http://www.atlanticfreepress.com/The mission of Atlantic Free Press is simple: to dig out nuggets of truth from the slag-heap of lies, ignorance and witless diversion that has buried public discourse today. Atlantic Free Press provides a new venue for disseminating hard news and insightful, fact-based analysis of the harsh realities too often ignored or distorted by the mainstream press.enTue, 10 Nov 2009 14:12:06 PSTFeedCreator 1.7.2http://feeds.feedburner.com/AtlanticFreePress?format=skinChris,Cook,is,the,assistant,editor,of,Atlantic,Free,Press,and,hosts,Gorilla,Radio,airing,live,every,Monday,5,6pm,Pacific,Time,In,Victoria,at,101,9FM,104,3,cable,and,on,the,internet,at,http,//cfuv,uvic,ca,He,also,serves,as,a,contributing,editor,at,tNews & PoliticsSociety & Culture/HistoryReligion & Spirituality/OtherGovernment & Organizations/Nationaleditor@atlanticfreepress.comChris CookChris CooknoChris,Cook,is,the,assistant,editor,of,Atlantic,Free,Press,and,hosts,Gorilla,Radio,airing,live,every,Monday,5,6pm,Pacific,Time,In,Victoria,at,101,9FM,104,3,cable,and,on,the,internet,at,http,//cfuv,uvic,ca,He,also,serves,as,a,contributing,editor,at,tChris Cook is the assistant editor of Atlantic Free Press and hosts Gorilla Radio, airing live every Monday, 5-6pm Pacific Time. In Victoria at 101.9FM, 104.3 cable, and on the internet at: http://cfuv.uvic.ca He also serves as a contributing editor at thChris Cook is the assistant editor of Atlantic Free Press and hosts Gorilla Radio, airing live every Monday, 5-6pm Pacific Time. In Victoria at 101.9FM, 104.3 cable, and on the internet at: http://cfuv.uvic.ca He also serves as a contributing editor at the progressive web news site: http://www.pej.org. You can check out the GR blog at: http://GorillaRadioBlog.blogspot.com G-Radio is dedicated to social justice, the environment, community, and providing a forum for people and issues not covered in the corporate media. Some past guests include: M. Junaid Alam, M. Shahid Alam, Joel Bakan, Maude Barlow, David Barsamian, William Blum, Luciana Bohne, William Bowles, Vincent Bugliosi, Helen Caldicott, Noam Chomsky, Michel Chossudovsky, Diane Christian, Juan Cole, David Cromwell, Murray Dobbin, Jon Elmer, Reese Erlich, Anthony Fenton, Jim Fetzer, Laura Flanders, Chris Floyd, Connie Fogal, Susan George, Stan Goff, Robert Greenwald, Denis Halliday, Chris Hedges, Sander Hicks, Julia Butterfly Hill, Robert Jensen, Dahr Jamail, Diana Johnstone, Kathy Kelly, Naomi Klein, Anthony Lappe, Frances Moore Lappe, Jason Leopold, Jeff Leys, Dave Lindorff, Jim Lobe, Jennifer Loewenstein, Wayne Madsen, Stephen Marshall, Linda McQuaig, George Monbiot, Loretta Napoleoni, John Nichols, Kurt Nimmo, David Orchard, Greg Palast, Mike Palecek, Michael Parenti, Robert Parry, Kevin Pina, William Rivers Pitt, Justin Podur, Jack Random, Sheldon Rampton, Paul Craig Roberts, Paul de Rooij, John Ross, Danny Schechter, Vandana Shiva, Norman Solomon, Starhawk, Grant Wakefield, Paul Watson, Bernard Weiner, Mickey Z., Dave Zirin, and many others.53.21676.5500http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/fb_pwrd.gifAtlanticFreePresshttp://feedburner.google.comhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AtlanticFreePress/~3/BI0gkiyITMM/12239-sacred-activism-an-unprecedented-marriage-book-review-by-carolyn-baker.htmleditor@atlanticfreepress.com (Chris Cook)Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:36:00 PSThttp://atlanticfreepress.com/reviews/12239-sacred-activism-an-unprecedented-marriage-book-review-by-carolyn-baker.html<div> by Carolyn Baker </div><br /> <img alt="" src="http://carolynbaker.net/site/images/the%20hope%2C%20a%20guide%20to.jpg" style="margin: 5px; width: 205px; float: left; height: 294px" height="269" width="166" />When I was a young activist in the late 1960s and early 70s, simultaneously finding myself engaged in a burgeoning metaphysical quest, I sometimes felt nearly schizophrenic as I encountered other activists who disparaged the metaphysical, even as I engaged with other students of the metaphysical who had no interest in social or political issues. For years, it was challenging and frustrating to integrate these two poles of reality in my own life, and I noticed that I was not alone in my frustration. Increasingly, however, I saw activists pursuing spiritual quests and spiritual practitioners becoming more engaged in championing social justice causes. Nevertheless, it was not until 2009 that the exquisite union of activist passion and spiritual ardor was articulated by the brilliant author, activist, spiritual teacher, and Rumi scholar, Andrew Harvey, in his extraordinary book, <em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hope-Guide-Sacred-Activism/dp/1401920039/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1257269828&amp;sr=1-1">The Hope: A Guide To Sacred Activism.</a></em> <br /> <br /><em>The Hope</em> is above all, a vision of a marriage-a union of radical action on behalf of social justice and human dignity complemented by a spiritual quest for meaning and purpose in a world that all too often feels excruciatingly absurd. More specifically according to Harvey: <br /> <br /> When the inner joy Mother Teresa spoke of, the joy of compassionate service, is married to a practical and pragmatic drive to transform all existing economic, social, and political institutions, a radical and potentially all-transforming holy force is born <br /> <br /> A Sacred Activist is someone who is starting to experience the inner joy and outer effectiveness of this force, who knows that the profound crisis in the world is in is challenging everyone to act from our deepest compassion and <p><a href="http://atlanticfreepress.com/reviews/12239-sacred-activism-an-unprecedented-marriage-book-review-by-carolyn-baker.html">Read more...</a></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/yPkTDqo9PtPv5NM_16ud4gyCttA/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/yPkTDqo9PtPv5NM_16ud4gyCttA/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/yPkTDqo9PtPv5NM_16ud4gyCttA/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/yPkTDqo9PtPv5NM_16ud4gyCttA/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=BI0gkiyITMM:xxxwXU0ozio:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?i=BI0gkiyITMM:xxxwXU0ozio:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=BI0gkiyITMM:xxxwXU0ozio:dnMXMwOfBR0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"></img></a> </div>http://atlanticfreepress.com/reviews/12239-sacred-activism-an-unprecedented-marriage-book-review-by-carolyn-baker.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AtlanticFreePress/~3/5FWyHAG_6Uc/12236-irans-would-be-american-interlocutors.htmleditor@atlanticfreepress.com (Chris Cook)Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:33:00 PSThttp://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12236-irans-would-be-american-interlocutors.html<div>by Franklin Lamb<br /> <br /> On November 4, 2009, the 30th anniversary of the student takeover of the American Embassy in Tehran, Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khameini gave a speech which is being much discussed in Washington DC.<br /> <br />The source of some of the angst at the While House and the State Department according to Congressional sources was that “the speech suggests&nbsp; that the Iranian government may be doing what it’s done many times over the past seven years.&nbsp; Which is to say that Iran may appear to agree, then hedge, then disagree, then appear to agree again somewhat, then pull back again, then ask for more time to consider details of the proposal, then finally present a counter-proposal, then say it wants cooperation but has serious doubts about the reliability of the other side and then say it will never give up on its rights, and on and on its goes.”<strong><br /> <br />Iran’s complaint</strong><br /> <br />While omitting Iran’s take on recent events, some on Capitol Hill wondered if Iran’s Wali al Fique (supreme leader) was playing to his base or was using the speech to communicate directly and seriously with the Obama administration. Presumably he was doing both.<br /> <br />Aytollalh’s Khameni’s words were pointed and clear.&nbsp; He declared that Tehran may reject any talks backed by Washington because it is not to be trusted. He acknowledged that the US wanted to negotiate with Tehran “but its talks were full of threats.&quot;… &quot;Every time they have a smile on their face, they are hiding a dagger behind their back.”… &quot;Iran will not be fooled by the superficial conciliatory tone of the United States…This new American president repeatedly sent us oral and written messages to come and change the page-to come and cooperate in <p><a href="http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12236-irans-would-be-american-interlocutors.html">Read more...</a></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/vV0ugIsYyyJ0dZmepmHiYFKaC3I/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/vV0ugIsYyyJ0dZmepmHiYFKaC3I/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/vV0ugIsYyyJ0dZmepmHiYFKaC3I/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/vV0ugIsYyyJ0dZmepmHiYFKaC3I/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=5FWyHAG_6Uc:yn-aYTkMGPc:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?i=5FWyHAG_6Uc:yn-aYTkMGPc:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=5FWyHAG_6Uc:yn-aYTkMGPc:dnMXMwOfBR0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"></img></a> </div>http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12236-irans-would-be-american-interlocutors.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AtlanticFreePress/~3/PRg0DhL3Cws/12230-black-ops-and-the-massacre-at-fort-hood.htmleditor@atlanticfreepress.com (Chris Cook)Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:30:00 PSThttp://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12230-black-ops-and-the-massacre-at-fort-hood.html<div>by Jayne Lyn Stahl<br /> <br />There are lots of places to start looking for clues as to what happened today at an Army base at Fort Hood, Texas, in which&nbsp;12 died, and scores were injured.&nbsp; Given that the perpetrator of today's massacre, Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hassan, graduated from Virginia Tech, one obvious place to start is Virginia Tech.<br /> <br />There are striking similarities between the massacres at Virginia Tech in which 32 were gunned down, and many wounded, and&nbsp;the one today's shooting rampage in Texas: both perpetrators were non-Caucasian, both appear to have planned a murder/suicide scenario, and both were outsiders.&nbsp; While Hassan was born in Virginia, according tofamily members, he felt like an outsider, so both shooters were outsiders who appear to have envisoned their crime as vindication for their sense of displacement.<br /> <br />It is entirely possible that Hassan took his cues from the massacre at his alma mater and, although he graduated from Virginia Tech ten years before the massacre, there is little room for coincidence in the similarities between the two crime sprees, but the story doesn't stop there.<br /> <br />To know what happened to Dr. Hassan that might prompt him to what seems to be an egregious act of retaliation, one needs to know why&nbsp;he was going to be deployed to Iraq later this mont.&nbsp; Was he being sent on his first tour of duty to work with soldiers suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome, as reported, or&nbsp;was he instead being required to combine his psychiatric background with his knowledge of Arabic to serve in an intelligence capacity. <p><a href="http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12230-black-ops-and-the-massacre-at-fort-hood.html">Read more...</a></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/HHilKcQf_JrtjMKGNMWnQAC2vOc/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/HHilKcQf_JrtjMKGNMWnQAC2vOc/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/HHilKcQf_JrtjMKGNMWnQAC2vOc/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/HHilKcQf_JrtjMKGNMWnQAC2vOc/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=PRg0DhL3Cws:eKi5oTY42vw:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?i=PRg0DhL3Cws:eKi5oTY42vw:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=PRg0DhL3Cws:eKi5oTY42vw:dnMXMwOfBR0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"></img></a> </div>http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12230-black-ops-and-the-massacre-at-fort-hood.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AtlanticFreePress/~3/j2wE-VN_SZs/12227-the-pakistan-decapitation-papers-2nd-edition.htmleditor@atlanticfreepress.com (Chris Cook)Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:20:00 PSThttp://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12227-the-pakistan-decapitation-papers-2nd-edition.html<div>by Zahir Ebrahim<br /> <br /> Who in Pakistan has not heard of the famous fable of King Solomon the wise. When presented with two women feuding over a baby, each claiming to be the real mother, the king drew his mighty sword to cut the baby in half to give to each quarrelsome woman. One of them, the real mother, cried out: “<em>It's hers, it's hers, please give the entire beautiful baby to her, she is the real mother; I don't want half of the dead!”</em> <br /> <br /> Alas, on the face of it, not one among the rulers of Pakistan is the real mother of the Pakistani peoples. <br /> <br /> Pakistan has been under the hectoring hegemons' sword the moment the Berlin Wall came down. Almost overnight, with the calculated destruction of the Soviet Union, a new perpetual enemy of mankind was brought to the fore in the continuing game of Hegelian Dialectics to raise a new phoenix of world government from the ashes of the old world order. Variously titled as militant Islam, radical Islam, islamofascism, but most often called Islamism to bring it kinship with the earlier enemies of mankind, namely, Fascism, Nazism, and Communism, though not Zionism, Pakistan has been the unrecognized eye of the storm from day one. <br /> <br /> The only Muslim country with nuclear weapons, also harboring a ready-made psychological-tribal ethos which makes some of its inhabitants easy recruits for enabling the perpetual World War IV with just the right “tickling”, Pakistan had to be both harvested for fodder, and setup for destabilization and balkanization. The latter not primarily for the purpose which is most apparent, the riches under its soil, but to continue the path of creating World Order. <br /> <br /> Was Pakistan's <p><a href="http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12227-the-pakistan-decapitation-papers-2nd-edition.html">Read more...</a></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/R36qiKaelGm_DMp8tTdRHUaIl-Q/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/R36qiKaelGm_DMp8tTdRHUaIl-Q/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/R36qiKaelGm_DMp8tTdRHUaIl-Q/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/R36qiKaelGm_DMp8tTdRHUaIl-Q/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=j2wE-VN_SZs:mPAPIKlhYMY:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?i=j2wE-VN_SZs:mPAPIKlhYMY:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=j2wE-VN_SZs:mPAPIKlhYMY:dnMXMwOfBR0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"></img></a> </div>http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12227-the-pakistan-decapitation-papers-2nd-edition.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AtlanticFreePress/~3/slTQD2aSxDI/12221-humankinds-future-social-and-political-utopia-or-idiocracy.htmleditor@atlanticfreepress.com (Chris Cook)Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:48:00 PSThttp://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12221-humankinds-future-social-and-political-utopia-or-idiocracy.html<div>by Roland Michel Tremblay</div> <div><br /> By some coincidence in the last three days I read Men Like Gods of H. G. Wells and watch the films Idiocracy, City of Ember and WALL-E. They all deal with humankind’s future, a very bleak future that could possibly become the ultimate Utopia or perfect world, not before another world war, the extinction of humanity, and survival of a few humans to come back to Earth from space, or emerging from underground to start anew. Is this what we can expect of our future, imminent self-destruction? <br /> <br /> Should we be planning colonies and ship them into space or below ground, like, right now? Is it because we feel the end of humanity is fast becoming, that we are far reaching the end of all our broken institutions, that suddenly the topic of our future, or lack of it, is so pro-eminently featured even in children’s films? The topic is not new, H. G. Wells’ discourse in Men Like Gods is so up to date with what is happening today, even though it was written in 1923, that one must believe nothing has changed socially and politically for the last 100 years. <br /> <br /> We don’t trust the government, any reasonable mind does not trust organised religion, we feel betrayed in a world where no one is working towards a better humanity for everyone, where most likely huge corporations including financial institutions control everything, without a thought for anyone’s wellbeing. <br /> <br /> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify">We have to admit that our morals and ethics’ record on this planet has already passed the custody threshold many times over, this record shows no sign of getting better. So much for H. G. Wells’ Utopia, we will need another 3000 <p><a href="http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12221-humankinds-future-social-and-political-utopia-or-idiocracy.html">Read more...</a></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/PTIXoDVEbTi3sadPrmrIGXiyzwg/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/PTIXoDVEbTi3sadPrmrIGXiyzwg/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/PTIXoDVEbTi3sadPrmrIGXiyzwg/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/PTIXoDVEbTi3sadPrmrIGXiyzwg/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=slTQD2aSxDI:WL-pAPuKF3A:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?i=slTQD2aSxDI:WL-pAPuKF3A:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=slTQD2aSxDI:WL-pAPuKF3A:dnMXMwOfBR0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"></img></a> </div>http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12221-humankinds-future-social-and-political-utopia-or-idiocracy.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AtlanticFreePress/~3/QgI9CCmUs1I/12215-too-big-to-fail-why-all-the-presidents-afghan-options-are-bad-ones.htmleditor@atlanticfreepress.com (Chris Cook)Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:47:00 PSThttp://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12215-too-big-to-fail-why-all-the-presidents-afghan-options-are-bad-ones.html<div>by Tom Engelhardt<br /> <br /> <p> In the worst of times, my father always used to say, &quot;A good gambler cuts his losses.&quot; It's a formulation imprinted on my brain forever. That no-nonsense piece of advice still seems reasonable to me, but it doesn't apply to American war policy. Our leaders evidently never saw a war to which the word &quot;more&quot; didn't apply. Hence the Afghan War, where impending disaster is just an invitation to fuel the flames of an already roaring fire. </p> <p> Here's a partial rundown of news from that devolving conflict: In the last week, Nuristan, a province on the Pakistani border, essentially <a href="http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/KJ29Df04.html">fell</a> to the Taliban after the U.S. withdrew its forces from four key bases. Similarly in Khost, another eastern province bordering Pakistan where U.S. forces once registered much-publicized gains (and which Richard Holbrooke, now President Obama's special envoy to the region, termed &quot;an American success story&quot;), the Taliban is largely in control. It is,<a href="http://anandgopal.com/in-one-province-taliban-revive/">according to</a> Yochi Dreazen and Anand Gopal of the <em>Wall Street Journal</em>, now &quot;one of the most dangerous provinces&quot; in the country. Similarly, the Taliban insurgency, once largely restricted to the Pashtun south, has recently <a href="http://anandgopal.com/in-one-province-taliban-revive/">spread fiercely</a> to the west and north. At the same time, neighboring Pakistan is an increasingly <a href="http://news.antiwar.com/2009/10/27/civilian-displacements-top-200000-as-waziristan-offensive-continues/">destabilized</a> country amid war in its tribal borderlands, a <a href="http://wire.antiwar.com/2009/10/28/car-bomb-kills-91-in-pakistani-city-of-peshawar/">terror</a> campaign <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/28/AR2009102800754.html?hpid=sec-world">spreading</a> throughout the country, escalating American drone attacks, and <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/27/world/asia/27pstan.html">increasingly testy</a> relations <a href="http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20091027_arrogant_us_misses_the_message_from_pakistans_people/">between</a> American officials and the Pakistani government and military. </p> <p> Meanwhile, the U.S. command in Afghanistan is considering a strategy that involves pulling back from the countryside and focusing on <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/28/world/asia/28policy.html">protecting</a> more heavily populated areas (which might be called, with the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/29/opinion/29sebestyen.html">first U.S. Afghan War</a> of the 1980s in mind, the <a href="http://www.juancole.com/2009/10/un-guest-house-attacked-in-kabul-8-more.html">Soviet strategy</a>). <p><a href="http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12215-too-big-to-fail-why-all-the-presidents-afghan-options-are-bad-ones.html">Read more...