Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Olbermann & FAKE FEMA PRESS CONFERENCE : BUT CAN YOU TELL THE DIFFERENCE

Keith Olbermann-discussing " Fake " FEMA Press Conference

At the FEMA ( Federal Emergency Management Agency )press conference there were no actual journalist just FEMA employees pretending to be journalist who then asked scripted questions while FEMA spokesperson responded with scripted responses & so goes the American press & media who have over again bought into the Bush Regime's lies & war mongering- the problem is that journalist in general are not doing their jobs with due diligence so why not replace them with pretend journalist or eventually with actors would the American public care probably not because they want to remain cocooned inside their comfort zone -

Now Americans will only hear the news which they are most comfortable with - all nicely staged & packaged so they won't have to think about certain issues at all -



And here's a bit about whether Al Qeda was responsible for starting the fires in California - do these networks purposely put these fake news items out there to spread fear & if said enough times it becomes the truth or at least a reasonable possibility or what have you which is what has happened to other bogus reports
since 9/11 -

Olbermann -air america's Rachel Maddow
war on terror & terrorists set California Fires




take care,
GORD.

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Jena Six & the Resurgence of Nooses as Intimidation



This photo shows the noose hanging in an office at B.R. Funsten/Tom Duffy Co., a Fairfield flooring company. Photo courtesy of Alioto Law Offices

topics:
racism
Jena six
nooses
lynchings
colorofchange.org
Sen.Barack Obama

Jena- John Cougar Mellencamp
Note this video was flagged by YouTube or its users
Is the song & video too upsetting for the average American or just too close to the truth - or is it that even now many Americans don't like to be reminded about America's racist past let alone what racism exists in America today -The American Myth is what some prefer which says that America was always a great democracy where there was little injustice -so forget about slavery & Jim Crow that was just the acts of a few bad apples -If Americans were so concerned about justice then why is it that people were never prosecuted for the 4,700 or so known or documented lynchings as the article below points out-



Statement about the song by John Cougar Mellencamp

John's statement about "Jena"

"I am not a journalist, I am a songwriter and in the spirit and tradition of the minstrel, I am telling a story in this song.

The story is not, strictly speaking, about the town of Jena or this specific incident but of racism in America.

The song was not written as an indictment of the people of Jena but, rather, as a condemnation of racism, a problem which I've reflected in many songs, a problem that still plagues our country today.

The current trial in Jena is just another reflection of prejudice in our nation. If the song strikes an emotional chord with people and if they examine it and interpret as they will, something will have been accomplished. The aim here is not to antagonize but, rather, to catalyze thought."

The song and video are inspired by today's headlines about the Jena Six.

From CommonDreams.org& originally from
Monday, October 29, 2007 by The San Francisco Chronicle
Resurgence of Nooses Reminds African Americans of Past Horrors
by Leslie Fulbright

Sar-ron Beverly knew about nooses from family stories and historical photos. But he never understood their power until he walked into his boss’ Fairfield office one day and saw one hanging from the ceiling, in front of a bookshelf and a family portrait.1029 07

“It was just too much,” said Beverly, 30. “I’m from Mississippi. My grandparents moved to California to get away from this stuff.

“A hangman’s noose shows the ultimate hatred for African Americans.”

Since a noose hanging in a schoolyard triggered a civil rights firestorm this summer in Jena, La., there’s been a resurgence of nooses across the United States. They’ve been found in a post office, in a hospital, on a professor’s door, in a Coast Guard cadet’s bag, in a fire station and on a bronze sculpture of the late rapper Tupac Shakur.

Historians and academics are examining why the noose is resurfacing and trying to explain its current cultural significance. Some say the symbol will always represent hate and proves that racism still exists in America. Others say the nooses are meaningless pranks.

Whatever the case, the fear and anger that a noose incites among African Americans are real.

Between 1882 and 1968, there were a documented 4,743 lynchings in the United States, and most victims were black men. Victims were usually beaten and hanged, often in public squares. White families would watch and take photos. No one was ever convicted of murder in connection with any of the deaths.

“Many white people are unaware of the incredible power of the lynching story for African Americans,” said Sherrilyn Ifill, a professor of law at the University of Maryland and a former civil rights attorney. “Lynching was a message crime. It served to tell the black community that there were boundaries. Don’t get too educated. Don’t vote. Don’t get too wealthy. Don’t look at a white woman.

“It was not just used to punish an individual, but to serve as a threat to others.”

Ifill wrote a book titled “On the Courthouse Lawn: Confronting the Legacy of Lynching in the Twenty-first Century,” which looks at the relationship between decades-old lynchings and today’s racial violence.

“I don’t buy the story that these are pranks,” Ifill said. “If this were a swastika or a burning cross, no one would be asking that question.

“Lynching is a history that blacks take very seriously and live with, and that whites have almost entirely ignored.”

Displaying a noose is illegal under federal hate-crime laws if it is intended to injure, intimidate or interfere with any person, or to attempt to do so, by force or threat of force, because of that person’s race, color, religion or national origin.

In 2005, the most recent statistics available from the FBI, there were 3,919 racial hate crimes reported nationwide. Of those, more than 67 percent - 2,630 - were against black people


also see:

Video of Interview of James Rucker on the 21st Century Civil Rights Movement co-founder Colorofchange.org
by Truthout


and at Truthout article Bush's FEC Nominee Undermined Voting Rights By US Senator Barack Obama (D-Ill.l)The Louisiana Weekly 15 October 2007

More than 40 years ago, John Lewis and Hosea Williams, along with hundreds of everyday Americans, left their homes and churches to brave the blows of Billy clubs and join a march for freedom across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Thousands of anonymous foot soldiers - Blacks and Whites, the young and the elderly - summoned the courage to march for justice and demand freedom. A few months later, the Voting Rights Act was signed into law.

It's because of the sacrifice of these American heroes that we've come so far today. But there's more work to be done. Recent elections have shown unprecedented intimidation of African-American, Native American, low income and elderly voters at the polls. We've seen political operatives purge voters from registration rolls for no legitimate reason, distribute polling equipment unevenly, and deceive voters about the time, location and rules of elections.

So today, more than ever, we need to have confidence that those in government responsible for overseeing our voting system will uphold the right to vote for every single American.

This is what's at stake in the United States Senate today. President Bush has recently nominated Hans von Spakovsky to serve on the Federal Election Commission (FEC). It's the job of the FEC to regulate elections and disclose campaign finance contributions. So it goes without saying that the FEC needs strong, impartial leadership that will promote integrity in our election system.

Hans von Spakovsky is not the right person for this job, and I strongly oppose his nomination. From 2001 to 2005, von Spakovsky served as an official at the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division where he amassed a record of undermining voting rights, creating restrictions that would make it harder for poor and minority communities to vote, and putting partisan politics above upholding our civil rights.


take care,
GORD.

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Intimidating & Silencing Peace Activists

There are number of ways in which a government can intimidate & silence the voices of dissent in a country .We know this for example by the way in which the Soviet Union or the current regime in Burma have dealt with dissidents - from the extremes of imprisonment & torture & murder to characterizing the dissenters as irresponsible as not knowing the facts to being insane or immoral or as crazy anarchist who wish only to destroy the country in which they live , as being unpatriotic & dangerous or as working for the enemy as Fifth Columnists which many were accused of in the McCarthy Era in the United States -

The authorities can use legal means to try to intimidate & hopefully silence dissenters & dissidents . They can also pressure the media so that certain stories do not receive wide coverage or that dissidents are not given a fair hearing in the media .

For instance in the United States when there have been massive demonstrations against the War in Iraq the Media has down-played the numbers involved - if a hundred thousand march the media characterizes the march as being in the thousands - if a million across the country in different cities on the same day march the media says tens of thousands marched across the country etc.
Or for example when a small group taking part in a march throw rocks & bottles at police or soldiers the media describes all of the marchers of becoming extremely violent & belligerent -

The old standby which seems to work best is for the media in an interview to question the loyalty & patriotism of those who actually question the policies of the current regime as we saw in the clip of Bill O'Reilly interviewing & then attacking former Col. Ann Wright who is an anti-war activist & in that piece O'Reilly cuts her microphone off as if she were some sort of ranting loon.( which one might expect if the individual were some Nazi White Supremacists nut job or whatever but not when the individual who has some credentials & experience which lends some authority to what they are talking about so Bill does not like Military officers who do not agree with him or his holier than thou president Bush that is who gets his orders direct from God )

One wonders if our society that is in Canada & the United States now sees anyone who disagrees with the present Regimes foreign policies or who dares to question these Regimes actions regarding renditions & torture as unreasonable. This is the tactic of saying all reasonable people in Canada or the United States agree that the War in Iraq is just & necessary & that renditions & torture are absolutely necessary & only those who are disloyal & unpatriotic would question these policies .

