Engasjer dere. Bry dere.

bastardlybrendan: thepeoplesrecord: whykillthemockingbird: MUS...

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 23:16:48 +0100

thepeoplesrecord:

whykillthemockingbird:

MUST WATCH:

A Yemeni national, Farea Al-muslimi, describes how a US drone fired missiles on his small village of Wessab in Yemen, “What radicals had previously failed to achieve in my village, one drone strike accomplished in an instant: There is now an intense anger and growing hatred of America.” The came can be said of US drone attacks on Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, Uganda, and beyond.

This testimony is really powerful. Watch it if you haven’t already.

A personal testimony always paints a better picture than any statistic could.

seentobedone: thepeoplesrecord: Nestlé chairman denies that...

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 22:46:51 +0100

seentobedone:

thepeoplesrecord:

Nestlé chairman denies that water is an essential human right
April 22, 2013

The current Chairman and former CEO of Nestlé, the largest producer of food products in the world, believes that the answer to global water issues is privatization. This statement is on record from the wonderful company that has peddled junk food in the Amazon, has invested money to thwart the labeling of GMO-filled products, has a disturbing health and ethics record for its infant formula, and has deployed a cyber army to monitor Internet criticism and shape discussions in social media.

This is apparently the company we should trust to manage our water, despite the record of large bottling companies like Nestlé having a track record of creating shortages:

Large multinational beverage companies are usually given water-well privileges (and even tax breaks) over citizens because they create jobs, which is apparently more important to the local governments than water rights to other taxpaying citizens. These companies such as Coca Cola and Nestlé (which bottles suburban Michigan well-water and calls it Poland Spring) suck up millions of gallons of water, leaving the public to suffer with any shortages. (source)

But Chairman, Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, believes that “access to water is not a public right.” Nor is it a human right. So if privatization is the answer, is this the company in which the public should place its trust?

Here is just one example, among many, of his company’s concern for the public thus far:

In the small Pakistani community of Bhati Dilwan, a former village councilor says children are being sickened by filthy water. Who’s to blame? He says it’s bottled water-maker Nestlé, which dug a deep well that is depriving locals of potable water. “The water is not only very dirty, but the water level sank from 100 to 300 to 400 feet,” Dilwan says. (source)

Why? Because if the community had fresh water piped in, it would deprive Nestlé of its lucrative market in water bottled under the Pure Life brand.

In the subtitled video below, from several years back, Brabeck discusses his views on water, as well as some interesting comments concerning his view of Nature — that it is “pitiless” — and, of course, the obligatory statement that organic food is bad and GM is great. In fact, according to Brabeck, you are essentially an extremist to hold views opposite to his own. His statements are important to review as we continue to see the world around us become reshaped into a more mechanized environment in order to stave off that pitiless Nature to which he refers.

The conclusion to this segment is perhaps the most revealing about Brabeck’s worldview, as he highlights a clip of one of his factory operations. Evidently, the saviour-like role of the Nestlé Group in ensuring the health of the global population should be graciously welcomed. Are you convinced?

Source

ICESCR might disagree with you there mate.

How stupid do you have to be to come out with some kind of statement that water isn’t something that all life needs to survive!? Please let this be a joke!

"Question: Which country alone in the Middle East has nuclear weapons? Answer: Israel, Question:..."

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 00:43:17 +0100

“

Question: Which country alone in the Middle East has nuclear weapons?
Answer: Israel,

Question: Which country in the Middle East has just recently used a weapon of mass destruction, a one-ton smart bomb, dropping it in the center of a highly populated area killing civilians including children?
Answer: Israel.

Question: What country in the Middle East was cited by Amnesty International for demolishing more than 4000 innocent Palestinian homes as a means of ethnic cleansing?
Answer: Israel.

Question: What country on Planet Earth has the second most powerful lobby in the United States , according to a recent Fortune magazine survey of Washington insiders?
Answer: Israel.

Question: Which country in the Middle East receives U.S. weapons for free and then sells the technology to the Republic of China even at the objections of the U.S.?
Answer: Israel.

Question: Which country in the Middle East regularly violates the Geneva Convention by imposing collective punishment on entire towns, villages, and camps, for the acts of a few, and even goes as far as demolishing entire villages while people are still in their homes?
Answer: Israel.

Question: Which country in the Middle East routinely kills young Palestinian children for no reason other than throwing stones at armored vehicles, bulldozers, or tanks?
Answer: Israel.

Question: Which country in the Middle East refuses to sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and bars international inspections?
Answer: Israel.

Question: Which country in the Middle East seized the sovereign territory of other nations by military force and continues to occupy it in defiance of United Nations Security Council resolutions?
Answer: Israel.

Question: Which country in the Middle East routinely violates the international borders of another sovereign state with warplanes and artillery and naval gunfire?
Answer: Israel.

Question: What American ally in the Middle East has for years sent assassins into other countries to kill its political enemies (a practice sometimes called exporting terrorism)?
Answer: Israel.

Question: In which country in the Middle East have high-ranking military officers admitted publicly that unarmed prisoners of war were executed?
Answer: Israel.

Question: What country in the Middle East refuses to prosecute its soldiers who have acknowledged executing prisoners of war?
Answer: Israel.

Question: What country in the Middle East created millions of refugees and refuses to allow them to return to their homes, farms and businesses?
Answer: Israel.

Question: What country in the Middle East refuses to pay compensation to people whose land, bank accounts and businesses it confiscated?
Answer: Israel.

Question: In what country in the Middle East was a high-ranking United Nations diplomat assassinated?
Answer: Israel.

Question: In what country in the Middle East did the man who ordered the assassination of a high-ranking U.N. diplomat become prime minister?
Answer: Israel.

Question: What country in the Middle East blew up an American diplomatic facility in Egypt and attacked a U.S. ship, the USS Liberty, in international waters, killing 34 and wounding 171 American sailors?
Answer: Israel.

Question: What country in the Middle East employed a spy, Jonathan Pollard, to steal classified documents from USA and then gave some of them to the Soviet Union?
Answer: Israel.

