Posts with the tag iran

You Are Blessed - A Message To Iran, Israel and Others

Queen E — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:58:12 EST

Dear Mr. President:

Please deliver this message to the people in the country of Iran, Israel, Africa and other countries you deem appropriate. There are victims of war who have lost their family and friends who are in pain. There are no psychiatrist, social workers, or counselors to help them heal from their pain in their country. I just feel that these few words may give a little comfort and help them calm down their anxiety and stress levels.

NOVEMBER 3, 2009

YOU ARE BLESSED – A Message To Iran, Israel, and Others

I am with you for justice, I am with you for freedoms, I am with you for the love of your God, your Allah, and your Jesus and I feel your pain.

I don’t pretend to know how you feel when someone raids your home and injures your family. I can only guess that your loss would cause you to want to strike back. And I don’t blame you. I blame your leaders of yesterday for the pain of today and so should you. The past years of bad leaders have contributed to so many of our family’s heartache, pain and suffering and there is no excuse for that.

I just would caution you to blame those past bad leaders and let your present leaders move you into a new age of health, freedom and justice for you all. I ask you to be patient with your new leaders of today and allow our new leaders to assist you with your new God given life because you are blessed. You were blessed to survive the bad leaders of the past and you should take pride of this blessing to work with your new leaders to promote peace, love, prosperity for living to not let the memory of your love one die but live forever in you.

You have been blessed with your health and strength by your God, by your Allah, by your Jesus. You are Blessed. How do I know? You are alive today and standing right here and now demanding respect. You are blessed by your God, your Allah, and your Jesus and you can testify to your new family of today about the past. You are blessed. Take your blessings seriously and work with your neighbor, work with your new government, work with your new leader in peace. Take your blessings of life and freedom and build up your neighborhood, build up your home and build up your life in peace.

You have withstood the test of time and war and therefore, you are blessed. I too am blessed. I have survived just as you have survived bad leaders of the past. I have survived just as you have survived wars of the past and I have survived just as you have survived discrimination of one’s race, discrimination of one’s beliefs. Yes, we are blessed.

We are blessed because we are alive and have survived. We must take our blessings from God and Allah to the future, to our future. We must take our blessings from God, from Allah, from Jesus and make peace for our future. We must take our blessings from God, from Allah, from Jesus and make our love ones who lost their life proud. Our Blessings from God and from Allah is not given to us without sacrifice or without loss or pain. It was given to us by our Gods for his paradise of peace and love. We are blessed.

We are chosen by Allah and God and Jesus for peace and for his love. I cannot take back what our bad leaders did in the past. I can only try to take my blessings into the future of hope for peace and love. I can only take my blessings to build a home for my family and build a peaceful and loving home for our country. You must take your blessings of life from God and Allah and Jesus to make a happy home and peaceful country for your family and to rebuild your home into the future because you are blessed.

Peace Be Unto You. Sincerely, Esther Mayberry

Click For Obama

Click For Obama — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 08:24:53 EDT

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Worship from Aiea, HI — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 08:36:38 EDT

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Misplaced Diplomacy - His HolinessThe Dalai Lama’s Visit to Washington

"Voice for Humanity" — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 16:05:43 EDT

By Padmini Arhant

His Holiness Dalai Lama is one of the favorite guests for the people around the world. The spiritual leader is a personification of peace, joy and immense hope for the people of Tibet and an overwhelming majority in the international community.

His Holiness’ visit has been anything except controversial in any part of the world, despite the authority in China politicizing the spiritual leader’s visit to deflect the horrendous humanitarian crime against the peaceful Tibetan population not barring the suppression of democracy in the Mainland and ethnic provinces of China.

According to the news reports, Washington has differed the meeting with his holiness as a precautionary measure due to the impending visit by the President of the United States to China and the possible ramifications on the Chinese leadership cooperation or the lack thereof in the economic and environment policy, notwithstanding the contentious Iranian nuclear negotiations.

The remaining article follows @http://www.padminiarhant.com

Thank you.

Padmini Arhant

The 64th Session of the UN General Assembly and G-20 Summit

"Voice for Humanity" — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 17:47:09 EDT

By Padmini Arhant

Welcome to the forum on the important global gathering of nations to discuss the issues confronting the international community at large.

A humble request to all visitors to the website http://www.padminiarhant.com to take a moment and view the featured videos that speaks volume of the serious humanitarian crisis in hand. As we all know that pictures are worth thousand words and a confirmation of the reality.

Again, the visuals may not be appropriate for all, given the graphic content. The dire situations in these parts of the world beckon the worldwide condemnation and put an end to these atrocities against humanity and bring the perpetrators irrespective of stature to justice as an evidence there is still hope for goodness to prevail in the ever deteriorating immoral world.

Please remember silence is the worst act of crime.

The general debate by the United Nations began early this week with President Barack Obama addressing the General Assembly for the first time since elected to the office of Presidency. The debate continued then onwards with the address by the undemocratically nominated authorities like the Islamic Republic of Iran and The Great Socialist People’s Libya…

The UN Security Council Conference on Facilitating the Entry into Force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty was the highlight of the UN session. The objective of this particular conference was aimed at bringing the States that have not yet agreed to or ratified the treaty for the Non-Proliferation Treaty to come into effect.

For the remaining content please refer to http://www.padminiarhant.com

Thank you.

Padmini Arhant

Almost Tragic

nothing but news — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 11:40:48 EDT

This morning as always I was watching the news and I heard the news about the two terrorists that almost blew up a federal court house and a sky-scraper in Houston, Texas. One came into America When he was fourteen and recently went back for an Al Quada training camp in Afghanistan and returned and made bombs out of things he bought from a beauty store! The other was an illegal immigrent from Iran. God Bless the men and women who found these two and stopped them before billions of HEARTS were broken.

Your Friend,

Erin

Sage Advice

Andrew Bairnsfather — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 15:44:14 EDT

Dear President Obama,

Please allow me to pass along this quote to you:

"Beware lest in your anxiety to avoid war you obtain a master."

- Demosthenes

I gotta tell ya, it sure seems our country—even the corps—are out of control stomping the whole planet to pieces. "Crushing and devouring its victims and trampling underfoot whatever is left." Here's one of the ironies I see. The people pushing the hardest for all this are the ones behind the most unflattering characterization of all time; and behind the minion of the deceived.

Respectfully, Drew.

P.S. Have you contacted LEAP yet?

U.S. Foreign Policy in the 20th and 21st Century

"Voice for Humanity" — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 17:57:48 EDT

By Padmini Arhant

The United States foreign policy in the twentieth and twenty first century viewed by allies and adversaries differently depending upon the U.S. engagement viz. modus operandi in the conflicts of the affected regions.

Throughout the twentieth century, the United States direct and indirect dominant role brought peace and chaos to the world order, ominously the Cuban crisis and the infamous Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos war combined with constant interventions in the Korean Peninsula, the Americas, the Middle East, Africa as well as South and South East Asia...

Remaining article @http://www.padminiarhant.com

Thank you.

Padmini Arhant

Keeping eyes on the ball...

Stephane MOT — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 20:25:00 EDT

Straight from blogules (following "Netanyahu's al Aqsa intifada" and "Khamenei's death wish" ):

Michael Jackson and America's Superstardom

Eric from Covina, CA — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 19:23:48 EDT

BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE
Michael Jackson and America's Superstardom

I greatly admired Michael Jackson. I admire anyone who's the very best at what they do, and Michael Jackson was definitely that. I remember when I first heard him. He was doing a tune called "Who's Lovin' You?" He was a mere child at the time, but his talent was so fully developed, and he sang with so much emotional maturity, I mistook the high pitch of his voice to be that of a very soulful adult female. Then later when he did "Billie Jean" at the Motown reunion, he seemed to literally defy gravity as he Moonwalked across the stage. So yes, this young man was, without a doubt, one of the greatest entertainers who ever lived.

But Michael's life - that shooting star that dazzled humanity with its awesome display, only to burn out much too soon - threatens to serve as a perfect metaphor for America itself. The story of the United States parallels that of Michael Jackson. It is also the story of a precocious child star that dazzled humanity with its awesome display. The United States is undoubtedly a superstar among nations, but we must not let hubris allow us to forget that among those very same nations, we are nothing more than a precocious child.

While the United States is 233 years old, that's relatively nothing when it comes to the history of nations. Iran, one of the oldest nations on Earth, is over 8000 years old. That means that when Jesus Christ walked the Earth, Iran was more than 6000 years older than the United States is today, even then. We need to keep that in mind as we formulate the language of our foreign policy, because believe me, it is a fact that has not been lost on the Iranian people.

Kucinich on Iran

Jason M. Christos — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 00:44:35 EDT

Kucinich on Iran Friday, 19 June 2009

Watch the video here... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96QTfcAiVj8

Iranian Crisis - Blasphemy of Sacred Islam and The Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him)

"Voice for Humanity" — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 17:39:28 EDT

By Padmini Arhant

The categorical defiance by the theocratic ruler Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the puppet nominee Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the clerics, the Guardian Coucil, The Iranian Revolutionary Guard, the Basij and the entire regimen behind the ruthless authoritarian regime is blasphemous of the sacred religion – Islam, they falsely represent in the Iranian Republic...

More @http://www.padminiarhant.com

Thank you.

Padmini Arhant

Iran's Election

guy1749 — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 12:29:57 EDT

I personally am behind the president 100% on the Iran issue. Iran is its own nation who has to settle it's own issues. America has interfered too many times in other countries affairs and had been tagged with "cowboy" diplomacy blowback issues because of it. What else can/should president Obama do except decry the violence that is occurring. The republican’s cries for more outrage from the president I think is a red herring to provoke president Obama into saying something totally in-appropriate and causing another cowboy diplomacy type backlash from the Iranians. Then of course they would decry his heavy handed language that caused such a negative response from the Iranians, when they were making such great strides towards a friendlier Iran.

THE ONGOING SUFFER OF WOMEN IN THE WORLD... ANOTHER EXAMPLE IN IRAN

Alp Icoz, M.A. @ JOURNALTA — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 00:53:37 EDT

"In religiously conservative countries, the situation of women is really bad. In fact, most of the women are in similar conditions and suffer from the torturing life style that the men enforce in their countries. It is really sad to see how the men-created regimes based on religion affect the lives of women, children and youth... Why do women as the creatures of a secondary gender (!) need rights and equality that men have? There are millions of dangerously narrow minded men and ignorantly victimized women who still ask this question and cannot understand the concept of 'female' who has mutual rights of co-existing genders that were divinely created. What a double standard of an egoist mentality!!! The problems of women in the conservatively governed and male-centered countries like Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey (partially), and more ---no matter what religion their demagogy, narrow mindedness and poor judgment is serving ... The suffer of women and children all around the world is still the bleeding wound of mankind in the 21st century..."

Alp Icoz, M.A.

Republicans are attacking Obama over Iran

Thomas S. Kelly — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:59:43 EDT

Republicans are attacking Obama over Iran like they did attack Nancy Pelosi over her CIA interactions and summarizing comments.

Republicans need to change focus over their anxieties about Iran and use that energy Domestically to fix the U.S. Health-care crisis.

Americans have plenty to be outraged about right here in America that is if you still have a home after paying for the Health-care costs which keep you alive.

Right now there are Canadian citizens living in Canada driving over the U.S./Canadian boarder every day (un-harassed) into America who then turn around and laugh at the U.S. Citizen Employee who’s job the Canadian citizen was able to steel from the U.S. Citizen not because the Canadian was better at his job but because the Canadian uses Canada’s Health-care system and his employer knows it. This is the exact business model the U.S. Car companies are using. Now if you are an American trying to find a job in Canada you will get harassed at the boarder and get laughed-at once you apply for work followed by a statement “WE DON’T WANT AMERICANS HERE”. The Canadian does not pay U.S. taxes, but the U.S. Citizen has for decades as his ancestors have since the early1800’s how-is-that for political justice.

Iranian Uprising – 21st Century

"Voice for Humanity" — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 11:37:48 EDT

Apocalyptic New Era

By Padmini Arhant

The Presidential election results were out in the Islamic Republic of Iran and predictably, the theocratic rule through flawed electoral process declared the incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the winner, with a landslide victory against the reformist leader Mir Hossein Mousavi of the Islamic Iran Participation Front, recognized as...

More @ http://www.padminiarhant.com

Thank you.

Padmini Arhant

Obama on Iran

Robert — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 12:50:57 EDT

After two Bush elections that the World knows were rigged, and the same US Corporation that did it helping Calderon rig the election in Mexico, Obama has inherited another Bush legacy- the US is in no position to critisize any fair elections. The Iranians are putting our apathetic public to shame- 80% voted and millions poured into the street when they robbed. Also- the President is right- any percieved meddling would have the result of playing into the hands of the Authoritarian regime- they would like nothing more than blame their problems on the US. This is the perfect opportunity for the UN to make a strong stand but of coarse we have marginalized them too. If we would prosecute the War Criminals of the Bush Regime and manage to set an example of getting our elected governmment to enact Single Payer Health Care, you know- walk the walk instead of only talking the talk- there could be a ripple effect.
The genie is out of the bottle- only US intervention would put it back.

To Prosecute Torture Or Not...

Leo — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 20:33:45 EDT

For me it's coming down to what we are preserving- or attempting to preserve- I think the bad far outweighs the good here- and I believe that if Obama sidesteps this it will be his downfall.

President Obama will forever be linked to the Bush Torture Coverup and our great victory over the establishment will be torn down.

"It's a trap are you blind?" (Hamish) ~Braveheart

The Republican Vision for America - Divide and Conquer

Eric from Covina, CA — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 17:21:09 EDT

BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE

The Republican Vision for America - Divide and Conquer

The current situation in Iran is perfectly analogous to what's going on here in the United States. The vast majority of the people want a common-sense approach to domestic and world politics, while the old guard, stuck in the blind animosities of the past, are determined to promote and exploit those animosities for their own end, and at any cost - including the misery and death of their own people. In Iran the old guard is represented by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad; in the U.S., Dick Cheney and Rush Limbaugh. In Iran they are called jihadist, while in the U.S. we refer to them as the Republican Party.

Iran Voting and results

Maria — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 14:11:40 EDT

It makes me a bit worried when seeing how violent the ones who lost the elections are. While I agree that things all over the world need to change, I want it to be a more enlightened world and not a more violent one.

It makes me kind of glad they lost because imagine if they had won. I could see a wave of genocide spreading and all under the banner of Freedom.

We should support change and the people's right to choose for themselves. If they felt that this change was not the right one for them and that this is not the direction they want to head in then we should honor that and not encourage violence against them.

Maria

The Issues we have with the Arab-Muslim world

Unknown user — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 00:48:45 EDT

The Issues we have with the Arab-Muslim world - What Pres. Obama should mention

- Teaching that non-Muslims are non humans, such as Christians are "pigs" and Jews are "apes".

- Sharia law (implementation) horrors, including oppression of women.

- Honor killings epidemic.

- Playing "victim" while being the aggressor, such as the Arab "Palestinians", Taliban, etc.

- The Genocide campaign by radical Islam (Hezbollah, Hamas, Ahmadinejad, etc.) on Israel / Jews.

- Bigoted Islamism: Persecution, oppression of and apartheid against all non Muslims in the Islamic world (including in S. Arabia, Palestinian Hamas, etc.).

- Racist Arabism: Persecution, oppression of and apartheid against all non-Arabs in the Arab world, especially of native Egyptians (Nubians), Kurds, Copts, Assyrians, Berbers (native N. Africans), Jews (not just inside Israel), Africans (Africans living in Arab countries and the racist slavery in Sudan, Mauritania... genocide in Darfur). The wide justification of Islamic violence all over the world.

- Squeezing the world economy by power of oil prices (OPEC).

- From the 22 Arab countries so far, they all range from totalitarianism to corruption, not even one has managed to be real free, equal and democratic.

- The global Islamic radical campaign to dominate the world - untamed by "moderate" Muslims.

Country of Irate Launches, "The Finger"

Andrew Bairnsfather — Thu, 21 May 2009 22:12:56 EDT

The country of Irate yesterday announced it had launched, "The Finger," an enormous missile, in a show of defiance at the ability to learn from others' mistakes.

Irate's Supremely Exalted Leader I-Yah-Tol’-Y’all I-Was-Ah-Nut-Job shouted, "We are a great super-power! We don't care about seismic activity in our country, the fact we have sunshine nearly 24 hours a day, and that oil that bubbles up to the surface of our wonderful land during earthquakes.

"What do we care about all those sources of energy at our fingertips when we could create toxins of such a strength, in our own borders, that cause hair to fall out very quickly?

"We demand to make the same mistakes the Great Satan has made. We will build nuclear power plants at huge expense and have incessant infighting on where to store the waste.

"We will be sure to waste tens of billions of dollars, taxed from citizens, and hand it over as a jobs program to those in the nuclear sector, thus ensuring our country has high-paying jobs.

"We have studied the Great Satan closely and our conclusion is we will mimic their current status of being like a cluster of ticks sucking on each other."

"What do we care about our neighbors and their concerns about our rockets falling on them. We are ready to sacrifice our children's future by paying for massive weapons and racing to build bigger and more destructive devices, like the U.S. leaders and military. Do I expect to be around in 80 years and have to pay off the bills? Ha ha ha. Like them I plan on retiring before I have any grey hair.

"Who knows, our rockets may even fall on us, but I've got a bunker! Shacks and houses are for the little people. Mighty mansions are for those God favors.

"I recommend all you imperialist swine watch the video below of how our great country of Irate plans on taking advantage of our citizens, in your footsteps.

"Long live nuclear waste!"

See the video here.

Obama Administration – Performance Assessment

"Voice for Humanity" — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 01:42:10 EDT

By Padmini Arhant

Courtesy: www.padminiarhant.com

It is one hundred days since the new administration under President Obama took office on January 20, 2009.

Precisely, around that time the nation was in a precarious situation specifically with the economy in severe recession heading towards a possible depression. It required urgent policy decisions to avert the serous economic crisis contributing to the crumbling housing market, potential bankruptcies of the auto industry, tremendous job losses, failing financial institutions and volatile stock market.

Even though, the crises are far from over, the administration demonstrated diligence with the legislation of the $787 billion stimulus bill through American Recovery and Reinvestment Act accompanied by various strategies to reform and revive the financial institutions and housing market.

The financial bailouts were justifiably controversial and awaiting the stress test results due on May 4, 2009. Meanwhile, the alternative of inaction would have proven equally detrimental and exacerbated the liquidity crisis in the financial market.

In addition to the measures in stimulating the economy, the administration’s effort to sustain the existing jobs in different sectors particularly the auto industry is noteworthy. Further planning and policy decisions to create new jobs phrased, as ‘green jobs’ through vigorous environmental and energy programs is the right course of action to efficiently deal with the challenging issues of global warming and energy independence.

Other achievements in promoting science and technology such as the stem cell research within the realm of ethical code, proposal to digitalize medical records as one of many innovative solutions in the health care policy, coordinating with the environmental agencies in the protection of threatened and endangered species are impressive. However, the request from the environmental groups to rescind the rule that limits the protection of polar bears from the melting Arctic ice caused by climate change is pending approval.

In social programs, the signing of two major pieces of legislation into law – the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, ensuring equal pay for men and women and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) that guarantees 11 million low-income children affordable health care are significant actions.

World health crisis in the wake of the ‘pandemic swine flu’ appropriately handled by the Obama administration thus far.

Despite the fragile economic conditions, the Obama administration’s response and reaction to most issues has been right on target. The anticipated legislation of the budget focused on education, energy and health care should accelerate the economic growth for rapid recovery from the existing crises.

The administration must strive hard to isolate investment from wasteful spending i.e. earmarks or pork barrel that often finds its way through major budgets and stimulus packages. Likewise, preventing the special interests and lobbyists’ continuous dominance should be part of the administration’s agenda.

With respect to transparency and accountability, the recent scandals involving legislators raises credibility issue for the majority party. It is important to maintain bipartisanship in legislative matters for national interest since future holds no guarantee with the majority rule. Moreover, divisive politics contributes to polarization jeopardizing national unity and ultimately election results.

In foreign policy matter, the recent participation in international summits appears promising with the exception of the boycotting of the Geneva conference on ‘racism.’ Please refer to the article on ‘Racism – The Durban II Geneva Conference’ @ www.padminiarhant.com.

Obviously, the rising tensions in the international arena from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran and North Korea are few of the many challenges ahead. Resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the form of two states solutions is paramount to attain permanent peace in the region. It would create a pathway for others sharing similar aspirations.

Combat troops withdrawal from Iraq and simultaneous deployment in Afghanistan deserve individual criteria and attention. Military operation always yields immense casualties and often precious lives are lost in the process.

President Obama’s initiative with Russia in the reduction of conventional weapons and other arsenal is praiseworthy. Nevertheless, it remains subject to the real statistics and the actual defense spending contraction by the geopolitical powers. The bold and audacious declaration of nuclear disarmament was music to ears, although the reality of it relies on the willingness and commitment by the other nuclear nations.

At the G-20 summit, the United States’ reluctance to support France’s proposal to force international financial institutions unveil the corporations using tax havens for tax evasions was disappointing. The unpopular yet meaningful recommendation contributed to a major disagreement between France and China leading to the mediation by the U.S. President Barack Obama. The international sources attributed China’s objection to the potential ramifications on the corporate investments in that nation.

