This raises several questions for instance why would the alleged favorable remarks about the proposed Mosque in new York be a cause of concern.
Is this just an example of how over-heated the debate over the proposed Mosque has become. In this case an imaginary interview goes viral and begins a hate campaign against a pop star for something he never said. The silly season of Islamophobia continues.
We also get a glimpse at one of the anti-Ground Zero Mosque groups which is intimidating construction companies and their workers to refuse to take any contracts related to the building of the Ground Zero Mosque.
Will they next extend such a ban to building any Mosques in the US or even to constructing any building being financed by Muslim Americans from mosques to businesses to homes?
Bieber gets apology over mosque hoax via Islamophobia Today January 2, 2011
A prominent opponent of the planned mosque and community centre at New York’s Ground Zero has apologized to Canadian teen singing sensation Justin Bieber for being taken in by a hoax about a purported interview the singer never gave.
Andy Sullivan, a Brooklyn construction worker who created the 9-11 Hard Hat Pledge under which labourers pledge not to help build the planned mosque and community centre, posted an apology to the Stratford, Ont.- born Bieber on his website Friday.
“It seems a wrong needs to be righted and the fault is my own,” Sullivan wrote on his blog at bluecollarcorner.com.
Earlier this year, Sullivan writes, he approved a Facebook group created by one of his volunteers that listed companies, groups and individuals who spoke out in support of the mosque/community centre project at the site where the World Trade Center towers crumbled to the ground after commercial planes crashed into them during the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
What Sullivan and his volunteers discovered — after Sullivan had given national interviews about his young children’s reaction to the news that their idol, Bieber, was a purported mosque supporter — was that the interview with Tiger Beat never happened and the post on Celeb Jihad was a hoax.
“I offer my most genuine apology to Justin Bieber, his family and fans,” Sullivan wrote on his blog. “If I have caused any grief or pain I am terribly sorry.”
Reading the disclaimer on Celeb Jihad’s website could have prevented Sullivan’s volunteer from buying into the hoax in the first place.
“CelebJihad.com is a satirical website containing published rumors, speculation, assumptions, opinions, fiction as well as factual information,” the disclaimer says. “Information on this site may or may not be true and is not meant to be taken as fact.”
In an e-mail to Salon, the proprietor of the website said the idea that some people were taking the post seriously “is hilariously depressing.”
different year same old same old
Perpetual War propaganda Lies and injustice
For murdering two people US soldier gets a light sentence of 9 months yes months not years-we can assume the families of the victims will get their usual gag fee of 5,000 dollars if the government and us military are in a generous mood.
US and British death squads
The US military is claiming it is investigating allegations of Death Squads made up of US soldiers. More than likely this will end up being another white wash in which they go after "a few bad apples" and not investigate further to see if there is in fact which many critics believe an environment conducive to such killings. From Gitmo to Abu Ghraib to Negropontis backed Shia Death Squads in Iraq and the evidence that the American military and possibly the White-house has in the past or still does encourage a rather cavalier attitude towards the killing of Iraqi or Afghanistan so called insurgents and innocent civilians. The attitude is that all of the people in these areas are seen as potential insurgents or terrorists.
It is difficult to separate out these issues as we hear those in authority in the US for instance calling for the incarceration and execution or assassination of Wikileaks' Julian Assange .
In America those who divulge the uncomfortable truths about its government and or its military establishment are called traitors and unAmerican. Meanwhile the likes of Glenn Beck and others in the media can spew their lies without any accountability .
Obama, Biden, Holder, Clinton are no longer spouting cliches about being on the side of the average American but rather have shown when it comes to any substantive criticisms of the the powers that be, the elites or the political establishment they will go to any lengths to demonize such critics and whistleblowers. This is doubly sad and surprising since Obama promised a more open and transparent administration. He also promised he would take steps to to end these disastrous wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. But it appears these were all part of his presidential campaign strategies and that those who took him seriously including the prsent writer were in fact naive to say the least.
Obama has done nothing to go after those in the Bush administration who broke various International Laws and agreement as well as American laws . The rule of law in America is merely a slogan and is applied unevenly and unfairly as those with power are exempt from these laws . So they are free to commit War Crimes and Crimes Against humanity with impunity.
The Obama administration like the Bush administration carries out its war on terror without any restraint ignoring the rule of law, morality or simple human decency. What else can one conclude when a drone is guided to an area where there may or may not be a few terrorists amongst a few hundred innocent civilians. The US attitude is that of the ancients that not knowing which are guilty and which are innocent that they believe in the end God will sort the mess out and thereby enforce Divine Justice. This is also the attitude of the terrorists like Bin Laden who also takes no responsibility for the killing of the innocent.
What's also interesting is that all those conservatives and the GOP and conservative democrats and their supporters are always calling for the death penalty in cases of murder but when it comes to the military US soldiers wantonly killing non-Americans there is rather a call for a light sentence or none or even calls to give such soldiers medals . American soldiers are considered to be outside of the rule of law for the most part except when there is pressure to make an example that is find a scape-goat in order to gloss over the military poor training, or poor record on screening those applying for military service or even more damaging a failure in the command structure or worse that these soldiers are merely putting into practice the written or unwritten rules of engagement.
