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  • InI 20:43 on January 31, 2010 Permalink | Reply
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    Inside the mind of a psychopath and the Chilcot 'Inquiry' By William Bowles 

    1 February 2010 — Creative-i

    blair_smug_appeaser.jpgReams have been written about the appearance of Tony Blair at the so-called inquiry. Very few if any have even come close to identifying the real nature of the beast called Tony Blair.

    Were he a working class man, head of a crime gang for example, Blair’s ‘pathology’ would have been central to most mainstream media coverage, revealing the class bias in how the the media treat the ruling elites. His judgment, even his arrogance maybe questioned but not his mental state.


    There seems to be some disagreement over what constitutes a sociopath or psychopath but in trawling the web I came across all kinds of definitions. For example,

    not learning from experience
    no sense of responsibility
    inability to form meaningful relationships
    inability to control impulses
    lack of moral sense
    chronically antisocial behavior
    no change in behavior after punishment
    emotional immaturity
    lack of guilt
    self-centeredness
    9types.com

    Dictionary.com put it this way:

    “[A] person, as a psychopathic personality, whose behavior is antisocial and who lacks a sense of moral responsibility or social conscience.“ dictionary.com

    All the sources I looked at came to pretty much the same conclusion and with all of them sharing the following criteria: No sense of responsibility; lack of moral sense; lack of guilt; self-centeredness; not learning from experience. Others stress the psychopath’s inability to empathize. And here’s a quote from another site that has gathered together a summation of all the different interpretations of the word/s.

    “They never recognize the rights of others and see their self-serving behaviors as permissible. They appear to be charming, yet are covertly hostile and domineering, seeing their victim as merely an instrument to be used. They may dominate and humiliate their victims.” http://www.mcafee.cc/Bin/sb.html

    And under the heading of ‘Shallow Emotions’ we read,

    “When they show what seems to be warmth, joy, love and compassion it is more feigned than experienced and serves an ulterior motive. Outraged by insignificant matters, yet remaining unmoved and cold by what would upset a normal person. Since they are not genuine, neither are their promises.”

    When searching through the sources I came across the following, also taken from the mcafee site that really hits the spot as a description not only of Tony Blair but of many people in positions that give them virtually absolute power over people’s lives (and deaths).

    THE MALIGNANT PERSONALITY:

    These people are mentally ill and extremely dangerous!

    The following precautions will help to protect you from the destructive acts of which they are capable.

    First, to recognize them, keep the following guidelines in mind.

    (1) They are habitual liars. They seem incapable of either knowing or telling the truth about anything.

    (2) They are egotistical to the point of narcissism. They really believe they are set apart from the rest of humanity by some special grace.

    (3) They scapegoat; they are incapable of either having the insight or willingness to accept responsibility for anything they do. Whatever the problem, it is always someone else’s fault.

    (4) They are remorselessly vindictive when thwarted or exposed.

    (5) Genuine religious, moral, or other values play no part in their lives. They have no empathy for others and are capable of violence. Under older psychological terminology, they fall into the category of psychopath or sociopath, but unlike the typical psychopath, their behavior is masked by a superficial social facade.

    If you have come into conflict with such a person or persons, do the following immediately!

    (1) Notify your friends and relatives of what has happened. Do not be vague. Name names, and specify dates and circumstances. Identify witnesses if possible and provide supporting documentation if any is available.

    Taken in part from MW — By Caroline Konrad — September 1999”mcafee.cc

     
  • InI 08:59 on January 31, 2010 Permalink | Reply
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    Video: Osama speaking. Or is he? 

    30 January, 2010 — RT.com

    An audio tape has been released allegedly from Al Qaeda’s leader Osama bin Laden. It’s the second in just a week.

    In the broadcast he blames global warming on the United States and other developed countries.

    He also calls on the world to abandon it’s reliance on the U.S. dollar.

    But RT contributor and investigative journalist Wayne Madsen says the tape is most probably a fake.

