http://www.prwatch.org/node/8362
Friday, May 15, 2009
U.S. Has Plan to Secure Pakistan Nukes if Country Falls to Taliban
By Rowan Scarborough
The United States has a detailed plan for infiltrating Pakistan and securing its mobile arsenal of nuclear warheads if it appears the country is about to fall under the control of the Taliban, Al Qaeda or other Islamic extremists.
American intelligence sources say the operation would be conducted by Joint Special Operations Command, the super-secret commando unit headquartered at Fort Bragg, N.C.
JSOC is the military's chief terrorists hunting squad and has units now operating in Afghanistan on Pakistan's western border. But a secondary mission is to secure foreign nuclear arsenals -- a role for which JSOC operatives have trained in Nevada.
The mission has taken on added importance in recent months, as Islamic extremists have taken territory close to the capital of Islamabad and could destabilize Pakistan's shaky democracy.
"We have plans to secure them ourselves if things get out of hand," said a U.S. intelligence source who has deployed to Afghanistan. "That is a big secondary mission for JSOC in Afghanistan."
The source said JSOC has been updating its mission plan for the day President Obama gives the order to infiltrate Pakistan.
"Small units could seize them, disable them and then centralize them in a secure location," the source said.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/05/14/plan-pakistan-teeters-falling-taliban/
'Get Out of Iraq. Get Out Afghanistan. Come Home America.'
WASHINGTON - May 14 - Speaking on a Supplemental Appropriations bill that would continue to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) today made the following statement:
"America went to war against Iraq based on a lie. We were told back in 2002 that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. The previous administration even pursued torture to try to extract false confessions in order to justify the war. It is time to tell the truth. The truth is we should not have prosecuted a war against the Iraqi people. The truth is the Democratic Senate could have stopped the Iraq war in 2002. The truth is we Democrats were given control of Congress in 2006 to end the war. The truth is this bill continues a disastrous war, which has cost the lives of thousands of our soldiers. The truth is the occupation has fueled the insurgency. The truth is the Iraq war will cost the American and the Iraqi people trillions of dollars and as many as a million innocent Iraqis have lost their lives as a result of this war.
"Don't tell the American people that you are ending the war by continuing to fund the war. Don't tell the American people that the war will end when their plans leave 50, 000 troops in Iraq. Don't tell the American people that the way out of Afghanistan is to escalate our presence.
"Get out of Iraq. Get out Afghanistan. Come home America."
Thursday, May 14, 2009
New 'Prisoner Abuse' Photographs Emerge Despite US Bid to Block Publication
Graphic photographs of alleged prisoner abuse, thought to be among up to 2,000 images Barack Obama is trying to prevent from being released, emerged yesterday.
By Alex Spillius in Washington
May 15, 2009 "The Telegraph" -- The shocking images of inmates in Iraq and Afghanistan were published just a day after the US president announced plans for a legal battle stop them ever being seen.
They risked provoking renewed hostility in the Middle East as Mr Obama attempts to build bridges with the Islamic world.
He is scheduled to make a major speech in Cairo on June 4 when he will launch his version of a plan to bring peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
One picture showed a prisoner hung up upside down while another showed a naked man smeared in excrement standing in a corridor with a guard standing menacingly in front of him. Another prisoner is handcuffed to the window frame of his cell with underpants pulled over his head.
Others yet to be released reportedly show military guards threatening to sexually assault a detainee with a broomstick and hooded prisoners on transport planes with Playboy magazines opened to pictures of nude women on their laps.
The images emerged from Australia yesterday where they were originally obtained by the channel SBS in 2006 in the wake of the Abu Ghraib scandal. They were not distributed around the world at the time but are now believed to be among those the president is trying to block.
Mr Obama previously committed to allowing thousands of images to be published but changed his mind after senior generals warned that their publication could place US troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan in greater danger.
The president's change of heart brought bitter criticism from the left wingers and the American Civil Liberties Union, which had brought a freedom of information case against the US government applying to see the pictures.
Pledging to fight the case all the way to the Supreme Court, the ACLU accused him of betraying his principles of open government and "complicity in covering up" the "commission of torture by the Bush administration".
"It is true that these photos would be disturbing. The day we are no longer disturbed by such repugnant acts would be a sad one," said Anthony Romero, executive director.
Billions promised, but Gazans still waiting
Palestinian employees stand outside destroyed Hamas government buildings in Gaza City, March 25, 2009. (Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters)
Four months on from the Israeli bombardment of Gaza, Palestinians have seen little of the money pledged for reconstruction.
RAMALLAH — Money, wrote the English philosopher Francis Bacon, is like manure: of very little use unless it is spread.
Since an international aid conference in March promised $5.2 billion to rebuild Gaza, the stink of un-spread money has been strong in the nostrils. That's particularly unpleasant for the people of Gaza, who also have to deal with a largely destroyed sewage system, thus giving them a double-helping of manure.
International diplomats, Israeli officials and leaders of the Palestinian Authority haven't been able to figure out how to rebuild Gaza while keeping the cash out of the hands of Hamas, which runs the narrow strip of land. Food aid can get in, but substantial reconstruction hasn't begun.
"The Sharm conference was just a big public relations stunt," says a diplomat who works in the development arm of a European government. "The money promised for Gaza is just not there."
Gaza's 1.5 million people have been in desperate straits since the war there at the turn of the year. Israeli ground and air forces attacked Hamas to halt the Islamic group's missile strikes on towns in southern Israel. About 1,300 people died.
At least 14,000 homes throughout the Gaza Strip were destroyed or badly damaged, according to the UN Development Program. Infrastructure, such as roads, water, sewage and electricity supply, were severely affected.
In early March, a wide range of international donors converged on the swanky Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. Responding to public concern about the plight of ordinary Gazans, the donors dug deep. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton promised $900 million from the United States. Saudi Arabia pledged $1 billion.
