| To: Crimson Ghost who wrote (267) | 6/2/2009 9:14:31 PM | | From: Broken_Clock | | | | news.antiwar.com
Israeli MP Arrested as Settlers Rampage Through West Bank
Settlers Torch Palestinian Fields, Chop Down Trees
by Jason Ditz, June 01, 2009
Israeli settlers rampaged through the West Bank today, attacking Palestinian laborers, chopping down olive trees and burning fields. Six Palestinians were injured when the settlers attacked their truck. The settlers were reportedly infuriated by President Obama’s calls to halt settlement growth.
Six of the settlers were arrested by army forces, including a member of the Knesset (Israeli parliament). That MP, Michael Ben-Ari, is a member of the pro-settler National Union party and claims he was assaulted by the security forces.
Ben-Ari was a former member of the banned Kach Party, founded by Orthodox rabbi Meir Kahane. The party was banned when an Israeli court ruled it was “manifestly racist,” as one of its tenets was that Israel should not allow Arabs to have citizenship.
Ben-Ari has condemned his arrest, saying it violated the legal immunities enjoyed by members of the Knesset. The military said the MP was attempting to provoke the soldiers and that it had to arrest him to “clear the riots in the area.” |
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| To: Broken_Clock who wrote (270) | 6/6/2009 7:12:07 PM | | From: LTK007 | | | | Egyptians: ‘Obama Talks Democracy, Endorses Dictatorship’
by Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani, June 06, 2009
CAIRO, Jun 5 (IPS) — Egyptian officials are lining up to praise U.S. President Barack Obama’s address to the Islamic world delivered in Cairo Thursday. But local campaigners for political reform say the speech was disappointingly light on the issues of democracy and human rights.
"Obama spoke very briefly and in very general terms on these two subjects," opposition journalist and reform campaigner Abdel-Halim Kandil told IPS. "Despite the hype, Obama’s speech was little more than an exercise in public relations."
Obama arrived in the Egyptian capital amid much fanfare Jun. 4, where he delivered a seminal address aimed at Arab and Islamic audiences. The U.S. President came to Egypt via Saudi Arabia, Washington’s other main Arab ally in the region, where he spent a day meeting with Saudi Arabian leaders and officials.
Ahead of his speech, Obama also met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Although talks were held behind closed doors, the two heads of state reportedly focused on regional issues, including the conflicts in Iraq and Central Asia, impending elections in Lebanon, and the volatile Israel- Palestine conflict.
Obama’s much-awaited address, in which he called for "a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world," covered a range of issues. These included the dangers of violent extremism; prospects for peace between Israel and the Palestinians; nuclear weapons proliferation; democracy; civil liberties; and economic development.
On democracy, Obama declared his belief that "all people yearn for certain things: the ability to speak your mind and have a say in how you are governed; confidence in the rule of law and the equal administration of justice; government that is transparent and doesn’t steal from the people; the freedom to live as you choose.
"Those are not just American ideas, they are human rights, and that is why we will support them everywhere," he said. "Governments that protect these rights are ultimately more stable, successful and secure. And we will welcome all elected, peaceful governments — provided they govern with respect for all their people."
Officials of Mubarak’s ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) hastened to praise the "historic" address.
"Obama’s speech reignited hope for new U.S. policymaking," wrote Osama Saraya, editor-in-chief of state daily Al-Ahram. Mohammed Sayyed Tantawi, head of Cairo’s prestigious Al-Azhar school of Islamic learning (who is appointed by the President), declared that the address "succeeded in touching the hearts and minds of Muslims."
But local reform campaigners and human rights activists were considerably less impressed.
Bahaieddin Hasan, head of the Cairo Center for Human Rights Studies, described the address as "superficial" and devoid of details. "There didn’t appear to be any concern for either democratic reform or human rights," he was quoted as saying in the Friday edition of independent daily Al-Dustour. "This came as a major disappointment."
