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Each political note has its own anchor in case you want to link to it.
A Brazilian scientist has been sentenced to prison for caring for rescued
orphan baby monkeys. People suspect there are nasty motives behind this
obvious injustice.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The concept of "biopiracy" is completely misguided, because it endorses the idea of patenting life-saving drugs and raises an argument only about who ought to get the loot.
The Bush regime broke the law by not publishing legally mandated reports on the danger of global warming.
The NIH is trying to track its workers' communication with members of
Congress, apparently to intimidate them.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Muqtada al Sadr has asked his militia to cease fire for 6 months to reduce
the violence in Iraq.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The book Inside Spin explains how PR companies pervasively slant our "journalism". I hope to read it some day.
If you buy it, please don't get it through Amazon.
Meat-eating causes more global warming than cars, protestors are starting
to point out.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Eating less meat is important.
Christine Todd Whitman had a bad environmental record as governor of New Jersey, but fabricated a "green" image. As head of the EPA, she made most of the 9/11 rescue workers ill, by falsely telling them the air was safe to breath; but she gave the impression that she wanted to do that job honestly and only Bush stopped her.
Now she lobbies for nuclear power plants.
I see no contradiction between the statements that Whitman as head of EPA set out to weaken environmental protection, and that she tried to do more than Bush would allow. Perhaps both are true.
In Britain, the Liberal Democratic party supports taxes on CO2-emitting
activities and binding annual CO2 emission targets.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The Burmese military government recruits non-political prisoners into a
secret force to attack protestors.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The
genocide of the Armenians inspired was inspiration for the later
genocide of the Jews.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The
UK plans to increase the flood defenses of London
due to rising sea levels caused by global warming.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Global warming is good for the construction industry. As they build more runways, we pay them to build flood defenses. And as buildings get flooded and washed away, we have to replace them.
US citizens: call your congresscritter and say, "Don't let the DEA stall medical marijuana research." (And use the web site, but a phone call tends to carry more weight.)
Torture Gonzales' evil legacy will endure after his resignation, until it is explicitly abolished.
Attorney General "Torture" Gonzales
has resigned.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
He must not be allowed to escape responsibility for his crimes with just this! And Bush, who ordered them, must be charged as well.
Around the world we are seeing
record
heat, record rain, record drought.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Opium production in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan
is booming.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
As long as prohibition keeps the prices high, it will be impossible to suppress production. The only solution is to allow heroin addicts to get cheap, safe injections in doctors' offices.
The US government has imprisoned whistleblowers for reporting corruption. The Bush regime is corrupt at the root: its main goal is to hand out taxpayers' money to certain companies. They probably don't really care about Shield Group or Custer Battles, but in order to protect their own thefts from being stopped or punished, they must establish barriers to prevent interference with such theft. The same barriers then protect the other, smaller thieves.
Police
that crushed a harmless large party in the UK by confiscating
its sound system got more than they bargained for — so they
wantonly destroyed property and attacked people. But this is an
example of a bigger problem: regulations that effectively eliminate
freedom of assembly in the UK.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
FEMA and the White House knew, very early, that New Orleans' levees had broken, but kept this secret from the state police and other state personnel. People died from this. And then they covered it up.
Bush has tripled the size of Federal no-bid contracts.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
For the specific case of the War on Drugs, what we need is not competitive bidding. When a war is on drugs, it attacks everyone, indiscriminately. We need to help that war get off drugs.
Canadian protestors accuse police infiltrators of acting as provocateurs.
A right wing organization plans to spread lies about Iraq and al Qa'ida to
support Bush.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
This is clear proof that they have rejected the idea of truth.
The weekly Bil'in protests against the Israeli annexation strip
continue; the
police attacked protestors who were sitting down
to avoid any appearance of threat.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
There is a proposal in the UK to put GPS tracking devices in school uniforms.
Parents tend to exaggerate the size of real but small dangers to their children, so such dangers are commonly used as excuses for government censorship. Now they are to be used as excuses for total surveillance as well.
Bush, Vietnam, and the Bloodbath: Good for Business.
The Great Iraq Swindle: corruption isn't the exception, it is the whole system.
These crimes should not be allowed to obscure the fact that the war itself was a crime.
Scott McCausland, as a parole condition, has been ordered to install Windows on his computer so that the government can monitor him.
We always knew Windows was designed to spy on you.
Most Iraqis
can't get safe water to drink.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The only rational conclusion Iraqis can draw is that they should be ready to give their lives to kick out the Bush forces, because otherwise they will die anyway.
The Burmese military are cracking down on large protests in Rangoon.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
("Yangon" is the military regime's name for Rangoon, just as they call Burma "Myanmar".)
The government of Sudan is still sending arms to Darfur.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Bush always lies about Iraq. When Bush compares Iraq with Vietnam,
he misrepresents the history of the Vietnam War, too.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The UK government is not on track to meet its greenhouse gas reduction
targets for 2020, just as it will miss them for 2010.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Declaring long-range targets is an easy way to postpone dealing with the issue and avoid real (and thus uncomfortable) solutions. The government can pretend it will meet the targets until it gets so close that there is no hope of meeting them, at which point it can set another long-range target, further in the future.
Bush's support for Fatah, together with its willingness to make one-sided
concessions to Israel, has cut its support among Palestinians.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The only way to encourage moderate and secular Muslims is to enable them to get something for their people. If the US makes them all knuckle under, only Islamists can benefit.
US citizens:
oppose the $30 billion military aid package to Israel.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
If Israel were threatened with a real attack, I would support aid for its defense. However, in recent years it is Israel that does the attacking, and there is no reason to support that.
Especially if the real use of these funds will be to attack Iran.
A freed prisoner of a Russian "mental hospital" says that many of the
patients seemed normal but the staff frequently tortured them.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
She was forcibly drugged while in the hospital and does not know what the drugs were.
Freedom of association is also being suffocated in Russia.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Congressional Democrats are bowing to pressure from Bush and failing to really oppose the war, or his surveillance plans. In effect, electing them did no good.
Recall that among the Democrats' demands for conditions for al Maliki to fulfill was that of passing the law to hand over Iraq's oil to US companies.
When Israel closed the case on the murder of 10-year-old Abir Aramin,
apparently shot by Israeli police, ex-soldiers
joined
Palestinians to protest.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Bush wants to claim his troop increase has done some sort of good for Iraqis, but the facts say no. The number of Iraqis fleeing their homes has actually increased since then.
To try to prevent the partition of Iraq into Sunni and Shi'ite areas (and perhaps into smaller groups as well) is impossible, so it is pure nonsense to claim that Bush's occupation is justified by that purpose.
The "democratic" leaders that Bush selects for Iraq
have a pattern of
being replaced when they no longer suit him.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Another Republican plan to manipulate the 2008 presidential election.
This is if they can't do it using computerized voting machines or by stopping Democrats from voting — both of which they will surely try.
When Dr Steven Nissen reported harmful side effects for avandia (a
rather new drug), an FDA spokesman
tried
to smear him with lies.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
As part of Bush's War on Integrity, the FDA considers the defense and support of the big drug companies to be its mission.
Several Republican presidential candidates
want
to ban contraceptive pills
by classifying them as "abortion". Bush has been trying to
suppress contraception for years.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
As the British prepare to pull out of the Bush forces,
Bush continues
to insist he is winning in Iraq.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
I think Bush figures that a certain fraction of the US will believe whatever he says, and that this fraction can ensure the war continues. He doesn't care whether Iraq suffers increasing violence, or attains the peace of the grave, as long as he doesn't openly lose his war.
By the way, the Khmer Rouge (once in power) were supported by the US and China, and were eventually overthrown by Vietnam.
The Bushmen are still insanely planning to attack Iran.
Cheney in particular
seems
to be pushing for this, and Cheney
usually decides what Bush will do.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
I would support a war to liberate Iran from the cruel regime of the religious extremists, provided that (1) the Iranian people wanted to be liberated in this way and (2) we could count on the new regime to establish human rights and democracy. But everything we know says that neither one is true. Bush has never respected either freedom or democracy — neither in his own country, nor anywhere else in the world. It is absurd to think he would do so in Iran.
The ethics were the same for the invasion of Iraq.
Philip Morris is pushing a law for weak FDA regulation of tobacco, which it helped to write, so as to prevent anything that might really reduce tobacco smoking.
Tobacco, like alcohol, heroin, cocaine and other dangerous, addictive drugs, must not be prohibited — prohibition tramples individual freedom and causes more harm than the drugs. But we should adopt strong measures short of prohibition to discourage its use.
The privatization of the occupation of Iraq even includes intelligence analysis.
Senator
Levin wants to oust "Iraqi" PM al Maliki unless he does his
job: to hand over Iraq's oil to the occupying forces. Al Maliki is
nearly powerless, but it seems there is still one thing
he can do for his country.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Potentially deadly stinging jellyfish, usually found closer to the equator,
have
shown up off Britain. I would expect this is a result of global warming.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
9 gorillas in the Congo
were
killed by humans this year.
That is over 1% of the world population of gorillas.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Congressional Democrats are pushing for lots of "green" initiatives,
but the most obvious conservation measures
have
been vetoed by big
business.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Many cosmetics and body creams
contain
estrogen mimics
that can feminize boys, increase risk of breast cancer for girls,
and also damage fish once they get into sewage.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Nir Rosen says that "Iraq does not exist anymore". It has been turned
into a battleground for warlords, like Mogadishu, and Bush has no power to
alter the situation.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
President Chavez has proposed changes to 33 articles of the constitution of Venezuela.
I don't know enough to judge the merits of most these changes, but the one about declaring "special military zones" doesn't sound good. We are scared of what Bush might do with similar emergency powers. Even if Chavez never succumbs to such temptation, what about a future president of Venezuela?
As Congress works to expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program,
Bush is trying to change the rules so fewer children can get in.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
A Russian activist who criticized conditions in mental hospitals
just won her release from one.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The Brazilian government made a corrupt deal with loggers to provide land
to poor people through deforestation.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
It was easier than seizing illegally deforested land.
The Liberal Democratic Party plans to directly attack Brown's
"surveillance society".
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Gilded Age Crime:
Poor Go Homeless, Wealthy Get Bailouts.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
I wish I could share his confidence that a Democratic victory in 2008 will make a difference in this. I cannot imagine that Hillary Clinton would serve the poor rather than the rich.
As US influence weakens, other powers are creating a multipolar world.
Given how the US uses its dominion, weakening that dominion is good. Unfortunately, all the rivals want to have a 19-century military competition, and none champions human rights.
Karl Rove did leak the information about Valerie Plame.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The US Army claims it restricts soldiers' blogs for military security reasons, but we all knew the motives are political. Journalists found that the worst security leaks in soldiers blogs were mild compared with what the Army publishes in its own sites.
Putin is rewriting Russia's history textbooks to rehabilitate Stalin.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Rewriting history follows Stalin's example.
Israel will send 2000 refugees from Darfur
back to their deaths.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Protestors at Heathrow Airport tried to blockade BAA's offices, but were
attacked by police before they got there.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Here's an analysis of the mind set that leads some people to disregard the
danger of global warming.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
However, that picture is incomplete. Imagine if a few rich people are paying a fraction of the public — including lots of politicians, of course — to ignore the problem for as long as possible. Then you get the whole situation.
Muqtada al-Sadr is trying to form an alliance of Iraqi Sunnis and Shi'tes
against "foreign elements" -- the
Bush forces and Al Qa'ida.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
This is the first plan I have heard that makes sense.
If such an alliance takes over the non-Kurdish parts of Iraq, it will probably oppress women terribly. It could be worse than Saddam Hussein. But it will not be a big step up from occupation by the Bush forces.
The FBI deleted information from the Wikipedia article about Guantanamo.
US residents:
ask the state of Texas not to execute Kenneth Foster.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
For more information,
see this.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The death penalty is always unjust, even for intentional murders; even for mass-murderers such as Saddam Hussein and George Bush. What this case shows is the bloodthirsty nature of support for the death penalty.
Note: The top link in this entry is to a form asking the State of Texas to stay the execution. That form is intended for U.S. citizens and requires input of a U.S. state and zip code.
Israeli settlers cut a Palestinian water supply to fill a swimming pool, and sent along the dirty water from the pool for Palestinians to drink.
A report
from the Heathrow protest camp. Police confiscate banners,
pretending they are weapons, and force protestors to march around by
threatening them with trucks. Meanwhile, right-wing papers lie about
them and the state pretends they are terrorists.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The police and the government, grinning liars, are the enemy of everyone's freedom, and risk destroying civilization too.
53% of Americans expect General Petraeus' report to be a whitewash.
At least they are learning something about Bush. Bush will not allow a general to make an honest report, any more than he allows NASA or EPA scientists to do so. Note how Bush's spokesman tries to deflect attention from Bush's honesty by pretending that the issue is Petraeus' honesty.
However, Americans need to learn to distrust Bush about more than just success or failure. His claimed reasons for the war (and other actions) are deceptions too.
A proposed new place for advertisements: on radio in school buses, with students as captive audiences.
Projects like these are encouraged by the general attitude of governments at all levels that "Everything is for sale." When stadiums are named after companies that paid to use them as advertising, entrepreneurs might well expect that radio on school buses will also be offered.
If governments need more money, then rather than selling off everything, they should tax businesses more. Anything other problem that impedes this, such as "free trade" treaties, needs to be corrected.
CARE says that the
US
food aid policy is hurts both the poor and the farmers of Africa.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
This article isn't precise enough for me to form a conclusion about that question, but it is clear that food subsidies in the US waste scarce petroleum (for fertilizer) and water.
The US voting machines that ruined an election were made in a sweatshop in Manila.
The British government
sneakily
gave funds to oil drilling in the ocean off Sakhalin,
leaving the environmental study to be done later
(once the project was finished). The noise is driving western gray
whales to extinction.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
US citizens and residents: comment on Bush's new plan to speed up executions, by cutting the federal courts out of the loop.
US states often
execute innocent people, athat Joe Amrine should be executed even though he was innocent.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
In addition to the main Sunni-Shi'a civil war, Iraq is full of other
battles between sects, ethnic groups, and parties.
And the violence
is getting worse everywhere.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
No western army of occupation has any chance of putting things back together. I doubt that anything else can stop the multiple civil wars, either. Force alone can't stop people from fighting if they are prepared to die. For anyone to end the fighting in Iraq, he would have to somehow change the attitudes of those who are now fighting each other—to suggest a different direction of loyalty.
The global-warming-denial PR machine is still
campaigning desperately
to stop us from saving our planet. It represents businesses whose
only concern is to make as much money as possible in the next few years.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Political systems need to develop ways to neutralize such conspiracies, if they are to qualify as "democratic".
AT&T censored criticism of Bush during a Pearl Jam concert. When the band complained, AT&T said that the censor made a mistake.
Despite a smear campaign, the Heathrow Airport protests are
strengthening
public opinion in favor of a green tax on flying.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
However, with a government whose main goal is to please business, public opinion isn't always enough to change anything. Clown's "Labour Party", like other parties that have sold their soul to business, do what big business wants unless practically forced by the public not to. Whether or not they directly take bribes, they are corrupt.
To restore democracy, we have to replace them with people whose first loyalty is to the public good, and who give business much lower priority.
Bush plans to let the police use spy satellites to monitor everyone in the US.
In the short term, we won't know what the police can see with these satellites, but the police will find out. In the medium term, as this knowledge spreads through the police, organized crime will find out the satellites' capabilities from police that are on the take. Eventually we will all know, more or less. Then their capabilities will not be secret any more. But we will still face a government that becomes increasingly powerful as it becomes increasingly illegitimate and cruel.
We're headed for another
record
year for disappearance of Arctic ice.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
A movement
for better treatment of egg-laying hens is gaining strength
in the US.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
It doesn't seem plausible that they could afford to import eggs from Asia. Wouldn't it cost too much to import them fast enough to be fresh?
However, this is an example of a general point that is important for all social issues.
When companies say, "Don't try to make us act ethically or we will move to Asia", our response should be, "If you move, we won't let you sell here." Rather than a law requiring local egg-producers to treat hens humanely, countries and states should adopt laws requiring all eggs sold there to be produced humanely.
"Free trade" treaties such as NAFTA and the WTO eliminate this option. And they do the same thing for a host of other issues. That makes the treaties evil. For the sake of human rights, for humane treatment of animals, for protection of the environment, and for all democratic values, we must abolish those treaties.
The US
prison system is barbaric, and continues growing from its own
momentum.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The US govt spent
$1.6 billion in propaganda in 2003/4.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Human Rights Watch says that
all
sides in Somalia are violating human rights.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The Ethiopian intervention was supposed to be quick, and leave the "interim government" in power. That "interim government" was a creation of foreigners and never had any popular support, and being installed by a foreign army didn't win any support for it. Now that the intervention is dragging on, we don't hear much about it.
Wolfowitz made
the World Bank disregard climate change.
The topic was not supposed to be mentioned.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The World Bank's "investments" often hurt the poor, and impose antidemocratic conditions, while their benefits go mainly to the rich. If these investments fail due to climate change, they still hurt the poor and democracy, but they don't benefit anyone.
Police are trying
to interfere with construction of the Heathrow
Airport protest camp.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The Yearly Kos meeting of Democratic activists excluded the issue of Iraq. Bloggers organized their own session, off the grounds, and then had to publicize it themselves.
The Bush forces
find
themselves fighting all sides in Iraq.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
It's a mistake to think they preserve a balance of power, because there isn't one.
