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November 13, 2006
OT 06-107
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These folks really take any chance to piss off everybody: Poland warns on EU-Moscow partnership
Poland is threatening to block the start of talks on a wide-ranging partnership deal between the European Union and Russia unless Moscow commits to opening up its oil and gas pipeline network.
Warsaw’s hard line threatens to scupper an EU-Russia summit this month at which talks over a partnership pact covering trade, energy, investment, human rights and mutual recognition of standards were due to begin.
…
Poland’s opposition to the start of talks with Russia also reflects its anger over Moscow’s ban on Polish meat and vegetable exports. Lithuania is the only other country to express doubts about agreeing the EU negotiating mandate for the Russian talks.
Some EU diplomats have expressed annoyance with Poland’s tough conditions for the start of talks with Russia. “We hope it will be possible for Poland to lift its reservations,” a European Commission spokeswoman said on Friday.
ahem: A Glimpse of Army Special Operations Forces
There is also a domestic component to Army special operations, though it is not clearly specified in the manual.
“The United States employs ARSOF capabilities at home and abroad in support of U.S. national security goals in a variety of operations.”
The manual spells out the principles of special operations warfare, including preemption, dislocation, disruption, and so forth.
“SO [special operations] are frequently clandestine or low-visibility operations, or they may be combined with overt operations. SO can be covert but require a declaration of war or a specific finding approved by the President or the SecDef,” the manual states.
(The asserted ability of the Secretary of Defense to authorize covert operations has not been explicitly claimed before, to Secrecy News’ knowledge.)
Well, I’ve always thought it was downright moronic to extend the EU and still keep the retarder rule of unanimous voting for any kind of decision, apart for accepting new member-states. At least assuming the EU wants to work as a true federate organisation, which means that sooner or later no lone wanker can fuck up the whole system, but majority rules apply. And in case of the EU, there’s a solid argument that majority rule shoud mean both majority of the members and majority of the people as represented by their govts (basically, if you get Germany, France, UK and Italy opposed, your proposal is dead, but on the other hand, you’d still need something like 15 countries to pass a decision, being backed by 4-5 biggies wouldn’t be sufficient).
Posted by: CluelessJoe | Nov 13 2006 11:24 utc | 3
ahem II: U.S. MILITARY CIVIL DISTURBANCE PLANNING:
THE WAR AT HOME
pathologies of power often exhibit the same symptoms, asymmetrical COVERT AND OVERT prolonged tyranny.
Posted by: Uncle $cam | Nov 13 2006 11:52 utc | 4
@Clueless – agree – I expect the EU to dissolve a bit over such conflicts and a new group of countries agreeing on a more democratic system evolving (France, Germany, Benelux possibly). The problem with your voting system is that of the Senate in the US. Some Senators represent some 100,000 people while others represent millions – not everybody is happy with that.
Currently I am not very hopeful for any change in Europe though.
Cornerstone:Domestic Military Intelligence Is Back Is HERE
Oh, and I just remembered a long forgotten
post I did on a former blog of mine that you might want to familiarize your self with…
Yevgeny Maksimovich Primakov EX KGB now works for DHS…
also see, FORMER RUSSIAN PREMIER/EX KGB HEAD TO WORK FOR HOMELAND SECURITY!
Born in 1929 in Kiev, Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union. Was raised in Tbilisi, the capitol of Soviet Georgia. His parents were Jews. As a young man he changed his name to Primakov from Finkelstein. He attended Moscow’s Institute of Oriental Studies.]
Posted by: Uncle $cam | Nov 13 2006 12:39 utc | 6
So how does it make you feel that an
Ex-KGB (above) and STASI Chiefs Work Under Chertoff? hmmm?
Posted by: Uncle $cam | Nov 13 2006 12:53 utc | 7
B: This is all the trick of a federation.
At the beginning, you have to assure that minor entities will have some power left, or will be able to make their voice heard. This is why you get a 2-rooms system, like in Germany or US, with one room where majority of the overall population works, the other where majority of the members works. Of course, notably in the US, the abysmally stupid majority rule to elect the representatives – instead of statewide election of a group of reps – screw up the whole process.
Well, if you want small nations to join the EU in other ways than by accepting 3rd rank impoverished countries, or just by conquest, you have first to give them the feeling they still matter a little bit. That’s why they keep unanimity votes, some huge porks through CAP and others (I should check how much subsidies Ireland still gets, just for the fun).
But there are ways of doing it right, and the system of 2-seats for each state in one room, and 1 seat for X.000s people in the other is quite a good one. For a newborn federation, that is.
This is the crux of it. Federations simply shouldn’t remain that way eternally. It’ll end up actually favorising the low-population, often more rural, parts of the federation, which basically means it becomes a means for the right-wing to assure a better grip on power. And, even if it allowed the left to prevail, it would still be in my opinion a fuck-up system to keep in the long run.
Basically, what I said about how the EU should evolve is fine, assuming people do it as an evolution, which means that ultimately, in a few decades, the whole system will evolve again and the Senate will just be trashed once and for all. At best, add a minor weight to every member (like add 2 rep to every US state, and get rid of the Senate).
But I am clearly of your opinion that federation only matters when it comes to create a common feeling, a new entity. If this shit goes on 2 centuries after the federation has been created, then the whole system should be considered a failure. Because either it means people didn’t manage to get a national / continental consciousness, or they have but they are tricked by political maneuvering by some parties that shouldn’t keep power if democracy was truly in action.
This is one of the things the Israeli did right. They have the Knesset, period.
In a nutshell: US Senate is find and quite mandatory in the first few decades. It should just be dumped after, say, 50-60 years, and if minor states complain, they can go Cheney themselves, or just shouldn’t join the Union to begin with. Same in the EU. Same in Germany, Same in Switzerland. Same in Canada…
Uncle: Primakov to work on US homeland security?
If you add to that the growing influence of Russia and China, the fact that Bush is managing to transform Iran from wary nation to regional powerhouse – what with destroying Saddam and Talibans, then maneuvering so that they may work hard and fast on nuclear research -, you’d have to wonder who won the international great game / cold war of the last decades.
Posted by: CluelessJoe | Nov 13 2006 13:07 utc | 8
Palestinians have reportedly agreed on new prime minister for a national unity government to replace the elected Hamas-led government. That government was boycotted by the West, resulting in a devastating cutoff of funds that has resulted in widespread hunger and desperation among Palestinians. The new premier-designate, Mohammad Shbeir, holds a PhD in biology from the University of Virginia and was formerly president of Gaza’s Islamic University.
Democractically Elected Government Appears to Bite the Dust
Posted by: Bea | Nov 13 2006 15:24 utc | 9
Conversation with Ehud Olmert (Prime Minister of Israel) on Eve of US Visit
How do you see the threat posed by Iran?
This is the first time in many years that the official leader of a major nation with more than 70 million citizens has talked publicly and officially of the liquidation of another nation that is a member of the United Nations. [Iranian President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad is a man who is ready to commit crimes against humanity, and he has to be stopped.
