[LAAMN] GOOD READ: Preventing the Coming War with Iran

2012-01-15 Thread Romi Elnagar 
I'm not always real crazy about Tom Hayden, but I think his analysis about the 
possibility of war on Iran is worth reading.

HR

Preventing the Coming War with Iran 
Wednesday, January 11, 2012 at 3:09PM 
http://tomhayden.com/home/preventing-the-coming-war-with-iran.html

During  the past decade, this writer has remained skeptical 
about prospects of a  US-supported war against Iran. The potential costs 
outweighed the  benefits. Now, as the 2012 election year unfolds, I am 
not certain. The  political and geo-political dynamics underscore the 
growing threat of  war.  
It’s not that Barack Obama wants an airstrike against Iran, 
whether by  the Israelis, the Americans, or the Israelis with covert US 
support. My  respected friends Juan Cole and Mark Weisbrot are not so 
sure. They  think Obama is laying the groundwork, and may be right. 
Obama hardly  needs another war with unknown costs and consequences. But 
presidents  are not all-powerful, and Obama can be forced to acquiesce 
unless there  is a sharp increase in serious public opposition. As Trita Parsi, 
director of the National Iranian American Council, told DemocracyNow on January 
12:
“We may very well end up in a situation in which, rather  than the 
governments controlling the dynamic, the dynamics will control  the 
government...this could escalate into a full-scale war.”
Here’s the dynamic at  work:
First, the Israeli government and the powerful Israeli lobby, 
in  evaluating the Arab revolutions in Egypt and beyond, are extremely  
concerned that time is against them. They perceive the diplomatic  
efforts of the Palestinians to secure United Nations recognition as a  
mortal peril, and went to great extremes to pressure Obama to threaten a veto 
of the Palestinian bid. This was an overreaction inimical to US  
interests, leaving the Obama administration extremely isolated from the  rest 
of the world on these issues. Employing a US veto threat played  
into the hands of all those in the Palestinian and Islamic worlds who  
believe that armed struggle is the only path open to them. 
Second, the Israeli Lobby, or AIPAC, already has learned that 
Obama is  isolated at home, or at least from Congress, on these 
questions. Obama  was forced under pressure to back down on his demand 
for an end to  settlements. His more progressive appointees, whether 
Chas Freeman or  George Mitchell, were forced from their positions or 
resigned in  frustration. 
Third, the Iranians have been far from helpful, if they ever 
intended to  be. They reinforce the depiction of themselves as 
irrational, unstable,  fundamentalist, theocratic extremists. Any ideas 
that they are rational  actors in an ongoing crisis -- which began with 
the US overthrow of their  democratically-elected government in 1954; 
which continues to threaten regime change on a daily basis; in which the 
Israelis have  scores of nuclear weapons available for use -- are 
dismissed as fuzzy  foolishness. 
Fourth, and most important at the moment, the Israeli Lobby is 
using the  Republican Party as a Trojan Horse. Mitt Romney is a former 
business  partner of Benjamin Netanyahu (see the excellent screed at Daily 
Kos). And if the Romney-Netanyahu alliance doesn’t work out, there’s always  
Newt Gingrich to call the Palestinians an “invented people”, the better  to 
collect millions from his chief financier Sheldon Adelson, a Las  
Vegas casino developer, and close ally of Netanyahu. Adelson, who says  
the Palestinians have no historical claims to statehood, just saved  
Gingrich with a $5 million bailout for the South Carolina primary, on  
top of millions more, including $7 million to Gingrich committees in  
2006 alone. Adelson not only saved Gingrich this month, but his free  
newspapers in Israel are credited with having saved Netanyahu, too. (New York 
Times, January 10, 2012)
Fifth, the latest rationale is “Time To Strike Iran” in the current  issue of 
Foreign Affairs, by Matthew Kroenig, who until July was Obama’s  special 
adviser on Iran at the Pentagon. Koenig asserts that the US,  not Israel, 
should attack Iran as the least-bad option. Koenig claims  the goal should not 
be 
regime change, merely the careful destruction of  Iran’s nuclear sites. 
He assures us that an attack on Iran’s Natanz  nuclear facility with a 
30,000 pound bunker-busting bomb can  be so  carefully done that Teheran will 
not react by closing of the Straits of  Hormuz or launch missile 
assaults on European cities. The US should  assure Iran that we have no 
interest in overthrowing their government,  only in destroying their 
nuclear facilities. Sounds neat, and perhaps  Kroenig should not be 
dismissed as a Dr. Strangelove. But if the US  considers Iran’s 
leadership irrational now, why would Teheran become  more reasonable 
after being attacked at Natanz, Isfahan, Arak, and  
centrifuge-manufacturing sites near Teheran itself? (The target list is  
Kroenig’s)
As the presidential campaign proceeds, Obama w

[LAAMN] MUST READ: The marines urination video doesn't show the real war crime

2012-01-15 Thread Romi Elnagar 
The marines urination video doesn't show the real war crime
The urination video does not shock me so much as the public's tolerance of 
these immoral wars that make criminals of marines
Ross Caputi
*   * 

* guardian.co.uk, Friday 13 January 2012 13.47 EST 
* 
Video allegedly showing US troops urinating on bodies of Taliban 
fighters (warning: contains potentially distressing images). 
Video: 
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2012/jan/13/us-marines-video-urination-war-crime
  