As for the War in Iraq what the media has done is to sanitize the war as if only a few people have been killed some 4,000 Americans & maybe ten to 15, 000 Iraqis when in fact well over 6000,000 Iraqis have been killed since the Americans invaded & occupied Iraq which is a sovereign nation -

The other tactic used by the governments involved is to claim that the problem in Iraq is the Iraqi people who are a brutal, barbaric , soulless people & therefore deserve what they get - Iraq in other words would be a better country if there were a lot fewer Iraqis or better still no Iraqis - go figure-

This reminds one of the attitude of the European settlers in North & South America who believed that the Americas would be better off without the Native Americans that is the 'Indigenous Peoples ' so the Europeans being superiour to all other peoples exterminated those pesky 'Indigenous Peoples - is that what The Bush Regime & the Neocons are trying to do in Iraq wipe out as many Iraqis as necessary so the Americans can take full advantage of the natural resources of Iraq while preparing to do the same if possible in Iran or Syria-



Medea Benjamin of the Anti-war group CODEPINK on Hannity & Colmes




Hannity characterizes the actions of Code Pink activists at a local recruiting outlet as the destruction of property & an attack on the US military & as denying the right of the military officials to speak their piece as if the American administration & the US military does not have a significant voice in America & in the Media who often act as shills for the Bush Regime-

- But what did the Code Pink do that could be considered immoral & criminal- The Code Pink anti-war activists wrote with chalk on the side of a building & put up hand written posters which could easily be taken down - they didn't use spray paint or smash the windows or beat up recruiters .

Meanwhile Colmes characterizes the protest against the War in Iraq as anti-us military & as unpatriotic - or to put it another way since it is because of the current administration & the US military that Americans have freedom of speech in Colmes ' view they therefore shouldn't use their freedom of speech to criticize in any way shape or form the US military or the US government - so what's the point of freedom of speech if one can't use it to criticize the policies of those in authority - what in the world is Colmes & Hannity talking about -
Further it is surely wrong to imply that to question a particular US administration's policies is therefore to question the very existence of the United States or the US Military.

And to question how the US military is acting in Iraq during this war is not to condemn all of the current & past members of the US military.
Are Hannity & Colmes suggesting that one can speak out in America exercising their first amendment rights only if they speak out about less important issues & especially not on issues which are characterized as pertaining to national security -

They forget that sometimes in order to protest against certain policies or laws that one may need to break other laws in order to be heard or noticed.
Hannity & Colmes therefore must see the Civil Rights movement & its members as immoral criminals out to destroy America & the American Way of Life which many Americans believed was just wonderful the way it was & only unpatriotic Americans would insist on changing it .For they surely must believe that the activist in the South in the 1950s & 1960s who broke segregationist laws were not decent & good law-abiding Americans .

But sometimes in order to change laws which are unjust one has to take action & sometimes break laws in order to get media attention & to wake the nation's citizinry up as in waking Americans up to the injustices of the Jim Crow laws & eventually have these laws overturned -

So many Americans like Hannity & Colmes or Bill O'Reilly & other Media shills I guess like J. Edgar Hoover they must believe that Martin Luther King was America's no. 1 criminal & enemy of the State & that the Black Americans who were hosed down in the streets who were set upon by attack dogs or who were whipped & beaten or even shot to death must have deserved it - is this really what the Neocons & their media & the Religious Right believe -

Mahatma Gandhi used the tactic of civil disobedience to try to change unjust laws under British Rule & to get the British out of India.
In Burma the Buddhist monks led illegal protest in the vain hope of overthrowing the illegitimate Junta Regime-
But the problem is that those who believe in the absolute right of the rule of law see no difference between any ordinary law breaker & those who take part in " Civil Disobedience " & even those who take part in legal protests if what they are protesting against is accepted as true or just by the majority or even a large powerful minority in a country -

Anyway here are a few more video clips of interest:

Col. Ann Wright : Demanding the end of American War Crimes.



October 23rd 2007 - video of Medea Benjamin and CODEPINK delivering a petition with 20,000 signatures to the Canadian Embassy in response to peace activists being denied entrance into Canada.






Wednesday October 24th 2007

Medea Benjamin was filmed making statements about her unlawful arrest after being removed from a Congressional hearing for holding up a peace sign.



American Peace activist Rev. Lennox Yearwood attacked, arrested and hospitalized

Rev. Yearwood said as he was being released from the hospital to be taken to central booking, "The officers decided I was not going to get in Gen. Petreaus' hearing when they saw my button, which says 'I LOVE THE PEOPLE OF IRAQ.'"

Capitol Police are not saying what the charges are, but an inside source has said that the charge is assaulting a police officer. Rev. Yearwood is scheduled to be transferred to Central Processing to be arraigned tomorrow morning.




Take care,
GORD.

Friday, October 26, 2007

American Anti-war Protesters Flagged as Criminals & Terrorists : Harper Bush's Lackey


Peaceful Anti-war Protesters Flagged as Terrorists ???

Col. Ann Wright who is a peace activists was not permitted to enter Canada because she is on an FBI watch list - first a bit about her & her nefarious deeds - oh she's evil she believes in truth & peace when war is not necessary so she can't be a good Evangelical Christian or Neocon - a heretic to be sure -

Here's an example of how the US Media treats a retired Colonel with the US military for 29 years who resigned in 2003 over her belief that it was wrong for the US to invade & occupy Iraq - so here is that lowest of the low Bill O'Reilley speaking about Iran detaining British Soldiers :It is disturbing be warned he accuses her of being



topics
Canada: America's Lackey
Harper Bush's Clone
Freedom of Dissent not so free these days


indymedia central valley
Dissent: Voices of Conscience, Colonel Ann Wright resigned from the U.S. Foreign Service in March 2003 over several disagreements with the Bush Admin. including their decision to attack Iraq and their curtailing of civil liberties.

Dissent: Voices of Conscience
Government Insiders Speak Out Against the War in Iraq
Colonel (Ret.) Ann Wright and Susan Dixon

Foreword by Daniel Ellsberg

With the publication of former CIA Director George Tenet's "At the Center of the Storm," many people asked why didn't he resign when he knew the intelligence was being cooked to create war. One columnist responded that no one resigns on moral principle, they just talk about it later.

"Dissent: Voices of Conscience" profiles more than three dozen members of the Bush administration and "Coalition of the Willing" allies who did resign or blow the whistle on administration lies and abuses. Former State Department diplomat and retired Army Colonel Ann Wright resigned her post as Deputy Ambassador in 2003 anticipating the tragedy of going to war with Iraq, and has spent the past four years traveling worldwide speaking out for peace. This is her story and the story of dozens of others in government who leaked documents, blew the whistle, refused to deploy, or resigned to protest this administration's policies. Coauthor Susan Dixon is an instructor in the geography of war and peace at the University of Hawai'i.


Oh my ! she claimed the Bush Regime lied about the reasons for going to war with Iraq & that their plans were not well thought out & so it might be a disaster - truth the first casualty of war - ah well so who knows - most of us out here in Zombie Land have the memory & attention span of gnats - as for those who would speak to her or go to her lectures are they to be branded enemies as well - so we move a little closer to a police state so what's the big deal- as long as we have Walmart & MacDonald's who cares , right!!!
Besides we are all too concerned about Britney Spears & OJ Simpson & other pop stars -
Anyway so here's the story which some of us think is more important than the news on ET or The View - watching this stuff is like taking a tranquilizer -like in the movie Equilibrium everyone took a shot in order not to feel but with TV we don't need some High-Tech drug -

October 25, 2007 by The Canadian Press
US Peace Activist, Retired Col. Ann Wright, Detained at Ottawa Airport


OTTAWA - An American peace activist denied entry into Canada earlier this month is being detained at Ottawa airport.

Retired U.S. Army Col. Ann Wright was to speak at an antiwar news conference with New Democrat MPs on Parliament Hill today.

But while other passengers passed through Customs, Wright was held back.

She was to have been accompanied on the trip by fellow activist Medea Benjamin, but Benjamin was arrested and jailed Wednesday during a protest in Washington.

Wright and Benjamin were refused entry at the Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls, Ont., earlier this month because their names are on an FBI crime database.

The women say they shouldn’t be on the database - which is supposed to inform border officials about serious crimes - and that the FBI hasn’t explained why they’re on it.


- I wonder will the NDP soon be put on a watch list or be classified as a pro-terrorist organization - just kidding shouldn't give Big Brother any ideas right -
and from the Associated Press US Activist Barred From Entering Canada By SEAN FARRELL

...Wright called the database listing "political intimidation." She said six of her convictions for protesting are listed in the FBI crime database.

"If you get arrested just for protesting policies, Canada will exclude you," Wright said. "They said it was their purpose to enforce the law and if you are convicted of a misdemeanor it doesn't matter. They said if the FBI has it on their database they accept it."

