In the land of facades, mark the first signs of an Indian spring 29 December 2011 When the early morning fog rises and drifting skeins from wood fires carry the sweet smell of India, the joggers arrive in Lodi Gardens. Past the tomb of Mohammed Shah, the 15th century Munghal ruler, [...]
Alan Dershowitz’s regular little performances are eminently ignorable, including the one reproduced below. But since I’ve been asked several times for comments on this one, a few follow. Dershowitz’s opens by writing that “Chomsky is circulating a letter which he got two naïve Nobel Prize winners–the playwright Harold Pinter and the [...]
Australian farmer Wendy Bowman (Photo: Jason Margolis) It’s not easy being a farmer in Australia these days. They had 12 years of drought. The government is threatening to cut water supplies. And if that weren’t enough, many farmers feel they’re second fiddle to the mining industry. Take the example of Wendy Bowman. “Next door to [...]
Obama Glad He’s Killing Lots of People But Prefers Not to Know Too Much About Who They Are By davidswanson - Posted on 30 December 2011 From The Atlantic: The enormous expansion of drone operations has been a success in the narrowest sense of killing some bad guys. But it has come at [...]
The memorial flier from Army Staff Sgt. Jared Hagemann’s funeral. He died of a gunshot wound to the head this year after eight combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, as another deployment to Afghanistan loomed. (Elaine Thompson, Associated Press / December 26, 2011) ALSO Comprehensive Soldier Fitness program aims to equip troops mentally [...]
A series of bombings claimed by Boko Haram hit cities around Nigeria on Christmas Day [Reuters] Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan has declared a state of emergency in some northern and central parts of the country that have been hit hard by violence blamed on the radical sect, Boko Haram. Affected Areas: Borno State - Maidugiri [...]
US Sending Iraq $11 Billion in Arms, Despite Maliki’s Turn Towards Dictatorship John Glaser, December 29, 2011 Print This | Share This | Comment | Antiwar Forum Pointing out Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki’s turn towards dictatorship is no longer a fad for opposition members of parliament and voiceless Iraqi subjects. [...]
AFP Secular Israelis arguing with an ultra-Orthodox Jewish man in Beit Shemesh earlier this week. Ultra-Orthodox Jewish groups in Israel would like to see gender separation in public, and some have stooped to harassing women — and even children – to get their way. With thousands of Israelis protesting against the growing influence [...]
REUTERS A ceremony to mark the launch of the euro coins in Frankfurt in December 2001: The euro was always built on delusions. Since its inception, the euro zone has been built on lies, the most grievous of which is the idea that the common currency could work without political union. [...]
How the People Got Their Groove Back: What a Bunch of Farmers Can Teach a Bunch of Occupiers About How to Keep on Going By Ashley Sanders http://warisacrime.org/content/how-people-got-their-groove-back-what-bunch-farmers-can-teach-bunch-occupiers-about-how-keep Not so long ago, Americans witnessed the beginning of a mass democratic uprising. Thousands of average people, [...]
Officially the two Republican frontrunners are Newt “the Palestinians are an invented people” Gingrich andMitt ”Obama has pushed Israel under a bus” Romney. Both are political whores locked in a competition of their own as well as with President Obama for Zionist lobby organized campaign funds and American Jewishvotes. (In a very close election race the latter could determine who becomes president). The [...]
A Tale of Two Cities: Weimar and Washington by Philip Giraldi, December 29, 2011 | Print This | Share This | Antiwar Forum Mark Twain is credited with saying that “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it rhymes.” Today’s United States is often compared to other historic nations, whether at their prime or about to decline and fall depending on one’s [...]
Urging Obama to Stop Rush to Iran War A torrent of war propaganda against Iran is flooding the American political scene as U.S. neocons and Israeli hardliners see an opening for another war in the Middle East by Ray McGovern and Elizabeth Murray President Obama needs to put an abrupt halt to the game of Persian Roulette [...]
