Wisconsin Coup D'Etat

Robert Reich | Governor Walker's Coup D'Etat
Robert Reich, Robert Reich's Blog: "Governor Scott Walker and his Wisconsin senate Republicans have laid bare the motives for their coup d'etat. By severing the financial part of the bill (which couldn't be passed without absent Democrats) from the part eliminating the collective bargaining rights of public employees (which could be), and then doing the latter, Wisconsin Republicans have made it crystal clear that their goal has had nothing whatever to do with the state budget. It's been to bust the unions."

We Don't Tolerate Terror; We Come After You

Iran and Syria to Back Hezbollah Coup in Lebanon

At a brief Saturday meeting in Damascus on his way from Tehran to New York, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad agreed with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that the two would support a Hezbullah coup against the Lebanese government, according to a report by DEBKA which has been picked up Lebanon's Naharnet. This is from the DEBKA link.

Hizballah called a general mobilization that same day and by Sunday had 5,000 armed men deployed in Beirut, ready to make good on its threat to seize power rather than let its leaders be indicted by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) for the Hariri murder.

Hizballah went into action after learning that the indictments were on the way. Ahmadinejad and Assad were of one mind that they must not be delivered - even it meant helping their Lebanese Shiite surrogate to overthrow the Lebanese government. They discussed possible Israeli intervention to save Beirut from Hizballah domination and decided that the Jewish state Israel would not take this risk, any more than the Lebanese army would fight to defend the government.

Our Lebanese sources disclose that France's UN ambassador Gerard Araud passed word to his Lebanese contacts that Daniel Bellemare, the STL's chief prosecutor's decision to file charges against Hizballah was final.

The rest of the article discusses the Sayyed incident at Beirut Airport on Sunday, which I discussed here. Sayyed was one of four Lebanese generals who was arrested and held for four years on suspicion of being involved in the murder of then-Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri, the father of current Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri.

I think that they're right about Israel not interfering to save Hariri's government. No one is going to risk IDF soldiers' lives for that. And I doubt that the Lebanese army can or will do anything either. UNIFIL? Don't make me laugh.

What could go wrong?

posted by Carl in Jerusalem

The Coming Muslim Takeover in the USA

Why are millions of Americans suddenly caught up in a torrent of fear and fury over Islam so strong that both the president and the commanding general of U.S. forces in Afghanistan have warned of deadly consequences? What motivates the outpouring of rancor against Muslims, especially in the conservative media? How did they escape until now?

The answer is that until the advent of the Obama presidency, Republicans had no reason to scapegoat Muslims or demonize Islam -- and indeed, they could not have inflamed those prejudices without damaging their own leaders, especially George W. Bush.

Evidence of the blatantly partisan character of the current anti-Muslim campaign can be found everywhere -- on Fox News Channel, cable channel of the GOP; in the latest excrescence of Newt Gingrich and David Bossie; and in the roster of speakers at Saturday's "no mosque" rally, which featured a video message from John Bolton, the Bush administration’s former ambassador to the United Nations.
Joe Conason in Salon

For me, the "no mosque" situation came alive with the writing of Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer back in May. The Cordoba House Mosque referred to the Cordoban rule in Spain, which was the westernmost land of the Muslim Caliphate during the Middle Ages. Thius mirrored the gut reaction of the 71% of Americans who saw it as emblematic of an eventual Islamic takeover.
The US media and politicians have adapted the mosque controversy to promote their agenda. This increases the Muslim opportunity for a coup d'etat.

Kindly Expel Twenty States from the Union

It is fashionable to condemn the Dems and the GOP for their abysmal performance on the war and health care issues. Progressives quickly forget we either voted for these wretched parties or we wasted our votes on third parties with no chance to win. During the primaries the general public mocked and rebuked worthwhile candidates such as Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul.
Twenty states elected thirty GOP Senators willing to condemn to death 450,000 citizens who lack health insurance over the next ten years. During the same period they will part with $1 trillion to take over the heroin trade from the Afghans. Recently, the thirty Senators voted for KBR to quash Jamie Leigh Jones' suit against them in connection with her suffering a vicious gang rape by KBR employees.
The voters in twenty states cast their ballots for Senators who would murder US citizens, who would capture the heroin trade from the Afghans and who would allow 'defense' contractors to countenance gang rape.
The twenty states should be expelled from the United States of America.

Honduras Under Siege

GADJO
War is a Racket

Many years ago Major General Smedley Butler described US activities below the Mexican border for all time. He rose through the commissions to become the leading Marine Corps figure of his era.
In 1934 Prescott Bush asked him to lead a 500,000 mercenary force to overthrow the Roosevelt Administration. Instead, he informed the US authorities.