    “The tape is a little bit suspicious like some of the other tapes we’ve heard,” said Madsen. “The voice speaks in a monotone, sounds like the voice is reading from a pre-prepared script. We know there’s a morphing technology available commercially that can make me sound like John Wayne. Most people in the intelligence community I’m talking to had the same reaction – this is fake.”

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  • InI 12:08 on January 30, 2010 Permalink | Reply
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    Haiti Newslinks 29-30 January, 2010 

    30 January, 2010

    Haiti Moves, Haltingly, to Reopen Schools
    Wall Street Journal
    PORT-AU-PRINCE—Haiti will reopen some of the country’s schools Monday for the first time since the Jan. 12 earthquake, but few are in the capital or other …
    online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704343104575033542998064122.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsThird

    Performers Plan More Efforts for Haiti
    New York Times
    Entertainment personalities are continuing their efforts to raise awareness and money for the earthquake relief effort in Haiti. On Thursday, BET Networks …
    http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/30/arts/television/30arts-PERFORMERSPL_BRF.html

    Cost Dispute Halts Airlift of Injured Haiti Quake Victims
    New York Times
    By SHAILA DEWAN MIAMI — The United States has suspended its medical evacuations of critically injured Haitian earthquake victims until a dispute over who …
    http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/30/us/30airlift.html

    UN Group Urges $700 Million Investment in Haitian Agriculture
    Bloomberg
    29 (Bloomberg) — An investment plan to restore Haiti’s agriculture industry and secure food production will require $700 million in international aid, …
    http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601086&sid=at_vFIabEsso

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  • InI 09:31 on January 30, 2010 Permalink | Reply
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    Housmans Radical Books, London: February 2010 Events Newsletter 

    29 January, 2010 — Housmans Books

    NEWS
    1. Office space to rent below Housmans
    2. Guest book recommendations
    3: Housmans blog

    EVENTS
    4. War Resisters’ International present: ‘Antimilitarism In Latin America’
    5. ‘Possibilities for the Post-Capitalist Era’ with Harry Shutt
    6. ‘This Room in the Sunlight’ with Bernard Kops:
    7. Last Hours Collective present: ‘Excessive Force – policing in Britain’
    8. No Sweat Forum – Haiti Earthquake
    9. ‘Inside Quatro: Uncovering the Exile History of the ANC and SWAPO’ with Paul Trewhela
    10. Future events

    BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS
    11. Harry Shutt Picks Five

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  • InI 09:09 on January 30, 2010 Permalink | Reply
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    The US game in Latin America By Mark Weisbrot 

    29 January, 2010 — Comment is free – guardian.co.uk

    US interference in the politics of Haiti and Honduras is only the latest example of its long-term manipulations in Latin America

    When I write about US foreign policy in places such as Haiti or Honduras, I often get responses from people who find it difficult to believe that the US government would care enough about these countries to try and control or topple their governments. These are small, poor countries with little in the way of resources or markets. Why should Washington policymakers care who runs them?

    Unfortunately they do care. A lot. They care enough about Haiti to have overthrown the elected president Jean-Bertrand Aristide not once, but twice. The first time, in 1991, it was done covertly. We only found out after the fact that the people who led the coup were paid by the US Central Intelligence Agency. And then Emmanuel Constant, the leader of the most notorious death squad there – which killed thousands of Aristide’s supporters after the coup – told CBS News that he, too, was funded by the CIA.

    In 2004, the US involvement in the coup was much more open. Washington led a cut-off of almost all international aid for four years, making the government’s collapse inevitable. As the New York Times reported, while the US state department was telling Aristide that he had to reach an agreement with the political opposition (funded with millions of US taxpayers’ dollars), the International Republican Institute was telling the opposition not to settle.

