Dr. Ahmadinejad Speech at UN Assembly | Sept. 23, 2010
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says the US took advantage of the 'suspicious' September 11 attacks to justify its occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq.
President Ahmadinejad said while some 3,000 were killed on the September 11 incident, "for which we are all very saddened," hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and millions wounded and displaced up to now, as the conflicts continue to rage and expand.
While raising several questions about the source and nature of the 9/11 attacks, the president asked even if we grant credence to the US government's view that "a complex terrorist group was able to cross all layers of US intelligence and security" to wage the attacks, "is it rational to launch a classic war through widespread deployment of troops that led to the death of hundreds of thousands of people to counter a terrorist group?"
The Iranian president also blasted the Israeli regime for its siege of Palestinian lands and their repeated aggressions against the people of Gaza and Lebanon with blessings from their Western backers.
"The oppressed people of Palestine have lived under the rule of an occupying regime for 60 years, been deprived of freedom, security and the right to self-determination, while the occupiers are given recognition," he said.
"On a daily basis," he added, "the houses are being destroyed over the heads of innocent women and children. People are deprived of water, food and medicine in their own homeland. The Zionists have imposed five all-out wars on the neighboring countries and on the Palestinian people."
Read more; http://www.presstv.ir/detail/143729.html
Ron Paul: US Gov is More Dangerous than WikiLeaks
12/14/2010 - Please like, share, subscribe & comment! http://www.RonPaul.com
Ron Paul criticized the U.S. government's efforts to shut down WikiLeaks and attack Julian Assange, and compared the murderous consequences of the government's lies to the fact that not a single life has been lost due to the WikiLeaks revelations.
He also commented briefly on the prospects for a 2012 run for the presidency, and on his son Rand Paul moving into his condominium in Virginia.
--
Ron Paul is America's leading voice for limited, constitutional government, low taxes, free markets, a return to sound monetary policies, and a sensible foreign policy that puts America first.
The Siege against Gaza: America's Ongoing Support of Israeli Military and Intelligence Operations
We are dealing with a carefully planned military operation.
The Israeli Navy Commando which attacked the Marvi Marmara on May 31st had prior knowledge of who was on the Turkish ship including where passengers were residing in terms of cabin layout. According to Swedish author Henning Mankell, who was on board the Marmara , "the Israeli forces attacked sleeping civilians."
These were targeted assassinations. Specific individuals were targeted. Journalists were targeted with a view to confiscating their audio and video recording equipment and tapes.
"We were witnesses to premeditated murders," said historian Mattias Gardell who was on the Mavi Marmara.
"...Asked about why activists on the Turkish ship had attacked the Israeli soldiers, Gardell stressed "it is not as if Israel is a police officer whom no human being has the legitimate right to defend him or herself against":
"If you are attacked by commando troops you of course must have the right to defend yourself ... Many people on this ship thought they were going to kill everyone. They were very frightened ... It's strange if people think one should not defend oneself. Should you just sit there and say: 'Kill me'?" he said." (See Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya, Detailed Compiled Eyewitness Accounts Confirm Cold-Blooded Murder and Executions by Israeli Military, Global Research, June 1, 2010)
“They even shot those who surrendered. Many of our friends saw this. They told me that there were handcuffed people who were shot,” (quoted by Press TV)
The Israeli Commando had an explicit order to kill.
What was the role of the United States?
The raids on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, bear the mark of previous Israeli operations directed against unarmed civilians. It is a well established modus operandi of Israeli military-intelligence operations, which is tacitly supported by the US administration.
The killing of civilians is intended to trigger a response by Palestinian resistance forces, which in turn justifies Israeli retaliation (on "humanitarian" grounds) as well as a process of military escalation. The logic of this process contained in Ariel Sharon`s "Operation Justified Vengeance" (also referred to as the "Dagan Plan" named after Sharon's National Security advisor) was initiated at the outset the Sharon government in 2001. This Operation was intent upon destroying the Palestinian Authority and transforming Gaza into an urban prison. (See Michel Chossudovsky, "Operation Justified Vengeance": Israeli Strike on Freedom Flotilla to Gaza is Part of a Broader Military Agenda, Global Research, June 1, 2010).
"Operation Cast Lead" resulting in the December 2008 invasion of Gaza should be understood as part of the logic of "Operation Justified Vengeance". In turn, the Israeli attack on the Flotilla must be viewed as a continuation of "Operation Cast Lead" which seeks to enforce the Siege on Gaza.
The attack on the Flotilla bears the fingerprints of a military intelligence operation coordinated by the IDF and Mossad, which is now headed by one of the main architects of "Operation Justified Vengeance", Meir Dagan. It is worth recalling that as a young Coronel, Dagan worked closely with then defense minister Ariel Sharon in the raids on the Palestinian settlements of Sabra and Shatilla in Beirut in 1982.
The Role of the United States
There are indications that the US was consulted at the highest levels regarding the nature of the military operation directed against the flotilla. Moreover, in the wake of the attacks, both the US and the UK unequivocally reaffirmed their support to Israel.
There are longstanding and ongoing military and intelligence relations between the US and Israel including close working ties between various agencies of government: Pentagon, National Intelligence Council, State Department, Homeland Security and their respective Israeli counterparts.
These various agencies of government are involved in routine liaison and consultations, usually directly as well as through the US Embassy in Israel, involving frequent shuttles of officials between Washington and Tel Aviv as well as exchange of personnel. Moreover, the US as well as Canada have public security cooperation agreements with Israel pertaining to the policing of international borders, including maritime borders. (See Israel-USA Homeland Security Cooperation, See also Michel Chossudovsky, The Canada-Israel "Public Security" Agreement, Global Research, 2 April 2008)
Several high level US-Israel meetings were held in the months prior to the May 31st attacks.
Rahm Emmanuel, Obama's White House chief of Staff was in Tel Aviv a week prior to the attacks. Confirmed by press reports, he had meetings behind closed doors with Prime Minister Netanyahu (May 26) as well as a private visit with President Shimon Peres on May 27.
Source
The Israeli Navy Commando which attacked the Marvi Marmara on May 31st had prior knowledge of who was on the Turkish ship including where passengers were residing in terms of cabin layout. According to Swedish author Henning Mankell, who was on board the Marmara , "the Israeli forces attacked sleeping civilians."
These were targeted assassinations. Specific individuals were targeted. Journalists were targeted with a view to confiscating their audio and video recording equipment and tapes.
"We were witnesses to premeditated murders," said historian Mattias Gardell who was on the Mavi Marmara.
"...Asked about why activists on the Turkish ship had attacked the Israeli soldiers, Gardell stressed "it is not as if Israel is a police officer whom no human being has the legitimate right to defend him or herself against":
"If you are attacked by commando troops you of course must have the right to defend yourself ... Many people on this ship thought they were going to kill everyone. They were very frightened ... It's strange if people think one should not defend oneself. Should you just sit there and say: 'Kill me'?" he said." (See Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya, Detailed Compiled Eyewitness Accounts Confirm Cold-Blooded Murder and Executions by Israeli Military, Global Research, June 1, 2010)
“They even shot those who surrendered. Many of our friends saw this. They told me that there were handcuffed people who were shot,” (quoted by Press TV)
The Israeli Commando had an explicit order to kill.
What was the role of the United States?
The raids on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, bear the mark of previous Israeli operations directed against unarmed civilians. It is a well established modus operandi of Israeli military-intelligence operations, which is tacitly supported by the US administration.
The killing of civilians is intended to trigger a response by Palestinian resistance forces, which in turn justifies Israeli retaliation (on "humanitarian" grounds) as well as a process of military escalation. The logic of this process contained in Ariel Sharon`s "Operation Justified Vengeance" (also referred to as the "Dagan Plan" named after Sharon's National Security advisor) was initiated at the outset the Sharon government in 2001. This Operation was intent upon destroying the Palestinian Authority and transforming Gaza into an urban prison. (See Michel Chossudovsky, "Operation Justified Vengeance": Israeli Strike on Freedom Flotilla to Gaza is Part of a Broader Military Agenda, Global Research, June 1, 2010).
"Operation Cast Lead" resulting in the December 2008 invasion of Gaza should be understood as part of the logic of "Operation Justified Vengeance". In turn, the Israeli attack on the Flotilla must be viewed as a continuation of "Operation Cast Lead" which seeks to enforce the Siege on Gaza.
The attack on the Flotilla bears the fingerprints of a military intelligence operation coordinated by the IDF and Mossad, which is now headed by one of the main architects of "Operation Justified Vengeance", Meir Dagan. It is worth recalling that as a young Coronel, Dagan worked closely with then defense minister Ariel Sharon in the raids on the Palestinian settlements of Sabra and Shatilla in Beirut in 1982.
The Role of the United States
There are indications that the US was consulted at the highest levels regarding the nature of the military operation directed against the flotilla. Moreover, in the wake of the attacks, both the US and the UK unequivocally reaffirmed their support to Israel.
There are longstanding and ongoing military and intelligence relations between the US and Israel including close working ties between various agencies of government: Pentagon, National Intelligence Council, State Department, Homeland Security and their respective Israeli counterparts.
