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Showing posts from October, 2010

    Tea Party backing Candidate who Allegedly Shot Unarmed Iraqis 60 Times       :      Information Clearing House: ICH

Tea Party backing Candidate who Allegedly Shot Unarmed Iraqis 60 Times : Information Clearing House: ICH : "Thirty-nine-year-old Ilario Pantano, who is running for North Carolina's 7th congressional district as a Republican, was charged with the premeditated murder of two Iraqi civilians in 2005 while serving as a second lieutenant with the US Marines. In April of 2004, Pantano and his platoon stopped and detained two Iraqi men in a car near Falluja. While the majority of his platoon was away, he and two others ordered the detained Iraqis to search their own car for weapons and then allegedly unloaded two full magazines of his M16A4 rifle into them. Sergeant Daniel Coburn, who was 27 at the time and one of the three soldiers at the incident, recalled wondering 'when the lieutenant was going to stop, because it was obvious that they were dead.' - Sent using Google Toolbar"

    The Tariq Aziz Sentence       :      Information Clearing House: ICH

The Tariq Aziz Sentence : Information Clearing House: ICH : "The unprovoked, unjustified, criminal invasion of Iraq (and other nations around the world over the past 100+ years), and the blood of millions of innocents are upon America's conscience, and the conscience of its immoral leaders. The crimes of Henry Kissinger and George W. Bush (and a host of other individuals walking around free, giving speeches and enjoying the American way like nothing is the matter) are grievous by far than anything the arrogant victors append upon their victims. Yet, the ways of the mighty are strange, indeed! The very tyrants and war criminals behind some of the most ghastly mass killings committed by human beings, thereafter sit in judgment of their victims- in complete disregard for humanity and civilization. This is surreal, this is unreal, this is truly an upside-down world. This is, plain and simple, the way of imperialism and tyranny. It is in this context that I must regi

Girls killed by Islamist firing squad in Somalia | World news | The Guardian

Girls killed by Islamist firing squad in Somalia | World news | The Guardian : "An Islamist militia in Somalia has publicly shot dead two teenage girls by firing squad after accusing them of spying for the government, it emerged today. The victims – reported to be 18 or younger – were killed in front of hundreds of residents in Beledweyne, near the border with Ethiopia. The town is controlled by the hardline al-Shabaab rebel movement, which has become notorious for its extreme form of punishment, including stonings and cross-amputations, for various crimes, usually adultery and theft. The killings, which happened on Wednesday, are believed to the first instance of any females in Somalia being executed for spying. The girls' relatives denied they were guilty of the charge. - Sent using Google Toolbar"

How Has Mladic Managed to Evade Capture? - NYTimes.com

How Has Mladic Managed to Evade Capture? - NYTimes.com : "Q. Is this a critical moment in the hunt for Mr. Mladic? A. Yes, it is. The first arrest warrant against Mladic was issued 15 years ago, in 1995. Mladic is one of the last two fugitives, the other being Goran Hadzic. The time for the Tribunal is running out and if we want to see Mladic tried before the I.C.T.Y., his immediate arrest is of paramount importance. In order to achieve this arrest, we have strongly recommended Serbian authorities to undertake a review of investigative strategy to deploy more people and adopt a multidisciplinary approach. Look, more needs to be done. Time is running out. This tribunal will close in the near future. We want to give a wake-up call that more can be done and needs to be done. We have not said that no efforts are being made to improve cooperation with my office. The arrival of Mladic diaries and related materials was seen as a very positive sign. What has been most instrumental in secu

Iraq war files document more deaths than US count | Antiwar Newswire

Iraq war files document more deaths than US count | Antiwar Newswire : "Military documents laid bare in the biggest leak of secret information in U.S. history suggest that far more Iraqis died than previously acknowledged during the years of sectarian bloodletting and criminal violence unleashed by the American-led invasion in 2003. The accounts of civilian deaths among nearly 400,000 purported Iraq war logs released Friday by the WikiLeaks website include deaths unknown or unreported before now — as many as 15,000 by the count of one independent research group. The field reports from U.S. forces and intelligence officers also indicate U.S. forces often failed to follow up on credible evidence that Iraqi forces mistreated, tortured and killed their captives as they battled a violent insurgency. - Sent using Google Toolbar"

