By MMEO posted by Michael Collins

Last night the Portland Peaceful Response Coalition, a non-partisan group cosponsored by the local chapter of the Pacific Green Party -- my party -- held its usual Friday night peace demonstration in Pioneer Courthouse Square, in the center of the downtown area of our city. My two young (aged 12 and 10) boys and I were there, with party banner and anti-Afghan-War poster, from 5 to 6 pm. The demo coincided with the Day After Thanksgiving lighting of the municipal Christmas tree, a celebration of shopping that brought several thousand onlookers to the Square.

This morning's newspaper announced on the front page that the FBI arrested a 19-year-old Somali-American for attempting to bomb the Square with enough explosives to kill everyone there. Federal authorities were not above using the occasion to spread fear of Islamic fanatics among our citizenry.

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By Stephen Lendman

Launched on March 4, 2009, "The Russell Tribunal on Palestine (RTP) seeks to reaffirm the primacy of international law (to settle) the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (by focusing on) the enunciation of law by authoritative bodies (and) address(ing) the failure of application of law even though it has been so clearly identified. (It begins where the International Court of Justice) stopped: highlighting the responsibilities arising from the enunciation of law, including those of the international community, which cannot continue to shirk its obligations."

RTP is separate from but inspired by the BRussell Tribunal, named after famed philosopher, mathematician, and anti-war/anti-imperialism activist Bertrand Russell (1872 - 1970), who warned over 50 years ago:

"Shall we put an end to the human race, or shall mankind renounce war" and live in peace, because there's no other choice.

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by Stephen Lendman

Overall, America's major media fails the test. It's biased, shameless, and irresponsible with "everything to sell and nothing to tell" as a noted US media critic once said. It delivers a daily diet of "managed news" (propaganda), infotainment, and "junk food news," a worthless mix, treating people like mushrooms - well-watered, in the dark, and uninformed about what matters most. No wonder greater numbers opt out, consuming less broadcast "news" and print media, the kind no one should waste time or money on.

No paper has more clout than The New York Times. Media critic Norman Solomon once called its front page "the most valuable square inches of media real estate in the USA" - in fact, anywhere because its reports circulate globally.

In his April 1998 article titled, "All the News Fit to Print (Part I): Structure and Background of the New York Times," Edward Herman called The Times "an establishment newspaper," serving wealth and power interests, a record dating from 1896 when the Ochs-Sulzberger family took control. Its agenda "persist(s) to this day" as two earlier articles explained, accessed through the following links:

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by Stephen Lendman

After the 1898 Spanish-American War, the US took over the Philippines, Guam, Samoa, Hawaii, Cuba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Canal Zone, assorted other territories, and Puerto Rico. On September 29, its Governor-General, Manuel Macias y Casado (a Spanish general), ceded control to Washington, its current status today as a colony.

In 1966, then University of Puerto Rico economics associate, Dr. Antonio J. Gonzales said:

"The Puerto Rican Independence Party bases its struggle in favor of the independence of Puerto Rico on the conviction that we continue to be a (US) colony, thus being denied (our) right to freedom and sovereignty."

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Peter Chamberlin

“When asked what he aspires to become in the future, Wasifullah replies ‘God willing, I will join the Taliban.’

In what some ways represents the burgeoning civil war within Pakistan, Wasifullah’s best friend Abdurrahman believes it’s the Taliban who are responsible for the destruction.”

This quote, from two boys from the Kachegori IDP (internally displaced persons) Camp in Peshawar reveals perfectly the awesome split, running down the middle of Pakistani society, much more clearly than any attempted explanation that could be given. The Pakistani people are of two minds, both of them extremely patriotic, one school of thought blames the local terrorists for all their grief, the other side insists that it is the military which has killed their loved ones. Outside forces, which are hostile to Pakistan’s survival, have every intention of aggravating those divisions to the point of civil war.

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GILAD ATZMON

A few days ago, British Chief of Defence Staff General Sir David Richards admitted that victory in Afghanistan is unachievable. "In conventional war,” said Richards, “defeat and victory is very clear cut and is symbolised by troops marching into another nation's capital."

It took a few years for British military elites to admit that the war in Afghanistan cannot lead anywhere : a valuable lesson to learn from mid to late 20th century warfare, is that conventional military might cannot easily defeat mass civilian resistance.

It is interesting to reflect too, that the Jewish state has exercised a ‘strategy’ of occupation for sixty two years -- and for some reason the penny has still failed to drop. The Israelis are still convinced that they can manage to knock down the resilient Palestinians using siege, indiscriminate killing, carpet bombardment and chemical warfare.

The results are pretty obvious: and bearing in mind that Israel considers itself to be a ‘Jews only democracy’, then every Jewish Israeli is complicit in a colossal war crime against a civilian population.

But it goes further: more and more Israeli soldiers of all ranks are directly involved in an endless list of crimes -- some stop pregnant women from receiving urgent medical attention , while others drop bombs on populated neighbourhoods. Some use children as human shields, while a few perform executions of peace activists. And others just feed the cannons with white phosphorus shells.

