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Holder Defends Entrapment
by Stephen Lendman
A legal definition. Entrapment occurs when law enforcement officials or agents induce, influence, or provoke crimes that otherwise wouldn't be committed. However, it doesn't apply in cases of willingness to act lawlessly, government merely aiding, abetting, or facilitating a good chance to do so.
Entrapment involves the following:
-- government officials or agents initiated the idea;
-- individuals were persuaded to act; and
-- they had no previous intent or willingness to do so.
Prominent Americans Oppose Prosecution and Extradition of Assange, Americans Organize to Support WikiLeaks Transparency
from Linda Schade and Kevin Zeese
Washington, D.C. In opposition to efforts by the U.S. Attorney General Holder to extradite Julian Assange, Editor in Chief of WikiLeaks, prominent authors, academics, lawyers, whistleblower activists concerned with eroding civil liberties, government accountability, electronic freedom, opposition to war, and protection of whistleblowers have signed on to a strongly worded statement (below) condemning 'U.S efforts to fraudulently criminalize the legitimate journalism of Julian Assange...".
“This statement is the first step in an ongoing campaign to support Julian Assange, WikiLeaks and to re-assert the concept that the U.S. government is accountable to its citizens,” said Linda Schade of WikiLeaksisDemocracy.org. “We will not accept the manipulation of our legal system to criminalize a journalist; a free and independent press is non-negotiable.” The project is planning an aggressive campaign to support Assange and WikiLeaks and has hosted the statement online.
Among the prominent signers are:
Beware of the extremists
By Khalid Amayreh in occupied Palestine
A few weeks ago, a supposedly religious activist, probably from one of the Gulf States, suggested to me that Muslims shouldn't confine our attacks to Zionists; we ought, he said, to attack Jews as Jews, on the grounds that the vast majority of Jews support Israel.
I treated this "advice" with great caution, suspecting that he might be one of those overzealous fanatics who are duped by Zionist circles to malign Jews so that Israeli hasbara (propaganda) operatives such as MEMRI and Honest Reporting [sic] would be able to use his extremist rhetoric to their best advantage. They highlight "Muslim anti-Semitism" and con the world into thinking that the conflict in the Middle East is not really over the Israeli occupation of Palestine and oppression of its Christian and Muslim people, but is rooted in deeply-held Arab racism against the Jews.
The Dictatorship of America's Aristocracy
by Stephen Lendman
Obama's capitulation to Republicans on Bush era tax cuts and other lavish benefit extensions to wealthy Americans earning over $250,000 annually is the latest example of American Aristocracy's power over Congress, the courts, and president under both parties. Obama serves them loyally, sacrificing working class needs for society's rich while assuring unrestrained corporate profit-making.
Feigning concern for American workers, Obama spoke of "tough choices....to secure our future and our children's future and our grandchildren's future" by class warfare against middle and low income people he disdains.
The Sins of Alan Greenspan
Richard Backus
When Mr. Greenspan appeared on a recent BBC documentary and was forced to concede to major misunderstandings of certain market phenomena, he was being quite modest. He not only had misunderstood many economic factors, but had wittingly committed every single major blunder leading up to our current “great recession”. He bet the future of the American working class against the interests of his supporters and lost. He kept his job and the country (and half the world) went belly up. He faced the same situation as Mr. Churchill when he, as Chancellor of the British Exchequer, had to reestablish the exchange rate for the British pound when Britain rejoined the gold standard regime after the First World War (in 1926). During the war Britain had suffered a major relative productivity loss via the rest of the world (to the U.S. in particular), and should have devalued the pound to preserve British wage rate competitiveness. But the rich, Churchill’s major supporters, did not want that to happen. So he went with the rich and failed to devalue the pound, and the British economy went into a tailspin. Churchill had the decency to face the facts that he had blundered, calling this decision the second biggest mistake of his career (Gallipoli being the first). He was well aware of what he was doing but took his chances. Mr. Greenspan was also well aware of the chances he was taking, and chose to likewise support his rich backers. The only difference is that he has refused to admit his mistake and, worse yet, is continuing to encourage our current financial leaders to follow the same practices. This article covers each and every move he made and the consequences.
Will California execute an innocent man?
Mary Shaw
Kevin Cooper sits on California's death row at San Quentin. He was convicted of a quadruple murder back in 1983. Cooper has always denied any involvement with the murders. But a lot of prisoners claim they are innocent, whether or not they really are. So let's take a look at some facts of the case.
The sole survivor of the murders, Joshua Ryen, told the police that the murderers were three white men. Cooper is black. And Ryen repeatedly told police that Cooper was not involved in the murders.
On the Chopping Block: Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid
by Stephen Lendman
Planned is death by a thousand cuts - aka "creeping normalcy," defined as a way to make major changes seem normal if happen slowly, incrementally like boiling a frog unaware it's dinner until cooked.
Social Security and Medicare are dinner. Yet both are insurance, not welfare, programs funded by (worker-employer) payroll tax deductions. They're contractual federal obligations to eligible recipients who qualify. You'd never know it the way both programs are publicly discussed, explaining everything but the truth. More on that below.
Billionaire Bloomberg to America - "Suck it up!"
By Numerian posted by Michael Collins
What is it with these billionaires, lecturing us to “suck it up” if we don’t like the bailouts? A few months ago it was Charlie Munger, co-founder of Berkshire Hathaway and sidekick to the better-known Warren Buffett, who said “we shouldn’t be bitching about a little bailout”, and people facing financial troubles should just “suck it up and cope.” Back in September when Munger was speaking, we didn’t know just how little the bailout was, but now that the Federal Reserve has been forced to divulge details of its six bank emergency financing vehicles, we discover that over $3 trillion in taxpayer money was delivered to US and foreign banks, companies like General Electric, mutual funds like PIMCO, and a few individuals, some of whom happened to be billionaires like Charlie Munger. (Image)
Leaked cables confirm Pope’s distance from GMO debate and limited stance on bioethics
By Rady Ananda
A leaked June 2009 cable from the US Vatican Embassy confirms the Pontiff’s refusal to take a stance on genetically modified foods. The Pope’s refusal to reject GM foods creates a vacuum in light of his condemnation of human genetic manipulation and his promotion of environmental stewardship.
Last month, at least one news source falsely reported that the Pope approves genetically modified foods. Vatican officials immediately denied such claims, but did admit there is debate within the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. The cable confirms:
Why the West is Terrorizing Muslims?
Mahboob A. Khawaja, Ph.D.
When the European forces invaded and colonized the vast Islamic world, there were no television and sounds and voices of reason to call them as “terrorists.” The colonization scheme of things was not outcome of the Western democratic values but ferocity of violence and killings of millions and millions of human lives for the Empires in the making. The European crusaders crossed the channels and unknown time zones to subjugate the much divided Muslims as part of their nationalism perception and values that Muslims were inferior to the European race and could be used as raw material to erect the new Empires. In an information age, knowledge–driven global culture of reason, ignorance is no longer a requisite to learn from the living history. History speaks of the Al-Andalusia Arab civilization as the longest advanced civilization lasting for eight centuries in Europe. Now, the Europeans identify themselves as civilized people but the effective date for the claim remains a mystery.
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