[PEN-L] The thorny road to Tehran
Back on 26 April the following steps were envisaged for raid of Tehran "they really need to bomb but the costs are great for now: 1.they have emasculate Hezbollah 2. they to quarantine the Syrians 3.they have to have Iraqi Resistance contained by Iraqi forces 4. they have to discredit hamas 5.they have to get the sunni-shiite divide to a boiling pointafter all that and other specific logistics related to this they they will bomb. for now ignorant Iranian mullahs will play with the fate of humanity by putting narrow sectarian interest first and as result of that they are surrounded by the US on all sides. so the US will neutralize Iran by waiting.. the US still has time... the only effective resistance will be popular resistance to US imperialism."The idiocy of an American administration that reduces all of reality to Hodge pdge theory see what a little party can do, imagine if this was universal popular resistance. the US will not last for a second. Stay in the know. Pulse on the new Yahoo.com. Check it out.
[PEN-L] FW: Call for articles on Less Energy
-Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, August 14, 2006 10:28 PM To: undisclosed-recipients: Subject: Call for articles on Less Energy Call for articles on Less Energy Dear Green activist, Two overwhelming catastrophes loom over our planet: an increase in global warming and a decrease in available oil, leading to unending war. Overdeveloped societies need to dramatically decrease their energy consumption. Most progressive environmentalists limit themselves to suggestions for life style changes which can either be a beginning step or a diversionary token. Synthesis/Regeneration: A Magazine of Green Social Thought seeks to address these and related topics in its Winter 2007 issue. The S/R Editorial Board invites submissions that go beyond individual sacrifice and explore structural changes that would massively reduce the use of energy. Possible themes could include, but are not limited to: * How citizens are boxed into consumption, regardless of intention. * Wasteful energy in food production (e.g., chemicalized agriculture, meat). * Trees and global warming. * Mass transportation/less transportation. * Redesigning living space (e.g., collective living, co-housing, underground homes). * The grid vs. local energy production. * How can we respond to a rapid decrease in available energy? * What level of consumption can truly renewable energy satisfy? * The use of energy in producing renewable energy. * Wasteful energy in the workplace. * Industries that society does not need (e.g., war, insurance, lead mining). * Legislation for sustainable energy policies. * Economic disruptions due to reducing and eliminating industries. * Generating meaningful jobs to replace exploitative ones while protecting our planet. * Problems with mainstream explanations of all of the above. In order to be included in the Winter 2007 issue, we will need to RECEIVE submissions by October 1, 2006. (Let us know if you would like to write but would have difficulty meeting this deadline.) Articles should generally be 500 to 2500 words. Please send submissions to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Visit the S/R website at: http://www.greens.org/s-r/
[PEN-L] FW: Voting in the US
Interesting observations -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Bob Alavi Sent: Tuesday, August 15, 2006 1:05 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [Sosfbay-discuss] Facts about Voting in the US 20 Amazing Facts About Voting in the USA by Angry Girl of Nightweed.com Did you know 1. 80% of all votes in America are counted by only two companies: Diebold and ESS. http://www.onlinejournal.com/evoting/042804Landes/042804landes.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diebold 2. There is no federal agency with regulatory authority or oversight of the U.S. voting machine industry. http://www.commondreams.org/views02/0916-04.htm http://www.onlinejournal.com/evoting/042804Landes/042804landes.html 3. The vice-president of Diebold and the president of ESS are brothers. http://www.americanfreepress.net/html/private_company.html http://www.onlinejournal.com/evoting/042804Landes/042804landes.html 4. The chairman and CEO of Diebold is a major Bush campaign organizer and donor who wrote in 2003 that he was committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/07/28/sunday/main632436.shtml http://www.wishtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=1647886 5. Republican Senator Chuck Hagel used to be chairman of ESS. He became Senator based on votes counted by ESS machines. http://www.motherjones.com/commentary/columns/2004/03/03_200.html http://www.onlinejournal.com/evoting/031004Fitrakis/031004fitrakis.html 6. Republican Senator Chuck Hagel, long-connected with the Bush family, was recently caught lying about his ownership of ESS by the Senate Ethics Committee. http://www.blackboxvoting.com/modules.php?name=Newsfile=articlesid=26 http://www.hillnews.com/news/012903/hagel.aspx http://www.onlisareinsradar.com/archives/000896.php 7. Senator Chuck Hagel was on a short list of George W. Bush's vice-presidential candidates. http://www.businessweek.com/2000/00_28/b3689130.htm http://theindependent.com/stories/052700/new_hagel27.html 8. ESS is the largest voting machine manufacturer in the U.S. and counts almost 60% of all U.S. votes. http://www.essvote.com/HTML/about/about.html http://www.onlinejournal.com/evoting/042804Landes/042804landes.html 9. Diebold's new touch screen voting machines have no paper trail of any votes. In other words, there is no way to verify that the data coming out of the machine is the same as what was legitimately put in by voters. http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0225-05.htm http://www.itworld.com/Tech/2987/041020evotestates/pfindex.html 10. Diebold also makes ATMs, checkout scanners, and ticket machines, all of which log each transaction and can generate a paper trail. http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0225-05.htm http://www.diebold.com/solutions/default.htm 11. Diebold is based in Ohio. http://www.diebold.com/aboutus/ataglance/default.htm 12. Diebold employed 5 convicted felons as consultants and developers to help write the central compiler computer code that counted 50% of the votes in 30 states. http://www.wired.com/news/evote/0,2645,61640,00.html http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2004/10/301469.shtml 13. Jeff Dean was Senior Vice-President of Global Election Systems when it was bought by Diebold. Even though he had been convicted of 23 counts of felony theft in the first degree, Jeff Dean was retained as a consultant by Diebold and was largely responsible for programming the optical scanning software now used in most of the United States. http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0312/S00191.htm http://www.chuckherrin.com/HackthevoteFAQ.htm#how http://www.blackboxvoting.org/bbv_chapter-8.pdf 14. Diebold consultant Jeff Dean was convicted of planting back doors in his software and using a high degree of sophistication to evade detection over a period of 2 years. http://www.chuckherrin.com/HackthevoteFAQ.htm#how http://www.blackboxvoting.org/bbv_chapter-8.pdf 15. None of the international election observers were allowed in the polls in Ohio. http://www.globalexchange.org/update/press/2638.html http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2004/10/26/loc_elexoh.html 16. California banned the use of Diebold machines because the security was so bad. Despite Diebold's claims that the audit logs could not be hacked, a chimpanzee was able to do it! (See the movie here: http://www.bbvdocs.org/videos/baxterVPR.mov.) http://wired.com/news/evote/0,2645,63298,00.html http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4874190 17. 30% of all U.S. votes are carried out on unverifiable touch screen voting machines with no paper trail. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/07/28/sunday/main632436.shtml 18. All -- not some -- but all the voting machine errors detected and reported in Florida went in favor of Bush or Republican candidates. http://www.wired.com/news/evote/0,2645,65757,00.html http://www.yuricareport.com/ElectionAftermath04/ThreeResearchStudiesBushIsOu t.htm
[PEN-L] So, Osama Walks into This Bar, See? and Bush says, Whad'l'ya have, pardner?
