Don't believe mainstream media that there is no main purpose! 30 million unemployed! 1% holds 95% of the wealth, homelessness, living wage , Simply stated "Stop the wars on the People
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[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDlf-erPtzM]
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Showing posts with label Human Rights. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Human Rights. Show all posts
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Thursday, September 15, 2011
The Top Ten Myths in the War Against Libya » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names
The Top Ten Myths in the War Against Libya » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names.
Speaking of the breadth of Gaddafi’s record, that ought to resist simplistic, revisionist reduction, some might care to note that even now, the U.S. State Department’s webpage on Libya still points to a Library of Congress Country Study on Libya that features some of the Gaddafi government’s many social welfare achievements over the years in the areas of medical care, public housing, and education. In addition, Libyans have the highest literacy rate in Africa (see UNDP, p. 171) and Libya is the only continental African nation to rank “high” in the UNDP’s Human Development Index. Even the BBC recognized these achievements:
So if one supports health care, does that mean one supports dictatorship? And if “the dictator” funds public housing and subsidizes incomes, do we simply erase those facts from our memory?
Homelessness wiped out! Free medical! Literacy! What???? And this is a BAD Guy???Read more...
Speaking of the breadth of Gaddafi’s record, that ought to resist simplistic, revisionist reduction, some might care to note that even now, the U.S. State Department’s webpage on Libya still points to a Library of Congress Country Study on Libya that features some of the Gaddafi government’s many social welfare achievements over the years in the areas of medical care, public housing, and education. In addition, Libyans have the highest literacy rate in Africa (see UNDP, p. 171) and Libya is the only continental African nation to rank “high” in the UNDP’s Human Development Index. Even the BBC recognized these achievements:
“Women in Libya are free to work and to dress as they like, subject to family constraints. Life expectancy is in the seventies. And per capita income—while not as high as could be expected given Libya’s oil wealth and relatively small population of 6.5m—is estimated at $12,000 (£9,000), according to the World Bank. Illiteracy has been almost wiped out, as has homelessness—a chronic problem in the pre-Gaddafi era, where corrugated iron shacks dotted many urban centres around the country”.
So if one supports health care, does that mean one supports dictatorship? And if “the dictator” funds public housing and subsidizes incomes, do we simply erase those facts from our memory?
Homelessness wiped out! Free medical! Literacy! What???? And this is a BAD Guy???Read more...
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Earth Day , Late
Earth Day is my wedding anniversary. We did not really plan it, it just happened. But if I WAS to plan a wedding that would be the day. My wedding was earth friendly. Shorts,tank-top and in front of a judge in Austin,Texas. No fuss , just romance. I hope my daughters do the same.
In commemorating Earth Day , our family has watched the movie/documentary ¨Dirt!¨. It is full of information and inspiration that, if you are a caring person, you can help restore earth´s original Eden. Maybe not right away but for a future generation. It is also a maddening film to see how we have pillaged resources. And to add to it they developed a site to encourage us to BE THAT HUMMINGBIRD!
We also watched ¨Flow; for the love of Water¨ another excellent film. No matter how much you think you know there is more to learn. Did you know that the American company Bechtal privatized the rain!? In Bolivia with the insistence of the World Bank! Some info from their site and movie:
Of the 6 billion people on earth, 1.1 billion do not have access to safe, clean drinking water.
(www.charitywater.org)
While the average American uses 150 gallons of water per day, those in developing countries cannot find five.
(www.charitywater.org)
There are estimates that from five hundred thousand to seven million people get sick per year from drinking tap water. Erik Olson, Deputy Staff Director of Barbara Boxerʼs Environmental and Public Works Committee (EPW), FLOW.
The water and sanitation crisis claims more lives through disease than any war claims through guns.(www.water.org)
According to the National Resources Defense Council, in a scientific study in which more than 1,000 bottles of 103 brands of water were tested, about one-third of the bottles contained synthetic organic chemicals, bacteria, and arsenic. (www.nrdc.org)
Water is a $400 billion dollar global industry; the third largest behind electricity and oil. CBS News, FLOW.
Next time your run the water to brush your teeth just think about it. Next time it RAINS, think about the idea that someone, some corporation, thinks they OWN THE RAIN!! And when will it happen here? So for us, every little thing we can do is helping recreate Eden. Compost your food and garden waste, garden, catch rain and conserve.
CLEAN WATER LINKS
In commemorating Earth Day , our family has watched the movie/documentary ¨Dirt!¨. It is full of information and inspiration that, if you are a caring person, you can help restore earth´s original Eden. Maybe not right away but for a future generation. It is also a maddening film to see how we have pillaged resources. And to add to it they developed a site to encourage us to BE THAT HUMMINGBIRD!
We also watched ¨Flow; for the love of Water¨ another excellent film. No matter how much you think you know there is more to learn. Did you know that the American company Bechtal privatized the rain!? In Bolivia with the insistence of the World Bank! Some info from their site and movie:
Of the 6 billion people on earth, 1.1 billion do not have access to safe, clean drinking water.
(www.charitywater.org)
While the average American uses 150 gallons of water per day, those in developing countries cannot find five.
(www.charitywater.org)
There are estimates that from five hundred thousand to seven million people get sick per year from drinking tap water. Erik Olson, Deputy Staff Director of Barbara Boxerʼs Environmental and Public Works Committee (EPW), FLOW.
The water and sanitation crisis claims more lives through disease than any war claims through guns.(www.water.org)
According to the National Resources Defense Council, in a scientific study in which more than 1,000 bottles of 103 brands of water were tested, about one-third of the bottles contained synthetic organic chemicals, bacteria, and arsenic. (www.nrdc.org)
Water is a $400 billion dollar global industry; the third largest behind electricity and oil. CBS News, FLOW.
Next time your run the water to brush your teeth just think about it. Next time it RAINS, think about the idea that someone, some corporation, thinks they OWN THE RAIN!! And when will it happen here? So for us, every little thing we can do is helping recreate Eden. Compost your food and garden waste, garden, catch rain and conserve.
CLEAN WATER LINKS
Global Water Organization
NRDC
Oxfam
International Rivers
Pacific Institute
Polaris Institute
Riverkeeper
Delaware Riverkeeper
NRDC
Oxfam
International Rivers
Pacific Institute
Polaris Institute
Riverkeeper
Delaware Riverkeeper
Milwaukee Riverkeeper
Potomac Riverkeeper
Sierra Club
Waterkeeper Alliance
Be Water Wise
Nuba Water Project
Wastewater Works
Clean Water Action
Potomac Riverkeeper
Sierra Club
Waterkeeper Alliance
Be Water Wise
Nuba Water Project
Wastewater Works
Clean Water Action
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Daniel Ellsberg: The Shameful Abuse of Bradley Manning
America's Best Political Newsletter.
via Daniel Ellsberg: The Shameful Abuse of Bradley Manning.
Do you remember Ellsberg? You might recall he was called ¨The Most Dangerous Man in America¨ , he too was a leaker.
Nixon had nothing compared to Bush and Obama in regards to deceit, deception, malevolent, abhorrent behavior.
via Daniel Ellsberg: The Shameful Abuse of Bradley Manning.
