Tuesday, March 31, 2009

War is a Racket by General Smedley Butler, USMC

AWESOME RENDITION OF BUTLER'S FAMOUS SPEECH! MUST WATCH, EVERYONE!

From the sidebar:

War is a Racket by Smedley Butler is a famous speech denouncing the military industrial complex. This anti-war speech by a two-time Congressional Medal of Honor recipient exposes war profits that benefit few at the expense of many. Throughout his distinguished career in the Marines, Smedley Darlington Butler demonstrated that true patriotism does not mean blind allegiance to government policies with which one does not agree. To Hell with war.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Defend the RNC 8

Eight dedicated peace and justice activists are being charged under draconian anti-terrorist laws in Minnesota stemming from the mayhem and police riots at the Republican National Convention, which says a whole lot more about the dark psychological Shadow of the Establishment that it would look at ordinary militant activists as "terrorists", sinister demonic beings seeking massive death and destruction of the innocent, perhaps worthy of torture and execution by the state. If they get away with imprisoning these eight on these extreme charges, we are all in danger of being labeled "terrorists" at some later date. This is an Orwellian, Totalitarian tactic utilized by a degenerate system in an attempt to perpetuate itself forever, insulating itself from dissent and protest, allowing its internal rot to worsen even more.

Speak out and fight back against this travesty!

From the Defend the RNC 8 Website: http://rnc8.org/

Defend the RNC 8!


The RNC 8 are organizers against the 2008 Twin Cities Republican National Convention who have been falsely charged in response to their political organizing: Luce Guillen-Givins, Max Specktor, Nathanael Secor, Eryn Trimmer, Monica Bicking, Erik Oseland, Robert Czernik and Garrett Fitzgerald.

On Saturday, August 30th 2008, the Ramsey County, Minnesota Sheriff’s Department executed search warrants on three houses, seizing personal and common household items and arresting RNC organizers Monica Bicking, Garrett Fitzgerald, Erik Oseland, Nathanael Secor, and Eryn Trimmer. Later that day Luce Guillen-Givins was arrested leaving a public meeting at a park. Rob Czernik and Max Specktor were arrested on Monday, September 1. These arrests were preemptive, targeting known organizers in an attempt to derail 2008 anti-RNC protests in St. Paul, MN before the convention had even begun. The “RNC 8″ were originally charged with conspiracy to riot in the 2nd degree in furtherance of terrorism, a felony which is the first ever use of Minnesota’s PATRIOT Act.

In December 2008, Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner (who is also running for Governor of Minnesota as a Democrat) added three more felony charges: 2nd degree conspiracy to riot (without the terrorism enhancement), 1st degree conspiracy to commit criminal damage to property in furtherance of terrorism, and 1st degree conspiracy to commit criminal damage to property (without the terrorism enhancement). Combined, we believe the charges would carry a maximum of 12.5 years in prison.

This site contains news updates, press releases, biographies, resources, events, and information for contributing to their legal support, and is maintained only by the support committee for the RNC 8. For the latest updates on the defending the RNC 8, view the Recent Posts on the right.

This case is as an opportunity to demonstrate community solidarity in the face of repression and to establish a precedent of successful resistance to the government’s attempts to destroy our movements. We will not be intimidated!

SEE YOU IN THE COURTS!

****

Watch background on the case and interviews with the RNC 8 in the new film Terrorizing Dissent: (~35min.)

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Something to do today.....

Looking for something to do today? Want to meet Mosquito Blog's Mac McKinney? Mac's doing Post-Katrina blues at Barnes and Noble Bookstore at TCC at MacArthur Center, 300 Monticello Ave, in downtown Norfolk. He'll be at the Barnes and Noble Bookstore at TCC, in MacArthur Center, 300 Monticello Ave, downtown Norfolk. Mac will be doing a book-signing from 2 to 4. For further info, call the store at: 625-3459. Mac will be reading and signing his book from 2-4 pm.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

THANK GOD FOR THE RENEGADES BY STEVE VAUS

Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country!

Post-Katrina Blues

This book is a journey of discovery, best to be swept along, to linger, absorb...It’s not something to force in a rush through read. This is a book that should be read by spontaneous inclination not assignment.

I’ve had a difficult time reviewing this book. I thought my resistance was due to the fact that Mac is a friend--which naturally creates a conflict because this writer’s duty is to the reader and this author is my friend. It was the job-like assignment of agreeing to write a review that made this reading and assessment so difficult.

This is not a book to be wolfed down like a BK burger...it’s more akin to tabouleh.

It is a book of revelation(s).

If you've ever been to New Orleans I imagine that, like me, you fell in love with this enchantress. Mac Mckinney's book, Post Katrina Blues, gives you an opportunity to reconnect with New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. Mac utilizes poetry, photographs and prose to graciously escort his guests on a guided tour with commentary of what is happening and NOT HAPPENING in the recovery effort that is the legacy of the Bush Administration. The legacy that turned the USA upside down so that it's the most vulnerable who pay the costs and the wealthy elites who get the handouts.

Get in the car with Mac traveling along the gulf coast. Mac says:
In many of these towns the casual observer does not see a lot of the hurricane damage. It is hidden. The layout of Ocean Springs weaves in and out of coastline and bayous, and much of the lingering damage is obscured by tree lines, swamps, and winding roads. You have to take the time to look.
Mac shows the:
Front-steps going nowhere,
floors without walls, pillars without ceilings
jar the eye
Walls without windows, windows without glass, houses without houses; loosely speaking.....
The Bob Cat hoe is digging up the street-
that's all the city cares about; fixing the plumbing and wiring.
Everything else can go to hell. The streetlights go on, don't they?
It was rare during my read to be jolted from the Katrina journey but there were moments when this occurred. I was almost angry when I saw one metaphor repeated.....I was “okay” with the imagery of a shark circling once but when I reencountered the shark I would prefer an alligator metaphor which seemed more appropriate for this realm. It was difficult for me to keep my reviewer hat on....I preferred being swept along wearing my reading glasses.

I had to revisit certain poetry selections. On the first read I might have an adverse reaction. It would take an additional reading (or two...) for me to appreciate the craft that Mac developed by writing “...a monstrous five-act drama in iambic pentameter about King Phillip the Fair and the Knights Templars.” Since I’ve never spent a lot of time dealing with poetic drama I was surprised at how Mac’s gumbo of poetry, prose, and photos could stir me up so much.
Mac uses poetry and photos to create vivid snapshots while prose provides the necessary context. It’s a creative endeavor that brings the rich blues heritage of the NOLA region into a book format.

Join us this Saturday afternoon, March 28, at Barnes and Noble Bookstore at TCC, in MacArthur Center, 300 Monticello Ave, downtown Norfolk. Mac will be doing a book-signing from 2 to 4. For further info, call the store at: 625-3459.

If you want to know what occurred and is occurring in NOLA and along the gulf coast this is a golden opportunity.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Poet Remi Kanazi at the March 21, 2009 Anti-War March in Washington DC



Remi Kanazi was one of the featured poets at the ANSWER COALITION-spearheaded rally and protest march on Saturday, March 21, 2009. During the rally portion of the event in West Potomac Park, scores of representatives from different organizations took to the stage to speak. Remi was only one of two poets I saw invited, the other being the Hip-Hop poet, Son of Nun.

Remi is very intense, very passionate, cutting to the core of the lies that enslave this world with his powerful words of truth.

His affiliated website, by the way, is: http://www.poeticinjustice.net/index.html

You will have to listen closely and in high quality because there was a lot of background noise up at the stage.

