The truth is that Israel does not want peace

Quiet slicing of the West Bank makes abstract prayers for peace obscene
by Slavoj Zizek

On 2 August 2009, after cordoning off part of the Arab neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah in east Jerusalem, Israeli police evicted two Palestinian families (more than 50 people) from their homes; Jewish settlers immediately moved into the emptied houses. Although Israeli police cited a ruling by the country's supreme court, the evicted Arab families had been living there for more than 50 years. The event – which, rather exceptionally, did attract the attention of the world media – is part of a much larger and mostly ignored ongoing process.

Five months earlier, on 1 March, it had been reported that the Israeli government had drafted plans to build more than 70,000 new homes in Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank; if implemented, the plans could increase the number of settlers in the Palestinian territories by about 300,000 Such a move would not only severely undermine the chances of a viable Palestinian state, but also hamper the everyday life of Palestinians.

read more @ guardian

Peter Chamberlain: Are we really cattle?

Have we really become “We the sheeple,” or are we still human beings? The planet is dying under the thrall of a small minority of men who think of the rest of the human race as “cattle,” livestock for them to buy and sell.

The ruling class behaves much like a spoiled child, if they don’t get to have everything their way all of the time, they throw this massive temper tantrum and threaten to upset the whole game. They have gotten their way in everything for so long that they have fallen under the spell of their own propaganda. They believe that we are sub-human animals, who should be herded into the best outcome possible. But, have the rest of us begun to accept this as well?

As members of the human herd, most of us recoil at the “bovinian” suggestion, but consider just how much we do behave like a herd. We willingly accept being treated like a herd, trusting our lives to politicians because we appreciate not having to make hard decisions for ourselves, being contented as cows, as our leaders and their hired hands drive us down a path to destruction, for the sake of them making a few dollars more in profit.

read more @ there are no sunglasses

Ellen Brown: The secret of China's miracle economy

“The banks -- hard to believe in a time when we’re facing a banking crisis that many of the banks created -- are still the most powerful lobby on Capitol Hill. They frankly own the place.”

-- U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, Democratic Party Whip, April 30, 2009

While the U.S. spends trillions of dollars to bail out its banking system, leaving its economy to languish, China is being called a “miracle economy” that has decoupled from the rest of the world. As the rest of the world sinks into the worst recession since the 1930s, China has maintained a phenomenal 8% annual growth rate. Those are the reports, but commentators are dubious. They ask how that growth is possible, when other countries relying heavily on exports have suffered major downturns and remain in the doldrums. Economist Richard Wolff skeptically observes:

read more @ web of debt

mubarak to visit obama

Something has to be up here. We pay Egypt big bucks so that Mubarak will look the other way re: Israel. - ed.

Mr Mubarak has praised President Barack Obama, who made a key speech in Cairo in June outlining his Mid-East plans.

He is expected to tell Mr Obama Arab states are willing to do their bit for peace if Israel freezes settlement activity in the occupied West Bank.

Israel has so far refused to take that step, despite repeated US calls.

On Monday, Mr Mubarak repeated his insistence in an Egyptian newspaper interview that Arab states would normalise relations with Israel, but only once a comprehensive peace was achieved.

BBC Diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus says the Obama administration has sought to press the reset button with Egypt.

...Talks between Mr Mubarak and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton took place on Monday night. In addition to Israel and the Palestinians, talks covered Iran, which both nations fear is building nuclear weapons.

read more @ bbc news

the travails of small business doom the economy

Over time, the travails of small business will doom the U.S. economy. One of the recurring themes here is the largely zero-coverage-by-the-MSM erosion of small business in the U.S. via hamhanded over-regulation and over-taxation. Correspondent Robert D. provided this first-hand account of why businesses either never get off the ground or fail shortly after opening.