When Hitler began to talk about the liquidation of the Jewish race, people heard it. But they hardly did anything to stop it. And then for generations, nations and leaders had to explain why they didn’t speak up. So we have to have a world campaign to emphasize the moral commitment that no one will be able to ignore what he says and what the possible ramifications may be.
There is also the process of negotiations. My position is clear: If there can be a compromise that will stop Iran short of crossing the technological threshold that will lead them into nuclear capabilities, we will be for such a compromise. But I don’t believe that Iran will accept such compromise unless they have a very good reason to fear the consequences of not reaching it. In other words: Iran must start to fear.
Will you talk with Bush about Iran?
Bush is the last person on Earth who needs to be reminded of what should be done to stop Iran. If there is one person I can trust, it’s him. I trust his moral integrity, I trust his moral commitment and I trust his determination.
Do you think regime change is the only way to stop this?
I can think of many different measures. The guideline has to be that this government and the people of Iran must understand that if they do not accept the request of the international community, they’re going to pay dearly.
So you wouldn’t rule out the military option?
I think my words were clear enough.
If the international community does not act, would Israel consider taking military action?
It is absolutely intolerable for Israel to accept the threat of a nuclear Iran. I prefer not to discuss the Israeli options. Israel has many options.
Iran’s reaction to Olmert — from Haaretz:
In an interview published on Sunday, Olmert made statements about Iran that took on the harshest tones so far, as he hinted for the first time at the possibility of Israeli military action.
Responding to the interview, Iran said Sunday it would react swiftly and harshly to such a move by Israel.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini told a news conference Iran would put into action its Revolutionary Guards if Israel attacked the Islamic Republic.
“If Israel takes such a stupid step and attacks, the answer of Iran and its Revolutionary Guard will be rapid, firm and destructive and it will be given in a few seconds,” he said.
He also said the country was pressing ahead with plans to expand its program to enrich uranium, which the West and Israel accuse Iran of using to make nuclear warheads, despite Tehran’s denials.
Posted by: Bea | Nov 13 2006 16:20 utc | 10
The Swiss have a way of maintainga federal system without giving into the “tyranny of the majority” (which is make up of German speakers): a law must be approved not only by an overall majority, but by a majority of the Cantons: it means that the Germans cannot pass a law unless they have sufficient support from the French, Italian and Romani speaking areas.
Posted by: ralphieboy | Nov 13 2006 16:48 utc | 11
A really good one by LondonYank: Iran: Why and How Iranians Must Be Attacked
Iran has invested its oil wealth in universal education, healthcare, infrastructure bringing clean water and electricity to more than 98 percent of its people, and economic progress. Military spending is a paltry $91 per capita compared to more than $1,500 per capita in the United States and Israel. The social and economic achievements of the revolutionary regime in Iran in the past 25 years look quite progressive in reducing poverty and social inequalities, and as the society liberalises toward a more secular democratic regime, even better progress can be expected in the future. Compared to rising inequality in the United States and Israel, ranked numbers one and two for social inequality among developed nations, the Iranians look pretty damn good.
That, of course, is the problem. If Iran, rather like Venezuela, becomes a regional leader and examplar of social democracy, it becomes a threat to the corporatist and militarist elites that dominate the political classes of Washington and Tel Aviv and exploit the mineral and oil wealth of underdeveloped nations.
Education and successful economic development are a bigger threat than any weaponry if you are a corporatist kleptocrat. And that is why Iran must be bombed, like Iraq and like Lebanon. It has succeeded, and must be bombed back to failure.
First-hand testimony about last week’s the Beit Hanoun attack:
Amira Hass Reports from Beit Hanoun: How a Beit Hanoun Family was Destroyed
Posted by: Bea | Nov 13 2006 17:36 utc | 13
Food, vaccines and rubber stamped invasions…news
New UN Secretary General: Ban Ki Moon, South Korea
Former U.S. National Security Adviser General Brent Scowcroft says Mr. Ban’s nomination is an interesting development, particularly for Washington. “For the first time in the history of the United Nations, an ally of one of the permanent members of the Security-Council is the secretary-general,” he noted. “That’s never happened before.”
mensnews
Some have speculated he is a Moonie. (I have no idea. Probably not.)
Radar on line
….The fact that the UN Secretary General feels it is the place of the UN to hold conferences of interfaith dialogue at the same time he refuses to say whether he believes in God is a worrisome sign. …:
On line journal
United Nations World Food Progamme: New Exec. Director Josette Sheeran – Shiner (USA) – following, it is said, and has been printed here (there was a Swiss candidate) a phone call by Miz. Rice.
member of Moon’s Unification Church 75-96 – and more…
Inner city press
New Director of WHO: Margaret Chan. (China)
She was an inside candidate, qualified for the post, supported by the US and at the very end, by Japan as well. Some in the health community in the US has a strong preference for Bernard Kouchner, ze French Docteur, the inventor of ‘humanitarian intervention’. (article is about Chan only.)
Wa Po
Posted by: Noirette | Nov 13 2006 17:47 utc | 14
yes ralphie boy, in Switzerland, for Popular (instigated by the people) “Initiatives” or “Referendums” at the Federal level that would modify the Constitution, both the majority of voters, AND the majority of cantons is needed for the matter to be accepted. (Some other matters will not be instigated by the people but will be obligatory referendums, put out by the Federal Council, e.g. joining the UN.)
Each canton, some of which may be very small, and thus ‘minor’ or ‘particular’ etc. have one vote, with some exceptions, who have only half a vote. E.g. Basle town half vote, Basle country half vote. So even there, there are exceptions.
For matters that don’t affect the constitution only the majority of voters counts. That can be about anything – any law, international accord, whatever passed by the Parliament can be contested bang off. Then, only the majority of voters count.
A common case is acceptance by the people but not the Cantons – urban centers with many people voting yay, but *more* less populous, rural, and/or conservative cantons having a majority of nays.
The federal votes from 2003 were on: – Legal misc. – health insurance – army military admin – civil protection – rents (rental property laws) – Sundays without cars – health insurance – equal rights for the handicapped – giving up Nuclear energy – Moratorium on Nuclear – more Nuclear – Vocational training – Highways – Lease (rental) laws, again – Prison for life for sexual delinquents – old age pensions, social security – VAT upping for pensioners – Federal Tax structure – Naturalisations – same topic, again – organisation of the Post – stipends for soldiers and others – Federal/cantonal cooperation – same topic, again – Stem cell research – Schengen and Dublin accords – same sex partnership – EU accords, again – Genetically modified organisms – Work law, night work.
And today I voted on giving a billion to -mostly Poland! – and harmonising ‘child benefits’.
Posted by: Noirette | Nov 13 2006 18:49 utc | 15
I was astonished it was permissable to discuss the “corporatist kleptocracy” & the real aims of US imperialism at the DailySoros, as it is in b-‘s link above. (See #12). After all, what is Georgie Soros but a pre-eminent Kleptocrat. I checked to see if that was a buried diary. Answer is it wasn’t buried, so, not surprisingly, it may not be legal much longer. See this Convoluted Diary in response to that one.
