East Congo Genocide

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has been on the Museum's Warning list since 2003. The Museum's concern about DRC stems from the:
Relationship of the crisis to the 1994 Rwandan genocide
Scale and effects of violence against civilians
Mass sexual violence against women
Continued fighting in the East
Role of ethnicity in the perpetration of violenceThe Democratic Republic of the Congo (known as Zaire until 1997) has suffered two wars since 1996. The first war (1996), began as a direct result of the 1994 Rwandan genocide. The second began in 1998 and involved the armed forces of at least seven countries and multiple militias. According to the International Rescue Committee, since 1998, an estimated 5.4 million people have died, most from preventable diseases as a result of the collapse of infrastructure, lack of food security, displacement, and destroyed health-care systems.In 2006, DRC held the first multi-party elections in over 40 years, and over 25 million citizens participated. The elections signified the end of a three-year transition period during which time the country moved from intense war to a system of power sharing between the former government, former armed forces, opposition parties, and civil society. However, national and provincial structures remain incapable of ensuring basic security for communities, providing transparent management of resources and wealth, and addressing entrenched problems of corruption, poverty, lack of development and heightened ethnic and regional tensions.In the East, the war never conclusively ended. A range of armed forces continue to perpetrate violence against the civilian population, including forced displacement, abductions, looting, forceful recruitment and use of child soldiers, and massive sexual violence. According to the United Nations, 27,000 sexual assaults were reported in 2006 in South Kivu Province alone, a figure that represents only those assaults that were officially reported. Ethnic hostility, fed by inter-group violence in Congo over the past ten years in addition to the impact of genocide and violence in Rwanda and Burundi, has produced an environment where groups fear their entire existence is under threat and engage in pre-emptive attacks. Multiple armed forces, including the national armed forces and various militias engage in armed conflict and prey on the civilian population. Among the most brutal of the armed forces are the FDLR, a group whose leadership is associated with the perpetrators of the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

Two Days Before the Israeli Attack

Hamas on Wednesday remained as defiant as ever and said it would continue to fire rockets at Israel as an act of "self-defense."

Islamic Jihad terrorists place rockets before firing them towards Israel on the outskirts of Gaza City, Saturday.Photo: AP
Slideshow: Pictures of the week
Hamas also mocked what it described as the "state of confusion" in Israel over how to react to the latest spree of rocket and mortar attacks.
The movement also claimed that the Egyptians had given Israel a "green light" to launch a limited military operation in the Gaza Strip to overthrow the Hamas government.

JPost.com

Killing Innocent Civilians

Bombing innocent civilians does not merit their trust for any kind of peace. Killing innocent citizens of a nuclear power requires a death wish.