The video of US marines urinating on Afghan corpses does not shock me. Though 
their behavior is disgusting and 
unacceptable, I find the public's reaction to this video far more 
troubling. People are not outraged that there are dead Afghans; they are 
outraged at the manner in which the dead are treated. This is 
indicative of our culture's tolerance for war and war crimes – as long as they 
are done in a gentlemanly fashion. 
During the second siege of Fallujah, blatant war crimes were committed, yet 
the corporate media reported them with indifference. The siege itself 
was a war crime, according to the International Committee of the Red 
Cross Summary of International Law, because indiscriminate tactics were 
used, constant care was not taken to protect the civilian population, proper 
distinction between civilians and combatants was not made, medical personnel 
and medical units were not protected, indiscriminate weapons were used, and 
recent research about 
the current health crisis in Fallujah suggests that poisonous weapons 
may have been used as well. 
Many of these war crimes were reported by the corporate media, though they were 
not described as such. For example, the New York Times reported on 8 November 
2004 that American forces "seized" the Fallujah general hospital. An incident 
that I witnessed, as did Paul Wood and Robbie Wright from the BBC, was 
when my unit fired grenades into a house until it collapsed – with full 
knowledge that there were two resistance fighters and a young boy 
(roughly 10 years old) inside. Paul Wood interviewed the lieutenant at 
the scene, and he acknowledged that they had killed the young boy. In 
both of these reports, war crimes and Geneva Conventions were never 
mentioned, and the façade of honorable conduct was preserved. 
What did not make it into the news was my behavior in Fallujah and the 
behavior of others in my unit, which I am certain would have elicited 
outrage equal to that elicited by this video of the urinating marines. I 
believe that the second siege of Fallujah can correctly be 
characterised as an "atrocity-producing situation". Our false beliefs 
about who we were fighting, our dehumanisation of Fallujans, our desire 
to "see combat" (a cute euphemism) and to get a confirmed kill, and our 
longing for revenge for lost comrades against a faceless enemy all 
conspired to create a bloodthirsty and lawless atmosphere.
I 
witnessed marines stealing from the pockets of dead resistance fighters 
and looting houses. I've heard firsthand accounts of marines mutilating 
dead bodies, of a marine who murdered a civilian, and of a marine who 
slit a puppy's throat. As the days of the siege passed, we used 
increasingly indiscriminate and illegal tactics – like "reconnaissance 
by fire", which is when you fire into a house to see if anyone is 
inside. The violence, the hate and our distorted sense of morality made 
many of us sick, including myself. I stole a black ski mask out of 
someone's home, because I wanted to take it home as a trophy, as 
evidence that I had fought against the "terrorists". 
My behavior 
and the behavior of others in my unit was despicable, as was the 
behavior of these marines urinating on corpses. But we shouldn't let 
ourselves be fooled that an immoral mission and immoral war could ever 
be conducted in an honorable manner. War crimes were implicit in the 
invasion and occupation of Iraq, and they are abundant in the continued 
occupation of Afghanistan. 
Yet, many of us choose not to see these war crimes, even though they are 
right in front of our faces. Only when a shocking YouTube video comes 
along, do we choose to look. And even then, what we see is the 
urinating, not the dead bodies.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]





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[LAAMN] Obama's REAL Record as President

2012-01-15 Thread Romi Elnagar 
Several days ago, one of Obama's mouthpieces on the web ran an article in 
support of his policies.

A friend of mine answered someone who posted it in one of the groups I'm in, 
and his reply was so well-documented and -written that, with his permission, I 
would like to share it with you.

