Nazis: They Don't Always Wear Brown Shirts

Tweet "The silly uniforms and salutes of the Nazi's on Washington's Capitol steps marked them as absurd spectacles; uniformed Nazis act like rodeo clowns in the current crisis, drawing our attention (as they must) and bringing a community's focus of scorn wherever they appear. The inevitable shortcomings of markets to meet human needs continues to make fascism alluring to some, and while goose-stepping uniformed Nazi's easily draw crowds of outraged protestors, their better dressed allies embracing corporate solutions to capitalism's problems make headway."

Hoda My Friend['s] Building Is Hit Again--From Gaza, With Love

Tweet "Big explosion,very big and so loud, I'm fully awake , so sondos (my daughter) ,we hardly can see any thing it is very dark , the drone hit the ministry of interior building again with 1 missile ,that completely destroyed the building , as I hear the news from the local radio, it is very dark , I contacted Hoda,my friend,she lives next to the building ,to find her hysterically screaming , shouting in pain,trapped under her broken windows, all the windows,of her flat broke ,the fumes fill the place , she is waiting for the emergency team to evacuate her,I can hear the hysterical sounds of her neibours,over the phone ,I feel helpless, don't know what to do,for my friend , I phoned again to offer help , she told me that she is ok , I know she is not , 5 of her neiboughers were injured , some of them the terrified kids I mentioned in one of my previous blogs ,I visited Hoda 4 hours ago , we both were tense , a third friend asked us to talk about anything but not politics ,or what is going on in the Palestinian scene ,we tried to , but couldn't , I left her , walked home , only 5 minute from my place"

PI Editorial Board Has A "Duh" Moment

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"There may come a time when we in America must accept that some Iraqis believed they were fighting for their country against foreign invaders."

"Its ruthless leader notwithstanding, Iraq was a sovereign nation before it was invaded and occupied by a U.S.-led coalition of nations."

Homeless Vets--200,000

Tweet "In New York, the family ended up in a Bronx shelter "with people who were just out of prison, and with roaches," Noel said. "I'm a young black man from the ghetto, but this was culture shock. This is not what I fought for, what I almost died for. This is not what I was supposed to come home to."

"There are about 200,000 homeless vets in the United States, according to government figures. About 10 percent are from either the 1991 Gulf War or the current one, and about 40 percent are Vietnam veterans."

Report from Gaza--July 3, 2006

Tweet 5. 30,000 children suffer from malnutrition. This number will
increase as diarrhea spreads. There is a limited supply of good clean
water and high rates of food contamination; diarrhea is expected to
rise by 15% as an outcome of lack of clean water and good hygiene.

6. Premature babies on life support machines are awaiting death
sentences and the number of deaths for preterm deliveries will
increase as well.

7. Children are lacking proper sleep and proper recreation. They are
feeling insecure all the time and have to live with the non-stop
sonic booming and artillery shelling. A number of those children will
continue to suffer from different psychological problems or drawbacks.

(Source: Palestinian Statistics Bureau)

This is from a Gaza physician's blog, From Gaza with Love

12,000 Children Will Starve To Death Today

Tweet "According to a United Nations report, “every seven seconds a child dies from starvation.” About 12,000 per day.

"The press would need several special editions or have to add 60 more pages to each edition in order to superficially report the names, which they have; their faces, which are real; and the agonized and despairing families of those 12,000 cadavers who have no mourners nor headlines, no history, for whom no one organizes anniversary masses or tributes. These 12,000 little ones dead each day at the hands of a rotten economic order sold to us as progress, whose laws protect the solidity of its immune building, and which terrorizes via its monetary gangs the deposed government of life."

From Granma--Cuba, LeftI on the News. Eli has more to say on the subject.

Anybody Know Anything About the Poor People's Working Party?

Tweet "The working people of the United States live our lives continually with little or no voice. Only another political party by us, for us, and dedicated to us can help us. We do not except the lesser of two evils argument and will not support Democrats and "Greens" who make pretenses they are "on our side." We do not even accept that Democrats or Greens are in fact the lesser evil. That is why a new movement is needed. A progressive worker's movement without elitism and without pretense. The foundation of Poor People's Working Party is the start of that movement."