Perhaps the saying that fascism always begins at home is not so far fetched. But it is a little late to look at one aspect and then declare that this is the beginning. Unfortunately for the highly propagandized US population there has been a slow creep toward a fascist nation occurring for [...]
Click the image to enlarge or see more. If this does not work please go to the article at: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=449088 George Ikners ikners.com (Reuters/Mohamad Torokman) Demonstrators clash with Israeli forces in Nabi Saleh near Ramallah on Friday at a weekly protest against Israel‘s confiscation of village land. On Dec. 9, an Israeli soldier fired a tear [...]
Worshipers are seen through an Iranian national flag as they attend Friday prayers in Tehran, Dec. 30. (Reuters/Morteza Nikoubazl) BRUSSELS (Reuters) — The European Union is open to meaningful talks with Tehran provided there are no preconditions on the Iranian side, an EU foreign policy spokesman said on Saturday. Earlier, Iran‘s semi-official Mehr news [...]
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad helps to rebuild a Bedouin makeshift house near Hebron a day after the Israeli army destroyed it. (MaanImages/Mustafa Abu Dayeh, Pool) By Sam Bahour It’s the end of the year and time to turn the page after a bit of reflecting. What better way to reflect [...]
An Afghan girl who was tortured for months after refusing prostitution lies on a hospital bed in Kabul Dec. 31. (Reuters/Omar Sobhani) By Hamid Shalizi KABUL (Reuters) — A 15-year-old Afghan girl was brutally tortured, beaten and locked in a toilet by her husband’s family for months after she refused to become a prostitute, officials [...]
Medics treat a boy injured in Israel‘s air strike in An-Nasser Hospital in Gaza City. (MaanImages/Hatem Omar, File) GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — As 2011 draws to an end, medical shortages in the Gaza Strip have reached their highest levels, a spokesman for Gaza’s Health Ministry said Saturday. Ashraf al-Qidra told Ma’an that medics in the [...]
Iran’s top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili says his country is ready to return to the table. Photograph: Olivier Hoslet/EPA Iran proposes to reopen nuclear talks Islamic republic says it has notified UN of its intention to resume negotiations amid confusion over reported missile tests Iran has proposed to reopen negotiations about its controversial nuclear [...]
A new study of the dangers posed by PIP’s breast implants is to be conducted by the British authorities. Photograph: Boris Horvat/AFP/Getty Images Breast implants scandal: Andrew Lansley orders new review of dangers Health secretary asks for study of risks posed by faulty French implants after new information leaves him ‘worried’ The government is to [...]
White House Rejects Calls for Oversight on Drone Killings Officials Insist Congress Doesn’t Need Details by Jason Ditz, December 30, 2011 | Print This | Share This | Antiwar Forum For quite some time this site has been warning about the use of drones and the [...]
Mossad Chief: Iranian Nuclear Weapon Wouldn’t Be Existential Threat Says Term Being ‘Used Too Freely’ by Jason Ditz, December 30, 2011 | Print This | Share This | Antiwar Forum Speaking at a meeting of top Israeli ambassadors in Jerusalem, Mossad chief Tamir Pardo [...]
Crackpot Anti-Islam Activists, ‘Serial Fabricators,’ and the Tale of Iran and 9/11 by Gareth Porter, December 31, 2011 | Print This | Share This | Antiwar Forum Behind a mysterious Dec. 22 Associated Press story about “finding of fact” by a district judge in Manhattan Friday that Iran assisted al-Qaeda in the planning of the 9/11 attacks is a tapestry [...]
We here in Australia carry the same shame when it comes to the killing and murder. The cost although still large in money terms only highlights how little the elites and their stooge politicians and fake intellectuals care about the people. George Ikners ikners.com gikners@gmail.com Cost Of war Number Of Iraqis Slaughtered [...]
We here in Australia carry the same shame when it comes to the killing and murder. The cost although still large in money terms only highlights how little the elites and their stooge politicians and fake intellectuals care about the people. George Ikners ikners.com gikners@gmail.com Cost Of war Number Of Iraqis Slaughtered [...]