Hisham Kassem, a leading Cairo-based rights activist, agreed. "The Obama administration appears to have put human rights and political reform at the bottom of the agenda," he told IPS. "It’s noteworthy that only 367 words of the speech out of a total of almost 6,000 were devoted to democracy and human rights. This tiny proportion appears to be an indication of Obama’s priorities."
Kassem said that after a full five months in the presidency, Obama "still hasn’t appointed an assistant secretary of state for human rights, while he has also done away with the Bush-era position of special envoy for human rights and political reform."
Kandil said that Obama’s choice of Egypt — ruled by Mubarak under a draconian state of emergency for 28 years — sends the wrong message. Saudi Arabia, which Obama visited earlier, lacks even pretense of democracy.
"Obama’s visit was a show of support for both the dictatorial Egyptian regime and the criminal policies of Israel regarding the Palestinians," he said. "It represents an acknowledgement of Egypt’s role in serving U.S. and Israeli policy objectives, while totally overlooking the regime’s dismal record on human rights and political reform.
"The government, in crisis due to skyrocketing inflation and enormous popular disaffection, is hoping that Obama’s visit will somehow bolster its legitimacy and lengthen its dwindling life span," said Kandil.
Kandil is also coordinator of the pro-democracy Kefaya movement, which decided to boycott the event. "Instead of attending, Kefaya members staged a protest march in downtown Cairo on the eve of the speech in order to remind the U.S. President that he is visiting a dictatorship," he said.
Kandil said the new Obama administration differs from its predecessor "only in style and not in substance."
In 2004 and 2005, the George W. Bush administration pushed Cairo hard to invite broader political participation and human rights improvements. It later backtracked on these demands after unexpected victories by the Muslim Brotherhood opposition movement in parliamentary elections.
Kandil pointed to recent statements made by U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates as a more reliable indicator of the Obama administration’s long-term approach to the issue. Early last month, Gates, after meeting with Mubarak, announced that U.S. military assistance to Egypt would not be made conditional on Egypt’s human rights record or the pace of democratic reform.
"Democratic change can’t be expected to come from the White House, because, ultimately, the U.S. and Israel — like the regime itself — don’t want real democracy in Egypt," said Kandil. "They know that if fair elections were ever held, they would be handily won by opponents of U.S. policy and the American-Zionist project in the region.
"And as for human rights, the U.S. is a constant perpetrator of rights violations in Iraq and Afghanistan — and now Pakistan — while simultaneously overlooking violations committed by Israel and its own Arab allies," he said. |
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| To: LTK007 who wrote (271) | 6/6/2009 8:35:31 PM | | From: Broken_Clock | | | | Obama is a used car salesman...very smooth but I wouldn't lay hard money down on his "peace" initiative.
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UN Human Rights Council Blasts US for Killing Civilians, Drone Attacks and Using Mercenaries
The UN group is also calling on the US to appoint a Special Prosecutor to investigate crimes by US officials.
By Jeremy Scahill
The UN Human Rights Council has issued a report blasting the US for killing civilians, violating human rights and creating a “zone of impunity” for unaccountable private contractors to fight its wars. The UN group also criticized the US use of drones to attack Pakistan. The report, released this week was authored by Philip Alston, the U.N. special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions.
“First, the government has failed to track and make public the number of civilian casualties, or the conditions under which deaths occurred,” he said. “Second, the military justice system fails to provide ordinary people, including U.S. citizens and families of Iraqi and Afghan victims, basic information on the status of investigations into civilian casualties or prosecutions resulting therefrom.”
Alston called on the US to establish a national commission to investigate the killing of civilians and for the appointment of a Special Prosecutor to criminally investigate government officials accused of crimes.
“The government has failed to effectively investigate and punish lower-ranking soldiers for such deaths, and has not held senior officers responsible,” Alston said. “Worse, it has effectively created a zone of impunity for private contractors and civilian intelligence agents by only rarely investigating and prosecuting them.”
On the issue of drone attacks, Alston said, “Targeted killings carried out by drone attacks on the territory of other states are increasingly common and remain deeply troubling… The U.S. government should disclose the legal basis for such killings and identify any safeguards designed to reduce collateral civilian casualties and ensure that the government has targeted the correct person.”