Leaker of Pentagon Papers Joins WikiLeaks in Rebuking U.S. - NYTimes.com

Leaker of Pentagon Papers Joins WikiLeaks in Rebuking U.S. - NYTimes.com : "LONDON — Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder, and Daniel Ellsberg, who leaked the Pentagon Papers, lashed out together on Saturday at the Obama administration’s aggressive pursuit of whistle-blowers, including those responsible for the release of secret documents on the Iraq war. - Sent using Google Toolbar"

Google admits copying computer data - Yahoo! News UK

Google admits copying computer data - Yahoo! News UK : "The company collected the information from wireless networks when its vehicles drove around residential streets taking photographs for its worldwide Street View product, which was launched in 2008. Anti-surveillance campaigners have described the error as 'outrageous' and the privacy watchdog has launched an investigation. It is not yet known whether UK homes were affected by the security breach. - Sent using Google Toolbar"

    WikiLeaks and Assange Honored       :      Information Clearing House: ICH

WikiLeaks and Assange Honored : Information Clearing House: ICH : "October 25, 2010 'Information Clearing House' --' You are not likely to learn this from the “mainstream media,” but WikiLeaks and its leader Julian Assange have received the 2010 Sam Adams Associates for Integrity in Intelligence (SAAII) award for their resourcefulness in making available secret U.S. military documents on the Iraq and Afghan wars. If the WikiLeaks documents get the attention they deserve, and if lessons can be learned from the courageous work of former CIA analyst Sam Adams – and from Daniel Ellsberg’s timely leak of Adams’s work in early 1968 – even the amateurs in the White House may be able to recognize the folly of widening the war from Afghanistan to adjacent countries. That leak played a key role in dissuading President Lyndon Johnson from approving Gen. William Westmoreland’s request to send 206,000 more troops – not only into the Big Muddy, but also into countries

Iraq war logs: Apache helicopters kill 14 civilians in hunt for insurgents | World news | guardian.co.uk

Iraq war logs: Apache helicopters kill 14 civilians in hunt for insurgents | World news | guardian.co.uk : "War logs examined by the Guardian reveal that a bigger incident with a greater number of casualties occurred in a neighbouring part of Baghdad four days later on 16 July 2007. This time the Apaches were aided by unmanned surveillance drones and two F-16 fighter-bombers as US ground troops stepped up operations in densely populated eastern Baghdad against militants loyal to the anti-occupation cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. When it was over a local Iraqi informer told a US army interpreter that 14 civilians were dead, according to a military intelligence report. - Sent using Google Toolbar"

  Jimmy Carter says Palestinians live in a 'cage'         :      Information Clearing House: ICH

Jimmy Carter says Palestinians live in a 'cage' : Information Clearing House: ICH : "October 19, 2010 'AP' -- - DAMASCUS, Syria — Former President Jimmy Carter said Tuesday that Palestinians are 'living in a cage' in Gaza and that the militant group Hamas must be included in all major efforts for peace. - Sent using Google Toolbar"

  Candidate who Shot Iraqis Brags about Gun Skills         :      Information Clearing House: ICH

Candidate who Shot Iraqis Brags about Gun Skills : Information Clearing House: ICH : "October 21, 2010 'War Room' - - North Carolina Republican House candidate Ilario Pantano isn't the first politician to hold a fundraiser at a gun range. But he probably is the first who became famous for shooting two unarmed Iraqi prisoners at close range up to 60 times with an assault rifle. - Sent using Google Toolbar"

End Federal Tax Subsidies to Fox! | Informed Comment

End Federal Tax Subsidies to Fox! | Informed Comment : "In response to Jim DeMint, Michelle Malkin, Bill O’Reilly, and other wingnuts who are calling for an end of Federal government support for National Public Radio because it fired commentator Juan Williams for hate speech against Muslim-Americans, I am calling for the Federal government to close all those loopholes whereby Rupert Murdoch essentially usurps our taxpayer money and uses it to finance his massive airwave pollution projects. - Sent using Google Toolbar"