Am I saying there's no danger, no threat? Sure there is: 46 million Americans don't have health insurance. IBM is legally stealing from its employees' pension plan and United Airlines has dumped its pensions altogether. Four-million three-hundred thousand Americans were injured, made sick or killed by their jobs last year. TXU Corporation is right now building four monster-sized power plants in Texas that will burn skuzzy gunk called lignite. The filth it will pour into the sky will snuff a heck of a lot more Americans than some goofy group of fanatics with bottles of hydrogen peroxide. But Americans don't ask for real protection from what's killing us. The War on Terror is the Weapon of Mass Distraction. Instead of demanding health insurance, we have 59 million of our fellow citizens pooping in their pants with fear of Al Qaeda, waddling to the polls, crying, Georgie save us! . [Gleaned from the [a-list]] SO OSAMA WALKS INTO TO THIS BAR, SEE? by Greg Palast Monday August 14, 2006 So, Osama Walks into This Bar, See? and Bush says, Whad'l'ya have, pardner? and Osama says... But wait a minute. I'd better shut my mouth. The sign here in the airport says, Security is no joking matter. But if security's no joking matter, why does this guy dressed in a high-school marching band outfit tell me to dump my Frappuccino and take off my shoes? All I can say is, Thank the Lord the shoe bomber didn't carry Semtex in his underpants. Today's a RED and ORANGE ALERT day. How odd. They just caught the British guys with the chemistry sets. But when these guys were about to blow up airliners, the USA was on YELLOW alert. That's a lowered threat notice. According to the press office from the Department of Homeland Security, lowered-threat Yellow means that there were no special inspections of passengers or cargo. Isn't it nice of Mr. Bush to alert Osama when half our security forces are given the day off? Hmm. I asked an Israeli security expert why his nation doesn't use these pretty color codes. He asked me if, when I woke up, I checked the day's terror color. I can't say I ever have. I mean, who would? He smiled. The terrorists. America is the only nation on the planet that kindly informs bombers, hijackers and berserkers the days on which they won't be monitored. You've got to get up pretty early in the morning to get a jump on George Bush's team. There are three possible explanations for the Administration's publishing a good-day-for-bombing color guidebook. 1. God is on Osama's side. 2. George is on Osama's side. 3. Fear sells better than sex. A gold star if you picked #3. The Fear Factory I'm going to tell you something which is straight-up heresy: America is not under attack by terrorists. There is no WAR on terror because, except for one day five years ago, al Qaeda has pretty much left us alone. That's because Osama got what he wanted. There's no mystery about what Al Qaeda was after. Like everyone from the Girl Scouts to Bono, Osama put his wish on his web site. He had a single demand: Crusaders out of the land of the two Holy Places. To translate: get US troops out of Saudi Arabia. And George Bush gave it to him. On April 29, 2003, two days before landing on the aircraft carrier Lincoln, our self-described War President quietly put out a notice that he was withdrawing our troops from Saudi soil. In other words, our cowering cowboy gave in whimpering to Osama's demand. The press took no note. They were all wiggie over Bush's waddling around the carrier deck in a disco-aged jump suit announcing, MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. But it wasn't America's mission that was accomplished, it was Osama's. Am I saying there's no danger, no threat? Sure there is: 46 million Americans don't have health insurance. IBM is legally stealing from its employees' pension plan and United Airlines has dumped its pensions altogether. Four-million three-hundred thousand Americans were injured, made sick or killed by their jobs last year. TXU Corporation is right now building four monster-sized power plants in Texas that will burn skuzzy gunk called lignite. The filth it will pour into the sky will snuff a heck of a lot more Americans than some goofy group of fanatics with bottles of hydrogen peroxide. But Americans don't ask for real protection from what's killing us. The War on Terror is the Weapon of Mass Distraction. Instead of demanding health insurance, we have 59 million of our fellow citizens pooping in their pants with fear of Al Qaeda, waddling to the polls, crying, Georgie save us! And what does he give us? In my own small town, the federal government has paid for loading an SUV with .50 caliber machine guns to watch for an Al Qaeda attack at the dock of the ferry that takes tourists to the Indian casino in Connecticut. The casino dock is my town's officially designated Critical Asset and Vulnerability Infrastructure Point (CAVIP). (To find the most vulnerable points to attack in the USA, Al Qaeda can download a list
[PEN-L] GMOs (Genetically Mutated Organisms), Hot Dogs, And You...
Here's a little cutting edge GM technology at work: . Extracts from hot dogs bought from the supermarket, when mixed with nitrites, resulted in what appeared to be these DNA-mutating compounds. When added to Salmonella bacteria, hot dog extracts treated with nitrites doubled to quadrupled their normal DNA mutation levels. Triggering DNA mutations in the gut might boost the risk for colon cancer, the researchers explained. . ...a little hot dog nectar anyone? Hot Dogs May Cause Genetic Mutations Charles Q. Choi Special to LiveScience LiveScience.com Mon Aug 14, 10:15 AM ET Everyone knows hot dogs aren't exactly healthy for you, but in a new study chemists find they may contain DNA-mutating compounds that might boost one's risk for cancer. Scientists note there is an up to 240-fold variation in levels of these chemicals across different brands. One could try and find out what the difference in manufacturing techniques are between the brands, and if it's decided these things are a hazard, one could change the manufacturing methods, researcher Sidney Mirvish, a chemist at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, told LiveScience. Mirvish and his colleagues examined hot dogs because past research had linked them with colon cancer. Hot dogs are preserved with sodium nitrite, which can help form chemicals known as N-nitroso compounds, most of which cause cancer in lab animals. Extracts from hot dogs bought from the supermarket, when mixed with nitrites, resulted in what appeared to be these DNA-mutating compounds. When added to Salmonella bacteria, hot dog extracts treated with nitrites doubled to quadrupled their normal DNA mutation levels. Triggering DNA mutations in the gut might boost the risk for colon cancer, the researchers explained. I won't say you shouldn't eat hot dogs, Mirvish said. Future research will feed hot dog meat to mice to see if they develop colon cancer or precancerous conditions, he explained. James Hodges, president of the American Meat Institute Foundation in Washington, noted this study is a preliminary report that the author concedes requires further investigation. The carcinogenic risk to humans of the compounds studied has not been determined. The possible hazard presented here is not just limited to hot dogs. Salted dried fish and seasonings such as soy sauce may contain similar levels of these chemicals, Mirvish said. Mirvish and his colleagues reported their findings in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20060814/sc_space/hotdogsmaycausegeneticmutations
[PEN-L] Keeping abreast of changes in standard measurements
Important note on a common measure: Date: Sun, 13 Aug 2006 18:57:11 -0400 Reply-To: Computer-assisted Reporting Research [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sender: Computer-assisted Reporting Research [EMAIL PROTECTED] From: Subject: furlong Content-type: multipart/alternative; Whoops. I understand they have changed the furlong back to the way it was, 660 feet. I wish the International Furlong Society would inform journalism professors when they do these things. :) http://www.louisville.edu/it/listserv/wa?A2=ind0608L=CARR-LP=R1288
Re: [PEN-L] FW: Call for articles on Less Energy
