Lord Myners named in Coutts Bank Billion Dollars Tax Evasion Fraud Case http://www.carrollfoundationtrust.org/
Lord Myners the newly appointed UK Government Minister responsible for the City of London banking and financial regulatory reform programme and a former director of the Royal Bank of Scotland's Coutts Banking arm has been named with Lord Home the Chairman of Coutts in compelling criminal evidence dossiers containing the forged and falsified Gerald Carroll Trust Coutts Bank Accounts which impulsed the criminal liqudation and embezzlement of over $1,000,000,000 (one billion dollars) of Carroll Foundation Trust and Gerald Carroll estate interests assets and funds on a world wide basis.
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Disappearing Alaskan Village Appeals Ruling, Fights Climate Change Corporations http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/29/kivalina-appeals-eroding-_n_441420.html
One of Alaska's most eroded villages wants to revive a lawsuit that claims greenhouse gasses from oil, power and coal companies are to blame for the climate change endangering the tiny community.
The city of Kivalina and a federally recognized tribe, the Alaska Native village of Kivalina, filed the case in federal court in San Francisco in 2008, but it was dismissed in October. Now they're appealing to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, with their opening brief due March 11.Oil giants Exxon Mobil Corp. and BP PLC are among two dozen defendants named in the lawsuit. Representatives for the two companies declined to comment Thursday.
Canada's pro-democracy movement http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=4755&updaterx=2010-01-29+10%3A29%3A39
People in the streets accusing Prime Minister of shutting down Parliament to avoid war crimes inquiryCanadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has single-handedly shut down Parliament. It is the second time he has done this since being re-elected in October of 2008.
Critics claim that the move was used this time in order to postpone an inquiry into accusations of war crimes complicity for members of his administration and the Canadian military. Stemming from evidence that Canada continued handing- over people detained in the War in Afghanistan over to Afghan prisons that they knew practiced torture.
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IRAQI WOMAN TELLS THE TRUTH ABOUT THE IRAQ WAR http://fromthewilderness.wordpress.com/2010/01/28/iraqi-woman-tells-truth-about-iraq-war/
This woman blows the American war propaganda out of the water. She addresses the extremity of ignorance in America, exposing the real face of the Iraq war. – Alejandra
also see...THE DOCTOR, DU AND THE DYING CHILDREN IN IRAQ http://fromthewilderness.ning.com/group/womanonfire/forum/topics/the-doctor-du-and-the-dyingTHE DEPLETED URANIUM TRAGEDY IN IRAQ http://fromthewilderness.ning.com/group/womanonfire/forum/topics/the-depleted-uranium-tragedyDEPLETED URANIUM WEAPONS AND DEFORMED BABIES http://fromthewilderness.ning.com/group/womanonfire/forum/topics/depleted-uranium-weapons-andHALF LIFE OF A TOXIC WAR – IRAQ’S WRECKED ENVIRONMENT http://fromthewilderness.ning.com/group/womanonfire/forum/topics/half-life-of-a-toxic-war
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FLASHBACK-War, geopolitics & human rights http://www.bilaterals.org/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=43
Bilateral free trade and investment agreements are not only economic instruments. They are tools to advance corporate and state geopolitical and “security” interests. Pro-free market journalist Thomas Friedman wrote: “The hidden hand of the market will never work without a hidden fist — McDonald’s cannot flourish without McDonnell Douglas, the builder of the F-15. And the hidden fist that keeps the world safe for Silicon Valley’s technologies is called the United States Army, AirForce and Marine Corps.”
Neoliberal globalization and war are two sides of the same coin. Throughout many parts of the world there has been little “hidden” about the links between corporate interests, globalization, and militarization. Under the guise of the war on terror, the war on drugs and “humanitarian” missions, U.S. military forces continue to back U.S. corporate and geopolitical interests from Iraq to Colombia, from Honduras to the Philippines. We can see it in the war on Iraq and how the US Agency for International Development (USAID) awarded “reconstruction” contracts to corporate backers of the Bush Administration.
We see it in plans for a U.S. free trade agreement with the Middle East by 2013, based on imposing a network of bilateral FTAs on individual Middle Eastern governments. We can see it in the renewed U.S. military presence in South East Asia, especially in their joint exercises with the Philippine military alongside a continued wave of killings of hundreds of activists linked to movements resisting imperialism. Their mission is to make the world safe for capitalism and the U.S. empire and to crush communities and economies organized around different values and principles. Free trade and free market policies are frequently accompanied by repression of dissent.
