19 January - Trend News of Middle East

Image by pixelatedsass via Flickr

Image by Toban Black via Flickr

 Details of Obama’s letter to Iran released
January-18-12 6:20 PMA number of Iranian officials have released the details of the letter that U.S. President Barack Obama recently sent to Tehran.

Iran to release Fateh, Besat submarines of own production

Iranian Submarines' Ambush for US Aircraft Carriers in Persian Gulf

19 January 2012, 06:07 (GMT+04:00)

A senior Iranian military commander underlined that the Iranian Navy's subsurface vessels enjoy a high capability to confront enemies' threats, and stated that Iran's submarines are able to ambush and hit enemy vessels specially US Aircraft carriers from the seabed throughout the Persian Gulf.

Salehi: Iran-Turkey Economic Commission to lift trade barriers 
January-18-12 7:02 PMForeign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi says the 23rd Iran-Turkey Joint Economic Commission session aimed to lift all trade barriers.

Iran Air urges UN chief to help lift sanctions on Iran aviation
January-18-12 7:00 PMIran Air crew has written a letter to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon calling on him to take the measures necessary to lift sanctions imposed upon the sale of civilian aircraft and spare parts to Iran.
( The 'West' can be rough on Iranian passenger aircraft)

UK says no concrete plans for new nuclear talks with Iran

18 January 2012, 19:02 (GMT+04:00)

Britain denied on Wednesday that negotiations were under way towards a new round of nuclear talks between Iran and Western powers.


Tehran’s envoy writes to IAEA board over assassinations
January-18-12 6:57 PMIn a recent interview with ISNA, the Iranian ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency announced that he had sent a letter to Gianni Ghisi, the chair of the IAEA Board of Governors, calling for the assassinations of nuclear scientists to be condemned.

European Union bank blasted for links to Mubarak regime

19 January 2012, 09:07 (GMT+04:00)

The European Union's house bank invested in funds that directly benefited the Middle East's ruling cliques even as it preached the importance of human rights and democracy, claims a new report obtained by Ahram Online.

NATO chief joins criticism of US presidential candidate Rick Perry

19 January 2012, 02:53 (GMT+04:00)

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Wednesday joined in the criticism of US Republican presidential nomination candidate Rick Perry, who has said that Turkey is run by "Islamic terrorists" and should be expelled from NATO.
( About as smart as when 'Tweety' on CNN suggested invading Syria and Iran at the same time as Iraq back in 2003. I caught the broadcast in Canada. Funny thing is - the fake 'Islamic' terrorists work for NATO in Syria and Libya just the way they did in Afghanistan. You did hear the police-killing 'revolutionaries' were alCIAda imports I trust.  )

Some 5,000 attend anti-racism demonstration in Jerusalem

19 January 2012, 02:51 (GMT+04:00)

Some 5,000 Israelis, many of them Ethiopians, demonstrated in Jerusalem Thursday against racism.

NATO missile defence not aimed against Iran, Turkey says

19 January 2012, 02:49 (GMT+04:00)

The missile defence shield that NATO is developing under strong encouragement from the United States is not aimed against Iran, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu insisted on Wednesday.
( Russia has analysis strongly disagreeing with implementing such near its borders - and has had for decades )

Sunni-backed leader: Crisis tearing Iraq apart
January-18-12 5:39 PMIraq needs new leaders to prevent the country from disintegrating, the leader of the main Sunni-backed bloc said Wednesday, reflecting the severity of a sectarian political battle in the Shiite-led government, accompanied by violence, just a month after the exit of US forces.

Turkey says does not want return to Iraq chaos
January-18-12 4:49 PMTurkey does not want a return to chaos in Iraq, Turkish Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan said on Wednesday in comments that followed a complaint from Baghdad that Ankara was meddling in its internal affairs. 


