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Ex-political prisoner sends Cubans word of freedom, one book at a time
In his tiny Miami apartment, Nelson Rodríguez Dieguez collects books for Cuba's underground network of democratic independent libraries. A former political prisoner, Rodríguez has made it his mission now to set history straight until Cuba is free.
His latest project is a book lauding the hundreds of women -- he estimates as many as 13,000 -- imprisoned in the early years of Castro's communist power grab.
Like so many of the freed prisoners I've met over the years, Rodríguez recounts his decade in Cuban prisons calmly and methodically, picking apart Castro's proclamations that the regime never practiced torture.
Having spent 124 days naked and hooded during brutal interrogations at Las Cabañitas, a country home converted into a torture chamber of sorts outside Havana, Rodríguez learned the hard way about speaking truth to power at age 22.
FACING DEATH
Working to foment uprisings in Castro's home province of Oriente, Rodríguez was caught Nov. 3, 1961, and after three days of interrogations by state security in Havana was taken to Las Cabañitas. ''One-hundred-and-twenty-four days without clothes, without bathing, your hair's all pasty, your skin is full of welts,'' he told me. ``They throw buckets of ice water on you. They put you into an interrogation with chunks of ice on your back. You're so cold, you pass out.''
''First, they sentenced me to the firing squad,'' he said. The guards would line up a handful of men and go through the drill, pointing their rifles, and -- bang, bang! -- there were no bullets, only blanks.
Then came the ``hanging.''
A state security goon offered to lead an ''Our Father'' but a weak Rodríguez -- still nude, hooded and with a knotted rope tied around his neck -- jumped off the chair only to land on the cement floor with a busted big toe.
Even after those 124 hellish days, when he was sent to work camps at the Isle of Pines prison, Rodríguez said there were firing squads assigned to kill at least one man each weekend until 1967. ``The stress of living all those years without knowing if they were going to kill you on Friday or Saturday. . . .''
A WARRIOR'S OBLIGATION
After 10 years in prison and several more hounded by Cuban state security, Rodríguez left in 1978 for Venezuela, and eventually started an auto-parts business with family. When Hugo Chávez took up with Castro, Rodríguez headed to Miami.
He still has family and friends in Cuba, some of them former prisoners. Despite two hurricanes devastating much of the island, he's committed to getting ''democracy-building'' books to the independent libraries, though the Cuban regime keeps cracking down. At the movement's height there were about 200 libraries -- today 48 remain in the group Rodríguez helps.
On Saturday, the Grupo de Apoyo a Bibliotecas Democráticas, which supports independent libraries and helps the families of former political prisoners in Cuba, will commemorate the 12th anniversary of the library movement. For details, call Rodríguez at 786-306-2719. ''We send any book that will help give people a political formation, to help them understand true democracy,'' he said.
Rodríguez knows something about the risks of speaking up in a dictatorship. Having walked hooded and naked to face death -- and lived to tell about it -- he feels an obligation, as so many of our old warriors do, to spread the word about freedom's promise. In his tiny Miami apartment, Nelson Rodríguez Dieguez collects books for Cuba's underground network of democratic independent lib... more -
Free 3 wishes: Go ahead, rub the magic lamp for your 3 wishes
Go ahead, it wont bite. In fact, when the Genie appears, he certainly wont bite. You have three wishes. The rules are: No wish for more wishes! Your wish must be something you really, really want, but will also help other people in the world too. Thats it! Now...
By hitting the comment button, you will automatically be 'rubbing' the magic lamp. Now, visualize the Genie..yea, go ahead, that wont hurt either. In fact, it's been proved that if you do 'visualize' something, you have a better chance of making that visualization into reality. You know, like Bush and his cronies 'visualizing' taking Iraq with Americans blood and filling their coffers....yup, you get the idea.
Now, think hard for your three wishes. Think that those three wishes are reality...however, you must also think that whatever you wish for has a chance to be broken in the future needing to be fixed or replaced. Not impossible to fix or replace tho since everything can be replaced and everything you won now really wont be around forever.
We only borrow or rent things in this life. What? your home? your car. The government owns your house even if you did pay for it in full since if you do not pay the property tax, you may as well say bye bye to it..and your car, you own that, eh? Not really. The government can seize your rig anytime...even for suspicion of drugs, or any crime..just suspicion! Thats the tip of the iceberg, but you get my point..now back to your free 3 wishes....
