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Global economy faces 'chaos',
warns World Economic Forum
International
Monetary Fund says US economy uncomfortably close to stall speed
CULTURAL BLOWBACK!
Coarsening ‘Homeland’ Civility: Exploring
Inconvenient Truths - When a Jingoistic, Militarized and De-sensitized
‘Officer Friendly’ Comes Home…
Democrat-Led
House Lays Legal Groundwork for Korea-Style Bases in Iraq
By Jim Lobe
June 22nd, 2007
(Excerpt)
It seems the Democratic-led House of Representatives
Thursday approved an amendment that, contrary to the leadership’s intention, lays the legal groundwork for a protracted
– if not “permanent” — U.S. military presence in Iraq.
During debate on
the 2008 Foreign Operations bill, the House approved by voice vote an
amendment submitted by Iowa Republican Rep. Steve King that inserted the
word “permanent” before “basing rights agreement” in the following text:
“SEC. 685. None of the
funds made available in this Act may be used by the Government of the
United States to enter into a basing rights agreement between the United
States and Iraq.”
MEMRI – Israel’s
Fifth-Column Disinformatzia Apparat
and Its Stunningly Effective Iran Libel
KurtNimmo.com
6.23.07
(Excerpt)
As we have known for some time now, MEMRI, short for the
Middle East Media Research Institute, specializes in
disinformation by distorting
translations of film and print media stories originating in Arabic,
Iranian and Turkish media. In essence, what MEMRI does is change the
context of news stories by way of mistranslation and excision.
Call it MEMRI
loss, the deliberate mangling of media. MEMRI did this to
Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad by turning a speech he delivered in
2005 into a racist and genocidal screed. MEMRI accomplished this through
mistranslation. Not a day passes
now we do not witness corporate media claims Ahmadinejad wants to wipe
Israel off the map. In fact, Ahmadinejad said the “regime that is occupying Qods [Jerusalem] must be
eliminated from the pages of history.” He did not say Israel must be wiped off the map.
Nevertheless, this engineered lie
is repeated constantly by the corporate media and to such a degree it is
now accepted as fact.
Earlier this week,
as Israeli PM Olmert met with Bush, we once again heard this MEMRI
spawned lie. Olmert “said he wanted to discuss with Mr.
Bush the threat to Israel from Iran, whose president has said Israel must
be ‘wiped off the map.’” the Associated
Press reports. “Mr. Bush replied that he views Iran’s statements as a ’serious threat’ to Israel and that ‘all options are on the table’ to make sure Iran does not develop a
nuclear weapon.” In other words, Olmert used the MEMRI lie as the
cornerstone for his argument that Iran must be attacked and Bush agreed.
It wasn’t long ago the neocons made up similar lies about
Saddam Hussein, lies that have so far resulted in the murder of more
than 750,000 Iraqis.
For those of us who
know something about history, these neocon lies may be accurately
compared with the lies and disinformation used by the Nazis to ultimately
invade countries and slaughter millions of people. MEMRI, according to Norman
G. Finkelstein, employs “the same sort of propaganda techniques
as the Nazis. They take things out of context in order to do personal
and political harm to people they don’t like,” or people Likudniks and neocons want the United
States military to mass murder.
Finkelstein had a
close encounter with MEMRI in 2006, when “he gave a TV interview in Lebanon on
the way the Nazi Holocaust is used to silence critics of Israel,” according to Lawrence Swaim, writing for InFocus, the largest
Muslim newspaper in California. “MEMRI recently posted what it alleged was
an interview I did with Lebanese television on the Nazi Holocaust. The MEMRI
posting was designed to prove that I was a Holocaust denier,” Finkelstein told the newspaper. “Far from being a Holocaust denier, Finkelstein’s own parents were Holocaust survivors, a fact he has
often spoken about,” Swaim adds. “But MEMRI was able to create the
opposite impression, as Finkelstein demonstrated on his Web
site, by editing out large chunks of the actual interview.”