Question: What country at first denied any official connection to Pollard, then voted to make him a citizen and has continuously demanded that the American president grant Pollard a full pardon?
Answer: Israel.

Question: What Middle East country allows American Jewish murderers to flee to its country to escape punishment in the United States and refuses to extradite them once in their custody?
Answer: Israel.

Question: What Middle East country preaches against hate yet builds a shrine and a memorial for a murderer who killed 29 Palestinians while they prayed in their Mosque?
Answer: Israel.

Question: Which country in the Middle East deliberately targeted a civilian U.N. Refugee Camp in Qana , Lebanon and killed 103 innocent men, women, and especially children?
Answer: Israel.

Question: Which country in the Middle East is in defiance of 69 United Nations Security Council resolutions and has been protected from 29 more by U.S. vetoes?
Answer: Israel.

Question: Which country in the Middle East receives more than one-third of all U.S. aid to the world yet is the 16th richest country in the world?
Answer: Israel.

Question: Which country in the Middle East had its Prime Minister announce to his staff not to worry about what the United States says because “We control America ?”
Answer: Israel.

Question: Which country in the Middle East signed the Oslo Accords promising to halt any new Jewish Settlement construction, but instead, has built more than 270 new settlements since the signing?
Answer: Israel.

Question: Which country in the Middle East has assassinated more than 100 political officials of its opponent in the last 2 years while killing hundreds of civilians in the process, including dozens of children?
Answer: Israel.

”

- Dr. Norman Finkelstein (via spiritfall-commune)

Iraq spiralling towards 'civil war' - Public Service Europe

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 23:13:00 +0100

Iraq spiralling towards 'civil war' - Public Service Europe:

mahiyesiyah:

Protesters have made speeches attacking Nouri al-Maliki’s alleged violation of human rights and called on the international community to intervene in Iraq - writes Struan Stevenson MEP

Nouri al-Maliki is a puppet of Iran, and the Iraqi people will not tolerate him any longer!

Remember when those kind Americans said they were bringing democracy and stability to Iraq? Such kind intentions!

israelfacts: The JIDF (Jewish Internet Defense Force) - one of...

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 23:41:42 +0100

israelfacts:

The JIDF (Jewish Internet Defense Force) - one of the largest Zionist organizations for spreading propaganda online - responds to the Boston Marathon bombings

The JIDF website calls Muhammad - who Muslims believe was the final prophet sent by G-d - “a genocidal pedophile”.

The organization was notibly outspoken against the proposed cultural center in New York, saying: “We are against Islam, just as we are against Nazism. Just as we don’t wish to see Nazi institutions springing up everywhere, we don’t need to see Islamic one’s springing up everywhere, either.”

I will never be not surprised of what these monsters come out with next

mahiyesiyah: hypervocal: Heartbreaking: Pics from Boston...

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 21:36:13 +0100

mahiyesiyah:

hypervocal:

Heartbreaking: Pics from Boston Marathon finish line. MORE HERE.

my condolences and best wishes to everybody. this is so terrible.

vulnerable-me: with—earstosee: brooklynmutt: “Front page New...

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 21:35:54 +0100

vulnerable-me:

with—earstosee:

brooklynmutt:

“Front page New York Times [Syria] photo. Apocalyptic.” - @MiaFarrow

Deir Ezzor, my city, i used to live there two years ago, we moved to Saudi Arabia when Assad’s forces entered the city. shoofu el 5araaaab !:(

"A NUMBER OF Fine Gael TDs have put forward the idea of a ‘sunset clause’ for abortion legislation in..."

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 19:21:16 +0100

“A NUMBER OF Fine Gael TDs have put forward the idea of a ‘sunset clause’ for abortion legislation in Ireland.
Fine Gael TD Michael Creed wrote to the Taoiseach suggesting that a sunset clause be included in abortion legislation, which would involve a review of legislation after a number of years, after which it could be further extended, RTÉ’s The Week in Politics said today.
He believes it would provide comfort to those who fear the “opening of the floodgates” if the X case was legislated for. It is expected that the law will be enacted in July.”

- - “Fine Gael TDs suggest ‘sunset clause’ in abortion legislation” - thejournal.ie, April 14th, 2013

In what other context would anyone have the audacity to suggest, ”here, here is some life-saving, long-overdue legislation, don’t worry though, we’ll scrap it in a few years time”? Maybe the property tax legislation should come with a ‘sunset clause’. Pat Rabbitte commented that he wasn’t “sure” was it “appropriate” (eyeroll), but then suggested that a “review” of the legislation could be done instead… because, you know, ABORTIONDEMANDFLOODGATEOPEN.

(via prochoiceireland)

This bloody country.

(via sclez)

Don’t worry! Even if they do this sunset clause thing, I’m positive that whoever will be in government after the current government will be a progressive, forward-thinking bunch of people who value the rights of women and wouldn’t even think about pandering to parochial old-style politics just for the sake of a few vo-

oh.

What is a Proxy War? by @Darthnader

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 19:10:00 +0100

What is a Proxy War? by @Darthnader:

yallair7al:

Is what’s happening in Syria today a revolution, a civil war or a proxy war? Far more than just an argument over semantics, which term is used to refer to the situation in Syria today denotes a political position. Supporters of the Syrian opposition call it a revolution, while those not at all sympathetic to the opposition call it a proxy war, which is an attempt to disparage the opposition. But which of these terms is accurate?

Instead of inventing definitions from thin air, examining how each term was employed historically is helpful in this case. And the most helpful precedent that we can use is that of the Spanish Civil War. So, was what is today known as the “Spanish Civil war” a revolution, a civil war, or a proxy war?

The answer is all of the above.

The Spanish Civil war was a civil war in that it mostly consisted of people of the same country fighting against each other (although Franco had brought in some foreigners, and the Republicans had internationalists traveling from all over to help them in their struggle). The Spanish Civil war was also considered a proxy war in that each side had foreign states backing them with their own particular interests. The Soviet Union backed the Republicans while the fascist states of Germany and Italy backed Franco. The Soviet Union had its own interests in supporting the Republicans: to curb the influence of global fascism as a challenge to communism, to use Spain as a laboratory to test their weaponry and equipment, to make sure their communist party won rather than any other non-USSR aligned leftists, etc.

