the Middle East "peace industry"

Upon finding out that I am Palestinian, many people I meet at college in the United States are eager to inform me of various activities that they have participated in that promote “coexistence” and “dialogue” between both sides of the “conflict,” no doubt expecting me to give a nod of approval. However, these efforts are harmful and undermine the Palestinian civil society call for boycott, divestment and sanctions of Israel — the only way of pressuring Israel to cease its violations of Palestinians’ rights.

When I was a high school student in Ramallah, one of the better known “people-to-people” initiatives, Seeds of Peace, often visited my school, asking students to join their program. Almost every year, they would send a few of my classmates to a summer camp in the US with a similar group of Israeli students. According to the Seeds of Peace website, at the camp they are taught “to develop empathy, respect, and confidence as well as leadership, communication and negotiation skills — all critical components that will facilitate peaceful coexistence for the next generation.” They paint quite a rosy picture, and most people in college are very surprised to hear that I think such activities are misguided at best, and immoral, at worst. Why on earth would I be against “coexistence,” they invariably ask?

During the last few years, there have been growing calls to bring to an end Israel’s oppression of the Palestinian people through an international movement of boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS). One of the commonly-held objections to the boycott is that it is counter-productive, and that “dialogue” and “fostering coexistence” is much more constructive than boycotts.

With the beginning of the Oslo accords in 1993, there has been an entire industry that works toward bringing Israelis and Palestinians together in these “dialogue” groups. The stated purpose of such groups is the creating of understanding between “both sides of the conflict,” in order to “build bridges” and “overcome barriers.” However, the assumption that such activities will help facilitate peace is not only incorrect, but is actually morally lacking.

read more @ atheo news

psychopaths in charge of the asylum

Following a link from the ever excellent Smoking Mirrors (and trust me, you need to read this man's thoughts), I read this extraordinary article about the psychopaths among us.

When viewed in this light, the world makes perfect sense.

Israelis dropping napalm on children, banks being bailed out by the very people who caused the problems in the first place, and the cattle public of Wooton Basset lining up to honour child killers all seems suddenly entirely logical, whereas before it struck me as essentially complete and utter madness.

But not if the world is actually run by psychopaths.

Of course it is. How could it ever have been otherwise. The article makes clear that psychopaths have an advantage over us handicapped non psychopaths. They feel no pity, remorse or empathy for a start. On a level field, they are already ahead on the score board.

read more @ suraci

Homeopathy not a cure says WHO

IF HOMEOPATHY REALLY CAUSED UNNECESSARY DEATHS, YOU CAN BE SURE THE WHO WOULD ADVOCATE IT. -ED

People with conditions such as HIV, TB and malaria should not rely on homeopathic treatments, the World Health Organization has warned.

It was responding to calls from young researchers who fear the promotion of homeopathy in the developing world could put people's lives at risk.

The group Voice of Young Science Network has written to health ministers to set out the WHO view.

However practitioners said there were areas where homeopathy could help.

In a letter to the WHO in June, the medics from the UK and Africa said: "We are calling on the WHO to condemn the promotion of homeopathy for treating TB, infant diarrhoea, influenza, malaria and HIV.

"Homeopathy does not protect people from, or treat, these diseases.

"Those of us working with the most rural and impoverished people of the world already struggle to deliver the medical help that is needed.

"When homeopathy stands in place of effective treatment, lives are lost."

Dr Robert Hagan is a researcher in biomolecular science at the University of St Andrews and a member of Voice of Young Science Network, which is part of the charity Sense About Science campaigning for "evidence-based" care.

He said: "We need governments around the world to recognise the dangers of promoting homeopathy for life-threatening illnesses.

"We hope that by raising awareness of the WHO's position on homeopathy we will be supporting those people who are taking a stand against these potentially disastrous practices."

read more @ bbc

Falling in love

Excerpt:

Just look at the emphasis we place on having a 'formal education.' This sickness continues for at least a full-third of too many lives that could have

been spent in the love affair of a profession of their own choosing: had there ever been any real choice available. Ironically the really excellent professions actually choose us, and not the other way round. Music calls to the true musician, just as architecture or engineering calls out to those so gifted; It's the same with writing or painting or anything that requires creative skill and mental agility to even begin to work at their individual craft: Today most are content if they can just get a job-any job-just so that they can stay alive. Except that this is NOT living it's just an existence that is spent completing tasks that are nothing more than the footnotes in other people's dreams. Most do not make the time to ponder this, or much of anything else because we are too busy trying to obtain all the things that we've been taught about-things that will somehow make everything better; but nothing could be further from the truth.

read more @ rense

War games in Eastern Mediterranean

Reliant Mermaid military exercise to be conducted by Turkey, Israel and the USA begins today. Though press in Turkey slides around the matter, the exercise annoys all the countries in the regions.

