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What We Could Do with a Postal Savings Bank: Infrastructure that Doesn’t Cost Taxpayers a Dime
by Ellen Brown
The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is the nation’s second largest civilian employer after WalMart. Although successfully self-funded throughout its long history, it is currently struggling to stay afloat. This is not, as sometimes asserted, because it has been made obsolete by the Internet. In fact the post office has gotten more business from Internet orders than it has lost to electronic email. What has pushed the USPS into insolvency is an oppressive 2006 congressional mandate that it prefund healthcare for its workers 75 years into the future. No other entity, public or private, has the burden of funding multiple generations of employees who have not yet even been born.
The Carper-Coburn bill (S. 1486) is the subject of congressional hearings this week. It threatens to make the situation worse, by eliminating Saturday mail service and door-to-door delivery and laying off more than 100,000 workers over several years.
US/Iranian Foreign Ministers Meet
by Stephen Lendman
On Thursday, they met in New York. They did so on the sidelines of the General Assembly meeting. They held what they called substantive talks.
They were the first in over a generation. Smiles, handshakes, and positive sounding language mean nothing. They can't erase decades of unrelenting US hostility.
Iran remains justifiably cautious. John Kerry said he and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif "had a very constructive meeting.""Needless to say," he added, "one meeting and a change in tone, which was welcome, doesn't answer those questions yet and there is a lot of work to be done."
Deal Reached on Syrian Chemical Weapons
by Stephen Lendman
Give credit where it's deserved. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov earned it. He bested John Kerry. So far at least, he made him eat crow.
The five permanent Security Council members agreed on "binding and enforceable" wording to eliminate Syria's chemical weapons.
Security Council resolution language excludes military force. Russia wants all Syrian conflict issues resolved diplomatically. So far, things are proceeding that way. It remains to be seen what happens going forward. Obama's regime change plans remain firm.
Iran/Syria Bashing
by Stephen Lendman
A previous article called Iran bashing longstanding. It's been ongoing for nearly 35 years. It's unrelenting. Lies substitute for truth and full disclosure.
The same holds for Syria. Assad's defending his country responsibly. He's doing so against foreign invaders. He's wrongfully blamed for Western-enlisted death squad crimes.
It doesn't matter what's true of false. Lying for power is longstanding major media practice.
Iran is wrongfully accused of secretly developing nuclear weapons. No evidence whatever suggests it. Iranian President Hassan Rohani addressed the issue in New York.
Netanyahu Exceeds Sharonian Evil
by Stephen Lendman
His crimes of war and against humanity remain unpunished. His bluster long ago wore thin. He's a world class thug and then some.
Even Israeli insiders and former officials detest him. They do so for good reason. More on that below.
He's heading Israel toward full-blown tyranny and ruin. It's already a fascist police state. He makes more enemies than friends.
He mocks democratic values. He spurns rule of law principles. He enforces occupation harshness. He prioritizes apartheid cruelty.
It exceeds the worst of former South African inhumanity. Observers who know both say so.
Postwar Reconstruction Looms Passing the Torch to a New Generation of Syrians
by FRANKLIN LAMB
Damascus
Few, one imagines, in the Syrian Arab Republic these days question the urgency and enormity of the task of reconstruction of their ancient country from war inflicted destruction caused by a carnage already more than half as long as World War I and approaching half as long as World War II.
For this ten millennium civilization and its thousands of priceless treasures, many partially destroyed, emergency efforts are needed today to preserve and protect the structures from thieves and war damage. Not many here would disagree with this priority of the Syrian government.
Historic sites damages or in danger include several among those listed on the UNESCO’s World Heritage List registry including the Ancient City of Aleppo (1986), Ancient City of Bosra (1980),Ancient City of Damascus(1979),ncient Villages of Northern SyriaA (2011),Crac des Chevaliers and Qal’at Salah El-Din (2006) and the Site of Palmyra (1980). Centuries-old markets and archaeological treasures have already been gutted by flames and gunfire in places like Aleppo and Homs.
Pakistan: Darkness Renewed and the Examination of Collective Consciousness
Mahboob A. Khawaja
Pakistan is fast becoming a deadly theatre of the absurd, people and the nation trading-in collective consciousness of unknown hatred, ethnic flare-ups, flourishing greed of money to kill and be happy and political vindictiveness. On September 22, another outrageous attack at a church – a place to worship God in Peshawar killing 85 or so innocent citizens of the minority Christian community. Few weeks earlier, 10 international hiker tourists were kidnapped and massacred in the K-2 mountainous region. Few months earlier, Muslims of Shia minority were repeatedly bombed in Quetta. The mourners kept the dead bodies burial on display for days as a token of protest asking for military to safeguard their lives from in-house terrorism. There is no rational sense to make out of these cruel developments. The global image of Pakistan and its political governance is under scrutiny. The scope of cruelty and viciousness is enlarged every day as every day becomes a killing day of the innocent.
Me, Gilad Atzmon and the'Truth'
By Freethepeeps aka Roy Bard
Roy Bard and Gilad Atzmon - London25/9/13
"Roy Bard is a known figure within Britain’s far left, anti-war and the Palestinian Solidarity Movement. He is a member of the Indymedia UK collective, a leading British anti-capitalist media outlet. I first encountered Bard five years ago. At the time the site was subjected to an international Jewish ‘anti’-Zionist campaign: a cabal of ethnic activists demanded that Indymedia deleted my articles. Being a principled man, Bard didn’t bow to their pressure. Bard has been subjected to a malicious slanderous campaign ever since. The article below is about sadness – if the personal is political, as some progressives insist, this article is an intimate insight into the medium in which such a transition takes place. It reveals the measures of brutality and intolerance that are unfortunately intrinsic to the Jewish Left. I was really moved when I read this article."
Assad Fears US Aggression
by Stephen Lendman
His fears are well-founded. He knows what he's up against. Longstanding US plans call for regime change. They remain firm.
Assad's willingness to destroy his chemical weapons delayed US action. It didn't deter it.
On September 25, Latin America's TeleSUR TV interviewed him in Damascus. "(T)he potential for a military offensive will always be present," he said.
It can come "(e)ither under the pretext of chemical weapons, or at other times under different pretexts." More on what he said below.
Another Fake US Terror Alert
by Stephen Lendman
Here we go again. Another fake alert. They're strategically timed. They're wearing thin. They lack credibility. They repeat with disturbing regularity.
No terror threat exists. Washington lied claiming one. It's not the first time. More on that below.
On September 25, the State Department headlined "Worldwide Caution," saying:"The Department of State has issued this Worldwide Caution to update information on the continuing threat of terrorist actions and violence against US citizens and interests throughout the world."
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