Saturday, May 23, 2009
Friday, May 22, 2009
Miscellaneous articles I read today
Uncle Sam's Human Lab Rats
Mon May 18, 2009 5:00 AM PST Mother Jones
They say government scientists messed with their minds. Now, veterans of secret psychedelic tests want answers.
—By Bruce Falconer
Bail Out Your Own Damn Self!
Time for a Tax and Mortgage Strike
by Ted Rall
Published on Thursday, May 21, 2009 by TedRall.com
US Colonel Advocates US 'Military Attacks' on 'Partisan Media' in Essay for Neocon, Pro-Israel Group JINSA
Published on Thursday, May 21, 2009 by Rebel Reports
“The point of all this is simple: Win,” writes Col. Ralph Peters. “In warfare, nothing else matters. If you cannot win clean, win dirty. But win.”
by Jeremy Scahill
Obama signs weapons procurement reform
WASHINGTON, May 22 (UPI) -- U.S. military weapons procurement, long criticized for bloat and inefficiency, changed Friday when President Obama signed into law purchase reforms.
Mon May 18, 2009 5:00 AM PST Mother Jones
They say government scientists messed with their minds. Now, veterans of secret psychedelic tests want answers.
—By Bruce Falconer
Bail Out Your Own Damn Self!
Time for a Tax and Mortgage Strike
by Ted Rall
Published on Thursday, May 21, 2009 by TedRall.com
US Colonel Advocates US 'Military Attacks' on 'Partisan Media' in Essay for Neocon, Pro-Israel Group JINSA
Published on Thursday, May 21, 2009 by Rebel Reports
“The point of all this is simple: Win,” writes Col. Ralph Peters. “In warfare, nothing else matters. If you cannot win clean, win dirty. But win.”
by Jeremy Scahill
Obama signs weapons procurement reform
WASHINGTON, May 22 (UPI) -- U.S. military weapons procurement, long criticized for bloat and inefficiency, changed Friday when President Obama signed into law purchase reforms.
Moyers covers single payer healthcare on tonight's show
Whence Single-Payer?
But Dr. David Himmelstein and Dr. Sidney Wolfe tell Bill Moyers on the JOURNAL that President Obama isn't considering a popular plan — single-payer. In a recent town-hall meeting in New Mexico, President Obama said switching to single-payer would be too disruptive.Update 9:39 PM 5/22/2009 Just as I thought. "switching to single-payer would be too disruptive" is code for "would eliminate the health insurance industries bloody profits."
watch video here
PBS NOW covers terrorist rehab.
This story looks interesting to me, but it also makes me laugh. We can't even set up rehab for drug addicts. Hey wouldn't want to put a dent in CIA, DEA, or prison funding would we?
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Friday squirrel blogging
Obama Curtails Bush's Policy of 'Preemption'
It Let Federal Rules Override State Laws
By Philip RuckerWashington Post Staff WriterFriday, May 22, 2009
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
The California Nightmare
I got nuthin' today, but click on the title link if you want to understand why what was once California Dreamin' is now....
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Supreme Court Hands Medical Marijuana Major Victory
By Ryan Grim, Huffington Post. Posted May 18, 2009.
The Supreme Court removes one of the last barriers to full implementation of medical marijuana laws.
The U.S. Supreme Court handed medical marijuana patients and advocates a resounding victory on Monday, refusing to hear a case brought by San Diego County, which has long chafed at implementing statewide medical marijuana laws.
I was hoping Dianne Jacob would get her ass handed to her on this one. She did. By the Ca supreme court, and now the Federal Supreme Court. Heh.
Just because there are so many politicians in this county who feel entitled to federal funds and and appear to believe that they are therefore restricted by federal laws doesn't mean that this county is actually part of Washington DC. It is California.
The Supreme Court removes one of the last barriers to full implementation of medical marijuana laws.
The U.S. Supreme Court handed medical marijuana patients and advocates a resounding victory on Monday, refusing to hear a case brought by San Diego County, which has long chafed at implementing statewide medical marijuana laws.
I was hoping Dianne Jacob would get her ass handed to her on this one. She did. By the Ca supreme court, and now the Federal Supreme Court. Heh.
Just because there are so many politicians in this county who feel entitled to federal funds and and appear to believe that they are therefore restricted by federal laws doesn't mean that this county is actually part of Washington DC. It is California.
Tomgram: Noam Chomsky, Unexceptional Americans
posted May 19, 2009 09:36 am
Why We Can't See the Trees or the Forest
The Torture Memos and Historical Amnesia
By Noam Chomsky
The Disease of Permanent War
By Chris Hedges
Posted on May 18, 2009
F-111
AP photo / Rich Pedroncelli
Cold War relic: An F-111 fighter jet on display at McClellan Air Force Base in Sacramento, Calif.