“MEMRI is a main arm of Israeli
propaganda,” explains Finkelstein. “Although widely used in the mainstream
media as a source of information on the Arab world, it is as trustworthy
as Julius Streicher’s Der Sturmer was on the Jewish world.” Ken Livingstone, mayor of London,
accuses MEMRI of “outright distortion,” while former CIA case officer Vince
Cannistraro has written that “they (MEMRI) are selective and act as
propagandists for their political point of view, which is the
extreme-right of Likud,” in other words, the people associated with MEMRI—David
Wurmser, Douglas
Feith, Elliot
Abrams, Richard
Perle and other neocons—are racist
reactionaries, no different than the above mentioned Julius Streicher
(instead of hating Jews, the neocons hate Arabs and Muslims).
(As an aside, a few
pranksters connected to the former Marxist gone neocon David Horowitz’s FrontPage operation, funded by the
CIA operative Richard Mellon Scaife,
have spent time modifying photos of Streicher in Photoshop, dropping your
humble blogger’s head on Streicher’s body, apparently as a reaction to my
criticism of Israel and the “extreme-right of Likud” neocons, thus demonstrating not only
the silliness but the vicious tenacity of people who cannot stand to hear
criticism of their beloved apartheid state, even in the blogosphere.)
More…
Hamid Karout, The Tishreen and Syria Times, Syria
A Dark Summit
PALESTINE OCCUPATION?
What occupation? Where occupation? Anybody seen any occupation?
By Uri Avnery
Counterpunch.org
June 30/July 1, 2007
(Excerpt)
The occupation was not on the agenda
of this dark summit. Even in their wildest dreams, the Arab participants
could not imagine anything more wonderful than "easing the
restrictions". Making life a little bit less difficult for the
suffering population. Giving back the Palestinian tax revenues. (That is
to say, Israel may give back some of the money it has pocketed.) Moving
some of the roadblocks that prevent people from going from one village to
the next. (That has already been promised many times and will not happen
this time either, because the army and the Shin Bet object. Olmert has
already announced that it is impossible for "security
reasons".)
With the air of a
Sultan throwing coins to the paupers in the street, Olmert announced his
intention of releasing some Fatah prisoners. 250 coins, 250 prisoners.
That was the "generous gift" that was to make the Palestinians
jump for joy, "strengthen" Abbas and awaken to new life the dry
bones of his organization.
If Olmert had not
been sitting so far away from Abbas, he could just as well have spat in
his face.
First at all, the
number is ridiculous. There are now about 10,000 (ten thousand)
Palestinian "security" prisoners in Israeli prisons. Every
night, about a dozen more are being taken from their homes. Since there
is no more room in the prison facilities, the wardens will be pleased to
get rid of some inmates. In previous gestures of this nature, the Israeli
government has set free prisoners whose term was nearing the end anyhow,
and car thieves.
Second,
fraternization between Fatah and Hamas is well established in prison. The
violent struggle in Gaza has not been projected into the prisons. The
famous "prisoners' document", which laid the foundation for the
(now defunct) Unity Government, was worked out jointly by Fatah and Hamas
prisoners.
Olmert's
announcement of his readiness to release Fatah--and only Fatah--prisoners
is designed to sabotage this unity. It could stigmatize the Fatah people as
collaborators, and Abbas as a leader who is concerned only with the
members of his own organization, not giving a damn for the others.
More…
Alexander Zudin, Obshaya Gazeta, St. Petersburg, Russia
Outrage
as Israeli President Katsav escapes prison over rape charges
ABC – Australian Broadcasting System
June 29, 2007
(Excerpt)
Five months ago Israeli President Moshe
Katsav was facing charges of rape and abuse of power involving 12 women
over more than a decade.
Then last night, almost a year after
the allegations surfaced, Israel's Attorney-General agreed to drop the
rape charges in exchange for a plea bargain.
But in a dramatic twist, the key
plaintiff went live on television to detail months of harassment and
sexual abuse in the country's highest office.
President Katsav has since resigned,
with former prime minister Shimon Peres taking office on July 15.
Rape Victim Goes Public - Recording
Tens of thousands
of protesters gathering at Tel Aviv's Rabin Square on Saturday,
to protest against Moshe Katsav's
plea bargain over sex crimes charges. (AP)
NO
DEAL! Thousands
flock to Tel Aviv square to demand Israel's president stand trial on rape
charges
The International Herald Tribune
(IHT)
June 30, 2007
TEL
AVIV, Israel: Thousands of
protesters outraged over the plea bargain that spared President Moshe Katsav
rape charges and possible jail time gathered in Tel Aviv's main square
Saturday night to demand he stand trial.
