside camps. Our stance is clear and won’t change,” Mahmoud Abbas stated. Palestinian leaders in each of the 12 Refugee camps and 27 ‘settlements’ in Lebanon express the same assurance and a real, imagined or potential ‘security risk’ does not justify the continuing deprivation of elementary civil rights for hundreds of thousands of Palestine refugees in Lebanon.</p>
<p>On the subject of Palestinian arms outside refugee camps, Druze leader Walid Jumblat on 4/20/10 called for “treating this dossier, which gained the consensus of the previous dialogue committee separately , without associating it with the issue of civil rights for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. These civil rights are urgent from the humanitarian point of view, and they must be acknowledged and implemented through legislative measures in Parliament,” he wrote in an editorial in the Progressive Socialist Party weekly journal, al-Anbaa.</p>
<p>“How are Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon deprived of the civil right to work since some do manage to find a job ‘illegally’?”In principle, the Lebanese Labor Law and Social Security Law are applicable to both Lebanese and foreigners. Where Lebanese law treats Palestinians differently is firstly by restricting access to certain professions, and secondly where it concerns employment injury compensation, social security benefits including end of service compensation. Availability of these entitlements for Palestinian workers is strictly conditional on possessing a government Kafkaesque-issued work permit and again on the poisonous principle of reciprocity. Palestinian workers who find work pay social security contributions, but are barred from any benefits.The fact that some resourceful Palestinians have indeed found make-shift ‘illegal’ jobs often at a much lower wage and without any employment benefits from an unscrupulous or even sympathetic employer is no solution or acceptable excuse not to grant morally and legally mandated elementary civil rights.</p>
<p>“Lebanese women also are deprived of civil rights. They must get theirs before Palestinian refugees are given any.” The two problems have become politically related and among the most ardent supporters of women’s rights are the Palestine refugees. Among the strongest supporters of Palestinian civil rights in Lebanon are women. Both are illegally and immorally denied basic civil rights. It often requires International Women’s Day and Land Day for Palestinians to generate some hand wringing in Lebanon about the need for civil rights for both.</p>
<p>Those opposed to amending the draconian 1962 and 1969 laws (Presidential Decree) restricting the right of Palestine refugees to work, often but not always, reject woman’s rights and oppose changing the archaic 1925 law that bars Lebanese women from giving citizenship to their child and husband. To the chagrin of most Christians, strident opponents of civil rights for both groups are often from the minority extremist Christian camp. Lebanese holding this view argue that granting women the right to pass on their citizenship would upset the country’s delicate demographic balance and the same would happen if Palestinians are granted civil rights.</p>
<p>Since Palestine refugees and women in Lebanon share a legal limbo quite naturally they commiserate to some extent. Given the key role of women in resistance movements, from heroines represented by the likes of Mairead Farrell and Martina Anderson in Ireland, and Albertina Sisulu and Helen Sussman in South Africa to Leila Khaled and Dalal al Moughabi for Palestine and Laure Moghayzel, a founder of leading women’s groups in Lebanon, it can be expected that the support of women may be the best hope for their Palestinian sisters and brothers to achieve civil rights in Lebanon.</p>
<p>“Lebanon needs more time to straighten out the ‘situation’ with the Palestinians. Also, it should be remembered that Lebanon did issue Identification Cards to the 5000 plus Palestinian refugees who have never had either UNRWA or Interior Ministry registrations subjecting them to arrest at any time. So Lebanon is making solid progress.”It is true that in August of 2008 the Ministry of Interior began issuing ID cards as part of a plan to improve the legal status of the non-ID Palestinians. On more than one occasion this observer witnessed the hot crowded yard and garden in front of the Palestinian Embassy in Beirut as well as the hallways and waiting rooms as hundreds of Palestinian refugees waited to apply.</p>
<p>Their spirits were soaring as they expressed the hope that could no longer be arbitrarily arrested and jailed for not having ID. It also would mean that for some of them they could now exit the Camp without fear.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, the euphoria was short lived as the Lebanese government stopped issuing temporary identification papers to Palestinians five months later, which meant that fewer than 750 cards were distributed before it stopped the process, citing ‘security concerns.” In October 2009 the minister of interior announced that the process would soon resume, and indeed, the process has resumed. It remains to be seen when the “non-ID’s” Palestine refugees will obtain.</p>
<p>“Lebanon is a very small country and we cannot afford to allow refugees to own a home, given our limited available housing space.”There has been no probative evidence offered from any quarter in support of this proposition. Approximately 1/3 of Lebanon’s residential building are empty, with many owners seeking tenants or buyers and would be happy to rent or sell a home to Palestinians, either without conditions or the condition that once they are able to return to Palestine the lease would end at the beginning of the next year and a reversionary future interest in real estate might be considered assuring that the mandatory vacation of the residential dwelling would be available for Lebanese if they are interested in living in it.</p>
<p>“If Sunni and Christian Palestinian refugees are granted civil rights, including the right to work and to own a home, this will ‘upset Lebanon’s delicate confessional balance’ among Christians, Sunni, Shia, and Druze and plunge Lebanon into dangerous internal sectarian conflicts.”Frankly, more than civil rights for Palestine refugees regularly “upsets the delicate confessional balance” in Lebanon and this may ever be the case.One recent example. On April 13, 2010 the 35th anniversary of the start of the Lebanese Civil War, the two opposing political camps in Lebanon – March 8 and March 14 — chose to remember this day in a friendly football game in a show of solidarity at Beirut’s Damil Chamoun Stadium. Thanks to 29 year old Phalange party member Sami Gemayel ‘s two goals late in the ‘unity’ match the result was a victory for the Saad Hariri-led March 14 team.</p>
<p>Savoring his teams win, Sami gloated that his opponent, Hezbollah’s MP Ali Ammar’s “defense strategy was very weak’. While his comment may have been meant as a joke it caused raised eyebrows among some confessions, such is sectarian sensitiveness these days.Wearing the wrong clothes, forgetting to observe one of the other confessions holidays, celebratory gunfire during or after a favored confessional leader’s speech, violations of employment shares inside ministries (in Lebanon each confessions gets a share of government jobs and one can be sure that each confessions staff “nose counts” in ministerial offices to be sure the list is what it should be.</p>
<p>Drawing moustaches on posters of rival confessions (and most confessions appear to be serious rivals) can lead to violence. The point is that allowing Palestinians to work will be objected to in some quarters, but not much more than other issues and the is no evidence that it will not bring down or even alter the confessional system “balance.” Moreover, the refugees from Palestine have never sought to vote, do not now seek the right to vote, and have no intention to do so according to their community leaders and polling data. Consequently, allowing them some civil rights would not add or distract from any Lebanese sect when forming a Cabinet, voting for Legislative candidates or advancing or retarding sensitive sectarian legislation in Parliament.</p>
<p>“Palestinian refugees don’t contribute to Lebanon’s economy so why should Lebanon allow them the right to work?”Actually, despite facing severe work restriction most Palestinian refugee households have at least one family member who is employed (often illegally and at a lower exploitive wage than Lebanese citizens) constitute 10 per cent of all private consumption in Lebanon, and do not burden the Lebanese welfare system, according to a recent report by The Najdeh (Welfare) Association, funded by aid agencies Diakonia and Christian aid.The study is the result of a survey of 1,500 households in eight refugee camps across Lebanon and a number of focus group discussions, and assesses the income of Palestinian refugees, challenges to and perceptions of work, and their contribution to the Lebanese economy.</p>
<p>According to Najdeh, the study was designed “to examine the contribution to the economy of the host country Lebanon.”, the report found one third of the individuals sampled works, and roughly 40 per cent were searching for work. Only 1.7 per cent of those surveyed had work permits, a fact the report said “renders the Palestinian refugee labor force invisible in official statistics” and exacerbates their socioeconomic marginalization. Far below a livable wage, median monthly wages for Palestinian Refugees has declined from $260-266 in 2007 to $108-112 “during the first half of 2008.” An overwhelming majority (84 per cent) of Palestinian households believe there are no work prospects for their children in Lebanon.</p>
<p>Although Palestinian refugees on a per capita basis cannot legally contribute much to the Lebanese economy through employment, their large numbers means they count for 10 per cent (approximately $352 million) of all private consumption in Lebanon. Food, healthcare and rent constitute their top spending priorities. Consistent studies over the six decades have shown that Palestinians have aided Lebanon’s economy and do much more if allowed to work and open businesses. An early study dated 12/18/59 by the Arab Supreme Committee showed that the total monetary balance transferred by Palestinians from assets in Palestine, the sale of family jewelry to buy food etc. was more than three times the annual budget of the Lebanese state in the early 1950s as has the UNRWA relief, education and health and salary budgets mainly spent in Lebanon. This propelled the Lebanese. However by not allowing the Palestinians to work Lebanon has stunted its economy.</p>
<p>Before the PLO administration left Lebanon in August of 1982, it created directly or indirectly more than 40,000 jobs or approximately 18 per cent of Lebanon’s GNP. The PLO budget may have been larger than that of the Lebanese state itself. Palestinians also contributed to “invigorating” the areas surrounding their camps by creating low-cost markets for low-income and other marginalized communities in Lebanon. The “Sabra, Ein el-Hilweh and Nahr al-Bared camp markets are recognized as major informal economic hubs for the poor,” said the report, adding that the destruction of Nahr al-Bared during the battles of 2007 had “resulted in a gap in the Akkar” region in northern Lebanon for such communities. The debate continues…the cause endures…….</p>
<p>Palestine Civil Rights Campaign-Lebanon “Failure is not an option for the Palestine Civil Rights Campaign, our only choice is success,” says 15 year old Hiba Hajj, a PCRC volunteer at the Ein el Helwe Palestinian Camp in Saida, Lebanon.If you haven’t already, please sign here (you don’t have to be Lebanese!): <a href="http://www.petitiononline.com/ssfpcrc/petition.html" type="external">http://www.petitiononline.com/ssfpcrc/petition.html</a></p>
<p>FRANKLIN LAMB volunteers with the Palestine Civil Rights Campaign in Lebanon. He is reachable at <a href="mailto:fplamb@palestinecivilrightscampaign.org" type="external">fplamb@palestinecivilrightscampaign.org</a>.</p>
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<p /> | true | 4 | shatila palestinian refugee camp beirut midapril 2010 fewer six draft laws half embargoed circulated debated lebanon one adopted parliament would grant lebanons palestinians first time since 1948 expulsion palestine elementary civil rights including right work id home future report reveal publicly first time permission various drafting committees changes lebanons laws one advocatesdespite fact bookies odd makers lebanons main casino jounieh decline give odds drafts actually enacted parliament lebanons political leaders talking sweetif would give palestinians right work tomorrow prime minister saad hariri exclaimed future tv channel interview recently various visiting delegations increasingly inquiring subject basic civil rights palestine refugees awareness spreads lebanon internationally camp conditions lebanon pms polite interviewer demurred asking prime minister thought indeed members parliament correct shameful dangerous injustice hezbollahs leadership including sayeed hassan nasrallah deputy former chemistry professor naim qasim hezbollahs parliamentary delegation among party leaders repeatedly endorsed civil rights palestinians lebanon obligatory given resistance movements religious moral national humanitarian duty lebanese political leader consistently front support palestinian civil rights druze leader walid jumblatt advocates civil rights organized funded progressive socialist party conference last january brought together scores leaders push parliamentary passage right work home social security entitlements leaders also expressed views granting palestinians civil rights needed many reasons including lifting lebanons shame odd makers casino beirut skittish giving friendly odds passage civil rights palestinian refugees foreigners naïve short memories also saddam real name entrepreneur bon vivant explained casino parking lot last week surveyed domain includes comfort vans dark corners adjacent parking structure nobody bet one lira word lebanese politician explainsconsider past year remember young people worked hard last election candidates lebanon swore heads children youth would get vote next time voting age would absolutely lowered 21 years 18 refused change law betrayed youth ask young cynical politics women dont get started subject womens rights women lebanon promised 2009 election would finally granted civil rights least could bestow lebanese nationality children also guaranteed fair share slots municipal elections ballots betrayed got civil rights limited mere 20 per cent municipal election slots although number 50 per cent voters four women 128 members parliament kind democracy politicians promised lebanese women civil rights 100 years got nothing saida every election local politicians say saida trash mountain pollutes sea everything else around saida coast lebanon removed cleaned last election mp fuad sinioria guy like promised sure time usual nothing done last week eye coming municipal election mp sinioria announcedhere look read arabic saddam shows newspaper siniorias photo front page next photo saidas huge trash mountain growing higher wider 37 yearssince start lebanese civil war heres says local political leaders announce solutions sidons collapsing waste dump horizon mean horizon well judgment day saddam fumes continues short one hold breath waiting parliament done soon refugees came palestineexcuse look business saddam mumbles approaches one vans looking watch shaking head muttering times ya allah lets go rents hour week addition general skepticism lebanese politicians sweet words plenty doubts expressed granting civil rights palestinian refugees lebanon among following sampling rebuttals palestine civil rights campaignlebanon grant civil rights palestinian refugees would interfere right return spurious would interfere right return argument used lebanon justify manner discriminations palestine refugees example relation prohibitions improving renovation existing refugee camps politicians claimed renovation ban prevent consolidation palestinian presence lebanon prevent usisrael backed resettlement hence destroying principle behind right return point fact granting civil rights lebanons palestinian refugees including economic social cultural rights way prejudices right return right return ones country based international law obvious way redress situation forced live exile internationally mandated right return applies directly expelled immediate families also descendants maintained united nations declared close enduring connections area anyone visited palestinians lebanon including youngsters lebanons camps gatherings knows close enduring connections palestine observer never forget young mr hamid nine year old last year albuss refugee camp near tyre proudly recited delegation visiting americans names 214 500 villages country zionists destroyed nakba must rebuilt must hurry go home hamid articulately explained astonished visitors palestinians expelled part palestine including west bank gaza strip along descendants maintained links area exercise right return meanwhile granting interim basic civil rights help live dignity lebanon way interfere return likely expedite refugees lebanon gain wherewithal press claim effectively international arena lebanon grants civil rights palestinian refugees may become comfortable seek permanency lebanon naturalizationthis argument one flimsy raised lebanon issue granting civil rights palestine refugees virtually whole palestine refugee community well lebanons confessions political parties agreement despite history washington tel aviv floating trial balloons naturalization tawtin question happen refugees insist home south border nowhere else virtually lebanon agrees palestinian position yet tired bromide still surfaces media time time march 3 2010 even holdout american embassy beirut instructions state department years waffling announced washington longer favors tawtin palestine refugees lebanon abandoning israel chimeras advocate palestinian refugee population poses security risk lebanon civil rights granted danger must resolved palestinian leadership ramallah lebanon held consistent position camp arms camp security would never turned lebanon arms fighters turned nahr al bared camp near akkar 2007 came outside lebanon nothing camp inhabitantspalestinian president mahmoud abbas recently expressed lebanon communities view national palestinian leadership supports lebanese government decisions palestinian arms inside outside refugee camps lebanese authorities lebanese government lebanese sovereignty palestinians law abbas explained meetings lebanese leaders including president michel suleiman president obama middle east envoy george mitchell well press conference 22210 french counterpart nicolas sarkozy paris palestinian leaders lebanon regularly state unified palestinian position everything lebanese government says weapons outside camps stance clear wont change mahmoud abbas stated palestinian leaders 12 refugee camps 27 settlements lebanon express assurance real imagined potential security risk justify continuing deprivation elementary civil rights hundreds thousands palestine refugees lebanon subject palestinian arms outside refugee camps druze leader walid jumblat 42010 called treating dossier gained consensus previous dialogue committee separately without associating issue civil rights palestinian refugees lebanon civil rights urgent humanitarian point view must acknowledged implemented legislative measures parliament wrote editorial progressive socialist party weekly journal alanbaa palestinian refugees lebanon deprived civil right work since manage find job illegallyin principle lebanese labor law social security law applicable lebanese foreigners lebanese law treats palestinians differently firstly restricting access certain professions secondly concerns employment injury compensation social security benefits including end service compensation availability entitlements palestinian workers strictly conditional possessing government kafkaesqueissued work permit poisonous principle reciprocity palestinian workers find work pay social security contributions barred benefitsthe fact resourceful palestinians indeed found makeshift illegal jobs often much lower wage without employment benefits unscrupulous even sympathetic employer solution acceptable excuse grant morally legally mandated elementary civil rights lebanese women also deprived civil rights must get palestinian refugees given two problems become politically related among ardent supporters womens rights palestine refugees among strongest supporters palestinian civil rights lebanon women illegally immorally denied basic civil rights often requires international womens day land day palestinians generate hand wringing lebanon need civil rights opposed amending draconian 1962 1969 laws presidential decree restricting right palestine refugees work often always reject womans rights oppose changing archaic 1925 law bars lebanese women giving citizenship child husband chagrin christians strident opponents civil rights groups often minority extremist christian camp lebanese holding view argue granting women right pass citizenship would upset countrys delicate demographic balance would happen palestinians granted civil rights since palestine refugees women lebanon share legal limbo quite naturally commiserate extent given key role women resistance movements heroines represented likes mairead farrell martina anderson ireland albertina sisulu helen sussman south africa leila khaled dalal al moughabi palestine laure moghayzel founder leading womens groups lebanon expected support women may best hope palestinian sisters brothers achieve civil rights lebanon lebanon needs time straighten situation palestinians also remembered lebanon issue identification cards 5000 plus palestinian refugees never either unrwa interior ministry registrations subjecting arrest time lebanon making solid progressit true august 2008 ministry interior began issuing id cards part plan improve legal status nonid palestinians one occasion observer witnessed hot crowded yard garden front palestinian embassy beirut well hallways waiting rooms hundreds palestinian refugees waited apply spirits soaring expressed hope could longer arbitrarily arrested jailed id also would mean could exit camp without fear unfortunately euphoria short lived lebanese government stopped issuing temporary identification papers palestinians five months later meant fewer 750 cards distributed stopped process citing security concerns october 2009 minister interior announced process would soon resume indeed process resumed remains seen nonids palestine refugees obtain lebanon small country afford allow refugees home given limited available housing spacethere probative evidence offered quarter support proposition approximately 13 lebanons residential building empty many owners seeking tenants buyers would happy rent sell home palestinians either without conditions condition able return palestine lease would end beginning next year reversionary future interest real estate might considered assuring mandatory vacation residential dwelling would available lebanese interested living sunni christian palestinian refugees granted civil rights including right work home upset lebanons delicate confessional balance among christians sunni shia druze plunge lebanon dangerous internal sectarian conflictsfrankly civil rights palestine refugees regularly upsets delicate confessional balance lebanon may ever caseone recent example april 13 2010 35th anniversary start lebanese civil war two opposing political camps lebanon march 8 march 14 chose remember day friendly football game show solidarity beiruts damil chamoun stadium thanks 29 year old phalange party member sami gemayel two goals late unity match result victory saad haririled march 14 team savoring teams win sami gloated opponent hezbollahs mp ali ammars defense strategy weak comment may meant joke caused raised eyebrows among confessions sectarian sensitiveness dayswearing wrong clothes forgetting observe one confessions holidays celebratory gunfire favored confessional leaders speech violations employment shares inside ministries lebanon confessions gets share government jobs one sure confessions staff nose counts ministerial offices sure list drawing moustaches posters rival confessions confessions appear serious rivals lead violence point allowing palestinians work objected quarters much issues evidence bring even alter confessional system balance moreover refugees palestine never sought vote seek right vote intention according community leaders polling data consequently allowing civil rights would add distract lebanese sect forming cabinet voting legislative candidates advancing retarding sensitive sectarian legislation parliament palestinian refugees dont contribute lebanons economy lebanon allow right workactually despite facing severe work restriction palestinian refugee households least one family member employed often illegally lower exploitive wage lebanese citizens constitute 10 per cent private consumption lebanon burden lebanese welfare system according recent report najdeh welfare association funded aid agencies diakonia christian aidthe study result survey 1500 households eight refugee camps across lebanon number focus group discussions assesses income palestinian refugees challenges perceptions work contribution lebanese economy according najdeh study designed examine contribution economy host country lebanon report found one third individuals sampled works roughly 40 per cent searching work 17 per cent surveyed work permits fact report said renders palestinian refugee labor force invisible official statistics exacerbates socioeconomic marginalization far livable wage median monthly wages palestinian refugees declined 260266 2007 108112 first half 2008 overwhelming majority 84 per cent palestinian households believe work prospects children lebanon although palestinian refugees per capita basis legally contribute much lebanese economy employment large numbers means count 10 per cent approximately 352 million private consumption lebanon food healthcare rent constitute top spending priorities consistent studies six decades shown palestinians aided lebanons economy much allowed work open businesses early study dated 121859 arab supreme committee showed total monetary balance transferred palestinians assets palestine sale family jewelry buy food etc three times annual budget lebanese state early 1950s unrwa relief education health salary budgets mainly spent lebanon propelled lebanese however allowing palestinians work lebanon stunted economy plo administration left lebanon august 1982 created directly indirectly 40000 jobs approximately 18 per cent lebanons gnp plo budget may larger lebanese state palestinians also contributed invigorating areas surrounding camps creating lowcost markets lowincome marginalized communities lebanon sabra ein elhilweh nahr albared camp markets recognized major informal economic hubs poor said report adding destruction nahr albared battles 2007 resulted gap akkar region northern lebanon communities debate continuesthe cause endures palestine civil rights campaignlebanon failure option palestine civil rights campaign choice success says 15 year old hiba hajj pcrc volunteer ein el helwe palestinian camp saida lebanonif havent already please sign dont lebanese httpwwwpetitiononlinecomssfpcrcpetitionhtml franklin lamb volunteers palestine civil rights campaign lebanon reachable fplambpalestinecivilrightscampaignorg 160 words stick | 2,009 |
<p>By Foster Klug and Hyung-Jin Kim / Associated Press</p>
<p>Tokyo pedestrians on Tuesday pass an image of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un shown as a television program reports on North Korea’s latest missile test. (Eugene Hoshiko / <a href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/APTOPIX-Japan-Koreas-Tensions/56990e2c6ad84a0bb4ee16480b6fc5b1/6/0" type="external">AP</a>)</p>
<p>SEOUL, South Korea — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed Wednesday his nation will “demonstrate its mettle to the U.S.” and never put its weapons programs up for negotiations, a day after successfully testing its first intercontinental ballistic missile.</p>
<p />
<p>The hard line suggests that North Korea will conduct more weapons tests until it perfects nuclear-armed missiles capable of striking anywhere in the United States. Analysts say Kim’s government believes nuclear weapons are key to its own survival and could be used to wrest concessions from the United States.</p>
<p>Tuesday’s ICBM launch, confirmed by U.S. and South Korean officials, was a milestone in North Korea’s efforts to develop long-range nuclear-armed missiles. But the North isn’t there yet, and many analysts say it needs more tests to perfect such an arsenal.</p>
<p>Worry spread in Washington and at the United Nations, where the United States, Japan and South Korea requested an emergency U.N. Security Council session on Wednesday. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the U.S. response would include “stronger measures to hold the DPRK accountable,” using the acronym for the nation’s formal name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.</p>
<p>In a show of force, U.S. and South Korean troops fired “deep strike” precision missiles off South Korea’s east coast on Wednesday. South Korea’s military later released previously shot video showing the test-firing of sophisticated South Korean missiles and a computer-generated image depicting a North Korean flag in flames with the backdrop of a major building in Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital.</p>
<p>North Korean state media on Wednesday described leader Kim as “feasting his eyes” on the ICBM, which was said to be capable of carrying a large nuclear warhead, before its launch. “With a broad smile on his face,” Kim urged his scientists to “frequently send big and small ‘gift packages’ to the Yankees,” it said, an apparent reference to continuing the stream of nuclear and missile tests Kim has ordered since taking power in late 2011.</p>
<p>North Korea was also pleased that its test came as Americans celebrated Independence Day. State media said Kim told “scientists and technicians that the U.S. would be displeased to witness the DPRK’s strategic option” on its Independence Day.</p>
<p>Kim also said North Korea “would neither put its nukes and ballistic rockets on the table of negotiations in any case nor flinch even an inch from the road of bolstering the nuclear force chosen by itself unless the U.S. hostile policy and nuclear threat to the DPRK are definitely terminated,” the Korean Central News Agency reported.</p>
<p>The missile launch was a direct rebuke to U.S. President Donald Trump’s earlier declaration on Twitter that such a test “won’t happen!” and to South Korea’s new president, Moon Jae-in, who was pushing to improve strained ties with the North.</p>
<p>South Korea’s Defense Ministry said it was unable to verify whether North Korea has mastered re-entry technology for an ICBM. It said North Korea may now conduct a nuclear test with “boosted explosive power” to show off a warhead to be mounted on a missile.</p>
<p>The U.N. Security Council could impose additional sanctions on North Korea, but it’s not clear they would stop it from pursuing its nuclear and missile programs since the country is already under multiple rounds of U.N. sanctions for its previous weapon tests.</p>
<p>“An attempt to curb Kim Jong Un’s nuclear and missile ambitions has clearly failed. I think North Korea won’t stop its nuclear drive until it feels that it has reached the level that it wants to reach,” said Lim Eul Chul, a North Korea expert at South Korea’s Kyungnam University. “I don’t know when North Korea can reach that level. But I would say it’s imminent.”</p>
<p>There is a consensus among many analysts that Kim’s government won’t give up its nuclear program because it believes it guarantee its survival from outside threats. But once it possesses functioning ICBMs, it would also have a stronger bargaining position and might propose talks with the United States on reducing those threats, possibly in exchange for freezing but not dismantling some of its nuclear or missile activities, the analysts say.</p>
<p>North Korea might seek a downsizing or suspension of joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises that it views as rehearsals for an invasion, or the signing of a peace treaty officially ending the 1950-53 Korean War that could be used as pretext for demanding the withdrawal of the 28,500 American troops currently in South Korea. The war ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty, leaving the Korean Peninsula technically still in a state of war.</p>
<p>“If the U.S. doesn’t accept talks, North Korea might stage provocations or take other dangerous actions to draw the U.S. into negotiations,” said analyst Park Hyeong-jung at South Korea’s Korea Institute for National Unification.</p>
<p>If the United States were to hold talks with a North Korea capable of attacking the entire U.S. mainland with nuclear weapons, those negotiations would be like “arms reduction talks,” Lim said.</p>
<p>North Korea already has a reliable arsenal of shorter-range missiles and is thought to have a small number of atomic bombs. Some outside civilian experts believe the North has the technology to mount warheads on shorter-range Rodong and Scud missiles that can strike South Korea and Japan, two key U.S. allies where about 80,000 American troops are stationed. But it’s unclear if it has mastered the technology needed to build an atomic bomb that can fit on a long-range missile.</p>
<p>Regional disarmament talks on North Korea’s nuclear program have been stalled since 2009.</p> | true | 4 | foster klug hyungjin kim associated press tokyo pedestrians tuesday pass image north korean leader kim jong un shown television program reports north koreas latest missile test eugene hoshiko ap seoul south korea north korean leader kim jong un vowed wednesday nation demonstrate mettle us never put weapons programs negotiations day successfully testing first intercontinental ballistic missile hard line suggests north korea conduct weapons tests perfects nucleararmed missiles capable striking anywhere united states analysts say kims government believes nuclear weapons key survival could used wrest concessions united states tuesdays icbm launch confirmed us south korean officials milestone north koreas efforts develop longrange nucleararmed missiles north isnt yet many analysts say needs tests perfect arsenal worry spread washington united nations united states japan south korea requested emergency un security council session wednesday us secretary state rex tillerson said us response would include stronger measures hold dprk accountable using acronym nations formal name democratic peoples republic korea show force us south korean troops fired deep strike precision missiles south koreas east coast wednesday south koreas military later released previously shot video showing testfiring sophisticated south korean missiles computergenerated image depicting north korean flag flames backdrop major building pyongyang north koreas capital north korean state media wednesday described leader kim feasting eyes icbm said capable carrying large nuclear warhead launch broad smile face kim urged scientists frequently send big small gift packages yankees said apparent reference continuing stream nuclear missile tests kim ordered since taking power late 2011 north korea also pleased test came americans celebrated independence day state media said kim told scientists technicians us would displeased witness dprks strategic option independence day kim also said north korea would neither put nukes ballistic rockets table negotiations case flinch even inch road bolstering nuclear force chosen unless us hostile policy nuclear threat dprk definitely terminated korean central news agency reported missile launch direct rebuke us president donald trumps earlier declaration twitter test wont happen south koreas new president moon jaein pushing improve strained ties north south koreas defense ministry said unable verify whether north korea mastered reentry technology icbm said north korea may conduct nuclear test boosted explosive power show warhead mounted missile un security council could impose additional sanctions north korea clear would stop pursuing nuclear missile programs since country already multiple rounds un sanctions previous weapon tests attempt curb kim jong uns nuclear missile ambitions clearly failed think north korea wont stop nuclear drive feels reached level wants reach said lim eul chul north korea expert south koreas kyungnam university dont know north korea reach level would say imminent consensus among many analysts kims government wont give nuclear program believes guarantee survival outside threats possesses functioning icbms would also stronger bargaining position might propose talks united states reducing threats possibly exchange freezing dismantling nuclear missile activities analysts say north korea might seek downsizing suspension joint ussouth korean military exercises views rehearsals invasion signing peace treaty officially ending 195053 korean war could used pretext demanding withdrawal 28500 american troops currently south korea war ended armistice peace treaty leaving korean peninsula technically still state war us doesnt accept talks north korea might stage provocations take dangerous actions draw us negotiations said analyst park hyeongjung south koreas korea institute national unification united states hold talks north korea capable attacking entire us mainland nuclear weapons negotiations would like arms reduction talks lim said north korea already reliable arsenal shorterrange missiles thought small number atomic bombs outside civilian experts believe north technology mount warheads shorterrange rodong scud missiles strike south korea japan two key us allies 80000 american troops stationed unclear mastered technology needed build atomic bomb fit longrange missile regional disarmament talks north koreas nuclear program stalled since 2009 | 613 |
<p>talked with him during a recent trip of his to Caracas, where he participated in the presentation of a statement of solidarity from numerous Brazilian intellectuals. This interview originally appeared in <a href="http://www.venezuelanalysis.com" type="external">Venezuelanalysis.com</a></p>
<p>How do you explain the explosion in social movements against neoliberalism in Latin America?</p>
<p>I think the reason for this is that Latin America was used as a laboratory by the United States for a long, long time. Everything the US wanted was experimented in Latin America first. When they wanted military—on the political level—when they wanted to crush popular movements by unleashing military dictatorships they did it in Latin America first: Brazil, Argentina, Chile; three of the most brutal dictatorships we have seen. Then, after the collapse of the communist enemy, they relaxed on the political front but they got Latin America in a grip economically, and they said ‘this is the only way forward.’ We can summarize it like this: the laboratory of the American Empire is the first to rebel against the Empire. So many many different and interesting processes are happening in Latin America and I think where the left is weak is in its inability to bring these together and to refound the Latin American left.</p>
<p>What began to happen in Latin America is a process of de-industrialization; foreign investments coming in. In the most classic examples were Chile under Pinochet, then Brazil under Cardoso and Argentina under successive governments. They de-industrialized the country, they thought that the country could function in a bubble—an economic bubble created by a false boom, a boom which was largely fuelled by foreign investment, foreign moneys coming into banks where there were low interest rates. So people used to use this to invest, but whenever the investments got risky they used to take them out—international capital. They had absolutely no motivation for building Brazil or Argentina so you gradually began to have the rise of a new social movement which arose from below: peasant movements, landless peasant movements, unemployed working class movements which began to challenge this initially on a micro-level, in villages, in one town, in one locality, in one region. And then gra! dually it began to spread. The result was continent wide protests…</p>
<p>You had an uprising in Cochabamba in Bolivia against the privatization of water. You had a struggle of the peasants of Cuzco in Peru, against the privatization of electricity. On both struggles the government made repression first and then they had to retreat. Then you had an unbelievable collapse in Argentina, where within three weeks I think 4 or 5 presidents came and fell. That began to demonstrate very graphically the crisis of neoliberal capitalism. Then you had Brazil. In Brazil you had a situation where Cardoso had de-industrialized the country completely. There was no national bourgeoisie left, there were no national traditions within the capitalist sphere left, and the country began to suffer.</p>
<p>Do you see the US Empire absorbing this energy by trying to propose a softer version of neoliberalism?</p>
<p>I don’t think they are, at the moment, prepared to do that. They will only do that if they feel threatened. And they don’t feel threatened at the moment. And one reason—I have to be very blunt here—they don’t feel threatened is because there is an idealistic slogan within the social movements, which goes like this: ‘We can change the world without taking power.’ This slogan doesn’t threaten anyone; it’s a moral slogan. The Zapatistas—who I admire—you know, when they marched from Chiapas to Mexico City, what did they think was going to happen? Nothing happened. It was a moral symbol, it was not even a moral victory because nothing happened. So I think that phase was understandable in Latin American politics, people were very burnt by recent experiences: the defeat of the Sandinistas, the defeat of the armed struggle movements, the victory of the military, etc., so people where nervous. But I think, from that point of view, the Venezuelan example is the most interesting one. I! t says: ‘in order to change the world you have to take power, and you have to begin to implement change—in small doses if necessary—but you have to do it. Without it nothing will change.’ So, it’s an interesting situation and I think at Porto Alegre next year all these things will be debated and discussed—I hope.</p>
<p>Without adequately addressing state power, what alternative to neoliberalism is the Global Social Justice movement offering?</p>
<p>No, they have no alternative! They think that it is an advantage not to have an alternative. But, in my view that’s a sign of political bankruptcy. If you have no alternative, what do you say to the people you mobilize? The MST[1] in Brazil has an alternative, they say ‘take the land and give it to the poor peasants, let them work it.’ But the Holloway[2] thesis of the Zapatistas, it’s—if you like—a virtual thesis, it’s a thesis for cyber space: let’s imagine. But we live in the real world, and in the real world this thesis isn’t going to work. Therefore, the model for me of the MST in Brazil is much much more interesting than the model of the Zapatistas in Chiapas. Much more interesting.</p>
<p>Brazil’s Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST) has been pressuring the Workers Party (PT) to deliver on its promises of delivering land to Brazil’s poor. What do you make of the impasse that has been reached between the grassroots and the government in Brazil?</p>
<p>I think the problem in Brazil is the following: the PT[3] captured the aspirations of the people, especially the poor. They captured them, but they couldn’t deliver anything—so far, they have delivered nothing. In fact, the repression against the MST in the first year of Lula has been much higher than in any single year of the Cardoso government. The farmers and the police have victimized and killed far more MST militants. Now, this will end badly. Why has it happened? It’s happened because, in my opinion, the PT had not prepared itself in a serious way to even think about any real alternatives. Publicly they said, ‘yes we’ll give land to the landless, yes will do this, yes we will do that,’ but they had not made any real preparation. And Lula, I’m afraid, is a weak leader. A weak leader who is so excited at being in power, that he forgets why he is. The same thing happened to Lech Walesa in Poland when the big mass movement Solidarnosc threw him up and he finally was electe! d. What did he deliver? Nothing. And he was voted out by the people, and that will happen to Lula.</p>
<p>Refounding the Brazilian left…</p>
<p>I think that, in my opinion, what we need in Brazil is a movement to refound the Brazilian left. And this movement must include, broadly speaking, those people inside the PT including many members of parliament and senators and grassroots members, a very key component that should include the MST and it should include that layer of Brazilian socialist intellectuals who are now very disillusioned. These three components are very important to refound the Brazilian left, it’s foolish to do it by just a few people walking out and declaring ‘we’re a new party.’ You need a new different sort of a movement and a different sort of a party than the PT. In these conditions the bulk of the Brazilian working class is now an informal working class—it’s not the case as it was when the PT was founded. And so you have different priorities. You have to refound a Brazilian left which is in accord with these new priorities and realities of Brazil today, not some mythological picture of the past.</p>
<p>Before the elections in Brazil, I was in Ribeirao Preto at a festival, and they asked me ‘if you were a Brazilian, who would you vote for?’ And I said I would vote for Lula with the majority of the poor of Brazil. But I said my big worry was that Lula will forget who has voted him into power and he will cater to the policies of those who did not vote for him—the IMF and the World Bank and the international financial institutions. They did not vote for Lula, but they’re the people who’s policies are being carried out. And I said that would be a tragedy, and people gasped but that’s exactly what’s happened. And for me the relation between Lula and Cardoso is the relation between Thatcher and Blair. Blair followed Thatcher, Lula is following Cardoso. It’s intertwined, and this is the tragedy of Brazil and in four or five years time there will massive disillusionment; the right will probably win again and we will have to start the fight from the beginning.</p>
<p>In Colombia, for example, there has been a huge militarization that is very similar to cold war U.S strategy in Latin America. Where does this fit in with a new strategy that, as you have pointed out, is largely economic?</p>
<p>Colombia is exceptional at the moment, and of course Venezuela where they tried to push through a new coup d’état which failed.</p>
<p>They will do that if nothing else succeeds. Where they feel democracy doesn’t serve their interests they will return to the military—that’s obvious. But at the moment the problem is: how to devise a society in which you can push through projects, social-democratic projects for the poor. That’s the key in my opinion, that’s why Venezuela is very important. Before Lula was elected a possibility emerged, an image emerged of the following: Argentina had collapsed, in Venezuela there was Chávez that if you had a Bolivarian federation, of Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador, Bolivia, Venezuela and Cuba, together you could produce a completely different way of looking at the world and a different form of society, which would not be repressive, which would not be vicious, which would transform the everyday lives of the poor.</p>
<p>That has not happened because…Kirchner, in my opinion, is better than Lula; he’s trying to resist on some levels. The big disappointment has been the Brazilian PT, big disappointment. But that doesn’t mean we stop thinking like that because in a small way it’s what I said at the press conference today: 10,000 Cuban doctors, thousands of poor Venezuelan kids going to Cuba to learn to be doctors. Here you take advantage of each other’s strengths, not each other’s weaknesses. So it’s very good that Venezuela and Chávez are taking advantage of the strengths of Cuba, rather than their weaknesses. The social structure they have created, health, education that’s something that Brazil could do as well, but they don’t do it.</p>
<p>In the wake of strong opposition to the Free Trade Area of the Americas might the US use bilateral trade agreements to achieve its economic goals in Latin America?</p>
<p>I think the United States, you have to understand, always acts in its own interests, and its own interests are to stop a regional force from emerging in Latin America without the presence of the United States; to stop a regional force emerging in the far east—China, Japan, Korea, without the presence of the United States; to stop Europe from becoming a strong political economic power. So, the United States will permit concessions where it suits their interests, as long as they feel that this doesn’t threaten them politically or economically. They can make many concessions, but by and large they prefer bilateral deals. ‘Deal with us. Don’t deal with us as a collective, deal with us one-to-one. That’s what suits us.’ That’s always been their policy.</p>
<p>The Global Justice Movement is wary of Chávez’ populism, his military background, and what they fear may become a top-down ‘revolution’ that excludes the grassroots. How do you think the GJM and Chávez can be reconciled?</p>
<p>As long as the poor in Venezuela support this government it will survive, when they withdraw their support it will fall. But I think it will be useful if the Global Justice movement—and there are many different strands in it—came and saw what’s going on here. What’s the problem? Go into the shantytowns, see what the lives of the people are, see what their lives were before this regime came into power. And don’t go on the basis of stereotypes. You cannot change the world without taking power, that is the example of Venezuela. Chávez is improving the lives of ordinary people, and that’s why it’s difficult to topple him—otherwise he would be toppled. So it’s something that people in the Global Justice movement have to understand, this is serious politics. It’s pointless just chanting slogans, because for the ordinary people on whose behalf you claim to be fighting getting an education, free medicine, cheap food is much much more important than all the slogans put together.</p>
<p>What do you think of the Venezuelan example of participatory democracy?</p>
<p>I think it needs to be strengthened. I think it’s weak, I think the movement here needs to institutionalize on every level—the level of small pueblos, the level of the towns, the level of different quarters—organizations, which can be very broad: Bolivarian Circles, whatever you want to call them, which meet regularly, which talk with each other, which discuss their problems, which aren’t simply a response to calls from above. It’s very very important, because you know, Chávez is an unusual guy in Latin America—very special—and he is young and long may he live, but he has to create institutions which outlast him for the future of this country.</p>
<p>What is at stake in Venezuela? Whose interests? And can Venezuela survive alone? What does Venezuela mean to the US?</p>
<p>Venezuela is an example which the Americans wish to wipe out. Because if this example exists, and gets stronger and stronger and stronger, then people in Brazil, in Argentina, in Ecuador, in Chile, in Bolivia will say ‘if Venezuelans can do it, we can do it.’ So Venezuela, from that point of view, is a very important example.</p>
<p>That’s why they’re so worked up. That’s why the Americans pour in millions of dollars to help this stupid opposition in this counry; an opposition which is incapable of offering any real alternative to the people, except what used to exist before: a corrupt, a servile oligarchy. That’s what Venezuela means, and I think that one weakness, till recently, of the Bolivarian revolution has been that it has not done more towards the rest of Latin America, because it’s been under siege at home. But I think, once Chávez wins the referendum, and then the local elections I hope, and the mayoralty of Caracas in September, I hope then a big offensive is made for th! e rest of Latin America too. From that point of view, the model of the Cuban doctors is a very good one. I mean, a Venezuelan doctor—in five years Venezuelans will come back [from Cuba] as doctors, they can help both their own country, and they can go to other countries to work in the shantytowns. They are small things, but in the world in which we live they are very big things. Fifty years ago they would have been small, today they are very big. And that’s why we have to preserve and nurture them.</p>
<p>The mainstream private media plays an important political role in Venezuela. How can this disinformation be combated?</p>
<p>What we lack in Latin America is means of communication, we need a satellite channel like Al Jazeera, and I said we’ll call it ‘Al Bolivar’ if you want. But you need one which reports regularly—what the right is saying, what the left movements are saying, which gives an account of what it is the MST wants, which challenges Lula, but which does it quite independently, without being attached to any state. And I think this satellite channel could be very important for the whole of Latin America, to challenge the BBC World, and CNN and have a Latin American channel. And the Venezuelans, and the Argentineans, etc. it’s in their own interests to do it.</p>
<p>What do you think opposition and US strategy will be in the event of a Chávez victory come A-15?</p>
<p>Well, I think the only strategy left then is to try and overthrow him by a military coup. So the fact that the military seems to be supporting him, and after the previous coup it was a warning to him as well: you can’t simply rely on the military without educating people. I think without the military in Venezuela, they can’t do anything—they cannot topple him. I think the opposition, quite honestly, if they lose this referendum—which was their big demand for years, ‘oh, he’s not allowing a referendum,’ forgetting that he has given you a constitution according which you want this referendum, without this constitution you couldn’t have had this referendum—so if he wins this referendum the opposition will be fractured, I think they will be completely demoralized, it’s foolish.</p>
<p>Do you think opposition strategy might be to claim there was fraud in order to deligitmize Chavez´victory?</p>
<p>Well, look: we have to fight that when it happens, but I think this is why the process should be transparent, and I think lots of observers will be coming. And if that happens, the government has to go immediately on the offensive, and say ‘this was a clear victory, you want you go into the whole country and talk to every single voter.’ One hasn’t got to be defensive about that. Go completely on the offensive and say, ‘this isn’t Florida.’</p>
<p>In any case, one shouldn’t worry permanently, be paranoid, you know one should depend on the strength of the people. If the people vote him in, and he wins the referendum they will be big celebrations all over the country. And it will be obvious, what has happened.</p>
<p>[1] Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Tera—Landless Rural Workers Movement, Brazil. [2] John Holloway, Change the World Without Taking Power: The Meaning of Revolution Today, Pluto Press: 2002. [3] Partido dos Trabalhadores—Workers Party, Brazil.</p>
<p /> | true | 4 | talked recent trip caracas participated presentation statement solidarity numerous brazilian intellectuals interview originally appeared venezuelanalysiscom explain explosion social movements neoliberalism latin america think reason latin america used laboratory united states long long time everything us wanted experimented latin america first wanted militaryon political levelwhen wanted crush popular movements unleashing military dictatorships latin america first brazil argentina chile three brutal dictatorships seen collapse communist enemy relaxed political front got latin america grip economically said way forward summarize like laboratory american empire first rebel empire many many different interesting processes happening latin america think left weak inability bring together refound latin american left began happen latin america process deindustrialization foreign investments coming classic examples chile pinochet brazil cardoso argentina successive governments deindustrialized country thought country could function bubblean economic bubble created false boom boom largely fuelled foreign investment foreign moneys coming banks low interest rates people used use invest whenever investments got risky used take outinternational capital absolutely motivation building brazil argentina gradually began rise new social movement arose peasant movements landless peasant movements unemployed working class movements began challenge initially microlevel villages one town one locality one region gra dually began spread result continent wide protests uprising cochabamba bolivia privatization water struggle peasants cuzco peru privatization electricity struggles government made repression first retreat unbelievable collapse argentina within three weeks think 4 5 presidents came fell began demonstrate graphically crisis neoliberal capitalism brazil brazil situation cardoso deindustrialized country completely national bourgeoisie left national traditions within capitalist sphere left country began suffer see us empire absorbing energy trying propose softer version neoliberalism dont think moment prepared feel threatened dont feel threatened moment one reasoni blunt herethey dont feel threatened idealistic slogan within social movements goes like change world without taking power slogan doesnt threaten anyone moral slogan zapatistaswho admireyou know marched chiapas mexico city think going happen nothing happened moral symbol even moral victory nothing happened think phase understandable latin american politics people burnt recent experiences defeat sandinistas defeat armed struggle movements victory military etc people nervous think point view venezuelan example interesting one says order change world take power begin implement changein small doses necessarybut without nothing change interesting situation think porto alegre next year things debated discussedi hope without adequately addressing state power alternative neoliberalism global social justice movement offering alternative think advantage alternative view thats sign political bankruptcy alternative say people mobilize mst1 brazil alternative say take land give poor peasants let work holloway2 thesis zapatistas itsif likea virtual thesis thesis cyber space lets imagine live real world real world thesis isnt going work therefore model mst brazil much much interesting model zapatistas chiapas much interesting brazils landless rural workers movement mst pressuring workers party pt deliver promises delivering land brazils poor make impasse reached grassroots government brazil think problem brazil following pt3 captured aspirations people especially poor captured couldnt deliver anythingso far delivered nothing fact repression mst first year lula much higher single year cardoso government farmers police victimized killed far mst militants end badly happened happened opinion pt prepared serious way even think real alternatives publicly said yes well give land landless yes yes made real preparation lula im afraid weak leader weak leader excited power forgets thing happened lech walesa poland big mass movement solidarnosc threw finally electe deliver nothing voted people happen lula refounding brazilian left think opinion need brazil movement refound brazilian left movement must include broadly speaking people inside pt including many members parliament senators grassroots members key component include mst include layer brazilian socialist intellectuals disillusioned three components important refound brazilian left foolish people walking declaring new party need new different sort movement different sort party pt conditions bulk brazilian working class informal working classits case pt founded different priorities refound brazilian left accord new priorities realities brazil today mythological picture past elections brazil ribeirao preto festival asked brazilian would vote said would vote lula majority poor brazil said big worry lula forget voted power cater policies vote himthe imf world bank international financial institutions vote lula theyre people whos policies carried said would tragedy people gasped thats exactly whats happened relation lula cardoso relation thatcher blair blair followed thatcher lula following cardoso intertwined tragedy brazil four five years time massive disillusionment right probably win start fight beginning colombia example huge militarization similar cold war us strategy latin america fit new strategy pointed largely economic colombia exceptional moment course venezuela tried push new coup détat failed nothing else succeeds feel democracy doesnt serve interests return militarythats obvious moment problem devise society push projects socialdemocratic projects poor thats key opinion thats venezuela important lula elected possibility emerged image emerged following argentina collapsed venezuela chávez bolivarian federation brazil argentina ecuador bolivia venezuela cuba together could produce completely different way looking world different form society would repressive would vicious would transform everyday lives poor happened becausekirchner opinion better lula hes trying resist levels big disappointment brazilian pt big disappointment doesnt mean stop thinking like small way said press conference today 10000 cuban doctors thousands poor venezuelan kids going cuba learn doctors take advantage others strengths others weaknesses good venezuela chávez taking advantage strengths cuba rather weaknesses social structure created health education thats something brazil could well dont wake strong opposition free trade area americas might us use bilateral trade agreements achieve economic goals latin america think united states understand always acts interests interests stop regional force emerging latin america without presence united states stop regional force emerging far eastchina japan korea without presence united states stop europe becoming strong political economic power united states permit concessions suits interests long feel doesnt threaten politically economically make many concessions large prefer bilateral deals deal us dont deal us collective deal us onetoone thats suits us thats always policy global justice movement wary chávez populism military background fear may become topdown revolution excludes grassroots think gjm chávez reconciled long poor venezuela support government survive withdraw support fall think useful global justice movementand many different strands itcame saw whats going whats problem go shantytowns see lives people see lives regime came power dont go basis stereotypes change world without taking power example venezuela chávez improving lives ordinary people thats difficult topple himotherwise would toppled something people global justice movement understand serious politics pointless chanting slogans ordinary people whose behalf claim fighting getting education free medicine cheap food much much important slogans put together think venezuelan example participatory democracy think needs strengthened think weak think movement needs institutionalize every levelthe level small pueblos level towns level different quartersorganizations broad bolivarian circles whatever want call meet regularly talk discuss problems arent simply response calls important know chávez unusual guy latin americavery specialand young long may live create institutions outlast future country stake venezuela whose interests venezuela survive alone venezuela mean us venezuela example americans wish wipe example exists gets stronger stronger stronger people brazil argentina ecuador chile bolivia say venezuelans venezuela point view important example thats theyre worked thats americans pour millions dollars help stupid opposition counry opposition incapable offering real alternative people except used exist corrupt servile oligarchy thats venezuela means think one weakness till recently bolivarian revolution done towards rest latin america siege home think chávez wins referendum local elections hope mayoralty caracas september hope big offensive made th e rest latin america point view model cuban doctors good one mean venezuelan doctorin five years venezuelans come back cuba doctors help country go countries work shantytowns small things world live big things fifty years ago would small today big thats preserve nurture mainstream private media plays important political role venezuela disinformation combated lack latin america means communication need satellite channel like al jazeera said well call al bolivar want need one reports regularlywhat right saying left movements saying gives account mst wants challenges lula quite independently without attached state think satellite channel could important whole latin america challenge bbc world cnn latin american channel venezuelans argentineans etc interests think opposition us strategy event chávez victory come a15 well think strategy left try overthrow military coup fact military seems supporting previous coup warning well cant simply rely military without educating people think without military venezuela cant anythingthey topple think opposition quite honestly lose referendumwhich big demand years oh hes allowing referendum forgetting given constitution according want referendum without constitution couldnt referendumso wins referendum opposition fractured think completely demoralized foolish think opposition strategy might claim fraud order deligitmize chavezvictory well look fight happens think process transparent think lots observers coming happens government go immediately offensive say clear victory want go whole country talk every single voter one hasnt got defensive go completely offensive say isnt florida case one shouldnt worry permanently paranoid know one depend strength people people vote wins referendum big celebrations country obvious happened 1 movimento dos trabalhadores rurais sem teralandless rural workers movement brazil 2 john holloway change world without taking power meaning revolution today pluto press 2002 3 partido dos trabalhadoresworkers party brazil | 1,475 |
<p>Given the sensationalism in mainstream US news media coverage of alleged sexual impropriety charges filed against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in Sweden, it’s no surprise that other significant news about America involving that Scandinavian nation is being left uncovered.</p>
<p>In early November, Sweden called on the US to end the death penalty and to improve conditions in maximum security prisons, as the United States went through its first-ever Universal Periodic Review by the United Nation’s Human Rights Council.</p>
<p>Sweden joined nearly two dozen countries in calling upon the US to end its pariah-like status as the only western industrialized nation to engage in executions. The US has over 3,200 people facing death sentences, a sharp rise from 1968, when America’s death row population numbered just 517, according to statistics compiled by the Death Penalty Information Center.</p>
<p>Other countries critical of the US posture on the death penalty - practiced by the federal government and 35 states - included Australia (the birthplace of Assange), France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the Vatican.</p>
<p>The caustic onslaught in the U.S. against Assange for leaking sensitive documents, where attackers include members of Congress - some even calling for Assange’s death, either extrajudicially or after a trial–is ironic, coming so close to December 10th, the annual international observance of Human Rights Day.</p>
<p>That observance commemorates the UN’s 1948 adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.</p>
<p>One clause in that Declaration provides people worldwide with the right to receive and impart information “through any media and regardless of frontiers.”</p>
<p>The American assaults on Assange extend beyond the White House and Capitol Hill. Amazon, under pressure from Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), removed WikiLeaks from its computer servers, while MasterCard, PayPal and Visa have halted payments to WikiLeaks from donors supportive of work of that entity, almost certainly after receiving pressure from the US government.</p>
<p>While US officials attending that human rights review held in Switzerland proudly pointed to such continuing rights progress in America as the election of a black President and his selection of a Hispanic female US Supreme Court Justice, fifty-six countries including staunch US allies offered 228 recommendations for improving human rights in the nation that touts itself as the world’s leader in protecting the rights of all.</p>
<p>Those recommendations involved a wide range of issues, ranging from attacking poverty among Native Americans to addressing abuses impacting immigrants and closing the infamous Guantanamo prison. However, most of the recommendations presented at that human rights review centered on concerns about deprivations and disparities in the U.S. criminal justice system.</p>
<p>Belgium and Switzerland, for example, called on America to stop sentencing teens to life in prison. Pennsylvania leads the nation in the number of life-sentenced teens, with over 300 currently languishing in the state’s prisons.</p>
<p>Haiti called for ending the discriminatory impact of mandatory minimum sentences and Thailand called for addressing sexual violence inside U.S. prisons, where homosexual rapes far exceed heterosexual rapes outside prison walls.</p>
<p>France urged the U.S. to study the racial disparities evident in the application of the death penalty. African-Americans comprise 41.43 percent of the people on death rows across America - a figure more than twice the percentage of America’s black population.</p>
<p>The United Kingdom expressed concerns about damning evidence that the death penalty could sometimes be administered in a discriminatory manner.</p>
<p>Respected Harvard Law School Professor Alan Dershowitz recently wrote a commentary expressing his concerns about Kevin Cooper, a black California death row inmate facing execution for slaughtering four members of a white family in 1983, despite the troubling reality that the lone survivor told police the murders were white.</p>
<p>Facts now establish that police destroyed blood-stained clothing evidence supplied by the girlfriend of one (white) man police never investigated, and that the prosecution’s forensic witnesses falsified evidence against Cooper.</p>
<p>Dershowitz stated that the facts “do not add up” in the murder conviction of Cooper. He has asked outgoing California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to grant Cooper clemency. America’s largest death row is in California, which has 697 persons facing execution.</p>
<p>U.S. representatives responding to their international critics stated that despite legitimate debate on the propriety of the death penalty, as a matter of law at the federal level and in 35 states, “that punishment is permitted,” according to the draft report issued by the UN Human Rights Council.</p>
<p>While the America’s governmental scheme makes it structurally difficult for the federal government to outright ban states from conducting executions, the federal government could end its own use of the death penalty for federal crimes. The U.S. government death row holds nearly 70 persons.</p>
<p>One U.S. death-row inmate - Pennsylvania’s ‘Death Row Journalist’ Mumia Abu-Jamal - received mention by name in one recommendation. Abu-Jamal, perhaps the most well-known of 25,000-plus under death sentence worldwide, observes the macabre anniversary of spending 29-years inside a death-row prison cell on December 9th.</p>
<p>Cuba called on the U.S. to “end the unjust incarceration of political prisoners including Leonard Peltier and Mumia Abu-Jamal.” Ample evidence supports international claims that Native American leader Peltier, repeatedly denied parole, and ex-Black Panther Abu-Jamal, are unjustly incarcerated for deaths involving law enforcement officers.</p>
<p>The issue of political prisoners in the US is a subject generating interest internationally, yet it is an issue largely ignored by Americans, said Efia Nwangaza, a lawyer who attended that UN human rights review session held in Geneva, Switzerland.</p>
<p>“There are over 75 political prisoners in the US, most of them former Black Panther or Black Liberation Army people,” said Nwangaza, a Philadelphia native now living in South Carolina, who helped prepare documentation on US political prisoners for that UN review.</p>
<p>“We’ve made progress through an admission by omission, with the US not denying it has political prisoners.”</p>
<p>In addition to criticisms about death penalty policies in the U.S., nations around the world raised concerns about racial profiling practices in America against blacks, Latinos and persons perceived as Muslim, inclusive of U.S. citizens, immigrants and visitors.</p>
<p>U.S. representatives, responding to criticisms about racial profiling, “assured delegations” that America condemns racial and ethnic profiling in all forms,” according to the Human Rights Council’s report.</p>
<p>Ironically, even as U.S. representatives offered their assurances, the ACLU of Pennsylvania filed a class-action lawsuit against the Philadelphia Police Department for racial profiling in that city where the U.S. Constitution was drafted and approved.</p>
<p>That lawsuit involves the police practice called ‘stop-&amp;-frisk’ - where police detain and search persons. This practice in Philadelphia impacted 253,333 persons in 2009 - a 148-percent increase over 2005 - with 72.2 percent of those subjected being blacks, who comprise 44 percent of that city’s population, according to the lawsuit.</p>
<p>This dragnet-style policing only produced arrests in 8.4 percent of the ‘stops,’ with the majority of those arrests being for “interactions following the initial stop” like disorderly conduct and resisting arrest - i.e. alleged crimes that most likely resulted from legitimate objections to being stopped without cause.</p>
<p>One of the plaintiffs in that lawsuit is State Representative Jewell Williams, a veteran of 20-years in law enforcement work, who was roughed up by Philadelphia police in March 2009 while inquiring about a police stop of two 65-year-old black men during an encounter around the corner from Williams’ house.</p>
<p>Exposing a paradox in America’s race-based policing, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter and the city’s Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey (named in the ACLU lawsuit) are both black, but they back their Stop-&amp;-Frisk policy, downplaying its demonstrable racially-disproportionate impact.</p>
<p>“Mayor Nutter repeatedly promised that this policy [Stop-&amp;-Frisk] would be carried out in a way that respected the Constitution,” said Mary Catherine Roper, an ACLU-Pa staff attorney. “But instead of stopping people suspected of criminal activity, the police appear to be stopping people because of race.”</p>
<p>Former Philadelphia Mayor John Street told ThisCantBeHappening! recently that the excessive Stop-&amp;-Frisk practices are actually counter-productive to effective crime fighting because the practices alienate citizens that police need to assist them in crime fighting.</p>
<p>Linn Washington Jr. is a columnist for This Can’t Be Happening!.</p>
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<p /> | true | 4 | given sensationalism mainstream us news media coverage alleged sexual impropriety charges filed wikileaks founder julian assange sweden surprise significant news america involving scandinavian nation left uncovered early november sweden called us end death penalty improve conditions maximum security prisons united states went firstever universal periodic review united nations human rights council sweden joined nearly two dozen countries calling upon us end pariahlike status western industrialized nation engage executions us 3200 people facing death sentences sharp rise 1968 americas death row population numbered 517 according statistics compiled death penalty information center countries critical us posture death penalty practiced federal government 35 states included australia birthplace assange france germany united kingdom vatican caustic onslaught us assange leaking sensitive documents attackers include members congress even calling assanges death either extrajudicially trialis ironic coming close december 10th annual international observance human rights day observance commemorates uns 1948 adoption universal declaration human rights one clause declaration provides people worldwide right receive impart information media regardless frontiers american assaults assange extend beyond white house capitol hill amazon pressure sen joe lieberman ict removed wikileaks computer servers mastercard paypal visa halted payments wikileaks donors supportive work entity almost certainly receiving pressure us government us officials attending human rights review held switzerland proudly pointed continuing rights progress america election black president selection hispanic female us supreme court justice fiftysix countries including staunch us allies offered 228 recommendations improving human rights nation touts worlds leader protecting rights recommendations involved wide range issues ranging attacking poverty among native americans addressing abuses impacting immigrants closing infamous guantanamo prison however recommendations presented human rights review centered concerns deprivations disparities us criminal justice system belgium switzerland example called america stop sentencing teens life prison pennsylvania leads nation number lifesentenced teens 300 currently languishing states prisons haiti called ending discriminatory impact mandatory minimum sentences thailand called addressing sexual violence inside us prisons homosexual rapes far exceed heterosexual rapes outside prison walls france urged us study racial disparities evident application death penalty africanamericans comprise 4143 percent people death rows across america figure twice percentage americas black population united kingdom expressed concerns damning evidence death penalty could sometimes administered discriminatory manner respected harvard law school professor alan dershowitz recently wrote commentary expressing concerns kevin cooper black california death row inmate facing execution slaughtering four members white family 1983 despite troubling reality lone survivor told police murders white facts establish police destroyed bloodstained clothing evidence supplied girlfriend one white man police never investigated prosecutions forensic witnesses falsified evidence cooper dershowitz stated facts add murder conviction cooper asked outgoing california governor arnold schwarzenegger grant cooper clemency americas largest death row california 697 persons facing execution us representatives responding international critics stated despite legitimate debate propriety death penalty matter law federal level 35 states punishment permitted according draft report issued un human rights council americas governmental scheme makes structurally difficult federal government outright ban states conducting executions federal government could end use death penalty federal crimes us government death row holds nearly 70 persons one us deathrow inmate pennsylvanias death row journalist mumia abujamal received mention name one recommendation abujamal perhaps wellknown 25000plus death sentence worldwide observes macabre anniversary spending 29years inside deathrow prison cell december 9th cuba called us end unjust incarceration political prisoners including leonard peltier mumia abujamal ample evidence supports international claims native american leader peltier repeatedly denied parole exblack panther abujamal unjustly incarcerated deaths involving law enforcement officers issue political prisoners us subject generating interest internationally yet issue largely ignored americans said efia nwangaza lawyer attended un human rights review session held geneva switzerland 75 political prisoners us former black panther black liberation army people said nwangaza philadelphia native living south carolina helped prepare documentation us political prisoners un review weve made progress admission omission us denying political prisoners addition criticisms death penalty policies us nations around world raised concerns racial profiling practices america blacks latinos persons perceived muslim inclusive us citizens immigrants visitors us representatives responding criticisms racial profiling assured delegations america condemns racial ethnic profiling forms according human rights councils report ironically even us representatives offered assurances aclu pennsylvania filed classaction lawsuit philadelphia police department racial profiling city us constitution drafted approved lawsuit involves police practice called stopampfrisk police detain search persons practice philadelphia impacted 253333 persons 2009 148percent increase 2005 722 percent subjected blacks comprise 44 percent citys population according lawsuit dragnetstyle policing produced arrests 84 percent stops majority arrests interactions following initial stop like disorderly conduct resisting arrest ie alleged crimes likely resulted legitimate objections stopped without cause one plaintiffs lawsuit state representative jewell williams veteran 20years law enforcement work roughed philadelphia police march 2009 inquiring police stop two 65yearold black men encounter around corner williams house exposing paradox americas racebased policing philadelphia mayor michael nutter citys police commissioner charles ramsey named aclu lawsuit black back stopampfrisk policy downplaying demonstrable raciallydisproportionate impact mayor nutter repeatedly promised policy stopampfrisk would carried way respected constitution said mary catherine roper aclupa staff attorney instead stopping people suspected criminal activity police appear stopping people race former philadelphia mayor john street told thiscantbehappening recently excessive stopampfrisk practices actually counterproductive effective crime fighting practices alienate citizens police need assist crime fighting linn washington jr columnist cant happening 160 160 | 862 |
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<p /> DIMITRI LASCARI: This is Dimitri Lascaris for The Real News. The Trump Administration's Department of Energy is run by former Texas Governor, Rick Perry, who vowed to abolish the department when he was a presidential candidate. Known as the Darling of the Fossil Fuel Industry, Perry just announced a request to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to enact changes that would boost pricing for coal and nuclear power. This rule would require regional power markets to factor in certain characteristics of coal fire and nuclear power generation when they set prices for electricity. Some experts say this change could create the biggest change to electricity markets in the United States in decades. Rick Perry's proposed rule came on the heels of an environmental success story. Washington State, nixed plans for a major coal export terminal last week, dealing a possible lethal blow to the project. Here to discuss all of this with us is Mary Anne Hitt, director of the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal Campaign. Mary Anne joins us today from Los Angeles. Welcome back, Mary Anne.
<p />MARY ANNE HITT: Thank you. It's a pleasure to be with you.
<p />DIMITRI LASCARI: First of all, Mary Anne, I'd like to talk about the Washington State Department of Ecology's denial of the permit for the Millennium Bulk Terminal project. How would that export facility, if built, impact the public, the environment and now, in light of this denial what are the prospects for the terminal to actually be built?
<p />MARY ANNE HITT: Well, this was a big victory, not only because we stopped this particular project, and by we, I mean, a very big coalition of environmental groups, tribal partners, community leaders. It's also an even bigger deal because it was the final coal export proposal in the Northwest that was still standing. About a decade ago, big companies like Peabody Coal were looking for new markets for coal coming out of Montana and Wyoming, which is our biggest remaining coal reserves because we're using a lot less coal in the United States. Their plan was to build the six big coal export terminals in the Northwest to ship the coal to Asia. This marks the last of those six that was defeated by a grassroots network that's really one of the most remarkable things I've seen in my 20 years in the environmental movement.
<p />DIMITRI LASCARI: That's quite a contrast to the attitude of the Trump administration to the coal industry. Let's talk about this proposal that's coming from Rick Perry and the Department of Energy to boost pricing for coal and nuclear power. Perry's reported rationale for this rule is that wind and solar energy are intermittent sources of energy. In other words, that source of energy is only available when the sun shines and the wind blows, whereas coal and nuclear power make the electrical grid, according to Rick Perry, more reliable and resilient. Is there any truth to this, especially in light of advances we've seen and will continue to see in terms of electricity storage?
<p />MARY ANNE HITT: The idea that you have to have these big old fossil fuel plants around to keep the grid stable or reliable is really a pretty outdated notion. What we actually have found in recent years is it has been renewables that are keeping our grid stable because having more diverse sources of energy on the grid like wind and solar that can keep going, no matter what happens elsewhere on the grid has proven to be a real boon. Basically, the grid is this vast interconnected network of wires and other ways we transmit electricity that are managed by smart people. You could think of the air traffic control where there are folks who are really managing to make sure that if one power source goes down somewhere, we're bringing up another power source somewhere else.
<p /> Coal is actually not a great source for reliability because it takes a long time to fire up a coal plant. It takes a long time to power it back down, whereas wind and solar are a lot more nimble, but the point being, the real motive here by Secretary Perry is not about the reliability of the grid. It's to prop up the fossil fuel industry, which is having trouble competing on the free market with renewables. That's the real motivation here. We can have a safe, reliable grid powered with 100% renewable energy, but that is a threat to the bottom line of the fossil fuel companies, which are really what Rick Perry is trying to protect here.
<p />DIMITRI LASCARI: How would this rule do that? How does it boost the viability of coal and nuclear power? Do you think it's ultimately going to affect the attractive... in economic perspective to the power markets?
<p />MARY ANNE HITT: Well, what they are proposing to do here is to claim that coal and nuclear are these special categories of power because they have this big fuel supply on-site, which means that they get, essentially, subsidized for continuing to exist. The Department of Energy has sent this over to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which is an impartial entity that is actually supposed to be not picking winners and losers but just making the best resource decisions for the country. Again, the real motivation here is that coal and nuclear are having a very hard time competing with all the other sources of electricity out there, especially as we now have 10% or more of our nation's electricity coming from renewables. In some parts of the country, they're getting 30, 40 even 50% of their power from renewables on some days. Coal plants, they're finding that when they try to sell their coal out into the marketplace, especially the open market, that no one wants to buy it because it's too expensive, and there's a lot more competition out there.
<p /> Not every state is in one of these open markets, but then, these deregulated open markets, they basically want to force the customers to buy the electricity anyway. This notice from the Department of Energy has gone over to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission or FERC, and it's a big deal. It's definitely a big deal. I'm glad you're following it and paying attention to it. It is definitely designed to prop up old polluting sources of energy that can no longer compete increasingly with renewables. We're going to be working at the Sierra Club to stop this from ever getting over the finish line. It's going to be a big focus of ours for sure. We definitely, all as Americans, need to be paying attention to it because we're really at a tipping point when it comes to the economics and energy. Renewables are cheaper than coal in many, if not, all parts of the country. We shouldn't be forcing people on their electric bills to pay to keep these old dirty polluting plants open which is essentially what this proposal would do.
<p />DIMITRI LASCARI: Let's shift focus a little bit. We've been talking about the price to the consumer of electricity of coal and so forth, and how this might affect that. Let's talk about other costs of coal usage, in particular, the health effects. We know, for example, that working in the health industry, Trump is always, or at least most of the time trying to justify his defense of the coal industry and this advancement of the coal industry's agenda by reference to jobs for coal miners. We know that working in the coal mining industry has had historically quite significant adverse health effects. For example, black lung disease. When you compare the health profile for workers in the solar energy industry and the wind industry and the wind energy industry, other renewable, clean, renewable energy industries to what we see in the coal industry. I mean it Trump really cares about workers, shouldn't he be taking into account the health effects? Aren't working in those industries a much more attractive proposition for workers from a health perspective?
<p />MARY ANNE HITT: Well, I live in West Virginia. I'm in Los Angeles today, traveling for work, but I live in West Virginia and so I know all too well both the health and safety, dangers that come from coal mining but also how reliant those communities are on those jobs. Unfortunately, still in this country, we don't have a lot of other economic opportunities for folks in coal mining areas. We haven't invested in diversifying the economy in coal mining regions like we should, in my opinion. You know, when folks really only have, as you'll hear that folks in the coal field say, the only options are mining coal or maybe flipping burgers. There's not a lot of other economic options.
<p /> They aren't yet seeing those clean energy jobs in their area and that's, I think, a very important work that we need to be doing as a country. I mean, we all have benefited from the sacrifices folks have made in the coal mines. We've had cheap electricity. We've had built a prosperous nation on the backs of those folks. Now, I think the best way to honor the sacrifice people have made in coal communities is to help diversify the economy as we transition away from coal. Definitely, there are more solar jobs. The solar jobs are not as big as a threat to the health of the workers. At the same time, if those jobs aren't in the same places, that is cold comfort to folks in those mining communities. That's where, I think, we really need to invest as a nation and helping to diversify the economy in coal communities. I think that's the best way to honor that sacrifice that those folks have made on behalf of us all.
<p />DIMITRI LASCARI: Do we have reliable, are you aware of a reliable statistic study showing how many jobs are created per-dollar investment in renewable energy versus per-dollar investment in the coal industry?
<p />MARY ANNE HITT: Well, those numbers are out there. I can't cite them off the top of my head, but I can say the number of jobs per unit of electricity produced, say kilowatt of electricity produced from coal versus renewable energy, renewable energy is creating many times over the jobs that coal and fossil fuels are. I mean, that's in part because it takes a lot of folks to put solar panels up on all of those roofs and to get all those wind turbines built. Those are good-paying jobs. They are growing fast. We have about 50,000 coal miners in this country, and by contrast, there's upwards of 300,000 renewable energy jobs in this country. It's actually been one of the biggest sources of new job creation and economic growth in this country over the past decade. It's just continuing to skyrocket. It's creating a lot of economic opportunity in places that haven't embraced wind and solar like Iowa, like California. The places that are hospitable to clean energy are really seeing a lot of job creation and economic opportunity as a result.
<p />DIMITRI LASCARI: Lastly, I want to talk to you a little bit about mountaintop removals. My understanding is the Trump administration has been trying to roll back regulations on mountaintop removal. Could you bring us up-to-date on his efforts in that regard and the possible implications?
<p />MARY ANNE HITT: Well, one of the first actions that Trump took when he became president was to repeal something called the Stream Protection Rule, which had been long opposed by coal mining companies, particularly in Appalachia because the stream protection rule prevented, it was intended to protect streams around coal mining sites. It never really went into effect. That was one of his first actions, which he did, with a lot of fanfare with a lot of coal folks and coal country politicians standing next to him. Most recently, they have instructed the halting of a study by the National Academy of Sciences that was really looking at the health of mountaintop removal. Mountaintop removal is still going on. It is still harming folks in Appalachia. There have been a handful, about a dozen peer-reviewed studies connecting the dots between local health problems like cancer, adverse effects and premature death, linking those to the mountaintop removal mines.
<p /> The National Academy of Sciences was doing this survey of all that research to figure out what it all added up to and what were the gaps, and what could we definitively say about how to address this health crisis that we have in these coal communities around mountaintop removal sites. The study was halfway complete. They pulled the plug on the funding. It's very frustrating and angering to folks living near these sites who are looking for answers and looking for solutions. I think it's a very cynical move by the Trump administration and really shows that they're not that worried about people in coal communities. They are just wanting to score political points by promising that coal is going to come back when it is not. If you go back to the news last week that the very last coal export terminal in the Northwest has had the plug pulled on it, you know, the economics aren't adding up.
<p /> In this country, we keep retiring coal plants. Foreign markets are not hungry for our coal. They are moving away from coal as well. What we need are solutions for the people living around these mountaintop removal sites, for public health, for economic development, for diversifying the economy. We're not going backwards on no matter what Trump says when it comes to moving away from coal. I think it's time, as a nation, to step up and be honest about that and start solving some of these problems instead of making empty promises to folks to score cheap political points, frankly.
<p />DIMITRI LASCARI: This has been Dimitri Lascaris, speaking to Mary Anne Hitt of the Sierra Club about Donald Trump's latest attempts to prop up the dying coal industry. Thank you very much for joining us today, Mary Anne.
<p />MARY ANNE HITT: It's a pleasure to be with you. Thank you for having me.
<p />DIMITRI LASCARI: This is Dimitri Lascaris for The Real News. | true | 4 | dimitri lascari dimitri lascaris real news trump administrations department energy run former texas governor rick perry vowed abolish department presidential candidate known darling fossil fuel industry perry announced request federal energy regulatory commission enact changes would boost pricing coal nuclear power rule would require regional power markets factor certain characteristics coal fire nuclear power generation set prices electricity experts say change could create biggest change electricity markets united states decades rick perrys proposed rule came heels environmental success story washington state nixed plans major coal export terminal last week dealing possible lethal blow project discuss us mary anne hitt director sierra clubs beyond coal campaign mary anne joins us today los angeles welcome back mary anne mary anne hitt thank pleasure dimitri lascari first mary anne id like talk washington state department ecologys denial permit millennium bulk terminal project would export facility built impact public environment light denial prospects terminal actually built mary anne hitt well big victory stopped particular project mean big coalition environmental groups tribal partners community leaders also even bigger deal final coal export proposal northwest still standing decade ago big companies like peabody coal looking new markets coal coming montana wyoming biggest remaining coal reserves using lot less coal united states plan build six big coal export terminals northwest ship coal asia marks last six defeated grassroots network thats really one remarkable things ive seen 20 years environmental movement dimitri lascari thats quite contrast attitude trump administration coal industry lets talk proposal thats coming rick perry department energy boost pricing coal nuclear power perrys reported rationale rule wind solar energy intermittent sources energy words source energy available sun shines wind blows whereas coal nuclear power make electrical grid according rick perry reliable resilient truth especially light advances weve seen continue see terms electricity storage mary anne hitt idea big old fossil fuel plants around keep grid stable reliable really pretty outdated notion actually found recent years renewables keeping grid stable diverse sources energy grid like wind solar keep going matter happens elsewhere grid proven real boon basically grid vast interconnected network wires ways transmit electricity managed smart people could think air traffic control folks really managing make sure one power source goes somewhere bringing another power source somewhere else coal actually great source reliability takes long time fire coal plant takes long time power back whereas wind solar lot nimble point real motive secretary perry reliability grid prop fossil fuel industry trouble competing free market renewables thats real motivation safe reliable grid powered 100 renewable energy threat bottom line fossil fuel companies really rick perry trying protect dimitri lascari would rule boost viability coal nuclear power think ultimately going affect attractive economic perspective power markets mary anne hitt well proposing claim coal nuclear special categories power big fuel supply onsite means get essentially subsidized continuing exist department energy sent federal energy regulatory commission impartial entity actually supposed picking winners losers making best resource decisions country real motivation coal nuclear hard time competing sources electricity especially 10 nations electricity coming renewables parts country theyre getting 30 40 even 50 power renewables days coal plants theyre finding try sell coal marketplace especially open market one wants buy expensive theres lot competition every state one open markets deregulated open markets basically want force customers buy electricity anyway notice department energy gone federal energy regulatory commission ferc big deal definitely big deal im glad youre following paying attention definitely designed prop old polluting sources energy longer compete increasingly renewables going working sierra club stop ever getting finish line going big focus sure definitely americans need paying attention really tipping point comes economics energy renewables cheaper coal many parts country shouldnt forcing people electric bills pay keep old dirty polluting plants open essentially proposal would dimitri lascari lets shift focus little bit weve talking price consumer electricity coal forth might affect lets talk costs coal usage particular health effects know example working health industry trump always least time trying justify defense coal industry advancement coal industrys agenda reference jobs coal miners know working coal mining industry historically quite significant adverse health effects example black lung disease compare health profile workers solar energy industry wind industry wind energy industry renewable clean renewable energy industries see coal industry mean trump really cares workers shouldnt taking account health effects arent working industries much attractive proposition workers health perspective mary anne hitt well live west virginia im los angeles today traveling work live west virginia know well health safety dangers come coal mining also reliant communities jobs unfortunately still country dont lot economic opportunities folks coal mining areas havent invested diversifying economy coal mining regions like opinion know folks really youll hear folks coal field say options mining coal maybe flipping burgers theres lot economic options arent yet seeing clean energy jobs area thats think important work need country mean benefited sacrifices folks made coal mines weve cheap electricity weve built prosperous nation backs folks think best way honor sacrifice people made coal communities help diversify economy transition away coal definitely solar jobs solar jobs big threat health workers time jobs arent places cold comfort folks mining communities thats think really need invest nation helping diversify economy coal communities think thats best way honor sacrifice folks made behalf us dimitri lascari reliable aware reliable statistic study showing many jobs created perdollar investment renewable energy versus perdollar investment coal industry mary anne hitt well numbers cant cite top head say number jobs per unit electricity produced say kilowatt electricity produced coal versus renewable energy renewable energy creating many times jobs coal fossil fuels mean thats part takes lot folks put solar panels roofs get wind turbines built goodpaying jobs growing fast 50000 coal miners country contrast theres upwards 300000 renewable energy jobs country actually one biggest sources new job creation economic growth country past decade continuing skyrocket creating lot economic opportunity places havent embraced wind solar like iowa like california places hospitable clean energy really seeing lot job creation economic opportunity result dimitri lascari lastly want talk little bit mountaintop removals understanding trump administration trying roll back regulations mountaintop removal could bring us uptodate efforts regard possible implications mary anne hitt well one first actions trump took became president repeal something called stream protection rule long opposed coal mining companies particularly appalachia stream protection rule prevented intended protect streams around coal mining sites never really went effect one first actions lot fanfare lot coal folks coal country politicians standing next recently instructed halting study national academy sciences really looking health mountaintop removal mountaintop removal still going still harming folks appalachia handful dozen peerreviewed studies connecting dots local health problems like cancer adverse effects premature death linking mountaintop removal mines national academy sciences survey research figure added gaps could definitively say address health crisis coal communities around mountaintop removal sites study halfway complete pulled plug funding frustrating angering folks living near sites looking answers looking solutions think cynical move trump administration really shows theyre worried people coal communities wanting score political points promising coal going come back go back news last week last coal export terminal northwest plug pulled know economics arent adding country keep retiring coal plants foreign markets hungry coal moving away coal well need solutions people living around mountaintop removal sites public health economic development diversifying economy going backwards matter trump says comes moving away coal think time nation step honest start solving problems instead making empty promises folks score cheap political points frankly dimitri lascari dimitri lascaris speaking mary anne hitt sierra club donald trumps latest attempts prop dying coal industry thank much joining us today mary anne mary anne hitt pleasure thank dimitri lascari dimitri lascaris real news | 1,276 |
<p>He’s got the credentials: Cornell grad, two novels published, nominated for literary awards, reviewed books for the New York Times, teaches writing in the Big Apple, and flaunts <a href="http://www.thaddeusrutkowski.com/name.html" type="external">a name</a> any middle linebacker would be proud of. Most notably, perhaps, Thaddeus Rutkowski, author of the just-released novel “ <a href="" type="internal">Tetched</a>,” is a man of few words. His prose is sparse…each word weighed carefully. Each paragraph like a painting; each chapter possessing the power of a one-act play-Rutkowski crafts literary fractals of individual force that add up to form a singular, powerful narrative. Witty, sad, provocative, and sexy, “Tetched” is what one might expect from a true original.</p>
<p>I asked Thad a few questions recently…and here’s what he had to say:</p>
<p>MZ: I’m a big fan of minimalist writing. For me, such a writer is like a sculptor…chipping away the unnecessary to get to what exists below. Did you come to this style naturally?</p>
<p>TR: One reader described the format of my new book as “flashes of light amid darkness.” I like that description–it seems to summarize the effect I was aiming for. I construct stories by taking vivid images or incidents and arranging them so that the narrative coheres to some extent, has a beginning and end. The subtitle of my book is “A Novel in Fractals.” I didn’t come up with the idea of fractals–a writing colleague suggested it when she read my work. She said that each of my sentence is a story, each paragraph is a story, and so is each chapter. Together, they add up to a novel, whose shape reflects the shape of the building blocks. I didn’t set out to write a novel in fractals. I just wanted to present a clear picture (a pointillist picture?) of unusual family life, and of later adult urban life. I do distill, revise, and rearrange. I chip away at the raw material, but I also add where I think more is needed. I’m conscious of shape and form when I work, but these concerns are almost secondary to what the story is about, the subject matter.</p>
<p>MZ: Yeah, it’s great to learn how much went into your novel because it reads so smoothly. The space between the fractals almost feels like a movie “fade-out/fade in.” Yet, while we readers may not get see the process; we can definitely feel it. Sorry, but I have to ask: Was much of “Tetched” culled from your own experiences?</p>
<p>TR: Like many writers, I draw on my experiences to create a fictional world. But, as I said, I distill and reshape what I remember for dramatic effect. My characters may be composites of more than one person I’ve known. The incidents in my stories may have come from my life, from what someone else has told me, or from my imagination. A large part of “Tetched” is a family story. The father is a frustrated artist, and the mother is an Asian immigrant. The son (the book’s narrator) witnesses his parents’ struggle to live and work in rural America.In real life, my father was a teacher; he went to Columbia Teachers College after studying art and chemistry. He had a number of odd jobs in addition to teaching gigs–he worked as a commercial artist and as a bookmobile librarian. Those facts aren’t in my book, because I wanted to focus on the emotional reality of trying to succeed as an artist-my father’s main priority. There’s no formula for such success, and being a bit unhinged doesn’t help. My father was, in fact, an Army veteran; he joined at the end of the Second World War. He wasn’t in the Service long, but the experience stayed with him. I often refer to that side of his personality in my book.</p>
<p>My mother was born and raised in China, in Yunan Province, and came to the U.S. to go to college. (She met my father at school.) But I’ve never been to Asia, so the references I make to Asian culture are secondhand (absorbed from my mother) or from books. I read poetry by Li Po and Tu Fu to come up with some of the mother’s dialogue. The later sections of my book have to do with college life and later adult relationships. Again, I did draw on my experiences to write these chapters, but I’m afraid I exaggerated things. I believe that a philosopher (Santayana?) said that “art is reality recast in idea.” My idea with this book was to focus on the offbeat, because I think that’s more interesting than the everyday. Most of my life was, and is, quite routine.</p>
<p>MZ: “Routine” is a relative term. As a writer-as someone challenging the cookie cutter formula-by definition your life is “different.” As kids, we’re told to follow our dreams but if we do that, we’re often ridiculed as adults. The father character in “Tetched” knows this all too well.</p>
<p>TR: By “routine,” I meant that I have a day job, part-time teaching jobs, and a family. To write, I go to an urban colony, The Writers’ Room, here in the East Village. My spouse is understanding enough to allow me to go to out-of-town art colonies as well, which is where I do most of my work. I go during vacations from my day job. I also read in public a lot, which involves traveling. Today, I’m going to Albany to read. I’ll stay in the house of the host, whom I’ve never met. It’s a little nervous-making, but it’ll be fun.</p>
<p>However, there are conflicts: Do I want to spend time with my family, or spend time writing? I want to do both. There’s no question about having to be at work in the office and at class. Sometimes, I feel as if I’m leading a double life. I often think about how to lead a more one-track life, but for a writer in New York, that’s not easy. Do you write a perennial best-seller, or what? Maybe someday I’ll figure it out.</p>
<p>MZ: That’s it: you’ve gotta write a best-seller, Thad. Have you had well-meaning folks, maybe even family members, suggest that you write something mainstream so you establish yourself and make lots of money and after that, you can write about whatever you want?</p>
<p>TR: I was joking about the best-seller, and no one’s been bugging me to write one. I know what you mean, though, when you say that you could possibly have a hit–a hit book, a hit song–and then have the freedom to experiment. I started out by taking an experimental approach. My early influences were Richard Brautigan and Donald Barthelme. They are established figures, with literary reputations and wide recognition, but you wouldn’t call them mainstream. I actually tried to incorporate more traditional elements in my new book. I tried to make the narrative more continuous, the chapters more equally weighted. I think my first novel, “ <a href="" type="internal">Roughhouse</a>,” consisted of two distinct halves, and the “chapters” in the second half tended to bounce from one subject to another. In “Tetched,” I wanted a more cohesive package. I also wanted to produce a story that was more profound and poignant.</p>
<p>MZ: Your book feels, to me, like it picks up speed as you read it. Maybe the chapters or fractals aren’t literally shorter, but they read faster and more happens. It makes one feel like they are rolling downhill, picking up speed, and very much at the mercy of some unknown force. Was this a conscious decision?</p>
<p>TR: Actually, no, the narrative isn’t intended to move faster as the book progresses. The chapters are short throughout the book, yes, but they don’t get shorter as the story goes on. (If they did get shorter, they’d disappear.) The text is supposed to read fairly quickly. There is a lot of incident, and not much exposition. The experience of reading may get easier simply because it becomes more predictable–you get used to the writing style. The tone, the voice and the sentence structure are fairly consistent throughout.</p>
<p>MZ: What are the dangers of creating a very kinky protagonist?</p>
<p>TR: Quirky sexuality is part of the relationships that play out in the second half of the book. Mainly, the odd practices are factors in the breakup of relationships. In writing these bits, I was trying to understand dating, how it sometimes leads to happy experiences, but often leads to a feeling of loss or disconnection. The narrator is obsessive, and this doesn’t help his meetings with women. Still, I tried to add a note of humor, or absurdity, by exaggerating the incidents. In real life, things don’t happen so fast, or in such a focused way. I do draw on my experiences for my fictional material. I also combine events for dramatic effect. My characters are often composites of people I’ve known. And some of the stuff is just made up.</p>
<p>MZ: In “Tetched,” the father character isn’t shy about his politics and the overall theme seems like a challenge to many standard American family myths. Is there a political/social message you’re trying to share?</p>
<p>TR: The father character does talk about politics. In a way, he sees the political system as a cause of his difficulties. To the extent that regulations affect people’s lives, he may have a point. His vision, his dream, is to live independently, self-sufficiently, outside the system. Having to bend to the system frustrates him.</p>
<p>But the father character is complicated, perhaps the most complicated in the book. He married someone not of his race. His children also are “other.” He has mixed feelings about having a family in the first place. Will his fatherly duties take away from his creative work? He thinks so. His children change as they grow up, altering whatever balance there once was. He has a drinking problem. He denies that he has a problem.</p>
<p>I think the message is obvious, though it isn’t simple. I’m saying, among other things, that behavior patterns don’t go away quickly, so you’d best think hard before you go setting patterns. However, I leave it to the reader to draw his or her own conclusions. I don’t comment much about the incidents in the book. I just present them.</p>
<p>To learn more about Thaddeus Rutkowski, his books, and public reading, please visit: <a href="http://www.thaddeusrutkowski.com" type="external">http://www.thaddeusrutkowski.com</a></p>
<p>MICKEY Z. is the author of several books, most recently “50 American Revolutions You’re Not Supposed to Know: Reclaiming American Patriotism” (Disinformation Books). He can be found on the Web at <a href="http://www.mickeyz.net" type="external">http://www.mickeyz.net</a>.</p>
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<p>Coming in the Fall from CounterPunch Books! The Case Against Israel By Michael Neumann</p>
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<p><a href="http://www.easycarts.net/ecarts/CounterPunch/CP_Books.html" type="external">Click Here to Advance Order Philosopher Michael Neumann’s Devastating Rebuttal of Alan Dershowitz</a></p>
<p>Coming This Fall <a href="" type="internal">Grand Theft Pentagon: Tales of Greed and Profiteering in the War on Terror</a> by Jeffrey St. Clair</p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | hes got credentials cornell grad two novels published nominated literary awards reviewed books new york times teaches writing big apple flaunts name middle linebacker would proud notably perhaps thaddeus rutkowski author justreleased novel tetched man words prose sparseeach word weighed carefully paragraph like painting chapter possessing power oneact playrutkowski crafts literary fractals individual force add form singular powerful narrative witty sad provocative sexy tetched one might expect true original asked thad questions recentlyand heres say mz im big fan minimalist writing writer like sculptorchipping away unnecessary get exists come style naturally tr one reader described format new book flashes light amid darkness like descriptionit seems summarize effect aiming construct stories taking vivid images incidents arranging narrative coheres extent beginning end subtitle book novel fractals didnt come idea fractalsa writing colleague suggested read work said sentence story paragraph story chapter together add novel whose shape reflects shape building blocks didnt set write novel fractals wanted present clear picture pointillist picture unusual family life later adult urban life distill revise rearrange chip away raw material also add think needed im conscious shape form work concerns almost secondary story subject matter mz yeah great learn much went novel reads smoothly space fractals almost feels like movie fadeoutfade yet readers may get see process definitely feel sorry ask much tetched culled experiences tr like many writers draw experiences create fictional world said distill reshape remember dramatic effect characters may composites one person ive known incidents stories may come life someone else told imagination large part tetched family story father frustrated artist mother asian immigrant son books narrator witnesses parents struggle live work rural americain real life father teacher went columbia teachers college studying art chemistry number odd jobs addition teaching gigshe worked commercial artist bookmobile librarian facts arent book wanted focus emotional reality trying succeed artistmy fathers main priority theres formula success bit unhinged doesnt help father fact army veteran joined end second world war wasnt service long experience stayed often refer side personality book mother born raised china yunan province came us go college met father school ive never asia references make asian culture secondhand absorbed mother books read poetry li po tu fu come mothers dialogue later sections book college life later adult relationships draw experiences write chapters im afraid exaggerated things believe philosopher santayana said art reality recast idea idea book focus offbeat think thats interesting everyday life quite routine mz routine relative term writeras someone challenging cookie cutter formulaby definition life different kids told follow dreams often ridiculed adults father character tetched knows well tr routine meant day job parttime teaching jobs family write go urban colony writers room east village spouse understanding enough allow go outoftown art colonies well work go vacations day job also read public lot involves traveling today im going albany read ill stay house host ive never met little nervousmaking itll fun however conflicts want spend time family spend time writing want theres question work office class sometimes feel im leading double life often think lead onetrack life writer new york thats easy write perennial bestseller maybe someday ill figure mz thats youve got ta write bestseller thad wellmeaning folks maybe even family members suggest write something mainstream establish make lots money write whatever want tr joking bestseller ones bugging write one know mean though say could possibly hita hit book hit songand freedom experiment started taking experimental approach early influences richard brautigan donald barthelme established figures literary reputations wide recognition wouldnt call mainstream actually tried incorporate traditional elements new book tried make narrative continuous chapters equally weighted think first novel roughhouse consisted two distinct halves chapters second half tended bounce one subject another tetched wanted cohesive package also wanted produce story profound poignant mz book feels like picks speed read maybe chapters fractals arent literally shorter read faster happens makes one feel like rolling downhill picking speed much mercy unknown force conscious decision tr actually narrative isnt intended move faster book progresses chapters short throughout book yes dont get shorter story goes get shorter theyd disappear text supposed read fairly quickly lot incident much exposition experience reading may get easier simply becomes predictableyou get used writing style tone voice sentence structure fairly consistent throughout mz dangers creating kinky protagonist tr quirky sexuality part relationships play second half book mainly odd practices factors breakup relationships writing bits trying understand dating sometimes leads happy experiences often leads feeling loss disconnection narrator obsessive doesnt help meetings women still tried add note humor absurdity exaggerating incidents real life things dont happen fast focused way draw experiences fictional material also combine events dramatic effect characters often composites people ive known stuff made mz tetched father character isnt shy politics overall theme seems like challenge many standard american family myths politicalsocial message youre trying share tr father character talk politics way sees political system cause difficulties extent regulations affect peoples lives may point vision dream live independently selfsufficiently outside system bend system frustrates father character complicated perhaps complicated book married someone race children also mixed feelings family first place fatherly duties take away creative work thinks children change grow altering whatever balance drinking problem denies problem think message obvious though isnt simple im saying among things behavior patterns dont go away quickly youd best think hard go setting patterns however leave reader draw conclusions dont comment much incidents book present learn thaddeus rutkowski books public reading please visit httpwwwthaddeusrutkowskicom mickey z author several books recently 50 american revolutions youre supposed know reclaiming american patriotism disinformation books found web httpwwwmickeyznet coming fall counterpunch books case israel michael neumann 160 click advance order philosopher michael neumanns devastating rebuttal alan dershowitz coming fall grand theft pentagon tales greed profiteering war terror jeffrey st clair 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 | 987 |
<p>A specter is haunting the United States, a specter that can marshal an army of ghosts. Its previous incarnations were in Nazi Germany, 1930s Japan, Mussolini’s Italy, Stalin’s USSR, Franco’s Spain, Rumania’s Iron Guard, today’s Greek Golden Dawn. The 20th Century Totalitarian Express ripped through countless slaughters and more than one holocaust. And on its return trip, ask not for whom it stops, it stops for us.</p>
<p>It is important to assess what causes the descent into totalitarian rule. We blame individuals like Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin. We point to collective trauma such as experienced by Germany after World War I or the leadership vacuum in Europe after a generation of future leaders was obliterated in that war’s grinding battles or the Great Depression’s erosion of faith in capitalism and its uneasy partner, democracy.</p>
<p>Such historical explanations provide causal, logical “reasons for” the madness. But war, gulags, death camps, endless bombing campaigns, and massacres, no mattrer how compelling the causes, still require a raw emotional and moral shift inside of millions of people for such nightmares to become reality.</p>
<p>The totalitarian specter seems to await only the proper sequence of commands, the deadly algorithm, to bring it to life. Call it our “inner fascist”, that infantile, whining, naked lump of animated protein willing to sacrifice everything—dignity, justice, love, tolerance, restraint—for the soothing assurance that it can be saved and kept warm, secure, fed. It is the secret enforcer that turns neighbors into informants, ready to denounce life-long friends. It is why the 100-plus nations that employ torture never lack for army officers, prison guards, doctors, judges, politicians, or clerks to perform their hideous procedures. It is why the middle class of so many nations side with repressive death-squad-driven regimes in order to protect their shaky place in the sun, however bloody the sky at sunset.</p>
<p>The United States is no different, nor are we, its citizens. Our history is rife with massacres domestic (Native Americans, slaves, labor strikers) and foreign (Mexico 1846-1848, Philippines 1899-1902, Korea, Vietnam, 20th century across Latin America). Our “black ops” have perpetrated countless murders overseas. In the 21st century, we’ve joined the company of nations that openly embrace torture and 1984’s vision of endless war. Lynchings were for decades a part of everyday life here, and not even such grotesque extremes as the 237 black sharecroppers killed in Arkansas in 1919 or dozens of Chinese railroad laborers lynched could halt it.</p>
<p>Recalling an oft-suppressed history is not “bashing” the United States. Without history we have no orientation. Without history we have no basis by which to evaluate our decisions, to question the sort of glib lies that got us into Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria. “He who knows only his own generation remains always a child” ( <a href="" type="internal">George Norlin</a>). The purpose of suppressing history is always to impose the will of the powerful on those they rule. Yet the world’s “pirates”, as <a href="https://www.bfi.org/publications/book/operating-manual-spaceship-earth" type="external">Buckminster Fuller</a> dubbed them, can never do it alone. They require the collaboration of the many.</p>
<p>It is not difficult. Keep the people happy with a modest share of the wealth and the illusions of comfort and security. Keep ‘em stupid with a steady diet of puerile entertainment. If they get restive, distract them by hysterically denouncing a convenient bogeyman who requires the exorcism of military intervention. And always war as a last resort to keep the folk in line…endless war.</p>
<p>Most people do not actively support this system, though some do of course. But most of us focus on work that keep the wheels turning and, in many cases, provide vital services to the community and the underserved. &#160;Many live with a belief in humane values. But so often those same people’s political lives are disassociated from the ideals of their work and family lives.</p>
<p>When the middle class is secure it adopts a more tolerant, liberal tilt. However, when threatened by economic downturn and social volatility, “the center cannot hold”. As middle class expectations decline and sink towards the lower depths, it must choose: 1) join those below, in more dire circumstances, in challenging the system or 2) make any compromise to preserve their relative levels of privilege and comfort.</p>
<p>At such times how nice it would be if we gathered together to examine the root causes of our problems, soliciting input from all stakeholders rather than just shareholders. The poor would air their grievances and insist on recasting their role in society. The wealthy would acknowledge that their success rests on society-wide cooperation, labor, laws, and ideas and embrace their duty to reinvest in the commonwealth. And the middle class would support the effort from both ends as a mediating and unifying force.</p>
<p>Alas, the tendency is to be swayed by the naked wants of our single-celled forebears, of fish in the sea and reptiles sunning in the slime. It is our tragic destiny as humans to imagine and devise intricate technologies, glorious art, profound emotion, and loftiy ideals while never abandoning the ruthless, paranoid, violent demands of animate ectoplasm that pulses at our living core.</p>
<p>And so we come to our current government, the most appalling, grotesque, ignorant, self-aggrandizing, clueless group of bozos ever to grace our political stage. We can identify the factors that led us to President Tweetie Trump and Psycho-in-Chief Bannon, Conway and Coulter, Sean Spicer and Steven Miller. And indeed, it is important to do so.</p>
<p>But that alone won’t reverse this unnatural order of things. Nor will bemoaning how our national government has turned into a sequel to Beavis and Butthead. Nor, frankly, will we revive the pipe-dream that the American system can be renewed by a return to good old-fashioned organizing and championing of worker’s rights, though that too is important. But this system is too big, shaky, corrupt, entangled, and irrational to fail without a devastating collapse. We’re running out of time and options and I see no satisfaction in bringing it all down on the heads of those vast numbers who will suffer first, foremost, and “with extreme prejudice”.</p>
<p>It is no longer Democrat versus Republican or even left versus right. We have been hijacked, people, by the totalitarian instinct and the choice of which way we’re headed lies within each of us. That is where the battle is waged.</p>
<p>Forget about just dumping Trump and being left with Pence, Ryan, and the Koch brothers. Forget about looking for some white-horse/dark-horse Democrat to ride out of the political hills to restore sanity. No, it’s time to shift the responsibility for change where it belongs in a democracy: to ourselves.</p>
<p>Every small gesture helps. Keep talking. Challenge them at every turn. Use powerful allies opportunistically. Whoever opposes the immigraton ban or hammers away at Trump’s ties with Russia, whatever their agendas, roll with them but never trust them or grant them the initiative. Keep asserting our best values and clamoring that they be upheld. Create ideas for resistance and empowerment and cast them wide upon the social media and do so again till the seeds take root.</p>
<p>The Internet, so valuable in linking people and protests, is vulnerable to Chinese-style government restrictions. What if such cyber-censorship happens here? Anonymous and other activist hackers should already be developing ways to counter-act government censorship. Those millions of us at the women’s marches on January 21st might soon find ourselves protesting in the shadow of massed armored police and soldiers awaiting the command to launch tear gas cannisters, swing clubs, shoot rubber bullets, set off provocations, and even, with this regime, to shoot to kill. The next Dakota Pipeline standoff could well be in a state whose laws equate protesters with terrorists (who have no legal rights) or that views the murder of protesters as lawful and justified. Such bills are even now being submitted in state legislatures across the land of the free.</p>
<p>When ideas circulate and are shared and grow in an open source environment, they gather strength. And from such ideas emerge tactics and strategies to protect our rights as guaranteed under the Constitution. Constitution? They don’t need no “stinking” Constitution, to paraphrase a famous movie line. But we do. How far will we go to defend it, and ourselves?</p> | true | 4 | specter haunting united states specter marshal army ghosts previous incarnations nazi germany 1930s japan mussolinis italy stalins ussr francos spain rumanias iron guard todays greek golden dawn 20th century totalitarian express ripped countless slaughters one holocaust return trip ask stops stops us important assess causes descent totalitarian rule blame individuals like hitler mussolini stalin point collective trauma experienced germany world war leadership vacuum europe generation future leaders obliterated wars grinding battles great depressions erosion faith capitalism uneasy partner democracy historical explanations provide causal logical reasons madness war gulags death camps endless bombing campaigns massacres mattrer compelling causes still require raw emotional moral shift inside millions people nightmares become reality totalitarian specter seems await proper sequence commands deadly algorithm bring life call inner fascist infantile whining naked lump animated protein willing sacrifice everythingdignity justice love tolerance restraintfor soothing assurance saved kept warm secure fed secret enforcer turns neighbors informants ready denounce lifelong friends 100plus nations employ torture never lack army officers prison guards doctors judges politicians clerks perform hideous procedures middle class many nations side repressive deathsquaddriven regimes order protect shaky place sun however bloody sky sunset united states different citizens history rife massacres domestic native americans slaves labor strikers foreign mexico 18461848 philippines 18991902 korea vietnam 20th century across latin america black ops perpetrated countless murders overseas 21st century weve joined company nations openly embrace torture 1984s vision endless war lynchings decades part everyday life even grotesque extremes 237 black sharecroppers killed arkansas 1919 dozens chinese railroad laborers lynched could halt recalling oftsuppressed history bashing united states without history orientation without history basis evaluate decisions question sort glib lies got us vietnam afghanistan iraq syria knows generation remains always child george norlin purpose suppressing history always impose powerful rule yet worlds pirates buckminster fuller dubbed never alone require collaboration many difficult keep people happy modest share wealth illusions comfort security keep em stupid steady diet puerile entertainment get restive distract hysterically denouncing convenient bogeyman requires exorcism military intervention always war last resort keep folk lineendless war people actively support system though course us focus work keep wheels turning many cases provide vital services community underserved 160many live belief humane values often peoples political lives disassociated ideals work family lives middle class secure adopts tolerant liberal tilt however threatened economic downturn social volatility center hold middle class expectations decline sink towards lower depths must choose 1 join dire circumstances challenging system 2 make compromise preserve relative levels privilege comfort times nice would gathered together examine root causes problems soliciting input stakeholders rather shareholders poor would air grievances insist recasting role society wealthy would acknowledge success rests societywide cooperation labor laws ideas embrace duty reinvest commonwealth middle class would support effort ends mediating unifying force alas tendency swayed naked wants singlecelled forebears fish sea reptiles sunning slime tragic destiny humans imagine devise intricate technologies glorious art profound emotion loftiy ideals never abandoning ruthless paranoid violent demands animate ectoplasm pulses living core come current government appalling grotesque ignorant selfaggrandizing clueless group bozos ever grace political stage identify factors led us president tweetie trump psychoinchief bannon conway coulter sean spicer steven miller indeed important alone wont reverse unnatural order things bemoaning national government turned sequel beavis butthead frankly revive pipedream american system renewed return good oldfashioned organizing championing workers rights though important system big shaky corrupt entangled irrational fail without devastating collapse running time options see satisfaction bringing heads vast numbers suffer first foremost extreme prejudice longer democrat versus republican even left versus right hijacked people totalitarian instinct choice way headed lies within us battle waged forget dumping trump left pence ryan koch brothers forget looking whitehorsedarkhorse democrat ride political hills restore sanity time shift responsibility change belongs democracy every small gesture helps keep talking challenge every turn use powerful allies opportunistically whoever opposes immigraton ban hammers away trumps ties russia whatever agendas roll never trust grant initiative keep asserting best values clamoring upheld create ideas resistance empowerment cast wide upon social media till seeds take root internet valuable linking people protests vulnerable chinesestyle government restrictions cybercensorship happens anonymous activist hackers already developing ways counteract government censorship millions us womens marches january 21st might soon find protesting shadow massed armored police soldiers awaiting command launch tear gas cannisters swing clubs shoot rubber bullets set provocations even regime shoot kill next dakota pipeline standoff could well state whose laws equate protesters terrorists legal rights views murder protesters lawful justified bills even submitted state legislatures across land free ideas circulate shared grow open source environment gather strength ideas emerge tactics strategies protect rights guaranteed constitution constitution dont need stinking constitution paraphrase famous movie line far go defend | 771 |
<p>Leftists used to think that at least as a general axiom, if not by a precise deadline, capitalism was doomed. When I first arrived in the United States in the early 1970s, there was enough exuberance in the air even for mild-mannered reformers to be pushing plans for the abolition of the Federal Reserve, World Bank and kindred institutions.</p>
<p>But today most of these same leftists deem capitalism invincible and fearfully lob copious documentation at each other detailing the efficient devilry of the executives of the system. The internet serves to amplify this pervasive funk into a catastrophist mindset. It imbues most of the English-speaking left west of the Atlantic after seven years of Bush and Cheney, and frames Naomi Klein’s “ <a href="" type="internal">The Shock Doctrine, The Rise of Disaster Capitalism.</a>”</p>
<p>At the outset Klein permits herself a robust trumpet blast as intrepid pioneer:</p>
<p>“This book is a challenge to the central and most cherished claim in the official story — that the triumph of deregulated capitalism has been born of freedom, that unfettered free markets go hand in hand with democracy. Instead, I will show that this fundamentalist form of capitalism has consistently been midwifed by the most brutal forms of coercion, inflicted on the collective body politic as well as on countless individual bodies.”</p>
<p>The arc of triumph she is alluding to spans the half century from the Eisenhower administration’s onslaughts on political and economic nationalism in Iran and Guatemala in the early 1950s, to the US attack on Iraq in 2003 and its subsequent occupation. These are not decades where official apologetics have been entirely without challenge until Ms. Klein embarked on her researches. There are shelves worth of books on the ghastly consequences of the covert interventions and massacres organized or connived at by the United States in the name of freedom and the capitalist way. Klein’s own bibliography attests that there has plenty of detailed work on the neoliberal onslaught that gathered strength from the mid-70s on, marching under the intellectual colors of one of her arch villains, the late Milton Friedman, the Chicago School economist.</p>
<p>Where Klein would presumably claim originality is in identifying the taxonomy of this “shock doctrine”, the latest in capitalism’s phases of “creative destruction”, as Schumpeter described the soul of the system. So she describes the shock of a sudden attack, whether the overthrow of Salvador Allende in Chile in 1973 or the bombing of Baghdad in 2003; the shock of torturers using sensory deprivation techniques and crude electrodes to instill fear and acquiescence; Friedman’s economic “shock treatment.” Methodically combined and elaborated, these onslaughts now amount, on Klein’s account, to a new and frightful chapter in the history of capitalist predation.</p>
<p>Klein begins with a chapter on the CIA-sponsored psychic “de-patterning” experiments of that monster, Dr Ewen Cameron of McGill University’s Allan Memorial Institute, and states explicitly that torture, aside from being a tool, is “a metaphor of the shock doctrine’s underlying logic”. To use shock literary tactics to focus attention on the deliberate and sadistic engineering of collective social trauma is certainly no crime. But, as often happens after a shock, one eventually retrieves a sense of proportion, one that is not entirely flattering to the larger pretensions.</p>
<p>Capitalism, after all, as always been a shock doctrine of selfish predation, as one can discover from Hobbes and Locke, Marx and Weber, none of them saluted by Klein. Read the vivid accounts of the Hammonds about the English enclosures of the eighteenth century, when villagers would find nailed to the door of the parish church an announcement their common lands had been privatized. Protesters may not have “depatterned”, but were briskly hanged or relocated to Botany Bay. Klein could have used Karl Polanyi to better effect than as an epigraph. The wrenching conversion of peasant societies to cash economics, private property, the job regime, has always been brutal.</p>
<p>The Chicago Boys laid waste the southern cone of Latin America in the name of unfettered private enterprise, but 125 years earlier a million Irish peasants starved to death while Irish grain was exported onto ships flying the flag of economic liberalism. Klein writes about “the bloody birth of counter-revolution” in the 1960s and 1970s, but any page from the histories of Presidents Jackson, Polk or Roosevelt discloses a bleak and blood-stained continuity with the past. Depatterning? Indian children were taken from their families and punished for every word spoken in their own language, even as African slaves were given Christian names and forbidden to use their own, or to drum. Amid the shock of the Civil War the Republicans deferred by several years the freeing of slaves, while hastening to use crisis to arrange a banking and monetary system to their liking.</p>
<p>Just as there is continuity in capitalist predation, there is continuity in resistance. Here’s where Klein’s catastrophism distorts the picture. Her controlling metaphor for the attack on Iraq is the initial “shock and awe” bombardment, designed to numb Saddam’s forces and the overall civilian population into instant surrender and long-term submission. But “shock and awe” was a bust. It didn’t work. Its value even as a metaphor is useless, except as illustration of what parlor wargamers in Washington DC can hype. Having sensibly decided not to fight or die on an American timetable, many of Iraq’s soldiers regrouped to commence an effective resistance. Iraqi civilians struggle along as best they can under awful conditions and, un-numbed, tell pollsters that they wish the Americans would leave at once.</p>
<p>“Shock therapy” neoliberalism really isn’t most closely associated with Milton Friedman, but rather with Jeffrey Sachs, to whom Klein does certainly give many useful pages, even though Friedman remains the dark star of her story. Sachs first introduced shock therapy in Bolivia in the early 1990s. Then he went into Poland, Russia, etc, with the same shock therapy model. Sachs’ catchy phrase then was that “you can’t leap over an abyss step-by-step,” or words to that effect. This is really where contemporary neoliberalism took shape. And, it wasn’t just Sachs.</p>
<p>It was also other slightly left of center mainstream economists, most notably Summers and Paul Krugman as well. To his credit, Krugman has now recanted; Sachs also, but only partially. It’s true that you can make a case that this all goes back to Friedman. David Harvey’s book, <a href="" type="internal">A History of Neoliberalism</a>, actually traces the origins of neoliberalism to Friedman in Chile. It’s an interesting perspective. But, as the left economist Robert Pollin remarks, to blame Friedman for the whole thing, and not how the entire economics mainstream went along–including the “liberals” like Sachs, Krugman, and Summers–is to let these people off the hook and to misrepresent history.</p>
<p>As Pollin, a brilliant and creative economist who spends much of his time advancing progressive counter-models–both for African nations and for advanced capitalist countries–emphasizes, “it’s important to pummel the Sachs’s of the world on this point, because they are changing, slowly. To get the world to change, their 1980s-1990s views need to be totally discredited. It’s not enough to just say Milton Friedman was an ultra right winger and leave it at that.”</p>
<p>There are huge third world economies that have been ravaged by neoliberalism that haven’t endured “the shock doctrine”, in the torments that phrase, as defined by Klein. India in the early Nineties was not on the receiving end of physical ‘shock and awe’ bombardment. Tortures were not inflicted by electric shock devices or techniques of sensory deprivation. Death squads have not rampaged through the countryside. If Friedman counseled the Congress Party or the BJP this is not recorded by Klein, who only gives India one brief mention. Yet the neoliberal policies advanced by the World Bank and other multilateral agencies and also enthusiastically seized upon by home grown politicians and government officials–many springing from a Keynesian (or further left) tradition–have certainly been sweeping and savage in consequence. Month after month on our CounterPunch site P. Sainath has described the immiseration of half a billion peasants from circumstances that were bad in the first place, along with the suicides of ruined farmers–a total now running well above 100,000. India has no place in Naomi Klein’s model of the “shock doctrine” and “the rise of disaster capitalism”, which suggests that model’s limitations.</p>
<p>Capitalists try to use social and economic dislocation or natural disaster–New Orleans is only the latest instance – to advantage, but so do those they oppress. War has been the mother of many a positive social revolution, as have natural disasters. The incompetence of the Mexican police and emergency forces after the huge earthquake of 1985 prompted a huge popular upheaval. In Latin America there has been shock attacks and shock doctrines for 500 years. Right now, in Latin America, the pendulum is swinging away from the years of darkness, of the death squad and Friedman’s doctrines. Klein’s outrage is admirable. Her specific exposes across six decades of infamy are often excellent, but in her larger ambitions her metaphors betray her. From the anti-capitalist point of view she’s too gloomy by half. A capitalism that thrives best on the abnormal, on disasters, is by definition in decline. As Cassius put it, “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, But in ourselves, that we are underlings”.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | leftists used think least general axiom precise deadline capitalism doomed first arrived united states early 1970s enough exuberance air even mildmannered reformers pushing plans abolition federal reserve world bank kindred institutions today leftists deem capitalism invincible fearfully lob copious documentation detailing efficient devilry executives system internet serves amplify pervasive funk catastrophist mindset imbues englishspeaking left west atlantic seven years bush cheney frames naomi kleins shock doctrine rise disaster capitalism outset klein permits robust trumpet blast intrepid pioneer book challenge central cherished claim official story triumph deregulated capitalism born freedom unfettered free markets go hand hand democracy instead show fundamentalist form capitalism consistently midwifed brutal forms coercion inflicted collective body politic well countless individual bodies arc triumph alluding spans half century eisenhower administrations onslaughts political economic nationalism iran guatemala early 1950s us attack iraq 2003 subsequent occupation decades official apologetics entirely without challenge ms klein embarked researches shelves worth books ghastly consequences covert interventions massacres organized connived united states name freedom capitalist way kleins bibliography attests plenty detailed work neoliberal onslaught gathered strength mid70s marching intellectual colors one arch villains late milton friedman chicago school economist klein would presumably claim originality identifying taxonomy shock doctrine latest capitalisms phases creative destruction schumpeter described soul system describes shock sudden attack whether overthrow salvador allende chile 1973 bombing baghdad 2003 shock torturers using sensory deprivation techniques crude electrodes instill fear acquiescence friedmans economic shock treatment methodically combined elaborated onslaughts amount kleins account new frightful chapter history capitalist predation klein begins chapter ciasponsored psychic depatterning experiments monster dr ewen cameron mcgill universitys allan memorial institute states explicitly torture aside tool metaphor shock doctrines underlying logic use shock literary tactics focus attention deliberate sadistic engineering collective social trauma certainly crime often happens shock one eventually retrieves sense proportion one entirely flattering larger pretensions capitalism always shock doctrine selfish predation one discover hobbes locke marx weber none saluted klein read vivid accounts hammonds english enclosures eighteenth century villagers would find nailed door parish church announcement common lands privatized protesters may depatterned briskly hanged relocated botany bay klein could used karl polanyi better effect epigraph wrenching conversion peasant societies cash economics private property job regime always brutal chicago boys laid waste southern cone latin america name unfettered private enterprise 125 years earlier million irish peasants starved death irish grain exported onto ships flying flag economic liberalism klein writes bloody birth counterrevolution 1960s 1970s page histories presidents jackson polk roosevelt discloses bleak bloodstained continuity past depatterning indian children taken families punished every word spoken language even african slaves given christian names forbidden use drum amid shock civil war republicans deferred several years freeing slaves hastening use crisis arrange banking monetary system liking continuity capitalist predation continuity resistance heres kleins catastrophism distorts picture controlling metaphor attack iraq initial shock awe bombardment designed numb saddams forces overall civilian population instant surrender longterm submission shock awe bust didnt work value even metaphor useless except illustration parlor wargamers washington dc hype sensibly decided fight die american timetable many iraqs soldiers regrouped commence effective resistance iraqi civilians struggle along best awful conditions unnumbed tell pollsters wish americans would leave shock therapy neoliberalism really isnt closely associated milton friedman rather jeffrey sachs klein certainly give many useful pages even though friedman remains dark star story sachs first introduced shock therapy bolivia early 1990s went poland russia etc shock therapy model sachs catchy phrase cant leap abyss stepbystep words effect really contemporary neoliberalism took shape wasnt sachs also slightly left center mainstream economists notably summers paul krugman well credit krugman recanted sachs also partially true make case goes back friedman david harveys book history neoliberalism actually traces origins neoliberalism friedman chile interesting perspective left economist robert pollin remarks blame friedman whole thing entire economics mainstream went alongincluding liberals like sachs krugman summersis let people hook misrepresent history pollin brilliant creative economist spends much time advancing progressive countermodelsboth african nations advanced capitalist countriesemphasizes important pummel sachss world point changing slowly get world change 1980s1990s views need totally discredited enough say milton friedman ultra right winger leave huge third world economies ravaged neoliberalism havent endured shock doctrine torments phrase defined klein india early nineties receiving end physical shock awe bombardment tortures inflicted electric shock devices techniques sensory deprivation death squads rampaged countryside friedman counseled congress party bjp recorded klein gives india one brief mention yet neoliberal policies advanced world bank multilateral agencies also enthusiastically seized upon home grown politicians government officialsmany springing keynesian left traditionhave certainly sweeping savage consequence month month counterpunch site p sainath described immiseration half billion peasants circumstances bad first place along suicides ruined farmersa total running well 100000 india place naomi kleins model shock doctrine rise disaster capitalism suggests models limitations capitalists try use social economic dislocation natural disasternew orleans latest instance advantage oppress war mother many positive social revolution natural disasters incompetence mexican police emergency forces huge earthquake 1985 prompted huge popular upheaval latin america shock attacks shock doctrines 500 years right latin america pendulum swinging away years darkness death squad friedmans doctrines kleins outrage admirable specific exposes across six decades infamy often excellent larger ambitions metaphors betray anticapitalist point view shes gloomy half capitalism thrives best abnormal disasters definition decline cassius put fault dear brutus stars underlings 160 | 866 |
<p>President Obama and Speaker John Boehner at their June "golf summit."Charles Dharapak/AP Photo</p>
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<p>Sometime in the ’50s, the story goes, a small plane ran into engine trouble over Bethesda, Maryland, and was forced to crash-land near the 18th hole of a bucolic golf club. Employees rushed to the scene, and—upon discovering that the pilot was a woman—had her “ <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Burning-Tree-Club-History-1922-1962/dp/B000VYLB58" type="external">very gingerly and gallantly</a>” removed from the grounds.</p>
<p>Three decades later, when a visiting head of state showed up at the same golf club with a complement of Secret Service agents, <a href="http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl/1986_419841/elite-golf-club-drives-away-female-head-of-agent-c.html%20" type="external">the lone woman</a> among them couldn’t set foot on the property. In 1981, a new Supreme Court appointee with a love of golf and a <a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/2007-12/politicalrankings_gd2007%20" type="external">12 handicap</a>— <a href="http://www.supremecourt.gov/about/biographies.aspx%20" type="external">Sandra Day O’Connor</a>—became the first justice not to be offered a membership. That same chivalry has since been extended to Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.thegolfspace.com/read/reviews/30-golf-courses/329-burning-tree-club" type="external" />Burning Tree Club’s logo.</p>
<p>Honorary membership at <a href="http://www.thegolfspace.com/read/reviews/30-golf-courses/329-burning-tree-club" type="external">Burning Tree Club</a> is not to be sneezed at, seeing as how the initiation fee is north of $75,000, plus another $6,000 per year and tips for the caddie. Still, not all male Supreme Court justices in recent years have accepted the club’s offer, though Antonin Scalia did. So did <a href="http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1571/is_n41_v10/ai_16167305/" type="external">presidents Franklin Roosevelt</a>, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, and George H.W. Bush. Indeed, according to an encyclopedic 2003 <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/masters/story?id=1534920" type="external">ESPN.com piece by Greg Garber</a>, Ike was persuaded to run for office by fellow club members and subsequently “spent so much time at ‘The Tree’ that a hot line was installed between the White House and the pro shop.”</p>
<p>We were moved to take this detour into archaic Washington folkways because of June’s debt ceiling “golf summit” between <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/12/weekinreview/12golf.html" type="external">President Obama and Speaker John Boehner</a>, which, as some <a href="http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-01-30/news/27738364_1_president-obama-robert-gibbs-chris-wallace" type="external">reporters noted</a>, took place at the <a href="http://www.examiner.com/golf-in-national/congressional-country-club-not-an-option-for-obama-boehner-golf-date%20" type="external">Andrews Air Force Base</a> course because the president couldn’t very well play Boehner’s regular club—Burning Tree.</p>
<p>Deep breath. Okay. It is 2011. Boehner is the speaker of the House. The body that is supposed to, more than any other, represent the people—all the people—of the United States of America.&#160;Yet 91 years after women <a href="http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&amp;doc=63%20%20" type="external">won the right to vote</a> and 40 years after our mothers fought for more than token access to the levers of power, the signal the man second in line for the presidency&#160;intends to send to <a href="https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/us.html%20" type="external">51 percent of the nation</a>, <a href="http://pewresearch.org/pubs/2067/2012-electorate-partisan-affiliations-gop-gains-white-voters%20" type="external">40 percent of Republicans</a>, and his own daughters is…well, we’re too ladylike to say.</p>
<p>And yes, intends: The optics of belonging to one of America’s last 24 boys-only golf clubs have been <a href="http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2010/12/08/boehners-bathroom-equity-is-a-pisser/%20" type="external">brought to Boehner’s</a> attention many, many times before. Evidently, Neanderthal sexism is simply another thing he refuses to compromise on.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.sos.state.oh.us/SOS/about/ohiohonors/March/righttovote.aspx" type="external" /> Photo: <a href="http://www.sos.state.oh.us/SOS/about/ohiohonors/March/righttovote.aspx" type="external">Library of Congress</a>But don’t feel left out, guys: The speaker’s contempt is not confined to those of the female persuasion. From the glass ceiling to the debt ceiling, Boehner and the rest of the GOP brass are not only ignoring the needs of the majority of Americans, they are actively flipping all of us the bird. And that is something new.</p>
<p>Back in the innocent days of yore—say, six months ago—a politician who did not at least lip-synch concern for the welfare of the American people in the event of an economic tailspin would have gotten a drubbing in the press and a talking-to from his caucus leader. Now? It’s the caucus leader himself who brutally spells out the priorities: No. 1, says Senate Minority Leader <a href="http://mcconnell.senate.gov/public/" type="external">Mitch McConnell</a>, is ensuring that Obama is “ <a href="http://nationaljournal.com/member/magazine/top-gop-priority-make-obama-a-one-term-president-20101023%20" type="external">a one-term president</a>.” No. 2 is protecting “ <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZ7Teug7Tq4%20" type="external">your [Republican] brand</a>.” That’s right—the reason to worry about a downturn that could kill millions of jobs and wipe out what’s left of our retirement and housing values is that it might interfere with GOP positioning.</p>
<p>Which takes us back to golf. <a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0508/10314.html%20" type="external">George W. Bush</a> gave up the game after starting the <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/1953376/President-George-W-Bush-quits-golf-in-honour-of-Iraq-dead.html%20" type="external">Iraq War</a>. Boehner’s cohorts seem less worried about looking out of touch: Just in the past two years, the speaker’s <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/lookup2.php?strID=C00305805" type="external">Freedom Project PAC</a> has spent more than $170,000 on golf, $64,000 at the Naples, Florida, Ritz-Carlton alone!</p>
<p>It’s worth noting here that Boehner doesn’t come to this callousness by dint of entitlement— <a href="http://johnboehner.house.gov/Biography/%20%20" type="external">one of 12 siblings</a>, he was the first in his family to go to college—which makes his constant gestures of fealty to elites all the more striking. <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/07/john-boehner-loves-him-some-green-ties/242557/#slide1%20" type="external">His attire the night</a> he told the nation that he was protecting “ <a href="http://articles.cnn.com/2011-07-25/politics/boehner.speech.transcript_1_debt-limit-national-debt-fiscal-trajectory?_s=PM:POLITICS%20" type="external">the jobs and savings of Americans</a>” by setting us on the path to economic calamity? Navy blazer, oxford shirt, kelly-green tie. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Official_Preppy_Handbook" type="external">Preppy Handbook</a>, anyone?</p>
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<p>So, note to President Obama: golf summit, sure. But don’t forget that barring some Americans from the clubhouse stems from the same part of the cortex as barring others from the lunch counter. The foundational impulse for both is that fairness matters less than power.</p>
<p>Boehner may be, as <a href="http://www.abc12.com/story/15061260/deficit-reduction-press-conference-by-the-president%20" type="external">the president has said</a>, “a good man who wants to do right by the country.” But it all depends, as a previous <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4XT-l-_3y0" type="external">president might have noted</a>, on what the definition of “the country” is. In today’s Republican Party, that definition has shrunk to its narrowest point in at least half a century. And that, in the end, is John Boehner’s true handicap.</p>
<p>Want to learn more about the debt ceiling fight? Read <a href="/politics/2011/08/obama-tactics-liberal-anger" type="external">David Corn on the Obama administration’s strategy</a>, review our <a href="/mojo/2011/06/whats-happening-debt-ceiling-explained" type="external">detailed, updated explainer on how we got to this point</a>, and learn why <a href="/kevin-drum/2011/07/why-debt-ceiling-deal-sucks" type="external">Kevin Drum thinks the deal sucks</a>. Still hungry?&#160;Andy Kroll has a great piece on <a href="/politics/2011/08/united-states-of-austerity" type="external">what the deal means for our future</a>.</p>
<p /> | true | 4 | president obama speaker john boehner june golf summitcharles dharapakap photo sometime 50s story goes small plane ran engine trouble bethesda maryland forced crashland near 18th hole bucolic golf club employees rushed scene andupon discovering pilot womanhad gingerly gallantly removed grounds three decades later visiting head state showed golf club complement secret service agents lone woman among couldnt set foot property 1981 new supreme court appointee love golf 12 handicap sandra day oconnorbecame first justice offered membership chivalry since extended ruth bader ginsburg sonia sotomayor burning tree clubs logo honorary membership burning tree club sneezed seeing initiation fee north 75000 plus another 6000 per year tips caddie still male supreme court justices recent years accepted clubs offer though antonin scalia presidents franklin roosevelt eisenhower kennedy johnson nixon ford george hw bush indeed according encyclopedic 2003 espncom piece greg garber ike persuaded run office fellow club members subsequently spent much time tree hot line installed white house pro shop moved take detour archaic washington folkways junes debt ceiling golf summit president obama speaker john boehner reporters noted took place andrews air force base course president couldnt well play boehners regular clubburning tree deep breath okay 2011 boehner speaker house body supposed represent peopleall peopleof united states america160yet 91 years women right vote 40 years mothers fought token access levers power signal man second line presidency160intends send 51 percent nation 40 percent republicans daughters iswell ladylike say yes intends optics belonging one americas last 24 boysonly golf clubs brought boehners attention many many times evidently neanderthal sexism simply another thing refuses compromise photo library congressbut dont feel left guys speakers contempt confined female persuasion glass ceiling debt ceiling boehner rest gop brass ignoring needs majority americans actively flipping us bird something new back innocent days yoresay six months agoa politician least lipsynch concern welfare american people event economic tailspin would gotten drubbing press talkingto caucus leader caucus leader brutally spells priorities 1 says senate minority leader mitch mcconnell ensuring obama oneterm president 2 protecting republican brand thats rightthe reason worry downturn could kill millions jobs wipe whats left retirement housing values might interfere gop positioning takes us back golf george w bush gave game starting iraq war boehners cohorts seem less worried looking touch past two years speakers freedom project pac spent 170000 golf 64000 naples florida ritzcarlton alone worth noting boehner doesnt come callousness dint entitlement one 12 siblings first family go collegewhich makes constant gestures fealty elites striking attire night told nation protecting jobs savings americans setting us path economic calamity navy blazer oxford shirt kellygreen tie preppy handbook anyone note president obama golf summit sure dont forget barring americans clubhouse stems part cortex barring others lunch counter foundational impulse fairness matters less power boehner may president said good man wants right country depends previous president might noted definition country todays republican party definition shrunk narrowest point least half century end john boehners true handicap want learn debt ceiling fight read david corn obama administrations strategy review detailed updated explainer got point learn kevin drum thinks deal sucks still hungry160andy kroll great piece deal means future | 515 |
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<p>Last Tuesday, I was walking down the street with two friends in Gaza City when I got a phone call from my father. His usually calm voice sounded deeply shaken as he told me the news: two airplanes had crashed into the World Trade Center and another into the Pentagon. The TV was reporting that a Palestinian group had claimed responsibility. All of a sudden, the world came to a standstill. In shock and disbelief, we rushed to the nearest television. For hours, we sat in front of CNN and Al-Jazeera. With the rest of the world, we watched in horror as the buildings collapsed and felt an unexplainable combination of fear, disgust, anger, frustration, sadness, and confusion.</p>
<p>Outside, Gaza was eerily quiet. In one of the most densely populated places on earth, you could hear a pin drop. For two to three days, Palestinians were glued to their television sets – except in Jenin and Jericho where they were under attack by Israeli forces. The only thing that anyone talked about was the attack in the United States: the possible perpetrators, the numerous causes, and the likely effects. Most of all, people expressed an overwhelming sadness and a deep sense of pain. They were outraged and angry about the attacks on American civilians. They said that these attacks were horrible and should never have happened.</p>
<p>Immediately after the attacks, the press began to claim that the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) or the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) had carried out the attacks. The absurdity of such claims seemed to escape the commentators. But Palestinians knew better: these groups are so small and disorganized that they could not possibly have carried out such a large-scale operation. Besides, all of their efforts are directed towards resisting Israeli military aggression and challenging the ongoing colonization of Palestine and the racist oppression of Palestinians by Israel.</p>
<p>Soon reports claimed that Palestinians were celebrating in the streets and handing out candy to children. A single clip of a few people claiming victory in the streets of Nablus has been repeatedly broadcast on American and European television for the last week. I can assure you that this was a rare and isolated incident. There was absolutely no celebration in the Gaza Strip. I called friends throughout the West Bank to find out from them what was happening in their cities. They said that there had been one or two random shots fired into the air, but that the atmosphere was one of horror and sorrow rather than celebration.</p>
<p>These attacks are not something that Palestinians can celebrate. On the contrary, most Palestinians had a powerful and spontaneous reaction of disgust at the bombings and empathy with the people who suffered from the attacks. They know exactly what it feels like to be a civilian population under attack. For the last 34 years, the Palestinians have been living under a brutal Israeli military occupation that uses terror to control the occupied population. For the last year, the Israeli military has escalated the amount of violence it uses against the Palestinian people: fighter planes, helicopter gunships, tanks, and heavy assault weapons are regularly used against the civilian population of Palestine. These attacks are rarely called terrorism because they are carried out by the Israeli government rather than by a secretive and mysterious organization. But they are intended to terrorize the population and to instill a sense of fear that will suffocate the will to resist Israeli oppression. The Palestinians recognized the attacks on American civilians as a form of terrorism no different than that used against them by the Israeli military. They know very well the fear that Americans are experiencing right now and they feel a great deal of empathy with the American pain. On Friday night in Jerusalem, Palestinians held a candlelight vigil in memory of the victims of the attack in the United States. Although the vigil received no press coverage, CNN and BBC continue to broadcast the clip of Palestinians celebrating the attacks. But the empathy is real – the Palestinians feel a connection right now with the American people that they want to express.</p>
<p>There is another reason that Palestinians cannot celebrate: they are running for their lives. Palestine has been under siege for the last week – and the world does not know about it because all of the media attention has been on the United States. Israeli officials have openly stated that this is a ‘golden opportunity’ for Israel to annihilate the Palestinian resistance. That is the word that is most often repeated by Israeli government officials: opportunity. Now that the world has turned its attention to the United States and Afghanistan, Israeli military officials feel that they have a ‘freer hand’ to do as they please in the occupied Palestinian territories. And they have definitely not wasted the opportunity. Israeli forces have besieged almost every Palestinian city over the last week. On Tuesday, the very same day as the attack on the United States, 15 Israeli tanks, along with attack helicopters and ground troops, rolled into the Palestinian city of Jenin. Its been nearly a week and they are still there. On Wednesday, 22 tanks with ground and air support besieged Jericho. Nablus remains surrounded and under fire. On Saturday, Israeli tanks, helicopters, and boats launched missiles on Nuseirat, Gaza City, Beit Hanoun, Rafah, and the beach – all in the Gaza Strip. On Saturday night, tanks pounded Beit Sahour, killing an ambulance driver. Ramallah has been invaded on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights – with the siege expected to continue. As of 4:00 pm on September 17, 26 Palestinians have been killed by occupation forces since the attacks in the United States. The siege shows no sign of letting up as long as the attention of the world is directed elsewhere.</p>
<p>The current escalation of the siege against the Palestinians has two primary aims. First of all, it is an attempt to crush the Palestinian resistance and instill fear in the Palestinian people. On Saturday night, helicopters and tanks shelled every Palestinian police and security building in the southwest part of Ramallah. The Israeli military is attempting to finally and brutally smash the centers of Palestinian resistance. But the buildings that belonged to the security forces made up roughly 5% of all the buildings that the Israelis shelled that night. The other 95% were civilian homes, stores and offices. These attacks were clearly meant to create terror among the Palestinian people and to destroy their will to resist.</p>
<p>But there is another, more appalling reason behind the Israeli assault this week. Sharon and his cabinet are once again attempting to provoke the Palestinians to respond with violence. By backing the Palestinians into a corner and assaulting them from all sides, Sharon is hoping that someone will lash out with a vicious bombing in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem. It is sick to think that Sharon would want such a thing to happen to his own people, but it is not a new policy. For years, the Israeli military has used assassinations and assaults on civilians to provoke a violent Palestinian reaction. This policy has been pushed to new limits during the current Intifada. In fact, the Intifada began as a response to a very purposeful provocation by Sharon when he along with 200 soldiers and a team of journalists entered the Haram al-Sharif, asserting Israeli sovereignty over an extremely important and sensitive Islamic holy site in Jerusalem. It now appears that Sharon is currently pushing for an immense reaction from Palestinians. Such an attack would provide the Israeli government with the perfect symbol to condemn Palestinians as terrorists, no different than the group that carried out the attacks in the United States.</p>
<p>For the last week, Israeli officials have been doing everything possible to brand the Palestinians as terrorists in the eyes of the world. Sharon and other officials have repeatedly referred to Arafat as ‘another Bin Laden.’ The public relations firms hired by Israel have circulated the images of Palestinians celebrating in Nablus after the initial reports of an attack on the Pentagon. Palestinian groups were even accused of committing the attacks. Last week, the French Ambassador to Israel declared that terror attacks on Israel must be condemned, but that there is a difference between those attacks and the attacks in the US. The Zionist press and establishment immediately branded the Ambassador as an ‘anti-Semite’ in order to de-legitimize and silence him. All of this must be seen in the context of a heated phone conversation between President Bush and Prime Minister Sharon on Friday. Sharon demanded that the Palestinian Authority and Syria be officially and publicly excluded from the American-led coalition to fight terrorism. He stated that these two governments support and harbor terrorists. Instead of being encouraged to join the coalition, he said, they should be branded as enemies and destroyed by the coalition. But Bush faces a dilemma: he desperately wants the Arab states to join his coalition, but they have agreed to do so only if the coalition focuses on Bin Laden and not on the Palestinians. Israel, on the other hand, wants to include the Palestinian Authority, along with Syria and Iraq, on the list of states that sponsor and harbor terrorism. A terror attack by a Palestinian faction right now would effectively seal the link. It would provide Israel with exactly the opportunity it is looking for to argue before the world that the Palestinian Authority is a terrorist state. The Palestinian resistance would be deemed terrorists by the world and could be openly crushed by the Israelis, with the assistance of the US-led coalition. That is exactly what Sharon is pushing for right now with his assault on the West Bank and Gaza. He is attempting once again to provoke a response from Palestinians – a response that will give him an opportunity to convince the world to help him crush the Palestinians once and for all.</p>
<p>Over the last two weeks, the Palestinian/Israeli conflict has become a symbol in the construction of two major global struggles. Last Tuesday, Palestinian groups were fingered from the very start as responsible for the terror attacks in the United States. Ever since that time, the Israeli government and the Zionist media have not stopped in their efforts to condemn Palestinian resistance as inherently terrorist. They want the Palestinian/Israeli conflict to become a central symbol in the developing global struggle against terrorism. By branding Palestinians as terrorists, the Israelis are attempting to align themselves with the forces of moral authority in the ‘war between civilization and terror.’ Israel is doing everything in its power to convince the US to declare the Palestinian Authority – and along with it the Palestinian people – to be an enemy. They are waging a powerful campaign to associate Arafat with Bin Laden and the ‘forces of terror’ in the world. If they manage to do so, and to isolate the Palestinians as terrorists, Israel will have global support for its efforts to annihilate the Palestinian resistance.</p>
<p>On the other hand, one week before the attacks on the US, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict stood out as a key symbol in the global struggle against racism and apartheid. The NGO forum at the World Conference Against Racism made great strides in demonstrating to the world the fact that Israel is a colonial, apartheid state. Over three hundred NGOs from around the world released a strong declaration that highlighted the racist nature of the Israeli state. They declared:</p>
<p>“…the Palestinian people are one such people currently enduring a colonialist, discriminatory military occupation that violates their fundamental human right of self-determination…”</p>
<p>“…we declare and call for an immediate end to the Israeli systematic perpetration of racist crimes including war crimes, acts of genocide and ethnic cleansing (as defined in the Statute of the International Criminal Court), including uprooting by military attack, and the imposition of any and all restrictions and measures on the population to make life so difficult that the only option is to leave the area, and state terrorism against the Palestinian people, recognizing that all of these methods are designed to ensure the continuation of an exclusively Jewish state with a Jewish majority and the expansion of its borders to gain more land, driving out the indigenous Palestinian population.”</p>
<p>“We declare that this alien domination and subjugation with the denial of territorial integrity amounts to colonialism, which denies the fundamental rights of self-determination, independence and freedom of Palestinians.”</p>
<p>“We declare Israel as a racist, apartheid state in which Israel’s brand of apartheid as a crime against humanity has been characterized by separation and segregation, dispossession, restricted land access, denationalization, “bantustanization” and inhumane acts.”</p>
<p>“Appalled by the inhumane acts perpetrated in the maintenance of this new form of apartheid regime through the Israeli state war on civilians including military attacks, torture, arbitrary arrests and detention, the imposition of severe restrictions on movement (curfews, imprisonment and besiegement of towns and villages), and systematic collective punishment, including economic strangulation and deliberate impoverishment, denial of the right to food and water, the right to an adequate standard of living, the right to housing, the right to education and the right to work.”</p>
<p>The NGO forum turned the Palestinian/Israeli conflict into a powerful symbol in the growing movement against racism, globalization, and new forms of colonialism. This movement presents a powerful, progressive challenge to the forces of exploitation and oppression centered in the Western capitalist ‘democracies.’ The NGO forum focused world attention on the racist nature of the Israeli state. For a rare moment, the world saw the Palestinians aligned with the forces of progress and justice. But only too briefly. The Israelis have seized the opportunity presented by the attacks in the United States to silence all talk of racism and apartheid. They are attempting to reframe discussion of this conflict in terms of the struggle against terrorism. Those efforts are extraordinarily dangerous, especially considering the current situation in the occupied Palestinian territories and the violence that Israel is using against Palestinians.</p>
<p>The Palestinians are on the brink of what seems like utter destruction at the hands of the Israeli military. The current moment is critical. If Israel is able to frame public discussion of the conflict and to declare the Palestinians terrorists who must be dealt with accordingly, then the future for Palestine is certainly bleak. We must remain focused on demonstrating to the world the racist nature of the Israeli state. We must articulate the Palestinian struggle with the growing movement against racism, colonialism, and global capitalism. The only hope that Palestinians have shown over the last few months has been in response to the NGO forum. The images of 60,000 people in the streets of Durban demonstrating against Israeli apartheid gave strength to millions of Palestinians living under occupation. In the wake of the terrible attacks in the United States, the Palestinians cannot afford to allow Israel to control the public discourse. Palestine can either become a symbol in the struggle against terror or a symbol in the struggle against oppression. Now perhaps more than ever, it is absolutely imperative that the racist, colonial nature of the Israeli state be openly and publicly discussed throughout the United States and Europe. CP</p>
<p>Andrew Clarno, currently a doctoral student at the University of Michigan, has been doing dissertation research in Palestine. He was arrested in Palestine on Aug 11 at a peaceful protest following the Israeli seizure of the Orient House; his case received some attention in the U.S. press because he is a U.S. citizen. Here is a report from him on the effects of last week’s attacks on developments in Palestine, in particular the operations of the Israeli military against Palestinian cities.</p> | true | 4 | 160 last tuesday walking street two friends gaza city got phone call father usually calm voice sounded deeply shaken told news two airplanes crashed world trade center another pentagon tv reporting palestinian group claimed responsibility sudden world came standstill shock disbelief rushed nearest television hours sat front cnn aljazeera rest world watched horror buildings collapsed felt unexplainable combination fear disgust anger frustration sadness confusion outside gaza eerily quiet one densely populated places earth could hear pin drop two three days palestinians glued television sets except jenin jericho attack israeli forces thing anyone talked attack united states possible perpetrators numerous causes likely effects people expressed overwhelming sadness deep sense pain outraged angry attacks american civilians said attacks horrible never happened immediately attacks press began claim democratic front liberation palestine dflp popular front liberation palestine pflp carried attacks absurdity claims seemed escape commentators palestinians knew better groups small disorganized could possibly carried largescale operation besides efforts directed towards resisting israeli military aggression challenging ongoing colonization palestine racist oppression palestinians israel soon reports claimed palestinians celebrating streets handing candy children single clip people claiming victory streets nablus repeatedly broadcast american european television last week assure rare isolated incident absolutely celebration gaza strip called friends throughout west bank find happening cities said one two random shots fired air atmosphere one horror sorrow rather celebration attacks something palestinians celebrate contrary palestinians powerful spontaneous reaction disgust bombings empathy people suffered attacks know exactly feels like civilian population attack last 34 years palestinians living brutal israeli military occupation uses terror control occupied population last year israeli military escalated amount violence uses palestinian people fighter planes helicopter gunships tanks heavy assault weapons regularly used civilian population palestine attacks rarely called terrorism carried israeli government rather secretive mysterious organization intended terrorize population instill sense fear suffocate resist israeli oppression palestinians recognized attacks american civilians form terrorism different used israeli military know well fear americans experiencing right feel great deal empathy american pain friday night jerusalem palestinians held candlelight vigil memory victims attack united states although vigil received press coverage cnn bbc continue broadcast clip palestinians celebrating attacks empathy real palestinians feel connection right american people want express another reason palestinians celebrate running lives palestine siege last week world know media attention united states israeli officials openly stated golden opportunity israel annihilate palestinian resistance word often repeated israeli government officials opportunity world turned attention united states afghanistan israeli military officials feel freer hand please occupied palestinian territories definitely wasted opportunity israeli forces besieged almost every palestinian city last week tuesday day attack united states 15 israeli tanks along attack helicopters ground troops rolled palestinian city jenin nearly week still wednesday 22 tanks ground air support besieged jericho nablus remains surrounded fire saturday israeli tanks helicopters boats launched missiles nuseirat gaza city beit hanoun rafah beach gaza strip saturday night tanks pounded beit sahour killing ambulance driver ramallah invaded friday saturday sunday nights siege expected continue 400 pm september 17 26 palestinians killed occupation forces since attacks united states siege shows sign letting long attention world directed elsewhere current escalation siege palestinians two primary aims first attempt crush palestinian resistance instill fear palestinian people saturday night helicopters tanks shelled every palestinian police security building southwest part ramallah israeli military attempting finally brutally smash centers palestinian resistance buildings belonged security forces made roughly 5 buildings israelis shelled night 95 civilian homes stores offices attacks clearly meant create terror among palestinian people destroy resist another appalling reason behind israeli assault week sharon cabinet attempting provoke palestinians respond violence backing palestinians corner assaulting sides sharon hoping someone lash vicious bombing tel aviv jerusalem sick think sharon would want thing happen people new policy years israeli military used assassinations assaults civilians provoke violent palestinian reaction policy pushed new limits current intifada fact intifada began response purposeful provocation sharon along 200 soldiers team journalists entered haram alsharif asserting israeli sovereignty extremely important sensitive islamic holy site jerusalem appears sharon currently pushing immense reaction palestinians attack would provide israeli government perfect symbol condemn palestinians terrorists different group carried attacks united states last week israeli officials everything possible brand palestinians terrorists eyes world sharon officials repeatedly referred arafat another bin laden public relations firms hired israel circulated images palestinians celebrating nablus initial reports attack pentagon palestinian groups even accused committing attacks last week french ambassador israel declared terror attacks israel must condemned difference attacks attacks us zionist press establishment immediately branded ambassador antisemite order delegitimize silence must seen context heated phone conversation president bush prime minister sharon friday sharon demanded palestinian authority syria officially publicly excluded americanled coalition fight terrorism stated two governments support harbor terrorists instead encouraged join coalition said branded enemies destroyed coalition bush faces dilemma desperately wants arab states join coalition agreed coalition focuses bin laden palestinians israel hand wants include palestinian authority along syria iraq list states sponsor harbor terrorism terror attack palestinian faction right would effectively seal link would provide israel exactly opportunity looking argue world palestinian authority terrorist state palestinian resistance would deemed terrorists world could openly crushed israelis assistance usled coalition exactly sharon pushing right assault west bank gaza attempting provoke response palestinians response give opportunity convince world help crush palestinians last two weeks palestinianisraeli conflict become symbol construction two major global struggles last tuesday palestinian groups fingered start responsible terror attacks united states ever since time israeli government zionist media stopped efforts condemn palestinian resistance inherently terrorist want palestinianisraeli conflict become central symbol developing global struggle terrorism branding palestinians terrorists israelis attempting align forces moral authority war civilization terror israel everything power convince us declare palestinian authority along palestinian people enemy waging powerful campaign associate arafat bin laden forces terror world manage isolate palestinians terrorists israel global support efforts annihilate palestinian resistance hand one week attacks us palestinianisraeli conflict stood key symbol global struggle racism apartheid ngo forum world conference racism made great strides demonstrating world fact israel colonial apartheid state three hundred ngos around world released strong declaration highlighted racist nature israeli state declared palestinian people one people currently enduring colonialist discriminatory military occupation violates fundamental human right selfdetermination declare call immediate end israeli systematic perpetration racist crimes including war crimes acts genocide ethnic cleansing defined statute international criminal court including uprooting military attack imposition restrictions measures population make life difficult option leave area state terrorism palestinian people recognizing methods designed ensure continuation exclusively jewish state jewish majority expansion borders gain land driving indigenous palestinian population declare alien domination subjugation denial territorial integrity amounts colonialism denies fundamental rights selfdetermination independence freedom palestinians declare israel racist apartheid state israels brand apartheid crime humanity characterized separation segregation dispossession restricted land access denationalization bantustanization inhumane acts appalled inhumane acts perpetrated maintenance new form apartheid regime israeli state war civilians including military attacks torture arbitrary arrests detention imposition severe restrictions movement curfews imprisonment besiegement towns villages systematic collective punishment including economic strangulation deliberate impoverishment denial right food water right adequate standard living right housing right education right work ngo forum turned palestinianisraeli conflict powerful symbol growing movement racism globalization new forms colonialism movement presents powerful progressive challenge forces exploitation oppression centered western capitalist democracies ngo forum focused world attention racist nature israeli state rare moment world saw palestinians aligned forces progress justice briefly israelis seized opportunity presented attacks united states silence talk racism apartheid attempting reframe discussion conflict terms struggle terrorism efforts extraordinarily dangerous especially considering current situation occupied palestinian territories violence israel using palestinians palestinians brink seems like utter destruction hands israeli military current moment critical israel able frame public discussion conflict declare palestinians terrorists must dealt accordingly future palestine certainly bleak must remain focused demonstrating world racist nature israeli state must articulate palestinian struggle growing movement racism colonialism global capitalism hope palestinians shown last months response ngo forum images 60000 people streets durban demonstrating israeli apartheid gave strength millions palestinians living occupation wake terrible attacks united states palestinians afford allow israel control public discourse palestine either become symbol struggle terror symbol struggle oppression perhaps ever absolutely imperative racist colonial nature israeli state openly publicly discussed throughout united states europe cp andrew clarno currently doctoral student university michigan dissertation research palestine arrested palestine aug 11 peaceful protest following israeli seizure orient house case received attention us press us citizen report effects last weeks attacks developments palestine particular operations israeli military palestinian cities | 1,380 |
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<p>Madawi Al-Rasheed is Visiting Professor at the Middle East Centre at The London School of Economics and Political Science. She is originally from Saudi Arabia and currently lives in London. Her research focuses on history, society, religion and politics in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf. Her recent publications include A History of Saudi Arabia and A Most Masculine State .</p>
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<p /> PAUL JAY, SENIOR EDITOR, TRNN: Welcome to the Real News Network. I'm Paul Jay.
