Example of news filled with contradictions. Take your pick.

Posted by: Daniel Rich | Feb 17 2013 23:41 utc | 3

Just a couple of items: The propaganda war against Venezuela, and the re-election of Correa. Oh, and translated from Spanish:
The Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) has a new deputy, Moses, indigenous Tojolabal. During the 1994 armed eruption, he was Major, but recently attained the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the rebel military structure.

Posted by: Maracatu | Feb 17 2013 23:50 utc | 5

Britain’s 220,000 doctors are demanding a 20% increase in the cost of sugary drinks, fewer fast food outlets near schools and a ban on unhealthy food in hospitals to prevent the country’s spiralling obesity crisis becoming unresolvable.
My own solution is remarkably simple: eat everything with one chopstick.

Posted by: Daniel Rich | Feb 18 2013 0:46 utc | 7

Disabled Marine rifles at inauguration signal shift in administration policy.

Posted by: Daniel Rich | Feb 18 2013 3:25 utc | 9

@10 “(Reuters) – Four U.S. congressmen met an Iranian dissident leader on Sunday and urged President Barack Obama to treat her group as an alternative to Tehran’s government, four months after its removal from a list of terrorist organizations”
In before West declares MEK as the only representative of Iranian people 😉

Posted by: Harry | Feb 18 2013 4:54 utc | 11

The removal of wrestling will effect over 200 countries, most of the Eastern bloc has 2 sports, weightlifting and wrestling. Wrestling is at its highest since 2008, with the growth of MMA it has increased as one of the core disciplines. Go to Bellator MMA, or https://www.facebook.com/officialkeepwrestlingintheolympics?fref=ts and stop the removal of wrestling from the Olympics.
End of the day wrestling has been around for thousands of years, the Olympic has added some daft sports, like rhythmic gymnastics, badminton, Dressage (elitist and anal), steeple chase, race walking, even soccer is not suited, as it is a World/global professional game that has standing, status and money! Sad to see such a rated part of history replaced with a shuttle-COCK.

Posted by: Kev | Feb 18 2013 8:33 utc | 13

@Kev (17) – The Tu-95 is not obsolete. Current Bears were built in the 80s/early 90s and upgraded in 2005. They are now receiving further upgrades and will get the new Kh-101/102 missiles.
They are still able to fulfill their mission of strategic dissuasion and will be around for the next 20 years or more.

Posted by: z | Feb 18 2013 11:45 utc | 15

god damn, fukusans overwhelmingly support state terrorism !!!
http://space4peace.blogspot.com/2013/02/us-stands-alone-in-world.html

Posted by: denk | Feb 18 2013 15:51 utc | 17

Kev @ 13: Thanks for the Wrestling link. Can’t fathom why they’d drop Wrestling, it’s a core sport. What’s next, dropping Track & Field for basket weaving?

Posted by: ben | Feb 18 2013 16:38 utc | 19

There´s a new post about Hasan Arbakesh, the 1965 Tajik film classic at my blog.
here

Posted by: Martin Trueman | Feb 18 2013 20:49 utc | 21

Bennett: No Palestine in ‘God-given’ Land of Israel.

Posted by: Daniel Rich | Feb 19 2013 4:01 utc | 23

@Dan #{{24}}, That is a cracking term “A self hating Jew” a term growing in use, the only flaw I find is the term, most ‘Jew Hating Jews’ who are not from Israel and tend to love themselves, inexplicably hard to hard to define! In context, but not about a Jew or an “Ethnic Jew” or “non-observant Jew” or “non-religious Jew” or “non-practicing Jew”, lastly a “secular Jew”. I met many ‘good eggs’ in various countries but when home they become scrambled. Once I asked friend that displayed this very same character trait, and who held the post of Chief of the Cabinet why he felt obliged to become his Evil twin when back ‘home’ – The answer was simple, he could! Back in context, it seems all ‘self hating Jews’ are more or less excommunicated because of not being Jewish enough or one that serves no other purpose than to marginalise and demonise political opponents, or anyone with a alternate view. I find the term term “Uncle Tom” used in the African-American community much the same, and now I am suffering from White guilt…

Posted by: Kev | Feb 19 2013 6:12 utc | 25

I have been reading up, somewhat quickly and superficially, but it ain’t that complicated – about the new banking law in France, which was supposed to separate activities as Glass-Steagall did. It was adopted on Tuesday, 315 contra 161.
It is a crock of sh*t.
The main points are perhaps best summed up in a letter signed by 75 economists (of many stripes and theoretical bents …)
Libération, 16 feb. in F:
http://tinyurl.com/b6eydxe
For ex. If a F bank is to be bailed out, dismantled, or allowed to fail (and presumably whatever else) will be decided by exactly two ppl – the Head of the Central Bank, and the Sec. of the Treasury.
Bank holdings (how anyone figured that out is moot) are 340% of GDP and the ‘separation’ of activities will concern between less than 1% and under 2% of bank ‘products..’ How’s them apples?
This is extremely alarming. First, lack of democratic control – Parliament? nope – and ‘empty, fake’ legislation falsely presented (socialist Gvmt. and media), second, the content itself.
Some may recall that Sarkozy tried to set up and create sub-prime mortgages when the scandal had already erupted!
EU chatter, or grave oh so serious hand-wringing about fiscal harmony and the like is completely irrelevant when compared to such decisions.
Meanwhile, in CH we are voting on the Minder initiative. (3 March is official date.) It will be accepted. It is not on the same topic as it concerns salaries, bonuses, and the like in public traded Swiss Cos. Which includes banks.
See next post for some press in Eng. Not great – distortions, shoddy facts, etc. – but gives some idea.