According to Reuters:
U.S. diplomat Lawrence Richter objected to Alston’s remarks, saying the U.N. investigator did not have the mandate to cover military and intelligence operations related to armed conflict.
Richter told the Human Rights Council that the United States has an extensive legal framework to respond to unlawful killings and is doing all it can to provide information about the deaths that occur in its armed conflicts.
Alston, who is an Australian law professor, visited the United States last year, before Obama became president.
rebelreports.com |
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| To: Broken_Clock who wrote (273) | 6/7/2009 6:02:29 AM | | From: LTK007 | | | | i was banned from that thread during campaign by suggesting Obama was Bush-Lite.
Good luck regards dealing with Koan, i classify him as a devout Obamamist Opitimist.
Koan's a nice guy with a desperate need for a hero to make him feel safe about all the fears he has.
He believes what he wants to believe and practices hypocrisy to the extreme by dodging that Obama is just a charmin icon that is basically a continuum of Bush/NeoCons, nonetheless.
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| To: Crimson Ghost who wrote (267) | 6/7/2009 6:10:36 AM | | From: LTK007 | | | | 10 reasons Terminators destroy 'Twitter-brains'
(This a copy and paste of a text to link orginally posted by NOW on the Epic Thread--max)
Paul B. Farrell
Jun 2, 2009, 12:01 a.m. EST
10 reasons Terminators destroy 'Twitter-brains'
Hypnotized, you'll forget dot-coms, subprimes, the next Great Depression
ARROYO GRANDE, Calif. (MarketWatch) -- In the next "Terminator" sequel, Skynet will "send back" a new, more dangerous "Terminator," not another titanium killing machine but "Twitter Code." And after that, the "Tweet Code" will further limit communications between humanoids, from 140 words to 17 syllables, the length of a Zen koan but without the wisdom.
Two more Skynet weapons further controlling us, destroying our humanity.
Why Twitter, why Tweet? Because both reflect a disturbing trend, the rapidly decreasing attention span and intelligence of the human brain. It's no match for Wall Street's version of the "Terminator's" Skynet that is rapidly expanding it's dominance over the public.
Seriously, Wall Street's Skynet has access to massive data bases on the behavior patterns of all humanoids: Transactions on securities, credit cards, loans, taxes, telephone calls, internet, and soon, all medical records, plus a financial innovation arsenal of quant algorithms and the K-Street network of 42,000 lobbyists gives Wall Street Skynet control of government, and absolute control of investors and our so-called democracy.
Folks, this is too real to make up. Less than a year ago, Wall Street banks were insolvent, near bankruptcy. Then in a swift "disaster capitalism" maneuver by Henry Paulson, Wall Street's Trojan Horse in Washington, they raided our Treasury and the Fed, while our clueless reps in Congress stood by.
Eight short months later, Wall Street's back in "business as usual" with bigger salaries and bonuses, while taxpayers hold the bag for over $5 trillion in new debts, a record $546,668 per household reports USA Today.
Wall Street Skynet and its arsenal of Terminators
Forget the metaphor; Wall Street is the real Skynet. And the Twitter/Tweet Codes are just a few of their many nanobots -- financial-innovation Terminators -- infiltrating the investor's brain, dulling our long-term reasoning powers, replacing them with new short-term irrational neurotoxins that will block their capacity to detect the broader strategies of the Wall Street Skynet Conspiracy.
That coupled with a memory purge is preventing us from assembling the "Resistance," a rebellion against Wall Street's version of Skynet.
Wall Street is hypnotizing Main Street investors: That way we forget the past, embrace the illusions and are easier to manipulate. In a trance state, we'll be unable to resist them.
If you don't believe me, here are the 10 nanobots anaesthetizing your brain. They are inspired by one of America's greatest business writers, Stanley Bing, author of a few books in my library: "Crazy Bosses;" "Rome, Inc.;" "Sun Tzu Was a Sissy;" "100 Bullshit Jobs;" and "What Would Machiavelli Do? The End Justifies the Meanness."
