Drive-by Times: January 2009

Jan 31, 2009

Gastronomic racism : Italy bans foreign food

The latest casualty in the xenophobic Italian crusade against 'internal threats' real and imagined is ethnic food. Kebabs, with their Middle Eastern associations, are particularly suspect.

The campaign against ethnic food has received backing from the government of the cosmetically enhanced billionaire with the fake perma-grin - Silvio "suntanned" Berlusconi.

This growing Italian allergy to foreign foods shouldn't surprise. In Berlusconi's increasingly sinister Italy, Roma Gypsies have been fingerprinted and their camps attacked. Just this week immigrants were assaulted in cafes and shops in revenge attacks for the alleged rape of an Italian woman by Romanians.

Not long ago far-right mayor, now deputy-mayor of Treviso, Giancarlo Gentilini, talked about 'cleansing' Treviso of faggots. He also suggested that immigrants should be banned from park benches or preferably hunted: "we should dress them up as rabbits and go bang, bang, bang with a rifle." Gentilini's other phobia is dogs. He has an aversion to 'non-local dogs' and said: "we don't want foreign breeds here."

The food offensive began in Lucca this week, where the council banned any new ethnic food outlets from opening. The campaign has spread to Lombardy and its capital Milan, where the xenophobes of the Northern League hold considerable sway. They claim they introduced the restrictions "to protect local specialties from the growing popularity of ethnic cuisines.”

The center-left opposition in Lucca has called the campaign 'culinary ethnic cleansing.' The newspaper La Stampa described it as ' a new Lombard crusade against the Saracens.'

The right's definition of ethnic food is both arbitrary and discriminatory. Lucca spokesperson, Massimo Di Grazia, said that French restaurants weren't an issue. He wasn't so sure about Sicilian cuisine though - might be some nefarious Arab-inspired ingredients creeping in there.

Accompanying cartoon "Living dangerously in Italy" here.

Living Dangerously in Italy

Jan 30, 2009

Download Slumdog Millionaire for FREE

People searching online to download Slumdog Millionaire are complaining about sites with misleading info - sites hoping for traffic and quick money basically.

Here are some online options you can might find more reliable.

Torrent Slumdog download

YouTube trailer of Slumdog

Fandango review

Buzzfeed has even more

Randy Polumbo : luminous sex toys

Randy Polumbo discovers art materials in places you might least expect. How about the pharmacy or the local dollar store. He creates his works from materials such as baby bottle nipples, condoms, false fingernails, baseballs, toy cap guns and Viagra tablets.

His work is never boring, ranging from "giant condom zeppelins" to "wheelie penis hot dogs."

Polumbo's grotto, a 30 foot installation, has traveled across the US. It featured at the Burning Man Festival in the Black Rock desert of Nevada and at the Bakehouse Art Complex in Miami.

The stunning techno 'flowers' are created with illuminated sex toys. They bring to mind sea plants in a corral reef - underwater tubers or anemones. Viewers are drawn into a space where perception is altered in subtle ways. The proverbial doorway to the subconscious opens a little wider in Polumbo's glowing garden.

There is also irony and humor at play - dildos that you might only think of in the context of a sex store, are no longer defined by their functionality. The eroticism becomes a celebration in a sense.

Link here for Catherine A.F. MacGillivray's interview with Randy Polumbo.

Randy Polumbo's website here.

Video of his work here.

Muntazer al-Zaidi : giant bronze shoe unveiled in Tikrit

Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit has a new art exhibit. A giant shoe has gone on public display to honor the Iraqi journalist who flung his shoes at George Bush.

The work is by Baghdad based artist, Laith al-Amari. He said the fibreglass and copper work was a homage to the pride of the Iraqi people.

The shoe monument also comes with a poem in honor of Muntazer al-Zaidi.

Jan 28, 2009

CIA chief in Algeria accused of rape by Muslim women

The US Justice Department is investigating allegations that the CIA station chief in Algeria raped at least two Muslim women who claim they were given spiked drinks. The two women involved reported the assaults independently of each other.

An affadavit for a search warrant names the suspect in the case as Andrew Warren, a 41 year old convert to Islam.

According to the affadavit, the first victim says she was raped in September 2007 at a party for US embassy staff held at Warren's residence.

She claims Warren gave her a drink that made her nauseous.

Warren suggested she stay the night. She woke the following morning lying on a bed completely nude. She said she realized sexual intercourse had taken place, but was unable to recall any details of the assault.

The second woman had a similar experience to relate.

She was given a tour of Warren's home. He made an apple martini "out of her sight." The drink made her feel faint. When she went to the washroom, she was able to see and hear but was unable to move.

She recalls being in Warren's bed. She asked him to stop and he made the statement 'nobody stays in my expensive sheets with clothes on.'

She said that 'as she slipped in and out of consciousness she had images of Warren repeatedly penetrating her vagina with his penis.'

When the women made the accusations, Warren was interviewed by Diplomatic Security investigators. He claimed he had engaged in "consensual sexual intercourse" and admitted there were pictures of the women on his laptop.

A search of Warren's residence turned up Valium and Xanax - drugs sometimes used to facilitate sexual assaults. Videos were also found that appeared to have been secretly recorded. They show Warren engaging in sexual acts. One of the alleged victims is also on tape in "a semi-conscious state."

Both of the women have reportedly given sworn statements to federal prosecutors who are preparing a possible criminal case against Warren.

Israel : religious Zionism and its Jewish opponents

The term "never again" is sometimes used in expressing the resolve that the Holocaust will never be allowed to occur again. Maybe it is time to broaden the frame of reference. The danger of a holocaust befalling a people in the Middle East relates more to the plight of the Palestinian people than it does to the Israelis who sit within their fortress of a country armed with nukes and surrounded by walls.

Many in the west tend to view Israel through the lens of collective guilt as a result of the tragedies that befell the Jews in World War 2. As a result aid and 'special status' have followed. The days when Israel was a fledgling state are long over. Today it is in fact a Goliath in the Middle East, a recipient of American backing and armed to the teeth with high tech weaponry.

Over the years there has been the growth of a militant form of religious Zionism in Israel. It has been aided by backers in America. Religious Zionism has a racist undercurrent and encourages a mindset that hearkens back to the Biblical wars in the Old Testament as a way of justifying Israeli aggression against its neighbors. The publications given to Israeli soldiers by the IDF rabbinate prior to the recent Gaza operation reflect these sentiments as the newspaper Haaretz has pointed out. The rabbinate publications have been criticized by Israeli human rights groups such as Breaking the Silence and Yesh Din.

Israel supporters in the west justify Israeli aggression on "never again" grounds and because of the 'special relationship.' However the chances of Israelis becoming the victims is slim to zero. When Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai spoke of a holocaust he associated it with the possible fate of the Palestinian people:

"The more Qassam [rocket] fire intensifies and the rockets reach a longer range, they will bring upon themselves a bigger shoah [holocaust]."

It is often said that those who have been abused act out the abuse toward others. On a psychological level, there is evidence that elements within the Israeli political and military structure are acting out a dark side of the Israeli psyche by turning the Palestinians into victims - similar to the way in which European Jews were turned into victims a few short decades ago.

The language that comes from certain Rabbis devalues Palestinians, in much the way the Jews were devalued in the 30's. Not so long ago the former chief Sephardi rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu said the life of a thousand Arabs wasn't worth the life of one Jew. He also called for the carpet bombing of Gaza, irrespective of how many Palestinians were killed. Rabbi Shlomo Aviner also takes a hardline approach. Aviner's controversial opinions showed up in booklets that the army rabbinate gave to soldiers en route to Gaza.

American Israel backers funnel money and support into a project that shows fascist inclinations with a racist undercurrent - that thinks nothing of using high tech weaponry in response to the firing of wildly inaccurate homemade rockets. Less than 20 dead Israelis in 8 years of rocket firing is a far cry from thousands of dead and wounded Palestinians in what can only be described as a civilian massacre in Gaza.

The state of Israel as it is presently constituted poses a grave threat to our collective future. The recent Gaza outrage has caused many Americans to take a second look at what type of a nation they are empowering. Gaza also prompted many American and Canadian Jews to draw a clear line between their faith and their heritage and Zionism. In doing so a number have expressed deep reservations about the direction Israel is taking.

The identification of the state of Israel with Jewishness entails a leap that some Israelis themselves would question - not just progressive Israeli secularists, but also those orthodox Jews who have consistently drawn a line between their Jewish faith and the Zionist state.

Yakov M. Rabkin, a Professor of History at the University of Montreal, is the author of Threat Within: A Century of Jewish Opposition to Zionism. A passage from the book illustrates the impact of Zionism upon pure, Torah-based Judaism:

"Worse than the toll of suffering, exploitation, death, and desecration of the Torah, has been the inner rot that Zionism has injected into the Jewish soul. It has dug deep into the essence of being a Jew ... It has wreaked havoc among Jews both in Israel and America, by casting us in the role of Goliath-like oppressors. It has made cruelty and corruption the norm for its followers."

There are others in the Jewish community who take the view that Zionism is a betrayal of their religion. The work done by Neturie Karta has helped the public in general to understand that being Jewish does not by extension involve an endorsement of the state of Israel.

The threat that should concern all of us relates to Israeli ultra-nationalism, racism and institutionalized discrimination.

Jan 27, 2009

IDF rabbinate : extremist Zionist views and 'hate' leaflets

The Israeli army's chief rabbinate has a controversial approach when it comes to providing religious guidance for the troops.

The army rabbinate produced a booklet titled Go Fight My Fight: A Daily Study Table for the Soldier and Commander in a Time of War, especially for Operation Cast Lead in Gaza. This booklet was given to soldiers preparing to enter the Gaza Strip.

The military conduct advocated has little in common with rules of modern warfare that are in compliance with international law. Cruelty is lauded as a "good attribute." The Jewish sage Maimonides is quoted as saying that "one must not be enticed by the folly of the Gentiles who have mercy for the cruel (the enemy)".

Religious texts made available to Israeli soldiers draw on the teachings of an ultra-Zionist named Rabbi Shlomo Aviner, head of Ateret Cohanim seminary in Jerusalem.

Aviner without any embarrassment, compares contemporary Palestinians with the Philistines of the Bible.

This is what he has to say on the subject:

"Is it possible to compare today's Palestinians to the Philistines of the past? And if so, is it possible to apply lessons today from the military tactics of Samson and David? A comparison is possible because the Philistines of the past were not natives and had invaded from a foreign land ... They invaded the Land of Israel, a land that did not belong to them and claimed political ownership over our country ... Today the problem is the same. The Palestinians claim they deserve a state here, when in reality there was never a Palestinian or Arab state within the borders of our country. Moreover, most of them are new and came here close to the time of the War of Independence."

A group of ex-Israeli soldiers who created an activist group named Breaking the Silence, claim that the army rabbinate has been encouraging Israeli soldiers to disregard international laws of war that protect civilians.

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz points out that text made available to Israeli troops "steps blatantly into politics, sounds racist and can be interpreted as a call to challenge international law when it comes to dealing with enemy civilians."

In Daily Torah studies for the soldier and the commander in Operation Cast Lead there is the statement: "[There is] a biblical ban on surrendering a single millimeter of it [the Land of Israel] to gentiles, though all sorts of impure distortions and foolishness of autonomy, enclaves and other national weaknesses. We will not abandon it to the hands of another nation, not a finger, not a nail of it."

In addition to the official publications made available through the army rabbinate, extreme right-wing Israeli groups also managed to get leaflets and messages into IDF bases. One such flyer sings the praises of Baruch Goldstein, who massacred unarmed Palestinians in Hebron. It is attributed to a group affiliated with Rabbi Yitzhak Ginsburg.

