Things to consider—

Since early 2011, Obama's been waging proxy war on Syria. Imported death squads masquerade as freedom fighters. The scheme's familiar. It repeats. It reflects US imperialism's dark side. In the 1980s, CIA-recruited mujahideen fighters battled Afghanistan's Soviet occupiers. Ronald Reagan called them "the moral equivalent of our founding fathers." He characterized Contra killers the same way. —Stephen LendmanFor over a century now US ambassadors have acted as fifth columns in the nations they are embedded in, their role chiefly to foster corporate and plutocratic power and coordinate machinations against any truly pro-democratic government.•••••"The dead end identity politics of SF Pride, which sells out a peace hero like Bradley Manning to curry favor with the American ruling class, is what I had in mind. The empire loves your tameness, irrelevance and cowardice, SF Pride. You don’t bother the American ruling class — a five foot two, 105 pound soldier does because he has a conscience and because he didn’t make comfort the guiding principle of his life...." —Randy Shields
  • Apple’s tax dodge: The case for public ownership

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  • Rise Up or Die

    Rise Up or Die

     By Chris Hedges Joe Sacco and I spent two years reporting from the poorest pockets of the United States for our book “Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt.”We went into our nation’s impoverished “sacrifice zones”—the first areas forced to kneel before the dictates of the marketplace—to show what happens when unfettered corporate capitalism and ceaseless economic expansion [...]

  • Religious Barbarians

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    From Tbilisi to Worchester by CHRISTOPHER BRAUCHLI (With report & VIDEO by PressTV, see addendum below) It was humanity at its best.  Showing compassion for the quick and the dead.  The quick made news in Tbilisi, Georgia.  The dead made news in Worcester, Massachusetts. Did you like this? Share it:

  • The Strange Trial of Ríos Montt

    The Strange Trial of Ríos Montt

    Despite Annulment, Genocide Trial a Breakthrough for Justice and Truth by LUZ MENDEZ The sentence of 80 years in prison against former de facto president Efraín Ríos Montt for genocide and crimes against humanity committed during Guatemala’s armed conflict, emitted on May 10, 2013, was annulled by the Constitutional Court ten days later. The court’s [...]

  • Russians pick best ruler of USSR and pre-Putin Russia

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    SOURCE: Pravda.ru Among all leaders of the Soviet Union and the pre-Putin Russia, Russians are most positive about Leonid Brezhnev. As many as 56 percent of respondents praised his work while 29 percent said that they shared a negative attitude to his persona. Did you like this? Share it:

  • Why Disinformation Works —

    Why Disinformation Works —

    By Paul Craig Roberts Have you ever wondered how the government’s misinformation gains traction?What I have noticed is that whenever a stunning episode occurs, such as 9/11 or the Boston Marathon bombing, most everyone whether on the right or left goes along with the government’s explanation, because they can hook their agenda to the government’s [...]

  • The Silent Death of the American Left

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    Generation Leftover by JEFFREY ST. CLAIR, Counterpunch Is there a Left in America today? There is, of course, a Left ideology, a Left of the mind, a Left of theory and critique. But is there a Left movement? Does the Left exist as an oppositional political, cultural or economic force? Is anyone intimidated or restrained [...]

  • UK soldier killed in London in reprisal for Afghanistan and Iraq wars

    UK soldier killed in London in reprisal for Afghanistan and Iraq wars

    By Robert Stevens,wsws.org The killing of drummer Lee Rigby, 2nd Battalion Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, near London’s Woolwich army barracks on Wednesday was a horrific act. Rigby was first run down by two men in a car, who then set about him with knives and a cleaver. One of the men who carried out the [...]

SAD NEWS: Bolivian government violently represses indigenous protest

 ANNOTATED NEWS, LatinAm-BOLIVIA  Comments Off
Sep 282011
 

By Bill Van Auken, WSWS.ORG, a socialist organization

Editor’s Note:  We regret to have to publish this piece, as we support and admire the trajectory of President Morales, and the Bolivian people. Evo Morales has been a progressive in many critical ways, including his support for the environment which certainly outstrips anything a developed country leader has said or done. But this policy of cutting through a pristine and fragile ecosystem, of endorsing more farming in the Matto Grosso—the largest surviving rainforest (and “lung”) on planet earth, is misguided, even if expedient in the short-term given the narrow choices President Morales faces at the moment.  (See the update at the foot of this piece.)

