Bob Morris @ Jul 31st 2006 16:10 - Category: Anti-war Tags: Lebanon;
Stop U.S.-Israeli war crimes in Lebanon & Palestine!
Solidarity with the Arab People! No More Massacres!
This Wednesday, August 2, 4-6 pm
Israeli Consulate: 6380 Wilshire Blvd, LA
(near Wilshire & San Vicente)
Bob Morris @ Jul 31st 2006 10:35 - Category: Unfiled ;
Among other things, the drunken Mel Gibson said to a female sergeant, “What you looking at, sugar tits?”
To make matters even worse, Gibson allegedly had some kind of a fit about Jews during the arresting process.
“The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world,” Gibson is said to have opined, asking the arresting deputy: “Are you a Jew?”
This guy needs help. He sees one flashing red light and thinks the Jews are after him.
He’s also a holocaust denier. Not as lunatic as his father, but certainly still in the same vicinity.
Jewish groups call for hate-crime probe on Mel Gibson.
Disney currently has a development deal with Gibson for him to do a mini-series about the Holocaust. Once assumes they will be moving quickly to torpedo the deal and throw Gibson overboard. Why, given his known reputation for being a Holocaust denier, did they ever do the deal with him in the first place? Oh, greed and money, silly me.
[tags]Mel Gibson[/tags]
Bob Morris @ Jul 31st 2006 00:52 - Category: Anti-war Tags: Lebanon;
4GW is 4th generation warfare. It’s something the US and Israeli military, no doubt through arrogance and the belief that brute force must always prevail, do not comprehend. Hezbollah does comprehend it. That’s why they’re winning.
The secrets of Hezbollah’s success
Hezbollah’s performance in a set-piece battle with the Israeli military (arguably once, a top notch conventional military) is an excellent example of how non-state groups have radically improved their ability to conduct tactical and strategic operations. To wit, the continued success of its efforts has put the Israelis on the horns of a dilemma: either request a ceasefire that locks in military defeat - or - push for a full invasion of southern Lebanon (each are fraught with disastrous consequences).
Victory in 4GW warfare is won in the moral sphere. The aim of 4GW is to destroy the moral bonds that allows the organic whole to exist — cohesion.
Listening to reporters yesterday was instructive. Arab TV is showing footage far gorier than the sanitized versions shown here, US reporters say, with Arab reporters reporting live and sometimes breaking down in tears, with the videos showing the disemboweled babies, not just hinting at it. Yet in the next breath they say, but what can account for the bizarre, soaring popularity of Hezbollah in the Middle East? Then they cut to a neocon in D.C., someone who has barely traveled out of the country and lives in an academic, cloistered world, for an “analysis” which invariably tells us how Arab and Muslim factions have fought each other for centuries, that they hate freedom, and are thus muddled, confused children. Or something along those lines. We’ve all heard this kind of racist drivel endlessly.
What US reporters rarely say is the obvious. Hezbollah is enjoying huge popularity because they have stopped the Israeli assault against their country. For Hezbollah to win, they simply have to not lose. For the US/Israeli to not lose, they must destroy Hezbollah and most of Lebanon. The price for doing so, both in terms of worldwide condemnation and loss of soldiers, is one they can not pay. That’s what 4GW is.
[tags]4GW[/tags]
Bob Morris @ Jul 31st 2006 00:15 - Category: Anti-war Tags: Palestine;
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of the world’s major sources of instability. Americans are directly connected to this conflict, and increasingly imperiled by its devastation.
It is the goal of If Americans Knew to provide full and accurate information on this critical issue, and on our power – and duty – to bring a resolution.
Documented facts from the site.
1,084 Israelis and 4,126 Palestinians have been killed since September 29, 2000.
Israel has been targeted by at least 65 UN resolutions and the Palestinians have been targeted by none.
1 Israeli is being held prisoner by Palestinians, while 9,599 Palestinians are currently imprisoned by Israel.
0 Israeli homes have been demolished by Palestinians and 4,170 Palestinian homes have been demolished by Israel since September 29, 2000.