Do you remember Ellsberg? You might recall he was called ¨The Most Dangerous Man in America¨ , he too was a leaker.
Nixon had nothing compared to Bush and Obama in regards to deceit, deception, malevolent, abhorrent behavior.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
It´s Not Just Others that are Protesting
Food prices and unemployment are rising. This coupled with the assault on the common man, those in the lower and middle class, by the Wisconsin government and Maine´s government have begun a people´s protest.
....But unions are right to be worried. Declining membership, being squeezed out of the private sector, and anti-union attitudes have all contributed to the labor movement's deterioration since the McCarthyist 50s, but particularly since the Reagan era. A blow like Wisconsin could never have been struck without the last 40 years of the slow debilitation of the unions after the incredible build-up of the workers' movement in the first half of the 20th century.
The corporations have been fighting a century long war of attrition, while we organizers have been either too-focused on the day-to-day, too-focused on the distant Revolution, or too willing to believe the myth of our own weakness.
The economy is but one indication that the current system hangs by but a thread. The environment is another. It's time we realized our own potential, our own power, and took advantage of the perpetual crisis to make a lasting change through overcoming--or at least balancing out--the over-concentration of wealth and power in the hands of the few and redistributing them among the many.
Look around you. All is not right, all is not equal. Stop the wars! stop the war on workers!
Even children understand equal and fair. It is only when we ¨grow up¨ that we tend to rationalize why things are not fair. Why our brothers and neighbors have less or more. They don´t work hard enough, they are not smart enough. Or they are rich because they worked hard or perhaps are ¨self-made¨. Nothing happens by it self, the CEOS of any business are nothing without the worker, the labor. The amusement park does not run without the ticket taker, computers are not made by fairies, on and on. Even Henry Ford knew if he did not pay his workers a fair wage they would not be able to buy the same cars they were making.
¨.....Although the Model T had made Henry Ford rich and famous, he continued to advocate for the masses. In 1914, Ford instituted a $5 a day pay rate for his workers, which was nearly double what workers were paid in other auto factories. Ford believed that by raising the workers' pay, the workers would be happier (and faster) on the job, their wives could stay home to care for the family, and the workers were more likely to stay with the Ford Motor Company (leading to less down-time for training new workers). Ford also created a sociological department in the factory that would examine workers' lives and try to make it better. Since he believed he knew what was best for his workers, Henry was very much against unions.¨
Solidarity!
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
When Capitalism goes unchecked....A lesson in History
Originally posted in the WSWS, this is a lesson we all can understand. Never forget that the want of money can lead many people to the disregard of others. This is again happening. Unions are why you have your children in school and not working beside you in the factory or fish house. They are why you have a forty hour work week and some safety in the workplace. Much suffering and many deaths were caused by those that profited from the toil and sweat of the workers. Route out the infiltrators in the unions , take back the union for the worker and support others when they need it.
100 years ago: Triangle fire kills 146 in New York City
Tenth floor of Asch building after Triangle fireOn March 25, a fire broke out in the Triangle Shirtwaist factory, which was located on the eight, ninth, and tenth, and eleventh floors of the Asch building in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. Before the blaze could be brought under control 146 garment workers died, most of them Jewish and Italian girls and young women.
The disaster, one of the worst in the history of US industry, illustrated in the most horrific fashion the brutality of American capitalism. The women, whose wages were not enough to support a family and were typically handed over to parents, worked in appalling conditions.
Their workplace was littered with the flammable cotton refuse used to make shirtwaists (women’s blouses). To control “worker theft,” factory owners Max Blanck and Isaac Harris had factory doors locked from the outside; in the aftermath of the fire, charred bodies were found grouped together around these still-locked doors. The fire department of New York, the largest and most advanced city in the US, had no means of reaching the women screaming for help from the high rise factory. This resulted in dozens of women jumping to their deaths to avoid the flames.
A court acquitted Blanck and Harris of all wrong-doing that year, and a later civil settlement resulted in just $75 payment to the families of each dead worker. Taking into account a sizable insurance settlement, the owners actually gained money as a result of the tragedy.
It is often claimed that the Triangle fire encouraged the advance of reform in the US, and especially in New York. While this is undoubtedly true, the main impetus to reform was the threat posed by the growing militancy and radicalism of the workers. The garment industry was home to some of the first large industrial unions in the US. One of these, the International Ladies Garment Workers Union, had in 1909 been at the head of the “Uprising of the 20,000,” largely immigrant garment workers in New York City. At the same time, socialism was exerting a profound and growing influence among New York’s immigrant workers.
For many more photos go to Cornell University[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="366" caption="Fire fighters arrived at the Asch Building soon after the alarm was sounded but ladders only reached the sixth floor and the high pressure pumps of the day could not raise the water pressure needed to extinguish the flames on the highest floors of the ten-story building. In this fireproof factory, 146 young men, women, and children lost their lives, and many others were seriously injured. Photographer: unknown, March 25, 1911"]
[/caption]- A police officer and others with the broken bodies of Triangle fire victims at their feet, look up in shock at workers poised to jump from the upper floors of the burning Asch Building. The anguish and gruesome deaths of workers was witnessed firsthand by many people living or walking near the corner of Greene Street and Washington Place. Others read about it in the many newspaper reports circulated during the following days and weeks, bringing the conditions of garment worker into public scrutiny as it had been during the shirtwaist strike of 1909. Photographer: Brown Brothers, March 25, 1911
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="650" caption="After the Triangle factory fire was extinguished, broken bodies, hoses, buckets, and debris around the building testify to the extent of the struggle and the scale of the tragedy. Photographer: unknown, March 25, 1911 "]
[/caption][caption id="" align="alignnone" width="650" caption="International Ladies Garment Workers Union Local 25 began the strike with $10 in their treasury. A special edition of the city's Socialist paper, The New York Call, told the story of the strike in English, Italian and Yiddish. Copies were donated to local 25 by the publisher and sold by union members to raise money for strike expenses. Photographer: unknown, December 1909"]
[/caption][caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="605" caption="Shirtwaist strikers march in snowy streets, often without warm clothes or sturdy shoes. Photographer: unknown, ca. 1910 "]
[/caption][caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="650" caption="Women who were arrested on the picket lines and sent to Blackwell’s Island wear “Workhouse Prisoner” signs claiming their service with pride, and were cheered by other strikers and supporters. Photographer: unknown, ca. 1910 "]
[/caption]Is it wrong to want food for your family? Is it wrong to want a roof over your head? A warm dry place for your children to rest? From each according to his ability, to each according to his need. Then and now it is a fight! Never let the mind of the oppressors rest.
Monday, March 7, 2011
More US Intervention
Egypt - U.S. intelligence collaboration with Omar Suleiman “most successful”
By Richard Smallteacher, Wikileaks staff 1 February 2011
More articles ...
- Egyptian Military Succession Plans Told to US Embassy
- Evidence of torture and repression by Mubarak´s Police
- Cable from Imprisoned Egyptian Opposition Leader: Defend Democracy “for the friendship of peoples live forever”
New cables released by Wikileaks reveal that the U.S. government has been quietly anticipating as well as cultivating Omar Suleiman, the Egyptian spy chief, as the top candidate to take over the country should anything happen to President Hosni Mubarak. On Saturday, this expectation was proved correct when Mubarak named Suleiman to the post of vice-president making him the first in line to assume power.