In conclusion, the result oriented performance reflects President Obama’s admirable leadership skills and the administration’s ambitious goals in education, energy and health care is a step in the right direction.

I wish President Obama and the administration success in all endeavors.

Thank you.

Padmini Arhant

Racism – The Durban II, Geneva Conference

"Voice for Humanity" — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 14:55:19 EDT

By Padmini Arhant

www.padminiarhant.com

Racism – The Durban II, Geneva Conference

The past week - April 20 -24, 2009, Geneva, Switzerland hosted ‘The Durban II conference’ on racism. The preceding event in 2001 held in Durban, South Africa marred by racial overtones and negative attacks against the state of Israel evidently led the United States and Western allies to boycott the recent U.N meeting.

It was a United Nations gathering to address the persisting contemporary discriminatory practices often transforming into persecution, oppression and even genocide in some parts of the world. According to the White House and media reports, the reason behind United States and allies’ absence at the symposium was the blue print content notably against Israel by the Islamic Republic of Iran. However, the United Nations’ assurance to eliminate any anti-Israeli inflammatory remarks from the Iranian President’s speech failed in convincing the United States, Israel and others to attend the world forum.

Meanwhile, predictably the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinijad’s rhetorical speech caused spectacle prompting other European diplomats to briefly abandon the summit. To the United Nations’ credit, the subsequent address by the Iranian President modified to reflect reality on the tragic holocaust previously denied by the political figure.

Whenever a consortium organized to deal with sensitive humanitarian issue of great magnitude, the stage is set for fireworks and doesn’t require more than a spark to ignite the flame into blazing fire. All those refuting the one nation’s contentious repetitive conduct, regrettably ignored the wide spectrum of humanitarian crises around the world. The objection against a particular nation’s demeanor effectively dismissed the urgency for unanimous solutions to global problems affecting humanity.
Further, such action conspicuously displayed hierarchy prevalent in the humanitarian priorities.

Every continent has nations with dark legacy and embarrassing episodes of human rights violation. In the new millennium, the global community challenged to empathize with those currently enduring incessant suffering due to lack of freedom, inequality, injustice including intolerance.

The Geneva conference was a great platform for the nations that boycotted the meeting exclusively the United States and Israel to express serious commitment in resolving the age-old Middle East conflict between Israel and Palestine. Any glimpse of hope in the two states solutions approved by vast majority of population on both sides with a free Palestine comprising West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem alongside the democratic Israel unequivocally accepted as a sovereign state in the entire region would have instantaneously gained credibility in the large presence of the United Nations.

Needlessly, as holocaust victims Israel was better qualified to condemn any crime against humanity and set an example by leading the world in the establishment of peace and democracy with its neighbor Palestine. Israel had a unique opportunity in Geneva to demonstrate solemn pledge and action to aid those, relevantly the Palestinians deserving similar liberty granted to Israel predominantly with the support and solidarity among the nations around the world. Israel’s unprecedented humanitarian gesture would have made it incumbent on the Arab nations at the conference to forge alliance in promoting regional unity and peace.

If the world would not have heeded to the humanitarian call for an Independent Israel, it could have resulted in the devastating annihilation of a specific human race. Likewise, South Africa proudly declaring results from a democratic election today would have succumbed to oppressive apartheid without the international community’s involvement in the freedom of that nation.

There is immense misery and extreme hardships in various parts of the world. People in these regions generally exposed to despair, depression and death at infancy consider themselves fortunate if they live beyond the short life expectancy because of poverty, disease, war and deprivation of basic human rights.

Geneva conference reached a broad based consensus against racial and gender discrimination, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia other than human rights abuses across the globe. An international assembly by governments from most parts of the world had the moment and venue to review pertinent matter concerning different nations and people. Unfortunately, the U.N committee presumably under intense pressure from nations prioritizing political agenda in their allegiance to a single ally, did not layout the importance of relieving humanity from the perpetual violence through war, invasion and occupation reminiscent of the twentieth century’s imperialism and colonialism .

Is there deficiency in related topics involving the remaining population on the planet seeking entitlement to the international representation, rescue and relief from burgeoning crimes against innocent civilians?

Only if rationality and utilitarianism prevailed over popular political dogma of individualism, the desirable goals for fairness and justice are attainable in human affairs.

Is the struggle for peace and independence by the population in Palestine, Burma, Tibet, and North Korea any less significant than the international feud between Israel and Iran?

What about the status quo of civil wars contributing to genocides in Rwanda, Darfur, Congo and other parts of Africa?

Should the world ignore the escalating ethnic cleansing in Sri Lanka as an internal matter rather than an international moral issue?

Where was the denunciation of the pervasive Taliban abuse of women in Afghanistan now dangerously spreading to the Northwestern regions of Pakistan?

Why did the summit not extensively focus on the various abuses in Latin, Central and South America and China, notwithstanding the denial of equal status to women in the Middle East and other Islamic nations?

On the generic concept of racism, xenophobia - typically the fear of the unknown, homophobia - the overt hate crimes against gay and trans-gender community and other horrific incidents in human trafficking, child pornography and numerous offenses were excluded during the five-day long international meeting.

Apparently, the interpretation of ‘tolerance’ in the crimes against humanity is subject to the relationship among existing and emerging economic and political powers in the global society.

The protocol on protests, boycott and co-operation alike varies depending on the nations along with political and economic repercussions arising from such action.

For example, the Iranian President’s controversial stance against Israel held responsible for the Western nations’ boycott of the latest Geneva conference on racism while implying the other attendees’ motive questionable.

Nevertheless, the human rights activists’ plea to boycott the 2008 Beijing Olympics to draw attention towards the plight of the Tibetan population persecuted by the hour and suppression of the democracy movement in the People’s Republic of China rejected by the participating nations prominently those who recently boycotted the Geneva conference.

It is widespread knowledge that the emerging economic power China being the treasury and
Exchequer for the world economy, a nuclear nation possessing veto power routinely exercised against common benefit in the U.N. Security Council decisions, privileged with supreme diplomatic immunity in all things inhumane.

In the recent G-20 summit, call for globalization over protectionism dominated the theme for global economic revival. Synonymously, in the environmental matter and international security collective effort embraced as a successful strategy. Henceforth, collaborative action regarded imminent to resolve international crises.

Ironically, abstaining from leadership at the summit to formulate policies in the restoration of human rights, freedom and civil liberties, the fundamental requirements for peace, progress and prosperity, creates a vacuum rather than serving the real purpose.

History is testimony to the rise and fall of civilizations that fair well when guided by wisdom, compassion and courage for universal good.

Thank you.

Padmini Arhant

ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN’S PERSECUTION OPPRESSION OF MINORITIES - ISLAMIC APARTHEID

Unknown user — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 17:37:34 EDT

ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN’S PERSECUTION OPPRESSION OF MINORITIES - ISLAMIC APARTHEID

In General, Christians, Baha’i, Kurds, Jews, Azeris, Baluchis, Ahwazi Arabs

Again, religious persecution in Iran
February 20, 2009
Ethel C. Fenig
As Thomas Lifson noted yesterday Iranian authorities destroyed a Sufi holy site, continuing their practice of pressuring and discriminating against religions that do not strictly follow the Shi’ite form of Islam. But the Sufis are not the only religious minority suffering discrimination in Iran.

The 2500 year old Jewish community, which numbered over 80,000 thirty years ago at the time of the Khoemeni Revolution which overthrew the Shah, has dwindled to about 20,000. Those remaining Jews live restricted personal and religious lives, always under suspicion of being traitors for pro “Zionist” activities.
Despite the official distinction between “Jews,” “Zionists,” and “Israel,” the most common accusation the Jews encounter is that of maintaining contacts with Zionists. The Jewish community does enjoy a measure of religious freedom but is faced with constant suspicion of cooperating with the Zionist state and with “imperialistic America” — both such activities are punishable by death. Jews who apply for a passport to travel abroad must do so in a special bureau and are immediately put under surveillance. The government does not generally allow all members of a family to travel abroad at the same time to prevent Jewish emigration. Again, the Jews live under the status of dhimmi, with the restrictions im posed on religious minorities. Jewish leaders fear government reprisals if they draw attention to official mistreatment of their community.

Iran’s official government-controlled media often issues anti-Semitic propaganda. A prime example is the government’s publishing of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a notorious Czarist forgery, in 1994 and 1999.2 Jews also suffer varying degrees of officially sanctioned discrimination, particularly in the areas of employment, education, and public accommodations.The Islamization of the country has brought about strict control over Jewish educational institutions. Before the revolution, there were some 20 Jewish schools functioning throughout the country. In recent years, most of these have been closed down. In the remaining schools, Jewish principals have been replaced by Muslims. In Teheran there are still three schools in which Jewish pupils constitute a majority. The curriculum is Islamic, and Persian is forbidden as the language of instruction for Jewish studies. Special Hebrew lessons are conducted on Fridays by the Orthodox Otzar ha-Torah organization, which is responsible for Jewish religious education. Saturday is no longer officially recognized as the Jewish sabbath, and Jewish pupils are compelled to attend school on that day. There are three synagogues in Teheran, but since 1994, there has been no rabbi in Iran, and the bet din does not function.At least 13 Jews have been executed in Iran since the Islamic revolution 30 years ago, most of them for either religious reasons or their connection to Israel. For example, in May 1998, Jewish businessman Ruhollah Kakhodah-Zadeh was hanged in prison without a public charge or legal proceeding, apparently for assisting Jews to emigrate.Other religious groups are persecuted too. This week Iran admitted that seven Bahai leaders arrested and detained more than eight months ago would be charged with spying for Israel. The Bahai faith, which began in the 19th century in what is now Iran, claims their founder, Baha’a'llah, is the last Moslem prophet, not Mohammed. Bahai’s international headquarters are located in Haifa, Israel where Bahais, along with Moslems and Christians of various backgrounds, plus other religions in addition to Jews can practice freely.This is not true in Iran.Bahais claim 300,000 followers in Iran, but there are no independent statistics on the denomination’s size in the country. The Islamic republic allows Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians, who are regarded as members of monotheistic religions, to hold religious gatherings. Bahais are forbidden to hold such meetings, and those who make their faith public are banned from studying at universities serving in the army and working in government offices. The Iranian prosecutors claim“All evidence points to the fact that the Bahai organization is in direct contact with the foreign enemies of Iran,” Dorri-Najafabadi wrote in the letter, (snip) “The ghastly Bahai organization is illegal on all levels, their dependence on Israel has been documented, their antagonism with Islam and the Islamic System is obvious, their danger for national security is proven and any replacement organization must also be dealt with according to the law,”This charge is part of the latest prosecution against Iranian Bahais. The Bahai International Community, which represents members of the faith worldwide, says hundreds of followers have been jailed and some executed in the years since Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution.
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2009/02/again_religious_persecution_in.html

Religious minorities in Iran: Information from Answers.com http://www.cambridge.org/us/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=0521770734

Iran Minority News
http://iranminoritynews.org/

Middle East Minorities Unite! by Joseph … Iran ’s Islamic republic has created serious problems for the large communities of non-Persian minorities, including the Azeri’s and the Baluchis and is … http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=24209

Q&A: Iran’s Waning Human Rights - New York Times, Iran is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which affords legal rights to minorities and minors. Persecution of religious minorities …http://www.nytimes.com/cfr/world/slot1_081006.html?_r=3&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

What a world:: Racist Arabs & Islamic bigots call the victims of their racism - "racists"

Natalia from Acampo, CA — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 16:46:02 EDT

What a world:: Racist Arabs & Islamic bigots call the victims of their racism - "racists"

Forget the fact that Israel is multi-racial for all colors from the whitest of white to the darkest of black, whereas Arab countries (including "Palestinian" authorities") asides from oppressing all non-Arab minorities, are almost entirely "judenrein", but in democratic Israel, an Arab can get the highest office!But the brazenness of Arab racism not only fails to admit of it's racist war on Jews/Israel since the 1920's, but it brands Israel's defense FROM it as "racist"..

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Israelis aren't 'racist' - they're worried Op-Ed Contributors ...Israel's Arab citizens are being drawn toward radicalism by their leadership. http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull&cid=1167467807212

[Racism of] Killing Jews in Israel a young Israeli student at Hebron University was gunned down while jogging through a mixed neighborhood of Jews and Arabs. The al Aqsa Brigade, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Yassir Arafat's Fatah movement, joyously claimed credit for the killing of yet another innocent Jew. When it was later learned that the jogger was an Arab-Israeli and not a Jew, al Aqsa quickly apologized to the family, calling it an accident. But the killing of the innocent young jogger was not an accident; the murderer had deliberately taken aim at his head and midsection, intending to end his life. The only thing accidental about the murder was the religion of the victim. The al Aqsa Brigade had sent the assassin to murder a Jew - any Jew, so long as he was a Jew.This is racism, pure and simple. And despite efforts by supporters of Palestinian terrorism to justify the murder of innocent civilians as national liberationor by any other euphemism, this case proves that the Palestinian terrorists targeting of Jews and only Jews - as many as possible - is little different in intent than other forms of lethal or exterminatory anti-Jewish murders (I dont use the term anti-Semitic only because some Arabs claim that because they too are Semites, they cant be anti-Semitic). Obviously the numbers are different, because Israel is capable of defending its Jewish citizens, but if it were not, the goal of Palestinian terrorist groups would not be very different from that of previous groups intent on murdering as many Jews as possible. http://www.israelnewsagency.com/israeljewsracismdersh130112.html

The Hamas advocates Killing Jews, simply for being Jews http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=14650

If justifying the murder of innocents because they belong to a certain hated group is not abject racism, I'd like to know what is.http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/999795.html

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MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD 'Racist' speech walkout‎ - Apr 21, 2009 Diplomats from across the world have walked out of a speech delivered by Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at a global anti-racism conference, ... http://www.bild.de/BILD/news/bild-english/home/regularieninhalte/world-news-ticker/world/2009/04/21/mass-walk-out-at-un-conference-after-racist-iranian-speech.html

Lebanon news - NOW Lebanon -Western leaders horrified at 'racist ...Western leaders horrified at 'racist' Ahmadinejad speech. April 20, 2009. Western leaders recoiled in horror Monday at a fierce anti-Israel outburst by Iran's president at a UN ... http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=89673

When representatives of many Arab and Muslim nations publicly applaud Ahmadinejad's racist rant, the real losers are the Palestinians. ... http://www.tikkun.org/article.php/durbanII

A few points about the racist UN - Durban "anti-racism" conference

Natalia from Acampo, CA — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 03:38:40 EDT

A few points about the racist UN - Durban "anti-racism" conference

1) When will Arab racists & Islamic bigots let go of the UN and stop hijacking it with it's lobbies (silencing Arab racist genocide in Darfur, yet daming innocent Israelis who merely try to survive)?

2) Why is Arab terror singling out Jews not racist?

3) Why is the essence of the entire "conflict'" in the M.E. not a form of bigotry by Arab Muslims who can't "accept" the non Arab non Muslim pluralistic democratic Israel?

4) Are Jews living, or even allowed to live in racist "Palestinian" controlled territories (Judenrein - ethnic cleaning)?

5) When will lefty radicals (Meretz/B'Tzelem) talk about preferential treatments to Arabs OVER Jews inside Israel, like in Hebron and in other cases?

6) Why are (Arab Palestinian or Hezbollah) the ones using its own kids as cannon fodders considered "innocent victims"?

7) Is Israel battling just terrorism or an ARAB MUSLIM CAMPAIGN OF GENOCIDE since the 1920's?

8) Since Muslim nations (OIC & Iran) push to criminalize criticism of Islamists' bigotry, doesn't it mean that anything being said in that conference is the opposite of tolerance and of truth?

9) How can the UN avoid the largest practitioner of racism, which is Arabism (against: Kurds, Berbers, Africans, Jews, Assyrians, Asians, etc.), but focuses on the so called "anti-Arab racism"?
[ http://geocities.com/panarabism - Arabism is racism! ]

10) How more racist can the Durban-conference get, If the two oppressive regimes: Libya & Iran are the "stars"?
Libya - whose Muamar Qaddafi (besides his own persecution of non-Arabs, especially blacks in his country) the one of the champions in today's racist Arabization, and Arabist racism against Africa (whose "vision" has been compared to Hitler's "lebensraum"), in: Chad, Nigeria, etc., ultimately his crimes in the Sudan region helped in leading the current Al-Bashir's genocide on Millions of Africans (financed mainly by Libya and S. Arabia).
Iran, the regime of Islamic bigotry's oppression on its own population with an added special persecution on all on-Muslims: Christians, Baha'i, Jews, etc. or on non-"pure-Persians" like: Ahwazi - Arabs, Kurds, Azeris, Baluchis, etc. now under the leadership of: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad [EichmannJihad - the Islamic Hitler] who plays as if he "denies" the holocaust only in order to prepare for (his wishful) the second, "wiping off Israel".
Thus, the shame of the UN, kidnapped by the epitome of intolerance today, the infamous twin fascism: Arab racism, as in Gadhafi, and Islamic bigotry as in Amadinejad, are going to be "preaching" (and determine) to the world on tolerance.

The race card by Arab Muslim bigots at the UN (Durban II)

Natalia from Acampo, CA — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 02:26:34 EDT

The race card by Arab Muslim bigots at the UN (Durban II)

Even though it’s really Islamism that is the epitome of bigotry and it’s Arabism that Equals Racism against all non-Arabs, including: Kurds, Berbers, Jews (not only inside Israel), Persians, Africans (not only the millions of victims in Sudan), etc. and as an Arab admitted the true Nature of the Twin Fascisms of Islamism and Pan-Arabism’ that dominates the Arab Muslim world , yet the UN, in its Durban proclaiming to be an anti-racism forum, bows to the Arab Muslim lobby control to ignore the above but concentrate rather on anti-Arabism and Islamophobia, both terms which have been used as tools by Islamists to gage any criticism of intolerance in the Arab-Muslim world (and radicals have been politicizing genuine feelings, to call true fear of terror as “racism” ).

______________

Kicking Israel Around [Anne Bayefsky] April 07, 2009 What’s behind all this? The OIC countries are locked in a struggle with EU states over the ability to stifle free speech (such as “defaming” Islam) in the name of protecting religion. The Russian move helps the OIC nations by letting them use the anti-semitism clause as a bargaining chip, to be played in exchange for the EU’s allowing free-speech restrictions. In a related issue, the Danish are unhappy with the mention of something the U.N. invented called “anti-Arabism.” That phrase has been inserted in the paragraph about discrimination in the form of Islamophobia, Christianophobia and anti-semitism. But the rest of the EU has told the Danes to get lost, on the grounds that if the EU proposes deleting anti-Arabism, the OIC will insist on deleting anti-semitism. As EU officials explain to observers, “We want to show restraint.”

http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=Mzk3YjI3NDQxNDMzYzE1ZTQ4NzY4ZjU4Y2VkNTE4ZTI=

Human Rights of Non-believers, Apostates and Free-thinkers “The terms belief and religion are to be broadly construed”. General Comment 22 on Article 18, United Nations Human Rights Committee, 1993. We find paragraph 10 of the draft outcome document to be deeply flawed in that it singles out only Christians, Jews and Muslims as named victims of “phobias”. Furthermore, while the term “Islamophobia”, for example, is undefined, it is used to falsely equate disdain for or opposition to Islam with intolerance of, or violence and hatred towards the believer. Secondly, no mention is made in paragraph 10 of discrimination, intolerance and violence towards non-believers, Polytheists, apostates, and free-thinkers. Yet the human rights of non-believers, free-thinkers and those of other faiths are systematically denied in many parts of the world, and many face discrimination, abuse and even death. We urge delegations to recognise that all are entitled to protection from discrimination, whatever their belief or lack of belief. We therefore respectfully suggest either that the list of specific types of discrimination be deleted from paragraph 10, or the list be expanded to include non-believers, polytheists, apostates and free-thinkers. We are equally concerned that anti-Arabism is included in the list, while no mention is made of the anti-Westernism endemic in many parts of the world. Again, we would respectfully suggest that either the reference to anti-Arabism be deleted or that the list should be extended to include anti-Westernism. Our preferred text, which we respectfully offer to delegations, then becomes: 10. Recognizes with deep concern the negative stereotyping of religions, beliefs and non-beliefs, and the global rise in the number of incidents of racial or religious intolerance and violence. With, as an alternative: 10. Recognizes with deep concern the negative stereotyping of religion, beliefs, and non-beliefs, and the global rise in the number of incidents of racial or religious intolerance and violence, including Judeophobia, Christianophobia, Islamophobia, anti-Arabism, anti-Westernism and intolerance and violence towards non-believers, polytheists, apostates and free-thinkers.

http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/025617.php

Islamic Agenda: “Defamation of Religion” The Islamic Group (Pakistan) stated, “Defamation is not about freedom of expression, but the abuse of this freedom.” Iran was very active throughout the week, taking the floor more than any other country on this issue. It consistently advocated “elaborating” legislation to fight racism, proposing further, “Model legislation on the necessity of upholding respect for…reputation, public morals as well as incitement to racial and religious hatred [code for defamation].” As the debate on defamation was getting underway, the chair asked two journalists to leave the room, explaining that members of two regional groups had requested that the cameras be removed from the room in that they have had adequate time for filming. The journalists were from the French-German cultural channel ARTE and were making a documentary about the human rights debate at the UN. Pakistan, South Africa, and Egypt expressed their concerns that these journalists would engage in “selective interpretation” of the discussion. Counter-terrorism, Islamophobia Pakistan wanted to include even more language to equate counter-terrorism with racism. Pakistan, Algeria, and Iran also wanted the words, “Islamophobia” and “anti-Arabism” to remain in the document.

http://www.unwatch.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=bdKKISNqEmG&b=1316871&ct=6645721&printmode=1

Good Mother from Bad Mother, My Personal Change

hopeless in martinez — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 03:04:48 EDT

What I am is the Bad Mother, who only begins her journey transforming into the Good Mother , through it's dark existence. I will expose my life to show the world how change has started. It is my hope others will join in the purpose with their own stories. The world needs to see the whole picture through the individuals "all seeing eye". It is about protecting who we all are, universal beings of life..full of shadows, full of new light emerging.

