BP's chairman's "Small People " remark illustrates the attitude not just of BP but of most Big Corporations & multinationals who believe they are a legitimate elite who decide what policies and regulations & laws are in their view permissible. There is the elite and then there is the rest of us-nobodys who must kowtow to Big Business interests over our own.
BP chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg's 'small people' comments June 16, 2010
BP 'Small People' Comment Angers Gulf Residents June 16, 2010
BP no matter how criminal its actions or morally and ethically questionable they may be the pro-Big Oil pro-business groups are going to defend BP or ensure it survive and once again thrives. The poor BP only made 9 billion in profit the first quarter. Obama should have insisted on that 9 billion going towards claims but also for rebuilding the region . BP being cheap announced giving what BP earns in about 2 hours that is 25 million dollars to universities in the affected states to use to study the effects of the leak etc. It would have been more generous and more justified if they gave at least a billion dollars to the Universities for independent research.
BP has spent more that that on its aggressive advertising campaign over the last month or two.
Via Firedoglake.com Countdown:Olbermann interviews Dr.Riki Ott who alleges BP engaged in massive cover-up to hide Gulf Disaster damage
Allegedly, BP wouldn’t let reporters and photographers onto the beaches where the oil was washing ashore and ordered workers to keep mum. This behavior on BP’s part currently continues unchecked. It must be remembered that this is a foreign corporation taking over U.S. territory and banning U.S. citizens from American soil under the umbrella of calling it an emergency area . The Federal Aviation Administration has declared the Gulf Coast spill zone a no-fly area, which includes parts of Louisiana and Alabama, limiting aerial photos.
Recently, marine toxicologist Riki Ott, appeared on national television and made serious allegations against BP. Ott claimed that BP has been removing the heads of dead animals, making it impossible to perform autopsies on the cause of death. Ott backs up her allegations with photos and witnesses who claim that whenever a carcass appears, they are quickly removed by unknown persons to suppress the proof. While Ott’s claims have not been fully substantiated, it appears curious that there seems to be a vacuum when it comes to dead animal counts and photos. According to Ott, in an interview with Keith Olberman, "Turtle watch volunteers who walk the beaches consistently every morning at 6:00 a.m., they're saying the carcasses are disappearing," Ott said. She continued by saying, "people who walk the beaches at night, they've seen little baby dolphins wash up dead, flashlights, people descend out of nowhere, and the carcass gone in 15 minutes. There's reports from offshore of massive kills on the barrier islands from fishermen who have been working on the spill response. BP's response has been to use metal detectors to keep and prevent the people from even taking cell phones out to photograph this."
BP Blocking Media Access to workers - WDSU TV
BP Burning Turtles Alive??? Venice, Louisiana, Boat Captain/ by Catherine Craig
catherinec8 — June 13, 2010 — BP is blocking access to rescuing turtles and is incinerating turtles in the oil. Interview by Catherine Craig
Rachel Maddow shows proof that Big Oil lies to the public and to governments automatically -the CEOs and PR personnel appear to be reading from the same playbook. They stick to their talking points. IE there haven't been many big oil spills in the last 40 years-this is a lie-
Rachel Maddow Blasts BP COO Doug Suttles: 'Not Even Remotely Believable' Answers In Interview (VIDEO) June 15,2010
And it comes as no real surprise that other oil companies have no effective plan for dealing with oil spill or blow out of a Deepwater well . They have lied to the US government about their preparations for dealing with such a contingency .
A number of major oil companies who drill off the US coastline are just as unprepared for a leak or spill as BP, Henry Waxman, the chairman of the Congressional panel on the Gulf oil spill told the House Energy and Commerce Committee. The BBC reported the response plans of Exxon-Mobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and Shell are identical to BP's.
BP's US chief Lamar McKay and other oil bosses will give testimony at the hearing on deepwater drilling safety amid damning accusations BP took shortcuts. The oil company faces $34 billion in fines, reported The Guardian UK, a significant rise from the previous estimate of $5 billion.
Senators have told BP to deposit $20 billion in a ring-fenced account to cover escalating compensation costs. Following this news, BP stock dived 9 percent. The company is now worth nearly half of what it was prior to the Gulf oil spill.
Meanwhile, efforts to clean up the oil spill have been hampered by the lack of clear authority, reported The New York Times.
President Obama's consistent use of the name "British Petroleum" instead of BP, to which the company officially changed its corporate name, has angered some in Britain, reported Global Post, with a member of Parliament, Lord Norman Tebbit, calling Obama's words “partisan political presidential petulance.”
Two of the four oil companies on the hook for the Gulf cleanup tab have rejected a Senate request to come testify about their efforts to make residents and businesses whole. The hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.
The CEOs of Anadarko Petroleum and MOEX Offshore have cited scheduling conflicts. Anadarko CEO James T. Hackett, however, does have time this week to be in Houston to accept Oil and Gas Investor's Executive of the Year award, handed out Tuesday.
"Last year this leading Houston-based company generated a 68 percent return to shareholders, while cutting costs and spending during the downturn," reads the announcement of Hackett's award. Cost cutting may have led to significant shareholder returns, but it also is believed to have contributed to the fatal explosion and blowout of the well.
Four parties are legally responsible for the spill: BP, Transocean, MOEX Offshore and Anadarko Corporation.
All four companies were invited to send a senior official to testify before Sen. Tom Carper's Federal Financial Management subcommittee. BP and Transcocean plan to comply. MOEX Offshore and Anadarko Petroleum have so far refused. Both have flown under the media radar as BP has taken the bulk of the blame, with a bit trickling down to Transocean. MOEX and Anadarko would like to keep it that way.
The public may have forgotten the two companies' roles, but investors haven't. Anadarko's stock has been battered since the explosion.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- BP took measures to cut costs in the weeks before the catastrophic blowout in the Gulf of Mexico as it dealt with one problem after another, prompting a BP engineer to describe the doomed rig as a "nightmare well," according to internal documents released Monday.
The comment by BP engineer Brian Morel came in an e-mail April 14, six days before the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion that killed 11 people and has sent tens of millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf in the nation's worst environmental disaster.
The e-mail was among dozens of internal documents released by the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which is investigating the explosion and its aftermath.
In a letter to BP CEO Tony Hayward, Reps. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., and Bart Stupak, D-Mich., noted at least five questionable decisions BP made in the days leading up to the explosion.
"The common feature of these five decisions is that they posed a trade-off between cost and well safety," said Waxman and Stupak. Waxman chairs the energy panel while Stupak heads a subcommittee on oversight and investigations.
"Time after time, it appears that BP made decisions that increased the risk of a blowout to save the company time or expense," the lawmakers wrote in the 14-page letter to Hayward. "If this is what happened, BP's carelessness and complacency have inflicted a heavy toll on the Gulf, its inhabitants, and the workers on the rig."