An intelligence official who trained at the U.S. Special Warfare School at Fort Bragg, Suleiman became head of the spy agency in 1993 which brought him into close contact with the Central Intelligence Agency. Recently he took up a more public role as chief Egyptian interlocuter with Israel to discuss the peace process with Hamas and Fatah, the rival Palestinian factions.
In recent years most political analysts have assumed that the heir apparent was Gamal Mubarak, the president’s younger son, but the U.S. embassy in Cairo came to a different conclusion more than five years ago. On 15 June 2005, a memo (05CAIRO4534) written for Timothy Pounds, the director for Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, and North Africa at U.S. National Security Council, noted: “(A)ll agreed that the most likely candidate to be appointed to the post (of vice-president) was General Omar Soliman, Director of the Egyptian General Intelligence Service (EGIS).” (State department officials use a different spelling of Suleiman’s name)
Almost a year later, another diplomatic memo (06CAIRO2933) written on 14 May 2006 made it clear that the U.S. government was working closely with Suleiman on key regional matters such as figuring out how best to marginalize Hamas in Palestine: “(O)ur intelligence collaboration with Omar Soliman, who is expected in Washington next week, is now probably the most successful element of the relationship.”
The diplomatic memo, which was written by Francis J. Ricciardone, Jr. (the U.S. ambassador to Egypt) to brief Robert Zoellick (then Deputy Secretary of State) who was visiting Cairo at the time, notes that “Omar Soliman also told us he would be glad to see you (Zoellick), if schedules permit - he will be working the Israeli and PA delegations in Sharm” – referring to a meeting being held in the Egytian resort town of Sharm-el-Sheikh.
Inanother diplomatic cable, Suleiman is reported to have told the U.S. ambassador, “Egypt is America’s partner” noting that “Egypt will continue to provide the USG (U.S. government) with its knowledge and expertise on the critical regional issues, such as Lebanon and Iraq. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict remains the core issue.”
The following year the ambassador sent yet another memo (07CAIRO1417) to Washington in which he described Egypt as a “dictatorship” suffering from “paranoia” noting that political analysts were hard pressed to predict the future.
“Presidential succession is the elephant in the room of Egyptian politics,” Ricciardone wrote. Discounting the possibility of Mubarak being succeeded by his younger son because of Gamal’s failure to complete his military service, the ambassador once again pointed to Suleiman as the most likely successor as a "rock-solid" loyalist to Mubarak.
“(I)n the past two years, Soliman has stepped out of the shadows, and allowed himself to be photographed, and his meetings with foreign leaders reported. Many of our contacts believe that Soliman, because of his military background, would at the least have to figure in any succession scenario for Gamal, possibly as a transitional figure,” Ricciardone wrote.
The memo notes however that “an alleged personal friend of Soliman tells us that Soliman "detests" the idea of Gamal as president.”
One of the reasons that Washington has been keen to support Soliman is his opposition to the Muslim Brotherhood. A blog posting on Al Jazeera’s website by Clayton Swisher, former director of programs at the Washington-based Middle East Institute, sums up a 2005 meeting with Suleiman: “(H)is blunt words made me drop my biscuit. Suffice it to say he does not have a high opinion of Islam in politics, and is not shy about telling Western audiences the lengths he will go to allow his security services to keep the Muslim Brotherhood and their offshoots at bay.”
Swisher concludes: “President Mubarak’s appointment of Suleiman is a way of messaging assurances to a wary state of Israel and US congress. But it also speaks the unspoken to Egypt’s Islamic parties: don’t even think about it … there is little doubt in my mind why Hamas viewed Suleiman a dishonest broker and an obstacle to real reconciliation. Of course, that is probably what Egypt intended by sending him.”
By Richard Smallteacher, Wikileaks staff 1 February 2011
More articles ...
- Egyptian Military Succession Plans Told to US Embassy
- Evidence of torture and repression by Mubarak´s Police
- Cable from Imprisoned Egyptian Opposition Leader: Defend Democracy “for the friendship of peoples live forever”
New cables released by Wikileaks reveal that the U.S. government has been quietly anticipating as well as cultivating Omar Suleiman, the Egyptian spy chief, as the top candidate to take over the country should anything happen to President Hosni Mubarak. On Saturday, this expectation was proved correct when Mubarak named Suleiman to the post of vice-president making him the first in line to assume power.
An intelligence official who trained at the U.S. Special Warfare School at Fort Bragg, Suleiman became head of the spy agency in 1993 which brought him into close contact with the Central Intelligence Agency. Recently he took up a more public role as chief Egyptian interlocuter with Israel to discuss the peace process with Hamas and Fatah, the rival Palestinian factions.
In recent years most political analysts have assumed that the heir apparent was Gamal Mubarak, the president’s younger son, but the U.S. embassy in Cairo came to a different conclusion more than five years ago. On 15 June 2005, a memo (05CAIRO4534) written for Timothy Pounds, the director for Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, and North Africa at U.S. National Security Council, noted: “(A)ll agreed that the most likely candidate to be appointed to the post (of vice-president) was General Omar Soliman, Director of the Egyptian General Intelligence Service (EGIS).” (State department officials use a different spelling of Suleiman’s name)
Almost a year later, another diplomatic memo (06CAIRO2933) written on 14 May 2006 made it clear that the U.S. government was working closely with Suleiman on key regional matters such as figuring out how best to marginalize Hamas in Palestine: “(O)ur intelligence collaboration with Omar Soliman, who is expected in Washington next week, is now probably the most successful element of the relationship.”
The diplomatic memo, which was written by Francis J. Ricciardone, Jr. (the U.S. ambassador to Egypt) to brief Robert Zoellick (then Deputy Secretary of State) who was visiting Cairo at the time, notes that “Omar Soliman also told us he would be glad to see you (Zoellick), if schedules permit - he will be working the Israeli and PA delegations in Sharm” – referring to a meeting being held in the Egytian resort town of Sharm-el-Sheikh.
Inanother diplomatic cable, Suleiman is reported to have told the U.S. ambassador, “Egypt is America’s partner” noting that “Egypt will continue to provide the USG (U.S. government) with its knowledge and expertise on the critical regional issues, such as Lebanon and Iraq. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict remains the core issue.”
The following year the ambassador sent yet another memo (07CAIRO1417) to Washington in which he described Egypt as a “dictatorship” suffering from “paranoia” noting that political analysts were hard pressed to predict the future.
“Presidential succession is the elephant in the room of Egyptian politics,” Ricciardone wrote. Discounting the possibility of Mubarak being succeeded by his younger son because of Gamal’s failure to complete his military service, the ambassador once again pointed to Suleiman as the most likely successor as a "rock-solid" loyalist to Mubarak.
“(I)n the past two years, Soliman has stepped out of the shadows, and allowed himself to be photographed, and his meetings with foreign leaders reported. Many of our contacts believe that Soliman, because of his military background, would at the least have to figure in any succession scenario for Gamal, possibly as a transitional figure,” Ricciardone wrote.
The memo notes however that “an alleged personal friend of Soliman tells us that Soliman "detests" the idea of Gamal as president.”