HR/Blue



>Thank you for providing the link to the DailyKos article, M...
>
> Here are my arguments -- backed up in almost all instances by one, sometimes
two or more, articles or comments that to me seem authoritative and correct, and
not jimmied together for pure partisan purposes. I have not looked to
healthcare in what follows, or to GLBT-Q issues -- in both of which areas Obama
has been better (I admit) than on what is below.
>
> (1) As I posted earlier this morning, the US is NOW at war (covertly) with
Iran, and has just caused the assassination of an Iranian official. In
addition, the US has helped to create war in Libya since President Obama was
inaugurated, see http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20045508-503544.html ,
and
http://mojoe.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/08/24/7461438-jeremy-scahill-on-the-future\
-of-libyan-stability ; and has begun military intervention in Yemen during that
time too, see http://stpeteforpeace.org/yemen.html . Obama has escalated
Bush-begun wars in Somalia, see
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/02/world/africa/02somalia.html?_r=2 , and
http://www.thenation.com/article/163210/blowback-somalia; in Pakistan, see
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/21/washington/21policy.html , and Afghanistan,
see
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/12/02/obama-3-more-troops-afghanista\
n-summer.html ; and his government just granted Saudi Arabia (which uses these
weapons to put down its own people and those in neighboring states who demand
more democracy) $30 BILLION worth of new weaponry, see
http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/u-s-finalizes-30-billion-weapons-deal-wi\
th-saudi-arabia-1.404461 . These are ALL Muslim countries, in addition to the
naked aggression here detailed.
>
> He has started hostilities in Uganda. See
http://spectator.org/archives/2011/10/31/obamas-new-war-in-uganda .
>
> He has, in addition, deployed special forces in 75 OTHER nations, see
http://www.thenation.com/blog/obamas-expanding-covert-wars . He has strongarmed
Colombia, in Latin America, to allow the US to build 7 bases there, see
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/10/30/us.colombia.bases/index.html . 
He opposes the socialist governments in Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, and
elsewhere. He opposes the great democrat Jean-Bertrand Aristide, supporting the
US overthrow of him. See
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/1/21/headlines/admin_confirms_opposition_to_ari\
stide_return .
>
> He appears to relish the title of world policeman, though he has no United
Nations mandate unilaterally and arrogantly to police the world; see
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/has-obama-taken-bushs-pree\
mption-strategy-to-another-level/2012/01/06/gIQAHDImmP_print.html .
>
> Indeed he says he has ended the war in Iraq, and has turned many bases over to
the Iraqis, but there is still an enormous and dangerous American military
presence there, see
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/10/a-look-at-us-presence-in-iraq-after\
-troops-leave/ .
>
> He has more than once WAIVED penalties on foreign nations which do not observe
the US's ban on child soldiers, see
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/10/05-3 .
>
> Under Obama the US defense budget has become bloated to be the largest in
world history, greater (in 2010 numbers) than the TOTAL defense budgets of
China, Britain, France, Russia, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Germany, AND 7 other large
world powers, see
http://www.economist.com/blogs/dailychart/2011/06/military-spending .
>
> He has augmented the Bush drone program, raining down destruction upon
innocent civilians and military targets alike, see the articles on Yemen and
Pakistan already cited above; see also
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/12/20. The Obama administration
refuses to accept ANY oversight of the murderous drone attacks, see
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203899504577129014177012028.html .
His drone attacks (EACH ONE MUST BE PERSONALLY AUTHORIZED BY THE PRESIDENT OF
THE US) have killed (or assassinated) US citizens, see
http://articles.latimes.com/2011/oct/01/world/la-fg-awlaki-killed-20111001 , and
http://www.salon.com/2011/09/30/awlaki_6/ . He has allowed Turkey to use US
drones to attack the Kurdish minority, the largest group of self-identified
people in the world without a nation of their own, see
http://www.salon.com/2011/09/30/awlaki_6/ . He is APPARENTLY building secret
drone bases in Africa, Arabia, and elsewhere, see
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-building-secret-drone-b\
ases-in-africa-arabian-peninsula-officials-say/2011/09/20/gIQAJ8rOjK_print.html
>
> These facts and figures seem much more like they came from George W. Bush. I
see no di

[LAAMN] Jan. 12, the 100th Anniversary of the "Bread and Roses" IWW strike in Lawrence, MA]

2012-01-15 Thread scotpeden 


(1) Bread and Roses Strike: One of the Great Silences in the School
Curriculum

One of the great silences in the mainstream school curriculum is the
role that social movements have played in making this a more fair,
more peaceful, more democratic world. Students learn little about the
collective efforts and strategies involved in the movements to abolish
slavery, to demand women’s rights, to end unjust wars, to fight for
civil rights—or for workers to bargain collectively for a living wage
and workplace dignity.

One of the most significant struggles for workers’ rights began
exactly one hundred years ago, on January 12th in Lawrence, Mass.,
when thousands of textile workers began a walkout that would come to
be known as the Bread and Roses Strike, as well as the Singing Strike.

You’re unlikely to find much more than a mention of this important
strike in a typical high school history textbook, if that. But as Norm
Diamond points out in his article for the Zinn Education Project, One
Hundred Years After the Singing Strike [below], this was a remarkable
struggle
that united mostly young women workers speaking dozens of languages in
a dead-of-winter contest with some of the richest men in the United
States. And the workers won.

The Zinn Education Project includes valuable teaching materials about
the strike. See the role play, Lawrence, 1912: The Singing Strike, by
Bill Bigelow and Norm Diamond, which is excerpted from their book The
Power in Our Hands: A Curriculum on the History of Work and Workers in
the United States. See also Bill Bigelow’s The Singing Strike and the
Rebel Students: Learning from the Industrial Workers of the World.
Bread and Roses, Too is Katherine Paterson’s moving young adult novel
about the 1912 strike.

Events for the anniversary year are being coordinated by the Bread and
Roses Centennial Committee. Their website offers a comprehensive list
of anniversary programs, history, news, and a list of supporters
including the Zinn Education Project. They also have launched an
online gallery for those that cannot visit the Bread and Roses
Centennial Exhibit in person.

(2)  One Hundred Years After the Singing Strike

By Norm Diamond
http://zinnedproject.org/posts/15660

Today’s Occupy movement is a reminder that throughout U.S. history a
major engine of change has been grassroots organizing and solidarity. As
an old Industrial Workers of the World song goes:

An injury to one, we say’s an injury to all,
United we’re unbeatable, divided we must fall.
—“Dublin Dan” Liston, The Portland Revolution

Major history textbooks, however, downplay the role of ordinary people in
shaping events, especially those who formed labor unions and used the
strike to assert their rights. One of the most significant strikes in U.S.
history occurred exactly 100 years ago, in the Lawrence, Mass. textile
mills, and yet it merits barely a mention in the most widely used U.S.
history textbooks.

It was known as the Bread and Roses strike because underlying the demand
for adequate wages (bread) was a demand for dignity on the job and in life
more generally (roses). People sang:

No more the drudge and idler – ten that toil where one reposes,
But a sharing of life’s glories: Bread and roses! Bread and roses!
—James Oppenheim, Bread and Roses

Unions and bosses alike thought the workers impossible to organize. Mostly
unskilled, a majority of them young women, kept apart by more than a dozen
languages, millworkers were both vanguard and victims of the new U.S.
industrialization. Lawrence, with the largest and most modern textile
mills in the world and more than 30,000 workers, was the epicenter and
symbol of the system. The textile industry was the first to use new
sources of power to drive its machines. It was the leader in subdividing
jobs into limited, repetitive movements, making workers interchangeable
and replaceable.

