What now for liberals and Democrats? Exactly what does this past election mean for the left? While progressives have complained for years that the Democratic Party isn't liberal enough, 54% of Democrats say the party too left of center. Where exactly does that leave us? Are we to conclude that America is simply not ready for a progressive agenda? That most progressives simply do not identify as Democrats? That the polls are flawed? One thing is for certain: if Democrats want to win, they must create a clearly alternative to Republicans with a solid plan for change. In his open letter to Nacy Pelosi Todd Gitlin provides some advice for balancing these concerns. Meanwhile: Al Gore and John Kerry have come out swinging.

What can you do to encourage the use of clean energy? One simple thing you can do is offset your power consumption by buying clean energy. I completely offset my home electrical use for only $10 a month. This doesn't necessarily mean that all the power in my apartment is coming from clean energy, but it does mean that an equal amount is being purchased and used in place of fossil fuels somewhere.

How U.S. Think Tanks Interact With The Military: "RAND operates three DOD-sponsored, federally funded research and development centers (FFRDCs). . . . Over time, RAND developed complementary lines of research for the Army, as well as for other federal clients such as the intelligence community. And the DOD steadily increased the number and diversity of its external sources of research, also using others in the growing world of 'think tanks' such as the Council on Foreign Relations, the American Enterprise Institute, and the Brookings Institution."

a.) How many times do you hear 'experts' from the Council of Foreign Relations, the American Enterprise Institute, and the Brookings Institution give commentary to the media, including NPR?

b.) How many times while these aforementioned folk are voicing their opinions to large numbers of people has it been mentioned that they are funded by the Department of Defense?

Amnesty Says Two Chinese Internet Users Were Executed: "Foreign companies, including Websense and Sun Microsystems, Cisco Systems, Nortel Networks, Microsoft have reportedly provided important technology which helps the Chinese authorities censor the Internet. Nortel Networks along with some other international firms are reported to be providing China with the technology which will help it shift from filtering content at the international gateway level to filtering content of individual computers, in homes, Internet cafes, universities and businesses."

A XMAS CAROL

On the twelfth day of fascism
John Ashcroft gave to me
Twelve digital implants
Eleven years protesting
Ten less amendments
Nine internment camps
Eight surveillance cameras
Seven TIPsters tipping
Six snoops a-sniffing
Five Carnivores
Four airport friskings
Three wiretappings
Two detained Muslims
And a Department of Homeland Security

Another Century of War?

A foreign policy that is both immoral and unsuccessful is not simply stupid, it is increasingly dangerous to those who practice or favor it. That is the predicament that the United States now confronts.
Communism no longer exists, American military power has never been greater, but the U.S. has never been so insecure and its people more vulnerable. After fifty years of interventions in the affairs of dozens of nations on every continent, interventions that varied from training police and armies to supplying them with lethal equipment and advisers to teach them how to use it, after two major wars involving its own manpower for years, America's sustained, intense, and costly efforts have only culminated in greater risks to itself. There is more instability and violence in the world than ever, and now it has finally reached its own shores--and its political leaders have declared it will continue. By any criterion, above all the security of its own citizens, the U.S.' international policies, whether military or political, have produced consummate failures. It is neither realistic nor ethical. It is a shambles of confusions and contradictions, pious, superficial morality combined with cynical adventurism, all of which has undermined, not strengthened, the safety of the American people and left a world more dangerous than ever.

A recent post to the invaluable nettime-l mailing list linked to this fascinating read. Before clicking on the link, try to guess the author's identity from the below:

The Clinton administration would like the Federal government to have the capability to read any international or domestic computer communications. The FBI wants access to decode, digest, and discuss financial transactions, personal e-mail, and proprietary information sent abroad -- all in the name of national security. To accomplish this, President Clinton would like government agencies to have the keys for decoding all exported U.S. software and Internet communications.

This proposed policy raises obvious concerns about Americans' privacy, in addition to tampering with the competitive advantage that our U.S. software companies currently enjoy in the field of encryption technology. Not only would Big Brother be looming over the shoulders of international cyber-surfers, but the administration threatens to render our state-of-the-art computer software engineers obsolete and unemployed.

Don't think I saw Lummox Taranto, Chuck Johnson, and their unoriginal followers - all deploying the "Our Friends the Saudis" headline with wearying regularity - link to this one. Some quotes:

"We're treating all Saudis as if they're terrorists. Our inability to distinguish between who is a friend and an enemy turns everyone into an enemy. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy."
...
Suddenly the [Saudi] people who have spent the most time embracing and defending the United States feel abandoned.

"Does that mean one must leave the Republican Party in order to fight for liberty? Maybe so..."

American Indians Hold Thanksgiving Day of Mourning: "The greatest single acts of terrorism to date were not perpetrated by Osama bin Laden, but by the US military when it dropped atomic bombs on the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki."

Shhh! American Prisoners Being Held In Afghanistan: "Guerrillas have captured five more American soldiers in Afghanistan. This is an extension to the list of 40 American soldiers who have been missing for more than a year now." (via LibertyThink)

TV Ad Banned For Mocking Bush

Kissinger named to head 9/11 probe
"Dr. Kissinger will bring broad experience, clear thinking and careful judgment to this important task," Bush said at a signing ceremony in the Roosevelt Room of the White House. "Mr. secretary, thank you for returning to the service of your nation."

And the comedy award winner is...

Not, but here's something so silly and juvenile I thought it'd never get a mention elsewhere, yet it did - a Stand Down post mentions this really stupid joke which, depending on how you like stupid jokes, can be funny, or simply idiotic, or both, but I thought it was clear enough the joke was precisely on the peace movement, not the reverse. I mean, after all, they do have a point. The levels of inefficacy that current "opposition" to anything our governments decide has sunken to are something close to what the site suggests, indeed... No particular reference, just a sad fact of life in western democracies as of November 2002.

There's always a risk of self-congratulatory pats on the back among even the best-intentioned protest movements. The efficacy of protests doesn't depend on their nature or scope alone, seen as public opinion is not that relevant to political decisions of the highest order like, indeed, wars, or economic policies. The strongest effect of lack of popular support for war, as detected by polls, is usually of forcing the war-posse governments to supply slightly stronger justifications to press their case (hopefully not involving the expectation of new attacks...). I know that sounds cynical, but it's true. That doesn't devalue the right to protest itself, seen as it's one of the foundations of democracy (elections were granted as a foundation of our political system only after riots and people demanding the right to vote - nevermind that voting has become a more limited choice than what was contemplated in Henry Ford's motto "customers can buy cars in any colour they like, provided it's black" ).

Still, in practice, protesting today has become a waste of time, unless one is focused on very precise, very specific and possibly local issues. How can you protest against "globalization", for instance? Try protesting against the local factories disregarding environment protection laws and it's more likely to succeed. It also makes more sense. War is also a local issue, in that every government planning to join the military effort on Iraq is going to devolve huge funds to that support, taking them away from other sectors of public investment that might be more necessary. So, fair enough to protest against it. But what about the rest? Why are there no huge protest movements when the issues are not related to US intervention, or the military? Why are so many people ready to criticize the hypocrisy of dressing a war for oil in terms of "exporting democracy" but spend so little effort checking how pipeline projects are being implemented in ways that betray all existing laws and established conventions, not to mention human rights and environmental principles? Check this for instance:

Corporate Accountability â?? Not!

BP and other oil companies have demanded an extraordinary and outrageous deal, giving them complete freedom from regulation for a pipeline they propose to build across Turkey.

The planned 1760km oil pipeline is backed by BP (UK), Unocal (US) Statoil (Norway), Turkiye Petroleum (Turkey), ENI (Italy), TotalFinaElf (France), Itochu Oil (Japan), Delta Hess (US/Saudi Arabia) and the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan. It would stretch from Baku on the Caspian Sea, through T'blisi in Georgia, to Ceyhan on the Turkish Mediterranean coast. Slated for completion in 2005, it would operate for at least 40 years.

The BP-Turkey agreement, known as the Host Government Agreement (HGA), creates a corridor running through some of Turkeyâ??s most politically volatile regions. The corridor would effectively be outside the national governmentâ??s jurisdiction for the lifetime of the proposed project.

A consortium of corporations taking over the laws - that's even more worrying a possibility than the US bypassing international conventions and agreements to wage a unilateral war. Shouldn't it deserve the same if not even more attention? I'm not aiming at anything here, and the primary responsibility for lack of information on these issues is obviously at the mainstream media level. But just a thought for well-intentioned protesters worldwide: the side-issues sometimes are even more relevant than the bigger picture.

Marion "Pat" Robertson, pastor of the warblogging flock, continues to draw wild generalizations, saying that Muslims "want to kill the Jews and they also consider America the Great Satan, and they want to kill us. It's just that simple," though he later said that he "knew plenty of Muslims who were lovers of peace," thus unambiguously contradicting himself.

In an earlier Washington Times piece, Robertson reported regretting George W. Bush's pronouncement of Islam as "a religion of peace," saying of Bush that "He is not elected as chief theologian," obvious as Bush wasn't properly elected at all.

In an interview with CNN's Martin Savidge, Robertson then revealed his lack of familiarity with both doctrinal Christianity and practical Islam, and clarified that his exception was not so much with the "President's" phrasing as with the Koran itself.

Some days earlier a prominent idiot offered his support to Robertson, the letter offering same was then posted to Robertson's website, presumably to suggest that the business community likewise is ignorant of and prejudiced against Islam.

Yet Pat, Ralph Reed, and the Christian Coalition are as popular as ever, both in America and

Restore access to information
...by volunteering incriminating information to the government under Homeland Security provisions, companies will be shielded from an inquisitive public. Officials at nuclear power plants, for example, could keep information about safety flaws from the public by providing it to the government. Never mind that an unknowing public might be at greater risk of an accident or faulty work than from terrorists.

Too much information is too much power
The bill also imposes sharp penalties against whistleblowers: A federal employee who releases secret information could face up to a year in prison. A spokesman for the ACLU called the House language "a disaster for the public's right to know."

Would You Like Corruption With Your Radioactive Waste?
Act surprised: "Congressional investigators on Tuesday were weighing a demand from Nevada’s senators that they look into allegations of fraud and abuse at Yucca Mountain — the site of the nation’s future nuclear waste repository. The senators, both opponents of storing the radioactive waste in Nevada, said new statements by whistleblowers suggest 'serious defects in the scientific process' used to pick Yucca as a storage site."

American Gulf War Veterans Association Calls for Rumsfeld Resignation

The American Gulf War Veterans Association (AGWVA) now calls for the resignation of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. In response to questioning by Sen. Robert C. Byrd, (D-WV), Rumsfeld denied any knowledge that the United States had shipped biological weapons to Iraq during the 1980’s. Rumsfeld was addressing the Armed Services Committee last week, when he stated that he “…had no knowledge of any such shipments and doubted that they ever occurred.”