One of the reasons that Washington has been keen to support Soliman is his opposition to the Muslim Brotherhood. A blog posting on Al Jazeera’s website by Clayton Swisher, former director of programs at the Washington-based Middle East Institute, sums up a 2005 meeting with Suleiman: “(H)is blunt words made me drop my biscuit. Suffice it to say he does not have a high opinion of Islam in politics, and is not shy about telling Western audiences the lengths he will go to allow his security services to keep the Muslim Brotherhood and their offshoots at bay.”
Swisher concludes: “President Mubarak’s appointment of Suleiman is a way of messaging assurances to a wary state of Israel and US congress. But it also speaks the unspoken to Egypt’s Islamic parties: don’t even think about it … there is little doubt in my mind why Hamas viewed Suleiman a dishonest broker and an obstacle to real reconciliation. Of course, that is probably what Egypt intended by sending him.”
Sunday, March 6, 2011
US Prepares for Another War.........can we say oil?
From the World Socialist Web Site :
By Mike Head
Under the cynical cover of addressing a humanitarian crisis in Libya, the US and its European allies are intensifying military operations and economic measures directed against the regime of Muammar Gaddafi.
Amid preparations for a possible armed intervention, US marines have arrived in Greece for deployment to US warships off the Libyan coast, and US military cargo planes have commenced flights to the Tunisian-Libyan border.
What began as a popular revolt against the repressive Gaddafi regime is increasingly being channelled, with the help of an interim administration in Benghazi, Libya’s second city, into the pretext for an imperialist intervention. Such an operation would seek to establish a de facto client state in Libya. It would help imperialist forces assert control over the country’s large oil and gas fields and serve as a bastion of reaction against the working-class uprisings sweeping the entire region, from Morocco to Iraq.
British and European leaders welcomed President Barack Obama’s statement on Thursday, in which he demanded Gaddafi’s removal and pointedly refused to rule out the imposition of a militarily-enforced “no-fly” zone over Libya. His remarks were an indication of US readiness to support an operation to oust the regime and install a compliant government of the type being shaped in Benghazi.
The London-based Guardian reported yesterday that British Prime Minister David Cameron, who had earlier called for Britain and its allies to draw up plans for a no-fly zone, “was offered important support by Barack Obama on Thursday night. American military planners had been instructed to draw up a full range of options, including a no-fly zone, Obama said at the White House during a press conference with his Mexican counterpart, Felipe Calderón.”
The British newspaper stated that Cameron and Obama now agreed on “the need for military planning if there is a greater humanitarian catastrophe or if Gaddafi becomes even more aggressive; and the absolute need for Gaddafi to stand down.”
According to the Guardian, Cameron and other European leaders had been left in no doubt by Washington that the European Union should be seen to be taking the lead in responding to the Libyan crisis. For that purpose, Cameron had “shown leadership” by openly advocating a no-fly zone, and was now working with French President Nicolas Sarkozy in drawing up plans for an emergency European Union summit in Brussels next Friday.
The Russian government, which holds a veto at the UN, has publicly opposed a no-fly zone. But British Foreign Minister William Hague said that while “ideally” such a zone would need to be sanctioned by the UN, that was not essential. No-fly zones operated over Iraq by the US and Britain, as initial steps toward ousting the Saddam Hussein regime, did not receive such Security Council approval.
Washington is anxious for its European allies to take the front position, at least publicly, precisely because of the hated record of US imperialism in the Middle East. This includes not only its ongoing wars of occupation in Afghanistan and Iraq, but its role in the post-World War II oppression of Libya itself.
In Libya itself, after World War II, the US and Britain took advantage of the defeat of Italy to continue the brutal oppression of the Libyan people, up to half of whom had died under Italian colonial rule from 1911 to 1943. Although a puppet king, Idris I, was installed after formal independence in 1951, Libya’s neo-colonial status continued—symbolised by the establishment of the giant US Wheelus air base near Tripoli, which functioned as a hub for US military operations across North Africa.
The discovery of oil in 1959 only tightened the American, British and Italian domination of Libya, the hostility toward which created the conditions for Colonel Gaddafi’s military coup in 1969. One of Gaddafi’s first actions was to demand the closure of the Wheelus base, which—like his nationalisation of Libya's oil industry—initially gave the colonel anti-imperialist credentials and a base of popular support.
Yesterday, Britain said it was sending several planes to airlift thousands of Egyptians stuck in refugee camps on the Tunisian-Libyan border, while France said it was dispatching a helicopter carrier to waters off Libya to help evacuate civilians. The British government also reported that one of its border agency vessels had intercepted a ship bound for Libya and seized “a significant quantity of Libyan currency.”
Washington is also positioning itself to militarily intervene, in the name of evacuating some of the estimated 180,000 foreign workers who have fled Libya. Two US amphibious warships, the USS Kearsarge and the USS Ponce, joined the USS Barry in the Mediterranean, and 400 marines were flown to a naval base at Souda Bay on the Greek island of Crete, ready to be transferred to the Kearsarge. Base spokesman Paul Farley said they had been deployed “as part of contingency planning to provide the president flexibility on full range of option regarding Libya.”
Pentagon spokesman Colonel David Lapan said the military had not been given orders beyond two cargo flights to the Libyan-Tunisian border on Friday and a planned transport of refugees from the Tunisian side of the border today. But he announced that the overall military effort, including movements of ships had been code-named Operation Odyssey Dawn.
Unilateral economic sanctions imposed by the Western powers are being used to try to cripple the Gaddafi regime, and seize Libyan assets. US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday that the US had frozen about $32 billion in assets held by the Libyan Investment Authority, Libya’s sovereign wealth fund. Obama described the measures as the “most rapid and forceful set of sanctions that have ever been applied internationally.” On the same day, the British government froze similar assets, including holdings at the HSBC bank, worth about $3.2 billion, on top of about $1.6 billion in assets linked to Gaddafi and his children.
In a related move, Interpol, the international police agency, issued an international “Orange Notice” alert for Gaddafi and 15 members of his inner circle, declaring that they had been “identified as being involved in or complicit in planning attacks, including aerial bombardments, on civilian populations”. While there is little doubt that the Libyan regime has mounted murderous attacks on anti-government protesters, the Western authorities have offered no specific evidence to substantiate such charges, which could provide a justification for sending in forces to capture Gaddafi.
Within the US political establishment, pressure is mounting for an intervention. Former Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain and former Democrat vice presidential candidate Senator Joe Lieberman issued a joint statement urging the White House to move faster, “for both moral and strategic reasons.”
Speaking at the Brookings Institution in Washington, McCain revealed something of the reactionary calculations motivating US policymakers. He warned that the revolutionary movement seen in Libya, Egypt and elsewhere would continue to spread, “beyond the boundaries of the Arab world” and “throughout the globe.”
Inside Libya, Gaddafi’s former justice minister, Mustafa Abdel Jalil, who now heads the opposition National Libyan Council in Benghazi, called for foreign air strikes and a no-fly zone. Citing sources within the council, the New York Times reported that this stance was adopted at a heated council meeting where “others strongly disagreed”. There has been deep opposition to such a call within popular protests against Gaddafi, because of fears of a return to neo-colonial rule—fears that Gaddafi is exploiting to posture as a defender of Libyan sovereignty.