The total was put at $5.2 billion, though $700 million of that was made up of old pledges that hadn't ever been fulfilled (a perverse international aid equivalent of re-gifting). New pledges amounted to $4.4 billion. That's more than Germany received, in real terms, under the Marshall Plan after World War II. It ought to have been enough to rebuild a place as small as Gaza where, it's fair to say, the residents have low expectations for the luxuriousness of their habitat.
Boycott Israel campaign starts to bite
Motorola, Caterpillar, Veolia, the Tesco supermarket chain, and other companies across the world that do business with Israel are suffering losses due to a global boycott in support of Palestinian rights.
by Nadia Hijab
On May 4, protesters greeted Motorola shareholders, already disgruntled by the company's losses, as they arrived for their annual meeting at the Rosemont Theater in Chicago.
The protest, organised by the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, is part of a drive to "Hang Up On Motorola" until it ends sales of communications and other products that support Israel's military occupation of Palestinian land.
Inside the meeting, the Presbyterian, United Methodist and other churches urged shareholders to support their resolution, which calls for corporate standards grounded in international law. Doing the right thing could also reduce the risk of "consumer boycotts, divestment campaigns and lawsuits".
Although Motorola executives deny it, such risks must have played a part in their decision to sell the department making bomb fuses shortly after Human Rights Watch teams found shrapnel with Motorola serial numbers at some of the civilian sites bombed by Israel in its December-January assault on Gaza.
The US protests are part of a growing global movement that has taken international law into its own hands because governments have not. And, especially since the attacks on Gaza, the boycotts have been biting.
There are three reasons why.
First, boycotts enable ordinary citizens to take direct action. For instance, the New York group Adalah decided to target diamond merchant Lev Leviev, whose profits are plowed into colonising the West Bank.
During the Christmas season, they sing carols with the words creatively altered to urge shoppers to boycott his Madison Avenue store.
The British group Architects and Planners for Justice in Palestine teamed up with Adalah and others to exert public pressure on the British government regarding Leviev. The British Embassy in Tel Aviv recently cancelled plans to rent premises from Leviev's company Africa-Israel.
There are other results. Activists in Britain have targeted the supermarket chain Tesco to stop the sales of Israeli goods produced in settlements.
In a video of one action — over 38,000 YouTube views to date — Welsh activists load up a trolley with settlement products and push it out of the shop without paying.
All the while, they calmly explain to the camera just what they are doing and why, as they pour red paint over the produce — and as British Bobbies quietly lead them away to a police van.
The result of such consumer boycotts? A fifth of Israeli producers have reported a drop in demand since the assault on Gaza, particularly in Britain and Scandinavia.
The protest, organised by the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, is part of a drive to "Hang Up On Motorola" until it ends sales of communications and other products that support Israel's military occupation of Palestinian land.
Inside the meeting, the Presbyterian, United Methodist and other churches urged shareholders to support their resolution, which calls for corporate standards grounded in international law. Doing the right thing could also reduce the risk of "consumer boycotts, divestment campaigns and lawsuits".
Although Motorola executives deny it, such risks must have played a part in their decision to sell the department making bomb fuses shortly after Human Rights Watch teams found shrapnel with Motorola serial numbers at some of the civilian sites bombed by Israel in its December-January assault on Gaza.
The US protests are part of a growing global movement that has taken international law into its own hands because governments have not. And, especially since the attacks on Gaza, the boycotts have been biting.
There are three reasons why.
First, boycotts enable ordinary citizens to take direct action. For instance, the New York group Adalah decided to target diamond merchant Lev Leviev, whose profits are plowed into colonising the West Bank.
During the Christmas season, they sing carols with the words creatively altered to urge shoppers to boycott his Madison Avenue store.
The British group Architects and Planners for Justice in Palestine teamed up with Adalah and others to exert public pressure on the British government regarding Leviev. The British Embassy in Tel Aviv recently cancelled plans to rent premises from Leviev's company Africa-Israel.
There are other results. Activists in Britain have targeted the supermarket chain Tesco to stop the sales of Israeli goods produced in settlements.
In a video of one action — over 38,000 YouTube views to date — Welsh activists load up a trolley with settlement products and push it out of the shop without paying.
All the while, they calmly explain to the camera just what they are doing and why, as they pour red paint over the produce — and as British Bobbies quietly lead them away to a police van.
The result of such consumer boycotts? A fifth of Israeli producers have reported a drop in demand since the assault on Gaza, particularly in Britain and Scandinavia.
The last hotbutton / What do Judy Blume, bleating bishops, and the Supreme Court have in common?
by Mark Morford
Can you guess what happened next? Of course you can.
Yes, the desperate anti-choice groups got a hold of Blume's letter and went appropriately apoplectic, accusing her of besmirching our most beloved of soft-focus Hallmark holidays by endorsing a group that "kills babies" and eats live kittens for breakfast and oh yes also helps women get informed and take charge of their own health and sexuality lest they accidentally get pregnant and give birth to uptight right-wing zealots who never have sex.
Upshot: Blume reportedly received a flood of hate mail, verbal attacks, even death threats. Planned Parenthood, smart enough to know a hunk of invaluable PR when they see it, did the right thing by leveraging news of the harassment and reportedly received a flood of donations in response. Thanks, zealots!
It was all trifling and forgettable on its own, were it not for other recent, related developments in the same righteous vein, most notably a cute flurry of conservative Catholic outrage over the fact that Notre Dame University has invited President Obama to deliver this year's commencement address.
Obama, apparently, accepted. And then Angry Catholic God (ACG) spewed coffee through His nose.
It's true. From what I can glean, upon hearing the news, ACG made a quick collect call to numerous conservative archdiocese around the nation and woke up a very tired army of old, peevish white men who also never have sex but who fantasize more about vaginas than any gaggle of humans on the planet, and told them to rally the faithful and launch a protest against Obama's speech, clearly not realizing that most Catholics love this president and no one really cares what conservative cardinals or bishops have to say. About anything. Ever.