The Israeli Human Rights Organization, Yesh Din, has called upon the government to remove Brigadier General Avichai Rontzki from his post as chief army rabbi.

Downturn sparks protests across Europe: photos

The global economic meltdown has sparked a wave of unrest across Europe.

On Monday Iceland's coalition collapsed. This followed weeks of protests by Icelanders upset by rising unemployment and rising prices.

Demos took place in Latvia where the government pushed through wage and spending cuts. The government also passed tax increases.

Austerity measures in Lithuania brought protesters onto the streets.

In the Spanish city of Zaragoza tens of thousands turned out to protest soaring unemployment.

In Greece students and farmers have also staged a series of protests.

Protesters clash with police at the Icelandic
parliament in Reykjavik

Icelandic protesters burn furniture

Protest in the Spanish city of Zaragoza

Riot cops and Spanish protester

Spanish protest in front of the Ministry of Industry.

Farmer's protests in Greece brought
parts of the country to a halt.

Farmers in Greece block highway.

Protesters clash with riot cops outside the
parliament building in Athens.

Mass rally in Riga.

Bulgarian protester.

Riot police in action.

Protest in Sofia, Bulgaria

Tags: Europe, riots, protests, economic meltdown, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Greece, Spain, Bulgaria

Jan 26, 2009

Berlusconi rape joke stirs outrage

Italy's tycoon-premier, Silvio Berlusconi, stirred outrage Sunday when he suggested that Italian women were so beautiful they need military escorts to avoid being raped.

The rape remarks followed Berlusconi's proposal to deploy 30,000 Italian troops in the streets in order to fight crime.

In a lame attempt to explain the rape comment, Berlusconi said that no matter how many soldiers were on-hand, it wasn't a guarantee against rape because Italian women are so beautiful the military presence alone couldn't guarantee their protection.

Giovanna Melandri of the opposition Democratic Party described Berlusconi's remarks as "profoundly offensive."

Berlusconi responded to the criticisms by digger a deeper hole. He said he was trying to 'compliment' Italian women and that Italians shouldn't forget a sense of "levity and good humor" where his comments are concerned.

Berlusconi has a late-adolescent need to draw attention to himself by cracking offensive jokes. The recent comments aren't anything new - he has a long history of gaffes.

Not so long ago when he was on a visit to Russia he referred to Barack Obama as "suntanned" - a remark that was also widely condemned.

His joking caused a diplomatic row in 2005, when he indicated that he had used his "playboy tactics" on President Tarja Halonen of Finland to ensure her backing for Italy to host the European Food Safety Authority.

His comment: "I had to use all my playboy tactics, even if they have not been used for some time" ... prompted Helsinki to summon the Italian ambassador to explain the remarks.

At an EU ministers' summit in 2002, Berlusconi made a hand sign behind the head of the Spanish foreign minister, Josep Piqué, during an official photoshoot. The sign, known as the "corna," was meant to indicate that Piqué was a cuckold.

When he took on the presidency of the EU Council of Ministers in 2003, one of Berlusconi's chief detractors was German SPD Member, Martin Schulz. At one point the Italian PM responded to criticism from Schulz with:

"Mr Schulz, I know a movie producer in Italy who is making a movie about Nazi concentration camps. I suggest you play the role of a Kapo. You are perfect for the part!"

The perma-tanned, cosmetically enhanced billionaire with his far-right associates is the real joke - it's just that nobody's laughing.

Tags: Sivio Berlusconi. rape joke, Italian troops, Giovanna Melandri

What's left to prove?

Jan 25, 2009

Conservative US Christian groups attack Obama on LGBT rights

The Barack Obama administration is coming under attack from conservative Christians who view its positions on abortion and LGBT rights as threatening.

A section on civil rights on the White House website that refers to the LGBT community, has been taken as evidence of what LifeSiteNews refers to as 'a radical homosexualist policy agenda.'

The American Family Association is one of the groups leading the charge: "This is only the beginning of Obama's plans to reshape society. His view is that unborn babies aren't worth protecting and that homosexuals deserve special rights."

Baptist News has a lengthy article on its site that focuses negative attention on positions taken by Obama:

President Obama campaigned as a social liberal, and -- if his website is any indication -- he intends to deliver on several controversial issues, from supporting same-sex civil unions and the repeal of the federal Defense of Marriage Act to overturning the military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy to being a staunch supporter of abortion rights.

In CovenantNews.com under the title heading White House Website Now 'Sodomite Publication' we find the following vitriol penned by Jim Rudd, the editor of Covenant News:

Civil officials who approve of homosexuality, make the civil government a vile cesspool from which the abominations vomit out across the land. By displaying such a contempt for the administration of Justice by promoting this criminal behavior, "such civil officials are not only the source of the defilement, they are the criminals, and a hostile enemy authorizing the destruction of the society in which we live."

In contrast to the intolerance on display by these groups, the White House website entry titled 'Support for the LGBT Community' opens with a quote from Obama that calls for mutual respect and dignity - link here.

Tony Benn upstages BBC with Gaza appeal : video

The recent BBC decision not to air the Gaza appeal by the Disasters Emergency Committee on the grounds that doing so might compromise the corp's 'impartiality' is both feeble and pathetic.

The DEC is non-political - an umbrella organization for 13 aid charities. In its appeal it said the devastation in Gaza was "so huge British aid agencies were compelled to act".

DEC chief exec Brendan Gormley: "We are totally apolitical ... this appeal is a response to humanitarian principles. The BBC seems to be confusing impartiality with equal airtime."

The BBC decision has been roundly condemned by senior British politicians and ministers. Criticism has also come from within the BBC itself. A large demo outside the BBC building in London was staged to protest the decision.

Meanwhile broadcasters ITV and Channel 4 have broken ranks and have said they are going to go ahead and broadcast the DEC appeal.

During a recent BBC appearance veteran Brit politician, Tony Benn, ignored the Beeb ruling and launched an appeal anyway... video here.

Benn accused the BBC of "betrayal" of its service obligations. He also said:

"The destruction in Gaza, and the loss of the lives of over a thousand civilians and children, has shocked the world as Secretary General of the UN, Ban Ki Moon, made clear, when he saw the devastation for himself.

"The human suffering that the people of Gaza have experienced over the last few weeks has appalled people who have seen it for themselves on their television screens.

"To deny the help that the aid agencies and the UN need at this moment in time is incomprehensible and it follows the bias in BBC reporting of this crisis, which has been widely criticised."

If you would like to send a complaint to the BBC over their decision not to carry the DEC appeal, you can do so by linking here.

Jan 23, 2009

Gamu-Toys creates Obama action figure

Japanese creators have come up with a Barack Obama action figure. It was produced by Gamu-Toys - best known for anime and manga characters.

The pic that shows Obama lying down features a Japanese kotatsu. A katatsu is a table-heated blanket for use in winter. Obama looks comfy cosy. He has mikans (tangerines) on hand if he gets hungry and Super Famicom if he gets bored.

Action figures Japanese-style tend to play up the super-hero side of their creations, often with an emphasis on martial arts. The odd incongruity of casting Obama in this context kind of misses the point of what Obama is about, but true-to-form where Gamu-Toys productions are concerned.

Fox's Glenn Beck misinforms Americans over Obama's second swearing-in

Glenn Beck - one of the more annoying personalities on Fox News - does a lot of screwing up. The inauguration helped to highlight a few of his low moments.

Beck complained about the benediction given by civil rights leader Reverend Joseph Lowery. The benediction was a reminder to those assembled that America is still a country in which racism is alive and well. It was an appeal for tolerance couched in language even children could relate to.

Beck managed to read a poisonous message into Lowery's appeal - suggesting that the Reverend was painting all of America as racist. He even compared Lowery to Jeremiah Wright.

This wasn't just wrong, it was inappropriate. To the credit of Americans of many different political stripes, there was an effort to come together and show a united front during a historical inauguration for America's first African American president. Many around the world were impressed by the readiness of Americans from all walks of life to show respect for this historical first.

With his petty, negative commentary, Beck showed a lack of class.

When Obama retook the Oath-of-Office as a result of a minor slip-up first time around by Chief Justice John Roberts, there was no Bible involved. This set Beck off who claimed that he had "checked" and announced "we (the US) have never had a president sworn into office without a Bible.”

This is simply a falsehood. Teddy Roosevelt didn't use a Bible in 1901; Lyndon Johnson is believed to have used a Catholic missal aboard Air Force One. John Quincy Adams used a constitutional law book.

In his haste to score a hit, Beck didn't seem to mind skating around a few historical facts. Of course he is part of the blond and unbalanced end of the media so we shouldn't really be surprised.

Roe versus Wade anniversary : Obama backs women's right-to-choose

Thursday marked the 36th anniversary of the US Supreme Court decision that led to the legalization of abortion.

Obama reaffirmed the vision behind the Roe decision when he said Thursday:

(Roe versus Wade) not only protects women's health and reproductive freedom, but stands for a broader principle: that government should not intrude on our most private family matters.

The 1973 ruling overturned state laws against abortion. It held that a woman's right to an abortion was protected by the right to privacy under the American Constitution's 14th Amendment.

Read a more detailed report here from CNN.

Rush Limbaugh has four words for Obama...

Rush Limbaugh is obsessed with liberals. He sees them everywhere. He referred to Fox News as "liberal media" and thinks Republicans who wish Obama well have "caved in."

He views Obama as liberal-in-chief.

Limbaugh claims he was asked by a "major American print publication" to offer a 400-word statement laying out his "hope for the Obama presidency"... he responded by saying all he needed was four words ...

Story here.

Israelis involved in Gaza operation could be arrested for war crimes in Europe

Since the ceasefire in Gaza, international human rights groups have been gathering evidence in the form of testimonials and photos with the intent of filing suits both with the International Court of Justice in the Hague and local European courts.

Israeli authorities have begun issuing travel advisories to IDF officers who were involved in the Gaza operation. According to YNet news, international arrest warrants may already have been issued.

YNet :

While the State (Israel) is likely to be able to thwart such attempts in The Hague, having suits of this nature filed with local European courts quashed is more complex: Many of the European courts have taken it upon themselves to hear cases of alleged war crimes perpetrated in other countries, even if they themselves have no affinity to the case.

Once a European court decides to hear such a case, it is within its right to issue bench warrants for the alleged criminals – in this case top politicians and military personnel – and that is a move the State might find difficult to undo.

Tags: Gaza, Israeli war crimes, Hague, international arrest warrants, IDF, travel advisory

Jan 22, 2009

Catholic priests in court over $1 million dollar embezzlement scheme

Two Catholic priests have been accused of stealing $1 million from their parishioners. Church auditors believe the pair ripped-off the flock to the tune of around $8 million over a 20 year period, but because of restrictions written into the Statute of Limitations, the accused priests only have to answer charges on the lesser amount.

John Skehan and Francis Guinan 'served' at the St. Vincent Ferrer church in West Palm Beach, Florida. It is alleged they funneled donations into offshore accounts. The stolen cash was used to finance a business venture, gambling trips to Vegas, prostitutes, luxury homes, rare coin collections and what the cops describe as 'heavy drinking'.

In 1984 they set up a corporation named SHAG Inc. The name was an acronym made up of the partner's first names. The third player was a priest named Michael Hickey who managed to rack up five DUI convictions between 1979 and 1999.

The priests invested thousands of dollars in a failed mortgage-loan scheme. SHAG went out of operation in 2004.

A parishioner became suspicious and contacted the cops in 2005. When the church's books were opened up for investigation, Skehan and Guinan fled the country. They succeeded in evading the law until their return to the US in 2006.

This bizarre saga is like the script for a B movie. The deference accorded to Catholic priests and the inefficient checks-and-balances in many churches, enabled Skehan and Guinan to get away with their rip-off schemes for as long as they did.