Here is a second poem by Remi:



*******

Here are the basics of the event:

I attended the massive and powerful protest march in DC on Saturday, Mar 21 and took tons of photos and some videos, of which this is one. This was the first nationwide protest against the Obama Administration for its continuance of the destructive, unethical and horribly brutal policies of the Bush/Cheny era. This is the first shot across the bow telling Obama to stop the imperialist war machine or there will be many more, larger and larger protests, especially as the economy collapses and people find themsleves increasingly jobless and homeless while our money goes toward the destruction of other lands and peoples to the tune of billions of dollars.

This is from the Answer Coalition (Act Now to Stop War & End Racism) website:
http://answer.pephost.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ANS_homepage

On Sixth Anniversary of Iraq war... More than 10,000 march on Pentagon, leading war profiteers

A "throng of war protesters swelled Saturday as they marched across the Memorial Bridge." (AP) The protesters marched on (actually near-police diverted the march) the Pentagon and what followed was a dramatic direct action at Boeing, Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics and KBR, corporations that demonstrators labeled "merchants of death." The predominantly young crowd continued to grow as the day proceeded. They marched through the Pentagon north Parking Lot and then into downtown Crystal City, where the leading war corporations' headquarters are located. The march was led by a contingent of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans. There was a significant delegation from members of the Arab and Muslim communities and many students participated. The Arlington County Police mobilized in full riot gear in an attempt to block the demonstrators from delivering symbolic coffins at the doorsteps of the war corporations. They brought tear gas, snarling dogs and pointed guns loaded with rubber bullets directly at demonstrators. The Arlington County Police also put out an absurdly low count of the demonstration, which was more than 10,000 people. In Los Angeles, a simultaneous demonstration drew 4,000 people, which culminated with a dramatic die-in at the Kodak Theater. Another 4,000 demonstrated in San Francisco, where police carried out violent attacks on demonstrators and arrested numerous people. "This is the launch of the anti-war movement in the post-Bush era. Bush is gone, but the occupation of Iraq continues, the war in Afghanistan is escalating, and the people of Palestine are living under a state of siege," stated Brian Becker, National Coordinator of the ANSWER Coalition.

Join the Leadership Conference for Guaranteed Health Care

Important Congressional Forum:

“National Lessons for Health Reform: An Examination of US Health Insurance”
April 1, 2009,     2 pm – 4 pm, 
2226 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington DC
This forum is open to the public.


The US has relied on private health insurance for sixty years --- what lessons can we take from this experience? What are the implications of the growing pehnomenon of underinsurance? As President Obama says, we must keep what works and end what does not. The April 1 forum will examine insurance mechanisms that will be increasingly debated as national models for health reform.

The panel of witnesses include:

• Louis Balizet, MD, Oncologist
• Marilyn Cawthon, ICU RN, Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals
• Leonard Rodberg, PhD, Professor and Chair of Urban Studies Queens College
• Annette Ramirez de Arellano, DrPH, Health Research Group, Public Citizen
• Cindy Young, Senior Health Policy Advisor California School Employees Association
• David L Rabin MD, MPH, Professor of Community Medicine, Georgetown University Medical Center

The witness panel will address topics highly relevant to the debate over national health reform:

• How well does US health insurance work for doctors, nurses, and their patients?
• What problems do those with insurance have in accessing care?
• Federal Employees Health Benefits Plan, is it a model for national reform?
• What has the fragmented US health insurance system meant for minority populations?
• If, as many believe, employer-based insurance is broken, what is buttressing it?
• Has private insurance within Medicare met expectations?

All Members of Congress are invited to participate in the forum by listening to witness testimony and asking questions. Congressman Eric Massa [NY-29] will serve as Chairman. Ask your Representative to listen to the witnesses testimony and ask the tough questions. We cannot afford to repeat the mistakes of the past--too much is at stake.

Announce the Forum
http://www.healthcare-now.org/docs/Announcment.pdf

Invite your Representative to Attend
http://www.change.org/actions/view/ask_your_rep_to_attend_national_lessons_for_health_reform

If you will attend the forum, please RSVP to Jessica Yarbrough, jyarbrough@calnurses.org, or (202) 974-8300.

Sincerely,

Katie Robbins
Assistant National Coordinator, Healthcare-NOW!
Support Staff, Leadership Conference for Guaranteed Health Care
o: 800.453.1305
c: 330.618.6379
f: 212.475.8350
healthcarenow08@gmail.com
www.healthcare-now.org
339 Lafayette St
New York, NY 10012

Monday, March 23, 2009

Pat Buchanan and Mosquito Find Common Ground



Buzz....Buzz....I actually agree with Pat Buchanan on this one!!

Hope some of you were able to attend the Naro event with Kathy Kelley. Kathy humbly demonstrates how to live a loving peaceful life.

Clifford May makes many false statements...among them the outright lie that the Palestinians could walk out tomorrow (you will notice this produces a big laugh from Pat Buchanan). Note that Clifford May's response to the statement that "They (the Israelis) continue to steal their (the Palestinians') land is so irrational....Because they want all of Jerusalem. Such a lie.

We have corresponded with a 26 year old Palestinian man with a business degree who has been frantically trying to escape Israel's open air prison system....He "thought" he was finally going to be able to get a job and a visa in England. But that fell through. The fellow is beside himself with frustration, depression. To live in an environment where a rogue government is involved in war crimes and alleged ethnic cleansing.....

How can Americans allow their tax dollars to be spent in attacking civilians with horrific munitions that are "war crimes" when used in civilian areas?

Why does our government allow such madness? Why is Obama continuing to support Israel's alleged war crimes? Now that I think about it why isn't Obama seeing to it that an independent special prosecutor investigate the alleged war crimes of the Bush Administration? More than a million Iraqi's have died (the majority are civilians) and more than 4000 American soldiers have died to enrich our VP Dick Cheney and Bush cronies....

This is the sort of thing that continues to make us a target of terrorists.

Corporate Media Should Air This



These days corporate media even censors paid advertisements......this is evidenced by the many political ads they refuse to air. (An example of this is the wonderful moveon.org ad that was refused during the superbowl which showed children working to pay off Bush's Deficit).

So...why in the world does the US INSIST on spending billions of dollars to lock up people who's only crime is to smoke a plant? Why in the world is tobacco legal when it is highly addictive and has no medicinal benefits to speak of? It's time to get real folks...
Allow folks that have a doctor's prescription to buy it from pharmacies (or grow their own medicines.

Better yet....legalize the plant so that "recreational users" can choose a healthier alternative to alcohol and the state can sell it to recreational users in their ABC outlets and make lots of money taxing the recreational use.

Just think of the funds we will save and this will also put a major dent in the illegal drug profits.  This is an economical way to help stop the violence in Mexico's drug war.

Take the profits away from the criminals.  Prohibition is expensive and does not work!!

Answer Protest, March 21, 2009, Boeing Coffin Drop

Sidebar:

A "throng of war protesters swelled Saturday as they marched across the Memorial Bridge." (AP) The protesters marched on the Pentagon and what followed was a dramatic direct action at Boeing, Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics and KBR, corporations that demonstrators labeled "merchants of death." The predominantly young crowd continued to grow as the day proceeded. They marched through the Pentagon north Parking Lot and then into downtown Crystal City, where the leading war corporations' headquarters are located.

The march was led by a contingent of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans. There was a significant delegation from members of the Arab and Muslim communities and many students participated.

The Arlington County Police mobilized in full riot gear in an attempt to block the demonstrators from delivering symbolic coffins at the doorsteps of the war corporations. They brought tear gas, snarling dogs and pointed guns loaded with rubber bullets directly at demonstrators. The Arlington County Police also put out an absurdly low count of the demonstration, which was more than 10,000 people.