No matter. See, the president is pro-choice. He is also pro stem-cell research. He is also thoughtful and deeply intelligent and far, far wiser and more supportive of women and women's rights that his lug-nut misogynist predecessor, and he has a fantastically smart, outspoken, pro-choice wife to show for it. This makes him a tremendous threat to grumpy male church leaders everywhere who, as a general rule, wouldn't know a vulva from a rototiller.
But wait, there's more. Perhaps you've heard that the GOP is preparing to fight like feral cats against Obama's nomination for the Supreme Court? Perhaps you've heard that they are ready to fight regardless of who the nominee might be, because s/he will doubtlessly be -- you guessed it -- pro-choice, pro-women, or (even worse) might actually be a woman? The horror.
As a warm-up, the Republicans have already reaffirmed their inept misogyny by bogging down the nomination of Kathleen Sebelius because, of course, Sebelius dares to be both intelligent and pro-choice, and heaven forefend we have a Secretary of Health and Human Services who A) actually understands female sexuality as it functions in this millennium, and B) is a woman.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2009/05/13/notes051309.DTL
"The Worst Is Yet to Come": If You're Not Petrified, You're Not Paying Attention
by Aaron Task
The green shoots story took a bit of hit this week between data on April retail sales, weekly jobless claims and foreclosures. But the whole concept of the economy finding its footing was "preposterous" to begin with, says Howard Davidowitz, chairman of Davidowitz & Associates.
"We're in a complete mess and the consumer is smart enough to know it," says Davidowitz, whose firm does consulting for the retail industry. "If the consumer isn't petrified, he or she is a damn fool."
Davidowitz, who is nothing if not opinionated (and colorful), paints a very grim picture: "The worst is yet to come with consumers and banks," he says. "This country is going into a 10-year decline. Living standards will never be the same."
This outlook is based on the following main points:
- With the unemployment rate rising into double digits - and that's not counting the millions of "underemployed" Americans - consumers are hitting the breaks, which is having a huge impact, given consumer spending accounts for about 70% of economic activity.
- Rising unemployment and the $8 trillion negative wealth effect of housing mean more Americans will default on not just mortgages but student loans and auto loans and credit card debt.
- More consumer loan defaults will hit banks, which are also threatened by what Davidowitz calls a "depression" in commercial real estate, noting the recent bankruptcy of General Growth Properties and distressed sales by Developers Diversified and other REITs.
As for all the hullabaloo about the stress tests, he says they were a sham and part of a "con game to get private money to finance these institutions because [Treasury] can't get more money from Congress. It's the 'greater fool' theory."
"We're now in Barack Obama's world where money goes into the most inefficient parts of the economy and we're bailing everyone out," says Daviowitz, who opposes bailouts for financials and automakers alike. "The bailout money is in the sewer and gone."
US reporter in Iran 'held secret report'
A lawyer for US-born reporter Roxana Saberi, freed this week from a Tehran jail, said on Wednesday the spy charges she had faced arose after she obtained a classified report on the US war on Iraq.
"She had a report about the US attack on Iraq prepared by the strategic research centre at the (Iranian) presidency," Saleh Nikbakht told AFP.
"The research centre deemed the report as classified. But she had not used it at all."
Nikbakht did not say how Saberi had managed to gain access to the confidential report.
Saberi's other lawyer, Abdolsamad Khoramshahi, said Saberi received a suspended two-year jail term from the appeal court as that is the stipulated punishment for such a crime.
"She was accused of accessing secret documents. If these are used, there is a 10-year jail term, if not, then two years," he said.
Saberi was released on Monday after her original eight-year jail term was reduced to a suspended two-year term by the appeal court.
She walked free from Tehran's Evin prison where she was held following her arrest in January initially on charges of buying alcohol, an act prohibited in the Islamic republic.
From Cell to Sell: Police Recruit Activists as Spies
In Scotland, police have been offering environmentalists money in return for information about activist groups. "They said 'if you help us, we will help you,'" one anti-nuclear activist stated, referring to military police officers. The Guardian reports that "a network of hundreds of informants ... claim to have infiltrated a number of environmental groups," providing police with "information about leaders, tactics and plans of future demonstrations." One of the groups targeted by police, Plane Stupid, was previously infiltrated by a corporate spy. A police statement stressed their "responsibility to gather intelligence," saying contacts were made "to ensure that any future protest activity is carried out within the law." Plane Stupid responded, "Our civil liberties were invaded and our right to peaceful protest called into question simply to defend the interests of big business." Scotland's Sunday Herald reports that the covert police campaign goes back to at least 2005, when military police set up "cosy chats" with people arrested during a protest at a nuclear arms site.
Marijuana: It’s Time for a Conversation
Sponsored by the American Civil Liberties Union and featuring noted travel writer and television host Rick Steves, "Marijuana: It's Time for a Conversation" begins a long-overdue public discussion about marijuana and marijuana prohibition.
Banks gather their forces to fight back against Obama's higher education plan
During his campaign in the fall of 2008, President Obama made two promises to the American people: to make college more affordable for all students and to remove lobbyist influence and wasteful spending from Washington. He addresses both these promises in his new plan to invest in education.
Receiving a college education has now become more important than it has ever been in the past. Today, half of the fastest growing job industries in the United States require their applicants to have at least a Bachelor's degree to be even considered for a job position. And those who do not have a college degree are almost guaranteed that they will be unemployed, especially in our current economic situation.
These are difficult times for students as well as their families all over America as we are struggling to keep up with the ever increasing cost of higher education. Although Maryland has instituted a tuition freeze for in-state students, around the country the cost of tuition at private colleges has more than doubled and at private universities, it has nearly tripled. Families can barely keep up with the increasing tuition costs because on average, the cost of tuition has grown ten times faster than a typical family's income.