A man runs for cover after riot police fired tear gas canister during a protest in Rurrenabaque, Bolivia, Monday Sept. 26, 2011.

The government of President Evo Morales carried out a bloody crackdown Sunday against a march by indigenous protesters against the building of a new highway through their lands.  Some 500 paramilitary police surrounded the encampment of the thousand or more marchers, including hundreds of women and children, firing teargas, beating the protesters with clubs and fists, trampling many and handcuffing them and throwing them face first onto the ground.

The assault killed a three-month-old baby, who died of asphyxiation from the teargas. Many others were injured, and at least 37 were reported missing, including a number of children. Continue reading »

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Glenn Greenwald on Critiques of Occupy Wall Street: Does Anyone Actually Not Get the Message?

 ANNOTATED NEWS, TACTICS & STRATEGIES  Comments Off
Sep 282011
 

By Sarah Seltzer, AlterNet

Posted on September 28, 2011

Glenn Greenwald has an excellent, incisive column on the “well-intentioned” critique of the Occupy Wall Street protests. There’s much to unpack here and I recommend reading the column in full, as it goes right to the heart of why even those of us on the left sometimes hesitate when faced with mass social movements, which by definition are messy.  Here’s what he says on the critique that there’s a lack of messaging at the protests: 

Does anyone really not know what the basic message is of this protest: that Wall Street is oozing corruption and criminality and its unrestrained political power — in the form of crony capitalism and ownership of political institutions — is destroying financial security for everyone else? …  Continue reading »

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Progress against public bullfighting in Tamil Nadu but not in Uttarakhand

 ANIMAL DEFENDERS, ANIMAL MARTYRDOM, ANNOTATED NEWS  Comments Off
Sep 282011
 

BY MERRITT CLIFTON
Special From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  (January/February 2011): 

Thousands of tormentors of helpless and scared animals, who are then often ripped apart by the mob. And all this in the name of tradition. What have domesticated animals like bovines or goats done to humans except provide sustenance and service to merit this torture?

CHENNAI,  Dehrudun–THE FIRST WEEKEND OF 2011 Pongal harvest festivals in Tamil Nadu,  India,  brought a drop in reported deaths and injuries in jallikattu,  the predominant Indian form of participatory bullfighting–but chiefly because new rules discouraged many communities from hosting jallikattu.  Relative to the unrestrained mayhem at Bunkhal village in Uttarakhand state a month earlier,  that was major progress.
_________________
EDITOR’S NOTE: At the foot of this article we have attached a defense of this practice by someone who sees nothing wrong with tormenting and killing animals for fun. We present it, not as a counterpoint to the main piece, for we see not possible balance between the two views, and we certainly don’t believe in letting readers arrive at the truth by simple presenting two opposing views, one of which may be logically and factually indefensible, BUT as one more example how this kind of mind operates.—TGP
_________________  Continue reading »

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AIPAC’s Ugly Agenda

 ANNOTATED NEWS, The Middle East  Comments Off
Sep 282011
 

Archives: Articles you should have read the first time around, but didn’t
By Stephen Lendman

Abraham Foxman

AIPAC is an unregistered foreign agent representing Israel. Edward Said once called it “the most powerful and feared lobby in Washington.”  Calling itself “America’s Pro-Israel Lobby,” it’s represented Israeli interests since founded in 1953. In 1963, it was incorporated as a division of the American Zionist Council (AZC), its precursor.  For decades, it’s been very successful subverting opposition to Israel’s agenda. Virtually no one in Congress confronts it. Doing so would be a career-ender.  

Notably, it’s had virtual veto power over war and peace, trade and investment, multi-billion dollar arms sales, enormous handouts to Israel, and all Middle East policies affecting the Jewish state under Democrat and Republican administrations alike.   

Deferentially, politicians, presidents, their hangers-on, media scoundrels and others pay it due homage and the government it represents. As a result, everyone pays dearly. 

Continue reading »

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