The UK government shamelessly
ordered
police to use "anti-terror" laws
against protestors at Heathrow Airport, and takes the position that
any protest which "distracts the attention of the police" is illegal.
This clearly puts the UK government in the camp of the enemies of
freedom.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Although Heathrow Airport did not get an injunction against all the 5 million people that it asked for, it did get one against all the members of the organization Plane Stupid. Thus, the forces of tyranny have advanced another step.
Amnesty International has
decided
to uphold abortion as a human right for rape victims,
despite attempts
by the Vatican to discourage this.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Police in North Providence
attacked
a protest directed against a restaurant,
injuring some protestors (one perhaps permanently) and then
charging them with "assaulting an officer".
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
It's amazing how often protestors hit policemen's sticks with their heads, or break their bones on policemen's bodies.
Most Democratic presidential candidates
are
in no hurry to end the occupation of Iraq.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
I expect that the cited facts are accurate, but it is also worth noting what the article does not say. It does not mention Dennis Kucinich, for instance.
The control of Congress by the Democratic Party
has not had much
effect because a substantial right-wing bloc of Democrats supports
Bush.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Omar Deghayes, who may soon get to leave Guantanamo prison, reports that he has been repeatedly tortured there.
Rescue workers in New York are outraged by Giuliani's exaggeration of what he did on 9/11.
Dalit children face
segregation in school, and sometimes are driven
out of school by systematic insults from the teachers. And that's
just the beginning. They are excluded from food stores, from wells,
from government offices, from having mail delivered, from voting.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The politicians and celebrities that supported the attempted conquest of Iraq must be held accountable. They must not be allowed to get away with saying "Let's move on."
Christian cruelty extends even to the dead.
I wouldn't refuse to hold a funeral even for someone as evil as Bush. I would just turn it into a celebration.
The British
Bush forces are retreating from Basra,
abandoning it to Shi'a militias.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Rule by militias is horrible, but the heavy hand that would be needed to maintain permanent occupation is even worse.
To protect its good reputation from the consequences of its errors —
and its crimes — the British Army
now
forbids soldiers from blogging.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Congress seems headed for
spending
money to protect the Everglades.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
This is good, but we must not neglect the long-term threat that the Everglades will be inundated by rising sea levels. The Everglades slope very gradually down into the ocean. How high above sea level is the highest point in them? If the Greenland ice cap melts, will they entirely disappear?
Operation Straight Up, with US government support, is sending the Bush
forces in Iraq a
video game in which Christians fight to exterminate everyone else.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The head of US Army chaplains
is
an apocalyptic religious fanatic
too.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Because hedge funds operate in secret, they
create the risk of an
economic crash.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The crash of 1929 occurred because investors came to treat inherently risky leveraged investments as if they were safe. Years of rising stock prices had led them suppose that losing was not a possibility. So they sought the investments which would give them the biggest profit if the market continued to rise, which also were the riskiest investments in the case of a downturn.
Hedge funds could be today's equivalent. And our government is about as vigilant for us as that of Herbert Hoover.
Bush is adamant
against
increasing educational benefits for veterans.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
If the US Army were engaged in legitimately defending the US, or simply standing prepared to do so if needed, I would be in favor of "increasing the quality" of its recruits. However, given that it has been hijacked by Bush for an unjust war of conquest, I cannot consider that goal to be desirable.
Starbucks has been very effective at faking "social responsibility",
but its
treatment of workers is as bad as Walmart. Now it is on trial
for union busting.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
PR companies help corporations and government deceive and manipulate the public more than we usually realize.
The Democrats in the US Senate
lacked
the guts to increase taxes on hedge funds.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The UK has finally
decided
to rescue its residents who are imprisoned
in Guantanamo.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
B'liar made excuses to let them languish. Perhaps he was more concerned with displeasing Bush than with imprisoning people without trial.
Roadside bomb attacks in Iraq
reached
an all-time high in July. This
proves that Dubya's troop increase has not done him any good.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
German journalists
face
prosecution for publishing information from leaked German government documents
that indicated knowledge of
kidnappings by the US.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
If anyone is prosecuted, it should be the German officials who knew about these kidnappings and failed to act to stop them.
When corporations advertise themselves as environmentally friendly, are they lying? Saab is.
George Monbiot: Ethical shopping is just a way of saying I'm rich.
Individual action can create a demonstration of feasibility — for fair trade, for conservation, for any matter of ethical or sustainable business practices. To extend those demonstrations to a real solution requires laws to ensure the practices are generally followed.
But the mass media generally focus on individual action rather than collective action. Once I listened to an NPR talk show about how people could improve their working conditions. I called in and suggested that workers could do this by forming a union. The host said, "We only want to talk about individual action here."
The Yangtze river dolphin is
now officially considered extinct. It was wiped out by accidental fishing
and by noise from boats.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The Bush forces are arming Sunni militias to fight against al Qa'ida. It's
logical, but self-defeating, because the presence of the occupying army in Iraq
provides the impetus for al Qa'ida.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Bush's "surge" troop increase has clearly failed to win the war, but it
has achieved its real goal: buying Bush more time to continue it.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Long-suppressed film footage of the effects and victims of the A-bombs
dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki will now be broadcast.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
US citizens: sign the petition to Congress saying to
reverse the gift of additional spying powers to King George.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Brian Haw continues to defy the UK government's attempt to suppress his
vigil against the war.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Shame on his wife for abandoning him. If he has the courage to do this, she should at least have had the courage to be supportive.
Human rights campaigners are making use of the Olympics to pressure China,
which continues to trample human rights.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Heathrow Airport failed to gain the injunction against millions of Britons
who are potential protestors.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
This attempted protest-suppression gives Plane Stupid a boost with which to tackle the real struggle: to prevent airport expansion that would increase global warming.
But it is just a small step towards
restoring freedom of speech in the UK.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The Bush forces handed out 190,000 guns to "Iraqi" troops who have since "lost" them, perhaps to Iraqi patriots.
The Bush forces are trying to ally themselves with Sunni militias to fight against al Qa'ida. It's logical in a narrow sense, but self-defeating, because presence of the occupying Bush forces in Iraq is what enables al Qa'ida to recruit.
The propaganda in
this article is in the background: it calls the sheikhs that agree to work
for Bush "America's allies", as if Bush were on America's side.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
China is modernizing the slogans that promote the one-child rule, but the
program continues.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The practice of choosing to have boys instead of girls probably contributes to the effectiveness of the policy, since the excess men mostly won't have any children.
After Israeli troops killed British filmmaker James Miller, the Israeli
army covered it up with lies. The UK calls his death murder and demands they
prosecute the killers, but Israel continues to lie to shield them.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The Senate voted to
give Bush more surveillance power, in a display of
spinelessness. The fox said his power to watch the hen house was
insufficient, so they increased it.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
David Sugar faces
a criminal investigation for writing an article.
Here it is.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
This report says that
Fatah
never really fought against Hamas in Gaza
— that there was a political decision, high up, not to fight
back.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
I am not sure what to make of the report or how to reconcile it with other information.
Orangutans display
awareness of what others do or do not understand.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Long-lived Greenland sharks
have
very high concentrations PCBs and dioxin,
showing that this contamination has spread around the world.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Uri Avnery: White Elephants.
How
Israel treats its Palestinian prisoners.
(That page was posted by an Israeli peace group.)
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Many of these prisoners were never charged with a crime.
The average number of Atlantic cyclones per year
has
just about doubled since the early 1900s.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
International Energy Agency's latest report says that the price of oil will rise greatly in 2010-2012, confirming the basic idea of peak oil.
If the price temporarily falls in 2008-2009, governments will face the temptation to give people a quick fix of cheap gasoline. What they ought to do is increase taxes to provide impetus for conservation, so that the blow won't hit as hard. Which do you think the US will do?
Is it a long drought in the Southwest, or just the end of an abnormally
wet century?
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Palestinians lost their case to prevent Israel's annexation wall from
being built through their farm lands. Supposedly this is necessary to protect
a Jewish colony which shouldn't be there in the first place.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
One land grab is the excuse for another.
The words "wall" and "fence" give the wrong impression, because
this strip is over 60 yards wide. It destroys a broad swath of farmland.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The Iraqi government has little power, but what little it has is enough for police to sue journalists for their news reporting.
The "brown clouds" of
Asian
cooking fires are a substantial contribution to global warming.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Most of the UK
public is opposed to placing US missile defense facilities there,
and Clown is facing some heat.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
A report says that the
head
of Scotland Yard was kept in the dark by his senior subordinates
about the fact that police had shot an
innocent man through over-eagerness.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
I have to suspect that this was due to some sort of general or specific request that they not tell him what he would rather not know.
NSA's spying on Americans was
even
bigger than previously announced,
and we don't know how big.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Bush is now asking Congress to extend his power for spying without court orders. His power ought to be reduced, not extended.
Officers in the Bush forces say
Bush
is wrong in claiming that their enemy is al Qa'ida.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
In fact, all Iraqis are enemies of the Bush regime, except the Kurds, who are content with their de-facto independence.
The Bush regime has ordered that the CIA can kidnap anyone that it believes has a vague, indirect relationship with al Qa'ida. That could be interpreted to mean, essentially, anyone in the world.
This is part of Cheney's general policy of making the US just as evil as its adversaries.
Greg Palast's investigative fund needs money. Palast informed us about how the Bushmen stole the 2000 election, how they planned in advance to steal the 2004 election, and how they are now planning to steal the 2008 election.
The Republicans in Ohio have illegally destroyed most of the 2004 election ballots, defying a court order to preserve them.
They probably figure that they can break laws with impunity because Republican state officials will protect them.
Journalist Wendy Williams
was
attacked with an anonymous lawsuit threat, as well as lies,
for writing a book that praises the proposed
Cape Wind project.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
GE
has a new greenwashing technique: a credit card that puts 1%
of the spending into carbon offsetting projects.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
If the carbon offsetting really worked, 1% would be too small to solve the problem. So this would tend to lull the public into thinking they have solved the problem with a tiny sacrifice.
However, it's worse than that: many so-called carbon offsetting projects, such as tree planting, don't accomplish much to reduce global warming.
Those gaping flaws are the reason this credit card must be considered greenwashing rather than a real step towards a solution.
In a rare victory against Bush's War on Integrity, the Fish and
Wildlife Service
has
agreed to review 8 endangered species decisions.
This is out of over 200 decisions that may have been corrupted.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The history of the CIA is a series of absurd failures of intelligence. Its successes have been assassinations, coups, and bought elections.
Bush is already
preparing
to disregard any legal requirement established by Congress to withdraw the Bush forces
from Iraq.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
There's a solution to this: impeach Bush and Cheney too! It should have been done years ago, but it isn't too late.
The main Sunni party has
pulled
its ministers out of Bush's Iraqi government,
much as al Sadr's party did
a couple of months ago.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Their complaints reflect the fact that the Iraqi government is basically impotent.
I expect Bush to lose his war in Iraq, but he may well succeed in ruining two countries in the process.
The Bush forces say they want to keep occupying Iraq for years, and the cost in money keeps increasing.
Thus, the only way to end the occupation will be through a confrontation with Bush.
The UN will
send a substantial force of peacekeepers to Darfur.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Hospitals
in Gaza lack drugs, even plaster for casts, because of the
Israeli blockade.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
A blockade is a less spectacular way of killing innocent people than dropping bombs, but it kills them just as dead. The same thing happened in Iraq under the US-imposed sanctions
Heathrow Airport
seeks
an injunction to forbid protestors' taking the subway to get to the airport,
but London will fight against it
in court.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Clown says that expanding airports is needed for economic growth. What will be left of this economic growth after flooding, heat waves, dying seas, and failing agriculture?
The boss of a concentration camp in Cambodia, who presided over
many executions,
now
will face charges.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The Khmer Rouge killed between one million and three million. Bush's war has killed around a million. Making him pretty much comparable to Pol Pot. When will Bush face a court for his mass murder?
The Bush forces have blocked all car traffic into some areas of Baghdad, so the people there cannot get food and cannot get to hospitals.
Gordon Clown is not the poodle that B'liar was:
he says he will
pull British troops out of the Bush forces whether Bush likes it or not.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Gordon Clown's agenda for tyranny: increased power and increased
surveillance.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The Bush forces met with Iranian representatives, and say they agreed to
talk more -- but they seem to be more interested in cursing Iran than
cooperating.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The supposed evidence of Iranian support for Iraqi militias is doubted by everyone that doesn't support the Bush regime.
Anti-arms-trade dissidents in the UK were grabbed by police just for
asking whether an anonymous factory was in fact the Nottingham Small Arms
Factory.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
As B'liar postures as a peace negotiator, James Wolfensohn explains how his efforts to work for peace were undercut politically.
Russia has resumed the Soviet practice of
imprisoning dissidents in mental hospitals.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
1/7 of the inhabitants of Iraq—four million people—have become refugees,
a disaster which is the result of Bush's crime.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Despite the violence in Iraq,
Britain sends back nearly all Iraqis that ask for asylum there.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
1/3 of Iraqis "need urgent aid", according to Oxfam.
The reason MI5 refused to help al-Rawi get out of Guantanamo is that they put him there—by lying about him. And his interrogation by the US was based on what he had freely told MI5 while helping them.
General
Petraeus and al Maliki can't get along with each other even though
they are ostensibly working for the same boss.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Genetically engineered crops
produce
lots of unusual proteins in
addition to the ones they were intended to make. Both companies
and regulators are careless about ensuring their safety.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Evidence says Pat Tillman was shot from behind at a range of 30 feet while no combat was going on. Was he murdered so he couldn't oppose the war?
MI5 promised al-Rawi, for his help, to protect him; but when Bush decided to kidnap him, MI5 made excuses. He was taken to Afghanistan and Guantanamo for torture; MI5 says, "I know nothing, nothing!"
Bush has claimed the power to freeze the assets of anyone he considers to be "undermining" the occupation of Iraq — by fiat. This is another blow against the rule of law in the US, which continues its slide into tyranny.
The Bush regime's general tendency is to interpret its powers in the broadest possible way. "Undermining" could be stretched to include criticizing Halliburton, suing Halliburton, agitating politically to end the occupation — almost anything that opposes the war. From - Tue
Polls late last year found that
2/3
of Iraqis want the Bush forces to
pull out.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The 2 million Americans in prison have been turned into a slave labor force, and the businesses involved pressure to imprison more people.
Pepsi admits that Aquafina is
tap water.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Dasani from Coca Cola Corporation is also tap water. The difference is, it is sold by a company that murders union organizers.
Machsom Watch, the organization of Israelis that keep track of human
rights abuses at Israeli checkpoints in Palestine, must be doing a
good job: the army is starting to
harass
and arrest their members.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The recent meeting
between some Israeli and Arab officials
shows there is no prospect for any kind of agreement.
Bush wants to create an appearance of progress
to distract attention from reality-based criticism.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The FDA's inspection procedures are clownishly inept, so businesses regularly evade them.
I suspect this is not coincidence. For instance, the FDA officials who expect to get good jobs with food importers could choose the more lax option when those importers request it. And these importers have lots of ways to lobby for reductions in inspection activity, presented as "ways to economize".
Gorbachev, who dismantled the Soviet Empire, rebukes the US for creating another empire.
However, the empire that we must fight is not ruled by the US. It is ruled by the megacorporations, with governments such as that of the US used to keep each other in line.
Carol Wallace, age 63, accused the police of
harassing
people in her
housing project. Four days later, police raided her home.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
There is the Big Brother: Workplace Control and Workforce Surveillance.
U.S. House votes
262-165 to continue funding DEA's war on medical
marijuana patients — but the opposition increases each time.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Oppressing Iraqis is not enough for the
Bush forces; they even
abuse
their own construction workers.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Damning proof of Republican efforts to steal the 2004
election through
voter suppression.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The most dangerous criminals in the US work for Bush, and were rewarded by him for this crime.
Senators have demanded an independent prosecutor to
investigate
Torture Gonzales for lying to them.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Bush will surely continue to protect his team of liars. Congress should stop farting around and impeach both Bush and Cheney.
Charges
against Mohamed Haneef have been dropped,
but he still faces arbitrary expulsion from Australia
for no reason except that he was falsely suspected.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
President Chavez plans to require cable TV channels (such as RCTV) to drop their programming for his speeches.
When RCTV broadcast on the airwaves, it must have been required to carry these speeches. This won't lead to more interruptions of its programming than it had before.
On the other hand, citizens of Venezuela have plenty of access to Chavez's speeches, so there is no public need to make any more channels distribute them. They are not about emergencies. If his motive is just to punish RCTV a second time, that seems immature.
B'liar promised to put sanctions on Burma, but didn't, and now the UK
government protects
companies that do business with Burma.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The Bush regime now recognizes
Jamil
el-Banna was arrested by mistake,
but he is still held in Guantanamo because the UK won't let him back.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The UK took years to admit that his companion, al-Rawi, was in fact helping UK intelligence. I am sure it wasn't because they didn't know; it was sheer treachery. Why anyone would willingly spy on Al Qa'ida for US or UK intelligence beats me.
The American Cancer Society and the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids are supporting Philip Morris, aiming to weaken a bill designed to help the FDA regulate cigarettes.
I wonder whether they have got money from the tobacco companies.
Heathrow Airport plans to
suppress protests.
It wants an injunction against over 5 million Britons that could subject them to arrest for
anything that vaguely resembles a protest, anywhere near the airport.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
This is an arrogant attack on human rights.