Posted by: Noirette | Feb 19 2013 17:42 utc | 27

I heard an interesting admisson made on CBC’s As It Happens by Karen Abuzayd, UN human rights investigator on Syria. Abuzayd’s UN group has just released a report stating that there is evidence enough to bring leaders in Syria to the International Criminal Court for war crimes, etc.
But the only really interesting thing she said was this:
“…Milosovic had a lot of his population strongly behind him, throughout, until the end, until now I would say, and the same goes for President Assad – there’s quite a number of the population, maybe as many as half, if not more, who stand behind him.”
So half, if not more, of the population of Syria support President Assad? This is what I suspected but judging from the English language reports I see one would get the impression that Assad has almost no support. The rebels are made to be one and the same with “Syrian people” in the Western reports I see and read.

Posted by: J. Bradley | Feb 19 2013 20:19 utc | 29

Talking about “self-hating Jews”, I happen to be on this list:
http://www.masada2000.org/shit-list.html
I am not a Jew. Never wrote a LTE about Israel. I guess they got it that I do not approve of the Israeli government’s policies and tactics from blog posts like this one.

Posted by: Susan | Feb 20 2013 1:40 utc | 31

From the economic trenches comes this interesting post from Karl over at Market Watch: This”>http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=217702/”>This could NEVER happen here?

He’s talking about the Japanese internment during WWII and why Americans should be more worried than most are. The comments are always the most interesting.
Peace

Posted by: DaveS | Feb 20 2013 13:44 utc | 33

@34: Hey DaveS, thanks for the reminder. True, how true!

Posted by: ben | Feb 20 2013 16:27 utc | 35

der diplomat is cute
it censor my posts but let me complain about it !

Posted by: denk | Feb 22 2013 8:34 utc | 37

@ DaveS [#35],
My friend’s dad was in one of those camps. Later he was allowed to fight in Italy, where he met his future wife and went back to LA after the war. Of course, whatever I’ve heard is hearsay, but what happened back then [amongst many other horrible injustices] is a stain on ‘our’ collective consciousness.

Posted by: Daniel Rich | Feb 22 2013 9:29 utc | 39

Say it ain’t so!
New Iranian fighter jet is a plastic fake? Or is it just the picture that is fake?
I had really wanted it to be real.

Posted by: Jake | Mar 4 2013 15:21 utc | 41

if u dont buy the washington consensus
uncle sham will bring *democracy* to u
http://nilebowie.blogspot.sg/2013/02/asia-times-malaysian-polls-reflect-us.html
plus bit of destabilisation ?
http://www.smh.com.au/world/malaysia-army-hunts-doortodoor-in-sabah-20130306-2fkgy.html?skin=text-only
************************************************************
*GAMING THE ZONE: WILD MEN IN BORNEO?
An alliance willing to defy the UN and to use first-strike nukes as
it sees fit will not hesitate to fudge a little chaos in order to
secure long-term power projection bases in Asia. The United
States has fudged chaos in the Philippines before.
The first President Bush saluted America s first covert Filipino-
Muslim freedom fighters, and his son s inner circle has its own
reasons to resurrect the secret Muslim army trick. As soon as
Arroyo signs the Pentagon s proposed mutual support
agreement, any unrest in Sabah, Zamboanga City or Mindanao
means the US must intervene.
The Rand study advised the Pentagon to keep the zone warm
militarily. That is the purpose of the current rolling series of anti-
terror exercises against the CIA s Abu Sayyaf Group. That was
also the likely purpose of the terror-bomber rescued by the Bush
White House.
Future events will reveal America s game plan for Southeast
Asia and who the confederates are.
Last month, after a series of disturbances in Sabah work camps,
Malaysia expelled an estimated 30,000 undocumented Filipino
laborers from the troubled state in North Borneo that so many
CIA plots seem to target…a state where the Bangsamoro army
claimed in February to have 50,000 insurgents armed and
funded by the USA and other super-powers.
To protest the expulsion, Arroyo immediately moved to renew
the Philippine claim to Sabah. The President has ordered her
chief Army officer to prepare for all emergencies and to develop
the new rules of engagement we need . To guarantee the safety
of returning workers, she has proposed the permanent stationing
of a Philippine navy ship off the Sabah coast.
On October 6, she called for even closer security ties with the
United States.
http://www.declarepeace.org.uk/captain/murder_inc/site/gladio/030309Fake.html

Posted by: denk | Mar 6 2013 3:29 utc | 43