Open Thread 2012-20
News & views ...
[Note to all: I just blocked two ranges of IP addresses to prevent some persistent link spam. If you have difficulty to post please let me know via email. The email address is on the About page.]
Posted by b on July 14, 2012 at 17:28 UTC | Permalink
...and, of course, former Colombian president Uribe is a the favored one of Rubio:
Since 2006, 38 congressmen and five governors have been convicted for conspiring with paramilitary groups to get elected into office, reap financial rewards and intimidate opponents. Some 140 more former congressmen have pending investigations against them. Although many of these “parapoliticians” were allies of the Uribe administration, the former president himself has so far escaped indictment. According to the Prosecutor General's Office, more than 11,000 politicians, public officials, members of the military and businessmen collaborated with the organization that was determined a terrorist organization until its official demobilization between 2003 and 2006.
Posted by: Maracatu | Jul 14 2012 18:58 utc | 2
...and, of course, no kingpins of the $multi-billion US drug distribution network ever get discovered, prosecuted, or convicted.
Like the banks, who launder the money, they're too big to fail.
Posted by: JohnH | Jul 14 2012 20:25 utc | 3
Ah, Maracatu puts in an appearance. Been admiring your blog for a while now, welcome to MoA!(If you are the same maracatu I'm thinking of.)
Posted by: ruralito | Jul 14 2012 21:04 utc | 4
And these "kingpins" are all financed by the demand creadted by America's addiction to oil/drugs.
But then again, I spent a good part of my teenage years driving around, getting stoned on Colombian weed...
Posted by: ralphieboy | Jul 14 2012 22:02 utc | 5
Saudi Shiite Cleric Nimr Al-Nimr: We Should Rejoice in the Death of Crown Prince Nayyef
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSEG34wxgaY
Must see!
This is the cleric who was imprisoned few days ago in Saudi-Arabia.
yes, Antifo, that is cut by Memri, you may wonder if things were slightly taken out of context?
his Wikipedia entry makes him sound much more nuanced
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nimr_al-Nimr
Posted by: somebody | Jul 14 2012 23:08 utc | 7
@somebody
You're right that MEMRI brings videos without necessary context.
But you got the same video here
http://www.shiatv.net/view_video.php?viewkey=0e3fe7452d8392a54f57&page=&viewtype=&category=
LA lecture by Chris Hedges. Worth a listen, but, long.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/101740394
Posted by: ben | Jul 15 2012 3:56 utc | 9
Thank you for this blog. If you really do originate or connect to Alabama, you are further proof that good things can come from Alabama. As to your IP blocking fun, a friend was running a site for new release heavy metal music and bands. He kept getting spam attacks to his site and forum from a big block of addresses. He said they originated in China. Good luck with your efforts.
CMC
Posted by: Curtis1961 | Jul 15 2012 17:14 utc | 10
Do the Chris Hedges of this world think they're going to "lay a guilt trip" on the Reptilian Order? At which point they will relent and stop devouring people whole? Ain't gwine happen. No sirree!
Posted by: ruralito | Jul 15 2012 19:57 utc | 11
Hilarity Ensues as Russia Criticizes Saudi Arabia's Human Rights Record
http://www.forbes.com/sites/markadomanis/2012/07/15/hilarity-ensues-as-russia-criticizes-saudi-arabias-human-rights-record/
Worthwhile article by Mark Adomanis.
I kinda liked Hedge's line in histrionics for a while then I discovered that his idea of revolutionary change appears to be to replace one elite with another.
Chris Hedges' idea of a democratic underground is where he plus a few other disaffected elitists should determine how much of what "democracy" peeps can have. Do a google n check out his attack on the angry activist edge of last year's Occupy(©CHedges)actions. Revolutions can only succeed when all people, including those who express their rage, are included in the process.
Posted by: Debs is dead | Jul 15 2012 23:04 utc | 13
@13, yeah, it worked so well in the former Yugoslavia. When you invite thugs to the party, they end up taking it over.
