Thursday, December 30, 2010
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Lakota deserve apology for Wounded Knee, 120 Years Ago | The Progressive
Lakota deserve apology for Wounded Knee, 120 Years Ago | The ProgressiveThe 120th anniversary of the Wounded Knee Massacre should serve as a reminder of the U.S. government’s brutal war on American Indians.
On the morning of Dec. 29, 1890, the U.S. 7th Calvary attacked a Lakota community camped along Wounded Knee Creek in South Dakota. Soldiers indiscriminately shot the Lakota, killing at least 150. Most of them were women and children. About 30 soldiers also died, some from friendly fire.
Many historians consider this bloodbath to be the sad endpoint of the Indian Wars. To make way for the white conquest of the West, the U.S. army subjugated the Indian nations, and Congress forced them into giving up most of their lands through coerced treaties. But America’s failure to live up to its end of the bargain— food, clothing and other provisions — led to great Indian unrest.
Monday, December 27, 2010
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Angry White Men… or is it Black Women? « Guy White: Making Sense On Race
By Guy White
One of the claims repeated by the Left, especially in universities, is the anger of the white men over losing white women to blacks.
I’ve mentioned before that the quality of women who date blacks isn’t particularly high. Other than an occasional hippy trying to upset her parents, these normally are women who are very low-class or not physically desirable. (Lisa Lamponelli: “As you know, I date blacks. Not by choice, I just haven’t lost enough weight to get a white guy.”)"
Friday, December 24, 2010
Thursday, December 23, 2010
After Israel flap, Constantine bans certain bus ads
After Israel flap, Constantine bans certain bus ads[seattlepi.com] King County Executive Dow Constantine on Thursday temporarily suspended all non-commercial advertising on Metro Buses following complaints about a planned bus ad that criticized Israel.
The ads from the Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign read "Israeli War Crimes Your Tax Dollars At Work."
In a statement, Constantine said he approved an interim policy that bans accepting any new non-commercial ads. The anti-Israel ads, which were to start appearing on buses in Seattle after Christmas, have been rejected, Constantine said.
What Do You Think of This?
Is This Fetish or someone proving their liberalism by dating outside of ones' ethnicity? You decide.
Feverbook.com
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Ralph Nader: Wikileaks and the First Amendment
Thomas Blanton, the esteemed director of the National Security Archive at George Washington University described Washington's hyper-reaction to Wikileaks' transmission of information to some major media in various countries as "Wikimania."
In testimony before the House Judiciary Committee last Thursday, Blanton urged the Justice Department to cool it. Wikileaks and newspapers like The New Yorks Times and London's Guardian, he said, are publishers protected by the First Amendment. The disclosures are the first small installment of a predicted much larger forthcoming trove of non-public information from both governments and global corporations.
The leakers inside these organizations come under different legal restrictions that those who use their freedom of speech rights to publish the leaked information.
Friday, December 17, 2010
US military defends treatment of WikiLeaks suspect
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Why I'm Posting Bail Money for Julian Assange | MichaelMoore.com
By Michael Moore
Yesterday, in the Westminster Magistrates Court in London, the lawyers for WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange presented to the judge a document from me stating that I have put up $20,000 of my own money to help bail Mr. Assange out of jail.
F
We were taken to war in Iraq on a lie. Hundreds of thousands are now dead. Just imagine if the men who planned this war crime back in 2002 had had a WikiLeaks to deal with. They might not have been able to pull it off. The only reason they thought they could get away with it was because they had a guaranteed cloak of secrecy. That guarantee has now been ripped from them, and I hope they are never able to operate in secret again.
So why is WikiLeaks, after performing such an important public service, under such vicious attack? Because they have outed and embarrassed those who have covered up the truth. The assault on them has been over the top:
Monday, December 13, 2010
Safe World for Women |Free Nasrin Sotoudeh, Human Rights Defence Lawyer on trial in Iran
Safe World for Women |Free Nasrin Sotoudeh, Human Rights Defence Lawyer on trial in Iran - Sign the Petition | Change.org | Change.orgUPDATE: Sunday 12th December: NASRIN'S CONDITION IS DETERIORATING FAST - WITH ALARMING REPORTS THAT SHE MAY NOW HAVE GONE INTO A COMA
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
"If any government can block the power of a human rights attorney, its hands are free to treat its critics and opponents in any manner it desires. Unfortunately the international community allowed the government to break this barrier."
Reza Khandan, husband of Nasrin Sotoudeh.
Nasrin Sotoudeh is a leading human rights lawyer widely respected for her efforts on behalf of juveniles facing the death penalty and for her defense of prisoners of conscience.
In 2008, Nasrin won the International Human Rights Award.
On 4th September, 2010, she was arrested by the Iranian authorities, alledgedly on charges of spreading propaganda and threatening state security. She has been held in solitary confinement ever since.
On 25th September, 2010, Nasrin began a hunger strike, which she has recently resumed.
Nasrin's trial, based on charges of spreading propaganda and threatening the State, is ongoing.
"The world should know that all she has done is to earn this punishment is support her clients.
Even when she was threatened with arrest, she continued to support her clients with bravery and determination. The world must support her now.
Nasrin has many faces. When she is with the children, she leaves her professional world to be a real mother, and as a professional she gives a new meaning to what professionalism means. She is also a wonderful spouse.
Whenever there is a contact, whether in presence or by phone, we miss her even more."
Reza Khandan.
Please sign this petition to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers and the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights Defenders who, between them, are mandated to 'protect human rights defenders who are lawyers acting in the discharge of their professional duties,' and to inquire into any substantial allegations sent to them.
Petition Text Action for independence and immediate release of Human Rights Defence Lawyer, Nasrin Sotoudeh Greetings,
I am writing to express my horror and deep concern at the ongoing imprisonment and trial of Nasrin Sotoudeh, Human Rights Defence Lawyer in Iran and winner of the 2008 International Human Rights Award, and the alarming news that her condition is deteriorating rapidly.
In the words of Nasrin's husband, Reza Khandan:
"If any government can block the power of a human rights attorney, its hands are free to treat its critics and opponents in any manner it desires. Unfortunately the international community allowed the government to break this barrier."
Nasrin Sotoudeh, as you will know, is on trial for charges of propaganda against the system and aiming to harm state security. She has been held in solitary confinement since her arrest, has been allowed very little contact with famiily and lawyers and is now back on hunger strike.
I implore you to act with the utmost urgency, according to your respective mandates, and do all within your power to:
1) Inquire into these substantial allegations against Nasrin Sotoudeh
2) Protect the independence of Nasrin Sotoudeh as a defence attourney who was acting in the discharge of her professional duty
3) Cooperate closely with relevant United Nations bodies, mandates and mechanisms and with regional organisations
4) Send an urgent appeal to the Iranian authorities.
Nasrin's condition is deteriorating fast, with extremely alarming reports that she may now have gone into a coma.
Please do all you can to intervene and ensure the immediate and unconditional release of Nasrin Sotoudeh.
