Saturday, January 31, 2009

Israel Changes Spanish Law

Very interesting the power of the Israel lobby in Spain. You will recall a Spanish court, under Spanish law is allowed to prosecute officials of other countries, for war crimes. But now, obviously due to extreme intervention by Israel, the Spanish government is going to change their own law...to allow accused Israeli War Criminals to go free.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1059964.html

Friday, January 30, 2009

Okay to Kill up to 10 Civilians per Strike.

A classified letter by the NATO commander U.S. General John Craddock, in Afghanistan orders the killing of civilians and impoverished farmers. No proof that they are insurgents is required. Just kill them.

The directive was sent on Jan. 5 to Egon Ramms, the German leader at NATO Command in Brunssum, Netherlands, which is currently in charge of the NATO ISAF mission, as well as David McKiernan, the commander of the ISAF peacekeeping force in Afghanistan. Neither want to follow it. Both consider the order to be illegitimate and believe it violates both ISAF rules of engagement and international law, the "Law of Armed Conflict."

"The US general, who is considered a loyal Bush man and fears that he could be replaced by the new US president, has already made his intention known internally that he would like to relieve any commander who doesn't want to follow his instructions..."
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,604183,00.html

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Thursday Thrash!

A collection of little reported and "inconvenient" news.

1. The Fox gets back into the henhouse....just trust me.
“We have a financial system that is run by private shareholders, managed by private institutions, and we’d like to do our best to preserve that system.”
-by Tim Geithner, our New Treasury Secretary-

Amazing that The Public is being scammed into supporting this house of cards.
Thanks to: http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2009/01/who-is-the-treasury-secretarys-boss/


2. The Prison that is Gaza....
Videos today of the damage done since the ceasefire by israeli terrorists to palestinian fishermen in gaza waters.
The fishermen were given a limit of 20miles before the Oslo accords, then it diminished to 12, then 6 miles during the siege, then 3 miles now… it is impossible to catch good fish, a variety, and a good quantity within such a limit.This is especially devastating for the fishermen whose lives depend on fishing… whose families cannot survive without an income from this.
Thanks to Marcy at: http://bodyontheline.wordpress.com/
Thanks to Natalie Abu Shakra at: http://gaza08.blogspot.com/


3. Blogging: Zionist propaganda.
"Some 1,000 new immigrants and foreign-language-speaking Jews volunteer to army of bloggers set up by Absorption Ministry and Foreign Ministry with the stated objective of flooding blogs with pro-Israel opinions." If they are as boring and tedious and ill-informed as Michael Totten is, Palestine has nothing to worry about.
-Thanks to: http://www.angryarab.blogspot.com/

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Directly From Gaza

If you find it odd that when Mainstream Media news talk shows feature expert discussion on Palestine, the guests are only Israeli and/or Jewish, with no Arab representation, then you might find this site liberating. If you wonder how Obama is going to bring balance the the Middle East when none of his advisors are Arab, then you are not alone.

Join the actual residents of Palestine at this website and hear their own words.

Virtual Gaza is an independent, civic media initiative established by a collective of scholars, media activists and Palestinian residents of Gaza in response to the Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip in December 2008-January 2009.
For years, Israel has been gradually tightening its strangehold on the 1.5 million Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip, sealing its borders and cutting off adequate food, fuel, and medical supplies, bringing the economy and infrastructure to the point of collapse.
Israel has also sought to control how Gaza's story is told to the outside -- from its sophisticated 'public relations' campaigns to blocking the entry of foreign journalists.
Virtual Gaza is a space where ordinary Palestinians under siege can describe their experiences in their own words, and where the destruction of the Gaza strip can be documented by those experiencing it directly. The diary entries, photographs, and video material gathered here have been contributed by residents of Gaza. For safety reasons, authors are located in neighborhoods, but their precise location has been randomized.

http://virtualgaza.media.mit.edu/

Please share this information with your friends.

- Terry Allen -

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Obama or Bushama. Is he anything new?

Choosing a news organization because it is friendly to USA/Israel points of view, is a strong indication there will be no real "change" in how Obama deals with Arabs.
Arabs will remain second class to Israeli's.

This exchange from the interview with AlArabiyya TV (the station of King Fahd's brother-in-law) summarizes it for me:

"THE PRESIDENT: Well, here's what I think is important. Look at the proposal that was put forth by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia --

Q Right.

