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Aaron Swartz's Suspicious Death
by Stephen Lendman
Media scoundrels stopped short of truth and full disclosure. The Wall Street Journal headlined "An Internet Activist Commits Suicide."
New York's medical examiner announced death by "hang(ing) himself in his Brooklyn apartment."
Lingering suspicions remain. Why would someone with so much to give end it all this way? He was one of the Internet generation's best and brightest.
He advocated online freedom. Selflessly he sought a better open world. Information should be freely available, he believed. A legion of followers supported him globally.
Alive he symbolized a vital struggle to pursue. Death may elevate him to martyr status but removes a key figure important to keep alive.
The ‘fiscal cliff,’ Congress, and the spineless, groveling U.S. corporate-stream media
By Larry Pinkney
“The Alice-Wonderland nature of this pronouncement is not lost to me, but after careful and extensive consideration, I find myself stuck in a paradoxical situation in which I cannot solve a problem because of contradictory constraints and rules—a veritable catch 22 . . . I can find no way around the thicket of laws and precedents that effectively allow the Executive Branch of our government to proclaim as perfectly lawful certain actions that seem on their face incompatible with our Constitution and laws, while keeping the reasons for their conclusion a secret.“ —Judge Colleen McMahon, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (January 2013)
Barack Obama , who is the ongoing chief executive and commander-in-chief of the United States government and military, has, along with his corporate Democratic and Republican party cronies, destroyed the very essence of transparency in government and the adherence to national and international law.
Kill for Peace - US and EU Sanctions Deny Medicine to the Critically Ill
Michael Collins
United States and European Union sanctions against Iran prevent much needed medical care for the Iranian people. Those with cancer, for example, have lost the option of treatment through chemotherapy while hemophiliacs are at high risk for any surgery due to a denial of essential pharmaceuticals. There are 85,000 new cases of cancer every year in Iran. Those with cancer and the newly diagnosed will have to do without effective treatments. A large percentage of them will die sooner than anticipated as a result. (Image: Fergal of Calldagh)
The Iranian medical community is unable to get required medicines due to financial restrictions in the sanctions regime. The restrictions effectively blocks pharmaceutical purchases by Iranian medical facilities. No ticket, no laundry is the policy of big and little pharma throughout the world. As a result, right now -- as you read this -- innocent Iranians are dying, sentenced to death by the U.S.-E.U. sanctions.
Who on earth would initiate and sustain such a policy?
You guessed it. The Obama administration, the leaders of the NATO countries and other wannabe tough-guy nations are behind the comprehensive sanctions designed to get Iran to stop its nuclear program. Here is how tough the sanctions are. Former UN ambassador, the very right wing John Bolton, described the E.U. sanctions as "brutal."
Netanyahu: The Face of Israeli Fascism
by Stephen Lendman
Israel under Netanyahu reflects Arundhadi Roy's view. Her book titled "Field Notes on Democracy" explained.
"What kind of India do they want," she asked? "A limbless, headless, soulless torso left bleeding under the butcher's clever with a flag driven deep into her mutilated heart?" She compared Hindu right wing persecution of Muslims to Hitler's war on Jews. Occupied Palestinians are treated the same way. Hitler terrorized Jews for a dozen years. Israel waged war on Palestinians for decades. It rages out-of-control. It shows no signs of ending.
During his first late 1990s prime ministerial term, Netanyahu was Israel's most polarizing leader. He exceeded the worst of his predecessors.
Jeanne Manford, PFLAG founder, RIP
Mary Shaw
I was saddened to learn of the recent death of Jeanne Manford, founder of an organization that eventually grew to become Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG). Manford started the original support group in 1972, after her gay son had been beaten while participating in a protest for gay rights in their native New York City. PFLAG now has some 200,000 members and more than 350 local chapters across the U.S.
Since its inception, the organization has provided a supportive environment for members of the LGBT community and the people who love them. Perhaps most prominently, it has provided a safe and compassionate haven for parents and other family members who need to work out all kinds of issues upon learning that a son, daughter, brother, or sister is gay. And, once over that initial hump, the group's ongoing support can lead to lifelong friendships and a life-changing commitment to the causes of acceptance and equality.
Permanent Afghanistan Occupation Planned
by Stephen Lendman
America came to stay. Accelerated withdrawal claims reflect subterfuge. Washington officials and media scoundrels don't explain. Misinformation and illusion substitute for reality.
Reuters headlined "Obama, Karzai accelerate end of US combat role in Afghanistan."
"Obama's determin(ed) to wind down a long, unpopular war."
The New York Times headlined 'Obama Accelerates Transition of Security to Afghans." Obama is "eager to turn a page after more than a decade of war."
Chavismo in Venezuela
by Stephen Lendman
Chavez remains hospitalized. He's recovering from complicated cancer surgery. It's his fourth in 18 months.
His scheduled January 10 inauguration was postponed. Venezuelans turned out en masse. Tens of thousands gathered outside Caracas' Palacio de Miraflores. It's Chavez's official workplace.
Many others rallied throughout the capital. Red-shirted supporters were everywhere. Sound trucks aired Chavez campaign music. People danced. The mood was celebratory. Air Force jets flew overhead. Vendors sold Bolivarian memorabilia.
Chavez and Simon Bolivar photos were displayed. Their images adorned shirts. Signs read "I am Chavez." "Chavez is the heart of the people." Other Chavistas expressed support their way.
Lest we forget, an attack on Syria is an attack on Iran and a threat to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization
by chycho
United States involvement in Syria has nothing to do with a repressive regime. After all, in 2002 the United States willingly used Assad’s regime to torture Maher Arar, a Canadian citizen, when they renditioned him to Syria from New York. The world was also quite grateful to Syria for accepting 1.5 million refugees created by the US invasion of Iraq, especially considering that for approximately the same period the United States had only accepted 7,000 Iraqi refugees. What’s happening in Syria is part of a bigger picture, a grand chessboard if you’d like, and what’s happening there is definitely not the end game.
Anti-Chavez Media War Rages
by Stephen Lendman
It shouldn't surprise. It raged throughout his tenure. It continues while he's ill. It vilifies progressive Bolivarianism. It wants neoliberal harshness replacing it.
It ignores responsible social reform. It's dismissive of Chavez's overwhelming popularity. He rescued Venezuela from its ugly past. Millions won't tolerate returning to what they deplore.
On January 7, the Cuban News Agency (ACN) headlined "Experts Denounce Media War against Venezuela and Hugo Chavez," saying:
On Venezuelan television, sociologist Mariclem Stelling said right-wing ideologues aren't able to discredit Bolivarianism. They surface prominently around election time.
They "break up into pseudo-organizations and fade away." Their views don't reflect popular sentiment. They're targeting Chavez's health. They hope "to get him out of the political scene."
Big Oil, Big Ketchup and The Assassination of Hugo Chavez
By Greg Palast
President Hugo Chavez shows reporter Greg Palast the sword of Simon
Bolivar seen in portrait in background. Miraflores Palace, Caracas, 2006.
Photo by richard rowley.
Venezuelan President Chavez once asked me why the US elite wanted to kill him. My dear Hugo: It’s the oil. And it’s the Koch Brothers – and it’s the ketchup.
Reverend Pat Robertson said,
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“Hugo Chavez thinks we’re trying to assassinate him. I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it.”
It was 2005 and Robertson was channeling the frustration of George Bush’s State Department. Despite Bush’s providing intelligence, funds and even a note of congratulations to the crew who kidnapped Chavez (we’ll get there), Hugo remained in office, reelected and wildly popular.
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