Wright said she is now banned from Canada for a year because she knowingly failed to bring proper documentation that might have allowed her into the country despite the convictions.

"I failed to produce proper documentation, which is the court documents about these convictions and a temporary resident permit from a Canadian embassy. They said by my failure to bring those with me I was purposefully flouting the Canadian law," Wright said.



The Canadian Press:
U.S. peace activist detained at Ottawa airport en route to meet MPs Oct.25,2007


The pair was listed for convictions on misdemeanours, similar to summary convictions in Canada, and paid related fines of $200 or less.

NDP MP Alexa McDonough, who had invited the women to Canada, urged Ottawa to stop arbitrarily using such watch lists in the absence of clear border policy.

Peaceful protest is "a time-honoured tradition" in Canada, she told a news conference after waiting in vain for Wright to emerge from Customs at the airport.

"It seems completely absurd for Canada to turn around and say that we will adopt the FBI interpretation of events.

"I've heard from a great many Canadians how distressed they are that this is another worrisome example of the increasing integration of Canada and U.S. policies."

That line has become increasingly blurred under the Conservative government, McDonough said.

She called it a surrender of sovereignty "that is really taking away from us who we want to be in today's world, and I think totally tarnishing the reputation of Canada."


----
International Herald Tribune Oct. 25,2007

On Tuesday, the activists and their supporters presented petitions at Canadian consulates in several U.S. cities, demanding that Canada reverse what they say is a policy that keeps opponents of the Iraq war from visiting.

"All travelers that arrive in Canada must satisfy the border services officer that they meet the requirements for entry into Canada," said Chris Williams, a spokesman with the Canada Border Services Agency. "Several factors are used to determine admissibility. They include involvement in criminal activity, human rights violations, organized crime, security, health reasons and financials reasons."

Former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau declared his homeland "a refuge from militarism" during the Vietnam War and allowed 30,000 to 50,000 American draft resisters to settle there. But the Canadian government has denied political asylum to U.S. soldiers who sought it after deserting from duty in Iraq.


Well there you go Chris Williams says they were only obeying orders because it seemed that Ann Wright is a real hardened criminal & owes the state some $200.00 she 's beyond redemption or rehabilitation so lock her up & throw away the key - If the people in government & their paranoid security personnel weren't so serious about all of this it would in fact be laughable - so how far is Stephen Harper willing to go to placate Bush - will he stat locking up anyone who speaks out against God's Chosen Emisary George W. Bush & where's the outrage in the Canadian media or The House of Commons - well the NDP did speak up but the liberals have moved so far to the right they only speak for the well to do like Mister Harper & his Yes Men & Women & their Neocon & Religious Right Friends -

And so From the NDP ( The New Democratic Party ) & its leader Jack Layton we do get a bit of outrage at last :

NDP to Harper: Lift border ban on us peace advocates
Tue 23 Oct 2007 NDP MPs Invite Medea Benjamin and Colonel Ann Wright (Ret.) to speak on the Hill


OTTAWA – The NDP is urging the Harper government to allow US Peace Advocates Medea Benjamin and retired US Army Colonel Ann Wright to share their message of peace in a public forum on Parliament Hill scheduled for Thursday.

In a letter sent today to Harper, the Public Safety Minister, and Foreign Affairs Minister, the NDP MPs advised that Medea Benjamin and Col. Ann Wright, cofounders of Code Pink, have been invited to address legislators and representatives of civil society in a public forum to be held in Ottawa on October 25. The letter requested the government to “ensure unimpeded entry into Canada, to enable Ms. Benjamin and Colonel Wright to share their message of peace with Members of Parliament, and the broader community.”

“New Democrats are deeply concerned that Canadian border police are enforcing rules determined not by our own Canadian government, but by the FBI and other US security agencies,” the letter states. “Foreign government ‘watch lists’ should not form the basis for automatically denying entry into Canada of US citizens, or any other nationals. Government policies, not the individuals who oppose them, often present the greater threat to democracy, security and freedom.”


Take care,
GORD.

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Global Warming : The Denial Machine Science v Spin

Documentary on CBC's Fifth Estate
Science versus Public Relations
Science versus Spin
Cigarettes are not addictive & do not cause cancer
according to the scientists paid off by Big Tobacco
Creation Scientists claim that Evolution is not a fact but merely an opinion
of anti-Christian scientists
or that the media should give equal time to Holocaust deniers along with those who accept the Holocaust as a fact of history -
& if so then Global Warming is a liberal /leftist plot
Scientists for sale to the highest bidder ie Big Oil & Big Coal versus real scientists -
Whistle blowers & Personal Integrity

This is part one. The rest of the documentary is available on CBC website & also at YouTube

The Denial Machine CBC Fifth Estate
The documentary shows how fossil fuel corporations have kept the global warming debate alive long after most scientists believed that global warming was real and had potentially catastrophic consequences. It shows that companies such as Exxon Mobil are working with top public relations firms and using many of the same tactics and personnel as those employed by Phillip Morris and RJ Reynolds to dispute the cigarette-cancer link in the 1990s. Exxon Mobil sought out those willing to question the science behind climate change, providing funding for some of them, their organizations and their studies.

The Denial Machine also explores how the arguments supported by oil companies were adopted by policymakers in both Canada and the US and helped form government policy.





What are we to conclude when we see some scientists selling their services for the right amount of money & will interpret data to suit the needs of their employers . If the employer is Exxon or the Bush Or Harper Regimes & their true believers then when it comes to Global Warming & the damage being done to the environment by co2 emissions etc. if the employers asks them to deny the known scientific facts just so they can make some big bucks.

Meanwhile Public Relations firms & Ad Agencies advice Businesses & government on how to sell what in fact are lies & deceptions & obfuscations all in order to promote rapacious capitalism & neoconservativism -
and how can those who believe in Global Warming who do not have the money & resources & the power of the Neocon ideologues who control the American government & the Canadian government get their message out -

As the documentary points out scientists who work for the Bush Regime or the Harper Regime are threatened with unemployment & possibly disgrace if they dare disagree with the accepted views of either government.

Part of the problem which I have mentioned before is this notion that a government employee's loyalty is to the Government in power & its ideology rather than to the truth & to the public. If an individual is working in a government department & knows of wrongdoing whether legal or moral that is unethical then the employee who works for the country or province or state & for the people they owe it to the people to speak out - first by raising concerns along the chain of command & if ignored to speak out anonymously to thereby become " Whistle Blowers"- who may have to go public quite openly & no longer anonymously - they contact the media or others to let the truth be known-
To some including this writer see Whistle Blowers as heroes where as Neocons & others see " Whistle Blowers " as despicable disloyal traitors -

But as I say a government employee's first loyalty is to the country & the people & that an employer whether the government at whatever level or a corporation asks them to do what is illegal or appears to be unethical then they must reveal this to the public in whatever way they can -

Far too many in our society hide behind the old standby that " they were merely following orders " & besides they couldn't speak up because it might jeopardize their job & their income- But what price should one place on personal integrity -

Its like watching Condoleeza Rice once again lying about Mahar Arar's case but then again her loyalty is not to " truth " " justice " or "moral concerns" or " ethics " or " personal integrity "-
(But she is not alone in this in the Bush administration as there are many examples one can mention in the Bush Regime from Scooter Libby , to Dick Cheney & Rumsfeld & Karl Rove & Bush's buddy " Brownie " of Katrina fame or General Petraeus, Colin Powell etc. as for our Prime Minister he is after all just a Bush clone or puppet who wishes to take our country down the same dark path where might is right & the Elite & Big Business are all that matters )-
Like all those who now infest our governments their loyalty is to the present neocon agenda & to Chancellor Bush or in our country to Chancellor Harper . Condoleeza Rice like Margaret Thatcher & Indira Ghandi & Imelda Marcos - is also proof that women in power are no different than men in power - they will protect their positions & their jobs at any cost - & they too have misplaced loyalties but I guess this is what Universities teach most of their students these days - that they must show absolute loyalty to their employers & that justice, truth , ethics , morals & integrity are just out-dated notions which will not work in a world of Real Politic -

For instance this way of looking at the world means that anything from , lying , kidnapping, warrant-less surveillance to torture or whatever etc. is right if one can make it legal & dot the is & cross the ts.
This should raise an alarm among scientists , research facilities & universities for they are producing some scientists who have no ethical qualms about saying the opposite of what is true for the right amount of money- maybe in order to receive a degree in science students should also take a few courses on ethics & truth telling & that this is an important part of being a real scientists in which one follows the facts to whatever the conclusions are even if it goes against one's personal beliefs or one's ideology & that this is a reflection on one's personal integrity but don't hold your breath since in our materialistic society where the main motive is making a lot of money & doing what is in one's own self-interest & that lofty notions like truth & such are seen as pointless & useless values - knowledge is therefore for sale since it is all relative anyway -

So is this more of what we call Superiour Western Values - that doing the right thing ie refusing to obey orders or being a Whistle Blower is not as important as how much money one can make & keeping one's job & being loyal to your boss no matter what -
even if your boss is J. R. Ewing for those who remember Dallas but now his values are the values of our whole society -


take care,
GORD.