Posted by: pl | Jul 15 2012 23:51 utc | 14
Special for the amerikan exceptionalists:
Last weekend was the 100th anniversary of Woody Guthrie's birth, so I though we could all benefit by this you tube clip that a human has constructed from music by Slim
Cessna's Auto Club; "This Land is Our Land Redux" plus a "Jesus is in My Body" and "Shady Lane" illustrated with Fallout fan art from Deviant Art.
Thanks to whoever made this clip.
Woody Guthrie may have been born 100 years ago but the change from the 'golden valleys' Guthrie wrote about to the dystopia that today's kids have drawn, took closer to 50 years than 100.
Those who like their metaphors symmetric, may consider reflecting on Fallout "The post apocalyptic role-playing game" whose V1.0 was a true exemplar of the art too few vid games aspire towards.
Fans waited a decade to play Fallout 3 which was meant to be a meeting of Fallout's art and the capability of high end information technology - I even considered buying the thing (a major for me striving to keep cash outta the mendacious claw of corporate amerika, but artists should be supported).
The resolution of this clash of personal values was un-necessary, of course, the greed-heads underwriting the development of Fallout 3, perverted the work. Fallout 3 is just another piece of instantly forgettable fodder for mass consumption. What other outcome could there have been?
Still,it is this seeming inevitability of capitalist dominance, which makes the empire, whose foundations rest upon the presumption of eternal corporate ascendancy, so vulnerable.
Posted by: Debs is dead | Jul 16 2012 1:05 utc | 15
Justin McCarthy is one of the leading non-Turkish historians who says it is fictitious and false propaganda that the Turks perpetrated a "genocide" against Armenians during World War One. In the following article by Justin McCarthy he presents a good summary of his position. It's about 14 printed pages long. I recommend it even if you don't have any interest in the Armenian-Turkish conflict or the Armenian genocide question. I assume you have an interest in some of the recurring themes that have been on the MoonOfAlabama board of late, and that's why I recommend this particular article about the Armenian question. I said it's about 14 pages but let me add that I found it's not a quick 14 pages.
Pictures being circulated claiming they're from #Burma massacre against Muslims, w/ original authentic picture sources:
http://farazahmed.com/muslims-killing-in-burma-and-our-social-media-islamic-parties-1010.aspx
once again fake captions are meant to mislead people and promote war
Posted by: brian | Jul 16 2012 8:00 utc | 17
Debs, what is ironic about Chris Hedges is that he is himself an example of the sophomoric, tepid, intellectual web he weaves.
quote:: Yet we refuse, because we cannot think and no longer listen to those who do think, to see what is about to happen to us. We have created entertaining mechanisms to obscure and silence the harsh truths, from climate change to the collapse of globalization to our enslavement to corporate power, that will mean our self-destruction. If we can do nothing else we must, even as individuals, nurture the private dialogue and the solitude that make thought possible. It is better to be an outcast, a stranger in one's own country, than an outcast from one's self. It is better to see what is about to befall us and to resist than to retreat into the fantasies embraced by a nation of the blind".
-excerpt from Turning a Blind Eye to Catastrophic Truths, on truthout.
http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/10223-turning-a-blind-eye
He is a 9/11 denier. Still, in the ‘faux intellectual’ range, he is better than J Landis or J Cole, right?, as overall he does make some good points and is active, not just posting and posing as a so-called expert? Or not, as more appealing, more influential? (harking back to a discussion on here about landis, cole and the angry arab.)
Mind you, being a foreign corr. for the NYT is some real serious bloody blot on one’s CV.
Posted by: Noirette | Jul 16 2012 13:34 utc | 18
This report death of KSA's assistant spy-master is, of course, questionable. It has been picked up by several other sites, and seems to orginate with Yemen's al-Fajr (at least that's what the Press TV report states). So far (to my knowledge) there is no official Saudi denial, so we can't yet assume that there is indeed something to it. Needless to say, more and better sourced information would be welcome.
