Image via WikipediaMondoweiss
The reunification of my parents
Yesterday my mother crossed the Allenby bridge, from the West Bank to Jordan, to see my father in Amman. What makes this banal act unusual is that she had to wait almost a year to be finally granted permission to cross the border.Last year my brother wrote about my family's series of unfortunate events which began in August 2009 - how we went from being British citizens living in our homeland on my dad's one year work renewable visas, to plain old brown Palestinians forced to accept our Israeli-issued identity cards in order to be classified as 'legal' residents, which resulted our own mini diaspora. My brother and father, both born in the Gaza strip, have Gaza identity cards which of course bans them from entering the West Bank, where we were living. My mother, despite being from the city of Albireh in the West Bank, was also inexplicably issued a Gaza ID, despite her owning her original West Bank ID. My younger brother and sister and I have West Bank ID's, as we were registered under my mother's original ID, further contributing to the confusion and idiotic regulations manned by the Israeli military. Subsequently, my father spent his time between Lebanon and Jordan, and my brother began new chapters of his life in Qatar and Virginia. They couldn't come to us, and while my siblings and I could cross over to Amman (which served as our meeting point) my mother could not do the same.
The new astonishingly racist Israeli military order 1650 which was first used in April of this year only made matters worse. My mother was now regarded as an 'infiltrator'. If caught in the West Bank, she could have faced up to seven years in prison or be deported back to Gaza. As her children, we would obviously follow her footsteps, because Zionism does not like the presumptuous notion of Palestinian families choosing where they want to live and raise their kids in their homeland.
Image via Wikipedia
Brooklyn-Jenin: Wars of the Jews
How odd are the leaders Jewish right-wing in the United States. On the one hand, they raise six million dollars to finance a PR war over Jews like me, members of Jewish Voice for Peace. This is an organization which acts, or so they claim, to delegitimize Israel for anti-Semitic reasons (and not because Israel is, heaven forbid, racist). On the other hand, they have the great temerity to call the greatest of rabbis, Sephardic rabbi Ovadia Yosef, a racist, and demand that the Ashkenazi Zionists denounce him thoroughly.Truth be told, I never thought the Anti-Defamation League, headed by Abraham Foxman, would join our well-timed campaign to delegitimize Israel. But there you go, miracles happen even nowadays, and here he is, bad-mouthing the leader of Shas, the third or fourth largest political party in Israel and a partner in Israeli governments for generations. He calls it a racist party, and if it is racist then the government is racist and that means that the state is racist. That’s how it happens that Foxman and his organizations start understanding the depth of unimaginable racism which has seeped into Israel on the one hand, and on the other hand they denounce the humanist Jewish Voice For Peace organization, which has been fighting against that self-same racism for years, which Foxman, now suddenly can see.
What was it that the Honorable Rabbi Ovadia said, which so horrified the Jews of America? He said that in Messianic times, the role of the goyim (gentiles) will be to serve the Jews. I imagine that if the Honorable Rabbi would have said Muslims rather than Goyim Mr. Foxman would have overlooked it. But – with all due respect to Foxman if the Messiah decides otherwise, I assume that the Honorable Rabbi would accept his decision. In contrast with the elderly rabbi, three men in the prime of their life are currently at the helm of Israel – three hooligans, entirely secular ones, a holy fascist trinity: Lieberman, Netanyahu, and Barak. These men are not waiting for the Messiah. As far as they’re concerned, the only role gentiles have is to serve the Jewish state. They continue plundering lands in broad daylight and making a mockery of every nation in the world. On the one hand they collect huge amounts of money for upkeep of the state, as reparations for the Holocaust, and on the other hand they complain when nations ask them oh-so-gingerly to stop being a glorious apartheid state.
Image via WikipediaPRESS TV ( Tehran )
'US targets civilians in Kandahar'
The Afghan Rights Monitor (ARM) says the US-led campaign in Kandahar has destroyed or damaged hundreds of houses.
It says US-led NATO forces have used aerial bombings, hidden booby traps and mines in private homes. 
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According to the rights group, most of the attacks have been carried out in areas that hold about one-third of Kandahar province's population.
In Afghanistan, US 'kidnaps' students
US-led forces disregard local culture and they have targeted several civilian and educational centers in different parts of the war-torn country.
Several Afghan civilians have been killed in US custody at the notorious Bagram Prison or other detention centers over the past months.
More than 100,000 Afghans have been killed since the US-led invasion of the country in 2001.
US deal brings Russia to Afghanistan
The report published in British daily Telegraph comes after Russian and US forces raided heroin and opium labs in Nangarhar Province near the Pakistan border. 
Image by Getty Images via @daylife
They reportedly destroyed USD 250 million worth of drugs. Russia's anti-narcotics chief says his unit closely cooperated with US counterparts to organize the raid, which Afghan President Hamid Karzai has severely criticized.
The developments come days after Russia criticized the inadequate anti-drug policies of the US-led forces in Afghanistan, which Moscow said had led to an increased flow of drugs into Russia through Central Asia.
It is not clear when and how many Russian troops have been deployed in Afghanistan. However, experts say up to hundreds of Russian troops have participated in the drug raid.
( O.K. Maybe the Moon really is made of green cheese. That would be no more incredible than this. )
Petition: Put Olbermann Back On The Air NOW!
Hat Tip Blue Girl Red State from They Gave Us a Republic
Nightowl Newswrap
If you use the internet to stay informed, you lost huge on Tuesday "The FCC's push for Net Neutrality legislation suffered another setback on Tuesday, after 95 of the candidates who pledged their support for it lost their elections. ... The Progressive Change Campaign Committee site has had a list of 95 candidates, all Democrats, listed on netneutralityprotectors.com/ as pledged supporters of Net Neutrality. ... But, as CNN Money reports, all of them lost. ... The FCC has been trying to expand its authority to regulate broadband internet providers, initially losing a court case in April. After that, it pushed Congress to pass legislation that would prevent the providers from blocking access to certain internet content, and force them to treat all web content providers equally. ... Republicans have mostly been opposed to Net Neutrality, and the Tea Party even formed a coalition against it back in August, arguing that it hurts freedom."