Monday, October 22, 2007

Religious Right Preaching Racism ,Hatred & Intolerance : The End Times & War With Iran

Bill Moyers: Dispensationalism And The Coming War With Iran



check out :John Hagee Ministries

& on Bauer & Dominionism & Reconstructionism
Chalcedon Foundation



Islamofascism & Israel & America
talking Points to consider:

civilization versus barbarism
goodness versus evil
all Israeli Jews are good
all Arabs are bad
all Westerners are good
all non-Westerners are bad
Israel versus the barbarians ( Muslims & Arabs )
Iran should not be allowed to manipulate the world's economy
Only America is permitted to manipulate the world's economy
Iran plans to destroy Israel & then America
Christians & Jews are equals
Christians & Jews are superior to all who are of different faiths -

John Hagee-Glenn Beck - Bible Prophecies
the evil of Iran & why America & Israel must attack Iran
Glenn Beck's hatred of all Muslims & Arabs & even Russians is quite evident in this program as he uses John Hagee's interpretation of Biblical prophecies to promote his own virulent Anti-Islamic & anti-Arab beliefs -
Glenn Beck is as racist & as intolerant of those who have different beliefs from his own & his belief that America has been chosen by God to heal the world by on-going perpetual war til the Messiah/ Jesus returns to save a small minority of the world's population -

This is where the level of discourse is at in the America Media where all the Media is virulently anti-Islam & Champion Christianity which they equate with Western Civilization which is really in their view Americanism & the American Empire-



John Hagee & Glenn Beck are of course big supporters of George W. Bush & the Neocons who believe it is America's destiny to save Israel & Christianity from what they consider the Islamic& Arab Barbaric hordes who are evil & directed one presumes by Satan & the Antichrist -

Muslims are described by much of the American & Canadian media ( with a few exceptions which don't really amount to much ) as characterizing all followers of Islam as Islamofascists who seek to destroy the West & Israel & the Muslims are then demonized further as having a culture of death & that Muslims are soulless creatures who must be stopped at all costs -
According to John Hagee & other Radical Evangelical Christians Islam is a form of devil worship
and the Muslims are out to destroy Israel & Western Civilization
Yet when American soldiers or Mercenaries torture people or kill innocent civilians this is OK because in such an all out War to end All Wars there are no innocent civilians - one is either with America & Israel or one is an enemy of Israel & America -

To those who just want to discount & dismiss the views of the likes of John Hagee & Glenn Beck as merely the rantings of some fringe fanatical group are deluding themselves & suffering I believe from wishful thinking - The views of the Radical Religious Right as spouted by John Hagee we are told by opinion polls done in America represent fifty million or more Americans -

In the same way that Jews were demonized by Christians for some 2,000 years one should remember from the eighth century or so the Christians began to demonize & view Islam as the armies of the Antichrist - Now it is not so acceptable for Christians to be as insanely antisemitic as it once was -
I believe that Christians were never justified in being either Anti-Judaism or Antisemitic and that the attacks on Jews over the centuries by Christians were never justified & eventually led to Hitler & the Holocaust - but don't tell any Christian that because they claim the Christian Churches were never Antisemitic or that it was really inconsequential in their revisionist view of History -

Even today most true believing Christians know little or nothing about the History of Christianity & its immoral preachings against Jews or Muslims & anyone else who was seen as outside the Church & therefore irredeemable like the Hindus , Buddhists , Taoists, Native Americans or Africans who are all barbarous & without souls & so can be butchered by the millions to placate the Blood Lust of the Christian God-

My conclusion at the moment is that we have not as a species or as Westerners or Christians- we have not progressed much beyond where we were in 1097 at the beginning of the First Crusade when thousands of Jews were murdered because the Church said the Jews had murdered Christ & were to be held responsible for this act down through the generations -
It was also believed that at Passover each year a Christian child was to be sacrificed to their God -
It was also believed that any great catastrophe such as the Black Plague was caused by the Jews -
But now it is a more subtle form of antisemitism in that the Jews are not loved as human beings but as playing a necessary part in the Christian End-Times scenario or as being necessary in order for the West or America to control the Middle East & all its resources which were given to Christians as part of his Covenant with Christians -

Neocon apologists like Glenn Beck, Ann Coulter and all never talk about the Antisemitism that was wide spread throughout Europe & North America long before the rise of Adolph Hitler - (This is not to make excuses for Hitler but it is to deny that his racist views did not spring from the thin air but rather to suggest much of the ground work had been done over the centuries by the Catholic Church & other Christian churches )
Nor do they mention all the support Hitler received by the German people & the people of Europe & the Catholic Church & other Christian organizations when it came to his racist policies & his claim that liberalism,capitalism,pluralism & Bolshevism & anything else which was seen by Christians as bad in the Modern Era were all viewed as spawned by the Jews -
These terrible & horrifying lies & libels against the Jews were seen by most people in Europe & North America at that time as being incontrovertible facts -
Most people believed that there was a widespread conspiracy by the Jews to wipe out Christianity & undermine Western Civilization -
It is odd how few in the West are aware of their own history especially when it comes to the darker side of our history in respect to antisemitism & other pernicious vile & virulent forms of racism which had infected our culture as it were -
Now it is the Muslims whom we are told are the Evil Ones & so we must mistrust & hate them without question -

Here are some websites & articles to check out for more info:

Theological Studies .Org

And : Dispenationalism at Endtimes.Org
Definition

A Dispensation - The system by which anything is administered. In Christian terms, looking back, it refers to a period in history whereby God dealt with man in a specific way. (Conscience, Law, Grace)
Dispensationalism - A system of theology that sees God working with man in different ways during different dispensations. While 'Dispensations' are not ages, but stewardships, or administrations, we tend to see them now as ages since we look back on specific time periods when they were in force.
Dispensationalism is distinguished by three key principles.
1 - A clear distinction between God's program for Israel and God's program for the Church.
2 - A consistent and regular use of a literal principle of interpretation
3 - The understanding of the purpose of God as His own glory rather than the salvation of mankind.


Also see articles at Theocracy Watch.org
for example :
Nuclear War and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, written by Jerry Falwell in 1983, welcomes a nuclear war: Nuclear War"'Nuclear War and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ' - the one brings thoughts of fear, destruction, and death, while the other brings thoughts of joy, hope, and life. They almost seem inconsistent with one another, yet they are indelibly intertwined." (Introduction)


and from Reformation Online check out article " Dispensationalism " by Gordon H. Clark "The unity of God’s saving work " we get this definition ...

[R]ecently the…extreme of multiplying covenants or dispensations has given rise to Dispensationalism. The Scofield Bible enumerates seven dispensations. It defines dispensation in the subhead to Genesis 1:28: “A dispensation is a period of time during which man is tested in respect to obedience to some specific revelation of the will of God.”


also check out: check out :John Hagee Ministries

& on Bauer & Dominionism & Reconstructionism
Chalcedon Foundation

and for some fun God Fearing videos check out :
Highway : Ministry Videos That Drive Truth

and check out article : From The Atlantic.Com
Reagan’s Disciples Plan Relaunch Of Conservative Movement 05 Oct 2007


Fed up with neocons, theocons and convict cons, a group of former aides to Ronald Reagan want to reanimate the Republican Party by reviving the organization that brought Reagan to power.

The revitalized Citizens For The Republic -- or CFTR -- has already secured $17 million in solid financial commitments, according to an official involved in raising money for the organization.

Craig Shirley, a Republican strategist and historian, has agreed to serve as chairman of the board. Others who will participate or who have agreed to raise money are Paul Laxalt, the former Nevada Senator and close Reagan friend; former Reagan attorney general Richard Allen; former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, and conservative activists Brent Bozell and Gary Bauer.

The original CFTR was funded with seed money from Reagan's failed 1976 presidential bid and supported his political travels over the next several years. Its PAC doled out tens of thousands of dollars to conservative Republicans across the country.



And so it goes...

take care,
GORD.

Sunday, October 21, 2007

" 300 " Pernicious Virulent Propaganda-For War on Iran



" 300 " film as propaganda- Kill All The Persians ( Iranians)& Asians HooHa !!!