Workers would no longer have specialized crafts or even know all the
processes that went into a product. Posters and postcards showing happy
mill hands leaving work with smiles and sacks of gold enticed hundreds of
thousands from poor areas of Europe. With a surplus of workers desperate
for jobs, the mills drove down wages and sped up the work.

Textile millowners deliberately kept workers divided. In some mills, they
placed workers together who spoke different languages and were unable to
communicate. In others they allocated work by ethnicities and gave
particular jobs only to Lithuanians, others to French-Canadians, others
exclusively to Irish. Supervisors used ethnic and racial slurs and sexual
harassment as intentional means of control.

Workers lived in fetid, crowded tenements. Working nine- and ten-hour
days, six days a week, their usual main meal was little more than bread
and molasses. The drinking water inside the mills was foul; supervisors
developed a lucrative sideline selling water that could actually be drunk.
Life expectancy for millworkers was 22 ye

[LAAMN] Fwd: [MLK_Coalition] RECLAIMING THE LEGACY: OCCUPY THE MAYOR'S MANSION & Kingdom Parade

2012-01-15 Thread John A Imani 
-- Forwarded message --
From: Heather Meyer 
Date: Sun, Jan 15, 2012 at 4:28 PM
Subject: [MLK_Coalition] RECLAIMING THE LEGACY: OCCUPY THE MAYOR'S MANSION
& Kingdom Parade
To: MLK Coalition , occup...@lists.riseup.net


**




Below are the details for both the mayor's mansion occupation and then for
our contingency in the MLK parade - PLUS the Occupy the Dream event
downtown at The Fed afterwards.

Looking  forward to seeing you there!

In Solidarity,
Heather




  [image: http://mrsstahlheber.com/monthlyfeatures/mlk/outsidespeech.jpg]


 *RECLAIMING THE LEGACY*

 We are calling on Mayor Villaraigosa and other City leaders to take action
to promote human rights.  We call on them to meet our demands, and thereby
honor the legacy and teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.


*“A right delayed is a right denied.”*
*
*
*We demand a moratorium on any rent increases in the City of Los Angeles
for at least one year.*   In May 2010 the City Council failed to vote on a
rent freeze and sent it back for further consideration.  18 months later,
no action has been taken.

 * *
*“Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded
by the oppressed.”*
*
*
* *
*We demand a moratorium on foreclosures and foreclosure evictions*.  We
also demand support for those forced to occupy their homes, instead of own
them.


 *“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”*
*
*
*We demand an end to the Skid Row Safer Cities Initiative*.  After more
than five years, the mass criminalization of homelessness and poverty must
end.  Safer Cities impacts us all – we cannot stand silent while the
assault against our brothers and sisters continues at an astronomical human
and monetary cost.


 *“Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative
altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.”*
*
*
* *
*It is time for our leaders to decide*.  We have decided, and we will hold
others accountable to the same.
* *

 Join Occupy The Hood LA Action Assembly, LACAN, Occupy LA, MLK Coaltion
for Jobs, Justice and Peace
 and other supporters as we Occupy The Mayor's Mansion Monday morning.

Time:
7:00 a.m.- 9:00 a.m.

Place:
Meet-up at Wilshire Blvd. and Western Ave.,MTA Redline Station
Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/221027561316502/

 We will later join the Martin Luther King Coalition for Job, Justice and
Peace contingent in the Kingdom Day Parade.

-
MARCH WITH THE MARTIN LUTHER KING COALITION & OCCUPY THE HOOD
IN RESPECTFUL MEMORY OF DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING AT THE ANNUAL KINGDOM DAY
PARADE

MONDAY, JANUARY 16, 2012

The Martin Luther King Coalition for Jobs, Justice and Peace is a broad
coalition of individual activists and community groups who are committed to
taking up the fight for social and economic justice and world peace where
Dr. King left off, and applying these principles in the context of the
conditions that we face in the world today. Our goal is to build a genuine
popular movement capable of organizing effectively on a daily basis to
change the society we live in.

Each year we mobilize a contingent in the Kingdom Day Parade to commemorate
Dr. King's legacy and to reassert our collective commitment to carrying
forward the struggle to realize Dr. King's dream of a society based upon
the principles of freedom, justice and equality for all people.

This year the Martin Luther King Coalition is pleased to co-sponsor its
contingent with Occupy the Hood, together with the support of the entire
Occupy Movement here in Los Angeles. Activists from the Martin Luther King
Coalition have worked within and supported Occupy L.A. from it's inception,
and we continue to view this movement as the most significant embodiment of
the spirit of Dr. King's movement to emerge in our own times. Like us, the
Occupy movement utilizes the politics of non-violent direct action and
civic persuasion. Their goal, like ours, is to build people power!