With respect,
<input id="Letter_Content" name="Letter_Content" value="I am writing to express my horror and deep concern at the ongoing imprisonment and trial of Nasrin Sotoudeh, Human Rights Defence Lawyer in Iran and winner of the 2008 International Human Rights Award, and the alarming news that her condition is deteriorating rapidly. In the words of Nasrin's husband, Reza Khandan: "If any government can block the power of a human rights attorney, its hands are free to treat its critics and opponents in any manner it desires. Unfortunately the international community allowed the government to break this barrier." Nasrin Sotoudeh, as you will know, is on trial for charges of propaganda against the system and aiming to harm state security. She has been held in solitary confinement since her arrest, has been allowed very little contact with famiily and lawyers and is now back on hunger strike. I implore you to act with the utmost urgency, according to your respective mandates, and do all within your power to: 1) Inquire into these substantial allegations against Nasrin Sotoudeh 2) Protect the independence of Nasrin Sotoudeh as a defence attourney who was acting in the discharge of her professional duty 3) Cooperate closely with relevant United Nations bodies, mandates and mechanisms and with regional organisations 4) Send an urgent appeal to the Iranian authorities. Nasrin's condition is deteriorating fast, with extremely alarming reports that she may now have gone into a coma. Please do all you can to intervene and ensure the immediate and unconditional release of Nasrin Sotoudeh. With respect, "
Sunday, December 12, 2010
PBS Interview; The Redacting and Selection of Wikileaks documents by the Corporate Media
[globalresearch.ca] GROSS: Were you surprised to hear that Senator Lieberman had suggested the Justice Department investigate the New York Times?
Mr. SANGER: No, in fact, I had suspected that we would probably hear more calls like this at various points in this debate, and I think most people recognized that what the Times was trying to do was make sense of an enormous mass of material that was out in the world anyway.
If we had done nothing, if we had ignored it, I think it would have looked strange. I think that also would have been irresponsible. It is the responsibility of American journalism, back to the founding of this country, to get out and try to grapple with the hardest issues of the day and to do it independently of the government.
And we can argue for a long time whether this material ever should have leaked, and I have a lot of concerns about the leakage of classified information. I've also got a lot of concerns about the over-classification of information. But the fact of the matter was that this information's out there.
GROSS: Let me quote something that Julian Assange just wrote in an op-ed piece that was published in Australia, and he is an Australian citizen. He wrote: WikiLeaks is not the only publisher of the U.S. embassy cables. Other media outlets, including Britain's The Guardian, the New York Times, El Pais in Spain and Der Spiegel in Germany have published the same redacted cables, yet it is WikiLeaks, as the coordinator of these other groups, that has copped the most vicious attacks and accusations from the U.S. government and its acolytes.
The Australian Prime Minister Gillard and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have not had a word of criticism for the other media organizations. That is because the Guardian, the New York Times and Der Spiegel are old and large, while WikiLeaks is as yet young and small.
Do you consider Julian Assange a journalist?
Mr. SANGER: I don't, and the reason is that I believe what journalists do is not only dig out information but filter it, explain it, put it in context, do those things that you've come to expect of the New York Times and other great American newspapers and other media organizations for many decades. That's a very different thing from simply downloading a computer system and throwing it out onto the World Wide Web.
He's coming to this with a political motivation. As journalists at the Times and elsewhere, we are not. We are coming at this to explain the world. He was trying, as - just to use his own words, to embarrass the United States and make clear that America's actions are different than its rhetoric.
Well, in fact when you look through these documents, America's actions are pretty consistent with its rhetoric.
Friday, December 10, 2010
The American civil war re-enactment society | Diane Roberts
These days, conservatives are the new Confederates. They may not all dress up and play Scarlett and Rhett, but their politics are at least 150 years old. Since Barack Obama was elected president, Fox News apocalypticist Glenn Beck has predicted a new civil war is coming. Senator-elect Rand Paul has expressed distaste for the Civil Rights Act. "Tenthers" – those who believe that the 10th Amendment gives states sovereignty – are increasing in number in state legislatures and in Washington. Recently, a Tea Party leader in North Carolina wrote in his newsletter, "Washington DC has become destructive of our economy and liberty. It is our right and our duty to throw off such a government."
Thursday, December 09, 2010
VOA | Analysts: WikiLeaks Following New Strategy in Document Release
Former Washington Post managing editor Phil Bennett, who now teaches journalism at Duke University, says Assange is parceling the documents out because he was dissatisfied that stories about the previous documents fell from public attention relatively quickly.
"He was unhappy about the way those stayed in the news and wanted 'more bang for the buck' [more attention over a longer period of time]," said Bennett. "And I think there's no doubt that they're parceling out the information in a way to keep the story alive and sustain interest in it."
This piecemeal release of classified cables has troubled U.S. officials.
Former CIA deputy director John McLaughlin says officials do not like surprises, and they are getting new ones every day.
"The fact that this is dribbling out, if you're in government now you have to wonder, 'What's next, and what am I going to have to cope with?' And it's likely to come at a bad time when you already have your hands full," said McLaughlin. "So it's another volatile factor in a world that's already too volatile."
Monday, December 06, 2010
Johnny Logan Spencer Sentenced To Nearly 3 Years In Prison For Threatening Obama In Poem
It seems like every threat goes unnoticed when it comes to the far right against President Barack Obama.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost
Friday, December 03, 2010
21 year-old poor Tamil lady hanged and beaten in the Busa Army Camp-srilankaguardian.org
(December 04, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) A Tamil lady from Badulla in the plantation sector, working as domestic servant was arrested in Colombo following a complaint by her master and his wife that she is associated with the LTTE.
Sadashivam Krishnameni came to Colombo to earn a living and help ease her parents’ financial difficulties. She found a job as a domestic servant in a house in Seeduwa in the suburb of Colombo. The head of the house is an employee of the Sri Lanka national airways ‘Sri Lankan’ and his wife is employed with the Sri Lanka Air Force.
Krishnameni was working there for about a week, when the police from the Seeduwa police station came to the house and checked her national identity card. The policemen ordered her to report at the police station to record a confession.
Her master and wife accompanied her to the police station. Instead of recording her confession as told, the police detained her in the police station for two months without producing her before the Court.
Wednesday, December 01, 2010
"Who You Are Have Made Me Possible"; An Open Letter to Joseph,Marlon& Essex on World AIDS Day
Selah: An Online Meditation Journal - "Who You Are Have Made Me Possible"; An Open Letter to Joseph,Marlon& Essex on World AIDS Day I remember when I first came across “In The Life” and watched “Tongues Untied”. I cried both nights after. I cried because I had lived too long to never know you.
I was 23 then, struggling with my own sexuality and politics, working at AID Atlanta as an organizer, taking Women’s studies & African American studies courses at Georgia State University; unknowingly continuing the work each of you were apart of.
But before then.. ..
I didn’t know you existed ; and it hurt me…
I went to high school in rural Georgia, my home less than 4 miles from the high school you attended Marlon. When my same sex desires arose within me there were no models around me to know how to navigate the slurs. I didn’t know how to dodge the dangerous desires of homophobes or how to circumvent the chaos of conundrums which would become my identity. I thought I was the only one.
I didn’t know you existed Marlon; and it hurt me….
West Papua: KNPB Congress: West Papua Must Unite For Referendum
KOMITE NASIONAL PAPUA BARAT [KNPB]
WEST PAPUA NATIONAL COMMITTEE
We inform to all the international media, the international community and to all the observers of the West Papua problem that KNPB (the West Papua National Committee) has held the I Congress in the Kampung Harapan, Jayapura on 19 untill November 22 2010. This congress was attended by delegation from territories and the consulate from various elements that were combined in KNPB.