Now, you've done all the above, now put your three wishes in the comment section below in this format (or close to it):
Wish 1
Wish 2
Wish 3
You now have your wishes registered with the Genie. But your not done! Smoke a big one, have a drink or two, or whatever blows your kilt/skirt up, and think of your wishes in vivid detail.
Your wishes will come true to most people. If you don't receive your wish within your lifetime, you probably didn't think of the BIG picture and your wish actually did happen! But most people will realize that their wishes will come true if they visualize and believe. Ya gotta believe!
OK, now please post your wishes!
peace...
ps..thanks to CreativeCow for lending us the magic lamp! we owe ya one CC Go ahead, it wont bite. In fact, when the Genie appears, he certainly wont bite. You have three wishes. The rules are: No wish for ... more -
Black Friday, recession global: European and Asian markets in deep plunge
European markets plummeted at Friday's open, following the lead of Asian and Pacific markets in response to the U.S. stock market's new five-year low.
Dealers at the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Friday.
London's FTSE, the CAC in Paris and the XETRA DAX in Frankfurt, Germany were all down 10 percent.
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei Exchange closed down 9.6 percent, as the Bank of Japan injected 4.5 trillion yen ($45 billion) into financial markets -- the largest single-day amount in history.
Meanwhile, the Australian All Ordinaries index closed more than 8 percent lower, and South Korea's KOSPI index finished the day off 4.3 percent.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index and Mumbai's BSE SENSEX both were down 8 percent in afternoon trading.
India's central bank also tried to boost markets, making 400 billion rupees ($8.2 billion) available for the financial system. Video Watch panic-selling in the Asia markets »
The Dow Jones industrial average lost 679 points, or 7.3 percent, on Thursday, closing at its lowest point since May 21, 2003. It was the Dow's third biggest one-day point-loss ever.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 7.6 percent and closed at its lowest point since April 28, 2003. The Nasdaq composite lost 5.5 percent and closed at its lowest point since June 30, 2003.
During the past seven sessions, the Dow has lost 2,271 points, or 20.1 percent. Since hitting an all-time high of 14,164.53 one year ago Thursday, the Dow has lost 39.4 percent.
The White House confirmed earlier Thursday that the U.S. Treasury Department is looking at buying equity stakes in some U.S. banks.
Spokesperson Dana Perino confirmed reports that the U.S. could soon join the United Kingdom, Iceland and Italy in announcing a plan to inject capital directly into their troubled banking systems.
"These capital injections are something that Secretary (Henry) Paulson is actively considering," said Perino. She said she could not comment on the timing or extent of such investments.
The move would be made under the $700 billion Wall Street bailout passed by Congress on Friday.
But the possibility of Treasury intervention failed to reassure investors amid the ongoing credit crisis.
Asian central banks also did their part to give markets a potential boost. South Korea's central bank -- the Bank of Korea -- slashed its key interest rate by a quarter percent, the Yonhap news agency reported. The Bank of Japan injected 2 trillion yen ($20 billion) into money markets. And the Hong Kong Monetary Authority cut its key interest rate again -- 1.5 percent during two days.
European markets posted mixed results Thursday, but the continent's most influential -- London, Paris and Frankfurt -- all closed 1 percent to 2 percent lower.
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Russia's battered stock markets rebounded Thursday after financial regulators reversed a decision to close them, so vigorously that one exchange had to be temporarily closed.
The index of leading stocks on the MICEX exchange, where most of Russia's trading takes place, gained nearly 16 percent before halting trading around midday, the second time in less than three hours of action that it suspended activity.
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Do everything to protect yourselves from an unavoidable global recession. This is the beginning of the end of Capitalism as we know it. The greed is finally catching up with the fat boys on Corporate and Capital Hill. Don't let them take more! European markets plummeted at Friday's open, following the lead of Asian and Pacific markets in response to the U.S. stock market... more -
A Little More (Than) Ground Noise & Static
In November, one or the other of the corporate candidates will win, and then, as always, it will be what the people do, not the politicians, that counts.