To be continued...time to rest now.

Terrorists - justifier Rashid Khalidi has a "new" book - yet he's the same old "average Arab racist"

Natalia from Acampo, CA — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 01:08:57 EDT

Terrorists - justifier Rashid Khalidi has a "new" book - yet he's the same old "average Arab racist"

Rashid Khalidi (on c-span 2, books) (Author: 'Sowing Crisis') wants us to believe that Islamic republic of Iran is "not" linked to the terror organizations: Hamas, Hezbollah and that these groups have "legitimate" concerns.

Desperate as he is to act as if he's on a 'research' row and making a show of someone who's really "looking at the region from a broader angle", he did talk at first quite smoothly, dancing around and mentioning "other" problems we the USA have (supposedly) created in the region, like Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran (no, he didn't mention Carter's role in indirectly overthrowing the Shah, that led to the current Islamofascistic totalitarianism), you almost thought that Rashid might really be an academic, in the real sense of the word.

But as an average Arab Muslim "academic" he can never escape his burning Arab-racism against the Jews, though polishing his way to the maximum, he had to come to his essential venomous point, all in all, his punch line is really, the same old hateful cliche theme, "It's all Israel's fault", especially towards the end, when he was asked some questions, you could see how he was "lit" as if by a switch that turns on the Arab "moderates" hatred flames - they can never seem to resist, and fall into it each and every time.To his credit, most Arab propagandists are less patient... you don't have to wait even that long to see their outbursts.It was a small room, filled by either Arabs, or the gullible, one Arab "American" journalist is even a brazen open Jihadists-Hamas-Hezbollah supporter, none has asked about his propaganda statement that Iran fears Israel's nukes - as a "reason" for why they might be pursuing nuclear weapons, no one has asked the obvious: Did (democratic) Israel ever threaten to wipe out (oppressive) Iran like the Islamic fascist genocidal Republic did? or did Israel ever attack Iran like Iran attacked Israel via Hezbullah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad?

Never mind his Pro-Jihad statement defending Hamas, Hezbollah, portraying them as "political" movements with "concerns", and no one was refuting him - pointing to the true nature of these Jihadists that openly declare their real goal - to erase Israel.If you were to turn in towards the end, all you could hear is repeated word "occupation", more than a few times... (as you know), all crimes under the sun are all washed by this excuse, used by the children of Arab immigrants, (that have invaded the land of Israel - "Palestine," since the 1800's), and is being heard by him, as by any Arab "journalist" like a spiral.

_______________________

Related:
Khalidi's New Book and Old Story
http://myrightword.blogspot.com/2009/03/khalidis-new-book-and-old-story.html

Solomonia Archive: Columbia Watch: Rashid Khalidi On the other hand, this is Rashid Khalidi, and he does represent Columbia ... .
http://www.solomonia.com/blog/archives/009032.shtml

Rashid Khalidi's Appointment at Columbia University...
http://www.danielpipes.org/1234/rashid-khalidis-appointment-at-columbia-university

Jan 20, 2009 ... Hamas's Academic Cheerleaders [incl. Hamid Dabashi, Rashid Khalidi, Fawaz Gerges, Joseph Massad, Muqtedar Khan, Mark LeVine, et al.
http://www.campus-watch.org/article/id/6708

Camera-Ready Victims [incl. Rashid Khalidi]: Hamas practices human sacrifice; the world shrugs. - Campus Watch.
http://www.campus-watch.org/article/id/6622

Arabism - Racism virus spreading in... Venezuela under Dictator Chavez

Natalia from Acampo, CA — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 20:20:56 EST

Arabism - Racism virus spreading in... Venezuela

So... is Hugo Chavez "arab" enough now?

---

From a 2000-2001 Report of Antisemitism And Racism, Responses to the intifada in the media, in wall graffiti and by Arab organizations in Venezuela such as FEARAB (Arab Federation for Latin America) were directed at de-legitimizing the State of Israel, which was accused of causing the Palestinian tragedy.
The radical language used against Israel was not infrequently antisemitic, for example, the comparison of Israeli soldiers with Nazis *.

In January 2009, Venezuela expelled Israeli ambassador over Gaza, due to influence by Chavez's government's Justice Minister Tarek El Aissami, who is of Arab descent * and a sizable population of Arab descent, hundreds of people who marched against Israel * (at Israel's anti terror operation of cast lead * *, Descendants of Arabs thriving in S. America, Venezuela has a flourishing Arab community of about 1.5 million, business and commerce. Shop names like Flower of Palestine are a common *).

In Jan. 1, 2009, Antisemitic graffiti was painted on the corner of Cristobal Colon Sinai Jewish School in Caracas *.

There was worldwide condemnation pouring down on Venezuela After Synagogue Attack in Caracas, with written racist messages like: "Jews, get out," in the worst ever attack on the Venezualan Jewish community *, Death threats against rabbis and the menacing of the Jewish community has apparently led to vandalism of a synagogue in Caracas. Marauders entered the temple and profaned the Torah and Ark, strewing them on the floor and fired shots in the air *, it has been said that 'Palestinian' and Arab supporters in Venezuela were responsible * and Chavez's (described by many as a dictator * * ** * * * * *, who is a new "hero" in the Arab world *) close ties with the radical Islamic Republic of Iran's leader Ahmadinejad (that has called for genocide, to 'wipe out Israel' *** ) * *.

Hugo Chavez - extreme Arabism, he also forged alliances with dictators of rogue Arab states such as Libya' s Qaddafi, Iraq's Saddam Hussein, Exhorting his countrymen to return to their "Arab roots" *, he has illegally given more than 270 Venezuelan passports to Arab extremists *, Waleed al-Tabtabai A Kuwaiti Islamist MP called for moving Arab League headquarters from Cairo to Caracas after he expelled the Israel's ambassador, Tabtabai said that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez "has proved that he was more Arab than some Arabs"
*.

THE TRUTH

alkoga — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 17:41:28 EST

THE TRUTH

THE FAKE STORY OF SHIA'A AND THEIR MISBEHAVIOUR

SUMMARY OF WHAT HAPPENED

5000 PERSON dug THE TOMB OF OM ALBANEEN,MAY BE GOD PLEASED FROM HER,THE WIFE OF ALI IBN ABI TALB ,MAY ALLAH BE PLEASED FROM HIM, THIS demanded that security forces intervened to recover the stolen ashes .THEY DRIVEN AND TAKE COVER BY women AND DEFENDED WHAT THEY DID BY FALSE DEMONSTRATION.they driven
women for the work of demonstrations to exercise their right to worship or otherwise, and by depicting a member of the Board and ask them to release him from arrest except for one Witnesses said that the digging of the grave is not even a little, but her body may Allaah be pleased by the course of being portrayed in the video clip are, thank God, the truth emerged

the truth against their lies

NO ONE IN ISLAM HAS THE RIGHT TO DIG THE GRAVE OF ANYBODY

أسد تكريت / يدنسون بأقدامهم قبر زوجة علي بالبقيع - Funny bloopers R us

WHAT ABOUT SACRED GRAVES .YOU CAN SEE FROM THE PHOTOES AND THE VIDEO THAT THEY DRIVEN WOMEN TO DO FALSE DEMONSTRATION IN FRONT OF THE OFFICES TO TAKE THEIR TIME IN DIGGING THE GRAVE

IN THE TRUTH VIDEO AT 3:57 SEEN YOU CAN HER THE IRANIAN DIRECTOR AND CAMERAMAN SPEAKING CLEARLY

THEY MISLEADED THE WHOLE WORLD THROUGH INTERNET AND THROUGH THE FAKE NEWS IN AL-MANAR TV,ALKAWTHER TV AND AL-ALEM TV

THAT SAUDI ARABIA ABUSE HUMAN RIGHTS IN WORSHIPPING .IN THE CONTERARY . THEY CONTINUED THEIR LIES AND THEIR USE OF FAKE STORIES TO REVOLET DEMONSTRATORS BUT THE ABOVE VIDEO IS THE PROVE OF THEIR LIES

NOdiscrimination against Shia in Saudi Arabia as they claim but the intervention of iran to mislead the whole world and its role in the distability of the region.now,I am confident 100% that MUBARAK IS RIGHT IN his ideas about the ugly role of hizballah ,hassan nasserallah,the shia as a whole.

أسد تكريت / يدنسون بأقدامهم قبر زوجة علي بالبقيع - Funny bloopers R us

Ossam Bin Ladden and al Qaeda have won

LOL — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 15:31:28 EST

Let us look at these things logically. I like logic. It is as good a place to start as any. When conducting an investigation in theory, one starts with what one knows, and applies facts from the best predictor of the future, “history”. One also applies rational assertions that are open to debate from anybody who comes up with another more rational assertion. This technique can be applied even when dealing with irrational subjects, because even they have to yield to the laws of nature, science, and the trends of sociology.

So with that in mind. Here is the question that I would like to explore. What was it that al Qaeda wanted to accomplish by the actions of 9-11? Of course as a follow up, how successful was it?

Intriguing: vid about Iranian recent history? Discussion thread.

EMK — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 15:05:28 EST

See this clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJRcOF7rEfQ.

If you'd like, check out the blog posts by Amuaor.

What do you think? Opinions?

EMK

Op ' cast Lead' Israel/Gaza: Triple Islamic Crime: 1) Firing upon Israeli civilians, 2) using its own populations' women and children to make sure they die, so they can bash Israel even more, 3) Calling for genocide on Israelis or on all Jews.

Natalia from Acampo, CA — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 21:41:37 EST

December, 2008 - January 2009

Triple Islamic Crime: 1) Firing upon Israeli civilians, 2) using its own populations' women and children to make sure they die, so they can bash Israel even more, 3) Calling for genocide on Israelis or on all Jews.

Operation 'Cast Lead' - Israel decided it had (1) - enough of: Years of Islamic 'Palestinian' Hamas' barrage of rocket attacks aimed intentionally on Israeli civilians, preferably children (at the times they go to schools and kindergartens), around a Millions Israelis are under this threatening range.
(2) - The Islamic terror Hamas fights the Israeli humane anti-terror defensive forces via most inhumane tactics - using its own civilians, women and children as human shields in order to cause Arab kids' deaths and then parade with them on global TV cameras.

(3) - An expolsion of Islamofascism's hatred and call for genocide on (all) Jews in wordlwide demonstrations under the flag of "free Palestine".

On Dec. 27, Israel began defensive operations to dismantle Iran-backed Hamas’s terrorist infrastructure in Gaza and stop the terrorist group from its 8-years-long campaign of attacking Israeli civilians with 10,000 rockets, missiles and mortars.

Despite Hamas’s unrelenting rocket attacks, Israel continues to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza, warning the civilian population to stay clear of terrorist sites. Said Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, "Israel has made it clear that we are fighting against terrorism, not the Gazan residents, and the extremists are the ones who are taking advantage of the concern of the humanitarian organizations and the international community as a means of pressuring Israel."
http://www.theisraelproject.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=hsJPK0PIJpH&b=689705&ct=6479 919

Harris noted that Israel has always gone to great lengths in an attempt to avoid civilian casualties, but that, tragically, Hamas uses civilians "as human shields," making Israel's efforts still more challenging. (Dec 27, 2008)

http://news.prnewswire.com/DisplayReleaseContent.aspx?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/12-27-2008/00049 47081&EDATE=

Hamas Prepares 15,000 Soldiers, Civilian Human Shields For Full Confrontation With Israel (Dec 27, 2008)

http://www.mererhetoric.com/archives/11275253.html

Hamas took no heed of the plight of their own brethren, "and just as they have used human shields in their terror operations, they are now taking the whole ...

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1229868820574&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Israel's Challenge Family Security Matters, NJ - Dec 26, 2008 Why is criticism never leveled at Hamas or Hezbollah who regularly use children as human shields to protect their leaders and their weapons? ...

http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/id.2115/pub_detail.asp

Israel retaliation in Gaza, Hamas hit hard Canada Free Press, Canada Any suspected hideouts of Hamas leadership must be taken out. Israel had opportunities in earlier decades to do this and refused because of the human shield

http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/7171

Hamas Explains Use of Civilians as Human Shields
By Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook
"We desire death as you desire life."
The UN announcement that 51 civilians have died in the conflict in Gaza must be understood in the context of Hamas's declared ideology to use civilians as human shields for Hamas fighters. Indeed, Hamas continues to emphasize and promote the religious ideology that death for Allah is an ideal to be actively pursued.
The goal is to convince Palestinians, including women and children, not to fear death but even to face it at the front to protect Hamas fighters. Hamas's placement of its military installations and fighters among civilians reflects this ideology, and has led to these 51 deaths.
A Hamas representative in the PA legislative council this year expressed pride in the fact that women and children are used as human shields in fighting Israel. He described it as part of a "death industry" at which Palestinians excel, and explained that the Palestinians "desire death" with the same intensity that Israelis "desire life."
The following is the full text of the comments by Hamas representative Fathi Hamad: "For the Palestinian people death became an industry, at which women excel and so do all people on this land: the elderly excel, the Jihad fighters excel, and the children excel. Accordingly [Palestinians] created a human shield of women, children, the elderly and the Jihad fighters against the Zionist bombing machine, as if they were saying to the Zionist enemy: We desire death as you desire life."

http://newsblaze.com/story/20081229092838zzzz.nb/topstory.html

Injured Palestinian girl: Hamas is the cause of all wars
A haunting clip from an outfit that specializes in them: Portrait of a human shield, her four-year-old sister one of 60 civilians killed...

http://hotair.com/archives/2008/12/30/injured-palestinian-girl-hamas-is-the-cause-of-all-wars/

The suffering that Hamas causes (Dec 2008) ...
But it isn't only Israelis whose fundamental human rights Hamas is violating. It is those of the Palestinian population about whose welfare Hamas professes to care.
In direct contravention of international law, Hamas uses Palestinian civilians as human shields, utilizing homes, schools and community centers as launching pads, content in the knowledge that if innocent Palestinian civilians are caught in the cross-fire, it will be Israel that is criticized. This amounts to a sort of Daily Double of human rights violations: the use of innocent Palestinians as human shields for the infliction of violence upon innocent Israelis.

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2008/12/30/the_suffering_that_hama s_causes/

The Father of the Human Shield Dead
DigitalJournal.com - 2 Jan 2009
Nizar al-Rayyan invented the Human Shields method. IsraelPolitik reports that Hamas has released an official statement “declaring that Dr. Nizar al-Rayyan, ...

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/264390

Ground push / Mission: Break Hamas Ha'aretz - Jan 3, 2009
Hamas may also use children as "human shields" for weapons caches inside mosques.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1052336.html

IDF launches Gaza ground operation
Ha'aretz - Jan 3, 2009
Those who use civilians, the elderly, women and children as "human shields" are responsible for any and all injuries to the civilian population.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1052341.html

They Asked For It! Hamas goads Israeli military to invade Gaza Strip
Gather.com - Jan 3, 2009
They're showing no regard for the high, civilian casualties due to the upcoming, street fighting. They're using their countrymen as human shields.

http://www.russiatoday.com/news/news/35544

NETANYAHU: This humanitarian crisis is the direct result of the Hamas tactic of firing at our civilians and hiding behind their civilians, and it’s something that we cannot tolerate. No nation would tolerate 6,000 rockets fired on its cities, and Israel finally decided to take action.

We have to make sure that we don’t just have a cease-fire, but that this criminal rocketing of our cities is not resumed a few months from now. Because that’s exactly what happened a few months ago. They were firing rockets at us, the Hamas. We had a cease-fire. They used the cease-fire to get further range — longer-range rockets, which they have now fired at Beersheba and Ashdod and into the southern suburbs of Tel Aviv. So obviously, we have to remove the threat, not just stop the firing. And that’s what Israel is engaged in right now.

http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?parm1=5&docID=news-000003002618

Crush Hamas and brave the backlash | The Australian - But as was pointed out - Israel attempts to target military and political sites. hamas attacks civilians. there is no such thing as disproportionate attacks …

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24853482-7583,00.html

Rocket alert sends New York’s Bloomberg running for cover in Sderot…
the onus of the civilian deaths was on Hamas for using them as human shields.
“They have been the main victimizers of the innocent Palestinian people by inviting these kinds of attacks,” he said.

http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1052557.html

IDF coordination chief: There is no humanitarian crisis

Hamas terrorists are using civilian infrastructure in the Gaza Strip - including hospitals, mosques and areas next to offices of international aid groups - to conduct terrorist activity and fire rockets at Israel, Col. Moshe Levi, commander of the IDF’s Gaza Coordination and Liaison Administration (CLA), said Thursday.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1230733138893

Hamas Exploitation of Civilians as Human Shields
Right Side News
This study examines how Hamas and the other terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip make extensive use of Palestinian civilians as human shields. ...

http://rightsidenews.com/200901063218/global-terrorism/hamas-exploitation-of-civilians-as-human-shie lds.html

'Hamas is guilty of war crime'
BBC News
... artillery attack near a UN school in the Gaza Strip. On Radio 4's The World Tonight he claimed that Hamas were guilty of using civilians as "human shields".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7814762.stm

Yes, free Gaza — from terrorist tyranny
By REDA MANSOUR
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Some of the Arab and Muslim demonstrators who recently came to our offices were holding signs that said “Free Gaza.” Many Israelis would raise that same sign, me included, but for different reasons. People tend to forget that as of August 2005, Israel has not been in Gaza, and that the Gazans have been under Hamas control since June 2007. Indeed, Gaza needs to be freed from many different extremist forces.
Gaza should be freed from Hamas, a terrorist organization that seized the strip by force. Since the takeover, Hamas has run Gaza’s economy into the ground and now nearly half of the work force is unemployed. Hamas has built a Taliban-style state in Gaza and introduced many of the Islamic Shari’a laws, institutionalizing the persecution of women and minorities.
Hamas has transformed Gaza from a free territory to a large bunker, a place where rockets are stored under families, schools and places of prayer. Unfortunately, Gazans not only live among this militarization, but are now a tool in Hamas’ aggression. The terrorist organization has developed a strategy of using innocent civilians as human shields. When Israel warns that the houses of Hamas operatives and commanders will be targeted, the terrorists bring in innocent citizens, often by force, in an effort to increase the likelihood of civilian casualties. Hamas’ leaders rely on the strict Israeli moral code, hoping to avoid being attacked or that a strike will allow them to score points in the media by sacrificing their own people, creating what looks like acts of Israeli military aggression.
Gaza should be freed from the intervention of Iran, a state that openly admits to financing Hamas. Iran is also helping Palestinian terror organizations with training, intelligence and equipment. Some of this “aid” is channeled through Hezbollah in Lebanon — yet another Iranian proxy organization. Hezbollah and Iran use the Gazans to maintain regional political relevance in their empty agenda against Israel.
Gaza should be freed from some of the Arab satellite channels like Al-Jazeera. These television stations engage in the direct incitement of the Arab and Muslim world. Everything is acceptable in their eyes to raise their ratings: including long shots of bodies and injuries. Some of these channels do not dismiss any editing trick and consider propaganda as a normal part of their news reporting.
As far as Israel is concerned, Gaza is free and it is the decision of its inhabitants what the area’s destiny will be. They can continue to buy into the self-defeating promises of terrorist organizations and extremist ideologies. Even worse, they can continue to let these organizations use them as human shields and demolish their hopes and futures.
Gazans can only truly be free by declaring Gaza a terror-free zone. The people of Gaza have many resources in their hands to achieve success. Gaza could use its beautiful Mediterranean coast to attract Israeli and Egyptian tourists. It can renew the flower and fruit exports to Europe that Israel left behind. The airport that was built there can be reopened. The seaport that is planned and even the natural gas fields in its waters could be built.
The people of this region need to make the decision that Gaza will become a model of peace and stability and hopefully, the beginning of the two-state solution: Israel and Palestine living side by side in peace.

http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/stories/2009/01/07/mansoured_0107.html

Hamas uses people as shields
Updated: 01/06/2009 06:53:52 AM EST
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has heated up again. A cease-fire agreement has collapsed and Hamas, a Palestinian terrorist organization, immediately renewed its rocket attacks from Gaza into Israeli civilian areas.
Hamas does not attack military targets. They openly declare their intent to kill civilians, including women and children.
These rocket attacks have gone on for years and have steadily increased in intensity. The range of these weapons has increased as well, bringing more civilian areas in Israel under attack, with an increase in danger to civilians.
There is no warning for these attacks, no air-raid sirens, just the sudden explosion of a rocket missile in your neighborhood with the possibility of death and destruction.
During the several years that these rocket attacks have continued, never has anyone raised a voice condemning these attacks, which are knowingly directed against civilians.
Hamas deliberately sets its rocket launchers and mortars in densely populated areas using their own people as human shields against retaliation.
Now that Israel is striking back, the Israelis are being condemned for causing civilian casualties. Where were these voices during the years that Hamas was deliberately and admittedly killing Israeli civilians? Where were these voices when Hamas implemented its policy of using its own people as human shields against retaliation?
Two facts become obvious:
Israel values the lives of its citizens and is now doing and will continue doing what is necessary to protect its citizens.
Hamas views its own people as expendable pawns and willingly and knowingly places them in danger in order to gain a propaganda victory against Israel.

http://www.newstimes.com/ci_11376001

Hamas at fault, not Israelis
Sir:It amazes me that every time Israel makes a move to protect its citizens and sovereignty, bleeding hearts at the CBC continue to pester Israel over its alleged unbalanced response.
Even when the ceasefire was signed, Hamas militants fire rockets haphazardly into Israel.
Hit a military compound, that's nice. Hit a school or hospital, equally nice.
This is terrorism on a daily basis.
To feel sorry for the Palestinian people is a stretch considering they voted for Hamas, knowing the blow-back they would receive not only from their immediate neighbours but from most western powers as well.
As a matter of fact, Palestinians should be thankful that Israel still considers its targets as carefully as it does and not use the laissez faire targeting of Hamas.
The reason why there are civilian casualties at all is again due to the cowardice of the militants using civilians as human shields.
I would certainly hope that those at the liberal CBC that think Israel should open its borders to incoming Palestinian workers when such a threat exists for suicide bombers never end up with the job of minister for public safety in this country.
Hard hats and bomb shelters for all!

http://www.chathamdailynews.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1374059

The Volokh Conspiracy - Human Shields in Gaza:
But it takes a special kind of depravity to use your own civilians as human ... If the Hamas civilians *know* they are acting as human shields for the ...

http://volokh.com/posts/1230756039.shtml

Children of Hamas
Hamas has been firing these rockets from within densely populated areas using the Palestinian people as human shields. Mosques, hospitals, kindergartens

http://anadafreepress.com/index.php/article/7366

Peres: Europe must 'open eyes' on Gaza
United Press International
Peres blamed Hamas for the deaths of innocent civilians in the siege, saying the militants use them as human shields...