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<p />In Yemen, Houthi rebels and their allies in Yemen have stormed the presidential palace in Aden, following heavy clashes, officials say. The rebels pushed through to the heart of the port city using tanks and armored vehicles, despite air strikes by a Saudi-led coalition. According to AFP, at least 44 people have been killed, including 18 civilians.
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<p />Now joining us from London is Madawi al-Rasheed. Madawi is a visiting professor at the Middle East Center at the London School of Economics and Political Science. She's also an OSI foundation fellow.
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<p />Thanks for joining us, Madawi.
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<p />MADAWI AL-RASHEED, PROF. MIDDLE EAST CENTER, LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS: Thank you for having me.
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<p />JAY: What is at stake here? In a broad way for the Saudis, and in particular what does the storming of the palace mean in terms of the potential actual ground incursion by this Saudi-led alliance?
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<p />AL-RASHEED: Well, this is a conflict that is brewing for a long time, and I think Yemen is now the battlefield. The conflict is between Saudi Arabia on one side and Iran on the other side. The two countries had maintained a serious, tense, and hostile relationship with accusations and further accusations that they are supporting enemies of the other country.
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<p />And in Yemen we see that a situation developed where a northern community known as the Houthis, and they are Shias , they are in collaboration with the deposed President of Yemen, Ali Abdullah Saleh, who controls quite a lot of the army units. They cooperated and went further down to Sana'a and expelled the elected President of Yemen, Abd Rabbah Mansur Hadi, and continued their march to the South, to Aden. And we saw today that they have stormed the presidential palace in Aden despite seven days of constant bombardment by Saudi Arabia.
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<p />In fact, this Yemeni conflict seems to me as a local conflict between multiple actors. The Houthis are one. The ex- or deposed President Ali Abdullah Saleh and the new president, who has fled to Saudi Arabia. Plus there are other forces in southern Yemen, and they are all trying to figure out how to rule their country. But they have resorted to arms, and now there is a rebellion going on that Saudi Arabia decided that is a threat to its national interest.
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<p />Saudi Arabia interfered in Yemen since the 1930s. And one of the major conflicts that broke out in the region was in the 1960s, when Nasser, the president of Egypt, supported the republicans who wanted to overthrow the Zaydis. They were known as the Zaydi Imams. Saudi Arabia, together with the United States, sided with the monarchy, which happened to be Zaydi like the Houthis, who are causing the uprising in Yemen. That conflict lead to deposing the sort of, kind of Imamate, or the monarchy in Yemen, and the members of that ruling clan fled to Saudi Arabia, where they took refuge.
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<p />And now, we come to this type of conflict that is ongoing, and Saudi Arabia accuses Iran that is sponsoring and patronizing the Houthis, which allows them to march to the South. But I think there is a big question mark on how much Iran is sponsoring the Houthis. The Houthis existed in Yemen for a very long time, and they had been trying to share power or gain some kind of power in their area and in central government without any success.
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<p />This is not the first time that the central government of Yemen clashes with the Houthis. Ali Abdullah Saleh, the ex-President of Yemen, who is now siding with the Houthi, bombarded the Houthis at least six times, and there had been wars between the northern part of Yemen where the Houthis are and the central government of Yemen.
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<p />Now, Saudi Arabia enters this volatile context of Yemen, and the problem with Saudi Arabia is it has enormous wealth, and it has a very, very poor country on its southwestern border. Saudi Arabia dealt with Yemen in terms of finding clients. Such as, for example, tribal leaders, or the president himself, Ali Abdullah Saleh. And Saudi Arabia pours money on those people in order for them to remain loyal to Saudi Arabia, and not challenge its authority or cause any problems on its southern borders.
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<p />There has never been serious development projects in Yemen paid for by Saudi Arabia. If Saudi Arabia wants to help Yemen. It has always maintained a patron-client relationship with Yemen. And of course, Yemeni actors are independent agencies, and they want to capitalize on Saudi sponsorship and money, but at the same time, pursue their own interest.
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<p />JAY: Now, what we keep hearing in the western press -- most loudly of course from Netanyahu from Israel, but we hear it from a lot of the American politicians, particularly the neocons -- that Yemen's an example of Iran, quote, gobbling up country after country in the Middle East.
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<p />You kind of started to get at this. But is this primarily a domestic movement and a domestic dispute, with a kind of subordinate role played with some Iranian support? Or is this Iran trying to, quote-unquote, gobble up Yemen?
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<p />AL-RASHEED: Well, in any kind of foreign intervention you have two sides. You have local actors who are ready, who are probably fighting a local domestic power struggle, and then you have a [whole cash] regional power like both Saudi Arabia and Iraq, who try to patronize these kind of actors in their struggle against their fellow citizens or competitors, or rivals in their own country.
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<p />So it is not possible for a foreign country just simply to walk in and create puppets. There had to be a kind of local constituency ready for that. And because Yemen is poor and the stakes are very high in that country, Saudi Arabia itself had sponsored some Yemeni actors and Iran had sponsored some Yemeni actors. So the regional rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran is fought today in Yemen.
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<p />Now, to what extent Iran is sponsoring and pushing the Houthis, that's a matter of degree, I think. Yes, there is great support, but we don't know how great it is until the fog of war clears, and we know exactly who was sponsoring who and who was giving what to these local actors.
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<p />However, what is important is the more interventions from both Iran and Saudi Arabia take place in Yemen, the less likely that those actors will come to the negotiation table. As long as there are arms, and as long as they want to resolve their differences by military action, now compounded by the Saudi intervention and the air strikes on Yemen, it is becoming very, very difficult to see the end of this conflict.
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<p />JAY: So for the Saudis this is about having a pro-Saudi regime on their southern flank.
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<p />AL-RASHEED: Yeah. Well, there are multiple reasons why Saudi Arabia decided at this particular moment in time to intervene militarily in Yemen.
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<p />First, there is this kind of Saudi reputation in the Arab and Muslim world. Saudi Arabia had been sitting, watching the erosion of its hegemony and influence in multiple countries. Lebanon, Syria, Iraq. They tried very hard to depose Bashar al-Assad, for example, by sponsoring rebels. But at the same time, they have not got their result they wanted. In Lebanon, they've been kicked out from Lebanon by Hezbollah, who is a Shiite militia also patronized by Iran. They have not achieved great success in the Arab world apart from toppling the elected Egyptian president Morsi, and making his successor, the Sisi government, stronger by keeping the aid flowing from Saudi Arabia to Egypt.
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<p />So the reputation of Saudi Arabia is at stake at the moment. And they needed this war to prove to the Arabs and to the Muslim world that they can defend the so-called Sunni Muslims. And this is a long dream of Saudi Arabia, that it wants to be seen as the leader of the Sunni world, and maybe there is someone in Riyadh who thinks that by launching this war on the poorest Arab country, Saudi Arabia could score a victory and could actually claim to be the undisputed leader of the Muslim world.
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<p />So that's the Arab regional side.
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<p />JAY: And the Saudis, the Saudis are now the second and sometimes first largest importer of arms in the world. It's something like $90 billion of arms purchased over the last four years.
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<p />AL-RASHEED: Yes. There is an increasing militarization in the Arabian Peninsula as a whole. And I mean here Saudi Arabia and the other GCC countries. The Gulf Cooperation Council countries. These countries spend a huge amount, or proportion, of their GDP on weapons. And there is always the excuse that these weapons are to protect them against the Iranian danger, or the Iranian threat or expansion.
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<p />But at the same time, they feel that they need to use these weapons. And we have seen since the Arab uprising in 2011, there had been a pushing for military intervention in different parts of the Arab world. For example in Lybia, in Syria, in Iraq, and now in Yemen. Saudi Arabia also, let's not forget, moved its troops to Bahrain in 2011 to obviously push the democracy movement in that country.
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<p />So there is a hyper sort of military appetite for foreign interventions. And finally I must say that there is also a domestic scene. Saudis themselves are watching how Saudi Arabia hasn't been able to remove Bashar al-Assad, because it claimed that this is the objective of its sponsorship of the various Syrian rebels. Some of them are quite unsavory. But this continued support for the Syrian uprising -- which is actually unlike the Saudi position in Egypt when it supported the counterrevolutionary forces -- the inability to score a victory and remove Bashar, the expansion of Iran in Iraq, and in Syria in addition to Lebanon, had made Saudi publics weary of their leadership.
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<p />JAY: Okay. Madawi, in our next series of interviews -- we're going to do a few today -- we're going to talk about the domestic situation in Saudi Arabia, and the nature of the political struggle. So please join us for part two of our series of interviews with Madawi al-Rasheed on the Real News Network.
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<p />DISCLAIMER: Please note that transcripts for The Real News Network are typed from a recording of the program. TRNN cannot guarantee their complete accuracy. | true | 4 | madawi alrasheed visiting professor middle east centre london school economics political science originally saudi arabia currently lives london research focuses history society religion politics saudi arabia gulf recent publications include history saudi arabia masculine state paul jay senior editor trnn welcome real news network im paul jay yemen houthi rebels allies yemen stormed presidential palace aden following heavy clashes officials say rebels pushed heart port city using tanks armored vehicles despite air strikes saudiled coalition according afp least 44 people killed including 18 civilians joining us london madawi alrasheed madawi visiting professor middle east center london school economics political science shes also osi foundation fellow thanks joining us madawi madawi alrasheed prof middle east center london school economics thank jay stake broad way saudis particular storming palace mean terms potential actual ground incursion saudiled alliance alrasheed well conflict brewing long time think yemen battlefield conflict saudi arabia one side iran side two countries maintained serious tense hostile relationship accusations accusations supporting enemies country yemen see situation developed northern community known houthis shias collaboration deposed president yemen ali abdullah saleh controls quite lot army units cooperated went sanaa expelled elected president yemen abd rabbah mansur hadi continued march south aden saw today stormed presidential palace aden despite seven days constant bombardment saudi arabia fact yemeni conflict seems local conflict multiple actors houthis one ex deposed president ali abdullah saleh new president fled saudi arabia plus forces southern yemen trying figure rule country resorted arms rebellion going saudi arabia decided threat national interest saudi arabia interfered yemen since 1930s one major conflicts broke region 1960s nasser president egypt supported republicans wanted overthrow zaydis known zaydi imams saudi arabia together united states sided monarchy happened zaydi like houthis causing uprising yemen conflict lead deposing sort kind imamate monarchy yemen members ruling clan fled saudi arabia took refuge come type conflict ongoing saudi arabia accuses iran sponsoring patronizing houthis allows march south think big question mark much iran sponsoring houthis houthis existed yemen long time trying share power gain kind power area central government without success first time central government yemen clashes houthis ali abdullah saleh expresident yemen siding houthi bombarded houthis least six times wars northern part yemen houthis central government yemen saudi arabia enters volatile context yemen problem saudi arabia enormous wealth poor country southwestern border saudi arabia dealt yemen terms finding clients example tribal leaders president ali abdullah saleh saudi arabia pours money people order remain loyal saudi arabia challenge authority cause problems southern borders never serious development projects yemen paid saudi arabia saudi arabia wants help yemen always maintained patronclient relationship yemen course yemeni actors independent agencies want capitalize saudi sponsorship money time pursue interest jay keep hearing western press loudly course netanyahu israel hear lot american politicians particularly neocons yemens example iran quote gobbling country country middle east kind started get primarily domestic movement domestic dispute kind subordinate role played iranian support iran trying quoteunquote gobble yemen alrasheed well kind foreign intervention two sides local actors ready probably fighting local domestic power struggle whole cash regional power like saudi arabia iraq try patronize kind actors struggle fellow citizens competitors rivals country possible foreign country simply walk create puppets kind local constituency ready yemen poor stakes high country saudi arabia sponsored yemeni actors iran sponsored yemeni actors regional rivalry saudi arabia iran fought today yemen extent iran sponsoring pushing houthis thats matter degree think yes great support dont know great fog war clears know exactly sponsoring giving local actors however important interventions iran saudi arabia take place yemen less likely actors come negotiation table long arms long want resolve differences military action compounded saudi intervention air strikes yemen becoming difficult see end conflict jay saudis prosaudi regime southern flank alrasheed yeah well multiple reasons saudi arabia decided particular moment time intervene militarily yemen first kind saudi reputation arab muslim world saudi arabia sitting watching erosion hegemony influence multiple countries lebanon syria iraq tried hard depose bashar alassad example sponsoring rebels time got result wanted lebanon theyve kicked lebanon hezbollah shiite militia also patronized iran achieved great success arab world apart toppling elected egyptian president morsi making successor sisi government stronger keeping aid flowing saudi arabia egypt reputation saudi arabia stake moment needed war prove arabs muslim world defend socalled sunni muslims long dream saudi arabia wants seen leader sunni world maybe someone riyadh thinks launching war poorest arab country saudi arabia could score victory could actually claim undisputed leader muslim world thats arab regional side jay saudis saudis second sometimes first largest importer arms world something like 90 billion arms purchased last four years alrasheed yes increasing militarization arabian peninsula whole mean saudi arabia gcc countries gulf cooperation council countries countries spend huge amount proportion gdp weapons always excuse weapons protect iranian danger iranian threat expansion time feel need use weapons seen since arab uprising 2011 pushing military intervention different parts arab world example lybia syria iraq yemen saudi arabia also lets forget moved troops bahrain 2011 obviously push democracy movement country hyper sort military appetite foreign interventions finally must say also domestic scene saudis watching saudi arabia hasnt able remove bashar alassad claimed objective sponsorship various syrian rebels quite unsavory continued support syrian uprising actually unlike saudi position egypt supported counterrevolutionary forces inability score victory remove bashar expansion iran iraq syria addition lebanon made saudi publics weary leadership jay okay madawi next series interviews going today going talk domestic situation saudi arabia nature political struggle please join us part two series interviews madawi alrasheed real news network end disclaimer please note transcripts real news network typed recording program trnn guarantee complete accuracy | 933 |
<p>As news of appointments to the Trump administration flow in, the hard Right is riding high, and anti-Semitism and Zionism are in the news in ways that purveyors of conventional wisdom have to struggle to make sense of.&#160; The Trump phenomenon has undone conventional understandings of both.</p>
<p>Trump’s thirty-something son-in-law, Jared Kushner, Ivanka’s husband, embodies a lot of what has put those conventional understandings in doubt.&#160;A (modern) orthodox Jew and rabid Zionist, Kushner is not exactly éminence grise material; his is too young and insubstantial to be what Dick Cheney was for George Bush.&#160; Nevertheless, he does seem to be stepping into that role, just as Ivanka seems to be stepping into the role of First Lady.</p>
<p>Those two are peas in a pod – spoiled rich kids, fathered by sleazy real estate moguls whose wealth comes from buying influence and gaming the system.&#160; The difference is that one of them actually did time – for illegal campaign contributions, tax evasion, and witness tampering – while the other ran for President and won.</p>
<p>How appropriate that the Age of Trump is starting out as a reality TV show involving Jared and Ivanka and her lesser siblings — plus, of course, Melania, the aging but still beautiful trophy bride who says she just wants to be alone!&#160; For the time being, she will not go slumming in the White House but will instead care for her little boy, the Donald’s newest brat, in the Trump penthouse in the sky (while traffic and commerce grind to a halt below).</p>
<p>Maybe, before long, the show’s producers will have her dump Trump — for trying to prove that whatever Bill can do to White House interns, he can do better.&#160; Or, better still, they’ll have him exchange Melania for a newer model. &#160;An anxious world will then, once again, be entertained by displays of acrimony such as have not been seen in the Trump world since the tabloid days that first brought him to national attention years ago.</p>
<p>The show goes on forever.&#160; The one sure thing is that it is no more likely to turn into a 1950s sitcom than into a forum where serious political ideas matter.&#160; This is Trumpland, after all; a world of vulgarity and glitz, and of befuddlement and despair, in which candidate’s “debates” area about penis size, not policies.</p>
<p>Graduate students in Cultural Studies Departments must now be salivating:&#160; before long, they will be flooding the market with dissertations with titles like From Ozzie and Harriet to the Adventures of Donald and the Supermodel.</p>
<p>Edward Gibbon, wake up!&#160; The world needs you, or someone like you, to make sense of The Decline and Fall of the American Empire.</p>
<p>In that vein, and in light of the increasingly absurd news oozing out of Trump Tower, it is well to remember that, for the office of Roman consul, the Emperor Caligula wanted to nominate his horse.&#160;&#160; Will Trump top that?&#160;&#160; Stay tuned.&#160; Or ask Kushner.</p>
<p>The contrast between the Trump family and the Nelsons, and, more generally, between now and the fifties, is a good place to start for getting clear on where Trump stands on what German philosophers two centuries ago called “the Jewish Question,” and, accordingly, on the ways that Kushner et. al. are upsetting conventional views of anti-Semitism and of Zionist Jews.</p>
<p>To that end, it is instructive to reflect on the vicissitudes of Jewish identity politics in the United States and other Western countries in the post-World War II era.</p>
<p>Judaism itself, or rather the Judaism of our time and place, has a lot to do with what is now going on.&#160;&#160; But for making sense of what is confounding the guardians of conventional wisdom, Zionist ideology and the long-range trajectory of Israeli politics are more important.&#160; American Judaism has changed a lot in seven decades; Zionism has changed even more.</p>
<p>*&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; *</p>
<p>Back when President Eisenhower commanded&#160; “one nation under God” in its struggle against godless, atheistic Communism, if you were an American, you were a Protestant, a Catholic, or a Jew.</p>
<p>Hardly anyone was anything else.&#160; There were atheists and agnostics, of course, but overt irreligion was not an option; and, thanks to the decimation of native populations and immigration policies that Trump and his minions can only dream of, nearly everyone’s ancestors had either come from Christian lands or had been converted to Christianity many generations ago.</p>
<p>This began to change in the sixties, but it took decades for the presence of Muslims, much less adherents of less familiar Asian faiths, to register in public consciousness.&#160; They were too busy working hard and minding their own business to draw attention to themselves.</p>
<p>But that was then; from the seventies on, Muslims have been high on the nativist hate list.</p>
<p>They are targeted, like other immigrant groups, for being visibly different.&#160; But that is not all.&#160; They suffer too from the malign neglect of establishment politicians and the media that serve them. This has left them especially susceptible to nativist ire as the War on Terror, essentially a war on the historically Muslim world, has unfolded.</p>
<p>Similar problems affect politically marginal non-Muslim immigrant groups too when their places of origin are important to the empire’s designs, and when their governments resist American domination.</p>
<p>For example, when the Clintons and their European counterparts were dismembering Yugoslavia, Serbian, but not Croatian, immigrants were all of a sudden demonized.&#160; The Serbian government was resisting American domination; the Croatian government was not.&#160;&#160; More importantly, Americans of Serbian origin had been quietly living their lives while a coterie of politically active Croats had been busy for years currying favor with the likes of Joe Biden.</p>
<p>It was not always so; staying under the radar used to help immigrants settle in.</p>
<p>This was true even of Muslims. The Muslim and Christian worlds had once been locked in “a clash of civilizations,” but that was ancient history.&#160; From the first days of the republic until well past the Eisenhower era, American nativists didn’t have it in for Muslims, any more than for other non-WASP immigrants, because they didn’t give them any thought.</p>
<p>This was a blessing, but also a curse.&#160; It all but guaranteed that the Muslim story, unlike the stories of many earlier targets of nativist ire, was never woven into public perceptions of “the American experience.”</p>
<p>Muslims suffered for this – in 1973, for example, during the oil crisis brought on by the Yom Kippur War, and then, in the later years of the Carter administration, when Zbigniew Brzezinski took a notion to turning Afghanistan into the Soviet Union’s Vietnam by arming and funding Islamists.</p>
<p>“Radical Islamic terrorism,” as our President-elect calls it, was conjured into being, unintentionally but predictably, by that stroke of diplomatic genius.</p>
<p>For these reasons and more, many Americans don’t quite see how being Muslim can be a way of being American – not, as in the past, because they hardly knew that Muslims existed, but because nowadays they can’t stop thinking about the dangers they think they pose.</p>
<p>Trump exploited these fears, and will likely go on doing so.&#160; Too bad that thinking a lot about something and thinking cogently and in an informed way about it are not the same thing.&#160;&#160; If it were, our soon-to-be National Security Advisor Michael Flynn’s laudatory views of what he calls “normal religions” – the religions of Protestants, Catholics, and Jews – and his derogatory view of Islam would be a lot more widely and justifiably mocked than it currently is.</p>
<p>In ancient Rome, Gibbon wrote, all religions were equally true for the ordinary people, equally false for philosophers, and equally useful for magistrates.&#160; In the fifties and sixties, the United States, like the rest of the developed world, was on the threshold of regaining that wise and humane sensibility.&#160; It may not have looked that way because, under Ike, the “normal religions” were riding high.&#160; But God was already on His deathbed.</p>
<p>Beneath the surface, Protestant, Catholic and Jew were becoming cultural and ethnic categories more than religious ones, while religious passions, and therefore religious conflicts, were becoming obsolete. &#160;In their stead, a kind of tolerance, born of indifference, was on the rise. This benefited Protestants, Catholics, and Jews; and, along with everyone else, Muslims as well.</p>
<p>This is still the long-range trend. &#160;To be sure, the empire’s machinations in the historically Muslim world has encouraged backsliding; and this will only get worse, over the next several years, as some of the vilest Islamophobes in creation take over top military and foreign policy posts, along with the Department of Justice and the agencies that comprise our hypertrophic national security state.</p>
<p>But if we can get past this latest setback, count on the way forward to resume and eventually prevail.</p>
<p>We probably will get past it.&#160; With Trump, awful as he is, we at least have a better chance of avoiding nuclear war than we would have had with Hillary Clinton and her gaggle of neocons, Russophobes, and “humanitarian” interveners calling the shots.&#160; We have a decent chance now of living to fight another day.</p>
<p>Therefore, God has a better chance of resting in peace.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>In the Eisenhower years, if you were Jewish, you were Orthodox, Conservative or Reform.&#160;&#160; The situation is more nuanced now, but still basically the same – except that nowadays “none of the above” is an option too, the most popular of all.</p>
<p>The differences between the three “denominations” have more to do with observance than doctrine; Judaism has never been demanding in matters of belief.&#160; What has divided Jews, especially in the modern era, have been interpretations of and attitudes towards Jewish law (halacha).</p>
<p>In this respect, Judaism and Islam are more alike than Judaism and Christianity.&#160; It is a safe bet that the hordes of Islamophobes, Jewish and Christian alike, who prate on about the Judeo-Christian tradition and who demonize sharia law, halacha’s Islamic counterpart, have no inkling.</p>
<p>If you were Orthodox back then, chances are that you were old and born in Europe or living with parents who were. &#160;Orthodoxy and modernity were at odds.</p>
<p>Conservative Judaism acknowledged the supremacy of Jewish law too — in theory. &#160;In practice, few Conservative Jews were more than superficially observant.&#160; This was hypocritical, of course, though there was theology behind it; the idea was to harmonize Judaism and modernity without abandoning one or the other.</p>
<p>What mainly propelled the Conservative movement, though, was what also led, among other things, to the decline of afternoon newspapers and neighborhood bookstores — suburbanization.&#160; It was more difficult to be observant in the ‘burbs than in the cities.&#160;&#160; Some requirements, like not driving on the Sabbath, even made regular synagogue (“temple”) attendance all but impossible for most congregants.</p>
<p>The Conservative Judaism of the time was therefore a hybrid: too orthodox for some, and not orthodox enough for others.&#160; As such, it was destined to revert back to more traditional forms or else to move in the opposite direction – towards Reform.</p>
<p>This is what happened.&#160; But the Conservative movement nevertheless survived and even flourished because an outside factor, Zionism, effectively superseded its underlying dynamic.&#160; Ethno-nationalism breathed new life into the Conservative movement, just as, in due course, it would breathe new life into the others as well.</p>
<p>The purveyors of conventional wisdom seem unaware, but the fact is that well into and even beyond the Eisenhower era, most strains of Orthodox and Reform Judaism were uncomfortable with, or even opposed to, a faith that, in effect, replaced an imaginary God with an imaginary Jewish nation.&#160; Only Conservative Judaism never had a problem with the Zionist idea.</p>
<p>There have always been secular Zionists whose attitudes towards the Zionist project were shaped, in part, by concerns for the people already living in Mandate Palestine.&#160; But the fact that the Promised Land was emphatically not, as Zionists proclaimed, “a land without a people” had little, if anything, to do with Orthodox or Reform attitudes towards Zionism.</p>
<p>Orthodox Judaism was at odds with Zionism for archaic theological reasons centered on notions of exile and Messianic redemption.&#160; Reform Judaism and Zionism were at odds for reasons of a very different kind.</p>
<p>The Reform movement was a creature of the German Enlightenment, in much the way that important strains of liberal Protestantism were.&#160; Its guiding conviction was that religious beliefs are matters of private conscience only, and therefore ought to be of no political significance whatever.</p>
<p>There is an obvious tension between that paradigmatically liberal idea, and the idea that Judaism is a religion for a particular ethnic group.&#160;&#160; For both circumstantial and theological reasons, Reform Jews never quite got past that problem, and therefore, despite obvious doctrinal affinities, never quite succeeded in turning Judaism into another version of, say, Unitarianism.</p>
<p>That was the goal, though — to become something a liberal Protestant denomination, but in a Jewish register.&#160; To that end, Reform leaders sought to maintain connections to Jewish traditions, while breaking free from Jewish law.&#160; Halachic practices that survived became life-style choices, not sacred obligations.</p>
<p>This break with the past was too radical for many American Jews in the Eisenhower era to abide.&#160; There were other barriers too keeping many of them out of the Reform movement. &#160;&#160;Reform Judaism was mainly a German, not Eastern European, affair.&#160; German Jews had come to the United States earlier, were more integrated into American life, and were, for the most part, better off economically than Eastern European Jews.&#160; This made for tensions on all sides.</p>
<p>However, by the fifties, these formerly palpable differences were fading.&#160; Religious conviction was fading too. &#160;Reform Judaism nevertheless did well because, in Eisenhower’s America, everyone had to be something, and, for Jews, being Reform was the next best thing to being nothing at all.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Zionism was changing – in ways that accommodated the needs not just of the Conservative movement, but Orthodox and Reform Judaism too.</p>
<p>The irreligion of the first Zionists was, of necessity, nuanced; if they wanted to forge an ethnic identity, they had little besides Judaism to work with — no common land, no common language, and, although Zionists would later work hard to fool themselves, no plausible claims of common descent.</p>
<p>But there was nothing nuanced, at first, about religiously grounded Jewish anti-Zionism.</p>
<p>Outside Orthodox circles, however, that opposition was overtaken by events – above all, by the Nazi Judeocide, the Holocaust, and by the problems involved in resettling displaced persons, concentration camp survivors especially, at the end of the Second World War.</p>
<p>Zionists worked hard on many fronts to assure that as many Jews as possible would end up in Palestine, whether that is what they wanted or not.&#160; They had an easy time of it too – the governments of the United States and the handful of other countries that could have taken displaced persons in, didn’t mind being relieved of their moral obligations. &#160;&#160;With anti-Semitic attitudes fading in virulence but still politically relevant, this was the line of least resistance.</p>
<p>Once the establishment of the state of Israel became a fait accompli, Protestants and Catholics were pleased, while Jews were pleased most of all.&#160; By then, Jewish opposition to Zionism had all but disappeared, except in isolated Orthodox sects.</p>
<p>The leaders of the Reform movement, finding themselves in much the same straits as their Conservative counterparts, stopped opposing Zionism on principled liberal grounds.&#160; To survive at all, even as Judaism-lite, they had little choice but to jump on the Zionist bandwagon.&#160; The vast majority of Orthodox Jews were coming around too.</p>
<p>However, it would be an exaggeration to say that, before the 1967 Six Day War, Zionists had hijacked American Judaism.&#160; After 1967, with the entirety of Mandate Palestine under Israeli control, it no longer was.</p>
<p>The Orthodox were the last holdouts, but, even in their circles, a notion considered heretical just a few years earlier was becoming mainstream – that the Israeli army could, in effect, preempt Messianic redemption.</p>
<p>Then, a decade later, Zionism itself was hijacked — by the Israeli Right.</p>
<p>For Palestinians, this made little difference.&#160;&#160; But the difference it made within the Zionist movement was enormous.</p>
<p>For Israel’s first three decades, the men and women who dominated the culture and politics of the country identified with the Left, as it took shape during and after the French Revolution.</p>
<p>Since then, Israel’s culture and politics has been taken over, not continuously but for the most part, by forces of the Right, as it took shape late in the nineteenth century, in the aftermath of the Dreyfus Affair.</p>
<p>That Right is and always has been anti-Semitic; in one way or another.&#160; In varying degrees, it has regarded the Jew as the Other, and sought to rid the world, or rather the Christian or post-Christian West, of Jewish influence. The Nazis, in conditions of total war, wanted to rid the world of Jews altogether.</p>
<p>However, in more placid times, anti-Semites and Zionists share a goal: they both want Jews out of historically Christian countries.</p>
<p>Deep historical, psychological and moral factors drew anti-Semites and Zionists apart; but, ultimately, nothing kept them from making common cause once the Zionist movement was taken over by people whose ideological commitments and moral bearings were of a piece with those of their traditional antagonists.</p>
<p>And so, in Trumpland, rightwing Zionists and denizens of the Mannon-Breitbart, alt-right demographic have effectively joined together – to make the world safe for the noxious and malign.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>Trump’s Islamophobia is probably more than just for show; he wouldn’t have selected the miscreants he did for top positions if his only goal was to keep on fooling the chumps who voted for him.</p>
<p>But his tolerance of alt-right, hard-core “deplorables,” is probably just a residue of the campaign that brought him to power.&#160; Not realizing how inept a candidate Hillary Clinton would be, and how the Democratic Party’s contempt for workers would finally cause many of them not to support her candidacy, he turned over every rock he could find looking for marks he could win over to his side.</p>
<p>It was a calculated move that will likely have awful consequences, but it probably did not come from the heart, except in the sense that Trump has the heart of a mountebank and a huckster.</p>
<p>As surely as magnets attract iron filings, Trump’s flirtations with alt-right lowlifes, and his menacing bluster, brings out the worst in the worst.&#160; All vulnerable groups therefore have reason to worry.</p>
<p>But Jews will probably be OK.&#160; Trump is almost certainly not an anti-Semite himself, and he is more likely to protect Jews from alt-right depredations than to egg on those who would do them harm.</p>
<p>Awful as he surely is, the Donald is probably no more anti-Semitic than any normal person would be who, from time to time, crosses paths with Sheldon Adelson and others like him, characters straight out of the pages of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.&#160; &#160;</p>
<p>Trump is drawn to conspiracy theorists and noxious talk radio personalities, many of whom do have problems with Jews.&#160; But he has a Jewish son-in-law and, by conversion, a Jewish daughter.&#160; She is his de facto First Lady and also the token non-lunatic in his entourage; he needs her good will.&#160; Through her, he even has three halachically certifiable Jewish grandchildren; he will do them no harm.</p>
<p>The attitude of his “senior advisor” and all-around strategist, Steven Bannon, impresario of the “alt-right,” is probably less benign.&#160; &#160;But by all accounts, he likes Jews too – though only in work settings or from a distance, and only if their Zionist credentials are beyond reproach.</p>
<p>This isn’t just because he is too Islamophobic to care about other “Semites.” It is because he regards rightwing Zionists as allies.&#160; He is not wrong.&#160; Times have changed; it is no longer necessary, or natural, for Zionists who identify with the historic Right not to make common cause with their ideological comrades, provided only that their anti-Semitism is not too overt.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>With so many rightwing Zionists deploying anti-Semitic tropes against Muslims, it was only a matter of time before they and their brothers and sisters under the skin would take the next step. &#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; It is a match made in Heaven or rather, since Jews don’t believe in Heaven, in Hell.</p>
<p>So is the Israeli Right’s love affair with Dispensationalists and other Christian Zionists.&#160; That on-going dalliance is less blatantly dishonorable, but the essential baseness is the same. &#160;&#160;And the one seems to have functioned as a gateway drug for the other.</p>
<p>Whatever else might be said against them, the first Zionists at least had enough self-respect not to recruit useful idiots from the ranks of those who believe that they must either accept Christ or be condemned for all eternity to the punishments of hell.</p>
<p>This changed in 1977, when Menachem Begin became Prime Minister of Israel.&#160; From that time on, relations between the Israeli Right (and not so Right) and Christian Zionists have only gotten thicker.</p>
<p>The idea seems to be that, if their support for Israel is ardent enough – as it is, in this case, because they believe that Jews must be gathered together in the Holy Land to bring the End Times on — and if they are in a position to be helpful to the state of Israel, then all is forgiven.</p>
<p>Evidently, this way of thinking now applies to anti-Semites too, provided they are discreet.</p>
<p>As adherents of archaic strains of Anglo-Protestant theology, Christian Zionists are not anti-Semites in quite the way that Breitbart fans are; their thinking is too unenlightened for that.&#160; But, for as long as modern anti-Semitism has existed, the distance between it and the several varieties of Christian anti-Judaism has never been hard to bridge.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, like their kinder and gentler Conservative cousins, more and more of the Orthodox are making the Jewish nation their God.&#160;&#160;&#160; In Israel, there are the “national religious” parties; in America, we have the “modern Orthodox.”</p>
<p>And now as America turns into Trumpland, we have Jared Kushner, the Trump whisperer, who, thanks to the indispensable Ivanka, seems to be morphing into one of the main &#160;powers behind the gilded throne.</p>
<p>With a genuine Left gone missing, the Trump phenomenon, or something like it, was bound to happen as the neoliberal world order implodes.</p>
<p>It was therefore almost predictable that the historic Right would get a new lease on life and, along with it, that classical anti-Semitism would revive.</p>
<p>With the Jewish religion a victim of both modernity and ethno-nationalism, it was nearly as inevitable that Jewish identity politics and classical anti-Semitism would effectively hook up.</p>
<p>What a revolting development!</p>
<p>But this is the sort of thing we are in for now.&#160; How and when it will end nobody knows.</p>
<p>The old slogan, “the only solution, revolution,” is more on point than ever in these circumstances; but thanks to the disempowerment of the working class under the aegis of neoliberal politicians like the Clintons, it is more anachronistic than ever too.</p>
<p>However, we need not abandon all hope just yet.</p>
<p>Trump’s victory empowers scoundrels, and makes bedfellows of Zionist ethnocrats and classical anti-Semites. &#160;But with the Clintons out of the picture, even centrists and liberals can now confront the debilitating consequences of the neoliberal turn head on.</p>
<p>When enough of them do, when a revived Left wins enough of them over, the centuries old struggle for democracy and for a real internationalism grounded in solidarity, not feckless and complacent celebrations of “difference,” can finally resume.</p> | true | 4 | news appointments trump administration flow hard right riding high antisemitism zionism news ways purveyors conventional wisdom struggle make sense of160 trump phenomenon undone conventional understandings trumps thirtysomething soninlaw jared kushner ivankas husband embodies lot put conventional understandings doubt160a modern orthodox jew rabid zionist kushner exactly éminence grise material young insubstantial dick cheney george bush160 nevertheless seem stepping role ivanka seems stepping role first lady two peas pod spoiled rich kids fathered sleazy real estate moguls whose wealth comes buying influence gaming system160 difference one actually time illegal campaign contributions tax evasion witness tampering ran 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american empire vein light increasingly absurd news oozing trump tower well remember office roman consul emperor caligula wanted nominate horse160160 trump top that160160 stay tuned160 ask kushner contrast trump family nelsons generally fifties good place start getting clear trump stands german philosophers two centuries ago called jewish question accordingly ways kushner et al upsetting conventional views antisemitism zionist jews end instructive reflect vicissitudes jewish identity politics united states western countries postworld war ii era judaism rather judaism time place lot going on160160 making sense confounding guardians conventional wisdom zionist ideology longrange trajectory israeli politics important160 american judaism changed lot seven decades zionism changed even 160160160160160160160160160160160160160160160160160160160160160160160160160160160160160160160160160160160160160160160160160160160160160 back president eisenhower commanded160 one nation god struggle godless atheistic communism american protestant catholic jew hardly anyone anything else160 atheists agnostics course overt irreligion option thanks decimation native populations immigration policies trump minions dream nearly everyones ancestors either come christian lands converted christianity many generations ago began change sixties took decades presence muslims much less adherents less familiar asian faiths register public consciousness160 busy working hard minding business draw attention seventies muslims high nativist hate list targeted like immigrant groups visibly different160 all160 suffer malign neglect establishment politicians media serve left especially susceptible nativist ire war terror essentially war historically muslim world unfolded similar problems affect politically marginal nonmuslim immigrant groups places origin important empires designs governments resist american domination example clintons european counterparts dismembering yugoslavia serbian croatian immigrants sudden demonized160 serbian government resisting american domination croatian government not160160 importantly americans serbian origin quietly living lives coterie politically active croats busy years currying favor likes joe biden always staying radar used help immigrants settle true even muslims muslim christian worlds locked clash civilizations ancient history160 first days republic well past eisenhower era american nativists didnt muslims nonwasp immigrants didnt give thought blessing also curse160 guaranteed muslim story unlike stories many earlier targets nativist ire never woven public perceptions american experience muslims suffered 1973 example oil crisis brought yom kippur war later years carter administration zbigniew brzezinski took notion turning afghanistan soviet unions vietnam arming funding islamists radical islamic terrorism presidentelect calls conjured unintentionally predictably stroke diplomatic genius reasons many americans dont quite see muslim way american past hardly knew muslims existed nowadays cant stop thinking dangers think pose trump exploited fears likely go so160 bad thinking lot something thinking cogently informed way thing160160 soontobe national security advisor michael flynns laudatory views calls normal religions religions protestants catholics jews derogatory view islam would lot widely justifiably mocked currently ancient rome gibbon wrote religions equally true ordinary people equally false philosophers equally useful magistrates160 fifties sixties united states like rest developed world threshold regaining wise humane sensibility160 may looked way ike normal religions riding high160 god already deathbed beneath surface protestant catholic jew becoming cultural ethnic categories religious ones religious passions therefore religious conflicts becoming obsolete 160in stead kind tolerance born indifference rise benefited protestants catholics jews along everyone else muslims well still longrange trend 160to sure empires machinations historically muslim world encouraged backsliding get worse next several years vilest islamophobes creation take top military foreign policy posts along department justice agencies comprise hypertrophic national security state get past latest setback count way forward resume eventually prevail probably get past it160 trump awful least better chance avoiding nuclear war would hillary clinton gaggle neocons russophobes humanitarian interveners calling shots160 decent chance living fight another day therefore god better chance resting peace eisenhower years jewish orthodox conservative reform160160 situation nuanced still basically except nowadays none option popular differences three denominations observance doctrine judaism never demanding matters belief160 divided jews especially modern era interpretations attitudes towards jewish law halacha respect judaism islam alike judaism christianity160 safe bet hordes islamophobes jewish christian alike prate judeochristian tradition demonize sharia law halachas islamic counterpart inkling orthodox back chances old born europe living parents 160orthodoxy modernity odds conservative judaism acknowledged supremacy jewish law theory 160in practice conservative jews superficially observant160 hypocritical course though theology behind idea harmonize judaism modernity without abandoning one mainly propelled conservative movement though also led among things decline afternoon newspapers neighborhood bookstores suburbanization160 difficult observant burbs cities160160 requirements like driving sabbath even made regular synagogue temple attendance impossible congregants conservative judaism time therefore hybrid orthodox orthodox enough others160 destined revert back traditional forms else move opposite direction towards reform happened160 conservative movement nevertheless survived even flourished outside factor zionism effectively superseded underlying dynamic160 ethnonationalism breathed new life conservative movement due course would breathe new life others well purveyors conventional wisdom seem unaware fact well even beyond eisenhower era strains orthodox reform judaism uncomfortable even opposed faith effect replaced imaginary god imaginary jewish nation160 conservative judaism never problem zionist idea always secular zionists whose attitudes towards zionist project shaped part concerns people already living mandate palestine160 fact promised land emphatically zionists proclaimed land without people little anything orthodox reform attitudes towards zionism orthodox judaism odds zionism archaic theological reasons centered notions exile messianic redemption160 reform judaism zionism odds reasons different kind reform movement creature german enlightenment much way important strains liberal protestantism were160 guiding conviction religious beliefs matters private conscience therefore ought political significance whatever obvious tension paradigmatically liberal idea idea judaism religion particular ethnic group160160 circumstantial theological reasons reform jews never quite got past problem therefore despite obvious doctrinal affinities never quite succeeded turning judaism another version say unitarianism goal though become something liberal protestant denomination jewish register160 end reform leaders sought maintain connections jewish traditions breaking free jewish law160 halachic practices survived became lifestyle choices sacred obligations break past radical many american jews eisenhower era abide160 barriers keeping many reform movement 160160reform judaism mainly german eastern european affair160 german jews come united states earlier integrated american life part better economically eastern european jews160 made tensions sides however fifties formerly palpable differences fading160 religious conviction fading 160reform judaism nevertheless well eisenhowers america everyone something jews reform next best thing nothing meanwhile zionism changing ways accommodated needs conservative movement orthodox reform judaism irreligion first zionists necessity nuanced wanted forge ethnic identity little besides judaism work common land common language although zionists would later work hard fool plausible claims common descent nothing nuanced first religiously grounded jewish antizionism outside orthodox circles however opposition overtaken events nazi judeocide holocaust problems involved resettling displaced persons concentration camp survivors especially end second world war zionists worked hard many fronts assure many jews possible would end palestine whether wanted not160 easy time governments united states handful countries could taken displaced persons didnt mind relieved moral obligations 160160with antisemitic attitudes fading virulence still politically relevant line least resistance establishment state israel became fait accompli protestants catholics pleased jews pleased all160 jewish opposition zionism disappeared except isolated orthodox sects leaders reform movement finding much straits conservative counterparts stopped opposing zionism principled liberal grounds160 survive even judaismlite little choice jump zionist bandwagon160 vast majority orthodox jews coming around however would exaggeration say 1967 six day war zionists hijacked american judaism160 1967 entirety mandate palestine israeli control longer orthodox last holdouts even circles notion considered heretical years earlier becoming mainstream israeli army could effect preempt messianic redemption decade later zionism hijacked israeli right palestinians made little difference160160 difference made within zionist movement enormous israels first three decades men women dominated culture politics country identified left took shape french revolution since israels culture politics taken continuously part forces right took shape late nineteenth century aftermath dreyfus affair right always antisemitic one way another160 varying degrees regarded jew sought rid world rather christian postchristian west jewish influence nazis conditions total war wanted rid world jews altogether however placid times antisemites zionists share goal want jews historically christian countries deep historical psychological moral factors drew antisemites zionists apart ultimately nothing kept making common cause zionist movement taken people whose ideological commitments moral bearings piece traditional antagonists trumpland rightwing zionists denizens mannonbreitbart altright demographic effectively joined together make world safe noxious malign trumps islamophobia probably show wouldnt selected miscreants top positions goal keep fooling chumps voted tolerance altright hardcore deplorables probably residue campaign brought power160 realizing inept candidate hillary clinton would democratic partys contempt workers would finally cause many support candidacy turned every rock could find looking marks could win side calculated move likely awful consequences probably come heart except sense trump heart mountebank huckster surely magnets attract iron filings trumps flirtations altright lowlifes menacing bluster brings worst worst160 vulnerable groups therefore reason worry jews probably ok160 trump almost certainly antisemite likely protect jews altright depredations egg would harm awful surely donald probably antisemitic normal person would time time crosses paths sheldon adelson others like characters straight pages protocols elders zion160 160 trump drawn conspiracy theorists noxious talk radio personalities many problems jews160 jewish soninlaw conversion jewish daughter160 de facto first lady also token nonlunatic entourage needs good will160 even three halachically certifiable jewish grandchildren harm attitude senior advisor allaround strategist steven bannon impresario altright probably less benign160 160but accounts likes jews though work settings distance zionist credentials beyond reproach isnt islamophobic care semites regards rightwing zionists allies160 wrong160 times changed longer necessary natural zionists identify historic right make common cause ideological comrades provided antisemitism overt many rightwing zionists deploying antisemitic tropes muslims matter time brothers sisters skin would take next step 160160160160160160160160 match made heaven rather since jews dont believe heaven hell israeli rights love affair dispensationalists christian zionists160 ongoing dalliance less blatantly dishonorable essential baseness 160160and one seems functioned gateway drug whatever else might said first zionists least enough selfrespect recruit useful idiots ranks believe must either accept christ condemned eternity punishments hell changed 1977 menachem begin became prime minister israel160 time relations israeli right right christian zionists gotten thicker idea seems support israel ardent enough case believe jews must gathered together holy land bring end times position helpful state israel forgiven evidently way thinking applies antisemites provided discreet adherents archaic strains angloprotestant theology christian zionists antisemites quite way breitbart fans thinking unenlightened that160 long modern antisemitism existed distance several varieties christian antijudaism never hard bridge meanwhile like kinder gentler conservative cousins orthodox making jewish nation god160160160 israel national religious parties america modern orthodox america turns trumpland jared kushner trump whisperer thanks indispensable ivanka seems morphing one main 160powers behind gilded throne genuine left gone missing trump phenomenon something like bound happen neoliberal world order implodes therefore almost predictable historic right would get new lease life along classical antisemitism would revive jewish religion victim modernity ethnonationalism nearly inevitable jewish identity politics classical antisemitism would effectively hook revolting development sort thing now160 end nobody knows old slogan solution revolution point ever circumstances thanks disempowerment working class aegis neoliberal politicians like clintons anachronistic ever however need abandon hope yet trumps victory empowers scoundrels makes bedfellows zionist ethnocrats classical antisemites 160but clintons picture even centrists liberals confront debilitating consequences neoliberal turn head enough revived left wins enough centuries old struggle democracy real internationalism grounded solidarity feckless complacent celebrations difference finally resume | 2,030 |
<p>The editors of <a href="http://www.ww3report.com/" type="external">World War 3 Report</a> talk to two Palestine Solidarity activists, Steve Quester from <a href="http://www.jewsagainsttheoccupation.org/" type="external">Jews Against the Occupation</a> and Zaid Khalil, of <a href="http://www.sustaincampaign.org/" type="external">Stop US Tax-Funded Aid to Israel Now</a> (SUSTAIN), groups that calls for the full right of return for Palestinian refugees, and an end to all US aid to Israel. Quester and Khalil talk about their entry into solidarity work, their experiences in Palestine with the <a href="http://www.palsolidarity.org/" type="external">International Solidarity Movement</a> and the challenges currently facing Palestine activism.</p>
<p>WW3R: Let’s start with your backgrounds. How did you get from point A to point B, where you come from, your folks.</p>
<p>ZK: My name is Zaid Khalil, I’m an American national of Palestinian ethnicity. I describe myself that way because Palestine is not a sovereign state, and I was born in the US, so culturally I’m more American that anything else, whatever that means. I was born in South Jersey, God help me, in a fairly racist town. I’ve been to occupied Palestine six times, I just recently got back Oct. 17 from a two month trip there. I’ve been there twice this year.</p>
<p>WW3R: Six times your whole life?</p>
<p>ZK: Yeah, first time I went there was ’86, went back in ’88, went back in ’92, ’98, Apr. ’02, during operation Defensive Shield, and Aug. 17 to Oct. 17.</p>
<p>WW3R: And your parents?</p>
<p>ZK: My parents were born in a village called Al-Mazra’a Ash-Sharqiya, which is 13 km northeast of Ramallah,. My mother was granted American citizenship from my grandfather, who came to the United States in 1913, fought in the first world war for the United States, gained citizenship, went back there, married. My mom was born, and my mother and father married and emigrated here in 1957.</p>
<p>WW3R: You wouldn’t call yourself a Palestinian-American?</p>
<p>ZK: Well, the reason I identify myself that way is because I really want people to understand that when I go over there, I’m an American. For instance, when I go to a checkpoint, I hand them my American passport, and I’m allowed to pass through. Through the gun sights of a sniper I’m a Palestinian, because of the way I look.</p>
<p>WW3R: What about to the Palestinians?</p>
<p>ZK: To Palestinians, I’m both and neither. On one level I’m American, because just culturally I share characteristics of Americans. But on another level, people do identify me as a Palestinian. So for instance, I notice how quickly I’m able to form relationships with people in the West Bank, like really quickly.</p>
<p>SQ: I remember people always asking you, the minute you started speaking Arabic, even though you have an American accent, “OK, where are you from?”, and what they wanted to know is, Al-Mazra’a Ash-Sharqiya — like they needed to place you in a Palestinian context and localize you. They didn’t care where you were from in the US.</p>
<p>WW3R: So how many times have you been back since the current Intifada began?</p>
<p>ZK: All together, two and half months, but the first period, when I was there in April, can’t be measured in days, because I would say I was awake almost the equivalent of the month in the second trip, because it was so incredibly dangerous, it was so crazy, just awake all the time. Whereas the second period was very, very different. I mean, much more institutionalized, the oppression. Much more depressing, in my opinion.</p>
<p>WW3R: This would be after re-occupation began in June?</p>
<p>ZK: Yeah. I mean the occupation always been there, it’s been occupied for 35 years. What Palestinians call “inside 1948,” has been occupied since 1948. Palestinians still refer to Israel very much as occupied territory too, but they also recognize that it’s Israel at the same time.</p>
<p>WW3R: When you say that they know it’s Israel, what does that mean exactly?</p>
<p>ZK: In the American-Israel lexicon, people talk about recognizing Israel as a state, or recognizing the existence of Israel. [The Palestinians] can’t help to know Israel exists. It’s in their face every day. So Israel exists. They refer to people as Israelis, or actually, they refer to people as Jews. The Palestinians don’t usually use the term “Israelis.” But that’s also because Israelis identify themselves as Jews, too, which is pretty horrific, if you really think about it. Because, number one, Judaism is a religion that has existed for three thousand years. Zionism is not. They’ve co-opted Judaism and put it on the side of tanks, you know, the symbol of Jews, the Star of David on the side of tanks. And F-16’s.</p>
<p>WW3R: Sometimes without the flag, it’s just the star, right?</p>
<p>ZK: Yeah. They’ll graffiti it, they literally graffiti it in a way that you can imagine Nazis graffitiing the swastika.</p>
<p>WW3R: Graffitying on walls and stuff?</p>
<p>ZK: Yeah, so for instance, after they went through and demolished the whole entire social structure, all these NGO’s and ministries, like the health and education, after they defecated on the floors and trashed the whole entire place, looted it, they would put the Star of David on a mirror, in lipstick</p>
<p>WW3R: So they are using they are using the star as a symbol of</p>
<p>ZK: Power, dominance. I mean, that you can’t escape. So when Palestinians say Israel exists, they say it exists as a reality. Only in the mind of a complete narcissist would people constantly question that. But at the same time there is this collective memory of Palestine that has not been erased. And actually, it very much has formed through the Zionist movement. Because during the Turkish period, you know, there was a certain amount of autonomy. When people had allegiances, it was local. The whole idea of the nation state had a devastating effect.</p>
<p>WW3R: Steve, tell me about your background.</p>
<p>SQ: I’m Jewish, I was raised in a not-very-religious Reform household with liberal and Zionist politics, but the Zionist thing was not very strong. I was the one that took that ball and decided to run with it, you know, chose to spend my summers between junior and senior years in high school in Israel. Spent a year of college there, and two years there after college. The story of my political life throughout my adult and teenage years, is trying to reconcile an anti-racist, anti-imperialist world view with what I was supposed to think as a Jew about the Middle East, and it took a long time to work through that. I used to think I was a traitor, for thinking the things I thought about Palestine. I’m way over that now.</p>
<p>WW3R: When did you think that?</p>
<p>SQ: When I was in my 20’s, I started looking around me, really thinking through stuff, and reading, meeting Palestinians and talking to them</p>
<p>WW3R: When you say that you took Zionism and ran with it, what did Zionism meant to you then, how did you define it?</p>
<p>SQ: Well, that Jews owed loyalty to Israel, that Jews automatically have a connection to Israel, that it’s a good thing for Jews to emigrate to Israelthat’s what I mean. I was gonna do it, I was considering the army, the whole nine yards</p>
<p>WW3R: So was there a decisive turning point?</p>
<p>SQ: No, everyone wants to know the big turning point. There was no decisive turning point. It was a gradual process over many years.</p>
<p>WW3R: You’ve said that being gay led you to deal more with the margins when you were in Israel, that you drifted more towards Arab groups when you were a student. Can you talk about that?</p>
<p>SQ, Well, I think that being queer, I think you have a different take on conformity, on what you’re supposed to do and who you are supposed to know, and so it was just very automatic and natural to me to befriend the Palestinian who was on my dorm floor at Hebrew University.</p>
<p>WW3R: Is that unusual?</p>
<p>SQ: Yeah, I think so.</p>
<p>WW3R: When you say Palestinian, you mean Palestinian Israeli?</p>
<p>SQ: Yeah.</p>
<p>WW3R: But Hebrew university is supposed to be a pretty tolerant place, no?</p>
<p>SQ: Yeah, sure, it’s tolerant. They tolerate the Arabs. [Laughs]</p>
<p>WW3R: And what happened when the current intifada broke out, where would you say you were politically at that point?</p>
<p>SQ:, Oh, I just, just completely snapped. I ran out and bought a Palestinian lapel pin to wear. That’s when my focus changed from peace and dialogue to solidarity. Y’know? There’s like this horrible thing happening to millions of defenseless people, and people of conscience just have to be in solidarity with them. And Israel is just obviously the enemy here.</p>
<p>WW3R: And when you say solidarity, that means in terms of choosing sides?</p>
<p>SQ: Yeah, I’ve chosen sides, absolutely.</p>
<p>WW3R: Alright, but is solidarity necessarily mutually exclusive with dialogue?</p>
<p>SQ: You know, those two years after college that I lived in Israel, I was all about dialogue, I was a volunteer with Interns for Peace, we did “encounters” between Israeli Palestinians and Israeli Jews, primarily children and youth. And I learned a lot, I acquired a lot of very good skills. But in terms of moving forward an agenda of liberation, it was a fucking waste of time, you know,? Let’s talk about reconciliation after liberation. This is no time to do it, you know?</p>
<p>WW3R: And what would liberation require?</p>
<p>SQ: The complete withdrawal of all Israeli forces from all of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem and all of the Gaza Strip, and the unconditional right of return for any Palestinian who wants it. And then it’s time to start talking about reconciliation, because there will still be deep and horrible wounds, and you can never get back the lost half century or more</p>
<p>WW3R: But do you then support just anything that goes on in the Palestinian liberation struggle?</p>
<p>SQ: No.</p>
<p>WW3R: Where do you draw the line?</p>
<p>SQ: You know, this struggle for Palestine, since the beginning of Zionism, has always been about targeting civilians. Zionism by its nature targets civilians, its about the removal of a civilian population and its replacement by a militarized colonial population, so I draw the line at targeting civilians, which is a much, much smaller phenomenon among Palestinians than it is among Israelis. With the Palestinians, it’s desperate acts, by desperate people. But in no case is it justified or justifiable, and in no case does it move forward any kind of agenda of liberation. I think the suicide bombers are Sharon’s best friend.</p>
<p>ZK: For me it’s a little bit fuzzy, I mean, my biggest fundamental problem is–what are settlers? Do they constitute civilians? And then, the question is, OK, if they don’t constitute civilians, if we take the view that they are more or less paramilitary–what about their kids? And do you justify indiscriminate killing?</p>
<p>SQ: For me, I don’t. That’s on the wrong side of the line I drew, you know? I don’t support untargeted attacks on settlements, per se. I don’t think that moves forward an agenda of Palestinian liberation.</p>
<p>WW3R: Well, what about what Zaid’s saying? I mean, some of the settlements serve as military bases, they have surveillance up there, they occupy the heights. There’s armed settler militia, right? In the [November] Hebron attack, they were killed along with the soldiers.</p>
<p>SQ: Absolutely. The point is, infiltrating a settlement, walking into a home, and opening fire on anyone you can get your gun trained on, even if they’re all adults in the room–I don’t see that it’s either justifiable or practical, in terms of the end they’re trying to achieve. But, you know what? It’s not my main concern. My main concern is Israeli oppression, Israeli imperialism, and they way the U.S. uses Israel for its interests in the Middle East. I’m not the one whose going to decide how Palestinians are going to liberate themselves. I’m going to decide how I as an American Jew am going to stand with Palestinians. So, I’m not going to strap bombs on myself and walk into a mall in Tel Aviv, alright? But it’s not where my focus needs to be.</p>
<p>WW3R: Zaid, is there somewhere where you disagree with that?</p>
<p>ZK: Well, not necessarily disagree. But, I think, basically there’s two ways of justifying–not necessarily justifying, but understanding–attacks against civilians. If you’re going to do armed struggle, you do it from a moral perspective, or you do it from a tactical perspective, OK? So, now the question is</p>
<p>WW3R: It can be both, no?</p>
<p>ZK: Well, in general, once you go into the realm of armed struggle, morals go out the window. You can take an entirely pacifist stance, and say the killing of anyone is immoral. OK, I can agree with that, to a certain degree, if you take that stance. So now, we should judge it based on tactics. And, one of the things you see, is tactically, attacks on civilians inside of Israel just doesn’t work. I mean, it generates fear, but fear is not necessarily the only thing you want to generate. But on one level, tactically, it acts as a deterrent. And to a certain extent, there needs to be some level of deterrence against settlers who are publicly subsidized to live in these places. Not only publicly subsidized, but fully armed and backed the fourth powerful military in the world. There needs to be some level of deterrent.</p>
<p>WW3R: But this hasn’t been the pattern that’s been followed. There have been attacks in Israel proper as well as the settlements.</p>
<p>ZK: That’s right, and part of the reason is because settlements have been so difficult to penetrate. They are colonial fortresses, they sit on top of mountains, they’re entirely ringed by a perimeter, with sniper towers, soldiers with the best equipment American dollars can pay for. But you don’t have that at settlements like Gilo, the Jerusalem settlements, which are more easily penetrated by going through Jerusalem, which Palestinians can do. It’s not easy, but I’ve done it two or three times myself–gone into Jerusalem without having to travel through a checkpoint.</p>
<p>WW3R: Why did you want to avoid a checkpoint?</p>
<p>ZK: I think I was just going for different cab fares, you know? It’s like, all of a sudden, you’re at Qalandia, someone says, you know, taxi to Jerusalem, and you’re like, well, alright.</p>
<p>SQ: We went around the Qalandia checkpoint to get from Mizra Ash-Sharqiyyah to Ramallah. It was interesting because we had to go through this stone quarry, it was also sweet because we got this ride to Ramallah. You know, the alternative is to travel the way the Israelis want you to travel, which is you get a ride to the checkpoint, wait on line–a rather long time, in the sun–you subject yourself to the authority of the state, you go through, and then you get another car.</p>
<p>WW3R: You put yourself at considerable risk, though.</p>
<p>SQ: You know, whatever. [Laughs] I mean, if I wanted to minimize the risk, I would have stayed here.</p>
<p>I don’t agree, about the minute you chose armed struggle its not about morality. I don’t think there is anything immoral about taking aim at a soldier, at an occupying soldier walking down your street, or an armed settler walking down your street, and shooting him. I don’t think there’s anything immoral about that at all.</p>
<p>ZK If you take the extreme pacifist point of view then all forms of violence against military and settlers is wrong. My point of view is that soldiers are legitimate targets and you would have to have a strong argument for attacking colonists. I feel that there is sufficient justification for attacking adult colonists.</p>
<p>SQ: And I think that it’s telling that principled pacifists, people who live their life that way, people like Quakers, Christian Peacemaker Teams, are extremely active in the Palestinian struggle. You know, it’s like, if you’re a pacifist, you don’t start deciding that other people do not deserve human rights cause they’re not pacifists. That’s not how it works.</p>
<p>WW3R: What if you’re asked, well, here you are going to stand in solidarity with these people, and they’re going in and blowing up civilians in Israel–how do you respond to that?</p>
<p>SQ: Human rights are not a reward for good behavior.</p>
<p>ZK: What I say is this. First thing, not all Palestinians actually support suicide bombings. Many do. Some consider it morally deplorable, and also harmful to the whole struggle. You get a wide spectrum. And on the other side of the spectrum, people say, things like, “Neither ethics nor tradition can disqualify terrorism as a means of combat. First and foremost, terrorism is for us a part of the political battle being conducted under the present circumstances, and it has a great part to play in our war against the occupier.” The quote is from Yitzak Shamir from 1943, who later became an Israeli Prime Minister. The occupier he was referring to was the British, who facilitated the Zionist colonial enterprise from settlements to statehood and after. So you can imagine the level of contempt he had for the indigenous population.</p>
<p>WW3R: He killed a Swedish diplomat</p>
<p>ZK: Yeah, he killed a Swedish diplomat, Bernadotte.</p>
<p>SQ. The interesting thing about the Stern Gang, Shamir’s group, is that they were the last people in history who referred to themselves as “terrorists.” This is a term that had existed since the French Revolution, and up till that point was primarily a term that people applied to themselves, it was only after World War two, decades later that it became a term that one applies to the enemy one wants to delegitimize</p>
<p>JATO AND THE ISM</p>
<p>WW3R: In a nutshell, what is JATO?</p>
<p>SQ: JATO is a group of really smart Jews, who take an uncompromisingly anti-racist anti-imperialist stand towards the struggle for Palestine, and stand in solidarity with freedom for Palestinians.</p>
<p>WW3R: What are their demands, what are their goals?</p>
<p>SQ: Right of return, total withdrawal from the ’67 territories, and restoration of full human and civil rights on both sides of the green line, and end to economic attacks on Palestine, and the end of the muddling and confusion between anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism.</p>
<p>WW3R: And what is the ISM?</p>
<p>SQ: The International Solidarity Movement is a Palestinian-led coalition that invites internationals to come to Palestine to do non-violent direct action alongside Palestinian activists.</p>
<p>WW3R: And when did you become involved in that?</p>
<p>SQ: In April. Someone who had been on the first August and December campaigns came and spoke at the founding meeting of the Palestine Activist Forum of New York. I was thrilled. It sounded like a smart idea, and a very good fit for me.</p>
<p>WW3R : And how long were you there for?</p>
<p>SQ: April I was there a week, in August I was there three weeks. Planning to spend all of next summer there, and I’m going to spend my sabbatical year there in 2004.</p>
<p>WW3R: And what did you come away with from your time there?</p>
<p>SQ: Now I know what occupation looks like. I have no idea what it’s like to live under occupation, but I know what it’s like to visit under occupation, and it’s really scary and horrible. And I’ve gotten a chance to sit and talk with Palestinians under occupation, including people who support attacks on Israeli civilians. I was able to start to understand where people are coming from, and</p>
<p>WW3R: What is their rationale?</p>
<p>SQ: You know, I didn’t really pick away at it with people, I didn’t really interrogate them. There are a lot of people who just talk about it very matter of factly, you know? Wearing a martyr picture around their neck, the pendants, “this is my brother, he was killed in an operation in Netanya,” you know? It’s like, it’s an operation, it’s a war. Someone at an internal JATO report-back this summer, after the nine of us came back, said, “look, whatever you say about these bombings, and whatever your stance is on them, it’s not mysterious why they happen.”</p>
<p>WW3R: Meaning?</p>
<p>SQ: A military occupation this length of time, and of this severity, is historically unprecedented. And it’s surprising to me that Palestinian civilians aren’t just flinging themselves at the tanks at this point. So how people continue to go on at all, it’s just amazing to me. And that some of them are not going to go on anymore? I get it. I totally get it.</p>
<p>WW3R; So what did you hope you could accomplish by going there? Did you think you could make a difference?</p>
<p>SQ: Yeah, I thought I could. I thought that I would afford protection to Palestinians immediately around me for the time I was there, and that’s true, I did. That’s limited, you know, it’s limited to one’s actual presence, but it’s something. And I felt that I could help make non-violent resistance possible, because non-violent resistance has been so systematically crushed by the Israeli military for decades. And I succeeded in that a little bit, just a little bit.</p>
<p>WW3R: The ISM is helpful in that way, it helps the Palestinians conduct non-violence?</p>
<p>SQ: A little bit. I think the ISM is most helpful for morale. I get these emails saying, they’ve re-occupied Nablus again, please come back. You know, they feel so abandoned, they have been so completely abandoned by the world, I think it’s important for them to see internationals willing to put themselves on the line, at least for a little time.</p>
<p>WW3R: Zaid, what do you think of that?</p>
<p>ZK: It’s kind of interesting. See, we’re coming in from different perspectives. I thought that to a certain degree that I could help out. This last trip really solidified in me the basic fact that I am Palestinian. When it comes down to it, if I’m walking down the street and there’s a tank 200 meters away, I’m Palestinian. The question is, what’s my effectiveness. And in terms of protecting people, I wasn’t effective at all.</p>
<p>WW3R: Because they can tell you’re Palestinian?</p>
<p>ZK: Yeah, it’s right on my face.</p>
<p>WW3R: But what about internationals in general, international activists in Palestine?</p>
<p>ZK: I think there are a lot of things that are good about it, a lot of things that Steve addressed, as far as raising morale. Probably the most important thing that will come out of this is that when people go over there and directly experience it, it kind of changes their relationship with regards to struggle. It makes them an intrinsic part, they’ve seen it with their own eyes, it will be something that they won’t forget. And they come back here, really the place where it matters, and talk about it and work on it and try to build solidarity here. I think that’s one kind of thing that we haven’t worked on well enough. It’s kind of strange that I’ ve met more activists from different parts of the United States in Palestine than I have in the United States. And that’s something that we really need to start working on as we do our activism here.</p>
<p>SQ: I think in terms of moving Palestinian liberation forward, the most important thing about volunteering with ISM is what one can then do, back here. You know, even if we are primarily talking to people who are already sympathetic to the Palestinian struggle. I think that by speaking, and by showing images and relating experiences, we can do a great deal to strengthen the movement, to strengthen people’s resolve to keep struggling, because we have some credibility, from having been there.</p>
<p>WW3R: But in terms of non-violent action on the Palestinian side, do you see internationals as being helpful to that?</p>
<p>ZK: Theoretically, yes. But every demonstration I’ve taken part, where there hasn’t been Israelis, they’ve opened fire on us–internationals, and Palestinians.</p>
<p>WW3R: How many internationals have been hit?</p>
<p>ZK: People have been hit by shrapnel. I’ve been hit by shrapnel, from an M-16 bullet. The thing is, you don’t necessarily need to hit people. You just need to send a message, that, we’re gonna hit you. I mean, tear gas usually is sufficient. Let me tell you, 20,30 cans of tear gas, and you ain’t gonna stand it.</p>
<p>WW3R: So you’ve been in demonstrations where they’ve fired live ammo at internationals?</p>
<p>ZK: Oh yeah. I mean, I’ve been in international-only demonstrations where they fired live ammo.</p>
<p>SQ: It was my impression that after that <a href="" type="internal">incident on April 1st</a>, the Israeli soldiers were much more careful when there were internationals around, that they were not hesitant to use sound grenades, smoke bombs and tear gas, but that they held off on the live ammo because it was such bad PR for them when they hit [activist] Sharon and hospitalized her. She was an Australian, was hit in the belly, with the bullet.</p>
<p>ZK: I actually disagree. I think they’ll shoot, they won’t shoot at anyone, but they’ll shoot, and that’s enough, usually, cause the thing is, you have to make it look erratic. So for instance, when I was in Kuffim, and we organized a demonstration, first they threw sound bombs, then they threw the tear gas, and then all of a sudden this soldier came up–[makes a machine gun noise]–and just started shooting. It was over everyone’s head, but everyone’s ducking. Let me tell you, if there’s bullets flying, you’re ducking. I don’t care who you are. And that included Palestinians. People are smart enough to know–you’re getting shot at, you duck, you hit the ground. I hit the ground in a second.</p>
<p>WW3R: And is that the end of the demo?</p>
<p>ZK: After a while, yeah. Non-violence is something you can do only if you’re not going to be met by massive violence. Once you’re met with massive violence, there’s not much you can do. A good example is when the Muqata’a [Palestinian Authroity HQ] was surrounded the last time, and you had demonstrations spark up–they shot people, they shot and killed people in Tul karm,. They shot and killed people in Ramallah</p>
<p>SQ: With the exception of young Baha [Albahsh],who was killed in Nablus, I’m not aware of any Palestinians who have been shot and killed in the presence of internationals.</p>
<p>ZK: No, there haven’t been.</p>
<p>SQ: I think that’s significant.</p>
<p>ZK: I think it is significant.</p>
<p>SQ: I mean, Baha was not at a demonstration, he was walking down the road with an ISM person</p>
<p>ZK: Actually, they were standing still</p>
<p>SQ: And I believe that the Israeli who shot him made a mistake, was going against orders, because it hasn’t happened before, or since. They don’t want to be doing this with international witnesses, they’ve plenty of opportunity to do it when we’re not around.</p>
<p>ZK:I don’t think it was a mistake, and most internationals don’t interpret it that way.</p>
<p>WW3R: How do they interpret it?</p>
<p>ZK: They interpret it as a message, because of the situation of how this kid was killed. He was fourteen years old, he was standing with three clear internationals about 100 to 120 meters from this tank. In Nablus. And the internationals were asking him for directions, they had walked with him, they were asking, where is, he had pointed over in some direction, just like that, you know?</p>
<p>WW3R: I remember reading press accounts. I mean ,there was just so much activity, I don’t know if the internationals noticed what was happening. I think it was an APC, actually,</p>
<p>ZK: Yeah, an APC</p>
<p>WW3R: But is sounded, from the <a href="http://ww3report.com/52.html#palestine6" type="external">account of Ewa Jasiewics</a> that they thought he’d been deliberately targeted.</p>
<p>ZK: Yes.</p>
<p>WW3R: And that the soldiers knew who Baha was.</p>
<p>ZK: Yes, because they had seen him around, and this particular commanding officer was particularly harsh to internationals, picking them up off the street, and sending them out, as happened to one of the JATO members So basically., they’re a football field away, right? And they shoot this kid, there’s internationals maybe about two of three away on either side, right? <a href="" type="internal">The kid’s pointing, they shoot him, entering here, exiting out [points at chest] like, clear, shoot to kill.</a> All the internationals took it as a clear message. A couple of internationals had already been taken away by the army, sent to a police station, and processed. One of them went back to Britain after Baha got killed, because he was so devastated by it.</p>
<p>Yeah, I think it’s obviously not the internationals’ fault for not protecting the kid, but what it does show is that, Israel has cover. They’ve got cover.</p>
<p>SQ: Really, who outside of our activist e-mail circles even knows the story of how Baha got killed.</p>
<p>WW3R: Actually, that ended up in the Guardian, the Telegraph</p>
<p>SQ. Alright, well, outside this suffocating US media vacuum it was reported..</p>
<p>ZK: It’s interesting to see how they first reported it. First they said he was a bomber. Then they said he was throwing a Molotov cocktail. Then they said they would investigate, and that’s when it drops off the radar. I’m actually interested to see when the investigation of the shooting incident of me comes to a close</p>
<p>SQ: Yeah, right.</p>
<p>WW3R: Was Baha’s death a soldier’s decision? Is that an individual soldier’s decision?</p>
<p>ZK: I think that was actually from the regional commander; he’d been seeing us around.</p>
<p>WW3R: I thought that we could talk about JATO’s upcoming campaign.</p>
<p>SQ: The way that our perspective is frozen out in the organized Jewish majority, you know, it’s not like there’s a debate. I phoned my childhood rabbi, someone I have very good memories of. I said, I was in the West Bank, I was thinking I could come talk about what I saw–and he launched into a rant. You know, he just ranted at me for ten minutes, it was unbelievable. There was no way he was going to let me near anybody in that congregation where I had been bar mitzvahed.</p>
<p>WW3R: Zaid, how did you find your way to JATO?</p>
<p>ZK. [Laughs] That’s actually a really interesting question. I didn’t start getting active till a year ago–literally almost a year ago today. There was this Palestine Activist Forum meeting where I walked in being the one person who was not involved in activism at all. It was kind of a blank slate. I was well-read, which helps, and I also had experience, you know, of being there, so</p>
<p>One of the reasons I actually decided to actually go into Palestine activism was because I saw for the first time that Jews were active on the issue. So I saw that there’s clear chance of entering into the American consciousness. Because I’ve always said that Jews in particular in this country have the strongest voice on this issue. A lot of it has to do with the underlying racism in this country. Namely, that you can’t take a Palestinian or an Arab at his word, you know. And as I became more active, and started working more closely with these people, they developed into my friends, which is entirely kind of normal for me.</p>
<p>WW3R: So you’re saying before you met these folks you didn’t have much sense that there were anti-occupation Jews</p>
<p>ZK: I mean, I saw groups like Jews For Justice in Palestine, which published that pamphlet, but outside of a few intellectuals, I didn’t know about it. It’s entirely, entirely squashed. Not only within the overall media, and the way things are framed, but within the context of the way Arabs view this issue–which is really unfortunate. They view it through lenses that are similar to the media lenses. Namely, instead of looking at it from the standpoint of imperialism, they look at it from the standpoint of Jews controlling–you know, controlling these imperial powers. So it was that the Jews controlled Britain, the Jews control the United States.</p>
<p>WW3R: And that’s not what it is?</p>
<p>ZK. [Laughs] I mean, that’s pretty ridiculous. One thing I said to Palestinians, is “Let’s take a look at a state that has had lots of cooperation with Israel, let’s take a look at Saudi Arabia. Now, through this logic, would you extend, and say that King Fahd is a Zionist? To get the technical sense of what Zionism means, it means, Jews from around the world emigrate to Israel. Emigrate to Palestine to create a state for the Jews. I mean do you really think that King Fahd gives a shit? Do you think that George Bush really cares about Jews emigrating to Palestine? I mean, he might [Laughs]</p>
<p>SQ: I really don’t think he does. I think he cares about oil profits.</p>
<p>WW3R: We don’t know, he may be a Christian Zionist.</p>
<p>ZK: He may be. I mean, Bush is kind of on the fringe of religious fanaticism. Let’s look at Clinton, or any other administration that has supported Israel. And what you see is that you just can’t reconcile this vision of the Jews controlling everything and the overall structure of power, and the institutions that it serves ..</p>
<p>WW3R: You talked about seeing these Jews that were involved in this. I assume that meant something to you.</p>
<p>ZK: Well, I want to clarify. A lot of that has to do with restructuring my own internal biases. So for instance when I first entered conversations with people on this issue, the first thing I would do is, you know, give a whole slew of Jewish and Israeli intellectuals who argue this perspective. But I don’t necessarily agree with that, I don’t want to fall into those traps of feeding into this form of racism against Arabs. You know, there are people who are telling the truth, and it shouldn’t matter what their ethnicity was</p>
<p>SQ: I want to support that. I mean part of what helped with moving my own transformation along was a decision to read what people had to say about themselves. So I picked up “The Arabs of Israel” by Sabri Jiryis. And I started reading Palestinian poetry, et cetera. I think it’s really, really crucial to listen to people speak for themselves. That’s something JATO has made a point of. We’ll get invited to a place to speak, because we’re Jewish, and we’re pro-Palestinian, and we’ll use that as leverage, but we’ll show up with Zaid, or we’ll show up with Nihaya. And we’ll be like, OK, “Now it’s time to listen to a Palestinian, helllloooo.” So yeah, I think that’s really important.</p>
<p>THE CAMPAIGN TO END U.S. AID</p>
<p>WW3R: Let’s talk about the upcoming JATO campaign to end US aid to Israel.</p>
<p>SQ: There are a bunch of us in JATO who think that US aid is root of the problem, that without US aid to Israel there would be no occupation, because it would be unsustainable. We don’t have any illusions that we’re going to end US aid to Israel. But we think that in order to illuminate what’s really happening internationally and it’s implications for Palestinian people, it’s important to focus on US aid, and it’s important to focus on the way that the United States aid package for Israel is ultimately a subsidy package for well-placed US corporations, many of them based in Texas.</p>
<p>WW3R: Who are Israel’s defense contractors and so on?</p>
<p>SQ: Exactly.</p>
<p>WW3R: Why does JATO want to end all US aid?</p>
<p>SQ: Because ending aid would end the occupation.</p>
<p>WW3R: OK, well, what argument do you use to people who say “Well, you know, if we end all US aid to Israel they wont be able to defend themselves, and they’re under attack.”</p>
<p>SQ: They’re not under attack, they’re attacking, and they are clearly able to defend themselves. The US aid is not going to self-defense, it’s going to oppression of Palestinians. Israel has an extremely large and well-armed army that without another penny of US aid could perfectly well defend from attack.</p>
<p>ZK. I agree with everything you’re saying, but ideologically, I frame it entirely differently. Decision of where aid is going should be based on need. And Israel is the sixteenth wealthiest country in the world. They don’t need aid. They’d have a self-sustainable economy, if they didn’t spend 40% of their budget on their military, which is aggressive, like Steve was saying. People actually say, if you cut US aid, you are being anti-Semitic. There are people on the left who actually argue that. But you have to look at aid from the framework of need. Now, granted, that is not how US aid is distributed. From the PR perspective, that’s how it’s distributed, but it’s nonsense. Obvious places for need are, you know, sub-Saharan Africa. But all of sub-Saharan Africa combined doesn’t get the aid that Israel gets.</p>
<p>SQ: All of sub-Saharan Africa plus all of Latin America minus Colombia combined, does not get the aid that Israel gets. You know, take the three billion and redirect it to the global fund on AIDS–you’ll be doing something good with the money.</p>
<p>ZK: Yeah! I mean, when people say “end us aid to Israel,” the logical corollary to that is, “because they don’t need it.”</p>
<p>WW3R: The BBC ran a story this week that the IMF came out and said that Israel doesn’t need additional aid, “special aid” as it’s put, to get out of this recession, which is how it’s been billed. So, what’s JATO planning to do?</p>
<p>SQ: There’s been talk about doing some high-profiles “zaps” of pro-aid national figures. Disrupt a speech by Hillary Clinton, for instance. There’s been an idea floated of putting together a conference in Washington, of various Palestine activist groups opposed to US aid to Israel, and inviting politicians, seeing who comes, you know? We ought to see who our friends are. We don’t have a lot of them</p>
<p>WW3R: Might hear nothing but the crickets chirping</p>
<p>SQ: You know, there’s one or two congressmen who I think might show</p>
<p>WW3R: Who?</p>
<p>SQ: Maxine Waters, John Conyors., you know? It would be cool if they did, right?</p>
<p>ZK: How about that guy from Texas, Ron Paul.</p>
<p>SQ: Maybe, could happen. You know, a lot of the things JATO’s gonna do are the things that JATO has been doing all along, but just connecting it to US aid. Like we’re having a Hannukah action, we’re gonna teach you about the economic strangulation of Palestine, AND we’re gonna tell you that US aid supports all this.</p>
<p>WW3R: JATO has a different approach from SUSTAIN, right? SUSTAIN’S approach is more incremental.</p>
<p>SQ: JATO has tried to focus itself from going from just Palestine solidarity as a whole, to ,let’s just focus on US aid. SUSTAIN has gone from, the focus on US aid is too big, to let’s go after caterpillar, and when were done with them, let’s go after someone else, because it can raise awareness. But, I also get the impression from being on the No Aid to Israel listserv, which is SUSTAIN”S listserv, for SUSTAIN, ending aid to Israel is a hook on which to hang Palestine activism. And that, as individuals what they’re really about is the same thing as people in JATO and people in PAFNY and the people in Al-Awda, which is Palestine activism, and that, you know, the ending aid thing even though that seems to be in their name their raison d’etre, is a hook.</p>
<p>ZK: Personally, I want to form a SUSTAIN chapter in New York. For the very reason of addressing ending US aid in particular, to particularly non-Jewish activists, because I think there’s a void in NYC that isn’t addressed.</p>
<p>ISRAEL AND U.S. IMPERIALISM</p>
<p>WW3R: Alright, well here’s something which I’ve been trying to figure out which I’d like both of your opinions on. There’s different theories as to why the US is sinking all this money into Israel year after year after year and this you could sort of call the pork-barrel theory, that it’s about defense contractors who are making money off of the weapons sales and so on, and then there’s what you might call the Jewish conspiracy theory, which is that America is controlled by Israel, and that AIPAC is pulling the strings, and then there’s what you might call the Chomsky theory, which I’ve always bought, which is that the US needs a proxy force in the middle east as a counter-balance the Arabs. But it seems to me that since the end of the cold war, and since operation Desert Storm, that’s made a lot less sense. Because during the cold war, when Nasser was in power, and so on, the Arab world was closer to the Soviet Union, at least the radical states in the Arab world were closer to the Soviet Union. And a lot of the other states were sort of equidistant between the two powers, and there was this sense that there was a proxy force that was needed to counterbalance them. Now it’s been more than ten years, there is no more Soviet Union, and since Desert Storm, when the first Bush built this sort of new Pax Americana, and actually wooed a lot of the Arab states over into his camp. I’ve been a little bit stumped actually as to why this relationship persists. And why US imperialism still perceives Israel as a useful proxy.</p>
<p>SQ: I think that the Chomsky theory and that the pork-barrel theory are inseperable, that the ultimately it’s always been about oil profits. And what’s underlying the Chomsky theory is US craving for oil profits for a very small segment of Americans, ultimately, and I think that the end of the Cold War doesn’t impact on that need at all, that the United States and its allies continue to need an unstable, and dependent Middle East in order to continue to extract oil profits from it. A middle east in which Arab self-determination is really consolidated, they way Nasser was trying to do, would put the end to the outflow of capital from that region to this</p>
<p>WW3R: Right, but antagonizing the Arabs with this continued massive support for Israel is only going to hasten the demise of compliant regimes.</p>
<p>SQ: Well, I think the facts on the ground have not borne you out. That even as United States support for Israel has become more and more uncritical, and more and more lavish, the number of illegitmate Arab proxy states for US imperialism has increased. And the extent to which Arab ruling interest kind of kow-tow to the United States have increased. I think the sort of general level of turmoil that exists as long as this irritant is stuck in the side of the Arab nation, it is a very good thing, for, for the United States. I think that, to put it crudely, the Arabs cant get their shit together, as long as they’ve got this monster army doing the US’ bidding on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean.</p>
<p>WW3R: How is it preventing them from getting their shit together?</p>
<p>SQ: Because they’re focused on Palestine, and not on their problems.</p>
<p>WW3R: But that might actually prove a catalyst to them getting their shit together.</p>
<p>SQ: Hasn’t yet. That’s what Nasser tried to do, and he crashed and burned.</p>
<p>ZK. See, I actually disagree with your interpretation of Chomsky’s theory because if I’m correct the Soviet Union was never in the picture in his theory the whole idea was that US support for Israel is to diminish– serve as a proxy– to diminish any form of radical nationalism –the kind of virus –the spreading of the virus of independent states taking on their own initiatives.</p>
<p>WW3R: Wel,l yes, but the Soviets were encouraging that. They supported Nassar and they supported Saddam and Assad</p>
<p>SQ: Yes, but the United States also, would, supported Saddam. The United States also supported. In terms of, like for instance Nassar first went to all western Europe. First they went to the United States to buy arms.</p>
<p>WW3R: Yes</p>
<p>SQ: And this is very similar to</p>
<p>WW3R: But all that changed with ’56</p>
<p>SQ: Nicaragua, you know. Nicaragua went to everywhere but the Soviet Union to defend themselves initially. Initially. And no one would sell them anything. So it wasn’t the Soviet Union in general regard the Middle East as US territory. And they didn’t really put that much focus. Yes they armed Syria as you know, as a deterrent against Israel, but Israel was essentially put in there to be the regional bully. With the help of their local cops on the beat, Iran and Turkey.</p>
<p>ZK: And the Phalangists.</p>
<p>SQ: Well those were the colonial gendarmes of Israel. But like also Pakistan was a part of that. The thing is, is that radical nationalism has been replaced and to a large extent due to US interference with what’s now emerging as a kind of Islamic form of I guess people like to call it fundamentalism. But but it’s more or less an Islamic form of nationalism. Creating an Islamic nation. And so now this is this was fairly clear from the 80s. This kind of transition. From this cold war independent radical nationalism to now focusing on this type of Islamic nation that’s being borne out. So Israel still plays that role. Because it can now move into on one level support on another level crush it</p>
<p>WW3R: Well Israel is not going to crush Islamist uprising in Saudi Arabia or Egypt. And in fact it can serve as a provocation for such uprisings.</p>
<p>SQ: That’s true. I mean This is</p>
<p>WW3R: I mean I’m trying to figure this out myself. I’m frankly confused.</p>
<p>SQ: I don’t know if support for Israel is about maintaining credibility.</p>
<p>WW3R: Credibility of what?</p>
<p>SQ: Namely if the US changes its stance on Israel, well God knows who they’re going to change their stance on next. Israel’s like the love of the American elite. They’ve been so since ’67.</p>
<p>WW3R: Right but why has it persisted so long. That’s what I’m trying to figure out.</p>
<p>ZK: Look at the results. I mean, things are great for the United States and Egypt. You’ve got 50 million people there. Something really independent and anti-imperialist arose there. Like Nassar tried to do. That would be really bad for the US. Things are great there now; we’ve got Mubarak. He’s in firm control. It’s been that way for a couple of decades. That’s all about Israel. That’s all about all this manipulation that happened with Carter around Camp David. It’s what put Saddam, Mubarak in where they are as firmly in power as they are. I think that Israel has played a really, really useful role for the US in the region. Is the US playing a dangerous game? Sure. Could US policy spark an Islamist uprising in Saudi Arabia or Egypt? Sure, but I think that this whole package of alliances, and aid, and rivalries — the whole web the US keeps going around Israel - is what would probably cause an Islamist rebellion to fail. The power and the strength of tyrants like Mubarak and Fahd have everything to do with the US power in the region that’s centered in Israel.</p>
<p>WW3R: I see that has to do with US power because the US is certainly providing plenty of aid and petro-dollars respectively to Egypt and Saudi Arabia, but what does it have to do with Israel?</p>
<p>Zaid: What you’re really hitting on are some really important paradoxes. On one levelm it’s so weird that you’re bringing this up because these are real paradoxes that I’m not exactly sure how to reconcile. On one level you do see this kind of, things do, it can, it’s not that great for the United States and what indication’s that it’s not that great is their current plans. Their current plans of redrawing the Middle East signifies that something needs to be changed in order to further this alliance, this kind of re-alliance towards us , reliance towards us, otherwise known as obedience, more or less. And now the question is how does it fit in with Israel. And so on one level I think I’m trying to make it rational, rationalize it, but then there’s serious irrational segments of this administration that have to be looked at really carefully. So for instance this is what I was talking to you guys about before You have full infiltration of super pro-Israeli Likudnik hawks from specifically the Pentagon. They see it in terms of dual interests. For instance, JINSA– which is where a lot of these guys come from, including Dick Cheney, Richard Perle, the 2002 Henry “Scoop” Jackson award– which is the JINSA award in honor of Henry Jackson who was a US Senator back in the 60s, super pro-Israeli senator –that was given to Wolfowitz. The previous year was given to the secretaries of the three armed forces, the Air Force, the Navy, and the Army. And you know Wolfowitz was part of numerous position papers calling for regime change in Iraq. JINSA’s overall framework is guarding the security interests of the United States and Israel. And what I’m wondering is, is this ideologically driven? Does it extend beyond this rational theme of imperialism to move into this kind of irrational scheme of just, almost sheer racism and domination through racism? I mean, Henry Kissinger, when he formulated his plan of stalemate back in the 1970s, it was almost entirely based upon racism.</p>
<p>WW3R: What kind of stalemate?</p>
<p>SQ: Stalemate being that at that point Sadat was trying to basically negotiate with Israel. Calling for full withdrawal for full peace. And which was actually more than what was eventually “compromised” in the Camp David accords in ’78. But that was blocked by Kissinger . He said let’s do this process called stalemate. No peace, no negotiations, only force. And his whole entire framework was that they had nothing to fear about these Arab armies. These guys don’t know how to operate a gun. This was what the guy was saying. A lot of this actually can be found inside of “Fateful Triangle.” This disgust. I think there are frameworks of racism –there is a system of racism inside this kind of framework of thought that should be addressed that is irrational. I mean I don’t know. I really don’t know</p>
<p>SQ: I think that the US for the most part behaves very rationally in pursuit of its own imperial interests. Yes, Bush is surrounded by millennial Christian fundamentalists. But Clinton wasn’t, and he tried to, at Camp David, to lock the key in the Palestinian jail. It doesn’t mean that they’re going to succeed. So far I think that, you know, the US ruling class has been very successful in pursuing their own interests but, you know, Bismarck was very rational in pursuing German interests and ultimately failed. So yes they could misstep. Yes, there could be a disaster. But I think that at the core of their doing is just rational pursuit of greed.</p>
<p>ZK: It could really just be this same concept of stalemate playing. Yes. It could really be that. I mean, why are we insisting on regime change in Iraq? Why is it that these guys can be so outright in their statements? For instance Perle and Feith. Feith, Douglas Feith is now, he’s director of Middle East policy for the Pentagon. Why is it that they can go to the incumbent Netanyahu administration in 1996 and lay out plans that they’re implementing right now? I mean, this administration is different than the Clinton administration. It’s actually different than the previous Bush administration too. It’s much more like Reagan. And there are marginal differences, namely</p>
<p>SQ: But they’re marginal.</p>
<p>ZK: They’re marginal but the effects are not marginal. Like what they pursue in policy may be marginally different but the overall effects it can have can be fairly dramatic.</p>
<p>SQ: But don’t you think that the suffering that’s happening right now all over Palestine isn’t that, aren’t Palestinians reaping what Clinton and Barak sowed?</p>
<p>ZK: Yes. But this could only be the beginning. And that’s, I think, when you look at what these lunatics are planning, which they spelled out in ’96</p>
<p>WW3R: Which is what, ’96?</p>
<p>ZK: Yeah, ’96 when Richard Perle, Douglas Feith, David Wurmser, they were all inside of the administration on one level or another.</p>
<p>WW3R: Abrams, too?</p>
<p>ZK: No, Abrams wasn’t part of that advisory group. Abrams, Rumsfeld, bunch of other guys, Wolfowitz</p>
<p>WW3R: All right, so what did they do in ’96?</p>
<p>ZK: They were giving their advice as to what the Netanyahu administration to do. And the first thing was supporting regime change in iraq. They said, and I’m quoting,this is an important strategic asset to Israel in and of itself, because it neutralizes Syria, Syria’s territorial ambitions, meaning the return of the occupied Golan heights And also, will neutralize Iran. Michael Ledeen, who is also a contributor, came up with the concept, along with this whole entire group, envisions this concept of, what’s called, “total war’ where its not just, we must be in permanent war, and we cant lose sight of just Iraq, but, Iran and Saudi Arabia are to follow. I mean, real lunatics. And, you can just dismiss this as pure nonsense, if you’re a rational person, it does sound like nonsense. The problem is, they’re all running the show, so you have to take it seriously.</p>
<p>SQ: For me, it’s like, imagine that you drop an inkblot on very porous paper, and you watch it spread. That’s American power in the Middle East. You start with the Arabian peninsula, most of it, there were some problems in Yemen, you know, then you had Jordan, but that was kind of unstable, then you had Israel, it’s a good wedge, and over the years, the power has spread and spread and spread so now we’ve got Egypt, we hadn’t before, Syria’s no longer a problem, used to be a problem. Jordan is completely entrenched and stable now. Lebanon used to be a problem, has stopped being a problem. And now we’re gonna take care of Iraq, and just move it out, move it out, you know, we’ve got Afghanistan, so then Iran will be surrounded, so they’re next. To me, it looks to me like a progressive march of power; and it certainly doesn’t’ seem like Israel has impeded that, that US support of Israel has impeded that march at all.</p>
<p>WW3R: How has it helped?</p>
<p>SQ: That’s-I think it’s complex, and its complex in ways that I don’t fully understand. But, I think that there’s something about keeping an irritant in an area you want to control, that is useful to the empire, because as long as there’s an irritant, as long as there’s turmoil, you’re in a better position to play forces against each other.</p>
<p>ZK: also, it’s not just the Middle East region where Israel serves as a strategic client, if the US wants to do anything nefarious, particularly in South and Central America, Israel is the channel to go through. Or South Africa. When congress called for sanctions, the Reagan administration, Reagan and bush, just re-routed it thru Israel.</p>
<p>SQ: And the United States will always have a foothold. Let’s say that the inkblot theory weren’t the case. Let’s say that things go south for US imperial interests; the Saudi royal family is overthrown, Mubarek is overthrown, Abdullah is overthrown.. Israel cannot turn against the United States. A surge of Israeli nationalism only leads to a stronger alliance with the United States, it’s the opposite of every other country in the region. So, there will always, always be this strong military foothold. You know, if these calculations fail, if the attack on Iraq causes this horrible calamity for US imperial interests, well, you can pick up the pieces and start again. Start in Tel Aviv, and move on out again. We can never be shut out of the region.</p>
<p>ZK: I don’t know if this is a worry for US planners, but there’s also another scenario, I’ve forgot what its called, there’s a specific term for it, but it’s basically the madman scenario, the crazy scenario, that the US drops its support for Israel, that Israel might just nuke the world. In 1982, for instance, Saudi Arabia made a proposal, that is almost identical to the proposal they made in 2002, and Israel had a reaction to that. What they did is send a bunch of fighter jets over the Saudi peninsula. And it was a clear signal. It was a signal to specifically to the United States. Don’t-we’re not, you know, we’re running our own agenda here, and you’ve basically built up a Sparta, and it might go out of control, so you’d better stay in line. It’s kind of like the tail wagging the dog. I don’t know how significant it is, but it’s certainly a possibility.</p>
<p>SQ: There’s an interesting parallel from the cold war. That you know, it was never the Soviet Union, that dictated what Cuba did, you know, Castro would figure out something Cuba could do that would be nice for the Soviet Union, and go to Kruschev or whoever and say, now how much more are you going to give us. So, I think there is an element of that, in terms of this is not an obedient client state, but it is a strategic asset.</p>
<p>THE “APARTHEID WALL”</p>
<p>WW3R: I want to talk about the fence, because that’s part of the current ISM campaign, to focus on the fence, right?</p>
<p>ZK: The fence. My God. Alright, what you have right now, it’s just unbelievable. I mean, basically what’s happening is the construction of ghettos, in places like Qalqilya, Tul Karm, and all the adjacent villages. <a href="" type="internal">And the fence is not a fence, it’s a wall, it’s a 30 meter wall, with a sniper tower every half-kilometer.</a> Steve, you’ve seen pictures of them.</p>
<p>SQ: Your pictures of that wall freaked me out. I had no fucking idea till you showed those slides at the mosque in Long Island. You need to show those slides to EVERYBODY.</p>
<p>ZK: People try to say it’s like the Berlin Wall. It’s nothing like the Berlin Wall. It’s completely</p>
<p>SQ: It’s much bigger.</p>
<p>ZK: It’s bigger, it’s like, it’s much more, man, it’s much more Nazi-like. I swear to God, I don’t use that term loosely. I mean, they’re constructing ghettos, literal ghettos.</p>
<p>WW3R: How so?</p>
<p>ZK: I mean, so for instance, Qalqilya is surrounded 80% by this wall. And the wall’s not on the Green Line. It’s inside the West Bank. And the way they’re confiscating land, they’re not putting out the whole map of what they’re going to take. What they do is, they issue orders little by little, and simultaneously, in different areas, so all of a sudden, they just see how much they can get away with, and then they take a little more; see how much they can get away with, and then take a little more.</p>
<p>SQ: Did you know that there are American Jewish philanthropists who are financing the building of the wall in the northern West Bank, because Jews in Afula and that area have been complaining, how come they don’t get a wall? “They get a wall in Petah Tikva, how come we don’t get a wall in Afula?”</p>
<p>WW3R: Afula is where?</p>
<p>SQ: In the north, just north of Jenin, near Beit She’an</p>
<p>WW3R: I thought the intention of the wall was to completely encircle the West Bank?</p>
<p>SQ: The intention of the wall is to separate Palestinian population centers in the West Bank from Jewish population centers in Israel.</p>
<p>ZK: That’s one part of it. But it’s also to further integrate the central Samarian settlements into Israel permanently. For instance, Ariel. My uncle is a cartographer that has written a pretty extensive paper on it, and he’s expecting that they’re going to incorporate Ariel inside the wall. Ariel goes all the way past Salfit, which is 20 km inside the Green Line. But the way it’s being done is that it takes more and more. So Alfe Menashe, and Zufin–these are settlements that are around the Qalqilya area. Qalqilya marks the beginning of the central region, the “greater Samaria region”–that’s the settlement-colony term. And so what happens is when you incorporate this through this wall, what you’re essentially doing is disconnecting Palestine from Palestine, disconnecting the West Bank from itself, you’re instituting cantonization. And when you add on the way the wall’s going to be encircling population centers, like TulKarm and Qalqilya, you have the creation of a full ghetto.</p>
<p>WW3R: So this wall is not going to go in a straight line, it’s actually going to make circles around Tul Karm and Qalqilya?</p>
<p>ZK: Oh, yeah. Qalqilya is going to be encircled about 80%, like this [makes a horseshoe shape with his hands]. Jayyous, same thing. Jayyous is more extreme than Qalqilya, because Jayyous lost 70% of it’s land in 1948, so they’ve been farming on the remaining 30%, and they’re losing 90% of that, about 12,000 dunams. What’s going to be left is just the city. Now, to get to Jayyous, what you have to do is stop in a roadblock at a town called Azzoun, which is like 5-10 kilometers away, and grab a taxi. And even that’s going to be cut off. So, in other words, you can’t drive to Jayyous from anywhere in the West Bank. Like, let’s suppose you’re going to take your car starting off from Qalqilya–you wouldn’t be able to get there. You can’t even leave Qalqilya, because there’s a checkpoint. There’s no way to get out. So it’s permanent cantonization of each and every single area. This is South Africa times 20.</p>
<p>WW3R: Now why is the wall circling around it? Are there settlements on each side?</p>
<p>ZK: Yes. It’s entirely surrounded by settlements. It’s also got to do with what land they want to take. That region is the water-rich region of the West Bank. In Jayyous alone– and this is a small village, like 3,000 acres; not much, right?–there are seven water aquifers. So this is like, the water rich basin. The type of crops that grow there are amazing–you have mangoes, you have oranges, you have grapefruits</p>
<p>WW3R: So it’s no accident what they’re grabbing?</p>
<p>ZK: Oh no, it was carefully planned.</p>
<p>SQ: It also seems to increase the benefit of the wall for the Israeli demographic warriors, because you know, on the Israeli side of the wall, you have a bunch of empty land, that was Palestinian West Bank land that was confiscated to build the wall. The wall goes smack up against homes on the Palestinian side. If the wall is constructed in a way to make life in those homes unlivable, you can, to an extent, depopulate the Palestinian side, you can create that empty space on the other side too.</p>
<p>WW3R: The original intent, I think, [former Defense Minister] Ben Eliezer’s intent, was motivated by security concerns, right?</p>
<p>ZK: Yeah, and I think they’re gonna get some results from it.</p>
<p>WW3R: Well, There’s no doubt they’re going to get results from it, because there haven’t been any suicide attacks from Gaza, which is already walled.</p>
<p>ZK: Yes. Yes, that’s correct. That’s exactly what they’re doing, Gazafication of West Bank.</p>
<p>WW3R: But at the same time they’re using this fence to grab stuff.</p>
<p>ZK: Yes.</p>
<p>WW3R: Any closing thoughts?</p>
<p>SQ: What is crystal clear, I think, to an observer from the outside, is that any agreement that does not include full Israeli withdrawal from all territories occupied in 1967 will fail. And so, any Israeli politician who’s walking into talks with an idea that full withdrawal from the 1967 occupation is unacceptable, is going to walk away without an agreement.</p>
<p>ZK: Well, they might have an agreement, they just won’t have peace.</p>
<p>SQ: That’s been crystal clear since 1967.</p>
<p>WW3R: Anything else?</p>
<p>SQ: Everything that distracts from an analysis of imperialism and of corporate manipulation of state policy is ultimately barking up the wrong tree while the dirty work carries on.</p>
<p>ZK: Do you think if the organized Jewish community took an anti-racist stance with regards to US policy in Israel, do you think they could maintain the same level of support that they have now?</p>
<p>SQ: I think that JATO can drive a wedge. What’s stopping a lot of Americans, Jewish and not Jewish from taking an anti-imperialist stance or anti-racist stance is accusations of anti-Semitism. I think that does play a role in public opinion, and I think we can short -circuit that. When we did our report-back at Union Theological Seminary someone said, “You know I get accused of anti-Semitism by my Jewish friend when I want to talk about this.” I turned to him and said, “Use us as cover.” You know? Don’t let them cow you. People need to hear that.</p>
<p>Bill Weinberg and David Bloom are co-editors of the e-weekly War on Terror news compendium <a href="http://www.ww3report.com/" type="external">World War 3 Report</a>. They can be reached at <a href="mailto:feedback@worldwar3report.com" type="external">feedback@worldwar3report.com</a>.</p>
<p>Jews Against the Occupation can be reached at <a href="mailto:jatonyc@yahoo.com" type="external">jatonyc@yahoo.com</a></p>
<p>SUSTAIN NYC can be reached through Zaid Khalil: <a href="mailto:zaidkhalil@yahoo.com" type="external">zaidkhalil@yahoo.com</a>.</p>
<p>The International Solidarity Movement can be reached at <a href="mailto:huwaida@palsolidarity.org" type="external">huwaida@palsolidarity.org</a>.</p> | true | 4 | editors world war 3 report talk two palestine solidarity activists steve quester jews occupation zaid khalil stop us taxfunded aid israel sustain groups calls full right return palestinian refugees end us aid israel quester khalil talk entry solidarity work experiences palestine international solidarity movement challenges currently facing palestine activism ww3r lets start backgrounds get point point b come folks zk name zaid khalil im american national palestinian ethnicity describe way palestine sovereign state born us culturally im american anything else whatever means born south jersey god help fairly racist town ive occupied palestine six times recently got back oct 17 two month trip ive twice year ww3r six times whole life zk yeah first time went 86 went back 88 went back 92 98 apr 02 operation defensive shield aug 17 oct 17 ww3r parents zk parents born village called almazraa ashsharqiya 13 km northeast ramallah mother granted american citizenship grandfather came united states 1913 fought first world war united states gained citizenship went back married mom born mother father married emigrated 1957 ww3r wouldnt call palestinianamerican zk well reason identify way really want people understand go im american instance go checkpoint hand american passport im allowed pass gun sights sniper im palestinian way look ww3r palestinians zk palestinians im neither one level im american culturally share characteristics americans another level people identify palestinian instance notice quickly im able form relationships people west bank like really quickly sq remember people always asking minute started speaking arabic even though american accent ok wanted know almazraa ashsharqiya like needed place palestinian context localize didnt care us ww3r many times back since current intifada began zk together two half months first period april cant measured days would say awake almost equivalent month second trip incredibly dangerous crazy awake time whereas second period different mean much institutionalized oppression much depressing opinion ww3r would reoccupation began june zk yeah mean occupation always occupied 35 years palestinians call inside 1948 occupied since 1948 palestinians still refer israel much occupied territory also recognize israel time ww3r say know israel mean exactly zk americanisrael lexicon people talk recognizing israel state recognizing existence israel palestinians cant help know israel exists face every day israel exists refer people israelis actually refer people jews palestinians dont usually use term israelis thats also israelis identify jews pretty horrific really think number one judaism religion existed three thousand years zionism theyve coopted judaism put side tanks know symbol jews star david side tanks f16s ww3r sometimes without flag star right zk yeah theyll graffiti literally graffiti way imagine nazis graffitiing swastika ww3r graffitying walls stuff zk yeah instance went demolished whole entire social structure ngos ministries like health education defecated floors trashed whole entire place looted would put star david mirror lipstick ww3r using using star symbol zk power dominance mean cant escape palestinians say israel exists say exists reality mind complete narcissist would people constantly question time collective memory palestine erased actually much formed zionist movement turkish period know certain amount autonomy people allegiances local whole idea nation state devastating effect ww3r steve tell background sq im jewish raised notveryreligious reform household liberal zionist politics zionist thing strong one took ball decided run know chose spend summers junior senior years high school israel spent year college two years college story political life throughout adult teenage years trying reconcile antiracist antiimperialist world view supposed think jew middle east took long time work used think traitor thinking things thought palestine im way ww3r think sq 20s started looking around really thinking stuff reading meeting palestinians talking ww3r say took zionism ran zionism meant define sq well jews owed loyalty israel jews automatically connection israel good thing jews emigrate israelthats mean gon na considering army whole nine yards ww3r decisive turning point sq everyone wants know big turning point decisive turning point gradual process many years ww3r youve said gay led deal margins israel drifted towards arab groups student talk sq well think queer think different take conformity youre supposed supposed know automatic natural befriend palestinian dorm floor hebrew university ww3r unusual sq yeah think ww3r say palestinian mean palestinian israeli sq yeah ww3r hebrew university supposed pretty tolerant place sq yeah sure tolerant tolerate arabs laughs ww3r happened current intifada broke would say politically point sq oh completely snapped ran bought palestinian lapel pin wear thats focus changed peace dialogue solidarity yknow theres like horrible thing happening millions defenseless people people conscience solidarity israel obviously enemy ww3r say solidarity means terms choosing sides sq yeah ive chosen sides absolutely ww3r alright solidarity necessarily mutually exclusive dialogue sq know two years college lived israel dialogue volunteer interns peace encounters israeli palestinians israeli jews primarily children youth learned lot acquired lot good skills terms moving forward agenda liberation fucking waste time know lets talk reconciliation liberation time know ww3r would liberation require sq complete withdrawal israeli forces west bank including east jerusalem gaza strip unconditional right return palestinian wants time start talking reconciliation still deep horrible wounds never get back lost half century ww3r support anything goes palestinian liberation struggle sq ww3r draw line sq know struggle palestine since beginning zionism always targeting civilians zionism nature targets civilians removal civilian population replacement militarized colonial population draw line targeting civilians much much smaller phenomenon among palestinians among israelis palestinians desperate acts desperate people case justified justifiable case move forward kind agenda liberation think suicide bombers sharons best friend zk little bit fuzzy mean biggest fundamental problem iswhat settlers constitute civilians question ok dont constitute civilians take view less paramilitarywhat kids justify indiscriminate killing sq dont thats wrong side line drew know dont support untargeted attacks settlements per se dont think moves forward agenda palestinian liberation ww3r well zaids saying mean settlements serve military bases surveillance occupy heights theres armed settler militia right november hebron attack killed along soldiers sq absolutely point infiltrating settlement walking home opening fire anyone get gun trained even theyre adults roomi dont see either justifiable practical terms end theyre trying achieve know main concern main concern israeli oppression israeli imperialism way us uses israel interests middle east im one whose going decide palestinians going liberate im going decide american jew going stand palestinians im going strap bombs walk mall tel aviv alright focus needs ww3r zaid somewhere disagree zk well necessarily disagree think basically theres two ways justifyingnot necessarily justifying understandingattacks civilians youre going armed struggle moral perspective tactical perspective ok question ww3r zk well general go realm armed struggle morals go window take entirely pacifist stance say killing anyone immoral ok agree certain degree take stance judge based tactics one things see tactically attacks civilians inside israel doesnt work mean generates fear fear necessarily thing want generate one level tactically acts deterrent certain extent needs level deterrence settlers publicly subsidized live places publicly subsidized fully armed backed fourth powerful military world needs level deterrent ww3r hasnt pattern thats followed attacks israel proper well settlements zk thats right part reason settlements difficult penetrate colonial fortresses sit top mountains theyre entirely ringed perimeter sniper towers soldiers best equipment american dollars pay dont settlements like gilo jerusalem settlements easily penetrated going jerusalem palestinians easy ive done two three times myselfgone jerusalem without travel checkpoint ww3r want avoid checkpoint zk think going different cab fares know like sudden youre qalandia someone says know taxi jerusalem youre like well alright sq went around qalandia checkpoint get mizra ashsharqiyyah ramallah interesting go stone quarry also sweet got ride ramallah know alternative travel way israelis want travel get ride checkpoint wait linea rather long time sunyou subject authority state go get another car ww3r put considerable risk though sq know whatever laughs mean wanted minimize risk would stayed dont agree minute chose armed struggle morality dont think anything immoral taking aim soldier occupying soldier walking street armed settler walking street shooting dont think theres anything immoral zk take extreme pacifist point view forms violence military settlers wrong point view soldiers legitimate targets would strong argument attacking colonists feel sufficient justification attacking adult colonists sq think telling principled pacifists people live life way people like quakers christian peacemaker teams extremely active palestinian struggle know like youre pacifist dont start deciding people deserve human rights cause theyre pacifists thats works ww3r youre asked well going stand solidarity people theyre going blowing civilians israelhow respond sq human rights reward good behavior zk say first thing palestinians actually support suicide bombings many consider morally deplorable also harmful whole struggle get wide spectrum side spectrum people say things like neither ethics tradition disqualify terrorism means combat first foremost terrorism us part political battle conducted present circumstances great part play war occupier quote yitzak shamir 1943 later became israeli prime minister occupier referring british facilitated zionist colonial enterprise settlements statehood imagine level contempt indigenous population ww3r killed swedish diplomat zk yeah killed swedish diplomat bernadotte sq interesting thing stern gang shamirs group last people history referred terrorists term existed since french revolution till point primarily term people applied world war two decades later became term one applies enemy one wants delegitimize jato ism ww3r nutshell jato sq jato group really smart jews take uncompromisingly antiracist antiimperialist stand towards struggle palestine stand solidarity freedom palestinians ww3r demands goals sq right return total withdrawal 67 territories restoration full human civil rights sides green line end economic attacks palestine end muddling confusion antisemitism antizionism ww3r ism sq international solidarity movement palestinianled coalition invites internationals come palestine nonviolent direct action alongside palestinian activists ww3r become involved sq april someone first august december campaigns came spoke founding meeting palestine activist forum new york thrilled sounded like smart idea good fit ww3r long sq april week august three weeks planning spend next summer im going spend sabbatical year 2004 ww3r come away time sq know occupation looks like idea like live occupation know like visit occupation really scary horrible ive gotten chance sit talk palestinians occupation including people support attacks israeli civilians able start understand people coming ww3r rationale sq know didnt really pick away people didnt really interrogate lot people talk matter factly know wearing martyr picture around neck pendants brother killed operation netanya know like operation war someone internal jato reportback summer nine us came back said look whatever say bombings whatever stance mysterious happen ww3r meaning sq military occupation length time severity historically unprecedented surprising palestinian civilians arent flinging tanks point people continue go amazing going go anymore get totally get ww3r hope could accomplish going think could make difference sq yeah thought could thought would afford protection palestinians immediately around time thats true thats limited know limited ones actual presence something felt could help make nonviolent resistance possible nonviolent resistance systematically crushed israeli military decades succeeded little bit little bit ww3r ism helpful way helps palestinians conduct nonviolence sq little bit think ism helpful morale get emails saying theyve reoccupied nablus please come back know feel abandoned completely abandoned world think important see internationals willing put line least little time ww3r zaid think zk kind interesting see coming different perspectives thought certain degree could help last trip really solidified basic fact palestinian comes im walking street theres tank 200 meters away im palestinian question whats effectiveness terms protecting people wasnt effective ww3r tell youre palestinian zk yeah right face ww3r internationals general international activists palestine zk think lot things good lot things steve addressed far raising morale probably important thing come people go directly experience kind changes relationship regards struggle makes intrinsic part theyve seen eyes something wont forget come back really place matters talk work try build solidarity think thats one kind thing havent worked well enough kind strange met activists different parts united states palestine united states thats something really need start working activism sq think terms moving palestinian liberation forward important thing volunteering ism one back know even primarily talking people already sympathetic palestinian struggle think speaking showing images relating experiences great deal strengthen movement strengthen peoples resolve keep struggling credibility ww3r terms nonviolent action palestinian side see internationals helpful zk theoretically yes every demonstration ive taken part hasnt israelis theyve opened fire usinternationals palestinians ww3r many internationals hit zk people hit shrapnel ive hit shrapnel m16 bullet thing dont necessarily need hit people need send message gon na hit mean tear gas usually sufficient let tell 2030 cans tear gas aint gon na stand ww3r youve demonstrations theyve fired live ammo internationals zk oh yeah mean ive internationalonly demonstrations fired live ammo sq impression incident april 1st israeli soldiers much careful internationals around hesitant use sound grenades smoke bombs tear gas held live ammo bad pr hit activist sharon hospitalized australian hit belly bullet zk actually disagree think theyll shoot wont shoot anyone theyll shoot thats enough usually cause thing make look erratic instance kuffim organized demonstration first threw sound bombs threw tear gas sudden soldier came upmakes machine gun noiseand started shooting everyones head everyones ducking let tell theres bullets flying youre ducking dont care included palestinians people smart enough knowyoure getting shot duck hit ground hit ground second ww3r end demo zk yeah nonviolence something youre going met massive violence youre met massive violence theres much good example muqataa palestinian authroity hq surrounded last time demonstrations spark upthey shot people shot killed people tul karm shot killed people ramallah sq exception young baha albahshwho killed nablus im aware palestinians shot killed presence internationals zk havent sq think thats significant zk think significant sq mean baha demonstration walking road ism person zk actually standing still sq believe israeli shot made mistake going orders hasnt happened since dont want international witnesses theyve plenty opportunity around zki dont think mistake internationals dont interpret way ww3r interpret zk interpret message situation kid killed fourteen years old standing three clear internationals 100 120 meters tank nablus internationals asking directions walked asking pointed direction like know ww3r remember reading press accounts mean much activity dont know internationals noticed happening think apc actually zk yeah apc ww3r sounded account ewa jasiewics thought hed deliberately targeted zk yes ww3r soldiers knew baha zk yes seen around particular commanding officer particularly harsh internationals picking street sending happened one jato members basically theyre football field away right shoot kid theres internationals maybe two three away either side right kids pointing shoot entering exiting points chest like clear shoot kill internationals took clear message couple internationals already taken away army sent police station processed one went back britain baha got killed devastated yeah think obviously internationals fault protecting kid show israel cover theyve got cover sq really outside activist email circles even knows story baha got killed ww3r actually ended guardian telegraph sq alright well outside suffocating us media vacuum reported zk interesting see first reported first said bomber said throwing molotov cocktail said would investigate thats drops radar im actually interested see investigation shooting incident comes close sq yeah right ww3r bahas death soldiers decision individual soldiers decision zk think actually regional commander hed seeing us around ww3r thought could talk jatos upcoming campaign sq way perspective frozen organized jewish majority know like theres debate phoned childhood rabbi someone good memories said west bank thinking could come talk sawand launched rant know ranted ten minutes unbelievable way going let near anybody congregation bar mitzvahed ww3r zaid find way jato zk laughs thats actually really interesting question didnt start getting active till year agoliterally almost year ago today palestine activist forum meeting walked one person involved activism kind blank slate wellread helps also experience know one reasons actually decided actually go palestine activism saw first time jews active issue saw theres clear chance entering american consciousness ive always said jews particular country strongest voice issue lot underlying racism country namely cant take palestinian arab word know became active started working closely people developed friends entirely kind normal ww3r youre saying met folks didnt much sense antioccupation jews zk mean saw groups like jews justice palestine published pamphlet outside intellectuals didnt know entirely entirely squashed within overall media way things framed within context way arabs view issuewhich really unfortunate view lenses similar media lenses namely instead looking standpoint imperialism look standpoint jews controllingyou know controlling imperial powers jews controlled britain jews control united states ww3r thats zk laughs mean thats pretty ridiculous one thing said palestinians lets take look state lots cooperation israel lets take look saudi arabia logic would extend say king fahd zionist get technical sense zionism means means jews around world emigrate israel emigrate palestine create state jews mean really think king fahd gives shit think george bush really cares jews emigrating palestine mean might laughs sq really dont think think cares oil profits ww3r dont know may christian zionist zk may mean bush kind fringe religious fanaticism lets look clinton administration supported israel see cant reconcile vision jews controlling everything overall structure power institutions serves ww3r talked seeing jews involved assume meant something zk well want clarify lot restructuring internal biases instance first entered conversations people issue first thing would know give whole slew jewish israeli intellectuals argue perspective dont necessarily agree dont want fall traps feeding form racism arabs know people telling truth shouldnt matter ethnicity sq want support mean part helped moving transformation along decision read people say picked arabs israel sabri jiryis started reading palestinian poetry et cetera think really really crucial listen people speak thats something jato made point well get invited place speak jewish propalestinian well use leverage well show zaid well show nihaya well like ok time listen palestinian helllloooo yeah think thats really important campaign end us aid ww3r lets talk upcoming jato campaign end us aid israel sq bunch us jato think us aid root problem without us aid israel would occupation would unsustainable dont illusions going end us aid israel think order illuminate whats really happening internationally implications palestinian people important focus us aid important focus way united states aid package israel ultimately subsidy package wellplaced us corporations many based texas ww3r israels defense contractors sq exactly ww3r jato want end us aid sq ending aid would end occupation ww3r ok well argument use people say well know end us aid israel wont able defend theyre attack sq theyre attack theyre attacking clearly able defend us aid going selfdefense going oppression palestinians israel extremely large wellarmed army without another penny us aid could perfectly well defend attack zk agree everything youre saying ideologically frame entirely differently decision aid going based need israel sixteenth wealthiest country world dont need aid theyd selfsustainable economy didnt spend 40 budget military aggressive like steve saying people actually say cut us aid antisemitic people left actually argue look aid framework need granted us aid distributed pr perspective thats distributed nonsense obvious places need know subsaharan africa subsaharan africa combined doesnt get aid israel gets sq subsaharan africa plus latin america minus colombia combined get aid israel gets know take three billion redirect global fund aidsyoull something good money zk yeah mean people say end us aid israel logical corollary dont need ww3r bbc ran story week imf came said israel doesnt need additional aid special aid put get recession billed whats jato planning sq theres talk highprofiles zaps proaid national figures disrupt speech hillary clinton instance theres idea floated putting together conference washington various palestine activist groups opposed us aid israel inviting politicians seeing comes know ought see friends dont lot ww3r might hear nothing crickets chirping sq know theres one two congressmen think might show ww3r sq maxine waters john conyors know would cool right zk guy texas ron paul sq maybe could happen know lot things jatos gon na things jato along connecting us aid like hannukah action gon na teach economic strangulation palestine gon na tell us aid supports ww3r jato different approach sustain right sustains approach incremental sq jato tried focus going palestine solidarity whole lets focus us aid sustain gone focus us aid big lets go caterpillar done lets go someone else raise awareness also get impression aid israel listserv sustains listserv sustain ending aid israel hook hang palestine activism individuals theyre really thing people jato people pafny people alawda palestine activism know ending aid thing even though seems name raison detre hook zk personally want form sustain chapter new york reason addressing ending us aid particular particularly nonjewish activists think theres void nyc isnt addressed israel us imperialism ww3r alright well heres something ive trying figure id like opinions theres different theories us sinking money israel year year year could sort call porkbarrel theory defense contractors making money weapons sales theres might call jewish conspiracy theory america controlled israel aipac pulling strings theres might call chomsky theory ive always bought us needs proxy force middle east counterbalance arabs seems since end cold war since operation desert storm thats made lot less sense cold war nasser power arab world closer soviet union least radical states arab world closer soviet union lot states sort equidistant two powers sense proxy force needed counterbalance ten years soviet union since desert storm first bush built sort new pax americana actually wooed lot arab states camp ive little bit stumped actually relationship persists us imperialism still perceives israel useful proxy sq think chomsky theory porkbarrel theory inseperable ultimately always oil profits whats underlying chomsky theory us craving oil profits small segment americans ultimately think end cold war doesnt impact need united states allies continue need unstable dependent middle east order continue extract oil profits middle east arab selfdetermination really consolidated way nasser trying would put end outflow capital region ww3r right antagonizing arabs continued massive support israel going hasten demise compliant regimes sq well think facts ground borne even united states support israel become uncritical lavish number illegitmate arab proxy states us imperialism increased extent arab ruling interest kind kowtow united states increased think sort general level turmoil exists long irritant stuck side arab nation good thing united states think put crudely arabs cant get shit together long theyve got monster army us bidding eastern shore mediterranean ww3r preventing getting shit together sq theyre focused palestine problems ww3r might actually prove catalyst getting shit together sq hasnt yet thats nasser tried crashed burned zk see actually disagree interpretation chomskys theory im correct soviet union never picture theory whole idea us support israel diminish serve proxy diminish form radical nationalism kind virus spreading virus independent states taking initiatives ww3r well yes soviets encouraging supported nassar supported saddam assad sq yes united states also would supported saddam united states also supported terms like instance nassar first went western europe first went united states buy arms ww3r yes sq similar ww3r changed 56 sq nicaragua know nicaragua went everywhere soviet union defend initially initially one would sell anything wasnt soviet union general regard middle east us territory didnt really put much focus yes armed syria know deterrent israel israel essentially put regional bully help local cops beat iran turkey zk phalangists sq well colonial gendarmes israel like also pakistan part thing radical nationalism replaced large extent due us interference whats emerging kind islamic form guess people like call fundamentalism less islamic form nationalism creating islamic nation fairly clear 80s kind transition cold war independent radical nationalism focusing type islamic nation thats borne israel still plays role move one level support another level crush ww3r well israel going crush islamist uprising saudi arabia egypt fact serve provocation uprisings sq thats true mean ww3r mean im trying figure im frankly confused sq dont know support israel maintaining credibility ww3r credibility sq namely us changes stance israel well god knows theyre going change stance next israels like love american elite theyve since 67 ww3r right persisted long thats im trying figure zk look results mean things great united states egypt youve got 50 million people something really independent antiimperialist arose like nassar tried would really bad us things great weve got mubarak hes firm control way couple decades thats israel thats manipulation happened carter around camp david put saddam mubarak firmly power think israel played really really useful role us region us playing dangerous game sure could us policy spark islamist uprising saudi arabia egypt sure think whole package alliances aid rivalries whole web us keeps going around israel would probably cause islamist rebellion fail power strength tyrants like mubarak fahd everything us power region thats centered israel ww3r see us power us certainly providing plenty aid petrodollars respectively egypt saudi arabia israel zaid youre really hitting really important paradoxes one levelm weird youre bringing real paradoxes im exactly sure reconcile one level see kind things great united states indications great current plans current plans redrawing middle east signifies something needs changed order alliance kind realliance towards us reliance towards us otherwise known obedience less question fit israel one level think im trying make rational rationalize theres serious irrational segments administration looked really carefully instance talking guys full infiltration super proisraeli likudnik hawks specifically pentagon see terms dual interests instance jinsa lot guys come including dick cheney richard perle 2002 henry scoop jackson award jinsa award honor henry jackson us senator back 60s super proisraeli senator given wolfowitz previous year given secretaries three armed forces air force navy army know wolfowitz part numerous position papers calling regime change iraq jinsas overall framework guarding security interests united states israel im wondering ideologically driven extend beyond rational theme imperialism move kind irrational scheme almost sheer racism domination racism mean henry kissinger formulated plan stalemate back 1970s almost entirely based upon racism ww3r kind stalemate sq stalemate point sadat trying basically negotiate israel calling full withdrawal full peace actually eventually compromised camp david accords 78 blocked kissinger said lets process called stalemate peace negotiations force whole entire framework nothing fear arab armies guys dont know operate gun guy saying lot actually found inside fateful triangle disgust think frameworks racism system racism inside kind framework thought addressed irrational mean dont know really dont know sq think us part behaves rationally pursuit imperial interests yes bush surrounded millennial christian fundamentalists clinton wasnt tried camp david lock key palestinian jail doesnt mean theyre going succeed far think know us ruling class successful pursuing interests know bismarck rational pursuing german interests ultimately failed yes could misstep yes could disaster think core rational pursuit greed zk could really concept stalemate playing yes could really mean insisting regime change iraq guys outright statements instance perle feith feith douglas feith hes director middle east policy pentagon go incumbent netanyahu administration 1996 lay plans theyre implementing right mean administration different clinton administration actually different previous bush administration much like reagan marginal differences namely sq theyre marginal zk theyre marginal effects marginal like pursue policy may marginally different overall effects fairly dramatic sq dont think suffering thats happening right palestine isnt arent palestinians reaping clinton barak sowed zk yes could beginning thats think look lunatics planning spelled 96 ww3r 96 zk yeah 96 richard perle douglas feith david wurmser inside administration one level another ww3r abrams zk abrams wasnt part advisory group abrams rumsfeld bunch guys wolfowitz ww3r right 96 zk giving advice netanyahu administration first thing supporting regime change iraq said im quotingthis important strategic asset israel neutralizes syria syrias territorial ambitions meaning return occupied golan heights also neutralize iran michael ledeen also contributor came concept along whole entire group envisions concept whats called total war must permanent war cant lose sight iraq iran saudi arabia follow mean real lunatics dismiss pure nonsense youre rational person sound like nonsense problem theyre running show take seriously sq like imagine drop inkblot porous paper watch spread thats american power middle east start arabian peninsula problems yemen know jordan kind unstable israel good wedge years power spread spread spread weve got egypt hadnt syrias longer problem used problem jordan completely entrenched stable lebanon used problem stopped problem gon na take care iraq move move know weve got afghanistan iran surrounded theyre next looks like progressive march power certainly doesnt seem like israel impeded us support israel impeded march ww3r helped sq thatsi think complex complex ways dont fully understand think theres something keeping irritant area want control useful empire long theres irritant long theres turmoil youre better position play forces zk also middle east region israel serves strategic client us wants anything nefarious particularly south central america israel channel go south africa congress called sanctions reagan administration reagan bush rerouted thru israel sq united states always foothold lets say inkblot theory werent case lets say things go south us imperial interests saudi royal family overthrown mubarek overthrown abdullah overthrown israel turn united states surge israeli nationalism leads stronger alliance united states opposite every country region always always strong military foothold know calculations fail attack iraq causes horrible calamity us imperial interests well pick pieces start start tel aviv move never shut region zk dont know worry us planners theres also another scenario ive forgot called theres specific term basically madman scenario crazy scenario us drops support israel israel might nuke world 1982 instance saudi arabia made proposal almost identical proposal made 2002 israel reaction send bunch fighter jets saudi peninsula clear signal signal specifically united states dontwere know running agenda youve basically built sparta might go control youd better stay line kind like tail wagging dog dont know significant certainly possibility sq theres interesting parallel cold war know never soviet union dictated cuba know castro would figure something cuba could would nice soviet union go kruschev whoever say much going give us think element terms obedient client state strategic asset apartheid wall ww3r want talk fence thats part current ism campaign focus fence right zk fence god alright right unbelievable mean basically whats happening construction ghettos places like qalqilya tul karm adjacent villages fence fence wall 30 meter wall sniper tower every halfkilometer steve youve seen pictures sq pictures wall freaked fucking idea till showed slides mosque long island need show slides everybody zk people try say like berlin wall nothing like berlin wall completely sq much bigger zk bigger like much man much nazilike swear god dont use term loosely mean theyre constructing ghettos literal ghettos ww3r zk mean instance qalqilya surrounded 80 wall walls green line inside west bank way theyre confiscating land theyre putting whole map theyre going take issue orders little little simultaneously different areas sudden see much get away take little see much get away take little sq know american jewish philanthropists financing building wall northern west bank jews afula area complaining come dont get wall get wall petah tikva come dont get wall afula ww3r afula sq north north jenin near beit shean ww3r thought intention wall completely encircle west bank sq intention wall separate palestinian population centers west bank jewish population centers israel zk thats one part also integrate central samarian settlements israel permanently instance ariel uncle cartographer written pretty extensive paper hes expecting theyre going incorporate ariel inside wall ariel goes way past salfit 20 km inside green line way done takes alfe menashe zufinthese settlements around qalqilya area qalqilya marks beginning central region greater samaria regionthats settlementcolony term happens incorporate wall youre essentially disconnecting palestine palestine disconnecting west bank youre instituting cantonization add way walls going encircling population centers like tulkarm qalqilya creation full ghetto ww3r wall going go straight line actually going make circles around tul karm qalqilya zk oh yeah qalqilya going encircled 80 like makes horseshoe shape hands jayyous thing jayyous extreme qalqilya jayyous lost 70 land 1948 theyve farming remaining 30 theyre losing 90 12000 dunams whats going left city get jayyous stop roadblock town called azzoun like 510 kilometers away grab taxi even thats going cut words cant drive jayyous anywhere west bank like lets suppose youre going take car starting qalqilyayou wouldnt able get cant even leave qalqilya theres checkpoint theres way get permanent cantonization every single area south africa times 20 ww3r wall circling around settlements side zk yes entirely surrounded settlements also got land want take region waterrich region west bank jayyous alone small village like 3000 acres much rightthere seven water aquifers like water rich basin type crops grow amazingyou mangoes oranges grapefruits ww3r accident theyre grabbing zk oh carefully planned sq also seems increase benefit wall israeli demographic warriors know israeli side wall bunch empty land palestinian west bank land confiscated build wall wall goes smack homes palestinian side wall constructed way make life homes unlivable extent depopulate palestinian side create empty space side ww3r original intent think former defense minister ben eliezers intent motivated security concerns right zk yeah think theyre gon na get results ww3r well theres doubt theyre going get results havent suicide attacks gaza already walled zk yes yes thats correct thats exactly theyre gazafication west bank ww3r time theyre using fence grab stuff zk yes ww3r closing thoughts sq crystal clear think observer outside agreement include full israeli withdrawal territories occupied 1967 fail israeli politician whos walking talks idea full withdrawal 1967 occupation unacceptable going walk away without agreement zk well might agreement wont peace sq thats crystal clear since 1967 ww3r anything else sq everything distracts analysis imperialism corporate manipulation state policy ultimately barking wrong tree dirty work carries zk think organized jewish community took antiracist stance regards us policy israel think could maintain level support sq think jato drive wedge whats stopping lot americans jewish jewish taking antiimperialist stance antiracist stance accusations antisemitism think play role public opinion think short circuit reportback union theological seminary someone said know get accused antisemitism jewish friend want talk turned said use us cover know dont let cow people need hear bill weinberg david bloom coeditors eweekly war terror news compendium world war 3 report reached feedbackworldwar3reportcom jews occupation reached jatonycyahoocom sustain nyc reached zaid khalil zaidkhalilyahoocom international solidarity movement reached huwaidapalsolidarityorg | 5,599 |
<p>&lt;a href="http://www.matteichphoto.com/splash"&gt;Matt Eich&lt;/a&gt;/Luceo</p>
<p>Nothing frightened Kenneth Jones more than the prospect of his first real date. He prepped for it like a court appearance, saving up for a black button-down shirt and for a salon treatment to tame his spiky locks and paint his nails with intricate black-and-gray swirls. He still remembers those last anxious teenage moments. “A lot of mirror time,” he recalls. “Tons of mirror time.”</p>
<p>He needed this to go well. As a gay foster child in Washington, DC, Kenneth spent most of his weekends alone. By the summer of 2009, the isolation had gotten so bad that he’d started calling his cell-phone carrier’s help line with imaginary complaints, just so he could vent to somebody about something. He would even text himself encouraging messages, like “Good job,” or “Damn you so strong.”</p>
<p>He needn’t have worried. Kenneth and his date took an afternoon swim, made out during <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1046173/" type="external">G.I. Joe</a>, and finished the evening at <a href="http://www.chipotle.com/en-US/Default.aspx?type=default" type="external">Chipotle</a>. More dates followed. After a few weeks, taking his new boyfriend home seemed like the natural next step. And so it was that James, Kenneth’s foster father, returned to the apartment one night to find the boys talking and laughing in the front room. The introductions immediately turned into what Kenneth calls a “life-or-death situation.”</p>
<p>James wasn’t blind to his foster son’s sexuality. The young man was decidedly out—preaching tolerance at school assemblies, appearing on teen panels, and advocating gay pride in rainbow pamphlets. He even showed up to court hearings wearing lipstick. Privately, though, James dismissed all of it as a phase. And Kenneth, to avoid rocking the boat, had downplayed his sexuality at home—until now.</p>
<p>When James—a retired demolition worker with missing front teeth and a heavyweight’s body—saw Kenneth with his date, he grew livid. “What are you doing bringing a boy into my house?” he screamed, according to Kenneth. He ordered them out, but the boy stood his ground. James got up in his face. “I’ll kick your asses,” he threatened. Taking him at his word, the couple fled, with James chasing them down the stairs and out the door. The boyfriend called 911.</p>
<p>One of the responding police officers wrote up the incident as a “family disturbance” related to Kenneth’s sexual orientation. James evicted him then and there. With the cops in tow, Kenneth stuffed some clothes into a bag and split. For a few nights, he squatted at his godmother’s apartment, but it wasn’t a permanent option. “I just thought, ‘God, I really fucked up,'” he recalls. “It felt like I lost everything.”</p>
<p>Kenneth’s mother died when he was seven. His care fell to a succession of family members, who shunned him when he came out of the closet at 15.Across the nation, social workers and children’s advocates have their own Kenneth stories—the gay youth in <a href="http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2009-10-06/story/jacksonvilles_lgbt_youth_in_crisis_have_people_who_help" type="external">Jacksonville, Florida</a>, who tore through 48 placements in four years; the lesbian teen in Connecticut who made a pinky promise with her social worker to “not be gay.” The changes in mainstream attitudes that have made life easier for gay adults in recent years have also made it easier for gay teens to come out of the closet. But that doesn’t mean foster parents and child-welfare agencies have kept pace with the times. Kids “question their sexual orientation more” nowadays, says <a href="http://www.jasmyn.org/staff.asp" type="external">Cindy Watson</a>, who directs a center for gay youth in Jacksonville. “That’s a dangerous place to be. And the system is not a safe place.”</p>
<p>According to the <a href="http://www.abanet.org/child/ABA%20LGBTQ%20Text_REV5.pdf" type="external">American Bar Association’s 2008 guidebook</a> (PDF) for child-welfare lawyers and judges, virtually all lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning kids in group homes had reported verbal harassment; 70 percent had been subjected to violence; and 78 percent had either run away or been removed from a foster placement for reasons related to their sexuality. “They are the one population thrown out of their home because of who they are,” says <a href="http://garymallon.com/" type="external">Gerald P. Mallon</a>, a professor at New York’s <a href="http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/socwork/" type="external">Hunter College School of Social Work</a>.</p>
<p>Kenneth’s biological family was a near-constant source of pain and instability. Born in 1990 to a schizophrenic, drug-addicted mother, he was brought up by his maternal aunt and her boyfriend—James. When Kenneth was seven, his mother died, followed by his aunt three years later. His care fell to a succession of family members, who shunned him when he came out of the closet at 15. Cousins stole his “too feminine” clothes. For a time, he was sent to live with another aunt, who threatened to pull a gun on him and told him he needed to get “scarred up.”</p>
<p>When Kenneth was 16, a family-court judge moved him to a group home, where the other kids taunted and harassed him. Fearing for Kenneth’s safety, the judge ordered the city to give him his own room. School was worse: He was jumped repeatedly. Even after the final bell, kids would throw rocks at him on his way to the bus. School administrators ended up sequestering him in a guidance office for meaningless independent study, and—after Kenneth’s legal advocates fought to get him back in class—hired a bodyguard to trail him. James, meanwhile, enrolled in foster-parenting classes in a bid to regain custody. Kenneth moved in with him in June 2008, and the court made it official that September. James, after all, was the most consistent parent that Kenneth, by then 18, had ever known.</p>
<p>Then came the boyfriend skirmish. After several days, Kenneth returned to James, who apologized. Kenneth warily accepted, but their trust was broken. Two months later, James brought up a rumor he’d heard—that Kenneth had been prostituting himself. This provocative bit of gossip led to another blowout, more threats, and a second police visit. Kenneth refused to stay any longer. As a ward of the district until the age of 21, Kenneth had access to a team consisting of a judge, lawyers, mentors, therapists, and social workers. In theory, he also had access to foster care, but none of his advocates could find him a suitable home.</p>
<p>You’d think placing Kenneth would be relatively easy. He had decent grades and no criminal record. He spent his weekend nights doing chores, and loved to show off his spotless stove or the 17th redesign of his tiny bedroom. Although he struggled with a mood disorder, he’d learned to keep it in check. But what people saw first were his lipstick, his painted nails—his sexual orientation. “I’m just really worried about where we place you,” the judge said at one hearing. “I don’t know that there’s a perfect place.”</p>
<p>The crisis facing gay foster kids hasn’t gone entirely unnoticed. The <a href="http://www.cwla.org/pubs/pubdetails.asp?PUBID=0951" type="external">Child Welfare League of America</a> publishes guidelines on the subject for social workers, and several states have taken baby steps: California passed a <a href="http://www.f2f.ca.gov/res/pdf/AB458FactSheet.pdf" type="external">foster-care nondiscrimination law</a> (PDF); New Jersey has established “safe zones” for gay youth; and Illinois, Connecticut, and New York have hired dedicated staffers to help them. But child-welfare agencies are only as good as their foster families—and many foster families refuse to take a gay child. <a href="http://www.jaxboyshome.org/Contact.php" type="external">Jerry Walters</a>, vice president for foster-care services with the Jacksonville-based <a href="http://www.jaxboyshome.org/index.htm" type="external">Boys’ Home Association</a>, says his organization recently surveyed its 246 families and found only 21 who were willing to accept a gay teenager. Attorneys <a href="http://www.lawyersforchildren.org/handbooks/GLBTQ-Interior.pdf" type="external">Linda Diaz and Kristin Kimmel</a> (PDF)—who run a project focusing on gay issues for the nonprofit <a href="http://www.lawyersforchildren.org/" type="external">Lawyers for Children Inc.</a>—told me that openly gay kids in New York are typically put into group homes instead of foster care. In New Orleans, gay teenagers deemed “ungovernable” by their biological families sometimes end up in juvenile hall.</p>
<p>Even Connecticut—which works closely with <a href="http://www.ourtruecolors.org" type="external">True Colors</a>, a nonprofit dedicated to helping gay kids in the system—has a heck of a time finding them a home. They tend to “have lots of other issues,” explains <a href="http://www.cpbn.org/profile/robin-mchaelen" type="external">Robin McHaelen</a>, executive director of True Colors. “They’re not cute little Matthew Shepard kids.”</p>
<p>Last June, a Bridgeport church called <a href="http://manifestedgloryministries.com/" type="external">Manifested Glory Ministries</a> made headlines after performing an <a href="http://www.courant.com/topic/ktla-gay-exorcism,0,2434218,full.story" type="external">exorcism on a gay 16-year-old</a>. In a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhedHERfcXk&amp;feature=PlayList&amp;p=F1B4759764927367&amp;playnext_from=PL&amp;playnext=1&amp;index=26%20and%20http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s29tDh21GGg&amp;feature=related%20and%20http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/25/gay-exorcism-video-manife_n_221155.html" type="external">YouTube</a> clip, one preacher can be seen holding the teen to the floor by his neck while another one screams for the “homosexual demon” to “get out in the name of Jesus!” The boy writhes, squirms, and vomits. It turned out his biological family—which True Colors staffer <a href="http://www.ourtruecolors.org/Press-Room/in-the-news.html" type="external">Kamora Herrington</a> calls “as at-risk as it gets”—was on file with Connecticut’s <a href="http://www.ct.gov/dcf/site/default.asp" type="external">Department of Children and Families</a> for alleged child neglect. Yet the boy remains at home. David Brennan, a DCF staffer who previously served as a resource coordinator for gay teens, told me he fielded two to three calls a week from kids in equally desperate situations—some of them also underwent exorcisms. But he just couldn’t place them.</p>
<p>“I’m just really worried about where we place you,” one family-court judge told Kenneth.Recruiting more gay and lesbian adults as foster parents is one option, but cash-strapped child-welfare agencies have done a poor job of reaching out—and legislation like Florida’s ban on gay adoptions hasn’t helped. Religious interests have also targeted efforts to support gay foster teens. The <a href="http://www.ctfamily.org/" type="external">Family Institute of Connecticut</a>, after failing in its bid to stop gay marriage in the state, threatened to sue if DCF didn’t remove gay-friendly religious links from its website. The group claimed the links violated the First Amendment’s establishment clause, and the state agency caved. But the institute’s motives clearly went beyond constitutional purity. “They are mentoring kids in ways that are not in the children’s best interest,” its executive director, <a href="http://www.ctfamily.org/staff.html" type="external">Peter Wolfgang</a>, told me. The children “need to be helped, not confused further.”</p>
<p>Kenneth just needed a roof over his head. Last November, DC’s child welfare agency found him a temporary home, but the foster mother, who shared a small house with her teenage daughter, treated him as an afterthought. Kenneth got locked out on several nights because the mom refused to give him a key. She also told him that being gay was his choice, and he would have to suffer the consequences. When they argued, she mocked his high voice and flamboyant gestures. She said she couldn’t wait for him to move out. Kenneth lasted about a week.</p>