U.S. Doubts Intelligence That Led to Yemen Strike By ADAM ENTOUS and JULIAN E. BARNES in Washington and MARGARET COKER in Abu Dhabi Top U.S. military leaders who oversaw missile strikes last year against al Qaeda targets in Yemen suspect they were fed misleading intelligence by the country’s government and were duped into killing a local [...]
UAE Said to Sign Lockheed Thaad Pact Valued to $3.49 Billion December 30, 2011, 11:19 AM EST Lockheed Gets $1.96 Billion UAE Order for Missile Interceptors FAA Pilot Oversight ‘Lacks Rigor,’ U.S. Investigator Says ‘Cool’ Bus Trips Surge as Wi-Fi Beats Driving, Study Shows U.S., Saudi Sign Boeing F-15 Fighter Deal Proposed [...]
REUTERS/Stringer Locals carry a victim, killed in air strikes, to the morgue of a hospital in Uludere, of the Sirnak province December 29, 2011. Turkish warplanes launched air strikes against suspected Kurdish militants in northern Iraq near the Turkish border overnight, the military said on Thursday, but local officials said the attack killed 35 smugglers [...]
“Only reason can convince us of those three fundamental truths: without a recognition of which there can be no effective liberty: That what we believe is not necessarily true; that what we like is not necessarily good; and that all questions are open.” - – Clive Bell - (1881-1964) – Source: Civilization, 1928 [...]
Senator Saxby Chambliss, who says the detainees would ‘likely continue to pose a threat to the United States’. Photograph: Tami Chappell/Reuters The Obama administration is considering transferring to Afghan custody a senior Taliban official suspected of major human rights abuses as part of a remote bid to improve the prospects of a peace deal in Afghanistan, Reuters has learned. The [...]
Testimony of a Palmach fighter who expelled Palestinians During the Nakba Video and Transcript view video at: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article30116.htm December 30, 2011 “Information Clearing House” - The Israeli group Zochrot has posted a video testimony from Amnon Neumann, a man who fought with the Palmach during the Nakba of 1948. According to their web site, “Zochrot (‘Remembering’) [...]
U.S. Behind Deliberate Murder Of Qadhafi: Russia By Vladimir Radyuhin December 30, 2011 “The Hindu” –Russia has accused the United States and NATO of large-scale violations of human rights during the military operation in Libya, including the deliberate murder of its leader Muammar Gaddafi and the killing of hundreds of [...]
How Many U.S. Soldiers Were Wounded in Iraq? Guess Again. By Dan Froomkin December 30, 2011 “Information Clearing House” - Reports about the end of the war in Iraq routinely describe the toll on the U.S. military the way the Pentagon does: 4,487 dead, and 32,226 wounded. The death count is accurate. But the [...]
‘Terrible’ and Plenty of It: The Oil That Comes in from the Cold by Humberto CARACAS – Thanks to soaring oil prices and new technology, oil producers in the hot sands of Arabia, the torrid Niger delta or the humid plains of the Orinoco are facing new competition from rivals in the frozen North. Greenpeace [...]
Contractors’ Role Grows in Drone Missions, Worrying Some in the Military by David S. Cloud WASHINGTON — After a U.S. airstrike mistakenly killed at least 15 Afghans in 2010, the Army officer investigating the accident was surprised to discover that an American civilian had played a central role: analyzing video feeds from a Predator drone [...]
World Pays Ecuador Not to Extract Oil from Rainforest Governments and film stars join alliance that raises £75m to compensate Ecuador for lost revenue from 900m barrels by John Vidal An alliance of European local authorities, national governments, US film stars, Japanese shops, soft drink companies and Russian foundations have stepped in to prevent oilcompanies exploiting [...]
Pakistan‘s president, Asif Ali Zardari, faces questions over links the the ‘memogate’ scandal, which is being investigated by the supreme court Photograph: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images Pakistan‘s supreme court is to investigate the scandal surrounding an unsigned memo – reportedly sent by a close ally of the president, Asif Ali Zardari, to the US after Osama [...]
