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Gitmo Force-Feeding Continues Through Ramadan
by Stephen Lendman
Doing so constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. It inflicts excruciating pain and suffering. It's aggravated assault writ large. It's torture under international law provisions.
It violates human dignity. It reflects disdain for human suffering. It's Josef Mengele-style treatment. Nazi prisoners were coerced. They had no choice. Experiments constituted torture. Obama reflects the worst of cruel despots.
As president and commander-in-chief, he's empowered to stop what's unconscionable to allow. Dismissively he lets it continue. Doing so's a crime against humanity. It persists viciously. It does so extrajudicially.
On July 5, Guantanamo's hunger strike reached day 150. At least 106 of the facility's 166 prisoners refuse food. They do so for justice. They prefer death to indefinite detention uncharged. Around four dozen are force-fed.
Snowden's Asylum Quest
by Stephen Lendman
Snowden reflects the best of heroic activism. He acted responsibly. He did the right thing. He committed no crimes. He knew the risks and took them.
Few would do as much. Legions more are needed. Maybe he'll inspire others to come forward. Today they're more than ever needed.
He sacrificed financial security, personal freedom and well-being. He did so to expose serious US high crimes. Potentially everyone's harmed everywhere. Millions worldwide support him. Everyone should.
Israel Governs Lawlessly
by Stephen Lendman
Israel reflects the worst of rogue state lawlessness. Netanyahu's a world class thug. Knesset members reflect fascist rule. Ethnic cleansing is official policy. So is slow-motion genocide.
Israelis are increasingly marginalized and denied. Neoliberal harshness harms millions. Israeli Arabs have virtually no rights. Praying to the wrong god is dangerous.
Occupied Palestinians face ruthless state terror. It persists out-of-control. In the seven day period ending July 4,
64 Palestinian civilians were arrested A PLC member was abducted.
Free expression's endangered. Security forces harass and brutalize peaceful protesters. The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) expressed alarm.
AIPAC & OFAC Ratchet-Up US Sanctions Targeting Syria and Iran’s Populations
by FRANKLIN LAMB
Damascus.
The US Treasury Department’s Office of Financial Assets Control, since March of 2012, is directed by Mr. Adam J. Szubin who more than once has boasted on the sidelines of a Congressional Hearing on Iran and Syria and at last March’s AIPAC’s national conference, that he fancies himself a modern day Inspector Javert. Choosing the Victor Hugo character, according to one Congressional source, as a kind of role model because of Javert’s focused and relentless obsession. Szubin has pledged the same with pursuing the financial interests of anyone on the planet that in any way violates the massive and still growing US-led economic sanctions that are targeting the civilian populations of Syria and Iran. For last fall’s Halloween party on the Hill, Mr. Szubin came dressed up as, yep, Jean Valjean’s nemesis.
Racial profiling in the post-Trayvon era
Mary Shaw
The jury in the Florida case of George Zimmerman has found him not guilty of murder or manslaughter in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin. So now Zimmerman walks free, and will likely be rewarded with book deals and other lucrative offers. And people around the country - and the world - have been shown that you can shoot an unarmed black teenager and get away with it.
Zimmerman's acquittal appears to make a case for racial profiling. And that is very, very dangerous. Zimmerman pursued Martin because he thought the young black man seemed out of place in the neighborhood, and therefore threatening. I doubt he would have caught Zimmerman's eye if Trayvon were a white kid dressed in a preppie sweater.
Obama Blocks Snowden's Asylum
by Stephen Lendman
On July 12, Russia Today (RT) headlined "US 'blocks my asylum:' Snowden human rights activists to airport meeting," saying:
Snowden remains stuck. He's in limbo. He's at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport. He's in its transit area. A source told Interfax he'll meet with human rights organizations late Friday.
Airport spokeswoman Anna Zakharenkova said she "can confirm that such a meeting will take place."
Snowden invited a UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) representative, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Transparency International and Poland's Krido Legal. Moscow officials weren't asked to come.
Wrongheaded Fed Policy
by Stephen Lendman
It's been that way far too long. Bernanke and other Fed governors represent Wall Street. They're hired hands. They take orders and obey. They consistently spurn good policy.
Greenspan created an earlier mother of all bubbles. Bernanke exceeded the worst of his policies. Day of reckoning time awaits. The fullness of time will decide when.
June FOMC minutes confirmed trouble. Members will keep buying mortgage-backed securities and longer-term Treasuries.
They split evenly on when to stop. Half the governors want QE ended late this year. Bernanke and others want it continued into 2014.
Some believe labor market conditions improved. They want QE tapered accordingly. Others say doing it limits flexibility. They want purchases adjusted according to economic conditions.
Rage Against the System: Why It Matters
by Stephen Lendman
Public anger in Egypt, Turkey, Palestine, Brazil, Chile, across Europe, in America against Wall Street, and elsewhere is real. It's visceral. It's deep-seated. It's growing. It reflects what media scoundrels won't explain.
Democracy's more illusion than real. People get the best kind money can buy. Manipulated elections control things. Systemic rule is hardline. Progressive change is verboten.
Monied interests have final say. Corporate giants rule the world. Exploiting nations, markets and people for profit matters most.
Governments conspire with business to facilitate it. Popular needs more than ever go begging. People increasingly are on their own sink or swim.
Wealth, power, and privilege are hugely disproportionate. Wars on humanity rage. Freedom's on the chopping block for elimination. Rule of law principles don't matter.
Ongoing Fighting in Sinai
by Stephen Lendman
Headlines focus on Egypt. Sinai gets little attention. What's ongoing bears close watching.
On July 7, Maan News headlined "Egypt army 'preparing for Sinai operation,' " saying:
A "large-scale military operation" is planned. "Egyptian forces sealed more tunnels along Gaza's border."
"An Egyptian military official told Ma'an the army was preparing for a major operation in Sinai 'to clean it up from terrorist and criminal cells.' "
"The army official said 'coordination is ongoing between the Egyptians and the Israelis to bring military vehicles, troops and jets into Sinai to fight terror.' "
Pathetic Qualifications Produce Pathetic Presidential Performance
Joel S. Hirschhorn
President (aka Barry) Obama is not, nor ever was a master politician, master diplomat, master bureaucrat, master lawyer or master anything. As a former professor who had to publish or perish, I was especially impressed that Obama lacked a hefty, impressive record of academic publications, actually nothing. As Ed Lasky summed up: “Notwithstanding an apparent eleven-year teaching career in constitutional law at a top-flight law school, not one single article, published talk, book review, or comment of any kind, appears anywhere in the professional legal literature, under Barack Obama's name.
Instead of actual accomplishment and performance, he simply took advantage of his color, personality, unusual political opportunities, and an innate talent for sometimes being able to give a great (but not necessarily honest) speech to become President. He took advantage of new national demographics to capture the necessary Electoral College votes to achieve victory, not once, but twice. His ability to enlist the critical assistance of brilliant masters at political fund raising and campaigning has never been matched by being able or willing to obtain similar high caliber people to run his White House and administration.
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