BP has been low balling the estimation of oil gushing out of the well. They claim it is only 5,000 barrels a day when in fact it is more like 40,000 to 75,000 daily and this may turn out to be a cautious and conservative estimate so it could be much higher
Just hours before the president addresses the nation from the Oval Office, the White House has sent out findings of a new scientific study which pegs the rate of oil flowing into the Gulf at roughly seven to twelve times the initial estimate.
According to the work of a group of government and independent scientists under the direction of Secretary of Energy Steven Chu and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, the amount of oil now being unleashed into the Gulf is between 35,000 and 60,000 barrels per day. This is a vast increase from the early estimates of roughly 5,000 barrels a day. It is also much more than the revised estimates that pegged the flow at a low end of 12,00 barrels, with a high end of 19,000 to 25,000 barrels.
It is a striking reflection of just how much ecological damage has been caused so far and a damaging illustration of how out of touch (or deliberately misleading) the team at BP was in the immediate wake of the spill.
If the oil has been spilling at this rate from the outset, it means that anywhere between 1.96 million and 3.36 million barrels of oil has gushed into the Gulf. In the Exxon Valdez crisis, a total of 250,000 barrels spilled into the waters off the coast of Alaska.
Meanwhile, BP says that it is only collecting between 15,000 and 18,000 barrels a day.
Fox News reported July 17, 2008 that the chances of a Big Oil spill off shore highly unlikely- the technology is so much better today. Besides they agree with Brit Hume that the greatest cause of oil in the sea is from naturally occurring fissures at the bottom of the sea As has been pointed out for all their technological advances they haven't changed much as they did in the 1970s One wonders if these CEO even discuss such matters with qualified experienced experts besides engineers for sale- Do they consult geologist, oceanographers environmentalist - for all we know BP was drilling at a depth never tried before- there should have been some fuss as a noteworthy event for scientists around the Globe -it should have been talked about in the media even if for just a day or two as headline news as noteworthy as a space launch .
Mothernature causes 60% of Oil Spills
Updated official estimate of oil leaking to 40,000 barrels a day.June 11, 2010
The California Democrat, along with Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), will force top oil executives to defend or condemn industry practices and profits, according to series of pre-hearing questions obtained by POLITICO, foreshadowing an intense, made-for-TV hearing Tuesday that could create an iconic Washington moment for the petroleum industry.
“What is the maximum worst-case spill scenario [your company] is prepared to respond to from offshore oil operations in the Gulf of Mexico? Please outline the emergency plans you have in place to deal with deep-water blowouts,” reads one of the 15 questions delivered to the five biggest oil companies. Another probes the companies’ attitudes toward cap-and-trade proposals for limiting carbon emissions.
BP may be first in the line of fire, but experts said the whole industry will be on trial Tuesday. Executives from BP, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, Shell and Chevron are scheduled to testify.
“I’m not sure the industry has grasped how much this is going to hurt them in the long run,” one energy lobbyist told POLITICO. “They’re still seeing this as a BP problem. That’s not a good place for them to be.”
The bottom line: Oil Week in Washington — complete with CEO testimony, a presidential address to the nation and the release of damaging documents about BP’s safety record — may represent a turning point in the way the public views the domestic oil industry if Waxman and the White House succeed in their efforts. Longtime environmentalists like Waxman see the oil spill crisis as their moment to put the industry on its heels after decades of having its way on Capitol Hill — much like Waxman did with the tobacco industry in the 1990s.
And more on US mainstream Media still acting as shils for Israel ignoring the rest of the world's criticism of Israel 's policies concerning Gaza, the Palestinians the illegal and immoral blockade doling out Collective Punishment on all those who dare to be born Arab or Palestinian .
The USA is in a bit of a bind though because if they agree that Israel may have committed war crimes then they would have to consider their own questionable policies such as the use of Drone Attacks on Wedding parties or Funerals in Pakistan or Afghanistan and the US forces near obliteration of cities in Iraq such as Fallujah . In the so called battle for Fallujah the American forces refused to allow the Red Cross or Red Cresent into Fallujah til days after massive bombardment of the city without any regard for civilians caught in the cross fire. Thousands of Iraqis were killed but the US military informed the public that all who were killed whether 4 years old or 104 were would be terrorists. The killing of Civilians in Iraq has been ignored by much of the American , Canadian & British governments , the media & most of the public. The hatred shown for all Arabs, all Palestinians, all Iraqis & all Muslims everywhere has created the conditions by which large numbers of civilians can be abused ,tortured or murdered in the name of Western Ideals and to further the agenda of the American Empire.
Israel's defenders claim erroneously that the blockade of Gaza is legal & moral . The ICR/ Red Cross demands Israel lift the blockade which the red cross calls illegal. And yet there is this notion that Israel represents the ideals of Western Civilization. Which means racism, Apartheid, ghettoization of a people, the killing of peaceful protesters ,the tight control on the press, the arresting & killing of journalist is all OK when Israel or the USA act on such policies.
NO the world must stand up to these two brutal Bullies who ignore international law & human rights of any who dare question their views & policies. Helen Thomas for instance is just another victim of this Israel & the USA are always right Mind Set.
The 9-15 people murdered during Israel's disproportionate response on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla.
40% of Americans think these activists had it coming - so it was OK for the heavily armed IDF to shoot at least 5 of the victims in the head at close range execution style. So there is a great deal of ignorance and disinformation when it comes to Israel & Gaza.
Boycott for Blockade: Israel to probe Gaza raid as int'l pressure mounts June 14,2010
June 14, 2010 "Al-Jazeera" -- The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has described Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip as a violation of the Geneva Conventions and called on the Israeli government to lift it.
In a statement released on Monday, the organisation called the blockade "collective punishment", a crime under international law. It described Gaza as a territory plagued by frequent power cuts, a ruined economy, and a collapsed health care system.
"The closure imposed on the Gaza Strip is about to enter its fourth year, choking off any real possibility of economic development," the ICRC said.
"Gazans continue to suffer from unemployment, poverty and warfare, while the quality of Gaza's health care system has reached an all-time low."
Crippling shortages
Israeli officials insist that they provide enough "humanitarian aid" to cover Gaza's basic needs.
But the ICRC said the meagre list of goods allowed into Gaza doesn't meet the needs of the territory's 1.5 million inhabitants.
Beatrice Megevand-Roggo, the head of the ICRC's Middle East operations, told Al Jazeera that the organisation - which traditionally remains neutral - was reluctant to publicly criticise the blockade. But she said three years of quiet efforts to ease the embargo did not result in any progress.
"The result has not been what we expected, and we thought that after three years the situation was dire enough, serious enough, to speak out publicly to try to break this closure of Gaza," she said.
The shortages are particularly dire in Gaza's health care system, where the ICRC said more than 100 essential medicines - including chemotherapy and hemophilia drugs - are unavailable. Many basic medical supplies, like colonoscopy bags, are also barred from Gaza and routine blackouts cause damage to medical equipment.