The first Kongres of KNPB produced the resolution that became the attitude and the commitment of all the participant, that: the Focus of the KNPB Program was to finish up the status of West Papua through the process of politics and the law. To push the process of the resolution legally and politics, KNPB nationally reduced the political program and the organisation. Firstly, the Political program of KNPB is to achieve the goal of the West Papua, that is Independent in a manner Politics went through the most democratic rout that is the Referendum. Secondly, the Organisation program that is KNPB as the media pushed the formation of the Nasional of West Papua Council as the body representative, at the same time as the symbol of the association in driving the struggle through to the formation of the temporary Government post the referendum.
Better scrutinised and understood the discussions whole in the congress that was held, the forum for the congress of the I Komite Nasional Papua Barat [KNPB] produced resolutions that were unity of the attitude and the resolve from all over delegation of the Papua people from the committee's territories and delegations of the organisation of the struggle, that is:
1. Immediately to finish up the West Papua politics status through the referendum route as the most democratic solution and
2. Immediately carried out the internal strengthening of the struggle for the nation of West Papua through the association and the repairing in the defence of the military, civil and the International diplomat in the political and organisation program of KNPB.
3. We urge the defence of the military to immediately unite and carry out the repairing in order to pushes the agenda towards the referendum.
4. We urge to all the elements of the struggle to immediately pushed the formation of the Nasional Council as the symbol of the national association towards the solution to the referendum in the problem resolution of West Papua.
5. Immediately stopped the debate and mutual conflicts between the foreign diplomat and immediately to unite in works of the campaign and diplomacy in order to pushes the process of the resolution through the law and politic route.
This congress also succeeded in choosing the central management for, where Buchtar Tabuni was chosen again with the unanimous vote to continue to become General Chairman of KNPB, whereas Mako Tabuni became Vice Chairman of KNPB. General Secretary was filled up by Agus Trapen and Danny Wenda. Whereas the national Spokesperson was Jefri Tabuni and Victor F. Yeimo was chosen to be the Internasional Spokesperson.
This this resolution was passed towards organised internal the struggle headed the nation goal of West Papua namely nation independence of West Papua.
“We Must End”
Sinceraly,
Victor F. Yeimo
International spokesperson (+6281384553160)
Monday, November 29, 2010
WikiLeaks's unveiling of secret State Department cables exposes U.S. diplomacy
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Wikileaks's unveiling of cables shows delicate diplomatic balance with Pakistan
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Foreign governments say WikiLeaks revelations undercut relations with U.S.
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U.S. asked China to stop missile parts shipment to Iran
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: Wikileaks cables expose world leaders' sensitive diplomacy
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WikiLeaks's release of documents shows struggle to relocate Guantanamo detainees
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WikiLeaks cables reveal personal details on world leaders
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WikiLeaks's unveiling of secret State Department cables exposes U.S. diplomacy
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Obama administration to WikiLeaks: Documents' release would have 'grave consequences'
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WikiLeaks release: With better sharing of data comes danger
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Secret cables reveal that U.S. believes Iran has advanced missiles
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Pentagon details security changes prompted by leak
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Text of White House statement on WikiLeaks release
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WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange takes Post readers' questions
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Clinton: Wikileaks release an 'attack on international community'
The documents suggest U.S. diplomats were ordered to engage in low-level spying by obtaining foreign diplomats' personal information, such as frequent-flier and credit card numbers, presumably to better track their movements.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Recordings of Rigoberta Menchú, Nobel Peace Prize Recipient, Digitized by Hoover Archives | Hoover Institution
Recordings of Rigoberta Menchú, Nobel Peace Prize Recipient, Digitized by Hoover Archives | Hoover InstitutionThe sound recordings of Rigoberta Menchú that formed the basis of her autobiographical book, I, Rigoberta Menchú: An Indian Woman in Guatemala (London: Verso, 1983), compiled by Elisabeth Burgos-Debray, are digitized and available for immediate access at the Hoover Archives. Menchú, a Quiché Indian woman who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 1992, was interviewed by Elisabeth Burgos-Debray over the course of a week in 1982. The recordings are among the Elisabeth Burgos-Debray papers at Hoover.
In the introduction to I, Rigoberta Menchú, Burgos-Debray writes, “Every day for a week, we began to record her story at nine in the morning, broke for lunch at about one, and then continued until six in the evening. We often worked after dinner too, either making more recordings or preparing questions for the next day. At the end of the week I had twenty-four hours of conversation on tape.”
Saturday, November 27, 2010
No Sex Education Please, We're Arab - IPS ipsnews.net
Sex education is expelled from Egyptian schools.
Credit:Victoria HazouNo Sex Education Please, We're Arab - IPS ipsnews.net
CAIRO, Nov 22, 2010 (IPS) - Civil society has warned of adverse social and health consequences after the Egyptian government ordered the removal of content related to male and female anatomy, reproductive health and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) from the school curriculum.
"We know most of this material wasn’t being taught, but removing it from the curriculum is a big step backwards," says Noha Roushdy, researcher at the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR).
Egypt’s education ministry has instructed schools not to teach lessons on "reproduction and propagation methods", "pollination and fertilisation" genetics, and anatomical illustrations of the male and female reproductive systems. Teachers were ordered to disregard chapters on these subjects in existing biology textbooks, and new textbooks have been printed that omit the lessons.
Stop DC's war on the black community!
Stop DC's war on the black community![uhurunews.com] The war on the African community in DC is in full swing.
In response, the International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement (InPDUM) will hold an event titled, “Stop the war on the black community!” at Everlasting Life Café (2928 Georgia Avenue; Washington DC).
The event will be held on Saturday, December 18th at 2:00pm EST.
Keynote speaker will be InPDUM President Diop Olugbala.
The exchange of leadership between the two imperialist parties during the recent elections has had no effect on oppressed people.
City officials continue their attacks on all fronts, including gentrification, economic oppression, police containment, and a newly introduced attack on DC’s welfare program.
The gentrification problem, in particular, is so severe that DC—historically known as the “Chocolate City” because of its majority black population—is in danger of losing that title by 2020.
Same old. Same old.
Democrat Adrian Fenty is soon to be replaced as mayor of DC by city council chair Vincent Gray, also a Democrat. According to popular media, it would seem that things are about to brighten up.
The popular media reports that Gray lacks the level of arrogance Fenty was known for.
They say he will not build dog parks for white citizens in formerly African communities, or tear down our schools. Allegedly, Gray won't ignore “the people,” as Fenty has.
The question remains though: what will Gray do? He will inherit DC's 150-million-dollar deficit, and, as has been the trend set by Democratic mayors before him, he will make up for this deficit on the backs of Africans.
Already, Gray has co-signed an attack on the DC welfare program, initiated by former mayor, current city council representative and beloved neocolonial stooge, Marion Barry (who also is a member of the Democratic party).
Friday, November 26, 2010
Jerry Haber: FAQ on Zionism and Racism
By Jerry Haber
Is Zionism inherently racist?
No. Zionism was never based on theories of racial or even cultural superiority. Zionism, was and is a movement to achieve Jewish self-determination (there are other elements as well). For most Zionists, the place for that self-determination was and is the Land of Israel.
Is there racist Zionism?
Sure, there are certainly racist versions of Zionism, if we broaden “racism” to include theories of religious-racial superiority.
Have there been racist Zionists?
Sure, but not by virtue of their Zionism. Even the attempts of certain religious Zionists to posit a metaphysical distinction between Jew and Gentile, or who suggest that the Ishmaelites have inherited their ancestor’s hatred of Isaac, etc., can not be laid at the feet of their Zionism, but rather their understanding of Judaism. And, of course, there are racists everywhere. Even cultural Zionists like Magnes expressed feelings of cultural superiority towards local Arabs in his private correspondence. But that did not figure into his Zionism. He simply was an American who had spent time in Germany, and who had the cultural snobbery that infects many people. In America, German Jews didn’t let Russian Jews become members of their country clubs because they viewed the latter as uncouth and vulgar. A person can be a bigot and a Zionist, but that doesn’t make Zionism bigotry.