In Los Angeles, a simultaneous demonstration drew 4,000 people, which culminated with a dramatic die-in at the Kodak Theater. Another 4,000 demonstrated in San Francisco, where police carried out violent attacks on demonstrators and arrested numerous people.

"This is the launch of the anti-war movement in the post-Bush era. Bush is gone, but the occupation of Iraq continues, the war in Afghanistan is escalating, and the people of Palestine are living under a state of siege," stated Brian Becker, National Coordinator of the ANSWER Coalition.

College Students Protesting War at Washington DC's "Crystal City", Saturday March 21, 2009

College students from all over converged on Washington DC to join the Saturday protest march, many of them in this contingent, which began chanting:

"Students can stop this war! We won't wait a minute more!"

Here are the basics of the event:

I attended the massive and powerful protest march in DC on Saturday, March 21 and took tons of photos and some videos, of which this is one. This was the first nationwide protest against the Obama Administration for its continuance of the destructive, unethical and horribly brutal policies of the Bush/Cheny era. This is the first shot across the bow telling Obama to stop the imperialist war machine or there will be many more, larger and larger protests, especially as the economy collapses and people find themsleves increasingly jobless and homeless while our money goes toward the destruction of other lands and peoples to the tune of billions of dollars.

This is from the Answer Coalition website:
click here

On Sixth Anniversary of Iraq war...
More than 10,000 march on Pentagon, leading war profiteers

A "throng of war protesters swelled Saturday as they marched across the Memorial Bridge." (AP) The protesters marched on the Pentagon and what followed was a dramatic direct action at Boeing, Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics and KBR, corporations that demonstrators labeled "merchants of death." The predominantly young crowd continued to grow as the day proceeded. They marched through the Pentagon north Parking Lot and then into downtown Crystal City, where the leading war corporations' headquarters are located.

The march was led by a contingent of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans. There was a significant delegation from members of the Arab and Muslim communities and many students participated.

The Arlington County Police mobilized in full riot gear in an attempt to block the demonstrators from delivering symbolic coffins at the doorsteps of the war corporations. They brought tear gas, snarling dogs and pointed guns loaded with rubber bullets directly at demonstrators. The Arlington County Police also put out an absurdly low count of the demonstration, which was more than 10,000 people.

In Los Angeles, a simultaneous demonstration drew 4,000 people, which culminated with a dramatic die-in at the Kodak Theater. Another 4,000 demonstrated in San Francisco, where police carried out violent attacks on demonstrators and arrested numerous people.

"This is the launch of the anti-war movement in the post-Bush era. Bush is gone, but the occupation of Iraq continues, the war in Afghanistan is escalating, and the people of Palestine are living under a state of siege," stated Brian Becker, National Coordinator of the ANSWER Coalition.

Students and Youth at Washington DC's "Crystal City", Saturday March 21, 2009

Youth and Students of ANSWER engaged in some lively chanting as the protest march reached its final destination on Crystal Drive.

Here are the basics of the event:

I attended the massive and powerful protest march in DC on Saturday, March 21 and took tons of photos and some videos, of which this is one. This was the first nationwide protest against the Obama Administration for its continuance of the destructive, unethical and horribly brutal policies of the Bush/Cheny era. This is the first shot across the bow telling Obama to stop the imperialist war machine or there will be many more, larger and larger protests, especially as the economy collapses and people find themsleves increasingly jobless and homeless while our money goes toward the destruction of other lands and peoples to the tune of billions of dollars.

This is from the Answer Coalition website:
http://answer.pephost.org/site/PageSe...

On Sixth Anniversary of Iraq war...
More than 10,000 march on Pentagon, leading war profiteers

A "throng of war protesters swelled Saturday as they marched across the Memorial Bridge." (AP) The protesters marched on the Pentagon and what followed was a dramatic direct action at Boeing, Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics and KBR, corporations that demonstrators labeled "merchants of death." The predominantly young crowd continued to grow as the day proceeded. They marched through the Pentagon north Parking Lot and then into downtown Crystal City, where the leading war corporations' headquarters are located.

The march was led by a contingent of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans. There was a significant delegation from members of the Arab and Muslim communities and many students participated.

The Arlington County Police mobilized in full riot gear in an attempt to block the demonstrators from delivering symbolic coffins at the doorsteps of the war corporations. They brought tear gas, snarling dogs and pointed guns loaded with rubber bullets directly at demonstrators. The Arlington County Police also put out an absurdly low count of the demonstration, which was more than 10,000 people.

In Los Angeles, a simultaneous demonstration drew 4,000 people, which culminated with a dramatic die-in at the Kodak Theater. Another 4,000 demonstrated in San Francisco, where police carried out violent attacks on demonstrators and arrested numerous people.

"This is the launch of the anti-war movement in the post-Bush era. Bush is gone, but the occupation of Iraq continues, the war in Afghanistan is escalating, and the people of Palestine are living under a state of siege," stated Brian Becker, National Coordinator of the ANSWER Coalition.

Protest March through Washington DC's "Crystal City", Saturday March 21, 2009

Standing on a street corner on Crystal Drive in Washington DC, I simply recorded, for five minutes or so, the marchers walking by, and we were nowhere near the end when I turned the camera off. You will see the great diversity of participants passing. I estimated there were eight thousand people at the march, organizers said 10,000, the cops a lot less, which they always say. I think I am closer to the final number, but it could have been 10,000.

Here are the basics of the event:

I attended the massive and powerful protest march in DC on Saturday, March 21 and took tons of photos and some videos, of which this is one. This was the first nationwide protest against the Obama Administration for its continuance of the destructive, unethical and horribly brutal policies of the Bush/Cheny era. This is the first shot across the bow telling Obama to stop the imperialist war machine or there will be many more, larger and larger protests, especially as the economy collapses and people find themsleves increasingly jobless and homeless while our money goes toward the destruction of other lands and peoples to the tune of billions of dollars.

This is from the Answer Coalition website:
click here

On Sixth Anniversary of Iraq war...
More than 10,000 march on Pentagon, leading war profiteers

A "throng of war protesters swelled Saturday as they marched across the Memorial Bridge." (AP) The protesters marched on the Pentagon and what followed was a dramatic direct action at Boeing, Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics and KBR, corporations that demonstrators labeled "merchants of death." The predominantly young crowd continued to grow as the day proceeded. They marched through the Pentagon north Parking Lot and then into downtown Crystal City, where the leading war corporations' headquarters are located.

The march was led by a contingent of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans. There was a significant delegation from members of the Arab and Muslim communities and many students participated.

The Arlington County Police mobilized in full riot gear in an attempt to block the demonstrators from delivering symbolic coffins at the doorsteps of the war corporations. They brought tear gas, snarling dogs and pointed guns loaded with rubber bullets directly at demonstrators. The Arlington County Police also put out an absurdly low count of the demonstration, which was more than 10,000 people.

In Los Angeles, a simultaneous demonstration drew 4,000 people, which culminated with a dramatic die-in at the Kodak Theater. Another 4,000 demonstrated in San Francisco, where police carried out violent attacks on demonstrators and arrested numerous people.

"This is the launch of the anti-war movement in the post-Bush era. Bush is gone, but the occupation of Iraq continues, the war in Afghanistan is escalating, and the people of Palestine are living under a state of siege," stated Brian Becker, National Coordinator of the ANSWER Coalition.