Trailer:



and here's some real marines doing their thing Sparta would be proud is this an example of those good old American & Western values for which so many will die - that is their dead not ours -


STARRING: Gerard Butler, Lena Headey, David Wenham, Dominic West, Rodrigo Santoro, Vincent Regan, Peter Mensah, Stephen McHattie
DIRECTOR: Zack Snyder
SCREENWRITER: Zack Snyder
STUDIO: Warner Bros.
RATING: R (For graphic battle sequences throughout, some sexuality and nudity.)
GENRE: Action / Adventure / Drama
2007

Synopsis:
Based on the epic graphic novel by Frank Miller, 300 is a ferocious retelling of the ancient Battle of Thermopylae in which King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) and 300 Spartans fought to the death against Xerxes and his massive Persian army. Facing insurmountable odds, their valor and sacrifice inspire all of Greece to unite against their Persian enemy, drawing a line in the sand for democracy. The film brings Miller's (Sin City) acclaimed graphic novel to life by combining live action with virtual backgrounds that capture his distinct vision of this ancient historic tale.
From Rope of Silicon.com

300 is another one of these epic style films & is at least not as disappointing as Alexander or Troy which were deserving of bad reviews given the massive budgets & so called star power which were not as satisfying as something like Lord Of The Rings which had a lot of action & big battle scenes but it also had some characters with whom the audience could identify & there were also bits of humour & sad toughing & very human like scenes - But 300 not so much...It is mostly one long battle scene with wooden-like soldiers-

300 is more like The Birth of A Nation with its less than subtle racism & overall propaganda but Birth of Nation if one can get passed the propaganda aspect of the film & the Ku Klux Klan coming to rescue the Christian South from the evil blacks & greedy Northerners or carpetbaggers one can appreciate as a great piece of film making for its time 1915 & it was of course silent- yet it did manage to capture the Hell that was the American Civil war but in the last reel descends into racist stereotyping & loses its way unable to create believable African American characters & settles for caricatures - 300 is all caricatures from beginning to end. The special effects are wondrous but are they all necessary - the film also suffers greatly by much of the intrusive unnecessary voice over which got on this viewers nerves - so in some ways it is an exasperating film to watch or to review - if it wasn't for the politics & propaganda in that like Birth of a Nation is a rallying cry for Westerners to take their rightful place in the world & to beat back the barbarous hordes ie Asians, Arabs & especially Muslims - & it is timely as the American Neocons once again try to convince the world that another country should be invaded occupied destroyed or de-fanged as it were even if it is really not a threat at all- which is to say Bush & Co. now want to invade Iran which once was of course Persia - The Americans or at least those in power at the moment & many like Hilary Clinton are still pissed off at the Iranian people for choosing en mass to overthrow the American friendly Shaw of Iran who terrorized & robed his own people for some thirty years using intimidation & torture & death squads & other American friendly means of control-

But is the film 300 worthwhile as a film experience to bother trying to analyze - it is over the top macho violence & triumphalism & I believe it is rather Eurocentric / American Racism - " NO RETREAT NO SURRENDER ie American troops will not retreat from Iraq no matter what - F...them Arabs & Muslims as the trolling Neocon likes to repeat a thousand times -
first we need to remember it is based on a Frank Miller graphic novel which is loosely based on the legend or fable about 300 Spartans fighting the Persian army which in the film has over a million soldiers-the 300 defy the Persians so that the Greeks & Spartans will be able to marshall a large enough army to later defeat the Persians while uniting Greeks into one nation -

Though the film presents the Spartans as a society that favors individual freedom which ignores at times that the Spartans if anything are Proto-Nazis or Proto- Fascists in which individuality is sacrificed to the unity of the society in which everyone believes in the exact same things to be different is to be an outsider & a danger to their cohesive society-
children are taken from their parents at the early age of seven & then through rather brutal & harsh training they are made into Spartan warriors if they actually survive the training that is -
according to some historical accounts ala Plato & others - the Spartan adults lived in large barracks where they take their hearty & bland meals together- they live for one reason which is the perpetuation of the state - they fight to protect the state & hope to die a glorious death on the battlefield this in itself robs the viewer from having much empathy for the characters involved - besides that there is little character development anyway after all these are mindless clones for whom life's ultimate goal is death-& this is compounded by the fact this is all based on a superficial graphic novel /or glorified comic book-

As for film making the visuals are again over the top & rather amazing but the killing just goes on & on -

the only interesting characters are Xerxes as the Emperor of Persia & the poor delude misshapen hunchback which if they had been developed more would have added to the story-the hunchback is a Spartan whose parents went into exile to save their only child because the deformed are killed at birth in the wonderful & glorious society of Sparta but he perseveres & asked to be permitted to fight & die with the 300 but rather than commending him on his bravery the Spartan leader mocks him & so he betrays the Spartans but why shouldn't he -

this is a film that would appeal to Neo-Nazis & the Neocons & Bush Regime in which war is more glorious in the end than peace & diplomacy or such notions as brotherly love , compassion -I am sorry to say I don't believe I am reading these things into the film but rather they are their right at the surface -
whenever the 300 do their war cry for example it is just like the Hoo-has cheer of the US Marines & this yell is repeated a number of times
there are also the various references to the Persians as Asians who are barbarous race out to destroy Western culture & the ideals of Freedom & Justice & the American way-the west is referred to as Europa - though historically most of Europe at that time some 500 years BC or so was made up for the most part by rather primitive tribes in comparison to the Persian Empire in which the arts & science & philosophy & scholarship & architecture & feats of engineering abounded & flourished but it was not perfect but no were the Spartans or the Greeks - each society had its slaves & hierarchy of classes though Sparta had fewer in the underclass since they were killed at birth having even a blemish on their body & those who were not strong enough to survive the decade or so of training perished - so this was not some wonderful society which took care of the weak the disabled the infirm etc-
but I can only guess this is why the film did so well since it panders to the Neoconservative & Racist Radical Religious Right view of the world- the Europeans as Aryans are superiour to all other races & Western Culture & its Christian Religion & its capitalistic values of dog eat dog ethics is appealing to a large group within our society who once again have demonized all those people who live outside the West - the evil Asians Arabs, Middle Easterners, Africans , Mexicans , Latinos etc. they the belief is are our enemy who never rest & will destroy Western Civilization & its culture & religion if we do not destroy them first-

-Lets for a moment compare the 300 to one of my favourite films Equilibrium which is also filled with action & an overarching Machismo but has at its centre not just a heart but a cry or wail for the enduring human spirit or soul warts & all - for I would pay it gladly as a Grammaton Cleric says in the beginning of the film before the star Christian Pale blows his head off . But in that film conformity is depicted as the greatest of evils for it robs the individual of his or her individuality creativity & individualized experience of the sensory world & so the message is the opposite of the 300 but It makes me wonder if the age we live in is populated in America & much of the West by such conformists who defend their notions of conformity at all costs or is it similar to the notion of the Dumbing Down of American society or becoming enslaved to the Lowest Common Denominator which would also explain the popularity of Know Nothings like Ann Coulter or Bill O'Reilly or George W. Bush or Prime Minister Stephen Harper or former Prime Minister Tony Blair who seemed decent human being til he sold out to the Power Elite & why on the other hand Americans for the most part have little time for those thoughtful men & women such as Bill Moyers or Keith Olbermann or even Patrick Buchanan who are critical of those in power & wish for the best that our society stands for to come to the fore.

take care,
GORD.

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Blackwater- God's Army

In case you missed it here is part of the interview of journalist Jeremy Scahill by Bill Moyers which aired october 19, 2007
In this clip he is talking about the Blackwater involvement in New Orleans after hurricane Katrina:

from Iraq to New Orleans - God's Army



In a natural disaster the poor suffer & die while the rich bring in their mercenaries to protect their property-

Jeremy Scahill Testifies on Defense Contracting, 5.10.2007 in which he argues there is no oversight of these private contractors - Mercenaries & whose only interest is profit & not peace or diplomacy - the less security the more work for them -



As Scahill points out the head of Blackwater Erik Prince is a neoconservative with lots of connections to the Republican Party & the Bush Administration & he is also a radical Christian Evangelical who is connected to the Dominionists/Reconstructionists organizations which he has helped fund as did his father before him . Erik Prince believes that Blackwater is in essence God's Army which is to be used to spread Christianity around the world & to defeat & suppress all who are seen as enemies of Christianity & American Supremacy-

And here's a little info on Erik Prince aka The Prince of Darkness as he twists & mangles American & Christian values into those of a vengeful & nasty God who wishes to convert or exterminate all who do not believe in Jesus or The American Way i.e. unfettered unapologetic rapacious capitalism -

Blackwater's top brassThe Virginian-Pilot© July 24, 2006

ERIK PRINCE, 37, Blackwater’s founder and chairman, has deep roots in conservative Republican politics in Michigan.

His father, Edgar Prince, turned a small die-cast shop in Holland, Mich., into a major auto parts supplier with a specialty product: a windshield visor with a lighted mirror. After his death in 1995, the company was sold for $1.4 billion. Edgar Prince was a confidant and financial backer of Gary Bauer, a conservative activist and onetime presidential candidate.