A Puppy for Christmas

Every year, five million cats and dogs are gassed to death or lethally injected with sodium pentobarbital in American animal shelters. The word 'euthanasia' is a grotesque euphemism. There is no mercy in these deaths. Most of the animals are healthy, rambunctious, and young. They die terrified, and they die pointlessly: very few are vicious; most are capable of forming deep affectionate bonds with humans.
Some are sick or injured, but could be saved with little effort. Some are feral cats who before their detention were enjoying or enduring lives no better, perhaps, but certainly no worse than that of any other wild animal.
Until recently, the public was generally unaware of the extent of the slaughter; those who knew were told by shelter authorities that there was no choice: America was suffering from a "pet overpopulation" crisis, the consequence of the public's irresponsibility in permitting their animals to reproduce without restraint and their propensity to abandon puppies and kittens that had outgrown their initial fey charm.
Shelters in America have begun to use the No Kill model, with dramatic results
Enter Nathan Winograd, attorney for the condemned. In 1994, Winograd, a graduate of Stanford law school and former criminal prosecutor, abandoned his lucrative career as a corporate attorney to begin a campaign against the killing, and in doing so, started a revolution in American animal shelter practices.
There were more than enough Americans who would be willing to adopt these animals if they knew about them, Winograd argued, and there was always an alternative to killing them. The problem was not the irresponsibility of the American public; it was the shocking unwillingness of shelter workers to exercise the slightest bit of imagination, practical or moral, to find alternatives to killing. Case in point: shelters that campaigned to discourage people from adopting puppies and kittens at Christmas time.
In 2001, Winograd was appointed executive director of the Tompkins County SPCA in upstate New York. Upon his arrival, he told his employees that there would be no more killing - period. If they could not figure out a way to find homes for the animals in their care, they would be fired. "Staff," he told them, "are paid to save lives. If they throw up their hands and say 'There is nothing we can do,' I may as well eliminate their position and use the money more constructively to either hire someone who will find a solution or for something else like temporary boarding space at a local kennel."
It is ludicrous that the lives of feral cats are so bad that it is kind to kill them
Within a year, half the staff were fired and 93 per cent of the animals were saved. The shelter's budget deficit was transformed into a surplus.
In 2005, Winograd founded the No Kill Advocacy Center, a national organisation aimed at ending the killing of pets in animal shelters. Thanks largely to Winograd, shelters throughout America have begun to implement the No Kill model, with dramatic results. Cities such as Philadelphia and Charlottesville have ceased to be animal-extermination machines.
The No Kill model involves trapping, vaccinating, neutering and releasing feral cats - not least because killing the animals simply doesn't control their numbers. Cats will keep breeding until their population reaches the limits of what the local rat and garbage population will support. Unless they are exterminated to the very last kitten, they will keep replenishing themselves.

Carole Berlinski, FirstPost.co.uk

You Might Consider Moving to India

India lacks "the food stamp program, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, or anything else that does good for NON-SUPER RICH Crooks or the "middle class", or the poor, disabled, elderly AND children "COSTING TOO MUCH".
Reply:
Every day my friend left her Mumbai mansion to attend college. Sometimes, her driver had to stop at the front gate to remove the bodies of those who had come there to die. She was upset she might not get to school on time.
About 200 millions Indians have joined the modern economy. They live well by any standard. The other 1.2 billions are in dire straits.
America without safety nets would become a much crueler nation similar to India.

Nobody Wants My Ferrari

Nobody Wants My Ferrari

Ferrari values succumb to recession
Buyers cautious as prestigious Italian cars struggle to sell at auction.

By Paul Hudson, Telegraph.co.uk

This immaculate 1955 Ferrari 121LM Spyder Corsa failed to sell.
Desirable Ferraris have usually been considered less immune to the vicissitudes of the world’s financial markets than most other marques, but car collectors kept their hands firmly in their pockets at last weekend’s Bonhams sale of Ferraris and associated memorabilia in Gstaad.
Many of the star lots failed to reach their estimates and were consequently not sold, although most of the more affordable lots found buyers. Even then, they struggled to achieve the lower end of their estimated prices.
The annual ‘Ferrari et les Prestigieuses Italiennes’ auction at Gstaad featured a host of not only desirable but seminal Ferraris for sale, most notably a 1955 121LM Spyder Corsa that competed in the 1955 Le Mans 24 Hours and that year’s Mille Miglia road race in the hands of Phil Hill, Eugenio Castellotti, Umberto Maglioli and Carroll Shelby. It was estimated at £2,808,450 to £3,945,000 but the price for one of the most collectible competition Ferraris to emerge on the open market for many years was apparently too steep as buyers responded to current financial woes with extreme caution.
An immaculate, 192 F40 also failed to sell, as did the 1951 212 Export Spider that came third overall in the 1951 Mille Miglia.
A 1967 275GTB/4, estimated at £717,000 to £836,000, had reached only £595,000 before the hammer fell.
The Ferrari ‘Daytona’ (proper name the 365GTB/4) coupe has been fetching high prices but one of the examples at Gstaad, one of only 530 Series 1 cars and estimated at £232,800 to £268,600, failed to sell.
Even the most desirable of all modern Ferraris, the limited edition Enzo that was a showcase for the company’s Formula One technology, failed to meet its 805,000 to £990,000.
However, a Dino 246GT coupe formerly owned by renowned Porsche racer Hans Herrman did find a buyer, although it only realised £92,350 against an estimate of £105,000 to £136,000.
A notable exception to the trend was Lot 234, a 1990 Maserati Quattroporte Royale saloon that has covered only 7,500km from new, which fetched 24,000 Swiss Francs (£14,755) against an estimate of 12,000-16,000ChF (£7,377-£9,842).