A video report on the protests that occurred in connection with the Democrat and Republican National Conventions, Ground Noise & Static is a manifesto. We went to Denver and St. Paul to take the pulse of the movement. Corporate media would cover the platitudes and posturing of the politicians, we were interested in something else, a story hidden in plain sight, captured in the now-classic street chant, “This is what democracy looks like.” In November, one or the other of the corporate candidates will win, and then, as always, it will be what the people do, not the politi... more -
Standing Between Exploited Girls and the Streets
From 2002-2003 the Oakland police department made 218 arrests of Sex workers. The epidemic of sex work in the bay area is not new but there is a push towards changing the policies that effect how sexually exploited minors are treated.
At the head of this movement is Elizabeth Sy -- Director of Banteay Srei at the East Bay Asian Youth Center a 26 year old first generation cambodian woman who recently won a Rising Peace Maker Prize for her work with young women involved in the sex trade. YO! Recently talked with Sy and found out what steps she feels must be taken for sexually exploited minors. From 2002-2003 the Oakland police department made 218 arrests of Sex workers. The epidemic of sex work in the bay area is not new but ... more -
ZIMBABWE: Activists shout from the sidelines
The new board of Zimbabwe's National AIDS Council (NAC) has a glaring omission: not one member is living openly with the HI-virus. AIDS activists have slammed the move, describing it as "discriminatory" and a step backwards in the fight against the epidemic. The new board of Zimbabwe's National AIDS Council (NAC) has a glaring omission: not one member is living openly with the HI-virus... more
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John Lennons birthday today, Peace Tower to be lit, a letter from Yoko on IMAGINE ...
On 9 Oct 2008, John Lennon's birthday, Yoko Ono asks the people of Iceland (and the world)
to join her and many others across the rest of the world in praying for peace
and stability.
At 8pm, (today in Iceland) as the IMAGINE PEACE TOWER is illuminated on the island of Viðey
she asks everyone to join together and let the power of light and prayer
become a collective expression of the desire for peace and harmony on our
planet.
Dear Friends,
Please join me not only in remembering John on October 9th but also in
spreading the message of peace. This is something that was so important to
John - the fact that we could all work together for the positive good of our
planet. He would have loved how we are all mobilizing ourselves in thought
and in action. It's time for action and the action is peace!
with love, yoko
Yoko Ono
9 Oct 2008
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Let's join our collective consciousnesses to bring energy and light to the need for World Peace. On this site, there are times to do this per your location on earth. Remember the Laws of Attraction as well, an energy that permeates the Universe, and energy that keeps it all glued together!
If you want, you can also send a wish message to be included in todays ceremony. You can find out how on the site. or at this link: http://www.imaginepeace.com/wish.html
peace and light..WPTV
ps..listen to what John says in the video. Even tho this was over 20 years ago, it still holds true On 9 Oct 2008, John Lennon's birthday, Yoko Ono asks the people of Iceland (and the world) ... more -
Palestinians sue Israel over land losses to illegal outposts
FIVE Palestinian landowners are suing the state of Israel over the loss of their land to an illegal outpost, in a lawsuit that could set a precedent for tackling Jewish settlement growth in the West Bank.
The case comes as settlers have boasted of rapid expansion of their communities, despite hopes raised last year in a US-backed peace summit that the Jewish state would freeze settlement construction in the occupied Palestinian territory.
The lawsuit calls the 40 or so Jewish families who have built trailer homes on the hilltop of Migron, near Ramallah, "ideological robbers of the land" and makes a demand for 1.5 million shekels ($600,000) from the state for failing to remove them.
It says Israel is "betraying its legal and moral obligations and refraining from protecting the plaintiffs and their property and instead is helping the thieves by its actions and lack of action".
The Palestinians, backed by an Israeli human rights group, are petitioning the High Court to order the immediate evacuation of the land, which an earlier inquiry ruled was privately owned by Palestinians.
Orders have been given to move the settlers, but the Government has chosen to negotiate with the settlers' council for them to leave peacefully when housing on an alternative location in the West Bank is finished.
The outpost was seized nine years ago by settlers keen to take control of the area, which they refer to as Judaea and Samaria, its biblical name. The plaintiffs lodged their lawsuit on the weekend.
Michael Sfard, the Israeli lawyer representing the Palestinian landowners, described Israel's refusal to enforce the law as a case of "cops and robbers joining forces, a situation characteristic of countries that are controlled by organised crime or the mafia".