Bing writes a Fortune column. His latest, "Lessons We'll Forget," tells me that Wall Street Skynet is operational: "The moment the human animal is comfortable again, it immediately begins the important task of forgetting everything painful that has happened to it."
The past two years were painful, like the Great Depression, yet the investor's attention span has become so short, we're forgetting the pain, even cheering Wall Street.
So here's Bing's intriguing message, adapted for investors who are Terminator fans. Your memory will be purged now as you read about Wall Street Skynet's strategy. And that purge is setting up Great Depression 2, Wall Street's third crash of this century:
1. You'll forget ... that economists misled us, and will again
Bing says "economics is a bunch of bushwa" -- that's nonsense, BS, hype: "Economists are obviously not only behind the curve ... they are in many cases the cause of it." The memory purge is in progress. We see it in the recent upsurge in the "Consumer Sentiment Index," an resurgence of exuberance that says the masses are ready to be misled again.
2. You'll forget ... new crooks are plotting to steal your money
Our brains are designed to deny and suppress bad experiences. Bing says: "Next time this all happens, people will once again be surprised that the guy who ran the exchange [Madoff was Nasdaq chairman] is the person who also managed the Ponzi scheme." And you've already forgotten that megacrook, former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson. His Ponzi scheme was 15 times bigger than Bernie's, and Congress didn't indict him.
3. You'll forget ... that regulators are also political hacks in disguise
Bing words: "The law is an ass ... Virtually all of the regulators and legislators who were supposed to be monitoring the finance industry were certainly lawyers, as were the lawmakers who were asleep at the switch." The truth is the SEC, CFTC, all staff lawyers and their lobbyists are just more "politicians" gaming the law for their personal gain. Once the bull's back and you're making a few bucks (on paper), you'll forget all this.
4. You'll forget ... bankers are stupid, and will make stupid loans
Whether it's Rome, the Dutch Tulip Bulb Bubble, the Panic of 1837, or the dot-com insanity, "every panic in history has been precipitated by the same stupid sequence of events." Cash-rich bankers back too many greedy speculators, overextend, run out of cash. Banks go broke. Markets crash. Why do they never learn? Because bankers have a gene that makes them not only greedy but "stupid," says Bing. And "as soon as nobody is looking they'll do so again." Worse, bankers "forget" even faster than investors do.
5. You'll forget ... that America's run by a powerful wealthy elite
About eight million billionaires and millionaires run America. This small minority own and control about 90% of America's total wealth: "They're not smarter. They're not happier. They just know how the game is played and, for the most part, what to do to stay there. Sometimes everybody forgets that the whole thing is designed to keep the powerful in power and the rich in their McMansions." The other 300 million have no real power because America is not a democracy: "We'll forget that, of course, as soon as the markets simmer down."
6. You'll forget ... that the news is just another Wall Street 'Terminator'
Fewer newspapers, fewer reporters and "more blogspit" means "everything will only get worse" with the news, says Bing. "At the height of our troubles, the food chain [still] goes from security analyst and quote monkey straight to the wires and blogs and directly to you. And you read it and think whatever occupies your brain pan for the most recent five minutes." Then five minutes later, another relentless data dump of Wall Street's mind-numbing propaganda is crammed into our overloaded brains. We either forget, or go mad.
7. You'll forget ... your anger, and you'll let them get away with it
The subtitle of Bing's "What Would Machiavelli Do" -- The End Justifies the Meanness -- reflects the viciousness in today's public dialogue: Anger drives people to rebel, to join a revolution, the resistance, take responsibility, fight back. Instead, we'll wimp out, forget.
8. You'll forget ... nothing lasts forever (except Wall Street's hype)
Nothing? Remember the 2004 election when Reaganomics was hot? When Rove talked of a "permanent GOP majority?" Later when Bush had "a lot of political capital and planned to spend it?" When the Dow roared above 14,000? Obama's riding high now. Beware, Bing says: Nothing lasts, "not good times and not bad times either." Nothing.