Despite this, the Spanish Civil War was also referred to as a revolution, and the soldiers that fought for the Republic were referred to as revolutionaries. It was a revolution because, first of all, they were trying to overthrow Franco’s fascist government that had taken power in a military coup, and replace it with another one, with a lot of popular support from the people. Secondly, it was a revolution because some of the Republican parties were revolutionizing social relations in the midst of battle.The Anarchists (CNT-FAI) and the Trotskyists (POUM), would collectivize work places and implement a number of revolutionary social measures whenever they would capture new territory, in what became known as a “revolution within a revolution.” (It is worth noting here that the USSR-allied communist parties acted in a very reactionary matter by forcefully reversing such measures under orders from the USSR).

Thus, the Spanish Civil War was simultaneously a revolution, a civil war, as well as a proxy war. What about Syria?

The situation in Syria is very similar. It is a civil war in that both sides involved are from the same country and fighting against each other (although, as in Spain, there are internationals fighting on both sides, notably, Iranians and Hezbollah militants with the Assad regime, and foreign Sunni jihadists with the opposition). It is a proxy war in that each side in the civil war has foreign state backers (Iran and Russia for Assad, the West and the GCC states for the opposition). And, finally, it is a revolution in that a large percentage of the population wishes to overthrow the regime and replace it with another. But it also is a social revolution, in that we have seen an unprecedented eruption of the “Syrian street,” whereby the elite no longer holds a monopoly on art and culture. This reclamation of the public space, exemplified by facebook pages, videos, songs, parodies, and witty signs, is in itself a revolution. And it is “popular” in that this eruption involves segments of society that were historically subaltern and excluded from the cultural and public life of Syria. Just as the Spanish revolutionaries were reclaiming their workplaces, the Syrian revolutionaries are reclaiming their voices, and this is Syria’s own “revolution within a revolution.”

So, if we look at historical precedents, Syria’s revolution, like Spain’s, is a revolution, a civil war, and a proxy war all in one. The point here is that these are not mutually exclusive categories. They are terms that can complement each other and are used to describe different aspects of a conflict. In fact, historically, there is very little precedent for any conflict in any place being only one or the other without some intersection and overlap. The Bolshevik revolution turned into the Russian Civil War. The Cuban revolution against Batista was a popular uprising against a US-backed dictator, yet the rebels later sought Soviet support, thus, Batista, and later Cuba’s revolutionaries, were also proxies, in the classical definition of the word. Yet, in leftist discourse, this was all ok, because, in Russia, Spain, and Cuba, one side was fighting a righteous struggle against another. Thus, them being involved in a civil war, or a proxy war, was not something that delegitimized their revolution.

But, in today’s usage of the term “proxy war” to refer to Syria, it is clear that people are not simply trying to state “it is a revolution with foreign state backers,” but rather, that the fact that there is a proxy war leaves no room for revolution, or even for civil war. This is exemplified by statements such as, “It is not a revolution, it is a proxy war,” or analysis that proclaims “what started out as a revolution is now a proxy war” whereby Syria is reduced to a “battleground” for foreign states.

This analysis creates the category of “proxy war” as one that is mutually exclusive and that cancels out anything and everything that preceded it. Revolutions, the argument goes, must remain “pure,” and once foreign states become involved, the situation is no longer a “revolution.” Here it is worth recalling Lenin, who, in his essay “The Discussion on Self-Determination Summed Up,” said: “Whoever expects a ‘pure’ social revolution will never live to see it. Such a person pays lip-service to revolution without understanding what revolution is.”

Those who are claiming that Syria’s conflict is “not a revolution, but a proxy war” are misusing the term proxy war and misrepresenting what revolutions were historically. The new usage of the term by those who wish to deny that Syria is also undergoing a revolutionary process denies the history of revolutions against governments frequently being proxy wars at the same time. Instead, it is trying to draw a comparison not to the righteous struggles of the past that also just happened to be proxy wars, but to historical events such as the Bay of Pigs Invasion of 1959, whereby Cuban exiles were trained by the CIA to do the the CIA’s bidding. They were sent into Cuba with no popular support base with the express purpose of overthrowing the revolutionary leftist government of Cuba, which was the objective of the US government. This is the analogy people are trying to draw when they say Syria’s situation today is a “proxy war and not a revolution.” However, this new definition of a proxy war does not apply to the Syrian case today. The Syrian rebels took up arms on their own accord, not because some other state told them to. They receive support from, but are not directed by, foreign states, for the most part. Thus, if we wish to characterize the armed opposition in Syria as a “proxy,” meaning they get support from foreign states, this is accurate. However, if by “proxy” we mean that they simply do foreign states’ bidding for them with no popular support base on the ground, this is inaccurate. Comparing Syria’s armed opposition to Cuban anti-Castro exiles or to Nicaraguan contras is a very vulgar and inaccurate slander that is meant to render invisible the popular support base for the opposition on the ground in Syria, as well as the agency of the armed Syrian opposition.

Even calling it a “proxy war” in the disparaging sense mischaracterizes the Assad regime. The Assad regime is not an Iranian/Russian proxy fighting to do the bidding of Iran and Russia in Syria. Rather, it is an entrenched junta that is fighting for its survival, with Iranian and Russian backing. Both sides, then, in Syria, are not “proxies” in the sense that they do foreign states’ bidding. They are only “proxies” if by proxy we mean that they receive foreign state backing. And yes, those foreign states that back each side do not do so out of the pureness of their hearts (which is itself a ridiculous argument, as it suggests states have acted out of the pureness of their hearts at some point in the past, which they have not), but rather for their own interests. But there is a difference between intervening with certain interests and achieving those interests (which explains the hesitancy of some of the states backing the opposition).

If we stick with the classical definition, then yes, the conflict in Syria today is a proxy war. But proxy war is not a dirty term, and does not preclude that there is also a revolution happening in Syria today.

alltheblacksheep: defyexpectations: determinatenegation: doux-...