On
Thursday, Attorney General Meni Mazuz announced that he would indict
Katsav on lesser counts of indecent acts, sexual harassment and obstruction
of justice — a
reversal of his original plan to press rape and other sexual assault
charges that could have sent the president to jail for 20 years if he had
been convicted.
"There's no
such thing as rape lite," read one of the posters hoisted by the
crowd, which included leading women politicians.
Protest
organizers estimated that 20,000 people flocked to Rabin Square in Tel
Aviv. Demonstrators who heard over the past year lurid testimony from
four former employees demanded a nullification of the plea deal and
Mazuz's resignation.
"We
are asking to hear the evidence. We don't demand mercy, we demand
justice," said Yael Dayan, a former lawmaker and prominent Israeli
women's rights advocate.
More…
Current News & Views
·
Surging Past the Gates of Hell
·
Ambush Caps Bloodiest Months for US
·
Mass
Insanity or Bone-Headed National Stupidity - Both? Poll: More in US Say
Saddam Was to Blame for 9/11 Now Than in 2004
·
Bush Still
Trying to Link Iraq and 9/11: WASHINGTON — Facing eroding support for his Iraq policy, even
among Republicans, President Bush on Thursday called al Qaida "the
main enemy" in Iraq, an assertion rejected by his
administration's senior intelligence analysts.
·
Slandering the Dead Chris Floyd
on the American massacre at al-Khalis.
·
Peas
in a Pod: The Mafia and the CIA
·
CIA Terror Bombings, Bob Gates, and the
Rise of Hezbollah by Michael Schwartz
·
Swiss
investigator blasts CIA jail silence, says truth will win out
·
Romanian
lawmakers pull out of Council of Europe over CIA secret prison
allegations
·
The
CIA's Torture Teachers
·
World
crisis of confidence in Bush
·
Bush Plays Bogus al-Qaeda Card to
Bolster Support for Iraq Policy
·
GET OVER
IT THERE WERE NO WMDs! Told You So, UN Iraq Arms Inspectors' Report Says
·
Bush
Directive for a "Catastrophic Emergency" in America: Building a
Justification for Waging War on Iran?
·
US Senate
Subpoenas Bush Documents on Wiretap Program
·
Cheney
continues to refuse to hand over classified records to National Archive
·
Cheney:
'Master of Stealth' Prepares for His 'Final Act'
·
Bush
Formally Names New Joint Chiefs Choice
·
Bush:
Bullying, Belligerent, Brash...and Big in Albania
·
On the Palestinian
Crisis By Jim Lobe: If
you’re
interested in and alarmed about how the Bush administration and its
neo-conservative supporters contributed to the current crisis in the
Palestinian Territories, there
is probably nothing as clear and concise out there as Friday’s
analysis, from which the following excerpt is taken, by M.J. Rosenberg of the
Israel Policy Forum
·
Bicephalous
Palestine: The result of western diplomacy
U.S. Inspired Palestinian Boycott ‘Lifted’? – Guardian
UK
·
AFRICOM:
Africa united in rejecting US
request for military HQ: The Pentagon's plan to create a US military command based in
Africa have hit a wall of hostility from governments in the region
reluctant to associate themselves with the Bush administration's
"war on terror" and fearful of American intervention.
Thach "Tak" Bui, Canada
·
Bush Lap
Poodle Tony Blair is Proof-Positive That No Political Sycophancy Goes
Unrewarded: From No 10 to
“Peace Envoy”(???) to the Middle East: Blair gets a new job
Martyn Turner, Ireland, The
Irish Times
·
Merkel
praises Blair appointment
·
After
60 years, U.S. hands over Babenhausen military base in Germany
·
Did Washington Frame Libyans for
Lockerbie?