</a></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/j77P2GfKzGlUwg537pT6XyrvLY4/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/j77P2GfKzGlUwg537pT6XyrvLY4/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/j77P2GfKzGlUwg537pT6XyrvLY4/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/j77P2GfKzGlUwg537pT6XyrvLY4/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=QgI9CCmUs1I:gcR3EgCoqMs:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?i=QgI9CCmUs1I:gcR3EgCoqMs:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=QgI9CCmUs1I:gcR3EgCoqMs:dnMXMwOfBR0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"></img></a> </div>http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12215-too-big-to-fail-why-all-the-presidents-afghan-options-are-bad-ones.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AtlanticFreePress/~3/3WLlo_yaby8/12212-star-wars-clone-wars.htmleditor@atlanticfreepress.com (Chris Cook)Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:45:00 PSThttp://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12212-star-wars-clone-wars.html<div>by James McEnteer<br /> <br />According to a Japanese university professor, North Korean leader Kim Jong-il died in 2003.&nbsp; Toshimitsu Shimegura, quoted in The Independent on Saturday, claims that a series of doubles has stood in for Kim since his death, including last August when former U.S. President Bill Clinton met with the North Korean leader to arrange the release of two U.S. journalists.<br /> <br />Doppelganger theorists point out that Kim suffered a serious stroke in 2008.&nbsp; But since then, North Korean media reported 122 official visits he made to “factories, state-run farms, military bases and the rest… to prove, presumably, that Mr. Kim was alive and well and very much in charge.”&nbsp;&nbsp; <br /> <br />Which possibility is less likely?&nbsp; That Kim made a miraculous recovery and adopted a grueling ceremonial schedule?&nbsp; Or that a stand-in cut the ribbons and took the bows?&nbsp; Cynics point out that Mr. Clinton himself has not been real since sometime in the 1980s, when he was replaced by an unprincipled testosterone-driven opportunist.<br /> <br />We should not be surprised that international diplomacy is now the practice of surrogates.&nbsp; Many of our military functions are subcontracted to Blackwater, Halliburton and other branches of Murder, Inc.&nbsp; We outsource torture and invade countries with (often mis) guided missiles.&nbsp; We live in the wondrous age of clones and drones.<br /> <br />Our political discourse is as synthetic as the foods we eat, driven by a demagogic logic that bears scant relation to reality. Our print and broadcast pundits prefer to generate outrageous headlines for a quick ratings spike than to craft helpful or thoughtful commentary. Hence the (oxy)moronic “Fox News” network.&nbsp; Glenn Beck and Bill O’Reilly are as authentic and toxic as Kim Jong-il, alive or dead.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <br /> <br />Television substitutes for millions of “personal” <p><a href="http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12212-star-wars-clone-wars.html">Read more...</a></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/prf2kAYZOrflFV8b4HYhvctKink/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/prf2kAYZOrflFV8b4HYhvctKink/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/prf2kAYZOrflFV8b4HYhvctKink/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/prf2kAYZOrflFV8b4HYhvctKink/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=3WLlo_yaby8:nOE6qbY1hAw:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?i=3WLlo_yaby8:nOE6qbY1hAw:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=3WLlo_yaby8:nOE6qbY1hAw:dnMXMwOfBR0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"></img></a> </div>http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12212-star-wars-clone-wars.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AtlanticFreePress/~3/9h9zIfmUGTA/12209-what-physicians-know.htmleditor@atlanticfreepress.com (Chris Cook)Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:44:00 PSThttp://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12209-what-physicians-know.html<div>by Joel S. Hirschhorn<br /> <br /> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt">I had a long conversation with my favorite physician, who has operated on me twice successfully.<span>&nbsp; </span>He is an incredibly kind person without an ounce of greed or pretense.<span>&nbsp; </span>Like other physicians I have spoken to, he spoke eloquently about the terrible times he consistently has with private health insurance companies.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt">&nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt">While he praises Medicare for its simplicity and certainty, he has absolutely nothing positive to say about private insurers.<span>&nbsp; </span>They take up huge amounts of time of him and his staff, trying in every possible way to deny services to their customers (his patients) and also to pay as little as possible to him.<span>&nbsp; </span>His endless struggles with the insurance companies make his life miserable.<span>&nbsp; </span>Meanwhile all he cares about is giving his patients the very best care and not making them suffer because of their insurance carriers.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt">&nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt">Like so many of us he sees the need for major reforms of our health care system, but remains pessimistic about what Congress and President Obama will eventually deliver.<span>&nbsp; </span>He is incredulous at how executives of private insurers make vast amounts of money while making physicians and their patients suffer endless annoyances and negative impacts on health care.<span>&nbsp; </span>And they get away with making people pay more and more money for worse and worse insurance.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt">&nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt">He also has many stories about patients that do not take medications for long term chronic conditions because they cannot afford prescriptions.<span>&nbsp; </span>He gives out as many samples that he can get, is angry that people in other nations pay much <p><a href="http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12209-what-physicians-know.html">Read more...</a></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/QPwJzEzT8J4rgApdcYvfgcQZOkg/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/QPwJzEzT8J4rgApdcYvfgcQZOkg/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/QPwJzEzT8J4rgApdcYvfgcQZOkg/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/QPwJzEzT8J4rgApdcYvfgcQZOkg/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=9h9zIfmUGTA:02FbjRiYLVc:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?i=9h9zIfmUGTA:02FbjRiYLVc:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=9h9zIfmUGTA:02FbjRiYLVc:dnMXMwOfBR0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"></img></a> </div>http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12209-what-physicians-know.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AtlanticFreePress/~3/LQejXP8gk8I/12206-obama-resuming-gw-bushs-extraordinary-renditions.htmleditor@atlanticfreepress.com (Chris Cook)Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:39:00 PSThttp://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12206-obama-resuming-gw-bushs-extraordinary-renditions.html<div>by Sherwood Ross<br /> <br />Even though Barack Obama, the candidate, pledged to end “the practice of shipping away prisoners in the dead of night to be tortured in far-off countries,” his FBI has been rendering kidnap victims to the U.S. The practice is still kidnapping, however; and it’s still illegal.<br /> <br /> Unlucky victim No. 1 was Raymond Azar, 45, flown from Afghanistan to Alexandria, Va., not to a foreign country. The construction manager for Sima International, a Lebanese outfit that did work for the U.S. military, Azar said he was tortured by his abductors. He might just as well have been flow to Egypt under the Bushies.<br /> <br /> Interestingly, Azar was never charged as a dangerous terrorist, only with conspiracy to commit bribery for wiring $106,000 in kickbacks to a U.S. employee’s bank account in hopes of getting $13 million in unpaid bills okayed.<br /> <br /> For this comparatively trivial white collar crime, Azar’s lawyers said when arrested he was stripped naked, hooded, and subjected to a body cavity search. What’s more, according to an article by Scott Horton, writing on “Common Dreams,” Azar claims a federal agent showed Azar a photo of his wife and four children and told him to confess or else he might “never see them again.” Azar confessed, and pled guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery.<br /> <br /> Azar alleged he was shackled to an office chair for seven hours, put in an unheated metal shipping container and given only a thin blanket despite near freezing temperature, denied sleep and food for 30 hours, had his ears covered by earphones and blindfolded during his plane ride from Kabul, Afghanistan, to the U.S., Horton reported. Court records indicate Azar was shackled at the ankles, waist, and wrists. <br /> <p><a href="http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12206-obama-resuming-gw-bushs-extraordinary-renditions.html">Read more...</a></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/ENjtcqzma_BBmMbsRqGLV7Scq-Q/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/ENjtcqzma_BBmMbsRqGLV7Scq-Q/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/ENjtcqzma_BBmMbsRqGLV7Scq-Q/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/ENjtcqzma_BBmMbsRqGLV7Scq-Q/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=LQejXP8gk8I:_Bc209VI3JI:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?i=LQejXP8gk8I:_Bc209VI3JI:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=LQejXP8gk8I:_Bc209VI3JI:dnMXMwOfBR0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"></img></a> </div>http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12206-obama-resuming-gw-bushs-extraordinary-renditions.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AtlanticFreePress/~3/lZxgE_RGiEk/12203-compulsory-vaccinations-and-implanted-chips-facts-and-fiction-surrounding-the-swine-flu.htmleditor@atlanticfreepress.com (Chris Cook)Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:25:00 PSThttp://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12203-compulsory-vaccinations-and-implanted-chips-facts-and-fiction-surrounding-the-swine-flu.htmlby Daan de Wit, translated by Ben Kearney<br /> <div><br /> Rumors about the Swine Flu are getting around faster than the virus itself. Mass compulsory vaccinations would beimminent. Tiny nanochips hidden inside the vaccine? This article is a first step towards separating fact from fiction. <br /> <br /> One of the rumors involves an allegedly leaked police report. It's&nbsp;a blueprint for the wholesale and compulsory vaccination of the Dutch population. The only thing it needs is a specific date filled in where the question marks are now, and then the document is ready to be put to use. The title of the <a href="http://www.rijv.nl/data/styleit/28%20-%20Politie%20draaiboek%20influenzapandemie%282%29.pdf" target="_blank">document</a> [PDF] is 'PROVISIONAL POLICE SCENARIO IN EVENT OF INFLUENZA PANDEMIC'. The question as to whether or not this is an official document has basically been answered by the fact that it has been put on 'the official <a href="http://www.rijv.nl/" target="_blank">website</a> for the IJssel-Vecht region' of The Netherlands. This site is the precursor to the websites for the GGD IJsselland and IJsselland Emergency Response and is <a href="http://www.sidn.nl/ace.php/c,727,43,,,,Is_de_naam_nog_vrij_.html?lang=NL&amp;uitgebreid=CHECKED&amp;domein=rijv.nl&amp;zoek.x=0&amp;zoek.y=0" target="_blank">registered</a> to the<a href="http://www.veiligheidsregio-ijsselland.nl/contact/309/" target="_blank">address</a> of IJsselland Emergency Response. <br /> <br />It is section 1.1.2 of this document that is giving cause for alarm on all sorts of forums and websites. It reads: 'It is decided at ? by the Ministers of Public Health, Welfare and Sports, and State that a vaccination of the entire population (in a portion of the country or in the entire country) will be put into motion. The vaccination will commence on ? at 8:00AM. Given the available information at this time, the R.C.C. will be operational from ? hrs'. Many people are reading this to mean that the vaccination will become mandatory. There is even someone who is sending an email around which says: 'I've just come from police <p><a href="http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12203-compulsory-vaccinations-and-implanted-chips-facts-and-fiction-surrounding-the-swine-flu.html">Read more...</a></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/ivpPsEJh6D9k5KGJkn0WEaadVAg/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/ivpPsEJh6D9k5KGJkn0WEaadVAg/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/ivpPsEJh6D9k5KGJkn0WEaadVAg/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/ivpPsEJh6D9k5KGJkn0WEaadVAg/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=lZxgE_RGiEk:0eFChc4nLvg:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?i=lZxgE_RGiEk:0eFChc4nLvg:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=lZxgE_RGiEk:0eFChc4nLvg:dnMXMwOfBR0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"></img></a> </div>noby Daan de Wit, translated by Ben Kearney Rumors about the Swine Flu are getting around faster than the virus itself. Mass compulsory vaccinations would beimminent. Tiny nanochips hidden inside the vaccine? This article is a first step towards separating Chris Cookby Daan de Wit, translated by Ben Kearney Rumors about the Swine Flu are getting around faster than the virus itself. Mass compulsory vaccinations would beimminent. Tiny nanochips hidden inside the vaccine? This article is a first step towards separating fact from fiction. One of the rumors involves an allegedly leaked police report. It's&nbsp;a blueprint for the wholesale and compulsory vaccination of the Dutch population. The only thing it needs is a specific date filled in where the question marks are now, and then the document is ready to be put to use. The title of the document [PDF] is 'PROVISIONAL POLICE SCENARIO IN EVENT OF INFLUENZA PANDEMIC'. The question as to whether or not this is an official document has basically been answered by the fact that it has been put on 'the official website for the IJssel-Vecht region' of The Netherlands. This site is the precursor to the websites for the GGD IJsselland and IJsselland Emergency Response and is registered to theaddress of IJsselland Emergency Response. It is section 1.1.2 of this document that is giving cause for alarm on all sorts of forums and websites. It reads: 'It is decided at ? by the Ministers of Public Health, Welfare and Sports, and State that a vaccination of the entire population (in a portion of the country or in the entire country) will be put into motion. The vaccination will commence on ? at 8:00AM. Given the available information at this time, the R.C.C. will be operational from ? hrs'. Many people are reading this to mean that the vaccination will become mandatory. There is even someone who is sending an email around which says: 'I've just come from police Read more...Chris,Cook,is,the,assistant,editor,of,Atlantic,Free,Press,and,hosts,Gorilla,Radio,airing,live,every,Monday,5,6pm,Pacific,Time,In,Victoria,at,101,9FM,104,3,cable,and,on,the,internet,at,http,//cfuv,uvic,ca,He,also,serves,as,a,contributing,editor,at,thttp://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12203-compulsory-vaccinations-and-implanted-chips-facts-and-fiction-surrounding-the-swine-flu.htmlhttp://www.rijv.nl/data/styleit/28%20-%20Politie%20draaiboek%20influenzapandemie%282%29.pdfhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AtlanticFreePress/~3/8Ju56EfoP2E/12200-if-you-feel-overwhelmed-its-because-we-face-an-overwhelming-situation-an-interview-with-robert-jensen-on-war-ecological-crises-and-the-quest-for-justice.htmleditor@atlanticfreepress.com (Chris Cook)Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:13:00 PSThttp://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12200-if-you-feel-overwhelmed-its-because-we-face-an-overwhelming-situation-an-interview-with-robert-jensen-on-war-ecological-crises-and-the-quest-for-justice.html<div> Robert Jensen interviewed by Calvin Sloan <br /> <br /></div> <blockquote> The following is an edited transcript of an interview conducted for the KVRX radio show “The Pursuit of Injustice.” The podcast can be streamed or downloaded at <a href="http://www.divshare.com/download/9029846-04a" target="_blank">http://www.divshare.com/ <wbr />download/9029846-04a</a><br /> </blockquote><br /> <strong> CS:</strong> So to start off, let’s address some topical issues. The war in Afghanistan has been described in the mainstream media as America’s good war and as the cornerstone of the “War on Terror.” President Obama is currently debating an increase in troop levels there. He’s already sent an additional 21,000 since taking office, and as the Washington Post recently reported, has been deploying without public announcement 13,000 additional troops. You’ve been an outspoken critic of the war since its inception, what is your take on the current situation there?<br /> <br /><strong> RJ:</strong> I think any assessment of the current situation has to remember that the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 was illegal. The United States invaded the country with no legal authorization. It claimed the right to do this because of the relationship between the governing Taliban and Al Qaeda and the events of 9/11, but there were many ways that the United States could have pursued a just solution to the question of the terrorism of 9/11.<br /> <br /> So, why would it pursue an illegal and, I would argue, immoral invasion? Here we have to remember that U.S. military interventions in the Middle East and Central Asia, whatever the stated reason for them, are really about energy resources. The Middle East especially is home to the most extensive reserves of petroleum. There’s a lot of natural gas in Central Asia, plus it has geostrategic importance. So let’s get rid of the idea that this is about <p><a href="http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12200-if-you-feel-overwhelmed-its-because-we-face-an-overwhelming-situation-an-interview-with-robert-jensen-on-war-ecological-crises-and-the-quest-for-justice.html">Read more...</a></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/f_Dtnak4-Mp7G-mwFM6DHsdK0yE/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/f_Dtnak4-Mp7G-mwFM6DHsdK0yE/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/f_Dtnak4-Mp7G-mwFM6DHsdK0yE/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/f_Dtnak4-Mp7G-mwFM6DHsdK0yE/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=8Ju56EfoP2E:K4gl2btfFWQ:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?i=8Ju56EfoP2E:K4gl2btfFWQ:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=8Ju56EfoP2E:K4gl2btfFWQ:dnMXMwOfBR0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"></img></a> </div>http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12200-if-you-feel-overwhelmed-its-because-we-face-an-overwhelming-situation-an-interview-with-robert-jensen-on-war-ecological-crises-and-the-quest-for-justice.