Meanwhile human rights is invoked cynically by governments to stave off criticism of FTA negotiations with countries whose human rights record is widely denounced as appalling. Canada, for example, claims that its controversial FTA with Colombia will help strengthen its social foundations “and contribute to a domestic environment where individual rights and the rule of law are respected”. Opponents argue that this deal will benefit Canadian mining and agribusiness TNCs, at the expense of the majority of Colombians who live with daily killings of trade unionists and other activists by paramilitaries linked to the state, while adding legitimacy to the pro-US, neoliberal Uribe regime (see Canada-Colombia section).
While US economic, trade and foreign policy invokes the “war on drugs” in relation to Central America and the Andean countries, Washington has "rewarded" its allies in the "war on terror" (e.g. Australia and Thailand) by negotiating FTAs with them while trumpeting its FTA with Morocco as proof of its support for “tolerant and open” Muslim societies. And it has demanded that the governments of Gulf countries scrap their boycotts of Israeli goods as part of FTA negotiations. Other governments also explicitly link their international trade and economic policy with security and geopolitical interests. For example, the EU-Syria agreement has a special provision committing Damascus to the pursuit of a “verifiable Middle East zone free of weapons of mass destruction, nuclear, biological and chemical, and their delivery systems”.
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Obama urged to move on Latin FTAs http://www.bilaterals.org/article.php3?id_article=16699
The event was organized by AACCLA, a trade group of 23 American chambers of commerce in Latin America that represents more than 20,000 companies and over 80 percent of U.S. investment in the region.
Jerry Weller, chairman of New World Group and a former congressman from Illinois, said there are enough votes in Congress to pass the Colombia and Panama FTA’s today. “If Panama and Colombia are put up for a vote they will be ratified,” he said.
Craig Kelly, the U.S. Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs and a widely-respected career diplomat, said he was encouraged by President Obama’s reference to Colombia and Panama in his State of the Union speech. “We were delighted to see it,” he said. “There’s a strong realization that these trade agreements have benefited people in the region.”
comment-only people benefitting are the business class ruling class,the governments and the corporations...for anyone outside the loop,extreme poverty has risen in colombia and mexico...see...ECLAC: Extreme Poverty Up in 2009 in Mexico, Central America http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=350908&CategoryId=14091Extreme Poverty Up http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20090824-713382.htmlMeanwhile, extreme poverty increased to 17.8% of the country's total population in 2008, compared with 15.7% in 2005, but less than the 19.7% reported in 2002 also see...Neoliberalism Needs Death Squads in Colombiahttp://coto2.wordpress.com/2009/09/05/neoliberalism-needs-death-squads-in-colombia/
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Without justice and no peace: Five years after the enactment of the law http://prensarural.org/spip/spip.php?article3542
Over the past three years, as specified in the second part of this book, at least 133 congressmen and former congressmen have been involved with the paramilitaries, their crimes and activities, which shows the penetration and influence of parastatal structures political parties, comprising mainly on the President's coalition. For example, almost all of Colombia Democratic members in Congress, the party founded by President Álvaro Uribe Vélez, has open investigations for their alleged links with paramilitaries also highlights cases of Álvaro Araújo Castro - Wing Team Colombia - Mario Uribe Escobar - Colombia's Democratic -, Luis Humberto Gómez Gallo - the Conservative Party - Luis Alberto Gil Castillo - Convergence Citizen - Carlos Armando Garcia Orjuela - the Party of the U - and Dieb Nicolas Maloof Cuse - de Colombia Viva -. Despite this, investigations have not resulted in convictions in that the responsibility for the crimes committed by the paramilitary system are in development and protection of the interests that these sectors accounts.
However, these alliances were not limited to members of Congress, they also spread to both local public servants - including municipal and departmental officials, mayors, councilors and MPs belonging to the same political movements congressional investigation - as a senior current government, influencing even the same election of President Álvaro Uribe Velez in 2002, as confirmed by paramilitary chiefs Diego Murillo Bejarano, alias "Don Berna", and Salvatore Mancuso Gómez, alias "Santander Lozada" among others. Under this scenario, we can say that Colombia is a unique case in Latin America. It is one of 10 countries in the world which is under preliminary consideration of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC). That is a sad reality: we are among those places in the world in which they have committed and are still committing crimes against humanity. The most responsible for such crimes have not been investigated or subjected to real justice, as we shall show in the two major chapters of this document.