Ron Ben Yishai, military commentator for Israel’s Hebrew daily Yediot Ahronot had said this about the Reliant mermaid exercise: “When the two strongest armies in the Middle East…are focused on achieving an unwritten military alliance, and when the world’s only superpower grants this process its support, other countries in the region have cause for concern.”

The “Reliant Mermaid” one of the “joint search and rescue exercises” by the Israeli, Turkish and United States Naval and Air Forces takes start today; Turkey will be hosting the exercise. The live part of the exercise will begin on 19th August and end on 21st August.

read more @ there are no sunglasses

Georgia seizes Turkish ship

Georgian officials seized a Turkish ship carrying oil to Abkhazia.

On Friday, a Turkish oil tanker, Buket, which was shipping oil bought from TÜPRAŞ to Abkhazia, was seized by Georgian authorities. Georgia is imposing an implicit blockade to Abkhazia and South Ossetia which declared their independence after the war in August, last year.

Communication with the oil tanker dropped on Saturday night around 03:00. DENSA Tanker Isletmeciligi Ltd. Sti. officers informed the search and rescue officials and Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday morning stating that they are not receiveing signals from the ship Buket, which is under their management.

The explanation made by Ministry of Foreign Affairs to DENSA stated that the ship was seized by Georgia and was taken to the Poti Port by Georgian officials.

DENSA Chairman Hüseyin Avni Şen claimed that Georgian officials shut down AIS equipments by force and these are forbidden to be shut down according to the IMO rules. Şen said, “Ship personnel were put into a room and the ship was taken to the Poti Port. Our Captain Mehmet Coşkun Öztürk was arrested after being brought to a court, because of frontier infringement. Other personnel, including the trainee captain Özlem Akıncı Balca are under custody in the ship”.
(soL – News Desk)

from there are no sunglasses

Arctic Sea was in Russia port for two weeks getting retrofitted for a big cargo

The official version of events was questioned by Yulia Latynina, a leading Russian opposition journalist and commentator.

“The Arctic Sea was carrying something, not timber and not from Finland, that necessitated some major work on the ship,” she wrote in the Moscow Times newspaper on Wednesday.

During two weeks of repair works in the Russian port of Kaliningrad just before the voyage, the ship’s bulkhead was dismantled so something very large could be loaded, she wrote.

“To put it plainly: The Arctic Sea was carrying some sort of anti-aircraft or nuclear contraption intended for a nice, peaceful country like Syria, and they were caught with it,” she said.

read more @ cryptogon

Finland involved in rescue of Arctic Sea

excerpt:

The Maritime Authority in Malta, where the ship is registered, said in a statement late Tuesday that "The movements of the MV Arctic Sea were always known for several days, notwithstanding reports that the ship had 'disappeared.'"

Authorities in Finland, Malta and Sweden had agreed "not to disclose any sensitive information in order to not jeopardize the life and safety of the persons on board and the integrity of the ship," the statement said.

and the cargo on the ship...? - ed.

read more @ chinaview

Organ selling story is major Israeli PR problem

Check out the comment section. - ed.

In the photo, The IDF's Chief Rabbi, OC Chaplaincy Brig. Gen. Avichai Ronzki and OC Medical Corps Brig. Gen. Nachman Ash both signed up for an organ donation card during a ceremony in the Kirya Military Headquarters in Tel Aviv. One wonders if they are aware that, if the claims are true, their very own IDF has at least on several occasions been involved in obtaining younger organs from Palestinians they have killed, returned to their families after five days and had buried in a regime of a night-time blackout under Israeli-enforced Palestinian curfew.

There is an old Jewish joke that tells the story of a dying Jewish merchant who calls his son to his sickbed just before he perishes. He tells him, “Listen to me Moisha’le, life is not just about money… you can also do gold and diamonds.”

