The Progressive Blog Alliance HQ

The further the administration drops in the polls the more threatening the rhetoric around dissent becomes. The statements Donald Rumsfeld has been making are a few decibels higher these days.

For instance: Rumsfeld had this to say on America's moral superiority and blameless innocence in world affairs.

Rumsfeld:

"Can we truly afford to return to the destructive view that America — not the enemy — is the real source of the world's troubles?"

The message here is clear. The act of self-examination, of either self or your country is destructive to America.

This article is about the link between Mind and Social / Environmental-Issues. The fast-paced, consumerist lifestyle of Industrial Society is causing exponential rise in psychological problems besides destroying the environment. All issues are interlinked. Our Minds cannot be peaceful when attention-spans are down to nanoseconds, microseconds and milliseconds. Our Minds cannot be peaceful if we destroy Nature.

Industrial Society Destroys Mind and Environment

Subject : In a fast society slow emotions become extinct.
Subject : A thinking mind cannot feel.
Subject : Scientific/ Industrial/ Financial thinking destroys the planet.
Subject : Environment can never be saved as long as cities exist.

Emotion is what we experience during gaps in our thinking.

It’s a playground classic. Accuse your adversary of the very thing you are guilty of.

Fascism is fascism is fascism no matter where it comes from or how it is wrapped. The unbounded greed of corporate America, invading the world one economy at a time. The Christian fundamentalist breaking down the separation of church and state. The Islamic jihadist blowing themselves and others up for Allah. They all want the same thing.

Power.

The power to control the lives and resources of others for their own benefit.

In America we have called it:

Indian Reservations. Slavery. Immanent Domain. Spreading democracy. National Security. The War on Terror. Foreign policy.

To sign the statement below, already signed by over 9,000 individuals and over 100 organizations, go to http://www.porcuba.org/index.php?lang=2

"As a result of the communication of Fidel Castro on his state of health and the provisional delegation of his responsibilities, high ranking U.S officials have formulated more explicit statements about the immediate future of Cuba. The Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez said that 'the moment has arrived for a true transition towards a true democracy' and the White House spokesman Tony Snow said that his government is 'ready and eager to provide humanitarian, economic and other aid to the people of Cuba', as was recently reiterated by President Bush.

"Already the 'Commission for Assistance to a free Cuba', presided over by the Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, pointed out in a report issued in June 'the urgency of working today to ensure that the Castro regime's succession strategy does not succeed' and President Bush indicated that this document 'demonstrates that we are actively working for change in Cuba, not simply waiting for change'. The Department of State has emphasized that the plan includes measures that will remain secret 'for reasons of national security' and to assure its 'effective implementation'.

I received an email today, obviously part of an orchestrated PR campaign to counter the bad press Israel has been getting of late, with the subject line, "Photos of Israel that will never make the news". Here's a sample:

As a humanitarian disaster looms, Britain and the US are left exposed by refusing to endorse the UN's demand for an end to hostilities.

Reflecting on the continuing crisis in the Middle East, I've been thinking a great deal about the words of the great Jewish Sage, Hillel. In one of the best-known passages from the Talmud, Hillel asked: "If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?" Hillel also famously summed up the entire Torah in a single phrase: "That which is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor." He counseled, "Be among the disciples of Aharon, loving peace and pursuing peace, loving God's creatures, and bringing them close to the Torah." And, upon seeing a skull floating in the water, he observed, "Because you drowned others they drowned you; and those that drowned you will eventually be drowned."

Just Foreign Policy, an organization of which I was previously unaware, but whose board includes some folks I very much respect, is collecting signatures on a letter (see text below) to President Bush from American Jews calling for a ceasefire in Lebanon. As Robert Weissman notes, "hard-line elements [within the American Jewish community] have been far better organized -- far more effective at shaping the political debate and influencing policy. This places an extra obligation on pro-peace and justice American Jews to speak out, and to work to instill a measure of balance in U.S. Middle East policy."

This letter is in the best spirit of Hillel's teachings. We must love and pursue peace. We must treat our neighbors as we would have them treat us. We must stop the cycle of killing. We must do so for our own sake and for the sake of everyone in the world. And we must do it now.

(Thanks to Uncle $cam and Moon of Alabama for the tip.)

N.B. Image cropped to remove annoying promotional material.

(Image adapted from Spanish Civil War poster.)