Code Pink at Washington DC's "Crystal City", Saturday March 21, 2009

Code Pink had a powerful presence at this march and, for their grand finale, sang a number of peace and justice songs after taking the high ground, while the Darth Vader Star Wars Troopers stood behind them like a silent Greek chorus. In this video they are singing:

Gonna Build a Brand New World

Here are the basics of the event:

I attended the massive and powerful protest march in DC westerday, Saturday, Mar 21 and took tons of photos and some videos, of which this is one. This was the first nationwide protest against the Obama Administration for its continuance of the destructive, unethical and horribly brutal policies of the Bush/Cheny era. This is the first shot across the bow telling Obama to stop the imperialist war machine or there will be many more, larger and larger protests, especially as the economy collapses and people find themsleves increasingly jobless and homeless while our money goes toward the destruction of other lands and peoples to the tune of billions of dollars.

This is from the Answer Coalition website:
http://answer.pephost.org/site/PageSe...

On Sixth Anniversary of Iraq war...
More than 10,000 march on Pentagon, leading war profiteers

A "throng of war protesters swelled Saturday as they marched across the Memorial Bridge." (AP) The protesters marched on the Pentagon and what followed was a dramatic direct action at Boeing, Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics and KBR, corporations that demonstrators labeled "merchants of death." The predominantly young crowd continued to grow as the day proceeded. They marched through the Pentagon north Parking Lot and then into downtown Crystal City, where the leading war corporations' headquarters are located.

The march was led by a contingent of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans. There was a significant delegation from members of the Arab and Muslim communities and many students participated.

The Arlington County Police mobilized in full riot gear in an attempt to block the demonstrators from delivering symbolic coffins at the doorsteps of the war corporations. They brought tear gas, snarling dogs and pointed guns loaded with rubber bullets directly at demonstrators. The Arlington County Police also put out an absurdly low count of the demonstration, which was more than 10,000 people.

In Los Angeles, a simultaneous demonstration drew 4,000 people, which culminated with a dramatic die-in at the Kodak Theater. Another 4,000 demonstrated in San Francisco, where police carried out violent attacks on demonstrators and arrested numerous people.

"This is the launch of the anti-war movement in the post-Bush era. Bush is gone, but the occupation of Iraq continues, the war in Afghanistan is escalating, and the people of Palestine are living under a state of siege," stated Brian Becker, National Coordinator of the ANSWER Coalition.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Bearing Witness in Gaza: An Evening with Kathy Kelly in Three Parts

Part 1



Part 2



Part 3

This event was presented by the Tidewater Peace Alliance and
the Hampton Roads Chapter of Amnesty International on March 18, 2009:

Author and activist Kathy Kelly returned to the Naro Cinema in Norfolk, Virgina with stories from her recent travels to Egypt and Gaza during the Israeli invasion. Circumventing the Israeli blockade, Kathy was able to enter Gaza from Egypt during the Israeli siege, on the sixteenth day of the 22 day duration.

Twice nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, Kathy founded Voices in the Wilderness and is executive director of Voices for Creative Nonviolence. She has traveled twenty-four times to Iraq and was in southern Lebanon in summer 2006 during and after the Israel-Hezbollah war. (see: http://vcnv.org/speaker-bio/kathy-kelly)

Friday, March 20, 2009

De-Cloaking the Economic Scandals



Check out the 3/19/09 Democracy Now episode contains accurate in depth economic reporting on the largest economic scandal in American History.

Matt Tabbi has a great article--The Big Takeover--covering the economic scandal in Rolling Stone.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

France Goes on National Strike

Sidebar:

Hundreds of thousands have marched in France, in protest at the president's handling of the economy.

Historic power shift in El Salvador

The historical shift, however watered down this might be in El Salvador, continues throughout Latin America, from extreme Right-wing elitism toward Leftist populism. One small step for El Salvador, one more big step for our brothers and sisters throughout the hemisphere.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Monday, March 16, 2009

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Longtime Activist Kathy Kelly On The Destruction In Gaza. Democracy Now 1-27-09 1 of 2

Sidebar from Amy Goodman:

President Obama has dispatched George Mitchell on his first trip as Middle East envoy. Mitchell is set to begin in Egypt today followed by Israel, the occupied West Bank, Jordan, Turkey and Saudi Arabia. My next guest has just returned from the Gaza Strip, where she witnessed the Israeli attack. Kathy Kelly is the Executive Director of Voices for Creative Nonviolence.

Bearing Witness in Gaza: An Evening with Kathy Kelly


Wednesday, March 18 at 7:15pm at the

NARO Cinema in Ghent

1507 Colley Ave, Norfolk, VA 23517

757-625-6276

Bearing Witness in Gaza:
An Evening with Kathy Kelly



Presented by the Tidewater Peace Alliance and
the Hampton Roads Chapter of Amnesty International

Author and activist Kathy Kelly returns to the Naro with stories from her recent travels to Egypt and Gaza during the Israeli invasion. Circumventing the Israeli blockade, Kathy was able to enter Gaza from Egypt during the Israeli siege.
Twice nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, Kathy founded Voices in the Wilderness and is executive director of Voices for Creative Nonviolence. She has travelled twenty-four times to Iraq and was in southern Lebanon in summer 2006 during and after the Israel-Hezbollah war. (see:http://vcnv.org/speaker-bio/kathy-kelly)

Included in the evening will be the premiere of the new documentary.

YOUNG FREUD IN GAZA
Against the violent backdrop of armed clashes between Hamas and Fatah factions and Israeli missile attacks, a young psychotherapist for the Palestinian Authority's Clinic for Mental Health struggles to provide for his many patients who need therapy and medication for depression, anxiety attacks and suicidal tendencies. Filmed in Gaza during 2006-2008, this new documentary premiered at the recent New York Jewish Film Festival. (60 mins)
Admission is $8 at the door.

Note: Reception for Kathy Kelly at Azar's (20th & Colley Ave) at 6:00pm.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Tucker Carlson is the "partisan demagogue"

Tucker Carlson shows once again why his tv show was dropped. He is the hypocritical "partisan demagogue" pundit who feeds his followers faulty, biased information. Michael Calderone reports:

Still, viewers have at times grown weary of cable television's need for heated political debate shows — most notably, following Stewart's October 2004 appearance on CNN's "Crossfire." There, Stewart told hosts Tucker Carlson and Paul Begala that they should "stop hurting America."

"I'm here to confront you," Stewart said, "because we need help from the media and they're hurting us."

Stewart was declared the victor by many in the media after that appearance, and less than three months later CNN pulled the plug on the 22-year-old right-left shout-fest.

Upon the cancellation of "Crossfire," network president Jon Klein noted the Stewart critique, telling the Washington Post that "he made a good point about the noise level of these types of shows, which does nothing to illuminate the issues of the day."

Carlson, reached Friday, described Stewart as "a partisan demagogue."

"Jim Cramer may be sweaty and pathetic — he certainly was last night — but he's not responsible for the current recession," Carlson told POLITICO. "His real sin was attacking Obama's economic policies. If he hadn't done that, Stewart never would have gone after him. Stewart's doing Obama's bidding. It's that simple."
Carlson maybe upset;  the American people are fed up with biased political pundits. Too bad Carlson is not funny though his recent comments do border on the hysterical.

Buzz...Buzz....

CNBC will NEVER hire this man



So much for Corporate Media....cut off the boob tube's corporate media elites and start listening to the voices that the Corporate Media blacks out!!

Friday, March 13, 2009

CODE PINK IN GAZA FOR INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY

CLICK HERE FOR FABULOUS SLIDE SHOW ON THE CODE PINK DELEGATION TO GAZA

TWO MESSAGES FROM CODE PINK ABOUT GAZA AND THE STRUGGLE FOR PEACE:

Six years ago, 10,000 CODEPINKers converged on Washington D.C. with a rally that encircled the White House in vibrant PINK. Three years later, and more than a 100,000 stronger, we called on women around the world to form our new global campaign: Women Say no to War.

