news dump – Page 7 – on the semi-periphery

Edward Snowden worked only in one of 17 spy agencies

Posted on 2015/03/15 by jd

Tom Engelhardt writes:

I’ve often said that Edward Snowden’s revelations gave us the impression that we now more or less know what the American secret world of intelligence, surveillance, and spying is doing. We don’t. Snowden illuminated the workings of one of 17 intelligence outfits in the U.S. Intelligence Community. To have a real sense of what’s been going on, we would need Edward Snowdens to walk out of the CIA, the DIA, and a whole series of other agencies and outfits. Until then, we don’t even know what we don’t know.
via TomDispatch – I've often said that Edward Snowden's revelations….

Tom Engelhardt: TomDispatch.com

Chinese SciFi: The Three-Body Problem

Posted on 2015/03/15 - 2015/03/15 by jd

Liu Cixin's The Three-Body Problem — Liu Cixin’s The Three-Body Problem

Liu Cixin, China’s most popular science-fiction writer. Liu is fifty-one years old and has written thirteen books. Until very recently, he worked as a software engineer at a power plant in Shanxi. In China, he is about as famous as William Gibson in the United States; he’s often compared to Arthur C. Clarke, whom he cites as an influence. His most popular book, “The Three-Body Problem,” has just been translated into English by the American sci-fi writer Ken Liu, and in China it’s being made into a movie, along with its sequels.

[….] American science fiction draws heavily on American culture, of course—the war for independence, the Wild West, film noir, sixties psychedelia—and so humanity’s imagined future often looks a lot like America’s past. For an American reader, one of the pleasures of reading Liu is that his stories draw on entirely different resources. Much of “The Three-Body Problem” is set during the Cultural Revolution. In “The Wages of Humanity,” visitors from space demand the redistribution of Earth’s wealth, and explain that runaway capitalism almost destroyed their civilization.

via Liu Cixin Is China’s Answer to Arthur C. Clarke – The New Yorker.

The Coup: Economics is the symphony of hunger and theft

Posted on 2015/03/15 by jd

Strange Arithmetic (lyrics) by The Coup

History has taught me some strange arithmetic
Using swords, prison bars, and pistol grips
English is the art of bombing towns
While assuring that you really only blessed the ground
Science is that honorable, useful study
Where you contort the molecules and then you make that money
In mathematics, dead children don’t get added
But they count the cost of bullets comin out the automatic

Teacher
My hands up
Please, don’t make me a victim
Teachers
Stand up
You need to tell us how to flip this system

Economics is the symphony of hunger and theft
Mortar shells often echo out the cashing of checks
In Geography class, it’s borders, mountains and rivers
But they will never show the line between the takers and givers
Algebra is that unique occasion
In which a school can say that there should be a balanced equation
And then Statistics is the tool of the complicit
To say everybody’s with it and that you’re the only critic

Social Studies, the goliath to tackle
Which turns into a sermon on simplicity of shackles
Physics is to school you on the science of force
‘Cept for how to break the hell out the ghetto, of course
Home Ec can teach you how to make a few sauces
And accept low pay from your Walmart bosses
If your school won’t show you how to fight for what’s needed
Then they’re training you to go through life and get cheated

https://vimeo.com/103299654

Eight Lessons from Greece’s Syriza and Spain’s Podemos

Posted on 2015/03/14 - 2015/03/14 by jd

Lesson 1: Clearly identify the enemy.
Lesson 2: Against the oligarchs and the “totalitarianism of the market” which serves as a cover for their interests, we, the forces of democracy, have to fight back.
Lesson 3. Inequality is objectionable, but more fundamental is people being denied the things that they need.
Lesson 4. Draw a link between what working people need and what society as a whole needs.
Lesson 5. Have a program. Say what you will do—don’t get dragged into debates about how you will do it.
Lesson 6. A program needs spokespeople, and it really helps when those spokespeople are or will be in government.
Lesson 7. Like Greeks, Americans think that their political system is broken—and they want an alternative.
Lesson 8. No mourning for golden days.

via 8 Lessons American Progressives Can Take From Greece’s Syriza and Spain’s Podemos – In These Times.