Erik Prince’s sister Betsy, a former chairwoman of the Michigan Republican Party, is married to Dick DeVos, billionaire son of the founder of marketing giant Amway and this year’s likely Republican candidate for governor of Michigan.

Erik Prince went to private schools in Michigan, earned his pilot’s license at 17 and attended the U.S. Naval Academy. He later joined the Navy and was deployed with a SEAL team.

Prince was living in Virginia Beach when he founded Blackwater in 1996. He now runs the Prince Group, Blackwater’s parent company, from an office in McLean, Va.

His first wife, Joan, died of cancer in 2003. He has since remarried, and has six children.

Prince is a board member of Christian Freedom International, a nonprofit group dedicated to helping persecuted Christians around the world.

Since 1998, he has made nearly $200,000 in contributions to Republican committees and candidates, including President Bush and indicted former House leader Tom DeLay, according to Federal Election Commission records.

-----------------


New Evidence That Blackwater Guards Took No Fire By James Glanz The New York Times Saturday 13 October 2007

Baghdad - Fresh accounts of the Blackwater shooting last month, given by three rooftop witnesses and by American soldiers who arrived shortly after the gunfire ended, cast new doubt Friday on statements by Blackwater guards that they were responding to armed insurgents when Iraqi investigators say 17 Iraqis were killed at a Baghdad intersection.

The three witnesses, Kurds on a rooftop overlooking the scene, said they had observed no gunfire that could have provoked the shooting by Blackwater guards. American soldiers who arrived minutes later found shell casings from guns used normally by American contractors, as well as by the American military.

The Kurdish witnesses are important because they had the advantage of an unobstructed view and because, collectively, they observed the shooting at Nisour Square from start to finish, free from the terror and confusion that might have clouded accounts of witnesses at street level. Moreover, because they are pro-American, their accounts have a credibility not always extended to Iraqi Arabs, who have been more hostile to the American presence.


and check out interview of P.W. Singer who has been researching the privatizing of the US military for over ten years:

Privatizing Terror, Outsourcing Diplomacy By Wajahat Ali at Counterpunch

10/13/07 "Counterpunch" --- - The international outcry over the recent Blackwater shootings forced the world to closely examine and appreciate the complex reality of the United States government's overdependence on private military contractors operating in Iraq. The foremost expert and most cited authority on the subject is Peter Warren Singer, a senior fellow at the prestigious Brookings Institute, co-founder of "The U.S. Policy towards the Islamic World" Program, and author of the seminal work on private military contractors, "Corporate Warriors." This interview, his most recent, examines the most current repercussions caused by the Blackwater scandal and private military firms within an overall context of The Iraq War, U.S. Foreign policy in the Middle East, and America's public relations with the Muslim world.
Take care,
GORD.

Friday, October 19, 2007

Freedom & The American Empire



Photos of Blackwater Mercenaries for The New World Order or Just Police For The Empire



When discussing the "Cowboy Mentality " of Blackwater & other private mercenaries working in Iraq we should consider the similar attitude of those who saw nothing wrong with the National guard opening fire on unarmed students protesters at Kent University or consider the brutal response of the Chicago police at the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago in which many protesters & journalists were beaten later the report on this insult to American Democracy was called a Police Riot in which the police over-reacted with brutal force - Yet those in authority at the City level & the federal level still defended the actions of the police & some in the media bought into this propaganda claiming that the Anti-war demonstrators were anarchists , communists & other anti-Americans so that as per usual in America those who voice their dissent & take action as in such protests are condemned by those in power & even by many average Americans who believe that citizens have no right to question those in power & in positions of power & now forty years later we hear the same sort of propaganda that each citizen must support the President & his Regime -

And we hear the argument over & over again put forth by Neoconservatives in their revisionists history that the Vietnam War was lost because of those protesters in the streets & the American media which at that time was controlled by a cabal of pinko commies who hated America- but now the big business interest & neoconservatives & the Religious Right seem to control most the American media like CNN & Fox etc. & the bias is to the right - it is odd how those who claim to be in favour of freedom of speech & the press condemn anyone in the media who questions any of Bush's policies or that points out inconsistencies of the Administrations policies such as why America had to invade Iraq or why is the Bush Regime so concerned about not upsetting Turkey which has a rather bad record when it comes to human rights & democracy -

The sorts of questions which arise are to what extent should the press go in promoting support for the troops & support for the war in Iraq - the assumptions by those who support Bush is that you are either for Bush's strategy & agenda or you are as an American unpatriotic & those of us outside America are either pro-American or rabid anti-Americans
If we do not agree & strongly oppose the present policies of the Bush Regime this does not necessarily mean we are Anti-American or hate all Americans- The polls show that some 70% of Americans don't agree with George Bush's policies concerning Iraq or his War on Terror - there are other things his administration could have done rather than invading Iraq -

- so reasonable criticism is not permitted let alone making an emotional appeal for the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis who have been killed & the hundreds of thousand more Iraqis who will die over the next few years since those in authority are talking about staying in Iraq til 2012 or beyond-

What strikes one as odd about this notion of acquiescence to authority is that the citizens of Germany under the Nazis- the argument might be made - therefore were right to support Hitler & the Nazis as they were the legal authorities in that country- Patriotism & nationalism are the ultimate in moral principles - one's duty is to obey & not to insist on such silly notions as human rights for all citizens - So it was incumbent on German soldiers & citizens to not interfere with the brutal & genocidal policies of Hitler & the Nazis- This is the logical conclusion to this way of thinking- To oppose Hitler if you were a German citizen would have been wrong -

Does that mean that the Iraqi people under Saddam should not have opposed him since he was the legitimate ruler of Iraq as the Junta in Burma/Myanmar are as far as they the junta are concerned are the legitimate rulers of Burma & all those Buddhists Monks are just a bunch of rabble rousing Pinko Commies who insist on outmoded ideas such as human rights & that the state has a duty to provide for all of its people & not just the rich & powerful or just those who belong to the ruling party or especially those within the inner party circle( sounds like the Republican party doesn't it ) as in the former Soviet Union -

So in Burma if one believes as the Neoconservatives & Religious Right do that those in authority must be obeyed then the Buddhist Monks taking part in illegal marches & various forms of non-cooperation by breaking the laws of the land as created by the military Junta then it is only fitting that they be arrested beaten & tortured - as Bush & Co. have said that torture is now OK & suppressing any large movement to overthrow a brutal or unprincipled & corrupt government is also OK.

The only time that it would be right to rise up against a government is if it is a communist regime as with Solidarity in Poland twenty some years ago-or if the government is not pro-capitalist or Pro-American interest - no sovereign state is according to the Neocons permitted to interfere in any way with American or Western corporations who are present in that country - the profits must flow at all cost & human rights & other liberal notions be damned for example passing regulations to protect workers from being exploited by these corporations or having regulations to protect the environment are attacks on American Corporations & therefore American interests & therefore anti-Capitalist & Anti-American & Anti-Christian since according to the Evangelical Right Jesus was a capitalist & said that all who believe in Him would prosper not just have peace of mind or be spiritually fulfilled but would get to own a big house some expensive cars & be able to go on vacation in the Bahamas a couple of times a year or spend three or four months a year on their range in Texas or what have you & send their kids to the most expensive Ivy-league Universities -

As for Freedom of speech it is quite acceptable unless it is used to question those in authority or the interests of Western Corporations - or to put it another way Freedom of speech & assembly & taking part in marches protesting policies of a government as long as it does not have the intended effect of creating a mass movement against a corrupt regime as in Burma or in the United States -

- if millions of Americans for instance were to flood the streets of American towns & cities & this were to take place not just for one day but continued for weeks on end as it did in Burma /Myanmar- I have no doubt Bush would call out the troops & start a brutal crack down on such a popular movement - & the media as it is now in America would back the Junta , sorry I mean the King... well Bush & Cheney that is -

But what really has been the the track record in America when it comes to these lofty notions of Freedom - consider the use of force used by pro-segregationist in the Southern united States against peaceful protesters -
The battle to get equal rights for African Americans is filled with such violent out bursts from ten thousand or more lynchings to massacres often with the cooperation of the local Sheriff or mayor or governor & the so called upright white businessmen in those communities - & at time so we are told with the cooperation of the FBI especially when it was headed by a known racist J. Edgar Hoover who protected in one way or another racist terrorists organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan which even today is not condemned as a terrorist organization - which would mean it couldn't march down the main streets of America or to Washington as they did in the hundreds of thousands in the 1930s as did The American Nazi & Fascist parties -

or consider the violent history of the attempts in the United States & other Western nations to crush Labor Unions to better the conditions for average workers or the Women's Movement who were fighting for the right to vote & for equal rights with men - let's see beatings torture force feeding imprisoned without much in the way of due process - imagine in those days there were lawyers who stood up for the rights of these groups whereas most lawyers have become spin-doctors & Public Relations Officials for the Bush Regime & the Big Corporations defending their anti-union anti-labour tactics & their wanton destruction of the environment & communities as for example the Mountaintop Removal method of mining for coal or the building of Coal Fired Power Plants or Nuclear Plants etc.