Rockets Trump Food Supplies

Rockets Trump Food Supplies Every Time
Although I am an Israeli, I would never pretend to speak for Israel. On the ground, however, I would offer a few corrections for the record. The 2006 war was the Palestinian reaction to our pulling out of Gaza and building a wall to keep them out of Israel. They were missing the medical services, the jobs and the welfare we had provided for them in Israel.
When the cease fire began, we were sending 500 or 600 trucks of supplies to them. The Hamas responded with rockets killing a number of our citizens. The Hamas told Gaza. "Look at all those trucks WE BROUGHT YOU from our rocket fire."
Since then, the rockets continue daily and the number of trucks has diminished to 50 or 60. With the avowed purpose of Hamas to throw us into the sea, some Israelis want to dethrone Hamas and make a peace deal with Fatah. Others [mostly American settlers] have embarked on a more violent course. They reflect the American culture that has no place in Asia. Most Israelis are of oriental extraction a more docile and pacific branch of Judaism.
Killing 7.4 millions of Asians the Americans are not the champions of human rights or the Princes of Peace. If the writer sets various Jewish villainous straw men to 'prove' a point, I am sure American Jewish pundits will wipe up the floor with him.
One item must be clear. The Last Battle will pit God and the Jews against the rest of the world. We won't start it because all those who conduct a preemptive war receive a million years in hell.

Anybody Can Become a Nuclear Power

Anybody Can Be a Nuclear Power

Twenty millions dollars can buy a suitcase nuclear bomb. Hard to detect, it is difficult to determine the owner.Against whom does the offended nation retaliate?Somebody in law enforcement should have tracked down the FBI and the State Department employees who sold our nuclear secrets in the Middle East.

Banking Mysteries and Other Dark Matters

Dark Matters and Energy

We can confirm the existence of only 4% of the matter/energy in our universe. The other 96% is a mystery to us. Our scientists can only infer the Dark Space through observations of magnetic fields and gravitational forces.
This is similar to watching the parts of a football game that occur between the forty-eight yard lines.
This phenomenon has taught me humility. I hope this characteristic spreads.
How can a CEO earn a salary that is 3,777 times larger than his employee? After a bank CEO writes down 64% of his firm's assets, he collects his eight-figure salary from the bail out money.
He ignores the original purpose of the bail out was to encourage consumer and small business lending. Instead, he fires his employees in their tens of thousands.
The financial wizards developed toxic mortgage instruments with enticingly low interest rates and payment terms. They sold over-priced homes to unqualified customers. When the mortgage reset at a higher interest rate, the monthly payment doubled and the property entered foreclosure. The bank is trying to resell it at a greatly reduced price. What did the bank do to earn ownership?
Ownership of the foreclosed properties should revert to the renters and buyers who occupied them.

'Deep Throat' Mark Felt Dies

Mark Felt's Last Birthday August, 2008

Thomas Tamm: A Whistleblower's Story

Thomas Tamm had spent a lifetime in law enforcement. A lawyer, his family had a long tradition of government service. After he learned of the Bush/NSA warrantless wiretapping criminal scheme, he knew it was a gross violation of the rule of law. He also was aware the penalty for whistle blowing was often a long prison sentence and sometimes death.

As Tamm is the subject of good reporting in the New York Times, Newsweek and the Huffington Post, I will comment on only one aspect. Several government Agencies did criminal work for Administration. They ignored the lawbreakers who were violating the human rights of the citizens. This neglect contributed greatly to the current Depression.

The new Administration should enter vigorous investigation and prosecution of the culprits.