Australia arrested
Mohammed Haneef suspecting he helped the failed UK
bomb plot. However, as the evidence for his participation crumbles,
the government refuses to recognize he was not involved.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Governments often tend to behave like this, but the more they are based on lies, the more they cannot admit any sort of mistake.
US government agencies have stalled for up to 15 years on FOIA requests.
In Burma, children watch as the
government
shoots their parents,
and parents watch as the government shoots their children.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
If Bush had been at all honest about intervening in Iraq for the sake of Iraqis, he would have chosen Burma first.
Gordon Clown tried to
distance
himself from Bush, until Bush pulled
him back into line. How pathetic.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
And it transpires that Clown has
allowed
Bush to use the UK
for the antimissile system, a provocation aimed at Russia.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Israel and the Arab League are
talking
about peace talks.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
It sounds good; however, as Uri Avnery has pointed out, the mere fact that Arab League representatives went to Israel is a big victory for Israel — and the Palestinians got nothing for it.
The UK government said it didn't know Bush was
transporting suspects
to be tortured, and wouldn't hand over anyone to be tortured.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
This fails to address the question of transporting such suspects through the UK or UK logistical support for their transport.
In addition, no country should hand over any suspects to the US government without a careful and proper extradition procedure, which considers the risk that the person will be tortured or not get a fair trial.
Several states have passed harsh laws that make voter registration drives so dangerous that no one dares do them.
Instead of extending SCHIP,
Bush
proposes a tax credit to pay for
private insurance. This is the most expensive and inefficient method
of giving health coverage, so the same money would cover fewer people;
and he proposes to spend less.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
If Bush's proposal were adopted, it surely won't be funded enough to do the whole job.
The UK government insanely plans to
reduce
rail subsidies.
It will fund increased train capacity with big fare increases.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
This is supposed to be a plan to cut overcrowding, and it will surely work, since it will push to CO2-belching cars and planes.
There is an international effort to
protect
the sturgeon in the Caspian Sea,
but illegal caviar fishing might ensure their extinction.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
I do wonder if the low-quality black-market caviar comes from somewhere else.
Be that as it may, to risk Caspian sturgeon's extinction just to preserve a low level of caviar supply is just plain stupid, given the rapid decline of the sturgeon population. It is very hard to determine the sustainable level of fishing for any species unless you can see that the population remains stable. Otherwise it involves models in which many parameters can only be guessed at. Allowing some legal caviar sales complicates enforcement, since it opens the door to disguising illegal caviar as legal, and this practically guarantees that the official program to preserve the species won't be properly carried out.
Musharraf doesn't dare crack down on
Al
Qa'ida in the tribal areas
near Afghanistan, and also doesn't dare let the US do it.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Democrats in Congress want to extend the State Children's Health Insurance Program
so as to provide health insurance to many of the children that
don't have it.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
As SiCKO shows, in the US today, having health insurance does not insure that you get needed medical care.
Bush says he will defy Congress if it charges his officials with contempt.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The Bush forces have drawn up
a plan for Iraqization.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
This plan is more realistic than previous plans in just one level: it recognizes the nature of the sectarian war in Iraq. However, it continues to inhabit a fantasy world when it disregards the fact that Iraqis generally hate the Bush forces and want them out, and the concomitant fact that the Iraqi government and its troops are all collaborators unless they are working secretly to get the Bush forces out.
A town in Sweden provides electricity and central heating by burning wood
chips, causing zero CO2 emissions.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
President Chavez threatened to deport foreign dignitaries that criticize
his policies.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
I don't know what Espino said; given his party's policies, he may well have lied like Faux News. However, this is the wrong way to respond to false criticism.
I criticized one government policy last Friday while speaking in Venezuela: the one where the SENIAT (the tax agency) requires people to give their names and numbers whenever they buy anything (even a book or a meal). ¡Abajo el SENIAT! I then said that even the SENIAT should use free software.
Later: I learned what Espino said: he criticized Chavez' closure of RCTV and his plans to eliminate presidential term limits. These are criticisms, not lies. People should not be punished for stating such opinions.
The Bush forces arranged another meeting in Iraq with Iranian
representatives. However, things are still going badly for them.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
I am particularly pleased that the law to hand over Iraq's oil to the conquerors is blocked.
Libya has pardoned the foreign nurses who were tortured into confessing
that they had infected 400 children with HIV.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
I wonder how many prisoners in Guantanamo were tortured into false confessions.
The current flood in Britain has exceeded all historical records. It
surprised the public, but not scientists — they have warned for years
that global warming would bring increases in extreme weather.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Japan's biggest nuclear plant, now idled by earthquake damage, sits right
on top of an active fault. Its operators tried to deny the problem —
and falsified inspection records 200 times.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
These lies were probably criminal acts. As punishment, the government should confiscate the entire Tepco stock holdings of everyone convicted.
Pakistan's Supreme Court restored the chief justice that Musharraf had
sacked. Many Pakistanis celebrated this.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell previously told Stephen Hayes that the Bushmen had distorted intelligence reports to justify the invasion of Iraq.
Journalist Shi Tao is imprisoned in China for criticizing government
policy, with Yahoo's help. His mother has sued Yahoo in the US for this.
Yahoo's response: to state its "dismay" to excuse its conduct.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Talk which changes nothing is cheap.
England has had two large floods this summer, and now research shows that
global warming has caused a steadily increasing rainfall there, as predicted.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
I wonder if record floods in parts of China are an instance of the same
phenomenon.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Meanwhile, Southern Europe and parts of the American West will face increasing drought.
Congressman DeFazio is on the "Homeland Security" committee, but
Bush won't let him see the plans for how to run the government after an
attack.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
What is heartening here is his reaction: maybe people are right that this hides a nasty conspiracy. The standard policy of the Bush regime is that the mouth says "You have no proof we have done anything wrong" while the hands stop you from checking for proof. On many occasions we later discovered that this was a cover-up for corruption or worse. Now we must consider this combination as a prima facie case to indict the regime.
El Salvador's government has arrested several opposition leaders during
a peaceful protest against water privatization.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Water privatization is imposed by the World Bank and IMF with US backing.
Thousands of Iraqi refugee families have set up their own refugee camps, because the official camps are full.
Uri Avnery: Bush has twisted the two-state solution into a rag to cover his nakedness.
Thousands of gays have fled Poland, where the government encourages bigotry.
Israel has imposed a total blockade on Gaza, destroying its economy. Food
aid is getting in, but no commerce is possible.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Israel always says that there is "no one to talk with", and makes sure it
remains true.
Bush and Europe support Israel completely, although they pretend it isn't
so. Thus, there is no prospect for peace or an end to the daily oppression of
Palestinians.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Guantanamo prisoners continue their hunger strike despite regular forced feeding.
Clown in the UK plans to start arresting people for possession of marijuana
again.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
This will only increase the harm done by the War on Drugs.
Sprint has a practice of canceling the accounts of people that complain too much, or ask too many questions, and puts the blame on them.
This sounds almost like a government--and that makes sense, because today's large corporations are accustomed to think they rule us.
An ancient tribe in Pakistan now
faces
the threat of forced conversion to Islam.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Fanatical Muslims, those that advocate Islamic law, do not believe in religious freedom. We must respect their personal right to hold their views, but the views themselves deserve only criticism.
Not all Muslims are fanatical; there are Muslims who are tolerant and decent. The human tendency to feel concern for others is universal, and crops up in all places and circumstances. However, these people are good despite religion, not because of it.
After police attacked a large protest in Oaxaca, the protestors fought back. The protest intended to reclaim a traditional festival that has been turned into a corporate-sponsored tourist event.
State legislators in various states are
starting to think about
how to stop companies from playing one state against another
for tax breaks and handouts.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
I suggested many years ago that the states should form a union to bargain collectively with these companies. We could call it "The United States of America". This union could adopt a rule that whenever a company starts negotiating with more than one state about where to site any activity, none of the states can offer it any discretionary tax breaks or incentives without the approval of all of the states involved.
US citizens: phone your congresscritter and say to support HR811 -- Rush Holt's bill to protect against electronic voting machine fraud -- as it was adopted by the committee, and reject the changes that have been made to weaken the bill.
For more information follow this link.
Islamist suicide bombers in Pakistan
took
revenge for the storming
of the Red Mosque.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Non-extremists in Pakistan will have to organize and fight if they don't want to be ruled by Taliban.
Cheney covered
up proof of conspiracies to create power shortages in
California — then dishonestly blamed Governor Davis for the
consequences of these shortages.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Australia, the driest continent,
faces
increasing drought due to global warming.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Al Qa'ida uses lies in its PR, just like the Bush regime.
The Bush regime
also
falsifies Al Qa'ida PR. Mainstream Western media
outlets presented a "new" bin Laden tape which was made in 2001 and
had been aired twice before.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
A Jewish chaplain has been
labeled
a "deserter" after his well
documented complaints about antisemitic harassment were ignored.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Veterans for Freedom pretends to be a "grass roots" pressure group like the Iraq Veterans Against the War, but it is funded by Republicans and works directly with the White House.
Each European country can decide whether to require ISPs to give information to lawsuits by their equivalent of the RIAA, says the EU Supreme Court.
This means that we will now see a new political battleground, in which each country must take the side of millions of music-sharing citizens or the record companies.
A study says that organic farming can produce more food in the developing world — without more land.
This article presents ostensible proof that the Bush regime fabricated a "bin Laden" tape.
George Galloway has been suspended temporarily from the UK parliament for
letting Iraqi oil-for-food funds flow into a political activity that he
chaired.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The UK government talks green, but its policies have encouraged cars (and
airplanes) over buses and trains.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Encouraging car travel leads to congestion, and congestion provides
an excuse for universal surveillance schemes, such as the one now
practiced in London and the one proposed by New York Mayor Bloomberg.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
A simple increase in gas tax would eliminate these artificial problems while also helping to save the planet.
The Mediterranean Sea and its bed are full of plastic trash, mainly bags
and food packaging. Future hurricanes are likely to stir it all up.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
A general strike shut down the Dominican Republic for a day.
The Dominican Republic recently signed a new low-wage treaty with the US.
A general strike has spread across Peru, as its Bush-league president makes investors happy while disregarding the poor.
Pharmaceuticals discarded by humans are causing illness for animals and
humans, as they get into the water we drink. Sewage treatment is not designed
to block them.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
A number of organizations are pressuring Home Depot
to stop advertising on Fox News.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The fact that this campaign is necessary is a measure of how much our society has fallen under the control of business. To restore democracy is to strip business of its power.
KBR was going to charge the Bush forces $110 million for
maintaining bases that were already closed.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The Bush forces would object to this, if they wanted to save money.
The inter-group killing in Iraq continues to increase. The Bush forces are
unable to stop it, and their temporary alliances backfire.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Ethiopia's main opposition leaders have been
sentenced to life in prison.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
An earthquake in Japan caused
a fire in a nuclear power plant. Due to the earthquake damage, the firemen
were busy elsewhere, so they could not come immediately to put out the fire.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Japan is building lots more nuclear power plants, and their plan seems like foolish disregard for danger.
The insurance industry says that single-payer health care means long waits
to see a doctor and rationing of health care. Actually the US system is worse
on precisely these measures.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
US citizens: phone your congressional reps and senators to oppose Senator Coburn's amendment to increase the federal penalties on medical marijuana users.
Jonathan Aponte had a man shoot him so he would not be sent back to Iraq.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Of foreigners fighting against the Bush forces,
nearly half are Saudis.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The Bush forces want to claim that they come from Syria and Iran, which seems to be a matter of blaming the usual suspects.
President Chavez wants to amend the Venezuelan constitution so he can run for president again.
This is not necessarily bad, but it is disturbing.
The FBI exceeded the sweeping surveillance power given to it by the USAP AT RIOT to obtain people's phone records through requests that were obviously illegal. These requests were signed by someone fairly high in the FBI.
The false information in these requests could make them a crime.
In 2001, the Bush regime explicitly funded the Taliban.
Michael Moore lambastes CNN for absurd false statements about SiCKO.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Russia has canceled
a treaty about reporting troop movements.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Elsewhere I read that this was a response to Bush's provocative missile defense plans.
The deal
to end North Korea's nuclear program is making tangible
progress.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The island nation of Tuvalu
is
slowly being drowned by global warming.
Most people there expect to emigrate.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
It may be possible for 10,000 refugees to find a place to go. But if climate change sends millions fleeing, a few decades from now, will anyone let them in?
A Utah woman was attacked and then lied about by police who had come to demand that she water her lawn.
Aside from the brutality, isn't it crazy to require people to water lawns during a drought in a region with a permanent water shortage that global warming will keep making worse?
Interviews with 50 Bush forces veterans show a pattern of systematic hatred and murderous violence towards Iraqi civilians — hardly ever punished.
If someone says you should "support our troops", ask him if he means supporting this.
As the US congress considers pulling the
Bush forces out of Iraq,
"Iraqi" prime minister al
Maliki
says they can leave at any time.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The benchmarks that the "Iraqi" government is supposed to achieve include passing the law handing over Iraq's oil wealth to foreigners.
Canada has
prohibited protests in a wide area around a planned summit
with Bush. Even a meeting in a town hall in another town has been
prohibited. (I wonder how they can justify such a prohibition?)
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
They should hold the event anyway and dare the police to shut it down.
Various
US companies are being sued for using paramilitaries
to kill union leaders in Colombia.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
These companies plead they had no choice to pay off the paramilitaries — that the paramilitaries would otherwise have attacked the companies. That may be true, but it is a red herring. Just paying off the paramilitaries to leave the companies alone would not have motivated them to kill union leaders. The companies must have paid extra for that.
One year after its abortive war with Hezbollah, Israel focuses on asking why it didn't win, rather than on the most important question: why did it fight a war?
If the United States Were A Free Country...
I agree with all except the part about firearms.
President Chavez wants to amend the Venezuelan constitution so he can run for president again.
This is not necessarily bad, but it is disturbing.
The FBI exceeded the sweeping surveillance power given to it by the U SAP AT RIOT to obtain people's phone records through requests that were obviously illegal. These requests were signed by someone fairly high in the FBI.
The false information in these requests could make them a crime.
In 2001, the Bush regime explicitly funded the Taliban.
Michael Moore lambasts
CNN for absurd false statements about SiCKO.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Rep. Conyers talks
of suspicion that half-pardoning Libby was a way to keep him quiet
so he would not implicate others in the Bush
administration.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Massachusetts governor Patrick
vetoed
plans to fund "sex education" classes
that only teach students not to have sex.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
That is a step in the right direction, but doesn't go far enough. Sex education should not spread the perverse idea that teens shouldn't have sex. It should teach them how to have sex well.
France has admitted that a French judge was murdered in Djibouti, for
political reasons. Previously the French government covered this up and
called it suicide.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
I have to recognize that in admitting this, Sarkozy (whose political policies are detestable) is taking a step towards honesty.
The UK keeps deporting people to the Congo, refusing to recognize that
many of them are disappeared once they arrive.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The House of Representatives voted for withdrawal from Iraq by April, but
with a small margin that doesn't seriously threaten to stop Bush from doing
whatever he wants.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
A Canadian court ruled that prohibition of marijuana is unconstitutional.
A Florida Republican state representative was
arrested for soliciting for prostitution. Don't they pay representatives
enough?
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
I think he should be released, because prostitution and related activities should not be prohibited -- just regulated for everyone's safety. However, as a Republican, he deserves to be excoriated for his hypocrisy.
Global warming is killing trout and salmon. They can't stand the higher temperatures. And other fish are threatened by it too.
But this won't matter if we drive the fish to extinction through overfishing quickly enough.
The Nation published reports by many Iraq veterans about the
systematically atrocities they witnessed or committed. "It's not individual
atrocity, it's the fact that the entire war is an atrocity."
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The systematic oppression, based on the attitude was that Iraqi lives counted for nothing, is why I flatly reject any suggestion to "support" "our" troops. The only support they deserve is to be pulled out of Iraq.
Luis Obrador, who was robbed of victory in Mexico's presidential election by
fraud,
continues to deny the legitimacy of President Calderon.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Six months ago, Bush supporters asked the public to wait 6 months to judge the effects of his troop increase in Iraq (which he called the "surge").
They have been saying similar things for three years or more, and they probably are saying the same things now. They will keep saying forever, "Don't judge yet." It's up to the people to refuse them any more time-outs.
The Australian government refused to publish a study about reaction to changed labor laws, saying that providing this information to the citizens would risk influencing how people vote in the next election.
Solar activity has been going down ever since 1980, so it can't be to
blame for global warming.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
We are fortunate that a slightly cooling Sun has counteracted some of our CO2 and methane emissions, but the rising temperatures show that our emissions outweigh the Sun's cooling.
The former Surgeon General says Bush politicized his job.
Bush proposes to replace him with
a religious fanatic who tries to "cure" gays.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
China's former chief food and medicine regulator was executed for
corruptly authorizing unsafe products.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The death penalty is never justified; he should have been sentenced to many years in prison. However, even strict punishment of a few leaders will not alone suffice to make products safe. That requires an end to the culture of secrecy which pervades China from the top down.
The conditions asked of the Iraqi government, for continued support from
the Bush regime, are impossible.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Maybe that is a good thing. To require these conditions is, in effect, a way of cutting off support, which is what ought to be done.