Today's needs are just as urgent and compelling as those of Dr. King's
times, perhaps even more so. Multinational corporations monopolize wealth,
smash unions, cut pay and benefits, eliminate jobs and ruin our
environment. They have corrupted our political system and pillaged the
public treasury in order to bail themselves out of a global financial
disaster that is the result of their own illicit manipulations of our
economy, and that of the rest of the planet. The wealthy pay few, if any,
taxes while the rest of us are told to tighten our belts. Essential
services and public programs are cut to the bone --- or "amputated"
altogether! Meanwhile, literally trillions of U.S. tax dollars have been
flushed down the drain of numerous wars and questionable interventions
around the globe since

[LAAMN] Survey: Should Leftists Support Obama?

2012-01-15 Thread scotpeden 
Interesting survey! My answers are below the link, I suggest you add
yours. Reading this, I can tell who is financing it, and they won't take
my comments into consideration.

Scott

Survey
Should Leftists Support Obama?
LA Progressive - - 14 Jan 12: Obama and Progressives

Walter Moss's recent LA Progressive article, "Why Leftists Should
Support Obama's Reelection," has added fuel to the ongoing debate about
whether progressives (or liberals or leftists) should support President
Barack Obama's reelection ...

Survey On line:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/SJPCWML



I did.

Here are my replies;
1. As a progressive (or liberal or lefty), will you support President
Barack Obama's re-election. (Check all that apply)

Uh Progressive? Progressives do not suspend portions of out
Constitution, make illegal killing OK for the president, do not wage war
on countries that did not attack us. Progressives DO support peoples of
the world looking for Democracy, and do so peacefully. I can only name a
couple of Democrats that favor this, unfortunately I can name more
republicans, as they both support their Party Platform MYTH, but no fear,
there aren't enough of them to over turn a 2/3rds majority Fascist support
vote.. Thanks for the forms so I can share this far and wide.

2. Given the antics of the cavalcade of clowns vying for the Republican
presidential nomination, what do you think would happen to America should
one of them defeat President Obama?

Progressives would stop supporting Fascists cause they have a D by their
name, and like with GWB work against that which they'd support any
Democrat doing.

3. How best can the progressive community move the Democratic Party
leftward? (Check all that apply)

Stop voting for Neo Cons with a D by their name. You can tell by their
anti US Citizen voting records.

Doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results is
insanity. Sorta like why remain a Democrat if we keep getting a Right
leaning Republican instead of a far right republican I want a
progressive, not evil lite.

4. Occupy and Democrats: dating, marriage, just friends? (Check all that
apply)

Actually, Democrats should try something different, like supporting
Democrats that have voting records that support the Democrat Party
Platform MYTH. Not many people want to be aligned with Evil lite anymore,
it simply isn't as popular as the talking heads make it out to be.

5. After the November election, how will America look in the coming four
years?

Making Hitlers Germany look like the pretty Christian Democratic nation he
sold it as.



Hahahahah! I enjoyed that, even knowing what I know about writing and
collating surveys, it is outside of the 'form' they've devised to crunch
the replies into numbers, to sell the predisposed solution it was meant to
sell, so it just gets shitcanned.



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]





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[LAAMN] Neo-Con Policies Play Out Around World

2012-01-15 Thread Gary 
Extreme Neo-Con Policies In Action
January 15th, 2012 

A couple of points about US and European policy. The first is about the 
European crisis as an assault upon social democracy and the second is about the 
US and its neo-imperialist wars. I am more in agreement with Hudson than 
Roberts, I find Roberts to be a bit shrill, but then he has credentials, having 
worked in the Treasury Dept. The world could easily be plunged into a resource 
war, with Russia and China backed in a corner by the USA and NATO. Although it 
is not necessary, China could simply develop Central Asia's resources and 
Siberia has huge potential. The scenario might simply be one of realignment. It 
doesn't have to turn into nuclear war. Let us hope it doesn't.
 The Iran situation is one of brinkmanship right now. The Democrats might think 
that the only way to divert attention from the economy might be with a war with 
Iran. That would be pretty cynical but it would not be beyond them. Especially 
with the influence that the Zionist hawks have in policy circles. This would 
outflank the Republicans in warmongering and provide CNN and their ilk with 
something to focus the public's attention on. Iran certainly is no threat to 
the USA. Russia and China are not likely to interfere directly, although they 
are likely to secretly support Iranian efforts at resistance. Saudi Arabia 
certainly would like to see Iran crushed and Israel is likely to participate or 
initiate a war by targeting Iranian nuclear facilities, like they did to Iraqi 
facilities back in the 1980's.
 By neutralizing Syria with its domestic problems, the Iranians are deprived of 
an important ally. What will be interesting to see is if Iraq with its newly 
trained army comes to the aid of Iran or Syria, or if it collapses into civil 
war instigated by the US and Saudi aid to Sunni's and Baathists, that would be 
ironic.
 The US leaving Iraq, puts the situation there in an unstable and potentially 
unreliable position for the Americans if they plan to invade Iran. The hope is 
that Iraqi self interest keeps them from joining the Iranians despite the 
current ascendency of the Shiite factions in power.
 Egypt on the other hand is now a wild card and may become the new location of 
support for Palestinian resistance to Israel. Gaza though is not as good a 
place for resistance than south Lebanon. It doesn't have the water that Israel 
wants. Egypt can potentially cut Israel off from its Red Sea port. Upsetting 
the apple cart can have all kinds of consequences but only uprisings of the 
people can really insure that changes are beneficial for the people and not for 
the elites. 