A letter recently leaked by a very senior civil servant, John Sawer, Political Director of the British Foreign Office, blows the whistle on the Bliar regime's plans for manipulating the UN Security Council nations into paving the way for a war against Iran. The entire, macabre staging of events via the IAEA and the UNSC is, as a Russian diplomat described it in Geneva, déja vu.

The letter Sawer has leaked reveals the intentions of the Foreign Office over the next few weeks to persuade both Russia and China on the need to attack Iran. To achieve this it would be necessary to coordinate a strategy involving the US, France and Germany to obtain UN approval for such an attack.

The saga of the four Christian peace activists taken hostage by the Iraqi Resistance several months ago, one of whom was killed by the captors, and three of whom were recently “freed” by “coalition” forces under highly suspicious and mysterious circumstances, is a study in the interconnections and the complicity between imperialist propaganda and media distortions.

The media expect the former captives to be grateful to the “coalition” forces. What, exactly, are they to be grateful for? Are they supposed to be grateful to the ultimate causes and creators of their suffering, not to speak of the suffering of millions of Iraqis?

The media have offered a false paradox: Opponents of war have been freed by soldiers. But there is no paradox here. As long as there are wars, there will be active opponents of war, who themselves are more likely than the average non-participant to become a victim of war. Hence providing an opportunity for the warmongers to “rescue” them and try to justify the unjustifiable. Had there been no war on Iraq, would any of this have happened?

Mr. Rumsfeld has put the Pentagon at the mercy of his ego, his cold warrior's view of the world and his unrealistic confidence in technology to replace manpower. As a result, the Army finds itself severely undermanned — cut to 10 active divisions but asked by the administration to support a foreign policy that requires at least 12 or 14.

Did Israel plan and carry out the bombing of the Askari (Al-Askariya) Mosque in the city of Samarra, possibly through local agents in Iraq? The bombing was reminiscent of the destruction wrought in 1984 on Sikhism's holiest shrine, the Golden Temple, in the city of Amritsar by orders from Indira Gandhi (who paid for it with her life less than five months later).

Yes, I know, the appearances are different. Amritsar's Golden Temple was destroyed by regular (foreign/Indian occupation) armed forces, whereas the Askari Mosque has been destroyed by "terrorists." Yet, who are these "terrorists"?

I think a strong circumstantial case can be constructed for Israeli involvement in the bombing of the Askari Mosque.

I would rule out Al Qaeda involvement. Contrary to the White House generated propaganda that has been pounded into people's brains for the last five years, Al Qaeda's targets are not selected at random. Rather, they have included two types of targets, and only two types: (1) American interests, and (2) what I would call "American mercenaries." By "American mercenaries" I mean anyone who works for US interests, whether directly or indirectly. This includes, for instance, all collaborators in Iraq, such as Iraqi police forces and their recruits, Iraqi armed forces and their recruits, and so on, not to speak of members of the Iraqi "government."  (Cont'd)  http://alse.blogspot.com

You come down, one morning, and switch on the tv set.

While preparing the coffee you hear the voice of the newscaster announce the breaking news that next March George Bush is planning to conduct an aerial assault against Iran using both conventional and nuclear weapons.

"Nuclear weapons? Did I hear that right?" you say to yourself, spilling the cofee on the carpet as you rush from the kitchen to the tv lounge.

"It is estimated that the resulting deaths among the population," continues the poker-faced announcer, "will be somewhere between a few hundred to ten thousand or more."

For reasons of possible copyright infringement, we'll leave this meeting of IA, but it continues here.

War Against Conservativism

Let us see then if we cannot in fact eff the ineffable ~ Douglas Adams RIP

Disreputable Lazy Aliens

THE PRINCE OF THE COVENANT…

The U.S.-Israel Strategic Alliance–Part IV

 

By

In the last 24 hours the BBC and Channel 4 News (UK) have been doing their bit to ratchet-up the current anti-Iranian propaganda war. And the quisling, Bliar, has kept his Washington handlers happy by adding his own ("no measures barred") threats to Teheran.

Were it not for the fact that what Bliar is actually doing is to add a 'diplomatic' voice in support of the Bush/Cheney thugs who actively advocate a pre-emptive attack on Iran using nuclear weapons his actions would be no more than those of a discredited right-wing plant of a politician with so much blood on his hands that a little more wouldn't worry him overmuch.