Today opened the trial against Ivan (The Terrible) Demjanjuk in Munich

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091130/ap_on_re_eu/eu_germany_demjanjuk

It will be probably one of the last Nazi trials, it took a very long time that he could be accused for his crimes in the concentration camp Sobibor. So much the more the aged survivors can hope for justice, finally.

Anti-Communism: Flashback 1970s: The Life of Brian

http://www.spinprofiles.org/index.php/Institute_for_the_Study_of_Conflict
FINE piece of work on some of the anti-Soviet apparatus based in London toward the end of the Cold War. Lots of names and info that were entirely new to me... set up like a Wiki page with links to lots of other juicy morsels... I'm left wondering where the individuals and their ideas ended up, how the various think tanks became re-named and where the equivalent is today...

American Vs. International News: Time And Newsweek » Sociological Images

http://contexts.org/socimages/2009/07/26/american-vs-international-news-time-and-newsweek/
If anyone wonders why some Americans seem unaware of facts and viewpoints that are clear to Europeans and the rest of the world, this may help to explain it. Our own news media is helping to keep us in the dark.

VJ Movement

http://www.vjmovement.com/
From the page:
The Video Journalism Movement is an ongoing collaboration between a global network of freelance professional video journalists and editorial cartoonists, and you, the public.

Our aim is simple: to provide an internet platform that reconnects the people with the news. At a time when the mainstream media is still struggling to reconcile 'free' news access with ever declining standards, we're leading the way by proposing an innovative, alternative news model, but we're relying on you to help shape our agenda.

Russian Train Crash Being Investigated as Terror Attack

http://news.google.com/news/story?ncl=dC3v9yyNznb5IfMHgKC7uy5J1VXAM&hl=en&topic=w&ned=uk
Link to Google's listing of stories on this... first, a thought on 'how to digest news'...

Obviously where I am, Google generates news items more relevant to Britain, hence The Times, The Guardian, BBC and so on being top of the page. NO Russia Today, Novosti, Pravda or any Russian source on this entire first page, which I find very odd for an event which took place in that country. But that's just Google...

Secondly, I scoured the list without clicking through to fuller details of the Nevsky Express crash between Moscow and St. Petersburg yesterday evening, and it was plain to see that all those aforementioned British news sources were pushing the word 'terrorism' to the forefront in their titles, whereas Gulf News, Xinhua and Al Jazeera were not, so much. Curious.

Fact is, the line, popular with executives and government officials, has been targeted before and it is being investigated as a bomb attack, which has killed at least 25 and injured close to 100 people. But I don't believe a word I read in the paper without thinking, especially not when it concerns Russia, terrorism and Chechen rebels.

RAF Menwith Hill: Spy Central, Airstrip One

http://www.fas.org/irp/facility/menwith.htm
A US airforce overseas-listening-post in Yorkshire, UK. They are probably reading this....

Reporters Without Borders: Finances

http://www.rsf.org/Income-and-expenditure.html
Reporters Sans Frontieres.

Reporters Without Borders.

Who cares what the name is?

Where does the money come from?

The British Throne and the Catholic Church - a Discussion

I'm very pushed for time tonight, and I haven't done the slightest bit of research for this... but it doesn't need to be a complete article, random thoughts will suffice, the thread can do the rest.

On James Whale's show on LBC (London) talk-radio today, they were discussing the changing of tradition regarding the ascension of Catholics to the British throne.  I first heard of this about a year ago, and I guessed either Kate Middleton, Prince William's girlfriend, or Camilla Parker-Bowles, Prince Charles' wife, may be Catholics... pretty straightforward, didn't think much more about it.

Anyone who knows their most basic British history will tell you that King Henry VIII had many wives, beheaded a few of them, and when the Catholic Church, a much more prominent power in Europe at that time, wouldn't let him divorce, he formed the Church of England to get his way.  The Catholic v Protestant divide, tradition for the last 300 years, has been the source of much conflict - not least in Northern Ireland.

At present, while we don't have a 'written constitution' in this country per se, it's written down somewhere, I'm led to believe, that a Catholic cannot ascend to the throne.  Nor a woman, if there is also a male candidate.  If first in line to the throne is female, her younger male sibling jumps the queue ahead of her.

The debate I heard was dressed up as being about discrimination, and some callers quite rightly expressed their apathy for tradition and found this to be archaic nonsense, in need of revision to suit the times.  File alongside gay and female priests, then...

But there's more to this.  And that's where my random thoughts kicked in.

Europe is now united, the powers-that-be having acheived by stealth what Hitler could not by force.  The man chosen to be its symbolic figurehead (read: puppet president) is known to be anti-Turkey as far as the EU is concerned.  He's a 'Christian Democrat'.

Now, those who frown upon 'conspiracy theory', I ask you not switch off when I mention the B-word, but where the Bilderberg group is primarily an economic think-tank, tied to NATO and military politics, in Europe there is a much less well known group called Le Pinay Cercle... concerned more with the intelligence agencies, and very closely tied to The Vatican, The Sovereign Order of the Knights of Malta, Italian Masonic group Propaganda Masonica Due or P2 (whose past members include George HW Bush and Tony Blair), and the fundamentalist Catholic sect, Opus Dei, of which at least one recent Le Cercle chairman, Jonathan Aitken, is a member.

We're probably going to get a Conservative government in Britain very soon... complete with shadow-chancellor George 'Bilderberg' Osborne and Kenneth 'BB steering committee' Clarke.  They're supposedly anti-Europe, but I'm beginning to see the stage being set... exactly what for I'm not yet certain.

It was said, either by Gurcan or Mila, during that heated debate about Srebrenica and Kosovo here recently, that 'borders are being re-drawn along Ottoman lines', or something like that.  A united Europe centred around the Roman Catholic Church fits that picture all too neatly.  The religious angle on this would be more than welcome on this thread, I'd like to know what the various prophecies say that might relate?  I don't believe, but I don't think it matters as long as those controlling the game do.

So... we have a little of Britain's 'sovereignty' about to be handed back to the Catholic Church, which is and has always been the real power in Europe, along with the Rothschild banking cartel which resides in the City of London and all the significant financial capitals, and manages the Vatican's money.  Possibly even devolution following some well-timed trouble, probably in Northern Ireland...  but who benefits?

The Royal Families of Europe, who are all one family really?  The Church?  Brussels? 

Britain, as it stands today, will not join Europe.  It will be weakened first.  Scottish devolution?

That's a guess, not a concrete prediction - I'd like to see what comments this generates.

I can well remember what happened last time someone from the Royal household had designs on marrying into a different religion...   their desire to change the law suggests to me something is afoot, and it definitely relates to Europe / Britain.  I didn't even check if Kate Middleton is Catholic, but I'd imagine William will succeed Queen Elizabeth, not Charles.  He's too unpopular, whereas his and Lady Diana's son William, is quite the opposite.

Someone at the back there shouted "but the Royals and the Pope have no real political power"...

I'm not so sure that's true. 

This is not about religious discrimination, that's a terrible bit of media spin for the purposes of a radio debate.  There seems to be at very least a 're-structuring' about to happen... and they're not going to break up 'Airstrip One' without someone getting hurt.  Historic times we live in...

Now, am I barking up the right tree here?  Does all this make sense, is it just me, or does the picture look like its fits together, or not?

40 Years Demanded for Khmer Rouge Prison Chief 'Comrade Duch'

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article6930876.ece
Cambodian prosecutors in the war crimes trial of the Khmer Rouge's former prison chief have demanded a 40 year jail sentence for the part he played in murdering thousands of Cambodians and spreading terror across Cambodia.

Kaing Guek Eav, known as Comrade Duch, was the director of the infamous Tuol Sleng prison, where thousands of Cambodians were sent to be tortured and killed at the height of Pol Pot's genocidal regime.

Notoriously brutal, Duch encouraged the jail's interrogation teams to apply ever harsher torture techniques to their victims, including cutting off their fingers and toes, forcing them to eat their own excrement and literally bleeding them to death. The jail's chief executioner Him Huy told The Times that his boss used to like to watch the executioners at work Cheong Ek, known as the Killing Fields, where prisoners were bludgeoned to death.