Hat tip. The BlueVoice
Bob Morris @ Jul 30th 2006 15:37 - Category: Unfiled ;
LA Times 5-part series on the crisis in the seas. Text, photos, videos. This is superb reporting and analysis.
Part 1. A primeval tide of toxins
Runoff from modern life is feeding an explosion of primitive organisms. This ‘rise of slime,’ as one scientist calls it, is killing larger species and sickening people.
Bob Morris @ Jul 30th 2006 08:45 - Category: Anti-war Tags: Lebanon;
If the US sends troops to Lebanon as peacekeepers and/or as a force to disarm Hezbollah, we will see a quick escalation. Any attack (and it would be inevitable) on US forces by the Hez would be seen as a direct attack on the US by Syria and Iran. This would lead to an immediate expansion of hostilities (to include an EBO against both countries as a means of punishment). From that point on, the situation would be beyond repair.
Confirmation, front page Sunday LA Times
Bob Morris @ Jul 30th 2006 01:12 - Category: Anti-war ;
If Mr. Lieberman had once stood up and taken the lead in saying that there were some places a president had no right to take his country even during a time of war, neither he nor this page would be where we are today. But by suggesting that there is no principled space for that kind of opposition, he has forfeited his role as a conscience of his party, and has forfeited our support.
But this primary is not about Mr. Lieberman’s legislative record. Instead it has become a referendum on his warped version of bipartisanship, in which the never-ending war on terror becomes an excuse for silence and inaction. We endorse Ned Lamont in the Democratic primary for Senate in Connecticut.
Couldn’t happen to a more deserving ultra-Zionist warmonger who never met a neocon he didn’t like. This is significant in two ways. First, dissatisfaction with Lieberman and the war has become a national issue with the majority now opposing the war(s). A Lieberman loss in the primary will send serious shock waves into both parties. Second, the Democratic Party establishment has been too clueless and inept to put up a fight against Lamont. They trotted out Bill Clinton who babbled inanities and Barbara Boxer who had no problem endorsing a candidate who opposes most everything she pretends to stand for. Dumb and dumber.
Of course, as mentioned before, Lamont is anti-war lite on Iraq and the same as Lieberman on Lebanon. The real radicalization will happen after the Democrats retake the House and the war(s) continue.
[tags]Joe Lieberman,Ned Lamont[/tags]
Bob Morris @ Jul 30th 2006 00:21 - Category: Unfiled ;
Mel Gibson issued a lengthy statement Saturday apologizing for his drunk driving arrest and saying he has battled alcoholism throughout his life.
Gibson also apologized for what he said were “despicable” statements he made to the deputies who arrested him early Friday morning on Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu.
“I acted like a person completely out of control when I was arrested,” he said in a statement issued by his publicist. “I disgraced myself and my family with my behavior and for that I am truly sorry. I have battled with the disease of alcoholism for all of my adult life and profoundly regret my horrific relapse.”
While I have no use for Mel Gibson’s lunatic politics, these are the words of a man who just got kicked in teeth by alcoholism and knows it. I know, I’ve been there myself. It can actually be harder for celebrities because of the media glare.
I hope Gibson gets sober again and stays sober.
Bob Morris @ Jul 30th 2006 00:16 - Category: Anti-war ;
Oakland CA. Police spies led antiwar protest
Bob Morris @ Jul 30th 2006 00:12 - Category: Climate change ;
It’s better than US ethanol and is already being used to power large fleets. Gas stations in Brazil routinely sell it…
From the Virdian Design newsletter #470
People in the USA know nothing of Brazilian ethanol. The Brazilians been running on rum for years. So there’s the proof-of-concept.
Brazil doesn’t merely have ethanol, it’s got a different breed of car. Not a hybrid, but a “trybrid.” The Obvio runs on ethanol, gasoline or electrical wall-power.
[tags]ethanol[/tags]
Bob Morris @ Jul 30th 2006 00:06 - Category: Uncategorized Tags: Lebanon;
I meant to post this a few days ago.
My own reporting and that of other journalists reveals that in fact Hezbollah fighters — as opposed to the much more numerous Hezbollah political members, and the vastly more numerous Hezbollah sympathizers — avoid civilians like the plague. Much smarter and better trained than the PLO and Hamas fighters, they know that if they mingle with civilians, they will sooner or later be betrayed by collaborators — as so many Palestinian militants have been.