Syria's Brotherhood rejected Iran-mediated deal
January-18-12 5:28 PMIranian officials contacted Syria's Muslim Brotherhood to try to mediate a political solution to a 10-month-old uprising against President Bashar al-Assad but their efforts were rebuffed, a senior Brotherhood member said on Wednesday.



Judicial reform package in Turkey to make pre-trial detention difficult
January-18-12 4:40 PMMinister of Justice Sadullah Ergin on Wednesday announced a new judicial reform package that, among many other things, aims to make it difficult for courts to issue detention orders for suspects before trial.

Poverty rate decreases to 7.6 percent in Azerbaijan
January-18-12 8:09 AMThe poverty level in Azerbaijan decreased by 1.5 percent and amounted to 7.6 percent

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31 August - Twitternotes

Cover of George W. Bush

RAW Replay

Former Bush official promises to testify if someone will ‘Pinochet’ Cheney

The former chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell pledged Tuesday to testify against former Vice President Dick Cheney if he is ever tried for war crimes.
Col. Lawrence Wilkerson told Democracy Now‘s Amy Goodman that he would participate in a trial even if it meant personal repercussions.
“I, unfortunately — and I’ve admitted to this a number of times, publicly and privately — was the person who put together Colin Powell’s presentation at the United Nations Security Council on 5 February, 2003,” Wilkerson said. “It was probably the biggest mistake of my life. I regret it to this day. I regret not having resigned over it.”
In an interview that aired on NBC Monday, Cheney told Jamie Gangel that unlike President George W. Bush, he did not have a “sickening feeling” when they discovered there were no weapons of mass destruction after the invasion of Iraq.
“I think we did the right thing,” Cheney said.

The Real Reason for Bush's Invasion of Iraq Is a National Security Secret

Cheney's Secrets

Bush-Cheney Israel Disinformation Campaign to Justify an Attack on Iran 

The Bush administration and Israeli government appear to be operating a joint disinformation campaign, whose objective is to establish a media based alternative reality from which to accuse Syria/Iran of developing nuclear weapons with help from North Korea, by using a real event combined with planted stories establishing a defining narrative. This accusation in turn is augmented with stories about Iranian sponsored "Special Groups killing US troops in Iraq" and purported naval incidents the Persian Gulf, creating self-reinforcing, media based crisis.

The immediate purpose of this disinformation campaign is apparently to help justify the planned US attack on a wide range of Iranian industrial and military targets. And, as in the Israeli attacks on Lebanon,  the objective is to swiftly inflict substantial damage to the national infrastructure of Iran, followed by an abrupt cessation of attacks and a call for a cease-fire to prevent substantial  Iranian retaliation. Again, as in the Israeli attacks on Lebanon, the US likely will resist calls for a cessation of the attacks until a significant portion of the Iranian target set has been addressed, then it will accept calls for a cease-fire and demand Iran do the same.

Any subsequent attacks by Iran would probably be characterized by the US as Iranian aggression, further justifying US follow-up attacks on remaining Iranian assets as defensive measures. The transparent duplicity of such US actions and claims is not a problem because US corporate media is prepared to report repeatedly the administration's claims with little or no criticism or mention of alternative assessments. In other words, subjecting its audience to blatant propaganda masquerading as journalism, which is effective as it is because of US corporate media's quantitative monopoly on information provided the public.

As far as can be determined, no credible or even plausible evidence for any of these claims has been presented by the Bush administration, let alone by any independent verification of such claims. Instead, in the pattern similar to the disinformation campaign before the invasion of Iraq, questions about these claims, when raised at all, are ignored or "answered" with repeated or additional claims. Essentially this disinformation campaign, as all such campaigns, is an elaborate set of lies to deceive an enemy, in this case the United States Congress and the American people, in pursuit of Bush administration secret policy objectives for the benefit of a foreign government. 

State Department: Identifying Misinformation

Rosetta Stone to 9/11 disinformation 

 

In New Memoir, Dick Cheney Tries to Rewrite History

David Addington, Cheney’s general counsel, engaged in a ferocious effort over the next three months to suppress a growing legal rebellion. When lawyers from the NSA asked to see the opinions under dispute, Addington angrily refused and told them to back off.