On 8/15/06, Mark Lause [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, August 14, 2006 10:28 PM To: undisclosed-recipients: Subject: Call for articles on Less Energy Call for articles on Less Energy Dear Green activist, Two overwhelming catastrophes loom over our planet: an increase in global warming and a decrease in available oil, leading to unending war. Overdeveloped societies need to dramatically decrease their energy consumption. Most progressive environmentalists limit themselves to suggestions for life style changes which can either be a beginning step or a diversionary token. Synthesis/Regeneration: A Magazine of Green Social Thought seeks to address these and related topics in its Winter 2007 issue. The S/R Editorial Board invites submissions that go beyond individual sacrifice and explore structural changes that would massively reduce the use of energy. Possible themes could include, but are not limited to: * How citizens are boxed into consumption, regardless of intention. * Wasteful energy in food production (e.g., chemicalized agriculture, meat). * Trees and global warming. * Mass transportation/less transportation. * Redesigning living space (e.g., collective living, co-housing, underground homes). * The grid vs. local energy production. * How can we respond to a rapid decrease in available energy? * What level of consumption can truly renewable energy satisfy? * The use of energy in producing renewable energy. * Wasteful energy in the workplace. * Industries that society does not need (e.g., war, insurance, lead mining). * Legislation for sustainable energy policies. * Economic disruptions due to reducing and eliminating industries. * Generating meaningful jobs to replace exploitative ones while protecting our planet. * Problems with mainstream explanations of all of the above. In order to be included in the Winter 2007 issue, we will need to RECEIVE submissions by October 1, 2006. (Let us know if you would like to write but would have difficulty meeting this deadline.) Articles should generally be 500 to 2500 words. Please send submissions to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Visit the S/R website at: http://www.greens.org/s-r/ -- Sandwichman
[PEN-L] FT: A closed mind about an open world
[Trackback URL: http://platosbeard.org/archives/156/trackback/] http://www.ft.com/cms/s/64167124-263d-11db-afa1-779e2340.html A closed mind about an open world By James Boyle Over the past 15 years, a group of scholars has finally persuaded economists to believe something non-economists find obvious: “behavioural economics” shows that people do not act as economic theory predicts. However, this is not a vindication of folk wisdom over the pointy-heads. The deviations from “rational behaviour” were not the wonderful cornucopia of humanist motivations you might imagine. There were patterns. We were risk-averse when it came to losses – likely to overestimate chances of loss and underestimate chances of gain, for example. We rely on heuristics to frame problems but cling to them even when they are contradicted by the facts. Some of these patterns are endearing; the supposedly “irrational” concerns for equality that persist in all but Republicans and the economically trained, for example. But most were simply the mapping of cognitive bias. We can take advantage of those biases, as those who sell us expensive and irrational warranties on consumer goods do. Or we can correct for them, like a pilot who is trained to rely on his instruments rather than his faulty perceptions when flying in heavy cloud. Studying intellectual property and the internet has convinced me that we have another cognitive bias. Call it the openness aversion. We are likely to undervalue the importance, viability and productive power of open systems, open networks and non-proprietary production. [...] --ravi -- Support something better than yourself: ;-) PeTA: http://www.peta.org/ GreenPeace: http://www.greenpeace.org/ If you have nothing better to do: http://platosbeard.org/
Re: [PEN-L] FW: Call for articles on Less Energy
Sorry that last message was supposed to be a forward to another address but I pushed the wrong button. -- Sandwichman
[PEN-L] Scary Similarities between 2006 and 1987
The Scary Similarities between 2006 and 1987 By Nouriel Roubini In my recent recession call blog I made the observation that current economic and financial conditions in the U.S. eerily resemble those that led to the stock market crash in October 1987. Let me elaborate on the quite worrisome and scary similarities between 2006 and 1987. In 1987, like in 2006, a new Fed Chairman had been chosen; then Alan Greenspan, this year Ben Bernanke. In 1987, the new Fed Chairman was initially viewed with skepticism by markets and investors; the same for Bernanke today. The lionization of Greenspan as the Maestro or his God-on-Earth reputation was a much later phenomenon that emerged only in the 1990s; in 1987 investors were extremely skeptical of his skills and ability to be a strong leader of the Fed in difficult times. Ditto for Bernanke today who still needs to establish his credibility and gain the full respect of markets and investors. In 1987, Greenspan started his term in a period when inflation was rising and there were concerns about inflationary pressure becoming excessive. That is why in 1987 he started his term by raising the Fed Funds rate by 100bps. Ditto for Bernanke who inherited high and rising inflation and raised rates three times, by 75bps, since he became Fed Chairman earlier this year. In 1987, the relatively inexperienced Greenspan did not know how to properly communicate his message and he rattled markets. He presented his views in the wrong forum by giving an interview to a Sunday television news show where he expressed his concerns about inflation; the next day stock markets sharply wobbled. He learned his lesson, realized the risks to his reputation, made a mea culpa, never again gave a TV interview for the following 20 years and became altogether Delphic in his public pronunciations. Ditto for Bernanke: after a congressional testimony on April 27th that was read by investors as dovish, he made the famous flap with CNBC anchor Maria Bartimoro telling her that he had been misunderstood and was more hawkish than the market perceived him. The next day when Bartimoro reported this equity markets sharply contracted and Bernankes reputation was shaken. Bernanke then made his own public mea culpa and you can be sure that - like Greenspan - he will never speak again to any TV reporter, either in private or in public. In 1987, the biggest external problem of the U.S. was the large current account deficit that had been the result of the twin deficits of the Reagan years. Unsustainable tax cuts and excessive military spending (remember the pie-in-the-sky Star Wars project) in the Reagan I administration led to a strong dollar and a large current account deficit; after 1985 the dollar started to fall driven by the unsustainable external imbalance. In 2006, we bear the consequences of the reckless fiscal policies unsustainable tax cuts and runaway military spending in reckless foreign adventures like Iraq (pie-in-the-sky dreams of imposing democracy in the Middle East) that led to large twin deficits since 2001. And since 2002 the dollar has started to fall under the pressure of the external imbalance. In 1987, in spite of the fall of the dollar since the Plaza agreement of 1985, the current account deficit was still large because of the delayed J-curve effects of the depreciation and because the still large fiscal deficits and low private savings kept national savings low. Then, the U.S. started to blame its trading partners, Germany and Japan, and their weak currencies for being at fault for the continued US trade deficit. The political scare mongering in the US was that a rising export giant like Japan would lead to the hollowing out of the US manufacturing sector; trade friction with Japan on cars, semiconductors, etc. became heated and accusations of unfair trade were rampant. Then, the US started to put pressure on Germany and Japan to let their currencies the mark and the yen to appreciate significantly more relative to the US dollar. Today, the scare mongering on unfair trade has China as its scapegoat and victim. The US, instead of blaming its own policies that led to low private and public savings for its external deficit, is blaming China and its currency policies for these external imbalances. As in 1987 there is the terror that China will hollow out the US traded sector with its unstoppable export boom. And trade tensions are boiling. The tensions on trade came to a boil in October 1987 when the markets were already nervous about the economy, inflation, higher interest rates, an inexperienced and initially clumsy Fed Chairman and a soaring trade deficit. The announcement of a large US trade deficit on October 14 was the tipping point. Following this news, Treasury Secretary James Baker strongly suggested the need for a fall in the dollar and made implicit threats that the reluctance of Germany and Japan to let the mark and yen to appreciate
[PEN-L] Open Democracy, Karl Marx and Hezbollah