Why We Can't See the Trees or the Forest
The Torture Memos and Historical Amnesia
By Noam Chomsky
The Disease of Permanent War
By Chris Hedges
Posted on May 18, 2009
F-111
AP photo / Rich Pedroncelli
Cold War relic: An F-111 fighter jet on display at McClellan Air Force Base in Sacramento, Calif.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Hidden things eventually show up
Rural Alaska leads nation in a tragic way: suicides
Way to go Molly McMooseturd.
Moving on.
FBI infiltrated Iowa anti-war group before GOP convention
By WILLIAM PETROSKI • bpetroski@dmreg.com | © 2009, Des Moines Register and Tribune Company • May 17, 2009
...Confidential FBI documents obtained by The Des Moines Register show an FBI informant was planted among a group described as an "anarchist collective" that met regularly last year in Iowa City....
Way to go Molly McMooseturd.
Moving on.
FBI infiltrated Iowa anti-war group before GOP convention
By WILLIAM PETROSKI • bpetroski@dmreg.com | © 2009, Des Moines Register and Tribune Company • May 17, 2009
...Confidential FBI documents obtained by The Des Moines Register show an FBI informant was planted among a group described as an "anarchist collective" that met regularly last year in Iowa City....
Change We Can Believe In for U.S.-Israeli Relations?
By Phyllis Bennis, AlterNet. Posted May 17, 2009.
As Obama prepares to meet Israel's new hard-line PM, much of the world awaits signs of a new course.
I wish I had more faith at this point, but this has been one hell of a week when it comes to the appearance of Obama cave-ins on campaign promises.
Still, I don't want to lose hope, because he does have s a pretty good record so far.
Especially since he was only crowned King of the Mountain in January 2009.
This mountain that Bush left him.
As Obama prepares to meet Israel's new hard-line PM, much of the world awaits signs of a new course.
I wish I had more faith at this point, but this has been one hell of a week when it comes to the appearance of Obama cave-ins on campaign promises.
Still, I don't want to lose hope, because he does have s a pretty good record so far.
Especially since he was only crowned King of the Mountain in January 2009.
This mountain that Bush left him.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Howard Zinn: Changing Obama's Military Mindset
By Howard Zinn, The Progressive. Posted May 15, 2009.
Obama once said, 'It's not enough to get out of Iraq; we have to get out of the mindset that led us into Iraq.' What happened to that Obama?
Ok. When a retired Army Colonel who fought in Vietnam and taught at West Point who describes himself as a conservative Catholic and an anti-war/civil rights activist since after he fought in WWII are saying the same thing, I have one question.
Why aren't those in power listening?
Who Rules America?
By Paul Craig Roberts
15 May, 2009
Countercurrents.org
Even with Obama in charge, anti-war Democrats powerless
By David Lightman | McClatchy Newspapers
Obama once said, 'It's not enough to get out of Iraq; we have to get out of the mindset that led us into Iraq.' What happened to that Obama?
Ok. When a retired Army Colonel who fought in Vietnam and taught at West Point who describes himself as a conservative Catholic and an anti-war/civil rights activist since after he fought in WWII are saying the same thing, I have one question.
Why aren't those in power listening?
Who Rules America?
By Paul Craig Roberts
15 May, 2009
Countercurrents.org
Even with Obama in charge, anti-war Democrats powerless
By David Lightman | McClatchy Newspapers
Friday, May 15, 2009
The Rape of Europa
According to U.S. estimates, the Nazis stole one-fifth of all the known artworks in Europe. While the Allies returned most of the displaced art in the decade following the war, much of the loot is still missing. Tragically, unique masterpieces were destroyed and lost to posterity forever. Other works of art—the last, forgotten victims of the war—survived but remain unidentified, traceable only with costly and difficult investigation.
The Monuments Men: Rescuing Art Plundered by the Nazis
By Ronald H. Bailey | World War II
The Monuments Men: Rescuing Art Plundered by the Nazis
By Ronald H. Bailey | World War II
PBS tonight
PBS NOW Week of 5.15.09
Can the U.N. Keep the Peace?
Bill Moyers Journal
Juan Cole,and Shahan Mufti challenge the notion of Pakistan's impending collapse. "The End of Pakistan?"
"Inside the Banking Crisis"
Psychologist Daniel Goleman on shopping to save the planet. "The Hidden Costs of Stuff."
Now I am going to go read a Chalmers Johnson review of a book that is called "The Bases of Empire."
And finally, cry me a fucking river here, poowah poowwah cohpowations, awah upset that Obama chastised them. They're probably pissed that they might have to actually pay their fair share of the taxes like the rest of us instead of the pathetic 2.3% effective tax rate that they pay now.
Can the U.N. Keep the Peace?