Saudi prince jailed for life in UK - Europe - Al Jazeera English

Saudi prince jailed for life in UK - Europe - Al Jazeera English : "A Saudi prince has been jailed for life by a British court after he was found guilty of murdering his male servant in a brutal attack at a London hotel. Saud Abdulaziz bin Nasser al-Saud, the grandson of Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah, was ordered to serve a minimum of 20 years in prison by a judge at London's Central Criminal court on Wednesday. 'It is very unusual for a prince to be in the dock on a murder charge. No one in this country is above the law,' David Bean, the judge, told Saud as he handed down the sentence. 'It would be wrong for me to sentence you either more severely or more leniently because of your membership of the Saudi royal family,' he added. On Tuesday the court convicted 34-year-old al Saud of beating and strangling Bandar Abdullah Abdulaziz to death at London's Landmark hotel in February this year. 'Sexual element' The prosecution had argued that the 32-ye

Israeli Taliban Torch Palestinian Girls’ School, Destroy Olive Trees | Informed Comment

Israeli Taliban Torch Palestinian Girls’ School, Destroy Olive Trees | Informed Comment : "Israeli Taliban Torch Palestinian Girls’ School, Destroy Olive Trees Posted on October 20, 2010 by Juan 3Share The phrase “ethnic cleansing” conjures up a swift, comprehensive act of expulsion. But in reality, moving a large population off its land is the death of a thousand cuts, a slow, inexorable process of stealing property, harassment, forcing people into a condition of malnutrition. The Native Americans in the Americas, the Aborigines in Australia, and the Palestinians in Israel/Palestine were only sometimes forced off their land suddenly and en masse. The gradual processes told, in the long run. The amazing thing about what is being done to the Palestinians in the Palestinian West Bank by Israeli illegal aliens is that it is happening in full view of the world, reported on by wire services, and yet remains invisible to Western publics. The world reacts in horror when the Taliban in Af

Helen Thomas Cries, Denies Anti-Semitism, Calls President Obama 'Reprehensible' (AUDIO)

Helen Thomas Cries, Denies Anti-Semitism, Calls President Obama 'Reprehensible' (AUDIO) : "MARION, Ohio — In a radio interview, former White House correspondent Helen Thomas acknowledges she touched a nerve with remarks about Israel that led to her retirement. But she says the comments were 'exactly what I thought,' even though she realized soon afterward that it was the end of her job. 'I hit the third rail. You cannot criticize Israel in this country and survive,' Thomas told Ohio station WMRN-AM in a sometimes emotional 35-minute interview that aired Tuesday. It was recorded a week earlier by WMRN reporter Scott Spears at Thomas' Washington, D.C., condominium. Thomas, 90, stepped down from her job as a columnist for Hearst News Service in June after a rabbi and independent filmmaker videotaped her outside the White House calling on Israelis to get 'out of Palestine.' She gave up her front row seat in the White House press room, where she had

PLO Official Offers Trade: Recognition of Israel as ‘Jewish State’ for 1967 Borders -- News from Antiwar.com

PLO Official Offers Trade: Recognition of Israel as ‘Jewish State’ for 1967 Borders -- News from Antiwar.com : "Long-standing Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) official Yasser Abed Rabbo today said the group would be willing to recognize Israel as a “Jewish State” or indeed as whatever it wants provided they are presented with a map of the future Palestinian state that includes all territory seized by Israel in their 1967 invasion. - Sent using Google Toolbar"

An education in inequality - Features - Al Jazeera English

An education in inequality - Features - Al Jazeera English : "Expressing his support for the controversial loyalty oath bill - legislation that will require non-Jews to pledge allegiance to Israel 'as a Jewish and democratic state' - Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, remarked: 'Zionism established an exemplary national state, a state that balances between the national needs of our people and the individual rights of every citizen in the country.' But a look at the Israeli education system offers a very different picture. Rawia Aburabia, an attorney with the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), says that schools attended by Palestinian citizens of Israel are missing '9,000 classes, 300 [officials who enforce school attendance], 200 psychologists, and 250 educational consultants'. As a result, the dropout rate for Palestinian citizens of Israel is almost double that of their Jewish counterparts. Classes in the Arab school system are al

