Day: November 7, 2009

America The Betrayed – Walt Whitman: “Poet of the People” By Richard C Cook

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6 November, 2009 — Global Research

walt-whitman.jpgIf you want to get an idea of what America once was like, read the poems of Walt Whitman.Whitman was born on Long Island in 1819 and grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y. His family was poor, but even though he left school at the age of 11 he gave himself an education by reading and working in the printing shop of a newspaper until he gradually became a published writer. He worked as a teacher and news reporter and owned his own newspaper by the age of 20.

In 1848 Whitman was a delegate to the founding convention of the Free Soil Party. During the Civil War he worked as a nurse in Union military hospitals and held several government jobs, including interviewing Confederate prisoners for pardons. Some of his greatest poems came from his war experiences, including his famous elegy upon the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, “Oh Captain! My Captain!” His great collection of poems, Leaves of Grass, was self-published. He died a national hero in 1892 in Camden, New Jersey, where thousands of people came to pay their respects.

Whitman has always been viewed as a poet of the people, in contrast to the pretentious dandies from academia who have controlled official American culture for much of our history. He wrote of workmen, farmers, sailors, soldiers, lovers, criminals, and prostitutes.

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Israel: Remote control occupation?

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7 November, 2009 — Real News Network

Baum: New technologies are allowing Israel to maintain control over its occupation remotely

This week, the chief Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erakat, announced that because Israeli settlements continue to grow (with de facto US support) and annex the land planned for a future Palestine, the Palestinians may have to abandon hopes for an independent state. He therefore urged Palestinians to fight for one democratic state where all citizens will be equal. With this announcement, many are wondering what the future of the Israeli occupation would look like. Meanwhile, Israel is continuing its technological evolution of the occupation, making it possible to institutionalize control over the occupation remotely. At the end of October, the joint Israeli-Palestinian Alternative Information Center held a conference in Bethlehem on economy of the occupation.

The Real News’ Lia Tarachansky attended and spoke to Dalit Baum of Who Profits and Shir Hever, of the Alternative Information Center about the changing face of the Israeli occupation.

Bio
Dr. Dalit Baum is the founder of Who Profits? a project investigating corporate ties to the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territories. She is an Israeli peace activist and a feminist educator, who taught science and women’s studies at the University of California at Berkeley and at various Israeli universities.

Shir Hever is an economic researcher in the Alternative Information Center, a Palestinian-Israeli organization active in Jerusalem and Beit-Sahour. Researching the economic aspect of the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories, some of his research topics include international aid to the Palestinians and Israel, the effects of the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories on the Israeli economy, and the boycott, divestment and sanctions campaigns against Israel. He is a frequent speaker on the topic of the economy of the Israeli occupation.

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Everything About Nidal Malik Hasan Screams “Patsy” By Paul Joseph Watson

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6 November 6, 2009 — Prison Planet.com

Nidal-Malik-Hasan.jpgKiller’s pre-rampage behavior is completely at odds with the idea of him preparing to massacre more than a dozen of his colleagues.

The Empire strikes back – right when when public support for the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan sinks to all time lows, an anti-war Islamic extremist with links to suicide bombers goes on a shooting rampage at a U.S. army base, reinvigorating support for the war on terror and demonizing opposition to it as anti-American extremism. The scam would be believable if it wasn’t so perfectly staged.

Without getting into convoluted conspiracy theories about mind control and whatever else, not that they aren’t without merit, the facts we already know about Hasan and his behavior prior to the deadly shootings just screams out “patsy” and “set-up” and almost exactly mirrors other terror scams the Empire has run in the past.

Just like the would-be liquid bombers that were supposedly planning on bringing down multiple airliners in August 2006, who were caught on CCTV buying bulk supplies of cake in the very hours before the plot, Hasan’s pre-shooting behavior contradicts completely the idea that he was preparing for a deadly rampage.

Shortly before the massacre, Hasan was caught on camera shopping at the convenience store located on the army base – laughing and joking. Is this the behavior of a man psychologically readying himself for the high-intensity horror of gunning down dozens of his colleagues, or someone unaware of what was to follow?