Operation Northwoods: CIA + Cuba in 1962

Posted on 2015/03/14 by jd

‘In his new exposé of the National Security Agency entitled Body of Secrets, author James Bamford highlights a set of proposals on Cuba by the Joint Chiefs of Staff codenamed OPERATION NORTHWOODS. This document, titled “Justification for U.S. Military Intervention in Cuba” was provided by the JCS to Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara on March 13, 1962, as the key component of Northwoods…’
via http://www2.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/news/20010430/index.html

also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Northwoods

screenshot from this .pdf

Screen shot 2015-03-13 at 21.33.53

The other 9/11 before the War on Terror

Posted on 2015/03/13 by jd

Ironically, the CIA coup in Chile was September 11, 1973

A member of Chilean dictator’s Augusto Pinochet’s secret police, who is implicated in executions and torture that occurred weeks after a United States-backed coup in 1973, taught at a Pentagon university for thirteen years. But, in spite of allegations, State Department and Pentagon officials allowed him to hold a visa and teach in the US, according to a report from McClatchy Newspapers.

The criminal court in Santiago has charged Jaime Garcia Covarrubias for being the “mastermind” behind the executions of seven people. He is also accused of sexual torture and said by his accusers to have a “penchant for horsewhips and perversity.” An investigative judge ordered him to remain in Chile in January 2014.

Herman Carrasco, who is now a real estate agent, was interviewed by McClatchy reporters and described how he had been tortured by Covarrubias between October and November 1973. The torture occurred “twice a day.”

“We were submerged in feces,” Carrasco recalled. “They stuck rifle barrels in our anuses.”

via Former Member of Pinochet’s Secret Police, Accused of Torture & Murder, Taught for Pentagon for 12 Years | The Dissenter.

March 16th: 1000 days for Julian Assange in the Ecuadorian Embassy

Posted on 2015/03/13 by jd

Still going strong… http://wikileaks.org/

Ukraine Must Accept Deep Cuts, ‘Reforms’ in $17.5 Billion IMF Loan Deal

Posted on 2015/03/12 - 2015/03/12 by jd

Who could have predicted that price of ‘Western Democracy’ was anti-democratic neo-liberalism?
/snark

‘In other Ukraine news, the International Monetary Fund has agreed to extend a $17.5 billion loan package to Kiev in a bid to help prevent economic collapse. The credit will be provided in return for deep structural reforms and cuts to government spending.’
via Ukraine Accepts Deep Cuts, Reforms in $17.5 Billion IMF Loan Deal | Democracy Now!.

Another Useless Military Fiasco = AUMF

Posted on 2015/03/12 - 2015/03/12 by jd

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Timeline Photos – CODEPINK: Women For Peace.

Ivana Hoffman died for an Anarchist Syria

Posted on 2015/03/11 - 2015/03/11 by jd

Ivana Hoffman

‘…A hint of defiance, a look of liberated joy: that’s the expression etched on the face of this foreign fighter. Ivana Hoffman, 19, did not leave Germany to fight for Islamic State, of course, but for the Kurdish struggle.

In the photograph being widely distributed, she stands in front of the emblematic hammer-and-sickle icon. Hoffman was a communist, fighting to “defend the revolution”, she said. What is being forgotten is that the great war of northern Syria is not simply a defensive struggle against Isis’s barbarism but a revolution in its own right, and the likes of Hoffman are heroes of the left.

[….] In northern Syria, the struggle is led by the Democratic Union party, a radically democratic, feminist, leftwing force and an affiliate of the Kurdistan Workers’ party. Once Stalinist, the PKK has evolved, now drawing inspiration from the libertarian socialism of the US theoretician Murray Bookchin….’

via Why the revolutionary Kurdish fight against Isis deserves our support | Owen Jones | Comment is free | The Guardian.

The U.S. threatens Venezuela

Posted on 2015/03/09 - 2015/03/09 by jd

Reminder: Venezuela never actually threatened the the USA.

‘The United States on Monday declared Venezuela a national security threat and ordered sanctions against seven officials in the worst diplomatic dispute with the oil-rich country since socialist President Nicolas Maduro took office in 2013.
President Barack Obama issued and signed the executive order…’
via U.S. declares Venezuela a threat, sanctions top officials | Reuters.

There is a very thin line between the Islamic State and the Jewish State

Posted on 2015/03/09 - 2015/03/09 by jd

‘…”Those with us, should receive everything” in terms of rights, he says, according to Israel’s Channel 2. “Those against us, it cannot be helped, we must lift up an axe and behead them – otherwise we will not survive here,” Lieberman said during an election rally…’
via Lieberman: Behead Arabs who aren’t loyal to Israel.

Video + Statement: Greek Anarchists occupy Syriza’s headquarters

Posted on 2015/03/09 - 2015/03/09 by jd

Greek Anarchists have occupied Syriza’s headquarters in Athens as an act of solidarity with an ongoing hunger strike.