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Franklin Lamb
Beirut

Part II “Know thyself” Tsu Sun and Hassan Nasrallah

According to the Lebanese military, at 11 am and again at 1 p.m. on 1l/24/10, a total of six Israeli warplanes crossed into Lebanese airspace, and violated for the 8256th time UNSC resolution 1701 that ended Israel’s 5th war against Lebanon, on August 14, 2006. Nearly, daily, and sometimes several times daily, warplanes and/or reconnaissance aircraft invade the skies over Lebanon to frighten, attempt to intimidate, and pressure the Lebanese population. They also to try to keep tabs on Lebanon’s resistance, led by Hezbollah.

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by Stephen Lendman

This is the latest update since Haiti's cholera outbreak, previous articles accessed through the following links, including the most recent on Sunday's sham election, an exercise in imperial control:

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By Katherine Smith, PhD

“The House Ethics Committee, that on August 2 formally brought a case against Congresswoman Maxine Waters, one of America’s most enduring liberal and fierce Anti War politicians, has as of November 19, abruptly cancelled her public trial. The committee announced that it has delayed indefinitely Waters trial because the panel had discovered new evidence in the case. Waters accuses ethics panel of having weak case after calling off her trial by Susan Crabtree

The following will help the reader understand why the Water’s trial and the Bombing of Iran has been indefinitely delayed: [Appendix B]

August 9, 2010 - The Maxine Waters Investigation: What is Iran Doing in this Picture?

[Excerpt] An investigation of any kind (especially one that is over events that took place in 2008) of the most outspoken voice of reason in the U.S. House of Representatives on the issue of U.S. aggression in the Middle East should put all Americans on Red alert. And if you want more proof of a concerted effort to paint Iran, a country with a non-existent nuclear weapons capability and an air force that belongs in museums read on. [End of Excerpt]

What is Iran Doing in this Picture? is promoted to the Main Page at Rob Kall’s OpEdNews and was the 5th most popular by page views on the site. September 18, 2010, forty days after the initial release, the article was still the 2nd Most Read article at The Peoples Voice with the majority of the traffic coming from Washington DC. [1]

August 16 - The Power of Community

August 26 - Want to find real community in the United States (Both articles also published at OpEdNews, see Appendix A)

[Excerpt] In September 2006, the world experienced a paradigm shift when a strong lobbying effort by grassroots organizations effectively derailed an initiative:  A move that was tantamount to a declaration of war on Iran.

U.S.: Iran Resolution Shelved in Rare Defeat for Israel Lobby

A nuclear confrontation with Iran was avoided in 2006 because a small number of people with the power of community were enough to convince our Government not to take the world to the point of no return.

Our un-elected officials got the message, that the perils of a nuclear confrontation with Iran could mean the end of life for everyone here on earth. Congress refused to go along with the Bush Administration’s plans for military action against Iran. Just two years later, the power of community stopped congress from attacking Iran.

The community of grassroots Iranian-American, Jewish-American, peace, and church groups have proven over and over, when we cooperate with each other we can make a difference.

The Powers That Be (TPTB) knew the day would come when the people would realize the power they have when they work together for their own survival. That day is here! [End of Excerpt]

August 29 - Waxman, Waters and Iran, Connect the Dots (Also published at OpEdNews, see Appendix A)

[Excerpt] An investigation of any kind (especially one that dates back to events that took place in 2008) during a congressional debate over a preemptive strike on Iran will marginalize the most outspoken voice of reason on the issue of U.S. aggression in the Middle East.

At the same time Waxman, considered an expert on Middle East policy, with his irrelevant vote against the 2010 emergency funding for the Afghanistan war (it passed 308-114), will be the new voice of reason in the debate.

The idea that a nuclear strike on Iran to guarantee Israel’s security and survival will somehow guarantee world peace, should put everyone on Red Alert. [End of Excerpt]

Sep 3, 2010 Preparing for World War III in 1925

[Excerpt] The “Extraordinary claim” that Barack Hussein Obama, Ahmadinajad and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (the group behind the Mosque at Ground Zero) are setting the world up for World War III can be supported with facts, and therefore is not a conspiracy theory.

Google Trends confirms the U.S. is openly considering a raid on Iran’s (non-existent) nuclear weapons facilities.

We could be living in the most dangerous times the world has seen since the 1962 Cuba Missile crisis. Normally, I don't recommend those "take action"- campaigns: the ones that tell us, “It's not too late, click-here” to importune our "elected"- representatives with emails and faxes.

However, the perils of a nuclear confrontation with Iran are in line with Pike’s call for a Third World War; therefore, we need to harness the energy of the grassroots activists in the U.S. and around the world into The Power of Community, to prevent a war that could end all life on earth. We prevented a war in 2006 and 2008 and we can do it again in 2010. [End of Excerpt]

We dodged the nuclear bullet for a third time. [Appendix B]

“In a nuclear war all men would have been cremated equal” [Adapted from Dexter Gordon]

Katherine Smith, PhD, mandrell2010@gmail.com

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By Rady Ananda

Need a good laugh? Check out the bizarre reasoning offered in support of the Patriot Act for Food (S 510, the Food Safety Modernization Act), which the U.S. Senate will vote on shortly (likely Monday). From a need to stop food smuggling, to the law is too old, to the terrorists are gonna get us, elites sure are shy on brains when it comes to credible propaganda. They must be drinking fluoridated water and smoking Monsanto marijuana, or hoping you are.

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