al Quaeda never existed in the manner in which we've been led to believe.
It was created i.e. the name was, as a prosecution tactic during the 1998
trial of the accused bombers of the embassy in Kenya. US prosecutors
wished to use RICO statutes against the defendants, and to do so requires
that there be an organization to which a crime can be linked. They thus
created this idea of al Quaeda as the network behind the bombing.
According to those cited in the BBC documentary The Power of Nightmares,
which lays it all out, Bin Laden was just a very wealthy guy and true
believer who would give small cells of terrorists money to carry out their
own actions. He didn't plan the actions. None of the groups looked to him
for leadership. There was no network.
Our government invented it and it proved a politically and strategically
valuable myth. At the same time, it made these small terrorist cells
appear much more powerful and committed to an ideal than they actually are
or were, so both sides played to the myth for all it was worth. After 9/11
the Bushies sold this idea like there was no tomorrow. Rumsfeld and Cheney
went round talking about sophisticated and lavish underground installations
with their own power sources. In the film, they show Rumsfeld on television
with all these elaborate charts of the alleged installations in Tora Bora,
with him really playing up this comic book super villain vision.
Americans, being the credulous and childish people we are, bought it hook
line and sinker. When troops finally made it up to where these Dr. No /
Goldfinger like secret installations were said to be located they found
only holes in the ground, no hi tech installations, no caches of
sophisticated weaponry, no evidence of much of anything, but it seemed no
one cared much that they'd been and were continuing to be lied to.
Briffits
Millions of Tons of Plastic Debris Floating in the Oceans is Now Thought to be Toxic
Shipment of 800 Billion in New Currency AMERO to China in Advance
Jinnah is out of the dock
http://blog.dawn.com:91/dblog/2009/08/21/jinnah-is-out-of-the-dock
Ecological disaster looms in Colombia : Mining companies granted rights over unique habitats yet to be explored by science
http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/colombia-mining938.html
Global Policy Forum
Activists have increasingly drawn attention to the serious effects of global warming. A small group of British Greenpeace protesters shut down a coal-fired power plant for a day, an action that eventually led to a change in UK government policy. Some hope that this kind of action will influence the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December 2009. Hundreds of people are getting prepared to demonstrate on the streets of Copenhagen.
In a recent resolution allowing Omar al Bashir to travel freely in Africa, the African Union reaffirmed its opposition to the ICC 's indictment of the Sudanese President by the Court. To this day, the ICC has selected only four cases for prosecution, all of them against Africans. This has fueled criticism condemning the Court as a tool of Western imperialism, leading some African countries to express a growing distrust in its rulings. This resolution does not reflect Africa's unity against the ICC, rather it highlights the balance of power in the region and AU President Omar Gaddafi's influence on the decision.
In a fight to save more than 600 jobs, workers have occupied a factory on the Isle of Wight. The factory produces wind turbines and is owned by the Danish company Vesta. The workers have every reason to be angry. Although the heads of the factory claim that demand for the turbines is falling across northern Europe, the company recently reported a 59 percent increase in sales to over $1.4 billion. The closure of the Vesta’s factory would have a devastating effect on the local economy.
Barack Obama always said he would maintain for the US "the strongest military on the planet." His national security team is committed to "rebuilding and re-strengthening alliances around the world to advance American interests and American security." Today, with Obama as commander-in-chief, Washington is expanding its military base network. After the declaration of war on terror and right to pre-emptive war, the US military has an unprecedented global reach.
Food production and energy consumption are closely interlinked. Due to the heavy use of fertilizer, the agriculture industry depends more than ever on energy inputs. The long-term trend of high energy prices threatens the food system. The environmental movement favors a return to local and organic farming in order to close the inflationary price gap. |
Independent Diplomat, a non-profit group, provides guidance to emerging states on how to approach foreign governments and international organizations. The organization uses existing diplomatic channels to help its clients gain international recognition, as emerging states often lack experience of dealing with international bureaucracies. Assisting "nations - in - waiting" to gain international attention is crucial for us says Independent Diplomat member Soren Jessen-Petersen.
|
UN News
UN News Centre - Top Stories
- Sustainable agriculture key to recovery from financial crisis in Asia - UN Any recovery programme to pull the Asia-Pacific region out of the global recession, which has morphed into a food crisis, must include sustainable agriculture measures, participants concluded at a United Nations meeting in Beijing.
- Former Congolese leader facing trial should remain in ICC custody - Prosecutor Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo should remain in the custody of the International Criminal Court (ICC) until the start of his trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity, the Court’s Prosecutor stated as he appealed the decision to the former Congolese leader a temporary release.
