The bedrooms were bunkered with piles of hard stones
To protect from attacks by the Predator drones.
The children were huddled, afraid, in their beds
While visions of night raiders danced in their heads.
Twas the day before Christmas
http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/20535
Twas the day before Christmas
and all through the senate and the house
Liberals and Progressives were selling us out
You see the companies making contributions to conservatives really have the legislative clout
Unfortunately, most progressive and liberal outsiders haven’t figured this out
To leave these companies alone will just seal our fate
where we progressives and liberals do not carry much political weight
but if we join together and boycott conservative funders asses
We’ll get progressive legislation that really passes.
Obama Ordered US Military Strike on Yemen
http://www.democracynow.org/2009/12/23/report_obama_ordered_us_military_strike
Yemen, the latest target of US-backed military strikes against suspected al-Qaeda sites. ABC News reports that President Obama directly ordered two cruise missile attacks in Yemen last week. According to the New York Times, the United States gave Yemeni forces military hardware and intelligence to carry out the attack.
The Grumpy Positioning System
http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/20537
Juan Cole: Top 10 Worst Things about the Bush Decade; the Rise of the New Oligarchs
http://www.smirkingchimp.com/news/25671
The Afghan Four
http://www.counterpunch.org/worthington12232009.html
I’d like to turn to the four Afghans transferred to the custody of the Afghan government, because, in contrast to the fearmongering of opportunistic Republicans, who continue to claim that Guantánamo is full of terrorists, the stories of these four men demonstrate instead the incompetence of senior officials in the Bush administration, revealing how, instead of detaining men who had any connection to al-Qaeda, or those responsible for the 9/11 attacks, they filled Guantánamo with what Maj. Gen. Michael Dunlavey, the commander of Guantánamo in 2002, described as “Mickey Mouse” prisoners.
Obama's Role in the Militarization of Mexico: an interview with Laura Carlsen
http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/25678
Mike Whitney: Will you explain what Plan Mexico is and how it relates to the North American Free Trade Agreement. (NAFTA)
Laura Carlsen: Plan Mexico, also called the Merida Initiative, is a three-year regional security cooperation plan devised by the former Bush administration and presented in October of 2007. The plan grew out of the extension of NAFTA into security areas, known as the Security and Prosperity Partnership. Originally Plan Mexico was to be announced in the context of the SPP trinational summit but was delayed. It is presented as a petition of the Mexican president Felipe Calderon for US help in the war on drugs but in reality it was designed in Washington as a way to "push out the borders" of the US security perimeter, that is, that Mexico would take on US security priorities including policing its southern border and allowing US companies and agents into Mexico's intelligence and security operations.
Mike Whitney: Will you explain what Plan Mexico is and how it relates to the North American Free Trade Agreement. (NAFTA)
Laura Carlsen: Plan Mexico, also called the Merida Initiative, is a three-year regional security cooperation plan devised by the former Bush administration and presented in October of 2007. The plan grew out of the extension of NAFTA into security areas, known as the Security and Prosperity Partnership. Originally Plan Mexico was to be announced in the context of the SPP trinational summit but was delayed. It is presented as a petition of the Mexican president Felipe Calderon for US help in the war on drugs but in reality it was designed in Washington as a way to "push out the borders" of the US security perimeter, that is, that Mexico would take on US security priorities including policing its southern border and allowing US companies and agents into Mexico's intelligence and security operations.
Plan Mexico proposed $1.4 billion in mostly foreign military financing. It is referred to as a "Counternarcotics, Counterterrorism and Border Security" proposal.
Note: "Plan Mexico--as it was first called—--has its roots in the Security and Prosperity Partnership that grew out of the North American Free Trade Agreement. When the regional trade agreement was expanded into a security agreement, the Bush administration sought a means to extend its national security doctrine to its regional trade partners. This meant that both Canada and Mexico were to assume counter-terrorism activities.... border security... and protection of strategic resources and investments. Assistant Secretary of State Tom Shannon called it "arming NAFTA." "The Perils of Plan Mexico", Laura Carlsen, counterpunch)
MW: Shortly after he was elected president, Felipe Calderon began using the military in the so-called War on Drugs. Since then, there has been a steady rise in troop deployments and an escalation in the violence. What is the Washington's role in this ongoing counterinsurgency operation?