The readiness of the bourgeois opposition leaders in Benghazi, however, to facilitate an intervention by the same powers that have plundered Libya historically is rooted in their own class interests in preventing the development of a wider mass movement from below against the regime.
Jalil’s call demonstrates that the opposition council, which includes other recent defectors from Gaddafi’s leadership, would be perfectly willing to enter into intimate relations with the Western powers and oil companies—no less than Gaddafi and his cronies, who cemented lucrative ties in Washington, London, Rome and other capitals during the past decade.
London’s Daily Telegraph has reported that British officials have held talks with former allies of Gaddafi, to identify “potential future leaders”. Among them was General Obaidi, a former interior minister and head of Libyan special forces. A Downing Street source told the newspaper that Obaidi was someone Britain “could do business with.”
The Gaddafi regime is continuing to attack protesters with brutal force. Yesterday, about 1,000 demonstrators shouting slogans and waving pre-1969 flags in the poor suburb of Tajoura on the outskirts of Tripoli were dispersed after Friday prayers by police firing tear gas and plastic bullets. Other parts of the capital were patrolled by fleets of vehicles packed with soldiers, police and men in plain-clothes armed with AK-47s.
In Zawiyah, 60 kilometres west of Tripoli, residents told Reuters at least 30 people had been killed, including the town’s opposition commander, when pro-government forces attempted to retake the town. According to residents, pro-Gaddafi militias opened fire on a peaceful protest in front of the town’s hospital, killing seven people and injuring many others.
Despite intensive efforts to prevent media coverage, evidence also emerged of large-scale detentions by the security forces. An Amnesty International spokesman confirmed that it was receiving, and trying to verify, reports of disappearances and rapes in Tripoli.
Home » World News » Africa » Libya
Western powers exploit Libyan crisis to step up intervention plans
By Mike Head
5 March 2011
Under the cynical cover of addressing a humanitarian crisis in Libya, the US and its European allies are intensifying military operations and economic measures directed against the regime of Muammar Gaddafi.
Amid preparations for a possible armed intervention, US marines have arrived in Greece for deployment to US warships off the Libyan coast, and US military cargo planes have commenced flights to the Tunisian-Libyan border.
What began as a popular revolt against the repressive Gaddafi regime is increasingly being channelled, with the help of an interim administration in Benghazi, Libya’s second city, into the pretext for an imperialist intervention. Such an operation would seek to establish a de facto client state in Libya. It would help imperialist forces assert control over the country’s large oil and gas fields and serve as a bastion of reaction against the working-class uprisings sweeping the entire region, from Morocco to Iraq.
British and European leaders welcomed President Barack Obama’s statement on Thursday, in which he demanded Gaddafi’s removal and pointedly refused to rule out the imposition of a militarily-enforced “no-fly” zone over Libya. His remarks were an indication of US readiness to support an operation to oust the regime and install a compliant government of the type being shaped in Benghazi.
The London-based Guardian reported yesterday that British Prime Minister David Cameron, who had earlier called for Britain and its allies to draw up plans for a no-fly zone, “was offered important support by Barack Obama on Thursday night. American military planners had been instructed to draw up a full range of options, including a no-fly zone, Obama said at the White House during a press conference with his Mexican counterpart, Felipe Calderón.”
The British newspaper stated that Cameron and Obama now agreed on “the need for military planning if there is a greater humanitarian catastrophe or if Gaddafi becomes even more aggressive; and the absolute need for Gaddafi to stand down.”
According to the Guardian, Cameron and other European leaders had been left in no doubt by Washington that the European Union should be seen to be taking the lead in responding to the Libyan crisis. For that purpose, Cameron had “shown leadership” by openly advocating a no-fly zone, and was now working with French President Nicolas Sarkozy in drawing up plans for an emergency European Union summit in Brussels next Friday.
The Russian government, which holds a veto at the UN, has publicly opposed a no-fly zone. But British Foreign Minister William Hague said that while “ideally” such a zone would need to be sanctioned by the UN, that was not essential. No-fly zones operated over Iraq by the US and Britain, as initial steps toward ousting the Saddam Hussein regime, did not receive such Security Council approval.
Washington is anxious for its European allies to take the front position, at least publicly, precisely because of the hated record of US imperialism in the Middle East. This includes not only its ongoing wars of occupation in Afghanistan and Iraq, but its role in the post-World War II oppression of Libya itself.
In Libya itself, after World War II, the US and Britain took advantage of the defeat of Italy to continue the brutal oppression of the Libyan people, up to half of whom had died under Italian colonial rule from 1911 to 1943. Although a puppet king, Idris I, was installed after formal independence in 1951, Libya’s neo-colonial status continued—symbolised by the establishment of the giant US Wheelus air base near Tripoli, which functioned as a hub for US military operations across North Africa.
The discovery of oil in 1959 only tightened the American, British and Italian domination of Libya, the hostility toward which created the conditions for Colonel Gaddafi’s military coup in 1969. One of Gaddafi’s first actions was to demand the closure of the Wheelus base, which—like his nationalisation of Libya's oil industry—initially gave the colonel anti-imperialist credentials and a base of popular support.
Yesterday, Britain said it was sending several planes to airlift thousands of Egyptians stuck in refugee camps on the Tunisian-Libyan border, while France said it was dispatching a helicopter carrier to waters off Libya to help evacuate civilians. The British government also reported that one of its border agency vessels had intercepted a ship bound for Libya and seized “a significant quantity of Libyan currency.”
Washington is also positioning itself to militarily intervene, in the name of evacuating some of the estimated 180,000 foreign workers who have fled Libya. Two US amphibious warships, the USS Kearsarge and the USS Ponce, joined the USS Barry in the Mediterranean, and 400 marines were flown to a naval base at Souda Bay on the Greek island of Crete, ready to be transferred to the Kearsarge. Base spokesman Paul Farley said they had been deployed “as part of contingency planning to provide the president flexibility on full range of option regarding Libya.”
Pentagon spokesman Colonel David Lapan said the military had not been given orders beyond two cargo flights to the Libyan-Tunisian border on Friday and a planned transport of refugees from the Tunisian side of the border today. But he announced that the overall military effort, including movements of ships had been code-named Operation Odyssey Dawn.
Unilateral economic sanctions imposed by the Western powers are being used to try to cripple the Gaddafi regime, and seize Libyan assets. US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday that the US had frozen about $32 billion in assets held by the Libyan Investment Authority, Libya’s sovereign wealth fund. Obama described the measures as the “most rapid and forceful set of sanctions that have ever been applied internationally.” On the same day, the British government froze similar assets, including holdings at the HSBC bank, worth about $3.2 billion, on top of about $1.6 billion in assets linked to Gaddafi and his children.
In a related move, Interpol, the international police agency, issued an international “Orange Notice” alert for Gaddafi and 15 members of his inner circle, declaring that they had been “identified as being involved in or complicit in planning attacks, including aerial bombardments, on civilian populations”. While there is little doubt that the Libyan regime has mounted murderous attacks on anti-government protesters, the Western authorities have offered no specific evidence to substantiate such charges, which could provide a justification for sending in forces to capture Gaddafi.