A strange reversal:
Bush says that Bush forces troop levels "will be decided by commanders on
the ground, not by politicians in Washington DC".
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
If that's true, it will be the first time, since previously two politicians, Bush and Cheney, have overruled the generals.
US citizens: phone your senators and say they should oppose Bush's nominee for surgeon general. He is a religious fanatic that wants to "convert" gays.
See
this for more info.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Ethiopians who protested election fraud may face execution.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Iran has slowed down uranium enrichment, perhaps offering a deal.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
I don't think Bush wants a deal; I think he wants an excuse for another war. But maybe his support has eroded to the point where he will have to make the deal.
South Africa is proposing a deal to rescue Zimbabwe from dictatorship and
collapse.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The Pakistani army stormed the mosque which was the base of fundamentalist
vigilantes.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
New York's mayor wants 3,000 surveillance cameras, using terrorism as the excuse. But the crucial part of the scheme is that they would record all cars' license plates.
Having cameras to make recordings, that can be checked if crimes are committed is useful, and I have nothing against it. Constant surveillance of everyone is another matter: that must be fought.
As Republicans start to criticize Bush, he follows his usual strategy: press on as if nothing had happened.
I predict that if laws require a reduction in the Bush forces in Iraq, he will write a signing statement saying he doesn't have to obey them.
An ACLU lawsuit against Bush's illegal telephone surveillance was dismissed on the grounds that none of the plaintiffs could prove he had been spied on.
Since the secret spy program doesn't say who it spies on, nobody can demonstrate he was a target. Under this Kafkaesque legal doctrine, this means nobody can ever sue, so secret spying can be done without limits.
Local opposition has blocked the expansion of several UK airports, thus
helping to make the government's supposed CO2 plans a reality.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
But the Clown has plans to "streamline" the approval process, which would strip local people of legal authority over all sorts of projects, from airports to shopping malls.
US citizens: phone your congresscritter and say, "Please vote for Rep. Hinchey's medical marijuana amendment to the 'Justice' Department spending bill." This amendment would prohibit the Dept of Injustice from spending money arresting people that use medical marijuana in accord with state law.
As Shell tramples the Irish, and ignores laws, to build a dangerous
natural
gas refinery in Ireland, a broad-based protest campaign
continues to block construction, even though their government
is against them.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
I'm sure that there is a safe way to build this refinery. I am sure it would still be profitable if built safely. And I'm sure Shell's attitude is that they want the maximum profits, and people's health be damned.
2000 Chinese officials broke the one-child law in just one province. And
that counts only the ones who were investigated for corruption for other
reasons.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
I wonder what fraction of the officials investigated had broken this law. But it may not matter a lot, since the main point of the law is to cut down on population growth. If it is only 90% enforced, that is still very effective.
The vice president of the "Iraqi" government called on citizens to arm themselves,
admitting the government can't protect them.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
This is ironic because (1) Iraq is full of arms, (3) lots of Iraqis have arms, and (3) the Bush forces have been trying to take them away.
Several Senate Republicans have called for a plan to reduce troops in the Bush forces.
It is a small step in the right direction. However, I think that Bush will stonewall them until pushed hard.
Police in Spokane
attacked
a man who was picnicking after a protest, after he asked for
a policeman's badge number. Then they went wild and grabbed everyone
they could get.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
As Israel sentences Mordechai Vanunu to prison for giving interviews
that included no nuclear secrets, Pakistan is relaxing the restrictions
on AQ Khann,
whose old network may still be selling nuclear secrets.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
While Bush calls himself "the decider",
Cheney often controls the options among which he decides.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Note how he worked around Bush's opposition on the details of tax cuts for the rich.
This makes the impeachment of Cheney important, just like the impeachment of Bush.
Just after Israeli independence, the Israeli army carried out a
systematic campaign of destroying the (pre-Zionist) past. Antiquities
destroyed or sacked included mosques, synagogues, crusader fortresses,
museums and their collections, and carvings 3,000 years old.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
90% of the Israeli settlements in Palestine have taken over land which
isn't officially theirs;
while leaving disused most of the
Palestinian land which the Israeli government says it gave them.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Temperate forests are less effective than thought at absorbing CO2,
while
tropical forests have been doing more than was previously realized.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
This is bad news, because there is disastrous deforestation in many tropical forests -- for instance, in Indonesia and Brazil.
Remember al-Zarqawi, who was supposed to be "the" leader of Al Qa'ida in Iraq? The Bush forces actively exaggerated his importance for years -- and misleading Americans was part of the goal.
Meanwhile, internally they recognized that he and Al Qa'ida were a small part of the Iraqi resistance.
Think about this when the Bush forces say that their enemies in Iraq are "Al Qa'ida".
Arctic ponds are evaporating due to global warming.
Some areas have dried out to the point where plants can no longer grow
or absorb any CO2; and the next lightning could set them on fire,
releasing all their CO2 into the atmosphere.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Southern Greenland's ice sheet has survived previous warm periods without melting.
This is good news, since it suggests we're not in danger of a total melt soon. But a partial melt of up to half the sheet's thickness, which is what the article says did happen, would raise sea level 11 feet.
Global warming will increase death rates in the US.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
China's test of an anti-satellite weapon has raised
fears of conflict in space.
It also added to the dangerous inventory of space junk.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The exact same criticisms applied to the US test of an anti-satellite weapon, many years ago. At least China used an obsolete satellite as a target. The target destroyed in the US test was in active use by scientists, who were puzzled when it ceased transmitting.
Two wrongs don't make a right, and an arms race in space is not safety. However, if the next US administration is more reality-based than the present one, this test could perhaps provide it with an incentive to agree to mutual ASAT disarmament.
Professor Fernandez-Armesto, while attending a conference in Atlanta,
was arrested for jaywalking,
then beaten up by the policeman.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The police investigation that tried to put the blame on the professor is evidently dishonest. It says he "acted with belligerence", but even supposing this really occurred, what could that have been? Only verbal behavior is plausible, since if he had hit the policeman, more serious charges would have been filed. And being verbally attacked is no excuse to hit someone -- not even if you're a policeman.
So we see this is a distraction, an attempt to prejudice the real issue by making the professor look bad. Since fabricating accusations is standard police practice, I don't even believe it is true.
Global warming is rapidly melting the glaciers of Mount Everest. In
the short term,
new lakes threaten disastrous floods for the Sherpas
that live around it, if melting ice lets the water spills downhill.
In the long term, decreased rainfall in the area threatens drought for
hundreds of millions of people.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Berlusconi used Italy's military intelligence as a secret police
to spy on judges that did not support him politically.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
An Australian minister made a mistake, and
admitted that the Bush forces
are occupying Iraq for the oil.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
A victory for the Bush forces:
they killed Said Hamza, an alleged Al
Qa'ida officer in Iraq --
for the second time!
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Now we know why the war is going so badly: Bush's enemies are immortal. Or do they have nine lives, like cats?
A youth of age 17 and another of age 15 had sex; for this exchange of pleasure, the former has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Humans at age 15 are sexually mature. To punish them, or their partners, is insane prudery turned cruel. This sort of injustice is not unusual; what is news is that there are protests against it.
I suspect that the underlying cause of this cruelty can be found in the irrational tendency of most parents in our society towards denial about the maturation of their offspring. However, Christianity makes it worse.
US economic hit men have gun-wielding hit men to accompany them, and their work is not limited to foreign countries.
Former Ambassador Murray accuses the Bush regime of deliberately
fomenting inter-sectarian violence in Iraq. And Dennis Kucinich is
trying to investigate it.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
I have no proof that the Bush forces directly carried out false-flag massacres which were blamed on Iraqis. But I would not put this past them. And some evidence is quite suggestive, such as that of the British Bush forces troops who were arrested in Basra with supplies for "terrorist" bombings. (The Bush forces attacked the jail to bust them out, so that they could not confess.)
Meanwhile, simply recruiting an army of Shi'ites to occupy the Sunni regions of Iraq was plenty of provocation for inter-sectarian violence.
If the Bush regime did this deliberately, what does that imply? It is a shame to let such a tactic succeed, but Iraq is already coming apart. It is too late to keep Iraq united, and trying to do so will only prolong the civil war. Only defended boundaries can end the killing.
The bald eagle has recovered from near extinction, and has been
removed from the list of threatened species.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
This shows that we can prevent extinction; when we make substantial efforts. Thousands of species face extinction, mostly due to habitat destruction and pollution. We could save them too, if we made it a priority.
UNESCO has
removed the Florida Everglades from its list of threatened sites,
but the Everglades are not safe.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
However, if sea levels keep rising due to global warming, protecting the Everglades may be as futile as protecting the rest of Florida.
Senator Spector introduced a
bill to instruct courts to ignore
presidential "signing statements".
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
France has moved to a free market for electricity --
a move that can cause major problems.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
An increase in the price of electricity is not necessarily a bad thing in itself. But I would rather bring it about by taxing only generators that burn fuel and emit pollution.
Government mistreatment of the citizens of New Orleans continues
and is much worse than we read about shortly after the hurricane.
This article puts it all together.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Christian fundamentalists are openly scheming to impose Bible-based law on the US--just as cruel and vicious as Islamic law.
Their lack of contact with reality can be seen in their claim that secular culture has "deadly effects"--when all they mean is that we do not execute homosexuals, etc. There is a part of our culture that has the deadly effects: the part that worships the Invisible Hand. But these fundamentalists don't care about that.
Iraqi Kurdistan may be mostly peaceful,
but its rule is not just.
Much like the Bush regime, it imprisons people without trial (even
taking hostages), and tortures them.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Bush hopes that allowing occasional television watching and gardening
for some prisoners in Guantanamo will make the world accept
imprisonment without charges or trial.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Several of the Bush regime's
nastiest policies were formulated by Cheney,
who handed them privately to Bush for signature, bypassing the
officials (even cabinet members) who thought they had the
responsibility.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Cheney was directly involved in
establishing policies of torture.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Cheney's secret influence has
led even Republican stalwarts to condemn him.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
That Ashcroft and Powell were bypassed does not absolve them of responsibility for the policies that Cheney designed and Bush approved. They did go along with the decisions once they were imposed. If they had taken moral exception, they could have resigned instead.
Rather than close the Guantanamo prison, let's make it over to house Bush and Cheney, and other Bush regime officials who have betrayed the freedom of the Land of the Free. But only after fair trials, of course.
The Bush regime's policy of disinformation about climate change
was
set up directly by Cheney, and implemented by the White House.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Some Bush forces
marines may face murder charges for shooting helpless
prisoners in Fallujah.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
It is right to hold those individuals responsible for their actions, but that is not enough. The officers who established the spirit which encouraged such crimes must also be held responsible. And since these murders resulted from Bush's initial crime, the invasion of Iraq, he must be held responsible too.
Germany takes the predatory cult of Scientology so seriously that it
has refused to cooperate with plans by Tom Cruise to make a movie,
saying that giving him this cooperation would be endorsing the cult.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Hear, hear!
Hillary Clinton's "key strategic adviser" worked for years to improve the image of tobacco companies.
Arnold Schwarzenegger poses as a champion of strong measures to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions.
In private, he has sabotaged their
implementation,
say people who used to be part of the committee in charge of them.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Pollution kills
750 thousand Chinese every year.
The Chinese government, following its typical culture of denial,
tried to publish a much smaller figure.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The
attempted bombings in London are attributed to
two Iraqis angry about the destruction of their country.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Proponents of the so-called "war on terror" say that fanatical Islamists will be a threat regardless of what the West does. I am sure there is a core group of which that is true. However, Western atrocities -- such as the occupation of Iraq, which is a fresh atrocity each day it continues -- make a big difference to how much support those fanatics can attract.
Pakistan's Chief Justice, Iftikhar Chaudhury, was fired by Musharraf
for investigating corruption.
He has since become the focus of opposition to Musharraf
from all sides.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Although the defense of certain human rights that his cause has inspired is exciting, I wonder what the position of his supporters would be on Pakistan's unjust laws, such as capital punishment for blasphemy, and punishment of women for reporting they were raped.
The trial of the killers of Hrant Dink is
exposing the involvement of the Turkish government
in his killing.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The government of
France supported the genocidal Rwandan regime, on
the express orders of President Mitterand, who acted out of the
shallowest form of nationalistic rivalry.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
There were several terrorist failed attacks in the UK recently. The
perpetrators had done nothing in advance to call attention to
themselves, but once the attacks failed, the whole ring was very
quickly caught.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Rationally speaking, these events oppose Brown's plans to further weaken human rights in the UK. But I fear that Brown will use them to increase the irrational pressure for his agenda.
As Bush labels the enemy in Iraq "Al Qa'ida",
he continues boosting its strength.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Gordon Brown has proposed constitutional reforms in the UK which look like improvements.
One of them, regarding the law that prohibits protests near Parliament, proposes to reverse one of B'liar's nasty actions.
Now if only Brown wanted to reverse B'liar's other attacks on human rights.
Bush half-pardoned Scooter Libby, by commuting his jail sentence.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Bending over backwards to be sympathetic to a person who lied to protect Cheney from investigation illustrates Bush's attitude towards honesty and towards justice.
Mordechai Vanunu has been sentenced to prison for the crime of
speaking to foreign journalists.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Vanunu says he knows no remaining nuclear secrets (and certainly his interviews did not contain any). He says that this excuse masks a desire to keep him from talking about how he was treated.
Students are organizing political education in campus "Tent State
University" projects, in the US and the UK.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Human Rights Watch says that both Israeli shelling and Palestinian rockets
violate
the laws of war.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The Senate is ready to go to court if Bush and Cheney continue refusing to turn over documents about the firing of federal prosecutors.
"Bush's Amazing Achievement": scholars of foreign policy agree his presidency is a disaster.
However, the deeper disagreements are just as important as the agreement. Right-wing scholars call the Bush presidency a disastrous mistake, while others recognize that the problem goes beyond mere execution, and extends to the goals.
How the Bush regime planned to use the 9/11 attacks as an excuse to attack Iraq, as early as the following day -- and relentlessly pressured the CIA to endorse the lie.
NATO attacks in Afghanistan
killed
45 civilians, creating anger and bringing a rebuke from President Karzai.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
I will be surprised if the US obeys his command to get permission before attacks.
In Bethlehem, nonviolent protestors trying to plant trees on their own
land were attacked.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
One of the protestors at the regular Bil'in nonviolent protest
was
an Israeli soldier, off duty.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Aaron Lapid reports on
what
he saw while visiting a checkpoint in Palestine,
which was even worse than what he saw as a soldier in the occupation.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
An official in the "Iraqi" government
accuses
the Bush regime of organizing
a false-flag "terrorist" attack.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
I cannot judge the plausibility of this accusation, but given that al-Saberi has the job of negotiating with tribal leaders, the fact that he makes this accusation is shocking whether it is true or false.
An ACLU lawsuit has obtained a manual produced by the Bush regime giving directions for excluding opposition from government events.
The US government is fabricating "preexisting condition" excuses
to
deny disability benefits to Iraq veterans with PTSD.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Enormous corruption is now visible in UK arms sales to Saudi Arabia.
Bush pretends that the Iraqi resistance
is Al Qa'ida.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The US Supreme Court ruled to allow manufacturers to
set
minimum retail prices -- sometimes. (It is not clear when.)
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
By tossing out a century of past Supreme Court precedent, for no particular reason, this court shows it is on a political mission which it will stop at nothing to achieve. That mission was given to it by the Republican Party, so we can expect it to be for business, against democracy, and against human rights.
Google
is being sued for libel in the UK over the contents of web
pages that are indexed in the search engine.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
UK's libel laws give insufficient weight to freedom of speech. Attempts to globalize them to the entire net threaten the freedom of speech Attempts to globalize them to the entire net threaten the freedom of speech everywhere in the world.
Most US presidential candidates endorse protection for medical marijuana when it is legalized by states. Details are given here.
Among Democrats, the only exception is Hillary Clinton, by far the worst of the Democratic candidates.
Around 120 women per year are killed in the UK by their relatives
for choosing the wrong man to love. Some are now saved by charities
that work to protect them.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
US awareness of the threat of global warming is rising, but still lags
behind most of the world.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
I see in this the effect of the corporate-controlled media in the US. That problem is not unique to the US, but in most countries it is less complete.
Congress reports that the Bush regime is blowing hot air when it talks
about training Iraqi troops to fight for Bush.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
What the report does not question is the basic assumption that Iraqis ought to fight for a conquering foreign empire.
After the Yes Men hoaxed ExxonMobile, the company struck back--shutting off their internet service. They could only get back partial service by deleting this hoax, and deleting all mention of Exxon. They are now seeking another ISP.
Such intimidation gives major corporations the effective power of censorship over the Internet.
Amy Goodman interviews
Michael Moore about SiCKO.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The inspiration came when NBC's censors changed the outcome of his "Health Care Olympics" between the US, Canada and Cuba, because "Cuba is not allowed to win".
Four years after the looting of the National Museum of Iraq, the Bushmen have started trying to examine and preserve some of the country's archeological sites, many of which have themselves been ruined by looting.
NASA's Earth science budget is down 30% since 2000. Key satellites that are
aging have no planned replacements.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Bush has already said he wants to make sure his successor cannot end the occupation of Iraq. Maybe he is trying to make sure his successor cannot do anything about global warming, either.
