Pan-African News Wire: Fighting Kills at Least 43 in Somalia Capital

Pan-African News Wire: Fighting Kills at Least 43 in Somalia Capital: "Fighting kills at least 43 in Somali capital

12 July 2009 MOGADISHU - Somali government troops backed by African Union peacekeepers battled insurgents on Sunday in clashes that killed at least 43 people in north Mogadishu, residents and officials said.

Somalia’s government and a 4,300-strong AU force (AMISOM) have been unable to take control of rebel strongholds in Mogadishu and other parts of the Horn of Africa nation despite international support and training.

“We have killed 40 fighters from al Shabaab group and we continue to repulse them. We have now pushed them back from three northern districts of Mogadishu. AU peacekeepers were assisting us,” said Salad Ali Jelle, a parliamentarian who was involved in Sunday’s fighting."

Fourth World Eye � Blog Archive � Blood for Oil

Fourth World Eye � Blog Archive � Blood for Oil: "As President Obama announces his plans for accelerated development in Africa, one is reminded that a quarter of the Earth’s mineral resources are located there, including substantial oil reserves. As the Pentagon formulates its plans for expanding the US military presence on the African continent, one wonders how much blood Obama will shed to keep Africa’s oil flowing to our shores. Given that the financial giant Goldman Sachs, which financed the political career of President Obama, is also a major trader of global oil, we expect the answer to that question is “quite a lot”."

STRENGTH IN NUMBERS STOP AKAKA BILL ON VOICES OF TRUTH - ONE-ON-ONE WITH HAWAI`I'S FUTURE

Free Hawai`i

The momentum to stop the Akaka bill, US federal legislation which would legitimize the illegal US takeover and occupation of Hawai`i, continues to grow.

Now, there’s not one but two petitions online for you to sign to make known your opposition to this bill.

Last week we told you about StopAkakaPetition.com. You can also sign the other online petition here.

We urge you to take a moment and sign both. Here’s why – two different petitions were combined successfully to kill the proposed annexation treaty of Hawai`i before the US Senate back in 1897.

If they could do it then, we can certainly honor those patriots by following in their footsteps and do it now.

19 years later: On the Fraudulent theft of Mohawk Land

While the “Oka Crisis” has been long buried by most Canadians, the Fraudulent theft that led to it remains completely unresolved, as Ellen Gabriel from the Mohawk community o Kanehsatake illustrates in the following Press Release, issued to mark the “Oka Crisis” which began exactly 19 years ago today, on July 11, 1990.

In the Press Release, Gabriel, puts forward a series of recommendations to the various levels of Government who’ve proven time and again to work in collusion against the sovereignty and land rights of the Mohawk People.

To learn more about the events surrounding Oka, see: Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance.

Zelaya asks the�Dominican President�to be his spokesman (Update) - DominicanToday.com

Zelaya asks the�Dominican President�to be his spokesman (Update) - DominicanToday.com: "SANTO DOMINGO.- Honduras president Manuel Zelaya arrived in the National Palace at 9:05 a.m. Friday, where his Dominican par Leonel Fernandez received him with full military honors

They met for around 45 minutes and said they'll hold a press conference aftewards..

Zelaya, in a brief telephone interview on Z-101 FM radio fefore arriving in the National Palace, had said he’ll ask Fernandez to be his spokesman and state his position on the coup, in the Summit of Non-Allied Countries in Egypt."

Blogspot: Friends of Peltier: 28 Jul, SF: Sunrise Prayer Vigil and Rally

Blogspot: Friends of Peltier: 28 Jul, SF: Sunrise Prayer Vigil and Rally

The American Indian Movement (AIM) and AIM-WEST of San Francisco invites you the general public for an early morning SUN RISE PRAYER VIGIL and RALLY on Tuesday, July 28, 2009 calling for the Freedom of Leonard Peltier.

On Tuesday, July 28th the US Parole Commission in Lewisburg, Penn. will review the case of Leonard Peltier, held in prison for over three decades. This is the best opportunity Leonard will get during his entire period of incarceration to a fair review of his case before the US Parole Commission. The whole world is watching and waiting!

Please join with us in solidarity with Leonard, his family and relations, friends and supporters from around the world on this day and let us pray for an open mind, and to let the healing of America begin.

The general public is invited to join with us in San Francisco at the Federal Building 450 Golden Gate Avenue for an early morning SUN -RISE PRAYER VIGIL beginning at 6 am until 3 pm. All Drummers and Singers, Dancers, Community Youth and Elders, solidarity organizations and NGO’s are urged to join with us to celebrate this special occasion. Religious groups and social movements are also encouraged to attend this spiritual gathering and stand together hand in hand, burning sacred sage, being of one mind in Peace calling upon the US Parole Commission to finally release Leonard Peltier from three decades of incarceration for a crime he did not commit!

There will be special invited speakers, and the media and press are welcome to cover the event.

The public is encouraged to immediately call today the office of Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House, in SF at 415-556-4862 to remind her to write a letter to the US Parole Commission by July 14th just as she did in August 1993 to Attorney General Janet Reno (see attached) asking for a review of the circumstances behind this case in view of discrepancies in handling it’s process. Congresswoman Pelosi is also invited to address the VIGIL on July 28 in SF if she happens to be in the CITY. The SF County Board of Supervisor’s are also encouraged to come and support these efforts for Leonard’s release from prison.

This is a peaceful and non-violent gathering on behalf of Leonard and his family and to always be respectful and honorable in seeking his freedom. For more information call at 415-577-1492.

Thank You All My Relations!

Antonio Gonzales
AIM-WEST Director

eltonyg@earthlink.net
www.aimwest.info
www.aimovement.org

Congress kept in dark�about secret counterterrorism�initiative. - By Justin Peters - Slate Magazine

Congress kept in dark�about secret counterterrorism�initiative. - By Justin Peters - Slate Magazine: "By Justin PetersPosted Sunday, July 12, 2009, at 3:48 AM ET

The New York Times leads with news that, under instructions from former Vice President Dick Cheney, the CIA deliberately failed to tell Congress about a secret counterterrorism program. The Washington Post leads with news that Attorney General Eric Holder is considering whether to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate allegations that CIA operatives tortured terrorism suspects. The Los Angeles Times leads a recap of President Obama's visit to Ghana, where he gave a speech exhorting the African continent to take responsibility for its own future."

وكالة أنباء العربي الغاضب: There is colonial feminism: O, White Man. Save her.

The Angry Arab News Service/وكالة أنباء العربي الغاضب: There is colonial feminism: O, White Man. Save her.

Look at this woman writing about women in the newspaper of the Abu Dhabi's ruling family. Basically, it is along the lines of: O, White Man. Come and save me. O, White Man. Where are your armies to bomb me and save me? And notice that she is writing in English. If she really wants to make change, why would she be writing in the English language mouthpice of the House of Nahyan in UAE? And then she gets scientific: "Indeed women all over Asia and the Middle East are harassed constantly." Notice that she has no qualms in saying "women all over" the region of brown and black people and then adds a scientic statement that is based on empirical research: that women are "harassed constantly." What does constantly mean? Non-stop? Every hour? And she in this silly article clearly operates from an epistimological distinction between East and West: in the West--according to her--there are no such things are harassment, and just as Nawal Saadawi did in that lousy little book called The Hidden Face of Eve, she relates matters of sexism and harrassment to the peculiar conditions of the East.

Of course, she manages to pay tribute to the UAE's ruling families: "The Emirates is the most female-friendly country in the Middle East." She then manages to sound racist and classist at the same time: she blames the poor Asian workers for harrassment because as is well known the White Man in the West does not harrass or abuse or murder women, although the rates of abuse and murder of women are much higher, say, in the US than in the countries she is talking about. "Many of the labourers in the Emirates have also had little exposure to the outside world because they are from small towns. When they move here, it is often their first contact with the rich and developed world.

They have a natural curiosity about the way westerners live because they have snatched glimpses of it in films. European and North American expatriates have a lifestyle labourers can never hope to attain, and wandering around a mall on a hot Friday afternoon is an opportunity to experience that which embodies all the wealth, glamour and power of the West: the mobile phones, the high-definition televisions, men in clean, pressed suits, women in skimpy clothes."

Babylon damaged during US occupation: UNESCO - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Babylon damaged during US occupation: UNESCO - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation): "Substantial damage was caused to the ancient city of Babylon by a military base set up there after the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, according to a UNESCO report.

The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) said that Babylon now needs urgent renovation work.

'In view of Babylon's historical and archaeological significance, recent allegations of damage to the site during its military use were particularly serious,' director of UNESCO's Office for Iraq Mohamed Djelid said."

African American Political Pundit Blog: Palin Wants Michael Steele's Job,

African American Political Pundit Blog: Palin Wants Michael Steele's Job,: "AAPP: It's unfortunate that Michael Steele can't smell the coffee. Even as Politico.com reports on how Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele said he would love to see Palin become more engaged in national politics. well connected Republican sources report that Palin would love to have Steele's job in order to rebuild her creds within the party. Micheal Steeles comments that he is“very excited about the opportunity to have Sarah Palin freed up now to engage across the country to help, you know, reorient the party and grow it.” may be an omen say some party leaders who wish to remain annonymous."

Obama Tells Africa Not to Blame White's For Africa's Failures...WTF??

In personal terms, Obama hails Africa's promise - Yahoo! News: "By BEN FELLER, Associated Press Writer Ben Feller, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 14 mins ago

ACCRA, Ghana – America's president and Africa's son, Barack Obama dashed with pride onto the continent of his ancestors Saturday, challenging its people to shed corruption and conflict in favor of peace. Campaigning to all of Africa, he said 'Yes you can.'

'I say this knowing full well the tragic past that has sometimes haunted this part of the world,' Obama told a riveted Ghanaian Parliament. 'I have the blood of Africa within me.'

In the faces of those who lined the streets and in many of Obama's own words, this trip was personal. Beyond his message, the story was his presence — the first black U.S. president coming to poor, proud, predominantly black sub-Sahara Africa for his first time in office.

The emotional touchstone of his visit: a tour of Cape Coast Castle, the cannon-lined fortress where slaves were kept in squalid dungeons, then shipped in chains to America through a 'Door of No Return' that opens to the sea."

Mourn on the 4th of July | CommonDreams.org

Mourn on the 4th of July | CommonDreams.org: "Liberals say that the United States is once again a 'nation of moral ideals', but behind the fa�ade little has changed. With his government of warmongers, Wall Street cronies and polluters from the Bush and Clinton eras, Barack Obama is merely upholding the myths of a divine America

by John Pilger
The monsoon had woven thick skeins of mist over the central highlands of Vietnam. I was a young war correspondent, bivouacked in the village of Tuylon with a unit of US marines whose orders were to win hearts and minds. 'We are here not to kill,' said the sergeant, 'we are here to impart the American Way of Liberty as stated in the Pacification Handbook. This is designed to win the hearts and minds of folks, as stated on page 86.'

Page 86 was headed WHAM. The sergeant's unit was called a combined action company, which meant, he explained, 'we attack these folks on Mondays and we win their hearts and minds on Tuesdays'. He was joking, though not quite. Standing in a jeep on the edge of a paddy, he had announced through a loudhailer: 'Come on out, everybody. We got rice and candy and toothbrushes to give you.'

Silence. Not a shadow moved."

New Evidence Surfaces in Post-Katrina Crimes | CommonDreams.org

[Donnell Herrington (Credit: Chandra McCormick & Keith Calhoun)]

New Evidence Surfaces in Post-Katrina Crimes | CommonDreams.org: "Television news reports are casting new light on the violence that flourished in New Orleans in the anarchic days after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.�
The reports -- broadcast Thursday by WTAE TV in Pittsburgh [1] and WDSU in New Orleans [2] -- focus on two unsolved crimes: the near-fatal shooting of Donnell Herrington, who was allegedly attacked by a group of white vigilantes in the Algiers Point neighborhood, and the murder of Henry Glover, whose charred remains were discovered on a Mississippi River levee. Both victims are African American."

At the center of the news reports is a disturbing and grisly amateur video shot by a pair of private investigators in September 2005 and obtained recently by WTAE journalist Jim Parsons. (Full disclosure: This reporter was interviewed for the WTAE and WDSU stories.)