Indict Bush officials who committed federal crimes

Fallout of nuclear 'spin' : WMD

Murray Waas and Paul Singer, "Addington's Role in Cheney's Office Draws Fresh Attention," National Journal, Oct. 30, 2005

Joby Warrick, "Warnings on WMD 'Fabricator' Were Ignored, Ex-CIA Aide Says," Washington Post, June 25, 2006.

 

 Hullabaloo

What's wrong with our media? 

Jay Rosen has written an important piece synthesizing his various observations about our broken political press. It comes from a presentation he gave in Australia, where the situation is apparently just as bad: 

.....how did we get to the point where it seems entirely natural for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation to describe political journalists appearing on its air as “the insiders?” Don’t you think that’s a little strange? I do. Promoting journalists as insiders in front of the outsiders, the viewers, the electorate…. this is a clue to what’s broken about political coverage in the U.S. and Australia. Here’s how I would summarize it: Things are out of alignment. Journalists are identifying with the wrong people. Therefore the kind of work they are doing is not as useful as we need it to be.

...Rosen identifies three specific areas of concern:

1. Politics as an inside game.

2. The cult of savviness.

3. The production of innocence.

( I assume that's M Jay from TPM Cafe...who has gone up in the world. He's very active on Twitter. Remember the 'scandal' about military veterans appearing in the media as 'independent experts' ?  

You'd think the info posted at 'Mountain Runner WordPress' had been going into the ether. Armstrong has been promoted within the 'Public Diplomacy' section and has gone into hiatus from blogging. )

The long march to dismantle democracy 

I've been writing about the conservative movement's long term project to disenfranchise Democratic voters since I started this blog. 

....This piece by Ari Berman in Rolling Stone tells the tale of that project finally coming to fruition.

Bill Nye Explains Irene's Link to Climate Change, Battles Fox News (Video)

He also deftly avoids Fox's baiting on Al Gore's wholly uncontroversial comments comparing the public acceptability of racist comments and climate change denial. 

( Does anyone actually read what IPCC releases say ? I've often found they are more tentative and couched in terms of suggested conclusions than the 'reports' promoting them as definitive proclamations. And as for climate change 'denial'...find me some.

O.K. Too easy looking at the badge. But I find that atypical assertiveness. Collections are presumably still available at Global Research.ca or CFACT showing there is lots of 'alternative interpretation'....a standard scientific practice. And yes, CFACT is industry sponsored. As if the IPCC didn't have an agenda for milking the globe for taxes. )