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 02:10:51 +0000

alltheblacksheep:

defyexpectations:

determinatenegation:

doux-amer:

determinatenegation:

Pablo Picasso - Massacre in Korea

“In 2008 the South Korean Truth and Reconciliation commission found 1,222 instances of mass killings, with at least 215 of these involving U.S. troops or airplanes massacring unarmed civilians. At Cheongwon in central Korea, up to 7,000 people were slaughtered.”

The U.S. committed an uncountable amount of acts designated as “war crimes”, including widespread use of chemical and biological weapons such as the plague, and intentionally destroying hydroelectric dams that provided drinking water for 75% of the population. In total around 5 million Koreans lost their lives.

Remember No Gun Ri, Jeju, Yeosun, and the countless other instances of mass extermination by the U.S.

Reblogging this because most of my followers probably don’t know about this and this is important regardless of whether or not you’re Korean. SERIOUSLY, READ THIS. This is important if you’re an American (well, in my opinion, it’s important even if you’re not) and if you want to better understand why, aside from the obvious, the U.S. and North Korea don’t get along and why the DPRK hates the U.S so much.

I’m going to condense this into bullets and put the main points in bold because I know that if this is super long, you guys are definitely going all TL;DR and scroll past this post. Anyway, if you have any questions, feel free to ask and I’ll try to answer to the best of my limited knowledge:

The U.S., not Korea, was completely responsible for splitting Korea into two, which everyone in Korea wanted to avoid. This happened in 1945 at the end of WWII with the surrender of Japan (not with the 1953 Korean War armistice which basically just reaffirmed things that were already in place).

Yes, armistice, not treaty. Even though it’s been 63 years since the start of the war (and 60 since the armistice), the war has never officially ended. The two Koreas are technically still at war. This explains the South’s mandatory military service required of all their male citizens and why, if the North declares war, it’s a continuation of an existing war rather than a completely new one.

The U.S. is also partially at fault for the Korean War happening. After WWII, they put those who were in power during colonial rule back into influential positions in the South, pissing off a lot of people in the North for a lot of reasons, namely that many of these people were Japanese sympathizers or collaborators. Basically, they put the old Japanese machinery back into place and if you know anything of the Japanese occupation of Korea, you’ll know why they were angry. It’s also why the North didn’t see the South’s government as legitimate. Yeah, somehow the U.S. thought it was a great idea to put people who supported their enemies during the war in power again.

The American strategy during the Korean War was to wipe out all life in tactical locality. They carpet-bombed the North with bombs and napalm with next to no concern for civilian casualties.

According to U.S. Air Force estimates, “the scale of urban destruction quite exceeded that in Germany and Japan.” Yes, you read correctly. Feel free to go “WTH?” especially considering how tiny North Korea is (46,541 sq. miles). It’s about the same size as Pennsylvania (46,055 sq. miles). Compare that to Germany (137,800 sq. miles) and Japan (145,925 sq. miles).

More bombs were dropped in Korea by the U.S. than had been dropped in the entire Pacific theater in World War II. Also a huge WTH if you guys know how bad the war was in the Pacific.

By 1953, at least 50% of 18 out of North Korea’s 22 major cities were obliterated.

Nearly 10% of the Korean population died during the war, the majority from the North.

The aerial bombardment of North Korea inflicted the greatest loss of civilian life in the Korean War by far.

So basically, the U.S. never talks about this. I never learned ANY of this growing up. All I learned from high school was that the North started the Korean War (only partially true; they did invade, but things had been going on before 1950 due to American actions and conflicts originating from the colonial era) and that the U.S. and South Korea (democracy! Good!) went against North Korea and China (Communism! Bad!). I was shocked when I learned all this last semester and basically, it makes it a lot easier to understand the deep seated hatred North Korea holds towards the United States today. I’m not saying the North wasn’t aggressive during the war; they were as were the South, but it’s kind of strange how while it was the U.S. that wreaked the most devastation during the war, the North is seen as the ultimate aggressor.

Like do you guys understand? The U.S. committed war crimes and NO ONE TALKS ABOUT THIS AND THIS IS SO IMPORTANT IN UNDERSTANDING WHY NORTH KOREA ACTS THE WAY IT DOES RIGHT NOW (not including the events that happen from 1953 and on with the collapse of the USSR, the 1990s famine, and basically just how the U.S. dealt and interacted with the DPRK in the second half of the 20th century).

Anyway, sorry this is disgustingly long, but I just think it’s really important for people to learn and know. :/

Thank you for adding that information. This information should be required reading for all humans.

read this.

that explains why North Korea acts so erratically to our eyes…

Why we should not bomb Iran

Wed, 28 Nov 2012 01:58:07 +0000

Ignorance: I’m worried about Iran. They are building a nuclear weapon, then they will blow up Israel and we will have even more terrorist attacks on our country. We most protect ourselves. The only way to do that is to attack Iran before they attack us.

Knowledge: Why do you think Iran would have a nuclear weapon?

Ignorance: Because they are a violent country and they have a crazy president.

Knowledge: Do you know when the last time Iran attacked another country was? It was 300 years ago.

Ignorance: Well, they have a crazy president who would do it.

Knowledge: What would they do?

Ignorance: They would attack us with a nuclear weapon.

Knowledge: Did you know that the national intelligence estimate has concluded that there is no evidence that Iran is working on a nuclear weapon. It is the consensus of 16 different US intelligence agencies including the CIA, the DIA, army intelligence, navy intelligence, air force intelligence, the department of energy as well as the department of homeland security.

Ignorance: I don’t care. They have nuclear ambitions.

Knowledge: What exactly do you mean by ambitions?

Ignorance: That is what they say on the news. It means they want to build a bomb to attack us.

Knowledge: That is what the media and politicians say because they know that there is no evidence that Iran has a nuclear weapons program, but they want us all to be scared and to believe that the Iranian government would be crazy enough to use a nuclear weapon against us. That way our government will have the support of the American people if we decide to take military action against Iran just like when we invaded Iraq. We would be able to say that we are protecting ourselves in self-defense.

Ignorance: Saddam was a bad man.