The private detectives, Mike Orsini and Istvan Balogh, are Pennsylvanians who traveled to New Orleans to volunteer in the wake of the storm. Orsini is a former police officer, while Balogh is an ex-corrections officer. They spent nearly two weeks camped out in Algiers Point, a middle class, largely white enclave nestled on the west bank of the Mississippi River.

On the video, a former Algiers Point resident talks calmly about shooting people. That man, Paul Gleeson claimed that he and his fellow gunmen shot 38 people and said that the victims were looters. Asked if any of the shooting victims died, Gleeson replied, "Who cares? I don't (expletive) know. Who cares? What does it (expletive) matter?"

Bigot Bill O'Reilly Likens Michael Jackson to O.J. Simpson

More Post Racial American Hatred from the Fox News program, The O’Reilly Factor, Bill O'Reilly was simply “fed up with all the adulation” over Michael Jackson. Hollywood Gossip.com reports on recent comments by bigoted Bill. Including the bigots observations on the day of MJ's memorial service:

Jackson’s "incredible selfishness, spending hundreds of millions of dollars on himself while singing ‘We Are The World’" should make anyone nauseous.
Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and other African-Americans are shamelessly “playing the race card” by claiming Jackson as one of their own in death.
“If (Jackson) were a white guy,” his behavior would never be tolerated.
“You don’t become an African-American icon” if you bleach your skin.

There is more this Bill O'Reilly bigot had to say:

It appears to me that color aroused bigotry and ignorance is reaching critical mass in America. From Black kids getting kicked out of Philadelphia pool because of their color to the ignorance involving former Marion Barry the news involving blacks is getting more bizzare.

BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | China reimposes curfew in Urumqi

BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | China reimposes curfew in Urumqi: "A night-time curfew has been reimposed in the western Chinese city of Urumqi, officials have announced.

Mosques in the city were ordered to remain closed on Friday - but at least two opened at the request of crowds of Muslim Uighurs.

The BBC's Quentin Sommerville reports that there were isolated protests after Friday prayers and says police were seen hitting demonstrators."

Ghanaian Chronicle - Online : The current time is 12:15:55 PM on 7/11/2009

Ghanaian Chronicle - Online : The current time is 12:15:55 PM on 7/11/2009: "By Issah Alhassan, Kumasi | Posted: Thursday, July 09, 2009

THE TOWNSHIP of Konongo in the Asante Akyem North District of the Ashanti Region was reportedly thrown into a state of anarchy yesterday morning, when some angry galamsey operators clashed with a joint military/police patrol team, resulting in the injuring of several people.

A fully-armed military/police team, deployed to maintain peace and order at a mining site located at Konongo, allegedly fired several shots into the irate youth, who were protesting against the decision to ban them from carrying out their small mining activities at the mining site believed to have been acquired by a businessman in the town.

The security personnel, who were supposedly dispatched to secure the area, which was hitherto occupied by the illegal miners, allegedly could not help but open fire on the angry youth, who had stormed the area with cutlasses and other weapons to register their protest against the decision to deny them their means of livelihood."

Brazil demands compromise from rich countries against global warming_English_Xinhua

Brazil demands compromise from rich countries against global warming_English_Xinhua: "by Edgardo Loguercio, Alegjandra del Palacio

BRASILIA, July 9 (Xinhua) -- Brazil will continue demanding greater compromises from the developed countries in the fight against global warming. Brazil also demands greater compromises regarding the recognition of historical responsibilities by the industrialized world on these issues, government sources said on Thursday.

The leaders from the Group of Eight (G8) met in L'Aquila, Italy, on Wednesday. In a communiqu�, they said that their aim was to reduce 80 percent of their emissions of polluting gases by 2050, while global emissions should be reduced by 50 percent."

MSH: Pigs deny Ward Churchill job and damages � Revolutionary Anti-Imperialist Movement Denver

MSH: Pigs deny Ward Churchill job and damages � Revolutionary Anti-Imperialist Movement Denver: "Pigs deny Ward Churchill job and damages

(monkeysmashesheaven.wordpress.com)

In a recent ruling Chief Denver District Judge Larry Naves ruled against Ward Churchill’s request to be reinstated to Colorado University and against financial damages. This ruling is a contrast to the jury verdict in April that concluded that Churchill was illegally removed from his position for his political beliefs. The ruling gives regents of the University a free hand to fire whomever they want for their political beliefs. Churchill’s attorney David Lane stated:

“It’s an extremely rare thing for a judge to throw out a jury verdict — that’s big, that doesn’t happen… Here it’s being done at the expense of the Constitution of the United States of America, and it’s really a tragedy. It sends the message to the public of, ‘Oh, jury verdicts. Who cares?’”"

"[Martin Bernal] has forced scholars to reexamine the roots of Western civilization."-Newsweek

Could Greek philosophy be rooted in Egyptian thought? Is it possible that the Pythagorean theory was conceived on the shores of the Nile and the Euphrates rather than in ancient Greece? Could it be that Western civilization was born on the so-called Dark Continent? For almost two centuries, Western scholars have given little credence to the possibility of such scenarios.

In Black Athena, an audacious three-volume series that strikes at the heart of today's most heated culture wars, Martin Bernal challenges Eurocentric attitudes by calling into question two of the longest-established explanations for the origins of classical civilization. The Aryan Model, which is current today, claims that Greek culture arose as the result of the conquest from the north by Indo-European speakers, or 'Aryans,' of the native 'pre-Hellenes.' The Ancient Model, which was maintained in Classical Greece, held that the native population of Greece had initially been civilized by Egyptian and Phoenician colonists and that additional Near Eastern culture had been introduced to Greece by Greeks studying in Egypt and Southwest Asia. Moving beyond these prevailing models, Bernal proposes a Revised Ancient Model, which suggests that classical civilization in fact had deep roots in Afroasiatic cultures."

About the Author:

Martin Bernal, formerly a fellow of King's College, Cambridge, and professor of government at Cornell University, is now retired.

Narco News: Oaxaca Justice Condemns Innocent APPO Man for the Murder of Brad Will

By Nancy Davies
Commentary from Oaxaca

July 10, 2009

Juan Manuel Martinez Moreno has been sentenced to prison by the judge of the Fifth Federal Court, Rosa Iliana Noriega Perez, for the murder of US Indymedia videographer Brad Will on October 26, 2006. This in spite of:

Brad Will video-graphed his murderers running toward him carrying pistols
The two assailants shown in the video, Abel Zarate, registrar of Santa Lucia del Camino, and Oswaldo Manuel Aguilar Coello who was a municipal police officer, were arrested but subsequently released by government orders. Both are strongly tied to the PRI
There was no evidence for accusing Juan Martinez Moreno, who was standing near, not facing, Brad Will when Will was shot
The “witnesses” in fact saw nothing; Feria Perez, the chief witness, admitted he repeated hearsay

D.R. 2009 Noticias

One of Martinez Moreno’s lawyers noted that Judge Noriega Perez, accepted that Martinez Moreno should be sentenced because his legal stays had expired, although nothing has been proved against him. The judge ordered that the testimony of the two witnesses, Alfredo Feria Perez, the nephew of the former PRI municipal president of Santa Lucia del Camino, and PRIista Carol Ivan Ilescas Resendiz, be accepted as fact, although Feria Perez said, “he knew from comments made by others that Brad Will had been killed by an APPO activist.” And who made that comment? It was the Attorney General of Oaxaca at the time, Lizbeth Cana Cadeza.

The frame-up is clearly the work of the Oaxaca government, in cahoots with the federal government. Their reason: money from the USA for Plan Merida would not be forthcoming if Brad Will’s killer were not caught. This is the only one of the (at least) twenty-three homicides of APPO sympathizers in which someone has been indicted and judged guilty – the wrong guy. All the deaths of the 2006 uprising against the APPO were the work of government death squads.

Upside Down World - From Memory to Resistance, Children Bear Witness: HIJOS Celebrates 10 Years in Guatemala

Upside Down World - From Memory to Resistance, Children Bear Witness: HIJOS Celebrates 10 Years in Guatemala: "Source: The Dominion

TATAMAGOUCHE, NS–Walking through the streets of Guatemala City, HIJOS slogans are hard to miss: 'Justice for Nueva Linda'; 'Trial and Punishment for Military Assassins!' Words demanding an end to impunity remind everyone that 36 years of civil war in Guatemala have not ended in justice or peace.

HIJOS Guatemala—Sons and Daughters for Identity and Justice Against Forgetting and Silence—was founded in 1999 by young people who were forced into exile, or who lost family members due to State repression during the war. (The group's name, HIJOS, is a play on the Spanish word for 'children.') In June 2009, HIJOS Guatemala celebrated 10 years of fighting to preserve historical memory, to end impunity, to memorialize the victims of the war, and to shed light on the human rights violations"

Genocide in Darfur: Psyops Deconstruction

Genocide in Darfur: Psyops Deconstruction

In has been reported that the African Unity will not cooperate with the ICC indictment of Sudan's President, Omar al-Bashir.

This is a positive development, and I would like to submit my own analysis and testimony on behalf of Sudan, in a spirit of defiant resistance, and for the cause of truth.

The AU leaders decided that "in view of the fact that the request to the African Union has never been acted upon that AU member states shall not cooperate pursuant to the provisions of Article 98 of the Rome Statute on the ICC...or the arrest and surrender of African indicted personalities"

Background

Presently, we have a planet Earth straining under the extreme stress of the Pentagon's "Full Spectrum Dominance" ideology, a phenomena which we will here conceptualize in psychiatric terms. Reflecting a distinct and peculiar hyper-neurotic drive to control everything and everyone in the universe. The American Establishment and the "international community" has leveled the "genocide" charges against Sudan's president.

Accordingly, the primary preoccupation of the Pentagon is preventing other countries from becoming powerful enough to challenge the US, and the "Genocide in Darfur" campaign being directed against Omar al-Bashir's government in Sudan, and their partner China, occurs in this context. Indeed, it is ultimately China which is the primary target, and we can recall the self-righteous US operatives throwing their "genocide supporter" daggers at China prior to the Olympics. Thanks Mr. Spielberg.

The CIA's Rogue Operation

Everyone is playing the guessing game regarding the secret program which the CIA hid from Congress.

The Huffington Post's Sam Stein is guessing that it is Cheney's executive assassination squad. Yesterday, I guessed it might have been continuity of government plans.

But the Washington Post writes:

Several current and former administration officials called it an “on-again, off-again” attempt to create a new intelligence capability and said it was related to the collection of information on suspected terrorists that was instituted after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks...

“Current and former administration officials familiar with the program said it was not directly related to previously disclosed high-priority programs such as detainee interrogations or the warrantless surveillance of suspected terrorists on U.S. soil,” the Post reporters added. “It was a intelligence-collection activity run by the CIA’s Counterterrorism Center, officials said.

As the Post says, the program Panetta briefed Congress about was not "warrantless surveillance of suspected terrorists on U.S. soil". And see this.

And it was long ago established that the government’s spying on Americans began before 9/11 (confirmed here and here).

So it had to be some kind of program above and beyond those programs.

Indeed, a new report by the Inspectors General of the Department of Defense, Department of Justice, CIA, NSA and the Office of Director of National Intelligence makes it clear that the program was not just the wireless surveillance program we already know about. The report also discloses that John Yoo - the DOJ lawyer who wrote the torture memos - also wrote memos defending this spying program, even though no one (even his boss) knew why he was given the job (isn't it obvious? Yoo was a proven yes-man, who would write "legal justifications" for anything Bush and Cheney wanted).

So what kind of program could it be?

Nigeria Rebels Attack Oil Giants

Nigeria Rebels Attack Oil Giants: "Abuja, Jul 9 (Prensa Latina) The Movement for the Emancipation of the Nigerian Delta (MEND) rejected presidential amnesty and claimed authorship of attacks against AGIP and Shell oil companies in southern Nigeria

During early hours of Wednesday MEND sabotaged oil pipelines of the Italian AGIP in Nambe Creek in the state of Bayelsa and also installations of the multination Shell, both in the southern Delta province.

On June 25 Nigerian president, Umaru Yar'Adua decreed amnesty for those rebels who decide to lay down their arms and renounce violent actions in the conflict zone.

The main insurgent group of the country immediately rejected the presidential pardon and announced it would continue attacking foreign oil companies and new investment projects in the region."

