Archive for January, 2010
The Militarization of Emergency Aid to Haiti: Is it a Humanitarian Operation or an Invasion?
By Michel Chossudovsky on the Centre for Research on Globalization site:
Haiti has a longstanding history of US military intervention and occupation going back to the beginning of the 20th Century. US interventionism has contributed to the destruction of Haiti’s national economy and the impoverishment of its population.
The devastating earthquake is presented to World public opinion as the sole cause of the country’s predicament.
A country has been destroyed, its infrastructure demolished. Its people precipitated into abysmal poverty and despair.
Haiti’s history, its colonial past have been erased.
The US military has come to the rescue of an impoverished Nation. What is its Mandate?
Is it a Humanitarian Operation or an Invasion?
The main actors in America’s “humanitarian operation” are the Department of Defense, the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). (See USAID Speeches: On-The-Record Briefing on the Situation in Haiti, 01/13/10). USAID has also been entrusted in channelling food aid to Haiti,…
Shadow Elite: Are They Responsible For The Subprime Mortgage Crisis?
disinformation reader (and frequent commenter) 5by5 tipped us off to the article below by Jack Blum. 5by5 wrote to us saying:
It’s not your standard take on the idea, and it references something that Raymond and Joe covered when they interviewed Adam Parfey — namely, the blurb in “Apocalypse Culture II” by Jonathan Vankin about how the media marginalizes any thought outside the commonly accepted narrative as if it were a virus because conspiracy theory is inherently confrontational.
Ironically, the article I’m linking to comes not from a writer, but from a Republican government investigator who’s run into the phenomenon first-hand for the past 45 years, looking into very real corruption schemes like Bush’s bank, BCCI.
The elite he speaks of are studied in the book “Shadow Elite” by Janine Wedel (whom I think it would be fascinating for Raymond & Joe to interview for the podcast as well).
I found this part really revealing:
“Despite the…
Sheep Gives Birth To Human-Faced Lamb
From Australia’s dailytelegraph.com:
A sheep gave birth to a dead lamb with a human-like face. The lamb was born in a village not far from the city of Izmir, Turkey.
Erhan Elibol, a vet, performed a caesarean on the animal to take the lamb out, but was horrified to see that the features of the lamb’s snout bore a striking resemblance to a human face.
“I’ve seen mutations with cows and sheep before. I’ve seen a one-eyed calf, a two-headed calf, a five-legged calf. But when I saw this youngster I could not believe my eyes. His mother could not deliver him so I had to help the animal,” the 29-year-old veterinary said.
The lamb’s head had human features on – the eyes, the nose and the mouth – only the ears were those of a sheep.
Vets said that the rare mutation most likely occurred as a result of improper mutation since the fodder…
Iran Says US, UK, Canada Assist Afghan Drug Trade
From PRESSTV:
A senior Iranian anti-drug official has accused the US, Britain and Canada of playing a major role in Afghanistan’s lucrative drug trade.
On the sidelines of an anti-drug conference in Tehran, deputy head of Iran’s Drug Control Headquarters Taha Taheri said that Western powers are aiding the drug trade in Afghanistan.
“According to our indisputable information, the presence of the United States, Britain and Canada has not reduced the dug trade and the three countries have had major roles in the distribution of drugs,” IRIB quoted Taheri as saying on Thursday.
Iranian officials have always criticized Western countries over their policies towards Afghanistan, where poppy cultivation has drastically increased since the US-led military occupation of the country in 2001.
Taheri added that drug catalysts are being smuggled into Afghanistan through borders that are controlled by US, British and Canadian troops.
Some 13,000 tons of drug catalysts are brought into Afghanistan every year as the…
New Turkish Film On Israeli War Crimes
From PRESSTV:
A damning Turkish motion picture, aimed at depicting the “Israeli crimes against humanity,” is set to further alienate Ankara from Tel Aviv.
The movie would “depict Israel as it is – with bloody hands, merciless… flouting all human values,” against a backdrop of the Palestinian suffering in the blockaded Gaza Strip, the national daily Vatan quoted Turkish scriptwriter Bahadir Ozdener as saying, according to an AFP report.