These various agencies of government are involved in routine liaison and consultations, usually directly as well as through the US Embassy in Israel, involving frequent shuttles of officials between Washington and Tel Aviv as well as exchange of personnel. Moreover, the US as well as Canada have public security cooperation agreements with Israel pertaining to the policing of international borders, including maritime borders. (See Israel-USA Homeland Security Cooperation, See also Michel Chossudovsky, The Canada-Israel "Public Security" Agreement, Global Research, 2 April 2008)
Several high level US-Israel meetings were held in the months prior to the May 31st attacks.
Rahm Emmanuel, Obama's White House chief of Staff was in Tel Aviv a week prior to the attacks. Confirmed by press reports, he had meetings behind closed doors with Prime Minister Netanyahu (May 26) as well as a private visit with President Shimon Peres on May 27.
Source
Climate Weapons: More Than Just a Conspiracy Theory?
The abnormally hot weather in the central regions of Russia has already caused serious economic damage. It has destroyed crops on roughly 20% of the country's agricultural land lots, the result being that the food prices are clearly set to climb next fall. On top of that, fires are raging over peat lands around Moscow. These days, the majority of forecasts concerning the climate are alarming: droughts, hurricanes, and floods are going to be increasingly frequent and severe. Director of the climate and energy program of the Wildlife Fund A. Kokorin says that the current trend is not a random phenomenon and should not be expected to subside (1).
In this particular context, the credibility of projections emanating from the Wildlife Fund, an influential international organization running worldwide operations styled as environment-protection programs, is beyond question (2). The reason is that the global warming which is the subject of heated academic (or, occasionally, absolutely unscholarly) debates is not necessarily an uncontrolled process. At least, the incidence of the current anomalously high temperatures exclusively in Russia and some adjacent territories invites alternative explanations.
Back in the 1970ies, Z. Brzezinski invoked in his Between Two Ages the theme of weather control, which he regarded as a form of broader social regulation. No doubt, the heavyweight of the US geopolitical thinking had to take interest not only in the immediate social but also in the potential geopolitical implications of influencing the climate. He was not the only author to probe into the issue but, due to obvious regards, information on the progress in the sphere of climate weaponry is unlikely to spill over secrecy barriers in the foreseeable future.
M. Chossudovsky, an economics professor from the Ottawa University, wrote in 2000 that in part the ongoing climate change could be triggered by the use of new-generation nonlethal weapons. The US is certainly exploring the possibilities of controlling the climate in several regions of the world. The corresponding technology is being developed in the framework of the High-Frequency Active Aural Research Program» (HAARP) (3), the objective being to build a potential to launch droughts, hurricanes, floods, and earthquakes. From the military standpoint, HAARP is supposed to create a novel type of weapons of mass destruction and an instrument of expansionist policy which can be used to selectively destabilize environmental and agricultural systems of target countries (4). Technically, the system is known to be a set of sources of electromagnetic radiation affecting the ionosphere. It comprises 360 sources and 180 aerials having the height of 22 meters (5). Altogether the station emits 3,600 kW towards the ionosphere, being the world's most powerful system of the kind(6). The program opened in 1990, is jointly funded by the US Office of Naval Research and the US Air Force Research Laboratory, and is implemented by several university laboratories.
Far-reaching hypotheses arise naturally in the situation. Venezuelan leader H. Chavez was ridiculed for attributing the Haiti earthquake to the impact of HAARP but, for example, similar suspicions crept in following the 2008 earthquake in China's Sichuan province. Moreover, there is evidence that the US climate influence program not only spans a number of countries and regions but is also partially based in space. For instance, the X-37B unmanned vehicle orbited on April 22, 2010 reportedly carries new types of laser weaponry. According to New York Times, the Pentagon rejects any connection between X-37B and whatever combat weapons but recognizes that its purpose is to support ground operations and to handle a number of auxiliary tasks (7). The vehicle was built 11 years ago as a part of a NASA program which was taken over by the US Air Force 6 years ago and completely classified (8).
Demands to unveil details of the experimental program put into practice in Alaska are voiced both in the US and in several other countries. Russia never joined the chorus, but the impression is that efforts aimed at deliberate climate change are not a myth, and that in the nearest future Russia – together with the rest of the world – will face a new generation of threats. At the moment the climate weapons may be reaching their target capacity and used to provoke droughts, to erase crops, and to induce various anomalous phenomena in certain countries.
Source
In this particular context, the credibility of projections emanating from the Wildlife Fund, an influential international organization running worldwide operations styled as environment-protection programs, is beyond question (2). The reason is that the global warming which is the subject of heated academic (or, occasionally, absolutely unscholarly) debates is not necessarily an uncontrolled process. At least, the incidence of the current anomalously high temperatures exclusively in Russia and some adjacent territories invites alternative explanations.
Back in the 1970ies, Z. Brzezinski invoked in his Between Two Ages the theme of weather control, which he regarded as a form of broader social regulation. No doubt, the heavyweight of the US geopolitical thinking had to take interest not only in the immediate social but also in the potential geopolitical implications of influencing the climate. He was not the only author to probe into the issue but, due to obvious regards, information on the progress in the sphere of climate weaponry is unlikely to spill over secrecy barriers in the foreseeable future.
M. Chossudovsky, an economics professor from the Ottawa University, wrote in 2000 that in part the ongoing climate change could be triggered by the use of new-generation nonlethal weapons. The US is certainly exploring the possibilities of controlling the climate in several regions of the world. The corresponding technology is being developed in the framework of the High-Frequency Active Aural Research Program» (HAARP) (3), the objective being to build a potential to launch droughts, hurricanes, floods, and earthquakes. From the military standpoint, HAARP is supposed to create a novel type of weapons of mass destruction and an instrument of expansionist policy which can be used to selectively destabilize environmental and agricultural systems of target countries (4). Technically, the system is known to be a set of sources of electromagnetic radiation affecting the ionosphere. It comprises 360 sources and 180 aerials having the height of 22 meters (5). Altogether the station emits 3,600 kW towards the ionosphere, being the world's most powerful system of the kind(6). The program opened in 1990, is jointly funded by the US Office of Naval Research and the US Air Force Research Laboratory, and is implemented by several university laboratories.
Far-reaching hypotheses arise naturally in the situation. Venezuelan leader H. Chavez was ridiculed for attributing the Haiti earthquake to the impact of HAARP but, for example, similar suspicions crept in following the 2008 earthquake in China's Sichuan province. Moreover, there is evidence that the US climate influence program not only spans a number of countries and regions but is also partially based in space. For instance, the X-37B unmanned vehicle orbited on April 22, 2010 reportedly carries new types of laser weaponry. According to New York Times, the Pentagon rejects any connection between X-37B and whatever combat weapons but recognizes that its purpose is to support ground operations and to handle a number of auxiliary tasks (7). The vehicle was built 11 years ago as a part of a NASA program which was taken over by the US Air Force 6 years ago and completely classified (8).
Demands to unveil details of the experimental program put into practice in Alaska are voiced both in the US and in several other countries. Russia never joined the chorus, but the impression is that efforts aimed at deliberate climate change are not a myth, and that in the nearest future Russia – together with the rest of the world – will face a new generation of threats. At the moment the climate weapons may be reaching their target capacity and used to provoke droughts, to erase crops, and to induce various anomalous phenomena in certain countries.
Source
Iranian woman faces death by stoning and has already been subjected to 99 lashes
A 43-year-old Iranian woman is facing death by stoning unless an international campaign launched by her children forces the authorities to quash what her lawyer calls a bogus conviction.
In a case that highlights the growing use of the death penalty in a country that has already executed more than 100 people this year, Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani was convicted in May 2006 of conducting an "illicit relationship outside marriage."
Sakineh already endured a sentence of 99 lashes, but her case was re-opened when a court in Tabriz suspected her of murdering her husband. She was acquitted, but the adultery charge was reviewed and a death penalty handed down on the basis of "judge's knowledge" – a loophole that allows for subjective judicial rulings where no conclusive evidence is present.
Speaking to the Guardian, her son Sajad, 22, and daughter Farideh, 17, say their mother has been unjustly accused and already punished for something she did not do.
"She's innocent, she's been there for five years for doing nothing", Sajad said. He described the imminent execution as barbaric. "Imagining her, bound inside a deep hole in the ground, stoned to death, has been a nightmare for me and my sister for all these years."
Under Iranian sharia law, the sentenced individual is buried up to the neck (or to the waist in the case of men), and those attending the public execution are called upon to throw stones. If the convicted person manages to free themselves from the hole, the death sentence is commuted.
Iran, embarrassed by the international attention over stonings, has rarely practiced it in public in recent years. But the country still executed 388 people last year – more than any other country in the world apart from China, according to Amnesty International. Most are hanged.
Tonight protesters gathered outside the Iranian embassy in London to demand Sakineh's release.
Five years ago when Sakineh was flogged , Sajad was 17 and present in the punishment room. "They lashed her just in front my eyes, this has been carved in my mind since then."
Mohammed Mostafaei, an acclaimed Iranian lawyer volunteered to represent her when her sentence was announced a few months ago. He wrote a public letter about her conviction shortly after. "This is an absolutely illegal sentence," he said. "Two of five judges who investigated Sakineh's case in Tabriz prison concluded that there's no forensic evidence of adultery.
"According to the law, death sentence and especially stoning needs explicit evidences and witnesses while in her case, surprisingly, the judge's knowledge was considered as enough," he said.
Mina Ahadi, a human rights activist in Germany who helped Sakineh's children to launch their campaign internationally has been in regular contact with Sajad and Farideh.