SPLC Finds New Evidence of Extremists in the Military, Urges Congress To Investigate | Hatewatch | Southern Poverty Law Center

SPLC Finds New Evidence of Extremists in the Military, Urges Congress To Investigate | Hatewatch | Southern Poverty Law Center:

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) today urged Congress to investigate growing evidence that racial extremists are infiltrating the U.S. military and take steps to ensure that the armed forces are not inadvertently training future domestic terrorists.

In a letter to committee chairmen with oversight over homeland security and the armed services, the SPLC said it recently found dozens of personal profiles on the neo-Nazi social networking site, NewSaxon.org, which listed “military” as the poster’s occupation. NewSaxon is run by the neo-Nazi National Socialist Movement and serves as a sort of racist version of Facebook for “People of European Descent.” These profiles are just the latest in a string of evidence the SPLC has provided since 2006 to the Pentagon of extremist infiltration of the military (for SPLC’s reports, read here, here, and here).

Mass people's resistance in Honduras -- In their own words | Links

Mass people's resistance in Honduras -- In their own words | Links: "Compiled and introduced by Felipe Stuart Cournoyer

July 10, 2009 -- Most of the coverage of the military coup in Honduras from bourgeois and liberal circles, and from many Western foreign ministers, has focused on what various governments are doing to influence or force an outcome to this struggle.

Statements from Honduras' President Manuel Zelaya, his foreign minister Patricia Rodas, and from leaders of other ALBA countries (especially Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega, Ecuador's Rafael Correa and Bolivia's Evo Morales) have emphasised the role of the mass movement in Honduras. So have the most astute analysts of the rapidly moving events unleashed by the coup.

The great fear, from the point of view of imperialism and of the oligarchic ruling classes in Latin America, is that Zelaya will become embedded and tied to the mass movement and its class interests, unleashing a ``Bolivarian'' upsurge from which they will never recover. That is the objective and subjective source of their demonisation campaign against Chavez, Morales, Ortega and Cuba."

`Proud to stand with Palestine' -- The Flame and Green Left Weekly respond to anti-Arab attack by Murdoch press | Links

`Proud to stand with Palestine' -- The Flame and Green Left Weekly respond to anti-Arab attack by Murdoch press | Links:

By Soubhi Iskander, Stuart Munckton and Emma Murphy

July 4, 2009 -- Green Left Weekly -- On July 1, the Rupert Murdoch-owned national daily the Australian carried an extraordinary attack by Ilan Grapel on Green Left Weekly and its monthly Arabic-language insert the Flame titled “A willing ally to Hamas’s hatred”. The Flame and Green Left Weekly are guilty of a “radical anti-Israel stance”, Grapel said.

Grapel is a researcher with the Australian/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council.

Grapel alleges that the Flame, “unbeknown to its English readers”, also “supports terrorist groups and promotes violence”, and through the Flame, GLW is “openly promoting extremism”.

Grapel relies on a few selected quotes from the Flame that defend the right of Palestinians to resist Israel’s illegal occupation — a right recognised by international law — to argue the Flame promotes “terrorism”.

Oxford Etymologist on the Word “Squaw” — Indigenous Etymologist Needed! � Turtle Talk

Oxford Etymologist on the Word “Squaw” — Indigenous Etymologist Needed! � Turtle Talk:

Leaving the legal world for a moment, we offer a link to a very strange defense of the use of the word “squaw” by the Oxford Etymologist Anatoly Liberman (here). We could be wrong, but this article seems to be a classic case of an academic wearing blinders, or worse, an etymological ideologue.

In short, Liberman concludes that the etymology of “squaw” is that the word simply means “woman,” and so therefore cannot possibly be an epithet. He mocks advocates for changing place names to eliminate the use of the word.

There are several problems in the argument, especially the tone of Liberman’s writing (just read the article — the part about squirrels is baffling), but we’ll focus on just the most obvious problems.

First, the Oxford Etymologist’s etymology is incredibly superficial, and downright ethnocentric.

RebelReports - Notorious Human Rights Abuser Chevron Given "Richard C. Holbrooke Award for Business Excellence"

RebelReports - Notorious Human Rights Abuser Chevron Given "Richard C. Holbrooke Award for Business Excellence": "Chevron “wins” the Holbrooke award while it is currently aggressively lobbying his employer, the State Department, to intervene in a $27 billion lawsuit against Chevron. How is this not a major conflict of interest?

My latest piece has just come out on AlterNet. It is called: “Does a Senior Obama Official Have Unseemly Ties to Notorious Human Rights Abuser Chevron?”

I would encourage people to read the full article, but here is a brief excerpt:

Last month Chevron was awarded the “Richard C. Holbrooke Award for Business Leadership” in “recognition of the company’s global public health programs.” The award, from the Global Business Coalition, was bestowed upon Chevron at a June 24 ceremony in honor of its work “to eradicate HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.”

"

Yoo Gave Bush White House Retroactive Legal Cover to Spy on Americans

Yoo Gave Bush White House Retroactive Legal Cover to Spy on Americans: "By Jason Leopold

A sweeping investigation into the Bush administration’s domestic surveillance program has concluded that former Justice Department attorney John Yoo provided the White with retroactive legal cover for covert intelligence activities and that the legal opinion he drafted authorizing the program failed to cite an historic Supreme Court case on the “distribution of government powers.”

A 38-page declassified report prepared by inspectors general of the CIA, National Security Agency, Department of Justice, the Department of Defense, and the Office of National Intelligence released Friday said that the first legal opinion “explicitly addressing the legality of the [President’s Surveillance Program] was not drafted [by Yoo] until [Nov. 2, 2001] after the program had been formally authorized by President Bush in October 2001” by executive order."

Further Action Needed - Peru : Russell Means Freedom

Update and More Action Needed / Peru
Update:

In June, the 400,000 indigenous people of the Peruvian Amazon won a significant victory: after ten weeks of protests, strikes and bloodshed, they persuaded Peru’s President and Congress to repeal laws that ignored their rights and threatened the Amazon rainforest.

The struggle cost scores of lives (the exact number is yet to be established). The non-violent indigenous protesters gained broad support both nationally and internationally as military attacks on the protesters became more brutal and deadly.

“We felt that the laws annulled our existence. That’s why we rose up,” said Awajún leader Santiago Manuin, who was seriously wounded in the most deadly protest at Bagua.

Scoop: Short sharp tikanga programme for offenders

Scoop: Short sharp tikanga programme for offenders: "Short sharp tikanga programme motivating offenders to address offending

A three day intensive ‘live in’ tikanga Maori programme is assisting prisoners’ motivation to address their offending says Prison Manager Jon Howe.

“Nineteen prisoners have yesterday completed a three day programme, which has involved them living in the pua wananga (cultural space) inside the prison and gaining insight into how culture can help change their behaviours,” says Mr Howe."

Scoop: Israel Barrier Must Come Down, UN says

Scoop: Israel Barrier Must Come Down, UN says: "Friday, 10 July 2009, 12:35 pm
Press Release: United Nations

Israel Barrier Must Come Down, UN Rights Expert Says

New York, Jul 9 2009 6:10PM On the fifth anniversary of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) finding that Israel’s building of a barrier in the occupied Palestinian territory was illegal, a United Nations independent human rights expert today spoke out against what he says is Israel’s violation of Palestinian rights.

“Tear down that wall, Mr. Netanyahu,” Richard Falk, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, said at an international conference at The Hague on the ICJ’s 2004 Advisory Opinion.

That opinion called on Israel to halt construction and bring an end to its system of curbing the freedom of movement of Palestinians in the West Bank.

By a majority of 14 to 1, the judges found that the barrier’s construction breaches international law, saying it violated principles outlined in the UN Charter and long-standing global conventions that prohibit the threat or use of force and the acquisition of territory that way, as well as principles upholding the right of peoples to self-determination.

Although Israel claims the barrier is only a temporary security measure, the ICJ said that the specific route chosen is unnecessary to achieve its security objectives, with most of the barrier running inside the West Bank, instead of the so-called Green Line, or 1949 Armistice Line.

The barrier is still under construction, and “despite this Israeli refusal to comply [with the ICJ’s decision], the United States, the European Union, and the United Nations have totally ignored Israel’s defiant behaviour, which has resulted in a major encroachment on Palestinian rights, as well as sending the cynical message that power trumps law,” Mr. Falk said today.

Israel’s refusal to dismantle the barrier is just another example of its “unlawful conduct,” including settlement expansion and imposing collective punishment on Gaza’s population, he added.

Yesterday, the West Bank branch of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said that the barrier, which is 60 per cent completed, “is but one element of the wider system of severe restrictions on the freedom of movement imposed by the Israeli authorities on Palestinian residents of the West Bank.”

At present, more than 600 closures block Palestinians’ movement in the West Bank, while an increasingly segregated road system restrict travel for them while Israelis can move freely, the Office said. Such constraints not only curtail Palestinians’ freedom of movement, but also impede a host of other human rights, including the right to work, health, education and an adequate standard of living.

“And Palestinian residents currently lack meaningful access to an effective remedy – judicial or otherwise – for their plight,” OHCHR said, calling on Israel to comply with the ICJ’s Advisory Opinion and make reparations for any damage caused.ENDSENDS

Socialist Aotearoa: Oppression behind clashes in China

Socialist Aotearoa: Oppression behind clashes in China: "Protests by the Muslim Uighur minority in the west of China are an explosion of rage against their persecution

Hundreds of people were killed, with hundreds of others injured and arrested, during protests by the Muslim Uighur people in the Xianging region in the west of China this week.

Simmering tensions produced by the Chinese state’s long-term oppression of the Uighur people have boiled over.

These are some of the most serious clashes between protesters and authorities since the Tiananmen Square revolt of 1989, which shook the country’s rulers.

The 20th anniversary of that rising has just passed, and the Chinese ruling class is still nervous about the threat of mass movements to its rule.

It has launched crackdowns on any opposition, such as the mass protests in Tibet last year."

Thought-police is here - Israel Opinion, Ynetnews

Thought-police is here - Israel Opinion, Ynetnews: "The Foreign Ministry unveiled a new plan this week: Paying talkbackers to post pro-Israel responses on websites worldwide. A total of NIS 600,000 (roughly $150,000) will be earmarked to the establishment of an “Internet warfare” squad.

The Foreign Ministry intends to hire young people who speak at least one language and who study communication, political science, or law – or alternately, Israelis with military experience gained at units dealing with information analysis.

Beyond the fact that these job requirements reveal a basic lack of understanding in respect to the dynamics of the online discourse – the project’s manager argued that “adults don’t know how to blog” – they are not too relevant either. An effective talkbacker does not need a law degree or military experience. He merely needs to care about the subject he writes about."

Upside Down World - UN Cover-up in Haiti

Upside Down World - UN Cover-up in Haiti: "On June 18, family, friends and supporters of Haitian priest Father Gerard Jean-Juste gathered at the national cathedral to pay their final respects and lay him to rest. Few expected the solemn occasion would be transformed into confusion and terror as U.N. forces opened fire towards Haiti's national cathedral following the arrest of one of the mourners. A victim of a single gunshot wound to the head would be discovered moments later. Witnesses say his body writhed and convulsed struggling with the inevitable as blood slowly formed a crimson background around his head.

Jean-Juste would probably not be surprised by the shooting given that he was a leader of Lavalas and this was after all a Lavalas funeral. He would most likely recall many other instances of human rights abuses committed against Lavalas where the U.N. was complicit or directly involved. He would often criticize the U.N. mission in Haiti for killing unarmed civilians in Cite Soleil and for training the Haitian police as they regularly shot up peaceful demonstrations, performed summary executions and falsely arrested Lavalas supporters following the ouster of Aristide in Feb. 2004. Jean-Juste more than most, would understand that this incident is but one more in a long list of violent offenses committed against the movement of the majority of the poor in Haiti as part of the U.N.'s current experiment in political landscaping."

Scoop: Global Small Arms Sales Reached $2.9 Billion

Scoop: Global Small Arms Sales Reached $2.9 Billion: "Global Small Arms Sales Reached $2.9 Billion In 2006, According To UN Data

New York, Jul 9 2009 5:10PM The value of the global trade in small arms and light weapons is estimated to have risen by 28 per cent between 2000 and 2006 to reach $2.9 billion, according to United Nations customs data presented in the 2009 edition of the Small Arms Survey.