Knowledge: But Iraq did not have any nuclear weapons either. Can you tell me which is the only country to have ever used a nuclear weapon against another country? I will give you a hint. It begins with a U and ends with an S.

Ignorance: But we signed the nuclear nonproliferation treaty.

Knowledge: Iran also signed the nuclear nonproliferation treaty. It was one of the first countries to sign.

Ignorance: But Iran has threatened to wipe Israel off the map.

Knowledge: That is not an exact translation, but yes. That was what the Iranian president said. However, Ahmadinejad is just the president and not the supreme leader. Even if he wanted to attack Israel, he wouldn’t have the authority to order it. Only the supreme leader can declare war or mobilize troops. However, the supreme leader has already spoken out against having nuclear weapons. Speaking of military action, what do you suppose it means when the US says “Nothing is off the table”? Do you think that could possibly mean nuclear attack?

Ignorance: Of course, it means nothing is off the table.

Knowledge: Well then, that means the United States has threatened the use of nuclear weapons against Iran, which also happens to be a violation of the nuclear nonproliferation treaty we signed. George Bush, Barack Obama, Hilary Clinton, John McCain, and other American politicians have all said nothing is off the table when referring to Iran.

Ignorance: John McCain said to bomb Iran. He sang a song and it was funny. Bomb bomb Iran.

Knowledge: Do you know that the United States has already drafted a military plan of attack against Iran. Iran has also been called part of the evil axis by President Bush. So do you think Iran might actually have a reason to fear an attack from the United States? The United States have invaded Afghanistan and Iraq, which both have borders with Iran. The United States also has troops in military bases in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia as well as a very large naval presence in the Persian Gulf. The United States is allies with Israel, who has nuclear weapons, and which has already discussed and advocated an attack on Iran. And Israel will not sign the nuclear nonproliferation treaty either. So do you think maybe Iran might possibly have a reason to want to protect itself?
Ignorance: We can’t let Iran have a nuclear bomb they will attack us again, just like 9/11.

Knowledge: Then if that is really what you want, why in God’s name should we be doing everything humanly possible to provoke and threaten Iran and give them a reason to make a nuclear weapon to defend themselves? Do you see even the slightest sense of logic in the US foreign policy if we don’t want Iran to have a nuclear weapon? Don’t you think if we really didn’t want a country to have a nuclear weapon, then you would not threaten to attack it or invade its neighbors or have military troops surrounding it from all sides? Would the United States feel threatened if Iran invaded Canada and Mexico and conducted naval military exercises in the Caribbean?

Ignorance: I don’t want another 9/11.

Knowledge: Do you even know where the 9/11 hijackers were from?

Ignorance: I don’t care.

Knowledge: They were from Saudi Arabia and Egypt not Iran. Yet both Saudi Arabia and Egypt happen to be US allies. We give them both billions of dollars in aid every year.
Ignorance: I don’t like any of them. They attacked us.

Knowledge: Who are they? Arabs. Iranians are not Arabs.

Ignorance: Well, they attacked. I mean they were responsible for… I mean they… they… they hate us.

Knowledge: You blame them for hating us?

Ignorance: They are not democratic.

Knowledge: Iran used to have a democratic government.

Ignorance: Then they were not smart enough to keep it.

Knowledge: No. Actually, they had a popular democratic leader, but the United States CIA overthrew the prime minister, Mohammed Mossadeq, in a kill in 1953. In other words, we overthrew their government.

Ignorance: That does not make sense. The United States supports democracy like in Afghanistan.

Knowledge: Hamid Karzai is the president of Afghanistan and was a formal ally of the US and a former CIA contact during the 1980s, when they were fighting the Soviet Union. So we supported him as president because Karzai aided what the US and Britain wanted him to do.

Ignorance: That is what I mean. He is democratic.

Knowledge: So is Mohammed Mossadeq. Mossadeq was the democratically elected Prime Minister of Iran in 1953 before he was removed from power by the United States because he did not do what we wanted him to do.

Ignorance: He was a communist.

Knowledge: Mossadeq wanted Iran to keep the profits from their own oil to help their own country, so British Petroleum would not take it all.

Ignorance: They spilled oil in the Persian Gulf.

Knowledge: No. Actually, British Petroleum spilled oil in the Gulf of Mexico. They used to be called the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company in the 1950s because Britain got all of its oil from Iran.

Ignorance: Anyway, they support terrorism.

Knowledge: Who?

Ignorance: The Iranians.

Knowledge: The United States government gives financial support to the MEK and PJAK which are all terrorist groups that operate within Iran, and are responsible for attacking, kidnapping, and assassinations in Iran. So tell me, what is the difference? Terrorism is terrorism. It is just as bad no matter who does it or supports it. In 1988, a United States navy ship shot and blew up an Iranian passenger jet in the Persian Gulf killing 274 innocent civilians. Isn’t that a terrorist attack?

Ignorance: It was an accident.

Knowledge: Can you think of any other time in the history of aviation that a passenger jet has been shot down by mistake? So then, I suppose the one time it does happen it just coincidently happens to be by one country against its adversary right at a time of heightened tension? Can you imagine how the US would react if the Iranian military shot down a US passenger jet and killed 274 people, mostly American?
Ignorance: It was not on purpose. It was an accident. How come I’ve never heard of this before?

Knowledge: The US news media does not like to talk about it because they don’t want Americans to think our government has engaged in acts of terrorism. They want us to believe it is only the behavior of countries like Iran. Everything I am saying is fully documented. You can check it yourself on Google or Wikipedia. If you are really opposed to terrorism, I don’t see the difference if one country supports it or another. Isn’t it all equally as bad?

Ignorance: We should attack Iran.

Knowledge: Just because the Iranian government is bad in many ways, does not mean we should simply attack the country. I don’t think you fully realize what would happen if we really did attack Iran. There are 1.2 billion Muslims in the world. What do you think would be their reaction if we attacked an Islamic country, after what we have already done in Iraq and Afghanistan?

Ignorance: I don’t care what they would think. It doesn’t matter.

Knowledge: On a scale of 1 to 10, where do you think the level of anger would be against the US if we attacked another Islamic country?