THE PRESIDENT: I might not agree with every aspect of the proposal, but it took great courage

Q Absolutely.

"There are several things to be said about this interview, and I don't believe that there is anything new in it whatsoever. I mean, CNN is lauding it as an example of how Obama (or Bushama) is willing to reach out to the Muslim world. I listened to it on my way from SF last night and CNN aired it in full. First, if the Bushama really wants to be different from Bush he would have selected AlJazeera and not al-Arabiyya. I mean, CNN does not know that Bush spoke to Arabic TV stations regularly, and Rice was a fixture on Al-Arabiyya TV. And they selected Al-Arabiyya because it is "friendly" to US interests and because on Al-Arabiyya TV US officials get softball questions. If Obama wanted to be different he would have chosen Al-Jazeera because it is the Arabs' favorite channel. Al-Arabiyya is the US government's favorite channel, and the US under Obama does not seem to want to respect the choices and preference of the Arab population. Secondly, Obama chose this station because he wanted to appease the Saudi royal family especially after the moping remarks of Prince Turki--the midwife of Al-Qa`idah and a key ally of the US. This president is signaling that he will be no different than Bush in coddling the Saudi Wahhabi dictatorship--a key ally of Israel today. Do you notice that Israel does not even make token noise about Saudi arms sales? It used to prod its lobby here in the US to put stiff resistance to any arms sale to Saudi Arabia, and then they deny the existence of a Saudi-Israeli conspiracy. Apparently, the Saudi King was not pleased that Obama or Bushama called Abu Mazen (the usurping president of the puppet PA) and Mubarak--and of course Olmert--on his first day on the job but not the Saudi autocrat. The president then called him the next day and the Saudi news agency reported that they discussed ways to even "strengthen and expand" the Saudi-American relations. Don't ever believe the promises of any presidential candidate regarding human rights or democracy when it comes to the Middle East: look at the example of the disgraced and failed president, Jimmy Carter who can't stop producing boring and insignificant books on the Middle East. Thirdly, there is nothing that Bushama said that was not said by Bush. The CNN guest, Aslan something who always impresses me with his lack of knowledge on the Middle East when he speaks on the Middle East, kept saying in awe that the president spoke respectfully about respect in his address to Muslims and Arabs. But so did Bush, and Bush went to a mosque in Washington, DC--in order to prepare for the bombs and missiles to fall on Muslim and Arab heads. Fourthly, Obama in talking about the Middle East--the Palestine question and beyond--suffers from an acute case of "economism" or economic reductionism. He has the tendency to reduce all Arab and Muslim issues to job and medical care. It is NOT only the economy--stupid. It is also about pride and dignity and Palestine AND about freedom from the severe oppression that people suffer under governments that are coddled and armed by the very same US of A. So the words fall hollow here. Fifthly, Obama as a representative of the White Man (and he can also be referred to as the White Man, analytically speaking just as Margaret Thatcher was a representative of the White Man) did not deviate from the deep racism that characterizes US foreign policy to the Arab-Israeli conflict. I mean when he refers to Israel's security as "paramount" he is basically saying (like previous US president) that the security of the Palestinians is inferior because they are seen as inferior people. There is no question about that. It means that and the racism is reflected clearly in the disregard of Israeli WMDs. It never comes up in any interview with US officials on Al-Arabiyya (it is featured regularly in AlJazeera as yesterday's interview with Brent Ccowcroft showed). Karl Marx wrote somewhere about the danger of covering up the chain with flowers. Obama is no different than Bush but American bombs and missiles under his administration will be decorated and covered with flowers. If that is a reason to celebrate, please open the champagne bottles NOW.

- Courtesy of: The Angry Arab - http://www.angryarab.blogspot.com/

Monday, January 26, 2009

Pirates or Freedom Fighters?

I'm sure you have all been titillated by all the news about Pirates.
I have.
Armed, half dressed, crazy, but brave Somali's who apparently, run around in high speed inflatable boats and take over freighters and hold them for ransom.

As usual, that is all we have heard. We are led to assume it is all about crime and money.
Well, maybe it is, but maybe it is not the Somali Pirates who are the real criminals. The real Pirates.