No doubt while they were stealing money from the church, they were also presiding over mass, dispensing the sacrament, hearing confessions and shaking hands with parishioners at the door.

This is just one more example of the hypocrisy that is a distinguishing feature of a church that covered up sexual abuse by priests until the heat forced the Vatican to get serious about the issue.

Skehan who is now 81, could be looking at a 31 year sentence. He has managed to round up 20 character witnesses to plead his case, in hopes of a reduced sentence. No word if they are being rewarded for their exertions.

Guinan,66, is pleading innocent of the charges and claims the money had been given out as cash to church employees. Given the amounts involved, he must have needed a Wells Fargo truck to come and go from the manse.

Times Online has more detail on the case.

Priests steal millions from Florida church

Jan 21, 2009

William Ayers refused entry into Canda

Earlier this week the attention of Americans and Canadians was on the inauguration of Barack Obama. What might have slipped their attention was the decision by Canada Border Services Agency to prevent a former neighbor of Mr Obama's from entering our dominion.

William Ayers, sometimes described as 'a 60's radical' is an education professor at the University of Illinois. He had been scheduled to speak at the Centre for Urban Schooling at the University of Toronto's Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.

Ayers was philosophical about the refusal to allow him entry: "The border guards reviewed some stuff and said I wasn't going to be allowed into Canada. ... If it were me, I would have let me in. I couldn't possibly be a threat to Canada."

The decision to bar Ayers seems odd, given that he has been back and forth to Canada on a number of occasions in the past for speaking engagements in Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver.

During the US presidential election Ayers was repeatedly attacked by Republican vice-presidential nominee, Sarah Palin. She characterized Obama's associations with Ayers as 'palling around with domestic terrorists'.

In the course of the campaign Palin had difficulty getting her facts straight at the best of times, and her version of William Ayers was no exception. In 1995 in Chicago, Ayers organized a meet-the-candidate coffee session in his home for Obama, who at the time was running for the state senate. The two men lived in the same neighborhood. They also worked on Chicago school reform and served on the same charity board together.

The 60's are long behind us and Ayers has shown himself to be a man with exceptional devotion to public service, noted for his work in educational reform. He has authored or edited more than a dozen books. In 1997 he was named Chicago Citizen of the Year and has advised Mayor Daley on school reform.

The decision to ban William Ayers from entering Canada is petty and embarrassing. Let's hope NDP Immigration critic, Olivia Chow, has some success when she asks Immigration Minister Jason Kenney to review the decision so that Professor Ayers can deliver his lecture.

A Toronto Star report offers more detail on the story.

Park Dae-sung aka 'Minerva' : South Korean blogger charged with 'harming public interest'

South Korean blogger Park Dae-sung went by the online name 'Minerva' - an appropriate choice as it turns out.

The goddess Minerva governed wisdom and commerce. She is also reputed to have possessed oracular gifts - a talent Park Dae-sung also displayed.

Park Dae-sung aka Minerva had a knack for drawing in a large internet audience. At the height of his popularity it wasn't uncommon for a single blog post to attract as many as 100,000 readers.

He appeared so well informed, some readers thought that perhaps he was an economics professor.

As it turned out Minerva was a 31 year-old unemployed man who acquired his business and financial skills primarily from surfing the web and reading books.

Minerva correctly predicted the slump in the nation's economy. He also predicted a slide in the value of Korean currency - notwithstanding government intervention.

He made specific predictions that turned out to be correct. For example he predicted the collapse of Lehman Brothers a week before it occurred.

Problems arose when his statements began to impact the money market itself. In a posting dated December 29, he stated that the government had ordered financial institutions to stop buying dollars in an effort to bolster Korean currency. The posting contributed to havoc on the local foreign exchange market, forcing South Korea's financial authority to come up with $2 billion to prop up the won - the national currency.

The government claims that some of Minerva's information was misleading or plain wrong. No doubt they also had an issue with the blogger's attacks on high profile players and criticisms of the system.

The authorities tracked him down and charged him with 'spreading false information with the intent of harming public interest.'

Park Dae-sung claims he was simply trying to help people out. He said: "I wrote articles in a bid to help people who are alienated from government. Small merchants, individuals and laymen who have suffered from the financial crisis."

As far as we know, he wasn't engaging in any crimes - he was simply exercising his right to state his opinion. But apparently S.Korean tolerance for free speech only goes so far.

Park Dae-sung has been denied bail and is awaiting trial. He could be facing up to a five year sentence.

Tags: Park Dae-sung, Minerva, arrested, S. Korea, blogger

Jan 20, 2009

Inauguration photos : Obama being sworn in

Amnesty International accuses Israel of Gaza war crimes

Israel has been accused by Amnesty International of using white phosphorus munitions.

Donatella Rovera, Amnesty International researcher: "Such extensive use of this weapon in Gaza's densely populated residential neighbourhoods is inherently indiscriminate. Its repeated use in this manner, despite evidence of its indiscriminate effects and its toll on civilians, is a war crime."

Amnesty has hard evidence to back up their claim. It sent Brit weapons expert, Chris Cobb-Smith, into Gaza when the ceasefire took effect. He found widespread evidence of the use of white phosphorus.

Guardian:

"We saw streets and alleyways littered with evidence of the use of white phosphorus, including still-burning wedges and the remnants of the shells and canisters fired by the Israeli army," he (Cobb-Smith) said in a statement yesterday.

"White phosphorus is a weapon intended to provide a smokescreen for troop movements on the battlefield. It is highly incendiary, air burst and its spread effect is such that it should never be used on civilian areas."

Inauguration online: watch Obama ceremony on these sites

These are some of the best links for viewing the inauguration online:

http://www.c-span.org/politics/c-span-inauguration-hub.aspx

http://www.hulu.com/spotlight/obamapresidency

http://www.cnn.com/video/fb/facebook.html?stream=stream1

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/01/08/national/inauguration09/main4707733.shtml

http://abcnews.go.com/

A good link for Spanish coverage:

http://noticias.terra.com/elecciones-2008/portada.htm

Tags: Obama inauguration, online viewing, sites

Jan 19, 2009

Writer Harry Nicolaides and others charged with 'insulting' Thai monarchy

Aussie writer Harry Nicolaides isn't exactly a best selling author. A novel he wrote three years ago titled Verisimilitude has sold seven copies. The reason we are even hearing about Nicolaides is because he included a brief passage in his novel that referred to an unnamed crown prince, and for that 'crime' he now sits in a Thai jail serving a three year sentence.

Fiction writers and journalists in Thailand who include critical commentary about the monarchy, could well be setting themselves up for consequences because the monarchy in Thailand is protected by some of the world's most stringent lèse majesté laws. Ignorance is no defense either. Nicolaides claimed he was unaware he was committing a crime - but was found guilty nonetheless.

The judge told the court: "He has written a book that slandered the king, the crown prince and Thailand and the monarchy."

In a different time Nicolaides' might have been treated more leniently, but in the current political climate, the authorities are on high alert watching for what they believe to be a rising tide of anti-monarchy sentiment.

Harry Nicolaides isn't the first westerner to fall foul of lèse majesté laws in Thailand.

New York based Committee to Protect Journalists has come to the defense of BBC journalist, Jonathan Head, who has been accused of slandering Thailand's 81 year old King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

Complaints against Head were lodged by police Lt.Col. Wattanasak Mungkandee, who claims he is acting in a 'personal capacity'.

BBC has described the allegations as "completely unfounded".

Bob Dietz of the Committee to Protect Journalists said - "It is time for prosecutors and investigators in Thailand to immediately drop these outrageous and punitive charges against our colleague Jonathan Head ... Head's reporting has raised important questions about Thailand's deteriorating political situation and he should be allowed to report without fear of official reprisals."

King Bhumibol is protected by lèse majesté laws which can result in critics being jailed for three to fifteen years. These laws have been exploited for political purposes. Former premier Thaksin Shinawatra and his political opponent Sondhi Limthongkul both filed charges of lèse majesté against each other during the 2005–2006 political crisis. The Thai miltary coup of 2006 was provoked to some extent by Thaksin's alleged lèse majesté.

The repressive nature of these laws were also demonstrated by the YouTube ban in April, 2007. Thailand blocked access to YouTube because a clip allegedly insulted the monarchy.

Lèse majesté charges can be filed by anyone. A Swiss national named Oliver Jufer was sentenced to 19 years in jail for daubing black paint on a portrait on Bhumibol. It is claimed that Jufer was drunk at the time. He received a pardon a month after his conviction.

Other insults that could result in criminal complaints of lèse majesté include placing photos of any other person above the king on websites and refusing to stand when the Royal Anthem is being played in public venues.

Link here for Harry Nicolaides BBC video.

Cartoon - Thai priorities

Thai priorities

Jan 18, 2009

Pro-Palestinian Orthodox Jews harassed by Zionists

The intolerance that has distinguished Zionist actions in the occupied territories and most recently with the brutal attack on Gaza, extends also to Zionist behavior elsewhere.

British police are providing protection to a number of pro-Palestinian Jews who have been targeted by Zionist fanatics in the UK.

Rabbi Aharon Cohen, an Orthodox Jew and a leading member of the anti-Zionist Neturei Karta movement, had an explosive device placed in his mail box - payback it seems for attending a Manchester demo to protest Israeli actions in Gaza.

Rabbi Elchenon Beck in company with six other rabbis attended a rally outside the Israeli Embassy on January 6 to express their solidarity with the Palestinians of Gaza. On the way home from the rally they were set upon by assailants described by the rabbi as Zionists.

Rabbi Beck said they were forced to call the police, since one of their group was pushed to the ground and others threatened. He said "All the time they are trying to intimidate us, but we get used to it."

This harassment is typical of the 'brown shirt' tactics militant Zionists have been accused of using on other occasions.

Tags: Orthodox Jews, harassment, Neturei Karta, Zionists, Israel, Gaza

Vladimir Putin painting fetches top dollar at St Petersburg auction

A painting by Russian PM Vladimir Putin went up for auction recently in his hometown of St Petersburg. It went for the equivalent of $1.37 million Cdn.

The painting is of snowfall seen through a window with four panes. The work was started by Putin but finished off by a professional artist. It is believed Putin is responsible for the outline of the window frame.

The painting is part of a charity auction drive to raise funds for children's hospitals.

Along with other well known Russians, Putin was asked to contribute a painting based on a letter of the cyrillic alphabet. Putin's letter is a U for the Russian word Uzor, meaning "pattern". The work is part of a series based on the theme of a story titled The Night Before Christmas by Russian writer Nikolai Gogol.

The BBC reports that "It has become the most expensive painting ever sold in Russia, selling for more than the fourth version of Kazimir Malevich's Black Square which was bought by the Hermitage museum in 2004 for $1 million."

You can link here for the BBC video.

The owner of the painting, Natalya Kurnikova, intends to show it in her gallery. She said: "The painting shows another aspect of a great personality."

Putin's domestic popularity is something that puzzles many in the west, but in the minds of a lot of Russians the PM is nothing less than a national superhero.

After recent photos that hit the web showing the great man posing in karate gear, fishing bare chested in the Siberian wilderness and shooting a rampaging tiger - we can only presume that this unexpected arty side reflects a kinder and gentler phase. The fact that he recently ripped into the Ukraine over the gas issue, doesn't quite play into the new persona but 'artist' can now be added to the list of his many and varied accomplishments.

Jan 17, 2009

Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu advocates carpet bombing Gazans

Former Sephardi chief rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu makes some Iranian mullahs seem moderate, even restrained. His solution to rocket attacks on Sderot has slipped off the radar with the world's attention on Operation Cast Lead in Gaza - but Eliyahu's 'solution' is worth revisiting if only to demonstrate that genocidal rhetoric doesn't only come from Iran.

