By Rady Ananda

Rather than judicially review significant evidence in the events of September 11, 2001, on April 27, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court’s dismissal of an Army Specialist's complaint against former Vice President Dick Cheney, former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, and former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Richard Myers.

One of Plaintiff April Gallop’s attorneys, William Veale, didn’t know whether to relate the decision to “Kafka, Orwell, Carroll, or Huxley,” referring to the absurdity and dearth of reason emanating from the court regarding the deadliest attack on U.S. soil the nation has ever faced.

“The Court’s decision, analogous to reviewing an Indictment in a liquor store hold-up without mentioning the guy walking in with a gun, refuses to acknowledge even the existence of the three defendants much less what they were doing that morning or saying about it afterwards,” Veale added.

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by Stephen Lendman

An earlier article discussed the case of Canadian Professor Denis Rancourt. In March 2009, the University of Ottawa unjustly fired him for heroically supporting Palestinian liberation and justice. Access it through the following link:

http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2010/04/targeting-academic-and-speech-freedoms.html

His "(a)rticles and entries about activist teaching and radical pedagogy" can be followed daily on his blog site, accessed as follows:

http://activistteacher.blogspot.com/

Depending on how events unfold, the case of former University of Ottawa and Carleton University Professor Hassan Diab is more disturbing and shocking. A November 13, 2008 Ottawa Citizen article explained, headlining:

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Eric Walberg

The upcoming flotilla to break the Gaza siege is gathering steam from a flood of innovative Boycott, Divest and Sanctions activities around the world.

From 7-20 March, more than 75 university groups on six continents held their seventh annual Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW). According to Palestinian activist Omar Barghouti, “Our South Africa moment has finally arrived.” “ Israel’s version of apartheid is more sophisticated than South Africa’s was. It’s an evolved form,” explains Barghouti in his hot-off-the-press BDS: The Global Struggle for Palestinian Rights. “In South Africa, the overall plan was to exploit blacks, not throw them out.”

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by Stephen Lendman

An earlier article discussed hurdles ordinary people face before America's High Court, accessed through the following link:

http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2008/07/supreme-court-inc-supremely-pro.html

Saying pro-business rulings aren't new, it suggested the most damaging one occurred in 1886. In Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railway, the High Court granted corporations legal personhood. Ever since, they've had the same rights as people without the responsibilities. Their limited liability status exempts them.

As a result, they've profited hugely and continue winning favorable rulings. Today more than ever from the Roberts Court, one observer calling its first full (2006-07) term a "blockbuster" with the Court's conservative wing prevailing most often.

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By Dana Gabriel

With the release of a U.S. Congressional report that found only a small fraction of the border with Canada was being adequately monitored, there is now more focus being placed on the northern border. As a result of increased scrutiny, there are efforts to militarize and expand surveillance on the Canada-U.S. border. The new found attention is also attributed to a proposed trade and security perimeter agreement between the two countries which promotes a shared approach to border management.

A report released by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) in February of this year, found that a substantial portion of the northern border lacked any effective monitoring and surveillance. It concluded that only 32 of the 4,000-mile border was under operational control. The findings were largely based on failures to better coordinate border cooperation and information sharing among the various agencies. A Press Release by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security stated that according to the study, “the risk of terrorist activity across the northern border is higher than across the southern border because there are active Islamist extremist groups in Canada that are not in Mexico, it is easier to cross the northern border because it is twice as long as the southern border, and DHS has a fraction of the law enforcement officers and surveillance assets on the northern border than it has in the south.” It went on to say, “The border with Canada is also dotted with large population centers and criss-crossed by numerous highways and roads, making it harder to detect illegal activities amid the large volume of legitimate trade and travel between Canada and the U.S. that is so important to both countries.”

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By Timothy V. Gatto

Many things are vying for our attention. Our fiscal health is in critical condition. Bernanke went on TV today and had a press conference. In back of him was the Department of the Federal Reserve flag as if the Federal Reserve was actually part of the Federal government instead of a private group of bankers that are allowed to print U.S. currency and loan it to the Federal government at interest.

I don’t want to shake anyone’s tree, but what’s with Bahrain? Isn’t that where we moor our 5th Fleet? Why are we supporting a monarchy that is arresting people, torturing them and then killing them? Besides turning a blind eye to what’s going on there we gave Saudi Arabia (a recipient of US military aid) a nod and a wink so they sent their army to fight the protestors (which aren’t fighting back, by the way) alongside the Bahrain Police and the Bahrain Defense Forces. (http://www.blogtalkradio.com/liberalpro.rss)

What really ticks me off is the lame stream media that hardly mentions what is happening in that country. Isn’t that enough proof to make some of you believe that our news is censored? Some that do report on the developments in Bahrain say it’s an ethnic struggle which is hogwash, both Sunni’s And Shia are protesting.

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Eileen Fleming

Eileen Fleming at THE WALL in
Bethlehem, Photo by Meir Vanunu

[Florida]--I am looking for a District in Florida to represent in the US House of Representative, because I believe the well being of every resident in Florida is connected to the well being of every American.

The well being of every American is connected to the well being of every human being and every form of life on our planet.

One must not just act locally and think globally, for to whom much is given, much more is required:

Citizen of CONSCIENCE for House of Representatives 2012 - Video

In his manifesto from Birmingham Jail, Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. directly challenged his "fellow clergymen."

I have taken a few liberties with King's masterpiece, added a few words of mine in bold and offer it as the seeds for:

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GILAD ATZMON

It is slightly embarrassing for me to admit that sometime Zionists are actually well ahead of our favourite intellectuals in understanding the depth of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. It is not that they are more clever, they are just free to explore the conflict without being subject to the tyranny of ‘political correctness’, also being proud nationalist Jews- they do not need the approval of the Jewish left thought police.

I have recently come across a short Haaretz article by Israeli writer A.B. Yehoshua*.

Yehoshua is a proud Zionist, He believes in the right of his people to dwell on Palestinian land. He is also convinced that the Jewish state is the true meaning of contemporary Jewish life. I guess that Yehoshua loves himself almost as much as I despise everything he stands for and yet, I have to confess, he seems to grasp the depth of the Israeli Palestinian conflict’s parameters slightly better than most solidarity activists I can think of.

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