In order to address this crisis, President Obama has made college affordability and accessibility a priority for his administration. By increasing the availability of Pell Grants and making it possible for working families to be eligible for a $2,500 tax credit, college has become more affordable for 7 million students around the country. Currently, in order to pay for high tuition prices students have had the option of taking out a loan. One type of loan has been the Direct Loan, which allows money to go directly from the federal government to students. The other type of loan usually used by students is the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL), which goes through lenders. Under the FFEL program lenders get a large subsidy from the government, which wastes approximately $5 billion a year of taxpayer money. In order to eliminate this wastage, President Obama has taken the initiative to end the FFEL program and to direct this money into the Direct Loan program. The Obama administration has determined that these initiatives will save 4.9 million families $9 billion.
Earlier this year, President Obama stated his goal before a joint session of Congress that by 2020 the United States will have the highest college graduation rate in the world. He believes the first step to accomplishing this goal is to create savings by changing the way loans are offered and given to students.
Over the next decade the government can save tens of billions of dollars simply by eliminating the FFEL program and cutting out banks as middlemen. The money that is saved can instead be invested in expanding Pell Grants, offering tuition tax credits, and launching college completion programs for any student who needs it.
However, it is unlikely that lenders, who make large profits from our current lending system, will go down without a fight. Already, bankers and lenders who are completely opposed to President Obama's initiative are hiring lobbyists as they strategically plan to fight back against the Obama administration.
http://www.retrieverweekly.com/?module=displaystory&story_id=4544&format=html
What the Hell is Going On?
"What the Hell's Going On?" It's a simple yet completely fair question given all that's happened over the last nine years. But still, there is almost no unified consensus to this question in the U.S. Try asking friends and family. Feel free to present it as a party game.
They'll probably respond with something like, "What's going on with what? Heidi and Spencer? American Idol? LeBron?" This will take you to phase two of the question "With the whole country." At this point answers like "Everyone's corrupt" or "Stupid republicans" or "Damn liberals" will kick in. Give them three points and another roll of the dice or push of the pop-a-matic for this answer. Too often we don't give enough credit to these answers in that at least they acknowledge something is wrong. They are broad and sometimes pointed at the wrong target but the level of anger and sense of things being broken is dead on. At least these people aren't on the Clueless Square right before "Go," "Baltic Avenue" and "America is Number One!"
A more dispiriting and just as common answer is the faux big-picture amateur historian perspective of "things go in cycles" or "things were worse a hundred years ago." Both points are true but ultimately play up a powerlessness which is great news for those in power who are in fact F'n things up. I would also argue that the engine of "cycles" as it pertains to law, government, economics and war is human action and choice. We don't give the guys who manage our baseball teams the "cycles" out so why do we give it to our representatives and money managers. One point and loss of turn.
"They're all a bunch of crooks" is another common answer. And it's just as powerless as the "things go in cycles" response. It usually leads to not voting and not looking for reliable sources of information and news because after all, "they're all a bunch of crooks." How come when we are robbed by an actual bunch of crooks at gun point we don't say, "What are you gonna do? They'll all a bunch of crooks." No, we call the police and demand swift action, and then we call A and E and shoot a true crime show.
This excuse is also music to the ears of the ineffective and privileged, who by all rights should have a mob outside their house or at least be hissed at every time they go out to dinner. (By the way, what happened to hissing? I haven't seen it since the end of Dangerous Liaisons. It works, and people like Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and John Yoo should get a wave of it every time they enter a restaurant. That's borderline civic duty type of stuff.)
As tricky as it seems, the answer to "What's going on?" is, I would argue, actually pretty simple. And here it is:
Since FDR's New Deal, corporations and wealthy families have been non-stop finding new ways to get tax breaks, deregulation and entitlements from the government. The crush of lobbyists on Washington and purchase of the media by corporations has created a big business-run government and a worthless press leaving Americans screwed and ill-informed. The end.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/adam-mckay/what-the-hell-is-going-on_b_202024.html
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Stop the bloodbath in Sri Lanka
A modern day bloodbath is unfolding on the small island of Sri Lanka and the key to stopping this humanitarian disaster lies with Sri Lanka's largest donor and closest partner in the region -- Japan. Let´s send a powerful message to the Japanese Foreign Minister asking for pressure to stop the killing.   |
Now that the US has begun to increase its pressure, the solution to stopping this humanitarian disaster lies with Sri Lanka's key donor and closest partner in the region -- Japan. It has powerful political and economic influence over the Sri Lankan government and a swing vote at the UN Security Council, which up until now has turned a blind eye to this mounting catastrophe.
Click here to send a message to the Japanese Foreign Minister, who is deciding his government's next steps. Japan cares about its international reputation and a flood of messages from abroad would encourage them to act. If Japan moves then the Sri Lankan government will be forced to immediately respond to protect civilians:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/stop_the_bloodbath
As last weekend´s carnage testifies, every minute counts for the estimated 50,000 civilians still trapped inside the shrinking conflict zone and for those 200,000 more who are barely surviving in overcrowded camps. The International Committee of the Red Cross, which rarely makes public comment, called this conflict between the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil rebels, 'nothing short of catastrophic'.
Until now, the divided UN Security Council has abdicated their responsibility to protect Sri Lankans from war crimes and other atrocities. But in this conflict Japan cannot be ignored – its powerful voice could tip the balance and influence the conflict dynamics, saving lives in the short-term and promoting peace and development in the long run.
Asia's longest-running civil war is entering its final stage – the only question is how many will die before it ends. Let´s send a powerful message urging Foreign Minister Nakasone to act responsibly and lead international efforts to push the Tamil rebels to release the remaining civilians, stop the government bombing and bring sustainable peace to Sri Lanka. Japan's political and economic weight means that they cannot be ignored:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/stop_the_bloodbath
As other donor nations increase the pressure behind the scenes this week, a truly global citizens' outcry can further turn the heat on the Japanese government to use its leverage and push for a robust and concerted international action that stops the bloodshed and protect the Sri Lankan civilian population at risk. Thank you for sending your message today.