Posted by: jj | Nov 13 2006 19:37 utc | 16
Just happened to stumble across this amazing (and horrifying) snippet of video on YouTube of US soldiers in action in Iraq, committing what appears to be a war crime in vivo. It is dated only a few days ago. I am not sure where in Iraq it was taken.
Am I wrong, or does someone at the end say softly on here, “You know, that was completely unnecessary?”
Blow out in Iraq
Posted by: Bea | Nov 13 2006 19:51 utc | 17
@bea #17
I highly doubt we will be seeing any war crime’s insitu, being broadcast via the internets as they have learned from the Abu Ghraib fiasco, hence the Army’s Web Risk Assessment Cell. Satellite Internet services are used in locations where terrestrial Internet is not available and we control that too.
Posted by: Uncle $cam | Nov 13 2006 20:14 utc | 18
Murray Waas:
Above the law & behind closed Gates: the nomination of Robert Gates to director of the CIA
Posted by: Uncle $cam | Nov 13 2006 20:28 utc | 19
The Deadly — and Hidden — Cost of the Iraq War
She Survived Iraq — Then Shot Herself at Home
NEW YORK Her name doesn’t show on any official list of American military deaths in the Iraq war, by hostile or non-hostile fire, who died in that country or in hospitals in Europe or back home in the USA. But Iraq killed her just as certainly.
She is Jeanne “Linda” Michel, a Navy medic. She came home last month to her husband and three kids (ages 11, 5, and 4), delighted to be back in her suburban home of Clifton Park in upstate New York. Michel, 33, would be discharged from the Navy in a few weeks, finishing her five years of duty.
Two weeks after she got home, she shot and killed herself.
Down at the end of the story, we find this:
“At least 30 percent of those who fought in Iraq or Afghanistan are now diagnosed with PTSD, up from 16 percent to 18 percent in 2004, said Charlie Kennedy, PTSD program director and lead psychologist at the Stratton Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Of the 400 Capital Region vets in the program, 81 served in Iraq or Afghanistan, Kennedy said, and that number is growing. ‘This kind of warfare is devastating,’ Kennedy said. ‘You don’t know who is your friend and who is your enemy.'”
Needless to say, those figures are not counted in the “costs” of war, but their costs will be long-term and extend far beyond each individual soldier, affecting the lives of each one’s circle of loved ones as well…
Posted by: Bea | Nov 13 2006 20:57 utc | 20
jj: Well, it just goes to show that even in so-called Liberals, there is a large majority of completely stupid, clueless and uninformed people who should do well to forget forever they ever had the right to vote, because they’re barely smart enough to tie their shoes.
Basically, most of the people who voted against the GOP 1 week ago just showed that a broken clock is right twice a day.
How anyone can consider DKos as a den of leftists is beyond me. Anyone thinking so should be shipped to the nearest asylum and be forced to read the complete works of Lenin, Marx, Mao, Castro, Stalin, Bakunin, Proudhon, and half a dozen others.
The worst is that DKos isn’t redneck haven, it’s probably even more progressive overall than the US at large, yet there are so many bigotted, idiotic and just plain disinformed posters there you’d think it’d be a nightmare if it actually was a quite apt representation of the national population as a whole.
Looks like the US has mostly sunk to the moral abysmal level of your average German, 1938, or your average Al Qaeda supporter.
Posted by: Clueless Joe | Nov 14 2006 1:02 utc | 21
Olmert warns US against ‘premature pullout’ from Iraq
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has warned the United States, in an interview published on Sunday (local time), against a “premature pullout” from Iraq as US officials ponder a new strategy following a sweeping Democratic win in the mid-term elections.
http://tinyurl.com/y3zeby
Posted by: Thrasyboulos | Nov 14 2006 1:08 utc | 22
More helpful advice from the Israelis, circa January, 2003.
Robert Fisk
The Wartime Deceptions
http://tinyurl.com/yf5ljj
The only other nation pushing for war–save for the ever-grateful Kuwait–is Israel. Listen to the words of Zalman Shoval, Israeli Prime Minster Ariel Sharon’s foreign affairs adviser, last week. Israel, he said, would “pay dearly” for a “long deferral” of an American strike on Iraq. “If the attack were to be postponed on political rather than military grounds,” he said, “we will have every reason in Israel to fear that Saddam Hussein uses this delay to develop non-conventional weapons.” As long as Saddam was not sidelined, it would be difficult to convince the Palestinian leadership that violence didn’t pay and that it should be replaced by a new administration; Arafat would use such a delay “to intensify terrorist attacks”.
Posted by: Thrasyboulos | Nov 14 2006 1:11 utc | 23
Ron Paul is the bellringer..
Congressman: American Concentration Camps “On The Books”
Texas Representative urges repeal of neo-fascist laws in America before it is too late
Also, (hat tip to annie…) I hunted down and found Antonia Juhasz on “Structural Causes of War” on you tube and I would urge you to watch this…
Talk by Antonia Juhasz author of “The Bush Agenda: Invading the World One Economy at a Time” speaking on “Structural Causes of War” given at the Veterans for Peace 2006 National Convention in Seattle.
Posted by: Uncle $cam | Nov 14 2006 1:39 utc | 26
am i misreading
when i link to corporate american media thru huffingtonpost whether it is cbs/abc/cnn/msnbc etc etc there seems to be wall to wall stories of soldier’s ‘heroism’ & an an insistance that they want to go back
the stories are so rovian in their construction it seems as if the public is being prepared for even more intense massacres
i know nov 11 – but it seems these stories are being spun to counterattack the positioning of those who want the troops home now
Posted by: remembereringgiap | Nov 14 2006 1:44 utc | 27
There they go again, telling us exactly what they are planning…
Bush “proud” that elections weren’t cancelled?
Somehow we got through the Civil War, WWI and WWII, and so on without elections being cancelled. Perhaps this is a way of getting us ready for the cancellation of 2008?
Posted by: Uncle $cam | Nov 14 2006 1:51 utc | 29
Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) voted against the Iraqi War, against the PATRIOT Act, against torture, against wiretapping, against the loss of habeas corpus, etc. Pity we can’t say the same about most Democrats.
Posted by: Ensley | Nov 14 2006 3:13 utc | 30
Those of you who read/understand kos site – I was curious to see the play the two diaries cited above have received, so I stopped by to see. I saw no reference to them on todays pages, or the diary list. What’s the deal? Do you think they were deleted, or what? Given that they were so impt. & the Iranian one made some exc. points, it should be featured – were we not talking about darling kos… Do they just bury the threatening ones?
Posted by: jj | Nov 14 2006 3:34 utc | 31
In an interview with SPIEGEL ONLINE, CIA expert Ron Suskind accuses Washington of “running like a headless chicken” in its war against al-Qaida. He reserves special criticism for the CIA’s torture methods, which he argues are unproductive.
Susskind claims Bush has known about torture all along.