She said that after the campaign was launched last week, she received phone calls from the families of two other women kept in Tabriz prison, where Sakineh is, revealing that they are also convicted of adultery and sentenced to death by stoning. Azar Bagheri, 19, and Marian Ghorbanzadeh, 25, are their names, Ahadi disclosed.
"Azar was arrested when she was just 15. They couldn't punish her before she became 18 years old according to the law, so they waited until now … and want to stone her to death," Ahadi said. She has been subjected to mock stonings, complete with partial burial in the ground. "They're preparing her for the real one," said Ahadi.
Ahadi who has been following the stoning sentence in Iran over the past few years says that she is aware of the names of 12 other women who are sentenced to death by stoning in Iran at the moment.
"These are just the women I know, I estimate that at least 40 to 50 other women are waiting for the same destiny in Iran right now," she said.
"Stoning to death is not simply just a judicial punishment, it's a political means in the hands of the Iranian regime to threaten people. It has more function than just a simple punishment for them.
Sources
In a case that highlights the growing use of the death penalty in a country that has already executed more than 100 people this year, Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani was convicted in May 2006 of conducting an "illicit relationship outside marriage."
Sakineh already endured a sentence of 99 lashes, but her case was re-opened when a court in Tabriz suspected her of murdering her husband. She was acquitted, but the adultery charge was reviewed and a death penalty handed down on the basis of "judge's knowledge" – a loophole that allows for subjective judicial rulings where no conclusive evidence is present.
Speaking to the Guardian, her son Sajad, 22, and daughter Farideh, 17, say their mother has been unjustly accused and already punished for something she did not do.
"She's innocent, she's been there for five years for doing nothing", Sajad said. He described the imminent execution as barbaric. "Imagining her, bound inside a deep hole in the ground, stoned to death, has been a nightmare for me and my sister for all these years."
Under Iranian sharia law, the sentenced individual is buried up to the neck (or to the waist in the case of men), and those attending the public execution are called upon to throw stones. If the convicted person manages to free themselves from the hole, the death sentence is commuted.
Iran, embarrassed by the international attention over stonings, has rarely practiced it in public in recent years. But the country still executed 388 people last year – more than any other country in the world apart from China, according to Amnesty International. Most are hanged.
Tonight protesters gathered outside the Iranian embassy in London to demand Sakineh's release.
Five years ago when Sakineh was flogged , Sajad was 17 and present in the punishment room. "They lashed her just in front my eyes, this has been carved in my mind since then."
Mohammed Mostafaei, an acclaimed Iranian lawyer volunteered to represent her when her sentence was announced a few months ago. He wrote a public letter about her conviction shortly after. "This is an absolutely illegal sentence," he said. "Two of five judges who investigated Sakineh's case in Tabriz prison concluded that there's no forensic evidence of adultery.
"According to the law, death sentence and especially stoning needs explicit evidences and witnesses while in her case, surprisingly, the judge's knowledge was considered as enough," he said.
Mina Ahadi, a human rights activist in Germany who helped Sakineh's children to launch their campaign internationally has been in regular contact with Sajad and Farideh.
She said that after the campaign was launched last week, she received phone calls from the families of two other women kept in Tabriz prison, where Sakineh is, revealing that they are also convicted of adultery and sentenced to death by stoning. Azar Bagheri, 19, and Marian Ghorbanzadeh, 25, are their names, Ahadi disclosed.
"Azar was arrested when she was just 15. They couldn't punish her before she became 18 years old according to the law, so they waited until now … and want to stone her to death," Ahadi said. She has been subjected to mock stonings, complete with partial burial in the ground. "They're preparing her for the real one," said Ahadi.
Ahadi who has been following the stoning sentence in Iran over the past few years says that she is aware of the names of 12 other women who are sentenced to death by stoning in Iran at the moment.
"These are just the women I know, I estimate that at least 40 to 50 other women are waiting for the same destiny in Iran right now," she said.
"Stoning to death is not simply just a judicial punishment, it's a political means in the hands of the Iranian regime to threaten people. It has more function than just a simple punishment for them.
Sources
One Out Of Every Ten U.S. Banks Is Now On The FDIC’s Problem List – Do You Know If Your Bank Is Safe?
Do you know if your bank will be there next month? For a growing number of Americans, that is becoming a very real question. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that 775 banks (approximately ten percent of all U.S. banks) are now on the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation's list of "problem" banks. This year we have already seen more than six dozen banks fail, and the frightening thing is that we are seeing a rapid acceleration in bank failures even though we are supposedly in a "recovery" right now. So what happens if the economy takes a bad turn and hundreds of these banks that are barely surviving start failing?
Right now an increasing number of Americans are not paying their loans, and this is shredding the balance sheets of small and medium size banks all over the United States. In fact, during the first quarter of 2010, the total number of loans that are at least three months past due increased for the 16th consecutive quarter.
16 consecutive quarters?
Once is a coincidence.
Twice is a trend.
Sixteen times in a row is a total nightmare.
Is there anyone out there that is still convinced that the economy is getting better?
If so, perhaps this will convince you otherwise....
There were 252 banks on the FDIC's "problem list" at the end of 2008.
There were 702 banks on the FDIC's "problem list" at the end of 2009.
Now there are 775 banks of the FDIC's "problem list".
Are you starting to see a trend?
Federal regulators have already closed 73 banks in 2010, more than double the number shut down at this time last year.
The truth is that the U.S. banking system is coming apart like a 20 dollar suit.
So is the FDIC worried?
No, they insist that they have plenty of money to cover all of the banks that are going to fail.
After all, the FDIC's deposit insurance fund now has negative 20.7 billion dollars in it, which represents a slight improvement from the end of 2009.
Yes, you read that correctly.
Negative 20.7 billion dollars.
That should be enough to cover the hundreds of banks that are in the process of failing, right?
Well, if not, the FDIC can just run out and ask the U.S. government for a big, juicy bailout.
After all, can't the U.S. government borrow an endless amount of money with absolutely no consequences?
Well, no.
Debt always catches up with you sooner or later.
In fact, the IMF is warning that that the gross public debt of the United States will hit 97 percent of GDP in 2011 and 110 percent of GDP in 2015.
Meanwhile, the U.S. financial system continues to shrink even after the unprecedented amount of "stimulus money" that the U.S. government has been shoveling into the economy.
The M3 money supply is now contracting at a frightening pace.
In fact, the current rate of monetary contraction now matches the average rate of monetary contraction the U.S. experienced between 1929 and 1933.
But don't worry.
We aren't going into a Depression.
Everything is going to be just fine.
Just look deep into Obama's eyes and keep repeating the word "change" to yourself over and over.
According to a report in The Telegraph, the M3 money supply declined from $14.2 trillion to $13.9 trillion in the first quarter of 2010.
That represents an annual rate of contraction of 9.6 percent.
In case you were wondering, that is a lot.
Not only that, but the assets of institutional money market funds declined at a 37 percent annual rate.
That was the sharpest drop ever.
Yes, it is time for the alarm bells to start going off.
The Telegraph recently quoted Professor Tim Congdon from International Monetary Research as saying the following about the deep problems that the U.S. is facing....
"The plunge in M3 has no precedent since the Great Depression. The dominant reason for this is that regulators across the world are pressing banks to raise capital asset ratios and to shrink their risk assets. This is why the US is not recovering properly."
If banks continue to cut their lending, the M3 is going to continue to shrink.
But as noted above, Americans are increasingly getting behind on their loans, so why should banks loan money to a bunch of deadbeats?
Right now U.S. banks are increasingly tightening their lending standards, and this is making it much tougher to get a loan.
In fact, in 2009 the biggest U.S. banks posted their sharpest decline in lending since 1942.
But there is only one problem.
The U.S. economy is completely and totally dependent on credit.
Without easy credit, the entire U.S. economic machine is going to slowly grind to a halt.
So what do you do?
The reality is that we have one gigantic financial mess on our hands, and in many ways it is starting to look like the 1930s all over again.
But perhaps someone out there has a way to get us out of this nightmare. Please feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts, opinions or solutions....
http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/one-out-of-every-ten-u-s-banks-is-now-on-the-fdics-problem-list-do-you-know-if-your-bank-is-safe
Right now an increasing number of Americans are not paying their loans, and this is shredding the balance sheets of small and medium size banks all over the United States. In fact, during the first quarter of 2010, the total number of loans that are at least three months past due increased for the 16th consecutive quarter.
16 consecutive quarters?
Once is a coincidence.
Twice is a trend.
Sixteen times in a row is a total nightmare.
Is there anyone out there that is still convinced that the economy is getting better?
If so, perhaps this will convince you otherwise....
There were 252 banks on the FDIC's "problem list" at the end of 2008.
There were 702 banks on the FDIC's "problem list" at the end of 2009.
Now there are 775 banks of the FDIC's "problem list".
Are you starting to see a trend?
Federal regulators have already closed 73 banks in 2010, more than double the number shut down at this time last year.
The truth is that the U.S. banking system is coming apart like a 20 dollar suit.
So is the FDIC worried?
No, they insist that they have plenty of money to cover all of the banks that are going to fail.
After all, the FDIC's deposit insurance fund now has negative 20.7 billion dollars in it, which represents a slight improvement from the end of 2009.
Yes, you read that correctly.
Negative 20.7 billion dollars.