Bob Morris @ Jul 29th 2006 19:18 - Category: Uncategorized Tags: Lebanon;
Oil from bombed plant covers Lebanon shore
Bob Morris @ Jul 29th 2006 14:45 - Category: Unfiled ;
U.S. citizens suspected of terror ties might be detained indefinitely and barred from access to civilian courts under legislation proposed by the Bush administration, say legal experts reviewing an early version of the bill.
One hopes this noxious bit of attempted fascism doesn’t pass Congress, but given the gutlessness and complicity of Democrats, who knows? Hey Democrats in Congress, it’s now or never. Take a stand. Fight. History will not be kind to you if you don’t.
Ditto for Republicans in Congress, many of whom I suspect will oppose this turd of a bill. Israel is going bat-shit violent because they are losing the Lebanon war. The Bushies are losing too, public opinion has turned against them, their fanatic religious agendas, and their endless wars and invasions. Now is the time to oppose them. Not later, not maybe. Now. They are collapsing. Let’s make sure they do.
Bob Morris @ Jul 29th 2006 14:06 - Category: Uncategorized Tags: Lebanon;
From the NY TImes
The very clear winner, for the moment at least, was Hezbollah and its leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah.
Bob Morris @ Jul 29th 2006 07:48 - Category: Anti-war Tags: Lebanon;
Brian Becker, National Coordinator of ANSWER Coalition, statement to press conference on Aug. 12 march.
On Aug. 12, 2006, thousands of people will be traveling to Washington, D.C. for a massive “National Emergency March to Stop the U.S.-Israeli War,” a war that is killing the people of Lebanon and Palestine. The ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) has organized most of the huge demonstrations in Washington, D.C. during the past four years, protesting Bush’s war against Iraq.
We also organized the historic demonstration of 100,000 on April 20, 2002, the largest mobilization in support of the Palestinian people in U.S. history. That demonstration happened three weeks after George W. Bush gave Ariel Sharon the green light for Israel’s murderous “reinvasion” of the West Bank.
Now, we are coming back to Washington, D.C. to make it clear that the government, which speaks in the name of the people, does not have the consent of the people as it launches a another murderous war against the Arabs and other peoples of the Middle East.
There will also be major marches and rallies in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and elsewhere.
Bob Morris @ Jul 29th 2006 00:21 - Category: Anti-war Tags: Lebanon;
From the Left Coaster
Horror and despair will seem like hyperbole to many, but Californians just watched the Secretary of State call the vicious and brutal war upon Lebanon a “birth pang” before jetting off to a piano recital in Asia. Something very, very, very bad is coming, everyone knows it after that little stunt.
The likely scenario is an invasion of Iran, the Middle East becoming a war zone, and the price of oil becoming catastrophically high.
It is true, yes, that California has two senior Democratic Senators to possibly influence the course of events, but Feinstein and Boxer turned out to be two more useless, clueless 21st century politicians, failure and death their hallmarks to the new millennia.
Feinstein, of course, voted for the current mayhem in Iraq and has displayed absolutely no leadership at all in attempting to get us the hell out of there. For reasons no one can explain Feinstein is untouchable in the California and national press so she’s going to win another term this year in a total walk, even though she’s plainly one of the most stupid, evil turncoat Senators we’ve ever had, a voting record that to this day makes Dick Cheney cackle with glee.
Her husband is worth several hundred million. You think she will do anything to upset the established order?
Along with the piano recital Californians just watched a horrifying, vicious betrayal to the base when Barbara Boxer, our other august member of the world’s oldest deliberative body, jetted to Connecticut to defend Joe Lieberman—along with our old very dear friend who used to visit us so much, Bill Clinton.
The stupidity and shortsightedness of this move is breathtaking in its Bushian scope. Boxer cannot be judged by one action in her career, but to staunchly defend and campaign for the greatest Democratic proponent of the Iraq war who has a voting record of Feinsteinian dimensions is going to be a gaping, eternally bleeding mark on her record.
