Climate Change Denial on the Road to Destruction

The campaign against climate science has been enormously clever, and enormously effective. It’s worth trying to understand how they’ve done it. The best analogy, I think, is to the O.J. Simpson trial, an event that’s begun to recede into our collective memory. For those who were conscious in 1995, however, I imagine that just a few names will make it come back to life. Kato Kaelin, anyone? Lance Ito?

The Dream Team of lawyers assembled for Simpson’s defense had a problem: it was pretty clear their guy was guilty. Nicole Brown’s blood was all over his socks, and that was just the beginning. So Johnnie Cochran, Robert Shapiro, Alan Dershowitz, F. Lee Bailey, Robert Kardashian et al. decided to attack the process, arguing that it put Simpson’s guilt in doubt, and doubt, of course, was all they needed. Hence, those days of cross-examination about exactly how Dennis Fung had transported blood samples, or the fact that Los Angeles detective Mark Fuhrman had used racial slurs when talking to a screenwriter in 1986.
Bill McKibbon, Tomdispatch [excerpt]

It is easier to deny climate change than it is to come to terms with it. 85% of the lobbyists who work on the issue call climate change a hoax. Backing them are the corporate giants that have caused much of the pollution behind the change. To them,it is more profitable to conduct wars to seize dwindling resources than it is to clean up the environment.

Thus, climate change denial is a two-edged sword. Eventually, pollution will make the Earth inhospitable to mankind. Nuclar wars fought for scarce resources could act as a short-cut to Armageddon.

The Health Summit Fiasco

The Blair House medical summit participants appeared overfed and sedated. They seemed locked in fear of discovery of the bribes they had taken and of the deals they had made behind closed doors. For five decades both parties had found haven in the health insurance monopolies. This time around the robber barons had become over-zealous in their greed and the fraud was openly displayed for everyone with a third grade math level to understand. Last year 2.7 Americans lost their health insurance. Nearly 45,000 died from a lack of health care. Adding the millions who lost jobs and homes, they increase the multitudes living in the woods with Food Stamps. Tim Geithner was right when he noted the people must suffer more before they get actively angry.
In 1834 populist Andrew Jackson's followers climbed on top of the WH furniture with their muddy boots. We were a Republic, then.

USA Meets Waterloo

The health care debacle has given us a foretaste of government after the SCOTUS corporate funding decision. The general public is completely out of the political process. The goal should have been to reduce costs from 17% of GDP to the level of about 9% enjoyed by Europeans. At any time the Democrats through reconciliation could have enacted parts of the reform. They didn't, because they are in the corporate trophy bag as much as the Republicans are.
SCOTUS only stuck a fork into the American carcass to see if it was done.
The US health reformers deserted their wounded on the battlefield 122 dying daily. At least Napoleon committed his best troops to the fray. He did not withdraw in disgrace.

Obama, Progressives and Jews Lumped Together as Nazis

CPAC has enlarged the GOP rhetoric to smash mouth proportions.
Breitbart to "progressives": "[W]e are going to come after you so hard you will have no idea what you have awoken in this country"
Emboldened by the Muslim victories against the USA, the Muslim immigrants in Sweden have embarked on a hate campaign to rid that nation of Jews.
http://www.pi-news.org/2010/02/hate-jews-fleeing-from-malmoe/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
The leftist popular style in Germany is to consider Jews as Nazis.
http://www.pi-news.org/2010/02/victimization-of-a-jewish-family/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
Rush Limbaugh's great wish is that Obama and the Progressives pilot the American Ship of State underwater sunk by debt and abysmal leadership. He wants to vindicate the Bush Administration. He is banking on fear.
There are too many US Progressives who have enlisted in the army of hatred and fear.

Victimization of Jewish Families in Germany

We have come so far again. In Berlin — and certainly not just there –German Jews are again being bullied and harassed for their faith. This time the persecution is coming from an antisemitic Muslim mob that is being permitted to spread itself unhindered around our country, under the protective hand of the Red/Green multiculti charlatans. And in the absence of ruse, they feel entitled to carry out any act of insolence.

From the Berlin police report:

Due to suspicion of agitation of the people, the police are investigating into youth whose identities are still unknown. The father of a family registered a complaint around 6:50 in the evening that a number of youth and children of Turkish and Arab origin were throwing snowballs at the windows of his apartment. When the complaint was received, the father remarked that his whole family had been bullied and offended for some time because of their Jewish faith. The children and youth who supposedly before have thrown stones also come from either the same neighborhood or school as the victimized children.

65 years after Auschwitz, and the quiet persecution of the Jews is yet again common practice. Ever and often, one hears of Jewish children exiting schools in general, especially in heavily Muslim regions, because the teachers are incapable of protecting them from the aggressions of the antisemitic immigrants who are stirred up against the Jews by mosques, families, and Arab/Turkish TV and radio shows shown among them. Press reports about this are rare because they would place the generally desired image of the good immigrant on a dangerously slippery slope. Furthermore, Islamic antisemitism is being shared by broad cross-sections of the German left. Our photo shows a member of IG-Metall (imprint on the cap) at an anti-Israel demonstration in Düsseldorf, where Jews and Nazis were treated as equals. Such is the political climate in Germany, where the Muslim mob feels they are entitled to harass and insult Jews.