Bill Moyers Journal
Juan Cole,and Shahan Mufti challenge the notion of Pakistan's impending collapse. "The End of Pakistan?"
"Inside the Banking Crisis"
Psychologist Daniel Goleman on shopping to save the planet. "The Hidden Costs of Stuff."
Now I am going to go read a Chalmers Johnson review of a book that is called "The Bases of Empire."
And finally, cry me a fucking river here, poowah poowwah cohpowations, awah upset that Obama chastised them. They're probably pissed that they might have to actually pay their fair share of the taxes like the rest of us instead of the pathetic 2.3% effective tax rate that they pay now.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Andrew Bacevich explains the folly of Afghanistan
And Danny points us in the direction of Nieman Watchdog's direction as NW highlights that Doctors Ask: Why Such Poor Coverage of Single-Payer?
Hmmmm. How on earth can we pay for health care for all when we are borrowing money like crazy to pay for another military adventure, and a disgustingly bloated military budget, and a fucked up government "by the corporations, for the corporations and of the corporations" that is bankrupting our great great grandchildren?
Besides, you protest during congress and you get arrested.
Five single-payer protestors arrested
Posted: Tuesday, May 12, 2009 12:52 PM by Domenico Montanaro
Fuck me. I'm glad my goofy, entertaining (to me) shows are on tonight.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
This PBS show is absolutely fascinating to me
PBS WWII Behind Closed Doors, Stalin, the Nazis and the West
I saw the first one early Monday morning I'm pissed that I have to wait till next week to see the third and final part.
Stalin was a vicious, ruthless bastard, he switched sides after the Nazis betrayed him and then got pretty damn close to taking over Moscow, but I certainly don't remember learning in US history how Churchill and Roosevelt strung him along and promised to help him with a 2nd front in Europe. Two years later they did. 27 million Russians died during WWII, 16 million of them civilians.
Now I'm watching this
POWER TRIP
by Paul Devlin
Amid pervasive blackouts and corruption, an American energy company purchases a formerly state-run electricity company in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia. Cultures clash, tempers flare and managers and locals tussle as a struggling nation attempts to build itself from beneath the rubble of Soviet collapse.
The film credits said it was made in 2004. When I first started becoming a news junkie I remember it registering to me that there were a lot of murders in Tblisi, the largest city in Georgia, at one time part of the Soviet Union. The iron fisted rulers of the Soviet era used force and fear to make the people submit to their will. The corruption depicted in the film was atrocious. No wonder the company was sold to a Russian company. A terrorized people don't change overnight, especially if anybody with an independent streak and honesty flees or disappears somehow. The country sits between Asia and Europe and people have been figthing over control of the area between the Black and Caspian Seas for hundreds, probably thousands of years.
Most recently because it's part of Piplineistan
I saw the first one early Monday morning I'm pissed that I have to wait till next week to see the third and final part.
Stalin was a vicious, ruthless bastard, he switched sides after the Nazis betrayed him and then got pretty damn close to taking over Moscow, but I certainly don't remember learning in US history how Churchill and Roosevelt strung him along and promised to help him with a 2nd front in Europe. Two years later they did. 27 million Russians died during WWII, 16 million of them civilians.
Now I'm watching this
POWER TRIP
by Paul Devlin
Amid pervasive blackouts and corruption, an American energy company purchases a formerly state-run electricity company in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia. Cultures clash, tempers flare and managers and locals tussle as a struggling nation attempts to build itself from beneath the rubble of Soviet collapse.
The film credits said it was made in 2004. When I first started becoming a news junkie I remember it registering to me that there were a lot of murders in Tblisi, the largest city in Georgia, at one time part of the Soviet Union. The iron fisted rulers of the Soviet era used force and fear to make the people submit to their will. The corruption depicted in the film was atrocious. No wonder the company was sold to a Russian company. A terrorized people don't change overnight, especially if anybody with an independent streak and honesty flees or disappears somehow. The country sits between Asia and Europe and people have been figthing over control of the area between the Black and Caspian Seas for hundreds, probably thousands of years.
Most recently because it's part of Piplineistan
Taliban wants 'new world order'
...Speaking during a news conference in London with Gordon Brown, the British prime minister, Zardari said the Taliban are seeking to create a "new world order" and that more effort was needed by the international community to defeat the fighters...
Scores of Afghan girls ill in third school poisoning
Tue May 12, 2009 7:38am EDT
...The early morning mass-poisoning at Qazaaq school was likely the work of Taliban sympathizers hostile to girls' education, the head of security for Kapisa province told Reuters...
Scores of Afghan girls ill in third school poisoning
Tue May 12, 2009 7:38am EDT
...The early morning mass-poisoning at Qazaaq school was likely the work of Taliban sympathizers hostile to girls' education, the head of security for Kapisa province told Reuters...