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  • InI 08:29 on January 30, 2010 Permalink | Reply
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    Statement on Haiti adoptions from Adoptees of Color 

    25 January, 2010 — Adoptees of Color

    This statement reflects the position of an international community of adoptees of color who wish to pose a critical intervention in the discourse and actions affecting the child victims of the recent earthquake in Haiti. We are domestic and international adoptees with many years of research and both personal and professional experience in adoption studies and activism. We are a community of scholars, activists, professors, artists, lawyers, social workers and health care workers who speak with the knowledge that North Americans and Europeans are lining up to adopt the “orphaned children” of the Haitian earthquake, and who feel compelled to voice our opinion about what it means to be “saved” or “rescued” through adoption.

    We understand that in a time of crisis there is a tendency to want to act quickly to support those considered the most vulnerable and directly affected, including children. However, we urge caution in determining how best to help. We have arrived at a time when the licenses of adoption agencies in various countries are being reviewed for the widespread practice of misrepresenting the social histories of children. There is evidence of the production of documents stating that a child is “available for adoption” based on a legal “paper” and not literal orphaning as seen in recent cases of intercountry adoption of children from Malawi, Guatemala, South Korea and China. We bear testimony to the ways in which the intercountry adoption industry has profited from and reinforced neo-liberal structural adjustment policies, aid dependency, population control policies, unsustainable development, corruption, and child trafficking.

    For more than fifty years “orphaned children” have been shipped from areas of war, natural disasters, and poverty to supposedly better lives in Europe and North America. Our adoptions from Vietnam, South Korea, Guatemala and many other countries are no different from what is happening to the children of Haiti today. Like us, these “disaster orphans” will grow into adulthood and begin to grasp the magnitude of the abuse, fraud, negligence, suffering, and deprivation of human rights involved in their displacements.

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  • InI 10:35 on January 29, 2010 Permalink | Reply
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    Jewish National Fund eBook Vol 1, First online edition 

    29 January, 2010

    This is a comprehensive ‘eBook’ on the Jewish National Fund, which plays an important part in the development of Israel, but on the back of expropriating Palestinian Land. I have written the article “Exclusive Plans” about the link between the JNF and Israeli architecture and planning.

    This eBook is now downloadable from http://www.israeli-occupation.org/category/data-docs/documents/

    Please feel free to distribute widely and publish on your websites. This edition will be deposited with the ISSN office at the British library.

    There is a call for submission of papers to volume 2 (edited by Uri Davis) on the final page.

    Contents

    1. Introduction by Ilan Pappe … 3
    2. Exclusive Plans by Abe Hayeem … 10
    3. The British Park by Uri Davis … 18
    4. Patron Brown by Susannah Tarbush … 27
    5. The Honourable Australian PM by Sonja Karkar … 30
    6. Kings Forests in Galilee by Ben White … 33
    7. South American Connection by Rahela Mizrahi … 37
    8. Closing Remarks by Bob Williamson and John Goss … 42
    Acknowledgements … 74
    Publication Details … 75

     
  • InI 10:26 on January 29, 2010 Permalink | Reply
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    Haiti Newslinks 28-29 January, 2010 

    29 January, 2010

    Venezuela Sends Needed Gasoline and Diesel to Haiti
    By editor
    Shipment for Generation of Electricity and Vehicles Will Arrive Thursday In response to severe gasoline shortages that have plagued Haiti in the wake of the devastating earthquake that struck the island nation on January 12…
    aggregator.in/2010/venezuela-sends-needed-gasoline-and-diesel-to-haiti-10643/

    A Glance at Haiti Developments 16 Days After Quake
    New York Times
    The aid group Doctors Without Borders says the psychological impact of Haiti’s earthquake on its victims is becoming more apparent. …
    http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/01/28/world/AP-CB-Haiti-Earthquake-Glance.html

    Hope For Haiti Now Album Raises More Than $3 Million In Relief Funds
    MTV.com
    Now, it seems that music fans are finding a channel for their own good will toward Haiti, as iTunes and some of the world’s top artists are setting records …
    http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1630730/20100128/jay_z.jhtml

    Tourism group criticizes Royal Caribbean for resuming cruise calls in Haiti
    USA Today
    A leading advocacy group for sustainable tourism is blasting Royal Caribbean for its decision to resume cruises to Haiti. The Center for Responsible Travel …
    http://www.usatoday.com/travel/cruises/item.aspx?type=blog&ak=76450.blog