With hope
Luis, Brett, Alice, Graziela, Pascal, Ben, Ricken, Paula, Iain, Paul, Raj and the rest of the Avaaz Team
Doctor reports hundreds of bodies being brought to hospital as UN says feared bloodbath has become reality - 11 May 2009 -
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/may/11/sri-lanka-civilian-deaths
Four leading international organisations call on Japan to play a more active role in confronting the unfolding catastrophe in Sri Lanka. Press release:
http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=6097&l=1&m=1
Full text of the letter at:
http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=6096&l=1&m=1
The US accuses Sri Lanka of causing "untold suffering" among civilians, and calls on rebels to release civilians stuck in the conflict zone:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/23/world/asia/23lanka.html
For information about the UN Security Council discussions on Sri Lanka:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article5817983.ece
http://www.avaaz.org
Paul Krassner: A Response to "Why Did Jon Stewart Apologize?"
As a performer, I was a bundle of paradoxes. I was a hermit, yet I would go out to do shows and talk to a hundred people at once. I was a social critic, yet my spiritual path was trying not to judge others. Irreverence was my only sacred cow, yet I tried not to let victims become the target of my humor. So, there was one particular routine that I stopped using in 1970, when abortion was still illegal and I ran an underground referral service. It called for a "rape-in" of legislators' wives in order to impregnate them so that they would then convince their husbands to decriminalize abortion. But feminist friends objected.
I resisted at first, because it was such a well-intentioned joke. But I reconsidered. Even in a joke, why should women be assaulted because men make the laws? Legislators' wives were the victims in that joke, but the legislators themselves should have been the target. For me to cease doing that bit of comedy wasn't self-censorship, it was conscious evolution. I publicly apologized, in print and on the air. Of course, if you think I was merely kowtowing to political correctness, I hereby grovel for your forgiveness.
Perrin admitted that his take on The Daily Show was "a tad personal," because they had once rejected material he submitted because it was "too dark." Actually, I had a similar experience with Dennis Miller. He had called to invite me to submit material--several jokes and a rant--when he hosted his own TV series. This was when he mistook spouting obscure references for being hip, but before he became such a political reactionary. He never let me know his decision. After a few weeks, I wrote and asked him, but he didn't have the courtesy to respond. I learned from a staff writer that Miller considered my material "too radical." However, I did read it on the radio one Sunday morning when Harry Shearer invited me to substitute for him on Le Show.
I also feel compelled to disagree with Jon Stewart. I think that Harry Truman was indeed a war criminal. Actually, I believe that in most wars, both sides harbor top-level war criminals, but that the victor determines who they are. As Lenny Bruce said in 1962 at the Gate of Horn in Chicago, "If we would have lost the war, they would have strung Truman up by the balls...." Lenny was arrested for obscenity that night. One of the items in the police report complained: "When talking about the war he stated, 'If we would have lost the war, they would have strung Truman up by the balls.'"
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-krassner/a-response-to-why-did-jon_b_200512.html
CDC's Stop the Towers Hootenanny
GET YOUR TICKETS
FOR THE CALIFORNIA DESERT COALITION'S BENEFIT EVENT
Stop the Towers Hootenanny
The California Desert Coalition (CDC) will be holding a benefit dinner and silent auction at historic Pappy & Harriet's Palace in Pioneertown on June 13, 2009, from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m.
Stop the Towers Hootenanny will feature a buffet dinner, great music, no host bar and the opportunity to bid on silent auction items. This festive evening of fun and camaraderie promises to be a real "hoot" and will offer us all the opportunity to hear about the latest progress being made to stop the proposed 500kV power corridor through the Morongo Basin and surrounding communities, including Pioneertown, within sight of Pappy & Harriet's Palace.
Tickets are $50.00 per person and are going fast – reserve by June 5th! Tickets are available online at cadesertco.org, by calling MJ (760) 217-2130 and at the Joshua Tree Farmer's Market on May 16, 23 and 30.
Valuable items from local businesses, artists and individuals have been pledged, and more are needed for the auction. Any items big or small are very welcome and all tax-deductible donations will be acknowledged at the party. To give to the auction, call Carol (760) 228-2811.
Don't miss this hootin' hollerin' evening of fun, all to benefit a great cause.
California Desert Coalition
Sphere: Related Content
DID THE PLANNED OIL PIPELINE THROUGH AFGHANISTAN INFLUENCE AMERICA'S DECISION TO INVADE AND INSTALL A NEW GOVERNMENT THERE?
COINCIDENCE OR CORRUPTION?
[ PLEASE SIGN PETITION FOR STATEMENT FROM U.S. GOVERNMENT ]
There is some evidence that America could have had an economic motive for replacing the government in Afghanistan. Did this influence America's decision to invade Afghanistan and replace the government? The evidence presented below may be sufficient to raise serious questions about the motivations behind U.S. President Bush's decision to invade Afghanistan, especially in light of Bush's substantial links with the oil industry. Furthermore, recent reports indicate that the September the 11th disaster, which triggered the "war on terror" military campaign, could have been prevented. If there is enough public support, we will issue a formal request for a public statement from the American government. In the meantime, we invite you to consider the evidence below and form your own opinions.
IN 1998 AMERICA WANTED NEW GOVERNMENT IN AFGHANISTAN TO ALLOW CONSTRUCTION OF OIL PIPELINE
America has wanted a new government in Afghanistan since at least 1998, three years before the attacks on 11 September 2001. The official report from a meeting of the U.S. Government's foreign policy committee on 12 February 1998, available on the U.S. Government website, confirms that the need for a West-friendly government was recognised long before the War on Terror that followed September 11th:
- "The U.S. Government's position is that we support multiple pipelines...
The Unocal pipeline is among those pipelines that would receive our
support under that policy. I would caution that while we do support the
project, the U.S. Government has not at this point recognized any
governing regime of the transit country, one of the transit countries,
Afghanistan, through which that pipeline would be routed. But we do
support the project."