Al Jazeera

Opinion

Manipulating social networks

In Syria and Iran, among other places, social media users are lulled into a dangerously false sense of security. If there's one thing that net-savvy activists from Tunisia to Bahrain are aware of, it’s that the Internet isn’t always safe. From the constant threat of surveillance to the knowledge that posting the wrong picture on Facebook can get you arrested - or worse - activists have for a long time taken measures to mitigate risks, censoring themselves, using special tools like Tor, or staying off certain networks altogether. Unfortunately, not only do some activists lack the necessary savvy, but even the best can fall victim to savvier regimes. Back in December, for example, just as the Tunisian uprising began to take root, activists within the country noticed that their Facebook accounts had been compromised. Some reported information missing from their accounts, leading Facebook to investigate and, in the end, re-route users to a secure HTTPS version of the site.  The incident may have prompted Facebook to make the decision to roll out HTTPS to all of its users. By the end of February, users of the site could opt in for increased security; but as two incidents from this week illustrate, their sense of security may have been premature. The latest in a series of events to take advantage of Facebooking dissidents, the two exploits demonstrate a seemingly perpetual cat-and-mouse game between users of social media living under authoritarian regimes and the regimes themselves. ( Ahem. A look under 'Police State'  may provide an unwelcome 'reality check' for those living under Demockratic governments. And I'm not the one who continually mis-spells the word. ) Gaddafi sons differ over Libya conflict Secret files: US officials aided Gaddafi Report: Gaddafi foreign minister arrested Syrian official resigns over crackdown Bahraini boy killed in protest  Government programmes for me, not for thee The great American political circus Saving children in the Horn of Africa In Libya, decoding an uncertain future  Secret files: US officials aided Gaddafi Gaddafi sons differ over Libya conflict Report: Gaddafi foreign minister arrested The 9/11 Decade: The Intelligence War Virus therapy sparks hope for cancer patients Black in Norway Syrian official resigns over crackdown What role is al-Qaeda playing in Libya? Rick Perry: Too big to fail?    Press TV Maliki: US Troops Will Leave Iraq in December. What About Trainers? The Roundup for August 31, 2011 Fed Potentially Warming to Additional Monetary Stimulus S&P Still Rating Subprime Crap Triple-A Obama Announces Regulatory Speed-Up for Infrastructure Projects Flurry of Regulatory, Judicial Rulings Block Regressive Efforts, Show Progress The New Resentment: Poor, Undocumented Demonized During Lesser Depression Bank of America Trying Desperately to Get Small Enough to Fail Obama Jobs Address Also a Deficit Address Nebraska Gov. Heineman Comes Out Against the Keystone XL Pipeline DoJ Moves to Block AT&T/T-Mobile Merger   'No more permanent US bases in Iraq'  Latest From Middle East Yemeni forces strike flashpoint village 'Bahrain regime aims to mislead world' Teen's death sparks protests in Bahrain King's speech irks Bahraini opposition Lebanon wants Sadr's fate determined Israelis to unleash dogs on Palestinians Bahrain refuses to rehire employees 'Bahraini king must seek pardon' Netanyahus accused of mistreatment Bahraini troops kill 14-year-old protester 'Imam Moussa Sadr definitely alive' UNSC slams Israel's Nakba Day killing 'US forces liable for atrocities in Iraq'

China to build 50+ nuclear reactors based on unsafe 60’s tech, says Wikileaks

"China is currently in the process of building as many as 50 to 60 new nuclear plants by 2020; the vast majority will be the CPR-1000, a copy of 60's era Westinghouse technology that can be built cheaply and quickly and with the majority of parts sourced from Chinese manufacturers," says this cable from the U.S. embassy in Beijing.

1

Everything you’ve heard about the tar sands and energy security is wrong

Drilling in North America is the single greatest threat to our nation’s energy security. Here’s the reality: Protecting the United States’ energy security means keeping our continent’s oil in the ground for when we need it in an emergency. The United States and Canada combined hold less than 5 percent of the world’s proven oil reserves. Thanks in part to expanded domestic drilling during the Obama administration, we’re depleting those reserves at a high rate. That means we have far less oil to fall back on in the event of true emergency, like an oil embargo or a major war when access to foreign oil supplies becomes difficult or even impossible. If we’re really concerned about security, tar-sands oil should be a last-gap, man-the-barricades option – something we as a society hope we never have to use

( You have to wonder about those reports of undeclared resources in the Beaufort Sea and North Dakota )

 

Indigenous activists gain momentum in Bolivia 

"We can't understand that an indigenous government is violating our indigenous rights," said Fernando Vargas, pulling together the complexity - and perplexity - of the government-supported construction of a new highway through an indigenous area and national park in Bolivia.

Vargas is the current leader of the TIPNIS indigenous territory, through which the planned highway will be built, to the dismay of hundreds of indigenous people who are leading a 526km march as a show of opposition.
The march represents a sense of political despair among indigenous communities in Bolivia, and it is considered their final attempt at rejecting the construction of a highway between Trinidad and Cochabamba, to be built through the Isiboro Secure National Park (TIPNIS). Starting with 600 people on August 15, the march has already grown to 1,400, including 125 children.