Republican Barcelona 1936 Gerde Taro

Republican Militiawoman 1936 Gerde Taro

FirstPost.co.uk

The Last True Republicans

Republicans Spain 1938 Robert Capa

FirstPost.co.uk

Reaction to Obama's Israel Comments

Americans Pick on Israel Because Nobody Else Listens to Them
Mr Barack Obama could best show his good will by pulling his troops out of the war zones. He could best show his commitment to human rights by enforcing the 1948 UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights in his country.
His new UN Ambassador Dr Susan Rice has called on the UN to end Sudan's genocide in Darfur militarily. As 430,000 innocent civilians have died there, this would be a significant step forward.
In the past 40 years the Americans have killed 7.4 millions innocent civilians in Asia. Your government plans to contest the Chinese for oil concessions in Africa. The US is hardly in a posture to lecture anybody on crimes against humanity.
The careful reader may note the one-sidedness of Middle East peace negotiations. Israelis are the only ones listening. What we heard prompts us to build high walls and to keep our nuclear forces on alert.

$Billions to Banks; $000 to Workers

US Senate Seat for Sale

Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevitch Arrested

Happy Birthday Universal Declaration Human Rights

1948 UDHR

In 1999 my third plea before the Israeli Supreme Court ended in Disaster. Held illegally since 1992, I knew I would never leave the Holy Land alive. On my way from Court an attorney handed me a copy of the 1948 UDHR. Each Article hit me like a bullet. They had codified every evil act the state had done me. I was no longer alone.
Since then I have contacted thousands of victims in every nation. All of us know that having human rights is most vital.
They must constitute the rule of law throughout the world.
With all my heart I wish you eternal life Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Mugabe and Crimes Against Humanity

The Archbishop of York has called for Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe to be removed from power and sent to the Hague to answer for "crimes against humanity". Dr John Sentamu's call came after Prime Minister Gordon Brown yesterday urged the international community to tell Mugabe "enough is enough". He said food shortages and a cholera epidemic that is spreading to Zimbabwe's neighbours demand a co-ordinated response. (Observer)In pictures: Africa's cholera time bomb Zimbabwe Today: all the latest from our man in Harare

FirstPost.co.uk

The World Sleeps Enslaved

Mr Obama has staffed his Cabinet with establishment figures similar to the ones who ushered in this era of lawlessness. Their one saving grace is they know exactly how the thugs ruined our country.
The one jewel among Obama's appointees is the future UN Ambassador Dr Susan E Rice. She is one of the few Americans who speaks against genocide and actually does something about it.
The world suffers from the distinct lack of human rights and their enforcement. There is no government [aside from Costa Rica and Sweden] that empowers the people over the establishment.
The US and Israel stand out from other nations primarily because they are occupiers. Both pretend to be democracies while treating their citizens as dirt. At least, some of their citizens recognize their plight and seek redress.
The rest of the world sleeps enslaved.

How Soon They Forget!

Christopher Morris, Time

When a Citizen Has Power

The CIA can't plant a virus to blow up his computer.
The FBI can't wire tap his bedroom phone to determine his sexual preferences.
The local bank can't seize his house when he is hospitalized.
The dogcatcher can't break into his garden to haul off his pets.
The Health Department can't sell his kids to foster parents.
He can incarcerate his Representative, his Senators and his President.

Esquire October 1968

FirstPost.co.uk

Gas Guzzlers on Trial

Human beings are not clever enough to arrange a global recession. The actors strive to gain enormous local profits. OPEC seeks to maximize profits by raising prices and holding back on production. Food manufacturers run small farmers out of business and hold the lock on commodity prices. Mortgage holders ran toxic credit to unqualified home owners.Everybody knows how the stock market thrives with greed on the upside and fear on the downside.The economics is a thrilling drama. Last night FOX aired the Big3 CEO's. It was dramatic and tension-filled Christians in the lion's den.

New UN Ambassador Will Work Versus Genocide

If George Bush had wanted to aid the Iraqi people, he would have persuaded the UN to partner with him in Iraq.

Saddam had murdered 300,000 of his own citizens. He had built his Palace Guards to a force of 75,000 ruthless cutthroats.

Instead, the Americans waged a preemptive war that killed 1.4 millions innocent civilians and that failed to secure oil concessions for US firms.