Heroin addiction reaching epidemic levels in Ethiopia | Ethiopia

Heroin addiction reaching epidemic levels in Ethiopia | Ethiopia : "Just a couple of decades ago Khat (ጫት) consumption was limited to a small area of Ethiopia, mainly eastern and south eastern of the country. Today, Khat use is pervasive in all parts of Ethiopia, except the Tigray region where it is outlawed. As a result, currently a growing number of Ethiopian youth are addicted to khat, causing most of them to be less productive citizens who walk around like zombies. The ruling party doesn’t want to control khat — although it knows about its debilitating effect on the society — because many of its officials are deeply involved in the khat trade It is estimated that the khat market in Ethiopia alone generates well over one hundred million dollars per year. - Sent using Google Toolbar"

    A New Study Shows that Americans are Idiots        :      Information Clearing House: ICH

A New Study Shows that Americans are Idiots : Information Clearing House: ICH : "A New Study Shows that Americans are Idiots By Jill October 11, 2010 'Brilliant at Breakfast' - - Remember how Democrats always refuse to fight back against smears because 'The American people are too smart to fall for that'? No, they aren't. In fact, Americans are no longer capable of arriving at opinions through actual thought: Americans have a more negative view of government today than they did a decade ago, or even a few years ago. Most say it focuses on the wrong things and lack confidence that it can solve big domestic problems; this general anti-Washington sentiment is helping to fuel a potential Republican takeover of Congress next month. But ask people what they expect the government to do for themselves and their families, and a more complicated picture emerges. A new study by The Washington Post, the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation and Harvard

Guatemala fury over US sex disease tests | The Australian

Guatemala fury over US sex disease tests | The Australian : "GUATEMALANS have slammed a US confession that it led a 1940s study in their country in which hundreds of people were deliberately infected with STDs. 'No matter how much of a superpower it is, the US cannot do this kind of experimentation,' Nery Rodenas, the chief of the human rights office at the Archbishop of Guatemala's office, said yesterday. 'They used Guatemalans as lab rats. It is important that family members receive some kind of compensation.' Politician Zury Rios also urged compensation for not only the victims, but the nation as a whole. - Sent using Google Toolbar"

Want To Know If The FBI Is Tracking You? Look For One Of These | Gizmodo Australia

Want To Know If The FBI Is Tracking You? Look For One Of These | Gizmodo Australia : "Want To Know If The FBI Is Tracking You? Look For One Of These retweet32 By Bryan Gardiner on October 5, 2010 at 10:25 AM Want to know if the government is really tracking you? If you find one of these tucked underneath your car, you can start freaking out. A routine visit to the mechanic by a Redditor and his friend turned up this ominous-looking device nestled right next to the exhaust on his friend’s car. After promptly ruling out a bomb, other Redditors helped correctly identify the black device as a Guardian ST820 – a GPS-tracking unit made by Cobham and used exclusively by the army and law enforcement. According to the poster, the friend’s (now dead) father had ties to the Muslim religious community and was the subject of quite a bit of FBI interest. That interest also extended to the son, who has supposedly been on an FBI watchlist since last year. “Why my friend is being tracked is anyone

U.S. Religious Knowledge Survey - Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life

U.S. Religious Knowledge Survey - Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life : "Atheists and agnostics, Jews and Mormons are among the highest-scoring groups on a new survey of religious knowledge, outperforming evangelical Protestants, mainline Protestants and Catholics on questions about the core teachings, history and leading figures of major world religions. On average, Americans correctly answer 16 of the 32 religious knowledge questions on the survey by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life. Atheists and agnostics average 20.9 correct answers. Jews and Mormons do about as well, averaging 20.5 and 20.3 correct answers, respectively. Protestants as a whole average 16 correct answers; Catholics as a whole, 14.7. Atheists and agnostics, Jews and Mormons perform better than other groups on the survey even after controlling for differing levels of education. - Sent using Google Toolbar"

Free Iraq

Free Iraq : "'Dear Mr Blair, You do not know me. Why should you? Or maybe you should have known me and the many other UN officials who struggled in Iraq when you prepared your Iraq policy. Reading the Iraq details of your 'journey', as told in your memoir, has confirmed my fears. You tell a story of a leader, but not of a statesman. You could have, at least belatedly, set the record straight. Instead you repeat all the arguments we have heard before, such as why sanctions had to be the way they were; why the fear of Saddam Hussein outweighed the fear of crossing the line between concern for people and power politics; why Iraq ended up as a human garbage can. You preferred to latch on to Bill Clinton's 1998 Iraq Liberation Act and George W Bush's determination to implement it.' - Sent using Google Toolbar"