Former FBI Agent, “Peltier was Wrongfully Convicted”
A Native comrade on Facebook put me onto this. Thanks go out to him.
M. Wesley Swearingen, FBI Secrets: An Agents Expose (Available on Amazon.com ):
Former FBI agent M. Wesley Swearingen, stated:
“I was an FBI agent in Los Angeles when Leonard Peltier was convicted, and I know from FBI documents that I read and from statements made by fellow FBI agents, that Peltier was wrongfully convicted of murdering two FBI agents just because the agents investigating the case wanted someone to pay for killing the two FBI agents. I know, for a fact, that the FBI is also covering up its culpability in the death of the two FBI agents.”
Swearingen is the same agent who exposed the FBI misconduct in the case of Geronimo Pratt, whose conviction was eventually overturned. Pratt was set free after 20 years of false imprisonment. If you still think that the FBI and the U.S. government are the good guys.. stop and think again.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Conferencia de Suleiman Baraka: '¡4 Años de Encierro! - Gaza Sobrevive'
Conferencia de Suleiman Baraka: '¡4 Años de Encierro! - Gaza Sobrevive' [palestinalibre.org] La Fundación Euroárabe presenta en Granada la conferencia de Suleiman Baraka, titulada '4 años de encierro! Gaza aun sobrevive, un estudio prospectivo y personal del espació científico de Gaza La.
En la que aborda cómo los habitantes de esta zona sobrevivieron a cuatro años de encierro y a una brutal guerra global.
Suleiman Baraka es profesor de la Universidad Al-Aqsa (Franja de Gaza,
Palestina) se graduó en Física Teórica en la Universidad AlQuds
(Jerusalén) en 1987, posteriormente realizó estudios de gestión
empresarial en la Cámara de Comercio de Chesterfield (Reino Unido, 1996)
y se diplomó en administraciones públicas en la Universidad de
Pensilvania (EEUU, 1998). Actualmente trabaja para el programa PEACE
(Programme for Palestinian European Academic Cooperation in Education),
siendo responsable del proyecto "Telescopios para Gaza" y "Enseñanza e
Investigación de la Astronomía en las Universidades palestinas de la
franja de Gaza".
Durante seis años fue responsable de relaciones
públicas e internacionales en la Cámara de Comercio Palestina
(1992-1998) y posteriormente, director de relaciones internacionales del
Ministerio de Medio Ambiente (1999). Trabajó para el Ministerio de
Asuntos Exteriores de Gaza (1999-2001), siendo responsable de política
con los EEUU, y Director de Relaciones Internacionales de la Autoridad
Palestina. En 2000 retomó su actividad científica y de investigación,
realizando su master en Física Teórica en la Universidad Islámica de
Gaza (2003) y su tesis doctoral en el Instituto de Astrofísica de Paris
(2007).
- Conferencia en inglés asistida de intrepretación al castellano
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
When did being a ho become a requirement for female rappers.
I grew up in a era with Queen Latifah and MC Lyte when female rappers prided themselves on their skills on the mic and not on trying to see who could swallow it. What happened to wanting to be respected as an artist?
Read more: http://aareports.com/2010/11/when-did-being-ho-become-requirement.html
Monday, November 15, 2010
Royalty & Enneagram Type: From the Prince's BabyMama to His Royal Princess...
It is rare that a Prince marries his BabyMama (which probably is a reflection of society). Usually she fills his nursery and his private quarters until the prince has to make a suitable public marriage. If she is done right by, the BabyMama gets financial support
to maintain herself and children in comfort like Tamara Rotolo and Nicole Coste. (Prince Albert of Monaco refused to marry his 2 BabyMamas but did provide for his children.)"
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Friday, November 12, 2010
"Stupid Indians" .... "Indians are of no use" "Indians don’t understand anything or how to do anything"
"Indians don’t understand anything or how to do anything"
These are the kind of insults, from supervisors, made to indigenous workers at Giumarra Vineyards. And you can imagine the treatment that goes along with this attitude. Please read the below alert and then take action.
In January we reported that a young woman, 17 years old, was harassed sexually by a co-worker at Giumarra. She complained to the company about the unwanted sexual advances, and the company did something.
When she and fellow workers complained, they were fired.
These workers are all members of indigenous groups from Mexico. In a lawsuit filed by the former Giumarra employees who are Plaintiffs in the lawsuit, they claim they were the targets of abuse, insults, and discrimination by Giumarra supervisors just because they are indigenous.
CMS vote highlights deep divide; accusations of racism - CharlotteObserver.com
Victimhood is power crowd is at it again.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
260,000 Homeless Veterans—6,500 Are Women
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
The Destruction of the African Male in America is Now Complete.
But a new report focusing on black males suggests that the picture is even bleaker than generally known.
Only 12 percent of black fourth-grade boys are proficient in reading, compared with 38 percent of white boys, and only 12 percent of black eighth-grade boys are proficient in math, compared with 44 percent of white boys.
Poverty alone does not seem to explain the differences: poor white boys do just as well as African-American boys who do not live in poverty, measured by whether they qualify for subsidized school lunches.
The data was distilled from highly respected national math and reading tests, known as the National Assessment for Educational Progress, which are given to students in fourth and eighth grades, most recently in 2009. The report, “A Call for Change,” is to be released Tuesday by the Council of the Great City Schools, an advocacy group for urban public schools.
Although the outlines of the problem and many specifics have been previously reported, the group hopes that including so much of what it calls “jaw-dropping data” in one place will spark a new sense of national urgency.
“What this clearly shows is that black males who are not eligible for free and reduced-price lunch are doing no better than white males who are poor,” said Michael Casserly, executive director of the council.
Tuesday, November 09, 2010
Monday, November 08, 2010
Steve Sailer's iSteve Blog: An Uncle Tim
Perhaps the best-written response to Tuesday's election -- frank, clear, logical, and pithy -- is by professional anti-racist Tim Wise"
Mr. Wise is just pathetic.
Friday, November 05, 2010
Thursday, November 04, 2010
[Ireland] Anarchists Condemn Police Violence Against Students
“While several WSM members where present in the demo, other members watched from the vantage point of our office window which directly overlooked the scene. We witnessed many injuries as a result of police violence, mostly unprovoked batoning, but also the use of the edges of riot shields to dig into people. We witnessed police horses being run directly into a mass crowd, we saw women and men sitting on the ground, beaten with lumps of stick the police call “batons”. We witnessed police dogs being reared into the crowd as people shouted “peaceful protest”. I heard the police swear and verbally threaten students, one saying they would “knock the fucking ***” out of me if I didn't move.”
Wednesday, November 03, 2010
December 2009 Newsletter : Sexual Victimization and Requests for Assistance in Inmates’ Letters to the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission
THOSE NOT EDUCATED in the criminal justice system often believe that it works without flaws: someone breaks the law, is caught, and is issued a sentence proportional to the crime. The time in jail or prison is served quietly, while the offender is rehabilitated and taught skills that will aid in positively contributing to society upon release. While the offender is serving the sentence, tax dollars allow him or her to be maintained in a safe, secure, and humane environment. As criminal justice academics and practitioners, we know that this sunny look at incarceration is rarely the actual experience of an offender. Although their frequency may be sensationalized by the media, the numerous hardships of prison and jail life (e.g., rape, gangs, drugs, abuse) do exist.