Monitoring Israeli and Jewish news reveals a devastating fact, it is not ‘just’ about money. It may also be about human organs. A few weeks ago we learned about a ring of American Rabbis who had been arrested in New Jersey upon suspicion of human organs trafficking (amongst many other crimes). Rabbi Levy Izhak Rosenbaum, we read, enticed “vulnerable people to give up a kidney for $10,000 which he would turn around and sell for $160,000." Not too bad, I thought to myself then. We are living in hard times, financial melt down, credit crunch, Wall Street is licking its wounds, the car industry is evaporating. Seemingly, kidney trafficking is still booming.

read more @ palestine think tank

links between H1N1, Baxter, DynCorp

Fear intimidation & media disinfo in UK re: mass graves for swine flu

An official UK government report --quoted extensively in Britain's tabloid media-- is warning the British public that there will be countless deaths in the case of a swine flu pandemic. According to the WHO, a Worlwide public health emergency situation will take place in the Fall.

A high death toll is predicted without corroborating evidence.

The official report confirms government plans to set up mass graves for the victims of the swine flu pandemic:

"Plans for mass graves have been drawn up to cope with a second wave of swine flu this Autumn. The chilling proposals are spelled out in a Home Office document discussed at a meeting of Whitehall officials and council leaders last month.

It warns emergency plans may be needed in areas where there are not enough graves to cope.

The 59-page document talks about using "a grave that is for a number of unrelated persons, excavated mechanically in advance and designed for efficient preparation and use". (The Sun, Augsut 19, 2009)

The mass graves, according to the report, "are being planned to deal with the rising death toll from swine flu if the pandemic escalates":

read more @ global research

More Americans figure out that Afghan war is bad idea

A majority of Americans now see the war in Afghanistan as not worth fighting, and just a quarter say more U.S. troops should be sent to the country, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

Most have confidence in the ability of the United States to meet its primary goals of defeating the Taliban, facilitating economic development, and molding an honest and effective Afghan government, but few say Thursday's elections there are likely to produce such a government.

When it comes to the baseline question, 42 percent of Americans say the United States is winning in Afghanistan; about as many, 36 percent, say it is losing.

read more @ washington post

FBI agents' role is transformed by terror fight

Excerpt:

For an F.B.I. team here that vets tips and threats about possible terrorist activity, it was yet another false alarm in a job largely defined by hoaxes and bogus leads that must still be run to ground.

yeah. read more @ nyt

FBI: Arm Boston Police with assault rifles, WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG??

Sheeple still confused, 54% think this is a good idea, 41% say no, a few still not sure. Obviously many people still have no idea who the real terrorists are... FBI agent Bamford "baffled" by opposition to his plan, maybe he hasn't heard about all the innocent people killed by the non-lethal tasers? - ed.

BOSTON -- An FBI official said Boston police officers should be armed with assault rifles to make the city more prepared for a terrorist attack.

Warren Bamford, the special agent in charge of the FBI in Boston, said Tuesday that he is baffled by opposition to a proposal to give some neighborhood police officers the semiautomatic weapons. In May, Boston Mayor Tom Menino criticized a proposal to arm up to 200 officers with M-16s that the police department had ordered from the U.S. military. Menino said only specially trained units should have the guns. Bamford said he believes more officers should have access to the guns in the event Boston becomes the target of a terrorist attack like the one that killed 166 people in Mumbai, India in November.

source

Dr Blaylock's solutions to help those forced to take an A/H1N1 vaccine stay healthy

By Clare Swinney

This report provides practical information on how to protect yourself if you are unlucky enough to be forced to take an A/H1N1 vaccine.

Dr Russell L. Blaylock, a highly-respected neurosurgeon, who has authored three books on nutrition and wellness, including Health And Nutrition Secrets That Can Save Your Life, recently spoke with Dr Bill Deagle, MD of The Nutrimedical Report about some proven natural, readily accessible solutions that may help deal with the toxic effects of A/H1N1 vaccines. The excellent hour-long interview can be downloaded from HERE at 0731091 and a transcript of the interview is posted at Dr Deagle’s site at this link here.