"The state of the health-care system in Gaza has never been worse," Eileen Daly, the ICRC's health co-ordinator in Gaza, said.
"Thousands of patients could go without treatment, and the long-term outlook will be increasingly worrisome."
B'Tselem, an Israeli human rights organisation, released its own report on Monday documenting dire conditions in the Palestinian territories. The group noted that 95 per cent of Gaza's factories have closed, that 98 per cent of residents suffer from blackouts, and that 93 per cent of Gaza's water is polluted.
Amr Moussa, the secretary-general of the Arab League, on Sunday called for an end to the blockade.
The US military has been knowingly recruiting people who previously were not eligible to serve . So the military recruits Neo-Nazis Gang Bangers the mentally unstable & a wee bit psychotic as it were highly clever sociopaths imagine a few hundred Hannibal Lecters in the military or mentally deficient - And the government and pentagon have been ignoring the problem. Or as this video points out these crazy racist and psychos and gang Bangers are seen as the best soldiers real killing machines -the Terminator type.
Neo-Nazis using military for training to begin race war when they return 'US Army sent 'hardcore' neo-Nazi troops to Iraq and Afghanistan'
June 14, 2010 — Under the Bush administration, the U.S. military allegedly started to recruit neo-Nazis and gang members to fight in Afghanistan and Iraq. Investigative journalist Matt Kennard talks to RT about his research into these allegations and other problems in the US military.
Ironic BP gas station sign-yes you the public are responsible for any and all spills- BP is not- Jounalist diving into oil saturated Gulf waters Brit Hume & Fox News ask What Oil ? & So What? & Who Cares? They are just worried about BP's stock values Beck weeps for BP not the gulf or the people in the gulf Fox News tells people in the Gulf to stop Whinning Still shot of oil underwater in Gulf.
Bird stuck in thick crude oil in Gulf
Retired Supreme Court justice Yaakov Tirkel to head panel to investigate IDF attack on Flotilla.
The only catch is he is against any real investigation of the IDF ever.
Israel just wants to get more intel on the Fotilla's passengers and the groups backing them so they can put individuals and such groups on Terrorist Watch list and Obam Kowtows to Israel.
Parody BP ad & Tony Hayward who says he really cares about the public & the environment but about "Cash way way more "
BP's Crazy OIL SPILL Commercial!
barelypolitical — June 04, 2010 — BP oil spill commercial reveals where BP gets all of it's "ideas."
Written by and Starring Todd Womack.
Regulating versus deregulation Obama played by GOP's rules and now they blame him for lack of oversight and lack of engagement over the BP oil disaster.
Dem Richard Goodstein On Fox Compares BP Oil Spill To OKC Bombing
Democrat Richard Goldstein makes the point that the anti-gov't crowd have become muted if not silenced due to BPs oil spill. Now the same anti-government crowd are complaining government didn't do enough to prevent such a catastrophe - the anti-government crowd at Fox News etc. have criticized the US government for lack of oversight & regulating the oil industry and oversight of offshore drilling . The GOP and the Tea Partying Fox News crowd now disingenuously crow that Obama should be doing more to help with the clean up. They also want Obama and the federal and state governments to take action to help those in the gulf region who are being financially negatively impacted by the spill. But these are the same uberconservatives, Neocons etc. who are anti-regulation of the oil industry or any other industry. They are correct in the sense that the deregulation binge they have been on since Ronald Reagan's Reign culminating in a complete and total deregulation of the industry during George W. Bush's 8 years in office. Now that Obama is president the conservatives are criticizing Obama for doing what they believe the government should do that is stay out of BP's and other oil drilling companies way. The disaster in the gulf was due to BP's criminal negligence ignoring various problems with their operation at Deepwater Horizon site. They ignored safety regulations and safety protocols, BP has been lying to the US government and the media and the public. If the Obama administration before the Deepwater Horizon disaster had performed a safety inspection on the Deepwater Horizon and ordered BP to cease operations til they had addressed these various safety issues; the GOP and the Tea Party Gang & Neocons & their media boosters at Fox News would have gone into a 24/7 rants against President Obama labeling him as anti-business anti-capitalism and as a wacky radical environmentalist .
Israel's IDF versus the Gaza Flotilla Israel sees it as a Public Relations issue (odd Bp treats its disaster the same way as a PR issue are they getting instructions from Turdblossom Karl Rove or Dick Cheney & the Fox News Network ???)
Now back to the Israeli IDF murderous attack on Gaza Freedom Flotilla. Israel has only agreed to cursory investigation of the incident by an all Israeli government friendly committee. The head of the supposedly Investigation team is against any such investigations of IDF actions. So will this be another crime Israel gets away with like its near obliteration of Gaza over a year ago-the Israelis and US Gov't told the world what Israel does is no one else's business but Israel- the death in that case of 1500 Gazans was of little importance to Israel or the USA by either Pres. Bush or Pres. Obama.
Israel & USA appear to believe that amongst the Palestinians or any Arabs or Muslims THERE ARE NO INNOCENTS- Children will just grow up to be terrorists so one can pre-emptively attack even a two year old Palestinian .
Netanyahu’s panel will have no powers, not even those of a government probe, and its proposed chairman does not believe in such a panel. In an interview to Army Radio, Tirkel said there is no choice but to establish a state committee of inquiry. He opposed bringing in foreign observers and made clear that he is not a devotee of drawing conclusions about individuals and dismissing those responsible for failures. When a Haaretz reporter confronted Tirkel about these remarks, the former justice evaded the question saying, “I don’t remember what I said.“
One of the two international “observers” David Trimble, is a co-founder of the newly launched Israel advocacy group, Friends of Israel, joining John Bolton, Dore Gold, and Spain’s former right-wing prime minister, Jose Aznar. At its founding, the group released this statement:
This initiative “is promoted by people who are not Jewish and whose motivations are based on the deep conviction that Israel is part of the Western world. In fact, today Israel is a fundamental actor for the future of the West. Although the peace process is important, the members of Friends of Israel Initiative are more concerned about the onslaught of radical Islamism as well as the specter of a nuclear Iran since these are threats affecting not only Israel, but the entire world.
…The sponsors of this Initiative believe there is no West without Israel.”
Ironically, Friends of Israel announced its inauguration the day after the Mavi Marmara massacre. Can anyone possibly believe that David Trimble is a disinterested party capable of sitting in judgment (even as an observer) of the IDF’s behavior in this matter?
Also joining the Israeli investigative panel will be an IDF major general. Does anyone detect a slight conflict of interest here? How can a senior officer of the IDF sit in judgment of the IDF in what is supposed to be an “independent” panel?