(Translation of German PI-article by Anders Denken)Politically Incorrect

Conservative Threats

Breitbart to "progressives": "[W]e are going to come after you so hard you will have no idea what you have awoken in this country"
The man set a sting operation on ACORN to get at the POTUS. Congressional support for ACORN has vanished while the corporate communists defraud the US government with impunity.

Truthdig Book Review: Is Judaism a Recent Invention?

To me the striking factor of the book review and most of the responses to it was the common humanity revealed. The Truthdig community engaged in a meaningful discussion of the Jewish experience.
For a decade I participated in morning prayers with Holocaust Survivors who became my friends and mentors. We were open to men and women with intellect of any age. We traded in wisdom not easy to come by or to explain.
My immersion in the ancient stream of Jewish consciousness will remain. Every man can be a Rabbi if he is literate and wise in the ways of the Torah. Our Bible states succinctly, “Don’t worship idols.” The rest is commentary.
Imagine Jews as a resource for mankind. We were common people with the abilities to read and write as witnesses to Cyrus the Great and Alexander.
We are not unique, but we have had a unique set of circumstances.

Syria's New War Tactic May Target Civilians

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem has issued a threat that in the next war between his country and Israel, Israeli cities will be targeted. Of course, that implies that like Hamas and Hezbullah, Syria will target Israeli civilians.
The Syrian minister's comments show the extent to which Damascus has adopted a terrorist modus operandi that is no different from that of Hezbollah or Hamas. Even though, unlike those groups, it has still not moved its rocket launchers into population centers whose residents are meant to serve as human shields, Israel is obliged to immediately issue a warning, in every important venue in the world, that Syria is acting in contravention of the laws of war. The kind of threat Syria issued requires a response that will ensure that the enemy will continue being deterred from carrying it out. Israel must also counter the ethical and legal implications of the Syrian threat.
I'm sure that warning will ensure that there is a Goldstone Commission appointed to investigate the Syrians when the war ends.

/sarc
posted by Carl in Jerusalem, Israel Matzav

Get the Code | ShareThis

Get the Code | ShareThis

Expendable Citizens Should Unite in Common Cause

Citizens in the USA, Iran and Gaza have become expendable. In the US workers have been outsourced and the middle class has been denuded of net worth. An elite group of corporate communists administers government power through the military, the mass media and a set of legislative and judicial lackeys.
They have marginalized the people into a cadre of wage and debt slaves. They have expanded these evils worldwide through the monopolization of resources, by the distribution of toxic assets and by perpetual [preemptive] warfare. Many citizens are uncomfortable under the weight of a tyrant, but do nothing too conditioned by long years of oppression.
The Iranians sent their children to the west for education. Along with math and science, they absorbed heretical teachings on governance and philosophy. They took their learning to the streets many times defeated by brute force. As the US War on Terror proved, it is impossible to destroy a worthwhile idea with weapons.
Many in the Muslim World insist that Palestinians have been corrupted by the west [especially by proximity to Israel]. Their leaders begin hostilities indifferent to the casualties they bring.
We citizens realize our governments serve their interests and not ours. This process began when the first caveman conked his rival on the head to become the tribal leader. We cloud our vision with histories, personalities and commentary until we pound the active possibilities into the ground. The time horizons of 50+ years discussed are excuses for inaction. The first item on our agenda should be how we can survive for another 50 years.

The End of Sectarianism in Lebanon?

The end of sectarianism?
Sami Halabi, Electronic Lebanon, 11 February 2010–02–13

Every society has its embarrassing moments. Lebanon seems to be based on them. Take for instance a recent study debunking the myth about the consequences of Lebanese women married to foreign men being allowed to pass on their nationality to their husbands and children. The popular argument is expounded as such: If these women were allowed to pass on their nationality, the sectarian make up of Lebanon would drastically change because of the sheer amount of Palestinians that would be naturalized, thus upsetting the delicate sectarian "balance" of the country.

In typical Lebanese fashion, the issue does not stand alone in the context of wider regional conflicts. If all of these stateless Palestinians were naturalized, then they would lose their right of return as they did in Jordan.

So how many Lebanese women are married to Palestinians? Two percent. And, to make matters worse the largest group of foreigners married to Lebanese women is actually Syrians, not Palestinians.

The results are first and foremost embarrassing since we Lebanese do not even know the makeup of our population. It is also telling of how sectarian fear spreads like cancer within the public consciousness and produces the political and social discourse in the country. What it also explains is why the recent proposal to establish a committee to abolish political sectarianism has created such uproar.

One would think that a society that has suffered the ills of sectarian conflict would enthusiastically do away with the political concept that has constrained, not only their political progress, but their economic and social one as well. But don't be fooled.

This embarrassing political construct is older than Lebanon itself. It was etched into the constitution's preamble some 20 years before independence and states that political sectarianism is to be abolished according to a "gradual plan" starting with the formation of the proposed national committee. That said, politicians bringing it up now is little more than political posturing.

The figure spearheading the proposed committee, speaker of the parliament and head of the Shia Amal Movement Nabih Berri, has much to lose if such a thing ever occurred. Logic would dictate that any committee would begin by proposing to implement tenants of the Taif accord -- which ended the country's 15-year civil war -- that address abolishing sectarianism. One of them states that a senate would be setup "on a national, not sectarian, basis," comprised of "all the spiritual families" that would have power over "crucial issues."