Under Duch's directorship, 17000 men, women and children who had been accused of disloyalty were taken to Tuol Sleng - known as S-21- to be interrogated until they implicated friends, relatives and even people they had never met in fantastical 'plots' against the regime. Then they were killed. There was no reprieve; of the thousnds who passed through the gates of S-21 between 1977 - 1979, only 15 emerged alive.

Full article at link

Duch is the only former member of Pol Pot's inner circle to admit his guilt. Four other Khmer Rouge leaders will follow him into the dock, although it is expected that their trials will not begin until 2011.

********************************************


You know, western democracy has to set an example and act humanely and all that, but for war-criminals and those guilty of genocide, is life-imprisonment always enough? I don't remember the Khmer Rouge personally, but I saw that film The Killing Fields and I've read about it. The description here of what was done on this man's shift, is horrifying. I don't support the death penalty generally, I don't believe we have the right to take away someone's life, not even for the sake of justice; but I begin to wonder if lethal injection is the only way to go with people like this...

The Iraq Inquiry (UK)

http://www.iraqinquiry.org.uk/
Homepage of the UK's Iraq Inquiry, chaired by Sir John Chilcott.

This one will probably be updated regularly...

The Children Addicted to Opium

In a small village in northeastern Afghanistan,
it's estimated more than half the residents are addicted to opium, Even the youngest of children are given the drug


In a village in northeastern Afghanistan, it's just past eight in the morning at Islam Begs house, and the family is already curled up around a burning opium pipe
They include his one-year-old grandson
No one looks twice as his aunt blows the opium at him

It's a common practice here, resulting in rampant child addiction. Residents argue there is no alternative because there is no medicine: there is one drug and that's opium´

This family of five is typical of the growing number of narcotics addicts in Afghanistan. There are an estimated 150,000 opium addicts and a further 50,000 heroin addicts here

Decades of war and poverty have instilled a sense of hopelessness in many people here, making narcotics an easydestructive way to deal with an often grim reality

This village Sarab has a population of fewer than 2,000, and half are already addicts

Afghanistan has few drug treatment services availablecountry-wide, there are fewer than 200 beds total for drug rehabilitation

In small villages like this everyone is linked and every family sinks further and further into debt

Jan Begum, drug addict "All I had I lost buying this (opium) you can see nothing has been left for me. I have been sick for the last six months and I don't have money to go to the doctor, all I had I spent on this (opium)."

This woman blows smoke into the face of a little girl
Khanim Gul, drug addict "I blow opium smoke to her face because I want her to sleep well at night. Opium works for us as an alternative for any kind of medicine."

Beg is hopeful that his grandchildren will escape his fate, he believes they're not yet addicted
But opium addiction in these remote mountain hamlets is so entrenched that whole families, from the smallest toddlers to old men, are held in its vice

 

 

1 million Afghans are estimated to be addicted to drugs, especially heroin. Alarmingly, 40% of these are women and children

 

Three-year-old Said is an opium addict. Without it, he becomes restless.His mother Zarbibi shares her child's condition. She herself is a user and has been one for the past four years.

Zarbibi routinely blows opium into Said's face to keep him quiet. It is the only way she knows how to free herself so that she can work.She said: "Whenever I have chores or work at home, I give my son opium so he would stay calm."I also give him opium so he can sleep. When I realised he became an addict, I regretted it."

There is no shortage of drugs in Afghanistan - and no shortage of reasons for children to try to escape the world in which they are trapped.

Opium eases my pain, keeps my children quiet”

“Women use opium not for fun or luxury but as the only available painkiller to them,” said Mahbooba Ebadi, an obstetrician in Balkh.

When my children are restless and cry I cannot work properly,” said Feroza, a carpet weaver and a mother of six in northern Faryab Province. “When I give them a small piece of opium they become calm and fall asleep, allowing us to work.”

http://www.addictedinafghanistan.com/ for more information

Yemen's Poor Displaced by War

Hundreds of civilians have been fleeing their villages along the border with Saudi Arabia following clashes between Yemen's Houthi-led Shia freedom fighters and the Saudi armed forces, according to a UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) official. "Over the past three days we had over 100 families arriving in the [al-Mazraq] camp every day - more than 300 families [2,100 people]," UNHCR team leader Mai Barazi told IRIN on 10 November. The camp, which is about 40 minutes drive from Haradh, in the northwestern province of Hajjah,

AFP: Ahmadinejad seeks new legitimacy in visit to Brazil

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hpMM6JS5YfbQUiJuUhlV_vcq9w7wD9C535U01
Iran prez seeks new legitimacy in visit to Brazil

By BRADLEY BROOKS (AP) – 1 hour ago

RIO DE JANEIRO — Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is seeking a new source of legitimacy while making his first visit to Brazil, a nation that maintains close ties to the U.S., Israel and other countries trying to halt Iran's nuclear push.

The Iranian leader is set to meet privately Monday with Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who called it an honor to receive Ahmadinejad and defended Iran's right to develop nuclear energy. It's a much-craved pat on the back from a moderate nation as Ahmadinejad faces intense internal and external political pressure.

"With Brazil he gets more bang for his buck in the sense you're getting legitimacy from a more mainstream player," said Daniel Brumberg, an Iran expert at the Washington-based United States Institute of Peace. "One would hope Brazil's diplomacy would be skillful enough to get certain types of messages across to the Iranians and not just give Ahmadinejad the red-carpet treatment."

Ahmadinejad said Sunday that the two countries may discuss cooperation in the nuclear field, where Iran is under intense international pressure to stop uranium enrichment for fear that it is developing atomic weapons.

"We can build partnerships to build nuclear plants," he said in an interview with Brazil's Globo TV News. "Our two countries need nuclear power to generate electricity. Both Brazil and Iran are entitled to benefit from nuclear technology."

Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. Ahmadinejad said in Sunday's interview that critics are politically motivated and believe only wealthy countries should have the technology.

Silva, a deft negotiator whose skills were honed as a union leader, says a new tact is needed with the Iranians. It may not be as embracing as Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, a close ally whom Ahmadinejad will visit next on his tour of South America. But it also shouldn't be as punitive as the U.S. or European approach.

"I told President Obama, I told President Sarkozy, I told Prime Minister Angela Merkel that we will not get good things out of Iran if we corner them. You need to create space to talk," Silva said last month.

About 500 people gathered at Rio de Janeiro's Ipanema Beach on Sunday to protest the visit.

Groups representing gays, Afro-Brazilian artists, Christians, Jews, and Holocaust survivors carried protest banners and a giant cage containing white balloons, which they said is a symbol of Iran's "repressed values."

The Iranian leader has called for the destruction of Israel and repeated in Sunday's interview that homosexuality goes against human nature.

Israel is voicing concern about Iran's push in Latin America. Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman visited Brazil and Argentina in July and Israeli President Shimon Peres visited the same nations last week — the first such high-level visits in decades.

Brazil has the world's seventh-largest uranium reserves and enriches it for its own nuclear energy program. The nation has flatly said it would not sell enriched uranium to Iran, or any other nation.

In addition to encouraging Brazil to press Iran on its uranium enrichment, the U.S. State Department said it hopes Brazil raises the case of three American hikers being held in Iran after they crossed an unmarked border while hiking in Iraqi Kurdistan in July.

Associated Press Writer Marco Sibaja contributed to this report from Brasilia.

IRA dissidents plant car bomb in Belfast

Nov 22, '09 12:01 PM for everyone

Homemade device fails to go off as politicians warn of threat from diehards

 

DUBLIN - Irish Republican Army dissidents left a 400-pound car bomb outside police reform headquarters in Belfast but the homemade device failed to detonate, Northern Ireland's police commander said Sunday.

As politicians warned of a rising threat from IRA diehards, three other suspected IRA dissidents were arrested Sunday in another attack on police.

Chief Constable Matt Baggott said Saturday night's abortive bomb attack on the Northern Ireland Policing Board office in Belfast's docklands represented an attack on the province's entire peace process.

That process has created a joint Catholic-Protestant government and growing support for law and order, achievements that the dissidents hope to undermine.