Honduras Under Siege
In Honduras Roberto has attempted the latest coup d'etat. He has the backing of the "best" people. The rich landowners, the US agricultural cartels, the Canadian mining companies and US big oil have backed Micheletti at each step. They have ousted democratically-elected President Manuel Zelaya and have forced him into exile. To discourage the people from resisting the coup, they have resorted to censorship, curfews, death threats and beatings. In the latest confrontations, the soldiers have fired into the crowds killing several.
They fear the citizens and the gradual ascension of human rights. Leaders in other South American leftist democracies see the coup as a backwards step to the former mean and repressive regimes. They are putting more pressure on the Micheletti leadership to withdraw from power. Economic sanctions include holds on World Bank loan money and US humanitarian aid. The three neighbors of Honduras have sealed the borders.
Even in these beginning stages Hondurans are uniting across former class and cultural lines.

Honduran Clashes Turn Deadly
The Honduran military has thwarted an attempt by Manuel Zelaya, the ousted president, to fly back to the country, as clashes between his supporters and security forces turned deadly. A young boy has become the first to die in the wake of the coup after security forces opened fire on tens of thousands of Zelaya supporters who had gathered in anticipation of his return. Al Jazeera's Mariana Sanchez reports from Honduran capital Tegucigalpa.

Honduran Coup Resistance Grows
An interview with Sandra Cuffe, independent journalist reporting from the streets of Tegucigalpa, Honduras on the day the military opened fire on protesters. Tension peaked as unprecedented thousands marched to the airport to welcome the return of ousted President Manuel Zelaya, a return that was thwarted by the military.

Samo Samo
"Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was expected to meet Zelaya late Monday or early Tuesday, a Latin American president told The Miami Herald. And he may not like what he hears: The Obama administration is irked by the fact that Zelaya sought much of his advice from Cuba's Fidel Castro and Venezuela's Hugo Chavez." [McKlatchy]
Washington has joined leaders from across the Americas in trying to bring end to the crisis and seek Zelaya's return to Tegucigalpa. The Organization of American States, which has stated that Zelaya's return is not negotiable, is seeking a compromise with Honduran legislators and judges.

The stakes are high: as early as Tuesday, Washington may cut off hundreds of millions of dollars in aid Honduras gets.

In the Peruvian Rain Forest a Few Weeks Ago the World Deserted…..

The Indigenous human beings who live there. Against International Law and precedence three Canadian mining companies and three US oil firms.

The Big Players Bid to Take Over America

The big boys decided the people were getting too uppity. Imagine, a black man running for President. Big government did away with oversight and maintenance of the infrastructure. Big finance indulged in faulty mortgages to increase profits and to strip the public of home equity. The media popularized the war effort and hid the tax cuts given the wealthy. Reckless deficit spending and mounting debt lowered the dollar confidence of overseas investors. The dollar weakened driving up oil prices for Americans, with oil prices relatively constant for the rest of the world. Consequently, there is an increase in the demand for oil.
The huge food companies took advantage to triple the price of rice and to make other products jump in price also. Voodoo economics [giving corporate tax cuts in time of war] eliminated jobs growth. Indeed, we lose 80,000 jobs every month.
Unemployment increases, home foreclosures, rising fuel and food prices have driven consumer confidence to low levels.
Lower consumer spending eliminates jobs. Thus, there is nothing to stop the downward spiral.
Have a good day.

It is well nigh impossible to prosecute high US officials here. They own law enforcement and the judiciary. Possible witnesses are bribed or murdered.
The President offers a solution. He would declare suspects and witnesses as enemy combatants and would put them into Gitmo until they confessed [or implicated those really guilty].

Lusophera: Remembering the Carnation Revolution

by Paula Góes, Global Voices

It was a beautiful party

I was very pleased

I've still kept stubbornly

an old carnation for me

They have wilted your party

But they must have forgotten a seed

in some corner of the garden

(Song by Chico Buarque, to whom I beg forgiveness for my translation)

In April 25 1974, 34 years today, Portugal's 40-year fascist dictatorship, the longest in the history of Western Europe, came to an end with the Carnation Revolution, a leftist, military-led coup d'état. On that morning people went out to the streets despite the advice to stay at home, but instead of blood shed, bullets were swapped for flowers. There was a surprisingly peaceful overthrow of the dictatorship of Antônio de Oliveira Salazar and his successor, Marcelo Caetano, in which the population held red carnations and tucked them into the soldiers' rifle barrel. The second aim of the revolution was the cessation of the war in Africa.

With the too rapid independence for its African colonies, a violent civil wars shook Angola, Mozambique was made independent the year after but only found peace in 1992 and East Timor was seized by force by the Indonesia a year later. Other colonies, like Cape Verde, were left poor to despair. Despite the decolonization process being considered a shambles, the revolution enjoys popular support today and many Portuguese speaking bloggers, from these countries and around the world, dedicated a post to it.

The Revolution Comes From the Right

In effect, NSPD 51 outlines the final touches to the coup d'etat.The dictator will run local, state and federal governments.
Rowdies, freethinkers and Constitutionalists will sit in detention camps.
The power elite can sell the country to the oriental tiger economies, convert their winnings to Euros and wallow in continental splendor. Those Americans who want to eat can work for coolie wages.
The progressives believe they can derail this outcome by electing Barack or Hillary in November.
Can anybody tell me how we can stop Martial Law that would suspend the elections?