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Syrian Peace Talks Resume
by Stephen Lendman
Talks resumed on Monday, February 10. Conflict resolution prospects are virtually nil. Washington bears full responsibility.
Obama wants war, not peace. He wants Assad's government toppled. In March 2011, he launched proxy war to oust him. So far he failed.
Syrian delegates arrived on Sunday. Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem heads them.
Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mikdad said talks will focus on Geneva I communique provisions. Top priority is ending terrorism.
Racist Israeli Rabbis
by Stephen Lendman
Chief rabbis are most important. They have power. They impose customs and rituals. They enforce them. They alone decide who's a Jew and who's not.
They determine who's married, who's divorced, who may marry, who may not, and who may marry whom.
The decide which children are legitimate and which aren't. They have enormous influence over Israeli policy.
A civil judge "solemnly promise(s) to be loyal to the State of Israel and its laws." A rabbinic judge pledges only "to be loyal to the State of Israel."
Israel has two chief rabbis. Ashkenazi and Sephardi ones. They're elected to 10-year terms.
Israel's Chief Rabbinate Council assists them. They alternate as presidents of Israel's Rabbinical Supreme Court.
Iran And The Gulf: Prospects And Challenges
By: Sufyan bin Uzayr
Past few months have kept Iran busy. Apart from elections and a new President, a proposed nuclear deal is also in the air. With USA and its allies planning to end their disastrous outing in Iraq, Iran’s role in the region seems to be growing with each passing day.
Furthermore, the Iranian nuclear deal might just put an end to the status quo between the Gulf countries and Iran. If so, how is the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) going to react?
EARTH FROM MARS / A SMALL STAGE IN A COSMIC ARENA
Allen L Roland
This illustration shows one of the three newly discovered planets in the star
cluster Messier 67
This view of the twilight sky and Martian horizon, taken by NASA's Mars rover Curiosity, includes Earth as the brightest point of light in the night sky. Earth is a little left of center in the image, and our moon is just below Earth. A human observer with normal vision, if standing on Mars, could easily see Earth and the moon as two distinct, bright "evening stars."
Whenever I see a picture like this I am deeply humbled and I realize that my life's purpose on this small stage in this vast cosmic arena must be profoundly obvious and simple. As such, my life's purpose was to find, prove, live and share the truth of a Unified Field of Love and Soul Consciousness that exists not only beyond time and space but also beneath our deepest fears
An Elegantly Simple Way to Revolutionize Government
By Carmen Yarrusso
What started as a somewhat complex mathematical analysis of the game of politics using game theory (the mathematical study of strategic decision making) has evolved years later into an extraordinarily simple idea that would revolutionize government at all levels.
Deception is the lifeblood of our political system. A system claiming to work for the best interests of the people, while in fact largely working for corporate special interests, must necessarily be riddled with elaborate lies and deception. Our political system, with great help from mainstream media, is designed to foster mass deception rather than expose it. But a simple rule change to our game of politics would instantly and reliably expose deception. This would destroy the status quo and revolutionize government.
Rather than trying to establish a level playing field for the game of politics, we could heavily stack the deck with a simple rule change that rewards informed truth seekers while severely punishing liars (and the ill-informed). We could establish a simple rule change that effectively forces intellectual honesty passively, without any required action by the players of the game. Too good to be true? Read on.
Low Wage America
by Stephen Lendman
Welcome to low-wage America. Lousy jobs, rotten pay, eroding benefits, and poor working conditions reflect things for growing millions.
Most workers live from paycheck to paycheck. They have few or no savings. They're trapped in financial insecurity. They struggle to survive out of sight and mind.
They do so to cover bare essentials. They're hard-pressed to do it. They're more than ever debt entrapped. They're increasingly on their own.
They're one missed payday from possible destitution, homelessness, hunger and despair.
Raising the minimum wage obscures things. Debating it crowds out reality. Where have all the good jobs gone?
They've been offshored to low-wage countries. Monthly employment reports show mostly low-pay/poor-or-no-benefit/part-time or temp jobs created.
Most pay poverty or sub-poverty wages. Households need two or more to survive. High unemployment makes finding one hard.
Iran's 35th Islamic Revolution Anniversary
by Stephen Lendman
February 11 marks the 35th anniversary of Iran's 1979 revolution. A generation of repressive Reza Shah Pahlavi rule ended. More on this below.
In 1953, Theodore Roosevelt's grandson Kermit engineered the CIA's first coup against a sitting government. Iran's democratically elected Mohammad Mosaddegh was ousted.
Reza Shah Pahlavi replaced him. He became Washington's man in Tehran. A generation of severe repression followed.
Savak (National Intelligence and Security Organization) brutality reflected it. Crimes against humanity were horrific. Anyone considered threatening state authority was arrested, disappeared and eliminated.
A Faux “Humanitarian Pause” in Homs?
By Franklin Lamb
As two delegations, one representing the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic, led by Bashar Assad, and the other claiming to represent the popular opposition which is seeking its overthrow, arrived in Switzerland this morning to continue with Round Two of Geneva II, there is uncertainty over the agenda and whether to extend this weekend’s 36 hour “Humanitarian pause” to allow aid into the Old City of Homs. Such a deal, which could come at any time, would bolster confidence ahead of the Round Two of the peace talks.
Some observers, including this one, predict that the ceasefire will in fact be extended as a result of a meeting on 2/10/14 being held between Syrian government officials here in Homs and UN representatives that will likely result in more civilians being allowed out of the old city later today or tomorrow.
But it is not certain. And meanwhile, on 2/10/14, the meager amounts of aid trickling into Yamouk Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus was stopped due to yet another breach of a “humanitarian pause” that was agreed upon last week.
It’s Not the Economy Stupid, It’s Your Stupid Foreign Policy: How to Get Rid of Our Oligarchs
via chycho
Isn’t what’s going on in the Ukraine, this attempt at regime change, which is unfortunately on the verge of turning into a full blown proxy-civil war (2) threatening to bring about the Balkanization of the region, the same game that has been played out in countless other countries for the better part of the last century?
I. 1953 Regime Change in Iran
It was the 1953 CIA instigated coup of the democratically elected government of Iran that really began the regime changing endeavors of the Western superpowers.
The first attempt of a Middle Eastern country to free themselves of Western control of their resources occurred with Iran in 1951 when the democratically elected president, Dr. Mohammed Mosaddeq, nationalizated Iran's oil industry. Unfortunately, however, Western powers would not stand idly by while Iranians took control of their own resources, which is why in 1953 the CIA, following instructions from Britain, organized a coup against Dr. Mosaddeq and overthrew the government.
THE REAL ILLNESS PLAGUING U.S. HEALTHCARE: INEQUALITY
By Chris White
Nearly every week a new facet of the Affordable Care Act comes to light to support the conservative go-to homily: good intentions lead to bad policy. It was a nice idea to give freeloaders the chance to be treated for illnesses they had no chance to avoid (because, you know, genetics), but it’s time to sidle up to the grown-ups table.
The latest element of this cumbersome, overly-complicated bill to stir controversy shows how a profit-driven healthcare system has a pernicious effect on the old-time American religion of upward economic mobility and equality of opportunity. The lens of real estate and finance gives us an interesting look at how our healthcare system is part and parcel of an edifice that enables the rich to get richer and, well, you know.
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