It’s a class thing. Congress is composed primarily of the very wealthy. They defend their interests and the interests of their class against the rest of us. It’s not their children in Iraq, now is it? They vote for war and torture because they *want* to vote that way. Some say the Dems vote that way because they are gutless (which they certainly are) but in reality it’s because they agree with the Republicans and because war benefits them as a class.
When the Dems win back the House in November, little if anything will change. That’s when the radicalization will start to happen. Electing a different set of wealthy people to Congress will not change a thing. When the populace genuinely realizes this, and they will, then radical change becomes possible.
Bob Morris @ Jul 29th 2006 00:15 - Category: Unfiled ;
The United States should adopt a moratorium on death sentences, a U.N. rights body said Friday, noting that capital punishment appears to be disproportionately imposed on minority groups and poor people.
Bob Morris @ Jul 29th 2006 00:11 - Category: Unfiled ;
Audio podcasting is great. Video is even better. So, I’m taking the plunge into video podcasting, and have spent a week or so researching camcorders. There are a baffling amount of options and features available, especially for newbies like me.
CamcorderInfo was an enormous help, written by enthusiasts and pros, their reviews are detailed and informative, with a highly useful comparison. Their sister site, EasyCamcorders has advice and a buying guide. Among their advice
-Low light performance is crucial, and by that they mean indoors too.
-Stills won’t be as good as from a digital still camera
-A 3 CCD model is way better than the standard 1 CCD
-Mic-in and headphone jacks can really help with audio
-Ignore digital zoom, it’s useless. Optical zoom is what’s important.
Plus, from what I can tell, mini-DV camcorders record at higher quality than DVD or Flash.
Given all that, I’m getting the Panasonic PV-GS500, 3 CCD, mini-DV, good in low light, with lots of tweakable features, and used Froogle to price it and check customer satisfaction ratings with the online stores.
After I learn how to use the camcorder and edit the results, Polizeros will start videocasting!
Bob Morris @ Jul 28th 2006 17:02 - Category: Anti-war Tags: Lebanon;
Here’s more makin’ shit up from the Bushies, complete with their usual slimes, innuendo, but no actual facts. The US and Israel says the Hezbollah leader could be hiding in an embassy, possibly the Iranian embassy, so darn it, they may just have to bomb the embassy, even if that would be an act of war against Iran.
Which of course is precisely what they want.
Bob Morris @ Jul 28th 2006 00:16 - Category: Anti-war Tags: Lebanon;
From John Robb
With no takers on a peace keeping force it will be up to the US to save Israel’s bacon. The 82nd Airborne is on tap to be sent.
However, that won’t work since Hezbollah won’t comply.
As Bill Lind said, this is 1914 all over again. I keep getting the gut feeling that at the end of the day we are going to be at war from the Mediterranean to the Hindu Kush (the Shiite crescent and beyond). If the history of 4GW serves as a guide: we will lose this conflict (and badly).
Things have spun way out of control. Can anyone say draft?
Robb says in the comments an ‘inside source’ tipped him about the draft.
Chis Dickey writing for Newsweek says “The bottom line: Hizbullah is winning.” That’s why Israel is calling up 30,000 more troops and becoming even more thuggishly violent. The unthinkable has happened. A guerilla army has stopped the Israelis while the whole world is watching.
On July 14, American Leftist said in a prescient post the invasion may well be The End of Zionism
Few people recognize it, but, after the fact, it will be obvious to everyone. Zionism is immolating itself in the refugee camps of Gaza and the Shia communities of Lebanon, and no attempt to relegitimize it as a bulwark against Islamic fundamentalism can salvage it. Israel’s military operations in Gaza and Lebanon are rapidly hastening its demise.
Bob Morris @ Jul 28th 2006 00:11 - Category: Unfiled ;
Yo, Howard, try getting a clue. (emphasis added.)
A member of a group of Semitic-speaking peoples of the Near East and northern Africa, including the Arabs, Arameans, Babylonians, Carthaginians, Ethiopians, Hebrews, and Phoenicians.