Two men seen running away
The explosives-laden car caught on fire but didn't explode and caused no damage to the Policing Board building, where a cross-community panel oversees police operations.

Security guards said they saw two men running away. The attackers' suspected getaway vehicle was later found burning — to destroy forensic evidence — in the nearby New Lodge district, a poor housing project long known as an IRA stronghold.

Around the same time Saturday, a police patrol came under gun attack in Garrison, a lakeside border village in the westernmost corner of Northern Ireland. Baggott said police returned fire with two shots, but nobody was hit.

Two suspected IRA dissidents were arrested near Garrison and a third across the border in the Republic of Ireland on suspicion of involvement in the shooting.

A moderate Catholic member of the Policing Board, Alex Attwood, said the IRA dissidents "are broadening the scale of their attacks on democracy."

"Those who are trying to create a climate of fear cannot be allowed to win," said Belfast Mayor Naomi Long. "The best way to combat these thugs is to make devolution (power-sharing) work and show everyone that it won't be destabilized by anything."

Opposed to 1997 cease-fire
Breakaway IRA factions are opposed to the outlawed group's 1997 cease-fire and have repeatedly targeted key buildings and security-force patrols with car bombs. The dissidents are based within the Irish Catholic minority, which is divided over whether to support Northern Ireland's police force.

One splinter group, the Real IRA, committed Northern Ireland's deadliest terror strike, killing 29 people in its August 1998 car-bombing of the town of Omagh. The group also exploded a car bomb outside British Broadcasting Corp. news offices in London in March 2001, injuring one person.

Since then, all of the dissidents' car bombs have failed, either because they did not explode properly, were intercepted or were abandoned short of their targets.

Rivals team up
The Real IRA and a rival splinter group, the Continuity IRA, combined in March to gun down two off-duty soldiers and a policeman. Those were the first slayings of security force members in Northern Ireland since 1998, the year of the Good Friday peace accord.

Experts on paramilitarism warned recently that the splinter groups are receiving technical assistance from some IRA veterans disillusioned with their movement's decision to reject militarism in favor of cooperation with Northern Ireland's British Protestant majority.

The IRA formally renounced violence and disarmed in 2005 and the IRA's Sinn Fein party accepted the legitimacy of the police in 2007 by agreeing to join the Policing Board in Belfast. Those historic peace moves spurred Protestant leaders to accept Sinn Fein as partners in a unity government.

 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34091979/ns/world_news-europe/

Leaked UK Govt plan to create "Pirate Finder General" with power to appoint militias, create laws

http://www.boingboing.net/2009/11/19/breaking-leaked-uk-g.html
BREAKING: Leaked UK government plan to create "Pirate Finder General" with power to appoint militias, create laws

A source close to the British Labour Government has just given me reliable information about the most radical copyright proposal I've ever seen.

Secretary of State Peter Mandelson is planning to introduce changes to the Digital Economy Bill now under debate in Parliament. These changes will give the Secretary of State (Mandelson -- or his successor in the next government) the power to make "secondary legislation" (legislation that is passed without debate) to amend the provisions of Copyright, Designs and Patents Act (1988).

What that means is that an unelected official would have the power to do anything without Parliamentary oversight or debate, provided it was done in the name of protecting copyright. Mandelson elaborates on this, giving three reasons for his proposal:

1. The Secretary of State would get the power to create new remedies for online infringements (for example, he could create jail terms for file-sharing, or create a "three-strikes" plan that costs entire families their internet access if any member stands accused of infringement)

2. The Secretary of State would get the power to create procedures to "confer rights" for the purposes of protecting rightsholders from online infringement. (for example, record labels and movie studios can be given investigative and enforcement powers that allow them to compel ISPs, libraries, companies and schools to turn over personal information about Internet users, and to order those companies to disconnect users, remove websites, block URLs, etc)

3. The Secretary of State would get the power to "impose such duties, powers or functions on any person as may be specified in connection with facilitating online infringement" (for example, ISPs could be forced to spy on their users, or to have copyright lawyers examine every piece of user-generated content before it goes live; also, copyright "militias" can be formed with the power to police copyright on the web)

Mandelson is also gunning for sites like YouSendIt and other services that allow you to easily transfer large files back and forth privately (I use YouSendIt to send podcasts back and forth to my sound-editor during production). Like Viacom, he's hoping to force them to turn off any feature that allows users to keep their uploads private, since privacy flags can be used to keep infringing files out of sight of copyright enforcers.

This is as bad as I've ever seen, folks. It's a declaration of war by the entertainment industry and their captured regulators against the principles of free speech, privacy, freedom of assembly, the presumption of innocence, and competition.

This proposal creates the office of Pirate-Finder General, with unlimited power to appoint militias who are above the law, who can pry into every corner of your life, who can disconnect you from your family, job, education and government, who can fine you or put you in jail.

More to follow, I'm sure, once Open Rights Group and other activist organizations get working on this. In the meantime, tell every Briton you know. If we can't stop this, it's beginning of the end for the net in Britain.

2012: Combat The Nonsense

http://www.universetoday.com/2009/10/14/2012-combat-the-nonsense/

In a rather cruel media ploy, the creators of the upcoming science fiction movie "2012" are purposely feeding the flames of internet panic about the ridiculous claims that the world will end in 2012. This viral marketing campaign has created fake science websites and encourages people to search for “2012” on the Web. While there are many websites, like Universe Today, which provide solid and methodical evidence that the 2012 hysteria is complete nonsense, hordes of other sites out there are full of gobbledygook and a gross misstating of what they claim to be scientific evidence that some astronomical event will decimate our planet. Why are these hoaxers doing this? For the oldest reason ever: for profit and notoriety. If you visit their websites, most are trying to sell books or videos.

For those reading this article because you have concerns about 2012, we encourage you to read our complete series of articles on 2012, and it won't cost you a thing. The articles were written by Dr. Ian O'Neil, who has a PhD in solar physics. Additionally, below is a list of other resources that should help answer any questions or concerns you may have on this topic:

1. NASA scientist Dr. David Morrison Dr. Morrison, a world-renowned expert on the solar system (and asteroid impacts) has published a free pdf, "Doomsday 2012, Planet Nibiru and Cosmophobia," a concise summary of the claims and answers containing solid scientific responses. It is published by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific as a public service.

2. Morrison also serves as the public scientist for NASA’s “Ask an Astrobiologist” service, where he answers questions for the public. You'll find many questions and answers about 2012 there, as well as other space topics.

3. The 365 Days of Astronomy podcast has a couple of great, short podcasts that address the 2012 claims, where you can get lots of information in about 10 minutes of your time. Will the World End in 2012? provides an overview of all 2012 doomsday hoaxes, and "Ancient Astronomy: The Mayans" discusses the significance of the Mayan calendar and, briefly, how the world is not going to end in 2012.

4. The Griffith Observatory has a great, concise page on the different claims called "The Truth About 2012: The End is NOT Near," written by astronomer Dr. Ed Krupp.

5. "2012 Hoax" is a website written by several professional and amateur astronomers that thoroughly discusses the various doomsday scenarios and crackpot websites. You can also follow 2012 Hoax on Twitter.

6. Gia's Blog, written by science groupie Gia Milinovitch (also married to physicist Dr. Brian Cox) has a great page titled "Apocalympics 2012: Mayan 'Prophecy'"

7. If English isn't your native language, astronomer Florian Freistetter has written several 2012 articles in German. They can be found on his website, Astrodicticum Simplex. Of special interest, Florian has recently put together a "2012 FAQ" page in German.

8. Daniel Fischer has a webpage in both English and German, Ist Es Wahr? Nachrichten vom Rande der Wirklichkeit (Is it true? News from the Edge of Reality), which tracks articles related to all sorts of doomsday and conspiracy theories. 

9. (Added later) With the release of the Movie 2012, NASA published a short page that answers several doomsday predictions with concise, scientific answers.

Corporate Human Rights Violators - Global Exchange

http://www.globalexchange.org/getInvolved/corporateHRviolators.html
I remember this went viral about two years ago on here... saw it first posted by pranicmegan from Australia, who isn't around much these days. I posted it on a previous site, as did Flavouriam, which is where I just stumbled across it again, via our mutual friend Iri. So thanks to them...