Studies question effectiveness of sex offender laws

...requiring sex offenders to register with police may significantly reduce the chances that they will re-offend. However the research also finds that making that same registry information available to the broader public may backfire, leading to higher overall rates of sex crime.

( Forget the emotional content - and my sympathy for offenders - including priests - is scant....though pornography collections don't really resonate with me except as a second-hand phenomenon. 
Law should work. Harassment of people who aren't actually actively up to no good breeds resentment, rebellion and violence.  My bet, anyway...from seeing such in animals )

Latest Science News Articles

• Scientists unravel the cause of rare genetic disease: Goldman-Favre Syndrome explained
• 'Pink ribbon dollars' help fill financial gaps for breast cancer programs
• Tiny oxygen generators boost effectiveness of anticancer treatment

From other science news sites

• On The Path Toward A "Star Trek"-Style Sick Bay
• "Plastic Bottle" Solution for Arsenic-Contaminated Water Threatening 100 Million People

• Intrinsic Klebsiella pneumoniae Contamination of Liquid Germicidal Hand Soap Containing Chlorhexidine

  We describe intrinsic contamination with Klebsiella pneumoniae occurring during the manufacture of germicidal hand soap, labeled as containing 2% chlorhexidine, used throughout a 350‐bed community medical center. A 3‐year retrospective study failed to find evidence of increased incidence of clinical isolates of this strain.

  ( I'd love to find medical commentary related to the results of exposing people to bacteria via 'sanitation' )

  Patients’ health motivates workers to wash their hands

  ( I'd say the workers - who presumably have better than usual information resources - discount their danger as minimal and not worrisome ....or they may actually have an aversion. )  

  Tea Tree Oil, The Australian Germicide 

  In 1920, Dr. RA Penefold, a government chemist in Sydney, Australia, was credited for beginning the human clinical research of the many benefits associated with Tea Tree Oil. His studies determined that Tea Tree Oil had a Rideal-Walker co-efficient of between 11 and 13. This means the oil is 11 to 13 times more powerful than carbolic acid (phenol) for killing bacteria and fungi yet non-caustic to the skin.

  Tiny oxygen generators boost effectiveness of anticancer treatment

Related articles

• Lawrence Wilkerson Promises to Testify if Someone Will 'Pinochet' Cheney (crooksandliars.com)
• Dick 'Rightly Named' Cheney Should be Tried for War Crimes (zwingliusredivivus.wordpress.com)
• 'Cheney fears trial as war criminal': Colin Powell aide hits out at former VP (tipggita32.wordpress.com)
• Former Colin Powell Aide: Dick Cheney 'Fears Being Tried As a War Criminal' (littlegreenfootballs.com)
• Colonel Wilkerson vs. Cheney the war criminal (jibarosoy.wordpress.com)
• Powell Aide Says Cheney Acted as President (politicalwire.com)
• Ex-Bush Official Col. Lawrence Wilkerson: "I am Willing to Testify" If Dick Cheney is Put on Trial (jhaines6.wordpress.com)
• Ex-Bush Official Col. Lawrence Wilkerson: "I am Willing to Testify" If Dick Cheney is Put on Trial (disquietreservations.blogspot.com)
• Robert Scheer: Deceit of Shakespearean Proportions (huffingtonpost.com)
• "[Dick Cheney]'s developed an angst and almost a protective cover, and now he fears being tried..." (shortformblog.tumblr.com)
• Mission Accomplished (online.wsj.com)
• The Great American Stickup: How Reagan Republicans and Clinton Democrats Enriched Wall Street While Mugging Main Street (ritholtz.com)
• Condoleeza Rice unhappy with Cheney's attacks (capitolhillblue.com)
• The Atlantic: Remembering Why Americans Loathe Dick Cheney by Conor Friedersdorf (jaldenh.wordpress.com)
• WATCH: Bush Weighs In On Dick Cheney's Book (huffingtonpost.com)
• George W. Bush Weighs In On Dick Cheney's Book (VIDEO) (tweenliklive.wordpress.com)
• Condi Rice fires back at Dick Cheney - Christian Science Monitor (news.google.com)