“What we do is fiction,” said Ozdener. “But what about what they do, their crimes against humanity? They are real.”
Tel Aviv took issue with Ankara over the “Valley of the Wolves” – the TV series boasting Ozdener’s contribution which, besides other patriotic depictions, featured the emancipation of a Turkish boy captured by the Israeli intelligence apparatus, Mossad.
Reacting to the series, Israel called Turkish ambassador Oguz Celikkol to account, seating him on a low couch and removing the Turkish flag from the table of discussion.…
Greg Palast: The Right Testicle of Hell — History of a Haitian Holocaust
Greg Palast writes on GregPalast.com:
1. Bless the President for having rescue teams in the air almost immediately. That was President Olafur Grimsson of Iceland. On Wednesday, the AP reported that the President of the United States promised, “The initial contingent of 2,000 Marines could be deployed to the quake-ravaged country within the next few days.” “In a few days,” Mr. Obama?
2. There’s no such thing as a ‘natural’ disaster. 200,000 Haitians have been slaughtered by slum housing and IMF “austerity” plans.
3. A friend of mine called. Do I know a journalist who could get medicine to her father? And she added, trying to hold her voice together, “My sister, she’s under the rubble. Is anyone going who can help, anyone?” Should I tell her, “Obama will have Marines there in ‘a few days’”?
4. China deployed rescuers with sniffer dogs within 48 hours. China, Mr. President. China: 8,000 miles distant. Miami: 700…
Naomi Klein: How Corporate Branding Has Taken Over the U.S. Government
Naomi Klein writes in the Guardian:
Ten years after the publication of No Logo, Naomi Klein switches her attention from the mall to Barack Obama and discovers that corporate culture has taken over the US government.
In May 2009, Absolut Vodka launched a limited edition line called “Absolut No Label”. The company’s global public relations manager, Kristina Hagbard, explained that “For the first time we dare to face the world completely naked. We launch a bottle with no label and no logo, to manifest the idea that no matter what’s on the outside, it’s the inside that really matters.”
A few months later, Starbucks opened its first unbranded coffee shop in Seattle, called 15th Avenue E Coffee and Tea. This “stealth Starbucks” (as the anomalous outlet immediately became known) was decorated with “one-of-a-kind” fixtures and customers were invited to bring in their own music for the stereo system as well as their own…
Spanish Politician’s Photo Used for Osama Bin Laden Wanted Poster
Via BBC News:
A Spanish politician has said he was shocked to find out the FBI had used his photo for a digitally-altered image showing how Osama Bin Laden might look.
Gaspar Llamazares said he would no longer feel safe travelling to the US after his hair and parts of his face appeared on a most-wanted poster.
A photo of Bin Laden from 1998 (left) was digitally altered using elements from an image of Gaspar Llamazares (right)
He said the use of a real person for the mocked-up image was “shameless”. The FBI admitted a forensic artist had obtained certain facial features “from a photograph he found on the internet”.
The digitally-altered photos of the al-Qaeda leader, showing how he might look now, aged 52, were published on the state department’s Rewards for Justice website on Friday. Officials said they had adapted a 1998 file image to take account of a decade’s worth of ageing,…
Bill Maher: Stop the Abuse — It’s Time to Break Up With Your Big Bank
Bill Maher via the Huffington Post:
Hello, I’d like to take a moment to address the millions and millions of you all across America who are currently stuck in an abusive relationship.
Now I know what some of you are thinking: Who is Bill Maher to give me relationship advice?
But that doesn’t mean I don’t know a dysfunctional relationship when I see one. Especially when it’s staring me right in the face.
You know who you are. Those of you staying in a relationship long after it’s turned bad. Sticking around despite the abuse — even as it’s gotten worse and worse over the years. Sticking around only because it seems easier than breaking up — and besides, where else are you going to go?
