Re: [PEN-L] Iran Syria Policy and Operations Group
I am of the opinion that regime in Iran will do itself in because it is more sectarian than anti imperialist, though it is both. and sectarianiasm conceals of course the inetrest of a small clique that hoards rents in a neo-mercaltisit structure that is in need of keeping its hold on deomestic markets whilst its growth elsewhere ie the gulf must be conducted on its own terms where it will surely confront the US at least at this level. four years have passed while US troops confront little oppositon in the south of iraq. they provided the US with the perfect divide and rule scheme. anti iranian sentiemnt is now high in the muslim world. so the us in iraq has managed to destroy iraq and now it is turning the tables on iran. __ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
Re: [PEN-L] liberalism vs. Marxism [was: death of liberalism]
On 1/2/07, Yoshie Furuhashi [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Today in the USA, the legislature has become subordinated to the executive, Actually and formerly existing socialist societies have done well in the department of equality, though much less so in that of democracy and not at all in that of freedom. Yoshie Marx referred to self-deception of powerless assemblies vis-a-vis the executive as parliamentary cretinism. As for the USA, mainstream political science approach is generally cast in terms of inter-branch conflict and competition for power. Focus tends to be on whether a president's policy preferences are supported or rejected by Congress. The measure used is the roll-call vote. A president's policy preferences are rarely self-generated. Presidential dominance of/influence over foreign and military policy is more consistent than in domestic policy. For example, Congress tended to set the domestic agenda during the both the first Bush and Clinton presidencies. Presidential dominance tends to increase during preceived crises whether domestic or international. On the whole, however, strategic accommodation not only takes place but it may be the key to a president's relationship with Congress. On the matter of freedom or lack thereof in actually/formerly existing (I prefer the scare quotes) socialist states (one rarely ever see reference to actually existing capitalist states), Marx appears pretty clear about the relationship between political rights and bourgeois rights: he calls for the supersession of *bourgeois* individuality, independence, and freedom. The potentially negative implications of a party-controlled state seem pretty obvious given the evidence. How, then, to win what Marx and Engels called the battle of democracy? Michael Hoover
[PEN-L] Will US Investigate Arar affair
It will be interesting to see if Leahy actually does anything. Rice also says she will have his case reviewsed. Cheers,Ken Hanly Key Democrat wants U.S. to answer to Maher Arar Updated Wed. Dec. 20 2006 8:01 AM ET CTV.ca News Staff A powerful U.S. Democrat says Maher Arar has the right to know why he is still on an American watch list and barred from entering the United States. Vermont Democrat Patrick Leahy, the incoming chair of a Senate judiciary committee, told the Toronto Star newspaper that he plans on summoning U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales before American legislators to demand answers. Canadian authorities have taken responsibility for their part in Arar's 2002 rendition to Syria, Leahy said, adding that it's now the Bush administration's turn to redress the wrong. The Canadian government has now documented that the wrong thing was done to the wrong man, Leahy told the Star in an interview. It is time for the (Bush) administration to do what it can to redress this wrong, instead of perpetuating it. Leahy said Gonzales should explain the entire U.S. policy of rendition and he's sick of the lack of answers shrouded in security concerns or promises to get back to him. U.S. Ambassador to Canada David Wilkins said last week that Arar remained on an American no-fly list -- which prevents Arar from travelling in the United States or even flying over U.S. airspace -- but neither Wilkins nor the U.S. State Department would outline the reasons for the ban. Arar is entitled to know what allegations U.S. authorities are making against him, Leahy said . It's not just this individual case, he said, but what does this say when someone's plane stops here, they have citizenship on a neighbouring country and we ship them back to Syria . . . You know they are going to be tortured . . . This is beneath our country. And it does absolutely nothing to make us more secure and it is a gross human rights violation . . . One thing that can be done is our country should sit down with yours and say: How did we all screw up here?'' A public inquiry led by Justice Dennis O'Connor cleared Arar's name in a report released this fall. Arar's Toronto lawyer Lorne Waldman told the Star he was very encouraged by Leahy's pledge. This moves the matter to the next level and we're quite pleased with that, he said. Arar, a Syrian-born Canadian engineer, was arrested by U.S. officials while he was transiting through a New York airport in 2002. Canadian police had provided faulty information to them suggesting Arar had ties to Al Qaeda. He was eventually deported to Syria, where he was imprisoned and tortured. Arar's name was cleared in the fall by a public inquiry led by Justice O'Connor, who said it was unlikely the U.S. relied on any other information but that provided by Canada. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has asked the U.S. government to apologize to Arar, but settled on a promise they would collaborate more fully on any future deportation cases.