Numerous studies have shown that sexual violence occurs within the confines of correctional institutions; both inmates and correctional staff can be perpetrators, and there are patterns of characteristics among victims of correctional sexual violence. In 2003, the United States Congress passed the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) in order to address the issues of sexual violence in correctional settings. As a part of PREA, the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission (NPREC) was established by Congress to conduct a comprehensive study of federal, state and local government policies and practices related to the prevention, detection, and punishment of prison sexual assaults (NPREC 2007).
Sexual violence in correctional institutions is well documented (Beck & Harrison, 2006, 2007; Davis, 1968; Wolff, Shi, Blitz, & Siegel, 2007a), but the dynamics of such and how inmates experience it remain less well understood. Because of the sensitivity of the topic, inmates are not inclined to speak out about their experiences; however, several options for reporting victimization and seeking advice, guidance, and assistance are available. For some individuals, the method of choice is to contact, in writing, the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission (NPREC). This study focuses on the correspondence from inmates to NPREC with a goal of identifying the goals, contexts, and requests included in inmates’ correspondence.
Monday, November 01, 2010
Jimmy Carter: Fox News is ‘totally biased,’ implants ‘completely false images’
Former President Jimmy Carter slammed Fox News Channel for their coverage of President Barack Obama and said the Tea Party does not realize it is financed by oligarchs.
"With the discussion groups, for instance, on Fox News, that are totally biased, and they implant completely false images not only of the facts about legislation that's passed, or doesn't get passed, but also about the character of President Obama," Carter told CNN's Howard Kurtz on Sunday.
Fox News' opinion shows cater almost exclusively to conservative audiences and the network has been a vocal critic of Obama since he won the election in 2008.
"When conservatives such as myself and others pointed out that we felt Barack Obama had radical ties and socialist, radical views, we were laughed at, made fun of, people thought we were too harsh on the president," Fox News' host Sean Hannity said in October. "Now a full, you know, 60 percent of the American people view him as socialist."
In July of 2009, another Fox News' host, Glenn Beck, claimed that the president had "a deep-seated hatred of white people or white culture."
Sunday, October 31, 2010
The Urban Grocery Gap: Killing Us Softly | Race in America | Change.org
Friday, October 29, 2010
Another Day, Another 850 Afghan Children Dead
Bamiyan Diaries – Day Five
By David Smith-Ferri
“Is This Normal?”
In a small storage shed at the edge of town, we watched as fourteen-year-old Sayed Qarim signed a simple contract agreeing to borrow and repay a no-interest, 25,000 afghani loan (roughly $555). Daniel from the Zenda Company, the loan originator, counted out the crisp bills and handed them to Qarim, who smiled broadly and shook hands. Qarim, whose family farms potatoes and wheat, plans to use the funds to purchase a cow and her calf. “There are great benefits of owning a cow,” Qarim explains. “Our family gets to use the milk, and we can sell the calf for a good profit.”
No one walking by outside on the narrow dirt road would have known an important business transaction had just occurred, one that could in fact help a young man and his family gain economic traction and greater security. The transaction didn’t take place in a bank. No village leaders were present. Only a fourteen-year-old boy, the representative of a private business company, and a witness. And while the signed agreement constitutes a business relationship, the Zenda Company sees it as primarily personal.
Qarim was recommended for a loan by Faiz and Mohammad Jan, two other young men who live in his village and who have themselves recently received and repaid loans. Following this recommendation, Zenda spent much time getting to know Qarim, meeting with him, assessing his knowledge, his resources (such as access to grazing land), and his character, answering his questions, and describing to him his responsibilities as a borrower.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Iraq war logs: 'The US was part of the Wolf Brigade operation against us'
During the foreboding months of 2005, one police unit struck more fear into Iraqis than the entire occupying US army. They were known as the Wolf Brigade.
Brutal even by Iraqi standards, their soldiers and officers seemingly answered to no one. They were seen as indiscriminate and predatory. The unit's reputation had been known Iraq-wide and results of their numerous raids are still bogged down in Iraq's legal system.
But the full range of their abuses and close co-operation with the US army remained in the shadows until the WikiLeaks disclosures showcased them in stark detail.
A visit from the unit to any neighbourhood was sure to bring trouble – as it it did for Omar Salem Shehab on 25 June that year.
"We were at home that night," Shehab recalled this week. "We were three brothers sleeping above my ice-cream shop. We were woken by soldiers entering our house by force. They came with Americans. They said we were wanted and produced a document.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
The WikiLeaks Release: U.S. Complicity and Cover-Up of Iraq Torture Exposed
[globalresearch.ca] On October 22nd, the whistleblowing web site WikiLeaks released nearly 400,000 classified Iraq war documents, the largest leak of secret information in U.S. history.
Explosive revelations contained in the Iraq War Logs provided further evidence of the Pentagon's role in the systematic torture of Iraqi citizens by the U.S.-installed post-Saddam regime.
Indeed, multiple files document how U.S. officials failed to investigate thousands of cases of abuse, torture, rape and murder. Even innocent victims who were targets of kidnapping gangs, tortured for ransom by Iraqi police and soldiers operating out of the Interior Ministry, were "investigated" in a perfunctory manner that was little more than a cover-up.
Never mind that the Pentagon was fully cognizant of the nightmare playing out in Iraqi jails and prisons. Never mind the beatings with rifle butts and steel cables, the electrocutions, the flesh sliced with razors, the limbs hacked-off with chainsaws, the acid and chemical burns on battered corpses found along the roads, the eyes gouged out or the bones lacerated by the killers' tool of choice: the power drill.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Free Mumia Abu-Jamal: Detroit Screening of New Documentary, Mon., November 1, 7:00 p.m.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MECAWI HOSTS SCREENING OF NEW DOCUMENTARY, JUSTICE ON TRIAL: THE CASE OF MUMIA ABU-JAMAL
What: First Detroit Screening on Mon. Nov. 1, 7:00 p.m.
Where: 5920 Second Ave. at Antoinette, North of WSU Campus
Cost: Free Admission
Contact: 313.671.3715
E-mail: panafnewswire@yahoo.com
URL: http://www.mecawi.org
Important Meeting As the Case of Mumia Abu-Jamal Takes on Renewed Urgency With Upcoming Court Hearing
As one of the nation’s most closely-watched death row cases heads to the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals on November 9, Baruch College Professor of American History Johanna Fernandez teams up with director Kouross Esmaeli of Big Noise Films to investigate the controversial case of Mumia Abu-Jamal in their new film, Justice on Trial: The Case of Mumia Abu-Jamal. Fernandez wrote and produced the film, which Esmaeli directed. Justice on Trial will receive its first Detroit screening at the weekly meeting of the Michigan Emergency Committee Against War & Injustice on Mon., November 1 at 7:00pm.
A trial court convicted Abu-Jamal of first-degree murder in the 1981
killing of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner. Abu-Jamal was
sentenced to death and has been on death row since 1982. During the intervening years, debate has raged between Abu-Jamal’s supporters and detractors, with his supporters maintaining his innocence and claiming that exculpatory evidence was suppressed during the trial.
In Justice on Trial, Fernandez asks what she describes as fundamental questions about the workings of the criminal justice system and the Abu-Jamal case—from his sentencing in 1982 to subsequent appeals. According to Fernandez, Justice on Trial presents the legal and factual arguments for reasonable doubt about the fairness of the guilty verdict.