<p>When the social workers finally moved him into an independent-living facility, Kenneth was relieved. Having his own space meant he could hide out from the other system kids who were “throwing shade”—tormenting him. He couldn’t hide in his room forever, though. After the New Year, he settled on the solution—a sex change. He’d been considering it for a year and had enrolled in the required counseling sessions at a local clinic, but only now could he articulate his reason for wanting to reboot his identity: He would be safer as a woman. “I’m getting really tired,” Kenneth explains. “I don’t have no other options left.”</p> | true | 4 | lta hrefhttpwwwmatteichphotocomsplashgtmatt eichltagtluceo nothing frightened kenneth jones prospect first real date prepped like court appearance saving black buttondown shirt salon treatment tame spiky locks paint nails intricate blackandgray swirls still remembers last anxious teenage moments lot mirror time recalls tons mirror time needed go well gay foster child washington dc kenneth spent weekends alone summer 2009 isolation gotten bad hed started calling cellphone carriers help line imaginary complaints could vent somebody something would even text encouraging messages like good job damn strong neednt worried kenneth date took afternoon swim made gi joe finished evening chipotle dates followed weeks taking new boyfriend home seemed like natural next step james kenneths foster father returned apartment one night find boys talking laughing front room introductions immediately turned kenneth calls lifeordeath situation james wasnt blind foster sons sexuality young man decidedly outpreaching tolerance school assemblies appearing teen panels advocating gay pride rainbow pamphlets even showed court hearings wearing lipstick privately though james dismissed phase kenneth avoid rocking boat downplayed sexuality homeuntil jamesa retired demolition worker missing front teeth heavyweights bodysaw kenneth date grew livid bringing boy house screamed according kenneth ordered boy stood ground james got face ill kick asses threatened taking word couple fled james chasing stairs door boyfriend called 911 one responding police officers wrote incident family disturbance related kenneths sexual orientation james evicted cops tow kenneth stuffed clothes bag split nights squatted godmothers apartment wasnt permanent option thought god really fucked recalls felt like lost everything kenneths mother died seven care fell succession family members shunned came closet 15across nation social workers childrens advocates kenneth storiesthe gay youth jacksonville florida tore 48 placements four years lesbian teen connecticut made pinky promise social worker gay changes mainstream attitudes made life easier gay adults recent years also made easier gay teens come closet doesnt mean foster parents childwelfare agencies kept pace times kids question sexual orientation nowadays says cindy watson directs center gay youth jacksonville thats dangerous place system safe place according american bar associations 2008 guidebook pdf childwelfare lawyers judges virtually lesbian gay bisexual transgender questioning kids group homes reported verbal harassment 70 percent subjected violence 78 percent either run away removed foster placement reasons related sexuality one population thrown home says gerald p mallon professor new yorks hunter college school social work kenneths biological family nearconstant source pain instability born 1990 schizophrenic drugaddicted mother brought maternal aunt boyfriendjames kenneth seven mother died followed aunt three years later care fell succession family members shunned came closet 15 cousins stole feminine clothes time sent live another aunt threatened pull gun told needed get scarred kenneth 16 familycourt judge moved group home kids taunted harassed fearing kenneths safety judge ordered city give room school worse jumped repeatedly even final bell kids would throw rocks way bus school administrators ended sequestering guidance office meaningless independent study andafter kenneths legal advocates fought get back classhired bodyguard trail james meanwhile enrolled fosterparenting classes bid regain custody kenneth moved june 2008 court made official september james consistent parent kenneth 18 ever known came boyfriend skirmish several days kenneth returned james apologized kenneth warily accepted trust broken two months later james brought rumor hed heardthat kenneth prostituting provocative bit gossip led another blowout threats second police visit kenneth refused stay longer ward district age 21 kenneth access team consisting judge lawyers mentors therapists social workers theory also access foster care none advocates could find suitable home youd think placing kenneth would relatively easy decent grades criminal record spent weekend nights chores loved show spotless stove 17th redesign tiny bedroom although struggled mood disorder hed learned keep check people saw first lipstick painted nailshis sexual orientation im really worried place judge said one hearing dont know theres perfect place crisis facing gay foster kids hasnt gone entirely unnoticed child welfare league america publishes guidelines subject social workers several states taken baby steps california passed fostercare nondiscrimination law pdf new jersey established safe zones gay youth illinois connecticut new york hired dedicated staffers help childwelfare agencies good foster familiesand many foster families refuse take gay child jerry walters vice president fostercare services jacksonvillebased boys home association says organization recently surveyed 246 families found 21 willing accept gay teenager attorneys linda diaz kristin kimmel pdfwho run project focusing gay issues nonprofit lawyers children inctold openly gay kids new york typically put group homes instead foster care new orleans gay teenagers deemed ungovernable biological families sometimes end juvenile hall even connecticutwhich works closely true colors nonprofit dedicated helping gay kids systemhas heck time finding home tend lots issues explains robin mchaelen executive director true colors theyre cute little matthew shepard kids last june bridgeport church called manifested glory ministries made headlines performing exorcism gay 16yearold youtube clip one preacher seen holding teen floor neck another one screams homosexual demon get name jesus boy writhes squirms vomits turned biological familywhich true colors staffer kamora herrington calls atrisk getswas file connecticuts department children families alleged child neglect yet boy remains home david brennan dcf staffer previously served resource coordinator gay teens told fielded two three calls week kids equally desperate situationssome also underwent exorcisms couldnt place im really worried place one familycourt judge told kennethrecruiting gay lesbian adults foster parents one option cashstrapped childwelfare agencies done poor job reaching outand legislation like floridas ban gay adoptions hasnt helped religious interests also targeted efforts support gay foster teens family institute connecticut failing bid stop gay marriage state threatened sue dcf didnt remove gayfriendly religious links website group claimed links violated first amendments establishment clause state agency caved institutes motives clearly went beyond constitutional purity mentoring kids ways childrens best interest executive director peter wolfgang told children need helped confused kenneth needed roof head last november dcs child welfare agency found temporary home foster mother shared small house teenage daughter treated afterthought kenneth got locked several nights mom refused give key also told gay choice would suffer consequences argued mocked high voice flamboyant gestures said couldnt wait move kenneth lasted week social workers finally moved independentliving facility kenneth relieved space meant could hide system kids throwing shadetormenting couldnt hide room forever though new year settled solutiona sex change hed considering year enrolled required counseling sessions local clinic could articulate reason wanting reboot identity would safer woman im getting really tired kenneth explains dont options left | 1,048 |
<p>As baby boomers lay down their weary tunes and fantasize communal psychedelic retirement yurts, while actually destined for nursing homes reeking of urine, &#160;several new generations have taken take the stage. Indulge me while I generalize about these interlopers; bristling with six packs, fussed-over hair and an encyclopaedic knowledge of pop lyrics, now giving the world a make over, one step at a time. &#160;Fabulous food, cheap travel (for now), reality TV, A-list porn stars, activism lite … and so much more. And yet:</p>
<p>• The natural world is disappearing.</p>
<p>• “Free world” governments are devolving into police states.</p>
<p>• Nations which claim to carry the torch of freedom are still wreaking havoc in the lands they occupy against the majority will of their inhabitants.</p>
<p>• US Senators and Congressmen have collectively reaped over &#160;$196 million from stocks they own in war related industries.</p>
<p>• The five permanent members of the UN security council are the world’s five biggest arms dealers.</p>
<p>• All the international laws, treaties, conventions, protocols, etc, that have been created since the United Kingdom’s hard won Bill of Rights in 1688, including the outlawing of torture, the targeting of civilians, the use of disgusting weapons, etc, right up to the UN’s latest resolution to “eliminate future sexual exploitation and abuse in United Nations peacekeeping operations”, are now honored more in their breach than the observance.</p>
<p>In short, despite all the eco heroes and an explosion of creative artists and innovators, these are dangerous and disgusting times, with much of its horror kept hidden. Murdoch’s News Corp is a propaganda machine; while the Sydney Morning Herald is merely pragmatic, “But the reality is we are selling newspapers”, notes its boss Brian McCarthy, “Iraq to me now is a boring subject on page one.” Yep, nothing more boring than the plight of 5 million Iraqis displaced by our invasion, half of whom are trapped abroad without rights, struggling for their next crust. “Those who are unable to flee the country”, notes an Iraqi journalist, “are now in a queue, waiting their turn to die.” But in the Herald editor’s nook, it’s still a yawn.</p>
<p>Hold on – let’s open the newspaper’s online issue and check the promoted stories: 1) Pamela Anderson’s “bitch fight” with Jessica Simpson, 2) Glamorous teenager wins this year’s Australia’s Next Top Model final, 3) Twins on the way for Hollywood star Angelina Jolie, who is, alas, “not expected to give birth immediately.” &#160;This is not news. It is not journalism, it is not even entertainment. It is a virus known as infantilization, which shields us from uncomfortable truths and panders to consumer narcissism. Infantilization exalts the trivial, laces it with brothel slang, then adds a dash of Hollywood and a heap of misinformation, serving it up as a vital scoop.</p>
<p>According to academic Benjamin Barber, this disease is “affiliated with an ideology of privatization, the marketing of brands, and a homogenization of taste”. &#160;It works to sustain our unsustainable consumer capitalism at the “expense of both civility and civilisation and at a growing risk to capitalism itself”. While capitalism once contributed “marginally to democracy, responsibility and citizenship”, according to Barber, he believes today’s version is allied with vices that undermine democracy. And let’s add that it undermines the eco system. &#160;As Mike Davis wonders, “to what kind of future are we being led by savage, fanatical capitalism?”</p>
<p>For a start, the rights of citizens are being stripped away, with barely a murmur from the media or any concerted direct action. Maybe the NSW Government will finally trigger rebellion with its bizarre attempt to stifle protests at the World &#160;Catholic Youth Day soon to engulf Sydney. Police are empowered to arrest and fine those who annoy the pilgrims, display provocative slogans or hand out condoms. At least these powers are temporary. When it comes to the permanent dismantling of human rights safeguards by Western states, the re-introduction of torture and even the massacre of civilians, both the media and the masses seem to shrug it off.</p>
<p>Rupert Murdoch seems partial to an authoritarian warrior state. His Wall Street Journal was so enraged by the decision of the US Supreme Court in the case of Boumediene v. Bush, which upheld the principle of Habeas Corpus in relation to the kidnapped inmates of Guantanamo Bay, that it launched a vicious attack on the presiding Judge. This is classic Murdoch character assassination. Judge Kennedy was excoriated for his “willfulness”, lack of modesty, his usurpation of war making power. (Yes, look whose talking). The Journal claimed that all Guantanamo prisoners were guilty of “trying to kill Americans”, whereas most were hapless victims of hysteria and bounty hunting. The editorial expressed “confident horror that more Americans are likely to die as a result” of the court’s ruling on human rights, whereas it is the barbarous treatment of the inmates that escalates the resolve of America’s enemies. Murdoch World saw the ruling as akin to the court signing a “suicide pact” with terrorists.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the unwarranted intrusions into daily life roll on like an avalanche. It may interest those enthralled by Sex in the City and turned off by savagery in Baghdad, that for several years, officials have been searching and seizing laptops, digital cameras, cell phones and other electronic devices belonging to passengers arriving at US borders No-one quite knows why. ”I assume they just copy everything,” moaned one freelance journalist whose laptop was confiscated.</p>
<p>Is this a taste of the future? Random acts of discourtesy and plunder on the ground, greed and torture at the apex of the pyramid? When we embrace the consumer society, with all its distractions, luxury and fun, we need to ponder the hidden traps. Where will the era of opulence and excessive waste take us? How can we transcend peak oil, peak water, relentless misinformation and nuclear build up? By routing the real enemies of freedom and restoration, of course. For this to be effective, new cohorts need break out of infantilized media cocoons and re-assert direct action. The UK environmental network Plane Stupid was set up to protest Heathrow airport’s planned third runway, and, according to The Guardian, it has no official leader or formal hierarchy, or media figurehead, which hasn’t stopped the staging of illegal protests. A condition of membership is a willingness “to get nicked”. Mass civil disobedience is on the agenda.</p>
<p>Perhaps we are heading to a time when many more will leap out of the high chair, gliding gracefully into targeted direct action, watched amiably by addled boomers sinking into the midnight.</p>
<p>RICHARD NEVILLE has been around a while. He lives in Australia, the land that formed him. In the Sixties he raised hell in London and published Oz. He can be reached through his bracing websites, <a href="http://www.homepagedaily.com/" type="external">http://www.homepagedaily.com/</a> and <a href="http://www.richardneville.com.au/" type="external">http://www.richardneville.com.au/</a></p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | baby boomers lay weary tunes fantasize communal psychedelic retirement yurts actually destined nursing homes reeking urine 160several new generations taken take stage indulge generalize interlopers bristling six packs fussedover hair encyclopaedic knowledge pop lyrics giving world make one step time 160fabulous food cheap travel reality tv alist porn stars activism lite much yet natural world disappearing free world governments devolving police states nations claim carry torch freedom still wreaking havoc lands occupy majority inhabitants us senators congressmen collectively reaped 160196 million stocks war related industries five permanent members un security council worlds five biggest arms dealers international laws treaties conventions protocols etc created since united kingdoms hard bill rights 1688 including outlawing torture targeting civilians use disgusting weapons etc right uns latest resolution eliminate future sexual exploitation abuse united nations peacekeeping operations honored breach observance short despite eco heroes explosion creative artists innovators dangerous disgusting times much horror kept hidden murdochs news corp propaganda machine sydney morning herald merely pragmatic reality selling newspapers notes boss brian mccarthy iraq boring subject page one yep nothing boring plight 5 million iraqis displaced invasion half trapped abroad without rights struggling next crust unable flee country notes iraqi journalist queue waiting turn die herald editors nook still yawn hold lets open newspapers online issue check promoted stories 1 pamela andersons bitch fight jessica simpson 2 glamorous teenager wins years australias next top model final 3 twins way hollywood star angelina jolie alas expected give birth immediately 160this news journalism even entertainment virus known infantilization shields us uncomfortable truths panders consumer narcissism infantilization exalts trivial laces brothel slang adds dash hollywood heap misinformation serving vital scoop according academic benjamin barber disease affiliated ideology privatization marketing brands homogenization taste 160it works sustain unsustainable consumer capitalism expense civility civilisation growing risk capitalism capitalism contributed marginally democracy responsibility citizenship according barber believes todays version allied vices undermine democracy lets add undermines eco system 160as mike davis wonders kind future led savage fanatical capitalism start rights citizens stripped away barely murmur media concerted direct action maybe nsw government finally trigger rebellion bizarre attempt stifle protests world 160catholic youth day soon engulf sydney police empowered arrest fine annoy pilgrims display provocative slogans hand condoms least powers temporary comes permanent dismantling human rights safeguards western states reintroduction torture even massacre civilians media masses seem shrug rupert murdoch seems partial authoritarian warrior state wall street journal enraged decision us supreme court case boumediene v bush upheld principle habeas corpus relation kidnapped inmates guantanamo bay launched vicious attack presiding judge classic murdoch character assassination judge kennedy excoriated willfulness lack modesty usurpation war making power yes look whose talking journal claimed guantanamo prisoners guilty trying kill americans whereas hapless victims hysteria bounty hunting editorial expressed confident horror americans likely die result courts ruling human rights whereas barbarous treatment inmates escalates resolve americas enemies murdoch world saw ruling akin court signing suicide pact terrorists meanwhile unwarranted intrusions daily life roll like avalanche may interest enthralled sex city turned savagery baghdad several years officials searching seizing laptops digital cameras cell phones electronic devices belonging passengers arriving us borders noone quite knows assume copy everything moaned one freelance journalist whose laptop confiscated taste future random acts discourtesy plunder ground greed torture apex pyramid embrace consumer society distractions luxury fun need ponder hidden traps era opulence excessive waste take us transcend peak oil peak water relentless misinformation nuclear build routing real enemies freedom restoration course effective new cohorts need break infantilized media cocoons reassert direct action uk environmental network plane stupid set protest heathrow airports planned third runway according guardian official leader formal hierarchy media figurehead hasnt stopped staging illegal protests condition membership willingness get nicked mass civil disobedience agenda perhaps heading time many leap high chair gliding gracefully targeted direct action watched amiably addled boomers sinking midnight richard neville around lives australia land formed sixties raised hell london published oz reached bracing websites httpwwwhomepagedailycom httpwwwrichardnevillecomau 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 | 655 |
<p>By Jeff Larson and Mike Tigas, ProPublicaThis piece originally ran on <a href="http://www.propublica.org/article/leaked-docs-show-spyware-used-to-snoop-on-u.s.-computers" type="external">ProPublica</a>.</p>
<p>Software created by the controversial U.K. based Gamma Group International was used to spy on computers that appear to be located in the United States, the U.K., Germany, Russia, Iran and Bahrain, according to a leaked trove of documents analyzed by ProPublica.</p>
<p>It’s not clear whether the surveillance was conducted by governments or private entities. Customer email addresses in the collection appeared to belong to a German surveillance company, an independent consultant in Dubai, the Bosnian and Hungarian Intelligence services, a Dutch law enforcement officer and the Qatari government.</p>
<p>The leaked files —&#160;which were <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/Anarchism/comments/2cjlop/gamma_international_leaked/" type="external">posted online</a> by hackers —&#160;are the latest in a series of revelations about how state actors including repressive regimes have used Gamma’s software to spy on dissidents, journalists and activist groups.</p>
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<p>The documents, leaked last Saturday, could not be readily verified, but experts told ProPublica they believed them to be genuine. “I think it’s highly unlikely that it’s a fake,” said Morgan Marquis-Bore, a security researcher who while at The Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto had analyzed Gamma Group’s software and who authored an <a href="https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2014/08/07/leaked-files-german-spy-company-helped-bahrain-track-arab-spring-protesters/" type="external">article about the leak</a> on Thursday.</p>
<p>The documents confirm many details that have already been reported about Gamma, such as that its tools were used to spy on Bahraini activists. Some documents in the trove contain metadata tied to e-mail addresses of several Gamma employees. Bill Marczak, another Gamma Group expert at the Citizen Lab, said that several dates in the documents correspond to publicly known events —&#160;such as the day that a particular Bahraini activist was hacked.</p>
<p>Gamma has not commented publicly on the authenticity of the documents. A phone number listed on a Gamma Group website was disconnected. Gamma Group did not respond to email requests for comment.</p>
<p>The leaked files contain more 40 gigabytes of confidential technical material including software code, internal memos, strategy reports and user guides on how to <a href="http://www.propublica.org/documents/item/1264115-012012-ffportfolio-final.html" type="external">use Gamma Group software suite called FinFisher</a>. FinFisher enables customers to monitor secure web traffic, Skype calls, webcams, and personal files. It is installed as malware on targets’ computers and cell phones.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/propublica/projects/finfisher/FinFisher_Price_list_2014_v201312161.xlsx" type="external">price list included</a> in the trove lists a license of the software at almost $4 million.</p>
<p>The documents reveal that <a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/propublica/projects/finfisher/Read+This.txt" type="external">Gamma uses technology</a> from a French company called Vupen Security that sells <a href="http://www.vupen.com/english/services/lea-index.php" type="external">so-called computer ‘exploits.’</a></p>
<p>Exploits include techniques called “zero days,” for “popular software like Microsoft Office, Internet Explorer, Adobe Acrobat Reader, and many more.”Zero days are exploits that have not yet been detected by the software maker and therefore are not blocked.</p>
<p>Vupen has said publicly that it only sells its exploits to governments, but Gamma may have no such scruples. “Gamma is an independent company that is not bound to any country, governmental organisation, etc.,” says one file in the Gamma Group’s material. At least one Gamma customer listed in the materials is a private security company.</p>
<p>Vupen didn’t respond to a request for comment.</p>
<p>Many of Gamma’s product brochures have previously been published by the <a href="http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052970203611404577044192607407780" type="external">Wall Street Journal</a> and <a href="https://wikileaks.org/" type="external">Wikileaks</a>, but the latest trove shows how the products are getting more sophisticated.</p>
<p>In one document, engineers at Gamma tested a product called FinSpy, which inserts malware onto a user’s machine, and found that it could not be blocked by <a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/propublica/projects/finfisher/Anti-Virus-Results-FinSpy-PC-4.51.xlsm" type="external">most antivirus software</a>.</p>
<p>Documents also reveal that <a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/propublica/projects/finfisher/finspy.html" type="external">Gamma had been working to bypass</a> encryption tools including a mobile phone encryption app, Silent Circle, and were able to bypass the protection given by hard-drive encryption products <a href="http://www.propublica.org/documents/item/1264116-finfisher-internal-newsletter-jul-2011.html#document/p5/a170859" type="external">TrueCrypt and Microsoft’s Bitlocker.</a></p>
<p>Mike Janke the CEO of Silent Circle said in an email “We have serious doubts about if they were going to be successful” in <a href="https://blog.silentcircle.com/news-from-the-world-of-government-spyware/" type="external">circumventing the phone software</a>, and that they were working on bulletproofing their app.</p>
<p>Microsoft did not respond to a request for comment.</p>
<p>The documents also describe a “country-wide” surveillance product called <a href="http://www.propublica.org/documents/item/1264114-012012-10fflyisp-final.html" type="external">FinFly ISP</a> which promises customers the ability to intercept internet traffic and masquerade as ordinary websites in order to install malware on a target’s computer.</p>
<p>The most recent date-stamp found in the documents is August 2nd, which coincides with the first tweet by a parody Twitter account, <a href="https://twitter.com/gammagrouppr" type="external">@GammaGroupPR,</a> which first announced the hack, and may be run by the hacker or hackers responsible for the leak.</p>
<p>On Reddit, a user called PhineasFisher claimed responsibility for the leak. “Two years ago their software was found being widely used by governments in the middle east, especially Bahrain, to hack and spy on the computers and phones of journalists and dissidents,” the user wrote. The name on the @GammaGroupPR Twitter account is also “Phineas Fisher.”</p>
<p>GammaGroup, the surveillance company whose documents were released, is no stranger to the spotlight. The security firm <a href="http://www.f-secure.com/weblog/archives/00002114.html" type="external">F-Secure first reported</a> the purchase of FinFisher software by the Egyptian State Security agency in 2011. In 2012, <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-25/cyber-attacks-on-activists-traced-to-finfisher-spyware-of-gamma.html" type="external">Bloomberg News</a> and <a href="http://citizenlab.org/2012/07/from-bahrain-with-love-finfishers-spy-kit-exposed/" type="external">The Citizen Lab</a> showed how the company’s malware was used to target activists in Bahrain.</p>
<p>In 2013, the software company <a href="http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-05/1/firefox-brand-imitation-sue" type="external">Mozilla sent a cease-and-desist letter</a> to the company after a report by The Citizen Lab showed that a spyware-infected version of the Firefox browser manufactured by Gamma was being used to spy on Malaysian activists.</p>
<p>Senior reporter Julia Angwin and Jonathan Stray, special to ProPublica, contributed to this report.</p>
<p /> | true | 4 | jeff larson mike tigas propublicathis piece originally ran propublica software created controversial uk based gamma group international used spy computers appear located united states uk germany russia iran bahrain according leaked trove documents analyzed propublica clear whether surveillance conducted governments private entities customer email addresses collection appeared belong german surveillance company independent consultant dubai bosnian hungarian intelligence services dutch law enforcement officer qatari government leaked files 160which posted online hackers 160are latest series revelations state actors including repressive regimes used gammas software spy dissidents journalists activist groups documents leaked last saturday could readily verified experts told propublica believed genuine think highly unlikely fake said morgan marquisbore security researcher citizen lab university toronto analyzed gamma groups software authored article leak thursday documents confirm many details already reported gamma tools used spy bahraini activists documents trove contain metadata tied email addresses several gamma employees bill marczak another gamma group expert citizen lab said several dates documents correspond publicly known events 160such day particular bahraini activist hacked gamma commented publicly authenticity documents phone number listed gamma group website disconnected gamma group respond email requests comment leaked files contain 40 gigabytes confidential technical material including software code internal memos strategy reports user guides use gamma group software suite called finfisher finfisher enables customers monitor secure web traffic skype calls webcams personal files installed malware targets computers cell phones price list included trove lists license software almost 4 million documents reveal gamma uses technology french company called vupen security sells socalled computer exploits exploits include techniques called zero days popular software like microsoft office internet explorer adobe acrobat reader many morezero days exploits yet detected software maker therefore blocked vupen said publicly sells exploits governments gamma may scruples gamma independent company bound country governmental organisation etc says one file gamma groups material least one gamma customer listed materials private security company vupen didnt respond request comment many gammas product brochures previously published wall street journal wikileaks latest trove shows products getting sophisticated one document engineers gamma tested product called finspy inserts malware onto users machine found could blocked antivirus software documents also reveal gamma working bypass encryption tools including mobile phone encryption app silent circle able bypass protection given harddrive encryption products truecrypt microsofts bitlocker mike janke ceo silent circle said email serious doubts going successful circumventing phone software working bulletproofing app microsoft respond request comment documents also describe countrywide surveillance product called finfly isp promises customers ability intercept internet traffic masquerade ordinary websites order install malware targets computer recent datestamp found documents august 2nd coincides first tweet parody twitter account gammagrouppr first announced hack may run hacker hackers responsible leak reddit user called phineasfisher claimed responsibility leak two years ago software found widely used governments middle east especially bahrain hack spy computers phones journalists dissidents user wrote name gammagrouppr twitter account also phineas fisher gammagroup surveillance company whose documents released stranger spotlight security firm fsecure first reported purchase finfisher software egyptian state security agency 2011 2012 bloomberg news citizen lab showed companys malware used target activists bahrain 2013 software company mozilla sent ceaseanddesist letter company report citizen lab showed spywareinfected version firefox browser manufactured gamma used spy malaysian activists senior reporter julia angwin jonathan stray special propublica contributed report | 535 |
<p>The Eiffel Tower is illuminated in red, white and blue in honor of the victims of the Paris terror attacks.Tolga Akmen/London News Pictures via Zuma Wire</p>
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<p>Update, 11/16/15, 10:20 am: European authorities <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/17/world/europe/paris-terror-attack.html?hp&amp;action=click&amp;pgtype=Homepage&amp;clickSource=story-heading&amp;module=span-ab-top-region&amp;region=top-news&amp;WT.nav=top-news&amp;_r=0" type="external">mounted more than 160 raids</a> in France and Belgium on Monday, detaining at least 23 people. Among other suspects, French police are hunting Salah Abdesalam, a 26-year-old Belgian-born French citizen, who authorities believe took part in Friday’s attacks. Abdesalam’s brother, Brahim, was one of the suicide bombers who blew himself up during the attack.</p>
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<p>On Sunday, French fighter planes bombed ISIS stronghold in Syria, Raqqa. In response to the air strikes, which were carried out with targeting information provided by the United States, the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/islamic-state-threatens-to-attack-washington_5649d815e4b08cda34898214" type="external">Islamic State warned</a> in a new video that it would attack Washington. Speaking at the G-20 summit on Monday, President Obama ruled out putting troops on the ground in Syria to counter ISIS.</p>
<p>Update, 11/15/15, 9:45 am: A <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/16/world/europe/paris-terror-attack.html?action=click&amp;pgtype=Homepage&amp;clickSource=story-heading&amp;module=span-abc-region&amp;region=span-abc-region&amp;WT.nav=span-abc-region&amp;_r=0" type="external">manhunt is underway</a> for a possible eighth attacker who may have escaped following the the 3-hour siege of Paris on Friday night. Meanwhile, French authorities have <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/french-police-detain-7-for-questioning-in-paris-siegethe-latest-from-paris/2015/11/15/7600c208-8b38-11e5-bd91-d385b244482f_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-high_paris-blurb-desktoponly%3Ahomepage%2Fstory" type="external">taken seven people into custody</a>, all of them the relatives of Ismaël Omar Mostefaï, the 29-year-old French citizen identified as one of the suicide bombers. Authorities say that another assailant, who also died in the attack, had a Syrian passport and entered Europe via Greece with the wave of migrants. According to the New York Times, at least 10 arrests have been made in Belgium in connection with the terrorist attacks.</p>
<p>Update, 11/14/15, 7:00 am: ISIS <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/15/world/europe/isis-claims-responsibility-for-paris-attacks-calling-them-miracles.html?_r=0" type="external">has taken credit</a> for the attacks in Paris that killed at least 127 people, the New York Times reports. French President François Hollande has called the attacks “an act of war that was prepared, organized and planned from abroad, with complicity from the inside.”</p>
<p>Update, 11/14/15, 1:00 am: French officials say eight attackers have been killed, many by their own suicide devices. The Paris prosecutor’s office warns that some perpetrators could still be at large, according to <a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/article/8feaaafd1a294a73ae715ae4d760f787/latest-least-26-dead-paris-shootings-and-bombings" type="external">the Associated Press</a>. Earlier tonight, the White House released a summary of President Obama’s phone conversation with French President Francois Hollande:</p>
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<p>Update, 11/13/15, 9:00 pm: The French cabinet <a href="http://www.elysee.fr/communiques-de-presse/article/communique-a-l-issue-du-conseil-des-ministres" type="external">released a statement</a> laying out its powers under the state of emergency declared on Friday evening. In addition to reinstating border checks, the government “allow the arrest of any person whose activity is dangerous, the temporary closure of theaters and meeting rooms, the surrender of weapons and the ability to carry out administrative searches.” The government has also deployed 1,500 soldiers to aid police. The city of Paris had already announced that <a href="https://twitter.com/Paris/status/665337486151913472" type="external">most public facilities will be closed tomorrow</a>. Demonstrations and other street events are also suspended until further notice.</p>
<p>Update, 11/13/15, 8:47 pm: The AFP wire service has released a map of the alleged locations of all seven attacks that took place on Friday. Previously only four locations had been confirmed: the Stade de France, the Bataclan concert hall, the Les Halles shopping center, and the La Petite Cambodge restaurant.</p>
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<p>Update, 11/13/15, 8:25 pm: Speaking at the Bataclan theater where more than 100 were killed tonight, President Hollande promised a “pitiless” response to Friday’s acts of terror. “We are going to lead a war,” <a href="https://twitter.com/KatyTurNBC/status/665336205471449088" type="external">he told reporters</a>. No one has yet claimed responsibility for the attacks, and France’s BFMTV says some of the gunman are still on the loose.</p>
<p>Update, 11/13/15, 7:44 pm: Paris’ deputy mayor told CNN that 118 people are dead at the Bataclan concert hall.</p>
<p>Update, 11/13/15, 7:17 pm: The AFP wire service reports that <a href="https://twitter.com/AFP/status/665321462442528768" type="external">around 100 people were killed</a> at the Bataclan concert hall, according to police. That figure is in addition to those killed during other attacks around the city.</p>
<p>Update, 11/13/15, 6:58 pm: Police have told BFMTV, a French news channel, that the police raid on the Bataclan concert hall <a href="http://news.sky.com/story/1587380/live-paris-attacks-and-hostage-situation" type="external">is over</a> and two attackers were killed.</p>
<p>Update, 11/13/15, 6:42 pm: The AFP wire service and France24 confirm that French police have stormed the Bataclan concert hall where as many 100 people are being held hostage.</p>
<p>Update, 11/13/15, 6:36 pm: French officials have confirmed that attacks took place in at least seven locations throughout Paris. According to the Associated Press, police say <a href="https://twitter.com/AP/status/665307889289076737" type="external">at least two of those</a> were suicide attacks.</p>
<p>A wave of terrorist attacks struck Paris on Friday night, <a href="http://killing%20at%20least%2035%20people%20and%20sowing%20panic%20around%20the%20French%20capital" type="external">killing at least 35 people and sowing panic around the French capital</a>. French President Francois Hollande called the string of shootings and bombings that took place in at least three locations throughout the city “ <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/world/paris-shootings-several-dead-after-gunman-opens-fire-explosion-at-stade-de-france-20151113-gkyvyc.html?&amp;utm_source=social&amp;utm_medium=twitter&amp;utm_campaign=nc&amp;eid=socialn:twi-14omn0023-optim-nnn:nonpaid-27062014-social_traffic-all-organicpost-nnn-age-o&amp;campaign_code=nocode&amp;promote_channel=social_twitter" type="external">a night of terror</a>.”</p>
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<p>Hollande said on Friday evening that French authorities had called soldiers onto the streets to reinforce the police, and announced that France was <a href="http://live.reuters.com/Event/Paris_attacks_2" type="external">declaring a state of emergency</a> and reinstating border controls in order to prevent attackers from escaping the country. At the time of his speech, shortly before 6:00 pm Eastern time, he said that the attacks and security operations against them were still ongoing.</p>
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<p>“Once again we’ve seen an outrageous attempt to terrorize innocent civilians,” said President Obama on Friday, offering his condolences to the French people and pledging the US’ full cooperation. “We stand prepared and ready to provide whatever assistance the government and people of France need to respond,” he said, saying the US would help “go after any terrorist networks that go after our people.”</p>
<p>Reports say at least one gunman opened fire at a restaurant called La Petite Cambodge, killing at least 35 people according to sources who spoke to the Associated Press. Another shooting took place at the Bataclan concert hall, where news reports from the BBC, CNN, and others <a href="https://twitter.com/SHockridgeABC15/status/665285919273041924" type="external">say up to 100 people have been taken hostage</a> by unidentified attackers.</p>
<p>Local media also <a href="https://twitter.com/Reuters/status/665297432545206272" type="external">reported a third shooting attack</a> at the Les Halles shopping center in central Paris at around 5:35 Eastern time, more than an hour after the initial reports of shootings and bombings began.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, an explosion also occurred near the Stade de France, where the French national soccer team was playing against Germany. Hollande, who was attending the game, <a href="https://twitter.com/itele/status/665268678598991872" type="external">was evacuated</a> according to French television station iTELE. The explosion could be heard clearly during the game, as captured by the live feed of the match.</p>
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<p />
<p>This is a developing news story, and details will be added as they become available.</p>
<p /> | true | 4 | eiffel tower illuminated red white blue honor victims paris terror attackstolga akmenlondon news pictures via zuma wire update 111615 1020 european authorities mounted 160 raids france belgium monday detaining least 23 people among suspects french police hunting salah abdesalam 26yearold belgianborn french citizen authorities believe took part fridays attacks abdesalams brother brahim one suicide bombers blew attack sunday french fighter planes bombed isis stronghold syria raqqa response air strikes carried targeting information provided united states islamic state warned new video would attack washington speaking g20 summit monday president obama ruled putting troops ground syria counter isis update 111515 945 manhunt underway possible eighth attacker may escaped following 3hour siege paris friday night meanwhile french authorities taken seven people custody relatives ismaël omar mostefaï 29yearold french citizen identified one suicide bombers authorities say another assailant also died attack syrian passport entered europe via greece wave migrants according new york times least 10 arrests made belgium connection terrorist attacks update 111415 700 isis taken credit attacks paris killed least 127 people new york times reports french president françois hollande called attacks act war prepared organized planned abroad complicity inside update 111415 100 french officials say eight attackers killed many suicide devices paris prosecutors office warns perpetrators could still large according associated press earlier tonight white house released summary president obamas phone conversation french president francois hollande update 111315 900 pm french cabinet released statement laying powers state emergency declared friday evening addition reinstating border checks government allow arrest person whose activity dangerous temporary closure theaters meeting rooms surrender weapons ability carry administrative searches government also deployed 1500 soldiers aid police city paris already announced public facilities closed tomorrow demonstrations street events also suspended notice update 111315 847 pm afp wire service released map alleged locations seven attacks took place friday previously four locations confirmed stade de france bataclan concert hall les halles shopping center la petite cambodge restaurant update 111315 825 pm speaking bataclan theater 100 killed tonight president hollande promised pitiless response fridays acts terror going lead war told reporters one yet claimed responsibility attacks frances bfmtv says gunman still loose update 111315 744 pm paris deputy mayor told cnn 118 people dead bataclan concert hall update 111315 717 pm afp wire service reports around 100 people killed bataclan concert hall according police figure addition killed attacks around city update 111315 658 pm police told bfmtv french news channel police raid bataclan concert hall two attackers killed update 111315 642 pm afp wire service france24 confirm french police stormed bataclan concert hall many 100 people held hostage update 111315 636 pm french officials confirmed attacks took place least seven locations throughout paris according associated press police say least two suicide attacks wave terrorist attacks struck paris friday night killing least 35 people sowing panic around french capital french president francois hollande called string shootings bombings took place least three locations throughout city night terror hollande said friday evening french authorities called soldiers onto streets reinforce police announced france declaring state emergency reinstating border controls order prevent attackers escaping country time speech shortly 600 pm eastern time said attacks security operations still ongoing weve seen outrageous attempt terrorize innocent civilians said president obama friday offering condolences french people pledging us full cooperation stand prepared ready provide whatever assistance government people france need respond said saying us would help go terrorist networks go people reports say least one gunman opened fire restaurant called la petite cambodge killing least 35 people according sources spoke associated press another shooting took place bataclan concert hall news reports bbc cnn others say 100 people taken hostage unidentified attackers local media also reported third shooting attack les halles shopping center central paris around 535 eastern time hour initial reports shootings bombings began meanwhile explosion also occurred near stade de france french national soccer team playing germany hollande attending game evacuated according french television station itele explosion could heard clearly game captured live feed match developing news story details added become available | 663 |
<p>On February 24, as I reported in an article entitled, “ <a href="" type="internal">The Black Hole of Guantánamo</a>,” Judge Henry H. Kennedy Jr. granted the habeas corpus petition of Uthman Abdul Rahim Mohammed Uthman, a Yemeni who was seized crossing the border from Afghanistan to Pakistan in December 2001. In the absence of the judge’s unclassified opinion explaining why he had ordered his release, I provided only a brief explanation of what was publicly known of his story, stating:</p>
<p>As I explained in my book <a href="" type="internal">The Guantánamo Files</a>, Uthman, who was 22 years old at the time of his capture, “said that he had traveled between Kabul and Khost teaching the Koran from March to December 2001.” Although he “admitted that he had stayed at a Taliban house in Quetta, Pakistan, which was the normal entry point for volunteers who had come to fight with the Taliban,” he stated that this was “only because he had been told that it was the only way for him to enter Afghanistan.”</p>
<p>Judge Kennedy’s opinion was released a month ago ( <a href="" type="internal">PDF</a>), but was then abruptly withdrawn, and, perhaps with unnecessary delicacy, I held off from analyzing it, waiting for it to be reissued, as I was uncertain how much would be redacted. When the revised opinion was finally released on April 21 ( <a href="" type="internal">PDF</a>), I realized that the name of a criminal investigator with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service had been removed, as had other named operatives, but that other key elements had not; specifically, the names of two other prisoners who alleged that Uthman “acted as a bodyguard for Osama bin Laden.” These two men are Sharqwi Abdu Ali al-Hajj and Sanad Yislam Ali al-Kazimi, and in the most important part of the opinion, Judge Kennedy stated:</p>
<p>The Court will not rely on the statements of Hajj or Kazimi because there is unrebutted evidence in the record that, at the time of the interrogations at which they made the statements, both men had recently been tortured.</p>
<p>The torture of Sharqwi Abdu Ali al-Hajj</p>
<p>This, alarmingly, was something of an understatement. Al-Hajj (also identified as Abdu Ali Sharqawi, but more commonly known as Riyadh the Facilitator) was seized in a house raid in Pakistan in February 2002 and was then rendered to Jordan, one of <a href="" type="internal">at least 15 prisoners</a> whose torture was outsourced to the Jordanian authorities between 2001 and 2004, where he was held for nearly two years before being transferred to the CIA’s “Dark Prison” near Kabul, and then, via Bagram, to Guantánamo.</p>
<p>As Judge Kennedy explained, he told his lawyer, Kristin B. Wilhelm, that, “while held in Jordan, he ‘was regularly beaten and threatened with electrocution and molestation,’ and he eventually ‘manufactured facts’ and confessed to his interrogators’ allegation ‘in order to make the torture stop.’” In the “Dark Prison,” he added, he was “kept in complete darkness and was subject to continuous loud music.”</p>
<p>Al-Hajj’s descriptions of the “Dark Prison” correspond with those of numerous other prisoners, including the British resident <a href="" type="internal">Binyam Mohamed</a>, whose descriptions were included in my article, “ <a href="" type="internal">Hit Me Baby One More Time: A History of Music Torture in the War on Terror</a>.” However, what is missing from the analysis of his time in Jordan is a more sustained narrative of torture, false confessions and his torturers’ regular contact with the CIA, which emerged in <a href="" type="internal">a letter given to Joanne Mariner of Human Rights Watch</a> during a visit to Jordan in 2008, which had been written by al-Hajj during his detention, around October 2002. In this note, which was smuggled out of the prison, he explained that he “was held as a secret prisoner by the Jordanian intelligence service: unregistered, cut off from all communication and hidden during visits by representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross,” and gave the following “short summary of my sufferings,” as reported by Mariner:</p>
<p>“They beat me up in a way that does not know mercy,” Sharqawi wrote, referring to his Jordanian captors, “and they’re still beating me. They threatened me with electricity, with snakes and dogs … [They said] we’ll make you see death.”</p>
<p>Sharqawi described his interrogations, explaining that the Jordanians were feeding his responses back to the CIA.</p>
<p>“Every time that the interrogator asks me about a certain piece of information, and I talk,” Sharqawi said, “he asks me if I told this to the Americans. And if I say no he jumps for joy, and he leaves me and goes to report it to his superiors, and they rejoice.”</p>
<p>In Human Rights Watch’s final report, “ <a href="http://www.hrw.org/en/node/62263/section/5" type="external">Double Jeopardy</a>,” the extent to which he was interrogated about other men — using photos that, in Afghanistan and Guantánamo, were apparently described as “the family album” — was revealed in the following passage, which not only explains the pressures that led to him providing a false allegation against Uthman Abdul Rahim Mohammed Uthman in Bagram, but also indicates how hundreds — or thousands — of other false allegations may have been extracted:</p>
<p>I was being interrogated all the time, in the evening and in the day. I was shown thousands of photos, and I really mean thousands, I am not exaggerating … And in between all this you have the torture, the abuse, the cursing, humiliation. They had threatened me with being sexually abused and electrocuted. I was told that if I wanted to leave with permanent disability both mental and physical, that that could be arranged. They said they had all the facilities of Jordan to achieve that. I was told that I had to talk, I had to tell them everything.</p>
<p>The torture of Sanad al-Kazimi</p>
<p>The story of Sanad al-Kazimi’s false confession is just as distressing. Seized in the United Arab Emirates in January 2003, he was subsequently handed over to U.S. forces, who rendered him to an unidentified secret CIA prison, and then to the “Dark Prison” and Bagram, and, as Judge Kennedy explained, he told his lawyer, Martha Rayner, that, “while [he] was detained outside the United States, his interrogators beat him; held him naked and shackled in a cold dark cell; dropped him into cold water while his hands and legs were bound; and sexually abused him. Kazimi told Rayner that eventually “[h]e made up his mind to say ‘Yes’ to anything the interrogators said to avoid further torture.”</p>
<p>After this he was relocated to the “Dark Prison,” where, he said, “he was always in darkness and … was hooded, given injections, beaten, hit with electric cables, suspended from above, made to be naked, and subjected to continuous loud music. Kazimi reportedly tried to kill himself on three occasions. He told Rayner that he realized ‘he could mitigate the torture by telling the interrogators what they wanted to hear.’”</p>
<p>At Bagram, he continued, “he was isolated, shackled, ‘psychologically tortured and traumatized by guards’ desecration of the Koran’ and interrogated ‘day and night, and very frequently.’ [He] told Rayner that he ‘tried very hard’ to tell his interrogators in Bagram the same information he had told his previous interrogators ‘so they would not hurt him.’”</p>
<p>This is damning enough, but back in August 2007, Jane Mayer of the <a href="" type="internal">New Yorker</a> spoke to Ramzi Kassem, another of al-Kazimi’s lawyers, who, as I explained in <a href="" type="internal">an article at the time</a>, added further details, telling her that:</p>
<p>[Al-Kazimi] was “suspended by his arms for long periods, causing his legs to swell painfully … It’s so traumatic, he can barely speak of it. He breaks down in tears.” He also said that al-Kazimi “claimed that, while hanging, he was beaten with electric cables,” and explained that he also told him that, while in the “Dark Prison,” he “attempted suicide three times, by ramming his head into the walls”: “He did it until he lost consciousness. Then they stitched him back up. So he did it again. The next time he woke up, he was chained, and they’d given him tranquillizers. He asked to go to the bathroom, and then he did it again.” On this last occasion, Kassem added, he “was given more tranquillizers, and chained in a more confining manner.”</p>
<p>The story of Uthman Abdul Rahim Mohammed Uthman</p>
<p>These accounts, sadly, fit a pattern of torture and false confessions that only becomes clearer as time passes and more evidence is revealed, and they also confirm that the two men described above were <a href="" type="internal">amongst the 94 prisoners</a> — many still unaccounted for — who were held in secret CIA prisons and subjected to particularly brutal treatment ( <a href="http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/UN-Secret-Detention-Report.pdf" type="external">PDF</a>). Compared to them, Uthman’s own story is easily overshadowed.</p>
<p>This is perhaps understandable, as nothing in the government’s supposed evidence thoroughly refutes his own assertions that he was in Afghanistan as a missionary, because the entire case against him is based on allegations made by other prisoners (in addition to al-Hajj and al-Kazimi), or attempts to infer guilt by association on the part of the government that make him something of a cipher in his own case.</p>
<p>Throughout the rest of the judge’s opinion, further attempts by the government to prove that Uthman was a bodyguard for bin Laden, that he trained in an al-Qaeda camp and was present at the battle of Tora Bora (where al-Qaeda and the Taliban fought the U.S. military and its Afghan proxies in November and December 2001) are bedeviled with identifications based on a photograph and a variety of kunyas (nicknames) that Judge Kennedy found unconvincing. The only allegations given any substantial weight are claims that an individual who “supported jihad” financed his trip, that he followed a route that was typically used by al-Qaeda recruits, and that he was seen in two guesthouses in Afghanistan that were reportedly associated with al-Qaeda.</p>
<p>Other prisoners drift in and out of this narrative — Abdul Hakim Bukhari, a Saudi ( <a href="" type="internal">released from Guantánamo</a> in September 2007) who arrived in Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks for jihad but was imprisoned as a spy, who unconvincingly alleged that Uthman “was a member of the Osama bin Laden … security detail” before 9/11, when Bukhari wasn’t in the country and could have had no such knowledge; and Richard Belmar, a British citizen (released in January 2005), who was seized in Pakistan in February 2002, and who, “when shown a picture of Uthman,” stated that he “’may have been a lower amir,’ or leader, ‘in the Kandahar guest house,’” even though, as seems apparent, Belmar was not in Kandahar at the same time as Uthman.</p>
<p>The judge refused to disregard this statement entirely, but, to be honest, it is difficult to see why not, as its basis in reality appears to be as flimsy as everything else thrown at Uthman by the government in the hope that some of it would stick, and, moreover, <a href="" type="internal">Belmar stated</a> on his release that, on one occasion in Bagram, “a handgun was forced into his mouth,” and he explained, “It tasted cold, bitter. I thought, ‘Yeah, this is getting serious, there’s a good chance they will pull the trigger.’”</p>
<p>Elsewhere, the government resorted to trying out guilt by association, claiming that, because Uthman was seized in the vicinity of Tora Bora with approximately 30 other men, “a few of whom he knew from Yemen,” who “were admitted — or at least, alleged, al-Qaeda members, some of whom were likely coming from Tora Bora,” the Court should draw an inference that Uthman’s missionary story was a lie.</p>
<p>The truth, to be honest, is difficult to establish, as Judge Kennedy recognized. The group of approximately 30 men with whom Uthman was seized have long been referred to by the government as the “ <a href="" type="internal">Dirty Thirty</a>,” and portrayed, as in Uthman’s case, as bodyguards for bin Laden. Until this case came to court, it had been presumed that the bodyguard allegations came solely from Mohamed al-Qahtani, the supposed 20th hijacker for the 9/11 attacks, whose torture at Guantánamo is well-known (and was <a href="" type="internal">admitted by Pentagon official Susan Crawford</a> in January 2009), but al-Qahtani is mysteriously absent from Uthman’s case, as are alleged al-Qaeda member Ibrahim al-Qosi (currently facing <a href="" type="internal">a trial by Military Commission</a>) and convicted al-Qaeda member <a href="" type="internal">Ali Hamza al-Bahlul</a>, who were also captured at this time.</p>
<p>It may dismay the government to have to concede that it is all but impossible to establish that everyone seized at this time was part of al-Qaeda, and that some of the men may have been missionaries or humanitarian aid workers, attempting to flee the chaos of post-invasion Afghanistan as part of general Arab exodus, but it is not beyond the bounds of reason that this is the case, as Judge Kennedy accepted in his conclusion, when he stated:</p>
<p>In sum, the Court gives credence to evidence that Uthman (1) studied at a school at which other men were recruited to fight for al-Qaeda; (2) received money for his trip to Afghanistan from an individual who supported jihad; (3) traveled to Afghanistan along a route also taken by al-Qaeda recruits; (4) was seen at two al-Qaeda guesthouses in Afghanistan; and (5) was with al-Qaeda members in the vicinity of Tora Bora after the battle that occurred there.</p>
<p>Even taken together, these facts do not convince the Court by a preponderance of the evidence that Uthman received and executed orders from al-Qaeda. Although this information is consistent with the proposition that Uthman was a part of al-Qaeda, it is not proof of that allegation. As explained, the record does not contain reliable evidence that Uthman was a bodyguard for Osama bin Laden or fought for al-Qaeda. Certainly, none of the facts respondents have demonstrated are true are direct evidence of fighting or otherwise “receiv[ing] and execut[ing] orders” … and they do not, even together, paint an incriminating enough picture to demonstrate that the inferences respondents ask the Court to make are more likely accurate than not. Associations with al-Qaeda members, or institutions to which al-Qaeda members have connections, are not alone enough to demonstrate that, more likely than not, Uthman was part of al-Qaeda.</p>
<p>In granting Uthman’ habeas petition, Judge Kennedy added that, “at first blush,” some of the government’s evidence was “quite incriminating of Uthman and supportive of the position that he is lawfully detained,” but that, on close examination, there was “reason not credit some of it at all and reason to conclude that what remains is not nearly as probative of respondent’s position as they assert.”</p>
<p>An alarming conclusion</p>
<p>This is indeed the case, but what is missing from Judge Kennedy’s conclusion, but is glaringly obvious from his opinion as a whole, is that the shadows which never quite coalesce around the barely fleshed-out figure of Uthman Abdul Rahim Mohammed Uthman are populated not by reliable witnesses, but by a procession of torture victims or other prisoners worn out by endless interrogation, who, when shown photographs, invented stories to get the torture to stop, or to get the interrogators off their back.</p>
<p>As a demonstration of how to produce false confessions to incriminate insignificant prisoners at Guantánamo, it would be harder to find a document that more perfectly expresses the brutal pointlessness of the “War on Terror” than this opinion, and when the bigger picture is examined — Sharqwi Abdu Ali al-Hajj ‘s statement that, in Jordan, “I was shown thousands of photos, and I really mean thousands” — the scale of this shocking witch-hunt is explicitly revealed.</p>
<p>Beyond Guantánamo, where habeas judges are not empowered to tread, who knows <a href="" type="internal">how many other men</a> were seized because of false confessions made through the use of torture?</p>
<p>Note: For more on Guantánamo and habeas corpus, see my project, “ <a href="" type="internal">Guantánamo Habeas Week</a>.”</p>
<p>ANDY WORTHINGTON is a British journalist, the author of ‘ <a href="" type="internal">The Guantánamo Files: The Stories of the 774 Detainees in America’s Illegal Prison’</a> (published by Pluto Press), and the co-director (with Polly Nash) of the new Guantánamo documentary, ‘ <a href="http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/outside-the-law-stories-from-guantanamo/" type="external">Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamo</a>.’ Visit his website at: <a href="http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/" type="external">www.andyworthington.co.uk</a></p>
<p>He can be reached at: <a href="mailto:andy@andyworthington.co.uk" type="external">andy@andyworthington.co.uk</a></p>
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<p><a href="http://greentags.bigcartel.com/" type="external">WORDS THAT STICK</a></p>
<p /> | true | 4 | february 24 reported article entitled black hole guantánamo judge henry h kennedy jr granted habeas corpus petition uthman abdul rahim mohammed uthman yemeni seized crossing border afghanistan pakistan december 2001 absence judges unclassified opinion explaining ordered release provided brief explanation publicly known story stating explained book guantánamo files uthman 22 years old time capture said traveled kabul khost teaching koran march december 2001 although admitted stayed taliban house quetta pakistan normal entry point volunteers come fight taliban stated told way enter afghanistan judge kennedys opinion released month ago pdf abruptly withdrawn perhaps unnecessary delicacy held analyzing waiting reissued uncertain much would redacted revised opinion finally released april 21 pdf realized name criminal investigator naval criminal investigative service removed named operatives key elements specifically names two prisoners alleged uthman acted bodyguard osama bin laden two men sharqwi abdu ali alhajj sanad yislam ali alkazimi important part opinion judge kennedy stated court rely statements hajj kazimi unrebutted evidence record time interrogations made statements men recently tortured torture sharqwi abdu ali alhajj alarmingly something understatement alhajj also identified abdu ali sharqawi commonly known riyadh facilitator seized house raid pakistan february 2002 rendered jordan one least 15 prisoners whose torture outsourced jordanian authorities 2001 2004 held nearly two years transferred cias dark prison near kabul via bagram guantánamo judge kennedy explained told lawyer kristin b wilhelm held jordan regularly beaten threatened electrocution molestation eventually manufactured facts confessed interrogators allegation order make torture stop dark prison added kept complete darkness subject continuous loud music alhajjs descriptions dark prison correspond numerous prisoners including british resident binyam mohamed whose descriptions included article hit baby one time history music torture war terror however missing analysis time jordan sustained narrative torture false confessions torturers regular contact cia emerged letter given joanne mariner human rights watch visit jordan 2008 written alhajj detention around october 2002 note smuggled prison explained held secret prisoner jordanian intelligence service unregistered cut communication hidden visits representatives international committee red cross gave following short summary sufferings reported mariner beat way know mercy sharqawi wrote referring jordanian captors theyre still beating threatened electricity snakes dogs said well make see death sharqawi described interrogations explaining jordanians feeding responses back cia every time interrogator asks certain piece information talk sharqawi said asks told americans say jumps joy leaves goes report superiors rejoice human rights watchs final report double jeopardy extent interrogated men using photos afghanistan guantánamo apparently described family album revealed following passage explains pressures led providing false allegation uthman abdul rahim mohammed uthman bagram also indicates hundreds thousands false allegations may extracted interrogated time evening day shown thousands photos really mean thousands exaggerating torture abuse cursing humiliation threatened sexually abused electrocuted told wanted leave permanent disability mental physical could arranged said facilities jordan achieve told talk tell everything torture sanad alkazimi story sanad alkazimis false confession distressing seized united arab emirates january 2003 subsequently handed us forces rendered unidentified secret cia prison dark prison bagram judge kennedy explained told lawyer martha rayner detained outside united states interrogators beat held naked shackled cold dark cell dropped cold water hands legs bound sexually abused kazimi told rayner eventually made mind say yes anything interrogators said avoid torture relocated dark prison said always darkness hooded given injections beaten hit electric cables suspended made naked subjected continuous loud music kazimi reportedly tried kill three occasions told rayner realized could mitigate torture telling interrogators wanted hear bagram continued isolated shackled psychologically tortured traumatized guards desecration koran interrogated day night frequently told rayner tried hard tell interrogators bagram information told previous interrogators would hurt damning enough back august 2007 jane mayer new yorker spoke ramzi kassem another alkazimis lawyers explained article time added details telling alkazimi suspended arms long periods causing legs swell painfully traumatic barely speak breaks tears also said alkazimi claimed hanging beaten electric cables explained also told dark prison attempted suicide three times ramming head walls lost consciousness stitched back next time woke chained theyd given tranquillizers asked go bathroom last occasion kassem added given tranquillizers chained confining manner story uthman abdul rahim mohammed uthman accounts sadly fit pattern torture false confessions becomes clearer time passes evidence revealed also confirm two men described amongst 94 prisoners many still unaccounted held secret cia prisons subjected particularly brutal treatment pdf compared uthmans story easily overshadowed perhaps understandable nothing governments supposed evidence thoroughly refutes assertions afghanistan missionary entire case based allegations made prisoners addition alhajj alkazimi attempts infer guilt association part government make something cipher case throughout rest judges opinion attempts government prove uthman bodyguard bin laden trained alqaeda camp present battle tora bora alqaeda taliban fought us military afghan proxies november december 2001 bedeviled identifications based photograph variety kunyas nicknames judge kennedy found unconvincing allegations given substantial weight claims individual supported jihad financed trip followed route typically used alqaeda recruits seen two guesthouses afghanistan reportedly associated alqaeda prisoners drift narrative abdul hakim bukhari saudi released guantánamo september 2007 arrived afghanistan 911 attacks jihad imprisoned spy unconvincingly alleged uthman member osama bin laden security detail 911 bukhari wasnt country could knowledge richard belmar british citizen released january 2005 seized pakistan february 2002 shown picture uthman stated may lower amir leader kandahar guest house even though seems apparent belmar kandahar time uthman judge refused disregard statement entirely honest difficult see basis reality appears flimsy everything else thrown uthman government hope would stick moreover belmar stated release one occasion bagram handgun forced mouth explained tasted cold bitter thought yeah getting serious theres good chance pull trigger elsewhere government resorted trying guilt association claiming uthman seized vicinity tora bora approximately 30 men knew yemen admitted least alleged alqaeda members likely coming tora bora court draw inference uthmans missionary story lie truth honest difficult establish judge kennedy recognized group approximately 30 men uthman seized long referred government dirty thirty portrayed uthmans case bodyguards bin laden case came court presumed bodyguard allegations came solely mohamed alqahtani supposed 20th hijacker 911 attacks whose torture guantánamo wellknown admitted pentagon official susan crawford january 2009 alqahtani mysteriously absent uthmans case alleged alqaeda member ibrahim alqosi currently facing trial military commission convicted alqaeda member ali hamza albahlul also captured time may dismay government concede impossible establish everyone seized time part alqaeda men may missionaries humanitarian aid workers attempting flee chaos postinvasion afghanistan part general arab exodus beyond bounds reason case judge kennedy accepted conclusion stated sum court gives credence evidence uthman 1 studied school men recruited fight alqaeda 2 received money trip afghanistan individual supported jihad 3 traveled afghanistan along route also taken alqaeda recruits 4 seen two alqaeda guesthouses afghanistan 5 alqaeda members vicinity tora bora battle occurred even taken together facts convince court preponderance evidence uthman received executed orders alqaeda although information consistent proposition uthman part alqaeda proof allegation explained record contain reliable evidence uthman bodyguard osama bin laden fought alqaeda certainly none facts respondents demonstrated true direct evidence fighting otherwise receiving executing orders even together paint incriminating enough picture demonstrate inferences respondents ask court make likely accurate associations alqaeda members institutions alqaeda members connections alone enough demonstrate likely uthman part alqaeda granting uthman habeas petition judge kennedy added first blush governments evidence quite incriminating uthman supportive position lawfully detained close examination reason credit reason conclude remains nearly probative respondents position assert alarming conclusion indeed case missing judge kennedys conclusion glaringly obvious opinion whole shadows never quite coalesce around barely fleshedout figure uthman abdul rahim mohammed uthman populated reliable witnesses procession torture victims prisoners worn endless interrogation shown photographs invented stories get torture stop get interrogators back demonstration produce false confessions incriminate insignificant prisoners guantánamo would harder find document perfectly expresses brutal pointlessness war terror opinion bigger picture examined sharqwi abdu ali alhajj statement jordan shown thousands photos really mean thousands scale shocking witchhunt explicitly revealed beyond guantánamo habeas judges empowered tread knows many men seized false confessions made use torture note guantánamo habeas corpus see project guantánamo habeas week andy worthington british journalist author guantánamo files stories 774 detainees americas illegal prison published pluto press codirector polly nash new guantánamo documentary outside law stories guantánamo visit website wwwandyworthingtoncouk reached andyandyworthingtoncouk 160 words stick | 1,343 |
<p>When it comes to pushing propaganda and manipulating their supporters into being blind, can’t-think-for-themselves hypocrites, almost nobody does it better than conservatives and the right-wing media. Like true propaganda masters, these folks can say one thing yesterday and then do the complete opposite today, all while making excuses <a href="" type="internal">for their blatant hypocrisy</a> without skipping a beat. Like most other unethical hypocrites and bullies, they’re also incredibly good at “playing the victim.”</p>
<p>It’s a difficult thing to combat because you’re dealing with people <a href="" type="internal">who don’t live by the same rules</a> they expect others to follow, all while lacking the ethics and morals to care. That empowers them to be absolutely terrible — all while accusing others of being the awful ones.</p>
<p>There are numerous examples I can use here.</p>
<p>Case in point, their recent “outrage” over a Trump-inspired Julius Caesar&#160;play in New York City where “Caesar”&#160;is stabbed to death by senators. Protests were swift, with some people even rushing the stage. Many within the conservative media lambasted the play as an example of how disgusting and vile the left is.</p>
<p>That’s odd, I don’t recall the same type of outrage when the <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/18/opinions/caesar-hypocrisy-trump-supporters-obeidallah-opinion/index.html" type="external">exact same play</a>was put on where “Caesar” was depicted as Barack Obama and another time as Hillary Clinton. In fact, the very conservative The American Conservative reviewed the one where Obama was depicted as Caesar, praising the production as “riveting.”</p>
<p>But when the same thing is done with Trump depicted as Caesar, well, that’s when conservatives find these plays “offensive and disgusting examples of the hateful left.”</p>
<p>For the record, I think they’re all disgusting. I don’t care what anyone thinks about any president, applauding or supporting the depiction of their death is inexcusable and disrespectful to the highest office in our land.</p>
<p>Then, of course, there’s the recent shooting in Virginia where Republican members of Congress were <a href="" type="internal">targeted by a left-wing radical</a>. Like they always do, the conservative media was quick to pounce on how this was just another example of how the “hateful, anti-right rhetoric from the left” is leading to violence.</p>
<p>Interesting, because I don’t remember them saying the same thing when an anti-abortion psychopath killed three people in Colorado Springs after opening fire on a Planned Parenthood there,&#160; <a href="" type="internal">citing nearly word-for-word propaganda</a> Republicans had been using to slander and defame the health organization.</p>
<p>What about Dylan Roof? That was a radical right-wing racist who followed and supported the same type of horrific white nationalist groups who’ve enthusiastically embraced Trump.</p>
<p>Just a couple of years ago, after quite a few Republicans and large parts of the conservative media&#160; <a href="" type="internal">added legitimacy</a> to the ridiculous Jade Helm conspiracy that Obama was using a military exercise to seize guns, <a href="" type="internal">there were two instances</a> where people opened fire on U.S. military personnel in Mississippi.</p>
<p>When a man opened fire with an AR-15 assault rifle into a pizzeria after being inspired by crackpot Alex Jones — a person Trump’s praised for having a great reputation — over the completely insane notion that the restaurant was the front for a human trafficking ring linked to the Democratic Party, the right absolved themselves of any personal responsibility for that, too.</p>
<p>This is how conservatives work. When someone from “their side” does something, they push this message that it was a “lone wolf” and doesn’t represent the values of the Republican Party or conservatism. However, when someone from the left acts out, which seems to be&#160;much less often, they fall all over themselves trying to paint those much less frequent acts as “examples of the violent left extremists.”</p>
<p>It’s ridiculous.</p>
<p>Look at how they acted when it came to Barack Obama and racism. They had the nerve to claim that he was making racism worse — by calling out the racism on the right.</p>
<p>For them, it was okay for members of the GOP to push the racist-inspired birther conspiracy, for millions of conservatives to think Obama needs to “go back to Kenya,” or believe he’s a Muslim — all based on the color of his skin — but if you call out this obvious racism and bigotry, in their minds, then you’re the one making it about race.</p>
<p>They really do operate from the belief that they can be as vile, hateful, and awful as they want to be; however, if you call out that behavior, then you’re the one being vile, hateful, and awful.</p>
<p>Like I said, they’re masters at “playing the victim.”</p>
<p>This is a political movement that’s embraced members of the media who are legitimate hate-pushers, fear-mongers, mentally unhinged and conspiracy theorists like Sean Hannity, Ted Nugent, Alex Jones, Breitbart, WND.com, InfoWars, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and Sarah Palin — which constantly accuses the left of promoting and embracing hate.</p>
<p>Hell, no look no further than Trump. A man who literally fueled his campaign with the most divisive and hateful rhetoric in modern political history, who’s had the gall to claim he’s trying to bring people together. Even as he spends part of nearly every day lashing out at anyone and everyone — <a href="" type="internal">including pushing conspiracy theories</a>&#160;against his own Justice Department.</p>
<p>And let’s not even get into his golfing addiction.&#160;Conservatives spent eight years attacking Obama for playing golf, yet now they defend Trump — someone who plays golf much more often than his predecessor, at an extremely <a href="" type="internal">high financial burden to taxpayers</a>.</p>
<p>There’s a psychological trick unethical and unscrupulous liars use when they want to keep people on the defensive: They accuse them of doing the very things they’re doing.</p>
<p>That’s essentially what Republicans do — constantly.</p>
<p>They’ll accuse liberals of being:</p>
<p>The list goes on and on.</p>
<p>If you doubt me, sit back and listen to the rhetoric, propaganda, lies, and attacks which Republicans and the conservative media dole out against the left. You’ll quickly notice that practically everything they accuse the left/Democrats of doing — <a href="" type="internal">is actually describing them</a>.</p>
<p>Feel free to <a href="https://www.twitter.com/allen_clifton" type="external">follow me on Twitter</a> or <a href="https://www.facebook.com/allencliftonroc" type="external">Facebook</a> and let me know what you think.</p>
<p />
<p><a href="" type="internal">Bill Clinton Hammers Rand Paul and Republicans Over Their Benghazi Obsession (Video)</a></p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Arizona School District Decides to Put Anti-Abortion Stickers in Textbooks</a></p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">The Truth About Americans and Our Love/Hate Relationship with the Freedom of Speech</a></p>
<p>11 Facebook comments</p> | true | 4 | comes pushing propaganda manipulating supporters blind cantthinkforthemselves hypocrites almost nobody better conservatives rightwing media like true propaganda masters folks say one thing yesterday complete opposite today making excuses blatant hypocrisy without skipping beat like unethical hypocrites bullies theyre also incredibly good playing victim difficult thing combat youre dealing people dont live rules expect others follow lacking ethics morals care empowers absolutely terrible accusing others awful ones numerous examples use case point recent outrage trumpinspired julius caesar160play new york city caesar160is stabbed death senators protests swift people even rushing stage many within conservative media lambasted play example disgusting vile left thats odd dont recall type outrage exact playwas put caesar depicted barack obama another time hillary clinton fact conservative american conservative reviewed one obama depicted caesar praising production riveting thing done trump depicted caesar well thats conservatives find plays offensive disgusting examples hateful left record think theyre disgusting dont care anyone thinks president applauding supporting depiction death inexcusable disrespectful highest office land course theres recent shooting virginia republican members congress targeted leftwing radical like always conservative media quick pounce another example hateful antiright rhetoric left leading violence interesting dont remember saying thing antiabortion psychopath killed three people colorado springs opening fire planned parenthood there160 citing nearly wordforword propaganda republicans using slander defame health organization dylan roof radical rightwing racist followed supported type horrific white nationalist groups whove enthusiastically embraced trump couple years ago quite republicans large parts conservative media160 added legitimacy ridiculous jade helm conspiracy obama using military exercise seize guns two instances people opened fire us military personnel mississippi man opened fire ar15 assault rifle pizzeria inspired crackpot alex jones person trumps praised great reputation completely insane notion restaurant front human trafficking ring linked democratic party right absolved personal responsibility conservatives work someone side something push message lone wolf doesnt represent values republican party conservatism however someone left acts seems be160much less often fall trying paint much less frequent acts examples violent left extremists ridiculous look acted came barack obama racism nerve claim making racism worse calling racism right okay members gop push racistinspired birther conspiracy millions conservatives think obama needs go back kenya believe hes muslim based color skin call obvious racism bigotry minds youre one making race really operate belief vile hateful awful want however call behavior youre one vile hateful awful like said theyre masters playing victim political movement thats embraced members media legitimate hatepushers fearmongers mentally unhinged conspiracy theorists like sean hannity ted nugent alex jones breitbart wndcom infowars rush limbaugh glenn beck sarah palin constantly accuses left promoting embracing hate hell look trump man literally fueled campaign divisive hateful rhetoric modern political history whos gall claim hes trying bring people together even spends part nearly every day lashing anyone everyone including pushing conspiracy theories160against justice department lets even get golfing addiction160conservatives spent eight years attacking obama playing golf yet defend trump someone plays golf much often predecessor extremely high financial burden taxpayers theres psychological trick unethical unscrupulous liars use want keep people defensive accuse things theyre thats essentially republicans constantly theyll accuse liberals list goes doubt sit back listen rhetoric propaganda lies attacks republicans conservative media dole left youll quickly notice practically everything accuse leftdemocrats actually describing feel free follow twitter facebook let know think bill clinton hammers rand paul republicans benghazi obsession video arizona school district decides put antiabortion stickers textbooks truth americans lovehate relationship freedom speech 11 facebook comments | 566 |
<p />
<p>For nearly ten months, civil libertarians have warned that Americans’ constitutional rights are being sacrificed in the name of the post-Sept. 11 push for improved national security. Now, a broad array of rights activists are attacking a Bush administration plan they claim would prod postal workers, utility employees and others to spy on their fellow citizens.</p>
<p>The Justice Department appears to be backing away from earlier, more aggressive and detailed descriptions of the program, known as Operation TIPS, but groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Lawyers Guild claim the information-gathering initiative still represents a potential threat to Americans’ civil rights.</p>
<p>“They certainly could use individuals who are participating in Operation TIPS to go into somebody’s home using a good ruse, a good story and collect information without a proper search warrant, without a proper subpoena or court ordered warrant,” said Beth Givens, director of the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse in San Diego, California.</p>
<p>The program, part of the Citizen Corps initiative introduced by President Bush in his State of the Union speech, has been described by federal officials as nothing more than a “national system for reporting suspicious, and potentially terrorist-related activity.”</p>
<p>In an earlier press release, federal officials announced that the initiative would enlist as many as one million truck drivers, letter carriers, utility workers, train conductors, ship captains and other “well positioned” private citizens.</p>
<p>“The administration apparently wants to implement a program that will turn local cable or gas or electrical technicians into government-sanctioned peeping toms,” ACLU Legislative Counsel Rachel King said in a written statement early this week. Like other civil libertarians, King is concerned that the program will allow federal officials to skirt the laws requiring law enforcement agents to obtain a warrant or subpoena before launching an investigation or search.</p>
<p>In the face of that criticism, the US Postal Service has announced it will not participate in Operation TIPS and at least one influential Democratic lawmaker, Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, has said he wants a clear accounting of the plan’s objectives.</p>
<p>Amid the controversy, the Bush administration has tempered its language. The most recent description of the program, available on <a href="http://www.citizencorps.gov/tips.html" type="external">the Citizen Corps web site</a>, no longer mentions the recruitment of postal workers, utility employees or others who might have regular access to people’s homes. And Justice Department officials are taking pains to insist the program was never intended to encourage Americans to spy on their fellow citizens.</p>
<p>“None of the Operation TIPS material published on the web or elsewhere have made reference to entry or access to the homes of individuals; nor has it ever been the intention of the Department of Justice, or any other agency, to set up such a program,” says Justice Dept. spokeswoman Barbara Comstock in a written statement. “Our interest in establishing Operation Tips program is to allow American workers to share information they receive in the regular course of their jobs in the public places and areas.”</p>
<p>Comparing Operation TIPS to non-governmental reporting programs such as Highway Watch, River Watch, and Coast Watch, Comstock, insists that TIPS is merely a way for volunteers to report unusual events noted during the course of their work. However, as Dorothy Ehrlich, executive director of the ACLU’s Northern California chapter points out, Americans have always had the right to report suspicious activty to police or even federal authorities. The alarming aspect of Operation TIPS, she says, is the lack of any clear accountability or guidelines about how that information will be used.</p>
<p>“That’s what’s wrong throughout many of the expanded proposals to give law enforcement more power since September 11. All consistently lack the necessary checks and balances that ordinarily are required under law,” Ehrlich argues. “So you don’t have judicial oversight, you don’t have the requirement that certain kinds of standards be met in order for a subpoena to be issued.”</p>
<p>Riva Enteen, San Francisco program director for the National Lawyers Guild, says those statutory checks and balances are particularly important when suspects are being reported for possible terrorist activities.</p>
<p>“To report someone for terrorist activity, these days, means potential deportation, means incarceration without access to an attorney without charges,” Enteen says. “It’s a qualitative difference to somebody who might be fishing off the coast without a license. We’re talking about people’s liberty being at stake if they are tagged terrorists.”</p>
<p>It is unclear whether civil libertarians will mount any preemptive legal challenge to Operation TIPS. Legal experts at Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group based in Washington, D.C., say there is nothing unlawful or unconstitutional about the plan. But they and other civil libertarians warn that the program poses a serious ethical question for the federal government, treading dangerously close to the fine line separating a democracy’s need for reasonable security from totalitarianism.</p>
<p>“The notion that you would actually encourage people who are not empowered or trained to do so, to snoop on their fellow citizens and report [on] them is particularly spooky,” says Joan Bertin, Executive Director of the National Coalition Against Censorship. “There seems to be no limits, no controls, no guidelines, no rules, no nothing.</p>
<p /> | true | 4 | nearly ten months civil libertarians warned americans constitutional rights sacrificed name postsept 11 push improved national security broad array rights activists attacking bush administration plan claim would prod postal workers utility employees others spy fellow citizens justice department appears backing away earlier aggressive detailed descriptions program known operation tips groups american civil liberties union national lawyers guild claim informationgathering initiative still represents potential threat americans civil rights certainly could use individuals participating operation tips go somebodys home using good ruse good story collect information without proper search warrant without proper subpoena court ordered warrant said beth givens director privacy rights clearinghouse san diego california program part citizen corps initiative introduced president bush state union speech described federal officials nothing national system reporting suspicious potentially terroristrelated activity earlier press release federal officials announced initiative would enlist many one million truck drivers letter carriers utility workers train conductors ship captains well positioned private citizens administration apparently wants implement program turn local cable gas electrical technicians governmentsanctioned peeping toms aclu legislative counsel rachel king said written statement early week like civil libertarians king concerned program allow federal officials skirt laws requiring law enforcement agents obtain warrant subpoena launching investigation search face criticism us postal service announced participate operation tips least one influential democratic lawmaker sen patrick leahy vermont said wants clear accounting plans objectives amid controversy bush administration tempered language recent description program available citizen corps web site longer mentions recruitment postal workers utility employees others might regular access peoples homes justice department officials taking pains insist program never intended encourage americans spy fellow citizens none operation tips material published web elsewhere made reference entry access homes individuals ever intention department justice agency set program says justice dept spokeswoman barbara comstock written statement interest establishing operation tips program allow american workers share information receive regular course jobs public places areas comparing operation tips nongovernmental reporting programs highway watch river watch coast watch comstock insists tips merely way volunteers report unusual events noted course work however dorothy ehrlich executive director aclus northern california chapter points americans always right report suspicious activty police even federal authorities alarming aspect operation tips says lack clear accountability guidelines information used thats whats wrong throughout many expanded proposals give law enforcement power since september 11 consistently lack necessary checks balances ordinarily required law ehrlich argues dont judicial oversight dont requirement certain kinds standards met order subpoena issued riva enteen san francisco program director national lawyers guild says statutory checks balances particularly important suspects reported possible terrorist activities report someone terrorist activity days means potential deportation means incarceration without access attorney without charges enteen says qualitative difference somebody might fishing coast without license talking peoples liberty stake tagged terrorists unclear whether civil libertarians mount preemptive legal challenge operation tips legal experts public citizen consumer advocacy group based washington dc say nothing unlawful unconstitutional plan civil libertarians warn program poses serious ethical question federal government treading dangerously close fine line separating democracys need reasonable security totalitarianism notion would actually encourage people empowered trained snoop fellow citizens report particularly spooky says joan bertin executive director national coalition censorship seems limits controls guidelines rules nothing | 522 |
<p>Forgive your enemies, but first get even.</p>
<p>– James Cagney, in Blood on the Sun</p>
<p>Around Christmas and Chanukah, to mark a new year, although agnostic, I am sometimes attacked by a sappy urge to forgive my living enemies, while adding up those people who have favored me with friendship. But there’s a snag. The bad angel of revenge often beats my good angel of forgiveness.</p>
<p>In my boyhood Chicago, street feuds were more our style on 16th Street. A small example: in grade school, I was bullied by a boy my age, “Melvin”. When I couldn’t take it any longer, I shoved him down a flight of school stairs where he broke his leg. Result: bullying finito. Years later, researching a class reunion, I phoned him in San Diego, where, as soon as he heard my name, he angrily slammed the phone down with a curse. Ah, bliss: he remembered!</p>
<p>More seriously, in the 1960s, in London’s Notting Hill, I was gang-mugged and almost killed by a bunch of guys whom I’d thought of as friends. I never quite got over my fear that, one day, they’d come back to finish the job. Over time, to my intense relief, but not of my doing, one by one they keeled over, of a heart attack, acute alcoholism, this and that. Only one of my former attackers is left. Via internet, Linkedin and the grapevine, I keep a wary eye on his movements, feeling safe only if there’s an ocean or two between us.</p>
<p>The wisdom of the religious and self-help sages holds that as long as I fear and hate this man, and cannot find it in my heart to let it go, it impacts negatively on my life. I’ve sought help in the immense forgiveness literature and am aware of 10- and 12-step programs and even – where else? – in Madison, Wisconsin, an Institute for Forgiveness Studies. The message seems to be, whether Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, Jewish or Dawkins, you do yourself and those around you no good by holding on to dark emotions provoked by the original sin. You must find a way to live with the pain.</p>
<p>I doubt if the guy who slugged me has ever looked back. He’s certainly never apologized; much good it will do either of us. It bugs me that he got away with stealing so much of the time I took to recover from both physical and psychic wounds. Yet, paradoxically, I’m in awe of anyone who has been damaged and forgives, like Corrie ten Boom, the Christian woman who survived a Nazi concentration camp, and famously said, “Forgiveness is to set a prisoner free, and to realize the prisoner was you.”</p>
<p>LA is a gang-killer town. Every week, I read in the newspaper or see on TV interviews with the mother, father or sister of a murdered family member who, instead of expressing hatred or revenge, the hope that one day the killer repents. Recently, after the two killers of his brother were sentenced to long prison terms, <a href="" type="internal">Dean Takahashi wrote</a> to them c/o the judge:</p>
<p>“They have no reason to fear me … I don’t believe in the macho folly of retaliation. I would ask them to think about what they’ve done … And turn your life around, whether you’re in jail or not. No excuses.”</p>
<p>In Dean Takahashi’s situation, I don’t know if I could forego “macho folly retaliation”, buying a gun to blow away my brother’s killers. One of the assassins, John Madrona, in for 30 years-to-life, seeks to atone – or to look good on his parole sheet – by working in his prison’s hospice attending the needs of dying prisoners.</p>
<p>Real repentance is terribly hard work, which has nothing to do with our current mania for slippery apologizing when we do&#160;horrible things to people. Whether it’s from politicians (like Arnold Schwarzenegger), or celebrity actors (such as Hilary Swank), Pentagon spokesmen or racist soccer players, how often do we hear: “I take full responsibility … our sincere apologies … we apologize for the distress.” To Afghan families mutilated by a drone attack, or to Iraqi parents whose children were killed by trigger-happy US-paid mercenaries, or to the families of the dead US veterans whose remains were carelessly dumped and burned in a Dover air base mortuary landfill, we are familiar with these resentful and grudging apologies. You can almost hear Gen Darrell Jones, the deputy chief of the air force, biting his tongue – like President Obama, who issued a reluctant “qualified apology” to the Pakistanis because our aircraft and artillery had slaughtered 26 of their soldiers.</p>
<p>Real repentance is practical, risky and from deep in the soul. Like Ross Caputi, a Marine who fought at the siege of Fallujah and lost friends there. Caputi is fundraising for Project Fallujah to raise $4,300 to bring two Iraqi doctors to the US to explain the health crisis in this destroyed city. Says Caputi:</p>
<p>“What we did to Fallujah cannot be undone, and I see no point in attacking the people in my former unit … I want to destroy the prejudices that prevented us from putting ourselves in the other’s shoes and asking ourselves what we would have done if a foreign army invaded our country and laid siege to our city.”</p>
<p>Can one even imagine a Henry Kissinger or Paul Wolfowitz, or any of the current journalistic war-stenographers beating the drums for attacking Iran, repenting for the millions of dead on their consciences … or the future dead their jingoism may cause?</p>
<p>I’ve been privileged, even humbled, to know real penitents. One was the Hollywood movie actor Sterling Hayden, who, in a moment of weakness, “named names” to the HUAC witchhunters, which brought harm onto friends and former comrades. Overcome with shame and guilt, Hayden not only apologized personally to the people he had damaged, but toured the country explaining his actions and denouncing HUAC. He was a man of intense pride and it took a lot for him to do it.</p>
<p>It doesn’t have to be political. In two separate trials, Jennifer Thompson, a white woman in North Carolina, misidentified a black man, Ronald Cotton, as her rapist. He served 11 years before DNA evidence freed him. A contrite Mrs Thompson, and a miraculously revenge-free Mr Cotton, have travelled together, preaching the errors of eye-witness identification.</p>
<p>It’s hard to make up for past harm done. A trivial incident: while in college, I failed to support a friend – a fellow reporter on the campus newspaper – in her struggle with the administration, because I was so ego-involved with my own similar problem. Finally, much later, I drove up to Salinas, California, where she worked on a newspaper, and apologized for abandoning her.</p>
<p>She bristled, “‘Sorry’ lets you off, you bastard? At last, a conscience! I needed you and you let me down!”</p>
<p>For a couple of days and nights, in bars and driving around the surrounding lettuce fields, we argued and yelled at each other, until we were both exhausted. Did it do her, or me, any good? Who knows? We both tried.</p>
<p>Clancy Sigal&#160;is a novelist and screenwriter in Los Angeles. He can be reached at&#160; <a href="mailto:clancy@jsasoc.com" type="external">clancy@jsasoc.com</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | forgive enemies first get even james cagney blood sun around christmas chanukah mark new year although agnostic sometimes attacked sappy urge forgive living enemies adding people favored friendship theres snag bad angel revenge often beats good angel forgiveness boyhood chicago street feuds style 16th street small example grade school bullied boy age melvin couldnt take longer shoved flight school stairs broke leg result bullying finito years later researching class reunion phoned san diego soon heard name angrily slammed phone curse ah bliss remembered seriously 1960s londons notting hill gangmugged almost killed bunch guys id thought friends never quite got fear one day theyd come back finish job time intense relief one one keeled heart attack acute alcoholism one former attackers left via internet linkedin grapevine keep wary eye movements feeling safe theres ocean two us wisdom religious selfhelp sages holds long fear hate man find heart let go impacts negatively life ive sought help immense forgiveness literature aware 10 12step programs even else madison wisconsin institute forgiveness studies message seems whether christian buddhist hindu muslim jewish dawkins around good holding dark emotions provoked original sin must find way live pain doubt guy slugged ever looked back hes certainly never apologized much good either us bugs got away stealing much time took recover physical psychic wounds yet paradoxically im awe anyone damaged forgives like corrie ten boom christian woman survived nazi concentration camp famously said forgiveness set prisoner free realize prisoner la gangkiller town every week read newspaper see tv interviews mother father sister murdered family member instead expressing hatred revenge hope one day killer repents recently two killers brother sentenced long prison terms dean takahashi wrote co judge reason fear dont believe macho folly retaliation would ask think theyve done turn life around whether youre jail excuses dean takahashis situation dont know could forego macho folly retaliation buying gun blow away brothers killers one assassins john madrona 30 yearstolife seeks atone look good parole sheet working prisons hospice attending needs dying prisoners real repentance terribly hard work nothing current mania slippery apologizing do160horrible things people whether politicians like arnold schwarzenegger celebrity actors hilary swank pentagon spokesmen racist soccer players often hear take full responsibility sincere apologies apologize distress afghan families mutilated drone attack iraqi parents whose children killed triggerhappy uspaid mercenaries families dead us veterans whose remains carelessly dumped burned dover air base mortuary landfill familiar resentful grudging apologies almost hear gen darrell jones deputy chief air force biting tongue like president obama issued reluctant qualified apology pakistanis aircraft artillery slaughtered 26 soldiers real repentance practical risky deep soul like ross caputi marine fought siege fallujah lost friends caputi fundraising project fallujah raise 4300 bring two iraqi doctors us explain health crisis destroyed city says caputi fallujah undone see point attacking people former unit want destroy prejudices prevented us putting others shoes asking would done foreign army invaded country laid siege city one even imagine henry kissinger paul wolfowitz current journalistic warstenographers beating drums attacking iran repenting millions dead consciences future dead jingoism may cause ive privileged even humbled know real penitents one hollywood movie actor sterling hayden moment weakness named names huac witchhunters brought harm onto friends former comrades overcome shame guilt hayden apologized personally people damaged toured country explaining actions denouncing huac man intense pride took lot doesnt political two separate trials jennifer thompson white woman north carolina misidentified black man ronald cotton rapist served 11 years dna evidence freed contrite mrs thompson miraculously revengefree mr cotton travelled together preaching errors eyewitness identification hard make past harm done trivial incident college failed support friend fellow reporter campus newspaper struggle administration egoinvolved similar problem finally much later drove salinas california worked newspaper apologized abandoning bristled sorry lets bastard last conscience needed let couple days nights bars driving around surrounding lettuce fields argued yelled exhausted good knows tried clancy sigal160is novelist screenwriter los angeles reached at160 clancyjsasoccom 160 | 648 |
<p>When Jamie McCourt was a little girl of 8 or 9, she told her mother that one day she was going to own a baseball team.</p>
<p>Her dream came true—and turned into a nightmare. Jamie and Frank McCourt are locked in the World Series of divorce cases. Among the big-ticket bones of contention is ownership of the Los Angeles Dodgers.</p>
<p>“With respect to their ‘lifestyles,’ the many houses are all Jamie’s,” Frank’s lawyers said. “She is presently ‘occupying’ four homes in the Los Angeles area alone. Frank lives in a hotel.”</p>
<p>There are smaller issues, too. After a bruising battle, Frank only just got to retrieve clothes and photos from one of the couple’s homes, in Holmby Hills near the Playboy Mansion, as attorneys for both sides looked on. Meanwhile, last month, TMZ captured Jamie, who was chief executive of the Dodgers organization until Frank fired her, <a href="http://www.tmz.com/2010/04/08/l-a-dodgerse-la-divorce-frank-mccourt-jamie-mccourt-tmz-video-david-boies-attorney-lawyer-court/" type="external">attempting</a> to enter Dodger Stadium to fetch her belongings.</p>
<p>Flanked by videographers and a couple of her lawyers, including super-litigator David Boies, Jamie planned to tape her sprawling, glass-walled office overlooking the third-base line before packing up the contents, including a collection of baseball caps signed by baseball legends Sandy Koufax and Brooks Robinson, among many other Major League stars. She was denied entry; Frank had her things delivered to her lawyer’s office.</p>
<p>After 30 years of marriage, it is an understatement to say things have gotten ugly between Frank and Jamie. She has asked for temporary spousal support of nearly $1 million—a month, that is. Michael Kump, one of her attorneys, says more than half of that sum is needed to cover fixed payments on various McCourt residences. She wants an additional $9 million to help pay her lawyers. By the time it’s done, the Los Angeles Times <a href="http://www.latimes.com/sports/baseball/mlb/la-sp-0329-mccourt-divorce-20100329,0,5385443.story?track=rss" type="external">reports</a>, the divorce case will qualify as one of the costliest in state history.</p>
<p>Frank and Jamie met as students at Georgetown University and married in 1979. They subsequently moved to Boston, where they raised four sons and built up a fortune as real-estate developers. In 2001, the McCourts tried to buy the Boston Red Sox with the idea of building a new stadium on McCourt-owned land. That didn’t work out, but the McCourts fared better in 2003, when they bought the Dodgers and moved west.</p>
<p>Jamie said in court papers that she “lived and breathed the Dodgers.” She rebuilt the front office and “installed a fresh, positive, values-driven culture” in the organization. “I was the face of the Dodgers,” she declared, and took pride in being the highest-ranking woman in Major League Baseball.</p>
<p>With the McCourts now engaged in a very public brawl, the divorce has generated a fair amount of hand-wringing in Los Angeles about the impact on the Dodgers. Frank has said the fallout will be “minimal” though not nonexistent. He has vowed that nothing will disrupt his ownership of the team. “My kids will own the Dodgers someday,” he <a href="http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_14743160" type="external">said</a>. “As we get this matter resolved… things will get back to normal.”</p>
<p>That will take some doing. For months now, Frank and Jamie have been taking turns embarrassing each other. There have been reports of infidelity and disclosures about the over-the-top lifestyles of the rich and famous. More surprising than Jamie’s taste for designer clothes, however, is a revelation about the scope of her ambition. Court papers show that in December 2008, a Dodgers public-relations executive (who has since left the organization) generated a document titled “Project Jamie.” The goal was to get Jamie elected president of the United States, with endorsements from such diverse players as Michelle Obama and Fernando Valenzuela. An email from political consultant Michael Wissot suggested she begin by running for mayor of Los Angeles, then governor of California, and finally commander in chief.</p>
<p>That’s clearly on hold now. By July 2009, the McCourts had separated, and in October Jamie’s husband had fired her—“unceremoniously,” she said—from her $2 million a year job with the Dodgers organization. Frank’s side alleged that Jamie had been having an “inappropriate” relationship with a subordinate, Jeff Fuller, the Dodgers' director of protocol, also described as her driver and security guard.</p>
<p>Since then, Jamie has countered that her estranged husband and his lawyers have made “hurtful and unnecessary personal comments” about her in court filings and suggested that turnabout would be fair play. “I would prefer not to... discuss my belief as to Frank’s extramarital activities,” she <a href="http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-0323-dodgers-mccourt-20100323,0,6949093.story" type="external">said</a>.</p>
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<p>A speedy, smart summary of all the news you need to know (and nothing you don't).</p>
<p>Court papers contain the unsurprising information that the McCourts treated themselves to private jets, almost daily visits from hairdressers, and other indulgences. According to one of Frank’s attorneys, among the McCourts’ several homes was one in Holmby Hills used only for its swimming pool (Olympic-size and indoor) and another for storing furniture. Other properties go unused.</p>
<p>Team Frank includes 82-year-old divorce lawyer Sorrell Trope, who has handled marital issues for Cary Grant, Hugh Grant, Nicole Kidman, and Britney Spears, among others. He also has reportedly <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2009/12/18/2009-12-18_elins_new_main_man_tigers_wife_hires_hollywood_shark_to_help_put_bigger_bite_on_.html" type="external">advised</a> Elin Nordegren in her travails with Tiger Woods. Meanwhile, Jamie has hired enough heavyweights to play a pickup game against the Dodgers. Among them are Boies; veteran divorce attorney Dennis Wasser, who has represented Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg; and lawyer to the stars Bert Fields.</p>
<p>While the McCourts accumulated great wealth, the case has raised <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125911524733063419.html" type="external">questions</a> about their true net worth. While Jamie has estimated that the couple was worth about $1.2 billion, Frank has portrayed himself as having relatively little ready money. In a filing last November, he said his liquid assets consisted of a bank account with less than $1.2 million. His portrayal of his finances appears to raise questions about ownership of the Dodgers if a court decides that he must buy Jamie out.</p>
<p>A judge is weighing Jamie’s request for temporary support and Frank’s contention that he is getting by on $5 million a year. (Jamie’s lawyers say he can get hold of much more.) Initially Frank wanted to pay no support to Jamie, but at a hearing in March, his lawyers said he could spot her $150,000 a month. Trope said her request for nearly $1 million a month was “obscene” and <a href="http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-mccourt-20100330,0,6102708.story?track=rss" type="external">invoked</a> Marie Antoinette. But Kump counters that both Frank and Jamie were the architects of their lavish lifestyle. “They’re now criticizing her for something that Frank was more than 50 percent of creating,” he says.</p>
<p>Frank’s lawyers responded to inquiries from The Daily Beast by saying in a statement: “With respect to their ‘lifestyles,’ the many houses are all Jamie’s. She is presently ‘occupying’ four homes in the Los Angeles area alone. Frank lives in a hotel. There is no comparison that can be made between the two. We look forward to having these issues resolved at trial to finally put to rest these baseless claims.”</p>
<p>With the support request pending, the challenge for Jamie’s lawyers now is to convince the court to invalidate a legal agreement, signed by Jamie, that gives Frank sole possession of the Dodgers.</p>
<p>According to Team Jamie, she always worried about protecting their homes in the event that their highly leveraged business went south, which sometimes seemed like a looming danger to her. All their residences were put in her name to make it more difficult for creditors to go after them.</p>
<p>After the McCourts bought the Dodgers, Jamie signed a “post-nup” that kept the residences in her name and gave ownership of the team and related assets—including 276 acres around the stadium—to Frank. Kump says Jamie never understood the terms of that agreement. “Jamie’s view was that all the property they acquired in their marriage was theirs together,” he says. She believed that Frank shared her understanding of their agreement, he says, adding that ceding the Dodgers to Frank “is not something she would have ever done.” But he says Jamie “trusted her husband and [their] lawyer to do what they told her they were going to do—to protect the homes.”</p>
<p>At the end of June 2008, however, Kump says Los Angeles estate-planning lawyer Leah Bishop explained to the McCourts that the agreement made the properties separate—so much so that if either died, the surviving spouse would have no access to property held in the other’s name. In a declaration filed in court, Bishop said both Frank and Jamie asked her to revise the deal to make their assets community property. She drew up the papers, but for months Frank kept declining to sign.</p>
<p>Kump says Bishop’s testimony is the key to Jamie’s case. “If two people enter into an agreement and there’s a mutual mistake, there’s been no meeting of the minds and it shouldn’t be legally binding,” he says. Alternately Jamie might argue that she was deliberately misled. Either way, Kump says Jamie never read the post-nup agreement.</p>
<p>Jamie’s own background, however, will be an issue. She has a law degree from the University of Maryland, practiced law until 1992—and even handled some divorces. She served as general counsel to the McCourt Company from 1994 until 2004, staying on in that role even after she decided in 1992 “that the practice of law was not my calling.” At that point, she got an MBA from MIT’s Sloan School of Management.</p>
<p>In response to inquiries from The Daily Beast, Frank’s lawyers said in a statement: “Jamie McCourt is a highly educated lawyer who practiced divorce law. She also has an MBA degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her claim that she did not read or understand the marital property agreement before she signed it is absurd. She was not misled by anyone. Her claims to the contrary are specious. The claims of her current lawyer Leah Bishop are also suspect. This lawyer was actually referring Jamie to five different divorce lawyers in 2008 while representing both Frank and Jamie. Neither Jamie nor this lawyer disclosed this to Frank when they were trying to get him to give her an ownership interest in the Dodgers.”</p>
<p>Kump says Bishop gave Jamie the names of divorce lawyers only to provide more clarity on the post-nup and that Jamie did not contact those lawyers until months later—after Frank had declined to sign the revised agreement.</p>
<p>It seems that the brawling will continue in the weeks ahead—in the court of law as well as the court of public opinion. A trial is set for Aug. 30. That’s just when the Dodgers could be battling for the National League West Championship. If they keep their eyes on the ball.</p>
<p>Plus: <a href="" type="internal">Check out more of the latest entertainment, fashion, and culture coverage on Sexy Beast—photos, videos, features, and Tweets</a>.</p>
<p>Kim Masters covers the entertainment business for The Daily Beast. She is also the host of <a href="http://www.kcrw.com/etc/programs/tb" type="external">The Business</a>, public radio's weekly program about the business of show business. She is also the author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0066621097/thedaibea-20" type="external">The Keys to the Kingdom: The Rise of Michael Eisner and the Fall of Everybody Else</a>.</p> | true | 4 | jamie mccourt little girl 8 9 told mother one day going baseball team dream came trueand turned nightmare jamie frank mccourt locked world series divorce cases among bigticket bones contention ownership los angeles dodgers respect lifestyles many houses jamies franks lawyers said presently occupying four homes los angeles area alone frank lives hotel smaller issues bruising battle frank got retrieve clothes photos one couples homes holmby hills near playboy mansion attorneys sides looked meanwhile last month tmz captured jamie chief executive dodgers organization frank fired attempting enter dodger stadium fetch belongings flanked videographers couple lawyers including superlitigator david boies jamie planned tape sprawling glasswalled office overlooking thirdbase line packing contents including collection baseball caps signed baseball legends sandy koufax brooks robinson among many major league stars denied entry frank things delivered lawyers office 30 years marriage understatement say things gotten ugly frank jamie asked temporary spousal support nearly 1 milliona month michael kump one attorneys says half sum needed cover fixed payments various mccourt residences wants additional 9 million help pay lawyers time done los angeles times reports divorce case qualify one costliest state history frank jamie met students georgetown university married 1979 subsequently moved boston raised four sons built fortune realestate developers 2001 mccourts tried buy boston red sox idea building new stadium mccourtowned land didnt work mccourts fared better 2003 bought dodgers moved west jamie said court papers lived breathed dodgers rebuilt front office installed fresh positive valuesdriven culture organization face dodgers declared took pride highestranking woman major league baseball mccourts engaged public brawl divorce generated fair amount handwringing los angeles impact dodgers frank said fallout minimal though nonexistent vowed nothing disrupt ownership team kids dodgers someday said get matter resolved things get back normal take months frank jamie taking turns embarrassing reports infidelity disclosures overthetop lifestyles rich famous surprising jamies taste designer clothes however revelation scope ambition court papers show december 2008 dodgers publicrelations executive since left organization generated document titled project jamie goal get jamie elected president united states endorsements diverse players michelle obama fernando valenzuela email political consultant michael wissot suggested begin running mayor los angeles governor california finally commander chief thats clearly hold july 2009 mccourts separated october jamies husband fired herunceremoniously saidfrom 2 million year job dodgers organization franks side alleged jamie inappropriate relationship subordinate jeff fuller dodgers director protocol also described driver security guard since jamie countered estranged husband lawyers made hurtful unnecessary personal comments court filings suggested turnabout would fair play would prefer discuss belief franks extramarital activities said start finish day top stories daily beast speedy smart summary news need know nothing dont court papers contain unsurprising information mccourts treated private jets almost daily visits hairdressers indulgences according one franks attorneys among mccourts several homes one holmby hills used swimming pool olympicsize indoor another storing furniture properties go unused team frank includes 82yearold divorce lawyer sorrell trope handled marital issues cary grant hugh grant nicole kidman britney spears among others also reportedly advised elin nordegren travails tiger woods meanwhile jamie hired enough heavyweights play pickup game dodgers among boies veteran divorce attorney dennis wasser represented tom cruise steven spielberg lawyer stars bert fields mccourts accumulated great wealth case raised questions true net worth jamie estimated couple worth 12 billion frank portrayed relatively little ready money filing last november said liquid assets consisted bank account less 12 million portrayal finances appears raise questions ownership dodgers court decides must buy jamie judge weighing jamies request temporary support franks contention getting 5 million year jamies lawyers say get hold much initially frank wanted pay support jamie hearing march lawyers said could spot 150000 month trope said request nearly 1 million month obscene invoked marie antoinette kump counters frank jamie architects lavish lifestyle theyre criticizing something frank 50 percent creating says franks lawyers responded inquiries daily beast saying statement respect lifestyles many houses jamies presently occupying four homes los angeles area alone frank lives hotel comparison made two look forward issues resolved trial finally put rest baseless claims support request pending challenge jamies lawyers convince court invalidate legal agreement signed jamie gives frank sole possession dodgers according team jamie always worried protecting homes event highly leveraged business went south sometimes seemed like looming danger residences put name make difficult creditors go mccourts bought dodgers jamie signed postnup kept residences name gave ownership team related assetsincluding 276 acres around stadiumto frank kump says jamie never understood terms agreement jamies view property acquired marriage together says believed frank shared understanding agreement says adding ceding dodgers frank something would ever done says jamie trusted husband lawyer told going doto protect homes end june 2008 however kump says los angeles estateplanning lawyer leah bishop explained mccourts agreement made properties separateso much either died surviving spouse would access property held others name declaration filed court bishop said frank jamie asked revise deal make assets community property drew papers months frank kept declining sign kump says bishops testimony key jamies case two people enter agreement theres mutual mistake theres meeting minds shouldnt legally binding says alternately jamie might argue deliberately misled either way kump says jamie never read postnup agreement jamies background however issue law degree university maryland practiced law 1992and even handled divorces served general counsel mccourt company 1994 2004 staying role even decided 1992 practice law calling point got mba mits sloan school management response inquiries daily beast franks lawyers said statement jamie mccourt highly educated lawyer practiced divorce law also mba degree massachusetts institute technology claim read understand marital property agreement signed absurd misled anyone claims contrary specious claims current lawyer leah bishop also suspect lawyer actually referring jamie five different divorce lawyers 2008 representing frank jamie neither jamie lawyer disclosed frank trying get give ownership interest dodgers kump says bishop gave jamie names divorce lawyers provide clarity postnup jamie contact lawyers months laterafter frank declined sign revised agreement seems brawling continue weeks aheadin court law well court public opinion trial set aug 30 thats dodgers could battling national league west championship keep eyes ball plus check latest entertainment fashion culture coverage sexy beastphotos videos features tweets kim masters covers entertainment business daily beast also host business public radios weekly program business show business also author keys kingdom rise michael eisner fall everybody else | 1,037 |
<p>Philadelphia’s top cop, Richard Ross, an African-American, has once again exhibited his blind spot on racial bigotry by police during his defense of a specious arrest of two black men inside a Starbucks coffee shop recently that triggered strong condemnation from the mayor of the so-called City of Brotherly Love.</p>
<p>The arrest of those black men for trespassing while they sat inside a Starbucks awaiting their meeting with a white developer to discuss a possible real estate investment deal sparked social media outrage, an apology from the corporate head of Starbucks and a strident assessment from Philadelphia’s Mayor James Kenney.</p>
<p>That Starbucks incident, Kenney said, “appears to exemplify what racial discrimination looks like in 2018.”</p>
<p>Yet, despite wide-ranging condemnations and growing protests at the Starbuck located in Center City at 18th and Spruce, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Ross made a Facebook video two days after that controversial arrest where he continues to declare that his officers “did absolutely nothing wrong.”</p>
<p>Ross said his officers “were professional” in providing a “service” to the Starbucks employees at that coffee shop located in a ritzy residential area of downtown Philadelphia. Reports indicate the Starbucks shop personnel initially said the pair were loitering, later insisting their offense was trespassing. Ross’ defense ignored the bigotry that ignited the encounter producing the arrest, bigotry not addressed by the predominately white group of arresting officers.</p>
<p>Ross said police responded to a 911 call from that Starbucks reporting a “disturbance” – apparently a reference to the non-confrontational refusal of the two men to leave the coffee shop as demanded by that shop’s manager, on the grounds that they were waiting for a third party to arrive and join them. (That third perseon, in fact, a white developer, arrived as cops were cuffing the two black patrons, and reacted angrily to police demanding to know why they were arresting his associates — to no effect.)</p>
<p>A cellphone video of the incident, taken by a customer, does not show any disturbance or even loud resistance to police by the pair, who calmly submitted to the arrest.</p>
<p>Police held the pair for over seven hours before their release after midnight. That release resulted from Starbucks personnel, who claimed a disturbance, declining to press charges and Philadelphia’s District Attorneys Office stating there was a “lack of evidence that a crime was committed.”</p>
<p>Police Commissioner Ross said his officers had “legal standing to make this arrest” that arose from an apparent prejudicial response by Starbucks personnel who denied a request from the men to use the bathroom.</p>
<p>After the men accepted the refusal to let them use the bathroom, Starbucks personnel still insisted that they leave — a demand rejected by the two men.</p>
<p>While the Starbucks manager cited corporate policy of bathroom access being only for paying customers, an eyewitness told a Philadelphia television station that a white jogger used the bathroom without making a purchase during the same time frame the two black men were denied use of the bathroom.</p>
<p>Richard Ross said his officers made that arrest after police “politely” asked the men to leave three times and they refused those commands, giving officers “attitude.” Ross said hehad made the Facebook video statement in order to “put out facts” since he did not think the police version was being “heard.”</p>
<p>Ross even played his version of a race-card, stating on the video that as an African-American he is “very aware of implicit bias.” Ross’ declaration implicitly contended he did not observe racism in either the actions of his officers or the actions of the Starbucks personnel who summoned police.</p>
<p>The reaction of Commissioner Ross to what many nationwide easily see as an incident saturated with repugnant racial prejudice from Starbucks personnel and police has provoked criticism.</p>
<p>“More egregious than the incident itself, is the tone deaf response from the police commissioner. Richard Ross is on the wrong side of history, and his assertion took on a tone opposite of the Mayor, which is telling,” Chris Norris said. Norris is a Philadelphia journalist who frequently reports about abusive police practices. Additionally, Norris hosts a popular morning talk radio program on Philadelphia’s WURD900AM, one of the few African-American owned talk radio stations in the United States.</p>
<p>“If Starbucks aims to enforce its no excessive loitering policy, then they should hire security guards,”&#160;Norris continued.&#160;“Philadelphia police, who are paid by taxpayers, should not be responding to calls of nonviolent trespassing.”</p>
<p>Veteran Philadelphia civil rights attorney Isaac Green, reacting to the actions of Starbucks personnel and Philadelphia police including Commissioner Ross, noted that “according to some, being a young black or Latino male is, by definition, probable cause for the belief that criminal activity is afoot.”</p>
<p>Attorney Green said, “criminal injustice” like the Starbucks arrest “feeds the pipeline for mass incarceration making prisons big business and creating an environment for 21st century slavery conditions.”</p>
<p>During the post-Civil War ‘Jim Crow’ era — that didn’t end until the 1960s — white segregationists used laws against loitering to easily arrest blacks who were then assigned to whites to conduct uncompensated forced labor, a virtual re-enslavement through the criminal justice system.</p>
<p>Philadelphia Police Commissioner, in his Facebook video refuting criticisms of the Starbucks incident, said his department is “committed to fair and unbiased policing and anything less that that will not be tolerated.”</p>
<p>However, since 2011 Ross’ department has been under federal court monitoring for abusive Stop-&amp;-Frisk practices driven by racial profiling. The overwhelming majority of the persons subjected to Stop-&amp;-Frisk in Philadelphia are black males. Police stopped 140,000 people in 2016 and blacks represented 77 percent of those frisked by police. “Racial disparities in stops remain,” the ACLU of Pennsylvania noted in January 2018.</p>
<p>Ross has strenuously defended Stop-&amp;-Frisk as essential to policing despite the documented facts that Philadelphia police recover weapons in less than five percent of the Stop-&amp;-Frisk encounters. Removing weapons from the streets is the reason Ross claims Stop-&amp;-Frisk is necessary.</p>
<p>In 1968, Austin Norris, a prominent black lawyer in Philadelphia, penned an essay where he blasted prejudicial law enforcement by Philadelphia police.</p>
<p>“Stopping and frisking Negroes without due provocation has been a general practice” in black communities, Norris wrote. “Negroes have just grievance against the police department here…because they have suffered more from the tyranny of the police than from any other public officials.”</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | philadelphias top cop richard ross africanamerican exhibited blind spot racial bigotry police defense specious arrest two black men inside starbucks coffee shop recently triggered strong condemnation mayor socalled city brotherly love arrest black men trespassing sat inside starbucks awaiting meeting white developer discuss possible real estate investment deal sparked social media outrage apology corporate head starbucks strident assessment philadelphias mayor james kenney starbucks incident kenney said appears exemplify racial discrimination looks like 2018 yet despite wideranging condemnations growing protests starbuck located center city 18th spruce philadelphia police commissioner ross made facebook video two days controversial arrest continues declare officers absolutely nothing wrong ross said officers professional providing service starbucks employees coffee shop located ritzy residential area downtown philadelphia reports indicate starbucks shop personnel initially said pair loitering later insisting offense trespassing ross defense ignored bigotry ignited encounter producing arrest bigotry addressed predominately white group arresting officers ross said police responded 911 call starbucks reporting disturbance apparently reference nonconfrontational refusal two men leave coffee shop demanded shops manager grounds waiting third party arrive join third perseon fact white developer arrived cops cuffing two black patrons reacted angrily police demanding know arresting associates effect cellphone video incident taken customer show disturbance even loud resistance police pair calmly submitted arrest police held pair seven hours release midnight release resulted starbucks personnel claimed disturbance declining press charges philadelphias district attorneys office stating lack evidence crime committed police commissioner ross said officers legal standing make arrest arose apparent prejudicial response starbucks personnel denied request men use bathroom men accepted refusal let use bathroom starbucks personnel still insisted leave demand rejected two men starbucks manager cited corporate policy bathroom access paying customers eyewitness told philadelphia television station white jogger used bathroom without making purchase time frame two black men denied use bathroom richard ross said officers made arrest police politely asked men leave three times refused commands giving officers attitude ross said hehad made facebook video statement order put facts since think police version heard ross even played version racecard stating video africanamerican aware implicit bias ross declaration implicitly contended observe racism either actions officers actions starbucks personnel summoned police reaction commissioner ross many nationwide easily see incident saturated repugnant racial prejudice starbucks personnel police provoked criticism egregious incident tone deaf response police commissioner richard ross wrong side history assertion took tone opposite mayor telling chris norris said norris philadelphia journalist frequently reports abusive police practices additionally norris hosts popular morning talk radio program philadelphias wurd900am one africanamerican owned talk radio stations united states starbucks aims enforce excessive loitering policy hire security guards160norris continued160philadelphia police paid taxpayers responding calls nonviolent trespassing veteran philadelphia civil rights attorney isaac green reacting actions starbucks personnel philadelphia police including commissioner ross noted according young black latino male definition probable cause belief criminal activity afoot attorney green said criminal injustice like starbucks arrest feeds pipeline mass incarceration making prisons big business creating environment 21st century slavery conditions postcivil war jim crow era didnt end 1960s white segregationists used laws loitering easily arrest blacks assigned whites conduct uncompensated forced labor virtual reenslavement criminal justice system philadelphia police commissioner facebook video refuting criticisms starbucks incident said department committed fair unbiased policing anything less tolerated however since 2011 ross department federal court monitoring abusive stopampfrisk practices driven racial profiling overwhelming majority persons subjected stopampfrisk philadelphia black males police stopped 140000 people 2016 blacks represented 77 percent frisked police racial disparities stops remain aclu pennsylvania noted january 2018 ross strenuously defended stopampfrisk essential policing despite documented facts philadelphia police recover weapons less five percent stopampfrisk encounters removing weapons streets reason ross claims stopampfrisk necessary 1968 austin norris prominent black lawyer philadelphia penned essay blasted prejudicial law enforcement philadelphia police stopping frisking negroes without due provocation general practice black communities norris wrote negroes grievance police department herebecause suffered tyranny police public officials 160 | 637 |
<p>Annie Nelson, wife of Willie Nelson and co-chairperson of the Sustainable Biodiesel Alliance, speaks to Truthdig about stomaching the State of the Union and the myth that alternative fuels are years away.</p>
<p />
<p>Did you see the State of the Union?</p>
<p>Nelson: Yeah, I stomached as much as I could.</p>
<p />
<p>Truthdig: Did you see what the president said about ethanol? - He did say one sentence or one line about biodiesel. Did any of that resonate with you?</p>
<p>Nelson: Yeah, about as much as it did the last time he said it. I mean, it's all a bit of - it's just talk. You know, they give 13 gazillion dollars to the oil and gas industry as some welfare for these people who are making phenomenal historic record-breaking profits, and less than - I think it's 7.7 [billion] for research into alternative fuels which are already here. It's lip service. It's all lip service.</p>
<p>Truthdig: And what's your involvement in biodiesel?</p>
<p>Nelson: Pretty much we're proponents. I don't know how else to say it. We're in production. We have partnerships with Pacific Biodiesel Texas and Pacific Biodiesel, and we are doing community production of biodiesel. And our intent is to keep them community [based] and then promote that idea where each community - can and should create their own fuel, and let that be the market for the community.</p>
<p>Truthdig: What is biodiesel?</p>
<p>Nelson: It is the fuel that obviously powers - I'm going to go real elementary, right?</p>
<p>Truthdig: Yeah.</p>
<p>Nelson: The fuel that powers a diesel engine. Biodiesel needs to run in a diesel engine, and what it does - where it comes from are several sources. It can come from recycled cooking oil, which then keeps that junk out of landfills; several plant seed stocks from seeds and those types of things; the rendering of animals, just you name it. There are tons of ways to get it. There's a process where they remove the glycerin - that's biodiesel. You can put pure cooking oil into your car, but you have to have a converter inside of it. But just any regular diesel [vehicle] can run on biodiesel because it's been refined, which means the glycerin has been taken out.</p>
<p>Truthdig: So - you can actually drive on recycled cooking oil?</p>
<p>Nelson: Yes, the diesel engine was designed to run on peanut and hemp oil, not petroleum. But then again Rudolf Diesel disappeared over the Atlantic. It never was intended to run on petroleum, and in fact I think an interesting connection is if you go - if you check out the Prohibition era, when the government was going after stills that were on farms and such, a lot of those stills were producing ethanol and biodiesel for - mainly ethanol - for farm production, for their machinery. That's what happened. There were so many people involved in it, in that whole deal, that Prohibition was probably a whole lot less about alcohol and a whole lot more about killing the renewable energy possibilities. Obviously the petroleum companies were behind it.</p>
<p>Truthdig: What's the difference between biodiesel and ethanol?</p>
<p>Nelson: Well, ethanol is almost like - and I'm not an expert on ethanol at all, so let me just put that disclaimer in there immediately - it's more like a grain alcohol, almost. It's from sugar. It's a plant that needs to have a particular cellulose to create a gasoline-type fuel. But it's mainly turning the sugar into fuel.</p>
<p>Truthdig: With ethanol we know how much money has been given to Iowa and other states where ethanol is being produced. On Biodiesel.org, they say there's no government program to support them [ <a href="#correction" type="external">correction</a>]. Do you have an opinion on that?</p>
<p>Nelson: Biodiesel.org is an actual biodiesel board and there are many others. They're just one entity, and they're fine. They tend to have a lot more large producers and a lot of soybean people. Our whole deal, and we just actually formed - Daryl Hannah and I are co-chairs and Kelly King and Laura Louie, who is Woody Harrelson's wife, and a group of us just formed the Sustainable Biodiesel Alliance, where our intent is to focus specifically on sustainable community biodiesel production. And if it ends up being ethanol as well at some future date, that's fine, but the whole point is to keep it community - to eliminate the ADMs and the Cargills and those people - large oil companies from just transferring their monopoly on Middle Eastern oil to home-produced, naturally produced fuel. Right now they can - it's really a matter of connecting the farm bill with our national security bills and those types of things without allowing one group or one industry to control our energy, whether it be from the Middle East or from our own country. If it's domestically produced, that should be domestically distributed as well. We're here to protect the family farmers and the community co-ops that want to produce their own fuel and sell it.</p>
<p>Truthdig: Are there stations where people can fill up? One of the problems with ethanol has been transporting it and getting it to the public.</p>
<p>Nelson: People actually produce it all over the country. We do our tours through this whole country, and we do it on biodiesel. At least a blend. At minimum, it's a blend of biodiesel. We try to do 100 percent whenever we can?. So, it's out there. It's already available. The funny thing about why $7.7 billion was given to renewable fuels - and that 7.7 is spread out between wind and geothermal and biomass and ethanol and biodiesel and others - that's spread out amongst all of them. When 13 point something billion is given to the oil and gas industry and coal, and then another 12 to nuclear. So it's kind of serious, but instead of doing that, let each community - that's our deal - to connect communities and make sure that they can produce their own fuels so they're not dependent on one of these corporations that have already proven that they could care less about these people's interests, and do their own. Make their own fuel. Make their own security, which gives everybody in this country security because not one person or organization is controlling the market. What's the difference between OPEC and a group of American oil companies who control our prices?</p>
<p>Truthdig: There's a list of gas stations on Biodiesel.org and a few other of these sites?.</p>
<p>Nelson: There are gas stations. What they have a list of is people who are members. There are other people besides them - many, many other people that are producing biodiesel. When we put the Sustainable Biodiesel Alliance online, it will be to help people connect to where they can get fuel around the country and, at the same time, promote community-based fueling stations where people can pull off the highway and fill up with whatever blend they need or 100 percent. So that is something that just hasn't been put together. That's what we're going for. It exists out there - a lot of people making fuel. We're some of them. In fact, if there was even more help, this would go big guns, but it also takes the profit away from some people that are in control right now.</p>
<p>Truthdig: During the State of the Union, the president said he would try and reduce foreign fuel by [20] percent by 2017. You're saying?.</p>
<p>Nelson: We're already doing it. There are so many people already doing it. In fact, taking people and putting them back on land. Even if we just put them back on their land and let them buy their farms back. Put them back on land that's sitting fallow right now. Let them grow food for ourselves and fuel. Then each community would start thriving again. You've got people out of the city, so there would be less congestion in the city. People on land, where they're not [driven] insane by the inner city, where that's not where they belong anyway. Put them back on the land, let them grow our fuel, let them grow our food, have it be sustainably grown, and then we eliminate - well, first we would eliminate, by getting them out of the city, the congestion of carbon fibers in the air, plus if they're going to be using renewable fuels - and specifically I can speak for biodiesel, if up to 100 percent, you can eliminate 99 percent of particulates in the air.</p>
<p>So why wouldn't we do that? People don't want to be in the city, people want to be on their land; they never wanted to leave it to begin with. They got thrown off their land because the market is manipulated. So we put them back on it and allow them to earn ownership - we did that in the &#160;"30s - but allow them to earn their ownership back, and let them produce food and fuel for us - fuel that doesn't kill us, and grow it sustainably so it doesn't kill the water and everything around us either. It doesn't make sense not to. Then you have thriving communities - when you put people back on the land then you need a grocery store, you need businesses that sustain those people. They have to buy their farm products somewhere, they have to buy their feed somewhere, when you get them back out there, you get those communities thriving again, and the heartbeat of America gets a little defibrillation - and certainly the economy. How is that bad" It's not. It's good for everybody; it's just not great for those few who want it to be just good for them.</p>
<p />
<p>Scheer says Biodiesel.org says it gets no government support, but the website actually refers to at least one government program and legislation it finds favorable.</p>
<p />
<p /> | true | 4 | annie nelson wife willie nelson cochairperson sustainable biodiesel alliance speaks truthdig stomaching state union myth alternative fuels years away see state union nelson yeah stomached much could truthdig see president said ethanol say one sentence one line biodiesel resonate nelson yeah much last time said mean bit talk know give 13 gazillion dollars oil gas industry welfare people making phenomenal historic recordbreaking profits less think 77 billion research alternative fuels already lip service lip service truthdig whats involvement biodiesel nelson pretty much proponents dont know else say production partnerships pacific biodiesel texas pacific biodiesel community production biodiesel intent keep community based promote idea community create fuel let market community truthdig biodiesel nelson fuel obviously powers im going go real elementary right truthdig yeah nelson fuel powers diesel engine biodiesel needs run diesel engine comes several sources come recycled cooking oil keeps junk landfills several plant seed stocks seeds types things rendering animals name tons ways get theres process remove glycerin thats biodiesel put pure cooking oil car converter inside regular diesel vehicle run biodiesel refined means glycerin taken truthdig actually drive recycled cooking oil nelson yes diesel engine designed run peanut hemp oil petroleum rudolf diesel disappeared atlantic never intended run petroleum fact think interesting connection go check prohibition era government going stills farms lot stills producing ethanol biodiesel mainly ethanol farm production machinery thats happened many people involved whole deal prohibition probably whole lot less alcohol whole lot killing renewable energy possibilities obviously petroleum companies behind truthdig whats difference biodiesel ethanol nelson well ethanol almost like im expert ethanol let put disclaimer immediately like grain alcohol almost sugar plant needs particular cellulose create gasolinetype fuel mainly turning sugar fuel truthdig ethanol know much money given iowa states ethanol produced biodieselorg say theres government program support correction opinion nelson biodieselorg actual biodiesel board many others theyre one entity theyre fine tend lot large producers lot soybean people whole deal actually formed daryl hannah cochairs kelly king laura louie woody harrelsons wife group us formed sustainable biodiesel alliance intent focus specifically sustainable community biodiesel production ends ethanol well future date thats fine whole point keep community eliminate adms cargills people large oil companies transferring monopoly middle eastern oil homeproduced naturally produced fuel right really matter connecting farm bill national security bills types things without allowing one group one industry control energy whether middle east country domestically produced domestically distributed well protect family farmers community coops want produce fuel sell truthdig stations people fill one problems ethanol transporting getting public nelson people actually produce country tours whole country biodiesel least blend minimum blend biodiesel try 100 percent whenever already available funny thing 77 billion given renewable fuels 77 spread wind geothermal biomass ethanol biodiesel others thats spread amongst 13 point something billion given oil gas industry coal another 12 nuclear kind serious instead let community thats deal connect communities make sure produce fuels theyre dependent one corporations already proven could care less peoples interests make fuel make security gives everybody country security one person organization controlling market whats difference opec group american oil companies control prices truthdig theres list gas stations biodieselorg sites nelson gas stations list people members people besides many many people producing biodiesel put sustainable biodiesel alliance online help people connect get fuel around country time promote communitybased fueling stations people pull highway fill whatever blend need 100 percent something hasnt put together thats going exists lot people making fuel fact even help would go big guns also takes profit away people control right truthdig state union president said would try reduce foreign fuel 20 percent 2017 youre saying nelson already many people already fact taking people putting back land even put back land let buy farms back put back land thats sitting fallow right let grow food fuel community would start thriving youve got people city would less congestion city people land theyre driven insane inner city thats belong anyway put back land let grow fuel let grow food sustainably grown eliminate well first would eliminate getting city congestion carbon fibers air plus theyre going using renewable fuels specifically speak biodiesel 100 percent eliminate 99 percent particulates air wouldnt people dont want city people want land never wanted leave begin got thrown land market manipulated put back allow earn ownership 16030s allow earn ownership back let produce food fuel us fuel doesnt kill us grow sustainably doesnt kill water everything around us either doesnt make sense thriving communities put people back land need grocery store need businesses sustain people buy farm products somewhere buy feed somewhere get back get communities thriving heartbeat america gets little defibrillation certainly economy bad good everybody great want good scheer says biodieselorg says gets government support website actually refers least one government program legislation finds favorable | 793 |
<p>Greg Palast is the author of the New York Times bestsellers, Billionaires &amp; Ballot Bandits, The Best Democracy Money Can Buy, Armed Madhouse and the highly acclaimed Vultures' Picnic, named Book of the Year 2012 on BBC Newsnight Review. Palast also directed the U.S. government's largest racketeering case in history, winning a $4.3 billion jury award. He also conducted the investigation of fraud charges in the Exxon Valdez grounding.</p>
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<p /> JESSICA DESVARIEUX, TRNN PRODUCER: Welcome to The Real News Network. I'm Jessica Desvarieux in Baltimore.
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<p />This week marks the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. It also marks the eighth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. And a new report found that African-American New Orleans residents continue to be disproportionately affected by high unemployment. Nearly half of them are unemployed. And, also, African-American households are earning 50&#160;percent less than their white counterparts. Meanwhile, much of the city public education and housing has been privatized or demolished. That's from the Katrina Pain Index of 2013 by Bill Quigley.
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<p />Now joining us to talk about this is Greg Palast. Greg Palast is a BBC investigative reporter, and he investigated for Democracy Now! the real causes behind Hurricane Katrina in a film called Big Easy to Big Empty.
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<p />Thank you for joining us, Greg.
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<p />GREG PALAST, BBC INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: Glad to be with you.
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<p />DESVARIEUX: So, Greg, what is the connection between this 50th anniversary of the March on Washington and the eighth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina?
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<p />PALAST: Plenty. For those who know Greg Palast is an investigative reporter--most people know that I uncovered that Katherine Harris knocked tens of thousands of people off the voter rolls of Florida in the 2000 election, thereby handing the election to George Bush. People were illegally called felons when their only crime was voting while black. It was an ethnic cleansing of the voter rolls.
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<p />When Martin Luther King stood up before the Washington Monument 50 years ago this week, he said, I have a dream that black folk in Alabama and Mississippi and in the South will be able to cast a ballot. Well, 50 years later, we're still asking that question. Of course, we've eliminated the white sheets and the Ku Klux Klan as a threat. It's now spreadsheets and ethnic ethnic cleansing.
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<p />Now, I did the investigation of the ethnic cleansing of the voter rolls of Florida. And, by the way, that spread to Louisiana and Georgia. But I also look at the ethnic cleansing of another town, New Orleans, for Democracy Now!. And what I found was just stunning. You have to put these two things together. You have to put the ethnic cleansing of the voter rolls of Florida together with the ethnic cleansing that happened and is going on in New Orleans and Louisiana, with Hurricane Katrina just a cover, an excuse. That's all it is.
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<p />And what you take away from this is that King's dream was announced 50 years ago, but eight years ago in New Orleans is when the dream drowned. And here's what I mean. I've discovered that Louisiana State University's Hurricane Center sent an emergency request to the White House more than a year before the levees broke, before Katrina, and Dr.&#160;Ivor van&#160;Heerden, the deputy of the Hurricane Center, contacted George Bush's senior counsel at the White House. They had a long discussion. He said, New Orleans is going to drown--not maybe, not will. We don't even need a hurricane. And, by the way, Hurricane Katrina never, never touched, never touched New Orleans. It went 30 miles east. It was simply a storm surge. And he said, we cannot handle even a storm surge in New Orleans. The levees are too low. The levees are built wrong. And not only that, but we have--but you built a canal for the oil companies which is bringing the Gulf of Mexico right to our doorstep. This city is going to drown unless you bring in the Army Corps of Engineers to correct this. But the Army Corps of Engineers, remember, in 2004 was in Iraq. They weren't there for the American people. They were there, you know, to blow up bridges and then rebuild them over the Tigris River.
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<p />So what happened was is that all the warnings of Dr.&#160;van&#160;Heerden--and I got to tell you, it's not like these were secret things. British television, where I work--I work for BBC TV--30 days before New Orleans drowned, just 30 days, van&#160;Heerden said on British television, this city could be underwater in a month. Exactly 30 days later it was underwater. This is not some shock and some surprise.
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<p />Now, what does this have to do with Martin Luther King and the rights of African-Americans to life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, and democracy? Okay, life and liberty was lost. If this was somewhere else, if this was not an African-American city, an overwhelmingly African-American city, it would have been protected. I'm speaking to you right now from near Westhampton Beach, which is where the movie stars go for the summer and the real estate brokers and the venture capitalists and financial vultures hang out for the summer. This area was wiped out by a hurricane twice, and both times the United States federal government evacuated people, took responsibility. No one's ever hurt here in this rich beach area. Bill Clinton's just down the road. He doesn't even get his flip-flops wet when there's a hurricane. And furthermore, every single house here--and when I say houses, I mean mansions--these beach mansions, every one of them was replaced by the federal government at the public cost, even with hundreds of truckloads of sand brought in so that the venture capitalists and the Democratic Party donors could get their tans.
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<p />What happened in New Orleans? I got to tell you, according to a United States federal court judgment, van&#160;Heerden was correct. There was something called the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet Canal which created, basically, a highway for the water surge from Katrina, a highway for that surge. It was insane. It was just an invitation for a tidal wave. There was never hurricane, but there was a tidal wave that hit New Orleans which knocked over those levees. It was the responsibility of the federal government.
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<p />And the only reason the federal government did that, by the way, built this stupid canal, which basically drowned New Orleans--it was a shotgun rifle, it was like a rifle barrel pointed right at the city--was because oil companies wanted to save time. They didn't want to take the Mississippi River all the way to the Gulf, which winds all the way around. You know, old man river goes in all kinds of crazy curves. So they built a straight canal for the oil tankers, so that oil tankers could save a day or two on travel down to the Gulf. That's what it was all about. So just oil tankers could save a day or two, the city of New Orleans drowned.
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<p />The federal courts determined that's exactly what happened, that's the science of it, and ordered the federal government to rebuild the homes of the African-Americans who lost their homes, because this was something that was done by the oil companies and the federal government. That's a court ruling.
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<p />But the federal government, if it loses a court case, it cannot be required to pay unless Congress agrees and appropriates the money unless the president asks. Barack Obama never asked for a dime to rebuild the homes that were lost in the people's city of New Orleans. Yes, you know, he rebuilt the homes of all the movie stars in Westhampton, but not a single home in the city of New Orleans. I want to repeat that. The federal government has never built, rebuilt any homes for the people in the city of New Orleans. They gave them formaldehyde-filled trailers, they spread them all over the country, and they drowned them. Not only were 2,000 people drowned by this horrific negligence, willful negligence of the federal government, when they knew in advance this would happen.
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<p />DESVARIEUX: Well, Greg, let's talk about the reconstruction and the recovery effort in New Orleans, and specifically let's talk about the African-American community and how they fared. What has it been like for them down there post-Katrina?
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<p />PALAST: Horrific. I got to tell you, look, this was--as far as the Caucasian and elite leadership of New Orleans--that's both black and white. Remember that when we talk about--there's no African-American community in New Orleans, just so you know. There is an elite black community, which is from the old Creole community, which includes, by the way, the old black slaveholders. There were a lot of black people who owned slaves in the New Orleans area before the Civil War. You have that old black elite and the old white elite.
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<p />And then you have the average African-American--worked those plantations and lived in places like the Lower Ninth Ward, which, by the way, had the highest concentration of African-American homeownership in America until Katrina. What happened was all these people were shipped out, put on buses, not even told where they were going, and sent to Texas, sent to Baltimore, sent all over, and sent to Florida, no way to return, no plan to return. People weren't allowed to return to their own homes, not even allowed to put trailers on their own property. Not allowed.
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<p />So when we talk about New Orleans recovering in the sense of, like, it's up to 70,&#160;80&#160;percent of its original pre-flood population, that's not the same people. They're gone. Half of the African-American population in New Orleans is gone forever, dispersed. They don't have the money or the ability to get back. They don't have their homes back. They don't have the ability to get back.
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<p />And so in terms of work, almost all--almost all the work of reconstruction was done by people who came in from El Salvador and from Latin America, cheap labor. And then the technical labor came from the north. So, basically it was also carpetbag labor, and local African Americans lost their jobs.
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<p />In our film (which, by the way, if you go to GregPalast.com, you can download it for free this week, Big Easy to Big Empty), you'll see that we had a young black man who stood on a bridge for four days while helicopters flew over, ignoring him and the people he was with. A grandfather near him gave his last bottle of water to his grandchildren, and then he died of dehydration on that bridge. Then Stephen was put on a bus, separated from his family. He never saw his children and his wife for weeks. He had no idea where they were shipped off to. And then he was dumped in Texas. He ended up taking a job in Texas, and his job at the Marriott Hotel in New Orleans was taken over by immigrant workers who would be willing to work nonunion and at half his pay. So you had--basically, the construction work was done almost entirely by immigrant workers, as opposed to the black population which had lived there.
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<p />So, basically, the black population was cleansed out of the city and off the voter rolls, so that you actually--don't forget, this is also another way to get rid of--to use a natural disaster as a cover to in effect cleans the voter rolls as well. The state went from a Democratic governor to Republican Bobby Jindal. Altogether, New Orleans went from a black city to a white and Latin American city. It's a very different city than it was.
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<p />DESVARIEUX: Okay. Well, thank you so much for joining us, Greg.
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<p />PALAST: You're very welcome.
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<p />DESVARIEUX: And thank you for joining us on The Real News Network.
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<p />End
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<p />DISCLAIMER: Please note that transcripts for The Real News Network are typed from a recording of the program. TRNN cannot guarantee their complete accuracy. | true | 4 | greg palast author new york times bestsellers billionaires amp ballot bandits best democracy money buy armed madhouse highly acclaimed vultures picnic named book year 2012 bbc newsnight review palast also directed us governments largest racketeering case history winning 43 billion jury award also conducted investigation fraud charges exxon valdez grounding jessica desvarieux trnn producer welcome real news network im jessica desvarieux baltimore week marks 50th anniversary march washington jobs freedom also marks eighth anniversary hurricane katrina new report found africanamerican new orleans residents continue disproportionately affected high unemployment nearly half unemployed also africanamerican households earning 50160percent less white counterparts meanwhile much city public education housing privatized demolished thats katrina pain index 2013 bill quigley joining us talk greg palast greg palast bbc investigative reporter investigated democracy real causes behind hurricane katrina film called big easy big empty thank joining us greg greg palast bbc investigative reporter glad desvarieux greg connection 50th anniversary march washington eighth anniversary hurricane katrina palast plenty know greg palast investigative reportermost people know uncovered katherine harris knocked tens thousands people voter rolls florida 2000 election thereby handing election george bush people illegally called felons crime voting black ethnic cleansing voter rolls martin luther king stood washington monument 50 years ago week said dream black folk alabama mississippi south able cast ballot well 50 years later still asking question course weve eliminated white sheets ku klux klan threat spreadsheets ethnic ethnic cleansing investigation ethnic cleansing voter rolls florida way spread louisiana georgia also look ethnic cleansing another town new orleans democracy found stunning put two things together put ethnic cleansing voter rolls florida together ethnic cleansing happened going new orleans louisiana hurricane katrina cover excuse thats take away kings dream announced 50 years ago eight years ago new orleans dream drowned heres mean ive discovered louisiana state universitys hurricane center sent emergency request white house year levees broke katrina dr160ivor van160heerden deputy hurricane center contacted george bushs senior counsel white house long discussion said new orleans going drownnot maybe dont even need hurricane way hurricane katrina never never touched never touched new orleans went 30 miles east simply storm surge said handle even storm surge new orleans levees low levees built wrong havebut built canal oil companies bringing gulf mexico right doorstep city going drown unless bring army corps engineers correct army corps engineers remember 2004 iraq werent american people know blow bridges rebuild tigris river happened warnings dr160van160heerdenand got tell like secret things british television worki work bbc tv30 days new orleans drowned 30 days van160heerden said british television city could underwater month exactly 30 days later underwater shock surprise martin luther king rights africanamericans life liberty pursuit happiness democracy okay life liberty lost somewhere else africanamerican city overwhelmingly africanamerican city would protected im speaking right near westhampton beach movie stars go summer real estate brokers venture capitalists financial vultures hang summer area wiped hurricane twice times united states federal government evacuated people took responsibility ones ever hurt rich beach area bill clintons road doesnt even get flipflops wet theres hurricane furthermore every single house hereand say houses mean mansionsthese beach mansions every one replaced federal government public cost even hundreds truckloads sand brought venture capitalists democratic party donors could get tans happened new orleans got tell according united states federal court judgment van160heerden correct something called mississippi river gulf outlet canal created basically highway water surge katrina highway surge insane invitation tidal wave never hurricane tidal wave hit new orleans knocked levees responsibility federal government reason federal government way built stupid canal basically drowned new orleansit shotgun rifle like rifle barrel pointed right citywas oil companies wanted save time didnt want take mississippi river way gulf winds way around know old man river goes kinds crazy curves built straight canal oil tankers oil tankers could save day two travel gulf thats oil tankers could save day two city new orleans drowned federal courts determined thats exactly happened thats science ordered federal government rebuild homes africanamericans lost homes something done oil companies federal government thats court ruling federal government loses court case required pay unless congress agrees appropriates money unless president asks barack obama never asked dime rebuild homes lost peoples city new orleans yes know rebuilt homes movie stars westhampton single home city new orleans want repeat federal government never built rebuilt homes people city new orleans gave formaldehydefilled trailers spread country drowned 2000 people drowned horrific negligence willful negligence federal government knew advance would happen desvarieux well greg lets talk reconstruction recovery effort new orleans specifically lets talk africanamerican community fared like postkatrina palast horrific got tell look wasas far caucasian elite leadership new orleansthats black white remember talk abouttheres africanamerican community new orleans know elite black community old creole community includes way old black slaveholders lot black people owned slaves new orleans area civil war old black elite old white elite average africanamericanworked plantations lived places like lower ninth ward way highest concentration africanamerican homeownership america katrina happened people shipped put buses even told going sent texas sent baltimore sent sent florida way return plan return people werent allowed return homes even allowed put trailers property allowed talk new orleans recovering sense like 7016080160percent original preflood population thats people theyre gone half africanamerican population new orleans gone forever dispersed dont money ability get back dont homes back dont ability get back terms work almost allalmost work reconstruction done people came el salvador latin america cheap labor technical labor came north basically also carpetbag labor local african americans lost jobs film way go gregpalastcom download free week big easy big empty youll see young black man stood bridge four days helicopters flew ignoring people grandfather near gave last bottle water grandchildren died dehydration bridge stephen put bus separated family never saw children wife weeks idea shipped dumped texas ended taking job texas job marriott hotel new orleans taken immigrant workers would willing work nonunion half pay hadbasically construction work done almost entirely immigrant workers opposed black population lived basically black population cleansed city voter rolls actuallydont forget also another way get rid ofto use natural disaster cover effect cleans voter rolls well state went democratic governor republican bobby jindal altogether new orleans went black city white latin american city different city desvarieux okay well thank much joining us greg palast youre welcome desvarieux thank joining us real news network end disclaimer please note transcripts real news network typed recording program trnn guarantee complete accuracy | 1,070 |
<p>Shir Hever is an economist working at The Real News Network. His economic research focuses on Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territory; international aid to the Palestinians and to Israel; the effects of the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories on the Israeli economy; and the boycott, divestment and sanctions campaigns against Israel. His first book: Political Economy of Israel's Occupation: Repression Beyond Exploitation, was published by Pluto Press.</p>
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<p /> SHIR HEVER, TRNN PRODUCER: Between May&#160;10 and May&#160;12, a conference took place in Stuttgart, Germany, dedicated to the establishment of the one democratic secular state on the entire area of Palestine. I've also taken part in that conference.
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<p />While the mainstream media and all European governments, as well as the U.S., speak frequently about the two-state solution, the establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip based on the '67 borders, there is little mention of the fact that negotiations have been going on for 20 years, and that during that time, the number of illegal Israeli colonies and their population has increased dramatically, placing obstacles to the two-state idea.
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<p />ILLAN PAPPE, UNIVERSITY OF EXETER: I was asked yesterday by a journalist, who do you represent, the people who are here? How can you take any decisions when you are only representing yourself? And I said, well, it's not true. We represent first and foremost all of those groups and peoples and ideas that were excluded by the two-state paradigm and idea. This is a conversation about the future of Palestine between refugees, between Palestinians inside Israel, between Palestinians from the occupied territories who live there and who are not allowed to go back there. We are talking between us about a one-state solution.
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<p />And it's not only the solution which is important, but the fact that we include all of us in the conversation about the future, whereas the Oslo process was very strict in saying who is allowed and who is not allowed to be part of that conversation.
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<p />HEVER: This was the second such conference in Stuttgart. The first conference took place in November&#160;2010. It was so controversial to hold such a conference in Germany that the organizers were forbidden from holding the conference in a venue of their choice and had to make do with a smaller room.
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<p />ALI ABUNIMAH, JOURNALIST: --three years later, in November&#160;1989, that the wall cracked and later collapsed. And so one thing we learned from the history of Germany is to expect the unexpected.
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<p />And I think that we have to also expect the unexpected in Palestine, that a system of oppression that is so real and so harmful and so devastating to the lives of millions of people seems permanent but is not, and it can be ended, and I think it will be ended. And we have to start with what our vision is for the end, I think.
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<p />And this goes back to the theme of the conference, separated in the past. Actually, I would like to make one correction: separated in the present, not in the past, and together in the future. And that should be our vision, that Israelis and Palestinians can live together under conditions of full equality. This is the most important thing.
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<p />HEVER: The conference in 2010 stressed the fact that the two-state solution focuses only on a third of the Palestinian population in the world. It doesn't offer guarantees for the equality of the 1.5&#160;million Palestinian citizens in Israel. Sovereignty for a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza also doesn't exempt Israel from its obligation to recognize and implement the right of return of about half a million Palestinian refugees.
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<p />LUBNA MASARWA, FREE GAZA MOVEMENT: The last two years, I had the chance to go to Gaza with boats to break the siege with the Free Gaza movement. I had been in Gaza twice, and the other two times I was arrested, one in the last year in the Spirit of Humanity, and the second time was this one after the Mavi Marmara.
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<p />I should say that Gaza is far away from my home only one hour, but we are not allowed to get in there. I was flying to Cyprus and sailing 20 hours to Gaza, and when I arrived, I saw Ashdod city in Israel, and I was shocked, because only then I recognized how unrealistic is our lives and how separated we are.