But the United States is not alone in its pick & choose form of Democracy in which certain rights can be tossed out on a whim
consider the over use of violence by the British government against the civil rights movement in Northern Ireland - the British governments use of violence in Northern Ireland helped to destroy the peaceful civil rights movement in Norther Ireland in the late sixties to early seventies which lead to more hatred & mistrust of the British Government & Irish Protestants & this of course led to an increase in the membership of violent IRA -

As for Ireland & Britain this sort draconian rule by the British occupiers of Ireland can be traced back to the 1916 uprising & later the use of the notorious Black & Tans in the 1920's which led to British humiliation & they lost a large chunk of Ireland but this only occurred after a hundred or more years of the English governments attempt at Ethnic Cleansing in Ireland during the Potato Famine & other engineered catastrophes -or consider how the Thatcher government used brutal methods against Britain's coal miners to end the Coal Miners strike -of course one can't expect the Middle Class in Britain or Canada or the USA to care about such low skilled lower class laborers like coal miners & for worse still was Thatcher's cooked up war in the Falklands against the Argentinians even though the Argentine was willing to settle the whole matter at The World Court but Thatcher like Bush & his predecessors had to prove that no such court could dictate to her or to Britain which once claimed to be the Ruler of the World -
The English have a lot of blood on their hands in their various colonies from Ireland & India to China to Africa & now the various American Regimes from Kennedy & Johnson to Nixon & Reagan to the Present regime are proving themselves as arrogant & as brutal as was the British Empire -

take care,
GORD.

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Bush & Condi & the Armenian Genocide

DEFINITION OF GENOCIDE:
Genocide is defined very precisely by the UN Genocide Convention as follows,
Article I. The Contracting Parties confirm that genocide, whether committed in time of peace or in time of war, is a crime under international law which they undertake to prevent and punish.

Article II. In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, as such: a) Killing members of the group; b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

Article III. The following acts shall be punished: a) Genocide; b) Conspiracy to commit genocide; c) Direct and public incitement to commit genocide; d) Attempt to commit genocide; e) Complicity in genocide.

Article IV. Persons committing genocide or any of the other acts enumerated in Article III shall be punished, whether they are constitutionally responsible rulers, public officials or private individuals.



Armenia genocide Jon Stewart



Bush Regime shows a lack of concern over human rights violations for instance in the case of Armenian Genocide of one and a half million Armenians by the Turks over 90 years ago.

As usual the Bush Regime is only concerned over human rights violations when it suits their agenda IE human rights violation in Iraq under Saddam Hussein or the present regime in Iran whereas the abuses of Palestinians by the Israeli government which is to some extent a form of ethnic cleansing without being a wholesale slaughter of Palestinians is downplayed by the Bush Regime & even by people like Hilary Clinton & lots of others who see themselves as liberals because the Israelis are too important strategically in the Middle East so if they create a giant Ghetto for the Palestinians & Arab Israelis that is ok - and the Bush people ignore human rights violations such as freedom of the press or the use of torture in other countries they are friendly with - but of course what can one expect from Bush & Co. who call their use of torture , kidnapping , detaining people without due process , using wide spread surveillance on American citizens without any real oversight & the use of Cowboy Style Mercenaries in Iraq & that the occupation of Iraq itself is a " War Crime" which is beginning to look a lot like Ethnic Cleansing - And what is going on Iraq is not that much different from what's going on in Burma - in both countries there is little concern for human rights or real democracy & in both cases it is all about making some wealthy people even wealthier while reducing the majority of the people to poverty -

The case of the Armenian Genocide seems to be straightforward but the Bush administration is afraid of alienating or pissing off the current Turkish Regime which is a US ally - this seems odd would the Bush administration feel the same way if the present German government wanted them to downplay the Holocaust or the Swiss insists that their profiting off of the Holocaust was just business as usual or that the French & other European nations were willing accomplices in the rounding up & killing of the Jews - oh yeah these countries all now feign innocence & claim it was only the German Nazis who committed these crimes & besides some American corporations made a great deal of money by aiding & abetting the Nazis from 1933 to 1945 -

- but in comes Realpolitik which says one does the expedient thing & not the right thing so morality & ethics mean little to the Bush Regime & their supporters that is the 30% of Americans who think George W. Bush can do no wrong - and how does Turkey respond to the lack of condemnation by the Bush Regime well they are threatening to invade the Kurdish part of Iraq to get a few terrorists they claim or will the Turkish government just continue with a bit of ethnic cleansing of the Kurds which is what the Kurds fear or are they & the Americans going to divide up Iraq between them as the French & British did before them in the 1920s - & is this part of their plan for Iran which again Hilary Clinton is all for invading & occupying & then of course Syria is next on their shopping list - so colonialism & the Crusades in one form or another continues-

from Information Clearing House a piece on Kurds & Turkey & US Politics on Al Jazeera






see for instance articles:
at MWC US panel: Armenian killing genocide By Agencies Oct. 11,2007

A US congressional panel has passed a symbolic resolution recognising the mass killing of Armenians in Ottoman-era Turkey as genocide, brushing aside White House warnings that it would do "great harm" to ties with Nato ally Turkey, a key supporter in the Iraq war.

Turkey denounced the move, calling it an insult.

The House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee voted 27-21 to recognise "the systematic and deliberate annihilation of 1.5 million Armenians as genocide".

...Ankara rejects the Armenian position, backed by many Western historians, that up to 1.5 million Armenians suffered genocide at the hands of Ottoman Turks during World War I.

Turkey has warned of damage to bilateral ties and military co-operation if congress passes the measure.

George Bush, the US president, along with his secretaries of state and defence, has warned against the step, as did a number of former US secretaries of state.

Advocates of the resolution said Turkey should simply acknowledge history and stop threatening retaliation.

"I think our relationship is important enough to the United States and Turkey to survive our recognition of the truth," Adam Schiff, the chief sponsor of the resolution with many Armenian-Americans in his district, said after the vote.

and :

MWC Turkey, US & Israel Genocide Commission Oct. 12,2007 By Gideon Polya

The bipartisan-backed Armenian Genocide resolution calls upon the President to ensure that the foreign policy of the United States reflects appropriate understanding and sensitivity concerning issues related to human rights, ethnic cleansing, and genocide documented in the United States record relating to the Armenian Genocide.

The hope is that this bi-partisan Resolution will pass the House of Representatives despite the opposition by Bush, Turkish governments and their supporters.

... Israel also refuse to describe the Armenian Holocaust as an Armenian Genocide out of concern to not offend Turkey, the only Middle Eastern country with which it has close, cordial, strategic relations. Genocidal birds of a feather flock together.

Denial of the Jewish Holocaust (6 million victims) is punishable by 10 years' imprisonment in Austria and by lengthy prison terms in some other Western European countries and Israel. France and Belgium have recently extended holocaust denial criminalization to include denial of the Armenian Genocide. Indeed Germany has proposed that the EU criminalize denial and minimization of any recent genocides and holocausts.

Some people are concerned with possible constraints on free speech and scholarly research – however I have proposed "no-penalty criminalization" of genocide denial i.e. the punishment would simply be the public ignominy from public judicial conviction for the repugnant crime of genocide denial




If we accept the definition above of Genocide then the mass murder of tens of millions of Native Americans over several centuries by the British, Spanish , Portuguese & French & by the Americans & others including the Catholic Church & other Christian churches would constitute genocide & if this was established as an accepted historical & legal fact & judgement then to deny it would be either a criminal act or reason for censure at the least - Yet it is still treated as if it never happened or that the slaughter Native Americans from the Arctic Circle to the tip of South America was just some unfortunate unforeseen side effect of colonization or that Native Americans because they were a barbaric uncivilized people in need of Christian Salvation & so the Europeans & later the Americans were therefore justified in mass murder & the destruction of the Native American culture - besides the Europeans needed more land & resources which is why we are also going on a rampage in the Middle East because we are superior to all other societies , cultures or peoples - besides the West & America has God on its side-

also check out these articles on Human Rights Violations in Turkey America's good friend & ally:

Human Rights Watch: Turkey
Turkey: End Legal Action Against Gay Rights Group
Attempt to Close Lambda Istanbul Endangers Basic Freedoms

Turkey: Human Rights Concerns in the Lead up to July Parliamentary Elections
This briefing paper examines the implications of military interference for human rights, as well as a number of other current human rights concerns, including restrictions on freedom of speech and the press, the harassment and prosecution of Kurdish political parties, ongoing problems of impunity for state officials, and police ill-treatment.