Abu-Jamal is an award-winning radio journalist who sits on death row in a Western Pennsylvania prison where he has authored six books, including the bestselling Live From Death Row. On orders from the Supreme Court, the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals will reconsider reinstating the death penalty on Nov. 9. With the federal appeal on the horizon, Fernandez and Esmaeli expedited completion of their four-year project in order to participate in revived conversations inspired by the case.
Trailer here:
http://bignoisefilms.org/films/tactical-media/114-justice-on-trial
Democracy Now news clip on the film here:
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/9/22/as_competing_films_offer_differing_views
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/justiceontrialthemovie
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Friday, October 22, 2010
Sunday, October 17, 2010
The 25 Most Unequal Cities In America
But in some cities the disparity is especially bad, according to Census data. We picked out the 25 metro areas where the top quintile has the greatest share of the income."
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Chavez claims Ecuador leader 'in danger of being killed'
Mr Chavez said that his lefitst ally had been "kidnapped" by police inside the hospital and trying to oust him from power.
Peru and Colombia both said it would close their borders with Ecuador while their leaders, along with Mr Chavez, were flying to Argentina for an emergency meeting of the regional body UNASUR to discuss the events. The US condemned “any attempt to violate the democratic process.”
The government declared a state of emergency, enabling the military to take over the functions of police taking part in the rebellion, Security Minister Miguel Carvajal said.
Scores of soldiers swarmed over the landing strip of the international airport, forcing it to close. Witnesses said there was looting in Quito and in the city of Guayaquil, and that many workers and school students were being sent home.
Elsewhere in Quito, uniformed police burned tires in protest at a proposal to cut their bonuses.
Why Are American Male Tennis Writers Racist & Sexist Against Serena Williams? « GayBlackCanadianman
A familiar narrative emerges every year on high profile sports blogs and the usual target is tennis champion Serena Williams. Usually, after the US Open,
the American tennis establishment repeats publishing a series of articles blasting Serena Williams committment to women’s tennis. The theme is the same,
and the result is the same. Serena ignores the racists and misogynists and continues to dominate the game."
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Lieberman presents plans for population exchange at UN
Controversial scheme would see part of Israel's Arab population moved to a newly created Palestinian state, in return for evacuation of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
September 28, 2010
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Tuesday presented the United Nations with his draft for a population and territory swap, as part of an eventual peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians.
Under Lieberman's controversial scheme, part of Israel's Arab population would be moved to a newly created Palestinians state, in return for evacuation of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
"A final agreement between Israel and the Palestinians has to be based on a program of exchange of territory and populations," Lieberman told the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
The foreign minister stressed that his proposals did not represent a scheme for "populations transfer", a phrase that evokes historical proposals by Israel's extreme right to evict Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza altogether.
"We are not talking about population transfer but about defining borders so as best to reflect the demographic reality," said.
Friday, September 24, 2010
White Europocentric Power the Acknowledged Basis for US Education
The Texas State Board of Education today passed a resolution warning textbook publishers to scrub their books of "gross pro-Islamic, anti-Christian" bias. The vote was 7 to 6.
The board passed the nonbinding resolution after more than three hours of debate.
Proponents of the measure, including board members and witnesses, argued that world history textbooks spend too much space discussing Islam, and in too positive a light, when compared with Christianity.
One parent said she read through a section of her son's history book and found four pages on Islam and only one reference to the Bible. Asked by a board member what the section was titled, she replied, "Life in the Eastern Hemisphere."
One of the board's most conservative members, Don McLeroy, who is serving the last months of his term, said textbook publishers have been biased in favor of Islam for years. He argued that "one of the greatest gifts to the world was medieval Christendom," citing an essay he had written in 2002 titled "The Gift of Medieval Christendom to the World."
In a recent interview on Univision, Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-CA) expressed outrage, in Spanish, at "the Vietnamese and the Republicans are [trying] -- with an intensity -- to take this seat, this seat with which we've done so much for our community."
"[They're trying] to take this seat and give it to this Van Tran, who is very anti-immigrant and very anti-Hispanic," she continued.
According to the Orange County Register, both Sanchez and her Republican opponent, California Assemblyman Van Tran (whose family was evacuated by the U.S. Army out of Saigon the week before it fell) have already issued statements about the comments. In a statement, Tran's campaign manager George Andrews said: "At a time when our state faces an unemployment rate above 12 percent, Loretta Sanchez resorts to insensitive racist attacks against her own constituents. Her attack against immigrants and the Vietnamese community on national television is shocking."
Meanwhile, Sanchez's campaign said that she "was referencing those in the Vietnamese community who are supporting her opponent."
Tran's campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from TPM.
Israel Flotilla Raid Violated International Law, U.N. Council Says
[huffingtonpost.com/] GENEVA — A report by three U.N.-appointed human rights experts Wednesday said that Israeli forces violated international law when they raided a Gaza-bound aid flotilla killing nine activists earlier this year.
The U.N. Human Rights Council's fact-finding mission concluded that Israel's naval blockade of the Palestinian territory was unlawful because of the humanitarian crisis there, and described the military raid on the flotilla as brutal and disproportionate.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry responded late Wednesday by saying the Human Rights Council, which commissioned the report, had a "biased, politicized and extremist approach."
The Islamic militant group Hamas that controls Gaza, meanwhile, praised the report and called for those involved in the raid to be punished.
The 56-page document lists a series of alleged crimes committed by Israeli forces during and after the raid, including willful killing and torture, and claims there is "clear evidence to support prosecutions." ure.
"A series of violations of international law, including international humanitarian and human rights law, were committed by the Israeli forces during the interception of the flotilla and during the detention of passengers in Israel prior to deportation," the experts found.
Friday, September 17, 2010
Police: Washington woman admits acid attack was a hoax – This Just In - CNN.com Blogs
Police: Washington woman admits acid attack was a hoax – This Just In - CNN.com Blogs
Thursday, September 16, 2010
White Sexual Insecurity and Drug Criminalization « Playing the Devil's Advocate
Read this Wikipedia entry on the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act- the first anti-drug law in the US.
The relevant parts.."
Friday, September 10, 2010
Zionist Israel: “There Are No Civilians In Wartime.”
“There are no civilians during wartime,” Yossi declared under oath.
Yossi made his remarkable statement under withering cross examination by Hussein Abu Hussein, the lawyer for the family of Corrie, who was crushed to death by an Israeli bulldozer in Rafah on March 17, 2003. In the back of the courtroom were Rachel’s parents, Craig and Cindy, and her sister, Sarah, back in Israel for the second round of hearings in their civil suit against the state of Israel. They were joined by supporters, friends and a handful of reporters, including me (see Nora Barrows-Friedman’s report for more). No one from the Israeli media was present — the case has been virtually ignored inside Israel.
In the immediate wake of Corrie’s killing, Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, then the chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell, instructed Corrie’s parents to demand a “thorough, fair and transparent investigation” from the Israeli government. Since then, the Israelis have stonewalled them, refusing to provide key details of their investigation, which was corrupted from the start by the investigators’ apparent attempts to find evidence that a bulldozer did not in fact kill Rachel.
Tuesday, September 07, 2010
Airports aren't the only place to find companies selling X-ray scanners
While debate continues in the United States over whether whole-body imagers now being used at airports to detect weapons violate privacy rights and even create potential health risks, manufacturers of the technology are opening deeper opportunities for themselves elsewhere that could make the controversial machines an even bigger part of everyday life.