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AtlanticFreePress/~3/NoM3gv4NRRw/12197-in-the-jaws-of-the-dragon-americas-fate-in-the-coming-era-of-chinese-dominance-book-review-by-jim-miles.htmleditor@atlanticfreepress.com (Chris Cook)Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:02:00 PSThttp://atlanticfreepress.com/reviews/12197-in-the-jaws-of-the-dragon-americas-fate-in-the-coming-era-of-chinese-dominance-book-review-by-jim-miles.html<div> <div>by Jim Miles<br /> <br /><img onload="if (typeof uet == 'function') { uet('af'); }" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41x3dntdSnL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA240_SH20_OU01_.jpg" id="prodImage" onmouseover="sitb_showLayer('bookpopover'); return false;" onmouseout="sitb_doHide('bookpopover'); return false;" alt="In the Jaws of the Dragon: America's Fate in the Coming Era of Chinese Hegemony" align="left" border="0" height="240" width="240" /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Jaws-Dragon-Americas-Chinese-Hegemony/dp/0312362323">In the Jaws of the Dragon </a> - America’s Fate in the Coming Era of Chinese Dominance. Eamonn Fingleton. Thomas Dunne Books (St. Martin’s Press), New York, 2008. <p>A book about the future published in 2008, with information preceding the publishing date, could well be considered out of date - or at worst in error - after a couple of years of passing current events. Eamonn Fingleton’s ‘old’ work - <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Jaws-Dragon-Americas-Chinese-Hegemony/dp/0312362323">In the Jaws of the Dragon </a>- defies this, and is just as important a read as it should have been when first published. Perhaps even more so because of its accuracy and depth of research fully supporting his thesis that the U.S. is now in the maw of the Dragon - if not more accurately on the slippery slope into the belly of the beast. </p> <p>At first, while setting up the philosophy behind his thesis I needed to suspend my thoughts on Confucianism until he had fully stated his case. Similarly, I had to remember that events that occurred within the past year - the huge economic downturn - had not yet occurred when this book was written, but the more one reads the book, the more it seems prescient to the current financial situation between the U.S. and not just China but the other Asian tigers as well. </p> <p>After reading just the first introductory chapter in which Fingleton out lines his overall thesis, I noted that the arguments seemed reasonable, but had not included the U.S. personal debt/credit levels vis a vis <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/QqVBMg0ZJ88JgiRJwwnxic88K5g/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/QqVBMg0ZJ88JgiRJwwnxic88K5g/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/QqVBMg0ZJ88JgiRJwwnxic88K5g/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/QqVBMg0ZJ88JgiRJwwnxic88K5g/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=NoM3gv4NRRw:K4LbQGVgBas:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?i=NoM3gv4NRRw:K4LbQGVgBas:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=NoM3gv4NRRw:K4LbQGVgBas:dnMXMwOfBR0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"></img></a> </div>http://atlanticfreepress.com/reviews/12197-in-the-jaws-of-the-dragon-americas-fate-in-the-coming-era-of-chinese-dominance-book-review-by-jim-miles.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AtlanticFreePress/~3/d7yMXqQaZhM/12194-americas-qphantom-aidq-to-afghanistan.htmleditor@atlanticfreepress.com (Chris Cook)Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:58:00 PSThttp://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12194-americas-qphantom-aidq-to-afghanistan.htmlby Matthew Nasuti <p>Reuters reported on April 23, 2007 that Peter Bergen, a senior fellow at the New America Foundation, had testified before the U.S. Congress that 86% of American Government aid to Afghanistan is “phantom” in that it never reaches the Afghan people. Ann Jones, an American aid worker, in a September 3, 2006, article for the San Francisco Chronicle titled: “How U.S. Dollars Disappear in Afghanistan,” estimated that:</p> <p><strong> 83% of American aid to Afghanistan is “phantom aid.” </strong></p> <p> The term “Phantom Aid” was coined by the NGO ActionAid in 2005 to describe how international aid is siphoned off by donors before it ever arrives in the recipient country.</p> <p>Former Afghan Planning Minister Ramazan Bashardost told Dominion reporter Gwalgen Geordie Dent, for her February 26, 2008 article titled: “Canada’s Phantom Menace in Afghanistan” that donor funds received from the West since 2001 have not resulted in any improvement in the lives of the Afghan people.</p> <p>One of the many forms of “phantom” aid arises due to the insistence of entities such as the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) that it, and not the appropriate Afghan ministry, must directly manage the aid. Once USAID begins a project, it usually assigns the work to one of its pre-selected American contractors instead of seeking the most cost-effective international company. These pre-selected contractors are referred to in the United States as “beltway bandits.” They are given that title because they have their headquarters inside of the Washington, D.C. beltway and because they receive U.S. government contracts due to their political connections. Once these overpriced bandits enter the picture, they use Afghan aid funds directly or indirectly to pay for:</p> <blockquote> <p> - Executive salaries in the United States,</p> <p> - Home office expenses in the United States</p> <p> - Technical <p><a href="http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12194-americas-qphantom-aidq-to-afghanistan.html">Read more...</a></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/NGhTr36zUXCNbcsqZJBaMW5b1AE/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/NGhTr36zUXCNbcsqZJBaMW5b1AE/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/NGhTr36zUXCNbcsqZJBaMW5b1AE/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/NGhTr36zUXCNbcsqZJBaMW5b1AE/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=d7yMXqQaZhM:gnp9p5SyYAg:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?i=d7yMXqQaZhM:gnp9p5SyYAg:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=d7yMXqQaZhM:gnp9p5SyYAg:dnMXMwOfBR0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"></img></a> </div>http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12194-americas-qphantom-aidq-to-afghanistan.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AtlanticFreePress/~3/emzWhQvRBJM/12191-the-myth-of-qfreeq-enterprise-economic-system-.htmleditor@atlanticfreepress.com (Chris Cook)Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:49:00 PSThttp://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12191-the-myth-of-qfreeq-enterprise-economic-system-.html<div>by Robert Singer<br /> <br />Free enterprise, also called free market, is an economy governed by the laws of supply and demand, not restrained by government interference, regulation or subsidy. Command economy is basically a slave enterprise where supply and price are regulated by the government rather than market forces. <br /> <br /> The only thing I will agree with about the “law of supply and demand” is that supply at a downward-manipulated price, can create demand.<br /> <br /> Downward manipulation is an uneconomic aberration first discovered in the precious metals market by the noted silver analyst, Ted Butler.<br /> <br />We are conditioned to believe free enterprise supply and demand would lead to inflated prices so the greedy corporations can make more money, but Ted Butler’s research in the silver market concludes the opposite.<br /> <br />The beneficiaries of this type of manipulation are the consumers because corporations can sell their products affordably and still make a profit.<br /> <br />Butler’s investigation has identified JP Morgan Chase, one of the founding members of the Federal Reserve, as the prime suspect, in the “ongoing intentional, not accidental” great crime of keeping the price of commodities low so the middle class can afford the American dream, a nightmare for the planet. [1]<br /> <br />I’ll get right to the point: McDonalds in the 1950s made a profit by selling a product for less than the competition, but a not-so-invisible hand produced cheap calories in great abundance so Ray “Crock” could sell a cheeseburger, fries and a large Coke for a price equal to less than an hour of labor at the minimum wage — and still make a profit. [2]<br /> <p><a href="http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12191-the-myth-of-qfreeq-enterprise-economic-system-.html">Read more...</a></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/QjH5wyPRJmUMEuWdIWhkOOrh3Pg/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/QjH5wyPRJmUMEuWdIWhkOOrh3Pg/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/QjH5wyPRJmUMEuWdIWhkOOrh3Pg/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/QjH5wyPRJmUMEuWdIWhkOOrh3Pg/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=emzWhQvRBJM:ugwaJWUEG5M:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?i=emzWhQvRBJM:ugwaJWUEG5M:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=emzWhQvRBJM:ugwaJWUEG5M:dnMXMwOfBR0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"></img></a> </div>http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12191-the-myth-of-qfreeq-enterprise-economic-system-.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AtlanticFreePress/~3/5wu4Lw5KTVY/12188-is-this-tom-friedmans-walter-cronkite-moment-on-afghanistan.htmleditor@atlanticfreepress.com (Chris Cook)Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:43:00 PSThttp://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12188-is-this-tom-friedmans-walter-cronkite-moment-on-afghanistan.html<div> by Harvey Wasserman<br /> <br /></div> The Iraq war's chief New York Times cheerleader has reversed field on Afghanistan. Does it mean there will be no escalation?<br /> <br /> In early 1968, after the devastating Tet Offense, CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite pronounced the Vietnam War unwinnable. Lyndon Johnson knew he had &quot;lost middle America&quot; and soon declined to run for a second term. The war dragged on for seven more hellish years. But the hearts and minds of the American public had been lost.<br /> <br /> Tom Friedman is no Walter Cronkite. His Times column is influential in certain circles, but has nowhere near the nationally unifying force as Cronkite's evening broadcasts.<br /> <br /> On the other hand, his admonition to &quot;Don't Build Up&quot; in Afghanistan indicates that the Pentagon PR blitzkrieg demanding more troops has failed in key corporate circles.<br /> <br /> Friedman's arguments are both strategic and monetary. &quot;We simply do not have the Afghan partners, the NATO allies, the domestic support, the financial resources or the national interest to justify an enlarged and prolonged nation-building effort in Afghanistan,&quot; he warns.<br /> <br /> Ceding (finally!) the inability of the United States to dictate to countries that don't like us, Friedman manages to make the whole argument without mentioning Vietnam. He never even hints at the possibility that the US might not actually have the RIGHT to interfere in the politics of other nations. <p><a href="http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12188-is-this-tom-friedmans-walter-cronkite-moment-on-afghanistan.html">Read more...</a></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/T0vLgPdWhfP0-Im-xlT1FowDul4/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/T0vLgPdWhfP0-Im-xlT1FowDul4/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/T0vLgPdWhfP0-Im-xlT1FowDul4/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/T0vLgPdWhfP0-Im-xlT1FowDul4/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=5wu4Lw5KTVY:CRNXFCv-_7g:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?i=5wu4Lw5KTVY:CRNXFCv-_7g:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=5wu4Lw5KTVY:CRNXFCv-_7g:dnMXMwOfBR0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"></img></a> </div>http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12188-is-this-tom-friedmans-walter-cronkite-moment-on-afghanistan.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AtlanticFreePress/~3/qHJU-rsrwPE/12185-preview-of-ramzy-barouds-my-father-was-a-freedom-fighter-.htmleditor@atlanticfreepress.com (Chris Cook)Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:37:00 PSThttp://atlanticfreepress.com/reviews/12185-preview-of-ramzy-barouds-my-father-was-a-freedom-fighter-.htmlby Stephen Lendman<br /> <br /><img src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41VeTa7wQFL._SL500_AA240_.jpg" id="prodImage" alt="My Father Was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza's Untold Story" align="left" border="0" />Ramzy Baroud is a veteran Palestinian-American journalist and former Al-Jazeera producer. He also taught Mass Communication at Australia's Curtin University of Technology, is a frequent speaker, a regular media guest, and is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of the Palestine Chronicle, a leading resource for information on Israel/Palestine and much more.<br /> <br />He's also written numerous articles, commentaries, short stories, and authored several books, including &quot;The Second Intifada: A Chronicle of a People's Struggle,&quot; and his latest and topic of this introductory review, &quot;My Father was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza’s Untold Story.&quot;<br /> <br />Baroud knows his subject well, having been born and raised in a Gaza refugee camp where he saw Israeli soldiers regularly oppress, harass, humiliate, and attack young Palestinians like himself in an attempt to crush their spirit and break their will to resist, to no avail no matter how hard they tried.<br /> <br />What follows is a snapshot of Baroud's forthcoming book titled, &quot;My Father was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza’s Untold Story.&quot; As distinguished Palestinian author, historian, activist and founder and president of the London-based Palestine Land Society, Salman Abu Sitta, explained in the forward:<br /> <br />Ramzy is Mohammed Baroud's son, a heroic &quot;freedom fighter, (and himself) a gifted writer (who) eloquently unearthed the recent history of Beit Daras&quot; village, chronicled his family's struggle in exile, and recounted their determination to survive and endure under siege and assaults that continue to this day. <p><a href="http://atlanticfreepress.com/reviews/12185-preview-of-ramzy-barouds-my-father-was-a-freedom-fighter-.html">Read more...</a></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/A50oC-9igJ0UOoKDhH_B7OIdZwI/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/A50oC-9igJ0UOoKDhH_B7OIdZwI/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/A50oC-9igJ0UOoKDhH_B7OIdZwI/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/A50oC-9igJ0UOoKDhH_B7OIdZwI/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=qHJU-rsrwPE:ehuXdVcTua8:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?i=qHJU-rsrwPE:ehuXdVcTua8:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=qHJU-rsrwPE:ehuXdVcTua8:dnMXMwOfBR0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"></img></a> </div>http://atlanticfreepress.com/reviews/12185-preview-of-ramzy-barouds-my-father-was-a-freedom-fighter-.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AtlanticFreePress/~3/JiJT2D8qveo/12182-letter-to-pakistans-ambassador-hon-husain-haqqani-and-pakistani-scholars-.htmleditor@atlanticfreepress.com (Chris Cook)Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:35:00 PSThttp://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12182-letter-to-pakistans-ambassador-hon-husain-haqqani-and-pakistani-scholars-.html<div>by Zahir Ebrahim<br /> <br /> <blockquote><font size="-1"><font color="#333333"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font style="font-size: 12pt" size="3">Dear Ambassador of Pakistan Hon. Husain Haqqani, Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy, Dr. Ayesha Siddiqa, and Directors at the Islamic Supreme Council of Canada,<br /> <br />Salaam Alekum,<br /> <br />I would most respectfully like to draw your kind attention to the appended perspective which cites your respective scholarship, and in the case of the named organization (hitherto quite unknown to me), of a Mr. Abul Hassaan but circulated in that organization's name.<br /> <br />As an important government functionary, and also concerned scholars and/or plebeian citizens of Pakistan watching our beloved nation disintegrate by forces which are far more powerful than each one of us individually, we would surely like to acutely comprehend how to collectively arrest the descent of our nation from its planned dismemberment. What is it that ails Pakistan? Is it the mosque, the mullah, the military, the politician, radical Islam, or “imperial mobilization”? <p><a href="http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12182-letter-to-pakistans-ambassador-hon-husain-haqqani-and-pakistani-scholars-.html">Read more...</a></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/J_HLu2g_Rc3jcb-nKs1PhmD4F2w/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/J_HLu2g_Rc3jcb-nKs1PhmD4F2w/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/J_HLu2g_Rc3jcb-nKs1PhmD4F2w/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/J_HLu2g_Rc3jcb-nKs1PhmD4F2w/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=JiJT2D8qveo:3sKLck_Kdkk:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?i=JiJT2D8qveo:3sKLck_Kdkk:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=JiJT2D8qveo:3sKLck_Kdkk:dnMXMwOfBR0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"></img></a> </div>http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12182-letter-to-pakistans-ambassador-hon-husain-haqqani-and-pakistani-scholars-.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AtlanticFreePress/~3/7_2RWRR4gFU/12179-the-oil-industry-and-its-effect-on-global-politics.htmleditor@atlanticfreepress.com (Chris Cook)Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:01:00 PDThttp://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12179-the-oil-industry-and-its-effect-on-global-politics.html<div>by James Stafford<br /> <p>Over the past century, modern society has developed a near unquenchable thirst for oil and after 100 years of searching and experimenting there is still no reliable replacement.&nbsp; &nbsp;</p> <p>“Oil is Power!” I don’t just mean power as in “energy,” I mean power, as in being a primary factor in the process of asserting and maintaining political dominance and control. Oil is needed to grow food, build infrastructure, advance technology, manufacture goods and transport them to market. It lubricates the mechanisms of both national and international politics. Those who can consistently get their hands on the most oil, at the best prices … will rule!</p> <p>So what makes oil so highly valuable that individuals, companies and sovereign states would actually be willing to go to war, if necessary, in order to defend or fight to win their “beloved?” </p> <p>First, “Oil is Universal!” It is a staple of our very existence! Oil plays a major role in practically every aspect of our lives from technology and transportation to the very food and business necessary for our survival. </p> <p>Second, “Oil is Unique!” While there may be various alternative energy supplies available for some industrial tasks such as creating electricity, there is currently no reasonable substitute for oil when it comes to transportation.&nbsp; </p> <p>Third, “Oil is Rare!” According to scientific calculations, oil is a progressively depleting fuel that is disappearing at an exponentially alarming rate. While there are still an undetermined number of rich, untapped oil deposits left to be discovered around the globe, reasonable arguments will continue as to just how quickly the world’s oil supply might run out. <br /> <br /></p> <div>However, even amongst the most optimistic and pessimistic prognosticators, there is virtually no debate that there is currently less oil available to <p><a href="http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12179-the-oil-industry-and-its-effect-on-global-politics.html">Read more...