Opendemocracy.net can best be described as Harry's Place for the cognoscenti. With lavish funding from such sources as the Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation and the Rockfeller Fund and editorial guidance by such wretches as Todd Gitlin and Danny Postel, Roger Scruton (the British philosopher who got caught taking surreptitious payoffs from the tobacco industry in exchange for writing pro-smoking articles in the Wall Street Journal), the website maintains a steady drumbeat for the war on terror and against 'Islamofascism' and the Bolivarian revolution, etc. Unlike the spittle-flecked Harry's Place blog, Opendemocracy tries to maintain a certain kind of scholarly detachment, which arguably makes it far more insidious. One of their recent articles is making the rounds on the Internet. Titled How the European left supports Lebanon and written by Hazem Saghieh, the editor of Al-Hayat--a British newspaper hostile to Arab and Muslim radicalism, it has the dubious distinction of invoking Karl Marx in support of a reactionary agenda: The left's embrace of an Islamist movement supported by Iranian mullahs would have appalled Karl Marx. To support his left flank, Saghieh begins by saying: Europe's left-wingers are supporting us Lebanese against Israel and its war crimes. Thanks, that's great: the Lebanese need all the backing they can get in facing the overwhelming technological savagery unleashed on their land and airspace, scorching the earth and not distinguishing civilians from soldiers, babies from adults. But that's just a warm-up for his real act, which is to cast Hizbollah as a reactionary intrusion into Lebanon's experiment in coexistence between rival religions and its parliamentary system unequalled in the Arab world. Saghieh describes Lebanon in the early 1970s as a kind of social democratic paradise: [F]or all its shortcomings, Lebanon's parliamentary system was without equal in the Arab world. Lebanon had simultaneously gained an unparalleled freedom of expression, with ever-increasing newspapers and magazines, not to mention a flourishing publishing sector producing original and translated work which made Beirut the printing press of the Arab world. Trade unions and political parties also enjoyed considerable liberties: on the eve of the 1975-1976 conflict most left-wing movements, including the Communist Party, were legalised. In 1972, the year of the last elections before the war, the general-secretary of the Communist Party stood in the parliamentary elections; members were also elected for the Ba'ath Party and the Nasserites (who called for a pan-Arab union in which Lebanon would have been dissolved). The status of women in Lebanon was immeasurably better than in most of the rest of the Arab world. Full: http://www.opendemocracy.net/conflict-middle_east_politics/europe_left_3815.jsphttp://www.opendemocracy.net/conflict-middle_east_politics/europe_left_3815.jsp This social democratic Eden gave way to a Hobbesian struggle between rival religious sects. The cause was an Israeli invasion in 1982 that degraded Lebanon's inhabitants, destroyed its economy and tore apart the fabric of its sectarian relations. However, Syria and Iran get equal blame in Saghieh's eyes since they intervened to back their own proxies and to exacerbate an already bad situation. Worst of all was Iran's support of Hizbollah, which comes across in Saghieh's words as a kind of enemy of Reason and Civilization as bad as the Taliban: At its outset, members of the movement in the Beka'a valley, accompanied by Iranian 'Revolutionary Guards', used to spray girls' legs with acid, because their skirts did not cover their knees and their faces were not veiled. A cursory look into Lexis-Nexis will reveal no such behavior on the part of Hezbollah. Indeed, commentators have frequently noted that Hezbollah *has not* forced strict Islamic codes on the men and women who live under their rule. In a NY Review of Books article by Adam Schatz titled In Search of Hezbollah, we learn: In a country mired in patronage and back-room dealing, Hezbollah is respected for its lack of corruption. Although the party's yellow-and-green flag--depicting a fist brandishing a Kalashnikov, posed against a globe-- still advocates the Islamic Revolution in Lebanon, Hezbollah has recently said little about an Islamic state, and begun to build alliances across religious lines, particularly at the municipal level and in professional unions. In 1999, for example, Hezbollah members of Lebanon's engineering syndicate formed a coalition with the Phalange Party, a rightist Christian group, and the National Liberal Party, both allies of Israel during the civil war. Another change that is impossible to ignore is the growing prominence of female activists in the party, a development that makes the party progressive by Islamist standards. One would have to be blind not to notice the changes Hezbollah has undergone, says Joseph Samaha, a secular Christian
[PEN-L] CBS 60 Minutes Ahmadinejad/Wallace (Narrative) Interview Transcript
You still have not answered the question. You still have not answered the question. Israel must be wiped off the map. Why? Well, don't be hasty sir, the president said. I'm going to get to that. I think that the Israeli government is a fabricated government. Fabricated following the Holocaust, which he's said may also have been fabricated. Last December, Ahmadinejad said the Europeans had created a myth of the Holocaust. What I did say was, if this is a reality, if this is real, where did it take place? Ahmadinejad replied. In Germany, Wallace said. Who — who caused this in Europe? Ahmadinejad asked. In Europe. If I may … so …what you're suggesting — one moment — what you're suggesting then, that Israel should be over in Germany because that's where the holocaust took place? Wallace asked. I'm not saying that, mind you, the president replied. But he has said Israel could be moved to Europe, or even to the United States but it shouldn't be in Palestine. Well, if an atrocity was committed in Germany or Europe for that matter, why should the Palestinians answer for this? the president asked. They had no role to play in this. Why on the pretext of the Holocaust they have occupied Palestine? Millions of people have been made refugees. Thousands of people to-date have been killed, sir. Thousands of people have been put in prison. Well, at the very moment, a great war is raging because of that. Look if you could — if you could keep your answers concise. Concise. I beg you. We'll get more questions in, Wallace requested. . ... A classic example of what I had stated previously... Quantity (not quality), size (not viability), more (and more more more). The Western Industrialized Nations Disease. (WIND) Iranian Leader Opens Up Aug. 13, 2006(CBS) When Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaks out candidly — as is his habit — he scares a lot of people. He has said more than once that Israel should be wiped off the map, and that the Holocaust is an overblown fairytale. When correspondent Mike Wallace interviewed him in Tehran last week, it became apparent that he sees the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah — a militia Iran has long supported — as part of a larger battle between the U.S. and a militant Islam for control of the Middle East. Very clearly, I will tell you that I fully oppose the behavior of the British and the Americans, Ahmadinejad tells Wallace. They are providing state-of-the-art military hardware to the Zionists. And they are throwing their full support behind Israel. We believe that this threatens the future of all peoples, including the American and European peoples. So we are asking why the American government is blindly supporting this murderous regime. Wallace tried to ask him about Hezbollah's use of missiles, rockets furnished by Iran, but he wanted to talk about Israel's attacks with American bombs. The laser-guided bombs that have been given to the Zionists and they're targeting the shelter of defenseless children and women, the president said. Who supports Hezbollah? Wallace asked. Who has given Hezbollah hundreds of millions of dollars for years? Who has given Hezbollah Iranian-made missiles and rockets that is making — that are making all kinds … he continued as he was interrupted. Are you the representative of the Zionist regime? Or a journalist? Ahmadinejad asked Wallace. I'm a journalist. I am a journalist, Wallace replied. This is not journalism, sir. Hezbollah is a popular organization in Lebanon, and they are defending their land, the president said. They are defending their own houses. And, according to the charter of the United Nations, every person has the right to defend his house. What I'm saying is that the killing of innocents is reprehensible. And making this — the displacement of people and making them refugees, again, is reprehensible, Well, what has Hezbollah, though — wait a minute, Wallace asked. Hezbollah is displacing and damaging and making bleed all kinds of people. You know that. Please tell me, are the Lebanese inside the occupied lands right now or is it the other way around, that the Zionist troops are in Lebanese territory? Ahmadinejad replied. Lebanon is defending its independence. We are not at all happy with war. That is why on the first day we condemned these recent — conflict. And we asked for an immediate cease fire. Ahmadinejad told Wallace the United Nations Security Council has not passed an effective ceasefire resolution because the Security Council is in America's pocket. Tell, the reason is, that the United Nations Security Council is there to safeguard the interests of the British and the Americans. They are not there to provide security. It's very clear, the president said. The UNSC, the United Nations Security Council, is there to protect the interests of the United States and the British. That's what you say? Wallace asked. It has