[PEN-L] After the elections
NY Times, January 4, 2007 Awaiting Bushs Iraq Plan, Democrats Weigh Replies By JEFF ZELENY WASHINGTON, Jan. 3 Some key Senate Democrats say they could consider supporting a short-term increase in American troop levels in Iraq, a stance that reflects division within the party and could provide an opening for President Bush as he prepares to announce his revised plan for Iraq as early as next week. Mr. Bush is expected to outline a strategy that would include adding to American forces, but would link that increase to a plan for economic development in Iraq. He has vowed to consult Congressional leaders before delivering his speech to the nation, and he began that process on Wednesday night by inviting House and Senate leaders to a White House reception, though officials said Iraq was not discussed. Senator Carl Levin, the Michigan Democrat who will lead the Armed Services Committee, said he would not prejudge the presidents proposal. While he would oppose an open-ended commitment, Mr. Levin said, he would not rule out supporting a plan to dispatch more troops if the proposal was tied to a broader strategy to begin reducing American involvement and sending troops home. The American people are skeptical about getting in deeper, he said in an interview. But if its truly conditional upon the Iraqis actually meeting milestones and if its part of an overall program of troop reduction that would begin in the next four to six months, its something that would be worth considering. (clip) === NY Times, January 4, 2007 News Analysis The Democrats Cautious Tiptoe Around the Presidents Tax Cuts By EDMUND L. ANDREWS WASHINGTON, Jan. 3 President Bush is all but daring Democratic leaders to attack his signature tax cuts as they take over Congress. But Democrats, perhaps to his frustration, are having none of it. In an opening salvo on Wednesday, Mr. Bush proclaimed that he would present a budget next month that manages to project a balanced budget by 2012 while permanently extending more than $1 trillion in tax cuts. It is also a fact that our tax cuts have fueled robust economic growth and record revenues, Mr. Bush wrote in an op-ed article for The Wall Street Journal. We met our goal of cutting the deficit in half three years ahead of schedule. The implicit message, which Republican lawmakers reinforced later, was that their tax cuts were popular with voters, that Republicans had proven the economic benefits of tax cuts and that Democrats would court disaster if they even hinted at rolling them back or repealing them. But even as Democratic leaders continue to accuse Mr. Bush of having a reckless fiscal policy, they have refused to discuss dismantling his tax cuts or even to engage in a debate with him about the best way to stimulate economic growth. Its always the same old tired line with them Tax and spend, tax and spend, tax and spend, said Senator Kent Conrad, the North Dakota Democrat who is chairman of the Senate Budget Committee. Were not going there. (clip) -- www.marxmail.org
[PEN-L] death of liberalism
. From: Yoshie F. Marxists have written a lot about the capitalist state, but they have written comparatively very little about the revolutionary socialist state in transition from capitalism to communism. There are some lovely images, e.g., Marx and Engels on the Paris Commune as the dictatorship of the proletariat, Lenin's pamphlet on the future of a communist state in The State and Revolution, etc., but very little on the revolutionary socialist state as a functioning modern state, much less (if anything at all) on civil liberty in particular and liberty in general under such a state. This just seems to me to be a big hole in Marxist thinking. ^^ CB: No doubt Marxists should do criticism/self-criticism on this as on anything. Continuous improvement ! However, there is Marxist writing and thinking on these topics post-Lenin. Fidel Castro and other Cuban Marxists might be a good place to start, since Marxists tend to write based on practice, rather than utopian cookbooks for the future. Utopian or not, the CPUSA has had the idea of Bill of Rights Socialism for the U.S. for fifteen years or so. Of course, much of the intellectual Marxist/Left likes to act like the CPUSA can't think ( or can't think as well as them), so such Marxist discussions of civil rights and liberties are invisible to many U.S. Leftists. (See below) A main problem is that all actually existing ,modern socialist states have been under the gun from imperialism big time before and during the Cold War. This has placed an enormous limitation on demilitarizing socialist states and societies. Thus, masses in socialism have lived under socialism all too literally. It has also undermined the ability to provide materially for the population. Freedom from material want is a main aim for unique general liberty under socialism as the Marxist writers and thinkers on socialist liberty say. It is not so much that Marxists have lacked a theory of liberty and civil rights and liberties , but that the enormous wars and threats of wars, blockades etc. of imperialism have thwarted the fulfillment of Marxist ideals for liberty and freedom, including preservation of many of the liberal/bourgeois liberties and freedoms in socialism. Anyway, a main _theoretical_ discussion of Marxist thinkers is the affirmative freedom or enabling freedom that comes with assurance of a livelihood and fulfillment of material needs. This is contrasted with freedoms from interference by the state -negative freedom. Theoretically, Socialism adds more affirmative freedom to negative freedom. See Herbert Aptheker's _The Nature of Democracy, Freedom and Revolution_ for extensive Marxist discussion of civil liberty and liberty in general, including in socialism. See also, my For a Constitutional Amendment for a Right to a Livelihood. ^^ http://www.pww.org/archives96/96-01-20-3.html US History points to 'Bill of Rights Socialism' by Emil Shaw This article was reprinted from the January 20, 1996 issue of the People's Weekly World.. Bill of Rights Socialism refers to the concept of a socialism that grows out of a defense and extension of the popular rights referred to in the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution: the rights to free speech, free press, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly, trial by jury, the right not to bear witness against oneself in a criminal case, freedom from unreasonable search and seizure of one's possessions. It also conveys the idea that we will incorporate U.S. traditions into the structure of socialism that the working class will create. The U.S. Constitution in 1787, against the fierce opposition of the farmers and working people of that time, was put into place, at a secret convention of the Continental Congress by the ruling class (bankers and large merchants) to establish firmer control over the people and to be able to continue to maintain a hold over the lands taken from the Indians and to continue the robbery of future lands from the Indians. It was not until 1791, in response to the continued struggle of the people, against this banker-imposed tyranny, that the first 10 amendments, The Bill of Rights, was attached to the Constitution. Within the last 130 years, this class struggle, in various forms, has resulted in the further extension of popular rights in the Constitution : freedom from slavery (13,14, 15th amendments - 1865, 1868, 1870); the right of women to vote (19th -1920); anti-poll tax amendment (24th-1964); lowering the voting age to 18 (26th - 1971). At each stage of the struggle there have been people who were of the opinion that the Constitution was so oppressive that the best thing would be to have it abolished or re- written. However, the vast majority adopted the method of using the Constitution as a means of improving it. One of the clearest examples of this difference was the debate between Frederick Douglas and William Lloyd Garrison between 1840 and 1850, on the question of the
[PEN-L] While Y'all Were Busy 'Theorizing' - The 'Sheehan Brigade' Forces The Democrats To Retreat
I remember when the organized left was calling Cindy Sheehan...what was it? Was it confused, irrelevant and ineffectual or somesuch? It seems like such a lng time ago, but it was just last year. Most of them still believe it losers. In The News: It's the Democrats Hour of Power - the 110th session begins today amidst all the appropriate pomp and folderol. Part 2: The people who put them in power aren't entirely confident about their loyalties. Cindy Sheehan gives a press conference where the point was It's the war, stupid! after breaking up a democrat press conference on domestic policy and other issues... forcing a retreat to chambers. http://leighm.net/blog/2007/01/04/tth_070104/ More News: What’s worse than losing a battle? Losing one you planned… According to published studies, the lockdown of Baghdad and al-Anbar NEVER had enough troops to succeed. John Negroponte resigns as Director of National Intelligence to become Deputy Secretary of State, most likely specializing in Iraq, a mess he helped create. He will be replaced by the director of the NSA, McConnell, a Colin Powell protege’. Saddam Hussein’s cell phone snuff film: Two guards and one supervising official take the rap. Protests and mourning continue. His co-defendant’s executions have been delayed, most likely at the behest of the U.S. government. One of the condemned is a judge who did nothing more than rule on the validity of the original Dujail trials. Nevertheless, the form of justice currently being practiced in Iraq tends towards the extralegal. Case in point: “She (U.N. spokesperson Michele Montas) said that under international treaties that Iraq had signed, Hussein had the right to appeal to the appropriate authorities for consideration of commutation or pardon.” The Denial File: EXXONMobil spent $16 million in the 80s on research that would attempt to disprove global warming. http://leighm.net/blog/2007/01/04/tth_070104/
[PEN-L] art and hard questions
At 23:20 02/01/2007, Yoshie wrote about some holes in Marxist thinking and said: There are a few exceptions, though, but mainly in the area of Marxist art, e.g.: blockquoteFor example, the learning play The Measures Taken confronts the audience with basic questions of revolution: violence, discipline, the structure of the party, the relation to the masses, revolutionary justice, and so on. In the plot, revolutionaries are forced to sacrifice a comrade to advance the aims of the revolution and he submits to the discipline. There is no correct doctrine set forth; the actors are to present a scene and then discuss it with the audience. Indeed, I saw a performance of this play in the 1970s and it elicited strenuous debate among the members of the audience -- Stalinists, Trotksyists, members of the New Left, liberals, and hardcore anti-communists -- about politics and morality. (Douglas Kellner, Brecht's Marxist Aesthetic, http://www.uta.edu/english/dab/illuminations/kell3.html)/blockquote