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EU Wages War on Free Expression
by Stephen Lendman
Free expression in all forms is fundamental. Without it, all other freedoms are at risk. Included are free speech, thought, culture, intellectual inquiry, and press freedom.
Denial risks tyranny. Voltaire said, "I may disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." Howard Zinn called dissent "the highest form of patriotism."
Jefferson said, "The only security of all is in a free press." He added that it "cannot be limited without being lost." George Washington said, "If the freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led like sheep to the slaughter."
The Former Nation of America is Gone. Welcome to Police State Amerika
By Timothy V. Gatto
I feel as if I’m repeating myself over and over for the past 8 years. Each time that I think I’ve written about everything, the government comes out with something else.
The Bush regime was a catastrophic horror. He did away with habeas corpus, and that was bad enough. In essence, he scrapped the Magna Charta that had been central to our western values for the almost eight hundred years. It is part of our own Constitution. These two values were taken from it.
Part of the text is here:
"No freeman shall be taken, imprisoned, disseised, outlawed, banished, or in any way destroyed, nor will We proceed against or prosecute him, except by the lawful judgment of his peers and by the law of the land."
"To no one will We sell, to no one will We deny or delay, right or justice."
"The democratic aspiration is no mere recent phase in human history . . . It was written in Magna Carta." --Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1941 Inaugural address
Thoughts at Perhaps the Most Perilous Time in World History
by Stephen Lendman
Daily events should scare everyone. Consider the times. Wars rage without end. More threaten. One conflict follows others. So-called democracies wage them. Popular needs go begging. Conquest, occupation, colonization, and exploitation are prioritized. Ordinary people are on their own sink or swim. Rich societies plead poverty. Nothing's available for social needs, they claim. Warmaking priorities matter most. So do policies favoring bankers, other corporate favorites, and super-rich elites.
Today's upside down reality endangers everyone. Protracted global Depression deepens. Policies adopted make things worse, not better.
It’s Time to Prioritise the Global Sharing Economy
Adam Parsons
There is much talk about the need for greater sharing in our societies today, in everything from household goods and peer-to-peer services to cooperative enterprises and the ‘commons’. But we often fail to acknowledge one of the most important examples of sharing in the modern world: systems of universal welfare provision.
Systems of welfare are essentially complex ‘sharing economies’ that exist in a variety of forms in different countries. The principle of sharing underpins how they work by ensuring that members of society take collective responsibility for securing the basic human needs and rights of all citizens. Through the process of progressive taxation and redistribution, we share a portion of the nation’s financial resources (personal income and assets, as well as company profits) for the benefit of society as a whole.
The Sanctions Game
by Stephen Lendman
A previous article said the following:
Washington bears full responsibility for imposing illegitimate sanctions on Iran. Other countries are pressured to go along. Doing so harms their own interests.
Heavy-handed US bullying largely gets its way. Rule of law principles and norms are violated. At issue is advancing Washington's imperium.
America's 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) lets presidents claim unusual and/or extraordinary foreign threats, declare a national emergency, and regulate commerce accordingly.
Presidents took full advantage deceptively, unjustifiably, and illegally. Targeting Iran began in November 1979. Iranian assets were lawlessly seized. A full trade embargo followed.
Cycles and Change Mean Hard Times in America
By Timothy V. Gatto
I understand that China is implementing a neo- liberal capitalist model in its economy. China, being a communist nation, it is a little hard to swallow this news. This news made me think about economic systems and how they change over time.
Venezuela has a socialist government and is implementing a socialist model for its economy. Hugo Chavez has changed the top-down system to a socialist bottom-up system. The country was basically a plutocracy. There were several attempts to install a socialist system and there were socialists elected to the presidency. In 1989, Carlos Andres Perez (AD), was elected president again against the background of economic depression (foreign reserves were depleted, balance of payments had largest deficit in history), which necessitates another austerity program, an IMF loan and entry into the GATT. El Gran Viraje relied on macroeconomic stabilization, trade liberalization, privatization, and deregulation. Barriers to foreign investment and exports were lifted, and bureaucratic interference was minimized. Social and political upheaval includes riots, in which between 300 and 2,000 people are killed, martial law and a general strike.
Intensified Warrantless Spying in America
by Stephen Lendman
Newly released ACLU Justice Department documents and Kurt Eichenwald's just published book titled "500 Days: Secrets and Lies in the Terror Wars" provide new information on lawless spying in America.
Eichenwald described "the most dramatic expansion of NSA's power and authority in the agency's 49 year history." It was devised days after 9/11, he said. In fact, it began much earlier.
In December 2000, the NSA said:
"The volumes and routing of data make finding and processing nuggets of intelligence information more difficult. To perform both its offensive and defensive mission, NSA must 'live on the network.' "
Israel Encourages Settler Violence
by Stephen Lendman
Settler violence is terrorism. Even America's State Department says so. Hypocrisy is saying one thing and doing another.
Israeli setter violence is out-of-control. It's risen sharply in recent years because nothing is done to stop it. Israeli extremists literally have license to attack Palestinian civilians, destroy their property and crops, inflict bodily harm, and at times kill.
Last March, the London Guardian headlined "Israel 'turning blind eye' to West Bank settlers' attacks on Palestinians," saying:
Settlers conduct "systematic and expanding campaign of violence against Palestinian farmers, families and children with the Israeli authorities turning a blind eye, according to confidential reports from senior European Union officials."
Washington Plays Hardball with Russia on Syria
by Stephen Lendman
If words could kill, America and Russia might be at war. Hopefully it won't come to that. Given America's rage to fight, even the unthinkable is possible.
Russia and China represent Washington's final frontier. Building up around their borders and encircling both countries with US bases makes anything ahead possible.
Prioritizing peace isn't America's long suit. Unchallenged global dominance assures war. One country after another is ravaged. Multiple direct and proxy wars remain ongoing. Flashpoints easily shift from one region to another or target several at the same time.
Women Demand Civil Rights in Lebanon
Franklin Lamb
Beirut
Tehran and Washington are employing competing strategies via their political allies in Lebanon to win 70 seats in next year’s June 2013 parliamentary election, should they actually be held which is looking doubtful to this observer. Their efforts are designed to control the next government here while widening the spectrum of challenges to the other in order to undermine chances for their adversary gaining regional hegemony.
Both American and Iranian Lebanese allies preparing for the critical election have presented to Parliament different sized electoral districts. The daily boasting and arguing over the dimensions and quality of their proposed electoral districts appear almost Freudian.
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