7 June - News Picks

Image by openDemocracy via Flickr

Polish plane crash mystery deepens

Jan Cienski - June 7, 2010 06:35

The cockpit recording shows pilots knew about poor visibility. So why did they keep descending?

http://www.globalpost.com

Israel Raises Nuke Threat to Iran

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/node/29240
Yet this is a particularly infelicitous time for Netanyahu to be raising the imaginary specter of an Iranian nuclear weapon -- which doesn't exist and may very well never exist -- for two reasons.

First, the world is starting to pay much more attention to Israel's nuclear weapons, which certainly do exist, in great quantity. (The best estimates often run as high as 200.) 
Three Israeli submarines are heading to the Persian Gulf, where they will be stationed permanently, just off the coast of Iran. They can stay at sea for about 50 days and stay submerged for at least a week. They're equipped with cruise missiles that can reach any target in Iran. And some of those cruise missiles are equipped with the most advanced nuclear warheads in the Israeli arsenal.
Even if Iranian missiles were being smuggled into Gaza, they would be mere firecrackers compared to the nuclear missiles that Israel plans to keep permanently in range of Teheran and every other city in Iran.

What Lethal Arrogance Looks Like
http://www.smirkingchimp.com/node/29251
The recent invasion of Lebanon (not to mention the one before that), the invasion of Gaza and the attack this week on the relief flotilla all represent almost wholly unjustified acts of aggression on Israel's part. While any state can always muster up some pretext for war ("Saddam has WMD!"), and Israel has done so in each of these cases, what has become clear is that the country has left the earlier epoch of its history in which it fought mostly defensive wars of existential urgency (1948, 1967, 1973), and has transitioned to an era in which it is now fighting rudely aggressive wars, using outrageous weapons and tactics, and offering increasingly weak justifications for those wars (which justifications are anyway are rooted in the Palestinian people's reaction to the ongoing provocation of an illegal and oppressive occupation).

Israeli raids: The view from Gaza
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/middle-east/100604/israeli-raids-the-view-gaza
The majority of families live without electricity for at least eight hours a day. Most get by on basic food rations, such as flour, sugar, rice, oil and canned meat, which are provided by the United Nations. The sick are often forced to cross into Egypt, on the rare occasion that border is open to them, for medical treatment not available in Gaza. Construction materials desperately needed to repair homes damaged by the Israeli military offensive and air strikes are prohibited under the blockade and often scavenged and recycled from destroyed buildings.

Even fish, the lifeblood of this coastal community, is in short supply as fishermen are largely prevented from their trade by the Israeli naval blockade.

USA: Acronym for United States of Assassinations?
http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/sherwood-ross/29279/usa-acronym-for-united-states-of-assassinations

The Terror Of The Situation: Watching America Unfold
http://www.smirkingchimp.com/node/29271
The Bush/Cheney administration considered themselves above international laws, and they surrounded themselves with people who supported their delusions. Authoritarians are always right; no discussion. While the White House Lawyer told Bush that he did not need to follow the Geneva Convention (torture) rules because Afghanistan was a “failed state.” But nobody bothered to tell Bush or Cheney that we were not at war with Afghanistan, we were at war with a small group of freedom-fighters. With the Military Commissions Act (2006), they wrote legislation which the rubber-stamping Republican Congress passed into law and granted them immunity from prosecution of any war crimes. Chutzpah !!

We are watching the unfolding of American Democracy in real time. The First Amendment to the Constitution insures that Congress cannot make any law that limits free speech. “Speech” was not well defined in the Constitution but most every dictionary defines it as a vocalization, produced by people. But the Supreme Court has expanded the definition so the act of speaking can lawfully be attributed not only to people, those with voices, but to include those who let their money do the talking. Is this a great country or what ?