9. You'll forget ... what's really important as soon as the bull roars
There more to life than stocks, the economy, your career and a retirement portfolio. And no matter what, Bing says, you'll eat breakfast today. Just don't forget it tastes better with loved ones. They will always help you forget everything else, if you haven't already.
10. You'll forget ... you can fight back, but the will is gone
Bing ends gently: "We just forgot all this stuff. Stuff? What stuff?" ... fade to black.
As investors forget the pain of the past couple years, our silence alone will crush the Main Street Resistance. At the peak of the dot-com insanity, on March 20, 2000, I posted a column: "Next Crash, sorry, you'll never hear it coming." Investors were deaf: Then again on March 24, 2004 we warned a second time. Same title. But Wall Street was deaf, let their disaster fester, adding fuel for the catastrophic credit meltdown in 2007.
Warning: A third disaster is festering. The worst is yet to come. Yale's Robert Shiller says: "We recently lived through two epidemics of excessive financial optimism. I believe we are close to a third episode, only this one will spread irrational pessimism and distrust -- not exuberance. If that happens, our economic problems will become much worse than they need to be, and our social problems will multiply."
Bing's "Lessons We'll Forget," is a perfect explanation of the coming third episode. And we have no will to fight back. The Great Depression 2 coming in 2011 is our destiny because 95 million investors are forgetting the lessons of prior "episodes" ... and will do nothing.
Now relax and listen to this soft peaceful hypnotic voice: "Yes, relax as I count backwards from 10 to 1. When we reach 1 you will wake up refreshed, optimistic. You will forget all the bad warnings from Bing, Shiller and Farrell about past and future disasters. Just stay in the eternally blissful 'Now.' Once awake, you will only remember this one fact: 'Wall Street is a trusted friend'... you won't forget that now ... will you?" |
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| To: LTK007 who wrote (275) | 6/7/2009 7:01:43 AM | | From: zamboz | | | | | Just found this thread. I agree with what you say about Obama and MLK. If anything, Obama as president should underscore the importance of Dr. King. There is no way we would have an African American president in the White House without the strict adherence to non-violence that Dr. King encouraged. The man amazes me more and more as I reflect on him. |
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| To: zamboz who wrote (276) | 6/7/2009 2:45:36 PM | | From: LTK007 | | | | Before i post a couple OLD OLD rants. i want you to click this link.
i consider Harper's Magazine to be as genuine "semi-rad" magazine around.
This is the oldest continuously published Progressive Magazine in the United States, i subscribe to it's printed edition, and once a month i say "O Boy, Harper's is here!!!"
Harper's and CounterPunch are my to favorite magazines of World Affairs and The Human Condition and of certain great fiction writers(CounterPunch i get via E-Mail)
i get SICK at Obaimites that consider themselves progressives--an utterly FALSE claim on thir part, and yet another sign of the decline going on all around us.
So click this FIRST, then the other stuff:)Max 6/7/2009
The cartoon of Obama's holding a "I Have a Dream" Poster is classic.
Message 25561619
The attempt to use Obama happenstance of his color to get people to leap on his wagon one the mosy disillusioning events of my life regards realizing how utterly EASY it is to con people.
"Love Me i am Lib" retards(and there are MANY) that didn't know me, on hearing me say i am NOT going to vote in this election, period, say "Is it because Obama is black? Are you a racist?"
Well i would say "if i am a racist than Reverend Wright is a Racist, hell if Reverent Wright was running i WOULD vote for him." And they would get nervous norvous, it would be like saying "Malcolm X" to a Liberal in the 60s, their basic reaction was FEAR-- they get that look of "that dangerous Black Man'
Hell Reverend Wright is FAR FAR truer to MLK than Obama, so Obama, Hack Politician DENOUNCES him for daring to say America is an Evil Militaristic Empire.