China is already the
principal producer of CO2 emissions.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
San Diego is starting to think about what rising seas will do to low-lying
real estate and buildings. But awareness that beachfront property will be
inundated is just starting to sink in.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
B'liar, no longer prime minister of the UK, will try to
negotiate peace between Palestine and Israel.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Given his slavish obedience to Bush, the Palestinians will not regard him as anything but a tool.
The president of Mexico, despite his bad politics in general, is
trying to fight police corruption caused by drug trafficking.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The root cause of this problem is the high drug prices caused by prohibition, and the only solution is to end prohibition. Addictive drugs such as heroin and cocaine should be made available to addicts in doctors' offices, as in the Netherlands.
Iran has begun
rationing of gasoline.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Rationing may not be the best way to do it, but higher gasoline prices are essential for conservation -- in Iran as in the US. Some European countries have prices over 6 dollars per gallon due to their taxes; before recent price increases, it was 4 dollars per gallon. Over the years, this leads to building society's infrastructure so that people use less gasoline.
The Senate has issued a subpoena for documents pertaining to Bush's
decision to carry out illegal surveillance.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The medical industry is launching an organized PR effort to counter the film SiCKO.
Uri Avnery: splitting Gaza and the West bank is a strategy that Israel has practiced for many years. The probable effect will be to cost Fatah and Abbas their remaining support.
Blackstone and Capital's Scam.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Where will Iraq, its refugees go next?
Senator Gravel writes, "Why Hillary Scares Me".
US and Afghan troops tied a prisoner to a jeep and threatened to drag him (to death) if he didn't talk.
These are not isolated instances. We know that the practice of abusing (i.e. torturing) prisoners was promoted from the very top.
Will Bush use the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks to push for a troop increase in Iraq?
There is the Big Brother-- Workplace Control and Workforce Surveillance.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Kasparov is effective as a dissident in Russia, criticizing Putin's assault on democracy. However, outside of that, his politics are those of a neocon.
Support the Confederation of Immokalee Workers in pressuring Burger King
to give farm workers decent treatment.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
US citizens: contact your congresscritter and senators to
support low-power FM radio.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
An undercover journalist reports on how lobbyists (usually former government staff) corrupt politicians, academia and the press to whitewash evil governments.
UN support for the occupation of Iraq has cast suspicion over the UN,
costing it the ability to act in other parts of the world.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
A Washington woman says her cell-phone is being cracked remotely, and used
to spy on her and to send threats.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
This is one reason why the software in cell phones must be free software. If you use non-free software, the developer controls it and you don't.
Congress is investigating the practices of government agencies' inspectors
general. As part of Bush's War on Integrity, they have been politicized and
suppressed.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Cheney twists the law to keep secrets without following legal rules about government secrets.
Canada is considering a law to subordinate its government policies to the US, and to allow US companies to sue to overturn any regulations that get in their way.
The Bush forces have begun to label the Iraqi resistance as "Al Qa'ida".
Just as Bush tried to tie Saddam Hussein to Al Qa'ida before the invasion, now
he wants to tie present-day Iraqi opposition to Al Qa'ida. It's a
crude scheme to manipulate Americans' hatred.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Bush's spokesman says that killing a million Iraqis is ok because Saddam Hussein did the same sort of thing.
Saddam did kill many Iraqis, but he wasn't killing a lot of them in 2003.
Karl Rove told the Interior Department to change policy so as to get a
Republican senator re-elected. This appears to be illegal.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
US citizens:
call your congresscritter to support HR 1246, which calls for the US
military to end discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
It is not a good thing for the US military to be strong, since their strength would serve for aggression. However, the recruiting crisis brought about by the occupation of Iraq could be a good opportunity to repeal this bigoted policy.
How Donald Rumsfeld and Ronald Reagan corrupted the FDA to approve aspartame, overcoming a previous rejection due to evidence it might be dangerous to health.
Whether aspartame is indeed dangerous is an unsettled question.
Mahmoud Abbas is trying to use the sudden influx of foreign support to
demand negotiations for a real peace agreement.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
A review of SiCKO, Michael Moore's latest film.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Part II.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Al Gore's event to raise climate change awareness is being seized on by corporate greenwashers.
Cheney says his office is not part of the executive branch, so laws about
it don't apply to him.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Next he will say he's really on a different planet so Earthly law doesn't apply to him.
Tax resisters in New Hampshire vow to die rather than surrender to the
police.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
There are many things that the state ought to provide, such as roads, medical care, sewage disposal and treatment, inspection and enforcement of health standards, etc., and this needs money; a progressive income tax that falls most heavily on the rich is the fairest way to collect it. In a state that spent its money on these things, I would not sympathize with tax resisters.
However, it is hard for me to criticize people that refuse to hand over their money for wars of conquest, kidnapping, imprisonment without trial, and torture.
Giuliani's favorite vulture makes big profits from US debt that is going to be "forgiven" to poor countries.
Senators demanded a Justice Dept. investigation Into Tim Griffin's voter-suppression.
As former prosecutor Tim Griffin is investigated for caging voters, a path towards inculpating Karl Rove is starting to open up.
The FBI may have let Osama bin Laden charter a plane in the US after 9/11.
China has developed
mobile
execution vans to make executions more efficient.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
They take organs from the cadavers and sell them for transplantation. You can read about it
here and
here
[References updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
links
were broken.]
The practice of executing people to collect organs was predicted in Larry Niven's stories in the 60s, except that those stories envisioned it in the US and done with popular support from people who thought they might someday need transplants.
Shin Dong Hyok has escaped, at age 22, from the North Korean political
prison camp in which
he
was born and lived his whole life.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
North Korea provides an example of how sometimes one must work with even the most brutal dictators. Ending the North Korean nuclear program is very important, and I think it is justified for the US to cooperate with North Korea towards that end, even though that means tolerating the regime's atrocities.
But would the US care about those atrocities even this overriding concern were not present? The Bush regime doesn't imprison babies as far as I know -- well, perhaps occasionally as hostages -- and it may never have done anything as heinous as what was done to Mr Shin. But it does things in the same spirit, and the result is to disqualify the US today from being taken seriously in any moral criticism of other countries' atrocities.
The murderous and intolerant side of Islam showed itself again after
Salman Rushdie was knighted by the UK. Protestors called for
killing
him, and so did a minister in the Pakistani government.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
No one has an inherent right to an honor such as a knighthood, and if a writer's work expressed hatred towards people who hold a certain view on religion, whether it be Muslims or Christians or Atheists, I would urge governments and others not to give awards to that writer.
I have not read The Satanic Verses, but according to descriptions I have read, it does nothing of the kind. It does not condemn Muslims, or Islam. Rather, a character has a strange dream into which Mohammed enters. This is what the fanatical Muslims condemn. When intolerant Muslims think that everyone in the world should be forced to bow down to their religion, they deserve a firm and unwavering rebuke.
Furthermore, we should take the initiative in this debate, by pointing out that many Muslim countries do not respect other views on religion even to the point of permitting people to adopt them.
Psychosocial
Causes for the Palestinian Factional War.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The US foreign service is destroying itself by
suspending security
clearances based on the vaguest of suspicions.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Bush's War
on Integrity has spread to NASA.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
I doubt that Bush specifically asked for this, or for the mismanagement of NASA. But it comes out of the general climate of corruption that Bush has established.
Instead of managing NASA, the Bush administration's priority is to
investigate
the employees more.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Despite protection of the forests where the endangered spotted owl lives,
the species continues to decline. For the Bush regime, that suggests
cutting
down some of those forests.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Exporting industry to China
increased
its CO2 output
even as it reduced workers wages.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Man-made soot contributes to
warming
of the Arctic, just by
making the snow dirty. Thus, the soot and the CO2 add together
to create danger of melting icecaps.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
A report summarizes how the Bush forces are destroying Iraq.
A man who put a note saying
"Kip
Hawley Is An Idiot"
(that's the head of the TSA) on his plastic bag of liquids
was treated like a criminal by the TSA.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
This was, in effect, perfect proof that the TSA attacks those who criticize it, even in the total absence of any legitimate reason to do so.
The TSA's response to subsequent inquiries followed the standard dishonest rule of unjust government: admit nothing, deny everything, make counterallegations.
Mugabe, effectively dictator of Zimbabwe, plans to authorize universal
police
eavesdropping.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Sounds like Bush.
The creation of the Department of Homeland Security made the US
vulnerable
to alien insect agricultural pests that can destroy architecture.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The Italian government is trying to
stop
the case against the CIA
and Italian kidnappers of Abu Omar.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Aung San Suu Kyi, elected president of Burma,
has
been in prison for
over 11 years.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
General Taguba, who was in charge of the investigation of
torture in
Abu Ghraib prison, said that he was ordered not to investigate
the role of higher-ups who authorized it.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Leading climate scientists predict disaster for civilization if CO2 production is not checked within the next decade.
More information
here.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
A wave of phony
democracy has spread through the Arab world,
carrying with it disillusionment with the idea of democracy.
The only opposition Arabs consider sincere is Islamist.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The democratic system of the US is pretty phony too.
California is considering bills to limit use of RFIDs.
These bills do not go far enough. It should be illegal to put an RFID in any product unless its main purpose is for the purchaser to identify herself, and any RFID in packaging should be clearly marked.
US citizens: write or phone your congresscritter to support the amendment to protect users of medical marijuana. This amendment would prohibit the DEA from spending any money to target them in states where that use is lawful.
Putin is guilty, as far as I can tell, of suppressing political opposition and the independent press. I certainly do not support him. However, what he says and does in dealing with Bush is right on.
Another
Russian journalist was shot by an unknown assailant.
The journalist wasn't killed, because the gun had a rubber bullet.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
I guess this was meant as a warning to stop investigating.
Karl Rove is being investigated for violating the Presidential Records Act by deleting emails. The Bush campaign organization refuses to cooperate with the investigation, which in itself shows what Bush supporters are made of.
The people who did this may have committed crimes. In addition, since this law makes the president personally responsible for assuring compliance, he shares in the personal responsibility for the deliberate circumvention of the law.
This alone would be enough reason to impeach him, but since Congress has closed its eyes to so many bigger reasons already, I don't suppose it will do so.
Democracy in Palestine
was
formally suppressed as President Abbas
instituted an "emergency government", setting aside the elected Hamas
government.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Israel and the US have been trying to put an end to democracy in Palestine ever since the Palestinians didn't vote the way they were supposed to.
The Yes Men, posing as representatives of ExxonMobile, presented a plan to make petroleum out of corpses after coming environmental disasters.
Remember, "xx" is not pronounced like "x". It is pronounced like the "ch" in German "ach". Thus, the first syllable of "Exxon" sounds like an expression of disgust.
Rumsfeld and others
lied to Congress when they denied knowledge of
torture in Abu Ghraib, says General Taguba.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Isn't it a crime to lie when testifying to Congress?
Coca Cola is using
vague promises of an ILO investigation in Colombia
to convince universities to quash the achievements of student
campaigns. The ILO is accused of not being independent of the
company, and the investigation may not really be occurring at all.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Microsoft is
making a sneak attack on election law in New York State.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Now that Bush has decided that Al Qassim is innocent of the charges
for which he was imprisoned in Guantanamo for years, the US
wants to
transfer him to a prison in Libya. He is fighting this because he
thinks the Libyan prison could be worse.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The US has a long history of crushing democracy in the Middle East.
This article doesn't even mention the many Arab dictators that the US has supported and continues to support.
During the cold war, the argument was made that the US could not afford to be choosy about allies against the Soviet Union. That might have justified working in some ways with some dictators that were already established, but it couldn't possibly justify installing a dictator in place of a democracy as in Iran.
Hundreds of thousands
protested
again in Oaxaca, and rebuilt the
barricades of last year.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Here's
a review of the history of a year of protest in Oaxaca -- how
the police attacked the protest, and how later protestors (and mere
bystanders) have been tortured in prison.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Chiquita Banana
pled
guilty to using death squads in Colombia to kill
union organizers. Now the victims' families are suing the company.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
US military chaplains
published antisemitic lesson plans.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Eric Montanez was arrested in Orlando...for giving away food to homeless people.
Orlando's policy reflects the essential cruelty of a political system that puts business profit above human well-being.
Robert Fisk: Palestine --
a
coup d'etat by an elected government.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
A UN report criticizes the UK's movement towards a police state.
Bush is
against a Congressional proposal to protect reporters
(including even bloggers) from revealing confidential sources.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
This from an administration constantly involved in covering up crimes.
Torture
Gonzales is being investigated for obstruction of justice.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The US bullied Berkeley High School into helping army recruiters get
access to its students. But
the
school continues to resist: it made
sure that every student and every parent considered the possibility of
opting out. 90% of the students have opted out already.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Every high school in the US should do the same. US military recruiters are known to lie frequently, and those recruited nowadays are more likely to serve in wars of aggression than to "serve their country" in any way.
Uri Avnery confirms that the US and Israel were directly involved in provoking the fighting in Gaza between Hamas and Fatah.
Hamas
and Fatah are now openly at war. Hamas has captured Gaza,while
in the West Bank, Fatah has arrested members of Hamas.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
This article claims that the US directly arranged the violence through Palestinians it supports.
I don't know whether the facts stated there are accurate. In any case, it seems that the blockade by Israel the US helped bring this about. However, Palestinians can't escape their share of the blame.
Global
warming has enabled mountain pine beetles to spread northward and upward,
attacking other species of pine trees, which could be
wiped out.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
If the white pine high in the mountains are killed, that will exacerbate the water shortage that the West is going to face due to other effects of global warming.
If Jamil el-Banna is released from Guantanamo, the UK plans not to
let him return, on the grounds he has "been away too long". Instead,
he
may be sent to Jordan where he faces torture or death.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
B'liar, on TV, still
pretends
that his war is not unpopular.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
His motto seems to be, "The show must go on."
A Pentagon
report shows Bush's troop increase in Iraq has not achieved its goal.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
It is absurd to blame al Maliki personally for failing to reconcile Iraq's ethnic groups and sects. Under Bush occupation, that task is essentially impossible. So he is being used as a fall guy. Well, if that leads to ending the war, that is ok. With his participation in the Iraqi government, he is hardly innocent.
I suspect that the "promises" referred to in the article include the planned passage of a law to hand over Iraq's oil to Western oil companies, presumably owned by Bush cronies. The Iraqi parliament has been working on this law for months or years. I wonder if it is doing this the way Penelope made her wedding dress.
The Somali "interim government" has been
unable
to establish control despite Ethiopian and US military support.
As a result, the country is in chaos, making some Somalis yearn for
the days of the Islamic Courts, which were the only force able to
restore order.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The Ethiopian intervention was supposed to last a short time, but it is becoming permanent (as I predicted).
Somalia faces a very sad choice: between violent chaos and cruel, unjust Islamic law.
A
series of murders of members of the Lebanese Parliament seems to be due to Syria,
since all the victims are supporters of the pro-American
prime minister.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Almost 1/3 of the shareholders of ExxonMobile
voted
for a resolution calling on the company to work to reduce CO2 emissions.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Even though it didn't pass, it may pass next year. It also could lead the management to start thinking; if anything can do that.
The House of Lords has made a final decision that
prisoners
held by British units in the Bush forces are covered by
the Human Rights Act.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Since the government advised soldiers to disregard that law, it now faces an investigation that may blow the lid of part of B'liar's malice and cruelty.
Peak oil -- the plausible theory that a scarcity of petroleum
will drive prices way up starting a few years from now -- has
finally
hit mainstream news.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Sudan has agreed to a larger military force
to
prevent violence in Darfur.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
A secret UN report sees no prospects for peace between Israel and Palestine. It blames Israel for rejecting peace, the Palestinian Authority for being unable to stop attacks on Israel (never mind that these are not very dangerous nowadays), and the great powers for imposing sanctions against the Palestinians after they voted for Hamas.
A Bush regime spin machine has been saying that Iran
supports the Taliban.
The
Pentagon now says it isn't true at all.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The FBI's
"terrorist watch list" has over half a million names on it, making
it a cause of pointless harassment and useless for any legitimate purpose.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
In Iraq, a Sunni
mosque and a Shi'ite mosque were attacked.
Muqtada al Sadr called on Iraqis to unite and not fight each other.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
US citizens: call on your senator to say: send Scooter Libby to Guantanamo to serve his sentence, or shut it down.
In Helmand province,
life
for women is no better than when the Taliban
ruled.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The Islamic extremists are already fighting a war against women. I think that Afghan women should start fighting back with guns. Rather than waiting to be shot, they should take the initiative. Burkhas should make it easy to get in position for a surprise attack. They will also make it impossible to identify who the attackers were, once they have gone.
Bush plans to cut down on satellites to measure Earth's climate.
One way or another, he's determined to prevent conservation.
Spewing sulfur into the upper atmosphere can prevent global warming cheaply.
But it can't prevent the droughts which CO2 is also causing, in places such as the US.
Open
warfare has broken out in Gaza between Hamas and Fatah.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
A true follower of Bush,
B'liar
attacked the media for not giving
him a free pass.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Putin has
allowed some opposition protests to occur.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
He probably has realized that crushing small protests is not worth the criticism it brings. Having brought the media under control by assassination, he can get away with lies even if protestors point out the truth. It works for Bush in the US, where the mainstream media, without assassination of their reporters, are nearly as subservient.
The Italian
trial of Abu Omar's kidnappers (US and Italian secret
agents) has begun, but Abu Omar cannot testify. Both Egypt and Italy have
prevented him from going to the trial.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Professor Norman Finkelstein was offered tenure by DePaul University,
but
then the university changed its mind because of a campaign
against his political views that criticize Israel.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
I am told that more info can be found in www.normanfinkelstein.com, but I have not seen that site.