Detailed breakdown of how exactly some of these corporations violate human rights... including Caterpillar, Coca-Cola, Chevron, Kellog, Brown & Root, Wal-Mart, Monsanto... the usual suspects.

Interesting site too, Global Exchange


Extract, on Monsanto:

MONSANTO

CEO: Hugh Grant (yes, the actor)
Contact the Corporation: c/o Kathleen Klepfer, Chief of Staff for Hugh Grant
800 North Lindbergh Boulevard
St. Louis, MO 63167
Phone:(314) 694-1000
Fax: (314) 694-8394
kathleen.lee.klepfer@monsanto.com

Human Rights Abuses: Displacement, health violations, and child labor

Monsanto is, by far, the largest producer of genetically engineered seeds in the world, dominating 70% to 100% of the market for crops such as soy, cotton, wheat, and corn. The company is also one of the most egregious abusers of the human rights of food sovereignty, access to land, and health.

Monsanto promotes mono-culture—the practice of covering large swaths of land with a single crop. This practice pushes out subsistence farms and destroys arable land by drastically decreasing soil and water quality for years, draining soil of key nutrients. The company also undercuts food prices by flooding countries like Mexico, India, and Brazil with cheap, genetically modified foods, resulting in the displacement of millions of farm workers, who are forced to migrate to cities or work as landless peasants or share croppers.

Monsanto is the world's leading producer of the herbicide glyphosate, marketed as "Roundup." Roundup is sold to small farmers as a pesticide, yet harms crops in the long run as the toxins accumulate in the soil. Plants eventually become infertile, forcing farmers to purchase genetically modified Roundup Ready Seed, a seed that resists the herbicide. This creates a cycle of dependency on Monsanto for both the weed killer and the only seed that can resist it. Both products are patented, and sold at inflated prices.

Roundup Ultra, a version of the pesticide that is unavailable on the commercial market, is regularly employed in fumigation of areas of illicit crop production. However, as it destroys fields of drug plants, it also destroys subsistence crops like banana, palm heart, and coffee. Exposure to the pesticide is documented to cause cancers, skin disorders, spontaneous abortions, premature births, and damage to the gastrointestinal and nervous systems.

According to the India Committee of the Netherlands and the International Labor Rights Fund, Monsanto also employs child labor. In India, an estimated 12,375 children work in cottonseed production for farmers paid by Indian and multinational seed companies, including Monsanto. A number of children have died or became seriously ill due to exposure to pesticides.

Monsanto's yearly profits are $5.4 billion.

Who's working on it:
• Food First
• GM Watch
• GRAIN
• India Resource Center
• Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
• Landless Workers' Movement
• Organic Consumers' Association
• Via Campesina

Life In Jerusalem - City of Three Faiths (BBC)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/8369687.stm
Jerusalem's Old City is a district containing a number of holy sites venerated by Muslims, Christians and Jews. The BBC's Heather Sharp, who moved into a home within its walls last year, reports on daily life in a dense tangle of narrow, winding alleyways.

Continued...

Profile: New EU President (BBC) + Links

Pic:  Van Rompuy and Baroness Cathy Ashton (Labour, UK)
 who will be his Foreign Minister

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8358504.stm

The EU's first permanent president, Belgian Prime Minister Herman van Rompuy, is a camera-shy man who has been catapulted from relative obscurity.

After his selection at a Brussels summit, he stressed his credentials as a consensus politician and made it clear he would fulfil the role of a chairman rather than a globe-trotting statesman.

His tasks include liaising with EU leaders and arranging the bloc's annual summits. He says tackling climate change and lowering EU unemployment rates are among his priorities.

The centre-right leader has a reputation as a good negotiator with a self-deprecating sense of humour, which helped him to hold together a fractious coalition government at home.

Shortly after his presidential appointment was announced, the 62-year-old drily remarked on previous US complaints about the EU lacking a central go-to figure. "I'm anxiously awaiting the first phone call," he said.

But his appointment may be bad news for Belgium's troubled coalition of Dutch- and French-speaking parties, which could fall apart without his careful stewardship.

In linguistically divided Belgium, he is seen as a unifying force, taking an even-handed approach to resolving conflicts - a skill that is expected to serve him well in Europe's top job.

Focus on federalism

Mr Van Rompuy has pledged to be discreet in his new role. He is little known outside Belgium and has attended only two European summits.
    
Turkey is not a part of Europe and will never be part of Europe
Herman Van Rompuy
Speaking as an opposition politician

With such a limited international reputation, critics say he will struggle to command attention when he travels on behalf of Europe.

But his modest demeanour belies outspoken political beliefs. An avowed federalist, he has called for national symbols within the EU to be replaced by European symbols.

He has also called for a tax on financial transactions within the bloc to fund the EU.

A veteran politician from Belgium's Flemish Christian Democrat party, he has been outspoken in the past in opposition to Turkey joining the EU. He warned it could dilute Europe's Christian heritage.

"Turkey is not a part of Europe and will never be part of Europe," he said as an opposition politician five years ago.

"The universal values which are in force in Europe, and which are fundamental values of Christianity, will lose vigour with the entry of a large Islamic country such as Turkey."

Haiku writer

Mr Van Rompuy was originally reluctant to take on the post of Belgian prime minister at the end of 2008. He replaced Yves Leterme, who resigned amid a financial scandal last December after just nine months in the job.

Riven by post-election squabbling, Belgium had already been through two prime ministers in 12 months and seemed in danger of splitting apart, due to the arguments over devolution plans between the Dutch- and French-speaking parties.

Something of a moderate in Belgium's increasingly polarised politics, Mr Van Rompuy was eventually persuaded to take on the job by Belgian King Albert II.

He was appointed prime minister, having held the position of president of the lower house of parliament since July 2007.

The trained economist inherited a fragile government coalition and a nation facing a global economic crisis that had crippled Belgian banking giant Fortis.

He had previously served as budget minister in the Christian Democrat-led government from 1993 to 1999, during which time he took a tough stance on balancing the books, drastically reducing the country's public debt.

Before that, Mr Van Rompuy was leader of the Flemish Christian Democrats between 1988 and 1993.

He has penned several books - mainly on social and political issues - and is also an avid blogger and haiku writer.

He is said to sometimes compose the 17-syllable Japanese-style poems during political meetings and has been known to read out his compositions at such gatherings.

One offering on Mr Van Rompuy's website is called EU Trio-presidency, but any message therein about his political ambitions is well concealed:

"Three waves roll

Along the harbour

The trio's home."


National pride

Before his appointment, people on the streets of Brussels voiced mixed emotions about the prospect of their prime minister becoming Europe's figurehead.

A sense of national pride was countered by one of foreboding about how Belgium's government would cope without him.

A poll by Euronews found respondents in the capital reluctant to lose a peace-maker "indispensable in keeping the peace between the different communities".

"It would be a pity," said one resident. "It would mean political instability in Belgium. A good thing for Europe a bad thing for Belgium!"

Before entering politics, Mr Van Rompuy worked at the Belgian central bank from 1972 to 1975.

One of a family of politicians, his younger brother, Eric Van Rompuy, is also a politician for the CD&V, while his sister, Christine Van Rompuy, is a member of the Workers Party of Belgium.

Herman Van Rompuy is married with four children.

RELATED:

Belgium's Devolution Conundrum:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7640198.stm

Belgian ethnic rift baffles immigrants:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7666514.stm

Can divided Belgium hold together?:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7678777.stm

http://www.flanders.be

http://www.wallonie.be/en/index.html

http://www.lesoir.be/

Belgian Govt portal:

http://www.belgium.be/en/

Brussels Portal:

http://www.brucity.be/

Herman van Rompuy's Haiku blog:

http://www.hermanvanrompuy.be/haiku/

CIA World Factbook on Belgium:

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/be.html





(above, Italian MP Mario Borghezio refers to Dutch PM Jan Peter Balkenende, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband and Belgian PM and new EU President Herman van Rompuy, denouncing the Bilberberg / Trilateral influence on each, calling for 'transparency').
 