Posted by: fauxreal | Nov 14 2006 4:18 utc | 32
Lest anyone think that Corruption isn’t a bi-partisan effort, the Congressional Watchdog Organization Citizens for Responsibility & Ethics in Washington (CREW) blasted Pelosi’s support of Murtha:
Washington, DC – Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) questioned soon-to-be House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) commitment to eradicating corruption with her endorsement of one of the most unethical members in Congress, Rep. John Murtha (D-PA), to be Majority Leader of the House of Representatives.
Rep. Murtha was listed in CREW’s report Beyond DeLay: The 20 Most Corrupt Members of Congress (and five to watch). As reported in the study and by the news media, Rep. Murtha has been involved in a number of pay-to play schemes involving former staffers and his brother, Robert “Kit” Murtha.
Eight incumbents in CREW’s report lost their races to ethics issues.
“Future House Speaker Pelosi’s endorsement of Rep. Murtha, one of the most unethical members of Congress, shows that she may have prioritized ethics reform merely to win votes with no real commitment to changing the culture of corruption,” Melanie Sloan, executive director of CREW said today. “How can Americans believe that the Democrats will return integrity to the House when future Speaker Pelosi has endorsed an ethically-challenged member for a leadership position? Rep. Murtha is the wrong choice for this job.”
Not only is Rep. Murtha beset by ethics issues, The New York Times reported on October 2, 2006 that he has consistently opposed ethics and earmark reform. link
Posted by: jj | Nov 14 2006 4:24 utc | 33
Newsdump:
In case the Bush administration did not make itself clear enough, Administration: Detainees have no rights.
The Bush administration said Monday that Guantanamo Bay prisoners have no right to challenge their detentions in civilian courts and that lawsuits by hundreds of detainees should be dismissed.
Apparently, the argument the DOJ was using that detainees could spill the beans about “super doubleplus top-secret” CIA torture techniques being used on them was a bit too abstract for the general public, so they’ve dumbed down their position a little here. The new DOJ position is simply this: “These guys are terrorists, man! They’ll kill us all! They’re like… um… hamburgers… you wouldn’t give rights to a HAMBURGER, would you? WOULD YOU?? We’re at war! WAR! DEATH! You can’t change DEATH, man! Getting all… um… bendy about the Constitution just helps them! WHY DO YOU HATE AMERICA??”
I think we can all agree that this new position is one that every good, God-fearing lunatic can support.
And speaking of fear… turns out it isn’t good for you. The Journal of Psychiatric Research has published a study indicating that fear can make you crazy. (No animals were harmed in this research, apparently… they’ve had a 300 million strong control group to work with for about the last six years or so.)
Researchers found that people who are especially sensitive to the physical signs of anxiety – from sweaty palms to a pounding heart – have a higher risk of developing anxiety disorders, including recurrent panic attacks.
For about 20 years, researchers have recognized a trait called anxiety sensitivity, where people interpret the physical aspects of anxiety as a threat in and of themselves. They may, for example, believe they’re having a heart attack when their heart rate rises in response stress.
Past research has suggested that anxiety sensitivity might be a risk factor for future anxiety disorders, including panic disorder.
While this might sound like bad news on the face of it, it’s actually had a pretty bouying effect at the Capitol. If fear can be induced Pavlov-style with a minimum of effort, then the CIA/NSA might be able to reduce its propaganda budget in the future, freeing up more funds to be squandered by Halliburton.
But keeping people afraid and panicky doesn’t guarantee that they’ll continue to support the US administration. For that, you need full-on, whacked-out, tragic dementia. No problem, we’re working on it. Turns out that Rumsfeld’s elixir vitae, Tamiflu, has been linked to abnormal behaviour in Japan.
Most of the new cases of bizarre behavior are from Japan, where Tamiflu usage is the highest in the world. Between 2001 and 2005, Tamiflu was prescribed 24.5 million times in Japan, compared with just 6.5 million in the United States, which has more than twice the population, according to FDA. However, FDA believes U.S. usage could increase to Japanese levels.
The new cases occurred between Aug. 29, 2005, and July 6, 2006. The tally marks a sharp increase when compared with the 126 similar cases logged over more than five years between the drug’s approval in 1999 and August 2005, the FDA said.
Even though severe cases of the flu can spark abnormal behavior, the number and nature of the newly reported cases – along with comments from doctors who believe the behavior was associated with the drug – keep the FDA from ruling out Tamiflu as the cause, according to agency documents.
The US Food and Drug Administration is hopeful that symptoms will include seizures, confusion, association of Joe Lieberman with Democrats, and the willingness to suspend basic civil rights in favor of demonstrably false delusions of personal security. Once that correlation is established, we can go ahead and have that monster avian flu epidemic we’ve been keeping on hold.
Posted by: Monolycus | Nov 14 2006 4:29 utc | 34
jj @31. to explain how dkos works. diaries that are recommended end up on the recommended list. they stay there until other diaries receive more recommendations. i read londonyank’s diary earlier today, probably around the same time as b, while it was on the recommended list. it is still on the site, but not on the front page. at times kos and other front-page writers (on the left side of the page) will bump diaries they think are particularly good to the left side of the page. i believe at times they might also bump diaries up to the recommended list on the right side, but i don’t know this for certain and i could very well be wrong. susang also works with a group of readers/posters to write a diary every night in which they highlight diaries that they found worthwhile but scrolled on by without reaching the recommended list.
sorry this is the extent of my commenting here these days. just too busy with work and school.
Posted by: conchita | Nov 14 2006 4:59 utc | 35
also jj, it did get over 700 comments. thats no slouch. i recommended it, did you? methinks that the way it stays up front
Posted by: annie | Nov 14 2006 5:19 utc | 36
Researchers found that people who are especially sensitive to the physical signs of anxiety – from sweaty palms to a pounding heart – have a higher risk of developing anxiety disorders, including recurrent panic attacks.
ya think?? we have all been so conditioned to things that any wild animal would sense severe caution towards it likely threatens to mutate us into less sensitive beings.
i make a conscious effort to not become conditioned to accepting or adapting to certain highly unpleasant experiences. ie, when in traffic jams, especially on the freeway i travel in the rt lane to escape more easily. avoid huge mega stores w/no immediate access to the outdoors including windows. have yet to consider implementing (much less paying for) advances in technology that allow people to contact me any moment of any day via beeper, cell phones etc. if something feels weird, DON’T DO IT! instead, our society programs us to think we have a disease (ADD) should we become , say.. bored w/sitting all day in a cubicle. where’s the radar?? our radar is becoming dulled.of course i can hardy compared myself w/the slothmaster who hasn’t gotten in a vehicle for over a decade. where is s/he anyway?
Posted by: annie | Nov 14 2006 5:34 utc | 37
Momentum …
Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, the founder of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews and the Israeli government’s official goodwill ambassador to evangelicals, said the statements turned out to be superfluous because there was a groundswell of grass roots evangelical support.
Mr. Eckstein said he had discovered the depth of that support when he ran television commercials on the Fox News Channel seeking donations. The response, mainly from evangelicals, “burned out the call centers,” Mr. Eckstein said. During the five-week war, his group added 30,000 new donors. Thanks to the influx of money, he said his organization has exceeded its income from the first 10 months of last year by 60 percent, putting it on track to pull in $80 million this year. “The war really generated a momentum,” Mr. Eckstein said.
