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Decline and Fall ... (Maybe) Dec 20
We're on our own. It's official. The House of Representatives completed what the Senate began (which seems like the wrong way around). The giveaway to millionaires, also known as the Obama-Republican tax bill, is now law. The grand total is now $900 billion in tax cuts, a large sum of which comes from the Social Security Trust Fund. Shameless politicians have created an open wound in the Social Security that they say is "temporary." They lie so consistently, there is no reason to believe that the payroll tax will ever be restored; certainly not in the next two legislative seasons with a super majority of Republicans in the House of Representatives. (Image)
There was no real debate, hence no public awareness, of the crime committed. But when the word gets out over the next few months, there should be an awful reckoning when the people wake up to this theft. Those who voted for this proposal didn't just touch the third rail of American politics, they sat down on it.
There were some winners out of all this:
"A bonanza of new and extended tax benefits could make it as easy as ever for the rich to stay that way." Bloomberg Businessweek
Amnesty International responds to Wikileaks controversy
Mary Shaw
Human rights group Amnesty International was mostly silent for quite a while after the Wikileaks scandal hit the fan. Initially, Amnesty had responded only to a handful of select revelations that corroborated its suspicions of human rights abuses, like the airstrikes on Yemen.
Now Amnesty has released a much broader Q&A on the whole Wikileaks matter and freedom of expression. Below are some key excerpts.
Would prosecution of Julian Assange for releasing US government documents be a violation of the right to freedom of expression?
Newly Leaked Cable: Pope 'quietly supportive' of GMOs
By Rady Ananda
Just released yesterday, a November 19, 2009 leaked cable indicates Pope Benedict XVI supports genetically modified foods, though he will not publicly admit it. A June 2009 cable from the US Vatican Embassy confirmed the Pontiff’s refusal to take a stance on GM foods, which was verified in December 2010 by a Vatican spokesperson. However, this latest cable tells quite a different story:
"Linking development with use of agricultural technologies (i.e., biotechnologies), Benedict stressed good governance and further infrastructure development as essential to increasing food security over the long-term. (Note: Benedict's mention of agricultural technologies is a small but significant step towards more vocal Vatican support of biotechnologies. End Note)"
Lynne Stewart Transferred to Texas
by Stephen Lendman
Seven previous articles discussed her case and status, explaining the gross injustice against a heroic human rights lawyer who devoted her career to defending society's poor, unwanted, and unfairly persecuted - defendants deprived of due process without an advocate like her.
She knew the risks, yet took them courageously, until prosecutorial injustice convicted and imprisoned her for doing her job - defending an unpopular client too vigorously.
Interned on November 19, 2009 at MCC-NY, she remained there until transferred. Her family and attorneys requested FCI Danbury, CT close to home, a facility for low security female prisoners with a satellite camp for minimum security ones. No matter. She was denied the logical choice for a more punitive one.
Australia rejects Israeli ordered Media censorship on Al-Manar
Franklin Lamb
In issuing its findings of fact and conclusions of law ACMA found that Al Manar did not violate Australian law, and was free to broadcast in the country
Australia’s Parliament and main stream media may not differ all that much from other western countries when it comes to chronic groveling to its Zionist lobby. But like citizens in many countries, Australians sometimes courageously exhibit admirable independence and respect for their society’s own values.
On December 10, 2010, whether by design or coincidence, International Human Rights Day, Australia’s Communication and Media Authority (ACMA ) released its much anticipated decision on whether to ban Lebanon’s Al Manar TV channel from being broadcast down under via the Indonesian PT Indosat satellite ( Palapa D) that was launched on 12/27/09. As in the US, which does ban Al Manar, the popular stations programming would, even if banned, still be available via internet live streaming.
America's War on Islam: New Republican Offensive Planned
by Stephen Lendman
Dozens of previous articles addressed America's war on Islam, discussing victims of America's war on terror for political advantage, not for threatening national security or public safety.
Repeatedly post-9/11, bogus threats were invented to imprison innocent men and women for their faith, ethnicity, activism, prominence or charity. Clearly, it's the wrong time to be Muslim in America, Washington's target of choice to hype fear and enlist public support for imperial lawlessness, no matter the cost in reckless spending and loss of personal freedoms. Increasingly, everyone is now vulnerable for speaking out, voicing dissent, and supporting equity and justify for unpopular victims.
John Pilger's 'The War You Don't See' an indictment on journalists
By Rady Ananda
12/22 update: Film now on YouTube (and below).
In The War You Don't See (2010, 95 mins), investigative journalist and filmmaker John Pilger chronicles the massive lies that keep the Western world in war on the Middle East and elsewhere. Pilger interviews key journalists involved in propagandizing the wars, along with others, like Dahr Jamail and Mark Manning, who reported independent of the military, as well as Julian Assange, whose whistleblower organization WikiLeaks has released hundreds of thousands of documents evidencing the wholesale, indiscriminate killing of entire populations.
America's War on Islam: New Republican Offensive Planned
by Stephen Lendman
Dozens of previous articles addressed America's war on Islam, discussing victims of America's war on terror for political advantage, not for threatening national security or public safety.
Repeatedly post-9/11, bogus threats were invented to imprison innocent men and women for their faith, ethnicity, activism, prominence or charity. Clearly, it's the wrong time to be Muslim in America, Washington's target of choice to hype fear and enlist public support for imperial lawlessness, no matter the cost in reckless spending and loss of personal freedoms. Increasingly, everyone is now vulnerable for speaking out, voicing dissent, and supporting equity and justify for unpopular victims.
Net Neutrality Threatened (Part II)
by Stephen Lendman
Three earlier articles addressed the issue, the most recent accessed through the following link:
http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2010/08/net-neutrality-threatened.html
Net Neutrality is a defining issue of our time. It's essential to keep the Internet free and open, letting users access all content without restrictions, limitations, or discrimination, maintaining an online level playing field for everyone.
It's the essence of democratic free speech. Without it, the Internet will resemble cable TV, letting corporate predators game the system, deciding what web sites, content and applications are available at what price and speed.
Giant cable and telecom companies are lobbying Congress and the FCC furiously for that right. A leaked September 2010 House Energy and Commerce Committee draft bill, if enacted, will let them establish higher-priced premium lanes (two Internets), effectively destroying Net Neutrality, compromising the last free and open space. New FCC provisions may do the same. More on that below.
American Hedgeonomy: The Final Outcome
By Timothy V. Gatto
The idea of supporting Democrats has come and gone…a long time ago. The two-party government in place in the United States is a travesty. There are no provisions for it in the Constitution. This is something that has evolved over time. In actuality, there really hasn’t been much of a difference between the two parties. The only time that there was a marked difference was when FDR used a variation of socialism to fight the depression.
The Central Banks were replaced by loans at low interest by the government. The WPA and the CCC that put people to work were offshoots of Socialist ideas. The start of World War Two and the return to private industry was the end of Roosevelt’s experiments in socialism.
Since then, the military industrial complex that Eisenhower warned us about has blurred the lines between the two parties. Like the Roman Empire, thousands of years ago, the American Empire has never fought an offensive war. We have always been fighting “threats” to our way of life. While many of our best and brightest were being savagely killed and crippled by our “enemies”, corporations were making ungodly profits on war materials with plenty of funds for research and development for new weapons to kill human beings.
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