In the past seven years, Colombia has experienced different legal and justice processes, which discusses the possibility of materializing the investigation and punishment of thousands of criminal acts committed in recent decades. In the following pages we present a review of its implementation, which although has led to some results - following pressure from human rights bodies and the high courts - the resulting balance is not encouraging. Various barriers and legal gaps appear as real and convincing strategies of impunity that threatens to thwart access to truth, justice and reparation for victims and Colombian society. But the organized action of the latter and human rights organizations, recent case law and most advanced in the Supreme Court and the combination of various formal and informal mechanisms, national and international human rights, gender alternatives to this claim of impunity.
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In Brazil's WSF Many Still Believe Another World Is Possible http://www.brazzilmag.com/component/content/article/81-january-2010/11775-in-brazils-wsf-many-still-believe-another-world-is-possible.html
Back to its origins, and back to the future (some hope), the World Social Forum is celebrating its tenth anniversary in Porto Alegre, the capital of Brazil's southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul. This is where the WSF was born. Created as an alternative to the World Economic Forum, the Opening March has traditionally been about as anti-Davos as possible.
Leading the procession of an estimated 10,000 participants and supporters, a group representing African religions, followed by worker union members, reps of political parties, students, environmentalists, Negro movements, the gay (GLBTT) community, supporters of the Palestinian cause and some protesters calling for the impeachment of the governor of Rio Grande do Sul, Yeda Crusius.
"This march is a synthesis of the Forum. The core feeling is one of diversity, of sharing with other movements. This gives us fantastic energy to keep going throughout the year," explained Calimério Junior, a student member of the Citizen Education Network, an NGO.Among the many banners and posters, attacks on neo-liberalism, lists of worker grievances and calls for ensuring that national sovereignty is protected when extracting petroleum off the coast of Brazil.
Brazil Exports US$ 7 Billion to Arabs and Their Share Grows from 8% to 11% http://www.brazzilmag.com/component/content/article/81-january-2010/11779-brazil-exports-us-7-billion-to-arabs-and-their-share-grows-from-8-to-11.html
Agribusiness exports from Brazil to the Arabs generated US$ 6.86 billion last year, expansion of 14% over 2008, according to figures supplied by the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade and compiled by the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce. In the same comparison, total sector sales dropped 9.8%.
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Day 5 Report: Massive Demonstration as Lobo Takes Power http://hondurasresists.blogspot.com/2010/01/massive-demonstration-as-lobo-takes.html
Meanwhile, despite the ongoing human rights crisis of kidnapping, murder and intimidation, hundreds of thousands of Hondurans of all ages, classes, and regions took to the streets to mark a clear rejection of the legitimacy of Lobo's presidency, and to prove that their demands for justice and a constituent assembly would not fade.
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The hate and the quake http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/61811
‘Haiti did not fail,’ writes Hilary Beckles, ‘it was destroyed by two of the most powerful nations on earth, both of which continue to have a primary interest in its current condition.' Buried 'beneath the rubble of imperial propaganda', says Beckle, is 'the evidence which shows that Haiti's independence was defeated by an aggressive North-Atlantic alliance that could not imagine their world inhabited by a free regime of Africans as representatives of the newly emerging democracy.’
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The U.S. and its unruly Latin American 'backyard' http://alainet.org/active/35774&lang=en
As the following examples illustrate, since the beginning of the 2000s Washington has systematically attempted to thwart the shift towards the left made by the peoples of Latin America: supporting the coup d'Etat against Chávez in April 2002, offering massive financial support to the anti-Chávez opposition movement, supporting the Venezuelan bosses’ strike from December 2002 to January 2003, the active intervention of the U.S. ambassador in Bolivia to prevent the election of Evo Morales, the World Bank's remote control intervention in Ecuador in 2005 to obtain the resignation of Rafael Correa, who was then the Minister of Economy and Finance, the organization of joint military operations in the Southern Cone,[3] the resurrection of the Fourth Fleet,[4]
and a very significant increase in military aid to its Colombian ally, which serves as a bridgehead in the Andean region. In addition, to overcome the failure of the FTAA (Free Trade Area of the Americas) in November 2005, Washington has been negotiating and/or signing as many bilateral free trade agreements as possible (with Chile, Uruguay, Peru, Colombia, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Costa Rica).
comment-a must read...
In Grand Goave, Relief Efforts Frustrate Haitian Neighborhood Leaders http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=50144
"They have made many promises, but we don't see the action yet," Salam said, referring to the international community. "We have a lot of people suffering. There is an expectation that help will come." Little food and water has been distributed by the dozens U.S. troops milling about the beach since the earthquake, according to local leaders.
