THE HEADLINES
Afghanistan, African-American issues, Children, Climate Change, Climate Change Deniers, Environment, Gay and Lesbian Rights, Hispanic issues, Human Rights, Israel, Israeli/Palestinian Conflict, Leon Panetta, Middle East, Obama Administration, Religion, Sustainability, U.S. foreign policy, U.S.military
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Mar 282012
“WE CANNOT FIGHT WARS BY POLLS”: LEON PANETTA JUST HAD HIS OWN “DICK CHENEY” MOMENT
(Army Times)
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In March of 2008, with the war in Iraq dragging on and every opinion poll showing rising public anger over the American occupation of that country, then-Vice President Dick Cheney famously dismissed public anger by responding with a derisive “so?” when confronted with the fact that two-thirds of Americans opposed the war. This week, President Obama’s hand-picked defense secretary, Leon Panetta, had his own “Cheney moment” at a summit in Canada. Different war, same arrogance. With new polls finding the American people thoroughly frustrated with the war in Afghanistan and a full 70 percent saying we should pull all U.S. troops out, Panetta sneered when asked the significance of such public outrage and retorted that “we cannot fight wars by polls.” According to Mr. Panetta, while American taxpayers are paying for the war and scores of Americans are sending their loved ones to fight and die in Afghanistan, the opinion of the people is irrelevant when it comes to disengaging from a brutally unpopular fight that has dragged on for more than a decade. Mr. Cheney, you have company!
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WHO WILL STAND UP FOR THE CHILDREN?
(Stephen Sizer)
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The international community is wringing its hands over what is purported to be the brutal atrocities and human rights abuses of the ruling government in Syria, where civil war rages and thousands are said to be dead. Air strikes and military intervention have even been raised as possibilities by the Western powers. But could a human rights tragedy just as disturbing and widespread be occurring at the hands of the United States’ greatest ally in the region? A new report by human rights activists — with some support from the European Union — documents hundreds of cases where Palestinian children were subjected to severe “ill-treatment” and even “torture” while detained by the Israeli Defense Forces and held at Israeli military prisons. Picked up by Israeli forces during raids or near controversial Israeli settlements, the report reveals these Palestinian children were the focus of a “systematic” campaign of abuse and terror that included physical violence, aggressive interrogation and even solitary confinement. Will the international community, the United States or the UN, seize on this report and seek justice for these children?
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WHAT IF WE REACH THE “TIPPING POINT” ON CLIMATE CHANGE AND NO ONE DOES ANYTHING ABOUT IT?
(Reuters)
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There is a great sense of urgency and frustration among climate scientists as the latest data shows increasingly ”irreversible” consequences of a warming planet and skyrocketing carbon emissions, yet global leaders appear helpless to make serious decisions to help reverse this potentially catastrophic trend. A whole series of events are playing out across the globe that indicates the effects of climate change are picking up speed, giving scientists the fear that a decade may be all the time we have to turn the proverbial tables and get a handle on the direct causes of a warming planet. Worldwide carbon emissions are spiking to record levels, yet world political leaders have shown a stunning impotence in having the will or the interest in developing serious plans to prevent the worst of what would be devastating economic and social ramifications of climate change. The only global treaty designed to curb carbon emissions isn’t scheduled to go into effect until 2020, far too late to make any difference in the “tipping point” that scientists believe is only a few years away.
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ANTI-GAY MARRIAGE GROUP SOUGHT TO “DRIVE A WEDGE BETWEEN GAYS AND BLACKS.”
(San Francisco Chronicle)
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New documents released by a judge this week reveal new and startling details of the structure and strategy of one of the nation’s most prominent anti-gay marriage groups. Memos released show that the National Organization for Marriage, a conservative religious organization dedicated to supporting legislation and state amendments to ban gay marriage, engaged in a racially motivated campaign to target blacks and Hispanics as potential allies in opposing marriage equality. Such a strategy was used in 2008′s controversial Proposition 8 campaign, which NOM played a crucial role in developing and which was ultimately passed by voters and — until a judge recently overturned the law — banned gay marriage in the state. In order to ensure their success, NOM wanted to take action that would “drive a wedge” between the African American and Hispanic communities and gays. According to the memo, the group’s main priority was “fanning the hostility” among the public against gays and gay rights advocates.
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Who the hell is paying Leon’s frickin salary? Who the hell ELECTED his boss, Barack Obama? These people need a swift kick in the balls to remind them who runs things in this country.
A wealth of evidence points to 9/11 being a false flag operation carried out by domestic traitors from the military-industrial complex, probably in collaboration with Mossad. This includes the obvious explosive demolitions of WTC 1, 2 and 7. We are told that so-called Al Qaeda is such a sophisticated and well-funded organization that they were able to outfox the trillion dollar US military machine. In this case, couldn’t they have relocated years ago to, for example, France or Morocco? Why would they be playing cat and mouse with NATO in the hills of Afghanistan and Pakistan? The local Afghans, including the Taliban, are primarily illiterate peasants who use donkeys for transport and who haven’t been more than 10 miles away from their own village. Do such people really pose a threat to the US? We have been there now for 10 years; thousands of troops have been killed and maimed, and tens of thousands of Afghans have been killed. We have spent hundreds of billions of dollars. Does this all make sense if the real reason is to counter terrorism? Use your brains, people. The invasion and occupation of Afghanistan have nothing to do with terrorism and were planned before 9/11.