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11/9 and 9/11: And We Thought We Were Free
by Gary G. Kohls, MD
71 years ago this week, on 11/9/38, the horrifying event that the Nazi Party called Krystallnacht occurred. It could be said, that the events of 11/9/38 was the official start of Adolf Hitler’s overt and “endless war” against the Jews, but the methods used to justify that war were not an aberration. Rather, the Night of the Shattering Glass, which saw many synagogues destroyed, all the plate glass windows of a thousand Jewish businesses in Germany shattered and the first 26,000 Jewish men, of many millions more to come, sent off to concentration camps, was simply another example of an all-too-common historical reality that has been going on ever since the first tyrant orchestrated the first false flag operation, allowing him to “innocently” and patriotically declare the first “retaliatory” war. And then, by repeatedly using cunning propaganda techniques, that tyrant could plausibly deny responsibility for the coming violence because the enemy was, after all, the one who drew “first blood”.
Warning of Humanitarian crisis coming due to gas depletion – Gaza Strip
Ayman T. Quader
Gaza City, November 15, 2009, (Pal Telegraph) The ongoing Israeli siege has been gravely suffocating the life of people of the Gaza Strip. The fuel companies in the Gaza Strip have been warning of the imminent humanitarian crises that the cooking gas is about to get depletion after 25 days of cutting access to the Gaza fuel sanitation.
It is warily reported by Mahammed Al Shawwa, the head of the union of fuel companies in the Gaza Strip, that the gas sanitations in the Gaza Strip has stopped supplying people of their needs of the cooking gas.
UNCARED FOR ON VETERANS’ DAY
Re-reported, edited with brief comment by Carolyn Bennett
Nice holiday speeches but Washington politicians are at heart unconcerned about America's health.
"I feel a little bit like we're debating whether to give aspirin or Tylenol to a patient with breast cancer," Dr Steffie Woolhandler said about health care proposals moving pushed through Congress. "The patient needs surgery," she told interviewer Amy Goodman. "What's being debated in Washington is really Tylenol or aspirin...
"There are so many bad planks. This bill needs to be scratched and we need to start over."
The Democracy Now interview was pegged to a study by Harvard Medical School researchers that found an estimated "2,266 U.S. military veterans under the age of 65 died last year because they lacked health insurance and thus had reduced access to care." This figure amounts to -
More Militant Vegans, Less Ethical Butchers
Mickey Z.
A friend of mine recently brought to my attention a former vegan who has now re-invented himself as the "Ethical Butcher" (a title right up there with Peacekeeper missiles, limited autonomy, and military intelligence). The butcher writes: "After 14 years as a vegetarian, a few of those as a quite 'militant' vegan, I became a butcher. The factors that went into me taking the position are many, but the result was maybe quite predictable. Within a month I was a full-fledged meat eater. What has not changed is my passion for the welfare of animals. Through my work as a butcher and chef, I now see a more direct way to influence and work for change in the meat industry and to improve the quality of life for all of the animals we rely on for food."
Such backlash in the face of compassionate evolution is not uncommon. For example, just as more and more women begin to challenge gender roles, the patriarchal culture countered with Howard Stern, Maxim, and Spike TV. But I digress…
A new epoch in the Palestinian struggle for freedom
Salim Nazzal
Abbas announcement last week that he would not run for another term in an election scheduled for January has created many debates among Palestinians at home and worldwide. Most of the inter Palestinian debate was focused on what Palestinians do next, become the major speculated question.
From Abbas speech it is possible to conclude three things,
1- that Israel is not interested in peace no matter what Palestinians do, and the second is that the Us will support Israel no matter what Israel does the third that the whole process which began in Oslo in 1993 has ended in failure.