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<p />But the visit in Gaza helped me to understand the siege as a policy. It's not only about Gaza. The siege is a policy that was used before in Beirut. It was used in Iraq. And it's used in Palestine in different areas. Gaza is under siege. The West Bank is under siege. East Jerusalem is under siege. And the Palestinian [incompr.] under siege. The different with Gaza, that in Gaza it's hermetic siege. And this is how is the situation. When the wall will be accomplished in the West Bank, this is the situation going to be. [kaIb3`] actually didn't see his sister in Bethlehem for more than six years, Bethlehem away from Gaza maybe one hour driving. [mazImkAn'si@] can see Jerusalem from his house, but he can't go to Jerusalem. A German or a tourist can come from the U.S. or Germany and can visit the holy land. Palestinian kids in the West Bank can see the sea and the beach from the roof, but they never visited or see or have the chance to go to the sea.
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<p />HEVER: This year, the conference drew several hundred audience members and was covered live by Al Jazeera. It came at a time in which discussions about the possibility of establishing a single democracy in the area of Palestine becomes more common. A group of Palestinian activists, including senior members of the Fatah Party, have published a call to abolish internal borders and treat all who live in Palestine, Arabs and Jews, as equal citizens. Secretary of State of the U.S. John Kerry said that there are only two years left before the two-state solution will no longer be relevant. This May, speakers in Stuttgart, Palestinians, Israelis, and internationals from around the world, have argued that a democracy in which everyone are equal citizens is not the second-best solution if the two-state negotiations fail but is actually a preferable arrangement.
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<p />GHADA KARMI, EXETER UNIVERSITY, U.K.: It is time for the Palestinians to make a move. Nobody else is going to. Now, what would that move be? I'm suggesting that that move would be for the occupied Palestinians to dismantle the Palestinian Authority.
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<p />HEVER: Yoav Bar from the Haifa Group represented Jewish-Israeli voices that are rarely heard in the mainstream media.
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<p />YOAV BAR, HAIFA GROUP: Again, the question of the liberation of all of Palestine as one democratic state is a way to reunite the--politically reunite, in the vision reunite, and then on the ground to reunite the struggle of the Palestinian for one cause, for one solution for all the Palestinians.
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<p />And it also implies about the solution, the unity of Arabs and Jews in the struggle against Israeli apartheid, because if you support the partition of Palestine, if you say, I am, like some people say, I am for two state for two people, then what you actually tell to the Jews in Palestine? You tell them that you should do peace with the Palestinians through your government. Like, you are one side, the Palestinians are the other side, and then there is negotiations. And negotiations, of course, there is--everybody want to get more for himself. So you actually, by supporting the two-state solution, you actually perpetuate the struggle, perpetuate the conflict, and you push Jews in Palestine back to the hands of the Israeli government in negotiations that don't serve anything.
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<p />So through the common struggle against Israeli apartheid, for living together in one democratic state, you [inaud.] today, not at the end after you make the one democratic state, you create today the conditions for real partnerships between Arabs and Jews in Palestine in the struggle against this regime which is not in the interest of anybody, because it only creates more wars, more hatred, and more problems for everybody.
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<p />HEVER: Ranja Mahdi from Badil stressed the importance of addressing the historic rights of Palestinians, not only those living under direct Israeli occupation, but those who have been forcefully deported from their homes and live in the diaspora as well.
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<p />RANJA MAHDI, BADIL: Palestinian refugees, if we look internationally, constitute one of the largest and longest-standing unresolved situation of displacement in the world. This is mean half of all refugees in the world are Palestinians, which means 66&#160;percent of the entire population of the Palestinians are refugees. This is a unique case.
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<p />HEVER: Indeed, a poll published last December showed that even among Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, 58&#160;percent believe that the two-state solution is no longer practical. Fifty-two&#160;percent, a majority, still prefer the two-state solution, with 48&#160;percent against it. Palestinians who live in Israel and around the world of course have varying opinions.
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<p />Of course, one democratic state means that the Jewish state, in the sense of a state in which Jews enjoy extra privileges and non-Jews are treated as second-class citizens at best and as enemies and terrorists at worst, would end. Yet the speakers in the conference, just like the new Palestinian one-state initiative, emphasized that a democratic state would protect the rights, liberties, and safety of all its citizens.
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<p />The entire proceedings of the Stuttgart conference can be watched in the link which now appears on the screen.
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<p />This is Shir Hever for The Real News.
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<p />DISCLAIMER: Please note that transcripts for The Real News Network are typed from a recording of the program. TRNN cannot guarantee their complete accuracy. | true | 4 | shir hever economist working real news network economic research focuses israeli occupation palestinian territory international aid palestinians israel effects israeli occupation palestinian territories israeli economy boycott divestment sanctions campaigns israel first book political economy israels occupation repression beyond exploitation published pluto press shir hever trnn producer may16010 may16012 conference took place stuttgart germany dedicated establishment one democratic secular state entire area palestine ive also taken part conference mainstream media european governments well us speak frequently twostate solution establishment palestinian state west bank gaza strip based 67 borders little mention fact negotiations going 20 years time number illegal israeli colonies population increased dramatically placing obstacles twostate idea illan pappe university exeter asked yesterday journalist represent people take decisions representing said well true represent first foremost groups peoples ideas excluded twostate paradigm idea conversation future palestine refugees palestinians inside israel palestinians occupied territories live allowed go back talking us onestate solution solution important fact include us conversation future whereas oslo process strict saying allowed allowed part conversation hever second conference stuttgart first conference took place november1602010 controversial hold conference germany organizers forbidden holding conference venue choice make smaller room ali abunimah journalist three years later november1601989 wall cracked later collapsed one thing learned history germany expect unexpected think also expect unexpected palestine system oppression real harmful devastating lives millions people seems permanent ended think ended start vision end think goes back theme conference separated past actually would like make one correction separated present past together future vision israelis palestinians live together conditions full equality important thing hever conference 2010 stressed fact twostate solution focuses third palestinian population world doesnt offer guarantees equality 15160million palestinian citizens israel sovereignty palestinian state west bank gaza also doesnt exempt israel obligation recognize implement right return half million palestinian refugees lubna masarwa free gaza movement last two years chance go gaza boats break siege free gaza movement gaza twice two times arrested one last year spirit humanity second time one mavi marmara say gaza far away home one hour allowed get flying cyprus sailing 20 hours gaza arrived saw ashdod city israel shocked recognized unrealistic lives separated visit gaza helped understand siege policy gaza siege policy used beirut used iraq used palestine different areas gaza siege west bank siege east jerusalem siege palestinian incompr siege different gaza gaza hermetic siege situation wall accomplished west bank situation going kaib3 actually didnt see sister bethlehem six years bethlehem away gaza maybe one hour driving mazimkansi see jerusalem house cant go jerusalem german tourist come us germany visit holy land palestinian kids west bank see sea beach roof never visited see chance go sea hever year conference drew several hundred audience members covered live al jazeera came time discussions possibility establishing single democracy area palestine becomes common group palestinian activists including senior members fatah party published call abolish internal borders treat live palestine arabs jews equal citizens secretary state us john kerry said two years left twostate solution longer relevant may speakers stuttgart palestinians israelis internationals around world argued democracy everyone equal citizens secondbest solution twostate negotiations fail actually preferable arrangement ghada karmi exeter university uk time palestinians make move nobody else going would move im suggesting move would occupied palestinians dismantle palestinian authority hever yoav bar haifa group represented jewishisraeli voices rarely heard mainstream media yoav bar haifa group question liberation palestine one democratic state way reunite thepolitically reunite vision reunite ground reunite struggle palestinian one cause one solution palestinians also implies solution unity arabs jews struggle israeli apartheid support partition palestine say like people say two state two people actually tell jews palestine tell peace palestinians government like one side palestinians side negotiations negotiations course iseverybody want get actually supporting twostate solution actually perpetuate struggle perpetuate conflict push jews palestine back hands israeli government negotiations dont serve anything common struggle israeli apartheid living together one democratic state inaud today end make one democratic state create today conditions real partnerships arabs jews palestine struggle regime interest anybody creates wars hatred problems everybody hever ranja mahdi badil stressed importance addressing historic rights palestinians living direct israeli occupation forcefully deported homes live diaspora well ranja mahdi badil palestinian refugees look internationally constitute one largest longeststanding unresolved situation displacement world mean half refugees world palestinians means 66160percent entire population palestinians refugees unique case hever indeed poll published last december showed even among palestinians west bank gaza 58160percent believe twostate solution longer practical fiftytwo160percent majority still prefer twostate solution 48160percent palestinians live israel around world course varying opinions course one democratic state means jewish state sense state jews enjoy extra privileges nonjews treated secondclass citizens best enemies terrorists worst would end yet speakers conference like new palestinian onestate initiative emphasized democratic state would protect rights liberties safety citizens entire proceedings stuttgart conference watched link appears screen shir hever real news end disclaimer please note transcripts real news network typed recording program trnn guarantee complete accuracy | 812 |
<p>The dread report of the White House’s National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform is due out this week. &#160;One of the&#160;Commission’s co-chairs, the putative Democrat and consummate wheeler-dealer&#160;Erskine Bowles, has been up on the Hill flogging their plan to reduce the debt by cutting the country’s already skimpy programs for the old, the sick, and the poor. His partner, motor-mouth Republican Alan Simpson, continues his ranting and ravings against the greedy&#160;geezers who want to sink&#160;his entitlement-cutting ship&#160;before it’s launched.&#160;Both of them&#160;have taken to boo-hooing because no one appreciates all the work they&#160;are doing to save the nation from certain fiscal doom, and nobody is willing to pitch in to meet this noble goal.</p>
<p>Personally, I’m still waiting to hear how Wall Street is going to pitch in and do its part–or the people&#160;with high six-figure incomes who claim they still aren’t&#160;rich enough to give up their tax cuts. Or,&#160;for that matter, Bowles and Simpson themselves, who retired on&#160;fat&#160; pensions and don’t have a financial care in the world.&#160;&#160;Since none of this is likely to happen any time soon,&#160;we’d better take a good hard look at what these sanctimonious&#160;old coots&#160;have come up with.</p>
<p>We already know a lot about what to expect from the Fiscal Commission Plan, since the co-chairs released their own&#160;preliminary proposals (as yet unapproved by the 18-member Commission) earlier this month.&#160;According to people with access to the Commission’s thinking, they&#160;seem to&#160;believe&#160;their best bet is to achieve consensus on a proposal to&#160;change the way&#160;Social Security’s annual cost of living increases (COLAs) are calculated.&#160;What seems like a mere accounting adjustment&#160;would, in reality, severely affect benefits over time.&#160;The National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare&#160; <a href="http://www.ncpssm.org/news/archive/Analysis_of_Commission_Co_Chairs_Proposal/" type="external">explains the impact of this scheme</a>:</p>
<p>This proposal will affect current and future beneficiaries uniformly. &#160;The impact would occur after benefits are initiated, with each COLA, as the yearly increase in benefits would be slightly lower than would have been the case without the change.&#160; The impact would be greater with each successive COLA.&#160; For example, the Social Security benefits paid to someone collecting benefits for 10 years would be about 3 percent lower, on average, if the chained-CPI was used for the COLA instead of the current CPI-W.&#160; After 20 years this reduction would reach 6 percent and 9 percent after 30 years.</p>
<p>This is is bad enough–especially since old people’s cost of living increases faster than the national average because of exploding health care costs.&#160;But of course, there’s more,&#160;in the form of a plan that would raise the retirement age to 67 and eventually 69. Working until you drop dead or&#160;are forced out of the labor market is&#160;utilitarian&#160;nineteenth-century thinking. But at that time, at least there was an expanding need for workers in a burgeoning industrial capitalist&#160;economy. The one profitable&#160;industry&#160;surviving in America today is so-called financial services, which consists of a small number of&#160;overpaid people&#160;passing money back and forth amongst themselves. They certainly don’t need any more workers, and if they do, they’ll get them in India. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders said of the idea of raising the retirement age that it was not only “reprehensible,” but “also totally impractical. As they compete for jobs with 25-year-olds, many older workers will go unemployed and have virtually no income.”</p>
<p>There was no such ringing takedown of the plan, of course, from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, whose <a href="http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/1110/111210nj1.htm" type="external">mealy-mouthed&#160;statement</a>tells us what we can expect from our Democratic Senate. “I thank the leaders of the bipartisan debt commission for their work,” Reid said. “While I don’t agree with every one of their recommendations, what they have provided is a starting point for this important discussion. I look forward to the full commission’s recommendations and to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to address this important issue.”</p>
<p>Nancy Pelosi had somewhat stronger words, calling the preliminary proposals “simply unacceptable”–but then, she’s nothing but the soon-to-be-ex-Speaker of the House. In fact, Commission co-chair Simpson <a href="http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/fiscal-commission/" type="external">has been&#160;predicting</a>, with something close to glee, the “bloodbath” that’s likely to ensue next spring, when the new Republican House refuses to extend the debt limit and threatens to send the nation into default “unless we give ‘em a piece of meat, real meat, off of this package.”</p>
<p>When all is said and done,&#160;there’s pretty much no way this&#160;so-called debate will end up without most of us, old and young alike, getting screwed. An already stingy program that ought to be expanded to cover elders as their numbers grow instead&#160;is going&#160;&#160;to be reduced, and the only question is how and by how much. It makes no sense, but it may well have political traction because the pols can sell it as an attack on rich grannies–”the greediest generation” as Simpson calls the old–while the young are hoodwinked into thinking it’s good for them. And since its full effect will take&#160;years to be felt, the current crop of opportunistic politicians will be long gone into&#160;splendid retirement by the time these young people realize how wrong they are. Alan Simpson was frank about this fact in&#160;the <a href="http://www.google.com/search?source=ig&amp;hl=en&amp;rlz=1R2GGLL_enUS387&amp;q=chairmen+of+panel+try+to+build+washington+post&amp;btnG=Google+Search&amp;aq=f&amp;oq=#q=chairmen+of+panel+try+to+build+washington+post&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;rlz=1R2GGLL_enUS387&amp;nfpr=1&amp;prmd=ivn&amp;source=univ&amp;tbs=nws:1&amp;tbo=u&amp;ei=Gu_vTNzRGIKClAf-vaCnDA&amp;oi=news_group&amp;ct=title&amp;resnum=1&amp;ved=0CCAQqAIwAA&amp;fp=5071b83781fd2ee9" type="external">Washington Post</a> on Friday, using another one of his nauseatingly folksy metaphors:</p>
<p>It takes six to eight years to pass a major piece of legislation. . . . On a piece of legislation that you know is going to go somewhere someday, you want to get a horse on the track. That might be not much. Then the next session you want to put a blanket on the horse. Nobody’s paying attention then. Then you put some silks on the horse. Then you clean the outfield and the infield. And then you put a jockey on the horse in the sixth year, and you can win it. Because the toughest part is to do the initial thing, and so it’s usually so watered down, it’s just gum, you could gum it. Then you begin to build it the next year, the next year and then you get it done. That’s what I see.</p>
<p>And just in case you thought&#160;things couldn’t get any worse, consider this warning&#160;from Allan Sloan, Fortune’s senior editor,&#160;who&#160;wrote an op-ed&#160;in the the <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/24/AR2010112406497.html" type="external">Washington Post</a> on Thanksgiving day:</p>
<p>[P]rivatizing Social Security, slaughtered when George W. Bush proposed it five years ago, seems about to rear its foul head again. You’d think that the stock market’s stomach-churning gyrations – two 50 percent-plus drops in just over a decade – would have shown conclusively the folly of retirees’ having to bet their eating money on the market. But you’d be wrong. Stocks have been rising the past 18 months, and you can bet that we’ll see a privatization push from newly elected congressmen and senators who made it a <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/17/AR2010101700019.html" type="external">campaign issue</a>.</p>
<p>Why is privatizing Social Security such a turkey? Because retirees shouldn’t have to depend on the market’s vagaries for survival money. More than half of married couples older than 65 and 72 percent of singles get more than half of their income from Social Security, according to the Social Security Administration. For 20 percent of 65-and-older couples and 41 percent of singles, Social Security is 90 percent or more of their income. That isn’t projected to change.</p>
<p>Arrayed against these grim prospects&#160;is a&#160;small group in Congress, led in the Senate by Bernie Sanders and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, and in the House by&#160;Jan Schakowsky of Illinois. Says <a href="http://schakowsky.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&amp;view=article&amp;id=2777:schakowsky-alternative-to-simpson-bowles-deficit-reduction-plan&amp;catid=21:2010-press-releases&amp;Itemid=58" type="external">Shakowsky</a>:&#160;</p>
<p>Social Security has nothing to do with the deficit. Addressing the Social Security issue as part of the deficit question is like attacking Iraq to retaliate for the 9/11 attacks – there is simply no relationship between the two and attempting to conflate them does a grave disservice to America’s seniors. Taking money from Social Security retirees whose average total income is $18,000 per year and average benefit is $14,000 ($12,000 for women) is simply wrong. It places them at fiscal risk and hurts the economy because they will be unable to purchase the goods they need.&#160; Americans in poll after poll have indicated their opposition to benefit cuts – particularly at a time when Wall Street bankers are making record bonuses.</p>
<p>Schakwosky has her own plan, which will be an antidote to whatever the Fiscal Commission comes up with. But&#160;her ideas are&#160;unlikely to make any headway in the lame duck Congress or with the Democratic leadership, as they wait, already&#160;on bended knee, for the coming of the&#160;Republicans.</p>
<p><a href="http://unsilentgeneration.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/turkey.jpg" type="external" /></p>
<p>The Deficit Commission’s Plan: Starve the Poor to Stuff the Rich</p> | true | 4 | dread report white houses national commission fiscal responsibility reform due week 160one the160commissions cochairs putative democrat consummate wheelerdealer160erskine bowles hill flogging plan reduce debt cutting countrys already skimpy programs old sick poor partner motormouth republican alan simpson continues ranting ravings greedy160geezers want sink160his entitlementcutting ship160before launched160both them160have taken boohooing one appreciates work they160are save nation certain fiscal doom nobody willing pitch meet noble goal personally im still waiting hear wall street going pitch partor people160with high sixfigure incomes claim still arent160rich enough give tax cuts or160for matter bowles simpson retired on160fat160 pensions dont financial care world160160since none likely happen time soon160wed better take good hard look sanctimonious160old coots160have come already know lot expect fiscal commission plan since cochairs released own160preliminary proposals yet unapproved 18member commission earlier month160according people access commissions thinking they160seem to160believe160their best bet achieve consensus proposal to160change way160social securitys annual cost living increases colas calculated160what seems like mere accounting adjustment160would reality severely affect benefits time160the national committee preserve social security medicare160 explains impact scheme proposal affect current future beneficiaries uniformly 160the impact would occur benefits initiated cola yearly increase benefits would slightly lower would case without change160 impact would greater successive cola160 example social security benefits paid someone collecting benefits 10 years would 3 percent lower average chainedcpi used cola instead current cpiw160 20 years reduction would reach 6 percent 9 percent 30 years bad enoughespecially since old peoples cost living increases faster national average exploding health care costs160but course theres more160in form plan would raise retirement age 67 eventually 69 working drop dead or160are forced labor market is160utilitarian160nineteenthcentury thinking time least expanding need workers burgeoning industrial capitalist160economy one profitable160industry160surviving america today socalled financial services consists small number of160overpaid people160passing money back forth amongst certainly dont need workers theyll get india vermont senator bernie sanders said idea raising retirement age reprehensible also totally impractical compete jobs 25yearolds many older workers go unemployed virtually income ringing takedown plan course senate majority leader harry reid whose mealymouthed160statementtells us expect democratic senate thank leaders bipartisan debt commission work reid said dont agree every one recommendations provided starting point important discussion look forward full commissions recommendations working colleagues sides aisle address important issue nancy pelosi somewhat stronger words calling preliminary proposals simply unacceptablebut shes nothing soontobeexspeaker house fact commission cochair simpson been160predicting something close glee bloodbath thats likely ensue next spring new republican house refuses extend debt limit threatens send nation default unless give em piece meat real meat package said done160theres pretty much way this160socalled debate end without us old young alike getting screwed already stingy program ought expanded cover elders numbers grow instead160is going160160to reduced question much makes sense may well political traction pols sell attack rich granniesthe greediest generation simpson calls oldwhile young hoodwinked thinking good since full effect take160years felt current crop opportunistic politicians long gone into160splendid retirement time young people realize wrong alan simpson frank fact in160the washington post friday using another one nauseatingly folksy metaphors takes six eight years pass major piece legislation piece legislation know going go somewhere someday want get horse track might much next session want put blanket horse nobodys paying attention put silks horse clean outfield infield put jockey horse sixth year win toughest part initial thing usually watered gum could gum begin build next year next year get done thats see case thought160things couldnt get worse consider warning160from allan sloan fortunes senior editor160who160wrote oped160in washington post thanksgiving day privatizing social security slaughtered george w bush proposed five years ago seems rear foul head youd think stock markets stomachchurning gyrations two 50 percentplus drops decade would shown conclusively folly retirees bet eating money market youd wrong stocks rising past 18 months bet well see privatization push newly elected congressmen senators made campaign issue privatizing social security turkey retirees shouldnt depend markets vagaries survival money half married couples older 65 72 percent singles get half income social security according social security administration 20 percent 65andolder couples 41 percent singles social security 90 percent income isnt projected change arrayed grim prospects160is a160small group congress led senate bernie sanders sheldon whitehouse rhode island house by160jan schakowsky illinois says shakowsky160 social security nothing deficit addressing social security issue part deficit question like attacking iraq retaliate 911 attacks simply relationship two attempting conflate grave disservice americas seniors taking money social security retirees whose average total income 18000 per year average benefit 14000 12000 women simply wrong places fiscal risk hurts economy unable purchase goods need160 americans poll poll indicated opposition benefit cuts particularly time wall street bankers making record bonuses schakwosky plan antidote whatever fiscal commission comes but160her ideas are160unlikely make headway lame duck congress democratic leadership wait already160on bended knee coming the160republicans deficit commissions plan starve poor stuff rich | 783 |
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>The sky-high electricity and natural gas prices in California between 2000 and 2001 that bankrupted the state’s largest utility and caused several days of rolling blackouts was the result of widespread manipulation by several Texas-based energy companies with close ties to President Bush, federal energy regulators ruled Wednesday.</p>
<p>The energy companies, Dynegy Inc., Reliant Resources, Enron Corporation, all of which contributed heavily to Bush’s presidential campaign, must now refund California billions of dollars in profits it reaped between January 2000 and June 2001. Other energy companies, including Mirant and Williams Companies, were also identified for taking of advantage of loopholes in California’s newly deregulated energy market to boost their profits and ordered to pay refunds.</p>
<p>In addition, FERC harshly criticized Reliant Resources for manipulating natural gas prices at the Southern California trading hub known as Topock. In FERC’s staff report to Congress, Reliant is accused of dominating the Southern California gas market, raising prices there and selling at the top of that market.</p>
<p>FERC commissioners also said they planned to strip the wholesale trading privileges of Enron, Reliant and a unit of BP PLC because of their manipulative trading activities during the energy crisis.</p>
<p>California’s electricity crisis wreaked havoc on consumers in the state between 2000 and 2001, resulted in four days of rolling blackouts, and forced the state’s largest utility, Pacific Gas &amp; Electric, into bankruptcy. California was the first state in the nation to deregulate its power market in an effort to provide consumers with cheaper electricity and the opportunity to choose their own power provider. The results have since proved disastrous. The experiment has cost the state more than $30 billion.</p>
<p>But despite Wednesday’s favorable ruling for California, state officials said they aren’t celebrating. That’s because FERC is only ordering energy companies to refund California $3.3 billion. However, the state still owes about $3 billion to suppliers, meaning that California stands to receive about $300 million. Davis said the state wouldn’t take a penny less than $8.9 billion, the amount California claims it was overcharged as a result of the crisis.</p>
<p>Steve Maviglio, Davis’ press secretary, said California would appeal any ruling that fails to refund the state the full $8.9 billion.</p>
<p>Wednesday’s ruling, the culmination of FERC’s yearlong investigation into the dysfunctional Western energy markets, is a major blow to Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney both of whom publicly denied in the Spring of 2001 that energy companies such as Enron and Dynegy were acting like a cartel and withholding much-needed electricity supplies from the state in order to increase the wholesale price and their companies’ profits.</p>
<p>In May 2001, during the peak of California’s energy crisis, Gov. Gray Davis met with Bush at a Los Angeles hotel to ask for federal assistance, such as price caps, to rein in soaring energy prices. Bush refused, saying California legislators designed an electricity market that left too many regulatory restrictions in place and that’s what caused electricity prices in the state to skyrocket.</p>
<p>That same month, the PBS news program Frontline interviewed Cheney and he was asked whether energy companies were using manipulative tactics to cause electricity prices to spike in California.</p>
<p>“No,” Cheney said during the Frontline interview. “The problem you had in California was caused by a combination of things–an unwise regulatory scheme, because they didn’t really deregulate. Now they’re trapped from unwise regulatory schemes, plus not having addressed the supply side of the issue. They’ve obviously created major problems for themselves and bankrupted PG&amp;E in the process.”</p>
<p>It should be noted, however, that a month before the Frontline interview and Bush’s meeting with Davis, Cheney, who chairs Bush’s energy task force, met with Ken Lay, Enron’s former chief executive, to discuss Bush’s National Energy Policy. Lay, whose company was the largest contributor to Bush’s presidential campaign, made some recommendations that benefited his company financially and Cheney included some of Lay’s suggestions in the energy policy. The energy policy was released in May 2001, a couple of weeks after the meeting between Bush and Davis and after Cheney’s Frontline interview.</p>
<p>Moreover, in March 2001, while the energy policy was being drafted, while Davis was accusing energy companies of withholding electricity supplies from the state and while Cheney was meeting with Lay and other heavyweights in the energy industry, Tulsa, Okla., based-Williams Companies entered into a confidential settlement with FERC agreeing to refund California $8 million in profits it reaped by deliberately shutting down one of its power plants in the state in the spring of 2000 to drive up the wholesale price of electricity in California.</p>
<p>The evidence, a transcript of a tape-recorded telephone conversation between an employee at Williams and an employee at a Southern California power plant operated by Williams, shows how the two conspired to jack up power prices and create an artificial electricity shortage by keeping the power plant out of service for two weeks.</p>
<p>Details of the settlement had been under seal by FERC for more than a year and were released in November after the Wall Street Journal sued the commission to obtain the full copy of its report. Similarly, FERC found that Reliant engaged in identical behavior around the same time as Williams and in February the commission ordered Reliant to pay California a $13.8 million settlement.</p>
<p>In a bit of poetic justice for the state, however, many of these energy companies are now struggling financially. Enron is bankrupt and Reliant, Dynegy and Williams, once the darlings of Wall Street, have seen their stocks plummet from a high of $70 in 2001 to just above $2 a share Wednesday.</p>
<p>Today’s Features</p>
<p>March 26, 2003</p>
<p>Pablo Mukherjee <a href="" type="internal">Watch Their Lips</a></p>
<p>David Krieger <a href="" type="internal">Shock But Not Awe</a></p>
<p>Linda Heard <a href="" type="internal">Winning Hearts and Minds Bush-Style</a></p>
<p>Imad Jadaa <a href="" type="internal">The Beautiful Face of America</a></p>
<p>Adam Engel <a href="" type="internal">Buckets of Blood</a></p>
<p>Patrick Cockburn <a href="" type="internal">Kurds Unimpressed</a></p>
<p>David Lindorff <a href="" type="internal">POWs, Torture and Hypocrisy</a></p>
<p>Robert Fisk <a href="" type="internal">The Coup That Didn’t Happen</a></p>
<p>April Hurley, MD <a href="" type="internal">A Doctor’s Outrage in Baghdad</a></p>
<p>Gloria Bergen <a href="" type="internal">Chretien’s Shame</a></p>
<p>Reema Abu Hamdieh <a href="" type="internal">The Smell of Death Surrounds Me</a></p>
<p>Website of the War <a href="http://www.iraqbodycount.net/" type="external">Iraq Body Count</a></p>
<p>Keep CounterPunch Alive: <a href="" type="internal" /> <a href="http://www.easycarts.net/ecarts/CounterPunch/Donations.html" type="external">Make a Tax-Deductible Donation Today Online!</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.counterpunch.org/" type="external">home</a> / <a href="http://www.easycarts.net/ecarts/CounterPunch/CounterPunch_Subscriptions.html" type="external">subscribe</a> / <a href="aboutus.html" type="external">about us</a> / <a href="books.html" type="external">books</a> / <a href="archive.html" type="external">archives</a> / <a href="search.html" type="external">search</a> / <a href="links.html" type="external">links</a> /</p> | true | 4 | 160 skyhigh electricity natural gas prices california 2000 2001 bankrupted states largest utility caused several days rolling blackouts result widespread manipulation several texasbased energy companies close ties president bush federal energy regulators ruled wednesday energy companies dynegy inc reliant resources enron corporation contributed heavily bushs presidential campaign must refund california billions dollars profits reaped january 2000 june 2001 energy companies including mirant williams companies also identified taking advantage loopholes californias newly deregulated energy market boost profits ordered pay refunds addition ferc harshly criticized reliant resources manipulating natural gas prices southern california trading hub known topock fercs staff report congress reliant accused dominating southern california gas market raising prices selling top market ferc commissioners also said planned strip wholesale trading privileges enron reliant unit bp plc manipulative trading activities energy crisis californias electricity crisis wreaked havoc consumers state 2000 2001 resulted four days rolling blackouts forced states largest utility pacific gas amp electric bankruptcy california first state nation deregulate power market effort provide consumers cheaper electricity opportunity choose power provider results since proved disastrous experiment cost state 30 billion despite wednesdays favorable ruling california state officials said arent celebrating thats ferc ordering energy companies refund california 33 billion however state still owes 3 billion suppliers meaning california stands receive 300 million davis said state wouldnt take penny less 89 billion amount california claims overcharged result crisis steve maviglio davis press secretary said california would appeal ruling fails refund state full 89 billion wednesdays ruling culmination fercs yearlong investigation dysfunctional western energy markets major blow bush vice president dick cheney publicly denied spring 2001 energy companies enron dynegy acting like cartel withholding muchneeded electricity supplies state order increase wholesale price companies profits may 2001 peak californias energy crisis gov gray davis met bush los angeles hotel ask federal assistance price caps rein soaring energy prices bush refused saying california legislators designed electricity market left many regulatory restrictions place thats caused electricity prices state skyrocket month pbs news program frontline interviewed cheney asked whether energy companies using manipulative tactics cause electricity prices spike california cheney said frontline interview problem california caused combination thingsan unwise regulatory scheme didnt really deregulate theyre trapped unwise regulatory schemes plus addressed supply side issue theyve obviously created major problems bankrupted pgampe process noted however month frontline interview bushs meeting davis cheney chairs bushs energy task force met ken lay enrons former chief executive discuss bushs national energy policy lay whose company largest contributor bushs presidential campaign made recommendations benefited company financially cheney included lays suggestions energy policy energy policy released may 2001 couple weeks meeting bush davis cheneys frontline interview moreover march 2001 energy policy drafted davis accusing energy companies withholding electricity supplies state cheney meeting lay heavyweights energy industry tulsa okla basedwilliams companies entered confidential settlement ferc agreeing refund california 8 million profits reaped deliberately shutting one power plants state spring 2000 drive wholesale price electricity california evidence transcript taperecorded telephone conversation employee williams employee southern california power plant operated williams shows two conspired jack power prices create artificial electricity shortage keeping power plant service two weeks details settlement seal ferc year released november wall street journal sued commission obtain full copy report similarly ferc found reliant engaged identical behavior around time williams february commission ordered reliant pay california 138 million settlement bit poetic justice state however many energy companies struggling financially enron bankrupt reliant dynegy williams darlings wall street seen stocks plummet high 70 2001 2 share wednesday todays features march 26 2003 pablo mukherjee watch lips david krieger shock awe linda heard winning hearts minds bushstyle imad jadaa beautiful face america adam engel buckets blood patrick cockburn kurds unimpressed david lindorff pows torture hypocrisy robert fisk coup didnt happen april hurley md doctors outrage baghdad gloria bergen chretiens shame reema abu hamdieh smell death surrounds website war iraq body count keep counterpunch alive make taxdeductible donation today online home subscribe us books archives search links | 650 |
<p>It’s the same everywhere. The banks are keeping houses off the market to trick people into believing that prices have hit bottom. But prices haven’t hit bottom, in fact, they still have a long way to go. So, what’s&#160; going on here; what do the banks hope to gain by withholding supply? Here’s a clip from an article in OCHousing News that helps to explain:</p>
<p>“Lenders hope they can solve all their problems by making the housing market hit bottom. If prices bottom, people who bought at the bottom gain equity with rising prices, and they in turn reignite the move-up market which will allow the banks to sell their high-end shadow inventory. Further, rising prices makes for fewer short sales and fewer foreclosures and distressed sellers become equity sales. Rising prices would be a panacea for lenders, which is why the full weight of our government and the federal reserve is working to make house prices go back up. …. they hope they can create an artificial bottom and momentum to carry them through the liquidation of their distressed inventory.” (“11.8% of all loans at least 30 days past due or in foreclosure”, OCHousing News)</p>
<p>Bingo. The banks want to make it appear as though prices have stabilized, because, once they stabilize, then potential buyers will emerge from their bunkers and go on another spending spree. That, in turn, will allow the banks to offload more of their distressed properties at minimal cost. That’s why they’re withholding supply, because it increases demand and buoys prices. But, keep in mind, that “existing inventory” only represents a small portion of the total number of homes that will eventually need to be sold, so analysts who make their calculations based on that number are grossly understating the size of the problem.</p>
<p>Presently, inventory levels are nearly back to normal at roughly 2.37 million units. But what about the vast shadow inventory of distressed properties? Depending on the analyst, that sum is somewhere between 6 to 11 million units. What effect will that have on prices?</p>
<p>Well, if we apply normal supply-demand dynamics, then prices will go down sharply.</p>
<p>Now take a look at this housing graphic and pay special attention to the <a href="http://www.bankoftheinternet.com/will-america-ever-recover-from-the-housing-crisis" type="external">shadow inventory chart</a>.</p>
<p>As the graph indicates, the current real estate meltdown&#160;is worse than during the Great Depression; 3 million foreclosures in 2010 alone, 8 million Americans are presently delinquent on their mortgages, and sales have dropped 80% from 2005 to 2011. It’s a disaster, and it was entirely engineered by the banks and their enablers in <a href="" type="internal" />Washington. Now the banks are onto their next swindle, faking the numbers to put a floor under prices. They plan to achieve their goal by releasing homes in dribs and drabs so the market never fully-clears, so homeowners are never able to rebuild their equity, and so the 6-year long crisis drags on to eternity. That’s what these zombie institutions are up to. Here’s a clip from Bloomberg:</p>
<p>“In the Miami area, March listings declined 34 percent from a year earlier and prices rose for the fourth straight month, with condos jumping 46 percent and single-family homes gaining 13 percent, according to the Miami Association of Realtors….</p>
<p>The share of home loans in the foreclosure process increased to 4.39 percent in the first quarter from 4.38 percent in the previous three months, indicating that lenders are limiting repossessions, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association data released yesterday….</p>
<p>“Lenders are proceeding with caution and want to avoid risk,” Blomquist said. “They’re not in a rush to foreclose right away.” (“Foreclosures Plunge to Five-Year Low in U.S.: Mortgages”, Bloomberg)</p>
<p>Of course, there’s no “rush to foreclose right away.” That’s the plan, isn’t it; to manipulate the market by controlling supply? Get a load of this article in The Republic:</p>
<p>“More than 80 percent of the repossessed homes in the Portland area are off the market, The Oregonian newspaper reports …..at least part of the delay is likely a bookkeeping maneuver because the repossessed homes haven’t been marked down to their new market value….Another reason to delay selling the backlog is because home prices might crumble if a wave of properties hits the market at the same time.” (“Portland-area lenders slow to release shadow housing inventory”, The Republic)</p>
<p>“More than 80 percent …are off the market.” How do you like them apples? This is such a brazen ripoff, it’s almost laughable! And the banks are pulling the same swindle in Phoenix according to Abigail Field over at Firedog Lake. Here’s a blurb from her article:</p>
<p>“Phoenix: RealtyTrac identifies 6,611 “bank-owned” properties there. An Arizona realty website lists only 275 for sale.” (“Bankers Are Still Wrecking Housing Market Fundamentals”, Abigail Field, Firedog Lake)</p>
<p>Repeat: There are 6,600 distressed homes that should be “for sale” in Phoenix alone, but less than 300 of them are actually on the market.</p>
<p>Why?&#160; Because the banks are trying to pull the wool over everyone’s eyes, that’s why.</p>
<p>And there’s more, too. The banks have been keeping these mortgages on their books at artificially high prices (to hoodwink their shareholders) This creates a problem for them when they want to sell the property because, when the sale is finalised, then the bank has to write down the loss. Now that might not seem like&#160;a big deal&#160;when you’re&#160;talking about 2 or 3 houses, but when you’re buried under&#160;millions of overpriced mortgages, then you’ve got big problem. In fact, if the banks were to dump all their excess inventory on the market right now, they’d be busted, no doubt about it. So, they’re not going to do that, right? Instead, they’re going to drag this thing out until Resurrection Day.</p>
<p>Did you know that it takes 31 months for a loan to be liquidated once it becomes 60 days delinquent?</p>
<p>31 months for chrissakes. Now, you tell me, if Mr. Dipstick Bankster really wanted to evict your sorry ass faster than 31 months, don’t you think he’d be able to do it?</p>
<p>You bet, he would. After all, the banks own the government, the courts, the cops, the whole shooting match. If they really wanted to boot you out of your home, they could do it without lifting a finger. But, they don’t want to do that, because they need some poor schmuck to cut the lawn, and fix the roof, and flush the toilet. That’s why they’re letting millions of people stay in their homes for free, because they need “live in” janitors to keep the property up while they whittle away at their stinkpile of homes. But, once they get that backlog down to a manageable size, then “Watch Out”, because you’ll be out-on-your-ear!</p>
<p>Do you have any idea of how much it costs the banks to keep people in their homes who aren’t currently making payments?</p>
<p>$60 billion a year, 5 percent of GDP. That ain’t chump change either, but what choice do they have?</p>
<p>None. They have no choice at all, not unless they want to see the walls punched in, the plumbing stripped out, and the shrubbery growing up around the rooftop, because that’s what happens when houses are abandoned for a year or two; they deteriorate into a heaping pile of crap.</p>
<p>Now check this out from CNBC:</p>
<p>“Foreclosure activity in April fell nationally to the lowest level since the summer of 2007…. Foreclosure filings, which include default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions, fell 5 percent in April from March, according to a new report from RealtyTrac, and are down 14 percent from April of 2011.” (“Foreclosure activity in April fell nationally to the lowest level since the summer of 2007”, CNBC)</p>
<p>Remember when everyone predicted that foreclosure filings were going to surge after the robo signing deal was wrapped up? It didn’t happen, did it?</p>
<p>You know why? Because the banks figured out how to sock-it-to John Q. Public one more time by fiddling housing inventory to draw more buyers into their mortgage snare.</p>
<p>This is from an article in the Wall Street Journal:</p>
<p>“… Although banks initiated fewer foreclosures in the first quarter than at any time since 2007, the share of loans in the process remains high…. The national foreclosure rate remains elevated largely because of states that require banks to process foreclosures through the courts. In these so-called judicial states, banks have moved to take back homes very slowly since judges uncovered record-keeping abuses in foreclosure processing 18 months ago. Banks have encountered fewer hurdles in nonjudicial states….(“Foreclosures Show No Sign of Decline”, WSJ)</p>
<p>Don’t get hung up in the “judicial-non judicial” BS. It’s all just smokes and mirrors. What difference does it make?</p>
<p>We already know that 12 million people are underwater RIGHT NOW. Nearly 24 percent of all homeowners owe more on their mortgage than their house is worth. A lot of these people are just going to throw in the towel and vamoose; what do they care? That’s going to add millions more homes to the already-bulging backlog. But even if it didn’t, the humongous overhang that already exists would still be enough to drive prices down another 10 or 15 percent. In fact, the WSJ reluctantly intimates this further along in the same article. Here’s the clip:</p>
<p>“While there are signs that home prices are beginning to rise in more markets, including hard-hit Phoenix and Miami, those communities with a large “shadow” inventory of potential foreclosures could face renewed price pressure once banks take back and list for sale more of those properties.”</p>
<p>Huh? So after all that rigmarole about “judicial-non judicial” the WSJ finally admits the truth; that once the banks “list ..more of the properties” that they’re holding onto, then prices are going to take a nosedive. Why didn’t they just say-so to begin with?</p>
<p>So, the question is: When are the banks going to put more of their distressed inventory on the market?</p>
<p>Answer: Who knows? That’s the advantage of owning the government outright; there’s no pressure to do anything. The banks can take their own sweet-time and drag this depression out for ever. And, that’s probably what they’ll do, too.</p>
<p>MIKE WHITNEY&#160;lives in Washington state. He is a contributor to&#160; <a href="" type="internal">Hopeless: Barack Obama and the Politics of Illusion</a>&#160;(AK Press).&#160;Hopeless is also available in a&#160; <a href="" type="internal">Kindle edition</a>.&#160;He can be reached at&#160; <a href="mailto:fergiewhitney@msn.com" type="external">fergiewhitney@msn.com</a>.</p> | true | 4 | everywhere banks keeping houses market trick people believing prices hit bottom prices havent hit bottom fact still long way go whats160 going banks hope gain withholding supply heres clip article ochousing news helps explain lenders hope solve problems making housing market hit bottom prices bottom people bought bottom gain equity rising prices turn reignite moveup market allow banks sell highend shadow inventory rising prices makes fewer short sales fewer foreclosures distressed sellers become equity sales rising prices would panacea lenders full weight government federal reserve working make house prices go back hope create artificial bottom momentum carry liquidation distressed inventory 118 loans least 30 days past due foreclosure ochousing news bingo banks want make appear though prices stabilized stabilize potential buyers emerge bunkers go another spending spree turn allow banks offload distressed properties minimal cost thats theyre withholding supply increases demand buoys prices keep mind existing inventory represents small portion total number homes eventually need sold analysts make calculations based number grossly understating size problem presently inventory levels nearly back normal roughly 237 million units vast shadow inventory distressed properties depending analyst sum somewhere 6 11 million units effect prices well apply normal supplydemand dynamics prices go sharply take look housing graphic pay special attention shadow inventory chart graph indicates current real estate meltdown160is worse great depression 3 million foreclosures 2010 alone 8 million americans presently delinquent mortgages sales dropped 80 2005 2011 disaster entirely engineered banks enablers washington banks onto next swindle faking numbers put floor prices plan achieve goal releasing homes dribs drabs market never fullyclears homeowners never able rebuild equity 6year long crisis drags eternity thats zombie institutions heres clip bloomberg miami area march listings declined 34 percent year earlier prices rose fourth straight month condos jumping 46 percent singlefamily homes gaining 13 percent according miami association realtors share home loans foreclosure process increased 439 percent first quarter 438 percent previous three months indicating lenders limiting repossessions according mortgage bankers association data released yesterday lenders proceeding caution want avoid risk blomquist said theyre rush foreclose right away foreclosures plunge fiveyear low us mortgages bloomberg course theres rush foreclose right away thats plan isnt manipulate market controlling supply get load article republic 80 percent repossessed homes portland area market oregonian newspaper reports least part delay likely bookkeeping maneuver repossessed homes havent marked new market valueanother reason delay selling backlog home prices might crumble wave properties hits market time portlandarea lenders slow release shadow housing inventory republic 80 percent market like apples brazen ripoff almost laughable banks pulling swindle phoenix according abigail field firedog lake heres blurb article phoenix realtytrac identifies 6611 bankowned properties arizona realty website lists 275 sale bankers still wrecking housing market fundamentals abigail field firedog lake repeat 6600 distressed homes sale phoenix alone less 300 actually market why160 banks trying pull wool everyones eyes thats theres banks keeping mortgages books artificially high prices hoodwink shareholders creates problem want sell property sale finalised bank write loss might seem like160a big deal160when youre160talking 2 3 houses youre buried under160millions overpriced mortgages youve got big problem fact banks dump excess inventory market right theyd busted doubt theyre going right instead theyre going drag thing resurrection day know takes 31 months loan liquidated becomes 60 days delinquent 31 months chrissakes tell mr dipstick bankster really wanted evict sorry ass faster 31 months dont think hed able bet would banks government courts cops whole shooting match really wanted boot home could without lifting finger dont want need poor schmuck cut lawn fix roof flush toilet thats theyre letting millions people stay homes free need live janitors keep property whittle away stinkpile homes get backlog manageable size watch youll outonyourear idea much costs banks keep people homes arent currently making payments 60 billion year 5 percent gdp aint chump change either choice none choice unless want see walls punched plumbing stripped shrubbery growing around rooftop thats happens houses abandoned year two deteriorate heaping pile crap check cnbc foreclosure activity april fell nationally lowest level since summer 2007 foreclosure filings include default notices scheduled auctions bank repossessions fell 5 percent april march according new report realtytrac 14 percent april 2011 foreclosure activity april fell nationally lowest level since summer 2007 cnbc remember everyone predicted foreclosure filings going surge robo signing deal wrapped didnt happen know banks figured sockitto john q public one time fiddling housing inventory draw buyers mortgage snare article wall street journal although banks initiated fewer foreclosures first quarter time since 2007 share loans process remains high national foreclosure rate remains elevated largely states require banks process foreclosures courts socalled judicial states banks moved take back homes slowly since judges uncovered recordkeeping abuses foreclosure processing 18 months ago banks encountered fewer hurdles nonjudicial statesforeclosures show sign decline wsj dont get hung judicialnon judicial bs smokes mirrors difference make already know 12 million people underwater right nearly 24 percent homeowners owe mortgage house worth lot people going throw towel vamoose care thats going add millions homes alreadybulging backlog even didnt humongous overhang already exists would still enough drive prices another 10 15 percent fact wsj reluctantly intimates along article heres clip signs home prices beginning rise markets including hardhit phoenix miami communities large shadow inventory potential foreclosures could face renewed price pressure banks take back list sale properties huh rigmarole judicialnon judicial wsj finally admits truth banks list properties theyre holding onto prices going take nosedive didnt sayso begin question banks going put distressed inventory market answer knows thats advantage owning government outright theres pressure anything banks take sweettime drag depression ever thats probably theyll mike whitney160lives washington state contributor to160 hopeless barack obama politics illusion160ak press160hopeless also available a160 kindle edition160he reached at160 fergiewhitneymsncom | 944 |
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<p>After spending almost a year’s time deliberating following a hearing last May 17, a three-judge panel of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia has shot down all three claims by death row prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal challenging his conviction for the 1981 murder of Philadelphia Police Officer Daniel Faulkner.</p>
<p>At the same time, the appeals court upheld a 2001 decision by Federal District Judge William Yohn that had overturned former Black Panther and Philadelphia journalist Abu-Jamal’s death sentence, agreeing with the lower court judge that the form used by the trial jury in 1982 to establish whether jurors felt there were any mitigating circumstances was flawed, and could have left panelists mistakenly believing that before they could consider any such mitigating factors in their deliberations, they would all have to agree such a factor existed. In fact, by law if even one juror believes that there is a mitigating factor, that factor can be considered by jurors in deciding on death or life in prison.</p>
<p>The court was unanimous in rejecting Abu-Jamal’s claim that the trial judge, Albert Sabo, had been prejudiced against him and in favor of the prosecution when he presided over a Post-Conviction Relief Act hearing in 1995-6. It was also unanimous in rejecting Abu-Jamal’s claim that Prosecutor Joseph McGill had improperly diminished the jury’s sense of responsibility during the conviction phase of the trial by telling them that their decision would not be final as there would be “appeal after appeal.” The appellate judges didn’t say that McGill’s statement was proper, or even that it might not have impacted jurors’ decision on guilt, but rather agreed that by court precedent they had only used evidence of such prosecutorial misconduct to overturn death sentences, not convictions. (Arguably, in the unlikely event that the Philadelphia DA were successful in getting the US Supreme Court to reverse the Third Circuit and reimpose Abu-Jamal’s death penalty, he could go back and appeal the sentence based upon this statement to the jury by McGill.)</p>
<p>But on Abu-Jamal’s third claim-that the prosecution had improperly violated his Constitutional right to a fair trial by his peers by barring 10 qualified African-American potential jurors from serving on his jury through the use of what are called “peremptory challenges”-there was a dissent, making the vote 2-1.</p>
<p>Judge Thomas Ambro, a Clinton appointee to the bench-chastised his two colleagues, Chief Judge Anthony Scirica and Judge Robert Cowan– both Reagan appointees–saying that they were applying a different, and unattainable standard of proof to Abu-Jamal than they had been using for other cases brought before them.</p>
<p>In rejecting Abu-Jamal’s claim of racial bias in jury selection-something known as a Batson violation, after the Supreme Court’s 1986 decision in Batson v Kentucky-the court majority wrote that Abu-Jamal had not made a timely protest over prosecutor McGill’s rejection of 10 black jurors without cause (McGill used 15 of his 20 available peremptory challenges to remove at least 10 qualified black and 5 qualified white jurors). The majority also proposed that because Abu-Jamal had not provided the court with the racial makeup of the jury pool, it was impossible to know whether perhaps two-thirds of that pool might have been black, giving an “innocent explanation” to McGill’s 66.7% black rejection rate. (Local attorneys scoff at such a notion, saying they’ve never seen a jury pool so skewed racially.)</p>
<p>Judge Ambro blasted this logic, saying that the US Supreme Court had established that “excluding even a single person from a jury because of race violated the Equal Protection Clause of our Constitution.” Significantly, the nation’s High Court just affirmed that position March 19 with a powerful 7-2 ruling in a Louisiana death penalty case (Snyder v. Louisiana).</p>
<p>Judge Ambro then accused his robed colleagues of having a double standard, saying “Our Court has previously reached the merits of Batson claims on habeas review in cases where the petitioner did not make a timely objection during jury selection-signaling that our Circuit does not have a federal contemporaneous objection rule-and I see no reason why we should not afford Abu-Jamal the courtesy of our precedents.” He added, “Why we pick this case to depart from that reasoning I do not know.”</p>
<p>Going further, Judge Ambro writes, “We have repeatedly said that a defendant can make out a prima facie case for jury-selection discrimination by showing that the prosecution struck a single juror because of raceIn fact, in United States v. Clemons, we explained that `striking a single black juror could constitute a prima facie case even when blacks ultimately sit on the panel and even when valid reasons exist for striking other blacks.’…Yet the majority focuses on the absence of information about the racial composition and total number of the venire, claiming that this statistical information-from which one can compute the exclusion rate-is necessary to assess whether an inference of discrimination can be discerned in Abu-Jamal’s case. Such a focus is contrary to the nondiscrimination principle underpinning Batson, and it conflicts with our Court’s precedents, in which we have held that there is no “magic number or percentage [necessary] to trigger a Batson inquiry,”</p>
<p>One thing Judge Ambro didn’t mention in his 41-page dissent was the evidence presented by Abu-Jamal to the court of a clear history of deliberate race purging of juries by the Philadelphia DA’s office, and by prosecutor McGill in particular. That evidence, developed by academic researchers and by attorneys at the Federal Defenders’ Office in Philadelphia, show that between 1977 and 1986, while Ed Rendell was Philadelphia’s District Attorney, local prosecutors used peremptory challenges to strike qualified blacks from juries in death penalty cases 58 percent of the time, compared to 22 percent of the time for qualified whites. During the same period of time, prosecutor McGill himself struck qualified black jurors 74 percent of the time in death penalty cases he tried, compared to 25 percent of qualified white jurors.</p>
<p>Interestingly, one of the Third Circuit precedents referred to by Judge Ambro was a 2005 case heard by Judge Sam Alito, now elevated to the Supreme Court. In that case, Brinson v Vaughn, Alito overturned the appellant’s death penalty conviction, writing that “…a prosecutor may violate Batson even if the prosecutor passes up the opportunity to strike some African Americans jurors.” Alito further stated in that decision that “a prosecutor’s decision to refrain from discriminating against some African Americans does not cure discrimination against others.” (Significantly, the High Court’s latest Snyder decision opinion was also penned by Justice Alito, who shows himself to be a passionate opponent of racism in jury selection.)</p>
<p>What appears to be happening here, and what obviously upset Judge Ambro, is that the other two judges, Scirica and Cowan, are demonstrating another example of what my colleague, Philadelphia journalist Linn Washington, has dubbed the “Mumia Exception.”</p>
<p>Washington has noted that on several occasions during Abu-Jamal’s epic 26-year battle to survive Pennsylvania’s death row machine, the state’s courts have altered the rules to keep him locked up and on course for execution. Pennsylvania’s top court in 1986 overturned a death sentence where McGill, the same prosecutor in Abu-Jamal’s case, had made the same closing statement to jurors at the conclusion of a murder trial presided over by Judge Sabo, the same trial judge who presided in Abu-Jamal’s case. The court, declaring that the prosecutor’s language had “minimize[ed] the jury’s sense of responsibility for a verdict of death,” had ordered a new trial that time. Three years later in 1989, despite this precedent and presented with an identical situation involving the same characters, the same court reversed itself, though, upholding Abu-Jamal’s conviction. Eleven years later, Pennsylvania’s highest court reversed track again, barring such language by prosecutors “in all future trials,” but not making their decision retroactive to include Abu-Jamal.</p>
<p>Another example of this judicial “special handling” where Abu-Jamal’s case is concerned, involves the right of allocution–the right of the convicted to make a statement without challenge before sentencing. One month before initially upholding Abu-Jamal’s conviction in March 1989, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued a ruling declaring the right of allocution to be of “ancient origin” and saying that any failure to permit a defendant to plead for mercy demanded reversal of sentence. Abu-Jamal’s appeal claimed Judge Sabo, by allowing the prosecutor to question Abu-Jamal on the stand after the convicted defendant had made just such a statement to jurors, violated his allocution right during the ’82 trial. The state’s high court, however–for the first time in its history–ruled that the “right of allocution does not exist in the penalty phase of capital murder prosecution.”</p>
<p>This flip-flopping on allocution, on acceptable language for prosecutors and on other legal precedents all led Amnesty International to conclude in its 2001 report on Abu-Jamal’s case that the state’s highest court improperly invents new standards of procedure “to apply it to one case only: that of Mumia Abu-Jamal.”</p>
<p>Justice, that is to say, has not always been blind in this case. A “Mumia Exception” had been established.</p>
<p>And now this stain on Pennsylvania jurisprudence appears to have migrated to the federal court system, at the Third Circuit.</p>
<p>Says Washington, “This decision once again shows that in the Abu-Jamal case, evidence is not important. As with the Pennsylvania courts, this federal court ignored its own precedents in reaching a result that is contrary to the facts and to the law. The reason for this is what Amnesty International pointed out in their 2001 report: The Abu-Jamal case is hopelessly polluted by politics, which precludes any justice in this case.”</p>
<p>Robert Bryan, Abu-Jamal’s lead attorney, said the third Circuit Court’s upholding of the death penalty reversal was a “major victory,” but he said, “The fact that the court majority turned a blind eye to the racially discriminatory practices of the DA’s office is outrageous.”</p>
<p>Current Philadelphia District Attorney Lynn Abraham continued that outrageous behavior, and gave a demonstration of the toxic politics that affects the justice system where this case is concerned, at a press conference following the announcement of the court’s decision, where she referred to Abu-Jamal repeatedly as an “assassin.” In fact, at no point during the trial was there ever any claim by the prosecution, or any witness testimony, to even remotely suggest that Abu-Jamal had “targeted” Faulkner for death. Rather, the prosecution claimed that he had coincidentally been parked in a taxi he was driving, across the street from where his brother William had been stopped on a traffic violation by Faulkner, and had come across the street when his brother and the officer became involved in an altercation. To wrongly label the ensuing double shooting of Faulkner and Abu-Jamal an “assassination” as Abraham did, implying a political “hit” on Faulkner, was clearly aimed at inflaming public sentiment against Abu-Jamal. It was the same thing prosecutor McGill had attempted to do when, after the verdict, during his summation to the jury in the penalty phase of the trial back in ’82, he brought out an old news clipping of an interview with a 15-year-old Abu-Jamal in which the defendant had quoted Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Tse-tung as saying “power flows from the barrel of a gun.” (The context of that full article made it clear the young Abu-Jamal was referring in that quote to the power of police, who had just “assassinated” Panther leader Fred Hampton in his bed in a raid on a house in Chicago.)</p>
<p>With all three of Abu-Jamal’s habeas claims for an overturning of his conviction rejected, his case now moves to the US Supreme Court, with a possible stop along the way for a hearing by the full Third Circuit bench. Abu-Jamal’s attorney Bryan says he plans to file a request for such an en banc reconsideration of the ruling by the full Third Circuit within the next two weeks. Neither the full Third Circuit, nor the Supreme Court, are obligated to hear the case, which would make the current Third Circuit decision the final word on his conviction.</p>
<p>Bryan said, “Judge Ambro’s dissent in the Batson decision was very powerful, and we will certainly be using it in our arguments to the full Third Circuit and to the Supreme Court.”</p>
<p>As for the overturned death penalty ruling, which the DA’s office will certainly also appeal to the High Court, should it be sustained, there are two options. The DA could decide to leave things at that-something McGill, interviewed shortly after Judge Yohn’s initial ruling, said was being considered-in which case Abu-Jamal would face life in prison with no possibility of parole. He would not, however, have to spend more time in the near solitary confinement torture of Pennsylvania’s maximum-security death row, but would be moved to a regular prison. Alternatively, the DA could decide to go to a Philadelphia court and impanel a new jury to conduct just a sentencing hearing, in hopes of winning a new death penalty. Such a limited trial would not address guilt or innocence–only punishment.</p>
<p>Given fairer rules regarding jury selection, and the larger minority population in today’s Philadelphia, and Abu-Jamal’s having better legal representation, it is hard to imagine the DA succeeding in convincing 12 fairly chosen Philadelphia jurors to sentence journalist him to death for a crime for which he has already served 26 hard years’ time. Moreover, because a defendant is entitled to subpoena witnesses in his defense, the DA would run the risk that Abu-Jamal could use such a trial to introduce new evidence of innocence, opening the door to further appeals of his underlying conviction. For these reasons, an effort to win a new death sentence seems unlikely.</p>
<p>The legal stymieing of Abu-Jamal’s efforts to win a new trial comes at a time of growing questions regarding his guilt, or at least the veracity of the witnesses and the evidence used to convict him on a first-degree murder charge.</p>
<p>Last year, photos were discovered that had been taken by a freelance news photographer of the crime scene on the south side of Locust Street at 13th Street in Philadelphia’s Center City only minutes after police had arrived and after the wounded Abu-Jamal and the clinically dead Faulkner had been taken off to Jefferson Hospital. These photos show police tampering with evidence, including the both Abu-Jamal’s and Faulkner’s guns as well as the officer’s police hat. Photos of the bloody spot on the sidewalk where Faulkner lay as he was shot by a bullet to the face at close range show no sign of craters where three other shots Abu-Jamal is alleged to have fired from a position astride the officer and that missed should have left their marks in the concrete, raising questions about the testimony of two alleged eyewitnesses to the shooting. Those same photos also show no taxicab parked behind Faulkner’s parked squad car in the place one of those witnesses, Robert Chobert, claimed he had been stopped. The missing cab raises questions about the veracity of Chobert’s claim to have witnessed Faulkner’s murder.</p>
<p>Other witnesses are still coming forward since the trial, who also challenge the prosecution’s story, but without a new trial, it is not clear that their evidence will ever be heard.</p>
<p>Abu-Jamal’s attorney says Abu-Jamal told him this morning that he was “disappointed” in the result, but that he “hopes the reversal of the death penalty will help others on death row, and says, `The struggle continues!'”</p>
<p>DAVE LINDORFF is author of “Killing Time: An Investigation into the Death Penalty Case of Mumia Abu-Jamal” (Common Courage Press, 2003). His work is available at <a href="http://www.thiscantbehappening.net/" type="external">www.thiscantbehappening.net</a></p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | 160 spending almost years time deliberating following hearing last may 17 threejudge panel third circuit court appeals philadelphia shot three claims death row prisoner mumia abujamal challenging conviction 1981 murder philadelphia police officer daniel faulkner time appeals court upheld 2001 decision federal district judge william yohn overturned former black panther philadelphia journalist abujamals death sentence agreeing lower court judge form used trial jury 1982 establish whether jurors felt mitigating circumstances flawed could left panelists mistakenly believing could consider mitigating factors deliberations would agree factor existed fact law even one juror believes mitigating factor factor considered jurors deciding death life prison court unanimous rejecting abujamals claim trial judge albert sabo prejudiced favor prosecution presided postconviction relief act hearing 19956 also unanimous rejecting abujamals claim prosecutor joseph mcgill improperly diminished jurys sense responsibility conviction phase trial telling decision would final would appeal appeal appellate judges didnt say mcgills statement proper even might impacted jurors decision guilt rather agreed court precedent used evidence prosecutorial misconduct overturn death sentences convictions arguably unlikely event philadelphia da successful getting us supreme court reverse third circuit reimpose abujamals death penalty could go back appeal sentence based upon statement jury mcgill abujamals third claimthat prosecution improperly violated constitutional right fair trial peers barring 10 qualified africanamerican potential jurors serving jury use called peremptory challengesthere dissent making vote 21 judge thomas ambro clinton appointee benchchastised two colleagues chief judge anthony scirica judge robert cowan reagan appointeessaying applying different unattainable standard proof abujamal using cases brought rejecting abujamals claim racial bias jury selectionsomething known batson violation supreme courts 1986 decision batson v kentuckythe court majority wrote abujamal made timely protest prosecutor mcgills rejection 10 black jurors without cause mcgill used 15 20 available peremptory challenges remove least 10 qualified black 5 qualified white jurors majority also proposed abujamal provided court racial makeup jury pool impossible know whether perhaps twothirds pool might black giving innocent explanation mcgills 667 black rejection rate local attorneys scoff notion saying theyve never seen jury pool skewed racially judge ambro blasted logic saying us supreme court established excluding even single person jury race violated equal protection clause constitution significantly nations high court affirmed position march 19 powerful 72 ruling louisiana death penalty case snyder v louisiana judge ambro accused robed colleagues double standard saying court previously reached merits batson claims habeas review cases petitioner make timely objection jury selectionsignaling circuit federal contemporaneous objection ruleand see reason afford abujamal courtesy precedents added pick case depart reasoning know going judge ambro writes repeatedly said defendant make prima facie case juryselection discrimination showing prosecution struck single juror racein fact united states v clemons explained striking single black juror could constitute prima facie case even blacks ultimately sit panel even valid reasons exist striking blacksyet majority focuses absence information racial composition total number venire claiming statistical informationfrom one compute exclusion rateis necessary assess whether inference discrimination discerned abujamals case focus contrary nondiscrimination principle underpinning batson conflicts courts precedents held magic number percentage necessary trigger batson inquiry one thing judge ambro didnt mention 41page dissent evidence presented abujamal court clear history deliberate race purging juries philadelphia das office prosecutor mcgill particular evidence developed academic researchers attorneys federal defenders office philadelphia show 1977 1986 ed rendell philadelphias district attorney local prosecutors used peremptory challenges strike qualified blacks juries death penalty cases 58 percent time compared 22 percent time qualified whites period time prosecutor mcgill struck qualified black jurors 74 percent time death penalty cases tried compared 25 percent qualified white jurors interestingly one third circuit precedents referred judge ambro 2005 case heard judge sam alito elevated supreme court case brinson v vaughn alito overturned appellants death penalty conviction writing prosecutor may violate batson even prosecutor passes opportunity strike african americans jurors alito stated decision prosecutors decision refrain discriminating african americans cure discrimination others significantly high courts latest snyder decision opinion also penned justice alito shows passionate opponent racism jury selection appears happening obviously upset judge ambro two judges scirica cowan demonstrating another example colleague philadelphia journalist linn washington dubbed mumia exception washington noted several occasions abujamals epic 26year battle survive pennsylvanias death row machine states courts altered rules keep locked course execution pennsylvanias top court 1986 overturned death sentence mcgill prosecutor abujamals case made closing statement jurors conclusion murder trial presided judge sabo trial judge presided abujamals case court declaring prosecutors language minimizeed jurys sense responsibility verdict death ordered new trial time three years later 1989 despite precedent presented identical situation involving characters court reversed though upholding abujamals conviction eleven years later pennsylvanias highest court reversed track barring language prosecutors future trials making decision retroactive include abujamal another example judicial special handling abujamals case concerned involves right allocutionthe right convicted make statement without challenge sentencing one month initially upholding abujamals conviction march 1989 pennsylvania supreme court issued ruling declaring right allocution ancient origin saying failure permit defendant plead mercy demanded reversal sentence abujamals appeal claimed judge sabo allowing prosecutor question abujamal stand convicted defendant made statement jurors violated allocution right 82 trial states high court howeverfor first time historyruled right allocution exist penalty phase capital murder prosecution flipflopping allocution acceptable language prosecutors legal precedents led amnesty international conclude 2001 report abujamals case states highest court improperly invents new standards procedure apply one case mumia abujamal justice say always blind case mumia exception established stain pennsylvania jurisprudence appears migrated federal court system third circuit says washington decision shows abujamal case evidence important pennsylvania courts federal court ignored precedents reaching result contrary facts law reason amnesty international pointed 2001 report abujamal case hopelessly polluted politics precludes justice case robert bryan abujamals lead attorney said third circuit courts upholding death penalty reversal major victory said fact court majority turned blind eye racially discriminatory practices das office outrageous current philadelphia district attorney lynn abraham continued outrageous behavior gave demonstration toxic politics affects justice system case concerned press conference following announcement courts decision referred abujamal repeatedly assassin fact point trial ever claim prosecution witness testimony even remotely suggest abujamal targeted faulkner death rather prosecution claimed coincidentally parked taxi driving across street brother william stopped traffic violation faulkner come across street brother officer became involved altercation wrongly label ensuing double shooting faulkner abujamal assassination abraham implying political hit faulkner clearly aimed inflaming public sentiment abujamal thing prosecutor mcgill attempted verdict summation jury penalty phase trial back 82 brought old news clipping interview 15yearold abujamal defendant quoted chinese revolutionary leader mao tsetung saying power flows barrel gun context full article made clear young abujamal referring quote power police assassinated panther leader fred hampton bed raid house chicago three abujamals habeas claims overturning conviction rejected case moves us supreme court possible stop along way hearing full third circuit bench abujamals attorney bryan says plans file request en banc reconsideration ruling full third circuit within next two weeks neither full third circuit supreme court obligated hear case would make current third circuit decision final word conviction bryan said judge ambros dissent batson decision powerful certainly using arguments full third circuit supreme court overturned death penalty ruling das office certainly also appeal high court sustained two options da could decide leave things thatsomething mcgill interviewed shortly judge yohns initial ruling said consideredin case abujamal would face life prison possibility parole would however spend time near solitary confinement torture pennsylvanias maximumsecurity death row would moved regular prison alternatively da could decide go philadelphia court impanel new jury conduct sentencing hearing hopes winning new death penalty limited trial would address guilt innocenceonly punishment given fairer rules regarding jury selection larger minority population todays philadelphia abujamals better legal representation hard imagine da succeeding convincing 12 fairly chosen philadelphia jurors sentence journalist death crime already served 26 hard years time moreover defendant entitled subpoena witnesses defense da would run risk abujamal could use trial introduce new evidence innocence opening door appeals underlying conviction reasons effort win new death sentence seems unlikely legal stymieing abujamals efforts win new trial comes time growing questions regarding guilt least veracity witnesses evidence used convict firstdegree murder charge last year photos discovered taken freelance news photographer crime scene south side locust street 13th street philadelphias center city minutes police arrived wounded abujamal clinically dead faulkner taken jefferson hospital photos show police tampering evidence including abujamals faulkners guns well officers police hat photos bloody spot sidewalk faulkner lay shot bullet face close range show sign craters three shots abujamal alleged fired position astride officer missed left marks concrete raising questions testimony two alleged eyewitnesses shooting photos also show taxicab parked behind faulkners parked squad car place one witnesses robert chobert claimed stopped missing cab raises questions veracity choberts claim witnessed faulkners murder witnesses still coming forward since trial also challenge prosecutions story without new trial clear evidence ever heard abujamals attorney says abujamal told morning disappointed result hopes reversal death penalty help others death row says struggle continues dave lindorff author killing time investigation death penalty case mumia abujamal common courage press 2003 work available wwwthiscantbehappeningnet 160 160 160 160 | 1,488 |
<p />
<p>Sometime during the preliminary hearings I felt a vast and utter repugnance for the whole bloody shebang and its muddy aftermath; I found myself viscerally unable to read one more word of commentary. I was sick of human behavior, including my own, and of analyses of human behavior. A man with a planed and beautiful face had allegedly killed his ex-wife (a woman with a partygoing face and a spectacular body) and her friend (Ron Goldman, doomed, it would appear, to be an historical footnote; murdered, one might say, twice over).</p>
<p>I assumed Mr. Simpson’s guilt on the evidence available to me. Mr. Simpson (you can’t think I will call him O.J.) had hitherto barbarically beaten and terrorized Nicole Brown Simpson–bodybuilding and apparent vacuity not being mitigating factors in her fearful alarm or exculpatory factors in his demented actions–and he had, as a consequence, left behind two innocent children. (Innocent, as regards children, is a redundancy; but the offspring of murdered parents live all their lives in the weird light of ineffable sophistication and blamelessness, the only word for which we can find is innocence.)</p>
<p>My repugnance was indistinguishable from a kind of fever: It was nausea and revulsion; like any illness, it became itself the focus of intense interest to me, so that finally my questions were about myself and not–perhaps I should be embarrassed to admit–about Mr. Simpson or even about his victims, lying (in my forever-stained imagination) in a sludgy river of blood.</p>
<p />
<p>I cannot imagine a hand striking flesh. (I spanked my children–I want this to be an exercise in honesty, as it will almost certainly not be an exercise in wisdom–but I mean: punching, slamming, willing to hurt; I mean the force of hatred in the hand . . . or the knife.) To strike flesh is to strike God; God became flesh; flesh is sacred, and–God!–so sweet. How dared he hit her?</p>
<p>May I say, without incurring wrath, that I didn’t like her face? May I also say: So what? Whether she had a “good” face is neither here nor there. I don’t care. I don’t care what she did or didn’t do to incur his deranged anger. Fuck him. He’s a man, isn’t he? Thus, by definition, given to exercising control. So why didn’t he exercise control over his bad self? Don’t tell me he couldn’t. It is the civilized imperative not to give in to acts of savagery–the strong must learn, if necessary, to compensate for their strength, just as the weak have had to learn (pity us all) to compensate for their weaknesses.</p>
<p>I do also heterodoxically believe that women provoke men. We do it with words, and we do it with our bodies. So what? Some women choose not to be weaponless in a world they perceive to be a battlefield in which they are, if not outnumbered, out- or overmanned. And some women have bad characters, just as others have bad tempers. So what? If a woman were a slut and a spendthrift, a tease and a user (and I don’t mean to imply that Nicole Brown Simpson was any of those things), a man is still not allowed to hit her. Period. It is not permissible. If a woman were to get down on all fours and beg for a beating, a man who was truly a man would not oblige. This may be unfair to men. So what. Life isn’t fair, ask any woman. In a folie a deux that involves beating, a man is culpable. Always.</p>
<p>Look: I believe these things to be true. I also admit–at peril to my own psychic balance, to say nothing of my reputation– that I am among those women who experience a certain frisson when a man threatens to apply physical force to me. (Not any man; the man I love.) Oh there will be the Devil to pay if you leave me, he says, halfway in the act of love–adding, God help me, to the thrill. Say that again, woman, he says–I have just accused him of treating me like his white whore–and I will break your beautiful face. . . . His words shock me into sobriety; but I would be lying if I didn’t say that they nourish my belief–I do wish it weren’t so–that he loves me, till death (mine?) do us part. Woman, I am his woman. I yearn to be possessed, to make of two hearts one heart, to make of two bodies one body. I want to break through the walls and the boundaries that separate us; and for that even sex is not absolutely enough. . . .</p>
<p>Simultaneously I yearn to be free. What a dance. I do not wish to hear, I won’t believe it, that a tensile ambivalence is not part of the dynamic of romantic love.</p>
<p>This is the other element that contributes to my vertigo, my nausea: The man I love is black. I am white. Thirty years ago we were lovers. Then, two years ago, we became lovers again. And then he made it impossible for me not to leave him. He left me/I left him: It comes to the same thing–grief, and sadness everlasting. We had, in the days of our joy, a shared mystical belief that if we could make it, anybody could, the world could. An arrogant declension? At its core the belief–we had forded rivers, made bridges, crossed cultures–that a symbolic act, our act, symbolic and material, could save America? Perhaps. Oh, of course. But an irresistible one. And now, in my nausea and vertigo, I say: an antidote to our pain, a reason to live in an insane world.</p>
<p>I have not, since my childhood, been able to see the point of enmity based on color, so silly, so pointless has it always seemed to me. I tell you this not to place myself on the side of the angels; this is a matter, I can only suppose, of temperament and of aesthetics, and I do not deserve nor have I accrued any reward for it. When I was a child, living in Jamaica, Queens, I used, to my family’s shame, to toddle up to black strangers on the bus, caress their skin, and tell them how beautiful they were. If I promised to stop behaving so oddly, so stupidly, I was told, I could have a brown doll to cuddle. So they got me a Little Black Sambo doll. This was not what I’d had in mind. I tore one of its eyes out and with the prongs I carved a deep cut in the offending hand, mine.</p>
<p>. . . When I heard O.J. Simpson’s voice on the 911 tapes I heard my lover’s voice–the color of which, dark mahogany, has been my delight, a melody of arousal. Deep in his throat, clotted with loathing, it was. . . . I have heard my lover’s voice sound like that. My blood, which dances in my veins when he loves me, turns to ice. . . .</p>
<p>. . . I call his cousin, my lover’s cousin, who has affection for me in which I sense a thread of wariness. “They’ll let a black man get so far, and then they cut him down,” she says. They. She means the white world. She means–how can I not finally believe this–me. I start to say: Janie, he cut himself down; Janie, he has white lawyers–the best (of course I think they’re the worst, Alan Dershowitz and F. Lee Bailey being to me the very definition of self-aggrandizement, smarminess, and an absence of discernible principle).</p>
<p>But how can I say these things? Janie has on her side the authority of a suffering I can enter only by proxy. . . . Does suffering authenticate anything more than suffering?</p>
<p>Black women who, in private, excoriate black men, rush to the defense of O.J. Simpson in public, isn’t it odd.</p>
<p>. . . I call my friend Suzanne, who is black. (Earlier Suzanne had called me from St. Croix so that we could celebrate together the victory of Nelson Mandela; we had worked together, in the days of our cutting-a-swath-through-the-Village youth, for the American Committee on Africa; since the massacre in Sharpeville we had worked and then played together and shared the pleasures and the sorrows of our changing days. It was to Suzanne that I had gone when my lover and I parted. I went, a wounded animal, to the person I believed could help me understand, and shelter me, and deal tenderly with my truth, to the person I trusted without reserve.) Suzanne, when I call her about O.J. Simpson, refers me to Cornel West and the concept of “internalized rage.” Internalized? I say. You could hardly get more externalized than Mr. Simpson, I say.</p>
<p>For the first time since I’ve known Suzanne, we are talking at cross-purposes: It seems to me that she feels a degree of sympathy for Mr. Simpson. I do not. Perhaps that means no more than that she is more loving than I, more compassionate. . . . But she would never, has never, allowed herself to be hit, to say nothing of battered; it is she who exhorts me against any tendency to emotional masochism I may harbor. . . . We need to see each other soon, Suzanne and I: When I am with her, the world is not rent. And black is not another country. . . .</p>
<p />
<p>Isn’t it all odd. I have been waiting and waiting, but the words white and blonde have not been a featured part of the equation; racism seems not to be what all this is about. Celebrity is what this is about, no? Wouldn’t we treat Joe Namath (or whoever the new hot white football player is) in exactly the same way?</p>
<p>And yet, in a racist country, how could race–his blackness, her whiteness–not be on the agenda? Is it, sub rosa? What does it not infect, after all? Is the very fact that so little has been made of the interracial nature of their marriage proof–as someone told me–that racism is the primary issue? How is it? (No one who espouses this point of view is able coherently to tell me how.)</p>
<p>. . . Unable to sleep, I watch an old Hitchcock TV mystery in the early hours of the morning. It has something, I dimly perceive, to do with sports. At the end, Mr. Hitchcock says: “I am quite the athlete, don’t you know? My favorite sports are chess, falconry, and wife beating.”</p>
<p>What is wrong with men?</p>
<p>My heart hurts. (Nicole, I am sorry I did not like your face. I pray for you. I pray for Ron Goldman. I pray for the children. I am, as a Christian, constrained to pray for Mr. Simpson. I cannot. The words die before they are born.)</p>
<p>Last night, the Fourth of July: a picnic on my roof. My guests wouldn’t allow me to talk of O.J. Simpson, they’d had enough, overdosed. Apocalyptic fireworks lovely as flowers. A hush when I said the forbidden syllables–O.J. Simpson–and at the next table, where a black family sat, heads swiveled. Fireworks: bombs bursting in air.</p>
<p>One of my guests, a college professor, conceded: Maybe this will get that damned term role model out of the language. Yes, please. One remembers when there used to be friends, helpers, advisers, mentors, examples, lovers–even idols, prophets, saints. Why is a man who carries a ball to fame a role model? What exactly is it people thought O.J. Simpson had to teach them? What role?</p>
<p>Does it matter anymore?</p>
<p>Is it too late? We can probably play taps for the niceties of language, too late, too late. As for the human disposition to love–to love across racial lines, to transcend and to exult in differences: Pray God it is not too late. America seems to me now, even more than it did in the days of Birmingham (where, at the spot Bull Connor blew down freedom fighters with water hoses, there is now a park celebrating “Revolution and Reconciliation”), awash in blood. And I ask you to believe that I am not being megalomanic to say that some of it is mine.</p>
<p>I take this personally. So should we all. When people die, possibilities die; we are diminished. When people are murdered, our necessary optimism dies, and, worse, our hope dies. We die. On the morning after the Fourth of July, I ask myself: Please God, is anything possible anymore?</p>
<p />
<p>Barbara Grizzuti Harrison is a contributing editor to Harper’s and Mirabella. She is an essayist, journalist, and author of several books, including “Italian Days,” which won the American Book Award.</p>
<p /> | true | 4 | sometime preliminary hearings felt vast utter repugnance whole bloody shebang muddy aftermath found viscerally unable read one word commentary sick human behavior including analyses human behavior man planed beautiful face allegedly killed exwife woman partygoing face spectacular body friend ron goldman doomed would appear historical footnote murdered one might say twice assumed mr simpsons guilt evidence available mr simpson cant think call oj hitherto barbarically beaten terrorized nicole brown simpsonbodybuilding apparent vacuity mitigating factors fearful alarm exculpatory factors demented actionsand consequence left behind two innocent children innocent regards children redundancy offspring murdered parents live lives weird light ineffable sophistication blamelessness word find innocence repugnance indistinguishable kind fever nausea revulsion like illness became focus intense interest finally questions notperhaps embarrassed admitabout mr simpson even victims lying foreverstained imagination sludgy river blood imagine hand striking flesh spanked childreni want exercise honesty almost certainly exercise wisdombut mean punching slamming willing hurt mean force hatred hand knife strike flesh strike god god became flesh flesh sacred andgodso sweet dared hit may say without incurring wrath didnt like face may also say whether good face neither dont care dont care didnt incur deranged anger fuck hes man isnt thus definition given exercising control didnt exercise control bad self dont tell couldnt civilized imperative give acts savagerythe strong must learn necessary compensate strength weak learn pity us compensate weaknesses also heterodoxically believe women provoke men words bodies women choose weaponless world perceive battlefield outnumbered overmanned women bad characters others bad tempers woman slut spendthrift tease user dont mean imply nicole brown simpson things man still allowed hit period permissible woman get fours beg beating man truly man would oblige may unfair men life isnt fair ask woman folie deux involves beating man culpable always look believe things true also admitat peril psychic balance say nothing reputation among women experience certain frisson man threatens apply physical force man man love oh devil pay leave says halfway act loveadding god help thrill say woman saysi accused treating like white whoreand break beautiful face words shock sobriety would lying didnt say nourish beliefi wish werent sothat loves till death mine us part woman woman yearn possessed make two hearts one heart make two bodies one body want break walls boundaries separate us even sex absolutely enough simultaneously yearn free dance wish hear wont believe tensile ambivalence part dynamic romantic love element contributes vertigo nausea man love black white thirty years ago lovers two years ago became lovers made impossible leave left mei left comes thinggrief sadness everlasting days joy shared mystical belief could make anybody could world could arrogant declension core beliefwe forded rivers made bridges crossed culturesthat symbolic act act symbolic material could save america perhaps oh course irresistible one nausea vertigo say antidote pain reason live insane world since childhood able see point enmity based color silly pointless always seemed tell place side angels matter suppose temperament aesthetics deserve accrued reward child living jamaica queens used familys shame toddle black strangers bus caress skin tell beautiful promised stop behaving oddly stupidly told could brown doll cuddle got little black sambo doll id mind tore one eyes prongs carved deep cut offending hand mine heard oj simpsons voice 911 tapes heard lovers voicethe color dark mahogany delight melody arousal deep throat clotted loathing heard lovers voice sound like blood dances veins loves turns ice call cousin lovers cousin affection sense thread wariness theyll let black man get far cut says means white world meanshow finally believe thisme start say janie cut janie white lawyersthe best course think theyre worst alan dershowitz f lee bailey definition selfaggrandizement smarminess absence discernible principle say things janie side authority suffering enter proxy suffering authenticate anything suffering black women private excoriate black men rush defense oj simpson public isnt odd call friend suzanne black earlier suzanne called st croix could celebrate together victory nelson mandela worked together days cuttingaswaththroughthevillage youth american committee africa since massacre sharpeville worked played together shared pleasures sorrows changing days suzanne gone lover parted went wounded animal person believed could help understand shelter deal tenderly truth person trusted without reserve suzanne call oj simpson refers cornel west concept internalized rage internalized say could hardly get externalized mr simpson say first time since ive known suzanne talking crosspurposes seems feels degree sympathy mr simpson perhaps means loving compassionate would never never allowed hit say nothing battered exhorts tendency emotional masochism may harbor need see soon suzanne world rent black another country isnt odd waiting waiting words white blonde featured part equation racism seems celebrity wouldnt treat joe namath whoever new hot white football player exactly way yet racist country could racehis blackness whitenessnot agenda sub rosa infect fact little made interracial nature marriage proofas someone told methat racism primary issue one espouses point view able coherently tell unable sleep watch old hitchcock tv mystery early hours morning something dimly perceive sports end mr hitchcock says quite athlete dont know favorite sports chess falconry wife beating wrong men heart hurts nicole sorry like face pray pray ron goldman pray children christian constrained pray mr simpson words die born last night fourth july picnic roof guests wouldnt allow talk oj simpson theyd enough overdosed apocalyptic fireworks lovely flowers hush said forbidden syllablesoj simpsonand next table black family sat heads swiveled fireworks bombs bursting air one guests college professor conceded maybe get damned term role model language yes please one remembers used friends helpers advisers mentors examples loverseven idols prophets saints man carries ball fame role model exactly people thought oj simpson teach role matter anymore late probably play taps niceties language late late human disposition loveto love across racial lines transcend exult differences pray god late america seems even days birmingham spot bull connor blew freedom fighters water hoses park celebrating revolution reconciliation awash blood ask believe megalomanic say mine take personally people die possibilities die diminished people murdered necessary optimism dies worse hope dies die morning fourth july ask please god anything possible anymore barbara grizzuti harrison contributing editor harpers mirabella essayist journalist author several books including italian days american book award | 1,011 |
<p>Since 9-11, a small group of “neo-conservatives” in the Administration have effectively gutted–they would say reformed–traditional American foreign and security policy. Notable features of the new Bush doctrine include the pre-emptive use of unilateral force, and the undermining of the United Nations and the principle instruments and institutions of international law….all in the cause of fighting terrorism and promoting homeland security.</p>
<p>Some skeptics, noting the neo-cons’ past academic and professional associations, writings and public utterances, have suggested that their underlying agenda is the alignment of U.S. foreign and security policies with those of Ariel Sharon and the Israeli right wing. The administration’s new hard line on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict certainly suggests that, as perhaps does the destruction, with U.S. soldiers and funds, of the military capacity of Iraq, and the current belligerent neo-con campaign against the other two countries which constitute a remaining counterforce to Israeli military hegemony in the region–Iran and Syria.</p>
<p>Have the neo-conservatives–many of whom are senior officials in the Defense Department, National Security Council and Office of the Vice President–had dual agendas, while professing to work for the internal security of the United States against its terrorist enemies?</p>
<p>A review of the internal security backgrounds of some of the best known among them strongly suggests the answer.</p>
<p>Dr. Stephen Bryen and Colleagues</p>
<p>In April of 1979, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Robert Keuch recommended in writing that Bryen, then a staff member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, undergo a grand jury hearing to establish the basis for a prosecution for espionage. John Davitt, then Chief of the Justice Department’s Internal Security Division, concurred.</p>
<p>The evidence was strong. Bryen had been overheard in the Madison Hotel Coffee Shop, offering classified documents to an official of the Israeli Embassy in the presence of the director of AIPAC, the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee. It was later determined that the Embassy official was Zvi Rafiah, the Mossad station chief in Washington. Bryen refused to be poly-graphed by the FBI on the purpose and details of the meeting; whereas the person who’d witnessed it agreed to be poly-graphed and passed the test.</p>
<p>The Bureau also had testimony from a second person, a staff member of the Foreign Relations Committee, that she had witnessed Bryen in his Senate office with Rafiah, discussing classified documents that were spread out on a table in front of an open safe in which the documents were supposed to be secured. Not long after this second witness came forward, Bryen’s fingerprints were found on classified documents he’d stated in writing to the FBI he’d never had in his possession….the ones he’d allegedly offered to Rafiah.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, following the refusal of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to grant access by Justice Department officials to files which were key to the investigation, Keuch’s recommendation for a grand jury hearing, and ultimately the investigation itself, were shut down. This decision, taken by Philip Heymann, Chief of Justice’s Criminal Division, was a bitter disappointment to Davitt and to Joel Lisker, the lead investigator on the case, as expressed to this writer. A complicating factor in the outcome was that Heymann was a former schoolmate and fellow U.S. Supreme Court Clerk of Bryen’s attorney, Nathan Lewin.</p>
<p>Bryen was asked to resign from his Foreign Relations Committee post shortly before the investigation was concluded in late 1979. For the following year and a half, he served as Executive Director of the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA), and provided consulting services to AIPAC.</p>
<p>In April, 1981, the FBI received an application by the Defense Department for a Top Secret security clearance for Dr. Bryen . Richard Perle, who had just been nominated as Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy, was proposing Bryen as his Deputy Assistant Secretary! Within six months, with Perle pushing hard, Bryen received both Top Secret-SCI (sensitive compartmented information) and Top Secret-“NATO/COSMIC” clearances.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Loyalty, Patriotism and Character</p>
<p>The Bryen investigation became in fact the most contentious issue in Perle’s own confirmation hearings in July, 1981. Under aggressive questioning from Sen. Jeremiah Denton, Perle held his ground: “I consider Dr. Bryen to be an individual impeccable integrity….I have the highest confidence in [his] loyalty, patriotism and character.”</p>
<p>Several years later in early 1988, Israel was in the final stages of development of a prototype of its ground based “Arrow” anti-ballistic missile. One element the program lacked was “klystrons”, small microwave amplifiers which are critical components in the missile’s high frequency, radar-based target acquisition system which locks on to in-coming missiles. In 1988, klystrons were among the most advanced developments in American weapons research, and their export was of course strictly proscribed.</p>
<p>The DOD office involved in control of defense technology exports was the Defense Technology Security Administration (DTSA) within Richard Perle’s ISP office. The Director (and founder) of DTSA was Perle’s Deputy, Dr. Stephen Bryen. In May of 1988, Bryen sent a standard form to Richard Levine, a Navy tech transfer official, informing him of intent to approve a license for Varian Associates, Inc. of Beverly, Massachusetts to export to Israel four klystrons. This was done without the usual consultations with the tech transfer officials of the Army and Air Force, or ISA (International Security Affairs) or DSAA (Defense Security Assistance Agency.</p>
<p>The answer from Levine was “no”. He opposed granting the license, and asked for a meeting on the matter of the appropriate (above listed) offices. At the meeting, all of the officials present opposed the license. Bryen responded by suggesting that he go back to the Israelis to ask why these particular items were needed for their defense. Later, after the Israeli Government came back with what one DOD staffer described as “a little bullshit answer”, Bryen simply notified the meeting attendees that an acceptable answer had been received, the license granted, and the klystrons released.</p>
<p>By now, however, the dogs were awake. Then Assistant Secretary of Defense for ISA, (and now Deputy Secretary of State) Richard Armitage sent Dr. Bryen a letter stating that the State Department (which issues the export licenses) should be informed of DOD’s “uniformly negative” reaction to the export of klystrons to Israel. Bryen did as instructed , and the license was withdrawn.</p>
<p>In July, Varian Associates became the first U.S. corporation formally precluded from contracting with the Defense Department. Two senior colleague in DOD who wish to remain anonymous have confirmed that this attempt by Bryen to obtain klystrons for his friends was not unusual, and was in fact “standard operating procedure” for him, recalling numerous instances when U.S. companies were denied licenses to export sensitive technology, only to learn later that Israeli companies subsequently exported similar (U.S. derived) weapons and technology to the intended customers/governments.</p>
<p>In late1988, Bryen resigned from his DOD post, and for a period worked in the private sector with a variety of defense technology consulting firms.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Bryen and the China Commission</p>
<p>In 1997, “Defense Week” reported (05/27/97) that, ….” the U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence reaffirmed that U.S.- derived technology from the cancelled [Israeli] Lavi fighter project is being used on China’s new F-10 fighter.” The following year, “Jane’s Intelligence Review” reported (11/01/98) the transfer by Israel to China of the Phalcon airborne early warning and control system, the Python air-combat missile, and the F-10 fighter aircraft, containing “state-of-the-art U.S. electronics.”</p>
<p>Concern about the continuing transfer of advanced U.S. arms technology to the burgeoning Chinese military program led, in the last months of the Clinton Administration, to the creation of a Congressional consultative body called the United States-China Economic and Security Review Commission. The charter for the “The China Commission”, as it is commonly known, states that its purpose is to….”monitor, investigate, and report to the Congress on the national security implications of the bilateral trade and economic relationship between the United States and the Peoples Republic of China.” The charter also reflects an awareness of the problem of “back door” technology leaks: “The Commission shall also take into account patterns of trade and transfers through third countries to the extent practicable.”</p>
<p>It was almost predictable that in the new Bush Administration, Dr. Stephen Bryen would find his way to the China Commission. In April 2001, with the support of Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz and Senator Richard Shelby (R-Alabama) Bryen was appointed a Member of the Commission by Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert. Last August, his appointment was extended through December of 2005.</p>
<p>Informed that Bryen had been appointed to the Commission, the reaction of one former senior FBI counter-intelligence official was: “My God, that must mean he has a “Q clearance!” (A “Q” clearance, which must be approved by the Department of Energy, is the designation for a Top Secret codeword clearance to access nuclear technology.) Michael Ledeen, Consultant on Chaos</p>
<p>If Stephen Bryen is the military technology guru in the neo-con pantheon, Michael Ledeen is currently its leading theorist, historian, scholar and writer. It states in the website of his consulting firm, Benador Associates, that he is “…one of the world’s leading authorities on intelligence, contemporary history and international affairs” and that….”As Ted Koppel puts it, ‘Michael Ledeen is a Renaissance man….in the tradition of Machiavelli.'” Perhaps the following will add some color and texture to this description.</p>
<p>In 1983, on the recommendation of Richard Perle, Ledeen was hired at the Department of Defense as a consultant on terrorism. His immediate supervisor was the Principle Assistant Secretary for International Security Affairs, Noel Koch. Early in their work together, Koch noticed with concern Ledeen’s habit of stopping by in his (Koch’s) outer office to read classified materials. When the two of them took a trip to Italy, Koch learned from the CIA station there that when Ledeen had lived in Rome previously, as correspondent for The New Republic, he’d been carried in Agency files as an agent of influence of a foreign government: Israel.</p>
<p>Some time after their return from the trip, Ledeen approached his boss with a request for his assistance in obtaining two highly classified CIA reports which he said were held by the FBI. He’d hand written on a piece of paper the identifying “alpha numeric designators”. These identifiers were as highly classified as the reports themselves….which raised in Koch’s mind the question of who had provided them to Ledeen if he hadn’t the clearances to obtain them himself. Koch immediately told his executive assistant that Ledeen was to have no further access to classified materials in the office, and Ledeen just ceased coming to “work”.</p>
<p>In early 1986, however, Koch learned that Ledeen had joined NSC as a consultant, and sufficiently concerned about the internal security implications of the behavior of his former aide, arranged to be interviewed by two FBI agents on the matter. After a two hour debriefing, Koch was told that it was only Soviet military intelligence penetration that interested the Bureau. The follow-on interviews that were promised by the agents just never occurred.</p>
<p>Koch thought this strange, coming as it did just months after the arrest of Naval intelligence analyst Jonathan Pollard on charges of espionage for Israel. Frustrated, Koch wrote up in detail the entire saga of Ledeen’s DOD consultancy, and sent it to the Office of Senator Charles Grassley, then a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, which had oversight responsibility for, inter alia, the FBI.</p>
<p>A former senior FBI counter-intelligence official was surprised and somewhat skeptical, when told of Koch’s unsuccessful attempts to interest the Bureau in an investigation of Ledeen, noting that in early 1986, the Justice Department was in fact already engaged in several on-going, concurrent investigations of Israeli espionage and theft of American military technology.</p>
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<p>Machiavelli in Tel Aviv</p>
<p>Koch’s belated attempts to draw official attention to his former assistant were too late, in any event, for within a very few weeks of leaving his DOD consultancy in late 1984, Ledeen had found gainful (classified) employment at the National Security Council (NSC). In fact, according to a now declassified chronology prepared for the Senate/House Iran- Contra investigation, within calendar 1984 Ledeen was already suggesting to Oliver North, his new boss at NSC….” that Israeli contacts might be useful in obtaining release of the U.S. hostages in Lebanon.” Perhaps significantly, that is the first entry in the “Chronology of Events: U.S.- Iran Dialogue”, dated November 18,1986, prepared for the Joint House-Senate Hearings in the Iran-Contra Investigations.</p>
<p>What is so striking about the Ledeen-related documents which are part of the Iran-Contra Collection of the National Security Archive, is how thoroughly the judgements of Ledeen’s colleagues at NSC mirrored, and validated, Noel Koch’s internal security concerns about his consultant.</p>
<p>– on April 9, 1985, NSC Middle East analyst Donald Fortier wrote to National Security Advisor Robert McFarlane that NSC staffers were agreed that Ledeen’s role in the scheme should be limited to carrying messages to Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres regarding plans to cooperate with Israel on the crisis within Iran, and specifically that he should not be entrusted to ask Peres for detailed operational information;</p>
<p>– on June 6, 1985, Secretary of State George Shultz wrote to McFarlane that, “Israel’s record of dealings with Iran since the fall of the Shah and during the hostage crisis [show] that Israel’s agenda is not the same as ours. Consequently doubt whether an intelligence relationship such as what Ledeen has in mind would be one which we could fully rely upon and it could seriously skew our own perception and analysis of the Iranian scene.”</p>
<p>– on 20 August, 1985, the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense informed Ledeen by memorandum that his security clearance had been downgraded from Top Secret-SCI to Secret.</p>
<p>– on 16 January, 1986, Oliver North recommended to John Poindexter “for [the] security of the Iran initiative” that Ledeen be asked to take periodic polygraph examinations.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>– later in January, on the 24th, North wrote to Poindexter of his suspicion that Ledeen, along with Adolph Schwimmer and Manucher Ghorbanifar, might be making money personally on the sale of arms to Iran, through Israel.</p>
<p>During the June 23-25, 1987 joint hearings of the House and Senate select committees’ investigation of Iran-Contra, Noel Koch testified that he became suspicious when he learned that the price which Ledeen had negotiated for the sale to the Israeli Government of basic TOW missiles was $2,500 each.</p>
<p>Upon inquiring with his DOD colleagues, he learned the lowest price the U.S. had ever received for the sale of TOWs to a foreign government had been a previous sale to Israel for $6,800 per copy. Koch, professing in his testimony that he and his colleagues at DOD were not in favor of the sale to begin with, determined that he–Koch–should renegotiate the $2,500 price so that it could be defended by the “defense management system.” In a clandestine meeting on a Sunday in the first class lounge of the TWA section of National Airport, Koch met over a cup of coffee with an official from the Israeli purchasing mission in New York, and agreed on a price of $4,500 per missile, nearly twice what Ledeen had “negotiated” in Israel.</p>
<p>There are two possibilities here–one would be a kickback, as suspected by his NSC colleagues, and the other would be that Michael Ledeen was effectively negotiating for Israel, not the U.S.</p>
<p>Like his friend Stephen Bryen (they’ve long served together on the JINSA Board of Advisors) Ledeen has been out of government service since the late1980s….until the present Bush Administration. He, like Bryen, is presently a serving member on the China Commission and, with the support of DOD Undersecretary for Policy Douglas Feith, he has since 2001 been employed as a consultant for the Office of Special Plans OSP). Both involve the handling of classified materials and require high-level security clearances.</p>
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<p>The Principals: Perle, Wolfowitz and Feith</p>
<p>One might wonder how, with security histories like these, Messrs. Bryen and Ledeen have managed to get second and third chances to return to government in highly classified positions.</p>
<p>And the explanation is that they, along with other like-minded neo-conservatives, have in the current Bush Administration friends in very high places. In particular, Bryen and Ledeen have been repeatedly boosted into defense/security posts by former Defense Policy Council member and chairman Richard Perle (he just quietly resigned his position), Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, and Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith.</p>
<p>As previously mentioned, Perle in 1981 as DOD Assistant Secretary for International Security Policy (ISP) hired Bryen as his Deputy. That same year, Wolfowitz as head of the State Department Policy Planning Staff hired Ledeen as a Special Advisor. In 2001 Douglas Feith as DOD Under Secretary for Policy hired, or approved the hiring of Ledeen as a consultant for the Office of Special Plans.</p>
<p>The principals have also assisted each other down through the years. Frequently. In 1973 Richard Perle used his (and Senator Henry “Scoop” Jackson’s) influence as a senior staff member of the Senate Armed Services Committee to help Wolfowitz obtain a job with the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency. In 1982, Perle hired Feith in ISP as his Special Counsel, and then as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Negotiations Policy. In 2001, DOD Deputy Secretary Wolfowitz helped Feith obtain his appointment as Undersecretary for Policy. Feith then appointed Perle as Chairman of the Defense Policy Board. In some cases, this mutual assistance carries risks, as for instance when Perle’s hiring of Bryen as his Deputy in ISP became an extremely contentious issue in Perle’s own Senate appointment hearings as Assistant Secretary.</p>
<p>Every appointment/hiring listed above involved classified work for which high-level security clearances and associated background checks by the FBI were required. When the level of the clearance is not above generic Top Secret, however, the results of that background check are only seen by the hiring authority. And in the event, if the appointee were Bryen or Ledeen and the hiring authority were Perle, Wolfowitz or Feith, the appointee(s) need not have worried about the findings of the background check. In the case of Perle hiring Bryen as his deputy in 1981, for instance, documents released in 1983 under the Freedom of Information Act indicate that the Department provided extraordinarily high clearances for Bryen without having reviewed more than a small portion of his 1978-79 FBI investigation file.</p>
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<p>RICHARD PERLE: A HABIT OF LEAKING</p>
<p>Perle came to Washington for the first time in early 1969, at the age of 28, to work for a neo-con think tank called the “Committee to Maintain a Prudent Defense Policy.” Within months, Senator Henry “Scoop” Jackson offered Perle a position on his staff, working with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. And within months after that–less than a year–Perle was embroiled in an affair involving the leaking of a classified CIA report on alleged past Soviet treaty violations.</p>
<p>The leaker (and author of the report) was CIA analyst David Sullivan, and the leakee was Richard Perle. CIA Director Stansfield Turner was incensed at the unauthorized disclosure, but before he could fire Sullivan, the latter quit. Turner urged Sen. Jackson to fire Perle, but he was let off with a reprimand. Jackson then added insult to injury by immediately hiring Sullivan to his staff. Sullivan and Perle became close friends and co-conspirators, and together established an informal right-wing network which they called “the Madison Group,” after their usual meeting place in–you might have guessed–the Madison Hotel Coffee Shop.</p>
<p>Perle’s second brush with the law occurred a year later in 1970. An FBI wiretap authorized for the Israeli Embassy picked up Perle discussing with an Embassy official classified information which he said had been supplied to by a staff member on the National Security Council. An NSC/FBI investigation was launched to identify the staff member, and quickly focused upon Helmut Sonnenfeldt. The latter had been previously investigated in 1967 while a staff member of the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research, for suspected unauthorized transmission to an Israeli Government official of a classified document concerning the commencement of the 1967 war in the Middle East.</p>
<p>In 1981, shortly before being appointed Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy (ISP)–with responsibility, inter alia, for monitoring of U.S. defense technology exports, Richard Perle was paid a substantial consulting fee by arms manufacturer Tamares, Ltd. of Israel. Shortly after assuming that post, Perle wrote a letter to the Secretary of the Army urging evaluation and purchase of 155 mm. shells manufactured by Soltam, Ltd. After leaving the ISP job in 1987, he worked for Soltam.</p>
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<p>PAUL WOLFOWITZ : A WELL PLACED FRIEND</p>
<p>In 1973, in the dying days of the Nixon Administration, Wolfowitz was recruited to work for the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA). There was a certain irony in the appointment, for in the late 1960’s, as a graduate student at the University of Chicago, Wolfowitz had been a student and protege of Albert Wohlstetter, an influential, vehement opponent of any form of arms control or disarmament, vis a vis the Soviets. Wolfowitz also brought to ACDA a strong attachment to Israel’s security, and a certain confusion about his obligation to U.S. national security.</p>
<p>In 1978, he was investigated for providing a classified document on the proposed sale of U.S. weapons to an Arab government, to an Israel Government official, through an AIPAC intermediary. An inquiry was launched and dropped, however, and Wolfowitz continued to work at ACDA until 1980.</p>
<p>In 1990, after a decade of work with the State Department in Washington and abroad, Wolfowitz was brought into DoD as Undersecretary for Policy by then Secretary of Defense Richard Cheney. Two years later, in 1992, the first Bush Administration launched a broad inter-departmental investigation into the export of classified technology to China. O particular concern at the time was the transfer to China by Israel of U.S. Patriot missiles and/or technology. During that investigation, in a situation very reminiscent of the Bryen/Varian Associates/klystrons affair two years earlier, the Pentagon discovered that Wolfowitz’s office was promoting the export to Israel of advanced AIM-9M air-to-air missiles.</p>
<p>In this instance, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, aware that Israel had already been caught selling the earlier AIM 9-L version of the missile to China in violation of a written agreement with the U.S. on arms re-sales, intervened to cancel the proposed AIM (-M deal. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs at the time was General Colin Powell, currently Secretary of State.</p>
<p>Wolfowitz continued to serve as DoD Undersecretary for Policy until 1993, well into the Clinton Administration. After that, however, like most of the other prominent neo-conservatives, he was relegated to trying to assist Israel from the sidelines for the remainder of Clinton’s two terms. In 1998, Wolfowitz was a co-signer of a public letter to the President organized by the “Project for the New American Century.” The letter, citing Saddam Hussein’s continued possession of “weapons of mass destruction,” argued for military action to achieve regime change and demilitarization of Iraq. Clinton wasn’t impressed, but a more gullible fellow would soon come along.</p>
<p>And indeed, when George W. Bush assumed the Presidency in early 2001, Wolfowitz got his opportunity. Picked as Donald Rumsfeld’s Deputy Secretary at DoD, he prevailed upon his boss to appoint Douglas Feith as Undersecretary for Policy. On the day after the destruction of the World Trade Center, September 12, Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz raised the possibility of an immediate attack on Iraq during an emergency NSC meeting. The following day, Wolfowitz conducted the Pentagon press briefing, and interpreted the President’s statement on “ending states who sponsor terrorism” as a call for regime change in Iraq. Israel wasn’t mentioned.</p>
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<p>Douglas Feith: Hardliner, Security Risk</p>
<p>Bush’s appointment of Douglas Feith as DoD Undersecretary for Policy in early 2001 must have come as a surprise, and a harbinger, even to conservative veterans of the Reagan and George H.W. Bush Administration. Like Michael Ledeen, Feith is a prolific writer and well-known radical conservative. Moreover, he was not being hired as a DoD consultant, like Ledeen, but as the third most senior United States Defense Department official. Feith was certainly the first, and probably the last high Pentagon official to have publicly opposed the Biological Weapons Convention (in 1986), the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty (in 1988), the Chemical Weapons Convention (in 1997), the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (in 2000), and all of the various Middle East Peace agreements, including Oslo (in 2000).</p>
<p>Even more revealing perhaps, had the transition team known of it, was Feith’s view of “technology cooperation,” as expressed in a 1992 Commentary article: “It is in the interest of U.S. and Israel to remove needless impediments to technological cooperation between them. Technologies in the hands of responsible, friendly countries facing military threats, countries like Israel, serve to deter aggression, enhance regional stability and promote peace thereby.”</p>
<p>What Douglas Feith had neglected to say, in this last article, was that he thought that individuals could decide on their own whether the sharing of classified information was “technical cooperation,” an unauthorized disclosure, or a violation of U.S. Code 794c, the “Espionage Act.”</p>
<p>Ten years prior to writing the Commentary piece, Feith had made such a decision on his own. At the time, March of 1972, Feith was a Middle East analyst in the Near East and South Asian Affairs section of the National Security Council. Two months before, in January, Judge William Clark had replaced Richard Allen as National Security Advisor, with the intention to clean house. A total of nine NSC staff members were fired, including Feith, who’d only been with the NSC for a year. But Feith was fired because he’d been the object of an inquiry into whether he’d provided classified material to an official of the Israeli Embassy in Washington. The FBI had opened the inquiry. And Clark, who had served in U.S. Army counterintelligence in the 1950’s, took such matters very seriously…..more seriously, apparently, than had Richard Allen.</p>
<p>Feith did not remain unemployed for long, however. Richard Perle, who was in 1982 serving in the Pentagon as Assistant secretary for International Security Policy, hired him on the spot as his “Special Counsel,” and then as his Deputy. Feith worked at ISP until 1986, when he left government service to form a small but influential law firm, then based in Israel.</p>
<p>In 2001, Douglas Feith returned to DoD as Donald Rumsfeld’s Undersecretary for Policy, and it was in his office that “OSP”, the Office of Special Plans, was created. It was OSP that originated–some say from whole cloth–much of the intelligence that Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld have used to justify the attack on Iraq, to miss-plan the post-war reconstruction there, and then to point an accusing finger at Iran and Syria…..all to the absolute delight of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Reason for Concern</p>
<p>Many individuals with strong attachments to foreign countries have served the U.S. Government with honor and distinction, and will certainly do so in the future. The highest officials in our executive and legislative branches should, however, take great care when appointments are made to posts involving sensitive national security matters. Appointees should be rejected who have demonstrated, in their previous government service, a willingness to sacrifice U.S. national security interests for those of another country, or an inability to distinguish one from the other.</p>
<p>STEPHEN GREEN is a freelance journalist in Vermont. He can be reached at: <a href="mailto:green@counterpunch.org" type="external">green@counterpunch.org</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | since 911 small group neoconservatives administration effectively guttedthey would say reformedtraditional american foreign security policy notable features new bush doctrine include preemptive use unilateral force undermining united nations principle instruments institutions international lawall cause fighting terrorism promoting homeland security skeptics noting neocons past academic professional associations writings public utterances suggested underlying agenda alignment us foreign security policies ariel sharon israeli right wing administrations new hard line israelipalestinian conflict certainly suggests perhaps destruction us soldiers funds military capacity iraq current belligerent neocon campaign two countries constitute remaining counterforce israeli military hegemony regioniran syria neoconservativesmany senior officials defense department national security council office vice presidenthad dual agendas professing work internal security united states terrorist enemies review internal security backgrounds best known among strongly suggests answer dr stephen bryen colleagues april 1979 deputy assistant attorney general robert keuch recommended writing bryen staff member senate foreign relations committee undergo grand jury hearing establish basis prosecution espionage john davitt chief justice departments internal security division concurred evidence strong bryen overheard madison hotel coffee shop offering classified documents official israeli embassy presence director aipac americanisrael public affairs committee later determined embassy official zvi rafiah mossad station chief washington bryen refused polygraphed fbi purpose details meeting whereas person whod witnessed agreed polygraphed passed test bureau also testimony second person staff member foreign relations committee witnessed bryen senate office rafiah discussing classified documents spread table front open safe documents supposed secured long second witness came forward bryens fingerprints found classified documents hed stated writing fbi hed never possessionthe ones hed allegedly offered rafiah nevertheless following refusal senate foreign relations committee grant access justice department officials files key investigation keuchs recommendation grand jury hearing ultimately investigation shut decision taken philip heymann chief justices criminal division bitter disappointment davitt joel lisker lead investigator case expressed writer complicating factor outcome heymann former schoolmate fellow us supreme court clerk bryens attorney nathan lewin bryen asked resign foreign relations committee post shortly investigation concluded late 1979 following year half served executive director jewish institute national security affairs jinsa provided consulting services aipac april 1981 fbi received application defense department top secret security clearance dr bryen richard perle nominated assistant secretary defense international security policy proposing bryen deputy assistant secretary within six months perle pushing hard bryen received top secretsci sensitive compartmented information top secretnatocosmic clearances 160 loyalty patriotism character bryen investigation became fact contentious issue perles confirmation hearings july 1981 aggressive questioning sen jeremiah denton perle held ground consider dr bryen individual impeccable integrityi highest confidence loyalty patriotism character several years later early 1988 israel final stages development prototype ground based arrow antiballistic missile one element program lacked klystrons small microwave amplifiers critical components missiles high frequency radarbased target acquisition system locks incoming missiles 1988 klystrons among advanced developments american weapons research export course strictly proscribed dod office involved control defense technology exports defense technology security administration dtsa within richard perles isp office director founder dtsa perles deputy dr stephen bryen may 1988 bryen sent standard form richard levine navy tech transfer official informing intent approve license varian associates inc beverly massachusetts export israel four klystrons done without usual consultations tech transfer officials army air force isa international security affairs dsaa defense security assistance agency answer levine opposed granting license asked meeting matter appropriate listed offices meeting officials present opposed license bryen responded suggesting go back israelis ask particular items needed defense later israeli government came back one dod staffer described little bullshit answer bryen simply notified meeting attendees acceptable answer received license granted klystrons released however dogs awake assistant secretary defense isa deputy secretary state richard armitage sent dr bryen letter stating state department issues export licenses informed dods uniformly negative reaction export klystrons israel bryen instructed license withdrawn july varian associates became first us corporation formally precluded contracting defense department two senior colleague dod wish remain anonymous confirmed attempt bryen obtain klystrons friends unusual fact standard operating procedure recalling numerous instances us companies denied licenses export sensitive technology learn later israeli companies subsequently exported similar us derived weapons technology intended customersgovernments late1988 bryen resigned dod post period worked private sector variety defense technology consulting firms 160 bryen china commission 1997 defense week reported 052797 us office naval intelligence reaffirmed us derived technology cancelled israeli lavi fighter project used chinas new f10 fighter following year janes intelligence review reported 110198 transfer israel china phalcon airborne early warning control system python aircombat missile f10 fighter aircraft containing stateoftheart us electronics concern continuing transfer advanced us arms technology burgeoning chinese military program led last months clinton administration creation congressional consultative body called united stateschina economic security review commission charter china commission commonly known states purpose tomonitor investigate report congress national security implications bilateral trade economic relationship united states peoples republic china charter also reflects awareness problem back door technology leaks commission shall also take account patterns trade transfers third countries extent practicable almost predictable new bush administration dr stephen bryen would find way china commission april 2001 support deputy secretary defense paul wolfowitz senator richard shelby ralabama bryen appointed member commission speaker house dennis hastert last august appointment extended december 2005 informed bryen appointed commission reaction one former senior fbi counterintelligence official god must mean q clearance q clearance must approved department energy designation top secret codeword clearance access nuclear technology michael ledeen consultant chaos stephen bryen military technology guru neocon pantheon michael ledeen currently leading theorist historian scholar writer states website consulting firm benador associates one worlds leading authorities intelligence contemporary history international affairs thatas ted koppel puts michael ledeen renaissance manin tradition machiavelli perhaps following add color texture description 1983 recommendation richard perle ledeen hired department defense consultant terrorism immediate supervisor principle assistant secretary international security affairs noel koch early work together koch noticed concern ledeens habit stopping kochs outer office read classified materials two took trip italy koch learned cia station ledeen lived rome previously correspondent new republic hed carried agency files agent influence foreign government israel time return trip ledeen approached boss request assistance obtaining two highly classified cia reports said held fbi hed hand written piece paper identifying alpha numeric designators identifiers highly classified reports themselveswhich raised kochs mind question provided ledeen hadnt clearances obtain koch immediately told executive assistant ledeen access classified materials office ledeen ceased coming work early 1986 however koch learned ledeen joined nsc consultant sufficiently concerned internal security implications behavior former aide arranged interviewed two fbi agents matter two hour debriefing koch told soviet military intelligence penetration interested bureau followon interviews promised agents never occurred koch thought strange coming months arrest naval intelligence analyst jonathan pollard charges espionage israel frustrated koch wrote detail entire saga ledeens dod consultancy sent office senator charles grassley member senate select committee intelligence oversight responsibility inter alia fbi former senior fbi counterintelligence official surprised somewhat skeptical told kochs unsuccessful attempts interest bureau investigation ledeen noting early 1986 justice department fact already engaged several ongoing concurrent investigations israeli espionage theft american military technology 160 machiavelli tel aviv kochs belated attempts draw official attention former assistant late event within weeks leaving dod consultancy late 1984 ledeen found gainful classified employment national security council nsc fact according declassified chronology prepared senatehouse iran contra investigation within calendar 1984 ledeen already suggesting oliver north new boss nsc israeli contacts might useful obtaining release us hostages lebanon perhaps significantly first entry chronology events us iran dialogue dated november 181986 prepared joint housesenate hearings irancontra investigations striking ledeenrelated documents part irancontra collection national security archive thoroughly judgements ledeens colleagues nsc mirrored validated noel kochs internal security concerns consultant april 9 1985 nsc middle east analyst donald fortier wrote national security advisor robert mcfarlane nsc staffers agreed ledeens role scheme limited carrying messages israeli prime minister shimon peres regarding plans cooperate israel crisis within iran specifically entrusted ask peres detailed operational information june 6 1985 secretary state george shultz wrote mcfarlane israels record dealings iran since fall shah hostage crisis show israels agenda consequently doubt whether intelligence relationship ledeen mind would one could fully rely upon could seriously skew perception analysis iranian scene 20 august 1985 office undersecretary defense informed ledeen memorandum security clearance downgraded top secretsci secret 16 january 1986 oliver north recommended john poindexter security iran initiative ledeen asked take periodic polygraph examinations 160 later january 24th north wrote poindexter suspicion ledeen along adolph schwimmer manucher ghorbanifar might making money personally sale arms iran israel june 2325 1987 joint hearings house senate select committees investigation irancontra noel koch testified became suspicious learned price ledeen negotiated sale israeli government basic tow missiles 2500 upon inquiring dod colleagues learned lowest price us ever received sale tows foreign government previous sale israel 6800 per copy koch professing testimony colleagues dod favor sale begin determined hekochshould renegotiate 2500 price could defended defense management system clandestine meeting sunday first class lounge twa section national airport koch met cup coffee official israeli purchasing mission new york agreed price 4500 per missile nearly twice ledeen negotiated israel two possibilities hereone would kickback suspected nsc colleagues would michael ledeen effectively negotiating israel us like friend stephen bryen theyve long served together jinsa board advisors ledeen government service since late1980suntil present bush administration like bryen presently serving member china commission support dod undersecretary policy douglas feith since 2001 employed consultant office special plans osp involve handling classified materials require highlevel security clearances 160 principals perle wolfowitz feith one might wonder security histories like messrs bryen ledeen managed get second third chances return government highly classified positions explanation along likeminded neoconservatives current bush administration friends high places particular bryen ledeen repeatedly boosted defensesecurity posts former defense policy council member chairman richard perle quietly resigned position deputy defense secretary paul wolfowitz secretary defense policy douglas feith previously mentioned perle 1981 dod assistant secretary international security policy isp hired bryen deputy year wolfowitz head state department policy planning staff hired ledeen special advisor 2001 douglas feith dod secretary policy hired approved hiring ledeen consultant office special plans principals also assisted years frequently 1973 richard perle used senator henry scoop jacksons influence senior staff member senate armed services committee help wolfowitz obtain job arms control disarmament agency 1982 perle hired feith isp special counsel deputy assistant secretary negotiations policy 2001 dod deputy secretary wolfowitz helped feith obtain appointment undersecretary policy feith appointed perle chairman defense policy board cases mutual assistance carries risks instance perles hiring bryen deputy isp became extremely contentious issue perles senate appointment hearings assistant secretary every appointmenthiring listed involved classified work highlevel security clearances associated background checks fbi required level clearance generic top secret however results background check seen hiring authority event appointee bryen ledeen hiring authority perle wolfowitz feith appointees need worried findings background check case perle hiring bryen deputy 1981 instance documents released 1983 freedom information act indicate department provided extraordinarily high clearances bryen without reviewed small portion 197879 fbi investigation file 160 richard perle habit leaking perle came washington first time early 1969 age 28 work neocon think tank called committee maintain prudent defense policy within months senator henry scoop jackson offered perle position staff working senate foreign relations committee within months thatless yearperle embroiled affair involving leaking classified cia report alleged past soviet treaty violations leaker author report cia analyst david sullivan leakee richard perle cia director stansfield turner incensed unauthorized disclosure could fire sullivan latter quit turner urged sen jackson fire perle let reprimand jackson added insult injury immediately hiring sullivan staff sullivan perle became close friends coconspirators together established informal rightwing network called madison group usual meeting place inyou might guessedthe madison hotel coffee shop perles second brush law occurred year later 1970 fbi wiretap authorized israeli embassy picked perle discussing embassy official classified information said supplied staff member national security council nscfbi investigation launched identify staff member quickly focused upon helmut sonnenfeldt latter previously investigated 1967 staff member state departments bureau intelligence research suspected unauthorized transmission israeli government official classified document concerning commencement 1967 war middle east 1981 shortly appointed assistant secretary defense international security policy ispwith responsibility inter alia monitoring us defense technology exports richard perle paid substantial consulting fee arms manufacturer tamares ltd israel shortly assuming post perle wrote letter secretary army urging evaluation purchase 155 mm shells manufactured soltam ltd leaving isp job 1987 worked soltam 160 paul wolfowitz well placed friend 1973 dying days nixon administration wolfowitz recruited work arms control disarmament agency acda certain irony appointment late 1960s graduate student university chicago wolfowitz student protege albert wohlstetter influential vehement opponent form arms control disarmament vis vis soviets wolfowitz also brought acda strong attachment israels security certain confusion obligation us national security 1978 investigated providing classified document proposed sale us weapons arab government israel government official aipac intermediary inquiry launched dropped however wolfowitz continued work acda 1980 1990 decade work state department washington abroad wolfowitz brought dod undersecretary policy secretary defense richard cheney two years later 1992 first bush administration launched broad interdepartmental investigation export classified technology china particular concern time transfer china israel us patriot missiles andor technology investigation situation reminiscent bryenvarian associatesklystrons affair two years earlier pentagon discovered wolfowitzs office promoting export israel advanced aim9m airtoair missiles instance joint chiefs staff aware israel already caught selling earlier aim 9l version missile china violation written agreement us arms resales intervened cancel proposed aim deal chairman joint chiefs time general colin powell currently secretary state wolfowitz continued serve dod undersecretary policy 1993 well clinton administration however like prominent neoconservatives relegated trying assist israel sidelines remainder clintons two terms 1998 wolfowitz cosigner public letter president organized project new american century letter citing saddam husseins continued possession weapons mass destruction argued military action achieve regime change demilitarization iraq clinton wasnt impressed gullible fellow would soon come along indeed george w bush assumed presidency early 2001 wolfowitz got opportunity picked donald rumsfelds deputy secretary dod prevailed upon boss appoint douglas feith undersecretary policy day destruction world trade center september 12 rumsfeld wolfowitz raised possibility immediate attack iraq emergency nsc meeting following day wolfowitz conducted pentagon press briefing interpreted presidents statement ending states sponsor terrorism call regime change iraq israel wasnt mentioned 160 douglas feith hardliner security risk bushs appointment douglas feith dod undersecretary policy early 2001 must come surprise harbinger even conservative veterans reagan george hw bush administration like michael ledeen feith prolific writer wellknown radical conservative moreover hired dod consultant like ledeen third senior united states defense department official feith certainly first probably last high pentagon official publicly opposed biological weapons convention 1986 intermediate nuclear forces treaty 1988 chemical weapons convention 1997 antiballistic missile treaty 2000 various middle east peace agreements including oslo 2000 even revealing perhaps transition team known feiths view technology cooperation expressed 1992 commentary article interest us israel remove needless impediments technological cooperation technologies hands responsible friendly countries facing military threats countries like israel serve deter aggression enhance regional stability promote peace thereby douglas feith neglected say last article thought individuals could decide whether sharing classified information technical cooperation unauthorized disclosure violation us code 794c espionage act ten years prior writing commentary piece feith made decision time march 1972 feith middle east analyst near east south asian affairs section national security council two months january judge william clark replaced richard allen national security advisor intention clean house total nine nsc staff members fired including feith whod nsc year feith fired hed object inquiry whether hed provided classified material official israeli embassy washington fbi opened inquiry clark served us army counterintelligence 1950s took matters seriouslymore seriously apparently richard allen feith remain unemployed long however richard perle 1982 serving pentagon assistant secretary international security policy hired spot special counsel deputy feith worked isp 1986 left government service form small influential law firm based israel 2001 douglas feith returned dod donald rumsfelds undersecretary policy office osp office special plans created osp originatedsome say whole clothmuch intelligence bush cheney rumsfeld used justify attack iraq missplan postwar reconstruction point accusing finger iran syriaall absolute delight prime minister ariel sharon reason concern many individuals strong attachments foreign countries served us government honor distinction certainly future highest officials executive legislative branches however take great care appointments made posts involving sensitive national security matters appointees rejected demonstrated previous government service willingness sacrifice us national security interests another country inability distinguish one stephen green freelance journalist vermont reached greencounterpunchorg 160 | 2,697 |
<p>Jordan Flaherty is a New Orleans-based journalist and works with the Louisiana Justice Institute. He was the first writer to bring the story of the Jena Six to a national audience, and his award-winning reporting from the Gulf Coast has been featured in a range of outlets including the New York Times, Mother Jones, and Argentina's Clarin newspaper. Jordan just published released his new book called �FLOODLINES: Community and Resistance from Katrina to the Jena Six�.</p>
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<p /> DANYA NADAR, TRNN: Welcome to The Real News Network. My name is Danya, coming to you from Washington, DC. Currently it's the six-year anniversary since Hurricane Katrina. And joining us to talk about it is Jordan Flaherty. Jordan Flaherty is a journalist based in New Orleans and the author of the book Floodlines: Community and Resistance from Katrina to the Jena Six. Thanks for joining us.
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<p />JORDAN FLAHERTY, JOURNALIST AND AUTHOR: Thank you, Danya.
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<p />NADAR: So tell us, tell us a little bit about what happened back then. And we're going to speed up to where we are today, but give us a little bit of a context of how it was during the hurricane.
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<p />FLAHERTY: Well, something a lot of people don't realize is that Hurricane Katrina didn't really hit New Orleans direct on. It actually went to the east of New Orleans. And although it was a category 5 hurricane while it was in the Gulf, the winds and rain of Katrina only were about the strength of a category 3 in New Orleans. Despite that, the levees that were supposed to be strong enough for a category 3 storm were not strong enough for Hurricane Katrina and ended up giving way in several places all around the city, flooding 80 percent of the city, causing the entire city to be evacuated. And in many ways the city has never recovered from that point. Now, six years later, we still have more than 100,000 people that haven't returned. The pre-Katrina population was 465,000; now there's about 350,000 people. Eighty thousand jobs have not returned. There's many neighborhoods that are still not back--much of the lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans East. The touristy areas which weren't damaged, like the French Quarter, the central business district, the Garden District, are in great shape. And so it's possible to visit New Orleans as a tourist and not see what's missing. But it's especially poor communities that have been left out, the communities that lived in public housing, which has now been torn down. The teachers who were fired as a group in the aftermath of the hurricane--the entire staff of the public school system was laid off. The teachers union, which was the largest union in the city and a middle-class African-American work base, that was completely wiped out. And we're still dealing with the legacy of those changes.
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<p />NADAR: There's also been the BP disaster that's taken place in New Orleans. How has that impacted or how is that today? It's been about a year since. So what's happening right now?
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<p />FLAHERTY: Well, the BP drilling disaster happened in the Gulf. And in terms of psychologically, it was really damaging for the people of New Orleans, and economically to a certain extent. But the communities that were really hit hard were those communities on the Gulf Coast. Especially, there's African-American communities, working-class white communities, Vietnamese communities, Native American communities. These communities, who for generations have been depending for their livelihood on the sea, on fishing, still, many of them have not received any economic payback, any, you know, payment for what they've lost. And those communities are still feeling it. And if you look at the BP drilling disaster, it's the most visible sign of something that's been going on for tens of years. So what we've had is the drilling companies have been given carte blanche to do what they want on the Gulf Coast. They've dug 10,000 miles of canals through the southern coast, bringing saltwater into the freshwater marshes, causing coastal erosion at the rate of a football field of land every 45 minutes. An area the size of Rhode Island has disappeared off the southern Louisiana coast, and that's not coming back anytime soon. And that makes the entire state more vulnerable to hurricanes. And what's really tragic in the aftermath of that BP drilling disaster is there was no real regulations that went to prevent oil companies from doing this in the future. So we're still--.
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<p />NADAR: And currently?
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<p />FLAHERTY: Currently we're still vulnerable. And it's not just New Orleans, but anywhere that has drilling is vulnerable. And in general this administration has been very reluctant to put any sort of--and, you know, going back several administrations, any sort of regulations on any corporations--on banks, on oil companies, whatever. And I think New Orleans is sort of a canary in a coal mine for many of these things. It's this warning of what the rest of us could all be facing.
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<p />NADAR: You mentioned unions earlier. You mentioned that there's problems with the education system in New Orleans. Can you tell--talk to us a little bit about what's happening over there?
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<p />FLAHERTY: Well, this is another great example of that canary in the coal mine situation. You know, teachers are under attack everywhere. Of course, you look at Governor Scott Walker in Wisconsin, the attack on the teachers' union there. But in New Orleans, years before, we saw a preview of that, where, again, the largest union in the city, the largest source of middle-class black political power and civic representation, ceased to exist. And I think that firing of the teachers, of 7,000 teachers, really shows how this disaster was about race even outside of class, because this was a middle-class to upper middle-class base of workers that had their jobs taken away and had it made much more difficult for them to come back to the city. Another example: if you look at the Louisiana Road Home program, which was the major housing program to help people come home, first of all, that program only went to homeowners. So it excluded renters, it excluded poorer folks on that category. But even within that category of homeowners, on average, white homeowners received 40 percent more money than African-American homeowners, because the money payout was based partially on property values. And in general, property values in white neighborhoods were higher than in black neighborhoods. So, in general, white homeowners, even if you had a house that was the same size, the same square footage, built in the same year, the same amount of damage, the same amount of money it would cost to repair, the white homeowners received more money than black homeowners. And there was actually a recent lawsuit that was successful from greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center that challenged this. But I think that shows another of the ways in which this was really a racially differentiated disaster.
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<p />NADAR: Well, tell me a little bit more. Also you mentioned the Danziger case. So tie in what you were talking about about a racial disaster with regards to the Danziger case.
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<p />FLAHERTY: Well, I think that that's a really key thing to look at if you're looking at this post-Katrina period. One of the most important struggles has been over this issue of police violence in the city. New Orleans has one of the most corrupt and violent police forces in the country. And if you look at the very narrative of how we look at Katrina, in the first days, people felt sympathy for the people of New Orleans--trapped on the rooftops, at the Superdome, at the convention center. But then media coverage shifted, and suddenly people were looters and thugs and criminals. And that depiction, I think, in many ways did more damage to the city than the hurricane, that media depiction of African Americans as looters while white survivors were just survivors, were just foraging for food. That depiction really damaged how people view the people of New Orleans in an almost irreparable way. And police, I think, really acted on this in the aftermath of Katrina. So, for example, on September 2, just days after Hurricane Katrina, Henry Glover, an African-American man, was shot by a police sniper. Then other officers took his body when he still could have been taken for medical help and instead burned his body. Danny Brumfield Sr., a 45-year-old African-American man outside the convention center, saw emergency vehicles going by, nobody offering help, food, water. He went running up to officers to demand help. Officers in a police car swerved and hit him and then shot him in the back with a shotgun in front of scores of witnesses. The next day, September 4, a group of African-American civilians are walking across Danziger Bridge, which goes from the mostly African-American neighborhood of New Orleans East to the African-American neighborhood of Gentilly. A group of officers heard rumors or a radio report that someone had been shooting at officers nearby. They came rolling up, and without asking any questions just started firing at these civilians on the bridge. First, James Brissette, a 17-year-old African-American youth described as nerdy and studious by friends, is shot several times in the back by officers. Susan Bartholomew, a 38-year-old mother, is shot several times by officers, including--she's on the ground, lying there bleeding; her 17-year-old daughter, Lesha Bartholomew, tries to shield her mother's body with her own, crawling on top of her, and officers shoot Lesha several times. They continue in a hail of bullets as these--this African-American family is crouching behind the bridge, behind a barrier on the bridge. Then officers go up further on the bridge and shoot at Ronald Madison, a 40-year-old mentally challenged man with the mind of an eight year old, shoot him in the back. Another officer runs up and stomps on him and kicks him until he's dead. Then they arrest his brother, Lance, and charge him with shooting at officers. Now, it's a frightening, terrifying, upsetting incident, but what's worse about it is that they almost got away with it. For several years, every check and balance that we have in our city failed us. The media refused to really investigate these stories of police violence after Katrina. The US attorney was not investigating. The district attorney's office failed to bring charges. And the--you know, the coroner's office, for the most part, went along with officers' stories of these incidents. But it was these family members of the victims that worked for years to get the stories out and struggled against this wall of official silence to get the truth out--the Glover family, the Bartholomew family, the Madison family, these family members of these who had been shot and killed by officers. And now we finally had these stories come out. It happened partially because some journalists like A. C. Thompson, who is journalist with The Nation magazine, told this story in late 2008, more than three years after the storm--it was the first time some of these stories reached a national audience, Henry Glover's story in particular. Then activists in New Orleans took the opportunity of that story coming out and went to the Justice Department, went to the Congressional Black Caucus, and pushed for investigation. And finally, in 2009 we have investigations. They went and confiscated officers' computers and found how the Danziger officers had written and rewritten their versions of the event. They found how they had invented witnesses. They had planted evidence, including planting a gun. They had a series of secret meetings where they, you know, wrote and rewrote their version of what happened on that day. And we finally had trials of those officers. So the officers that shot Henry Glover and burned his body faced trial and were convicted. These officers on Danziger Bridge faced trial and just were convicted.
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<p />NADAR: Just were convicted, just a few weeks ago.
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<p />FLAHERTY: Just a couple of weeks ago. And this has completely changed the narrative, I think, of this post-Katrina period. You know, we now know, as former district attorney Eddie Jordan said, that the police officers of New Orleans actually committed more crimes than the people of New Orleans in this post Katrina period. One of the most powerful moments in the trial was when prosecutor Bobbi Bernstein, in response to defense attorneys' comments that these officers who had killed people on Danziger Bridge were heroes, she said the real heroes are these family members who struggled for years to get their story out against a system that had failed them. And that's, I think, the lesson of this trial and of these convictions, that these family members who struggled against this system that failed them were able to get success. And that's not just important for these convictions of officers but for a wider struggle against police violence nationally. The Justice Department, one of the major changes under Obama is that it's looking at these issues of police violence. It's looking at police departments in Newark, in Denver, in Seattle. And this success in New Orleans has national implications for trials of police officers, for oversight of police departments. They're looking at oversight of the New Orleans Police Department. And also, unprecedented in this country, you have activists from New Orleans, including these family members of police violence, have drawn up a consent decree for what they want to see on oversight of the Police Department, and they're pushing the Justice Department to institute vast changes over hiring, firing, discipline, training of officers. And it's a completely unique and incredible struggle led by people [incompr.] that there's so much for people to learn from all around the country.
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<p />NADAR: And people especially from New Orleans who've struggled so much since the hurricane. Well, thanks for joining us, Jordan.
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<p />FLAHERTY: Thank you so much.
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<p />NADAR: And thank you for joining us on The Real News Network.