A Massachusetts-based company claims that government agencies here and abroad have purchased hundreds of its van-mounted X-ray devices that reveal the contents of passing vehicles without authorities relying on a manual search to find human stowaways, secret compartments full of narcotics or bomb ingredients.
An executive of American Science & Engineering told Forbes privacy writer Andy Greenberg late last month that the X-ray scanners are most popular with the Defense Department, a fact borne out by federal contracting data. Troops face insurgent bomb architects in Iraq and Afghanistan capable of stymieing the world’s most powerful armed forces with crude, MacGyver-style explosives, so vehicle X-ray technology in a place like Baghdad makes sense.
Monday, September 06, 2010
John John: The View From Occupied Canada
LAS VEGAS - September 3 - On Tuesday, September 14, 2010, members of the Creech 14, along with their legal advisors and supporters will hold a rally at Lewis and 3rd Street, at 7:30 a.m. and then proceed to their trial which begins at 8:30 a.m. in the Regional Justice Center at 200 Lewis Avenue. Charged with criminal trespass for entering the Creech AFB on April 9, 2009, the activists will argue that, under international law, they are obliged to oppose illegal U.S. usage of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (drones) to attack people in Afghanistan. They also plan to show the court that by entering Creech AFB they were enacting their first amendment right to assemble peaceably for redress of grievance.
Sri Lanka: Ties with Israel expose duplicity | Green Left WeeklyOn July 21, the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth published an interview with Donald Perera, Sri Lanka’s ambassador to Israel. Perera, the former Sri Lankan Air Force commander and Chief of Defence Staff, thanked Israel profusely for its support in the fight against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
He said: "For years Israel has aided our war on terror through the exchange of information and the sale of military technology and equipment... Our air force fleet includes 17 Kfir warplanes, and we also have Dabur patrol boats. Our pilots were trained in Israel, and we have received billions of dollars in aid over the past few years. This is why I asked to be assigned to Israel — a country I consider a partner in the war against terror."
Is Alberta worse than Africa when it comes to protecting and sharing its natural wealth? Greenpeace International's new executive director makes that claim after visiting Canada's oil sands this summer.
It was the first time Kumi Naidoo, Greenpeace International's "activist-in-chief" had been to the oil sands area, and the South African-born anti-apartheid organizer drew some unflattering conclusions.
"It has been said that Africa is so poor above the ground because it is so rich under the ground. Alberta is beginning to see similar impacts of being a resource-rich region," Naidoo wrote in an email to The Tyee.
Saturday, September 04, 2010
Libertyblog: Just About the Perfect Libertyblog Story
Wednesday, September 01, 2010
National Archives says Glenn Beck lied about George Washington speech
National Archives says Glenn Beck lied about George Washington speech | Raw StoryGlenn Beck seems to have been nailed by the men and women who protected the nation's most prized political documents: The National Archives.
While speaking during his "Restoring Honor" rally Saturday, Beck said that he'd held an original speech given by George Washington.
Beck remarked, "I held the first inaugural address written in his own hand by George Washington."
Mother Jones' Stephanie Mencimer destroys the claim in an Mother Jones' Wednesday. The National Archives says Beck never held the document in his hands.
"Beck did receive a special VIP tour of the archives, arranged by an as-yet unidentified member of Congress. During that tour, he did get a peek inside the "legislative vault," which isn't open to ordinary visitors," Mencimer says.
Story continues below...
"But Archives spokeswoman Susan Cooper insists that Beck didn't lay a finger on any precious documents, much less George Washington’s inaugural address. That would be a major violation of policy," she adds.
"Those kinds of treasures are only handled by specially trained archival staff," Cooper said. "I'm certain it was a figure of speech," she says.
IACHR Condems Murders Of Indigenous Leaders In Colombia
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) condemns the murder of three indigenous leaders in Colombia, and the wife of one of them, over the last two weeks.
According to the information available, three leaders of the U’wa, Sikuani, and Pasto peoples, and the wife of one of the leaders, were killed by hired assassins between August 13 and 26 of this year. On August 13, Carmen Elisa Mora Uncacia was killed. A member of the U’wa people, she worked as coordinator of the Office of Indigenous Affairs in the Mayor’s Office in the town of Saravena, in the department of Arauca. The indigenous leader, who was attacked in her home, was the mother of two children and was pregnant at the time of her death. On August 14, Jaime Reyes, of the Sikuani people, was killed. He lived on the Parreros reserve and was a member of the town council of La Esperanza. The indigenous leader, who was in a situation of forced displacement, was attacked by hit men in the community of Barcelona, in the municipality of Tame, in Arauca. On August 26, Ramiro Inampues and his wife, of the Pasto people, were kidnapped; their bodies appeared two days later, with bullet wounds, in the community of El Corso, in the Guachucal indigenous reserve, in the department of Nariño. The indigenous leader, who was known as Taita Ramiro, had been governor of the Guachucal reserve and was a council member in the municipality of Guachucal.
The IACHR condemns these violations to the individual rights of the victims and their families. The Inter-American Commission also emphasizes that attacks on indigenous leaders and authorities break down the cohesion of indigenous peoples. These murders affect not only the direct victims of violence and their families, but also indigenous societies as a whole, given the critical duties of leaders and authorities and their central role in defending, preserving, and passing down their ancestral cultures. Since attacks on indigenous leaders and authorities constitute assaults on the entire sociocultural structure, they are grave crimes that violate the integrity and collective rights of indigenous peoples as groups that have special protections under international human rights law and, in the context of internal armed conflicts such as the one in Colombia, under international humanitarian law as well.
The Commission urges the Colombian State to investigate these crimes, prosecute and punish the perpetrators and masterminds, and address the needs for protection and security of indigenous leaders and authorities in Colombia, in order to prevent these violations of individual and collective human rights.
A principal, autonomous body of the Organization of American States (OAS), the IACHR derives its mandate from the OAS Charter and the American Convention on Human Rights. The Inter-American Commission has a mandate to promote respect for human rights in the region and acts as a consultative body to the OAS in this matter. The Commission is composed of seven independent members who are elected in a personal capacity by the OAS General Assembly and who do not represent their countries of origin or residence.
5th International Black Power Conference
Wednesday, September 1, 2010 12:55 PM
From: "Pan-African Roots"
The 40th anniversary of the “Black Power Uprising” in Trinidad and Tobago is being commemorated with an international academic conference at the University of the West Indies (UWI), St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago, from Friday 17th September to Sunday 19th September 2010.
This 5th International Black Power Conference is being organized by the Department of History at St. Augustine, Trinidad. Co-sponsors include the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies and the Centre for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (both at St. Augustine campus). Other supporting organizations in Trinidad include the National Joint Action Committee (NJAC), the History Society (at UWI), the Emancipation Support Committee, the Oilfield Workers Union and the Public Services Association. The All-African People’s Revolutionary Party (A-APRP (GC)) is also a supporting organization.
This historic Conference includes a record 90 presentations on 20 panels in 2 days. Participants include professors and organizers from Trinidad, Jamaica, Canada, Britain, the United States and other countries. They represent several academic and movement schools and traditions including: History, Trinidad and Caribbean Studies, Pan-African Studies, Black Studies, Black Power Studies, Black Radical Studies, Afro-centric Studies, NJAC Studies, Black Panther Studies, etc.
