As difficult as [the Iraq war] was, I think the price has been worth it, to establish a stable government in a very important region of the world. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta
see: Propagandizing for Perpetual War
Are Our Rulers Stupid, or Do They Think We’re Stupid? by Mike Lofgren CounterPunch via Commondreams.org, December 20, 2011
#OWS Update:
Corporations, Lobbyists, Wall Street still in control of America's wealth and its quisling greedy Washington Legislators including the White House.
The Corporations That Occupy Congress
by David Cay Johnston Reuters via Commondreams.org, December 20, 2011
Some of the biggest companies in the United States have been firing workers and in some cases lobbying for rules that depress wages at the very time that jobs are needed, pay is low, and the federal budget suffers from a lack of revenue.
Meanwhile Egypt's military rulers continue their violent and brutal crackdown on protesters at Tahrir Square . Opposition accuses Egypt's military and police of using torture to get false confessions from those incarcerated. So far not much has changed since the ousting of Mubarak.
Egypt Uses 'Startling' Amount of Firepower in Charge on Tahrir by Mohamed Fadel Fahmy at CNN, December 20, 2011
Cairo -- Egyptian security forces wielding batons, firearms and tear gas attacked defiant protesters Tuesday on the fifth consecutive day of clashes in Cairo's Tahrir Square, witnesses told CNN.
...Demonstrators and security forces have been battling since Friday in Tahrir, the epicenter of the uprising that brought down Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak earlier this year. At least 14 deaths in the latest spate of violence were confirmed as of Monday.
The shocking images of brutality that went viral across the Internet intensified the crisis in Egypt, the world's most populous Arab nation. One video showed a military police officer stomping on a woman's exposed stomach over the weekend, a video that sparked outrage.
A "Million Woman" demonstration was planned for Tuesday afternoon in the square to protest the military's treatment of female demonstrators.
Navi Pillay, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, released a statement Monday condemning what she called "vicious" and "brutal" assaults filmed over the weekend.
"The ruthless violence being used against unarmed women protesters is especially shocking and cannot be left unpunished," Pillay said.
...The military displayed videos of young boys who confessed that they received money from men who asked them to throw Molotov cocktails and rocks at security forces and burn government buildings such as the Cabinet. Many journalists attending the news conference applauded Gen. Adel Amar after his speech.
"The military fabricated these videos and forced the young boys to give these testimonials. They also invited local military correspondents loyal to the establishment that were seen clapping away after the press conference, which was broadcast live on state TV. It is a propaganda move to bury the revolution and portray us as paid thugs with no political horizon," Shath added
Another blow to America's reputation as the EU bans the sale of drugs used in US executions as a means to get US authorities to reconsider the use of capitol punishment.
Europe Moves to Block Trade in Medical Drugs Used in US Executions New export controls will further limit the ability of states already facing severe shortages of sedatives used to kill prisoners
by Ed Pilkington at The Guardian U.K., December 20, 2011
The European Commission has imposed tough new restrictions on the export of anaesthetics used to execute people in the US, in a move that will exacerbate the already extreme shortage of the drugs in many of the 34 states that still practice the death penalty.
also check out:
Tea Party to America: Merry Christmas, Screw You WASHINGTON from Agenda Project- December 20, 2011
- If you are avoiding politics right now in order to maintain your holiday cheer, please forgive me, but House Republicans are in the process of dropping a $1500 lump of coal/tax hike in the stockings of 160 million Americans and I thought you should know about it.
A few minutes ago - in a move that will cost the average American household $1500 - House Republicans rejected a plan to extend the payroll tax holiday for regular Americans for two months. In a pathetically obvious move to limit the political consequences of the vote, they called for a conference committee which would try to facilitate a ‘compromise’ with the Senate which passed the tax holiday extension by an 89-10 vote.
Tis the Season to Be Jolly on Wall Street, Still by Sam Pizzigati IPSBlog via CommonDreams,December 9, 2011
Financial industry insiders are grousing about a big downturn in annual bonuses. They should be thanking the rest of us - bombshell new research shows - for their continuing awesome good tidings.
Wall Street’s power suits aren’t humming along, this December, with all the holiday jingles. Bankers, traders, and law firm partners are quite frankly feeling kind of foul. End-of-year Wall Street bonuses, experts predict, are going to be down from 2010 levels — by as much, on average, as 35 percent.
Bonuses might be reduced, but at $1.8 million on average, there's still plenty to be jolly about in Wall Street. Photo by Benjamin Dumas.
Total 2011 pay for the typical bond-trading managing director at a top Wall Street securities firm will likely be off, says analyst Michael Karp, nearly 40 percent.
Un-Happy Holidays for Seniors and the Disabled – Here’s Your Donut by Donna Smith, CommonDreams.org, December 20, 2011
It isn’t sugar plums dancing in their dreams for America’s seniors and disabled who are covered by the Medicare program. It’s donuts. Donut holes into which many fall at this time of the year as they reach the maximum limits of the first tier of “Part D” prescription drug benefits.
...I’d write shame-shame, but I’d say they’re a little beyond shame, wouldn’t you? Someday when we finally reach the point where a progressively financed, single standard of high quality care is guaranteed for all, we won’t leave our seniors and the disabled worried and upset for the holidays. Perhaps we’ll decide to honor them a bit more than what we have so far.
In the meantime, this holiday season if you know someone who relies on some combination of Medicare and supplemental benefits to help with their medical costs, ask if they need some help. Because many of them cannot join up out at “Occupy” sites and weigh in that way (though I’ll bet many would if they could) and because the people they elected to protect them aren’t too interested in this issue right now as they rush to get home for the holidays. Seniors and the disabled who have slipped into the donut hole aren’t on the radar this year – at least not until it’s turn-out-the-vote time.
and so it goes,
GORD.
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