Day: August 9, 2010

MEDIA LENS ALERT: BOGUS PARALLELS – THE INDEPENDENT’S DONALD MACINTYRE RESPONDS

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9 August 9, 2010 — MEDIA LENS: Correcting for the distorted vision of the corporate media

Last month, Media Lens examined an Independent interview with Tony Blair, “the international community’s Middle East envoy.” (www.medialens.org/alerts/10/100720_peace_envoy_blair.php). The interview was by Donald Macintyre, the paper’s Jerusalem correspondent. (‘Tony Blair: Former PM urges Israel to ease Gaza blockade‘, Independent, 4 June 2010; www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/tony-blair-former-pm-urges-israel-to-ease-gaza-blockade-1991105.html)

We wrote in our alert:

“The whole tone of the Independent interview was uncritical and respectful; a bland and meek summation of the sincere and well-intentioned thoughts of a man with the blood of untold numbers of victims on his hands: men, women and children in Iraq, Afghanistan, the former Yugoslavia and, indeed, in Palestine itself.”

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HLLN 9 August, 2010: Hollywood, Hip Hop and Haiti: Sean Penn on Haiti, his best & worst lines on the Charlie Rose show

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9 August, 2010 — HLLN

Recommended HLLN Link: Charlie Rose – Actor Sean Penn on his work in Haiti

www.charlierose.com/view/interview/11127 (See Ezili Danto’s Note below on Penn’s worst and best lines on the Charlie Rose show)

Haiti’s (Would Be) Hip-Hop President
www.nytimes.com/2010/08/07/opinion/07blow.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Wyclef Jean Seeks the Haitian Presidency: A Breath of Fresh Air — or a Dabbler who will Break Haiti’s Heart? by COHA Research Associate Alice Barrett bit.ly/amY0B4

The Root: Dear Wyclef, Please Don’t Run! by Marjorie Valbrun www.theroot.com/views/dear-wyclef-please-dont-run (Ezili’s Note: Interesting article by Ms. Valbrun. But besides this idea that Haiti needs TECHNOCRATS presumably who take their marching orders from Washington not the Haitian people, I note a statement she makes that gives pause. She writes that Haiti doesn’t need Wyclef as President but someone who can: “tamp down the country’s cyclical social unrest.”!!!

IRS hit Wyclef w/ $2.1 million tax liens Haitian presidential candidate owes for 1040 returns
www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/celebrity/irs-hits-wyclef-21-million-tax-liens

In this post

– Sean Penn on Charlie Rose – recycling unfounded charges against Pres. Aristide, showing his dearth of knowledge, but he does mention ngos are a business and cites Timothy Schwartz’ Travesty in Haiti www.charlierose.com/view/interview/11127

– LINK Charlie Rose – Actor Sean Penn on his work in Haiti http://www.charlierose.com Actor Sean Penn on his work in Haiti www.charlierose.com/view/interview/11127

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NO2ID Supporters’ Newsletter No. 154 – 29th July 2010

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29 July, 2010 — NO2ID

WHERE ARE WE NOW?

Parliament is in recess, so now is a good time to take stock of the coalition’s few weeks in office. Has the database state rolled back?

The Identity Documents Bill – which will repeal the Identity Cards Act – is still in the Commons. Some improvements have been made, but the threat of officially registered identity, a ‘shadow Register’, remains. And much of the infrastructure is still being built on other Home Office pretexts. How many ID-scheme contracts will the Coalition terminate?

It *has* just sacked the lead contractor of the e-Borders programme, shutting down development temporarily. We are delighted to report that ContactPoint will end at noon on August 6th, with all data to be deleted safely.

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VTJP Palestine/Israel Newslinks 8 August, 2010: Flotilla ship Israel ‘painted’ to cover bullet holes

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8 August, 2010 — VTJP

News

International Middle East Media Center

Israelis hold protests in 15 cities against demolition of Palestinian homes
IMEMC – 8 Aug 2010 – Saturday August 07, 2010 – 20:19, More than 1,000 demonstrators gathered in cities across Israel on Friday (6 August) for a day of solidarity marking the one-year anniversary of the eviction and settler take over of the Ghawi and Hanoun family homes in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah.