"I went there to talk to them," said Jean-Jacob Renee, an English teacher. "They said they are there to set up some tents for themselves, but they did not come with food or water - anything for the people." He said the only aid the military brought to Grand Goave was distributed by Catholic Relief Services, an international NGO. "When they are in the town, we don't know. We don't have their phone number," he said. "Nobody has helped us."
Oil in Haiti: Economic Reasons for UN/US Occupation http://hcvanalysis.wordpress.com/2010/01/28/oil-in-haiti-economic-reasons-for-unus-occupation/
There is evidence that the United States found oil in Haiti decades ago and due to the geopolitical circumstances and big business interests of that era made the decision to keep Haitian oil in reserve for when Middle Eastern oil had dried up. This is detailed by Dr. Georges Michel in an article dated March 27, 2004 outlining the history of oil explorations and oil reserves in Haiti and in the research of Dr. Ginette and Daniel Mathurin.
There is also good evidence that these very same big US oil companies and their inter-related monopolies of engineering and defense contractors made plans, decades ago, to use Haiti’s deep water ports either for oil refineries or to develop oil tank farm sites or depots where crude oil could be stored and later transferred to small tankers to serve U.S. and Caribbean ports. This is detailed in a paper about the Dunn Plantation at Fort Liberte in Haiti.:
Nicaragua, ALBA, and Intellectual Betrayal http://hcvanalysis.wordpress.com/2010/01/28/nicaragua-alba-and-intellectual-betrayal/
People in Latin America have frequently found themselves fighting regular forces and mercenary contractors coordinated ultimately by the United States Southern Command, the State Department and related US government bodies. That was true in Central America in the 1980s. It has been the case in Colombia for many years. On a smaller scale it is happening now in Honduras. Shortly, they may well find themselves fighting regular forces and mercenary contractors coordinated by NATO.
HONDURAS-REPRESSION CONTINUES...The Unified Campesino Movement of Aguan attacked http://hondurasresists.blogspot.com/2010/01/unified-campesino-movement-of-aguan.html
Today, January 27th, at 6 a.m. the campesinos recuperated their land again. At 10:30 a.m. a truck carrying troops from the National Police and a private car carrying paramilitaries hired by Rene Morales drove into the community, opened fire and drove off. Diaz, Reyes and Estrada were wounded by the gunfire. The community was able to call for medical help and an ambulance came. As the ambulance with the three campesinos inside attempted to go to the hospital it was stopped by army troops that arrived on the scene and was delayed for at least 10 minutes.
Diaz and Reyes are in the hospital in La Ceiba while Estrada was transferred to San Pedro Sula because of the seriousness of his condition. The police and military are at the hospitals, causing concern for the campesinos safety according to the MUCA because Rene Morales is known to have ties and influence in the military battalion stationed in the region.
Please send an email to de-facto president Lobo condemning this attack and holding him responsible for the safety and security of the campesinos of the MUCA. Go to the link below and fill out the contact form for Mr. Lobo.
http://www.presidencia.gob.hn/?page_id=58
'Lost tribe' on fast track to Israel :: Settlers seek to recruit Indian immigrants :: http://usa.mediamonitors.net/content/view/full/70982
"...the Bnei Menashe have won two powerful right-wing sponsors: Shavei Israel, led by Michael Freund, a former assistant to Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister; and a religious group known as the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, which draws on wide support from evangelical Christians in the United States....
The brand of Judaism the Bnei Menashe have been exposed to during their “Jewish education” in special camps in India was indicated by Rabbi Eliyahu Avichail, who has worked closely with the tribe since the early 1980s. He said he believed in the biblical prophecy of a coming apocalypse – one shared by “End of Days” evangelical Christians – in which “all the world is against Israel” in a battle to be decided in Jerusalem."
EU-funded think tanks defend their credibility http://euobserver.com/9/29368
But for some, Brussels' generosity is not so innocent."They are setting up their own committees claiming that these are independent think tanks when, in fact, they are cheerleaders for the EU," Pieter Cleppe, from the British eurosceptic think tank, Open Europe, said.
"They do not question the EU to the extent they would if they were not being funded by it. That's the whole point of the grants."
Several of the beneficiaries, such as the European Movement International, Friends of Europe and the Union of European Federalists, have an openly pro-integration position. Just one, Statewatch, which gets 39 percent of its budget from the commission, is a devoted critic of the EU institutions.