Haaretz’ editorial also called the flotilla investigative body a “farce:”
The government’s efforts to avoid a thorough and credible investigation of the flotilla affair seem more and more like a farce. The conclusions of an ostensible probe are intended to justify retroactively the decision to blockade Gaza, to forcibly stop the Turkish aid flotilla in international waters and to use deadly force on the deck of the Mavi Marmara.
The Obama administration, ever willing to throw out a lifeline to Israel’s right-wing government, welcomed the fraudulent panel:
…The White House press secretary issued a statement hailing the Israeli announcement as an “important step forward.” The statement added that “the structure and terms of reference of Israel’s proposed independent public commission can meet the standard of a prompt, impartial, credible and transparent investigation,” as sought by the United Nations Security Council
.
“But,” the White House cautioned, “we will not prejudge the process or its outcome and will await the conduct and findings of the investigation before drawing further conclusions.”
He better give himself that “out,” as this panel will satisfy no one but the B-boys, Bibi and (possibly) Barack.
To make the costume seem credible, the Prime Minister's Bureau asked a retired Supreme Court justice, Yaakov Tirkel, to chair the committee. Alongside him will sit foreign observers in order to legitimize the conclusions in international public opinion. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu even pledged to testify before the committee, together with Defense Minister Ehud Barak, other ministers and the chief of staff, so "the truth will come out."
...The truth that Netanyahu wishes to bring out involves the identity of the flotilla's organizers, its sources of funding and the knives and rods that were brought aboard. He does not intend to probe the decision-making process that preceded the takeover of the ship and the shortcomings that were uncovered. As far as Netanyahu is concerned, it will be enough for television channels to broadcast footage of dark-suited jurists, and politicians addressing them, to present the semblance of an "examination."
New Video Smuggled Out of Israeli Gaza Flotilla Massacre 2/2
91177info — June 10, 2010 — 2. EXCLUSIVE: New Video Smuggled Out From Mavi Marmara of Israel's Deadly Assault on Gaza Aid Flotilla In a Democracy Now! exclusive we bring you a sneak preview of previously unseen raw footage from the Mavi Marmara that will be formally released at a press conference at the United Nations later in the day. The footage shows the mood and the activities on board the Mavi Marmara in the time leading up to the attack, and the immediate reaction of the passengers during the attack. We are joined by filmmaker and activist Iara Lee, one of the few Americans on the Mavi Marmara ship. Her equipment was confiscated but she managed to smuggle out an hour's worth of footage.
Jewish Peace activists threatened in the USA
91177info — June 08, 2010 — This is what happens to Jews who want peace from the USA imagine how difficult it would be in Israel! On June 6th, 2010, peace activists including Bay Area Women in Black and Jewish Voice for Peace held a silent vigil outside the main entrance to the San Francisco Jewish Community Federation's annual "Israel in the Gardens" celebration. The peace activists called for an end to Israel's occupation of Palestinian Territories and an end to the siege on Gaza. Their silent, dignified march was greeted by members of StandWithUs and other affiliates who called them "kapos" (concentration camp prisoners who carried out Nazi orders on other prisoners) and suggested that Israel should "sink the next flotilla with you on it." One man made explicit threats against the peace activists and their families. No one from StandWithUs intervened. Rather, they kept up their vicious and abusive chants. StandWithUs hosted a booth at Israel in the Gardens and is an approved charity at the San Francisco Federation's Jewish Community Endowment Fund. Are their values the values the Federation promotes?
On his radio show ... Glenn Beck heralded and promoted the work of Nazi sympathizer Elizabeth Dilling, who spoke at rallies hosted by the leading American Nazi group and praised Hitler. Today, Dilling is heralded by white supremacists and White Aryans who revere her "fearless" work against Jewish people.
Professor Glen Jeansonne and writer David Luhrssen note in the encyclopedia Women and War that Dilling wasn't only anti-Semitic, but a sympathizer and supporter of the Nazis and Hitler:
When World War II began in 1939, Dilling was part of the national network of anti-Semitics, anti-Communists, and Nazi sympathizers such as Father Charles Coughlin, Reverend Gerald L. K. Smith, Reverend Gerald Winrod, and William Dudley Pelley. Material generated by Nazi organizations in Germany to inspire race hated and exploit dissatisfaction in the United States found its way into Dilling's publications. She spoke at rallies hosted by the leading U.S. Nazi organization, the German-American Bund, and had traveled to Germany, pronouncing the country as flourishing under Hitler.
Dilling called for appeasing Germany; she blamed the war on Jews and Communists and accused the Roosevelt administration of being controlled by Jewish Communists. ... After Pearl Harbor, Dilling resisted wartime rationing and denounced the Allies.
Above quote from article at Media Matters June 6, 2010
First a couple of quotes detailing the Agenda of the Religious Right
"In winning a nation to the gospel, the sword as well as the pen must be used."
R.J. Rushdooney-Founder Of American Christian Reconstructionism
"I want you to just let a wave of intolerance wash over you.I want you to let a wave of hatred wash over you. Yes, hate is good ... Our goal is a Christian nation. We have a biblical duty, we are called by God to conquer this country. We don'twant equal time. We don't want pluralism."
[TheNews-Sentinel (Fort Wayne, Indiana), August 16, 1993]RANDALL TERRY (Founder of Operation Rescue )
"So let us be blunt about it: we must use the doctrine of religious liberty to gain independence for Christian schools until we train up a generation of people who know that there is no religious neutrality, no neutral law, no neutral education, and no neutral civil government. Then they will get busy in constructing a Bible-based social, political and religious order which finally denies the religious liberty of the enemies of God."
Gary North ( Christian Reconstructionist)
Christian Taliban Loony Church of the week
Talk about Family Values The religious Right's notion of Family Values is that in a traditional Judeo-Christian family the husband is to rule over his family and his decisions are done in compliance with God's Law. The children and his wife have few if any rights. For instance they encourage men to not beat but to spank their wives and children when they disobey. The wife and children must also accept the faith of the Father - They are to be chastised or kept housebound if they continue to deny Jesus or they can simply be kicked out of their homes for disobeying. and in essence are shunned from the community of true believers. The Pastor of their church has dominion over the Father and the Family.
Christian Love not so much-
TYT:Girl Forced To Apologize By Church After Rape Ana Kasparian commentary on Christian Church blaming 15 year old rape victim & make her apologize
Trinity Baptist Church & pastor Phelps
Wacky American Conservative Suggestion of the week The suggestion that Americas citizens should pay for BPs oil spill is similar to the above story -in both the victim is blamed for the criminal and immoral acts of others.
Hey there, Americans! I'm sure, by now, many of you have had some time to reflect on the massive, unfolding Deepwater Horizon oil disaster and thought to yourselves, "My, that really is a terrible, apocalyptic cock-up!" But have you gone so far as to think to yourself, "My, that really is a terrible, apocalyptic cock-up, the costs of which I should logically be burdened with, because I am responsible for everything that happened?" No? Well, you should maybe start thinking that way, because the U.S. Chamber of Commerce thinks you should!