However purposefully contradictory this may be, it does not take away from the fact that the speaker's power would be significantly diminished by such a council. So why is he proposing to take measures to abolish political sectarianism. Well, this is where the political sword-fighting begins.

Since the Lebanese vote along sectarian lines (whichever way their sectarian leaders tell them to), the country's Sunnis, Christians and Druze are convinced that the burgeoning Shia population will swallow them up if government posts are open to be open to anyone, and voted on by everyone. Knowing this, and the fact that most of those factions want to strip the Shia population (and Hizballah in particular) of their arms, Berri has floated the idea in the hopes that his opponents would forget about the issue or at least tone it down.

To complicate matters further, Berri has also proposed lowering the voting age in this year's municipal elections. While the municipal elections are not legally based on sectarianism, in effect they maintain it since the different parts of Lebanon are also mainly populated by one sect or another. Lowering the voting age to 18 would give more influence to the country's Shia population, who have been the fastest growing community in Lebanon and, consequentially mean, more of them voting in the elections.

By doing this, however, Berri may have opened a can of worms he cannot shut. His ally, and the only Christian party in the opposition, Michel Aoun is now in open conflict with him over the measure and Hizballah is in damage control mode.

Not to be outdone, the parliamentary majority has demanded another electoral reform by proposing to allow the Lebanese Diaspora to vote. According to popular consensus and not empirical evidence this population is comprised mainly of Christians. Such a move would tip the sectarian scales back in the Christian's favor. The only trouble is that no one really knows the sectarian makeup of Lebanon's Diaspora since records have not been kept outside of Lebanon, not to mention within the country.

The cherry on top comes from Lebanon's novice Sunni prime minister, Saad Hariri. Having learned a thing or two about Lebanese politics since his father, a former Lebanese prime minister, was assassinated, Hariri stressed that any agreement on these issues should be based on "consensus," the Lebanese code word for indefinite procrastination.

However disingenuous Lebanon's so-called leaders' intentions are regarding the abolition of sectarianism, the issue is a dangerous one for both the country's leaders and its population.

Typically, Lebanon's politicians have had a wide array of talking points to steer political discourse away from any structural reform. It's easy to point fingers when you are occupied by both Syria and Israel and car bombs are almost as frequent as seasonal allergies.

Even through the threat of war with Israel is ever-present, neither Israel nor Hizballah seem to have the appetite for another war in the short term. The results of this, and the relatively stable security situation in the country, have muted the usual political arguments related to security and occupation. Although Hizballah-led opposition bloc was defeated in last June's elections and was powerful enough to prevent the formation of a new government for almost six months, it did not have enough political momentum to adequately counter renewed calls for disarmament by the parliamentary majority after their election victory. As such, calls for the abolition of political sectarianism by the opposition are little more than political posturing, as opposed to any real commitment to the measure.

Recent statements by opposition leader Michel Aoun about abolishing sectarianism "without getting into classifications," or as a package deal that would see all reforms tackled at once, seem to point to an agreement by the opposition to push the issue forward despite differences over the details. Thus, some would say the opposition is now ready to show all its cards and going all in on the matter. But while flowery all-encompassing statements are the forte of politicians, the reality of the matter is that if a basket of reforms related to the abolition of sectarianism are enacted, Lebanon's political and religious class will lose their raison d'etre.

Fifteen years of civil war followed by 20 years of civil strife have cemented the role of Lebanon's leaders as bulwarks of their communities. If any serious sectarian reform begins to occur, hereditary inheritance and the defense of the tribe will cease to be sufficient reasons for these figures to retain their statuses. That is a prospect Lebanon's politicians can hardly be expected to accept.

As long as talk of abolishing sectarianism remains mere lip service, Lebanon's relative politicians will likely protract the status quo. But if that boat begins to rock, Lebanon's political elite will most likely seek to readjust the political paradigm back towards issues of security and occupation -- and of course blame each other for consequences or yet another round of sectarian malaise. It's up to the Lebanese not to be duped once again and not to forgive their politicians and religious figures; for they know exactly what they do.

Sami Halabi is a Beirut-based journalist and editor who covers the Middle East and North Africa.

The Eagle Scout and the Prom Queen

In high school the Eagle Scout vied with the Prom Queen for Class President. Their joint mission was to amuse, entertain and distract us. They left the issues to the class nerds who rarely voted anyway.
The high school remains our single universal social institution. As it goes, so goes the nation. The elitist is the student who achieved a ninth grade reading level.
Print is out. The image is the rage. The traditional facts to form opinion is an outdated process. The first soundbites to reach the ears 24/7 dictate cognition. Talk radio plants the seed during the commuting hours. The only way to lessen the influence is to increase unemployment.
The corporations control the media and the message. The general term for this is information control. In the old days brainwashing was the staple of science fiction. We called it “far out” in those times. It was outlandish to think of nations marching to their doom as unresponsive robots in lock step. The far out has become common place.

