#OWS UPDATE: Occupy Movement : " Finding Freedom in Handcuffs " by Chris Hedges & Western Hypocrisy

Updated edited 10:13 PM November 8, 2011.
& Technical difficulties now resolved-
OWS UPDATE:

OWS - This is Just the Beginning




'Police brutality big problem in US, Riot Cops Looking For a Fight'





While the wealthy steal from the rest of society the military Machine which is their Praetorian guard keeps on bombing and killing to ensure their power and to increase their wealth. We are told that the natural resources don't belong to the citizens of any particular nation but rather to the Corporations and the wealthy elite.
These wealthy and powerful hypocrites bow their heads in prayer claiming God as they characterize God as on the side of the rich and powerful and not on the side of the 99%.
Why is it that these hypocrites such as Obama, Hilary Clinton, Biden or our PM Harper are never called upon for their hypocrisy and their dismissive attitude towards the central message of Jesus . These greedy soulless creatures merely use religion to benefit themselves to hide their greed and avarice and their lust for blood .
We can just easily make the same argument about the leaders and the elite in Muslim countries the elite are only concerned with amassing more wealth and power.
The Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H.) would be rather critical of those who amass wealth at the expense of their fellow citizens. Muhammad was very much concerned about the welfare of the poor, the orphans, the widows and insisted on the creation of a "Just Society". But like many of those who call themselves Christians many who call themselves Muslims cherry pick which parts of the teachings of either Prophet they will abide by -that is any teaching which is critical of their desires they will reject.
The religion they appeal to may differ from country to country but in the end they will twist that religion's message to suit their desires.


Isn't it hypocrisy for our society to teach the young that bullying is wrong and yet we support the US governments and its bullying of the rest of the world.
Isn't it hypocrisy to demonize some nation's leader such as Gaddafi for incarcerating dissidents and to abuse and torture priosners when all these injustices also take place in the name of America , Democracy and freedom.
Isn't it hypocrisy to condemn terrorism while we in the West terrorize the rest of the world's population as if it were our God given right.
Isn't it hypocrisy to tell nations they must respect the civil and human rights of citizens when in fact these rights are trampled upon by the USA and other Western Nations-ie the over militarized response to the Occupy Movement or the passage of draconian authoritarian laws such as the Patriot Act
Isn't it hypocrisy to incarcerate whistleblower Bradley Manning or to pursue locking up Julianne Assange of Wikileaks for revealing the truth while the US condemns Gaddafi or others for shutting down their critics and dissidents.
Isn't it hypocrisy to claim to be in favor of democracy and civil and human rights by giving moral and material support to ruthless brutal regimes such as Saudi Arabia, Bahrain , Yemen, Uzbekistan or Israel's Apartheid state where the people are gunned down for daring to protest and to speak out.
Isn't it hypocrisy to claim as President Obama does to be on the people's side and yet over and over again to side with the 1% against the 99%

After being arrested last week Chris Hedges has written a moving and passionate article praising the Occupy Movement . As he points out the elites the 1% in America and the West and elsewhere are trained and conditioned to believe that their desire for higher profits and more and more personal wealth are heartless automoton's who have no concern that their actions and the policies they insist governments follow leave millions dead from war and famine .For instance instead of puttin billions of dollars into easing the situation of the poor they prefer to go to war to extend their ownership and to increase their profits at the expense of the 99%

Chris Hedges argues that the Occupy Movement must move beyond its encampments and stage more marches and protest into other parts of each city or town and even into Suburbia and especially the richest neighborhoods. The protests and marches must also engage in various forms of peaceful Civil Disobedience shutting down streets and bridges for example from New York to Seattle to Oakland from Washington DC to Dallas Texas.To put it one way if our cause is just then we shouldn't back down and not be stifled in our right to peacefully protest and to speak out .

This essay by Chris Hedges is I think important and hopefully will reenvigotrate the struggle of the 99% against wars of choice such as that in Iraq, Afghanistan , Libya ,Pakistan and soon to be in Iran and Syria.
Why should millions die or be left maimed and mentally scarred by unnecessary wars fought to expand the American Empire or to increase the wealth of the elites who like the pirates they are strip the earth of all they can to increase their profits.


Finding Freedom in Handcuffs
by Chris Hedges at Truthdig via Common Dreams .org, November 8, 2011

(Editor’s note: Truthdig columnist Chris Hedges, an activist, an author and a member of a reporting team that won a 2002 Pulitzer Prize, wrote this article after he was released from custody following his arrest last Thursday. He and about 15 other participants in the Occupy Wall Street movement were detained as they protested outside the global headquarters of Goldman Sachs in lower Manhattan.)

Faces appeared to me moments before the New York City police arrested us Thursday in front of Goldman Sachs. They were not the faces of the smug Goldman Sachs employees, who peered at us through the revolving glass doors and lobby windows, a pathetic collection of middle-aged fraternity and sorority members. They were not the faces of the blue-uniformed police with their dangling cords of white and black plastic handcuffs, or the thuggish Goldman Sachs security personnel, whose buzz cuts and dead eyes reminded me of the East German secret police, the Stasi. They were not the faces of the demonstrators around me, the ones with massive student debts and no jobs, the ones whose broken dreams weigh them down like a cross, the ones whose anger and betrayal triggered the street demonstrations and occupations for justice. They were not the faces of the onlookers—the construction workers, who seemed cheered by the march on Goldman Sachs, or the suited businessmen who did not. They were faraway faces.

They were the faces of children dying. They were tiny, confused, bewildered faces I had seen in the southern Sudan, Gaza and the slums of Brazzaville, Nairobi, Cairo and Delhi and the wars I covered. They were faces with large, glassy eyes, above bloated bellies. They were the small faces of children convulsed by the ravages of starvation and disease.


I carry these faces. They do not leave me. I look at my own children and cannot forget them, these other children who never had a chance. War brings with it a host of horrors, including famine, but the worst is always the human detritus that war and famine leave behind, the small, frail bodies whose tangled limbs and vacant eyes condemn us all. The wealthy and the powerful, the ones behind the glass at Goldman Sachs, laughed and snapped pictures of us as if we were a brief and odd lunchtime diversion from commodities trading, from hoarding and profit, from this collective sickness of money worship, as if we were creatures in a cage, which in fact we soon were.


A glass tower filled with people carefully selected for the polish and self-assurance that come with having been formed in institutions of privilege, whose primary attributes are a lack of consciousness, a penchant for deception and an incapacity for empathy or remorse. The curious onlookers behind the windows and we, arms locked in a circle on the concrete outside, did not speak the same language. Profit. Globalization. War. National security. These are the words they use to justify the snuffing out of tiny lives, acts of radical evil. Goldman Sachs’ commodities index is the most heavily traded in the world. Those who trade it have, by buying up and hoarding commodities futures, doubled and tripled the costs of wheat, rice and corn. Hundreds of millions of poor across the globe are going hungry to feed this mania for profit. The technical jargon, learned in business schools and on trading floors, effectively mask the reality of what is happening—murder. These are words designed to make systems operate, even systems of death, with a cold neutrality. Peace, love and all sane affirmative speech in temples like Goldman Sachs are, as W.H. Auden understood, “soiled, profaned, debased to a horrid mechanical screech.”


We seemed to have lost, at least until the advent of the Occupy Wall Street movement, not only all personal responsibility but all capacity for personal judgment. Corporate culture absolves all of responsibility. This is part of its appeal. It relieves all from moral choice. There is an unequivocal acceptance of ruling principles such as unregulated capitalism and globalization as a kind of natural law. The steady march of corporate capitalism requires a passive acceptance of new laws and demolished regulations, of bailouts in the trillions of dollars and the systematic looting of public funds, of lies and deceit. The corporate culture, epitomized by Goldman Sachs, has seeped into our classrooms, our newsrooms, our entertainment systems and our consciousness. This corporate culture has stripped us of the right to express ourselves outside of the narrowly accepted confines of the established political order. It has turned us into compliant consumers. We are forced to surrender our voice. These corporate machines, like fraternities and sororities, also haze new recruits in company rituals, force them to adopt an unrelenting cheerfulness, a childish optimism and obsequiousness to authority. These corporate rituals, bolstered by retreats and training seminars, by grueling days that sometimes end with initiates curled up under their desks to sleep, ensure that only the most morally supine remain. The strong and independent are weeded out early so only the unquestioning advance upward. Corporate culture serves a faceless system. It is, as Hannah Arendt writes, “the rule of nobody and for this very reason perhaps the least human and most cruel form of rulership.”