We Shall Remain
I'm watching the first episode online.
Frankly, it's kind of depressing to know that religious nut-jobs who were a pain in the ass in England were among some of the first to gain a tenacious foothold in the new land.
We are still dealing with harmful religious nut-jobs.
Frankly, it's kind of depressing to know that religious nut-jobs who were a pain in the ass in England were among some of the first to gain a tenacious foothold in the new land.
We are still dealing with harmful religious nut-jobs.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Fronltline -- the Madoff Affair
Holy Crap you have to watch this thing to believe it. I don't feel sorry for any of the people who worked for him. Nobody asked Madoff questions because they were all making really good money on it. And that is how you keep a ponzi scheme going for 30 years. If anything I have sympathy for the underfunded and overworked SEC.
Bernard Madoff , rotten little weasel.
He pulled off a ponzi scheme that even pulled in European royalty.
When I watched this movie, I realized that that a video screen was as close as I ever wanted to be to certain members of European royalty. In fact, a couple of the impressions I had made me grateful that I never had to deal with any of these people in any way, and you can be sure that some of them are glad they never had to deal with me. The American kids are so differerent.
Bernard Madoff , rotten little weasel.
He pulled off a ponzi scheme that even pulled in European royalty.
When I watched this movie, I realized that that a video screen was as close as I ever wanted to be to certain members of European royalty. In fact, a couple of the impressions I had made me grateful that I never had to deal with any of these people in any way, and you can be sure that some of them are glad they never had to deal with me. The American kids are so differerent.
Unemployment, Afghanistan and bankster rescue explained
Ehrenreich: Where is the outrage over unemployment?
By Barbara Ehrenreich
Posted: 05/07/2009 02:56:38 PM PDT
Updated: 05/07/2009 07:10:52 PM PDT
n most parts of the world, mass unemployment brings the specter of mass social unrest. Not in the United States, though, where 13 million people have accepted joblessness with nary a peep of protest.
Many reasons — from Prozac to Pentecostalism — have been cited to explain America's passivity, but the truth might be far simpler: In America, unemployment has been reconfigured as a new form of work....
What the fuck are we doing in Afghanistan?
Posted May 12, 2009 3:37 pm
Tomgram: Pepe Escobar, Pipelineistan Goes Af-Pak
Back in March, Pepe Escobar, that itchy, edgy global reporter for one of my favorite on-line publications, Asia Times, began laying out the great, ongoing energy struggle across Eurasia, or what he likes to call Pipelinestan for its web of oil and natural gas pipelines. In his first report, he dealt with the embattled energy corridor (and a key pipeline) that runs from the Caspian Sea to Europe through Georgia and Turkey -- and the Great Game of business, diplomacy, and proxy war between Russia and the U.S. that has gone with it...
Frankly, this shit pisses me off more than some of the other stuff. Why? Because corporate interests are using war to get their hands on other people's natural resources in order to profit by selling it to yet another area. Corporate America has all but abandoned US citizens. They profited while there were helping to set up a sense of entitlement of a certain standard of living amongst US citizens that is absolutely unsustainable and is in fact contributing to co2 levels that are exacerbating global warming.
Still, though, I wonder what Escobar is trying to pull when he refers to a bill that never became law? update 9:09 PM 5/12/2009 Of course I should have added earlier that what I found shocking was the title of the bill, it was arrogant. The bills passed to fund the war, but they were called something else.
William Greider and Naomi Klein try to explain to Charlie Rose just what is happening to us via the banksters.
By Barbara Ehrenreich
Posted: 05/07/2009 02:56:38 PM PDT
Updated: 05/07/2009 07:10:52 PM PDT
n most parts of the world, mass unemployment brings the specter of mass social unrest. Not in the United States, though, where 13 million people have accepted joblessness with nary a peep of protest.
Many reasons — from Prozac to Pentecostalism — have been cited to explain America's passivity, but the truth might be far simpler: In America, unemployment has been reconfigured as a new form of work....
What the fuck are we doing in Afghanistan?
Posted May 12, 2009 3:37 pm
Tomgram: Pepe Escobar, Pipelineistan Goes Af-Pak
Back in March, Pepe Escobar, that itchy, edgy global reporter for one of my favorite on-line publications, Asia Times, began laying out the great, ongoing energy struggle across Eurasia, or what he likes to call Pipelinestan for its web of oil and natural gas pipelines. In his first report, he dealt with the embattled energy corridor (and a key pipeline) that runs from the Caspian Sea to Europe through Georgia and Turkey -- and the Great Game of business, diplomacy, and proxy war between Russia and the U.S. that has gone with it...