Inverted Totalitarianism Podcast

BF.0021.Hedges_20100116.mp3 (audio/mpeg Object)
Chris Hedges speaks with Sibel Edmonds on her Boiling Frogs Post. Inverted totalitarianism refers to the rule by faceless corporate entities. The implications of this situation do not bode well for the USA.
The Obama administration has extended the destruction of the Fourth Amendment initiated by George Bush. Spineless Progressives continue to make poor excuses for their inaction.
The transition from print-based journalism to the image-based has altered the concept of opinion based on fact.

How Fox News Censored Jon Stewart vs. Bill O'Reilly

'I'm Not Saying Your Mother's a Whore': How Fox News Censored Jon Stewart vs. Bill O'Reilly - Jon Stewart - Gawker

In a recent interview on Bill O'Reilly's Factor, Jon Stewart verbally decimated his host. It went so badly for Bill FOX had to cut large segments of the 42-minute presentation. Gawker has made a tremendous compilation of the material cut.

Reconciliation is the Only Option

"If the starting point for this meeting is the job-killing bills the American people have already soundly rejected, Republicans would rightly be reluctant to participate," Boehner and Cantor wrote.
Assuming the President is sincere about moving forward in a bipartisan way, does that mean he has taken off the table the idea of relying solely on Democratic votes and jamming through health care reform by way of reconciliation? As the President has noted recently, Democrats continue to hold large majorities in the House and Senate, which means they can attempt to pass a health care bill at any time through the reconciliation process. Eliminating the possibility of reconciliation would represent an important show of good faith to Republicans and the American people.
House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH)
House Republican Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA)

Robert Gibbs responded for the President
"The President looks forward to reviewing Republican proposals that meet the goals he laid out at the beginning of this process, and as recently as the State of the Union Address. He's open to including any good ideas that stand up to objective scrutiny. What he will not do, however, is walk away from reform and the millions of American families and small business counting on it. The recent news that a major insurer plans to raise premiums for some customers by as much as 39 percent is a stark reminder of the consequences of doing nothing."
By Michael D. Shear, Washington Post

May I suggest an alternative?
If we must pass a universal health plan by reconciliation, we might join the other industrial nations in single payer. H.R. 676 seems to be a reasonable start. It may be administered through the existing Medicare framework.
To bring costs into line with the European experience, I suggest an across-the-board reduction of forty percent for the health industry. This would include all premiums, fees, salaries, charges, prices and rentals.
Coverage of the new plan should include all US citizens resident in the country. No citizen should be denied health care.
Legislators who voted against health care reform should be tried for involuntary manslaughter of victims who died lacking proper health coverage.

China: To Be Human

'China: #Tanzuoren - to be human'
by Oi wan Lam, Global Voices

Chinese activist Tan Zuoren was sentenced to 5 year imprisonment and 3 year deprivation of political rights this morning under the charge of inciting subversion of state power. Tan was involved in the investigation of the relation between bean dregs school buildings and the death of school children in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake by interviewing the parents and compiling a victim list. He was arrested last year and the investigation was stopped accordingly. In his first trial, the evident that the prosecutor presented was mainly about his interviews with overseas media about the earthquake. However, all the proceedings today were linked to June 4th incident. A diary about the June 4th Incident published back in 2007 and email communication with overseas Chinese dissident Wang Dang through his yahoo.cn email were presented as evidences. His verdict was read out in less than 10 minutes. (more from AFP)

Although the news has been harmonized in mainland China, many concerned citizens expressed their anger through twitter. Below is a selected translation of the twitter hastag #tanzouren, and the tweets are arranged according to the time line from 9am - 4pm.

Yahoo.cn sells out Tan Zouren, again?

E-mail providers in China have to follow local regulation even though the charges are purely political prosecution and it is not the first time Yahoo.cn has betrayed their clients in exchange for the China market.

daaitoulaam: No wonder Alibaba said Yahoo US was over the line for supporting Google against Chinese govt. Alibaba's Yahoo.cn sells out #tanzuoren, huh?

ruanji 美国雅虎虽然不直接经营中国雅虎，暂时作为一个投入10亿资金的大股东，也应该受到谴责。 #tanzuoren

ruanji Although yahoo.com does not directly manage yahoo.cn but it is a major stock holder and has invested more than a billion in the business. It should be condemned as well.

secretaryzhang “境外敌对分子王丹利用电子邮件与谭作人主动联系”，谭作人使用的邮箱是雅虎中国 zuoren54@yahoo.com.cn #tanzuoren

secretaryzhang "overseas enemy Wang Dang has contacted Tan Zuoren via email", and Tan's email is yahoo.cn: zuoren54@yahoo.com.cn


Anger

Satantara 眼泪无助，愤怒廉价。愤怒会养出心中的暴力政治。民主政治是没有敌人和仇恨的政治( #tanzuoren 语)。他们自己在颠覆自己，不稀你我动手。不说谎，让更多的人知道事实，真相自有万钧之力，改变终会到来。

Satantara No use shedding tear and it is too easy to be angry. Anger will nourish violence. Democracy should not have enemy nor resentment (#tanzouren's expression). They are subverting themselves, we don't need to do that. We do not lie in order let more people knowing the truth. Truth is the most powerful weapon and change will eventually come.

hkxforce 為何揭露豆腐渣工程會是煽動顛覆國家政權罪？因為這個政權本身就是豆腐渣政權。 #tanzuoren

hkxforce Why the exposure of bean dregs construction becomes inciting subversion of state power? because this very state power is a bean dregs power bloc.

szeyan1220 @28481k @LEMONed 高智晟「失踪」，胡佳3年，刘晓波11年，谭作人5年。起到了多大的威吓作用？唤醒了多少人？我只知道，这是一场持久战，而我无论如何不会认输。历史会审判你们。 #tanzuoren

szeyan1220 @28481k @LEMONed Gao Zhisheng vanished, Hu Jia sentenced to 3 years, Liu Xiaobo 11 years, Tan Zuoren 5 years. How many people it has intimated? How many people it has awakened? This is a long term battle and I will not be defeated. History will be the judge.