In a letter to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Eliyahu cited "Jewish war ethics" (definitely not on file at the UN) - in calling for the carpet bombing of Gaza.

According to Eliyahu's antediluvian reasoning, passages from the Bible - notably Genesis 34 and Kings 9,14 - demonstrate that collective punishment is called for to punish the 'immoral actions' of individuals.

Since the citizens of Gaza didn't prevent the firing of rockets - in Eliyahu's mind they are therefore asking for it. The fact that the bulk of Gazan citizenry had no clue if and when a homemade rocket might have been deployed doesn't come into the verdict... everybody needs to die... kids too.

Eliyahu's other contention is that it is 'forbidden' to risk the lives of IDF soldiers in a ground operation. His son Shmuel Eliyahu, also a rabbi, explained that rather than a ground operation his father advocated carpet bombing the areas from which Qassams were launched - irrespective of the numbers of Palestinians killed.

Demonstrating the type of genocidal logic reminiscent of the mind of Heinrich Himmler, Eliyahu jr then added:

"If they don't stop after we kill 100, then we must kill a thousand. And if they do not stop after 1,000 then we must kill 10,000. If they still don't stop we must kill 100,000, even a million. Whatever it takes to make them stop."

Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu and son are lunatics who should be charged for advocating mass murder. But no doubt there is a good sized portion of the Israeli populace who think they make total sense.

Controversial statements aren't new for Eliyahu. At a service on the anniversary of an attack on a Jerusalem yeshiva, he announced that the life of one yeshiva student is worth more than the lives of a thousand Arabs.

In the meantime copies of the former chief rabbi's letter should be forwarded to all parties in the US government who think it's a good idea to keep adding to Israel's ever-growing arsenal of high-tech weapons.

Bush's final approval rating : 22%

With a final approval rating of 22%, George Bush leaves office one of the most unpopular presidents in US history.

Seventy-three percent of Americans disapprove of the way he has handled his job over the last eight years.

You get some idea how poor Bush's poll numbers are when you consider that Clinton left office with 68% approval, Bush sr left with 54% and Jimmy Carter with 44%.

Even Harry Truman who previously had the lowest end-of-term approval with 32%, tops Bush by 10%.

The Crawford ranch must be looking pretty good.

Great escapes

Tags: Bush, escape, break-outs, Houdini

Jan 16, 2009

Yonit Levy : Israeli anchor blamed for showing empathy for Gazans

Israeli news readers who comment on Operation Cast Lead better have cast iron expressions on their faces or some viewers will complain of treachery.

Anchor for Channel 2, Yonit Levy, has been accused of being 'anti-Zionist,' 'weakening national morale' and 'empathizing with the enemy' because in the course of interviews with Gazan Arabs she asked about civilian casualties and expressed concern for fellow humans.

One outraged viewer started an online petition to object to Levy's 'empathy for the enemy'. The viewer hoped to raise 10,000 signatures but quickly reached 30,000 plus. She has since disabled the signature option claiming it has gotten out-of-control.

Viewers also complained because at the end of a broadcast Ms Levy said: "It's hard to convince the world that the war is justified when we have one person dead and the Palestinian nation has 350 dead."

Other female Israeli newsreaders are also under suspicion of engaging in the 'crime' of empathy - this would include Channel 10's Miki Haimovich and Oshrat Kotler. And horror of horrors - Dana Weiss of Channel 2 was spotted assuming facial expressions during interviews that connote sorrow or pain for those Gazans who are suffering.

This overreaction on the part of Israeli viewers sounds very much like guilt dressed up as patriotism. Hundreds of innocent Palestinian children have been butchered in an assault that has shocked and outraged the world.

During the Third Reich it was considered to be treachery to express humanitarian feelings for Jews. Any German newscaster mad enough to have expressed on-air empathy for Jews would assuredly have been arrested by the Gestapo and executed after a hasty hearing in front of Nazi Judge Roland Freisler.

Perhaps some Israelis would be happier if Ms Levy received similar treatment.

Sir Gerald Kaufman : Jewish MP compares Israelis in Gaza to Nazis

British MP, Sir Gerald Kaufman, who was raised as an orthodox Jew and a Zionist, today compared the Israeli actions in Gaza to the Nazis who forced his family to flee Poland:

My grandmother was ill in bed when the Nazis came to her home town .. a German soldier shot her dead in her bed.

My grandmother did not die to provide cover for Israeli soldiers murdering Palestinian grandmothers in Gaza.

The present Israeli government ruthlessly and cynically exploit the continuing guilt from gentiles over the slaughter of Jews in the Holocaust as justification for their murder of Palestinians.

Sir Gerald likened the Israeli claim that large numbers of Gaza victims are militants to the claims of the Nazis : "I suppose the Jews fighting for their lives in the Warsaw ghetto could have been dismissed as militants."

He is calling for an arms embargo on Israel : "It is time for our Government to make clear to the Israeli government that its conduct and policies are unacceptable and to impose a total arms ban on Israel."

Sir Gerald hasn't always been a critic of Israel. In his youth he was infatuated with Zionism. In a BBC documentary titled The End of the Affair, he describes how his early idealism gave way to eventual disillusionment. He has called Israel a "pariah" and its senior politicians "war criminals".

In April 2002, in response to Israel's military operation codenamed Defensive Shield, Sir Gerald had this to say:

It is time to remind Sharon that the star of David belongs to all Jews, not to his repulsive Government. His actions are staining the star of David with blood. The Jewish people, whose gifts to civilised discourse include Einstein and Epstein, Mendelssohn and Mahler, Sergei Eisenstein and Billy Wilder, are now symbolised throughout the world by the blustering bully Ariel Sharon, a war criminal implicated in the murder of Palestinians at the Sabra and Shatila camps and now involved in killing Palestinians once again.

Of the present Israeli leadership and their actions in Gaza, he said: "They are not simply war criminals, they are fools."

Link here for Sir Gerald's comments on YouTube.

Jan 15, 2009

David Cerny : hoax EU sculpture 'Entropa' sparks diplomatic row

To mark its innings as holder of the European Union presidency, the Czech Republic commissioned a work from Prague artist David Cerny.

In his project application Cerny said the work would be created by artists from 27 EU member-states. The 27 Euro artists never materialized. Instead Cerny made up their names, then went ahead and put the sculpture together with a couple of his friends - for a laugh basically it seems, since Cerny has since confessed the whole thing was a hoax.

The final work is titled Entropa. Being fairly weighty it had to be transported to Brussels in three trailer trucks. When it was installed it generated so much anger in some quarters, there have been requests for it to be removed.

Apparently Cerny was inspired by Monty Python's Flying Circus, and you can definitely see the influence. The humor is both irreverent and ambivalent. You know he's taking the piss but it isn't always clear at whose expense - except of course for the more obvious targets.

The work is a sort of mosaic map of Europe - each country depicted as a stereotype that in some cases is less than flattering. Bulgaria for example is depicted as an 8 ton Turkish squat toilet - or rather toilets. This is taken by some to represent the years Bulgaria spent under Turkish rule.

Betina Joteva, a press officer from the Bulgarian EU office described the sculpture as "a humiliation for the Bulgarian nation and an offence to national dignity."

There have been suspicions that Cerny's work might be taking a dig at the EU concept in general. The Czech-Republic president, Vaclav Klaus, has long been regarded as Euro-skeptic. He even called for the bloc to be scrapped. He has described the EU as 'a threat as big as the Soviet Union'.

Slovakia is also deeply insulted. It is depicted in the work as a wrapped-up corpse.

The Czech decision to go with Cerny can't have been that naive - the Prague artist is known for his controversial art. His sculpture of a Saddam Hussein-like figure preserved in formaldehyde was banned by two countries.

Given that the work is a hoax and the 27 EU artists who were supposed to be in on it - aren't... a few questions have been raised about where the roughly $514,000 in funding went.

For his part, Cerny claims that it is all a bit of fun and that he's "shocked that certain states don't have a sense of humor".

See what you think. Country-by-country exhibits beneath:

Bulgaria : represented as a multi-storied Turkish toilet

Italy : football theme

Holland : flood waters have taken over with only the
minarets of mosques visible.

France : keeps up its reputation for strikes and bitching

Germany : this was contentious because
the mini-autobahns look sort of
shaped into a swastika.

Spain : represented as a slab of concrete on account of all the
construction that has been a feature of life there.

Denmark : Lego blocks made into the prophet
Mohammad with turban bomb.

Romania : depicted as a Dracula theme park.

Luxembourg : a tiny gold nugget
with a for-sale sign

Poland : priests raising a gay pride flag.

Tags: David Cerny, EU sculpture, Entropa, Brussels, Bulgaria, Turkish toilet

Jan 14, 2009

Spain denounces Israeli attack on Gaza : 250,000 protest

Organizers of rallies in Spain to protest the Israeli invasion of Gaza estimate that the turn-out was as high as 250,000.

In addition to the Madrid demo, protests took place in Seville, Malaga, Oviedo, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Ourense.

Oscar-winning actor Javier Bardem's mother Pilar, was among the speakers. She said "The Spanish government has to do something. The Gaza Strip is now practically a concentration camp."

Spanish PM Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero told protesters in Ourense: "It is my duty to call on Israel to implement an immediate cease-fire."

Canada refuses to sign UN resolution condemning Israel : defending the indefensible

Out of 47 member nations, Canada was the only country that refused to sign a recent UN resolution condemning Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip and accusing it of grave human rights violations.

This should surprise nobody in the international community. Prime Minister Stephen Harper is in so deep with a pro-Israel agenda he's virtually a cheerleader.

Pro-Israel media outlets in Canada have done a disservice to journalism in covering the outrage in Gaza with the focus on Israel's 'right to defend itself' - even if that 'right' does happen to involve massive overreaction and the killing of 257 children and wounding of 1, 080. (UN figure as of Jan 8).

Images of Israelis running for cover because a homemade rocket on a wildly inaccurate trajectory is heading vaguely in their direction are juxtaposed with images of Israeli operations in Gaza - as though this is a fair and equal comparison. It is nothing more than pro-Israel propaganda because few Qassams hit their target - or even close.

In the last 8 years of homemade rocket fire, less than 20 Israelis were killed. The chances of an Israeli being hit by lightning is higher than the odds of being struck by a rocket. These images are designed to create the illusion that this is something close to a war in which threat and suffering is being experienced equally. It's a big lie designed to boost the sham of Israeli justification.

Forget the term 'war' - a more apt metaphor is a thug picking on a much weaker neighbor in order to show off the power of a US-supplied military machine that has been stung ever since the "mistakes" of the 2006 Lebanon war. Palestinian children are the sacrificial victims to help restore the IDF's new found hutzpah.

On January 10 the UK Guardian published a letter that speaks to truth about what is transpiring in Gaza. I am posting it in full as it reflects the views held by many Jews who haven't sold out to the pro-Israel corporate lobby and the politicians who are in bed with it.

We the undersigned are all of Jewish origin. When we see the dead and bloodied bodies of young children, the cutting off of water, electricity and food, we are reminded of the siege of the Warsaw Ghetto. When Dov Weisglass, an adviser to the Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, talked of putting Gazans "on a diet" and the deputy defence minister, Matan Vilnai, talked about the Palestinians experiencing "a bigger shoah" (holocaust), this reminds us of Governor General Hans Frank in Nazi-occupied Poland, who spoke of "death by hunger".

The real reason for the attack on Gaza is that Israel is only willing to deal with Palestinian quislings. The main crime of Hamas is not terrorism but its refusal to accept becoming a pawn in the hands of the Israeli occupation regime in Palestine.

The decision last month by the EU council to upgrade relations with Israel, without any specific conditions on human rights, has encouraged further Israeli aggression. The time for appeasing Israel is long past. As a first step, Britain must withdraw the British ambassador to Israel and, as with apartheid South Africa, embark on a programme of boycott, divestment and sanctions.