This year, we gathered yet another international delegation to deliver aid to the women of Gaza and to expose the horrendous costs of war, weapons and occupation. Women now have to care for the physical and emotional wounds in their families and communities, while dealing with their own broken hearts. They face shortages of water, electricity, food, medicine, heat, fuel, and shelter. Some neighborhoods have been almost totally destroyed; and over 100,000 people displaced from their homes.

According to the United Nations, "Children are hungry, cold, without electricity and running water, and above all, they're terrified. Women are at greater risk of maternal death and or injury as maternity wards are being used as surgical facilities to treat the wounded."

*******

We hope you had an inspiring and meaningful International Women's Day. We've been so moved to see how our International Women's Day delegation in Gaza and other women around the world used the day to honor and support our Gazan sisters. Through grassroots efforts on our website, Facebook cause, and over 25 house parties, we raised over $60,000 for Gazan women. Click here to view a deeply affecting slideshow of photos from our delegation and other Gaza actions around the country.

Our historic 60-person delegation, including Pulitzer Prize winning author Alice Walker, witnessed profound devastation in Gaza, but they also witnessed tremendous resilience and strength. As they visited refugee camps and community development centers and areas hard hit by bombing, our delegates were impressed over and over again by the determination of the women of Gaza to make their voices heard and create a better future for themselves and their families. Click here to read a moving piece by delegate Ret. Col. Ann Wright, here to read blogs from our delegates on our PINKtank, here to listen to a Talk Nation Radio interview with Gael Murphy and Pam Rasmussen, and here to read the transcript from a Democracy Now interview with Alice Walker and Medea Benjamin about the trip. Nine of our delegates have chosen to remain in Gaza to continue to bear witness to what is happening in this beleaguered region.

Thank you again for so generously donating to send gift baskets--we filled trucks to the brim with your pink presents to help the women of Gaza feel honored and celebrated as women this International Women's Day. We couldn't have done it without you. You helped brighten the lives of thousands of women who have been living under such bleak circumstances, and helped them feel less alone in their struggles.

In our effort to continue to build bridges and learn from each other, we will gather women for our 2nd 24-hour Mother's Day vigil in front of the White House, May 9-10. Save the date--we hope you will be able to join us! Our vigil will honor all mothers and women who live in war zones; we want to recognize the price they pay with their bodies, loved ones, homes and future, and honor their courage and power. We will stand with them in solidarity to not only tell their important stories but model what women-centered community looks and acts like. Click here to find out how to join us for this beautiful and powerful event.

Thank you again for all you do to honor our sisters around the world and in your community!

In solidarity,
Audrey, Blaine, Dana, Deidra, Desiree, Farida, Gael, Gayle, Jean, Jodie, Liz, Lori, Medea, Nancy, Paris, and Rae

P.S. We are marking the 6th anniversary of the war next week with rallies and marches around the country; click here to find or create one in your area and order your Obama's Promises ribbons to pass out at events here.

ACTION ALERT:

Watch our moving Gaza slideshow

Join us for
Mother's Day in DC, May 9 - 10!

You can still donate to the women of

Thursday, March 12, 2009

DADDY OINK OINK

Sidebar:

A hip hop celebration of Corrupt Capitalism
w/ DADDY OINK OINK the Banking Bailout Rappin' Pig

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

George Galloway's first speech from inside Gaza (Higher Quality Version)

British MP George Galloway has arrived in Gaza with a relief convoy, Viva Palestina, from Britain.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Sunday, March 08, 2009

Strike updates for Gaza, Israel

SIDEBAR FOR VIDEO:

Strike to end the occupation started by Israeli and American Zionists. http://votestrike.ning.com Join the revolution to end the wars, end the occupations.

Friday, March 06, 2009

Populist Words

If Obama would do what Roosevelt did, and say I welcome their hatred, I'm not going to put the CEOs in charge of the bailout, and, yes, we're going to have salary caps on these banking positions when they get bailout money, and, yes, we're going to fire the executives who caused the problem -- why would we hire them? -- if he would do that, it would tap directly into the overwhelming public sentiment against Wall Street. He's got an opportunity here that's just remarkable, really. -- Jim Hightower, radio commentator and author of Swim Against The Current: Even A Dead Fish Can Go With The Flow

Jim Hightower: No, I don't call [Obama] a populist -- not yet. I think he has some populist instincts, including his upbringing and his experience as a community organizer in Chicago. But from what we've seen thus far, he has presented himself as a centrist Democrat who is showing way too much Bill Clintonism and Robert Rubenism and way too little of the populist positions and populist embrace that he exhibited in the campaign.

I think it's still too early to say that he's not going to get to that point. But as, as I said when I endorsed him back in the Texas primary, the significant thing about the Obama phenomena is not Obama, it's the phenomenon that millions of people, particularly young folks and especially out of the Netroots segment, came forth to create this guy as their candidate. It's our candidate, because I did embrace him. And that was the significant theme -- that without big money, without professional organizing, without established progressive organizations, even -- they put this guy over the top.

To me, the main thing about the Obama presidency, is not going to be him, but the grassroots forces that compel him to be better than he otherwise would be. And he's gone into a Washington that has 13,000 corporate lobbyists, that has a locked-in, recalcitrant Republican barrier, that has way too many weak-kneed corporate Democrats, and that has a White House with too many Larry Summerses and Timothy Geithners. So the only progressivism we can expect to get out of him is what we force out.

To me, he opened the door to the White House, and I do believe he remains open to all of these progressive ideas, including a big blue-green program that can remake and revive the American economy. I think he's that open to a brand-new way of looking at the world. He's open to just about any progressive idea, I think. But he has said pretty clearly in the old FDR manner, you have to make me do it.

So to me, that's our role. We as progressives cannot just to settle back into the Lazy Boy and say, oh, Barack's in there now -- he'll take care of it. No, that's not how democracy has ever worked, and it's certainly not going to be the way it's going to work under Obama. We have to be more aggressive than ever. And I think that a lot of the progressive community has sat back somewhat dazed, wanting to give him the benefit of the doubt, yet befuddled by the shortage of full-blown populist, progressive forces on the inside. Many are still not pushing the way that we have to push.

Read the interview.

Stop the Cruelty



Will you be supporting the cruelty of this system by continuing to support factory farming?

Check out your local CSA and farmer's markets.....end this senseless cruelty.

Buzz...Buzz

Thursday, March 05, 2009

CORPORATOCRACY WATCH

Jailing Kids for Cash

By Amy Goodman

As many as 5,000 children in Pennsylvania have been found guilty, and up to 2,000 of them jailed, by two corrupt judges who received kickbacks from the builders and owners of private prison facilities that benefited. The two judges pleaded guilty in a stunning case of greed and corruption that is still unfolding. Judges Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. and Michael T. Conahan received $2.6 million in kickbacks while imprisoning children who often had no access to a lawyer. The case offers an extraordinary glimpse into the shameful private prison industry that is flourishing in the United States.

Take the story of Jamie Quinn. When she was 14 years old, she was imprisoned for almost a year. Jamie, now 18, described the incident that led to her incarceration:

“I got into an argument with one of my friends. And all that happened was just a basic fight. She slapped me in the face, and I did the same thing back. There [were] no marks, no witnesses, nothing. It was just her word against my word.”