Pakistan demands US share Afghan blueprint - Yahoo! News

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091120/ap_on_re_as/as_pakistan
I suspect that Pakistan would be interested in our plans. If militants do cross the border they will be subject to more drone attacks, as well as problems with militants fighting government troops. Destabilizing Pakistan is not in the US best interests either, and is probably at least as important we not do that as it is to pacify Afghanistan. Whatever that is supposed to mean.

Old Bailey Bomber Held Over Murder Of Soldiers

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/old-bailey-bomber-held-over-murder-of-soldiers-1822274.html
Old Bailey bomber held over murder of soldiers

Unrepentant republican convicted for her part in 1973 blast is arrested by police investigating barracks killings in March

By David McKittrick, Ireland correspondent

Tuesday, 17 November 2009

For decades she has stood as a symbol of hardline Irish republican militancy.

And today Marian Price – who 36 years ago tried to blow up the Old Bailey as part of an IRA bombing campaign – was again the subject of a huge anti-terror operation.

Heavily armed police raided Price’s home in the republican Andersonstown area of west Belfast and she was taken away for questioning about the Real IRA killings of Sappers Patrick Azimkar, 21, from London, and Mark Quinsey, 23.

____________________________________________________________________________


Sectarian killers Where are they now?

Sean Murray

is an IRA veteran, involved in republican activities since 1969 and regarded as key figure in the organisation. He was arrested many times and given a 12-year sentence for explosives offences in 1982. Today a community activist, he is involved in contacts with the authorities and with Protestant groups on issues such as contentious parades and peacelines.

Michael Stone,

the loyalist described as one of Northern Ireland's most notorious but most mystifying murderers, came to the world's attention with a televised attack in 1988 on mourners at an IRA funeral. He killed three mourners with a revolver and hand grenades. After serving a lengthy prison sentence he staged another televised incident in 2006, attempting to burst into Belfast's Stormont parliament to attack republicans. He is appealing against the 16-year sentence he received.

Colin Duffy

is a veteran republican activist who is behind bars awaiting trial over the murders of two soldiers shot dead by the Real IRA in March. In the 1990s he faced murder charges in connection with the shootings of two police officers in Co Armagh, but the charges were dropped. Earlier he escaped with his life in an incident when a friend was shot dead by loyalists.

Pat Magee

is a Belfast republican known as the Brighton bomber who received multiple life sentences for planting a bomb which narrowly missed killing Margaret Thatcher in 1984. After many years in prison he has involved himself in forgiveness and reconciliation activities, often cooperating with Jo Berry, whose father, Conservative MP Sir Anthony Berry, died in the explosion.

Egypt vs Algeria - A Matter of Life and Death

A Matter of Life and Death? (Egypt vs Algeria is more important than that)

The most violent rivals in football will meet tomorrow in a game with the highest of stakes: a trip to next year's World Cup finals.

By Daniel Howden

Wednesday, 18 November 2009

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/a-matter-of-life-and-death-egypt-vs-algeria-is-more-important-than-that-1822424.html

Had Bill Shankly hailed from Cairo rather than a Scottish mining village, he might have said: "Football's not a matter of life and death – but it can cost you your eyesight." Ask the Egyptian team doctor who lost an eye after being attacked with a broken bottle by an Algerian footballer when the two countries last met for a place in the World Cup finals two decades ago.

Tonight the two sides meet again for the same prize after a sequence of results that would make an atheist question the notion of free will. At stake is a place in next year's World Cup, no small amount of pride and the terms of a million arguments that will rage in North Africa long after the final whistle is blown.

The footballing giants of the Maghreb both have points to prove. Algeria have not taken part in the finals since 1986 and Egypt, for all their dominance of Africa's club competitions, haven't been there since 1990. There is a mutual antipathy – stoked, some believe, by a perceived failure on the part of Egypt to assist Algeria's efforts to throw off French colonial rule.

But the beautiful game has been cultivated in both countries, where the authoritarian regimes haven't been slow to notice that football can let off popular steam that might otherwise blow in their direction. "The elite [in Egypt] never lost faith in football's ability to soothe the masses," David Goldblatt wrote in his world football bible The Ball is Round.

With so much pumped-up pride and frustration placed on the outcome of a kick-around, matches may stop revolutions but they also start riots.

After a disappointing qualification campaign from group favourites Egypt, relative outsiders Algeria found themselves within touching distance of a place in South Africa. All they needed to do was avoid losing by two goals in Cairo last Saturday. A draw would have seen Algeria go through. A defeat by a single goal likewise. A win by three goals would have elevated Egypt above Algeria in their qualifying group and sent the "Pharaohs" south. In fact, the only score that could have persuaded anyone to stage a play-off between two of football's most antagonistic rivals was 2-0 to Egypt.

Thanks to a goal in the fifth minute of stoppage time from Egypt's Emad Moteab, that's exactly what happened. That left the two rivals level on points and goal difference in Group C. And so tonight, in Khartoum's twin city of Omdurman, they face each other again in a match that almost nobody wanted, fighting for the final African place in the 2010 championships.

Football's world governing body Fifa is hoping the Sudanese authorities can do a better policing job than Egypt managed at the weekend.

Despite weeks of warnings, an online war of words among supporters and public appeals for calm from cabinet ministers and the insistence of the Egyptian foreign ministry that all sides "had a desire for calm ahead of the crucial match", the Algerian players had barely made it out of the airport before they were attacked.

A stone-throwing mob surrounded the team bus and the latest gory chapter was opened. "We were bombarded with stones," Michel Gaillaud, the Desert Foxes' French doctor, recalled. The first rock was thrown hard enough to go in one side of the bus and out the other, he added. "People were screaming. We were lying on the floor. Someone started shouting, 'There's blood! There's blood!'"

It's a shout that's usually heard at some point in encounters between the two countries. Anyone listening to the pre-match comments from Egypt's captain Ahmed Hassan would have known what to expect: "Algeria once said their trip to Egypt will be joyful and full of entertainment, but I assure them it won't."

Sympathy for the stoned was in short supply in Cairo where commentators queued up to dispute the Algerians' claimed injuries, saying the attack had been faked in an effort to get the game cancelled.

While almost anywhere else in the world the game would have been called off, here Fifa looked the other way and it went ahead with two of Algeria's team playing with head bandages – a situation the coach wasted little time in blaming for the 2-0 defeat.

The backlash in Algiers was swift. Thousands of Algeria fans burned down Egyptian telecom giant Orascom's compound and stole or destroyed equipment worth $5m. EgyptAir's country headquarters were ransacked twice and looters chanted slogans at the firemen who turned up to put out the blaze. Algeria's ambassador was later summoned to the foreign ministry in Cairo for stern words. If this response seems overblown, anyone present at the 1989 match could have told authorities what to expect. Then, as now, the two teams had to play two matches to decide who would go to Italia '90. The first ended goalless, moving to a decider in Cairo where Egypt needed to win. This they did thanks to a first-half header from Hossam Hassan but the football wasn't really the point.

Ayman Younis, an Egyptian midfielder who would have played that day but for injury and is now a television commentator, remembers: "It was an incredible atmosphere. The stadium was full five hours before the game. The Algeria team was full of stars and, on the pitch, it was very crazy; 11 fights between every player. Everybody forgot what the coaches had to say and just fought instead. It was a battle, not a football match. It was like our war against Israel in 1973."

Then the fighting got worse. Brawling in the tunnel was followed by a pitched battle at the press conference that had to be broken up by heavy police intervention. By the time the two sides were parted, the Egyptian team doctor had lost an eye.

One of Africa's most admired players, Algeria's Lakhdar Belloumi – who scored the winning goal against West Germany at the 1982 World Cup – was blamed. He was convicted in absentia by an Egyptian court and a warrant issued for his arrest by Interpol. He has remained a virtual prisoner at his home until a personal appeal by Algerian president Abdelaziz Bouteflika saw the warrant lifted this year.

The leading characters from that fateful match are once again to the fore. Many of the players are now coaching or commentating on tonight's game. Algeria are managed by Rabah Saadane, who led them in the 1989 decider. When asked about the pressure at a press conference in June he broke down in tears.