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<p />End of Transcript
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<p />DISCLAIMER: Please note that transcripts for The Real News Network are typed from a recording of the program. TRNN cannot guarantee their complete accuracy. | true | 4 | jordan flaherty new orleansbased journalist works louisiana justice institute first writer bring story jena six national audience awardwinning reporting gulf coast featured range outlets including new york times mother jones argentinas clarin newspaper jordan published released new book called floodlines community resistance katrina jena six danya nadar trnn welcome real news network name danya coming washington dc currently sixyear anniversary since hurricane katrina joining us talk jordan flaherty jordan flaherty journalist based new orleans author book floodlines community resistance katrina jena six thanks joining us jordan flaherty journalist author thank danya nadar tell us tell us little bit happened back going speed today give us little bit context hurricane flaherty well something lot people dont realize hurricane katrina didnt really hit new orleans direct actually went east new orleans although category 5 hurricane gulf winds rain katrina strength category 3 new orleans despite levees supposed strong enough category 3 storm strong enough hurricane katrina ended giving way several places around city flooding 80 percent city causing entire city evacuated many ways city never recovered point six years later still 100000 people havent returned prekatrina population 465000 theres 350000 people eighty thousand jobs returned theres many neighborhoods still backmuch lower ninth ward new orleans east touristy areas werent damaged like french quarter central business district garden district great shape possible visit new orleans tourist see whats missing especially poor communities left communities lived public housing torn teachers fired group aftermath hurricanethe entire staff public school system laid teachers union largest union city middleclass africanamerican work base completely wiped still dealing legacy changes nadar theres also bp disaster thats taken place new orleans impacted today year since whats happening right flaherty well bp drilling disaster happened gulf terms psychologically really damaging people new orleans economically certain extent communities really hit hard communities gulf coast especially theres africanamerican communities workingclass white communities vietnamese communities native american communities communities generations depending livelihood sea fishing still many received economic payback know payment theyve lost communities still feeling look bp drilling disaster visible sign something thats going tens years weve drilling companies given carte blanche want gulf coast theyve dug 10000 miles canals southern coast bringing saltwater freshwater marshes causing coastal erosion rate football field land every 45 minutes area size rhode island disappeared southern louisiana coast thats coming back anytime soon makes entire state vulnerable hurricanes whats really tragic aftermath bp drilling disaster real regulations went prevent oil companies future still nadar currently flaherty currently still vulnerable new orleans anywhere drilling vulnerable general administration reluctant put sort ofand know going back several administrations sort regulations corporationson banks oil companies whatever think new orleans sort canary coal mine many things warning rest us could facing nadar mentioned unions earlier mentioned theres problems education system new orleans telltalk us little bit whats happening flaherty well another great example canary coal mine situation know teachers attack everywhere course look governor scott walker wisconsin attack teachers union new orleans years saw preview largest union city largest source middleclass black political power civic representation ceased exist think firing teachers 7000 teachers really shows disaster race even outside class middleclass upper middleclass base workers jobs taken away made much difficult come back city another example look louisiana road home program major housing program help people come home first program went homeowners excluded renters excluded poorer folks category even within category homeowners average white homeowners received 40 percent money africanamerican homeowners money payout based partially property values general property values white neighborhoods higher black neighborhoods general white homeowners even house size square footage built year amount damage amount money would cost repair white homeowners received money black homeowners actually recent lawsuit successful greater new orleans fair housing action center challenged think shows another ways really racially differentiated disaster nadar well tell little bit also mentioned danziger case tie talking racial disaster regards danziger case flaherty well think thats really key thing look youre looking postkatrina period one important struggles issue police violence city new orleans one corrupt violent police forces country look narrative look katrina first days people felt sympathy people new orleanstrapped rooftops superdome convention center media coverage shifted suddenly people looters thugs criminals depiction think many ways damage city hurricane media depiction african americans looters white survivors survivors foraging food depiction really damaged people view people new orleans almost irreparable way police think really acted aftermath katrina example september 2 days hurricane katrina henry glover africanamerican man shot police sniper officers took body still could taken medical help instead burned body danny brumfield sr 45yearold africanamerican man outside convention center saw emergency vehicles going nobody offering help food water went running officers demand help officers police car swerved hit shot back shotgun front scores witnesses next day september 4 group africanamerican civilians walking across danziger bridge goes mostly africanamerican neighborhood new orleans east africanamerican neighborhood gentilly group officers heard rumors radio report someone shooting officers nearby came rolling without asking questions started firing civilians bridge first james brissette 17yearold africanamerican youth described nerdy studious friends shot several times back officers susan bartholomew 38yearold mother shot several times officers includingshes ground lying bleeding 17yearold daughter lesha bartholomew tries shield mothers body crawling top officers shoot lesha several times continue hail bullets thesethis africanamerican family crouching behind bridge behind barrier bridge officers go bridge shoot ronald madison 40yearold mentally challenged man mind eight year old shoot back another officer runs stomps kicks hes dead arrest brother lance charge shooting officers frightening terrifying upsetting incident whats worse almost got away several years every check balance city failed us media refused really investigate stories police violence katrina us attorney investigating district attorneys office failed bring charges theyou know coroners office part went along officers stories incidents family members victims worked years get stories struggled wall official silence get truth outthe glover family bartholomew family madison family family members shot killed officers finally stories come happened partially journalists like c thompson journalist nation magazine told story late 2008 three years stormit first time stories reached national audience henry glovers story particular activists new orleans took opportunity story coming went justice department went congressional black caucus pushed investigation finally 2009 investigations went confiscated officers computers found danziger officers written rewritten versions event found invented witnesses planted evidence including planting gun series secret meetings know wrote rewrote version happened day finally trials officers officers shot henry glover burned body faced trial convicted officers danziger bridge faced trial convicted nadar convicted weeks ago flaherty couple weeks ago completely changed narrative think postkatrina period know know former district attorney eddie jordan said police officers new orleans actually committed crimes people new orleans post katrina period one powerful moments trial prosecutor bobbi bernstein response defense attorneys comments officers killed people danziger bridge heroes said real heroes family members struggled years get story system failed thats think lesson trial convictions family members struggled system failed able get success thats important convictions officers wider struggle police violence nationally justice department one major changes obama looking issues police violence looking police departments newark denver seattle success new orleans national implications trials police officers oversight police departments theyre looking oversight new orleans police department also unprecedented country activists new orleans including family members police violence drawn consent decree want see oversight police department theyre pushing justice department institute vast changes hiring firing discipline training officers completely unique incredible struggle led people incompr theres much people learn around country nadar people especially new orleans whove struggled much since hurricane well thanks joining us jordan flaherty thank much nadar thank joining us real news network end transcript disclaimer please note transcripts real news network typed recording program trnn guarantee complete accuracy | 1,275 |
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<p>Photo by The U.S. Army | <a href="" type="internal">CC BY 2.0</a></p>
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<p>I visited <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/topic/mosul" type="external">Mosul</a> on the day it fell to Kurdish Peshmerga fighters and a small detachment of US Special Forces on 11 April 2003. As we drove into the city, we passed lines of pick-up trucks piled high with loot returning to the Kurdish-controlled enclave in northern Iraq. US soldiers at a checkpoint, over which waved the Stars and Stripes, were shooting at a man in the distance who kept bobbing up from behind a wall and waving the <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/topic/Iraq" type="external">Iraqi flag</a>.</p>
<p>If there had ever been any sympathy between liberators and liberated in Mosul, it was disappearing fast. Inside the city, every government building, including the university, was being systematically looted by Kurds and Arabs alike. I saw one man who had stolen an enormous and very ugly red and gold sofa from the governor’s office dragging it slowly down the street. He would push one end of the sofa a few feet forward and then go to the other end and repeat the same process. The mosques were soon calling on the <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/topic/sunni" type="external">Sunni</a> Arab majority to build barricades to defend their neighbourhoods from marauders.</p>
<p>We parked our vehicle near a medieval quarter of ancient stone buildings while we went to see a Christian ecclesiastic. When we got back, we found that our driver was very frightened and wanted to get out of Mosul as fast as possible. He explained that soon after we left a crowd had gathered, recognised our number plates as Kurdish and debated lynching him and setting fire to his car before being restrained by a local religious leader moments before they took action.</p>
<p>The oil city of Kirkuk was captured at about the same time by the Peshmerga, despite having promised the Americans and Turks that they would do no such thing. Again, there was looting everywhere and I saw two Peshmerga stand in the middle of the road to stop an enormous yellow bulldozer that was being driven off. Instead of slowing down, the driver put his foot on the accelerator so the Peshmerga had to jump aside to avoid being crushed.</p>
<p>Inside the newly established Peshmerga headquarters, I ran into Pavel Talabani, whose father Jalal Talabani headed the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, the political party whose militia now held the city. He stressed the temporary nature of the Kurdish occupation of the city. “We came to control the situation,” he said. “We expect to withdraw some of our men in 45 minutes.”</p>
<p>Some Peshmerga, but not all: 13 years later the Kurds still hold Kirkuk, whose population is Kurdish, Arab and Turkoman, and to which the Kurds claim an historic right saying they have only reversed anti-Kurdish ethnic cleansing by Saddam Hussein.</p>
<p>By now the rest of the world has forgotten that there was a time when the Kurds did not hold the city. The Kurdish leaders had understood that the US-led invasion and the fall of Saddam Hussein had created conditions of unprecedented political fluidity and it was an ideal moment to create facts on the map, which would become permanent whatever the protestations of other players.</p>
<p>The current multi-pronged offensive aimed at taking Mosul is producing a similar situation as different countries, parties and communities vie to fill the vacuum they expect to be created by the fall of Isis, just as in 2003 the vacuum was the result of the fall of Saddam Hussein.</p>
<p>The different segments of the anti-Isis forces potentially involved in seizing Mosul – the Iraqi army, Kurds, Shia and Sunni paramilitaries, Turks – may be temporary allies, but they are also rivals. They all have their own very different and conflicting agendas. Presiding over this ramshackle and disputatious alliance is the US, which is orchestrating the Mosul offensive and without whose air power and Special Forces there would be no attack.</p>
<p>The Shia-dominated Iraqi government needs to take and hold Mosul, Iraq’s main Sunni Arab city, if it is to be convincing as the national government of Iraq. To achieve this, Baghdad’s rule must be acceptable to the Sunni majority in the city in a way that was not true when Isis took it in 2014. It needs to establish its rule while it still has full military and political support from the US.</p>
<p>The Kurds, for their part, want to solidify their control of the so-called “disputed territories” claimed by both the central government and the Kurdish regional authorities. The Kurds opportunistically used the defeat of the Iraqi Army in northern Iraq by Isis two years ago to take these territories inhabited by both Kurds and Arabs, thereby expanding by 40 per cent the area of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). They know that once Isis is defeated, the Kurds will no longer get international and, above all, American backing to hold this expanded version of the KRG.</p>
<p>These problems have only begun to surface because Mosul is still a long way from being besieged or even encircled.</p>
<p>The Shia militia forces are surprisingly calm about being excluded from a military role in the siege. They may calculate that the Iraqi army, if it gets sucked into street fighting, will not be able to take Mosul on its own and will have to look to them for support. The Shia paramilitaries are making up for their lack of participation in the battle for Mosul by sending reinforcements – some 5,000 men, according to reports – to join the Syrian Army in the siege of East Aleppo.</p>
<p>Turkey wants to be a player and, as a great Sunni power, the defender of the Sunnis of Mosul. To this end, it has soldiers based at Bashiqa, north east of Mosul, and claims to be taking part in the attack. But so far at least, Turkish ambitions and rhetoric in Iraq and Syria have exceeded its performance. Both interventions may be designed to impress a domestic audience which is deluged with exaggerated accounts of Turkish achievements in the government-controlled Turkish media.</p>
<p>These participants in the struggle for Mosul may be dividing the tiger’s skin before the tiger is properly dead. Isis showed that it still has sharp claws when it responded to the assault on Mosul with raids on Kirkuk and Rutbah on the main Iraq-Jordan road. It is fighting hard to slow down the anti-Isis advance towards Mosul with a mix of suicide bombers, IEDs, booby-traps, snipers and mortar teams. But it is unclear if it will make a last stand in Mosul where, at the end of the day, it must go down to defeat in the face of superior numbers backed by the massive firepower of the US-led air forces.</p>
<p>The likelihood is that Isis will fight for Mosul, the site of its first great victory, in order to prolong the battle, cause casualties and to let divisions emerge among its enemies. But its strategy over the last 12 months has been not to stage heroic but doomed last stands in any of the cities it has lost in Iraq and Syria.</p>
<p>At Ramadi, Fallujah, Sinjar, Palmyra and Manbij it has staged a fighting withdrawal at the last moment. The same may now happen in Mosul.</p> | true | 4 | photo us army cc 20 visited mosul day fell kurdish peshmerga fighters small detachment us special forces 11 april 2003 drove city passed lines pickup trucks piled high loot returning kurdishcontrolled enclave northern iraq us soldiers checkpoint waved stars stripes shooting man distance kept bobbing behind wall waving iraqi flag ever sympathy liberators liberated mosul disappearing fast inside city every government building including university systematically looted kurds arabs alike saw one man stolen enormous ugly red gold sofa governors office dragging slowly street would push one end sofa feet forward go end repeat process mosques soon calling sunni arab majority build barricades defend neighbourhoods marauders parked vehicle near medieval quarter ancient stone buildings went see christian ecclesiastic got back found driver frightened wanted get mosul fast possible explained soon left crowd gathered recognised number plates kurdish debated lynching setting fire car restrained local religious leader moments took action oil city kirkuk captured time peshmerga despite promised americans turks would thing looting everywhere saw two peshmerga stand middle road stop enormous yellow bulldozer driven instead slowing driver put foot accelerator peshmerga jump aside avoid crushed inside newly established peshmerga headquarters ran pavel talabani whose father jalal talabani headed patriotic union kurdistan political party whose militia held city stressed temporary nature kurdish occupation city came control situation said expect withdraw men 45 minutes peshmerga 13 years later kurds still hold kirkuk whose population kurdish arab turkoman kurds claim historic right saying reversed antikurdish ethnic cleansing saddam hussein rest world forgotten time kurds hold city kurdish leaders understood usled invasion fall saddam hussein created conditions unprecedented political fluidity ideal moment create facts map would become permanent whatever protestations players current multipronged offensive aimed taking mosul producing similar situation different countries parties communities vie fill vacuum expect created fall isis 2003 vacuum result fall saddam hussein different segments antiisis forces potentially involved seizing mosul iraqi army kurds shia sunni paramilitaries turks may temporary allies also rivals different conflicting agendas presiding ramshackle disputatious alliance us orchestrating mosul offensive without whose air power special forces would attack shiadominated iraqi government needs take hold mosul iraqs main sunni arab city convincing national government iraq achieve baghdads rule must acceptable sunni majority city way true isis took 2014 needs establish rule still full military political support us kurds part want solidify control socalled disputed territories claimed central government kurdish regional authorities kurds opportunistically used defeat iraqi army northern iraq isis two years ago take territories inhabited kurds arabs thereby expanding 40 per cent area kurdistan regional government krg know isis defeated kurds longer get international american backing hold expanded version krg problems begun surface mosul still long way besieged even encircled shia militia forces surprisingly calm excluded military role siege may calculate iraqi army gets sucked street fighting able take mosul look support shia paramilitaries making lack participation battle mosul sending reinforcements 5000 men according reports join syrian army siege east aleppo turkey wants player great sunni power defender sunnis mosul end soldiers based bashiqa north east mosul claims taking part attack far least turkish ambitions rhetoric iraq syria exceeded performance interventions may designed impress domestic audience deluged exaggerated accounts turkish achievements governmentcontrolled turkish media participants struggle mosul may dividing tigers skin tiger properly dead isis showed still sharp claws responded assault mosul raids kirkuk rutbah main iraqjordan road fighting hard slow antiisis advance towards mosul mix suicide bombers ieds boobytraps snipers mortar teams unclear make last stand mosul end day must go defeat face superior numbers backed massive firepower usled air forces likelihood isis fight mosul site first great victory order prolong battle cause casualties let divisions emerge among enemies strategy last 12 months stage heroic doomed last stands cities lost iraq syria ramadi fallujah sinjar palmyra manbij staged fighting withdrawal last moment may happen mosul | 629 |
<p><a href="" type="internal" />“This is a sad day,” remarked Secretary of State John Kerry (State Department, <a href="http://www.state.gov/secretary/remarks/2015/01/236227.htm" type="external">1/22/15</a>) over the death of Abdullah, the dictator of Saudi Arabia. “The United States has lost a friend,” he continued, and “the world has lost a revered leader.” The monarch–whose regime routinely flogs dissenters and beheads those guilty of “sorcery”–was, in Kerry’s words, “a man of wisdom and vision” (BBC, <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-30937490" type="external">1/22/15</a>; <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-18503550" type="external">6/19/12</a>).</p>
<p>Vice President Joe Biden (White House, <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/01/22/statement-vice-president-death-king-abdullah-bin-abdulaziz" type="external">1/22/15</a>) announced that he “will be leading a presidential delegation representing the United States to pay our respects.” President Barack Obama himself fawned over the late autocrat: “I always valued King Abdullah’s perspective and appreciated our genuine and warm friendship,” he pronounced in an official statement (White House, <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/01/22/statement-president-death-king-abdullah-bin-abdulaziz" type="external">1/22/15</a>). Obama further underlined Abdullah’s dedication to “greater engagement with the world.”</p>
<p>An honest rendering of his “greater engagement with the world” would include Abdullah’s record of bellicosity throughout the region. In 2011, the country deployed troops to Bahrain to quell mass demonstrations against the Bahraini monarchy (New York Times, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/15/world/middleeast/15bahrain.html" type="external">3/14/11</a>). In Syria, Saudi weapons shipments to jihadists have aggravated the country’s bloody civil war (New York Times, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/15/world/middleeast/jihadists-receiving-most-arms-sent-to-syrian-rebels.html" type="external">10/14/12</a>). Abdullah’s $5 billion in economic aid to Egypt helped bolster the recently installed coup government of fellow dictator Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi (Reuters, <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/09/us-egypt-protests-loan-idUSBRE9680H020130709" type="external">7/9/13</a>).</p>
<p>As Murtaza Hussain of The Intercept ( <a href="https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/01/23/saudi-arabias-king-misremembered-man-peace/" type="external">1/23/15</a>) observed, in addition to fomenting religious extremism and sectarianism, King Abdullah participated in various US crimes throughout the Middle East and encouraged the United States to commit more. George W. Bush’s war of aggression against Iraq relied upon secret, extensive Saudi military assistance (AP, <a href="http://www.haaretz.com/news/saudis-secretly-provided-extensive-u-s-help-during-iraq-war-1.120546" type="external">4/24/04</a>). And a classified cable from the US embassy in Riyadh (Wikileaks, <a href="https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/08RIYADH649_a.html" type="external">4/20/08</a>) noted “the king’s frequent exhortations to the US to attack Iran.”</p>
<p>Another aspect of this US-Saudi partnership was revealed by the New York Times ( <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/06/world/middleeast/with-brennan-pick-a-light-on-drone-strikes-hazards.html?http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/06/world/middleeast/with-brennan-pick-a-light-on-drone-strikes-hazards.html" type="external">2/5/13</a>): “The CIA began quietly building a drone base in Saudi Arabia to carry out strikes in Yemen” in 2010, reported the paper. The first attack from this Saudi base killed US citizen Anwar al-Awlaki without due process, far from any battlefield; other US drone strikes killed Yemeni women and children, a cleric vocally opposed to Al-Qaeda, and a popular Yemeni politician.</p>
<p>However, until the publication of that piece, the Times had, at the urging of a high-ranking CIA official, withheld for over a year the name of the country that hosted the US drone base. Then-managing editor of the Times Dean Baquet (New York Times, <a href="http://publiceditor.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/06/the-times-was-right-to-report-at-last-on-a-secret-drone-base/" type="external">2/6/13</a>) recalled the government’s rationale for nondisclosure: “The Saudis might shut it down because the citizenry would be very upset.” This justification for the paper’s prolonged silence “doesn’t cut it,” concluded Times public editor Margaret Sullivan ( <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/10/public-editor/national-security-and-the-news.html" type="external">2/9/13</a>) upon the eventual release of the information.</p>
<p>Today, Baquet (Der Spiegel, <a href="http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/spiegel-interview-with-chief-new-york-times-editor-dean-baquet-a-1014704.html" type="external">1/23/15</a>), now executive editor of the Times, flatly admits, “I was wrong,” and the decision “was a mistake”:</p>
<p>For me personally, the Saudi Arabia example was really powerful because it became so clear to me. When I reconstructed for myself how I made the decision, I remembered how I’d called up the reporters and they disagreed with me. I made the decision without really talking to them enough. I think I did everything wrong.</p>
<p>Baquet’s apology for acquiescing to the US government did not appear to change the paper’s reverence for the US/Saudi relationship, however. The very day that Baquet’s remarks were published, the New York Times ( <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/23/world/middleeast/king-abdullah-who-nudged-saudi-arabia-forward-dies-at-90.html" type="external">1/23/15</a>) printed an obituary that adopted the US government’s dishonest official narrative of the Saudi despot.</p>
<p>Originally headlined “King Abdullah, Who Nudged Saudi Arabia Forward, Died at 90,” the Times article claimed that the dictator had “earned a reputation as a cautious reformer.” Under the subheading “Moves of Moderation,” reporters Douglas Martin and Ben Hubbard unironically noted that Abdullah, a “force of moderation,” had “hundreds of militants arrested and some beheaded.”</p>
<p>To put into context the paper’s impressive feat–laundering the Saudi dictator into a forward-thinking reformer–consider the Times‘ treatment of an actually elected leader who was not a stalwart US ally, but rather the target of ongoing US attempts at regime change. In 2013, the New York Times ( <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/06/world/americas/hugo-chavez-venezuelas-polarizing-leader-dies-at-58.html" type="external">3/5/13</a>) published a harsh portrait of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez upon his death. “A Polarizing Figure Who Led a Movement,” by Times reporter Simon Romero, posthumously characterized Chávez as a man who had been “consolidating power,” “strutting like the strongman in a caudillo novel.”</p>
<p>Chávez “was determined to hold onto and enhance his power,” continued Romero, arguing that he “grew obsessed with changing Venezuela’s laws and regulations to ensure that he could be re-elected indefinitely and become, indeed, a caudillo.” Romero even devoted a paragraph to quotes from Chávez’s former psychiatrist, who painted the late president as “a hyperkinetic and imprudent man, unpunctual, someone who overreacts to criticism, harbors grudges, [and] is politically astute and manipulative.”</p>
<p>Missing from Romero’s look back at Chávez was the fact that, unlike genuine autocrats such as Abdullah, Chávez had repeatedly won free and fair elections that were <a href="http://venezuelanalysis.com/news/7272" type="external">characterized</a> by former US President Jimmy Carter as “the best in the world.” Chávez also introduced the policy of midterm referenda to recall sitting heads of state, including himself. And unlike Abdullah, who had supposedly “nudged” Saudi Arabia forward, Chávez had presided over enormous reductions in income inequality, poverty, food insecurity and infant mortality (Extra!, <a href="" type="internal">12/12</a>).</p>
<p>The reason for the Times‘ disparagement was clarified in Romero’s second paragraph: Chávez “lashed out at the United States government.” Further on, in the article’s 15th paragraph, Romero provided a possible explanation for this through a passing reference to US support for a coup d’etat that briefly overthrew his administration. The United States had funded the actors who went on to overthrow Chávez in 2002, and the US was aware of their plans.</p>
<p>The US immediately recognized the short-lived regime that ousted the Chávez government (FAIR Blog, <a href="" type="internal">1/11/13</a>). The Times editorial board ( <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/13/opinion/hugo-chavez-departs.html" type="external">4/13/02</a>) accordingly endorsed the coup, under the rationalization that “Venezuelan democracy is no longer threatened by a would-be dictator,” and that Chávez, “a ruinous demagogue,” had handed over the presidency to “a respected business leader.”</p>
<p>Years after being thwarted, the US continued to seek ways to “penetrate Chávez’s political base,” “divide Chavismo” and “isolate Chávez internationally,” according to diplomatic cables (FAIR Blog, <a href="" type="internal">4/8/13</a>). Or, in Romero’s subdued phrase, the attempted overthrow of Chávez received “tacit support from the Bush administration.”</p>
<p>The juxtaposition in the Times‘ treatment of Chávez and Abdullah was prefigured by a similar double standard, which was pointed out by numerous media critics (including myself). In a letter to public editor Margaret Sullivan, Noam Chomsky and other scholars highlighted the unfailing tendency of the paper to abstain from applying the epithets used against Chávez to the US-backed post-coup regimes of Honduras (Guardian, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2013/may/22/new-york-times-venezuela" type="external">5/22/13</a>):</p>
<p>In the past four years, the Times has referred to Chávez as an “autocrat,” “despot,” “authoritarian ruler” and a “caudillo” in its news coverage. When opinion pieces are included, the Times has published at least 15 separate articles employing such language, depicting Chávez as a “dictator” or “strongman.”</p>
<p>Over the same period–since the June 28, 2009 military overthrow of elected president Manuel Zelaya of Honduras–Times contributors have never used such terms to describe Micheletti, who presided over the coup regime after Zelaya’s removal, or Porfirio Lobo, who succeeded him.</p>
<p>Instead, the paper has variously described them in its news coverage as “interim,” “de facto” and “new.”</p>
<p>Although Sullivan failed to respond to the authors’ request “to examine this disparity in coverage and language use, particularly as it may appear to your readers to track all too closely the US government’s positions,” in late 2014 ( <a href="http://publiceditor.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/12/11/the-torture-report-and-the-times/" type="external">12/11/14</a>) she acknowledged that the debate over US torture once again showed that “the Times has been been too accepting of the government’s arguments. That may be changing now,” she added hopefully.</p>
<p>The paper’s comically charitable treatment of King Abdullah is the most recent example of the persistent and undue influence of the US government’s foreign policy priorities on the paper’s coverage, and should disabuse anyone of the notion that the New York Times operates independently, whatever its executives’ public vows, protestations and apologies.</p>
<p>After all, the Times‘ public editor could have just as easily been referring to her paper’s deference toward the deceased Saudi tyrant, a recipient of $30 billion in US fighter jets (New York Times, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/30/world/middleeast/with-30-billion-arms-deal-united-states-bolsters-ties-to-saudi-arabia.html" type="external">12/29/11</a>), when she wrote two years ago ( <a href="http://publiceditor.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/12/targeted-killing-detainee-and-torture-why-language-choice-matters/" type="external">4/12/13</a>) that “language matters. When news organizations accept the government’s way of speaking, they seem to accept the government’s way of thinking.”</p>
<p>Keane Bhatt is a Washington, D.C.-based activist for social justice and community development.</p> | true | 4 | sad day remarked secretary state john kerry state department 12215 death abdullah dictator saudi arabia united states lost friend continued world lost revered leader monarchwhose regime routinely flogs dissenters beheads guilty sorcerywas kerrys words man wisdom vision bbc 12215 61912 vice president joe biden white house 12215 announced leading presidential delegation representing united states pay respects president barack obama fawned late autocrat always valued king abdullahs perspective appreciated genuine warm friendship pronounced official statement white house 12215 obama underlined abdullahs dedication greater engagement world honest rendering greater engagement world would include abdullahs record bellicosity throughout region 2011 country deployed troops bahrain quell mass demonstrations bahraini monarchy new york times 31411 syria saudi weapons shipments jihadists aggravated countrys bloody civil war new york times 101412 abdullahs 5 billion economic aid egypt helped bolster recently installed coup government fellow dictator abdel fattah alsisi reuters 7913 murtaza hussain intercept 12315 observed addition fomenting religious extremism sectarianism king abdullah participated various us crimes throughout middle east encouraged united states commit george w bushs war aggression iraq relied upon secret extensive saudi military assistance ap 42404 classified cable us embassy riyadh wikileaks 42008 noted kings frequent exhortations us attack iran another aspect ussaudi partnership revealed new york times 2513 cia began quietly building drone base saudi arabia carry strikes yemen 2010 reported paper first attack saudi base killed us citizen anwar alawlaki without due process far battlefield us drone strikes killed yemeni women children cleric vocally opposed alqaeda popular yemeni politician however publication piece times urging highranking cia official withheld year name country hosted us drone base thenmanaging editor times dean baquet new york times 2613 recalled governments rationale nondisclosure saudis might shut citizenry would upset justification papers prolonged silence doesnt cut concluded times public editor margaret sullivan 2913 upon eventual release information today baquet der spiegel 12315 executive editor times flatly admits wrong decision mistake personally saudi arabia example really powerful became clear reconstructed made decision remembered id called reporters disagreed made decision without really talking enough think everything wrong baquets apology acquiescing us government appear change papers reverence ussaudi relationship however day baquets remarks published new york times 12315 printed obituary adopted us governments dishonest official narrative saudi despot originally headlined king abdullah nudged saudi arabia forward died 90 times article claimed dictator earned reputation cautious reformer subheading moves moderation reporters douglas martin ben hubbard unironically noted abdullah force moderation hundreds militants arrested beheaded put context papers impressive featlaundering saudi dictator forwardthinking reformerconsider times treatment actually elected leader stalwart us ally rather target ongoing us attempts regime change 2013 new york times 3513 published harsh portrait venezuelan president hugo chávez upon death polarizing figure led movement times reporter simon romero posthumously characterized chávez man consolidating power strutting like strongman caudillo novel chávez determined hold onto enhance power continued romero arguing grew obsessed changing venezuelas laws regulations ensure could reelected indefinitely become indeed caudillo romero even devoted paragraph quotes chávezs former psychiatrist painted late president hyperkinetic imprudent man unpunctual someone overreacts criticism harbors grudges politically astute manipulative missing romeros look back chávez fact unlike genuine autocrats abdullah chávez repeatedly free fair elections characterized former us president jimmy carter best world chávez also introduced policy midterm referenda recall sitting heads state including unlike abdullah supposedly nudged saudi arabia forward chávez presided enormous reductions income inequality poverty food insecurity infant mortality extra 1212 reason times disparagement clarified romeros second paragraph chávez lashed united states government articles 15th paragraph romero provided possible explanation passing reference us support coup detat briefly overthrew administration united states funded actors went overthrow chávez 2002 us aware plans us immediately recognized shortlived regime ousted chávez government fair blog 11113 times editorial board 41302 accordingly endorsed coup rationalization venezuelan democracy longer threatened wouldbe dictator chávez ruinous demagogue handed presidency respected business leader years thwarted us continued seek ways penetrate chávezs political base divide chavismo isolate chávez internationally according diplomatic cables fair blog 4813 romeros subdued phrase attempted overthrow chávez received tacit support bush administration juxtaposition times treatment chávez abdullah prefigured similar double standard pointed numerous media critics including letter public editor margaret sullivan noam chomsky scholars highlighted unfailing tendency paper abstain applying epithets used chávez usbacked postcoup regimes honduras guardian 52213 past four years times referred chávez autocrat despot authoritarian ruler caudillo news coverage opinion pieces included times published least 15 separate articles employing language depicting chávez dictator strongman periodsince june 28 2009 military overthrow elected president manuel zelaya hondurastimes contributors never used terms describe micheletti presided coup regime zelayas removal porfirio lobo succeeded instead paper variously described news coverage interim de facto new although sullivan failed respond authors request examine disparity coverage language use particularly may appear readers track closely us governments positions late 2014 121114 acknowledged debate us torture showed times accepting governments arguments may changing added hopefully papers comically charitable treatment king abdullah recent example persistent undue influence us governments foreign policy priorities papers coverage disabuse anyone notion new york times operates independently whatever executives public vows protestations apologies times public editor could easily referring papers deference toward deceased saudi tyrant recipient 30 billion us fighter jets new york times 122911 wrote two years ago 41213 language matters news organizations accept governments way speaking seem accept governments way thinking keane bhatt washington dcbased activist social justice community development | 878 |
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>Prompted by future perils facing humankind and the ecosystem from the 2011 Fukushima Dai-Chi nuclear disaster,&#160;Arvol Looking Horse, a chief and spiritual leader of all three branches of the Sioux tribe – Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota – delivered a <a href="http://www.indigenousaction.org/wp-content/uploads/COUNCIL_FUKUSHIMA_STATEMENT_OCT_2013.pdf" type="external">statement</a> at the United Nations on last November. Looking Horse is the the youngest ever Keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe, carrying on the tradition for the 19th generation. The Council Statement he presented “reflects the wisdom of the Spiritual People of the Earth, of North and South America, working in unity to restore peace, harmony and balance for our collective future and for all living beings.” He comments as a preface that “this statement,” that follows, “is written in black and white with a foreign language that is not our own and does not convey the full depth of our concerns.”</p>
<p>The Creator created the People of the Earth into the Land at the beginning of Creation and gave us a way of life. This way of life has been passed down generation-to-generation since the beginning. We have not honored this way of life through our own actions and we must live these original instructions in order to restore universal balance and harmony. We are a part of Creation; thus, if we break the Laws of Creation, we destroy ourselves.</p>
<p>We, the Original Caretakers of Mother Earth, have no choice but to follow and uphold the Original Instructions, which sustains the continuity of Life. We recognize our umbilical connection to Mother Earth and understand that she is the source of life, not a resource to be exploited.We speak on behalf of all Creation today, to communicate an urgent message that man has gone too far, placing us in the state of survival. We warned that one day you would not be able to control what you have created. That day is here. Not heeding warnings from both Nature and the People of the Earth keeps us on the path of self-destruction. This self-destructive path has led to the Fukushima nuclear crisis, the Gulf oil spill, tar sands devastation, pipeline failures, impacts of carbon dioxide emissions and the destruction of ground water through hydraulic fracking, just to name a few. In addition, these activities and development continue to cause the deterioration and destruction of sacred places and sacred waters that are vital for Life.</p>
<p>Powerful technologies are out of control and are threatening the future of all life. The Fukushima nuclear crisis alone is a threat to the future of humanity. Yet, our concern goes far beyond this single threat. Our concern is with the cumulative and compounding devastation that is being wrought by the actions of human beings around the world. It is the combination of resource extraction, genetically modified organisms, moral failures, pollution, introduction of invasive species and much, much more that are threatening the future of life on Earth. The compounding of bad decisions and their corresponding actions are extremely shortsighted. They do not consider the future generations and they do not respect or honor the Creator’s Natural Law. We strongly urge for the governmental authorities to respond with an open invitation to work and consult with us to solve the world’s problems, without war. We must stop waging war against Mother Earth, and ourselves.</p>
<p>We acknowledge that all of these devastating actions originated in human beings who are living without regard for the Earth as the source of life. They have strayed from the Original Instructions by casting aside the Creator’s Natural Law. It is now critical for humanity to acknowledge that we have created a path to self-destruction. We must restore the Original Instructions in our lives to halt this devastation.</p>
<p>The sanctity of the Original Instructions has been violated. As a result, the Spiritual People of the Earth were called ceremonially to come together at the home of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe Bundle. These Spiritual Leaders and those that carry great responsibility for their people from both North and South America came together with the sacred fire for four days at the end of September 2013 to fulfill their sacred responsibilities. During this time it was revealed that the spirit of destruction gained its’ strength by our spiritually disconnected actions. We are all responsible in varying degrees for calling forth this spirit of destruction, thus we are all bound to begin restoring what we have damaged by helping one another recover our sacred responsibility to the Earth.</p>
<p>We, the Original Caretakers of Mother Earth, offer our spiritual insight, wisdom and vision to the global community to help guide the actions needed to overcome the current threats to all life. We only have to look at our own bodies to recognize the sacred purpose of water on Mother Earth. We respect and honor our spiritual relationship with the lifeblood of Mother Earth. One does not sell or contaminate their mother’s blood. These capitalistic actions must stop and we must recover our sacred relationship with the Spirit of Water</p>
<p>The People of the Earth understand that the Fukushima nuclear crisis continues to threaten the future of all life. We understand the full implications of this crisis even with the suppression of information and the filtering of truth by the corporate owned media and Nation States. We strongly urge the media, corporations and Nation States to acknowledge and convey the true facts that threaten us, so that the international community may work together to resolve this crisis, based on the foundation of Truth.</p>
<p>We urge the international community, government of Japan and TEPCO to unify efforts to stabilize and re-mediate the nuclear threat posed at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. To ensure that the Japanese government and TEPCO are supported with qualified personnel and information, we urge the inclusion of today’s nuclear experts from around the world to collaborate, advise and provide technical assistance to prevent further radioactive contamination or worse, a nuclear explosion that may have apocalyptic consequences.</p>
<p>The foundation for peace will be strengthened by restoring the Original Instructions in ourselves. Prophecies have been shared and sacred instructions were given. We, the People of the Earth, were instructed that the original wisdom must be shared again when imbalance and disharmony are upon Mother Earth. In 1994 the sacred white buffalo, the giver of the sacred pipe, returned to the Lakota, Dakota and Nakota people bringing forth the sacred message that the winds of change are here. Since that time many more messengers in the form of white animals have come, telling us to wake up my children. It is time. So listen for the sacred instruction.All Life is sacred. We come into Life as sacred beings. When we abuse the sacredness of Life we affect all Creation.</p>
<p>We urge all Nations and human beings around the world to work with us, the Original Caretakers of Mother Earth, to restore the Original Instructions and uphold the Creator’s Natural Law as a foundation for all decision-making, from this point forward. Our collective future as human beings is in our hands. We must address the Fukushima nuclear crisis and all actions that may violate the Creator’s Natural Law. We have reached the crossroads of life and the end of our existence. We will avert this potentially catastrophic nuclear disaster by coming together with good minds and prayer as a global community of all faiths.</p>
<p>We are the People of the Earth united under the Creator’s Law with a sacred covenant to protect and a responsibility to extend Life for all future generations. We are expressing deep concern for our shared future and urge everyone to awaken spiritually. We must work in unity to help Mother Earth heal so that she can bring back balance and harmony for all her children.</p>
<p>Representatives of the Council Chief Arvol Looking Horse, 19th Generation Keeper of the 
Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe Bobby C. Billie, Clan Leader and Spiritual Leader
Council of the Original Miccosukee Simanolee Nation Aboriginal Peoples 
Faith Spotted Eagle, Tunkan Inajin Win 
Brave Heart Society Grandmother/Headswoman &amp; Ihanktonwan Treaty Council, Ihanktonwan Dakota from the Oceti Sakowin 7 Council Fires</p>
<p>(Introduction by M.B. David; H/T to <a href="http://countercurrentnews.com/2014/01/a-statement-of-urgency-from-the-spiritual-peoples-of-the-earth/" type="external">Counter Current News</a>)</p> | true | 4 | prompted future perils facing humankind ecosystem 2011 fukushima daichi nuclear disaster160arvol looking horse chief spiritual leader three branches sioux tribe lakota dakota nakota delivered statement united nations last november looking horse youngest ever keeper sacred white buffalo calf pipe carrying tradition 19th generation council statement presented reflects wisdom spiritual people earth north south america working unity restore peace harmony balance collective future living beings comments preface statement follows written black white foreign language convey full depth concerns creator created people earth land beginning creation gave us way life way life passed generationtogeneration since beginning honored way life actions must live original instructions order restore universal balance harmony part creation thus break laws creation destroy original caretakers mother earth choice follow uphold original instructions sustains continuity life recognize umbilical connection mother earth understand source life resource exploitedwe speak behalf creation today communicate urgent message man gone far placing us state survival warned one day would able control created day heeding warnings nature people earth keeps us path selfdestruction selfdestructive path led fukushima nuclear crisis gulf oil spill tar sands devastation pipeline failures impacts carbon dioxide emissions destruction ground water hydraulic fracking name addition activities development continue cause deterioration destruction sacred places sacred waters vital life powerful technologies control threatening future life fukushima nuclear crisis alone threat future humanity yet concern goes far beyond single threat concern cumulative compounding devastation wrought actions human beings around world combination resource extraction genetically modified organisms moral failures pollution introduction invasive species much much threatening future life earth compounding bad decisions corresponding actions extremely shortsighted consider future generations respect honor creators natural law strongly urge governmental authorities respond open invitation work consult us solve worlds problems without war must stop waging war mother earth acknowledge devastating actions originated human beings living without regard earth source life strayed original instructions casting aside creators natural law critical humanity acknowledge created path selfdestruction must restore original instructions lives halt devastation sanctity original instructions violated result spiritual people earth called ceremonially come together home sacred white buffalo calf pipe bundle spiritual leaders carry great responsibility people north south america came together sacred fire four days end september 2013 fulfill sacred responsibilities time revealed spirit destruction gained strength spiritually disconnected actions responsible varying degrees calling forth spirit destruction thus bound begin restoring damaged helping one another recover sacred responsibility earth original caretakers mother earth offer spiritual insight wisdom vision global community help guide actions needed overcome current threats life look bodies recognize sacred purpose water mother earth respect honor spiritual relationship lifeblood mother earth one sell contaminate mothers blood capitalistic actions must stop must recover sacred relationship spirit water people earth understand fukushima nuclear crisis continues threaten future life understand full implications crisis even suppression information filtering truth corporate owned media nation states strongly urge media corporations nation states acknowledge convey true facts threaten us international community may work together resolve crisis based foundation truth urge international community government japan tepco unify efforts stabilize remediate nuclear threat posed fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant ensure japanese government tepco supported qualified personnel information urge inclusion todays nuclear experts around world collaborate advise provide technical assistance prevent radioactive contamination worse nuclear explosion may apocalyptic consequences foundation peace strengthened restoring original instructions prophecies shared sacred instructions given people earth instructed original wisdom must shared imbalance disharmony upon mother earth 1994 sacred white buffalo giver sacred pipe returned lakota dakota nakota people bringing forth sacred message winds change since time many messengers form white animals come telling us wake children time listen sacred instructionall life sacred come life sacred beings abuse sacredness life affect creation urge nations human beings around world work us original caretakers mother earth restore original instructions uphold creators natural law foundation decisionmaking point forward collective future human beings hands must address fukushima nuclear crisis actions may violate creators natural law reached crossroads life end existence avert potentially catastrophic nuclear disaster coming together good minds prayer global community faiths people earth united creators law sacred covenant protect responsibility extend life future generations expressing deep concern shared future urge everyone awaken spiritually must work unity help mother earth heal bring back balance harmony children representatives council chief arvol looking horse 19th generation keeper sacred white buffalo calf pipe bobby c billie clan leader spiritual leader council original miccosukee simanolee nation aboriginal peoples faith spotted eagle tunkan inajin win brave heart society grandmotherheadswoman amp ihanktonwan treaty council ihanktonwan dakota oceti sakowin 7 council fires introduction mb david ht counter current news | 746 |
<p>At a time when the corporate leaders of America have demonstrated an incurable proclivity to blaze a trail of scorched earth and looting across the banking, trading, housing, and mortgage industries, the public is now catching the whiff of a new smoldering stench just over the horizon.</p>
<p>If corporate America has its way, everything from our parking meters, zoos, airports, toll roads and drinking water will be privatized in the biggest fire sale in the history of the industrialized world.&#160; In other words, let’s send a powerful message to our children that the reward for corporate greed, incompetence and criminal behavior is to hand over what’s left of the country’s assets.</p>
<p>The fire sale is being stoked by unprecedented state and local revenue shortfalls. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), “the worst recession since the 1930s has caused the steepest decline in state tax receipts on record…48 states have addressed or still face such shortfalls in their budgets for fiscal year 2010, totaling $178 billion…the largest gaps on record…Fiscal year 2011 gaps – both those still open and those already addressed — total $80 billion or 14 percent of budgets for the 35 states that have estimated the size of these gaps. These totals are likely to grow as revenues continue to deteriorate, and may well exceed $180 billion…These numbers suggest that when all is said and done, states will have dealt with a total budget shortfall of at least $350 billion for 2010 and 2011.”</p>
<p>Ironically, $350 billion is exactly half the amount the Federal government doled out to the Wall Street gang that proceeded to pay million dollar bonuses, fly staff to lush resorts, or slap logos on sports stadiums.</p>
<p>Here’s a rundown of what’s up for corporate grabs around the country:</p>
<p>Here in beautiful Southern New Hampshire, there’s a recommendation to privatize the 143 year old historic Cheshire County Farm which holds some of the most cherished open space and farm land in the state. &#160;City kids can currently pet a cow or see an osprey or bald eagle soar with no admission fee.</p>
<p>Out in Green Bay, Wisconsin this week, officials tried to hold a closed door meeting to discuss privatizing the Brown County planning department. (Isn’t a key function of a planning department to police corporate interests? This sounds like the U.S. Treasury model, also known as regulatory capture.)</p>
<p>In Grand Rapids, Kent County commissioners are weighing a recommendation from the Sheriff, Larry Stelma, to privatize the food service at the county jail.</p>
<p>Following a Government Accountability Office (GAO) study at the end of October, finding it would be a waste of taxpayer dollars, the Army is backing off a plan (at least for now) to privatize carpentry, plumbing, grounds maintenance and other staff positions at West Point.</p>
<p>Blaine Mogil, writing on November 3, 2009 in The Pride, the independent student newspaper of California State University at San Marcos, sums up the palpable mood &#160;there: “If the idea of a professor bidding you ‘Good morning and welcome to McUniversity, may I take your order?’ seems far-fetched, then the silent battle waged in Sacramento has not reached your mind space. It is time to awaken from political slumber and join the battle. Under attack are not only your educational opportunities, but also the future of educational opportunity for a wide swath of our friends and family on the lower levels of the socio-economic strata. This is a battle to save the California State University system from privatization…Everyone among us, struggling financially to attend this great institution, must be among the first wave to participate in preventing privatization, for if this battle is lost, we will be the first to wash away when the corporate yacht docks in our port.”</p>
<p>From sea to shining sea, it’s all up for corporate grabs: &#160;the prisons of Arizona; the libraries of Nevada County, California; the Milwaukee County Zoo; the tree cutters of Detroit; the Louis Armstrong International Airport in New Orleans; a youth shelter in Cape May, New Jersey; a sewage treatment plant in Marin County, California. &#160;The parking meters in Chicago have already been privatized.</p>
<p>If the ongoing hard lessons of our country’s blind trust in corporations to balance greed and profit against the greater public good cannot dissuade officials to sack these goofball plans to turn over essential government programs to the corporate profit motive, perhaps the recent example in Indiana might serve up an epiphany.</p>
<p>In 2006, Governor Mitch Daniels of Indiana privatized the state’s welfare services, handing a $1.34 billion contract to IBM.&#160; A computer company, engaged in gigabits and memory chips, was entrusted with getting food stamps and Medicaid and welfare payments into the hands of the hungry and the poor.&#160; The previous Indiana system of face to face meetings with case workers was sacked for automation and call centers.&#160; After legislators heard endless stories of life-saving prescriptions not being filled, people with less than $100 in assets not receiving food stamps in the legally mandated response time, call centers not picking up the phone or losing the calls, paperwork disappearing, together with a class action lawsuit being filed, Governor Daniels finally sacked IBM last month.</p>
<p>But what about the people who may have died or been injured from this abhorrent judgment call.&#160; Should Governor Daniels be able to simply make the same sheepish admission, “I got it wrong,” like Alan Greenspan and walk away.&#160; Hopefully, the voters will provide some accountability.</p>
<p>PAM MARTENS worked on Wall Street for 21 years; she has no security position, long or short, in any company mentioned in this article other than that which the U.S. Treasury has thrust upon her and fellow Americans involuntarily through TARP. She writes on public interest issues from New Hampshire. She can be reached at <a href="mailto:pamk741@aol.com" type="external">pamk741@aol.com</a></p>
<p /> | true | 4 | time corporate leaders america demonstrated incurable proclivity blaze trail scorched earth looting across banking trading housing mortgage industries public catching whiff new smoldering stench horizon corporate america way everything parking meters zoos airports toll roads drinking water privatized biggest fire sale history industrialized world160 words lets send powerful message children reward corporate greed incompetence criminal behavior hand whats left countrys assets fire sale stoked unprecedented state local revenue shortfalls according center budget policy priorities cbpp worst recession since 1930s caused steepest decline state tax receipts record48 states addressed still face shortfalls budgets fiscal year 2010 totaling 178 billionthe largest gaps recordfiscal year 2011 gaps still open already addressed total 80 billion 14 percent budgets 35 states estimated size gaps totals likely grow revenues continue deteriorate may well exceed 180 billionthese numbers suggest said done states dealt total budget shortfall least 350 billion 2010 2011 ironically 350 billion exactly half amount federal government doled wall street gang proceeded pay million dollar bonuses fly staff lush resorts slap logos sports stadiums heres rundown whats corporate grabs around country beautiful southern new hampshire theres recommendation privatize 143 year old historic cheshire county farm holds cherished open space farm land state 160city kids currently pet cow see osprey bald eagle soar admission fee green bay wisconsin week officials tried hold closed door meeting discuss privatizing brown county planning department isnt key function planning department police corporate interests sounds like us treasury model also known regulatory capture grand rapids kent county commissioners weighing recommendation sheriff larry stelma privatize food service county jail following government accountability office gao study end october finding would waste taxpayer dollars army backing plan least privatize carpentry plumbing grounds maintenance staff positions west point blaine mogil writing november 3 2009 pride independent student newspaper california state university san marcos sums palpable mood 160there idea professor bidding good morning welcome mcuniversity may take order seems farfetched silent battle waged sacramento reached mind space time awaken political slumber join battle attack educational opportunities also future educational opportunity wide swath friends family lower levels socioeconomic strata battle save california state university system privatizationeveryone among us struggling financially attend great institution must among first wave participate preventing privatization battle lost first wash away corporate yacht docks port sea shining sea corporate grabs 160the prisons arizona libraries nevada county california milwaukee county zoo tree cutters detroit louis armstrong international airport new orleans youth shelter cape may new jersey sewage treatment plant marin county california 160the parking meters chicago already privatized ongoing hard lessons countrys blind trust corporations balance greed profit greater public good dissuade officials sack goofball plans turn essential government programs corporate profit motive perhaps recent example indiana might serve epiphany 2006 governor mitch daniels indiana privatized states welfare services handing 134 billion contract ibm160 computer company engaged gigabits memory chips entrusted getting food stamps medicaid welfare payments hands hungry poor160 previous indiana system face face meetings case workers sacked automation call centers160 legislators heard endless stories lifesaving prescriptions filled people less 100 assets receiving food stamps legally mandated response time call centers picking phone losing calls paperwork disappearing together class action lawsuit filed governor daniels finally sacked ibm last month people may died injured abhorrent judgment call160 governor daniels able simply make sheepish admission got wrong like alan greenspan walk away160 hopefully voters provide accountability pam martens worked wall street 21 years security position long short company mentioned article us treasury thrust upon fellow americans involuntarily tarp writes public interest issues new hampshire reached pamk741aolcom | 581 |
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<p>Conservatives from across the country will converge upon Washington today for the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), featuring such prominent speakers as Florida Governor Rick Scott, Texas Governor Rick Perry, and Kentucky Senator Rand Paul.&#160;</p>
<p>According to CPAC's website, the conference is a great meet-up opportunity for activists to mingle with conservative leaders in order to share their resources. The website also adds CPAC is super awesome for "Average Joes" and students&#160; who might find the speakers and participants "inspiring and enlightening" since ordinarily the "liberal left tends to encompass everything that happens on college campuses."</p>
<p>In the past, CPAC has been criticized for its vitriolic style. <a href="http://www.lsureveille.com/opinion/nietzsche-is-dead-youth-attendance-at-cpac-swells-but-disappoints-1.2162859#.TzPNH-NWre4" type="external">Matthew Albright</a>, a journalist for the award-winning Louisiana State University Daily Reveille, once described the youth presence at CPAC as "disturbing, but only because CPAC itself is disturbing."</p>
<p>Albright continues:</p>
<p>The event is a riotous and self-congratulatory anger festival showcasing the many faults of the most militant, reactionary and dangerous wings of the Republican Party and the conservative movement. The prime speakers at the event included Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter — a veritable laundry list of exactly who should not be in charge of steering a movement, let alone a political party.</p>
<p>It was CPAC's embrace of James O'Keefe, who is currently serving a three-year probationary sentence after pleading to a misdemeanour in court (reduced from an initial FBI felony charge of maliciously interfering with the telephones at U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu's office) that led Albright to write, "Instead of being shunned, this thug -- who may well be a felon before the year is out -- was given a hero's welcome at the party, including an open bar tab, VIP spots and all the cigars he could smoke."</p>
<p>CPAC previously made waves when thirteen-year-old Jonathan Krohn spoke at a 2009 panel about grassroots activists, delivering his speech, "Conservatives Victories Across the Nation."</p>
<p />
<p>CPAC gatherings in the past have featured intra-party squabbling over the presence of GOProud, a gay conservative group. Founded in 2009, GOProud advertises itself as a group that advocates for a "traditional conservative agenda that emphasizes limited government, individual liberty, free markets and a confident foreign policy." But the involvement of icky gays was enough to send a non-profit group called the American Principles Project completely over the edge.</p>
<p>Executive Director Andy Blom told ABC News that his group pulled out of the conference last year because his members regard the "sanctity of marriage as every bit as important as keeping taxes low."</p>
<p>This year, the <a href="http://cpac2012.conservative.org/program/2012-invited-speakers/" type="external">list of speakers</a> includes Rep. Michele Bachmann, Speaker John Boehner, John Bolton, Andrew Breitbart, Herman Cain, Ann Coulter, Jonah Goldberg, Mike Huckabee, Laura Ingraham, Gov. Bobby Jindal, Sen. Mitch McConnell, Grover Norquist, Sarah Palin, Tony Perkins, Mitt Romney, Sen. Marco Rubio, Rep. Paul Ryan, Sen. Rick Santorum, Phyllis Schlafy, Gov. Scott Walker, and Rep. Allen West, among others.</p>
<p>Controversially, CBS News correspondent Sharyl Attkisson is set to receive a journalism award at the conference from Accuracy in Media, a right-wing group with a long history of promoting anti-gay views and conspiracy theories. Attkisson will be the first reporter from a mainstream news outlet to receive AIM's annual award. <a href="http://mediamatters.org/research/201202070004" type="external">Media Matters</a> chronicled AIM and Attkisson's bad journalism over the past year, involving the topics of clean energy, homosexuality, and vaccines.</p>
<p>CPAC's statement that the conference is an excellent meet-up point for activists may prove prolific, although they may not be thrilled with the type of demonstrators the event attracts.&#160;</p>
<p><a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57373412-503544/occupy-dc-protesters-to-occupy-cpac/" type="external">Occupy DC</a> plans to protest the four-day conference in an attempt to "liberate discourse." An announcement from the group reads: "This event is another gathering of bigots, media mouthpieces, corrupt politicians, and their 1 percent elite puppet masters."</p>
<p>“CPAC will parade and attempt to perpetuate the radical right wing’s imperialist ideologies with keynote speakers, movies and banquets dedicated to pursuing its racist, sexist, patriarchal and exploitative agenda,” the movement said on its website.</p>
<p>Occupy DC media team member Justin Smith didn't offer specific details to CBS News Political Hotsheet on the planned demonstrations, but he did make clear that the movement plans to engage with conservatives all the way to November's election.</p>
<p>"We want to make sure that attendees of CPAC - those people who will ultimately do the work of the 1 percent - know that from the moment they get their marching orders, we'll be challenging them the whole way," Smith said.</p>
<p>CPAC is aware of Occupy DC's plans and spokeswoman Kristy Cambell told CBS that the group's tactics are "unfortunate," adding that safety at the conference is her chief concern.</p>
<p>"Our team is prepared and has a security plan in place," Campbell said.</p>
<p>The group is also upset that a scheduled debate "Taking Back Wall Street: The Tea Party vs. Occupy Wall Street," features no representative from the Occupy Wall Street movement.</p>
<p>"It's remarkably telling that it's titled what it is because in fact we have a lot of common ground with the Tea Party," Smith said. "CPAC is trying to drive a wedge between" our two movements.</p>
<p>…</p>
<p>"Maybe we could sit down like human beings and have a conversation about what's going on in the country," he said, "and look for solutions instead of having cartoon representations of our political viewpoints."</p>
<p>Occupy DC will be joined by members of other organization, including the AFL-CIO, SEIU, National Nurses United, and the Metro Labor Council.</p> | true | 4 | email name recipients email comma separated message captcha conservatives across country converge upon washington today conservative political action conference cpac featuring prominent speakers florida governor rick scott texas governor rick perry kentucky senator rand paul160 according cpacs website conference great meetup opportunity activists mingle conservative leaders order share resources website also adds cpac super awesome average joes students160 might find speakers participants inspiring enlightening since ordinarily liberal left tends encompass everything happens college campuses past cpac criticized vitriolic style matthew albright journalist awardwinning louisiana state university daily reveille described youth presence cpac disturbing cpac disturbing albright continues event riotous selfcongratulatory anger festival showcasing many faults militant reactionary dangerous wings republican party conservative movement prime speakers event included glenn beck rush limbaugh ann coulter veritable laundry list exactly charge steering movement let alone political party cpacs embrace james okeefe currently serving threeyear probationary sentence pleading misdemeanour court reduced initial fbi felony charge maliciously interfering telephones us senator mary landrieus office led albright write instead shunned thug may well felon year given heros welcome party including open bar tab vip spots cigars could smoke cpac previously made waves thirteenyearold jonathan krohn spoke 2009 panel grassroots activists delivering speech conservatives victories across nation cpac gatherings past featured intraparty squabbling presence goproud gay conservative group founded 2009 goproud advertises group advocates traditional conservative agenda emphasizes limited government individual liberty free markets confident foreign policy involvement icky gays enough send nonprofit group called american principles project completely edge executive director andy blom told abc news group pulled conference last year members regard sanctity marriage every bit important keeping taxes low year list speakers includes rep michele bachmann speaker john boehner john bolton andrew breitbart herman cain ann coulter jonah goldberg mike huckabee laura ingraham gov bobby jindal sen mitch mcconnell grover norquist sarah palin tony perkins mitt romney sen marco rubio rep paul ryan sen rick santorum phyllis schlafy gov scott walker rep allen west among others controversially cbs news correspondent sharyl attkisson set receive journalism award conference accuracy media rightwing group long history promoting antigay views conspiracy theories attkisson first reporter mainstream news outlet receive aims annual award media matters chronicled aim attkissons bad journalism past year involving topics clean energy homosexuality vaccines cpacs statement conference excellent meetup point activists may prove prolific although may thrilled type demonstrators event attracts160 occupy dc plans protest fourday conference attempt liberate discourse announcement group reads event another gathering bigots media mouthpieces corrupt politicians 1 percent elite puppet masters cpac parade attempt perpetuate radical right wings imperialist ideologies keynote speakers movies banquets dedicated pursuing racist sexist patriarchal exploitative agenda movement said website occupy dc media team member justin smith didnt offer specific details cbs news political hotsheet planned demonstrations make clear movement plans engage conservatives way novembers election want make sure attendees cpac people ultimately work 1 percent know moment get marching orders well challenging whole way smith said cpac aware occupy dcs plans spokeswoman kristy cambell told cbs groups tactics unfortunate adding safety conference chief concern team prepared security plan place campbell said group also upset scheduled debate taking back wall street tea party vs occupy wall street features representative occupy wall street movement remarkably telling titled fact lot common ground tea party smith said cpac trying drive wedge two movements maybe could sit like human beings conversation whats going country said look solutions instead cartoon representations political viewpoints occupy dc joined members organization including aflcio seiu national nurses united metro labor council | 576 |
<p>Values the size of Planet Earth are at stake, as the American presidential election grows ever smaller, ever pettier, ever more certain that rancor triumphs over relevance.</p>
<p>Can you imagine, let us say, an issue the size of global nuclear disarmament emerging in this race, somewhere between the groper tapes and the hacked DNC emails? What if — my God — we lived in a country in which such a matter was seriously and publicly discussed, not shunted off to the margins with a grimace and a smirk? The only thing that has mainstream credibility in this country is business as usual, which comes to us wrapped in platitudes about strength and greatness but in reality is mostly about war and profit and the destruction of the planet.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, it’s&#160;three minutes to&#160;midnight.</p>
<p>And the Republic of the Marshall Islands has lost its case in the International Court of Justice. On a technicality, no less! Phon van den Biesen, lead attorney for the tiny island nation, which had sued the world’s nine nuclear powers — the United States, Russia, China, Great Britain, France, Israel, India, Pakistan and North Korea — to begin real nuclear disarmament negotiations, said the case was dismissed earlier this month on a “micro formality,” which in my layman’s grasp of the matter might be called, instead, a desperate legal cop out.</p>
<p>The case, which, technically, was brought against only three of the nine nuclear powers, Great Britain, India and Pakistan (because those are the only three nations that acknowledge the binding authority of the ICJ), was dismissed — in a split decision that could be called the First World against the rest of humanity — on the grounds that there wasn’t sufficient evidence of a dispute between the parties, so the court had no jurisdiction to hear the case on its merits.</p>
<p>Huh?</p>
<p>The ICJ’s dissenting judges (in the case against Great Britain, the verdict to dismiss was 9-7, against India and Pakistan it was 8-8), expressed as much incredulity as I did on hearing the news.</p>
<p>The Marshall Islands lawsuits (a second suit was also filed, specifically against the United States, in U.S. federal court, and is still pending) demanded compliance with Article VI of the 1968 Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, signed by the U.S. in 1970, which reads: “Each of the Parties to the Treaty undertakes to pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament, and on a treaty on general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control.”</p>
<p>“General and complete disarmament — do these&#160;words&#160;actually have meaning?” I asked last January. “Right now the Marshall Islands stand alone among the nations of Planet Earth in believing that they do.”</p>
<p>This tiny nation of islands and atolls — this former U.S. territory — with a population of about 70,000, was the scene of 67&#160;nuclear test blasts in the 1950s, back when bigger was better. Some people’s homes were destroyed for eternity. The islanders suffered ghastly and often lethal levels of radiation and were essentially regarded, by their U.S. overlords, as human guinea pigs — a fantastic opportunity to study the effects of nuclear fallout. Eventually, the U.S. atoned for its destruction by paying the Republic of the Marshall Islands a pathetic $150 million “for all claims, past, present and future.”</p>
<p>Now this nation is trying to save the rest of the planet by insisting that nuclear disarmament negotiations must get underway.</p>
<p>In a&#160;dissenting opinion, ICJ Judge Antônio Augusto Cançado Trindade of Brazil lamented that the world needed to recognize the “prevalence of human conscience” over national interests.</p>
<p>“A world with arsenals of nuclear weapons, like ours, is bound to destroy its past, dangerously threatens the present, and has no future at all,” he wrote. “Nuclear weapons pave the way into nothingness. In my understanding, the International Court of Justice, as the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, should, in the present Judgment, have shown sensitivity in this respect, and should have given its contribution to a matter which is a major concern of the vulnerable international community, and indeed of humankind as a whole.”</p>
<p>As&#160;Rick Wayman&#160;of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation pointed out, of the ICJ justices who voted not to hear the case on its merits, six were from nuclear-armed nations (the U.S., Russia, China, France, Great Britain and India) and the other two from nations (Japan, Italy) “deeply invested in the U.S. ‘nuclear umbrella.’”</p>
<p>The nations of the dissenting judges included Brazil, Somalia, Jamaica, Australia and Morocco.</p>
<p>This week, as if in sync with the Marshall Islanders, a group called the Native Community Action Council convened the&#160;Native American Forum&#160;on Nuclear Issues, addressing half a century of lingering horror at another nuclear testing site, in Nevada. The forum addressed such issues as abandoned uranium mines and the proposed high-level nuclear waste disposal site under Yucca Mountain, “in the heart of the Western Shoshone Nation (and) a sacred site for Shoshone and Paiute peoples,” according to the organization’s press release.</p>
<p>“Because of U.S. nuclear testing in Nevada, the Western Shoshone Nation is already the most bombed nation on earth’” the release continues. “They suffer from widespread cancer, leukemia, and other diseases as a result of fallout from more than 1,000 atomic explosions on their territory.”</p>
<p>This is the reality we ignore. We’ve been ignoring it for the last 70 years and, indeed, much longer. We’ve reached the end of our ability to treat the planet, and much of its people, as disposable. Much of humanity knows this, but its leaders are refusing to listen. The human conscience is dismissed on a technicality.</p> | true | 4 | values size planet earth stake american presidential election grows ever smaller ever pettier ever certain rancor triumphs relevance imagine let us say issue size global nuclear disarmament emerging race somewhere groper tapes hacked dnc emails god lived country matter seriously publicly discussed shunted margins grimace smirk thing mainstream credibility country business usual comes us wrapped platitudes strength greatness reality mostly war profit destruction planet meanwhile its160three minutes to160midnight republic marshall islands lost case international court justice technicality less phon van den biesen lead attorney tiny island nation sued worlds nine nuclear powers united states russia china great britain france israel india pakistan north korea begin real nuclear disarmament negotiations said case dismissed earlier month micro formality laymans grasp matter might called instead desperate legal cop case technically brought three nine nuclear powers great britain india pakistan three nations acknowledge binding authority icj dismissed split decision could called first world rest humanity grounds wasnt sufficient evidence dispute parties court jurisdiction hear case merits huh icjs dissenting judges case great britain verdict dismiss 97 india pakistan 88 expressed much incredulity hearing news marshall islands lawsuits second suit also filed specifically united states us federal court still pending demanded compliance article vi 1968 nuclear nonproliferation treaty signed us 1970 reads parties treaty undertakes pursue negotiations good faith effective measures relating cessation nuclear arms race early date nuclear disarmament treaty general complete disarmament strict effective international control general complete disarmament these160words160actually meaning asked last january right marshall islands stand alone among nations planet earth believing tiny nation islands atolls former us territory population 70000 scene 67160nuclear test blasts 1950s back bigger better peoples homes destroyed eternity islanders suffered ghastly often lethal levels radiation essentially regarded us overlords human guinea pigs fantastic opportunity study effects nuclear fallout eventually us atoned destruction paying republic marshall islands pathetic 150 million claims past present future nation trying save rest planet insisting nuclear disarmament negotiations must get underway a160dissenting opinion icj judge antônio augusto cançado trindade brazil lamented world needed recognize prevalence human conscience national interests world arsenals nuclear weapons like bound destroy past dangerously threatens present future wrote nuclear weapons pave way nothingness understanding international court justice principal judicial organ united nations present judgment shown sensitivity respect given contribution matter major concern vulnerable international community indeed humankind whole as160rick wayman160of nuclear age peace foundation pointed icj justices voted hear case merits six nucleararmed nations us russia china france great britain india two nations japan italy deeply invested us nuclear umbrella nations dissenting judges included brazil somalia jamaica australia morocco week sync marshall islanders group called native community action council convened the160native american forum160on nuclear issues addressing half century lingering horror another nuclear testing site nevada forum addressed issues abandoned uranium mines proposed highlevel nuclear waste disposal site yucca mountain heart western shoshone nation sacred site shoshone paiute peoples according organizations press release us nuclear testing nevada western shoshone nation already bombed nation earth release continues suffer widespread cancer leukemia diseases result fallout 1000 atomic explosions territory reality ignore weve ignoring last 70 years indeed much longer weve reached end ability treat planet much people disposable much humanity knows leaders refusing listen human conscience dismissed technicality | 527 |
<p>Inside the Imam Ali shrine in Najaf, Iraq, a few days before Arba’een. Photo Pepe Escobar</p>
<p>TIKRIT and NAJAF, Iraq&#160;</p>
<p>Nothing, absolutely nothing prepares you to revive, on the spot, the memory of what will go down in history as ISIS/Daesh’s most horrid killing field in Iraq or Syria since the death cult stormed across the border in the summer of 2014; the <a href="https://tikrit-massacre.org/index.php?aa=category&amp;category=Home&amp;id_category=297&amp;lang=en" type="external">Speicher massacre</a> of June 12, 2014 – when almost 2,000 Iraqi army recruits were assassinated in and nearby a former Saddam Hussein palace on the banks of the Tigris near Tikrit.</p>
<p>As Dylan would sing it, “ain’t it just like the night to play tricks when you’re trying to be so quiet”. In 2003, a few days after Shock and Awe and the fall of Baghdad, I took the road to Tikrit for Asia Times to survey Uday Hussein’s bombed palace as well as his father’s birthplace, only to return 14 years later to one of those palaces turned into a house of horror.</p>
<p>The Speicher killing field was gruesomely staged – and filmed – by Daesh only a few days after the fall of Mosul. Daesh’s Salafi-jihadi goons were feted as “liberators” by many a Sunni tribe around Trikrit just as 10,000 Iraqi Army recruits from different provinces, mostly Shi’ites, were being trained at an Air Force academy nearby.</p>
<p>With Daesh fast advancing and the Iraqi Army at the time dissolving by the minute, the youngsters were ordered to switch into civilian clothes, leave their weapons behind, and go home. As they were literally walking back to their home provinces they ended up falling in a lethal Daesh trap. Bearing echoes of the Nazi era, the youngsters were divided into Sunnis and Shi’ites – with the Shi’ites bundled in trucks described as their “transportation” home. Instead they were taken to what would become a killing field framed by decaying Saddamist architecture.</p>
<p>The horror, the horror</p>
<p>It’s late evening on a windless Monday – and I’m standing at the eerily silent exact spot of one of the killing field’s sites, captured by a Daesh propaganda video in part of this <a href="" type="internal">harrowing footage</a>. Hayder Atamiri, the official representative of the Tikrit massacre committee, almost in tears, swears, “all the tribes in the area took part in this”. He’s convinced the massacre took place in “an icon of Saddam” and it was “revenge for Saddam’s death”.</p>
<p>Daesh leaders presided over a gruesome ritual from a balcony as three jihadis summarily killed the recruits with a bullet in the back of the head. Today, discreet shrines with pictures of the dead surround the balcony. So far 1907 victims have been catalogued – many from Iraq’s Shi’ite-majority and/or poorer provinces (for instance, 382 from Babylon, 254 from Diwaniya, 132 from Karbala, 119 from Diyala, 99 from Najaf.)</p>
<p>Atamiri says locals at the time found roughly 90 bodies “and the rest drifted away” along the Tigris. Nearby, Daesh goons “dug trenches, used bulldozers and covered the bodies with rocks.” No less than 14 mass graves have been found, 13 of them “already excavated.” Two more mass graves were identified “but there’s no proper storage for the remains yet.”</p>
<p>Other figures by the Iraqi Ministry of Health list 1,935 dead – with 994 bodies found, 527 fully identified, 467 under examination and still 941 missing. A systematic search for human remains only started in March 2015 – eight months after the massacre – when Tikrit was finally recaptured by Baghdad’s forces.</p>
<p>Compared with Ramadi or Mosul, Tikrit suffered very little damage as it was reconquered largely by Hashd al-Shaabi, a.k.a. the People Mobilization Units (PMUs), called into action by Grand Ayatollah Sistani’s 2014 fatwa. Atamiri is adamant “Hashd was the only force liberating Tikrit.” And crucially these fighters were not Shi’ites; they were Sunnis.</p>
<p>Yezen Meshaan al-Jebouri, the son of the governor of Tikrit, Raed al-Jebouri, head of the Salahuddin PMU brigade – and a member of the very prominent Sunni Jebouri family, which was historically inimical to Saddam Hussein, had previously confirmed to me in Baghdad; “Local tribal leaders encouraged the work of Hashd. They understood we believe in Iraq’s political system.” Almost a third of the PMU force – a total of around 20,000 fighters – is Sunni. As al-Jebouri stressed, “Tikrit returned to its people. And Tikrit University was protected.”</p>
<p>In the complex Iraqi tribal chessboard, the local consensus is that certain Wahhabi-tinged jihadis were part of the Speicher massacre, but that did not translate into a collective Sunni endeavor. Daesh killed Sunnis as well, and Sunnis helped at least a few Shi’ites to flee.</p>
<p>Atamiri is adamant, “only Hashd stood with us. Now they are maintaining peace and won’t allow any extra-judicial revenge”. He frames the whole battle ahead as the need to “eradicate extremist ideology” and notes that some Daesh jihadis, when captured, “tried to show remorse, but that is very difficult for us to believe. And some of them are now living in European countries.”</p>
<p>Families of the murdered youngsters silently exhibit photos of their sons and ask “international bodies to do something”. They all agree; the response from the “international community” has been shameful. Still, the Tikrit massacre committee vows to keep the memory of Speicher alive. Mothers of victims have been to Geneva to ask for help as well as mental health support for quite a few families, and plan to visit again in June 2018.</p>
<p>This has been one of Iraq’s most devastating nightmares of the past three decades. After such sorrow, what forgiveness?</p>
<p>A shrine honoring victims of a Daesh killing field by the Tigris, near Tikrit, Iraq. Photo Pepe Escobar</p>
<p>Keep walking towards redemption</p>
<p>It’s possible. From agony to ecstasy. There could not be a more radical contrast between darkness and light than taking the road to Najaf – the Iraqi Vatican, and fourth holiest city in Islam – and Karbala, alongside millions of black-clad pilgrims during the <a href="" type="internal">annual celebration</a> of&#160;Arba’een, the “40th Day” of the martyrdom of Imam Hussein.</p>
<p>Countless tents, tea shops and impromptu restaurants, festively decorated, line up the road to Najaf and Karbala. Suddenly we’re thrown into the vortex of the largest gathering of humans in history, way outdoing the annual Hajj <a href="" type="internal">pilgrimage to Mecca</a>; nearly 20 million people as opposed to about 1.5 million. Here is the record of my own pilgrimage in 2003 – a few days after the fall of Baghdad.</p>
<p>To be inside the Imam Ali shrine – in all its glimmering, refracted glory – is a religious experience in itself, the apotheosis of Shi’ite rituals of redemptive suffering (readers interested to know about Arba’een may consult scholar Seyyed Hosein Mohammad Jafri’s&#160;book <a href="" type="internal">The Origins and Early Development of Shi’a Islam</a>.)</p>
<p>The Imam Ali shrine, in all its splendor, is managed, at the highest instance, by the&#160; <a href="" type="internal">marja’iya</a> – the religious sources of emulation, mostly personified by Grand Ayatollah Sistani, whose office is in a narrow alley nearby; and in practice, by a foundation. According to its secretariat “more than 20 million people are registered in the shrine”.</p>
<p>Najaf welcomed refugees of the fight against Daesh by the tens of thousands; Sunnis from Anbar province, Christians, Shi’ite Turkmen from Tal Afar; “Now many are back to their communities”. The PMUs are incredibly popular – their white flags fluttering everywhere alongside black Imam Hussein and multicolored Imam Ali banners. The shrine is proud to at least assist in helping victims from the Speicher massacre; “The government may be shorthanded”.</p>
<p>I was in Najaf last week, at the start of the pilgrimage. But the apex of Arba’een is today, November 10. And that happens in the most extraordinary of historical circumstances; the final defeat of Daesh.</p>
<p>The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) announced on Wednesday it had captured Albu Kamal, the last town held by Daesh in Syria – after Iraqi forces captured its sister town across the border, al-Qaim. In Baghdad, before leaving to Najaf, I was assured by a top PMU commander that al-Qaim would be retaken “in a matter of days”: four, in the end, to be exact.</p>
<p>None of this is getting traction in Western media. The final victory on the ground against Daesh, in Syria, was accomplished by the Syrian army with help from Russian strategy and air power, and in Iraq by the Iraqi army and the PMUs. Syrian and Iraqi forces are symbolically reunited at the border.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, at this very moment, millions of souls – Iraqis, Iranians, Afghans, Pakistanis, northern Africans, Central Asians, Persian Gulf nationals – are being soothed via the massive, cathartic walk from Najaf to Karbala. A pilgrim captured the spell – spiritual redemption merging with political statement – as he told me, with the flicker of a smile, the walk is also “a protest against terrorism”.</p> | true | 4 | inside imam ali shrine najaf iraq days arbaeen photo pepe escobar tikrit najaf iraq160 nothing absolutely nothing prepares revive spot memory go history isisdaeshs horrid killing field iraq syria since death cult stormed across border summer 2014 speicher massacre june 12 2014 almost 2000 iraqi army recruits assassinated nearby former saddam hussein palace banks tigris near tikrit dylan would sing aint like night play tricks youre trying quiet 2003 days shock awe fall baghdad took road tikrit asia times survey uday husseins bombed palace well fathers birthplace return 14 years later one palaces turned house horror speicher killing field gruesomely staged filmed daesh days fall mosul daeshs salafijihadi goons feted liberators many sunni tribe around trikrit 10000 iraqi army recruits different provinces mostly shiites trained air force academy nearby daesh fast advancing iraqi army time dissolving minute youngsters ordered switch civilian clothes leave weapons behind go home literally walking back home provinces ended falling lethal daesh trap bearing echoes nazi era youngsters divided sunnis shiites shiites bundled trucks described transportation home instead taken would become killing field framed decaying saddamist architecture horror horror late evening windless monday im standing eerily silent exact spot one killing fields sites captured daesh propaganda video part harrowing footage hayder atamiri official representative tikrit massacre committee almost tears swears tribes area took part hes convinced massacre took place icon saddam revenge saddams death daesh leaders presided gruesome ritual balcony three jihadis summarily killed recruits bullet back head today discreet shrines pictures dead surround balcony far 1907 victims catalogued many iraqs shiitemajority andor poorer provinces instance 382 babylon 254 diwaniya 132 karbala 119 diyala 99 najaf atamiri says locals time found roughly 90 bodies rest drifted away along tigris nearby daesh goons dug trenches used bulldozers covered bodies rocks less 14 mass graves found 13 already excavated two mass graves identified theres proper storage remains yet figures iraqi ministry health list 1935 dead 994 bodies found 527 fully identified 467 examination still 941 missing systematic search human remains started march 2015 eight months massacre tikrit finally recaptured baghdads forces compared ramadi mosul tikrit suffered little damage reconquered largely hashd alshaabi aka people mobilization units pmus called action grand ayatollah sistanis 2014 fatwa atamiri adamant hashd force liberating tikrit crucially fighters shiites sunnis yezen meshaan aljebouri son governor tikrit raed aljebouri head salahuddin pmu brigade member prominent sunni jebouri family historically inimical saddam hussein previously confirmed baghdad local tribal leaders encouraged work hashd understood believe iraqs political system almost third pmu force total around 20000 fighters sunni aljebouri stressed tikrit returned people tikrit university protected complex iraqi tribal chessboard local consensus certain wahhabitinged jihadis part speicher massacre translate collective sunni endeavor daesh killed sunnis well sunnis helped least shiites flee atamiri adamant hashd stood us maintaining peace wont allow extrajudicial revenge frames whole battle ahead need eradicate extremist ideology notes daesh jihadis captured tried show remorse difficult us believe living european countries families murdered youngsters silently exhibit photos sons ask international bodies something agree response international community shameful still tikrit massacre committee vows keep memory speicher alive mothers victims geneva ask help well mental health support quite families plan visit june 2018 one iraqs devastating nightmares past three decades sorrow forgiveness shrine honoring victims daesh killing field tigris near tikrit iraq photo pepe escobar keep walking towards redemption possible agony ecstasy could radical contrast darkness light taking road najaf iraqi vatican fourth holiest city islam karbala alongside millions blackclad pilgrims annual celebration of160arbaeen 40th day martyrdom imam hussein countless tents tea shops impromptu restaurants festively decorated line road najaf karbala suddenly thrown vortex largest gathering humans history way outdoing annual hajj pilgrimage mecca nearly 20 million people opposed 15 million record pilgrimage 2003 days fall baghdad inside imam ali shrine glimmering refracted glory religious experience apotheosis shiite rituals redemptive suffering readers interested know arbaeen may consult scholar seyyed hosein mohammad jafris160book origins early development shia islam imam ali shrine splendor managed highest instance the160 marjaiya religious sources emulation mostly personified grand ayatollah sistani whose office narrow alley nearby practice foundation according secretariat 20 million people registered shrine najaf welcomed refugees fight daesh tens thousands sunnis anbar province christians shiite turkmen tal afar many back communities pmus incredibly popular white flags fluttering everywhere alongside black imam hussein multicolored imam ali banners shrine proud least assist helping victims speicher massacre government may shorthanded najaf last week start pilgrimage apex arbaeen today november 10 happens extraordinary historical circumstances final defeat daesh syrian arab army saa announced wednesday captured albu kamal last town held daesh syria iraqi forces captured sister town across border alqaim baghdad leaving najaf assured top pmu commander alqaim would retaken matter days four end exact none getting traction western media final victory ground daesh syria accomplished syrian army help russian strategy air power iraq iraqi army pmus syrian iraqi forces symbolically reunited border meanwhile moment millions souls iraqis iranians afghans pakistanis northern africans central asians persian gulf nationals soothed via massive cathartic walk najaf karbala pilgrim captured spell spiritual redemption merging political statement told flicker smile walk also protest terrorism | 843 |
<p />
<p />
<p><a href="" type="internal">Ebola has arrived in New York City</a>. So should residents here be worried about a widespread outbreak? Almost certainly not: The disease is <a href="http://preparedness.columbia.edu/how-ebola-different-influenza-or-other-common-diseases-0" type="external">not airborne</a>, and infected patients are only contagious once they show symptoms. Craig Spencer, the infected doctor in New York, has said he didn’t have symptoms Wednesday night when he rode the subway between Manhattan and Brooklyn and went bowling. Three people he came into contact with, who have not shown symptoms, have been <a href="http://gawker.com/three-quarantined-in-nyc-after-doctor-tests-positive-fo-1650217501" type="external">placed in precautionary quarantine</a>. And unlike West Africa, where health care is sparse and low-quality, the US is well equipped to handle cases of the virus; the hospital where Spencer is being treated <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/bellevue-hospital-prepared-treat-doctor-contracted-ebola-article-1.1985538" type="external">has been preparing to treat Ebola patients</a>. (Public heath officials in the city <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/24/nyregion/craig-spencer-is-tested-for-ebola-virus-at-bellevue-hospital-in-new-york-city.html" type="external">expected cases of Ebola to turn up sooner or later</a>.)</p>
<p>But the prospect of a deadly disease outbreak in the Big Apple is still pretty scary, and the city hasn’t always dodged the pathogen bullet. Here are a few epidemics in New York that were far worse than Ebola is likely to be.</p>
<p>Yellow fever (1795-1803):</p>
<p />
<p>The city’s first health department <a href="http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/downloads/pdf/bicentennial/historical-booklet-1805-1865.pdf" type="external">was created in 1793</a> to block boats from Philadelphia, which at the time was in the grips of a yellow fever epidemic that <a href="http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/nycdata/disasters/yellow_fever.html" type="external">left 5,000 dead</a>. The tactic didn’t work: By 1795 cases began to appear in Manhattan, and by 1798 the disease had reached epidemic proportions there, with <a href="http://www.columbia.edu/itc/hs/pubhealth/rosner/g8965/client_edit/readings/week_5/condran.pdf" type="external">800 deaths that year</a>. Several thousand more died over the next few years. (The disease causes victims’ to vomit black bile and their skin to turn yellowish, and the fatality rate without treatment is <a href="http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs100/en/" type="external">as high as 50 percent</a>.)&#160;This was no small blow for a city that at the time had <a href="https://www.census.gov/history/www/through_the_decades/fast_facts/1800_fast_facts.html" type="external">only about 60,000 residents</a>. As is the case today with Ebola in West Africa, misinformation was a big part of the problem: Doctors at the time had only just begun to speculate that the virus was carried by mosquitoes (other theorized sources included unsanitary conditions in slums and rotting coffee). Little effort was made to publicize the epidemic for fear of a mass exodus from the city, <a href="http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/nycdata/disasters/yellow_fever.html" type="external">according to Baruch College</a>. Today yellow fever is extremely rare in the United States&#160;but still <a href="http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs100/en/" type="external">kills 30,000 people every year</a>, 90 percent of whom are in Africa.</p>
<p>Cholera (mid-1800s):</p>
<p />
<p>By the 1830s New York was a booming metropolis of 200,000, with swarms of newcomers arriving daily on boats from Europe. When word of a raging cholera epidemic in Europe reached the city’s Board of Health, it instituted quarantines on incoming ships and tried to clean up the filthy streets. But again the board was reluctant to make public announcements, this time to avoid disrupting trade, according to <a href="http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/downloads/pdf/bicentennial/historical-booklet-1805-1865.pdf" type="external">city records</a>. One resident claimed the board was “more afraid of merchants than of lying.” By June 1832, the disease, which causes severe diarrhea and can kill within hours if untreated, arrived in New York via boats traveling down the Hudson River from Quebec. Within two months, 3,500 people were dead—mostly poor Irish immigrants and blacks living in the city’s slums. Outbreaks occurred again in 1849, with some <a href="http://www.columbia.edu/itc/hs/pubhealth/rosner/g8965/client_edit/readings/week_5/condran.pdf" type="external">5,000 deaths</a>, and in 1866, with <a href="http://www.virtualny.cuny.edu/cholera/1866/cholera_1866_set.html" type="external">1,100 deaths</a>.&#160;</p>
<p>Polio (1916):</p>
<p />
<p>New York City was the epicenter of an outbreak of polio in 1916 that began with a <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1473030/" type="external">handful of cases reported to a clinic in Brooklyn</a>. The disease, which advances from feverlike symptoms to paralysis and sometimes death, ultimately <a href="http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/downloads/pdf/bicentennial/historical-booklet.pdf" type="external">spread to 9,000 New Yorkers</a> and caused 2,400 deaths. Across the Northeast, the infection toll climbed to 23,000 by the fall. The disease remained prevalent in the United States until the 1954 introduction of Jonas Salk’s polio vaccine. Polio is now extremely rare here. But worldwide, <a href="http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs114/en/" type="external">it still infects 200,000 people every year, particularly in Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Pakistan</a>.</p>
<p>Influenza (1918):</p>
<p />
<p>In August 1918, a Norwegian ship called the Bergensfjord <a href="http://www.influenzaarchive.org/cities/city-newyork.html#" type="external">pulled into New York Harbor</a> carrying 21 people infected with a new and virulent strain of the flu. Over the next several weeks, dozens more arrived, mostly on ships from Europe, and sick passengers were quarantined in a hospital just blocks from the modern-day Bellevue, where Spencer is currently being treated. Those unfortunate sailors were just the first in what would become the deadliest disease outbreak in the city’s history to that date. Over 30,000 deaths were recorded <a href="http://www.flu.gov/pandemic/history/1918/your_state/northeast/newyork/" type="external">by November</a>—the actual number was likely much higher—including 12,300 during the first week of November alone. One health worker visited a family in lower Manhattan and found an <a href="http://www.flu.gov/pandemic/history/1918/your_state/northeast/newyork/" type="external">infant dead in its crib and all seven other family members severely ill</a>.</p>
<p>Other nearby cities fared even worse: The death rate in New York was 4.7 per 1,000 cases, compared to 6.5 in Boston and 7.3 in Philadelphia, <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2862336/#B2" type="external">according to the National Institutes of Health</a>. That may not sound like a lot, given that the Ebola death rate is closer to 50 percent, but because influenza is so easily spread it can infect a much greater number of people. Globally, the 1918 flu killed between 50100 million people, the worst public health crisis in modern times. Today, the flu is still considered the <a href="" type="internal">greatest infectious disease risk</a> for Americans, killing between 3,000 and 50,000 every year, <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/disease/us_flu-related_deaths.htm" type="external">according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention</a>. In other words, it’s possible that more people could die from the flu this year in America than have <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/22/us-health-ebola-who-idUSKCN0IB23220141022" type="external">died worldwide from Ebola</a> during this outbreak. And yet only 1 in 3 Americans get a flu shot. Get a flu shot, people!</p>
<p>HIV/AIDS (1981-present):</p>
<p />
<p>The scourge of HIV/AIDS is the most familiar epidemic for modern New Yorkers, <a href="http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/downloads/pdf/bicentennial/historical-booklet.pdf" type="external">beginning with the June 1981 discovery</a>of 41 cases of a rare cancer among gay men across the country. Throughout the 1980s, campaigns by the city encouraged New Yorkers to use protection during sex and not to share needles or use intravenous drugs. By 1987, according to city records, $400 million had been spent on AIDS services. But activists for AIDS rights groups like ACT UP accused city officials, led by Mayor Ed Koch, of dragging their feet and ignoring the true scale of the crisis. It took until the mid-’90s for anti-retroviral drugs to become widely available. Today, for people who have access to adequate health care, HIV is often manageable. But to date, <a href="http://nycaidsmemorial.org/aids-statistics" type="external">more than 100,000 New Yorkers</a> have been killed by AIDS-related maladies, according to state health statistics. Despite recent advances in medical treatment, infection rates are still high in New York, disproportionately affecting racial minorities and gay men.</p>
<p /> | true | 4 | ebola arrived new york city residents worried widespread outbreak almost certainly disease airborne infected patients contagious show symptoms craig spencer infected doctor new york said didnt symptoms wednesday night rode subway manhattan brooklyn went bowling three people came contact shown symptoms placed precautionary quarantine unlike west africa health care sparse lowquality us well equipped handle cases virus hospital spencer treated preparing treat ebola patients public heath officials city expected cases ebola turn sooner later prospect deadly disease outbreak big apple still pretty scary city hasnt always dodged pathogen bullet epidemics new york far worse ebola likely yellow fever 17951803 citys first health department created 1793 block boats philadelphia time grips yellow fever epidemic left 5000 dead tactic didnt work 1795 cases began appear manhattan 1798 disease reached epidemic proportions 800 deaths year several thousand died next years disease causes victims vomit black bile skin turn yellowish fatality rate without treatment high 50 percent160this small blow city time 60000 residents case today ebola west africa misinformation big part problem doctors time begun speculate virus carried mosquitoes theorized sources included unsanitary conditions slums rotting coffee little effort made publicize epidemic fear mass exodus city according baruch college today yellow fever extremely rare united states160but still kills 30000 people every year 90 percent africa cholera mid1800s 1830s new york booming metropolis 200000 swarms newcomers arriving daily boats europe word raging cholera epidemic europe reached citys board health instituted quarantines incoming ships tried clean filthy streets board reluctant make public announcements time avoid disrupting trade according city records one resident claimed board afraid merchants lying june 1832 disease causes severe diarrhea kill within hours untreated arrived new york via boats traveling hudson river quebec within two months 3500 people deadmostly poor irish immigrants blacks living citys slums outbreaks occurred 1849 5000 deaths 1866 1100 deaths160 polio 1916 new york city epicenter outbreak polio 1916 began handful cases reported clinic brooklyn disease advances feverlike symptoms paralysis sometimes death ultimately spread 9000 new yorkers caused 2400 deaths across northeast infection toll climbed 23000 fall disease remained prevalent united states 1954 introduction jonas salks polio vaccine polio extremely rare worldwide still infects 200000 people every year particularly afghanistan nigeria pakistan influenza 1918 august 1918 norwegian ship called bergensfjord pulled new york harbor carrying 21 people infected new virulent strain flu next several weeks dozens arrived mostly ships europe sick passengers quarantined hospital blocks modernday bellevue spencer currently treated unfortunate sailors first would become deadliest disease outbreak citys history date 30000 deaths recorded novemberthe actual number likely much higherincluding 12300 first week november alone one health worker visited family lower manhattan found infant dead crib seven family members severely ill nearby cities fared even worse death rate new york 47 per 1000 cases compared 65 boston 73 philadelphia according national institutes health may sound like lot given ebola death rate closer 50 percent influenza easily spread infect much greater number people globally 1918 flu killed 50100 million people worst public health crisis modern times today flu still considered greatest infectious disease risk americans killing 3000 50000 every year according centers disease control prevention words possible people could die flu year america died worldwide ebola outbreak yet 1 3 americans get flu shot get flu shot people hivaids 1981present scourge hivaids familiar epidemic modern new yorkers beginning june 1981 discoveryof 41 cases rare cancer among gay men across country throughout 1980s campaigns city encouraged new yorkers use protection sex share needles use intravenous drugs 1987 according city records 400 million spent aids services activists aids rights groups like act accused city officials led mayor ed koch dragging feet ignoring true scale crisis took mid90s antiretroviral drugs become widely available today people access adequate health care hiv often manageable date 100000 new yorkers killed aidsrelated maladies according state health statistics despite recent advances medical treatment infection rates still high new york disproportionately affecting racial minorities gay men | 647 |
<p>Advocates for Klamath Dam removal are working with the Indigenous Peoples’ Power Project to provide direct action workshops and skills trainings as they increase pressure on the world’s richest man, Warren Buffett, to remove his fish killing dams on the Klamath River.</p>
<p>According to a statement from the Klamath Justice Coalition, the direct action training sessions aim “to empower locals and provide additional tactics to pressure Warren Buffett’s PacifiCorp to remove the lower four Klamath River dams.” The latest training session was held Wednesday, July 30th at the Hoopa Youth Center on the Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation. A previous session was conducted in Klamath on the Yurok Indian Reservation.</p>
<p>“We’ve been campaigning hard for five years and still the company refuses to take responsibility for the dams’ destruction of our fishery and communities,” said Chook-Chook Hillman, one of the event organizers. “So it’s time we consider more aggressive tactics.”</p>
<p>The latest workshop attracted 16 participants ranging from children to elders. “These workshops are meant to get new blood from different walks of life to engage in direct action in our campaign to remove PacifiCorp’s Klamath dams,” said Georgiana Myers, Yurok Tribal Member and the Klamath Riverkeeper outreach coordinator. “They are being held to prepare for the nonviolent direct action camp that will be conducted in Orleans from August 22 to 24.”</p>
<p>On September 18, the Klamath Justice Coalition will hold their “Day of Action Against PacifiCorp” in Portland, Oregon, where the utility is headquartered. Supporters willl assemble at Holladay Park at the corner of NE Multnomah and 11th Street in downtown Portland at 12 noon. From there they will march to PacifiCorp’s headquarters for a rally featuring speakers from Tribal, fishing, and conservation communities.</p>
<p>The Indigenous Peoples’ Power Project, or IP3, is a special project of the Ruckus Society based in Oakland, CA. The project is committed “to empowering a new generation of young native leaders emerging across the continent, who are bringing innovation, creativity and inspiration to struggles to keep their homelands from becoming wastelands.”</p>
<p>“We don’t want a lack of tactics or tools to slow down our effort to restore the Klamath,” said Hillman. “We have invited IP3 here to add some creativity to our campaign and help us think strategically about how to influence people like Warren Buffett.”</p>
<p>On May 3 this year, Hillman personally challenged Buffett to his face at the Berkshire Hathaway shareholders’ meeting in Omaha, Nebraska. Hillman, a 23-year-old Karuk Fatawan (world renewal priest), who fasted last year with other young world renewal priests in an unsuccessful effort to force a meeting with the tycoon, introduced himself in the Karuk language before he questioned Buffett.</p>
<p>“As a European-American, you are the visitor in our country. Will you not meet with the native people impacted by your fish-killing dams?” he asked Buffett. “You say you want to address poverty and disease in the Third World, but you are creating those same Third World conditions right here in America. We want to meet and resolve the issue in a way that saves you money and saves our culture!”</p>
<p>IP3 organizers worked with the Tribal and community members that attended the Berkshire Hathaway meeting in May. The group “crashed” a shareholder cocktail reception the night before the shareholder meeting by unfolding a large banner and holding a lively protest in front of a Berkshire-Hathaway owned diamond and jewelry store.</p>
<p>The next day, the group dominated the popular question and answer session Buffett hosts each year in front of 30,000 shareholders – and spotlighted the battle to remove Klamath River dams before the national and international media that covered the meeting. Hillman and several others hammered Buffett with Klamath related questions and followed each question with a banner hang inside the Qwest Center.</p>
<p>“Disrupting the shareholders’ meeting of the richest man on earth was very empowering,” said Hillman. “I think that now its time for Tribes, fishermen, and communities to all join together to let Buffett know that as long as there is no business as usual on the Klamath, there will be no business as usual for Berkshire Hathaway or PacifiCorp either.”</p>
<p>I covered the protest at the shareholders meeting and agree with Hilllman that the protest was “very empowering.” I was impressed by the creative and spirited tactics of the dedicated group of Klamath Dam removal advocates, including many young members of the Yurok, Karuk and Hoopa Valley Tribes.</p>
<p>“I really enjoyed going to the protest in Omaha – a lot of eyes were opened by our presence at the shareholders meeting,” said Myers. “I think we really rattled Buffett’s cage.”</p>
<p>However, when she came back home to California, she became even more convinced of the pressing need to remove the Klamath dams.</p>
<p>“We don’t have a lot of time left – the river is already low, shallow and warm and every day the blue green algae on the river gets a little worse,” she explained. “When I go to Crescent City and other towns along the coast, my heart goes out to the fishermen whose boats are tied up at the dock because of the salmon closure. We can’t wait for 20 years to restore the river – we don’t have that time.”</p>
<p>A broad coalition of Klamath River Indian Tribes, commercial fishing groups, recreational angling organizations and environmental groups is pushing for the removal of four PacifiCorp’ dams on the river. The coalition aims to restore chinook salmon, coho salmon and steelhead to their historic spawning grounds in Klamath tributaries above the dams. The removal of the dams would open up more than 300 miles of the Klamath watershed to anadromous fish for the first time in over 90 years.</p>
<p>The training took place as recreational and salmon fishing in the ocean off California and Oregon and sport fishing in Central Valley rivers is closed for the first time ever this year, due to the collapse of the Sacramento River fall chinook salmon run. Although this year it was the decline of Central Valley salmon that led to the closure, two years ago commercial and recreational fishing off the California and southern Oregon coast was severely restricted because of the decline of Klamath River fall run chinook salmon, spurred by the huge Klamath fish kills of 2002.</p>
<p>In July, PacifiCorp sent a letter to the State of California withdrawing its water quality permit application, surprising activists who were planning to attend hearings regarding the permit over the coming week. Some activists were hoping this move was a sign that an agreement between the utility and state and federal agencies over dam removal would be reached soon. If the dams come down, more than 300 miles of the Klamath would be opened to anadromous fish for the first time in more than 90 years.</p>
<p>For more information: contact Georgiana Myers at 707-599-0877, <a href="mailto:sregonlady@gmail.com" type="external">sregonlady@gmail.com</a>. The Klamath Justice Coalition is a group of Klamath Basin community activists dedicated to the restoration of the Klamath River and the removal of PacifiCorp’s lower four Klamath River dams.</p>
<p>Good resources for learning more about PacifiCorp’s destructive Klamath dams can be found at:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.klamathriver.org" type="external">www.klamathriver.org</a> <a href="http://www.salmonforsavings.com" type="external">www.salmonforsavings.com</a> <a href="http://www.berkshireshareholders.com" type="external">www.berkshireshareholders.com</a></p>
<p>DAN BACHER can be reached at: <a href="mailto:Danielbacher@fishsniffer.com" type="external">Danielbacher@fishsniffer.com</a></p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | advocates klamath dam removal working indigenous peoples power project provide direct action workshops skills trainings increase pressure worlds richest man warren buffett remove fish killing dams klamath river according statement klamath justice coalition direct action training sessions aim empower locals provide additional tactics pressure warren buffetts pacificorp remove lower four klamath river dams latest training session held wednesday july 30th hoopa youth center hoopa valley indian reservation previous session conducted klamath yurok indian reservation weve campaigning hard five years still company refuses take responsibility dams destruction fishery communities said chookchook hillman one event organizers time consider aggressive tactics latest workshop attracted 16 participants ranging children elders workshops meant get new blood different walks life engage direct action campaign remove pacificorps klamath dams said georgiana myers yurok tribal member klamath riverkeeper outreach coordinator held prepare nonviolent direct action camp conducted orleans august 22 24 september 18 klamath justice coalition hold day action pacificorp portland oregon utility headquartered supporters willl assemble holladay park corner ne multnomah 11th street downtown portland 12 noon march pacificorps headquarters rally featuring speakers tribal fishing conservation communities indigenous peoples power project ip3 special project ruckus society based oakland ca project committed empowering new generation young native leaders emerging across continent bringing innovation creativity inspiration struggles keep homelands becoming wastelands dont want lack tactics tools slow effort restore klamath said hillman invited ip3 add creativity campaign help us think strategically influence people like warren buffett may 3 year hillman personally challenged buffett face berkshire hathaway shareholders meeting omaha nebraska hillman 23yearold karuk fatawan world renewal priest fasted last year young world renewal priests unsuccessful effort force meeting tycoon introduced karuk language questioned buffett europeanamerican visitor country meet native people impacted fishkilling dams asked buffett say want address poverty disease third world creating third world conditions right america want meet resolve issue way saves money saves culture ip3 organizers worked tribal community members attended berkshire hathaway meeting may group crashed shareholder cocktail reception night shareholder meeting unfolding large banner holding lively protest front berkshirehathaway owned diamond jewelry store next day group dominated popular question answer session buffett hosts year front 30000 shareholders spotlighted battle remove klamath river dams national international media covered meeting hillman several others hammered buffett klamath related questions followed question banner hang inside qwest center disrupting shareholders meeting richest man earth empowering said hillman think time tribes fishermen communities join together let buffett know long business usual klamath business usual berkshire hathaway pacificorp either covered protest shareholders meeting agree hilllman protest empowering impressed creative spirited tactics dedicated group klamath dam removal advocates including many young members yurok karuk hoopa valley tribes really enjoyed going protest omaha lot eyes opened presence shareholders meeting said myers think really rattled buffetts cage however came back home california became even convinced pressing need remove klamath dams dont lot time left river already low shallow warm every day blue green algae river gets little worse explained go crescent city towns along coast heart goes fishermen whose boats tied dock salmon closure cant wait 20 years restore river dont time broad coalition klamath river indian tribes commercial fishing groups recreational angling organizations environmental groups pushing removal four pacificorp dams river coalition aims restore chinook salmon coho salmon steelhead historic spawning grounds klamath tributaries dams removal dams would open 300 miles klamath watershed anadromous fish first time 90 years training took place recreational salmon fishing ocean california oregon sport fishing central valley rivers closed first time ever year due collapse sacramento river fall chinook salmon run although year decline central valley salmon led closure two years ago commercial recreational fishing california southern oregon coast severely restricted decline klamath river fall run chinook salmon spurred huge klamath fish kills 2002 july pacificorp sent letter state california withdrawing water quality permit application surprising activists planning attend hearings regarding permit coming week activists hoping move sign agreement utility state federal agencies dam removal would reached soon dams come 300 miles klamath would opened anadromous fish first time 90 years information contact georgiana myers 7075990877 sregonladygmailcom klamath justice coalition group klamath basin community activists dedicated restoration klamath river removal pacificorps lower four klamath river dams good resources learning pacificorps destructive klamath dams found wwwklamathriverorg wwwsalmonforsavingscom wwwberkshireshareholderscom dan bacher reached danielbacherfishsniffercom 160 160 160 160 160 | 708 |
<p>The increasingly dangerous Afghanistan situation is worth analysis at two levels, that of the war itself, the ultimately doomed attempt by the United States to conquer the Taliban insurrection and impose a pro-American government, and the domestic political effect of Barack Obama’s misguided decision to replace “Bush’s war” in Iraq with “Obama’s war” in Afghanistan.</p>
<p>The former rested on the fiction that Saddam Hussein threatened the United States and Israel with weapons of mass destruction. The Afghan intervention is being promoted by the yet more extravagant fantasy that America and the world are potentially threatened by Taliban-controlled Pakistani nuclear weapons.</p>
<p>The recent political focus has been on the replacement of Gen. Stanley McChrystal with the man whose counterinsurgency policy he was supposed to be carrying out, Gen. David Petraeus, former chief of the U.S. Army’s Central Command and principal author of current American military doctrine on insurgent warfare.</p>
<p>This doctrine proposes defeating an insurgency by systematically clearing with regular troops a given area under insurgent domination, then establishing there, with the help of a “surge” of American civilian nation-builders, a new representative and responsive democratic political structure, while American troops, with local soldiers and police, move on to “take” another insurgent-held area so as to clear out the insurgents there.</p>
<p />
<p>This is classic anti-guerrilla warfare, employed by the U.S. in the Philippines in 1899-1902, in Vietnam in the later 1960s and 1970s, and as part of the “Sunni Awakening” movement in Iraq. It is totally dependent upon the political context in which it functions, which is largely hostile today in Afghanistan. The current object of American attention is the area of Marja, which Gen. McChrystal promised to clear and hold — bringing in a civilian “government in a box” to its welcoming inhabitants. Next was to be Kandahar, Afghanistan’s second-largest city. But U.S. forces opened the Marja box and found it contained nothing, and because the area has not yet been satisfactorily cleared, the Taliban have re-infiltrated.</p>
<p>The commentator Ray McGovern, a longtime CIA officer become critic of America’s contemporary wars, <a href="http://www.truth-out.org/obama-misses-afghan-exit-ramp60773" type="external">has suggested</a> (in the online magazine Truthout, June 25) that Gen. McChrystal’s seemingly foolhardy dalliance with a Rolling Stones left-wing journalist, leading to the general’s dismissal, may have actually been a calculated method to abandon what he had come to judge a sinking American ship in Afghanistan.</p>
<p>President Obama’s replacement of McChrystal with Gen. Petraeus astutely protected the president from Republican attack, but could also be seen, from the electoral perspective, as a double coup.</p>
<p>Both generals have in the past indicated presidential ambitions, and now McChrystal is disgraced and out, and if McChrystal’s supposed pessimism about the military situation is accurate, Petraeus, who formulated the Afghanistan strategy, is the man who will sink with the ship.</p>
<p>There will be no general to challenge the president unless McChrystal (who is said to have voted for Obama in 2008) were to offer himself to the Republicans in 2012. A general on his way to success, stabbed in the back by leftist journalists, jettisoned by a liberal administration composed of those un-American aliens-who-govern-us, ready to surrender to terrorism, strikes me as a more promising Republican presidential candidate than Sarah Palin, never convincing as a national candidate, and by 2012 hopelessly shopworn.</p>
<p>Afghanistan’s war now is out of America’s political control, even as tens of thousands of U.S. troops arrive, and the mammoth bases that have become essential to U.S. military operations are being constructed. They will be there when the Obama-ordered “top-to-bottom” policy review takes place in December. By then a great deal can have happened, as Afghan President Hamid Karzai pursues a political settlement with certain Taliban and other warlords and ethnic leaders in his country, and what’s left of the old Northern Alliance, and indirectly with Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency that has always been involved with the Taliban in Afghanistan. As for al-Qaida, it is now a phantom which manifests its existence chiefly in Washington think tanks and editorial offices. Afghanistan and Pakistan will do what is best for them.</p>
<p>The ambition among the most important of those who actually live in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and are unwilling to see both countries torn apart by an American war machine historically conditioned to function at full blast with maximum destruction, is what the head of Pakistan’s army staff, Gen. Ashfaq Kayani, calls a “grand national reconciliation” in Afghanistan (see the Paris daily Le Figaro, June 29). American troops, The New York Times tells us, are glad to see McChrystal gone because he relentlessly opposed indiscriminate use of airpower and artillery against peasant guerrillas, since blowing up the house and family of anyone who shoots at an American is much the safest way for infantry to advance, but does not make citizens friendly.</p>
<p>Higher military and political ranks in Washington remain obsessed with Afghanistan’s strategic position and resources, and with the danger of Pakistan, with its own Taliban domestic threat, its nuclear weapons, and its huge and intensely nationalistic army which, by and large, hates and fears the United States. This could explode into a new war should the United States move into Pakistan territory in its quest to kill “violent extremists” and control nuclear weapons. <a href="http://www.nationalinterest.org/General.aspx?id=92&amp;id2=23214" type="external">Anatol Lieven’s article</a> on Pakistan, which he knows well, in the May-June issue of The National Interest magazine, is essential reading.</p>
<p>Barack Obama’s “right war” points toward an even bigger disaster.</p>
<p>The only solution is for Obama to keep his promise to leave Afghanistan in 2011 — at the latest.</p>
<p>Visit William Pfaff’s website for more on his latest book, “The Irony of Manifest Destiny: The Tragedy of America’s Foreign Policy,” at <a href="http://www.williampfaff.com" type="external">www.williampfaff.com</a>.</p>
<p>© 2010 Tribune Media Services, Inc.</p> | true | 4 | increasingly dangerous afghanistan situation worth analysis two levels war ultimately doomed attempt united states conquer taliban insurrection impose proamerican government domestic political effect barack obamas misguided decision replace bushs war iraq obamas war afghanistan former rested fiction saddam hussein threatened united states israel weapons mass destruction afghan intervention promoted yet extravagant fantasy america world potentially threatened talibancontrolled pakistani nuclear weapons recent political focus replacement gen stanley mcchrystal man whose counterinsurgency policy supposed carrying gen david petraeus former chief us armys central command principal author current american military doctrine insurgent warfare doctrine proposes defeating insurgency systematically clearing regular troops given area insurgent domination establishing help surge american civilian nationbuilders new representative responsive democratic political structure american troops local soldiers police move take another insurgentheld area clear insurgents classic antiguerrilla warfare employed us philippines 18991902 vietnam later 1960s 1970s part sunni awakening movement iraq totally dependent upon political context functions largely hostile today afghanistan current object american attention area marja gen mcchrystal promised clear hold bringing civilian government box welcoming inhabitants next kandahar afghanistans secondlargest city us forces opened marja box found contained nothing area yet satisfactorily cleared taliban reinfiltrated commentator ray mcgovern longtime cia officer become critic americas contemporary wars suggested online magazine truthout june 25 gen mcchrystals seemingly foolhardy dalliance rolling stones leftwing journalist leading generals dismissal may actually calculated method abandon come judge sinking american ship afghanistan president obamas replacement mcchrystal gen petraeus astutely protected president republican attack could also seen electoral perspective double coup generals past indicated presidential ambitions mcchrystal disgraced mcchrystals supposed pessimism military situation accurate petraeus formulated afghanistan strategy man sink ship general challenge president unless mcchrystal said voted obama 2008 offer republicans 2012 general way success stabbed back leftist journalists jettisoned liberal administration composed unamerican alienswhogovernus ready surrender terrorism strikes promising republican presidential candidate sarah palin never convincing national candidate 2012 hopelessly shopworn afghanistans war americas political control even tens thousands us troops arrive mammoth bases become essential us military operations constructed obamaordered toptobottom policy review takes place december great deal happened afghan president hamid karzai pursues political settlement certain taliban warlords ethnic leaders country whats left old northern alliance indirectly pakistans interservices intelligence agency always involved taliban afghanistan alqaida phantom manifests existence chiefly washington think tanks editorial offices afghanistan pakistan best ambition among important actually live afghanistan pakistan unwilling see countries torn apart american war machine historically conditioned function full blast maximum destruction head pakistans army staff gen ashfaq kayani calls grand national reconciliation afghanistan see paris daily le figaro june 29 american troops new york times tells us glad see mcchrystal gone relentlessly opposed indiscriminate use airpower artillery peasant guerrillas since blowing house family anyone shoots american much safest way infantry advance make citizens friendly higher military political ranks washington remain obsessed afghanistans strategic position resources danger pakistan taliban domestic threat nuclear weapons huge intensely nationalistic army large hates fears united states could explode new war united states move pakistan territory quest kill violent extremists control nuclear weapons anatol lievens article pakistan knows well mayjune issue national interest magazine essential reading barack obamas right war points toward even bigger disaster solution obama keep promise leave afghanistan 2011 latest visit william pfaffs website latest book irony manifest destiny tragedy americas foreign policy wwwwilliampfaffcom 2010 tribune media services inc | 544 |
<p>Your grandmother, born to slavery, married a full-blood Mohawk who’d served as a scout, cook and gravedigger for the Union Army.</p>
<p>Your father died during his first week in the first War to End All Wars, which was about to end anyway. Your mother named you Dread, after Dred Scott and the pain of life.</p>
<p>When you were four years old your mother married, Kurt, who wore a suit, made money, and let you call him “Dad.” When you were eight, Kurt and your mother had your little brother, Manley. The Depression came. Kurt stopped wearing a suit, stopped making money, started drinking. He smelled bad and beat on you, Manley, and especially your mother. You weren’t too upset when Kurt was stabbed to death in a poker game.</p>
<p>It fell upon you and your mother to bring in money. You worked odd jobs for whatever legitimate businesses would hire you, usually for the day, served as a “mule” for drug dealers, stole whatever food and necessities you needed to get by. Your mother took in white peoples’ laundry until your brother was old enough to spend the days with other children — their crowded street games a security tactic; in unity, strength — and the nights with you. She then stayed overnight six days a week cleaning a white family’s house and raising their kids.</p>
<p>You swept roads and streets under the WPA program then managed to survive the second War to End all Wars from Pearl Harbor to Nagasaki, cleaning and cooking for white officers, at first, then fighting German white people overseas.</p>
<p>After the war you were hired to cook for the same Harlem restaurant you’d work for for the next forty years (even when it became an “institution,” serving soul food to white Columbia students, poets, and professors, and downtown artists and musicians from the late 50s to early 70s when the clientèle became black again).</p>
<p>After the war you married a young teacher named Sara, who bore your first son exactly five years after Hiroshima and a few months before your little brother Manley was killed in Korea.</p>
<p>Your first son, Blake, was killed in Vietnam; your wife grew ill. Though your second son, Michael, came back physically unharmed, the war had done things to his head. During his short migration from prescription painkillers provided by the VA for the pain in his head, to sniffing, then shooting heroin, his girlfriend had two beautiful daughters by him, one a straight A student, the younger one not brilliant but bright enough to become a nurse. She cared for your wife, who died without health insurance, leaving you alone, sad, angry and confused. Your older granddaughter went to Harvard to study Law, and the nurse went into the Army to pay them back for putting her through school.</p>
<p>There weren’t many wounded Americans in this first war against Saddam, and most of the Iraqis were killed by planes and helicopters well before she reached them. She came home to work in a VA hospital. She had a child with a Drinker.</p>
<p>You knew enough about drinkers to predict the beatings she and the child would receive, but you could not predict the illness that forced her from her the Army, her job, and made her weak and tired of life at age 23 (the Drinker left when she could no longer support him). Her sister, a lawyer now, sent money, and you helped by renting two rooms of the apartment you’d spent your life in to two men your age. You quit the restaurant to spend the days looking after the baby until he was old enough for school.</p>
<p>Your grand-daughter the lawyer wrote letters asking why the Army would not admit to any such thing as Gulf War Syndrome, nor pay those who suffered from it, like her sister, disability or retribution or something. The Army answered all of her letters politely by saying nothing.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, your great-grandson, who could no longer be contained in the house by you or his sick mother, joined a gang, and in a few years was arrested for activities involving the gang, activities which could not be prooved, but, as the boy sharply noted, he was ultimately guilty of being part of a huge gang called “N–” He had a quick wit, but the authorities narrowed his life to two choices: jail, or the Marines. He chose to be shipped off to Iraq, where his mother had gotten sick, and he was killed.</p>
<p>You and your grand-daughter, the lawyer, took his body from the secretive military and had it buried and services performed. His mother was too weak, sick, stricken to attend.</p>
<p>So here you are, 89 years old on this hot May afternoon, on your way to the apartment of a guy known as “Medicine Man” for making two or three trips a week to Canada — depending on demand — for groups of mostly older folks who pay him to pick up their medicines cheap. Even with the sizable cut he takes, its cheaper than buying it from the supermarket drugstore and pharmacy chains.</p>
<p>You are approached by two young white men — late twenties — in expensive suits and corporate hair-cuts.</p>
<p>“Hey nigga! Hey dude!”</p>
<p>Your anger like a bullet ricochets off the walls of your skull.</p>
<p>Then you notice their Columbia class rings, six years old. They must have come back to alma mater to celebrate the current graduation or get together with old Frat brothers or who the hell knows what. Booze on their breath, fear in their eyes. Must have learned that talk from the rap albums they’d been listening to since high school. Drank too much and crossed the park for weed. Liquid courage dare cross Morning Side Park like in the Old Days, before the suits and haircuts and graduation rings. Before whatever cubicles imprisoned them. You want to punch their pink faces to pulp and explain to them that the “N-word” is no longer allowed to leave white mouths, for it was seized by black people long ago. Instead, you laugh out loud, for the first time in what seems many years.</p>
<p>Here, in America, Land of the Free, two young, clean-cut white men in expensive suits and Ivy League rings have to skulk around the region of their worst nightmares, a hot day in Harlem full of the angry black folk their parents and schools and TV programs had warned them about all their soft lives, just to buy a bag of herb. Weed. Dried up leaves of hemp.</p>
<p>“God Bless America,” you say as you brush past them on your way to “Medicine Man.”</p>
<p>“Hey, wait a minute,” they call after you. “Sir? Sir? We just wanna score a coupla joints. Sir?”</p>
<p>“I don’t smoke,” you call over your shoulder. “Bad for your health. Like being white and racist on 119th and Lex.”</p>
<p>ADAM ENGEL can be reached at: <a href="mailto:bartleby.samsa@verizon.net" type="external">bartleby.samsa@verizon.net</a></p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | grandmother born slavery married fullblood mohawk whod served scout cook gravedigger union army father died first week first war end wars end anyway mother named dread dred scott pain life four years old mother married kurt wore suit made money let call dad eight kurt mother little brother manley depression came kurt stopped wearing suit stopped making money started drinking smelled bad beat manley especially mother werent upset kurt stabbed death poker game fell upon mother bring money worked odd jobs whatever legitimate businesses would hire usually day served mule drug dealers stole whatever food necessities needed get mother took white peoples laundry brother old enough spend days children crowded street games security tactic unity strength nights stayed overnight six days week cleaning white familys house raising kids swept roads streets wpa program managed survive second war end wars pearl harbor nagasaki cleaning cooking white officers first fighting german white people overseas war hired cook harlem restaurant youd work next forty years even became institution serving soul food white columbia students poets professors downtown artists musicians late 50s early 70s clientèle became black war married young teacher named sara bore first son exactly five years hiroshima months little brother manley killed korea first son blake killed vietnam wife grew ill though second son michael came back physically unharmed war done things head short migration prescription painkillers provided va pain head sniffing shooting heroin girlfriend two beautiful daughters one straight student younger one brilliant bright enough become nurse cared wife died without health insurance leaving alone sad angry confused older granddaughter went harvard study law nurse went army pay back putting school werent many wounded americans first war saddam iraqis killed planes helicopters well reached came home work va hospital child drinker knew enough drinkers predict beatings child would receive could predict illness forced army job made weak tired life age 23 drinker left could longer support sister lawyer sent money helped renting two rooms apartment youd spent life two men age quit restaurant spend days looking baby old enough school granddaughter lawyer wrote letters asking army would admit thing gulf war syndrome pay suffered like sister disability retribution something army answered letters politely saying nothing meanwhile greatgrandson could longer contained house sick mother joined gang years arrested activities involving gang activities could prooved boy sharply noted ultimately guilty part huge gang called n quick wit authorities narrowed life two choices jail marines chose shipped iraq mother gotten sick killed granddaughter lawyer took body secretive military buried services performed mother weak sick stricken attend 89 years old hot may afternoon way apartment guy known medicine man making two three trips week canada depending demand groups mostly older folks pay pick medicines cheap even sizable cut takes cheaper buying supermarket drugstore pharmacy chains approached two young white men late twenties expensive suits corporate haircuts hey nigga hey dude anger like bullet ricochets walls skull notice columbia class rings six years old must come back alma mater celebrate current graduation get together old frat brothers hell knows booze breath fear eyes must learned talk rap albums theyd listening since high school drank much crossed park weed liquid courage dare cross morning side park like old days suits haircuts graduation rings whatever cubicles imprisoned want punch pink faces pulp explain nword longer allowed leave white mouths seized black people long ago instead laugh loud first time seems many years america land free two young cleancut white men expensive suits ivy league rings skulk around region worst nightmares hot day harlem full angry black folk parents schools tv programs warned soft lives buy bag herb weed dried leaves hemp god bless america say brush past way medicine man hey wait minute call sir sir wan na score coupla joints sir dont smoke call shoulder bad health like white racist 119th lex adam engel reached bartlebysamsaverizonnet 160 160 | 642 |
<p>Donna Brazile. ( <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/qwrrty/30219832340/in/photolist-N3qxj5-KjrArL-JTCfT3-KaK9VT-qAmNqX-pVMqiw-pVMqSC-qAd7Ld-qAd7QG-qSMtAV-qQuzWh-qQuyaS-qAmJ9v-qQuxpU-pVMm2f-qAe8wS-qAe9WL-qQuwPL-pVMpdf-qQuy8Y-d5ULqm-qSCkw2-qQuwD5-qSMuHK-qQuzy3-qSCn7g-qSH4pJ-qQuwGb-qQuzUJ-qAe62m-qQuzLN-qAd9FL-pW1hFR-pW1iq6-qSMxAZ-qSCmLX-pVMkUG-pW1g6M-qAe6kh-pVMmu9-qQuyMJ-qAe5ds-qAe6CS-pW1geT-qAmH7F-d8Xx5G-qSH2UQ-qSCjzx-d8XB4A-pW1i7k" type="external">Tim Pierce / CC 2.0</a>)</p>
<p>Update: Monday, 12:45 p.m. PDT:</p>
<p>Donna Brazile, who was named interim chair of the Democratic National Committee in July, has resigned from CNN in the wake of new WikiLeaks revelations pointing to an abuse of power.</p>
<p>The WikiLeaks emails reveal that Brazile sent a designated debate question to Hillary Clinton ahead of a debate with Bernie Sanders earlier this year. According to WikiLeaks, on March 5, Brazile—at the time a CNN commentator (she was placed on leave after she was named interim DNC chair in July)— <a href="https://wikileaks.org/podesta-emails/emailid/38478" type="external">sent the following email</a> to John Podesta, chairman of the Clinton presidential campaign:</p>
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<p>From:donna@brazileassociates.com To: john.podesta@gmail.com, jpalmieri@hillaryclinton.com Date: 2016-03-05 21:16 Subject: One of the questions directed to HRC tomorrow is from a woman with a rash Her family has lead poison and she will ask what, if anything, will Hillary do as president to help the ppl of Flint. Folks, I did a service project today. It’s so tragic. And what’s worse, some homes have not been tested and it’s important to encourage seniors to also get tested.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://wikileaks.org/podesta-emails/emailid/39807" type="external">follow-up email</a> on a town hall question related to the death penalty (more information below) also revealed that Brazile would divulge more CNN questions to the Clinton camp. It also implicates Roland Martin, a journalist for TV One and the host of “News One Now.” Martin was co-moderator at the Sanders town hall when the question on the death penalty was asked. At the time of the WikiLeaks release, <a href="http://www.politico.com/blogs/on-media/2016/10/roland-martin-cnn-email-donna-brazile-wikileaks-229673" type="external">Martin first said</a> that he did not “share my questions with anybody. Literally. My executive producer wasn’t even aware of what I was going to ask.” He later admitted that, through his producer, he sent questions to CNN and his TV One team.</p>
<p>CNN issued <a href="https://www.politico.com/live-blog-updates/2016/10/john-podesta-hillary-clinton-emails-wikileaks-000011#postid=00000158-1b21-dc91-affc-3ba196dc0000" type="external">this statement Monday</a>:</p>
<p>On October 14th, CNN accepted Donna Brazile’s resignation as a CNN contributor. (Her deal had previously been suspended in July when she became the interim head of the DNC.) CNN never gave Brazile access to any questions, prep material, attendee list, background information or meetings in advance of a town hall or debate. We are completely uncomfortable with what we have learned about her interactions with the Clinton campaign while she was a CNN contributor.</p>
<p>In a message on Twitter, <a href="https://twitter.com/donnabrazile/status/793119360646643713" type="external">Brazile wrote</a>, “Thank you @CNN. Honored to be a Democratic Strategist and commentator on the network. Godspeed to all my former colleagues.”</p>
<p>CNN and Martin have made no statements regarding Martin’s role in the matter.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>Donna Brazile, interim chair of the Democratic National Committee, faces new scrutiny as evidence points to abuses of power.</p>
<p>Brazile’s alliance with the Hillary Clinton team looks to have started in 2008. In February of that year, while Clinton was running for president against Barack Obama, CNN political commentator and consultant Paul Begala wrote an email to the Clinton team saying that <a href="https://wikileaks.org/podesta-emails/emailid/27555" type="external">it should “court” Brazile.</a> At that time, during the primaries, Brazile refused to publicly endorse a candidate but worked closely with the Democratic National Committee (DNC). Until recently, she also worked for CNN and ABC News. Her close relationship with the Clinton camp has deepened over the years.</p>
<p>Evidence that Brazile would begin working to help Clinton is seen in <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/just-asking-donna-brazile-on-who-shes-for-post-racial-reality-and-the-best-cocktails-in-dc/2014/07/14/0d894928-f806-11e3-8aa9-dad2ec039789_story.html" type="external">an interview</a> she gave with Joe Heim of The Washington Post in 2014. She told Heim:</p>
<p>Technically, I’m neutral, but neutrality is something that gets you in trouble because, you ever notice someone who stands on the white line in the middle of the road? They get run over. And I don’t want to get run over. So I’m not neutral. I have to tell people that I’m neutral, but I’m ready for Hillary.</p>
<p>By the time this interview was conducted, she was already vice chair of the DNC. It is important to note that <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2989759-Impartiality-Clause-DNC-Charter-Bylaws-Art-5-Sec-4.html" type="external">article 5, section 4 of the DNC Charter</a> requires that the chairperson, national officers and staff of the DNC “maintain impartiality and evenhandedness during the Democratic Party Presidential nominating process.”</p>
<p>If the WikiLeaks emails are not falsified (and all evidence and history point to that being the case), this notion of impartiality was used by the Clinton camp, to its advantage, throughout the primary campaign.</p>
<p>In late October 2015, Adrienne K. Elrod, director of strategic communications and amplification for Hillary For America, sent out an email under the title “Bernie Pushback Update” that included a <a href="https://wikileaks.org/podesta-emails/emailid/21238" type="external">broadcasting strategy with the help of Brazile</a>. The plan was to have Brazile appear on TV in the guise of a “strategist” and call out rival Bernie Sanders’ campaign for having a “Bad Strategy.”</p>
<p>Elrod wrote: “All of our friends going out tonight post debate, including [former Michigan Gov. Jennifer] Granholm, Donna Brazile and [political consultant] Bill Burton, are ready to call Bernie’s team out if it comes up tonight.”</p>
<p>The email was a response to a <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-10-28/bernie-sanders-brain-trust-says-he-can-beat-hillary-clinton" type="external">critique</a> of Clinton by Sen. Sanders.</p>
<p>The reliance on Brazile for help appears to have continued into the new year. On Jan. 3, 2016, <a href="https://wikileaks.org/podesta-emails/emailid/5616" type="external">an email exchange</a> between John Podesta and Brazile titled “Happy New Year” went as follows:</p>
<p>Subject: Re: Happy New Year</p>
<p>On Jan 3, 2016, at 2:25 PM, John Podesta wrote: Wishing you a happy New Year. 2015 was challenging, but we ended in a good place thanks to your help and support. Look forward to working with you to elect the first woman President of the United States. &gt;&gt; Have a great New Year. &gt;&gt; -John</p>
<p>On Sunday, January 3, 2016, Donna Brazile wrote: As soon as the nomination is wrapped up, I will be your biggest surrogate.</p>
<p>On Jan 3, 2016, at 19:33 PM, John Podesta wrote: Thanks Donna. Holed up in the bunker and miss seeing you.</p>
<p>Two days after this exchange, Brazile let the Podesta team know that Sanders was planning to launch a Twitter campaign. The emails reveal that the impartiality clause in article 5, section 4 would be violated again and again.</p>
<p>On Feb. 2, she <a href="https://wikileaks.org/podesta-emails/emailid/25203" type="external">sent an email to Podesta</a> titled “Good Luck Tonight” and wrote “Shake things up. It’s going to be rough. Very rough.” This was the day before a <a href="https://hillaryspeeches.com/2016/02/03/watch-now-new-hampshire-democratic-town-hall-on-cnn/" type="external">town hall event</a> in which Clinton and Sanders would appear.</p>
<p>More damning is an <a href="https://wikileaks.org/podesta-emails/emailid/5205" type="external">email Brazile sent to Podesta</a> on March 12 titled “From Time to Time I Get The Questions In Advance.” In the email, she wrote, “Here’s one that worries me about HRC.” It was a question on the death penalty that was asked—verbatim—the following day at the town hall with Sanders.</p>
<p>Brazile <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2016/10/wikileaks-email-hack-clinton-donna-brazile-229609" type="external">released a statement</a> earlier this month after the Podesta emails revealed this exchange. “I often shared my thoughts with each and every campaign, and any suggestions that indicate otherwise are simply untrue,” Brazile said in the statement. “As it pertains to the CNN debates, I never had access to questions and would never have shared them with the candidates if I did.”</p>
<p>Perhaps the DNC could be forgiven by claiming they did not know Brazile had such deep ties to Clinton and her campaign. But on July 22, before the Podesta emails were revealed, WikiLeaks released more than 19,000 DNC emails. The revelations forced DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz to resign after evidence pointed to a heavy bias against Sanders. Brazile was chosen as interim chair, even though the DNC leaks revealed her potential bias.</p>
<p>In an email exchange, Abby Phillip of The Washington Post asked Brazile to <a href="https://wikileaks.org/dnc-emails/emailid/6807" type="external">respond to allegations</a> that the DNC was not giving adequate representation to the Sanders camp. Brazile’s response: “I have no intention of touching this. Why? Because I will cuss out the Sanders camp!”</p>
<p>In addition, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/10/19/two-democratic-operatives-lose-jobs-after-james-okeefe-sting/" type="external">new videos surfaced</a> last week from conservative activist James O’Keefe alleging that the Clinton camp and the DNC worked with influential Democratic operatives on dark campaign strategies against Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. The videos and allegations mostly center around interviews with Scott Foval and Robert Creamer. Foval was a Democratic operative and national field director for Americans United for Change. Creamer was a Democratic operative <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/21/us/politics/video-dnc-trump-rallies.html?_r=0" type="external">working for the DNC</a>, a consultant for Americans United for Chance, the founder and president of Democracy Partners and the husband of Illinois Rep. Jan Schakowsky.</p>
<p>In the videos, Foval talks about inciting confrontation and violence on behalf of the DNC and the Clinton campaign at Trump rallies. Foval is also seen talking about voter fraud schemes and is caught saying, “We manipulate the vote with money and action, not with laws.”</p>
<p>Creamer, who is also implicated throughout the videos, has a seemingly close relationship with President Obama. Since 2009, Creamer has visited the White House 342 times, including having made 40 visits to Obama himself. The videos also reveal that Creamer is well connected to the Clinton campaign; he boasts about talking on the phone with campaign operatives at 10:30 a.m. every day. The WikiLeaks documents confirm that they indeed had a close relationship.</p>
<p>Aaron Black, a DNC rapid response coordinator who worked under Foval, can also be seen taking credit for the shutdown of a Chicago rally for Trump in March. Trump had to <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/12/us/trump-rally-in-chicago-canceled-after-violent-scuffles.html" type="external">cancel his appearance</a> after violence broke out.</p>
<p>According to O’Keefe, one of the terms used for inciting this type of conflict is known as “bird-dogging.” Multiple Podesta emails make reference to this term. One <a href="https://wikileaks.org/podesta-emails/emailid/2175" type="external">email</a> written by Ilyse G. Hogue, director of political advocacy and communications at MoveOn.org, explained: “Our members are bird dogging Republican candidates in character all over the country. They dress up as execs from ‘RepubliCorp’ a not-so-fictitious merger between the Republican party and multi-national corporations and go to events.” However, the emails making reference to bird-dogging do not implicate the kind of violence that Foval does in the videos.</p>
<p>According to The Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/10/19/two-democratic-operatives-lose-jobs-after-james-okeefe-sting/" type="external">reports</a>: “Bird-dogging is a fairly common activist tactic, and reporters often recognize it when seemingly “perfect” questions come from a political audience.”</p>
<p>The videos also allege that Hillary Clinton herself had an idea to place people in Donald Duck costumes at every Trump and Pence rally. The video alleges that Clinton and the DNC wanted Americans United for Change to make this happen. According to O’Keefe, if the Clinton campaign and the DNC worked with the group, it would be an “illegal coordinated campaign expenditure” and a violation of Federal Election Commission (FEC) regulations. According to the video, the Clinton campaign and the DNC (including Brazile) talked on the phone with Creamer to coordinate where the “Donald Ducks” should be placed. Foval said any messages the “ducks” were carrying had to be cleared with the DNC. Creamer was asked why the DNC didn’t fund the project itself. He explained that the committee was worried about a trademark issue between Brazile and ABC, which is owned by Disney.</p>
<p>For some added context, O’Keefe has a history of sometimes editing videos in a way that misrepresent the story.</p>
<p>Since the videos were released, Foval has been fired from Americans United for Change and Creamer announced his resignation from the DNC.</p>
<p>Democracy Partners released this statement on Oct. 18, 2016:</p>
<p>Our firm has recently been the victim of a well-funded, systematic spy operation that is the modern day equivalent of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watergate_scandal" type="external">Watergate</a> burglars. The plot involved the use of trained operatives using false identifications, disguises and elaborate false covers to infiltrate our firm and others, in order to steal campaign plans, and goad unsuspecting individuals into making careless statements on hidden cameras. One of those individuals was a temporary regional subcontractor who was goaded into statements that do not reflect our values.</p>
<p>According to The Washington Post, neither man defended the “content of the videos,” but instead questioned the way the videos were edited and the impartiality and history of O’Keefe himself. You can watch the videos <a href="http://www.projectveritasaction.com/" type="external">here</a>.</p>
<p>After the third presidential debate last week, Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly <a href="http://www.thewrap.com/presidential-debate-wikileaks-hillary-clinton-megyn-kelly-donna-brazile-dnc-cnn/" type="external">grilled Brazile</a> over the allegations in the video and the WikiLeaks emails. Brazile refused to answer directly. Instead, she said she was being “persecuted” and that she wouldn’t “validate falsified information.” Asked if the videos were falsified, she dodged the question and Kelly pointed out that no one has come forward to question the videos’ legitimacy. Pressed regarding the WikiLeaks emails, Brazile responded: “… Thank God, I have not had my personal emails ripped off from me and stolen and given to some criminals to come back altered.” She added, “I have seen so many doctored emails. … I will not sit here and be persecuted, because your information is totally false.”</p>
<p>Robert Graham, from tech blog Errata Security, wrote that using a mechanism called DKIM he was able to prove that <a href="http://blog.erratasec.com/2016/10/yes-we-can-validate-wikileaks-emails.html#.WBJYPuErLR3" type="external">none of the emails was modified or doctored</a>.</p>
<p>You can watch the Kelly-Brazile interview below:</p>
<p>On Monday, Brazile appeared on Tavis Smiley’s talk show, continuing to spin the WikiLeaks emails. She refused to respond to the actual content, saying that the source of the leaks was “people who have proven to lie and manufacture stories” and that she was launching a cyber security task force. To date, none of the WikiLeaks releases in the past 10 years of publication (which include more than a million documents) ever has proved to be altered or false. Brazile asked Smiley, “How do you disprove a lie?” and repeatedly invoked Russia, claiming that the Russians were trying to sow “seeds of doubts into our entire election apparatus.” Resurrecting Cold War sentiment against Russia is not exclusive to Brazile. In fact, the Clinton camp has been doing plenty of this.</p>
<p>People have every right to fear a Trump presidency, but when Clinton talks about a no-fly zone in Syria and the DNC is pushing the theory that Russia is trying to undermine the U.S. election, questions must be asked. If the Podesta emails are real, one can see a long history of ulterior motives at play. As of now, Brazile remains the chair and face of the DNC and Clinton looks set to be our next president.</p> | true | 4 | donna brazile tim pierce cc 20 update monday 1245 pm pdt donna brazile named interim chair democratic national committee july resigned cnn wake new wikileaks revelations pointing abuse power wikileaks emails reveal brazile sent designated debate question hillary clinton ahead debate bernie sanders earlier year according wikileaks march 5 brazileat time cnn commentator placed leave named interim dnc chair july sent following email john podesta chairman clinton presidential campaign fromdonnabrazileassociatescom johnpodestagmailcom jpalmierihillaryclintoncom date 20160305 2116 subject one questions directed hrc tomorrow woman rash family lead poison ask anything hillary president help ppl flint folks service project today tragic whats worse homes tested important encourage seniors also get tested followup email town hall question related death penalty information also revealed brazile would divulge cnn questions clinton camp also implicates roland martin journalist tv one host news one martin comoderator sanders town hall question death penalty asked time wikileaks release martin first said share questions anybody literally executive producer wasnt even aware going ask later admitted producer sent questions cnn tv one team cnn issued statement monday october 14th cnn accepted donna braziles resignation cnn contributor deal previously suspended july became interim head dnc cnn never gave brazile access questions prep material attendee list background information meetings advance town hall debate completely uncomfortable learned interactions clinton campaign cnn contributor message twitter brazile wrote thank cnn honored democratic strategist commentator network godspeed former colleagues cnn martin made statements regarding martins role matter donna brazile interim chair democratic national committee faces new scrutiny evidence points abuses power braziles alliance hillary clinton team looks started 2008 february year clinton running president barack obama cnn political commentator consultant paul begala wrote email clinton team saying court brazile time primaries brazile refused publicly endorse candidate worked closely democratic national committee dnc recently also worked cnn abc news close relationship clinton camp deepened years evidence brazile would begin working help clinton seen interview gave joe heim washington post 2014 told heim technically im neutral neutrality something gets trouble ever notice someone stands white line middle road get run dont want get run im neutral tell people im neutral im ready hillary time interview conducted already vice chair dnc important note article 5 section 4 dnc charter requires chairperson national officers staff dnc maintain impartiality evenhandedness democratic party presidential nominating process wikileaks emails falsified evidence history point case notion impartiality used clinton camp advantage throughout primary campaign late october 2015 adrienne k elrod director strategic communications amplification hillary america sent email title bernie pushback update included broadcasting strategy help brazile plan brazile appear tv guise strategist call rival bernie sanders campaign bad strategy elrod wrote friends going tonight post debate including former michigan gov jennifer granholm donna brazile political consultant bill burton ready call bernies team comes tonight email response critique clinton sen sanders reliance brazile help appears continued new year jan 3 2016 email exchange john podesta brazile titled happy new year went follows subject happy new year jan 3 2016 225 pm john podesta wrote wishing happy new year 2015 challenging ended good place thanks help support look forward working elect first woman president united states gtgt great new year gtgt john sunday january 3 2016 donna brazile wrote soon nomination wrapped biggest surrogate jan 3 2016 1933 pm john podesta wrote thanks donna holed bunker miss seeing two days exchange brazile let podesta team know sanders planning launch twitter campaign emails reveal impartiality clause article 5 section 4 would violated feb 2 sent email podesta titled good luck tonight wrote shake things going rough rough day town hall event clinton sanders would appear damning email brazile sent podesta march 12 titled time time get questions advance email wrote heres one worries hrc question death penalty askedverbatimthe following day town hall sanders brazile released statement earlier month podesta emails revealed exchange often shared thoughts every campaign suggestions indicate otherwise simply untrue brazile said statement pertains cnn debates never access questions would never shared candidates perhaps dnc could forgiven claiming know brazile deep ties clinton campaign july 22 podesta emails revealed wikileaks released 19000 dnc emails revelations forced dnc chair debbie wasserman schultz resign evidence pointed heavy bias sanders brazile chosen interim chair even though dnc leaks revealed potential bias email exchange abby phillip washington post asked brazile respond allegations dnc giving adequate representation sanders camp braziles response intention touching cuss sanders camp addition new videos surfaced last week conservative activist james okeefe alleging clinton camp dnc worked influential democratic operatives dark campaign strategies republican presidential nominee donald trump videos allegations mostly center around interviews scott foval robert creamer foval democratic operative national field director americans united change creamer democratic operative working dnc consultant americans united chance founder president democracy partners husband illinois rep jan schakowsky videos foval talks inciting confrontation violence behalf dnc clinton campaign trump rallies foval also seen talking voter fraud schemes caught saying manipulate vote money action laws creamer also implicated throughout videos seemingly close relationship president obama since 2009 creamer visited white house 342 times including made 40 visits obama videos also reveal creamer well connected clinton campaign boasts talking phone campaign operatives 1030 every day wikileaks documents confirm indeed close relationship aaron black dnc rapid response coordinator worked foval also seen taking credit shutdown chicago rally trump march trump cancel appearance violence broke according okeefe one terms used inciting type conflict known birddogging multiple podesta emails make reference term one email written ilyse g hogue director political advocacy communications moveonorg explained members bird dogging republican candidates character country dress execs republicorp notsofictitious merger republican party multinational corporations go events however emails making reference birddogging implicate kind violence foval videos according washington post reports birddogging fairly common activist tactic reporters often recognize seemingly perfect questions come political audience videos also allege hillary clinton idea place people donald duck costumes every trump pence rally video alleges clinton dnc wanted americans united change make happen according okeefe clinton campaign dnc worked group would illegal coordinated campaign expenditure violation federal election commission fec regulations according video clinton campaign dnc including brazile talked phone creamer coordinate donald ducks placed foval said messages ducks carrying cleared dnc creamer asked dnc didnt fund project explained committee worried trademark issue brazile abc owned disney added context okeefe history sometimes editing videos way misrepresent story since videos released foval fired americans united change creamer announced resignation dnc democracy partners released statement oct 18 2016 firm recently victim wellfunded systematic spy operation modern day equivalent watergate burglars plot involved use trained operatives using false identifications disguises elaborate false covers infiltrate firm others order steal campaign plans goad unsuspecting individuals making careless statements hidden cameras one individuals temporary regional subcontractor goaded statements reflect values according washington post neither man defended content videos instead questioned way videos edited impartiality history okeefe watch videos third presidential debate last week fox news anchor megyn kelly grilled brazile allegations video wikileaks emails brazile refused answer directly instead said persecuted wouldnt validate falsified information asked videos falsified dodged question kelly pointed one come forward question videos legitimacy pressed regarding wikileaks emails brazile responded thank god personal emails ripped stolen given criminals come back altered added seen many doctored emails sit persecuted information totally false robert graham tech blog errata security wrote using mechanism called dkim able prove none emails modified doctored watch kellybrazile interview monday brazile appeared tavis smileys talk show continuing spin wikileaks emails refused respond actual content saying source leaks people proven lie manufacture stories launching cyber security task force date none wikileaks releases past 10 years publication include million documents ever proved altered false brazile asked smiley disprove lie repeatedly invoked russia claiming russians trying sow seeds doubts entire election apparatus resurrecting cold war sentiment russia exclusive brazile fact clinton camp plenty people every right fear trump presidency clinton talks nofly zone syria dnc pushing theory russia trying undermine us election questions must asked podesta emails real one see long history ulterior motives play brazile remains chair face dnc clinton looks set next president | 1,329 |
<p>NATO’s brutal military alliance has become the most perfidious instrument of repression known in the history of humankind.</p>
<p>NATO took on that global repressive role as soon as the USSR, which had served the United States as an excuse for its creation, ceased to exist.&#160; Its criminal purpose became obvious in Serbia, a Slavic country, whose people had so heroically fought against Nazi troops in WW II.</p>
<p>When in March of 1999 the countries of this ill-fated organization, in its efforts to disintegrate Yugoslavia after the death of Josip Broz Tito, sent their troops in support of the Kosovar secessionists, they ran into strong resistance from that nation whose experienced forces were still intact.</p>
<p>The Yankee administration, advised by the Spanish right-wing government of José María Aznar, attacked the Serbian TV stations, the bridges over the Danube River and Belgrade, that country’s capital.&#160; The embassy of the People’s Republic of China was destroyed by Yankee bombs, several of the officials died and there could not have been any error as the authors alleged. Many Serbian patriots lost their lives.&#160; President Slobodan Miloševiс, overwhelmed by the power of the aggressors and the disappearance of the USSR, ceded to NATO demands and admitted to the presence of that alliance’s troops in Kosovo under the UN mandate; this finally led to his political downfall and subsequent trial by The Hague courts which were less than impartial.&#160; He died a strange death in prison.&#160; Had the Serbian leader resisted a few more days, NATO would have entered into a serious crisis which was on the point of exploding.&#160; The empire thus had much more time to impose its hegemony among the every more subordinated members of that organization.</p>
<p>Between February 21st and April 27th of this year, I published nine Reflections on the subject on the CubaDebate website; in them I amply dealt with NATO’s role in Libya and what, in my opinion, was going to happen.</p>
<p>Therefore I find myself obliged to synthesize the essential ideas that I put forth, and the events that have been happening as foreseen, just that now the central figure in that story, Muammar Al-Gaddafi, was seriously wounded by the most modern NATO fighter-bombers which intercepted and incapacitated his vehicle, he was captured while still alive and murdered by men that organization had armed.</p>
<p>His body has been kidnapped and exhibited as a trophy of war, conduct that violates the most basic principles of the norms of Muslim and other religious beliefs in the world. It is being announced that very soon Libya shall be declared a “democratic state and defender of human rights.”</p>
<p>A little over eight months ago, on February 21st of this year, I stated with complete conviction: “The NATO plan is to occupy Libya”.&#160; With that title I dealt with the subject for the first time in a Reflection whose content seemed to be the product of a fantasy.</p>
<p>I include in these lines the elements for the opinion that led me to that conclusion.</p>
<p>“Oil has become the principal wealth in the hands of the great Yankee transnationals; through this energy source they had an instrument that considerably expanded their political power in the world.”</p>
<p>“Upon this energy source today’s civilization was developed.&#160; Venezuela was the nation in this hemisphere that paid the highest price.&#160; The United States became the lord and master of the huge oil fields that Mother Nature had bestowed upon that sister country.”</p>
<p>“At the end of the last World War, it started to extract greater amounts of oil from the oil fields of Iran, as well as those in Saudi Arabia, Iraq and the Arab countries located around them.&#160; These became the main suppliers.&#160; World consumption progressively increased to the fabulous figure of approximately 80 million barrels a day, including those being extracted on United States territory, to which later gas, hydro and nuclear energies were added.”</p>
<p>“The squandering of oil and gas is associated with one of the greatest tragedies, not in the least resolved, which is suffered by humankind: climate change.”</p>
<p>“In December of 1951, Libya becomes the first African country to attain its independence after WW II, during which its territory was the stage for important battles between the troops of Germany and the United Kingdom…”</p>
<p>“Ninety-five percent of its territory is completely made up of desert.&#160; Technology permitted the discovery of vital oilfields of excellent quality light oil that today reach one million 800 thousand barrels a day along with abundant deposits of natural gas.&#160;[…] Its harsh desert is located over an enormous lake of fossil waters, equivalent to more than three times the land area of Cuba; this has made it possible to construct a broad network of pipelines of fresh water that stretch from one end of the country to the other.”</p>
<p>“The Libyan Revolution took place in the month of September of the year 1969. Its main leader was Muammar al-Gaddafi, a soldier of Bedouin origin who, in his early years, was inspired by the ideas of the Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser.&#160; Without any doubt, many of his decisions are associated with the changes that were produced when, as in Egypt, a weak and corrupt monarchy was overthrown in Libya.”</p>
<p>“One can agree with Gaddafi or not.&#160; The world has been invaded with all kinds of news, especially using the mass media.&#160; One has to wait the necessary length of time in order to learn precisely what is the truth and what are lies, or a mixture of events of every kind that, in the midst of chaos, were produced in Libya.&#160; For me, what is absolutely clear is that the government of the United States is not in the least worried about peace in Libya and it will not hesitate in giving NATO the order to invade that rich country, perhaps in a matter of hours or a few short days.”</p>
<p>“Those who with perfidious intentions invented the lie that Gaddafi was headed for Venezuela, just as they did yesterday afternoon on&#160; Sunday the 20th of February, today received an fitting response from Foreign Affairs Minister&#160; Nicolás Maduro…”</p>
<p>“As for me, I cannot imagine that the Libyan leader would abandon his country; escaping the responsibilities he is charged with, whether or not they are partially or totally false.”</p>
<p>“An honest person shall always be against any injustice being committed against any people in the world, and the worst of all, at this moment, would be to remain silent in the face of the crime that NATO is getting ready to commit against the Libyan people.”</p>
<p>“The leadership of that war-mongering organization has to do it.&#160; We must condemn it!”</p>
<p>At that early date I had realized something that was absolutely obvious.</p> | true | 4 | natos brutal military alliance become perfidious instrument repression known history humankind nato took global repressive role soon ussr served united states excuse creation ceased exist160 criminal purpose became obvious serbia slavic country whose people heroically fought nazi troops ww ii march 1999 countries illfated organization efforts disintegrate yugoslavia death josip broz tito sent troops support kosovar secessionists ran strong resistance nation whose experienced forces still intact yankee administration advised spanish rightwing government josé maría aznar attacked serbian tv stations bridges danube river belgrade countrys capital160 embassy peoples republic china destroyed yankee bombs several officials died could error authors alleged many serbian patriots lost lives160 president slobodan miloševiс overwhelmed power aggressors disappearance ussr ceded nato demands admitted presence alliances troops kosovo un mandate finally led political downfall subsequent trial hague courts less impartial160 died strange death prison160 serbian leader resisted days nato would entered serious crisis point exploding160 empire thus much time impose hegemony among every subordinated members organization february 21st april 27th year published nine reflections subject cubadebate website amply dealt natos role libya opinion going happen therefore find obliged synthesize essential ideas put forth events happening foreseen central figure story muammar algaddafi seriously wounded modern nato fighterbombers intercepted incapacitated vehicle captured still alive murdered men organization armed body kidnapped exhibited trophy war conduct violates basic principles norms muslim religious beliefs world announced soon libya shall declared democratic state defender human rights little eight months ago february 21st year stated complete conviction nato plan occupy libya160 title dealt subject first time reflection whose content seemed product fantasy include lines elements opinion led conclusion oil become principal wealth hands great yankee transnationals energy source instrument considerably expanded political power world upon energy source todays civilization developed160 venezuela nation hemisphere paid highest price160 united states became lord master huge oil fields mother nature bestowed upon sister country end last world war started extract greater amounts oil oil fields iran well saudi arabia iraq arab countries located around them160 became main suppliers160 world consumption progressively increased fabulous figure approximately 80 million barrels day including extracted united states territory later gas hydro nuclear energies added squandering oil gas associated one greatest tragedies least resolved suffered humankind climate change december 1951 libya becomes first african country attain independence ww ii territory stage important battles troops germany united kingdom ninetyfive percent territory completely made desert160 technology permitted discovery vital oilfields excellent quality light oil today reach one million 800 thousand barrels day along abundant deposits natural gas160 harsh desert located enormous lake fossil waters equivalent three times land area cuba made possible construct broad network pipelines fresh water stretch one end country libyan revolution took place month september year 1969 main leader muammar algaddafi soldier bedouin origin early years inspired ideas egyptian leader gamal abdel nasser160 without doubt many decisions associated changes produced egypt weak corrupt monarchy overthrown libya one agree gaddafi not160 world invaded kinds news especially using mass media160 one wait necessary length time order learn precisely truth lies mixture events every kind midst chaos produced libya160 absolutely clear government united states least worried peace libya hesitate giving nato order invade rich country perhaps matter hours short days perfidious intentions invented lie gaddafi headed venezuela yesterday afternoon on160 sunday 20th february today received fitting response foreign affairs minister160 nicolás maduro imagine libyan leader would abandon country escaping responsibilities charged whether partially totally false honest person shall always injustice committed people world worst moment would remain silent face crime nato getting ready commit libyan people leadership warmongering organization it160 must condemn early date realized something absolutely obvious | 592 |