———
 
This is an excerpt from Michael Hudson's article "Europe's Transition from 
Social Democracy to Oligarchy"
 
"Disabling Europe's central bank to deprive governments of the power to create 
money
 One of the three defining characteristics of a nation-state is the power to 
create money. A second characteristic is the power to levy taxes. Both of these 
powers are being transferred out of the hands of democratically elected 
representatives to the financial sector, as a result of tying the hands of 
government.
 
The third characteristic of a nation-state is the power to declare war. What is 
happening today is the equivalent of warfare – but against the power of 
government! It is above all a financial mode of warfare – and the aims of this 
financial appropriation are the same as those of military conquest: first, the 
land and subsoil riches on which to charge rents as tribute; second, public 
infrastructure to extract rent as access fees; and third, any other enterprises 
or assets in the public domain. 

In this new financialized warfare, governments are being directed to act as 
enforcement agents on behalf of the financial conquerors against their own 
domestic populations. This is not new, to be sure. We have seen the IMF and 
World Bank impose austerity on Latin American dictatorships, African military 
chiefdoms and other client oligarchies from the 1960s through the 1980s. 
Ireland and Greece, Spain and Portugal are now to be subjected to similar asset 
stripping as public policy making is shifted into the hands of 
supra-governmental financial agencies acting on behalf of bankers – and thereby 
for the top 1% of the population.
 
When debts cannot be paid or rolled over, foreclosure time arrives. For 
governments, this means privatization selloffs to pay creditors. In addition to 
being a property grab, privatization aims at replacing public sector labor with 
a non-union work force having fewer pension rights, health care or voice in 
working conditions. The old class war is thus back in business – with a 
financial twist. By shrinking the economy, debt deflation helps break the power 
of labor to resist.
 
It also gives creditors control of fiscal policy. In the absence of a 
pan-European Parliament empowered to set tax rules, fiscal policy passes to the 
E

[LAAMN] Egyptian Wael Ghonim, who launched a Facebook campaign leading to a revolution--will speak and sign his book in Los Angeles Monday, Feb 6th

2012-01-15 Thread Joan Sekler 
1/15/12

The LA Weekly just announced this event which I am e-mailing you---please pass 
this on to your friends and contacts---

AN EVENING WITH WAEL GHONIM 
IN CONVERSATION WITH REZA ASLAN

Wael Ghonim will also be signing his book "Revolution 2.0: The Power of the 
People is Greater than the People in Power"

Wael Ghonim was a little-known 30 year old Google exec when he launched a 
Facebook campaign to protest the death of an Egyptian man at the hands of
security forces. Now, in his new memoir, one of the key figures behind the 
Egyptian uprising takes us inside the making of a modern revolution--and 
discusses
youth, activism, and the Arab Spring.

This event is part of the LA Central Library's ALOUD series--tickets are $25.00 
each.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 6TH, 8 P.M.

LA THEATRE CENTER
514 S. SPRING ST.
LA, CA 90013

Please log onto: lfla.org/aloud and purchase your tickets now before it sells 
out.

Joan






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[LAAMN] Colbert Super PAC Attack Ad: "Romney is a Serial Killer"

2012-01-15 Thread bigraccoon 
Colbert Super PAC Attack Ad:  "Romney is a Serial Killer"

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/01/15/colbert-super-pac-attack-romney-is-a-serial-killer/






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[LAAMN] FW: U.S. Warns Israel on Strike - as War Clouds Darken

2012-01-15 Thread Ed Pearl 
 

  _  

From: Ed Pearl [mailto:epear...@earthlink.net] 
Sent: Sunday, January 15, 2012 2:03 AM
To: Ed Pearl
Subject: U.S. Warns Israel on Strike - as War Clouds Darken


From: Sid Shniad [shn...@gmail.com]
 
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204409004577159202556087074.ht
ml?mod=googlenews_wsj

U.S. Warns Israel on Strike

Officials Lobby Against Attack on Iran as Military Leaders Bolster Defenses
 
By
 ADAM ENTOUS,
 JULIAN E. BARNES and
 JAY SOLOMON

WASHINGTON-U.S. defense leaders are increasingly concerned that Israel is
preparing to take military action against Iran, over U.S. objections, and
have stepped up contingency planning to safeguard U.S. facilities in the
region in case of a conflict.

 [USIRAN]
 Associated Press 

Iranians on Friday carried the flag-draped coffin of Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan,
a scientist working in Iran's nuclear sector assassinated in Tehran.

President Barack Obama, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and other top
officials have delivered a string of private messages to Israeli leaders
warning about the dire consequences of a strike. The U.S. wants Israel to
give more time for the effects of sanctions and other measures intended to
force Iran to abandon its perceived efforts to build nuclear weapons.

Stepping up the pressure, Mr. Obama spoke by telephone on Thursday with
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and U.S. Gen. Martin Dempsey,
chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will meet with Israeli military
officials in Tel Aviv next week. 

The high-stakes planning and diplomacy comes as U.S. officials warn Tehran,
including through what administration officials described Friday as direct
messages to Iran's leaders, against provocative actions.

Iranian officials blame the U.S. and Israel for the killing of one of the
country's nuclear scientists who was blown up in his car on Wednesday. Video
Courtesy of Reuters.

President Barack Obama, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and other top
officials have delivered a string of private messages to Israeli leaders
warning about the dire consequences of a strike. The U.S. wants Israel to
give more time for the effects of sanctions and other measures intended to
force Iran to abandon its perceived efforts to build nuclear weapons.