Most Marxists avoid the kind of hard questions that Brecht sought to compel the audience to consider. This is something that artists like Brecht can do and do well. But, how often do we take the work of those artists and create a forum which does compel the audience to consider those questions? How many people have used this play or others in order to explore these problems and to help develop a revolutionary consciousness? I remember a reading of this very play way back when I was in grad school in Wisconsin and it was extremely effective--- exactly what Kellner describes from a decade later. Around 5 years ago, when working with a group, 'Rebuilding the Left' (self-explanatory name), I staged a reading of Wallace Shawn's 'The Fever' by dividing what was written as a long monologue into sequences to be read by 5 non-professionals drawn from the different constituencies we were trying to organise (eg., trade union, feminist, anti-globalisation, community and environmental activists). The play is a wonderful one (including an excellent description of reading Capital and understanding... briefly... the concept of commodity fetishism), which focuses upon a rich white liberal who goes to an unnamed country of the South, sympathises with the poor and thus the revolutionaries who are fighting and being tortured. As the play continues, however, the protagonist turns against the poor and supports the torture of those who would try to change things; the key turning point occurs where s/he is thinking about giving money to a poor person and then thinks, 'why not give ALL my money to her?' and continues-- THAT's the question you must NEVER ask! (It's not a big leap to--- I WORKED for my money). Once the reading was over, I posed a series of questions-- basically, 'what was to be done?' What were the options? I anticipated (correctly) that each of the readers would attract their own friends drawn largely from their constituencies. What I never expected was that the most vigorous participants in the discussion that followed (2 nights with different readers) were the readers themselves who were completely absorbed in the play in a way that observers could not be. (Ie., a rich discussion with positions like--- this is a male perspective, this is liberalism, this is the difference between liberalism and marxism, there are no individualistic solutions, etc.) Ie., a great success, I felt, but one major problem (before you try this at home): it's too long! The reading itself takes about 100 minutes, and when you add a bathroom, etc break, you have two hours before the discussion has even begun. I thought I'd try editing it down to a hour's length to avoid the inevitable loss of people, exhaustion for many, etc and then to present it again, but other things have intervened. But, it was a great learning experience. I should note as well that we put these activities on at what was then a great annual Vancouver event, 'Mayworks', two weeks of political art and discussion at the time of May Day. (The other activities organised that year for it by RtL were 4 panels on the theme of 'Thinking Practice', exploring current forms of activism, and a staged performance of Marcos' writings.) Also, for the record, RtL no longer exists in Vancouver as most of its activists are involved in the anti-war movement; however, the best parts of it in Ontario now function as 'the Socialist Project'. So, back to Yoshie's point: Brecht and other writers can pose important and hard questions, but do they make a sound in the forest? in solidarity, michael Michael A. Lebowitz Professor Emeritus Economics Department Simon Fraser University Burnaby, B.C., Canada V5A 1S6 Currently based in Venezuela. NOTE NEW PHONE NUMBERS Can be reached at Residencias Anauco Suites Departamento 601 Parque Central, Zona Postal 1010, Oficina 1 Caracas, Venezuela (58-212) 573-6333, 571-1520, 571-3820 (or hotel
[PEN-L] Fwd: [pr-x] A Call For Support
Date: Thu, 04 Jan 2007 08:37:05 -0800 From: Will Offley [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 7.1.0.9 Cc: Subject: [pr-x] A Call For Support X-BeenThere: [EMAIL PROTECTED] X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Reply-To: RTL, project-x: it's ALL THE SAME [EMAIL PROTECTED] List-Id: RTL, project-x: it's ALL THE SAME project-x.lists.resist.ca List-Unsubscribe: https://lists.resist.ca/mailman/listinfo/project-x, mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] List-Archive: https://lists.resist.ca/pipermail/project-x List-Post: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] List-Help: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] List-Subscribe: https://lists.resist.ca/mailman/listinfo/project-x, mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] X-Spam-Level: Spam-Level X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.1.1 (2006-03-10) on antibody3.sfu.ca X-Virus-Scanned: by antibody.sfu.ca running antivirus scanner www.SoldierSayNo.blogspot.com Kyle Snyder speaks outside gates of Fort Benning, Georgia, along with fellow Iraq veteran and war resister, Darrell Anderson, and Iraq Veterans Against the War, at November protest against the School of the Americas. Kyle Snyder, AWOL from the U.S. occupation of Iraq, continues his impromptu speaking tour of the United States. He was last sighted in California, where, on Dec. 8, Alameda police attempted to arrest him at the Armys request (see below). Kyle continues to seek a discharge from the Army. And he continues to call for his fellow soldiers