There is no disputing the evidence that the U.S. provided bacteria and viruses as evidenced by Senate Report 103-900, “United States Dual-Use Exports To Iraq And Their Impact On the Health of The Persian Gulf War Veterans,” dated May 25,1994, chaired by Sen. Donald Riegle (D-MI) of the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee. This Senate report was available to all senators and listed among other items, Bacillus Anthracis, (anthrax) Clostridium botulinum, and West Nile Fever Virus as pathogens that were shipped to Iraq in the 1980’s with the full knowledge of the Department of Commerce and the CDC.

There is no question that the Secretary of Defense must be informed and up to date with information about a potential military enemy and his military capabilities. Mr. Rumsfeld’s statements demonstrate that this is clearly not the case.

If our Secretary of Defense is unaware of the sales of biological materials to a country with which we are about to go to war, or if he is in denial over the fact that these sales occurred, the AGWVA believes that he represents a clear and present danger to the lives of our military, our country, and the American people, and should be considered a very serious threat to the national security. It is for this reason that the AGWVA calls for his resignation and removal from office.

Sung to the tune: "If You're Happy And You Know It Clap Your Hands"

If we cannot find Osama, bomb Iraq.
If the markets hurt your Mama, bomb Iraq.
If the terrorists are Saudi
And the bank takes back your Audi
And the TV shows are bawdy,
Bomb Iraq.

If the corporate scandals growin', bomb Iraq.
And your ties to them are showin', bomb Iraq.
If the smoking gun ain't smokin'
We don't care, and we're not jokin'.
That Saddam will soon be croakin',
Bomb Iraq.

Even if we have no allies, bomb Iraq.
From the sand dunes to the valleys, bomb Iraq.
So to hell with the inspections;
Let's look tough for the elections,
Close your mind and take directions,
Bomb Iraq.

While the globe is slowly warming, bomb Iraq.
Yay! the clouds of war are storming, bomb Iraq.
If the ozone hole is growing,
Some things we prefer not knowing.
(Though our ignorance is showing),
Bomb Iraq.

So here's one for dear old daddy, bomb Iraq,
From his favorite little laddy, bomb Iraq.
Saying no would look like treason.
It's the Hussein hunting season.
Even if we have no reason,
Bomb Iraq.

Bush signs Homeland Security bill
President Bush signed legislation Monday creating a new Department of Homeland Security devoted to preventing domestic terror attacks. He promised it "will focus the full resources of the American government on the safety of the American people." The president picked Tom Ridge as the department's first secretary.
Bush's signature launched the most sweeping federal reorganization since the Defense Department's birth in 1947, a process that his spokesman said could take up to two years to complete.

It's on.
"Behind public preparations for an invasion, British and American aircraft are destroying Iraq's air defences while covert groups of special forces are training Kurdish fighters and preparing equipment."

Video of Baraka reading Somebody Blew Up America

Al-Muhajabah's Islamic Blogs

Think Halal: The Muslim Group Weblog

Iraq's nuclear non-capability

Famed Primatologist Declares Bush Administration a Bunch of Damn Dirty Apes!
The Bush Administration has been accused of being many things ever since it started the War on Terror , and now it looks like yet another colorful description can be added to the list : that they are nothing more than a bunch of hairless apes, specifically chimpanzees. That is , if a recent comparison between the Bush Administration and chimpanzees by famed primatologist Richard Wrangham, author of 1996's Demonic Males is to be believed.

One wonders: if you, say 2 or 3 years ago had wanted a make a bet on Bob Barr -- of all the people: that Bob Barr -- becoming a consultant for the ACLU -- what odds would you have made? Yet, here it is:

Defeated G.O.P. Congressman to Be Consultant for A.C.L.U.

Bellona Times No, the goal of Total Information Awareness is to help the administration follow its real vocation: maintaining political power through hypocrisy; that is, through a combination of personal secrecy and public libel. The Bush family relies on confidential deals, insider trading, erased records, and so on, while the far-right Republican Party has proven to its own satisfaction that any criticism of their policies can be deflected by launching non-sequitur counterattacks on their critics. Intelligence agencies -- "I know everything about you; you know nothing about me" -- are the coziest nests for such rodents.

US bank in hot water after telling clients to pull out of unionised firms
Describing pension plans as "toxic" for shareholders, the analysts argue that union firms are more likely to provide retirement and healthcare benefits that could eat into corporate profits.

"Rigidity in labour costs, processes and pension requirements, while perhaps beneficial to employees, may prove toxic to shareholders," the note says.

onegoodmove "There is much to be said in favour of modern journalism. By giving us the opinions of the uneducated, it keeps us in touch with the ignorance of the community."
OSCAR WILDE, The Critic as Artist, 1891

Guerrilla News Network - Vaccine Nation
Stephen Marshall, November 20, 2002

In what is shaping up to be one of the most draconian weeks since the Bush Administration took power, Tuesday’s Senate ratification of the Homeland Security Act leaves little doubt that corporate interests have a major stake in the post-9/11 re-engineering of American law.

Girl harassed at high school for wearing "Free Palestine" shirt
An Arab-American student at Franklin D. Roosevelt High School said she was frisked by a school security guard this week after wearing a "Free Palestine" T-shirt and a Palestinian flag pin to class.

Yusra Awawdeh, 16, told the Daily News yesterday she was humiliated when the guard yanked her from Spanish class Tuesday and took her into a dean's office.

Yusra, an American of Palestinian descent, said a female school safety officer patted her down and told her to remove her shoes and socks while a female dean looked on.

The student said she was told to empty her pockets and that the guard also checked to see if she was hiding anything around her abdomen.

You have got to be fucking kidding me... (via)

Christian Coalition Plans Massive Pro-Israel Rallies Across U.S.

Also known as the "Let's-Expedite-The-Second-Coming-Which-Entails-Death-Or-Xtian-Conversion-For-All-Of-The-Aforementioned-Jews-Plan." Also available as a fine dinette set. Buy yours now and don't get left behind!

Jose Bove gets sentenced to 14 months in jail for destroying two fields of gm crops. I can still picture him standing on top of a stopped bus in the middle of a halted intersection in downtown Seattle, the day before November 30, 1999, surrounded by an outbreak of fleshy democracy. Jose Bove is a living folk hero, and not only that--he's an internationally-recognized living folk hero. Globalize genuine folk heroes! Long live Jose Bove!

See also: Police Assault Anti-WTO Protestors In Australia

Judge wants to give RTF webmaster12 months in prison
JUDGE REJECTS PLEA FOR RAISETHEFIST.COM, SHERMAN AUSTIN
Raisethefist.com, Sherman Austin went to court on Monday, Sept 30th to plead guilty to felony: 18 U.S.C. 842 (p)(2)(A): DISTRIBUTION OF INFORMATION RELATING TO EXPLOSIVES, DESTRUCTIVE DEVICES, AND WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION WITH THE INTENT THAT SUCH INFORMATION BE USED IN FURTHERANCE OF A FEDERAL CRIME OF VIOLENCE.

The plea bargain was to give Austin a felony conviction with 1 month in jail, 5 months in a half-way home and 3 years supervised release. As the prosecutor read the factual basis of the plea agreement in court, Judge Wilson immediately turned defiant, saying 1 month in jail was not acceptable. He expressed that posting such information regardless of any intent should be illegal, (this of course completely disregarding the 1st amendment and the thousands of NON-ANARCHIST web sites which distribute bomb making instructions), stating that the offense is too serious for Austin to serve only 1 month in jail. Judge Wilson argued that Austin should serve more than 12 months, even though the sentencing is between 6-12 months for Austin's criminal history category under violation 18 U.S.C. 842.The judge also attempted to make Austin out as a terrorist, saying he didn't care how old he was, that his political philosophy behind his reasons of posting the information made it a very serious federal offense, with the intent that the information be used for malicious destruction at international events of foreign commerce.

Zapatista leader Marcos breaks silence
Marcos wrote that some Zapatista sympathizers "are carrying out autonomy and resistance ... against us," in a letter that was published Monday by the newspaper La Jornada, and reportedly delivered by Zapatista representative Fernando Yanez.

He also referred to "the disorganized rebellions we are suffering in the EZLN," the formal name of the movement that rose up in the southern state of Chiapas to demand greater Indian rights.

In a somewhat more bitter tone than his past statements, Marcos which insulted all of Mexico's main political parties, left and right.

"The federal government and the Chiapas government say 'the Zapatistas are finished,' when the only thing that's running out for the Zapatistas is their patience."

The City of the Dead - Part 2
From Aron, former Israeli soldier and current peaceblogger. As mentioned on this blog earlier this week, it is important for everyone to remember that Jews and Israelis are often at the forefront of the peace movement in the Middle East. These people need to be supported to the fullest, as they often face the harshest possible reactions because of their interest in negotation, peace, and understanding. This first person account of being a soldier in Hebron is illuminating as it underscores the divisions in Israeli society between the ultra-extreme settlers (especially the Hebron settlers) and the rank-and-file Israeli soldier who probably just wants to get home and carry on with his life. More great essays, links and more at Aron's Israel Blog.

Let's go back to the future and the question of whether this new "crusade" will again be the testing ground of bleeding-edge (sick) technologies. Iraq: World's First Scalar War?

"In what is called an "exothermic mode" the howitzers (a Tesla Howitzer) can cause a blast of heat at the interference zone, an explosion of near-nuclear proportions. It could topple buildings and cause other destruction. Or it could be set wide and heat the atmosphere in that region. Or it could be set to simply destroy all electronics in that interference (target) zone, or to destroy the hubs of the electric power grids of a very wide area. Although it seems unbelievable, the actual energy of the blast is not traveling through space to hit the target, but actually being made to emerge from the local vacuum in the interference (target) zone."

Eric Alterman: Altercation

War or no war, fly zone or no fly zone, UN or no UN: international laws of contradiction

Just time to pass a resolution, send inspectors, and voilà, Iraq 'breaching UN resolution'. Quick and painless. If only wars were really like that. Short and to the point, exactly like UN resolutions are. Or, rather, not... The safe stage of "multilateral" action has been set, but it's really no more than a show, when the room for interpretation has been left limitless. And especially when the very first "breach!" cry comes not from inspections - which haven't even started yet - but from something that may or may not be contemplated in the Security Council decisions. The space occupied by that "or" includes everything from total invasion to continuation of the air-strikes that have been offered to Iraqis as complimentary gifts of western democracy for the past ten years.

As a short reminder that war on Iraq has never really stopped since 1991, so it can't really start again (how about that for complicating further the knots of what remains of "international law", by now conveniently tangled up in a huge bundle of hypocrisy that, as usual, only bombs can untie), here's a quick overview of the issue with the no fly zones. If you don't get bored/sick/tired of the usual justifications, counter-justifications, sophisms and "humanitarian" excuses, especially those regarding civilian casualties. Take your pick:

...the no-fly zones were not authorised by the United Nations and they are not specifically sanctioned by any Security Council resolution...

...action was consistent with Security Council Resolution....

...the resolution did not say the Security Council was acting under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, which provides for enforcement action...

...whatever was justified in 1991 is not necessarily justified more than 10 years later...