Ben Birnberg, Prof Haim Bresheeth, Deborah Fink, Bella Freud, Tony Greenstein, Abe Hayeem, Prof Adah Kay, Yehudit Keshet, Dr Les Levidow, Prof Yosefa Loshitzky, Prof Moshe Machover, Miriam Margolyes, Prof Jonathan Rosenhead, Seymour Alexander, Ben Birnberg, Martin Birnstingl, Prof. Haim Bresheeth, Ruth Clark, Judith Cravitz, Mike Cushman, Angela Dale, Merav Devere, Greg Dropkin, Angela Eden, Sarah Ferner, Alf Filer, Mark Findlay, Sylvia Finzi, Bella Freud, Tessa van Gelderen, Claire Glasman, Ruth Hall, Adrian Hart, Alain Hertzmann, Abe Hayeem, Rosamene Hayeem, Anna Hellmann, Selma James, Riva Joffe, Yael Kahn, Michael Kalmanovitz, Ros Kane, Prof. Adah Kay, Yehudit Keshet, Mark Krantz, Bernice Laschinger, Pam Laurance, Dr Les Levidow, Prof. Yosefa Loshitzky, Prof. Moshe Machover, Beryl Maizels, Miriam Margolyes, Helen Marks, Martine Miel, Diana Neslen, O Neumann, Susan Pashkoff, Hon. Juliet Peston, Renate Prince, Roland Rance, Sheila Robin, Ossi Ron, Manfred Ropschitz, John Rose, Prof. Jonathan Rosenhead, Leon Rosselson, Michael Sackin, Ian Saville, Amanda Sebestyen, Sam Semoff, Prof. Ludi Simpson, Viv Stein, Inbar Tamari, Ruth Tenne, Norman Traub, Eve Turner, Tirza Waisel, Karl Walinets, Renee Walinets, Stanley Walinets, Philip Ward, Naomi Wimborne-Idrissi, Ruth Williams, Jay Woolrich, Ben Young, Myk Zeitlin, Androulla Zucker, John Zucker

Shoah Designs : unique Israeli body art

Oscar Grant update : BART officer Mehserle arrested on murder warrant

Johannes Mehserle, the BART cop who shot Oscar Grant in the back at Fruitvale Station, Oakland, has been arrested in Nevada on suspicion of murder.

SFGate reports:

Mehserle was arrested in the New Year's Day shooting of Oscar Grant, a 22-year-old supermarket worker from Hayward who was lying facedown after being pulled off a BART train by police investigating a fight. An Alameda County judge signed an arrest warrant alleging murder, and Mehserle surrendered without incident, authorities said.

The shooting, which was recorded by passengers in videos widely circulated on the Internet and television, prompted public outrage, and some viewers said that the shooting appeared to be an execution.

Following the shooting Mehserle refused to discuss the matter with BART criminal investigators. He chose to resign rather than answer questions from BART's internal affairs division - then took off for Nevada citing threats on his life.

Protests were held in Oakland after the Grant shooting. A number of Oakland community leaders and civil rights activists believe that the Mehserle case is symbolic also of a more widespread problem that involves the targeting of black youth by law enforcement officers.

Desley Brooks, councilwoman for East Oakland, went so far as to call the shooting of Oscar Grant "an execution."

SFGate:

Grant's family has filed a $25 million legal claim against BART, signaling an intention to sue for damages. The family's attorney, John Burris, said late Tuesday that he was pleased to hear of Mehserle's arrest.

"If it's true, the family is delighted, and it will really help with the healing process," Burris said. "This is also very important for the community. This had to occur; it was almost a no-brainer. I think the district attorney ought to be commended for moving (the case) expeditiously."

One truth the Oscar Grant shooting demonstrates is the power of the cellphone to expose incidents that in former times would likely have resulted in a cover-up and official inaction. It also demonstrates people power. The videos and online discussions of the content helped to mobilize the call for justice in Oakland.

Jan 13, 2009

Hedy Epstein : Holocaust survivor protests the assault on Gaza

Hedy Epstein is a remarkable woman who has worked courageously over the years to promote human rights and social justice. She recently spoke out to protest the Israeli attack on Gaza - video link at the bottom of this post.

Since 2003 Ms Epstein has visited the occupied West Bank five times to witness the situation first hand. She has been involved in protests against Israel's occupation of Palestinian land and the demolition of Palestinian homes and olive orchards.

This from the site "Hedy Epstein : Holocaust Survivor and Speaker" :

Hedy was 8 years old when Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany on January 30, 1933. She remembers her parents and other adults talking about Hitler, saying that they hoped he would not gain power in Germany, and then, after he did, hoping that he would not remain in office very long.

After that January day, things began to get slowly worse for Jews and other minorities in Germany. A boycott of Jewish businesses. Anti-semitism in schools. Revocation of German citizenship for all Jews. Kristallnacht, known today as Reichsprogromnacht in Germany. Burning of synagogues. Jewish males over the age of 16 placed into "Schutzhaft," or "protective custody," in concentration camps throughout Germany. Finally, all Jews deported into labor or concentration camps. The death of 6 million Jews and 5 million others in those camps.

On May 18, 1939, Hedy went to England on a children's transport. Five hundred children were on this transport, part of the almost 10,000 children that England took in between December 1938 and September 1, 1939, the beginning of World War II. Hedy's parents had tried for many years to leave Germany as a family, but were unsuccessful, due to emigration restrictions in various countries around the world. Finally, after consulting with the 14-year-old Hedy, her parents found a way out for her on the children's transport.

In speaking out against the Israeli attack on Gaza that has resulted in the deaths of some 257 children, Hedy Epstein is not a lone voice in the Jewish community. Many Jews are opposed to Israeli actions in Gaza and the appalling civilian death toll.

In 2008 Ms Epstein toured in the UK and Ireland to speak out against Israel's war crimes.

Please link here for Hedy Epstein's video message.

Prince Harry : 'Paki' and 'raghead' remarks all in the family tradition

Prince Harry, is in hot water over his "Paki" and "raghead" remarks.

Harry made the "Paki" remark on a video shot while he was training as an officer at the Sandhurst military academy. He referred to a member of his platoon as "our little Paki friend ... Ahmed."

Some have argued in Harry's defense that "Paki" has a certain colloquial usage - it is used proudly by some youths of Pakistani origin - which is true. Names used to attack others acquire a new power when they are adopted by those being targeted. For example the gay community took possession of the word "queer" and began using it with pride, thus defusing its power-to-insult.

Others argue that equivalent terms such as "Aussie" and Russkie" get a pass, so why the double standard? Well obviously because "Paki" in the mouths of certain people has long been used as an explicit racist insult.

Harry defenders have also made the point that he didn't use the word with malice. But it's a bit like the "N" word - dangerous territory for whites irrespective of the tone employed - especially from the mouth of one who is a direct scion of an Empire that had a whole lexicon of racist terms for 'the natives'.

The "raghead" remark was directed at one of Harry's comrades who appears to have some sort of camouflage on his head. The Prince is heard saying: "It's Dan the Man... fuck me, you look like a raghead."

You can watch the videos here.

Harry's apology video here.

It wasn't so long ago that Harry showed up at a party dressed as a Nazi - not as out there as you might think. A number of British royals have German ancestry and quite a few titled Brits had Nazi sympathies in the WW2 era. An uncharitable view of the incident might be that Harry was keeping-up-the-side.

It's surprising that anyone would be surprised by Harry's racist lingo given the family he has grown up in. Harry has been exposed to upper crust prejudices from a young age but unlike his elders, hasn't yet mastered the art of hypocrisy. He used language in public that most of the titled keep behind the walls of their gated retreats.

Royal privilege and an inbred sense of elitism are two sides of the same coin, and it tends to breed a 'them-and-us... top-down' view of the world.

No matter how apparently polite, magnanimous or charming royals appear to be in public, after a few drinks in the company of the like-minded, latent prejudices invariably surface.

I posted recently on the new book by BBC presenter Edward Staunton titled It's a PC World. In the book Staunton describes the late Queen Mother as a "ghastly old bigot" - a conclusion he reached after a conversation in which the elder royal managed to insult most of Europe ... link here for the post.

Harry's grandfather the Duke of Edinburgh is an eccentric even by aristocratic oddball standards. He's prone to major league gaffes when out-and-about. He has frequently dropped off-color, even blatantly racist remarks as casually as a " 'ows about you?". The Duke is so out-of-touch it's not unlike a clinical condition.

Titled nobs are insulated from the day-to-day realities of the 'little people.' Charity work and boat launchings aside, many of these people have never put in an honest days work in their life.

British PM Gordon Brown has come to Harry's defense. He said Harry's remarks were "a mistake" and went on to describe him as a "role model" for young people. In fact Harry has been let off the hook by most Brit politicos and editors with little more than a slap on the wrist and a "naughty boy" admonition.

Wonder how the British Asian community feels about it? It's hard to avoid the perception that Harry is being indulged because of who he is... which is of course, exactly the case.

Cartoon "Chip off the old block" here.

Chip off the old block

Jan 12, 2009

Gene Robinson : world's first openly gay bishop will take part in Obama inauguration

The decision to have evangelical preacher Rick Warren give the invocation at Obama's inauguration has drawn a lot of heat from the gay community. Warren has made comments that appeared to place homosexuality in the same category as pedophilia and incest. He is also against same-sex marriage.

One of the critics of the Warren pick was the Right Rev. Gene Robinson, the openly gay Episcopal bishop of New Hampshire.

An invitation has now also been extended to Robinson to take part in the inauguration ceremony. He will offer a prayer at the Lincoln Memorial during the opening ceremony.

The decision of the inaugural committee to include Robinson could be seen as an attempt to defuse anger over the Warren pick. However Inaugural Committee spokesperson Clark Stevens pointed out that Robinson was invited because he offered advice to Mr Obama during the campaign and because of his work with the church.

Stevens described Robinson as: "an important figure in the religious community. We are excited that he will be involved."

Independent:

Mr Robinson, bishop for New Hampshire, said that he is not sure what he will say yet. But speaking on CNN he described the opportunity as "a remarkable and humbling thing to have happened".

He added that it showed that Mr Obama was "exactly who he said he was" when he said that he wanted "everyone at the table".

The Anglican Church has been badly fractured over the issue of gay clergy. In reaction to the the gay-positive stance of many within the church, members of GAFCON - Global Anglican Future Conference - have established a traditionalist splinter group.

Gaza cellphone signals blocked by Israelis

A recent Taghreed El-Khodary report from Gaza was published in the New York Times January 10. She states that Israel has "managed to block cellphone bandwidth, so very few amateur cellphone photographs are getting out of Gaza."

This is just one more attempt to put a blackout on news coming from Gaza. Israeli authorities ignored a Supreme Court decision that would have allowed a limited number of foreign journalists into the beseiged territory. They have effectively placed a lock-out on the international press.

Clearly there is a lot they want to hide. The attempt to block cell phone transmissions says a good deal about their concerns. Images have a powerful impact. Paragraphs of text describing the horror of a missile strike involving civilian casualities, lacks the power and immediacy of a photograph that captures scenes of death and devastation.

There has been a concerted effort by Israeli authorities to clamp down on communications from Gaza and control the spin in the western press. These tactics may work to Israel's advantage in the short term, but over time the truth will out.

Jan 11, 2009

Gaza rage boils over in London : photos

The demonstration in London against the Israeli invasion of Gaza involved tens of thousands of people, the majority of whom protested peacefully.

There were violent flashpoints following the march - confrontations with police occurred outside the gates of the Israeli Embassy. Sporadic violence continued after nightfall.

Some of the protesters may have been primed by the tactics of the cops at an earlier march when riot police charged demonstrators at the Hyde Park Underpass. There were reports of people being roughed up and signs snatched.