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PAUL MCGEOUGH IN KABUL: US fed up with troops dying to prop up Karzai

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7 November, 2009 – Sydney Morning Herald

karzai.jpg

From the looting class…Hamid Karzai flanked by his vice-presidents Mohammad Qasim Fahim (left) and Karim Khalil

IT SEEMS that Hamid Karzai just can’t be trusted on his own.

When he breasted the microphone at the presidential palace on October 20, to make an oblique admission that he attempted to steal the election and would go along with the second poll which he had resisted for weeks, he was flanked by a high-powered international posse – lest he depart from the agreed script.

On one side was the US senator John Kerry; on the other, the United Nations special envoy Kai Eide; and riding shotgun were the British and French ambassadors.

Fast forward two weeks. Last Sunday, Karzai’s challenger, Dr Abdullah Abdullah, played exquisite politics. Baling out of the second vote which was to be held today, he left a wounded Karzai to claim the presidency, knowing that the stench of a million stolen votes would cling to him for the next five years.

On Tuesday, Karzai was back on the presidential dais, this time to claim his prize. But lest he make any reckless promises – say, to eject some of the more odorous among his cronies from office – the enforcers came from among the cronies, his vice presidents Karim Khalil and Mohammad Qasim Fahim, both former warlords from the ranks of Afghanistan’s looting class.

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Alan Hart – How Zionist lobby stooges in Congress brought shame to their institution

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6 November, 2009 — Palestine Think Tank

aipac-cartoon.jpg

Illustration by Khalil Bendib

As expected, the U.S. House of Representatives voted, on Tuesday 3 November, by 344 votes to 36, to urge the Obama administration to oppose endorsement of the Goldstone Report. But for those who are interested in truth and justice, not to mention democracy, the highlight of what passed for debate was the two-minute contribution of Dennis Kucinich, the Democratic Party’s representative for Ohio’s 10th district (and a starter candidate for the Democratic nomination for the presidency in 2004 an 2008).

His statement was a damning indictment of 344 of his colleagues. The following is the full text of it.

Today we journey from Operation Cast Lead to Operation Cast Doubt. Almost as serious as committing war crimes is covering up war crimes, pretending that war crimes were never committed and did not exist.

Because behind every such deception is the nullification of humanity, the destruction of human dignity, the annihilation of the human spirit, the triumph of Orwellian thinking, the eternal prison of the dark heart of the totalitarian.

The resolution before us today, which would reject all attempts of the Goldstone Report to fix responsibility of all parties to war crimes, including both Hamas and Israel, may as well be called the “Down is Up, Night is Day, Wrong is Right” resolution.

Because if this Congress votes to condemn a report it has not read, concerning events it has totally ignored, about violations of law of which it is unaware, it will have brought shame to this great institution.

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Yuriy RUBTSOV Two Decades of Hopes and Disillusionments at the Ruins of the Berlin Wall

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6 November, 2009 — Strategic Culture Foundation

Russian President D. Medvedev will visit Germany on the invitation of A. Merkel on November 9, 2009 to attend the international celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Berlin Wall demolition. In the presence of the Cold-War epoch leaders new era politicians will proudly state that division lines no longer exist in Europe.

The Wall built almost momentarily in 1961 on the order of the DDR leadership along the border between the western and eastern sectors of Berlin severed completely the communication between the two parts of the town partitioned by the allies in 1948. It became perhaps the starkest image of the iron curtain times marked with a conflict between the two worlds, each sustaining a way of life of its own.

The Berlin Wall existed for over 26 years. Almost as much time elapsed since its demolition and the subsequent fall of the iron curtain. Enormous geopolitical shifts — the first change of the borders of European countries since World War II, the German unification, and the disintegration of the USSR and several other countries — altogether fit within a period of roughly 18 months. Liberal regimes rose in most East European countries, and the development made possible the formation of a totally new international architecture.

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U.S.: “War Comes Home” with Ft. Hood Shootings By Dahr Jamail

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6 November, 2009 — Inter Press Service

PHOENIX, Arizona, Nov 6 (IPS) – While investigators probe for a motive behind the mass shooting at the Fort Hood military base in Texas Thursday, in which an army psychiatrist is suspected of killing 13 people, military personnel at the base are in shock as the incident “brings the war home”.

