Monday, December 31, 2007

Hard Rain Journal: Bhutto, Bin Laden, 9/11, What Should Have Been Uttered From the Well of the US Senate Several Years Ago, & What Must Be Done Now

Benazir Bhutto in Karachi (AFP Photo/Amir Qureshi
Copyright AFP/Corbis)


The Clinton administration had entered into negotiations to get the Taliban to hand bin Laden over to a third country to face justice. The Taliban were totally uncooperative ... Pakistan, the nation most closely supportive of the Taliban, was also unhelpful. In a meeting with Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif in December 1998, Clinton upbraided him for not arranging to hand bin Laden over ... in March 2000 in Pakistan, [Clinton] pressed Musharraf [who had seized power in a coup in October 1999] to use his influence on the Taliban to apprehend bin Laden. "I will do as much as I can," Musharraf said -- and did nothing. Sidney Blumenthal, The Clinton Wars, Plume, 2003, p. 660

Hard Rain Journal: Bhutto, Bin Laden, 9/11, What Should Have Been Uttered From the Well of the US Senate Several Years Ago, & What Must Be Done Now

By Richard Power


In a November 2007 interview with David Frost, only a few weeks before she was assassinated, Benazir Bhutto made a very disturbing remark, she referred to Omar Sheik, as “the man who murdered Bin Laden.” (Scroll down to view the You Tube video clip.)

The seemingly tangential comment went unchallenged by Frost (do not be so sure that he “missed it”); and at first, it was mostly ignored in the public discourse.

But in the aftermath of the hit on Bhutto, as Musharraf’s regime brazenly attempts to cover-up the circumstances of her death, Benazir’s seemingly off-hand remark is getting intense scrutiny in the only venues left to freethinkers in the USA, i.e., the blogosphere and progressive talk radio. (Kudos to Mike Malloy and Thom Hartmann for getting out on the air waves.)

What was Benazir -- intelligent, articulate and courageous -- trying to tell us?

Bhutto's comment has also rekindled fascination with Egyptian and Pakistani newspaper articles proclaiming the death of Bin Laden several years ago(albeit under different circumstances than those eluded to by Bhutto).

Is Bin Laden alive or dead?

We (that is, you and I) don't know beyond a shadow of a doubt.

The timely tapes purportedly received “from Bin Laden” do not establish that he is truly still alive, anymore than they reveal his whereabouts if he is. Video and audio can be (and is) manipulated expertly.

That is why I often say, “Bring me the Head of Osama Bin Laden.” (See, for example, Words of Power #15: Bring Me the Head of Osama, Nero Fiddles while the Planet Burns, Religion as the Crystal Meth of the People, & The Democrats' Plan and Hard Rain Journal 6-19-07: Bring Me the Head of Osama Bin Laden, or Shut Up & Release the CIA Inspector General's Post 9/11 Report.)

I choose my words carefully.

Yes, in one sense I am making a darkly humorous reference to Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia, a strange and wonderful film by the great Sam Peckinpaugh; but in another way, in a deadly serious way, I mean literally “bring us the head,” i.e., give us irrefutable forensic evidence.

Do not be distracted by the mystery.

It does not matter.

What matters is that the Bush-Cheney national insecurity team has failed you either way.

If Bin Laden is dead, or even if it is likely that Bin Laden is dead; then the Bush-Cheney regime has intentionally misled you both for domestic political advantage and to further its military adventures in the Middle East and Central Asia.

If Bin Laden is alive, than it has allowed him to escape death or capture on numerous, documented occasions.

I adhere to the story line that Bin Laden is alive, because it is the story line that the Bush-Cheney national insecurity team itself perpetuates, and at every turn I throw it in their face -- if Bin Laden is alive and free, than it is a condemnation of Bush-Cheney’s will and intention in the so-called “war on terror.”

It is similar to the question of what really happened on 9/11.

I do not allow myself to indulge in speculation about what happened to Building 7, what it was that hit the Pentagon, etc. Do not misunderstand me, I acknowledge that there are many serious unanswered questions about that dreadful day. The 9/11 Commission’s final report was a piece of wet white toast. But, again, that is not the point.

But do not be distracted by the mystery.

We already know enough about 9/11 to act.

There were numerous and repeated attempts to warn Bush and he did nothing.

Meanwhile, Cheney was making sure that all the good that had been done leading up to the foiling of the Millennium Plot under Clinton-Gore (e.g., the principles meetings, the crisis footing, etc.) got undone.

(All of this is a matter of public record. Refer to Richard Clarke’s US Senate testimony, the books of Woodward and Tenet, the 8-6-01 PDB itself, etc.)

All we need to know about 9/11 is that Bush had numerous, serious, high-level warnings delivered to his face and to the face of Condi Rice, his national security advisor, and NOTHING was done to respond to them.

That is enough to discredit Bush, Cheney, Rice and the rest of their “team” forever; or at least, it should be. Unfortunately, you are reading this, once again, in the blogosphere; it should have been uttered on the floor of the US Senate long ago.

Is Bin Laden dead or alive?

It doesn’t matter.

Either Bush-Cheney have been lying to you, or they allowed Bin Laden to escape on numerous occasion, once as recently as several months ago.

Was 9/11 “an inside job”?

The question itself is a distraction.

We know enough.

They did nothing to stop it. Nothing.

Likewise, in regard to the assassination of Benazir Bhutto -- do not be distracted.

We already know enough.

We know that Bhutto told a friend that if she died it would be Musharraf's fault:

In an e-mail sent to a confidant in the US two months ago, assassinated Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto said she would hold the country's current leader Pervez Musharraf "responsible" because his government did not do enough to provide for her security.