Colombia to send more soldiers to Afghanistan http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/7919-colombia-to-send-more-soldiers-to-afghanistan.html
Colombia will increase the number of its troops in Afghanistan, sending soldiers trained in counter-insurgency, the South American country's foreign minister announced Thursday.Without yet knowing how many more troops will be sent, Foreign Minister Jaime Bermudez said that there "will certainly be personnel with combat capacity."Bermudez, taking part in a summit on Afghanistan in London, told the central Asian country that Colombia can contribute to the strengthening of its institutions and governance, and the reintegration of former insurgents, the foreign minister's website said.
Before the summit, Bermudez had said that Afghanistan can use Colombia's fight against insurgent groups as a "model of success.""Colombia is a country that has suffered a lot because of drug trafficking and terrorism ... Just as we ask for cooperation, we are willing to offer it. Because of this, we are supporting Afghanistan," said Bermudez.Colombia is the only South American country with troops in Afghanistan. The Colombians' task at the moment consists mainly of demining.
OPERATION SLEDGEHAMMER AIMED TO DOWN AN AIRCRAFT http://aangirfan.blogspot.com/2010/01/operation-sledgehammer-aimed-to-down.html
In January 2010, Turkey's liberal newspaper Taraf daily reported on a plot by the Turkish army to topple the current Turkish government.The Turkish military plotters reportedly aimed to carry out terrorist attacks and asssassinations, leading to chaos and a military takeover. http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=117219§ionid=351020204(Turkey army chief and coup plot allegations)Reportedly, the military plotted to bomb crowded mosques in İstanbul and plotted to down a Turkish plane and blame this on Greece. http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/news-200002-101-reactions-grow-against-sledgehammer-military-plot.html(Reactions grow against Sledgehammer military plot )
The plot, called Sledgehammer, was reportedly drawn up in 2003 shortly after AK Party came to power.Reportedly, the masterminds of the plan were General Cetin Dogan, then commander of the Turkish army, former Air Forces Commander General Ibrahim Firtina and now retired General Ergin Saygun.
Reportedly, the plan was agreed at a military meeting attended by 162 active army members, among them 29 generals.
War Criminals: Arrest Warrants Requested http://english.pravda.ru/world/americas/25-01-2010/111844-war_criminals_bush-0
A US law professor has requested international arrest warrants for George Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, George Tenet, Condoleeza Rice and Alberto Gonzales at the International Criminal Court of The Hague. Prof. Francis Boyle’s complaint was issued to the ICC Prosecutor against the former US government leaders for their practice of “extraordinary rendition” in Iraq, which constitutes Crimes against Humanity.
Bush and associates are deemed responsible for the commission of crimes within the territories of many States who’ve signed the Rome Statute. Even though the US is not a signatory State, the ICC can prosecute under Article 12 (2)(a) of the Rome Statute. Prof Boyle asked the Prosecutor to initiate an investigation in their war crimes, which would trigger The Exercise of Jurisdiction. This Article stipulates the Court may exercise its jurisdiction if one or more States in which the conduct in question occurred has accepted the jurisdiction of the Court.
Students Against Israeli Apartheid call for divestment from Israeli companies http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbegyuRbL1s
SAIA demands that Carleton University immediately divest its stock in BAE Systems, L-3 Communications, Motorola, Northrop Grumman, and Tesco, and adopt a Socially Responsible Investment policy.
January 2010, Ottawa, Ontario
More information: http://carleton.saia.ca
Murray Hill Incorporated is Running for Congress http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHRKkXtxDRA
Until now, corporations only influenced politics with high-paid lobbyists and backroom deals. But today, thanks to an enlightened supreme court, corporations now have all the rights the founding fathers meant for us. That's why Murray Hill Incorporated is taking democracy's next step-- running for Congress.
Raw Protest Footage Against More Cultural Genocide http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SV9L19PxU3E&feature=player_embedded
The United States of America plans to develop Guam into another military installation to house 80,000 U.S. Marines. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton who meet with top military officials and other foreign constituents regarding Asia-Pacific military issues at the state capital were greeted by protestors, Native Chamorro protesting against cultural genocide. Guam is only 30 miles long, and at it’s widest area 12 miles wide. The influx of so many marines will cause cultural genocide of the small populated communities of no more than a hundred thousand indigenous people.
