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Syria Peace Talks: Rocky Start
by Stephen Lendman
On January 22, talks began. Forty countries participated for two days. Syria bashing was almost nonstop. Invectives substituted for truth and full disclosure. Russia and China were two exceptions.
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem responded. He did so forthrightly, eloquently and persuasively. He was way-outnumbered doing it.
On Friday, talks were scheduled to begin between Syrian and opposition delegations. They're postponed at least until Saturday. Both sides won't meet face-to-face. More on this below.
Lakhdar Brahimi is UN/Arab League Special Envoy to Syria. He's no honest broker. He's Washington's front man. He acting as intermediary for both sides. They'll address each other through him.
Syria prefers face-to-face talks. That's how negotiations should be. Opposition leader Ahmed al-Jarba refused. He mocks legitimacy. He's a US stooge. He does what his handlers order.
Netanyahu and Rohani in Davos
by Stephen Lendman
Davos, Switzerland hosts the annual World Economic Forum (WEF). It's a money power celebration. It's a billionaire's ball. It's a convocation of rich, powerful, privileged elites.
They're "committed to improving the state of the world" for greater personal power and enrichment.
Numerous heads of state show up. Central bankers and other policymakers join them. So do hundreds of corporate bosses, investors and economists.
IMF head Christine Lagarde arrived. US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew is participating. So is World Bank boss Jim Yong Kim. John Kerry came.
Privileged journalists and celebrities are invited. Matt Damon, Bono and Margaret Atwood are there. So is Al Gore. About 2,500 participants arrived. They're from nearly 100 countries.
Monied interests run things. They take victory laps. They do it annually.
The sharing economy: a short introduction to its political evolution
Adam Parsons
Can the sharing economy movement address the root causes of the world’s converging crises? Unless the sharing of resources is promoted in relation to human rights and concerns for equity, democracy, social justice and sustainability, then such claims are without substantiation – although there are many hopeful signs that the conversation is slowly moving in the right direction.
In recent years, the concept and practice of sharing resources is fast becoming a mainstream phenomenon across North America, Western Europe and other world regions. The internet is awash with articles and websites that celebrate the vast potential of sharing human and physical assets, in everything from cars and bicycles to housing, workplaces, food, household items, and even time or expertise. According to most general definitions that are widely available online, the sharing economy leverages information technology to empower individuals or organisations to distribute, share and re-use excess capacity in goods and services. The business icons of the new sharing economy include the likes of Airbnb, Zipcar, Lyft, Taskrabbit and Poshmark, although hundreds of other for-profit as well as non-profit organisations are associated with this burgeoning movement that is predicated, in one way or another, on the age-old principle of sharing.
Malicious Syria Bashing
by Stephen Lendman
It's longstanding. It began long before Obama's war erupted. It was nearly three years ago.
Releasing a new report on Syria was strategically timed. It's out two days before sham peace talks begin in Montreux, Switzerland.
It's filled with spurious accusations. London's Guardian discussed them. "Syrian regime document trove shows evidence of 'industrial scale' killing of detainees," it headlined.
Syrian officials face potential war crimes charges, it said. A so-called "huge cache of 'evidence' (was) smuggled out of the country."
Harper in Israel
by Stephen Lendman
On January 18, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper arrived in Israel. It's his first official state visit. He's touring Israel, Jordan and the West Bank. More on his trip below.
America's special relationship with Israel is longstanding. It predates Canada's. Both countries today affirm likeminded shared values. They demand condemnation.
The Israeli tail wags the US/Canadian dog. Ottawa's special relationship today is more extreme than Washington's.
The National Post is a nationwide Canadian broadsheet. On January 21, it headlined "Stephen Harper: The special relationship between Israel and Canada," saying:
"It is right to support Israel. (Jews) deserve their own homeland."
Western Manipulated Violence in Ukraine
by Stephen Lendman
Last November, protests erupted in Ukraine. Violence followed. Previous articles discussed it. Washington's dirty game was explained. Imperial lawlessness reflects it.
It has many forms. It includes trampling on fundamental rule of law principles. Toppling democratically elected governments is OK.
So is assassinating foreign leaders. Replacing them by coup d'etats is longstanding US policy. Waging war to do it is standard practice.
Anything goes defines America. Washington rules alone matter. Imposing them worldwide matters most.
At issue is replacing sovereign independent governments with pro-Western stooge ones. It's denying democratic freedoms.
It's a game as old as empire. It's imposing diktat authority. It's plundering nations for profit.