Chinese law labels
many activities "state secrets",
which is often the excuse to sentence political critics to prison.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The US under Bush is following a similar path of secrecy, though it has not gone as far.
MacDonald's is trying to whitewash its image by inviting mothers to visit farms that grow ingredients.
Visiting a farm of MacDonald's' choice won't give them any real information. City folk like me, visiting a farm, don't know how to tell whether the farm's food is good to eat. But suppose it is: so what? Even a thorough study of farms that grow the wheat or lettuce, or potatoes and cattle, will have nothing to say about whether burgers make people fat.
But these mothers, given a free vacation and seeing something that looks nice, will have every reason to convince themselves that they have seen proof that MacDonald's food is good.
When Banaz Mahmod told police that her father wanted to kill her (for
having a boyfriend), the UK police did not believe her. Now her
father has
been convicted of murder.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Professor Colin Green explains the experiences in Palestine that led him to support an academic boycott of Israel. His union voted to start a year-long debate on the question. He says that Palestinians are enthusiastic about the debate, while Israel's supporters are angry that the idea is even considered.
Illegal logging in Indonesia
will
wipe out orangutans in the wild in 10 years,
along with the forests they live in.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
This is where the robot police airplanes ought to be used.
UK police are adapting
drone aircraft to watch streets.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
If they were only looking for ordinary criminals, I wouldn't mind this. But their focus is to catch people who do things that are slightly annoying -- as well as political opposition, of course.
The Bush forces
say
they are arming some Iraqi resistance groups,
hoping they will fight Al Qa'ida.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
I am a bit suspicious of this, because I thought there were lots of arms in Iraq. Meanwhile, the description of "negotiating" by arresting the other party's negotiators strikes me as negotiating in bad faith. Just like the Bush forces to arrest people who come out under a flag of truce.
Democrats in Congress are supporting abstinence-only antisex education, as part of a deal with the worst Republicans.
Pizza Hut fired the worker who reported mice to the health department.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Brian D. Kelly faces the threat of 7 years in prison for making an audio/video recording of a policeman who had pulled over a car. He's not the only one who has met with such threats in the US.
It is natural that police would want to stop citizens from recording what they do -- because mere eyewitness testimony isn't enough to get them convicted.
The median income of American families has declined since Bush stole the
presidency.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The sectarian war in Iraq is getting worse despite Bush's increase in troops,
so
Iraqis are still fleeing, if they can find a place to flee to. 4.2
million are now refugees.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
A jury in the UK found two protestors not guilty for trying to damage a US
B52 bomber. It accepted their argument that they were trying to prevent a
bigger crime, which was to be committed using that bomber.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The
US and Iran have captured some of each others citizens,
making accusations of spying and intervention which might or
might not be fabricated.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Musharraf met with a partial setback in his
attempts
to gag the media
in Pakistan.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Most
of the US is suffering from a severe drought; in the West, this
drought has lasted for many years. It is probably due to global warming,
which is expected to make it get worse and worse.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The company building the US Embassy in Iraq has been accused of bringing in employees against their will. You can read about it here.
The "War on Drugs" continues ruining lives in the US. Bernie Ellis,
who grew marijuana to treat an uncurable chronic illness, has avoided
imprisonment due to tremendous community support.
Now he faces
confiscation of his home.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
It must be even worse for James Burton, who is presumably going blind in prison because he can't grow pot there.
It is interesting to compare forfeiture (government seizure of assets, labeled as a punishment) in this with the case of the company that collects TV license payments in the UK. In both cases, punishments have been increased so as to collect more money. In one case, a company does it; in the other, a government agency does it; but what they do is the same.
However, most government agencies don't have a motivation to act this way. That's because the usual government agency is not terribly interested in collecting more money for the general treasury. That won't give the agency more money to spend.
The fact that forfeited assets directly enrich the police agency that collects them creates a special situation where there is an incentive for abuse. The point here is that privatization of collections can create the same special situation, and the same risk.
When Bush admitted using secret prisons, he said they had been closed.
But he
appears to have been lying, as usual. Human Rights Watch
reports on 39 people that the US appears to have disappeared.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
In some cases the US taken young children hostage, and reportedly tortured them too.
Musharraf seems helpless against spreading Islamic fundamentalism
in Pakistan. You can read about it in
this web page.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Hank Silver, an American Jew who helped build Israel in its early days,
went there again to observe the occupation of Palestine.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The Hebrew University appointed a former head of the security service as
its director of external relations, despite a petition signed by many
professors saying that this would contradict the humanistic mission and values
of the university.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Academics in other countries have already proposed a boycott of cooperation with Israeli universities, and there is an argument about whether it is right to have such a boycott. This appointment will strengthen the argument in favor.
An Israeli argues that
the fundamental reason for various boycotts of Israel is that it is not a
democracy. It rules millions of Palestinians, who are not allowed to vote to
control the policies under which they are ruled.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Another Israeli recognizes the legitimacy of the boycott.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The Jews of Israel don't have to admit the Palestinians as voting citizens of Israel. But they must respect the Palestinians' right to be voting citizens of a sovereign, democratic state: if not Israel, then Palestine.
Blackwater is suing the families of four mercenaries who were killed in Iraq. These families want information about how their relatives were killed, information that might embarrass Blackwater. The company now aims to both bankrupt them and gag them.
While fighting in in Iraq, these mercenaries were participating in an unjust occupation. They were helping Blackwater do Bush's dirty work--something that I would guess their families refuse to recognize. However, that is no excuse for what Blackwater is doing to those families today. Following Cindy Sheehan's path, their personal loss is leading them into opposition to the empire. I hope they will not crack as she did.
The resolution to impeach Cheney now has seven sponsors.
That they are so few is a measure of the cowardice of Congressional Democrats.
US presidential candidates get away with lies in the debates, because the
mainstream media don't comment on the truth of what they say.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
In the spirit of Krugman's point, we should note that Dubya did not get within "chad-and-butterfly range" of winning the 2000 election. As Greg Palast discovered and published, Katherine Harris stole the election for Bush by disenfranchising tens of thousands of Black voters in Florida.
Krugman doubts that the US can survive four more years of Bush-quality leadership. I don't think that the US has survived 6 years of leadership with Dubya's level of patriotism. The US is not a collection of people, nor its physical infrastructure. The US is a system of government based on human rights. When Bush crushed basic human rights, with the support of most Democrats in Congress, he destroyed the US. The question now is whether the US can be resurrected.
I see little hope for it. The Republican candidates gloat about the destruction of human rights, while the Democratic candidates -- aside from Kucinich -- pay little attention to the question.
Religious
freedom vs fundamentalism.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
China has evicted over a million residents of Beijing to demolish their homes for the Olympics. They have to move to distant slum suburbs, from which it is expensive to get to work.
In the US, gentrification does the same thing, but more slowly. It would be acceptable if there were adequate housing for poor working people.
Uri Avnery:
40 years as an occupying power have corrupted Israeli society and
government, and made violence normal.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The law allowing members of parliament to be expelled for criticizing cabinet ministers or army commanders will effectively abolish the representation of Israeli Arabs -- and anyone that seriously wants peace. Their representatives will either gag themselves, becoming ineffective, or be expelled.
This review of Satanic Purses: Money, Myth and Misinformation, by R.T. Naylor, makes me want to read a copy.
US citizens: phone your congresscoward and say, "Support resolution 333 to impeach Cheney! He's a criminal, and you have a responsibility to recognize this by launching his prosecution."
One of Mugabe's conscripted torturers has escaped, and
explains how the system is organized for atrocities.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
B'liar endorsed South African President Mbeki's gentle approach to
Mugabe's tyranny. (Mbeki has blocked most sorts of action against Mugabe for
years.)
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
It is interesting to contrast the attitude of B'liar and Bush toward Mugabe with their attitude towards Saddam Hussein. Hussein's past atrocities were used as the excuse for a war of conquest, but Mugabe's present and increasing atrocities get only verbal criticism -- and now, not even that.
Bush wants to pardon Libby,
but
faces pressure from Republicans not to do so.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
We need a constitutional amendment that would deny the president the power to pardon crimes that relate to working closely with high government officials. I suggest that pardons for such crimes be possible only for a president who took office at least 3 years after the end of the administration that the crime was connected with.
Here's a way to educate the public about what global warming can do: erect poles in coastal cities, showing heights above sea level. Each pole could be graduated in meters, with a big label "If Greenland Melts" on a line at the appropriate height (around 6 meters above current sea level).
The IWW is organizing workers at Starbucks, which treats them worse than Wal Mart.
Due to overfishing,
jellyfish
are proliferating in the Mediterranean and
regularly invade Spanish beaches.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The drought that exacerbates this problem is likely to get more severe and more frequent in the future, due to global warming.
An Israeli court
is
hearing a Palestinian challenge to practices
that exclude Palestinians from a road running through the West Bank.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Restrictions like these have divided the West Bank into small enclaves, making it difficult to travel between them.
Bush continues
to oppose meaningful action against climate change.
At the G8 summit, he committed only to "consider" taking steps.
We can imagine the result this consideration will reach.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Thus, B'liar's claim to have influence over Bush
is
once again shown false.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
There is a time in diplomacy for patience, but there is also a time for pressure and denunciation, and this is it. Other countries must tell the truth about the Bush regime: that its policy is driving the Earth to disaster.
While the G8 summit didn't achieve much good,
protests against the
meeting were very effective.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Is inundating another country an act of war? If so, countries whose coastal regions face inundation (if Greenland or Antarctica melts) could justify a preemptive attack on US and Chinese fossil fuel power plants, oil refineries, coal mines, and other CO2-emitting facilities, in the name of simple self-protection.
Taking the absurdity of software patents to its insane logical extreme, a new company's business plan is to patent security fixes.
Mainstream Australian media companies
accuse
the government of endangering the freedom of the press,
and of practicing too much
secrecy.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
US citizens: sign
the petition demanding no pardon for Libby.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
US citizens: sign
the petition against the US plan for liquid coal, which would increase CO2 emissions.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The arms trade from the UK to Saudi Arabia involves payment of bribes to a Saudi prince, authorized by the UK government.
B'liar blocked investigation into this corruption, which as much as admits that the accusations, saying that this corruption is "strategic". What he means is that "What's good for BAE arms sales is good for the UK."
The Senate Armed Services Committee plans to investigate psychologists' work in researching torture techniques for the US Army.
The rigging of the PENS report by people who concealed or hedged their military affiliations reminds me of the way Communist infiltrators used to take control of political opposition groups.
Cheney continues to repeat the lie about Saddam Hussein and al Qa'ida.
MIT economists confirm that US workers' income is not increasing as their productivity rises -- and the reason is due to changes that give bosses more power and workers less.
Congress is planning new farm subsidies, which seem likely to favor large companies.
The Iraqi Parliament is trying to end the occupation by blocking the UN approval for it. But Maliki, Bush's Iraqi prime minister, plans to veto the bill.
The WWF has accepted a lot of money to advertise Coca Cola Corporation.
The UK company that has the commission to collect taxes for television
sets has tried to increase profits
by
demanding payment from people whether they have television sets or not.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Politicians often argue for privatization of government functions, claiming that businesses will run them more efficiently. But businesses do not necessarily achieve higher profits through doing the right job more efficiently. They are just as likely to raise profits by doing the job wrong.
Glaciers in Antarctica are
flowing
faster into the ocean. This means
the danger of catastrophic flooding of coastal areas is worse than we
thought.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The US antimissile system which provokes Putin
is being
imposed on an antagonistic Czech public.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The Czech leaders who support this are working for the US, not for their own people.
B'liar is making
one last try to influence Bush on climate change. I
wish him luck, but he has never succeeded in changing Bush's course
before.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
What 40 years of occupation has done to Palestine, and to Israel.
The UK faces the threat of legal restrictions on abortion.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Yelena Tregubova says:
Putin is turning Russia into a dictatorship, and now wants to threaten
neighbors, so don't appease Russia.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
I agree with her overall position, but I see the nuclear weapons issue differently. Putin can't possibly threaten other countries as much as Bush does, and it is Bush that wants to abandon arms control and destabilize the nuclear balance. So I think it is right to interpret Russia's development of advanced missiles as a response to Bush's provocation. If Russia did this in the absence of US provocation, it would say more about Russia.
Since Chavez's opposition likes to compare him to Putin, it is informative to contrast them. Putin has suppressed opposition journalism by assassination of journalists who investigate corruption, and has frightened opposition media into silence. Chavez cut off the radio broadcast of one opposition TV station which supported a military coup against his government, but even that station continues cable broadcasts (since they don't require a TV transmitter license). Meanwhile, there are plenty of other opposition media outlets in Venezuela.
Iraq veteran Adam Kokesh is protesting the war with clever nonviolent
stunts, and has been arrested for this.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Now the Marine Corps wants to punish him for protesting, even though he's
not in the Marine Corps any more.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Kokesh's arrest was for a protest inside a Senate office building. He was
charged with "unlawful assembly, loud and boisterous"
although he had not uttered a sound.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Congress is starting to look at Greg Palast's evidence of felonious disenfranchisement of voters in 2004.
The CIA warned Bush of many of the bad things that might result from
attacking Iraq. Bush ignored this.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
A Pakistani Christian was sentenced to death for insulting Muhammad. He seems to deny that he did so, but whether he did or not is a side issue; to make it a crime to express such opinions is an offense against human rights.
It is for policies like these that Pakistan is one of the countries that I simply refuse to visit.
The US health care system, despite its high technology, kills insured
people because of bureaucracy, while other die because they can't get
insurance.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The UK's national health care system has problems too, but those problems are mainly caused by something very simple: underfunding, which reflects the New Labour party's priority of catering to the rich.
Islamic extremists in Gaza have threatened to kill women TV presenters
unless they cover their faces. The women are defiant.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The Eritreans presumed drowned at sea (because Malta waited 6 hours to
send a ship to rescue them) may have survived and washed back to Libya.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
I support Europe's right to control immigration, but that is no excuse to let people drown. And if these people have a valid claim they face persecution in Eritrea, and they are already in Libya, Libya ought to give them asylum. Libya's government is a dictatorship, but at least it has no reason to persecute these people.
It appears that the
UK is considering removing most British troops from the Bush forces within
a year. Maybe.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Not long ago I linked to a report of a statement by a British Bush forces division, which gave an earlier exit date, but that seems to have been an error.
Reports about the Democratic candidates' debate confirm my support for Dennis Kucinich. He said he would get rid of the U SAP AT RIOT act and take the US out of the treaties (NAFTA, WTO) that subordinate democracy to corporations. And he refused to support the invasion of Iraq when most Democratic officials chose to go along with it.
(The dishonesty of Bush's demand for war was quite obvious, even though there was, at the time, no proof to put him on trial with. Democrats who endorsed his lies did so because they lacked the courage to resist the pressure. Kucinich has that courage.)
I did not see debate, but my impression is that no other candidate supports those positions. (Obama did oppose the invasion, but he doesn't support the rest.) If any other candidate does support these positions, please let me know.
Meanwhile, a bit of kudos to the candidate who pointed out that rising US gas prices are good, because they promote conservation. Trying to push prices down is evidence of a lack of statesmanship. What we should do is tax away the oil companies' windfall profits, and spend the money promoting mass transit and other good things.
B'liar's attorney general encouraged troops in the
Bush forces to
disregard the human rights of Iraqi civilians.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Neocons in the Defense Department were encouraging Taiwan to declare
independence even as the State Department opposed it.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
While it is ridiculous to have two parts of the government pursuing contradictory foreign policies, I disagree with the presumption that everyone must kowtow to Beijing's demand to swallow Taiwan (or Tibet).
The British troops in the Bush forces will be withdrawn in December.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
What the heck is vote caging, and why does nobody care?
The Department of Homeland Security was justified in the name of
preventing terrorism, but that seems just to be a front.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Bush told friends that he was trying to make it as difficult as possible
ever to remove the Bush forces from Iraq.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Real opposition in Congress would cite this publicly as a reason to stop giving whatever Bush says the benefit of the doubt.
A report about Baghdad on a Friday night.
Andrew Bacevich, whose son was killed in Iraq,
has received insane accusations saying that he caused his son's death by
opposing the war. This is absurd, since if Bacevich's efforts had succeeded,
his son would not have been in Iraq.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Although soldiers in the Bush forces may wish to believe they are "serving their country", whichever country it happens to be, we must not pander to this fiction. The occupation of Iraq does not serve any country, only Bush and his cronies. And the only support these troops deserve is pulling them out.
Republican presidential candidates are trying to propagate Bush's lie connecting Saddam Hussein and the 9/11 attacks.
Another Guantanamo prisoner has escaped into death.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Bush's climate change plan -- do nothing but talk for two more years --
met with nothing but derision, except from toadies like B'liar.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
President Chavez has proceeded with the announced plan to close the station RCTV, which directly supported the attempted coup, by not renewing its license.
I don't think this is dictatorship, but it wasn't necessary. If this develops into a general policy of blocking private opposition TV, then I will be concerned.
This article gives more information about how RCTV participated in
supporting the coup attempt.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
"
US 'Exaggerating' Iran Threat For Military Intervention", says
a think tank report.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
A book review of The United States Since 1980--a study of how corporations have taken power away from democracy.
Lina Joy, a Malay living in Malaysia, has been formally denied the right to cease to be legally regarded as a Muslim.