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  • InI 09:15 on January 29, 2010 Permalink | Reply
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    The London Conference on Afghanistan: Rebranding an Unpopular War Derrick O'Keefe 

    28 January, 2010 — The B u l l e t – Socialist Project • E-Bulletin No. 300

    Lawrence Cannon, Canada’s foreign minister, is on his way to London for a major international conference on the future of Afghanistan, January 28. Hilary Clinton and other high level representatives from the NATO countries will be present, as will embattled Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

    One wonders if this major global media focus on Afghanistan was part of the Harper government’s calculation in proroguing Parliament. The torture and abuse of Afghan detainees is also an issue in several European countries, and so the less riled up the Canadian press corps is from any fresh revelations back home, the better.

    The agenda of the London gathering has recently been expanded to include a special session on Yemen. This in itself ironically exposes the illogic with which the expansion of the war in Afghanistan has been sold to the western public.

    After all, Obama’s announcement of an additional 30,000 troops to the occupation of Afghanistan was explained with the rationale that it was vital for national security. Without a ramping up of the war, the world was told, a “safe haven” for terrorists might emerge. ‘Fight them over there or you will have to fight them over here.’ And yet Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the thwarted, Nigerian-born “underwear” bomber is said to have links to Yemen, so we must fight them there as well.

    The “deny Al-Qaeda a safe heaven” justification opens up nearly infinite new potential fronts in the global “war on terror,” a term that has been dropped from White House press releases while its aggressive and counter-productive mentality remains in place.

    On Afghanistan, the London conference is not the first of its kind, and likely won’t be the last. Its real raison d’être is to help rebrand the Afghan War, which remains unpopular in the majority of NATO countries. As Robin Beste of the UK Stop the War Coalition argues, “It’s a makeover aimed at turning the tide of public opinion, running so strongly against a war which is clearly futile and unwinnable. In reality the warmongers are gathering for a war council masquerading as a peace conference.”

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  • InI 19:02 on January 28, 2010 Permalink | Reply
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    Obama’s State of the Union Rhetoric, 2010: Economic Euphemisms and Internal Contradictions By Michael Hudson 

    27 January, 2010 — Global Research

    The State of the Union address is in danger of purveying the usual euphemisms. I expect Mr. Obama to brag that he has overseen a recovery. But can there be any such thing as a jobless recovery? What has recovered are stock market averages and Wall Street bonuses, not disposable personal income or discretionary spending after paying debt service.

    There is a dream that what can be “recovered” is something so idyllic as to be mythical: a Bubble Economy enabling people to make money without actually working, by borrowing and riding the tide of asset-price inflation to make capital gains. Corporate Democrat Harold Ford Jr. writes nostalgically that Bill Clinton’s eight years in office created 22 million jobs, “balanced the budget and left his successor with a surplus. This can be done again,”[1] if only Mr. Obama moves further to the right (which Mr. Ford calls the center, meaning the Bayhs and Republicans).

    Well, no it can’t be done again. Pres. Clinton’s administration balanced the budget by “welfare reform” to cut back public spending. This would be lethal today. Meanwhile, his explosion of bank credit and the dot.com boom (rising stock prices and bonuses without any earnings) fueled the early stages of the Greenspan bubble. It was a debt-leveraged illusion. Instead of the government running budget deficits to expand domestic demand, Mr. Clinton left it to banks to extend interest-bearing credit – debt pollution that we are still struggling to clean up.

    The danger is that when Mr. Obama speaks of “stabilizing the economy,” he means trying to sustain the rise in compound interest and debt. This mathematical financial dynamic is autonomous from the “real” industrial economy, overwhelming it economically. That is what makes the present economic road to debt peonage so self-defeating.