</a></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/V_08ChKsKj5XRBcTzlL5W5DHVIE/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/V_08ChKsKj5XRBcTzlL5W5DHVIE/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/V_08ChKsKj5XRBcTzlL5W5DHVIE/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/V_08ChKsKj5XRBcTzlL5W5DHVIE/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=7_2RWRR4gFU:KMNt5XztwyM:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?i=7_2RWRR4gFU:KMNt5XztwyM:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=7_2RWRR4gFU:KMNt5XztwyM:dnMXMwOfBR0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"></img></a> </div>http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12179-the-oil-industry-and-its-effect-on-global-politics.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AtlanticFreePress/~3/f3rIL5HHJhY/12176-why-socialism-matters-today-.htmleditor@atlanticfreepress.com (Chris Cook)Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:53:00 PDThttp://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12176-why-socialism-matters-today-.html<div>by Timothy V. Gatto<br /> <br />I recently paid my dues and joined the Socialist Party USA. Why did I do this? It’s pretty easy to figure out. I don’t believe that this nation has ever been threatened by those that control the government and Wall Street as it is today. We are all at the mercy of the credit card companies that convinced the Federal government to amend the bankruptcy laws so that people facing destitution still must pay off their credit cards. The pharmaceutical industry charges up to and above 2000% for brand name medicines that have no generic equivalent. The bankers on Wall Street have raped the taxpayer upwards of 7 billion dollars that cannot be accounted for by the Inspector General of the New York Federal Reserve Board in testimony this week. In fact, the Fed has not even investigated where this money went!<br /> <br />The Federal government according to Senator Dick Durban who told a local radio station in April: <em>“And the banks — hard to believe in a time when we’re facing a banking crisis that many of the banks created — are still the most powerful lobby on Capitol Hill. And they frankly own the place.” </em>All of this does not bode well for the future of this nation. Would you like me to go on? I have truckloads of information to write about. Let me give you some more examples just so you know I’m serious.<br /> <br /> Goldman Sachs is even more golden than we’d thought. The top firm on Wall Street posted a record third-quarter profit of $3.19 billion, a billion dollars higher than expected, thanks to returns on advising on takeovers and more aggressive investing. That quarterly result more than triples the $845 million it posted this <p><a href="http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12176-why-socialism-matters-today-.html">Read more...</a></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/5mJS5DEBz-WgqCBIA-jxltvm6VY/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/5mJS5DEBz-WgqCBIA-jxltvm6VY/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/5mJS5DEBz-WgqCBIA-jxltvm6VY/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/5mJS5DEBz-WgqCBIA-jxltvm6VY/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=f3rIL5HHJhY:gWWYiURpovc:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?i=f3rIL5HHJhY:gWWYiURpovc:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=f3rIL5HHJhY:gWWYiURpovc:dnMXMwOfBR0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"></img></a> </div>http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12176-why-socialism-matters-today-.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AtlanticFreePress/~3/F9EcsSs5wok/12170-self-defence-stories-from-gaza.htmleditor@atlanticfreepress.com (Chris Cook)Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:52:00 PDThttp://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12170-self-defence-stories-from-gaza.html<div>by Paul J. Balles Ph.D.<br /> <br /> <p><em>Paul J. Balles views Israel’s disinformation that its attack on Gaza was defensive against the background of the horrendous injuries which it deliberately inflicted on Gaza’s civilian population.<a href="http://www.redress.cc/palestine/pjballes20091022#diary"><strong>*</strong></a></em><br /> <br /> According to Amnesty International, some 1,400 Palestinians were killed in the 22-day Israeli offensive between 27 December 2008 and 17 January 2009, which agrees broadly with Palestinian figures. More than 900 of these were civilians, including 300 children and 115 women. <br /> <br /> Two-year old Amal Abed Rabbo, one of the 300 children casualties, died in an Israeli attack outside her house in the village of Izbit Abed Rabbo, Gaza, on 7 January 2009.<br /> <br /> The UN Human Rights Council’s Goldstone report called Israel’s military assault on Gaza “a deliberately disproportionate attack designed to punish, humiliate and terrorize a civilian population, radically diminish its local economic capacity both to work and to provide for itself, and to force upon it an ever-increasing sense of dependency and vulnerability”.<br /> <br /> Gabriela Shalev, the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, quickly rejected the report, saying it failed to take into account that the operation was in “self-defence”. <br /> <br /> Amira Qirm lay on a hospital bed with her right leg in plaster, and held together by a line of steel pins dug deep into her skin. For several days after her operation Amira, 15, was unable to speak, and even now talks only in a low whisper.<br /> <br /> Amira watched her father die in the street outside their home in Gaza, then heard another shell land and kill her brother Ala'a, 14, and her sister Ismat, 16; and then she spent three days alone, injured and semi-conscious, trying to stay alive in a <p><a href="http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12170-self-defence-stories-from-gaza.html">Read more...</a></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/FE3Ux37iPBTn3GsdY0QvU2g-QlQ/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/FE3Ux37iPBTn3GsdY0QvU2g-QlQ/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/FE3Ux37iPBTn3GsdY0QvU2g-QlQ/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/FE3Ux37iPBTn3GsdY0QvU2g-QlQ/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=F9EcsSs5wok:sOHWsR3mVF0:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?i=F9EcsSs5wok:sOHWsR3mVF0:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=F9EcsSs5wok:sOHWsR3mVF0:dnMXMwOfBR0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"></img></a> </div>http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12170-self-defence-stories-from-gaza.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AtlanticFreePress/~3/3SeLpcfWbZ4/12164-chomsky-receives-highest-pentagon-honor.htmleditor@atlanticfreepress.com (Chris Cook)Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:46:00 PDThttp://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12164-chomsky-receives-highest-pentagon-honor.htmlby Sherwood Ross<br /> <br /> The Pentagon has paid anti-war activist Noam Chomsky the highest honor any totalitarian entity can bestow upon an author: they’ve banned his book <em>“Interventions”</em> at Guantanamo Bay prison. <br /> <br /> They won’t say precisely <em>why</em> they “honored” Chomsky, but Navy spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Brook DeWalt told the Miami <em>Herald </em>that“<em>Interventions</em>”(City Lights Books) might negatively “impact on (Gitmo’s) good order and discipline.” <br /> <br /> The Pentagon, of course, insists on “good order and discipline” running its prison camp. Chomsky likes order, too. What he objects to is the Pentagon spreading <em>dis</em>order globally.<br /> <br /> Instead of thanking the Pentagon for his “honor,” Chomsky, is said to be angry. The <em>Herald </em>quotes him as saying, “This happens sometimes in totalitarian regimes.”<br /> <br /> Indeed! Nazi newsreels show Hitler’s brown shirts igniting huge bonfires in German streets into which they pitched banned books. Hitler banned over 4,000 books ranging from anti-war novel “<em>All Quiet on the Western Front</em>” by Erich Maria Remarque to Jack London’s “<em>The Call of The Wild.”</em><br /> <br /> And just as Communist Russia wouldn’t let its citizens read <em>“The First Circle” </em>and “Cancer Ward” by Alexander Solzhenitsyn, comrades in the Pentagon refused to allow Gitmo prisoner Hamza al Bahlul to read Chomsky’s <em>“Interventions,”</em> sent him by a defense lawyer. <br /> <br /> The Pentagon’s ban mimics Iran’s campaign to kill British novelist Salman Rushdie for his 1988 epic “<em>The Satanic Verses.” </em> Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeni indicted Rushdie as “blasphemous against Islam.” The Pentagon, according to The <em>Herald, </em>won’t authorize a book that is “anti-American, anti-Semitic, (or) anti-Western.” Note the similarities of the Pentagon’s objections and the Ayatollah’s. Kissin’ cousins, maybe? Some might suspect its Pentagon censorship that’s “anti-American.” <p><a href="http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12164-chomsky-receives-highest-pentagon-honor.html">Read more...</a></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/_0HQ4m0-LvqUkWg1uBNo6oRtxPM/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/_0HQ4m0-LvqUkWg1uBNo6oRtxPM/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/_0HQ4m0-LvqUkWg1uBNo6oRtxPM/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/_0HQ4m0-LvqUkWg1uBNo6oRtxPM/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=3SeLpcfWbZ4:Sf4o5LuOuWE:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?i=3SeLpcfWbZ4:Sf4o5LuOuWE:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=3SeLpcfWbZ4:Sf4o5LuOuWE:dnMXMwOfBR0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"></img></a> </div>http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12164-chomsky-receives-highest-pentagon-honor.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AtlanticFreePress/~3/i3-NwR5q9e0/12167-some-inconvenient-truths-about-competition.htmleditor@atlanticfreepress.com (Chris Cook)Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:45:00 PDThttp://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12167-some-inconvenient-truths-about-competition.html<div>by Kellia Ramares<br /> <br />Here is an excerpts of a story that appeared in the New York Times on October 21, 2009. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/22/us/22hire.html?_r=2&amp;ref=business" target="_blank">The title of the story</a> was “$13 an hour? 500 sign-up, 1 wins a job”. <br /> <br /> &quot;The 34-year-old recruiter decided the fairest approach was simply to start at the beginning, reviewing resumes in the order in which they came in. When she found a desirable candidate, she called to ask a few preliminary questions, before forwarding the name along to Chris Kelsey, the school's director. When he had a big enough pool to evaluate, she would stop. Anyone she did not get to was simply out of luck.&quot; <br /> <br /> The paragraph above exposes the lie that one's employability is basically a function of the individual's own ability and that if you don't have a job, it is your fault. Built into any competitive economic system are several fundamental, interrelated and inconvenient truths. The first is that there are often not enough jobs to go around. In this current Great Recession, this particular fundamental truth is writ large, but even in the best of times, this is often true because even when certain jobs are going begging, it is because there is a mismatch between available jobs and available worker skills. Rarely, if ever, do you have a situation where there is one job and only one qualified worker. That situation is approximated only in such jobs as acting or athletics, where a particular, identifiable person is wanted for a particular slot. Even then, other people can fill the position if, for example, the actor turns down the role or the free-agent athlete elects to sign with another team. But in those situations, the casting director or general manager usually <p><a href="http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12167-some-inconvenient-truths-about-competition.html">Read more...</a></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/JXMZUIbkqrDxrGrix-JT6nsK4X4/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/JXMZUIbkqrDxrGrix-JT6nsK4X4/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/JXMZUIbkqrDxrGrix-JT6nsK4X4/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/JXMZUIbkqrDxrGrix-JT6nsK4X4/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=i3-NwR5q9e0:kK4hjmTn7C0:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?i=i3-NwR5q9e0:kK4hjmTn7C0:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=i3-NwR5q9e0:kK4hjmTn7C0:dnMXMwOfBR0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"></img></a> </div>http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12167-some-inconvenient-truths-about-competition.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AtlanticFreePress/~3/6_pH6y2-TmI/12161-carolyn-baker-reviews-duane-elgins-qthe-living-universeq.htmleditor@atlanticfreepress.com (Chris Cook)Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:43:00 PDThttp://atlanticfreepress.com/reviews/12161-carolyn-baker-reviews-duane-elgins-qthe-living-universeq.html<div>by Carolyn Baker<br /> <br /> <img alt="" src="http://carolynbaker.net/site/images/the%20living%20universe%20cover.jpg" align="right" />A critical step in this supercharged setting is to imagine together the world of our vision. All current signs point to a future of catastrophe and ruin, and it is easy to envision many such scenarios but much harder to visualize a future of opportunity and renewal. The latter is still a vague and unformed possibility in our collective imagination. The bigger the challenges, Elgin implies, the larger the vision required to transform conflict into cooperation and thereby facilitate a more promising future. Not only must we hold an expansive vision, but that vision must be informed by a commitment to a larger story of humanity than civilization has provided. <br /> <br /> Article Reprinted from <strong><a target="_self" href="http://transition-times.com/blog/2009/10/20/book-commentary-duane-elgins-the-living-universe/">TRANSITION TIMES</a></strong> (COLORADO EDITION) <br /> <br /> In the current moment it is nearly impossible to trust many of the voices in our world that issue from the field of economics. It is safe to say that none of the most esteemed in the field has the slightest idea how to address the global economic crisis. So when I picked up Duane Elgin’s book <em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Living-Universe-Where-Are-Going/dp/1576759695/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1255983057&amp;sr=1-1"><u>The Living Universe: Where Are We? Who Are We? Where Are We Going?</u></a></em>, I was a bit wary when I read about his MBA from Wharton Business School—that is, until I realized that he is also the author of <em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Voluntary-Simplicity-Outwardly-Inwardly-Revised/dp/0688121195/ref=pd_sim_b_2"><u>Voluntary Simplicity: Toward A Way of Life That Is Outwardly Simple, Inwardly Rich.</u></a></em> Even more reassuring is Elgin’s work as a social research scientist at SRI International and his work with Joseph Campbell alongside his lifelong commitment to integrate science, economics, and the world’s greatest wisdom traditions.<span id="more-47"> </span><br /> <br /> Elgin asserts that on the other side of our growing systems crisis, the <p><a href="http://atlanticfreepress.com/reviews/12161-carolyn-baker-reviews-duane-elgins-qthe-living-universeq.html">Read more...</a></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/TKYKTavs_bCslBVTK73iXrPANdo/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/TKYKTavs_bCslBVTK73iXrPANdo/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/TKYKTavs_bCslBVTK73iXrPANdo/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/TKYKTavs_bCslBVTK73iXrPANdo/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=6_pH6y2-TmI:7UnrR_X2qs4:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?i=6_pH6y2-TmI:7UnrR_X2qs4:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=6_pH6y2-TmI:7UnrR_X2qs4:dnMXMwOfBR0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"></img></a> </div>http://atlanticfreepress.com/reviews/12161-carolyn-baker-reviews-duane-elgins-qthe-living-universeq.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AtlanticFreePress/~3/vX-FQFCSp4M/12158-us-forcibly-deported-islanders-and-gassed-their-dogs-to-make-way-for-diego-garcia-military-base-.htmleditor@atlanticfreepress.com (Chris Cook)Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:39:00 PDThttp://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12158-us-forcibly-deported-islanders-and-gassed-their-dogs-to-make-way-for-diego-garcia-military-base-.html<div>by Sherwood Ross<br /> <br />In order to convert the sleepy, Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia into a dominating military base, the U.S. forcibly transported its 2,000 Chagossian inhabitants into exile and gassed their dogs.<br /> <br />By banning journalists from the area, the U.S. Navy was able to perpetrate this with virtually no press coverage, says David Vine, an assistant professor of anthropology at American University and author of <em>“Island of Shame: the Secret History of the U.S. Military on Diego Garcia</em>(Princeton University Press).”<br /> <br />“The Chagossians were put on a boat and taken to Mauritius and the Seychelles, 1,200 miles away, where they were left on the docks, with no money and no housing, to fend for themselves,” Vine said on the interview show “Books Of Our Time,” sponsored by the Massachusetts School of Law at Andover.<br /> <br />“They were promised jobs that never materialized. They had been living on an island with schools, hospitals, and full employment, sort of like a French coastal village, and they were consigned to a life of abject poverty in exile, unemployment, health problems, and were the poorest of the poor,” Vine told interview host Lawrence Velvel, dean of the law school.<br /> <br />Their pet dogs were rounded up and gassed, and their bodies burned, before the very eyes of their traumatized owners, Vine said.<br /> <br />“They were moved because they were few in number and not white,” Vine added. The U.S. government circulated the fiction the Chagossians were transient contract workers that had taken up residence only recently but, in fact, they had been living on Diego Garcia since about the time of the American Revolution. Merchants had imported them to work on the coconut and copra plantations. Vine said the U.S. government induced The Washington <p><a href="http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12158-us-forcibly-deported-islanders-and-gassed-their-dogs-to-make-way-for-diego-garcia-military-base-.html">Read more...</a></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/9uLT-V2l64UnPAxivjtnisVDD7E/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/9uLT-V2l64UnPAxivjtnisVDD7E/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/9uLT-V2l64UnPAxivjtnisVDD7E/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/9uLT-V2l64UnPAxivjtnisVDD7E/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=vX-FQFCSp4M:pfeerhgRcYM:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?i=vX-FQFCSp4M:pfeerhgRcYM:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=vX-FQFCSp4M:pfeerhgRcYM:dnMXMwOfBR0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"></img></a> </div>http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12158-us-forcibly-deported-islanders-and-gassed-their-dogs-to-make-way-for-diego-garcia-military-base-.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AtlanticFreePress/~3/VfjtBInD6KE/12155-tariq-mehanna-obamas-latest-muslim-target-.htmleditor@atlanticfreepress.com (Chris Cook)Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:37:00 PDThttp://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12155-tariq-mehanna-obamas-latest-muslim-target-.htmlby Stephen Lendman<br /> <br />Post-9/11, Muslims have been victimized, vilified, and persecuted for their faith, ethnicity, prominence, activism, and charity. They've been targeted, hunted down, rounded up, held in detention, kept in isolation, denied bail, restricted in their right to counsel, tried on secret evidence, convicted on bogus charges, given long sentences, then incarcerated for extra harsh treatment as political prisoners in segregated Communication Management Units (CMUs) in violation of US Prison Bureau regulations and the Supreme Court's February 2005 Johnson v. California decision.