The real epicenter of violence isn't on the streets of London. Nick Napier, a protest organizer, put it like this:

"People are here because they know the trail of blood leads from Gaza back to Britain and Gordon Brown. It's another year, another war, another massacre. It's a war too many for most people."

At the London demo singer Annie Lennox told the crowd:

"We are looking at a huge human rights tragedy in front of us. The idea of an air assault combined with a ground war in such a tightly packed area as Gaza is unimaginable. It will be a bloodbath. Hopefully now we will see dialogue, dialogue, dialogue."

Dialogue yes... but when people are enraged they're not always in the mood to talk. The violence that flared in London and elsewhere in Europe is a direct response to an appalling crime in Gaza that has seen the US-backed military power of the Israeli state turned on a largely civilian population.

As author Tariq Ali stated:

"You always have on any demonstration a group of people who get very angry and sometimes that comes out in violence, but for me the most appalling violence is happening in Gaza. A few punch-ups outside the Israeli embassy is neither here nor there."

The photos beneath are interpreted by the Daily Mail and others as evidence of an assault on British values and institutions - in particular the police. More to the point, the images demonstrate the legitimate anger millions in the UK feel over an Israeli campaign in Gaza in which most of the casualties have been civilian.

Tags: London Gaza rage, Israeli Embassy, violence, UK, Tariq Ali, Annie Lennox, Nick Napier, IDF

Jan 10, 2009

London Gaza demo: photos : 100,000 turn out across capital

Massive turnout in London to protest the Israeli invasion of Gaza. The main national demo made its way from Speakers' Corner at Hyde Park to the Israeli Embassy in High Street Kensington.

Some agro erupted when protesters approached the Israeli Embassy and a few skirmishes with police occurred. Given the anger generated by the Israeli atrocities in Gaza, it could have been a lot more incendiary.

A minority were out for a confrontation but the vast majority of protesters marched peacefully.

Photos : EPA/Andy Rain:

Following the example of Iraqi journalist, Muntadar al-Zaidi, who threw shoes at Bush... protesters came armed with footwear. Shoe throwing also occurred at the Edinburgh demo, with the US consulate for a target.

Stop the War Coalition reckons there were about 10,000 in attendance at the Scottish demo.

Walter Bagdasarian : Cali man charged for internet threat against Obama

On October 22 2008, a message was posted on a Yahoo message board titled "Shoot the nig."

The racist, threatening tone of the message was hard to miss.

Country fkd for another 4+ years, what nig has done ANYTHING right???? Long term???? Never in history, except sambos... Fk the niggar, he will have a 50 cal in the head soon.

US Secret Service agents traced the post through the IP address.

A 47 year old man named Walter Bagdasarian admitted to Secret Service agents that he was the person responsible for the message.

When Bagdasarian's home was raided agents turned up three rifles, including a 30.06 with a telescopic sight and a Remington .50 caliber muzzle-loading rifle.

Bagdarian has been charged with expressing 'displeasure' over Obama's candidacy and threatening that he would soon have "a 50 cal in the head."

Bagdasarian was released last month on a $100,000 real estate bond. He hasn't been accused of actively plotting an attack on Obama.

Naomi Klein says 'ENOUGH' : calls for global boycott of Israel

In an article that appears in the Guardian, Naomi Klein calls for "a global movement" that will make Israel the target of a boycott similar to the one placed on the South African apartheid regime.

In 2005 a coalition of Palestinian groups called on "people of conscience all over the world to impose broad boycotts and implement divestment initiatives against Israel similar to those applied to South Africa in the apartheid era".

Klein makes clear that an international campaign would receive the backing of those Israeli Jews who also believe enough is enough:

Every day that Israel pounds Gaza brings more converts to the BDS cause - even among Israeli Jews. In the midst of the assault roughly 500 Israelis, dozens of them well-known artists and scholars, sent a letter to foreign ambassadors in Israel. It calls for "the adoption of immediate restrictive measures and sanctions" and draws a clear parallel with the anti-apartheid struggle. "The boycott on South Africa was effective, but Israel is handled with kid gloves ... This international backing must stop."

In arguing for a boycott Klein says: "Economic sanctions are the most effective tool in the non-violent arsenal: surrendering them verges on active complicity."

In her article she addresses some of the key objections that have been raised to such a boycott. Her counter-arguments are forceful and persuasive. If the time has ever come... that time is now... as the world reels in the face of the atrocities being carried out in Gaza.

Link here for Ms Klein's complete article.

Zionist war monger special

Jan 9, 2009

New video of Oscar Grant shooting surfaces : includes audio

A new video has become available of the Oscar Grant shooting in Fruitvale Station, Oakland.

Check it out here.

It provides a different angle on the incident that ended with BART officer Johannes Mehserle drawing his gun and firing a bullet into the back of Oscar Grant.

Comments from onlookers can also be heard - including an appeal from a passenger inside the train at the station who is heard calling out - "let him go, what the fuck."

It looks very much as though Mehserle was intent on going for his gun. The shooting that followed was clearly no accident despite the police claim that Mehserle's gun simply 'discharged.' Mehserle pulled out his weapon and took aim at Grant.

Some people who have seen the video think Mehserle may have mistaken his gun for his taser. A taser has quite a different feel from a gun. Surely an officer with Mehserle's training and experience would be able to tell the difference, simply by the grip. Also I believe police wear their guns and tasers on different sides of their belt, which makes the alleged confusion seem even more unlikely.

In any case, check out the video and decide for yourself. It provides a different perspective on the incident from the earlier Karina Vargas video ... here.

Fred Phelps and Westboro Church haters given green light to protest on Inauguration Day

Picketers from the Westboro Baptist Church have been given the green light by the US Park Service to protest on Inauguration Day. They will be stationed at the northeast corner of John Marshal Park protesting military funerals and gays.

Westboro Church has been classified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

The church is headed up by Fred Phelps, who has made a name for himself by picketing the funerals of gay people, AIDS victims, soldiers and others who he believes have fallen short of the twisted standards of his imaginary God.

Phelps is a hater in a class of his own. He described Elizabeth Taylor, a fundraiser for AIDS research, as a "world-famous filthy Jew whore."

He has picketed numerous gay pride parades, holding aloft homophobic signs that include messages such as "when gays die God laughs." His hatred also extends to Islam. He characterized Mohammad as "a demon-possessed whoremonger and pedophile who contrived a 300-page work of Satanic fiction." Italians are also a target... he has referred to them as "mobster-breeding perverts." Part of his hatred of Italians may stem from his negative opinion of the Catholic Church which he describes as a "fag church" amongst other things.

There is no depth to which Phelps won't sink in order to thrust himself and his twisted message into the media spotlight.

Last year in Canada a 22-year old man named Tim McLean was brutally murdered in a Greyhound bus. He was decapitated by a passenger who attacked him with a knife.

The Westboro ghouls were intent on picketing McLean's funeral, on the grounds that McLean's murder was God's vengeance for Canadian policies enabling abortion, homosexuality, divorce and remarriage.

Whackjob though he is, Phelps has garnered substantial awards over the years by contesting cases in which it was claimed Westboro Church members had been improperly prevented from picketing. So long as he is determined to exercise his right-to-picket he and his crew of haters will continue to grab media attention.

Jan 8, 2009

Canadian Jewish women protest Gaza invasion at Israeli consulate in Toronto

Photo: Aaron Harris / Toronto Star

Eight Jewish women staged a sit-in at the Israeli consulate in Toronto on Wednesday to protest the Gaza invasion.

Those protesting included Judy Rebick, professor; Judith Deutsch, psychoanalyst and president of Science for Peace; B.H. Yael, filmmaker; Smadar Carmon, a Canadian Israeli peace activist and others.

The group stated that they want to raise their voices against the atrocities taking place in Gaza. They also stated that speaking 'as Jews' - the IDF operation is not being conducted in their name.

They demanded that:

(1) Israel end its military assault on Gaza.

(2) Israel lift the 18-month siege on the Gaza strip to allow humanitarian aid into the territory.

Oakland riot over killing of Oscar Grant by BART cop

The recent fatal police shooting of Oscar Grant, a 22 year old supermarket worker, was marked by a protest in Oakland on Wednesday. The protest began at the Fruitvale Station in Oakland. This is where BART police officer, Johannes Mehserle, shot to death 22-year old Oscar Grant ...story here .... video here.

Desley Brooks, councilwoman for East Oakland, called the shooting "an execution."

The protesters expressed outrage at discriminatory policing and abuse-of-power on the part of cops who are quick to reach for their guns. One protester described the killing of Grant as "a modern lynching."

After nightfall a group of about 200 protesters headed downtown and the protest began to heat up, drawing in hundreds of police in riot gear.

Memorial to Oscar Grant at Fruitvale Station

A demonstrator, Nia Sykes, said: "I feel like the night is going great. I feel like Oakland should make some noise. This is how we need to fight back. It's for the murder of a black male."

The anger generated by the conduct of a percentage of US police who act more like gangsters than people entrusted to serve and protect, makes it surprising that rioting hasn't become a bigger feature of life in American cities.

Some property damage occurred during the Oakland protest. When a riot breaks out indiscriminate damage usually occurs, it's the nature of a riot ... as one supporter of the Oakland protesters put it - "not nice." But what is "less nice" are cops who routinely abuse their authority - often exercising their power with a way-too-heavy emphasis on intimidation and force.

While the killing of Oscar Grant helped to get the demonstrators out, they were also reacting to what they perceive as police abuse-of-power in general. It's the kind of frustration that builds up when people feel the official routes simply don't produce the required results.

It's not only people in places such as Oakland who are pissed off. I know of at least one American who said he wouldn't drive in certain parts of Texas. He was afraid he might get pulled over and be given "an old school beating."

There is something seriously wrong with policing in some jurisdictions in the US. As one contact stateside who lives in a certain precinct in Louisiana put it - "it's kind of like dealing with the local Gestapo."

Jan 7, 2009

Dead Palestinian kids : images the IDF doesn't want you to see

Pictures speak louder than words.

Although Israeli authorities have banned foreign journalists from entering Gaza, photos have been making their way out.

Mads Gilbert, a Norweigian civilian doctor working in Gaza despite the desperate shortage of medical supplies, has spoken of 'an attack on civilians'. These harrowing photos bear out what Gilbert claims.

Listen to Gilbert's comments on an AOL video here.

Save the Children says that a hundred or more children have been killed by the IDF in the course of this criminal campaign.

Nothing is more abhorrent than the killing of children. Many more have been injured and are in need of medical treatment that is increasingly challenging to come by as the crisis continues.

It should be clearly pointed out that the outrage over these killings is not restricted to those who are non-Jewish and non-Israeli. Many Jews have been deeply upset and angered by this. Today in Toronto a group of Jewish women staged a protest in the Israeli consulate demanding an end to the violence.

These atrocities shame our common humanity.

Two girls who were killed in an air attack on Beit Hanoun in the
northern Gaza Strip early Tuesday. Local sources report that a missile
destroyed a house belonging to Talal Hamdan in Beit Hanoun,
killing his two daughters of 12 and 4 years old.

Palestinians carry the body of 4-year-old Lama Hamdan
during her funeral in the town of Beit Hanoun in the
northern Gaza Strip December 30, 2008.

Palestinians mourn beside the bodies of three children
in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip December 29, 2008.

Boy who received medical treatment following an IDF air strike.
(Yahoo photo news source)

Palestinian women mourn over the bodies of three Palestinian
children from the Balosha family, before their burial at
Kamal Edwan hopsital in Beit Lahiya, Monday, Dec. 29, 2008.