“Fort Hood is pretty much a ghost town right now,” Specialist Michael Kern, an active duty veteran of the Iraq war, told IPS by telephone. “Most units gave their soldiers the day off. Security is heightened all over. There are soldiers on guard everywhere. In my opinion, they are afraid of another attack.”

Kern, who is based at Fort Hood, served in Iraq from March 2007 to March 2008.

“We’re all in shock,” Kern added, “Every single person that I’ve talked to is in shock. I’m surprised this hits so close to home, but at the same time, I knew something like this was going to happen given what else is happening – the war is coming home, and something needs to be done.”

“Innocent civilians are being wounded and killed here at home by soldiers, and this is completely unacceptable,” he said.

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Mass Shooting Indicates Breakdown of Military By Dahr Jamail

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6 November, 2009 — t r u t h o u t | Report

At approximately 1:30 p.m. CST today, a soldier went on a shooting rampage at Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas, killing 11 people and wounding at least 31 others, according to base commander Lieutenant-General Bob Cone.

Truthout spoke with an Army Specialist who is an active-duty Iraq war veteran currently stationed at the base. The soldier spoke on condition of anonymity since the base is now on “lockdown,” and all “non-authorized” military personnel on the base have been ordered not to speak to the press.

“A soldier entered the ‘Soldier Readiness Processing Center (SRP)’ with two handguns and opened fire,” the soldier, who is currently getting treatment for traumatic brain injury (TBI) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) explained. “That facility is where you go just before you deploy to Iraq or Afghanistan.”

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NYC Mayoral Race: The best ‘democracy’ money can buy

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2 November, 2009 — Party for Socialism & Liberation

PSL Editorial

The New York City mayoral race has ripped the mask off of this country’s “democratic” system. The race has been all about money from the very start. For one, in the biggest economic crisis in decades, the Democratic and Republican parties are offering New Yorkers a choice between a former banker (William Thompson) and a billionaire (Michael Bloomberg). To make matters worse, the Campaign Finance Board systematically excluded third-party candidates from the mayoral debates who did not raise $50,000 (for the first debate) and $500,000 (for the second).

Mayor Bloomberg’s campaign has been especially disgusting. Spending arond $850,000 per day, according to the Associated Press, he is now on pace to spend between $110 and $140 million of his own money by the end of the campaign. Altogether, over the span of three elections, he will have spent $250 million—more than any politician in U.S. history has ever spent in pursuit of public office.

Bloomberg is the city’s richest man—with a net worth around $16 billion—and like the robber barons of the late 19th century, throws his money around to purchase support and endorsements. The city held two referendums supporting term limits for elected officials, but Bloomberg pulled off a shady backroom deal with the Democratic- controlled City Council to allow himself to run again.

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Cunning Micheletti Determined to Outfox Zelaya, Insouciant U.S. Diplomats; Meanwhile, Clinton Delivers a Likely Fatal Blow to Ousted Honduran President Zelaya’s Already Grim Prospects

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6 November, 2009 — Council on Hemispheric Affairs

By COHA Research Associate Ethan Katz

After adamantly rejecting all attempted negotiations, the Honduran de facto government signed an agreement on October 29th ostensibly opening space for a potential resolution to the country’s four-month standoff. The agreement called for the formation of a unity government that will assume power and oversee the November 29th presidential elections. But even under the most favorable of circumstances, the terms of the peace agreement would transform Zelaya into little more than a figurehead president, drained of all his authority. The accord left the restoration of executive power in the hands of the Honduran Congress and Supreme Court, the two bodies that authorized and led the way to Zelaya’s removal from the presidency in the first place. Still, the most lethal blow to Zelaya’s return was delivered by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton when she acknowledged that his restitution would not affect Washington’s recognition of the election results.

Clinton’s Coup de Main

Apparently the U.S. plan under discussion was never meant to be implemented, and de facto leader Roberto Micheletti’s alleged agreement was probably little more than a hoax. While the new deal was feted as ending the conflict, such celebration may have proved to be premature as progress has since reached a standstill, which perhaps was the intended outcome all along. On Tuesday, Honduran Congressional leaders postponed calling the legislative body out of recess in order to verify the accords, and it remains to be seen whether they will even bother to endorse the agreement, especially after the State Department so effectively sabotaged the peace process.

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