Feng2084 呼唤非暴力不合作抗争,從今天起，我厭惡任何與暴政苟合的活動！ #tanzuoren

Feng2084 let's call for non-violent civil disobedient act. I despise any act that gives legitimation to the absolute state.

No justice no peace

noooo0000 颠覆颠覆颠覆颠覆颠覆颠覆颠覆颠覆颠覆颠覆颠覆颠覆颠覆颠覆颠覆颠覆颠覆颠覆..........我就是想颠覆!!!我极想颠覆!!!我必颠覆!!! 一生的梦想--颠覆你!!! #tanzuoren

noooo0000 subversion subversion subversion subversion subversion subversion subversion... I want to subvert!!! I really want to subvert!!! I have to subvert!!! All I am dreaming of is to subvert you!!!

dgatterdam Chinese Government, you imprison your Heros, NO JUSTICE NO PEACE! NO JUSTICE NO PEACE NO JUSTICE NO PEACE #tanzuoren

AlChowh I support any measure to change the status quo,peaceful or violent!!!!#Tanzuoren

sanrencn 我们不能被压制而不反抗，我们不能被淹没，而不呐喊。我们微弱的抗议迟早会壮大起来踏平中共的无道 #Tanzuoren

sanrencn We have to fight back when repressed; we have to scream when drowned. Our small resistance will eventual grow into a strong force that defeat the tyranny of the CCP.

gjlawyer 宣判谭作人之后，这个大地上没有了良知，良知被谭作人带进了牢房；宣判谭作人之后，这个大地上没有了正义，正义是谭作人脚下沉重的铁镣。——恸哭中 via (@cuiweiping) #Tanzuoren

gjlawyer conscience has vanished along with the sentence of Tan Zuoren, Tan brings conscience along with him into the prison; justice has vanished along with the sentence of Tan Zuoren, justice has turned into Tan's heavy foot chain. -- crying out loud via (@cuiweiping)

dante1184 中共正在挑战全中国人的心理极限，追求全人类的无耻之最。畜生不如。去死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死死！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！ #tanzuoren

dante1184 The CCP is testing the limit of Chinese's people's tolerance and it is competing for the most shameless being in this world. It is worse than animal. Go to hell hell hell hell hell hell hell hell hell hell hell hell hell !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Subverting the state with diaries

wglxh They say Tan's diaries may subvert the government. I think they mean the government of, for, and by perverts. #Tanzuoren

mranti A tweet is a mini-diary - if a diary can "subvert" a govt. #Tanzuoren

wdrdog 颠覆国家政权，最高可以判处死刑，你我这些 #Twitter 上的发言，都够这个罪，只要他们这样认为。 我们的小命，就这样和谭作人刘晓波们连在了一起。 #Tanzuoren

wdrdog subverting the state power, the maximum sentence can be life imprisonment. What you and me have said in #Twitter can be charged with subversion if they want. Our lives are connected with Tan Zuoren and Liu Xiaobo.

To be human

Feng2084 #tanzuoren 當一個個公民面對強權貪腐的垭口失言噤聲，对生命的哀鸿接近麻木的時候，是你站了出來，然而他們今天對你的審判，是卑鄙与无耻对良知与正义的审判，也是对我们的审判，在这一个罪恶的国家里，我们都有罪。

Feng2084 when citizens were speechless towards the corrupted power, when they were indifferent towards life, you stood out. They have judged you today, it is a judgment of banality and shamelessness towards conscience and justice, it is also a judgment on everyone of us. In an evil country, we all have sin.

wglxh 所有的老师，都是在以各种方式给孩子们给学生们个说法。今天审判谭作人，是审判所有想给下一代一个说法的人。 #Tanzuoren

wglxh every teacher tries to explain the truth to our children and pupils. Today's judgment on Tan Zuoren is also a judgment towards those who try to deliver the truth to our next generation.

horse 今天检查的是我们“作人”的底限在哪里。一起来“作人”吧。 #Tanzuoren

horse today is a test on the baseline of our "being human", let's "be human". (Translator notes: the pronunciation of Tan Zuoren is similar to "Talk about being human" in English.)

Brookings Ran Obama Flip Flop

The Brookings Institution via the Alexander Hamilton Project has controlled Democratic politics since before the Clinton administration. Early in 2007 Barack Obama spoke as the future Presidential nominee. Shortly thereafter, he enjoyed the flood of corporate contributions. To gain the votes of the left, he made the populist noises expected by Progressives. Once elected, he veered to the right, a champion of Wall Street. We doubt there will be much meaningful legislation on climate control, EFCA, health reform, education and alternative energy.
The US politicians and the people decide nothing. Technocrats and mindless robots have got us by the short hairs.