Most Muslim countries have similar policies; some make it a capital offense to convert. Hardly any of them respect the human right of religious freedom.
Whenever Muslims condemn others for criticizing their religion or making fun of it, we should throw this in their faces.
Firing union organizers is illegal, but it's standard practice in the US.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
There's a report -- I don't know the source -- that 10,000 Iraqi women are in prison, and that most of them have been raped.
Turkey is considering giving the police broad powers to collect
information and save it, to search people, and to shoot people.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
McCain opposes net neutrality, and wants to put a Microsoft executive in
the cabinet.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
He misses the point of democracy, which is that the non-rich can join together against the power of the rich, and by acting jointly achieve what they couldn't get by dealing with the same rich one by one. To advocate "no government interference" is to advocate that the non-rich fail to use this weapon.
Who will be the president of the World Bank is a side issue. What really
matters is to change its harmful policies.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
A commentator on the BBC last night mentioned that some criticize the World Bank as inefficient; that it has too many employees for the lending it does. Then he mentioned that some people say World Bank loans are harmful -- and assumed that satisfying these criticisms would require adding more employees, as if the harm were due to mere mistakes.
This technique is commonly used in the mainstream media to sabotage consideration of an issue: raise it in a confused way, so that the audience believes it has considered the issue, and dismissed it for what appears to be good reason. Few will find out that the reason was a red herring.
The ACLU has sued Jeppeson Dataplan, a Boeing subsidiary, for providing support to CIA torture flights.
Plastic has covered 40% of the ocean's surface with garbage, and the chemicals that leach out of plastic are poisoning us and other animals.
Bill Clinton is planning to accept an award from Colombia's President
Uribe, who has been tied to murderous paramilitaries.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Scientists criticize the EPA's planned program to screen for endocrine
distrupter chemicals, saying it is as good as designed to miss most of the
problems.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
US citizens: Tell the FCC not to sell off lots of the radio spectrum dirt cheap to phone companies.
Inuit, already experiencing damage due to global warming, sent a representative
to England
to testify against airport expansion.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The Bush forces are coming to recognize that they are fighting for no
good cause, as they see that the soldiers in Bush's "Iraqi army" are
fighting against the occupation.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The article ends with an absurd reason for continuing the occupation: for the sake of the local auxiliaries that have been recruited to maintain the occupation. We see these absurd excuses over and over, and since major US media treat them as legitimate, they achieve a political effect.
Why did Congressional Democrats cave in on Iraq war funding? Because most of them aren't committed to ending the war at all.
As B'liar talks about reducing UK carbon emissions,
he wants to destroy one of Britain's few ancient forests to expand an
airport.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Greg Palast: Monica Goodling testified that Torture Gonzales' chief of staff lied to Congress. He denied his knowledge of a felonious Republican scheme that disenfranchised many Black voters in 2004. And Palast has proof of it all.
The debate over internet neutrality has been nearly ignored by the US
mass media, along with other vitally important issues.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Even the network neutrality campaigners ignore one vital aspect of network neutrality: whether network facilities and servers use free protocols that everyone can implement. If they don't, they tend to impose the use of specific non-free programs or systems.
Costa Rica will stop sending police for training in the US at a school for
torturers.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
This school, formerly called the School of the Americas, has spent decades teaching Latin American soldiers to overthrow democratic governments and/or torture the opposition.
Bush isn't satisfied with surveillance in the US. He is
funding Mexico to increase surveillance, too.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
I am suppose they will say this is for catching drug dealers. And they will probably use it some of the time to catch those drug dealers who didn't pay off the police adequately. However, they will also use it to catch political opposition.
The drug problem in the US today is mostly due to prohibition, and further enforcement of prohibition does not make it better. So it cannot justify measures like this.
Haifa Zangana: The entire Labour party shares the blame for Iraq's horrors.
The Bush regime illegally turned immigration judgeships into political
patronage.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Another Bush achievement in Iraq: growing opium.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Russia is protecting the probable murderer of Mr Litvinenko.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Amnesty International says, the UK's "politics of fear is eroding human
rights".
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
For the full report:
http://thereport.amnesty.org/eng/Download-the-Report.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Political leaders of many Iraqi factions, and neighboring countries,
find it useful for fighting in Iraq to continue.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
It is only the Iraqi people that suffer more and more.
B'liar's government has published a blueprint for new nuclear power
plants, while denying it is one, after a sham consultation with the public, so
they can pretend they had one.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Colorado Progressive Jews calls for an end to the occupation and a just
peace with Palestine.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The Israeli Army blocked the latest nonviolent Bil'in protest with barbed
wire, then attacked the protestors.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The Bush administration has bent over backwards to let oil companies cheat
the treasury of billions.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Amnesty International says
most Palestinians killed in Israeli raids are civilians.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Cheney directly attacked the Geneva Conventions in a speech at West Point.
What Cheney said about "the terrorists" is just as applicable to the Bush regime when it conducts wars of brutal aggression. I hope West Point graduates realize that.
After Bush forces troops murdered civilians in Haditha,
a cover-up was intentionally ordered at higher levels.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Note how they regard the facts of the case as "propaganda". That reflects the attitude that the truth has no importance, an attitude that flows straight from Bush and his supporters.
Bush wants to let nuclear arms control treaties expire.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
A small boat with 53 illegal immigrants sank in the Mediterranean because
the Maltese coast guard decided not to rescue them.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Neither Malta nor the European Union has an obligation to admit unwanted immigrants, but they do have an obligation to rescue people from sinking boats.
Bush arrogantly says "expect more bloodshed" after making the Democrats
surrender on Iraq.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Israel has arrested many Palestinian elected officials, in effect wiping
out any chance of Palestinian democracy.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The statement by Michael Williams that "legislators cannot be immune from the law" is peculiar because, in many countries including Israel, legislators have exactly that immunity. However, when on country's army arrests another country's legislators, that is normally called war.
The UK has subjected several men to house arrest without trial. Several of
them have run away. The B'liar/Clown regime proposes to make this
an excuse to declare a state of emergency and abolish human rights
officially.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The Guardian published a story, attributed to someone in the Bush regime, saying that Iran is working with al Qa'ida and the (mostly Sunni) Iraqi resistance.
When I read that, I thought, "
This is nonsense -- but Bush would sure like us to believe it." I'm not
the only one.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Bush is quietly planning another troop increase in Iraq.
I am confident that the Iraqi Resistance will outlast the Son of Surge, but only after Bush makes life into hell for Iraqi civilians.
Azmi Bishara, an Arab member of the Israeli Parliament, has fled into
exile after the police accused him of treason because he met with members of
Hezbollah. Bishara says that no one gets a fair trial in Israel's "security"
courts, because they use secret hearsay evidence.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Democrats in Congress have caved in to Bush, giving funding for continued
occupation of Iraq, but only for 3 months.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Television now teaches the public to legitimize torture.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
There is a campaign in the UK parliament
against cooperation with Bush regime torture flights.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The expelled inhabitants of the Chagos Islands have won a court victory
over the B'liar regime, which had tried to set aside the previous court
decision which said they could go home.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The B'liar regime did this because it didn't want any civilians anywhere near a big US base.
A company that wants to pay schools to play ads (with music) in school
buses has run into resistance.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
That people can start such a company and not expect to be laughed out of every school department's office reflects the extent of corruption of our society by business. When cities sell names of stadiums to businesses, they set an example of corruption that promotes corruption in every area of life.
A strict curfew in Samarra, turning the whole city into a prison, is
making it hard for residents to find food and fuel. At least 10 people have
died in the hospital as a result. Others have died because they could not get
to the hospital.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
This is what Bush means by "freedom and democracy in Iraq". As usual, the Bush forces refuse to accept responsibility for what they have done.
The Pentagon is reducing the McClatchy reporters' access as punishment for
negative coverage of the Iraq war.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
I wouldn't say this is wrong in and of itself. I too decline to give some reporters interviews (though, unlike the Bush regime, I don't try to hide it). What is noteworthy is that this method is fairly effective at making most of the mainstream media give positive coverage.
Palestinian rockets
finally killed an Israeli civilian.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The Israeli army and air force have been preemptively retaliating for this casualty for weeks, killing many Palestinian civilians in the process. Both the Palestinian and the Israeli attacks against civilians are wrong, but the Israeli attacks kill many while Palestinian attacks rarely hurt anyone.
20 years after the publication of Manufacturing Consent, the Internet has changed the landscape for corporate propaganda, but has not eliminated the problem.
We find out about corporate-funded phony activism when it makes mistakes.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-20 because the
old
link was broken.]
However, professionals don't make mistakes all the time. We need to be suspicious of organizations that lobby for something corporations want -- and we need to develop rules to make it easier to distinguish real activism (which occasionally cooperates with companies) from fake corporate-funded activism.
A BP memo shows how it manages the agencies that are supposed to regulate
it, with a carefully planned series of personal relationships between
particular executives and regulatory officials.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
A Conoco representative says his company has been "luckier" in avoiding spills, but we know that BP's oil spill wasn't due to mere luck.
The Pope is trying to overcome the anger caused by his praise of European
colonization and its effects on indigenous peoples in the Americas.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Bush has appointed himself total power in "emergencies", in an apparently
unconstitutional plan to "ensure constitutional government".
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Everyone: sign this petition supporting some Iraqi members of parliament in opposing the plan to hand over the oil to foreign companies.
The US Attorney for New Mexico was fired on the excuse he was "absent from the job" -- when, as a military reservist, he was on active duty. The real reason is that he didn't cooperate with Republican plans to undermine the 2008 election with fake charges of individual voter fraud.
Uri Avnery: The Israeli inquiry into the "failure" of the invasion of Lebanon disregards the most important issues: there was no legitimate reason for the war, and the offered justification was a lie.
Bush is planning to continue the occupation of Iraq for decades.
More about the dishonesty
at Guantanamo, how Matt Diaz tried to
protect the Constitution, and how his trial was rigged.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Lebanon is on the verge of a civil war between Islamist extremists and the
government.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Malalai Joya, a member of the Afghan parliament,
had bottles thrown at her there when she stood up for women's rights.
When she criticized this, the men took such offense that they suspended her
from parliament.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Many butterfly species have appeared a month early in the UK, a measure of
how much global warming is affecting the Earth.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The question now is whether we are wise enough to take action to save our endangered space-ship, or whether greed as channeled through global corporations will destroy it.
Brazil's Atlantic Forest has the highest biodiversity on Earth. But it is
being cut down because Brazil doesn't appropriate enough money to protect it.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Gordon Clown wants a law to make it easy to ram through any sort of
development over local opposition. He is hoping to fool opposition by making
this apply to wind-farms as well as nuclear plants and supermarkets.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Governments often use this kind of "one step forward and ten steps back" tactic; we have to be on guard against it.
The environmental organizations in the US have become ineffective, because
they have lost the fire of activism and don't dare talk about the danger of
population growth.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
This is why I do not support the cause of people who want to move to the US for economic reasons. Letting millions of people move from overpopulated countries to the US is not a solution to population growth. What we need is a commitment by the US and other wealthy countries to fund contraception and abortion in the rest of the world.
The Bush forces made a plan before the war to turn the Iraqi news media into propaganda outlets.
We don't know if this plan was followed, but don't say the Bush regime is incapable of advance planning. It knows how to plan corruption and dishonesty.
The company SAIC mentioned in the story often does dirt for the US government. A few years ago, SAIC held the contract to operate the computers of PDVSA, the Venezuelan state oil company, which had fallen into the effective control of foreigners. When President Chavez moved to reclaim Venezuelan control of PDVSA, seeking to use the oil wealth to help the poor, the unpatriotic managers of PDVSA tried to force it to stay shut down. SAIC helped them, by shutting down PDVSA's computers.
The US Army is recruiting soldiers that need antidepressants to avoid
killing themselves, and recruiters tell them to lie about this.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The commanders deny that this happens. But lying is par for the course in the Bush regime.
The US Senate is considering a law to make the CIA publish a secret
report about the 9/11 attacks in the US. Senator Wyden says, "The decision to
classify the report has nothing to do with national security, but rather
political security."
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The UK has so much surveillance that even police are starting to
call it "Orwellian".
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Illegal sale of ivory on eBay promotes elephant poaching.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Missiles from Gaza continue to be basically harmless, but Israelis feel
they are not killing enough Palestinians in response.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The Bush forces tried in 2004 to kill Muqtada al-Sadr, with a fake offer
of negotiations meant to lure him into a trap.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Bush has established a climate of depravity in which there is no evil so bad that his regime won't do it.
Does it make sense for thousands of people to fly or drive to a concert so
as to raise awareness of global warming?
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The "Fabric of Life" road, which is the only exit from the Palestinian
village of Bir Naballah, is subject to constant Israeli harassment. Arabs get
arrested for having dangerous weapons such as screwdrivers.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The "Iraqi" parliament protects itself from the Iraqi resistance by hiring
foreign mercenaries -- who are immune from prosecution for anything they may
do in Iraq. So they can terrorize the public with impunity.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
President Musharraf is allowing Taliban-like religious extremists to terrorize the city of Islamabad.
A navy lawyer, Matthew Diaz, told the Center for Constitutional Rights the
names of the prisoners in Guantanamo, so that it could represent them in
court. For defying the Bush regime's illegal policies, he has been sentenced
to prison.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Diaz' action was that of a hero, but he has tarnished his heroism by apologizing for it.
The US admitted that panicking troops killed innocent civilians in
Afghanistan.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
However, it does not seem to have admitted that the attempted cover-up was wrong. (This included destroying journalists' videos.)
A probe into the possible motives of Bush and B'liar's lies about Iraq.
The World Bank pretends to help the world's poor, but its projects are
designed to help global business, while the conditions it exacts hurt the
poor. Wolfowitz' coming departure creates an opportunity for possibly
changing these policies.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
China wants to legalize the sale of tiger parts, which could hurry the
tiger into extinction.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
A court case accuses Bush forces troops of taking an Iraqi man hostage to
try to make his brother surrender.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Hostage-taking by the Bush forces has been documented many times.
Israeli troops killed and wounded around 100 Palestinians -- mostly
bystanders -- in "response" for Palestinian rocket attacks which apparently
did not hurt anyone.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Since the rockets were the Palestinian response to the constant oppression of the Israeli occupation, I think Israel has no need or excuse to "respond" by making the occupation even worse.
The Southern Ocean, whose absorption of CO2 has reduced the effects of
past emissions, has become saturated. It can do nothing to reduce the effects
of future CO2 emissions.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Standard practice for modern dictators that have a bad image in the US is to hire a PR firm. This enables them to get the US population to like them, or get support from the US government.
This practice is not limited to foreign tyrants. The US government does it, and companies do it -- US mass media are usually putty in the hands of well-funded PR campaigns.
How could they become trustworthy again? One approach would be to design a code for how news media deal with PR announcements, and launch a campaign pressuring news media to sign up. I will not try to write such a code, because I can't do the job right: I don't know PR practices well enough to design an effective obstacle against them. But if people who do know the matter set their minds to it, maybe they can find a solution.
Verizon and AT&T pay hundreds of "citizens groups" to lobby for deregulation of cable licenses in many US states -- and these groups disguise their nature, pretending to be merely citizens with an opinion.
The BBC dares to report on the Church of Scientology.
The Church of Scientology uses copyright law to suppress information about their secret tenets (such as, about Xenu and the Thetans). Those who try to reveal the sacred texts are sued.
To make these practices more effective and dangerous, Scientology also directs its pet congressmen to vote for increases in copyright power. This makes the Church of Scientology the direct enemy of your freedom whether or not you ever have dealings with it.
BP's Alaskan oil spill in 2006 was caused by skimping on maintenance. In
effect, BP's talk about respecting the environment is just greenwash.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The powerful landlords of Para in Brazil, who have for years murdered
workers who got in their way, may have finally come to the end of their
impunity.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The State of Massachusetts, and environmental groups,
have
sued the DOE
for failing to upgrade energy efficiency standards.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
In another setback for the War on the Environment, Julie MacDonald
has
been forced to resign. She was used by the Bush regime to pressure
scientists to minimize the danger of extinction to various species.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The Bush forces have blocked soldiers from accessing web sites where users share information.
Perhaps this is meant to stop them from posting photos and videos of atrocities committed by the Bush forces against Iraqis.
CBS says
it fired General Batiste for "engaging in advocacy" by
criticizing Bush's war, but it doesn't mind when other commentators
engage in advocacy in support of Bush.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Perhaps that's because CBS supports Bush. After all, CBS pays Nicolle Wallace to make statements in support of Bush, it labels the former Bush regime employee as a "political consultant" to disguise her background.
Opposition parties in Pakistan
called
a strike which shut down the country's main cities.
They had tried to hold rallies, which were
overrun by violence; they say this violence was fomented by President
Musharraf.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The Iraqi resistance has
captured
a few Bush forces soldiers, which
has driven the Bush forces nuts.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Americans react irrationally when a few Americans are taken prisoner. When some were captured by Iran, the media made it seem like a national emergency. Some say that Reagan to make a deal with Iran, to assure these prisoners would be held until the election, and that this enabled him to defeat Carter, who had at least tried to send a military force to rescue the prisoners. Later, when some Americans were captured in Lebanon, President Reagan ransomed them with missiles for Iran.
I hope that this coup for the resistance, while minor in objective terms, makes stops Bush from continuing the war.
Bush's "Iraqi" government will forbid press coverages of bombings.
