Stephen Zunes discusses with Scott Horton the Arab Spring as the culmination of decades of peaceful rebellion against tyrannical governments. He explains how violent revolutions tend to breed more violence and result in authoritarian governments. He comments on how the Bush administration helped to bring down a few of Middle East/North African dictators without meaning to.
Source: Scott Horton Interviews Stephen Zunes
Response to July 16, 2010 E-mail from NJ Sen. Frank Lautenberg, Which Lacked Truth, Integrity, or Merit
Andrew H. Dral ("Janosik" -- "The Rabble")
April 3, 2012
Gateway Center, 23rd Floor
Newark, NJ 07102
Dear Sen. Frank Lautenberg,
In response to your July 16, 2010 e-mail, I found your response completely lacking in any truth, without an ounce of integrity, and completely lacking any merit. It’s clear the United States (U.S.) isn’t your first country of loyalty, it is clearly Israel. From your e-mail, “The Israeli Navy intercepted these ships [Mavi Marmara flotilla] before they reached Gaza and were attacked by a small group of individuals on the lead ship.” The truth, the ships were illegally intercepted by the Israeli Navy in international seas. Second, the Israeli Navy attacked and murdered peaceful activists on the lead ship. In addition, the U.S. congress is the best government money can buy. The U.S. congress is beset by bribery, baksheesh, and wanton immoral greed. The Israelis and their fifth column within the U.S., American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), have corrupted our congress. Congress is scared to death of the Israeli lobby. It has been bribed to follow the Israeli Likud Party line, U.S. Middle-east policy is set by Israel.
The headline-grabbing all-white adult killer whale spotted off Russia this month may well be one of a kind. But the sighting may not be the first time he's been caught on camera.
Finally, the full story behind emergence of Volkswagen, "Hitler's pet project"
We welcome back our contributing writer Paul Schilperoord, whose book “The Extraordinary Life of Josef Ganz – The Jewish Engineer Behind Hitler’s Volkswagen” has just been released in the US and Canada.
2011 has been marked by extreme weather. In the U.S. alone, a record dozen disasters caused more than $1 billion in damage. One area acutely threatened by climate change is food production, where decades of steady gains could be reversed.
Speakers are Chris Field, Director, Department of Global Ecology, Carnegie Institution for Science Dave Friedberg, Founder & CEO, The Climate Corporation Karen O'Brien, Professor of Sociology and Human Geography, University of Oslo Michael Oppenheimer, Professor of Geosciences and International Affairs, Princeton Greg Dalton is the moderator and Vice President of The Commonwealth Club of California and founder of Climate One
Source: Wild Weather
When he was assassinated in April, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. had just begun “The Poor People’s Campaign.” This focus on economic injustice, which included plans for a mass encampment of poor people in Washington, D.C., was remarkably similar to that of today’s Occupy movement. The connection is clear to present-day activists Kazu Haga and Jonathan Lewis, who are promoting King’s philosophy of nonviolence to Occupy groups, both for moral guidance and practical strategy.
Submitted by Tjadendevries on Wed, 04/18/2012 - 3:45pm
It's hypnotic and shocking at the same time. And seems so out of place from the standpoint of what we've been told our whole lives about the US standing for free speech
Submitted by Dan Bacher on Thu, 04/12/2012 - 10:00am
The 190-page UC Davis Pepper Spray Report released at noon Wednesday concluded that the incident shouldn’t have taken place – and questions why pepper spray was used on students peacefully protesting in the student quad last November.
“The overriding conclusion can be stated briefly and explicitly. The pepper spraying incident that took place on November 18, 2011 should and could have been prevented,” the report stated.
In the immediate aftermath of the UC Davis incident, University of California President Mark G. Yudof announced the appointment of former California Supreme Court Justice Cruz Reynoso to chair the 12-member Task Force that released the report today.
The report blasted the breakdown in communication that occurred between Chancellor Linda Katehi, Police Chief Annette Spicuzza, and police officers throughout the pepper spray incident.
The report said Katehi failed "to express in any meaningful way her expectation that the police operation was to be sharply limited so that no use of force would be employed by police officers other than their demand that the tents be taken down."
Submitted by Dan Bacher on Fri, 03/23/2012 - 12:26am
Obama 'celebrates' World Water Day by fast-tracking polluting pipeline
by Dan Bacher
After rejecting the controversial Keystone XL pipeline proposal in January, President Barack Obama today announced his plan to fast- track the construction of the pipeline's southern end at a speech in Cushing, Oklahoma.
As Native American activists protested the pipeline on the motorcade route miles from the President’s pro-oil event, Obama explained that the TransCanada company has applied to build a new pipeline to "speed more oil" from Cushing to state-of-the-art refineries down on the Gulf Coast.
"And today, I'm directing my administration to cut through the red tape, break through the bureaucratic hurdles, and make this project a priority, to go ahead and get it done," said Obama.
Ironically, Obama announced his plan on March 22, International World Water Day. The day is commemorated annually as a means of focusing attention on the importance of freshwater and advocating for the sustainable management of freshwater resources.
From Watergate to Gitmo to Occupy, we will hear from Glenn Greenwald on what he calls the rise of an American's lawless elite.
Source: Glenn Greenwald On “America’s Lawless Elite”
Submitted by Dan Bacher on Fri, 03/16/2012 - 9:50am
Monsanto has closed its facility in Davis after 150 occupiers from throughout the state blocked the entrances to Monsanto's Davis facility on 1910 5th Street.
The occupiers reported they have "shut down" the corporate giant, which produces genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and is notorious for its inordinate influence over the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under the Obama administration. Police are now on the scene.
You can see the protest live at sacmedia.tv.
The protest is part of a "Global Days of Action to Shut Down Monsanto" in dozens of U.S. cities and several countries. Occupy groups from Sacramento, Davis, Woodland and even Los Angeles are expected to participate, as well as labor, environmental, veterans and social justice groups.
"We are calling for a 'global class-action' against Monsanto," said Steven Payan, one of the Davis protest organizers. "We are joining the world in solidarity to demand a ban on all GMO foods and hold Monsanto accountable for its actions throughout history from Agent Orange to Deforestation to current and past deaths to preying on small farmers through a broken court system and also through International Free Trade Agreements."
Attorney General Eric Holder announced at Northwestern University law school that the U.S. can assassinate U.S. citizens without any without disclosure of why they are even alleged to be baddies and without any review of any nature whatsoever by any judge, Congress or the American people.
Northwestern University’s law school professor Joseph Margulies said:
I defy anyone to read [Holder's] speech and show any differences between Obama and Bush on these issues, They both say we are in a war not confined to particular battlefield. … Both say we can target citizens without judicial oversight and that can happen anywhere in the world.
Columbia law school professor Scott Horton notes that this assassination strategy was created by Dick Cheney, and is being carried out by the Obama administration:
A lot of this seems to have been put in place under the tutelage of Dick Cheney. So here we see one of Dick Cheney’s ideas being ratified by Barack Obama and his Attorney General Eric Holder.