to come home from Iraq. BACKGROUND After spending a year and a half as a political refugee in Canada, Kyle Snyder returned to the U.S. in late October in order to be discharged from the Army. Kyle hoped to get the Army off his back and to be able to return to Canada and begin a normal life. But the understanding his lawyer, Jim Fennerty, had reached with Army Major Brian Patterson evaporated shortly after Kyle presented himself at Fort Knox, Kentucky on October 31. Kyle, who understood he would be discharged in three days, was instead ordered to report to his old unit, the 94th Engineering Battalion, at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. Commanders there would decide his fate. There would be no guarantees. He might be court-martialed and imprisoned. He might be ordered back to Iraq. The 94th Engineers are slated to return to Iraq for a third time in August. Now, with President Bushs escalation of the war, their deployment date will likely be moved up. Would the Army would want to make an example of Kyle? Might he face additional serious charges? Kyle Snyder is not a fool. This was not why he took the chance of returning to the U.S. When Fort Knox authorities dropped him off unescorted at the Greyhound bus station in Louisville, Kyle resumed his AWOL status. OUT THERE AWOL But instead of slipping into the shadows with 8,000+ other young men and women currently on unauthorized absence from the military, Kyle is speaking out loud against the U.S. war on the people of Iraq. He tells people it is illegal and immoral. He tells people it is crazy. But Kyle is not one to be rhetorical. Very compellingly, he tells his own story. How he was recruited from Job Corps with promises of money, education and pride. How he trained as a construction equipment operator, and believed he would be rebuilding in Iraq. How, once in Iraq he was given a 50-caliber machine gun and told to point his personal weapon of mass destruction at young children. Kyle also tells how he witnessed an innocent civilian being shot by a fellow soldier, and how, despite his report on the incident, the Army refused to even investigate. That is when Kyle was given a two-week leave to visit British Columbia, Canada. But Kyle decided not to return to the war. Instead, he applied for political refugee status in Canada. He lived in Canada for a year and a half before returning to the U.S. in October to seek a discharge from the Army. KYLE SUPPORTS ANTIWAR REFERENDUM IN CHICAGO Kyle has made many appearances around these United States since October 31. On November 6, the day before the midterm election, Kyle Snyder spoke at a well-attended press conference in Chicago, where he encouraged Chicagoans to vote yes on a referendum calling for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. On the following day, 80% of them did just that, along with millions of Illinois voters. Kyle spoke to Spanish language media in Chicago along with Juan Torres, whose son served in the Army as a Certified Public Accountant in charge of all cargo in and out of Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan. After telling his father that had learned of things that made him fear for his life, Spc. Juan Torres, Jr. was murdered while taking a shower. Juan Torres is conducting an independent investigation of his sons death, which the Army claims was a suicide. On Veterans Day, Kyle spoke at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial
[PEN-L] An Inconvenient Truth
Today the temperature is forecasted not to go above 55 degrees Fahrenheit (12.7 degrees Celsius) in New York City. For the entire month of December and now into January, the coldest month of the year, there has not been a single day beneath freezing to my knowledge. Those conditions obviously reflect the subject of Al Gore's documentary An Inconvenient Truth that I viewed last night. Despite my political opposition to Gore and despite my qualms about the documentary's refusal to follow through on its implications, I can recommend it as a very good introduction to the problems of global warming. It is also a fascinating document on the divided psychology of a ruling class politician as he tries to cope with a threat to the capitalist system, but without allowing himself to break from that system. As the 21st century wends its way toward certain disaster, more and more such politicians will be challenged to respond to grave threats to the environment. To Gore's credit, he has stepped out in front. It will of course be up to the class that has nothing to lose to go all the way. full: http://louisproyect.wordpress.com/2007/01/04/an-inconvenient-truth/ -- www.marxmail.org
[PEN-L] Military Recruiting: How DO They Meet Their Benchmarks? - NPP