Our political class, and its courtiers on the airwaves, insists that if we refuse to comply, if we step outside of the Democratic Party, if we rebel, we will make things worse. This game of accepting the lesser evil enables the steady erosion of justice and corporate plundering. It enables corporations to harvest the nation and finally the global economy, reconfiguring the world into neofeudalism, one of masters and serfs. This game goes on until there is hardly any action carried out by the power elite that is not a crime. It goes on until corporate predators, who long ago decided the nation and the planet were not worth salvaging, seize the last drops of wealth. It goes on until moral acts, such as calling for those inside the corporate headquarters of Goldman Sachs to be tried, see you jailed, and the crimes of financial fraud and perjury are upheld as lawful and rewarded by the courts, the U.S. Treasury and the Congress. And all this is done so a handful of rapacious, immoral plutocrats like Lloyd Blankfein, the CEO of Goldman Sachs who sucks down about $250,000 a day and who lied to the U.S. Congress as well as his investors and the public, can use their dirty money to retreat into their own Forbidden City or Versailles while their underlings, basking in the arrogance of power, snap amusing photos of the rabble outside their gates being hauled away by the police and company goons.


It is vital that the occupation movements direct attention away from their encampments and tent cities, beset with the usual problems of hastily formed open societies where no one is turned away. Attention must be directed through street protests, civil disobedience and occupations toward the institutions that are carrying out the assaults against the 99 percent. Banks, insurance companies, courts where families are being foreclosed from their homes, city offices that put these homes up for auction, schools, libraries and firehouses that are being closed, and corporations such as General Electric that funnel taxpayer dollars into useless weapons systems and do not pay taxes, as well as propaganda outlets such as the New York Post and its evil twin, Fox News, which have unleashed a vicious propaganda war against us, all need to be targeted, shut down and occupied. Goldman Sachs is the poster child of all that is wrong with global capitalism, but there are many other companies whose degradation and destruction of human life are no less egregious.


It is always the respectable classes, the polished Ivy League graduates, the prep school boys and girls who grew up in Greenwich, Conn., or Short Hills, N.J., who are the most susceptible to evil. To be intelligent, as many are at least in a narrow, analytical way, is morally neutral. These respectable citizens are inculcated in their elitist enclaves with “values” and “norms,” including pious acts of charity used to justify their privilege, and a belief in the innate goodness of American power. They are trained to pay deference to systems of authority. They are taught to believe in their own goodness, unable to see or comprehend—and are perhaps indifferent to—the cruelty inflicted on others by the exclusive systems they serve. And as norms mutate and change, as the world is steadily transformed by corporate forces into one of a small cabal of predators and a vast herd of human prey, these elites seamlessly replace one set of “values” with another. These elites obey the rules. They make the system work. And they are rewarded for this. In return, they do not question.


Those who resist—the doubters, outcasts, renegades, skeptics and rebels—rarely come from the elite. They ask different questions. They seek something else—a life of meaning. They have grasped Immanuel Kant’s dictum, “If justice perishes, human life on Earth has lost its meaning.” And in their search they come to the conclusion that, as Socrates said, it is better to suffer wrong than to do wrong. This conclusion is rational, yet cannot be rationally defended. It makes a leap into the moral, which is beyond rational thought. It refuses to place a monetary value on human life. It acknowledges human life, indeed all life, as sacred. And this is why, as Arendt points out, the only morally reliable people when the chips are down are not those who say “this is wrong,” or “this should not be done,” but those who say “I can’t."


There are streaks in my lungs, traces of the tuberculosis that I picked up around hundreds of dying Sudanese during the famine I covered as a foreign correspondent. I was strong and privileged and fought off the disease. They were not and did not. The bodies, most of them children, were dumped into hastily dug mass graves. The scars I carry within me are the whispers of these dead. They are the faint marks of those who never had a chance to become men or women, to fall in love and have children of their own. I carried these scars to the doors of Goldman Sachs. I had returned to living. Those whose last breaths had marked my lungs had not. I placed myself at the feet of these commodity traders to call for justice because the dead, and those who are dying in slums and refugee camps across the planet, could not make this journey. I see their faces. They haunt me in the day and come to me in the dark. They force me to remember. They make me choose sides. As the metal handcuffs were fastened around my wrists I thought of them, as I often think of them, and I said to myself: “Free at last. Free at last. Thank God almighty I am free at last.”


© 2011 TruthDig.com

also see:
The Pressure Is On: Thousands Encircle White House, Tell Obama to Reject Keystone Pipeline by Mike Ludwig at Truthout, November 7, 2011

#OWS Occupy Wall Street Movement & Afghan Gov't Critical of US Occupation & Obama On board For War Against Iran

Press TV has made an informative  Documentary about movement  .
Obama and his warmongers getting ready to go to war against Iraq and Syria and more.
Afghan government and its people want the US to leave asap
Obama and NATO's War Crimes and Crimes against humanity in its bombing of Libya and supporting the Rebels who are no better or possibly worse than the Gaddafi Regime.

Behind the scenes of OWS-INfocus-11-06-2011
PressTVGlobalNews

Uploaded by PressTVGlobalNews on Nov 7, 2011
http://www.presstv.com/Program/208834.html


Occupy Wall Street has just celebrated its 30th day in the park. On Saturday, it inspired solidarity actions in 1000 cities and that is considered as an incredible achievement.


We have heard a lot about what they stand for but not how they organized to make this happen.


This occupation runs like a village with lots of participation from a diverse group of articulate people.


"Behind the scenes of occupy Wall Street is an organization that is pretty invisible. It is decentralized, it's bottom up and it's organized into working committees," editor of the Mediachannel.org, Danny Schechter says.


In this edition of the show we will take you behind the scenes of Occupy Wall Street to show you how it all works.

What Humbug! What Rot! What False Pretense!by Eugene Debs June 16, 1918 via Information Clearing House November 2011

The following are excerpts taken from Eugene Debs, Anti-War Speech given at Canton, Ohio June 16, 1918 -
By Eugene Debs

"They tell us that we live in a great free republic; that our institutions are democratic; that we are a free and self-governing people. This is too much, even for a joke. But it is not a subject for levity; it is an exceedingly serious matter. "


"These are the gentry who are today wrapped up in the American flag, who shout their claim from the housetops that they are the only patriots, and who have their magnifying glasses in hand, scanning the country for evidence of disloyalty, eager to apply the brand of treason to the men who dare to even whisper their opposition to Junker rule in the United Sates. No wonder Sam Johnson declared that “patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel.” He must have had this Wall Street gentry in mind, or at least their prototypes, for in every age it has been the tyrant, the oppressor and the exploiter who has wrapped himself in the cloak of patriotism, or religion, or both to deceive and overawe the people."


"Every solitary one of these aristocratic conspirators and would-be murderers claims to be an arch-patriot; every one of them insists that the war is being waged to make the world safe for democracy. What humbug! What rot! What false pretense! These autocrats, these tyrants, these red-handed robbers and murderers, the “patriots,” while the men who have the courage to stand face to face with them, speak the truth, and fight for their exploited victims—they are the disloyalists and traitors. If this be true, I want to take my place side by side with the traitors in this fight. "


"The feudal barons of the Middle Ages, the economic predecessors of the capitalists of our day, declared all wars. And their miserable serfs fought all the battles. The poor, ignorant serfs had been taught to revere their masters; to believe that when their masters declared war upon one another, it was their patriotic duty to fall upon one another and to cut one another’s throats for the profit and glory of the lords and barons who held them in contempt. And that is war in a nutshell. The master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles. The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject class has had nothing to gain and all to lose—especially their lives."


"The working class who fight all the battles, the working class who make the supreme sacrifices, the working class who freely shed their blood and furnish the corpses, have never yet had a voice in either declaring war or making peace. It is the ruling class that invariably does both. They alone declare war and they alone make peace.


Yours not to reason why;
Yours but to do and die.


That is their motto and we object on the part of the awakening workers of this nation.


If war is right let it be declared by the people. You who have your lives to lose, you certainly above all others have the right to decide the momentous issue of war or peace. "

Go to link at top to read the rest.
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Afghanistan wants the US to begin handing over country's security etc. to Afghans.
Washington some what disingenuously claims to be concerned over the reatment of prisoners by the Afghan authorities. This is odd since it was the US under George Bush that made torture and the abuse of prisoners legal and pervasive by the US intelligence and its military. Now they appear to want to put that evil Genie back in the lamp when it is now too late. Given the US attitude towards POWs why shouldn't Afghans or whomever also abuse and torture prisoners.

" Night raids, prison control stymie US-Afghan deal " by Susan Cornwell,Reuters , November 4, 2011

* Karzai wants night raids on homes stopped
* Washington worries about human rights in Afghan jails


WASHINGTON, Nov 4 (Reuters) - A U.S.-Afghan strategic partnership agreement is being held up by Afghan demands for limits on "night raids" against insurgents and for a timeline for Afghans to assume control over detention centers, sources following the talks told Reuters.


Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said last week that the two nations had agreed on as much as 90 percent of the substance of the keystone deal. It is intended to provide a framework for the future U.S. role in Afghanistan as control over security is gradually transferred to the Afghans.


While U.S. officials had hoped to unveil the document for an international conference in Germany on Dec. 5, disputes over controversial night raids on Afghan homes and the running of detention centers could delay it well beyond that date, congressional staff who follow the issue say.