The statement from the occupation:
‘Today Sunday 8 of March we occupy the central offices of the government SYRIZA in Koumoundourou Street.
We stand in solidarity with the hunger strikers, political prisoners in Greece, and we ask that their demands are satisfied.
1. Abolition of the Anti-terrorist Law Α’, article 187, Law 2001 (criminal organization)
2. Abolition of the Anti-terrorist Law B’, article 187A, Law 2004 (terrorist organization)
3. Abolition of the “hoodie law” (acts committed with concealed physical characteristics)
4. Abolition of the legal framework for type C prisons
5. The immediate release from prison of Savvas Xiros (convicted for his participation in the R.O. 17 November) on health grounds
6. Against the criminalization of the family relations of the members of the R.O. Conspiracy of Cells of Fire.
via Anarchists occupy Syriza’s headquarters.

The success of European Capitalist-Feminism

Posted on 2015/03/07 - 2015/03/07 by jd

And notice also that this is being implemented during an economic crises and Capitalism is under no threat of collapse because of this new policy.

Just saying.

‘…Germany on Friday became the latest and perhaps most significant country so far to commit itself to improving the representation of women on corporate boards, passing a law that requires some of Europe’s biggest companies to give 30 percent of supervisory seats to women beginning next year.

[….] In passing the measure, Germany joined a trend in Europe to legislate a much greater role for women in boardrooms. Norway, Spain and France have set their boardroom quotas for women at 40 percent. Belgium, Iceland, Italy and the Netherlands have also set quotas.

[….] Under the new measure, some 100 of Germany’s best-known companies must give 30 percent of their supervisory board seats to women starting next year. A further 3,500 companies have a deadline of Sept. 30 to submit plans to increase the share of women in top positions…’

via German Law Requires More Women on Corporate Boards – NYTimes.com.

check again.

Posted on 2015/03/07 - 2015/03/07 by jd

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New yorker cartoon

Yes, Petraeus did betray us. And, Manning and Snowden are American heros

Posted on 2015/03/06 by jd

Trevor Timm writes:

‘…Much of this was Top Secret, and some was SCI (Sensitive Compartmented Information) higher than Top Secret – and he admitted in his plea to lying to the FBI about his leaks, knowing that doing so was a crime in itself.

Despite the gravity of Petreaus’ actions, he agreed to a single misdemeanor guilty plea for improperly “retaining” classified information, and prosecutors agreed to recommend a sentence of two years probation and no jail time.

Compare that to the actions of Chelsea Manning, who is serving 35 years for leaking classified information. As Ellsberg noted: “Chelsea Manning had access to SCI every day… where she worked in Iraq. She chose to disclose none of it, nothing higher than Secret”.

[….] Petraeus is apparently an exception only because his leaks came to the attention of the FBI inadvertently, and they involved a large volume of exceptionally sensitive information.)

The government had the chance to hold Petreaus out as an example on the same felony Espionage Act charges they’ve leveled (unfairly) against every conscientious whistleblower they’ve indicted. Their answer? Leaking should no longer be a felony. Let’s make sure we hold them to that, and not only for CIA Directors….’

via Petraeus won't serve a day in jail for his leaks. Edward Snowden shouldn't either | Comment is free | The Guardian.

Ten US Right wing non-facts

Posted on 2015/03/06 - 2015/03/06 by jd

Roy Edroso writes:

As you may have noticed by following their writings, conservatives are not sticklers for historical accuracy, especially when they have a point to defend and not a lot of evidence to support it [….] There are plenty of others. I’ve picked out 10 such ideas
via 10 historical “facts” only a wingnut could believe – Salon.com.

• 10. The Robber Barons weren’t robbers — they were capitalist heroes.
• 9. Sputnik bankrupted the Soviet Union.
• 8. Galileo was a conservative.
• 7. The Founding Fathers really tried to end slavery.
• 6. Teddy Roosevelt was a socialist.
• 5. Conservatives swept MLK and the Civil Rights movement to victory.
• 4. Margaret Sanger was all about the eugenics.
• 3. Women were better off before they got the vote.
• 2. Darwin is a menace to Western Civilization.
• 1. FDR: History’s greatest monster.