The French Left: Vive La Resistance--Selling Out = Death

Tweet "Compare this to the states, where a peace movement rapidly developed, combining students, some unions, peace groups, and far left groups into the fastest growing peace movement in American history. These groups came together with the one common objective of stopping the war in Iraq, though there were a variety of other planks offered in addition. The Democrats, a majority of which supported the war at the time, threw out the bait of: "First let's get Bush out of office, and then we'll begin to discuss withdrawal after we solidify our troop presence in Iraq." Most of the left bit the bait, and the peace movement breathed its last breath. It's been dormant since."

Anti-War Activists Arrested At Taste Of Chicago

Tweet Activists Were Leafleting Near Military Recruitment Booth

(CBS) CHICAGO Anti-war activists were competing with deep dish pizza and fried catfish at the Taste of Chicago in Grant Park this weekend.

Six people were arrested while trying to pass out leaflets on Sunday near military recruiters.

The flyers were entitled, “Bitter Taste of the Military.”

The activists were part of multiple peace organizations, including Code Pink, the Chicago Coalition Against War and Racism, and the American Friends Service Committee’s Chicago Committee Opposed to the Militarization of Youth and Contra Antimilitaricion, according to a news release.

The activists arrested included one senior citizen and one juvenile. Police arrested them when they refused to leave.

(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

Found on Antiwar.com

The U.S. Role in Palestine--Rahul Mahajan

Tweet "By starving the government of needed funds and then giving some to NGOs and organizations over which it hoped to have greater influence, under the guise of “humanitarian aid,” the Bush administration planned to undermine Palestinian support for its elected government. According to an International Crisis Group report, it even considered a wholesale shutdown of all social services provided by the government, including education and health care, and replacement of them by NGO-provided services. Only when told by people who actually know something about the situation on the ground, like Quartet Special Envoy James Wolfensohn, that this was absolutely impossible, did they back off."

"Since January, we have seen the particularly shocking spectacle of the entire world collaborating in the openly declared destruction of a democratically elected government at the behest of the United States and Israel. It cloaked itself transparently in the language of the “war on terrorism,” even at a time when Hamas was not carrying out attacks and indicating willingness for serious negotiations with Israel, and was implemented with shocking speed, even though the collateral damage would be the Palestinian people."

"Perhaps Israel’s “Summer Rains” will wash away that cloak and someone somewhere will stand up for democracy once again."

What Mike Whitney Says Here About Israel/Palestine Is Mirror of U.S./Iraq

Tweet "The West Bank and Gaza are giant concentration camps. Elections create the unfortunate illusion of democracy and normality. It is a cynical public relations hoax intended to assuage the world’s conscience and put people to sleep."

"By arresting government officials, we can see that Palestinian democracy only exists when it suits Israel’s interests. It is a complete sham."

"The reality of occupation is evident by the facts on the ground and in the photos now appearing from Gaza of bombed-out buildings, traumatized children, bereaved parents and utter hopelessness."

"Israel has robbed the Palestinian people of their freedom. The elections were a fraud. The issue continues to be occupation, and occupation alone."

Imaginings About a Jr. War Criminal--Chris Floyd on Rape/Murders

Tweet "The only thing now is to get a good military lawyer. The ones they got working for those Gitmo goobers seem like top-notch shysters – they just beat Bush at the Supreme Court, so try to get one of them. Then just hunker down. If you can string it out long enough, Bush's media brigades can start working the refs for you, muddying the waters, smearing your accusers, providing the proper context, invoking 9/11. (And speaking of 9/11, isn't that what it's really all about? Isn't that what you were really doing when you raped that girl and shot her in the head and burned her body and killed her family – defending our country from those who attacked us on that tragic day? What you did was justice, damn it, not a crime! Just like the whole war.) Meanwhile, Rummy will pull the insider strings to water things down to a wrist-slap somewhere along the line – after the elections. So don't sweat it, brother. You and your pals might be home free yet."

They have now charged a 21-year old ex-soldier (so too late for the above strategy, says Chris Floyd)

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From Ward Sutter in The Village Voice

Israel "No Longer Distinguishable from a Terror Organization"

Tweet A black flag hangs over the "rolling" operation in Gaza. The more the operation "rolls," the darker the flag becomes. The "summer rains" we are showering on Gaza are not only pointless, but are first and foremost blatantly illegitimate. It is not legitimate to cut off 750,000 people from electricity. It is not legitimate to call on 20,000 people to run from their homes and turn their towns into ghost towns. It is not legitimate to penetrate Syria's airspace. It is not legitimate to kidnap half a government and a quarter of a parliament.