That’s right, I’m talking to all of you that keep doing your banking at the giant, too big to fail, Wall Street banks that brought our economy to the brink of disaster, were rescued by trillions of dollars of our taxpayer money, then paid us back by using that money to hire lobbyists to convince our lawmakers in Washington to kill financial reform.
Push for Looser Pot Laws Gains Momentum
From WSJ:
A push to legalize marijuana on the West Coast is picking up steam as Washington lawmakers and pot proponents in California and Oregon propose separate measures.The Washington state legislature will hold a preliminary vote Wednesday on whether to sell pot in state liquor stores, though even its authors say the bill is unlikely to pass. The same day in California, backers of a well-funded ballot measure to legalize marijuana are expected to file more than enough signatures to put the initiative before state voters in November.
Activists have also been busy in Washington state, with one group filing a marijuana-legalization initiative last Monday to put the issue on the November ballot. Activists in Oregon, meanwhile, say they have collected more than half of the signatures they need by July to allow a vote on whether the state should set up a system of medical-marijuana dispensaries.
The efforts are part of a…
Satan’s Letter to Pat Robertson on Haiti
From The Star Tribune:
Dear Pat Robertson,
I know that you know that all press is good press, so I appreciate the shout-out. And you make God look like a big mean bully who kicks people when they are down, so I’m all over that action. But when you say that Haiti has made a pact with me, it is totally humiliating. I may be evil incarnate, but I’m no welcher. The way you put it, making a deal with me leaves folks desperate and impoverished. Sure, in the afterlife, but when I strike bargains with people, they first get something here on earth — glamour, beauty, talent, wealth, fame, glory, a golden fiddle. Those Haitians have nothing, and I mean nothing. And that was before the earthquake. Haven’t you seen “Crossroads”? Or “Damn Yankees”? If I had a thing going with Haiti, there’d be lots of banks, skyscrapers, SUVs, exclusive night…
NASA Discovers Cocaine In Hangar Near Space Shuttle
From The Huffington Post:
ASA is investigating how a bag of cocaine got into the hangar that houses space shuttle Discovery at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.NASA spokesman Allard Beutel said Thursday that the bag contained a tiny amount of the illegal substance. It was found by a worker in a secure part of the hangar that is accessible by about 200 NASA employees and contractors.
NASA is drug testing and interviewing workers, as well as using drug-sniffing dogs.
[Read more at The Huffington Post]
NY Settles with 5 Health Care Facilities that Flushed Drugs into Water Supply
From the L.A. Times:
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced a settlement Tuesday with five health care facilities that flushed pharmaceutical waste into the New York City watersheds.
Cuomo reached agreements with the two hospitals and three nursing homes that disposed of painkillers, antibiotics, antidepressants, hormones and other pharmaceuticals through toilets and sinks and into the watersheds, his office said. The flushes potentially put about 9 million people’s drinking water at risk, Cuomo said.
The three watersheds — the Croton, Catskill and Delaware — cover nearly 2000 square miles and drain into reservoirs and lakes providing drinking water to New York City’s roughly 8 million residents and another 1 million in several northern counties — nearly half the state’s 19.4 million residents.
The hospitals and nursing homes are located within the watershed in Putnam and Delaware counties north of New York City.
Although such facilities are allowed to flush many — but not all…
Mexican Journalist Killed in Apparent Drug Hit
From Reuters:
Mexican police said on Saturday they found the body of a crime reporter abducted last month by apparent drug traffickers, the third murder of a journalist in recent weeks.
The remains of radio journalist Jose Luis Romero were discovered wrapped in plastic near the city of Los Mochis in the western state of Sinaloa, a hotspot in Mexico’s drug war.
The latest victim in an upsurge of attacks on the media, Romero was kidnapped on December 30 at a seafood restaurant. His hands and a leg were broken before he was shot to death, police said.
Across Mexico, a war between rival cartels for control of the multibillion dollar drug trade has killed 17,000 people since President Felipe Calderon launched his anti-drug campaign at the end of 2006.
Attacks on the media have mounted as drug gangs seek to silence journalists who report on the drug killings.