Brighton beach on 1 October 2011 – the hottest October day on record in the UK. Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images 2011 has been the second warmest year on record for the UK, according to the Met Office. It said provisional figures show that only 2006, with an average temperature of 9.73C (49.5F) was warmer than 2011′s [...]
The Sad, Sad World of Israel’s Big-time Liars ‘A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes’ –attributed to Mark Twain By Stuart Littlewood Meet another of Israel’s undesirables, Yuli Edelstein. He is the regime’s Propaganda Minister (or to be more precise, Minister for Dis-information [...]
And the flag that refuses to lie down. (Julie Webb) By Mohammed AlNadi – GazaIn Israel, nothing is more rewarding than committing systematic mass killings and war crimes against Palestinians. It seems, according to Israel’s moral system and code of conduct, nothing is more trivial than a Palestinian life. Inflicting death on Palestinians is not [...]
Israeli forces demolished a home and animal shelter in Susiya, another small community in southern Hebron, on Nov. 24, 2011. (MaanImages/EAPPI, HO) HEBRON (Ma’an) — Israeli forces ordered the demolition of 13 structures in two hamlets in the southernmost border of the West Bank on Thursday. The soldiers blocked all entrances to Imneizil before delivering [...]
Residents of Khan Younis inspect damage to their land and houses after an incursion of Israeli tanks. (MaanImages/Hatem Omar, File) GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Israeli tanks on Friday opened fire on Zaitoun neighborhood south of Gaza City, witnesses said. Locals reported hearing huge explosions. Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said no injuries had been [...]
A Palestinian man herds sheep near a construction site at a Jewish settlement near Jerusalem. (Reuters/Baz Ratner) BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Britain’s Minister for the Middle East and North Africa Alistair Burt on Friday condemned Israel’s plans to expand an illegal settlement and build a tourism center in occupied East Jerusalem. Jerusalem municipality on Wednesday approved [...]
The year 2011 saw the rise of a new country, the fall of long-time leaders and the tragedies and triumphs in between This was perhaps the biggest news year in the last two decades. In 2011, protesters overthrew entrenched autocracies, the US caught its most wanted man, a devastating earthquake and tsunami thrashed Japan, a new [...]
Only 41 per cent of Bangladesh‘s 142 million people have access to electricity from the sluggish national grid [EPA] DHAKA, BANGLADESH - The sun never shone brighter on rural Bangladesh with low power solar systems transforming the lives of tens of millions of marginalised rural people who are unconnected to the national grid. Nizamuddin Sheikh, 52, who [...]
Toxteth, Liverpool, where rioting prompted ministers to consider a ‘managed decline’ during which residents would be encouraged to move elsewhere. Photograph: Sipa Press/Rex Features Margaret Thatcher‘s closest ministers came close to writing off Liverpoolin the aftermath of the 1981 inner-city riots and even raised the prospect of its partial evacuation, according to secret cabinet papers released [...]
J The Israeli and British flags are often flown side-by-side at English Defence League protests [GALLO/GETTY] Right-wing movements previously associated with anti-Semitic and neo-Nazi ideologies are increasingly opting for a surprising tactic to garner legitimacy within mainstream politics: Forging alliances with extremist Jewish organisations under the banner of fighting “Islamisation”. “Far-right parties are professing a new found love [...]
. Saleh al-Mutlaq, a prominent Sunni politician, has been placed on ‘extended leave’ [EPA] Baghdad, Iraq - Less than 24 hours after the US military withdrew the last of its occupation forces from Iraq, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ordered an arrest warrant for Vice-President Tariq al-Hashimi on terrorism charges. Maliki, a Shia, levelled the charges against the highest ranking [...]
Iran‘s Navy Commander Habibullah Sayari holds a news conference in Tehran before the start of a 10-day war game in the Strait of Hormuz [Reuters] Sayari points at a map of the region where Iranian submarines, surface-to-sea missile systems, missile-launching vessels, torpedoes and drones will be tested [Reuters] Military personnel place a flag on a [...]