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  • InI 18:05 on January 28, 2010 Permalink | Reply
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    Scurrilous Videos Besmirch, Enrage Forum, Leaders, World 

    28 January, 2010

    Videos threaten very existence of World Economic Forum

    In a series of diabolically stupid video manipulations, a cabal of anti-poverty filmmakers have performed an elaborate slander of the World Economic Forum, showing its “leading lights” taking a dramatic departure from the litany of meaningless pledges they usually make at the annual gathering in the Swiss resort town.

    In response, WEF spokesperson Adrian Monck could barely contain himself. “The only defense to satire is common sense!” he sputtered, before racing back into the WEF war room to deal with the burgeoning crisis.

    Fortunately for the WEF, few media outlets picked up on the WEF’s fantastic but fictional approach to world poverty (“World Leaders Pledge Strategy to End Poverty Now“). Instead, the media was dominated by coverage of a real WEF press release warning of “Over Regulation of the Financial Sector” (sic).

    The forged videos showed eight of “leading lights of Davos” outlining a few clear strategies to end poverty.

    The CEO of Archer Daniels Midland, the world’s largest agribusiness conglomerate, spoke of “agriculture’s role in today’s economic savagery, and the broader long-term issues of robbing whole groups for the greed of the food industry,” before calling for “universal justice and agriculture’s reform” via Food Sovereignty. “We want to undo the injuries of global capitalism,” added a much-improved “Klaus Schwab,” founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum.

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  • InI 11:30 on January 28, 2010 Permalink | Reply
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    Carleton University (Canada) Student Group Launches Israel Divestment Drive (Statement) 

    28 January, 2010

    The divestment report urging Carleton University to divest from companies implicated in Israel’s occupation and grave violations of human rights is a true gem for the BDS movement. The research, argumentation, corroboration and writing style are impeccable and deeply impressive.

    In making the case for divestment from Israel, the SAIA report combines the best of both worlds: the commitment to truth and justice of the most sincere and far-sighted human rights defenders and the piercing logic of the most able lawyers.

    SAIA’s time-honored commitment to just peace and international law, distinguished professionalism and creativity are truly inspiring. They build on the wonderful, pioneering divestment victory at Hampshire College last year to take divestment to the next level. This makes a superb model for the mushrooming divestment campaigns around the world.

    Chapeau!

    Omar Barghouti Founding Member, PACBI http://www.PACBI.org

    Watch the video

    PS: A divestment campaign at a fairly large US university (cannot disclose the name yet until the student leaders are ready) will soon be announced! Coming only months after Hampshire College’s divestment, this is the most compelling evidence yet that BDS is taking root in the US, where it matters MOST.

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  • InI 11:14 on January 28, 2010 Permalink | Reply
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    SAIA Carleton Divestment Campaign 

    20 January, 2010

    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.


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  • InI 09:18 on January 28, 2010 Permalink | Reply
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    Haiti Newslinks 27-28 January, 2010 

    28 January, 2010

    Venezuela Steps Up Aid Effort to Haiti, Questions U.S. Military …
    Kiraz Janicke – Venezuelanalysis.comCaracas, January 20th, 2009 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Venezuela has stepped up its aid effort to Haiti as a second …
    http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news/5086

    A day in the life of a Haiti tent city
    Los Angeles Times
    By Mitchell Landsberg Reporting from Port-Au-Prince, Haiti – Morning arrives with the melody of the Haitian streets. A rooster crows, and two street …
    http://www.latimes.com/la-fg-haiti-tent28-mod,0,1004620.storylink

    Scientology efforts in Haiti raise questions for some
    Newsday (subscription)
    But his piloting of his own Boeing 707 to bring relief supplies to Haiti this week is focusing attention on the Church of Scientology, to which he and other …
    http://www.newsday.com/long-island/scientology-efforts-in-haiti-raise-questions-for-some-1.1728113

    Adopting a child from Haiti a ‘battle of endurance’
    Deseret News
    By Elizabeth Stuart The floor was shaking, the walls were crumbling and the babies at Ruuska Village Orphanage in Haiti were bouncing out of their cribs. …
    http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705361596/Adopting-a-child-from-Haiti-a-battle-of-endurance.html