You know, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce typically doesn't put itself out there as a big fan of socialism. But that all changes when we're talking about risk and liability. In those cases, they love socialism to death! And that's basically how Chamber President Tom Donohue is framing his call to put a greater share of the oil spill price tag on you and me:
"It is generally not the practice of this country to change the laws after the game," said Tom Donohue, the president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. ". . . Everybody is going to contribute to this clean up. We are all going to have to do it. We are going to have to get the money from the government and from the companies and we will figure out a way to do that."
Yes, now is the time for America to come together and demonstrate some communitarian pluck in response to the time that all of us collectively decided that BP should cut corners, blow up their oil rig, and cause a massive disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.
House Minority Leader John Boehner cosigns this call for collective responsibility:
In response to a question from TPMDC, House Minority Leader John Boehner said he believes taxpayers should help pick up the tab for the clean up.
"I think the people responsible in the oil spill--BP and the federal government--should take full responsibility for what's happening there," Boehner said at his weekly press conference this morning.
That's from TPM's Brian Beutler, who very helpfully points out that this is one of those times when the words "federal government" is used as a euphemism for "American taxpayers."
and last but not least Glenn Beck promotes Pro-Nazi book will his devoted followers purchase the book???
Beck's motives unclear but effects of his lunacy are what matters. He has millions of followers who can't see through his showmanship ; his media act and believe everything he says. Beck's little history lessons for example are twisted versions of historical events. It is through the prism of these twisted versions of history which are then applied to current events.
If Israel was a weak struggling nation in 1948 then it still is . This ignores Israel's military achievements and its stockpile of 2000 Nuclear weapons .
Is Glenn Beck a terrifying lunatic clown, whose historical revisionism only serves to support his twisted brand of populism, or is he a whip-smart self-promotional genius in it for the bucks?
They’re not mutually exclusive. Here’s an interesting passage from Dave Weigel’s interview of Alexander Zaitchik, who wrote the book on Beck
Zaitchik : His main motivations are, and have always been, money and fame. If Beck has a true religion, it’s not Patriotism. It’s not Mormonism. It’s cross-platform self-marketing.
The one constant in his life has been enormous ambition. His business and brand will never be big or successful enough—hence the new projects never stop coming. But I don’t think Beck’s self-image as a businessman is at odds with his beliefs about religion and politics. He doesn’t know enough about the world to understand why his grand-unified theory of a 100-year progressive plot is a laughingstock outside of his own TV and radio studios. I think he actually believes God wants him to make all this money and fight dirty for right wing causes. Does he really believe God is speaking to and through him? I don’t know. But in one of his books, he describes Heaven as a place where everybody “can make as much money as they want,” and he does believe that God basically wrote the Constitution in 1787.
The mistake Beck’s critics often make is to say, “Okay, so if his main self-identity is as a media and entertainment mogul, then everything else is just an act.” There’s no need to choose just one door. On his worldview’s own terms, there’s no contradiction between his enormous success, his entertainment toolbox, and his bat-in-the-bell tower politics. What’s shocking to me is how completely his fans swallow the “selfless patriot” act. It’s like they’re deaf and blind to the way his tearful civic-activist shtick feeds directly into the business, indeed is the business. What’s happening, I think, is that Beck thinks God approves of his manipulations, and his fans are willing to suspend their disbelief and give him a pass because, they too, think Beck is ultimately doing God’s work. The whole thing is arguably the most elaborate Kabuki theater on view on the right today.
Glenn Beck promoted The Red Network: A “Who’s Who” and Handbook of Radicalism for Patriots, stating that the book is “from people who were doing what we’re doing now. We now are documenting who all of these people are.” However, the book’s author, Elizabeth Dilling, was a virulent anti-Semite, and The Red Network itself contains numerous passages that espouse anti-Semitism and racism.
The Red Network is rife with racism, anti-Semitism, and religious bigotry
“Un-Christianized” “colored people” are “savages” who owe success to Christian whites. As part of a chapter alleging communist and socialist infiltration of religious institutions, Dilling wrote:
The colored people are a sincerely religious race. As long as they stayed in Africa un-Christianized, they remained, as did pagan white men, savages. Their pagan brothers in Africa today are savages, while in a comparatively few years, under the opportunities of the American government and the inspiration of Christianity, the American Negroes have acquired professions, property, banks, homes, and produced a rising class of refined, home loving people. This is far more remarkable than that many Negroes are still backward. The Reds play upon the Negroes’ love of their own people and represent them as persecuted in order to inflame them against the very white people who have in reality given the colored race far greater opportunities than their fellow negroes would give them in Africa today. [Pages 35-36]
"God created separate races, but Communism insists upon racial inter-mixture." Dilling
Being "fair" to Nazi Germany's "anti-Jewish activities." Dilling attacked an organization called Committees for Human Rights Against Naziism that boycotted Germany over its anti-Semitic policies. As part of her attack, Dilling wrote that "it is only fair to note" that Germany's Jewish population contained "Russian Jews" who "had made themselves prominent in the Red movement," and if Germany "has discriminated against the innocent also, it has been with no such ferocity and loss of life as the planned and imminent Communist revolution would have wreaked upon the German population"
Dilling would later become a full-throated supporter of Nazism who reportedly attended Nazi party meetings in Germany and pro-Nazi rallies in the United States.
Blamed "revolutionary Russian Jews" for German anti-Semitism. Dilling attributed the anti-Semitic nature of German fascism in part to "the large number of revolutionary Russian Jews in Germany"
Dilling's writings and philosophy have made her a popular figure among Aryan and White Supremacist groups.
Historian slams Beck for promoting Dilling. Professor Jeansonne, in an interview with Media Matters, criticized Beck's "ludicrous" promotion of Dilling's The Red Network, saying that she was considered a "crackpot" in her own day who "appealed to the lunatic fringe." Jeansonne characterized Dilling as probably the "most bigoted woman anti-Semite of the period around World War II," and said she "did the cause of anti-Communism a disservice."
Like the attacks by Al Qaeda, the disaster in the Gulf was preceded by ample warnings – yet the administration had ignored them. Instead of cracking down on MMS, as he had vowed to do even before taking office, Obama left in place many of the top officials who oversaw the agency's culture of corruption. He permitted it to rubber-stamp dangerous drilling operations by BP – a firm with the worst safety record of any oil company – with virtually no environmental safeguards, using industry-friendly regulations drafted during the Bush years. He calibrated his response to the Gulf spill based on flawed and misleading estimates from BP – and then deployed his top aides to lowball the flow rate at a laughable 5,000 barrels a day, long after the best science made clear this catastrophe would eclipse the Exxon Valdez.