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/01/06/Peres_Europe_must_open_eyes_on_Gaza/UPI-94771231247258/

Hamas exploits public opinion
Newstimes Updated: 01/06/2009 07:23:35 PM EST
It is time to support Israel in her time of need. After living in a war zone with relentless rockets firing on innocent citizens even in a "cease-fire" agreement with Hamas, Israel has no choice but to destroy the terrorists who have one goal and that is to destroy Israel.
If the press would comment on Hamas' tactics of using women and children as human shields, of firing rockets from residential neighborhoods, of dressing Hamas officials in medical uniforms in hospitals, the tragic deaths of innocent Palestinians may be understood.
Israel has no choice but to destroy the point of rocket fire. If it comes from a mosque, a hospital, a home, a school, it is designed that way by the terrorists to hurt Israel.
They have no regard for their citizens and use them as propaganda tools to affect world opinion.
It would be helpful if the press would mention the tactics at the same time as they mention the tragic deaths of innocent bystanders. It is all calculated by Hamas and unfortunately not everyone is aware of their depth of cruelty.
Our tradition teaches us, "He who saves a single life, it is as if he saved an entire world." Israel reveres life and the terrorists revere death. It is unfortunate and tragic.
When the terrorists will show the same passion for peace as they do for death and hatred, there will be peace.

http://www.newstimes.com/ci_11387960

We have counseled our ally Israel to be very cautious about protecting innocents, and I do think that the Israelis take great care to do so. I saw the reports about the school. I don't have any information about that. I think that we should not jump to conclusions, and we should wait to find out what the evidence says. What we do know is that Hamas often hides amongst innocents, and uses innocent people, including children, as human shields.

http://www.enewspf.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5435:press-briefing-by-p ress-secretary-dana-perino-&catid=88888933&Itemid=88889535

Evidence of Hamas Use of Human Shields

http://yaakov.newsvine.com/_news/2009/01/06/2278116-evidence-of-hamas-use-of-human-shields

Global Islamo fascism's Genocidal Anti - Jewish demonstrations using the Gaza anti terror operation ' cast lead' as a cover (Dec 2008 - Jan 2009)
(Jan 2009) Jihad Watch reports that in the Netherlands, anti-Israel demonstrators have once again been chanting
Hamas Hamas, Jews to the gas
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/024231.php
Atlas has pictures of the Muslims that have taken over Europe chanting “Jews to the gas.”
http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2009/01/video-anne-fran.html
Demonstrators cry 'nuke Israel,' carry Hezbollah flags at U.S. ... 6 Jan 2009 ... ... Florida last week featured demonstrators carrying signs reading ...
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1052901.html
Florida demonstrator: Jews - you need a big oven' - 6 Jan 2009 ... Florida demonstrator: Jews - you need a big oven' ... Nuke, nuke Israel," followed by "Go to hell; go to hell; go to hell!" ...Another woman, wearing a (Muslim) headscarf, shouted: "Go steal other lands. Go! Murderers! Go back to the oven! You need a big oven."
Other signs accused Israel of "ethnic cleansing." "Israel is the terrorist," read a second, while a third wondered whether Israel had taken "notes during the Holocaust?"
An imam led the crowd in prayer. "Allahu Akhbar," they chanted before prostrating themselves on their prayer mats.
"We want to educate the people about what Islam really is so that they can appreciate the beauty of it," the imam told a reporter. "Once people understand the real beauty of Islam they will have no choice but to accept it because they will realize that it's part of their nature."
Following their (Islamic) prayers, the crowd crossed the road and confronted the pro-Israel group
http://www.jnewswire.com/article/2606
Genocidal hatred from pro-Hamas demonstrators -- "Nuke, nuke Israel." Chilling video from Tom Trento of WatchObsession.org. .... Florida A Tampa highway was lined with anti-Gaza War demonstrators on ...The stone, which is thrown at the Jews, hates these Jews, these Zionists, because Allah .... Muslims in American mosques praying for destruction of Israel ...
http://www.israelmilitary.net/showthread.php?p=36183
Protesting Against Israel or Hating Jews? - 6 Jan 2009 ... 'Muslim American Society'... The anti-Israel demonstration of some 200 to 300 people outside the ... for instance, carried signs saying "Nuke Israel,"...Now the notion of using of a nuclear device to eliminate Israel and thereby attempting to kill its roughly 5 million Jews is not a unique one, since words to that effect are regularly uttered, among others, by Iran's raving president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who dreams of such apocalyptic final solutions. What is unique is the morally-defective logic that would enable someone to justify a second Holocaust, the mass murder of Jews, on the basis of Israel having defended itself from years of rocket attacks and having killed several hundred murderous terrorists in the process. Making the Middle East free of Jews, Judenfrein, is exactly what Hamas, the group of murderous thugs being cheered on by the demonstrators here, ardently longs for; Hamas' charter, in fact, expresses as one of its core tenets that Israel should be eliminated, that "Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it."
http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/01/protesting_against_israel_or_h.html
December 31, 2008
"Death to all juice": Calling for genocide with plausible deniability?
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/024163.php
January 4, 2009 chill and evil wind is blowing over the world. Genocidal Eurabia Alert
Denmark (Islamic banner reads): "Kill Jewish people evry where in ther world"
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/024235.php
The banner reads, "Jews go to hell." Attached Images ...
http://www.goldtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?p=226463
Indonesian Muslim protesters hold a banner during a rally against . ... The banner reads, 'Jews go to hell.' REUTERS/Beawiharta. (INDONESIA) ...
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Israel--Indonesian-Muslim-protesters-hold-banner-during-rally-again st-Israeli-attacks-Gaza-Strip-Jakarta-January-2-2009-banner-reads-Jews-go/ss/events/wl/20070128_isra el/im:/02012009/6/photo/photos-n-news-indonesian-muslim-protesters-hold-banner-during-rally-against- israeli.html/
That Old Lovable “Jews Are Apes And Pigs” Canard
http://outoftheblu.wordpress.com/2009/01/04/that-old-lovable-jews-are-apes-and-pigs-canard/

In Israel's Defense

Jill Oserowsky Stanevich — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 09:26:07 EST

Lest I sounded totally naive in my previous post, let me say clearly that when a country is attacked, it's natural to want to respond. Israel has been attacked since it was recreated as a modern state in 1948.

As Benny Morris so succicntly explained in a recent New York Times op-ed piece, Israelis are in a tight spot.

This is not only about Hamas in Gaza. The larger picture includes Hezbollah, Syria and Iran. With crazy men like Ahmedinejad spouting lies and disinformation about the Jewish people, one can understand why the "situation" has escalated in the Middle East.

So long as Arab educators and leaders deny Israel's right to exist in its own historical homeland, there will be chaos.

Happy New Year.

Bolton: Gaza Crisis Means We Should Attack Iran Now

John Lewis-Dickerson, Atlanta — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 20:34:11 EST

Bolton: Gaza Crisis Means We Should Attack Iran Now»

By Satyam Khanna at 3:23 pm @ thinkprogress.com

Yesterday, on Fox’s Hannity and Colmes, Iran war hawk John Bolton said that Israel’s recent bombing campaign in Gaza is all the more reason for the United States to bomb Iran now. “So while our focus obviously is on Gaza right now, this could turn out to be a much larger conflict,” he said, adding that “we’re looking at potentially a multi-front war here.”

“You would strike Iran right now?” asked host Alan Colmes. “I would have done it before this,” Bolton responded. Colmes asked whether tensions and war across Middle East would escalate if the U.S. or Israel were to bomb Iran. Bolton said that the many Arab countries would secretly be cheering if Iran were attacked......

ENTIRE ARTICE - http://thinkprogress.org/2008/12/30/bolton-iran-israel/

Iraq Threatens to Expel Iranian Rebels (terrorists)

John Lewis-Dickerson, Atlanta — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 19:03:02 EST

Iraq Threatens to Expel Iranian Rebels

Exile Group Has Protected Status Under Soon-to-Expire U.N. Mandate

By Ernesto Londoño - Washington Post Foreign Service - Monday, December 22, 2008; Page A15

BAGHDAD, Dec. 21 -- Iraqi officials say they intend to expel members of an Iranian exile group living in a camp north of Baghdad that is protected by the U.S. military. The expulsion, which the Shiite-led government has long sought, is expected to become feasible once the U.N. mandate that regulates the presence of U.S. troops -- and which gave the Iranian opposition group protected status -- expires at the end of the year.

Iraqi national security adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie on Saturday traveled to the camp with several other government officials to deliver the message to members of the Mujaheddin-e Khalq, or MEK, an Iranian opposition group that was closely aligned with deposed Iraqi president Saddam Hussein but has been under U.S. military protection since shortly after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.......

ARTICLE - http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/21/AR2008122101832.html?hpid=moreheadlines

A U.S. Army soldier with an Iranian fighter belonging to the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq in 2003. The U.S. military has protected the camp, which lies 40 miles north of Baghdad, since 2003.

Rick Warren: Stopping Evil ‘Is The Legitimate Role Of Government’

John Lewis-Dickerson, Atlanta — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 15:35:52 EST

Rick Warren: Stopping Evil ‘Is The Legitimate Role Of Government’»

Appearing on Fox’s Hannity and Colmes to promote his new book, Pastor Rick Warren made a brief foray into foreign policy. Responding to Hannity’s assertion that “we need to take him [Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad] out,” Warren agreed, saying that stopping evil “is the legitimate role of government. The Bible says that God puts government on earth to punish evildoers.”

TRANSCRIPT / VIDEO - http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2008/12/04/warren-stopping-evil/

Last week, at a meeting of his country’s ruling party, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak accused Iran of “trying to devour the Arab states.”

John Lewis-Dickerson, Atlanta — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 16:53:21 EST

Iran ate my Caliphate

Posted on December 16, 2008 by Jeff Huber @ scholarsandrogues

Last week, at a meeting of his country’s ruling party, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak accused Iran of “trying to devour the Arab states.” Don’t worry, Hosni. Iran won’t eat you. It can’t. It can’t sit on you either. It’s too far away.

What led Mubarak to say such a mean thing about Iran? Well, it seems that a bunch of Iranian students shouted a bunch of mean things at the Egyptian embassy in Tehran, including their apparently genuine wish that someone would hang Mubarak. The Iranian students shouted mean things about Mubarak because Egypt wouldn’t let the Iranian Red Crescent sneak around Israel’s blockade of the Gaza strip and deliver food and supplies to Palestinians, who have been reduced to eating grass.........

ENTIRE ARTICLE - http://www.scholarsandrogues.com/2008/12/16/iran-ate-my-caliphate/

Iran says has proof U.S., UK back police killer group

John Lewis-Dickerson, Atlanta — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 18:17:09 EST

Iran says has proof U.S., UK back police killer group

from Reuters - Saturday, Dec 13, 8:17 am ET

TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iran has documents to prove the United States and Britain, the Islamic Republic's two Western arch foes, back a group that killed 16 abducted Iranian police officers, state radio reported on Saturday.

Shi'ite-dominated Iran said this month the Sunni group Jundollah (God's Soldiers) had killed 16 police hostages who were abducted from a checkpoint in the southeastern Sistan- Baluchestan province in June.

Tehran, which often accuses Britain and the United States of trying to destabilize the Islamic Republic, has said Jundollah's head, Abdolmalek Rigi, is part of the Sunni Islamist al Qaeda network.

"There are documents that show that Britain and America are supporting Rigi's terrorist group with arms and information," the radio quoted Ebrahim Raisi, first deputy to Iran's judiciary chief, as saying......

ENTIRE ARTICLE - http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081213/ts_nm/us_iran_jundollah

ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

WEBMASTER — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 02:26:14 EST

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Alternative Energy
Source: David Apperson

url: http://veterans.barackobama.com/page/community/tag/alternative-energy

CODEPINK Leaders Announce Plans for Investment in Iranian Wind Energy Company ; Hope to Defy Sanctions and Build Peaceful Relation

John Lewis-Dickerson, Atlanta — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 15:36:19 EST

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 12, 2008
12:54 PM

CONTACT: CODEPINK
Medea Benjamin, CODEPINK co-founder, 415-235-6517
Jean Stevens, national media coordinator, 508-769-2138

CODEPINK Leaders Announce Plans for Investment in Iranian Wind Energy Company - Hope to Defy Sanctions and Build Peaceful Relation

CHICAGO - December 12 - To defy crippling U.S. sanctions on Iran and build peaceful bridges between the countries, CODEPINK Women for Peace will announce plans this weekend to launch a new company that will invest in an Iranian wind energy company, allowing Americans to show support for peace and sustainability in Iran.

The company, called Winds of Change, will sell shares for $5 each. The shares will give investors an opportunity to support the Saba Niroo Wind Company, based in Tehran, and the campaign to end sanctions. Saba Niroo designs, develops and manufactures medium and large wind turbines, with a commitment to furthering the development of pollution-free energy to improve the health of our environment.

The Drama Continues Between Israel and Palestine

Taylor B. — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 15:50:44 EST

Violence only breeds more violence, and that can be seen blatantly in Israel, Palestine and the occupied territories. There is a great need to understand the history of the violence in order to grasp a true understanding out what is taking place in those lands today.

Recently things have gotten much worse implying that serious attention needs to be devoted to the crisis before it sparks a larger controversy. Making the situation even more complex is the fact that when discussing Israel and Palestine the nation of Iran needs to be addressed as well.

Iran and Israel have been escalating what seems to be a "cold war" of sorts but, like every "cold war" there is an enormous chance that a true war will develop and this situation is no different. Recently Israel has ran war games simulating an attack on Iran and just a week ago Israel's leaders said they are prepared to attack Iran with or without United States support. Iran has also fueled the fire by testing several missiles and by their constant progression towards nuclear weapons. Iran's leaders have also called for the destruction of the Israeli state and their is wide speculation that Iran has been funding extremist groups in Palestine and the occupied territories.

Just last week Israel had a blockade on the Gaza strip punishing a whole population by the actions of a few. Journalists were only allowed back into the occupied territories a few days ago. Although recently Israeli police evicted Jewish families ,in the city of Hebron, from their home because it was illegally bought. The fifteen families are part of the settler movement that is ,an extreme right wing group, increasing encroaching on Palestinian land. Jewish extremists opened up fire on palestinians after an altercation as a result of the evictions served to the fifteen families. The Israeli high court order the evictions showing some signs that the government will be taking a harder stance towards extremist in their own country as well. There is an endless list of violence the breeding more violence in this region and something needs to be done soon.

A senior Russian diplomat says that even if Iran sought to make a nuclear weapon, it does not have the necessary "means" to do so.

John Lewis-Dickerson, Atlanta — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 16:49:30 EST

Russia: Iran could not build A-bomb
Tue, 09 Dec 2008 15:05:48 GMT

from presstv

A senior Russian diplomat says that even if Iran sought to make a nuclear weapon, it does not have the necessary "means" to do so.

"One cannot say today that Iran can create nuclear weapons," head of the Russian Foreign Ministry's department of European cooperation, Vladimir Voronkov, was quoted by ITAR-TASS news agency as saying Tuesday.

Voronkov said Russian intelligence agencies confirm that Iran does not have the "means" to develop a military nuclear program.

Russia, helping Iran construct a 1,000-megawatt nuclear power plant in the southern city of Bushehr, has worked closely with Iran in the field of nuclear technology over the past decade.

His remarks come shortly after US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Sunday that Iran "is still pursuing quite clearly the technology that can lead to a nuclear weapon."

Under the allegation that a nuclear Tehran would pose an existential threat to Israel; Washington and Tel Aviv have threatened Iran with the use of military action should the country continue its enrichment program........

ENTIRE ARTICLE - http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=77931&sectionid=351020104

In a new report, Mark Fitzpatrick argues for accepting some aspects of Iran's nuclear program, such as enrichment, in order to maintain access for inspectors and help prevent development of a bomb.

John Lewis-Dickerson, Atlanta — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 16:45:12 EST

Arms expert urges moderate approach on Iran

In a new report, Mark Fitzpatrick argues for accepting some aspects of Iran's nuclear program, such as enrichment, in order to maintain access for inspectors and help prevent development of a bomb.

By Borzou Daragahi @ latimes.com

December 9, 2008

Reporting from Paris — A report released Monday by a respected arms-control expert urges the West to change course by accepting sensitive features of Iran's nuclear program and focusing instead on discouraging Tehran from building an atomic bomb.

Mark Fitzpatrick, director of the nonproliferation program at the London-based Institute for International Strategic Studies, predicts in a 100-page report that Iran will produce enough fissile low- enriched uranium and obtain the expertise next year to build a bomb.

But unless Iran were to boot out international inspectors and begin to further refine its stockpile, steps Tehran insists it won't take, all would not be lost, he says........

ENTIRE ARTICLE - http://fairuse.100webcustomers.com/itsonlyfair/latimes0574.html

Israeli weapons ended up in hands of Iran

John Lewis-Dickerson, Atlanta — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 17:32:48 EST

Arms trade a double-edged sword for Israel

from russiatoday.com

It’s one of the perils of the arms trade which humiliates governments and outrages anti-war activists. A political nightmare, and potential humanitarian one, where a country sells weapons to an ally - later to find those same arms being used against it after the two countries fall out.

Despite the risks, the arms trade is a key part of many leading countries’ economies. The profits are huge, the stakes high. But the dangers of something going wrong are even bigger.

The biggest players are the USA, the UK, Russia and France, but smaller countries like Israel are also heavily involved. Retired Israeli General, Yossi Peled, believes it’s vital for his country.

“It’s part of the Israeli economy,” he says. “Unfortunately because we have such experience on the battlefield which means a lot - so it gives Israel a very high reputation.”

This reputation is also respected by Israel’s enemies. The small nation that wants to play in the big league sometimes sells weapons to regimes nobody else wants to deal with......

ENTIRE ARTICLE - http://www.russiatoday.com/news/news/34358

John Bolton: "We are going to have to deal with a nuclear Iran."

John Lewis-Dickerson, Atlanta — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 17:01:56 EST

John Bolton Reads 'Em and Weeps

by Robert Dreyfuss @ thenation.com

It was an extraordinary scene at the American Enterprise Institute on Tuesday, where John Bolton read 'em and wept. There is, he said, no way to stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons.

His conclusion, stunning in its finality: "We are going to have to deal with a nuclear Iran."

In so saying, Bolton -- among the hawkiest of hawks from the now neoconservative-movement-in-exile -- broke ranks with many of his neocon colleagues. Most of them haven't given up on stopping Iran, as evidenced by a raft of new reports from neocon-linked thinktanks. And they're busily calling for stepped-up sanctions, making bellicose threats, and warning of military action by the United States and Israel. But Bolton is folding his cards.

"Iran's going to get nuclear weapons," said Bolton, to an audience at AEI that seemed shocked into silence. "We have lost this race." If you don't believe me, you can watch the video.