Ron's space - Windows Live

The Penalties of Ignorance

It's a shame that Aljazeera/English did not become a major US network. It enlightens the viewer on all things Asian. For a nation that has wasted about half her Federal budget in Asian incursions since the advent of the Cold War, an objective observer might assume the Americans would have made the slightest effort to understand her various enemies.
I present a small example. Nineteen Arab terrorists cut the northern border wire fence to enter Israel. They proceeded into a valley where the border patrol intercepted them. The invaders exchanged fire until they were dead.
Nineteen terrorist high jacked US airliners, crashed them into buildings and killed almost 3,000 Americans. In retaliation, the US invaded two sovereign nations, killed over 1.3 millions civilians and made four millions homeless. Understandably, many US citizens and officials fear reprisals if they dared speak out against such atrocities. The UN and the Arab States stand mute. Instead, they maintain the propaganda barrage against Israel.
At the same time, the US refuses to prosecute the governmental and corporate traitors in her midst. She ignores theft, espionage, fraud, murder, torture and crimes against humanity. The perpetrators read as a cross-section of Who's Who.
"Judaism itself was created less than 300 years ago" – Shingo. Reform Judaism was a reaction when Napoleon opened the professions to the Jews. Modern Orthodoxy was a reaction to Reform. The Conservative branch started in Cincinnati, Ohio, to absorb the American Jewish experience. The 78% who supported Obama came from all three groups expecting a peace candidate.
The Brookings Institution via the Alexander Hamilton Project has controlled Democratic politics since before the Clinton administration. Early in 2007 Barack Obama spoke as the future Presidential nominee. Shortly thereafter, he enjoyed the flood of corporate contributions. To gain the votes of the left, he made the populist noises expected by Progressives. Once elected, he veered to the right, a champion of Wall Street. We doubt there will be much meaningful legislation on climate control, EFCA, health reform, education and alternative energy.
The US politicians and the people decide nothing. Technocrats and mindless robots have got us by the short hairs.
What caused the stock market crash? To handle the immense volume of transactions, the nerds built a computer model based on Alan Greenspan's assumptions of market-clearing mechanisms, competition in the factor markets and a perpetual housing and stock market bubble. When the bubble burst, the model turned upside down. It bought bad stocks and unloaded good ones. In less than a day the worldwide economy was in recession and nobody knew how to fix it.

The USA in the Middle East

Usually, the Israeli's initial boast is that he is a survivor. Many of us claim we are small droplets in the 5600-year stream the mighty flow of Jewish history. My morning prayers cover wisdom from our ancient sages. In this regard we share the Chinese disrespect for philosophies and ideologies of more recent vintage. The Chinese refer to these upstarts [and us] as barbarians.
This attitude can lead to the wrong conclusions, such as those held by the 78% of American Jews who speculated on the measure of Barack Obama style without substance. The Israelis banked the farmhouse on Ari Sharon's unilateral withdrawal from Gaza. Both men failed to realize that Republicans and Palestinians are cut from the same cloth. Both groups promise ultimate success for their actions while ignoring the growing heap of corpses they accumulate.
The Palestinians rejected the two-state solution twice by continuing terror and by invading Israel. This proved there would be only a de facto one-state Israel surrounded by hostiles. Faced with unpleasant alternatives, the Israel answer was to grab land hilltop by easily defended hilltop.
The GOP and the Palestinians usually contrive to snatch war from the jaws of peace.
The US did not choose to sell US nuclear secrets. Members of the FBI, the Congress and the State Department betrayed the USA to the Turks.

Humanity Loses Every Time

Fox News dictates the content and nature of debate in America. They fill the MSM airwaves with personal attacks and a mythical version of a country that never existed. The Republic vanished in 1950 and the Progressive Agenda came to a legislative halt in 1968. Most Americans have never enjoyed a day of freedom.
Outside the USA, we do not deny the right of the US to self-destruct. That is her business. It becomes our business when she sells her nuclear secrets to Pakistan, when she engages in perpetual preemptive wars that kill millions of Asians or when she fails to address the evils of slavery and the associated crimes against humanity that increase with it.
As many Americans regret the downfall of their country, the power elite promotes ways the people can let off steam. They can vilify the black President. They can organize a "grassroots" Tea Party supportive of corporate communism. They can condemn Jews as exemplars of evil.
All this has gone down before in many shapes and guises. Every time humanity loses.

Common Criticisms of Israel

The Ashkenazi Jews held early prominence in Israel, because they are the most intelligent group [high IQ] in the world. The Sephardim have made forward strides in education, intermarriage and the IDF. For the modern Israeli youngsters the distinctions have blurred. The Russian and American Jews who have migrated here usually retain their hatred of Muslims.
This is an age when the FOX #noisemachine excoriates the President every day. The US Army pays Afghan warlords for safe passage of supply convoys. The Congress is a rubber stamp for the Pentagon. You "don't see Israel as Democratic either."
Israel makes many sacrifices for her health care system. Many doctors earn less than $2000 per month. An average prescription costs $2.50 from our pharmaceutical companies. Private British and US citizens donate more to the country than does the US government.
I wait for your list of "more deserving nations."