For Evangelicals, Supporting Israel Is ‘God’s Foreign Policy’
b:
If you had donated money to help the Palestinians eat in the face of Israeli genocide you’d be liable to thrown in Guantanamo and the key to your cell (what cell, what key) thrown away.
American law, brought to you by the state of Israel.
Posted by: John Francis Lee | Nov 14 2006 10:06 utc | 39
“Any furriner on US soil can be held indefinitely on suspicion of terrorism without recourse to civil courts or due process of law.” – Bush Administration
Surprise, surprise
Test case is a student who was here at school from Qatar.
“It’s pretty stunning that any alien living in the United States can be denied this right,” said Jonathan Hafetz, an attorney for Al-Marri. “It means any non-citizen, and there are millions of them, can be whisked off at night and be put in detention.”
The new law says that enemy combatants will be tried before military commissions, not a civilian judge or jury, and establishes different rules of evidence in the cases. It also prohibits detainees from challenging their detention in civilian court.
Now that Bush has declared the new Military Commissions Act applies to foreigners held in Guantanamo as well as those residing legally in the US, all we need is a test case on citizens to round out the picture. Who wants to place a bet on how long it will be before that surfaces? I would guess it will be a matter of weeks at most.
Posted by: Bea | Nov 14 2006 16:58 utc | 40
Sent to kill, sent to revenge, sent to be men, have a life, sent to live before death or mutilation, illness, sent to support Amerika:
soldiers crying for their life in Iraq
you Tube (now google..)
glorification and sentimentalisation of war:
US troops – realities – slide show
same
Both are very short. Both exploit the empathetic reaction pain and death, in two different traditional styles.
Posted by: Noirette | Nov 14 2006 18:54 utc | 41
@ Bea #17
Chilling. Comments @ You Tube even more. Getting off on the pornography of violent hate. Terrs R Us.
I also hear that comment in the background. Answered by someone else saying, “I agree.”
Lots of different soliders, different views in Iraq.
Posted by: small coke | Nov 14 2006 20:06 utc | 42
chris floyd: No Exit: The Baker Commission and the Trap of Reality
As Washington waits with bated bipartisan breath to unwrap the shiny Christmas present known as “the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group,” it becomes more and more obvious that the newly empowered Democrats are walking into a trap.
But it’s not an artful contrivance prepared for their demise by the infinitely devious Karl Rove — the “political genius” who, since his appearance on the national stage, has managed to lose two elections (2000 and 2004) and eke out very narrow, dubious victories in two others. (And it wasn’t Rove who cheated Bush into office in 2000, so that doesn’t count even as a technical KO for him. The post-election coup d’etat was directed by Bush family fixer James Baker — now chairman of the, er, Iraq Study Group.)
No, the trap awaiting the Democrats has been laid by reality itself. As so often noted here before, there is no good solution to the blood-puking hell that George W. Bush has wrought in Iraq. There is no path out of this killing field that won’t involve more slaughter, more suffering, more hate, more grief. No “bipartisan panel” – certainly not one led by the lifelong peddler of Bush Family snake oil, Jim Baker, and the Democratic whitewasher for all seasons, Lee Hamilton – is going to find some new, unlooked-for way to untangle this knotted gut. They can only sift through the same reality that we all can see. The options are extremely limited, and all of them have ugly consequences.
Writer and documentary-maker Edward Cox gives a mostly excellent analysis of the situation in a recent Guardian article, Same as it Ever Was. (He is, I think, off base in a brief look at the 2008 presidential election, but this is a minor point in a penetrating takedown of the wildly unrealistic expectations rising around the “Baker Commission.”) Very briefly, the main choices break down this way:
ray mcgovern: Why the Iraq Study Group Won’t Get Us Out of Iraq
Yesterday’s White House photo-op reminded me of the one orchestrated in early January with a dozen former secretaries of state and defense, who were given all of ten minutes (that would be 50 seconds a piece) to “advise” the president on Iraq. It was not just serendipitous but quite telling that the president’s other main visitor was Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, because, if past is precedent, Bush is likely to be give as much weight to Olmert’s views as to those of the Iraq Study Group.
Posted by: b real | Nov 14 2006 20:07 utc | 43
noirette
i have noticed in the last three months that there has been a consistent swathe censoring anything that might resemble a n independant iraqi point of view at youtube
Posted by: remembereringgiap | Nov 14 2006 20:39 utc | 44
@slothrop
against the grain ran a half-hour speech by sut jhally from rethinking marxism 2006 title “the power of left media”. you may already have heard it, but the audio for today’s program (11/14) should be avail w/i hours.
Posted by: b real | Nov 14 2006 20:48 utc | 45
r giap i’m sure you are right ..
This made me sputter, light relief!
US senator outsources speech to India
13 Nov, 2006
BANGALORE: Last year, the UK government is said to have outsourced a pre and post election related work to a business processing organisation (BPO) firm in Bangalore.
Now, a republican senator, Frank Morse, in Portland, Oregon, read out a speech on “˜The Impact of Globalisation on Oregon Economy” written by another outsourcing provider in Bangalore.
It might sound quite ironical (…)
That’s why, Brickwork India’s captain, Vivek Kulkarni, could sit here and put down a well researched speech copy for a United States politician, who is thousands of miles away.
more:
Times of India
Posted by: Noirette | Nov 14 2006 21:35 utc | 46
not surprised noirette – they are so lazy that if they could pay someone else to breathe for them they would
Posted by: remembereringgiap | Nov 14 2006 21:59 utc | 47
re: #46
Don’t know if it makes any difference to the point of the story, but Frank Morse is a state senator in Oregon, not a US senator. Just for the record.
Posted by: catlady | Nov 15 2006 5:56 utc | 48
@Monolycus #34
Hey, we gots some purty decent Hamburgers ’round here, not trrrrists at all…..:-)
Posted by: catlady | Nov 15 2006 6:02 utc | 49
OVERWHELMING MAJORITY SUPPORT DUBYA GUMP’s IMPEACHMENT!
Do you believe President Bush’s actions justify impeachment?
MSNBC poll, go get em kids!
Posted by: Uncle $cam | Nov 15 2006 7:09 utc | 50
For your late night amusement or edification or both…
The Demonic Cabal
“Sarah, if the American people had ever known the truth about what we Bushes have done to this nation, we would be chased down in the streets and lynched.”
Posted by: Uncle $cam | Nov 15 2006 7:36 utc | 51
In response to the much heralded Iraq “Study” Group, the “decider” has initiated his own in house “study” group, including the “folks on the ground” in Iraq:
One component of the larger effort is likely to be a military review initiated in mid-September by Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. His assessment of U.S. anti-terrorism efforts, with a core focus on Iraq, includes 16 top commanders meeting daily to brainstorm on questions such as “Where are we going? What are we trying to do? Are we going to get there this way?” according to a joint staff spokesperson.