Senator Barack Obama had opposed the Iraq War and he continued this during the Presidential campaign. This stance cost him votes throughout the primaries. Since the November election, he has staffed his national security team with tired old hawks from previous Administrations.

The one exception has been his designated UN Ambassador Susan E Rice. His foreign policy throughout the campaign, Dr Rice has opposed genocide. Since genocide is a taboo subject in America, Obama did not make a big issue about it.

I suspect he will prompt the UN to assign a large number of African Union and UN troops to stop the genocide in Darfur. This would be a complete turnaround from previous Administration foreign policy.

Wickedness Is a Big Expense

Wickedness Carries a Big Price Tag
The Americans would kill everybody in Asia so long as we didn't pay for it. Borrowing from the Chinese and printing 'Monopoly' currency we thought was painless.
Sadly, the wars have had trickle down effects such as moral and financial bankruptcy. This decay shows the results of preemptive land wars in Asia. Not many Americans are willing to surrender their homes and jobs to continue a bogus war on terror.
So, we haven't learned anything except that wickedness has a big price tag.

A Human Rights Abuse Victim Speaks

Sixteen Years in Chains

An illegal hold order has detained me in a Middle Eastern country for 16 years. I have committed no crime. Indeed, it was the 'host' nation that deprived me of human rights. All I received from 35 appearances in civil courts were several beatings that made me blind for four years and crippled me for life. They are guilty of violating 26 of my human rights as described by the 1948 UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
After I appealed to my native country's Embassy, the employees there notified my host's Interior Ministry. The Ministry issued an interrogation order on me and the Police chased me. Although I eluded them, they made a behind the back decision to make me a citizen. Then, the host Parliament enacted a new law that dual citizens had to pass a Police check to leave the country.
Suffice to say I will leave this place only in a coffin.
I have met scores of victims in similar situations. Most of them are dead.
Many human beings resist slavery and abuse in every way they can. Sadly, most of these efforts end in death. We are no match for the apparatus of the modern state.
Abolish slavery!

What Goes Up Must Come Down

Markets Tumbling Down Are a Vital Part of Capitalism

The consumers were not at fault. The banking industry issued toxic mortgages. The $700 billions lent them went for everything else but curing the credit crunch. Consequently, consumers and small business lack the credit to go forward. Thus, the threat of being homeless and jobless causes most Americans to see a bleak future. Of course, increased spending by them is not in the cards.
The average citizen needs a good job with the assurance it will continue. Job creation results when small businesses see a ready market and a chance for prosperity.
We need solid products that fulfill a real need not just paper shuffling. Over 40 years of artificial bubbles, get rich schemes and criminal enterprises have robbed the nation of common sense, innovation and resourcefulness.

Hiding a Recession

Creative Number Crunching

Republicans cooked the books in the election run-up.
The government bureaucrats plug data into models that simulate economic activities.
The published statistics are estimates based on estimates.
Any competent statistician or economist can massage the output to match his boss's expectations.

Anybody Can Become a Nuclear Power

Anybody Can Be a Nuclear Power

Twenty millions dollars can buy a suitcase nuclear bomb. Hard to detect, it is difficult to determine the owner.Against whom does the offended nation retaliate?Somebody in law enforcement should have tracked down the FBI and the State Department employees who sold our nuclear secrets in the Middle East.

Bush Coup Scenario

A Bush/Cheney Coup Is Possible
Since I haven't heard from Lyndon LaRouche after 1983, I thought he was dead. I watched the coverage of the siege on NDTV 18/3. It was realistic and utterly chaotic. Totally unlike the World Trade Center tragedy, they lacked a string of 'witnesses' who mouthed the Administration line.
I can't imagine the Brits being involved in this. They are too class conscious to murder tourists in posh hotels. The Mossad would have notified the Jews in the Chabad House to steer clear that day. The Americans are too much in love with their high tech toys to limit themselves to 300 dead. If a nuclear war begins, it will point directly at the USA. Nobody else hates Pakistan AND India enough to set up a nuclear war between them.
After the attack on Iran failed to materialize, the Republicans rushed to bail out the financial interests before the GOP scuttled the ship of state. As they did not want to get lynched before they left town, they lowered the gas prices. I thought they kept control of the MSM simply to keep from sinking below the radar. However, the estimate of Pakistani A-bombs has risen from 4 to 150 in the past few months.
Bush could attack India with a number of suitcase bombs, blame it on Pakistan and retaliate with the US Navy. He could declare Martial Law. Backed by the US Military patrolling our streets, he could remain POTUS for some time.