Among the several Palestinian reaction is a Palestinian think that group made of Prominent political, economic, academic and other legal persons, which called for crystallizing a new Palestinian strategy, and the mobilization of the elements of power among the Palestinian people, which enable it to achieve its goals in ending the Israeli occupation and establish their independent state on all the occupied territories in June 1967, and its capital Jerusalem. Yet the challenge remains how could Palestinian overcome their divisions and set plans for the next period. In the view of a Palestinian intellectual the sad thing about Abbas decision is that it is addressed to the American and not to his nation. In the speech Abbas accused the USA of favoring the Israeli side which is not a new thing.
Restore Democracy: Abolish the Electoral College
by Len Hart, The Existentialist Cowboy
If the 'President' is elected to represent the people of the United states, then he/she should be elected directly by the people. The Electoral College, in which electors represent states --not people --must be abolished and the 'office' of President elected directly. The voice of the people needs no proxy. The voice of the people must be be heard directly, loudly and often.
Fears that the 'college' might elect a minority President are not merely speculative should the nation be so deeply divided that three or more candidates split the electoral votes among them --no one getting a necessary majority. Precisely that happened in 1824, attempted in 1948 and again in 1968.
In trying 9/11 suspects, Holder gets it right and wrong
Mary Shaw
On Friday the 13th, Attorney General Eric Holder announced that self-described 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and four alleged co-conspirators will be tried in federal court in New York. This is a vast improvement over the military kangaroo courts of the Bush administration, and will help to restore America's image in the world with regard to human rights and the rule of law.
And this is no mere bleeding-heart perspective. In practical terms, the U.S. federal court system has a proven track record of effectively prosecuting complex terrorism cases. On the other hand, says Joanne Mariner, Terrorism and Counterterrorism Program Director for Human Rights Watch, "The military commissions at Guantanamo are simply not up to the task."
Russia-India-China: The Bush curse
Eric Walberg
Moscow is trying to draw India and China closer to put out the flames now flaring across the continent, from the Caucasus and Central Asia, to Iran and Pakistan, notes Eric Walberg
United States President Barack Obama has shown a flicker of independence in shaping US Eurasian politics. To secure transit routes through Russia to Afghanistan, he loudly proclaimed the end to US missile base plans for Poland and the Czech Republic, and downplayed any further NATO expansion in Russia’s backyard. He resisted jumping on the Gates-Clinton-McChrystal escalation bandwagon, insisting that it would be counterproductive to blindly back the thoroughly discredited Karzai, and hinting that negotiations with the Taliban and Iran could mean an about-face on the Bush strategy of total war in the region.
Legacies, Celebrities, and Media Skanks
by Walter Brasch
NBC news correspondent Jenna Bush Hager had a news exclusive. And, like news exclusives in the Era of Infotainment TV, this one was broadcast by the entertainment division. Specifically, Jenna Bush interviewed her mother, Laura Bush, on 38th episode of "The Jay Leno Show."
It makes no difference what the questions or answers were. Journalism hasn't been a priority of television for a long time. What matters is that a network hired someone with no background into a job with an income substantially above what most journalists earn. Jenna Bush isn't the only one to parlay dubious credentials onto network television. Beauty pageants—it makes no difference if it's the Miss Rutabaga or Miss America contests—are full of contestants who say their ambition is to be a TV anchor—or an actress, whichever comes first.
The Choice Ahead: Entrenched Fossil Fuel Dependence Or Climate Change Management
By Emily Spence
According to Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz and Harvard economist Linda Bilmes, the Iraq War cost three trillion dollars. While much of the money used to conduct the war was borrowed (most notably from Chinese institutions), ultimately American taxpayers will be responsible for many years to come for footing the bill, including the high interest payments on the funds loaned. This is because the federal budget, especially between the military and big business bailout costs, far exceeded the annual and shrinking amount taken in by taxes.
Was it worth it? The answer partly depends on whether one works for or has holdings in one of the oil companies that made out well in the aftermath.
The final major prize in the war, southern Iraq's giant Rumaila oil field, was finally awarded on November third with mixed results from an American standpoint. This is because the only successful bidders for it were BP and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and the second organization, it can be assumed, will primarily support Asian interests over ones favoring Western nations.
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