We have reports that Bhutto was about to disclose evidence that the Musharraf regime was going to fix the election:

The day she was assassinated last Thursday, Benazir Bhutto had planned to reveal new evidence alleging the involvement of Pakistan's intelligence agencies in rigging the country's upcoming elections ... Bhutto had been due to meet U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., and Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., to hand over a report charging that the military Inter-Services Intelligence agency was planning to fix the polls in the favor of President Pervez Musharraf. McClatchy Newspapers, 12-31-07

We have reports that the Pakistani police melted into the crowd at the crucial moment:

Police abandoned their security posts shortly before Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto's assassination Thursday, according to a journalist present at the time, and unanswerable questions remain about the cause of her death, because an autopsy was never performed. Nick Juliano, Raw Story, 12-28-07

We have reports that the crime scene was not preserved:

According to the reporters, "the scene of the attack also was watered down with a high-pressure hose within an hour, washing away evidence." John Byrne, Raw Story, 12-29-07

We have reports that the Rawalpindi police chief prevented an autopsy:

The police chief of the Pakistani city of Rawalpindi prevented doctors from performing an autopsy on the corpse of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto, according to a lawyer on the hospital's board. Raw Story, 12-31-07

The intrepid Robert Fisk goes for the jugular:

It doesn’t, after all, take much to comprehend that the hated elections looming over Musharraf would probably be postponed indefinitely if his principal political opponent happened to be liquidated before polling day. ...
Question: Who forced Benazir Bhutto to stay in London and tried to prevent her return to Pakistan? Answer: General Musharraf.
Question: Who ordered the arrest of thousands of Benazir’s supporters this month? Answer: General Musharraf.
Question: Who placed Benazir under temporary house arrest this month? Answer: General Musharraf.
Question: Who declared martial law this month? Answer General Musharraf.
Question: who killed Benazir Bhutto?
Er. Yes. Well quite.
You see the problem? Yesterday, our television warriors informed us the PPP members shouting that Musharraf was a “murderer” were complaining he had not provided sufficient security for Benazir. Wrong. They were shouting this because they believe he killed her.
Robert Fisk, They Don’t Blame Al-Qa’ida. They Blame Musharraf, Independent/UK, 12-29-07

We know enough about the slaughter of the innocents on 9/11, we know enough about the Bush-Cheney regime, we know enough about the assasination of Benazir Bhutto, we know enough about the Musharraf regime, and we know enough about why we still do not have the head of Osama bin Laden.

We know that Musharraf, Bush-Cheney's "strong ally" in the "war on terror," is a joke, a cruel joke, and that joke is on the USA.

There is nothing much you and I can do about this cruel joke that is Musharraf's Pakistan, except to support India militarily, and to see to it that the comedian responsible for this cruel joke is either removed from office via constitutional means before the end of his term (increasingly unlikely) or, at the very least, that he gets hounded -- like Pinochet -- throughout his retirement, until he is compelled to answer to charges (quite plausible).

See also Osama Bin Laden, the Terrorist, is Safe in Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto, the Democrat, was Not; Musharraf Truly is Bush-Cheney's "Strong Ally"

For an archive of Words of Power posts on 9/11, Terrorism, etc., click here.



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Hard Rain Late Night: Two Powerful Raps from MIA -- Paper Planes & Hussel (Biddinghuizen Netherlands, 8-18-07)

Hard Rain Late Night: Two Powerful Raps from MIA -- Paper Planes & Hussel (Biddinghuizen Netherlands, 8-18-07)





Click here for Hard Rain Late Night Music Video -- Archive

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Hard Rain Journal: The Greatest Threat -- Not Al Qaeda or Even Greenhouse Gases ...

George Orwell, author of 1984 and Animal Farm, was also a BBC journalist


There is a reason that journalism is the sole profession explicitly protected in the U.S. Constitution. As a check and balance on government, it is essential to the functioning of a democratic society. As Thomas Jefferson famously stated, "Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter." ... Amy Goodman, The FCC's Christmas Gift to Big Media, Truthdig, 12-24-07

Hard Rain Journal: The Greatest Threat -- Not Al Qaeda or Even Greenhouse Gases ...

By Richard Power


The greatest threat to the future of the USA does not come from terrorists, or global warming, or electronic voting machines, or globalization, or the national debt, or nuclear proliferation, or the health care crisis, or the collapse of vital infrastructure.

The greatest threat to the future of the USA comes from our own mainstream news media.

No, I am not indulging in hyperbole.

The US mainstream news media, monopolized as it is by corporate interests, has failed to live up to its Constitutional obligations. It has been craven and complicit in the purveying of denial and disinformation about global warming and flat-out lies about the war IN, OF, BY and FOR terror.

Indeed, in some ways, we do not have a news media controlled by government, we have a government controlled by the news media.

I call it the greatest threat because over the past few decades, lacking a mass news media that delivers nutrient-rich content, our citizenry has become informationally malnourished; and consequently, our citizenry has lost the sharpness of mind and the strength of will to overcome all the other threats mentioned (any one which could bring this nation to its knees).

If the US mainstream news media had lived up to its obligation to pursue the truth and deliver it, with continuity and astute aggregation, then Bush, Cheney, Rice, Rumsfeld, Rove, Gonzalez, Libby would be struggling to defend themselves in court instead of negotiating book deals or building libraries.