As for the peacemakers in Khartoum, hopes of a neutral venue have vanished in the last 48 hours. Egypt is perceived as the neighbourhood's sporting bully and around 15,000 riot police have been deployed. Last night, Algerian defender Madjid Bougherra summed up the mood, saying they were "ready for war".

Scotland seems to be everyone's first port of call when it comes to underlining the importance of a match and while Algeria's supporters didn't quote Bill Shankly they took inspiration from the movie Braveheart in a popular YouTube clip, getting William Wallace to call on all Algerians to turn out for the Sudan decider.

Thousands of fans like Adel, decked out in pointed hat, shirt and trousers in Algeria's colours, answered the call: "I am married with two children," he told the AFP in Khartoum. "I left my children, my wife, my home. I left everything and I came here."

Live coverage of the match starts at 17:15 on British Eurosport.

____________________________________________


Great sporting rivalries




*India v Pakistan

With TV audiences often approaching one billion, the clashes between these two great cricketing nations can take on an epic quality. The stakes are only heightened when the two countries' relationship is soured by politics. Effigies of hated players have been burned in the streets; on some occasions, Test matches have even been played in neutral countries to dampen hostilities. Pakistan boast the better head-to-head record in tests, with 12 wins to India's nine.

*El Salvador v Honduras

In 1969 these Central American nations faced off against each other for a place at the 1970 World Cup in Mexico. Honduras won the first game 1-0, while El Salvador triumphed in the second game 3-0. A month later, on 14 July, the two countries commenced a four-day war that resulted in around 2000 deaths. Of course the causes lay in deep socio-economic tensions. But tensions were stoked up so much by the needle fixtures that the conflict became known as the "The Football War".

*USA v USSR

Another rivalry with its roots in politics, this titanic battle took a further twist during the 1972 Munich Olympics when chaos reigned in the basketball final. Timing errors led to premature celebrations from the Americans before late scores swung the match in favour of the Soviets who ultimately prevailed. Despite vehement protests and official tribunals, the result stood, while the silver medals went unclaimed by the USA. Americans may prefer to look back on their amateur ice hockey team's astonishing success in the 1980 Winter Olympics, when en route to a gold medal they took on the feted Soviet side as heavy underdogs and won, in a stunning game that came to be known as the "Miracle on Ice".

*Japan v South Korea

They may have joined forces to host the World Cup in 2002, but relations between these two were a lot more tense following the Second World War. When they were drawn against each other for a set of World Cup qualifiers in 1954, South Korean president Syngman Rhee refused to allow the Japanese to set foot in his country. Both games were therefore played in Tokyo, and Rhee warned his countrymen: "Be prepared to throw yourselves into the ocean if you lose."

*Russia v Georgia

When the two countries' athletes flew to Beijing for the 2008 Olympic Games, they may not have anticipated any unusual rivalry. Then Georgia launched an assault on South Ossetia, and a brutal war began. In China, the stakes were rather lower – but some competitors couldn't forget the war at home. In the women's beach volleyball, the Georgian underdogs triumphed. Cristine Santanna – originally Brazilian – declared: "I was inspired by what is going on back in Georgia and it made me more determined to win." Her Russian opponents saw things differently. "Georgia were stupid to start a war with Russia," snapped a furious Alexandra Shiryaeva. "We are big and they are small."

Matt Fortune and Rahul Odedra

Race and governmental mistrust

This question just came up in a thread on my site:

Does anyone have data on overlap between trust or distrust/fear of other races, and trust/distrust of government?

Anyone know of any such data?

Belgian becomes Frontrunner for top EU job: Attends Bilderberg dinner

http://news.ph.msn.com/business/article.aspx?cp-documentid=3683367
Meet Herman van Rompuy, Belgium, Christian Democrat (centre right), new front-runner for the role of President of the European Council.

Likely to be popular among Euro-colleagues, not one who will 'rock the boat' or upset other Heads of State... this is a consensus choice, for stability in the beginning, rather than a 'celebrity' face well known by the people, such as Tony Blair.

Infowars Ireland have reported he's already been to dinner with Kingmakers, the Bilderberg steering committee.

Is he right for the role? What do we know about him?

Rome: World Summit on Food 'Just Another Talk-Fest'

http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2009/s2744994.htm
Radio Interview by Eleanor Hall on Australian current affairs show, The World Today:

(audio available)

pictured: Jacques Diouf, Director General of Food & Agriculture Org, U.N. since 1994


ELEANOR HALL: Around 60 world leaders are attending the World Summit on Food Security in Rome and have vowed to take urgent action to combat global food shortages.

But already the meeting is being dismissed as another talkfest.

The leaders are not promising more money to deal with the hunger that afflicts a billion of the world's people and as Barney Porter reports the leaders of some of the world's wealthiest countries are not even attending the summit.

BARNEY PORTER: The summit was opened by the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, and he got straight down to business.

BAN KI-MOON: The food crisis of today is a wakeup call for tomorrow. By 2050 our planet may be the home to 9.1 billion people, over two billion more than today.

BARNEY PORTER: If that happens, he says, we'll need to grow 70 per cent more food at a time when weather is becoming more extreme and more unpredictable.

He's called for a more coordinated approach to the problem to build trust, saying the poorest people in the world are in a vicious cycle that threatens millions of lives.

BAN KI-MOON: We must ensure safety nets for those who cannot afford food. We must transform agriculture development, markets and how food is distributed.

BARNEY PORTER: Even the Pope had a say.

POPE BENEDICT XVI (translated): Hunger is the most cruel and concrete sign of poverty. Opulence and waste are no longer acceptable when the tragedy of hunger is assuming ever greater proportions.

BARNEY PORTER: Josette Sheeran is the executive director of the World Food Programme.

JOSETTE SHEERAN: The world has to come together, not only to reach the hungry but to make sure we're producing enough food. So I think now most of the leaders of the world have declared this to be on the top of the agenda, but it is the time for action.

BARNEY PORTER: And that's what they've promised to do.

In 2000 the United Nations set a target of halving world hunger by 2015 and ending it by 2025.

The declaration issued on the first day of this three-day meeting has vowed "urgent action" to combat a problem affecting more than one billion people.

It outlines five principles including direct action to help the most vulnerable.

The document calls on wealthy nations to honour pledges made at a group of eight gathering last July of $US 20 billion in aid over the next three years.

But so far there are no new financial commitments from this summit or new targets.

That's angered Jacques Diouf, the head of the UN's food agency, the Food and Agriculture Organisation.

JACQUES DIOUF: I'm satisfied by what they have achieved positively. I'm not satisfied with the fact that if we set a target, we have to get it quantified.

BARNEY PORTER: And while everyone agrees there's a problem, the solution is harder to settle on.

FAO professor Paul Munro-Faure says the answer to end world hunger is more investment in capital, labour and technology to improve food production.

PAUL MUNRO-FAURE: Money tends to come from a whole range of sources, individual farmers and their families. Money can come domestically or it can come from international sources but I think that the concern at the summit is that the levels of investment are inadequate to underpin the growth in production that is required to feed the world population.

BARNEY PORTER: But it's not that simple.

Activists holding a forum in parallel to the UN's summit have criticised multi-national food companies for buying up farmland in developing countries.

Henry Saragih is the coordinator of La Via Campesina, an international advocacy group for small farmers.

HENRY SARAGIH: Many our land has grabbing by the transnational corporations. They grow the palm oil and they grow the maize yeah. This is not to the people but to feed the cow. They export orientation.

BARNEY PORTER: The agricultural rights group, GRAIN, says the UN summit broached the issue of land grabs, but without proposing viable solutions.

Australia channels money through the FAO and recently committed $464 million over four years.

Kelly Dent is from Oxfam Australia.

KELLY DENT: There needs to be more done to ensure that this money does get to small farmers in particular and also to ensure that our food aid system is better coordinated, does better monitoring, there is increased money to agricultural aid and areas.

BARNEY PORTER: How do we achieve that?

KELLY DENT: A better multilateral food system where we see better coordination amongst UN agencies, better targeting of where that aid is going and better monitoring to make sure that that aid is actually going where it is needed.

ELEANOR HALL: That is Kelly Dent from Oxfam Australia, speaking to Barney Porter.