...are now alone in the Security Council in insisting that their frequent bombing of Iraqi targets is covered by international law...

...under international law, there is a right to intervene to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe...

...condemned the no-fly zones as a violation of Iraqi sovereignty...

...there is no backing for the policy under international law or UN resolutions...

...hundreds of civilians have died in these attacks...

...disputed some of these figures, and insist they never target civilian areas...

...latest UN resolution on the disarmament of Iraq does not mention the no-fly zones...

...firing on British and American planes amounts to a violation of the UN resolution...

See how useful is the UN when you need a "legal position"? You can get any resolution to mean exactly anything you like. Don't you just wish it worked like that for your tax returns, but no, on that sort of thing, the laws are usually overly precise.

Ford connived in junta abductions
The car giant Ford is being investigated over claims that it allowed the military junta to abduct workers from one of its factories in Argentina.

A former Ford worker has claimed that company directors in the South American country allowed 25 union members to be seized by the army during the 1970s. Workers, who were held for a year, claim they were beaten and taunted with execution by their captors.

Federal Judge Rodolfo Canicoba Corral is now investigating the accusations made by 61-year-old Pedro Norberto Troiani, who was one of those abducted.

According to Troiani, executives of Ford’s Argentinian operation allowed soldiers to move freely inside the General Pacheco plant, on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, in the run-up to the 1976 military coup led by General Jorge Videla.

He claims that on the day the military grabbed power, a number of workers were seized and held in a shed in the grounds of the factory, Ford’s largest in Argentina.

Troiani told the court that after the coup "two or three more disappeared each day". He added: "The soldiers grabbed people and threw them into trucks belonging to Ford."

Commenting on the allegations against Ford, prosecutor Felix Crous said: "There was a great deal of hate in this society. After the coup, witnesses say the directors of the company were festive. They joked and teased the workers that from then on there would be no more workers’ rights debates."

DEBUNKING THE MYTH OF 9/11
Official 9/11 commission set to ignore Israeli connection

A NY Times article A Snooper's Dream (sign in required) give more information about Total Information Awareness
"The program, known as Total Information Awareness, is a project of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which helped develop the Internet and a host of cutting-edge military technologies. It is run by John Poindexter, the retired Navy rear admiral who was Ronald Reagan's national security adviser and, in that capacity, helped devise the plan to sell arms to Iran and illegally divert the proceeds to the rebels in Nicaragua. Sentenced to six months in jail for lying to Congress (a conviction later overturned on appeal), the admiral was never particularly contrite about his deceit, asserting at one point that it was his duty to withhold information from the American people."
"Mr. Poindexter is pursuing a scheme he thought up right after 9/11 and then sold to the Bush administration."

Israel/Palestine

I've read many things in my search for what is happening in Israel/Palestine. Nothing I've read has affected me quite like this piece. I have just posted the end of this essay. It's a must read.

Living with the Holocaust: The Journey of a Child of Holocaust Survivors

In the context of Jewish existence today, what does it mean to preserve the Jewish character of the State of Israel? Does it mean preserving a Jewish demographic majority through any means and continued Jewish domination of the Palestinian people and their land? What is the narrative that we as a people are creating, and what kind of voice are we seeking? What sort of meaning do we as Jews derive from the debasement and humiliation of Palestinians? What is at the center of our moral and ethical discourse? What is the source of our moral and spiritual legacy? What is the source of our redemption? Has the process of creating and rebuilding ended for us?

I want to end this essay with a quote from Irena Klepfisz, a writer and child survivor of the Warsaw ghetto, whose father spirited her and her mother out of the ghetto and then himself died in the ghetto uprising.

I have concluded that one way to pay tribute to those we loved who struggled, resisted and died is to hold on to their vision and their fierce outrage at the destruction of the ordinary life of their people. It is this outrage we need to keep alive in our daily life and apply it to all situations, whether they involve Jews or non-Jews. It is this outrage we must use to fuel our actions and vision whenever we see any signs of the disruptions of common life: the hysteria of a mother grieving for the teenager who has been shot; a family stunned in front of a vandalized or demolished home; a family separated, displaced; arbitrary and unjust laws that demand the closing or opening of shops and schools; humiliation of a people whose culture is alien and deemed inferior; a people left homeless without citizenship; a people living under military rule. Because of our experience, we recognize these evils as obstacles to peace. At those moments of recognition, we remember the past, feel the outrage that inspired the Jews of the Warsaw Ghetto and allow it to guide us in present struggles.

For me, these words define the true meaning of Judaism and the lessons my parents sought to impart.
[more]

thanks to Electronic Intifida

It's instructive to look at the Palestinian's attack in Hebron Friday night. The Israeli government tried to make it look like an attack on civilians during the Sabbath while, in fact, it was purely a military attack. An attack that is entirely legal and justified. The Nazis, at the Nuremburg war crime trials, tried to justify their destruction of the Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto; they were fighting Jewish terrorists; they were only maintaining order. The Tribunal thought otherwise. It established that those being opressed under a military occupation had every right to resist. The Palestinians were only doing the same thing as the Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto — fighting for their freedom.

The actions of the right-wing Israeli government and settlers only show how far they have slid into this ugliest of racist barbarism. They scurry around trying to make the situation even worse in order to carry out their morally depraved plans.

It could be easy to paint all Jews and Israelis with this paint brush. Just don't forget that some of the most impassioned voices crying against this outrage are Jewish.

Israel falsely claims "massacre" of "worshippers" in Hebron

News media and public officials did not wait for the full story to emerge before jumping to the conclusion that Jewish "worshippers" had been killed in a Palestinian ambush in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron on Friday. In fact, those killed were all Israeli soldiers and armed paramilitary settlers
[more]

Fear and loathing in Hebron
Amira Hass hears about the travails of Arab residents and finds herself exposed to settler wrath.

Every weekend, including this past Friday, at around 5 P.M., soldiers take up positions on the roof of the home of Hussam Jaber in Wadi Nasara in the eastern part of Hebron. The three-story home is located on a narrow street that turns southward from the "worshipers' way" from the Jewish settlement of Kiryat Arba to the Tomb of the Patriarchs. The entire wadi, the hills that surround it, the houses of the neighborhood, the grapevines and the olive and peach groves spread beneath the roof like a relief map.

On the railing around the roof the soldiers set up a floodlight ("At our expense," notes a member of the family) that illuminates the wadi. This happens every Friday and every Saturday, to ensure the safety of the many Jewish worshipers who walk the kilometer or so between Kiryat Arba and the old city of Hebron.

"On Fridays and Saturdays we don't go out," relates a neighborhood resident last weekend. "Because of the many Jewish settlers that go through our valley and because of the military reinforcements, we don't dare go outside."
[more]

A catastrophic response

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon yesterday joined the demands of the Hebron and Kiryat Arba settlers when he spoke of the need for territorial continuity between Kiryat Arba and the Tomb of the Patriarchs.

Foreign Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offhandedly negated the Oslo Accords, as well as the Hebron Agreement, which he, himself, signed. The Kiryat Arba settlers hurriedly set up an outpost at the site of the battle and declared they would not leave the area until their demands were met. And the Israel Defense Forces began uprooting trees and destroying houses.
[more]

Putting Palestinian "Terrorism" into Perspective

Palestinian activist Marwan Barghouti, General Secretary of Fatah on the West Bank and an elected member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, wrote earlier this year to the Washington Post, "Want Security? End the Occupation."

His opinion, as you can tell, is not being taken seriously by the Israeli lawmakers, who conveniently locked him up, branding him and his Fatah movement as "terrorist."

"Our enemies called us terrorists. People who were neither friends nor enemies…also used this Latin name, either under the influence of…propaganda or out of habit ... They called us 'terrorists' to the end. And yet, we were not terrorists ... It all depends on who uses the term ...What has a struggle for the dignity of man, against oppression and subjugation, to do with 'terrorism?' Our purpose, in fact, was precisely the reverse of 'terrorism.' The whole essence of our struggle was the determination to free our people of its chief affliction -- fear...if you love your country, you cannot but hate those who seek to annex it…if you love your mother, would you not hate the man who sought to kill her: would you not hate him and fight him at the cost, if needs be, of your own life?"

These were not the words of Mr. Barghouti, or of the spiritual leader of Islamic Jihad, rather, of revered former Israeli Prime Minister, and, incidentally, former leader of the (terrorist?) Irgun group, who personally led the notorious Deir Yassin massacre, Menachem Begin, rebuffing charges of terrorism against his militant gang, whom he refers to as freedom-fighters (from his book, The Revolt, New York, 1977).

To Begin's dual ethical standard, murder of innocent civilians by Jewish (terror?) groups does not qualify as "terrorism," rather, "a struggle for the dignity of man, against oppression and subjugation." His observations of course have profoundly ironic poignancy when applied to the current Palestinian-Israeli conflict, especially the brutal suicide bombings orchestrated by the various Palestinian armed groups against Israeli targets.
[more]

North Korea's state radio admitted today they have a low level nuke.

Al-Qaeda Exposed

90 Arrested at Army Base Protest
More than 90 people, including at least six nuns, were arrested for marching onto Fort Benning grounds Sunday during an annual protest of a U.S. military program that trains Latin American soldiers.
feel anger at the deliberate teaching of violence," Caryl Hartjes, a nun from Fondulac, Wis., said as she entered the compound, where she arrested.

About 6,500 protesters gathered for the 13th annual demonstration by the School of the Americas Watch, which continues to protest the Nov. 19, 1989, killings of six Jesuit priests in El Salvador. Protesters said they demonstrate because people responsible for the killings were trained at the School of the Americas, a Fort Benning-based program that was replaced last year by a new institute. Protesters say the change was only cosmetic.

Israel rejects black Hebrews as Jews
Calling themselves the African Hebrew Israelites of Jerusalem, their origins are rooted in their charismatic leader, Ben Ammi Ben Israel. Ben Ammi, who was a foundry worker named Ben Carter in Chicago, had a vision in 1966 that his African ancestors were descended from one of the 10 lost tribes of Israel.

Since 30 disciples followed him to Israel in 1969, the community has established many celebrated professional gospel choirs and R&B singing troupes, sent their Hebrew-speaking offspring to Israeli universities and even represented the country in the annual European-wide Eurovision Song Contest.

Israeli authorities reject the claims that the black Hebrews are authentic Jews, and have insisted in vain that they convert to Judaism so they can be recognized as full citizens. The native-born members are as stateless as their immigrant parents and the grandchildren of the original founders might not even be eligible for U.S. citizenship.

Update: Israelis, Palestinians spar over Hebron "massacre"
Palestinians on Sunday blasted Israel for describing as "a massacre" a militant ambush that killed 12 soldiers and security men in Israeli-occupied Hebron, saying the world had rushed to judgment as a result.

Unarmed civilians were not among the dead in Friday night's attack on Israeli forces who had just escorted Jewish settlers home from Sabbath eve prayers, but the "massacre" report spread fast from the Foreign Ministry of Benjamin Netanyahu.

"Massacre" allegations have boomeranged against Palestinians too in the propaganda war shadowing the bloodshed on the ground.