Here are excerpts from three important stories, with links to the full texts:

On Dec. 18, the five commissioners of the Federal Communications Commission met in Washington, D.C., and, by a 3 to 2 vote, passed new regulations that would allow more media consolidation. This, despite the U.S. public’s increasing concern over the nation’s media being controlled by a few giant corporations. ...
It was Bush-appointed FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, now just 41 years old, who rammed through the rule changes. He has served President Bush well. As deputy general counsel for the Bush-Cheney campaign in 2000, he was active during the Florida recount. Before that he worked for Kenneth Starr at the Office of Independent Counsel during the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Rumor has it that he may run for governor of his native North Carolina. His wife, Cathie Martin, was a spokeswoman for Vice President Dick Cheney in the midst of the scandal around the outing of CIA operative Valerie Plame. She now works on Bush’s communications staff. ...
Amy Goodman, The FCC's Christmas Gift to Big Media, Truthdig, 12-24-07

Conservative media mogul Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. announced of late the sale of 8 of its US television stations to a private equity firm -- Oak Hill Partners -- for an estimated $1.1 billion dollars that is expected to close sometime in 2008. ...
Oak Hill Partners lead investor Robert M. Bass, a longtime associate of George W. Bush, is also the founder of Ft. Worth, Texas-based Bass Brothers Enterprises. ...
Robert Bass, along with his brothers Lee, Ed, and Sid, from a wealthy Texas oil family, all attended Yale University where Ed was a classmate and friend of George W. Bush. ... Robert Bass is also the founder and chairman of Aerion Corporation, which has been the recipient of several very lucrative DARPA contracts for the development of supersonic laminar flow wing studies, along with research and test flights.
Diane Sweet, Bush associates still consolidating their hold on US media, Raw Story, 12-26-07

The League of Conservation Voters (LCV) today launched a campaign publicizing the fact that the top five TV political journalists have dodged the issue of global warming this year:
[I]n the more than 120 interviews and debates with the [presidential] candidates in 2007, the five political show hosts collectively have asked 2,275 questions. Of those questions, these journalists have only uttered the words “global warming” or “climate change” three times. More over, only 24 of these questions touched even remotely on the issue of global climate change. ...
– NBC’s Tim Russert: 664 questions, 0 mentioned global warming
– CNN’s Wolf Blitzer: 311 questions, 1 mentioned global warming
– ABC’s George Stephanopoulos: 661 questions, 0 mentioned global warming
– CBS’s Bob Scheiffer: 212 questions, 0 mentioned global warming
– Fox’s Chris Wallace: 427 questions, 2 mentioned global warming
Think Progress, 12-19-07

I urge you to take these two meaningful actions --

1. Contact your Senators and your Representatives, and demand that they trump Martin's brazen efforts on behalf of further media consolidation.

2. Go to LCV’s web site and sign their petition calling on political talk show hosts to 1) publicly acknowledge that global warming is an urgent threat, and 2) make the issue a priority in their interviews with all candidates. To sign, click here.

For Words of Power's archive of posts on Corporate News Media Complicity, Power of Alternative Media, Propaganda & Freedom, click here.

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Friday, December 28, 2007

Left-Handed Security: Overcoming Fear, Greed & Ignorance in This Era of Global Crisis -- Available Now!

Left-Handed Security: Overcoming Fear, Greed & Ignorance in This Era of Global Crisis By Richard Power (978-1-4357-0658-3)



Left-Handed Security: Overcoming Fear, Greed & Ignorance in This Era of Global Crisis Available Now!

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

I launched Words of Power in 2005 to highlight the interdependence of security, sustainability, and spirituality in the 21st Century and to influence public discourse on these vital issues.

In the course of the last two years, I have posted hundreds of Crisis Updates and Hard Rain Journal entries.

Words of Power has become a force in the marketplace of ideas.

My latest book, Left-Handed Security: Overcoming Fear, Greed & Ignorance in This Era of Global Crisis (978-1-4357-0658-3) is an effort to further articulate this new vision of interdependent security and sustainability rooted in an inclusive, planetary spirituality and to underscore the urgency of acting upon it.

The planet as a whole and the USA, in particular, is entering a do or die period.

The deadlines loom before us:

Will the USA choose reason or madness in 2008?

Will UN peacekeepers halt the genocide in Darfur?

Will the governments of the world achieve a meaningful accord on global warming by 2009, or stumble again as in Kyoto and Bali?

Will the UN Millennium Development Goals be achieved by 2015?

Will humanity rise to the challenges of overpopulation, water scarcity, and other sustainability issues?

In the 21st Century, we face an era of unprecedented risk convergence and global crisis.

But the greatest threat to humankind, and to the planet itself, is not global warming, nuclear proliferation, overpopulation, water shortages, religious fanaticism, extreme poverty, the end of peak oil, or fascism (what Mussolini aptly termed "corporatism").

The greatest threat is our own denial, woven as it is from strands of fear, greed, and ignorance.

Left-Handed Security offers an unflinching analysis of our circumstances and a bold, right-brained approach to overcoming the challenges that confront us.

Left-Handed Security is organized into sections such as "The Number One National Security Issue: Global Warming and the Sustainability Meltdown," "The Disturbing Lessons of Darfur and Burma,""Why All of Us, Especially Military, Intelligence & Security Professionals, Should Be Concerned About Human Rights," "Why All of Us, Especially Military, Intelligence & Security Professionals, Should Champion the UN Millennium Development Goals," "Spiritual Challenges of the 21st Century," and "Will the Republic Perish in the War IN, OF, BY & FOR Terror?"

Left-Handed Security is over 500 pages long, includes over 90 illustrations, and is available in paperback or downloadable .pdf versions. Click here for more information, or to purchase copies.

I have published it myself via Lulu.com to maintain complete control of the content and the framing of it.