Posted by: Hannah K. O'Luthon | Jul 23 2012 10:13 utc | 19
Five years of full-scale blockade of the Gaza Strip may have finally come to an end in the wee hours of Monday morning, with Egyptian officials announcing that they are opening the border unilaterally and completely to all Palestinians, including those stuck in the strip.Officials say that all Palestinians can enter Egypt at will now, without permits or visas, and that this will include not only those in Gaza, but Palestinians entering Egypt by plane from elsewhere and means a de facto opening of the Gaza border. Indeed the first travelers entering Egypt without this restriction were seven Palestinians who arrived by plane.
Posted by: Alexander | Jul 23 2012 13:39 utc | 20
Alexander, your article went overboard on how things will now be easy for Palestinians to come and go via Egypt with zero restrictions. This is not at all the case as visa requirements are still in effect and to cross visa-less, they must have proof of residency in a 3rd country and they have to transit within 72 hours.
If anything, Gazans should be thankful to the Americans for having lifted the US-imposed siege. It was a given that it was going to happen when the US pressured the SCAF to let the Brothers run in the elections and again when they pressured it to not monkey around with the results and let Mursi win. It was also to be expected when Hamas shut down its Damascus offices and relocated to the very pro-US Qatar in February which was followed a couple of weeks ago by mass anti-Assad demonstrations in Gaza. No surprises there, especially with Clinton in Egypt and Israel a few days ago probably to put the finishing touches on the conditions for border opening.
Posted by: www | Jul 23 2012 16:24 utc | 21
brian 17
brian
looks like burma n sri lanka are being set up for the r2p treatment ;-)
******************************
Adeel Muhammad Paracha · Peshawar, Pakistan
*where the hell r our so called Human Rights Activists, U.N. n thekeday USA?*
Syeda Shah
*Why isn't the UNHCR taking notice along with other international organizations!*
usa + unhcr = partnership in regime change ;-) [libya , syria....coming soon, burma, sri lanka ?]
*************************************
is it just coincidence that every non us compliant country is currently in turmoil , apparently in need of a r2p ?
for an answer, apply rule 2
*fukusi is behind every unrest in the world today*
http://tinyurl.com/cba2v5q
http://tinyurl.com/yadp9bs
Posted by: denk | Jul 23 2012 16:35 utc | 22
It seems that the Olympics are not the only games that London has hosted, in this case for a long and inglorious time .
Posted by: Hannah K. O'Luthon | Jul 28 2012 8:08 utc | 23
A notable departure. The article is interesting also for what it omits. Since the only explanation offered by the protagonist is his desire to return to academe, his departure provides an ample playing field for conspiracy theorists (and mere cynics) to do their shadow boxing and dwell on the gymnastics of arcana.
Posted by: Hannah K. O'Luthon | Aug 4 2012 8:14 utc | 24
This market report from FT Alphaville is, I think, in keeping with earlier forecasts by Chris Cook, e.g. at Naked Capitalism and again later.
A cynic might be lead to believe that the apparently wildly dysfunctional American foreign policy in Syria and the Middle East in general is in fact quite well calibrated to the needs of some powerful lobbies: add the need for support for petroleum prices of the British Petroleum-Goldman Sachs combine to the entrenched AIPAC interest in Islamic fratricide and one has a plausible explanation for the otherwise seemingly inexplicable ineptitude of U.S. policy makers. Of course, simple disinterested ineptitude is always an alternative possiblity, but it's more fun to see villains than fools among U.S. policymakers.
Posted by: Hannah K. O'Luthon | Aug 9 2012 13:08 utc | 25
The comments to this entry are closed.
Is Marco Rubio a George W. Bush II?
This is so much like 9-11: The closest US allies in Latin America are Colombia and Mexico, where the major drug cartels originated! So lets go after Venezuela! See the parallel? ---> GWB, upon seeing that the terrorists were spawned by Saudi Arabia, invades Iraq with the intent of eventually going onto Iran! Venezuela launders money of the narco-terrorists? Probably so, along with some major banks in the US!
Posted by: Maracatu | Jul 14 2012 18:53 utc | 1