Whatever they may say, the reason is clearly so that Americans won't know about the bad news.
An Israeli officer
was
videoed attacking civilian protestors, and now
faces possible punishment -- because it was recorded, and because the
protestors were Israeli.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
This is the exception -- the normal case is that soldiers get away with violence up to and including murder.
Deforestation is
one
of the main causes of global warming.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
I've heard that a lot of the deforestation in Brazil is for growing feed for cattle. The cattle produce methane, which also contributes to global warming. Thus, eating less meat (and cutting subsidies for its production) is an important way to reduce the problem.
Around 2 million Iraqis have fled to other countries. This article interviews many of them, presenting a picture of how horribly Iraq has been destroyed by Bush.
The Israeli Army has
announced
a plan to wipe out the Palestinian
village of Aqba, by declaring 80% of its land a "military zone".
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
As the G8 try to propose action to reduce climate change, the Bush regime is trying to sabotage it.
If the other countries involved have any courage, they will make the text sharper and dare the US to walk out.
The draining of wetlands in South Korea that are used by migrating birds now threatens two species with extinction.
This shows what happens when environmental impact statements are not required. It also shows why human overpopulation spells disaster for the natural world.
In the weekly Bil'in protest, Israeli troops shot a nonviolent protestor with rubber bullets from 10 feet away. He was seriously injured and needed to be operated on.
The government of Afghanistan
increasingly
bans journalism,
and attacks or kills journalists.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
A survey in late 2006 found that the Bush forces troops say they half would not report anyone in the Bush forces for killing innocent Iraqis, and a third of them are in favor of torture. And 1/10 of the troops surveyed said they had actually mistreated civilians during a 5-week period.
What General Petraeus is saying about this is what Bush and everyone working for him should have said all along. But it is too late now, because the Bush forces have already given Iraqis plenty of reason to hate them. Furthermore, I don't think he has any chance of changing the soldiers' views of this unless Bush starts to back him up.
Sooner or later, humans on Earth will have zero population growth.
The question is --
how
bad will things get before that happens?
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Bill
Clinton is promoting efforts by countries such as Brazil and
India to set aside patents so as to make AIDS medicines affordable.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The WTO's patent rules are unjust, but do allow an exception when needed for public health. The US government, acting on behalf of the drug companies, pressures poor countries not to use this exception. The Clinton administration did this when in power, and the Bush regime does it now.
It is interesting that both Clinton and Gore are showing much more concern for the public good now that they are not in office. This is a sign that they felt compelled by the political system to knuckle under to the corporations -- that the megacorporations have so much power that democracy is impossible. Sad to say, Clinton's "free trade" treaties gave them this power. To reestablish democracy, we have to take away the megacorporations' power, split them up, and abolish these treaties.
Russian journalist Yelena Tregubova says that
Putin has destroyed
freedom of speech in Russia. She is seeking political asylum in
London after escaping a bomb that was meant to kill her.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
In response to complaints about unofficial and quiet attempts to gag scientists, new rules have been imposed on NOAA to officially gag scientists.
Presidential candidate Giuliani seems to have tried to block the DEAs
investigation into Oxycontin addiction, acting on behalf of the company that
made it.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
To restore democracy in the US would require making all politicians scared get involved in defending any company.
Halliburton drives empty trucks through the Iraqi desert, risking the drivers' lives, because it is paid per trip.
Although he denounces corruption, Greenwald insists on praising the troops in the Bush forces, who wish to imagine they are "serving their country". Thus, he considers the resulting demoralization of Bush forces soldiers a bad thing.
In a just war, it would be a bad thing. But the corruption of Halliburton is part and parcel of the greater corruption of launching a war of aggression. The ring-leaders of the combined scheme, Bush and Cheney, ought to be in prison.
Recent elections in Scotland and France may have been affected by electronic voting machine fraud. However, in Ohio, the people who stole the 2004 presidential election have been forced to resign and are being investigated.
B'liar's regime illegally delayed publishing bad news about increasing
costs for his tyrannical ID card scheme.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
A Chinese freedom activist is challenging China Telecom in court for blocking access to large parts of the Internet (here is a link to the same story in Chinese).
New Bush regime regulations impose total email censorship on soldiers' families as well as on soldiers.
Bush is trying to forbid troops from speaking to members of Congress, too.
And soldiers have been told to treat reporters like spies.
The target of this secrecy is not the Iraqi resistance, which knows all it needs to know about what the Bush forces are doing. It is the public and political opposition.
A comment unintentionally highlights the absurdity of the excuse offered for this policy of cover-up. "Soldiers don't own this information -- the American people do". Strange justification for keeping it secret from us.
Michael Moore faces the threat of imprisonment for bringing some Americans
to Cuba for medical treatment. These people developed chronic illness from
air pollution while saving people during the attacks on the World Trade
Center, but they could not afford medical treatment in the US.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
NASA predicts that by 2080, typical summer temperatures in the US
Northeast will be around 90 degrees Fahrenheit, and 110 degrees won't be
unusual.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
International pressure is making China start to pressure Sudan to stop the
fighting in Darfur.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
A Bush forces soldier says he watched his commander shoot five Iraqi civilians who were trying to surrender -- and then was ordered to lie about it.
This sort of thing must have happened on a smaller scale hundreds of times, but without prosecution because there was no evidence or the coverup was successful. That is what an occupying army does, and that's why those responsible for the occupation itself are the main culprits. They are the ones who established the climate that led other officers to think they should order Captain Stone not to investigate.
Congressman Kucinich is starting an investigation of conflicts of interest
in privatized government scientific measurement and testing.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Kucinich for president!
The Bush regime deported illegal immigrants caught working in New
Bedford, but
Luis Posada has been spared prosecution for entering the US illegally.
He's special because he is a terrorist.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
If Castro were to handle this the American way, he would send agents to kidnap Posada and deliver him to a third country to be tortured.
NATO troops have been killing lots of Afghan civilians, and
this is generating resentment; meanwhile, each time this happens, NATO is
reluctant to admit it, and that generates more resentment.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Truck drivers in Afghanistan say they would rather be ruled by the Taliban
than by the corrupt police of the current government.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The Taliban are horrible, but I can understand why Afghan men would prefer them to chaotic violence.
Al Qa'ida's religious extremism is making enemies among Iraqi Sunnis.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The only thing that enables Al Qa'ida to retain some power and influence among Iraqi Sunnis, despite all the trouble it causes them, is that it also fights the occupying army. Thus, the best way for the Bush regime to defeat Al Qa'ida in Iraq (supposing it really wants to) would be to withdraw the Bush forces.
The UK's program to support renewable energy in houses was so successful
that they reduced the grants.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
It's a rational way to economize, if you'd rather save money than save the planet.
Frank Lund has been convicted of murder after cooperating with his
incapacitated wife's stated wish to commit suicide.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The purpose of a jury trial is so that juries can prevent such outrageous results. Jurors in trials of people accused of assisting a loved one who wishes to die, of people accused of carrying out abortions, of people accused of sharing music or software, should ignore the judge and vote "not guilty". This is called "jury nullification".
B'liar has sentenced two government employees to prison for trying to
expose some of B'liar's dirty dealings with Bush. Even worse, the information
they tried to give us has been suppressed.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
If you get some important secret information about how Bush and B'liar lied to the public, you had better not trust someone in Britain or the US to pass it on to the public. I recommend sending it anonymously to Telesur.
Greg Palast: Naked neo-cons: Perjury and the Big, Bad Wolfowitz.
Israeli forces attacked Israeli and Palestinian protestors who joined
together for the non-violent removal of a stone roadblock. Then they kept
ambulances from picking up the people they had wounded. Nonetheless, the
action was a success in that the roadblock was removed.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
"The Christian Taliban Is Running the Department of Defense", according to
Michael Weinstein, whose sons have been subject to anti-semitic harassment at
the US Air Force Academy.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Thousands of US soldiers and vets complain that their commanders pressured
them to convert to Christianity. This pressure is applied even in the
hospital.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The Wolfowitz scandal may lead to permanent changes in appointing World Bank presidents.
Whether that would convert the World Bank into a force for good in the world is to be doubted, but at least the organization is currently demoralized and unable to do much harm.
A World Bank committee has
found
Paul Wolfowitz to have violated its ethics rules.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Americans who hunt and fish are
keenly
aware of how climate change is harming wildlife,
and they want action right away.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
A TV program that denied the reality of global warming
doctored
supposed scientific data.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
A power-struggle is developing in Basra, as people increasingly support larger Shi'ite nationalist parties rather than the local regime that collaborates with the Bush forces.
President Correa of Ecuador says that he will
move
beyond ineffective protests against Colombia's military incursions into Ecuador.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
I read recently that he ordered the airforce to intercept US drug-spraying planes if they enter Ecuadorian air space.
Ecuador is also moving to aid the Colombians who have been forced to flee by the civil war in Colombia and by paramilitaries.
Islamist fanatics attacked a school in Gaza which was having a party with boys and girls together.
The Iraqi resistance is
stepping
up its attacks on the Bush forces,
and the Bush forces
themselves warn of increased casualties in the
future.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
When these increased casualties happen, they will say "Don't judge the results yet -- wait another month, another year."
China is forcing rural Tibetans to leave their villages and move into towns.
It is reminiscent of the "strategic hamlet" policy that the US tried in Vietnam, but the aim seems to be even worse: to destroy Tibetan culture.
US citizens: phone your senators and congresspersons and say you want the next version of the Iraq war funding to be firmer than the previous one. Show Bush that each veto gets him more of what he doesn't want!
How Hillary Clinton made her money -- from Wal Mart and payoffs.
Republican corruption shows its face in the Army's purchase of drainage
pumps for New Orleans.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Even if performed honestly, this task is futile -- New Orleans must be moved to high ground.
So much plastic garbage, including plastic bags, is floating in the
ocean that it is killing albatross chicks, sea turtles, dolphins, and
seals. This has inspired a campaign to end the use of plastic bags by
stores.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The campaign may help -- but we need to do something about the other plastic garbage too.
The RIAA claims to collect royalties from Internet radio on behalf of musicians, but that is a lie. The fact is, the RIAA (acting for the big record companies) demands payment even if the musicians have said their recording is freely shareable. And the musicians don't get this payment unless they join the RIAA -- and give an impression of supporting it.
This law is one more illustration of how the US government takes the side of big business over and against US citizens.
Middleman have forced down the price of cashew nuts for farmers in
Guinea-Bissau to the point where they are likely to starve
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Police in the UK arrested 32 animal rights activists.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Most of those arrested have not been charged with a crime, but that wasn't necessary. Since their computers, phones, and even copiers have been seized, their activities have been wiped out.
I do not agree with the animal rights movement, and in particular, I am in favor of experiments on animals for the sake of scientific advances. However, I do support human rights -- and these activists' human rights have been violated by an unjust government.
The Bush regime has censored web postings by soldiers -- and veterans --
threatening to punish anyone that makes statements the Bush regime disapproves
of.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
US citizens: call or write your congressperson and say you want Bush and Cheney impeached, and with no delay.
An Israeli commission's report condemns the government's leaders for folly
in launching war against Hezbollah last summer.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
This is less important, however, than the continued occupation of Palestine.
A UK civil servant on trial for publishing memos that give the lie to B'liar asked the jury to consider that he had acted with courage for the public good.
The Irish government is blocking a teenage girl from going to the UK for
an abortion. These religious fanatics want to force her to have a baby which
would immediately die.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Occidental Petroleum, in Amazonia, has been
callously polluting the water that native people drink.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Bush's plan for security in Baghdad, which is to wall off many
neighborhoods and block travel, is making life more difficult but does little
to prevent death.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Half of all species on Earth are likely to be driven to extinction in this
century by human activity, unless unprecedented large wildlife reserves are
established to preserve them.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Venezuela has quit the World Bank and the IMF.
Venezuela's decision has no immediate consequences for Venezuela; instead it is meant to inspire world-wide opposition to those organizations. They have a habit of imposing nasty "structural adjustment" conditions on the countries they "help", conditions such as making poor children pay for elementary school.
Around a million Turks protested against the likely next president and his
intent to turn Turkey more or less into an Islamic state.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
US citizens: phone or write your congresscritters to save Internet Radio. You
can communicate and get more info through
this site.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
But a phone call or paper letter carries more weight than an email.
Britain's moth population is down by 30 to 50% since 40 years ago, a trend
which endangers many plants and also animals.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Wal-Mart's union busting profits from weak US labor laws, but Wal-Mart
doesn't hesitate to break these laws over and over.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Cuba has freed a number of political prisoners, but this doesn't necessarily mean a real change, as many more remain in prison.
Everyone: sign the petition for firm action to prevent climate change.
A B'liar regime minister's aide is accused of leaking an impending arrest of terrorist suspects, trying to play it for political benefit.
Doctrines of multiculturalism have led courts in Germany to treat Muslim
women as second-class citizens, who can be beaten freely by the men in their
family because "that's their culture".
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Whatever culture is in a person's background cannot excuse subjecting the person to violent abuse. And anything "Islamic" should be kept away from all contact with law, because it is sure to be an influence for cruelty to women.
New estimates suggest the Arctic Ocean will have no ice in the summer as
soon as 2050. The lack of ice means the ocean absorbs more heat, so this will
increase the danger that Greenland melts and raises sea level by 23 feet.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
A rationally based ranking of drugs by the harm they cause shows that today's prohibition policies make no sense.
In Darfur, some of the Arab groups that were fighting for the government
have switched sides, making things more complex.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Bush vetoed the Democrats' war-funding bill. The Democrats seem to be
determined to continue their opposition, but they may remove the deadlines and
focus on "milestones"--such as permanent theft of Iraq's oil. That would make
it all worthless.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Bush's "Iraqi" government sent to its parliament the law to hand over Iraq's oil wealth to foreign companies.
If Congress wanted to end the war, it could pass a bill offering funding for the war on two conditions: that the "Iraqi" government not hand over its oil wealth, and that the US government award no contracts for the war without competitive bidding. If Bush signed that bill, he would lose all his motive for continuing the war. But if he refused to sign it, that would be tantamount to admitting his real motives.
Sea turtles are threatened with extinction due to human hunting of turtles
and their eggs. Efforts to protect them run into trouble with armed drug
traffickers.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
In effect, the turtles are yet another casualty of America's insane "war on drugs." This war is so intoxicated, by the drugs it is on, that it doesn't realize it is killing turtles.
As patents on drugs kill millions in poor countries, the major big drug
companies try to justify the patent system by saying that it is the best way
to fund research.
This study shows how bad a system it really is, and discusses some
proposed alternatives.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
The elections in Nigeria were brazenly rigged.
Greg Palast says: Bush's firing of prosecutors is part of an attempt to bias the 2008 elections.
The Bush regime wants to make it almost
impossible for Guantanamo prisoners to meet with their lawyers.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Mordechai Vanunu has been convicted of the crime of speaking to foreign journalists. Not that he told them any secrets (he says he doesn't know anything which is still secret) -- the mere fact that he spoke with them is his crime.
This is reminiscent of the Soviet Union and China during the cold war, when people were afraid they would be punished just for speaking with foreigners.
Former CIA director Tenet now directly accuses Bush and Cheney of twisting intelligence findings to support their pre-formed intention to attack Iraq.
We already knew they had done this, but having the accusation come from a witness who clearly knew what was going on may help the pressure for impeachment.
Republicans in Congress are feeling the pressure to stop supporting Bush
on Iraq.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Bush's invasion of Iraq, if looked at from an amoral point of view, is indeed a fiasco. Let that not distract us from the fact that it is also a monstrous crime.
Doctors say the UK's
system of free health care has become a sham, since the care provided
free is inadequate and patients regularly have to pay to supplement it.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Saleh Nizar, a gardener of age 58, was arrested and tortured by the
"Iraqi" government on behalf of the Bush regime. The torture has injured him
permanently.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Nizar was fortunate to have gardened for a "senior official" who was able to get him released after 6 months. Most Iraqis wouldn't have such connections. They'd have to suffer for longer.
Uri Avnery: Comparing Israel to South Africa -- despite the similarities, they call for different solutions.
A superficial reaction to violence in US schools tends to inspire harsh
"safety measures" that tend to increase alienation of students -- and that
tends to encourage violence.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Sheikh Hasina, former prime minister of Bangladesh, has been
accused of murder because police killed her supporters in a protest rally.
Then she was forbidden to return to her country to stand trial and clear her
name of these charges.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
More recently,
the government reversed the latter decision and decided to allow her back
in.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
As far as I can tell, the trumped-up murder charges remain.
Two US citizens were exiled to Pakistan for 6 months by the FBI.
A distinguished British ambassador, on retiring, blasted B'liar for
screwing up British foreign policy. He sent this message private to the
government as a farewell message. The B'liar regime responded by abolishing
the practice. Now it has been leaked to the news.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
B'liar does not value truth, not even in private from people working for him. That may be rational. B'liar does not tell ambassadors his real goals; for instance, he won't say to them that "We will do whatever Bush says, and pretend to the public that we have an influence on him; what suggestions do you have?" Since their advice would be based on his public facade rather than on his real position, it is useless for him, and he knows it.
The Irish struggle against a dangerous Shell refinery plan is growing.
China has become the world's leading emitter of CO2, ahead of previous
predictions.
[Reference updated on 2018-04-19 because the
old
link was broken.]
Any hope of avoiding environmental disaster depends on convincing China to stop building coal-powered electric plants.
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