Although it will soon be available via Amazon and Barnes and Noble, if you are interested in obtaining a copy, I encourage you to purchase it directly from Lulu.com. It is available via Lulu now, and purchasing it through Lulu best furthers my work.

Left-Handed Security is one of three books I have written over the last two years, the other two, Lost Teachings of Lama Govinda, ISBN 978-0-8356-0854-, published by Quest Books, and Secrets Stolen. Fortunes Lost: Preventing Economic Espionage & Intellectual Property Theft in the 21st Century, ISBN-13 978-1-59749-255-3, co-authored by Christopher Burgess and published by Elsevier, are available via Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

All the Best,

Richard Power

http://www.wordsofpower.net
http://words-of-power.blogspot.com

Hard Rain Late Night: Ali Akbar Khan & Swapan Chaudhuri -- Rag Brindabani Sarang; Peaceful, Heroic, Joyful Moods (Ali Akbar Khan College, 1981)

Hard Rain Late Night: Ali Akbar Khan & Swapan Chaudhuri -- Rag Brindabani Sarang; Peaceful, Heroic, Joyful Moods (Ali Akbar College 1981)



Click here for Hard Rain Late Night Music Video -- Archive

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Darfur Crisis Update: Does Cronyism Trump Conscience Even in A Case of Genocide? Why Hasn't Bush Signed SADA? Where is the Outcry?

"This mother's three children were burned alive." -- Mia Farrow's Photo Essay, Crisis in Sudan & Eastern Chad (November 2006)


Darfur Crisis Update: Darfur Crisis Update: Does Cronyism Trump Conscience Even in A Case of Genocide? Why Hasn't Bush Signed SADA? Where is the Outcry?

By Richard Power


The peace negotiations are not advancing.

The peacekeeping mission is under-staffed, inadequately equipped and behind schedule.

The inaction of the great nations has revealed the hypocrisy of their leaders' rhetoric.

Meanwhile, thanks to the tireless work of humanitarian activists like Mia Farrow, there has been meaningful action in Beltwayistan --

In mid-December, both the US Senate and the US House of Representatives passed the Sudan Divestment and Accountability Act (SADA) -- unnamiously.

SADA would authorize and provide legal protection for state and local governments to divest and would prohibit problematic companies in Sudan from receiving federal contracts.

An yet, as of this moment, it still languishes on the desk of George W. Bush.

If it is to make a difference in 2008, it must be signed in this next couple of days.

Farrow is urging those of us who want to end the genocide in Darfur to take the following two steps:

Call the White House Comment Line at 202-456-1111.

Tell the staff person who answers the phone that you are urging the President to sign the Sudan Accountability and Divestment Act and take all steps necessary to implement it.

Do not let business as usual for crony contractors, etc.m determine whether or not your government takes a stand and sends a clear message on this crime against humanity.

Of course, it is a disgrace tha the UN-AU peacekeeping mission does not have the soldiers or helipcopters it needs to get the job done; and the sad fact that it doesn't is a damning revelation about the collective conscience of the West.

But signing SADA into law now requires no more than one signature.

What is the delay?

Why isn't every US news media outlet trumpeting this action? Why isn't every Presidentual candidate demanding the bill be signed into law?

Here are brief excerpts from a news story on the status of the negotiations and the peacekeeping force and an op-ed piece on SADA, with links to the full texts:

Diplomatic wrangling dashed hopes for an end to the killing and rape in Darfur this year and a new UN-backed peacekeeping mission scheduled to start on January 1 faces an uphill struggle.
UN Darfur envoy Jan Eliasson and his African Union counterpart Salim Ahmed Salim have had scant success trying to revive and broaden a peace deal reached last year between the Khartoum government and rebel groups in the strife-torn region of western Sudan. ... But the two envoys have vowed to keep pushing for a political solution despite the fragmentation of rebel groups and the continuing violence. ...
The deployment of the force, known as UNAMID, is running several months behind schedule and its prospects of success are in peril because of a lack of equipment, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has warned.
Only a third of its eventual strength is likely to be in place on time when the mandate starts on January 1, according to its commander General Martin Luther Agwai.
The best-case scenario would see 9,000 personnel on the ground on January 1, but that will include the 6,200 AU troops already in Darfur, he said.
Agence France Press, 12-27-07

"Not on my watch."
In September 2001 President Bush scrawled these now famous words on the margins of a presidential briefing highlighting the Clinton administration's failure to respond to the genocide in Rwanda. The United States -- along with its European allies -- failed to lift a finger as more than 800,000 people died in less than 100 days.
Three years after pledging not to repeat Clinton's mistakes, President Bush declared that genocide was occurring in the Darfur region of Sudan, the first time a sitting U.S. president had labeled an ongoing conflict as genocide. ...
Considering Bush's leadership, the dire situation on the ground, and the vulnerability of the Sudanese government to economic pressure, Americans concerned about Darfur were shocked when the president publicly opposed the most robust piece of Darfur legislation to come out of Congress, the Sudan Accountability and Divestment Act.
The legislation, which was approved unanimously this month by both chambers of Congress, would authorize and provide legal protection for state and local governments to divest and would prohibit problematic companies in Sudan from receiving federal contracts.
Adam Sterling and Sam Bell, Ft. Worth Telegraph, 12-24-07

I encourage you to follow events in Darfur on Mia Farrow's site, it is the real-time journal of a humanitarian at work; the content is compelling, insightful and fiercely independent.

For a Words of Power Archive of posts on the Crisis in Darfur, click here.

Here are other sites of importance:

Dream for Darfur

Enough: The Project to End Genocide and Mass Atrocities

Genocide Intervention Network

Divest for Darfur.

Save Darfur!