<p>How to evaluate events in Syria and what to do? Syria borders on Turkey (north), Iraq (east), the Mediterranean (west), Lebanon (south and west), Israel (Golan Heights) and Jordan (south). Unlike the “humanitarian” intervention in Libya — now edging toward chaos&#160; — outside fiddling with Syrian destiny will have great costs</p>
<p>Syria’s strategic location and alliance with Iran means its internal violence could evolve from the regional to a larger stage. The West’s intervention formula, starting with a UN Security Council resolution condemning the regime, its killing of civilians and demanding President Bashar al-Assad step down, got derailed by Russian and Chinese vetoes.</p>
<p>The UN vote coincided with Syria’s attack on Homs, a Muslim Brotherhood stronghold like neighboring Hama, where in 1982 Hafez al-Assad, Bashar’s father, had wiped out 10,000 (Robert Fisk, veteran Middle East correspondent says 20,000) of his armed foes. The Brotherhood had rebelled against Assad’s ruling Alawite clique (a Shiite sect).</p>
<p>At a party in Damascus, in 2004, I asked a Syrian businessman to assess Hafez al-Assad’s ruthlessness.</p>
<p>“He didn’t kill enough of them.” He didn’t smile.</p>
<p>Did my face show my feeling of horror? Nearby party guests, members of Syria’s commercial elite nodded in agreement. These people had kids in Ivy League schools and wives who shopped in New York.</p>
<p>“How do you rule a country of Sunnis, Shias, Druze, Christians, and in 1982 even Jews?” another businessman asked. “Persuade religious fanatics to disarm and tolerate different beliefs? English settlers and black slaves made the United States. America had immense land to diffuse conflict – and still you had bloody civil war.</p>
<p>“Syria lived for Centuries under the Ottoman Empire [16th Century until 1920]! The League of Nations chose France to govern Syria The French divided city and country people, destroyed homes of suspected insurgents and punished entire villages for the actions of one man. And they bombed cities — even Damascus.”</p>
<p>I reflected on the businessmen’s words after US, French and British UN Ambassadors righteous perorations. All of them had bombed civilians.</p>
<p>I had asked my host about Bashar’s regime. He elbowed me to a corner. “Corrupt, undemocratic, clumsy,” He whispered. “But you can do business with them. Bush (referring to W) crazy democracy talk only encourages the fanatics who want power.”</p>
<p>A doctor, married to one of the businessman, wearing a in a low-cut dress, confronted me. “You poll people in Damascus and Aleppo. I would bet the majority wants to keep Assad. With him women wear comfortable clothes, get education, become doctors and have rights. Those Sunni fanatics in Hama want Syria to return to earlier Centuries, strip women of rights, deport Christians and probably kill the minority Alawites. What happened in Iran would look moderate compared to what would happen here.” (Conversation while filming SYRIA: BETWEEN IRAQ AND A HARD PLACE, 2004)</p>
<p>Eight years later, in January 2012, a YouGov Siraj poll showed 55% of Syrians wanted Assad to remain in power. But the majority was motivated by fear of civil war, not fondness for his regime, said the poll, funded by the Qatar Foundation. (Jonathan Steele Guardian, January 17, 2012).</p>
<p>Ironically, Qatar’s Emir had “just called for Arab troops to intervene” in Syria. Steele thought it was a “pity” that the poll was “ignored” by almost all western media outlets whose governments demanded Assad resign. The poll also showed the majority wanted free elections and more rights.</p>
<p>The US media’s context-free reporting offers simplified (distorted) presentations of Syria and Assad as representing another Libya and Qaddafi. The good guys (peaceful citizen protestors who hate dictatorship, joined by noble army deserters) fight the bad guys (the power-hungry President Assad and his army).</p>
<p>Headlines scream about very real daily violence occurring in several Syrian cities. Most news reports have attributed the killing of peaceful citizens almost exclusively to government forces.&#160; But in January Arab League monitors, from mostly Sunni countries eager to destroy the Syrian-Iran Alliance, saw armed “protesters” doing some of the Syria killing, un-reported by most US media.</p>
<p>“In Homs and Dera‘a, the Mission observed armed groups committing acts of violence against government forces, resulting in death and injury among their ranks. In certain situations, Government forces responded to attacks against their personnel with force. The observers noted that some of the armed groups were using flares and armour-piercing projectiles.”</p>
<p>“In Homs, Idlib and Hama, the Observer Mission witnessed … the bombing of a civilian bus, killing eight persons and injuring others, including women and children, and the bombing of a train carrying diesel oil… A fuel pipeline and some small bridges were also bombed.”</p>
<p>The Mission also “noted that many parties falsely reported that explosions or violence had occurred in several locations. When the observers went to those locations, they found that those reports were unfounded.”</p>
<p>The Mission also <a href="" type="external">witnessed armed attacks</a> against “Syrian security forces and citizens, causing the Government to respond with further violence. In the end, innocent citizens pay the price for those actions with life and limb.”</p>
<p>Peaceful protestors? UN Ambassador Susan Rice excluded these passages when she denounced Russia’s “willingness to sell out the Syrian people and shield a craven tyrant [Assad].” Secretary of State Clinton called Russia’s veto “a travesty.” Washington has used the veto 83 times, mostly on resolutions condemning Israeli actions. Now that Al-Qaeda supports the anti-Assad movement does US “disgust” got hurled at both sides?</p>
<p>In 2111, Saudi troops invaded Bahrain and killed unarmed protestors. US officials uttered no “disgust” sounds. Disgust applies to disobedient states. So, end the hypocrisy.</p>
<p>The West should not use “humanitarian” pretexts to intervene in Syrian affairs. But together with Russia and China they should stop outside arms shipments from entering Syria, and urge Assad to end government-backed violence.</p>
<p>Syria needs truly free elections and Syrians need to have basic rights. These include ending corruption — Assad cronies collect the money. Sincere parties – including Washington and Moscow — should welcome a chance to let peace and democracy actually work in an Arab country.</p>
<p>Saul Landau, an Institute for Policy Studies fellow, produced Will the Real Terrorist Please Stand Up (Cinema Libre Studio).&#160; CounterPunch published his Bush and Botox World.&#160;</p> | true | 4 | evaluate events syria syria borders turkey north iraq east mediterranean west lebanon south west israel golan heights jordan south unlike humanitarian intervention libya edging toward chaos160 outside fiddling syrian destiny great costs syrias strategic location alliance iran means internal violence could evolve regional larger stage wests intervention formula starting un security council resolution condemning regime killing civilians demanding president bashar alassad step got derailed russian chinese vetoes un vote coincided syrias attack homs muslim brotherhood stronghold like neighboring hama 1982 hafez alassad bashars father wiped 10000 robert fisk veteran middle east correspondent says 20000 armed foes brotherhood rebelled assads ruling alawite clique shiite sect party damascus 2004 asked syrian businessman assess hafez alassads ruthlessness didnt kill enough didnt smile face show feeling horror nearby party guests members syrias commercial elite nodded agreement people kids ivy league schools wives shopped new york rule country sunnis shias druze christians 1982 even jews another businessman asked persuade religious fanatics disarm tolerate different beliefs english settlers black slaves made united states america immense land diffuse conflict still bloody civil war syria lived centuries ottoman empire 16th century 1920 league nations chose france govern syria french divided city country people destroyed homes suspected insurgents punished entire villages actions one man bombed cities even damascus reflected businessmens words us french british un ambassadors righteous perorations bombed civilians asked host bashars regime elbowed corner corrupt undemocratic clumsy whispered business bush referring w crazy democracy talk encourages fanatics want power doctor married one businessman wearing lowcut dress confronted poll people damascus aleppo would bet majority wants keep assad women wear comfortable clothes get education become doctors rights sunni fanatics hama want syria return earlier centuries strip women rights deport christians probably kill minority alawites happened iran would look moderate compared would happen conversation filming syria iraq hard place 2004 eight years later january 2012 yougov siraj poll showed 55 syrians wanted assad remain power majority motivated fear civil war fondness regime said poll funded qatar foundation jonathan steele guardian january 17 2012 ironically qatars emir called arab troops intervene syria steele thought pity poll ignored almost western media outlets whose governments demanded assad resign poll also showed majority wanted free elections rights us medias contextfree reporting offers simplified distorted presentations syria assad representing another libya qaddafi good guys peaceful citizen protestors hate dictatorship joined noble army deserters fight bad guys powerhungry president assad army headlines scream real daily violence occurring several syrian cities news reports attributed killing peaceful citizens almost exclusively government forces160 january arab league monitors mostly sunni countries eager destroy syrianiran alliance saw armed protesters syria killing unreported us media homs deraa mission observed armed groups committing acts violence government forces resulting death injury among ranks certain situations government forces responded attacks personnel force observers noted armed groups using flares armourpiercing projectiles homs idlib hama observer mission witnessed bombing civilian bus killing eight persons injuring others including women children bombing train carrying diesel oil fuel pipeline small bridges also bombed mission also noted many parties falsely reported explosions violence occurred several locations observers went locations found reports unfounded mission also witnessed armed attacks syrian security forces citizens causing government respond violence end innocent citizens pay price actions life limb peaceful protestors un ambassador susan rice excluded passages denounced russias willingness sell syrian people shield craven tyrant assad secretary state clinton called russias veto travesty washington used veto 83 times mostly resolutions condemning israeli actions alqaeda supports antiassad movement us disgust got hurled sides 2111 saudi troops invaded bahrain killed unarmed protestors us officials uttered disgust sounds disgust applies disobedient states end hypocrisy west use humanitarian pretexts intervene syrian affairs together russia china stop outside arms shipments entering syria urge assad end governmentbacked violence syria needs truly free elections syrians need basic rights include ending corruption assad cronies collect money sincere parties including washington moscow welcome chance let peace democracy actually work arab country saul landau institute policy studies fellow produced real terrorist please stand cinema libre studio160 counterpunch published bush botox world160 | 666 |
<p>Photo: Matt Dunn</p>
<p />
<p>August 31, 2002, began as a day like any other in the lives of Patsy and Rick Spier. They were teaching school in West Papua, Indonesia, the latest posting in a series of international teaching jobs far away from their home in Denver. The long stays in isolated places worked for the Spiers “because we really liked each other,” Patsy says, recalling the years before the tragedy that transformed her into a citizen-lobbyist and an expert on the intricacies of U.S.-Indonesian relations.</p>
<p />
<p>That afternoon, the Spiers and eight other teachers working for a school operated by New Orleans-based Freeport-McMoRan Copper &amp; Gold decided, on a whim, to go on a picnic. Driving two SUVs with company markings, they wound their way deep into the mountaintop region where Freeport operates a huge mine that is patrolled by Indonesian soldiers on the company payroll. On their way back, they were ambushed by gunmen hiding alongside the road. “I saw two poofs and that’s when I was shot in my back,” recalls Spier, who almost bled to death. When the shooting was over, three people were dead: the school’s superintendent, another teacher, and Rick Spier.</p>
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<p>The incident’s aftermath has caused deep strains between Washington and Indonesia and triggered a battle of wills between President Bush—who considers the world’s largest Muslim nation a key ally in the war on terrorism—and his Republican allies in Congress. The outcome may depend on the Fed eral Bureau of Investigation and its probe of the ambush, in which the Indonesian army has emerged as a prime suspect.</p>
<p />
<p>Within 24 hours of the shootings, the ar my declared the crime the work of a separatist group that hopes to create an inde pendent state in West Papua. But that story fell apart after the local police chief announced that the evidence pointed toward the military itself. (One motive may have been revenge for Freeport’s decision to cut back payments to the army; two Freeport executives, who may have been the killers’ intended targets, had driven down the mining road just minutes before the Spier party passed by.) At a meeting in Bali last October, however, President Megawati Soekarnoputri told Bush she had seen no proof that the army was involved. A Freeport spokesman would not comment on the case except to say the company is “fully cooperating with the investigations.”</p>
<p />
<p>Spier, who is 47, retains the friendly and open air of the elementary school teacher she once was. But she hasn’t set foot in a classroom since the ambush; her job now is to serve as a de facto spokeswoman and advocate for the survivors. “I got back to Colorado on September 21, and on the 24th, I started calling people in the government,” she says. “It was like I knew how huge this was, how evil.” On her many trips to Washington, she has met twice with Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, as well as with senior officials in the State Department and the FBI, including FBI director Robert Mueller. Through her perseverance, she has kept the issue alive—and convinced many Republicans, as well as Democrats, to vote to link U.S. military aid to Indonesia to justice for the ambush victims. “It’s the only leverage we can use,” she says.</p>
<p />
<p>But Spier’s appeals have come at an awkward time for the administration, which is seeking to expand military ties with Indonesia despite its army’s reputation for brutality. In particular, the White House wants Congress to lift the restrictions on military training funds first imposed in 1991 in response to Indonesian army abuses in East Timor, the former Portuguese colony Indonesia invaded in 1975. Bush stepped up the pressure for cooperation after a series of bombings in Indonesia by groups linked to Al Qaeda.</p>
<p />
<p>In January 2003, following intense lobbying by administration officials, the Senate voted to fund the military training program. Then, as the year went on, Congress began hearing reports that the FBI’s probe was meeting strong resistance. Agents, for example, were allowed to interview Indonesian witnesses only when army officers were pres ent. “From what I understand, the answers have been pretty well rehearsed and scripted,” says Senator Wayne Allard (R-Colo.).</p>
<p />
<p>Last November, Allard, who has met with Spier several times, joined forces with Senator Russell Feingold (D-Wis.) to draft legislation prohibiting Indonesia from receiving the training funds until the State Department determines that the army has been cooperating with the FBI. Despite White House opposition, the amendment was expected to pass the Senate this spring—a remarkable victory for Spier, who says she has surprised even herself with her ability to work the system in Washington. In one telling incident, in October, President Bush told an Indonesian reporter that he was ready to go forward with full military ties with Indonesia because Congress had “changed their attitude” on military aid. Spier, in town to press for the Allard amendment, hit the phones. Six days later, the White House retracted Bush’s statement, saying that no new military programs had been approved. “They really backtracked,” says a congressional aide. “Patsy really set the wheels in motion.”</p>
<p />
<p>Still, the outcome of the matter is far from clear. Even if the FBI decides that the Indonesian military was responsible for the murders, it’s unlikely that Indonesia would turn over a senior officer for prosecution, and the military courts it has established to try army officers are widely viewed as ineffective. “What they do is, they allow a case to go to trial, but they will produce scapegoats,” says Ed McWilliams, a former political counselor in the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta and one of a handful of human rights activists in Washington focused on Indonesia. “In the past, we’ve gone along and allowed this to go forward. My concern is, this time it would be different, because [if not] we’d be conspiring in a case that involved the death of American citizens.”</p>
<p />
<p>That’s what keeps Spier focused. “Whoever did this was arrogant enough to think they could get away with it,” she says. “So what in God’s name are they doing to the villagers and the average Indonesian who doesn’t have a voice?”</p>
<p /> | true | 4 | photo matt dunn august 31 2002 began day like lives patsy rick spier teaching school west papua indonesia latest posting series international teaching jobs far away home denver long stays isolated places worked spiers really liked patsy says recalling years tragedy transformed citizenlobbyist expert intricacies usindonesian relations afternoon spiers eight teachers working school operated new orleansbased freeportmcmoran copper amp gold decided whim go picnic driving two suvs company markings wound way deep mountaintop region freeport operates huge mine patrolled indonesian soldiers company payroll way back ambushed gunmen hiding alongside road saw two poofs thats shot back recalls spier almost bled death shooting three people dead schools superintendent another teacher rick spier incidents aftermath caused deep strains washington indonesia triggered battle wills president bushwho considers worlds largest muslim nation key ally war terrorismand republican allies congress outcome may depend fed eral bureau investigation probe ambush indonesian army emerged prime suspect within 24 hours shootings ar declared crime work separatist group hopes create inde pendent state west papua story fell apart local police chief announced evidence pointed toward military one motive may revenge freeports decision cut back payments army two freeport executives may killers intended targets driven mining road minutes spier party passed meeting bali last october however president megawati soekarnoputri told bush seen proof army involved freeport spokesman would comment case except say company fully cooperating investigations spier 47 retains friendly open air elementary school teacher hasnt set foot classroom since ambush job serve de facto spokeswoman advocate survivors got back colorado september 21 24th started calling people government says like knew huge evil many trips washington met twice deputy secretary defense paul wolfowitz well senior officials state department fbi including fbi director robert mueller perseverance kept issue aliveand convinced many republicans well democrats vote link us military aid indonesia justice ambush victims leverage use says spiers appeals come awkward time administration seeking expand military ties indonesia despite armys reputation brutality particular white house wants congress lift restrictions military training funds first imposed 1991 response indonesian army abuses east timor former portuguese colony indonesia invaded 1975 bush stepped pressure cooperation series bombings indonesia groups linked al qaeda january 2003 following intense lobbying administration officials senate voted fund military training program year went congress began hearing reports fbis probe meeting strong resistance agents example allowed interview indonesian witnesses army officers pres ent understand answers pretty well rehearsed scripted says senator wayne allard rcolo last november allard met spier several times joined forces senator russell feingold dwis draft legislation prohibiting indonesia receiving training funds state department determines army cooperating fbi despite white house opposition amendment expected pass senate springa remarkable victory spier says surprised even ability work system washington one telling incident october president bush told indonesian reporter ready go forward full military ties indonesia congress changed attitude military aid spier town press allard amendment hit phones six days later white house retracted bushs statement saying new military programs approved really backtracked says congressional aide patsy really set wheels motion still outcome matter far clear even fbi decides indonesian military responsible murders unlikely indonesia would turn senior officer prosecution military courts established try army officers widely viewed ineffective allow case go trial produce scapegoats says ed mcwilliams former political counselor us embassy jakarta one handful human rights activists washington focused indonesia past weve gone along allowed go forward concern time would different wed conspiring case involved death american citizens thats keeps spier focused whoever arrogant enough think could get away says gods name villagers average indonesian doesnt voice | 585 |
<p>Photo by Udo | <a href="" type="internal">CC BY 2.0</a></p>
<p>The Stanford professor Mark Jacobson and his colleagues have written <a href="" type="internal">another paper</a> purporting to show that 100 percent of energy demand can be fulfilled by wind, solar, and hydroelectric generation. This latest study, which comes in the form of a manuscript accepted but not yet published by the journal Renewable Energy, seeks to show how that goal can be met in 139 nations.</p>
<p>Jacobson’s previous “100 percent renewable” papers have prompted other researchers to publish their own studies pointing out faulty technical assumptions and analyses that <a href="" type="internal">cast a shadow</a> over his claims. I expect that we will see technical critiques of Jacobson’s latest study as well published in coming weeks or months (if, that is, there are experts out there who are willing to risk being sued by Jacobson for questioning his results. He’s got one such <a href="https://eos.org/articles/scientific-row-over-renewables-leads-to-free-speech-legal-fight" type="external">sketchy lawsuit</a> in the courts already.)</p>
<p>But even if we disregard the technical weaknesses of claims that all future demand can be satisfied with renewable energy sources—even if we assume for the sake of argument that such rosy scenarios really are achievable—there will remain the problem of energy poverty. As I have <a href="" type="internal">noted</a>,</p>
<p>Billions of people around the world need more energy than they can afford, while billions of others can buy far more energy than is required to meet their needs. Global 100-percent renewable scenarios are based on these distortions; as a result, they typically aim to satisfy a worldwide per capita energy consumption that’s about one-eighth of what Americans consume. . . the 100-percent scenarios would leave in place huge gaps in consumption between affluent and poor communities, both among and within countries.</p>
<p>To quantify those distortions: Jan Christof Steckel and coworkers at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research <a href="" type="internal">have shown</a> that for societies to achieve satisfactory levels of human development, they must have energy capacity large enough to satisfy annual consumption of at least 40 gigajoules (GJ/yr) per capita, which translates as an average per capita flux of about 1300 Watts. (That fluctuates hour to hour, day to day, and place to place, and, according to Steckel and coauthors, it is a minimum for healthy development of a society.) But in their new manuscript, Jacobson and coauthors set their goals much lower than 1300 W for large parts of the world’s population. Here are the targets for per-capita consumption that they would try to meet with renewable energy in some of the continents, regions, and nations they examined:</p>
<p>South America:&#160;&#160; 1413 W Southeast Asia:&#160;&#160; 1007 W Africa: &#160; 625 W India:&#160;&#160;&#160; 755 W Haiti:&#160;&#160;&#160; 760 W Cuba:&#160;&#160;&#160; 705 W</p>
<p>(For comparison, the current U.S. average is 9500 W.)</p>
<p>In the context of Jacobson’s studies, these are presented as reasonable targets because he, like many other energy-scenario researchers, is forecasting that extremely rapid improvements in energy efficiency will reduce worldwide demand to a level that can be satisfied by renewable sources. These sunny forecasts assume that progress in information and communications technology (ICT), along with good old industrial technologies, will accelerate and spin off greater and greater efficiencies.</p>
<p>But there is <a href="" type="internal">plenty of doubt</a> about whether such historically unprecedented efficiency improvements can be achieved even in wealthy nations. And an <a href="" type="internal">analysis</a> by the ecological economist Mauro Bonaiuti shows that rather than accelerating, the marginal benefits of innovation in traditional industries are in long-term decline, while even those of the still-young ICT revolution are already fizzling.</p>
<p>Steckel and colleagues conclude that poor nations striving to achieve high levels of human development cannot at the same time achieve rapid improvements in energy efficiency. Even if consumer goods like stoves and refrigerators are made to run on less energy, they argue, the society-wide infrastructure improvements necessary for development (which involve a lot of inputs like cement and steel) are and will remain highly energy intensive. Low-income nations, even ones with a large economy and an affluent minority, cannot adequately raise their overall <a href="" type="internal">Human Development Index</a> if they are operating at only half of the 1300 W threshold, as Jacobson is asking India, Haiti, Cuba, and the whole continent of Africa to do.</p>
<p>(Beware of some Jacobson critics who, determined to save capitalism but cynically adopting the language of social justice, look at the inadequacy of the high-energy 100-percent renewable strategy and draw a suicidal conclusion: that the only acceptable alternative is a big rollout of nuclear power, carbon capture, and geoengineering.)</p>
<p>All nations, rich and poor, need to undergo a renewable energy conversion. But for the world’s poor majority to achieve good quality of life, energy supplies in poor nations must be not only converted but also increased. This will require massive assistance from the rich nations; perhaps those funds and resources can be regarded as partial payback of what Pope Francis <a href="" type="internal">has called</a> the “ecological debt … between the global north and south.”</p>
<p>Another complication: The wholesale conversion to wind and solar energy infrastructure, wherever it’s happening, will itself consume a lot of energy. Until the conversion is complete, the energy driving the transition <a href="" type="internal">will have to come</a> largely from fossil fuels. So supporting the energy-expansion-and-conversion effort in poor nations will put even heavier pressure on rich nations, which will already be struggling to build up their own renewable infrastructure on a crash schedule while simultaneously trying to shrink their overall energy footprint ( <a href="" type="internal">if they are really serious about reducing emissions</a>). The rich nations will need to offset those emissions created in the process of converting the worldwide energy supply by cutting their own energy use even more deeply.</p>
<p>For more than a decade, my colleagues and I writing for Green Social Thought have argued that the United States will need to reduce total energy generation by <a href="" type="internal">80 percent</a> if we are to run on wholly renewable energy, avoid runaway greenhouse warming, and help achieve adequate emissions reductions worldwide.</p>
<p>An 80-percent U.S. reduction would take us down into the neighborhood of 2000 W per capita, a quantity that according to the Steckel analysis, could support good quality of life (if, that is, it goes to meeting human needs and not toward capital accumulation). That level of demand could be met with 100-percent renewable energy. It also happens to be right around Mexico’s current per-capita consumption and close to the consumption that Jacobson and company are projecting for a future China. We could live with that.</p>
<p>Stan Cox (@CoxStan) is on the editorial board of <a href="http://GreenSocialThought.org" type="external">Green Social Thought</a>, where this article first appeared. &#160;He is author of ‘ <a href="https://thenewpress.com/books/any-way-you-slice-it" type="external">Any Way You Slice It</a>: The Past, Present, and Future of Rationing’ &#160;and three other books.</p> | true | 4 | photo udo cc 20 stanford professor mark jacobson colleagues written another paper purporting show 100 percent energy demand fulfilled wind solar hydroelectric generation latest study comes form manuscript accepted yet published journal renewable energy seeks show goal met 139 nations jacobsons previous 100 percent renewable papers prompted researchers publish studies pointing faulty technical assumptions analyses cast shadow claims expect see technical critiques jacobsons latest study well published coming weeks months experts willing risk sued jacobson questioning results hes got one sketchy lawsuit courts already even disregard technical weaknesses claims future demand satisfied renewable energy sourceseven assume sake argument rosy scenarios really achievablethere remain problem energy poverty noted billions people around world need energy afford billions others buy far energy required meet needs global 100percent renewable scenarios based distortions result typically aim satisfy worldwide per capita energy consumption thats oneeighth americans consume 100percent scenarios would leave place huge gaps consumption affluent poor communities among within countries quantify distortions jan christof steckel coworkers potsdam institute climate impact research shown societies achieve satisfactory levels human development must energy capacity large enough satisfy annual consumption least 40 gigajoules gjyr per capita translates average per capita flux 1300 watts fluctuates hour hour day day place place according steckel coauthors minimum healthy development society new manuscript jacobson coauthors set goals much lower 1300 w large parts worlds population targets percapita consumption would try meet renewable energy continents regions nations examined south america160160 1413 w southeast asia160160 1007 w africa 160 625 w india160160160 755 w haiti160160160 760 w cuba160160160 705 w comparison current us average 9500 w context jacobsons studies presented reasonable targets like many energyscenario researchers forecasting extremely rapid improvements energy efficiency reduce worldwide demand level satisfied renewable sources sunny forecasts assume progress information communications technology ict along good old industrial technologies accelerate spin greater greater efficiencies plenty doubt whether historically unprecedented efficiency improvements achieved even wealthy nations analysis ecological economist mauro bonaiuti shows rather accelerating marginal benefits innovation traditional industries longterm decline even stillyoung ict revolution already fizzling steckel colleagues conclude poor nations striving achieve high levels human development time achieve rapid improvements energy efficiency even consumer goods like stoves refrigerators made run less energy argue societywide infrastructure improvements necessary development involve lot inputs like cement steel remain highly energy intensive lowincome nations even ones large economy affluent minority adequately raise overall human development index operating half 1300 w threshold jacobson asking india haiti cuba whole continent africa beware jacobson critics determined save capitalism cynically adopting language social justice look inadequacy highenergy 100percent renewable strategy draw suicidal conclusion acceptable alternative big rollout nuclear power carbon capture geoengineering nations rich poor need undergo renewable energy conversion worlds poor majority achieve good quality life energy supplies poor nations must converted also increased require massive assistance rich nations perhaps funds resources regarded partial payback pope francis called ecological debt global north south another complication wholesale conversion wind solar energy infrastructure wherever happening consume lot energy conversion complete energy driving transition come largely fossil fuels supporting energyexpansionandconversion effort poor nations put even heavier pressure rich nations already struggling build renewable infrastructure crash schedule simultaneously trying shrink overall energy footprint really serious reducing emissions rich nations need offset emissions created process converting worldwide energy supply cutting energy use even deeply decade colleagues writing green social thought argued united states need reduce total energy generation 80 percent run wholly renewable energy avoid runaway greenhouse warming help achieve adequate emissions reductions worldwide 80percent us reduction would take us neighborhood 2000 w per capita quantity according steckel analysis could support good quality life goes meeting human needs toward capital accumulation level demand could met 100percent renewable energy also happens right around mexicos current percapita consumption close consumption jacobson company projecting future china could live stan cox coxstan editorial board green social thought article first appeared 160he author way slice past present future rationing 160and three books | 644 |
<p>Photo by Neil H | <a href="" type="internal">CC BY 2.0</a></p>
<p>A series of anti-nuclear weapons actions between March and August at Air Base Büchel in Germany brought widespread media attention to the 20 US nuclear weapons still deployed there. Surprising demands for the bombs’ removal soon came from high-ranking political leaders including Germany’s foreign minister. A timeline of events between July 12 and 18, involving a Nukewatch-organized delegation of 11 US peace activists, shows how the work may have moved the officials to speak out.</p>
<p>July 12 — Upon its arrival, four members of the US group held a press conference in Frankfurt accompanied by Marion Küpker, international coordinator for DFG-VK — Germany’s oldest anti-war group — and organizer of the five-month peace camp. News of the unprecedented US group was reported in the daily Frankfurt Journal (“Activists from the US land in Frankfurt: Campaign against US nuclear weapons”), the online magazine FOCUS (“Nuclear fighters receive support from the US”) and picked up around the country.</p>
<p>July 15 — Headlines like “Today in Büchel: Action day against nuclear weapons,” and “Konstantin Wecker sings for the peace,” was news across southwest Germany when the well known singer-songwriter drew about 400 to his performance near base’s main gates. The US delegates all spoke briefly to the gathering through interpreters.</p>
<p>July 17 — Five activists including four from the US snuck deep into the air base at night, clipping four chain-link fences, and climbed to the top of a large nuclear weapons bunker. The five went undetected on base for more than two hours, before they themselves alerted guards. Detained by military and civilian police, the group was released around 3 a.m. without charges, and none have been leveled.</p>
<p>July 26 — News of the “go-in” action reaching a bunker was reported widely. The daily Rhein-Zeitung’s headline used Nukewatch’s moniker: “‘Prison Gang’ Inspects Büchel Air Force Base — Peace movement claims five activists succeeded in penetrating the inner security area.” (The reference was to seven of the US delegates who have served a combined total of 36 years in jail and prison for anti-war actions.)</p>
<p>July 28 — Journalists asked experts and military officials in Berlin whether the go-in group got near the US “B61” thermo-nuclear bombs. Air Force headquarters in Berlin assured the press that “security had been maintained,” and this news went nation-wide. Yet the information center of the Air Force in Berlin did acknowledge the breach of security. One paper reported, “The Luftwaffe confirmed that on the night of 18 July, five persons were in the military security area of the airport, where they illegally gained access by cutting fences with cutting tools, RZ reported,” referring to the regional daily Rhein-Zeitung. Another widely reported story quoted, “Military expert [Otfried] Nassauer: ‘Prison Gang’ was probably not in the sensitive area of the Büchel airfield.”</p>
<p>July 29 — The daily paper of Nuremberg, with a circulation of 300,000, interviewed four of the US delegates and its article was headlined: “At night on the atom bunker” — Joint protest of peace activists from the region and the USA.”</p>
<p>August 7 — Public criticism of lax security at Büchel went national when the Green Party Bundestag Deputy (Member of Congress) Tabea Rössner openly lambasted the base for not stopping the fence-cutting action. Rössner’s call for an investigation prompted the headline: “Is Air Base Büchel just as safe as an amusement park?”</p>
<p>Accounts of Rössner’s statement, circulated widely on social media, reported, “The Greens demanded information about the safety situation at Büchel air base. The reason is an action by activists who entered the inner security area of the airbase.” Rössner’s statement said in part, “The federal government must fully explain the incident. If peace activists are in the inner security area of the Tactical Air Force squadron, Luftwaffe, Büchel, then that can mean only one thing: The security concept is more than bumbling.”</p>
<p>“This is not a trifle,” Rössner said, “even if those responsible would try to downplay the incident. It is more than frightening that at a time of significantly increased terror, the safety measures of such a site fall below the level of a theme park.”</p>
<p>August 22 — The US H-bombs then burst into the national election campaign when Martin Schulz, the head of the Social Democrat Party (SDP) and candidate for Chancellor in this month’s elections, unexpectedly called for the ouster of the US nuclear weapons. Reuters, the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, Politico and major German media reported, “German rival of Chancellor [Angela] Merkel vows to remove US nuclear weapons from the country,” “Searching for another point of difference, Schulz pledged on Aug. 22 to have US nuclear weapons withdrawn from German territory if, against the odds, he defeats Merkel,” and “Germany’s Schulz says he would demand US withdraw nuclear arms.” Schulz had said, “As chancellor, I’d push for the ejection of nuclear weapons stored in Germany.”</p>
<p>August 29 — Conservative politicians and editors attacked Schulz as uninformed or naive, but the criticism was short-lived when Germany’s Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel made a surprise endorsement of Schulz’s proposal. At a press conference with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in Washington, Gabrial joined Schulz’s call for withdrawal of the US weapons. The foreign minister’s surprise announcement included his blunt admission that, “I agreed with Mr. Schulz’s point that we need to get rid of the nuclear weapons that are in our country.” The news startled media around the world, which reported: “Foreign Minister joins call to withdraw US nukes from Germany,” and “German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel has supported Social Democrat (SPD) leader Martin Schulz’s pledge that he will push for the removal of US nuclear warheads from Germany if elected Chancellor.”</p>
<p>The International Business Times and the Financial Tribune online declared on Aug. 31, “Top German Politicians Want US Nuclear Weapons Out.” The papers noted that “Germany’s top diplomat has backed the suggestion of SPD leader and Chancellor hopeful Martin Schulz, who has pledged to rid his country of US nukes.”</p>
<p>To help the Germans see the permanent elimination of US nukes, the movement here has to generate enough push-back to cancel Congress’s plan to replace — instead of retire — the US H-bombs in Europe. Nixing the B61-12 plan would save at least $12 billion.</p> | true | 4 | photo neil h cc 20 series antinuclear weapons actions march august air base büchel germany brought widespread media attention 20 us nuclear weapons still deployed surprising demands bombs removal soon came highranking political leaders including germanys foreign minister timeline events july 12 18 involving nukewatchorganized delegation 11 us peace activists shows work may moved officials speak july 12 upon arrival four members us group held press conference frankfurt accompanied marion küpker international coordinator dfgvk germanys oldest antiwar group organizer fivemonth peace camp news unprecedented us group reported daily frankfurt journal activists us land frankfurt campaign us nuclear weapons online magazine focus nuclear fighters receive support us picked around country july 15 headlines like today büchel action day nuclear weapons konstantin wecker sings peace news across southwest germany well known singersongwriter drew 400 performance near bases main gates us delegates spoke briefly gathering interpreters july 17 five activists including four us snuck deep air base night clipping four chainlink fences climbed top large nuclear weapons bunker five went undetected base two hours alerted guards detained military civilian police group released around 3 without charges none leveled july 26 news goin action reaching bunker reported widely daily rheinzeitungs headline used nukewatchs moniker prison gang inspects büchel air force base peace movement claims five activists succeeded penetrating inner security area reference seven us delegates served combined total 36 years jail prison antiwar actions july 28 journalists asked experts military officials berlin whether goin group got near us b61 thermonuclear bombs air force headquarters berlin assured press security maintained news went nationwide yet information center air force berlin acknowledge breach security one paper reported luftwaffe confirmed night 18 july five persons military security area airport illegally gained access cutting fences cutting tools rz reported referring regional daily rheinzeitung another widely reported story quoted military expert otfried nassauer prison gang probably sensitive area büchel airfield july 29 daily paper nuremberg circulation 300000 interviewed four us delegates article headlined night atom bunker joint protest peace activists region usa august 7 public criticism lax security büchel went national green party bundestag deputy member congress tabea rössner openly lambasted base stopping fencecutting action rössners call investigation prompted headline air base büchel safe amusement park accounts rössners statement circulated widely social media reported greens demanded information safety situation büchel air base reason action activists entered inner security area airbase rössners statement said part federal government must fully explain incident peace activists inner security area tactical air force squadron luftwaffe büchel mean one thing security concept bumbling trifle rössner said even responsible would try downplay incident frightening time significantly increased terror safety measures site fall level theme park august 22 us hbombs burst national election campaign martin schulz head social democrat party sdp candidate chancellor months elections unexpectedly called ouster us nuclear weapons reuters los angeles times new york times politico major german media reported german rival chancellor angela merkel vows remove us nuclear weapons country searching another point difference schulz pledged aug 22 us nuclear weapons withdrawn german territory odds defeats merkel germanys schulz says would demand us withdraw nuclear arms schulz said chancellor id push ejection nuclear weapons stored germany august 29 conservative politicians editors attacked schulz uninformed naive criticism shortlived germanys foreign minister sigmar gabriel made surprise endorsement schulzs proposal press conference us secretary state rex tillerson washington gabrial joined schulzs call withdrawal us weapons foreign ministers surprise announcement included blunt admission agreed mr schulzs point need get rid nuclear weapons country news startled media around world reported foreign minister joins call withdraw us nukes germany german foreign minister sigmar gabriel supported social democrat spd leader martin schulzs pledge push removal us nuclear warheads germany elected chancellor international business times financial tribune online declared aug 31 top german politicians want us nuclear weapons papers noted germanys top diplomat backed suggestion spd leader chancellor hopeful martin schulz pledged rid country us nukes help germans see permanent elimination us nukes movement generate enough pushback cancel congresss plan replace instead retire us hbombs europe nixing b6112 plan would save least 12 billion | 672 |
<p>Mr. Bush finally spoke. And the Palestinian people, in spite of their experience with US foreign policy during the past fifty years, listened carefully, hoping that they would hear something new, something hopeful.</p>
<p>In their naïve optimism, they thought that maybe the US administration had modified slightly its anti-Palestinian policy. Or maybe, after all the visits and meetings and clarifications, it had reconsidered its foreign policy and could offer something balanced and morally just, on par with its acclaimed moral status in the international arena.</p>
<p>During those brief ten minutes, however, it became devastatingly clear that politics and policies are not the result of diplomatic courtesies or charming rhetoric exchanged politely around a negotiating table. Policies and politics are founded on the protection of the interests of the powerful (who will go to great lengths to maintain their power).</p>
<p>Mr. Bush and the US administration had a unique opportunity to regain some of the respect and credibility they had lost in front of the millions of people suffering from the oppression and injustice that result from the double-standards of US foreign policy. The simplistic “vision” for solving the conflict that Mr. Bush delivered to the Palestinians exposed not only the colonialist mentality on which US foreign policy is based, but also a complete bias toward Israel.</p>
<p>His first premise is that Israelis, as victims of terror, have the right to defend themselves. This obviously translates into the belief that the Palestinian resistance movement is a movement of terror and, as such, is the root of the problem. No mention is made, of course, that Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian lands may be the root of the problem. In self-defense, Israel apparently has the right to use any and all tactics “necessary” to combat terrorism — assassination, brutal siege of captive civilian populations, arbitrary restriction of movement, etc.</p>
<p>During the brief time it took Mr. Bush to articulate his “vision,” the occupation army had assassinated six Palestinians from Gaza, among them three brothers. And just after the speech, Israeli tanks invaded Hebron and killed four more Palestinians. Israel presently occupies almost all Palestinian cities and villages in the West Bank and is imposing a 24-hour curfew on two million people.</p>
<p>Mr. Bush prides himself on his discovery of the formula for peace in the Middle East: new Palestinian leadership must be “found,” so that a Palestinian state can be born. Mr. Bush has conveniently decided that President Arafat is the obstacle to peace. Not the Israeli occupation. Not the illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian land. Mr. Bush apparently believes that the solution to the conflict will come about in spite of the Israeli occupation and the continued presence of the occupation army. And he is prepared to work together with Israel to force the Palestinians to accept this solution.</p>
<p>Mr. Bush’s “logic” is clear. Israeli suffering must be stopped. The cause of this suffering, namely the Palestinian resistance (terror) movement, must be stopped. Since the Palestinian leadership (Palestinian Authority) is unable to stop the resistance movement, it must be changed. This change in leadership must be brought about through democratic elections, provided that the newly-elected leadership has nothing to do with the resistance movement against occupation. In order to ensure an “appropriate” new leadership, the elections must be held according to US and Israeli criteria while the occupation continues.</p>
<p>In the meantime, various Palestinian security services must be restructured. The focus of these services would be to subdue the Palestinian people and their resistance activities, as well as to guarantee the security of the Israeli population.</p>
<p>What Israel was unable to achieve in 35 years of military occupation, with its superior army, secret police, and methods of collective oppression, should now be achieved through a new Palestinian Authority and its restructured security services. Its success would probably be measured by the number of Palestinians imprisoned or killed while resisting the Israeli occupation. Years ago, many political activists feared that the Oslo agreement, even if implemented properly, would produce a small Vichy government. Now it seems that this Vichy government is being established.</p>
<p>Mr. Bush did happen to mention the establishment of a Palestinian State. But rather than being founded as a result of the resistance movement, it should come to life through the grace of the United States, and only after Mr. Bush decides that he is content with the outcome of Palestinian elections and the new (puppet) leadership. Is this the “democracy” touted by Mr. Bush?</p>
<p>What if the Palestinians elect Mr. Arafat again?</p>
<p>Mr. Bush has stipulated three tasks that must be accomplished:</p>
<p>1. The annihilation of the Palestinian national resistance movement, since it has been declared a terror organization. This includes the suppression of all historical Palestinian political parties that oppose US policies, as well as the election of a new Palestinian leadership that can provide security for Israel. 2. The restructuring of Palestinian security services that would then be used to oppress the population (strikingly similar to the situation in many other Arab regimes). 3. The creation of an economic system modeled on the US vision, and under full control of the IMF, the World Bank, and other similar entities.</p>
<p>In order to ensure the success of this process, the US must remain in control. This means that:</p>
<p>1. Any Palestinian state with potential to be approved by Bush would be temporary. This allows the US to easily withdraw its backing if the elected leaders do not conform to US policies. 2. The entire election process would be implemented while Palestinians remain under complete Israeli occupation. (Perhaps this is what Mr. Bush means when he speaks of free and democratic elections.) 3. The three-year designated time frame for the process ensures that any outcome could be sufficiently controlled.</p>
<p>Underlying everything, of course, is the threat that if the Palestinian leadership refuses to play by the rules, they will be kicked out of the game. (Slightly reminiscent of Mr. Clinton’s ultimatum to Mr. Arafat in January 2001: If you do not sign the agreement, Israel will wage war against you with the support of the United States.)</p>
<p>All is clear so far.</p>
<p>But when Mr. Bush attempts to articulate the final aim of his vision, we are met with an ambiguity that seems to indicate his unwillingness to take a definitive stand. What we are left with is: The negotiations between both parties will determine the outcome.</p>
<p>How are we to interpret such an ambiguous conclusion to an otherwise crystal clear plan of action?</p>
<p>Mr. Bush happened to mention that the Israeli occupation that began in 1967 should end, according to UN resolutions 242 and 338. He even stated that Israel must withdraw to secure and recognized borders that will be determined through negotiations by both parties. What he failed to mention, however, was that within the context of a thirty-five year military occupation, the phenomenon of suicide attacks began only recently. What does this have to say about the “root of the problem?”</p>
<p>Mr. Bush knows that Israel is confiscating more land and building more settlements. He sees the efforts expended to continue the occupation. And yet, the paternalistic language he uses when speaking to Israel can only be understood as words of unconditional support and understanding — the language of an ally and an accomplice. Even the demand for Israel to comply with and execute the US-patented Mitchell Plan is now connected to Palestinian compliance with US conditions.</p>
<p>A couple of months ago, when asked about the implementation of the Mitchell Plan and Israeli withdrawal, Mr. Bush replied in no uncertain terms: Israel must withdraw NOW.not tomorrow, not next week.but IMMEDIATELY. His “new vision,” however, has no apparent connection to previous demands. Instead, without naming any time frame, he simply says that Israeli forces need to withdraw fully to positions they held prior to 28 September 2000.</p>
<p>More omissions: Mr. Bush made no mention of Israel’s plan to construct “walls of apartheid.” He obviously has no idea of the magnitude of suffering that will be caused by these walls. He probably has not even realized that these walls will be built on occupied territory, in clear violation of all international conventions. Mr. Bush does not even acknowledge the assassinations or the wanton destruction of Palestinian infrastructure or the 24-hour curfews imposed on every Palestinian child, woman, and man. All is justified, it seems, as Israel’s right to “self-defense.” (And God forbid that one should call the Palestinians “victims” of “terror!”)</p>
<p>When Mr. Bush responded to the Arab initiative presented during the Summit in Beirut, he called on all Arab countries to normalize their relations with Israel even before it withdrew from the territories. But he did not stop there. Arab leaders, he said, should fight terrorism (as defined by the US administration). To paraphrase Mr. Bush: “Those who are not with us are against us. And those who are against us have aligned themselves with the axis of evil and very soon will experience the wrath of the United States.” Instead of taking advantage of the opportunity to challenge the United States, the Arab leaders reverted to their former submissiveness and more or less agreed to comply with US dictates.</p>
<p>As the world’s guardian of moral norms, Mr. Bush saw no need to address the European community or other countries. He is apparently satisfied with Europe’s role to pick up the pieces left by the occupation and to pay the cost of whatever is needed in the wake of the destruction wrought by occupation.</p>
<p>And so, Mr. Bush finally spoke. Unfortunately, he got it all wrong.</p>
<p>1. The Palestinian cause and the Palestinian/Israeli conflict are more complex than Mr. Bush’s simplistic “vision” can capture. Blind Palestinian compliance with US and Israeli demands is not a solution. 2. The logic of power and the Israeli military occupation have not been able to crush the Palestinian resistance movement during the past 35 years. Palestinian culture has become a culture of resistance due to the occupation. This culture includes an awareness of injustice, an experience of humiliation, a vision for a better future, and a firm determination to gain freedom and independence. Unjust dictates and imposed solutions will be totally rejected, especially if they do not address issues of basic human rights. 3. The collective memory of the world community is deeper and more complex than Mr. Bush realizes. You cannot fool all of the people all of the time. 4. The simple fact remains: the Israeli occupation alone is the root of the Palestinian/Israeli conflict.</p>
<p>If Mr. Bush truly understands the “deep anger and despair of the Palestinian people,” then he must also understand that the occupation must end before anything else can be achieved.</p>
<p>If Mr. Bush honestly believes that the “interests of the Palestinian people are held hostage to a comprehensive peace agreement that never seems to come, as your lives get worse year by year,” then he must understand that the occupation must end before anything else can be achieved.</p>
<p>If Mr. Bush honestly believes that we “deserve democracy and the rule of law.an open society and a thriving economy,” then he must understand that the occupation must end before anything else can be achieved.</p>
<p>If Mr. Bush believes that we “deserve a life of hope for our children,” then he must understand that the occupation must end before anything else can be achieved.</p>
<p>Only when the occupation is ended can “libertyblossom in the rocky soil of the West Bank and Gaza.” Only when the occupation is ended can liberty “inspire millions of men and women around the globe who are equally weary of poverty and oppression, equally entitled to the benefits of democratic government.”</p>
<p>Either the occupation is ended once and for all or the doors of history will remain open for the conflict to continue, with or without the United States.</p>
<p>Nassar Ibrahim works with the Alternative Information Center and Dr. Majed Nassar is deputy director of Health Work Communities. They may be reached at <a href="mailto:bsmc@p-ol.com" type="external">bsmc@p-ol.com</a>.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | mr bush finally spoke palestinian people spite experience us foreign policy past fifty years listened carefully hoping would hear something new something hopeful naïve optimism thought maybe us administration modified slightly antipalestinian policy maybe visits meetings clarifications reconsidered foreign policy could offer something balanced morally par acclaimed moral status international arena brief ten minutes however became devastatingly clear politics policies result diplomatic courtesies charming rhetoric exchanged politely around negotiating table policies politics founded protection interests powerful go great lengths maintain power mr bush us administration unique opportunity regain respect credibility lost front millions people suffering oppression injustice result doublestandards us foreign policy simplistic vision solving conflict mr bush delivered palestinians exposed colonialist mentality us foreign policy based also complete bias toward israel first premise israelis victims terror right defend obviously translates belief palestinian resistance movement movement terror root problem mention made course israels illegal occupation palestinian lands may root problem selfdefense israel apparently right use tactics necessary combat terrorism assassination brutal siege captive civilian populations arbitrary restriction movement etc brief time took mr bush articulate vision occupation army assassinated six palestinians gaza among three brothers speech israeli tanks invaded hebron killed four palestinians israel presently occupies almost palestinian cities villages west bank imposing 24hour curfew two million people mr bush prides discovery formula peace middle east new palestinian leadership must found palestinian state born mr bush conveniently decided president arafat obstacle peace israeli occupation illegal israeli settlements palestinian land mr bush apparently believes solution conflict come spite israeli occupation continued presence occupation army prepared work together israel force palestinians accept solution mr bushs logic clear israeli suffering must stopped cause suffering namely palestinian resistance terror movement must stopped since palestinian leadership palestinian authority unable stop resistance movement must changed change leadership must brought democratic elections provided newlyelected leadership nothing resistance movement occupation order ensure appropriate new leadership elections must held according us israeli criteria occupation continues meantime various palestinian security services must restructured focus services would subdue palestinian people resistance activities well guarantee security israeli population israel unable achieve 35 years military occupation superior army secret police methods collective oppression achieved new palestinian authority restructured security services success would probably measured number palestinians imprisoned killed resisting israeli occupation years ago many political activists feared oslo agreement even implemented properly would produce small vichy government seems vichy government established mr bush happen mention establishment palestinian state rather founded result resistance movement come life grace united states mr bush decides content outcome palestinian elections new puppet leadership democracy touted mr bush palestinians elect mr arafat mr bush stipulated three tasks must accomplished 1 annihilation palestinian national resistance movement since declared terror organization includes suppression historical palestinian political parties oppose us policies well election new palestinian leadership provide security israel 2 restructuring palestinian security services would used oppress population strikingly similar situation many arab regimes 3 creation economic system modeled us vision full control imf world bank similar entities order ensure success process us must remain control means 1 palestinian state potential approved bush would temporary allows us easily withdraw backing elected leaders conform us policies 2 entire election process would implemented palestinians remain complete israeli occupation perhaps mr bush means speaks free democratic elections 3 threeyear designated time frame process ensures outcome could sufficiently controlled underlying everything course threat palestinian leadership refuses play rules kicked game slightly reminiscent mr clintons ultimatum mr arafat january 2001 sign agreement israel wage war support united states clear far mr bush attempts articulate final aim vision met ambiguity seems indicate unwillingness take definitive stand left negotiations parties determine outcome interpret ambiguous conclusion otherwise crystal clear plan action mr bush happened mention israeli occupation began 1967 end according un resolutions 242 338 even stated israel must withdraw secure recognized borders determined negotiations parties failed mention however within context thirtyfive year military occupation phenomenon suicide attacks began recently say root problem mr bush knows israel confiscating land building settlements sees efforts expended continue occupation yet paternalistic language uses speaking israel understood words unconditional support understanding language ally accomplice even demand israel comply execute uspatented mitchell plan connected palestinian compliance us conditions couple months ago asked implementation mitchell plan israeli withdrawal mr bush replied uncertain terms israel must withdraw nownot tomorrow next weekbut immediately new vision however apparent connection previous demands instead without naming time frame simply says israeli forces need withdraw fully positions held prior 28 september 2000 omissions mr bush made mention israels plan construct walls apartheid obviously idea magnitude suffering caused walls probably even realized walls built occupied territory clear violation international conventions mr bush even acknowledge assassinations wanton destruction palestinian infrastructure 24hour curfews imposed every palestinian child woman man justified seems israels right selfdefense god forbid one call palestinians victims terror mr bush responded arab initiative presented summit beirut called arab countries normalize relations israel even withdrew territories stop arab leaders said fight terrorism defined us administration paraphrase mr bush us us us aligned axis evil soon experience wrath united states instead taking advantage opportunity challenge united states arab leaders reverted former submissiveness less agreed comply us dictates worlds guardian moral norms mr bush saw need address european community countries apparently satisfied europes role pick pieces left occupation pay cost whatever needed wake destruction wrought occupation mr bush finally spoke unfortunately got wrong 1 palestinian cause palestinianisraeli conflict complex mr bushs simplistic vision capture blind palestinian compliance us israeli demands solution 2 logic power israeli military occupation able crush palestinian resistance movement past 35 years palestinian culture become culture resistance due occupation culture includes awareness injustice experience humiliation vision better future firm determination gain freedom independence unjust dictates imposed solutions totally rejected especially address issues basic human rights 3 collective memory world community deeper complex mr bush realizes fool people time 4 simple fact remains israeli occupation alone root palestinianisraeli conflict mr bush truly understands deep anger despair palestinian people must also understand occupation must end anything else achieved mr bush honestly believes interests palestinian people held hostage comprehensive peace agreement never seems come lives get worse year year must understand occupation must end anything else achieved mr bush honestly believes deserve democracy rule lawan open society thriving economy must understand occupation must end anything else achieved mr bush believes deserve life hope children must understand occupation must end anything else achieved occupation ended libertyblossom rocky soil west bank gaza occupation ended liberty inspire millions men women around globe equally weary poverty oppression equally entitled benefits democratic government either occupation ended doors history remain open conflict continue without united states nassar ibrahim works alternative information center dr majed nassar deputy director health work communities may reached bsmcpolcom 160 | 1,103 |
<p>Getting out the vote against your Congressman is the most important step ousting him: if people who oppose your Congressman don’t vote, your Congressman wins.</p>
<p>It’s important to remember that while get-out-the-vote techniques like phones and doors are the best way to gauge and contact voters, doing so without first building a popular grassroots movement with <a href="" type="internal">creative direct action</a> and <a href="" type="internal">narrative control</a>, as discussed in parts 1 and 2 of this series, will be losing efforts. Ask the <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/06/top-10-wisconsin-scott-walker-recall" type="external">Tom Barrett campaign</a> to recall Scott Walker how just focusing on phones and doors without movement building went for them.</p>
<p>I. STRATEGIC MAPPING</p>
<p>First, find city-by-city results for the most recent year your Congressman was elected, and study them to find out where your Congressman won heavily, where his opponent won heavily, and swing areas where the election was decided within a 5 to 7-point margin.</p>
<p>Coordinate efforts in these counties by classifying them as 1 through 5 -- 1 being very favorable to your Congressman’s opponent, and 5 being very favorable to the Congressman you’re trying to oust. The battle for the vote will most likely boil down to your district’s largest population center, so winning there will be especially crucial.</p>
<p>In New Hampshire’s 1st district, Congressman Frank Guinta lost most of the towns we classified as 1 on the notably liberal seacoast region by a good 10 points, even in the Republican-wave election of 2010.</p>
<p>Guinta won handily in smaller, more rural towns that surrounded the major population centers. We classified these towns as 5. And in Manchester, the largest population center, as well as swing towns, we broke cities down ward-by-ward on our map and rated each ward with a 1-5 rating, so our efforts to contact voters and gauge their opinions would be that much more effective.</p>
<p>Two essential tools are VAN, or Voter Activation Network, and Votebuilder. If the opposing campaign is worth their salt, they will have invested the funds to get these tools. Now, you can get lists of registered voters with addresses and phone numbers classified by party affiliation, age and gender. The next step is contacting these voters, first by phone and then face-to-face.</p>
<p>II. PHONEBANKING</p>
<p>If your effort is aligned with an independent expenditure group, get the funds to purchase these tools and start identifying and calling voters. If, however, this is an unfunded effort with no FEC filing, volunteer on the campaign running against your Congressman to make phone calls across the district. Ask for call lists in swing towns. For the best impact, call between 5 PM and 9 PM. Calling before then will most likely get you a voicemail message, which you shouldn’t waste your time with, and calling after is more likely to anger a voter for being called by a stranger so late in the day.</p>
<p>While the opposing campaign will most likely have a script ready, your calls should be brief, since most folks are averse to being surveyed by strangers. When they answer, tell them your name and the effort you’re representing. If it’s the opposing campaign, say so. If it’s your own effort, name it “Voters Against (your Congressman’s name).”</p>
<p>Every time you pause, you allow room for the voter you’re calling to say, “Sorry, not interested” and hang up. So before you give the voter time to respond, just ask, “In the upcoming election, are you more likely to vote for (your Congressman’s name) or (your Congressman’s opponent’s name)?” Preface each name with their party affiliation. Our calls to voters in New Hampshire’s first district went like this:</p>
<p>VOTER. Hello?</p>
<p>VOLUNTEER. Hi, I’m (first name) with Voters Against Frank Guinta. Quick question: if the election were held tomorrow, would you be more likely to vote for Republican Frank Guinta or Democrat Carol Shea-Porter?</p>
<p>No matter if the voter said, “Guinta,” or “Shea-Porter,” we would then ask, “Do you feel strongly about that?” If they said yes, we would thank them for their time, and write a number next to the voter’s name on the call sheet. Just as you’re rating towns 1-5, you want to classify voters as 1-5 as well.</p>
<p>However, if the voter said, “I’m not sure,” we would give facts about the Congressman’s record. This is your chance to give them shortened talking points tailored to the voter’s age, gender or economic status. If you can’t fit your talking point into a tweet, it’s too long.</p>
<p>For people over 65, we would tell them Guinta voted for a budget that would turn Medicare into a cheap coupon for private insurance and hand our Social Security money to Wall Street.</p>
<p>For younger voters who may have children, we would tell them Guinta voted for a budget that would kick 200,000 kids off of school lunch to keep taxes low for millionaires.</p>
<p>For women, we would tell them Guinta voted to deny free breast cancer screenings to impoverished women, or that he voted against the original Violence Against Women Act. We’d always end the call by reminding voters when election day was, and to make sure to register.</p>
<p>After gauging voters by phone, it’s time to knock on doors and talk to the people whose votes will decide your Congressman’s fate face-to-face.</p>
<p>III. CANVASSING</p>
<p>With your handy voter information you’ve obtained from VAN and Votebuilder, along with the data you’ve acquired from all of your phone calls, concentrate your efforts on the doors in swing towns in your district, and swing wards in your district’s largest population center. Accomplishing this task will require a large, dedicated base of volunteers. Recruiting them is the first step, but keeping volunteers engaged is just as important.</p>
<p>No matter if you’re hosting your own phonebank or organizing your own canvass, entice your volunteers to show up and stick around to make calls by offering free food and drinks. If you have the funds available, buy some tickets for a concert or a professional sports event and offer them to the volunteer who makes the most phone calls or knocks on the most doors that week. Make sure the winning volunteers get recognized publicly, both on a “Wall of Fame” displayed in your campaign headquarters and with a picture of them receiving the gift displayed and shared on your social media platforms.</p>
<p>In our effort to defeat Frank Guinta, we once offered free Boston Red Sox tickets to the volunteer who made the most calls. Because the Red Sox are so popular in New Hampshire, we had several volunteers who made hundreds of calls that week. You can also drive your volunteers to succeed by putting up milestones on the board for 1,000 phones or doors, followed by 5,000, followed by 10,000, and so on. Our efforts against Guinta resulted in over 10,000 doors knocked and tens of thousands of phone calls.</p>
<p>Canvassing will become even more important in the last two weeks before the election. You should always remember to arm your volunteers with the data for each voter address, including age, gender, party affiliation, and whether or not they voted in the previous election. Make sure your volunteers also get plenty of literature with information about your Congressman’s deplorable voting record to leave on the doorknobs (NOT mailboxes) of voters who aren’t home. If you see literature left by your Congressman’s campaign on a voter’s door, replace it with your own. Pocket the literature instead of throwing it away.</p>
<p>If the person at that address is a repeat voter, thank them for participating in Democracy after introducing yourself. If that person is a first-time voter, remind them that this election will be very close, and that every single vote cast could be the one that makes the difference.</p>
<p>Follow up with asking them if you can count on their vote against your Congressman. And just like on the phone, if they’re undecided, hand them your literature and give them a talking point that relates to their age, gender or economic status. Before you leave, ask the person answering the door if they know their polling place, and remind them of the time the polls open and close.</p>
<p>If you ask them whether they plan on walking, driving or getting a ride from a friend, it makes them formulate a plan in their head for how they’ll be getting out to vote on Election Day, making them more likely to do so. Thank the voter for their time, and rate them 1-5 just as you’ve done on the phone. Make sure data from your canvass is given to those who manage the data back at your campaign headquarters.</p>
<p>On Election Day, arm volunteers with cameras and have them record the counting of the votes. Livestream the counting if possible, to ensure transparency and accountability. If you’ve followed steps 1 through 3, your Congressman should be on their way to the unemployment office by the first Wednesday in November.</p> | true | 4 | getting vote congressman important step ousting people oppose congressman dont vote congressman wins important remember getoutthevote techniques like phones doors best way gauge contact voters without first building popular grassroots movement creative direct action narrative control discussed parts 1 2 series losing efforts ask tom barrett campaign recall scott walker focusing phones doors without movement building went strategic mapping first find citybycity results recent year congressman elected study find congressman heavily opponent heavily swing areas election decided within 5 7point margin coordinate efforts counties classifying 1 5 1 favorable congressmans opponent 5 favorable congressman youre trying oust battle vote likely boil districts largest population center winning especially crucial new hampshires 1st district congressman frank guinta lost towns classified 1 notably liberal seacoast region good 10 points even republicanwave election 2010 guinta handily smaller rural towns surrounded major population centers classified towns 5 manchester largest population center well swing towns broke cities wardbyward map rated ward 15 rating efforts contact voters gauge opinions would much effective two essential tools van voter activation network votebuilder opposing campaign worth salt invested funds get tools get lists registered voters addresses phone numbers classified party affiliation age gender next step contacting voters first phone facetoface ii phonebanking effort aligned independent expenditure group get funds purchase tools start identifying calling voters however unfunded effort fec filing volunteer campaign running congressman make phone calls across district ask call lists swing towns best impact call 5 pm 9 pm calling likely get voicemail message shouldnt waste time calling likely anger voter called stranger late day opposing campaign likely script ready calls brief since folks averse surveyed strangers answer tell name effort youre representing opposing campaign say effort name voters congressmans name every time pause allow room voter youre calling say sorry interested hang give voter time respond ask upcoming election likely vote congressmans name congressmans opponents name preface name party affiliation calls voters new hampshires first district went like voter hello volunteer hi im first name voters frank guinta quick question election held tomorrow would likely vote republican frank guinta democrat carol sheaporter matter voter said guinta sheaporter would ask feel strongly said yes would thank time write number next voters name call sheet youre rating towns 15 want classify voters 15 well however voter said im sure would give facts congressmans record chance give shortened talking points tailored voters age gender economic status cant fit talking point tweet long people 65 would tell guinta voted budget would turn medicare cheap coupon private insurance hand social security money wall street younger voters may children would tell guinta voted budget would kick 200000 kids school lunch keep taxes low millionaires women would tell guinta voted deny free breast cancer screenings impoverished women voted original violence women act wed always end call reminding voters election day make sure register gauging voters phone time knock doors talk people whose votes decide congressmans fate facetoface iii canvassing handy voter information youve obtained van votebuilder along data youve acquired phone calls concentrate efforts doors swing towns district swing wards districts largest population center accomplishing task require large dedicated base volunteers recruiting first step keeping volunteers engaged important matter youre hosting phonebank organizing canvass entice volunteers show stick around make calls offering free food drinks funds available buy tickets concert professional sports event offer volunteer makes phone calls knocks doors week make sure winning volunteers get recognized publicly wall fame displayed campaign headquarters picture receiving gift displayed shared social media platforms effort defeat frank guinta offered free boston red sox tickets volunteer made calls red sox popular new hampshire several volunteers made hundreds calls week also drive volunteers succeed putting milestones board 1000 phones doors followed 5000 followed 10000 efforts guinta resulted 10000 doors knocked tens thousands phone calls canvassing become even important last two weeks election always remember arm volunteers data voter address including age gender party affiliation whether voted previous election make sure volunteers also get plenty literature information congressmans deplorable voting record leave doorknobs mailboxes voters arent home see literature left congressmans campaign voters door replace pocket literature instead throwing away person address repeat voter thank participating democracy introducing person firsttime voter remind election close every single vote cast could one makes difference follow asking count vote congressman like phone theyre undecided hand literature give talking point relates age gender economic status leave ask person answering door know polling place remind time polls open close ask whether plan walking driving getting ride friend makes formulate plan head theyll getting vote election day making likely thank voter time rate 15 youve done phone make sure data canvass given manage data back campaign headquarters election day arm volunteers cameras record counting votes livestream counting possible ensure transparency accountability youve followed steps 1 3 congressman way unemployment office first wednesday november | 797 |
<p><a href="" type="internal" /> President Trump speaking at the UNGA. (Photo: Screenshot)</p>
<p>Robert Parry <a href="https://consortiumnews.com/2017/09/19/trump-falls-in-line-with-interventionism/" type="external">Consortium News</a></p>
<p>In discussing President Trump, there is always the soft prejudice of low expectations – people praise him for reading from a Teleprompter even if his words make little sense – but there is no getting around the reality that his maiden address to the United Nations General Assembly must rank as &#160;one of the most embarrassing moments in America’s relations with the global community.</p>
<p>Trump offered a crude patchwork of propaganda and bluster, partly delivered as a campaign speech praising his own leadership – boasting about the relatively strong U.S. economy that he mostly inherited from President Obama – and partly reflecting his continued subservience to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.</p>
<p>However, perhaps most importantly, Trump’s speech may have extinguished any flickering hope that his presidency might achieve some valuable course corrections in how the United States deals with the world, i.e., shifting away from the disastrous war/interventionist policies of his two predecessors.</p>
<p>Before the speech, there was at least some thinking that his visceral disdain for the neoconservatives, who mostly opposed his nomination and election, might lead him to a realization that their policies toward Iran, Iraq, Syria and elsewhere were at the core of America’s repeated and costly failures in recent decades.</p>
<p>Instead, apparently after a bracing lecture from Netanyahu on Monday, Trump bared himself in a kind of neocon Full Monte:</p>
<p>–He repeated the Israeli/neocon tripe about Iran destabilizing the Middle East when Shiite-ruled Iran actually has helped stabilize Iraq and Syria against Sunni terrorist groups and other militants supported by Saudi Arabia and – to a degree – Israel;</p>
<p>–He again denounced the Iranian nuclear agreement whose main flaw in the eyes of the Israelis and the neocons is that it disrupted their plans to bomb-bomb-bomb Iran, and he called for “regime change” in Iran, a long beloved dream of the Israelis and the neocons;</p>
<p>–He repeated the Israeli/neocon propaganda about Hezbollah as a terrorist organization when Hezbollah’s real crime was driving the Israeli military out of southern Lebanon in 2000, ending an Israeli occupation that began with Israel’s 1982 invasion;</p>
<p>–He praised his rush-to-judgment decision to bomb Syria last April, in line with Israeli/neocon propaganda against President Bashar al-Assad and partly out of a desire to please the same Washington establishment that is still scheming how to impeach him;</p>
<p>–He spoke with the crass hypocrisy that the neocons and many Israeli leaders have perfected, particularly his demand that “all nations … respect … the rights of every other sovereign nation” — when he made clear that he, like his White House predecessors, is ready to violate the sovereignty of other nations that get in Official Washington’s way.</p>
<p>A Litany of Wars</p>
<p>Just this century, the United States has invaded multiple nations without U.N. authorization, based on various “coalitions of the willing” and other subterfuges for wars of aggression, which the Nuremberg Tribunals deemed the “supreme international crime” and which the U.N. was specifically created to prevent.</p>
<p>Not only did President George W. Bush invade both Afghanistan and Iraq – while also sponsoring “anti-terror” operations in many other countries – but President Barack Obama acknowledged ordering military attacks in seven countries, including against the will of sovereign states, such as Libya and Syria. Obama also supported&#160; <a href="https://consortiumnews.com/2015/01/06/nyt-still-pretends-no-coup-in-ukraine/" type="external">a violent coup</a>&#160;against the elected government of Ukraine.</p>
<p>For his part, Trump already has shown disdain for international law by authorizing military strikes inside Yemen and Syria. In other words, if not for the fear of provoking American anger, many of the world’s diplomats might have responded with a barrage of catcalls toward Trump for his blatant hypocrisy. Without doubt, the United States is the preeminent violator of sovereignty and international law in the world today, yet Trump wagged his finger at others, including Russia (over Ukraine) and China (over the South China Sea).</p>
<p>He declared: “We must reject threats to sovereignty, from the Ukraine to the South China Sea. We must uphold respect for law, respect for borders, and respect for culture, and the peaceful engagement these allow.”</p>
<p>Then, with a seeming blindness to how much of the world sees the United States as a law onto itself, Trump added: “The scourge of our planet today is a small group of rogue regimes that violate every principle on which the United Nations is based.”</p>
<p>Of course, in the U.S. mainstream media’s commentary that followed, Trump’s hypocrisy went undetected. That’s because across the American political/media establishment, the U.S. right to act violently around the world is simply accepted as the way things are supposed to be. International law is for the other guy; not for the “indispensible nation,” not for the “sole remaining superpower.”</p>
<p>On Bibi’s Leash</p>
<p>Despite some of his “America First” rhetoric – tossed in as red meat to his “base” – Trump revealed a global outlook that differed from the Bush-Obama neoconservative/liberal-interventionist approach in words only. In substance, Trump appears to be just the latest American poodle on Bibi Netanyahu’s leash.</p>
<p>For instance, Trump bragged about attacking Syria over&#160; <a href="https://consortiumnews.com/2017/09/10/echoes-of-iraq-wmd-fraud-in-syria/" type="external">a dubious chemical-weapons claim</a>&#160;while ignoring the role of the&#160; <a href="https://consortiumnews.com/2015/02/04/al-qaeda-saudi-arabia-and-israel/" type="external">Saudi/Israeli tandem in assisting Al Qaeda and its Syrian affiliate</a>; Trump threatened the international nuclear agreement with Iran while calling for regime change in Tehran, two of Netanyahu’s top priorities; and Trump warned that he would “totally destroy North Korea” over its nuclear and missile programs while making no mention of Israel’s rogue nuclear arsenal and sophisticated delivery capabilities.</p>
<p>Ignoring&#160; <a href="https://consortiumnews.com/2017/05/23/trump-lets-saudis-off-on-911-evidence/" type="external">Saudi Arabia’s ties to terrorism</a>, Trump touted his ludicrous summit in Riyadh in which he danced with swords and let King Salman and other corrupt Persian Gulf monarchs, who have long winked and nodded at ideological and logistical support going to Al Qaeda and other Islamic terror groups, pretend their governments were joining an anti-terror coalition.</p>
<p>Exploding the myth that he is at least a street-smart operator who can’t be easily conned, Trump added, “In Saudi Arabia early last year, I was greatly honored to address the leaders of more than 50 Arab and Muslim nations. We agreed that all responsible nations must work together to confront terrorists and the Islamist extremism that inspires them.”</p>
<p>No wonder Netanyahu seemed so pleased with Trump’s speech. The Israeli prime minister could have written it himself while allowing Trump to add a few crude flourishes, like calling North Korean leader Kim Jong Un “Rocket Man … on a suicide mission”; referring to “the loser terrorists”; and declaring that many parts of the world are “going to hell.”</p>
<p>Trump also tossed in a plug for his “new strategy for victory” in Afghanistan and threw in some interventionist talk regarding the Western Hemisphere with more threats to Cuba and Venezuela about escalating sanctions and other activities to achieve more “regime change” solutions.</p>
<p>So, what Trump made clear in his U.N. address is that his “America First” and “pro-sovereignty” rhetoric is simply cover for a set of policies that are indistinguishable from those pushed by the neocons of the Bush administration or the liberal interventionists of the Obama administration. The rationalizations may change but the endless wars and “regime change” machinations continue.”</p>
<p>Watch Trump’s full speech here:&#160;</p>
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<p>*** READ MORE TRUMP NEWS AT: <a href="" type="internal">21st Century Wire Trump Files</a></p>
<p>SUPPORT 21WIRE – SUBSCRIBE &amp; BECOME A MEMBER @ <a href="https://21wire.tv/membership/plans/" type="external">21WIRE.TV</a></p> | true | 4 | president trump speaking unga photo screenshot robert parry consortium news discussing president trump always soft prejudice low expectations people praise reading teleprompter even words make little sense getting around reality maiden address united nations general assembly must rank 160one embarrassing moments americas relations global community trump offered crude patchwork propaganda bluster partly delivered campaign speech praising leadership boasting relatively strong us economy mostly inherited president obama partly reflecting continued subservience israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu however perhaps importantly trumps speech may extinguished flickering hope presidency might achieve valuable course corrections united states deals world ie shifting away disastrous warinterventionist policies two predecessors speech least thinking visceral disdain neoconservatives mostly opposed nomination election might lead realization policies toward iran iraq syria elsewhere core americas repeated costly failures recent decades instead apparently bracing lecture netanyahu monday trump bared kind neocon full monte repeated israelineocon tripe iran destabilizing middle east shiiteruled iran actually helped stabilize iraq syria sunni terrorist groups militants supported saudi arabia degree israel denounced iranian nuclear agreement whose main flaw eyes israelis neocons disrupted plans bombbombbomb iran called regime change iran long beloved dream israelis neocons repeated israelineocon propaganda hezbollah terrorist organization hezbollahs real crime driving israeli military southern lebanon 2000 ending israeli occupation began israels 1982 invasion praised rushtojudgment decision bomb syria last april line israelineocon propaganda president bashar alassad partly desire please washington establishment still scheming impeach spoke crass hypocrisy neocons many israeli leaders perfected particularly demand nations respect rights every sovereign nation made clear like white house predecessors ready violate sovereignty nations get official washingtons way litany wars century united states invaded multiple nations without un authorization based various coalitions willing subterfuges wars aggression nuremberg tribunals deemed supreme international crime un specifically created prevent president george w bush invade afghanistan iraq also sponsoring antiterror operations many countries president barack obama acknowledged ordering military attacks seven countries including sovereign states libya syria obama also supported160 violent coup160against elected government ukraine part trump already shown disdain international law authorizing military strikes inside yemen syria words fear provoking american anger many worlds diplomats might responded barrage catcalls toward trump blatant hypocrisy without doubt united states preeminent violator sovereignty international law world today yet trump wagged finger others including russia ukraine china south china sea declared must reject threats sovereignty ukraine south china sea must uphold respect law respect borders respect culture peaceful engagement allow seeming blindness much world sees united states law onto trump added scourge planet today small group rogue regimes violate every principle united nations based course us mainstream medias commentary followed trumps hypocrisy went undetected thats across american politicalmedia establishment us right act violently around world simply accepted way things supposed international law guy indispensible nation sole remaining superpower bibis leash despite america first rhetoric tossed red meat base trump revealed global outlook differed bushobama neoconservativeliberalinterventionist approach words substance trump appears latest american poodle bibi netanyahus leash instance trump bragged attacking syria over160 dubious chemicalweapons claim160while ignoring role the160 saudiisraeli tandem assisting al qaeda syrian affiliate trump threatened international nuclear agreement iran calling regime change tehran two netanyahus top priorities trump warned would totally destroy north korea nuclear missile programs making mention israels rogue nuclear arsenal sophisticated delivery capabilities ignoring160 saudi arabias ties terrorism trump touted ludicrous summit riyadh danced swords let king salman corrupt persian gulf monarchs long winked nodded ideological logistical support going al qaeda islamic terror groups pretend governments joining antiterror coalition exploding myth least streetsmart operator cant easily conned trump added saudi arabia early last year greatly honored address leaders 50 arab muslim nations agreed responsible nations must work together confront terrorists islamist extremism inspires wonder netanyahu seemed pleased trumps speech israeli prime minister could written allowing trump add crude flourishes like calling north korean leader kim jong un rocket man suicide mission referring loser terrorists declaring many parts world going hell trump also tossed plug new strategy victory afghanistan threw interventionist talk regarding western hemisphere threats cuba venezuela escalating sanctions activities achieve regime change solutions trump made clear un address america first prosovereignty rhetoric simply cover set policies indistinguishable pushed neocons bush administration liberal interventionists obama administration rationalizations may change endless wars regime change machinations continue watch trumps full speech here160 160 read trump news 21st century wire trump files support 21wire subscribe amp become member 21wiretv | 715 |
<p>Democracy breeds gullibility. Lord Bryce observed in 1921, “State action became less distrusted the more the State itself was seen to be passing under popular control.” The rise of democracy made it much easier for politicians to convince people that government posed no threat, because they automatically controlled its actions. The result is that the brakes on government power become weakest at the exact time that politicians are most dangerous.</p>
<p>Blind trust becomes a substitute for informed consent. But mass trust in government compounds the political damage brought about by pervasive ignorance.</p>
<p>The bias in favor of trusting government brings out democracy’s worst tendencies. The normal defenses that people would have against alien authority are undermined by a chorus of politicians and government officials continually reminding people that government is themselves, and they cannot distrust the government without distrusting themselves.</p>
<p>How should people think about their rulers? This is a question that is rarely asked. Instead, it is preemptively squelched by myths pummeled into people’s heads from a very early age.</p>
<p>Since it has not been possible to neuter political power, citizens’ thinking on government has been neutered instead. Fear of government is portrayed as a relic of less civilized, unrefined times. There is a concerted effort to make distrusting the government intellectually unacceptable, a sign of bad taste or perhaps ill breeding, if not downright ignoble.</p>
<p>The central mystery of modern political life is: Why are people obliged to presume that politicians and government are more trustworthy than they seem? The question is not, Why do people distrust government? The question is, Why do people follow and applaud politicians who they recognize are lying to them? The mystery is not that politicians lie, but that citizens believe. It is not a question of giving rulers one benefit of the doubt — but of giving such benefits day after day, year after year, ruler after ruler.</p>
<p>America is perhaps the first nation founded on distrust of government. Checks and balances were included in the Constitution because of the danger of vesting too much power in any one man or one branch of government. The Bill of Rights was erected as a permanent leash on the political class. As Rexford Tugwell, one of Franklin Roosevelt’s Brain Trusters and an open admirer of Stalin’s Soviet system, groused, “The Constitution was a negative document, meant mostly to protect citizens from their government.”</p>
<p>The Founding Fathers issued warning after warning of the inherent danger of government power. John Adams wrote in 1772, “There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty.” Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1799, “Free government is founded in jealousy, not confidence…. In questions of power, let no more be heard of confidence in men, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution.” The term “politician” was in disrepute from 1776 onward (thanks to the antics of Congress during the Revolutionary War and the conniving of some of the state legislators after 1783).</p>
<p>Many of the initial curbs on federal power were maintained for most of the first century of this nation’s history in part because Americans often had a derisive attitude toward government — especially the federal government. Wariness toward government was one of the most important bulwarks of American freedom. Representative government worked fairly well at times partly because people were skeptical of congressmen, presidents, and government officials across the board. However, beginning in the early 1900s and accelerating in the New Deal, government was placed on a pedestal.</p>
<p>Trust After Failure</p>
<p>Trust in government is sometimes demanded most vociferously after some horrendous government blunder or abuse. Such was the case in the aftermath of a deadly no-knock raid by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and an FBI tank-and-toxic-gas assault on the home of the Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas, in 1993, which ended with 80 dead men, women, and children. The Washington establishment almost instantly closed ranks around the federal government, canonizing Attorney General Janet Reno — the person who had approved an FBI plan to destroy the Davidians’ home to bring the siege to an end — as a hero.</p>
<p>The precedents established by one political party are routinely exploited for totally different ends by their opponents. During the 1990s, liberals were in the vanguard, preaching the need to trust government. After 9/11, it was George W. Bush who exploited boundless trust to expand government power in ways that mortified many liberals. The Bush administration could exploit 9/11 because Americans were predisposed to see credulity and obedience as paramount virtues.</p>
<p>The number of Americans who trusted the federal government to do the right thing more than doubled in the weeks after the attack. By the end of September 2001, almost two-thirds of Americans said they “trust the government in Washington to do what is right” either “just about always” or “most of the time.”</p>
<p>The foreign-policy response to 9/11 would have been far more targeted if scores of millions of Americans had not written George Bush a blank check in the form of automatic trust. The adulation and deference that he received in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 encouraged federal officials to believe that they could do practically whatever they pleased. Top administration officials were laying plans to attack Iraq within days after the Twin Towers collapsed, though there was no evidence linking Iraq to the attacks. Less than two weeks after 9/11, senior Bush administration officials were already claiming that the attacks gave the U.S. government carte blanche to attack anywhere in the world. Deputy Assistant Attorney General John Yoo sent White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales a memo on September 25, 2001, suggesting that “an American attack in South America or Southeast Asia might be a surprise to the terrorists,” since they were expecting the United States to target Afghanistan.</p>
<p>The most costly entitlement</p>
<p>Blind trust in government is often portrayed as a harmless error — as if it were of no more account than saying prayers to a pagan deity. However, the notion that rulers are entitled to trust is the most expensive entitlement program of them all. “Follow the leader” has often been a recipe for national suicide. Throughout history, people have tended to trust most governments more than rulers deserved.</p>
<p>Blind trust in government has resulted in far more carnage than distrust of government. The more trust, the less resistance. It was people who believed and who followed orders who carried out the Nazi Holocaust, the Ukrainian terror-famine, the Khmer Rouge blood bath, and the war crimes that characterize conflicts around the globe. It is not just a question of acquiescence but of breeding a docile attitude toward political events and government actions.</p>
<p>Docility is a far greater danger than blind fanaticism, at least in Western societies. It is mass docility that permits fanatics to seize power and wreak havoc. The more people there are who unconditionally trust the government, the more atrocities there are that the government can commit. All that the government needs to do afterward is to label and blame the victim.</p>
<p>Excessive trust in government breeds attention deficits. People assume they do not need to keep an eye on government and politicians because government is no threat to them — because their government tells them so. Ignorance combined with blind trust produces citizens pliable for practically any purpose the ruler decrees.</p>
<p>When people blindly assume that their leaders are trustworthy, the biggest liars win. To believe their lies almost guarantees submission. To accept a false statement from one’s rulers is to submit to a lie — to intellectually submit. And submission is habit-forming. Politicians do not need to promulgate a duty to submit because as long as people believe, most will submit to almost anything. After people lower their mental defenses, political perfidy is halfway home. If people are trained not to doubt — politicians need only to continue lying and denying until all barricades that guard individual rights have been smashed, one by one.</p>
<p>Any politician who violates his oath to uphold the Constitution has proven himself unworthy of trust. What is the case for trusting someone who has proven himself untrustworthy? Should people be proud to trust politicians in a way that they would consider foolish regarding any other profession?</p>
<p>Much of the American public appears to separate the issues of trust and power — as if a person’s character is irrelevant to how much additional power he should be permitted to capture. For instance, regardless of the number of people who believed that Bill Clinton was a liar, his proposals to expand federal power to protect people or to give them specific new benefits generally had high levels of popular approval (excepting his 1993-94 health-care plan). Public support for vesting more power in an untrustworthy ruler is a sign of how few Americans still understand the nature of government.</p>
<p>In the same way that power corrupts, blind trust corrupts. To say that people should not blindly trust the government is not to call for anarchy or for violence in the streets or the torching of city halls across the land. It is not a choice between trusting the government and refusing to drive on the right side of the road. Instead, it is a call for people to cease deluding themselves about those who seek to control them.</p>
<p>Trust in a dishonest government is true escapism — an evasion of responsibility for one’s own life and liberties. Deference to lying rulers is self-betrayal.</p>
<p>JAMES BOVARD serves as a policy advisor for <a href="http://www.fff.org/" type="external">The Future of Freedom Foundation</a> and is the author of <a href="" type="internal">Attention Deficit Democracy</a>, <a href="" type="internal">The Bush Betrayal</a>, <a href="" type="internal">Terrorism and Tyranny</a>, and other books.</p>
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<p><a href="http://greentags.bigcartel.com/" type="external">WORDS THAT STICK</a></p>
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<p /> | true | 4 | democracy breeds gullibility lord bryce observed 1921 state action became less distrusted state seen passing popular control rise democracy made much easier politicians convince people government posed threat automatically controlled actions result brakes government power become weakest exact time politicians dangerous blind trust becomes substitute informed consent mass trust government compounds political damage brought pervasive ignorance bias favor trusting government brings democracys worst tendencies normal defenses people would alien authority undermined chorus politicians government officials continually reminding people government distrust government without distrusting people think rulers question rarely asked instead preemptively squelched myths pummeled peoples heads early age since possible neuter political power citizens thinking government neutered instead fear government portrayed relic less civilized unrefined times concerted effort make distrusting government intellectually unacceptable sign bad taste perhaps ill breeding downright ignoble central mystery modern political life people obliged presume politicians government trustworthy seem question people distrust government question people follow applaud politicians recognize lying mystery politicians lie citizens believe question giving rulers one benefit doubt giving benefits day day year year ruler ruler america perhaps first nation founded distrust government checks balances included constitution danger vesting much power one man one branch government bill rights erected permanent leash political class rexford tugwell one franklin roosevelts brain trusters open admirer stalins soviet system groused constitution negative document meant mostly protect citizens government founding fathers issued warning warning inherent danger government power john adams wrote 1772 danger men maxim free government ought trust man living power endanger public liberty thomas jefferson wrote 1799 free government founded jealousy confidence questions power let heard confidence men bind mischief chains constitution term politician disrepute 1776 onward thanks antics congress revolutionary war conniving state legislators 1783 many initial curbs federal power maintained first century nations history part americans often derisive attitude toward government especially federal government wariness toward government one important bulwarks american freedom representative government worked fairly well times partly people skeptical congressmen presidents government officials across board however beginning early 1900s accelerating new deal government placed pedestal trust failure trust government sometimes demanded vociferously horrendous government blunder abuse case aftermath deadly noknock raid federal bureau alcohol tobacco firearms fbi tankandtoxicgas assault home branch davidians waco texas 1993 ended 80 dead men women children washington establishment almost instantly closed ranks around federal government canonizing attorney general janet reno person approved fbi plan destroy davidians home bring siege end hero precedents established one political party routinely exploited totally different ends opponents 1990s liberals vanguard preaching need trust government 911 george w bush exploited boundless trust expand government power ways mortified many liberals bush administration could exploit 911 americans predisposed see credulity obedience paramount virtues number americans trusted federal government right thing doubled weeks attack end september 2001 almost twothirds americans said trust government washington right either always time foreignpolicy response 911 would far targeted scores millions americans written george bush blank check form automatic trust adulation deference received immediate aftermath 911 encouraged federal officials believe could practically whatever pleased top administration officials laying plans attack iraq within days twin towers collapsed though evidence linking iraq attacks less two weeks 911 senior bush administration officials already claiming attacks gave us government carte blanche attack anywhere world deputy assistant attorney general john yoo sent white house counsel alberto gonzales memo september 25 2001 suggesting american attack south america southeast asia might surprise terrorists since expecting united states target afghanistan costly entitlement blind trust government often portrayed harmless error account saying prayers pagan deity however notion rulers entitled trust expensive entitlement program follow leader often recipe national suicide throughout history people tended trust governments rulers deserved blind trust government resulted far carnage distrust government trust less resistance people believed followed orders carried nazi holocaust ukrainian terrorfamine khmer rouge blood bath war crimes characterize conflicts around globe question acquiescence breeding docile attitude toward political events government actions docility far greater danger blind fanaticism least western societies mass docility permits fanatics seize power wreak havoc people unconditionally trust government atrocities government commit government needs afterward label blame victim excessive trust government breeds attention deficits people assume need keep eye government politicians government threat government tells ignorance combined blind trust produces citizens pliable practically purpose ruler decrees people blindly assume leaders trustworthy biggest liars win believe lies almost guarantees submission accept false statement ones rulers submit lie intellectually submit submission habitforming politicians need promulgate duty submit long people believe submit almost anything people lower mental defenses political perfidy halfway home people trained doubt politicians need continue lying denying barricades guard individual rights smashed one one politician violates oath uphold constitution proven unworthy trust case trusting someone proven untrustworthy people proud trust politicians way would consider foolish regarding profession much american public appears separate issues trust power persons character irrelevant much additional power permitted capture instance regardless number people believed bill clinton liar proposals expand federal power protect people give specific new benefits generally high levels popular approval excepting 199394 healthcare plan public support vesting power untrustworthy ruler sign americans still understand nature government way power corrupts blind trust corrupts say people blindly trust government call anarchy violence streets torching city halls across land choice trusting government refusing drive right side road instead call people cease deluding seek control trust dishonest government true escapism evasion responsibility ones life liberties deference lying rulers selfbetrayal james bovard serves policy advisor future freedom foundation author attention deficit democracy bush betrayal terrorism tyranny books 160 160 words stick 160 | 902 |
<p>The regressive effects of current forms of political manipulation that I describe in my new book, <a href="" type="internal">State of Confusion: Political Manipulation and the Assault on the American Mind</a> (Thomas Dunne Books, St. Martin’s Press, June, 2008) have&#160;not only affected American politics. They have also taken their toll on psychologists’ national organization, the American Psychological Association. Many APA members were shocked last year when APA twice refused to take an unequivocal stance against psychologists’ participation in the Bush detention centers. &#160;The fact that other health care organizations, typically more conservative than APA on humanitarian issues, were very outspoken about the issue made it all the more puzzling.</p>
<p>In human rights groups and liberal organizations around the world the arguments APA spokespersons advanced in support of APA’s position did not pass the red face test for credibility. Instead, their seemingly transparent disingenuousness only made the APA sound embarrassingly like the Bush Administration.</p>
<p>Banning psychologists’ participation in reputed torture mills was clearly unnecessary, it was argued. &#160;To do so would be an insult to military psychologists everywhere. Psychologists would never engage in torture. Further, psychologists’ participation in these detention centers was really an antidote to torture since psychologists’ presence could protect the potential torture victims.&#160; We psychologists were both too good and too important to join our professional colleagues in taking an absolutist moral position against one of the most shameful eras in our country’s history.</p>
<p>There are two questions that beg for answers. How did the APA form such an obviously close connection to the military? And why did the APA governance—the Board of Directors and the Council of Representatives—go along with the military interests? How could an organization of such bright and ethical people be rendered so incompetent to protect the profession from the horrible black eye they have given us?</p>
<p>I have had ample opportunity to observe both the inner workings of the APA and the personalities and organizational vicissitudes that have affected it over the last two decades. With one interruption, for most of the twenty year period from 1983 through 2003 I worked inside the APA central office as the first Executive Director of the APA Practice Directorate and served in several governance positions including Chair of the APA Board of Professional Affairs and member of the APA Council of Representatives.</p>
<p>When the torture issue broke last year, the answer to the first question about APA’s military connection seemed obvious to me. Since the early 1980’s APA has had a unique relationship with Hawaii Senator Daniel Inouye’s office. Inouye, for much of that time, has served as Chair of the Subcommittee on Defense for the Senate Appropriations Committee. The Subcommittee has responsibility for all U.S. defense spending. One of Inouye’s administrative assistants, psychologist Patrick DeLeon, has long been active in the APA and served a term as APA president. For over twenty-five years relationships between APA and the Department of Defense (DOD) have been strongly encouraged and closely coordinated by DeLeon. It was DeLeon acting on behalf of Inouye who initiated the DOD psychologist prescription demonstration project in the late 1980’s that began psychology’s efforts to secure prescriptive privileges.</p>
<p>For many APA governance members, most of whom have little Washington political experience, Dr. DeLeon is perceived as a canny politician and political force on Capitol Hill. The two most visible APA presidents on the torture issue, Ronald Levant and Gerald Koocher, based on personal discussions I have had with them in recent years, clearly hold&#160; DeLeon’s political savvy in high regard.</p>
<p>While I personally got along well with DeLeon and never doubted his commitment to psychology, his view of psychology and his sense of priorities were quite different from mine, and I did not share the positive assessments of Dr. DeLeon’s political prowess. I felt his priorities often had more to do with the status of psychology as reflected in comparatively minor issues that were often unconnected to issues that were of true importance to practitioners and patients. Rightly or wrongly, I often felt that an accurate sense of context was missing from his political analysis and objectives. It’s the same feeling I have now when I look aghast at what APA has done on the torture issue. Except this time, it is not something relatively innocuous.</p>
<p>Some people attempt to explain APA’s recent seemingly inexplicable behavior by assuming that large sums of money changed hands on the torture issue. I could certainly be wrong, but I think the more likely (and more remarkable) explanation is that&#160; those APA leaders making the decisions simply exercised judgment that was both that bad and that insensitive to the realities of the human suffering they were supporting..</p>
<p>Regardless, there is no question that APA had formed a strong relationship with military psychologists and the DOD through its connections with Inouye’s office.</p>
<p>But it is the second question that is probably more difficult to understand from afar. How could both the APA Board of Directors and the APA Council of Representatives support the military on this issue and subject the profession to such embarrassment by supporting a policy that is anathema to the vast majority of psychologists?</p>
<p>The moral decay and functional regression of an organization does not rise or fall with any single event any more than the fall of Rome truly occurred in 476 AD. What is clear to me, instead, is that the pluralistic and multi-faceted governing process that I witnessed when I first entered the APA in the early 1980’s was sharply curtailed during the 1990’s. Differences of opinion stopped and the APA suffered a terrible regression. Increasingly inbred, under the administration of Raymond Fowler, the association agenda was primarily and at times exclusively financial, focusing on making money both through real estate ventures and through what many of us felt was a an unwarranted, financially harsh treatment of APA employees.</p>
<p>More peculiarly, Fowler’s “agenda” for APA was encapsulated in the phrase “working together” a noble idea that to the best of my knowledge was never attached to any actual substantive agenda. Instead, it served as a means of social control, a subtle injunction against raising any of the conflictual issues, challenges, or ideas that need to be addressed in any vital and accountable organization. The APA became placid and increasingly detached.</p>
<p>The result was that much of the activity of the APA Council of Representatives&#160; turned away from substantive matters into an odd system of fawning over one another. Many members appeared to me to simply bathe in the good feeling that came from “working together.” For some, the bath was a narcissistic one and organizational regression became more debilitating. In other instances during this period, isolated dissent from rank and file members was stifled either with heavy handed letters from the APA attorney threatening legal action or by communications from prominent members of the APA governance threatening ethical action if policy protests were not discontinued.</p>
<p>The inept ability to deliberate on the torture issue was but the shocking denouement of an organizational process that was really set in motion in the early 1990’s largely to serve the convenience of a very small number of individuals.</p>
<p>As a result of the lengthy era of regression, the governance of APA was ill prepared for thoughtful deliberation on a matter as important as the torture issue. As I have written in State of Confusion when people are confused they are eager to be told what is real. The governance was simply over its head in trying to effectively deliberate on such an issue when there was organized support on the other side coming from the military interests supported by Koocher and Levant and possibly DeLeon.</p>
<p>When the torture issue arose, the Council, despite the efforts of several council members, fell victim to some of the very silly arguments described above. Council members were told that to oppose psychologists participation in the detention actions was to cruelly suggest that our colleagues might engage in torture. In a fashion chillingly characteristic of the gaslighter&#160; it was implied that those who raised concern about torture, were themselves torturing their colleagues who were working in the military. One prominent member of the APA governance gratuitously raised the ethnicity of one of the military psychologists seemingly opening the possibility that the opponents to torture were racist.</p>
<p>These arguments were then followed with the grandiose closing argument that psychologists presence at the detention centers was critical to make sure torture did not recur. We psychologists had a moral duty to prevent immoral behavior. The piano player once aroused to the possibility of what was going on upstairs was now necessary to prevent it. Yes, these were the arguments that carried the day in APA deliberations and enabled the military to have its way with the APA. In the more discerning eyes of the world, they have very little credibility.</p>
<p>But the gaslighting is not over, even now. There is one more step in the process. History will show this to be a despicable period of American history. The people who have supported APA’s position on this issue obviously do not want their legacy at APA to include that they supported a policy that failed to indict the detention centers. The recent history must be revised. &#160;In a seeming gesture of reconciliation the APA has offered to continue negotiating the matter with the dissident groups. In this fashion the historical revision has already begun. It may well be the final policy APA adopts will ultimately read the way it should have last summer and much, much earlier when it actually&#160; mattered. APA will “get it right” shortly before or shortly after George Bush leaves office. In leaving a final written policy that is like our sister organizations’ original policies, APA’s shocking failure at the critical time will appear never to have happened.</p>
<p>Such is the work of a regressed and chronically manipulated organization. Despite being an organization of psychologists, APA has been subjected to very little analysis. Psychologists are amongst the most moral and ethical people I know. They deserved better from their national organization, just as Americans have deserved better from their government.</p>
<p>Dr. BRYANT WELCH has been a nationally-prominent psychologist for thirty years. He currently resides on Hilton Head Island, SC where he provides psychotherapy to adolescents and adults and marriage counseling to couples. In August of 2005, Dr. Welch was awarded the American Psychological Association’s Presidential Citation for his “seminal and unique contribution to professional psychological practice.” He is the author of <a href="" type="internal">State of Confusion: Political Manipulation and the Assault on the American Mind</a>.</p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | regressive effects current forms political manipulation describe new book state confusion political manipulation assault american mind thomas dunne books st martins press june 2008 have160not affected american politics also taken toll psychologists national organization american psychological association many apa members shocked last year apa twice refused take unequivocal stance psychologists participation bush detention centers 160the fact health care organizations typically conservative apa humanitarian issues outspoken issue made puzzling human rights groups liberal organizations around world arguments apa spokespersons advanced support apas position pass red face test credibility instead seemingly transparent disingenuousness made apa sound embarrassingly like bush administration banning psychologists participation reputed torture mills clearly unnecessary argued 160to would insult military psychologists everywhere psychologists would never engage torture psychologists participation detention centers really antidote torture since psychologists presence could protect potential torture victims160 psychologists good important join professional colleagues taking absolutist moral position one shameful eras countrys history two questions beg answers apa form obviously close connection military apa governancethe board directors council representativesgo along military interests could organization bright ethical people rendered incompetent protect profession horrible black eye given us ample opportunity observe inner workings apa personalities organizational vicissitudes affected last two decades one interruption twenty year period 1983 2003 worked inside apa central office first executive director apa practice directorate served several governance positions including chair apa board professional affairs member apa council representatives torture issue broke last year answer first question apas military connection seemed obvious since early 1980s apa unique relationship hawaii senator daniel inouyes office inouye much time served chair subcommittee defense senate appropriations committee subcommittee responsibility us defense spending one inouyes administrative assistants psychologist patrick deleon long active apa served term apa president twentyfive years relationships apa department defense dod strongly encouraged closely coordinated deleon deleon acting behalf inouye initiated dod psychologist prescription demonstration project late 1980s began psychologys efforts secure prescriptive privileges many apa governance members little washington political experience dr deleon perceived canny politician political force capitol hill two visible apa presidents torture issue ronald levant gerald koocher based personal discussions recent years clearly hold160 deleons political savvy high regard personally got along well deleon never doubted commitment psychology view psychology sense priorities quite different mine share positive assessments dr deleons political prowess felt priorities often status psychology reflected comparatively minor issues often unconnected issues true importance practitioners patients rightly wrongly often felt accurate sense context missing political analysis objectives feeling look aghast apa done torture issue except time something relatively innocuous people attempt explain apas recent seemingly inexplicable behavior assuming large sums money changed hands torture issue could certainly wrong think likely remarkable explanation that160 apa leaders making decisions simply exercised judgment bad insensitive realities human suffering supporting regardless question apa formed strong relationship military psychologists dod connections inouyes office second question probably difficult understand afar could apa board directors apa council representatives support military issue subject profession embarrassment supporting policy anathema vast majority psychologists moral decay functional regression organization rise fall single event fall rome truly occurred 476 ad clear instead pluralistic multifaceted governing process witnessed first entered apa early 1980s sharply curtailed 1990s differences opinion stopped apa suffered terrible regression increasingly inbred administration raymond fowler association agenda primarily times exclusively financial focusing making money real estate ventures many us felt unwarranted financially harsh treatment apa employees peculiarly fowlers agenda apa encapsulated phrase working together noble idea best knowledge never attached actual substantive agenda instead served means social control subtle injunction raising conflictual issues challenges ideas need addressed vital accountable organization apa became placid increasingly detached result much activity apa council representatives160 turned away substantive matters odd system fawning one another many members appeared simply bathe good feeling came working together bath narcissistic one organizational regression became debilitating instances period isolated dissent rank file members stifled either heavy handed letters apa attorney threatening legal action communications prominent members apa governance threatening ethical action policy protests discontinued inept ability deliberate torture issue shocking denouement organizational process really set motion early 1990s largely serve convenience small number individuals result lengthy era regression governance apa ill prepared thoughtful deliberation matter important torture issue written state confusion people confused eager told real governance simply head trying effectively deliberate issue organized support side coming military interests supported koocher levant possibly deleon torture issue arose council despite efforts several council members fell victim silly arguments described council members told oppose psychologists participation detention actions cruelly suggest colleagues might engage torture fashion chillingly characteristic gaslighter160 implied raised concern torture torturing colleagues working military one prominent member apa governance gratuitously raised ethnicity one military psychologists seemingly opening possibility opponents torture racist arguments followed grandiose closing argument psychologists presence detention centers critical make sure torture recur psychologists moral duty prevent immoral behavior piano player aroused possibility going upstairs necessary prevent yes arguments carried day apa deliberations enabled military way apa discerning eyes world little credibility gaslighting even one step process history show despicable period american history people supported apas position issue obviously want legacy apa include supported policy failed indict detention centers recent history must revised 160in seeming gesture reconciliation apa offered continue negotiating matter dissident groups fashion historical revision already begun may well final policy apa adopts ultimately read way last summer much much earlier actually160 mattered apa get right shortly shortly george bush leaves office leaving final written policy like sister organizations original policies apas shocking failure critical time appear never happened work regressed chronically manipulated organization despite organization psychologists apa subjected little analysis psychologists amongst moral ethical people know deserved better national organization americans deserved better government dr bryant welch nationallyprominent psychologist thirty years currently resides hilton head island sc provides psychotherapy adolescents adults marriage counseling couples august 2005 dr welch awarded american psychological associations presidential citation seminal unique contribution professional psychological practice author state confusion political manipulation assault american mind 160 160 160 | 968 |
<p>Reports of distress pile up with disarming regularity. The latest one comes from the United States Census Bureau, which reports that the poverty rate is now 13.2 per cent, the highest level since 1997. Almost 40 million Americans live below the poverty line, which the government sets at $22,025 for a family of four (and downwards for smaller families). The median household income in the U.S. has dropped by 3.6 per cent, and with foreclosures of houses on the rise and as credit card bankruptcies begin to make their appearance, it is hardly a surprise to see more people enter the ranks of the indigent.</p>
<p>David Johnson, who heads the Census’ Housing and Household Economic Statistics Division, sounded stoic: “Everyone expected an increase in the poverty rate” because these numbers come from the period after the collapse began in December 2007. More than 14 million of those in poverty are children, “the biggest increase in child poverty since 1992”, said the Children’s Defence Fund.</p>
<p>In early September, the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey projected that job losses would only increase in the fourth quarter of 2009. Two-thirds of the employers surveyed by the largest provider of temporary workers said that they had no plans either to increase or to decrease their workforce. But, of the remainder, more employers threatened to shed jobs. This is a bad sign for an economy that has had seven consecutive quarters of haemorrhaged jobs. The White House’s Council of Economic Advisers pointed out at the same time that the $787-billion stimulus plan had helped save one million jobs. That comes to $787,000 a job, much more than the average salary of the workers.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, large investment firms already began to clock in large profits: Goldman Sachs bringing in $3.4 billion in the second quarter, JPMorgan Chase $2.7 billion in the same time and CitiGroup $4.3 billion. Bonuses have been promised. This gets the ire of the ordinary citizen. Newsweek’s Fareed Zakaria blew the all-clear in a Pollyannaish essay called “A Capitalist Manifesto: Greed is Good (to a point)” (June 22). “Even though we’ve had an imperfect stimulus package, nationalised no banks and undergone no grand reinvention of capitalism, the sense of panic seems to be easing.” What is good for Wall Street might not be good for those in the unemployment lines.</p>
<p>At least President Barack Obama recognises that things are still at a sorry pass. “As any American who is still looking for work or a way to pay their bills will tell you,” he told Congress in a speech on September 10, “we are by no means out of the woods.” The crisis, he said, was no longer the main problem. The government stimulus package has tried to settle things in the world of finance and to nudge banks to lend to businesses so that they might hire workers.</p>
<p>A modest social net has been set up to make sure conditions are not abysmal for the poor, although the net remains frayed. One of the principal holes in the social net is the lack of adequate health insurance. The report from the Census Bureau points out that 15.4 per cent of the population (or about 46.3 million Americans) has no health insurance. One in six Americans who got their health insurance through their jobs no longer had work, so they lost their access to the safety net. Those with insurance find that the premiums are far too high and that the deductible is prohibitive. (One pays a premium each year to the insurance company. When one needs to use the system, one has to pay a certain fee, a deductible, before the insurance company takes care of the rest of the payment, that is, the insurance company will pay up to its self-imposed cap.) No one is happy with the way things have languished.</p>
<p>Among the advanced industrial countries, the U.S. spends the most on its health care system. Obama said in his speech: “We spend one and a half times more per person on health care than any other country, but we aren’t any healthier for it.” Over 18 per cent of the gross domestic product of the U.S. goes to the health industry. Outcomes are no more or less than those in comparable societies. Obesity is higher in the U.S. and has an impact on the health of the population although this is largely a problem of the food industry (fast food is a culprit but so too is the regime of packaged, pre-prepared food that relies upon high fructose corn syrup, salt and fat to make itself attractive).</p>
<p>Studies show that the problem lies with a health care system that is too costly (with pharmaceuticals being remarkably expensive) and an insurance system whose for-profit regime bilks the customer to satisfy Wall Street. Half of the bankruptcies in the U.S. are related to high medical costs (according to an illuminating study by The American Journal of Medicine). Those without insurance do not take care of their bodies and wait for a catastrophic situation to occur, when they visit the very expensive emergency rooms (the costs are paid for by society, a hidden tax that is rarely talked about). Things are at a sorry pass. Over the past century, U.S. governments have tried in vain to reform the system.</p>
<p>There have been some small steps. In the 1960s, President L.B. Johnson was able to create the Medicare (for the elderly) and the Medicaid (for the very poor) programmes. In 1943, John Dingell Sr. introduced a Bill in Congress for comprehensive health care. Each year, Dingell’s son, the Congressman from Michigan, introduces the same Bill in the House, almost as a memorial to his father rather than with any realistic expectation that it will be passed.</p>
<p>The insurance, pharmaceutical and health care lobbies are vast, and their for-profit empires cannot countenance any change in the system. They continue to be very strong and have already put pressure on the Obama White House and on the so-called Blue Dog (or conservative) Democrats. The Blue Dogs receive vastly more campaign finance money from the pharmaceutical and insurance lobbies than other Democrats. Money knows how to interfere with reform. It pays never to turn your back on a lobbyist in a tight corner.</p>
<p>Obama’s play is constrained by the Blue Dogs and by his own tendency to seek the “middle ground”. He has struck out against the Canadian “single-payer” system and against a libertarian system where individuals have to buy their own insurance from the marketplace. Instead, he proposes to have every American carry health insurance. They would either get this insurance from their employers or buy it directly from insurance companies. The problem with the latter option is that most parts of the country are dominated by one or very few insurance companies, whose monopoly position allows them to raise the premiums and put barriers to the use of health care.</p>
<p>To put pressure on the insurance companies, the Obama plan would create an insurance exchange, to force them to compete with each other. Tax credits to small businesses and exemptions of various kinds, as well as modest pressure on insurance companies to reduce their costs (they have agreed to cut 2 per cent of their costs, hardly a concession), round out the outlines of the plan. There is no suggestion to make insurance companies non-profit entities, as they are in most parts of the world. There is equally no suggestion to cap costs or to legislate that health care providers must charge for outcomes and not for unnecessary tests.</p>
<p>Obama continues to insist that there needs to be a “public option”, a government-led insurance option that would compete with private entities. This is under threat and might be withdrawn. Obama is walking a very fine line to conduct meaningful reform without threatening the profit culture that coddles the entire health care system.</p>
<p>To the Right, this still smells like socialism. During the month of August, representatives went back to their home districts to talk about health care at town halls. Right-wing politicians and their media enablers made accusations against the Obama plan of all kinds of untrue excesses. The most egregious was the suggestion that the government would create “death panels” to reduce costs to the elderly by consensual euthanasia.</p>
<p>Scared and angry citizens came to these town halls bearing pictures of Obama as Hitler and with signs against socialism. It was a confused and confusing spectacle. Many members of Congress went on the back foot, unable to deal with the pitchforks pointed at them. Obama’s approval rating slipped. The speech he gave to Congress in early September was designed to reclaim the discussion. “The time for bickering is over,” he said in his rich delivery style, “The time for games has passed. Now is the season for action.”</p>
<p>“You Lie”</p>
<p>But the Right is in quicksand. Obama laid out the falsehoods, including one that suggested that undocumented migrants would get health care coverage (which is, by the way, a human right). As Obama said that this was not true, Congressman Joe Wilson (Republican from South Carolina) yelled: “You lie.” In the U.S. government, this is unprecedented. The President’s speech is usually met with applause and a highly orchestrated decorum. Never before in recent memory has a member of Congress shouted at the President during a speech, and never with what is certainly an insult. Obama brushed him off. Wilson’s apology later was aggressively grudging. He said he received a lot of mail in support of his action.</p>
<p>The Right has begun to suppurate. Journalist Max Blumenthal’s new book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1568583982/counterpunchmaga" type="external">Republican Gomorrah: Inside the Movement that Shattered the Party</a> (2009), tells the story of people like Wilson. Given over to an authoritarian culture that brooks no dissent and harbours all manner of frustrations and grievances, the radical Right in the U.S. has built a large subculture that is not visible to the rest of society. It is the section that continued to provide 28 per cent support to George W. Bush even in his worst period. That is almost a third of the country, and it is something to contend with. Times are rough for this section, hit as hard as others by the economic crisis. But their leaders blame the crisis on the “breakdown of the family” and hold fast to their ideology. They have no investment in any kind of social change.</p>
<p>It is likely that the Democrats will pass some kind of health care reform. It might not include all that is necessary to create a social safety net. But for those millions who have lost their jobs, their homes, their sense of dignity, anything is better than nothing.</p>
<p>VIJAY PRASHAD is the George and Martha Kellner Chair of South Asian History and Director of International Studies at Trinity College, Hartford, CT His new book is <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1565847857/counterpunchmaga" type="external">The Darker Nations: A People’s History of the Third World,</a> New York: The New Press, 2007, which was chosen for the Muzaffar Ahmad Book Award, 2009. He can be reached at: <a href="mailto:vijay.prashad@trincoll.edu" type="external">vijay.prashad@trincoll.edu</a></p>
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<p /> | true | 4 | reports distress pile disarming regularity latest one comes united states census bureau reports poverty rate 132 per cent highest level since 1997 almost 40 million americans live poverty line government sets 22025 family four downwards smaller families median household income us dropped 36 per cent foreclosures houses rise credit card bankruptcies begin make appearance hardly surprise see people enter ranks indigent david johnson heads census housing household economic statistics division sounded stoic everyone expected increase poverty rate numbers come period collapse began december 2007 14 million poverty children biggest increase child poverty since 1992 said childrens defence fund early september manpower employment outlook survey projected job losses would increase fourth quarter 2009 twothirds employers surveyed largest provider temporary workers said plans either increase decrease workforce remainder employers threatened shed jobs bad sign economy seven consecutive quarters haemorrhaged jobs white houses council economic advisers pointed time 787billion stimulus plan helped save one million jobs comes 787000 job much average salary workers meanwhile large investment firms already began clock large profits goldman sachs bringing 34 billion second quarter jpmorgan chase 27 billion time citigroup 43 billion bonuses promised gets ire ordinary citizen newsweeks fareed zakaria blew allclear pollyannaish essay called capitalist manifesto greed good point june 22 even though weve imperfect stimulus package nationalised banks undergone grand reinvention capitalism sense panic seems easing good wall street might good unemployment lines least president barack obama recognises things still sorry pass american still looking work way pay bills tell told congress speech september 10 means woods crisis said longer main problem government stimulus package tried settle things world finance nudge banks lend businesses might hire workers modest social net set make sure conditions abysmal poor although net remains frayed one principal holes social net lack adequate health insurance report census bureau points 154 per cent population 463 million americans health insurance one six americans got health insurance jobs longer work lost access safety net insurance find premiums far high deductible prohibitive one pays premium year insurance company one needs use system one pay certain fee deductible insurance company takes care rest payment insurance company pay selfimposed cap one happy way things languished among advanced industrial countries us spends health care system obama said speech spend one half times per person health care country arent healthier 18 per cent gross domestic product us goes health industry outcomes less comparable societies obesity higher us impact health population although largely problem food industry fast food culprit regime packaged preprepared food relies upon high fructose corn syrup salt fat make attractive studies show problem lies health care system costly pharmaceuticals remarkably expensive insurance system whose forprofit regime bilks customer satisfy wall street half bankruptcies us related high medical costs according illuminating study american journal medicine without insurance take care bodies wait catastrophic situation occur visit expensive emergency rooms costs paid society hidden tax rarely talked things sorry pass past century us governments tried vain reform system small steps 1960s president lb johnson able create medicare elderly medicaid poor programmes 1943 john dingell sr introduced bill congress comprehensive health care year dingells son congressman michigan introduces bill house almost memorial father rather realistic expectation passed insurance pharmaceutical health care lobbies vast forprofit empires countenance change system continue strong already put pressure obama white house socalled blue dog conservative democrats blue dogs receive vastly campaign finance money pharmaceutical insurance lobbies democrats money knows interfere reform pays never turn back lobbyist tight corner obamas play constrained blue dogs tendency seek middle ground struck canadian singlepayer system libertarian system individuals buy insurance marketplace instead proposes every american carry health insurance would either get insurance employers buy directly insurance companies problem latter option parts country dominated one insurance companies whose monopoly position allows raise premiums put barriers use health care put pressure insurance companies obama plan would create insurance exchange force compete tax credits small businesses exemptions various kinds well modest pressure insurance companies reduce costs agreed cut 2 per cent costs hardly concession round outlines plan suggestion make insurance companies nonprofit entities parts world equally suggestion cap costs legislate health care providers must charge outcomes unnecessary tests obama continues insist needs public option governmentled insurance option would compete private entities threat might withdrawn obama walking fine line conduct meaningful reform without threatening profit culture coddles entire health care system right still smells like socialism month august representatives went back home districts talk health care town halls rightwing politicians media enablers made accusations obama plan kinds untrue excesses egregious suggestion government would create death panels reduce costs elderly consensual euthanasia scared angry citizens came town halls bearing pictures obama hitler signs socialism confused confusing spectacle many members congress went back foot unable deal pitchforks pointed obamas approval rating slipped speech gave congress early september designed reclaim discussion time bickering said rich delivery style time games passed season action lie right quicksand obama laid falsehoods including one suggested undocumented migrants would get health care coverage way human right obama said true congressman joe wilson republican south carolina yelled lie us government unprecedented presidents speech usually met applause highly orchestrated decorum never recent memory member congress shouted president speech never certainly insult obama brushed wilsons apology later aggressively grudging said received lot mail support action right begun suppurate journalist max blumenthals new book republican gomorrah inside movement shattered party 2009 tells story people like wilson given authoritarian culture brooks dissent harbours manner frustrations grievances radical right us built large subculture visible rest society section continued provide 28 per cent support george w bush even worst period almost third country something contend times rough section hit hard others economic crisis leaders blame crisis breakdown family hold fast ideology investment kind social change likely democrats pass kind health care reform might include necessary create social safety net millions lost jobs homes sense dignity anything better nothing vijay prashad george martha kellner chair south asian history director international studies trinity college hartford ct new book darker nations peoples history third world new york new press 2007 chosen muzaffar ahmad book award 2009 reached vijayprashadtrincolledu 160 | 1,007 |
<p>“Suppose machinery does extend its sway, suppose science in the hands of [the few] does more and more dominate us, suppose the great battle of the future, with its own “good and evil,” comes to be the struggle of the individual to be himself against the struggle of society to prevent him being himself, what we shall have to do will only be what the saints, lovers, artists, mystics have always done, namely, sink into ourselves and into Nature and find our pleasure in the most simple, stripped, austere, and meagre sensations.”</p>
<p>— J.C. Powys, Autobiography</p>
<p>“Since you are my readers and I have not been much of a traveler, I will not talk about people a thousand miles off, but come as near home as I can. &#160;As the time is short, I will leave out all the flattery and retain the criticism.&#160; Let us consider the way in which we spend our lives.”</p>
<p>— H.D. Thoreau, Life Without Principle</p>
<p>What better and more obtainable goal could we have in this time of planetary crisis, caused in large part by the “too big-ness” of centralized, imperialist organization, the too-bigness of the technologies and industries and the disproportionate amount of non-renewable, CO2-producing energy required to support our advanced lifestyle,&#160; than turning ourselves small? Working against such a goal is the ego-syntonic de-mythicized context that no longer provides a mirror by which we might correct our behavior back to the humanly sustainable (that is, if we could bear to look at the real situation without blaming the other,&#160; like Snow White’s stepmom, the Queen).</p>
<p>Many call for contraction, but contraction can begin only with individuals who can be “content with less.”&#160; I see no movement afoot that would bring this extremely unwanted change in consciousness about.&#160; On the whole, we’d rather let the hunter take Snow White out to the woods and “off” her than alter our inner and outer, ego-buttressing arrangements. For instance, a movement encouraging walking, not for fitness, but for “sauntering” (as was advocated by HD Thoreau), for daily contact with one’s real surroundings, for slowing one’s pace to that of one’s own muscular propulsion, could increase our capacity for smallness.&#160; Such a movement would not dictate to others to “put down those screens,” but encourage walking, promote the looking around, talking quietly with one another in the way one does during a walk in the out-of-doors, when trees, mosses, stones, the occasional deer or chipmunk start to have their inevitable “collecting” effect on our scattered, multi-tasking brain patterns.</p>
<p>This movement would advise, start where you are.&#160;&#160; If you live in the city, don’t get in the car and drive to a place in the country, or to the trampled national park.&#160; Start in the parks of your city; that were bequeathed to you by ancestors who were not only rich, but possessed of a sense of the worthwhile.&#160; In the 19th century, when many parks were begun, when cemeteries were designed to encourage solitude and contemplation of mortality and the beautiful,&#160;&#160; the beneficent effects of direct contact with nature, with trees, flowers, grass, rocks, flowing water, as well as with lovely statuary and landscaping could be shared by all economic levels.</p>
<p>In Utica, we would be talking about the park system established by the Proctors, Thomas and Frederick who with their wives the Williams sisters Maria and Rachel, left a legacy of a large and beautifully designed system consisting of three separate parks, plus a median park down the center of the “Memorial Parkway.” My husband and I frequently walk in the park called “the Switchbacks.”&#160; Although we do run into some head-phone bedecked striders and runners and dog-walkers there,&#160; the most numerous users of our parks are by far the recent immigrants, who apparently have not yet lost their attachment to nature and their innate love of walking just for the pleasure of it, not to mention their knowledge of plants and herbs which they can be seen harvesting in springtime.&#160; We pass many young Asians of various nationalities, sometimes whole families, once a berobed Buddhist monk.&#160; In the other parks, we have passed picnicking communities of what I guess to be Sudanese, handsome people, the women and girls all with heads covered.&#160; We don’t always know the nationality of those we pass on the trails.&#160; But walking in Utica’s parks means inhabiting a space not much frequented by our own kind and sharing a surprising,&#160; unspoken connectedness with those whose culture includes Nature and whose limited means prevent their flocking to the Adirondacks.</p>
<p>Catastrophe Isn’t New</p>
<p>My husband chides the climate activists whose proposals suggest the pending climate disaster can be turned around by tweaking our technology, without giving up our western, “de-sensed” world.&#160; These voices are less marginalized&#160; than the more radical ones who aren’t inclined to “mince words.” Those who see the catastrophe headed straight for us, those acting as our elders&#160; “leaving out flattery and retaining the criticism,” point the way we must go in for the collective good, not for the short term good of those currently profiting/profiteering/plundering.&#160; They recognize that everything has to change; our much convenienced way of life must return to its basis in relatedness,&#160; for life as we know it is coming to an end.</p>
<p>This is a very difficult awareness to keep hold of, as each one of us has to face the demands of making a living, feeding ourselves, providing shelter, raising children, etc., all of which are part of the security provided for the fortunate, the way that is killing the planet.&#160; Moreover, it is difficult to keep in mind when the corporate-dominated society’s main mode of communication,&#160; mass media, is itself a denial that there is any cause for concern.&#160; That is, even if one goes to a website that presents the facts of pending climate disaster, the very fact that the fabulous electronic device that took you there is working argues against there being cause for alarm.</p>
<p>I have wondered myself at the excessive alarm (call it terror)I feel when I am experiencing problems with my computer.&#160; Some of it is the helplessness in the face of computer technology that I share with my boomer generation.&#160; But attached to this is a fear of losing the reassurance the functioning computer brings me that “life” as I’m accustomed to it continues for the moment, a reassurance from which&#160; I, like the ungracefully aging Queen,&#160; extrapolate greedily, abating my fear that all is dying and it’s time to change.</p>
<p>This truth is being told to us by those who feel it is their duty to hold up the mirror to us reflecting our situation.&#160;&#160; What keeps us paralyzed and in denial is not suppression of the facts, but the fact we no longer know how to exist next door to catastrophe; we’ve lost the ability in just the past few centuries,&#160; cultivated by our human ancestors over hundreds of thousands of years, to live with awareness of the Big Catastrophe, which is the mortality given us at birth.</p>
<p>Nobody’s talking about it</p>
<p>A friend mentioned to me recently that St Croix, a Virgin Island located very close to Puerto Rico, where she owns a home, was utterly destroyed by hurricane Maria, and “nobody’s talking about it.”&#160; For that matter, nobody’s talking about Puerto Rico (only about celebrity benefits for Puerto Rico), or, except for a passing sentence, about the fires in California.&#160; Nobody’s talking about all the trees that are clearly dying in our Switchback park, nor about the large number of trees that look to me to be dying up in the Adirondacks.&#160; This year we are noticing the lack of foliage colors; “leaves are just going brown and falling off.”&#160; But nobody’s talking about it.&#160; When someone like my husband does talk about the dying trees, it’s a surefire conversation stopper.&#160; Where do you go with this kind of news that comes too close to the terror of the Unknowns of the human future facing drastic climate change?&#160; What do you say when the unmentionable affront to politeness is this environmental horror bearing down on us?&#160; One can distract oneself – so simple for us to do;&#160; requiring no great effort and no repudiation, repentance,&#160; or sacrifice whatsoever.&#160; ‘Twould be far better to heed the unwelcome information so plain in the mirror. Dark news we fear to face, though presenting itself with special urgency today, isn’t new.&#160; ‘Horror’ wasn’t anomalous to our ancestors, more at the mercy of nature and roving hordes, and it certainly isn’t new to the peoples conquered and/or enslaved on our way to empire.</p>
<p>Those conquered peoples who managed to keep the ancient wisdom current, employing it to deal creatively with horrific, brutish oppression, have something to teach us today.&#160; I think of this in relation to the vitality of “Negro spirituals,” of the blues, of the jazz Orin and I bring to our nonprofit in Utica because we love it.&#160; This art exemplifies the transformation of the catastrophe of life into joy. Neither stoicism, resignation nor competitiveness will allow us to live joyfully next&#160; to doom. Only the power of imagination, of metaphor, which human beings are supposed to employ will do it. Though we moderns have come to think of it as optional, perhaps as old-fashioned superstition or simple-minded “magical thinking,” without imagination, we have no choice but to join the ranks of those in neoliberal denial.&#160; Neoliberalism, but the latest top-down contortion of our thinking, makes it possible for the majority of us to take comfort in illusion and avoid not only mortality, but the consequences of our self-blinding. It keeps us defending the status quo arrangements even when we know things are systemically wrong.&#160; Imagination is unnecessary and in-the-way if the goal for humanity is robothood,&#160; but indispensable for dealing with life as catastrophe, the way it is if we are not deluding ourselves, the way our ancestors, informed religiously by myth, understood it to be.</p>
<p>This is the message I believe Joseph Campbell was trying to get across&#160; through his late-in-life guru platform via the 1980’s PBS program, The Power of Myth.&#160; His “follow your bliss” advice, though undoubtedly scoffed at by his colleagues in academia,&#160; had a great impact on me.&#160; It was an important clue to the ever-marginalized but never extinguished truth expressed in the Romantic tradition, by poets, seers, mystics and prophets, gnostics and other radical dissenters in all ages.&#160;&#160; From their truth we are shielded not just by the “veils” of reality that naturally complicate the pursuit of knowledge, but by the imperially triumphant rationalism and scientism that dominates all of our institutions and the political left.&#160; Contrarily,&#160; there is a way to reclaim the path lit by imagination, by which the serious challenges of life, of Nature not under our control, become matters we know about, can teach our children about, can make real beauty out of,&#160; into which Joy and Blues are woven fine.&#160; From this perspective, catastrophe is the necessary defeat that can&#160; return one to being human, which I am calling “making ourselves small,”&#160; or as Powys expressed it,&#160; “sinking into ourselves and into Nature.”</p>
<p>The largeness to be gained from making ourselves small is not the largeness of dominance and might, but the true largeness of our potential humanity, now in chains.&#160; It requires imagination to set it free, walking on our two good legs, choosing the heroic path laid out not by a scoffing and supercilious science-for-hire, but in myth-based organic pattern.</p> | true | 4 | suppose machinery extend sway suppose science hands dominate us suppose great battle future good evil comes struggle individual struggle society prevent shall saints lovers artists mystics always done namely sink nature find pleasure simple stripped austere meagre sensations jc powys autobiography since readers much traveler talk people thousand miles come near home 160as time short leave flattery retain criticism160 let us consider way spend lives hd thoreau life without principle better obtainable goal could time planetary crisis caused large part bigness centralized imperialist organization toobigness technologies industries disproportionate amount nonrenewable co2producing energy required support advanced lifestyle160 turning small working goal egosyntonic demythicized context longer provides mirror might correct behavior back humanly sustainable could bear look real situation without blaming other160 like snow whites stepmom queen many call contraction contraction begin individuals content less160 see movement afoot would bring extremely unwanted change consciousness about160 whole wed rather let hunter take snow white woods alter inner outer egobuttressing arrangements instance movement encouraging walking fitness sauntering advocated hd thoreau daily contact ones real surroundings slowing ones pace ones muscular propulsion could increase capacity smallness160 movement would dictate others put screens encourage walking promote looking around talking quietly one another way one walk outofdoors trees mosses stones occasional deer chipmunk start inevitable collecting effect scattered multitasking brain patterns movement would advise start are160160 live city dont get car drive place country trampled national park160 start parks city bequeathed ancestors rich possessed sense worthwhile160 19th century many parks begun cemeteries designed encourage solitude contemplation mortality beautiful160160 beneficent effects direct contact nature trees flowers grass rocks flowing water well lovely statuary landscaping could shared economic levels utica would talking park system established proctors thomas frederick wives williams sisters maria rachel left legacy large beautifully designed system consisting three separate parks plus median park center memorial parkway husband frequently walk park called switchbacks160 although run headphone bedecked striders runners dogwalkers there160 numerous users parks far recent immigrants apparently yet lost attachment nature innate love walking pleasure mention knowledge plants herbs seen harvesting springtime160 pass many young asians various nationalities sometimes whole families berobed buddhist monk160 parks passed picnicking communities guess sudanese handsome people women girls heads covered160 dont always know nationality pass trails160 walking uticas parks means inhabiting space much frequented kind sharing surprising160 unspoken connectedness whose culture includes nature whose limited means prevent flocking adirondacks catastrophe isnt new husband chides climate activists whose proposals suggest pending climate disaster turned around tweaking technology without giving western desensed world160 voices less marginalized160 radical ones arent inclined mince words see catastrophe headed straight us acting elders160 leaving flattery retaining criticism point way must go collective good short term good currently profitingprofiteeringplundering160 recognize everything change much convenienced way life must return basis relatedness160 life know coming end difficult awareness keep hold one us face demands making living feeding providing shelter raising children etc part security provided fortunate way killing planet160 moreover difficult keep mind corporatedominated societys main mode communication160 mass media denial cause concern160 even one goes website presents facts pending climate disaster fact fabulous electronic device took working argues cause alarm wondered excessive alarm call terrori feel experiencing problems computer160 helplessness face computer technology share boomer generation160 attached fear losing reassurance functioning computer brings life im accustomed continues moment reassurance which160 like ungracefully aging queen160 extrapolate greedily abating fear dying time change truth told us feel duty hold mirror us reflecting situation160160 keeps us paralyzed denial suppression facts fact longer know exist next door catastrophe weve lost ability past centuries160 cultivated human ancestors hundreds thousands years live awareness big catastrophe mortality given us birth nobodys talking friend mentioned recently st croix virgin island located close puerto rico owns home utterly destroyed hurricane maria nobodys talking it160 matter nobodys talking puerto rico celebrity benefits puerto rico except passing sentence fires california160 nobodys talking trees clearly dying switchback park large number trees look dying adirondacks160 year noticing lack foliage colors leaves going brown falling off160 nobodys talking it160 someone like husband talk dying trees surefire conversation stopper160 go kind news comes close terror unknowns human future facing drastic climate change160 say unmentionable affront politeness environmental horror bearing us160 one distract oneself simple us do160 requiring great effort repudiation repentance160 sacrifice whatsoever160 twould far better heed unwelcome information plain mirror dark news fear face though presenting special urgency today isnt new160 horror wasnt anomalous ancestors mercy nature roving hordes certainly isnt new peoples conquered andor enslaved way empire conquered peoples managed keep ancient wisdom current employing deal creatively horrific brutish oppression something teach us today160 think relation vitality negro spirituals blues jazz orin bring nonprofit utica love it160 art exemplifies transformation catastrophe life joy neither stoicism resignation competitiveness allow us live joyfully next160 doom power imagination metaphor human beings supposed employ though moderns come think optional perhaps oldfashioned superstition simpleminded magical thinking without imagination choice join ranks neoliberal denial160 neoliberalism latest topdown contortion thinking makes possible majority us take comfort illusion avoid mortality consequences selfblinding keeps us defending status quo arrangements even know things systemically wrong160 imagination unnecessary intheway goal humanity robothood160 indispensable dealing life catastrophe way deluding way ancestors informed religiously myth understood message believe joseph campbell trying get across160 lateinlife guru platform via 1980s pbs program power myth160 follow bliss advice though undoubtedly scoffed colleagues academia160 great impact me160 important clue evermarginalized never extinguished truth expressed romantic tradition poets seers mystics prophets gnostics radical dissenters ages160160 truth shielded veils reality naturally complicate pursuit knowledge imperially triumphant rationalism scientism dominates institutions political left160 contrarily160 way reclaim path lit imagination serious challenges life nature control become matters know teach children make real beauty of160 joy blues woven fine160 perspective catastrophe necessary defeat can160 return one human calling making small160 powys expressed it160 sinking nature largeness gained making small largeness dominance might true largeness potential humanity chains160 requires imagination set free walking two good legs choosing heroic path laid scoffing supercilious scienceforhire mythbased organic pattern | 982 |
<p>I felt like blaming someone when, like millions of other Americans, I took a WorldCom bath. How, I asked my wife, could the company that owns MCI, one of the world’s telecommunication giants, declare bankruptcy? In today’s mail, MCI, owned by WorldCom, offers me thousands of frequent flyer miles if I switch to their phone service. Truthfully, until the person who handles my IRA fund phoned and told me I had lost $10,000 in WorldCom bonds, I didn’t even know I had them. I had told this person that I wanted her to put my IRA savings only in very low risk investments. She said, later, that she honestly thought buying bonds in WorldCom, one of the worlds great corporations, was as safe as one could get.</p>
<p>A friend of mine admitted that he had lost far more than me in both Enron and WorldCom stocks and bonds. And, he continued, think of the tens of thousands of laid off workers from those and other companies, people who lost their jobs because of corporate sleaze. Before its July 2002 bankruptcy, WorldCom laid off 17,000 employees and made a $400 million loan to former CEO Bernard Ebbers. Who will collect that one?</p>
<p>The list of major corporations involved in major fraud grows: WorldCom, Enron, AOL-Time Warner etc…oh, and let’s not forget the hanky panky of Martha Stewart, the smiling, motherly TV personality with the “trust me above all” look.</p>
<p>Who can you trust? From Ronald Reagan through George W. Bush we have heard the mantra of how government stinks and corporations are great. The President assures us that the economy is moving forward. Some experts, however, predict that instead of traveling north, as President Bush proudly proclaimed, our economy appears to be heading south. Last week, IBM announced the lay off of 15,000 workers and American Airlines of 7,000. United Airlines, with whom I hold my Visa card that sends me offers of miles if I switch to MCI (WorldCom), warns it might soon declare bankruptcy. Continental Airlines announces major cost-cutting measures like eliminating free parking for its top executives and removing plastic knives from its breakfast service. What’s the world coming to?</p>
<p>Luckily for all Americans, in the midst of his “working vacation” at his Texas ranch, our president got right on the case. In mid-August, he held an economic meeting Economic Forum” held in Waco, Texas. Even the reclusive Vice President Dick Cheney showed up, albeit he must have been working very hard in the previous days since reports had it that he spent much of the time at the meeting sleeping. “Dick was bored,” one cynic suggested.</p>
<p>The Republican business and government elite that stayed awake sat around the table and assured each other that they would not allow any more hanky panky in the corporate world. This meant that they and their friends would try to cover up their and their colleagues’ past accounting and executive practices that had roamed beyond the windy side of the law. The president blinked several times before saying sincerely that he was shocked by “shady corporate practices.</p>
<p>A few reporters suggested that he shouldn’t feel too shocked since he also had engaged in some of those very practices himself. But, like many alcoholics, the President may have suffered some memory loss. Or is this convenient amnesia?</p>
<p>He probably forgot that he sold almost $1 million of his shares in Harken Energy just before that company went to the toilet. But that was more than a decade ago and how would such a busy man with so much on his mind remember a trivial detail like making a million dollars instead of losing that amount? Nor do I expect W to remember financial foibles committed by members of his family. Who likes to think about unpleasant events in the past?</p>
<p>Why, for example, would he recall his brother Neil’s role in the painful scandal that arose from the practices of Silverado Banking. Between 1985-1988, brother Neil directed this Denver Savings and Loan operation. Under Neil’s guidance, the bank loaned $200 plus million to Neil’s partners to back some oil scheme. The partners did not pay back most of the loan, which put the bank in an awkward financial situation.</p>
<p>Subsequently, Silverado shut its doors, after causing much panic to those who had stashed their savings and pensions in what they thought was a very safe place. Indeed, the Vice President’s son ran the S and L. What could have been safer?</p>
<p>But Vice President Bush had long stopped giving Neil a generous allowance. Instead the Vice President’s son, now supposedly a grown man, obtained his income from his business partners, federal investigators discovered. How would Neil have turned down a loan request from his surrogate Daddies who paid his salary? When Silverado closed in 1988, US taxpayers forked over $1 billion to cover its losses. Neil, a federal expert declared, suffered from a common disease among corporate executives: he called it “ethical disability.” Did the Bush elders forget to teach their kids certain lessons about ethics?</p>
<p>Neil paid a $50,000–slap on the wrist — fine for his “ethical lapses” at Silverado. But, according to Stephen Pizzo in the Sept/Oct 1992 Mother Jones, “Neil’s estimated $250,000 in legal bills generated by the scandal” were “paid for him by a banking-industry lobbyist,” an individual who was struggling to convince Congress to deregulate banks as it had done for Savings and Loans. Pizzo pointed out that Neil suffered from subsequent ethical drifts when he ran Apex Energy, an oil company that he left in deep debt. But why would W remember nasty details about his brother’s business life? That’s not the kind of subject talked about at the dinner table.</p>
<p>Similarly, I wouldn’t be surprised if W had also forgotten about his close relations with Enron Corporation of Houston which, as AP reporter Jonathan Salant reported in the Jan 25, 2001 Seattle Post-Intelligencer, reaped giant revenue increases from California’s power shortages and higher natural gas prices nationwide. The president probably doesn’t recall that he rejected price controls to hold down soaring electricity costs in California that allowed Enron, the largest wholesaler of electricity and largest owner of natural gas pipelines in North America, to make super profits. The company and its employees proved so generous with W’s campaigns for governor of Texas and his previous but unsuccessful House campaign in 1978. And Enron was beyond generous to W in the 2000 race for the White House, according to the watchdog Center for Public Integrity.</p>
<p>Enron and its employees donated $113,800 to Bush’s presidential campaign, his10th most generous contributor. They poured $250,000 into the Republican National Convention host committee coffers and $300,000 to the Presidential Inauguration Committee. Now that kind of donating would make any memory tend to weaken.</p>
<p>Enron Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Lay — Kenny Boy as W used to call him before he discovered Mr. Lay’s “ethical lapse” — raised more than $100,000 for Bush’s campaign. W made him a member of the president’s energy transition team. It was hardly a secret that “Ken Lay and the Enron Corp. has President Bush’s ear on energy matters,” said Craig McDonald, director of Texans for Public Justice, an anti Bush advocacy group.</p>
<p>Did it surprise the analysts that W as president had an energy policy identical to Enron–deregulation at all costs? The deregulation allowed Enron to reap immense profits at the expense of California energy users. Did Enron influence the president on subjects like states rights (except the right of states to count votes for the presidential election of course) and deregulating oil and gas companies? Eric Thode, who worked for Enron’s PR department, said that Bush was “a proponent of states’ rights and deregulation ” before Enron gave him his political instruction. “He doesn’t need anybody to suggest that to him.” According to the Center for Responsive Politics, a non-partisan research group that studies campaign finance, during the 2000 election, Enron invested almost $2.5 million in the political education of candidates for both house, mostly republicans, considerably more than any other energy company.</p>
<p>The candidates, including W and brother Jeb, declared that regulation was socialistic. Indeed, California energy users paid for the political education that Enron gave to their eager students. Consider their campaign contributions as the equivalent of scholarship to the school of corrupt practices and easy money.</p>
<p>But why should anyone try to place the blame for our money losses on W and other members of his family. “I met WorldCom employees who no longer have work,” the president said, “who are disillusioned like me and others about the corporate fraud which is taking place in our country.” I believe him; that is, I believe that he has no memory of his or his family members’ own sordid practices that took money from trusting American citizens.</p>
<p>So if you need to blame someone for foolishly trusting in the honesty and ethical rectitude of corporate America’s leading CEOs, don’t look to the President or members of his family. After all, I didn’t remember that I owned $10K worthy of WorldCom bonds. Why should we expect the president to remember his own unpleasant business affairs, much less those of his brother? “To thine own self be true,” the Bard said. “Who steals my purse steals trash” said Iago, to cover up his treachery to Othello.</p>
<p>Let that statement ring in the ears of the corporate executives who stole my and other people’s money and loll on the decks of their luxury yachts while millions of their victims wonder if they can now afford to retire. Corporate treachery and the war against terrorism may be the defining phrases of W’s White House tenure.</p>
<p>SAUL LANDAU directs the Digital Media program at Cal Poly Pomona and is a fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies. His latest film, IRAQ: VOICES FROM THE STREETS, is distributed by The Cinema Guild in New York City.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | felt like blaming someone like millions americans took worldcom bath asked wife could company owns mci one worlds telecommunication giants declare bankruptcy todays mail mci owned worldcom offers thousands frequent flyer miles switch phone service truthfully person handles ira fund phoned told lost 10000 worldcom bonds didnt even know told person wanted put ira savings low risk investments said later honestly thought buying bonds worldcom one worlds great corporations safe one could get friend mine admitted lost far enron worldcom stocks bonds continued think tens thousands laid workers companies people lost jobs corporate sleaze july 2002 bankruptcy worldcom laid 17000 employees made 400 million loan former ceo bernard ebbers collect one list major corporations involved major fraud grows worldcom enron aoltime warner etcoh lets forget hanky panky martha stewart smiling motherly tv personality trust look trust ronald reagan george w bush heard mantra government stinks corporations great president assures us economy moving forward experts however predict instead traveling north president bush proudly proclaimed economy appears heading south last week ibm announced lay 15000 workers american airlines 7000 united airlines hold visa card sends offers miles switch mci worldcom warns might soon declare bankruptcy continental airlines announces major costcutting measures like eliminating free parking top executives removing plastic knives breakfast service whats world coming luckily americans midst working vacation texas ranch president got right case midaugust held economic meeting economic forum held waco texas even reclusive vice president dick cheney showed albeit must working hard previous days since reports spent much time meeting sleeping dick bored one cynic suggested republican business government elite stayed awake sat around table assured would allow hanky panky corporate world meant friends would try cover colleagues past accounting executive practices roamed beyond windy side law president blinked several times saying sincerely shocked shady corporate practices reporters suggested shouldnt feel shocked since also engaged practices like many alcoholics president may suffered memory loss convenient amnesia probably forgot sold almost 1 million shares harken energy company went toilet decade ago would busy man much mind remember trivial detail like making million dollars instead losing amount expect w remember financial foibles committed members family likes think unpleasant events past example would recall brother neils role painful scandal arose practices silverado banking 19851988 brother neil directed denver savings loan operation neils guidance bank loaned 200 plus million neils partners back oil scheme partners pay back loan put bank awkward financial situation subsequently silverado shut doors causing much panic stashed savings pensions thought safe place indeed vice presidents son ran l could safer vice president bush long stopped giving neil generous allowance instead vice presidents son supposedly grown man obtained income business partners federal investigators discovered would neil turned loan request surrogate daddies paid salary silverado closed 1988 us taxpayers forked 1 billion cover losses neil federal expert declared suffered common disease among corporate executives called ethical disability bush elders forget teach kids certain lessons ethics neil paid 50000slap wrist fine ethical lapses silverado according stephen pizzo septoct 1992 mother jones neils estimated 250000 legal bills generated scandal paid bankingindustry lobbyist individual struggling convince congress deregulate banks done savings loans pizzo pointed neil suffered subsequent ethical drifts ran apex energy oil company left deep debt would w remember nasty details brothers business life thats kind subject talked dinner table similarly wouldnt surprised w also forgotten close relations enron corporation houston ap reporter jonathan salant reported jan 25 2001 seattle postintelligencer reaped giant revenue increases californias power shortages higher natural gas prices nationwide president probably doesnt recall rejected price controls hold soaring electricity costs california allowed enron largest wholesaler electricity largest owner natural gas pipelines north america make super profits company employees proved generous ws campaigns governor texas previous unsuccessful house campaign 1978 enron beyond generous w 2000 race white house according watchdog center public integrity enron employees donated 113800 bushs presidential campaign his10th generous contributor poured 250000 republican national convention host committee coffers 300000 presidential inauguration committee kind donating would make memory tend weaken enron chief executive officer kenneth lay kenny boy w used call discovered mr lays ethical lapse raised 100000 bushs campaign w made member presidents energy transition team hardly secret ken lay enron corp president bushs ear energy matters said craig mcdonald director texans public justice anti bush advocacy group surprise analysts w president energy policy identical enronderegulation costs deregulation allowed enron reap immense profits expense california energy users enron influence president subjects like states rights except right states count votes presidential election course deregulating oil gas companies eric thode worked enrons pr department said bush proponent states rights deregulation enron gave political instruction doesnt need anybody suggest according center responsive politics nonpartisan research group studies campaign finance 2000 election enron invested almost 25 million political education candidates house mostly republicans considerably energy company candidates including w brother jeb declared regulation socialistic indeed california energy users paid political education enron gave eager students consider campaign contributions equivalent scholarship school corrupt practices easy money anyone try place blame money losses w members family met worldcom employees longer work president said disillusioned like others corporate fraud taking place country believe believe memory family members sordid practices took money trusting american citizens need blame someone foolishly trusting honesty ethical rectitude corporate americas leading ceos dont look president members family didnt remember owned 10k worthy worldcom bonds expect president remember unpleasant business affairs much less brother thine self true bard said steals purse steals trash said iago cover treachery othello let statement ring ears corporate executives stole peoples money loll decks luxury yachts millions victims wonder afford retire corporate treachery war terrorism may defining phrases ws white house tenure saul landau directs digital media program cal poly pomona fellow institute policy studies latest film iraq voices streets distributed cinema guild new york city 160 | 962 |