    Stars Banding Together to Record New “We Are the World” for Haiti
    E! Online (blog)
    Jones confirmed to me today that he’s helping spearhead a new recording of the charity song with the proceeds going to help Haiti. The new version will be …
    http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/marc_malkin/b164438_stars_banding_together_record_new_we.html

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  • InI 15:39 on January 27, 2010 Permalink | Reply
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    The Destabilization of Haiti: Anatomy of a Military Coup d’Etat By Michel Chossudovsky 

    27 January, 2010 — Global Research – February 29, 2004

    “Washington seeks to reinstate Haiti as a full-fledged US colony, with all the appearances of a functioning democracy. The objective is to impose a puppet regime in Port-au-Prince and establish a permanent US military presence in Haiti.

    “The US Administration ultimately seeks to militarize the Caribbean basin.

    “The island of Hispaniola is a gateway to the Caribbean basin, strategically located between Cuba to the North West and Venezuela to the South. The militarization of the island, with the establishment of US military bases, is not only intended to put political pressure on Cuba and Venezuela, it is also geared towards the protection of the multibillion dollar narcotics transshipment trade through Haiti, from production sites in Colombia, Peru and Bolivia.” — (Michel Chossudovsky, The Destabilization of Haiti, Global Research, February 28, 2004)

    Author’s Preface

    This article was written almost six years ago in the last days of February 2004. It was published on February 29th, 2004, on the same day as the US sponsored coup d’Etat, which led to the kidnapping and deportation of the country’s elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

    The coup d’Etat had been prepared will in advance. Following consultations behind closed doors in Ottawa in January 2003, the US, with the support of France and Canada took the necessary steps to carry out a Coup d’Etat and forcefully abduct President Aristide.

    Barely two weeks following the February 2004 coup d’Etat, a puppet regime was installed by the “international community”. In April 2004, a contingent of over 8000 UN ”peace-keeping” forces under Brazilian command entered Haiti.

    Haiti has been under foreign military occupation for the last six years. In this context, the January 2010 earthquake has provided Washington with a justification to bring in an additonal 10,000 foreign forces into the country. This influx of US combat troops into Haiti reinforces MINUSTAH’s “peacekeeping” contingent bringing total occupation forces to more than 20,000.

    This article largely focusses on the history of the 2004 US led coup d’Etat, including its preparations. It also outlines the process of economic destabilization under the helm of the IMF and the World Bank which played a key role in the events leading up to the military coup.

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  • InI 15:00 on January 27, 2010 Permalink | Reply
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    Britain's decision to go to war in Iraq illegal 

    27 January, 2010 — The Real News Network

    Two most senior law officials state that Britain’s decision to go to war in Iraq was illegal



     
  • InI 10:25 on January 27, 2010 Permalink | Reply
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    Haiti Newslinks 26-27 January, 2010 

    27 January, 2010

    Interview: David Wilson
    VICTIMS OF FREE TRADE “VOODOO”
    An immigrant rights activist who was in Haiti when the earthquake hit describes how U.S. and IMF policies contributed to the suffering.
    socialistworker.org/2010/01/27/free-trade-voodoo

    Analysis: Helen Scott
    HAITI UNDER THE EAGLE
    The U.S. media’s coverage of the earthquake in Haiti leaves out any mention of an older disaster—the long and bloody record of U.S. intervention.
    socialistworker.org/2010/01/26/haiti-under-the-eagle

    Comment
    UNION NURSES RESPOND FOR HAITI
    National Nurses United put out a call for volunteers, and the response was overwhelming—despite the attitude of the U.S. military.
    socialistworker.org/2010/01/27/nurses-respond-for-haiti

    Comment: Ashley Smith
    HUMANITARIAN AID OR MILITARY OCCUPATION?
    Instead of rushing food, water and rescue teams to help the victims of Haiti’s earthquake, the Obama administration has organized an occupation.
    socialistworker.org/2010/01/19/humanitarian-aid-or-occupation