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Thursday, December 27, 2007

Osama Bin Laden, the Terrorist, is Safe in Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto, the Democrat, was Not; Musharraf Truly is Bush-Cheney's "Strong Ally"

Benazir Bhutto in Karachi (AFP Photo/Amir Qureshi
Copyright AFP/Corbis)


Osama Bin Laden, the Terrorist, is Safe in Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto, the Democrat, was Not; Truly, Musharraf is Bush-Cheney's "Strong Ally" in the War IN, OF, BY & FOR Terror

By Richard Power


Osama Bin Laden is safe in Pakistan.

Benazir Bhutto was not.

Osama Bin Laden is alive and free in Pakistan.

Daniel Pearl is not.

Neither Iran nor Iraq have nuclear weapons.

But Pakistan does.

This is the poisoned fruit of Beltwayistan's decades of geopolitical folly in the Moslem world, and of the neo-con wet dreams and foolish military adventures of the last seven years in particular

I followed the story of Benazir Bhutto for many years.

She did not end up in exile because of corruption.

There is no head of state in the world, anywhere in the world, who could not be successfully stained with the broad brush of corruption.

Indeed, you cannot achieve power without exposing yourself to that charge.

In one way, she was the Don Siegelman of Pakistan; now, in another way, she has become the Robert F. Kennedy of Pakistan, we must pray she does not become the Archduke Ferdinand of the region.

She ended up in exile because she was too secular for the religious extremists and their backers in Saudi Arabia, and she was too democratic for the militarists and their backers in Beltwayistan.

She was also the first woman to rule in the modern Moslem world, and tragically, probably the last for some time.

When she returned to Pakistan a few weeks ago, I kept asking myself, "Why?"

She certainly knew she would most likely be killed.

I knew she would most likely be killed.

This morning, as I heard the news of her assassination, the answer struck me, and it came with a bitter twist of irony.

Every time you ask yourself why US political leaders will not stand up to the Bush-Cheney regime, why impeachment is off the table, why the betrayal of US secret agent Valerie Plame's covert identity goes unavenged, why those who looked the other way while 9/11 went down, then lied us into war with Iraq (and attempted to lie us into war with Iran) continue to occupy positions of power and privilege, why violations of FISA, FOIA, the Geneva Accords, the Bill of Rights, etc., have gone on unchecked, why no one is under criminal investigation for obstruction of justice in the firing of the US attorneys or the theft of elections in 2000, 2002 and 2004; remember the beautiful face, passionate heart and eloquent tongue of Benazir Bhutto, remember too Yitzhak Rabin, and Jack and Bobby Kennedy, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Omar Torrijos, and Anwar Sadat, and the answer will come to you.

They do not stand up because they are afraid.

She was not afraid.

Some Related Posts

Hard Rain Journal 11-3-07: The Nuclear Threat is Grave, But It is Not Coming from Iran; It is Coming from Pakistan, & Perhaps from

In This Century of Crisis, Empowering Women is Vital if the Human Race is to Prevail, i.e., Evolve

GS(3) Thunderbolt 9-14-07: In Pakistan, the Dharma Repels an Attack; In Burma, the Dharma Sparks an Uprising

Hard Rain Journal 7-6-07: At The Red Mosque, Bloodshed; At Nalanda University, Hope

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

Words of Power #24: Lost Symbols, Part One – Aung San Suu Kyi, AQ Khan, & The World Tree

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Hard Rain Late Night: Sade -- King of Sorrow

Hard Rain Late Night: Sade -- King of Sorrow



Click here for Hard Rain Late Night Music Video -- Archive

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Wednesday, December 26, 2007

GoLeft TV: Pap Attack on Anti-Scientific Medievalism in the Church Highlights Threat to the Traditions & Values of the West

Nicolaus Copernicus


Pope Benedict XVI has launched a surprise attack on climate change prophets of doom, warning them that any solutions to global warming must be based on firm evidence and not on dubious ideology. The leader of more than a billion Roman Catholics suggested that fears over man-made emissions melting the ice caps and causing a wave of unprecedented disasters were nothing more than scare-mongering. Daily Mail, 12-13-07

GoLeft TV: Pap Attack on Anti-Scientific Medievalism in the Church Highlights Threat to the Traditions & Values of the West

By Richard Power


If you want some context on how far from the moorings of reality the world has really slipped, just remember Ariel Sharon and Pope John Paul.

For all his wrongs, in a July 2006 interview with Nikkei Shimbun, then Prime Minister Sharon declared that attacking Iran was not the way forward and that negotiations were both possible and preferable. Unfortunately, it was his last interview. He is, as of this writing, still in what is described in the news media as a "medically induced coma."

And then there was John Paul II. Like many progressives of Roman Catholic heritage, I had a tumultuous relationship with John Paul.

Even though I felt many of his official positions were infuriating and counterproductive, I still could acknowledge his historical stature.

I will never forget Pope John Paul II's public, face to face, finger-pointing rebuke of George W. Bush on his foolish military adventure in Iraq. The AP photo tells its all. (USA Today, 6-24-07)

Indeed, there were reports that late in Pope John Paul's reign, some inside the Vatican were taking a cold, hard look at the possibility that George W. Bush might be even bigger trouble than most of us could imagine. (See Bush's "Christian" Blood Cult, Concerns Raised by the Vatican, Counterpunch, 4-22-03

But Pope Benedict, on the other hand, sounds like just another "Sweet Little Neo-Con," and the world has no time left for such misdirection.

The rise of Christian religious intolerance, extremism and anti-science bias in the USA is just as dangerous to our future as the rise of religious intolerance and extremism in the Moslem world.