The annual report, published by the Geneva Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, says the demand for guns in the United States remains the key driver of trade in small arms."

Kanehsatake 270 Years of Resistance

Kanehsatake 270 Years of Resistance: "On July 11, 1990, the Mohawk Peoples of Kanehsat�ke stood up against a legacy of fraudulent theft when the Municipality of Oka, in collusion with the Federal and provincial governments, tried to make way for the expansion of a 9-hole golf course and a new condominium project.

In the weeks and months that followed, Canada’s glowing image was tarnished forever. Many of us were shown for the first time the kind of treachery and brute force ways of the Canadian Government. Treachery and brute force that continues to this day."

RIGHTS-AUSTRALIA: Uplifting Aboriginals, a Matter of "Urgent National Significance" - IPS ipsnews.net

RIGHTS-AUSTRALIA: Uplifting Aboriginals, a Matter of "Urgent National Significance" - IPS ipsnews.net: "By Neena Bhandari

WADEYE, Jul 10 (IPS) - In this remote Aboriginal town, 420 km south-west of Darwin, Northern Territory’s capital, third world living conditions still prevail despite the Australian government’s efforts to improve life for its oldest inhabitants.

Wadeye, formerly known as Port Keats, has the largest Aboriginal community with a population of 2,500, comprising over 20 tribal groups speaking seven languages. The family and clan diversity in this remote community, some say, has led to simmering tensions which often result in violence.

The weather is muggy and the only sound is that of stirring leaves in the light breeze. From the desolate airstrip, the message on the posters, however, is loud and clear: 'Don’t bring gunja into our town' and 'No alcohol, no pornography’. Consumption of drugs has been a major problem in a town that was declared alcohol-free in 1988."

The Interface Between Cultural Understandings: Negotiating New Spaces For Pacific Mental Health

Mila-Schaaf K, Hudson M, 2009

This theoretical paper introduces the concept of the "negotiated space", a model developed by Linda Tuhiwai Smith, Maui Hudson and colleagues describing the interface between different worldviews and knowledge systems. This is primarily a conceptual space of intersection in-between different ways of knowing and meaning making, such as, the i Pacific indigenous reference and the dominant Western mental health paradigm of the bio-psycho-social. When developing Pacific models of care, the "negotiated space" provides room to explore the relationship between different (and often conflicting) cultural understandings of mental health and illness. The "negotiated space" is a place ofp urposive re-encounter reconstructing and re-balancing of ideas and values in complementary realignments that have resonance for Pacific peoples living in Western oriented societies. This requires making explicit the competing epistemologies of the Pacific indigenous worldviews and references alongside the bio-psycho-social and identifying the assumptions implicit in the operating logic ofe ach. This is a precursor to being empowered to negotiate, resolve and better comprehend the cultural conflict between the different understandings. This article theorises multiple patterns of possibility of resolutions and relationships within the negotiated space relevant to research, evaluation, model, service development and quality assurance within Pacific mental health.

Pacific Health Dialogue; 15(1):113-9

Mitochondrial And Y-chromosome Diversity Of The Tharus (Nepal): A Reservoir Of Genetic Variation

Mitochondrial And Y-chromosome Diversity Of The Tharus (Nepal): A Reservoir Of Genetic Variation

BACKGROUND: Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent represent an area considered as a source and a reservoir for human genetic diversity, with many markers taking root here, most of which are the ancestral state of eastern and western haplogroups, while others are local. Between these two regions, Terai (Nepal) is a pivotal passageway allowing, in different times, multiple population interactions, although because of its highly malarial environment, it was scarcely inhabited until a few decades ago, when malaria was eradicated. One of the oldest and the largest indigenous people of Terai is represented by the malaria resistant Tharus, whose gene pool could still retain traces of ancient complex interactions. Until now, however, investigations on their genetic structure have been scarce mainly identifying East Asian signatures. RESULTS: High-resolution analyses of mitochondrial-DNA (including 34 complete sequences) and Y-chromosome (67 SNPs and 12 STRs) variations carried out in 173 Tharus (two groups from Central and one from Eastern Terai), and 104 Indians (Hindus from Terai and New Delhi and tribals from Andhra Pradesh) allowed the identification of three principal components: East Asian, West Eurasian and Indian, the last including both local and inter-regional sub-components, at least for the Y chromosome.

IKN: Honduras: Must-read blog on the coup

IKN: Honduras: Must-read blog on the coup

Go here to read 'Honduras Coup 2009', a blog that is translating boatloads of information about what's going on in Honduras into English. The translations look very good to my eye.

A vital resource for anyone who wants to keep up with what's being thought and said in Honduras (by Hondurans, not unhinged gringos living in Honduras...read The Mex Files for a report on just how bad the anglo-saxon tinfoilhat brigade really is over there) but doesn't have the luxury of being proficient in Spanish.

Anyway, this post isn't about snark, it's about pointing you in the direction of a great EngLang resource on Honduras. Here's the link again, just to make sure.

Current News | Latest News | Breaking News | Nagaland News - MorungExpress.com - Superannuation Bill passed

Current News | Latest News | Breaking News | Nagaland News - MorungExpress.com - Superannuation Bill passed: "Kohima | July 10 : Ending months of speculation the Nagaland Legislative Assembly today passed the Nagaland Retirement from Public Employment (Second Amendment) Bill 2009 which states that a person shall hold office for a term of 35 years from the date of joining government service or until he attains the age of 60 years – whichever comes first. The bill was passed by voice vote after a brief discussion participated by both the ruling and Opposition members."

Government Websites Light On Maori Content - Survey | News | Guide2.co.nz

Government Websites Light On Maori Content - Survey | News | Guide2.co.nz: "Wellington, July 10 NZPA - Most government websites have little or no Maori content even though Maori is an official New Zealand language, a survey shows.

Race Relations Commissioner Joris de Bres said today a Human Rights Commission survey looked at 123 central and local government websites.

Most had the Maori version of their names -- the Prime Minister and Cabinet's website didn't - but only a small number had full bilingual websites.

Websites with a Maori option did not have much Maori content.

The police website had information in 11 languages but not te reo Maori.

Mr de Bres said minimum standards for Maori on Government websites should include name and basic information in Maori and a home-page link to Maori content."

Labour MPs To Introduce Bill Removing Provocation As Defence | News | Guide2.co.nz

Labour MPs To Introduce Bill Removing Provocation As Defence | News | Guide2.co.nz: "Wellington, July 10 NZPA - Gay Labour MP and former lawyer Charles Chauvel is spearheading a bid to remove provocation as a defence in criminal cases.

The defence is often used in court by defendants to justify violent attacks if provoked by a victim.

But now Mr Chauvel has drafted a bill to get the defence of provocation removed.

It was an 'aspect of our criminal law which provides justification for lashing out and violence against people,' he told the GayNZ.com website.

The partial defence of provocation 'lets people know they can get away with murder, and it's time we did away with the provision.'

He claimed there was strong support for the move and said the current 'provision is a travesty.'"

AKAKA BILL HITS WALL IN WASHINGTON

Free Hawai`i

Honolulu Advertiser

WASHINGTON — A House panel has postponed a key vote on legislation known as the Akaka bill, which would create a process for Native Hawaiian self-governance....

...The vote postponement follows some written criticisms of the bill by prominent members of the Native Hawaiian legal community.

In a four-page analysis of the legislation sent to the Natural Resources Committee, the Native Hawaiian Bar Association voiced concern that some provisions would grant the federal government too much immunity against potential claims by Native Hawaiians, especially for land....

...At stake ultimately — in addition to the political future of the Native Hawaiians — is control over some 1.8 million acres of land that many Native Hawaiians believe was taken illegally in the United States' annexation of Hawai`i in 1898.

Approval of the Akaka bill in the Natural Resources Committee would send the bill to the full House for a vote. The Senate has not acted on the bill yet....

Goodbye Indian Mounds, Hello Sam’s Club | Reznet News

Goodbye Indian Mounds, Hello Sam’s Club | Reznet News: "OXFORD, Ala. (AP)—A stone mound on a hill behind the Oxford Exchange created by American Indians 1,500 years ago will soon disappear.

And whether Oxford's taxpayers wanted it or not, they paid for its destruction.

Workers hired by the city's Commercial Development Authority (CDA) are using the dirt from the hill as fill for a new Sam's Club. The project has angered American Indians who, along with a Jacksonville State University archaeology professor, say the site could contain human remains."

Marchers condemn Indigenous policies - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Marchers condemn Indigenous policies - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation): "A public event in Darwin to mark NAIDOC week has heard criticism of both the Commonwealth and the Northern Territory Governments' approach to Indigenous affairs.

About 300 people marched through Darwin city streets with some holding placards calling for compensation for the Stolen Generations.

Joy White, from Darwin's Bagot community, told the gathering she does not want Bagot converted into a suburb - a move flagged by the Chief Minister, Paul Henderson, earlier this week."

Moves to rid asbestos from Koori community - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Moves to rid asbestos from Koori community - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation): "A Koori community on the New South Wales far south coast will have an opportunity to comment on an asbestos clean-up plan due today.

The site management plan is likely to suggest that asbestos at Wallaga Lake, near Bermagui, be trucked out for disposal and an illegal tip containing the hazardous material sealed permanently.

The asbestos was left strewn throughout the village and at the tip 25 years ago but an expert report indicates there is no serious health risk to residents at this stage."

UK Indymedia - Afghan War Protestor Jailed

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

A special report by IIN UK/Middle-East Bureau-Chief: Cem Ertür:

UK Indymedia - Afghan War Protestor Jailed: "A Catholic woman was jailed today following her arrest and conviction for breaking into a military base. Susan Clarkson of the Oxford Catholic Worker was sentenced to 21 days in prison at Oxford Magistrates Court this morning.

Please send a message of support to Susan Clarkson:

HMP Bronzefield
Woodthorpe Road
Ashford
Middlesex
TW15 3JZ

She had refused to pay fines of �1,235 for her anti-war protests at Northwood Military HQ in north London.

As two more British soldiers were killed in Afghanistan this morning, making nine this week, Ms Clarkson said in court that her “actions were both for the victims in Afghanistan and the young soldiers sent there” and that she did not want to pay the fine because it some of it would go to the military.

The Magistrates were sympathetic but said they had to follow the rules.

Together with other Catholic Workers, Ms Clarkson was arrested on December 28th 2007 after putting red paint to symbolise the blood of the victims on the sign outside the HQ. A year later on December 29th 2008, she was arrested after entering the base to pray. December 28th is the Catholic Feast of the Holy Innocents."

Labels: afghanistan, asia, British Army, Warfare and Conflict

Tourism threat to recently-contacted tribe – Fears of swine flu contagion - News from Survival International

Tourism threat to recently-contacted tribe – Fears of swine flu contagion - News from Survival International: "A court ruling in India has put one of the world’s most recently-contacted tribes at greater risk of the swine flu pandemic, according to campaigners.

The court in the Andaman Islands, India, has ruled that a buffer zone around a reserve created to protect the Jarawa tribe is invalid. The decision gives the green light to a tourism resort owned by Barefoot India inside the buffer zone, close to the edge of the reserve."

Secret Program Fuels CIA-Congress Dispute - washingtonpost.com

Leon Panetta canceled the CIA program when he found out about it.

Secret Program Fuels CIA-Congress Dispute - washingtonpost.com: "By Paul Kane and Ben Pershing
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, July 10, 2009

Four months after he was sworn in, CIA Director Leon E. Panetta learned of an intelligence program that had been hidden from Congress since 2001, a revelation that prompted him to immediately cancel the initiative and schedule a pair of closed-door meetings on Capitol Hill.

The next day, June 24, Panetta informed the House and Senate intelligence committees of the program and the action he had taken, according to Democratic and Republican members of the panels."

US troops on neo-Nazi site

Image via Wikipedia

We have uncovered new evidence that racial extremists are infiltrating the U.S. military and have asked Congress today to launch an immediate investigation to ensure that our armed forces are not inadvertently training future domestic terrorists.

In recent months, our investigators have found dozens of personal profiles of individuals listing "military" as their occupation on a neo-Nazi, Facebook-type website. One person, apparently serving in Afghanistan, lists The Turner Diaries as his favorite book. That's the book by neo-Nazi leader William Pierce that served as the blueprint for the Oklahoma City bombing by Gulf War veteran Timothy McVeigh.