...The sticking points are more evidence of strains in the U.S.-Afghan relationship as Western combat forces start leaving. Afghan President Hamid Karzai has repeatedly criticized Western military tactics and said recently that Afghanistan would back neighboring Pakistan if it went to war with the United States.


Under an international agreement reached last year, local Afghan forces are to be in charge of security by the end of 2014, as Western forces withdraw. Thirty-three thousand of nearly 100,000 U.S. troops will leave by next September...

and on the hated Night raids and abuse and torture of POWS incarcerated in Afghan run prisoners Washington and NATO raise their concerns. But if NATO wanted to abide by International Lawin the treatment of POW's they should have refused to hand over any POWs to US personnel which also abuses and tortures prisoners though the US has merely glossed over accusations of torture through its legal veneer and arguments over semantics -ie definitions of torture.

...HATED MILITARY TACTIC


Night raids, in which soldiers search Afghan homes for militants under the cover of darkness, have long been one of the most hated foreign military tactics in Afghanistan. Karzai has repeatedly denounced them and pushed for them to be halted altogether.


Many western military commanders see them as an important tool against the Taliban and other insurgents, however.


But some of the raids are led by Afghan forces. Afghan commanders must sign off on all raids, Afghan forces are often present for them and lead at least 25 percent of the raids, according to a recent report by the Open Society Foundations, which is backed by philanthropist George Soros, and The Liaison Office, a Kabul-based nongovernmental organization.


U.S. officials want to make transfer of authority over detention centers in Afghanistan "conditions-based," the congressional staffer said. In particular, they want to make sure detainees now held by foreign forces will be properly treated when they are transferred to Afghan control.


NATO has already stopped sending prisoners to some Afghan jails because of U.N. warnings of torture there.

President Obama authorized war of Aggression against Libya claiming it was launched for humanitarian reasons which just nonsense or popycock or pure BS.
.
The US/NATO forces and the rebels they supported committed various war crimes and crimes against humanity . For instance heavily bombing non-military targets to terrorize the Libyan people so they would side with the US/NATO/Rebels in order to stop the bombings. Meanwhile the city of Sirte which was not just being bombed but was under siege including a blockade to stop not just military supplies getting into the city but also food and humanitarian aid. Ah well this is just another War Crime for President Obama to be proud of and to prove he's willing to kill and slaughter just like the Bush/Cheney Regime did. Gaddafi was not a real or imminent threat to the US . Gaddafi made the mistake of using the country's wealth to help out the people of Libya in general and not just the elite or foreign investors . In other words US corporations could not do as they please in Libya and this was not appreciated by US & European based corporations that is the 1% who are not supposed to be regulated in any way shape or form.

We also know that the rebels in Libya have committed various massacre, assassinations or summary executions ie the murder of Gaddafi and they have been accused of terrorizing civilians who appeared to side with Gaddafi . But Obama and Hilary Clinton say that's ok because the rebels were the good guys and so whatever they have done or will do is therefore good.

The Lynching in Libya By Iftekhar A Khan November 05, 2011 "Information Clearing House"

-- British writer and political thinker George Orwell died at 46. In the short span of his writing life, he left behind lucid pieces of prose in which he articulated his brilliant political thought. Had he lived longer, the world would have been further enriched by his political philosophy. In his essay “Shooting an Elephant,” Orwell wrote, “When the white man turns tyrant, it is his own freedom that he destroys.” After having launched unprovoked wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the white man has now inflicted tyranny on Libya.

Before finally murdering Libyan leader Col Muammar Qaddafi together with his son as they fled the town of Sirte on Oct 20, and then having put their bloodied, rotting bodies on display, the US-led Nato forces had been bombing and systematically destroying Libya for nine months with the specific objective of regime change. According to Barack Obama, the war in Iraq was of choice, in Afghanistan of necessity and in Libya simply to change regime. As renowned documentary filmmaker John Pilger said of Obama, “The son of Africa claims a continent’s crown jewels.” That was the title of his article on Oct 26 on Obama’s thrust into Libya and then Uganda. Obama announced on Oct 14 that he was dispatching US Special Forces to join the civil war in that county.

NATO particularly focused on destroying Sirte, Qaddafi’s hometown with a population of 100,000. For months, thousands of citizens were trapped without food and medicines while they faced bombardment by American, British and French aircraft round the clock. Consequently, many thousands were killed, but the mainstream Western media remained shamelessly silent.

As Qaddafi and his retinue left the city in a small convoy, the vehicles were spotted by American AWACS aircraft, which in turn called in French fighter jets that bombed them. The Libyan leader was seriously wounded in the raid. Soon the so-called rebels “liberating” Libya caught up with him. One of them, Sanad al-Sadek al-Ureibi, claimed to have shot Qaddafi twice, hitting him in the head and the chest. But before being murdered, Qaddafi was humiliated and brutally beaten - and according to Seaumus Milne’s Guardian article (Oct 26), even sodomised with a knife.

Would the International Criminal Court in The Hague reconsider who deserves to be tried for war crimes, Qaddafi posthumously, or his tormentors, and all those who perpetrated the genocide of the people of a country? The barbarity has removed the thin mask of civility from the face of Western civilisation. Rest well, Orwell: your observation stays valid.

Meanwhile the Obama administration and NATO are revving up the Propaganda against Iran. Obama wants to prove he is as blood thirsty as Bush and Cheney.
Unfortunately the American public will probably fall for these lies and fabrications and the exaggerations about Iran's threat to the US or to the Middle East especially the American allies Saudi Arabia and Israel.
For instance there are still millions of Americans who erroneously believe Saddam was involved in the 9/11 attacks and had massive stockpiles WMDs which by the way he didn't. The nation of Iraq was in tatters by the time the US attacked it unprovoked in 2003.

Engineering Consent For Attack On Iran IAEA: Iran Had Model of Nuclear Warhead By Associated Press November 06, 2011 "AP" -- VIENNA

The UN atomic agency plans to reveal intelligence this week suggesting Iran made computer models of a nuclear warhead and other previously undisclosed details on alleged secret work by Tehran on nuclear arms.

  Vicious Triangle Forming Against Iran By Ismail Salami November 05, 2011 "Press TV" via Information Clearing House

 --  In recent days, there has been a vociferous interest in Israel, the US and the UK in fanning the flames of Iranophobia in what observers see as a political red herring to engage in a catastrophic war in the Middle East.
The trio, which constitute a vicious triangle in their roguishly Iranophobic endeavors, have manifestly held secret meetings among the top security officials and formed a united front against Iran.
A recent report by The Guardian has revealed that British Chief of Defense Staff Gen. David Richards visited Tel Aviv secretly during the week, held a number of meetings with top Israeli military and intelligence officials and reassured them of Britain's unwavering support in case of an attack on Iran's nuclear sites. Further to that, the British officials revealed that the US government was mulling accelerating plans for targeted attacks on the country's nuclear sites and that Britain was prepared to be part of the plan for a possible attack.
Interestingly enough, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak arrived in London on Wednesday to hold talks with his British counterpart, with Iran of course to top the agenda. The importance of these meetings is that Britain's senior military official had not visited Israel for a decade. So, the recent meetings indicate the cementing security and military ties between the two countries.
Only recently, a senior US military official addressing a forum in Washington said that Iran had become the biggest threat to the United States. “The biggest threat to the United States and to our interests and to our friends … has come into focus and it's Iran.”
Coincidentally (how so?), on the same day (Friday), Israel's president Shimon Peres also stated something virtually to the same effect, saying that the military option to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons was nearer.
When asked by Channel Two News if events were moving toward to a military option rather than a diplomatic one, Peres replied, “I believe so, I estimate that intelligence services of all these countries are looking at the ticking clock, warning leaders that there is not much time left.”
In this regard, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, a pea in the pod, graced a G-20 summit of world leaders in France with his pithy words, “Iran's behavior and this obsessional desire to acquire nuclear military (capability) is in violation of all international rules. … If Israel's existence were threatened, France would not stand idly by.”
The trio (excluding France) have stepped up their rhetoric against the Islamic Republic of Iran. Threat is not a new word to Iran and the country is prepared for the worst and as Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi has said on the sidelines of a news conference in the Libyan city of Benghazi, “The US has unfortunately lost wisdom and prudence in dealing with international issues. It depends only on power. They have lost rationality; we are prepared for the worst but we hope they will think twice before they put themselves on a collision course with Iran.”

and so it goes,
GORD.

#OWS Lessons From " It's A Wonderful Life" & Wikileaks Needs Your Help & Manufacturing Consent For War With Syria & Iran

Learning some lessons about the propaganda machine of the financial establishment and the 1% from the movie "It's a Wonderful Life"
This is a film that every year is viewed by millions during the Christmas Holidays and yet few people take its message seriously. In the same way the elite and the citizens are able to ignore that film's message they also reject any part of the underlying message of Jesus when it undermine their avarice , greed, and the accumulation of gold and money by which they judge their neighbors and themselves.
The upper classes tend to downplay for instance Jesus' anger at the money changers at the Temple in Jerusalem because it does not fit into their ideology of Unfettered de-regulated Monopolistic Capitalism.