<br /> <br />An October 21 FBI press release announced Tariq (mispelled Tarek) Mehanna as its most recent target saying:<br /> <br />&quot;A Sudbury, Mass. man was charged today in federal court with conspiracy to provide support to terrorists.&quot;<br /> <br />The FBI alleged that from &quot;about 2001 and continuing until (about) May 2008, Mehanna conspired with Ahmad Abousamra and others to provide material support and resources for use in carrying out a conspiracy to kill, kidnap, main or injure persons or damage property in a foreign country and extraterritorial homicide of a US national.&quot;<br /> <br />With no substantiating evidence, &quot;Mehanna and coconspirators (were accused of having) discussed their desire to participate in violent jihad against American interests and that they would talk about fighting jihad and their desire to die on the battlefield. (They also) attempted to radicalize others and inspire each other by, among other things, watching and distributing jihadi videos. (In addition), Mehanna and two of his associates traveled to the Middle East in February 2004, seeking military-type training at a terrorist training camp (to) prepare them for armed jihad....including (against) US and allied forces in Iraq....(One) of Mehanna's coconspirators made two similar trips to Pakistan in 2002.&quot; <p><a href="http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12155-tariq-mehanna-obamas-latest-muslim-target-.html">Read more...</a></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/XeQ_fA3O4eaDk1ChtSYz7KHZQgQ/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/XeQ_fA3O4eaDk1ChtSYz7KHZQgQ/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/XeQ_fA3O4eaDk1ChtSYz7KHZQgQ/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/XeQ_fA3O4eaDk1ChtSYz7KHZQgQ/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=VfjtBInD6KE:Rm6dPavhiig:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?i=VfjtBInD6KE:Rm6dPavhiig:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=VfjtBInD6KE:Rm6dPavhiig:dnMXMwOfBR0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"></img></a> </div>http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12155-tariq-mehanna-obamas-latest-muslim-target-.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AtlanticFreePress/~3/5HCQFxTI17o/12152--a-rare-victory-for-lebanons-palestinians-why-hezbollah-ushered-its-key-lebanese-ally-to-the-woodshed-.htmleditor@atlanticfreepress.com (Chris Cook)Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:35:00 PDThttp://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12152--a-rare-victory-for-lebanons-palestinians-why-hezbollah-ushered-its-key-lebanese-ally-to-the-woodshed-.htmlby Franklin Lamb - Syria’s Yarmouk Refugee Camp, Damascus<br /> <br />Known simply as “ the General” Michel Naim Aoun was born in a peaceful mixed Christian-Shia area of Haret Hreik, now a core Hezbollah area. He rose from poverty to become the head of Lebanon’s newly created Eighth army following the September 1983 battle of Souq el Gharb against Palestinian and Druze forces. Six years later he served a forcibly truncated term as President of Lebanon. Since returning from a self imposed 15 year exile in France in 2005, he is widely believed to intend to gain that office.<br /> <br /> A current outspoken member of Lebanon’s parliament, Aoun has many supporters and detractors being variously referred to a brilliant, cunning, honest, corrupt, obstructionist, mercurial, mentally ill, Napoleonic, and Hezbollah’s most important political ally.<br /> <br /> The past couple of months have seen the General’s popular support shrink a bit and one of his recent antics led to Hezbollah signal its concern since the leaders of the Resistance were reeiving political heat they did not need nor felt they deserved.<br /> <br /> This current problem began on August 13, 2009 when the key Hezbollah ally and ambitious leader of the Free Patriotic Movement sought and was immediately granted from Lebanon’s highest administrative Court, the Shura Council, an injunction freezing any and all reconstruction of Nahr al Bared (Arabic: Cold River) Palestinian Refugees camp which had been destroyed two years ago in a three month battle between the salafist group Fatah al Islam and the Lebanese army. The renewable injunction was initially for 60 days and it instantly froze UNRWA’s $445-million rebuilding project for the complete rebuilding of Nahr al Bared by the projected April 2012 completion date. Aoun’s injunction added to the skepticism over the reconstruction <p><a href="http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12152--a-rare-victory-for-lebanons-palestinians-why-hezbollah-ushered-its-key-lebanese-ally-to-the-woodshed-.html">Read more...</a></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/rBe65DroitPUgell3GOHVw-CFc4/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/rBe65DroitPUgell3GOHVw-CFc4/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/rBe65DroitPUgell3GOHVw-CFc4/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/rBe65DroitPUgell3GOHVw-CFc4/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=5HCQFxTI17o:hf2oMfEch7Y:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?i=5HCQFxTI17o:hf2oMfEch7Y:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=5HCQFxTI17o:hf2oMfEch7Y:dnMXMwOfBR0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"></img></a> </div>http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12152--a-rare-victory-for-lebanons-palestinians-why-hezbollah-ushered-its-key-lebanese-ally-to-the-woodshed-.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AtlanticFreePress/~3/SlWmdnZvOcs/12149-thnkng-valuations-.htmleditor@atlanticfreepress.com (Chris Cook)Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:33:00 PDThttp://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12149-thnkng-valuations-.html<div>by Fred Cederholm<br /> <br />I’ve been thinking about valuations. Actually I’ve been thinking about money, the US dollar, the US Treasury, the EURO, oil and gasoline, the stock (equity markets), and Norway’s income and net worth listing. If you haven’t noticed, the US Dollar has dropped over the recent weeks. If what you purchase seems to cost more today than it did a month ago, I’d suspect that this is due the fall of the Dollar relative to the other major currencies in the world. </div><br /> You see since we import so much of what we consume, we have to purchase these foreign goods services, and foodstuffs with Dollars converted into whatever currency is needed. Some countries are willing to accept Uncle $ugar’s buck for their goods, services and foodstuffs – a growing number of nations is not so willing and therein lays the rub. The US Dollar is still the reserve currency of planet Earth, but it is looking like its glory days may be over (or at least are being strongly questioned in the meeting rooms of the central banks around the globe). Over time, this shift/ decline in relative valuations hit the Greeks, Romans, French, and English and ended their position as the global money. <br /> <br /> One major difference between the “then dominant currencies” and now is that all currencies today have nothing but a lick and a promise behind them. This is true whether you are talking about Dollars, EURO’s, Yen, Pounds Sterling, Krona, Riyals, Rubles, Pesos, or Renminbis. There is no established weight of gold/ silver behind any currency. Each country pretty much prints as much currency as it wants/ needs. The valuation relative to other currencies depends on how the world perceives the “full faith and credit of the <p><a href="http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12149-thnkng-valuations-.html">Read more...</a></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/uINfNsy-ulflV8tWq1A_bvBVohE/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/uINfNsy-ulflV8tWq1A_bvBVohE/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/uINfNsy-ulflV8tWq1A_bvBVohE/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/uINfNsy-ulflV8tWq1A_bvBVohE/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=SlWmdnZvOcs:MPQN1vYTnXs:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?i=SlWmdnZvOcs:MPQN1vYTnXs:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=SlWmdnZvOcs:MPQN1vYTnXs:dnMXMwOfBR0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"></img></a> </div>http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12149-thnkng-valuations-.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AtlanticFreePress/~3/o-2fZ-lMM9E/12146-pentagon-dirty-bombers-depleted-uranium-in-the-usa.htmleditor@atlanticfreepress.com (Chris Cook)Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:30:00 PDThttp://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12146-pentagon-dirty-bombers-depleted-uranium-in-the-usa.htmlby Dave Lindorff<br /> <br />The Nuclear Regulator Commission is considering an application by the US Army for a permit to have depleted uranium at its Pohakuloa Training Area, a vast stretch of flat land in what’s called the “saddle” between the sacred mountains of Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea on Hawaii’s Big Island, and at the Schofield Barracks on the island of Oahu. In fact, what the Army is asking for is a permit to leave in place the DU left over from years of test firing of M101 mortar “spotting rounds,” that each contained close to half a pound of depleted uranium (DU). The Army, which originally denied that any DU weapons had been used at either location, now says that as many as 2000 rounds of M101 DU mortars might have been fired at Pohakuloa alone.<br /> <br /> But that’s only a small part of the story.<br /> <br /> The Army is actually seeking a master permit from the NRC to cover all the sites where it has fired DU weapons, including penetrator shells that, unlike the M101, are designed to hit targets and burn on impact, turning the DU in the warhead into a fine dust of uranium oxide. Hearings on this proposal were held in Hawaii on Aug. 26 and 27.<br /> <br /><img src="http://www.thiscantbehappening.net/files/images/DUM101spottinground.preview.jpg" alt="Depleted uranium M101 'spotter round' for Davy Crockett Mortar" title="Depleted uranium M101 'spotter round' for Davy Crockett Mortar" height="275" width="350" /><br /> <br /><strong>Depleted uranium M101 &quot;spotter round&quot; for Davy Crockett Mortar</strong><br /> <br /> Uranium particles, whether pure uranium or in an oxidized form, are alpha emitters, and can be highly carcinogenic and mutagenic if ingested or inhaled, since they can lodge in one part of the body—the kidney or lung or gonad, for example—and then irradiate <p><a href="http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12146-pentagon-dirty-bombers-depleted-uranium-in-the-usa.html">Read more...</a></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/PQkN6JrOordzkk35nMwYvNGKo9k/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/PQkN6JrOordzkk35nMwYvNGKo9k/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/PQkN6JrOordzkk35nMwYvNGKo9k/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/PQkN6JrOordzkk35nMwYvNGKo9k/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=o-2fZ-lMM9E:vYZpyaiqozM:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?i=o-2fZ-lMM9E:vYZpyaiqozM:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=o-2fZ-lMM9E:vYZpyaiqozM:dnMXMwOfBR0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"></img></a> </div>http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12146-pentagon-dirty-bombers-depleted-uranium-in-the-usa.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AtlanticFreePress/~3/869ywSqcMrQ/12140-challenging-the-dahiya-doctrine.htmleditor@atlanticfreepress.com (Chris Cook)Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:17:00 PDThttp://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12140-challenging-the-dahiya-doctrine.html<div>by Brenda Heard<br /> <br /> <blockquote> “Part of the functions of reports such as this is to attempt, albeit in a very small way, to restore the dignity of those whose rights have been violated in the most fundamental way of all –the arbitrary deprivation of life. It is important that the international community asserts formally and unequivocally that such violence to the most basic fundamental rights and freedoms of individuals should not be overlooked and should be condemned.” <br /> <div align="right"><em><a href="http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/specialsession/9/docs/UNFFMGC_Report.pdf" target="_blank">--The Goldstone Report, p 524 ¶ 1682</a></em><br /> </div></blockquote> <p><br /> The tragic <a href="http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1116912.html" target="_blank">tale</a> of the Samouni family of Gaza has become well known. “We feel [we are] in an exile, even though we are in our homeland, on our land,” says Salah Samouni in a <a href="http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1121720.html" target="_blank">recent Haaretz article</a>. “We sit and envy the dead. They are the ones who are at rest.” The interesting part, though, is not the renewed images of the dead. The interesting part is the backdrop of suggestion: the Samouni family felt that their longstanding, amicable relationship with the Israeli powers would protect them; they were naively mistaken. They were to be victims to the Dahiya Doctrine.<br /> <br />The Haaretz report states that Salah’s father, Talal, “‘had been employed by Jews’ for nearly 40 years and that whenever he was sick, ‘the employer would call, ask after his health, and forbid him to come to work before he had recovered.’” They had managed to get along. <br /> <br /></p> <div> Haaretz notes that the “Samounis were always confident that, in the event of any military invasions into Gaza, they could always manage to get along with the Israeli army. Until 2005, before Israel's disengagement from the Strip, the Jewish settlement of Netzarim was located <p><a href="http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12140-challenging-the-dahiya-doctrine.html">Read more...</a></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/qxzTPqT7yWRFx8Oyyrq3qVJWvQk/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/qxzTPqT7yWRFx8Oyyrq3qVJWvQk/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/qxzTPqT7yWRFx8Oyyrq3qVJWvQk/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/qxzTPqT7yWRFx8Oyyrq3qVJWvQk/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=869ywSqcMrQ:jrbdcJEY3pc:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?i=869ywSqcMrQ:jrbdcJEY3pc:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=869ywSqcMrQ:jrbdcJEY3pc:dnMXMwOfBR0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"></img></a> </div>noby Brenda Heard “Part of the functions of reports such as this is to attempt, albeit in a very small way, to restore the dignity of those whose rights have been violated in the most fundamental way of all –the arbitrary deprivation of life. It is importanChris Cookby Brenda Heard “Part of the functions of reports such as this is to attempt, albeit in a very small way, to restore the dignity of those whose rights have been violated in the most fundamental way of all –the arbitrary deprivation of life. It is important that the international community asserts formally and unequivocally that such violence to the most basic fundamental rights and freedoms of individuals should not be overlooked and should be condemned.” --The Goldstone Report, p 524 ¶ 1682 The tragic tale of the Samouni family of Gaza has become well known. “We feel [we are] in an exile, even though we are in our homeland, on our land,” says Salah Samouni in a recent Haaretz article. “We sit and envy the dead. They are the ones who are at rest.” The interesting part, though, is not the renewed images of the dead. The interesting part is the backdrop of suggestion: the Samouni family felt that their longstanding, amicable relationship with the Israeli powers would protect them; they were naively mistaken. They were to be victims to the Dahiya Doctrine. The Haaretz report states that Salah’s father, Talal, “‘had been employed by Jews’ for nearly 40 years and that whenever he was sick, ‘the employer would call, ask after his health, and forbid him to come to work before he had recovered.’” They had managed to get along. Haaretz notes that the “Samounis were always confident that, in the event of any military invasions into Gaza, they could always manage to get along with the Israeli army. Until 2005, before Israel's disengagement from the Strip, the Jewish settlement of Netzarim was located Read more...Chris,Cook,is,the,assistant,editor,of,Atlantic,Free,Press,and,hosts,Gorilla,Radio,airing,live,every,Monday,5,6pm,Pacific,Time,In,Victoria,at,101,9FM,104,3,cable,and,on,the,internet,at,http,//cfuv,uvic,ca,He,also,serves,as,a,contributing,editor,at,thttp://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12140-challenging-the-dahiya-doctrine.htmlhttp://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/specialsession/9/docs/UNFFMGC_Report.pdfhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AtlanticFreePress/~3/YSjwrh-ffsc/12134-the-pakistan-decapitation-papers.htmleditor@atlanticfreepress.com (Chris Cook)Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:05:00 PDThttp://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12134-the-pakistan-decapitation-papers.html<div>by Zahir Ebrahim<br /> <br /><strong>Foreword</strong> <br /> <br /> Who in Pakistan has not heard of the famous fable of King Solomon the wise. When presented with two women feuding over a baby, each claiming to be the real mother, the king drew his mighty sword to cut the baby in half to give to each quarrelsome woman. One of them, the real mother, cried out: <em>“It's hers, it's hers, please give the entire beautiful baby to her, she is the real mother; I don't want half of the dead!”</em><br /> <br /> Alas, on the face of it, not one among the rulers of Pakistan is the real mother of the Pakistani peoples.<br /> <br /> Pakistan has been under the hectoringhegemons' sword the moment the Berlin Wall came down. Almost overnight, with the calculated destruction of the Soviet Union, a new perpetual enemy of mankind was brought to the fore in the continuing game of Hegelian Dialectics to raise a new phoenix of world government from the ashes of the old world order. Variously titled as militant Islam, radical Islam, islamofascism, but most often called Islamism to bring it kinship with the earlier enemies of mankind, namely, Fascism, Nazism, and Communism, though not Zionism, Pakistan has been the unrecognized eye of the storm from day one. <br /> <br /> The only Muslim country with nuclear weapons, also harboring a ready-made psychological-tribal ethos which makes some of its inhabitants easy recruits for enabling the perpetual World War IV with just the right “tickling”, Pakistan had to be both harvested for fodder, and setup fordestabilization and balkanization. The latter not primarily for the purpose which is most apparent, the riches under its soil, but to continue the path of creating World Order. <br /> <br /> The previous <p><a href="http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12134-the-pakistan-decapitation-papers.html">Read more...</a></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/oZ-oMTrM8wNznLxSNovwerlKCyc/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/oZ-oMTrM8wNznLxSNovwerlKCyc/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/oZ-oMTrM8wNznLxSNovwerlKCyc/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/oZ-oMTrM8wNznLxSNovwerlKCyc/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=YSjwrh-ffsc:_aLJfX5qFWc:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?i=YSjwrh-ffsc:_aLJfX5qFWc:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=YSjwrh-ffsc:_aLJfX5qFWc:dnMXMwOfBR0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"></img></a> </div>http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12134-the-pakistan-decapitation-papers.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AtlanticFreePress/~3/_gee8mfZITI/12131-after-all-i-am-a-proper-zionist-jew-by-gilad-atzmon.htmleditor@atlanticfreepress.com (Chris Cook)Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:04:00 PDThttp://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12131-after-all-i-am-a-proper-zionist-jew-by-gilad-atzmon.htmlby Gilad Atzmon<br /> <br /> <blockquote> Gilad Atzmon (Hebrew: גלעד עצמון‎, born June 9, 1963) is a jazz musician, author and anti-Zionist activist who was born in Israel and currently lives in London. <blockquote> &quot;Anti-Semite is an empty signifier, no one actually can be an Anti-Semite and this includes me of course. In short, you are either a racist - which I am not - or have an ideological disagreement with Zionism... which I have.