Reply Letter to the Swiss Government
Regarding the Swiss Government’s Use of Diplomatic Assurances Against Torture for Extraditions to Turkey

Turkey: Dink Murder Trial a Test for Judiciary
The Turkish judiciary must hold accountable any security forces found responsible for negligence or collusion in the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, Human Rights Watch said today. Evidence that will be heard in the trial, which starts on July 2, may raise serious questions about possible involvement of the security forces in the killing.

Turkey: Ongoing Restrictions on Freedom of Expression
Human Rights Watch Letter to the Turkish Prime Minister
We are writing you today to express our deep concern about continuing restrictions on freedom of expression in Turkey. The prosecution of journalists and writers for expressing their views has helped to foster a climate of hostility against those who ask critical questions about the status quo in Turkey. The murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink has deepened our concerns.

Compensation Law’s Promise Unfulfilled as Provincial Officials Apply Unjust Criteria
Despite its compensation law, the Turkish government is failing to provide fair compensation for hundreds of thousands of mainly Kurdish villagers displaced by the military’s brutal counterinsurgency campaigns in the southeast, Human Rights Watch said in a briefing paper released today.
December 20, 2006 Press Release
And :

No security without human rights from Amnesty international

Recent Turkish history has been dominated by the Turkish state's failed experiment in maintaining security through repression. Successive governments have made some progress towards establishing parliamentary democracy and fundamental freedoms, but national security -- internal as well as external -- has consistently been left to the discretion of the security forces. They have treated international human rights standards and Turkish law with equal disdain.

"We'll finish terrorism but we are being held back by democracy and human rights."
Turkish Deputy Chief of Staff, General Ahmet Çörekçi, July 1995See footnote 1
As a result, the human rights picture in Turkey is bleak. Torture or ill-treatment have long been routinely inflicted on people detained for common criminal offences as well as on political charges. "Disappearance" and extrajudicial execution are new patterns of violation which appeared in the early 1990s and have since claimed hundreds of lives. Turkish citizens do not enjoy true freedom of expression. During the past six years scores of prisoners of conscience have served terms of imprisonment for expressing their non-violent opinions. Hundreds more, including writers and artists, are being tried in State Security Courts and threatened with imprisonment because they dared to express their political views.

This report is based on information collected from a wide range of sources including testimony given by victims and their families, statements given by witnesses and lawyers, medical reports and legal documents, photographic and videotape evidence, information given in replies by the Turkish Government, public documents issued by intergovernmental organizations, newspaper reports and reports issued by non-governmental organizations. The report includes the findings of 10 investigative research missions to Turkey and numerous trial observations carried out by Amnesty International since 1990. It proposes a modest set of reforms which, if supported by real political will, could radically improve human rights in Turkey.


take care,
GORD.

Monday, October 15, 2007

MOUTAINTOP REMOVAL MINING - ENVIRONMENTAL RAPE

Photo of what an area looks like after Mountaintop Removal-


Mountaintop Removal as a form of mining for coal is one of the most disturbing practices of short-sighted corporations & governments who are only interested in profits & don't give a damn about the environmental impacts of such a method of mining nor are they concerned about the impact it has on the inhabitants or their culture. The people of Appalachia having been maligned & marginalized as a group by outsiders have become easy prey for these voracious corporations who gain themselves a great deal from this mining practice but give little back to the communities which they essentially destroy through this destructive form of mining. Watching films & video about this practice one would think you were witnessing the sort of careless practices as would take place in a third world country like Myanmar/Burma where corporations can do what they like as long as those in power can get a big piece of the action as it were - bu the Bush administration can easily be compared to such third World authoritarian regimes where " the all mighty dollar " is everything- where human rights & the environment are not even a consideration- This is Capitalism at its worst surely our values must encompass more things than just Greed -
( note I did a post on this on Sept. 08, 2007 Christians For The Environment - Mountaintop Ministry)

" More than 450 mountains have been destroyed by mountaintop removal coal mining. Watch this video of mountaintop removal featuring Woody Harrelson and a soundtrack featuring an original recording of "Blowin' in the Wind," sung by Willie Nelson.
This video is part of the National Memorial for the Mountains, hosted by www.ilovemountains.org."



and from News Blaze Mountaintop Removal Mining is Destructive and Wrong - Help Stop it! by Care2 and ThePetitionSite team

What is more important than the safety of our drinking water and the quality of our natural environment?

Certainly not the profits of coal companies.

Mountaintop removal mining is the nation's most destructive form of coal mining, and it has to stop.

Mountaintop removal is exactly what it sounds like: Mining companies clearcut native forests and blow off mountaintops with explosives to uncover thin seams of coal, then dump millions of tons of the waste rock into the valleys below, permanently burying streams.

This devastating practice poisons drinking water, lays waste to wildlife habitat, increases risk of flooding, and wipes out entire communities.

Little by little, mountaintop removal mining is destroying the mountains, streams, communities and the heritage of Appalachia.


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Mountaintop Removal-Black Diamonds documentary trailer



Toxic West Virginia : Mountaintop Removal Episode 1



Toxic West Virginia-Part 2
( the remaining parts found at YouTube)





Latest News:

from It's Getting Hot In Here Dispatches from the Youth Climate Movement
Save Appalachia: Stop Mountaintop Removal by yochizakai, October 4th, 2007


In the process of mountaintop removal mining:

* forests are clear-cut to expose the tops of mountains, which are then blown off with explosives
* coal is extracted using large machinery
* unused soil and rock are dumped into adjacent stream valleys, filling them up and creating a flat landscape

Residents of Appalachia living near these mines are threatened by:

* dangerous toxic sludge damsLearn More About Coal Mining
* dynamite blasts that damage homes
* clouds of rock dust from poorly regulated mine operations
* poisoned or depleted well water and polluted streams
* increased flooding
* the loss of traditional fishing and hunting areas
* breathing coal dust in their homes

This destructive practice has been facilitated by the Bush administration’s disregard of a Reagan-era regulation, known as the “stream buffer zone rule.” This rule prohibits any mining activities to take place within 100 feet of a stream unless it can be proven that water quality and quantity will not be adversely impacted. According to the Office of Surface Mining, the Bush administration has blatantly disregarded this rule by approving the destruction of 535 miles of streams since taking office.

The administration is now proposing to repeal the steam buffer zone rule and give mountaintop removal mining companies a blank check to dump toxic waste and hundreds of millions of tons of mountain remains directly into steams.

You can help stop the destruction of Appalachia’s communities, mountains and streams by saying NO to King Coal.

Mountaintop Removal Take Action
from The Charleston Gazette-oct 12.2007
Boone County mountaintop removal project blocked


By Ken Ward Jr.
Staff writer

A federal judge on Thursday blocked a coal operator from starting a new valley fill at a mountaintop removal mine in Boone County.

U.S. District Judge Robert C. Chambers issued a preliminary injunction that stops new mining at Jupiter Holdings LLC's Callisto Surface Mine near Bob White.

Chambers ruled that permanent damage to streams and forests outweighed temporary and speculative economic harm to the company.

"Money can be earned, lost and earned again," Chambers wrote in a 12-page opinion, "a valley once filled is gone."

Chambers said it is "undisputed" that the mining would damage the environment. Also, the judge said, the permit approval was based on the same flawed environmental evaluation and mitigation techniques as others he previously has ruled were illegal.

The preliminary injunction issued Thursday blocks further mining until Chambers can hold a full trial on allegations about the permit's legality.


and check out this article from The Northener Appalachian author criticizes mountain top removal
Biggers says NKU can help find solution to energy shortage
Keith Wilson 10/10/07

When author Jeff Biggers came to speak at Northern Kentucky University, the destructive process of mining known as mountain top removal taking place across Appalachia was the main focus of his presentation.

But Biggers had a lot to say on energy use, Appalachian culture and the persisting stereotypes of Appalachia, of which Kentucky is a part of. The Northerner spoke with Biggers combining that with compiled information from Lisa Guidarini's interview from the Web site Bluestalking Reader to find out what Biggers really thinks about Appalachia.

One of Biggers' biggest concerns is over-energy use, especially in Appalachia, where an abundance of coal is mined, which is an issue that he believes NKU students and Northern Kentucky residents can play a role in finding a solution.

"One of the big issues facing our country ... is that of our energy policy. Nationwide, we depend on coal for over 50 percent of our electricity; over 80 percent in Ohio. I think we need a new vanguard in our energy policy, specifically to pursue renewable energy sources," he said.

Biggers said coal is often thought of as cheap and inexhaustible, but that the price paid is not just monetary but also in man power and the toll to the environment.

"In truth, the real question is at whose expense is coal cheap? In Appalachia - which includes Eastern Kentucky and Southern Ohio - coal companies have increasingly turned toward a bizarre form of strip-mining called mountaintop removal, which not only devastates the mountains, but the economies and social fabric of communities in its path," Biggers said. "We have strip-mined a vital part of our nation's legacy."


Take care,
GORD.