    Analysis: Rachel Cohen and Alan Maass
    THE SIEGE OF HAITI
    A ring of U.S. warships on patrol off Haiti’s coast to stop desperate people from trying to flee is a stark symbol of Washington’s attitude toward refugees.
    socialistworker.org/2010/01/22/siege-of-haiti

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  • InI 09:47 on January 27, 2010 Permalink | Reply
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    Haitian police shoot scavengers indiscriminately 

    25 January, 2010 — AFP

    Port-Au-Prince (AFP) — Haitian police on Monday shot indiscriminately at scavengers and looters in Port-au-Prince, hitting two in the head as post-quake security deteriorated, an AFP photographer reported.

    A group of police, pushed to keep control among a desperate population after the January 12 tremor which killed or injured many of their number and destroyed the city prison, opened fire on a warehouse from a building opposite.

    An AFP photographer inside the scavengers’ building said two men were hit in the head, one of whom received medical attention. Two others were lying prone on the floor, one lifeless. The other was treated for a serious head wound.

    A Haitian man in the street outside said he saw police pistol whip a man.

    ‘This guy was trying to go inside (the warehouse), the cops took a gun straight to the back of the head. I don’t know why they do that. It’s not fair because everyone in Haiti is hungry,’ the man, who declined to give his name, said.

    Looters and scavengers have moved into the downtown commercial district, taking what they can from the ruins as bulldozers demolished damaged shops and warehouses.

    The Haitian government has said the death toll from the January 12 quake, which shattered what little infrastructure existed in the capital and left a million people homeless, is expected to be around 150,000.

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  • InI 09:35 on January 27, 2010 Permalink | Reply
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    Joe Bageant interviewed by Ian Masters, KPFK 

    27 January, 2010 — Joe Bageant

    On Sunday, Jan 24, I was a guest on Ian Masters’ Background Briefing radio show, KPFK, Los Angeles. Ian’s show is noted for its hard authoritative analysis by America’s leading political pundits and experts. Being neither, naturally I shotgunned my way through the interview as best I could. Listeners did not seem to mind. It’s downloadable as an MP3 file at

    Joe Bageant Interview

    The segment runs from 18:30 to 38:30 on the little slider do-jiggy on the media player.

    – Joe Bageant

     
  • InI 08:56 on January 27, 2010 Permalink | Reply
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    ATTEMPT TO BAN PROTEST OUTSIDE BLAIR INQUIRY 

    26 January, 2010

    Negotiations between the police and Stop the War broke down today when it became clear that the government is trying to hide our legitimate peaceful protest from Tony Blair when he gives evidence to the Chilcot Inquiry on Friday.

    After days in which we were told by the police that they would try to facilitate our protest, Stop the War has been told we will not be allowed to protest on the grass outside the QEII Conference Centre.

    This is a denial of our democratic rights and Stop the War will now call for the widest possible mobilisation, not just to express the majority view in this country that Tony Blair should be held to account for war crimes, but in defence of the right to protest.

    Why should the public be denied the right to peaceful protest, particularly when the latest evidence given to the Chilcot Committee shows beyond doubt that Tony Blair knew he was taking Britain into an illegal war, and that he doctored legal advice to deceive his Cabinet, Parliament and the British public.

    Stop the War is calling on all its supporters, local groups and affiliated organisations to mobilise the widest possible support for the Blair protest on Friday.

    We urge everyone who can to join the demonstration at the QEII Conference Centre from 8am. Full details for the planned events are here: http://bit.ly/8mKM0T

    Spread the word as widely as you can among your family, friends, work colleagues, fellow students etc, etc

    TONY BLAIR’S “JUDGEMENT DAY”
    DEFEND THE RIGHT TO PROTEST

    Friday 29 January from 8.00am onwards
    Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre
    Broad Sanctuary, London, SW1P 3EE
    Nearest tube: Westminster

    office@stopwar.org.uk
    Tel: 020 7801 2768
    Web: http://stopwar.org.uk
    Twitter: http://twitter.com/STWuk

     
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