Too few high-profile citizens dare to challenge the assault on reason.

One of the bravest and clearest voices out there is Mike Papantonio, who co-hosts Air America's Ring of Fire with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

Ring of Fire is not only the best news magazine on the radio; now that you can view select Ring of Fire segments on GoLeftTV, it is also the best news magazine on TV.

Mike Papantonio's weekly "Pap Attack" is one of the most entertaining features of the Ring of Fire broadcast. In a recent "Pap Attack," Mike took on Pope Benedict.

Here is a brief excerpt, followed by a link to the GOLeftTV video clip:

"The new Pope Benedict, throughout the past two years, has started looking more and more like that looney, babbling uncle. Now he tells his billion plus followers that global warming is much ado about nothing, and that the overwhelming body of empirical data and scientific analysis is nothing more, I guess, than scare-mongering. And I am certain that if this peculiar, heavy-handed German born pontiff had his way, he would demand that Al Gore be put on a good, old-fashioned rack and be stretched to the point that he denies the obvious, that the Earth is melting away before our eyes. Well, Your Eminence, the last thing this world really needs right now is crazy talk from an eighty year old Pope who, no doubt, would have been right there persecuting Copernicus and persecuting Galileo for trying to make this world a better place."Mike Papantonio, Pap Attack, Ring of Fire posted to GoLeft TV, 12-24-07





Some Related Posts

Hard Rain Journal 10-6-07: In Defense of Reason, Human Dignity & the Separation of Church

GoLeft TV Guide -- Digital Anti-Oxidant for the Body Politic

Hard Rain Journal 7-14-07: An Insult Not Only to Hinduism, but to Christianity & the Founding Fathers; Was It Also An Implicit Threat to All of Us?

Hard Rain Journal 7-11-07: Air America's Mike Papantonio Exposes Discovery Institute, the Wedge Document and the Fraud of "Intelligent Design"

For the Words of Power Progressive Talk Radio Archive, click here.

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Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Economic Insecurity Update: False Religion of Laissez-Faire & Milton Friedman, Its Most Persuasive Cult Leader, Have Led Us to a Monetary Jonestown

Migrant Mother/Pea-Picker in the Dust Bowl, Photo by Dorothea Lange, 1936


Economic Insecurity Update: The False Religion of Laissez-Faire & Milton Friedman, Its Most Persuasive Cult Leader, Have Led Us to a Monetary Jonestown

By Richard Power


One of the bedrock assumptions on which most people have built their economic world-views is that what happened in 1929 simply will not be allowed to happen again.

"Systems have been put in place," that's what many of us tell ourselves.

And it was true, for most of the 20th Century.

But now we live in very different times.

Here in the first decade of the 21st Century, those systems have broken down, or rather the principles behind them have been lost.

The false religion of Laissez-Faire and its most persuasive cult leader, Milton Friedman, have trapped us all in the financial world's equivalent of Jonestown. (And yes, Jonestown is an apt analogy. Unlike the term "Voodoo Economics," which GHW "Poppy" Bush used to refer to "Reaganomics" before he was dealt in; that turn of phrase was an insult to one of the world's oldest and most fascinating religions.)

Don't drink the kool-aid. Run for the helicopters, or take your chances in the jungle.

Here are some excerpts from a good piece from Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, with a link to the full text:

As the credit paralysis stretches through its fifth month, a chorus of economists has begun to warn that the world's central banks are fighting the wrong war, and perhaps risk a policy error of epochal proportions.
"Liquidity doesn't do anything in this situation," says Anna Schwartz, the doyenne of US monetarism and life-time student (with Milton Friedman) of the Great Depression.
"It cannot deal with the underlying fear that lots of firms are going bankrupt. The banks and the hedge funds have not fully acknowledged who is in trouble. That is the critical issue," she adds. ...
York professor Peter Spencer, chief economist for the ITEM Club, says the global authorities have just weeks to get this right, or trigger disaster.
"The central banks are rapidly losing control. By not cutting interest rates nearly far enough or fast enough, they are allowing the money markets to dictate policy. We are long past worrying about moral hazard," he says.
"They still have another couple of months before this starts imploding. Things are very unstable and can move incredibly fast. I don't think the central banks are going to make a major policy error, but if they do, this could make 1929 look like a walk in the park," he adds. ...
Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, Crisis may make 1929 look a 'walk in the park', Telegraph/UK via Raw Story, 12-23-07

Some Related Posts

Economic Security Update: "What do Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bündchen and the People's Republic of China have in common?"

Economic Security Update: Brazilian Super Model Gisele Bundchen Joins Warren Buffet in Ditching the Dollar

Randi Rhodes Interviews Naomi Klein -- "Not just the craziness of the Bush gang ... the logical culmination of a 25 year war on the state ..."

Hard Rain Journal 8-16-07: "The Roman Empire lasted 1,000 years, but only about half that time as a republic," says GAO's Walker

Hard Rain Journal 6-6-07: Future Economic Security, Both Short Term & Long Term, Requires Choosing Conscience & Common Sense Over Racketeering

Hard Rain Journal 5-22-07: Economic Security -- Get Busy Living, or Get Busy Dying

SPECIAL EDITION: Words of Power Interviews Nomi Prins, Author of "Jacked: How 'Conservatives' are Picking Your Pocket"

SPECIAL EDITION: Generation Debt -- Why Now Is A Terrible Time To Be Young, Words of Power Interviews Anya Kamenetz

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Hard Rain Late Night: Patti Smith -- Free Money (Stockholm 1976)

Hard Rain Late Night: Patti Smith -- Patti Smith -- Free Money (Stockholm 1976)



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Saturday, December 22, 2007

The Real War on Christmas Targets the Displaced of Darfur & New Orleans

Angelina Jolie, Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, as Lara Croft in Tomb Raider II: Cradle of Life


The Real War on Christmas Targets the Displaced of Darfur & New Orleans: In These Next Few Days, Embrace Your Loved Ones, Remember the Displaced of Darfur & the Lost City of New Orleans, & Prepare for the Challenges Ahead -- Angelina Jolie & The Lakota Already Are ...