Frankly, this shit pisses me off more than some of the other stuff. Why? Because corporate interests are using war to get their hands on other people's natural resources in order to profit by selling it to yet another area. Corporate America has all but abandoned US citizens. They profited while there were helping to set up a sense of entitlement of a certain standard of living amongst US citizens that is absolutely unsustainable and is in fact contributing to co2 levels that are exacerbating global warming.
Still, though, I wonder what Escobar is trying to pull when he refers to a bill that never became law? update 9:09 PM 5/12/2009 Of course I should have added earlier that what I found shocking was the title of the bill, it was arrogant. The bills passed to fund the war, but they were called something else.
William Greider and Naomi Klein try to explain to Charlie Rose just what is happening to us via the banksters.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Last night I stayed up too late watching TV
I am such a PBS dork. First I watched
Patsy Mink: Ahead of the Majority
Patsy Mink: Ahead of the Majority explores the remarkable political story of Patsy Takemoto Mink, an Asian American woman who, battling racism and sexism, redefined American politics.
and then I watched
WWII Behind Closed Doors
Unlikely Friends Summer 1939 to Summer 1942
And then I fell asleep during the Geronimo episode of We Shall Remain. It started at 3 AM and I didn't know that you could watch the series online here . I'm going to watch the whole series because I want to see if they ever bring up the fact that almost every treaty ever signed was broken.
Patsy Mink: Ahead of the Majority
Patsy Mink: Ahead of the Majority explores the remarkable political story of Patsy Takemoto Mink, an Asian American woman who, battling racism and sexism, redefined American politics.
and then I watched
WWII Behind Closed Doors
Unlikely Friends Summer 1939 to Summer 1942
Before Joseph Stalin allied the Soviet Union with the United States and Great Britain, he offered help to Hitler and the Nazis much more than the rest of the world knew at the time. But when Hitler turned on Stalin and invaded the Soviet Union, in desperation the Soviet leader looked to the West for help. Although British prime minister Winston Churchill and U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt despised Communism, they also valued anyone who fought against the Nazis.
And then I fell asleep during the Geronimo episode of We Shall Remain. It started at 3 AM and I didn't know that you could watch the series online here . I'm going to watch the whole series because I want to see if they ever bring up the fact that almost every treaty ever signed was broken.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Mother's Day texting
Kid: Happy Mother's Day! I love you!
Mom: Thanks. I love you too.
Kid: Well thanks. Do you want to have lunch or something?
Mom: That is sweet, but no thank you, the restaurants are full of crazy people who hate their mothers.
Kid: HaHa OK
Mom: I love you big. Just you being you is the best present ever that a mom could get 4 Mother's Day.
Mom: Thanks. I love you too.
Kid: Well thanks. Do you want to have lunch or something?
Mom: That is sweet, but no thank you, the restaurants are full of crazy people who hate their mothers.
Kid: HaHa OK
Mom: I love you big. Just you being you is the best present ever that a mom could get 4 Mother's Day.
The End of Free Speech?
May 7, 2009
The End of Free Speech?
Criminalizing Criticism of Israel
By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS
On October 16, 2004, President George W. Bush signed the Israel Lobby’s bill, the Global Anti-Semitism Review Act. This legislation requires the US Department of State to monitor anti-semitism world wide.
To monitor anti-semitism, it has to be defined. What is the definition? Basically, as defined by the Israel Lobby and Abe Foxman, it boils down to any criticism of Israel or Jews.
Rahm Israel Emanuel hasn’t been mopping floors at the White House.
As soon as he gets the Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009 passed, it will become a crime for any American to tell the truth about Israel’s treatment of Palestinians and theft of their lands.
It will be a crime for Christians to acknowledge the New Testament’s account of Jews demanding the crucifixion of Jesus.
It will be a crime to report the extraordinary influence of the Israel Lobby on the White House and Congress, such as the AIPAC-written resolutions praising Israel for its war crimes against the Palestinians in Gaza that were endorsed by 100 per cent of the US Senate and 99 per cent of the House of Representatives, while the rest of the world condemned Israel for its barbarity.
It will be a crime to doubt the Holocaust.
It will become a crime to note the disproportionate representation of Jews in the media, finance, and foreign policy.
In other words, it means the end of free speech, free inquiry, and the First Amendment to the Constitution. Any facts or truths that cast aspersion upon Israel will simply be banned.
Given the hubris of the US government, which leads Washington to apply US law to every country and organization, what will happen to the International Red Cross, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, and the various human rights organizations that have demanded investigations of Israel’s military assault on Gaza’s civilian population? Will they all be arrested for the hate crime of “excessive” criticism of Israel?
This is a serious question.
A recent UN report, which is yet to be released in its entirety, blames Israel for the deaths and injuries that occurred within the United Nations premises in Gaza. The Israeli government has responded by charging that the UN report is “tendentious, patently biased,” which puts the UN report into the State Department’s category of excessive criticism and strong anti-Israel sentiment.