Outside Agitators in Israel

As an Israeli, I share in the same gene pool with Palestinians and Syrians. So, most racist aspersions have no basis from within our little group. Our members have an intimate knowledge of one another physically and culturally. As in every family, we know which buttons to push and when.
The kibitzers who pontificate about our situation give a new meaning to the phrase outside agitators. They have their own fish to fry and never hesitate to drop them into the boiling oil. Invariably, they risk conflagration.
I refuse to rehash Israeli history since the King David Hotel tragedy, but I will point to a recent glaring example. For $24 per month I enjoy complete health care. It is a natural right we take for granted, as it recognizes the bonds of citizenship between Arab and Jew. We can not think of a situation where we would deny health care to a fellow citizen.
This criterion alone ejects Americans from any discussion of human rights and common decency.

American Illusions

Many Americans share illusions about the USA. They refer to the American Way in similar fashion to the "Why We Fight" propaganda of the Second World War. Every adult can recite about five percent of what he learned from the public schools. The rest of his wisdom evolves around talk on his car radio and the MSM interpretation of Fox News on his home TV. He picks up how he should treat women from late night porn movies.
The majority political faction is the Tea Party. The members agree Obama is a foreign born disciple of Karl Marx who hates white people. Fifty-three percent of them believe Sarah Palin would have been a better President.
Against this back drop it comes as no surprise the USA has lost three preemptive wars while killing 7.2 millions Asians in the bargain. The Americans devote over fifty percent of the Federal budget to slaughter past, present and future.
Based on this experience, the citizens claim they know what's best for the impoverished masses. The US pundits assert they have the keys to the Kingdom. In the Democratic tradition, the olive branch precedes the iron fist. If the peasants refuse to cheer the MIC, the cartel hegemony and the New World Order, they will disappear in a flash.

Turning a Minor Conflict into Armageddon

For some time the Palestinian strategy appears to be starting conflicts and then putting their citizens in harm’s way. They hope enough Palestinians will die horribly to inspire the International community to send aid.
The beggar bowl is out. The propagandists portray operation cast lead as the greatest slaughter in human history.
Those who beat the drum for war have no consideration of the ordinary people involved. Each attack estranges them from the peace process.
With their typical finesse, the bumbling Americans could turn a regional confrontation into nuclear war. A wrong move could transform the globe into an ice ball.

Morocco: Where Independent Media is No More

Morocco: Where Independent Media is No More'
by Hisham G, Global Voices Online

There have been mounting attacks on freedom of expression in Morocco lately, targeting journalists as well as bloggers as we consistently have been reporting on Global Voices Online recently. So constant are the attacks, that a reader might find the news coming out form the north African kingdom, a redundant rehash of the same old story. But what happened last week arguably marks a major turning point in the continuous campaign the Moroccan authorities are pursuing to silence independent media.

It took Morocco decades of struggle and the end of the cold war with an ailing dictator who, having lost his geo-strategic clout and sensing his death approaching, finally decided to relinquish power and open up the system in an effort to guaranty a smooth transfer of authority to his son, to see the emergence of a new breed of irreverent journalism. The French language weekly news magazine Le Journal Hebdomadaire, founded in the mid-90s thanks to an unusual alliance of benevolent capital and highly skilled western trained journalists, initiated a long line of privately owned independent newspapers critical of the government and the Moroccan establishment at large. Targeting the Moroccan cosmopolitan elite, "Le Journal Hebdo" rapidly became iconic, embarking on a decade long confrontational quest for factual truths, challenging the most powerful tenants of the local regime, revisiting official history, flirting with the red lines imposed by the government and exploring many t
aboos.

There was a time when Arab dictatorships used to extra-judicially clampdown on dissenting voices in a gross demonstration of authority. The popular rumor would have it that in every house and every street, in every newsroom of every publication government had its eyes and ears ready to report on anyone who wasn't in line with the prescribed official discourse. Today, repression of independent voices goes through a protracted but sophisticated process of harassment by a judiciary system under orders from the executive and boycott from advertisers keen to please the authorities. That's what happened to Le Journal Hebdo, which now faces closure after a commercial court in Casablanca declared the publishing group behind the magazine bankrupt, crippled by a series of libel fines, by taxes and an insurmountable debt - a development which many be interpreted as the final and deadly blow to the publication.

The New York-based media watchdog Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the development and recaps the most recent judicial episode in a chain of condemnations and fines that eventually led to the administrative termination of the publication:

Le Journal Hebdomadaire was dealt a devastating financial blow in 2006 when a Moroccan court ordered that it pay 3 million dirhams (US$354,000) damages in a defamation case [...] Jamaï (director and co-founder of the publication) left the country after the 2006 court decision and a series of government-inspired cases of harassment against the newsmagazine. Harassment of Le Journal Hebdomadaire appeared to ease for a time. But when Jamaï returned to Morocco in 2009 and resumed his critical journalism, he said, the government intensified its efforts to have advertisers boycott Le Journal Hebdomadaire. In September 2009, the Supreme Court upheld the damage award in the [defamation] case.