[ U.S. House of Reps., "U.S. Interests in the Central Asian Republics", 12 Feb 1998 ]
"The only other possible route [for the desired oil pipeline] is across,
Afghanistan which has of course its own unique challenges."
[ "U.S. Interests in the Central Asian Republics", 12 Feb 1998 ]
"CentGas can not begin construction until an internationally recognized
Afghanistan Government is in place."
[ "U.S. Interests in the Central Asian Republics", 12 Feb 1998 ]
The Afghanistan oil pipeline project was finally able to proceed in May 2002. This could not have happened if America had not taken military action to replace the government in Afghanistan.
THE CONQUEST OF AFGHANISTAN BEGAN BEFORE 9/11
The war on Afghanistan was sold to the public as a reaction to the attacks on 11 September 2001. However, the war was planned before the infamous 9/11 disaster, and the military action began long before the World Trade Center fell.
The conquest of Afghanistan had been planned since at least 12 February 1998, and 9/11 happened just in time to secure public support for the attacks.
TIMELINE
3rd November 1998 - attacks stop US oil pipeline:
Up to 80 cruise missiles were fired at Afghanistan and Sudan in August An American-funded training project in Afghanistan has closed down as a result of the US cruise missile attack on the country in August. The programme was funded by the American oil company, Unocal, which was once hoping to be involved in building a gas pipeline across the country from Turkmenistan to Pakistan.
BBC News, "US attack closes US project", 3 November 1998.
2nd January 1999 - US strikes targets in Afghanistan:
No sooner had the Taleban won a series of victories in the north, than the US launched an attack on camps in Afghanistan run by Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden, who had allegedly masterminded the bombing of US embassies in East Africa.
BBC News, "Afghanistan: Campaign of conflict", 2 January 1999.
15th March 2001 - allies invade Afghanistan:
India is believed to have joined Russia, the USA and Iran in a concerted front against Afghanistan's Taliban regime.
Military sources in Delhi, claim that the opposition Northern Alliance's capture of the strategic town of Bamiyan, was precipitated by the four countries' collaborative effort.
Janes International Security News, "India joins anti-Taliban coalition", 15 March 2001.
3rd September 2001 - allies deploy huge task-force for "fictional" conflict:
The aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious has sailed from Portsmouth to lead the biggest Royal Navy and Royal Marine deployment since the Falklands.
HMS Illustrious is the flagship of three groups of warships travelling to the Middle East to take part in exercise "Saif Sareea 2".
More than 24 surface ships from Britain, plus two nuclear submarines, will be completing the 13,000 mile round trip.
The operation, costing nearly £100m, will end with a major excercise before Christmas that will also involve the Army, Royal Air Force and Armed Forces of Oman.
The strike force has been put together to take part in a conflict between the fictional forces of the so-called state of 'Alawham' and those of Oman.
BBC News, Carrier heads for the Middle East, 3 September 2001.
Lunar Leftovers: How the Moon Became a Trash Can
The moon has only been accessible for decades, rather than hundreds of years. However, in the short time available to humanity it is estimated that we have left over one hundred and seventy thousand kilos of debris on the surface of our once pristine satellite. Here are some of the more notable pieces of trash on the moon.
Luna 2 - 1959
If HG Wells and others were correct and there were civilizations on the moon then they would have expelled a communal gasp of horror in 1959 when the first piece of man made technology hit the moon dust. Looking now like some steam punk version of what we regularly send spinning in to space, Luna 2 was launched by the Soviets when the Cold War was at its height. The collision with the moon at least proved on thing - that our nearest neighbor in space has no appreciable magnetic field. To add insult to injury, half an hour after Luna 2 hit the moon, so did the third stage of its rocket.
Luna 9 - 1966
1966 - The Beatles controlled the airways of the planet below but all eyes were looking upwards in anticipation of the first soft lunar landing. Luna 9 did not disappoint. It sent a series of TV and radio signals from the surface and finally proved one thing that had been disquieting scientists for many years. That was that the moon would not simply swallow up anything that landed on it but the surface was able to hold significantly heavy man made objects. After three days contact was lost with Luna 9 and so it joined the rest of the defunct junk beginning to pile up on the lunar landscape.
Apollo 11 - 1969
The list of Lunas and Surveyors continued, some crashing and some making successful landings. Of course the significant date in terms of humanity and the moon is July 21 1969. The Eagle landed and left behind it quite a lot of stuff. Among the objects they left were an American flag and a plaque which reads Here Men From The Planet Earth First Set Foot Upon the Moon, July 1969 A.D. We Came in Peace For All Mankind. They also left being a memorial bag containing such items as a gold olive branch and a disk carrying messages of greeting from world leaders. After The Eagled ascended back in to space its ascent stage was jettisoned. It is thought that after a few months circling the moon its orbit would have decayed and rejoined the descent stage on the moon.
Moon Buggy - 1971 onwards
Possibly one of the more useful objects left on the moon during the Apollo mission was the Lunar Buggy - if of course it still worked (which it wouldn't). There are three altogether on the surface, gently gathering dust, left over from Apollo 15 through to 17. First used in 1971 it hugely increased the mobility of the astronauts. It provided the most fun experience possible outside of earth's atmosphere - possibly to this very day.
http://www.scienceray.com/Astronomy/Lunar-Leftovers-How-the-Moon-Became-a-Trash-Can.699919
Art Pirates Set Sail for the Venice Biennale
Swimming Cities of Serenissima will set sail tomorrow, May 13, from Slovenia to Trieste and then will be at the Venice Biennale from June 1-14, 2009 (as an unsanctioned exhibition). From the SwimmingCities.org Web site and blog:
The Swimming Cities of Serenissima is a fleet of three intricately hand crafted vessels that will navigate the Adriatic Sea from the Litoral region of Slovenia to Venice, Italy in May of 2009. Designed by the visual artist SWOON, the floating sculptures are descendants of the Swimming Cities of Switchback Sea (Hudson River, 2008) and the Miss Rockaway Armada (Mississippi River, 2006 and 2007).