Dr Blaylock’s List of suggestions on How to Reduce the Toxic Effects of the A/H1N1 Vaccine, is as follows:

1. Number one on the list says Dr Blaylock, is to bring a cold pack with you and place it on the site of the injection as soon as you can, as this will block the immune reaction. Once you get home, continue using a cold pack throughout the day. If you continue to have immune reactions the following day, have cold showers and continue with the cold press.

read more @ claire swinney

US slashes swine flu vaccine estimate

Some kind of adjustment going on here in the NWO planning department...? I seriously doubt they're having manufacturing and packaging delays, that sounds like a crock.... - ed.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. officials on Monday said they had slashed their estimate of how many swine flu vaccine doses will be available for the start of a mass vaccination campaign in the fall.

Citing delays in manufacturing and packaging the vaccines, the Department of Health and Human Services said only 45 million doses of the new H1N1 vaccine would be on hand in mid-October, instead of the 120 million previously forecast.

The revised delivery guidelines would push back a U.S. government estimate that all those requiring vaccinations be immunized by the first week of December.

"Our latest information from the manufacturers tells us that we now expect to have about 45 million doses by October 15 with approximately 20 million doses being delivered each week thereafter, up to the 195 million doses that we have purchased," Bill Hall, an HHS spokesman, said in an e-mail.

read more @ reuters

50 top US war criminals with instructions

Compiled below, in hopes that it may be of some assistance to Eric Holder, John Conyers, Patrick Leahy, active citizens, foreign courts, the International Criminal Court, law firms preparing civil suits, and local or state prosecutors with decency and nerve is a list of 50 top living U.S. war criminals. These are men and women who helped to launch wars of aggression or who have been complicit in lesser war crimes. These are not the lowest-ranking employees or troops who managed to stray from official criminal policies. These are the makers of those policies.

The occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan have seen the United States target civilians, journalists, hospitals, and ambulances, use antipersonnel weapons including cluster bombs in densely settled urban areas, use white phosphorous as a weapon, use depleted uranium weapons, employ a new version of napalm found in Mark 77 firebombs, engage in collective punishment of Iraqi civilian populations — including by blocking roads, cutting electricity and water, destroying fuel stations, planting bombs in farm fields, demolishing houses, and plowing down orchards — detain people without charge or legal process without the rights of prisoners of war, imprison children, torture, and murder.

read more @ public record

multiple levels of psyops in missing tanker story

From AP, notorious psyops delivery system, news that officials ADMIT they knew all along where the ship was and were just fucking with people's minds by keeping quiet, *in order to save lives* of course, therefore it's ok. Who can even parse this nonsense? Is it even worth trying? - Ed.

MOSCOW – For more than two weeks, the freighter Arctic Sea seemed to have vanished in the Atlantic Ocean's vastness, but officials said Tuesday they knew where it was all along and were just staying mum in order to bring a dangerous hijacking drama to a bloodless end.

read more @ yahoo

they make the missiles, *and* they make the anti-missiles

Raytheon eyes new anti-missile system for Israel

By Jim Wolf

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama, Aug. 18 (Reuters) - Raytheon Co, the world's biggest missile maker, said it was developing a new system that, if deployed, could boost Israel's defenses against Iran as soon as 2013 and beef up anti-missile bulwarks worldwide.

The system could also help resolve a U.S.-Russian deadlock over Bush-era plans to extend into Europe the U.S. shield against ballistic missiles.

The plan is to create a land-based version of Raytheon's existing Standard Missile-3, a mainstay of U.S. missile defense from the sea. It also would use a long-range Raytheon radar already deployed in Israel and Japan as part of yet another U.S. defense system.

read more @ reuters

Is it really anti-semitic or is it JUST TRUE?

Top Sweden newspaper says IDF kills Palestinians for their organs

18/08/2009 - A leading Swedish newspaper reported this week that Israeli occupation soldiers are abducting Palestinians in order to steal their organs, a report that prompted furious condemnation and accusations of anti-Semitic blood libel from a rival publication.

“They plunder the organs of our sons,” read the headline in Sweden’s largest daily newspaper, the left-leaning Aftonbladet, which devoted a double spread in its cultural section to the article.

The report quotes Palestinian says that young men from the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip had been seized by the Israeli occupation army, and their bodies returned to the families with missing organs.

read more @ atheo news