A state that takes such steps is no longer distinguishable from a terror organization. The harsher the steps, the more monstrous and stupid they become, the more the moral underpinnings for them are removed and the stronger the impression that the Israeli government has lost its nerve. Now one must hope that the weekend lull, whether initiated by Egypt or the prime minister, and in any case to the dismay of Channel 2's Roni Daniel and the IDF, will lead to a radical change.

Gideon Levy in Haaretz

Everything must be done to win Gilad Shalit's release. What we are doing now in Gaza has nothing to do with freeing him. It is a widescale act of vengeance, the kind that the IDF and Shin Bet have wanted to conduct for some time, mostly motivated by the deep frustration that the army commanders feel about their impotence against the Qassams and the daring Palestinian guerilla raid. There's a huge gap between the army unleashing its frustration and a clever and legitimate operation to free the kidnapped soldier.

Palestinians Prepare for Peace While Israel Practices War

Tweet "Palestinians can not be expected to become “good victims” and to remain silent or inactive in the face of these provocations and the grave breaches of international law. Since 1967 Palestinians have called for an immediate end to this belligerent occupation and the comprehensive implementation of international humanitarian law."

"By continuing to support Israel the EU/USA are creating an environment conducive to the rule of jungle not the rule of law. They have brought the rules of Bin Laden – not the rules of international humanitarian law. Thus, anyone who qualifies as a protected person under international humanitarian law is at a serious risk in the current environment."

From Electronic Intifada

Black Commentator: We are Targetted--(And Don't Expect the Dems to Protect Us)

Tweet "The Republicans, who are our worst enemies, the White Man’s Party, are playing to the white electorate. The Democrats are not playing to their base – the Black Democratic vote – and that will be their death knell."

Lying Right to the Face of Grieving Parents

Tweet "I really want this story to come out; I want people to know what happened to my son," Nadia said. "There is no doubt to me that this is still happening to soldiers today, but our chain of command is awfully reckless; they don't seem to give a damn about what's happening to soldiers."

From Iraqwar.mirror

[Un]Patriot Act Strikes Again--Sponsored Spanish Tourist Ejected

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FROM SPECIAL EDITORIAL TO SEATTLE TIMES:

"It was a beautiful Saturday. My family was looking forward to meeting Javier Carrera, the son of the Spanish family that will be hosting our daughter this school year. Javier landed in Seattle Thursday night. But he was the wrong color and the wrong age to be allowed into the U.S. as a tourist, because of the Patriot Act."

"Javier Carrera is 22 years old and he speaks very little English. On his arrival in Seattle, he was immediately pulled out by the Customs police and asked his intentions. When he said vacation, he was pulled aside for intense questioning."

"Javier Carrera, tourist, was interrogated, thrown in a detention center, and sent back to Spain the following morning. The Shoreline family that had invited him to stay for the summer was never even allowed to see him."

Army Fails Soldiers Who Lost Limbs in War

Tweet "And that was it. There was no Plan C. For Stockwell, there was no leg and socket that would allow her to stride quickly and pain-free, that didn’t leave raw, angry marks on her pale thigh. For Halfaker, there was no arm that was strong and nimble and light enough that she could slip it under a silk blouse. Stockwell persisted, learning to walk in her new mechanical leg, though with a noticeable limp. She adapted. Halfaker rebelled, left her arm in a heap in her room. She learned to wash, dress, drive, and run with one arm, her empty sleeve dangling by her side. She adapted too."

OUT OF IRAQ NOW!

Some Iraqi Families Reduced to Trading Children for Food

Tweet "One Baghdad family interviewed by IRIN said that unemployment and poverty had pushed them to sell their child in order to support the rest of the family. "It's hard to watch your children without anything to eat," said Abu Karam, a father of nine who sold one of his children for US$60,000. "We sold our child to a foreign family because they paid very well, and he'll have a good life there. In the meantime, the other children will have some thing to eat."

"UNICEF has begun discussions with the ministries of labour and social affairs to address the issue. "The protracted and escalating civil unrest in Iraq is having an extremely adverse impact on Iraqi civilians," said UNICEF-Iraq Child Protection Officer Patrizia Di Giovanni. "On a daily basis, Iraqi children are directly and indirectly affected by ongoing violence."

END THE OCCUPATION OF IRAQ!