It seems major nations have been dumping their industrial waste off the shores of Somalia. This has effectively destroyed their fisheries and sickened their populations.

Johann Hari of The Independant, has an amazingly revealing article on "the other side of the story". http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/johann-hari-you-are-being-lied-to-about-pirates-1225817.html

It is about more than fishing.
It is more like a Robert Ludlum novel.

By the way: Do you realize that the USA hired Pirates during our Revolutionary war?
Once again, there is more to the story than the Corporate Media and our Governments wish us to know.

So, pour another cup, sit back and enjoy the adventure.

- Terry Allen -

And don't forget to get this into Obama's Ear!

Friday, January 23, 2009

Gas on Israel & Lebanon Border Cause for Dispute!

A new player in the game of Middle East Dominance has elbowed it's way into a place at the table.

Nobel Energy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noble_Energy, the USA based exploration company, in partnership with Israel and other partners, has discovered a large natural gas deposit off the coast of Haifa, on the border of Lebanon.
As the gas lays on the border, the potential for conflict is obvious. To further complicate the issue, is "directional drilling".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directional_drilling

Though this is a legitimate and useful tool in efficiently extracting oil and gas when used properly, it has also long been a tool for tapping gas and oil reserves that lay under a "neighbors" property. Though this ability was discovered in the late 1920's, in the Wild West atmosphere that is the world of exploration, the practice continues to this day.

Iraq claimed Kuwait was drilling into Iraqi fields and used it as a part of it's case for war. After the war, the borders were re-drawn and Kuwait now owns the wells that were on the Iraqi side.

It doesn't look good:
Combine a rush to claim and exploit disputed and diminishing natural resources, with unstable religious, political and territorial conditions and it begins to look like the Wild West in the Middle East.

Karin Kloosterman presents an in depth look at the situation, complete with good links at:

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/01/natural-gas-israel.php

It will be interesting to see what face, the powers that be put on issue if the shooting starts up over this issue (can anyone realistically believe it won't?). Will Lebanon be accused of firing rockets, will Israel be accused of sending hit teams, will "Terrorism" be the watchword of the day and will the corporations use the armies of both in a no holds barred cage match that again spills over and engulfs the innocents?

Will someone call "BullShit?
As usual, will there be no mention in the Main Stream Media about the real origin of the conflict?
Will they simply not care about "following the money" and calling "Bullshit" on the perpetrators? Will they not insist the parties simply resolve the issue in a business like manner?
Very seldom are courtrooms the scene of bloody conflict...of course this course would cut into the value-added products: Munitions.

In a land where the indigenous people still struggle for a homeland and equal rights, conflict is a given; until their voices are heard, respected...and they get their fair slice of the pie.

- Terry Allen -

Remember to play Kevin Bacon's Six Degrees of Separation and get this information, into Obama's Ear.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Is the Gaza War about Stealing Palestine's Gas and Oil?

Dear Mr. President,
As you know, there is often a public face and a private face to a sensitive issue.
It is possible, the reason's for current wars in Palestine are much deeper than the public story tells.

Israel has sold the rights to the gas fields off Gaza to "British Gas (BG Group) and its partner, the Athens based Consolidated Contractors International Company (CCC)... in a 25 year agreement...".

Obviously, the Palestinian's, who technically "own" this land and water and the gas beneath it are upset that their natural resources are being taken from them against their will, much as land and resources of the American Indian were taken from them...by using broken promises and bloody conflict.

The linked, in depth study by Michel Chossudovsky of Global Reasearch, will provide you with all the maps and details you need to get an understanding from the Palestinian perspective, you most likely are not getting from your advisors and certainly not from our main stream media.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=11680

We ask you to fulfill your pledge to look at all sides of the issue, as you seek to find a long term solution which is fair and honest.

Additionally, please remember, there are at least two parties in Palestine that have a voice. Both Fatah and Hamas. Remember also, Hamas was elected in a fair and democratic election verified by President Jimmy Carter and the United Nations. There are reasons why the population voted for Hamas and and not Fatah. There can be no full understanding and certainly no peace unless both Palestinian voices are heard and respected.

Friends of this blog:
Let us all use Kevin Bacon's Six Degrees of Separation principle, to get this information into Obama's Ear. This means Obama's Ear as well as to Obama's "Special Middle East Envoy" George Mitchell.

- Terry Allen -