READ MORE AT TRUTHDIG

No More Victims - Naba's Story HELP A CHILD

VIDEO SIDEBAR:

Naba's father and brother were killed before her eyes in Iraq. They were stopped at a US checkpoint on the outskirts of Fallujah. American troops opened fire on the car. Her three-year-old brother and her father were shot in the head. Naba was hit twice, once in the arm and once in the chest. She and her mother and sister were forced to flee Iraq for Syria, where they live as refugees. A high school group in Alameda, California has joined forces with a committed community group in Mariposa; they are raising funds to support them in Syria. They are also paying for Naba's psychological treatment and surgery to repair damage to Naba's arm.

Wednesday, March 04, 2009

Monday, March 02, 2009

Laurent Nkunda, Savior or Villain in the DR Congo? by Mac McKinney and Georgianne Nienaber


Inside a Congolese Displaced Persons Camp - photo by Georgianne Nienaber


Nkunda’s Pilgrimage of Reconciliation

The YouTube video is amateurish and grainy, but the images are irrefutable testimony. The date is August 6, 2006 in the tiny village of Nyamitabo in eastern Congo—a region where warfare between various players including militias funded by multi-national interests, invading armies, rebel armies and Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (Forces Armées de la République démocratique du Congo, or FARDC) has been ongoing for years at the cost of 6 million lives. Up to 1.1 million people are displaced here and aid agencies put the continuing death toll at 1,200 people per day. The numbers are truly Biblical in proportion.

The flickering images reveal a tall, lean-muscled man with wire-frame sunglasses and erect posture, dressed in crisp, green-camouflage army fatigues, field jacket and a dark green beret. He is holding a microphone in his left hand and addressing a large crowd in their dialect. The crowd of several thousand includes villagers, a contingent of soldiers loyal to this man, and other visitors.

Many are seated, and others are standing on a grassy hill and in a meadow. Various structures and canopy shelters ring the perimeter and high ground. Under the dignitaries’ canopy atop the hill, the man has just received a ceremonial longbow, shield and spear from one of the village elders and is now addressing the crowds assembled around and below him. They treat the man with the respect due a tribal chief, which he is, as he speaks:
First of all I thank all the wise men behind me, and everybody. This day, we want to tell you, our parents, who spend nights without sleeping but thinking about us, that even if we know that many among us have lost their lives on military front; you have to be happy because we, the survivors, can come again and still do something for you. I like what our soldiers have sung: “No more people in exile” and that’s true I repeat: “No more people will go into exile”.

“Secondly, why Nyamitabo? In 1964, the North-Kivu authorities took the decision to exterminate the Kinyarwanda (Rwanda-Bantu language) speaking community. The meeting that saved us from this killing took place here at Nyamitabo; therefore forgetting this place is a curse. That meeting convinced the Kinyarwanda speaking community that they had a right to live even if other communities were planning their massacres. Those who participated in that important meeting deserve my respect. The participants at that meeting decided to help each other in order to survive these planned killings.

Let me once again honor them because without their courage, we wouldn’t be born and alive today.
The man is relating a regional history that the crowd knows well. It is a history of genocide and exploitation that began in the late 1800’s, when baskets of severed hands tallied the price of disloyalty to the armies of Belgium’s King Leopold. By 1959 ethnic animosities fanned by the Catholic Church and multinational interests unleashed the “wind of destruction” against the people of this region. The historical presentation of this conflict as Hutu retribution against Tutsi is simplistic, and the Kinyarwanda know this.

As he continues to speak, this imposing figure moves about casually, continually and forcefully gesturing with his right hand to emphasize points, like a teacher lecturing his class for the afternoon. He has an air of confidence and charisma about him as he looks out on the crowds just below him, even a hint of evangelical fervor, which is not surprising for he happens to be an ordained Christian minister, as well as a rebel commander. Who is this man? Major General Laurent Nkunda, chairman of the CNDP— Le Congrès National pour la Défense du Peuple. He continues:
This time we are not only protecting the Kinyarwanda speaking community but also all tribes of the Eastern-DRC in duress, and those who are still in exile who have to come back to their homeland - Bahunde, Banyanga, Barega, Bashi, Bahema, Lendu, and people from Equateur are all here to support this common struggle. Therefore this is a struggle for the whole Congolese nation. Don’t be afraid, nothing will stop you from achieving this noble objective.
The mention of “Equateur” is critical and is the word that gives Nkunda his legitimacy as a leader of this popular movement. In Equateur Province, the opposition candidate to current Congolese president Joseph Kabila, Jean-Pierre Bemba, won almost 100 percent of the vote at some polling stations. Bemba vowed to stand up to foreign interests that he said wanted to control Congo “like a puppet.”

On May 24, 2008, authorities in Belgium arrested Bemba on the basis of a warrant charging him with war crimes and crimes against humanity for the rapes, torture, and looting allegedly carried out by his forces during the 2002-2003 conflict in the Central African Republic.

But before his arrest, Bemba was a serious threat to the political aspirations of Joseph Kabila. Kabila was, and is, willing to silence opposition at all costs. With Bemba silenced by The Hague, Nkunda rose to prominence as a defender of the rights of the Congolese people to their resources and destiny.

In a 96 page document [reference], “We Will Crush You,” prepared by Human Rights Watch, a document which has barely seen the light of day, Congolese President Joseph Kabila is accused of crimes against humanity which, intriguingly, pale when compared to those luridly leveled against Bemba and Nkunda in the international corporate media controlled by resource-hungry Western interests. Is a double standard at work here?

Regarding the persecution of law-abiding Congolese villagers who supported Bemba during the 2006 election process, HRW writes:
The government's lack of popularity in western Congo, and the fear of losing power through a military overthrow, have dominated policy discussions amongst Kabila and his advisors in their first two years of administration. According to many military and intelligence officials and others close to Kabila who were interviewed by Human Rights Watch, Kabila set the tone and direction of the repression. In giving orders, he spoke of "crushing" or "neutralizing" the "enemies of democracy," "terrorists," and "savages," implying it was acceptable to use unlawful force against them.
According to testimony obtained by HRW from within and without the inner circle of Joseph Kabila, including that of foreign diplomats, Kabila pursued an approach of "winner take all," leaving no room for other strong political opponents.
State security forces deliberately killed or summarily executed more than 500 persons in Kinshasa and Bas Congo and arbitrarily arrested and detained about a thousand more, many of whom were tortured or ill-treated. Many of the detainees were from Equateur (the home province of Bemba) and were insulted about their origins, questioned about their alleged support for Bemba, accused of being disloyal to President Kabila, and threatened with death…including the use of electric batons on their genitals and other parts of their bodies, beatings, whippings, and mock executions.
Another man from Equateur arrested during a separate incident described what happened to him. HRW reports:
”When I arrived they put me on the ground and beat me with a plank. They told me not to scream but it hurt so badly that I did scream. They questioned me about Bemba and my brother who they said was a Bemba [supporter]. A soldier started to sharpen his machete and said he would kill me and then he beat me on my back with the flat side of the machete.” The same detainee was sexually assaulted by a Republican Guard who forced his penis into his mouth.
In stark contrast to the blood-curdling speeches we often hear from the Kabila camp, or even in response to atrocities that cry out for retribution, Laurent Nkunda ends his speech on his “Pilgrimage of Reconciliation” with the following admonition:
Thirdly, we have to cleanse the malediction that came from killings of our brothers and sisters. The Bible story tells us that Cain was cursed because of his brother’s blood. Today, any one of us must look behind and decide not to kill his brother, so that he may not be cursed. Go and cohabitate, share all you have, as this was our culture a long time ago.
To view this speech on YouTube see:

Video One

Video Two

Video Three


Who Is Laurent Nkunda?

The speech in this village was just one of many that Nkunda gave as his contingent moved from village to village in the eastern Congo in the fall of 2006 promoting unity among the Congolese people.