Bob Morris @ Jul 28th 2006 00:06 - Category: Unfiled ;
A prison inmate pleaded guilty on Tuesday to sending letters to the FBI and secret service that included bomb and anthrax threats — as well as his full name and inmate number.
Bob Morris @ Jul 27th 2006 10:00 - Category: Anti-war ;
From the Jewish Virtual Library
Zionism, the national movement for the return of the Jewish people to their homeland and the resumption of Jewish sovereignty in the Land of Israel, advocated, from its inception, tangible as well as spiritual aims.
Thus, only Jews can be sovereign in Israel. By definition, all other groups are excluded. Therefore Zionism, a political ideology, is at its core racist and nationalist.
Zionism represents itself as a political movement concerned principally with the establishment of a state in Palestine to be controlled by and for Jews. It began in the late 19th Century and attained its stated objective with the creation in 1948 of the state of Israel by the United Nations (at the insistence of the United States and without the agreement of existing Middle Eastern states). Subsequently Israel doubled the amount of territory it controlled by means of its illegal occupation of the West Bank in the 1967 and 1973 wars.
Zionism is separate from being Jewish. It’s a political movement. Saying someone is anti-Jewish because they oppose Zionism is like saying someone is anti-Christian because they oppose the policies of George Bush. It’s a rubbish argument.
Zionism should not be equated with Judaism. The contemptible treatment of the Palestinians by the Israeli government is supported and approved of by most Israeli Jews but not by all Jews. Here are three websites which express this position:
Not in my Name (Different group from the US antiwar organization)
The great gulf Between Zionism and Judaism
Criticism of Zionism is criticism of a particularly ugly political movement, not criticism of a religion or of the adherents of a religion. One may be critical of Zionism and of Zionists while at the same time being quite tolerant of, or well-disposed toward, or even an adherent of, the Jewish religion (as we see from the websites cited above)
The State of Israel with its Zionist policies could not have been created and maintained without huge military and financial aid from the US and other western countries. Israel is a client state. They do not tell the US what to do.
In order to get the aid it needed, Israel offered its services in the interests of Western imperialism. The Sept. 30, 1951, issue of the Hebrew-language daily Ha’aretz offered the following commentary: “Strengthening Israel helps the Western powers to maintain equilibrium and stability in the Middle East. Israel is to become the watchdog. There is no fear that Israel will undertake any aggressive policy to wards the Arab states when this would explicitly contradict the wishes of the U.S. and Britain. But if for any reason the Western powers should sometimes prefer to close their eyes, Israel could be relied upon to punish one or several neighboring states whose discourtesy towards the West went beyond the bounds of the permissible.”
An agreement that continues to this day. Israel is the designated enforcer for western imperialist interests in the Middle East.
[tags]Zionism[/tags]
Bob Morris @ Jul 27th 2006 00:18 - Category: Unfiled ;
Netroots, led by DailyKos, has spearheaded a quite successful attack, mostly based on the Iraq war, against the odious Sen. Joe “I Love Neocons” Lieberman. They’ve turned an easy win for Lieberman in the upcoming Aug. 8 primary into a possible loss.
However, their annointed challenger, centi-millionaire Ned Lamont, is tepidly anti-war and as Zionist as Lieberman on Lebanon, an odd candidate for a group claiming to oppose the Iraq war to back. (Netroots and the most of the liberal blogosphere have not yet clearly opposed the Lebanon war when not overtly backing Israel.)
The Democratic establishment has gone out of its way to back Lieberman, violating the accepted rule of not backing anyone in a primary. Netroots, in my estimation, is a bit clueless about politics. They make enemies where they could have made allies, and seem to have no idea how to build a base anywhere but in cyberspace.
Kos noted yesterday that the Lieberman meltdown is over. He clearly expects the Democratic Leadership Council (who just met to decide, among other things, what to do about netroots) to muster all manner of support for Lieberman.
Netroots clings to the bizarre hope they can take over the Democratic Party, a pipe dream at best. If Lieberman wins, netroots will take a serious hit. And that’s precisely what the DLC wants.
There’s less than two weeks to the primary. Expect the DLC to roll out some big guns soon.
[tags]Joe Lieberman,Ned Lamont[/tags]
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