The Buck Stops Here

Just a quick note from El Commandante...


It's a shame it feels necessary to have to write this, but I want to stop a snowball before it starts.

On posting here.

On what is ok, how much of it is ok, and how this group is going to be.



As a person, and as an occassional writer of opinion pieces, I reserve the right to be biased.  Like anyone else, I have an opinion.  All of us here are free to express our opinions.

As a moderator in this group, my pledge is to deliver impartiality and accountability - this is why there is a strong team of diverse administrators.  If I behave unfairly, I trust them to relieve me of my duties if it is ever necessary.  Democracy.

Because I happen to be a left-leaning atheist, there will inevitably be those (usually of the American Christian Conservative NObama brigade) who will cry "liberal bias", whatever we do.  The worst of them, many of whom I've had to remove from here already because they had no interest in contributing meaningfully, will simply make it their sport to try and derail or undermine this project, maybe coming back with fake accounts or staying here and deliberately burying other posts with their paranoia about their black Muslim Commie President - but this is short sighted for a variety of reasons.


First, we have created a platform here which can be used for building bridges and cultivating a better understanding between religions and races, between political or philosophical schools of thought.  It can be more than just a news group, if you let it be.  Those who are too hostile to fathom that, and would attempt to sabotage it, are not welcome.  One by one...

Second, it exhibits a failure to comprehend what this group is about.  'Geopolitics' is largely - though not exclusively - international.  I post on a wide variety of topics, as do others here.  I post about American imperialism because it's true.  I tend not to slander individuals or make, for example, anti-Semitic remarks.  To those of you who are guilty of what I outline here, why don't you try adding to the diversity?  What do you think about Thaksin Shinawatra, Armenia, Steven Harper, David Miliband, Kashmir, Jacob Zuma or Gloria Macapagal Arroyo?  Stop being so predictable and juvenile or shut up and go away.  I don't care if we lose 100 members overnight... you know who you are.  Just the trolls... there aren't many left. 

Third - we, the world outside your cocoon, don't care that you hate the guy your own people elected.  You're a closet racist.  At least be honest!

There are however, a few on that side of the political spectrum who do seem to get the gist of what can be acheived here.  You know who you are also.  Please continue as you have been...  personally, the Friedrich Hayek stuff was of great interest, thanks.

I do understand that you cannot have political debate without some conflict.

The kind of nonsense I'm on about here isn't even trying to be a debate.  It's preaching.  When I see the same prejudice from the same person one too many times, I'll just knock them out.  No warning.  I trust my team of administrators to do likewise across the whole range of opinions. 


Please make sure your posts, particularly the blogs, are informational and / or springboards for open discussion.  Discuss policy and events, refer to academic sources and journalism, by all means - personality politics, racism, phobics and slander we do not need, thanks.

"I hate Obama because he is Communist / Muslim / Black" etc

"I hate Israel and we should nuke the Zionist infidels"

Ditto Iran or any other nation, but particularly those two 'usual suspects'. And France.

"I hate America, they're all fat and eat McDonalds, the war pigs"

"I hate Islam..." (without any attempt at intelligent discourse - this is just hate-posting and bashing).

...and so on

Normally, we find that somebody who dives straight in with one of the above, is likely to post that same mantra over and over and over again.  It's boring, negative, destructive, adds nothing of value to this group and we don't want it here.  Come and see me if you want to do that - I'll give you some links to a few groups where that is much more appropriate.


I've been looking at this group from the point of view of a new member today, who just arrived... and at present it looks like another of those Obama-hate fests.  That's disappointing.  I'll be keeping an eye on whether newcomers leave quickly, and if I conclude that there are too many negative posts, and these are putting people off, I will quickly weed out those responsible, for the greater good.  This is an opportunity they don't deserve.


Yes, I take this all probably way too seriously. 

You're welcome to think that.  I don't care.

I've put a lot of my time and effort into making this project as good as it is, and  it's got a long way to go yet; a few clowns are not going to get in the way of that progress.

And to those fifty or so new members who joined us during the last week - a warm welcome.  We hope you will feel free to join in, and help create something genuinely different. 

Yours,


Commandante Nopigeonhole

China's Internet Youth Aren't Fooled By President's Visit

http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSTRE5AC0KV20091116
By Melanie Lee, SHANGHAI (Reuters)

U.S. President Barack Obama's call on Monday for Internet freedom in China met with wariness and cynicism from many Chinese Internet users, suggesting his effort to win over the country's youth has some way to go.

Some were intensely patriotic in their comments, citing China's status as the largest holder of U.S. government debt as a reason for Obama's polite overtures at a town hall-style meeting with students in Shanghai.

"The purpose of Obama's visit to China is to get China to help the U.S. economy's health. It's like a fox in a chicken coop," said one netizen XinDeGuiHui.

China has cut access to popular social networking sites Facebook since March and Twitter since July, citing the need for social harmony. The frontier region of Xinjiang has been unable to access any outside websites since deadly ethnic riots in July.


Full story at link

How the fall of the Wall freed Nelson Mandela - Times Online

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article6916299.ece

November 14, 2009

How the fall of the Wall freed Nelson Mandela

Gorbachev and de Klerk were unexpected revolutionaries joined for ever by a brief moment in history 20 years ago

by Michael Binyon

“The ANC would come in on a platform of racial equality. We thought it would then be overtaken by a communist coup,”

***

The fall of the Berlin Wall and the release of Nelson Mandela are two of the most joyous and momentous events of the past half century. The collapse of communism changed Europe for ever. The dismantling of apartheid spared South Africa a bloodbath and set the world an extraordinary example of reconciliation and racial harmony. Who could have imagined the two events were so closely linked?

Twenty years after the Wall was breached and almost two decades since Mr Mandela was freed, the architects of these astonishing events met in Berlin this week to celebrate what they unleashed and their consequent Nobel Peace Prizes.

More at link

United States 'does not seek to contain' China

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/8360083.stm
"Nations need not fear the success of another".

Obama, America's first 'Pacfic President' at APEC, with another great pitch for world peace.


APEC website:

http://www.apec.org/

Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Shiite Houthi Rebels

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/11/20091113133153733615.html
At least 240 villages have been evacuated in southwestern Saudi Arabia due to fighting between Saudi forces and Yemeni rebels along the border, the UN children's fund (Unicef) has said.
Unicef, citing contacts in Saudi Arabia on Friday, said more than 50 schools have also been closed in the country, after fighting between Yemeni government forces and Houthi rebels in Yemen's north spilled over into Saudi Arabia last week.
"Unicef is deeply concerned about the escalation of the conflict in northern Yemen," Sigrid Kaag, the Unicef regional director for the Middle East, said in a statement.
"Fighting has now spilled over into Saudi Arabia, reportedly causing 240 villages to be evacuated."
Unicef said thousands of people in Yemen have also fled the fighting, with the number of displaced at a camp in Yemen's Hajjah governorate more than doubling in four weeks to 15,000 people.
"Unicef urges all parties to ensure that children are protected from violence and receive all the assistance they need," Kaag said.
Buffer zone
The news came as Saudi Arabia vowed to continue its air and artillery attacks against the rebels as part of efforts to reinforce a 10km-deep buffer zone inside Yemen.
The zone is designed to keep members of the Yemeni rebel group away from Saudi Arabia's southwestern border.
The Houthi fighters have accused Saudi Arabia of flying over their territory and firing scores of rockets on villages.
Video footage released by the fighters on Thursday allegedly contains images of Saudi missile attacks in Yemen's northern Saada province.

Hussein Shobokshi, a columnist for the Asharq Al Awsat newspaper in Saudi Arabia, said the latest video release is part of a "propaganda war" by the Houthis.
"The Saudis have stated from day one that they are keen to protect their borders [and] that they are keen to create a buffer zone. These were all public announcements," he told Al Jazeera.
"The activities on the Saudi-Yemeni border by the Saudis have been to clear that area from any insurgencies.
"So the Saudis were doing this to defend their territories and to clear a buffer zone to protect [the country] from future attacks by the Houthis.
"The Saudis have a great interest to protect that border because the Yemeni government has failed to protect that border. The Saudis had no choice but to take this severe and dynamic action against tthe Houthis immediately."
Saudi Arabia launched its offensive against the Houthis, who are named after their deceased former leader, after they apparently crossed the border and seized control of a small area.