Monsanto named world's #1 least ethical company http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/28/the-least-ethical-compani_n_440073.html?slidenumber=0ZHHXzV%2FaPE%3D&slideshow#slide_image
Monsanto, the Missouri-based agriculture giant, ranked dead last in the Covalence ethical index. The company, which leads the world in the production of genetically-engineered seed, has been subject to myriad criticisms. Among them: the company is accused of frequently and unfairly suing small farmers for patent infringement.
Does NYT's Top Israel Reporter Have a Son in the IDF? http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=4004
The New York Times refuses to confirm or deny a report that its Jerusalem bureau chief, Ethan Bronner, has a child who is an enlisted member of the Israeli Defense Force--even though such a relationship would pose a serious conflict of interest.
That said, Bronner's reporting has been repeatedly criticized by FAIR for what would appear to be a bias toward the Israeli government. For example, Extra! (3/09) questioned an article that Bronner (1/13/09) wrote on Israel's 2009 invasion of Gaza that claimed that unspecified "polls have shown nearly 90 percent support for the war thus far"; FAIR's magazine noted that this was "a statistical unlikelihood in a country that is 20 percent Palestinian." The same piece by Bronner claimed that "the largest demonstration against the war so far, with some 6,000 participants, was organized by an Arab political party"; an article by Agence France-Presse (1/3/09) had reported that "tens of thousands" of Israeli Arabs had protested against the war in the Israeli town of Sakhnin.
2009 Annual Awards Dinner Now on YouTube http://www.jinsa.org/node/1282
If you were unable to attend JINSA 2009 Annual Dinner, you can still watch the entire evening on YouTube. The video below includes the presentation of the Henry M. “Scoop” Jackson Distinguished Service Award to the five Service Chiefs and the Commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command as well as the presentation the Grateful Nation Award to six young heroes who distinguished themselves in the fight against terrorism.
comment-see who the traitors receiving awards are this year...
Ex-Marine accused of murder running for Congress in N.C. http://www2.godanriver.com/gdr/news/local/article/ex-marine_accused_of_murder_running_for_congress_in_n.c/17489
Pantano shot two men in Mahmudiyah, Iraq, in 2004 and hung a warning sign on their corpses. A Marine general decided in 2005 not to bring Pantano to trial, following the advice of an officer who presided over the military equivalent of a grand jury hearing.
Comment: War criminals are at home in government. What is different here is the war criminal in this case was on the battlefield instead of home safe in a nice office ordering others to commit the crimes!
Killing of cleric prompts outrage in Kabul and apology from coalition forces http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/28/AR2010012801505.html?hpid=moreheadlines
A gunner in a U.S. military convoy shot and killed a local imam as he was driving his car here Thursday morning, prompting outrage among residents and an apology from coalition forces.
The shooting Thursday occurred along a stretch of four-lane highway in the eastern Kabul neighborhood of Paktia Kot, outside Camp Phoenix, a U.S. military base. The site is not far from where a suicide bomber targeted a passing convoy Tuesday, wounding eight American soldiers.
Chris Hedges: Democracy in America Is a Useful Fiction http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/democracy_in_america_is_a_useful_fiction_20100124/
Corporate forces, long before the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, carried out a coup d’état in slow motion. The coup is over. We lost. The ruling is one more judicial effort to streamline mechanisms for corporate control. It exposes the myth of a functioning democracy and the triumph of corporate power. But it does not significantly alter the political landscape. The corporate state is firmly cemented in place.
Health Scandal - Monsanto's GMO Perversion of Food http://www.newswithviews.com/Richards/byron189.htm
In the 2010 growing season Monsanto plans to unleash its latest Frankenfood experiment on the American and Canadian public, a new version of genetically mutated corn with eight abnormal gene traits called Genuity SmartStax corn. It is the culmination of an astonishing scandal that has been steadily building over the past decade. During this time Monsanto’s mutated seeds have grown to 90% of the U.S. soy crop and 85% of the corn crop – and wheat is next on their agenda.
comment-also see...Obama Appoints Monsanto Man as FDA Food Safety Czar http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/13/AR2010011304402.html?hpid=sec-health
Corporation files to run for Congress: important marketing strategy questions remain unanswered http://www.scholarsandrogues.com/2010/01/27/corporation-files-to-run-for-congress-important-marketing-strategy-questions-remain-unanswered/
Following the recent Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission to allow unlimited corporate funding of federal campaigns, Murray Hill Inc. today announced it is filing to run for U.S. Congress. “Until now,” Murray Hill Inc. said in a statement, “corporate interests had to rely on campaign contributions and influence-peddling to achieve their goals in Washington. But thanks to an enlightened Supreme Court, now we can eliminate the middle-man and run for office ourselves.” Murray Hill Inc. is believed to be the first “corporate person” to exercise its constitutional right to run for office.
