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An interview with the Palestinian historian Salim Nazzal
from: Salim Nazzal
This interview comes on the first anniversary of the Arab spring
After one year of the Arab spring, how would you evaluate the Arab spring, and where do you think it would lead the Middle East?
Nazzal: Where this leads is a difficult question to answer. I have written in the third week of the Arab spring that the Middle East before the Arab revolution was not the same Middle East after the Arab revolution. At this stage I sensed that the impact of the movement of change is stronger than ever. Yet I must say that nobody at that time could predict that it would expand quickly to several Arab countries, which is very much like the 1848 revolution in Europe. Which has expanded to almost all Europe in short time. These revolutions are obviously emerging from decades of repression and it’s a clear message that it has become almost impossible to run a globalized Arab generation with old fashioned rules. But as the camel that can never see its hump, Arab regimes were the last to know that a major break with the past is taking place.
Cruise Ship Vacation Wisdom
Joel S. Hirschhorn
I have taken a number of cruise ship vacations. The last one was about a year and half ago. I learned a lot about cruise ships and what factors should go into decisions about selecting a specific cruise ship that I want to share with you. By now, of course, you have heard and seen a lot about the disaster of the Carnival Line’s Costa Concordia off the Italian shore where a number of people died and thousands went through an awful time trying to escape and survive the heavily tilted and partially submerged modern, huge cruise ship. What should never have happened, happened. That, sadly, is the way of the world. You can and must learn from this disaster. Size matters. Smaller is better.
How U.S. Elections May Violate the 14th Amendment
by Len Hart, The Existentialist Cowboy
The ideal of 'one man, one vote' has NEVER been achieved. If your VOTE does not carry the same weight as does the vote of someone else, then YOUR rights under the 14th have been violated! For example, it is possible that a Presidential candidate could get a greater number of popular votes but, by losing a few large states, get fewer 'electoral college votes and, thus, lose the White House.
That's only one example and a more obvious one. On any given election, votes are NOT equal. Someone else's vote may be 'worth' more than yours or yours may be worth more than another person's. Votes are NOT equal. And, in some cases, some votes --perhaps your vote --may not even count.
AMERICA'S SHADOW BANKING SYSTEM, A WEB OF FINANCIAL FRAUD
Ellen Brown
The Wall Street Journal reported on January 19th that the Obama Administration was pushing heavily to get the 50 state attorneys general to agree to a settlement with five major banks in the “robo-signing” scandal. The scandal involves employees signing names not their own, under titles they did not really have, attesting to the veracity of documents they had not really reviewed. Investigation reveals that it did not just happen occasionally but was an industry-wide practice, dating back to the late 1990s; and that it may have clouded the titles of millions of homes. If the settlement is agreed to, it will let Wall Street bankers off the hook for crimes that would land the rest of us in jail – fraud, forgery, securities violations and tax evasion.
To the President’s credit, however, he seems to have shifted his position on the settlement in response to protests before his State of the Union address. In his speech on January 24th, President Obama did not mention the settlement but announced instead that he would be creating a mortgage crisis unit to investigate wrongdoing related to real estate lending. “This new unit will hold accountable those who broke the law, speed assistance to homeowners, and help turn the page on an era of recklessness that hurt so many Americans,” he said.
The Armenian Genocide
by Stephen Lendman
Raphael Lemkin defined genocide as:
"the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group" that corresponds to other terms like "tyrannicide, homicide, infanticide, etc." (It) does not necessarily mean the destruction of a nation, except when accomplished by mass killings....It is intended....to signify a coordinated plan (to destroy) the essential foundations of the life of national groups" with the intent to eradicate or substantially weaken or harm them. "Genocidal plans involve the disintegration....of political and social institutions, culture, language, national feelings, religion, economic existence, personal security, liberty, health, dignity, and" human lives.
In legal terms, the 1948 Genocide Convention used the same definition. They're binding principles. Nonetheless, America, Israel, and rogue NATO partners violate them with impunity.
Israeli Settlements: An Obstacle to Peace
by Stephen Lendman
Netanyahu's Likud Party platform says the following about Palestinian self-determination:
Unilaterally establishing a Palestinian state "will constitute a fundamental and substantive violation of the agreements with the State of Israel and the scuttling of the Oslo and Wye accords. The government will adopt immediate stringent measures in the event of such a declaration."
In fact, on November 15, 1988, the Palestinian National Council (PNC) proclaimed an independent Palestine. At the time, Washington provisionally recognized its independence.
Violence Rages in Libya
by Stephen Lendman
Occupied Libya isn't pretty. Libya SOS said its government "recognize(d) the presence of the forces belonging to 14 different nationalities in the country under the umbrella of the training, assistance and advice."
In mid-January, 12,000 US troops sent to Malta readied to occupy Libya. Around 6,000 or more now guard oil facilities. Perhaps contingents from other nations guard other strategic locations. People needs aren't addressed. Exploiting, not helping, them is planned.
NPR and PBS Anti-Iranian Propaganda
by Stephen Lendman
Both National Public Radio and Public Broadcasting serve corporate and imperial interests. They're called public to conceal their agenda.
Critics ridicule NPR as National Pentagon or Petroleum Radio for good reason. It's true as well for PBS. Calling it Propaganda Public Broadcasting more accurately explains its mandate.
Listeners and viewers lose out. Those supporting both monetarily are cheated. Each receives generous government and corporate funding. In return, they know what's expected and don't disappoint.
Lebanon’s Maid of Darkness facing US hates crimes investigation
Franklin Lamb
From Lebanon with Hate
Increasingly a marionette of the US Zionist lobby, Ms. Brigitte Gabriel has enjoyed a few lucrative and unobstructed years of increasingly hysterical Muslim and Arab bashing. Recently however, she has attracted the attention of the FBI investigating her organization, “Act for America!” (actforamerica@donationnet.net) for possible hate crimes and financial irregularities, according to US Congressional Judiciary Committee sources.
Who is Bridgette Gabriel?
“The difference, my dear Christian friends, between Israel and the Arab world is quite simply the difference between civilization and barbarism. It’s the difference between good and evil and this is what we’re witnessing in the Arabic and Islamic world. I am angry. They have no SOUL! They are dead set on killing and destruction. And in the name of something they call “Allah,” which is very different from the God we believe in, because our God is the God of love”. – Brigitte Gabriel, speaking at John Hagee’s Christians United for Israel Convention, July 27, 2007
Dweik's abduction is state terror, pure and simple
By Khalid Amayreh in occupied Palestine
It is really hard to think of a single convincing or legitimate reason for the flagrant abduction of Professor Aziz Dweik by Gestapo-like Israeli troops earlier this week.
The 63-year-old Palestinian leader was returning home in Hebron from Ramallah when soldiers manning a roadblock snatched him rather unceremoniously from his car. They handcuffed him as if he were a common criminal.
Dweik is the elected speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council. He was elected in 2006 in free elections, monitored by many American and European observers, including former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, who testified to their transparency.
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