That should be enough to cover the hundreds of banks that are in the process of failing, right?
Well, if not, the FDIC can just run out and ask the U.S. government for a big, juicy bailout.
After all, can't the U.S. government borrow an endless amount of money with absolutely no consequences?
Well, no.
Debt always catches up with you sooner or later.
In fact, the IMF is warning that that the gross public debt of the United States will hit 97 percent of GDP in 2011 and 110 percent of GDP in 2015.
Meanwhile, the U.S. financial system continues to shrink even after the unprecedented amount of "stimulus money" that the U.S. government has been shoveling into the economy.
The M3 money supply is now contracting at a frightening pace.
In fact, the current rate of monetary contraction now matches the average rate of monetary contraction the U.S. experienced between 1929 and 1933.
But don't worry.
We aren't going into a Depression.
Everything is going to be just fine.
Just look deep into Obama's eyes and keep repeating the word "change" to yourself over and over.
According to a report in The Telegraph, the M3 money supply declined from $14.2 trillion to $13.9 trillion in the first quarter of 2010.
That represents an annual rate of contraction of 9.6 percent.
In case you were wondering, that is a lot.
Not only that, but the assets of institutional money market funds declined at a 37 percent annual rate.
That was the sharpest drop ever.
Yes, it is time for the alarm bells to start going off.
The Telegraph recently quoted Professor Tim Congdon from International Monetary Research as saying the following about the deep problems that the U.S. is facing....
"The plunge in M3 has no precedent since the Great Depression. The dominant reason for this is that regulators across the world are pressing banks to raise capital asset ratios and to shrink their risk assets. This is why the US is not recovering properly."
If banks continue to cut their lending, the M3 is going to continue to shrink.
But as noted above, Americans are increasingly getting behind on their loans, so why should banks loan money to a bunch of deadbeats?
Right now U.S. banks are increasingly tightening their lending standards, and this is making it much tougher to get a loan.
In fact, in 2009 the biggest U.S. banks posted their sharpest decline in lending since 1942.
But there is only one problem.
The U.S. economy is completely and totally dependent on credit.
Without easy credit, the entire U.S. economic machine is going to slowly grind to a halt.
So what do you do?
The reality is that we have one gigantic financial mess on our hands, and in many ways it is starting to look like the 1930s all over again.
But perhaps someone out there has a way to get us out of this nightmare. Please feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts, opinions or solutions....
http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/one-out-of-every-ten-u-s-banks-is-now-on-the-fdics-problem-list-do-you-know-if-your-bank-is-safe
Israeli judge: Learn from Nazis
Retired Judge Hadassa Ben-Itto says as part of PR war, Israel should adopt tactics used to distribute Protocols of Elders of Zion
LONDON – "We must learn from the Nazi tactics," Retired Israeli Judge Hadassa Ben-Itto said recently during a conference discussing ways to improve the State of Israel's PR efforts in the world.
The meeting, which was held last week in the English capital, was attended by some 150 senior Jewish legal experts.
Ben-Itto said during the conference that Israel should adopt the tactics used by the Nazis after they distributed the Protocols of the Elders of Zion: Refusing to reach a compromise and continuing their battle in the courts although they had no proof of the protocols.
"I thought about it, about our 'hasbara', and nothing is working because our story is complicated and the world is used to a sound bite," she explained.
"I have reached the conclusion that we must use these tactics in courts worldwide, just like the Nazis – with all distinctions – used the courts to spread their message." More on this
LONDON – "We must learn from the Nazi tactics," Retired Israeli Judge Hadassa Ben-Itto said recently during a conference discussing ways to improve the State of Israel's PR efforts in the world.
The meeting, which was held last week in the English capital, was attended by some 150 senior Jewish legal experts.
Ben-Itto said during the conference that Israel should adopt the tactics used by the Nazis after they distributed the Protocols of the Elders of Zion: Refusing to reach a compromise and continuing their battle in the courts although they had no proof of the protocols.
"I thought about it, about our 'hasbara', and nothing is working because our story is complicated and the world is used to a sound bite," she explained.
"I have reached the conclusion that we must use these tactics in courts worldwide, just like the Nazis – with all distinctions – used the courts to spread their message." More on this
Lies spread about Mohammad peace be with him
There was also a question in my post Jochen, can't you answer it? Who
> do you say Muhammad was? Tell us. I've asked you this question a
> number of times. You've never answered it.
Actually this question has been answered by the pals of Jochen a few centuries ago. And Jochen will not answer this because his motive is "Inter-Faith Dialogue". But let me help Jochen and others out of this "Inter-Faith Dialogue". Most of us may not have heard the word Maometis derived from Mahomet. the word Maometis means The number of the beast, i.e., 666 stuff . When the Christian polemics started a few centuries ago strong vituperative language was poured out upon Muhammad(P) headed by Maracci, Prideaux and others. The word Mahoun and Mahound means Muhammad, imagined in the middle ages to be a pagan God. In Scottish this word means the devil.[1]
We have to agree with the Orientalist W Montgomery Watt when he says:
Of all the world's greatest men none has been so much maligned as Muhammad. It is easy to see how this has come about. For centuries Islam was the great enemy of Christendom, for Christendom was in direct contact with no other organized states comparable in power to the Muslims. The Byzantine empire, after losing its provinces in Syria and Egypt, was being attacked in Asia Minor, while Western Europe was threatened through Spain and Sicily. Even before the Crusades focused attention on the expulsion of the Sarcens from the Holy Land, medieval war-propaganda, free from the restraints of factuality was building up a conception of 'the great enemy'. At one point Muhammad was transformed into Mahound, the prince of darkness. By the eleventh century the idea about Islam and Muslims current in the crusading armies were such travesties that they had a bad effect on morale. The crusaders had been led to expect the worst of their enemies, and, when they found many chivalrous knights among them, they were filled with distrust for the authorities of their own religion.[2]
A few centuries ago the Prophet(P) was called the pagan God, the number of the beast i.e., the devil. This was the work of those Holy Ghost inspired Christians. These Christians also said that the Prophet(P) was a Child Molester, a Keeper of Harem and an anti-Christ. The great lies of the Crusades against the Prophet(P) and Muslims can even be seen in the so-called classics The Adventures Of Don Quixote.
Coming back to the modern age, we will still find Christians like Jochen calling the Prophet(P) Child Molester although in a politically correct language. Go to Hyde Park Speakers' Corner (London, UK) on Sunday and you will find Christian fundamentalists calling Allah, the Moon god and repeating the same age old polemics like the Prophet(P) was a Child Molester, a Keeper of Harem and an anti-Christ. Basically, nothing has changed from then till today. The "Crusades" are still there although wrapped up in a deceptive way. So do not get fooled by Jochen's "Inter-Faith Dialogue" or "Christian-Muslim Understanding". All these are lies and damn lies. Being on the soc.religion.islam for more than two and half years, I can testify that.
And regarding, the "Crusades" they are still here but people like Jochen shed crocodile tears. Now one can say that Katz is falsely being accused of what he has not done! A book is recommended by Katz called The Original Sources Of The Qur'an.
Apart from talking about the highly speculative sources of Islam, this book concludes in a fashion which is not too unexpected from a missionary:
But it (i.e., Islam) certainly does not contain a single new or lofty religious conception, and its general tone is all too faithful a reflexion of a carnal and sensual nature of its founder.
Read more at Source
> do you say Muhammad was? Tell us. I've asked you this question a
> number of times. You've never answered it.
Actually this question has been answered by the pals of Jochen a few centuries ago. And Jochen will not answer this because his motive is "Inter-Faith Dialogue". But let me help Jochen and others out of this "Inter-Faith Dialogue". Most of us may not have heard the word Maometis derived from Mahomet. the word Maometis means The number of the beast, i.e., 666 stuff . When the Christian polemics started a few centuries ago strong vituperative language was poured out upon Muhammad(P) headed by Maracci, Prideaux and others. The word Mahoun and Mahound means Muhammad, imagined in the middle ages to be a pagan God. In Scottish this word means the devil.[1]
We have to agree with the Orientalist W Montgomery Watt when he says:
Of all the world's greatest men none has been so much maligned as Muhammad. It is easy to see how this has come about. For centuries Islam was the great enemy of Christendom, for Christendom was in direct contact with no other organized states comparable in power to the Muslims. The Byzantine empire, after losing its provinces in Syria and Egypt, was being attacked in Asia Minor, while Western Europe was threatened through Spain and Sicily. Even before the Crusades focused attention on the expulsion of the Sarcens from the Holy Land, medieval war-propaganda, free from the restraints of factuality was building up a conception of 'the great enemy'. At one point Muhammad was transformed into Mahound, the prince of darkness. By the eleventh century the idea about Islam and Muslims current in the crusading armies were such travesties that they had a bad effect on morale. The crusaders had been led to expect the worst of their enemies, and, when they found many chivalrous knights among them, they were filled with distrust for the authorities of their own religion.[2]
A few centuries ago the Prophet(P) was called the pagan God, the number of the beast i.e., the devil. This was the work of those Holy Ghost inspired Christians. These Christians also said that the Prophet(P) was a Child Molester, a Keeper of Harem and an anti-Christ. The great lies of the Crusades against the Prophet(P) and Muslims can even be seen in the so-called classics The Adventures Of Don Quixote.