Sphere: Related ContentSWOON's boats are inspired by dense urban cityscapes and thickly intertwined mangrove swamps from her Florida youth. The Swimming Cities of Serenissima are built from salvaged materials, including modified Mercedes car motors with long-tail propellers. The boats' crew is made up of 30 collaborating artists from the United States.
What Swine Flu? Spain Celebrates Cured Ham
By Lisa Abend
About 400 people gathered in the Spanish town of Jabugo's Plaza of Ham for a gala dinner. They ate outdoors beneath an almost full moon, as candles flickered on tables draped with heavy cloths, flamenco guitars thrummed in the background, and liveried waiters served plates of seared tuna and beef tenderloin. But for all that elegance, no one stayed seated for long. Along the edges of the plaza, a dozen of the country's most renowned ham cutters (yes, there is such a thing) carved off glistening slices of jamón ibérico — ibérico ham. And even in these troubled times for pigs, the attendees at the fifth World Congress of Cured Ham, which ended on May 8, found the ruby meat an irresistible draw. "No, I'm not worried about it," said champion carver José Angel Muãoz, as he served up one plate after another of paper-thin slices to a never-ending line of guests. "These people know ham better than anyone in the world. And you don't see them holding back." (See pictures of Spain's tomato festival.)
The 'it' he was referring to is, of course, swine flu. According to the World Health Organization, the number of people infected worldwide stands, as of Monday morning, at 4,694, of which 95 cases have occurred in Spain. And some evidence seems to point to a factory pig farm in La Gloria, Mexico, as a possible source for the virus. But among the scientists, producers, regulators and distributors who had gathered in Aracena, just down the road from Jabugo, to network and listen to scientists discussing the latest innovations in pig breeding and ham raising, no one was willing to admit concern about what the future might hold for their prized product.
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1897373,00.html?xid=newsletter-daily
Art historians claim Van Gogh's ear 'cut off by Gauguin'
'Self-portrait with cut ear' by Vincent Van Gogh. Photograph: Roger-Viollet/Rex Features
Vincent van Gogh's fame may owe as much to a legendary act of self-harm, as it does to his self-portraits. But, 119 years after his death, the tortured post-Impressionist's bloody ear is at the centre of a new controversy, after two historians suggested that the painter did not hack off his own lobe but was attacked by his friend, the French artist Paul Gauguin.
According to official versions, the disturbed Dutch painter cut off his ear with a razor after a row with Gauguin in 1888. Bleeding heavily, Van Gogh then walked to a brothel and presented the severed ear to an astonished prostitute called Rachel before going home to sleep in a blood-drenched bed.
But two German art historians, who have spent 10 years reviewing the police investigations, witness accounts and the artists' letters, argue that Gauguin, a fencing ace, most likely sliced off the ear with his sword during a fight, and the two artists agreed to hush up the truth.
In Van Gogh's Ear: Paul Gauguin and the Pact of Silence, published in Germany, Hamburg-based academics Hans Kaufmann and Rita Wildegans argue that the official version of events, based largely on Gauguin's accounts, contain inconsistencies and that both artists hinted that the truth was more complex.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2009/may/04/vincent-van-gogh-ear
Sphere: Related ContentThe News on Nukes
by Frida Berrigan
|
At the United Nations, representatives from the world's 190 or so nations are meeting (in typical fashion) to prepare to meet. The preparatory meeting of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) is taking place the first two weeks of May to get ready for the Review Conference of the Treaty, which will happen next year. Closer to home this week, Congress heard from its Congressional Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United States. And the Department of Energy released its budget for 2010 requesting $6.4 billion for nuclear weapons programs out of an overall budget of $26.4 billion. In all of this nuclear attention, there is good, bad and mixed news, all of which is taking place against the background of President Barack Obama's historic Prague speech, in which he pledged to work for a world free of nuclear weapons. The president also identified immediate, concrete measures toward that goal, including negotiating a new treaty with Russia involving deep cuts in our respective nuclear arsenals; seeking ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT); accelerating spending designed to eliminate "loose nukes" and bomb-making materials (plutonium and enriched uranium) in Russia and beyond; and ending all new production of bomb-making materials worldwide. |
It's not on the front pages of what is left of U.S. newspapers. The headlines are dominated by violence in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iraq, by Miss America's semi-nude photo scandal, and by the Chrysler fiasco. But just about everyone who is anyone is talking about nuclear weapons this week.Did Blackwater Contractors Attempt to Hide Evidence of a Massacre in Iraq?
by: Scott Horton
Shortly after a 2007 shooting incident in a Baghdad traffic square that left 17 Iraqi civilians dead, Blackwater contractors allegedly transferred a number of machine guns to another contractor who is now charged with trying to smuggle them out of Iraq. The Blackwater contractors wanted to dispose of the weapons before an investigation of the bloody incident began, according to two confidential government informants. John Houston, the contractor charged in the case, allegedly told one of the informants that after Blackwater "got into trouble," the guards had to get rid of the firearms so they wouldn't be caught with them...
Houston, a retired Special Forces soldier, is charged separately with trying to smuggle eight machine guns and a semi automatic pistol from Iraq into the United States. The indictment was handed down last week by a federal grand jury in Maryland.
Had this occurred in a domestic context in the United States, the criminal case would be fairly straightforward. Given that it happened in Iraq, however, and given the confusion that prevailed immediately after the events at Nisoor Square, establishing the charges is likely to prove far more complicated. But these developments serve to highlight the gross misconduct of the Justice Department in the immediate wake of the shocking events in Iraq.
http://harpers.org/archive/2009/05/hbc-90004932
Canada cannabis industry boom
Canada's booming cannabis industry ranks alongside tourism and forestry as a money earner and employer but the illegal trade has angered its US neighbour.