The Price of Freedom

In a newsweek article about Bob Woodward's new book In the War Room Evan Thomas writes:

In the war in Afghanistan last fall, the United States bought off more enemy fighters than it killed. In one case, the CIA offered $50,000 to a Taliban warlord to defect. When the commander asked for time to think about it, a Special Forces A Team laser-guided a JDAM precision bomb to explode next door to his headquarters. The next day the CIA man called the commander back with a new offer. How about $40,000? This time the commander said yes.  

the shitstorm cometh

Match game
America prepares to light the Iraqi fuse, Middle Eastern powder keg prepares to explode
by Geov Parrish

This is a war with the most clearly imperial aims of any major global conflict in a generation; the Bush Administration proposes to redraw Asia's maps to America's lasting economic, political, and military advantage. But once you start proposing to erase international boundaries, a funny thing happens: other people also start thinking about where to redraw them. And as developments suggest this week from Jordan to Kabul to whichever phone booth bin Laden is dropping rupees from, a number of people are already doing more than just thinking.
[more]

Iraqi army is tougher than US believes
The US claims a war against Saddam would be quick. Wrong, says analyst Toby Dodge, the conflict could be long and bloody

If Mr Bush orders US troops to invade Iraq to topple the regime, it will not only be the most important and risky decision of his presidency, but a momentous event in world politics. The only thing certain about it is that it will not be as simple as Mr Rumsfeld says.
[more]

Iraq: The Economic Consequences of War

The United States is marching, two steps forward and one step backward, toward war with Iraq. The Bush administration has articulated its reasons for war, but has produced no official estimates of the costs. Although cost estimates are often ignored when war is debated, most people recognize that the costs in dollars, and especially in blood, are acceptable only as long as they are low. If the estimates of American casualties mount to the thousands, if the costs to the economy are major tax increases or a deep recession, or if the United States becomes a pariah in the world because of callous attacks on civilian populations, then decision-makers in the White House and the Congress might not post so expeditiously to battle.

In views of the salience of cost, it is surprising that there have been no systematic public analyses of the economics of a military conflict in Iraq. This essay attempts to fill the gap. We must start by acknowledging that the estimates given here are virtually certain to be wrong in some respects, for the fog of war extends far beyond the battlefield to include forecasts of political reactions and economic consequences. However, as Keynes said, it is better to be vaguely right than precisely wrong.
[more]

Waiting on a Countervailing Force
Europe Versus America
by Edward Said

Certainly Europe generally and Britain in particular have a much larger and more demographically significant Muslim population, whose views are part of the debate about war in the Middle East and against terrorism. So discussion of the upcoming war against Iraq tends to reflect their opinions and their reservations a great deal more than in America, where Muslims and Arabs are already considered to be on the "other side", whatever that may mean. And being on the other side means no less than supporting Saddam Hussein and being "un- American". Both of these ideas are abhorrent to Arab and Muslim- Americans, but the idea that to be an Arab or Muslim means blind support of Saddam and Al-Qa'eda persists nonetheless. (Incidentally, I know no other country where the adjective "un" is used with the nationality as a way of designating the common enemy. No one says unSpanish or unChinese: these are uniquely American confections that claim to prove that we all "love" our country. How can one actually "love" something so abstract and imponderable as a country anyway?).

The second major difference I have noticed between America and Europe is that religion and ideology play a far greater role in the former than in the latter. A recent poll taken in the United States reveals that 86 per cent of the American population believes that God loves them. There's been a lot of ranting and complaining about fanatical Islam and violent jihadists, who are thought to be a universal scourge. Of course they are, as are any fanatics who claim to do God's will and to fight his battles in his name. But what is most odd is the vast number of Christian fanatics in the US, who form the core of George Bush's support and at 60 million strong represent the single most powerful voting block in US history. Whereas church attendance is down dramatically in England it has never been higher in the United States whose strange fundamentalist Christian sects are, in my opinion, a menace to the world and furnish Bush's government with its rationale for punishing evil while righteously condemning whole populations to submission and poverty.
[more]

Israel/Palestine

Revenge of a Child
By Uri Avnery

So what makes them do these things? What makes other Palestinians justify them?

In order to cope, one has to understand, and that does not mean to justify. Nothing in the world can justify a Palestinian who shoots at a child in his mother’s embrace, just as nothing can justify an Israeli who drops a bomb on a house in which a child is sleeping in his bed. As the Hebrew poet Bialik wrote a hundred years ago, after the Kishinev pogrom: “Even Satan has not yet invented the revenge for the blood of a little child.”

But without understanding, it is impossible to cope. The chiefs of the IDF have a simple solution: hit, hit, hit. Kill the attackers. Kill their commanders. Kill the leaders of their organizations. Demolish the homes of their families and exile their relatives. But, wonder of wonders, these methods achieve the opposite. After the huge IDF bulldozer flattens the “terrorist infrastructure”, destroying-killing-uprooting everything on its way, within days a new “infrastructure” comes into being. According to the announcements of the IDF itself, since operation “Protective Shield” there have been some fifty warnings of imminent attacks every day.

The reason for this can be summed up in one word: rage.

Terrible rage, that fills the soul of a human being, leaving no space for anything else. Rage that dominates the person’s whole life, making life itself unimportant. Rage that wipes out all limitations, eclipses all values, breaks the chains of family and responsibility. Rage that a person wakes up with in the morning, goes to sleep with in the evening, dreams about at night. Rage that tells a person: get up, take a weapon or an explosive belt, go to their homes and kill, kill, kill, no matter what the consequences.
[more]

Rabbi in Hebron Says Annihilation of Non-Jews Acceptable

A prominent Israeli rabbi with thousands of followers said during a Sabbath homily in the settlement in Kiryat Arba'a Saturday that halacha, or Jewish religious law, "essentially supported the annihilation of non-Jews in Israel."

The rabbi, Rav Leor, said most rabbinic authorities "of the past and the present accepted the opinion that the lives of non-Jews don't' enjoy the same sanctity as the lives of Jews."

"Hashmadat goyem" (the extermination of non-Jews), he said was an established principle in Jewish theology.
[more]

A Conversation on Israel and Palestine
Sharon's Last Option: Build a Wall So Tall Even Birds Can't Fly Over

Byrne: How has it come to this, Martin... how is it that the mighty Israeli army--one of the world's most powerful -- with its helicopter gunships, with its tanks, with it's missiles, can be losing to this relatively small, relatively under-armed if fanatical group of Palestinians?

Van Creveld: The same thing has happened to the Israeli army as happened to all the rest that have tried over the last sixty years. Basically it's always a question of the relationship of forces. If you are strong, and you are fighting the weak for any period of time, you are going to become weak yourself. If you behave like a coward then you are going to become cowardly--it's only a question of time.
[more]

Transfer's Real Nightmare

Fighting the W. Bank harvest of hatred
In the olive groves: Zionist immigrants protect Palestinians from Zionist settlers

As Settlers Pray for the Dead, Israel Weighs Retaliation
Contrary to its front page coverage of today, the New York Times online now portrays the attack in Hebron (denounced as an act of terrorism worldwide) as a military operation which killed 12 combatants, 9 military and 3 armed settler security guards. According the Times, the first "Bullets smashed into the armored jeep, fracturing its bullet-proof glass. Hearing the gunshots, guards from Kiryat Arba raced down the hill...into a wall of gunfire."

"In a very practical sense, the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were a tremendous success. September 11, 2001 dramatically advanced the agenda of a tiny group of radicals who perceive that the only way to achieve their goals is by driving the worlds of Islam and Christianity into a cataclysmic confrontation. ", writes Ismail Royer, in "Who are the Radicals?". "These radicals are not just Muslims; they are Christians and Jews as well. Under examination, the ultimate goals of the radical pro-Israel fringe, extremist Christian fundamentalists, and Al Qaida are startlingly similar. The line between the camps becomes quite fuzzy, a subject that A True Word hopes to examine in future articles. "

Penn rally backs action against Iraq
"I just hope this demonstration will let people know that college students aren't just hippie-type people who are all anti-war," Light said Thursday.

About 20 students gathered near the flagpole at the center of campus Thursday. Eventually nearly 40 people stood in the cold to listen.

British Empire blamed for modern conflicts
UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said the Balfour Declaration of 1917 - in which Britain pledged support for a Jewish homeland in Palestine - and the contradictory assurances given to Palestinians, were not entirely honourable.

"The Balfour declaration and the contradictory assurances which were being given to Palestinians in private at the same time as they were being given to the Israelis - again, an interesting history for us, but not an honourable one," he said.

Mr Straw blamed many territorial disputes on the illogical borders created by colonial powers.

"The odd lines for Iraq's borders were drawn by Brits," he said.

No War? Think Again

Don't get too comfortable just because Saddam said yes to the U.N. weapons inspection resolution. Or should we say, Mr. Bush is not getting too comfortable, and we bet Saddam isn't either.

Just a quick look around the headlines make it pretty apparent that War is inevitable:

USA Today - Iraq: Failure to comply may spark invasion

Business Week - An Iraq Attack: The Odds Now

Sydney Morning Herald - wSplit emerges over what triggers war

CBS News - U.S. Warns Iraq: Don't 'Play Games'

Toronto Star - U.S. has doubts as Iraq allows checks

icWales - Bush Still Looks for Showdown

Canadian Globe and Mail - Deception won't be tolerated, Hussein warned

Fox News (there's a surprise!) - Rumsfeld: Saddam Would 'Like to See' Terrorist Attacks If U.S. Goes to War

Rather than reporting the news, these headlines seem to be preparing the world for an inevitable war (and the consequences of an increase in terrorists attacks during and afterwards).

Say your prayers to whatever God you believe in, folks.

FBI Warns 'Spectacular' Al Qaeda Attack Possible

CIA Warns Iraq attack likely 'only if provoked'

we HAVE to remain aware & vigilant...
and thanks to The War in Context for the reminder,
William Safire, from the NYT, You Are A Suspect

Reports From a Tightrope
Palestinian journalist working for Israeli TV may have the toughest job in news media as his allegiance is questioned by both sides. One in an occasional series of stories about Israelis and Palestinians who defy divisions by the LA Times.

Reassessing Al-Qaeda?

It's time to reassess Al-Qaeda, writes Charles Heyman of Jane's. However, I'm not so sure that his analysis really is a "reassessment", meaning a "different assessment". I haven't seen any credible evidence that Al-Qaeda is something other than what Heyman now thinks it is, so his "reassessment" looks more like support for earlier and similar assessments:

"Better now to look at Al-Qaeda as a cross between a merchant bank, providing venture capital for terrorist operations and a terrorist consultancy. Possibly 5,000 trained terrorists from Afghanistan are at large, and it is likely that they are infiltrating Muslim groups (many of these groups totally innocent) in a number of countries worldwide. These Al-Qaeda terrorists are almost certainly identifying the radical individuals who are likely candidates for future operations and adding terrorist expertise and operational value to these local groups."