Coming back to the modern age, we will still find Christians like Jochen calling the Prophet(P) Child Molester although in a politically correct language. Go to Hyde Park Speakers' Corner (London, UK) on Sunday and you will find Christian fundamentalists calling Allah, the Moon god and repeating the same age old polemics like the Prophet(P) was a Child Molester, a Keeper of Harem and an anti-Christ. Basically, nothing has changed from then till today. The "Crusades" are still there although wrapped up in a deceptive way. So do not get fooled by Jochen's "Inter-Faith Dialogue" or "Christian-Muslim Understanding". All these are lies and damn lies. Being on the soc.religion.islam for more than two and half years, I can testify that.
And regarding, the "Crusades" they are still here but people like Jochen shed crocodile tears. Now one can say that Katz is falsely being accused of what he has not done! A book is recommended by Katz called The Original Sources Of The Qur'an.
Apart from talking about the highly speculative sources of Islam, this book concludes in a fashion which is not too unexpected from a missionary:
But it (i.e., Islam) certainly does not contain a single new or lofty religious conception, and its general tone is all too faithful a reflexion of a carnal and sensual nature of its founder.
Read more at Source
2012enlightened
A Book That Brings Together All Aspects Of 2012: Our Past, Present, And Future. There Is No Need To Be Frightened, As The Future Is Beautiful. Start Promoting The Knowledge Of 2012 Enlightened To Your List And You Will Be Rewarded.Click Here!
Hassan NasrAllah Being Targeted
The news paper Alkwaitia reports that Israeli operations have been undergoing on a high level in the past few month with one target in mind. The spokesman for hizballah Hassan NasrAllah. Two attempts have been launched already, getting rid of NasrAllah is crucial to weakening the south lebanese movement/terrorist/freedomfighters which ever you refer.
The reports also show use of unmanned air craft in attempt to uncover his movements in the southern part of the capital Beirut.
The first attempt was by the Mossad in a fast operation, but the great amount of children present that day prevented it from happening.
The second attempt was when NasrAllah was to meet with Syrian president and Iranian president in Damascus the capital of Syria. Once he crossed into Syria all trackers failed to keep track of his where abouts.
The reports also show use of unmanned air craft in attempt to uncover his movements in the southern part of the capital Beirut.
The first attempt was by the Mossad in a fast operation, but the great amount of children present that day prevented it from happening.
The second attempt was when NasrAllah was to meet with Syrian president and Iranian president in Damascus the capital of Syria. Once he crossed into Syria all trackers failed to keep track of his where abouts.
The Battle of the 'Empty Intestines'; Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails stage hunger strike
In the fist initiative of its kind for several years, the anti-Zionist Prisoner's Movement has planned a bold and coherent series of measures against the systematic, pervasive and persistent violation of prisoner rights within Israeli jails. The initiative, which comes from within the prisons themselves, consists of a progression of escalating non-violent 'battles' waged by thousands of prisoners being held in more than 10 Israeli prisons and three detention camps under the most appalling conditions.
Today marks the first of the planned protests which has been called 'the battle of empty intestines'; a hunger strike aimed at securing a list of basic prisoner demands. It comes in response to the ever tightening and repressive practices of the Israeli prison department.
Yesterday evening, the Centre for Prisoner Studies announced that representatives of more than one of the prisons in question had sat down with prisoner representatives to hear their key demands. These include;
•An end to the humiliating and degrading way in which family visitors are treated, including improper searches.
•To allow the families of captives from Gaza to visit their loved ones. This also applies to the hundreds of other families of captives from the West Bank, Jerusalem and other occupied regions.
•To allow access to suitable television channels such as al-Jazeera
•To allow family to bring in books during visits
•To allow prisoners to take general secondary school examinations
•General demands for the observation of prisoners' basic human rights
Not only do these daily practices contravene the official codes of the prison department itself, but the demands being made by prisoners are human rights safeguarded under various international conventions including the Third Geneva Convention, which relates specifically to prisoners, and the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights. Israel's prisons are accused of a policy intentionally designed to inflict maximum levels of humiliation, degradation and insult upon those immediately under their control as well as their families. Daily violations range from the prevention of family visits, unnecessary and inappropriate strip searching, food rationing and the denial of medical treatment to mental and physical torture among other heinous practices.
Indeed, that prisoners from Gaza have been denied visits from their families for the past four years; since the capture of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit and as a penalty on all Gazans for what Shalitt's family suffers, this amounts to collective punishment, a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention. The Israeli prisons department are notorious for their persistent gross abuses. MEMO, along with a number of human rights bodies and organisation have written on this subject previously but without tangible improvement.
The Palestinian Authority, lead by President Mahmoud Abbas, as a partner in both peace negotiations and security coordination with Israel, has an obligation to prisoners held under such conditions within Israeli prisons. Nevertheless, they have failed to either secure for them conditions of captivity that conform to international standards or their release. On the contrary, the two have operated a 'revolving-door' of detention whereby prisoners released by Israel are immediately re-arrested by the PA and vice versa. In this way certain individuals are kept in continuous incarceration.
Instances of medical neglect, deprivation and severe human rights abuses have sparked the current initiative and there have been several appeals for the plight and efforts of these prisoners, to be publicised and supported. Within the region, Palestinians from all walks of life and regardless of political affiliations have been called upon to stand in support and solidarity with the prisoners' movement. This reflects the decision by the prisoners themselves to stand united in their cause. Indeed, the committee formulated to lead the strike is politically heterogeneous consisting of members of Hamas, Fatah, Islamic Jihad and many other groups. Leaders of the initiative have said that they fully expect prison authorities to crack down on them even further; nevertheless, they have vowed not to back down whatever the cost.
Similarly, this initiative should be supported internationally by all organisations and individuals concerned with the alleviation of suffering and universal human rights. These prisoners have not chosen to strike because they are fans of suffering and pain, but because they have been compelled to their current course of action. And until they can be completely released from the jails that serve Israel's colonial, apartheid regime in occupied Palestine, at the very least, the conditions within them must be brought into conformity with international standards.
Source-More on This Story
Today marks the first of the planned protests which has been called 'the battle of empty intestines'; a hunger strike aimed at securing a list of basic prisoner demands. It comes in response to the ever tightening and repressive practices of the Israeli prison department.
Yesterday evening, the Centre for Prisoner Studies announced that representatives of more than one of the prisons in question had sat down with prisoner representatives to hear their key demands. These include;
•An end to the humiliating and degrading way in which family visitors are treated, including improper searches.
•To allow the families of captives from Gaza to visit their loved ones. This also applies to the hundreds of other families of captives from the West Bank, Jerusalem and other occupied regions.
•To allow access to suitable television channels such as al-Jazeera
•To allow family to bring in books during visits
•To allow prisoners to take general secondary school examinations
•General demands for the observation of prisoners' basic human rights
Not only do these daily practices contravene the official codes of the prison department itself, but the demands being made by prisoners are human rights safeguarded under various international conventions including the Third Geneva Convention, which relates specifically to prisoners, and the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights. Israel's prisons are accused of a policy intentionally designed to inflict maximum levels of humiliation, degradation and insult upon those immediately under their control as well as their families. Daily violations range from the prevention of family visits, unnecessary and inappropriate strip searching, food rationing and the denial of medical treatment to mental and physical torture among other heinous practices.
Indeed, that prisoners from Gaza have been denied visits from their families for the past four years; since the capture of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit and as a penalty on all Gazans for what Shalitt's family suffers, this amounts to collective punishment, a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention. The Israeli prisons department are notorious for their persistent gross abuses. MEMO, along with a number of human rights bodies and organisation have written on this subject previously but without tangible improvement.
The Palestinian Authority, lead by President Mahmoud Abbas, as a partner in both peace negotiations and security coordination with Israel, has an obligation to prisoners held under such conditions within Israeli prisons. Nevertheless, they have failed to either secure for them conditions of captivity that conform to international standards or their release. On the contrary, the two have operated a 'revolving-door' of detention whereby prisoners released by Israel are immediately re-arrested by the PA and vice versa. In this way certain individuals are kept in continuous incarceration.
Instances of medical neglect, deprivation and severe human rights abuses have sparked the current initiative and there have been several appeals for the plight and efforts of these prisoners, to be publicised and supported. Within the region, Palestinians from all walks of life and regardless of political affiliations have been called upon to stand in support and solidarity with the prisoners' movement. This reflects the decision by the prisoners themselves to stand united in their cause. Indeed, the committee formulated to lead the strike is politically heterogeneous consisting of members of Hamas, Fatah, Islamic Jihad and many other groups. Leaders of the initiative have said that they fully expect prison authorities to crack down on them even further; nevertheless, they have vowed not to back down whatever the cost.
Similarly, this initiative should be supported internationally by all organisations and individuals concerned with the alleviation of suffering and universal human rights. These prisoners have not chosen to strike because they are fans of suffering and pain, but because they have been compelled to their current course of action. And until they can be completely released from the jails that serve Israel's colonial, apartheid regime in occupied Palestine, at the very least, the conditions within them must be brought into conformity with international standards.
Source-More on This Story
Israel and the “De-legitimization” Oxymoron By Alan Hart
For readers who may not be intimately familiar with English terminology, an oxymoron is a figure of speech by which contradictory terms are combined to form an expressive phrase or epithet such as cruel kindness and falsely true. (It’s derived from the Greek word oxymoros meaning pointedly foolish).