Within the US political establishment, pressure is mounting for an intervention. Former Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain and former Democrat vice presidential candidate Senator Joe Lieberman issued a joint statement urging the White House to move faster, “for both moral and strategic reasons.”
Speaking at the Brookings Institution in Washington, McCain revealed something of the reactionary calculations motivating US policymakers. He warned that the revolutionary movement seen in Libya, Egypt and elsewhere would continue to spread, “beyond the boundaries of the Arab world” and “throughout the globe.”
Inside Libya, Gaddafi’s former justice minister, Mustafa Abdel Jalil, who now heads the opposition National Libyan Council in Benghazi, called for foreign air strikes and a no-fly zone. Citing sources within the council, the New York Times reported that this stance was adopted at a heated council meeting where “others strongly disagreed”. There has been deep opposition to such a call within popular protests against Gaddafi, because of fears of a return to neo-colonial rule—fears that Gaddafi is exploiting to posture as a defender of Libyan sovereignty.
The readiness of the bourgeois opposition leaders in Benghazi, however, to facilitate an intervention by the same powers that have plundered Libya historically is rooted in their own class interests in preventing the development of a wider mass movement from below against the regime.
Jalil’s call demonstrates that the opposition council, which includes other recent defectors from Gaddafi’s leadership, would be perfectly willing to enter into intimate relations with the Western powers and oil companies—no less than Gaddafi and his cronies, who cemented lucrative ties in Washington, London, Rome and other capitals during the past decade.
London’s Daily Telegraph has reported that British officials have held talks with former allies of Gaddafi, to identify “potential future leaders”. Among them was General Obaidi, a former interior minister and head of Libyan special forces. A Downing Street source told the newspaper that Obaidi was someone Britain “could do business with.”
The Gaddafi regime is continuing to attack protesters with brutal force. Yesterday, about 1,000 demonstrators shouting slogans and waving pre-1969 flags in the poor suburb of Tajoura on the outskirts of Tripoli were dispersed after Friday prayers by police firing tear gas and plastic bullets. Other parts of the capital were patrolled by fleets of vehicles packed with soldiers, police and men in plain-clothes armed with AK-47s.
In Zawiyah, 60 kilometres west of Tripoli, residents told Reuters at least 30 people had been killed, including the town’s opposition commander, when pro-government forces attempted to retake the town. According to residents, pro-Gaddafi militias opened fire on a peaceful protest in front of the town’s hospital, killing seven people and injuring many others.
Despite intensive efforts to prevent media coverage, evidence also emerged of large-scale detentions by the security forces. An Amnesty International spokesman confirmed that it was receiving, and trying to verify, reports of disappearances and rapes in Tripoli.
Sporadic fighting occurred elsewhere, especially in areas surrounding key oil facilities. In the east of the country, opposition forces said they had pushed further west and seized control of Ras Lanuf, an oil terminal which has been under the regime’s control and lies along a strategic coastal road between the east and Sirte, Gaddafi’s birthplace.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Terror in Arizona: Just another 'isolated incident'? Funny how that list keeps mounting | Crooks and Liars
Terror in Arizona: Just another 'isolated incident'? Funny how that list keeps mounting | Crooks and Liars.
-- July 2008: A gunman named Jim David Adkisson, agitated at how "liberals" are "destroying America," walks into a Unitarian Church and opens fire, killing two churchgoers and wounding four others.
-- October 2008: Two neo-Nazis are arrested in Tennessee in a plot to murder dozens of African-Americans, culminating in the assassination of President Obama.
-- December 2008: A pair of "Patriot" movement radicals -- the father-son team of Bruce and Joshua Turnidge, who wanted "to attack the political infrastructure" -- threaten a bank in Woodburn, Oregon, with a bomb in the hopes of extorting money that would end their financial difficulties, for which they blamed the government. Instead, the bomb goes off and kills two police officers. The men eventually are convicted and sentenced to death for the crime.
-- December 2008: In Belfast, Maine, police discover the makings of a nuclear "dirty bomb" in the basement of a white supremacist shot dead by his wife. The man, who was independently wealthy, reportedly was agitated about the election of President Obama and was crafting a plan to set off the bomb.
-- January 2009: A white supremacist named Keith Luke embarks on a killing rampage in Brockton, Mass., raping and wounding a black woman and killing her sister, then killing a homeless man before being captured by police as he is en route to a Jewish community center.
-- February 2009: A Marine named Kody Brittingham is arrested and charged with plotting to assassinate President Obama. Brittingham also collected white-supremacist material.
-- April 2009: A white supremacist named Richard Poplawski opens fire on three Pittsburgh police officers who come to his house on a domestic-violence call and kills all three, because he believed President Obama intended to take away the guns of white citizens like himself. Poplawski is currently awaiting trial.
-- April 2009: Another gunman in Okaloosa County, Florida, similarly fearful of Obama's purported gun-grabbing plans, kills two deputies when they come to arrest him in a domestic-violence matter, then is killed himself in a shootout with police.
-- May 2009: A "sovereign citizen" named Scott Roeder walks into a church in Wichita, Kansas, and assassinates abortion provider Dr. George Tiller.
-- June 2009: A Holocaust denier and right-wing tax protester named James Von Brunn opens fire at the Holocaust Museum, killing a security guard.
-- February 2010: An angry tax protester named Joseph Ray Stack flies an airplane into the building housing IRS offices in Austin, Texas. (Media are reluctant to label this one "domestic terrorism" too.)
-- March 2010: Seven militiamen from the Hutaree Militia in Michigan and Ohio are arrested and charged with plotting to assassinate local police officers with the intent of sparking a new civil war.
-- March 2010: An anti-government extremist named John Patrick Bedell walks into the Pentagon and opens fire, wounding two officers before he is himself shot dead.
-- May 2010: A "sovereign citizen" from Georgia is arrested in Tennessee and charged with plotting the violent takeover of a local county courthouse.
-- May 2010: A still-unidentified white man walks into a Jacksonville, Fla., mosque and sets it afire, simultaneously setting off a pipe bomb.
-- May 2010: Two "sovereign citizens" named Jerry and Joe Kane gun down two police officers who pull them over for a traffic violation, and then wound two more officers in a shootout in which both of them are eventually killed.
-- July 2010: An agitated right-winger and convict named Byron Williams loads up on weapons and drives to the Bay Area intent on attacking the offices of the Tides Foundation and the ACLU, but is intercepted by state patrolmen and engages them in a shootout and armed standoff in which two officers and Williams are wounded.
Monday, January 3, 2011
Monday, December 20, 2010
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Inmates discuss planning, details of ongoing prison protest | ajc.com
Inmates discuss planning, details of ongoing prison protest | ajc.com.
This protest is in it's fifth day of peaceful protest.
This protest is in it's fifth day of peaceful protest.
GA Prison Strike Update on Tuesday\'s Democracy Now Show
GA Prison Strike Update on Tuesday\'s Democracy Now Show.
The largest prison protest in history and a virtual blackout in media. Solidarity with these men. No slave labor.
When the strike began, prisoner leaders issued the following call: “No more slavery. Injustice in one place is injustice to all. Inform your family to support our cause. Lock down for liberty!”
http://www.kpfa.org/archive/id/65925 - Listen to Elaine Brown on Hard Knocks Radio, (About 6 minutes into the audio).