- UN human rights chief welcomes US investigation into alleged CIA abuses The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, has welcomed the decision by the United States Attorney-General to appoint a special prosecutor to look into whether Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officers and contractors broke US laws while conducting interrogations outside the US, including at Guantanamo Bay.
Why bleed Balochistan?
An unspecified but large number of Baloch nationalist leaders and political workers have gone missing even after the inception of the democratic government following the 2008 election. ‘Missing’ of course is a polite euphemism for abduction by security forces and intelligence sleuths.
Those who have been spared are either in hiding or lying low for fear of incarceration. The rest are raising a rebellion from abroad; those here are threatened with arrest unless they watch what they say. Why this humiliation of the Baloch in their own homeland?
BREAKING: Sen. Ted Kennedy Dies at 77
by AlterNet Staff, AlterNet - 10:30 PM
Obama Finally Answers Death Panel Lies
by mcjoan, Daily Kos - 4:15 PM
South Carolina Republicans to Discuss Impeaching Mark Sanford
by Faiz Shakir, Think Progress - 3:41 PM
Rush Limbaugh Warns Jay-Z Obama Is Going After His Penis
by Tana Ganeva, AlterNet - 2:33 PM
Chuck Grassley's "Imperfect" Ideas About Health Care
by Steve Benen, Washington Monthly - 1:50 PM
What Does Caster Semenya's Sex Teach Us About Competitive Culture?
by Byard Duncan, AlterNet - 11:19 AM
Why Do Angry, Right-Wing Mobs Get Media Respect?
By Eric Boehlert, Media Matters for America
Media and Technology: Meanwhile, the media has always lashed out at liberal protesters.
- August 26, 2009
- More »
Thanks to EPA You May Be Unknowingly Drinking Water Contaminated With Weed Killer
Danielle Ivory, The Huffington Post Investigative Fund
Water: One of the nation's most widely-used herbicides has been found to exceed federal safety limits in drinking water.
US Senator Ted Kennedy Dies at 77
AFP
Politics: The last of the Kennedy brothers, who dominated US politics for decades, has died of brain cancer, his family said Wednesday.
You. At a Town Hall Meeting. 5 Questions You Should Ask
Adele M. Stan, Joshua Holland, AlterNet
Politics: Those raucous health-care town halls aren't over yet. That's where you come in.
The 8 Weirdest Ways to Go Green
Mike Sowden, EcoSalon
Environment: From the solar-powered bikini that can charge your iPod to the benefits of eating free range snails, here's few things you may not have thought of yet.
Meet Larry Summers’s Ex-Boss, a Billionaire with a Blood Feud
Mark Ames, eXiled Online
Politics: If you judge a person by the company they keep, then Obama's top economic advisor has some serious splainin' to do.
'Just Food': Inflammatory New Book Attacking Local Food Movement Has One Grain of Truth Buried Under Heaps of Manure
Kerry Trueman, AlterNet
Environment: "Just Food" is framed as the lament of a lapsed locavore who has been driven into the arms of Agribiz by food-mile militants who, according to him, number in the millions.
There Are More Slaves Today Than at Any Time in Human History
Terrence McNally, AlterNet
Rights and Liberties: One writer spent four years inside the world of modern-day slavery; an industry that produces huge profits and countless wasted lives.
The White House Needs to Go a Lot Further with the Torture Inquiry
John Nichols, TheNation.com
Rights and Liberties: The investigation into torture could be thwarted by a GOP counter-attack and an echo chamber determined to protect Bush and Cheney.
- Tuesday, August 25, 2009
- Archive »
Is Glenn Beck Finished?
Tana Ganeva, AlterNet
A Color of Change campaign has cost Beck's show 36 advertisers so far. Will Fox decide he isn't worth it?
Desperate Food Industry Tries to Tar Michael Pollan and Organic Produce
Vanessa Barrington, EcoSalon
Health and Wellness: With growing numbers of food-conscious consumers, big corporations are trying to sully the reputation of alternatives to their style of agriculture.
Political Fireworks Over Torture Prosecutor: Report Reveals Threats to Kill Children, CIA Director in 'Screaming Match'
AlterNet
Rights and Liberties: Senate Dems and progressives are pushing for AG Eric Holder to expand the investigation that CIA director Leon Panetta has threatened to quit over.
It's Robbery: Health Care Proposals in Congress Look More Like a Rip-Off Than Reform
Chris Hedges, Truthdig
Health and Wellness: The health plans rattling around Congress are designed to force you to buy a defective product: Bad private insurance.