Stepping up the pressure, Mr. Obama spoke by telephone on Thursday with
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and U.S. Gen. Martin Dempsey,
chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will meet with Israeli military
officials in Tel Aviv next week. 

The high-stakes planning and diplomacy comes as U.S. officials warn Tehran,
including through what administration officials described Friday as direct
messages to Iran's leaders, against provocative actions.

Tehran has warned that it could retaliate to tightened sanctions by blocking
oil trade through the Strait of Hormuz. On Thursday, Iran's Supreme Leader
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed to punish the perpetrators of the
assassination-blamed by Iran on the U.S. and Israel-of an Iranian scientist
involved in the nuclear program.

The U.S. denied the charge and condemned the attack. Israel hasn't commented

The U.S. and Iran, however, have taken steps in recent days apparently
designed to ease tensions. Iran has agreed to host a delegation of United
Nations nuclear inspectors this month. The U.S., meanwhile, has twice this
month rescued Iranian sailors in the region's seas.

Covert efforts by Israel's intelligence service to prevent Tehran from
developing nuclear weapons have been credited with slowing the program
without the high risk of military conflict that could be sparked by an
airstrike. Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful uses.

But Israel has declined to rule out a strike, as has the U.S.

"It is the policy of the Israeli government, and the Obama administration,
that all options remain on the table. And it is crucial that the ayatollahs
in Tehran take this policy seriously," said Michael Oren, Israel's
ambassador to the U.S. 

Mr. Netanyahu said in a recent interview that Iran has begun to "wobble," a
signal some U.S. officials believe suggests he is willing to follow the
current U.S. strategy, which seeks to avoid a military confrontation with
Iran.

"Recent comments by the Israelis show they understand how tough the
sanctions we've put in place are and are giving them time to work," said a
senior Obama administration official.

The U.S. military is preparing for a number of possible responses to an
Israeli strike, including assaults by pro-Iranian Shiite militias in Iraq
against the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, according to U.S. officials.

The U.S. believes its embassy and other diplomatic outposts in Iraq are

[LAAMN] UFPJ Member Group Meeting "Occupy Peace Summit" Feb 24-27th in Philadelphia, PA!

2012-01-15 Thread SIUHIN 
 
 
 
 
(http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=O2JgY7LOhRmIAlu/IQKvkvJLyh07yrKa)
 
Save the  Date: UFPJ Member Group Meeting "Occupy Peace Summit" Feb 24-27th 
in  Philadelphia, PA 
We are writing to  invite your organization to participate in Occupy Peace, 
a weekend of planning,  sharing and training, February 24-27 in 
Philadelphia, PA.  It has  been a little over three years since United for 
Peace and 
Justice (UFPJ)  had a national strategy meeting.  The financial crisis that 
hit this  country hit UFPJ too, and we have worked hard to maintain this 
important  network and respond to the tremendous political changes taking 
place.  
 
An international  financial crisis, a right wing response and a global 
popular uprising have  ushered in a new popular politic.  The Arab Spring, 
Wisconsin Wave  and the Occupy Movement have created new openings and 
strategies. 
  Now, U.S. troops have finally left Iraq  and the bloated military  budget 
is at last on the table  
But our work is not  done. Military operations in Iraq have been replaced 
by a corporate  occupation. The President signed the 2012National Defense 
Authorization Act, which  sanctions indefinite detention of suspected enemies 
of the state and  brings our nation one step closer to legally disappearing 
its own  citizens. US military actions continue around the globe, and new 
nuclear  weapons systems are on the drawing board. Millions of people are still 
 facing foreclosure, homelessness, and unemployment; student debt is rising 
 and climate justice has not been won.  In the new political climate  we 
look forward to an exciting decade and a very important year for  organizing 
to turn these things around!  
UFPJ is committed, as  ever, to building a strong network to take action 
for justice and peace.  There are key events ahead this year – Global Days of 
Action Against  Militarism in April,  May 1 Protests and Strikes, the G8 and 
NATO  Summits in Chicago in May, the political conventions this summer, and 
a  movement to occupy everywhere that is a growing powerful force for  
cultural change! 
We encourage your group to be a part  of this exciting conversation and 
planning process for 2012. Mark your  calendar now and start planning to send a 
delegation of 2-3 people to  Philadelphia -- more information to come about 
housing and other  logistics.  We are asking for a donation of $50 per 
person to cover  food and materials. 
Occupy Peace Strategy  Summit 
·   Fri. Feb 24: Registration  and a meet and greet at ARCH Church 
·   Sat. Feb 25: Working Sessions  begin at 9:30 on,  AFSC Center  
(NEED specific name and  address) 
·   Sun. Feb 26: Working Session  begin at 9:30 – 4:00, AFSC Center   
·   Sun evening/ Mon Morning:  Training Sessions TBD 

For more information  contact:  Michael McPhearson at: 
_michael@unitedforpeace.org_ (mailto:mich...@unitedforpeace.org)   
Or email:  _OccupyPeaceSummit@unitedforpeace.org_ 
(mailto:occupypeacesum...@unitedforpeace.org)  
National Immigrant Solidarity Network, Peace NO War Network  and Action LA 
Network are the PROUD Member and Coordinating Committee of  UFPJ encourages 
you to come to attend this important activist meeting of  the year! 