&quot;</blockquote> He was born a secular Israeli Jew in Tel Aviv, and trained at the Rubin Academy of Music in Jerusalem. His service in the Israeli military convinced him Israel had become a militarized state controlled by religious extremists. In 1994, Atzmon emigrated from Israel to London, where he studied philosophy. Atzmon is an anti-Zionist who critiques Jewish identity issues and supports the Palestinian Right of Return as well as the establishment of a single state in Israel/Palestine. He is a signatory to the &quot;Palestinians are the Priority Petition&quot; which states “full and unconditional support of the Palestinian people is a condition sine qua non for activists to adopt.</blockquote><br /> Yes, I am a survivor, for I have managed to survive all the scary accounts of the Holocaust<strong>:</strong> the one about the soap (1), the one about the lamp shades, the one about the camps, the mass shooting, the one about the gas (2) and the one about the death march (3). I just managed to survive them all.<br /> <br /> In spite of all these fear inflicting stories, that were purposely installed in my soul since I opened my eyes for the first time, I have become a functional and even a successful human being. I somehow survived the horror against all odds. I even manage to love my neighbour. In spite of <p><a href="http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12131-after-all-i-am-a-proper-zionist-jew-by-gilad-atzmon.html">Read more...</a></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/LsCS4BbxARPPq7fSOSswXxgRvKg/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/LsCS4BbxARPPq7fSOSswXxgRvKg/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/LsCS4BbxARPPq7fSOSswXxgRvKg/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/LsCS4BbxARPPq7fSOSswXxgRvKg/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=_gee8mfZITI:blYD0owMlB0:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?i=_gee8mfZITI:blYD0owMlB0:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=_gee8mfZITI:blYD0owMlB0:dnMXMwOfBR0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"></img></a> </div>http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12131-after-all-i-am-a-proper-zionist-jew-by-gilad-atzmon.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AtlanticFreePress/~3/JjioSANSbrY/12137-tomgram-michael-klare-the-great-superpower-meltdown.htmleditor@atlanticfreepress.com (Chris Cook)Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:59:00 PDThttp://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12137-tomgram-michael-klare-the-great-superpower-meltdown.html<div>by Tom Engelhardt<br /> <br /> Think of us as just having passed through the failed era of &quot;must&quot; in Washington. For almost eight years, George W. Bush made speeches and appearances in which he hectored this or that country, or enemy, or people about what they &quot;must&quot; do. Never, I suspect, has an American president lectured more people out there on their responsibilities to us. Looking back, what's surprising is how few paid much attention. The Iraqis didn't listen, nor did the Afghans, nor the Iranians, nor, it seems, the Pakistanis, nor the Russians, nor the Chinese... and so on. It's been a remarkably ignominious lesson in bluster and bust -- and a reasonable measure of the actual power of a country that, not so many years ago, Washington pundits were happily (and favorably) comparing to the Roman and British empires in its reach and ambition. <br /> <br /> In Washington, recently, those &quot;musts&quot; have been on the wane, which is hardly surprising. In the wake of a series of failed wars and a near economic collapse, a lot of &quot;musts&quot; now seem increasingly aimed in Washington's direction. Michael Klare, author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/0805089217/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20">Rising Powers, Shrinking Planet: The New Geopolitics of Energy</a>, has turned to another unusual but striking measure of waning American power in the world, an official report on the relatively distant future issued by the U.S. Intelligence Community late last year. The distant future was <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/174985">once</a>, of course, the province of utopian or dystopian thinkers, pulp fiction writers, oddballs, visionaries, even outright nuts, not government intelligence services. Regularly analyzing that future has, however, become almost as much a duty of the 18 agencies of the U.S. Intelligence Community as doing National Intelligence Estimates on Iran. Consider that a measure of national security sprawl. Maybe, <p><a href="http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12137-tomgram-michael-klare-the-great-superpower-meltdown.html">Read more...</a></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/XOVO8Xpte-aV73c2dlQvVdJEz78/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/XOVO8Xpte-aV73c2dlQvVdJEz78/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/XOVO8Xpte-aV73c2dlQvVdJEz78/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/XOVO8Xpte-aV73c2dlQvVdJEz78/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=JjioSANSbrY:ri95EJdt4U8:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?i=JjioSANSbrY:ri95EJdt4U8:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=JjioSANSbrY:ri95EJdt4U8:dnMXMwOfBR0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"></img></a> </div>http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12137-tomgram-michael-klare-the-great-superpower-meltdown.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AtlanticFreePress/~3/BAiC405xCIY/12128-no-one-else-will-stop-the-killing-veterans-group-to-members-multiply-resistance-by-any-peaceful-means-available-.htmleditor@atlanticfreepress.com (Chris Cook)Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:54:00 PDThttp://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12128-no-one-else-will-stop-the-killing-veterans-group-to-members-multiply-resistance-by-any-peaceful-means-available-.htmlby Mike Ferner<br /> <br /> In a statement today directed to the U.S. House of Representatives, President Obama and its membership, Veterans For Peace urged its chapters to demonstrate opposition to the war in Afghanistan and Pakistan by doing two things: <br /> <br />1) Take the actions listed below within the next several days, <u>before</u> President Obama decides to escalate the war in Afghanistan, and <br /> <br /> 2) Plan acts of even greater resistance during the two days following any such decision. <br /> <br /> <blockquote> <ul> <li>Continue writing and calling our representatives and demanding peace. </li> <li>If we’ve done that: take to the streets </li> <li>If we’ve done that: sit down in the streets </li> <li>If we’ve done that: sit down in Congressional offices </li> <li>If we’ve done that: sit down, clog up, incapacitate, call in sick, withdraw consent and generally bring the nation’s business to a halt, wherever and whenever we can, with any peaceful means available. </li></ul></blockquote> <ul type="disc"></ul><strong><u>To President Obama and the U.S. House of Representatives: </u></strong> <br /> <br />As veterans of our nation’s wars, we insist you hear our call. <br /> <br />British Prime Minister <a href="http://www.biographybase.com/biography/Baldwin_Stanley.html" target="_blank"><u>Stanley Baldwin</u></a> spoke an unassailable truth when he said, “War would end if the dead could return.” If you believe that is true, Mr. President and Members of the House, you must heed our counsel well: <u>we are the closest anyone can come to that truth the dead would speak.</u> <u>Stop the killing!</u> <br /> <br />Because we personally understand what war truly means, we have written, called and demonstrated repeatedly for an end to the killing in Afghanistan and Iraq. We have protested at and have been arrested in House Office Buildings, the House Gallery, the White House and Congressional <p><a href="http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12128-no-one-else-will-stop-the-killing-veterans-group-to-members-multiply-resistance-by-any-peaceful-means-available-.html">Read more...</a></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/a_2wt3qmSO-qaPVqAQl3-7gD_Rk/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/a_2wt3qmSO-qaPVqAQl3-7gD_Rk/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/a_2wt3qmSO-qaPVqAQl3-7gD_Rk/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/a_2wt3qmSO-qaPVqAQl3-7gD_Rk/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=BAiC405xCIY:HBFLkMsjnlI:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?i=BAiC405xCIY:HBFLkMsjnlI:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=BAiC405xCIY:HBFLkMsjnlI:dnMXMwOfBR0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"></img></a> </div>http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12128-no-one-else-will-stop-the-killing-veterans-group-to-members-multiply-resistance-by-any-peaceful-means-available-.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AtlanticFreePress/~3/huA8P1ujKXw/12125-president-barack-h-obama-one-year-later-c-for-effort.htmleditor@atlanticfreepress.com (Chris Cook)Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:54:00 PDThttp://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12125-president-barack-h-obama-one-year-later-c-for-effort.htmlby Rodrigue Tremblay Ph.D. <blockquote>&quot;I don't want to just end the [Iraq] war, but I want to end the mind-set that got us into war in the first place.&quot;<br /> <div align="right"> Presidential candidate Barack Obama, January 31, 2008</div></blockquote> <blockquote> “Behind the ostensible government sits enthroned an invisible government owing no allegiance and acknowledging no responsibility to the people.”<br /> <div align="right"> Theodore Roosevelt (1882-1945), 26th US president</div></blockquote> <blockquote> <div> “If we are strong, our character will speak for itself. If we are weak, words will be of no help.”</div> <div align="right"> John F. Kennedy (1917-1963), 35th US President</div></blockquote> <blockquote> “If the Nuremberg laws were applied, then every post-war American president would have been hanged.” <br /> <div align="right"> Noam Chomsky, linguist and political expert</div></blockquote> Barack H. Obama was a good presidential candidate but, so far, in crucial areas, he has been a somewhat disappointing president.<br /> <br /> In November 2008, Democratic presidential candidate <a href="http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&amp;aid=9516">Barack H. Obama</a>, and the first black American to have that chance, got to the U.S. presidency on the coattails of a despised Bush-Cheney administration. Indeed, it was a relief for a majority of Americans to have Senator Obama replace “facts-do-not-matter” George W. Bush as president of the was little more than a Bush-retread. It was therefore unavoidable that such an election would generate big expectations that things would change for the better. As a matter of fact, candidate Obama's electoral slogans were <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fe751kMBwms">“Yes we can”</a> and <a href="http://my.barackobama.com/page/invite/cwcbiinvite">“change we can believe in”</a>. <br /> <br /> Because President Obama is America’s first black President, he is symbolically the culmination of Martin Luther King's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_rights_movement%20-%20Civil_Rights_Movement_in_the_United_States"> Civil Rights movement.</a> Because of that, many have hesitated to criticize him or his administration. But his record, so far, speaks for itself. In two central areas, <p><a href="http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12125-president-barack-h-obama-one-year-later-c-for-effort.html">Read more...</a></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/c9apIWOjU8wxQaiOeRENF_cOPzw/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/c9apIWOjU8wxQaiOeRENF_cOPzw/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/c9apIWOjU8wxQaiOeRENF_cOPzw/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/c9apIWOjU8wxQaiOeRENF_cOPzw/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=huA8P1ujKXw:wpeXVa_RxJU:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?i=huA8P1ujKXw:wpeXVa_RxJU:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=huA8P1ujKXw:wpeXVa_RxJU:dnMXMwOfBR0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"></img></a> </div>http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12125-president-barack-h-obama-one-year-later-c-for-effort.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AtlanticFreePress/~3/uAfL9uu3FQc/12143-faking-the-news.htmleditor@atlanticfreepress.com (Chris Cook)Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:52:00 PDThttp://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12143-faking-the-news.htmlby Brenda Norrell<br /> <img alt="" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/200/484012121_a4b45578f3.jpg" align="right" height="297" hspace="5" vspace="5" width="360" /><br /> Where were the news reporters during the 7th Southwest Uranium Forum? Only two people identified themselves as news reporters at the gathering, a correspondent for Washington Post and another from the Four Corners Free Press.<br /> <br /> Where was the American Indian media? Where were the Native American newspapers and radio stations?<br /> <br /> Recently, Associated Press and the Arizona Republic were quick to attack environmentalists by rewriting the press releases of politicians and corporations. But where were their reporters when Indigenous Peoples gathered to tell their stories of how uranium mining, and the radioactive waste strewn and left behind, caused the deaths of their children, parents, brothers and sisters?<br /> <br /> Faith Gemmill, Gwich'in, came all the way from the Arctic Circle in Alaska to this gathering, telling of the climate change devastating the way of life of her people and the land, water and air of all life there. Charmaine White Face of Defenders of the Black Hills came from South Dakota, revealing the secrecy of the uranium mining and the waste that poisons the land and water of the Oglala. Winona LaDuke, Anishinabe, came from White Earth, Louise Benally, Navajo, came from Big Mountain and Supai Waters from the land of the Havasupai.<br /> <br /> This Indigenous Uranium Forum was broadcast live with streaming video by Earthcycles. As of Monday morning, there were more than 62,300 views of the sessions from Thursday, Friday and Saturday. News reporters have access to these sessions at no cost. Will they tell the story of the Navajos who buried their children after they died of brain tumors, or the children who grew up without their mothers who died of lung cancer from the <p><a href="http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12143-faking-the-news.html">Read more...</a></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/D2GTrwTiGNntI1pWJfEUwz6DMek/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/D2GTrwTiGNntI1pWJfEUwz6DMek/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/D2GTrwTiGNntI1pWJfEUwz6DMek/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/D2GTrwTiGNntI1pWJfEUwz6DMek/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=uAfL9uu3FQc:dvy7C6lUVAw:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?i=uAfL9uu3FQc:dvy7C6lUVAw:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=uAfL9uu3FQc:dvy7C6lUVAw:dnMXMwOfBR0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"></img></a> </div>http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12143-faking-the-news.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AtlanticFreePress/~3/wuJCCgJ8Hog/12122-room-with-a-view-things-are-looking-pretty-hairy-out-there.htmleditor@atlanticfreepress.com (Chris Cook)Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:50:00 PDThttp://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12122-room-with-a-view-things-are-looking-pretty-hairy-out-there.html<div>by Dave Lindorff<br /> <p>I’m the first to admit that you can get a little out of touch working as a freelance writer, if you aren’t careful. Here I am up in my upstairs garret, surrounded by my books and computer paraphernalia, my phones and two cats, and my sources of information tend to be the piles of newspapers I have delivered, my wife, who works with other human beings at a university, my son, who goes to an urban high school, and of course the internet.</p> <p> When I get out, it’s either to do solitary repair work to rescue my barn, or to get a coffee at the local café.</p> <p> So when I read that housing prices are picking up, or that the stock market is back over 10,000 again, it would be easy to start imagining that things are starting to look up after the worst recession since World War II.</p> <p> But then, I do have personal evidence that this is hardly the case.</p> <p> Take my work. Business Week magazine, a publication for which I have written for some 17 years, nearly folded and has been sold for a song by McGraw-Hill to Bloomberg, where it will operate as a shadow of its former self. One editor there wrote recently for advice because his wife had been stiffed on a $3000 writing assignment for some company, and he wanted to know how to pursue the case in small claims court. He said they need that money, because his current income is precarious, given the planned staff cuts Bloomberg will be making.</p> <div> Another publication for which I’ve written for nearly as long, Treasury &amp; Risk magazine, cut my word rate by 22% (and shortened my assignments), effectively giving me a 33% pay cut. Another <p><a href="http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12122-room-with-a-view-things-are-looking-pretty-hairy-out-there.html">Read more...</a></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/MOQgH5f-CHKJkiXzl6FmgvkU_70/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/MOQgH5f-CHKJkiXzl6FmgvkU_70/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/MOQgH5f-CHKJkiXzl6FmgvkU_70/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/MOQgH5f-CHKJkiXzl6FmgvkU_70/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=wuJCCgJ8Hog:YF7Bmlr45UY:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?i=wuJCCgJ8Hog:YF7Bmlr45UY:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=wuJCCgJ8Hog:YF7Bmlr45UY:dnMXMwOfBR0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"></img></a> </div>http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12122-room-with-a-view-things-are-looking-pretty-hairy-out-there.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AtlanticFreePress/~3/FvowgE9EL40/12119-its-too-late-baby-times-up-book-review-by-carolyn-baker.htmleditor@atlanticfreepress.com (Chris Cook)Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:20:00 PDThttp://atlanticfreepress.com/reviews/12119-its-too-late-baby-times-up-book-review-by-carolyn-baker.htmlby Carolyn Baker <blockquote> “In short, we are prepared to die in order to live a life that is killing us.”<br /> –Keith Farnish from <em>Time’s Up: An Uncivilized Solution to A Global Crisis</em></blockquote><img alt="" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41epSmYdCqL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA240_SH20_OU02_.jpg" align="left" height="240" hspace="5" vspace="5" width="240" />I live in Boulder, Colorado where the buzz among eco-activists who attended a recent lecture by Vandana Shiva is her chilling statement that if the human species continues on its present destructive trajectory, it has no more than 100 years of life on this planet. At about the same time this bomb was dropped on Shiva’s audience, Keith Farnish’s amazing book <em><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Times-Up-Uncivilized-Solution-Global/dp/190032248X">Time’s Up: An Uncivilized Solution To A Global Crisis</a></em>arrived in my mailbox for review which was about the same time that Keith reviewed my book, <em>Sacred Demise: Walking The Spiritual Path of Industrial Civilization’s Collapse</em>. I visit my local movie theater and see trailers for the next series of post-apocalyptic movies such as “2012” and “The Road”. Five years ago the notion of “endings” was not reverberating in the collective unconscious with the fever pitch we’re witnessing today. What’s up? Quite simply: Time is up. <br /> <br /> I would say that the real crux of <em>Time’s Up </em>is the challenge of how to keep the human race from continuing to commit suicide. The first 82 pages of the book are devoted to a painstaking explanation of the inextricable connection between humans and all other life forms. The fundamental reality of the connection is that “nothing is so dependent upon other forms of life as humans, the ultimate consumers.” Likewise, “everything we do has the potential to disrupt something, knock if off balance as we negotiate the finest of lines; yet that line we are repeatedly stepping over.” <br /> <br /> Anyone who argues that <p><a href="http://atlanticfreepress.com/reviews/12119-its-too-late-baby-times-up-book-review-by-carolyn-baker.html">Read more...