Ignorance: It doesn’t matter.

Knowledge: Is it more likely to go up or go down? If you are trying to protect America, then why would you want to increase the anger in this world against us? Iran is three times the size of Iraq with three times the population and a very powerful military unlike Iraq, and yet we still don’t have a stable situation in Iraq after 7 years and 2 trillion dollars.

Ignorance: But Saddam was a bad man, so it was worth it.

Knowledge: Fortunately for us, many of the Iranian people like Americans, and do not like their government.

Ignorance: That is a good thing, so it will be an easy job for us.

Knowledge: Then what do you think would happen if we attacked Iran?

Ignorance: They would greet us with flowers.

Knowledge: Did we greet Al Qaeda with flowers after they attacked the twin towers in New York City? Instead, did most Americans put aside our complaints and rally behind our government in a show of nationalism?

Ignorance: I put a flag on my car. I don’t understand what you are saying.

Knowledge: Don’t you think the Iranian people would also put Iranian flags on their cars if the US attacked them?

Ignorance: Yes.

Knowledge: Then why would anyone in America want to push the Iranian people away from liking the US to support the very government we despise so much?

Ignorance: Of course. No one would want to do that.

Knowledge: Then please give me any sensible reason why the United States should attack or even threaten to attack Iran?

Ignorance: I don’t need a sensible reason.

Knowledge: Why?

Ignorance: Because I’m a racist hater who supports violence against people I hate.
Knowledge: Maybe Iran should attack the United States after all.

thepalestineyoudontknow: How A Palestinian Legend Got His...

Fri, 09 Nov 2012 00:12:22 +0000

thepalestineyoudontknow:

How A Palestinian Legend Got His Wish

The poster boy for Palestinian defiance stood about 1.6 meters in his socks. He might have weighed 45 kilograms if he had eaten recently and well, which he rarely did. He was good at soccer and naughty at school, and before he died - shot in the neck by Israeli troops and left to bleed to death on the battlefield - he told his friends he was intent on becoming a martyr for the Palestinian cause. Faris Odeh got his wish, and then some. Killed last month, a few weeks shy of his 15th birthday, Faris has been immortalized posthumously by a remarkable photograph. It captured him - short, scrawny and wearing a baggy sweater - rearing back to sling a stone at an Israeli tank perhaps 14 meters (45 feet) away.Now Faris is a Palestinian legend, his valor celebrated in graffiti and wall art. Political parties pay him homage. Television extols his example. His photograph adorns calendars and posters has been painted, larger than life and in bright colors, on the walls of refugee camps in the Gaza Strip and on the sides of West Bank office buildings.

But at home in Gaza City, where Faris lived with his parents and eight brothers and sisters, the hullabaloo over his death strikes a sour chord. His mother, for one, is not sure she buys it.”When I see his picture my heart is torn to pieces,” said Anam Odeh, 40. “I guess I feel proud for him being called a hero, standing in front of a tank and all that. But when I see his classmates come around after school, all I can do is cry. “And this is what I was just telling my neighbors” - she starts to weep softly, brushing the tears away as the words come tumbling out - “that I’m so afraid that Faris’s death will just go back to normal. And the only thing that has happened is that I’ll have lost my son.”

In death, Faris has joined a pantheon of Palestinian martyrs, such as Mohammed Duri, the 12 year old boy shot to death Sept. 30 in Gaza as his father tried to shield him. Faris’s image fits above captions proclaiming “the Palestinian David and the Israeli Goliath.” Some predict his name will live forever as a synonym for heroism. In life, things were messier. Faris, as adolescent daredevil, had never set foot outside the cluttered confines of Gaza. He was almost never heard talking politics. What he did like was taking risks. Once he leapt from the roof of his house to his cousins’ next door, a span of about two and a half meters over a four-story drop. And in the Palestinian uprising that started Sept. 29, he found the ultimate risk.Day after day he would skip school after morning classes to go looking for trouble. If there was no fighting with Israeli troops at Netzarim, an isolated Jewish outpost in Gaza, he would go looking at Karni, a crossing point into Gaza controlled by the Israeli army.

Faris’s absences did not go unnoticed. His headmaster would send notes to his parents. His father would beat him. His mother would go looking for him from clash point to clash point, ducking bullets as she searched each group of boys. When she found him, he was usually at his forward-most position, just meters away from the Israeli troops and tanks.To his mother, he seemed to have a death wish. “It wasn’t the fame he loved,” she said. “In fact, he was afraid that if he was filmed on TV his father would see him, so he’d run away from the cameras. One day, after I’d gone and dragged him from the clashes every day for a week, I told him: ‘Okay, you want to throw stones? Fine. But at least hide behind something! Why do you have to be at the very front, even farther up than the older kids?’ And he said ’ I’m not afraid.‘“His father, Fayek Odeh, tried everything. He did not just beat Faris, said his mother. “He beat him black and blue for throwing stones.”

At one point, his father locked Faris in his room; he escaped through a window and shinnied down a drain pipe. The next time his father heard that Faris had been at a clash point, he tied the boy’s hands and feet together and left him on the roof after dinner. By midnight, his mother, worried sick about the boy, sneaked up to the roof and freed him. Angry notes from the school principal made the things worse. Faris had always been in trouble at school; now he was skipping it completely. There would be scenes at home- his father would be accusing Faris of throwing stones; Faris denying it; his father finding a slingshot under his son’s shirt, and the beatings starting all over again. On Nov. 1, after a month of clashes, Faris’s cousin Shadi, a young ,man who had recently joined the Palestinian police, was killed in a confrontation in Gaza. “When that happened, Faris said, ’ I swear I’ll avenge his death,” Anam Odeh said. “He went to Shadi’s funeral wreath and placed a snapshot of himself in it. He said that the wreath would be for him, too.”