BIGGEST PRISONER STRIKE IN U.S. HISTORY—DAY TWO
Thousands of Georgia Prisoners Continue Peaceful Protest
Georgia Department of Corrections Responds with Violence
December 10, 2010…Atlanta, Georgia
Contacts: Elaine Brown, 404-542-1211, sistaelaine@gmail.com;Valerie Porter, 229-931-5348, lashan123@att.net.
Yesterday morning, December 9, 2010, thousands of Georgia prisoners refused to work, stopped all other activities and locked down in their cells in a peaceful protest for their human rights. The December 9 Strike was the biggest prisoner protest in the history of the United States.
Thousands of men, from Augusta, Baldwin, Hancock, Hays, Macon, Smith and Telfair State Prisons, among others, went on strike to press the Georgia Department of Corrections (“DOC”) to stop treating them like animals and slaves and institute programs that address their basic human rights. They have set forth the following demands:
· A LIVING WAGE FOR WORK
· EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES
· DECENT HEALTH CARE
· AN END TO CRUEL AND UNUSUAL PUNISHMENTS
· DECENT LIVING CONDITIONS
· NUTRITIONAL MEALS
· VOCATIONAL AND SELF-IMPROVEMENT OPPORTUNITIES
· ACCESS TO FAMILIES
· JUST PAROLE DECISIONS
Despite that the prisoners’ protest was non-violent, the DOC violently attempted to force the men back to work—claiming it was “lawful” to order prisoners to work without pay, in defiance of the 13th Amendment’s abolition of slavery. In Augusta State Prison, six or seven inmates were brutally ripped from their cells by CERT Team guards and beaten, resulting in broken ribs for several men, one man beaten beyond recognition. At Telfair, the Tactical Squad trashed all the property in inmate cells. At Macon State, the Tactical Squad menaced the men all day, removing some to the “hole,” and the warden ordered the heat turned off, and today, the hot water. Still, men at Macon, Smith, Augusta, Hays and Telfair State Prisons say they are committed to continuing the strike, one inmate stating, “We’re going to ride it until the wheel falls off. We want our human rights.”
The largest prison protest in history and a virtual blackout in media. Solidarity with these men. No slave labor.
When the strike began, prisoner leaders issued the following call: “No more slavery. Injustice in one place is injustice to all. Inform your family to support our cause. Lock down for liberty!”
http://www.kpfa.org/archive/id/65925 - Listen to Elaine Brown on Hard Knocks Radio, (About 6 minutes into the audio).
Press Release
BIGGEST PRISONER STRIKE IN U.S. HISTORY—DAY TWO
Thousands of Georgia Prisoners Continue Peaceful Protest
Georgia Department of Corrections Responds with Violence
December 10, 2010…Atlanta, Georgia
Contacts: Elaine Brown, 404-542-1211, sistaelaine@gmail.com;Valerie Porter, 229-931-5348, lashan123@att.net.
Yesterday morning, December 9, 2010, thousands of Georgia prisoners refused to work, stopped all other activities and locked down in their cells in a peaceful protest for their human rights. The December 9 Strike was the biggest prisoner protest in the history of the United States.
Thousands of men, from Augusta, Baldwin, Hancock, Hays, Macon, Smith and Telfair State Prisons, among others, went on strike to press the Georgia Department of Corrections (“DOC”) to stop treating them like animals and slaves and institute programs that address their basic human rights. They have set forth the following demands:
· A LIVING WAGE FOR WORK
· EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES
· DECENT HEALTH CARE
· AN END TO CRUEL AND UNUSUAL PUNISHMENTS
· DECENT LIVING CONDITIONS
· NUTRITIONAL MEALS
· VOCATIONAL AND SELF-IMPROVEMENT OPPORTUNITIES
· ACCESS TO FAMILIES
· JUST PAROLE DECISIONS
Despite that the prisoners’ protest was non-violent, the DOC violently attempted to force the men back to work—claiming it was “lawful” to order prisoners to work without pay, in defiance of the 13th Amendment’s abolition of slavery. In Augusta State Prison, six or seven inmates were brutally ripped from their cells by CERT Team guards and beaten, resulting in broken ribs for several men, one man beaten beyond recognition. At Telfair, the Tactical Squad trashed all the property in inmate cells. At Macon State, the Tactical Squad menaced the men all day, removing some to the “hole,” and the warden ordered the heat turned off, and today, the hot water. Still, men at Macon, Smith, Augusta, Hays and Telfair State Prisons say they are committed to continuing the strike, one inmate stating, “We’re going to ride it until the wheel falls off. We want our human rights.”
When the strike began, prisoner leaders issued the following call: “No more slavery. Injustice in one place is injustice to all. Inform your family to support our cause. Lock down for liberty"
Thanks to:
http://hiphopandpolitics.wordpress.com/2010/12/12/day-3-of-historic-prison-strike-in-georgia-blacked-out-by-media-guards-committing-violence/
Where I first saw this.
Friday, December 3, 2010
Where's Wikileaks? Or Censorship in the USA by US
Wikileaks and State Department correspondence
28 Nov 2010
Index on Censorship has obtained copies of correspondence between whistleblowing website Wikileaks and the US embassy in the United Kingdom, which took place between Friday and Sunday. They reveal Wikileaks editor in chief’s last-minute attempt to seek the cooperation of the United States government in redacting information from the latest controversial release of documents.
Mark Stephens of Finers Stephens Innocent, who represents Julian Assange in the UK, is a trustee of Index of Censorship.
26 November
Julian Assange, Editor in Chief, WikiLeaks
to
US Ambassador to London, Louis Susman
Subject to the general objective of ensuring maximum disclosure of information in the public interest, WikiLeaks would be grateful for the United States Government to privately nominate any specific instances (record numbers or names) where it considers the publication of information would put individual persons at significant risk of harm that has not already been addressed. PDF
27 November
Harold Hongju Koh, Legal Adviser, United States Department of State
to
Julian Assange, Editor in Chief, WikiLeaks
We will not engage in a negotiation regarding the further release or dissemination of illegally obtained U.S. Government classified materials. PDF
28 November
Julian Assange, Editor in Chief, WikiLeaks
to
US Ambassador to London, Louis Susman
I understand that the United States government would prefer not to have the information that will be published in the public domain and is not in favour of openness. That said, either there is a risk or there is not. You have chosen to respond in a manner which leads me to conclude that the supposed risks are entirely fanciful and you are instead concerned to suppress evidence of human rights abuse and other criminal behaviour. PDF
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| One News Page > World > WikiLeaks domain killed | |||||||||
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by Alice Monroe -Whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks has gone off-line after the U.S. company which hosts its domain name withdrew its support and caused the website to disappear into obscurity.Everydns.net cut the wikileaks.org domain off at 3am GMT on Friday (10pm EST on Thursday) after a number of unknown hackers persistently attacked the controversial intelligence site using "distributed denial of service" (DDOS) methods. According to the internet domain firm, the cyber attack affected other everydns.net customers and forced the company to take the wikileaks.org domain off-line after giving WikiLeaks 24 hours of notice. 
