Day: April 28, 2010

MEDIA LENS ALERT: THE ART OF LOOKING PRIME MINISTERIAL – THE 2010 UK GENERAL ELECTION

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28 April, 2010 — MEDIA LENS: Correcting for the distorted vision of the corporate media

On April 15, news media broadcast the first of three live, 90-minute “prime ministerial debates” between Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg, the leaders, respectively, of the Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties. By the end of the second debate on April 22, the word ‘Iraq’ had been mentioned a total of five times over the course of the three hours of discussion.

One day later, April 23, a wave of bombings in Baghdad were reported to have killed 58 people and wounded more than 100. Seven people also died that day in a series of bombings in the western town of Khalidya. (news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/8639223.stm)

As usual, the carnage was mentioned in passing – presented as routine in the way of a traffic snarl on the M25 – and then forgotten. By the end of the following day, the death toll had risen to 85 with hundreds seriously wounded from a total of 16 bomb attacks.

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Housmans Radical Books London, Newsletter of Events May 2010

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NEWS
1. Meeting room available for up to 12 people
2. Political Junkies Election Special

EVENTS
3. ‘The high tide of workers’ autonomy – the Workers’ Committee of Magneti Marelli, Milan, 1975-78’
4. ‘London Zine Symposium’
5. ‘Pressure Drop’ with Billy Bragg and Mick Gordon
6. ‘The Life and Times of a Revolutionary’ with Bill Hunter
7. ‘The Meaning of David Cameron’ with Richard Seymour
8. Future Events

BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS
9. Richard Seymour Picks Five

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For $10 Billion of "Promises" Haiti Surrenders its Sovereignty By Kim Ives

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25 April, 2010 — Global Research

It was fitting that the Mar. 31 ‘International Donors Conference Towards a New Future for Haiti’ was held in the Trusteeship Council at the United Nations headquarters in New York. At the event, Haitian President René Préval in effect turned over the keys to Haiti to a consortium of foreign banks and governments, which will decide how (to use the conference’s principal slogan) to ‘build back better’ the country devastated by the Jan. 12 earthquake.

This ‘better’ Haiti envisions some 25,000 farmers providing Coca-Cola with mangos for a new Odwalla brand drink, 100,000 workers assembling clothing and electronics for the U.S. market in sweatshops under HOPE II legislation, and thousands more finding jobs as guides, waiters, cleaners and drivers when Haiti becomes a new tourist destination.

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Keiser Report No.36: Markets! Finance! Scandal!

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22 April, 2010 — RT.com

Max Keiser and co-host Stacy Herbert wonder why Iceland’s volcanic ash cloud spared the victims of banking fraud; they also look at the scandals behind the Fabulous Fab Tourre’s “monstrosities,” Gordon Brown’s “shock” at Goldman’s “moral bankruptcy,” and at the political markets shocking the currency markets. In the second half of the show, Max talks to author and journalist Afshin Rattansi about the surprise outcome of the UK’s first ever televised political debates; the UK taxpayers nearly $1 billion loss via Goldman’s alleged fraud; and about Tony Blair’s lucrative post-Downing Street banking career.

Keiser Report with very special Hollywood guest

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27 April, 2010 — RT.com

This time Max Keiser and co-host Stacy Herbert look at a handful of the many Goldman Sachs fraud metaphors; the scandals of what the US bankers, regulators and government knew about Repo 105 before it helped take down Lehman Brothers, and of President Clinton’s big mistake on derivatives. In the second half of the show, Stacy interviews Max Keiser, in virtual Hollywood, about the box office futures market.

The Global Movement Spreads: New Wave of Protests in Hebron By Avital Aboody

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28 April, 2010 — The Only Democracy?

tod-2.jpgOn April 24, 2010 at around 15:45 a group of approximately 50 Palestinian, Israeli, and International activists gathered in Hebron next to the checkpoint gate separating Shuhada Street from the Casbah. The protest was organized by a Palestinian group in Hebron called “Youth Against Settlements” and the organizers hope to hold these protests every week with the intention of disrupting the army-accompanied settler tour that goes through the Casbah (Old City) every Saturday. The Casbah is within H2, an area that comprises 20% of the city of Hebron and is considered Zone B, meaning that it is receives Palestinian municipal services but is under Israeli military control. Both Palestinians and Israelis can access the Casbah, but Palestinians are restricted from walking just a fewer meters further, beyond the imposing gate/checkpoint to the sight of the former marketplace, Shuhada Street. Continue reading →