ENTIRE POST - http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/388155/john_bolton_reads_em_and_weeps

VIDEO - http://app2.capitalreach.com/esp1204/servlet/tc?cn=aei&c=10162&s=20271&e=10367&&espmt=2

Israeli general: Forces ready for Iran attack

John Lewis-Dickerson, Atlanta — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 13:28:17 EST

Israeli general: Forces ready for Iran attack

from RAW STORY
Published: Saturday December 6, 2008

A Saturday afternoon report said that Israeli Air Force Commanding General Ido Nehushtan has declared the country's forces 'prepared' at a moment's notice to 'halt' Iran's efforts to enrich uranium.

The claim, which was carried by Persian news network Press TV, was buried in paragraph eight. The network instead led with Israeli Prime Minister Olmert's recent demand that US President-elect Barack Obama "face up to Iran" and force the country's nuclear activities to a close.........

ENTIRE ARTICLE -

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Israeli_general_Forces_ready_to_halt_1206.html

Carrots/Sticks Phrase Invokes a Wrong Master/Slave Methaphor, Obama Should Not Use It.

PDSimic — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 12:50:27 EST

Source: New York Times
Link: Obama Says Will Pursue Carrot / Stick Iran Policy

"Carrot and Stick" phrase used by US foreign policy establishment for years is deeply insulting, as the implied semantic frame is that of an absolute superiority of us over them, a master /slave relationship, and not one of a respect and possible partnership. I still trust that Obama will make changes for the better in our foreign policy, but given some of his recent appointments it is reasonable to question if this trust is based on reasonable estimates and facts, or on a wishfull thinking (change *I want to believe* in). Nevertheless, I am surprised that a person with his multicultural background, experience, and sensitivities is not more careful with choice of methaphors.

Gingrich Says Israel Should Set A Deadline For Attack On Iran

John Lewis-Dickerson, Atlanta — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 21:38:00 EST

Gingrich Says Israel Should Set A Deadline For Attack On Iran»

By Ben Armbruster @ thinkprogress.org

Last night on Fox News, co-host Alan Colmes asked former House Speaker Newt Gingrich about a Jerusalem Post article yesterday reporting that Israel is preparing options to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities. At first Gingrich gave a measured response, saying “I don’t think we’re prepared to sanction an attack on Iran.” Yet just moments later, Gingrich said the Israelis should set a deadline for an attack on Iran:

GINGRICH: I think that the Israeli government probably would be best served if they created a deadline of sometime next fall and basically told the new American president that they’re willing to do anything they can to help him achieve a non-nuclear Iran prior, say, to September or October, but that there is a point at which they will not run the risk...........
ARTICLE/VIDEO - http://thinkprogress.org/2008/12/05/gingrich-deadline-iran/

The IDF is drawing up options for a strike on Iranian nuclear facilities that do not include coordination with the United States, The Jerusalem Post has learned.

John Lewis-Dickerson, Atlanta — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 14:15:46 EST

IDF preparing options for Iran strike

By YAAKOV KATZ @ jpost.com (Israel)

While its preference is to coordinate with the US, defense officials have said Israel is preparing a wide range of options for such an operation.

"It is always better to coordinate," one top Defense Ministry official explained last week. "But we are also preparing options that do not include coordination."

Israeli officials have said it would be difficult, but not impossible, to launch a strike against Iran without receiving codes from the US Air Force, which controls Iraqi airspace. Israel also asked for the codes in 1991 during the First Gulf War, but the US refused.....

ENTIRE ARTICLE -

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1227702421218&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

ONLINE POLL

IDF preparing options for strike at Iran without US assent:

Bad idea - 16.8% 2

Israel must do whatever is necessary - 83.1%

TOTAL VOTES: 8427 View Previous Poll Results

Obama Urged to Quickly Engage Iran, Syria

John Lewis-Dickerson, Atlanta — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 12:21:11 EST

Obama Urged to Quickly Engage Iran, Syria

by Jim Lobe @ antiwar.com

The incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama should move quickly to engage Iran without preconditions and to promote an Israeli-Syrian peace accord, according to two veteran Middle East experts whose views are likely to have influence over Obama's just-announced foreign policy team.

Obama should also "make a serious effort from the outset to promote progress between Israel and the Palestinians," propose its own solutions to the parties "sooner rather than later," and enlist the active support of the Arab League in its success, according to Richard Haass and Martin Indyk, senior Middle East aides under Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, respectively.

They also called for Obama to consider providing nuclear guarantees and enhanced anti-ballistic missile defense capabilities to Israel if negotiations to curb Iran's nuclear program fail or do not achieve quick success in order to dissuade the Jewish state from attacking Tehran's nuclear facilities on its own. Such an umbrella could also extend to Washington's Arab allies in part to prevent a regional arms race........

ENTIRE ARTICLE - http://www.antiwar.com/lobe/?articleid=13849

Is Iran Policy Still Up for Grabs?

John Lewis-Dickerson, Atlanta — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 12:13:44 EST

Still Preparing to Attack Iran

The neoconservatives in the Obama era

by Robert Dreyfuss @ antiwar.com

What, exactly, does Barack Obama's mild-mannered choice to head the Department of Health and Human Services, former Sen. Tom Daschle, have to do with neocons who want to bomb Iran?

A familiar coalition of hawks, hardliners, and neoconservatives expects Barack Obama's proposed talks with Iran to fail – and they're already proposing an escalating set of measures instead. Some are meant to occur alongside any future talks. These include steps to enhance coordination with Israel, tougher sanctions against Iran, and a region-wide military buildup of U.S. strike forces, including the pre-positioning of military supplies within striking distance of that country...........

ENTIRE ARTICLE - http://www.antiwar.com/engelhardt/?articleid=13847

Madam Secretary Clinton and the Middle East

John Lewis-Dickerson, Atlanta — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 14:12:19 EST

Change? What Change?

Madam Secretary Clinton and the Middle East

By JOSHUA FRANK

It’s official.

Barack Obama has chosen Hillary Clinton to be Secretary of State; a choice that confirms US foreign policy is not about to change significantly under the forthcoming Democratic administration. The US will continue to pander to Israel and the War on Terror will still be the rallying cry for our foreign interventions.

In a letter to her constituents in November 2005, Clinton.......

........hoped contingents of US soldiers would remain in the region with “quick-strike capabilities…This will help us stabilize that new Iraqi government,” she attested. “It will send a message to Iran that they do not have a free hand in Iraq despite their considerable influence and personal and religious connections there.”

Apparently messages carry more weight when they are delivered at gunpoint. “Watch out Tehran,” Hillary seems to be declaring, “I’ll strike quick.”

As one of the top Democratic recipients of pro-Israel funds for the 2006 election cycle, pocketing over $83,000, Clinton now has Iran in her crosshairs.........

ENTIRE ARTICLE - http://www.counterpunch.org/frank12012008.html

The battle for Iran

John Lewis-Dickerson, Atlanta — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 13:56:10 EST

The battle for Iran

By John Tirman @ bostonglobe.com, November 29, 2008

THE BATTLE for Iran is on - for Iran policy, that is - and a ferocious contest is in store. The combatants are former policy makers, scholars, and think tanks. They are issuing position papers and holding press conferences. On the front line of the contest are those with carrots and those with sticks, the ages-old choice in foreign affairs. Fortunately, history and circumstances provide a clear preference.

Two recent additions to the "sticks" cadre are fearful of alleged nuclear capability in Iran. The Bipartisan Policy Council and United Against Nuclear Iran both see the nuclear weapons threat from Iran as imminent, particularly threatening our ally, Israel. The VIPs on their roster include former senators Tom Daschle, George Mitchell, and Bob Dole, former CIA chief James Woolsey, and former UN envoy Richard Holbrooke, among others, some of whom may enter the Obama administration.

According to a recent op-ed by United Against Nuclear Iran, "Iran's nuclear ambitions demand a response that will compel Iran's leaders to change their behavior." The approaches of the United Nations and the European Union - a mix of talks and sanctions - is not working, the group says, so more forthright compellance and threats of military action are necessary.

The other side - the "carrots" team - is a.......

ENTIRE EDITORIAL -

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2008/11/29/the_battle_for_iran/

There's a rapidly developing consensus among Washington's Very Serious person set that Obama's plans to negotiate with Iran should get only one try, and if that fails then the bombing should begin.

John Lewis-Dickerson, Atlanta — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 18:59:43 EST

D.C. Establishment Pressuring Obama on Iran?

By Cernig @ crooksandliars.

There's a rapidly developing consensus among Washington's Very Serious person set that Obama's plans to negotiate with Iran should get only one try, and if that fails then the bombing should begin.

Today Iran's parliamentary Speaker and the Ayatollah's most trusted negotiator, Ali Larijani, told the press that Iran's parliament is considering a request from the U.S. Congress to "parliamentary negotiations between the two countries". (And just wait till the wingnuts start howlking about a Dem Congress sidelining the Lame Duck In Chief!) Also today, France's President Sarkozy partly walked back his previous confrontational rhetoric on Iran and said that Obama's statements "reflect our shared views on the necessity of dialogue without concessions with Tehran as the only way to obtain a negotiated end to the crisis."

It would seem that prospects for an international consensus on negotiations, and prospects for Iran actually taking those negotiations seriously, are quite hopeful. Yet David Ignatius in today's WaPo leads the bellicose VSP charge to give Obama a very short timeline to make any diplomatic initiatives work, echoing the tack of more rightwing and neocon thinktanks......

ENTIRE ARTICLE - http://crooksandliars.com/node/24317

'Iran sanctions cost US a fortune'

John Lewis-Dickerson, Atlanta — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 17:43:25 EST

'Iran sanctions cost US a fortune'

from "Press TV"

The US National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) has announced that the unilateral sanctions imposed against Iran have consequences for the US.

The NFTC President Bill Reinsch says the council seeks to persuade the incoming administration of the US President-elect Barack Obama that the US unilateral sanctions "generate a number of significant economic consequences" for the US, the Inter Press Service reported.

According to the NFTC, if the US were to scrap its unilateral sanctions and, in turn, Iran were to ease its foreign investment rules, particularly in its oil sector, the Middle Eastern nation could boost its crude oil production by about 50 percent and lower world prices by about 10 percent. This would cut the cost of US oil imports by about $38 billion............

ENTIRE ARTICLE - http://www.presstv.com/detail.aspx?id=76568&sectionid=351020101

How Ukraine armed the U.S. against Iran

John Lewis-Dickerson, Atlanta — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 23:50:49 EST

How Ukraine armed the U.S. against Iran

from russiatoday.com

Ukraine has provided the U.S. military with radar used in the S-300 air defence system. The Pentagon is concerned that Iran could acquire the Russian-produced hardware and wants to research ways of counteracting it.

The S-300 is a long-range air defence system developed by the Soviet Union in late 1970s. Armed forces of several ex-Warsaw bloc countries including Russia, Ukraine, Belarus as well as NATO members Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria and Greece use the system. Part of this system is the 36D6 surveillance radar (or according to the NATO disambiguation – “Tin Shield”) that performs initial identification and tracking of aerial targets at a range of up to 360 km.

Ukraine’s state arms exporter Ukrspetsexport supplied one such radar at the Pentagon’s request, reports Kommersant-Ukraine daily, citing an insider. The requested item was a modification of the 36D6 Tin Shield, which is produced locally in the city of Zaporozhye. No official comment by the company followed.

Military experts believe the American military may have taken interest in the radar after Iranian Defence Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar announced last year that the Islamic nation could buy S-300 systems from Russia.

SOURCE - http://www.russiatoday.com/news/news/33685

Awful Truth about Islamic Iranian Ahmadinejad's Genocide Call to wipe off Israel and the "Palestinian" support for it

Unknown user — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 15:33:57 EST

Truth about Islamic Iranian Ahmadinejad's Genocide Call to wipe off Israel and the "Palestinian" support for it

Ahmadinejad Was Not Mistranslated
June 17, 2008 - 11:32 am
A new study by Joshua Teitelbaum of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs sets out to refute the claim that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and other Iranian leaders are being misquoted when they call for the destruction of Israel and the Jewish people. As the executive summary states: "What emerges from a comprehensive analysis of what Ahmadinejad actually said - and how it has been interpreted in Iran - is that the Iranian president was not just calling for 'regime change' in Jerusalem, but rather the actual physical destruction of the State of Israel . When Ahmadinejad punctuates his speech with 'Death to Israel' (marg bar Esraiil ), this is no longer open to various interpretations." Download this thorough - and chilling - analysis, in PDF format - http://www.jcpa.org/text/ahmadinejad2-words.pdf
http://www.cicweb.ca/scene/2008/06/ahmadinejad-was-not-mistranslated/ 29 Feb 2008 ...Ahmadinejad was not mistranslated, and has in fact reiterated the threat to commit genocide several times, including recently at ...
http://www.spectator.co.uk/melaniephillips/530786/the-mother-of-all-mistranslations.thtml

(Nytimes research debukes Juan Cole and others who tried to claim that Ahmadinejad did "not" call on Israel to be wiped off)
Just How Far Did They Go, Those Words Against Israel? - New York Times... But translators in Tehran who work for the president's office and the foreign ministry disagree with them. All official translations of Mr. Ahmadinejad's statement, including a description of it on his Web site (www.president.ir/eng/), refer to wiping Israel away. ...When combined with Iran's longstanding support for Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah of Lebanon, two groups that have killed numerous Israelis, and Mr. Ahmadinejad's refusal to acknowledge the Holocaust, it is hard to argue that, from Israel's point of view, Mr. Ahmadinejad poses no threat. Still, it is true that he has never specifically threatened war against Israel.
So did Iran's president call for Israel to be wiped off the map? It certainly seems so. Did that amount to a call for war? That remains an open question.
Nazila Fathi contributed reporting from Tehran for this article.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/11/weekinreview/11bronner.html?ex=1307678400&en=efa2bd266224e880& amp; amp; amp; amp; amp; amp;ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Was Wiping Israel Off the Map a Misquote? - Michael Rubin (National Review)
Some "academics" ... misquoted ... a line which originated with Juan Cole, a University of Michigan professor, who wrote: "This idiom does not exist in Persian, and that what Ahmadinejad actually said was, 'This occupation regime over Jerusalem must vanish from the page of time.'" But here, the Islamic Republic provides its own clarification. In its official translations, it headlined Ahmadinejad's call to "wipe Israel off the map." http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=YWEwNDliNzBjYjY3NzQ3ZWM5YWY4ZTc2ZDg4NTg4N2E=

Ahmadinejad: Israel's "annihilation" is a necessary part of the "historic war" between Islam & the West (Al Jazeera). http://jeffweintraub.blogspot.com/2006/09/what-ahmadinejad-means-once-again.html

Since Ahmadinejad's call to "wipe Israel off the map" last October, some academics have claimed the Iranian leader was mistranslated or misunderstood. "Ahmadinejad did not say he was going to wipe Israel off the map, because no such idiom exists in Persian," left-wing University of Michigan professor Juan Cole told the New York Times. "He did say he hoped its regime, i.e., a Jewish-Zionist state occupying Jerusalem, would collapse... Since Iran has not attacked another country aggressively for over a century, I smell the whiff of war propaganda." Jonathan Steele of the British Guardian newspaper also told the Times: "The Iranian president was quoting an ancient statement by Iran's first Islamist leader, the late Ayatollah Khomeini, that 'this regime occupying Jerusalem must vanish from the page of time,' just as the Shah's regime in Iran had vanished. He was not making a military threat. He was calling for an end to the occupation of Jerusalem at some point in the future. The 'page of time' phrase suggests he did not expect it to happen soon." Neither of the two have responded to Ahmadinejad's latest clarification and call to action, which were translated and distributed by the Iranian state-run IRNA news agency. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/106893

How Iranian propaganda try to "rewrite" Ahmadniejad's words in blaming it on Israel
http://soccerdad.baltiblogs.com/archives/2008/01/24/irib_the_enemy_intends_to_wipe_palestine_off_the _world_map.html

IRAN - Oct 26 - Wipe Israel From Map, Says Ahmadi-Nejad.(Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad)
http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-11680539_ITM

(Palestinian Islamic) Al-Aqsa: We identify with Iranian remark - 6 Nov 2005 ... Iranian President 'to wipe Israel off world map'; Palestinian preacher calls on Palestinians to support al-Qaeda masterminds Bin-Laden, ...
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3164720,00.html

Aksa Brigades echo Ahmadinejad's call | Middle East | Jerusalem Post6 Nov 2005 ... Why Americans support Israel? It's the "values", stupid ... have refrained from reacting to the call to wipe Israel off the map. ...
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1131043735699&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Osama Hamdan, the Hamas representative in Lebanon, told Iranian television that suicide bombing attacks against Israel were justified, especially attacks in buses. He rejected the historical Jewish connection to the Land of Israel and stated that Hamas' avowed intention was to wipe Israel off the face of the map. http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/html/osama_hamdan0807e.htm

("Moderate Palestinian") Fatah agrees: Wipe out IsraelIn a leaflet published by Fatah's Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, the group stressed its ... who called with all honesty to wipe Israel off the map of the world. ...
http://www.jnewswire.com/article/727

U.S. officials have asked Israel to refrain from launching any major military action in the region during the waning days of the Bush presidency

John Lewis-Dickerson, Atlanta — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 12:43:13 EST

US Puts Pressure on Israel to Refrain from Attacks

By Tim McGirk / Jerusalem @ time.com, Monday, Nov. 24, 2008

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert makes his opening remarks to the weekly Cabinet meeting in Jerusalem on Sept. 28Uriel Sinai / Getty

U.S. officials have asked Israel to refrain from launching any major military action in the region during the waning days of the Bush presidency, Israeli sources have told TIME. Previously, some Israeli military officials had hinted to the media that if Israel were to carry out its threats to strike at Iranian nuclear installations, it might do so before Barack Obama enters the White House in January. But now a Defense Ministry official says, "We have been warned off."

The call for restraint was relayed to Israeli officials by senior U.S. counterparts, TIME's sources say, and it is likely to be reinforced during Monday's valedictory meeting in Washington between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and President George W. Bush.........

ENTIRE ARTICLE - http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1861524,00.html?imw=Y

'Obama Would Put Thru a Peace Deal Tomorrow

John Lewis-Dickerson, Atlanta — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 12:55:57 EST

'Obama Would Put Thru a Peace Deal Tomorrow If Not for the American Jewish Community'--MJ Rosenberg

by Philip Weiss @ "Mondoweiss"

Today's conference at New York's Central Synagogue on Jews uniting against the war—six years after it matters—was remarkable for two things: the soulsearching over the Israel/Palestine issue, which represents real progress after years of denial that the occupation had anything to do with the Iraq war, and indeed denial that there is an Israel lobby and we're part of it, and secondly for fine speeches by Elizabeth Holtzman and MJ Rosenberg. I'll leave till tomorrow a report on the conferees’ sometimes-honorable efforts to come to their senses about the wicked occupation of Palestine. For tonight, the news: Elizabeth Holtzman, MJ Rosenberg..........

ENTIRE ARTICLE - http://www.philipweiss.org/mondoweiss/2008/11/the-conference-in-new-york-today-on-jews-uniting-against-the--warsix-years-after-it-matterswas-remarkable-for-two-thing.html

Aide: Ex-IDF chief's Ahmadinejad remarks taken out of context

John Lewis-Dickerson, Atlanta — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 19:36:59 EST

Aide: Ex-IDF chief's Ahmadinejad remarks taken out of context

By Haaretz Service Tags: iranian revolution

An associate of Moshe "Boogie" Ya'alon said the former Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff's comments on the necessity of considering the assassination of Iran's president were taken out of context.

Ya'alon was quoted as saying by an Australian newspaper this week that the West must consider all options necessary to stop Tehran's nuclear program, including assassinating Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The associate noted in a statement that Ya'alon confirms he said it is possible to defeat the Iranian regime through economic, political, diplomatic means, and that military means are to be used as a last resort. "He said that any other quotes on this matter are incorrect and have been taken out of context," the associate said.

In an interview with The Sydney Morning Herald, published in Australia Monday morning, Ya'alon said: "We have to confront the Iranian revolution immediately. There is no way to stabilize the Middle East today without defeating the Iranian regime. The Iranian nuclear program must be stopped."

When asked whether "all options" included a military deposition of Ahmadinejad and the rest of Iran's current leadership, Ya'alon told The Herald: "We have to consider killing him. All options must be considered."....................

ENTIRE ARTICLE - http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1040208.html

Ex-IDF Chief Ya'alon: We must consider killing Ahmadinejad

John Lewis-Dickerson, Atlanta — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 14:28:54 EST

Ex-IDF Chief Ya'alon: We must consider killing Ahmadinejad

By Haaretz Service (Israel)Tags: iranian revolution

Former Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Moshe "Boogie" Ya'alon told an Australian newspaper this week that the West must consider all options necessary to stop Tehran's nuclear program, including assassinating Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.....

ENTIRE ARTICLE - http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1040208.html

Nuclear overreaction

John Lewis-Dickerson, Atlanta — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 19:50:44 EST

Nuclear overreaction

Eyes on the prize: Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and Hassan Firouzabadi, the head of the armed forces, watch a missile test-firing in 2004. AFP

The bomb will not make Iran the Gulf’s dominant power, F Gregory Gause @ thenational.ue.com writes. But can the Iranians be convinced?