</a></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/q7pwlEi7Lyn4TkfL3aIyd3Zrm2A/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/q7pwlEi7Lyn4TkfL3aIyd3Zrm2A/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/q7pwlEi7Lyn4TkfL3aIyd3Zrm2A/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/q7pwlEi7Lyn4TkfL3aIyd3Zrm2A/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=FvowgE9EL40:K5O4homaEK0:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?i=FvowgE9EL40:K5O4homaEK0:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=FvowgE9EL40:K5O4homaEK0:dnMXMwOfBR0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"></img></a> </div>http://atlanticfreepress.com/reviews/12119-its-too-late-baby-times-up-book-review-by-carolyn-baker.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AtlanticFreePress/~3/kcaRmpC-S9E/12116-its-official-they-not-only-forgot-they-dont-give-a-damn.htmleditor@atlanticfreepress.com (Chris Cook)Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:16:00 PDThttp://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12116-its-official-they-not-only-forgot-they-dont-give-a-damn.html<div>by William Bowles<br /> <br /> <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0)">T</span>he report on the explosion that blew an RAF Nimrod out of the sky over Helmand Province on 2 September, 2006 in which fourteen people died, was released today and it confirms my view of British military ‘adventures’ that I expressed in <a href="http://www.creative-i.info/?p=11353" target="_blank">‘Lest we forget?’</a>. The report even names names of extremely high ranking officers as being directly culpable for their deaths.<br /> But chief amongst the ‘shortcomings’ as the BBC describes them, is:<br /> <blockquote> “A safety culture that has allowed “business” to eclipse airworthiness”</blockquote> The two major business culprits named are of course BAE Systems and QinetiQ, both not named in the BBC’s very perfunctory story today titled <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8329117.stm" target="_blank">‘Nimrod review reveals 'failures'</a> (but BAE gets mentioned 1539 times in the <a href="http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/document/hc0809/hc10/1025/1025.asp" target="_blank">Report</a> QinetiQ gets away with being mentioned 624 times). Also not named in the BBC story were the two high-ranking officers in the RAF (General Sir Sam Cowan and his successor Air Chief Marshal Sir Malcolm Pledger). I'm talking about an Air Marshall in charge (allegedly) of logistics. In the report QinetiQ is described as “supine”. Come on Auntie Beeb, stop covering for your master! For a comparison,<br /> <blockquote> “[T]he 14 men who died were, according to the QC investigating, killed by the incompetence and sloppiness of the Ministry of Defence - the organisational trauma inflicted by the politicians on the MoD - and by the incompetence, complacency and cynicism of British Aerospace.” — Channel 4 News Email</blockquote> But back to BAE Systems and the privatization of state assets coupled to a thoroughly incompetent state bureaucracy in the shape of the MoD that has caused havoc to what used to belong, at least in theory, to the public that paid for <p><a href="http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12116-its-official-they-not-only-forgot-they-dont-give-a-damn.html">Read more...</a></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/P68cbf7WCmAAw2hyRd9yB8owndw/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/P68cbf7WCmAAw2hyRd9yB8owndw/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/P68cbf7WCmAAw2hyRd9yB8owndw/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/P68cbf7WCmAAw2hyRd9yB8owndw/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=kcaRmpC-S9E:hB81f_UaudA:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?i=kcaRmpC-S9E:hB81f_UaudA:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=kcaRmpC-S9E:hB81f_UaudA:dnMXMwOfBR0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"></img></a> </div>http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12116-its-official-they-not-only-forgot-they-dont-give-a-damn.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AtlanticFreePress/~3/_HLE-WMqT_g/12110-obama-manufacturing-a-savior-a-case-study-in-social-engineering-fabricating-myths-mantras-consent-and-dissent-for-imperial-mobilization.htmleditor@atlanticfreepress.com (Chris Cook)Mon, 26 Oct 2009 23:12:00 PDThttp://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12110-obama-manufacturing-a-savior-a-case-study-in-social-engineering-fabricating-myths-mantras-consent-and-dissent-for-imperial-mobilization.htmlby Zahir Ebrahim<br /> <br /> Edward L. Bernays began his seminal 1928 book, egregiously titled “PROPAGANDA”, with these revealing words in the very first chapter “ORGANIZING CHAOS”:<br /> <br /> 'THE conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. <br /> We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of. This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized. Vast numbers of human beings must cooperate in this manner if they are to live together as a smoothly functioning society. Our invisible governors are, in many cases, unaware of the identity of their fellow members in the inner cabinet. They govern us by their qualities of natural leadership, their ability to supply needed ideas and by their key position in the social structure. Whatever attitude one chooses to take toward this condition, it remains a fact that in almost every act of our daily lives, whether in the sphere of politics or business, in our social conduct or our ethical thinking, we are dominated by the relatively small number of persons—a trifling fraction of our hundred and twenty million—who understand the mental processes and social patterns of the masses. It is they who pull the wires which control the public mind, who harness old social forces and contrive new ways to bind and guide the world.'<br /> <br />Those<strong><em>“new ways to bind and guide the world” </em></strong>have come a long way since 1928, as was observed by the late behavioralist and essayist Aldous Huxley. He termed the zenith <p><a href="http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12110-obama-manufacturing-a-savior-a-case-study-in-social-engineering-fabricating-myths-mantras-consent-and-dissent-for-imperial-mobilization.html">Read more...</a></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/nOV4HonwSDEplvaBl2SAqurnPrg/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/nOV4HonwSDEplvaBl2SAqurnPrg/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/nOV4HonwSDEplvaBl2SAqurnPrg/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/nOV4HonwSDEplvaBl2SAqurnPrg/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=_HLE-WMqT_g:XZVdw2J-eF4:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?i=_HLE-WMqT_g:XZVdw2J-eF4:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=_HLE-WMqT_g:XZVdw2J-eF4:dnMXMwOfBR0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"></img></a> </div>http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12110-obama-manufacturing-a-savior-a-case-study-in-social-engineering-fabricating-myths-mantras-consent-and-dissent-for-imperial-mobilization.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AtlanticFreePress/~3/CRfuH8Ld5b8/12107-navajo-generating-station-lets-put-it-in-our-backyard-satire.htmleditor@atlanticfreepress.com (Chris Cook)Mon, 26 Oct 2009 23:04:00 PDThttp://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12107-navajo-generating-station-lets-put-it-in-our-backyard-satire.html<div>by Brenda Norrell<br /> <br />TUCSON - In a sudden change of heart, the editor of the Arizona Daily Starr said he would like to offer his neighborhood for the Navajo<br /> Generating Station.<br /> <br />After encouraging the EPA to forget about new clean air standards, he said he realized that this was an act of environmental racism. He said he realized that his desire to continue this polluting power plant on the Navajo Nation was wrong.<br /> <br />&quot;I'm sorry I joined the environmental racism parade,&quot; he said. He said it had never occurred to him that Navajos were human beings and that the people who live on the land deserve to live out their lives without respiratory diseases.<br /> <br />Further, he said he looks forward to having the large toxic ash ponds from regional coal-fired power plants, on and around the Navajo Nation, in his backyard. He recommended the ash ponds for wading pools in Tucson city parks.<br /> <br />As for polluting the sky around his southern Arizona neighborhood, he said, &quot;The haze will offer some shade. Besides, we have plenty of hospitals here to treat bronchitis and asthma.&quot; The editor said in a show of good faith, all the radiation from the abandoned uranium mines around Monument Valley could be stockpiled in<br /> his back yard as well. <p><a href="http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12107-navajo-generating-station-lets-put-it-in-our-backyard-satire.html">Read more...</a></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/U4rHcXFMjGwKCMy3RyjuAIH4WiA/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/U4rHcXFMjGwKCMy3RyjuAIH4WiA/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/U4rHcXFMjGwKCMy3RyjuAIH4WiA/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/U4rHcXFMjGwKCMy3RyjuAIH4WiA/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=CRfuH8Ld5b8:PTRiAZPVSks:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?i=CRfuH8Ld5b8:PTRiAZPVSks:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=CRfuH8Ld5b8:PTRiAZPVSks:dnMXMwOfBR0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"></img></a> </div>http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12107-navajo-generating-station-lets-put-it-in-our-backyard-satire.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AtlanticFreePress/~3/6zNh4asbjEY/12104-veterans-day-time-to-recognize-and-honor-efforts-of-our-veterans-its-also-time-to-meet-their-needs.htmleditor@atlanticfreepress.com (Chris Cook)Sun, 25 Oct 2009 12:19:00 PDThttp://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12104-veterans-day-time-to-recognize-and-honor-efforts-of-our-veterans-its-also-time-to-meet-their-needs.htmlby Peter Stern<br /> <br />Veterans Day is approaching.&nbsp; The population of our veterans is increasing steadily.&nbsp; While we show our respect and hold them in esteem, do we recognize their needs after returning home?<br /> &nbsp; <div><span>Often one of the unspoken truths is that Veterans are hit hard by suicide.</span></div> <div><span></span>&nbsp;</div> <div><span>The media tells us little regarding suicide unless it occurs to a famous Hollywood personality.&nbsp; It doesn't seem to mean much to us until it happens within our own family.<br /> <br />The truth is that suicides occur all too frequently within our society. There has been an increase of teenage suicides and among our elderly population, but <strong>the most dramatic increase in suicide has occurred with our returning veteran population</strong> — but we don’t hear about it on the news.<br /> <br />The media was all too quick to jump on the&nbsp;last year's&nbsp;possible suicide of actor David Carradine when he was found hung in a Thailand hotel. Too quick because authorities now believe it looks like the actor may have been murdered. Unfortunately, no one is notified that many of our veterans are having problems reentering our society after serving our nation.&nbsp; Many can not cope with reentry.&nbsp; Many do not fit in.&nbsp; We should provide better support. <p><a href="http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12104-veterans-day-time-to-recognize-and-honor-efforts-of-our-veterans-its-also-time-to-meet-their-needs.html">Read more...</a></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/9_IX1Kbk2BKfLvV-fgm_iO25eUw/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/9_IX1Kbk2BKfLvV-fgm_iO25eUw/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/9_IX1Kbk2BKfLvV-fgm_iO25eUw/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/9_IX1Kbk2BKfLvV-fgm_iO25eUw/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=6zNh4asbjEY:XYsVpjvw8PA:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?i=6zNh4asbjEY:XYsVpjvw8PA:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=6zNh4asbjEY:XYsVpjvw8PA:dnMXMwOfBR0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"></img></a> </div>http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12104-veterans-day-time-to-recognize-and-honor-efforts-of-our-veterans-its-also-time-to-meet-their-needs.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AtlanticFreePress/~3/MNouInvURek/12101-the-real-pandemic-.htmleditor@atlanticfreepress.com (Chris Cook)Sun, 25 Oct 2009 11:29:00 PDThttp://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12101-the-real-pandemic-.htmlby Tom Chartier<br /> <br /> If I make any more typos, spelling errors or grammatical faux pas please excuse me. As I rule I stick in at least a couple to see who’s paying attention. However as far as this story is concerned… well… what can I say? I am diseased! Yes Dear Readers I have what is officially referred to as H1N1… Swine Flu.<br /> <br /> Well, at least I think I have it. Maybe it’s just a broken heart. Nevertheless, between the cold chills and sweats, I feel a rush of optimism! Finally with nearly <a href="http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=1361" target="_blank"><u>every State in the Union</u></a> showing red flags of The Plague, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/25/us/politics/25flu.html?_r=1&amp;hp" target="_blank"><u>Bro Bama has declared a National Emergency</u></a>. Goodie, goodie. After to get your head out of that bucket and take some more <a href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article6250021.ece" target="_blank"><u>Tamiflu</u></a> you’ll feel so much better knowing that too.<br /> <br />Hey, I agree. Swine Flu ain’t no picnic and none of us are suppose to enter fever induce delirium until the official flu season starts in… oh I don’t know… “Winter.” But is this really the most serious nasty infectious disease running rampant and ruining this great country of ours? Here we are sicker than dogs that ate something unmentionable… and it’s only October. Man, that sure put the kibosh on any Oktoberfest celebrations. At least those that create self-induced flu symptoms and pain.<br /> <br />Friends, there is a scourge upon the land even <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Seventh-Seal-Criterion-Collection/dp/B001WLMOL4/ref/lewrockwell/" target="_blank"><u>Ingmar Bergman’s Death</u></a>is afraid of. It is a secret hidden from us all and yet blatantly displayed in public. <br /> <br /> Excuse me for a moment. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Monty-Python-Extraordinarily-Deluxe-Three-Disc/dp/B000CRQX34/ref/lewrockwell/" target="_blank"><u>The Little Man Pulling the Cart</u></a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Humor" target="_blank"><u>Good Humor Man</u></a>… and yelling out (over the same PA): “Bring Out Your Dead” is here. My <p><a href="http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12101-the-real-pandemic-.html">Read more...</a></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/tSosD8CP68imy99ktAw8tOBSETA/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/tSosD8CP68imy99ktAw8tOBSETA/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/tSosD8CP68imy99ktAw8tOBSETA/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/tSosD8CP68imy99ktAw8tOBSETA/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=MNouInvURek:cZJ8BiPyLic:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?i=MNouInvURek:cZJ8BiPyLic:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=MNouInvURek:cZJ8BiPyLic:dnMXMwOfBR0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"></img></a> </div>http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12101-the-real-pandemic-.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AtlanticFreePress/~3/R6iBHqToi7M/12098-war-negation-and-muslim-identity-revisited-.htmleditor@atlanticfreepress.com (Chris Cook)Thu, 22 Oct 2009 22:39:00 PDThttp://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12098-war-negation-and-muslim-identity-revisited-.html<div>by Ramzy Baroud<br /> <br />A Muslim writer begins an article with, 'who says the campaign for animal rights was started in the West ..' She goes on to argue that Islam provided the original treatise on the humane treatment of animals. Her case was poorly constructed, inadequately executed, although the essence of her idea was to a degree, accurate. Islamic tradition has indeed laid a foundation, with clear boundaries regarding the humane treatment of animals. <br /> <br />But why did the author, like so many others, choose to turn what should have been a constructive argument, into a diatribe? Was it necessary to charge Western discourses, resorting to the ever predictable classification of “us and them”, instead of trying to find a common cause? <br /> <br />The same point can be made regarding other discussions, whether pertaining to human rights (women’s rights in particular), the environment, labor rights, and many others. <br /> <br />In her defense, Amirah Sulaiman was simply following an existing pattern, commonly used to delineate one’s cultural or religious progression, at the expense of another. <br /> <br />But it’s more than that, it’s also a defense mechanism, a haunting reminder that the alleged civilizational clash, although more imagined and politicized, than real, pervades many aspects of our perception of ourselves and of others. <br /> <br />Among Muslim intellectuals, as in societies, this paradigm is omnipresent. <br /> <br />Cultural animosity, collective defensiveness, racism (and Orientalism), among other overriding cultural trends existed long before disdained US foreign policy in the Middle East became the defining norm, before the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and the wars against Iraq and Afghanistan. But these events emboldened existing arguments on both sides, with Muslims solidifying as a collective victim, and the US, from a <p><a href="http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12098-war-negation-and-muslim-identity-revisited-.html">Read more...</a></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/5kOvnnkews2_b1WERF-uPGaHjhA/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/5kOvnnkews2_b1WERF-uPGaHjhA/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/5kOvnnkews2_b1WERF-uPGaHjhA/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/5kOvnnkews2_b1WERF-uPGaHjhA/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=R6iBHqToi7M:NL0-92J9xXA:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?i=R6iBHqToi7M:NL0-92J9xXA:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=R6iBHqToi7M:NL0-92J9xXA:dnMXMwOfBR0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"></img></a> </div>http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12098-war-negation-and-muslim-identity-revisited-.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AtlanticFreePress/~3/VD8NPIYRIYA/12095-tomgram-nick-turse-what-the-us-military-cant-do.htmleditor@atlanticfreepress.com (Chris Cook)Thu, 22 Oct 2009 22:32:00 PDThttp://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12095-tomgram-nick-turse-what-the-us-military-cant-do.htmlby Tom Engelhardt<br /> <br /> This past weekend, the <em>New York Times Magazine</em> had a cover story by Dexter Filkins, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/18/magazine/18Afghanistan-t.html">&quot;Stanley McChrystal's Long War,&quot;</a> which ended with Afghan War commander McChrystal's pledge to an Afghan governor that the U.S. military would stay in the country &quot;until our Afghan partners are completely secure.&quot; &quot;Even,&quot; he continued, &quot;if that means years.&quot; <br /> <br /> Similarly, Filkins quoted McChrystal's deputy, Michael Flynn, this way: &quot;I believe that it's probably going to take us three years to really turn the insurgency to the point where it's waning instead of waxing... And then I think... we are looking at another two years when the government of Afghanistan and the security forces of Afghanistan begin to take a lot more personal responsibility.