A report oSunday, November 28, 2010
Don't Eat the Fish...
Why?
Because they're spoiled!
Parts per million sound small but consider this The Environmental Working Group has put it into perspective for all of us. Small amounts DO make an impact. We are part of the food chain , the food web or whatever term you choose to use. What we eat , breath and touch effects us. I live in the Gulf region and am angered each time I see that there are those who would want us to believe it is o.k now. It clearly is not.
This video on toxins should inspire us to try to live more simply and give our children a chance at living a healthy, God given life.
Because they're spoiled!
Parts per million sound small but consider this The Environmental Working Group has put it into perspective for all of us. Small amounts DO make an impact. We are part of the food chain , the food web or whatever term you choose to use. What we eat , breath and touch effects us. I live in the Gulf region and am angered each time I see that there are those who would want us to believe it is o.k now. It clearly is not.
This video on toxins should inspire us to try to live more simply and give our children a chance at living a healthy, God given life.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Responsibility and a Home School Forum
As a home educator it is nice to participate, be it electronically, with others who do the same. We share educational resources. Free things found in our travels and tips on all kinds of topics from the family dog to the mother-in law that thinks home school is crazy. It can keep you from feeling alone and can broaden your educational resources. A great idea. The one I belonged to was the PEAK Network . It was an inclusive group, no faith-based or schooling style affiliation.
The topics were generally light even when controversy was in the air. Not quite a forum as a bulletin board. Not many opinions were ever expressed. This may be what some like but to exchange ideas some opinions must be expressed. I don't have to agree and I can remain civil . It was to be a place where we shared the good, the bad, the ugly and the beautiful.
The other day a member began a thread on DHS . First an inquiry then her story. A nightmare was unfolding before our eyes. I suggested she might be more comfortable in Private Messaging and expressed my concern and offered any help I could give. In the span of about three days, almost 100 views of this thread only had eighteen replies. I offered links to lawyers and other sites that fight CPS/DHS . Me and a few others told heer about the history of the agency's lies and deceit. Then the thread was LOCKED. The founder of the network expressed that this conversation was BEYOND the forum and should be dealt with by lawyers.
I was amazed! Here was someone asking for a sympathetic ear, help,or an outlet. The forum turned away. DHS/CPS actions toward home schoolers nationwide are well-known. The Home School Defense League is always defending cases from this agency. I wrote to Lioness, her user name, and told her I disagreed with the action. Then I started a new thread and stated my disagreement. This was deleted within minutes.
Now, I understand forum rules but while this is not a nice topic it is a reality in home schooling. It is not political because there is no side or lobbying effort. It just was not comfortable . The PEACE of our little world was shaken with the reality of what CAN and DOES happen. My first attempt at rebuttal deleted I set about another. This time I sent personal messages to those on-line at the time. Again ,the admins cut off my privileges and in short order I could not read or post.
Well, when do we stand up for our right of free speech? The little fight is as important as the big. We must use our rights in every aspect of life. Our responsibilities to our fellow humans are never diminished because of the space we are in at any given moment. The following is my rebuttal to the removal of the initial thread( the name of the founder was added after my first attempt was deleted);
The topics were generally light even when controversy was in the air. Not quite a forum as a bulletin board. Not many opinions were ever expressed. This may be what some like but to exchange ideas some opinions must be expressed. I don't have to agree and I can remain civil . It was to be a place where we shared the good, the bad, the ugly and the beautiful.The other day a member began a thread on DHS . First an inquiry then her story. A nightmare was unfolding before our eyes. I suggested she might be more comfortable in Private Messaging and expressed my concern and offered any help I could give. In the span of about three days, almost 100 views of this thread only had eighteen replies. I offered links to lawyers and other sites that fight CPS/DHS . Me and a few others told heer about the history of the agency's lies and deceit. Then the thread was LOCKED. The founder of the network expressed that this conversation was BEYOND the forum and should be dealt with by lawyers.
I was amazed! Here was someone asking for a sympathetic ear, help,or an outlet. The forum turned away. DHS/CPS actions toward home schoolers nationwide are well-known. The Home School Defense League is always defending cases from this agency. I wrote to Lioness, her user name, and told her I disagreed with the action. Then I started a new thread and stated my disagreement. This was deleted within minutes.
Now, I understand forum rules but while this is not a nice topic it is a reality in home schooling. It is not political because there is no side or lobbying effort. It just was not comfortable . The PEACE of our little world was shaken with the reality of what CAN and DOES happen. My first attempt at rebuttal deleted I set about another. This time I sent personal messages to those on-line at the time. Again ,the admins cut off my privileges and in short order I could not read or post.
Well, when do we stand up for our right of free speech? The little fight is as important as the big. We must use our rights in every aspect of life. Our responsibilities to our fellow humans are never diminished because of the space we are in at any given moment. The following is my rebuttal to the removal of the initial thread( the name of the founder was added after my first attempt was deleted);
By the removal of the DHS thread posted under 'Chat', Natalie, our Peak founder, has become complicit with DHS and those who wish to isolate and persecute homeschoolers.
This is not a personal issue....this is a national issue. So much so, that the Home School Defense League provides a training manual for members on dealing with DHS threats.
It is well known within homeschooling communities that DHS is used often to isolate homeschoolers from their communities under the pretext of vague accusations.
This was a plea from a fellow homeschooler. It is our responsibility to help those in need, to speak out against ugly truths, and share beauty.
The Peak founder failed us all with this gross injustice, and further discredited herself by removing all threads that chastised her for this act. It is no longer a forum but her ivory tower blog, where nothing is wrong.
Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) about the inactivity of German intellectuals following the Nazi rise to power and the purging of their chosen targets, group after group. The text of the quotation is usually presented roughly as follows:
They came first for the Communists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for me
and by that time no one was left to speak up.
I AM SPEAKING UP!!! Join my eviction from Peak, and speak up also.
Peace
"To accept passively an unjust system is to cooperate with that system; thereby the oppressed become as evil as the oppressor. Noncooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as is cooperation with good. The oppressed must never allow the conscience of the oppressor to slumber..." - M L K Jr
I will take the words of Martin Luther King and Pastor Niemoller to heart. What will you do?
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Gulf platform explodes off US coast - Americas - Al Jazeera English
Gulf platform explodes off US coast - Americas - Al Jazeera English.
Once again we fight for our lives in the Gulf region Thanks to the big breaks for big money oil and utter disregard to life!
Once again we fight for our lives in the Gulf region Thanks to the big breaks for big money oil and utter disregard to life!
You May be Entertaining Angels
Read this and click on the title Guerilla Midwife and see the movie when you can. Empower yourself and your family!
Read this and click on the title Guerilla Midwife and see the movie when you can. Empower yourself and your family!
Friday, August 13, 2010
Mike Whitney: Kill Hugo?
Americas Best Political Newsletter.
via Mike Whitney: Kill Hugo?.
The US continues to destabilize those that have chosen the good of the many (people) over the good of the corporation. The evil of our actions will in the end be our own demise.
via Mike Whitney: Kill Hugo?.
The US continues to destabilize those that have chosen the good of the many (people) over the good of the corporation. The evil of our actions will in the end be our own demise.
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