Gary Snyder on Buddhist Anarchism: "No one today can afford to be innocent, or indulge himself in ignorance of the nature of contemporary governments, politics and social orders. The national polities of the modern world maintain their existence by deliberately fostered craving and fear: monstrous protection rackets."

Hacktivists or Cyberterrorists? The Changing Media Discourse on Hacking

Especially after September 11, the national debate on the security of cyberspace has intensified. It has negatively influenced movements that rely on hacking (like hacktivism), or other anti-hegemonic forms of Internet use, such as free access, open source, or privacy protection. Hackers and online political activists are now forced to defend themselves against being labeled by the authorities as cyberterrorists.

Restrictive legislation can more easily be passed with public support that increases under a perceived threat, and thus justifies lending more power to the government. Because of the sensationalist nature of hacking, the media is a willing partner of the government in vilifying hackers and hacktivists, and even blaming the Internet as a terrorist territory. Whether intentionally influenced or not, the mass media's portrayal of hacking conveniently fits the elite's strategy to form a popular consensus in a way that supports the elite's crusade under different pretexts to eradicate hacking, an activity that may potentially threaten the dominant order. While the focus is on hackers, several related issues are touched upon, such as encryption, surveillance, censorship, and privacy, which are also key to digital resistance. As such, we see a great effort on the part of the government to control these technologies and forms of online dissent. [more]

See also: Hacktivismo and CultDeadCow

Bush, Nazi, CIA Connections?
Dave Emory's been saying it for years now. I mean, the more you look into this, the more it begins to really make sense.

No War This Week

In a move devastating to Mr. Bush's chance to get some crude oil for his friends in the petroleum industry, Saddam Hussein said yes to the U.N. resolution demanding unconditional weapons inspections in Iraq.

"We hereby inform you that we will deal with Resolution 1441, despite its bad contents," said a letter from Foreign Minister Naji Sabri to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

We ourselves have had lunches with bad contents and know how difficult it is to digest. However, this pretty much puts any invasion plans on hold, at least for a week. Iraq's compliance, combined with the recent tape indicating that Osama bin Laden might still alive, would create active debate as to the advisability of focusing military might on an Iraq invasion, if the media were actually objective, and we weren't living in Bizarro World ("bin Laden am still alive! Then we am going after Hussein!").

Here's a nifty little piece of interactive cool stuff from CBSNews, showing things like the dates of inspections, world opinions, layout of our troops in the gulf, a who's who of hawks in DC, and an advertisement for the CBS Early Show.

However, as this little article from CNN shows, it's only a matter of waiting till Saddam does something Bush doesn't like:

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said that the Bush Administration had not seen the letter -- but warned that if it contained "any false information or omissions, that would be considered a violation," of the resolution.

Does that include spelling errors? Saddam, there's no I-T after B-U-S-H!

George Catlin... Máh-to-tóh-pa, Four Bears, Second Chief, in Full Dress (1832, oil). From George Catlin and His Indian Gallery at the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum. "...When Catlin first traveled west in 1830, the United States Congress had just passed the Indian Removal Act, requiring Indians in the Southeast to resettle west of the Mississippi River. This vast forced migration - as well as smallpox epidemics and continuing incursions from trappers, miners, explorers, and settlers - created pressures on Indian cultures to adapt or perish. Seeing the devastation of many tribes, Catlin came to regard the frontier as a region of corruption. He portrayed the nobility of these still-sovereign peoples, but he was aware that he painted in sovereignty's twilight."

In the name of Fatah

When journalists report that a certain Palestinian group is an "armed wing of Fatah" (the movement of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat), what does that mean? Amira Hass writes in Ha'aretz about "Fatah's failure":

"... the senior and mid-level echelons of the Fatah don't have real control over those who pick up a gun in the name of Fatah. As opposed to the centralized decision-making processes in Hamas and Islamic Jihad, in Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement any three youngsters can join together, decide they are a military cell, and conduct this or that "operation" sometimes "responding" to a call by their leaders not to go over the Green Line, and sometimes going over the line. ..."

"... the Fatah leadership failed to create a clear and logical plan for an independence campaign when it became clear beyond the shadow of a doubt that the Israeli occupation was not coming to an end through pleasantries, because the PA found it difficult to give up the benefits of being a ruling movement under the auspices of Oslo. The Fatah leadership did not dare demand obedience of its people in the national liberation movement and prohibit methods that were "popular" because of their vengeance, but damaging in the long run, because Fatah's failure as a government disappointed most of the Palestinian people."

A raw nerve?

Mr. Putin gets a wee bit touchy when grilled about the Russian policy towards Chechnya:

Get circumcised, angry Putin tells reporter

President Vladimir Putin has suggested that anyone who wants to criticise Russia's campaign in Chechnya should join the rebels in their Islamist holy war, adding that they could enhance their prospects of being accepted into the ranks by travelling to Moscow to be circumcised.

Visibly enraged at being lectured and questioned about his policies in Chechnya, the Russian president rounded bizarrely on a journalist from the French daily Le Monde who implied that his troops were killing innocent civilians by sowing mines indiscriminately in Chechnya.

"If you are prepared to become the most radical Islamist and are prepared to get circumcised, I invite you to Moscow. We have specialists that deal with this problem," he told the reporter.

A Moment for Those Fallen in Battle

Today is Armistice Day, better known as Veterans' Day, originally designed to honor those brave soldiers fallen on the battlefields of World War One, now expanded to include honoring all American soldiers from all times.

I come from a military family; my father, my aunt and uncle, my sister, and the men who married both my sisters have served in the armed forces. My father was on one the subs in Tokyo Bay when the surrender was signed on the USS Missouri. He was a pharmacists' mate on the sub in the Pacific throughout the war. I honor him, and I miss him greatly.

I have often maintained that the military is not the problem; it's the politicians who make the wars. The military are the ones that clean up the mess the politicians make.

Please take a moment to think of those who had died fighting for this country. Take a moment to think of those who, unless a miracle of miracle happens, will die on the sands of Iraq at a politician's behest.

And, in honor of Armistice Day, here are views on invading Iraq by some men and women who have actually served in our armed forces:

At Navy School in Monterey, Voices of Skepticism about Iraq War

When former Secretary of the navy James Webb gave a speech last Thursday at the naval postgraduate school in Monterey slamming the bush administration's threatened war with Iraq, an outsider might have expected the officers assembled there to give him a frosty reception. In fact, the opposite occurred. The respectful, admiring welcome he received gave an unusual, somewhat counterintuitive glimpse into the often- closed world of the U.S. military. Among the Naval postgraduate school's students and faculty, at least, it seems that independent, critical thinking is alive and well.


marine general speaks out against bush's war plans

i'm not convinced we need to do this now. i am convinced that we need to deal with saddam down the road, but i think that the time is difficult because of the conditions in the region and all the other events that are going on. i believe that he can be deterred and is containable at this moment. as a matter of fact, i think the containment can be ratcheted up in a way that is acceptable to everybody.


veterans comment on actions against iraq

you have to avoid war as much as possible because war is hell no matter how you look at it. there's no winner...i hate to see young people go to war...their lives get ruined, the lives of their families get ruined.


vets differ on war against iraq">veterans comment on action against iraq

we either get him disarmed or we get rid of him, one of the two...i know what it can do to mankind, and it isn't a pretty sight...i'm not for war, but if that's what it takes...a lot of families will be broken up. a lot of children will be left fatherless and motherless. i hope it doesn't come to war...

So, are you still hanging onto that hope that perhaps we might not go to war? Last week (Nov. 3) our local paper here in humid Raleigh NC had a job posting. Not just any job posting though. Please go here and read the letter that some thoughtful clearheaded individual wrote to the editor.

Eric Blair, at Warblogger Watch, notes that "Bill Quick is running a most bloodthirsty warblog contest. When I first started up WBW I would have been all over it, but now it just kind of seems desperate and sad. Here are a few highlights, my last word, unless one of these nuts goes postal and starts picking off brown people with a Bushmaster." Desperate and sad it may be, but I'm afraid it increasingly represents the mainstream. Reading some of the venom these pathetic ignorants are spouting serves to help us remember what kind of country we live in, if waking up painted blue all over last Wednesday morning hasn't already done it for you.

Actually, I'm of two minds what significance to place on all this. As readers of my weblog Follow Me Here know, it is a longstanding preoccupation of mine to worry about exactly what influence thoughtful webloggers opposed to the madness can have. Usually it seems to me we fill a universe with discourse, but that the universe is one of likeminded souls only preaching to the converted. This often discourages me (and inspires a shower of supportive comments in my mailbox). But, on the other hand, one of my responses to the fact that I live in a country whose denizens are over and over anally raped, played for fools and convinced to love it enough to beg for more from our elected despots — and then go on in braindead support of the export of our hypocritical tyranny and pillage on the rest of the world — has been to dissociate myself. When people tell me my words can have an influence in the broader field of public discourse, not only am I often dubious but, usually, I'm not sure I want that. You can't argue about political persuasion any more than you can about religion —indeed, it is usually faith- rather than fact-based! It takes so much energy to debate with deluded ranters; is it worth it?

Why not just live in a different country? In a way, ever since the moral bankruptcy of the Vietnam War, I've taken seriously the jeering jingoist yahoos who taunted us to "Love it or leave it." I left. Not literally, not geographically, but I have never felt I lived in America as constituted, not their America. This was apolitical whenever possible, politically involved when an issue of peace, justice or survival made it morally impossible to ignore it. Actually, maybe I live elsewhere geographically too; I've always settled in places which are pockets of resistance, university towns, for most of my adult life The Republic of Cambridge or its environs (I'm across the river from there now, but I still have my office there), and could not see relocating anywhere in the Vast Wasteland which still seems painful whenever it is necessary to venture out into it. At least, unlike my aloof beleaguered isolationism of the Reagan-Bush era, the pockets of self-imposed exile in these days of renewed tyranny and permanent war have expanded into cyberspace to assume a continuity and community. It's a little bit easier to inhabit this America. Let's hope, with the ongoing shitstorm ramping up in intensity, it remains a place of refuge.

we didn't know women were a minority

california representative nancy pelosi has all but locked up the job of house minority leader.

her main competition to the job, martin frost, dropped out of the running and endorsed ms. pelosi on friday. this leaves only harold ford as her only challenger, but most feel that pelosi has secured enough votes for victory.

ms. pelosi will replace dick gephardt, who, since our mother told us if we can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all, we will say nothing about.

asked for a comment, the republicans said, "ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. losers."

apparently there are no republicans in italy

over 450,000 people marched in florence italy this weekend as a protest of impending war in iraq and globalization in general.

the protests were peaceful, unlike those against the g8 last year.

"police in florence said about 450,000 people took part in the demonstration, the highlight of an anti-globalization gathering here that started wednesday and ends sunday. the figure was more than twice the number expected. organizer vittorio agnoletto estimated the crowd at 800,000 to 1 million."

why can't the u.s. turn out those kind of numbers for our protests? oh yeah, because we're stuck in first amendment zones!

addendum two of our favorite things in blogtopia (yes! i coined that phrase!) also cover this story, as talkleft reports about it on stand down, the no war blog.

where have all the mothers gone?