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Move Your Money Away From Big Banks Like George Bailey In ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’
By Zaid Jilani on Nov 4, 2011

Tomorrow is “Bank Transfer Day,” a day on which 99 Percent activists are calling for Americans to take their money out of big banks and other similar financial institutions and instead use credit unions and local community banks. As ThinkProgress reported yesterday, an estimated 650,000 Americans joined credit unions between Sept. 29 — the day Bank of America announced its now-aborted debit card fee — and the beginning of November. That’s 50,000 more people than joined credit unions in the entirety of 2010.

Americans who are considering making the move themselves should not hesitate. Moving your money is far from a radical step, and it is utilizing the free market and consumer choice to decide who should be successful in the market. In fact, the idea moving money away from greedy large financial institutions to local community banks actually has a place in American history.

The classic American film It’s A Wonderful Life starring James Stewart depicts the struggles of George Bailey, a middle class husband and father. At one point in the film, the greedy bank run by Henry Potter denies Bailey and others loans they need to get by while engaging in outrageous practices himself. “These people have children,” relates one of the townsfolk to Potter. “They’re not my children!” Potter replies. To resolve Bailey’s crisis, the townsfolk pool their money to get around Potter, effectively creating their own community banking system.

A group of activists and documentary filmmaker Eugene Jarecki produced a short film called Move Your Money in 2009 that used the plot of It’s A Wonderful Life to inspire Americans to be like Bailey and reject banks run by people like Potter. Watch it:

MOVE YOUR MONEY
From: moveyourmoneyproject
For more, go to http://moveyourmoney.info

Meanwhile the elites and the establishment and the Mainstream Media echo chamber are still involved in their shameful attacks on the whistleblower site Wikileaks and Julianne Assange.
And what is Wikileaks crime revealing the truth about America and other nations and how they lie and deceive their own citizens so that the elites can do what they please.
The citizens are according to the elite not supposed to question their governments their intelligence services their military but are to accept reality as it is shaped by those in power including the Obama Regime and the 1% and their lackeys.

Donate WikiLeaks is under attack by the big financial services companies , but there are still ways you can beat them.

As a result of exposing U.S. embassies from around the world, five major US financial institutions, VISA, MasterCard, PayPal, Western Union and the Bank of America, have tried to economically strangle WikiLeaks The attack has blocked over 95% of our donations, costing tens of millions of dollars in lost revenue. The attack is entirely political. In fact, in the only formal review to occur, the US Treasury found that there were no lawful grounds to add WikiLeaks to financial blockade .

What Does it Cost to Change the World? from WikiLeaks on Vimeo.




NATO in effect has become part of the military arm of the American Empire which makes it more difficult to publicly criticize America's self-serving agenda because now those who disagree with this agenda are seen as not just anti-American but as anti-NATO and therefore anti-Western or anti-Europe and so forth.

Sole Military Super-Bloc: NATO Issues Daily Reprieves To The World By Rick Rozoff November 05, 2011 "Information Clearing House"

-- - On October 31 North Atlantic Treaty Organization chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen arrived in the Libyan capital of Tripoli at the end of seven full months of the military bloc’s war in the country and effused: “It’s great to be in Libya, free Libya.”
Like Scipio Africanus the Younger almost twenty-two centuries earlier in what is now Libya’s western neighbor Tunisia, then Carthage, Rasmussen planted the banner of a conquering power on the soil of North Africa. Perhaps NATO will grant Rasmussen, too, the honorific agnomen Africanus after the military bloc’s first war and first conquest on the continent.
While basking in the triumph of what Western commentators have celebrated as NATO’s first complete and uncontested military victory – “the most successful in Nato history” in Rasmussen’s words – in the Libyan capital, the secretary general was questioned by a reporter about plans to replicate the Libyan model in Syria and stated: “My answer is very short. NATO has no intention (to intervene) whatsoever. I can completely rule that out.”
However, to belie his claim he immediately added: “Having said that, I strongly condemn the crackdown on the civilian population in Syria. What has happened in Libya sends a clear signal. You cannot neglect the will of the people.”
The 227-day war against Libya waged first by U.S. Africa Command from March 19-31 and thereafter by NATO is, according to the NATO chieftain, “a clear signal” to Syria, but “NATO has no intention” to commence military actions against Syria. Scant assurance to the nation’s government and populace alike, to be sure.
On the day Muammar Gaddafi was brutally killed, Senator John McCain, ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and presidential candidate in 2008, threatened the president of Syria, the prime minister of Russia and unnamed Chinese leaders with the less than eloquent admonition that they “got a reason to be uneasy” according to one account. He told the BBC on October 20: “I think dictators all over the world, including Bashar al-Assad, maybe even Mr. Putin, maybe some Chinese, maybe all of them, may be a little bit more nervous.” He repeated the parallel between Libya and Syria three days later while in Jordan.

 In other news the US and its allies are  revving up its propaganda Machine to manufacture consent for a war on Iran. Like Libya , Iraq etc. the USA is once again not above fabricating intel and forged documents to create the erroneous impression that Iran is an imminent threat to the USA , Israel and peace in the Middle East. Just more lies to justify America's hegemony around the globe.
Unfortunately the West is all too willing to believe the worst about Iran. The Americans and Western leaders and its mainstream Media Echo chamber has been involved in an ongoing campaign to demonize Iran since 1979 when the citizens of Iran ousted the American backed Shah of Iran. Once a country is demonized and made out tobe a danger to worl peace and security it is difficult to de-demonize such a country. But America wants more control over the nations of the world and will do whatever it needs to to insure its dominion.

Tehran accuses the US and its allies of being involved in a propaganda and disinformation campaign to justify an attack on Iran by the US or by Israel.

Americans fabricating documents, says Iran by ATUL ANEJA via The Hindu Novemeber 6, 2011

As their war of words heats up, Iran has accused the United States and its allies of adopting tactics including fabrication of documents to build a case against Tehran as they had done during the run-up to the Iraq war.


Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi, a former head of the country's atomic energy establishment, said at a Saturday press conference in Tehran the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which functions under the aegis of the United Nations, was succumbing to U.S. pressure. Mr. Salehi was responding to reports attributed to unnamed diplomats that the IAEA, next week, would release documents that would raise suspicions that Iran was actively pursuing atomic weapons, a charge that Tehran has staunchly and consistently denied.


Mr. Salehi signalled that the West was habituated to using fabricated documents, and referred specifically to the accusation ahead of the 2003-war against Iraq that it had sourced uranium from Niger to run a weapon-oriented nuclear programme...

The US and the West are not just gunning for Iran but other countries as well such as Syria which is seen as tied to Iranian interests.

Syria and Iran: The Great Game by Alastair Crooke The Guardian via Information Clearing House, November 5, 2011

Regime change in Syria is a strategic prize that outstrips Libya – which is why Saudi Arabia and the west are playing their part

--

This summer a senior Saudi official told John Hannah, Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, that from the outset of the upheaval in Syria, the king has believed that regime change would be highly beneficial to Saudi interests: "The king knows that other than the collapse of the Islamic Republic itself, nothing would weaken Iran more than losing Syria."
This is today's "great game" – losing Syria. And this is how it is played: set up a hurried transitional council as sole representative of the Syrian people, irrespective of whether it has any real legs inside Syria; feed in armed insurgents from neighbouring states; impose sanctions that will hurt the middle classes; mount a media campaign to denigrate any Syrian efforts at reform; try to instigate divisions within the army and the elite; and ultimately President Assad will fall – so its initiators insist.


Europeans, Americans and certain Gulf states may see the Syria "game" as the logical successor to the supposedly successful Libya game in moulding the Arab awakening towards a western cultural paradigm. In terms of regional politics however, Syria is strategically more valuable, and Iran knows this. Iran has said that it will respond to any external intervention in Syria.


It is already no "game", as the many killed by both sides attests to. The radical armed elements being used in Syria as auxiliaries to depose Assad run counter to the prospect of any outcome emerging within the western paradigm. These groups may well have a bloody and very undemocratic agenda of their own. I warned of this danger in connection to Afghanistan in the 80s: some of the Afghan mujahideen had real roots in the community, I suggested, but others posed a severe danger to people. A kindly American politician at the time placed his arm around my shoulder and told me not to worry: these were the people "kicking Soviet ass". We chose to look the other way because kicking the Soviets played well to US domestic needs. Today Europe looks the other way, refusing to consider who Syria's combat-experienced insurgents taking such a toll of Syrian security forces truly are, because losing Assad and confronting Iran plays so well, particularly at a time of domestic difficulty.

Chris Hedges Arrested at Protest & NYPD Directing troublemakers to OWS? Jon Stewart On Mainstream Media's Poor Coverage & Michelle Bachmann " Nuke Iran"???