By Richard Power


The months and years ahead will throw many challenges and hard decisions at all of us; in particular, the dispatch of the UN-AU peacekeeping force in Darfur, the 2008 elections in the USA, and for the planet as a whole, these two years leading up to the goal of a comprehensive (and all-inclusive) agreement on adapting and mitigating global warming in 2009.

In these next few days, as the season changes, and the page turns on another year, embrace your loved ones and share the luxury of food, shelter and relative physical safety with them. It is a fragile circumstance.

An international seminar on "Protection of Civilians - Learning from Darfur" was recently held in Copenhagen. The gathering, sponsored by DanChurchAid and the Danish Foreign Ministry, focused on an issue that is already of dire importance and is only going to get worse, as extremes of poverty and wealth become more and more exaggerated and the planet's climate breaks down:

Protection of civilians is one of the greatest challenges of our times. The rising levels of attacks on civilians are in direct contravention with international law and the commitment to the protection of civilians.
In spite of numerous conventions and resolutions, which are all very clear on the responsibility to protect civilians in conflict situations, the challenge still remains on how to effectively operationalise protection on the ground.
The case of Darfur is an obvious learning experience. Since 2003 protection of civilians from targeted attacks, murder, rape and looting has been a key challenge in Darfur. ...
Protection of Civilians - Learning from Darfur, DanChurchAid, 12-20-07

The seminar's final report, which can be downloaded here, includes recommendations for future action in Darfur, "Protection System, Prevention, The Role of the Police in Protection, Evaluation, and Political Dialogue."

Meanwhile, as shameless mouthpieces like Bill O'Reilly continue their neo-Maoist propaganda campaign about a phony "war on Christmas" (which, is course, nothing more than a war on tolerance and inclusion disguised as a defense of Christmas), the reich-wing's real war on the spirit of Christmas and the lessons of the "Christ Child" rages on.

Jesus was, after all, a child at risk born to internally displaced and impoverished people who were on the run and under the yoke of oppression and empire.

Two powerful messages, one despairing and one hopeful, were beamed from the lost city of New Orleans in the days before Christmas 2008, and it is important to put them in global and spiritual context.

First, the despairing story --

The final showdown over New Orleans public housing is playing out in dramatic fashion right now. The conflict is a classic example of the “triple shock” formula at the core of the doctrine.
First came the shock of the original disaster: the flood and the traumatic evacuation.
Next came the “economic shock therapy”: using the window of opportunity opened up by the first shock to push through a rapid-fire attack on the city’s public services and spaces, most notably it’s homes, schools and hospitals.
Now we see that as residents of New Orleans try to resist these attacks, they are being met with a third shock: the shock of the police baton and the Taser gun, used on the bodies of protestors outside New Orleans City Hall yesterday.
Naomi Klein, The Shock Doctrine in Action in New Orleans, Huffington Post, 12-21-07

Nevertheless, there is hope, compassion and vision. No, not from Beltwayistan (both the Cult formerly known as the Republican Party and the Corporatist wing of the Democratic Party have abandoned New Orleans) but from fortunate individuals who understand their responsibilities and their opportunities --

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt used their star power Saturday to help The Children's Health Fund focus attention on the more than 46,000 children still displaced 2 1/2 years after hurricanes Katrina and Rita destroyed their homes.
Jolie said her work as a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees prompted her to get involved with the CHF's effort.
"This is the largest displacement of children in my own country so I want to learn as much as possible," she said at a news conference.
A report issued earlier this month by the CHF found that 46,000 to 64,000 children affected by the hurricanes were still at risk for a host of medical, mental health and educational problems complicated by a lack of support services. ...
Associated Press, 12-22-07

Nor was it just a photo op --

Pitt has pledged more than $5 million to Make it Right, a project to rebuild 150 homes in the Katrina-devastated Lower 9th Ward, one of the city's most impoverished neighborhoods.

Speaking of genocide and an internal displacement, the Lakota have turned around and are walking back into the future and away from the delusional and the greedy among us, who want to drag the nation and the planet back into a grim and murderous past --

Political activist Russell Means, a founder of the American Indian Movement, says he and other members of Lakota tribes have renounced treaties and are withdrawing from the United States.
“We are now a free country and independent of the United States of America,” Means said in a telephone interview. “This is all completely legal.”
Means said a Lakota delegation on Monday delivered a statement of “unilateral withdrawal” from the United States to the U.S. State Department in Washington. ...Meanwhile, the delegation has delivered copies of the letter to the embassies of Bolivia, Venezuela, Chile and South Africa. “We’re asking for recognition,” Means said, adding that Ireland and East Timor are “very interested” in the declaration. ... The United States could face international pressure if it doesn’t agree to negotiate, Means said. ... Means also said his group would file liens on property in parts of South Dakota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Montana and Wyoming that were illegally homesteaded.
Bill Harlan, Rapid City Journal, 12-21-07

Welcome to the Future.