Obama Can't Afford to Take Right-Wing Lunatics Seriously Anymore
Frank Rich, The New York Times
Politics: A GOP senator's apologia for far-right fanatics bearing arms at presidential events -- that the government makes them do it! -- cannot stand.
Right-Wing Militias Are Resurging -- Will They Produce More Terrorists Like Timothy McVeigh?
David A. Love, The Progressive
Reproductive Justice and Gender: After a decade out of the spotlight, the militant rightwing “Patriot” movement is on the rise.
Pressuring Obama To Ditch the Defense of Marriage Act Is AlterNet's Top Take Action Campaign This Week
Byard Duncan, AlterNet
Take Action: DOMA is an offensive relic. Time to give it the boot.
- Monday, August 24, 2009
- Archive »
As If Limbaugh and Beck Weren't Bad Enough, the Granddaddy of Hate Radio Is Back on the Air
Alexander Zaitchik, AlterNet
Media and Technology: Bob Grant taught a generation of conservative talkers how to channel white rage, until a listener boycott helped push him off the air. Now he's back.
Rachel Maddow: The Growing Threat Posed by Gun-Strapped Right-Wingers at Obama's Townhalls
Rachel Maddow, Frank Rich, MSNBC
Health and Wellness: Rachel Maddow and Frank Rich discuss the use of intimidation as a political tactic.
Holder Tapping Prosecutor to Probe 'Nearly a Dozen' CIA Interrogations
Stephen Webster, Raw Story
Rights and Liberties: America's torture debate is nowhere near over.
'Superjuices' Touted as Cures for Cancer, Swine Flu and the Recession -- Are They Dangerous Scams?
Stan Cox, AlterNet
Health and Wellness: Those expensive juices with exotic ingredients promise a healthy body and a fat income. But can they pull you through a recession and a health-care crisis?
Why Do Women Orgasm?
David P. Barash, Dr. Judith Eve Lipton, National Sexuality Resource Center
Sex and Relationships: Scientists are still mystified about the evolutionary advantages of many aspects of women's sexuality.
Have Republicans Turned Into a Weird Religious Cult?
Johann Hari, Independent UK
The faith-based thinking of many conservatives spreads and contaminates the rational. No wonder so many buy the right-wing's absurd propaganda.
How Our Health System Screws Over Women
Sharon Lerner, The Nation
Health and Wellness: To be sure, no group is doing well under our network of private insurers. But women fare particularly badly.
Wal-Mart Faces Its Day of Reckoning
Frank Nelson, Miller-McCune.com
Corporate Accountability and WorkPlace: Wal-Mart's relentless growth and Darwinian competitiveness have created a world that is increasingly inhospitable to its own success.
The Truth About the Afghan Election
Patrick Cockburn, CounterPunch
World: What foreign reporting of elections in both Afghanistan and Iraq misses is that many ordinary Afghans and Iraqis see their governments as rackets run by political gangsters.
- Saturday, August 22, 2009
- Archive »
The Health Insurance Racket Is Manufacturing Entertainment Value from Pulling the Plug on Grandma
Joe Bageant, JoeBageant.com
Health and Wellness: "There ain't any health care debate going on, Bubba. What is going on are mob negotiations about insurance, and which mob gets the biggest chunk of the dough."
Why Breast Implants Are Deflating Along with the Economy
Vanessa Richmond, The Tyee
Reproductive Justice and Gender: Many women who invested in big busts are in deflationary mode.
Terror from the Right: 75 Plots, Conspiracies and Racist Rampages Since Oklahoma City
Southern Poverty Law Center
Rights and Liberties: Including plots to bomb government buildings, banks, refineries, clinics, synagogues, mosques, memorials and bridges; to assassinate police officers, judges, politicians and more.
Michael Moore on His Latest: 'I Made This Movie As If It Was Going to Be the Last I Was Allowed to Make'
Diane Sweet, Raw Story
Media and Technology: Moore is back with his new movie, 'Capitalism: A Love Story,' wearing his trademark baseball cap to go after corporate America.
More Evidence That Marijuana Prevents Cancer
Bruce Mirken, Marijuana Policy Project
DrugReporter: New study finds that marijuana smokers have a lower risk of head and neck cancers.
Health Care Mobs = Swift Boat Vets... And the Press Plays Dumb, Again
Eric Boehlert, Media Matters for America
Health and Wellness: Mini-mob members being treated as deeply important newsmakers is reminiscent of August 2004.