Chris Hedges arrested

Keith Olbermann on Occupy Wall Street Movement

OWS: More footage of People's Hearing of Goldman Sachs including Chris Hedges and Cornel Westmunderlarkst
Uploaded by munderlarkst on Nov 5, 2011From Countdown with Keith Olbermann on 11/3/11. Cornel West, Chris Hedges and other protesters conduct a mock trial, aka 'people's hearing', of Goldman Sachs headquarters. Afterwards, they went to the Goldman Sachs headquarters to deliver they're guilty verdict where protesters, including Chris Hedges, were arrested. Of note, George W. Bush had been there the night before, as well. They held a mock trial as a symbolic gesture because financial executives haven't been tried for their manipulation of the market and stealing taxpayers money for the bailout.

Also: Go to 'Occupy Wall Street News and Videos' here: http://paper.li/f-1319837259 -- a daily paper to keep up with and support OWS movement! ; and visit my Youtube channel -- 'Munderlarkst' -- for more OWS-related videos! Thanks! -Munderlarkst

                       Celente : " Washington is Wall Street & Wall Street is Washington " 

Uploaded by MyWorldNewsOfficial on Nov 5, 2011
Occupy protesters demonstrate resilience to crackdowns and cynicism in the media but it is still unclear what lies ahead for the movement. While camping out and singing songs is one thing, getting the right politicians elected quite another. The movement is unified and people are waking up to the two-party dictatorship, and realizing that the political system does not represent them anymore.

The Young Turks -NYPD trying to undermine Occupy movement

Jon Stewart compares Occupy Movement & the Tea Party Movement.
Fox News , Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity suport the Tea party protests and argue that Americans have the right to protest.
But when the left and progressives protests suddenly these protesters are dimissed as crazy uniformed pot smoking hippies who should all be incarcerated - the Mainstream Media when not being dismissive see the Occupy movement as unAmerican or anti-American as NAZIs and or Fascist and as dangerous .
They reduce the economic, political and social issues and grievances raised by the Occupy movement to being anti-American and extremely anti-Capitalism.Most of those taking part in the Occupy movement mainly want the American people to have more of a say or input into the government.
They are concerned over the power of the corporations over government policies.
They believe the system has become corrupted and is broken.
They want more regulations to better control the lobbyists.
They want major substantive reforms to be instituted .
They are disenchanted and angry with most of the legislators whether Republican or Democrats.
They believe that Members of both parties have failed the 99% of Americans who are not rich.
They believe that the government main focus should not have been about bailing out banks and other financial or investment institutions.
They believe the main focus should have been on average American citizens to come up with various forms of debt relief for instance and on creating more jobs .

Jon Stewart criticizes media 's unbalanced coverage or non-existent coverage of the Occupy Movement.



And in related news from the War Party they want of course more war . So bomb Iran and  " let's get this party started."
The question is that after bombing the crap out of Libya does Obama need to do more to prove he is in fact deserving to the title of Commander in Chief or does he need to start another war to make sure he gets re-elected.  So Obama is as bad ass as Bush & Cheney. Just think of all the drone strikes he has authorized in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen and so on. Doesn't that prove he is a "Real Man" . Real Men like to kill and blow shit up.
Unfortunately for Obama Iran is no more a threat to the US than it was ten years ago. He and the hawkish members of his administration will I guess need to start up the propaganda Machine to sell another war to the American public and the world . After what has occurred with Gaddafi Obama now knows that NATO and the UN will kow tow to most of his whims.


Michelle Bachmann and others ginning up for war with Iran

Bachmann: Iran Threatened U.S. with Nukes 

Uploaded by TheYoungTurks on Oct 31, 2011GOP Presidential candidate Michele Bachmann makes a transparently false charge that Iran has threatened the U.S. and Israel with nuclear weapons it denies possessing.

and so it goes,
GORD.

Occupy Oakland General Strike A Beginning & Injured Iraq Vet Scott Olsen Advises Non-Violence & Libya: Gun Boat Diplomacy The U.S. Fog Of Propaganda

UPDATE: 8:40 PM

Has there ever been an empire that didn't tell itself and the world that it was unlike all other empires, that its mission was not to plunder and control but to enlighten and liberate?  Quote by William Blum referring to the American Empire.

I am torn between the hope of the Occupy movement and the untold suffering being caused by the Ever-Hungry  American Proto-Fascist War Machine that never seems satisfied.
Obama is just the newest American despot who wants to rule the world to make the world a better place for Unfettered de-regulated American Corporate Citizens-(SCOTUS Citizens United)
#OWS update
Even journalists are treated as the enemy by the police in Oakland and elsewhere.
So they are beginning to attack the press thereby undermining the freedom of the press.
Gaddafi not the monster that President Obama and the media made him out to be. See video De-Demonizing Gaddafi
And Why was Gaddafi tortured & then summarily executed
And why does Hillary Clinton view his brutal death as laughable.
American do like blowing things up and murdering innocent people especially of another race or color or religion culture-
Knowing America's history of Gun-Boat diplomacy and its love of carpet-bombing and burning villages from those of Native American to the villages of Vietnam or Iraq or Afghanistan or Pakistan or Libya why do so many kow tow to the Americans
The revolution will not be realized until the US knows its place and keeps its ever-hungry war machine within its own borders.


Journalist Susie Cagel incarcerated for 14 hours by Oakland Police
November 04, 2011
So much for the freedom of the press in America
But it was bound to happen since most of the Media didn't protest when they were told that the US military had no responsibility to protect journalist on the battlefield or even in luxury hotels in Baghdad.
Instead the Press gave up their rights guranteed by International Law and allowed themselves to be EMBEDDED  with the military so every word every picture could be subject to censorship.

Journalist Susie Cagle Arrested in #OccupyOakland Raid by Tina Dupuy

ABC7News via Crooks and Liars.

#OWS Injured Vet Scott Olsen Urges Non-violence in the Face of Police Brutality November 2, 2011 via Crooks and Liars

Countdown's Keith Olbermann opened this segment with some pictures of Wednesday night's march and general strike at . Meanwhile in New York, veterans marched on lower Manhattan today to honor Scott Olsen, the veteran who was injured during the Occupy Oakland protest with a tear-gas canister.


Keith also talked to Olsen's friend and fellow Iraq War veteran, Joshua Sheperd, who read a text from he received from Olsen not long before the show:


SHEPERD: What kind of pie? Which it goes along... occupy. I see the success there. Keep it up. Non-violence in the face of police brutality.


Sheperd also discussed whether the Occupy Wall Street might be an opportunity to draw more attention to our military veterans and their issues who are also struggling terribly in this economy after serving their country overseas.

Noam Chomsky is pleased by the Occupy movement's growth and that it appears to have staying power. He notes that there is a difference with today's financial crisis compared to the Great Depression. Even at the worst times in the Great depression there was always at least a glimmer of hope that things would get better but today there seems more of a sense of hopelessness and fear that things will not get better in America or in other Western Nations because the game as it were is rigged against the average citizen. It is because of this fear and hopelessness that is in fact fueling the Occupy movement because the other channels for change such as elections are not working . President Obama was elected by a vast majority of Americans because he promised not just a few changes in the laws but a change in the way that things are done in Washington or on Wall Street but he has failed his most earnest supporters so this movement is seen as the best hope for average citizens to throw a wrench into the machinery of Business as usual .

Noam Chomsky Speaks to Occupy: If We Want a Chance at a Decent Future, the Movement Here and Around the World Must Grow by Noam Chomsky at Alternet.org November 1, 2011

In a speech to Occupy Boston, the linguist and icon hailed the "unprecedented" first weeks of OWS. He cautioned protesters to build and educate first, strike later.


...The Occupy movement really is an exciting development. In fact, it's spectacular. It's unprecedented; there's never been anything like it that I can think of. If the bonds and associations that are being established at these remarkable events can be sustained through a long, hard period ahead -- because victories don't come quickly-- this could turn out to be a very significant moment in American history.


The fact that the demonstrations are unprecedented is quite appropriate. It is an unprecedented era -- not just this moment -- but actually since the 1970s. The 1970s began a major turning point in American history. For centuries, since the country began, it had been a developing society with ups and downs. But the general progress was toward wealth and industrialization and development...there was a pretty constant expectation that it's going to go on like this. That was true even in very dark times.

For instance as Amy Dean puts it :

Occupy Wall Street and America's Democratic Tradition by Amy Dean via alternet.org, October 27, 2011

For decades, we have focused on extending liberty in the realm of the marketplace, but this has come at the expense of democratic equality.

Americans are not only feeling a financial pinch; they’re feeling disenfranchised. We have experienced cuts to the welfare state for decades. But what we saw in Wisconsin and other state-level fights in early 2011 was that when Republican governors coupled further rollbacks in social services and decreases in education funding with attacks on some of the few remaining middle-class jobs in America, it created a level of insecurity that drove people—in numbers rarely seen—to voice their concerns outside of an electoral framework. These people used protests because the more traditional channels of democracy seemed blocked to all except those who could afford high-priced lobbyists. The same lack of democratic equality gave rise to Occupy Wall Street, and it will continue to motivate protests for as long as it persists.