You often mention the excessive burdens placed on small business by our friends in City Hall, the various State Capitals and D.C. I thought I might add my anecdote to the mess. A few years ago my wife, 2 kids, 3 dogs, 1 cat, 2 gerbils and I moved to a picturesque small town on the Pacific Coast with a large historic district where my wife had a job offer at the local hospital. I found work as a chef at the population center 1 hour+ commute each way by car, ferry and shoe. After a couple of years of 10-12 hour days plus the commute I was getting burned out. So when the new owner of a local boutique hotel asked for proposals for a restaurant to replace the failing "Gifte Shoppe" in his ground floor commercial space, I jumped on it. We shook hands on a sweetheart deal lease-wise as long as he did not have to contribute to any build-out costs. That's when the fun began.

read more @ charles hugh smith

"global warming" issues: journalists show their bias

Read these quotes:

“As scientific evidence has accumulated that the planet is warming and that humans are behind it, many previous skeptics have been won over. There remains a vocal cadre of critics, however, at least some of whose arguments have shifted over the last several years from outright denial that the earth is warming to insisting it's unrelated to human activity — and even if it is, likely nothing much to worry about."

"Some of the most vocal skeptics have done relatively little recent peer-reviewed scientific research on the topic, and some have had their voices amplified via financial support from industries opposed to any government regulation or taxation of greenhouse gas emissions."

"Others do have training and experience, at least in some aspects of the wide-ranging issue, and are not bankrolled by industry. But overall, their number represents a distinctly minority position in the ongoing and normal colloquy among scientists about the evidence of climate change and its likely impacts."

The paragraphs above are taken from the website of the Society of Environmental Journalists section on “Skeptics and Contrarians."

Their choice of words and the structure of these comments disclose their preference and prejudices of the global warming issues. They also show a remarkable [ignorance] of what science is and how it proceeds. These are the self-appointed journalists who view themselves as final arbiters and reporters of what science is. They haven’t a clue.

What is remarkable is that a society of Journalists, allegedly intending to honestly discuss complex issues, has forfeited their professed dispassionate indifference to the global warming issues in exchange for naked advocacy.

read more @ atheo news

classification of corporate psychopaths

Toxic managers is just a politically correct term for corporate psychopaths, really dangerous predators of corporate jungles in general and IT jungles in particular. Psychopaths cannot be understood in terms of antisocial rearing or development. They are the "monsters" of the corporate world not that different from ordinary criminals or, to be more precise, are "criminals without crime". Psychopath is first of all the failure to recognize, much less to empathize with, the personal human dignity and rights of others. In a deep sense of this word they can be considered insane.

"Sanity" does not mean perfection; it merely means sufficient engagement with the real world and society to allow us to survive both day-by-day and in the long term – thus “sane” individuals usually tend to obey traffic laws, learn from their mistakes and practical experience and, in the case of moral sanity, they recognize in others their worth and their capacity for joy and suffering. Furthermore, sanity implies an ability of introspection: capacity to critically evaluate one’s experience, to distinguish fact from fiction, and to tune behavior, to adapt to the real world. Insanity, by implication, suggests a significant level of detachment from reality. For example, a psychopath can not recognize the human worth and the capacity for pleasure and pain in others. In this sense he/she is living in an "unreal" world. It can also be combined with other psychological disorders like paranoia.

read more @ softpanorama

ex-staffer at Dimona nuclear reactor says made to drink uranium

Workers at the nuclear reactor facility in Dimona were made to volunteer to drink uranium in 1998 as part of an experiment, according to a lawsuit filed four months ago in the Be'er Sheva Labor Tribunal by a former worker at the facility.

The experiment was allegedly carried out without obtaining written consent from the workers or warning them of risks or side effects, as required by the Declaration of Helsinki on human experimentation.

The Israel Atomic Energy Commission said in a statement that the Dimona facility "has the safety and health of its workers as its highest priority."

added that the amount of uranium the Dimona staffers drank in the experiment (100 micrograms) was less than the amount Be'er Sheva residents drink from their taps in one month.

The worker who submitted the lawsuit, Julius Malick, recently retired after he said he was threatened by the former director of the facility, Yitzhak Gurevich, and the director of human resources, Gary Amal, that if he did not retire he would be fired.

read more @ sos

medical experts: Palin "too stupid to live"

BALTIMORE -- A team of doctors and cognitive researchers issued a joint statement Thursday detailing “pressing concerns” regarding recently retired Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s health, claiming the Republican starlet “may be too stupid to live much longer.”