Canada has a Marijuana Party, allows pot to be smoked in public and barely punishes people who are caught growing it.
Humphrey Hawksley reports from Vancouver.
Blind interpreter detained at Philly airport says he has nightmares from arrest
By JESSICA BAUTISTA & KITTY CAPARELLA
His crime: He questioned why his U.S. Airways flight was delayed nearly two hours.
Nicola Cantisani, 61, of Brussels, Belgium, a professional translator who has been blind since birth, was charged with resisting arrest and disorderly conduct, police said.
"This is taking airplane security to a new and ridiculous level," said his attorney, A. Charles Peruto Jr. "It's pretty crazy."
Cantisani and his wife, Paola, were returning to Brussels April 4 after visiting family in New York. The couple changed planes at Philadelphia International Airport and boarded the 8:32 p.m. flight.
After the plane sat on the tarmac for some time, passengers were told that the flight would be delayed - without explanation, according to Cantisani. They were unable to use phones, receive attendant service or move from their seats.
"That was the straw that unfortunately broke the camel's back," Cantisani said. "It just got to me: They board you and just taxi you around."
Cantisani said he stood up to request a glass of water and to speak with the crew or captain about the delay, but was told to sit down.
In interviews in Philadelphia and later by phone from Brussels, Cantisani described what he called an "indescribable" chain of events that has given him nightmares.
"I felt I was being kidnapped - like I was a hostage," Cantisani said of the wait.
Cantisani said he spoke with the captain, who told him the plane was having mechanical problems. He then returned to his seat.
Shortly afterward, another passenger made a remark about the crew, prompting three Philadelphia Police officers to escort that man off the plane, Cantisani said.
Then, police tried to remove Cantisani as well, he said.
Lt. Frank Vanore, a police spokesman, said the police were called to Gate A-19 because of a disorderly passenger.
"A passenger had become irate over the delay," Vanore said.
Cantisani, unaware of why he was being removed, refused to leave.
He said the officers yanked Cantisani from his seat and dragged him off the plane, injuring his hand, which was gripping his seat belt . Then they forced him into a wheelchair.
At one point, an officer held him "by the throat," he said.
Vanore said that Cantisani had been asked several times to leave the plane but continually refused.
A U.S. Airways representative said Cantisani was an unruly passenger who had refused to exit the plane.
During the struggle with police, Cantisani said, he lost his retractable walking cane, making him unable to navigate.
Officers told him they had done the "blind test" and didn't believe he was blind, he said.
Vanore said he knew of no "blind test" administered by police.
Replacing the Old Man of the Mountain - revisited, with information from the Architect
Posted by Dave
Shortly after posting about the proposal to replace The Old Man of the Mountain with a glass structure I was contacted by the design's architect, Francis D. Treves. He expressed concern about the way his design was being represented on the web and that the imagery and information that is widely available was not doing his work justice. Of particular concern was that the cropped, low-resolution photographs found on most websites were not giving an accurate depiction of the design - and that little was said about what these photographs were specifically trying to show. In addition, the technical schematics of the plan were largely unpublished.
Mr. Treves has been taking a bit of a beating in public forums over his idea, and the lack of real information about his proposal has not helped. Even while typing up my original article, I had to resist expressing any personal opinions about the plan… I just could not find out enough about it. So I certainly understand his desire to disseminate quality, accurate information. After all, having people reject your idea when they understand it is one thing… having them reject it when their understanding is partial or inaccurate is something else.
After a phone call and several email exchanges, Mr. Treves and I agreed that Towns and Trails would be a good place to present additional images and information about the project.
Copyright Francis D. Treves Architect All Rights Reserved
The schematic above shows a cross-section of the design. In it you can make out the access tunnel to the skywalk, which would allow visitors to walk out into the glass structure and look out over the valley below. You can also see a gallery with a skylight. But one of the more interesting features of this schematic is that it shows how surface water would be redirected into an internal waterfall within the monument.
This is the type of detail that is largely missing from most of the reports available online. For me, it really helps to drive home the scope and vision of the design. This is not some eclectic modern art project, and it is much more than just a glass replica of The Old Man… it is a monument of ambitious proportions.
Copyright Francis D. Treves Architect All Rights Reserved
This photo, which was widely published in news reports (but in poor quality), is a rendition of the mountain as it might look in the spring.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Would You Pay A Journalist To Report The News You Want To Read?
Because that's exactly what the foundation of Global For Me's business model bestows.
Here's how it works: you suggest a story to be investigated on the GFM website, and donate personally or together with others until you have the necessary funds to effectively have the company find and hire a journalist for you to - and I'm quoting from the website here - "go to briefings, press conferences, request interviews or door stop reluctant interviewees on your behalf." Examples given on the homepage include politicans and local authorities but also 'celebrities' and 'anybody else'. In my opinion, that sounds more like hiring a private detective, but maybe I'm missing something here.
Could this model ever work?
In theory, it doesn't sound all that bad. Communities are formed around a given topic and its members, aided by peer pressure and the use of social networking services, jointly decide what exactly should be investigated, a reporter does his or her job and gets paid the standard rate for it, Global For Me keeps a commission and the audience gets the news and/or answers to certain questions it was longing to be looked into delivered right at their virtual doorsteps. Everyone wins, right?
In practice though, I'm not convinced it will work. The service would have to receive a heap of traction before the model gets even remotely viable enough for the journalists that would take on work through the service as well as for Global For Me. I'm also inclined to believe people would fund certain investigations to have a reporter discover what they want to see discovered, and that more often than not the end result will not live up to their expectations. And since there's isn't a publisher / editor to act as gatekeeper, who would they turn to to complain about possible bias or sloppy reporting? And looking at it from a different perspective, who's to say freelance journalists - even if involuntarily - at some point wouldn't start reporting stories the way the original commissioners (and the ones paying the bill) would want to see them reported?
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/05/12/would-you-pay-a-journalist-to-report-the-news-you-want-to-read/
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