Laura Carlsen: The Obama administration has supported the plan and even requested, and received from Congress, additional funds beyond what the Bush administration requested. In the three years since Calderon launched the war on drugs in Mexico with the support of the US government drug related violence has shot up to over 15,000 executions and formal reports of violations of human rights have increased sixfold. More than 45,000 solders have been deployed in streets and communities throughout Mexico. Washington recognizes serious problems with the drug war model and yet continues to claim, absurdly, that the rise in violence in Mexico is a good sign--it means that the cartels are feeling the heat, the argument runs. the plan itself does not contain any real benchmarks of what citizens should expect as signs of progress so it can continue to be funded despite its failure. The State Department was required to submit a human rights report to release 15% of some portions of the appropriations and finally did so last summer. But the report stated that even given a lack of progress in human rights (including reported use of torture with impunity, lack of civilian justice for military forces, killings of civilians and corruption) the mere fact of reporting constituted compliance and released the funds.
So far the effort is not described as a counterinsurgency effort, because Mexico does not have a formal widespread insurgency movement. However, the targeting of grassroots opposition leaders in recent years has raised fears that dissidents are and will be a target of the increasingly militarized society.
Plan Mexico proposed $1.4 billion in mostly foreign military financing. It is referred to as a "Counternarcotics, Counterterrorism and Border Security" proposal.
Note: "Plan Mexico--as it was first called—--has its roots in the Security and Prosperity Partnership that grew out of the North American Free Trade Agreement. When the regional trade agreement was expanded into a security agreement, the Bush administration sought a means to extend its national security doctrine to its regional trade partners. This meant that both Canada and Mexico were to assume counter-terrorism activities.... border security... and protection of strategic resources and investments. Assistant Secretary of State Tom Shannon called it "arming NAFTA." "The Perils of Plan Mexico", Laura Carlsen, counterpunch)
MW: Shortly after he was elected president, Felipe Calderon began using the military in the so-called War on Drugs. Since then, there has been a steady rise in troop deployments and an escalation in the violence. What is the Washington's role in this ongoing counterinsurgency operation?
Laura Carlsen: The Obama administration has supported the plan and even requested, and received from Congress, additional funds beyond what the Bush administration requested. In the three years since Calderon launched the war on drugs in Mexico with the support of the US government drug related violence has shot up to over 15,000 executions and formal reports of violations of human rights have increased sixfold. More than 45,000 solders have been deployed in streets and communities throughout Mexico. Washington recognizes serious problems with the drug war model and yet continues to claim, absurdly, that the rise in violence in Mexico is a good sign--it means that the cartels are feeling the heat, the argument runs. the plan itself does not contain any real benchmarks of what citizens should expect as signs of progress so it can continue to be funded despite its failure. The State Department was required to submit a human rights report to release 15% of some portions of the appropriations and finally did so last summer. But the report stated that even given a lack of progress in human rights (including reported use of torture with impunity, lack of civilian justice for military forces, killings of civilians and corruption) the mere fact of reporting constituted compliance and released the funds.
So far the effort is not described as a counterinsurgency effort, because Mexico does not have a formal widespread insurgency movement. However, the targeting of grassroots opposition leaders in recent years has raised fears that dissidents are and will be a target of the increasingly militarized society.
Air pollutants from vehicle exhaust linked to severe pneumonia in seniors
http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5iNp3W8FLx54aSwG3NCIy9QLFqNVg
MADAGASCAR: Worrying Lapse in Forest Management
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=49808The illegal logging of precious wood rose sharply during the political crisis that gripped Madagascar during 2009. Forest communities, who could be part of the preservation of these resources, have been swept up in the rush for rosewood.
*" ... Today, the oil industry receives north of $100 billion per year in subsidies and collateral support. This is the equivalent of one AIG bailout per year, every year. ... "* *By Blaine Townsend* Spec...
Op-Ed Letter (Plain Dealer): The Radical Right is Hijacking the GOP and the Media
December 02, 2009 I really had to write in reference to Kevin O'Brien's ironic column of Nov. 26, in which he commented on the importance of truth in journalism, and the few letters to the editor of Nov.
USAID Officer Arrested with Terrorists in Islamaba
UK: MPs Sue CIA to Shatter Secrecy on Britain's Role in Rendition
How Americans Are Enslaved by a Corrupt Right Wing Machine!
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