* Awesome Video of Fly over the Gulf region proves BP has been lying. What's worse is that the Media keeps repeating BP's & Big Oil & Their Rovian style talking points like a MANTRA 5,000 Barrels of oil daily -when its closer to 70,000 barrels or more daily or It's Obama's Fault *Oil Companies good -Government Bad or Brit Hume what oil? & the sea is a big place? Tony Hayward wants his Posh Life back Dispersants working and not Toxic??? The dispersants are toxic. The spill is massive and includes a number of underwater oil plumes visible from the air
*Israel's War Crimes boarding the Mavi Marmara
*EXCLUSIVE: New Video Smuggled Out From Mavi Marmara of Israel's Deadly Assault on Gaza Aid Flotilla-Democracy Now Eye witness reports by passengers on the Flotilla differ dramatically from what Israel has reported *Israel attacked the Turkish ship as its main target ? * Pepe Escobar :To teach Turkey & USA a lesson over the Turkey Iran Brazil deal by which Iran could fulfill its obligations concerning Nuclear material-thwarting Israel's plan to bomb Iran
Flight over BP Oil disaster Day 52 with Marine Biologist, Dr. Carl Safina
jamescfox — June 11, 2010 — James Fox flew over the BP Gulf oil disaster with Marine Biologist Dr. Carl Safina who's president of Blue Ocean Institute on day 52 of the BP Oil spill. What we saw and documented was horrific. This flight was made possible by Gulf Restoration Network. Video produced by James Fox and Jette Newell with help from Associate Producers Cara Fay and Ann Morton.
As a Neo-liberal Pres. Obama is not much different than the Bush Regime on various issues- ie Oil Drilling Drumming up hatred of Iran Mild to non-existent criticisms of Israel Using Drone attacks in Afghanistan Use of Enhanced Interrogation Techniques AKA Torture Lite Obama's Too Big to Fail policy
also see on Obama's Mandate to DRILL BABY DRILL the environment be Damned !!!
Rolling Stone's Tim Dickinson has written a stunner of an article called "The Spill, The Scandal and The President." It's damned heartbreaking to learn that yes, at least in Interior, this really is the third Bush term:
Even worse, the "moratorium" on drilling announced by the president does little to prevent future disasters. The ban halts exploratory drilling at only 33 deepwater operations, shutting down less than one percent of the total wells in the Gulf. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, the Cabinet-level official appointed by Obama to rein in the oil industry, boasts that "the moratorium is not a moratorium that will affect production" – which continues at 5,106 wells in the Gulf, including 591 in deep water.
Most troubling of all, the government has allowed BP to continue deep-sea production at its Atlantis rig – one of the world's largest oil platforms. Capable of drawing 200,000 barrels a day from the seafloor, Atlantis is located only 150 miles off the coast of Louisiana, in waters nearly 2,000 feet deeper than BP drilled at Deepwater Horizon. According to congressional documents, the platform lacks required engineering certification for as much as 90 percent of its subsea components – a flaw that internal BP documents reveal could lead to "catastrophic" errors. In a May 19th letter to Salazar, 26 congressmen called for the rig to be shut down immediately. "We are very concerned," they wrote, "that the tragedy at Deepwater Horizon could foreshadow an accident at BP Atlantis."
The administration's response to the looming threat? According to an e-mail to a congressional aide from a staff member at MMS, the agency has had "zero contact" with Atlantis about its safety risks since the Deepwater rig went down.
mediagrrl9 — June 10, 2010 — EXCLUSIVE: New Video Smuggled Out From Mavi Marmara of Israel's Deadly Assault on Gaza Aid Flotilla
In a Democracy Now! exclusive we bring you a sneak preview of previously unseen raw footage from the Mavi Marmara that will be formally released at a press conference at the United Nations later in the day. The footage shows the mood and the activities on board the Mavi Marmara in the time leading up to the attack, and the immediate reaction of the passengers during the attack. We are joined by filmmaker and activist Iara Lee, one of the few Americans on the Mavi Marmara ship. Her equipment was confiscated but she managed to smuggle out an hour's worth of footage.
Even the Washington Post is afraid to censor in any way Pro-Israeli racist Islamophobes. Will they soon host columns by white supremacists. The current version of the Washington Post we must remember has nothing to do with the Washington Post that published the Pentagon Papers or The Mi Lai Massacre or the Water Gate Scandal no they loved Pres. Bush and they favor war even racist Islamophobes if it means better circulation.
Would the Washington Post feature a columnist writing a weekly column which was frequently anti-Semitic? No, of course not -- the Post will not have such a columnist and rightfully so. But, the Washington Post has Charles Krauthammer spewing hatred, falsehoods, and much more anti-Arab and anti-Islam rhetoric frequently. He demonizes Arabs and Muslims by his falsehoods. In fact, he was one of the most effective voices in calling for the invasion of Iraq causing hundreds of thousands of death and over a million wounded
...He claims the humanitarian aid is an invitation to national suicide! Could he be more absurd? Israel has over 200 nuclear bombs, the strongest regional military power, supported by the only superpower, and the strongest economy. But if they allow a humanitarian aid ship through it is suicide. He claims that all Israel wanted was to search the cargo for weapons. Well, why then has Israel had a total blockade in force on Gaza’s 1.6 million Palestinian Arabs for the past four years?
During that time, couldn't Israel have arranged for an international inspection of all humanitarian aid into Gaza? Or is it that Israel wants to prevent food and medicine from reaching the Palestinians as a collective punishment? Or is it that Israel, as one official said, wants to starve them but not kill them. The sewage system in Gaza was destroyed by Israel two years ago. The water purification system, too, was destroyed or rendered dysfunctional by the blockade. The children of Gaza are dying from diseases and malnutrition.
The Gazans live in the highest population density area in the world. They have been living under such conditions for the past sixty years since the creation of Israel, which now has one of the highest living standards in the world. So tell me: who is living in a Ghetto?
Mr. Krauthammer wants to demonize the Palestinians as an ungrateful people. But they only want freedom from mass starvation. How dare they want to attack Israel in order to attain the resemblance of livelihood? Moreover, how dare the world support a flotilla that seeks to prevent the starvation of 1.6 million people?
If the security of Israel is the issue, then why doesn't Mr. Krauthammer support the two-state solution called for by the UN, United States and the Quartet? I would support a fully secure and safe Israel within its 1967 borders with an unarmed state of Palestine. Israel and Mr. Krauthammer would not be satisfied until all of the Arabs and Muslims become subservient to the wishes of Israel and the United States.