“Nothing is off the table. They are looking at the whole spectrum of less forces, more forces,” a senior defense official said. But the military is keeping close control over its review, which “is completely separate from the Iraq Study Group and not connected with any political effort that might also be going on. This is the chairman’s. . . . There is no intent for it to be folded in or incorporated in someone else’s bigger product,” the joint staff spokesperson said.
In keeping with todays all round surrealistic reportage.
Posted by: anna missed | Nov 15 2006 9:53 utc | 52
Here we go again…
Hoyer: Social Security changes ‘on the table’
Posted by: Anonymous | Nov 15 2006 10:26 utc | 53
Impeachment by Spring
If you’d care to do more than vote in a poll.
Posted by: beq | Nov 15 2006 13:33 utc | 54
Philosophical and speculative discussions of “Being”, “Existence”, the ultimate essence of Truth and the scope and verisimilitude of human understanding notwithstanding, we must realize that humans –all humans- are conditioned and bound within various limits. Truth is essentially absolute, but we shall never doubt that human comprehension of the truth, within the confines of internal and external limits of time, place, history, society and psychology, always remains partial and relative. Any proprietary claim to the full possession of the absolute truth and that which is truly absolute remains as groundless as the categorical rejection of truth in principle.
guardian: Latin America is preparing to settle accounts with its white settler elite
The recent explosion of indigenous protest in Latin America, culminating in the election this year of Evo Morales, an Aymara indian, as president of Bolivia, has highlighted the precarious position of the white-settler elite that has dominated the continent for so many centuries. Although the term “white settler” is familiar in the history of most European colonies, and comes with a pejorative ring, the whites in Latin America (as in the US) are not usually described in this way, and never use the expression themselves. No Spanish or Portuguese word exists that can adequately translate the English term.
Latin America is traditionally seen as a continent set apart from colonial projects elsewhere, the outcome of its long experience of settlement since the 16th century. Yet it truly belongs in the history of the global expansion of white-settler populations from Europe in the more recent period. Today’s elites are largely the product of the immigrant European culture that has developed during the two centuries since independence.
Posted by: b real | Nov 15 2006 19:56 utc | 56
Unfortunately, I saw this one coming. I guess we can all relax now.
Posted by: Monolycus | Nov 16 2006 1:02 utc | 57
The prison compound of Gaza was built to push half a nation to the brink of death, to suck out its resistance, to squeeze out its breath. They want us to suffer, not to die. The words of the mayor of Rafah sound like a broken record in my head. And they are succeeding, he said without emotion.
Why? Because this blockade on human traffic into Gaza, this travesty of an experiment in collective human torture, is sanctioned, supported, condoned and blessed by the United States, the European Union, the United Nations, the Arab League, the G-8, the corporate masters, the “international community”; by heads of states, presidents, prime ministers, chancellors, kings; by foreign ministers and their trusty delegations; by politicians and diplomats, executives and organizations, academies and institutes, think tanks and centers for the study ofs; by departments of foreign affairs, interior, education and finance; by media lords, newspapers, radios, television stations, journalists, analysts, commentators and publics who don’t dare open their mouths, write out their shock, register their objections, express their disgust, squeak out their “no’s” lest they suggest that Israel’s apparatus of inhumanity is an abomination on the face of the earth.
Posted by: John Francis Lee | Nov 16 2006 2:58 utc | 59
ha. there’s a typo in that tagline at monolycus’ link. obviously they meant advancing the cultures of free enterprise in america. pretty slimy article there.
Posted by: b real | Nov 16 2006 3:58 utc | 60
Cutler has a good post up today comparing how (in Iraq) that within the administration the choice(s) amount to taking sides in the civil war. Of particular note, is an anti-Shiite screed posted by one Tim Greene. Who happens to be in charge of training Police Service Cadets in Amman Jordan — for the Iraqi Interior Ministry: LINK
Why We Must Embrace Iraq’s Sunnis
Tim Greene – 11/7/2006
The Shiites in Iraq are increasingly concerned that US support is shifting towards the Iraqi Sunni. I don’t know what else the Shiites would expect after their own failure to govern the country and their failure to reign in on Shiite militias and death squads (namely the Iranian controlled Badr militia of Abdul Aziz Al-Hakim’s and the Mehdi militia of Moqtada Al-Sadr).
The security plan of Baghdad was a set-up against the Sunni population from the outset. The US and Iraqi military went into Baghdad Sunni neighborhoods first (as directed in the Shiite government plan of Iraq’s Shiite Prime Minster Maliki) and disarmed them down to one AK-47 for personal protection. Once the US and Iraqi military left the neighborhood, the Shiite militias entered, dragging civilians from their vehicles, homes and businesses and beat them, kidnapped them and killed many of them. The Sunnis were in effect defenseless.
The Mehdi militia and Badr militia have checkpoints set up all over Baghdad, many of them closing roads and ways for people living in Sunni villages to go into the city to travel, buy food, get water, etc. They have taken over hospitals denying Sunnis medical treatment and even killed some Sunni patients. They have taken over schools prohibiting Sunni students from entering and getting their free, government-provided education. They have taken over government offices, denying Sunnis access to government assistance and benefits. Even the Sunnis who want to leave the country find it difficult or almost impossible because passport offices are controlled by Shiites.
The police service is packed with Mehdi and Badr militia members. Most of my own cadets right now have Mehdi militia membership cards in their wallets. It’s the only safe way to travel in Baghdad to prevent yourself from being mistaken as Sunni and being beaten, kidnapped or killed.
Al-Sadr and Hakim strongly encourage their people to join the police forces because it is easy to enter and they get access to do their militia duty in police service uniforms, using police service vehicles and, most importantly, have access to police service weapons.
[…]
As for the Sunnis in the Anbar province, the majority are fighting very hard to get back their homes from foreign fighters and terrorists. These people attract US and Iraqi military attention to their areas and this creates a great hardship for them, not the terrorists. The Sunnis are an ethnic group that will not run to America or anyone else and beg for help. They will fight for what they believe in until their death. But the number of Sunnis involved in attacks on US and Iraqi security forces are not that many, especially when you distinguish between local Iraqis and foreign fighters.
The Sunnis don’t work in a very organized manner as large groups. This is seen as a handicap to them. There are many small groups working that don’t communicate among each other. Meanwhile, the Shiites work in large groups and are led hierarchically in an organized fashion – this is how the Mehdi and Badr militias are operated.
Moqtada Al-Sadr plays a swell political game. He plays the media calling for his people to ignore Shiite and Sunni ethnicity and declares “that all of us are Iraqi and Arab”. But behind the scenes he sends out orders to his leaders in the Mehdi militia to ignore what he says in the media and to continue their mission to rid Baghdad – and as much of Iraq as possible – of the Sunni people.
[…]
A Shiite leader of Iraq can not and will not disarm and disband a Shiite militia. It is not in their ethnicity, regardless of how neutral they say that they are. Any Prime Minister of Iraq needs the support of SCIRI (Supreme Council of Islamic Revolution In Iraq) and Mehdi (MA) to get the number of votes needed by Parliament to get put in the office. It is no coincidence that they are loyal to both.