The A-APRP (GC) will present two papers:
(1) Mwalimu Keita will present, on behalf of the A-APRP (GC), a paper titled Black Power: An Ideological Channel for Mass All-African Revolutionary Political Education and Organization.
This paper provides a historical analysis of the call for Black Power in the U.S. within the context of African people's generational struggle for Africa's Unity, National Independence, Liberation, and Pan-Africanism. It documents the dialectical relationship between Black Power as an intellectual and ideological force in the worldwide anti-colonial movement and as an objective in the African Revolution, of which Pan-Africanism is its highest expression. It defines, defends, and reclaims Black Power as an objective necessity and channel to teach, politically educate, empower, and organize the African Masses in Africa and throughout the African Diaspora in all-African organizations as an expression of the revolutionary African Personality and Culture.
(2) Bob Brown will present, on behalf of the A-APRP (GC), a paper titled Kwame Ture Is Still Dancing In The Fire! Towards A New Historiography.
This paper will provide an overview of Kwame’s public life, work, study and struggle from 1950, when his philosophical conscience and political conscious was awakened in Trinidad, to his transition to the Ancestors in Guinea in 1998. It will serve as the Introduction to a book by the same title that will be “the definitive political biography of Kwame Ture.” As you perhaps know, Bob has been working on this book for the past 12 years. It will be published in late 2011 or early 2012.
The Conference invites all interested parties, worldwide, to attend. Email us for contact information at paroots02@yahoo.com
Bob, as a representative of the A-APRP (GC), has also been invited to visit Venezuela to observe the Parliamentary Elections, make several presentations and attend several meetings. We hope that he can visit other countries in the Caribbean Basin while in the area.
The A-APRP (GC) needs and asks for your assistance in raising the funds needed to defray travel to and in the region, and provide modest accommodations. Tax exemption is available for those who request it. Please contact Bob directly, if you can help: paroots02@yahoo.com or (202) 239-1651.
A copy of the A-APRP (GC)’s two papers will be emailed to all who make a donation, no later than September 17, 2001, the start of the Conference. Thank you in advance for any assistance that you might offer.
As always, we remain
Ready for Revolution!
Organizers, All-African People’s Revolutionary Party (GC)
info@a-aprp-gc.org
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Friday, August 27, 2010
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Saudi cleric slammed over fatwa on women cashiers
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – A conservative Saudi cleric was told to stop giving unauthorized edicts after he called for a boycott of a supermarket chain that employs women as cashiers, the office of the kingdom's most senior religious leader said Thursday.
The move is the first public reprimand of a prominent cleric following a royal decree that limits the issuance of fatwas to the country's most senior group of clerics. Fatwas are religious edicts that provide guidance in matters of everyday life to pious Muslims.
Sheik Youssef al-Ahmed had urged people not to shop at Panda Supermarket because women there work in jobs that allow for the mingling of the sexes, which the cleric said was a violation of Islamic law.
Saudi media reported that al-Ahmed's fatwa forced the supermarket management to reassign 11 of its women employees to other positions on Wednesday. The chain could not be reached for comment.
Grand Mufti Sheik Abdul-Aziz Al Sheik's office said Thursday he had summoned al-Ahmed and ordered the cleric to refrain from issuing unauthorized fatwas.
The office said it "received a pledge from al-Ahmed not to issue any fatwas" without approval.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
AP Exclusive: Japanese mayor defends dolphin hunts
TAIJI, Japan – As children in inner tubes bob on the calm waters of this small ocean cove, a 550-pound (250-kilogram) dolphin zips through the crowd in pursuit of raw squid tossed out by a trainer.
Niru, a Risso's dolphin caught locally, seems unbothered by all the people and the squeals of surprise and delight. The cove is packed — it's a bright summer Sunday and hundreds of families have come.
But in two weeks, the waters of the cove will turn blood red, as it becomes a holding pen for annual hunts that capture and kill hundreds of dolphins each year.
The ancient village of Taiji, portrayed in the Oscar-winning documentary "The Cove," has a long and complex relationship with the dolphin. The film portrays the dolphin hunts as a sinister secret, cruel and dangerous because the animals have high mercury levels.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Peace Talks in the Shadow of Demolitions
While President Barack Obama pressures Palestinians to re-engage in direct peace talks, and Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu loftily counsels President Mahmoud Abbas not to miss the opportunity, recent demolitions within the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel continue unabated and unaddressed.
According to OCHA, July and August have marked the highest number of demolitions this year. As of the end of July, OCHA reports Israeli forces have destroyed over 230 structures effectively displacing and/or affecting over 1100 Palestinians, including 400 children since the beginning of 2010. Over 50% of said destruction has taken place in July alone. OCHA further comments that the Israeli Civil Administration will be stepping up demolitions in the West Bank per orders by the Israeli Ministry of Defense.
In the Jordan Valley, Israeli forces have demolished the village of al Farisyia twice within the span of 10 days; first on July 19th and again on August 5th. These have resulted in the destruction of 116 structures and the displacement of 129 people, 63 of whom are children. In the second round of demolitions, 10 structures not previously harmed were demolished along with 27 structures and materials provided by the International Committee of the Red Cross. Israel has flagrantly disavowed its peace rhetoric by issuing additional demolition orders to be meted out on August 15th & 16th.
Moreover, Israeli authorities are proving complicit in vigilante activity among Jewish settlers in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City in Jerusalem. In the early morning hours of July 29th Jewish settlers stormed the Kirrech house, home to 9 Palestinian families, without sanction. Of these families, only one has been allowed restitution to their home by court order. The other eight families continue to be displaced while waiting for their case to be tried in court.
While UN bodies have condemned these demolitions, absent actionable measures, the condemnations alone fall short of the United Nations' obligations to maintain peace and security and to ensure respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. Under international law the State is obliged to prevent, investigate, and provide remedy, and when it fails to do so the international community becomes responsible for providing victims with effective protection. Violence by non-state actors (settlers) should not be seen merely as provocative actions; but as part of an overarching policy backed by State authority. By stopping at rhetoric, the United Nations, States, and international organizations fail to adequately respond to Israel’s human rights abuses that both fuel the humanitarian crisis and undermine the peace process.
In fact, even if Netanyahu’s recent statements were to be considered sincere, Israel's actions are a flagrant rejection of the peace process and its underlying documents including the Oslo Accords which reserve settlements as a final status issue and the Road Map which outright prohibits settlement expansion.
Under the cover of its calls for the resumption for peace talks, Israel is also infringing on the rights of its own Palestinian citizens. Israeli forces have demolished Al Araqib, a Bedouin village in the Negev, 4 times from July 27th to August 17th, displacing 300 Palestinian citizens of Israel at the beginning of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan forcing them to endure a recent heat wave living in the open air atop their cemetery. According to MK Talab al-Sana, "This is a test for democracy in Israel; and democracy is failing. Al Araqib is a test of how much Israelis can live in peace with their own Palestinian citizens; so, how can [Israel] live in peace with Palestinians [within Palestine]."
Demolitions and the denial of basic human rights, such as shelter, are features of Israel’s apartheid regime and are indicative of the root causes of the ongoing humanitarian crises in the OPT. At best, Israel's recent demolitions can be considered attempts at colonization, at worst they can be interpreted as ethnic cleansing.
Taking these actions into account, one cannot help but be confused by the good faith underpinning the most recent calls for peace' talks. We call upon States, UN bodies, international organizations, and the international community at large to reconcile peace talks with humanitarian and human rights law in an effort to create an environment where peace may actually be sought instead of paying lip service to peace in the shadow of demolitions and displacement.