Eyewitness journalist Jamal Elshayyal on board the Gaza Flotilla when it was attacked and then boarded by IDF -Israeli troops The Israelis fired upon the ship from their helicopters and ships before boarding in the process wounding a number of activists and killing at least one who was shot in the head as IDF descended on ropes firing live rounds or rubber bullets as they went- note rubber bullets are not supposed to be used at close range because they can be lethal- This firing & wounding of activists and ship's crew and journalist is what may have pissed off some activists or crew members of the ship who then attacked soldiers as they dropped-In most cases this would be seen as justifiable resistance & the use of force-according to those who are pro-Israel and hate all Arabs the supposedly peace activist should have offered no resistance even if fired upon -this is peace activism and passive non-cooperation 101. Even when the ship signaled it was surrendering the Israelis kept firing live amunition
Gaza Flotilla Testimony of Jamal Elshayyal | Palestine Solidarity Campaign meeting | London | Jun 9
June 09, 2010 — produced by http://www.counterfire.org Jamal Elshayyal is a news producer for Aljazeera and was filming on the Marvi Marmara when the Israelis attacked.
McClatchy Newspapers exposes Israel's real motivation behind draconian blockade of Gaza. (aside does this according to the Pro-Israel crowd make McClatchy Newspapers anti-Israel or even anti-Semitic ? That is even when if what they report is factual and verifiable.) The real aim is not just to stop arms getting into Gaza which is legitimate but they also refuse to allow medicine , food, live stock, building materials etc. from being allowed into Gaza in order to make the people of Gaza suffer as part of their collective punishment for voting Hamas in or for the launching of rockets or for not hunting down & killing all members of Hamas - But collective punishment of a civilian population is a breach of International law The collective punishment of a population including punishing civilians, children the old the infirm etc. is also according to most civilized people immoral. And because Israel is the defacto occupier of Gaza Israqeli government has an obligation to insure the civilian population is taken care of : food, clothing, shelter
JERUSALEM — As Israel ordered a slight easing of its blockade of the Gaza Strip Wednesday, McClatchy obtained an Israeli government document that describes the blockade not as a security measure but as "economic warfare" against the Islamist group Hamas, which rules the Palestinian territory.
Israel imposed severe restrictions on Gaza in June 2007, after Hamas won elections and took control of the coastal enclave after winning elections there the previous year, and the government has long said that the aim of the blockade is to stem the flow of weapons to militants in Gaza.
Last week, after Israeli commandos killed nine volunteers on a Turkish-organized Gaza aid flotilla, Israel again said its aim was to stop the flow of terrorist arms into Gaza.
However, in response to a lawsuit by Gisha, an Israeli human rights group, the Israeli government explained the blockade as an exercise of the right of economic warfare.
"A country has the right to decide that it chooses not to engage in economic relations or to give economic assistance to the other party to the conflict, or that it wishes to operate using 'economic warfare,'" the government said.
McClatchy obtained the government's written statement from Gisha, the Legal Center for Freedom of Movement, which sued the government for information about the blockade. The Israeli high court upheld the suit, and the government delivered its statement earlier this year.
Sari Bashi, the director of Gisha, said the documents prove that Israel isn't imposing its blockade for its stated reasons, but rather as collective punishment for the Palestinian population of Gaza. Gisha focuses on Palestinian rights.
(A State Department spokesman, who wasn't authorized to speak for the record, said he hadn't seen the documents in question.)
The Israeli government took an additional step Wednesday and said the economic warfare is intended to achieve a political goal. A government spokesman, who couldn't be named as a matter of policy, told McClatchy that authorities will continue to ease the blockade but "could not lift the embargo altogether as long as Hamas remains in control" of Gaza.
President Barack Obama, after receiving Mahmoud Abbas, the head of the Palestinian Authority, said the situation in Gaza is "unsustainable." He pledged an additional $400 million in aid for housing, school construction and roads to improve daily life for Palestinians — of which at least $30 million is earmarked for Gaza.
Israel's blockade of Gaza includes a complex and ever-changing list of goods that are allowed in. Items such as cement or metal are barred because they can be used for military purposes, Israeli officials say.
According to figures published by Gisha in coordination with the United Nations, Israel allows in 25 percent of the goods it had permitted into Gaza before the Hamas takeover. In the years prior to the closure, Israel allowed an average of 10,400 trucks to enter Gaza with goods each month. Israel now allows approximately 2,500 trucks a month.
The figures show that Israel also has limited the goods allowed to enter Gaza to 40 types of items, while before June 2007 approximately 4,000 types of goods were listed as entering Gaza...
JERUSALEM — As Israel ordered a slight easing of its blockade of the Gaza Strip Wednesday, McClatchy obtained an Israeli government document that describes the blockade not as a security measure but as "economic warfare" against the Islamist group Hamas, which rules the Palestinian territory.
Israel imposed severe restrictions on Gaza in June 2007, after Hamas won elections and took control of the coastal enclave after winning elections there the previous year, and the government has long said that the aim of the blockade is to stem the flow of weapons to militants in Gaza.
Last week, after Israeli commandos killed nine volunteers on a Turkish-organized Gaza aid flotilla, Israel again said its aim was to stop the flow of terrorist arms into Gaza.
However, in response to a lawsuit by Gisha, an Israeli human rights group, the Israeli government explained the blockade as an exercise of the right of economic warfare.
"A country has the right to decide that it chooses not to engage in economic relations or to give economic assistance to the other party to the conflict, or that it wishes to operate using 'economic warfare,'" the government said.
McClatchy obtained the government's written statement from Gisha, the Legal Center for Freedom of Movement, which sued the government for information about the blockade. The Israeli high court upheld the suit, and the government delivered its statement earlier this year.
Sari Bashi, the director of Gisha, said the documents prove that Israel isn't imposing its blockade for its stated reasons, but rather as collective punishment for the Palestinian population of Gaza. Gisha focuses on Palestinian rights.
(A State Department spokesman, who wasn't authorized to speak for the record, said he hadn't seen the documents in question.)
The Israeli government took an additional step Wednesday and said the economic warfare is intended to achieve a political goal. A government spokesman, who couldn't be named as a matter of policy, told McClatchy that authorities will continue to ease the blockade but "could not lift the embargo altogether as long as Hamas remains in control" of Gaza.
President Barack Obama, after receiving Mahmoud Abbas, the head of the Palestinian Authority, said the situation in Gaza is "unsustainable." He pledged an additional $400 million in aid for housing, school construction and roads to improve daily life for Palestinians — of which at least $30 million is earmarked for Gaza.
Israel's blockade of Gaza includes a complex and ever-changing list of goods that are allowed in. Items such as cement or metal are barred because they can be used for military purposes, Israeli officials say.
According to figures published by Gisha in coordination with the United Nations, Israel allows in 25 percent of the goods it had permitted into Gaza before the Hamas takeover. In the years prior to the closure, Israel allowed an average of 10,400 trucks to enter Gaza with goods each month. Israel now allows approximately 2,500 trucks a month.
The figures show that Israel also has limited the goods allowed to enter Gaza to 40 types of items, while before June 2007 approximately 4,000 types of goods were listed as entering Gaza.