[Read more at Reuters]
…
Pakistani Couple Charged with ‘Occult Killing’ of Baby
From BBC News:
A couple in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi have been charged with murdering their baby daughter as part of an alleged “black magic” ritual.
Officers found the body of the four-month-old girl buried in the couple’s house, a court heard. Doctors say it had been there for about four days.
They believe the couple were planning to murder their second daughter, a girl of three, who police found tied up.
Superstitious rituals are not uncommon in Pakistan, but rarely lead to murder.
‘Semi-conscious’
Police raided the house in the poor Karachi neighbourhood of Korangi after a tip-off that it was being used by suspected militants as a safe house.
“When nobody answered the door, we broke into the house in the presence of some elders,” local police chief Rana Mehmood Pervez told the BBC Urdu service.
A 40-year-old cobbler named as Nadim who rented the house was overpowered after resisting arrest, Mr Mehmood…
Non-Christians Need Not Apply
From Truthout:
World vision hires only Christians under its $250 million in government foreign aid grants. Obama promised to change that. So why hasn’t he?
Bamako, Mali – For a year and a half, Bara Kassambara kept his mouth shut.
Every day, all of his coworkers paused for prayer time. There were frequent Bible studies, and constant talk about Jesus. Kassambara attended the required events, but otherwise quietly focused on his work: bringing clean water to rural Mali.
“I think many people at World Vision just believed that I was a Christian,” said Kassambara, a Muslim in a predominantly Islamic country.
Fluent in English and with years of development work on his resume, World Vision hired Kassambara to work on the West Africa Water Initiative — a project to provide safe drinking water to stave off water-borne diseases that run rampant in the region.
It was a rare hire for World Vision, Kassambara said; he only…
Haiti and America’s Historic Debt
From Consortium News:
Announcing emergency help for Haiti after a devastating 7.0-magnitude earthquake, President Barack Obama noted America’s historic ties to the impoverished Caribbean nation, but few Americans understand how important Haiti’s contribution to U.S. history was.
In modern times, when Haiti does intrude on U.S. consciousness, it’s usually because of some natural disaster or a violent political upheaval, and the U.S. response is often paternalistic, if not tinged with a racist disdain for the country’s predominantly black population and its seemingly endless failure to escape cycles of crushing poverty.
However, more than two centuries ago, Haiti represented one of the most important neighbors of the new American Republic and played a central role in enabling the United States to expand westward. If not for Haiti, the course of U.S. history could have been very different, with the United States possibly never expanding much beyond the Appalachian Mountains.
In the 1700s, then-called St. Domingue…
“Missing” Moon Rocks Found in File Cabinet
From CBS News:
Lunar Souvenirs From Apollo Missions, Mistakenly Presumed Lost, Turn Up in Locked Cabinet in Hawaii.
Missing moon rocks from the first and last human lunar landings have been discovered in a locked cabinet in Hawaii.
The rare rocks from the Apollo 11 and Apollo 17 missions were found last week during a routine inventory of gifts to the Hawaii governor’s office over the years.
The rocks were given to the people of Hawaii during the Nixon administration, but they were presumed lost when a noted moon rock tracker and former NASA employee said their whereabouts were unknown.
[Read more at CBS News]
Thousands Of Americans Died From H1N1 Even After Receiving Vaccine shots
By Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, at NaturalNews:
The CDC is engaged in a very clever, statistically devious spin campaign, and nearly every journalist in the mainstream media has fallen for its ploy. No one has yet reported what I’m about to reveal here.
It all started with the CDC’s recent release of new statistics about swine flu fatalities, infection rates and vaccination rates. According to the CDC:
• 61 million Americans were vaccinated against swine flu (about 20% of the U.S. population). The CDC calls this a “success” even though it means 4 out of 5 people rejected the vaccines.
• 55 million people “became ill” from swine flu infections.
• 246,000 Americans were hospitalized due to swine flu infections.
• 11,160 Americans died from the swine flu.
Base on these statistics, the CDC is now desperately urging people to get vaccinated because they claim the pandemic might come back and vaccines are the best defense.
But…