The first Muslims in America were kidnapped black Africans

Posted on 2015/03/06 by jd

‘…Some of the stories in [the book] “One Nation, Under Gods” [by Peter Manseau] are more surprising. “It is perhaps the greatest of forgotten influences on American life and culture,” Manseau writes, that some 20 percent or more of Africans living in America around the time of the Revolutionary War were Muslims, a quantity that “dwarfed the number of Roman Catholics or Jews.” The majority of enslaved Africans did practice such Western African religions as Yoruba and Obeah, all of which contributed to the distinctive customs of African-American Christianity. But we also have a handful of stories of African Muslims abducted to the U.S., where, as in the case of one Omar ibn Said, they astonished the natives by writing fluently in a strange alphabet (Arabic) and impressed, if also bewildered, everyone with their abstemious piety….’

via The stubborn myth of the Christian country: Why the U.S. has always been “one nation, under gods” – Salon.com.

928 Americans killed by police annually

Posted on 2015/03/06 by jd

‘An average of 545 people killed by local and state law enforcement officers in the US went uncounted in the country’s most authoritative crime statistics every year for almost a decade, according to a report released on Tuesday.

The first-ever attempt by US record-keepers to estimate the number of uncounted “law enforcement homicides” exposed previous official tallies as capturing less than half of the real picture. The new estimate – an average of 928 people killed by police annually over eight recent years, compared to 383 in published FBI data – amounted to a more glaring admission than ever before of the government’s failure to track how many people police kill….’

via Police killed more than twice as many people as reported by US government | US news | The Guardian.

Refugees are also a result of Imperialism. duh!

Posted on 2015/03/05 - 2015/03/05 by jd

Maybe if the US, France,and other EU powers didn’t arm and fuel the Libyan civil war (and continue still today), this ‘problem’ of migrants would only be half of its current size? Just a thought.

“Around 280,000 migrants entered the EU in 2014 compared to just over 100,000 in the previous year. It’s a huge increase,” Frontex spokeswoman Ewa Moncure [….] “Libya has become the main departure point for migrants,” she added, noting that around 170,000 arrived in the central Mediterranean from the North African state that was engulfed in chaos after its 2011 revolution.

via Huge surge in migrants entered EU in 2014: Frontex – Yahoo News.

Islamic Early North America

Posted on 2015/03/05 by jd

‘…In 1528, a Moroccan slave called Estevanico was shipwrecked along with a band of Spanish explorers near the future city of Galveston, Tex. The city of Azemmour, in which he was raised, had been a Muslim stronghold against European invasion until it fell during his youth. While given a Christian name after his enslavement, he eventually escaped his Christian captors and set off on his own through much of the Southwest.

Two hundred years later, plantation owners in Louisiana made it a point to add enslaved Muslims to their labor force, relying on their experience with the cultivation of indigo and rice. Scholars have noted Muslim names and Islamic religious titles in the colony’s slave inventories and death records.

The best known Muslim to pass through the port at New Orleans was Abdul-Rahman Ibrahim ibn Sori, a prince in his homeland whose plight drew wide attention. As one newspaper account noted, he had read the Bible and admired its precepts, but added, “His principal objections are that Christians do not follow them.”

via The Muslims of Early America – NYTimes.com.

Hack the Euro

Posted on 2015/03/05 by jd

Hacked Euro Banknotes Depict Bleak Images of Economic Instability.

American right-wing AIDS prevention programs increase AIDS

Posted on 2015/03/05 by jd

The more than $1.3 billion the United States government has spent to encourage abstinence and fidelity among Africans in the last 10 years has done little to change sexual behavior and curb the spread of HIV [….]

“NGOs doing good work lost their funding as a result of the prostitution pledge; and as foreign governments, implementing agencies, and USAID program officers exhibited a stunning disregard for the needs of men who have sex with men and other HIV-vulnerable groups,”

via Study Confirms That Abstinence Education Has Utterly Failed At Preventing AIDS In Africa | ThinkProgress.

UK bans misleading Israeli advert

Posted on 2015/03/05 - 2015/03/05 by jd

‘Britain’s advertising watchdog banned an Israeli government tourism advert for suggesting that the Old City of Jerusalem was part of Israel [….] The newspaper brochure showed a panorama of the walled Old City with the text “Israel has it all,” and was ruled misleading by the Advertising Standards Authority, which said it implied the UNESCO World Heritage Site was part of Israel.

The international community regards the Old City as occupied Palestinian territory, while Israel has claimed it as part of its capital…’

via UK bans ad for implying Jerusalem Old City part of Israel | Maan News Agency.

Carlos Latuff explains his cartoons

Posted on 2015/03/05 by jd