The case is expected to highlight how the state has helped to facilitate the development of the outpost, including the alleged payment of more than four million shekels by the Housing Ministry to connect the outpost to local infrastructure.
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I chose Rachel Correy's explanation/video of what Israel does to illegally take land from innocent Palestinians to the point of murdering these people in order to illegally take possession of their land.
Rachel, herself, was crushed and killed by an Israeli bulldozer as they bulldozed a doctors house she was staying at in Palestine. Her bravery to try and stop the tank will always stand up in the minds of Peace Activists everywhere. Her bravery itself will always be a driving force for us all.
Israel needs to stop taking land from Palestine, give back the land it has taken from when it was passed into law and make peace that will make this world a safer place. Israel is the reason we have so much resistance and hatred from the Arab world today. We are all the same flesh and blood...we all need to get along.
Please note: Certain people on this site will knock this story down despite it being real news. There are cowards that will knock down the score, but don't let it phase you..they are only cowards. We are out to let people know what is not being reported in mainstream media and we aim for reliable sources, and a medium is needed to help get those stories out to the public....This is what CURRENT is all about...freedom of the press..true stories and stories we need to know that is being quashed by the major press/media. Many people are brainwashed as to certain things happening in the world. Many intellegent people already know this. The entire world is under the control of a small handful of media owners directed by governments to report what the government wants. CURRENT is not that, and I hope CURRENT doesn't give in to that Orwellian path. FIVE Palestinian landowners are suing the state of Israel over the loss of their land to an illegal outpost, in a lawsuit that could s... more -
corruption in Lancastar PA
F4J protestors have been repeatedly discriminated against by local police, politicians, and courts............Even in the face of evidence they press charges, make reports, and rule against these men when their only crime is being American. F4J protestors have been repeatedly discriminated against by local police, politicians, and courts............Even in the face of evid... more
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At 16, a champion for democracy
Keep an eye on Olena Prykhodko. At the age of seven, she joined a nationwide group for young women leaders, and by 11 she was demonstrating in support of Ukraine's Orange Revolution. Prykhodko believes young people can help bridge the gap between her country's government and ordinary people.
As the second in our series of Young Women's Learning Partnership profiles, WLP spoke with Olena Prykhodko of Ukraine. Ms. Prykhodko is a member of the Interregional Young Women Leaders Group, which unites girls and young women to promote principles of democracy, equality, and youth leadership in social and political life. She describes her greatest accomplishment as forming a group called the Kharkiv Regional Council of High School Students, which was able to bring youth opinions on child welfare policies to the highest national decision-making level. Ms. Prykhodko, as chair of the group, spoke at a meeting with the president and most senior members of regional and national administration, resulting in stricter policies controlling sales of alcohol and in the construction of free, open air sports areas.
Ms. Prykhodkho interviewed with WLP Program Associate, Siobhan Hayes, to discuss the possibilities for youth participation in politics.
WLP: How did you get involved in activism?
Prykhodko: I have always wanted to become a person that is able to change something in this world. When I was a little girl “changing the world” was a vague idea, yet I felt that I needed to be useful. At the age of seven I entered the all-Ukrainian writing contest for high school female students – and my essay actually passed! I was invited to join the Interregional Young Women Leader’s Group, and have been a part of it ever since. I have now been working with social youth activists for eight years.
***********CONTINUES Keep an eye on Olena Prykhodko. At the age of seven, she joined a nationwide group for young women leaders, and by 11 she was demonstr... more -
FEMA sources confirm coming martial law
WMR has learned from knowledgeable Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) sources that the Bush administration is putting the final touches on a plan that would see martial law declared in the United States with various scenarios anticipated as triggers. The triggers include a continuing economic collapse with massive social unrest, bank closures resulting in violence against financial institutions, and another fraudulent presidential election that would result in rioting in major cities and campuses around the country.
In addition, Army Corps of Engineer sources report that the assignment of the 3rd Infantry Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team (BCT) to the Northern Command’s U.S. Army North is to augment FEMA and federal law enforcement in the imposition of traffic controls, crowd control, curfews, enhanced border and port security, and neighborhood patrols in the event a national emergency being declared. The BCT was assigned to duties in Iraq before being assigned to the Northern Command.