Rome. buon giorno my friends! For the past week there’s been so much controversy about permitting the European Social Forum to have their convention-manifestation in Florence. Many argued that it was stupid to risk in Florence, because of it’s artistic patrimony, that which happened last year in Genova with G8. But, while the right on one hand was waging a media blitz against the pacifists accusing them of potential violence, on the other hand they were in Parliment literally fist fighting among themselves.
One of the nastiest anti-Social Forum blasts came from Oriana Fallaci, Florentine living in New York, who, once physically beautiful, is now old and sour. She encouraged the citizens of Florence to “show their balls” (I guess she was desperate to see some....) and protest against the presence of Social Forum even encouraging merchants to close their shops with a “chiuso per lutto” (closed for mourning) sign. (Must I add that Fallaci writes for Corriere della Sera, newspaper owned by right-wing premier, Berlusconi?)

One of the main concerns of the manifestation was that of the War of Prevention in Iraq. Where are our mothers? Why are women so willing to donate their sons to war? Why don’t women care about risking their sons’ limbs, lives and psyches? Do we have children just for decorative purposes and/or narcisstic needs? Mothers should be the first to protest against war!

The manifestation was a great success with 500,000 to 1,000,000 people from different countries and cultural backgrounds all united by basic common principals. Many Florentines stood in their windows clapping the demonstrators. Many even offered them food and water and the use of their bathrooms since many of the shops were closed. Even my son, Sergio, was there representing the family, I'm proud to say!

more:The Significance of the European Social Forum--Gino Strada: "Emergency simbolo contro la guerra"--Social Forum: Al Corteo 6000 Agenti; Ci Sara' Cofferati--European Social Forum A festival of resistance

US troops watched Northern Alliance massacre prisoners
A British documentary claims to have proof that American troops watched as Northern Alliance soldiers allegedly slaughtered thousands of captured Taliban fighters during the Afghan war.

The makers of Channel Five's Afghan Massacre say they have evidence that US special forces were present during the alleged atrocities - in which 3,000 are said to have died - but did nothing to stop it.

Israel/Palestine

Apocalypse...Soon!

A last word on the dangers posed to world peace should go to a Californian rabbi, Haim Dov Beliak , who studied at the Merkaz Harav yeshiva in Israel when it was the ideological center for the settler movement. He is quoted in a sober analysis (published recently in the National Catholic Reporter) of the apocalyptic, Christian Zionist movement which supports both the Occupation and the settlements. Rabbi Beliak is troubled that "the American public knows little about the settlers. There is a profound lack of curiosity about them." They are, he believes, "deeply problematic because they are going to cause World War III. They are not dealing with normal political reality. There is a complete denial of any rights Arabs might have."
[more]

Blinded by the Right:
America Stumbles into the Ditch

Would anyone have believed that in the year 2002 America would join ranks with fanatics driven by fabricated stories more than 2500 years old as the basis for foreign policy? Our acceptance of Sharon's administration and its savage policies also means we have accepted the fanatics of Islam who use the same God as the Israelis to justify their atrocities. These mythologies become the motivating tools of those in power to justify their purpose. They grab at the opportunities present -- fear inflicted by enemies of the people, righteous behavior demanded by their God, promise of rewards in the hereafter for those joining against the forces of evil, and ultimate victory for the myths that gave them purpose to carry out their desires. It is unfortunate that America has been hoodwinked into supporting beliefs that should have died a quiet death years and years ago. What a mockery of international law, of the Geneva Convention on Human Rights, and America's proclaimed belief in Democracy and the inherent rights guaranteed to all people is our obeisance to the whims of those who would find recourse to oppression in the pages of a mythological text.
[more]

Netanyahu's power play clouds US relations
Likud leadership hopeful rejects independence for Palestinians

The binational option

A growing number of articles and analyses by Palestinians and their supporters are warning that the "two states for two peoples" option is fading, and the goal of a Palestinian state should be exchanged for the establishment of a binational state. At the same time, polls among Israeli Jews show there is a majority, albeit slim, in favor of a Palestinian state.
[more]

US Army Ordnance Corps Newsletter reports on P2OG
The United States should create an elite group of counter-terror operatives to make the war on terrorism pre-emptive and proactive, duping Al-Qaeda to undertaking operations it is not prepared for and thereby exposing its personnel.

US aims to control Iraqi oil: Yamani
The United States is planning a war against Iraq primarily to gain control of Baghdad's rich oil resources and thus decrease its dependence on Saudi crude, a former Saudi oil minister and co-founder of OPEC said on Thursday.

"I have no doubt that the aim of striking Iraq is oil, and not the weapons of mass destruction or changing the regime," Sheikh Ahmad Zaki Yamani, who was Saudi oil minister in the 70s and 80s, told Okaz daily.

The United States has been working to gradually decrease its dependence on Saudi oil, but after the September 11, 2001 attacks, it is seeking to accelerate the process by occupying Iraq, Yamani said, echoing the charges of Baghdad and other opponents of a US attack.

More propaganda from C(IA)NN
CNN is reporting that al Qaeda has, on a Web site, claimed responsibility for "bombing nightclubs and whorehouses in Indonesia."

I'm willing to believe anti-"Jewish-Crusader alliance" terrorists are claiming responsibility for Bali—as opposed to Muslim Indonesians with specific, domestic goals or any of the other possible suspects. But this article, confidently headlined "Al Qaeda admits Bali blasts on Web," seems weirdly flimsy. Having read it, a fairer headline might have been, "Unknown persons on unnamed Web site say Al Qaeda bombed Bali."

For starters, CNN doesn't provide a link to the purported al Qaeda Web site, or much information about it. (I couldn't find any links to the site elsewhere.) It only says it "has been used in the past by al Qaeda to claim responsibility for attacks, including the synagogue fire in Tunisia in which mainly German tourists died, and strikes on two ships in Yemen."

Labeling the Bali attack "al Qaeda" seems mostly a way to portray it as another battle in a global attack on the West fought by a well-coordinated army of Islamic militants. That may be a politically useful way to conceptualize what's happening, but does it reflect reality?

CNN Report Claiming Al-Qaida Responsibility For Bali Is More Disinfo
Jihad Unspun went to work to verify this report and has learned through sources that this claim is entirely false. CNN said that Al-Qaida had targeted "nightclubs and whorehouses in Indonesia" in a Web site message which also boasted of its aim to hit inside Arab and Islamic countries which are part of a "Jewish-Crusader" alliance. This statement alone raised eyebrows as it appears to be aimed at increasing tensions within the Islamic community itself.

Indonesian Police Yet to Name Group Behind Bali Blasts
Indonesian Police Chief Da'i Bachtiar said on Saturday that the interrogation of suspects in the Bali bombing remains to focus on individual suspects and has not directed to find links with any possible groups behind the attacks.

"We have not moved to investigate any possible group. We are still focusing on the individual suspects," Bachtiar was quotyed by Detikcom online news service as saying in Semarang, capital of the Central Java province.

He said the investigation would be very likely to find clues tothe involvement of certain groups, but "We'd be better waiting until the probe on Amrozi and other suspects are concluded."

The Military & CNN by Alexander Cockburn
Col. Christopher St. John, commander of the U.S. Army's 4th PSYOPs Group, was quoted by a French Intelligence correspondent, present at the symposium, as (in the correspondent's words) having ``called for greater cooperation between the armed forces and media giants. He (St. John) pointed out that some Army PSYOPs personnel had worked for CNN for several weeks, and helped in the production of some news stories for the network.''

Guilty-conscience philanthropist and economy destroyer George Soros on trial for insider trading
The trial relates to an attempted takeover of the French bank Societe Generale in 1988.

The bid was led by the corporate raider Georges Pebereau, who built up a substantial stake in the bank, before trying to take control.

The bid failed, but not before Societe Generale's share price had more than doubled.

Mr Soros and three other defendants are accused of using inside knowledge to make millions of dollars.

They allegedly bought Societe Generale stock when it was cheap, before cashing in their investment when the price rose after the bid became public.

If the 72-year old is found guilty, he faces up to two years in prison and a multimillion dollar fine.

Hekmatyar Says The War On Civilizations Has Begun
Correspondent: Do you think a "clash of civilizations" has begun?

Hekmatyar: Yes, the war between the civilizations has indeed begun, and this war will continue forever. I think that those who deny the existence of this war and raise slogans for reconciliation, understanding and dialogue between the civilizations are deceiving the world and themselves. The slogans of reconciliation and cooperation are Western slogans. They are being used to crush the resistance. The Western civilization has launched a fierce war against the other civilizations. The Westerners are calling on others to surrender and not to resist. They want their civilization to be the dominant one in the world. Otherwise, what does reconciliation mean at a time when the West is launching its war against us? How can understanding be reached when the United States has established military bases in many Islamic countries and occupied the most important strategic points in the world by force, when Bush declared his crusader war, the Italian prime minister (Silvio Berlusconi) announced that he defeated communism and will defeat Islam, and the German foreign minister stated that the West will not accept the shari'ah authority in Afghanistan? They are trying to impose their way of life on the poor peoples.

Oh Boy More Fear And Gluttony
Darkness falls across the land, flowers wilt, the GOP takes full, and frightening, control
By Mark Morford

As noted crusty and ruthless and largely unpleasant former Clinton adviser James Carville observed just after the election, "The American people just don't have a clue as to what's coming."

If you are female, gay, bisexual, atheist, black, immigrant, poor, progressive, intellectual, open minded, open hearted, if you hold alternative views, dress funny, dance, enjoy sex, read seditious literature, believe in peace and funky spirituality and don't particularly care for a sneering angry self- righteous well-armed anti-everything deity, you are about to find out. The hard way. And so is everyone else.

The gods can only shake their heads, and sigh.
[more]

Group Lumps Conservatives with Klansmen and Neo-Nazis
The ADL maintains an extensive database of information on a broad range of "dangerous extremists" and closely monitors the nationwide activities of the predominantly anti-Semitic, white supremacist organizations. The group's website also features a calendar of "Upcoming Extremist Events" in order to alert concerned citizens across the country of hate gatherings occurring in their cities and towns.

Yet some question why the ADL has issued a warning for the Free American's 2002 Home-Land Security Expo that will take place in McDonough, Georgia, from Nov. 8-10.

The Georgia event is billed as an "exposition and book fair" and will feature lectures by notable conservative commentators Tom DeWeese of the American Policy Center and Larry Pratt, president of Gun Owners of America. CNSNews.com asked the ADL to define the extremist threat that the Home-Land Security Expo poses to America.

Steynwalling the Truth
In a recent article named "Stop making excuses for Muslim extremists", published in the National Post last week, Steyn deals with the Washington Sniper:

You get the picture: sure, Muslim fundamentalists can be pretty extreme, but what about all our Christian fundamentalists? Unfortunately, for the old moral equivalence to hold up, the Christians really need to get off their fundamentalist butts and start killing more people. At the moment, the brilliantly versatile Muslim fundamentalists are gunning down Maryland schoolkids and bus drivers...