With Barack Obama publicly committed to a new round of outreach toward Tehran, it seems inevitable that high-level dialogue between the United States and Iran will resume in 2009. Obama will need to engage with Iran as he seeks to draw down American forces in Iraq. On the Iranian side, a precipitous fall in oil prices has left the regime rather less confident, and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is facing what could be a difficult re-election campaign in June, may seek to disarm his more liberal critics by pursuing direct talks with the United States. His letter of congratulation to Obama – which was remarkably civil and direct for Ahmadinejad – should be seen as a signal in that direction. If Ahmadinejad loses, his successor, whoever that may be, will likely be much more disposed toward an opening to Washington..........

ENTIRE ARTICLE -

It’s Madame Secretary for Hillary, But Which Hillary Will It Be?

John Lewis-Dickerson, Atlanta — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 16:38:05 EST

It’s Madame Secretary for Hillary, But Which Hillary Will It Be?

by Richard Silverstein @ "Tikun Olam"

The N.Y. Times reports that Hillary Clinton has accepted Barack Obama’s invitation to be his secretary of state. This development will no doubt rankle some on the left who campaigned hard for Obama’s election. I’m concerned too. I wonder which Hillary will be secretary of state: the bellicose, saber-rattling presidential primary candidate who threatened to wipe out Iran; or the pragmatic, flexible Hillary we’d prefer to see fill that position......

ENTIRE ARTICLE - http://www.richardsilverstein.com/tikun_olam/2008/11/22/its-madame-secretary-for-hillary-but-which-hillary-will-it-be/

With the Bush administration swirling around the drain -- get out the plunger! -- it's now time to stop hyperventilating about the "Iranian bomb."

John Lewis-Dickerson, Atlanta — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 12:43:35 EST

That Iranian "Bomb"? Relax.

by Robert Dreyfuss @ thenation.com

With the Bush administration swirling around the drain -- get out the plunger! -- it's now time to stop hyperventilating about the "Iranian bomb." For goodness sakes, let it go!

Ever since the U.S. intelligence community concluded, in that famous National Intelligence Estimate a year ago, that Iran had halted its secret weapons program, assorted neocons and hawks have tried to continue sounding the alarm about Iran, with only limited success. With the election of Obama, now, the hawks are regrouping -- see, the formation of the bipartisan collection of hawks flocking together in United Against Nuclear Iran -- and the usual suspects at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP) are venting their spleens. But it's clear that Iran isn't going to build a bomb next week, or next year, or even the year after, and that Obama will have lots and lots of time to deal with this problem in a leisurely manner. So relax.........

ENTIRE ARTICLE-http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/385122/that_iranian_bomb_relax?rel=hpbox

Hyperventilating About An Iranian Nuke

John Lewis-Dickerson, Atlanta — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 13:54:11 EST

Hyperventilating About An Iranian Nuke

By Cernig @ crooksandliars.com

The IAEA has produced its latest report on Iran and there are few surprises therein, certainly no "smoking gun".

"To date, the results of the environmental samples taken at FEP and PFEP2, and the operating records for FEP3, indicate that the plants have been operating as declared (i.e. less than 5.0% U-235 enrichment). Since March 2007, twenty unannounced inspections have been conducted at FEP"...."The Agency has been able to continue to verify the non-diversion of declared nuclear material in Iran."

Most importantly, the IAEA guarantees that all known activities are under Agency seal and surveillance, and cannot be used to produce a weapon without Agency knowledge.

That doesn't stop the New York Times publishing a wonderful bit of hyperventilation involving (as is usual) the fine journalism of David "Judy Miller In Drag" Sanger and Bill Broad......

ENTIRE POST- http://crooksandliars.com/node/24193

Israel displays airpower it could use against Iran

John Lewis-Dickerson, Atlanta — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 15:17:12 EST

Israel displays airpower it could use against Iran

by Douglas Hamilton
Reuters North American News Service

RAMON AIR BASE, Israel, Nov 19 (Reuters) - Israel on Wednesday displayed air power it could use to attack Iran's suspected nuclear weapons project if diplomacy fails to persuade the Islamic Republic to halt uranium enrichment.

Foreign news crews invited on a rare visit to the sprawling Ramon air base could not draw the pilots of specially adapted, long-range F-16I jets into naming Iran as their potential target -- but neither they nor those managing the military's media message made any effort to quash the repeated suggestion.........

ENTIRE ARTICLE - http://wiredispatch.com/news/?id=459745

"We are ready to do whatever is demanded of us" in order to stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, IAF commander Maj. -Gen. Ido Nehushtan told German magazine Der Spiegel in an interview published Tuesday.

John Lewis-Dickerson, Atlanta — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 14:58:23 EST

Israeli Air Force chief: We are ready to deal with Iran

Nov. 18, 2008
JPost.com Staff , THE JERUSALEM POST

"We are ready to do whatever is demanded of us" in order to stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, IAF commander Maj. -Gen. Ido Nehushtan told German magazine Der Spiegel in an interview published Tuesday.

Nehushtan told the magazine that whether a military strike is eventually decided upon is a political question and not an issue of Israel's military capabilities.

A strike against Iran's nuclear facilities "is a political decision," the IAF commander said, "but if I understand it correctly, all options are on the table… The Air Force is a very robust and flexible force. We are ready to do whatever is demanded of us."

When asked by the paper whether the Israeli military was able to destroy Iran's nuclear facilities, which are spread around the country and partly located underground, Nehushtan said, "Please understand that I do not want to get into details. I can only say this: It is not a technical or logistical question."

Nehushtan said the cutting edge capabilities of the IDF in the region were not only a derivative of the advanced technologies it uses.

"Modern technology is one thing, but the biggest advantage we have is our soldiers and officers. Israel is a small country. We neither have a big population nor natural resources. Our biggest asset is our human resources. And it is the Air Force that makes best use of it," he said......

ENTIRE ARTICLE - http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1226404771120&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter

Senior Israel Defense Forces officers criticized certain cabinet ministers on Sunday for beating the drum for military action in the Gaza Strip.

John Lewis-Dickerson, Atlanta — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 09:51:23 EST

IDF officers slam top ministers for Gaza 'war-mongering'

By Amos Harel, Avi Issacharoff, Barak Ravid and Yanir Yagna

Senior Israel Defense Forces officers criticized certain cabinet ministers on Sunday for beating the drum for military action in the Gaza Strip.

The General Staff officers called for weighing more aggressive action against Hamas if the rocket fire into the Negev from the strip continued. However, they do not support reoccupying the territory at this stage. Top IDF brass also expressed concern that some politicians were trying to drag the IDF into the political debate.....

ENTIRE ARTICLE - http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1037901.html

A strategy of threats and "provocations" against Iran by the incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama is likely to be counterproductive,

John Lewis-Dickerson, Atlanta — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 09:11:40 EST

Obama Advised to Forgo More Threats to Iran

by Jim Lobe

A strategy of threats and "provocations" against Iran by the incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama is likely to be counterproductive, according to a new report released here Friday by a group of 20 former top U.S. diplomats and regional experts.

The group, co-chaired by former UN Ambassador Thomas Pickering and James Dobbins, a top diplomatic troubleshooter under both Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, called instead for the new administration to "open the door to direct, unconditional, and comprehensive negotiations at the senior diplomatic level," as well as unofficial contacts and exchanges......

ENTIRE ARTICLE - http://www.antiwar.com/lobe/?articleid=13777

REPORT IN EXTENDED POST (BELOW)

Arabized media in the west, the CNN case

Natalia from Acampo, CA — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 10:11:19 EST

Arabized media in the west, the CNN caseNov. 2008

Arabized media in the west, the CNN case.

Bombarding propaganda

Qatar is one of CNN's major financier, (Qatar airlines and its financial center) you are getting sick of the repeated advertisement of Arab media tools how so hypocritically they show you their "equality" for everyone, covering the awful truth about oppressing all minorities, all those that are not Arab in the middle east who the supremacists Arabs think its' all "theirs" (ironic funny enough Qatar airlines shows in its ad a green eyed white face of a woman...).

'Inside the middle east'

For years, the Syrian born Hala Gorani was going up ranks her "inside the middle east" is still going strong.'Inside the middle east' sponsored by the Egyptian telecom 'Orascom' (who tells us over an over again in its silly advertisement that "we share the same belief" creating the impression as if Christians and Jews -- the few left after the racist expulsion in the late 1940s -- are not discriminated in Apartheid Arab Muslim middle east) is basically an Arabic program that its aim is to hide its oppressive tyranny, in a region where no Arab country is true democratic or free (in the true sense, including the Iranian/Syrian occupied Lebanon - the terrorized Hezbollahland), by exaggerating true or untrue stories that can be used to idolize Arab middle east.'Inside the middle east' will never show you the true (story of) repressed conditions of non Arabs such as: Kurds, Berbers, Jews, or non Muslims such as: Copts in Egypt, etc.

Ugly 'Palestinianism'

Also appearing in that Arab program which is only to "educate Americans only about the cherry picked stories - Arabs want us to see"... is Ben Wederman, the notorious west bank based CNN terribly biased journalist, who never seems to find a spot to reveal the oppression of 'Palestinians' upon their people: whether its out of blind radical Islamic motivation or typical Arabisn dictatorship, or the Islamic apartheid against the minority Christian Arab community that live in fear and under persecution, or the genocide campaign that is rampant among most 'Palestinians to "eradicate" the "Zionist entity" or about the epidemic of 'honor killing' crimes, or about corruptive leadership that robs its own people ever since Arafat era, but Ben Wederman doesn't see any "use" in reporting these burning issues, he is instead a great spokesman for the 'Palestinian cause', an example from Nov 7-8 (2008), Ben had a program about "olives", supposedly just talking about olive oil... soon you saw the blatant despicable 'Palestinianism' as the Arab farmer talked about how "old" his tradition is and how the land is so "his"... nothing about Arab immigration into Israel-Palestine of course, that's a no-no mention in rewriting - Palestine.He had his camera ready to film Israeli police dispersing a crowd that protested illegal Arab infiltrators into Jewish land... (the true story Ben didn't tell you) when he was asked politely by the police to evacuate the area he refused (after all, he knows very well he wouldn't dare refuse any order from the 'Palestinian' police... what he never bothers explaining his "situation" living in the west bank, how "neutral" a journalist can be), only the 3rd time when he made sure he had enough to portray the Israeli restrained cops as "bad occupiers" he said he is "going"...

As if it wasn't enough with Arab tyrants' regimes "culture" infesting the mainstream media in the US, CNN made yet another Arab program, "MME" Market middle east, by the rich Arabian Dubai financial center DIFC, who pays a man by the name of J. Defterios, 'paid' to glorify its host (besides the weekly Friday Arabist program, here's an example, on Nov 16 2008 at the same time the G20 summit was still on, he "revealed" to us that the Gulf Arabs who combine 1.5 triillion dollar of GDP, "lost" 1.5 billion since June peak season, what a "creative" way of portraying the oil masters that with out any shame exploit the world's need for energy overcharging all of us as "losing" because they lowered a bit their outrageous overcharge as soon as they saw westerners consuming less of it...), where one of the very first opening broadcasts was "naturally" about "how to help the "poor", "poor" "Palestinians" (no, not how the filthy rich Gulf oil Arabs should help, not those Arab regimes that have encouraged the Arabs --not yet called "palestinians"-- in 1948 to evacuate Israel-Palestine, but how the west should rather help them), those self destructive guys, the violence-happy crowd, where bigoted Jihadism and militant racist Arabism was always mainstream, ever since the Mufti Al-Husseini led the massacres in the 1920's - the "creme de la creme" of the middle east.

The middle east insider

Piercing through the thick cloud obscuring any clarity, clotted by the oily international Arab lobby...

There's no room there for criticism of call for change in the diabolic 'Palestinian' society to leave hatred and terror behind and to choose education for their children and 'normal life' for themselves.There's no space for criticism of all Arab regimes that rule their people with an iron fist, Arabian middle east where synonymous with torture, no, not the light type attributed to the CIA in Gtmo., but the darkest kind, where most of all: Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iran (and its Hezbullah thugs) & Egypt are doing it with passion and special "tender love".That's true Islamism & Arabism, to keep committing the crimes in the middle east and to show [fake] unity outside, that's the true "middle east insider".

With Iran, Obama Needs More Carrot, Less Stick

John Lewis-Dickerson, Atlanta — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 18:23:11 EST

With Iran, Obama Needs More Carrot, Less Stick AP photo / Hasan Sarbakhshian

A woman in the streets of Tehran holds up the Iranian daily Rozan with a photo of U.S. President-elect Barack Obama the day after the American election.

By Scott Ritter

The American people have spoken, and the next president of the United States will be Barack Obama. Running on a platform of change, the president-elect will be severely tested early in his administration by a host of challenges, be they economic, military, environmental or diplomatic in nature. How Obama handles these issues will define his tenure as America’s chief executive, and there will not—nor should there be—a honeymoon period. The challenges of these times do not permit such a luxury, something the president-elect had to know and comprehend when he chose to run for office. John McCain and Hillary Clinton, Obama’s defeated rivals, were both correct when they noted that the next president would need to be ready to govern on day one. Barack Obama has until the 20th of January to get his policies in order, because at one minute past noon on that day, he becomes the most powerful man in a volatile world. While the problems he will face are many, I will focus on what I believe are the four most critical issues that will need to be addressed in the first weeks and months of the Obama administration: Iran, Iraq, Pakistan and Russia. This will be done in a series of articles, the first of which will deal with Iran.........

ENTIRE ARTICLE- http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20081113_with_iran_obama_needs_more_carrot_less_stick/

What Does Iran Have to Do With Your Town? Here's What It Has to Do With Mine

John Lewis-Dickerson, Atlanta — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 19:07:32 EST

What Does Iran Have to Do With Your Town? Here's What It Has to Do With Mine
by David Swanson |
reddit_title=What Does Iran Have to Do With Your Town? Here's What It Has to Do With Mine

At the Charlottesville City Council's October 6th meeting, a group of
citizens organized by the Charlottesville Center for Peace and Justice,
urged the Council to take up at its November meeting a resolution
opposing a U.S. attack on the nation of Iran. While Mayor Dave Norris
has expressed support for the idea, it is not clear where the four other
City Councilors stand.

Wars of aggression are illegal and are all such a resolution would
oppose. Nobody has even suggested the possibility of Iran attacking the
United States. Numerous claims have been proven false that alleged the
Iranian government was attacking U.S. troops in Iraq, but let's assume
that's true. Aiding a population against a foreign occupation is not
grounds for war. The United States aided France against a German
occupation and considers that action its most legal, moral, practical,
and glorious ever engaged in.........

ENTIRE ARTICLE - http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/18613

World Leaders Receive Threats Suggesting World War III

Marcus Cyganiak — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 12:32:05 EST

World Leaders Receive Threats Suggesting World War III It has been reported today on multiple sourced websites that on-going anonymous threats have been sent out to world leaders within the past 72 hours. Among the threats is that of a nuclear bomb attack in the very near future on United States soil.

Such an attack on America “would make 9/11 insignificant,” said Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

On Barack Obama’s first day as President-Elect, he immediately received threats via US intelligence that Israel are plotting to attack Iran before he is sworn into the White House on January 20, 2009. Russia has also gone into high-gear in noting that they are enforcing their own missile defense systems bordering Poland to counteract the US-stationed missile defense system there.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said, “we will not retreat,” when dealing with the United States in Europe. Former Russian President Putin believes that President George W. Bush has setup multiple missile defense shield systems across Europe to keep a close eye and target on Russia. Contrary to that claim, President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice diligently state that these stations in Europe are nothing but goodwill safety measures put forth for the EU, Nato allies, and American interests upon fending off terrorists, extremists, and notably Iran.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has ignored President Bush and Condoleezza Rice’s claims with triggers ready to attack.

So with Russia visibly upset with the United States and Iran being an ally of Russia, one has to wonder where these world leaders outside of that inner circle are receiving the nuclear bomb threats from. You can go ahead and add in Korea and China into the mix since they have nuclear bombs as well, and are too allies of Russia.

Among the nations that have publically stated they have received the cryptic threats include Australia, England, France, and the United States.

Is any of this a surprise for anyone though?

The now Vice President-elect Joe Biden had some chilling comments to make during the campaign trail just a week prior to Election Day. He repeatedly told us, “Mark my words, mark my words.” Barack Obama is going to be tested with a “generated crisis” within the first six months he explained.

So would an attack on America, potentially larger in catastrophe to 9/11 as Australian PM put it, be the crisis Joe Biden is referring to? Does Biden know something we do not?

Joe Biden also went on to say, “I can give you at least four or five scenarios from where it might originate, and he’s (Barack Obama) going to need help. And the kind of help he’s going to need is, he’s going to need you – not financially to help him – we’re going to need you to use your influence, your influence within the community, to stand with him. Because it’s not going to be apparent initially, it’s not going be apparent that we’re right.”

Confused yet? Well while I can join you on that trail of confusion, I still want to figure this out.

An obvious note of observation is that these high level politicians around the world all seem to be coordinated with these warnings received. I’m talking about Vice President-elect Joe Biden, even former US Secretary of State Colin Powell, another former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, and finally Admiral Lord Alan West of the British Home Office as the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State.

Are all these high level politicians preparing the world for a crisis of gigantic fatal measures?

When looking back at the US invasion in Afghanistan and Iraq in 2003 as part of the War on Terror, and most recently the US embarking on attacks in Syria and Pakistan shortly after the Russian invasion in Georgia, you just have to wonder if these events are the prelude to World War III. These high level politicians are certainly painting the picture that way.

So now I take you to the overall big picture:

Russia continues to threaten a new Cold War, with missiles lined up to attack Poland because of the US missile defense shield system agreement that was signed. Should that shield system officially be built, Russia states that they will deploy missile attacks.
Russia has the capability of launching missiles from Russian soil to American soil.
Iran too claims to have the same capabilities in being able to launch missiles over to US soil.
Israel continues to send out warnings that they will be attacking Iran, which would call for US troops’ help.
President George W. Bush has expressed an interest in attacking Iran before his run in the oval office is over because of Iran’s nuclear program to produce nuclear weapons.
Russia will attack US troops and Israeli troops, should an attack on Iran become apparent.
Korea has sent out threats of attack to the United States in the past and they too carry the capacity of nuclear bombs while being allies of Russia and Iran.
You can add China into the list of allies with Russia.

Does this not look like one big circle of tension to you? It sure does to me, and it’s one that is growing far too tight in tension now. As a result, it could only be a matter of days, weeks, or months before one nation pulls the trigger to ignite World War III (WWIII).

Sources:
1) http://www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com/israelnews/politics/80-political/335-warnings-from-world-leaders-all-within-72-hours-.html
2) http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=amM6gBY9JgJA&refer=home
3) http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iyTh4daEIukZscHQWC558dEr3x5gD94BR7FG0
4) http://www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com/israelnews/israel-news/83-israeli-news/407-israel-war-on-iran-on-the-radar.html

http://marcuscyganiak.blogspot.com/2008/11/world-leaders-receive-threats.html

A road trip through the Caspian & Iran's English countryside: My Report on Iran #6

John Lewis-Dickerson, Atlanta — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 20:40:17 EST

A road trip through the Caspian & Iran's English countryside: My Report on Iran #6

To see a bunch of photos of northern Iran, please go to my blog.

I want to try to give you readers back home a sense of what it's like here in Iran. Strangers come up to you on the street all the time, give you a big hug and say, "We love Americans." People in Iran consider driving to be a sport -- the Iranian version of bullfighting. 70% of the population is under 30. More people than you would expect speak English. And everywhere you look, there is something scenic going on. There is so much to see and do in Iran. This place is a tourist paradise. "Iran never disappoints".

After spending two weeks in the desert oasises of southern Iran, traveling up to the northern part of the country was like going from Arizona to San Francisco. Tabriz was so foggy and temperate that I kept looking around for cable cars, french bread and a big orange bridge. Having lived in Berkeley for most of my life, I felt right at home in Tabriz. You would too.........

ENTIRE ARTICLE- http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/18547

Obama in MySpace

Unknown user — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 19:33:54 EST

Thousands of miles from my space, a change is happening that will be recorded forever in history. The Americans have made a daring choice of going beyond the race and prioritizing what they all missed for the past 8 years: A leader that would bring them the pride that they deserve.

But how does that affect my life here? Obviously, foreign policy was among the least priorities that concerned the Americans when they voted. Ofcourse. Their country is in an economic turmoil. Economy should come first. But how are they concerned about the world's most conflict-ridden region, and one of the most furtile land for terrorism ? The Middle East awaits daring steps from the Obama administration, and though personally I do not expect much, there are a few things that make me feel a bit more secure:

Obama is willing to talk with Iran...and to pull the troops out of Iraq.

The world has to understand that the Middle East is a highly religiously oriented region. Religious divides, tensions and civic strifes have been going on ever since the war on Iraq started. Do we need a new conflict to highten the already-spiced-up tensions? Any war with Iran would be a recipe for a regional religious divide in the Middle East. Severe consequences follow that. And for someone like me living in a coutnry like Lebanon, where religion defines you and your weight in power, any thought of a conflict with Iran would make me feel like running away from this place. Even if I have to live in some kind of far-away-in-the-middle-of-nowhere island, its much safer than staying in a community fueled by religious tensions. I've been having that feeling for the past 5 years ever since the war on Iraq started. Thanks to Bush, bloodshed is all over the place in this region, and religious Sunni-Shiite divides have been materialized and people feel increasingly insecure more than anytime before. The fact that Obama plans to have a non-offensive, less-agressive attitude towards the issues at stake here make me feel *a bit more safe* to stay in My Space for the coming few years.