Sadr City needs an operation such as former interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi called for in Najaf (a Shiite city) and Fallujah (a Sunni district of Ramadi). Ayad Allawi was secular and reined in terror groups and militias of both ethnicities with his strong leadership. He was truly neutral… at least showing more neutrality than we will see from any Shiite leader of Iraq.
Even my cadets carrying their Mehdi ID’s on them tell me that “Today is all about revenge”. That is a statement from their mouth, not mine.
[…]
Al-Maliki, for example, has demanded that a renewal of the U.N. mandate for the U.S.-led military force in Iraq should be conditional on swift action to give full control of the Iraqi army to the Baghdad government. Maliki’s next mission is to rid the Iraqi military of the many Sunni ethnic Iraqis that operate within it. The military is the most organized, diverse and government-linked entity with the least amount of militia involvement (especially by the Mehdi militia). Maliki wants to do an ethnic cleansing on the military just like he has done and is continuing to do on the Iraqi police service.
Tragically, no Sunni dare remain in the police service today without pledging loyalty to the Mehdi militia – or they face a certain death, in or out of uniform.
It is evident – from this man on the ground – that the Shiites cannot govern, the militias are in revenge mode and will never be disarmed or disbanded by a Shiite leader, and they are spreading their chaos more and more throughout the country. Iran meanwhile is loving each and every minute of it and even supporting Shiites financially, with training and with weapons (helpfully smuggled across the border).
With this continued ruling of the country by Shiite parties and militias we will see the entire Middle East region destabilize more and more. In my opinion it is the beginning of an ethnic war… a holy war that has to be controlled now by whatever force and relationships are necessary to control it.
And you don’t have to believe me… ask the governments of Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Lebanon and Pakistan.
Shiite religious clerics, starting with the top Ayatollah Ali Khomeini of Iran and down to Ali Sistani, Abdul Aziz Al-Hakim and Moqtada Al-Sadr could control the Shiite militias and death squads if they wanted to. All that has to happen is for Khomeini to order a cessation – ordering Sistani who will then hand the order down to Hakim and Sadr.
(The Shiites are after all extremely loyal to their religious clerics. Whatever they say is the truth, regardless of reality, fact or fiction.)
Alas, that order will never come, because they don’t want it to come. They will issue a fatwa (death order) and jihad (holy war) against the US and Coalition Forces and the Sunni ethnic population before they ever help us get control through Shiite religious ties.
So yes, the Shiites should expect the US and Coalition governments to shift their support and now is the time to do that. Although it will prove difficult to change positions, to take down the militias and get back peace and security in Iraq, the Sunnis are the group to lead us to the required balance for that “victory”, I am confident., If we wait, we will never get control in this country and thousands more Iraqi civilians will die in the revenge process and so will US and Coalition soldiers caught in the cross hairs.
Tim Greene is Chief of the Anti-terrorism training section under the U.S. Department of Justice/International Criminal Investigations and Training Assistance Program (ICITAP) at the Jordan International Police Training Center (JIPTC) at Camp Muwaqqar, Amman. Tim is currently tasked to train a majority of the Iraqi Police Service (IPS) cadets for the Ministry of Interior in Iraq. He is a member of the VIGIL anti-terror network, based in London. VIGIL is an international network of terror trackers, including former intelligence officers, military personnel and experts ranging from linguistic to banking experts.
This piece was scrubbed from its original posting. Its curious that this should appear simultaniously as talks are also being held in Amman supposedly between x-military, Baathist factions, insurgent groups and U.S. representatives. If a coup were being planned, this is probably how it would be undertaken.
Posted by: anna missed | Nov 16 2006 5:06 utc | 61
France: USA Cause of Hatred for West
France holds the United States responsible for promoting hostility toward the West with the war in Iraq, considering it divided Europe, and the preordained failure is plunging into chaos.
French Prime Minister Dominique Villepin savaged Washington in a speech during an assessment of the occupation of the Arab nation, accusing it of dividing Europe, which has not recovered its unity since the beginning of that invasion.
Posted by: b real | Nov 16 2006 5:07 utc | 62
@b real (#60)
“pretty slimy article there.”
I probably should have added a “hold your nose and click” caveat. Mea culpa.
Posted by: Monolycus | Nov 16 2006 6:08 utc | 63
Al Jazeera English
Al Jazeera went live with its English-language broadcast today. You probably won’t be seeing it on US television anytime soon, but you can watch the stream online here.
annie@#58
Jesus Christ! that has John Negroponte Necro-ponte written all over it.
Posted by: Uncle $cam | Nov 16 2006 6:34 utc | 64
Peak Oil Theory is faulty – could distort policy & energy debate
In contrast to a widely discussed theory that world oil production will soon reach a peak and go into sharp decline, a new analysis of the subject by Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA) finds that the remaining global oil resource base is actually 3.74 trillion barrels — three times as large as the 1.2 trillion barrels estimated by the theory’s proponents — and that the “peak oil” argument is based on faulty analysis which could, if accepted, distort critical policy and investment decisions and cloud the debate over the energy future.
CERA is chaired by Daniel Yergin, who’s not a scientist but more of an economist, it would seem. Does anyone here know more and could put this into better context?
racism – pure and simple: 2007 budget to preserve gaps between Jewish, Arab schools
The Education Ministry’s 2007 budget will likely preserve the gaps between Jewish and Arab schools in terms of teaching hours, and development plans for minorities will also be slashed, Haaretz has learned.
Under the proposed budget, Jewish Junior highs and high schools will have three to seven more weekly hours than Arab educational institutions.
The budget plan deals a heavy blow also to the ministry’s program for the education of minorities, slashed by 27 percent, and to education in the Arab sector, which will drop by 25 percent.
…
On the other hand, the first budget submitted by Education Minister Yuli Tamir (Labor) and Aboav, includes a significant rise of 15.4 percent in the budgeting of ultra-Orthodox schools affiliated with Shas, as well as a boost to kindergartens and elementary education.
Sibel Edmonds has posted (the first part) of an essay
“The Highjacking of a Nation” at her web-site. It is definitely worth reading. Although it doesn’t seem to break any new ground or make startling revelations it may be useful for framing a long delayed national debate.
Posted by: Hannah K. O’Luthon | Nov 16 2006 14:20 utc | 67
@annie #58
Oh my god, that video was more powerful than anything I have seen as far as letting us experience what it is like to be on the ground in Iraq today…. just hauntingly unreal and so terribly disturbing. How can this place ever return to any modicum of normalcy? How will the survivors of this era ever recover psychologically? How can we ever know who in fact is responsible for putting these death squads into action? And how can Americans ever set foot in that region again after what we have wrought?
Every American should be forced to view this. It should run on Faux News every night for 1 year.
Posted by: Bea | Nov 16 2006 14:26 utc | 68
youtube: UCLA Police Taser Student in Powell for not producing an id card
Posted by: b real | Nov 16 2006 18:46 utc | 69
article on ucla taser incident
Student shot with Taser by UCPD officers
UCPD officers shot a student several times with a Taser inside the Powell Library CLICC computer lab late Tuesday night before taking him into custody.