[PEN-L] Engels Gives Up on Arabic and Struggles to Lean Persian
Engels Gives Up on Arabic and Struggles to Lean Persian Since I am in any case tied up with the eastern mummery for some weeks, I have made use of the opportunity to learn Persian. I am put off Arabic, partly by my inborn hatred of Semitic languages, partly by the impossibility of getting anywhere, without considerable expenditure of time, in so extensive a language -- one which has 4,000 roots and goes back over 2,000-3,000 years. By comparison, Persian is absolute child's play. Were it not for that damned Arabic alphabet in which every half dozen letters looks like every other half dozen and the vowels are not written, I would undertake to learn the entire grammar within 48 hours. -- Engels to Marx in London, Manchester, 6 June 1853, http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1853/letters/53_06_06.htm -- Yoshie http://montages.blogspot.com/ http://mrzine.org http://monthlyreview.org/
Re: [PEN-L] CBS 60 Minutes Ahmadinejad/Wallace (Narrative) Interview Transcript
On 8/15/06, Leigh Meyers [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: You still have not answered the question. You still have not answered the question. Israel must be wiped off the map. Why? Well, don't be hasty sir, the president said. I'm going to get to that. I think that the Israeli government is a fabricated government. Fabricated following the Holocaust, which he's said may also have been fabricated. Last December, Ahmadinejad said the Europeans had created a myth of the Holocaust. What I did say was, if this is a reality, if this is real, where did it take place? Ahmadinejad replied. In Germany, Wallace said. Who — who caused this in Europe? Ahmadinejad asked. In Europe. If I may … so …what you're suggesting — one moment — what you're suggesting then, that Israel should be over in Germany because that's where the holocaust took place? Wallace asked. I'm not saying that, mind you, the president replied. But he has said Israel could be moved to Europe, or even to the United States but it shouldn't be in Palestine. Well, if an atrocity was committed in Germany or Europe for that matter, why should the Palestinians answer for this? the president asked. They had no role to play in this. Why on the pretext of the Holocaust they have occupied Palestine? Millions of people have been made refugees. Thousands of people to-date have been killed, sir. Thousands of people have been put in prison. Well, at the very moment, a great war is raging because of that. Look if you could — if you could keep your answers concise. Concise. I beg you. We'll get more questions in, Wallace requested. . ... A classic example of what I had stated previously... Quantity (not quality), size (not viability), more (and more more more). The Western Industrialized Nations Disease. (WIND) I watched the interview on CBS, and then I watched it again on C-Span, as C-Span's came with a call-in segment after the interview. Judging by the callers' remarks (though it must be said that the only people who watch things like this on C-Span are likely to be studious liberals and leftists), the President of Iran did well: a majority of callers said that Mike Wallace was being condescending, disrespectful, too confrontational, and so on and/or that America should seek more opportunities for dialogues like this with the leaders of Iran and other nations of the Middle East, with only a tiny minority saying that Wallace didn't ask tough questions. I wish the voice of ordinary Americans counted for something -- then, there would be neither sanctions nor wars on Iran. But those good-hearted Americans who want dialogues rather than more wars do not yet know how to stop their rulers. -- Yoshie http://montages.blogspot.com/ http://mrzine.org http://monthlyreview.org/
Re: [PEN-L] CBS 60 Minutes Ahmadinejad/Wallace (Narrative) Interview Transcript
I wish the voice of ordinary Americans counted for something -- then, there would be neither sanctions nor wars on Iran. But those good-hearted Americans who want dialogues rather than more wars do not yet know how to stop their rulers. -- Yoshie The Washington Times August 15, 2006 Tuesday Superman tops Supremes; Americans know pop culture better than politics By Jennifer Harper, THE WASHINGTON TIMES Sleepy, Grumpy, Larry, Moe, Krypton - that's what seems to stick in the national mind-set these days. Americans are more familiar with the Seven Dwarfs, the Three Stooges and Superman than with current events and world leaders, according to yet another poll that reveals our trite side. In a survey released yesterday, veteran political pollster John Zogby determined that although 77 percent of us can identify two of the Seven Dwarfs, only 24 percent could name two Supreme Court justices. Not surprisingly, Clarence Thomas, whose nomination was marked by controversy, was the most recognized justice - identified twice as often as his next best-known peer on the Supreme Court - Antonin Scalia, the survey stated. Justice Thomas was cited by almost 20 percent of the respondents and Justice Scalia by a little less than 11 percent. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg were tied at 9 percent. Sixty-three percent were unsure just who was on the Supreme Court. Only 11 percent knew that Samuel A. Alito Jr. was confirmed as the 110th Supreme Court justice in January. Sleepy, incidentally, was the most frequently cited Dwarf, followed by Dopey, Grumpy and Sneezy. Meanwhile, a tidy 74 percent were able to name Moe, Larry and Curly as the Stooges in question - with almost an equal number able to name later members of the slapstick team. But alas, the majority of respondents were unable to name another high-profile group of three: only 42 percent knew that the legislative, executive and judicial branches made up the federal government. Should such findings be worrisome? Surveys that bemoan the demise of scholarship in America are common. Research released in May by the National Geographic Society, for example, found 88 percent of our young adults can't find Afghanistan on a world map, evidence of a geographic illiteracy that isolates us from the world, society President John Fahey said at the time. Syracuse University communications professor Robert Thomson, who designed the questions on the Zogby poll, is not quite so concerned. These results are not about how 'dumb' Americans are, but how much more effective popular culture information is communicated and retained by citizens than many of the messages that come from government, educational institutions and the media, Mr. Thompson said. There are important lessons to be learned here. Still, more Americans knew boy wizard Harry Potter than British Prime Minister Tony Blair, 57 percent and 49 percent, respectively. And 60 percent knew Krypton as Superman's home planet, but only 40 percent knew that Mercury was the closest planet to the sun. The survey of 1,213 adults was conducted July 21 to 27 with a margin of error of three percentage points. It was commissioned by America Online. -- www.marxmail.org
Re: [PEN-L] CBS 60 Minutes Ahmadinejad/Wallace (Narrative) Interview Transcript
Louis Proyect wrote: I wish the voice of ordinary Americans counted for something -- then, there would be neither sanctions nor wars on Iran. But those good-hearted Americans who want dialogues rather than more wars do not yet know how to stop their rulers. -- Yoshie The Washington Times August 15, 2006 Tuesday Superman tops Supremes; Americans know pop culture better than politics By Jennifer Harper, THE WASHINGTON TIMES Sleepy, Grumpy, Larry, Moe, Krypton - that's what seems to stick in the national mind-set these days. Americans are more familiar with the Seven Dwarfs, the Three Stooges and Superman than with current events and world leaders, according to yet another poll that reveals our trite side. In a survey released yesterday, veteran political pollster John Zogby determined that although 77 percent of us can identify two of the Seven Dwarfs, only 24 percent could name two Supreme Court justices. . It just makes me feel like singin' Living in the wasteland of the free Iris DeMent (Country Rock/Americana) http://www.irisdement.com/ We got preachers dealing in politics and diamond mines and their speech is growing increasingly unkind They say they are Christ's disciples but they don't look like Jesus to me and it feels like I am living in the wasteland of the free We got politicians running races on corporate cash Now don't tell me they don't turn around and kiss them peoples' ass You may call me old-fashioned but that don't fit my picture of a true democracy and it feels like I am living in the wasteland of the free We got CEO's making