“The strength of America,” Murray Hill Inc. said, “is in the boardrooms, country clubs and Lear jets of America’s great corporations. We’re saying to Wal-Mart, AIG and Pfizer, if not you, who? If not now, when?” Murray Hill Inc. added: “It’s our democracy. We bought it, we paid for it, and we’re going to keep it.” Murray Hill Inc., a diversifying corporation in the Washington, D.C. area, has long held an interest in politics and sees corporate candidacy as an “emerging new market.”
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Key witness in wiretap scandal case dies: El Tiempo colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/7903-key-witness-in-wiretap-scandal-case-dies-el-tiempo.html
The key witness in the case against DAS officials who allegedly illegally wiretapped government opponents has died, the website of El Tiempo reported on Thursday.The deceased Jaime Fernando Ovalle Olaz was the coordinator of the G3 unit of the DAS, in charge of the illegal wiretapping of opposition politicians, human rights workers and journalists.Ovalle was in the process of testifying against his former colleagues and bosses of Colombia's degraced intelligence service and was still to specify which government officials knew about the illegal wiretaps, said the website.
Based on Ovalle's testimony, the Prosecutor General's Office recently described the G3 unit as a criminal organization that did not operate as a rogue unit, but rather had full collaboration from senior DAS intelligence officials.
Ovalle's testimony also provided evidence that DAS agents delivered the intelligence to members of the government. The Prosecutor General's Office ordered a separate investigation in order to determine the identity of these government officials."It is evident that G3 was a criminal organization created with the DAS with full agreement and assistance from collaborators, not only those who were members of the group, but equally and principally, the superiors and directors of the organization, who were required to provide information to members of the national government," said the Prosecutor General's office in a document sent to the Supreme Court.
comment-this is so convenient for uribe himself ,because DAS functioned at his bequest,not congress's.also pls read these very imporatants articles on otehr multiple scandals around uribes DAS..see..Uribe stays quiet about DAS wiretap scandal http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/7903-key-witness-in-wiretap-scandal-case-dies-el-tiempo.html
this is the most important one...Plan Colombia and Beyond » DAS Scandal http://www.cipcol.org/?cat=57This is not the Uribe administration’s first DAS scandal
,Colombian President Álvaro Uribe’s first DAS Director (2002-2005) was Jorge Noguera, who directed Uribe’s 2002 campaign in the department (province) of Magdalena. In early 2006, Noguera was revealed to have collaborated closely with some of Colombia’s most notorious narcotraffickers and right-wing paramilitary leaders. He allegedly facilitated drug shipments and gave the paramilitaries lists of human rights defenders and labor leaders to assassinate. Since December 2008, Jorge Noguera has been in prison and facing trial for aggravated homicide.
In late 2008, the DAS was found to have been ordering illegal surveillance of opposition Senator Gustavo Petro, a revelation that forced the resignation of DAS Director María de Pilar Hurtado.Four appointees and one interim director have led the DAS during Uribe’s seven years in office.
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Pentagon Calls for Office of Strategic Deception http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article24515.htm
Raw Story" -- WASHINGTON -- Remember the Pentagon Office of Special Plans that helped collect dubious intelligence that led to the war in Iraq? Or the program where the Pentagon secretly briefed military analysts to promote the Iraq war?Meet the would-be Office of Strategic Deception.
In a little-noticed report earlier this month, the Defense Department's powerful Defense Science Board recommended creation of an entity designed solely for "strategic deception" against US adversaries.
"Specifically," the report reads (pdf), "we recommend that the Secretary [of Defense] task both the Under Secretaries of Defense for Policy and Intelligence, and the Joint Staff, working with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, to create a tiger team to lay out courses of action and a way ahead for establishing a standing strategic surprise/deception entity.Once the initial work has been completed, all parts of the interagency should be brought into this effort.""Strategic deception has in the past provided the United States with significant advantages that translated into operational and tactical success," it continues. "Successful deception also minimizes U.S. vulnerabilities, while simultaneously setting conditions to surprise adversaries."