US Congress allocates record amount for joint US-Israel military effort
IMEMC – 8 Aug 2010 – Saturday August 07, 2010 – 13:45, A committee of the US Congress designated $217.2 million of US tax money to a joint military venture between the US and Israel — this is in addition to the annual $3 billion in direct aid and $3 billion in indirect aid provided by the US to the Israeli government.

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Rapper is No Friend of Haiti — Wyclef Opposed Aristide By Charlie Hinton

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2 August, 2010 — New American Media – Uhuru News

To cut to the chase, no election in Haiti, and no candidate in those elections, will be considered legitimate by the majority of Haiti’s population, unless it includes the full and fair participation of the Fanmi Lavalas Party of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

Fanmi Lavalas is unquestionably the most popular party in the country, yet the “international community,” led by the United States, France and Canada, has done everything possible to undermine Aristide and Lavalas, overthrowing him twice by military coups in 1991 and 2004 and banishing Aristide, who now lives in South Africa with his family, from the Americas.

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Haiti Gears Up for Polls – Again, Sans Lavalas By Wadner Pierre

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30 July, 2010 — IPS News

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Jul 30, 2010 (IPS) – After weeks of delays, Haitian President René Préval confirmed this month that presidential and legislative elections will take place on Nov. 28. The U.N. and Western donor nations are pledging millions of dollars in support of the polls, but with at least 1.5 million people still homeless from the January earthquake, questions loom over how to ensure voter participation.

In the last round of senatorial elections before the earthquake, less than three percent of the electorate participated. Fanmi Lavalas, widely seen as the most popular political party in the country, was excluded from the election on technical grounds, along with some other parties. Now, the party has again been banned from participating in the November polls.

International donors have expressed disappointment at Haiti’s failure to hold inclusive elections, but have continued to fund them.

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Voices of Haiti Speak Out on Presidential Politics

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6 August, 2010 — AOL News

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (Aug. 6) — Around the crumbled National Palace at Champ de Mars Plaza, politics is always a hot topic of conversation.

This week conversations could be overheard about current Haitian President Rene Preval, the Americans, Hugo Chavez and Venezuela, ousted former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide and now international rap star Wyclef Jean, the latest candidate for president.

Residents in this massive camp of more than 50,000 are generally discouraged by what is seen as a lack of action from President Preval. But for many, that’s nothing new.

As Jean, 40, announced his candidacy, he entered a fractious, and an often dangerous, political milieu. The past 40 years in Haiti have included dictatorship, military coups and, in recent times, the death of more than 20 percent of civil servants after the catastrophic Jan. 12 earthquake.

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Incompetent, egotistical Wyclef Jean offers only false hope for Haiti By Ansel Herz

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7 August 2010 — NY Daily News

Opinion: Stay in the States: Incompetent, egotistical Wyclef Jean offers only false hope for Haiti

My grandmother sent me a short but sweet e-mail this morning, asking if I’m doing okay here in Haiti, where I work as a freelance journalist. She said the country has popped up in the news again because Wyclef Jean, a Haitian-born musician, is running for president.

“He has no political affiliations, only celebrities, so people are wondering about him,” she wrote to me.

She’s been duped by shallow media coverage portraying Jean as a fresh face on Haiti’s political scene. Jean likened himself to Barack Obama, a new hope for the earthquake-hit country, in front of a throng of enthusiastic supporters here on Thursday.

Look closely at his record. Jean more closely resembles Sarah Palin -incoherent, incompetent and in it for himself.

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The Betrayal of Haiti By Ashley Smith

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5 August, 2010 — CounterCurrents

Conditions in Haiti are still appalling six months after the quake

Six months after Haiti’s catastrophic earthquake, the promises of the world’s most powerful governments to provide billions in aid to one of the world’s poorest and weakest governments have been betrayed.

There was an immediate outpouring of solidarity after the quake struck Haiti on January 12—people from the U.S. to Palestine and beyond gave to NGOs and charities, even when they couldn’t afford much themselves.

At the end of March, the United Nations held an international conference for donors to fund the rebuilding of Haiti, where dozens of countries promised almost $10 billion over the next few years and more than $5 billion for the first 18 months of emergency reconstruction.

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