On April 3, 2008, WMR reported on a highly-classified document regarding the martial law scenario: WMR has learned from knowledgeable sources within the US financial community that an alarming confidential and limited distribution document is circulating among senior members of Congress and their senior staff members that is warning of a bleak future for the United States if it does not quickly get its financial house in order. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is among those who have reportedly read the document. The document is being called the "C & R" document because it reportedly states that if the United States defaults on loans and debt underwriting from China, Japan, and Russia, all of which are propping up the United States government financially, and the United States unilaterally cancels the debts, America can expect a war that will have disastrous results for the United States and the world. "Conflict" is the "C word" in the document. The other scenario is that the federal government will be forced to drastically raise taxes in order to pay off debts to foreign countries to the point that the American people will react with a popular revolution against the government. "Revolution" is the document’s "R word. WMR has learned from knowledgeable Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) sources that the Bush administration is putting the fina... more -
Maryland Cops Put 53 Non-Violent Activists on Terrorist List
Maryland State police placed the names of 53 left-leaning political activists into federal and state databases, labeling them as terrorists, the state's police chief admitted Tuesday.
Evidence that the state police had been infiltrating anti-war and anti-death penalty groups first came to light in July following a government sunshine lawsuit filed by the ACLU on behalf of a prominent peace activist named Max Obuszewski.
Police added Obuszewski and others to a federal database called the Washington-Baltimore High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area database, The nation's main terrorist watch list is built from nominations from federal databases, but Maryland's current police superintendent told Maryland lawmakers that he didn't think the activists made their way onto that list, according to the Washington Post.
The Maryland spying on peace groups took place in 2005 and 2006, under the leadership of then-police superintendent Thomas Hutchins.
Hutchins defended the spying and the use of undercover informants in anti-war planning meetings, the Post reported.
"I don't believe the First Amendment is any guarantee to those who wish to disrupt the government," he said. ...
But Sen. James Brochin (D-Baltimore County) noted that undercover troopers used aliases to infiltrate organizational meetings, rallies and group e-mail lists. He called the spying a "deliberate infiltration to find out every piece of information necessary" on groups such as the Maryland Campaign to End the Death Penalty and the Baltimore Pledge of Resistance. When Hutchins called their members "fringe people," the audience of activists who filled the seats in the hearing room in Annapolis sighed.
The state is sending letters to those who were labeled as terrorists in the databases and trying to remove their names.
Threat Level is not surprised by the news.
When state and local police are charged with rooting out terrorists inside the United States, set up inside Fusion Centers and tasked with tracking all threats, police are bound -- if only out of boredom or need to keep their budget -- to find or manufacture terrorists somewhere.
In writing about these fusion centers in January 2007, we predicted this would happen:
Expect to see more fusion of legitimate political groups with terrorist groups in the future. These are the kinds of bureaucratic mechanisms that lead police to label Quakers as "criminal extremists," to infiltrate anti-war groups, peaceful protests and Critical Mass bike rides, and to file reports on anti-war protesters in Pentagon databases.
It's the architectural imperative. Maryland State police placed the names of 53 left-leaning political activists into federal and state databases, labeling them as terro... more -
Soundscapes: DJ Phatrick
An educator and DJ talks about music, activism and why Los Angeles is fresher than you think.
There are two subjects that Patrick Huang can talk about endlessly: soul music, and educational pedagogy. The 26-year-old, known universally as DJ Phatrick, has a foot planted firmly in both worlds.
He burst onto the national scene as the DJ and producer for Native Guns, a popular political hip-hop group. Still fresh out of college, Huang co-founded the Bay Unity Music Project (BUMP), a youth record label and development program that works with aspiring musicians in West Oakland. Three years later, he left, frustrated with institutional bureaucracies. He returned from a trip to Southeast Asia in 2007 and soon after started a bi-weekly soul music party called Devil's Pie.
Huang began DJing in his hometown of Sugarland, Texas, a Houston suburb. He grew up in an upper middle-class, Chinese-American family. He says he later realized how much suburbs work to "deaden differences." After his parents sent him to an exclusive Houston-area private school (where the movie Rushmore was filmed) he developed an admittedly uncritical "fuck whitey" complex. Later, as an ethnic studies major at the University of California, Berkeley, he finally found activism he could get down with. After earning a strong reputation in the Bay Area's hip-hop scene, Huang recently took his talents to Los Angeles.