Journalist Pepe Escobar argues that Israel was intent on a violent encounter with the Gaza Flotilla in order to send a message to Turkey which made a deal with Iran & Brazil and NATO and USA stood by-the nuclear deal means Israel & the USA no longer have an excuse for bombing or invading Iran-(I'm sure they will find other excuses for such action if they need to)
A new Middle East is being born - and there seems to be only one place for Israel: isolation. With that comes an inevitable, somewhat crazed approach to diplomacy
Why would Israeli commandos shoot nine unarmed activists dead with nine millimeter bullets at close range, between the eyes, in the top of the head, in the back of the head, in the chest, in the back, and in the legs - including an American citizen? (The final death toll may be 15, as six activists are still missing; Israeli army radio reported 16 dead early last Monday when the attack took place on the Mavi Marmara, a part of the Free Gaza flotilla.)
How could Israel think it would get away with it by censoring video and photos - and then getting away with it all over again by refusing an international, independent commission to investigate the incident and subsequent cover-up?
Why, geopolitically, would Israel declare war on the de facto international community - from Muslim nations to North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member-countries to global public opinion?
...A key Israeli motive to attack the humanitarian flotilla was to send a "signal" to Turkey about the Brazil and Turkey-mediated Iran nuclear fuel-swap deal - as its success pre-empted Israel's pleas for a military strike on Tehran's nuclear facilities. Israel wants conflict between Washington and Tehran - and that means using the Israel lobby in Washington to sabotage US President Barack Obama's half-hearted attempts at finding any sort of agreement with Tehran over its uranium-enrichment program.
UPDATE :On treatment of Gaza Freedom Flotilla by the IDF
— "Jerusalem is not a settlement.. it is our capital." Netanyahu firm on Jerusalem March 23, 2010
These defiant words came from Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, as he addressed a conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac) in Washington DC see more below.
Israel's arrogance & hubris -Beating & abusing Flotilla passengers after their arrest abuse continued up to the time of their release . International Law and the laws of Western Nations do not apply to Israel or the United States-Get used to it- from Abu Ghraib to Gitmo to Gaza Freedom Flotilla
Gaza Flotilla Testimony of Alex Harrison | Palestine Solidarity Campaign meeting | London | Jun 9
June 09, 2010 — Produced by http://www.counterfire.org Alex Harrison is a member of Free Gaza Movement and was part of the Gaza flotilla.
Given such an attitude Prime Minister Netanyahu is not willing to stop his governments plans to take over East Jerusalem which is populated by Palestinians. He like a proper Neocon edging towards Fascism as he uses Jewish Mythology to justify conquering more territory and convincing the Palestinians to leave once they get tired of the strict diet Israel has put them on . If Netanyahu is akin to the Neocons then he believes anything goes to protect Israel but he must instill greater hatred of the Palestinians and all Arabs and characterize them as an ongoing threat to Israel. Since sooner or later he reassures them the Arabs will try to drive them into the sea. And so we can expect more actions like the attack on the aid flotilla -it raise the question about Israel's own motives.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad it is claimed said this but others argue its a mistranslation -what he says is that he will not recognize Israel as a legitimate state given its boundaries which includes stolen land acquired over the past four decades and from the Six-Day
Pastor John Hagee claims to be a friend of Israel and that America must support Israel unconditionally. He is the major spokesperson for the Christian Zionists.
And yet Hagee's attitude towards the Jewish people is complicated if not contradictory since he argues the Israelites or Jews were God's chosen people but now it is Christians who are God's chosen people. But there is a catch which makes the Israelis of value to Hagee and other Christian Zionists.
According to Hagee's interpretation of the Bible and that of other Evangelical Fundamentalist the Jews play a major role in the Evangelical Fundamentalists' Endtimes scenario -eschatology - in which the Jews must return to Israel and establish Eretz Israel before Jesus can return or for the Apocalypse to begin which will lead to the defeat of the Anti-Christ and Satan and evil.
So the Jews are of little importance in themselves except as a means to an end (and not an end in themselves see; Immanuel Kant On Morality and the Categorical Imperative or the Golden Rule plus )
So it is surprising that Pastor John Hagee would spew such vehemence against the Jews in some his sermons.
Hagee has characterized the Jewish people as being punished by God for some 2000 years for rejecting Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah . In the 19th century God sent a messenger Theodore Herzl who began the Zionist movement for all Jews to return to what he referred to as their homeland . When God saw the Jews were not heeding Herzl's call and when they did not heed him to return to Palestine God sent a Hunter , Hitler to punish them in the Holocaust or Shoah. Finally the Jews establish the state of Israel in 1948 and at that point the Apocalyptic or Endtimes clock began ticking as God had planned it .
At the gathering, Hagee called Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad "the Hitler of the Middle East" and denounced the Goldstone Report as "character assassination by an unbiased and uninformed committee."
Netanyahu welcomed the crowd of 1000 American evangelicals to Jerusalem, a city he described as "the undivided, eternal capitol of the Jewish people. Then, he told them, "I salute you! The Jewish people salute you!" He used the rest of his speech to call for "tough, biting sanctions" against Iran that "bite deep into its energy sector."
...During Hagee's speech, he made no secret of his support for the illegal settlement enterprise that has been the source of difficulties between the US and Israel. "The settlements are not the problem," he boomed from the podium. "The problem is the refusal of Arab leaders to respect the right of Jewish people to live anywhere in the Middle East."
Hagee received a rousing ovation from the crowd and the Israeli government officials seated beside the podium when he proclaimed, "World leaders do not have the authority to tell Israel and the Jewish people what they can and cannot do in the city of Jerusalem. They don't have the authority to tell them what they can and cannot build, who can and and cannot live there."
Pastor Hagee and Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem 3/8/10
March 08, 2010 — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu greets far-right Pastor John Hagee in Jerusalem the day before Vice President Joseph Biden arrives to oversee indirect peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Netanyahu and Hagee speak in favor of an undivided Jerusalem and the settlement enterprise in the West Bank, repudiating US demands.
Hagee says F... The United Nations -so he is in agreement with many Americans and many of their elected representatives Once again illustrating one that the UN HQ should never have been placed in the USA. Secondly it illustrates why the USA shouls never have been given Veto powers which they have abused more than any other country on the Security council- Hagee's belief is that no one has the right to judge any policies or actions taken by the Israeli government. Even if Israel were to Nuke Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Iran, Egypt or Saudi Arabia or Berlin or Paris or Moscow or London -Pastor Hagee and the US government would be the first to support Israel and to threaten any country that might try to retaliate against Israel or Israel's allies USA, Canada and a few other countries.
Pastor Hagee Denounces Goldstone in Jerusalem 3/8/10
March 09, 2010 — Part II here: http://www.vimeo.com/10034685 This is part one of Pastor Hagee's speech in Jerusalem before top members of the Israeli government and thousands of evangelicals.