Late at night, after the beatings and the screaming and the punishments, Faris’s parents would talk quietly in their room. “I’m afraid for Faris,” his father would say, Anam Odeh remembered. ” I’m afraid something bad will happen.”Other boys, Faris’s friends from school, would stop by the house to warn his mother that he was at Karni again, throwing stones. She grew more worried; Faris ate little and spent the day scrambling through gunfire; he had become as thin as a stick. “I must have gone out looking for him 50 times,” she said.”One day I went out three times. Sometimes I’d sit down to lunch, and before I could put the first bite in my mouth, some kids would come by and tell me Faris was at Karni again, throwing stones. And I’d drop my fork and rush out to find him.”

Anam Odeh became such a familiar sight at Karni that the other boys would tease he son: “Hey, Faris, where’s that SWAT team that’s always after you?” Faris was killed on Nov.9 at Karni, about 10 days after the famous photo was taken. His friends said that he was shot while crouching down to pick up a stone. He was so close to an Israeli tank„ they said, that they could not drag his still body to an ambulance for more than a hour. The hospital pronounced him dead on arrival. It was not long before people began to stop Anam Odeh on the street, recognizing her from television. “Aren’t you the martyr Faris’s mother?” they would say. Like all families of Palestinians killed by Israeli troops since September, the Odehs received a $10,000 check from President Saddam Hussein of Iraq. For Palestinians, the Odeh’s son is a hero, a lesson, a model. But not to his mother. “Faris was a boy who loved me so much,” she said, weeping again. “His blood is worth so much more.”

"Before asking why they will vote, I asked why most young people won’t. They told me that many of the..."

Fri, 02 Nov 2012 16:28:51 +0000

“Before asking why they will vote, I asked why most young people won’t. They told me that many of the issues they care about — climate change, civil rights, the war on drugs, immigration, prison reform — are not discussed by Democrats or Republicans. That there is such a gulf between what candidates say they will do, and what they do, that it’s impossible to trust anyone. That apathy is actually supported by the evidence. Voting is a leap of faith. Calling it a civic duty is not enough. Either you believe that the system is both changeable and worth changing, or you don’t — and most new voters are not convinced.”

- The filmmaker Errol Morris speaks with young Americans about the merits of voting and why some resist, from apathy to awkward family dinners. (via mehreenkasana)

And yet, if more outlets than C-SPAN and RT carried the third party debates featuring the likes of Jill Stein, Rocky Anderson, and Gary Johnson, voting apathy as a result of feeling disenfranchised by the candidates would disappear. Greater coverage of non-Dem/GOP candidates would also tackle another major issue of lack of belief in real change. With greater focus on the other candidates, people would see that others are voting for them too, and would feel less likely to dismiss the third party candidates as merely wasting the vote. Once again, the true ugliness of the two party system is revealed.

Golden Dawn has infiltrated Greek police, claims officer

Fri, 26 Oct 2012 22:17:34 +0100

Golden Dawn has infiltrated Greek police, claims officer:

guerrillanetwork:

A senior Greek police officer has claimed that the far-right Golden Dawn party has infiltrated the police at various levels. He has laid the blame on consecutive governments and the leadership of the police force for turning a blind eye to what he describes as “pockets of fascism”.

Speaking to the Guardian on condition of anonymity, the officer said the Greek state had been fully aware of the activities of Golden Dawn for several years, with the National Intelligence Service and other security agencies monitoring it closely. The officer claimed police chiefs had had the opportunity to isolate and remove these small “pockets of fascism” in the force but decided not to. The state, he said, wanted to keep the fascist elements “in reserve” and use them for its own purposes.

The officer said he believed that Golden Dawn members could be used against the Greek left, which has led popular street protests against the government and austerity measures imposed by the EU. He expressed his belief that neo-fascist groups may already have acted as agents provocateurs during demonstrations across the country, to provoke clashes between demonstrators and the police or even between demonstrators themselves.

A spokesman for the Greek police, Christos Manouras, denied the police were using or being used by “any political formation against any other”. Manouras rejected the existence of “pockets of fascism” within the force and said no unlawful behaviour would be tolerated.

"The American people actually deserve to hear choices which are not bought and paid for by..."

Wed, 17 Oct 2012 18:53:08 +0100

“The American people actually deserve to hear choices which are not bought and paid for by multinational corporations and Wall Street. This is why we are not hearing the critical issues in this debate. Where are young people in this debate, in this election? You’d think that the younger generation must be public enemy number one, for all the bandwidth and all the attention that young people are receiving in this debate. How about those 36 million students and recent graduates who are effectively indentured servants because they are carrying around unforgiving horrendous debt specially customized for students so there is no way you can get out of that debt. It will follow you around, it will garner your wages, bankruptcy will not protect you, this is special ‘student debt’ brought to you by a corporate sponsored Congress. Where is the attention to the plight of these young people, carrying that debt, facing a 50% unemployment and underemployment rate, unable to pay back that debt. Where is the issue of skyrocketing costs in public higher education? Where is the solution? The solution in fact is that we could be providing free public higher education… This is absolutely the right thing to do instead of bailing out the banks… It’s time for Americans to really hear about the solutions to fix this problem and to hear about the candidates that they have a right to vote for.”

-
Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein, in a speech given while being arrested while protesting outside last night’s debate that she and libertarian candidate Gary Johnson were shut out of.

Some inspiration for your Wednesday.

(via reallyfoxnews)

Just one of the many reasons why this blog supports Jill Stein.

anarcho-queer: Portuguese Protest Against Austerity, Awaits...

Sat, 29 Sep 2012 23:04:34 +0100

anarcho-queer:

Portuguese Protest Against Austerity, Awaits More Measures

Thousands of Portuguese protested on Saturday against austerity, stepping up their opposition to the country’s 78-billion-euro bailout ahead of new spending cuts and tax hikes to be announced in the government’s 2013 draft budget.

The peaceful protest organized by the CGTP union came after the center-right government ignited widespread anger this month with a hike in social security taxes that threatened to end Portugal’s so far high social acceptance for austerity.

Facing criticism from unions, opposition politicians and businesses alike, the government reversed the tax hike. But it is now rushing to find alternative measures to adopt in its 2013 budget to ensure the country meets fiscal goals under its bailout from the European Union, European Central Bank and IMF, the so-called troika.