Last spring, he released a mixtape called Asian American Hip-Hop for Dummies, which showcases a spectrum of politically infused Asian Pacific Islander (API) artists. While he fears being typecast as "that Asian American hip-hop DJ," the former Mohawk-sporting, James Brown-loving dude, with a tendency to geek out, is anything but typical.
Huang sat down to talk with us about music, activism and why Los Angeles is fresher than you might think.
**********INTERVIEW FOLLOWS AT LINK**************** An educator and DJ talks about music, activism and why Los Angeles is fresher than you think. ... more -
Keeping the Door Open: An Interview with Community Leaders
Family Focus has been serving Illinois communities for over 30 years. What's the secret to their success?
It's hard to imagine Leslie Daniel as a shy teenager. But the bright, self-possessed 27-year-old woman says she would not be who she is if she hadn't had a place like the Family Focus Center to guide her through tough times. The Evanston, Illinois-based community organization started off as a drop-in center in 1976 and has since grown to provide counseling, tutoring and after-school programming to families in five other Illinois locations. JoAnn Avery, who has been with the center for 27 years, has seen Leslie Daniel through becoming a teen mother, college graduate and now working as a fellow employee of Family Focus, leading pregnancy prevention workshops.
For Avery, the success of the center comes down to the deep connections they have made with the community. The focus has always been on serving as a "safe haven" for all members of the family, seeing thousands of people through financial and emotional hard times. Funded through a combination of government, foundation and individual donations, Family Focus provides free, all-purpose programming -- from early childhood literacy to community leadership training. Both Avery and Daniel emphasize the center's open-door policy: No one who agrees to abide by the basic rules is turned away.
Rock the Trail recently sat down with Avery and Daniel to talk about how the center became a place so many people in the community consider part of an extended family and a home away from home.
Part I
************CONTINUES Family Focus has been serving Illinois communities for over 30 years. What's the secret to their success? ... more -
U.S. inquiry Is said to conclude 30 civilians died in Afghan raid
An investigation by the military has concluded that American airstrikes on Aug. 22 in a village in western Afghanistan killed far more civilians than American commanders there have acknowledged, according to two American military officials.
An Afghan woman last month showed journalists a photograph of relatives who were killed on Aug. 22 during an American airstrike on Azizabad, Afghanistan.
The Afghan police said the bodies of three children killed in the American raid were taken to a mosque in Azizabad on Aug. 22.
The military investigator’s report found that more than 30 civilians — not 5 to 7 as the military has long insisted — died in the airstrikes against a suspected Taliban compound in Azizabad.
The investigator, Brig. Gen. Michael W. Callan of the Air Force, concluded that many more civilians, including women and children, had been buried in the rubble than the military had asserted, one of the military officials said.
The airstrikes have been the focus of sharp tensions between the Afghan government, which has said that 90 civilians died in the raid, and the American military, under Gen. David D. McKiernan, the top American military commander in Afghanistan, which has repeatedly insisted that only a handful of civilians were killed.
The report was requested by General McKiernan on Sept. 7, more than two weeks after the airstrikes, in response to what he said at the time was “emerging evidence” about the raids. While American commanders in Afghanistan have contended that 30 to 35 militants were killed in the raid, the new report concludes that many among that group were in fact civilians, the military officials said.
According to the new report, fewer than 20 militants died in the raid, which was conducted jointly by American and Afghan forces, and in subsequent airstrikes carried out by an AC-130 gunship in support of the allied ground forces.
The revised American estimate for civilian deaths in the operation remains far below the 90 that Afghan and United Nations officials have claimed, a figure that the Afghan government and the United Nations said was supported by cellphone photos, freshly dug grave sites and the accounts of witnesses who saw the dead bodies.
-------------------more at link--------picture...Afghan Police, via Agence France-Presse — Getty Image
I guess there is no more 'Surigical attacks, ones that zero in on the criminal...its a shame innocent people-including infants-have to come to this horrible end. An investigation by the military has concluded that American airstrikes on Aug. 22 in a village in western Afghanistan killed far more... more -
Financial MeltDown: Britain bails out banks, Hong Kong slashes rates
The world is in the process of a financial meltdown. Capitalism as we know it may be doomed. Why? Greed, Selfishness, excess......the solution? Share the worlds wealth with all people of earth.....here is the breaking story from Europe and Asia:
Britain announced plans to inject up to 50 billion pounds ($87.2 billion) into its biggest retail banks on Wednesday and Hong Kong slashed interest rates to try to stem the global financial crisis.