<p>Governments, editors, commentators and even supporters of the United Nations currently express the view that a war against Iraq is, or will be, acceptable if the United States and others “go back” to the Security Council and obtain a “UN mandate” before they attack.</p>
<p>But, this is false logic and could spell the end of the UN as a peace organisation. If you think that the planned war is or entails a violation of international law, such a mandate does not make it more legal. If you think that the war is morally wrong or unfair, such a mandate won’t make it right or just. If you think that war has nothing to do with conflict-resolution but must be categorised as aggression, a resolution – inevitably the result of horse-trading among the Five Permanent (and nuclear) Security Council members and the other ten under the leadership of Columbia – does not turn war into wise politics.</p>
<p>The Security Council has no magic formula and no magic wand to wave in order to turn war into peace and human folly into wisdom.</p>
<p>A Security Council resolution that endorses war is not the same as a “UN” mandate, as is often stated. It’s hard to believe that something like a referendum among all members in the General Assembly would result in a go-ahead. There is still little enthusiasm for this war among “we, the peoples” around the world. If the Security Council self-importantly decided that it is the High Judge and that Judgement Day has come, all talk of an “international community” standing behind a war with Iraq would be grossly misleading.</p>
<p>A mandate is no comfort; no UN mandate is the better option</p>
<p>It is as if a “UN mandate” serves to make some people feel better about this war. The Swedish government, as an example of a country whose solidarity with the UN has never been questioned, seems to hope that it will not be forced to criticise the United States. Because, if there is such a UN mandate, it would be possible for Sweden to say, “well, we don’t like wars, but this one has a UN mandate, and therefore it is acceptable to us.” The Danish government, still the head of the EU for a few more days, has declared that it is willing to participate directly in the war if there is such a mandate.</p>
<p>There are two important arguments against a UN “mandate”. Firstly, if there is no such mandate, it will be considerably more difficult for many member states to accept it or go along with it. That is, the United States would rather stand alone and carry the major burden of a political, legal and moral disaster. Secondly, it would save the UN from being dragged down into the quagmire called bombing, invasion, occupation and control of Iraq – not to mention the humanitarian consequences and the resources needed to rebuild the country physically, as well as psychologically. With no UN mandate, the UN could say “not in our name” and remain a genuine peace organisation true to the words and the spirit of its charter.</p>
<p>To put it simply, if George W. Bush and the people around him want to destroy Iraq, they should go it alone. The UN must never be misused to legitimate bellicose policies of any member state. The UN can hardly survive with repeated humiliation as has been the case in Croatia, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Somalia and Afghanistan.</p>
<p>The planned war violates the Charter’s words and spirit</p>
<p>Let us hope that the war against Iraq will never receive approval from the United Nations. The Charter of the UN is clear; the organisation’s highest purpose is “to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.” And “Armed force shall not be used, save in the common interest”. There exists no common interest to do what is being planned against Iraq.</p>
<p>The war against Iraq has been going on for eleven years now. Since September 11 last year, the Security Council has lost colossal legitimacy due to a number of resolutions that have been passed. The tragic new interpretation of International Law itself and the implementation of it has seriously undermined the foundation of a system constructed to handle international conflicts. The principles and conventions developed in the post-Westphalian era have been damaged due to paranoid policies of revenge after the attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Centre.</p>
<p>Since September 11, the UN has suffered even more blows</p>
<p>This loss of legitimacy is naturally more obvious among the 1,300 million Muslims in the world. They are about to loose confidence in an organisation in which 80 per cent of the permanent members of the supreme body are Christian countries. Seen from their vantage point, the Four Permanent members possess, if you will, Christian bombs and share the basic Old Testament image of the world that “the others” are either with us or they are against us and must be exterminated.</p>
<p>When the UN accepted to use International Law and not Criminal Law for the reaction to September 11, it opened doors that will be (mis)used by many actors in the future. Up until then, political and violent crimes had been handled by the police and not by the military. This shift is very dangerous. Then the U.S. decided, and the UN accepted, to use the principle of “self defence”, but with a delay of almost a month (September 11 to October 7). In the field of Criminal Law, this would resemble that the attacked escapes from the attacker, locate him a month later and (with a bunch of friends) exercise his “self-defence” out of proportion to the first crime committed.</p>
<p>The Bush regime moves from MAD to NUTS</p>
<p>The UN Security Council resolutions on Iraq represent an even more dodgy new interpretation. This time the act of self-defence will be carried out years before the attacked assesses that he could, perhaps, be hit, i.e. pre-emptively. Unfortunately for the UN, international law holds no provisions for such pre-emptive policies or wars. They are found only in recent strategic documents from the Bush regime. Even worse, they contain a philosophical demolition of the principles of deterrence that enables the United States to use weapons of mass-destruction against countries that are not known to possess such weapons but are judged to be able to possess them some time into the future.</p>
<p>In short, instead of moving towards general and complete disarmament world-wide, or the abolition of all WMD (Weapons of Mass-Destruction) we are moving from MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction) to the fundamentally immoral and destabilising NUTs (Nuclear Use Theories).</p>
<p>Kidnapping Iraq’s report and keeping U.S. involvement in Iraq’s military secret</p>
<p>In spite of its real importance, the weapons inspection process is exploited as a game by the United States. Its representatives have done their best to provoke and find Iraqi violations of resolutions by the Security Council, including SC Resolution 1441. The recent U.S. kidnapping of the 12,000-page report produced by Iraq is one of the most serious in a long line of aggressive acts.</p>
<p>The U.S. claims that it wants to know everything about Iraqi military programs, but obviously not which U.S. and other Western companies have made them possible. Money doesn’t smell of course until it comes out into the open. Instead of causing an outrage forcing the Bush regime to back down, most members accept this gross violation of decency and of the integrity of the United Nations.</p>
<p>Colin Powel returned from a short visit to Bogota on December 4 where he had announced major increases in American military aid to Colombia. Colombia presently serves as the chair of the Security Council. In exchange for the military support, Colombia presumably promised to let the U.S. steal Iraq’s report to “edit” it, i.e. to practise censorship.</p>
<p>Kofi Annan should remember Article 99 and 100 and use them to save the UN</p>
<p>Despite the serious injury done to the UN, there is no other organisation that can assume global responsibility in the situation we are facing today. The Iraqis will suffer no less because “there was a UN mandate.” A UN mandate only means that the UN will suffer too, most likely beyond repair. Western countries that bomb Muslim countries only amplify the hate against West. The number of potential suicide-bombers and terror attacks must be expected to grow with every military attack on innocent Muslims. They cannot possibly see the UN as a trustworthy world organisation.</p>
<p>Let the UN get back its status as a legitimate actor working for “peace by peaceful means.” Let the U.S. establishment stand alone as the naked aggressor. The United Nations has already administered a genocide of up to 1 million Iraqis due to a sanctions regime only the U.S. insists on maintaining.</p>
<p>We prefer our world to be running according to the norms of the UN, not those of the U.S.! Article 99 of the UN Charter states that the Secretary-General may bring to the attention of the Security Council any matter which in his opinion may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security. Thus, he stands over and above the member governments. If he thinks that a &lt;U.S.-led&gt; war on Iraq is a threat to world peace, he has the power to act. Article 100 states that the Secretary-General and his staff shall not seek or receive instructions from any government or from any other authority external to the Organisation.</p>
<p>If the Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, makes use of Article 99 and 100 of the Charter, war on Iraq will not happen. Will he do so?</p>
<p>The U.S. tail must not wag the UN dog…</p>
<p>Letting the tail (the U.S.) wag the dog (the UN) is morally unacceptable and a violation of the Charter. The U.S. has tried and will try to do it again. Now is the time for the UN to stand up for itself, for the genuine international community.</p>
<p>Or will 2003 be remembered by future generations as the year in which a few members, against the will of the greater majority, decided to destroy the UN as a peace organisation? And got away with it only because the Secretary-General and member states who didn’t want the war, failed to show civil courage in time and hid behind a self-condemning “UN mandate”?</p>
<p>Jorgen Johansen is Director of the Centre for Peace Studies at Tromsø, University, Norway, and Jan Oberg, director of the Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research. They can be reached at: <a href="mailto:oberg@transnational.org" type="external">oberg@transnational.org</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | governments editors commentators even supporters united nations currently express view war iraq acceptable united states others go back security council obtain un mandate attack false logic could spell end un peace organisation think planned war entails violation international law mandate make legal think war morally wrong unfair mandate wont make right think war nothing conflictresolution must categorised aggression resolution inevitably result horsetrading among five permanent nuclear security council members ten leadership columbia turn war wise politics security council magic formula magic wand wave order turn war peace human folly wisdom security council resolution endorses war un mandate often stated hard believe something like referendum among members general assembly would result goahead still little enthusiasm war among peoples around world security council selfimportantly decided high judge judgement day come talk international community standing behind war iraq would grossly misleading mandate comfort un mandate better option un mandate serves make people feel better war swedish government example country whose solidarity un never questioned seems hope forced criticise united states un mandate would possible sweden say well dont like wars one un mandate therefore acceptable us danish government still head eu days declared willing participate directly war mandate two important arguments un mandate firstly mandate considerably difficult many member states accept go along united states would rather stand alone carry major burden political legal moral disaster secondly would save un dragged quagmire called bombing invasion occupation control iraq mention humanitarian consequences resources needed rebuild country physically well psychologically un mandate un could say name remain genuine peace organisation true words spirit charter put simply george w bush people around want destroy iraq go alone un must never misused legitimate bellicose policies member state un hardly survive repeated humiliation case croatia bosniahercegovina kosovo macedonia somalia afghanistan planned war violates charters words spirit let us hope war iraq never receive approval united nations charter un clear organisations highest purpose save succeeding generations scourge war armed force shall used save common interest exists common interest planned iraq war iraq going eleven years since september 11 last year security council lost colossal legitimacy due number resolutions passed tragic new interpretation international law implementation seriously undermined foundation system constructed handle international conflicts principles conventions developed postwestphalian era damaged due paranoid policies revenge attacks pentagon world trade centre since september 11 un suffered even blows loss legitimacy naturally obvious among 1300 million muslims world loose confidence organisation 80 per cent permanent members supreme body christian countries seen vantage point four permanent members possess christian bombs share basic old testament image world others either us us must exterminated un accepted use international law criminal law reaction september 11 opened doors misused many actors future political violent crimes handled police military shift dangerous us decided un accepted use principle self defence delay almost month september 11 october 7 field criminal law would resemble attacked escapes attacker locate month later bunch friends exercise selfdefence proportion first crime committed bush regime moves mad nuts un security council resolutions iraq represent even dodgy new interpretation time act selfdefence carried years attacked assesses could perhaps hit ie preemptively unfortunately un international law holds provisions preemptive policies wars found recent strategic documents bush regime even worse contain philosophical demolition principles deterrence enables united states use weapons massdestruction countries known possess weapons judged able possess time future short instead moving towards general complete disarmament worldwide abolition wmd weapons massdestruction moving mad mutually assured destruction fundamentally immoral destabilising nuts nuclear use theories kidnapping iraqs report keeping us involvement iraqs military secret spite real importance weapons inspection process exploited game united states representatives done best provoke find iraqi violations resolutions security council including sc resolution 1441 recent us kidnapping 12000page report produced iraq one serious long line aggressive acts us claims wants know everything iraqi military programs obviously us western companies made possible money doesnt smell course comes open instead causing outrage forcing bush regime back members accept gross violation decency integrity united nations colin powel returned short visit bogota december 4 announced major increases american military aid colombia colombia presently serves chair security council exchange military support colombia presumably promised let us steal iraqs report edit ie practise censorship kofi annan remember article 99 100 use save un despite serious injury done un organisation assume global responsibility situation facing today iraqis suffer less un mandate un mandate means un suffer likely beyond repair western countries bomb muslim countries amplify hate west number potential suicidebombers terror attacks must expected grow every military attack innocent muslims possibly see un trustworthy world organisation let un get back status legitimate actor working peace peaceful means let us establishment stand alone naked aggressor united nations already administered genocide 1 million iraqis due sanctions regime us insists maintaining prefer world running according norms un us article 99 un charter states secretarygeneral may bring attention security council matter opinion may threaten maintenance international peace security thus stands member governments thinks ltusledgt war iraq threat world peace power act article 100 states secretarygeneral staff shall seek receive instructions government authority external organisation secretarygeneral kofi annan makes use article 99 100 charter war iraq happen us tail must wag un dog letting tail us wag dog un morally unacceptable violation charter us tried try time un stand genuine international community 2003 remembered future generations year members greater majority decided destroy un peace organisation got away secretarygeneral member states didnt want war failed show civil courage time hid behind selfcondemning un mandate jorgen johansen director centre peace studies tromsø university norway jan oberg director transnational foundation peace future research reached obergtransnationalorg 160 | 924 |
<p>George Clooney, Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson, Cindy Crawford, Bono, Michael Caine, Claudia Schiffer, Bob Geldof, Hugh Grant, Mia Farrow, Mick Jagger and so many others have expressed their solidarity with the people of the oil-rich region of Darfur. A few weeks ago, Democrats John Lewis of Georgia, Keith Ellison of Minnesota, Lynn Woolsey of California, Donna Edwards of Maryland, and Jim McGovern of Massachusetts were all arrested as they demonstrated against the Sudanese government. When Colin Powell used the word genocide in 2004, it kicked off $1 billion-a-year international aid program, much higher than that afforded Somalia or Congo.</p>
<p>But why?</p>
<p>In the past few months, the International Criminal Court has charged Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir with crimes against humanity and war crimes. The ICC’s chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo is appealing the setting aside of genocide charges, claiming that there is “ongoing genocide” in Darfur. The Sudanese government has expelled some foreign aid groups, accusing them of espionage. They include Oxfam, Save the Children and Medecins Sans Frontieres. According to the Save Darfur Campaign, it was the relief organizations that provided clean water, food, and medical attention to roughly 1.5 million people.&#160; The Sudanese government claims these aid-agencies deliberately exclude Arab Darfuris in their ranks, exacerbating sectarian tensions.</p>
<p>And at the moment, President Obama’s Special Envoy to Sudan, Scott Gration is on a diplomatic tour and Britain is sending $185m in aid and $140m in “peacekeeping” money.</p>
<p>Collette Valentine, a TV producer visiting from the United Kingdom, and Ali Gunn, a British media consultant, last week returned from Darfur where they attended the first “International Conference on the Challenge Facing Women in Darfur” in Al-Fasher in the north. Valentine says that articles about Darfur in the international press make her feel as if she visited a completely different region, a completely different country. It all adds weight to the thesis of Columbia University’s Professor Mahmood Mamdani that there is something very murky about Western aid agencies’ insistence that there has been genocide in Darfur, that at the heart of campaigns for Darfur is the culmination of a powerful, imperial desire to suppress citizenry from U.S. high school classrooms to right across the developing world.</p>
<p>AFSHIN RATTANSI: Tell me about your visit and how your experience differed to the portrayal in the corporate media. I understand you went at the invitation of Rajaa Hassan Khalifa from the largest women’s union in conjunction with Bakri O.Saeed from Sudan International University.</p>
<p>Collette Valentine: Ali Gunn and myself and a group of journalists were lucky enough to be invited to Sudan by the Sudanese Women General Union. The women’s union in Sudan has got 27,000 branches all over Sudan, including Darfur. They have representatives in all the rural villages, across all different communities consisting of around 80 tribes and clans. The women of Sudan are a real force. Historically, there have been female leaders.&#160; They are wives, mothers, farmers, they build, they grow the vegetables and basically run the communities and are respected by their men folk. A third of families in the camps are headed by women. In recent years, some members of the women’s union have been elected as ministers in the Sudanese government and a quarter of the seats in the Sudanese parliament are occupied by women.</p>
<p>They are all members of the union and they have direct links right down from the most educated academic women from the professional classes to grassroots people. This chain of open communication is active and alive from bottom to top and top to bottom.&#160; Because the women have such a strong role in the communities, the women themselves have decided to take action for peace and security in Darfur. They have seen the failure of external, international agencies and NGOs and they know that peace can only come from within their own communities via reconciliation talks.</p>
<p>The IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons) in the refugee camps are people who have fled trouble in their own areas of Sudan. They didn’t want to leave but had no option but to flee. Before the international NGOs got involved, the IDPs were provided with camps by Al-Bashir’s government, provided with wells, administrators, bureaucratic structures, materials for shelter and local doctors, clinics, and health services paid for by the Sudanese government. When women fled their villages, active male rebels from every community that were fighting each other remained. Those conflicts rage on even as there is peace and stability in the camps. We saw no evidence of any genocide. We were not embedded by the government nor with any NGO. We had absolute freedom to talk with whomever we wished. And we randomly talked to as many men, women and children as we could.</p>
<p>One man, a village leader who led 4,000 of his community , separated in two camps, said he had been there six years. His home was 50km away. We asked about genocide and he said that he wouldn’t have remained in the Sudanese government camps for six years if he hadn’t been looked after. When we asked about the issue of rape, he did not deny there wasn’t an issue. The women we spoke to said that unfortunately, rape exists everywhere in the world and some we spoke to quoted statistics about the prevalence of rape in the U.S. and how in developed nations, women are too frightened to press charges. One woman told me that allegations of wide and systematic rape crimes against Darfur women constitute a type of war against Sudan. Historically, in areas of conflict, they maintained, cases of crime and rape are bound to increase. Rape is not a weapon of the government and women are being told to report instances of rape. But the ICC is using the prevalence of rape and giving it undue importance, helping NGOs fill their coffers.</p>
<p>AFSHIN RATTANSI: Were you concerned about safety in Darfur?</p>
<p>Ali Gunn: I understood the situation had settled and that there was quite a lot of fighting down south but that the situation in Darfur was more stable since the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. However, I had been warned off by expert security consultants who feared for my safety.</p>
<p>We went to two camps in Darfur and we saw people eeking out a simple existence. No bullet holes, no tanks and no fighting. The only military vehicles belonged to the United Nations. We were given carte blanche to wander around the camps as we pleased and talk to anyone we liked. Many spoke English. I was appalled that so much reporting in our newspapers has no basis in reality. Cheap and lazy journalism at its worst.</p>
<p>AFSHIN RATTANSI: What about the United Nations’ presence on the ground?</p>
<p>Collette Valentine:&#160; When we were actually in one of the two camps, we looked up and saw an American tank approaching, followed by a patrol of around 15 UN vans and two more tanks. They drove up, parked the cars outside the office of the administrator of the camp. We didn’t know what was happening.</p>
<p>We were told that three times day, this happens at the camp and that UN officials come to ask whether everything is alright. Women told us that the camps are peaceful places. While we played football with children in the camp at around 9am, men and women setting out market stalls selling tomatoes and oranges, and as the UN personnel talked to the administrator, the soldiers lined up with guns, five meters apart facing us and the rest of the people in the camps.</p>
<p>It was obvious that the soldiers were protecting UN bosses whilst we kicked a football with the children. It was extraordinary. Women were making yoghurt with goat’s milk even as the UN troops pointed their guns at us. I asked one of the women, Maha Feraigon, why guns were being aimed and whether they were scared that we might throw a tomato at them and she just laughed.&#160; As Ali says, quite a few people could speak English. Maha was first assistant to the Secretary General of the Sudanese Women General Union, independent of the government. All the people we spoke to were furious about UN personnel arriving in this way and wanted the UN to leave. The UN personnel left their engines running and people resented how much that money for the UN was being wasted in front of their eyes. They asked about what they could be doing with the money. I was disgusted. They asked why these personnel were not in the villages where the fighting continues and their ‘dar’ or land&#160; was. People said that NGOs did not want the fighting to stop so that they can continue to be paid.&#160; None had seen any money from the Save Darfur campaign and they resented that money was being raised in their names.</p>
<p>Ali Gunn: At the conference, we spoke to opposition leaders and women at the conference. There was no sense of urgency about any “genocide” in the camps themselves. Our concern for our trip was to look at the living conditions of the people in the camps and look at the future of Darfur and the future for families there. And there was very little evidence of external aid. Darfur is the size of France so we didn’t go to all the camps. We have photographic evidence of families and women making their own bricks. You would have to ask the aid agencies about where their money has been sent.</p>
<p>AFSHIN RATTANSI: What about how the Sudanese perceive outside, external forces?</p>
<p>Collette Valentine: I was lucky enough to sit beside Mafa on the flight from Khartoum to Darfur. I emphasize that she has no connection to any NGO or the government. She spoke very good English and explained the anger of the people. Her general feeling, having been all over Darfur, speaking to women at all levels from all communities throughout the region was that they did not want foreign interference because they know that it is all about oil and water – the “oil of tomorrow”.</p>
<p>She told me about how Sudan was sitting on the biggest underwater lake in Africa giving rise to the best arable land. Despite the desertification, responsible for so many of the deaths in recent years, the lake holds great promise. She told me about how Chevron was thrown out of the country and how Chevron executives took all their drilling and exploration maps with them. They still believe that the NGOs in concert with the U.S. are only involved because of water and oil.&#160; She pointed to Congo, Sierra Leone and other African countries, firmly believing that there were no good intentions when it comes to great power involvement on the continent.</p>
<p>AFSHIN RATTANSI: Not a day goes by without the word genocide being used when Darfur is in the corporate media.</p>
<p>Ali Gunn: The Western media has totally misrepresented the situation subsequent to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. In Darfur, they are desperate for long term measures to alleviate the cycle of non-delivery in Darfur. Some believed that there were a significant number of people who would never return to their homeland areas. Living conditions in the camps were spartan but clean and people were very aware of their personal space. There was a market with a butcher, vegetable-sellers, a makeshift restaurant…many different rows of shops. It was very much like a souk you would see in any country of this type, with domestic goods on sale. The people we saw were not starving and pretty healthy.</p>
<p>AFSHIN RATTANSI: Do you see money from oil being used for the benefit of the people?</p>
<p>Collette Valentine:&#160; Oil is all-important for Sudan and is vital to the infrastructure-building plans of the country. They are planning schools and health centers. Free medical care is available to everybody but not every village has a clinic so people have to travel to the next village. There is a lot of work to be done in Sudan. This is not a bed of roses, by any means but only oil money is going to be able to change things. I saw in Khartoum how development is beginning. They have big plans for the areas around the Blue Nile in Khartoum and it looks to me like Pudong in Shanghai where I made some documentaries when it was developing, a decade ago.</p>
<p>Maha told me that there was a rail system in Sudan that you could time your watch by but U.S. sanctions starting in the 1990s destroyed it as parts to fix trains and tracks dried up. Sanctions prevented people being able to travel. But, now the Sudanese government has done a deal with the Chinese who they feel are completely different to the Americans. I was told that Chinese involvement was trusted where the U.S. wasn’t. The Chinese are not interested in hegemonic power. I could see the development present in Khartoum. When I later met the president, he said that growth should be across Sudan and not just limited to an elite in Khartoum. The work is in progress and the president’s popularity has gone through the roof after the ICC indictments.</p>
<p>AFSHIN RATTANSI: What about signs of corruption?</p>
<p>Ali Gunn:&#160; People had told us the President was a humble and modest man and he certainly seemed like that in person. I was very wary of signs of corruption and wealth. The palace looked like any municipal building in a developing nation. The furniture was all very normal. We were told that he was a modest man who had come up the ranks of the army and as such was possibly less concerned about the ICC than about rebuilding his nation. He is much more popular after the ICC indictments.</p>
<p>There was a feeling that the country has been picked on in comparison to what has been happening in surrounding nations. I saw that people were being actively encouraged to vote. I mentioned that I work in the British parliament and stressed the need for people to register to vote and there was certainly no problem in people understanding the importance of voting.</p>
<p>Like people in Britain, many of the people we spoke to had a healthy skepticism about politicians per se. But they did believe that the next elections would be free and fair. Collette Valentine: The president knew that the conference was taking place but he had no knowledge of which camps we were visiting. The women were careful not to tell him because they were aware that we were looking for any signs that we were being embedded in any way.</p>
<p>AFSHIN RATTANSI: And the perception is that the ICC has aided the president of Sudan?</p>
<p>Collette Valentine: On the night before we left, we met with President Al-Bashir and his advisor, Dr Ghazi Salahuddin Atabani. Everything they said backed up what we heard on the ground. He admitted that the ICC has aided his reelection chances. He admitted that rape was present in Darfur but he blamed outside aid agencies for putting petrol on the fire and he highlighted the external supply of arms. He also blamed the classic British divide-and-rule tactics of colonialism for the roots of trouble in Sudan. Attabani said “Sudan is politically isolated and that when the ICC indictment was first raised 4 years ago the president offered to step aside, to abdicate – he said 16 years was too long. Our policy in that the National Congress Party (NCP) is that we don’t believe in a’ president for life.’ The made him look like a villain but internally it boosted his popularity. .. now the NCP can’t consider any other candidate.”</p>
<p>From my experience of seeing western leaders in London, there is a cavalcade of security. Al Bashir when he goes from his house to local weddings, funerals and the mosque, seems to have no security at all. One of our delegates went to the mosque and was baffled by the lack of security on seeing him there.</p>
<p>AFSHIN RATTANSI: What about what the president of Sudan expects from the change of administration in Washington?</p>
<p>Ali Gunn: We were attacked about international media coverage of Darfur as the people saw the situation very different to how it is portrayed. They saw the West as patronizing the Sudanese people.&#160; On Obama, President Al-Bashir said “He’s much more pragmatic. The old guard from Clinton’s days are still around – in the 90s they were hostile..they’ve not changed, but they have toned down their rhetoric…we believe that the US has been exploited by certain undercurrents .” I would suggest that people go and see for themselves what is happening.</p>
<p>Collette Valentine: Dr. Ghazi said that they are hopeful about Obama but they don’t trust the Clinton people, the Susan Rices and Samantha Powers. Continuation of the ICC path would be seen as vindictive and alien and could result in turning Darfur into a real conflict.</p>
<p>The women in the camps are focused on talking to their men and they believe that the only hope for peace and reconciliation lies with their ability to encourage forgiveness. They believe no international organizations can persuade the men to reconcile with each other. Before this conflict happened, tribal elders would meet to settle conflicts between nomadic and peasant communities. Right across Darfur, women are campaigning on the ground for reconciliation talks. This was the first peace conference. All the women from all the communities are coming together to urge reconciliation talks with women from each community given their time to speak. Security was on top of the agenda as well as education and healthcare.</p>
<p>Ali Gunn: After we came back from the camps, we were both shocked about the disparity of what was happening on the ground and what was in the media.</p>
<p>AFSHIN RATTANSI has helped launch and develop television networks and has worked in journalism for more than two decades, at the BBC Today programme, CNN International, Bloomberg News, Al Jazeera Arabic, the Dubai Business&#160; Channel, Press TV and The Guardian. His quartet of novels, “The Dream of the Decade” is available on Amazon.com. He can be reached at afshin@afshinrattansi.com</p> | true | 4 | george clooney matt damon scarlett johansson cindy crawford bono michael caine claudia schiffer bob geldof hugh grant mia farrow mick jagger many others expressed solidarity people oilrich region darfur weeks ago democrats john lewis georgia keith ellison minnesota lynn woolsey california donna edwards maryland jim mcgovern massachusetts arrested demonstrated sudanese government colin powell used word genocide 2004 kicked 1 billionayear international aid program much higher afforded somalia congo past months international criminal court charged sudanese president omar albashir crimes humanity war crimes iccs chief prosecutor luis morenoocampo appealing setting aside genocide charges claiming ongoing genocide darfur sudanese government expelled foreign aid groups accusing espionage include oxfam save children medecins sans frontieres according save darfur campaign relief organizations provided clean water food medical attention roughly 15 million people160 sudanese government claims aidagencies deliberately exclude arab darfuris ranks exacerbating sectarian tensions moment president obamas special envoy sudan scott gration diplomatic tour britain sending 185m aid 140m peacekeeping money collette valentine tv producer visiting united kingdom ali gunn british media consultant last week returned darfur attended first international conference challenge facing women darfur alfasher north valentine says articles darfur international press make feel visited completely different region completely different country adds weight thesis columbia universitys professor mahmood mamdani something murky western aid agencies insistence genocide darfur heart campaigns darfur culmination powerful imperial desire suppress citizenry us high school classrooms right across developing world afshin rattansi tell visit experience differed portrayal corporate media understand went invitation rajaa hassan khalifa largest womens union conjunction bakri osaeed sudan international university collette valentine ali gunn group journalists lucky enough invited sudan sudanese women general union womens union sudan got 27000 branches sudan including darfur representatives rural villages across different communities consisting around 80 tribes clans women sudan real force historically female leaders160 wives mothers farmers build grow vegetables basically run communities respected men folk third families camps headed women recent years members womens union elected ministers sudanese government quarter seats sudanese parliament occupied women members union direct links right educated academic women professional classes grassroots people chain open communication active alive bottom top top bottom160 women strong role communities women decided take action peace security darfur seen failure external international agencies ngos know peace come within communities via reconciliation talks idps internally displaced persons refugee camps people fled trouble areas sudan didnt want leave option flee international ngos got involved idps provided camps albashirs government provided wells administrators bureaucratic structures materials shelter local doctors clinics health services paid sudanese government women fled villages active male rebels every community fighting remained conflicts rage even peace stability camps saw evidence genocide embedded government ngo absolute freedom talk whomever wished randomly talked many men women children could one man village leader led 4000 community separated two camps said six years home 50km away asked genocide said wouldnt remained sudanese government camps six years hadnt looked asked issue rape deny wasnt issue women spoke said unfortunately rape exists everywhere world spoke quoted statistics prevalence rape us developed nations women frightened press charges one woman told allegations wide systematic rape crimes darfur women constitute type war sudan historically areas conflict maintained cases crime rape bound increase rape weapon government women told report instances rape icc using prevalence rape giving undue importance helping ngos fill coffers afshin rattansi concerned safety darfur ali gunn understood situation settled quite lot fighting south situation darfur stable since comprehensive peace agreement however warned expert security consultants feared safety went two camps darfur saw people eeking simple existence bullet holes tanks fighting military vehicles belonged united nations given carte blanche wander around camps pleased talk anyone liked many spoke english appalled much reporting newspapers basis reality cheap lazy journalism worst afshin rattansi united nations presence ground collette valentine160 actually one two camps looked saw american tank approaching followed patrol around 15 un vans two tanks drove parked cars outside office administrator camp didnt know happening told three times day happens camp un officials come ask whether everything alright women told us camps peaceful places played football children camp around 9am men women setting market stalls selling tomatoes oranges un personnel talked administrator soldiers lined guns five meters apart facing us rest people camps obvious soldiers protecting un bosses whilst kicked football children extraordinary women making yoghurt goats milk even un troops pointed guns us asked one women maha feraigon guns aimed whether scared might throw tomato laughed160 ali says quite people could speak english maha first assistant secretary general sudanese women general union independent government people spoke furious un personnel arriving way wanted un leave un personnel left engines running people resented much money un wasted front eyes asked could money disgusted asked personnel villages fighting continues dar land160 people said ngos want fighting stop continue paid160 none seen money save darfur campaign resented money raised names ali gunn conference spoke opposition leaders women conference sense urgency genocide camps concern trip look living conditions people camps look future darfur future families little evidence external aid darfur size france didnt go camps photographic evidence families women making bricks would ask aid agencies money sent afshin rattansi sudanese perceive outside external forces collette valentine lucky enough sit beside mafa flight khartoum darfur emphasize connection ngo government spoke good english explained anger people general feeling darfur speaking women levels communities throughout region want foreign interference know oil water oil tomorrow told sudan sitting biggest underwater lake africa giving rise best arable land despite desertification responsible many deaths recent years lake holds great promise told chevron thrown country chevron executives took drilling exploration maps still believe ngos concert us involved water oil160 pointed congo sierra leone african countries firmly believing good intentions comes great power involvement continent afshin rattansi day goes without word genocide used darfur corporate media ali gunn western media totally misrepresented situation subsequent comprehensive peace agreement darfur desperate long term measures alleviate cycle nondelivery darfur believed significant number people would never return homeland areas living conditions camps spartan clean people aware personal space market butcher vegetablesellers makeshift restaurantmany different rows shops much like souk would see country type domestic goods sale people saw starving pretty healthy afshin rattansi see money oil used benefit people collette valentine160 oil allimportant sudan vital infrastructurebuilding plans country planning schools health centers free medical care available everybody every village clinic people travel next village lot work done sudan bed roses means oil money going able change things saw khartoum development beginning big plans areas around blue nile khartoum looks like pudong shanghai made documentaries developing decade ago maha told rail system sudan could time watch us sanctions starting 1990s destroyed parts fix trains tracks dried sanctions prevented people able travel sudanese government done deal chinese feel completely different americans told chinese involvement trusted us wasnt chinese interested hegemonic power could see development present khartoum later met president said growth across sudan limited elite khartoum work progress presidents popularity gone roof icc indictments afshin rattansi signs corruption ali gunn160 people told us president humble modest man certainly seemed like person wary signs corruption wealth palace looked like municipal building developing nation furniture normal told modest man come ranks army possibly less concerned icc rebuilding nation much popular icc indictments feeling country picked comparison happening surrounding nations saw people actively encouraged vote mentioned work british parliament stressed need people register vote certainly problem people understanding importance voting like people britain many people spoke healthy skepticism politicians per se believe next elections would free fair collette valentine president knew conference taking place knowledge camps visiting women careful tell aware looking signs embedded way afshin rattansi perception icc aided president sudan collette valentine night left met president albashir advisor dr ghazi salahuddin atabani everything said backed heard ground admitted icc aided reelection chances admitted rape present darfur blamed outside aid agencies putting petrol fire highlighted external supply arms also blamed classic british divideandrule tactics colonialism roots trouble sudan attabani said sudan politically isolated icc indictment first raised 4 years ago president offered step aside abdicate said 16 years long policy national congress party ncp dont believe president life made look like villain internally boosted popularity ncp cant consider candidate experience seeing western leaders london cavalcade security al bashir goes house local weddings funerals mosque seems security one delegates went mosque baffled lack security seeing afshin rattansi president sudan expects change administration washington ali gunn attacked international media coverage darfur people saw situation different portrayed saw west patronizing sudanese people160 obama president albashir said hes much pragmatic old guard clintons days still around 90s hostiletheyve changed toned rhetoricwe believe us exploited certain undercurrents would suggest people go see happening collette valentine dr ghazi said hopeful obama dont trust clinton people susan rices samantha powers continuation icc path would seen vindictive alien could result turning darfur real conflict women camps focused talking men believe hope peace reconciliation lies ability encourage forgiveness believe international organizations persuade men reconcile conflict happened tribal elders would meet settle conflicts nomadic peasant communities right across darfur women campaigning ground reconciliation talks first peace conference women communities coming together urge reconciliation talks women community given time speak security top agenda well education healthcare ali gunn came back camps shocked disparity happening ground media afshin rattansi helped launch develop television networks worked journalism two decades bbc today programme cnn international bloomberg news al jazeera arabic dubai business160 channel press tv guardian quartet novels dream decade available amazoncom reached afshinafshinrattansicom | 1,562 |
<p>Image: AP/Wideworld</p>
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<p>It has been linked to broken bones, osteoporosis, and obesity. It may increase diabetes rates and the severity of kidney stones. It can lead to nervousness, insomnia, attention-deficit disorder and addiction. And American teen-agers are consuming more of it than ever.</p>
<p>Sure, everyone knows soft drinks aren’t good for you. But a wave of new research strongly suggests they’re even worse than anyone realized. Nevertheless, American teen-agers are consuming record quantities of the stuff — thanks in part to a growing number of public schools signing marketing deals with soda companies.</p>
<p>Soda is dispensed in American schools today like coffee in corporate offices. Over the past three years, the <a href="http://www.commercialfree.org/" type="external">Center for Commercial-Free Public Education</a> estimates that 240 school districts in 31 states have sold exclusive rights to one of the three big soda barons eager to hook teen-agers on Dr Pepper, Pepsi, or The Real Thing.</p>
<p>“Many teens are drowning in worthless sugar water,” says Michael Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest. “Parents should limit their children’s soda consumption and demand that schools get rid of soft-drink vending machines, just as they have banished smoking.”</p>
<p>New research adds weight to Jacobson’s words. Harvard School of Public Health professor Grace Wyshak recently found that ninth and 10th-grade girls who sipped soda were three times more likely to break bones than those who quenched their thirsts with other drinks. Worse, her study found that physically active girls who drank colas were five times more likely to break bones as physically active girls who abstained from carbonated beverages. Wyshak believes the phosphoric acid in colas may interfere with the body’s ability to use calcium.</p>
<p>That’s of particular concern considering that teen-agers are increasingly substituting corn syrup for calcium — an essential element for developing bones. From 1965 to 1996, adolescent milk consumption dropped 36 percent, while adolescent soft-drink consumption more than doubled, according to a recent University of North Carolina study. Adolescent girls who fail to get enough calcium will build insufficient bone mass, leaving their bones thin and fragile.</p>
<p>Wyshak’s study is just the most recent giving soda a sour taste. Her latest report confirms her earlier research associating carbonated beverage consumption with bone fractures in girls and postmenopausal women. A 1999 South African study warns that cola may exacerbate kidney-stone problems. And a growing body of psychiatrists’ work over the last decade fingers the caffeine in soda as a possible culprit in children’s inability to sleep, concentrate, and stay on task.</p>
<p>Nutritionists, meanwhile, warn that sugar in soda seems certain to be swelling America’s problem with obesity and the concurrent rise in diabetes. Recent research has found that half of American adults and one in five American children are overweight.</p>
<p>The National Soft Drink Association, however, insists its products are being unfairly demonized. Richard Adamson, the association’s vice president of scientific and technical affairs, dismisses the Harvard study as “nutritional nonsense.”</p>
<p>“Soft drinks have a place in a well-balanced diet,” adds Sean McBride, communications director for the NSDA. “If you take all the science as a whole, there is no connection between soft drinks and health problems that have been raised.”</p>
<p>Wyshak volleys back: “To me, it’s no different from the issue with smoking. If you produce this stuff, and you make money off it, you want to deny it.”</p>
<p>Meanwhile, soda sales tempt money-strapped schools with too-good-to-reject deals. In one notorious case, a Colorado Springs school district in 1997 gave Coca-Cola exclusive access to its 30,000 students for a promise of more than $8 million over 10 years. The catch: The kids needed to gulp at least 70,000 cases of Coke products in one of the first three contract years. One enthusiastic school administrator wrote a letter — signing it “the Coke Dude” — urging principals to consider allowing kids unlimited access to Coke machines.</p>
<p>Outrage over the Coke Dude’s letter helped prompt a federal General Accounting Office investigation last fall. The GAO found that, while soda sales are the most lucrative commercial deal for schools, they still represent only a minute percentage of school budgets.</p>
<p>But the soda companies aren’t looking for immediate profits, says Andrew Hagelshaw, executive director of the Center for Commercial-Free Public Education. “It’s all about promoting … an addiction to caffeine and sugar and to a particular brand name.”</p>
<p>Bob Phillips, spokesman for Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of California, bristles at the word “addiction.” Soda manufacturers claim they just add caffeine to soda to enhance flavor. A new Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine <a href="/mustreads/081700.html" type="external">taste study</a>, however, supports the notion that caffeine is added to soda to addict drinkers. Only 8 percent of regular cola consumers detected a flavor difference at the caffeine concentration found in popular colas, the study found. Researchers concluded: “The high consumption rates of caffeine-containing soft drinks are more likely to reflect the mood-altering and physical dependence-producing effects of caffeine as a central nervous system-active drug than its subtle effects as a flavoring agent.”</p>
<p>“The picture that’s painted is that kids are walking around shaking because of soft drinks at school, and I think it’s blown out of proportion,” says Phillips. Soda companies are just being helpful neighbors, he insists. “As a local business in these communities,” Phillips says, “we view it as providing some benefit to the schools.”</p>
<p>Few educators seem concerned. None of 20 school administrators, school board members, school nutritionists and school nurses interviewed for this story had heard about the new Harvard study. San Francisco’s school district banned exclusive contracts for soda and junk food in 1999, but few areas have followed their example. Former California state Assembly member Kerry Mazzoni tried to push through a bill banning exclusive beverage contracts — which she calls “selling your children to the highest bidder” — in schools statewide, but had to settle for a law requiring school boards to hold public hearings before signing such contracts. California is the only state with even this mild requirement.</p>
<p>Parents did bubble up with anger when Coke, as part of its $5 million deal with Houston schools, placed a vending machine stocked with sugary Fruitopia on a Houston elementary school campus. But in general, school administrators say parents rarely complain about soda on campus. Many serve it at home. “I see kids walking to school with a soda pop in their hand,” says Judi Baker, a Petaluma, Calif. school nurse. “You wonder if that’s breakfast.”</p>
<p>“I drink soda, like, 24/7,” a Petaluma High School freshman says outside the cafeteria. She carries a 20-ounce plastic bottle of Cherry Coke. When she hears about the Harvard study, she volunteers that she hyper-extended her knee in the seventh grade. “I don’t know if I’m going to be able to stop drinking soda,” she says, “but I’m not addicted to it.”</p>
<p /> | true | 4 | image apwideworld linked broken bones osteoporosis obesity may increase diabetes rates severity kidney stones lead nervousness insomnia attentiondeficit disorder addiction american teenagers consuming ever sure everyone knows soft drinks arent good wave new research strongly suggests theyre even worse anyone realized nevertheless american teenagers consuming record quantities stuff thanks part growing number public schools signing marketing deals soda companies soda dispensed american schools today like coffee corporate offices past three years center commercialfree public education estimates 240 school districts 31 states sold exclusive rights one three big soda barons eager hook teenagers dr pepper pepsi real thing many teens drowning worthless sugar water says michael jacobson executive director center science public interest parents limit childrens soda consumption demand schools get rid softdrink vending machines banished smoking new research adds weight jacobsons words harvard school public health professor grace wyshak recently found ninth 10thgrade girls sipped soda three times likely break bones quenched thirsts drinks worse study found physically active girls drank colas five times likely break bones physically active girls abstained carbonated beverages wyshak believes phosphoric acid colas may interfere bodys ability use calcium thats particular concern considering teenagers increasingly substituting corn syrup calcium essential element developing bones 1965 1996 adolescent milk consumption dropped 36 percent adolescent softdrink consumption doubled according recent university north carolina study adolescent girls fail get enough calcium build insufficient bone mass leaving bones thin fragile wyshaks study recent giving soda sour taste latest report confirms earlier research associating carbonated beverage consumption bone fractures girls postmenopausal women 1999 south african study warns cola may exacerbate kidneystone problems growing body psychiatrists work last decade fingers caffeine soda possible culprit childrens inability sleep concentrate stay task nutritionists meanwhile warn sugar soda seems certain swelling americas problem obesity concurrent rise diabetes recent research found half american adults one five american children overweight national soft drink association however insists products unfairly demonized richard adamson associations vice president scientific technical affairs dismisses harvard study nutritional nonsense soft drinks place wellbalanced diet adds sean mcbride communications director nsda take science whole connection soft drinks health problems raised wyshak volleys back different issue smoking produce stuff make money want deny meanwhile soda sales tempt moneystrapped schools toogoodtoreject deals one notorious case colorado springs school district 1997 gave cocacola exclusive access 30000 students promise 8 million 10 years catch kids needed gulp least 70000 cases coke products one first three contract years one enthusiastic school administrator wrote letter signing coke dude urging principals consider allowing kids unlimited access coke machines outrage coke dudes letter helped prompt federal general accounting office investigation last fall gao found soda sales lucrative commercial deal schools still represent minute percentage school budgets soda companies arent looking immediate profits says andrew hagelshaw executive director center commercialfree public education promoting addiction caffeine sugar particular brand name bob phillips spokesman cocacola bottling co california bristles word addiction soda manufacturers claim add caffeine soda enhance flavor new johns hopkins university school medicine taste study however supports notion caffeine added soda addict drinkers 8 percent regular cola consumers detected flavor difference caffeine concentration found popular colas study found researchers concluded high consumption rates caffeinecontaining soft drinks likely reflect moodaltering physical dependenceproducing effects caffeine central nervous systemactive drug subtle effects flavoring agent picture thats painted kids walking around shaking soft drinks school think blown proportion says phillips soda companies helpful neighbors insists local business communities phillips says view providing benefit schools educators seem concerned none 20 school administrators school board members school nutritionists school nurses interviewed story heard new harvard study san franciscos school district banned exclusive contracts soda junk food 1999 areas followed example former california state assembly member kerry mazzoni tried push bill banning exclusive beverage contracts calls selling children highest bidder schools statewide settle law requiring school boards hold public hearings signing contracts california state even mild requirement parents bubble anger coke part 5 million deal houston schools placed vending machine stocked sugary fruitopia houston elementary school campus general school administrators say parents rarely complain soda campus many serve home see kids walking school soda pop hand says judi baker petaluma calif school nurse wonder thats breakfast drink soda like 247 petaluma high school freshman says outside cafeteria carries 20ounce plastic bottle cherry coke hears harvard study volunteers hyperextended knee seventh grade dont know im going able stop drinking soda says im addicted | 721 |
<p>By Uri Avnery / TikkunThis piece first ran on <a href="http://www.tikkun.org/nextgen/uri-avnery-on-the-current-reality-of-the-israeli-peace-movement" type="external">Tikkun</a>.</p>
<p>Hamelin, A small town in Germany (not so far from where I was born), was infested with rats. In their despair, the burghers called upon a rat-catcher and promised him a thousand guilders for liberating them from this plague.</p>
<p>The rat-catcher took his pipe and played such a sweet melody that all the rats came out of their holes and joined him. He marched them to the Weser river, where they all drowned.</p>
<p>Once freed from this plague, the burghers saw no reason to pay. So the piper took out his pipe again and produced an even sweeter melody. The enchanted children of the town gathered around him and he marched them straight down to the river, where they all drowned.</p>
<p />
<p>Benjamin Netanyahu is our pied piper. Enchanted by his melodies, the people of Israel are marching behind him towards the river.</p>
<p>Those burghers who are aware of what is happening are looking on. They don’t know what to do. How to save the children?</p>
<p>The Israeli Peace Camp is in despair. No savior is in sight. Many just sit in front of their TV set and wring their hands.</p>
<p>Among the rest a debate is going on. Will redemption come from within Israel or from outside?</p>
<p>The latest contributor to this debate is Amos Schocken, the owner of the “Haaretz” newspaper. He has written one of his rare articles, arguing that only outside forces can save us now.</p>
<p>Let me first say that I admire Schocken. “Haaretz” (“The Land”) is one of the last bastions of Israeli democracy. Cursed and detested by the entire rightist majority, it leads the intellectual battle for democracy and peace, All this while the written media are in dire financial straits, in Israel and around the world. From my own experience as a magazine owner and editor – who lost this battle – I know just how heroic and heartbreaking this job is.</p>
<p>In his article Schocken says that the battle to save Israel from within is hopeless, and that we must therefore support the pressures coming from outside: the growing worldwide movement for boycotting Israel politically, economically and academically.</p>
<p>Another prominent Israeli who supports this view is Alon Liel, a former ambassador to South Africa and current university lecturer. Based on his own experience, Liel asserts that it was the worldwide boycott that brought the apartheid regime to its knees.</p>
<p>Far be it from me to contest the testimony of such a towering expert. I never went to South Africa to see for myself. But I have talked to many participants, black and white, and my impression is a bit different.</p>
<p>It is very tempting to compare present-day Israel with apartheid South Africa. Indeed, the comparison is almost unavoidable. But what does it tell us?</p>
<p>The accepted view in the West is that it was the international boycott of the atrocious Apartheid regime that broke its spine. This is a comforting view. The conscience of the world woke up and crushed the villains.</p>
<p>But this is a view from the outside. The view from the inside seems to be quite different. The inside view appreciates the help of the international community, but it attributes the victory to the fight of the black population itself, its readiness to suffer, its heroism, its tenacity. Using many different methods, including terrorism and strikes, it finally made Apartheid impossible.</p>
<p>The international pressure helped by making the whites increasingly aware of their isolation. Some measures, such as the international boycott on South African sports teams, were especially painful. But without the fight of the black population itself, international pressure would have been ineffective.</p>
<p>The highest respect is due to the white South Africans who actively supported the black struggle, including terrorism, at great personal risk. Many of them were Jews. Some escaped to Israel. One was my friend and neighbor, Arthur Goldreich. Strange as it seemed to some, the Israeli government supported the apartheid regime.</p>
<p>Even a superficial comparison between the two cases shows that the Israeli apartheid regime enjoys major assets which did not exist in South Africa.</p>
<p>The South African white rulers were universally detested because they quite openly supported the Nazis in World War II. The Jews were the victims of the Nazis. The Holocaust is a huge asset of Israeli propaganda. So is the labeling of all critics of Israel as anti-Semites – a very effective weapon these days.</p>
<p>(My latest contribution: “Who is an anti-Semite? Someone who tells the truth about the occupation.”)</p>
<p>The uncritical support of the powerful Jewish communities throughout the world for the Israeli government is something the South African whites could not even have dreamed of.</p>
<p>And, of course, there is no Nelson Mandela in sight. Not after Arafat’s isolation and murder, at least.</p>
<p>Paradoxically, there is a little bit of racism in the view that it was the whites in the Western world that delivered the blacks in South Africa, and not the black South Africans themselves.</p>
<p>There is another big difference between the two situations. Hardened by centuries of persecution in the Christian world, Jewish Israelis can react to outside pressure differently than expected. Outside pressure can turn out to be counterproductive. It may re-confirm the old Jewish belief that Jews are persecuted not for what they do, but for who they are. That is one of Netanyahu’s main selling points.</p>
<p>Years ago, an army entertainment group sang and danced to the joyful tune of a song that started with the words: “The whole world is against us /But we don’t give a damn…”</p>
<p>This also concerns the BDS campaign. 18 years ago, my friends and I were the first to declare a boycott on the products of the settlements. We wanted to drive a wedge between Israelis and settlers. Therefore we did not declare a boycott of Israel proper, which would drive ordinary Israelis into the arms of the settlers. Only direct support of the settlements should be rejected.</p>
<p>That is still my opinion. But everyone abroad should make up his/her own mind. Always remembering that the main objective is to influence public opinion in Israel proper.</p>
<p>The “inside-outside” debate may sound purely theoretical, but it is not. It has very practical implications.</p>
<p>The Israeli peace camp is in a state of despair. The size and power of the right wing is growing. Almost daily, obnoxious new laws are proposed and enacted, some of them with an unmistakable fascist flavor. The Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has surrounded himself with a bunch of male and female rowdies mainly from his Likud party, compared to whom he is a liberal. The main opposition party, the “Zionist Camp” (alias Labor), could be called Likud B.</p>
<p>Apart from some dozens of fringe groups who brave this wave and do admirable work, each in its chosen niche, the peace camp is paralyzed by its own despair. Its slogan could well be “Nothing can be done anymore. No point doing anything”.</p>
<p>(Jewish-Arab cooperation in the common fight inside Israel – now sadly lacking – is also essential.)</p>
<p>In this climate, the idea that only outside pressure can save Israel from itself is comforting. Somebody out there will do the job for us. So let’s enjoy the pleasures of democracy while it lasts.</p>
<p>I know that nothing is further from the thoughts of Schocken, Liel and all the others, who fight the daily fight. But I am afraid that this may be the consequence of their views.</p>
<p>So who is right: those who believe that only the fight inside Israel can save us, or those who put their trust entirely in outside pressure?</p>
<p>My answer is: neither.</p>
<p>Or, rather, both.</p>
<p>Those who fight inside need all the outside help they can get. All the moral people in all the countries of the world should see it as their duty to help those groups and persons inside Israel who continue to fight for democracy, justice and equality.</p>
<p>If Israel is dear to them, they should come to the aid of these brave groups, morally, politically and materially.</p>
<p>But for outside pressure to be effective, they must be able to connect with the fight inside, publicize it and gain support for it. They can give new hope to those who are despairing. Nothing is more vital.</p>
<p>The government realizes this. Therefore it is enacting all kinds of laws to cut Israeli peace groups off from foreign help.</p>
<p>So let the good fight go on – inside, outside, everywhere.</p> | true | 4 | uri avnery tikkunthis piece first ran tikkun hamelin small town germany far born infested rats despair burghers called upon ratcatcher promised thousand guilders liberating plague ratcatcher took pipe played sweet melody rats came holes joined marched weser river drowned freed plague burghers saw reason pay piper took pipe produced even sweeter melody enchanted children town gathered around marched straight river drowned benjamin netanyahu pied piper enchanted melodies people israel marching behind towards river burghers aware happening looking dont know save children israeli peace camp despair savior sight many sit front tv set wring hands among rest debate going redemption come within israel outside latest contributor debate amos schocken owner haaretz newspaper written one rare articles arguing outside forces save us let first say admire schocken haaretz land one last bastions israeli democracy cursed detested entire rightist majority leads intellectual battle democracy peace written media dire financial straits israel around world experience magazine owner editor lost battle know heroic heartbreaking job article schocken says battle save israel within hopeless must therefore support pressures coming outside growing worldwide movement boycotting israel politically economically academically another prominent israeli supports view alon liel former ambassador south africa current university lecturer based experience liel asserts worldwide boycott brought apartheid regime knees far contest testimony towering expert never went south africa see talked many participants black white impression bit different tempting compare presentday israel apartheid south africa indeed comparison almost unavoidable tell us accepted view west international boycott atrocious apartheid regime broke spine comforting view conscience world woke crushed villains view outside view inside seems quite different inside view appreciates help international community attributes victory fight black population readiness suffer heroism tenacity using many different methods including terrorism strikes finally made apartheid impossible international pressure helped making whites increasingly aware isolation measures international boycott south african sports teams especially painful without fight black population international pressure would ineffective highest respect due white south africans actively supported black struggle including terrorism great personal risk many jews escaped israel one friend neighbor arthur goldreich strange seemed israeli government supported apartheid regime even superficial comparison two cases shows israeli apartheid regime enjoys major assets exist south africa south african white rulers universally detested quite openly supported nazis world war ii jews victims nazis holocaust huge asset israeli propaganda labeling critics israel antisemites effective weapon days latest contribution antisemite someone tells truth occupation uncritical support powerful jewish communities throughout world israeli government something south african whites could even dreamed course nelson mandela sight arafats isolation murder least paradoxically little bit racism view whites western world delivered blacks south africa black south africans another big difference two situations hardened centuries persecution christian world jewish israelis react outside pressure differently expected outside pressure turn counterproductive may reconfirm old jewish belief jews persecuted one netanyahus main selling points years ago army entertainment group sang danced joyful tune song started words whole world us dont give damn also concerns bds campaign 18 years ago friends first declare boycott products settlements wanted drive wedge israelis settlers therefore declare boycott israel proper would drive ordinary israelis arms settlers direct support settlements rejected still opinion everyone abroad make hisher mind always remembering main objective influence public opinion israel proper insideoutside debate may sound purely theoretical practical implications israeli peace camp state despair size power right wing growing almost daily obnoxious new laws proposed enacted unmistakable fascist flavor prime minister benjamin netanyahu surrounded bunch male female rowdies mainly likud party compared liberal main opposition party zionist camp alias labor could called likud b apart dozens fringe groups brave wave admirable work chosen niche peace camp paralyzed despair slogan could well nothing done anymore point anything jewisharab cooperation common fight inside israel sadly lacking also essential climate idea outside pressure save israel comforting somebody job us lets enjoy pleasures democracy lasts know nothing thoughts schocken liel others fight daily fight afraid may consequence views right believe fight inside israel save us put trust entirely outside pressure answer neither rather fight inside need outside help get moral people countries world see duty help groups persons inside israel continue fight democracy justice equality israel dear come aid brave groups morally politically materially outside pressure effective must able connect fight inside publicize gain support give new hope despairing nothing vital government realizes therefore enacting kinds laws cut israeli peace groups foreign help let good fight go inside outside everywhere | 727 |
<p />
<p>Yes, the stock market was <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/30/business/30markets.html?ref=us" type="external">falling apart</a>, but up on the seventh floor of CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, you could almost hear the sighs of relief Monday thanks to another bit of news: Former top Agency official <a href="http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/foggo_pleads_guilty_in_cia_bri.php" type="external">Kyle Dustin Foggo</a> had quietly entered a guilty plea in an Alexandria, Virginia, federal courtroom. Henry Paulson still has his job cut out trying to rescue the banking system, but Langley’s spymasters had just been spared the imminent prospect of having some of the nation’s most sensitive secrets spilled in what promised to be one of the more revelatory and cinematic trials of <a href="/news/feature/2008/09/exit-strategy-reign-of-error.html" type="external">the Bush era</a>.</p>
<p>As court documents laid out in <a href="" type="external">28 charges</a>, the man known to colleagues as “Dusty,” a former logistics officer, served as the CIA’s number three official and effectively day to day manager when he badgered the Agency to hire one of his mistresses, identified in the indictment as “E.R.”: “On or about March 19, 2005,” the indictment reads, “Foggo sent the CIA Acting General Counsel an email stating, in part, that his staff would tag E.R.’s conditional offer of employment as ‘ExDir Interest’ in order to ‘zip her to the top of the pile.'” (E.R. was indeed hired, to a position in the CIA general counsel’s office. “ExDir” refers to Foggo’s position as CIA Executive Director.)</p>
<p>Foggo’s generosity extended beyond his girlfriend: He also, according to the indictment, engineered the hiring of his best childhood friend’s company for a CIA contract to provide bottled water to staff in Iraq at a 60 percent price markup over the offer of another contractor (who, under the deal worked out by Foggo, was hired as the subcontractor to actually perform the work). He was frequently dealt into a weekly poker game at various memorable Washington hotels (the Watergate was one) popular with congressmen such as Randy “Duke” Cunningham (R-Calif.), lobbyists, and House intelligence committee staff members; as well as—according to other court documents—prostitutes. That childhood friend, Brent Wilkes, also turned out to be among two defense contractors bribing House intelligence committee member Duke Cunningham with tens of thousands of dollars in antiques, travel, fancy meals, house payments, and hookers in exchange for earmarks steering more than $100 million worth of government contracts to Wilkes’ San Diego-based firm, ADCS.</p>
<p>But it wasn’t the hookers, the card games, the water contract, or even the staff mistress that concerned the Agency’s executives when Foggo spared them by entering a guilty plea on a single count of wire fraud Monday. In exchange for the plea, prosecutors agreed to drop the 27 other charges and requested only three years prison time out of the 20 Foggo could have faced. (“Your lawyers did a good job for you,” US District judge James C. Cacheris told Foggo after he accepted his guilty plea, with evident understatement.)</p>
<p>No, what truly worried Agency brass were the <a href="/commentary/columns/2006/05/mother_of_all_scandals.html" type="external">darker secrets</a> their former top logistics officer was threatening to spill had his case gone to trial as scheduled on November 3. They included the massive contracts Foggo was discussing with Wilkes, estimated by one source at over $300 million dollars. “Wilkes was working on several other huge deals when the hammer fell,” a source familiar with Foggo’s discussions with Wilkes told me. What kinds of deals? According to the source, they included creating and running a secret plane network, for whatever needs the CIA has for secret planes now that the network it used for extraordinary rendition flights has been outed. “In or about December 2004,” the Foggo indictment says, “Foggo discussed with Wilkes and J.C. the idea that Foggo might be able to get Wilkes a classified government contract to supply air support services to the CIA…. In or about January 2005, Wilkes directed various ADCS employees to begin developing an air support proposal that would be designed to answer the CIA’s classified needs as outlined by Foggo.”</p>
<p>The indictment continues: “On or about February 3, 2005, an employee of Wilkes’ corporation emailed J.C. with an offer to update him on their work developing the air support proposal. …” (J.C., the indictment explains, is Wilkes’ nephew, whom I’ve identified as <a href="http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?articleId=10719" type="external">Joel G. Combs</a>, the nominal head of a Wilkes’ front company, Archer Logistics.) The “classified air support contract” and its implied purposes for renditions are among the truly damaging national security secrets, along with the methods the CIA uses to create front companies and dole out black contracts, that the CIA and Bush White House would have been anxious not to have exposed, especially in a trial set to take place the day before the election in a suburban DC courtroom within a ten-minute drive of the entire national security press corps.</p>
<p>“Greymail” is the term of art for an old legal defense technique employed by those in possession of classified information: The accused and his lawyers will demand the revelation of so many government secrets in order to get a fair trial that prosecutors come under pressure to make the case go away. And in Foggo, the official responsible for the logistics of much of the administration’s war on terror, federal prosecutors met their greymail match. Foggo threatened “to expose the cover of virtually every CIA employee with whom he interacted and to divulge to the world some of our country’s most sensitive programs—even though this information has absolutely nothing to do with the charges he faces,” prosecutors howled in an early September court filing, before they were evidently compelled to extend Foggo the lenient plea deal; Foggo’s lawyers, the filing continued, were attempting to “portray Foggo as a hero engaged in actions necessary to protect the public from terrorist acts.”</p>
<p>The plea deal hasn’t stopped Foggo’s former CIA colleagues from continuing to fume in outrage at Foggo’s behavior, or from pointing the finger at former CIA director Porter Goss for appointing Foggo to the Executive Director position in the first place. “This behavior is not typical of CIA officials,” one former senior CIA operations officer told me. “We all knew him to be sleazy…This is a guy who should never have gotten that job.” Goss abruptly resigned in May 2006 just as federal investigators were raiding Foggo’s office. Foggo is scheduled to be sentenced January 8. His co-conspirator Brent Wilkes is currently serving a 12 year jail sentence in California. Cunningham, a onetime ace fighter pilot who reportedly served as the inspiration for Tom Cruise’s character in Top Gun, is serving out an eight year sentence, the longest prison sentence ever meted out to any member of Congress. Meanwhile Foggo, based on his plea agreement, is likely to leave prison well before a McCain or Obama administration finishes its first term.</p>
<p>Correction: A previous version of this story noted that “E.R.” as described in the Foggo indictment was hired to a “new position Foggo created—deputy director of administration.” In fact, another Foggo mistress, already a CIA staff member, was appointed to the position Foggo had created for her as deputy director of support. That person was eventually removed from the post.</p>
<p /> | true | 4 | yes stock market falling apart seventh floor cia headquarters langley virginia could almost hear sighs relief monday thanks another bit news former top agency official kyle dustin foggo quietly entered guilty plea alexandria virginia federal courtroom henry paulson still job cut trying rescue banking system langleys spymasters spared imminent prospect nations sensitive secrets spilled promised one revelatory cinematic trials bush era court documents laid 28 charges man known colleagues dusty former logistics officer served cias number three official effectively day day manager badgered agency hire one mistresses identified indictment er march 19 2005 indictment reads foggo sent cia acting general counsel email stating part staff would tag ers conditional offer employment exdir interest order zip top pile er indeed hired position cia general counsels office exdir refers foggos position cia executive director foggos generosity extended beyond girlfriend also according indictment engineered hiring best childhood friends company cia contract provide bottled water staff iraq 60 percent price markup offer another contractor deal worked foggo hired subcontractor actually perform work frequently dealt weekly poker game various memorable washington hotels watergate one popular congressmen randy duke cunningham rcalif lobbyists house intelligence committee staff members well asaccording court documentsprostitutes childhood friend brent wilkes also turned among two defense contractors bribing house intelligence committee member duke cunningham tens thousands dollars antiques travel fancy meals house payments hookers exchange earmarks steering 100 million worth government contracts wilkes san diegobased firm adcs wasnt hookers card games water contract even staff mistress concerned agencys executives foggo spared entering guilty plea single count wire fraud monday exchange plea prosecutors agreed drop 27 charges requested three years prison time 20 foggo could faced lawyers good job us district judge james c cacheris told foggo accepted guilty plea evident understatement truly worried agency brass darker secrets former top logistics officer threatening spill case gone trial scheduled november 3 included massive contracts foggo discussing wilkes estimated one source 300 million dollars wilkes working several huge deals hammer fell source familiar foggos discussions wilkes told kinds deals according source included creating running secret plane network whatever needs cia secret planes network used extraordinary rendition flights outed december 2004 foggo indictment says foggo discussed wilkes jc idea foggo might able get wilkes classified government contract supply air support services cia january 2005 wilkes directed various adcs employees begin developing air support proposal would designed answer cias classified needs outlined foggo indictment continues february 3 2005 employee wilkes corporation emailed jc offer update work developing air support proposal jc indictment explains wilkes nephew ive identified joel g combs nominal head wilkes front company archer logistics classified air support contract implied purposes renditions among truly damaging national security secrets along methods cia uses create front companies dole black contracts cia bush white house would anxious exposed especially trial set take place day election suburban dc courtroom within tenminute drive entire national security press corps greymail term art old legal defense technique employed possession classified information accused lawyers demand revelation many government secrets order get fair trial prosecutors come pressure make case go away foggo official responsible logistics much administrations war terror federal prosecutors met greymail match foggo threatened expose cover virtually every cia employee interacted divulge world countrys sensitive programseven though information absolutely nothing charges faces prosecutors howled early september court filing evidently compelled extend foggo lenient plea deal foggos lawyers filing continued attempting portray foggo hero engaged actions necessary protect public terrorist acts plea deal hasnt stopped foggos former cia colleagues continuing fume outrage foggos behavior pointing finger former cia director porter goss appointing foggo executive director position first place behavior typical cia officials one former senior cia operations officer told knew sleazythis guy never gotten job goss abruptly resigned may 2006 federal investigators raiding foggos office foggo scheduled sentenced january 8 coconspirator brent wilkes currently serving 12 year jail sentence california cunningham onetime ace fighter pilot reportedly served inspiration tom cruises character top gun serving eight year sentence longest prison sentence ever meted member congress meanwhile foggo based plea agreement likely leave prison well mccain obama administration finishes first term correction previous version story noted er described foggo indictment hired new position foggo createddeputy director administration fact another foggo mistress already cia staff member appointed position foggo created deputy director support person eventually removed post | 711 |
<p><a href="http://wp.me/p3bwni-aA3" type="external">21st Century Wire</a> says…</p>
<p>Under the pretext of “fighting terrorism” the British government has allowed the unthinkable to happen, as police have somehow managed to acquire and then upload what equates to approximately 33% of the UK population – 18 million ‘mug shots’ – into a nationwide, real-time facial recognition tracking system.</p>
<p>To describe what has happened to British society, one can no longer call it a “slippery slope”, as it’s abundantly clear from this latest news that Britain has already fallen off the edge, and is presently tumbling into a Orwellian canyon.</p>
<p>(Image Source: <a href="http://pinktentacle.com/tag/biometrics/" type="external">Pink Tentacle</a>)</p>
<p>As <a href="" type="internal">21WIRE</a>revealed this week, facial recognition is only the beginning, as US authorities begin rolling out the TSA’s new “emotional recognition” surveillance technology systems nationwide – and soon to be implemented worldwide. In addition to this, in September 2014, the FBI announced its new billion-dollar <a href="http://www.csoonline.com/article/2683975/big-data-security/fbi-facial-recognition-system-operational.html" type="external">Next Generation Identification</a> (NGI) program is ‘fully operational’. This new biometric system is a replacement for the FBI’s previous Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS). The real-time system has the ability to be continually scanning for images of Americans 24 hours per day. In fact, the FBI <a href="https://www.eff.org/press/releases/eff-sues-fbi-access-facial-recognition-records" type="external">has been sued</a> by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) over access to its secret biometrics database, with EFF arguing that the US government refuses to comply with Freedom of Information Act (FIOA) requests, and is vacuuming up this data with absolutely no oversight at all.&#160; The lawsuit also revealed how the FBI <a href="http://www.slashgear.com/fbi-confirms-drone-surveillance-activity-in-the-us-19287143/" type="external">is deploying drones in the US</a> for surveillance purposes.</p>
<p>No one in the media has asked exactly where the UK police have acquired 18 million facial mug-shots that have already been cross-referenced with a valid ID. It’s obvious that the easiest available tranche for lifting that many photos and match ID is from the British airports and ports of entry, like Heathrow, Gatwick, Stanstead, Manchester, Birmingham and Glasgow Airports. If this is the case, then legally, should all travelers in and out of the UK be notified that they will be tracked by British police while inside the country (we sincerely hope that both mainstream media and civil rights advocates will do their jobs and follow-up on that question).</p>
<p>UK technocrats and civil servants who remain enamored with sophisticated computer technology are calling this latest revolution in facial recognition technology “cost-effective”, but in relation to what? Shouldn’t the real measure of any system’s true worth be whether or not it is productive, and who will define productivity? Is productivity based on how many ‘suspects’ are rounded-up and incarcerated, or is it based on how many actual criminals are apprehended?</p>
<p>Alastair MacGregor QC (quoted below) also adds here, “I think there is always a danger that if you can do something then you will do it, the technology takes over… without giving the attention to the other issues that arise in relation to it as one should.”</p>
<p>Former Tory Shadow Home Secretary David Davis also added, “You cannot treat innocent people the same way you treat guilty people.”</p>
<p>Far from tracking criminals, the new system may eventually be used to track and monitor individuals who hold what authorities consider to be “anti-government views”. This could range from anyone engaged in a lawsuit against the police or government, to anti-fracking activists, anti-big pharma, anti-GMO, anti-vaccine, parents who home-school their children, or even journalists who hold opinions that differ from the government’s official party line.</p>
<p>Common sense and history dictates that once a system such as this is in place – no matter how many assurances central government Mandarins might give to symposium panels and media – there is absolutely nothing that can really prevent a centralized police apparatus from both over-using and misusing these power <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140717062548-64875646-why-your-face-matters-more-than-ever" type="external">Big Data</a> capabilities. It’s inevidible, and British police have said as much, with UK Chief Constable Mike Barton, of the Association of Chief Police Officers, boasting, “Everybody is very keen that the police enter the cyber world.”</p>
<p>“I hear much criticism of policing that we’re not up to speed and it does come as a surprise to me that we’re now being admonished for being ahead of the game.”</p>
<p>Ahead of the game? Which game is that?</p>
<p>Are these dark days for the UK?</p>
<p>Not to mention what all this is costing the state – all of which is being paid for by simply <a href="" type="internal">running-up the national debt</a>…</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /> <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-31105678" type="external">BBC</a></p>
<p>Police forces in England and Wales have uploaded up to 18 million “mugshots” to a facial recognition database – despite a court ruling it could be unlawful.</p>
<p>They include photos of people never charged, or others cleared of an offence, and were uploaded without Home Office approval, Newsnight has learned.</p>
<p>Photos of “hundreds of thousands” of innocent people may be on the database, an independent commissioner said. The database complies with the Data Protection Act, police insisted.</p>
<p>Biometrics Commissioner Alastair MacGregor QC said he was concerned about the implications of the system for privacy and civil liberties. Speaking in his first interview, he told Newsnight that police forces had begun setting up a searchable database of police mugshots last year, without telling either him or the Home Office.</p>
<p>Almost every police force in England and Wales had now supplied photographs, he said.</p>
<p>‘Reliability concerns’</p>
<p>It comes despite a ruling in 2012, when two people went to the High Court to force the Metropolitan Police to delete their photos from databases.</p>
<p>The judge warned forces should revise their policies in “months, not years”.</p>
<p>Met Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe told the BBC that since the court case, his force had stopped putting images on the national database until the law had been clarified.</p>
<p>“So the broad concern is – are we keeping images of people who aren’t convicted, and are we using them?” he said. “I don’t think this is against the law but of course we always want to catch criminals.”</p>
<p>He added that he would look into the matter.</p>
<p>Mr MacGregor said police had been warned to put rules in place regarding the use of police mugshots – but had not done so.</p>
<p>He said he recognised the potential value of the database to the police, but warned senior officers had rushed in without considering all the implications.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-31105678" type="external">Continue this story at BBC</a></p>
<p>READ MORE POLICE STATE NEWS AT: <a href="" type="internal">21st Century Wire Police State Files</a>–</p> | true | 4 | 21st century wire says pretext fighting terrorism british government allowed unthinkable happen police somehow managed acquire upload equates approximately 33 uk population 18 million mug shots nationwide realtime facial recognition tracking system describe happened british society one longer call slippery slope abundantly clear latest news britain already fallen edge presently tumbling orwellian canyon image source pink tentacle 21wirerevealed week facial recognition beginning us authorities begin rolling tsas new emotional recognition surveillance technology systems nationwide soon implemented worldwide addition september 2014 fbi announced new billiondollar next generation identification ngi program fully operational new biometric system replacement fbis previous integrated automated fingerprint identification system iafis realtime system ability continually scanning images americans 24 hours per day fact fbi sued electronic frontier foundation eff access secret biometrics database eff arguing us government refuses comply freedom information act fioa requests vacuuming data absolutely oversight all160 lawsuit also revealed fbi deploying drones us surveillance purposes one media asked exactly uk police acquired 18 million facial mugshots already crossreferenced valid id obvious easiest available tranche lifting many photos match id british airports ports entry like heathrow gatwick stanstead manchester birmingham glasgow airports case legally travelers uk notified tracked british police inside country sincerely hope mainstream media civil rights advocates jobs followup question uk technocrats civil servants remain enamored sophisticated computer technology calling latest revolution facial recognition technology costeffective relation shouldnt real measure systems true worth whether productive define productivity productivity based many suspects roundedup incarcerated based many actual criminals apprehended alastair macgregor qc quoted also adds think always danger something technology takes without giving attention issues arise relation one former tory shadow home secretary david davis also added treat innocent people way treat guilty people far tracking criminals new system may eventually used track monitor individuals hold authorities consider antigovernment views could range anyone engaged lawsuit police government antifracking activists antibig pharma antigmo antivaccine parents homeschool children even journalists hold opinions differ governments official party line common sense history dictates system place matter many assurances central government mandarins might give symposium panels media absolutely nothing really prevent centralized police apparatus overusing misusing power big data capabilities inevidible british police said much uk chief constable mike barton association chief police officers boasting everybody keen police enter cyber world hear much criticism policing speed come surprise admonished ahead game ahead game game dark days uk mention costing state paid simply runningup national debt bbc police forces england wales uploaded 18 million mugshots facial recognition database despite court ruling could unlawful include photos people never charged others cleared offence uploaded without home office approval newsnight learned photos hundreds thousands innocent people may database independent commissioner said database complies data protection act police insisted biometrics commissioner alastair macgregor qc said concerned implications system privacy civil liberties speaking first interview told newsnight police forces begun setting searchable database police mugshots last year without telling either home office almost every police force england wales supplied photographs said reliability concerns comes despite ruling 2012 two people went high court force metropolitan police delete photos databases judge warned forces revise policies months years met police commissioner sir bernard hoganhowe told bbc since court case force stopped putting images national database law clarified broad concern keeping images people arent convicted using said dont think law course always want catch criminals added would look matter mr macgregor said police warned put rules place regarding use police mugshots done said recognised potential value database police warned senior officers rushed without considering implications continue story bbc read police state news 21st century wire police state files | 588 |
<p>Under Secretary of State Karen Hughes’ remarks at the “Private Sector Summit on Public Diplomacy” opened on a militaristic note. “Looking around the room and seeing the quality and the scope of the talent represented here,” she said, “I feel like reinforcements have arrived.”</p>
<p>Given Hughes’ membership in the White House Iraq Group, a key part of the Bush administration’s Iraq War “sell job,” perhaps her choice of imagery isn’t surprising. But are her new corporate “troops” well suited for the job of public diplomacy?</p>
<p>The January 2007 public diplomacy summit was co-sponsored by the State Department and the PR Coalition, an “ad hoc partnership” of groups representing the public relations, investor relations, lobbying and other communications professions. Nearly 160 PR executives and government officials attended, engaging “in a dialogue over how the private sector can become more involved in and supportive of U.S. public diplomacy,” in the words of PR Coalition chair and Accenture PR chief James Murphy.</p>
<p>The PR Coalition’s recently released summit report (PDF file) contains the usual warnings about the United States’ “image problem” overseas, while fretting that “anti-Americanism is bad for business.” Not surprisingly, it skirts around the root causes. The opening page tersely notes that summit participants “were there to address the image problems, not create foreign policy.” (While this admission is routine in public diplomacy circles, PR pros often say the opposite, insisting that their clients’ new-found concern for human rights, the environment or other noble cause reflects a real change in policies and practices.)</p>
<p>More oblique references to fallout from the Bush administration’s “war on terror” follow. “It’s no secret that negative views of this country are most widespread in Muslim countries,” states a summary of remarks by the State Department’s Steve Shaffer, “but they also exist in sub-Saharan Africa” and “even among some long-term allies,” with “much of the decline coming after 9/11.” The Program on International Policy Attitudes’ Steven Kull is paraphrased as saying, “There is also a fear in many countries that the U.S. will use force against them.”</p>
<p>Wow. Even with all the high-powered PR flacks in the room — including Burson-Marsteller founder Harold Burson and CEO Mark Penn, Edelman general manager Niel Flieger, EnviroComm chair E. Bruce Harrison, Fleishman-Hillard senior vice-president Jeff Weintraub, GolinHarris chair Al Golin, Ketchum CEO Raymond Kotcher, Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide CEO Paul Hicks, and Publicis chair Lou Capozzi — it’s difficult to imagine a lipstick garish enough to distract from that pig.</p>
<p>Summit participants developed eleven “Models for Action that the private sector can use to support U.S. public diplomacy.” Several are to increase international exchanges, a tried and true way to increase the global awareness of frequently-insular U.S. citizens, in addition to providing first-hand U.S. experiences for foreign visitors.</p>
<p>However, some suggestions are vague to the point of meaninglessness. For example: “Make U.S. business practices consistent with U.S. values.” Would that mean providing living wages to workers employed overseas as contractors to U.S.-based companies? Somehow I think that Wal-Mart lobbyists Robert Lee Culpepper and Sarah Thorn, who were at the summit, might object to that. (Executives from Citibank, Pfizer, Wyeth, General Electric, the Washington Post, Newsweek and Reuters were also present.)</p>
<p>Other suggestions boil down to co-opting civil society groups (referred to as NGOs, for non-governmental organizations). These include “strategic philanthropy and greater engagement with responsible NGOs” (emphasis added), closely followed by the clarification, “Companies should partner with NGOs that ‘fit’ their business model.” A similar suggestion is to “create ‘circles of influence’ through relationships with organizations, chambers of commerce, journalists and local business leaders.”</p>
<p>Perhaps the most striking assumption is that promoting capitalism will somehow excuse, or lessen antagonism towards, U.S. foreign policy. Elizabeth Funk of the microcredit organization Unitus told summit attendees, “There is no better way to improve America’s image abroad than to allow the people in those countries to bring themselves out of poverty, and experience the free enterprise system for themselves.” David Chernow of JA (Junior Achievement) Worldwide explained, “Our model is driven largely by U.S.-based multinational companies. … We are teaching young people about free market principles and how they can create opportunities for everyone.”</p>
<p>Of course, summit attendees hail from major U.S. corporations. It’s not surprising that they see the free market system as a core American value. However, public diplomacy efforts emphasizing the wonders of capitalism are unlikely to play well in Palestine, Persia, Pakistan, or any other region where much of the population condemns the U.S. initiated conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, and U.S. policy towards Israel and Palestine.</p>
<p>Members of the PR Coalition are skilled at portraying image-challenged clients — like pharmaceutical companies, oil companies and the nuclear industry — as responsible, commendable contributors to U.S. society. But applying the same PR tactics to issues of war, national sovereignty and global economic development risks increasing international resentment of the United States.</p>
<p>DIANE FARSETTA is a Senior Researcher, Center for Media &amp; Democracy, publisher of <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/" type="external">PR Watch</a>. She can be reached at: <a href="mailto:diane@prwatch.org" type="external">diane@prwatch.org</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | secretary state karen hughes remarks private sector summit public diplomacy opened militaristic note looking around room seeing quality scope talent represented said feel like reinforcements arrived given hughes membership white house iraq group key part bush administrations iraq war sell job perhaps choice imagery isnt surprising new corporate troops well suited job public diplomacy january 2007 public diplomacy summit cosponsored state department pr coalition ad hoc partnership groups representing public relations investor relations lobbying communications professions nearly 160 pr executives government officials attended engaging dialogue private sector become involved supportive us public diplomacy words pr coalition chair accenture pr chief james murphy pr coalitions recently released summit report pdf file contains usual warnings united states image problem overseas fretting antiamericanism bad business surprisingly skirts around root causes opening page tersely notes summit participants address image problems create foreign policy admission routine public diplomacy circles pr pros often say opposite insisting clients newfound concern human rights environment noble cause reflects real change policies practices oblique references fallout bush administrations war terror follow secret negative views country widespread muslim countries states summary remarks state departments steve shaffer also exist subsaharan africa even among longterm allies much decline coming 911 program international policy attitudes steven kull paraphrased saying also fear many countries us use force wow even highpowered pr flacks room including bursonmarsteller founder harold burson ceo mark penn edelman general manager niel flieger envirocomm chair e bruce harrison fleishmanhillard senior vicepresident jeff weintraub golinharris chair al golin ketchum ceo raymond kotcher ogilvy public relations worldwide ceo paul hicks publicis chair lou capozzi difficult imagine lipstick garish enough distract pig summit participants developed eleven models action private sector use support us public diplomacy several increase international exchanges tried true way increase global awareness frequentlyinsular us citizens addition providing firsthand us experiences foreign visitors however suggestions vague point meaninglessness example make us business practices consistent us values would mean providing living wages workers employed overseas contractors usbased companies somehow think walmart lobbyists robert lee culpepper sarah thorn summit might object executives citibank pfizer wyeth general electric washington post newsweek reuters also present suggestions boil coopting civil society groups referred ngos nongovernmental organizations include strategic philanthropy greater engagement responsible ngos emphasis added closely followed clarification companies partner ngos fit business model similar suggestion create circles influence relationships organizations chambers commerce journalists local business leaders perhaps striking assumption promoting capitalism somehow excuse lessen antagonism towards us foreign policy elizabeth funk microcredit organization unitus told summit attendees better way improve americas image abroad allow people countries bring poverty experience free enterprise system david chernow ja junior achievement worldwide explained model driven largely usbased multinational companies teaching young people free market principles create opportunities everyone course summit attendees hail major us corporations surprising see free market system core american value however public diplomacy efforts emphasizing wonders capitalism unlikely play well palestine persia pakistan region much population condemns us initiated conflicts iraq afghanistan us policy towards israel palestine members pr coalition skilled portraying imagechallenged clients like pharmaceutical companies oil companies nuclear industry responsible commendable contributors us society applying pr tactics issues war national sovereignty global economic development risks increasing international resentment united states diane farsetta senior researcher center media amp democracy publisher pr watch reached dianeprwatchorg 160 | 538 |
<p />
<p>After watching mortgage market turmoil steal headlines throughout the August congressional recess, House Democrats dove into the growing crisis yesterday, calling for stiffer regulation and listening as an administration official warned that the worst could be yet to come.</p>
<p>For the past two weeks, economists and market analysts have filled news pages and airwaves with a raging debate over the likelihood of a major economic downturn driven by the subprime-mortgage market’s implosion. Some observers argue the blaring headlines about a crisis are overblown. Others fretfully predict a slow, but not catastrophic correction. Still more worry about a full-scale recession. They all agree, though, that a major component of today’s economic landscape is changing, and quickly.</p>
<p>At yesterday’s House Financial Services Committee hearing, the Treasury Department’s Under Secretary for Domestic Finance, Robert Steel, told lawmakers that, whatever the final fallout, we haven’t yet reached it. “The ultimate impact of these events on the economy has yet to play out,” he ominously warned. The question that must be answered, however, is what the Bush administration’s deregulators did to usher in the problem in the first place?</p>
<p>In the 1990s, the market for subprime housing loans exploded. Its wild growth allowed new and first-time buyers to purchase property, opened lenders to increased profits down the road, and let homeowners enjoy the fruits of ever-increasing home prices across the country. Or, so the theory went.</p>
<p>The reality has proven much different. Lobbyists spent hundreds of millions of dollars a year in Washington to secure friendly legislation that made it easier for banks and lending companies to prey upon new and desperate borrowers—men and women of low and middle incomes or with poor credit who, without subprime loans, would not have been able to purchase homes at all, let alone at the high prices they paid.</p>
<p>Everybody in the game misread, or ignored, the old rules.</p>
<p>Some borrowers entered agreements with lenders that they didn’t understand. Others understood the stakes, but gambled on their long-term potential to make enough money to pay off their debts. Many refinanced their homes at lower rates and used the increased liquidity to buy goods and services, deceptively boosting the economy with money that didn’t exist with any certainty.</p>
<p>Lenders, meanwhile, believed that home prices would rise interminably, allowing borrowers to pay off their loans with the equity they’d squeeze out of their homes. The bankers and hedge-fund managers who underwrote the lenders believed they understood the markets well enough to get out of the game if and when prices stopped rising.</p>
<p>When that in fact happened, borrowers began to default and the market for subprime loans contracted rapidly. On April 2—with foreclosures on the rise and $1.3 trillion in subprime debt still outstanding—New Century Financial, one of the nation’s largest subprime lenders, filed for bankruptcy. Faced with the same pressures, other players reacted with concern and either followed suit or downsized their operations.</p>
<p>As Treasury’s Steel explained in his testimony, what comes next remains unknown. Nevertheless, federal oversight is slowly, belatedly cranking into gear. Everybody’s watching on edge for what, if anything, Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke will do with interest rates, and the Democrats are asking questions.</p>
<p>Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) made the mortgage crisis the first item on his Financial Services Committee’s post-Labor Day agenda. At the hearing, he called for greater oversight of the lending industry.</p>
<p>“It’s clear that financial innovation outstripped regulation,” Frank said, according to a Congressional Quarterly report, adding that new realities of the technologically savvy and globally spread financial industry demand new safeguards. “It’s not increasing regulation,” Frank argued, but rather asking “have the markets now come up with new things that we don’t have the regulatory tools for?”</p>
<p>On Friday, August 31, President Bush offered his own solution, which decidedly did not include reigning in industry. He urged Congress to allow the Federal Housing Administration to insure larger loans and to suspend the practice of counting surpluses from canceled mortgages as taxable income.</p>
<p>Dean Baker of the Center for Economic and Policy Research dismissed the president’s plan as a “limited bailout of lenders.” On his blog, Baker noted that, “the FHA will be helping moderate income homeowners to borrow $200,000 on a home that is worth $180,000. That doesn’t sound like a very good plan for the homeowner and is probably not an especially good use of government money. It essentially means paying off the current mortgage holder—who otherwise would be holding bad debt—with taxpayer money.”</p>
<p>Still, the president’s plan is a significant step for an administration that has allowed an unfettered explosion of subprime lending. Critics point to several ways in which the administration has in fact worsened the problem.</p>
<p>By 2005, analysts had already alerted policy makers and investors to the risks a freewheeling subprime market presented to borrowers. Yet, the White House shoved through Congress legislation that undercut borrowers’ ability to file for bankruptcy with debt forgiveness. Subprime creditors were avid supporters of the bankruptcy legislation.</p>
<p>In 2001, Bush appointed James Gilleran, the regulation-averse banker, to head Treasury’s Office of Thrift Supervision and kept him aboard until April 2005—by which point lenders had issued billions of dollars in bad debt, contributing to then-surfacing fears of a housing-bubble that was poised to burst.</p>
<p>Frank’s committee plans to examine the president’s proposal later this month. Aides to California Rep. Linda Sanchez, chair of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law, have suggested that she considers it a priority to figure out how we got into this mess. They said she plans to explore the proliferation of lender-friendly laws, but offered no details on when and where the subcommittee would begin looking into the matter. The answers may not fundamentally shape the work that must be done to fix the problem, but they will at least shed light on the role industry and politicians played in a scheme that will ultimately harm millions of Americans.</p>
<p /> | true | 4 | watching mortgage market turmoil steal headlines throughout august congressional recess house democrats dove growing crisis yesterday calling stiffer regulation listening administration official warned worst could yet come past two weeks economists market analysts filled news pages airwaves raging debate likelihood major economic downturn driven subprimemortgage markets implosion observers argue blaring headlines crisis overblown others fretfully predict slow catastrophic correction still worry fullscale recession agree though major component todays economic landscape changing quickly yesterdays house financial services committee hearing treasury departments secretary domestic finance robert steel told lawmakers whatever final fallout havent yet reached ultimate impact events economy yet play ominously warned question must answered however bush administrations deregulators usher problem first place 1990s market subprime housing loans exploded wild growth allowed new firsttime buyers purchase property opened lenders increased profits road let homeowners enjoy fruits everincreasing home prices across country theory went reality proven much different lobbyists spent hundreds millions dollars year washington secure friendly legislation made easier banks lending companies prey upon new desperate borrowersmen women low middle incomes poor credit without subprime loans would able purchase homes let alone high prices paid everybody game misread ignored old rules borrowers entered agreements lenders didnt understand others understood stakes gambled longterm potential make enough money pay debts many refinanced homes lower rates used increased liquidity buy goods services deceptively boosting economy money didnt exist certainty lenders meanwhile believed home prices would rise interminably allowing borrowers pay loans equity theyd squeeze homes bankers hedgefund managers underwrote lenders believed understood markets well enough get game prices stopped rising fact happened borrowers began default market subprime loans contracted rapidly april 2with foreclosures rise 13 trillion subprime debt still outstandingnew century financial one nations largest subprime lenders filed bankruptcy faced pressures players reacted concern either followed suit downsized operations treasurys steel explained testimony comes next remains unknown nevertheless federal oversight slowly belatedly cranking gear everybodys watching edge anything federal reserve chair ben bernanke interest rates democrats asking questions rep barney frank dmass made mortgage crisis first item financial services committees postlabor day agenda hearing called greater oversight lending industry clear financial innovation outstripped regulation frank said according congressional quarterly report adding new realities technologically savvy globally spread financial industry demand new safeguards increasing regulation frank argued rather asking markets come new things dont regulatory tools friday august 31 president bush offered solution decidedly include reigning industry urged congress allow federal housing administration insure larger loans suspend practice counting surpluses canceled mortgages taxable income dean baker center economic policy research dismissed presidents plan limited bailout lenders blog baker noted fha helping moderate income homeowners borrow 200000 home worth 180000 doesnt sound like good plan homeowner probably especially good use government money essentially means paying current mortgage holderwho otherwise would holding bad debtwith taxpayer money still presidents plan significant step administration allowed unfettered explosion subprime lending critics point several ways administration fact worsened problem 2005 analysts already alerted policy makers investors risks freewheeling subprime market presented borrowers yet white house shoved congress legislation undercut borrowers ability file bankruptcy debt forgiveness subprime creditors avid supporters bankruptcy legislation 2001 bush appointed james gilleran regulationaverse banker head treasurys office thrift supervision kept aboard april 2005by point lenders issued billions dollars bad debt contributing thensurfacing fears housingbubble poised burst franks committee plans examine presidents proposal later month aides california rep linda sanchez chair judiciary subcommittee commercial administrative law suggested considers priority figure got mess said plans explore proliferation lenderfriendly laws offered details subcommittee would begin looking matter answers may fundamentally shape work must done fix problem least shed light role industry politicians played scheme ultimately harm millions americans | 598 |
<p>The Hilton workers <a href="" type="internal">won a resounding victory</a> on December 4 when they voted 110 votes to five in favor of union recognition with Unite Here Local 217, and they have no intention of stopping now. The workers have been busy during the past few weeks, consolidating gains like lowered room quotas for housekeepers while beating back the bosses' counterattacks (such as attempts to remove individual workers from schedules) through workplace militancy and developing a culture of action, democracy, and political education. The bosses have been busy consulting with anti-union attorneys to stonewall negotiations and try to sink the first contract. On February 19, the sides clashed at the bargaining table, but the real fight will continue in the workplace and in the streets.</p>
<p>The low-wage, mostly immigrant workers have been preparing for this fight since even before union recognition was won, and from that victory onward, they have not stopped organizing. Weekly committee meetings, which were vital throughout the election campaign, have continued consistently. Where there might otherwise have been a lull following so many months of constant organizing, the meetings have taken on a new sharpness. They are now entirely led by the rank and file.</p>
<p>These assemblies are sometimes raucous as arguments erupt in three languages - Creole, Spanish, and English - but this lack of order is to be expected as workers grapple with collective decision-making in a society that so strives to crush democracy from below. The ability to run meetings democratically is not an inherent one, but it is learned through action, and compared to the manicured meetings run by union staff - the type of meeting that many of the labor left are accustomed to - this expanding democracy is a sign of widening class consciousness. What makes the process effective, and keeps people coming week in and week out, is that it is connected to militant action in the workplace as well as the to broader drive to win the best contract possible. Issues from each department are brought up, discussed, and a plan is formulated to fix them. Department meetings are scheduled to keep every worker abreast of the struggle, and procedures for electing ad hoc commissions, such as for the recently elected negotiating committee, are implemented. If the unions are schools of combat and training grounds for an independent working class politics, then the committee meetings are the classes and school is in session.</p>
<p />
<p>Concretely, there are examples of the growing power of the union going into negotiations. On January 19, many workers were shocked to learn that two of the key leaders in the housekeeping department had been removed from the schedule for the next week, ostensibly because of complications in Temporary Protected Status (TPS) renewal. The two workers had renewed their TPS before with no problems, and everyone on staff knew that the reason given by management was a lie; these workers were targeted for their strength. Coincidentally, the weekly committee meeting was scheduled for that evening, and the main point on the agenda was making sure to get the two workers back on schedule. Following a discussion on what TPS is and the fact that the bosses would use any excuse to try to divide the working class, the committee members (numbering over two dozen) resolved that this was beyond an outrage and the first major battle between staff and management in the contract fight. If they allowed two leaders to lose at least a week of wages, a precedent would be set and the workers would look weak. An action was passed and dozens marched to his office that Monday at lunchtime. The two housekeepers were put back on schedule.</p>
<p>This deepening engagement has not only developed through fights at work, but has also been cultivated through political education. The hall has become a classroom and there is a deliberate prioritization of the politicization that comes from militancy, including a program of regular classes. On February 6, there was a class on Marxist economics. Nearly 30 workers participated, learning about the labor theory of value and how, specifically, their work enriches the owners. Exploitation was explained, as well as how powerful workers can be at the point of production. Everyone left with far more energy than expected coming out of a two-hour economics course. February 23, Professor Adolph Reed will be lecturing on race and racism in America at the union hall; the lecture will doubtlessly be well-attended and presents an opportunity to better connect class struggle with academia as well as connecting the union with the larger communities of Stamford. The book Teamster Rebellion has also been read and discussed, and further study groups will be formed for people interested in studying socialism and the labor movement in greater depth. Militant workers of Left Voice and Socialist Action strive to combine politics and the struggle for "bread and butter" demands.</p>
<p />
<p>Rank-and-filers have brought together their experience and political development elsewhere in labor and on the left. On February 8, over 20 committee members of the Hilton traveled to the New Haven Omni to meet with the workers as well as workers from the Hartford Hilton, both of which are long-time unionized hotels that are also going into contract negotiations. The three committees have resolved to wage a statewide fight for the best contracts around the three demands of "Higher Wages, Affordable Healthcare, and Pensions," which, though lacking in detail, will now be fleshed out through common activity. A statewide hotel workers' struggle that produces an action program around wages, healthcare, and pensions could be a lightning rod for the rest of labor throughout the state. This will take great effort, but it is a possibility because of the work Hilton workers have done since winning the union.</p>
<p>An illustration of the relationship between thriving militancy and burgeoning politicization can be found in the involvement of Hilton workers with the International Women's Strike. The IWS seeks to build a women's movement independent of the Democratic Party, one that is anti-capitalist, anti-imperialist and fights all forms of oppression. At the <a href="" type="internal">kickoff panel</a> for organizing a International Womens? Day strike on March 8, Ines Orjuela, one of the most active and combative members of the housekeeping staff spoke about the struggle at the Hilton. She said, "We are a hotel that is united. The women are united and with the men in the hotel; we are like a chain. To have a strike, to have a union, you have to be like a chain - very strong and united." Committee members will also speak at Wesleyan University on March 1 to further engagement with students and other communities in support of the struggle and the strike. This has already began with pictures in support of the workers from the NYC-IWS and the DSA Strike Solidarity Working Group.</p>
<p>International Women's Strike</p>
<p>DSA strike solidarity working group.</p>
<p>Yesterday was the start of negotiations and a vital next step for the workers of Stamford. The contract struggle is also a continuation of fights won in the workplace and a radicalization through democratic action and socialist politics. It began yesterday as the elected negotiations team parlays with the bosses' lawyers at the conference table, but it will be won through struggle.</p>
<p>Related</p>
<p><a href="Stamford-Ct" type="external">Stamford, Ct</a>&#160;&#160;&#160;/&#160;&#160;&#160; <a href="Hilton-Hotel" type="external">Hilton Hotel</a>&#160;&#160;&#160;/&#160;&#160;&#160; <a href="Labor-Union" type="external">Labor Union</a>&#160;&#160;&#160;/&#160;&#160;&#160; <a href="labor" type="external">labor</a>&#160;&#160;&#160;/&#160;&#160;&#160; <a href="Labor-movement" type="external">Labor movement</a>&#160;&#160;&#160;/&#160;&#160;&#160; <a href="United-States" type="external">United States</a></p> | true | 4 | hilton workers resounding victory december 4 voted 110 votes five favor union recognition unite local 217 intention stopping workers busy past weeks consolidating gains like lowered room quotas housekeepers beating back bosses counterattacks attempts remove individual workers schedules workplace militancy developing culture action democracy political education bosses busy consulting antiunion attorneys stonewall negotiations try sink first contract february 19 sides clashed bargaining table real fight continue workplace streets lowwage mostly immigrant workers preparing fight since even union recognition victory onward stopped organizing weekly committee meetings vital throughout election campaign continued consistently might otherwise lull following many months constant organizing meetings taken new sharpness entirely led rank file assemblies sometimes raucous arguments erupt three languages creole spanish english lack order expected workers grapple collective decisionmaking society strives crush democracy ability run meetings democratically inherent one learned action compared manicured meetings run union staff type meeting many labor left accustomed expanding democracy sign widening class consciousness makes process effective keeps people coming week week connected militant action workplace well broader drive win best contract possible issues department brought discussed plan formulated fix department meetings scheduled keep every worker abreast struggle procedures electing ad hoc commissions recently elected negotiating committee implemented unions schools combat training grounds independent working class politics committee meetings classes school session concretely examples growing power union going negotiations january 19 many workers shocked learn two key leaders housekeeping department removed schedule next week ostensibly complications temporary protected status tps renewal two workers renewed tps problems everyone staff knew reason given management lie workers targeted strength coincidentally weekly committee meeting scheduled evening main point agenda making sure get two workers back schedule following discussion tps fact bosses would use excuse try divide working class committee members numbering two dozen resolved beyond outrage first major battle staff management contract fight allowed two leaders lose least week wages precedent would set workers would look weak action passed dozens marched office monday lunchtime two housekeepers put back schedule deepening engagement developed fights work also cultivated political education hall become classroom deliberate prioritization politicization comes militancy including program regular classes february 6 class marxist economics nearly 30 workers participated learning labor theory value specifically work enriches owners exploitation explained well powerful workers point production everyone left far energy expected coming twohour economics course february 23 professor adolph reed lecturing race racism america union hall lecture doubtlessly wellattended presents opportunity better connect class struggle academia well connecting union larger communities stamford book teamster rebellion also read discussed study groups formed people interested studying socialism labor movement greater depth militant workers left voice socialist action strive combine politics struggle bread butter demands rankandfilers brought together experience political development elsewhere labor left february 8 20 committee members hilton traveled new omni meet workers well workers hartford hilton longtime unionized hotels also going contract negotiations three committees resolved wage statewide fight best contracts around three demands higher wages affordable healthcare pensions though lacking detail fleshed common activity statewide hotel workers struggle produces action program around wages healthcare pensions could lightning rod rest labor throughout state take great effort possibility work hilton workers done since winning union illustration relationship thriving militancy burgeoning politicization found involvement hilton workers international womens strike iws seeks build womens movement independent democratic party one anticapitalist antiimperialist fights forms oppression kickoff panel organizing international womens day strike march 8 ines orjuela one active combative members housekeeping staff spoke struggle hilton said hotel united women united men hotel like chain strike union like chain strong united committee members also speak wesleyan university march 1 engagement students communities support struggle strike already began pictures support workers nyciws dsa strike solidarity working group international womens strike dsa strike solidarity working group yesterday start negotiations vital next step workers stamford contract struggle also continuation fights workplace radicalization democratic action socialist politics began yesterday elected negotiations team parlays bosses lawyers conference table struggle related stamford ct160160160160160160 hilton hotel160160160160160160 labor union160160160160160160 labor160160160160160160 labor movement160160160160160160 united states | 655 |
<p>&lt;a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/worldeconomicforum/3488872844/in/photolist-6jiom5-cgX9gh-87RrRJ-6jiood-qqh7o5-6SHRmi-6SHRmc-6SNpSd-cgX9nE-cgX96W-cgX9sN-atsJ7X-6SHRm6-6SHRmn-aeou4s-ptzSdM-gTjLPc-atvp7A-ddDZT4-eZyaWs-9qSWMq-qo4xfb-q8U4KM-gTkoN4-75bhQm-75bhQE-75bhPJ-75bhQb-75bhPA-75bjgw-becgpc-gTjB87-8jvA9L-8jsmNi-8jsmK2-i1VoSW-i1VgmA-i1VguS-i1W4Ep-i1V4Hp-i1Vptf-d9cdyW-d9cdDh-gTjMbe-gTjA3S-gTjHfu-628bTd-gTknHD-gTjMkT-d9ccUq"&gt;Remy Steinegger &lt;/a&gt;/Flickr</p>
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<p>It was not so shocking that House Speaker John Boehner would seek to undermine President Barack Obama and his attempt to negotiate a nuclear deal with Iran by inviting Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu to deliver an address to Congress, in which Netanyahu will presumably dump on Obama’s efforts. Nor was it so shocking that Netanyahu, who apparently would rather see another war in the Middle East than a deal that allows Iran to maintain a civilian-oriented and internationally monitored nuclear program, agreed to mount this stunt two weeks before the Israeli elections—a close contest in which the hawkish PM is fighting for his political life. Certainly, Netanyahu realized that this audacious move would strain his already-ragged ties with the Obama administration and tick off the president, who will be in office for the next two years and quite able to inconvenience Netanyahu should he hold on to power. (Even Fox News talking heads <a href="" type="internal">acknowledged</a> that Boehner’s invitation and Netanyahu’s acceptance were low blows.) But what was surprising was how willing Netanyahu was to send a harsh message to American Jews: Drop dead.</p>
<p>For the past six years, one big question has largely defined US politics: Are you for or against Obama? The ongoing narrative in Washington has been a simple one: The president has tried to enact a progressive agenda—health care, gun safety, a minimum-wage hike, climate change action, immigration reform, Wall Street reform, gender pay equity, expanded education programs, diminishing tax cuts for the rich—and Boehner and the Republicans have consistently plotted to thwart him. The GOP has used the filibuster in the Senate to block Obama initiatives and routine presidential appointments. The House Republicans have resorted to extraordinary means—shutting down the government, holding the debt ceiling hostage, ginning up controversies (Benghazi!)—to block the president. All this has happened as conservative allies of the Republican Party have challenged Obama’s legitimacy as president (the birth certificate) and peddled vicious conspiracy theories (he’s a Muslim socialist who will destroy the nation). Throughout the Obama Wars, one demographic group that has steadfastly stood with the president is American Jews.</p>
<p>Jews have voted for Obama in strong numbers. In 2008, Obama <a href="http://www.jpost.com/The-US-Presidential-race/Jewish-support-for-Obama-slipped-but-still-strong" type="external">drew</a> 74 percent of the Jewish vote (maybe up to 78 percent). In 2012, he won about 69 percent. Yes, there was a drop-off, but it was consistent with Obama’s decline within other constituencies. The second time around he was slightly less popular with everyone. Moreover, in the 2014 congressional elections, 69 percent of Jewish voters, according to one <a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/politics/223231-american-jews-stood-by-obama-and-democrats" type="external">poll</a>, voted for a Democratic congressional candidate. That survey found that 57 percent of American Jews approved of Obama’s performance as president—a much higher number than the 43 percent approval rating among the general population. As the Hill <a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/politics/223231-american-jews-stood-by-obama-and-democrats" type="external">noted:</a></p>
<p>The clear conclusion is that despite Republican efforts to target Jewish voters and to paint the president as somehow anti-Israel, the Jewish vote is not up for grabs. In fact, there has been a remarkable consistency in the Jewish vote for Congress over the past three elections as measured by GBA surveys, including 66 percent for Democrats in 2010, 69 percent in 2012, and 69 percent in 2014.&#160;&#160;</p>
<p>And there’s this. The poll asked American Jews to cite two issues of importance to them. Only 8 percent mentioned Israel, which put this subject in 10th place, far behind the economy and health care. Another <a href="http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/03/in-poll-jewish-voters-overwhelmingly-support-obama/?_r=0" type="external">survey</a> conducted earlier in 2014 showed American Jewish voters overwhelmingly supporting Obama and listing the economy and the growing gap between the rich and poor as their top issues. As the New York Times reported, “Concern about Israel or Iran ranked very low, even when respondents were asked for the second most important issue that would determine their vote for president.” The paper quoted Robert Jones, head of the Public Religious Research Institute: “We show no slippage in Jewish support for President Obama.”</p>
<p>It’s no news flash that American Jews tend to be liberal. In 2013, the Pew Research Religious and Public Life Project <a href="http://www.pewforum.org/2013/10/01/chapter-6-social-and-political-views/" type="external">spelled out</a> the obvious:</p>
<p>Jews are among the most strongly liberal, Democratic groups in U.S. politics. There are more than twice as many self-identified Jewish liberals as conservatives, while among the general public, this balance is nearly reversed. In addition, about seven-in-ten Jews identify with or lean toward the Democratic Party. Jews are more supportive of President Barack Obama than are most other religious groups. And about eight-in-ten Jews say homosexuality should be accepted by society.</p>
<p>And this Pew report noted that most Jews support Obama’s stance on Israel: “Obama receives higher marks from Jews by religion than from most other religious groups for his handling of the nation’s policy toward Israel. The strongest critics of Obama’s approach toward Israel are white evangelical Protestants, among whom just 26% approve of his performance in this area.”</p>
<p>By RSVPing to Boehner’s invitation, Netanyahu is choosing sides and embracing the folks whom most American Jews oppose. He is butting into US politics and enabling the never-ending Republican campaign to undercut a president widely supported by American Jews.</p>
<p>That is not good for Jews in the United States or Israel. Israeli politicians have long counted on Jewish support in the United States—and support from conservative evangelicals. Yet there have been signs that non-Orthodox American Jews are not all that happy with Netanyahu’s policies. A 2013 <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/10/03/8-fascinating-trends-in-how-american-jews-think-about-israel/" type="external">poll</a> found that only 38 percent of American Jews believed that his government was “making a sincere effort to bring about a peace settlement” with the Palestinians. Close to half believed Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank was a bad idea. (Only 17 percent said it helped Israeli security.) That is, Netanyahu’s right-wing approach—even if supported by AIPAC and other American Jewish establishment outfits—was not popular with many American Jews.</p>
<p>And now Netanyahu is partnering up with Boehner to kick Obama in the teeth and sabotage one of the president’s top diplomatic priorities. He is essentially telling American Jews to get lost: I have no regard for the president you support and no regard for your own political needs and desires.</p>
<p>The leader of a foreign country ought to place his own assessment of national security imperatives first. But the relationship between the Israeli government and American Jews is an important and sensitive matter for both sides—and perhaps more so for Tel Aviv. After all, Israel, which receives about $3 billion in US aid annually, needs the United States more than vice versa. Yet Netanyahu has decided to snub American Jews and to insult the leader they strongly back. This speech might help Netanyahu in the Israeli elections; it could also backfire if Israeli voters decide to punish him for further weakening Israel’s special relationship with Washington. But Netanyahu’s scheming with Boehner against Obama could also end up alienating many American Jews from the Israeli government. By enlisting with Boehner, Netanyahu is conveying a brazen sign of disrespect for a community he and his country depend upon. What chutzpah.</p>
<p /> | true | 4 | lta hrefhttpswwwflickrcomphotosworldeconomicforum3488872844inphotolist6jiom5cgx9gh87rrrj6jioodqqh7o56shrmi6shrmc6snpsdcgx9necgx96wcgx9snatsj7x6shrm66shrmnaeou4sptzsdmgtjlpcatvp7adddzt4ezyaws9qswmqqo4xfbq8u4kmgtkon475bhqm75bhqe75bhpj75bhqb75bhpa75bjgwbecgpcgtjb878jva9l8jsmni8jsmk2i1voswi1vgmai1vgusi1w4epi1v4hpi1vptfd9cdywd9cddhgtjmbegtja3sgtjhfu628btdgtknhdgtjmktd9ccuqgtremy steinegger ltagtflickr shocking house speaker john boehner would seek undermine president barack obama attempt negotiate nuclear deal iran inviting israeli prime minister bibi netanyahu deliver address congress netanyahu presumably dump obamas efforts shocking netanyahu apparently would rather see another war middle east deal allows iran maintain civilianoriented internationally monitored nuclear program agreed mount stunt two weeks israeli electionsa close contest hawkish pm fighting political life certainly netanyahu realized audacious move would strain alreadyragged ties obama administration tick president office next two years quite able inconvenience netanyahu hold power even fox news talking heads acknowledged boehners invitation netanyahus acceptance low blows surprising willing netanyahu send harsh message american jews drop dead past six years one big question largely defined us politics obama ongoing narrative washington simple one president tried enact progressive agendahealth care gun safety minimumwage hike climate change action immigration reform wall street reform gender pay equity expanded education programs diminishing tax cuts richand boehner republicans consistently plotted thwart gop used filibuster senate block obama initiatives routine presidential appointments house republicans resorted extraordinary meansshutting government holding debt ceiling hostage ginning controversies benghazito block president happened conservative allies republican party challenged obamas legitimacy president birth certificate peddled vicious conspiracy theories hes muslim socialist destroy nation throughout obama wars one demographic group steadfastly stood president american jews jews voted obama strong numbers 2008 obama drew 74 percent jewish vote maybe 78 percent 2012 69 percent yes dropoff consistent obamas decline within constituencies second time around slightly less popular everyone moreover 2014 congressional elections 69 percent jewish voters according one poll voted democratic congressional candidate survey found 57 percent american jews approved obamas performance presidenta much higher number 43 percent approval rating among general population hill noted clear conclusion despite republican efforts target jewish voters paint president somehow antiisrael jewish vote grabs fact remarkable consistency jewish vote congress past three elections measured gba surveys including 66 percent democrats 2010 69 percent 2012 69 percent 2014160160 theres poll asked american jews cite two issues importance 8 percent mentioned israel put subject 10th place far behind economy health care another survey conducted earlier 2014 showed american jewish voters overwhelmingly supporting obama listing economy growing gap rich poor top issues new york times reported concern israel iran ranked low even respondents asked second important issue would determine vote president paper quoted robert jones head public religious research institute show slippage jewish support president obama news flash american jews tend liberal 2013 pew research religious public life project spelled obvious jews among strongly liberal democratic groups us politics twice many selfidentified jewish liberals conservatives among general public balance nearly reversed addition seveninten jews identify lean toward democratic party jews supportive president barack obama religious groups eightinten jews say homosexuality accepted society pew report noted jews support obamas stance israel obama receives higher marks jews religion religious groups handling nations policy toward israel strongest critics obamas approach toward israel white evangelical protestants among 26 approve performance area rsvping boehners invitation netanyahu choosing sides embracing folks american jews oppose butting us politics enabling neverending republican campaign undercut president widely supported american jews good jews united states israel israeli politicians long counted jewish support united statesand support conservative evangelicals yet signs nonorthodox american jews happy netanyahus policies 2013 poll found 38 percent american jews believed government making sincere effort bring peace settlement palestinians close half believed israeli settlement construction west bank bad idea 17 percent said helped israeli security netanyahus rightwing approacheven supported aipac american jewish establishment outfitswas popular many american jews netanyahu partnering boehner kick obama teeth sabotage one presidents top diplomatic priorities essentially telling american jews get lost regard president support regard political needs desires leader foreign country ought place assessment national security imperatives first relationship israeli government american jews important sensitive matter sidesand perhaps tel aviv israel receives 3 billion us aid annually needs united states vice versa yet netanyahu decided snub american jews insult leader strongly back speech might help netanyahu israeli elections could also backfire israeli voters decide punish weakening israels special relationship washington netanyahus scheming boehner obama could also end alienating many american jews israeli government enlisting boehner netanyahu conveying brazen sign disrespect community country depend upon chutzpah | 696 |
<p>If Osama bin Laden did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him. For the past four years, his name has been invoked whenever a US president has sought to increase the defence budget or wriggle out of arms control treaties. He has been used to justify even President Bush’s missile defence programme, though neither he nor his associates are known to possess anything approaching ballistic missile technology. Now he has become the personification of evil required to launch a crusade for good; the face behind the faceless terror.</p>
<p>The closer you look, the weaker the case against bin Laden becomes. While the terrorists who inflicted Tuesday’s dreadful wound in the world may have been inspired by him, there is, as yet, no evidence that they were instructed by him. Bin Laden’s presumed guilt rests on the supposition that he is the sort of man who would have done it. But his culpability is irrelevant: his usefulness to western governments lies in his power to terrify. When billions of pounds of military spending are at stake, rogue states and terrorist warlords become assets precisely because they are liabilities.</p>
<p>By using bin Laden as an excuse for demanding new military spending, weapons manufacturers in America and Britain have enhanced his iconic status among the disgruntled. His influence, in other words, has been nurtured by the very industry which claims to possess the means of stamping him out. This is not the only way in which the new terrorism crisis has been exacerbated by corporate power.</p>
<p>The lax airport security which enabled the hijackers to smuggle weapons onto the planes was the result of corporate lobbying against the stricter controls the government had proposed. Some reports suggest that so many died in the south tower of the World Trade Centre partly because some of the companies there instructed their employees to return to work after the north tower had been hit.</p>
<p>Now Tuesday’s horror is being used by corporations to establish the preconditions for an even deadlier brand of terror. This week, while the world’s collective back is turned, Tony Blair intends to allow the mixed oxide plant at Sellafield to start operating. The decision would have been front page news at any other time. Now it’s likely to be all but invisible. The plant’s operation, long demanded by the nuclear industry and resisted by almost everyone else, will lead to a massive proliferation of plutonium, and a near certainty that some of it will find its way into the hands of terrorists. Like Ariel Sharon, in other words, Blair is using the reeling world’s shock to pursue policies which would be unacceptable at any other time.</p>
<p>For these reasons and many others, radical opposition has seldom been more necessary. But it has seldom been more vulnerable. The right is seizing the political space which has opened up where the twin towers of the World Trade Centre once stood.</p>
<p>Civil liberties are suddenly negotiable. The US seems prepared to lift its ban on extra-judicial executions carried out abroad by its own agents. The CIA might be permitted to employ human rights abusers once more, which will doubtless mean training and funding a whole new generation of bin Ladens. The British government is considering the introduction of identity cards. Radical dissenters in Britain have already been identified as terrorists by the Terrorism Act 2000. Now we’re likely to be treated as such.</p>
<p>One of the peculiar problems we radicals face is that the targets of Tuesday’s terror represented more clearly than any others the powers we have long opposed. For those of us who have campaigned against the predatory behaviour of the financial sector and the defence industry, the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon had come to symbolise all that was rotten in the state of the world. So, though ours is a movement built on peace, it has not been hard for our opponents to equate our dissidence with terror.</p>
<p>The authoritarianism which has long been lurking in advanced capitalism has started to surface. In the Guardian yesterday, William Shawcross — Rupert Murdoch’s courteous biographer — articulated the new orthodoxy: America is, he maintained, “a beacon of hope for the world’s poor and dispossessed and for all those who believe in freedom of thought and deed”. These believers would presumably include the families of the Iraqis killed by the sanctions Britain and the US have imposed; the peasants murdered by Bush’s proxy war in Colombia; and the tens of millions living under despotic regimes in the Middle East, sustained and sponsored by the United States.</p>
<p>William Shawcross concluded by suggesting that “we are all Americans now”, a terrifying echo of Pinochet’s maxim that “we are all Chileans now”: by which he meant that no cultural distinctions would be tolerated, and no indigenous land rights recognised. Shawcross appeared to suggest that those who question American power are now the enemies of democracy. It’s a different way of formulating the warning voiced by members of the Bush administration: “if you’re not with us, you’re against us”.</p>
<p>The Daily Telegraph has set aside part of its leader column for a directory of “useful idiots”, by which it means those who oppose major military intervention. Doubtless I will find my name on the roll of honour there tomorrow. So, perhaps, will the families of some of the victims, who seem to be rather more capable of restraint and forgiveness than the leader writers of the rightwing press. Mark Newton-Carter, whose brother appears to have died in the terrorist outrage, told one of the Sunday newspapers, “I think Bush should be caged at the moment. He is a loose cannon. He is building up his forces getting ready for a military strike. That is not the answer. Gandhi said: ‘An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind’ and never a truer word was spoken.” But when the right is on the rampage, victims as well as perpetrators are trampled.</p>
<p>Mark Twain once observed that “there are some natures which never grow large enough to speak out and say a bad act is a bad act, until they have inquired into the politics or the nationality of the man who did it.” The radical left is able to state categorically that Tuesday’s terrorism was a dreadful act, irrespective of provenance. But the right can’t bring itself to make the same statement about Israel’s new invasions of Palestine, or the sanctions in Iraq, or the US-backed terror in East Timor, or the carpet bombing of Cambodia. Its critical faculties have long been suspended and now, it demands, we must suspend ours too.</p>
<p>Retaining the ability to discriminate between good acts and bad acts will become ever harder over the next few months, as new conflicts and paradoxes challenge our preconceptions. It may be that a convincing case against bin Laden is assembled, whereupon his forced extradition would, I feel, be justified. But, unless we wish to help George Bush use barbarism to defend the “civilisation” he claims to represent, we on the left must distinguish between extradition and extermination.</p>
<p>Tuesday’s terror may have signalled the beginning of the end of globalisation. The recession it has doubtless helped to precipitate, coupled with a new and understandable fear among many Americans of engagement with the outside world, could lead to a reactionary protectionism in the United States, which is likely to provoke similar responses on this side of the Atlantic. We will, in these circumstances, have to be careful not to celebrate the demise of corporate globalisation, if it merely gives way to something even worse.</p>
<p>The governments of Britain and America are using the disaster in New York to reinforce the very policies which have helped to cause the problem: building up the power of the defence industry, preparing to launch campaigns of the kind which inevitably kill civilians, licensing covert action. Corporations are securing new resources to invest in instability. Racists are attacking Arabs and Muslims and blaming liberal asylum policies for terrorism. As a result of the horror on Tuesday, the right in all its forms is flourishing, and we are shrinking. But we must not be cowed. Dissent is most necessary just when it is hardest to voice.</p>
<p>(Originally published in the Guardian 18th September 2001. Reprinted with permission from the author.)</p>
<p>George Monbiot’s book Captive State: the corporate takeover of Britain is now published in paperback.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.monbiot.com/" type="external">http://www.monbiot.com</a></p> | true | 4 | osama bin laden exist would necessary invent past four years name invoked whenever us president sought increase defence budget wriggle arms control treaties used justify even president bushs missile defence programme though neither associates known possess anything approaching ballistic missile technology become personification evil required launch crusade good face behind faceless terror closer look weaker case bin laden becomes terrorists inflicted tuesdays dreadful wound world may inspired yet evidence instructed bin ladens presumed guilt rests supposition sort man would done culpability irrelevant usefulness western governments lies power terrify billions pounds military spending stake rogue states terrorist warlords become assets precisely liabilities using bin laden excuse demanding new military spending weapons manufacturers america britain enhanced iconic status among disgruntled influence words nurtured industry claims possess means stamping way new terrorism crisis exacerbated corporate power lax airport security enabled hijackers smuggle weapons onto planes result corporate lobbying stricter controls government proposed reports suggest many died south tower world trade centre partly companies instructed employees return work north tower hit tuesdays horror used corporations establish preconditions even deadlier brand terror week worlds collective back turned tony blair intends allow mixed oxide plant sellafield start operating decision would front page news time likely invisible plants operation long demanded nuclear industry resisted almost everyone else lead massive proliferation plutonium near certainty find way hands terrorists like ariel sharon words blair using reeling worlds shock pursue policies would unacceptable time reasons many others radical opposition seldom necessary seldom vulnerable right seizing political space opened twin towers world trade centre stood civil liberties suddenly negotiable us seems prepared lift ban extrajudicial executions carried abroad agents cia might permitted employ human rights abusers doubtless mean training funding whole new generation bin ladens british government considering introduction identity cards radical dissenters britain already identified terrorists terrorism act 2000 likely treated one peculiar problems radicals face targets tuesdays terror represented clearly others powers long opposed us campaigned predatory behaviour financial sector defence industry world trade centre pentagon come symbolise rotten state world though movement built peace hard opponents equate dissidence terror authoritarianism long lurking advanced capitalism started surface guardian yesterday william shawcross rupert murdochs courteous biographer articulated new orthodoxy america maintained beacon hope worlds poor dispossessed believe freedom thought deed believers would presumably include families iraqis killed sanctions britain us imposed peasants murdered bushs proxy war colombia tens millions living despotic regimes middle east sustained sponsored united states william shawcross concluded suggesting americans terrifying echo pinochets maxim chileans meant cultural distinctions would tolerated indigenous land rights recognised shawcross appeared suggest question american power enemies democracy different way formulating warning voiced members bush administration youre us youre us daily telegraph set aside part leader column directory useful idiots means oppose major military intervention doubtless find name roll honour tomorrow perhaps families victims seem rather capable restraint forgiveness leader writers rightwing press mark newtoncarter whose brother appears died terrorist outrage told one sunday newspapers think bush caged moment loose cannon building forces getting ready military strike answer gandhi said eye eye makes whole world blind never truer word spoken right rampage victims well perpetrators trampled mark twain observed natures never grow large enough speak say bad act bad act inquired politics nationality man radical left able state categorically tuesdays terrorism dreadful act irrespective provenance right cant bring make statement israels new invasions palestine sanctions iraq usbacked terror east timor carpet bombing cambodia critical faculties long suspended demands must suspend retaining ability discriminate good acts bad acts become ever harder next months new conflicts paradoxes challenge preconceptions may convincing case bin laden assembled whereupon forced extradition would feel justified unless wish help george bush use barbarism defend civilisation claims represent left must distinguish extradition extermination tuesdays terror may signalled beginning end globalisation recession doubtless helped precipitate coupled new understandable fear among many americans engagement outside world could lead reactionary protectionism united states likely provoke similar responses side atlantic circumstances careful celebrate demise corporate globalisation merely gives way something even worse governments britain america using disaster new york reinforce policies helped cause problem building power defence industry preparing launch campaigns kind inevitably kill civilians licensing covert action corporations securing new resources invest instability racists attacking arabs muslims blaming liberal asylum policies terrorism result horror tuesday right forms flourishing shrinking must cowed dissent necessary hardest voice originally published guardian 18th september 2001 reprinted permission author george monbiots book captive state corporate takeover britain published paperback httpwwwmonbiotcom | 731 |
<p>“The Water Will Come: Rising Seas, Sinking Cities, and the Remaking of the Civilized World”</p>
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<p>A book by Jeff Goodell</p>
<p>Like a cosmic ba-da-bing, Jeff Goodell’s “ <a href="" type="internal">The Water Will Come: Rising Seas, Sinking Cities, and the Remaking of the Civilized World</a>” was delivered to my doorstep as Hurricane Irma whipped its way toward Florida. The second Category 4 hurricane to hit the States in under three weeks, Irma would not be the last to pummel our shores, level communities and cause billions in damage this fall. Harvey preceded it, killed 82 people, and spewed a secondary storm of industrial toxins into the Houston ecosystem. Maria followed Irma, and destroyed pretty much all of Puerto Rico’s infrastructure, on top of ending over <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/13/opinion/puerto-rico-death-maria.html?action=click&amp;pgtype=Homepage&amp;clickSource=story-heading&amp;module=opinion-c-col-left-region&amp;region=opinion-c-col-left-region&amp;WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region&amp;_r=2" type="external">400 lives</a> and upending everyone else’s. September’s mighty weather underlines the urgency of the wealth of knowledge Goodell has assembled here.</p>
<p />
<p>This is Goodell’s third volume on climate related issues; previous books include one on geoengineering and another on coal. As one of the few American journalists with a decade-long beat devoted to the environment and climate change, the Rolling Stone columnist is well-suited to flesh out this part of the global warning saga. He began reporting on the increasing rate and risk of sea level rise in a 2013 investigative piece focused on South Florida.</p>
<p>Click <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=LWxFDgAAQBAJ&amp;printsec=frontcover&amp;dq=The+Water+Will+Come:+Rising+Seas,+Sinking+Cities,+and+the+Remaking+of+the+Civilized+World&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=0ahUKEwiH6de6qsvXAhUVS2MKHaC5BpUQuwUIKzAA#v=onepage&amp;q=The%20Water%20Will%20Come%3A%20Rising%20Seas%2C%20Sinking%20Cities%2C%20and%20the%20Remaking%20of%20the%20Civilized%20World&amp;f=false" type="external">here</a> to read long excerpts from “The Water Will Rise” at Google Books.</p>
<p>The prologue of his new book, as well as other segments in it, comes from that Rolling Stone story, the origin of this wider study. Realizing the number of cities and towns already suffering effects and expecting a far more dismal future, Goodell foresaw sea level rise as a major climate stress point, both in terms of magnitude and the ongoing denial of the danger and damage ahead. Also expanded from the 2013 article are discussions of two stupefying models of bad planning that are exacerbated by rising sea levels: the Turkey Point nuclear power plant and the National Flood Insurance Program.</p>
<p>Organized mostly by location, “The Water Will Come” brims with designers, engineers and scientists, their studies and data, statistical synthesis and long-range modeled projections—a new reference guide of mostly inconvenient truths. But it also overflows with politics, deal-making and procrastination, and seems like a modern history of arrogance in the face of evidence.</p>
<p>Early on, Goodell reminds readers that sea level has always fluctuated. Global warming, however, has caused the massive melting of ice sheets, feedback loops and an increasing rate of sea level rise, which makes it a planetary peril. Geography and geology also determine the severity of the crisis, and no two places face the same threat level.</p>
<p>This accessible book sometimes feels like a travelogue of looming disaster zones, starting in Miami Beach, Florida, to places most endangered by the inundation of salt water—Venice, Nigeria, the Marshall Islands, Alaska and New York. A compendium of proposed and in-progress responses is included. All these deluge prone low-lying regions flood much more often now. In the 1940s, for instance, Venice flooded about 10 times a year; now it happens 75 times yearly.</p>
<p>The fact that Venice’s Malibran Opera House perches atop five structures-as-solutions to flooding, with Marco Polo’s house on the bottom, makes for Ripley-esque reading, as does the recounting of how Florida’s sandy beaches didn’t even exist until the late 1800s. They were dredged out of the sea, and impenetrable jungles filled with rodents and insects were hacked down to make way for real estate speculation and “vacation ideology.” Concise lessons in geology illuminate changing physical realities, for those whose earth sciences background is minimal or rusty. Terms like ooid, riprap and moulin are defined in context (respectively: smaller-than-sand porous limestone pearls on which much of South Florida is built (!); fortified granite used to build protective sea walls on the Marshall Islands; and holes in the ice where rivers waterfall into glacier interiors.) Goodell explains a fascinating nonintuitive paradox called fingerprinting—melting ice from Antarctica most affects the northern latitudes, while Greenland melt has a bigger impact on the southern latitudes. This occurs because of the way gravity spreads water as the Earth turns.</p>
<p>And ice is melting faster than climate models predicted, so it’s likely there is a factor or factors that are unaccounted for. Climatologist Jason Box’s “united theory of glaciology” intrigues and agitates: He poses that the soot from fossil fuel burning is darkening the ice and a strong, overlooked cause behind rapid ice melt. Box is known for his outlier prediction that the Petermann Glacier would break apart in the summer of 2009. (The breakup began in 2010, and it was “shedding icebergs twice the size of Manhattan” by 2012, now called The Great Melt.)</p>
<p>Such unnerving news is pervasive, and Goodell writes with a gentle tone for so worrying a subject. Yet he states his cases convincingly. And while his clarity and organizational abilities supersede style, his concern for the poetic losses we’ll also suffer in our abandonment of good sense is evident, as when he discusses the work of Florida artists Michele Oka Doner and Xavier Cortada. What came up for me throughout was: Is it the complexity of these problems that fosters avoidance, or that our species just loves a tense game of Risk when it comes to money? Perhaps both. Or maybe it’s not so complex. As Box told Goodell, “I like ice because it’s nature’s thermometer. … It’s simple. It’s the kind of science that everyone can understand.” One would think.</p>
<p>But if wealth protection—and political expediency to that end, which creates economic feedback loops—are not behind denial and poor planning, faith in technology emerges throughout the book as the go-to public prayer. Politicians, investors and bureaucrats are almost religious in their belief that something will shift, some innovation will happen, the Dutch will lead the way, or another variation on the hope-and-pray theme. I was struck by Goodell’s interview with Obama, also covered in a 2015 Goodell/Rolling Stone column and short film. Is it notable and laudable that an American president finally went to the Arctic? Yes. But Obama was tepid about climate change until the end of his second term. And he, too, offered bromides about the human imagination, despite sharing his worries about his kids’ future. His kids will indeed face the consequences of too little action, taken too late. As will all of the elected leaders’ and real estate moguls’ kids. (What about all of those kids? If those with power can’t put their own progeny before markets and magical thinking, we are really in trouble.) We are really in trouble.</p>
<p>As Goodell points out repeatedly, issues like exorbitant expense, production lead times for big engineering projects, and unexpected speedups in glacial melt do not make innovation-as-savior likely. What’s more, failures of existing technology come in all forms, and unintended consequences may be the worst kind for climate change related problems that will put so many lives on the line. Goodell cautions that technology can “enfeeble” us as much as it helps us. In Nigeria and elsewhere in the third world, the people are not counting on technology. They adapt to rising water or move to higher ground, sometimes with little notice and/or by cruel government force. (“The Water Will Come” is also a story of entrenched inequality, here and around the world.)</p>
<p>This is a book loaded with valuable information, and will be remembered as both a warning and reference volume. And Goodell acknowledges gratitude that Rolling Stone and his publisher believe in climate change journalism. But there was no discussion of the shortage of day-to-day environmental reporting that is broadcast or published in mainstream outlets. This shortage may be a key to why and how elected officials are able to get away with either ignoring the problem or promoting short-term solutions to the flooding, despite all the crises to which the public will be vulnerable in the near future because of rapidly rising seas.</p>
<p>In a March 2017 report, <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/research/2017/03/23/how-broadcast-networks-covered-climate-change-2016/215718" type="external">Media Matters noted</a>:</p>
<p>In 2016, evening newscasts and Sunday shows on ABC, CBS, and NBC, as well as Fox Broadcast Co.’s&#160;Fox News Sunday, collectively decreased their total coverage of climate change by 66 percent compared to 2015, even though there were a host of important climate-related stories, including the announcement of 2015 as the hottest year on record, the signing of the Paris climate agreement, and numerous&#160;climate-related extreme weather events.</p>
<p>Knowledge has been on trial for a while now, with the spread of unreasonable doubt its greatest adversary. But the recent media shift regarding another under-reported story, sexual harassment and assault by the powerful, could be a nudge to publishers, editors and other media gatekeepers who have been constrained by fossil fuel politics and advertising money. If journalists can break through the Murdoch/Ailes wall of silence on that long-hidden issue—which led the way to the comeuppance of O’Reilly, Weinstein, et al.—they can do the same for the public on climate change and sea level rise.</p>
<p>Reporting in Rotterdam, one of the few places fractionally prepared for sea level rise, Goodell spoke with the Dutch special envoy for international water affairs, Henk Ovink. After talking about the 1966 Venice flood, similar in catastrophic wallop to the great storm of 1953 that caused a 20 foot surge and killed 20,000 people, Ovink said, “It was the moment we realized we weren’t safe anymore.” There are many tragedies that will come with the rising water, including food and freshwater shortages, the spread of illness, loss of homes and habitants. When will our moment of realization arrive? The water is already coming.</p> | true | 4 | water come rising seas sinking cities remaking civilized world book jeff goodell like cosmic badabing jeff goodells water come rising seas sinking cities remaking civilized world delivered doorstep hurricane irma whipped way toward florida second category 4 hurricane hit states three weeks irma would last pummel shores level communities cause billions damage fall harvey preceded killed 82 people spewed secondary storm industrial toxins houston ecosystem maria followed irma destroyed pretty much puerto ricos infrastructure top ending 400 lives upending everyone elses septembers mighty weather underlines urgency wealth knowledge goodell assembled goodells third volume climate related issues previous books include one geoengineering another coal one american journalists decadelong beat devoted environment climate change rolling stone columnist wellsuited flesh part global warning saga began reporting increasing rate risk sea level rise 2013 investigative piece focused south florida click read long excerpts water rise google books prologue new book well segments comes rolling stone story origin wider study realizing number cities towns already suffering effects expecting far dismal future goodell foresaw sea level rise major climate stress point terms magnitude ongoing denial danger damage ahead also expanded 2013 article discussions two stupefying models bad planning exacerbated rising sea levels turkey point nuclear power plant national flood insurance program organized mostly location water come brims designers engineers scientists studies data statistical synthesis longrange modeled projectionsa new reference guide mostly inconvenient truths also overflows politics dealmaking procrastination seems like modern history arrogance face evidence early goodell reminds readers sea level always fluctuated global warming however caused massive melting ice sheets feedback loops increasing rate sea level rise makes planetary peril geography geology also determine severity crisis two places face threat level accessible book sometimes feels like travelogue looming disaster zones starting miami beach florida places endangered inundation salt watervenice nigeria marshall islands alaska new york compendium proposed inprogress responses included deluge prone lowlying regions flood much often 1940s instance venice flooded 10 times year happens 75 times yearly fact venices malibran opera house perches atop five structuresassolutions flooding marco polos house bottom makes ripleyesque reading recounting floridas sandy beaches didnt even exist late 1800s dredged sea impenetrable jungles filled rodents insects hacked make way real estate speculation vacation ideology concise lessons geology illuminate changing physical realities whose earth sciences background minimal rusty terms like ooid riprap moulin defined context respectively smallerthansand porous limestone pearls much south florida built fortified granite used build protective sea walls marshall islands holes ice rivers waterfall glacier interiors goodell explains fascinating nonintuitive paradox called fingerprintingmelting ice antarctica affects northern latitudes greenland melt bigger impact southern latitudes occurs way gravity spreads water earth turns ice melting faster climate models predicted likely factor factors unaccounted climatologist jason boxs united theory glaciology intrigues agitates poses soot fossil fuel burning darkening ice strong overlooked cause behind rapid ice melt box known outlier prediction petermann glacier would break apart summer 2009 breakup began 2010 shedding icebergs twice size manhattan 2012 called great melt unnerving news pervasive goodell writes gentle tone worrying subject yet states cases convincingly clarity organizational abilities supersede style concern poetic losses well also suffer abandonment good sense evident discusses work florida artists michele oka doner xavier cortada came throughout complexity problems fosters avoidance species loves tense game risk comes money perhaps maybe complex box told goodell like ice natures thermometer simple kind science everyone understand one would think wealth protectionand political expediency end creates economic feedback loopsare behind denial poor planning faith technology emerges throughout book goto public prayer politicians investors bureaucrats almost religious belief something shift innovation happen dutch lead way another variation hopeandpray theme struck goodells interview obama also covered 2015 goodellrolling stone column short film notable laudable american president finally went arctic yes obama tepid climate change end second term offered bromides human imagination despite sharing worries kids future kids indeed face consequences little action taken late elected leaders real estate moguls kids kids power cant put progeny markets magical thinking really trouble really trouble goodell points repeatedly issues like exorbitant expense production lead times big engineering projects unexpected speedups glacial melt make innovationassavior likely whats failures existing technology come forms unintended consequences may worst kind climate change related problems put many lives line goodell cautions technology enfeeble us much helps us nigeria elsewhere third world people counting technology adapt rising water move higher ground sometimes little notice andor cruel government force water come also story entrenched inequality around world book loaded valuable information remembered warning reference volume goodell acknowledges gratitude rolling stone publisher believe climate change journalism discussion shortage daytoday environmental reporting broadcast published mainstream outlets shortage may key elected officials able get away either ignoring problem promoting shortterm solutions flooding despite crises public vulnerable near future rapidly rising seas march 2017 report media matters noted 2016 evening newscasts sunday shows abc cbs nbc well fox broadcast cos160fox news sunday collectively decreased total coverage climate change 66 percent compared 2015 even though host important climaterelated stories including announcement 2015 hottest year record signing paris climate agreement numerous160climaterelated extreme weather events knowledge trial spread unreasonable doubt greatest adversary recent media shift regarding another underreported story sexual harassment assault powerful could nudge publishers editors media gatekeepers constrained fossil fuel politics advertising money journalists break murdochailes wall silence longhidden issuewhich led way comeuppance oreilly weinstein et althey public climate change sea level rise reporting rotterdam one places fractionally prepared sea level rise goodell spoke dutch special envoy international water affairs henk ovink talking 1966 venice flood similar catastrophic wallop great storm 1953 caused 20 foot surge killed 20000 people ovink said moment realized werent safe anymore many tragedies come rising water including food freshwater shortages spread illness loss homes habitants moment realization arrive water already coming | 945 |
<p>John Kerry wants John McCain to be his running mate.</p>
<p>But wait a minute.</p>
<p>John McCain is a Republican and John Kerry is a Democrat.</p>
<p>No problem.</p>
<p>It would be a “unity government.”</p>
<p>“The enthusiasm of Democrats for Mr. McCain, an Arizona Republican, is so high that even some who have been mentioned as possible Kerry running mates — including Senator Bill Nelson of Florida and Bob Kerrey, the former Nebraska senator — are spinning scenarios about a ‘unity government,’ effectively giving Mr. Kerry a green light to reach across the political aisle and extend an offer,” reports the New York Times.</p>
<p>Aisle?</p>
<p>What aisle?</p>
<p>As Gore Vidal tells us, there is but one party in Washington and it is the Property Party. In other words, all property worth owning shall remain in the possession of big honking corporations. Dem-Repub partisanship is merely a squabble over formula. Our citizen-politicos agree wholeheartedly with the strikebreaker Calvin Coolidge, who once said “the business of America is business.”</p>
<p>“Democrats say a bipartisan Kerry-McCain ticket, featuring two decorated Vietnam War veterans from different parties and regions of the country, would give them a powerful edge in the debate over who can best lead the nation in the war on terror.”</p>
<p>It does not require a whole lot of reading between the lines to understand this. In order to “best lead the nation in the war on terror,” Kerry and McCain — as determined participants in an immoral war resulting in the death of 2-3 million Vietnamese and 58,000 Americans — are remarkably qualified to finish the job in Iraq and in due course invade Syria and Iran, maybe even Saudi Arabia. Thus the Johns avidly embrace the degenerate neocon ethos — that is to say total and “preemptive” war against the third world or “under-developed” countries bearing appreciable measures of oil, minerals, lumber, etc. — beginning with the Arab Middle East and its uncooperative Muslim hordes.</p>
<p>Let’s call it Bush Lite minus opposition to abortion.</p>
<p>Naturally, a Kerry-McCain ticket is a long shot. However, the ABBers (Anybody But Bush) out there should take note.</p>
<p>Come November, if John is John’s running mate, you will need pinch your nostrils extra tight to fend off the pervasive stench. Consider:</p>
<p>McCain was one of the Keating Five. He was investigated on ethics charges for taking contributions (a generous $112,00) from the swindler Charles Keating who was convicted of racketeering and fraud in both state and federal court. Total cost to American taxpayer: $3.4 billion. McCain hung with Keating at his extravagant Bahamas pad and flew on the racketeer’s airplanes at least nine times. McCain’s wife and father-in-law invested heavily in a Keating shopping center in Arizona described as a sweetheart deal.</p>
<p>In addition to associating with bank swindlers, McCain is fond of mobsters. He sent birthday cards to Joseph “Joe Bananas” Bonano, the head of the New York Bonano crime family, after the notorious mobster retired in Arizona. I guess sun birds of a feather flock together in the Grand Canyon State.</p>
<p>John’s in favor of allowing corporations to do whatever the heck they want — especially when it comes to raiding the till to support political candidates such as himself. He opposed legislation that would have forced companies to get permission from stockholders before using treasury funds for political activities.</p>
<p>Republicans like to say Democrats have loose morals — recall how they so mercilessly lambasted Clinton for his juvenile dalliance with an intern — but the Republican John M. also had a WD40 lubricated zipper. McCain readily admits his first marriage crashed and burned due to his fooling around with women other than his wife.</p>
<p>Republicans have zero tolerance for drug abuse — or they did until it was discovered Rush Limbaugh had an obsession for munching pain pills like M&amp;Ms. It seems McCain’s wife Cindy, the daughter of a wealthy Budweiser beer distributor, was addicted to prescription drugs. Mrs. McCain even stooped so low as to steal drugs from a medical charity that she ran.</p>
<p>But when it comes to the drug abuse of other people — especially poor people unable to hire fancy lawyers or acquire country club memberships — McCain is about as flexible as reinforced concrete. “Of the four major candidates, McCain has expressed the most hawkish positions on drug policy,” explains the Issues 2000 website. “He wants to increase penalties for selling drugs, supports the death penalty for drug kingpins, favors tightening security to stop the flow of drugs into the country, and wants to restrict availability of methadone for heroin addicts.” No word if McCain finds it necessary to shut down doctors and pharmaceutical corporations that allow rich talkshow hosts to squirrel away thousands of pain pills and turn the domestic help into couriers.</p>
<p>McCain fully supports the neocon way of reacting to the world. He believes al-Qaeda and Saddam were in cahoots and urged Dubya to invade Iraq way back in December, 2001. He mindlessly declared the invasion justified even as a mountain of evidence began to surface indicating Bush and the neocons had lied through their teeth about Saddam and his illusory WMD. McCain supports the so-called missile defense system — even though the thing is an immense failure and will result in flushing billions of dollars down the rat holes of gluttonous defense contractors. For McCain, our future is one of never-ending war and aggression. According to McCain, the job of the United States is “not simply to contain rogue regimes, but to drive them from power.”</p>
<p>Finally, McCain is determined peace will never exist in the Middle East. Like Bush and Kerry, McCain is all agog over the Butcher of Beirut, Ariel Sharon. He likes to tell the accused war criminal what a fine job he’s doing turning the Palestinians into impoverished prisoners on their own land. Last August McCain said “there should be no linkage of the route” of Israel’s apartheid wall to the $9 billion in loan guarantees the US planned to bestow on the scofflaw Zionist state. McCain told Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom that “the Oslo Accords failed because they were based on the premise that Palestinians and Israeli could live peacefully together. The fence is an effort to see if Israelis and Palestinians can live peacefully apart.” In other words, Palestinian Bantustans are fine by John McCain and John Kerry. “Israel’s security fence is a legitimate act of self defense,” Kerry believes. “Israel has a right and a duty to defend its citizens. The fence only exists in response to the wave of terror attacks against Israel.” No mention of the additional land Israel has stolen in the process, much of it valuable agricultural land.</p>
<p>A John-John ticket would be virtually indistinguishable from a Bush-Cheney ticket on foreign policy. Nothing will change if Kerry-McCain are elected come November. It will be more of the same — only the United Nations and the Europeans will be coaxed back into the fold after they were so viciously alienated by the boorish neocons. Old Europe will be back in vogue.</p>
<p>Regardless of Kerry’s choice of running mate, the ABBers will hold their collective noses and vote for more of the same in November, so desperate are they to get rid of Bush and his warmongering entourage. It’s all about window dressing.</p>
<p>Is it possible they will come to their senses in 2008?</p>
<p>Or will they be fooled again?</p>