We've been warning the Pentagon about the danger of extremists in the military for more than two decades. In 2008, the FBI issued a report indicating that the problem may have worsened. Unfortunately, the Pentagon has not taken forceful action.

Indeed, the Pentagon appears to consider homosexuals more of a threat to the good order of the military than neo-Nazis who reject our Constitution's most cherished principles. While the military has discharged more than 12,500 service members because of their alleged homosexuality since 1994, it has refused to adopt a true "zero tolerance" policy when it comes to extremists in the military.

The overwhelming majority of our courageous men and women in uniform reject extremism and are dedicated to our nation's highest ideals. We owe it to them — and to the American public — to ensure that the ranks are as free of extremists as possible.

Please stand with us on this crucial issue and contact your congresspersons. We recommend sending a personal letter or calling the offices of your U.S. Senator or Representative.

Thank you for your support.

Sincerely,

J. Richard Cohen
President, Southern Poverty Law Center

Labels: Gulf War, Neo-Nazism, Southern Poverty Law Center, united states

Eurocentricism is Hannibal Lecter - Ward Churchill : Russell Means Freedom

A MUST READ…

“…At this juncture, the entire planet is locked, figuratively, in a room with the socio-cultural equivalent of Hannibal Lecter.

An individual of consummate taste and refinement, imbued with indelible grace and charm, he distracts his victims …, even while honing his blade. He is thus able to dine alone upon their livers, his feast invariably candlelit, accompanied by lofty music and a fine wine. Over and over the ritual is repeated, always hidden, always denied in order that it may be continued. So perfect is Lecter’s pathology that, from the depths of his scorn for the inferiors upon whom he feeds, he advances himself as their sage and therapist, he who is incomparably endowed with the ability to explain their innermost meanings, he professes to be their savior. His success depends upon being embraced and exalted by those upon whom he preys.

Ultimately, so long as Lecter is able to retain his mask of omnipotent gentility, he can never be stopped. The socio-cultural equivalent of Hannibal Lecter is the core of an expansionist European “civilization” which has reached out to engulf the planet.

In coming to grips with Lecter, it is of no useful purpose to engage in sympathetic biography, to chronicle the nuances of his childhood, and catalogue his many and varied achievements, whether real or imagined. The recounting of such information is at best diversionary, allowing him to remain at large just that much longer. More often, it inadvertently serves to perfect his mask, enabling him not only to maintain his enterprise, but to pursue it with ever more arrogance and efficiency. At worst, the biographer is aware of the intrinsic evil lurking beneath the subject’s veneer of civility, but-because of morbid fascination and a desire to participate vicariously-deliberately obfuscates the truth in order that his homicidal activities may continue unchecked. The biographer thus reveals not only a willing complicity in the subject’s crimes, but a virulent pathology of his or her own. Such is and has always been the relationship of “responsible scholarship” to expansionist Europe and its derivative societies.

The sole legitimate function of information compiled about Lecter is that which will serve to unmask him and thereby lead to his apprehension.

The purpose of apprehension is not to visit retribution upon the psychopath-he is, after all, by definition mentally ill and consequently not in control of his more lethal impulses-but to put an end to his activities. It is even theoretically possible that, once he is disempowered, he can be cured. The point, however, is to understand what he is and what he does well enough to stop him from doing it.

This is the role which must be assumed by scholarship vis-à-vis Eurosupremacy, if scholarship itself is to have any positive and constructive meaning. Scholarship is never “neutral” or “objective”; it always works either for the psychopath or against him, to mystify socio-cultural reality or to decode it, to make corrective action possible or to prevent it.

It may well be that there are better points of departure for intellectual endeavors to capture the real form and meaning of Eurocentrism than the life, times, and legacy of Christopher Columbus. Still, since Eurocentrists the world over have so evidently clasped hands in utilizing him as a (perhaps the) preeminent signifier of their collective heritage, and are doing so with such an apparent sense of collective jubilation, the point has been rendered effectively moot. Those who seek to devote their scholarship to apprehending the psychopath who sits in our room thus have no alternative but to use him as a primary vehicle of articulation. In order to do so, we must approach him [Columbus] through deployment of the analytical tools which allow him to be utilized as a medium of explanation, a lens by which to shed light upon phenomena such as the mass psychologies of fascism and racism, a means by which to shear Eurocentrism of its camouflage, exposing its true contours, revealing the enduring coherence of the dynamics which forged its ‘evolution’.

Perhaps through such efforts we can begin to genuinely comprehend the seemingly incomprehensible fact that so many groups are presently queuing up to associate themselves with a man from whose very memory wafts the cloying stench of tyranny and genocide. From there, it may be possible to at last crack the real codes of meaning underlying the sentiments of the Nuremberg rallies, those spectacles on the plazas of Rome during which fealty was pledged to Mussolini, and that amazing red-white-and-blue, tie-a-yellow-ribbon frenzy gripping the U.S. public much more lately.

If we force ourselves to see things clearly, we can understand. If we can understand, we can apprehend. If we can apprehend, perhaps we can stop the psychopath before he kills again. We are obligated to try, from a sense of sheer self-preservation, if nothing else. Who knows, we may even succeed. But first we must stop lying to ourselves, or allowing others to do the lying for us, about who it is with whom we now share our room.

Ward Churchill

Deconstructing the Columbus Myth

Total Immersion Education in New Zealand : TREATY Total Immersion School

Total Immersion Education in New Zealand : TREATY Total Immersion School: "Te Wharekura o Rakaumangamanga:

The Development of an Indigenous Language Immersion School

Barbara Harrison University of Waikato

Abstract

In the early 1980s, the Maori people of New Zealand began a dynamic language revitalization movement. The establishment of Maori immersion programs in state funded schools constituted one major aspect of the movement. This article describes the development of the Maori language immersion program in one New Zealand school for children ages 5 to 17. In 1985, the first immersion classroom of 5-year-olds was established. Immersion classrooms were added year by year as the first class of children progressed through primary school, junior high, and high school. The first class completed the final year of high school in 1997, and students entered polytechnics or university programs in 1998. The article briefly summarizes the historical background, cultural context, and program of the school. Indicators of school performance, including student achievement on national examinations, are considered. The findings are examined in terms of a selection of the research and theoretical literature. This case study has implications for researchers and educators who are working in indigenous language schooling and for those who are interested in theoretical explanations relating to the success or failure of minority students in school."

Kula Kaiapunia Schools - 25 Years of Immersion Education in Hawaii : TREATY Total Immersion School

Kula Kaiapunia Schools - 25 Years of Immersion Education in Hawaii : TREATY Total Immersion School: "This is the 25th anniversary of the Punana Leo Hawaiian Language Preschools. it is also the 20th anniversary of the Kula Kaiapunia Hawaiian Immersion Schools.

The first bachelor’s program in Hawaiian began in 1978. Then came University-wide undergraduate and graduate degree programs, including teacher education, Hawaiian language, literature, and culture revitalization, and a Ph.D. These programs are producing graduates who contribute to Hawai’i’s unique heritage.

Kaliko and haili’opua baker are graduates of the university of Hawai’i at Manoa’s Hawaiian language program and are now teachers of Hawaiian there. They are pioneering Hawaiian language playwrites who founded Halau Hana Keaka, a Hawaiian Language Theatre Company. Their plays such as Kaluaiko’olau and Kamapua’a have toured the islands and beyond."

Justice Ignored - Ward Churchill Jury Verdict Overturned : Russell Means Freedom

Justice Ignored - Ward Churchill Jury Verdict Overturned : Russell Means Freedom: "On April 2, 2009, after hearing evidence for a month, a Denver jury unanimously found that Ward Churchill had been fired from the University of Colorado *not* because of research misconduct but in retaliation for speech protected by the First Amendment.

After more than four years of political attacks on Ward Churchill, a clear statement had been made: the University of Colorado had violated the U.S. Constitution when it fired Churchill, a tenured full professor of American Indian Studies.

The normal remedy in such cases? Reinstatement.

Today, July 7, 2009, Judge Larry Naves of the Denver District Court threw out the jury’s verdict, adopting the University’s argument that the Regents have “quasi-judicial” immunity from such lawsuits. In essence, this means that the Regents and University administrators are free to continue to violating the Constitution."

NAVAJO NATION - Forgotten People Announces Suit to Produce Bennett Freeze Plan : Russell Means Freedom

NAVAJO NATION - Forgotten People Announces Suit to Produce Bennett Freeze Plan : Russell Means Freedom: "Today, July 8, 2009 marks the 43rd anniversary of a Bennett Freeze imposed on July 8, 1966 by U.S. Commissioner of Indian Affairs Robert Bennett. The freeze made poverty mandatory for 10,000 people (with countless more displaced) living on 1.5 million acres in the western portion of the Navajo Nation.

The freeze made it illegal for people to fix their homes, build new homes, have access to running water, electricity, any infrastructure and development. Elderly people whose wells ran dry could not drill a new well, were forced to drink uranium and arsenic contaminated water, denied the right to build a wheelchair ramps to their homes and repair leaking roofs and broken windows. No new housing, schools, waterlines, powerlines, community facilities. Nothing."

The Fog of War ~ Documentary about Sec. of Defense Robert McNamara's Experience

The Fog of War ~ Documentary about Sec. of Defense Robert McNamara's Experience: "This is an amazing film that opens the door into what was really going on when the Kennedy Administration handled the Cuban Missile Crisis... as well as how Vietnam policy dramatically changed once Kennedy was no longer in office. Robert McNamara gives us 11 lessons that America needs to learn so that we don't make the same mistakes twice. UntilTheSunstops.org is a protest web site with dozens of videos that expose corruption behind wars, politics and 9/11"

AFP: Polish radio station protests... with bird-song

AFP: Polish radio station protests... with bird-song: "WARSAW (AFP) — A public radio station in Poland aired non-stop bird-song for 24 hours in a bizarre protest against plummeting license fee revenues that journalists say are undermining commercial-free programming.

'Our existence is threatened by a dramatic decline in revenue from the audiovisual license fee,' announcers repeated on Dwojka radio once every 10 minutes to interrupt the otherwise constant warbling.

Every Polish household owning a radio or television is required to pay a public broadcasting licence fee, but a draft media reform law proposing it be removed by January 2010 has encouraged many to stop making payments already.

Specialising in classical music and cultural programming, Poland's Dwojka two programme is commercial-free and entirely financed by the public license fee."

Just 96 months to save world, says Prince Charles - Green Living, Environment - The Independent

Just 96 months to save world, says Prince Charles - Green Living, Environment - The Independent: "The price of capitalism and consumerism is just too high, he tells industrialists

By Robert Verkaik"

Capitalism and consumerism have brought the world to the brink of economic and environmental collapse, the Prince of Wales has warned in a grandstand speech which set out his concerns for the future of the planet.

The heir to the throne told an audience of industrialists and environmentalists at St James's Palace last night that he had calculated that we have just 96 months left to save the world.

And in a searing indictment on capitalist society, Charles said we can no longer afford consumerism and that the "age of convenience" was over.

Jewish Defense League attacks Arab-owned store in France - International Middle East Media Center

Four French Jews, members of the Jewish Defense League, attacked and vandalized a book store in France owned by a pro-Palestinian Arab couple.

Members of Jewish Defense League practice shooting (photo from JDL website)

The four Jewish Defense League (JDL) members, age 16 – 26, were arrested after allegedly breaking into the store on Saturday wearing masks, smashing computers with clubs and setting fire to the books and merchandise.

PERU: Three Days of Anti-Government Protests - IPS ipsnews.net

PERU: Three Days of Anti-Government Protests - IPS ipsnews.net: "By �ngel P�ez

LIMA, Jul 8 (IPS) - Wednesday was the second day of a three-day strike declared by trade unions and social movements in Peru to protest the economic policies of President Alan Garc�a.

According to the government, the strike has been a complete failure. Labour Minister Jorge Villasante said 'work has continued as normal in Peru. The protest has not caught on among the workers as the organisers had hoped.'

But Carmen Sifuentes, the president of the CGTP - Peru's largest trade union federation – commented to IPS: 'If it's such a flop, if the unions do not represent anyone, why are they offering 20 soles to people who went to work? The government is lying to the people.'