two hundred times the workers' pay but they'll fight like hell against raising the minimum wage and If you don't like it, mister, they'll ship your job to some third-world country 'cross the sea and it feels like I am living in the wasteland of the free Living in the wasteland of the free where the poor have now become the enemy Let's blame our troubles on the weak ones Sounds like some kind of Hitler remedy Living in the wasteland of the free We got little kids with guns fighting inner city wars So what do we do, we put these little kids behind prison doors and we call ourselves the advanced civilization that sounds like crap to me and it feels like I am living in the wasteland of the free We got high-school kids running 'round in Calvin Klein and Guess who cannot pass a sixth-grade reading test but if you ask them, they can tell you the name of every crotch on mTV and it feels like I am living in the wasteland of the free We kill for oil, then we throw a party when we win Some guy refuses to fight, and we call that the sin but he's standing up for what he believes in and that seems pretty damned American to me and it feels like I am living in the wasteland of the free Living in the wasteland of the free where the poor have now become the enemy Let's blame our troubles on the weak ones Sounds like some kind of Hitler remedy Living in the wasteland of the free While we sit gloating in our greatness justice is sinking to the bottom of the sea Living in the wasteland of the free Living in the wasteland of the free Living in the wasteland of the free
[PEN-L] Tim Hector biography
Tim Hector: A Caribbean Radicals Story By Paul Buhle University Press of Mississippi ISBN 1-57806-851-7, hardback $32.00 Book News for Immediate Release C. L. R. James had radical, faithful follower in Caribbean journalist Tim Hector Assigning a single occupation to Tim Hector (19422002) could prove to be a difficult task. The Antiguan-born newspaper publisher was known as an educator, sports and cultural commentator, and a global activist. Hector was instrumental in Antiguas struggle for independence, due in large part to his regular column Fan the Flame that appeared in the newspaper Outlet. Author Paget Henry observed of the controversial column that Hectors Fan the Flame was unique in all Caribbean literature for the range of issues tackled and the border-crossing between journalism and scholarship. In Tim Hector: A Caribbean Radicals Story (University Press of Mississippi) biographer Paul Buhle explores how Hectors political philosophy evolved from early nationalism and militant Marxism into a hope for democratic self-determination in a future pan-Caribbean nation. Rather than providing readers with a detailed account of Hectors day-to-day activities, Buhle is able to encompass the political and cultural world of the Caribbean and beyond through Hectors eyes. Hectors controversial writings often objected to oppressive colonial authority. He observed, I believed then and believe now that there are certain qualities which island people have which are critical to the emancipation of humankind. His extensive efforts in the Afro-Caribbean Liberation Movement led to much personal anguish and miseryarrests, the destruction of his printing press, and even the murder of his wife. This is the first book about this leading C. L. R James disciple and it offers a short history of the 20th century British West Indies radical movements from the perspective of a leading participant. Paul Buhle, the authorized biographer of C. L. R. James, is a senior lecturer in history and American civilization at Brown University. A prize-winning author-editor and frequent contributor to the Nation, the Village Voice, TIKKUN, and the San Francisco Chronicle, he has published twenty-eight previous volumes including The Life and Work of C. L. R. James, Encyclopedia of the American Left, C. L. R. James's Caribbean, four other biographies, and five volumes on the victims of the Hollywood Blacklist. -30- For more information contact Clint Kimberling, Publicist, at 601.432.6205 or [EMAIL PROTECTED] . Read more about Tim Hector: A Caribbean Radicals Story at http://www.upress.state.ms.us/catalog/spring2006/tim_hector.html Tim Hector articles: http://www.candw.ag/~jardinea/fanflame.htm -- www.marxmail.org
[PEN-L] Money Grab: US freezes assets of two Syrian officials
I guess we finnaly froze all the funds of the ba'athist government functionaries from Iraq who took refuge in Syria. Now the U.S. Treasury department is going after Syrian military officials investments. Yahoo! News US freezes assets of two Syrian officials Reuters 39 minutes ago http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060815/ts_nm/mideast_usa_syria_dc The United States froze the U.S. assets of two Syrian officials on Tuesday, saying they had played a key role in the country's policies to support terrorism and destabilize the Middle East. The Treasury Department said it had blocked any U.S. assets held by Baath party official Maj. Gen. Hisham Ikhtiyar for significantly contributing to the Syrian government's support for designated terrorist organizations, including the Hizbollah militia in Lebanon. A Treasury statement said Ikhtiyar had also significantly contributed to his country's military and security presence in neighboring Lebanon from 2001 to 2005 as head of Syria's General Intelligence Directorate, the country's central civilian intelligence service. The United States also froze any U.S. funds held by Brig. Gen. Jama'a Jama'a, saying he had played a central part in Syria's presence in Lebanon as commander of its military intelligence headquarters in Beirut from 2002 until Syria's withdrawal in April 2005. The Treasury action also prohibits any American from conducting financial transactions with the two men. For decades, Syria has promoted instability and violence in the Middle East. Even after its withdrawal from Lebanon last year, Syria continues to choose destabilization and support for violence over peace in the region, said Pat O'Brien, Treasury's assistant secretary for terrorist financing. Until Syria takes concrete steps to become a responsible member of the international community, the United States will make known rogue actors supporting the country's destabilizing agenda, he said in a statement. Ties between the United States and Syria have long been tense, with Washington accusing the Arab state of sponsoring terrorism and seeking weapons of mass destruction. Most recently, the United States has accused Syria, along with Iran, of supporting Hizbollah in its cross-border conflict with Israel. A U.N. truce has largely stopped the fighting since it came into force on Monday. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad praised Lebanon's Hizbollah guerrillas on Tuesday for resisting Israeli forces during five weeks of war and said their actions would make the Jewish state think twice before pursuing terrorist policies in the region. He also said peace in the Middle East would remain elusive for the foreseeable future, and blamed the United States. --30--
[PEN-L] The Blue Lady has beached today... and Indian laborers are in peril
See also: Sorry Sahib… We’re not breaking this one: India turns away toxic aircraft carrier [Includes a Foreign Policy pictorial backgrounder on the shipbreaking industry in Bangladesh:] http://leighm.net/blog/?p=99 2006/08/15 BBC NEWS 'Toxic ship' docks in Indian port A controversial asbestos-lined former ocean liner, The Blue Lady, has docked in the western Indian port of Alang in Gujarat State to be scrapped. Port officer Anil Rathore told Press Trust of India that the ship known in its glory days as the SS France would be broken in a month's time. Indian Supreme Court experts earlier cleared its entry for breaking. Environmentalists have protested against the ship's entry, saying it contains asbestos and toxic waste. 'Pressure for clearance' The 11-storey, 315-metre-long, liner, which was relaunched as the SS Norway after leaving French service in the 1970s, entered Indian waters in July. The Blue Lady has beached today [Tuesday] after completing all formalities required, Mr Rathore said. It should be ready for dismantling in a month's time. Environmental groups say the ship contains 1,200 tonnes of cancer-causing toxic waste, which the workers at Alang - the world's biggest breaking yard - are not equipped to handle. Greenpeace alleges that the court experts were under intense pressure to give clearance to the vessel for beaching. The liner was the pride of the French shipping industry and many ship-lovers and ecologists proposed to convert it into a floating hotel or a museum. Artist Salvador Dali and pop star David Bowie have been among its celebrity passengers. In February, the French government recalled the decommissioned aircraft carrier Clemenceau en route to Alang, after a lengthy campaign by Greenpeace and other environmental groups. Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/4796221.stm
[PEN-L] Jesus Never Existed?