Offensive continues
The Houthis say that the Saudis have been allowing Yemeni troops to use the area to attack their positions.
But a Saudi government adviser said that there were no Saudi troops fighting on the ground inside Yemen, where the terrain is too mountainous to deploy tanks and artillery effectively.
"The orders are not to go physically into Yemeni territory," he said.
"We don't want to get bogged down there or inflame any local sensitivities, if there are any, against us."
Prince Khaled bin Sultan, the Saudi deputy defence minister, said the offensive would continue until the Houthis "withdraw dozens of kilometres" from the border.
Riyadh has become increasingly anxious about the stability of the government in Yemen, which is facing opposition from the Shia population in the north, separatist sentiment in the south and a growing threat from al-Qaeda fighters.
The Houthis first took up arms against the government of Ali Abdullah Saleh, Yemen's president, in 2004, citing political, economic and religious marginalisation by the Saudi and Western-backed administration.
The conflict intensified in August when Yemen's army launched Operation Scorched Earth in an attempt to crush the fighters in the northern province of Saada.
Aid groups, which have limited access to the northern provinces, say at least 150,000 people are believed to have fled their homes since 2004.

The United Nations refugee agency said last week it was looking into whether the Saudi air raids had affected 3,500 to 4,500 displaced people gathered near the border.

Related:

http://www.english.mojahedin.org/pagesEn/detailsNews.aspx?newsid=6315

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/8352783.stm

http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=MTQwNDIzMTgyOA==

Khalid Sheik Mohammed Due to Go on Trial; Guantanamo Set to Close January 2010

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7844176.stm
US President Barack Obama has signed an executive order to close the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba by 22 January 2010.
The detention centre was set up in January 2002 by the Bush administration to hold prisoners it deemed "enemy combatants" - a term the Obama administration says will not be used to validate their detention.
Guantanamo once held some 775 inmates who were accused of links to al-Qaeda or the Taliban. Many have been freed or transferred to foreign governments, and three have been convicted by military tribunals, leaving 215 still in custody there.
On 13 November 2009, US Attorney General Eric Holder said the alleged mastermind of 9/11 Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four others would face a civilian trial in New York.


How significant is this announcement?

It is a major step along the path towards closing Guantanamo Bay. The fact that the trial will take place in New York City, close to the scene of the 9/11 attacks, will hugely raise its profile and importance. It also shows that President Obama is determined to shift the balance where possible from military tribunals to civilian courts.


Will a fair trial be possible?

The trial procedure will be the same as for any other civilian trial, though parts of it might
be closed when secret information is being presented. The trial will be different from the military tribunal the defendants had faced. There will be a civilian jury which has to decide the issues unanimously and defence lawyers will have greater scope to challenge any confession that might have been based on waterboarding.


What might the penalty be if a guilty verdict is returned?

Mr Holder said he would seek the death penalty, which is allowed in a federal court.


Will this solve the remaining problems over Guantanamo Bay?

No, because not all the prisoners there will face a civilian trial or a military tribunal and some are likely to be left in limbo. There is not enough useable evidence in all cases and the US authorities do not want to release certain prisoners in this category because they are regarded as too dangerous. No other country has come forward to take them.


Is there a risk that the president's deadline will be missed?

Mr Holder said it would be "difficult" to meet the deadline because of the remaining prisoners. US Defence Secretary Robert Gates hinted in September that the deadline might slip because the issues have proved to be complex.
However, some proposals are now clear. Military tribunals or commissions will continue but will be reformed with congressional agreement. And the preference will be to send prisoners for trial in a normal federal court.

Why will military tribunals continue?

Because, the task force looking into this says, the "realities of the battlefield" might prevent the normal collection of evidence. Soldiers could not, for example, be expected to read a captured prisoner his rights, something required in civilian cases. Intelligence sources might also have to be protected.

What remains to be decided?

One big problem is what to do with those prisoners in limbo. A system of indefinite detention is under consideration for them. This would probably face a challenge in the courts and to lessen the chances of a successful legal move, the administration is thinking of safeguards such as getting congressional approval and periodic reviews of any detentions.
Civil liberties groups say there should be no indefinite detention but that all cases should go to trial in a federal court.


What kinds of prisoners are left in Guantanamo?

They fall into five categories.

1. Those who are alleged to have broken US law. They will be tried in US federal courts as long as presentable evidence against them can be obtained.
2. Those who are said to have violated the laws of war. They will be tried by military tribunals, but the tribunals, set up under the Bush administration will be reformed (see below).
3. Those whose release has been ordered by courts. The president says the court orders will be followed.
4. Those who, it has been determined, can safely be released to other countries. The problem here has been in getting other countries to take them.
5. Those who cannot be prosecuted yet who are deemed to be a danger. A new legal system will be set up to authorise their continued detention.


Who will determine who is in which category?

The US attorney general is leading a review of all cases and is consulting the secretaries of state, defence and other departments.


How many are likely to be released and where would they go?

It is thought about 50 or so might face trial either in court or in tribunal - so far only 21 have actually been charged.
Fifty detainees have already been cleared for release. However, many come from countries with poor human rights records and so the Obama administration would need to find third countries willing to accept them.
Several European nations, including Portugal, France, Ireland, Sweden and Germany, have said they recognise the need to take some men who cannot return to their home countries because of the risk of mistreatment.
Albania, the Pacific island nation of Palau, and Bermuda, a UK overseas territory, are the only places to have so far accepted Guantanamo detainees, taking in members of China's Uighur ethnic minority.


Where would those not released be taken?

They would be transferred to facilities on the US mainland. Three military prisons - at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas, Camp Pendleton in California, and Charleston in South Carolina - are among some of the possible locations, according to administration officials.
There could well be local opposition wherever the detainees are transferred. Some critics have said dangerous suspects could be brought to the US and it is possible they could be freed in court challenges.


How would the military tribunals be modified?

The president said on 21 May that the old system was flawed. He said that in future no statement would be allowed that was obtained by the use of cruel or inhuman treatment, that rules on allowing hearsay evidence (that is evidence reported from a third party) would be tightened up and that the defendant would be allowed to choose his own lawyers.
The task force reported that it had broadly accepted the recommendations put forward earlier by the Senate Armed Forces Committee and these include the measures proposed by the president, so congressional acceptance is likely.
The new system will come under the close scrutiny of the US courts and a case against it would probably go right up to the Supreme Court to test its constitutionality. President Obama said that military tribunals had been used in US history before when the country was at war, as it was now with al-Qaeda.


What is the current situation at Guantanamo?

The trials taking place under the military commissions system were suspended on 21 January for 120 days pending the review.
This halted the trials of the five suspected plotters of the 9/11 attacks, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, as well as a Canadian national, Omar Khadr, who is accused of killing a US soldier in Afghanistan.


Why were military commissions criticised?

They were set up in 2006 to try terror suspects under separate rules from regular civilian or military courts. They are made up of between five and 12 US military officers. A conviction requires two-thirds of the commission members to be in favour. For a death sentence, all 12 commission members must agree.
Hearsay evidence and evidence obtained under coercion is allowed if it is deemed to have "probative value". The interrogation technique of "waterboarding" or simulated drowning was not classified as torture by the Bush administration.
US Attorney General Eric Holder has said categorically that waterboarding is torture. All such methods have now been banned.
The Obama team has repeatedly questioned the legitimacy of the military commissions system.


How have the reports of Guantanamo's planned closure been received?

Some relatives of the 11 September victims are opposed to the camp's closure, believing that it is a secure location to try terrorism suspects.
Human rights groups have broadly welcomed the move. However, some activists and lawyers have expressed concern that it could take as long as a year to close Guantanamo and that some form of military tribunal will continue.


******************************************


I also noticed some New York news station interviewed the 'sister of the pilot' of the plane that supposedly hit the Pentagon. If that's not an intelligence or military plant I don't know what is... WHAT PLANE? I want to see the wings.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has spent the last 6 years being waterboarded. Reliable?