&quot; And keep in mind — nowhere in that quote is there the slightest indication that Flynn expects U.S. troops to be departing Afghanistan at the end of that five-year stretch when Afghan forces will just &quot;begin&quot; to be taking more &quot;personal responsibility.&quot; <br /> <br /><a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175128/will_today_s_u_s_armed_ally_be_tomorrow_s_enemy_">&quot;Long War&quot;</a>, or long haul, indeed! Here's the odd thing, though: our military leadership in Afghanistan acts, to judge by Filkins piece, as if winning were a hard but typical thing to do, if only things were done right <em>this time</em>. (By the way, if Filkins had written a piece similar in tone about LeBron James, it would be considered embarrassingly fawning. Why is it that our objective reporters for major newspapers regularly fall in love with their military subjects and cast them as stars? And why is such work never considered embarrassing?) <br /> <br /> In any case, back to the issue of the American military winning. It's a premise that TomDispatch associate editor and Vietnam War expert Nick Turse considers remarkably far-fetched <p><a href="http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12095-tomgram-nick-turse-what-the-us-military-cant-do.html">Read more...</a></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/WXfbjq2p4U93pGuMqIw9mU8xIgY/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/WXfbjq2p4U93pGuMqIw9mU8xIgY/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/WXfbjq2p4U93pGuMqIw9mU8xIgY/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/WXfbjq2p4U93pGuMqIw9mU8xIgY/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=VD8NPIYRIYA:mcLB6q_qMwc:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?i=VD8NPIYRIYA:mcLB6q_qMwc:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=VD8NPIYRIYA:mcLB6q_qMwc:dnMXMwOfBR0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"></img></a> </div>http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12095-tomgram-nick-turse-what-the-us-military-cant-do.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AtlanticFreePress/~3/yNdCvlWYZsM/12092-let-afghani-electoral-freedom-rain-.htmleditor@atlanticfreepress.com (Chris Cook)Thu, 22 Oct 2009 21:51:00 PDThttp://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12092-let-afghani-electoral-freedom-rain-.htmlby Tom Chartier<br /> <br /> I have a problem… you in the peanut gallery be quiet. Didn’t the U.S. and some other western nations recently throw away something like <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/02/AR2009100202855.html" target="_blank"><u>$300 million</u></a> and change, for a bogus election in the Tar Baby of all Empires… Afghanistan? That seems a bit much wouldn’t you agree? And now… Heavens to Mergatroid!.. They have to do it all over again. How much will <em>that</em> cost us, the U.S. taxed peons?<br /> <br /> I don’t know about you but I don’t want to contribute to this… again! The first time was insulting enough but this is an outrage! Can’t the U.S. Supreme Court just “declare” a winner? That <em>is</em> the Modern American way of deciding corrupt elections after all. Give it to Karzai! He cheated. He bribed. He had his cronies count the votes on the Stalin Principle. He won!<br /> <br /> I guess he wasn’t subtle enough. Idiot. That may be all the more reason he should maintain the roll of Afghanistan Puppet Leader.<br /> <br /> Oh well… they’re going to try again to get the right results without appearing to stack the deck. And you can bet that ace hidden up the Obama’s sleeve the outcome will make a lot of decisions for him, like how many more “advisors” to send in. Oops, excuse me. I got Afghanistan and Vietnam confused for a moment. They’re quite different. Afghanistan has the potential of becoming much, much more disastrous for the U.S. Silly me for being such an optimist.<br /> <br /> The question is how to hold another election. The first one was a <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/02/AR2009100202855.html" target="_blank"><u>wash out</u></a>. Are they going to repeat the tried and untrue methods? Well, Gentle Reader, maybe the approach was way too Western <p><a href="http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12092-let-afghani-electoral-freedom-rain-.html">Read more...</a></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/bF6MShp7nfRwy_NEo3M3QEcCR7c/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/bF6MShp7nfRwy_NEo3M3QEcCR7c/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/bF6MShp7nfRwy_NEo3M3QEcCR7c/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/bF6MShp7nfRwy_NEo3M3QEcCR7c/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=yNdCvlWYZsM:MqUsBXX4FNY:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?i=yNdCvlWYZsM:MqUsBXX4FNY:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=yNdCvlWYZsM:MqUsBXX4FNY:dnMXMwOfBR0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"></img></a> </div>http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12092-let-afghani-electoral-freedom-rain-.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AtlanticFreePress/~3/wYoAPzfKHBc/12089-the-power-behind-the-drone.htmleditor@atlanticfreepress.com (Chris Cook)Thu, 22 Oct 2009 20:52:00 PDThttp://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12089-the-power-behind-the-drone.html<div>by Jayne Lyn Stahl<br /> <br />Dick Cheney, a former vice president, today accused Barack Obama, a sitting president, of &quot;dithering around&quot; and not moving quickly enough when it comes to deciding whether or not to send more troops to Afghanistan. But, why does Dick Cheney care? What is his interest in the current administration's decision, one way or another?<br /> <br />His investment in Halliburton, a company that provides technical products and services for oil exploration, as well as construction of refineries, and pipelines, is well-known. And, despite Mr. Cheney's claim to have divested himself from Halliburton after taking office, there is strong evidence he retained stock options, received deferred compensation, long after he took the oath of office for the first time, and maybe even the second time. His interest in Halliburton should be no more the public's concern now that he is out of office than a current commander in chief's decision to deploy more troops to Afghanistan should be his concern.<br /> <br />And, despite what he may want you to think, this is no longer about Dick Cheney. The former vice president is survived by a hearty squad of Republicans in the House and Senate appropriations committees whose mission is closely aligned with the previous administration's when it comes to contacting with private military contractors, however dubious, to develop drones, aka unmanned aircraft vehicles, small planes hands-free operated aircraft.<br /> <br />From its first flight, on February 2, 2001, the drone to end all drones, the MQ-9 Reaper, aka Predator B, has, in the words of Air Force Chief of Staff T. Michael Moseley, moved from primarily being used for &quot;intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaisance roles before Operation Iraqi Freedom to a true hunter-killer role,&quot; a vehicle which essentially amounts to a robotic attack squad. When <p><a href="http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12089-the-power-behind-the-drone.html">Read more...</a></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/s-ct775QWKSXpQx10_kDK4n29kk/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/s-ct775QWKSXpQx10_kDK4n29kk/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/s-ct775QWKSXpQx10_kDK4n29kk/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/s-ct775QWKSXpQx10_kDK4n29kk/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=wYoAPzfKHBc:yUG9GjzdirY:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?i=wYoAPzfKHBc:yUG9GjzdirY:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=wYoAPzfKHBc:yUG9GjzdirY:dnMXMwOfBR0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"></img></a> </div>http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12089-the-power-behind-the-drone.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AtlanticFreePress/~3/BH5FIctHYlA/12083-scary-isnt-a-kid-in-a-halloween-costume.htmleditor@atlanticfreepress.com (Chris Cook)Wed, 21 Oct 2009 23:19:00 PDThttp://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12083-scary-isnt-a-kid-in-a-halloween-costume.htmlby Walter and Rosemary Brasch <br /> <br /> One of the joys of Halloween is to dress in scary costumes and pretend to frighten others, who pretend to be frightened. But with less than two weeks until an evening of trick-or-treating, it's possible there won't be anything scarier than what's already happened in the country. <br /> <br />We are being told to fear the swine flu virus, and then learn that the vaccine, which was supposed to be available in mid-October, won't be ready for awhile. <br /> <br />It makes little difference anyhow, since about fifty million Americans don't have health insurance and couldn't afford the cost of vaccinations or treatment. <br /> <br />The ogres of health reform, also known as Republicans and the insurance industry, have already frightened Americans by spewing lies and hatreds no costumed kid could ever top. <br /> <br />The teabaggers, thousands of Americans dressed in work clothes but who seem to despise the working class, disgorge even more lies, half-truths, fear, and hatred, along with spurts of poisonous doses of racism and bigotry, since they have to blame someone for their own problems. <br /> <br />The minority party has long since ceased being the loyal opposition and are now just bitter and venomous cogs in the progress of society. These pseudo-patriot reptiles who have taken over the Republican party have further shown just how disloyal they truly are when they hissed at the President of the United States for winning the Nobel Prize and then cheered that Chicago lost the Olympics bid to Rio de Janiero. The increase of hate isn't likely to level off soon. <br /> <br />Also not leveling off are unemployment, bankruptcies, housing foreclosures, and the problems caused by increased homelessness, all of which began <p><a href="http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12083-scary-isnt-a-kid-in-a-halloween-costume.html">Read more...</a></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/84S_0SmfSqCON9N4h-AjjgRSK1Q/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/84S_0SmfSqCON9N4h-AjjgRSK1Q/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/84S_0SmfSqCON9N4h-AjjgRSK1Q/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/84S_0SmfSqCON9N4h-AjjgRSK1Q/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=BH5FIctHYlA:ONqve5jpq28:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?i=BH5FIctHYlA:ONqve5jpq28:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=BH5FIctHYlA:ONqve5jpq28:dnMXMwOfBR0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"></img></a> </div>http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12083-scary-isnt-a-kid-in-a-halloween-costume.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AtlanticFreePress/~3/amy6Wh0ghO8/12080-syrias-golan-heights-can-international-law-forestall-a-golanian-intifada-pressure-increasing-on-syrias-government-to-retake-the-heights-by-force.htmleditor@atlanticfreepress.com (Chris Cook)Wed, 21 Oct 2009 23:16:00 PDThttp://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12080-syrias-golan-heights-can-international-law-forestall-a-golanian-intifada-pressure-increasing-on-syrias-government-to-retake-the-heights-by-force.html<div>by Franklin Lamb<br /> <br /> Nationals from nearly one-third of the 192 member states of the United Nations met in Damascus last week to discuss the Return/Liberation of the Golan Heights. An estimated 5000 researchers, Lawyers, politicians, activists, victims of Israel’s 42 years of occupation, students and members of the public, attended the opening event in Qunaitra, the Golan capital city, which in a frenzy of frustration at being forced to return the city it had occupied since 1967 (Comment: think Gaza 2005), the Israeli ordered bulldozed, shelled, and booby trapped by its retreating forces as Qunaitra was surrendered to Syria. <br /> <br /> The Conference heard the likes of former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark argue that the International community and rules of International law could not be clearer in requiring the full return of the 1,860 sq. meters of the Syrian territory, despite Israeli claims over the years of ‘border irregularities’<br /> <br /> As the International Court of Justice declared in the Burkin Faso and Malie cases, two former French colonies, the frontier existing at the moment of independence, which Syria achieved in April 1946, is frozen like a snapshot taken at the exact moment of Independence.<br /> <br /> Some attendees at the large Damascus conclave, often huddling on the sidelines, discussed, analyzed and even advocated a Golan Intifada. They argued that the whole international community, except Israel, and the full corpus of international law, supported the immediate and complete return of the Syrian Golan Height’s to the nearly 350,000 displaced Golan inhabitants, being those who make up 90% of the Golan’s pre-1967 population from the 130 villages and 112 agricultural areas Israel destroyed as it occupied the Golan. These delegates explained to observers that Resistance in all its forms may be the most <p><a href="http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12080-syrias-golan-heights-can-international-law-forestall-a-golanian-intifada-pressure-increasing-on-syrias-government-to-retake-the-heights-by-force.html">Read more...</a></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/hW6QaT5aRZ9-rINC79aw-6usWOs/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/hW6QaT5aRZ9-rINC79aw-6usWOs/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/hW6QaT5aRZ9-rINC79aw-6usWOs/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/hW6QaT5aRZ9-rINC79aw-6usWOs/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=amy6Wh0ghO8:yBZYNyCXK40:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?i=amy6Wh0ghO8:yBZYNyCXK40:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=amy6Wh0ghO8:yBZYNyCXK40:dnMXMwOfBR0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"></img></a> </div>http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12080-syrias-golan-heights-can-international-law-forestall-a-golanian-intifada-pressure-increasing-on-syrias-government-to-retake-the-heights-by-force.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AtlanticFreePress/~3/Pmd7u9NnOwU/12077-reform-or-revolution.htmleditor@atlanticfreepress.com (Chris Cook)Wed, 21 Oct 2009 23:12:00 PDThttp://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12077-reform-or-revolution.html<div>by William Bowles<br /> <br /> <p><font color="#000000">I</font>t’s really time I started writing more about the country I live in, the country of my birth, the UK, a country that has the oldest, the most cunning, the most duplicitous (not to mention the most mendacious) of all ruling classes. After all, they’ve been at it for five hundred years, finally being forced to come up with what they like to call parliamentary democracy over a century ago, but just how democratic is it? And can we really expect real change to come about through a system as corrupt and sclerotic as ‘parliamentary democracy’?</p> <p>Parliamentary democracy is a closed system, literally owned by the two main political parties who work in intimate cooperation with the state bureaucracy to maintain the status quo. For proof of this we need only look at the panic caused by the ‘expenses’ scandal and how the political class, fearful of any challenge to its hegemony has fought tool and nail, left and right to defend their privilege to spend our money as they please.</p> <p>How they have managed to do this should be important to us and especially the confidence trick called Parliament. It is a system that has, for around a century, played the central role in the preservation of capitalism, in reality a private game with the political class being the players, the judges <em>and</em> the rule makers. In other words, a fix and a fix carried out, no less, with the complicity of organized labour.</p> <p>We, the public, play our part by voting (or not) to maintain the ‘game’, getting bounced back and forth between two sides of same coin. But clearly the ‘game’ would seem to have run its course which, with all the talk of the state’s ‘lack of legitimacy’, is <p><a href="http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12077-reform-or-revolution.html">Read more...</a></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/zIOsEepX4ll8behpGk0Zh0WUPVE/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/zIOsEepX4ll8behpGk0Zh0WUPVE/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/zIOsEepX4ll8behpGk0Zh0WUPVE/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/zIOsEepX4ll8behpGk0Zh0WUPVE/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=Pmd7u9NnOwU:vfzWmiCqFHU:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?i=Pmd7u9NnOwU:vfzWmiCqFHU:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=Pmd7u9NnOwU:vfzWmiCqFHU:dnMXMwOfBR0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"></img></a> </div>http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12077-reform-or-revolution.htmlhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AtlanticFreePress/~3/nR3vkXnV0mw/12071-tomgram-jo-comerford-three-cheers-for-the-war-dividend.htmleditor@atlanticfreepress.com (Chris Cook)Wed, 21 Oct 2009 23:11:00 PDThttp://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12071-tomgram-jo-comerford-three-cheers-for-the-war-dividend.html<div>by Tom Engelhardt<br /> <p> If you want a picture of how Washington deals with American war-making today, check out a moment from NBC's <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33253216/ns/meet_the_press//">October 11th</a> &quot;Meet the Press.&quot; David Gregory, the show's moderator, is conducting a round-table discussion with former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Richard Myers, Senator Lindsey Graham, Senator Carl Levin, and retired General Barry McCaffrey (one of those generals who now spends his time on television explaining our wars to us). At one point, Gregory asks: &quot;Can we beat the Taliban?&quot; General McCaffrey's reply starts this way: &quot;Well, I, I think in 10 years of $5 billion a month and with a significant front-end security component, we can leave an Afghan national army and police force and a viable government and roads and universities. But it's a time constraint that we can't change things in 18 to 24 months. So I think we got to lower expectations.&quot; </p> <p> Now, if you were a normal citizen, you might begin frantically calculating: $5 billion a month... 12 months in a year... $60 billion a year... times 10 years... $600 billion dollars. If, in fact, the number of U.S. troops or trainers and advisors rises significantly and the U.S. commitment to the war rises as well, this will surely prove a gross underestimate. But leaving that aside, you, the normal, reasonable human being, might at this point say something like: &quot;Hold on, general, $600 billion more dollars? Ten years? And where's that money coming from? And is that really how you want to invest taxpayer dollars -- in another supposedly too-big-to-fail bailout?&quot; Or, of course, you might just jump up and yell, &quot;Have you lost your senses?&quot; </p> <p> But of course this is Washington where such numbers for American war-fighting are so ho-hum, <p><a href="http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12071-tomgram-jo-comerford-three-cheers-for-the-war-dividend.html">Read more...</a></p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Vhfed9iN1cn0y5EDdLIsxjJkBJo/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Vhfed9iN1cn0y5EDdLIsxjJkBJo/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Vhfed9iN1cn0y5EDdLIsxjJkBJo/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Vhfed9iN1cn0y5EDdLIsxjJkBJo/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=nR3vkXnV0mw:yjNRE9j1X4w:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?i=nR3vkXnV0mw:yjNRE9j1X4w:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?a=nR3vkXnV0mw:yjNRE9j1X4w:dnMXMwOfBR0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AtlanticFreePress?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"></img></a> </div>http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12071-tomgram-jo-comerford-three-cheers-for-the-war-dividend.htmlChris Cooknonadult