The government offered workers who stayed on the job an incentive of 20 soles (6.6 dollars)."

IKN: Shock news! Poor Peruvian women prefer not to die while pregnant

IKN: Shock news! Poor Peruvian women prefer not to die while pregnant: "Here's the link to a CNN article that covers a new Amnesty International report about how pregnant women in Peru die at a rate 20 to 25 times greater than in the industrialized nations. To get the gist of the message, here's an excerpt:

'Amnesty's Peru researcher Nuria Garcia said in a statement: 'The rates of maternal mortality in Peru are scandalous. The fact that so many women are dying from preventable causes is a human rights violation.

'The Peruvian state is simply ignoring its obligation to provide adequate maternal healthcare to all women, regardless of who they are and where they live.'

'Garcia added: 'Health services for pregnant women in Peru are like a lottery: if you are poor and indigenous, the chances are you will always lose.''

How the criollo rulers of Peru must yearn for the days when the little brown people didn't complain so much. Why they should suddenly insist on their so-called 'human rights' must confuse the Republic of Lima upper class no end."

Tanzania Government bans water use near Barrick Gold mine

Tanzania Government bans water use near Barrick Gold mine: "The Tanzania government has banned the use of water from the Tigithe River, which may be contaminated with Sulphiric acid used by the Canadian company Barrick Gold at their North Mara Gold Mine in the Tarime discrict.

The announcement comes just two days after Tanzanian officials began investigating allegations that the mine’s tailings dam is leaking Sulphiric acid into the Tigithe River, which eventually flows into the largest tropical lake in the world — Lake Victoria."

Community Meetings In Guam Set To Discuss Indigenous Fishing Rights

Community Meetings In Guam Set To Discuss Indigenous Fishing Rights: "The Taotaomona Native Rights group is holding public awareness meetings to discuss indigenous fishing rights in anticipation of a July 24 public hearing on amendments to the law establishing such fishing rights on Guam. The Indigenous Fishing Task Force and the Advisory Council members will give presentations and answer questions about native fishing rights and the fishing rules and regulations they submitted in March to the Department of Agriculture, the Legislature, the AG's Office and the Governor's Office.

The first public meeting is scheduled for tomorrow night at the Agat Community Center beginning at 6:30pm, an additional meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, July 22 at the Yigo Community Center beginning at 6:30pm."

Scoop: film about nonviolent struggle in West Papua

Scoop: film about nonviolent struggle in West Papua: "Friday, 10 July 2009, 12:03 pm
Article: West Papua Media Alerts

Al Jazeera pulls film about nonviolent struggle in West Papua

By Jason MacLeod

Recently, I watched Pride of Warriors, a documentary about resistance in West Papua. The film maker, Jono Van Hest had asked me to comment on the film’s content as he prepared it for public broadcast by Al Jazeera. Then, after an article about the film appeared in the Jakarta Post it was suddenly pulled-off air, allegedly under duress by the Indonesian government, only days before the film was about to premiere. The documentary was inspired by the arrival of 43 West Papuan refugees in Australia in January 2006. Faced with an Indonesian ban on foreign media, van Hest smuggled six video cameras into West Papua. The result of this unparalleled access into the West Papuan resistance is a film that gets behind the media headlines to give an upfront and personal account of nonviolent resistance in West Papua. Two things about the film (and the storm-front that has opened up in the wake of Al Jazeera’s decision not to screen it) stand out for me."

‘Jesus Christ never created an NGO to cause problems’ by David

Blog - Survival International

It was a cardinal who said that. He was quoted on the Peruvian government’s newswire just days after the tragic violence in northern Peru last month, when riot police broke up an indigenous protest.

One of the most striking things about the aftermath of the violence and protests has been the government’s spin on it.

An Indian blockade near Bagua. © David Dudenhoefer

Yes, President Garcia has recognized that mistakes were made, but he has also tried to lay the blame on anyone but his own government.

‘International communism’, competitors in the minerals market such as Chile, and opposition politicians have all been cited.

Palestinian refugee dies at the Iraqi-Syrian border - International Middle East Media Center

A Palestinian refugee died on Thursday at the Al Waleed camp, on the Iraqi-Syrian border after a sharp decline in her health condition, while stranded along with nearly hundreds refugee on the border.

Image by Ramattan

The woman was identified as Suad Abdul-Qader Al Hallaq. The Palestinian refugees who fled Iraq after the war remain stranded in several make-shift refugee camp.

The Palestinian Union for Palestinian Refugees called on the international community to act and save the lives of the refugees at the Al Waleed refugee camp.

Renegade Eye: An interview with an Iranian socialist: “Electoral Fraud” and the movement in Iran today

Renegade Eye: An interview with an Iranian socialist: “Electoral Fraud” and the movement in Iran today: "Millions of Iranians have come out on the streets demanding a change in regime. The movement that was first sparked off by “electoral fraud” has become a movement to demand complete democratic rights and against the dictatorship of the Islamic Republic of Iran. This is an interview (conducted on July 2nd 2009) with Arash Azizi, an Iranian socialist, which was originally made to explain the situation in Iran to an Indonesian audience.

Ted Sprague: Can you explain to our readers about the electoral fraud in Iran and the movement that has emerged out of it?

Arash Azizi: Well, politics works in mysterious ways! If you want to take things at face value you have to believe millions of people have come onto the streets, in a direct clash with the deadly forces of an oppressive regime just because of some “electoral fraud” between candidates that didn’t really have a difference in platform! But that is not the case. You can’t analyze events without seeing them in the context and their background."

Barack Obama Tells Africa to Stop Blaming Colonialism for Problems - Living In Black

Barack Obama Tells Africa to Stop Blaming Colonialism for Problems - Living In Black

Can some say AFRICOM?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/new...sm-for-problems.html

Barack Obama tells Africa to stop blaming colonialism for problems: President Barack Obama has told African leaders it is time to stop blaming colonialism and "Western oppression" for the continent's manifold problems.
By Alex Spillius in Washington
Published 09 Jul 2009

Ahead of a visit to Ghana at the weekend, he said: "Ultimately, I'm a big believer that Africans are responsible for Africa.

"I think part of what's hampered advancement in Africa is that for many years we've made excuses about corruption or poor governance, that this was somehow the consequence of neo-colonialism, or the West has been oppressive, or racism – I'm not a big – I'm not a believer in excuses

Mr Obama, the son of a Kenyan, added: "I'd say I'm probably as knowledgeable about African history as anybody who's occupied my office. And I can give you chapter and verse on why the colonial maps that were drawn helped to spur on conflict, and the terms of trade that were uneven emerging out of colonialism.

"And yet the fact is we're in 2009," continued the US president. "The West and the United States has not been responsible for what's happened to Zimbabwe's economy over the last 15 or 20 years.

"It hasn't been responsible for some of the disastrous policies that we've seen elsewhere in Africa. And I think that it's very important for African leadership to take responsibility and be held accountable."

Mr Obama told AllAfrica.com that he chose Ghana for his first trip to the continent as president to highlight the country's development as a democracy.

Providing glimpses of a speech to be delivered in Accra on Saturday, he explained: "Ghana has now undergone a couple of successful elections in which power was transferred peacefully, even a very close election."

Mr Obama made it clear that Kenya's ongoing instability had ruled out his father's homeland as an initial destination, despite the euphoria it would have produced.

Ngati Aukiwa still fighting for their lands | Aotearoa Independent Media Centre

From Australiasia Bureau-Chief: Ana/Sina Brown-Davis:

Ngati Aukiwa still fighting for their lands | Aotearoa Independent Media Centre: "The Crown and Kahukuraariki Trust Board have signed an Agreement in Principle to settle the historical Treaty of Waitangi claims of Ngatikahu ki Whangaroa. The settlement offer includes acknowledgments of, and a Crown apology for, the Crown's historical breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi and its principles, and the return of eleven Crown-owned sites of cultural and historical significance, including Stony Creek Station and the adjacent Thomson and Clarke Blocks, and the Stony Creek stock and plant. [ Government Press Release ]

When Michael Cullen, the Minister in Charge of Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations, arrived for the singing at Taemaro Bay, on the Far North's east coast, on Saturday (22nd Dec.), he had to be protected from angry protesters after being verbally abused and jostled."

ReliefWeb � Document � Australia announces new research into Pandemic H1N1

ReliefWeb � Document � Australia announces new research into Pandemic H1N1: "Source: World Health Organization (WHO)

Date: 09 Jul 2009

MANILA, 9 July 2009, 1600 hrs - As its case numbers approached the 7000 mark, Australia announced AU$7 million (US$5.45 million) in funding for research projects to learn more about Pandemic H1N1 2009 and to help produce better responses to future outbreaks.

Health authorities in Australia, which has the highest number of cases in the Western Pacific Region, said the funding would be provided for 41 projects to help national authorities tailor their responses to the virus. The research to be supported will examine, among other topics, why some people develop more severe symptoms than others, containment strategies for indigenous communities, and improved detection methods."

Foreign Policy In Focus | Denouncing Dictatorship in Uganda

Foreign Policy In Focus | Denouncing Dictatorship in Uganda: "In the Great Lakes Region, Uganda is one of the most important U.S. allies. For years, Uganda was an aid and investment haven, and one of Africa's rising stars. Today, State Department officials continue to receive critical intelligence information from the Ugandan government, and its military is trained and deployed for peacekeeping in Somalia. Additionally, Museveni is still sometimes cited as an exemplar on HIV/AIDS in Africa, despite recent years of increasing prevalence rates — largely a result of Bush administration pressures.

And yet Museveni isn't a responsible democratic leader. He has been in power since 1986 and plays political favoritism with those from his alleged birthplace in western Uganda. Perhaps most notoriously, he has marginalized the people of the north, cheating them of development aid and prompting the formation of a brutal rebel group, the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). Human Rights Watch has cited Museveni's military, the Ugandan People's Defense Forces (UPDF), numerous times for committing serious crimes against the civilian population. The UPDF also invaded and occupied the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) during Museveni's rule, which led to the killing and torture of Congolese civilians, as well as the pillage of Congo's mineral wealth."

Straight Talk: Revealing the Real U.S.-Africa Policy

Straight Talk: Revealing the Real U.S.-Africa Policy: "It's time for some straight talk on U.S. foreign policy as it relates to Africa. While Obama administration officials and the U.S. African Command (AFRICOM) representatives insist that U.S. foreign policy towards Africa isn't being militarized, the evidence seems to suggest otherwise. While Africans condemned U.S. military policy in Africa under the Bush administration, the Obama administration has not only mirrored Bush's approach, but has in fact enhanced it. President George W. Bush established Africa as a foreign policy priority in 2003, when he announced that 25% of oil imported to the United States should come from Africa. Like the Cold War, the Global War on Terror establishes a rationale for bolstering U.S. military presence and support in Africa. Yet official pronouncement of U.S. policy is routinely presented as if neither of these two developments occurred. Unfortunately, the more evasive we are about our intentions on the continent, the more we invite not only skepticism, but even resistance."

Honduran Coup Foreign Minister Calls Obama “Little Black Man”

Democracy Now! | Headlines for July 09, 2009

Honduran Coup Foreign Minister Calls Obama “Little Black Man”

Meanwhile the Honduran coup regime’s foreign minister has apologized for racially-charged remarks about President Obama. In several radio interviews, Enrique Ortez Colindres referred to Obama as a “negrito,” or “little black man.” At one point Ortez Colindres described Obama as “this little black man who has no idea where Tegucigalpa is.” He apologized after the US ambassador to Honduras expressed outrage.

2 Black Prisoners Jailed Under Torture-Linked Chicago Police Commander Freed

In Chicago, two prisoners jailed under the watch of the disgraced former Police Commander Jon Burge have been exonerated and set free after more than twenty years. Ronald Kitchen and Marvin Reeves, both African-Americans, were convicted for the 1988 murders of five people. But prosecutors now say there’s insufficient evidence linking them to the crimes. The initial case relied on a prisoner who wrongly claimed to have spoken to Kitchen and was also granted an early release for his testimony. Kitchen was also badly beaten while jailed in a prison known for the systematic torture of dozens of African American males by Chicago police officers. Burge is meanwhile awaiting trial for allegations he lied in a civil suit brought by victims of the torture committed under his command.