British finance minister Alistair Darling said he wanted to reduce the "fear factor" in the banking system. In an effort to kickstart stalled money markets, the Bank of England will offer at least 200 billion pounds in short-term lending.
Hong Kong followed Australia's lead in slicing a full point off interest rates as pressure grew for a coordinated, global monetary policy response to the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression.
Shares in Tokyo plunged more than nine percent, the biggest decline since the 1987 stock market crash, on growing fears that the chaos in credit markets will foster a global economic recession.
European shares fell 4 percent in early trade. U.S. stocks had tumbled for a fifth straight session on Tuesday, completing a record five-day point loss.
Britain's offer to use public money to take stakes in some of its best known high street banks follows a slump in which some have lost nearly half their value on the stock market amid investor fears they could collapse.
"Extraordinary times call for bold and far-reaching solutions," British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said in comments released by his press office.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Tuesday the U.S. economy was being battered by a financial crisis of "historic dimension" and that the risk for inflation has eased with the falling prices for oil and other commodities.
His comments were seen as paving the way for a deep cut in U.S. rates, possibly before the Fed's end-of-month meeting.
The Bank of England will deliver its latest interest rate decision on Thursday and Darling dropped a heavy hint he would welcome a rate cut.
"Let me remind you of the remit ... yes it's to target the government's inflation target, but it's also to support the government's wider objectives of economic stability," he told BBC radio.
COORDINATED RATE CUTS?
Around the globe, people are worried about safeguarding savings and keeping their jobs as some of the pillars of international finance give way.
The upheaval that began on Wall Street has effectively shut down interbank and other loan markets. Stemming from the collapse in the U.S. housing market and increase in bad loans, the crisis is the worst financial storm in almost 80 years.
"The deteriorating outlook for the economy and the deepening financial crisis are pushing fears to their limit," said Mitsushige Akino, chief fund manager at Ichiyoshi Investment Management in Japan.
In the latest sign of gloom, corporate bankruptcies in Japan jumped 34.5 percent year-on-year, a research firm said.--------------------------more at link The world is in the process of a financial meltdown. Capitalism as we know it may be doomed. Why? Greed, Selfishness, excess......the... more -
Nevada officials raid office of nonprofit voting rights group
Claiming to be searching for evidence of voter fraud, Nevada state authorities raided the headquarters of a nonprofit organization that helps low-income people vote. A spokesperson for the Nevada secretary of state’s office told The Associated Press that the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) has been accused of submitting multiple voter registrations with false names. State agents, according to the news service, took crates of documents from ACORN’s headquarters early this morning.
ACS and the American University Washington College of Law hosted a panel discussion today on obstacles to voting in the 2008 elections. During the discussion, Kristen Clark, assistant counsel in the Political Participation Group of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, said voter fraud accusations are often used to challenge the rights of voters.
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Here we go again. Another attempt to quash the democratic vote this coming election. Several states have already had problems and crimes committed concerning voter registration. Is this the Republicans effort to tamper with the election process? or, even the Bush in the WH? I see some more major problems coming from this. I hate to say it, bit it is the rednecks of the USA that are very dissatisfied with the Democratic pick for President becuae of many factors, including his popularity. We need to keep an eye on this and report as much as possible
Here is the video if you wish to see it.........
Protect the Vote
Presenter(s):Washington College of Law
Date:10/7/2008
Time:11:45 AM EST
Length:1 Hour 18 Minutes 23 Seconds
http://media.wcl.american.edu/Mediasite/Viewer/Viewers/...# Claiming to be searching for evidence of voter fraud, Nevada state authorities raided the headquarters of a nonprofit organization tha... more -
Free ride into space! Want your name sent to space to orbit Earth? For Free?
Now the names of millions of individuals sit on Mars or cling to an asteroid. And another batch slammed into a comet at over six miles per second. Those are toast, your name can be sent with a spacecraft that will orbit Earth collecting important data that will help our planet, and it will be there for a long time.
NASA recently announced another opportunity to fly high. Anyone can get their name aboard a satellite, this particular one is the first mission dedicated to understanding the effects of particles in the atmosphere and the sun's temper on our climate.