Israel is getting away with its blatant use of the American government to silence its critics despite the fact that the Israeli press and Israeli soldiers have exposed the Israeli atrocities in Gaza and the premeditated murder of women and children urged upon the Israeli invaders by rabbis. These acts are clearly war crimes.
It was the Israeli press that published the pictures of the Israeli soldiers’ T-shirts that indicate that the willful murder of women and children is now the culture of the Israeli army. The T-shirts are horrific expressions of barbarity. For example, one shows a pregnant Palestinian woman with a crosshairs over her stomach and the slogan, “One shot, two kills.” These T-shirts are an indication that Israel’s policy toward the Palestinians is one of extermination.
It has been true for years that the most potent criticism of Israel’s mistreatment of the Palestinians comes from the Israeli press and Israeli peace groups. For example, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz and Jeff Halper of ICAHD have shown a moral conscience that apparently does not exist in the Western democracies where Israel’s crimes are covered up and even praised.
Will the American hate crime bill be applied to Haaretz and Jeff Halper? Will American commentators who say nothing themselves but simply report what Haaretz and Halper have said be arrested for “spreading hatred of Israel, an anti-semitic act”?
Many Americans have been brainwashed by the propaganda that Palestinians are terrorists who threaten innocent Israel. These Americans will see the censorship as merely part of the necessary war on terror. They will accept the demonization of fellow citizens who report unpalatable facts about Israel and agree that such people should be punished for aiding and abetting terrorists.
A massive push is underway to criminalize criticism of Israel. American university professors have fallen victim to the well organized attempt to eliminate all criticism of Israel. Norman Finkelstein was denied tenure at a Catholic university because of the power of the Israel Lobby. Now the Israel Lobby is after University of California (at Santa Barbara,) professor Wiliam Robinson. Robinson’s crime: his course on global affairs included some reading assignments critical of Israel’s invasion of Gaza.
The Israel Lobby apparently succeeded in convincing the Obama Justice (sic) Department that it is anti-semitic to accuse two Jewish AIPAC officials, Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman, of spying. The Israel Lobby succeeded in getting their trial delayed for four years, and now Attorney General Eric Holder has dropped charges. Yet, Larry Franklin, the DOD official accused of giving secret material to Rosen and Weissman, is serving 12 years and 7 months in prison.
The absurdity is extraordinary. The two Israeli agents are not guilty of receiving secrets, but the American official is guilty of giving secrets to them! If there is no spy in the story, how was Franklin convicted of giving secrets to a spy?
Criminalizing criticism of Israel destroys any hope of America having an independent foreign policy in the Middle East that serves American rather than Israeli interests. It eliminates any prospect of Americans escaping from their enculturation with Israeli propaganda.
To keep American minds captive, the Lobby is working to ban as anti-semitic any truth or disagreeable fact that pertains to Israel. It is permissible to criticize every other country in the world, but it is anti-semitic to criticize Israel, and anti-semitism will soon be a universal hate-crime in the Western world.
Most of Europe has already criminalized doubting the Holocaust. It is a crime even to confirm that it happened but to conclude that less than 6 million Jews were murdered.
Why is the Holocaust a subject that is off limits to examination? How could a case buttressed by hard facts possibly be endangered by kooks and anti-semitics? Surely the case doesn’t need to be protected by thought control.
Imprisoning people for doubts is the antithesis of modernity.
Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan administration. He is coauthor of The Tyranny of Good Intentions.He can be reached at: PaulCraigRoberts@yahoo.com
The End of Free Speech?
Criminalizing Criticism of Israel
By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS
On October 16, 2004, President George W. Bush signed the Israel Lobby’s bill, the Global Anti-Semitism Review Act. This legislation requires the US Department of State to monitor anti-semitism world wide.
To monitor anti-semitism, it has to be defined. What is the definition? Basically, as defined by the Israel Lobby and Abe Foxman, it boils down to any criticism of Israel or Jews.
Rahm Israel Emanuel hasn’t been mopping floors at the White House.
As soon as he gets the Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009 passed, it will become a crime for any American to tell the truth about Israel’s treatment of Palestinians and theft of their lands.
It will be a crime for Christians to acknowledge the New Testament’s account of Jews demanding the crucifixion of Jesus.
It will be a crime to report the extraordinary influence of the Israel Lobby on the White House and Congress, such as the AIPAC-written resolutions praising Israel for its war crimes against the Palestinians in Gaza that were endorsed by 100 per cent of the US Senate and 99 per cent of the House of Representatives, while the rest of the world condemned Israel for its barbarity.
It will be a crime to doubt the Holocaust.
It will become a crime to note the disproportionate representation of Jews in the media, finance, and foreign policy.