Brazil Extradites to Argentina Operation Condor Suspect http://www.brazzilmag.com/component/content/article/81-january-2010/11753-brazil-extradites-to-argentina-operation-condor-suspect-.html
The Brazilian government has extradited to Argentina a retired Uruguayan army colonel to face charges of human rights abuses dating back to military rule in the Southern cone countries during the 1970s.
The state-run news agency Agência Brasil said Colonel Manuel Juan Cordero Piacentini was handed over to Argentine authorities Saturday.
Cordero is accused of taking part in the notorious Operation Condor. This was the plan supported by several South American military rulers to liquidate opponents.
comment-also see...DECLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS SHED LIGHT ON U.S. ROLE President Johnson urged taking "every step that we can" to support overthrow of Joao Goulart..Audio: http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB118/index.htm#audio
U.S. Ambassador Requested Pre-positioned Armaments to aid Golpistas; Acknowledged covert operations backing street demonstrations, civic forces and resistance groups
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Eagle Butte, SD: Without water and electricity for six days http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2010/01/eagle-butte-sd-without-water-and.html
From Alex White Plume, Lakota on Pine Ridge, S.D.: "We are starting a group to haul water to the residents on the Eagle Butte rez. They have been without water and electricity for six days today. My brother Percy is collecting fuel money to haul water to the people from Bridger, S.D. We have it hard here, at least we have water. We have to help our relatives."
Water Woes Worsen On Reservation Keloland News
The worst of the storm is over the lights are turning on for more people across keloland. But for some on the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation there's another problem, no water.“It is pretty serious. We have quite a few families that are without water at this point. And quite a bit of families that are, homes that are without electricity also,” tribal chairman Joseph Brings Plenty said. The power outage made water scarce on the reservation, but now the whole system is down. Eagle Butte has run out and so have other communities. Some could be without more than a week. It's already been days without water for Blaine Nordvold on his ranch south of Eagle Butte. It promises to be days more.
Read more:
http://www.keloland.com/News/NewsDetail6371.cfm?Id=
Rapid City Journal: "The power outages and water shortages plaguing most of north central South Dakota made refugees out of 35 kidney dialysis patients from the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe and their caregivers, stranding them in Rapid City." http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/news/article_ec833f00-0a38-11df-a62b-001cc4c002e0.html
Media and politicians responsible for rise in hate crimes against Muslims in London, study finds http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/jan/28/hate-crimes-muslims-media-politicians
"The report provides prima facie and empirical evidence to demonstrate that assailants of Muslims are invariably motivated by a negative view of Muslims they have acquired from either mainstream or extremist nationalist reports or commentaries in the media," it says. "Islamophobic, negative and unwarranted portrayals of Muslim London as Londonistan and Muslim Londoners as terrorists, sympathisers and subversives in sections of the media appear to provide the motivation for a significant number of anti-Muslim hate crimes."
In his foreword, the rightwing journalist Peter Oborne writes: "The constant assault on Muslims from certain politicians, and above all in the mainstream media, has created an atmosphere where hate crimes, ranging from casual abuse to arson and even murder, are bound to occur and are even in a sense encouraged by mainstream society."The report, Islamophobia and Anti-Muslim Hate-Crimes: a London Case Study, will be available online from the European Muslim Research Centre website. http://centres.exeter.ac.uk/emrc
US businesses urge Obama to resist Iran sanctions bill http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3840202,00.html
Another Danish fund divests from Elbit systems! http://endtheoccupationblog.blogspot.com/2010/01/another-danish-fund-divests-from-elbit.html
Yesterday we reported that Dankse Bank has decided to exclude Elbit Systems and Africa Israel from its investment portfolio due to the companies' involvement in the Israeli occupation. Now there's more good news--one of the largest Danish pension funds has divested from Elbit as well as two U.S. companies that are involved with Israel's Apartheid Wall. Note that Elbit also has half of the contract on the Wall being built by the United States government on the Mexico border. Here's an excerpt from a press release issued by our allies at Stop the Wall... http://www.stopthewall.org/
Powerful campus divestment video from Students Against Israeli Apartheid--Carleton University http://endtheoccupationblog.blogspot.com/2010/01/powerful-campus-divestment-video-from.html
Check out this powerful video from Students Against Israeli Apartheid at Carleton University in Ottawa.
Israeli activists: Germany’s blanket support for Israel is ‘harmful and immoral’
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/01/
israeli-activists-germanys-blanket-support-for-israel-is-harmful-and-immoral.html
The following letter is being circulated in advance of Shimon Peres’s visit to Germany to commemorate international Holocaust Remembrance Day.
