"While U.S. officials and their mainstream media supporters have been fairly successful in immunizing Americans from the horrors of the war, death has an interesting way of forcing people to face reality. The increasing number of casualties among U.S. troops has caused Americans to confront the war in Iraq, like it or not. Moreover, since Bush undoubtedly wants to continue the occupation until he leaves office, Iraqi insurgents will have plenty of time over the next two years to ensure that Iraq stays on the minds of the American people with well-planned ambushes and sniper attacks.

The Iraq intervention might well be the dead end of the pro-empire, pro-interventionist, “super-power” foreign-policy paradigm that has held our nation in its grip for decades. If so, then as the death and destruction continue to mount, Americans might well begin looking for an alternative paradigm – one that not only is workable but is also consistent with the principles of morality, liberty, and limited government on which our nation was founded."

Labels: corruption, future, new fascism

"Amnesty International says there has been a downward spiral of human rights worldwide, fuelled by what it calls the "politics of fear" following terrorist attacks in the US in 2001.

Amnesty says the the war in Iraq and what the United States calls its "war on terror" have led to an erosion of human rights and deep divisions across the world.

The group also criticises the repression of Europe's Roma communities, saying politicians are using fear of immigration and terrorism to justify tough measures against refugees and asylum seekers.

In a statement, the secretary-general of Amnesty International, Irene Khan, said minorities around the world were under threat.

"We've seen a wave of xenophobia and racism against groups like Roma, we've seen a rise of Islamophobia and anti-semitism on the back of fear about security, about terrorism," she said.

"So in this way, what we see is a world enveloped in fear and fear being used by governments to create false certainties to avoid accountability."

- BBC"

Labels: corruption, united states of hypocrisy, unlawful

"The consequences of sudden and violent death _ so commonplace in Iraq's relentless turmoil _ have spawned their own macabre subcultures: the human vultures, grave markers with serial numbers for unidentified victims, tattoo artists asked to etch IDs on people afraid of becoming an unclaimed body amid the carnage and killings.

It's more than just another grim tableau in a nation brimming with sad stories. It points to how deeply war and sectarian bloodshed have reordered the way Iraqis live _ and confront the constant possibility of death."

Labels: collusion, corruption, united states of hypocrisy, unlawful

"In the space of twenty-four hours what passes for the Iraqi government announced that news photographers, video and still, are forbidden to record images of the mayhem and murder after a bomb has gone off. No more of those pictures of the survivors, hands clapped to head, screaming in front of a smoking ruin, parts of human bodies, men racing to put the maimed into cars while sirens call the news of new horrors.

At almost the same time, the Pentagon had an announcement of its own to make. Henceforth our soldiers in Iraq will find MySpace, YouTube and eleven other websites blocked when they try to write home or post pictures and videos from military computers. This is the latest in an ongoing crackdown on our people blogging from Iraq. Never mind that much of what we know about this war comes not from commercial news outlets but from what servicemen and -women have sent back home through cyberspace."

Labels: censorship, united states of hypocrisy

While American television watchers were collectively devoting 100 million hours of their lives each week to these and other similar stories, our nation was in the process of more quietly making what future historians will certainly describe as a series of catastrophically mistaken decisions on issues of war and peace, the global climate and human survival, freedom and barbarity, justice and fairness. For example, hardly anyone now disagrees that the choice to invade Iraq was a grievous mistake. Yet, incredibly, all of the evidence and arguments necessary to have made the right decision were available at the time and in hindsight are glaringly obvious."

Labels: corruption, future, new fascism

#1 Future of Internet Debate Ignored by Media
#2 Halliburton Charged with Selling Nuclear Technologies to Iran
#3 Oceans of the World in Extreme Danger etc

Labels: censorship, corruption

"Stephen Leahy* - IPS/IFEJ

TORONTO, May 12 (IPS) - Capitalism has proven to be environmentally and socially unsustainable, so future prosperity will have to come from a new economic model, say some experts. What this new model would look like is the subject of intense debate.
One current states that continuous growth can be environmentally compatible if clean and efficient technologies are adopted, and if economies leave behind production of material goods and move towards services. This is known as sustainable prosperity."

Labels: future, sustainability, well-being

"by Eternal Hope
Fri Nov 24, 2006 at 04:10:20 PM PDT

If we are to impeach, we must impeach both Bush and Cheney. It will not do any good for us to impeach Bush and have Cheney take the Oval Office and pick someone just as radical as he is. It will also not do any good for us to impeach just Cheney and allow Bush to groom John "I'm not knowledgeable" McCain for the 2008 election. Therefore, we must simultaneously impeach both of them so that the 3rd person in succession, Nancy Pelosi, would become the next President of the United States.

What remains to be done is for us to work out articles of impeachment against the President. Others may surface after the Democrats begin their job of investigating and getting to the bottom of the matter. If the Bush administration obstructs or lies to the Congressional Committee chairs, those could in and of themselves be grounds for impeachment and removal of Bush and Cheney."

Labels: bush-is-a-tyrant, corruption, new fascism

"Retroactive immunity from prosecution is a beautiful thing if you're a major telecommunications provider in the US, and phone companies are about to receive it if the Bush administration gets its way. The administration's new appropriations request for intelligence agencies was recently disclosed at a hearing of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and it includes a massive gift to the phone companies who have been (can we drop the "allegedly" at this point?) helping the NSA and other agencies."

Labels: bush-is-a-tyrant, corruption, new fascism

"I’ve been meaning to post about Three Panel Soul, the new comic by Ian and Matt of MacHall fame- unfortunately I’ve got to do so under less-than-wonderful circumstances. I love this new strip because I’m finding it a lot more minimalist and relatable… also ridiculously funny.

Matt was working as a contractor for a branch of the government. He made the mistake of being interested in the hobby of paper target shooting at about the same time as the VA Tech shootings and talking to someone about this hobby at work. Keep in mind he wasn’t even talking about those shootings, in fact he was discussing how he wanted a gun which would make it difficult to kill someone.

He was promptly fired and not allowed back to work because people were scared of him."

Labels: new fascism

"Senior Bush administration officials said Tuesday that they believe the president still has the constitutional authority to continue his domestic wiretapping program without first seeking court approval.

"Senior U.S. administration officials have told the U.S. Congress that they could not promise that the Bush administration would fulfill its January pledge to continue to seek warrants from a secret court for a domestic wiretapping program," reports the International Herald Tribune."

Labels: collusion, new fascism

"When dogs learn new tricks, they do not simply copy what they see, but interpret it, suggests a new study, which provides evidence that man's best friend possesses a human-like ability to understand the goals and intentions of others."

Labels: animal behaviour, awareness, compartive psychology

"From Hitler to Pinochet and beyond, history shows there are certain steps that any would-be dictator must take to destroy constitutional freedoms. And, argues Naomi Wolf, George Bush and his administration seem to be taking them all."

Labels: corruption, new fascism, united states of hypocrisy

Former prime minister Malcolm Fraser says the Federal Government has used the politics of fear to damage traditional Australian values...He says Australia's international reputation as a force for good has been greatly diminished.

Mr Fraser says the Howard Government has demonised "boat people" and tried to turn the wider community against Muslims.

"What we do not know, we often fear," he said.

"What we do not understand, we fear, or can be led to fear. People from a different religion we often fear, and what we fear can be made to become a threat.

"The politics of these issues was exploited by the Government and has bitten deeply into the Australian psyche.

Labels: damage, new fascism