Sham Syrian Peace Talks
by Stephen Lendman
It bears repeating what previous articles explained. Talks aren't for peace. They're for US demanded unconditional surrender. They for bowing to Washington's will.
They're about destroying Syrian sovereignty. They're for replacing it with pro-Western stooge governance. They're about denying Syrians the right to determine their future.
They're for turning Syria into replicas of Iraq and Libya. They're about continued violence, instability and insecurity.
They're for regional exploitation. They're about controlling its resources. They're for turning ordinary people into serfs. They're about isolating Iran.
The “Israel First” Industry and CEO Profiteering
James Petras
Introduction
During the first half of the 20th century, socially conscious Jews in the United States organized a large network of solidarity and charity associations financed mostly through small donations, raffles and dues by working and lower middle class supporters. Many of these associations dealt with the everyday needs of Jewish workers, immigrants and families in need. Some were linked to labor unions, social democratic and leftist parties. Their leaders were, in many cases, individuals who worked long hours engaged in resolving problems and intervening in local crises. They drew a modest paycheck – (when funding was available) – comparable to that of a skilled worker. A few women’s groups like the Hadassah went door to door in predominantly Jewish commercial districts, hitting up Jewish and non-Jewish storekeepers with raffle tickets to purchase beds in Hebrew hospitals in Palestine/Israel. The predominant ethic was improving the livelihood of Jews in America, joining with the America left and labor groups in united fronts against fascism and domestic, ethnic and racial supremacist organizations. Up until the establishment of Israel, Zionist organizations were a small minority in the Jewish community, especially among working class Jews.
Growing up in a multi-ethnic working class community (Lynn, Massachusetts) most of our Jewish friends and neighbors were workers and small shopkeepers: house painters, bookkeepers, carpenters, truck drivers (Gatso Feldman), window repairers (a long white bearded rabbi), junk collectors (Mr. Stone) on a horse drawn wagon calling for business with his whiskey hoarse voice (“Rax, Rax, Rax”! (Rags!)), butchers, bakers, drug store owners, tailors (“Sam, you made the pants too long”), fur and leather workers (Goldie Goldstein), warehousemen and a few owners. On the shady side there were poolroom hustlers (Marty Z), prostitutes (Sophie K) and gangsters (Louie F). In the mid-1950’s, Jews and non-Jews were engaged in a punch-out with the reactionary, anti-Semitic Feeneyites on Boston Common.
Malicious Syria Bashing: Part II
by Stephen Lendman
Part I discussed spurious anti-Assad accusations. They're fake. They have no credibility whatever. Release was strategically timed.
It came two days ahead of sham Geneva II peace talks. Much ado about nothing describes them. Chances for conflict resolution are zero. More on this below.
Assad was wrongfully accused of "industrial scale killing of detainees." No verifiable evidence suggests it. None exists. Fabrications substituted.
Syria's Ministry of Justice denounced them. It called alleged evidence baseless. "The report is a mere gathering of photos of unidentified persons proving" nothing, it said.
Releasing it ahead of Geneva II was politically motivated. Doing so undermines peace.
Ariel Sharon is Dead: His Crimes will Not be Buried with Him
James Petras
Introduction
Ariel Sharon was a serial mass murderer, engaged in massacres of unarmed victims in four countries, of all ages and conditions. He was a “hero” for hundreds of thousands of Israeli Jews who settled on land and in houses seized from Palestinians in the West Bank. He was praised by Western leaders at his funeral for his violent, lifelong opposition to Arab nationalist movements throughout the Middle East. That he was a fanatical upholder of Jewish supremacist policies and practices did not go unnoticed by wealthy Zionist donors in the US. During his tenure as a senior official in numerous Israeli regimes, they contributed hundreds of millions of dollars for Greater Israel and extracted nearly a $100 billion more from the US Treasury. Israeli leaders praise of Sharon as a valiant, brilliant and legendary military leader is echoed in the US mass media and repeated by most Western leaders. He was, in the view of his US adulators, a powerful leader who defied world public opinion in his defense of Israel, who seized Palestinian and Syrian territory and who was willing to strike an independent policy even against Israel’s main benefactors in Europe and North America.
This essay does not simply recount Sharon’s lifelong criminal record. The story we will relate has more to do with (1)the crimes that continue to live after him; (2) the political and military context which allowed him to butcher non-Jewish populations with impunity; (3)the psychological core of Sharonist impudence and arrogance which is so deeply etched in the political psyche of all of Israel’s contemporary leaders.
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