 The brutal murder of Gaddafi is viewed by the Western media as righteous but what it proves is that the US and NATO have lost their moral bearings. The NATO/American carpet bombing of Libya showed a complete disregard for the safety of the Libyan civilian population. NATO once again with America's backing has committed more War Crimes and crimes against humanity to add to its disturbing record in Aghanistan /Pakistan war.
 So what this appears to be is not a matter of the Fog of War but rather I believe it to be the Fog of Propaganda and a disingenuous self-righteousness on the part of the United States and other European nations.
The Fog of Propaganda & Media Disinformation

The politicians and the military establishment often invoke the notion of the Fog Of War for the unintended deaths of civilians .
The killing of civilians is dismissed under the euphemism of "colateral damage" as if this makes up for the loss of somebody's loved ones. Even the torture and brutal murder of Gaddafi is excused by the invcation of the Fog of War.
Then again it is not surprising that Gaddafi would be treated in this brutal uncivilized manner when American forces are involved in any military operation whether as giving air cover or having as it were "boots on the ground". The laws of war and common decency play no part in America's expansion of its Empire.

It is not so much that the problem is the Fog Of War in determining what is actually taking place on the ground in any conflict but rather the dense Fog of Propaganda including fabricated intelligence and lies and media manipulation by those in power.

To justify the military intervention in Libya President Obama, Joe biden , and Hillary Clinton and the elite which they support and defend fabricated intelligence and lied to the public using the quisling amoral Mainstream media which drowns out all other views which might question the government and the military's actions.

In the US war on Libya the propaganda and lies convinced many that Gaddafi was evil and a threat to the West. Per usual Gaddafi like Saddam and others needed to be portrayed not just as wrong but as being downright evil so the USA could say that they were intervening in Libya not for the natural resources or to establish a friendly pro-Western nation to begin America's next agenda of controlling most of the nations in Africa but rather that this was just another incident in which America was standing up for human rights and democracy and that it was doing so because that's America's duty. This has been the preferred narrative throughout American history in which Americans are seen as being the good guys.

America's duty we are told is to bring civilization to those who are in their view barbaric and uncivilized whether it is the uncivilied American Native peoples or the peoples of Mexico or the Carribean , Haiti or Cuba or the Dominican Republic or Honduras or Nicaragua the Philippines or the Iranians or Hawaiians or the Iraqis or Afghans or the Vietnamese all we are told needed America's help and military intervention .

In order to invade and conquer Iraq the Bush Cheney Regime revved up its propaganda machine to convince the world that Saddam was a major threat to world peace and a threat to America's security. The lies and deception of the propagandists were then without any skepticism or fact checking sold to the public by the Mainstream Media.

The US government under Obama once again revved up the propaganda machine to convince the Western nations ' leaders and the public that Gaddafi was an imminent threat to neighboring nations and that he was brutaly oppressing the people of Libya . The American government and establishment including the 1% did not approve of Gaddafi's socialist leanings ie free education, free Health Care etc. but they became more alarmed by the fact that Gaddafi was creating a unified Africa which would in the view of the Americans and other Western Nations undermine their control of the resources and the peoples of Africa. So Gaddafi had to go.

It Doesn't Matter To Them If It's Untrue. It's a Higher Truth.By William Blum via information Clearing House November 3, 2011

"We came, we saw, he died."
— US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton,
giggling, as she spoke of the depraved murder of Moammar Gaddafi


November 03, 2011 "Information Clearing House" -- Imagine Osama bin Laden or some other Islamic leader speaking of 9-11: "We came, we saw, 3,000 died ... ha- ha."


Clinton and her partners-in-crime in NATO can also have a good laugh at how they deceived the world. The destruction of Libya, the reduction of a modern welfare state to piles of rubble, to ghost towns, the murder of thousands ... this tragedy was the culmination of a series of falsehoods spread by the Libyan rebels, the Western powers, and Qatar (through its television station, al-Jazeera) — from the declared imminence of a "bloodbath" in rebel-held Benghazi if the West didn't intervene to stories of government helicopter-gunships and airplanes spraying gunfire onto large numbers of civilians to tales of Viagra-induced mass rapes by Gaddafi's army. (This last fable was proclaimed at the United Nations by the American Ambassador, as if young soldiers needed Viagra to get it up!)1


The New York Times (March 22) observed:


... the rebels feel no loyalty to the truth in shaping their propaganda, claiming nonexistent battlefield victories, asserting they were still fighting in a key city days after it fell to Qaddafi forces, and making vastly inflated claims of his barbaric behavior.


The Los Angeles Times (April 7) added this about the rebels' media operation:


It's not exactly fair and balanced media. In fact, as [its editor] helpfully pointed out, there are four inviolate rules of coverage on the two rebel radio stations, TV station and newspaper:


No pro-[Qaddafi] reportage or commentary
No mention of a civil war. (The Libyan people, east and west, are unified in a war against a totalitarian regime.)
No discussion of tribes or tribalism. (There is only one tribe: Libya.)
No references to Al Qaeda or Islamic extremism. (That's [Qaddafi's] propaganda.)
The Libyan government undoubtedly spouted its share of misinformation, but it was the rebels' trail of lies, both of omission and commission, which was used by the UN Security Council to justify its vote for "humanitarian" intervention; followed in Act Three by unrelenting NATO/US bombs and drone missiles, day after day, week after week, month after month; you can't get much more humanitarian than that. If the people of Libya prior to the NATO/US bombardment had been offered a referendum on it, can it be imagined that they would have endorsed it?


In fact, it appears rather likely that a majority of Libyans supported Gaddafi. How else could the government have held off the most powerful military forces in the world for more than seven months? Before NATO and the US laid waste to the land, Libya had the highest life expectancy, lowest infant mortality, and highest UN Human Development Index in Africa. During the first few months of the civil war, giant rallies were held in support of the Libyan leader.

If Gaddafi had been less oppressive of his political opposition over the years and had made some gestures of accommodation to them during the Arab Spring, the benevolent side of his regime might still be keeping him in power, although the world has plentiful evidence making it plain that the Western powers are not particularly concerned about political oppression except to use as an excuse for intervention when they want to; indeed, government files seized in Tripoli during the fighting show that the CIA and British intelligence worked with the Libyan government in tracking down dissidents, turning them over to Libya, and taking part in interrogations.

In any event, many of the rebels had a religious motive for opposing the government and played dominant roles within the rebel army; previously a number of them had fought against the United States in Afghanistan and Iraq. 

The new Libyan regime promptly announced that Islamic sharia law would be the "basic source" of legislation, and laws that contradict "the teachings of Islam" would be nullified; there would also be a reinstitution of polygamy; the Muslim holy book, theQuran, allows men up to four wives.
Thus, just as in Afghanistan in the 1980-90s, the United States has supported Islamic militants fighting against a secular government. The American government has imprisoned many people as "terrorists" in the United States for a lot less. 

American history going back to its to its insurgency against the British Empire and even two centuries previous to that  is rife with examples of unwanted unnecessary interventions in the affairs of other nations or peoples from slaughtering in Genocidal madness Native Americans to Hawaiians to  Filipinos to the Vietnamese to the Iraqis & Afghans under the false flag of human rights and democracy and spreading  Christianity  when in reality it is just America being a bully throwing its weight around and insisting that its world view must be accepted as the only one that matters. As William Blum continues:

The worldwide eternal belief that American foreign policy has a good side that can be appealed to

On April 6, 2011 Moammar Gaddafi wrote a letter to President Obama, in which he said:

"We have been hurt more morally than physically because of what had happened against us in both deeds and words by you. Despite all this you will always remain our son whatever happened. ... Our dear son, Excellency, Baraka Hussein Abu Oubama, your intervention in the name of the U.S.A. is a must, so that Nato would withdraw finally from the Libyan affair."

Before the American invasion in March 2003, Iraq tried to negotiate a peace deal with the United States. Iraqi officials, including the chief of the Iraqi Intelligence Service, wanted Washington to know that Iraq no longer had weapons of mass destruction and offered to allow American troops and experts to conduct a search; they also offered full support for any US plan in the Arab-Israeli peace process, and to hand over a man accused of being involved in the World Trade Center bombing in 1993. If this is about oil, they added, they would also talk about US oil concessions. ... Then came shock and awe!

-------

The Obama administration continues in the tradition of American Imperialism to intervene in the affairs of foreign nations. The killing of Gaddafi in large part is another warning as is Iraqa nd Afghanistan to nations and their leaders not to act contrary to America's interests which includes allowing US corporations to operate freely and without reguulatory restrictions . The welfare of the people of other nations is of little consequece compared to the profits of US or Western corporations .
National Security is used as an excuse for more wars of aggression and the plundering of those nations.

and we see evidence of America's gun-boat diplomacy every day of the week and still the U.S. makes excuses and the world's nations quiver in fear.