US military investigates 'death squad' accused of murdering Afghans: Brigadier general to conduct review of 5th Stryker brigade as evidence emerges of widespread complicity in deaths by Chris McGreal Guardian.co.uk Dec. 29, 2010
The US military is investigating the leadership of an army brigade whose soldiers are accused of running a "kill team" that murdered Afghan civilians, as further evidence emerges of widespread complicity in the deaths.
A brigadier general is conducting a "top to bottom" review of the 5th Stryker brigade after five of its soldiers were committed for trial early next year charged with involvement in the murders of three Afghans and other alleged crimes including mutilating their bodies, and collecting fingers and skulls from corpses as trophies.
Among the issues under investigation is the failure of commanders to intervene when the alleged crimes were apparently widely spoken about among soldiers.
Staff Sergeant Calvin Gibbs, the alleged leader of what prosecutors have characterised as a death squad based in Kandahar province in southern Afghanistan, is accused of planning the alleged murders in which civilians were killed with hand grenades and guns and their deaths made to appear to be legitimate battlefield casualties. Gibbs, 26, has denied three charges of murder and other crimes.
Four other soldiers are charged with involvement in at least one of the three murders over a five-month period this year. They include an army specialist, Adam Winfield, whose lawyer has released a Facebook chat between the soldier and his father, Christopher, that suggests many other soldiers in the brigade approved of the killings.
Earlier this month, one of the accused soldiers, Staff Sergeant Robert Stevens, reached a plea bargain with prosecutors in which he was convicted of aggravated assault over two killings and sentenced to nine months in prison after agreeing to testify against 10 other members of his unit. He also pleaded guilty to lying about these crimes and to dereliction of duty.
Stevens had faced charges that carried up to 19 years in prison.
as for Wikileaks and Julian Assange who should be treated as man of the year instead the US press taking the side of the ruling elite is still vilifying him and Wikileaks for daring to give the citizenry that which is its right that is the unvarnished truth cutting through the "Doublespeak" of those in authority .
What is sad and disturbing is how the Mainstream Media is complicit in defending and justifying the actions of the military and the government no matter how egregious. Many of those calling for Julian Assange's head are just upset that we the citizens are being given a glimpse at those who operate behind the curtain. "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain"
8 Smears and Misconceptions About WikiLeaks Spread By the Media
Shredding the corporate media's malicious attacks on WikiLeaks.
December 31, 2010 |
The corporate media's tendency to blare misinformation and outright fabrications has been particularly egregious in coverage of WikiLeaks. As Glenn Greenwald has argued, mainstream news outlets are
1. Fearmongering that WikiLeaks revelations will result in deaths. So far there's no evidence that WikiLeaks' revelations have cost lives. In fact, right before the cables were released, Pentagon officials admitted there were no documented instances of people being killed because of information exposed by WikiLeaks' previous document releases (and unlike the diplomatic cables, the Afghanistan files were unredacted)...
2. Spreading the lie that WikiLeaks posted all the cables. WikiLeaks has posted fewer than 2,000 of the 251,287 cables in its possession.
3. Falsely claiming that Assange has committed a crime regarding WikiLeaks. The State Department is working really hard to pin a crime on Julian Assange. The problem is that so far he doesn't appear to have broken any laws. Assange is not a U.S. citizen, he does not work for the U.S. government, and the documents WikiLeaks posted were procured by someone else. As Greenwald has repeatedly pointed out, it's not against the law to publish classified U.S. government information. If it were, hundreds of journalists would be in prison right now.
4. Denying that WikiLeaks is a journalistic enterprise. Public officials and pundits continue to claim that WikiLeaks is not a journalistic outlet, even though it procured the scoop of a decade
8. Minimizing the significance of the cables. Even though only a tiny fraction of the cables have been released, many critics promote the idea that they reveal "nothing new" and are therefore of no value. But even the cables released so far have contained important revelations about the U.S. and its allies.
...The Walkley Foundation, an institution of journalism in Assange’s home of Australia, put it more succinctly in its own letter of support for WikiLeaks: “To aggressively attempt to shut WikiLeaks down, to threaten to prosecute those who publish official leaks, and to pressure companies to cease doing commercial business with WikiLeaks, is a serious threat to democracy, which relies on a free and fearless press.”
Here are just a few of the stories revealed by the documents:
-- U.S. special forces working inside Pakistan
-- UK agreed to shield U.S. interests in Iraq probe
-- Secret bombings of Yemen
-- State Department role in the Honduran coup
-- U.S. pressured Spain to drop Bush torture probe
-- U.S. sought to retaliate against Europe over refusing to allow Monsanto GM crops
-- Drug Enforcement Agency goes global, beyond drugs
-- Shell's grip on the Nigerian state
The promise that the next release will target a U.S. bank, and that it will have an effect similar to the Enron disclosures, according to Assange, certainly portends that the trove of information we haven’t yet seen could be explosive. And that is incredibly valuable to the American public.
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