Sunday, October 08, 2006

Hard Rain Journal 10-8-06: Has Far Is It From Pittsburgh to Pakistan?

Hard Rain Journal 10-8-06: Has Far Is It From Pittsburgh to Pakistan?

By Richard Power



Has the US electorate finally had enough of this cabal and its designs for an alternate USA run by corporatists and theocrats? Yes. Will the votes be counted accurately? They better be.

Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, in town for a fund-raiser for Sen. Rick Santorum, had a close encounter with a large group of anti-Republican protesters as he was making his way to the Duquesne Club, downtown....Protesters said Gov. Bush blew them a kiss, acknowledging the crowd of about 30 chanting pickets that was made up of United Steelworkers and members of Uprise Counter Recruitment, a tour traveling through 22 cities to support anti-war efforts. The protesters came closer. "Jeb, go home," they shouted. Mr. Bush, accompanied by a security guard and a female aide, made a slow retreat toward the T-station at Wood Street....Once in the subway station, Mr. Bush scurried to the escalators and descended to the mezzanine level....By now, Mr. Bush was cornered. He was surrounded by signs that said "Pittsburgh is a Santorum Free Zone," "Honk if you're sick of Rick," and a crowd growing increasingly louder, according to Mr. Vandenburgh. "We don't want you here," protesters chanted....About 75 protesters remained on the street...the crowd was asked repeatedly to disperse....a Port Authority canine unit was called in to help with crowd control. Two officers used their tasers to stun two protesters..."It was a very tense situation. They were very close to the governor and shouting on top of him." As a precaution, the governor was ushered into a T-station supply closet and stayed there until the crowd left. Ervin Dyer, Jeb Bush gets rude welcome, Pittsburgh Post-Gazettte, 7-7-06

Will the Elliot Ness factor bleed the corruptocrats even further before election day? Yes. Will other names be added to the burgeoning list of those indicted, convicted or under investigation? Possibly. Will the US mainstream news media stop pouring water on this fire? No.

Susan Ralston, Karl Rove’s key aide in the White House, submitted her resignation today “in the wake of congressional report that listed hundreds of contacts between disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff and the White House.” A recent House Government Reform Committee report highlighted her role in the Abramoff corruption network: [The report] singled out Ralston — Rove’s assistant and Abramoff’s former employee — who was lobbied 69 times, the most contacts with any individual named in the report. She also received numerous tickets to concerts and sporting events. “Her role in brokering requests to Rove from her former boss raises questions … about some of her activities,” the release said....[Rep.] Waxman [D-CA] issued a statement, stating: It looks like the White House is trying to make Susan Ralston the scapegoat. … It is ludicrous for the White House to say it considers the review of Committee report “complete” when it has not provided answers to any of the most important questions involving Mr. Mehlman and other senior White House officials. Key Rove Aide Resigns From White House Over Abramoff Scandal, Think Progress, 10-6-06

Will the USA shake off its hardening fascist yoke or will it sink further into the dysfunctional, the duplicitous and the dangerous? Will the USA become more like Pakistan? Although it is capable of developing and deploying its own nuclear arsenal, Pakistan cannot (or will not) provide housing and other basic services for its tens of thousands of earthquake survivors. Although Pakistan boasts that it is a "key ally" in the "Global War on Terrorism" (GWOT), its intelligence services are rife with Al Qaeda sympathizers, its madrassahs are stoked with hate, and its tribal lands have become a government-endorsed sanctuary for Osama Bin Laden.

Here is a news update from Pakistan and Kashmir. It should be of profound significance to you if you are living in the USA, because it could be a glimpse into your future (if you doubt me, just ask the people of New Orleans):

Of those who survived last year's catastrophic earthquake, it is the people of Balakot district in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) that are least prepared to face another Himalayan winter without adequate shelter. It took until April for the government to announce that Balakot will need to be entirely relocated. That announcement stunned the 30,000-odd residents of Balakot, many of whom had already begun rebuilding their homes and shops levelled by the Oct. 8 temblor, which claimed 73,000 lives, maimed 70,000 and left 3.8 million homeless….. For many, the greatest anxiety seems to be finding shelter to brave the harsh winter that is just around the corner. Local people are unsure about when exactly they will be relocated, and what do they do in the interim. They do not even know the size of the plots they will be getting. Zofeen Ebrahim, Quake Victims Face Another Winter, Unprotected, Inter Press Service, 10-7-06

Samina can still bring herself to smile, but she cannot hide the pain that is still there one year after the earthquake that ripped through Pakistan's remote North West Frontier Province and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Absent-mindedly tracing the pattern of dark henna on her hand, this twenty-something young widow's thoughts are far away.
Amjad Gulzar, emergency coordinator with Caritas Pakistan, said the situation was particularly difficult for women in the early months after the earthquake…Women typically make up 75% of the people living in camps for those displaced by disasters or conflict. Women usually take on caring for orphans, the elderly and the disabled, in addition to caring for the survivors in their own families, and thus cannot generate any of their own income. The men will often migrate to other places to find work, but widows won't see any money being sent home...."We are involving women in training for income-generating activities," said Mr. Gulzar. "Yes, at first, the local people and the men resisted the idea, but slowly we see those attitudes change."…Many of the people living in temporary camps have one very urgent need: new tents.
Zofeen T. Ebrahim, Victims in the Aftermath of Disaster: Women, Caritas Internationalis, 10-6-06

Richard Power is the founder of GS(3) Intelligence and http://www.wordsofpower.net. His work focuses on the inter-related issues of security, sustainability and spirit, and how to overcome the challenges of terrorism, cyber crime, global warming, health emergencies, natural disasters, etc. You can reach him via e-mail: richardpower@wordsofpower.net. For more information, go to www.wordsofpower.net

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