Charges Dropped Against 4 Members of “San Francisco 8”

And in San Francisco, prosecutors have dropped charges against four of the eight former Black Panthers recently charged for the 1971 killing of a police officer. The group is known as the San Francisco Eight. They were arrested in 2007, except for two who were already in jail serving lengthy sentences. One of the eight, Harold Taylor and two others were first charged with the murder in 1975 but a judge tossed out the charges. The three said they made false confessions after police in New Orleans tortured them. This week, prosecutors dropped charges against Taylor as well as Ray Boudreaux, Henry Jones, and Richard Brown. The two San Francisco Eight members already in jail—Anthony Bottom and Herman Bell—have meanwhile pleaded guilty to reduced charges. The lone remaining defendant, Francisco Torres, is scheduled to appear in court next month.

White Folks are Losing Their Minds...

The Health Care Debate is Unleashing Creativity from Every Crevice of America | Indecision Forever | Comedy Central: "And then this morning someone forwarded me this email, which as far as I know is unrelated to the Malkin contest BUT follows a similar vein AND has been 'making the rounds,' as the kids say, under the subject line Obamacare Healthcare is coming soon!

Oh boy oh boy oh boy…"

Panetta: CIA Misled Congress 'For a Number of Years." We Are Shocked! | Crooks and Liars

It's kind of funny, isn't it? We seem to get more transparency out of the CIA director than we do out of the president:

WASHINGTON -- Central Intelligence Agency Director Leon E. Panetta has told lawmakers that CIA officials misled Congress "for a number of years" since 2001, according to a letter released Wednesday from seven Democratic lawmakers.

The lawmakers say the CIA also withheld information about unspecified "significant actions."

The letter didn't identify when Mr. Panetta made the statements or to what they referred.

"This is similar to other deceptions of which we are aware from other recent periods," the letter continued.

CIA spokesman George Little said "it is not the policy or practice of the CIA to mislead Congress." Mr. Little said the CIA itself "took the initiative to notify the oversight committees" about the lapses.

The release of the letter is the latest twist in a tussle between House Democrats and the CIA. Earlier this year, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi accused the CIA of misleading her in briefings about the agency's use of waterboarding, an allegation refuted by the agency and challenged by Republicans.

Kilmeade does eugenics: Americans marry 'other species' so we don't have Swedes' 'pure genes' | Crooks and Liars

DOWNLOADS: (407)

[H/t Media Matters]

Brian Kilmeade put on a classic display of the way today's right-wingers cling to old half-baked notions of race and eugenics yesterday morning on Fox and Friends, discussing a Scandinavian study of the benefits of marriage:

Kilmeade: Leave it to the Finns and Swedes to come up with something. Because that's a -- we are, we're a, we keep marrying other species and other ethnics and other --

[Crosstalk]

Kilmeade: I mean the Swedes -- the Swedes have, uh, pure genes. Because they marry other Swedes. Because that's the rule. Finland -- Finns marry other Finns, so they have a pure society. In America, we marry everybody. So we marry Italians and Irish and --

Dave Briggs: OK, so this study does not apply.

Kilmeade: It does not apply to us.

Other species? We marry other species? Since when? What, is this the man-on-dog sex that Rick Santorum was on about?

And what the hell do "pure genes" -- whatever those are -- have to do with marriage behavior?

NM Police Chief Tasers 14 Yr Old Girl With Epilepsy In The Head | Crooks and Liars

NM Police Chief Tasers 14 Yr Old Girl With Epilepsy In The Head | Crooks and Liars

C&L has chronicled many instances of law enforcement officers misusing tasers in the past (some with deadly consequences) and this latest incident is as bad as most any I've seen yet.

A 14-year-old Tucumcari girl is recovering at an Albuquerque hospital after being shot in the head with a Taser dart by Tucucmari Police Chief Roger Hatcher.

Now, her parents say they want the police department to review its policies for using the Taser.

Her mother, Stacy Akin, said her daughter underwent surgery Friday morning at University of New Mexico hospital in Albuquerque. “One of the darts entered her skull,” said Akin, interviewed by telephone.

After a CAT scan, a hospital resident told her the dart was “in her brain a little bit, but not much,” Akin said.

Hatcher is on administrative leave at the moment, but claims he had no choice because she was running away from him toward traffic. I wholeheartedly disagree with anyone who says that they HAD to use a taser on a 14 year old girl who posed absolutely no threat to them. Of course, Hatcher had no way of knowing that the girl had any kind of medical condition, but that once again proves the inherent dangers of using tasers.

Undercover report on West Papua independence

Undercover report on West Papua independence: "An undercover report broadcast on the BBC about the independence movement in West Papua – where the local indigenous population has been struggling since 1962 to gain independence from brutal Indonesian rule.

West Papua is the western half of the island of New Guinea. It borders alongside the independent state of Papua New Guinea and lies about 250km north of Australia.

Previously occupied by the Dutch, in 1961 the People of West Papua held a Congress where they declared independence and, freeing themselves from colonial rule, raised their new flag, the Morning Star."

BOLIVIA INDIGENA: CONCURSO DE PONCHOS Y TEJIDOS

BOLIVIA INDIGENA: CONCURSO DE PONCHOS Y TEJIDOS: "Hoy por la ma�ana en el Patio Cultural del Ministerio de Culturas se hizo el lanzamiento oficial de la convocatoria para el '2do. Concurso Nacional de ponchos y tejidos ind�gena originarios 2009'. Tanto el Ministro de Culturas como la Viceministra de Interculturalidad resaltaron la importancia de este evento que busca reunir trabajos realizados en todos los departamentos de Bolivia entre julio y septiembre de 2009."

THE AKAKA BILL REPORT THEY DIDN'T WANT YOU TO SEE

Free Hawai`i

Testimony Of The Native Hawaiian Bar Association Before The House Committee On Natural Resources On The Akaka Bill, HR 2314, The Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act

June 11, 2009

Chairman Rahall, Ranking Member Hastings, and members of the committee:

As members of the Native Hawaiian Bar Association (NHBA) Board of Directors, we are writing to express our support for H.R. 2314, the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act, commonly known as the Akaka bill, which was reintroduced on May 7, 2009, and provides a self-determination process for Native Hawaiians to be federally recognized by the U.S. government. However, we condition our continuing support of the bill as it moves forward in the process on the hope that certain major concerns will be addressed.

Fourth World Eye � Blog Archive � Anti-Indigenous Axis

Fourth World Eye � Blog Archive � Anti-Indigenous Axis: "The crackdown on Uyghurs in China, like the systematic brutality of Israel toward Palestinians, betrays the promise of universal human rights adopted by the United Nations in 1948. More recently, subsuming freedom to power betrays the extension of human rights to indigenous peoples by the UN in 2007.

While international law is on their side, indigenous peoples only hope in surmounting the anti-indigenous axis of state institutions, markets, and transnational criminal enterprise, is pan-tribal global solidarity, with support from civil society.

As the leading member of the anti-indigenous axis, the United States has already sided with China and Israel in crushing self-determination. As conflicts over resources related to energy and climate change escalate, murderous regimes like Colombia, Nigeria and Indonesia can count on the US for money and arms to continue the genocide of indigenous peoples."

Centro de Medios Independientes

Centro de Medios Independientes: "En el marco de las negociaciones o mediaci�n entre Presidente Manuel Zelaya y de facto Presidente Roberto Michelleti en Costa Rica, el gobierno ha comenzado a congelar las cuentas bancarias de los principales dirigentes del movimiento social de Honduras y incluso maestros y periodistas quienes han apoyado o reportado sobre la iniciativa de la 4ta Urna.

Por lo tanto el padre de Isis Obed Morillo, el joven asesinado el domingo pasado por militares, quienes dispararon a la manifestaci�n frente el aeropuerto. David Morillo es l�der del Movimiento Ambientalista de Olancho - MAO. Morillo fue detenido hoy a medio d�a cuando abandon�las oficinas de la COFADEH - Comit�de Familiares de Desaparecidos en Honduras - donde hab�a acudido para dar sus declaraciones sobre la muerte de su hijo Isis Obed Morillo."

Abiding in Bolivia: Wrap up: coups and massacres edition

Abiding in Bolivia: Wrap up: coups and massacres edition

Luis Arce Gomez (left), former interior minister to the bloody 1980 Cocaine Coup of Luis García Meza has been repatriated to a Bolivian prison from incarceration in Miami, Florida.

The New York Times will publish a supplement in the La Paz daily La Razon (with an equal dedication to good journalism as the NYT) so Bolivians can now read in Spanish the bullshit Simon Romero writes about them.

One of Leopold Fernandez's goons is requesting "political asylum" in the United States, claiming Evo's supporters shot themselves in the Pando massacre.

Survival International has put together a video interview with two western eyewitnesses of the Bagua massacre. Yes, it's in English.

allAfrica.com: Somalia: Conditions Worsen As More IDPs Flood Into Kismayo (Page 1 of 1)

allAfrica.com: Somalia: Conditions Worsen As More IDPs Flood Into Kismayo (Page 1 of 1): "Nairobi — As more internally displaced persons (IDPs) flee fighting in Mogadishu for the southern coastal city of Kismayo, conditions for thousands already living there are deteriorating sharply, local sources said.

'There are about 29,000 of us [IDPs] in Kismayo and we are living in very bad conditions; no one is helping us,' Mahamud Ali, an elder in one of the IDP camps, told IRIN by telephone from Kismayo, 500km south of Mogadishu.

'The last time any assistance was provided to the displaced was in April this year. People are in a desperate situation.' There are no aid agencies operating in Kismayo, he said."

Mangawhau Protest Day One | Aotearoa Independent Media Centre

Mangawhau Protest Day One | Aotearoa Independent Media Centre: "This morning protesters flew Tino flags off the summit of Mangawhau/Mt Eden in a protest calling for Maori representation on the supercity. Today is the first day of the select committee hearings into the supercity which will consider the issue of Maori seats amongst other issues

The protest began with a Karakia and Song and protesters watched a beautiful sunrise over Auckland whilst sipping hot tea and eating biscuits.

Protesters will on the summit of Mangawhau every morning for the rest of the week from 7 – 8am starting with a Karakia each morning. Protesters are asked to bring a torch to shine and warm clothes as it is windy. The hope is to have a thousand people on the summit by Friday.

Please come along – bring your friends and stand in solidarity with Maori.

Where: Summit of Mangawhau/Mt Eden
When: 7 – 8am Tuesday – Wednesday – Thursday – Friday
Why: Support Maori representation"

In China, overseas forces blamed for Xinjiang protest

In China, overseas forces blamed for Xinjiang protest: "With China's violence-stricken northwestern region of Xinjiang flooded with riot police, leaders of the country's ruling Communist Party blame overseas forces for the violence.

Li Zhi, head of the Communist Party in the center of the violence, Urumqi, said many people suspected of orchestrating the riots had been arrested, adding that some were students.

“To those who have committed crimes with cruel means, we will execute them,” Li said at a press conference. “The small groups of the violent people have already been caught by the police. The situation is now under control.”"

McKinney tells Press TV of Gaza voyage

McKinney tells Press TV of Gaza voyage: "Back from a harrowing journey to the Palestinian territories, former US congresswoman Cynthia McKinney sits down with Press TV to expound on why she made her voyage.

McKinney, accompanied with 20 other activists, traveled aboard a boat named Spirit of Humanity on a journey to the blockaded Gaza Strip.

The Israeli Navy, however, intercepted the ship and took the former US presidential candidate along with all members of the high-profile 'Gaza 21' group into custody on June 30."

Pan-African News Wire: Nigeria: MEND Attacks Oil Pipelines, Cut Output

Pan-African News Wire: Nigeria: MEND Attacks Oil Pipelines, Cut Output: "Nigerian rebels attack oil pipelines, cut output

Wed Jul 8, 2009 8:20pm GMT
By Randy Fabi

ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria's most prominent militant group sabotaged oil pipelines operated by Shell and Agip on Wednesday, further cutting production in Africa's biggest energy producer.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) said gunmen attacked the pipelines in two separate raids near Nembe creek in Bayelsa state in the Niger Delta."

Dissapointing Turn Out But Amicable Atmosphere At Maori Meetings | News | Guide2.co.nz

Dissapointing Turn Out But Amicable Atmosphere At Maori Meetings | News | Guide2.co.nz: "Wellington, July 9 NZPA - A low turn out at meetings of a Maori parliamentary sub-committee on Auckland's new local government is 'disappointing', chairman Tau Henare says.