It matters little to Steyn that John Muhammad was further from being an "Islamic fundamentalist" than your average Christian. After all, didn't Muhammad allegedly leave notes with, "I am God" written on them. Surely, Steyn is aware that no Muslim, lest of all a Muslim fundamentalist, would declare himself to be God -- Allah.

In fact, it seems John Muhammad became a member of the Nation of Islam, a cult-like organisation that believes the white man is the devil, Elijah Muhammad was a Prophet, and God appeared as an itinerant door-to-door salesman in Detroit, Michigan. A long way from Islam, as anyone with even a cursory knowledge of the religion would know.

There's more ...

Castro Says Scandals Reflect 'Crisis' in Capitalism
President Fidel Castro, in an address on Cuba's national day, condemned recent Wall Street scandals as "bare-faced robbery" today and said they only confirm what he has been saying about capitalism for more than 40 years.

Castro told tens of thousands of flag-waving Cubans in this normally quiet city 250 miles southeast of Havana that "criminal swindling" by business leaders has tricked elderly Americans out of their retirement savings and duped millions of others who invested in the stock market. Citing plunging indexes on the New York Stock Exchange and a return to budget deficits in Washington, he said that the U.S. economic pinch has spread "terrifying" problems to Latin America and that they appear to be getting worse.

apparently the nytimes thinks it's not nice to fight back, children

hello, everyone, skippy here. while searching for a link to make a rush limbaugh joke we ran across this ny times editorial by nicholas kristof. mr. kristof takes exception to the fact that the left is apparently sinking to the right's level in vitrol.

"yet these days, the intelligent left is dumbing down and showing signs of slipping into a similar cesspool of outraged incoherence. it's debasing and marginalizing itself by marshaling epithets rather than arguments," mr. kristof says.

and he's right. but we say, so what, assh*le? no, actually, we don't say the assh*le part, we are making a joke. but we do maintain that it's not a sign of weakness or immaturity to fight fire with fire.

sure, there are fringe elements on all sides of the political aisle. lyndon larouche has been running for president since we were young bush kangaroos in our mother's pouch. so, it's rather disengenous to take a nutty remark from the edge and accuse the whole side of the political spectrum of going crazy. do we use the fact that trent lott spoke at the council of conservative citizens to condemn the whole republican party as racist bigots? no, we refuse to paint the whole party with a brush dipped in one member's disgusting waste. and we'd appreciate it if mr. kristof would show the left the same consideration.

he rails against the current wellstone-death conspiracy theories, likening them to vince foster rumors. well, sorry to bring this up, but there's still tons of theories about jfk's assassination. conspiracy theories abound on all sides, mr. kristof. but we don't say that because one theory has one political slant, then it follows that all who have that same political slant also believe in the same conspiracy. that would be like saying that we are sure you hate wen ho lee, just because you work at the times.

it is our position that, after 8 years or more of seeing how undocumented and unsubstantiated hyperbole (as we have witnessed from the right) gets the media's attention, it only makes sense to try it ourselves. you assh*le.

ok, ok, we were just joking again. but you take our point. (and shove it up your...ok, ok, we'll stop, we promise). we are not ghandi. we are not promoting pacifism against violence. we are fighting fire with fire. we are rolling up our sleeves and calling it like we see it.

when mr. kristof wrote a column decrying dick cheney's halliburton dealings, he received, and was incensed by, a letter saying "dick cheney is a maggot feeding on the decaying flesh of human misery." what, he doesn't like metaphors?

"the vitriol is bad for the country, by turning every policy fight into a zero-sum game, and it's also counterproductive," he writes. well, then, why don't you say something to the guys who started the whole thing, like newsmax, and free republic? and while you're at it, ask drudge to be a little less partisan in his link titles ("laughter at wellstone memorial" took you to a picture of clinton and mondale greeting each other fondly before entering the service) before you admonish buzzflash and bartcop.

and, of course, mr. kristof makes a common error in logic: "then there's iraq. i'm afraid that president bush is making a historic mistake by pushing obsessively to invade that country. but it doesn't follow that he's necessarily stupid or venal."

well, no, it doesn't, you're right. he isn't stupid because he wants to invade iraq. it may not even be visa versa. we're not pointing out any cause and effect here. a cat doesn't bury its feces because it licks its fur. but it all happens, doesn't it?

no, we have no idea what we meant by that last phrase, but we still defend the left's right not to be left out by the right, correct? yes, and we'll say it again if we can remember it. after all, mr. kristof, it takes two to tangle, and if you're going to berate the left for sinking to the level of the right, you had better say something to the right first.

assh*le.

Debacle
Without vision, the party -- well, a Senate majority -- perishes.

It is the first sign of trouble in a play about nothing but trouble. Asked by her father in the play's first scene what she can say to demonstrate her love for him, Cordelia says, "Nothing." To which Lear responds, "Nothing will come of nothing."

Which is a pretty fair summation of the Democrats' 2002 campaign. They had no message. They were an opposition party that drew no lines of opposition. They had nothing to say. And on Tuesday, their base responded by staying home in droves.
[more]

Nosedive:
The Democrats the Day After

Final verdict? We agree entirely with this assessment by Mark Donham, an Illinois environmentalist who sent it along to us the morning after.

"If the democrats do not see this as a serious repudiation of their strategy of trying to 'out republican' the Republicans, then I think we will continue to see the Democrats become more and more irrelevant. Only if the Democrats embrace a new vision based upon real change, change that will mean taking on the status quo in real ways, not just pandering to the status quo, will they return to power.

"An interesting article ran in yesterday's USA Today regarding the lack of voting by people in the age group of 18-24. In non-presidential elections, the percentage of this age group that are voting is only about 25%. That is because no one is providing them with a vision that makes sense, and the smaller parties that might be providing that vision, like the Green Party, don't have the resources to reach them in adequate numbers.

"Therein lies the untapped political resource to revitalize the Democratic Party, but they will not be fooled or interested by milktoast ideas. It's time for Daschle and Gephardt to step down, admit that their strategy failed, and let some new, progressive leadership re-excite the party. If the party leadership looks at this and concludes that the they weren't conservative enough and tries to push their positions even more to the right, then I see the Democrats disintegrating into near irrelevancy."

So, can the Democrats reinvent themselves out of the cement overcoat of its DLC years? We doubt it, and furthermore we reckon that for the people who control the Democratic Party, it's far more important to beat off radical ideas and drive the McKinneys out of the Party than to win elections or to lose elections on matters of principle like civil rights and economic justice.

One last thought: the Democrats don't have Nader to blame for this one. Ralph even went out and campaigned for some of them.
[more]

Unscientific polling: This morning I was talking about the opening of Sophocles' Oedipus Rex with my freshmen. I was suggesting that this is a play about a state that has suffered a grevious attack & is in disarray & that it is as concerned with politics as with psychology & the nature of the gods. About halfway through the class the discussion veered into contemporary topics. We were talking about political divisions & how different societies attempt to resolve them. On a whim, I asked for a show of hands: How many of you think the US ought to invade Iraq in the next few months? Five hands went up. How many think we shouldn't? Twelve hands went up. How many aren't sure? Seven. Clarkson is a generally conservative school: draw your own conclusions.

Dream Anatomy

The mature world of relativity

Simplistic thinking and anti-intellectualism reign. Stigmatizing countries and groups as "terrorist", "axis of evil" or other variants of the label "bad guys" makes it easy to develop an opinion or a policy for people who are unwilling or unable to recognize that they are inherently prejudiced, for people who are, in Milan Kundera's words, "ambassadors of the absolute". It is the thinking of the "immature man", who "experiences the fear of (or anger against) the mature world of relativity where he loses himself as a drop of water in a sea of strangeness" (Kundera: Life is elsewhere).

In the simplistic world, "strange" groups are "bad", and "bad guys" use weapons indiscriminately. In the simplistic world, people are ignorant of their ignorance of "strange" groups, ignorant of the fabrication of "information" about those groups. For them, which countries and groups are "bad" becomes an axiom. And "bad guys" should not possess weapons.

Reuven Pedatzur writes in Ha'aretz about what he calls "the real problem that Israel faces along its northern border". His assumptions are clear: Syria and Hezbollah are "bad", and present a clear danger because they possess weapons. He does not clearly state, let alone question, those simplistic assumptions.

Marc Sirois appears to be much less afraid of the "mature world of relativity" in his concise "History of Hizbullah":

"Over the next few years [the beginning of the eighties - IB], these militiamen and a group of Shiite clerics formed the core around which a new group congealed. Eventually it became Hizbullah, but along the way some of its members used other names such as Islamic AMAL, Islamic Jihad, etc. There were no less than 55 private "armies" operating in Lebanon at the time. It is, therefore, impossible to say with certainty which early actions taken against the Israelis and Western interests in Lebanon were the work of Hizbullah itself, which were committed by freelancers using the name, and which were carried out by actual members acting without authorization."

Israel/Palestine

All Because of a Small Olive
by Uri Avnery

Why has the Sharon-Ben-Eliezer-Peres government collapsed? Because of a small olive.

It started like a children's tale: Once upon a time there was a small olive in a Palestinian village. It grew and ripened on a branch of an old tree in a grove on the top of a hill. "Pick me! I want to give my oil!" the little olive pleaded.

But it went on ripening, and the pickers did not come. They could not reach it, because the settlers had set up two mobile homes on the hill, and the whole area became a "security region" of this outpost. When the owners of the grove approached, the settlers cursed them, beat them up and started shooting. This happened at dozens of locations all over the West Bank.
[more]

PM Sharon dissolves Knesset, election slated for Feb. 2003

"Elections are the last thing this country needs right now," said the prime minister, "the political blackmail of the far right has left me no option."
[more]

Oh no, it's not about the oil, is it? One thing you can credit free market capitalism for; money is more honest than politics. If you want to know if climate change is real, just ask insurance companies about the millions they spend on research into the question, and the rising insurance premiums for climate-related disasters, such as floods and cyclones. Similarly, if you want to know what the war in Iraq is really about, ask British Petroleum, who are demanding a "level playing field" in access to oil reserves after the regime change is effected. BP are concerned that the Bush administration plans to annex Iraqi oil reserves for the US market, and deny foreign companies access to the resource.

You can no longer separate anti-terrorism from the pursuit of oil, whether it is in the Middle East, or for example in Colombia, where the US is now moving to protect the oil pipelines against sabotage by the guerillas or in Georgia where American forces are moving in to protect the new pipeline that is being built to carry oil from the Caspian to the Mediterranean. The two, anti-terrorism and the pursuit of oil, have become combined into a single foreign policy which is the dominant foreign policy of the Bush administration. You can't separate them.

Not bad article on the connections between Fascism and "Islamism." Although the author does not indicate his sources, he appears to lean heavily on the work of Kevin Coogan and Dave Emory, who have been investigating these connections for some time now. Interesting material, bur sadly will be likely used to justify the clash of civilizations thesis and more intervention in Islamic countires.