Samera Baalusha (34) carries her surving child Mohamad (15 months)
while she waits to see the body of her daughter Jawaher Baalusha
(aged 4) during the funeral held for her and four of her sisters who were
killed in an Israeli strike, on December 29, 2008 in the Jebaliya refugee camp.

This photo was published by a Norweigian newspaper today.
I can't speak Norweigian, but you can link here to the
newspaper that published this photo.

A wounded Palestinian boy is carried by his father at a hospital
in Gaza City following an Israeli air strike

A Palestinian security force officer carries a
wounded girl into the emergency room at
Shifa hospital in Gaza City, Saturday, Dec. 27, 2008.

A wounded Palestinian boy is carried by his father following
an Israel air strike in Gaza December 28, 2008.

A Palestinian man carries his wounded child to the treatment
room of Kamal Edwan hospital following an Israeli missile strike
in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza Strip, Monday, Dec. 29, 2008.

Two children killed in an Israeli air strike.

A dead Palestinian child is taken for burial (Yahoo photo news)

Sign a petition to help stop the violence in Gaza. There a number of different sites that are carrying online petitions or that link to one:

JEWS FOR JUSTICE FOR PALESTINIANS

ONLINE PETITION TO PROTEST ISRAELI WAR CRIMES IN GAZA

SAVE GAZA - THE PETITION SITE

Tags: dead Palestinian children, Gaza, Israeli air strikes, IDF

Raed Jarrar forced to cover Arabic T-shirt: $240,000 paid out in compensation

An airline passenger forced to cover his T-shirt because it displayed Arabic script has been awarded US$240,000 (A$337,000) in compensation, campaigners said Monday.

Raed Jarrar received the pay out on Friday from two US Transportation Security Authority officials and from JetBlue Airways following an August 2006 incident at New York's JFK Airport, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) announced.

In August 2006, US citizen Raed Jarrar was waiting to board a Jet Blue flight at NY's JFK Airport when he was apprehended by airport staff. His offense? The T-shirt he was wearing featured a phrase in Arabic that translates as "We will not be silent."

Mr Jarrar was told that other passengers were uncomfortable with the writing on his shirt. He agreed to cover the 'offending' shirt with another provided by JetBlue. This was very obliging of Mr Jarrar considering that the interference was a high handed breach of his civil rights.

Arabic lettering alone is enough to set-off paranoid reactions in some people. Another Arabic T-shirt wearer drew negative attention until he made clear that the writing on his shirt actually meant "I am not a terrorist."

Passengers who complained about Raed Jarrar's shirt said that the Arabic lettering was kind of like wearing a T-shirt at a bank with a message stating "I am a robber." Perhaps these people live sheltered lives, since mere exposure to Arabic text is enough to set them off. They need to get out more.

ACLU lawyer, Aden Fine, said - "The outcome of this case is a victory for free speech and a blow to the discriminatory practice of racial profiling."

Other Arabic T's : don't call security

Jan 6, 2009

Foreign press still banned from entering Gaza

A recent Israeli Supreme Court decision would have allowed eight foreign journalists to enter Gaza, however Israeli authorities chose to defy the court ruling and have kept journalists out. The ban started back in November of last year. It is unprecedented for a ban on the press to last this long.

Reasons have been given for not permitting access by journalists - one being that authorities at the Erez crossing point have been too busy processing exiting Palestinians.

The greater truth is that Israel wants to control information and spin its version of events if need be. No doubt the IDF also wants to be able to do its 'work' without witnesses. In the past they have complained that foreign press reporting was biased, which is what they invariably say if coverage places them in an unfavorable light.

The ban on journalists simply re-enforces the impression that Israel is engaged in activities that are in contravention of international law.

The FPA which represents foreign media in Israel has demanded that the Gaza strip should be permanently opened for coverage.

An FPA statement said: "We call on the Israeli government to immediately honor the will of the court and allow foreign journalists access to Gaza. The authorities' position that there was not enough time to coordinate and allow the journalists to enter does not seem reasonable."

Israeli strike kills 40 at UN-run school in Gaza

Collective punishment is a war crime. By the measure of the civilian killings that have been escalating in Gaza, the IDF is operating in a criminal fashion.

The latest outrage involves a strike on the compound of a UN-run school in Gaza - the al-Fakhura school in the Jabaliya district. Civilians with some children had sought refuge in the school in order to escape fighting between Israeli soldiers and militants on the outskirts of the camp.

Following the strike TV footage showed bodies scattered on the ground amid pools of blood.

Video here.

BBC reports:

Casualties were taken to two hospitals. Doctors at the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahiya said 30 people had died there. A further 10 people died at the al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, doctors said.

The number of casualties is expected to rise.

A Norweigian civilian doctor in Gaza, Mads Gilbert, who is struggling to save lives in a hospital short of resources has described Israeli actions as 'an attack against civilians.' He said on a BBC report that most of the injured and dying are women, children and civilian men. Gilbert says that only a minority have been Hamas fighters.

If we were dealing with an African nation that turned the full force of its military on a neighboring country because some cross-border rebels had been firing home-made rockets, the world community would be screaming genocide. Israel apparently is a moral exception where some people are concerned.

Israel will never recover from this atrocity - the images from this one-sided onslaught have helped to drive opinion across the Middle East and around the world, and little of it is favorable to Israel. They can make any justifications they like, but no nation that uses home-made rocket fire as a pretext to launch a blitz on a predominantly civilian population can call itself civilized.

Let us be clear - Israel has killed close to 600 (100 of them children) with thousands injured in mere days. Hamas rocket fire has accounted for less than 20 Israeli deaths over an 8 year period. There is simply no justice and no equity in a comparison of these numbers and the methods employed.

This is a war crime and Israel needs to be held responsible.

Jan 5, 2009

Ireland says no to the illegal Israeli invasion of Gaza

Indymedia Ireland has details of protests happening all across Ireland to protest Israeli actions in Gaza.

Protests are scheduled in Cork and Dublin on January 6th. Belfast on January 9th. Again in Cork on January 10th.

Protests have also been staged in Omagh, Limerick, Derry.

For info on upcoming demos please link to Indymedia Ireland here.

In a recent demonstration in Dublin thousands turned out to show their solidarity with the people of Gaza.

The demo began at the Central Bank Plaza and went past the EU offices on Molesworth Street. The protesters made their way to the Spire on O'Connell Street where a live phone link was set up with Gazan journalist Sami Abu Salem.

Speakers included Nobel Peace Laureate Mairead Corrigan Maguire, MEP Mary Lou McDonald (Sinn Fein), Bronagh Maher (Greens), Joe Higgins (Socialists), Michael D Higgins TD (Labour), Richard Boyd Barrett (Irish Anti War Movement). Dr. Zille Umar Qadri (Muslim community of Ireland), Adnan Shabab (Palestinian Delegation of Ireland) also spoke.

Philip O'Connor of the ISPC delivered a speech that summed up the mood of the demonstraters:

We condemn the Israeli massacres in Gaza and call for an immediate end to the bombardment. We call on Minister for Foreign Affairs, Micheál Martin, to insist in the EU Council of Ministers on the suspension of the EU trade agreement with Israel under Clause 2 of the Association Agreement. We call on all Irish parliamentarians to stand by their illegally imprisoned colleagues in Palestine.

We demand that the UN ensure the opening of the borders to Gaza to enable emergency humanitarian aid into the area, regardless of the bullying and ruthless threats by Israel. We call on the Irish people to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people, and to bring about a total economic, cultural, sporting, academic and diplomatic boycott of the Israeli state until it complies with international law. Finally we seek a solution in Palestine which respects the rights of Israelis and Palestinians, and secures for Palestinians their national and democratic rights. Only then will there be a settlement.

Link to Indymedia Ireland for additional information.

UK photographers threatened with Anti-Terrorism Act for taking legal photos

The Independent has an article by Jonathan Brown this week about a UK artist named Reuben Powell who is a well known figure in London's Elephant & Castle district. Powell has been photographing and drawing local people and places for 25 years.

Last week Powell was searched by police under the Anti-Terrorism Act and incarcerated for five hours for the crime of taking photographs.

Independent:

With a studio near the 1960s shopping centre at the heart of this area in south London, he (Powell) is a familiar figure and is regularly seen snapping and sketching the people and buildings around his home – currently the site of Europe's largest regeneration project. But to the police officers who arrested him last week his photographing of the old HMSO print works close to the local police station posed an unacceptable security risk.

"The car skidded to a halt like something out of Starsky & Hutch and this officer jumped out very dramatically and said 'what are you doing?' I told him I was photographing the building and he said he was going to search me under the Anti-Terrorism Act," he recalled.

For Powell, this brush with the law resulted in five hours in a cell after police seized the lock-blade knife he uses to sharpen his pencils. His release only came after the intervention of the local MP, Simon Hughes, but not before he was handcuffed and his genetic material stored permanently on the DNA database.

In the UK it isn't unusual for photographers working in public areas to receive warnings from the police and officials. A number have been stopped under Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000. Journalists and trainwatchers have also been harassed.

MP Austin Mitchell tabled a motion in parliament objecting to the harassment photographers can run into by virtue of simply going about their business. The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) is also fighting back.

Independent:

The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) has also taken up the cause, highlighting the case last month of the photographer Jess Hurd, whose camera was taken from her when she was detained for 45 minutes under Section 44 while documenting a traveller wedding in London's Docklands. Last week police were filmed obstructing photographers covering a protest at the Greek embassy in London. Scotland Yard promised to investigate.

The harassment of photographers in the UK is similar to a case I posted on recently involving a Sydney, Australia resident named Nick Hac. He was jumped on by the police for shooting video with his Blackberry - story here.

Oscar Grant : cop shoots 22 year old at point blank range

Situations in which police open fire on a person they are attempting to arrest usually involve the claim that the suspect reached for a weapon. Given the many reports of brutality and cowboy tactics on the part of police stateside, it isn't a stretch to believe that a percentage of officers need little encouragement to pull the trigger.

This week video footage surfaced from Oakland, CA, that shows a BART-police officer shooting an unarmed suspect point blank. The shooting occurred in Fruitvale Station early on New Year's day.

The deceased man, Oscar Grant, was 22 years old and father of a four year old daughter. He worked for an Oakland supermarket. Friends who knew him say he was a great guy with a big heart.

An altercation broke out on a train traveling from San Francisco to the East Bay. There is no evidence Grant had been directly involved in the altercation.

According to eye witnesses the officer involved restrained Grant on the Fruitvale platform. It is believed Grant was placed in 'flexi-cuffs' along with others.

The cop drew his gun and shot Grant point blank. Some reports say he was shot in the head. The attorney for the family, John Burris, says the bullet through the lower back area and re-entered Grant's body in a ricochet effect.

SFGate has more on recent developments in the case:

(Attorney) John Burris held his own news conference at his Oakland office, where he was surrounded by Grant's family members and friends and witnesses to the shooting.

Burris said he plans to file a $25 million claim this week against BART - a legal precursor to a civil lawsuit - because, he says, witness statements and video footage recorded by other passengers make clear that the shooting was unjustified.

"It is, without a doubt, the most unconscionable shooting I have ever seen," said Burris, who has won several damage awards against Bay Area police departments and worked on Rodney King's civil suit against the city of Los Angeles. "A price has to be paid. Accountability has to occur."

"It's pretty clear from the tape and from witnesses," Burris said, "that (Grant) wasn't doing anything of a threatening nature to the officer."

The video footage was shot by Karina Vargas who was trying out a new video camera she received at Christmas.

You can link to the video here. Caution advised : graphic footage.

Jan 4, 2009

Israeli invasion of Gaza and the silence of Barack Obama

The invasion of Gaza by an Israeli military powered with high tech US weaponry, has been launched at a time when the world is in the grip of an economic crisis and before the American leadership transition has been completed. It was a window of opportunity seized ruthlessly by Israel in defiance of international law, using Qassam rocket attacks as a pretext.