The Top 10 Greenest Schools in the U.S.
Sierra Magazine
Environment: A must-read guide to the most eco-friendly U.S. colleges.
Stop the Humiliating 'Sex-Testing' of Champion Runner Caster Semenya
Dave Zirin, Sherry Wolf, The Nation
Reproductive Justice and Gender: South African runner Caster Semenya shouldn't be the one humiliated by "gender testing"-- it's the outdated views of athletic officials that are embarrassing.
Obama, Ignoring Local Outrage, Set to Expand U.S. Military Presence in Colombia
Moira Birss, AlterNet
World: Obama continues to defend the expansion of U.S. military operations in Latin America, but against what threat?
- Friday, August 21, 2009
- Archive »
How Yawning Got One Court Spectator Six Months in the Slammer and Other Disturbing Acts of Judicial Tyranny
Liliana Segura, AlterNet
Rights and Liberties: When judges take on airs and lash out in fits of whimsical bullying, innocent people can end up paying the price with jail time -- or their lives.
How Pharma Giants Are Getting Rich By Calling Our Life Problems 'Medical Disorders'
Eugenia Tsao, CounterPunch
Pharma companies have waded into helping us with life problems far beyond the biological -- they claim to cure our social maladies.
Former CIA Agent: "What the Agency Was Doing With Blackwater Scares the Hell Out of Me"
Jeremy Scahill, The Nation
World: The dark history behind the explosive revelations of Blackwater's role in the CIA's assassination program.
Black Conservatives in the Age of Obama
Bill Berkowitz, AlterNet
Politics: The most prominent voices for conservatism in African American communities continue to be those of Christian church leaders.
Health Care Rats Come Out of the Woodwork
Matt Taibbi, True/Slant
PEEK: On both sides of the "debate," pundits' main concern seems to be that readers are demanding the public option, in spite of what they're being told.
7 Delicious Meat Alternatives (and Not a Lick of Tofu in Sight)
Sarah Irani, EcoSalon
Health and Wellness: Cutting back on meat consumption is one of the most significant ways to help the planet. And it doesn’t require subsistence on tofu.
Obama and the Dems Just Sound Too Wonky on Health Care
George Lakoff, AlterNet
Politics: Barack Obama ran the best-framed presidential campaign in history. How is it possible that he and his team are communicating so poorly on health care?
Unscientific America: How Scientific Illiteracy Threatens our Future
Chris Mooney, Sheril Kirshenbaum, Basic Books
Environment: Science matters- to politics, the economy, and our future. But do Americans really understand and appreciate that?
Meet the Man Who Is Taking On Glenn Beck
Post by Staff
Video: ColorofChange.org's James Rucker talks about the campaign that has been stripping Beck of advertisers one by one. More »
Krugman: "The Argument Against the Public Option is Sheer Nonsense"
Video: Paul Krugman lets 'em have it on "This Week with George Stephanopoulos." More »
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AlterNet Top Stories
- Pressure Obama to Repeal DOMA
- Stop the Lies About Health Reform
- Call Chevron to Account
- Keep Up the Heat on Glenn Beck's Advertisers
- Free Nobel Prize-Winner Aung Sun Suu Kiy
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Op-Ed News
John Sanchez Jr.: What? No Public Option?
We Are Change Colorado Springs: Welcome To Our Hell: The Model State Emergency Health Powers Act (MSEHPA)
William Cormier: The Wealthy Begin Tumbling Down With No End In Sight
William Cormier: Is It Time To Cross Partisan Lines and Unite To Fight A Common Enemy?
Grant Lawrence: Senator Joe Lieberman: Recession Not a Good Time for Health Care Reform
Vivian Berryhill: Martha's Vineyard Vacation May Seal Obama's Fate
Chris Floyd: Wrist-slap and Tickle: Obama Goes Mild on CIA Torture (1)
Outcast And Castoff: A Letter to the Poor (1)
Allen L Roland: Aghan Terrorists Or Freedom Fighters ?