WHO is in Bed with Big Pharma?
http://www.noquarterusa.net/blog/2010/06/06/who-is-in-bed-with-big-pharma
Two highly credible agencies are accusing the World Health Organization (WHO) of exaggerating the degree of threat caused by the H1N1 virus and failing to disclose that some of those assessing the potential damage were paid consultants for–you guessed–Roche and GlaxoSmithKline. 
( It's odd when 'Intelligence' is the last to know. Jane Burgermeister is the investigative reporter who filed charges and blew the whistle on the scam )

The War on Drugs and the Corruption of Law Enforcement
http://www.chimpsternation.com/forum?c=showthread&ThreadID=4533
It's obvious to all but the most brain dead that the War on Drugs, declared by Richard Nixon to be used as a political weapon against his enemies, has failed on almost all fronts.

As a result of this drug war, there are millions of non-violent drug users rotting in prison with any prospect of a decent life after they get released dashed because of a felony criminal conviction. In addition, there are millions who have been denied public housing or government assistance in getting an education simply because of a drug law violation.

One of the worst effects of the drug war is the corruption of government officials, including law enforcement officials. 
Ex-Cop Goes Rogue on the Drug War and Tells Pot Smokers How to Outsmart the Police
From Comments : 
1 / "The religious looneys who thump their Bibles trying to judge and exert control over others lives are addicted to their religion, and as such, really have no right to judge and criticize others who simply use other methods of dealing with their difficulties. "

2 / "The "War On Drugs" has never been about eliminating drugs - just as the "War On Terror" isn't about actually eliminating Terrorists! It is about the lawfully justified projection of military power into other nations and generating the much needed chaos to achieve their coveted "New World Order" System.

One should actually realize that the War On Drugs has been utilized to internationally destabilize other nations through the supposedly justified application of International Military Forces - within their political borders without their consent. It is only sustained at home as a pretext upon which to base these otherwise unjustified military incursions."

Analysis: the awesome power of the illegal high

Hallucinogens as cancer drugs, poppy fields left untouched. Is the focus of the "war on drugs" shifting?

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/worldview/100527/drug-war-policy-legalization
“Drugs win drug war.”

That was the prescient headline of a 1998 dispatch in The Onion. “Despite all our efforts,” the satirical newspaper reported, “the U.S. government has proven no match for the awesome power of the illegal high.”

China suicides: 5 things you need to know

For a key Apple supplier in China it comes down to migrant workers.

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/commerce/100601/china-labor-migrant-suicide-information-foxconn

• In an open letter this month, prominent Chinese sociologists called on the government to reform the country’s production model, which depends on churning through low-paid quasi-legal migrants. China has an estimated 150 million to 200 million domestic migrant workers.
•  
• “We have made them live a migrant life that is rootless and helpless, where families are separated, parents have no one to support them, and children are not taken care of,” the scholars wrote. “In short, this is a life without dignity.”
• ( Meanwhile, in the "Free" West, cross border immigration is linked to employment contracts, enforced expulsion,denial of workers' benefits...and such ' enlightened' practices which often amount to slavery. Those dastardly Chinese ! )

Many South Koreans indifferent about North

Polls show S. Koreans haven't completely accepted findings that N. Korea blew up their warship.

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/south-korea/100602/north-korea-threat-kim-jong-il
College students’ apathy toward the impoverished communist state is acute

“If you show a map of North Korea, he’s going to have a hard time telling you the cities or even the main rivers, which is amazing when you consider how tiny the peninsula is.”
Sung Han-na, a student at Han Se University, says hostile views toward the North are rare among South Koreans:

Kim So-yeon, a 23-year-old liberal and Joongang Law University student,“I’m one of the supporters of unification, so I try to speak about North Korea in a friendly way,”.

Kim wants the North to keep its nuclear weapons. She thinks it’s a justified deterrent against U.S. aggression; does not believe the North sank the Cheonan.