For my contribution to the De-legitimizing Israel series, I’m going to confine myself to one question and answer.
April 05, 2010 "Information Clearing House" -- The question is: How can you de-legitimize something (in this case the Zionist state) which it is NOT legitimate?
Leaving aside the fairy story of God’s promise, (which even if true would have no bearing on the matter because the Jews who “returned” in answer to Zionism’s call had no biological connection to the ancient Hebrews), the Zionist state’s assertion of legitimacy rests on the Balfour Declaration of 1917 and the UN General Assembly’s partition plan resolution of 1947.
The only real relevance of the Balfour Declaration is in the fact that it was an expression of both the willingness of a British government to use Jews for imperial purposes and the willingness of Zionist Jews to be used. The truth is that Britain had no right whatsoever to promise Zionism a place in Palestine, territory the British not possess. (Palestine at the time was controlled and effectively owned by Ottoman Turkey). The Balfour Declaration did allow Zionism to say that its claim to Palestine had been recognised by a major power, and then to assert that the Zionist enterprise was therefore a legitimate one. But the legitimacy Britain conveyed by implication was entirely spurious, meaning not genuine, false, a sham.
Zionism’s assertion that Israel was given its birth certificate and thus legitimacy by the UN General Assembly partition resolution of 29 November 1947 is pure propaganda nonsense, as demonstrated by an honest examination of the record of what actually happened.
In the first place the UN without the consent of the majority of the people of Palestine did not have the right to decide to partition Palestine or assign any part of its territory to a minority of alien immigrants in order for them to establish a state of their own.
Despite that, by the narrowest of margins, and only after a rigged vote, the UN General Assembly did pass a resolution to partition Palestine and create two states, one Arab, one Jewish, with Jerusalem not part of either. But the General Assembly resolution was only a non-binding proposal - meaning that it could have no effect, would not become binding, until and unless it was approved by the Security Council.
The truth is that the General Assembly’s partition proposal never went to the Security Council for consideration. Why not? Because the US knew that, if approved, and because of Arab and other Muslim opposition, it could only be implemented by force; and President Truman was not prepared to use force to partition Palestine.
So the partition plan was vitiated (became invalid) and the question of what the hell to do about Palestine - after Britain had made a mess of it and walked away - was taken back to the General Assembly for more discussion. The option favoured and proposed by the US was temporary UN Trusteeship. It was while the General Assembly was debating what do that Israel unilaterally declared itself to be in existence - actually in defiance of the will of the organised international community, including the Truman administration.
The truth of the time was that Israel, which came into being mainly as a consequence of Zionist terrorism and pre-planned ethnic cleansing, had no right to exist and, more to the point, could have no right to exist unless ….. Unless it was recognised and legitimized by those who were dispossessed of their land and their rights during the creation of the Zionist state. In international law only the Palestinians could give Israel the legitimacy it craved.
As it was put to me many years ago by Khalad al-Hassan, Fatah’s intellectual giant on the right, that legitimacy was “the only thing the Zionists could not take from us by force.”
The truth of history as summarised briefly above is the explanation of why, really, Zionism has always insisted that its absolute pre-condition for negotiations with more than a snowball’s chance in hell of a successful outcome (an acceptable measure of justice for the Palestinians and peace for all) is recognition of Israel’s right to exist. A right, it knows, it does not have and will never have unless the Palestinians grant it.
It can be said without fear of contradiction (except by Zionists) that what de-legitimizes Israel is the truth of history. And that is why Zionism has worked so hard, today with less success than in the past and therefore with increasing desperation, to have the truth suppressed.
Source
For my contribution to the De-legitimizing Israel series, I’m going to confine myself to one question and answer.
April 05, 2010 "Information Clearing House" -- The question is: How can you de-legitimize something (in this case the Zionist state) which it is NOT legitimate?
Leaving aside the fairy story of God’s promise, (which even if true would have no bearing on the matter because the Jews who “returned” in answer to Zionism’s call had no biological connection to the ancient Hebrews), the Zionist state’s assertion of legitimacy rests on the Balfour Declaration of 1917 and the UN General Assembly’s partition plan resolution of 1947.
The only real relevance of the Balfour Declaration is in the fact that it was an expression of both the willingness of a British government to use Jews for imperial purposes and the willingness of Zionist Jews to be used. The truth is that Britain had no right whatsoever to promise Zionism a place in Palestine, territory the British not possess. (Palestine at the time was controlled and effectively owned by Ottoman Turkey). The Balfour Declaration did allow Zionism to say that its claim to Palestine had been recognised by a major power, and then to assert that the Zionist enterprise was therefore a legitimate one. But the legitimacy Britain conveyed by implication was entirely spurious, meaning not genuine, false, a sham.
Zionism’s assertion that Israel was given its birth certificate and thus legitimacy by the UN General Assembly partition resolution of 29 November 1947 is pure propaganda nonsense, as demonstrated by an honest examination of the record of what actually happened.
In the first place the UN without the consent of the majority of the people of Palestine did not have the right to decide to partition Palestine or assign any part of its territory to a minority of alien immigrants in order for them to establish a state of their own.
Despite that, by the narrowest of margins, and only after a rigged vote, the UN General Assembly did pass a resolution to partition Palestine and create two states, one Arab, one Jewish, with Jerusalem not part of either. But the General Assembly resolution was only a non-binding proposal - meaning that it could have no effect, would not become binding, until and unless it was approved by the Security Council.
The truth is that the General Assembly’s partition proposal never went to the Security Council for consideration. Why not? Because the US knew that, if approved, and because of Arab and other Muslim opposition, it could only be implemented by force; and President Truman was not prepared to use force to partition Palestine.
So the partition plan was vitiated (became invalid) and the question of what the hell to do about Palestine - after Britain had made a mess of it and walked away - was taken back to the General Assembly for more discussion. The option favoured and proposed by the US was temporary UN Trusteeship. It was while the General Assembly was debating what do that Israel unilaterally declared itself to be in existence - actually in defiance of the will of the organised international community, including the Truman administration.
The truth of the time was that Israel, which came into being mainly as a consequence of Zionist terrorism and pre-planned ethnic cleansing, had no right to exist and, more to the point, could have no right to exist unless ….. Unless it was recognised and legitimized by those who were dispossessed of their land and their rights during the creation of the Zionist state. In international law only the Palestinians could give Israel the legitimacy it craved.
As it was put to me many years ago by Khalad al-Hassan, Fatah’s intellectual giant on the right, that legitimacy was “the only thing the Zionists could not take from us by force.”
The truth of history as summarised briefly above is the explanation of why, really, Zionism has always insisted that its absolute pre-condition for negotiations with more than a snowball’s chance in hell of a successful outcome (an acceptable measure of justice for the Palestinians and peace for all) is recognition of Israel’s right to exist. A right, it knows, it does not have and will never have unless the Palestinians grant it.
It can be said without fear of contradiction (except by Zionists) that what de-legitimizes Israel is the truth of history. And that is why Zionism has worked so hard, today with less success than in the past and therefore with increasing desperation, to have the truth suppressed.
Source
Protein called Lectin found in Bananas, Helps fight the HIV virus.
Scientists say a plant protein found in bananas could be a powerful weapon in the fight against HIV.
A research team at an American university says the lectin found in bananas proved as potent as two current anti-HIV drugs in laboratory tests.
The lectin effectively stops infections by outsmarting HIV and preventing it from becoming integrated in a target cell.
Scientists say new weapons in the fight against HIV are urgently needed, and these lectins are one of the most promising options.
The University of Michigan researchers believe that vaginal microbicides made with this plant protein could be a cheap and effective treatment, particularly in developing countries.
Source
A research team at an American university says the lectin found in bananas proved as potent as two current anti-HIV drugs in laboratory tests.
The lectin effectively stops infections by outsmarting HIV and preventing it from becoming integrated in a target cell.
Scientists say new weapons in the fight against HIV are urgently needed, and these lectins are one of the most promising options.
The University of Michigan researchers believe that vaginal microbicides made with this plant protein could be a cheap and effective treatment, particularly in developing countries.
Source
Schools allowed to ban face veils
Jack Straw's comments on veils have been good news for the owner of The Hijab Centre in the MP's constituency of Blackburn.
Nadeem Siddiqui tells me he is selling more veils than he did before his local MP made his controversial remarks.
Mr Siddiqui is the largest seller of veils in the area.
"I used to sell two or three a week but now I am selling five to six. They are mainly being bought by young, British-born Muslim women," he said.
"These women are experimenting with the wearing of the niqab. Their mothers often do not cover themselves but they seem to want to do it."
It is probably not the impact that Mr Straw intended when he wrote in his local newspapers that he felt uncomfortable when dealing face to face with veiled women.
Future fears
The majority of Muslims condemned Mr Straw over his comments. One month later, they are still upset.
The woman who covers her face is the most harmless individual in society. She ... does not cause society any problems
Na'ima B Roberts
"I voted for Mr Straw at the last election" says Mr Siddiqui.
"I'm now reconsidering my support for him. Most of the people around here are doing the same because of what he said about the veil".
British Muslims do not accept the argument that veiled women contribute to segregation or are a barrier to integration.
Instead they feel they are being deliberately stigmatised as a problem community and are fearful of the future.
The author Na'ima B Roberts has written about her experiences as a veiled woman in her book From My Sister's Lips.