US Kills Over 120 People In 2 Days By Press TV November 3, 2011

-At least 127 people have been killed in separate US assassination drone strikes in Somalia and Pakistan's northwestern tribal region bordering Afghanistan over the past two days.

and here's a good video outlining what good he had done for his people and that from the beginning he was hated by the US because he dared to take over the oil fields for Libyans.
Gaddafi wanted to create the voluntary united Africa.
Gaddafi pissed off Americans by being against the Iraq War.
Nelson Mandella who is also hated by America praised Gaddafi with his help in ending Apatheid in South Africa. This upset racist & pro-Apartheid American  politicians such as John MacCain & Jesse Helms and other like-minded Americans such as Pat Buchanan or a racist intellectual such as Proto-Fascist  William F. Buckley Jr. or the darling of the extreme right Ayn Rand who also believe Whites are superior to blacks or any non-whites or non-Aryans .

The Real Gaddafi -or De-demonizing Gaddafi 
Uploaded by TheOccultTruth on Jun 26, 2011



also see for instance:

 Recently read books:

* Anderson, Fred
& Andrew Clayton     The Dominion Of War : Empire and Liberty in North America 1500-2000. Pub. 2005.

* Byers, Michael     War Law : Understanding International Law and Armed Conflict, Pub. 2005.

*** Carr, J. Revell     *Seeds of discontent : the deep roots of the American Revolution, 1650-1750  pub. 2008.

* Paris, Erna      The Sun Climbs Slow : Justice in the Age of Imperial America , Pub. 2008.
* Wright, Robin :      Rock The Casbah : Rage and Rebellion Across The Islamic World, Pub. 2011.

(An illuminating account by journalist Robin Wright of the Arab Uprisings in 2010-2011 referred to as The Arab Spring which was preceded bu similar non-violent uprisings in 2008 or earlier. The author points out that these uprisings are part of the stirrings of a younger Arab generation who want social and economic justice and who hope to bring about reform without Western interference.)


also see:

*Bacevich, Andrew, J. :           The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism, Pub. 2009.

* Bacevich, Andrew J. :           Washington Rules: America's Path to Permanent War, Pub. 2010.

* Bergen, Peter L.  :                 The longest War: The Enduring Conflict Between America and Al-Qaeda Pub. 2011.

* Drury, Shadia B. :                Terror and Civilization: Christianity, Politics, and the Western Psyche, Pub. 2004.

* Faludi, Susan :                     The Terror Dream : Fear and Fantasy in Post 9/11 America, pub. 2007
* Hodgson, Godfrey:              The Myth Of American Exceptionalism, Pub. 2009.
* Huntington, Samuel :               The Clash Of Civilizations: Remaking The World Order, Pub. 1998.
* Immerman, Richard H. :        Empire For Liberty; A History of American Imperialism From Benjamin Franklin To Paul Wolfowitz, Pub. 2010.
* Jacoby, Susan :                    The Age of American Unreason, pub. 2008.
* Kinzer, Stephen &
 Schlesinger, Stephen:           Bitter Fruit : The Untold Story of the American Coup in Guatemala (1954) , Pub.1982
* Kinzer, Stephen :                   All The Shah’s Men ( USA Engineered Coup 1953 ) , Pub. 2004
* Margolis, Eric S.                      American Raj: Liberation or Domination? Resolving The Conflict Between The West And The Muslim World, Pub. 2008.
* Lando, Barry:                              Web of Deceit: The History of Western Complicity in Iraq, From Churchill to Kennedy to George W. Bush , pub. 2007

* Rashid, Ahmed :                       Descent Into Chaos: The United States and the Failure of Nation Building in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Central Asia, pub. 2008.

* Rashid, Ahmed :                     Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia, Pub. 2001.
* Ricks, Thomas E. :                  Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq,Pub. 2006
* Roberts, Paul William :           A War Against Truth : An Intimate Account of the Invasion of Iraq , Pub. 2004

* Shadid, Anthony :                  Night Draws Near: Iraqis in the Shadow of America’s War , Pub. 2004.
* Wright, Robin :                    Rock The Casbah : Rage and Rebellion Across The Islamic World, Pub. 2011.

(An illuminating account by journalist Robin Wright of the Arab Uprisings in 2010-2011 referred to as The Arab Spring which was preceded bu similar non-violent uprisings in 2008 or earlier. The author points out that these uprisings are part of the stirrings of a younger Arab generation who want social and economic justice and who hope to bring about reform without Western interference.)

* Wright, Ronald:                    What Is America -A Short History Of The New World Order, Pub. 2009.

and so it goes,
GORD.

#OWS Iraq Vet Scott Olsen Injured By Police Increases Movements Momentum

OWS update from Ed Schultz & michael Eric Dyson

OWS Movement Grows with Recovery of Marine Veteran Scott Olsen - November 2, 2011
mccainisthroughX

Uploaded by mccainisthroughX on Nov 2, 2011
As Iraq War Veteran Scott Olsen recovers from a critical head injury received from a tear gas canister while voicing his right to Free Speech against the greed of gop-enabled corporations and banks, the Occupy Wall Street Movement gains more momentum, and shows no signs of going away soon, a good thing for 98% of Americans who pay more in taxes on a percentage basis than any of the top 2% who profit off them as labor, and as consumers

Politics of Fear versus Politics of Trust
Keith Olbermann with Former Governor Eliot Spitzer both show their support for #OWS and their agenda to take on the 1% who now rule America  who have bought and paid for most politicians in America along with the police forces and the Mainstream Media.
Eliot Spitzer makes a couple of good suggestions for showing how large the support is for the occupy movement across the US and especially by university students.
 Spitzer suggest  that #ows  should Announce rallies to take place during the Thanksgiving weekend
add some big name music acts ie Bruce Sprinsteen, Flobots, Arcade Fire , Neil Young & the protests could be massive.

FOX Poll: How Concerned Are You OWS Protests Will Turn Into Street Riots?
ALLAWARE99

And another good sign for the Occupy Oakland Movement and its call for a general stike .

Source: Port of Oakland Running at Half Capacity After Wildcat Strike in Solidarity With Occupy Oakland
Wednesday 02 November 2011
by: Matt Renner, Truthout | Report November 2, 2011

Update 1:42 PM Pacific - Despite push-back from union leaders and the management at the Port of Oakland, rank and file longshoremen are adamant that many longshoremen decided not to work today and disrupted work at the Port of Oakland today, in solidarity with the general strike called by the Occupy Oakland protesters.


Richard Washington, a longshoreman who refused work today, told Truthout about his intentions. "This wasn't ordered or suggested by the union leaders, the rank and file workers decided to not work today in support of Occupy Oakland. I am one of the longshoremen who did not take a job. The majority of the longshoremen at the hiring hall this morning decided not to take jobs. For the most part it was longshoremen walking off in solidarity with the general strike," adding "tonight, there will be a picket line and I don't think any longshoremen will cross the picket line."


Update 12:09 PM Pacific - After a very slow start because of an apparent wildcat strike by rank-and-file workers, the Port of Oakland is apparently back up and running, though much slower than normal.


Anthony Leviege, a dockworker at the port says that the port is currently running "between 40 and 50 percent," after a slow start this morning. Leviege said he took to the microphone at the dispatch hall this morning to encourage fellow port workers to take the day off. "I said 'The world is watching Oakland and it's our obligation to be responsible for the people and the city of Oakland,' then I asked them to 'do the right thing,'" implying that workers should take the day off in support of Occupy Oakland's call for a general strike.


Leviege told Truthout that the port is now operational, but running at 40-50 percent capacity because of a continued labor shortage. He said that the dispatchers probably called in other port workers because when he left the dispatch hall, there were still about 50 jobs unfilled, significantly disrupting normal operations at the port.


"This is a success for the rank and file, given how short the time frame was. This partial shutdown was a result of just word of mouth and a leaflet," Leviege added.

Meanwhile another good sign some senators are trying to reverse the Supreme Court decision on "Citizens United" which designated equal rights and citizenship to Corporations.

Senators Introduce Constitutional Amendment to Overturn Citizens United by: Zaid Jilani, ThinkProgress via Truthout Nov. 2, 2011

One of the overarching themes of the 99 Percent Movement is that our democracy is too corrupted by corporate special interests. This corruption was worsened last year by the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, which allowed for huge new unregulated flows of corporate political spending.


Yesterday, six Democratic senators — Tom Udall (NM), Michael Bennett (CO), Tom Harkin (IA), Dick Durbin (IL), Chuck Schumer (NY), Sheldon Whitehouse (RI), and Jeff Merkeley (OR) — introduced a constitutional amendment that would effectively overturn the Citizens United case and restore the ability of Congress to properly regulate the campaign finance system.


The amendment as filed resolves that both Congress and individual states shall have the power to regulate both the amount of contributions made directly to candidates for elected office and “the amount of expenditures that may be made by, in support of, or in opposition to such candidates.”


“By limiting the influence of big money in politics, elections can be more about the voters and their voices, not big money donors and their deep pockets,” said Harkin of the amendment. “We need to have a campaign finance structure that limits the influence of the special interests and restores confidence in our democracy. This amendment goes to the heart of that effort.”

and so it goes,
GORD. 