Bush Wants 20,000 Troops to Patrol Our Streets

The 1.8 millions Federal employees could not organize a two-car funeral.
The 20,000 troops may be effective versus peaceful demonstrators, strikers, angry welfare moms, partying teenagers and unruly toddlers. The losers of three wars can not defend ordinary citizens against a determined foe.
If the government wanted to protect us, they could have stopped the flow of US nuclear secrets to potential foes.
Since 2002 everybody knows about the FBI and State Department theft but nobody does anything about it. Anyone with $20 millions can plant a suitcase bomb in any world city.
How many actual terrorists have the massive Federal bureaucracies caught? Filling the prisons with whistle blowers, left wingers and potheads doesn't complete the law enforcement task.
Finally, the USA has fully prepared to fight WWII. They have begun a Depression so we will have plenty resentment to adopt a wartime posture.

Fairness and Kindness

An economic downturn measures the true character of a country. While the present regime enacts measures, the USA will continue her downward spiral.Investment derivatives, Collateralized Debt Obligations and subprime mortgages are not fair to small businesses and consumers. The financial industry created fraudulent instruments, pocketed enormous profits and passed off the losses to the taxpayers.The manufacturers have formed collusive pacts to deprive the public of control of food, fuel and other vital resources. Recently, grain prices tripled, as cartels administered prices. Come election time gasoline prices drop as magically as they rose. They will fall until the consumers abandon all thoughts of alternative energy sources.Are the Big3 and the Seven Sisters being kind to us?The medical profession sits at the apex of cruelty.National Health Insurance should have a reality sixty years ago.Greed consumes us on the upside and fear rules the downside. When these emotions took hold for centuries, we called them the Dark Ages.

Dr Susan Rice Will Oppose Genocide at UN

Dr Susan Rice UN Ambassador

"Susan knows that the global challenges we face demand global institutions that work. She shares my belief that the UN is an indispensable - and imperfect - forum. She will carry the message that our commitment to multilateral action must be coupled with a commitment to reform. We need the UN to be more effective as a venue for collective action - against terror and proliferation; climate change and genocide; poverty and disease."
Barack Obama

Rice Activist Against Mass Killings
Peter Baker, NYTimes

The choice of Ms. Rice to represent the United States before the United Nations will make her one of the most visible faces of the Obama administration to the outside world aside from Mrs. Clinton. It will also send to the world organization a prominent and forceful advocate of stronger action, including military force if necessary, to stop mass killings like those in the Darfur region of Sudan in recent years.
To reinforce his intention to work more closely with the United Nations after the tensions of President Bush’s tenure, Mr. Obama plans to restore the ambassador’s post to cabinet rank, as it was under President Bill Clinton, according to Democrats close to the transition.
While the cabinet consists of 15 department heads, a president can give other positions the same rank for the duration of his administration.
“She’s obviously one of Obama’s closest advisers, so it underscores how much of a priority he’s making the position,” said Nancy Soderberg, a senior United States diplomat at the United Nations under Mr. Clinton. “If you look at the last eight years, we obviously need to be more engaged at the U.N. and realistic about what the U.N. can do.”

Death Penalty May Deter Rogues

Representative Nadler is doing a great job to keep the pressure on. The Administration put undemocratic directives and laws on the books a road to tyranny. Inadvertantly, they became enemy combatants.
Although I doubt the Congress or the incoming President will do anything about torture, crimes against humanity and murder, the mechanisms to prosecute remain in place.
These may deter evil-minded rogues in the future.