"I fear that this could change everything in Britain and this country will become like France and ban the veil," she said.
"The woman who covers her face is the most harmless individual in society. She doesn't drink; she doesn't smoke and does not cause society any problems."
Muslim unity
The wearing of the veil has always been a controversial practice and there is no consensus amongst Islamic scholars.
Find out about different styles of Muslim headscarf
In graphics
There are roughly two schools of thought, one which says that it is obligatory and another that believes it is highly recommended but ultimately a matter of personal choice.
Mr Straw's intervention and the ensuing political storm have changed all that.
It now appears that British Muslims are less willing to publicly criticise those tiny minority of women who wear it.
A recent statement issued by nearly 30 Islamic groups, including one of the largest Muslim organisations - the Muslim Council of Britain, tells Muslims to "remain united, regardless of their differences of opinion in the wearing of the veil ... and to defend the veil with all their ability".
It also asks them to "avoid seeking to capitalise on this debate to further political or personal interests".
This statement has annoyed some Muslims but they are now choosing to remain silent.
They think it is open season on Muslims and do not want to be seen damaging the community anymore by offering support to the anti-veil lobby.
Veil encouragement
The case of Aishah Azmi, the Dewsbury teacher who was suspended after refusing to take her veil off in the classroom, resulted in an even more ambivalent response from British Muslims.
Mr Straw's comments seems to have reinforced support for the veil
Even if they disagree with Jack Straw they are unwilling to offer their wholehearted support to Mrs Azmi.
"If I couldn't wear the niqab and teach then I wouldn't do that job" says Na'ima B Roberts.
"I don't go into a line of work where I have to uncover. I wouldn't, for example go for the title of Miss Great Britain," she said.
At the Hijab Centre in Blackburn they recently had a visit from an eight-year-old girl, Mr Siddiqui recalls.
"She wanted to buy a veil and she was arguing with me for 15 minutes. I told her she was too young to be wearing one and in the end we convinced her to wear the hijab.
"The girl's mother didn't even wear a hijab and she told me that she had spent three days convincing her that she doesn't need one".
It seems that rather then discouraging women from wearing the veil Mr Straw has elevated its importance. We can probably expect to see more women in veils, not fewer.
Source
Nadeem Siddiqui tells me he is selling more veils than he did before his local MP made his controversial remarks.
Mr Siddiqui is the largest seller of veils in the area.
"I used to sell two or three a week but now I am selling five to six. They are mainly being bought by young, British-born Muslim women," he said.
"These women are experimenting with the wearing of the niqab. Their mothers often do not cover themselves but they seem to want to do it."
It is probably not the impact that Mr Straw intended when he wrote in his local newspapers that he felt uncomfortable when dealing face to face with veiled women.
Future fears
The majority of Muslims condemned Mr Straw over his comments. One month later, they are still upset.
The woman who covers her face is the most harmless individual in society. She ... does not cause society any problems
Na'ima B Roberts
"I voted for Mr Straw at the last election" says Mr Siddiqui.
"I'm now reconsidering my support for him. Most of the people around here are doing the same because of what he said about the veil".
British Muslims do not accept the argument that veiled women contribute to segregation or are a barrier to integration.
Instead they feel they are being deliberately stigmatised as a problem community and are fearful of the future.
The author Na'ima B Roberts has written about her experiences as a veiled woman in her book From My Sister's Lips.
"I fear that this could change everything in Britain and this country will become like France and ban the veil," she said.
"The woman who covers her face is the most harmless individual in society. She doesn't drink; she doesn't smoke and does not cause society any problems."
Muslim unity
The wearing of the veil has always been a controversial practice and there is no consensus amongst Islamic scholars.
Find out about different styles of Muslim headscarf
In graphics
There are roughly two schools of thought, one which says that it is obligatory and another that believes it is highly recommended but ultimately a matter of personal choice.
Mr Straw's intervention and the ensuing political storm have changed all that.
It now appears that British Muslims are less willing to publicly criticise those tiny minority of women who wear it.
A recent statement issued by nearly 30 Islamic groups, including one of the largest Muslim organisations - the Muslim Council of Britain, tells Muslims to "remain united, regardless of their differences of opinion in the wearing of the veil ... and to defend the veil with all their ability".
It also asks them to "avoid seeking to capitalise on this debate to further political or personal interests".
This statement has annoyed some Muslims but they are now choosing to remain silent.
They think it is open season on Muslims and do not want to be seen damaging the community anymore by offering support to the anti-veil lobby.
Veil encouragement
The case of Aishah Azmi, the Dewsbury teacher who was suspended after refusing to take her veil off in the classroom, resulted in an even more ambivalent response from British Muslims.
Mr Straw's comments seems to have reinforced support for the veil
Even if they disagree with Jack Straw they are unwilling to offer their wholehearted support to Mrs Azmi.
"If I couldn't wear the niqab and teach then I wouldn't do that job" says Na'ima B Roberts.
"I don't go into a line of work where I have to uncover. I wouldn't, for example go for the title of Miss Great Britain," she said.
At the Hijab Centre in Blackburn they recently had a visit from an eight-year-old girl, Mr Siddiqui recalls.
"She wanted to buy a veil and she was arguing with me for 15 minutes. I told her she was too young to be wearing one and in the end we convinced her to wear the hijab.
"The girl's mother didn't even wear a hijab and she told me that she had spent three days convincing her that she doesn't need one".
It seems that rather then discouraging women from wearing the veil Mr Straw has elevated its importance. We can probably expect to see more women in veils, not fewer.
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Clashes in Palestine, East Jerusalem
Palestinians have clashed with Israeli police in two areas of occupied East Jerusalem after Palestinian groups called for a "day of rage" over the reopening of a synagogue in the Old City.
Palestinians threw stones at Israeli police who responded with stun grenades in the Shuafat and Essawiyya neighbourhoods early on Tuesday.
At least 90 people were wounded in the clashes, the Palestinian Red Crescent said, with around 15 people seriously hurt by rubber-coated steel bullets, teargas inhalation and at the hands of Israeli police.
Israel security forces said about eight police officers were lightly injured in clashes that ended with up to 60 arrests.
About 3,000 police officers had been deployed in East Jerusalem and nearby villages after Hamas and other Palestinian groups called for action in response to the reopening of the Hurva synagogue.
The Hurva, considered by some people to to be one of Judaism's most sacred sites, reopened for the first time in 62 years on Monday in the Jewish quarter of Jerusalem's Old City.
The walled Old City is at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which makes the reopening of the synagogue controversial.
Source
Palestinians threw stones at Israeli police who responded with stun grenades in the Shuafat and Essawiyya neighbourhoods early on Tuesday.
At least 90 people were wounded in the clashes, the Palestinian Red Crescent said, with around 15 people seriously hurt by rubber-coated steel bullets, teargas inhalation and at the hands of Israeli police.
Israel security forces said about eight police officers were lightly injured in clashes that ended with up to 60 arrests.
About 3,000 police officers had been deployed in East Jerusalem and nearby villages after Hamas and other Palestinian groups called for action in response to the reopening of the Hurva synagogue.
The Hurva, considered by some people to to be one of Judaism's most sacred sites, reopened for the first time in 62 years on Monday in the Jewish quarter of Jerusalem's Old City.
The walled Old City is at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which makes the reopening of the synagogue controversial.
Source
Jordan turns to Islamic banking
The Jordanian government has borrowed $100 million from the Jordan Islamic Bank, following the successful performance of Islamic banking during the latest global financial crisis.
Mohammad Abu Hamour, the Jordanian finance minister, signed the loan agreement on behalf of the government on Monday.
He said that the credit would be used for buying wheat and barley to enhance the country's strategic stockpile of the two basic commodities.
"Our decision to turn to Islamic banks for borrowing came in the light of the success scored by Islamic banking during the world financial crisis," the minister said.
Abu Hammour said that his ministry had set up panels for appraising the feasibility of borrowing through the issuance of Islamic bonds, the sukuk.
The minister added his ministry had come up with a plan to handle the record deficit in Jordan's public budget which was expected to reach 1.5 billion dollars in fiscal 2010.
According to regional and international studies, Islamic banks were the least affected by the crisis that rocked the world economy in the last quarter of 2008 - compared with big losses incurred by conventional banks.
Source
Mohammad Abu Hamour, the Jordanian finance minister, signed the loan agreement on behalf of the government on Monday.
He said that the credit would be used for buying wheat and barley to enhance the country's strategic stockpile of the two basic commodities.
"Our decision to turn to Islamic banks for borrowing came in the light of the success scored by Islamic banking during the world financial crisis," the minister said.
Abu Hammour said that his ministry had set up panels for appraising the feasibility of borrowing through the issuance of Islamic bonds, the sukuk.
The minister added his ministry had come up with a plan to handle the record deficit in Jordan's public budget which was expected to reach 1.5 billion dollars in fiscal 2010.
According to regional and international studies, Islamic banks were the least affected by the crisis that rocked the world economy in the last quarter of 2008 - compared with big losses incurred by conventional banks.
Source
.Isolated and battered, Israeli doves hold protest
JERUSALEM — Israel's battered pro-peace camp is showing signs of life with a weekly Jerusalem protest by a motley collection of anarchists, intellectuals and radical rabbis, but they face a public increasingly hostile to their point of view.