Protesters marched through downtown Lisbon, shouting “Let the fight continue” and carried banners reading “Go to hell Troika, we want our lives back.”

Portugal’s unemployment rate has hit record levels above 15 percent as the country descended this year into its worst recession since the 1970s under the weight of spending cuts and tax hikes.

Anger by the Portuguese at austerity is likely to rise further as the government now expects the recession to extend into next year with few signs of economic growth emerging from the bailout plan.

The government has to present its 2013 budget by the middle of October.

thepeoplesrecord: Portugal protests erupt over austerity...

Sat, 29 Sep 2012 23:03:56 +0100

thepeoplesrecord:

Portugal protests erupt over austerity measures
September 29, 2012

Thousands of Portuguese protested on Saturday against austerity, stepping up their opposition to the country’s 78-billion-euro bailout ahead of new spending cuts and tax hikes to be announced in the government’s 2013 draft budget.

The peaceful protest organized by the CGTP union came after the center-right government ignited widespread anger this month with a hike in social security taxes that threatened to end Portugal’s so far high social acceptance for austerity.

Facing criticism from unions, opposition politicians and businesses alike, the government reversed the tax hike. But it is now rushing to find alternative measures to adopt in its 2013 budget to ensure the country meets fiscal goals under its bailout from the European Union, European Central Bank and IMF, the so-called troika.

Protesters marched through downtown Lisbon, shouting “Let the fight continue” and carried banners reading “Go to hell Troika, we want our lives back.”

“A year ago the prime minister told us the solution to the country’s problems was the agreement with the troika,” shouted CGTP head Armenio Carlos in a speech.

“But we have already seen this film in Greece, this is a road without an exit, pushing us toward the precipice,” Carlos told the marchers that crowded into Lisbon’s main Praca de Comercio square on the banks of the Tagus River.

The protest in Portugal came after a week of similar anti-austerity marches in Greece, Spain andItaly as southern Europeans face increasingly grim economic conditions under hardship sparked by the euro debt crisis.

Carlos said the protest was one of the largest organized by the CGTP, Portugal’s biggest union, in recent years but he gave no figure of the number of people present. Praca de Comercio square has a capacity of about 100,000 people but it was not completely full on Saturday.

The protests were smaller than nationwide marches on September 15, immediately after the tax hike was announced, which prompted an estimated 500,000 people to take to the streets.

Portugal’s unemployment rate has hit record levels above 15 percent as the country descended this year into its worst recession since the 1970s under the weight of spending cuts and tax hikes.

Anger by the Portuguese at austerity is likely to rise further as the government now expects the recession to extend into next year with few signs of economic growth emerging from the bailout plan.

The government has to present its 2013 budget by the middle of October.

Source

mohandasgandhi: israelfacts: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin...

Thu, 27 Sep 2012 22:14:42 +0100

mohandasgandhi:

israelfacts:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu draws a red line on an illustration claiming to describe Iran’s ability to create a nuclear weapon as he addresses the 67th United Nations General Assembly at the U.N. Headquarters in New York, September 27, 2012.

Photo: Keith Bedford / REUTERS

Meanwhile, Israel has over 200 undeclared nuclear warheads, maintains its policy of “nuclear ambiguity” and refuses to sign the international Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Israel is the only country in the Middle East with nuclear weapons and regularly skips conferences aimed to create a nuclear-free Middle East.

U.S. intelligence agencies conclude Iran is not building nuclear weapons.

That was months ago. Bye, Bibi.

JJJJEEEESUS Bibi’s fucking ridiculous. Looking forward to ranting about his speech soon, he’s bloody lost it!

"At about 5:00 that evening, they heard the hissing sound of a missile and instinctively bent their..."

Tue, 25 Sep 2012 21:29:21 +0100

“

At about 5:00 that evening, they heard the hissing sound of a missile and instinctively bent their heads down. The missile slammed into the center of the room, blowing off the ceiling and roof, and shattering all the windows. The immense pressure from the impact cracked the walls of the attached house, as well as those of the neighboring houses. Our research team reviewed photographs that Faheem showed us, which he said showed the destruction to the home. Faheem, who stated that he was approximately ten footsteps away from the center of the hujra, suffered a fractured skull and received shrapnel wounds and burns all over the left side of his body and face. All others in the hujra-at least seven, but as many as 15 people-were killed.

In the moments after the strike, Faheem said he “could not think.” “I felt my brain stopped working and my heart was on fire,” stated Faheem. “My entire body was burning like crazy.” Faheem wanted to splash water on his face, but he could not find any. After a few minutes of confusion, he stumbled out of the gate of his hujra, where neighbors found him. They quickly gathered Faheem into a pickup truck and rushed him to a government hospital in Mir Ali, a ten-minute drive away, according to Faheem. Medics there bandaged his wounds and transferred him to another hospital in Bannu, the closest major city outside FATA, where doctors operated to remove shrapnel from his abdomen and repair damage to his leg, arm, and eyes. Following the surgery, Faheem was transferred to a private hospital in Peshawar, where he remained for at least 23 days. In the end, Faheem lost his left eye, which has since been replaced by an artificial one; he also lost his hearing in one ear as a result of damage to his eardrum. His vision in his right eye is still blurred, requiring ongoing treatment, and he now has only limited mobility.
Faheem’s cousin Ejaz Ahmad, who lives just a few kilometers away, did not attend the gathering in the hujra that evening, and was instead at a friend’s home. He discovered the next morning that his paternal uncle, Khush Dil Khan, in whose hardware store Ejaz worked, died in the strike. “The bodies were completely destroyed,” Ejaz stated. “All we could retrieve was the torso and upwards.”

”

- What it is like to be Hit by a Drone Strike

The article ends with this line:

Later that year, Barack Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

(via anticapitalist)

I have nothing to add.

(via mehreenkasana)

Putin’s Russia Hits the ‘Clear’ Button on the Medvedev Era

Mon, 24 Sep 2012 01:01:27 +0100

Putin’s Russia Hits the ‘Clear’ Button on the Medvedev Era:

dorkydima:

you really need to read this. it’s a very good analysis by the NY Times.