The speech was filled with curious words from a man often accused by the West, not to mention the Congolese government of President Joseph Kabila, of being both a selfish, brutal warlord and war criminal, words not curious at all, however, if he is actually neither, but rather a militant revolutionary in the tradition of, say, a Simon Bolivar, George Washington, or Fidel Castro, all men with visions of unity and independence for their countries and peoples, men whose methods were indeed martial.

Who is Laurent Nkunda? What motivates him, and why are his followers in Rwanda and Congo unwavering?

Laurent Nkunda Batware was born in Rutshuru, North Kivu, the then Republic of Congo on February 2, 1967 and studied psychology at Kisangani University before becoming a schoolteacher in Kichanga. He was also quite religious, becoming an ordained Christian minister of the Seventh Day Adventist persuasion at some point.

When the assassination of the Hutu President of Rwanda, Juvénal Habyarimana, in April 1994 ignited the Hutu Rwandan Genocide against the minority Tutsis, led primarily by the extremist Hutu Interahamwe and Impuzamugambi, Laurent Nkunda, incensed by their mass murders of Tutsis, traveled to Rwanda to join the Tutsi-dominated Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) battling against the Hutu controlled Rwandan Armed Forces. Nkunda quickly became an officer in the RFP ranks.

The RPF, spectacularly victorious by July of this same year, consolidated their hold on the Rwandan government, precipitating a mass exodus of Hutus, many of them genocide perpetrators, into Zaire, the latest name for the Congo at that time.

Nkunda quickly returned to his home territory in Zaire. By 1998 he had became a senior officer in the Rally for Congolese Democracy-Goma (RCD-Goma), backed by Rwanda, as what is now known as the Second Congo War began, a horrific regional struggle that at one point involved eight countries and some 25 militias, lasting until 2003. By then, over five million people had died of violence, starvation or disease, with millions more displaced. The country had also adopted, in 1998, the name still used today, the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Nkunda was a prominent figure throughout this catastrophic war, continuing to prove himself an able defender of Congolese ethnic Tutsis against the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, the FDLR, the latest incarnation of the original Hutu Interahamwe and Impuzamugambi movements out of Rwanda, movements which together had murdered hundreds of thousands of Tutsis and moderate Hutus within Rwanda. Ironically, Nkunda began to see war crime charges surface against himself during this war.


Selective Condemnation of War Crimes By Media

In 2006, the respected and revered Alison Des Forges, senior advisor to the Africa Division of Human Rights Watch, who tragically died in the recent crash of Flight 3407 from Newark to Buffalo on February 12, 2009, had this to say about Nkunda:
In May 2002 Nkunda, together with General Amisi, is alleged to have been among the RCD-Goma officers responsible for the brutal repression of an attempted mutiny in Kisangani, where more than 160 persons were summarily executed. In one incident, forces under Nkunda's command are alleged to have bound, gagged, and executed twenty-eight persons and then put their bodies in bags weighed with stones to throw them off a Kisangani bridge. After the U.N. began investigating these crimes, Nkunda and several armed guards are alleged to have entered the U.N. premises where they abducted and beat two guards.

In 2003, when the war was meant to be over, the RCD joined the national army of the transitional government. In 2004 Nkunda was named general. Nkunda refused, however, to report to Kinshasa under the new integrated army and withdrew with hundreds of his former troops to the forests of Masisi in North Kivu. Nkunda and troops loyal to him took control of the South Kivu town of Bukavu on 2 June, claiming this action was necessary to stop genocide of Congolese Tutsi, known locally as Banyamulenge. Some accused Nkunda of still following orders from Kigali; he however said that, although he considered Rwandans his allies, they had not told him to capture Bukavu. During the fighting, Nkunda's troops are alleged of carrying out war crimes, killing and raping civilians and looting their property

In August 2005, Nkunda declared the current Congolese government corrupt and incompetent and called for its overthrow. (reference)
It was in December of 2006 that Nkunda and others formed the National Congress for the Defense of the People, a military/political movement with the large ambition of uniting and rebuilding the Congo, which describes itself on its website as “ a a socio-political organization founded on a socio-democratic vision.” [reference]

Why is the world media so selective of who it accuses of war crimes? Is it precisely because Nkunda speaks of standing up for a truly independent Congo, free from the hidden hands of selfish world powers? Where is the condemnation today of the deaths of 1 million innocents in Iraq at the hands of the United States?

Nkunda vigorously denies charges of war crimes made against him by Human Rights Watch, arguing that they did not really know the facts on the ground, and points to the large numbers of civilians and refugees, including women, who flock to areas under his control for protection. It must be said that the only body that has actually indicted Nkunda is the Congolese government of Joseph Kabila, sworn enemy of Nkunda, whose impartiality must naturally be questioned. The indictment fails the test of an “international” arrest warrant, is not registered with INTERPOL, and according to Congolese law, has not been renewed by a judge. It no longer exists.

Alison Des Forges, before her death, was summarily banned from Rwanda by the regime of President Paul Kagame, who was indicted himself in 2006 by French Judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere on terrorism charges. Why have these charges against Kagame been largely ignored?

Is it possible that, despite denials, Nkunda has indeed committed any war crimes? Certainly, especially given the horrendous nature of the ongoing Congolese wars, the third of which is underway now.

But, there are also documents that have been given to Western media and to Human Rights Watch by Hutu leaders in Congo that exonerate Nkunda from recent charges of brutality and murder in the Kiwanja area. Independent journalists have presented these documents directly to Western media interests. Regional Hutu officials maintain it was the FDLR and FARDC who are the agents of violence and murder against civilians.

As of this writing, Nkunda has vanished into the hands of the secret police in Rwanda in an act of betrayal designed to satisfy Western criticism of Rwanda’s covert support of his movement, and Bemba is under arrest in Belgium. Meanwhile, Congolese President Joseph Kabila is writing contracts with the Chinese, lining his pockets in an imitation of Mobutu, and sources report he has a 40 million dollar mansion in Malibu for one of his mistresses.

Furthermore, in a deal made with the tacit approval of the United States, an accused war criminal with a rap sheet that rivals Bemba’s alleged atrocities has now been installed as a military leader in eastern Congo by an alliance forged between arch-enemies Kabila and Rwanda’s Kagame. We are referring to Bosco Ntaganda, who is wanted by The Hague for murder and torture. In May 2008 The International Criminal Court unsealed a warrant for arrest against Ntaganda, also known as the “Terminator. This 35 year Congolese is also accused of enlisting children as young as 15 between July 2002 and December 2003.

Ironically, quoting from The Washington Post:
The Congolese government had pledged to disarm the FDLR and enable the return of its members to Rwanda, where many would probably be prosecuted for their role in the genocide. But the U.N. panel said it had obtained "strong evidence" showing that the Congolese army has "collaborated extensively" with the FDLR since 2007.