At a press conference in johns Hopkins Medical Center, neurologist Rajib L. Shaktakarian spoke for the group as he listed off a number of observed symptoms, including aphasia, memory loss, delusions, and “general idiocy,” which “seem to be worsening by the day,” judging by recent public statements.

“Normally,” said Dr. Shaktakarian, “these symptoms might indicate a stroke or series of strokes, but judging by her apparent bodily health, and the lack of facial drooping or motor-neuron impairment, we have concluded that Palin is suffering from a severe case of clinical stupidity, which we fear may be terminal.”

Shannon Barkley, a professor of Cognitive Neuropsychology at Johns Hopkins, warned Palin’s condition could become dire in the very near future. “Given the nearly random, disjointed nature of her speech patterns, and her astounding misunderstandings of the basic facts of life and reality, it’s really only a matter of time before she forgets how to breathe or pump blood to her vital organs,” said Barkley. “Frankly, I’m amazed she’s still alive today.”

read more @ goon squad

suraci: mirror the bigot

I like to play a little game called Mirror the Bigot. I know many bigots unfortunately, not because I move among unusually ignorant and ill informed people, but because in Britain today most of the public are routinely bigoted, and in a socially acceptable way.

The target of the new acceptable bigotry is Muslims.

The game I play is simple, and is very amusing at times. Every time I hear an anti-Muslim slogan repeated parrot like from one of the media's mind slaves, drenched in a a constant downpour of covert hate and bigotry against the Zionist's premier target, I simply substitute the word "Muslim", with "Jew".

So for instance, in casual conversation with a bigot who knows nothing about politics or the real world save what that nice Mr Rupert Murdoch tells them, or any of the controlled mainstream propaganda outlets like the BBC, I wait for the inevitable invective spat out and aimed at Muslims. It can come in many forms, but an example is, "Bloody Muslims, terrorists the lot of them". I simply reply with, "Bloody Jews, terrorists the lot of them."

The sudden look of surprise can be very amusing.

read more @ suraci

MI-5 and the British far right

Someone asked me naively/defensively/almost accusative to prove the links between MI-5 and British far-right groups and agitators. In normal social interactions and conversations “proving” all your assertions is not necessary….its merely a perspective, an opinion on an issue……whether believed or otherwise. Conversation would be very stale if we had to reference all our points of view.

It is taken as given for those who belong to the activist progressive class, and who are sufficiently informed that there are clear linkages between MI-5 and the far right in the UK.

Identifying this linkage is very important in understanding the dynamics of British politics…….and the underlying motivations around such extremist events which recently took place in Birmingham.

read more @ mostaque ali

Eva Golinger: US to attack Venezuela

Not a word breathed about Israel in this video... - Ed.

more corporate media jokes: bad Rahm. bad bad bad Rahm.

As the Obama administration presses Israel to cease settlement expansion as part of a renewed push for a Middle East peace deal—a course of action that many Israelis have interpreted as evidence of the president’s favoritism towards Palestinians—Israelis have increasingly focused their disappointment not on Obama, but rather on his chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel.

An observant Jew with deep ties to Israel, Emanuel is viewed as something of a native son, his rise through the ranks of American politics celebrated by Israelis who reveled in details such as his childhood summers spent in Israel and his volunteer stint during the first Gulf War in an Israeli military program for civilians.

read more @ politico

corporate media jokes

The lede on an ABC News story about hurricane season:

It is as if someone flicked the "on" switch this weekend. For ten weeks we had a hurricane season with no hurricanes.

...Claudette was a classic "popup storm," simply appearing out of nowhere. Eighteen hours after popping up in the Gulf of Mexico, Claudette made landfall early Monday morning.

OH, MAYBE THEY *DID* SWITCH THE "ON" SWITCH, hmmm??!!?? (wink wink wink) - ed.

source:
http://www.abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=8342919&page=1

Uranium weapons: does anyone care about our planet?