By moving the goalposts... Just before the holidays, the National Priorities Project released to the media its analysis of military recruits http://nationalpriorities.org/militaryrecruits06 in 2006. The story appeared in a major piece in the Los Angeles Times http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-draft24dec24,1,3762290.story?coll=la-news-a_section, which The Chicago Tribune ran as a front page article and a dozen other major media outlets, including The Boston Globe and The San Francisco Chronicle, published as well. I've copied below our press release for your information as well. Hope your 2007 is off to a good sta rt. Best, Pam Pamela Schwartz, Outreach Director *Army Fails to Meet its Own Recruitment Benchmarks;* *Wealthy Recruits Continue to be Under-Represented * Northampton, MA -- The Army filled its ranks in 2006 by ignoring its own benchmarks for recruits' education standards, according to an analysis of *2006 military recruitment data http://nationalpriorities.org/militaryrecruits06*released today by the National Priorities Project (NPP), a non-profit research organization that studies the local impact of federal policies. According to the Army's benchmark, 90 percent of new recruits should have a high school diploma. In 2006, 73 percent of all new recruits met this requirement, a drop of 13 percentage points since 2004. While President Bush talks about expanding the troops to fight the war in Iraq, the Army is already going after kids who haven't had the privilege of finishing high school, said Anita Dancs, research director of the National Priorities Project. It appears that the Army's ticket to recruitment success is finding young men and women with limited opportunities. At the same time, 2006 Army recruits from wealthy neighborhoods -- those with median household incomes of $60,000 and above -- continued to be under-represented at about the same level as 2005 and more so than in 2004, according to the NPP analysis http://nationalpriorities.org/militaryrecruits06. The low- and middle-income neighborhoods were more over-represented than in 2004. State and county military recruitment data and analysis are available at www.nationalpriorities.org/militaryrecruits06 http://www.nationalpriorities.org/militaryrecruits06. The answer to these inequities or shortfalls in military recruiting is not a draft, Dancs continued. Instead, we should be talking about how we can ensure these young people get a quality education and avoid this devil's choice by not engaging in wars of choice. The NPP analysis http://nationalpriorities.org/militaryrecruits06 indicates that the states with the largest proportion of high-quality recruits were: North Dakota (59 percent), Nebraska, Iowa, Wisconsin, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Ohio, Pennsylvania and South Dakota. All of those except for Nebraska and Wisconsin had recruiting rates (recruits per 1000 youth population) below the national average. None of these states had a proportion of high-quality recruits equal to the national average of 2004. The states with the lowest proportion of high-quality recruits were: Mississippi (35 percent), Alabama (37 percent), Arkansas, Louisiana, Nevada, Georgia, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Hawaii, and Tennessee. Of those, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Rhode Island were below the national recruiting rate. -30- - If you received this email from a colleague and would like to join our email list, please email us at [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] to subscribe.
[PEN-L] My Letter To Juan Cole in re The CIA's Involvement with The Baath Party
A daring mid-morning attack on Informed Comment's informed source. ... Pullquote: Al-Maliki is defending his hasty execution of Saddam, which one judge called illegal because 30 days were supposed to pass after the appeal ruling. Forget about what the Iraqi judicial system thinks. They are NOT in charge. Further, the Iraqi government violated signed international treaties when they lynched Saddam Hussein. Case in point: “She (U.N. spokesperson Michele Montas) said that under international treaties that Iraq had signed, Hussein had the right to appeal to the appropriate authorities for consideration of commutation or pardon.” http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=36064; Another treaty ignored... MY! They ARE learning alot from U.S. culture and history... I also want to mention that the fellow professor Cole quotes in regard to Saddam's involvement with the U.S. State Department and the CIA is NOT convincing, except it DOES convince me that double-talk and disingenuity are a way of life in official American foreign policy discussion with the common people. The problem is... I'm not common, and I'm not buying into this semantic BS. To wit: There were penetrations of the Party, but no liaison with it. http://www.juancole.com/2007/01/conflicting-accounts-of-cia-and-saddam.html Professor Cole, I was an New York based antiwar activist in the 1960s, and I watched as the movement was 'penetrated' by the U.S. government. When the Chicago police killed Black Panther Fred Hampton in the middle of the night at his apartment in Chicago, they knew EXACTY where he was sleeping. Penetration... a different definition perhaps, but quite relevant to the discussion. They never ...'liasoned' with the BPP, yet they indirectly steered it, caused turmoil within it, and destroyed it. The organization I was in (name on request)... Of ...20 core members, 25 percent turned out to be informers, feds, or police. I could see it in some... others were much better at... penetration. Needless to say, these people... (Google or NameBase George Demmerle, for a start) ...never liased(sic) with me or anyone else in the group.. My point Professor Cole: Your friend is walking you into a semantic minefield. Don't go there. The CIA was intrinsically involved, and anyone who's ever dealt with the FBI, a major city's B.S.S or 'Red Squad', knows their role in an organization's structure, aims, and goals is tangential, as was your acquaintance's statement. --30-- http://www.juancole.com/2007/01/al-maliki-hints-at-early-departure.html#comments [Currently awaiting moderation, and one hit on my site from the Washington, DC area so far...]