PEN-Lers, Counterpunch today highlighted this "website of the day" which speaks bitterness about Jesus. Christ! Much of material surrounding Christianity is indeed syncretic myth gingerly borrowed (Samir Amin posits the virgin birth is borrowed from Islam). But what about this claim that JC is also an illusion? Any thoughts? http://www.jesusneverexisted.com/ Brian McKenna
[PEN-L] Orblando Uses Decoys to Nab Beggars
Use of decoys to nab beggars draws scrutiny Mark Schlueb | Sentinel Staff Writer Posted August 14, 2006 Orlando police are using undercover stings to nab panhandlers downtown, a largely unknown practice now coming under scrutiny as the debate over the homeless in the City Beautiful heats up. The city has made 186 panhandling arrests since Oct. 1, more than half of them resulting from decoy teams of undercover, plainclothes officers who place themselves near a suspected beggar and wait until they are asked for money, food, a cigarette or anything else of value. We're getting decoys out, on average, once a week, said Lt. Jim Marchione, night commander for the downtown district. You just make yourself available as you walk down the street, and nine times out of 10, they're going to ask you for money. The tactic puts Orlando on a very short list of cities nationwide that routinely use undercover cops -- who more commonly target drugs and prostitution -- against panhandlers. Mayor Buddy Dyer said the city saw a spike in aggressive panhandling three to four months ago, and that an increase in undercover patrols was needed to ensure the safety of downtown workers and visitors. But the practice is drawing attention at a time when Orlando's image has suffered over its treatment of the downtrodden. Within the past two weeks, a new ban on feeding the homeless in Lake Eola Park made the city the nationwide butt of jokes on late-night television and earned Orlando a likely spot on the meanest cities list put out by the National Coalition for the Homeless. The tactic also is sure to intensify the already tense showdown between City Hall and advocates for the homeless. The group [Orlando] Food Not Bombs has defied the city's 3-week-old ban on feedings in Lake Eola Park -- so far with no arrests -- and plans to thumb its nose at the City Council by feeding the homeless on the steps of City Hall today [at 5 p.m.]. [Actually, the sharing at City Hall is being organized by S.T.O.P.--Stop the Ordinance Partnership, and Orlando Food Not Bombs is only one of several secular and religious groups participating.] Critics, including those already fighting the feeding ban, said the undercover panhandling operation is a poor use of resources in light of the city's record homicide rate. Don't they have something better to do with their time? asked George Crossley, head of the local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. There have been 37 murders in Orlando this year, and they're out there using plainclothes officers to run sting operations on panhandlers. It would be nice if they focus on that rather than on throwing someone in jail for asking for food or money. A complex relationship The city has used undercover officers to nab panhandlers for at least 21/2 years, but the practice isn't widely known. It was recently disclosed to members of a downtown advisory board as part of a regular update on law-enforcement activity in the city's core. Orlando has a mixed relationship with the homeless. The city purchased the land for the Coalition for the Homeless of Central Florida, the region's main shelter and assistance organization, and gives the group $339,000 a year. Orlando taxpayers also fund the Salvation Army. But city officials insist that most panhandlers aren't homeless. We don't believe those who are doing the panhandling are generally those who are in need, said Commissioner Robert Stuart, who also heads the Christian Service Center, an agency that assists the homeless. The city's methods of dealing with panhandlers have long come under fire. The city once banned panhandling altogether, but courts began striking down similar laws as unconstitutional. So in 1997, the city passed a law requiring beggars to go to the police station and get a permit before panhandling. That didn't work, so in 2000, the city did away with the permit system and painted 36 blue boxes on sidewalks. Now, panhandling is allowed only within the 3-foot-by-15-foot rectangles scattered around downtown. Still, city officials say it hasn't stopped aggressive panhandlers. Commissioner Patty Sheehan said she was asked for money six times during a recent three-block walk from City Hall to an Orange Avenue eatery. I've been very aggressively panhandled and followed. It gets pretty scary, said Sheehan, who supports the undercover effort. We don't want to create an environment downtown where people don't feel safe. Carol Sheaffer, president of Businesses of Eola and Thornton Park, said so many panhandlers have started entering her husband's downtown law office to ask for money that the office has begun locking the front door during business hours. Women who work in the office are no longer comfortable walking outside, she said. Panhandlers would follow them, and if they didn't give them money, yell and curse at them, Sheaffer said. Undercover tactics The stings are organized by the downtown bike patrol, often using officers from other
Re: [PEN-L] Jesus Never Existed?
Brian McKenna wrote: PEN-Lers, Counterpunch today highlighted this website of the day which speaks bitterness about Jesus. Christ! Much of material surrounding Christianity is indeed syncretic myth gingerly borrowed (Samir Amin posits the virgin birth is borrowed from Islam). But what about this claim that JC is also an illusion? Any thoughts? http://www.jesusneverexisted.com/ Brian McKenna . A composite, as Lao-tsu is also claimed to be?
Re: [PEN-L] Orblando Uses Decoys to Nab Beggars
On 8/15/06, Michael Hoover [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Use of decoys to nab beggars draws scrutiny Mark Schlueb | Sentinel Staff Writer Posted August 14, 2006 Orlando police are using undercover stings to nab panhandlers downtown, a largely unknown practice now coming under scrutiny as the debate over the homeless in the City Beautiful heats up. The city has made 186 panhandling arrests since Oct. 1, more than half of them resulting from decoy teams of undercover, plainclothes officers who place themselves near a suspected beggar and wait until they are asked for money, food, a cigarette or anything else of value. We're getting decoys out, on average, once a week, said Lt. Jim Marchione, night commander for the downtown district. You just make yourself available as you walk down the street, and nine times out of 10, they're going to ask you for money. Should we abolish the Orlando Police Department or put the city into receivership or both? -- Yoshie http://montages.blogspot.com/ http://mrzine.org http://monthlyreview.org/
Re: [PEN-L] Jesus Never Existed?