Apart from that, I do not expect much of a change. I'm clearly aware that neither my country nor the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is on top of Obama's priorities for his term. I am aware that we will be receiving less American attention...and I thank God for that. *sigh*

Nad

Blogging from Beirut, Lebanon

Israel urges US not to rule out military option in Iran

John Lewis-Dickerson, Atlanta — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 09:21:30 EST

JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak on Friday issued a thinly veiled call for the United States not to rule out the possibility of a military strike against Iran because of its nuclear ambitions.

"We don't rule out any option. We recommend others don't rule out any option either," Barak told journalists after talks with visiting US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

"We are convinced that Iran continues to try to obtain a nuclear weapon and continues to cheat everybody by holding negotiations on the control of such weapons," Barak said............

ENTIRE ARTICLE- http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081107/wl_mideast_afp/mideastusirandiplomacynuclear

Israel cautions against Obama dialogue with Iran

John Lewis-Dickerson, Atlanta — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 09:12:20 EST

Israel cautions against Obama dialogue with Iran

REUTERS
Reuters North American News Service

JERUSALEM, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Israel said on Thursday U.S. President-elect Barack Obama's stated readiness to talk to Iran could be seen in the Middle East as a sign of weakness in efforts to persuade Tehran to curb its nuclear programme.

"We live in a neighbourhood in which sometimes dialogue -- in a situation where you have brought sanctions, and you then shift to dialogue -- is liable to be interpreted as weakness," Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said, asked on Israel Radio about policy change toward Tehran in an Obama administration..........

ENTIRE ARTICLE- http://wiredispatch.com/news/?id=444375

Senator John McCain's National Security Failures and Moral Failures

Patriot for Obama — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 09:43:25 EST

Set aside for the moment the fact that more terrorists are being trained by fundamental and radical extremists than now ever before and that there is more support for terrorists among the growing population of fundamentalists and radicals than ever before.

Set aside for the moment the fact that Iran, who was labeled as an Axis of Evil, has greater influence in Iraq and the Middle East now than at any time prior to the War in Iraq.

Set aside for the moment the fact that U.S. foreign aide has been misappropriated and misused by those who received it for purposes of terrorism. The late Mujahideen Commander Nek Mohammed was bribed with U.S. foreign aide money that he requested to repay his loans from al Qaeda. It has been alleged that the attack on an Indian Embassy and perhaps the more recent attacks within India were financed by the Pakistani ISI with U.S. foreign aide.

Set aside for the moment the fact that the threat is greater now than ever that terrorist will acquire multiple nuclear weapons in Pakistan as opposed to just a dirty bomb.

How do the Republican Party and Senator John McCain justify heinous and reprehensible acts by fellow Republicans, which threatened National Security and may have influenced the actions of the White House in an international incident? Notwithstanding the issue of their age and gender, which is made all the more evident by testaments to that individuals frequenting an infamous child bordello in Thailand, how do the Republican Party and Senator John McCain justify a fellow Republican accepting enslaved Thai Prostitutes from the son of a now disgraced communist leader? Did their knowledge of his actions limit the response of his Republican family member during an international crisis? Did their knowledge of his actions limit the response of his Republican family member during a National Security threat? For those who have faith, each persons God's ultimate assesment of our lives occcurs on the day of reckoning. Your god may have had the first of many last laughs on the person who accepted the enslaved Thai Prostitutes, although one must sympathize with his former wife. That person became infected with an incurable sexually transmitted disease.

Indiscretions such as these are generally supposed to be considered a potential threat to National Security when considering others for security clearance, but this has not always been the case. The Department of Defense (DOD), including the military and other federal agencies has overlooked illegal and immoral indiscretions in the past. DOD helped an underage Philippine female immigrate to the United States to marry a former Marine Aviator, who was once employed by the contractor at USAF Plant No. 4 and once in the reserve. When she revealed at a Christmas Party that she was an underage bride, his security clearance was not revoked. DOD, including the USAF, and the Senate Armed Services Committee overlooked the access by employees of the contractor at USAF Plant No. 4 of child pornography on the World Wide Web. They destroyed evidence on individual computers, but they were so ignorant in their obstruction of justice that they forgot to destroy evidence on mainframes and servers. Their security clearances were not revoked. DOD, including the USAF, and the Senate Armed Services Committee ignored visits by defense contractor and some military personnel to child bordellos in South Korea and Thailand among other nations. Some employees openly bragged about their visits to the parlors, which were staffed with underage child prostitutes. Their security clearances were not revoked.

I would not feel safer with Senator John McCain in the White House at any level. He has already demonstrated for me his failure to lead at any level. He has already demonstrated his failure to lead morally. He has already demonstrated his failure to lead in matters of National Security. He has already demonstrated his ability to lead use into the most serious economic crisis of the last 100 years.

Good Or Bad Presidential Motives – What Inspires Your Vote?

Marcus Cyganiak — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 04:03:25 EST

Good Or Bad Presidential Motives – What Inspires Your Vote? With anything, there has to be a captivating subjectivity that lures an individual into any given matter in order to prompt an invested action. When you look at Barack Obama and John McCain campaigning for President today with Election Day drawing near, you realize their inspired emotional connection they’re extracting on all of us. They’re living their lives to inspire you to vote for them, which in turn will allocate them the control over your country.

How do they do it?

They instill fear in you, sometimes for legitimate reasons or other times to dictate. Once you’re scared you scramble for a new direction and you’re likely to turn to your elected President or Prime Minister because that person has the biggest title in the country. The reason you turn to the commander and chief is because you were inspired to do so during a crucial time early on – the campaign trail. Depending on if that commander and chief stays true to his or her word during their time in office will determine whether or not you will remain inspired on following their word.

Bill Clinton inspired us all during the 1990’s when he took a country in great deficits and overturned the economy into one of the richest and most stable economies in the world, with its biggest surplus in history. Clinton stayed true to his word from words spoken on his campaign trail in 1992 and that’s why we followed him, and in most cases we still do today.

Bill Clinton was elected in 1992 and brought into the oval office in 1993 because the United States was entering a recession at the time under George H. W. Bush, and there were fears of that transcending into another Great Depression. Bill Clinton was able to use that fear and use proceeding Bush’s track record of some of the greatest deficits in US history as a way to inspire Americans for their vote, and it worked despite Clinton being “young” in comparison and “inexperienced.”

Fast forward to 2001, George W. Bush was elected into the oval office and he sure did not fall short from his father’s footsteps. He took America’s largest grossing era and detracted the economy down to its now largest deficit in history. Both George Bush’s have set records during their Presidential terms, and they’re both gutter performances. The United States are trillions of dollars in debt and are in a current recession, which brinks yet another Great Depression during a time of “economic crisis,” that is now spreading worldwide.

I don’t know how Bush, Jr. was able to do it, but he beat out his daddy on this one!

So who can fix this next round of recessionary times in America? Do we stick with the Republicans and pick John McCain because he wants to tax the middle class and keep rich families and corporations on top as they are? Or do we want to once again turn to the Democrats, the quintessential saviors of the 1990’s, and elect Barack Obama because he wants to reform America and cut taxes for 95% of Americans, while implementing standard taxation rules for the rich?

In 1992, George H. W. Bush was planning to enforce further military use in the Middle Eastern regions upon re-election, in continuing a Gulf War during recessionary time; however, the Americans said no by electing a new face in Bill Clinton to repair the economy.

Americans can basically copy and paste the history of 1992 and insert it into 2008, because now John McCain wants to continue George W. Bush’s plan in the Middle East by attacking Iran. Furthermore main staple countries like Russia, China, and Korea are on McCain’s target list while Barack Obama rather set his attentions on the fast sinking economy.

This is an example of history never being so important like it is right now folks. You can say no to John McCain today, just like you said no to George H. W. Bush in 1992, by electing the “young” Barack Obama, who has often been deemed “inexperienced.” Obama definitely cannot overturn the deficits into greens across the board during a 4-year term, but he can set America on the right track of surplus with the help of Vice Presidential candidate Joe Biden, a man with over thirty years of involvement in politics. After the first term, the second term would be the time of economical surplus once again for America.

I have warned you all already that if you do choose to vote John McCain as your next US President, you will have to be prepared for the absolute worst. McCain would be continuing off the Bush path, essentially serving a 4-year extension of George W. Bush.

President Bush has already started the preliminary stages of a potential World War III by invading Iraq in 2003, and that war is still on-going. Bush has also in recent weeks invaded Pakistan and Syria. Let us not forget that a tie in with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has also been brought to forefront in regards to Georgia’s attack on Russia in August 2008 that prompted the Russian invasion in Georgia. Apparently President George W. Bush wanted to antagonize Russia into another war, and that immediately brought up fears of a new Cold War.

With all these future wars in sight during a John McCain Presidential run, why would you in your right mind vote for him and the Republican Party? McCain takes great pride in fighting a war, it’s what inspires him into thinking he’s a great patriot of America when really he would be sending more young men and women down to the depths of hell.

You have to ask yourself this question. Whose motives inspire you more? John McCain, who will continue to tax you in large scales while fighting countries around the world with the use of military force, or Barack Obama, who looks to change the financial direction of America through democracy as Bill Clinton did during the 1990’s?

Barack Obama delivers that captivating subjectivity that should surely lure your vote, because your vote should be one subjected towards a better America and a better world. History is on Barack Obama’s side for this one.

Friedman Reaganomics McCain & Their Love for Dictators

Amunaor — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 02:10:20 EDT

Decade of the 1970's -

Sergio de Castro, Pinochet's 'Friedman Schooled' economics minister, said he could never have done it without Pinochet's iron fist backing him up. (Referring to the implementation of a brutal policy for 'Wiping the Slate Clean' in order to make way for the new religion of a U.S. sponsored, 'Free Market' ideology. The economists taught their students to look upon the population as a psychiatric patient, requiring 'Shock Treatment' in effort to cleanse it of its 'collective' cancer, simply because it - the population mindset - didn’t fit Friedman's free-market model.)

It was Nixon who would give the Friedman Chicago Boys and their professors something they had long dreamed of: a chance to prove that their capitalist utopia was more than a theory in a basement workshop – a shot at remaking a country from scratch. Democracy had been inhospitable to the Chicago Boys in Chile; dictatorship would prove an easier fit. – Klein

Chile’s coup, when it finally came, would feature three distinct forms of shock, a recipe that would be duplicated in neighboring countries and would reemerge, three decades later, in Iraq. The shock of the coup; financial shock; the other, Ewen Cameron’s shock, drug and sensory deprivation research, codified as torture techniques in the ‘Kubark’ manual and disseminated through extensive CIA training programs for Latin American police and military. – Klein

This is the same Free Market formula Reaganomics and Thatcherism, whole heartedly, imbued itself in. Amongst the Chicago Boy Institution’s professors included such luminaries of destruction as George Shultz, and Donald Rumsfeld; Rumsfeld describing Friedman and his colleagues “a cluster of geniuses.”

In 1985 John McCain visits Pinochet. McCain described the meeting with Pinochet “as friendly and at times warm, but noted that Pinochet does seem obsessed with the threat of communism.” Gee, I wonder who planted that bug into Pinochet’s psyche? Today, the commies have morphed into: Al Kaeda Everywhere, under the ubiquitous and pervasive - Global War on Terror.

Gen. Augusto Pinochet Ugarte, the brutal dictator who repressed and reshaped Chile for nearly two decades and became a notorious symbol of human rights abuse and corruption.

Friedman's, Chicago Boys, during the decade of the 70's, had already proven their greed based markets worked in test beds such as Chile and Argentina, but only through the process of 'Cleaning the Slate' through Shock and Torture, where hundreds of thousands were 'disappeared', along with U.S. - CIA and Corporate complicity.

Friedman himself was forced to admit that his free-market ideology does not fit comfortably within democratically established Societies - which is why the 'CULTURAL SLATE MUST BE ERASED' to make way for the new free-market religion, a medicinal cleansing is required. In Friedman's world - the architect of Reaganomics - Democracy and Free-Markets are a contradiction in terms; diametrically opposed and at odds with each other. Its results: a small elite grow far wealthier while large portions of what had been the working class are discarded from the economy althgether and turned into surplus people.

What should be even more worrisome is that Friedman style, free-market ideology was sold to the Chinese. The Chicago Boys having deemed Democracies as inhospitable to their formula for quenching insatiable greed, China certainly would prove quite the opposite. Just look at the praise it received via the, so called, Olympics. Look where the free-market multi-nationals tend to find attraction and tend to gravitate towards - China and Dubai.

'Operation Iraqi Freedom' should be seen in its true light, for what it really is, a Neoconic cleansing, or 'clearing of the slate' in preparation for Iraqi Friedman!!

See: Negorponte - The Death Squad Ambassador

A lot of folks have criticized, questioning Obama's character for having rubbed shoulders with folks from the same institution from which Freidman launched his bloody counter-revolution against New Deal policies. But what people don't bother to check is that Obama is completely anti-Friedmanism. Having infiltrated the den of vipers, having discovered the enemy’s strategy, Barack of all peoples is the only one poised to expose them, or at least use their own tools against them for the greater good. I can still hear Barack's words, ringing in my ears, calling for transparency. Although Barack may have brushed shoulders with Friedman's school of financial thugs, does not make him one.

Friedman, along with, Nixon’s Secretary of State, Kissinger should be pointed out for what they are: Criminals wanted for murder! In fact, if Kissinger were to set foot in certain areas of South America, he would immediately be arrested as such and he knows it, thereby forcing him to utilize his 'Free Market Miles' frugally.

**STOP** and get a copy of Naomi Klein's "The Shock Doctrine - The Rise of Disaster Capitalism, read and re-read it while we await election day to arrive. Because, what Naomi brings to light within the pages of her expose, is precisely what WE are voting against in this election; decades of ruthless, predatory abuse of power, with greedy Corporatarch bottom-lines that are soaked with innocent blood, everywhere. Now, the chickens are coming home to roost.

Naomi does an excellent job in removing the haystack, exposing the piercing needle hidden within and explains everything.

Video of Naomi Klein speaking at the University of Chicago, invited by anti-Freidman group against erecting monument to Freidman. Naomi says each time Obama criticizes the current failed economic policies, his ratings shoot up.

Naomi Klein: Wall St. Crisis Should Be for Neoliberalism What Fall of Berlin Wall Was for Communism

Have we met our enemy yet? Or, are we still unable to see the forest for the trees?

Proper education and sunlight are the BEST disinfectants!

Peace, Best Wishes and Hope

McCain’s plan to alienate the world

Emma — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 19:29:56 EDT

I wonder how McCain plans on governing, in the event of his victory. In only a few months he’s managed to alienate almost the entire planet. I can’t help but wonder if this was his actual plan or if he’s simply caught up in forces more powerful than his own common sense. Either way the end result would be the same; a nation more isolated than ever.

First he made his opinion clear about the Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Apparently he only saw three letters in his eyes; a K, a G, and a B. That’s all very interesting, except the KGB hasn’t existed as an organization for many years. They’re now called the FSB. That aside, I’m not sure what McCain meant by his comment. Is he suggesting that individuals trained by secrete intelligence gathering organizations are evil by nature? If so, what are his plans for CIA?

I seriously doubt Putin himself feels too bad about McCain seeing letters in his eyes though. After all Putin has been bragging about his past since he first ran for President. Being strong of mind and body is something the Russians value very highly and the young, muscular Putin should make a stark contrast next to the old, ailing McCain. I’m not saying McCain is necessarily wrong in his facts but considering how fiercely the Russian state is currently mobilizing their military, making such comments doesn’t strike me as a stable path to peace and prosperity.

McCain has also clearly made his mind up about Iran. To resort to such blatant insults as McCain has done, shows a frightening lack of diplomatic insight. Iran does not possess an army that can threaten the US military (unless it’s run by an idiot like Rumsfeld). Even with the capability to build nuclear bombs can Iran be regarded as a threat, with the US nuclear arsenal larger than any other nations on earth. But even though Iran is not a threat to America, they do have allies who can be. Insulting individuals who may one day hold Americas very existence in their hands, is not good politics by any standard and quite frankly I believed McCain smarter than this. Clearly I had had misjudged the man.

But his latest stunts have just blown my mind. Without a moment’s hesitation he, eagerly cheered on by his running mate Palin, have unleashed an avalanche of insults against large parts of Europe, Russia, China and many other countries. As a socialist myself I really don’t know what to do with McCain’s constant references to Socialism as something bad, dangerous and best avoided. How does he expect to face European leaders, whom he will desperately depend on for the welfare of his country, when he’s repeatedly insulted the very political ideology so many of us hold dear?

I suppose the Arabs and Persians never really expected much respect from either candidate. Americans have been force-fed such volumes of revolting, racist propaganda against all Middle Eastern cultures the past seven years, it will probably take decades to repair that damage. Even Obama isn’t entirely free of this stigma. But McCain’s mind is obviously set firm on these people being nothing more than mindless beasts that have to be trained and disciplined. It feels like the same mindset people had about Africans a few hundred years ago and it sends shivers down my spine.

I wonder who McCain thinks he’s borrowing money from to pay for his precious war and the bailout. The way he’s been going he must believe the money grows on magic trees in the Rose garden. Or maybe he’s borrowing the money from Tom Cruises’ aliens.

The fact that the United States is in such mindboggling debt to nations it has such chillingly bad relations to, should be cause for greater concern than it clearly is. Both campaigns have been nonchalant about this fact, but the Republican campaign has been downright reckless. But that does seem to be the Republican way these days. Unfortunately McCain, if he wins, may find out the hard way the people you owe money will always have power over you and the less they like you, the more they will use that power. It seems this is a very bad time for America to make enemies. The debt is after all not just going to go away…

Here's a few interesting related articles:

What's a little debt between friends?

US debt clock runs out of digits

Right Wing Talk Show Host Michael Savage Predicts US War with Iran This Week Bringing McCain Victory

Jeremy Smith — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 19:57:24 EDT

Right Wing Radio Talk Show Host predicted today that he US will go to War with Iran this week bringing Victory and the Presidency to John McCain. Delivering the October surprise some Democrats feared would come, Savage based his prediction on further escalation of the United States military incursion in to Syria today. That this event will lead American’s to making the right the choice and selecting the only candidate capable of dealing with this issue. Savage said this is good news for America and will surely result in a McCain Victory.

Top Obama Adviser Signs on to Roadmap to War with Iran

John Lewis-Dickerson, Atlanta — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 16:37:50 EDT

Top Obama Adviser Signs on to Roadmap to War with Iran

by Jim Lobe

If you haven’t seen it already, check out the op-ed by former Sens. Daniel Coats and Charles Robb in the Washington Post today, entitled “Stopping a Nuclear Tehran.” It is the summary of a report issued last month by an organization called The Bipartisan Policy Center (at whose website you can find the full report), and it amounts to a roadmap to war with Iran to which a senior Middle East adviser in the Obama campaign — namely, Dennis Ross — has apparently signed on...........

ENTIRE POST- http://www.ips.org/blog/jimlobe/?p=198

Threats of war toward Iran

John Lewis-Dickerson, Atlanta — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 16:01:17 EDT

Bipartisanship and threats of war toward Iran

by Glenn Greenwald @ salon.com

Two former Senators -- conservative Democrat Chuck Robb and conservative Republican Dan Coats (that's what "bipartisan" means) -- have a jointly authored Op-Ed in The Washington Post today decreeing what the U.S. must do towards Iran. The essence: Iran must be prevented, using any means necessary, from not only obtaining nuclear weapons, but also denied even "the ability to quickly assemble a nuclear weapon," which means "the complete cessation of enrichment activities inside Iran," even for civilian purposes...... [SNIP]

.......So here we have, yet again, our glorious Foreign Policy Community threatening another country -- one which hasn't attacked us and can't attack us -- with war, threatening to bomb them with "devastating strikes" that "would probably last up to several weeks and would require vigilance for years to come." And they want the next President, beginning this January, to "build up military assets in the region" in order to threaten and prepare for those attacks........

ENTIRE POST- http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/10/23/iran/index.html

Biden's 'gaffe' a trap for McCain

Steven — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 09:55:52 EDT

Joe Biden has been roundly condemned for his “gaffe” about Obama, as a new president, being tested within the first six months of his presidency by a crisis intentionally started by a hostile power or group. The McCain campaign have jumped at this opportunity to say that Obama is too risky, because he will invite such a crisis, whereas if McCain is elected there will be no such temptation, and no such crisis. But all the McCain camp have done is jump into a trap. Their response is unrealistic, foolish and indeed foolhardy—because it should open them up to the accusation, by Democrats, that McCain just does not get it. The fact is EVERY new president is fated to be tested by America’s enemies in the first months of office, and there is nothing at all about McCain that makes him immune to this international trial by ordeal. His rather blustering approach to all policy decisions, and his erratic behavior probably opens him up to a HIGHER likelihood that America’s enemies will see profit in goading McCain, to make him commit a major strategic blunder, such as Bush did with invading Iraq.