<p>KURT NIMMO is a photographer and multimedia developer in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Visit his excellent no holds barred blog at <a href="http://www.kurtnimmo.com/" type="external">www.kurtnimmo.com/blogger.html</a>. Nimmo is a contributor to Cockburn and St. Clair’s, <a href="" type="internal">The Politics of Anti-Semitism</a>. A collection of his essays for CounterPunch, <a href="" type="internal">Another Day in the Empire</a>, is now available from Dandelion Books.</p>
<p>He can be reached at: <a href="mailto:nimmo@zianet.com" type="external">nimmo@zianet.com</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | john kerry wants john mccain running mate wait minute john mccain republican john kerry democrat problem would unity government enthusiasm democrats mr mccain arizona republican high even mentioned possible kerry running mates including senator bill nelson florida bob kerrey former nebraska senator spinning scenarios unity government effectively giving mr kerry green light reach across political aisle extend offer reports new york times aisle aisle gore vidal tells us one party washington property party words property worth owning shall remain possession big honking corporations demrepub partisanship merely squabble formula citizenpoliticos agree wholeheartedly strikebreaker calvin coolidge said business america business democrats say bipartisan kerrymccain ticket featuring two decorated vietnam war veterans different parties regions country would give powerful edge debate best lead nation war terror require whole lot reading lines understand order best lead nation war terror kerry mccain determined participants immoral war resulting death 23 million vietnamese 58000 americans remarkably qualified finish job iraq due course invade syria iran maybe even saudi arabia thus johns avidly embrace degenerate neocon ethos say total preemptive war third world underdeveloped countries bearing appreciable measures oil minerals lumber etc beginning arab middle east uncooperative muslim hordes lets call bush lite minus opposition abortion naturally kerrymccain ticket long shot however abbers anybody bush take note come november john johns running mate need pinch nostrils extra tight fend pervasive stench consider mccain one keating five investigated ethics charges taking contributions generous 11200 swindler charles keating convicted racketeering fraud state federal court total cost american taxpayer 34 billion mccain hung keating extravagant bahamas pad flew racketeers airplanes least nine times mccains wife fatherinlaw invested heavily keating shopping center arizona described sweetheart deal addition associating bank swindlers mccain fond mobsters sent birthday cards joseph joe bananas bonano head new york bonano crime family notorious mobster retired arizona guess sun birds feather flock together grand canyon state johns favor allowing corporations whatever heck want especially comes raiding till support political candidates opposed legislation would forced companies get permission stockholders using treasury funds political activities republicans like say democrats loose morals recall mercilessly lambasted clinton juvenile dalliance intern republican john also wd40 lubricated zipper mccain readily admits first marriage crashed burned due fooling around women wife republicans zero tolerance drug abuse discovered rush limbaugh obsession munching pain pills like mampms seems mccains wife cindy daughter wealthy budweiser beer distributor addicted prescription drugs mrs mccain even stooped low steal drugs medical charity ran comes drug abuse people especially poor people unable hire fancy lawyers acquire country club memberships mccain flexible reinforced concrete four major candidates mccain expressed hawkish positions drug policy explains issues 2000 website wants increase penalties selling drugs supports death penalty drug kingpins favors tightening security stop flow drugs country wants restrict availability methadone heroin addicts word mccain finds necessary shut doctors pharmaceutical corporations allow rich talkshow hosts squirrel away thousands pain pills turn domestic help couriers mccain fully supports neocon way reacting world believes alqaeda saddam cahoots urged dubya invade iraq way back december 2001 mindlessly declared invasion justified even mountain evidence began surface indicating bush neocons lied teeth saddam illusory wmd mccain supports socalled missile defense system even though thing immense failure result flushing billions dollars rat holes gluttonous defense contractors mccain future one neverending war aggression according mccain job united states simply contain rogue regimes drive power finally mccain determined peace never exist middle east like bush kerry mccain agog butcher beirut ariel sharon likes tell accused war criminal fine job hes turning palestinians impoverished prisoners land last august mccain said linkage route israels apartheid wall 9 billion loan guarantees us planned bestow scofflaw zionist state mccain told israeli foreign minister silvan shalom oslo accords failed based premise palestinians israeli could live peacefully together fence effort see israelis palestinians live peacefully apart words palestinian bantustans fine john mccain john kerry israels security fence legitimate act self defense kerry believes israel right duty defend citizens fence exists response wave terror attacks israel mention additional land israel stolen process much valuable agricultural land johnjohn ticket would virtually indistinguishable bushcheney ticket foreign policy nothing change kerrymccain elected come november united nations europeans coaxed back fold viciously alienated boorish neocons old europe back vogue regardless kerrys choice running mate abbers hold collective noses vote november desperate get rid bush warmongering entourage window dressing possible come senses 2008 fooled kurt nimmo photographer multimedia developer las cruces new mexico visit excellent holds barred blog wwwkurtnimmocombloggerhtml nimmo contributor cockburn st clairs politics antisemitism collection essays counterpunch another day empire available dandelion books reached nimmozianetcom 160 | 751 |
<p>The only function of the assault on the reputation of Ralph Miliband was to punish and discredit his son. This operation, masterminded the&#160;Daily Mail&#160;and its editor — a reptile courted assiduously in the past by Blair and Brown — has backfired sensationally. It was designed to discredit the son by hurling the “sins of the father” on the head of his younger son. Instead, Edward Miliband’s <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/oct/10/david-miliband-daily-mail-attacks-father-ralph" type="external">spirited response</a> united a majority of the country behind him and against the tabloid.</p>
<p>Ralph, had he been alive, would have found the ensuing consensus extremely diverting.</p>
<p>The Tories and Lib-Dems made their distaste for the Mail clear, Jeremy Paxman on BBC’s Newsnight held up old copies of the Mail with its pro-fascist headlines (“Hurrah for the Blackshirts” the best remembered), two former members of Thatcher’s cabinet defended Miliband pere with Michael Heseltine reminding citizens that it was the Soviet Union and the Red Army that made victory against the Axis powers possible in the first place and an opinion poll commissioned by the&#160;Sunday Times&#160;revealed that 73&#160;percent supported Ed Miliband against the Rothermere rag. Did these figures compel the paper to hire a hack writer to carry on the Mail campaign in a marginally more “sophisticated” style, but replete with smear and innuendo?&#160; If Paul Dacre is soon put out to pasture on his large estate in Ireland, the story will have a Hollywood ending. The triumph of good against evil, as one might say, using the language often deployed by tabloids and politicians in these bad times.</p>
<p>The demonization of Ralph Miliband raises a few issues avoided by both the Tory and the liberal press. These relate to Miliband’s own political views on Britain, its political institutions as well as the world at large; the context of the first Lord Rothermere’s addiction to Mussolini and Hitler and their English offspring in Britain (Oswald Mosley and gang but not them alone) right up till September 1939 and the question of patriotism and its compatibility with left-wing views.</p>
<p>The popularity of fascism on the Right was not, alas, confined to the Rothermeres or the Mitfords. The class confidence of European conservatism was shaken by the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution in Russia whose declared aim was to destroy global capitalism. Fear stalked the corridors of power in every capital and the presence of large numbers of Marxists of Jewish origin in both the Bolshevik and Menshevik parties stoked anti-semitism throughout Europe. The impact of the black-shirted fascist triumph in Rome, five years after the Bolshevik victory, should not be underestimated. With rare exceptions the European Right, including its liberal segments, greeted it as a huge triumph for western civilization and heaved a huge collective sigh of relief. Capitalism had found its own shock troops</p>
<p>Distinguished English-language publishers in London (Hutchinson) and New York (Scribners) published Mussolini’s&#160;My Autobiography&#160;in several editions: the introduction by Richard Child, a former US Ambassador to Italy and a fascist groupie who helped ghost-write the book, praised the dictator in extravagant language as one of the “leading statesman in the world.” &#160;To the end of his days the fascist leader would quote from memory what Winston Churchill had said during a visit to Rome five years after the fascist triumph in 1927:</p>
<p>I could not help being charmed, like so many other people have been, by Signor Mussolini’s gentle and simple bearing and by his calm, detached poise in spite of so many burdens and dangers. Secondly, anyone could see that he thought of nothing but the lasting good, as he understood it, of the Italian people, and that no lesser interest was of the slightest consequence to him. If I had been an Italian I am sure that I should have been whole-heartedly with you from the start to finish in your triumphant struggle against the bestial appetites and passions of Leninism.</p>
<p>Churchill proceeded to explain the international significance of fascism as lying in its capacity to mobilise friendly social forces to defeat the common enemy:</p>
<p>Italy has shown that there is a way of fighting the subversive forces which can rally the masses of the people, properly led, to value and wish to defend the honour and stability of civilised society. She has provided the necessary antidote to the Russian poison. Hereafter no great nation will be unprovided with an ultimate means of protection against the cancerous growth of Bolshevism.</p>
<p>Here we have it without any obfuscation. Fascism was a necessary bulwark against the threat of communist revolution. And all this was written and spoken long before the abomination of Stalin’s purges and the famines resulting from forced industrialization. It became the common sense of the continental Right and explains, apart from other things, the ease with which the regime at Vichy began its years of collaboration with the Third Reich after the 1940 occupation of France.</p>
<p>The British politicians — Chamberlain, Halifax, Butler and co — who would later be denounced as “appeasers” were, in fact, far more representative of the Anglo-European elite than those who hurriedly changed their minds at the last moment when they realized that Hitler would neither agree to an equitable sharing of the continent and its colonies or oblige London by attacking the Soviet Union before taking the rest of Europe. This made war inevitable.</p>
<p>Churchill was never shy when it came to explaining primary and secondary contradictions.&#160; His strategic priority was to defend the interests of Britain. He was the most consistent and eloquent defender of its overseas colonies as were others in the imperial elite. In 1933 the British Secretary of State for India, L.&#160;S. Amery calmly explained to fellow parliamentarians, without arousing a storm of protest, why it would be hypocritical for Britain to oppose the Japanese occupation of Manchuria:</p>
<p>I confess that I see no reason whatever why, either in act or in word, or in sympathy, we should go individually or intentionally against Japan in this matter. Japan has got a very powerful case based upon fundamental realities .&#160;.&#160;. that is there among us to cast the first stone and to say that Japan ought not to have acted with the object of creating peace and order in Manchuria and defending herself against the continual aggression of vigorous Chinese nationalism? Our whole policy in India, our whole policy in Egypt, stands condemned if we condemn Japan.</p>
<p>Imperialist leaders of the early twentieth century were less prone to double standards than their contemporaries. As late as 1939, Churchill, in his collection of essays&#160;Great Contemporaries,&#160;saw no reason why his reflections on&#160;Mein Kampf&#160;and its author should not be reprinted:</p>
<p>&#160;The story of that struggle cannot be read without admiration for the courage, the perseverance, the vital force which enabled him to challenge, defy, conciliate, or overcome, all authorities or resistance which barred his path .&#160;.&#160;. I have always said that if Great Britain were defeated in war, I hoped we should find a Hitler to lead us back to our rightful position among the nations.</p>
<p>British and American bankers and businessmen were in the forefront of arming the Third Reich as a “bulwark against Bolshevism” (as Lloyd George, mimicking Churchill, explained). The Governor of the Bank of England did not mince words: British loans to Hitler should be seen as an&#160;“investment against Bolshevism.” This was a common view of the elite at the time. “The German claim to equality of rights in the matter of arms cannot be resisted and ought not to be resisted. You will have to face rearmament of Germany,” declared the British Foreign Secretary, Sir John Simon, on 6 February 1934. A month later the Chairman of Vickers Limited justified sales to fascist Germany: “I cannot give you an assurance in definite terms, but I can tell you that nothing is being done without complete sanction and approval of our own government.” [War is Terribly Profitable&#160;by Henry Owen, London, 1936.]&#160; It was ever thus.</p>
<p>This was the atmosphere in which the&#160;Daily Mail&#160;and other tabloids (not to mention Geoffrey Dawson at&#160;the Times&#160;or King Edward&#160;VIII at the Palace) demonstrated varying degrees of affection and sympathy for the Third Reich. And it was this context that explains the attraction of many British intellectuals and workers (including comrades Philby, Burgess, Maclean, Blunt and others) to Communism as the only force capable of defeating the Nazis. In this, as Heseltine reminded the country, they were not so wrong. Curiously enough, Ralph Miliband, contrary to Tom Bower’s slurs in a recent issue of the&#160;Sunday Times,&#160;was never attracted to the Communist Parties or the groups to their left.&#160; Nor was he a partisan of the armed struggled line in South America even though he was ferociously hostile to the US-supported military dictatorships in the region.</p>
<p>The student uprisings of 1968–9 found him at the London School of Economics. His initial reaction, like that of Jurgen Habermas in Germany, was to describe (in a private letter) the occupation of the LSE by radicals as “fascism of the left.” He strongly disapproved of the notion that students should elect their professors and when it was pointed out that he would win by a large majority, he was not amused. He changed his mind after the mass arrests and the sacking of Robin Blackburn, writing that “sophisticated Oakeshottismus is a fairly thin crust; when it cracks, as it did here, a rather ugly, visceral sort of conservatism emerges.” &#160;He told me later that one of his big regrets was not resigning immediately from the LSE after Blackburn was sacked.</p>
<p>He was a fiercely independent-minded Marxist scholar who could be equally scathing about left-wing verities (he spoke very sharply to me in the 70s when I suggested that world revolution was not a utopia) as those of social democracy. His key work on Britain was Parliamentary Socialism (1961) where he referred to the “sickness of labourism,” leaving no doubt as to where he stood. And later he was prescient on what the future might really hold given the collapse of the broad Left, writing in 1989:</p>
<p>We know what this immense historic process is taken to mean by the enemies of socialism everywhere: not only the approaching demise of Communist regimes and their replacement by capitalist ones, but the elimination of any kind of socialist alternative to capitalism. With this intoxicating prospect of the scarcely hoped-for dissipation of an ancient nightmare, there naturally goes the celebration of the market, the virtues of free enterprise, and greed unlimited. Nor is it only on the Right that the belief has grown in recent times that socialism, understood as a radical transformation of the social order, has had its day: apostles of “new times” on the Left have come to harbour much the same belief. All that is now possible, in the eyes of the “new realism,” is the more humane management of a capitalism which is in any case being thoroughly transformed.</p>
<p>His political views were far removed from those of his sons and pretending otherwise is foolish. Ralph was not a one-nation conservative who believed in parcellized “social justice.” &#160;He remained a staunch anti-capitalist socialist till the end of his life. He was extremely close to both his sons, was proud of their success but as any other migrant refugee would be — kids have done well in a foreign land — not in a political sense at all. He loathed New Labour and in of our last conversations described Blair as “teflon man.” Neither he nor his wife Marion (an equally strong minded socialist and feminist) ever tried to inflict their politics on the kids. Given his short temper I wonder whether this self-denying ordnance would, in his case at any rate, have survived the Iraq War. I doubt it.</p>
<p>And what of patriotism? Is it any different to national-chauvinism, jingoism, etc.? Does it have the same connotation in an occupied nation as in the occupying power? Many decades ago I was facing three journalists on Sunday Telegraph,&#160;annoyed by what I was saying interrupted me:</p>
<p>“Does the word patriotism have any meaning for people like you?”</p>
<p>“No,” I replied, “in my eyes a patriot is little more than an international blackleg.”</p>
<p>Taken aback, he muttered, “Rather a good phrase.”</p>
<p>In fact I had pinched it from Karl Liebknecht the German socialist, explaining his vote against war credits in the German parliament in 1914.</p>
<p>Ralph Miliband, like many anti-fascists, joined the armed forces during the Second World War. He opposed the wars in Korea and Vietnam, spoke loudly and clearly against the Falklands expedition. Even a cursory glance at&#160;Socialist Register,&#160;the annual magazine he founded in 1964, reveals the strong internationalism that was at its core. Marcel Liebman’s text on “The meaning of 1914” might be well worth reprinting as official Britain prepares to celebrate the centenary of the carnage that was World War&#160;I. Ralph was always grateful (his word) that Britain offered him and his father, Jewish refugees fleeing occupied Belgium, asylum in 1940. Despite that fact he remained an outlier, a stern critic of the British ruling elite and its institutions as well as the Labour Party and the&#160; trade-union knights and peers.</p>
<p>It might be better if all sides left it at that&#160;.&#160;.&#160;.</p> | true | 4 | function assault reputation ralph miliband punish discredit son operation masterminded the160daily mail160and editor reptile courted assiduously past blair brown backfired sensationally designed discredit son hurling sins father head younger son instead edward milibands spirited response united majority country behind tabloid ralph alive would found ensuing consensus extremely diverting tories libdems made distaste mail clear jeremy paxman bbcs newsnight held old copies mail profascist headlines hurrah blackshirts best remembered two former members thatchers cabinet defended miliband pere michael heseltine reminding citizens soviet union red army made victory axis powers possible first place opinion poll commissioned the160sunday times160revealed 73160percent supported ed miliband rothermere rag figures compel paper hire hack writer carry mail campaign marginally sophisticated style replete smear innuendo160 paul dacre soon put pasture large estate ireland story hollywood ending triumph good evil one might say using language often deployed tabloids politicians bad times demonization ralph miliband raises issues avoided tory liberal press relate milibands political views britain political institutions well world large context first lord rothermeres addiction mussolini hitler english offspring britain oswald mosley gang alone right till september 1939 question patriotism compatibility leftwing views popularity fascism right alas confined rothermeres mitfords class confidence european conservatism shaken 1917 bolshevik revolution russia whose declared aim destroy global capitalism fear stalked corridors power every capital presence large numbers marxists jewish origin bolshevik menshevik parties stoked antisemitism throughout europe impact blackshirted fascist triumph rome five years bolshevik victory underestimated rare exceptions european right including liberal segments greeted huge triumph western civilization heaved huge collective sigh relief capitalism found shock troops distinguished englishlanguage publishers london hutchinson new york scribners published mussolinis160my autobiography160in several editions introduction richard child former us ambassador italy fascist groupie helped ghostwrite book praised dictator extravagant language one leading statesman world 160to end days fascist leader would quote memory winston churchill said visit rome five years fascist triumph 1927 could help charmed like many people signor mussolinis gentle simple bearing calm detached poise spite many burdens dangers secondly anyone could see thought nothing lasting good understood italian people lesser interest slightest consequence italian sure wholeheartedly start finish triumphant struggle bestial appetites passions leninism churchill proceeded explain international significance fascism lying capacity mobilise friendly social forces defeat common enemy italy shown way fighting subversive forces rally masses people properly led value wish defend honour stability civilised society provided necessary antidote russian poison hereafter great nation unprovided ultimate means protection cancerous growth bolshevism without obfuscation fascism necessary bulwark threat communist revolution written spoken long abomination stalins purges famines resulting forced industrialization became common sense continental right explains apart things ease regime vichy began years collaboration third reich 1940 occupation france british politicians chamberlain halifax butler co would later denounced appeasers fact far representative angloeuropean elite hurriedly changed minds last moment realized hitler would neither agree equitable sharing continent colonies oblige london attacking soviet union taking rest europe made war inevitable churchill never shy came explaining primary secondary contradictions160 strategic priority defend interests britain consistent eloquent defender overseas colonies others imperial elite 1933 british secretary state india l160s amery calmly explained fellow parliamentarians without arousing storm protest would hypocritical britain oppose japanese occupation manchuria confess see reason whatever either act word sympathy go individually intentionally japan matter japan got powerful case based upon fundamental realities 160160 among us cast first stone say japan ought acted object creating peace order manchuria defending continual aggression vigorous chinese nationalism whole policy india whole policy egypt stands condemned condemn japan imperialist leaders early twentieth century less prone double standards contemporaries late 1939 churchill collection essays160great contemporaries160saw reason reflections on160mein kampf160and author reprinted 160the story struggle read without admiration courage perseverance vital force enabled challenge defy conciliate overcome authorities resistance barred path 160160 always said great britain defeated war hoped find hitler lead us back rightful position among nations british american bankers businessmen forefront arming third reich bulwark bolshevism lloyd george mimicking churchill explained governor bank england mince words british loans hitler seen an160investment bolshevism common view elite time german claim equality rights matter arms resisted ought resisted face rearmament germany declared british foreign secretary sir john simon 6 february 1934 month later chairman vickers limited justified sales fascist germany give assurance definite terms tell nothing done without complete sanction approval government war terribly profitable160by henry owen london 1936160 ever thus atmosphere the160daily mail160and tabloids mention geoffrey dawson at160the times160or king edward160viii palace demonstrated varying degrees affection sympathy third reich context explains attraction many british intellectuals workers including comrades philby burgess maclean blunt others communism force capable defeating nazis heseltine reminded country wrong curiously enough ralph miliband contrary tom bowers slurs recent issue the160sunday times160was never attracted communist parties groups left160 partisan armed struggled line south america even though ferociously hostile ussupported military dictatorships region student uprisings 19689 found london school economics initial reaction like jurgen habermas germany describe private letter occupation lse radicals fascism left strongly disapproved notion students elect professors pointed would win large majority amused changed mind mass arrests sacking robin blackburn writing sophisticated oakeshottismus fairly thin crust cracks rather ugly visceral sort conservatism emerges 160he told later one big regrets resigning immediately lse blackburn sacked fiercely independentminded marxist scholar could equally scathing leftwing verities spoke sharply 70s suggested world revolution utopia social democracy key work britain parliamentary socialism 1961 referred sickness labourism leaving doubt stood later prescient future might really hold given collapse broad left writing 1989 know immense historic process taken mean enemies socialism everywhere approaching demise communist regimes replacement capitalist ones elimination kind socialist alternative capitalism intoxicating prospect scarcely hopedfor dissipation ancient nightmare naturally goes celebration market virtues free enterprise greed unlimited right belief grown recent times socialism understood radical transformation social order day apostles new times left come harbour much belief possible eyes new realism humane management capitalism case thoroughly transformed political views far removed sons pretending otherwise foolish ralph onenation conservative believed parcellized social justice 160he remained staunch anticapitalist socialist till end life extremely close sons proud success migrant refugee would kids done well foreign land political sense loathed new labour last conversations described blair teflon man neither wife marion equally strong minded socialist feminist ever tried inflict politics kids given short temper wonder whether selfdenying ordnance would case rate survived iraq war doubt patriotism different nationalchauvinism jingoism etc connotation occupied nation occupying power many decades ago facing three journalists sunday telegraph160annoyed saying interrupted word patriotism meaning people like replied eyes patriot little international blackleg taken aback muttered rather good phrase fact pinched karl liebknecht german socialist explaining vote war credits german parliament 1914 ralph miliband like many antifascists joined armed forces second world war opposed wars korea vietnam spoke loudly clearly falklands expedition even cursory glance at160socialist register160the annual magazine founded 1964 reveals strong internationalism core marcel liebmans text meaning 1914 might well worth reprinting official britain prepares celebrate centenary carnage world war160i ralph always grateful word britain offered father jewish refugees fleeing occupied belgium asylum 1940 despite fact remained outlier stern critic british ruling elite institutions well labour party the160 tradeunion knights peers might better sides left that160160160 | 1,168 |
<p>Recall the conservative U.S. President Barack Obama’s televised speech to the nation on the evening of June 22, 2011 – the one where he announced the removal of 33,000 troops from illegally invaded Afghanistan by September 2012. “We are a nation,” Obama proclaimed, “whose strength abroad has been anchored in opportunity for our citizens here at home.&#160;Over the last decade, we have spent a trillion dollars on war…Now, we must invest in America’s greatest resource –- our people…….America, it is time to focus on nation building here at home.”</p>
<p>There is no Peace Dividend</p>
<p>Ever-hopeful liberals who thought this meant the president was going to offer a long awaited peace dividend – the diversion of resources from the nation’s massive military budget to the meeting of rising social and economic needs at home (long supported by most Americans)– were wrong again. Since 2001, total U.S. “defense” spending has nearly doubled; it now represents roughly 20 percent of the entire federal budget. As Ronald Reagan’s former Assistant Secretary of Defense Lawrence Korb noted earlier this year, “U.S. defense spending is higher than at any time since the end of World War II. Over the past decade, the U.S. share of global military spending has grown <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1594519455/counterpunchmaga" type="external" /> from one third to one half. The United States now spends six times as much as China, the country with the next biggest budget.” The government could attain Obama’s originally proposed $4 trillion in spending cuts over ten years simply by returning to the enormous military budgets of the Clinton era.</p>
<p>But Obama has no intention of moving in this direction. “Defense” (military empire) spending has increased significantly under the supposedly antiwar president, who was advised and agreed before the 2008 election that (in the words of researchers at the leading financial bailout recipient firm Morgan Stanley) “there is no peace dividend.” Obama’s 2012 military budget has been projected to go as high as $1.4 trillion. The budget “deal” Obama just cut with the Republicans to permit the 173rd raising of the U.S. debt ceiling makes no serious effort to rein in the Pentagon system. “Defense” supposedly takes a $330 billion hit over ten years. But, as Tom Engelhardt recently noted in reflecting on Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-AZ)’s original proposal or $400 billion in ‘defense’ reduction, however, it’s all sleight of hand: “Obama’s $400 billion in Pentagon ‘cuts’ are not cuts at all — not unless you consider an obese person, who continues eating at the same level but reduces his dreams of ever grander future repasts, to be on a diet. The ‘cuts’ in the White House proposal, that is, will only be from&#160;projected future Pentagon growth rates. …They are expected savings based largely on the prospective winding down of America’s wars and, like&#160;so much funny money, could evaporate with the morning dew.” The debt ceiling “deal” lets the next president and Congress “change the formula for defense spending” in 2014. Even before that date, however, insiders know very well that Pentagon budgets are readily increased quickly in accordance with policymakers’ understanding of threats – real, perceived, and manufactured – to American “security.” (TomDispatch, August 2, 2011).</p>
<p>Of course, a $330 billion real world cut could be met by the continuing retraction of unnecessarily (and criminally) deployed troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and the suspension of over-budget and unnecessary weapons programs. Serious structural reductions in the military-imperial budget are completely off the table. The military-industrial-complex continues to enjoy an open-ended entitlement to tap the treasury of a government that has spent decades raiding the Social Security trust fund to offset deficits caused by the war budget and tax cuts and loopholes for the rich.</p>
<p>The Rich are Getting Richer</p>
<p>Serious investment in everyday American working people and families is off the table too. Masses of ordinary Americans are struggling as the U.S. economy limps through the weakest “recovery” on record. Last June, the official jobless rate went back above 9 percent (real or functional employment was considerably higher) and millions of Americans faced the expiration of extended unemployment benefits. Foreclosures continue at historically high levels and food pantries are serving record numbers of people in some locales. Forty five million Americans go to bed hungry each night. Meanwhile, the top 1 percent that owns more than 40 percent of the nation’s wealth (and 57 percent of its financial wealth) sees its grotesquely outsized share of the nation’s net worth grow in the wake of a Great Recession that has played the classic role of capitalist crises – increasing the concentration of wealth and power. &#160;In New York City last year, Wall Street financial institutions paid themselves $20.8 billion in cash bonuses last year while 120,000 men, women and children spent at least one night in a city shelter, an all-time record.</p>
<p>Rising inequality is abetted by the federal government’s astonishingly weak and falling taxation of the rich and corporate Few. As U.S Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) noted in no less capitalist a venue than the editorial pages of The Wall Street Journal last week, “The rich are getting richer. Their effective tax rate, in recent years, has been reduced to the lowest in modern history. Nurses, teachers and firemen actually pay a higher tax rate than some billionaires …Many corporations, including General Electric and Exxon-Mobil, have made billions in profits while using loopholes to avoid paying any federal income taxes.”&#160; No wonder Americans are angry, with nearly three fourths (72 percent) of the population believing (according to a mid-July Washington Post/ABC News poll) that Americans earning more than $250,000 a year should pay more in taxes. Most Americans believe that job creation should be a bigger government priority than deficit reduction, that social protections should be expanded (not contracted), that the rich are under-taxed, that wealth inequality and poverty are the nation’s leading moral issues, that big business and the wealthy exercise far too much influence over government, and that Social Security and Medicare benefits should be protected and expanded.</p>
<p>So what? Sanders offers chilling commentary on the American one-and-half party system’s abject service to the rich: “If the Republicans have their way, the entire burden of deficit reduction will be placed on the elderly, the sick, children and working families…. [But] although the United States now has the most unequal distribution of wealth and income of any major industrialized country, [Obama and the] Democrats have …handed the wealthy even more tax breaks. In December, the House and the Senate extended President George W. Bush’s tax cuts for the rich and lowered estate tax rates for the wealthiest Americans. In April, to avoid the Republican effort to shut down the government, they allowed $38.5 billion in cuts to vitally important programs for working-class and middle-class Americans.”</p>
<p>Signing on to the Republican Framework</p>
<p>The Republicans have just had their away again, and they’re not through. The “historic” debt-ceiling accord just agreed to by Obama, Reid and House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) amounts to $917 billion in spending cuts with no revenue-generating tax hikes or loophole-closings of any kind. The G.O.P. is supposed to have “compromised” by dropping a proposed constitutional amendment requiring a balanced budget and by agreeing that the debt ceiling will not be allowed to emerge as an issue again before the 2012 elections. But the amendment was never anything but theater and a bargaining chip. The rightmost of the nation’s two establishment business parties will have no problem pushing for further spending cuts (exempting the Pentagon) when the 2012 budget deadline of October 1 gives them another opportunity to threaten to shut down the government in the disingenuous name of “deficit reduction.”</p>
<p>Defending themselves against left charges of sell out, the administration and its conservative Democratic allies boast that the “deal” does not include any major attacks on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. But the real assault on those “entitlements” (funny how this term is never applied by “mainstream’ commentators to the Pentagon system and other forms of corporate welfare) has just been pushed back a little.&#160; As left economist Jack Rasmus explained on ZNet last Monday, “The bigger attack on social security, Medicare, Medicaid is still to come. The next round…is the 2012 budget negotiations that are supposed to conclude by September 23. Republicans will get another ‘bite of the apple’ in spending only cuts at that time. And Obama and Democrats will likely cave in to those demands yet again, as they have repeatedly the past year.”</p>
<p>Things should get more regressive in November.&#160; That’s when the August 2nd agreement’s 12-member “Bipartisan Debt Reduction Commission” makes proposals for a further $1.5 trillion in l spending cuts. Obama has announced that the commission’s recommendations will be “submitted for an up or down vote only” by Congress.&#160; If Congress fails to approve the proposals, a pre-arranged set of cuts will kick in.&#160; Rasmus elaborates: “That means some small group…will&#160; …decide solely between themselves the composition and magnitude of cuts in Medicare, Social Security, Medicaid, how much tax loopholes will be closed, and how much Defense spending will be cut.” The reactionary composition and leanings of such commissions are well understood in the neoliberal era: “we can expect $2 in cuts in Medicare and Social Security for every $1 in tax loophole closing and Defense spending reductions…if we’re lucky.”</p>
<p>Don’t take it just from angry radicals and “disappointed” liberals that the debt-ceiling “deal” is a right-wing triumph.&#160; Listen to the Republican Wall Street Journal columnist William McGurn. “It’s hard,” McGurn noted last Tuesday, “to look at the debt-ceiling and see it as anything but a conservative victory…the deal has Democrats, essentially, signing on to the Republican framework for defining the problem: spending that is too high rather than taxes that are too low…Come the 2012 elections this deal will help force the debate that all conservatives have wanted all along.”</p>
<p>The harsh neoliberal message is clear as day in the United States: “the banks having been rescued, governments will do nothing to avert the continuing human recession.&#160; Instead, they plan to intensify their attacks on social programs and the working class” (David McNally, Global Slump [PM Press, 2011], 184).</p>
<p>The Real Winners</p>
<p>Liberal economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman is right to say that the Obama-Reid-Boehner debt ceiling deal is disastrous for “a deeply depressed economy” since “The worst thing you can do in these circumstances is slash government spending…that will depress the economy even further” (Krugman, “The President Surrenders,” NYT, August 1, 2011).. Yes, of course. But why does Krugman insist on accusing Obama of “surrendering?” At some point it needs to sink in with liberal and “progressive” commentators that the fake-progressive Obama has been acting in accord with his rich history of right-leaning corporate-imperial centrism. His recurrent “shifts right” (how many has the mainstream media announced since the summer of 2008?) are the predictable outcome of his own longstanding deeply conservative and neoliberal politics and of his promises kept to the rich and powerful Few, whose increasing wealth and influence are the real force behind the longstanding rightward drift of American politics in the neoliberal era.</p>
<p>The chattering classes are debating who won the debt-ceiling drama.&#160; Some say Obama, who gets to pose as a great “compromiser” and to woo “moderates” and Independents by countering Republican propaganda that he is a big government socialist. Others point to “the Tea Party,” credited for pushing the “debate” rightward, or Boehner, who gets to seem like a cool statesman who ultimately kept his “Tea Party lions” under control while facing down the White House. Meanwhile the rich and powerful Few – the leading sponsors of the Democrats, the Republicans, and the super-Republican “Tea Party” alike – continue to cash in on their lockdown-like control of the nation’s politics and indeed on the continuing impoverishment and insecurity of ordinary people at home and abroad.&#160; They are as usual the real winners under what Edward S, Herman and David Peterson call America’s “unelected dictatorship of money.”</p>
<p>The persistent losers are the working and lower classes, whose hope for change through the America’s corporate-managed electoral process are regularly drowned in the icy, money-soaked waters of historical and political “reality.” In the harsh actuality of U.S. politics and policy, the officially “elect-able” candidates are vetted in advance by what the left historian Laurence Shoup calls “the hidden primary of the ruling class.”&#160; By prior Establishment selection, they act safely within the narrow parameters set by those who rule behind the scenes to make sure that the rich and privileged continue to be the leading beneficiaries of the American system.&#160; In its presidential as in its other elections, U.S. “democracy” is “at best” a “guided one; at its worst it is a corrupt farce, amounting to manipulation, with the larger population projects of propaganda in a controlled and trivialized electoral process. It is an illusion,” Shoup noted in 2008, “that real change can ever come from electing a different ruling class candidate.”</p>
<p>Paul Street is the co-author with Anthony DiMaggio of the newly released <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1594519455/counterpunchmaga" type="external">Crashing the Tea Party</a> (Paradigm Publishers, 2011). He is also the author of Empire and Inequality: America and the World Since 9/11 (Paradigm, 2004) and The Empire’s New Clothes: Barack Obama in the Real World of Power (Paradigm, 2010.) Street can be reached at p <a href="mailto:paulstreet99@yahoo.com" type="external">aulstreet99@yahoo.com</a>.</p> | true | 4 | recall conservative us president barack obamas televised speech nation evening june 22 2011 one announced removal 33000 troops illegally invaded afghanistan september 2012 nation obama proclaimed whose strength abroad anchored opportunity citizens home160over last decade spent trillion dollars warnow must invest americas greatest resource peopleamerica time focus nation building home peace dividend everhopeful liberals thought meant president going offer long awaited peace dividend diversion resources nations massive military budget meeting rising social economic needs home long supported americans wrong since 2001 total us defense spending nearly doubled represents roughly 20 percent entire federal budget ronald reagans former assistant secretary defense lawrence korb noted earlier year us defense spending higher time since end world war ii past decade us share global military spending grown one third one half united states spends six times much china country next biggest budget government could attain obamas originally proposed 4 trillion spending cuts ten years simply returning enormous military budgets clinton era obama intention moving direction defense military empire spending increased significantly supposedly antiwar president advised agreed 2008 election words researchers leading financial bailout recipient firm morgan stanley peace dividend obamas 2012 military budget projected go high 14 trillion budget deal obama cut republicans permit 173rd raising us debt ceiling makes serious effort rein pentagon system defense supposedly takes 330 billion hit ten years tom engelhardt recently noted reflecting obama senate majority leader harry reid dazs original proposal 400 billion defense reduction however sleight hand obamas 400 billion pentagon cuts cuts unless consider obese person continues eating level reduces dreams ever grander future repasts diet cuts white house proposal from160projected future pentagon growth rates expected savings based largely prospective winding americas wars like160so much funny money could evaporate morning dew debt ceiling deal lets next president congress change formula defense spending 2014 even date however insiders know well pentagon budgets readily increased quickly accordance policymakers understanding threats real perceived manufactured american security tomdispatch august 2 2011 course 330 billion real world cut could met continuing retraction unnecessarily criminally deployed troops iraq afghanistan suspension overbudget unnecessary weapons programs serious structural reductions militaryimperial budget completely table militaryindustrialcomplex continues enjoy openended entitlement tap treasury government spent decades raiding social security trust fund offset deficits caused war budget tax cuts loopholes rich rich getting richer serious investment everyday american working people families table masses ordinary americans struggling us economy limps weakest recovery record last june official jobless rate went back 9 percent real functional employment considerably higher millions americans faced expiration extended unemployment benefits foreclosures continue historically high levels food pantries serving record numbers people locales forty five million americans go bed hungry night meanwhile top 1 percent owns 40 percent nations wealth 57 percent financial wealth sees grotesquely outsized share nations net worth grow wake great recession played classic role capitalist crises increasing concentration wealth power 160in new york city last year wall street financial institutions paid 208 billion cash bonuses last year 120000 men women children spent least one night city shelter alltime record rising inequality abetted federal governments astonishingly weak falling taxation rich corporate us senator bernie sanders ivt noted less capitalist venue editorial pages wall street journal last week rich getting richer effective tax rate recent years reduced lowest modern history nurses teachers firemen actually pay higher tax rate billionaires many corporations including general electric exxonmobil made billions profits using loopholes avoid paying federal income taxes160 wonder americans angry nearly three fourths 72 percent population believing according midjuly washington postabc news poll americans earning 250000 year pay taxes americans believe job creation bigger government priority deficit reduction social protections expanded contracted rich undertaxed wealth inequality poverty nations leading moral issues big business wealthy exercise far much influence government social security medicare benefits protected expanded sanders offers chilling commentary american oneandhalf party systems abject service rich republicans way entire burden deficit reduction placed elderly sick children working families although united states unequal distribution wealth income major industrialized country obama democrats handed wealthy even tax breaks december house senate extended president george w bushs tax cuts rich lowered estate tax rates wealthiest americans april avoid republican effort shut government allowed 385 billion cuts vitally important programs workingclass middleclass americans signing republican framework republicans away theyre historic debtceiling accord agreed obama reid house speaker john boehner roh amounts 917 billion spending cuts revenuegenerating tax hikes loopholeclosings kind gop supposed compromised dropping proposed constitutional amendment requiring balanced budget agreeing debt ceiling allowed emerge issue 2012 elections amendment never anything theater bargaining chip rightmost nations two establishment business parties problem pushing spending cuts exempting pentagon 2012 budget deadline october 1 gives another opportunity threaten shut government disingenuous name deficit reduction defending left charges sell administration conservative democratic allies boast deal include major attacks social security medicare medicaid real assault entitlements funny term never applied mainstream commentators pentagon system forms corporate welfare pushed back little160 left economist jack rasmus explained znet last monday bigger attack social security medicare medicaid still come next roundis 2012 budget negotiations supposed conclude september 23 republicans get another bite apple spending cuts time obama democrats likely cave demands yet repeatedly past year things get regressive november160 thats august 2nd agreements 12member bipartisan debt reduction commission makes proposals 15 trillion l spending cuts obama announced commissions recommendations submitted vote congress160 congress fails approve proposals prearranged set cuts kick in160 rasmus elaborates means small groupwill160 decide solely composition magnitude cuts medicare social security medicaid much tax loopholes closed much defense spending cut reactionary composition leanings commissions well understood neoliberal era expect 2 cuts medicare social security every 1 tax loophole closing defense spending reductionsif lucky dont take angry radicals disappointed liberals debtceiling deal rightwing triumph160 listen republican wall street journal columnist william mcgurn hard mcgurn noted last tuesday look debtceiling see anything conservative victorythe deal democrats essentially signing republican framework defining problem spending high rather taxes lowcome 2012 elections deal help force debate conservatives wanted along harsh neoliberal message clear day united states banks rescued governments nothing avert continuing human recession160 instead plan intensify attacks social programs working class david mcnally global slump pm press 2011 184 real winners liberal economist new york times columnist paul krugman right say obamareidboehner debt ceiling deal disastrous deeply depressed economy since worst thing circumstances slash government spendingthat depress economy even krugman president surrenders nyt august 1 2011 yes course krugman insist accusing obama surrendering point needs sink liberal progressive commentators fakeprogressive obama acting accord rich history rightleaning corporateimperial centrism recurrent shifts right many mainstream media announced since summer 2008 predictable outcome longstanding deeply conservative neoliberal politics promises kept rich powerful whose increasing wealth influence real force behind longstanding rightward drift american politics neoliberal era chattering classes debating debtceiling drama160 say obama gets pose great compromiser woo moderates independents countering republican propaganda big government socialist others point tea party credited pushing debate rightward boehner gets seem like cool statesman ultimately kept tea party lions control facing white house meanwhile rich powerful leading sponsors democrats republicans superrepublican tea party alike continue cash lockdownlike control nations politics indeed continuing impoverishment insecurity ordinary people home abroad160 usual real winners edward herman david peterson call americas unelected dictatorship money persistent losers working lower classes whose hope change americas corporatemanaged electoral process regularly drowned icy moneysoaked waters historical political reality harsh actuality us politics policy officially electable candidates vetted advance left historian laurence shoup calls hidden primary ruling class160 prior establishment selection act safely within narrow parameters set rule behind scenes make sure rich privileged continue leading beneficiaries american system160 presidential elections us democracy best guided one worst corrupt farce amounting manipulation larger population projects propaganda controlled trivialized electoral process illusion shoup noted 2008 real change ever come electing different ruling class candidate paul street coauthor anthony dimaggio newly released crashing tea party paradigm publishers 2011 also author empire inequality america world since 911 paradigm 2004 empires new clothes barack obama real world power paradigm 2010 street reached p aulstreet99yahoocom | 1,313 |
<p>This article is the second part of a four-part series that explores policy options for President-elect Barack Obama regarding Iran, Iraq, Pakistan and Russia. The first article, <a href="" type="internal">“With Iran, Obama Needs More Carrot, Less Stick,”</a> ran Nov. 13.</p>
<p>It has often been said that Iraq is not Vietnam and that any effort to compare the two wars is misguided and intellectually dishonest. While I would be the first to concur, one can never forget <a href="http://www.clausewitz.com/CWZHOME/CWZBASE.htm" type="external">Carl von Clausewitz’s</a> maxim that “war is an extension of politics, by other means.” As such, every war represents a model for all conflict, insofar as it represents not simply force-on-force military engagement, but, more important, military-political interaction which incorporates the domestic dynamic of the involved nations. Vietnam the war was not simply lost on the field of battle in Southeast Asia, just as Iraq the war was not lost in the deserts of the Middle East. The American military, in both conflicts, was never defeated in a major engagement. In fact, tactically and operationally speaking, the American military dominated the battlefield in both conflicts, and yet America the nation emerged the loser in each.</p>
<p>The United States today has come to grips with the reality that President George W. Bush’s ill-conceived military misadventure in Mesopotamia has failed, and it is time to bring our troops home. A similar understanding was had in 1968, when the majority of Americans recognized that President Lyndon Johnson’s war of escalation represented little more than death by a thousand cuts. It took President Richard Nixon five years to disengage America from Vietnam, after he had attempted his own escalation. Based on the recently consummated status of forces agreement governing the American military presence in Iraq, the U.S. is militarily committed to Baghdad through 2011. How President-elect Barack Obama chooses to frame the next three years is critical in terms of America’s ability to truly disengage from Iraq.</p>
<p>Should Obama fall victim to those who postulate the need to obtain “victory” in order to preserve American “honor,” it is likely that the nightmare in Iraq will continue well past the 2011 deadline, since those goals will never be met. However, if the new president takes a page from history and proceeds with Iraq as <a href="http://www.vietnam-war.info/figures/henry_kissinger.php%20" type="external">Henry Kissinger</a>, Nixon’s leading Vietnam policy adviser, did with Vietnam, agreeing to “an historical process or a political process in which the real forces in Vietnam will assert themselves, whatever these forces are,” then there may be hope. Kissinger was not willing to have America fall on its sword when it came to defending the corrupt government of President <a href="http://www.davifo.dk/Nguyen_Van_Thieu.htm%20" type="external">Nguyen Van Thieu</a> in Saigon. Nor should Obama commit America to defend to the death the nonviable government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in Baghdad. What is required is a “decent interval” in which America provides Iraq with a window of opportunity for the “real forces in Iraq” to assert themselves, “whatever these forces are.”</p>
<p />
<p>The “surge” of American military forces into Iraq that occurred in 2007-2008 has run its course. However fleeting the stability engendered by this action proves to be, the fact is, from an American domestic political imperative, one can point to a statistical improvement in terms of fewer American and Iraqi casualties. A political case can be made that a condition has been created which will allow for gradual “Iraqification,” similar to Nixon’s <a href="http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/VNvietnamization.htm" type="external">“Vietnamization”</a> efforts in the 1970s, in which the government in Baghdad assumes a greater responsibility for its own security. U.S. military planners must not fall victim to the fantasy of a perfect solution for Iraq, since the reality is that whatever solution emerges will have little to do with American military efforts and everything to do with the political realities of Iraq after the end of American occupation. All that is needed is a “decent interval” in which the perception of an American-induced stability catches hold among the American people, and by extension, American politicians.</p>
<p>I stated in 2003 that because the American invasion of Iraq had more to do with domestic politics than it did with genuine national security, America would be in Iraq for two to three national political cycles, for a total of eight to 12 years. I stand by that assessment today. Congress is on the cusp of being able to turn its back on Iraq. However, there are many members of Congress (representatives and senators alike) who have invested considerable political capital in supporting the Iraq conflict. To them, Iraq represents a domestic political problem. Therefore it is imperative that, however Obama chooses to couch the withdrawal of American forces from Iraq, he throws the “peace with honor” crowd a bone — even if everyone recognizes that all America wants is to buy time for a full disengagement before the Maliki government collapses, just as the Thieu government collapsed a mere two years after the last American forces departed South Vietnam.If this advice sounds defeatist, it is. There is no way to spin the reality that America will not “win” the war in Iraq. All we can hope for is to recognize the fact that the decision to invade was in truth more about empowering a neoconservative cabal in American politics than it was about achieving lasting change in the Middle East. “Regional transformation,” long the battle cry of those in the Bush administration who sought American global hegemony, was a smoke screen that used national security issues to achieve domestic political dominance.</p>
<p>Now that the American people have spoken, and Barack Obama has won the American presidency, it is time to reject with finality the policies of the neoconservative ideologues who got us into Iraq and embrace instead a new direction which has America working multilaterally to achieve a model of global cooperation based on genuine peace and stability, as opposed to one built on unilateral coercion and violence. If a policy seeking a “decent interval” permits American forces to be withdrawn from Iraq, achieving “peace with honor” in the process, then the Vietnam parallel will be most welcome. If it is true that “war in an extension of politics, by other means,” then the converse, in which politics, by any means, is the tool for retracting war, must also be correct.</p>
<p>Let us hope that Obama is able to contain and control the domestic American political environment so that the war in Iraq is “retracted” as soon as possible.</p>
<p>Scott Ritter was a U.N. weapons inspector in Iraq from 1991 to 1998 and is the author of numerous books, including “Iraq Confidential” (Nation Books, 2005).</p>
<p /> | true | 4 | article second part fourpart series explores policy options presidentelect barack obama regarding iran iraq pakistan russia first article iran obama needs carrot less stick ran nov 13 often said iraq vietnam effort compare two wars misguided intellectually dishonest would first concur one never forget carl von clausewitzs maxim war extension politics means every war represents model conflict insofar represents simply forceonforce military engagement important militarypolitical interaction incorporates domestic dynamic involved nations vietnam war simply lost field battle southeast asia iraq war lost deserts middle east american military conflicts never defeated major engagement fact tactically operationally speaking american military dominated battlefield conflicts yet america nation emerged loser united states today come grips reality president george w bushs illconceived military misadventure mesopotamia failed time bring troops home similar understanding 1968 majority americans recognized president lyndon johnsons war escalation represented little death thousand cuts took president richard nixon five years disengage america vietnam attempted escalation based recently consummated status forces agreement governing american military presence iraq us militarily committed baghdad 2011 presidentelect barack obama chooses frame next three years critical terms americas ability truly disengage iraq obama fall victim postulate need obtain victory order preserve american honor likely nightmare iraq continue well past 2011 deadline since goals never met however new president takes page history proceeds iraq henry kissinger nixons leading vietnam policy adviser vietnam agreeing historical process political process real forces vietnam assert whatever forces may hope kissinger willing america fall sword came defending corrupt government president nguyen van thieu saigon obama commit america defend death nonviable government prime minister nouri almaliki baghdad required decent interval america provides iraq window opportunity real forces iraq assert whatever forces surge american military forces iraq occurred 20072008 run course however fleeting stability engendered action proves fact american domestic political imperative one point statistical improvement terms fewer american iraqi casualties political case made condition created allow gradual iraqification similar nixons vietnamization efforts 1970s government baghdad assumes greater responsibility security us military planners must fall victim fantasy perfect solution iraq since reality whatever solution emerges little american military efforts everything political realities iraq end american occupation needed decent interval perception americaninduced stability catches hold among american people extension american politicians stated 2003 american invasion iraq domestic politics genuine national security america would iraq two three national political cycles total eight 12 years stand assessment today congress cusp able turn back iraq however many members congress representatives senators alike invested considerable political capital supporting iraq conflict iraq represents domestic political problem therefore imperative however obama chooses couch withdrawal american forces iraq throws peace honor crowd bone even everyone recognizes america wants buy time full disengagement maliki government collapses thieu government collapsed mere two years last american forces departed south vietnamif advice sounds defeatist way spin reality america win war iraq hope recognize fact decision invade truth empowering neoconservative cabal american politics achieving lasting change middle east regional transformation long battle cry bush administration sought american global hegemony smoke screen used national security issues achieve domestic political dominance american people spoken barack obama american presidency time reject finality policies neoconservative ideologues got us iraq embrace instead new direction america working multilaterally achieve model global cooperation based genuine peace stability opposed one built unilateral coercion violence policy seeking decent interval permits american forces withdrawn iraq achieving peace honor process vietnam parallel welcome true war extension politics means converse politics means tool retracting war must also correct let us hope obama able contain control domestic american political environment war iraq retracted soon possible scott ritter un weapons inspector iraq 1991 1998 author numerous books including iraq confidential nation books 2005 | 599 |
<p>Wednesday, a conservative federal appeals court handed down a 9–6 decision holding that <a href="" type="internal">Texas’ voter ID law violates the Voting Rights Act</a>. It was an unexpected victory for voting rights from an unusual source. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit is, to put it mildly, a court that liberals <a href="" type="internal">typically try to avoid if possible</a>.</p>
<p>Judge Edith Jones, an <a href="" type="internal">especially caustic conservative</a> who Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) once said should be on the Supreme Court, wrote the primary dissent. Her opinion is a revealing window into the American right’s dismissive view of allegations of racial injustice. According to Judge Jones, the gravest injustice in this case isn’t that Texas enacted a law that appears to <a href="" type="internal">serve no purpose other than voter suppression</a>, it is that the lawmakers who enacted this voter suppression law might get tarred as racists.</p>
<p>Jones’ opinion is a window into how even those Republicans with relatively moderate views on race — that is, Republicans who do not share Donald Trump’s penchant for overt appeals to racism — tend to approach questions of racial justice. As Matt Yglesias once wrote, “relatively few conservatives are interested in expressing racist views, but virtually all conservatives are <a href="" type="internal">united in the conviction that anti-racism run amok is ruining the country</a> and almost no conservatives are interested in combating racism.” Yglesias labeled this phenomenon “anti-anti-racism,” and it is the driving force of much of Jones’ opinion. Texas tried to disenfranchise numerous voters, and Jones and the other judges who joined her opinion believe that the biggest problem is political correctness.</p>
<p>Voter ID laws, which require voters to show photo ID at the polls in order to vote, are a common tactic conservative lawmakers use to <a href="" type="internal">shift the electorate rightward</a> — even modest estimates indicate that these laws reduce Democratic candidates’ margins against Republicans by over a percentage point. Though voter ID’s defenders frequently claim these laws are needed to combat voter fraud at the polls, such fraud is virtually non-existent. A two-year investigation conducted by an Iowa Republican elections official, for example, uncovered zero cases of in-person voter fraud. The lead opinion in a Supreme Court case enabling voter ID laws was only able to cite one example of in-person fraud <a href="" type="internal">over the course of 140 years</a>.</p>
<p>The Texas voter ID case, <a href="" type="internal">Veasey v. Abbott</a>, focused on the racial impact of voter ID laws. The Voting Rights Act prohibits voting laws which result “in a denial or abridgement of the right of any citizen… to vote on account of race or color,” and Hispanic and African-American voters are “respectively 195% and 305% more likely than their Anglo peers to lack” voter ID, according to one expert who testified in the case. For this and other reasons, a majority of the Fifth Circuit held that the voter ID law cannot stand under the Voting Rights Act. Judge Jones, along with a handful of her colleagues, disagreed with this conclusion.</p>
<p>She opens her dissenting opinion, however, with outrage at the very notion that someone could think that Texas lawmakers might have intended to discriminate on the basis of race. Though the majority did not conclude outright that the lawmakers who backed this law had discriminatory intent — a question that matters because Texas <a href="" type="internal">could be placed under federal supervision</a> if it did enact a law with such intent — it did order a trial court to reexamine whether the state acted with impermissible racial animus. In response, Jones is livid.</p>
<p>“By keeping [the discriminatory intent] claim alive,” Judge Jones writes, “the majority fans the flames of perniciously irresponsible racial name-calling.” She compares the majority to “Area 51 alien enthusiasts who, lacking any real evidence, espied a vast but clandestine government conspiracy to conceal the ‘truth.’” And she ends with a plea to save the reputations of elected officials who, at best, sought to water down the fundamental right to vote.</p>
<p>“Inflammatory and unsupportable charges of racist motivation poison the political atmosphere and tarnish the images of every legislator, and the Texas Lt. Governor and Governor,” says Judge Jones.</p>
<p>Such charges may be inflammatory, but in this case they are not “unsupportable.” As the majority opinion explains, the drafters of Texas’s voter ID laws and its supporters “were aware of the likely disproportionate effect of the law on minorities, and that they nonetheless passed the bill without adopting a number of proposed ameliorative measures that might have lessened this impact.” One state senator testified that he believes that “the Voting Rights Act has outlived its useful life.” And the record in this case “shows that Texas has a history of justifying voter suppression efforts such as the poll tax and literacy tests with the race-neutral reason of promoting ballot integrity.”</p>
<p>To be sure, the plaintiffs in this case have a difficult road ahead of them when they try to prove that impermissible racial intent animated Texas’ decision to enact this particularly law. Proving ill intent necessarily requires judges and litigants to look into the mind of lawmakers and discern their motivations. That is a difficult task for anyone who lacks extrasensory perception. Judge Jones spends much of her opinion harping on just how difficult it is to provide racially discriminatory intent. She’s right. Such claims are, by their very nature, difficult to win.</p>
<p>Moreover, this case, like many modern voting rights cases, blurs the lines between race and other improper motives. In the Jim Crow South, lawmakers sought to lock African-Americans out of the polls entirely because they did not want black people voting. Even in their most candid moments, however, modern day Republicans do not admit to similar motives for supporting voter ID laws. Pennsylvania’s current House Speaker, Mike Turzai (R), claimed in 2012 that voter ID “ <a href="" type="internal">is gonna allow Governor Romney to win the state of Pennsylvania</a>.” Heritage Foundation president and former Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) admitted that “in the states where they do have voter ID laws <a href="" type="internal">you’ve seen, actually, elections begin to change towards more conservative candidates</a>.” Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-WI) said that “ <a href="" type="internal">photo ID is gonna make a little bit of a difference</a>” in helping a Republican candidate win his state in November.</p>
<p>But notice what these current and former lawmakers are not saying. They are not saying “I support voter ID because it makes it harder for black and Latino voters to cast a ballot.” They are suggesting that they support it because it makes Democrats less likely to cast a ballot.</p>
<p>At the same time, however, American democracy is increasingly polarized along racial lines, and voters of color are increasingly likely to support Democratic candidates. In 2012, for example, President Obama <a href="http://elections.nytimes.com/2012/results/president/exit-polls" type="external">won 93 percent of African-Americans and 71 percent of Latinos</a>. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton could potentially grow Obama’s margins now that the GOP has <a href="" type="internal">nominated an overt racist</a> for the White House.</p>
<p>Race, in other words, can often serve as a proxy for partisan views, an issue that <a href="" type="internal">comes up fairly frequently in redistricting cases</a>. If lawmakers intentionally pack black votes into a few districts in order to minimize those voters’ electoral power, such a racial gerrymander is illegal. And it does not become any more legal because the lawmakers were not actually motivated by white supremacy and were primarily interested in hurting Democrats.</p>
<p>A similar rule could apply in Veasey. That is, if Texas lawmakers knew that the law would have a disproportionate impact on voters of color, and supported it for that very reason because they knew that racial minorities are likely to support Democrats, then that would show a racially discriminatory intent.</p>
<p>But again, to Judge Jones and several of her fellow judges, the worst part of this case isn’t the fact that Texas lawmakers may have intentionally sought to discriminate against African-American voters. Nor is it the fact that these lawmakers almost certainly intended to make it harder for Democratic voters to cast a ballot. For Judge Jones, the worst part of the case is that someone would have the audacity to “poison the political atmosphere” by suggesting that maybe a law that has the effect of locking many people of color out of the polls could have been motivated by racism.</p>
<p>Nor is this unwillingness to even consider the possibility that racism may infect America’s lawmaking unique to Judge Jones and her dissenting colleagues on the Fifth Circuit. Jones’ anti-anti-racism is simply a more virulent strain of the color-blindness that led a majority of the Supreme Court to hold that much of the Voting Rights Act should be gutted because there <a href="" type="internal">simply isn’t enough racism to justify such a law</a>.</p>
<p>And this decision emerged from the more moderate of the two factions struggling to determine the Republican Party’s approach to race. The other is led by the man who addressed a raucous crowd of Republican convention delegates last Thursday, not long after he <a href="" type="internal">claimed Mexican immigrants are “rapists”</a> and that a Mexican-American judge <a href="" type="internal">cannot be trusted to remain impartial</a>.</p> | true | 4 | wednesday conservative federal appeals court handed 96 decision holding texas voter id law violates voting rights act unexpected victory voting rights unusual source united states court appeals fifth circuit put mildly court liberals typically try avoid possible judge edith jones especially caustic conservative sen ted cruz rtx said supreme court wrote primary dissent opinion revealing window american rights dismissive view allegations racial injustice according judge jones gravest injustice case isnt texas enacted law appears serve purpose voter suppression lawmakers enacted voter suppression law might get tarred racists jones opinion window even republicans relatively moderate views race republicans share donald trumps penchant overt appeals racism tend approach questions racial justice matt yglesias wrote relatively conservatives interested expressing racist views virtually conservatives united conviction antiracism run amok ruining country almost conservatives interested combating racism yglesias labeled phenomenon antiantiracism driving force much jones opinion texas tried disenfranchise numerous voters jones judges joined opinion believe biggest problem political correctness voter id laws require voters show photo id polls order vote common tactic conservative lawmakers use shift electorate rightward even modest estimates indicate laws reduce democratic candidates margins republicans percentage point though voter ids defenders frequently claim laws needed combat voter fraud polls fraud virtually nonexistent twoyear investigation conducted iowa republican elections official example uncovered zero cases inperson voter fraud lead opinion supreme court case enabling voter id laws able cite one example inperson fraud course 140 years texas voter id case veasey v abbott focused racial impact voter id laws voting rights act prohibits voting laws result denial abridgement right citizen vote account race color hispanic africanamerican voters respectively 195 305 likely anglo peers lack voter id according one expert testified case reasons majority fifth circuit held voter id law stand voting rights act judge jones along handful colleagues disagreed conclusion opens dissenting opinion however outrage notion someone could think texas lawmakers might intended discriminate basis race though majority conclude outright lawmakers backed law discriminatory intent question matters texas could placed federal supervision enact law intent order trial court reexamine whether state acted impermissible racial animus response jones livid keeping discriminatory intent claim alive judge jones writes majority fans flames perniciously irresponsible racial namecalling compares majority area 51 alien enthusiasts lacking real evidence espied vast clandestine government conspiracy conceal truth ends plea save reputations elected officials best sought water fundamental right vote inflammatory unsupportable charges racist motivation poison political atmosphere tarnish images every legislator texas lt governor governor says judge jones charges may inflammatory case unsupportable majority opinion explains drafters texass voter id laws supporters aware likely disproportionate effect law minorities nonetheless passed bill without adopting number proposed ameliorative measures might lessened impact one state senator testified believes voting rights act outlived useful life record case shows texas history justifying voter suppression efforts poll tax literacy tests raceneutral reason promoting ballot integrity sure plaintiffs case difficult road ahead try prove impermissible racial intent animated texas decision enact particularly law proving ill intent necessarily requires judges litigants look mind lawmakers discern motivations difficult task anyone lacks extrasensory perception judge jones spends much opinion harping difficult provide racially discriminatory intent shes right claims nature difficult win moreover case like many modern voting rights cases blurs lines race improper motives jim crow south lawmakers sought lock africanamericans polls entirely want black people voting even candid moments however modern day republicans admit similar motives supporting voter id laws pennsylvanias current house speaker mike turzai r claimed 2012 voter id gon na allow governor romney win state pennsylvania heritage foundation president former sen jim demint rsc admitted states voter id laws youve seen actually elections begin change towards conservative candidates rep glenn grothman rwi said photo id gon na make little bit difference helping republican candidate win state november notice current former lawmakers saying saying support voter id makes harder black latino voters cast ballot suggesting support makes democrats less likely cast ballot time however american democracy increasingly polarized along racial lines voters color increasingly likely support democratic candidates 2012 example president obama 93 percent africanamericans 71 percent latinos democratic presidential candidate hillary clinton could potentially grow obamas margins gop nominated overt racist white house race words often serve proxy partisan views issue comes fairly frequently redistricting cases lawmakers intentionally pack black votes districts order minimize voters electoral power racial gerrymander illegal become legal lawmakers actually motivated white supremacy primarily interested hurting democrats similar rule could apply veasey texas lawmakers knew law would disproportionate impact voters color supported reason knew racial minorities likely support democrats would show racially discriminatory intent judge jones several fellow judges worst part case isnt fact texas lawmakers may intentionally sought discriminate africanamerican voters fact lawmakers almost certainly intended make harder democratic voters cast ballot judge jones worst part case someone would audacity poison political atmosphere suggesting maybe law effect locking many people color polls could motivated racism unwillingness even consider possibility racism may infect americas lawmaking unique judge jones dissenting colleagues fifth circuit jones antiantiracism simply virulent strain colorblindness led majority supreme court hold much voting rights act gutted simply isnt enough racism justify law decision emerged moderate two factions struggling determine republican partys approach race led man addressed raucous crowd republican convention delegates last thursday long claimed mexican immigrants rapists mexicanamerican judge trusted remain impartial | 872 |
<p>The Independent Foreclosure Review was supposed to be a full and fair investigation of the big banks' foreclosure abuses, and it was trumpeted as the government's largest effort to compensate victimized homeowners.</p>
<p>Federal regulators, who designed the review, forced banks to spend billions to carry it out. Millions of homeowners were eligible and hundreds of thousands submitted claims. But Monday morning, the very regulators who launched the program 18 months ago announced that it had all been a massive mistake and shut it down.</p>
<p>Instead, 10 banks have agreed to pay a total of $3.3 billion in cash to the 3.8 million borrowers who had been eligible for the review. That's an average of around $870 per borrower. But typical of a process that's been characterized by confusion, delays and secrecy, regulators said the details of how the money will be doled out were not yet available.</p>
<p>The headline number for the settlement is $8.5 billion, but that includes $5.2 billion in "credits" the banks will receive for actions they take to avoid foreclosures, such as providing loan modifications. That's very similar to the separate $25 billion settlement reached last year between five banks, 49 states and the federal government. That settlement <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/28/business/foreclosure-deal-gives-banks-credit-for-routine-activities.html?adxnnl=1&amp;adxnnlx=1354723516-feqZr2sGpNkDI5QxtMUkYA&amp;_r=0" type="external">has been criticized</a> for awarding credit to banks for things they were already doing.</p>
<p>Officials from Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, one of the federal regulators that ran the review and negotiated the new settlement, did not say how they arrived at the $3.3 billion in cash. Pressed on this question during a conference call with reporters on Monday, an official would only say, "The best way to think about that is that it was a negotiated amount. It represents an acceleration of payments to consumers that results in more consumers getting more money in a much quicker time frame."</p>
<p>Critics had assailed the original review since it was launched. Regulators required each bank to hire an "independent" consultant to review the case of each eligible homeowner, evaluate if the bank had committed errors or abuses and, if so, determine how much money, up to $125,000, that the bank would have to pay the borrower.</p>
<p>But those consultants turned out to be companies that had other contracts with the banks and so relied on them for business, causing consumer advocates and some members of Congress, among others, <a href="http://www.propublica.org/article/is-bofas-foreclosure-review-really-independent-you-be-the-judge/" type="external">to question how independent</a> the consultants could be.</p>
<p>Fueling suspicion was the fact that <a href="http://www.propublica.org/article/flaws-jeopardize-new-attempt-to-help-homeowners/" type="external">many details</a> of how the banks and the consultants actually worked together were kept secret. Last year, ProPublica published <a href="http://www.propublica.org/article/is-bofas-foreclosure-review-really-independent-you-be-the-judge/" type="external">a series</a> of <a href="http://www.propublica.org/article/doubts-about-independent-foreclosure-review-spread" type="external">articles</a> revealing that the banks' own employees <a href="http://www.propublica.org/article/cheat-sheet-bofa-supplied-default-answers-for-independent-claims-reviewers/" type="external">were heavily involved</a> in the supposedly independent review, calling into question its fundamental integrity.</p>
<p>Regulators dumped the review and struck a deal for two main reasons, OCC officials said on the Monday conference call with journalists. The officials spoke on the condition they not be named.</p>
<p>First, they said, the reviews had taken far too much time. That was great news for the consultants that had been hired by the banks to conduct the reviews, because the banks have paid them more than $1.5 billion. But all that work has not resulted in a single payment to a borrower.</p>
<p>Second, months and perhaps years from now, when the consultants finally finished their work, most borrowers still would not have received compensation. The officials said only 6.5 percent of the case reviews completed so far had produced evidence of harm to the borrower.</p>
<p>Given the flaws in the review, it's questionable whether that rate is "remotely accurate," said Alys Cohen of the National Consumer Law Center. "Because the reviews were flawed," she said, "basing a total settlement number on them would grossly understate the harm and really be an abdication of responsibility on the part of regulators."</p>
<p>Divvying Up the $3.3 Billion</p>
<p>The OCC officials said the details of how the $3.3 billion will be distributed had not been finalized and likely would not be made public for several more weeks. But they outlined the basic approach.</p>
<p>As originally designed, the review identified 13 categories of potential harm and put a price tag on each. For the worst errors, banks would have had to pay victimized borrowers up to $125,000, while for lesser problems they would have had to pay only $1,000 or even no cash compensation at all.</p>
<p>The new settlement will work in a similar way. Each of the 3.8 million homeowners will be placed in categories, they said. The categories would be broadly similar to the ones from the review. For instance, one category might be homeowners who were denied a loan modification and later lost their home to foreclosure. Another might be those who were put in foreclosure, but received a modification and are still in the home.</p>
<p>Each category will have an associated payment. Borrowers who fall in more than one category will receive the highest category payment they qualify for.</p>
<p>As for the amounts borrowers in each category might receive, it will likely range from $125,000 down to a few hundred dollars. Officials said the precise amounts had not yet been decided.</p>
<p>Unlike the original review, no case-by-case effort will be made to sort out who was really the victim of a bank error or abuse and who was not. Instead, basic criteria will be used to assign homeowners to a category, and everyone in the same category will receive the same amount.</p>
<p>The banks themselves will sort all the homeowners into the various categories, the officials said, but regulators will oversee that process. They argued that the banks had no incentive to game the process since the total amount each bank will have to pay out had already been determined. There is no way for a bank to reduce that sum.</p>
<p>495,000 borrowers submitted claims as part of the original review process. Those borrowers will receive a higher payment than borrowers who did not submit a complaint, but the officials would not say how much that would be.</p>
<p>It's unclear when regulators will release the full details of the process, but they did commit to a timeline: Borrowers will be contacted <a href="http://www.occ.gov/news-issuances/news-releases/2013/nr-ia-2013-3.html" type="external">by the end of March</a> with news of their payment amount.</p> | true | 4 | independent foreclosure review supposed full fair investigation big banks foreclosure abuses trumpeted governments largest effort compensate victimized homeowners federal regulators designed review forced banks spend billions carry millions homeowners eligible hundreds thousands submitted claims monday morning regulators launched program 18 months ago announced massive mistake shut instead 10 banks agreed pay total 33 billion cash 38 million borrowers eligible review thats average around 870 per borrower typical process thats characterized confusion delays secrecy regulators said details money doled yet available headline number settlement 85 billion includes 52 billion credits banks receive actions take avoid foreclosures providing loan modifications thats similar separate 25 billion settlement reached last year five banks 49 states federal government settlement criticized awarding credit banks things already officials office comptroller currency one federal regulators ran review negotiated new settlement say arrived 33 billion cash pressed question conference call reporters monday official would say best way think negotiated amount represents acceleration payments consumers results consumers getting money much quicker time frame critics assailed original review since launched regulators required bank hire independent consultant review case eligible homeowner evaluate bank committed errors abuses determine much money 125000 bank would pay borrower consultants turned companies contracts banks relied business causing consumer advocates members congress among others question independent consultants could fueling suspicion fact many details banks consultants actually worked together kept secret last year propublica published series articles revealing banks employees heavily involved supposedly independent review calling question fundamental integrity regulators dumped review struck deal two main reasons occ officials said monday conference call journalists officials spoke condition named first said reviews taken far much time great news consultants hired banks conduct reviews banks paid 15 billion work resulted single payment borrower second months perhaps years consultants finally finished work borrowers still would received compensation officials said 65 percent case reviews completed far produced evidence harm borrower given flaws review questionable whether rate remotely accurate said alys cohen national consumer law center reviews flawed said basing total settlement number would grossly understate harm really abdication responsibility part regulators divvying 33 billion occ officials said details 33 billion distributed finalized likely would made public several weeks outlined basic approach originally designed review identified 13 categories potential harm put price tag worst errors banks would pay victimized borrowers 125000 lesser problems would pay 1000 even cash compensation new settlement work similar way 38 million homeowners placed categories said categories would broadly similar ones review instance one category might homeowners denied loan modification later lost home foreclosure another might put foreclosure received modification still home category associated payment borrowers fall one category receive highest category payment qualify amounts borrowers category might receive likely range 125000 hundred dollars officials said precise amounts yet decided unlike original review casebycase effort made sort really victim bank error abuse instead basic criteria used assign homeowners category everyone category receive amount banks sort homeowners various categories officials said regulators oversee process argued banks incentive game process since total amount bank pay already determined way bank reduce sum 495000 borrowers submitted claims part original review process borrowers receive higher payment borrowers submit complaint officials would say much would unclear regulators release full details process commit timeline borrowers contacted end march news payment amount | 534 |
<p>No health insurance? No problem!&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/92661859@N00/3892962709/"&gt;bitzcelt&lt;/a&gt;/Compfight</p>
<p />
<p>Stephanie Mencimer’s latest <a href="" type="internal">Mother Jones cover story</a> showcased the grim impact tea-party-influenced state lawmakers have had in Florida. Under Gov. Rick Scott, the state rejected billions of dollars in federal funding for any kind of Affordable Care Act-related program, with Scott leading the fight against the expansion of Medicaid coverage for the poor. But Scott’s certainly not the only governor to balk at the idea of making public health insurance more inclusive. In the last month, Govs. Tom Corbett (R-Penn.), Pat McCrory (R-N.C.), and Scott Walker (R-Wis.) announced their states would not be expanding Medicaid to cover more low-income, uninsured residents, and Koch-funded super-PAC Americans for Prosperity <a href="http://www.mainlinemedianews.com/articles/2013/02/10/main_line_suburban_life/opinion/doc51114bba6fade776582782.txt" type="external">expressed its support</a> for a bill introduced in the Pennsylvania Legislature that would reject the expanded Medicaid coverage in state code.</p>
<p>Thirteen state governors are refusing to implement Medicaid expansion, despite the fact that it’s being offered with cherries on top: The Affordable Care Act’s timeline guarantees that the federal government would pay for 100 percent of the expansion in its first three years, tapering down to 90 percent of the paycheck by 2020. According to a recent <a href="http://www.kff.org/medicaid/upload/8384.pdf" type="external">Kaiser Family Foundation report</a>, expanding Medicaid to cover more low-income groups&#160;hovering above&#160;the federal poverty line in all states would cut the number of uninsured by nearly half nationwide, provided other features of the ACA are implemented.</p>
<p>Most of these governors argue the expansion would be too expensive, even though including the poor would only increase these states’ Medicaid spending by an average of 3 percent over the next decade, and taxpayers will be paying for the federal program <a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2012/06/28/medicaid_what_s_the_deal_.html" type="external">anyway</a>. Several of the governors rejecting Medicaid expansion ran for office on anti-Obamacare or tea party platforms, preaching austerity and less federal meddling. Maine’s Gov. Paul LePage, whose state would actually see its portion of Medicaid spending reduced by expanding the program, argued that Maine would not be “complicit in the degradation” of the country’s health care.</p>
<p>Not all GOP governors are rejecting Medicaid expansion—earlier this month, Michigan’s Rick Snyder and Ohio’s John Kasich agreed to let newly eligible groups onto their Medicaid rolls, joining GOP governors from Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, and North Dakota who support the program’s expansion. Pressure for other governors to concede is mounting—even Florida governor Rick Scott <a href="http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/2013/01/scotts-budget-education-health-care-and-prisons.html" type="external">now appears</a> to be keeping the state’s options open. Update, 6:55 p.m. EST: Scott just announced that he will be supporting Medicaid expansion in Florida, <a href="http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/gov-rick-scott-feds-reach-medicaid-deal/1275937" type="external">reports the Tampa Bay Times</a>. The announcement came hours after the federal government agreed it would allow the state to privatize the service through a state managed care plan.</p>
<p>Here are the players still holding out:</p>
<p />
<p>Robert Bentley (R-Ala.)</p>
<p>When it comes to the Affordable Care Act, Bentley did not mince words: “It is, in my opinion, truly the worst piece of legislation that has ever been passed in my lifetime,” the governor said at a <a href="http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2012/11/gov_robert_bentley_alabama_health_care_exchange.html" type="external">luncheon last year</a>. After last year’s presidential elections, Bentley also announced he would not be supporting Medicaid expansion—a move that would add more than 300,000 Alabama residents to Medicaid rolls, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation report. Like his fellow Republican governors, Bentley cited the costliness of covering the poor as the reason he was opposed (expanding Medicaid coverage would cost the state some $771 million), but researchers at the <a href="http://c.%09http://www.uab.edu/news/latest/item/2970-medicaid-expansion-could-mean-1-billion-gain-for-alabama" type="external">University of Alabama-Birmingham</a> found that opening the program to more low-income groups would actually generate $1.7 billion in state tax revenue over the decade it’s implemented, in addition to $20 billion in new income.</p>
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<p>Nathan Deal (R-Ga.)</p>
<p>Georgia has the <a href="http://cber.cba.ua.edu/edata/est_prj/Small%20Area%20Health%20Insurance%20Estimates%20for%20States,%202010.xlsx" type="external">fifth-highest rate of uninsured residents</a> in the country, and expanding its Medicaid program would accommodate 698,000 new Medicaid enrollees, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. A report from <a href="" type="external">Harvard Law School</a> reveals that Georgia—like Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, North and South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas—also has one of the highest rates of new and existing AIDS cases, along with the worst outcomes nationwide, in part because the poor aren’t able to access treatment through the state’s strict Medicaid eligibility requirements.</p>
<p />
<p>Butch Otter (R-Idaho)</p>
<p>In July 2012, Otter appointed <a href="http://www.boiseweekly.com/CityDesk/archives/2012/07/14/gov-otter-appoints-obamacare-working-groups-to-study-potential-effects" type="external">a 14-member committee</a> to weigh the pros and cons of expanding Medicaid coverage to more of Idaho’s poor. In November, the panel <a href="http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2012/nov/09/idaho-panel-unanimously-favors-medicaid-expansion/" type="external">unanimously agreed</a> that the state should accept expansion, arguing that this reform would save the state the money it bleeds in the state-funded ER costs its uninsured residents can’t pay. But in 2013, the governor announced Idaho would not be pursuing Medicaid expansion—despite the fact that the state would only have to spend $261 million to cover up to roughly 100,000 newly eligible Idahoans, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/07/idaho-medicaid-obamacare-governor_n_2426983.html" type="external">receiving $3.7 billion</a> from the federal government over 10 years.</p>
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<p>Bobby Jindal (R-La.)</p>
<p>One of the most outspoken critics of Medicaid expansion, Jindal published <a href="http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-01-28/opinions/36594805_1_eligibility-medicaid-employer-sponsored-coverage" type="external">an op-ed</a> in the Washington Post in January challenging the president to meet with the Republican governors who would prefer to keep Medicaid coverage “flexible,” i.e., thin. With <a href="http://cber.cba.ua.edu/edata/est_prj/Small%20Area%20Health%20Insurance%20Estimates%20for%20States,%202010.xlsx" type="external">more than 20 percent</a> of its residents uninsured, Louisiana has one of the highest proportions of uninsured in the country, compounded by the fact that the state also maintains some of the nation’s tightest Medicaid eligibility requirements.</p>
<p>Hospitals and Democratic lawmakers alike have lobbied Jindal to change his mind—last December, Sen. Mary Landrieu pointed out <a href="http://www.landrieu.senate.gov/?p=press_release&amp;id=3482" type="external">in a letter to Jindal</a> that Medicaid expansion could actually save the state some $267 million in unpaid care costs. “I know from your many speeches across the nation during the recent Presidential campaign your steadfast opposition to the Affordable care act,” Landrieu wrote. “However, the election is over.”</p>
<p />
<p>Paul LePage (R-Maine)</p>
<p>Uncompensated care in Maine hospitals <a href="http://www.pressherald.com/news/states-hospitals-double-free-care-over-five-years-_2012-05-07.html" type="external">has doubled</a> over the past five years, according to a 2012 report from the Portland Press Herald. The state is also one of 10 identified by the Kaiser Family Foundation that would see direct savings from implementing Medicaid expansion, as the federal government would pay more for those currently eligible for the program. But last year, LePage announced that Maine would not be expanding its Medicaid program, <a href="http://content.govdelivery.com/bulletins/gd/MEGOV-5cfe96" type="external">writing in a letter</a> to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius: “Maine will not be complicit in the degradation of our nation’s premier health care system.”</p>
<p />
<p>Phil Bryant (R-Miss.)</p>
<p>“As governor, I will fight to protect our future,” Bryant <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/oct/1/the-truth-about-obamacare-in-mississippi-taxpayers/?page=all" type="external">wrote in an op-ed</a> in the Washington Times last October. “And that means that I will resist any effort to expand Medicaid in this state.”</p>
<p>Arguing that Medicaid expansion could result in 1 in 3 Mississippians having Medicaid health insurance, Bryant said he’d rather have 1 in 3 residents “earn health care coverage through good-paying jobs.” He <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/oct/1/the-truth-about-obamacare-in-mississippi-taxpayers/?page=all" type="external">also stressed</a> personal responsibility, exercise, diet, and his own crusade to end teen pregnancy—via <a href="http://msdh.ms.gov/msdhsite/_static/resources/4696.pdf" type="external">abstinence education programs</a>. Mississippi has the eighth-highest rate of uninsured people in the country, and, according to Kaiser Family Foundation, some 231,000 Mississippians would newly enroll in Medicaid if expanded. Some state legislators are still hoping to discuss the idea of growing the program through a state Senate bill <a href="http://www.cdispatch.com/news/article.asp?aid=22055&amp;TRID=1&amp;TID=" type="external">reauthorizing Medicaid</a>.</p>
<p />
<p>Pat McCrory (R-N.C.)</p>
<p>Last week, McCrory announced he would be throwing his weight behind a bill <a href="http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/02/12/2675166/mccrory-gop-plan-to-stop-nc-medicaid.html" type="external">that would reject Medicaid expansion</a> in his state. “It would be unfair to the taxpayers, unfair to the citizens currently receiving Medicaid and unfair to create a new bureaucracy to implement the system,” McCrory <a href="http://www.wral.com/mccrory-backs-bill-to-stop-medicaid-expansion/12095491/" type="external">said Tuesday</a>. Roughly <a href="http://www.mountainx.com/article/42091/New-figures-show-percentage-of-N.C.s-uninsured-by-county-demographics" type="external">1.6 million</a> North Carolinians are uninsured, and the Kaiser Family Foundation estimates that more than 500,000 residents would enroll if the state extended more coverage to the poor.</p>
<p />
<p>Mary Fallin (R-Okla.)</p>
<p>While Fallin, like other governors, cited costs as one reason to abstain from Medicaid expansion, the <a href="http://okpolicy.org/medicaid-expansion-ok-policys-letter-to-leadership" type="external">Oklahoma Policy Institute</a>, a nonpartisan think tank, argued that the net gain of Medicaid expansion would be positive, with costs “likely to be largely or fully offset by budget savings” in other state agencies like the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. The <a href="http://www.cbpp.org/wp-content/uploads/healthtoolkit2012/Oklahoma.pdf" type="external">Center on Budget and Policy Priorities</a> estimates that 225,000 Oklahomans would be newly eligible for expanded Medicaid, and that the state would spend between $549 to $789 million on the expanded program in its first six years.</p>
<p />
<p>Tom Corbett (R-Pa.)</p>
<p>“Washington is asking us to expand Medicaid as part of the Affordable Care Act without any clear guidance or reasonable assurances,” Corbett <a href="http://articles.mcall.com/2013-02-05/news/mc-pa-tom-corbett-budget-speech-20130205_1_work-ethic-new-jobs-business-leaders/5" type="external">told Pennsylvania state legislators</a> during his budget address on February 5. “It would be financially unsustainable for the taxpayers, and I cannot recommend a dramatic Medicaid expansion.”</p>
<p>Corbett, who <a href="http://blogs.philadelphiaweekly.com/phillynow/2012/06/28/in-blow-to-gov-tom-corbett-health-care-law-ruled-constitutional/" type="external">helped file a lawsuit against the ACA</a> while he was state attorney general and running for governor in 2010, is up for reelection in 2014—though only 31 percent of the state thinks he deserves another shot, according to a recent <a href="http://www.politicspa.com/quinnipiac-poll-gender-gap-sinks-corbett-numbers/45656/" type="external">Quinnipiac University poll</a>. The rate of uninsured residents in Philadelphia and surrounding counties <a href="http://f.%09http://www.philly.com/philly/health/20130208_Uninsured_S_E__Pennsylvanians_have_nearly_doubled_since_2000_-_survey.html" type="external">has doubled</a> in a little over a decade, and Medicaid expansion would enroll more than half a million newly eligible Pennsylvanians for the program’s coverage.</p>
<p />
<p>Nikki Haley (R-S.C.)</p>
<p>Like Rick Scott, Haley was swept into office on a tide of tea party fervor. In July of 2012, she announced <a href="http://charleston.thedigitel.com/politics/nikki-haley-south-carolina-will-not-expand-medicai-39774-0702" type="external">on Facebook</a> that South Carolina would not expand its Medicaid program, though, like several of the other states on this list, South Carolina has one of the higher proportions of uninsured in the country, with <a href="http://cber.cba.ua.edu/edata/est_prj/Small%20Area%20Health%20Insurance%20Estimates%20for%20States,%202010.xlsx" type="external">more than 20 percent of its population</a> lacking health care coverage.</p>
<p />
<p>Dennis Daugaard (R-S.D.)</p>
<p>Parents of Medicaid-eligible kids who earn more than $9,936 a year <a href="http://dss.sd.gov/medicaleligibility/familieschildren/lifincomeguidelines.asp" type="external">make too much</a> to qualify for South Dakota Medicaid.&#160;But Daugaard opposes expanding Medicaid to cover more of the state’s uninsured adults, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/05/dennis-daugaard-obamacare-rejects-medicaid_n_2244970.html" type="external">explaining</a> to one local radio station: “I want to stress that these are able-bodied adults. They’re not disabled: We already cover the disabled. They’re not children: We already cover children. These are adults—all of them.” According to a <a href="http://www.kff.org/medicaid/upload/8384.pdf" type="external">2012 Kaiser Family Foundation analysis</a>, accepting Medicaid expansion would enroll some new 44,000 South Dakotans for Medicaid coverage, and cost the state a 3.6 percent increase in its Medicaid expenditure over ten years.</p>
<p />
<p>Rick Perry (R-Texas)</p>
<p>Perry, like Scott and Jindal, has been an early expansion naysayer, though his state has <a href="http://cber.cba.ua.edu/edata/est_prj/Small%20Area%20Health%20Insurance%20Estimates%20for%20States,%202010.xlsx" type="external">the highest rate of uninsured in the nation</a>. “To expand this program is not unlike adding a thousand people to the Titanic,” he told <a href="http://video.foxnews.com/v/1727297292001/gov-rick-perry-responds-to-obamacare-ruling/" type="external">Fox News</a> in July of 2012. Perry argued that expanding Medicaid coverage would bankrupt the state, though by investing $15 billion in the expansion, Texas <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/2013/02/04/agenda-texas-medicaid-expansion/" type="external">would receive $100 billion</a> in federal funding and cover 1.8 million newly enrolled residents under the program.</p>
<p />
<p>Scott Walker (R-Wis.)</p>
<p>Wisconsin’s tea party governor is the latest to join the anti-Medicaid expansion crew, but is also advocating a novel approach: Instead of expanding his state’s Medicaid coverage, which already covered low-income individuals up to 200 percent of the federal poverty line (with an enrollment limit), Walker would hike that Medicaid eligibility back to 100 percent of the FPL, remove the enrollment limit, and set up a health exchange to provide private insurance to other low income groups. As the Washington Post‘s Sarah Kliff points out, this means that Wisconsin <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/02/13/can-wisconsin-expand-coverage-without-medicaid-governor-walker-thinks-so/" type="external">will be turning down</a> the federal government’s offer to pay for new Medicaid enrollees.</p>
<p>This article has been revised.</p>
<p /> | true | 4 | health insurance problemlta hrefhttpwwwflickrcomphotos92661859n003892962709gtbitzceltltagtcompfight stephanie mencimers latest mother jones cover story showcased grim impact teapartyinfluenced state lawmakers florida gov rick scott state rejected billions dollars federal funding kind affordable care actrelated program scott leading fight expansion medicaid coverage poor scotts certainly governor balk idea making public health insurance inclusive last month govs tom corbett rpenn pat mccrory rnc scott walker rwis announced states would expanding medicaid cover lowincome uninsured residents kochfunded superpac americans prosperity expressed support bill introduced pennsylvania legislature would reject expanded medicaid coverage state code thirteen state governors refusing implement medicaid expansion despite fact offered cherries top affordable care acts timeline guarantees federal government would pay 100 percent expansion first three years tapering 90 percent paycheck 2020 according recent kaiser family foundation report expanding medicaid cover lowincome groups160hovering above160the federal poverty line states would cut number uninsured nearly half nationwide provided features aca implemented governors argue expansion would expensive even though including poor would increase states medicaid spending average 3 percent next decade taxpayers paying federal program anyway several governors rejecting medicaid expansion ran office antiobamacare tea party platforms preaching austerity less federal meddling maines gov paul lepage whose state would actually see portion medicaid spending reduced expanding program argued maine would complicit degradation countrys health care gop governors rejecting medicaid expansionearlier month michigans rick snyder ohios john kasich agreed let newly eligible groups onto medicaid rolls joining gop governors arizona nevada new mexico north dakota support programs expansion pressure governors concede mountingeven florida governor rick scott appears keeping states options open update 655 pm est scott announced supporting medicaid expansion florida reports tampa bay times announcement came hours federal government agreed would allow state privatize service state managed care plan players still holding robert bentley rala comes affordable care act bentley mince words opinion truly worst piece legislation ever passed lifetime governor said luncheon last year last years presidential elections bentley also announced would supporting medicaid expansiona move would add 300000 alabama residents medicaid rolls according kaiser family foundation report like fellow republican governors bentley cited costliness covering poor reason opposed expanding medicaid coverage would cost state 771 million researchers university alabamabirmingham found opening program lowincome groups would actually generate 17 billion state tax revenue decade implemented addition 20 billion new income nathan deal rga georgia fifthhighest rate uninsured residents country expanding medicaid program would accommodate 698000 new medicaid enrollees according kaiser family foundation report harvard law school reveals georgialike alabama florida louisiana mississippi north south carolina tennessee texasalso one highest rates new existing aids cases along worst outcomes nationwide part poor arent able access treatment states strict medicaid eligibility requirements butch otter ridaho july 2012 otter appointed 14member committee weigh pros cons expanding medicaid coverage idahos poor november panel unanimously agreed state accept expansion arguing reform would save state money bleeds statefunded er costs uninsured residents cant pay 2013 governor announced idaho would pursuing medicaid expansiondespite fact state would spend 261 million cover roughly 100000 newly eligible idahoans receiving 37 billion federal government 10 years bobby jindal rla one outspoken critics medicaid expansion jindal published oped washington post january challenging president meet republican governors would prefer keep medicaid coverage flexible ie thin 20 percent residents uninsured louisiana one highest proportions uninsured country compounded fact state also maintains nations tightest medicaid eligibility requirements hospitals democratic lawmakers alike lobbied jindal change mindlast december sen mary landrieu pointed letter jindal medicaid expansion could actually save state 267 million unpaid care costs know many speeches across nation recent presidential campaign steadfast opposition affordable care act landrieu wrote however election paul lepage rmaine uncompensated care maine hospitals doubled past five years according 2012 report portland press herald state also one 10 identified kaiser family foundation would see direct savings implementing medicaid expansion federal government would pay currently eligible program last year lepage announced maine would expanding medicaid program writing letter health human services secretary kathleen sebelius maine complicit degradation nations premier health care system phil bryant rmiss governor fight protect future bryant wrote oped washington times last october means resist effort expand medicaid state arguing medicaid expansion could result 1 3 mississippians medicaid health insurance bryant said hed rather 1 3 residents earn health care coverage goodpaying jobs also stressed personal responsibility exercise diet crusade end teen pregnancyvia abstinence education programs mississippi eighthhighest rate uninsured people country according kaiser family foundation 231000 mississippians would newly enroll medicaid expanded state legislators still hoping discuss idea growing program state senate bill reauthorizing medicaid pat mccrory rnc last week mccrory announced would throwing weight behind bill would reject medicaid expansion state would unfair taxpayers unfair citizens currently receiving medicaid unfair create new bureaucracy implement system mccrory said tuesday roughly 16 million north carolinians uninsured kaiser family foundation estimates 500000 residents would enroll state extended coverage poor mary fallin rokla fallin like governors cited costs one reason abstain medicaid expansion oklahoma policy institute nonpartisan think tank argued net gain medicaid expansion would positive costs likely largely fully offset budget savings state agencies like department mental health substance abuse services center budget policy priorities estimates 225000 oklahomans would newly eligible expanded medicaid state would spend 549 789 million expanded program first six years tom corbett rpa washington asking us expand medicaid part affordable care act without clear guidance reasonable assurances corbett told pennsylvania state legislators budget address february 5 would financially unsustainable taxpayers recommend dramatic medicaid expansion corbett helped file lawsuit aca state attorney general running governor 2010 reelection 2014though 31 percent state thinks deserves another shot according recent quinnipiac university poll rate uninsured residents philadelphia surrounding counties doubled little decade medicaid expansion would enroll half million newly eligible pennsylvanians programs coverage nikki haley rsc like rick scott haley swept office tide tea party fervor july 2012 announced facebook south carolina would expand medicaid program though like several states list south carolina one higher proportions uninsured country 20 percent population lacking health care coverage dennis daugaard rsd parents medicaideligible kids earn 9936 year make much qualify south dakota medicaid160but daugaard opposes expanding medicaid cover states uninsured adults explaining one local radio station want stress ablebodied adults theyre disabled already cover disabled theyre children already cover children adultsall according 2012 kaiser family foundation analysis accepting medicaid expansion would enroll new 44000 south dakotans medicaid coverage cost state 36 percent increase medicaid expenditure ten years rick perry rtexas perry like scott jindal early expansion naysayer though state highest rate uninsured nation expand program unlike adding thousand people titanic told fox news july 2012 perry argued expanding medicaid coverage would bankrupt state though investing 15 billion expansion texas would receive 100 billion federal funding cover 18 million newly enrolled residents program scott walker rwis wisconsins tea party governor latest join antimedicaid expansion crew also advocating novel approach instead expanding states medicaid coverage already covered lowincome individuals 200 percent federal poverty line enrollment limit walker would hike medicaid eligibility back 100 percent fpl remove enrollment limit set health exchange provide private insurance low income groups washington posts sarah kliff points means wisconsin turning federal governments offer pay new medicaid enrollees article revised | 1,172 |
<p>A high ranking official in government was quoted some time ago on the political marriage of public relations and governmental control regarding the ‘rule of law.’&#160; Simply put, this official flatly stated that…</p>
<p>“It is the absolute right of the state to supervise the formation of public opinion.”&#160; (author name withheld until the end of this article)</p>
<p>In direct opposition to this politically incestuous arrangement, a rather infamous political activist gave a different viewpoint on the role of government, police and constitutional freedoms.&#160; In the language of a true revolutionary he claimed that…</p>
<p>“The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government.” (author name temporarily withheld)</p>
<p>Both quotes have a direct relation to a case coming to trial in St. Louis, which began last summer during the media circus otherwise known as the ‘healthcare town hall meetings.’&#160; Mainstream coverage of these events featured angry people in school auditoriums screaming about the healthcare crisis in America.&#160; In St. Louis, US Congressman Russ Carnahan held such a meeting in the heart of St. Louis County, 3rd district.</p>
<p>Activists from the Tea Party Movement were present in droves alongside more progressive groups such as Healthcare NOW, Democracy For America and union groups representing healthcare workers, primarily the SEIU, local #1.</p>
<p>Put bluntly the demographics favored the Tea Party, with the crowd being majority white and a small group of African-American individuals.&#160; This description is relevant in terms of the history of St. Louis, a history rich in institutional racism and police abuse.&#160; This is the city of Dred Scott.&#160; The underground railroad goes through the heart of downtown, and slaves were openly sold on the steps of the ‘old courthouse.’&#160; Housing patterns still follow racially segregated lines.&#160; True to form, this crowd included vendors selling political memorabilia, including ‘don’t tread on me,’ flags and buttons with President Obama’s image in minstrel white- face, or with the president smoking dope.&#160; Ironically, these trinkets were being offered by an African-American man named Kenneth Gladney, who is a self-avowed ‘black conservative.’</p>
<p>Another African-American man, Reverend Elston McGowan, was offended by these materials.&#160; So were his SEIU colleagues (McGowan is an SEIU official for Local #1), and several friends including Mr. Brian Matthews and Ms. Javonne Spitz.</p>
<p>By the end of the day, Reverend McGowan, Perry Molens (another SEIU member), Brian Matthews and Javonne Spitz were arrested on charges ranging from 3rd degree assault, resisting arrest and ‘interfering with police officer.’&#160; In addition, St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter Jake Wagman was also arrested for ‘resisting arrest,’ and ‘INTERFERING WITH POLICE OFFICER.’&#160; Wagman’s sole crime was attempting to cover the altercations and confusion of the day.</p>
<p>In short, McGowan and Gladney got into a verbal sparring match over Gladney’s inflammatory materials.&#160; Multiple people began to yell and both men separated.&#160; Later in the evening, McGowan and Gladney argued again, and in a YouTube video, a scuffle ensued.&#160; Frankly, I’ve seen two 8 year old boys fight better.&#160; From the video, McGowan is on the ground being kicked and Gladney is up and about. Gladney is the African-American man in the beige shirt looking quite able bodied.&#160; The <a href="http://stlactivisthub.com/proof-gladneys-attorney-is-lying.html" type="external">videos</a> being circulated on the web are so visually confusing that the evidence of wrongdoing is inconclusive.</p>
<p>Ms. Spitz attempted to photograph police behavior and was ordered to stop.&#160; She continued and was threatened with arrest, and after another verbal threat by county police was thrown on the ground, maced and cuffed.&#160; Police obviously felt threatened by Spitz, all 4 feet, 9 inches of her.&#160; <a href="" type="internal">Here</a> is the video. Matthews came to her assistance, attempting to clarify the situation and was forced face first on the ground and cuffed.&#160; Wagman was arrested for covering the events, even though he was cooperating with police.&#160; When asked to back away, Wagman complied, but was eventually arrested for the crime of journalism.&#160; It should be noted that many Tea Party members were also photographing events and none of the tea party members were arrested.&#160; They were listed as ‘witnesses.’ In fact, ironically, &#160;most of the You Tube videos documenting police abuse were taken by Tea Party activists, again, none of whom were arrested. When the police report was obtained, some of the witnesses’ last names were blacked out.</p>
<p>Just on the facts, St. Louis County Prosecutor Patricia Redington must know she has no case.&#160; In the event she is unsure, I’ll outline the problems:</p>
<p>The YouTube videos, the only concrete and impartial evidence—are inconclusive. The videos are so difficult to view that no evidence of guilt is clearly visible, other than the guilt of county police arresting people for constitutionally protected actions such as taking photos.</p>
<p>Police bias enters the picture.&#160; Differential treatment for the same actions has not been addressed.&#160; None of the Tea Party activists were arrested, though they photographed police in action, and they participated in a verbal mob attack…only those who were clearly identified as SEIU union members or progressive healthcare activists were targeted.</p>
<p>Between the videos which are inconclusive in terms of assessing any logical timeline of events (much less guilt), and the use of ‘hearsay’ accusations in a racially tainted crowd—the police had no legitimate grounds to single out either side for arrest.&#160; Either both parties should have been arrested or no one.</p>
<p>Gladney, though African-American himself, was dispensing racially inflammatory materials.&#160; This is similar to yelling fire in a crowded theater.&#160; These materials were designed to incite a riot.&#160; Ironically, Gladney wanted to pursue ‘hate crimes’ charges against Reverend McGowan, also African-American.</p>
<p>Most importantly, Redington is also pursuing charges against a journalist for ‘interfering with police officer.’&#160; This particular charge has been cited as a slick maneuver to use the anti-wiretapping statutes thinly disguised as this overly vague term.&#160; Politically motivated prosecutors love this vague ‘interference’ term, as it appears to give legal cover, should the civil rights advocates win the next set of elections.&#160; Its politically something like ‘being a little bit pregnant.’</p>
<p>As described in multiple articles by the&#160; legal scholar Jonathan Turley, police and prosecutors around the nation are using a politically convenient misinterpretation of wiretapping statutes.&#160; In some states it is now illegal to film a police officer in public without permission.&#160; Turley has condemned such misinterpretation as …”utter nonsense,” and further stipulates that …”these laws were never intended to stop photographing public officials in public doing public functions.” Can you imagine more Rodney King type beatings and no video proof?&#160; Turley has soundly condemned this practice as an unconstitutional and unethical breach of our rights.</p>
<p>Brian Matthews, one of those arrested (charges were dropped due to video evidence), reported that the entire police swarm of arrests began when St. Louis County Police noticed some individuals taking photos of Reverend McGowan lying on the ground hurt.&#160; To quote Matthews;</p>
<p>“The police on the scene were allowing people to mill around observing, but became hostile when we took pictures of them surrounding an obviously injured black man.&#160; That is when the situation escalated and the threats of arrest for ‘interfering’ began.”</p>
<p>Again, none of the Tea Party activists were arrested for filming the very same thing.</p>
<p>Reverend McGowan is going to pre-trial conference July 13.&#160; Redington has pursued the charges as the officers wrote them.&#160; In viewing this strangely insane case, a pattern emerges which coincides with a growing national problem.&#160; All over the country, people are being brutalized and arrested by police for using their right to dissent.&#160; Specifically, videographers capturing police in the process of abusing minorities, women, children, multiple ‘Rodney King’ Kodak moments—are arresting them for recording these public abuses and posting them for all to see.&#160; These are the unofficial ‘journalists’ witnessing police and prosecutorial abuse.&#160; They are increasingly facing political prosecutions designed to silence any dissent in an ever expanding police state.&#160; Wagman and Spitz’s arrests and eventual prosecution are the tip of the iceberg.</p>
<p>Just this past March, a 25 year old staff sergeant for the Maryland Air National Guard, Anthony Graber, was pulled aside for speeding on his motorcycle.&#160; He had a habit of securing a camera on top of his helmet to gain action photos of his ride.&#160; A week later, Graber posted the ticket encounter on You Tube.&#160; April 8, Graber was arrested in his parent’s home during a raid in Abingdon, Md., in front of his wife and 2 young children.&#160; It turns out that prosecutors obtained a grand jury indictment charging him with violating state wiretapping laws, by taping the officer without his consent.&#160; He faces 16 years in prison if found guilty.</p>
<p>This trend of police and prosecutorial abuse must stop.&#160; Regardless of where you stand on the political spectrum—all of us have the right of dissent.&#160; In a era of mainstream corporate media&#160; self-censoring, with ‘embedded’ journalists acting as stenographers for war hawks, a vibrant though undisciplined alternative media has risen.&#160; Without a vigorous press witnessing and questioning those in power; our Bill of Rights is &#160;nothing more than toilet paper.&#160; Video evidence is critical to maintaining our rights in an ever growing police state silencing dissent in the name of ‘security.’&#160; It would be wrong to solely blame the police in this pattern of abusive behavior.&#160; We have to seriously investigate prosecutorial abuse of power and what appear to be ‘political prosecutions,’ across the nation.&#160; Whether it’s Boston, St. Louis or ‘Mayberry;’ behind the manicured lawns is an ugly, undemocratic underbelly.&#160; The politically vague term, ‘INTERFERING WITH AN OFFICER,’ is the smoking gun.&#160; It has no place in a true democracy.</p>
<p>For those of you still curious about the earlier quotes; here are the sources:</p>
<p>“It is the absolute right of the state to supervise the formation of public opinion.”&#160; ( Nazi Propagandist,&#160; Joseph Goebbels).</p>
<p>“The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government.” (Patrick Henry).</p>
<p>I agree with Patrick Henry.&#160; I wonder which side Redington and the other prosecutors will favor.&#160; Only time, public pressure, and a conscience—will tell.</p>
<p>NOTE: Since this writing, Reverend McGowan’s pre-trial conference has been postponed and rescheduled to July 13.</p>
<p>JEANINE MOLLOFF can be reached at <a href="mailto:jeaninemolloff@yahoo.com" type="external">jeaninemolloff@yahoo.com</a></p>
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<p /> | true | 4 | high ranking official government quoted time ago political marriage public relations governmental control regarding rule law160 simply put official flatly stated absolute right state supervise formation public opinion160 author name withheld end article direct opposition politically incestuous arrangement rather infamous political activist gave different viewpoint role government police constitutional freedoms160 language true revolutionary claimed constitution instrument government restrain people instrument people restrain government author name temporarily withheld quotes direct relation case coming trial st louis began last summer media circus otherwise known healthcare town hall meetings160 mainstream coverage events featured angry people school auditoriums screaming healthcare crisis america160 st louis us congressman russ carnahan held meeting heart st louis county 3rd district activists tea party movement present droves alongside progressive groups healthcare democracy america union groups representing healthcare workers primarily seiu local 1 put bluntly demographics favored tea party crowd majority white small group africanamerican individuals160 description relevant terms history st louis history rich institutional racism police abuse160 city dred scott160 underground railroad goes heart downtown slaves openly sold steps old courthouse160 housing patterns still follow racially segregated lines160 true form crowd included vendors selling political memorabilia including dont tread flags buttons president obamas image minstrel white face president smoking dope160 ironically trinkets offered africanamerican man named kenneth gladney selfavowed black conservative another africanamerican man reverend elston mcgowan offended materials160 seiu colleagues mcgowan seiu official local 1 several friends including mr brian matthews ms javonne spitz end day reverend mcgowan perry molens another seiu member brian matthews javonne spitz arrested charges ranging 3rd degree assault resisting arrest interfering police officer160 addition st louis postdispatch reporter jake wagman also arrested resisting arrest interfering police officer160 wagmans sole crime attempting cover altercations confusion day short mcgowan gladney got verbal sparring match gladneys inflammatory materials160 multiple people began yell men separated160 later evening mcgowan gladney argued youtube video scuffle ensued160 frankly ive seen two 8 year old boys fight better160 video mcgowan ground kicked gladney gladney africanamerican man beige shirt looking quite able bodied160 videos circulated web visually confusing evidence wrongdoing inconclusive ms spitz attempted photograph police behavior ordered stop160 continued threatened arrest another verbal threat county police thrown ground maced cuffed160 police obviously felt threatened spitz 4 feet 9 inches her160 video matthews came assistance attempting clarify situation forced face first ground cuffed160 wagman arrested covering events even though cooperating police160 asked back away wagman complied eventually arrested crime journalism160 noted many tea party members also photographing events none tea party members arrested160 listed witnesses fact ironically 160most tube videos documenting police abuse taken tea party activists none arrested police report obtained witnesses last names blacked facts st louis county prosecutor patricia redington must know case160 event unsure ill outline problems youtube videos concrete impartial evidenceare inconclusive videos difficult view evidence guilt clearly visible guilt county police arresting people constitutionally protected actions taking photos police bias enters picture160 differential treatment actions addressed160 none tea party activists arrested though photographed police action participated verbal mob attackonly clearly identified seiu union members progressive healthcare activists targeted videos inconclusive terms assessing logical timeline events much less guilt use hearsay accusations racially tainted crowdthe police legitimate grounds single either side arrest160 either parties arrested one gladney though africanamerican dispensing racially inflammatory materials160 similar yelling fire crowded theater160 materials designed incite riot160 ironically gladney wanted pursue hate crimes charges reverend mcgowan also africanamerican importantly redington also pursuing charges journalist interfering police officer160 particular charge cited slick maneuver use antiwiretapping statutes thinly disguised overly vague term160 politically motivated prosecutors love vague interference term appears give legal cover civil rights advocates win next set elections160 politically something like little bit pregnant described multiple articles the160 legal scholar jonathan turley police prosecutors around nation using politically convenient misinterpretation wiretapping statutes160 states illegal film police officer public without permission160 turley condemned misinterpretation utter nonsense stipulates laws never intended stop photographing public officials public public functions imagine rodney king type beatings video proof160 turley soundly condemned practice unconstitutional unethical breach rights brian matthews one arrested charges dropped due video evidence reported entire police swarm arrests began st louis county police noticed individuals taking photos reverend mcgowan lying ground hurt160 quote matthews police scene allowing people mill around observing became hostile took pictures surrounding obviously injured black man160 situation escalated threats arrest interfering began none tea party activists arrested filming thing reverend mcgowan going pretrial conference july 13160 redington pursued charges officers wrote them160 viewing strangely insane case pattern emerges coincides growing national problem160 country people brutalized arrested police using right dissent160 specifically videographers capturing police process abusing minorities women children multiple rodney king kodak momentsare arresting recording public abuses posting see160 unofficial journalists witnessing police prosecutorial abuse160 increasingly facing political prosecutions designed silence dissent ever expanding police state160 wagman spitzs arrests eventual prosecution tip iceberg past march 25 year old staff sergeant maryland air national guard anthony graber pulled aside speeding motorcycle160 habit securing camera top helmet gain action photos ride160 week later graber posted ticket encounter tube160 april 8 graber arrested parents home raid abingdon md front wife 2 young children160 turns prosecutors obtained grand jury indictment charging violating state wiretapping laws taping officer without consent160 faces 16 years prison found guilty trend police prosecutorial abuse must stop160 regardless stand political spectrumall us right dissent160 era mainstream corporate media160 selfcensoring embedded journalists acting stenographers war hawks vibrant though undisciplined alternative media risen160 without vigorous press witnessing questioning power bill rights 160nothing toilet paper160 video evidence critical maintaining rights ever growing police state silencing dissent name security160 would wrong solely blame police pattern abusive behavior160 seriously investigate prosecutorial abuse power appear political prosecutions across nation160 whether boston st louis mayberry behind manicured lawns ugly undemocratic underbelly160 politically vague term interfering officer smoking gun160 place true democracy still curious earlier quotes sources absolute right state supervise formation public opinion160 nazi propagandist160 joseph goebbels constitution instrument government restrain people instrument people restrain government patrick henry agree patrick henry160 wonder side redington prosecutors favor160 time public pressure consciencewill tell note since writing reverend mcgowans pretrial conference postponed rescheduled july 13 jeanine molloff reached jeaninemolloffyahoocom 160 160 words stick 160 | 1,014 |
<p>Patients at California’s board-and-care centers for the developmentally disabled have accused caretakers of molestation and rape 36 times during the past four years, but police assigned to protect them did not complete even the simplest tasks associated with investigating the alleged crimes, records and interviews show.</p>
<p>The Office of Protective Services, the police force at California’s five developmental centers, failed to order a single hospital-supervised rape examination for any of these alleged victims between 2009 and 2012. At most other police departments, using a “rape kit” to collect evidence would be considered routine.</p>
<p>The procedure, performed by specially trained nurses, is widely regarded as the best way to find evidence of sexual abuse. Without physical evidence, it can be nearly impossible to solve sex crimes, especially those committed against people with cerebral palsy and profound intellectual disabilities.</p>
<p>In the three dozen cases of sexual abuse, documents obtained by California Watch reveal that patients suffered molestation, forced oral sex and vaginal lacerations. But for years, the state-run police force has moved so slowly and ineffectively that predators have stayed a step ahead of law enforcement or abused new victims, records show.</p>
<p>Much of the alleged sexual abuse in the California institutions has occurred at the Sonoma Developmental Center, where female patients have been repeatedly assaulted, internal incident records show. In one case, a caregiver was cleared by the police department of assault and went on to molest a second patient.</p>
<p>In another case from August 2006, caregivers at the Sonoma center found dark blue bruises shaped like handprints covering the breasts of a patient named Jennifer. The patient accused a staff member of molestation, court records show. Jennifer’s injuries appeared to be evidence of sexual abuse, indicating that someone had violently grabbed her.</p>
<p>The Office of Protective Services opened an investigation. But detectives took no action because the case relied heavily on the word of a woman with severe intellectual disabilities. A few months later, court records show, officials at the center had indisputable evidence that a crime had occurred.</p>
<p>Jennifer was pregnant.</p>
<p>By that time, her alleged attacker had vanished.</p>
<p>For the parents of the 32-year-old patient, the reaction has been disbelief and anger. They are now raising a 5-year-old boy who Jennifer is incapable of mothering. The child is precocious and strongly resembles his maternal grandmother.</p>
<p>“Every time, I just imagine her being raped and screaming and crying for me,” said the woman’s mother, whose name is being withheld to protect Jennifer’s identity. “It just kills me.”</p>
<p>The Office of Protective Services has not collected physical evidence to back up cases such as Jennifer’s. In situations involving developmentally disabled patients, DNA and other physical evidence are even more important because statements from alleged victims often are treated as unreliable. Some have IQs in the single digits and cannot speak.</p>
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<p>Detectives at city and county police departments are trained to send sexual assault victims to an outside hospital for the specialized rape examination. But the doctors and nurses at the state’s developmental centers—in Sonoma, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and Tulare counties—were not trained in dealing with sexual assault victims, records and interviews show.</p>
<p>California Watch shared details of the developmental center sex abuse cases with two outside police detectives who specialize in such assault investigations. The detectives said they were dismayed by the state’s actions.</p>
<p>“How can you do a sexual assault investigation and not do an exam?” said Roberta Hopewell, a detective at the Riverside Police Department and president of the California Sexual Assault Investigators Association.</p>
<p>According to interviews with former detectives and patrol officers at three of the state’s developmental centers, the Office of Protective Services did not assign its own detectives to cases that should have been investigated—nor did the force seek expert help from outside law enforcement.</p>
<p>One former patrol officer said administrators were afraid of bad publicity.</p>
<p>“They didn’t want anything to get out, so they handled it internally. They call the shots,” said Joe Guardado, a former patrol officer at the Porterville Developmental Center in Tulare County who retired in 2010.</p>
<p>The state Department of Developmental Services, which operates the five centers and oversees the Office of Protective Services, issued a written statement saying the state is working to protect patients and ensure they receive justice. That includes hiring “nationally recognized law enforcement experts” to train police officers and detectives to better handle sex assault cases, the department said.</p>
<p>“In addition, training was provided to ensure that referrals for sexual assault examinations are completed by thoroughly trained personnel, and that investigations are conducted appropriately and timely,” the department said.</p>
<p>About 1,600 patients live at the five centers, which operate like board-and-care hospitals for patients whose conditions are so challenging that they cannot live with their families or in group homes.</p>
<p>But the detectives and patrol officers working in these facilities have been unprepared to undertake sexual assault cases, internal case files show. The records indicate officers have lacked the skills to competently question sex abuse victims, particularly the developmentally disabled.</p>
<p>Detectives at times closed investigations when patients appeared to get the dates and times of assaults wrong, even though the disabled frequently struggle with precise chronology.</p>
<p>At the Sonoma Developmental Center, which houses about 500 men and women, two patients accused a caregiver of forcing them to perform oral sex on him.</p>
<p>The Office of Protective Services was first alerted in February 2009. “Client reported to staff that she saw [the caregiver’s] genitals and was asked to perform oral sex for a dollar,” the records said. “Client reports that she did.”</p>
<p>However, the Office of Protective Services quickly closed the case, the records indicate, because the suspect was not listed as having worked in the patient’s unit, called Corcoran, on the day of the alleged abuse. The accused caregiver did often work in that unit, though, internal records show.</p>
<p>Months later, the mother of a second patient alerted the center that her daughter had said she had licked the same caregiver’s penis.</p>
<p>But by then, the accused caregiver was gone. He is not identified by his full name in state records. The center’s incident log noted that the psychiatric technician suspected of the abuse was “no longer employed” but “did work on the unit.”</p>
<p>Earlier this year, Leslie Morrison, head of the investigations unit at Disability Rights California, examined dozens of case files in which a patient accused a center employee of sexual abuse from 2009 to mid-2012. Morrison performed the review at the request of the state Department of Developmental Services. She said these cases involved only patients capable of speaking and therefore able to report an assault.</p>
<p>Morrison said she found 36 cases in which victims likely should have received a rape kit medical exam and interview with a trained nurse. But, she said, the Office of Protective Services investigations were incomplete and at times deeply flawed.</p>
<p>“We’re not sure they have the training,” Morrison said, “to do these very delicate, sensitive interviews.”</p>
<p>This story was produced by <a href="http://www.californiawatch.org" type="external">California Watch</a>, part of the independent, nonprofit <a href="http://cironline.org/" type="external">Center for Investigative Reporting</a>, the country’s largest investigative reporting team.</p> | true | 4 | patients californias boardandcare centers developmentally disabled accused caretakers molestation rape 36 times past four years police assigned protect complete even simplest tasks associated investigating alleged crimes records interviews show office protective services police force californias five developmental centers failed order single hospitalsupervised rape examination alleged victims 2009 2012 police departments using rape kit collect evidence would considered routine procedure performed specially trained nurses widely regarded best way find evidence sexual abuse without physical evidence nearly impossible solve sex crimes especially committed people cerebral palsy profound intellectual disabilities three dozen cases sexual abuse documents obtained california watch reveal patients suffered molestation forced oral sex vaginal lacerations years staterun police force moved slowly ineffectively predators stayed step ahead law enforcement abused new victims records show much alleged sexual abuse california institutions occurred sonoma developmental center female patients repeatedly assaulted internal incident records show one case caregiver cleared police department assault went molest second patient another case august 2006 caregivers sonoma center found dark blue bruises shaped like handprints covering breasts patient named jennifer patient accused staff member molestation court records show jennifers injuries appeared evidence sexual abuse indicating someone violently grabbed office protective services opened investigation detectives took action case relied heavily word woman severe intellectual disabilities months later court records show officials center indisputable evidence crime occurred jennifer pregnant time alleged attacker vanished parents 32yearold patient reaction disbelief anger raising 5yearold boy jennifer incapable mothering child precocious strongly resembles maternal grandmother every time imagine raped screaming crying said womans mother whose name withheld protect jennifers identity kills office protective services collected physical evidence back cases jennifers situations involving developmentally disabled patients dna physical evidence even important statements alleged victims often treated unreliable iqs single digits speak start finish day top stories daily beast speedy smart summary news need know nothing dont detectives city county police departments trained send sexual assault victims outside hospital specialized rape examination doctors nurses states developmental centersin sonoma los angeles orange riverside tulare countieswere trained dealing sexual assault victims records interviews show california watch shared details developmental center sex abuse cases two outside police detectives specialize assault investigations detectives said dismayed states actions sexual assault investigation exam said roberta hopewell detective riverside police department president california sexual assault investigators association according interviews former detectives patrol officers three states developmental centers office protective services assign detectives cases investigatednor force seek expert help outside law enforcement one former patrol officer said administrators afraid bad publicity didnt want anything get handled internally call shots said joe guardado former patrol officer porterville developmental center tulare county retired 2010 state department developmental services operates five centers oversees office protective services issued written statement saying state working protect patients ensure receive justice includes hiring nationally recognized law enforcement experts train police officers detectives better handle sex assault cases department said addition training provided ensure referrals sexual assault examinations completed thoroughly trained personnel investigations conducted appropriately timely department said 1600 patients live five centers operate like boardandcare hospitals patients whose conditions challenging live families group homes detectives patrol officers working facilities unprepared undertake sexual assault cases internal case files show records indicate officers lacked skills competently question sex abuse victims particularly developmentally disabled detectives times closed investigations patients appeared get dates times assaults wrong even though disabled frequently struggle precise chronology sonoma developmental center houses 500 men women two patients accused caregiver forcing perform oral sex office protective services first alerted february 2009 client reported staff saw caregivers genitals asked perform oral sex dollar records said client reports however office protective services quickly closed case records indicate suspect listed worked patients unit called corcoran day alleged abuse accused caregiver often work unit though internal records show months later mother second patient alerted center daughter said licked caregivers penis accused caregiver gone identified full name state records centers incident log noted psychiatric technician suspected abuse longer employed work unit earlier year leslie morrison head investigations unit disability rights california examined dozens case files patient accused center employee sexual abuse 2009 mid2012 morrison performed review request state department developmental services said cases involved patients capable speaking therefore able report assault morrison said found 36 cases victims likely received rape kit medical exam interview trained nurse said office protective services investigations incomplete times deeply flawed sure training morrison said delicate sensitive interviews story produced california watch part independent nonprofit center investigative reporting countrys largest investigative reporting team | 730 |
<p>Bradley Manning is accused of humiliating the political establishment by revealing the complicity of top U.S. officials in carrying out and covering up war crimes. In return for his act of conscience, the U.S. government is holding him in abusive solitary confinement, humiliating him and trying to keep him behind bars for life.</p>
<p>The lesson is clear, and soldiers take note: You’re better off committing a war crime than exposing one.</p>
<p>An Army intelligence officer stationed in Kuwait, the 23-year-old Manning – outraged at what he saw – allegedly leaked tens of thousands of State Department cables to the whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks. These cables show U.S. officials covering up everything from U.S. tax dollars funding child rape in Afghanistan to illegal, unauthorized bombings in Yemen. Manning is also accused of leaking video evidence of U.S. pilots gunning down more than a dozen Iraqis in Baghdad, including two journalists for Reuters, and then killing a father of two who stopped to help them. The father’s two young children were also severely wounded.</p>
<p>“Well, it’s their fault for bringing kids into a battle,” a not-terribly-remorseful U.S. pilot can be heard remarking in the July 2007 “ <a href="http://collateralmurder.com/" type="external">Collateral Murder</a>” video.</p>
<p>None of the soldiers who carried out that war crime have been punished, nor have any of the high-ranking officials who authorized it. Indeed, committing war crimes is more likely to get a solider a medal than a prison term. And authorizing them? Well, that’ll get you a book deal and a six-digit speaking fee. Just ask George W. Bush. Or Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld or Condoleezza Rice. Or the inexplicably “respectable” Colin Powell.</p>
<p>In fact, the record indicates Manning would be far better off today – possibly on the lecture circuit rather than in solitary confinement – if he’d killed those men in Baghdad himself.</p>
<p>Hyperbole? Consider what happened to the U.S. soldiers who, over a period of hours – not minutes – went house to house in the Iraqi town of Haditha and executed 24 men, women and children in retaliation for a roadside bombing.</p>
<p>“I watched them shoot my grandfather, first in the chest and then in the head,” said one of the two <a href="" type="internal">surviving eyewitnesses</a> to the massacre, nine-year-old Eman Waleed. “Then they killed my granny.” Almost five years later, not one of the men involved in the incident is behind bars. And despite an <a href="" type="internal">Army investigation</a> revealing that statements made by the chain of command “suggest that Iraqi civilian lives are not as important as U.S. lives,” with the murder of brown-skinned innocents considered “just the cost of doing business,” none of their superiors are behind bars either.</p>
<p>Now consider the treatment of Bradley Manning. On March 1, the military charged Manning with <a href="" type="internal">22 additional offenses</a> – on top of the original charges of improperly leaking classified information, disobeying an order and general misconduct. One of the new charges, “aiding the enemy,” is punishable by death. That means Manning faces the prospect of being executed or spending his life in prison for exposing the ugly truth about the U.S. empire.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the Obama administration has decided to make Manning’s pre-trial existence as torturous as possible, holding him in solitary confinement 23 hours a day since his arrest 10 months ago – treatment that the group Psychologists for Social Responsibility notes is, “at the very least, a form of cruel, unusual and inhumane treatment in violation of U.S. law.”</p>
<p>In addition to the horror of long-term solitary confinement, Manning is barred from exercising in his cell and is denied bed sheets and a pillow. And every five minutes, he must respond in the affirmative when asked by a guard if he’s “okay.”</p>
<p>Presumably he lies.</p>
<p>And it gets worse. On his blog, Manning’s military lawyer, Lt. Col. David Coombs, reveals that his client is now <a href="" type="internal">being stripped</a> of his clothing at night, left naked under careful surveillance for seven hours. When the 5:00 am wake-up call comes, he’s then “forced to stand naked at the front of the cell.”</p>
<p>If you point out that the emperor has no clothes, it seems the empire will make sure you have none either.</p>
<p>Officials at the Quantico Marine Base where Manning is being held claim the move is “not punitive” but rather a “precautionary measure” intended to prevent him from harming himself. Do they really think Manning is going to strangle himself with his underwear – and that he could do so while under 24-hour surveillance?</p>
<p>“Is this Quantico or Abu Ghraib?” asked Rep. Dennis Kucinich in a <a href="http://www.bradleymanning.org/16282/congressman-dennis-kucinich-renews-demand-to-visit-with-pfc-manning/#ixzz1Ff8uTG3P" type="external">press release</a>. Good question, congressman. Like the men imprisoned in former President Bush’s Iraqi torture chamber, Manning is being abused and humiliated despite having not so much as been tried in a military tribunal, much less convicted of an actual crime.</p>
<p>So much for the constitutional lawyer who ran as the candidate of hope and change.</p>
<p>Remember back when Obama campaigned against such Bush-league torture tactics? Recall when candidate Obama said “government whistleblowers are part of a healthy democracy and must be protected from reprisal”? It appears his opposition to torture and support for whistleblowers was only so much rhetoric. And then he took office.</p>
<p>Indeed, despite the grand promises and soaring rhetoric, Obama’s treatment of Manning is starkly reminiscent of none other than</p>
<p>Richard Nixon. Like Obama – who has prosecuted more whistleblowers than any president in history – Nixon had no sympathy for “snitches,” and no interest in the American public learning the truth about their government. And he likewise argued that Daniel Ellsberg, the leaker of the Pentagon Papers, had given “aid and comfort to the enemy” for revealing the facts about the war in Vietnam.</p>
<p>But there’s a difference: Richard Nixon never had the heroic whistleblower of his day thrown in solitary confinement and tortured. If only the same could be said for Barack Obama.</p>
<p><a href="mailto:medea@globalexchange.org" type="external">Medea Benjamin</a> is cofounder of <a href="http://www.globalexchange.org/" type="external">Global Exchange</a> and CODEPINK: Women for Peace.</p>
<p>Charles Davis is an independent journalist. On March 20 CODEPINK and others will be traveling to the Quantico Marine Base to <a href="http://bit.ly/fsWnda" type="external">rally in support of Bradley Manning</a>. You <a href="http://bit.ly/dogcy5" type="external">can sign the CODEPINK petitio</a>n here asking President Obama to pardon Bradley Manning.</p>
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<p /> | true | 4 | bradley manning accused humiliating political establishment revealing complicity top us officials carrying covering war crimes return act conscience us government holding abusive solitary confinement humiliating trying keep behind bars life lesson clear soldiers take note youre better committing war crime exposing one army intelligence officer stationed kuwait 23yearold manning outraged saw allegedly leaked tens thousands state department cables whistleblowing website wikileaks cables show us officials covering everything us tax dollars funding child rape afghanistan illegal unauthorized bombings yemen manning also accused leaking video evidence us pilots gunning dozen iraqis baghdad including two journalists reuters killing father two stopped help fathers two young children also severely wounded well fault bringing kids battle notterriblyremorseful us pilot heard remarking july 2007 collateral murder video none soldiers carried war crime punished highranking officials authorized indeed committing war crimes likely get solider medal prison term authorizing well thatll get book deal sixdigit speaking fee ask george w bush dick cheney donald rumsfeld condoleezza rice inexplicably respectable colin powell fact record indicates manning would far better today possibly lecture circuit rather solitary confinement hed killed men baghdad hyperbole consider happened us soldiers period hours minutes went house house iraqi town haditha executed 24 men women children retaliation roadside bombing watched shoot grandfather first chest head said one two surviving eyewitnesses massacre nineyearold eman waleed killed granny almost five years later one men involved incident behind bars despite army investigation revealing statements made chain command suggest iraqi civilian lives important us lives murder brownskinned innocents considered cost business none superiors behind bars either consider treatment bradley manning march 1 military charged manning 22 additional offenses top original charges improperly leaking classified information disobeying order general misconduct one new charges aiding enemy punishable death means manning faces prospect executed spending life prison exposing ugly truth us empire meanwhile obama administration decided make mannings pretrial existence torturous possible holding solitary confinement 23 hours day since arrest 10 months ago treatment group psychologists social responsibility notes least form cruel unusual inhumane treatment violation us law addition horror longterm solitary confinement manning barred exercising cell denied bed sheets pillow every five minutes must respond affirmative asked guard hes okay presumably lies gets worse blog mannings military lawyer lt col david coombs reveals client stripped clothing night left naked careful surveillance seven hours 500 wakeup call comes hes forced stand naked front cell point emperor clothes seems empire make sure none either officials quantico marine base manning held claim move punitive rather precautionary measure intended prevent harming really think manning going strangle underwear could 24hour surveillance quantico abu ghraib asked rep dennis kucinich press release good question congressman like men imprisoned former president bushs iraqi torture chamber manning abused humiliated despite much tried military tribunal much less convicted actual crime much constitutional lawyer ran candidate hope change remember back obama campaigned bushleague torture tactics recall candidate obama said government whistleblowers part healthy democracy must protected reprisal appears opposition torture support whistleblowers much rhetoric took office indeed despite grand promises soaring rhetoric obamas treatment manning starkly reminiscent none richard nixon like obama prosecuted whistleblowers president history nixon sympathy snitches interest american public learning truth government likewise argued daniel ellsberg leaker pentagon papers given aid comfort enemy revealing facts war vietnam theres difference richard nixon never heroic whistleblower day thrown solitary confinement tortured could said barack obama medea benjamin cofounder global exchange codepink women peace charles davis independent journalist march 20 codepink others traveling quantico marine base rally support bradley manning sign codepink petition asking president obama pardon bradley manning 160 160 160 | 589 |
<p>Attorneys Carl J. Mayer and Bruce I. Afran filed a complaint Friday in the Southern U.S. District Court in New York City on my behalf as a plaintiff against Barack Obama and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta to challenge the legality of the Authorization for Use of Military Force as embedded in the latest version of the National Defense Authorization Act, signed by the president Dec. 31.</p>
<p>The act authorizes the military in Title X, Subtitle D, entitled “Counter-Terrorism,” for the first time in more than 200 years, to carry out domestic policing. With this bill, which will take effect March 3, the military can indefinitely detain without trial any U.S. citizen deemed to be a terrorist or an accessory to terrorism. And suspects can be shipped by the military to our offshore penal colony in Guantanamo Bay and kept there until “the end of hostilities.” It is a catastrophic blow to civil liberties.</p>
<p>To read Chris Hedges’ legal filing aimed at overturning a new law that would allow the indefinite detention of U.S. citizens deemed terrorism suspects, <a href="" type="internal">click here</a>. To read the law itself, <a href="" type="internal">click here</a>.</p>
<p>I spent many years in countries where the military had the power to arrest and detain citizens without charge. I have been in some of these jails. I have friends and colleagues who have “disappeared” into military gulags. I know the consequences of granting sweeping and unrestricted policing power to the armed forces of any nation. And while my battle may be quixotic, it is one that has to be fought if we are to have any hope of pulling this country back from corporate fascism.</p>
<p />
<p>Section 1031 of the bill defines a “covered person”—one subject to detention—as “a person who was a part of or substantially supported al-Qaeda, the Taliban, or associated forces that are engaged in hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners, including any person who has committed a belligerent act or has directly supported such hostilities in aid of such enemy forces.”</p>
<p>The bill, however, does not define the terms “substantially supported,” “directly supported” or “associated forces.”</p>
<p>I met regularly with leaders of Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza. I used to visit Palestine Liberation Organization leaders, including Yasser Arafat and Abu Jihad, in Tunis when they were branded international terrorists. I have spent time with the Revolutionary Guard in Iran and was in northern Iraq and southeastern Turkey with fighters from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party. All these entities were or are labeled as terrorist organizations by the U.S. government. What would this bill have meant if it had been in place when I and other Americans traveled in the 1980s with armed units of the Sandinistas in Nicaragua or the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front guerrillas in El Salvador? What would it have meant for those of us who were with the southern insurgents during the civil war in Yemen or the rebels in the southern Sudan? I have had dinner more times than I can count with people whom this country brands as terrorists. But that does not make me one.</p>
<p>Once a group is deemed to be a terrorist organization, whether it is a Palestinian charity or an element of the Uighur independence movement, the military can under this bill pick up a U.S. citizen who supported charities associated with the group or unwittingly sent money or medical supplies to front groups. We have already seen the persecution and closure of Islamic charity organizations in the United States that supported the Palestinians. Now the members of these organizations can be treated like card-carrying “terrorists” and sent to Guantanamo.</p>
<p>But I suspect the real purpose of this bill is to thwart internal, domestic movements that threaten the corporate state. The definition of a terrorist is already so amorphous under the Patriot Act that there are probably a few million Americans who qualify to be investigated if not locked up. Consider the arcane criteria that can make you a suspect in our new military-corporate state. The Department of Justice considers you worth investigating if you are missing a few fingers, if you have weatherproof ammunition, if you own guns or if you have hoarded more than seven days of food in your house. Adding a few of the obstructionist tactics of the Occupy movement to this list would be a seamless process. On the whim of the military, a suspected “terrorist” who also happens to be a U.S. citizen can suffer extraordinary rendition—being kidnapped and then left to rot in one of our black sites “until the end of hostilities.” Since this is an endless war that will be a very long stay.</p>
<p>This demented “war on terror” is as undefined and vague as such a conflict is in any totalitarian state. Dissent is increasingly equated in this country with treason. Enemies supposedly lurk in every organization that does not chant the patriotic mantras provided to it by the state. And this bill feeds a mounting state paranoia. It expands our permanent war to every spot on the globe. It erases fundamental constitutional liberties. It means we can no longer use the word “democracy” to describe our political system.</p>
<p>The supine and gutless Democratic Party, which would have feigned outrage if George W. Bush had put this into law, appears willing, once again, to grant Obama a pass. But I won’t. What he has done is unforgivable, unconstitutional and exceedingly dangerous. The threat and reach of al-Qaida—which I spent a year covering for The New York Times in Europe and the Middle East—are marginal, despite the attacks of 9/11. The terrorist group poses no existential threat to the nation. It has been so disrupted and broken that it can barely function. Osama bin Laden was gunned down by commandos and his body dumped into the sea. Even the Pentagon says the organization is crippled. So why, a decade after the start of the so-called war on terror, do these draconian measures need to be implemented? Why do U.S. citizens now need to be specifically singled out for military detention and denial of due process when under the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force the president can apparently find the legal cover to serve as judge, jury and executioner to assassinate U.S. citizens, as he did in the killing of the cleric Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen? Why is this bill necessary when the government routinely ignores our Fifth Amendment rights—“No person shall be deprived of life without due process of law”—as well as our First Amendment right of free speech? How much more power do they need to fight “terrorism”?</p>
<p>Fear is the psychological weapon of choice for totalitarian systems of power. Make the people afraid. Get them to surrender their rights in the name of national security. And then finish off the few who aren’t afraid enough. If this law is not revoked we will be no different from any sordid military dictatorship. Its implementation will be a huge leap forward for the corporate oligarchs who plan to continue to plunder the nation and use state and military security to cow the population into submission.</p>
<p>The oddest part of this legislation is that the FBI, the CIA, the director of national intelligence, the Pentagon and the attorney general didn’t support it. FBI Director Robert Mueller said he feared the bill would actually impede the bureau’s ability to investigate terrorism because it would be harder to win cooperation from suspects held by the military. “The possibility looms that we will lose opportunities to obtain cooperation from the persons in the past that we’ve been fairly successful in gaining,” he told Congress.</p>
<p>But it passed anyway. And I suspect it passed because the corporations, seeing the unrest in the streets, knowing that things are about to get much worse, worrying that the Occupy movement will expand, do not trust the police to protect them. They want to be able to call in the Army. And now they can. <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/78496151/Text-of-Hedges-Legal-Complaint-Updated" type="external">Text of Hedges’ Legal Complaint (Updated)</a> <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/78392113/NDAA-Official-Text" type="external">NDAA Official Text</a></p> | true | 4 | attorneys carl j mayer bruce afran filed complaint friday southern us district court new york city behalf plaintiff barack obama secretary defense leon panetta challenge legality authorization use military force embedded latest version national defense authorization act signed president dec 31 act authorizes military title x subtitle entitled counterterrorism first time 200 years carry domestic policing bill take effect march 3 military indefinitely detain without trial us citizen deemed terrorist accessory terrorism suspects shipped military offshore penal colony guantanamo bay kept end hostilities catastrophic blow civil liberties read chris hedges legal filing aimed overturning new law would allow indefinite detention us citizens deemed terrorism suspects click read law click spent many years countries military power arrest detain citizens without charge jails friends colleagues disappeared military gulags know consequences granting sweeping unrestricted policing power armed forces nation battle may quixotic one fought hope pulling country back corporate fascism section 1031 bill defines covered personone subject detentionas person part substantially supported alqaeda taliban associated forces engaged hostilities united states coalition partners including person committed belligerent act directly supported hostilities aid enemy forces bill however define terms substantially supported directly supported associated forces met regularly leaders hamas islamic jihad gaza used visit palestine liberation organization leaders including yasser arafat abu jihad tunis branded international terrorists spent time revolutionary guard iran northern iraq southeastern turkey fighters kurdistan workers party entities labeled terrorist organizations us government would bill meant place americans traveled 1980s armed units sandinistas nicaragua farabundo marti national liberation front guerrillas el salvador would meant us southern insurgents civil war yemen rebels southern sudan dinner times count people country brands terrorists make one group deemed terrorist organization whether palestinian charity element uighur independence movement military bill pick us citizen supported charities associated group unwittingly sent money medical supplies front groups already seen persecution closure islamic charity organizations united states supported palestinians members organizations treated like cardcarrying terrorists sent guantanamo suspect real purpose bill thwart internal domestic movements threaten corporate state definition terrorist already amorphous patriot act probably million americans qualify investigated locked consider arcane criteria make suspect new militarycorporate state department justice considers worth investigating missing fingers weatherproof ammunition guns hoarded seven days food house adding obstructionist tactics occupy movement list would seamless process whim military suspected terrorist also happens us citizen suffer extraordinary renditionbeing kidnapped left rot one black sites end hostilities since endless war long stay demented war terror undefined vague conflict totalitarian state dissent increasingly equated country treason enemies supposedly lurk every organization chant patriotic mantras provided state bill feeds mounting state paranoia expands permanent war every spot globe erases fundamental constitutional liberties means longer use word democracy describe political system supine gutless democratic party would feigned outrage george w bush put law appears willing grant obama pass wont done unforgivable unconstitutional exceedingly dangerous threat reach alqaidawhich spent year covering new york times europe middle eastare marginal despite attacks 911 terrorist group poses existential threat nation disrupted broken barely function osama bin laden gunned commandos body dumped sea even pentagon says organization crippled decade start socalled war terror draconian measures need implemented us citizens need specifically singled military detention denial due process 2001 authorization use military force president apparently find legal cover serve judge jury executioner assassinate us citizens killing cleric anwar alawlaki yemen bill necessary government routinely ignores fifth amendment rightsno person shall deprived life without due process lawas well first amendment right free speech much power need fight terrorism fear psychological weapon choice totalitarian systems power make people afraid get surrender rights name national security finish arent afraid enough law revoked different sordid military dictatorship implementation huge leap forward corporate oligarchs plan continue plunder nation use state military security cow population submission oddest part legislation fbi cia director national intelligence pentagon attorney general didnt support fbi director robert mueller said feared bill would actually impede bureaus ability investigate terrorism would harder win cooperation suspects held military possibility looms lose opportunities obtain cooperation persons past weve fairly successful gaining told congress passed anyway suspect passed corporations seeing unrest streets knowing things get much worse worrying occupy movement expand trust police protect want able call army text hedges legal complaint updated ndaa official text | 694 |
<p>As most people are probably aware, once again, Donald Trump is pushing the conspiracy that the only reason why he lost the popular vote is because “3-5 million people voted illegally.” This is a great example showcasing&#160; <a href="" type="internal">how mentally unstable he is</a>. His ego and insecurity are so massive that&#160;months&#160;after being declared the winner of an election, it’s still eating away at him that Hillary Clinton received 3 million more votes than he did.</p>
<p>What a sad and pathetic&#160;human being.</p>
<p>But being that Trump continues to push this nonsense, and <a href="" type="internal">millions of his supporters</a> actually believe him, I thought I’d list 10 questions I’d like the media to ask Trump regarding his claim that “3-5 million people voted illegally.”</p>
<p>1. Why weren’t down-ballot races impacted by this supposed fraud?&#160;If there were “3-5 million illegal votes” cast, why didn’t congressional Democrats benefit from this massive influx of fraudulent votes? Outside of Trump’s “win,” there weren’t too many surprises during the 2016 election. There almost certainly would have been had “3-5 million” people “voted illegally.”</p>
<p>2. Being that Trump was the unexpected winner of the presidential election, if “3-5 million” people did “vote illegally,” wouldn’t&#160;the&#160;results&#160;of the election indicate that he would have been the one who benefitted? There was only one true “massive upset” that didn’t go along with what experts predicted would happen, and that was Trump “winning.” Common sense would then dictate that if anyone “benefitted” from illegal votes that no one could have accounted for, it would have been those candidates who unexpectedly won —&#160;like Trump.</p>
<p>3. Considering elections are run by the states, with cooperation from&#160;both&#160;parties (and their lawyers), are you aware that by believing this,&#160;you’re accusing many…&#160;many&#160;members of the Republican Party of being part of this conspiracy?&#160;For Trump’s conspiracy to be true, it would require both parties — in every single state — to have been “in on it.”</p>
<p>4. Isn’t&#160;it strange that&#160;Trump’s&#160;low number of 3 million just&#160;happens&#160;to be the threshold where he would have been declared the winner of the popular vote?&#160;Are you really so gullible to not see that the lowest number of “illegal votes” Trump’s claiming were cast just&#160;happens&#160;to be the number of votes that, if removed from Clinton’s tally, would make him the winner of the popular vote?</p>
<p>5. If Donald Trump really believes that voter fraud is so rampant, why didn’t he immediately launch an investigation into the results of the election?&#160;If Trump’s claims are to be believed, that means he feels there was massive amounts of voter fraud throughout this country. Yet he hasn’t taken a single step to investigate anything. One would think that if Trump truly believed this absurdity, he would have been pushing&#160;for investigations weeks ago — instead of not&#160;calling for any at all.</p>
<p>6. You do realize by saying that you believe&#160;“3-5 million people voted illegally” you (and Donald Trump) are essentially arguing that the results of the election he won&#160;should be thrown out, right?&#160;If it’s true that “3-5 million people voted illegally,” then that means that the <a href="https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/based-donald-trumps-own-claims-rampant-voter-fraud-immediately-nullify-results-2016-presidential-election" type="external">results of the 2016 election should be nullified</a>&#160;and we should hold&#160;another election.</p>
<p>7. How would Donald Trump know, as he seems to be implying, that&#160;all&#160;of the “3-5 million illegal votes” went to Hillary Clinton?&#160;Considering there’s been absolutely no sort&#160;of investigation into the claim, and he’d have no way of knowing which votes were “illegal,” how would he know that they all went to Clinton?</p>
<p>8. Why wouldn’t those behind this conspiracy have made sure that these “illegal” votes were in key states like Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin?&#160;Considering Clinton’s lead grew as votes from west coast states she easily won continued to come in, why would they have put these “illegal votes” in places she was safely going to win? If people were trying to rig the election for Hillary Clinton, then they would have targeted key states like Ohio, North Carolina, Florida, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. You know, states&#160;Trump&#160;won. It would have made absolutely no sense to stack “illegal votes” in states&#160;Clinton was never going to lose.</p>
<p>9. Considering allowing “3-5 million people” to “vote illegally” would require&#160;the most complex and massive coverup in human history, is there absolutely no one out there who saw this going on who wants to publicly speak out about it?&#160;If true, this conspiracy would span 50 states, both parties and include several thousand people at all levels of government. Certainly&#160;someone&#160;out there saw all this going on and wants to speak out about it, right? Yet, not a single person has. Well, other than Trump and the people naive enough to believe him.</p>
<p>10. He’s been making this claim for months, so where’s the evidence?&#160;If this is something he claims was so widespread and rampant, let’s see the facts. If there were truly “3-5 million illegal votes” cast during the 2016 election, then there would be stacks upon stacks of evidence supporting Trump’s claim. However, despite repeated requests by members of the media for this proof, Trump and his team have yet to provide any evidence or even a&#160;source&#160;for where they’re supposedly getting this information from.</p>
<p>These are very simple, common sense questions that Donald Trump and his supporters should be able to answer. Feel free to <a href="https://www.twitter.com/allen_clifton" type="external">hit me up on Twitter</a> or <a href="https://www.facebook.com/allencliftonroc" type="external">Facebook</a> and let me know what you think, or to let me know of any answers you might have received from Trump people you presented them to.</p>
<p />
<p><a href="" type="internal">After Disbanding Voting Commission, Congress Needs to Investigate Trump for Fraud</a></p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Dear Donald Trump: Yes, the Main Reason You Won is Because of Russia's Help</a></p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Donald Trump Wants to be a Dictator and Most of His Supporters Don't Care</a></p>
<p>11 Facebook comments</p> | true | 4 | people probably aware donald trump pushing conspiracy reason lost popular vote 35 million people voted illegally great example showcasing160 mentally unstable ego insecurity massive that160months160after declared winner election still eating away hillary clinton received 3 million votes sad pathetic160human trump continues push nonsense millions supporters actually believe thought id list 10 questions id like media ask trump regarding claim 35 million people voted illegally 1 werent downballot races impacted supposed fraud160if 35 million illegal votes cast didnt congressional democrats benefit massive influx fraudulent votes outside trumps win werent many surprises 2016 election almost certainly would 35 million people voted illegally 2 trump unexpected winner presidential election 35 million people vote illegally wouldnt160the160results160of election indicate would one benefitted one true massive upset didnt go along experts predicted would happen trump winning common sense would dictate anyone benefitted illegal votes one could accounted would candidates unexpectedly 160like trump 3 considering elections run states cooperation from160both160parties lawyers aware believing this160youre accusing many160many160members republican party part conspiracy160for trumps conspiracy true would require parties every single state 4 isnt160it strange that160trumps160low number 3 million just160happens160to threshold would declared winner popular vote160are really gullible see lowest number illegal votes trumps claiming cast just160happens160to number votes removed clintons tally would make winner popular vote 5 donald trump really believes voter fraud rampant didnt immediately launch investigation results election160if trumps claims believed means feels massive amounts voter fraud throughout country yet hasnt taken single step investigate anything one would think trump truly believed absurdity would pushing160for investigations weeks ago instead not160calling 6 realize saying believe16035 million people voted illegally donald trump essentially arguing results election won160should thrown right160if true 35 million people voted illegally means results 2016 election nullified160and hold160another election 7 would donald trump know seems implying that160all160of 35 million illegal votes went hillary clinton160considering theres absolutely sort160of investigation claim hed way knowing votes illegal would know went clinton 8 wouldnt behind conspiracy made sure illegal votes key states like michigan pennsylvania wisconsin160considering clintons lead grew votes west coast states easily continued come would put illegal votes places safely going win people trying rig election hillary clinton would targeted key states like ohio north carolina florida pennsylvania michigan wisconsin know states160trump160won would made absolutely sense stack illegal votes states160clinton never going lose 9 considering allowing 35 million people vote illegally would require160the complex massive coverup human history absolutely one saw going wants publicly speak it160if true conspiracy would span 50 states parties include several thousand people levels government certainly160someone160out saw going wants speak right yet single person well trump people naive enough believe 10 hes making claim months wheres evidence160if something claims widespread rampant lets see facts truly 35 million illegal votes cast 2016 election would stacks upon stacks evidence supporting trumps claim however despite repeated requests members media proof trump team yet provide evidence even a160source160for theyre supposedly getting information simple common sense questions donald trump supporters able answer feel free hit twitter facebook let know think let know answers might received trump people presented disbanding voting commission congress needs investigate trump fraud dear donald trump yes main reason russias help donald trump wants dictator supporters dont care 11 facebook comments | 525 |
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