Activists have gathered each Friday since November in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah to protest the eviction of Palestinians from their homes to make room for Jewish settlers. The demonstrations have become a rallying cry for the shrunken left and freedom of speech advocates who say their country has become increasingly intolerant of dissent since waging a bruising winter war in Gaza.
Activists point to a recent campaign vilifying a prominent human rights campaigner, arrests of protesters and attempts by government officials and right-wing groups to halt international funding of Israeli organizations they deemed disloyal.
"It's about time the left in Israel protest against the way the right-wing is kidnapping our future and our life," said Israeli author David Grossman, a leading dove, at a recent protest.
In the latest protest Friday, some 250 demonstrators assembled by a road blowing on shrieking whistles and loudly banging on drums. "You have no shame!" they chanted at Jewish settlers.
Several police officers watched warily across the road, backed by riot police wielding batons and assault rifles.
The weekly demonstrations in Sheikh Jarrah began after Israeli police evicted Palestinian families from the flash point neighborhood and allowed Jewish settlers to move into their homes.
Numbers swelled after police began arresting protesters. Activists shared protest videos on YouTube and Facebook. Anarchists mingled with rabbis, veteran activists, former politicians whose left-wing views have edged out of the mainstream and prominent Israelis like Moshe Halbertal, who helped draft the Israeli army's code of ethics.
Anger over the evictions and the apparent crackdown on freedom of speech inspired Holocaust survivor and veteran activist Max Moray, 84, to join a recent protest after years of shirking them. It was the first protest for Ariel Gommershtadt, 26. The only other demonstration he'd ever attended was one he helped disperse as an army conscript, he said.
While the peace protests are the largest in years, turnout has hovered at 200 to 400 — highlighting their dramatic fall in popularity from the days when the left could draw crowds in the hundreds of thousands.
Israel's left-wing activists have diverse backgrounds but broadly support the creation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem — territories Israel seized in the 1967 Mideast war — and the evacuation of Jewish settlers from those areas.
The left was devastated by the failure of peace efforts in the 1990s and the eruption in 2000 of violence between Israel and the Palestinians that included suicide bombings targeting civilians. The cause took another knock last winter when Israel waged a three-week war in Gaza that left 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis dead.
Today, polls show solid public support for the hawkish government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. If elections were held today Netanyahu's Likud Party would go from 27 seats to 35 seats in the 120-member parliament, according to a survey published in the Haaretz daily last week.
In contrast, Meretz, the flagship party of Israel's left, clings to three seats. The Labor Party, the center-left movement that dominated Israeli politics for decades, joined Netanyahu's rightist coalition as a junior member.
A U.N.-sponsored report last year that accused Israel of committing war crimes during last year's winter offensive in Gaza fueled a backlash against left-wing activists. Israel's government shunned the U.N. commission, headed by jurist Richard Goldstone, that drafted the report and many accused the rights groups that testified of damaging the country's image.
"In Israel today there is a rage against Goldstone and his report that I have rarely seen," analyst Yossi Klein Halevi said.
Hawkish Israeli organizations have lobbied Israel's parliament to find a way to halt international funding to rights groups that testified to the U.N. commission. "Traitors," said political scientist Gideon Doron to describe what most Israelis thought of them.
And this month, they took their campaign to the public when a hard-line group published newspaper and billboard ads carrying a crude caricature and criticism of ex-lawmaker Noami Chazan, head of an organization that funded groups that testified.
Chazan was sketched as having a horn, an image suggestive of anti-Semitic caricatures of the 1930s in Europe.
Before Chazan was targeted by the hard-line ad campaign, she described the Sheikh Jarrah protests as "the struggle for the future of democratic rights in (Israel)" in one of her regular columns in the English-language daily, The Jerusalem Post. The paper ran the ad attacking her and her column was dropped after she threatened legal action.
"Today it is against Naomi Chazan," she said in an Israel Radio interview, "but tomorrow it will be against every citizen who expresses his opinion."
Source
Activists have gathered each Friday since November in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah to protest the eviction of Palestinians from their homes to make room for Jewish settlers. The demonstrations have become a rallying cry for the shrunken left and freedom of speech advocates who say their country has become increasingly intolerant of dissent since waging a bruising winter war in Gaza.
Activists point to a recent campaign vilifying a prominent human rights campaigner, arrests of protesters and attempts by government officials and right-wing groups to halt international funding of Israeli organizations they deemed disloyal.
"It's about time the left in Israel protest against the way the right-wing is kidnapping our future and our life," said Israeli author David Grossman, a leading dove, at a recent protest.
In the latest protest Friday, some 250 demonstrators assembled by a road blowing on shrieking whistles and loudly banging on drums. "You have no shame!" they chanted at Jewish settlers.
Several police officers watched warily across the road, backed by riot police wielding batons and assault rifles.
The weekly demonstrations in Sheikh Jarrah began after Israeli police evicted Palestinian families from the flash point neighborhood and allowed Jewish settlers to move into their homes.
Numbers swelled after police began arresting protesters. Activists shared protest videos on YouTube and Facebook. Anarchists mingled with rabbis, veteran activists, former politicians whose left-wing views have edged out of the mainstream and prominent Israelis like Moshe Halbertal, who helped draft the Israeli army's code of ethics.
Anger over the evictions and the apparent crackdown on freedom of speech inspired Holocaust survivor and veteran activist Max Moray, 84, to join a recent protest after years of shirking them. It was the first protest for Ariel Gommershtadt, 26. The only other demonstration he'd ever attended was one he helped disperse as an army conscript, he said.
While the peace protests are the largest in years, turnout has hovered at 200 to 400 — highlighting their dramatic fall in popularity from the days when the left could draw crowds in the hundreds of thousands.
Israel's left-wing activists have diverse backgrounds but broadly support the creation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem — territories Israel seized in the 1967 Mideast war — and the evacuation of Jewish settlers from those areas.
The left was devastated by the failure of peace efforts in the 1990s and the eruption in 2000 of violence between Israel and the Palestinians that included suicide bombings targeting civilians. The cause took another knock last winter when Israel waged a three-week war in Gaza that left 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis dead.
Today, polls show solid public support for the hawkish government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. If elections were held today Netanyahu's Likud Party would go from 27 seats to 35 seats in the 120-member parliament, according to a survey published in the Haaretz daily last week.
In contrast, Meretz, the flagship party of Israel's left, clings to three seats. The Labor Party, the center-left movement that dominated Israeli politics for decades, joined Netanyahu's rightist coalition as a junior member.
A U.N.-sponsored report last year that accused Israel of committing war crimes during last year's winter offensive in Gaza fueled a backlash against left-wing activists. Israel's government shunned the U.N. commission, headed by jurist Richard Goldstone, that drafted the report and many accused the rights groups that testified of damaging the country's image.
"In Israel today there is a rage against Goldstone and his report that I have rarely seen," analyst Yossi Klein Halevi said.
Hawkish Israeli organizations have lobbied Israel's parliament to find a way to halt international funding to rights groups that testified to the U.N. commission. "Traitors," said political scientist Gideon Doron to describe what most Israelis thought of them.
And this month, they took their campaign to the public when a hard-line group published newspaper and billboard ads carrying a crude caricature and criticism of ex-lawmaker Noami Chazan, head of an organization that funded groups that testified.
Chazan was sketched as having a horn, an image suggestive of anti-Semitic caricatures of the 1930s in Europe.
Before Chazan was targeted by the hard-line ad campaign, she described the Sheikh Jarrah protests as "the struggle for the future of democratic rights in (Israel)" in one of her regular columns in the English-language daily, The Jerusalem Post. The paper ran the ad attacking her and her column was dropped after she threatened legal action.
"Today it is against Naomi Chazan," she said in an Israel Radio interview, "but tomorrow it will be against every citizen who expresses his opinion."
Source
Egypt win sparks celebration in Gaza
The streets of Gaza erupted on Sunday evening... not in anger or protest... but in rare celebration.
That's right, tens of thousands of Palestinians across the Gaza Strip took to the streets celebrating Egypt's victory over Ghana which crowned them champions at the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations.
For the second time in less than a week (the other was when Egypt routed Algeria 4-0 on Thursday) Gazans were seen waving Egyptian flags and chanting Egyptian songs in a moment of jubilation in the besieged and war-reeling territory where there is often very little to be happy about on such a grand scale!
For a few hours, the increasing anger among many Palestinians towards their southern neighbor for its increasingly entrenched policies that are exacerbating an Israeli imposed siege were all but forgotten.
And there was anger in Egypt in recent weeks, when an Egyptian border guard was killed after a Hamas protest along the Gaza border turned violent.
But on Sunday, for those few hours, the people of Gaza and Egypt - divided by borders, distance, recent tensions and politically opposite governments - were united in there celebration... a moment of relief for both sides if you will!
The joke in Gaza this evening is that many Palestinians will head to the Rafah Border tomorrow and hope that the Egyptians, overcome by the joyousness of their victory, and as a goodwill gesture after seeing thousands of Gazans celebrating in the streets, will open the border and allow the Palestinians to have something they could celebrate on their own as well...
If the Egyptians don't open the border (which is the more realistic and likely scenario) and Israel's siege continues (no indication it will end anytime soon), well, the Palestinians will have to wait another two years before the next Africa Cup of Nations and a chance to celebrate another Egyptian triumph!
Source : Aljazeera
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