The use of American-made high tech weaponry against a cruelly oppressed people is a moral outrage. The IAF can fly into Gaza with impunity and go after targets at their leisure, kind of like roaming wolf packs with no predators to bother them. There are no anti-aircraft capabilities in Gaza - the people on the ground are at the mercy of a killing machine that makes a big deal out of its 'smart targeting' - as though this makes their activities more palatable, more sanitized, more correct.

The silence of many American and Canadian liberals in the face of this invasion is shameful. Do they believe, as Israel claims, that this attack is mainly about the Qassams? Contrary to the rose tinted beliefs of those who believe the Israeli action will root out the bad guys, this invasion is serving to feed a counter-force in the Middle East that will draw on the power of Islamic fundamentalism.

Opportunities to make a meaningful and lasting peace have been repeatedly botched and sabotaged over the years, and now with this illegal invasion the symbol of "change" in America, Barack Obama, stands by in silence.

An article by Ben Cohen titled "Obama's Silence on Gaza is Deafening" that appears in the Huffington Post, addresses the strategic moves Obama has made in order to consolidate his presidency.

Barack Obama had to do two things to persuade the powers that be that he was a viable candidate for President. The first was to assure the financial community that he would commit to a centrist economic platform, and the second was to sell out the Palestinians immediately and jump in bed with AIPAC.

Obama did both, and the consequences will be felt immediately...

In going to AIPAC to do obeisance and to offer wildly unrealistic assurances - i.e. that Jerusalem would remain the eternal capital of Israel, Obama compromised his ability to act as a broker untainted by the baggage of the past. Now using David Axlerod as his channeler, the president-elect has reaffirmed his allegiance to Israel and more or less given the nod to any measures Israel sees fit to use in Gaza.

People around the world who looked to Obama as a symbol of hope and meaningful change, don't need to hear his words ... his silence says it all.

Ben Cohen:

Obama has massive political capital, and could have injected himself into the crisis before it happened. He did so during the beginning of the economic meltdown, and could have lent his credibility to a situation that has spiralled dangerously out of control. Obama has stated that 'There is only one President at a time', abdicating responsibility and essentially passing the buck.

None of this bodes well for the future.

Barack Obama's silence on Gaza

Jan 3, 2009

Israeli propaganda video : false claim that air strike hit Hamas target

The Israeli human rights group, B'Tselem has cast doubt on a claim by Israel that a truck targeted in an air strike was being used by Hamas for weapons shipment.

Israel claims that a recently released video shows Hamas operatives loading Grad missiles onto the truck. The video includes images of the truck being struck by an Israeli missile and exploding into flames.

The video is titled: "Grad missiles being loaded onto Hamas vehicle."

As it turned out the Hamas 'operatives' were friends and relatives of Gaza resident Abu Imad- Sanur. They had gone to his metal workshop in a truck owned by Imad-Sanur to retrieve some of his materials because a building next door had been struck by the Israelis and Imad-Sanur was afraid of looters.

The helpers were moving oxygen cylinders onto the truck when they were hit. Eight people were killed including Imad-Sanur's son.

Burned out oxygen cylinders.

B'Tselem has posted the story on its website along with a photo of burned out oxygen cylinders.

Imad-Sanur told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz: "These were not Hamas, they were our children... They were not Grad missiles."

The dead have been named as: Muhammad Bassel Madi, 17, Wisam Akram Eid, 14, Imad Ahmad Sanur, 32, Rami Sa'adi Ghabayan, 24, Mahmoud Nabil Ghabayan, 14, Ashraf al-Dabagh, 26, Muhammad Majed Ka'abar, 20, and Ahmad Ibrahim Khila, 15.

When challenged with the evidence, Israel claimed that the site had been used to store weapons in the past. They routinely make such claims when civilian targets are hit and international outrage ensues.

View the video and BBC report here.

Oscar trash talk : Mickey Rourke calls Sean Penn 'average' and 'homophobic'

Mickey Rourke, who recently staged a resurrection of sorts in a comeback movie called The Wrestler, has been dissing his bud Sean Penn - at least so it is alleged on Tina Brown's new website, The Daily Beast.

Both Rourke and Penn are likely to end up as Oscar nominees for best male actor this year, and it seems Rourke has been attempting to undermine Penn with a few low blows. He allegedly described Penn's performance in Milk as "average."

Penn played Harvey Milk in the movie - the first openly gay person to be elected to public office in the US.

According to the Gerald Posner article in Daily Beast, "a Los Angeles entertainment honcho" shared a Rourke text message which included the following disparaging remarks about Sean Penn: “Look Sean's an old friend of mine and I didn't buy his performance at all—thought he did an average pretend acting like he was gay besides hes one of the most homophobic people i kno" [sic]

Rourke' people deny the ex-pugilist has been engaging in mean spirited put-downs and Sean Penn isn't taking the bait - at least in public.

More bad mouthing allegedly took place after Rourke's interview with David Letterman. Persons backstage claimed they overheard Rourke say that Penn wasn't even a sure thing for a nomination this year.

Even without evidence of trash talk, it would be fair to say that this does in fact sound a lot like Mickey Rourke who is known for shooting his mouth off in random directions - a trait his friends and admirers describe as 'speaking his mind.'

In the 90's Rourke disappeared off the radar on a Quixotic boxing adventure that had more to do with his macho man fantasies than actual talent. His boxing 'career' went nowhere, unless you consider minor opponents the real deal. World Boxing magazine summed up Rourke's ring talents nicely with the headline - "Mickey Rourke: Acting like a Boxer... or Boxing Like an Actor."

Boxing and the myths surrounding it have been central to Rourke's warped sense of manhood - even to the point of making up a sham history, or so it is alleged. Rourke's stepfather disputed Rourke's claim to have been a boxer in his youth. A New York Times reporter was unable to come up with any records that proved Rourke took part in the Golden Gloves program, as the actor claimed. That would seem to support the suspicions of boxing trainer Angelo Dundee who said: "I don't think Mickey ever had an amateur fight."

Back in the days when he frequented Fifth Street Gym, the trainer said ‘I can’t get Mickey into the ring to fight.' When he did eventually get into a real fight, the hard man of Hollywood walked out of the ring.

Whereas Rourke owes his re-emergence to The Wrestler, Sean Penn has consistently been turning in solid performances - he received an Oscar for his acting in Mystic River. He also turned his hand to directing. Three of his movies - The Crossing Guard (1995), The Pledge (2001) and Into the Wild (2007) - were well received by the critics.

Penn took a political stand during the Bush years when many of his fellow actors were happy to take a back seat. He went to bat in support of civil liberties and took a stand against Bush administration policies in Iraq. Moreover he did so at some risk to his own reputation

As for the "homophobic" slur aimed at Penn - Rourke is the last one who should be going there. When he got upset about comments made by a writer, he asked a paprazzo to tell "that faggot who wrote all that shit in the paper I'd like to break his fucking legs"

But then name calling isn't exactly out of character. Rourke called Tom Cruise "a cunt"... Nicole Kidman "an ice cube" ... Michael Cimino "crazy" and Samuel Goldwyn Jnr "a liar."

Mickey Rourke's publicist denies there is any feud going on with Sean Penn: "There is no Oscar feud between Mickey and Sean. They have known each other and been friends for a very long time. Mickey attended the New York premiere of Milk to support Sean and only has the greatest respect for him."

Okay then ...

Jan 2, 2009

Uri Avnery : an Israeli who doesn't drink Zionist Kool-Aid

Uri Avnery is an Israeli writer and peace activist with Gush Shalom. In a recent article "Molten Lead in Gaza," he explodes many of the myths surrounding the current Israeli campaign in Gaza and says that Israel's actions could have the effect of "multiplying Hamas by a thousand."

Avnery:

What was the aim? Tzipi Livni announced it openly: to liquidate Hamas rule in Gaza. The Qassams served only as a pretext.

Liquidate Hamas rule? That sounds like a chapter out of “The March of Folly”. After all, it is no secret that it was the Israeli government which set up Hamas to start with. When I once asked a former Shin-Bet chief, Yaakov Peri, about it, he answered enigmatically: “We did not create it, but we did not hinder its creation.

So what were the real motivating factors behind the invasion. Qassam rockets are often home-made and wildly inaccurate - to offer them as the reason for launching a blitz and invasion of Gaza is pushing it. The Qassams caused less than 20 fatalities in the 8 years they have been deployed - however they do make a wonderful alibi. But why invade now?

Avnery:

It would be more accurate to call it “the the Election War”.

According to the polls, Barak’s predicted election result rose within 48 hours by five Knesset seats. About 80 dead Palestinians for each seat. But it is difficult to walk on a pile of dead bodies. The success may evaporate in a minute if the war comes to be considered by the Israeli public as a failure. For example, if the rockets continue to hit Beersheba, or if the ground attack leads to heavy Israeli casualties.

The timing was chosen meticulously from another angle too. The attack started two days after Christmas, when American and European leaders are on holiday until after New Year. The calculation: even if somebody wanted to try and stop the war, no one would give up his holiday. That ensured several days free from outside pressures.

Another reason for the timing: these are George Bush’s last days in the White House. This blood-soaked moron could be expected to support the war enthusiastically, as indeed he did. Barack Obama has not yet entered office and had a ready made pretext for keeping silent: “there is only one President”. The silence does not bode well for the term of president Obama.

Avnery offers insights into the strategy in Gaza. He sees a direct parallel with the second Lebanon war.

The Gaza War is an almost exact replica of the second Lebanon war.

The strategic concept is the same: to terrorize the civilian population by unremitting attacks from the air, sowing death and destruction. This poses no danger to the pilots, since the Palestinians have no anti-aircraft weapons at all. The calculation: if the entire life-supporting infrastructure in the Strip is utterly destroyed and total anarchy ensues, the population will rise up and overthrow the Hamas regime. Mahmoud Abbas will then ride back into Gaza on the back of Israeli tanks.

What about the outcome for Israel? With the coverage in the Arab media showing the carnage in graphic detail, Avnery believes that images from this war will exact a huge price.

The consequences may be that " a whole generation of Arab leaders, a generation imbued with the ideology of secular Arab nationalism, the successors of Gamal Abd-al-Nasser, Hafez al-Assad and Yasser Arafat, may be swept from the stage."

And what will replace them? Islamic fundamentalism seems a given. If Hamas goes under the alternative could turn out to be even more extremist.

Avnery has a sobering thought on the possible outcome:

This war is a writing on the wall: Israel is missing the historic chance of making peace with secular Arab nationalism. Tomorrow, It may be faced with a uniformly fundamentalist Arab world, Hamas multiplied by a thousand.

Compared to the enemy it might yet face, Israel may regret that it didn't make greater efforts to forge a lasting peace.

Link to the complete Uri Avnery article on Counterpunch here.

Jan 1, 2009

Israeli bombs and human 'collateral damage' : photos

TV news reports of the Israeli air assault on Gaza, provide numbers of dead and injured and video footage of bombed-out buildings. What you don't see are the gruesome injuries inflicted on the human body as a result of an attack with high tech weaponry.

Contrary to Israeli claims, the IDF has been going after civilian targets deliberately. The Al Mezan Center and other Human Rights organizations that have people on the ground monitoring the situation in Gaza report that there have been grave breaches of international law by the IDF - amounting to crimes against humanity.

The 'Irish Anti-War Movement' site has photographs that are both graphic and disturbing showing Palestinians in hospital emergency rooms after being caught in Israeli air strikes. I'm not linking to these photographs for sensation value, but to demonstrate the horror of modern warfare - especially when so-called 'smart bombs' are less smart than advertised.

Please exercise caution before linking to these photos - they are extremely graphic :

Irish Anti-War Movement here.