Listen to MLK's condemnations of the NAM war, and then picture Obama doing the same----PLEESE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i got banned from Poet's thread for daring declare the thread was bogus. i give an example of how the Stepford-Liberals banned you in a twink if you dared speak not nicely of Obama.
i have banned from EVERY RIGHT WING Thread and Every Obama is the Man, thread, on SI.
i find it curious that they ban me as fast as the mos def Right Wing Thread do also ban me
Just another sign this country is going to hell.
a post fragment on LeftWing Porch thread just before i was banned, includes a link to the "Scary Kiss" scene from Invasion of the Body Snatchers(the original IOTBS)
<<Fascinatingly sickening it is witnessing people performing mass lobotomies on themselves.
Now than that Obama has Embraced McCain and Lieberman and Emanuel Rahm, i see the One War Party, coming out its closet that any but self lobotomized can see it(But the self lobotomised is the Vast Majority of all Americans, sadly).
Yes , when on SI, i do feel about as lonely, as lonely as Dr.Miles J.Bennell did when surrounded by PODPEOPLE.
Here, C.C, enjoy this as it shows how i feel about ALL OF YOU that have assassinated the ability To THINK Free, be Free, you all that are of THE HERD.
You will get a thrill out this U-Tube video , getting to know what it is like for people like me, THE OUTRIDERS/THE OUTSIDERS/THE UNTAMED/THE FREE THINKERS.
Witness my misery and be satisfied your are but one in the MASS MULTITUDE in the the body of THE HERD MIND that make life for people like me a lonely journey.
We do, however, network, and thus remind ourselves we are NOT wholely alone just close to it. Max
From 1956--the last 3 minutes of a classic movie.
youtube.com >>
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and this fragment with a link
<<a reminder Obama EMBRACED McCain and Lieberman this week while he BANNED Ex-President Jimmy Carter from the Democratic Convention for committing the apostasy of daring to suggest Israel was an Apartheid State.
That fact you all have NO problem with that tells me who you are
You say "Go Obama" for his McCain your IN!and Carter you are OUT!.
If i were to stay here i would strangle to death in the dark waters of hypocrisy from you 'Love us, we are safe, we are good, we are rattle no cages, we LOVE are new KING, we follow we follow we follow, we are the New American; the Unity of the Far Right and The Center"
As i say this thread should be changed to the Centrist Porch, it being called the Left Wing Porch is a bad joke.
i leave you to your false GAWDS.
i give another link
i doubt you will click
Once you see the post starts with this <<CG, i collect names of Israeli jews that are strongly oppositional to where Israel has been and where it is going, these the jews SHOUTED DOWN by the Fanatic Ultra-Zionist--so when i charge this shouters as Judeo-Nazis, i am talking about a group that captured both the power in Israel and the U.S., and it is this FANATIC group that Obama is EMBRACING, and that is UNACCEPTABLE to me, as a human being.
the rest of the post
Message 25190075
Max>>
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So here is where i hide out now, regards Obama as this a world where people like me are can strongly relate to "Dr.Miles Bennell's" situation
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| To: LTK007 who wrote (277) | 6/7/2009 5:17:03 PM | | From: zamboz | | | | Max,
Sadly, your link to the Scary Kiss scene did not work. I tried to search it but did not find it.
I like Jimmy Carter. He does try to tell it like it is. There is a certain honesty and decency to him that did not always work well in the Presidency. He made some hard decisions that angered his own party. Things like removing fixed pricing on natural gas. And he is honest on the Middle East. He says 1 + 1 = 2 and everyone goes nuts. It is PC to say 1 + 1 = 3 or some other nonsense.
Though I am more optimistic about Obama than yourself, I think the guy has to stand on his own. He has to take the criticism when due. Liberals are slowly waking up. If they want their agendas taken care of, they are going to have to stand up and make some noise. And you know what? Obama and Rahm Emmauel are not gonna get their feelings hurt. This is the big leagues.
Rick |
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| To: LTK007 who wrote (275) | 6/7/2009 6:05:08 PM | | From: Crimson Ghost | | | | Russ Winter and Steve Saville who have been very good this year, both think the stock market now has much more downside risk than upside potential.
Given the big rally we have had I doubt new lows are in store this fall. Still I suspect we will retrace about half the rally with the S&P 500 dropping to the 800 area by August/September. |
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