In other words, it means the end of free speech, free inquiry, and the First Amendment to the Constitution. Any facts or truths that cast aspersion upon Israel will simply be banned.
Given the hubris of the US government, which leads Washington to apply US law to every country and organization, what will happen to the International Red Cross, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, and the various human rights organizations that have demanded investigations of Israel’s military assault on Gaza’s civilian population? Will they all be arrested for the hate crime of “excessive” criticism of Israel?
This is a serious question.
A recent UN report, which is yet to be released in its entirety, blames Israel for the deaths and injuries that occurred within the United Nations premises in Gaza. The Israeli government has responded by charging that the UN report is “tendentious, patently biased,” which puts the UN report into the State Department’s category of excessive criticism and strong anti-Israel sentiment.
Israel is getting away with its blatant use of the American government to silence its critics despite the fact that the Israeli press and Israeli soldiers have exposed the Israeli atrocities in Gaza and the premeditated murder of women and children urged upon the Israeli invaders by rabbis. These acts are clearly war crimes.
It was the Israeli press that published the pictures of the Israeli soldiers’ T-shirts that indicate that the willful murder of women and children is now the culture of the Israeli army. The T-shirts are horrific expressions of barbarity. For example, one shows a pregnant Palestinian woman with a crosshairs over her stomach and the slogan, “One shot, two kills.” These T-shirts are an indication that Israel’s policy toward the Palestinians is one of extermination.
It has been true for years that the most potent criticism of Israel’s mistreatment of the Palestinians comes from the Israeli press and Israeli peace groups. For example, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz and Jeff Halper of ICAHD have shown a moral conscience that apparently does not exist in the Western democracies where Israel’s crimes are covered up and even praised.
Will the American hate crime bill be applied to Haaretz and Jeff Halper? Will American commentators who say nothing themselves but simply report what Haaretz and Halper have said be arrested for “spreading hatred of Israel, an anti-semitic act”?
Many Americans have been brainwashed by the propaganda that Palestinians are terrorists who threaten innocent Israel. These Americans will see the censorship as merely part of the necessary war on terror. They will accept the demonization of fellow citizens who report unpalatable facts about Israel and agree that such people should be punished for aiding and abetting terrorists.
A massive push is underway to criminalize criticism of Israel. American university professors have fallen victim to the well organized attempt to eliminate all criticism of Israel. Norman Finkelstein was denied tenure at a Catholic university because of the power of the Israel Lobby. Now the Israel Lobby is after University of California (at Santa Barbara,) professor Wiliam Robinson. Robinson’s crime: his course on global affairs included some reading assignments critical of Israel’s invasion of Gaza.
The Israel Lobby apparently succeeded in convincing the Obama Justice (sic) Department that it is anti-semitic to accuse two Jewish AIPAC officials, Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman, of spying. The Israel Lobby succeeded in getting their trial delayed for four years, and now Attorney General Eric Holder has dropped charges. Yet, Larry Franklin, the DOD official accused of giving secret material to Rosen and Weissman, is serving 12 years and 7 months in prison.
The absurdity is extraordinary. The two Israeli agents are not guilty of receiving secrets, but the American official is guilty of giving secrets to them! If there is no spy in the story, how was Franklin convicted of giving secrets to a spy?
Criminalizing criticism of Israel destroys any hope of America having an independent foreign policy in the Middle East that serves American rather than Israeli interests. It eliminates any prospect of Americans escaping from their enculturation with Israeli propaganda.
To keep American minds captive, the Lobby is working to ban as anti-semitic any truth or disagreeable fact that pertains to Israel. It is permissible to criticize every other country in the world, but it is anti-semitic to criticize Israel, and anti-semitism will soon be a universal hate-crime in the Western world.
Most of Europe has already criminalized doubting the Holocaust. It is a crime even to confirm that it happened but to conclude that less than 6 million Jews were murdered.
Why is the Holocaust a subject that is off limits to examination? How could a case buttressed by hard facts possibly be endangered by kooks and anti-semitics? Surely the case doesn’t need to be protected by thought control.
Imprisoning people for doubts is the antithesis of modernity.
Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan administration. He is coauthor of The Tyranny of Good Intentions.He can be reached at: PaulCraigRoberts@yahoo.com
Friday, May 08, 2009
Senator Dick Durbin On Bill Moyers Journal tonight
May 8, 2009
In a recent radio address on Radio Chicagoland Senator Richard (Dick) Durbin remarked on power the financial services industry still wields at a time when that industry is theoretically under great scrutiny: "The banks — hard to believe in a time when we're facing a banking crisis that many of the banks created — are still the most powerful lobby on Capitol Hill.And they frankly own the place."
The banking lobby won a significant victory in Congress on May 1, 2009 when 12 Democrats joined a united Republican Caucus to vote down an amendment to President Obama's housing bill. At issue was a measure that would have allowed bankruptcy judges to modify mortgages to help homeowners avoid foreclosure.