·
Doubt in Lockerbie conviction:
Panel
·
Lockerbie Ruling Raises
Questions on Libyan’s Guilt
·
LOCKERBIE BOMBER 'MAY BE
INNOCENT AFTER ALL'
·
Convicted Libyan wins
right to appeal
·
Murderous
‘Humanitarian Interventions’ Have Destroyed UN Credibility
·
Palestinians, UN workers
killed in Gaza
·
6 UN peacekeepers killed
in southern Lebanon
·
Rights Group: GIs Kill 4 More Afghan Civilians
·
U.S. Led NATO Never 'Intentionally'
Kills Civilians: Secretary General
·
Putin
masterstroke puts U.S. in check
·
G7 Play Thermonuclear Chess with Putin Missile “defense” is not
defensive at all. It is offensive. If this missile system is put in place,
it will be an integral part of the US nuclear capability.
·
Russia
Deploys the Mighty S-400 Missile System
·
Russia
begins mass production of strategic Intercontinental ballistic missile
·
81%
APPROVAL RATING: Putin Keeps Sky-High Numbers
·
Putin
compares American foreign policy to that of Nazi Germany
·
Bush
looks to his father to mend relations with Putin
·
Tensions Rise in
US-Russia Relationship
·
Russia
lays claim to the North Pole - and all its gas, oil, and diamonds
·
Scientists
say discovery may allow Russia to claim vast undersea Arctic area
·
Russia Digs In
Heels Against West's Kosovo Plan
·
Serbia
Cautions Balkans Over Kosovo Independence
·
Tensions Rise as
Kosovo Awaits Word on Its Future
·
NATO
chief calls for restraint in Kosovo, flexibility from Serbia, Russia
·
US
'deeply troubled' by North Korea missile launch
·
North Korea
‘to Back Down on Nuclear Arms’'
·
Russia
optimistic on North Korean nuclear issue
·
WASHINGTON'S
ISRAEL LOBBY SCORES AGAIN: Tel Aviv’s US Congressional
Representatives quietly outlaw all aid to Saudi Arabia The amendment, championed by New York
Democrat Anthony Weiner, a strong supporter of Israel, states that
"none of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available" by
the foreign operations bill "shall be obligated or expended to
finance any assistance to Saudi Arabia" or "used to execute a
waiver".
·
Dems Want GOP to Pay for
'Nay' Aid Votes: Congressional Democrats
voted in aid to Israel, and now they want payback from the pro-Israel
lobby: Drum Republicans out. Behind the scenes, Democrats are pressing the American Israel Public
Affairs Committee to make a case against Republicans in the U.S. House of
Representatives, who voted overwhelmingly last week against the
foreign-operations appropriations bill, which included $2.44 billion for
Israel.
·
Neo-Cons
Make Gains on the Public-Diplomacy Front
·
Libby
Becomes Inmate No. 28301-016
·
40 years of occupation
and 60 years of wars: enough
·
'USS Liberty' veterans
demand investigation
·
BAE is none of
Washington's business The
Telegraph – London, UK: ..repeated Saudi
efforts, going back to the 1970s, to negotiate a deal with Washington foundered on the hostility
of the Jewish lobby in Congress which, encouraged by Israel, bitterly
opposed the sale on the grounds that selling F-15s to Saudi Arabia would challenge
Israel's undisputed air superiority in the region. As a senior
Saudi official commented at the time: "We would prefer to buy
weapons from the United States, but we are not going to pay billions of
dollars to be insulted. We are not masochists."
·
EMBEDDED!
US Marines to Train at New Israeli Combat Center
·
ISRAEL-OPT:
Some 600 villagers face prospect of new displacement Reuters AlertNet - London, England, UK: "Most of the agricultural land will be behind
the wall and disconnected from the village," said Shawki
Issa, a lawyer who helped fight land confiscation ...
·
Bush holds Israel up as
model for Iraq
·
WISING
UP! Military Sees Drop in Black Recruits
·
Little
Effort Made to Find Army Deserters
·
Migrant's
Choice: To Live and Die in Arizona
or Iraq? …
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An
extraordinarily prescient TV interview with General Norman Schwarzkopf
and Robert Gates - Deputy National Security Advisor to Former President
George Bush Sr.
Why Invading Iraq Was A
Very Stupid Idea…
(Click on blinking dot above for
video)
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