[PEN-L] Blockin' The Vote, Not Rockin' The Vote - Test Lab Didn't Follow Their Own QA or Record That E-Vote Machines Were Even Tested
Typical industrial BS... The *all* love to talk mil-spec 415D and ISO-9001, but when it comes down to the crunch... when they don't get the results they are looking for, the QA goes out the window long before the engineers and designers do. http://susiemadrak.com/2007/01/04/13/54/destroying-democracy/ [links to NYTimes story] A laboratory that has tested most of the nation’s electronic voting systems has been temporarily barred from approving new machines after federal officials found that it was not following its quality-control procedures and could not document that it was conducting all the required tests. The company, Ciber Inc. of Greenwood Village, Colo., has also come under fire from analysts hired by New York State over its plans to test new voting machines for the state. New York could eventually spend $200 million to replace its aging lever devices. Experts on voting systems say the Ciber problems underscore longstanding worries about lax inspections in the secretive world of voting-machine testing. The action by the federal Election Assistance Commission seems certain to fan growing concerns about the reliability and security of the devices. The commission acted last summer, but the problem was not disclosed then. Officials at the commission and Ciber confirmed the action in recent interviews. ...
[PEN-L] Don't Call Them 'Red Squads'... It's Intelligence-led policing
Speaking of B.S.S. ops and 'Red Squads': People's Daily Online --- http://english.people.com.cn/ January 01, 2007 U.S. local authorities build own intelligence centers http://english.people.com.cn/200701/01/eng20070101_337520.html U.S. states and cities are building their own network of intelligence centers, or fusion centers, led by police to help detect and disrupt terrorist plots, The Washington Post reported Sunday. The centers, which are now operating in 37 states, including Virginia and Maryland, and the Washington area, pool and analyze information from local, state and federal law enforcement officials, the report said, citing the Department of Homeland Security. The emerging network of networks marks a new era of opportunity for law enforcement, as local police are hungry for federal intelligence in an age of homegrown terrorism and more sophisticated crime, while federal law enforcement officials could benefit from a potential army of tipsters - the 700,000 local and state police officers across the country, as well as private security guards and others being courted by the centers, according to U.S. officials and homeland security experts. The fusion centers, a military coinage, range from small conference facilities to high-tech nerve centers with expensive communications networks. Some do investigations, while others focus on information-sharing - passing tips to the FBI and scanning federal intelligence for developments of interest to local departments. Some have explored the use of controversial data-mining software in keeping with their respective state laws, the report said. The centers are emerging as a key element in a sometimes chaotic new domestic intelligence infrastructure, which also includes homeland security units in local police forces and 103 FBI-led terrorism task forces, triple the number that existed before the Sept. 11 attacks. The emerging model of intelligence-led policing, however, faces risks on all sides. The centers are popping up with little federal leadership and training, raising fears of overzealousness such as that associated with police red squads that spied on civil rights and peace activists decades ago. The centers also face practical obstacles that could limit their effectiveness, including a shortage of money, skilled analysts, and proven relationships with the FBI and Homeland Security, the report said. Civil liberties advocates worry that the fledgling fusion centers could stray into monitoring people engaged in lawful activities, and privacy advocates are also concerned about the vast amount of information some fusion centers collect - and the sometimes vague limits on its use and storage, the report said. Source: Xinhua
[PEN-L] Just Foreign Policy News, January 4, 2007
Just Foreign Policy News January 4, 2007 http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/newsroom/blog/ The Four Questions The new Congress is taking its seats. President Bush is planning to surge troops in Iraq. Get Members of Congress and Presidential Candidates on the record on the Four Questions. The Surge. The timetable. The funding. Talks with Iran. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mark-weisbrot-and-robert-naiman/the-four-questions-get_b_37841.html Tell Your Representatives: Stop the Money and Bring the Troops Home Please write/call your Members of Congress if you have not done so recently. http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/involved/iraq.html Talk to Iran: Petition More than 40,000 have signed the Peace Action/Just Foreign Policy petition. Please sign/circulate if you have yet to do so. http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/involved/iranpetition.html Support the Work of Just Foreign Policy http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/donate.html Just Foreign Policy News daily podcast: http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/podcasts/podcast_howto.html Summary: U.S./Top News Many politicians are getting away with bobbing and weaving on