Woo hoo!!! I know where my butt is going to be parked at 8pm PST.
Update 8:34 PM 5/8/2009 click on title link, it's well worth watching.
In a recent radio address on Radio Chicagoland Senator Richard (Dick) Durbin remarked on power the financial services industry still wields at a time when that industry is theoretically under great scrutiny: "The banks — hard to believe in a time when we're facing a banking crisis that many of the banks created — are still the most powerful lobby on Capitol Hill.And they frankly own the place."
The banking lobby won a significant victory in Congress on May 1, 2009 when 12 Democrats joined a united Republican Caucus to vote down an amendment to President Obama's housing bill. At issue was a measure that would have allowed bankruptcy judges to modify mortgages to help homeowners avoid foreclosure.
Woo hoo!!! I know where my butt is going to be parked at 8pm PST.
Update 8:34 PM 5/8/2009 click on title link, it's well worth watching.
Analysis: Obama charts active role in Mideast
Friday, May 8, 2009
| By BARRY SCHWEID AP Diplomatic Writer |
Thursday, May 07, 2009
On May 5, Mexican dominance irks other Latinos
By MANUEL VALDES Associated Press Writer
...But for Dagoberto Reyes, a Salvadorian immigrant living in Los Angeles, May 5 is more a reminder of the dominance Mexican culture has in a country that is home to immigrants from many Latin American countries. His prime example: Los Angeles-area public schools...
...It's often as simple as commanding the dominant slang - for example, a jacket for Central Americans is "chaqueta," but for Mexicans it is "chamarra" - but it can range to more overt hostility or competition in the work force, and it can spark worries of losing cultural identity.
Ignorance and apathy by Americans adds to the mix...
Who the fuck wrote this piece of shit? I was actually thinking, "Hey Dagoberto, tell that to the immigrants from non Spanish speaking countries who have NO choice but to learn English, while your kids can languish in bi-lingual classes for years, never really learning English."
...But for Dagoberto Reyes, a Salvadorian immigrant living in Los Angeles, May 5 is more a reminder of the dominance Mexican culture has in a country that is home to immigrants from many Latin American countries. His prime example: Los Angeles-area public schools...
...It's often as simple as commanding the dominant slang - for example, a jacket for Central Americans is "chaqueta," but for Mexicans it is "chamarra" - but it can range to more overt hostility or competition in the work force, and it can spark worries of losing cultural identity.
Ignorance and apathy by Americans adds to the mix...
Who the fuck wrote this piece of shit? I was actually thinking, "Hey Dagoberto, tell that to the immigrants from non Spanish speaking countries who have NO choice but to learn English, while your kids can languish in bi-lingual classes for years, never really learning English."
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
REGULATION VACATION CELEBRATION!
My friend sent me this this morning, it made me laugh. Enjoy.
Food Irradiation Supports Agribusiness, Not Health
by Heidi Stevenson
2 May 2009
hat tip, Raw Story
irradiation?
Dude, I'd never heard of irradiation until I was watching a silly horror flick called "28 Days Later." The apple the character was eating was probably safer than the seemingly crack addicted zombies he was escaping at the moment, but how safe was it?
What is food irradiation?
Food irradiation is a process in which approved foods are exposed to radiant energy, including gamma rays, electron beams, and x-rays. In 1963, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found the irradiation of food to be safe. Irradiation of meat and poultry is done in a government-approved irradiation facility. Irradiation is not a substitute for good sanitation and process control in meat and poultry plants. It is an added layer of safety.
Wait, did I read that right?
...good sanitation and process control in meat and poultry plants...
Bwaaaa ha hahahahaha ha ha ha ha ha
Seriously folks, the corporations get just what they want, even from George Bush's Soooopreme Court.
Food Irradiation Supports Agribusiness, Not Health
by Heidi Stevenson
2 May 2009
hat tip, Raw Story
irradiation?
Dude, I'd never heard of irradiation until I was watching a silly horror flick called "28 Days Later." The apple the character was eating was probably safer than the seemingly crack addicted zombies he was escaping at the moment, but how safe was it?
What is food irradiation?
Food irradiation is a process in which approved foods are exposed to radiant energy, including gamma rays, electron beams, and x-rays. In 1963, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found the irradiation of food to be safe. Irradiation of meat and poultry is done in a government-approved irradiation facility. Irradiation is not a substitute for good sanitation and process control in meat and poultry plants. It is an added layer of safety.
Wait, did I read that right?
...good sanitation and process control in meat and poultry plants...
Bwaaaa ha hahahahaha ha ha ha ha ha
Seriously folks, the corporations get just what they want, even from George Bush's Soooopreme Court.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)