…
At around 11:30 p.m., CSOs asked a male student using a computer in the back of the room to leave when he was unable to produce a BruinCard during a random check. The student did not exit the building immediately.
The CSOs left, returning minutes later, and police officers arrived to escort the student out. By this time the student had begun to walk toward the door with his backpack when an officer approached him and grabbed his arm, at which point the student told the officer to let him go. A second officer then approached the student as well.
The student began to yell “get off me,” repeating himself several times.
It was at this point that the officers shot the student with a Taser for the first time, causing him to fall to the floor and cry out in pain. The student also told the officers he had a medical condition.
UCPD officers confirmed that the man involved in the incident was a student, but did not give a name or any additional information about his identity.
Video shot from a student’s camera phone captured the student yelling, “Here’s your Patriot Act, here’s your fucking abuse of power,” while he struggled with the officers.
As the student was screaming, UCPD officers repeatedly told him to stand up and said “stop fighting us.” The student did not stand up as the officers requested and they shot him with the Taser at least once more.
“It was the most disgusting and vile act I had ever seen in my life,” said David Remesnitsky, a 2006 UCLA alumnus who witnessed the incident.
Posted by: b real | Nov 16 2006 19:06 utc | 70
botched link above is Student shot with Taser by UCPD officers
Posted by: b real | Nov 16 2006 19:28 utc | 71
Another — I think more troubling — aspect of the story (and not picked up by the LAT’s coverage) were these two graphs from the Daily Bruin article:
As the student and the officers were struggling, bystanders repeatedly asked the police officers to stop, and at one
point officers told the gathered crowd to stand back and
threatened to use a Taser on anyone who got too close.Laila Gordy, a fourth-year economics student who was present
in the library during the incident, said police officers
threatened to shoot her with a Taser when she asked an
officer for his name and his badge number.
okay. of course everyone knew it was bullshit when he said it, but remember when, during bolton’s attacks on chavez after the u.n. appearance, bolton actually said that while chavez had the right to express his opinion “it’s too bad people in Venezuela don’t have free speech.”? get a load of this
Another Coup In The Making?
Last week, however, leaders of the opposition stepped up their rhetoric and discussed a “plan” for the days surrounding the elections. Prominent journalistic businessman Rafael Poleo, who was also involved in the 2002 coup attempt, announced on the cable network Globovision the opposition “plan” for December 3rd, 4th, and 5th. The plan calls for all voters aligned with the opposition to come out and vote on December 3rd. Then, on December 4th, claiming that the elections were fraudulent, the opposition voters must take to the streets to protest the Chavez victory. Referring to the “Orange Revolution,” when popular protests in Ukraine overturned fraudulent elections in 2004, Poleo claims that the electoral fraud is already in place, and makes a call for all Venezuelans who are opposed to Chavez to come out into the streets and protest on December 4th. He emphasizes that Manuel Rosales, the opposition candidate, must join this movement on December 4th and claim that the elections were fraudulent. If he does, says Poleo, Rosales could become the most important person in 21st century Venezuelan history.
With all of this in place, the plan continues with a call to the high military command, in the words of Poleo, to “decide if it is going to continue forcing the Venezuelan opposition to put up with an embarrassing regime.” These words, directed to the high military command, basically amount to a call to overthrow the government. He continues by referring to the plan as a sequence of events that all Venezuelans are going to see this December, and in which their destiny as dignified human beings, and the destiny of their respectable nation, is at play. Obviously, Poleo is implying that if Chavez continues in power, Venezuela will cease to be a dignified and respectable nation, and that Venezuelans should not have to continue putting up with him. He forgets to mention, however, that surveys show Chavez has the support of the majority of Venezuelans.
This message to the high military command coincides with a similar call made by candidate Manuel Rosales one day before. At a political rally, Rosales made a call for a meeting with the high military command, “because we have to be preparing for a transition and change of government that will come to Venezuela in the near future,” he said. Rosales has yet to make the claim that the elections are fraudulent, but he did call on the government to get rid of the “captahuella” machines, which he had previously accepted as a condition of the election. Rosales maintains that he will win at the ballot box, although nearly all the polls show him to be trailing Chavez by a large margin.
If it weren’t for the 2002 coup attempt, which occurred in a strikingly similar fashion, these words from the opposition might not be as significant. But the 2002 coup also began with large opposition protests against the government.
there’s a video of the segment at the link (espanol only). i think i posted something another mention of the 3-4-5 plan previously – vote on the 3rd, mass protests on the 4th, golpe on the 5th – or something to that effect.
anyway, wonder what bolton would say if the same sorta free speech moment occured prior to the nov 2008 elections in the u.s.a.?
and here’s an informative article on post-election nicaragua
Ortega Victory Certain, Nicaragua’s Future Unclear
and here’s an article i haven’t had time to read yet, though it looks interesting & relevant to some discussions here recently
Capitalism and War
Posted by: b real | Nov 17 2006 4:04 utc | 73
ap: Venezuela-Owned Citgo Sued by Companies
Companies who buy oil products from Citgo Petroleum Corp. filed a federal suit against the company alleging that the Venezuelan-owned refiner conspired with the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to fix oil prices.
…
The complaint alleges that Citgo has participated in “OPEC’s illegal price-fixing conspiracy, has provided unlawful assistance to OPEC, and has implemented Venezuela’s and OPEC’s price-fixing scheme in the United States,” according to a release from the plaintiff’s lawyers.
The complaint also alleges that Citgo has provided OPEC with technical services, and with information that assists OPEC in its effort to fix the price of oil at anti-competitive levels.
The plaintiffs are seeking to recover actual and punitive damages, and are asking the court to prohibit Citgo from such behavior in the future.
ain’t that something…
a reuters article goes on
Major U.S. oil supplier Venezuela is the Western Hemisphere’s only member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which meets regularly and at times cuts oil supplies to boost prices.
Spectrum Stores, Major Oil Co., W.C. Rice Oil and Abston Petroleum, which purchase gasoline and other products from Citgo to resell to consumers, are named as plaintiffs in the class-action file.
…
The lawsuit argues a current Citgo director, Bernard Mommer, and former director Luis Vierma helped develop strategies for OPEC while sitting on the company’s board.
“[The action marks the] first time a major American corporation has been alleged to have directly participated in OPEC’s illegal price-fixing cartel,” the statement said.
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas has not yet determined if the case can proceed as a class action, according to a plaintiff’s Web site.
Posted by: b real | Nov 17 2006 4:27 utc | 74
Senator Chris Dodd plans to introduce amendments to the Military Commissions Act that would restore habeas corpus. Of course, Bush would likely veto such a bill, so the question is whether there are enough concerned citizens in the Congress to pass it anyway.
Rights to be Restored?????
(h/t Crooks & Liars)
Posted by: Bea | Nov 17 2006 5:21 utc | 75
bea #68, you ask how we can know who is responsible? have you read billmon’s salvadoran option?
Posted by: Anonymous | Nov 17 2006 6:32 utc | 76