Congo stands accused of supplying the Rwandan militia with large shipments of ammunition in exchange for participating in joint military operations against Nkunda's forces, according to the panel. The panel said that it has documented more than 98 satellite and cellphone calls between Congolese and FDLR commanders over the past year, and that Congolese troops routinely sold military supplies to the Rwandan exiles, including bullets for a dime apiece and uniforms for as much as $3 dollars each. [reference]

Eyewitness Account of Nkunda’s Arrest by Rwanda

Sources close to General Nkunda and his family report that Nkunda remained consistent in his admonition to “turn the other cheek” towards enemies in the face of his betrayal by Rwandan authorities. Nkunda was not “hunted down” as celebrity-with-access to Rwandan President Paul Kagame, Ben Affleck, reports in Time Magazine. This story was apparently cooked up to mask the Rwandan government’s treachery while smearing Nkunda’s integrity and respectability. This eyewitness, who must remain anonymous for fear of retaliation from Rwandan intelligence, tells the true story that has been emerging from various sources:
The Night when General Nkunda wanted to go to Rwanda he knew they (would) kill him or arrest him, all the commanders refused he can go they said. “We will fight till the last to protect you.” But he said: “We did not go in the bush to protect me but to protect our people. So if they have to fight us, they will kill our soldiers and we will kill our cousins from Rwanda, what will be the price of the bloodshed? So let me go for Peace to come.”
One of Nkunda’s loyal soldiers and aids reported Nkunda’s last public words as he was about to be arrested:
He said: “When David wanted to go to fight Goliath he was afraid but when he hear that Goliath abused the name of God he said, let me fight him because he don't know God. The last words General Nkunda he said was: "Let me go to them because they don't know GOD." We cried all of us even the commanders. M…. and the deputy Chief of Staff accompanied him. They released them after.
Furthermore, we have the spectacle of the Congolese government in Kinshasa condemning General Nkunda and seeking to extradite him while Kabila himself is accused of collaborating with the worst perpetrator of atrocities of all against Congolese citizens of his own country, the FDLR. Who is free of sin in the Congo? More importantly, less journalists be put in the position of judge and jury, what do the Congolese people want, and why have the voices of local Hutu officials in Kiwanja been silenced?

Perhaps Human Rights Watch has an answer. However, it must be noted that HRW was also given a copy of the declaration from Hutu Officials, which they have neglected to publish. Why?

Anneke Van Woudenberg of Human Rights Watch told us today that the original document explaining events at Kiwanja was riddled with inconsistencies. She had not seen the latest document and was going to review it at this writing. What she was able to say is that Bosco Ntaganda was in charge of the CNDP troops on that day, further calling into question why Nkunda would be betrayed in favor of Ntaganda. Van Woudenberg referred us to the HRW report [reference] on Kiwanja.


The Geopolitical Whys: HRW on the Responsibility of Donor Nations
In the press, in order to establish good relations with the newly elected president, donor nations and other international actors have given little attention to the grave human rights violations of the first two years of the Kabila government and the failure to hold accountable the perpetrators of these abuses. The rare UN reports detailing abuses were buried and others published too late to have a significant impact on policy decisions by diplomats in the immediate aftermath of the events. In September 2008, after the completion of this report, Congolese Prime Minister Antoine Gizenga resigned, and the following month a new government with Adolphe Muzito as prime minister was appointed by President Kabila. In October 2008, security services in Kinshasa conducted another round of arrests and arbitrarily detained dozens of civilians and military personnel from Equateur province, many of them Bemba supporters. [reference]
Foreign governments prefer to stay on good terms with Kabila, ensuring access to Congo’s vast riches that in two hundred years have not reached the people. The Internet would not exist were it not for the coltan from eastern Congo that runs electronic devices that provide access.

Preferring the silence of anonymity, diplomats report to HRW from the shadows.

"We let Kabila get away with it [persecution of Bemba supporters] and we did not reprimand him. It was a mistake." Another said, "In hindsight, this was the moment when we started to see President Kabila's true colors."

Journalists have also been targeted, one of whom is an author of this article and was detained by the DCM intelligence in 2007.

HRW says more than a dozen journalists who worked at media outlets owned by Bemba, including CCTV, RALIK, and Canal Kin Television (CKTV), received threatening phone calls, text messages, and visits by Republican Guards or other state agents in March and April 2007, causing many of them to go into hiding and at least three to flee the country.

There were numerous reports of cover-ups of mass graves and bodies caught between the rocks in the Congo River, downstream of Kinshasa—the calling card of Kabila’s republican Guard.

Government authorities ordered hospitals to provide no information on the numbers of persons killed or injured.

The government developed elaborate documents and PowerPoint presentations to try to convince diplomats, foreign journalists, and others that Bemba was a "terrorist" and his supporters "savages,” according to HRW documents.

Journalists concerned with access through Rwanda either went silent or paid for information supplied by the New Times, mouthpiece of the Kagame regime.

For donor governments, concern about winning a favored position with the new Congolese government took priority over halting abuses and assuring accountability, HRW says.


Obama on His Knees to China as China Loots Congo

In another stunning report that gives little hope for the state of human rights in DR Congo, Kabila, backed by Western interests, made an unholy alliance with China, one of the worst human rights abusers on the face of the earth, in a deal to trade resources for infrastructure. U.S. Secretary of State Clinton broached the issue of global human rights with Chinese leaders, but “emphasized that the global financial slump and other international crises were more pressing and immediate priorities.” [reference]

The Obama Administration, despite African citizens’ widespread hopes that Obama, with direct roots in this vast continent, will become a savior figure, seems to be following suite and is already on its knees to China.

On her first foray as Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton pleaded with China to buy US Treasuries. The U.K. Telegraph reports, “US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has pleaded with China to continue buying US Treasury bonds amid mounting fears that Washington may struggle to finance bank bail-outs and ballooning deficits over the next two years.” [reference]

The United States has just completed the construction of an $80 million embassy on a hill overlooking Kigali in Rwanda, a country smaller that the state of Maryland. It is the most imposing structure in the city and compliments $7 million for ACOTA, a military co-operation program within which the US trains African military personnel in “various fields.” Is this yet another backdoor attempt to embed AFRICOM on African soil in close proximity to vast resources?


Refugees Call Out for Their “Leader”

So while the iron fist of Rwanda has silenced all reports about the whereabouts of Nkunda, Bemba is ensconced in The Hague and Kabila lives in luxury, the AFP (Agence France-Presse ) says this week that the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported "many attacks" on Nord-Kivu villages by the Rwandan rebels, "sparking a new wave of displacement."

UNCHR spokesman Ron Redmond reported about 3,000 newly displaced villagers in the Masisi region, when he said civilians were killed and women raped by FDLR fighters with firearms and knives.

In effect, the Third Congo War continues to devour the living in eastern Congo while the one man most able to protect its population, General Laurent Nkunda, not wanted by any international crimes tribunal yet a gadfly to cynical governments, languishes under house arrest in Rwanda while hundreds of thousands of Congolese clamor desperately for his release.

Indeed, demonstrations for Nkunda’s release by Congolese refugees in Rwanda have been hushed up, but photos survive, courtesy of an enterprising and brave Norwegian photographer by the name of Ilona Jablonski. These refugees from Kivu consider Nkunda their leader and “father.”

The signs read, "We want you to release our Laurent, release him, release him.”



Meanwhile, most of the members of DR Congo’s top parliamentary committee have quit in a deepening dispute over the presence of Rwandan forces in the violent east. National Assembly President Vital Kamerhe has publicly criticized the decision by his former ally President Joseph Kabila to allow thousands of Rwandan troops to enter Congo last month to attempt to stamp out Rwandan Hutu rebel groups.

Human Rights Advocates and journalists both seek the truth. Anneke Van Woudenberg has shown by her bravery and tenacity that she is a truth-seeker. When asked if there was any person who offered hope for eastern Congo, Anneke Van Woudenberg said, "The problem with eastern Congo is that there are no good guys." The thousands of demonstrators in Rwandan IDP camps might want to have a conversation with her about that.

Sunday, March 01, 2009

Fighting Corporatocracy

Iceland is said to be the tip of the iceberg and a pre-curser of what we can expect to be coming to the USA....

Here's a must see video and here's a great article by Naomi Klein, the author of the Shock Doctrine.

We must fight for a fair, just world for ourselves and future generations.