So if Obama is president-elect (as I fervently hope he will be), he will, as Biden truthfully stated, be challenged at some point by America’s enemies, to try him out; but the same goes equally if not more so for McCain. The important thing to consider is whether the two candidates have the necessary “steel in the spine” and the necessary thoughtfulness and poise to respond to such a challenge well. (Biden’s whole point was that he thought Obama did indeed have these qualities.) But a very large part of being able to respond well to such testing is BEING PREPARED, and a very large part of being prepared is RECOGNITION that such a test will indeed come along. Obama and Biden have, ti their initial cost, shown that they realize this, but what of John McCain? He has actually responded by saying “I’ve been tested”, implying that such a test by an enemy of America will simply not happen on his watch. But this is rhetorical sleight of hand, indeed rhetorical nonsense, because McCain has NEVER been tested as president, because he has never been president! So what is McCain saying? Is he saying that because he once was a Naval Airman many years ago, and heroically survived the ordeal of being a POW in Vietnam, that this makes him tested and a sure thing for the completely different role of President of the United States? It is like saying that because I have passed a driving test, that makes me qualified to fly a 747 Jumbojet. In other words, McCain is deluding himself in thinking that he has passed the test already and will never be tested by America’s enemies as president, because he has totally mistaken one form of testing for another. And in making this mistake he has shown that he misunderstands entirely the realities that will confront the next president, and in denying that there will be a test he has failed at the vital first step any president must make, of RECOGNITION that he has to be PREPARED for this inevitable test. We cannot afford McCain’s HUBRIS.

What McCain’s reaction to Biden’s “gaffe” has shown is that McCain is unfit to be president.

The Powell Endorsement and Preserving a Family Legacy

Farzin — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 14:30:55 EDT

Even though I abhorred his role in building the case for war in Iraq, I have admired and respected Mr. Powell and his unquestioned dedication and service to this country. I found his endorsement of Barack Obama persuasive, thoughtful and touching.

But I wanted to focus on a point that he made that resonated greatly with me. It starts at about the 4 minute mark in the video (below):

I'm also troubled by, not what Senator McCain says, but what members of the party say. And it is permitted to be said such things as, "Well, you know that Mr. Obama is a Muslim." Well, the correct answer is, he is not a Muslim, he's a Christian. He's always been a Christian. But the really right answer is, what if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer's no, that's not America. Is there something wrong with some seven-year-old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she could be president? Yet, I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion, "He's a Muslim and he might be associated terrorists." This is not the way we should be doing it in America. I feel strongly about this particular point because of a picture I saw in a magazine. It was a photo essay about troops who are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. And one picture at the tail end of this photo essay was of a mother in Arlington Cemetery, and she had her head on the headstone of her son's grave. And as the picture focused in, you could see the writing on the headstone. And it gave his awards--Purple Heart, Bronze Star--showed that he died in Iraq, gave his date of birth, date of death. He was 20 years old. And then, at the very top of the headstone, it didn't have a Christian cross, it didn't have the Star of David, it had crescent and a star of the Islamic faith. And his name was Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan, and he was an American. He was born in New Jersey. He was 14 years old at the time of 9/11, and he waited until he can go serve his country, and he gave his life. Now, we have got to stop polarizing ourselves in this way.

Friends of mine who know me as a liberal and a Democrat are often astounded by how much more active I've been in this election cycle than others (where I'd just watch debates, have a few conversations and vote). Now the biggest reason for my level of passion and activity is that I think the times demand it and I've seen two elections go by where my relative level of inactivity (aside from voting) yielded no results, so I thought I'd change and renew my own commitment. But another reason is something most of my friends don't really understand and wouldn't unless they walked in my shoes for a few days or took the time to digest the import of what Mr. Powell said above.

I'm a proud American, and one who happens to have come from the Middle East with Muslim parents. I love this country for all its ideals and greatness. I love this country for all that it espouses, protects and makes possible. I love this country for its constitutional principles of equality, opportunity, tolerance and secularism. I am not a religious man, and (leaving aside scientific inquiries) it's mostly because while I understand and appreciate the beauty of faith and religion as it plays out in everyday individual lives, I have come to understand religion in the greater organized context as a potential powerful tool of division and oppression.

But the reality is that my name is Farzin Firooznia. I grew up in the United States in the immediate aftermath of the Iran-Hostage Crisis. After 9/11, as I was rushing home to NY to attend a funeral for the father of a dear friend, I was attacked by someone who thought my complexion meant that I must be one of the "terrorists". And now I'm witnessing a presidential campaign in which the Republican Nominee is openly campaigning on politics of hate and condoning purposeful attempts to spread lies about Obama's heritage (calling him an Arab) and faith (calling him a Muslim) as a smear. I witnessed Mr. McCain correct someone calling Mr. Obama an Arab by saying, literally, "No, he's a decent family man" as if those two concepts are incongruent. Now, I'm not an Arab - but I find that offensive.

I have seen my fair share of prejudice, but I'm not one to whine about these kinds of things. I think I've done a fairly good job of overcoming them and in the end, the country that I love allowed me to overcome them. But here's the point:

I come from a family that values and celebrates religion and cultural identity. Some members of my family are practicing Muslim, others are Jewish and still others are Catholic. I have a son and a niece (hopefully more to come), whose last names will also end in Firooznia and who will know their loving grandparents and family members who happen to be Muslim - and who, when presented with the opportunity to determine their own faith - may want to identify as such.

My family, and many others like it have all worked too hard and love this country too much to be smeared liked this. How can we live with ourselves if our sons and daughters, nephews and nieces, or friends are allowed to think in such limiting or narrow ways? How can we permit them - as they grow ever more curious - to observe these events and then start questioning if it's wrong to be Muslim, or it's bad that their grandma and grandpa are from the Middle East, or if their name or faith may disqualify them (or hinder them) from achieving their highest aspirations? I care so much because we need to restore America and its ideals. We need to go back to the inclusive, secular idea of America that values everyone's contribution to this society, and promotes tolerance and equal opportunity. We need to live up to the best of our ideals and not pander to the worst of our fears.

More simply put, I care so much because I cannot stand by and let my family's legacy, my parents' hard work and sacrifices, be tarnished and smeared in this way. There's way too much dignity at stake here.

View the Powell interview here - it's worth the watch

http://www.jedreport.com/2008/10/colin-powells-endorsement-of-b.html

transcript here:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27266223/

Why I Hate the Current Republican Party

Farzin — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 10:16:23 EDT

I am a white heterosexual male who falls into the highest tax bracket and am an unabashed liberal, and perhaps as important a reason as any for it is that I cannot ever agree with the discriminatory/oppressive platform of the GOP with regard to social and civil/human rights issues. But I have always admired and respected certain aspects of the conservative ideology, especially when it came to fiscal conservatism. I may not always agree with all of it, but I respected it.

With that, I wanted to share my thoughts as to what I think is most wrong with the Republican party, and why I have come to actively and profoundly dislike the GOP in recent years. From my standpoint, it comes down to the point that I believe the GOP has for the last decade or so, from a collective action and blueprint standpoint, solely been focused on acting in a fashion that expands its power. Domestically, it has focused all action on attempts to set up "a permanent political majority" and internationally, it has focused on becoming the sole permanent world power with military dominance over key and fleeting world resources as part of the "Project for a New American Century". This is the teaching/script of Karl Rove and the Neo-cons at American Enterprise Institute and is evident in the Republican's stated domestic and foreign agenda; and unfortunately, this has resulted in selfish action aimed at furthering that goal without regard to principle or consequence.

The GOP of today is not interested in carrying out its elected function as a government, or staying true to its stated conservative principles, or to tending to the needs of the electorate; More to the point, it is not interested in fixing the actual problems that plague or threaten the country; it is solely interested in figuring out how best to present and repackage a problem as a launching point to settle a score or undermine a potential threat to its desire to stay in power and build its permanent majority. There are many case studies to support this thesis, but nowhere is this more manifest than in looking at how the GOP has responded to three recent crises during the Bush presidency - the most recent elections (2000-08, including mid-terms) and real issues of voter disenfranchisement/suppression/fraud, 9/11 and the "War Against Terror", and the recent economic crisis. In each instance the response by the GOP was transparently hypocritical and not designed to solve the actual problem, but to further its own selfish interests.

With regard to voter issues - rather than try to fix issues of gerrymandering, suppression, fraud or disenfranchisement, the GOP chose to repackage this real issue and present it as a problem solely caused by ACORN. It's one thing to hear Mark Levin and the right wing nut jobs talk about this - but to hear John McCain call ACORN the greatest threat to the fabric of democracy is beyond the pale. The ridiculousness of this assertion has been debunked numerous times, including recently by Governor Crist of Fla, and Attorney Generals from various States. Voter registration fraud is not equivalent to voter fraud (Mickey Mouse ain't showing up to the polls). And any fraud perpetrated is a statistically insignificant issue (The NY Times has an article on this today (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/17/opinion/17fri1.html?ref=opinion) and Josh Marshall covers it all the time in TPM). The real problems that we need to deal with is redrawing electoral maps, voter suppression, and voter fraud b/c of faulty voting mechanisms - but none of those will help the GOP. So instead, we have this incessant railing on about ACORN. And no one mentions that the true reason the GOP wants ACORN out is because it's very successful at enabling a group of unattended and disenfranchised voters to exercise their constitutional right to vote - and they tend to be overwhelmingly democratic.

With regard to 9/11 - it's now well documented, but the problem and the issue to address with 9/11 was a way to defeat Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda and handle Islamic Extremism. What the GOP instead decided to do was to distract us from Al Qeda, Afghanistan and Pakistan, and instead sell us a bill of goods on Iraq (and they're trying hard with Iran) because of their desire to defeat hostile governments and set up permanent bases or a presence in those places as the world continues its desperate fight for the limited natural resources still left. And the consequences of that have obviously been disastrous - whether it be in undermining our security, allowing Al Qaeda to rebuild, devastating our economy, inflaming tensions and helping recruitment for Islamic Radicals, etc.

With regard to the Economic Crisis - no one truly understands the entirety of what's going on, but we all get that the issues related to greed and unregulated/unfettered actions by banks/firms on Wall St., and the spread and multiplication of derivatives and mortgage-backed-securities and other instruments that were repackaged, bundled and resold time and again without any regard to their relationship to the actual tangible thing of value to which they were supposedly tied. The Stock Market had stopped trading on capital and actual goods, and was now solely speculating based on ascribed value. What the GOP did in response to the crisis was not to try to fix the underlying problems - but they affixed blame on Democrats and Fannie and Freddie; again, all a transparent ploy to try to keep their power. Everyone who has looked at the issue understands that Fannie and Freddie have really the most remote connection to the actual problem at hand, but the GOP needed to focus there because blaming the Dems and those institutions allowed them to argue for staying in power or getting rid of institutions that helped empower folks who had democratic leanings.

The most astounding aspect of this whole thing is that no one is pointing it out. Their playbook of hypocrisy is transparent - we're just not paying attention or calling them on it.

We have seen the ACORN thing tried before - that was the whole genesis of the Attorney Firings Scandal because Bush-appointed State Attorneys looked into this issue pushed by the GOP and decided rightly that there was nothing to the voter fraud allegations (http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/237825.php). But because they told the truth - they were fired. So now the GOP is at it again.

With regard to Iraq - anyone who reads the writings and thesis of the AEI and Project for New American Century -

(Read it and see who the project members were: http://www.newamericancentury.org/RebuildingAmericasDefenses.pdf it will literally send chills down your spine") -

will see that Iraq and Iran has been what they've been after all along and the travesty of 9/11 is that the unforgettable tragedy dulled us to the neo-cons and allowed them to get their "pearl harbor" (see p. 63) and enact their agenda.
With regard to the housing crisis - it's no secret that Republicans have been after these institutions for years, and now they're trying to use it as the scapegoat to get rid of the institutions and blame the dems. A good analysis, here: http://www.delawareliberal.net/2008/09/28/republican-talking-point-smackdown-freddie-mac-and-fannie-mae-are-not-responsible-for-the-meltdown/.

So where does that leave us?

I'm disgusted with the Republican Party. I'm disgusted that politicians elected to serve our interests don’t actually do anything to help us, but only focus on their power-grabbing agendas. Mostly, I'm disgusted that we have let all this happen even though the playbook is right before our eyes.

I have hope though. I hope the polls are right. I hope that I'm right. I hope that that the Conservatives who are starting to see the light and repudiating the Bush/Cheney/Rove tactis stick to their guys. I hope that we have a landslide victory -not only because I believe in Barack Obama and his policies - but because it may drive the GOP to self-examination and abandonment of Rovian politics - a return to the commendable conservative principles that I can disagree with on an ideological perspective. The country needs both parties - we will be better off for it.

Howard Baskerville an American Martyr

Parham Beheshti — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 01:50:42 EDT

As a Persian American its disrupting to see two countries I call home are so similar yet have such hostility and misunderstanding of each other.

Howard Baskerville was one of the first Americans with huge impact on Iran's history.

During the Constitutional Revolution of Iran (Mashroote), the first democratic movement of Iran, Howard fought along side Iranians to overthrow the despot king and bring democracy to Iran.

He fought bravely and lost his life for this nobel cause.

Wanted - Conservative/Republican endorsements of Obama

Barbara — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 16:37:05 EDT

MakeFloridaCount.com archives articles, videos and other organizing resources to use with undecided voters.

I am developing section on Conservative and Republican endorsements of Obama. Please send me your suggestions (by e-mail or by commenting on the blog).

See extended blog for more detail of what is available on the site.

New organizing resources are added daily.

In unity.

Barbara Myers

barbmyrs@gmail.com

Bill Burton...Are you an Idiot?

Wes — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 15:22:35 EDT

Of course if Israel was attacked by Iran, the United States would commit troops. They are an ally.

Now more specific. If Israel attacked Iran, then thats a different story. If Iran responded against an Israeli attack, then who can blame them. Point being we do not support aggression, ambition, or oppression. We dont support refugee camps either, we want solutions to the crisis.

Point being we need a premanent border for Israel, pressure on Israel to do so, with Jerusalem being independent neutral ground for Islam Christianity and Judaism.

You could rock this entire campaign by not answering a simple question like that......

Now get your answers straight. Dont avoid questions. Answer them correctly.

If your an advisor to Obama, god help us.

Resources to convince the undecided

Barbara — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 11:22:15 EDT

Need an article or video to convince an undecided voter to vote for Obama/Biden?

MakeFloridaCount.com archives articles, videos and other organizing resources so that people making calls and going door to door can have easy access to the latest material.

Organizers should look carefully at the left hand column of the site for useful resources.   Here's a breakdown of some of what's there.

Character Counts - What to expect from Barack Obama
    * The New Yorker endorsement
    * Press Conference on State of the Economy
    * Chicago Jews on their experience with Obama
    * Obama's speech on race and reaction to Rev. Wright Uproar
    * SFGate - Obama profile
    * NYTimes Obama archive

Character Counts - What to expect from John McCain
    * John McCain's Rage
    * NYTimes - Politics of Attack
    * Keating Economics
    * The Straight Talk Express (exposed)
    * NYTimes - McCain lifelong gambler
    * George Will - Can a dismaying temperment be fixed?
    * Nicholas Kristof - Impulsive, Impetuous, Impatient

New organizing resources are added daily - MakeFloridaCount.com.

In unity.

Barbara Myers

please see extended post for more resources.

What where fighting for !

Vince from Boston, MA — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 09:52:37 EDT

The following is a video reminder of what's at stake in this election.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdJUCU1UH2w

Lets take this Viral !

Obama / Biden '08 .... the change we need.

A Veteran for Obama.

Who's John McCain ?

Vince from Boston, MA — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 09:46:43 EDT

The following is a video reminder of what's at stake in this election.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdJUCU1UH2w

Lets take this Viral !

Obama / Biden '08 .... the change we need.

A Veteran for Obama.

What's at stake in this election ?

Vince from Boston, MA — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 09:18:26 EDT

The following is a video reminder of what's at stake in this election.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdJUCU1UH2w

Lets go viral with this.

Obama /Biden '08 .... the change we need.

A Veteran for Obama.

Senator McCain. Define "Free Nations"

Vanessa Edwards from Houston, TX — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 13:39:03 EDT

http://transpolitical.blogspot.com/2008/08/senator-mccain-define-free-nations.html

reprint from TransPolitical blog 8/13/08

“Georgia, Georgia, no peace – no peace I findJust this old, sweet song keeps Georgia on my mind” — Georgia On My Mind, Ray Charles But the Americans have no extra money. They have their own problems. They can provide financial assistance for two, three, four, or six months at most.” — Eduard Shevardnadze, former President of Georgia

Today Sen. John McCain enjoyed his own small Berlin moment with his “Ich bin ein Georgian” press confab.

It wasn’t as glorious as the Brandenburg gate. It also wasn’t even uttered in Georgia – whether in Europe or (as McCain would normally do a la his Obama Euro-trip shadowing, e.g. going to Berlin NH) whether in the U.S. in, say, Atlanta, Georgia. During a press statement made on the campaign trail in York PA, McCain said, “I speak for every American when I say … ‘Today we are all Georgians.’”

“My friends, we learned a great cost of the price of allowing aggression against free nations to go unchecked,” McCain added.

The last statement got me to wondering, in this world of nuanced politic-speak, what does Sen. McCain mean by free nations? How is that defined?

A little riff on "Bomb Iran" - Apologies to the Beach Boys

Jim from Thetford, VT — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 10:54:31 EDT

John, bombed, bombed, bombed when he ran / John, bombed, bombed, bombed when he ran / Oh John my man, fold up your hand / John my man / You had Barcack down in the pollin’ / Barcack ‘n Biden reelin’ John my man, you bombed / Bombed when you ran

Hitched up your pants, hoisted up your lance / Snatched up Sarah P on a glance just for a chance / With Palin’s brand, brand, brand, brand Palin’s brand / To make your stand / You had Barcack down in the hole ‘n / Barcack ‘n Biden kneelin’ John my man, John, John / Bombed when you ran

John, bombed, bombed, bombed when he ran / John, bombed, bombed, bombed when he ran / John my man, lost your last hand / John my man / You had Barcack down in the hold ‘n / Barcack ‘n Biden heelin’ / John my man, John, John / Bombed when you ran

Lied to the news / Lied your face blue / Lied like a fool / But you knew you dished doo-doo / John my man, John, John, / Bombed when you ran / Bombed, bombed, bombed, bombed when you ran / You had Barcack down at the goal ‘n / Barcack ‘n Biden sealed in / John my man, John, John / Bombed when you ran

John bombed, bombed, bombed when he ran / John, bombed, bombed, bombed when he ran / John my man / Made your last stand / John my man / You had Barcack down in the pollin’Barcack ‘n Biden kneelin’ / John my man, John, John, / Bombed when you ran

John my man, John my man, / John my man, John my man, / John my man, John my man, / John my man, John my man, / You had Barcack down in the pollin’Barcack ‘n Biden kneelin’ / John my man, John, John, / John Also Ran.

Big Debate — The Two Faces of McCain

Sonya Rose — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 15:00:23 EDT

http://blogs.uptownlife.net/sonyarose/?p=69 Oct 8, 2008 Author: Sonya Rose | Filed under: Politics

Of course, Barack Obama won the debate in Nashville last night, though the tone of the evening overall was slow and somber. As the night progressed, Obama was at once self-possessed and admiringly steady as a frazzled John McCain hurled one insult after another, many of them misguided, at the Democratic nominee.

Guided by the firm hand of NBC’s Tom Brokaw on the campus of Belmont University, Obama proved more than up to the night’s many challenges, at one point chiding an overmatched McCain: “This is the guy who sang, ‘Bomb, bomb, bomb Iran,’ who called for the annihilation of North Korea. That I don’t think is an example of ’speaking softly’ … This is the person who, after we had — we hadn’t even finished Afghanistan– where he said, ‘Next up, Baghdad.’ ”

During the debate, McCain attacked Obama on inexperience, while he had his attack dog Sarah Palin sniffing along the campaign trail falsely connecting Obama to terrorists and extremist activity. Was it just me or did there seem something quite disingenuous about a self-proclaimed war hero not having the verve to attack his opponent in a face-to-face confrontation the same way he’s had others do behind his back?

McCain went on to accuse Obama of announcing a possible attack on Pakistan to which the ever-calm Obama explained that he never called for an attack on that region. Further, Obama insisted that his efforts in that arena would be for one reason only. “If Pakistan is unable or unwilling to hunt down bin Laden and take him out, then we should,” he stated firmly.

Yes, McCain, as he has during the past few weeks especially, seemed erratic with arms flailing as he wandered aimlessly around the small half-debate, half-Town Hall stage. Watching McCain stumble and falter during his disjointed answers made one frightened at the possible effects his presidency would have on this nation.

On Monday morning, my family buried my 108-year-old paternal grandmother. Her amazing journey in the deep South bore witness to the post-slave era, the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights movement. She also lived to see the emergence of one Barack Obama, and be touched by his spirit. In her honor and all the other souls who have endured to have their struggles manifest, I am resolved and relieved to know a McCain/Palin presidency is looking more and more as if it can’t and won’t happen …

‘night grandma and thanks.

Photo: Hoag Levins/Kevyn T. Johnson’s oil and collage ‘I’m Still Standing’