 Vietghanistan
http://www.smirkingchimp.com/node/29278

Mormons lure Korean converts with English lessons

Missionaries offer language lessons — if students also learn about the Book of Mormon.

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/south-korea/100517/mormon-missionaries-seoul-teach-english

Welcome to the Media Consortium!
http://www.themediaconsortium.org
The Media Consortium is a network of the country’s leading independent journalism organizations.

Consortium Report

• Weekly Mulch: Oil Spill Could Bring Mass Extinction to the Gulf Coast
  by Sarah Laskow, Media Consortium blogger A cap placed over a severed pipe is siphoning some oil from the broken BP well in the Gulf Coast, the company said today. The company’s CEO said this morning on CBS that it was possible that this fix could capture up to 90% of the oil, but that it [......
• Weekly Diaspora: Thousands Protest SB1070; Arizona Gov. Braces for Lawsuits
  by Erin Rosa, Media Consortium blogger   Over Memorial Day weekend, tens of thousands of people marched in Phoenix, AZ to protest SB1070, a law that immigrants to carry papers at all times and makes it possible for any police officer to detain on suspicion of immigration status alone.   At RaceWir...
• Weekly Pulse: Dr. George Tiller’s Assassin Was No Lone Wolf
  by Lindsay Beyerstein, Media Consortium blogger When Scott Roeder shot Dr. George Tiller in church last year, media accounts described him as a lone wolf. Roeder acted alone on the day of the assassination, but he was part of a community of career anti-choice terrorists, as Amanda Robb reports in Ms...
• Special Report: Israel Attacks Gaza-Bound Flotilla; World Responds.
  By Amanda Anderson, Media Consortium blogger At approximately 4:00 a.m. Monday morning, the Freedom Flotilla, an international aid convoy headed for the Gaza strip, was attacked in international waters about 40 miles off the coast of Gaza by Israeli commandos. The convoy consisted of six ships with ...
• Weekly Audit: Why Democrats Must Focus on Jobs Now
  by Zach Carter, Media Consortium blogger The job market in its worst state since the Great Depression and is putting tremendous strain on millions of Americans. Without action from Washington, D.C., the unemployment rate will remain elevated for years to come, and almost certainly above 9 percent th...
• Weekly Mulch: Obama’s Responsibility for the BP Oil Spill
  by Sarah Laskow, Media Consortium blogger President Barack Obama is in Louisiana today, and BP is saying it will know in 48 hours if its attempt to “top kill” the leaking oil well in the Gulf Coast by pouring mud and cement over it has worked. If the scramble to stop the leak has ended, the slog...
• Weekly Diaspora: Obama Deploys Troops to Border Amid Rising Civil Disobedience
  by Erin Rosa, Media Consortium blogger President Barack Obama announced on Tuesday that he would be deploying 1,200 National Guard troops to the Mexican border to beef up security along the Río Bravo. This surprise move has garnered criticism from immigrant rights supporters, who argue that it will...
• Weekly Pulse: Prostate Health is Girly and Other Health Care Paradoxes
  by Lindsay Beyerstein, Media Consortium blogger This week’s health care news was full of mind-bending paradoxes: Prostate health is girly, abstinence-only education works through failure, “principled” libertarian Rand Paul would protect all-white lunch counters but ban private abor...
• Weekly Audit: Want Economic Justice? Then it’s Time to Act.
  by Zach Carter, Media Consortium blogger On Thursday, the U.S. Senate passed a financial reform package that includes a handful of important reforms, but it won’t fundamentally change the relationship between banks and society. Wall Street still has a vice grip on our economy, and lawmakers st...
• Weekly Mulch: BP Oil Hits Louisiana—But How Far Away is the Next Disaster?
  by Sarah Laskow, Media Consortium blogger Oil has hit shore in Louisiana, and despite BP’s best efforts to keep the media away, reporters can now touch the greasy stuff with their hands and feet. The onrush of  oil into the Gulf has continued for over a month now, and while BP is still trying...

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