Issandr El Amrani writing on The Arabist blog says he received a message from Aboubakr Jamaï (Bou Bakr) announcing the official death of Le Journal Hebdomadaire. He writes:



I just received very sad news from Abou Bakr Jamai [Fr], the editor behind one of Morocco's most courageous publications and one that had been a symbol of the opening that began in the mid-1990s under King Hassan II and petered out under the rather aimless reign of his son, Muhammad VI. Bou Bakr wrote:



After all your prediction about the end of Le Journal has been proven on the money. Le Journal Hebdo has been shut down. Yesterday, 5, yes 5, bailiffs showed up armed with a court decision to take over Le Journal Hebdomadaire and the company behind it, Trimedia.. What is still unclear to us is the legal argument that led the judge from the receivership procedure of Mediatrust to act against trimedia. The only link is the title:"Le Journal Hebdomadaire" but the title is owned by the publisher himself not the company. Although we are waiting to get a clearer legal picture, we can already officially announce the death of Le Journal Hebdomaire.



El Amrani also wrote an op-ed about the issue on The Guardian/Observer British newspapers' online blogging platform, Comment Is Free. He mourns Le Journal and warns about a worrying pattern of repression and authoritarianism:



Most of all, Le Journal tried to keep officials honest about the democratisation that they promised in speeches. It relentlessly campaigned for constitutional reform that would shift political power from the palace to parliament. For many of my generation of Moroccans, it provided a political education and an inspiring example of outspokenness.
[...]The most worrying thing is that its closure comes amid other signs of a renewed authoritarianism. The methods originally used against Le Journal have become a commonplace method of disciplining the press. Other critics of the monarchy, for instance in Morocco's vibrant blogosphere, are now dealt with severely. Political reform has hit a standstill, and the regime's human rights record has regressed.
Le Journal's sad demise is now only one of many signals that something is rotten in the kingdom of Morocco.


Blogger Jillian C. York adds to Al Amrani's comment saying:



[T]he closure of Le Journal does not alone indicate Morocco’s slide backwards. The arrests of bloggers Bashir Hazzem, Mohammed Erraji, and Boubaker Al-Yadib, of Facebooker Fouad Mourtada, of countless journalists, should speak for themselves. Yet, Morocco continues to maintain an appearance of moving forward, especially to the United States, which proudly touts Morocco’s Mudawana (or family code) and subsequent other new rights to women as evidence.

This is an issue that cannot, must not be ignored. Morocco, in case I don’t say it enough, is a beautiful place. I spent more than two wonderful years there, and would still happily go back, despite its faults. But in order for Morocco, for any country, to continue down the road of progress, free expression is non-negotiable.


Moroccan online news magazine Hesspress [Ar] deplores the deafening silence and lack of solidarity in face of mounting repression:



إن هذا الصمت المطبق إزاء عمليات تصفية المنابر الإعلامية الوطنية المستقلة، التي تدخل في خانة جرائم القتل التسلسلي، تفرض تلاحما تلقائيا بين المنابر المتبقية لإعمال مبدأ التضامن، كأضعف الإيمان، وبالتالي طمر الخوف والجبن ووضع التوافقات جانبا، لوقف هذا المسلسل الهتشكوكي الذي بات يقض مضجع "صاحبة الجلالة" في عز عنفوانها.


The heavy silence surrounding the liquidation of national independent media outlets, which falls under the category of serial killings, should impose a spontaneous coalition between the remaining platforms in the name of solidarity. This is the least we can do to fight fear and cowardice. We should put our differences aside to stop this Hitchcock-like assault on " Her Majesty" (meaning the Press), who is at her prime.


Many bloggers have been commenting on the development like Anas Alaoui [Fr] who bemoans the loss of a unique news outlet:

J’aimerais tout simplement remercier Le Journal et les personnes y ayant travaillé. Je les remercie pour l’effort engagé dans cette première marocaine quand on a cru à une ouverture, une certaine ouverture tout du moins. Je les remercie pour le courage et le dévouement dans leur tâche d’informer le public. Ils ont été les premiers à briser des tabous. Ils ont été les premiers à dire des choses vraies. Nous pouvons être d’accord ou pas avec les éditos écrits dans ce magazine. Nous pouvons être d’accord ou pas avec les analyses qui y ont été publiées, mais nous ne pouvons nier le fait que le Journal Hebdo a changé la pratique journalistique marocaine. Désormais, il y a un avant Journal Hebdo et un après Journal Hebdo.

I would like to thank Le Journal and the people who worked in it. I thank them for the effort they made to make this Moroccan first. They made us believe in openness; an openness of some sort at least. I thank them for their courage and dedication in their task to inform the public. They were the first to break taboos. They were the first to say true things. We can agree or disagree with the editorial line of the magazine. We can agree or disagree with the analysis that have been published in it, but we can not deny the fact that Le Journal Hebdo has changed the practice of journalism in Morocco. Now there is a before and after Le Journal Hebdo.

The end of Le Journal Hebdomadaire signals a dangerous setback for the state of freedoms in Morocco. It pulls a thorn out of the regime's side but it also sends a strong message to the remaining independent media still struggling to survive in an increasingly repressive environment. This leaves the question about whether the online media and citizen journalism will constitute a breathing space for voices of dissent in countries like Morocco to vent their grievances, convey the truth and hold their governments accountable.

You may view the latest post at
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2010/02/02/morocco-where-independent-media-is-no-more/