We have seen governments and military refuse to accept that uranium based weapons have been used in all the theatres of war. Only when independent tests and conclusive evidence is provided do these authorities back down. We have seen this in the Balkans, Kuwait, and Iraq. We now have good evidence from Afghanistan, with further news of a leaked German document. Now we only have three more to go, Lebanon, Gaza and Pakistan. We already know what the final outcome will be but it takes time for such authorities to admit to their cover-ups and lies.

Once the cat is out of the bag we see a rush of activity by those governments to apply pressure to the UNEP and WHO to go out into the field to check the levels of contamination (as if they don't know already). The respective teams return to their headquarter and in conjunction with the governments, ICRP and IAEA prepare a well worded document declaring that there were no significant findings and that the levels found met with normal background radiation. They then repeat that the traces of depleted uranium or enriched uranium found were insignificant and all fall within permitted levels and do not pose any risk to troops or the civilian population. What they don't tell you is that the figures are all unrealistic and that their methodology of using the ICRP model is totally flawed and outdated when dealing with DU or Low Level Radiation (LLR), especially when it has been inhaled.

read more @ uruknet

Reforming the global financial system

excerpt:

Although governments have inherent authority to create their own money, they foolishly borrow it from central banks, with interest. A central bank fabricates fiat notes (paper money) and credit by “lending” them into existence, in return for treasury bonds of the host government ~ taxpayer IOUs. This “money” has no pre-existing substance in reality and is conjured up through accounting entries. It is literally created out of nothing. The central bank first lends these accounting entries to its private owners and then to its downline commercial banks with interest. The commercial banks are permitted to lend nine times the amount of their borrowed accounting entries held “in reserve”. This nine-fold multiplication of borrowed accounting entries is described as “fractional reserve banking.” When borrowers accept these accounting entry loans they create massive inflation of the money supply which devalues the currency. These accounting entry loans must be “paid back” with compound interest that multiplies exponentially. More money must then be fabricated to pay this interest. Thus, all “money” that enters circulation is actually debt contrived by fictitious accounting entries. Every fiat dollar is an IOU from a borrower to a lender. A debt-based monetary system can never achieve equilibrium because compound interest always overwhelms the escalating money supply and eventually causes systemic collapse.

read more @ information clearinghouse

Why are smart people so ignorant when it comes to health, vaccines and vitamin d?

excerpt:

Getting back to the question at the top of this article, the truth is that even really smart people are mind slaves, too, because you don't get through the world of academia by asking lots of questions. You survive academia by conforming. You get through medical school by swallowing whatever you're told and shutting down that part of your brain that used to ask skeptical questions. People who ask too many questions get flunked out.

read more @ natural news

Who owns the ship and what is on board?

excerpt:

Ownership of the Arctic Sea is hidden behind a complex web of companies in Malta and Finland.

Its owners – thought to be three Finnish-based Russian businessmen – only filed unaudited accounts earlier this month after initial news emerged of the vessel’s hijacking.

read more @ daily mail

Scientific data "privileged"

Global Warming ate my data

We've lost the numbers: CRU responds to FOIA requests

By Andrew Orlowski • August 13, 2009

The world's source for global temperature record admits it's lost or destroyed all the original data that would allow a third party to construct a global temperature record. The destruction (or loss) of the data comes at a convenient time for the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) in East Anglia - permitting it to snub FoIA requests to see the data.

The CRU has refused to release the raw weather station data and its processing methods for inspection - except to hand-picked academics - for several years. Instead, it releases a processed version, in gridded form. NASA maintains its own (GISSTEMP), but the CRU Global Climate Dataset, is the most cited surface temperature record by the UN IPCC. So any errors in CRU cascade around the world, and become part of "the science".

Professor Phil Jones, the activist-scientist who maintains the data set, has cited various reasons for refusing to release the raw data. Most famously, Jones told an Australian climate scientist in 2004:

Even if WMO agrees, I will still not pass on the data. We have 25 or so years invested in the work. Why should I make the data available to you, when your aim is to try and find something wrong with it.

[UM, THERE *IS* SOMETHING WRONG WITH IT. THAT'S WHY PEOPLE WANT TO SEE IT. - ed.]

read more @ atheo news

Adrian Salbuchi videos: What To Do?