Lee Siu  Hin

National Coordinator
National Immigrant Solidarity  Network _http://www.ImmigrantSolidarity.org_ 
(http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/)   
Action LA Network _http://www.ActionLA.org_ (http://www.actionla.org/)  
Peace NO War  Network _http://www.PeaceNOWar.net_ 
(http://www.peacenowar.net/)   
Activist Video Service _http://www.ActivistVideo.org_ 
(http://www.activistvideo.org/) 






==

National Immigrant Solidarity Network
No Immigrant  Bashing! Support Immigrant Rights!
webpage: _http://www.ImmigrantSolidarity.org_ 
(http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/) 
e-mail:  _info@ImmigrantSolidarity.org_ 
(mailto:in...@immigrantsolidarity.org) 

New York: (212)330-8172
Los Angeles:  (213)403-0131
Washington D.C.: (202)595-8990
Chicago:  (773)942-2268



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Please consider  making a donation to the important work of National 
Immigrant Solidarity  Network

Send check pay to:
National Immigrant Solidarity  Network/AFGJ

National Immigrant Solidarity Network
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(All donations are tax  deductible) 





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[LAAMN] The Next War on Washington's Agenda: Pointless Provocations

2012-01-15 Thread Romi Elnagar 
Pointless Provocations
The Next War on Washington’s Agenda
by PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS
Only the blind do not see that the US government is preparing to 
attack Iran. Washington has deployed missiles directed at Iran in its 
oil emirate puppet states, Oman and the UAE, and little doubt in the 
other US puppet states in the Middle East. Washington has beefed up 
Saudi Arabia’s jet fighter force. Most recently, Washington has deployed 9,000 
US troops to Israel to participate in “war games” designed to 
test the US/Israeli air defense system. As Iran represents no threat 
unless attacked, Washington’s war preparations signal Washington’s 
intention to attack Iran.
Another signal that Washington has a new war on its agenda is the 
raised level of Washington’s rhetoric and demonization of Iran. Judging 
by polls Washington’s propaganda that Iran is threatening the US by 
developing a nuclear weapon has met with success. Half of the American 
public support a military attack on Iran in order to
prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear capability. Those of us who are 
trying to awaken our fellow citizens start from a deficit that the minds of 
half of the US population are under Big Brother’s control.
As the International Atomic Energy Agency’s reports from its 
inspectors on the ground in Iran have made clear for years, there is no 
evidence that Iran has diverted any enriched uranium from its nuclear 
energy program.  The shrill hype coming from Washington and from the 
neoconservative media is groundless. it is the same level of lie as 
Washington’s claim that Saddam Hussein in Iraq had weapons of mass 
destruction. Every US soldier who died in that war died in behalf of a 
lie.
It could not be more obvious that Washington’s war preparations 
against Iran have nothing to do with deterring Iran from a nuclear 
weapon.  So, what are the war preparations about?
In my judgment, the US government’s war preparations are driven by three 
factors.
One is the neoconservative ideology, adopted by the US government, 
that calls for the US to use its superior military and economic position to 
achieve world hegemony. This goal appeals to American hubris and to 
the power and profit that it serves.
A second factor is Israel’s desire to eliminate all support for the 
Palestinians and for Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. Israel’s goal is to 
seize all of Palestine and the water resources of southern Lebanon. 
Eliminating Iran removes all obstacles to Israel’s expansion.
A third factor is to deter or slow China’s rise as a military and 
economic power by controlling China’s access to energy. It was China’s 
oil investments in eastern Libya that led to the sudden move against 
Libya by the US and its NATO puppets, and it is China’s oil investments 
elsewhere in Africa that resulted in the Bush regime’s creation of the 
United States Africa Command, designed to counter China’s economic 
influence with US military influence.  China has significant energy 
investments in Iran, and a substantial percentage of China’s oil imports are 
from Iran.  Depriving China of independent access to oil is 
Washington’s way of restraining and boxing in China.
What we are witnessing is a replay of Washington’s policy toward 
Japan in the 1930s that provoked the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. 
Japan’s bank balances in the West were seized, and Japan’s access to oil and 
raw materials was restricted. The purpose was to prevent or to slow Japan’s 
rise.  The result was war.
Despite the hubris in which it wallows, Washington understands the 
vulnerability of its Fifth Fleet in the Persian Gulf and would not risk 
losing a fleet and 20,000 US naval personnel unless it was to gain an 
excuse for a nuclear attack on Iran. A nuclear attack on Iran would 
alert both China and Russia that they could suffer the same fate. The 
consequence would be that the world would face a higher risk of nuclear 
armageddon than existed in the mutually assured destruction of the 
US-Soviet standoff.
Washington is getting all of us in over our heads. Washington has 
declared the “Asia-Pacific” and the South China Sea to be areas of 
“America’s national interest.”  What sense does this make?  It makes the same 
sense as if China declared the Gulf of Mexico and the 
Mediterranean Sea to be areas of China’s national interest.
Washington has deployed 2,500 Marines, promising more to come, to 
Australia in order to do what?  Protect Australia from China or occupy 
Australia?  Encircle China with 2,500 Marines?  It would  not mean 
anything to China if Washington deployed 25,000 Marines in Australia.
When you get right down to it, Washington’s tough talk is nothing but a silly 
pointless  provocation of Washington’s largest creditor. What 
if Washington’s idiocy causes China to worry that Washington and its UK 
and European puppets will seize its bank balances and refuse to honor 
China’s holdings of $1 trillion in US Treasury bonds? Will China pull 
its balances from the weak US, UK, and