We're sure that what they paid back is a mere fraction of what they screwed the taxpayers out of "One of the government's highest profile American contractors in Afghanistan has agreed to pay tens of millions of dollars to settle allegations that it overbilled the U.S. government. ... In return, the Justice Department will end its investigation into allegations that Louis Berger was intentionally overcharging American taxpayers, individuals close to the investigation told McClatchy on Thursday. The settlement, which could be as high as $65 million, would include civil and criminal penalties. ... Holly Fisher, a company spokeswoman, declined to comment on the settlement. A spokeswoman with the U.S. Attorney's Office in New Jersey, which is overseeing the case, also declined to comment."
YouTube stops abetting al-Awlaki
What's Wrong With This Picture?
E-mails, Records Requests, FBI, and Firings
Saturday, September 18, 2010
On August 20, 2010, I had a chance meeting with Secretary of State Mary Herrera in the Capitol Annex.
There had been news reports that Herrera filed a request under the State’s Inspection of Public Records Act for e-mails between and among several state, county and city employees along with five current employees:
.....
Arnold-Jones has been critical of the Campaign Finance Information System. During the legislator, Trujillo called her up to ask her to come to the SoS office to test the system.
She asked for a computer link, but Trujillo wouldn’t provide it saying she needed to come to the office to test it. Arnold-Jones explained that the system was funded and provided for to specifically keep her from ever having to physically go to the SoS's office, but to make all reports by computer via the internet. Arnold-Jones wanted to test it in a real-world environment.
Trujillo was never able to provide a link for her to test, Arnold-Jones said. The system has since gone on line. No log on required, click public reports.
....Senior Research Scientist with ICASA (Institute for Complex Additive Systems Analysis) Srinivas Mukkamala of the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology Computer Science Department and members of his team from Computational Analysis and Network Enterprise Solutions, LLC (CAaNES) accompanied Harris and discovered that an employee had breached the SoS’s computer’s security firewall without authorization, causing it to crash.
In his February 26, 2010 resignation letter, Salazar explains his role in trying to uncover the cause of the crash and Herrera’s response to his un-welcomed information....
....Herrera promised Salazar that Flaherty’s actions would be investigated, nothing has happened. Flaherty remains in the office.
Salazar also pointed out:
The appearance of impropriety overshadows the decision to do nothing, as Mr. Flaherty's wife (Lou Baker) is a political supporter of yours.
GOP Congress to look at cutting pell grants, scholarships
Think Progress writes:The U.S. is already on pace to be short millions of college-educated workers in the next few decades, as our educational attainment has stagnated. The U.S. has fallen to 12th in percentage of 25-34 year olds with a college degree. Canada is currently number one in terms of attainment, and "the U.S. would have to add 1 million college degrees per year through 2025, on top of the 2 million degrees already awarded annually" to catch up.
Noam Chomsky : No Evidence That al Qaeda Carried Out 911 Attacks
"The explicit and declared motive of the [Afghanistan] war was to compel the Taliban to turn over to the United States, the people who they accused of having been involved in World Trade Center and Pentagon terrorist acts. The Taliban…they requested evidence…and the Bush administration refused to provide any," the 81-year-old senior academic made the remarks on Press TV's program a Simple Question.
"We later discovered one of the reasons why they did not bring evidence: they did not have any."
The political analyst also said that nonexistence of such evidence was confirmed by FBI eight months later.
Chomsky added that three weeks into the war, "a British officer announced that the US and Britain would continue bombing, until the people of Afghanistan overthrew the Taliban... That was later turned into the official justification for the war."
( Heh. What's the 'evidence' for al Qaeda itself ? )
Military Strategists Have Known For 2500 Years That Prolonged Wars Are Disastrous
Despite the talk of withdrawal, America is engaged in perpetual war in the Middle East (and see this, this, this, this, this and this).
Oil and Dispersants Are Changing the Gulf Ecosystem
- As a senior EPA scientist has again pointed out, the government is continuing to cover up the dangers of dispersants to humans and wildlife
- And in yet another incident of the government attempting to censor stories showing that all is not well in the Gulf, NOAA’s lead public affairs officer “demanded” website “withdraw its story” on Gulf
GOP Congress to look at cutting pell grants, scholarships
Amplifying the Sounds of Loud and Clear
911 EXPLOSIVE TESTIMONY - Chemical Engineer Mark Basile
Top 40 Reasons the Official 9/11 Story is Bunk!
Hate Email Typifies Approach of Right Wing "Movement"
See below the break for a message I received today at the email address for this blog. I decided to share it with you as I believe it illustrates the kind of hateful mindset that is being fomented and nourished by right-wing and tea party strategists, politicians and pundits, as well as their misguided supporters.As we've learned, a significant amount of funding for this "movement" is being funneled through secretive right-wing organizations that are getting their donations from large corporate interests, wealthy hedge fund managers and even foreign governments -- thanks to the Citizens United decision by the Supreme Court. Karl Rove's Crossroads GPS and American Crossroads, American Action Network and the US Chamber of Commerce are examples of "movement" players that poured millions of dollars into nasty ad campaigns attacking Democrats and using appeals to the baser nature of voters to do it. One of the "movement's" favorite techniques is to use immigration as a wedge issue. Another is to question the citizenship and religion of President Obama -- as we saw now congressman-elect Steve Pearce do in this campaign cycle.
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