Police Agent Provocateurs at Oakland Protest & Cenk Uygur : " Pat Robertson: Christians Don't Join #OWS" Ignoring Jesus' Protest Against the "Money-Changers" & The Rich

"...Americans know a rigged game when they see one. They understand how much money is flowing into politics from the super rich, big corporations, and Wall Street — in order to keep their taxes low and entrench their privileged position.

The Occupy movement is gaining ground because it’s hitting a responsive chord. What happens from here on depends on whether other Americans begin to march to the music — and organize."

Above Quote from :OWS has transformed public opinion by Robert Reich via Salon.com October 31, 2011

So what would Jesus Do???
According to Pat Robertson and other uberconservative Evangelical leaders & other Phony Christians in their twisted self-serving version of Christianity argue that Christians must aspire to be like the Rich 1% . That avarice, greed, materialism, commercialism, prosperity are the true Christian values along with "The Winner Take All " mentality which they claim  is at the basis of Jesus' message.

Pat Robertson proves he is a hypocrite by insisting Christians should not support Occupy Wall Street which takes on the "greed" Avarice" "selfishness" of the superwealthy .
As Cenk Uygur points out even Jesus protested against the "money Changers" and others who had in his view corrupted the Temple in Jerusalem.In fact Jesus got angry and turned over the tables of the "money changers" and caused a public disturbance.
Pat Robertson is worth a couple of hundred million so what would he know about the hard times facing average Americans. His solution would be to tithe more that is donate more money to Pat's corrupt unChristian Church.
Pat even misses the point of the protests or is he just sticking to right-wing GOP Tea Party's Rovian Talking Points is he as simple minded as he sometimes appears to be or is this part of his schtick.
The #ows are in fact a plea for more justice for the average American and for those unemployed or are poor or soon may end up being poor while rich people like Pat Robertson are doing better than ever..

Christians: Don't Join Occupy Wall Street - Pat Robertson




Allegations that the Oakland police department intentionally used undercover police as Agent Provocateurs ie committing destructive or violent acts to incite others to commit such acts so that the police can be provided with an excuse to use brute force to end the protests or at least give the public the impression that majority of protesters are committing acts of violence against the police or destroying public property.
As discussed before these were part of the tactics used by the police force and those in positions of authority in Toronto 2010 at the G20 Summit.

OWS Oakland Degenerate Despicable Police Provocateurs , why people don,t trust police
TheSunsLight


Uploaded by TheSunsLight on Nov 1, 2011
this is why people can,t trust police ever again ,watch occupy wall street Oakland Despicable Degenerate Police Provocateurs

Police Use Bulldozers To Break Up Occupy Richmond #OWS Brutality
NWONEWS666

 Robert Reich argues in an article at Salon.com that the Occcupy Wall Street Movement has already made a difference in the conversation Americans are having and the conversations and news items on the Mainstream Media.

OWS has transformed public opinion
For the first time since the Great Depression, the majority of Americans favor wealth redistribution by Robert Reich via Salon.com October 31, 2011

...the movement has already changed the public debate in America.
Consider, for example, last week’s Congressional Budget Office report on widening disparities of income in America. It was hardly news – it’s already well known that the top 1 percent now gets 20 percent of the nation’s income, up from 9 percent in the late 1970s.

But it’s the first time such news made the front page of the nation’s major newspapers.
Why? Because for the first time in more than half a century, a broad cross-section of the American public is talking about the concentration of income, wealth and political power at the top.

Score a big one for the Occupiers.

Even more startling is the change in public opinion. Not since the 1930s has a majority of Americans called for redistribution of income or wealth. But according to a recent New York Times/CBS News poll, an astounding 66 percent of Americans said the nation’s wealth should be more evenly distributed.

A similar majority believes the rich should pay more in taxes. According to a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, even a majority of people who describe themselves as Republicans believe taxes should be increased on the rich.

and he further argues that finally many Americans are no longer convinced in the Reaganesque "Trickle Down Theory" because in fact very little trickles down as the rich just get richer and when things go bad for them they get a big Fat Welfare check from the government they claim to despise.  

...The old view was also that great wealth trickled downward – that the rich made investments in jobs and growth that benefitted all of us. So even if we doubted we’d be wealthy, we still gained from the fortunes made by a few.

But that view, too, has lost its sheen. Nothing has trickled down. The rich have become far richer over the last three decades but the rest of us haven’t. In fact, median incomes are dropping.

Wall Street moguls are doing better than ever – after having been bailed out by the rest of us. But the rest of us are doing worse. CEOs are hauling in more than 300 times the pay of average workers (up from 40 times the pay only three decades ago), as average workers lose jobs, wages, and benefits.

Instead of investing in jobs and growth, the super rich are putting their money into gold or Treasury bills, or investing it in Brazil or South Asia or anywhere else it can reap the highest return.

...Americans know a rigged game when they see one. They understand how much money is flowing into politics from the super rich, big corporations, and Wall Street — in order to keep their taxes low and entrench their privileged position.

The Occupy movement is gaining ground because it’s hitting a responsive chord. What happens from here on depends on whether other Americans begin to march to the music — and organize.

Sacrilege: Wall Street Worship
Americans have been worshiping a bull. Too many citizens, and particularly politicians, prostrate themselves to Wall Street’s bronze idol.by Leo Gerard atAlternet.org, November 1, 2011

They revere financial titans who pay themselves and their minions millions to manipulate money and gamble recklessly. Politicians gave tribute to the financiers with tax breaks and bailouts when the bankers’ bad bets threatened to bankrupt their institutions.
This false idolatry produced a nation gripped by massive unemployment, a nation in which destructive income inequality has risen beyond robber baron levels, a nation where greed has been perverted from sin to good, a nation where politicians genuflect to money changers, not majority citizens.
Salvation for the majority is not more failed trickle-down economics or more deregulation so that Wall Street can resume committing unfettered wagering. Redemption is political and economic systems devoted to serving the common good, not the affluent few.
These concepts — that governments should protect majorities and that the international financial collapse is an opportunity to transform the system into one supporting a more fraternal and just human family — are contained in a report released last week by the Pope’s Council for Justice and Peace. It says:
“The economic and financial crisis which the world is going through calls everyone, individuals and peoples, to examine in depth the principles and the cultural and moral values at the basis of social coexistence.”
Those values mandate economic and political systems that transcend “personal utility for the good of the community,” the report says, then adds:
“The primacy of the spiritual and of ethics needs to be restored and, with them, the primacy of politics, which is responsible for the common good – over the economy and finance.”
This is exactly what the 99 percenters — the Occupy Wall Street activists of every faith — have been saying. They want systems that work for the vast majority of citizens, not just the 1 percent at the top.

  And it appears the disparity between the average citizen and the 1% is not unique to the USA. The growing gap between the 1% and the 99% is the trend in a number of developed 1st world countries so it is not isolated to the US and is therefore a Western and a global problem . And he warns that if the gap continues to grow and if essential services are cut back there will be not just peaceful protests but violence by those who have been pushed too far.

...This pattern is consistent internationally. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development determined that from the mid-1980s to the mid-2000s income inequality increased in three-quarters of the 30 developed countries studied.

If basic morality fails as a reason to reverse these trends, then the Pontifical Council suggested another. Such inequality leads to instability and violence:

“If no solutions are found to the various forms of injustice, the negative effects that will follow on the social, political and economic level will be destined to create a climate of growing hostility and even violence, and ultimately undermine the very foundations of democratic institutions, even the ones considered most solid.”

and sums up :

...Yet conservative politicians continue to demand changes that would make matters worse. Candidates Herman Cain and Rick Perry, seeking the Republican nomination for president, have proffered flat tax plans that would compound the burden on the middle class and poor. On being informed that his would increase income inequality, Perry said, “I don’t care about that.”

When Democrats on the debt-reduction super committee suggested raising $1.3 trillion in tax revenues, including levies on the rich, a measure consistently supported by huge majorities of the American public, Republicans summarily rejected the proposal, calling it absurd.

The answer to the question, “What would Jesus do?” in this case is clear. The only gospel story in which Jesus engaged in violence is the cleansing of the temple of moneychangers. Morality demands an end to Wall Street worship and a new era in which both politics and financial markets work for the majority, for the common good.

and so it goes,
GORD.
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#OWS Bill Moyers keynote at Public Citizen's 40th Anniversary Gala US Gov't = Tony Soprano & The Mafia & Arlo Guthrie's "The Patriot's Dream"

" Politics today is little more than money laundering in the trafficking of power and policy
fewer than 6 degrees of separation in the spirit and tactics of Tony Soprano " Bill Moyers

Bill Moyers expresses his concern over the take over of America by corporations and their influence over the government through its money and power.
Moyers also states his support of the protests and their basic demands for social, political , and economic justice.

" The president (Obama) has raised more money from banks hedge funds and private equity managers than Mitt Romney." Bill Moyers

In his speech Bill Moyers refers to the song by Arlo Guthrie The Patriot's Dream which is in this video below from YouTube sung by Jennifer Warrens and Arlo Guthrie.



and so it goes,
GORD.