Could evidence that Jesus never existed really undermine the faith of the truly devout? Jayson Funke Graduate School of Geography Clark University 950 Main Street Worcester, MA 01610 -Original Message- From: PEN-L list [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Brian McKenna Sent: Tuesday, August 15, 2006 8:39 PM To: PEN-L@SUS.CSUCHICO.EDU Subject: [PEN-L] Jesus Never Existed? PEN-Lers, Counterpunch today highlighted this website of the day which speaks bitterness about Jesus. Christ! Much of material surrounding Christianity is indeed syncretic myth gingerly borrowed (Samir Amin posits the virgin birth is borrowed from Islam). But what about this claim that JC is also an illusion? Any thoughts? http://www.jesusneverexisted.com/ Brian McKenna
[PEN-L] Iran: World Bank Gender Stats
The World Bank Gender Stats for Iran should be useful, for it allows us to comare it with those in the Middle East North Africa and Lower Middle Income: http://devdata.worldbank.org/genderstats/genderRpt.asp?rpt=profilecty=IRN,Iran,%20Islamic%20Rep.hm=home. -- Yoshie http://montages.blogspot.com/ http://mrzine.org http://monthlyreview.org/
[PEN-L] UN Troops in Lebanon, in Time for Sanctions on Iran?
The deadline for Iran to stop nuclear enrichment is 31 August 2006. Then, another UN SC resolution on Iran will come. Washington is unlikely to try anything military against Iran before that, at least. It is said that the power elite are assembling a UN force for Lebanon at a greater speed than usual: blockquoteUsually, it takes the United Nations three months to form a peacekeeping force, but officials said they were hoping to have the first troops of a phased deployment on the ground within weeks. Peacekeeping officials normally visit the countries offering troops and investigate whether their forces are capable of meeting assigned tasks, and officers from abroad come to the United Nations to negotiate memos of understanding on financial and other arrangements. This time, all that is being streamlined or bypassed, the officials said. (Warren Hoge, The U.N. Puts a Rush Order for a Force of 15,000, 15 August 2006, http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/15/world/middleeast/15nations.html)/blockquote It looks like 15,000 UN troops and 15,000 Lebanese Army troops, who can obstruct Hizballah (though likely unable to disarm it), will be deployed in the South of Lebanon just in time for the next UN SC resolution on Iran, this time a resolution that actually sanctions it. How terrible the sanctions will be depends on Moscow and Beijing. There is a small chance that Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran, changes his mind and has nuclear enrichment stopped before the end of the month, claiming that centrifuges are experiencing problems or something like that, so as to buy time. But that is probably not going to happen, for Washington has not given Tehran any security guarantee, i.e., an assurance that it is seeking only behavior change, not regime change (not that Tehran could necessarily believe it if Washington promised any such thing). -- Yoshie http://montages.blogspot.com/ http://mrzine.org http://monthlyreview.org/
Re: [PEN-L] Jesus Never Existed?
The virgin birth was Greek in origins and those of us who went to grade school back when world history was still taught will remember that Islam started AFTER Christianity by several centuries. And Islam views Jesus as a prophet, though not THE prophet. ML
Re: [PEN-L] Jesus Never Existed?
Christianity certainly predates the virgin birth story by a bit, but I haven't found anyone who thinks it was adopted any time after the 4th Century. (Samir Amin posits the virgin birth is borrowed from Islam).
[PEN-L] Loyalty Oath in Ohio!
Aug. 15 Are You Now or Have You Ever... If you want to take a job at some public universities in Ohio, you'll need to fill out a form declaring that you have no ties (as described in six broad questions) to any terrorist groups as defined by the U.S. State Department. The form was created this year by Ohio law and applies to all new employees of state agencies. The universities that are starting to have new employees fill out the forms say that they are just following the law. But the American Association of University Professors says that the forms are even broader than McCarthy-era loyalty oaths, are unconstitutional, and gravely threaten academic freedom. In a letter sent to the president of the University of Akron, one of the institutions starting to use the forms, the AAUP said that asking potential faculty members to certify that they have never provided any help to any such group threatens a broad range of clearly protected free speech and academic freedom. The letter was sent on the AAUP's behalf by Robert M. O'Neil, a professor of law at the University of Virginia and director of the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression. Akron officials said that they had surveyed all of the state's public universities and that all were using the form, although some were excluding graduate fellowships and many were not requiring student work-study employees to sign. Ohio State University and the University of Cincinnati confirmed that they were using the form. The new form asks potential employees six questions and any Yes answer is grounds for not getting the job. Refusing to answer a question is also considered an affirmative answer. The questions are: * Are you a member of an organization on the U.S. Department of State Terrorist Exclusion List? * Have you used any position of prominence you have with any country to persuade others to support an organization on the U.S. Department of State Terrorist Exclusion List? * Have you knowingly solicited fund or other things of value for an organization on the U.S. Department of State Terrorist Exclusion List? * Have you solicited any individual for membership in an organization on the U.S. Department of State Terrorist Exclusion List? * Have you committed an act that you know, or reasonably should have known, affords material support or resources to an organization on the U.S. Department of State Terrorist Exclusion List? * Have you hired or compensated a person you knew to be a member of an organization on the U.S. Department of State Terrorist Exclusion List, or a person you knew to be engaged in planning, assisting or carrying out an act of terrorism? There is a provision for appealing a job denial related to refusing to fill out the form. However, the form required for an appeal asks many of the same questions in different ways. For example, to file an appeal, one would need to answer the question to which organization on the Terrorist Exclusion List was material assistance provided? Academic groups have long opposed job requirements that include questions of the are you now or have you ever been a member variety. O'Neil of the AAUP said that the Ohio forms were more dangerous in some ways than those of the McCarthy era because the new requirements are vaguer than those of the earlier era. Many professors who would never help a terrorist group in any way would balk at answering questions such as these, which could be subject to interpretation or be used against professors who hold unpopular views. He also noted that there is not always broad agreement on which groups are terroristic and that asking professors whom they have persuaded to hold certain views is antithetical to academic values in many ways. Paul Herold, a spokesman for Akron, said that officials there were surprised to receive the AAUP letter because the university is only carrying out the law and so are many other universities. We are an agency of the state. We are compelled to follow the law, he said. It is the role of the AAUP to speak out on these issues and not the role of the university. O'Neil of the AAUP said that the association would also protest to any other Ohio universities found to be having new faculty members fill out the forms. He noted a series of court cases rejecting loyalty oaths in various forms, and said that while he agrees that universities must follow the law, there is more to that than just going along. A concerned administrator might in a case of uncertain application and constitutional doubt such as the one seek clarification, including a ruling by the state's attorney general, he said. In 1970, O'Neil recalled, when John Millett was chancellor of the Ohio Board of Regents, he told legislators that he didn't have time to appoint the hearing officers needed to carry out a law that was passed — to the dismay of many academics — to make it easier for public universities to kick out students who engaged in protests. The law wasn't