key questions about Iraq policy, writes Robert Naiman on Huffington Post. Just Foreign Policy calls on Americans to demand straight answers from politicians on Bush's surge, a timetable for withdrawal of all US troops and bases, opposition to funding to continue the war into 2008, and direct US talks with Iran and Syria. Some key Senate Democrats say they could consider supporting a short-term increase in American troop levels in Iraq, the New York Times reports. Senator Carl Levin, head of the Armed Services Committee, said he would not prejudge the president's proposal. But Senator Joseph Biden, chair of the Foreign Relations Committee, has said he is opposed to increasing troop strength regardless of the plan. President Bush plans to order extra U.S. troops to Iraq, but in smaller numbers than previously reported, the Miami Herald reports. The president is considering dispatching three to four U.S. combat brigades to Iraq, or no more than 15,000 to 20,000 U.S. troops. A small but increasingly influential group of neoconservatives are again helping steer Iraq policy, the Los Angeles Times reports. A key part of the plan Bush is expected to announce next week - a surge in troops coupled with a more focused counterinsurgency effort - has been one of the chief recommendations of these neocons since 2003. The taunts hurled at Saddam Hussein before his execution Saturday have prompted some U.S. officials and Iraqi politicians to conclude Prime Minister Maliki's government is led by Shiite Muslim radicals and can't be counted on to disarm Shiite militias, McClatchy News reports. Several U.S. officials said the Bush administration no longer can expect Maliki to tackle the militias because Hussein's hanging exposed the depth of the government's sectarianism. Across the country Americans are holding vigils to mark 3000 U.S. deaths in Iraq and call for the end to the war, USA Today reports. Anne Chay, a high school teacher whose son is in Baghdad, said the presence of U.S. troops in Iraq was serving no good purpose. We don't appear to be welcome there, she said. Hearing it firsthand from your son … it's just very discouraging. For the first time, more troops disapprove of the president's handling of the war than approve of it, Military Times reports. Only 41 percent of the military said the U.S. should have gone to war in Iraq in the first place. The number of injured U.S. troops in Iraq has far outstripped the dead, with the Veterans Administration reporting that more than 150,000 veterans of the Iraq war are receiving disability benefits, Inter Press Service reports. Soldiers who survive attacks are often severely disabled for life. Pentagon guidelines now allow commanders to redeploy soldiers suffering from traumatic stress disorders, a policy veterans blame for the death of Army Reservist James Dean, killed in a standoff with police over Christmas. Dean, who served 18 months in Afghanistan, had been diagnosed with PTSD. He had just been informed his unit would be sent to Iraq on Jan. 14. The first Muslim elected to Congress says he will take his oath of office using a Quran once owned by Thomas Jefferson, USA Today reports. Iran Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, President Ahmedinijad's main opponent in the last presidential elections in Iran, warned that international pressure on Iran could have dangerous consequences, the New York Times reports. But a former nuclear negotiator for Iran said that Iran should try to understand the international community's concerns. Israel must help President Bush pave the way for a U.S. military attack on Iran by lobbying the Democratic Party, U.S. newspaper editors and Democratic presidential candidates, writes Israeli general Oded Tira, in the online version of Israel's largest daily. Israel/Palestine Five Palestinians were killed Wednesday in a resurgence of factional
[PEN-L] FW: Tom Paine's Birthday: this year's events
-Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, January 04, 2007 8:14 PM Subject: Tom Paine's Birthday: this year's events Folks, finally got the first of this year's announcements up on the website last weekend over the holiday. They are visible at: http://www.tompaine.org/bday_events.html It's not too late to share other events that you may know of or participate in. There is a simple announcement form at: http://www.tompaine.org/bday_registration.html This year we hope to add an archive with a record of previous events and more historical links and data. Best wishes for the New Year. *This is a message from the Thomas Paine Birthday website at http://www.tompaine.org If you wish to unsubscribe from this list, just reply with unsubscribe please in the subject line.
[PEN-L] Hang Bush for war crimes
We have now seen comprehensive lists of what Saddam did, what he did not, what he was charged with, and what he wasnt. Using the same criteria, what could we charge G.W. Bush with? And once we have that, let's do the same for his 'brother-in-arms-father' and his advisor so we have the same number of accused as the Baghdad kangaroo court. BTW: the spellchecker prompted I change G. W. into GAWK - the spellchecker gets my person of the year award!!! Rui Rui Correia Advocacy, Human Rights, Media and Language Consultant 2 Cutten St, Horison, Roodepoort, Johannesburg, South Africa Tel/ Fax (+27-11) 766-4336 Cell (+27) (0) 83-368-1214 Quando a verdade é substituída pelo silêncio, o silêncio é uma mentira - Yevgeny Yevtushenko When truth is replaced by silence, the silence is a lie - Yevgeny Yevtushenko