Participants will get a printable certificate and have their names recorded on a microchip aboard the spacecraft. The deadline to submit Nov. 1.
WPTV's Peace program that brings together musicians and artists from all over the world together in one place has received one of the first certificates, bringing us to the ultimate road to peace! We are on land and air (EuroRock), sea (Peace Full Sail) and now space! (EuroRock Peace Full Sail). We have also been recently entered into the 51st annual Grammy Awards and intend to be there with our entire crew and supporters. Swiss Chris, one of our collaborators and Partners and Detlef Kowelewski, our Peace Full Sail Skipper and myself composed the songs being presented this year.
If you want to sign up, go to: http://polls.nasa.gov Now the names of millions of individuals sit on Mars or cling to an asteroid. And another batch slammed into a comet at over six miles... more -
Israel Channel 2News:Peace Now Org threatened, Bomb Injures Professor/Activist
"A prize of 1.1 million shekels ($500,000) is offered to anyone who kills a member of Peace Now." This was the opening line of a flyer found near the Jerusalem home of Professor Zeev Sternhell, who was injured by a pipe bomb early Thursday morning.In the wake of the bombing Israeli police dispatched a detail to protect Peace Now Director General Yariv Oppenheimer, and a special task force was formed to find those responsible. Israeli police suspect a right-wing Jewish terrorist group.
Peace Now is not being targeted by chance, Professor Galia Golan said Thursday. "The settlers target Peace Now because we are the most active group in society who bring the whole [range of] settler activities to the public eye... They definitely see us as harmful to their cause," she said. Former Education Minister Yossi Sarid echoed this assessment. "Peace Now is undergoing a renaissance," he wrote in Haaretz. "All those wondering where the movement is today, where it has disappeared to, have received a thundering Zionist answer. The movement is here, alive and well and exerting an influence - and it's really bothering someone up there on the hilltops."
Condemnations of the incident were issued by politicians across the political spectrum.
Outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert condemned the act of terrorism in strong terms at yesterday's cabinet meeting: "It is impossible not to see a direct line between the murder of Emil Grunzweig [who was killed at a 1983 Peace Now demonstration], the awful murder of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and the attack on Prof. Sternhell," said Olmert. "An evil wind of extremism, of hatred, of malice, of violence, of running amok, of breaking the law, of contempt for the institutions of the state is blowing through certain sections of the Israeli public and threatens Israeli democracy, the ability of those entrusted by the State of Israel to make decisions and the ability to freely express one's views without fear of being attacked by wild, violent law-breakers, who disregard all frameworks of proper, democratic life," he added.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak responded to Thursday's attack quickly, saying that "this is a case where an intellectual came under attack because of his views. We are returning to a dark period."
"We won't allow anyone, of any dark corner of Israeli society, harass people," Barak added.
Statements like these were not accepted at face value by some observers. "Let no one tell us stories or try to sell us a load of nonsense," wrote Eitan Haber in Friday's Yedioth Ahronoth. "Since 1967, there has never been any prime minister or defense minister who sought to confront Israeli lawbreakers in Judea, Samaria and Gaza. The opposite is true: every prime minister, Likud and Labor alike, ignored and made light of the reports that were laid on their desks about illegal organizations and rioting. In the war against the Israeli lawbreakers in the territories, some prime ministers and ministers were the first to blink. The sad truth: they were afraid of the people in the territories."
Haber continues: "Israeli residents of the territories deliberately killed Palestinian children and youths, destroyed their homes and trees and even organized for terrible underground activity—and not one of them is behind bars today. ----more at links BELOW------------
http://www.peacenow.org/mepr.asp?rid=&cid=5416
This video is in Hebrew....
here is some more of the story and english version of this video report...for some reason, it would not load.....
http://peacenow.org/video.asp?rid=&cid=5405
and the story http://www.peacenow.org/mepr.asp?rid=&cid=5416 yopu can start to read it here...... "A prize of 1.1 million shekels ($500,000) is offered to anyone who kills a member of Peace Now." This was the opening line ... more -
F4J visits the statehouse: OSU crane protest
A new video for your viewing pleasure. Three key Ohio F4J members
visit the state Senate and the office of the Governor requesting an
investigation into family court corruption and gender bias. A new video for your viewing pleasure. Three key Ohio F4J members ... more
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