Ignacio Aronovich... Street SP. "...Esta é uma galeria de excluídos sociais. As fotos são o resultado de alguns anos morando na região central de São Paulo. Todas são cenas cotidianas. Quase nenhuma foi publicada. A mídia, em geral, não se interessa por estas imagens, já que não há novidades aqui. Exemplos vivos (e alguns mortos) das consequências da má distribuição de renda do Brasil." From Lost Art em São Paulo. (br)

Iraq's History is Our History Too
Art Newspaper - 01 Nov 02

"Collectors, curators, lawyers and art patrons, are urging the U.S. government to take historic sites in Iraq into account as the military map out possible scenarios for attack and occupation. Specialists concerned about potential threats to the thousands of archaeological sites scattered throughout Iraq are supplying maps and other information to the Defense Department. The initiative, coordinated by Arthur Houghton, a Middle East specialist and former antiquities curator at the J. Paul Getty Museum, is an attempt to protect Iraq's cultural heritage following the U.S. government's initial disregard for archaeological sites during the 1991 Gulf War."
- via Floating Wreckage - Jettisoned Cargo

Deconstructing Neville

Hello, everyone. Skippy here, to discuss the proper application of history. While it's true that those who don't remember History are doomed to repeat it, that is even more true of those that flunked History in the first place.

The name of Chamberlain has been bandied about a lot in recent weeks when discussing the pro's and cons of invading Iraq (and believe me, when it comes to valid reasons for invading, there are plenty of cons out there).

Prime Minister Chamberlain, for those of you doomed to repeat History, was the man who made the historic (or perhaps hysteric) Munich Pact with Adolf Hitler, thus allowing the Germans to take over Czechoslovakia in 1938, and encouraging those nutty Hessians to goose-step their way into Poland in '39. And well, the rest is, we are doomed to repeat, History. Chamberlain's statement of attaining "Peace in Our Time," of course, was shown to be tragically wrong.

And so some 65 years later or so, those who would love to unilaterially invade Iraq and kick some Saddam Hussein butt are accusing those of us who advise caution of being like Minister Chamberlain. But, we argue, as if there weren't enough things to argue about already, this metaphor is like our Grandad after his prostate operation: It can't hold water.

Matthew Engel in the Guardian says that there was Only One Adolf Hitler:

"Let's be clear about this. Saddam Hussein is not Hitler, as hysterical Americans keep claiming. The charges of external violence are 12 years old. There is no coherent evidence that he had any plans (at least before the US began goading him) for more adventures, merely that he is obsessed with stockpiling weaponry, a charge that applies equally to the Pentagon. Far from seeking global or regional domination, he only dominates portions of Iraq."

Mr. Engel goes on to say that George Bush is not Hitler either, with which we heartily agree. Hitler could form coherent sentences (ok, we admit, that was a cheap shot - but he makes it so easy). Anyway, that's not really our point.

Before Chamberlain made the blunder that would assure his name go down in the books, Germany had already invaded and occupied Austria. And it made no signs of leaving. Germany was obviously an 800 pound gorilla, and that was one of the many reasons Chamberlain became the Great Appeaser, wrong-headed an approach as it was.

Another big problem with the Chamberlain analogy is that Germany was, at the time, a first rate-industrial power. Granted, it suffered supreme set backs in the unfortunately-misnamed War to End All Wars, but was coming back rather strong, at least in terms of armament and technology. And although the first Great Depression hit Germany as hard as the U.S., it had one of the four largest economies in the world at the time.

One cannot say anything close to that about Iraq. (Well, one can, but then one would be put in the nuthouse). And let's face it: sure, Saddam likes to feed one zoo animal to another, but when was the last time Iraq invaded somebody? And what happened then? That's right, his forces were immediately routed and sent back home.

Oh, but you say, Saddam gassed the Kurds! That's right, you are correct. And we'll give you $5.00 if you can name the village that was gassed. And $5.00 more if you can tell us what year. And another $5.00, for a total of $15.00, if you can tell us the US's response to that terrible tragedy. Give up? The answers are, Halabja, 1988, and Nothing.

(We won't even get into how our allies, the Turks, treat the same minority group, the Kurds).

Our point, sarcastic as it is, comes down to this: for us to be Neville Chamberlain, Hussein has to be Hitler, and a very specific Hitler: a Hitler who already has invaded and occupied countries and is posed to do the same again. A Hitler with economic and military power to do so. A Hitler that threatens immediate war.

Saddam is a bad, bad despot (well, actually, no, he's very good at being a despot, he's just a despicable human being). But he's not about to invade anybody. He can hardly hold his own patch of sand. Thanks to our sanctions, his economy is in the toilet. And remember, Hitler had 95 warships. Saddam is lucky if he has an outboard.

Saddam must be dealt with. But he's no Hitler. And, ergo, we are no Neville Chamberlain. Richard Chamberlain, maybe. But that's as far as we will go.

The following letter is from Unpublished Letters to The Ethicist by Calvin Trillin from this week's New Yorker.

"I am an adviser to the President of a very powerful country. In order to divert attention from the economy, which happens to stink, I've advised him to talk about virtually nothing but war against Iraq between now and November, when our country is holding an important election. If the economy still stinks after a war with Iraq and I advise the President to talk about virtually nothing but war with North Korea until the next election, would I be "playing politics"?

K.R., Washington, D.C.

Israel/Palestine

Labor has pulled out of Sharon's government and Sharon is scrambling to put together a coalition to avoid new elections. Any coalition will move the Israeli government even more to the right.

Analysis / No Labor, no checks and balances

If a narrow right-wing government is formed, the most important change will apparently be the absence of the internal checks and balances that existed in the unity government's inner security cabinet, where the major security decisions were made with the participation of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer and Foreign Minister Shimon Peres.
[more]

Where wild weeds flourish

It's a nation where wild weeds bloom, and at the lecture, my friend asked some of the heckling soldiers: "Tell me, do you believe blacks and whites in America should have equal rights?" There was a near-unanimous chorus of "yes." And, she asked: "Do you believe Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland should have equal rights? "Of course."

And Arabs and Jews in Israel? Silences. Cries of "that's different," "they don't accept us," here and there a "no!" She said later: "This is what frightens me. They think it's easy to be tolerant when it's far away - that even Arabs and Jews in America should have equal rights - but not here. I wasn't even talking about Palestinians; I was talking about Arab citizens. They do not understand that it's the same. We still want to be the victims - we can't see another people as victims."
[more]

Red-Heifer Days
Religion takes the lead.

So how does the calf recently born in Israel figure into things? As Gorenberg explains, the ashes of a flawless red heifer — an extremely rare creature — were required by the ancient Hebrews to purify worshipers who went into the Temple to pray. In modern times, rabbinical law forbids Jews from setting foot on the Temple Mount, thus violating the site where the Holy of Holies dwelled, until and unless they are ritually purified. Without a perfect red heifer to sacrifice, the Third Temple cannot be built, and Moshiach — the Messiah — will not come. Writes Gorenberg, "[Israeli] government officials and military leaders could only regard the requirement for the missing heifer as a stroke of sheer good fortune preventing conflict over the Mount."

In 1996, thanks in part to a cattle-breeding program set up in Israel with the help of Texas ranchers who are fundamentalist Christians, a red heifer was born. There was immense excitement among messianists of the Israeli religious Right, and their American Christian counterparts. The world media covered it as a joke, but it wasn't funny to David Landau, columnist for the Israeli daily Haaretz. He called the red heifer "a four-legged bomb" that could "set the entire region on fire." Muslim leaders worried about the red heifer too, as they would see an attempt by Jews to take over the Temple Mount as a sign of the Islamic apocalypse.
[more]

Pre-emptive arrest of Green Party people in DC? An unconfirmed report.

This could be an inside account, or simply a way to spread rumors. Perhaps some of us bloggers will be able to do a bit of fact checking. Somehow the Leftist Propagandists' report on the DC anti-Iraq protest sounds more plausible. Stuck in traffic for too many hours this week, I heard NPR retract its Saturday estimate of the DC Iraq protest at 10,000, and note that march organizers numbered the crowd at 100,000 instead- same as UPI.

Clearly the hope is that weblogs, spinning off from the US, will somehow make it possible for us to promote a world-wide American Samizdat that counteracts future coverups of mass arrests, and prevents tragedies like Tlateloco from happening in places like Teheran. However data-crunching on surveillance of politicized crowds could become a new variant on opinion polling ... and technologies like the new link-tracking and link-diffusion features on Blogdex could simply make it easier to round all disssenters up.

So, fact checkers and obsessive surfers, grab your tinhats, your Linux server, and join the Vast CIA-sponsored Left Wing Media conspiracy ... ! The non-linear effects of linking so many human processors in a single information web are likely to have unpredictable consequences, and my guess is that some of them will be positive.

A must read: Rumsfeld creates new group to stimulate terrorist activity
According to a classified document prepared for Rumsfeld by his Defense Science Board, the new organization -- the "Proactive, Preemptive Operations Group (P2OG)" -- will carry out secret missions designed to "stimulate reactions" among terrorist groups, provoking them into committing violent acts which would then expose them to "counterattack" by U.S. forces.
In other words -- and let's say this plainly, clearly and soberly, so that no one can mistake the intention of Rumsfeld's plan -- the United States government is planning to use "cover and deception" and secret military operations to provoke murderous terrorist attacks on innocent people. Let's say it again: Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, George W. Bush and the other members of the unelected regime in Washington plan to deliberately foment the murder of innocent people -- your family, your friends, your lovers, you -- in order to further their geopolitical ambitions.

New Israeli defence minister wanted in UK
The legal case to investigate and potentially "arrest" the newly appointed Israeli Defence Minister, Shaul Mofaz, seems to be gathering momentum by the day.
This followed the naming of Mofaz, former Chief of Staff of the Israeli Army, as a potential defendant by the British Human Rights solicitor Imran Khan, representing specific individuals and families in the West Bank, who lodged complaints to the British Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) against the Israeli general requesting his arrest.
The complaints cover a broad range of violations amounting to warcrimes and crimes against humanity, including those under article 147 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
In a significant move by the (DPP) of the UK's Crown Prosecution Service, the case has been referred to the highest investigative authority and anti-terrorist squad in Scotland Yard.

Eviction at Pope Squat in Toronto

It became known as “The Pope Squat”, because it started when the Pontiff came to Toronto in July. It ended Friday afternoon, when the Ontario Fire Marshal’s Office decided an abandoned building at 1510 King St. West was a fire hazard – and evicted all the tenants living there.

The owner - the province - was given notice on Tuesday that the residents would have to leave, after the Fire Marshal issued a ‘fire watch’ inside. And the former tenants were angry when authorities showed up to carry out that order. They scuffled with police as they moved in to empty the building, and several were taken into custody amid noisy cries of "Shame!" from the crowd.

The political/social climate has been getting more vicious here in Toronto for some time, and now this, on the day of the first snow here. Here's some links for backup reference:

Toronto Star: Squatters have right idea about derelict housing
Parkdale Liberty: The Hope Squat