Zin Linn: *Burma Question - sill a matter of regional concern
The CIA's post-torture profits | Tim Shorrock
BOB HERBERT: The Ultimate Burden
Obama appoints Monsanto fox to guard food safety hen house
Federal Reserve Loses Bloomberg FOIA Lawsuit, Sensitive Disclosures Forthcoming
Sweden flatly rejects Israeli request for media quiet
BRAD BLOG : SIBEL EDMONDS' DEPOSITION: VIDEO AND TRANSCRIPT RELEASED
Ben Smith: King on Holder: 'You wonder which side they're on'
Desperate Food Industry Tries to Tar Michael Pollan and Organic Produce
Tom Fields: DOE's Idaho National Laboratory cuts fuel use 20%
EPA: Chemicals Found in Wyo. Drinking Water Might Be From Fracking by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica
YouTube - Sen Coburn Tells Women Crying Over Health Care "Govt Is Not The Answer"
CNN: Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy dead at 77
Feingold to Obama: Announce Withdrawal Timetable from Afghanistan
Photos: Senior Opposition Figures Paraded in Tehran Court,Peyvand news of Iran
Obama administration uses Blackwater in drone killings
NY Times: Visitors From Planet LaRouche By Robert Mackey
As Whole Foods Boycott Grows on Facebook, Brand Perception Drops
First Ministry of Peace in Latin America to be created in Costa Rica
R-CALF USA: R-CALF USA 2010 Convention
Jessica Falker: DemocracyFest
No Lies Radio: Richard Gage, AIA in Washington DC - Live Video Cast (3)
R-CALF USA: News Conference to address seizure of Herman Schumacher's home by Tyson Fresh Meats.
Trailing Begonia: End the Siege of Gaza! (8)
Ericka Shimkonis: 4th Annual Earth Day Celebration
Amanda Lang: A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition's "Capitalism is Organized Crime" (2)
Sheila Dean: SPYCHIPS Author K. ALBRECHT SPEAKS OUT IN AUSTIN
Kevin Gosztola: National Mobilization on Climate Justice and Energy Solutions (1)
Kevin Gosztola: Pack the Courtroom (1)
Eileen Fleming: I hear dead people talking
Ah... If the Media Were Only Always Like This: Bill Maher on The Tonight Show
"Science" Changes It's Mind Once Again: Appendix May Be Useful Organ After All
U.S. Chamber of Commerce seeks trial on global warming
Carbon Negative Hemp Walls are 7x Stronger than Concrete
Historian's New Book Takes Hard Look at Wal-Mart
Arkansas: Both Parties Eye Challenge to Blanche Lincoln in 20 10
Wikipedia to Launch Page Controls
Metropolis Magazine: In The Jailhouse Now (1)
Joan Brunwasser: Examining Political Corruption with David Fiderer (6)
Mystic Wizard: Of Our Three Most Recent Presidents, Which Is the Biggest Liar? (2)
Don Smith: Poll: What is the most likely scenario for the future of America? (8)
Alan K: Single Payer Health Care Insurance -- ONTO the table? (6)
Don Smith: Poll: Is romantic love mostly lust and neediness? (17)
Gene Cappa: Obama Should Rejoin The International Criminal Court-Do You Agree? (9)
Don Smith: Poll: Are the Democrats as bad as the Republicans? (27)
ALONE: Should bright young Americans join the US State Department? (3)
Joni Greever: Has the economy affected your lifestyle? (2)
Paul Rye: Responses to the Financial Crisis - Have They Been Equitable? (1)
Minion Zero: Is it time for a NEW Declaration of Independence? (5)
Robert Braunstein: *Morally Bankrupt, Fiscally Conservative
J. Edward Tremlett: Orly Taitz - Legal Genius
Mac McKinney: TIMELY VIDEO: Don't Inject Me (The Swine Flu Vaccine song) by Michael Adams (1)
Jon Gold: Top Sunni Rebel On Iran Death Row Says U.S. Ordered Attacks (1)
G J Lau: How To Be Oxygen Neutral In One Simple Step
Arn Specter: Urgent Need to Help the Whales and Dolphins
Rob Kall: Needed, Writers:
ALONE: Back to Empower Germans Even if German Governments won't Give Wife a Visa
Andrew Johnson: New Book Documents 9/11 Evidence and Research Cover Up
R. A. Landbeck: Any freethinker who thinks he's rational is crazy (1)
Mac McKinney: HOT VIDEO: Don't Inject Me (The Swine Flu Vaccine song)
Jason Paz: How to use Twitter Hashtags
Thomas Unger: A "Slippery Slope" of Another Kind in Atlanta This Past Weekend
Thomas Unger: Why DO these people show up armed for Democratic Political Events?
Daniel Vojir: Eric Prince's Blackwater: Christofascism At Work
Daniel Vojir: Taking On The Bastions Of Christofascism Over Health Care Reform
Chaz Valenza: My latest article just published on OpEdNews.com I Know the Barter Secret: It's a Rip-off: http://bit.ly/ize3M
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