Today was the second day, of three, for members of the first Maori sub-select committee to hear submissions at Auckland marae.

The main Auckland local governance select committee was hearing general submissions.

How Maori would be represented on the new council was a contentious issue with some parties calling for Maori seats, a Maori advisory board or appointed representation.

Mr Henare said turn out yesterday was big but there were only 60-70 submitters today.

Many more people turned out for the march in favour of Maori representation and the select committee process was just as important, he told NZPA.

However, the number of submissions was in line with the Maori population, he said."

Palestinian Pundit: In Rare U.S. Broadcast, Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya Discusses Coup, Costa Rica Talks, U.S. Role and More

Palestinian Pundit: In Rare U.S. Broadcast, Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya Discusses Coup, Costa Rica Talks, U.S. Role and More: "'Talks between the ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya and the leaders of last week’s military coup begin today in Costa Rica. Shortly before leaving Washington DC for Costa Rica, Zelaya sat down with us for a rare U.S. television interview. He discusses how military coup forces forced him out, the upcoming talks in Costa Rica, his domestic policies in Honduras, the role of the United States and more.....'"

NSA Director Visits NZ | News | Guide2.co.nz

NSA Director Visits NZ | News | Guide2.co.nz: "Wellington, July 10 NZPA - A top United States' spy is in the country for talks.

National Security Agency director Keith Alexander was meeting local intelligence and security officials.

The Dominion-Post reported the visit was not publicised but Lieutenant General Alexander was dropped off outside the Reserve Bank in Wellington in front of a journalist.

A spokesman for Prime Minister John Key said he was aware of the visit and said it was normal to keep such a visit secret.

'We just don't comment on security issues.'

The NSA is responsible for electronic eavesdropping and protecting the US's security information systems. New Zealand's Government Communications Security Bureau runs electronic spy stations at Waihopai and Tangimoana, which feed into the US spy network known as Echelon."

ei: Offering Israel new opportunities for obstruction

ei: Offering Israel new opportunities for obstruction: "Israel has never been short of pretexts for obstructing progress towards a Middle East peace settlement. But recent moves to push Arab and Muslim states to normalize ties with Israel as a reward for agreeing to freeze settlement construction will likely provide Israel with more opportunities for obstruction rather than incentives for cooperation.

The Arab Peace Initiative (API), approved by the 2002 Beirut Arab summit, offered Israel full peace and normal ties with all 22 members of the Arab League, if only Israel ended its occupation of the Arab land it seized in 1967. This offer already implicated Arab states that were never directly linked to the conflict. At a later stage, the API was expanded to include all 56 members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC)."

AFRICA: FAO Paper On Land Grab Is "Wishy-Washy" - IPS ipsnews.net

AFRICA: FAO Paper On Land Grab Is "Wishy-Washy" - IPS ipsnews.net: "BERLIN, Jul 9 (IPS) - The boom in the acquisition of arable land in Africa by foreign companies and governments has stirred an international debate between international institutions such as the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and non-governmental groups and independent experts.

The debate centres on whether the transfer of land from local farmers to foreign investors represents a development opportunity for the continent.

In a paper on the issue, entitled 'Land grab or development opportunity? Agricultural investment and international land deals in Africa', released last month, the FAO reviews the present trend of foreign land purchases, leases and other transactions and weighs both the risks and the economic opportunities that such acquisitions represent for African countries."

Conservatives Circulate Picture Of Obama With Bone Through His Nose | Crooks and Liars

Conservatives Circulate Picture Of Obama With Bone Through His Nose | Crooks and Liars

You stay classy, GOP: (h/t Oliver Willis)

This was not widely reported in the "MSM," but last month the delightful Michelle Malkin ran a very important "Obamacare poster contest" on her blog, which soars o'er the muck of the internet like a million eagles screeching into the sunset.

The submissions Michelle received were just as insightful, nuanced and discerning as you might imagine, and obviously this is an excellent way to advance the health care debate in the United States, some fun Photoshopping. It beats a lame sketch about Hitler, right? [..]

And then this morning someone forwarded me this email, which as far as I know is unrelated to the Malkin contest BUT follows a similar vein AND has been "making the rounds," as the kids say, under the subject line Obamacare Healthcare is coming soon!

Today's Conservatives: Just when you think they can't sink any lower, they dredge yet another layer of slime out of the swamp.

ei: Destroying Gaza

ei: Destroying Gaza: "The recent meeting between US President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu generated speculation over the future relationship between America and Israel, and a potentially changed US policy towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Analysts on the right and left are commenting on a new, tougher American policy characterized by strengthened US demands on Israel. However, beneath the diplomatic choreography lies an agonizing reality that received only brief comment from Obama and silence from Netanyahu: the ongoing devastation of the people of Gaza."

Court Says IP Addresses Aren't Personally Identifiable Information | Techdirt

Court Says IP Addresses Aren't Personally Identifiable Information | Techdirt: "We've noted that in Europe, IP addresses are considered private info, and I've pointed out that I don't think IP addresses, by themselves, should be considered private. I agree that combined with other identifying information an IP address can reveal info about you, but just the numbers alone are not private. And it appears a judge agrees, noting that IP addresses are not 'personally identifiable' information (sent in by Dave Barnes). I'm actually surprised about this, because most people seem to disagree with me on IP addresses. However, this does raise a separate question: if courts say IP addresses are not personally identifiable, then does that shoot a large hole in most of the RIAA cases which rely on IP addresses? After all, the judge in this ruling said:

'In order for 'personally identifiable information' to be personally identifiable, it must identify a person. But an IP address identifies a computer.'"

PUERTO RICO: Pride in Sotomayor Rekindles Debate Over Status - IPS ipsnews.net

PUERTO RICO: Pride in Sotomayor Rekindles Debate Over Status - IPS ipsnews.net: "SAN JUAN, Jul 9 (IPS) - Sonia Sotomayor's nomination by President Barack Obama to the U.S. Supreme Court has turned her into a reason for national pride in Puerto Rico. But it has also added fresh fuel to the perpetual debate for self-determination of the people in the Caribbean island, which has been a commonwealth of the U.S. for over a hundred years.

'In Puerto Rico, they might not know how she decided even one of her cases but for them, and for us, she's Puerto Rican,' said Susanne Ram�rez de Arellano, news director at the Univision affiliate in Puerto Rico.

Sotomayor, 55, was born in New York to Puerto Rican parents. She has served as a federal district judge and for more than a decade now, she has sat on a federal court of appeals. Her story of success has become an inspiration to many boriquas – the indigenous name for people born in the island of Puerto Rico."

Olympic Dam expansion 'environmental genocide' - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Olympic Dam expansion 'environmental genocide' - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation): "A traditional owner of the land in and around Roxby Downs, in South Australia's far north, says an expansion of BHP Billiton's Olympic Dam mine would be environmental genocide.

Rebecca Wingfield is a Kokatha custodian and an international human rights campaigner for Aboriginal people.

Speaking at a protest in Melbourne yesterday against the proposed mine expansion, Ms Wingfield says BHP has the exclusive right to use 35 million litres of water daily from the Great Artesian Basin.

'It's no longer going to happen, we're going to do everything we can to stop the water being used,' she said."

Shame on Canada, Coup Supporter :: Views :: thetyee.ca

Shame on Canada, Coup Supporter :: Views :: thetyee.ca:

Submitted by IIN Investigative Blog-Journalist John John:

"For the first time in decades, the world's eyes are on Honduras, a tiny country many Canadians know for those little stickers on exported bananas and the surplus of coffee it floods onto the global market each year. The world is less aware of the ongoing role that the Canadian government and Canadian mining companies play in pushing many Hondurans further into poverty.

Now that the world is watching, it's a good time to reveal these secrets.

On Saturday, July 4, at the impromptu meeting of the Organization of the American States, Canadian Minister of State of Foreign Affairs for the Americas Peter Kent suggested President Jose Manuel 'Mel' Zelaya not return to Honduras. It's an interesting stance for Canada to assume, considering that most of the international community has condemned the coup in Honduras."

Jury Finds 5 Guilty in Nev. Prison Gang Case - ABC News

Jury Finds 5 Guilty in Nev. Prison Gang Case - ABC News: "Five men accused of being members of a white supremacist gang were found guilty Monday on federal racketeering, drug and firearms charges stemming from what prosecutors called a reign of intimidation and violence in Nevada prisons.

A jury convicted James Wallis, Robert Young, Kenneth Krum and Charles Gensemer on racketeering conspiracy charges allegedly related to the prison gang Aryan Warriors. Krum, Gensemer and Michael Wayne Yost were also convicted of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. Wallis and Gensemer were convicted of firearms charges, authorities said.

A sixth defendant, Ronnie Lee Jones, was found not guilty on all charges.

Prosecutors allege the Aryan Warriors gang was a criminal enterprise that assaulted inmates, dealt drugs, bribed prison guards and ran gambling operations in several state prisons and detention centers."

Strong Start Gave Way to Downward Spiral - washingtonpost.com

Strong Start Gave Way to Downward Spiral - washingtonpost.com: "As the 88-year-old white supremacist recovers from the gunshot wound incurred in his alleged June 10 attack on the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and awaits his first court appearance, as soon as next week, his early days of promise on Maryland's Eastern Shore are a striking contrast to the bitter, self-destructive time that followed.

Von Brunn has been charged with the killing of museum security guard Stephen T. Johns, whom prosecutors say he shot with a rifle as Johns held the door for him. Authorities found racist and anti-Semitic writings in the suspect's car and reported that he had been engaged in anti-Semitic proselytizing for decades. His second wife, from whom he is long divorced, and a son from that marriage have verified those accounts and denounced him."

Houston - Hair Balls - Mein So-Called Kampf: Downtown Houston Edition

Houston - Hair Balls - Mein So-Called Kampf: Downtown Houston Edition:

A group of area Neo-Nazis called the Aryan Front Line Skinheads planned a rally to salute the memory of David Lane, a white nationalist author and founding member of the white supremacist group The Order. Along with several other members of The Order, Lane was convicted of several crimes in relation to the 1984 race-related murder of Jewish Denver talk radio host Alan Berg. Lane died in an Indiana federal lock-up in 2007.

Though it had been deleted from the white supremacist message board it was posted on by Monday morning, we were able to fish the invitation out of Google cache. For reasons that will become apparent momentarily, it seems likely that it was sent by a local neo-Nazi by the name of Kensa Chandler, a California transplant to the Houston area. (Chandler, if it indeed it was her who posted the invite, didn't respond to an interview request from Hair Balls.)

Man in cross burning guilty of 2 intimidation counts | Philadelphia Inquirer | 07/08/2009

Man in cross burning guilty of 2 intimidation counts | Philadelphia Inquirer | 07/08/2009: "Terence Jones was driving his new BMW down a country road in Gloucester County three years ago when a pickup truck pulled up and the driver shouted a racial epithet.

Jones, who is African American, took down the license-plate number and told police the man had also pointed a gun at him and his brother, Douglas, before speeding off.

Yesterday, Terence Jones said 'justice was served' after James J. Trexler, who is white, pleaded guilty to two counts of bias intimidation in state Superior Court in Woodbury."

The Associated Press: Judge delays decision on releasing alleged bomber

The Associated Press: Judge delays decision on releasing alleged bomber: "PHOENIX (AP) — A federal judge on Wednesday delayed a decision on whether to release one of two alleged white supremacists charged in a 2004 bombing that injured a black city official in Scottsdale.

U.S. District Judge G. Murray Snow said at the Phoenix hearing that Daniel Mahon, 58, has a right to attend the court hearing, agreeing with his lawyer and prosecutors.

Mahon remained in custody in Illinois and his attorney wants him brought to Arizona for the next hearing, set for July 28."

Technorati Post Summaries

By Nancy DaviesCommentary from Oaxaca

Everyone is playing the guessing game regarding the secret program which the CIA hid from Congress.

Mila-Schaaf K, Hudson M, 2009

US troops on neo-Nazi site

Honduran Coup Foreign Minister Calls Obama “Little Black Man”

2 Black Prisoners Jailed Under Torture-Linked Chicago Police Commander Freed

Charges Dropped Against 4 Members of “San Francisco 8”

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