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Thursday, December 20, 2007

Climate Crisis Update: What Bali Does & Doesn't Do, What the US Mainstream News Media Doesn't Do, & What Will Happen to Spain

Image: Variations of the Earth's surface temperature: year 1000 to year 2100, IPCC


Climate Crisis Update: What Bali Does & Doesn't Do, What the US Mainstream News Media Doesn't Do, & What Will Happen to Spain

By Richard Power


In the Financial Times, Fiona Harvey and John Aglionby provide a cogent summary of the Bali conference's final product:

What was decided:
"The Bali roadmap" sets out an agenda for two years of talks, with a 2009 deadline, on a new agreement to cut emissions and prevent dangerous climate change
Pilot projects were agreed that would measure emissions reduction from forestry projects, as a first step towards including reforestation, afforestation and avoided deforestation in a future deal
The conference agree to launched a United Nations fund to help poor countries adapt to the effects of climate change, such as droughts and flooding
The roadmap says more money will be needed for poor countries to gain access to green technologies, but not how this will be provided
What was not:
No firm targets on emissions reductions were set, although mention was made in the text of the need for "deep cuts"
No decision was made on how developed and developing countries should share the burden of curbing emissions
No agreement was reached on whether carbon capture and storage projects should qualify for carbon credits
Financial Times, 12-18-07

At both Bali and Kyoto, damaging compromises were made to keep the process moving forward; only time will tell if those compromises were worthwhile. But time, unfortunately, is already against us.

Of course, in the US mainstream news media, there is little or no coverage of any of these issues:

In his Nobel Prize acceptance speech, Al Gore explained the severity of the climate crisis. “We, the human species, are confronting a planetary emergency — a threat to the survival of our civilization that is gathering ominous and destructive potential,” he declared.
But Sunday political talk show hosts have ignored the issue. The League of Conservation Voters (LCV) today launched a campaign publicizing the fact that the top five TV political journalists have dodged the issue of global warming this year:
[I]n the more than 120 interviews and debates with the [presidential] candidates in 2007, the five political show hosts collectively have asked 2,275 questions. Of those questions, these journalists have only uttered the words “global warming” or “climate change” three times. More over, only 24 of these questions touched even remotely on the issue of global climate change.
Ironically, Fox, which has repeatedly downplayed the climate change threat, leads the pack with two questions mentioning global warming this year:
– NBC’s Tim Russert: 664 questions, 0 mentioned global warming
– CNN’s Wolf Blitzer: 311 questions, 1 mentioned global warming
– ABC’s George Stephanopoulos: 661 questions, 0 mentioned global warming
– CBS’s Bob Scheiffer: 212 questions, 0 mentioned global warming
– Fox’s Chris Wallace: 427 questions, 2 mentioned global warming
And the questions weren’t necessarily substantive. On May 6, Wallace asked Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT): “Let’s turn to domestic policy where your big issue is energy independence and also fighting global warming. … [Wouldn’t a carbon tax] put a real drag on the economy?”
LCV’s campaign is urging political talk show hosts to 1) publicly acknowledge that global warming is an urgent threat, and 2) make the issue a priority in their interviews with all candidates. Sign LCV’s petition HERE.
Think Progress, 12-19-07

Meanwhile, for those of us who love Spain, there is this troubling story:

Climate Change will see the “Africanisation” of Spain
Study warns of environmental catastrophe before the end of the century as Spain struggles to meet Kyoto demands
INCESSANT heat waves, the extinction of vegetal and animal species and the spread of desert from Almería to cover southern Spain in its entirety.
Those are the findings of a report recently presented to the country’s prime minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, to help the government decide how to deal with Climate Change.
The study, which was compiled by a team of 17 scientists from Spain, paints a dire picture of the country at the end of this century.
It concludes that the country’s climate will become more like that of central Africa as tropical disease claims the lives of thousands and swathes of its Mediterranean beaches, which today bring millions of tourists to the country, are lost to rising sea levels.
The Olive Press, 12-16-07

For the Words of Power Climate Crisis Updates Archive, click here.

Click here for access to great promotional tools available on The Eleventh Hour action page.

To sign the Live Earth Pledge, click here.

Want to wake people up to the US mainstream news media's complicity in misinforming the public on global warming and climate change? Click here for Media Matters' compilation of "Myths and Falsehoods about Global Warming".

Want to participate in the effort to mitigate the impact of global warming? Download "Ten Things You Can Do"

Want to join hundreds of thousands of people on the Stop Global Warming Virtual March, and become part of the movement to demand our leaders freeze and reduce carbon dioxide emissions now? Click here.

Center for American Progress Action Fund's Mic Check Radio has released a witty and compelling compilation on the Top 100 Effects of Global Warming, organized into sections like "Global Warming Wrecks All the Fun" (e.g., "Goodbye to Pinot Noir," "Goodbye to Baseball," "Goodbye to Salmon Dinners," "Goodbye to Ski Vacations," etc.), "Global Warming Kills the Animals" (e.g., "Death March of the Penguins," "Dying Grey Whales," "Farwell to Frogs," etc.) and yes, "Global Warming Threatens Our National Security" (e.g., "Famine," "Drought," "Large-Scale Migrations," "The World's Checkbook," etc.) I urge you to utilize Top 100 Effects of Global Warming in your dialogues with friends, family and colleagues.

And don't forget to tune into Eco-Talk Radio on the air waves and/or in cyberspace.

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Hard Rain Late Night: John McLaughlin -- Coltrane's Naima (Jazz a Juan 96)

Hard Rain Late Night -- John McLaughlin w/ Elvin Jones and Joey De Francesco -- Coltrane's Naima (Jazz a Juan 96)



Click here for Hard Rain Late Night Music Video -- Archive

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"Live Free or Die" has New Meaning: Stolen Elections? Not Just 2000 and 2004, But Also 2002

Image: Themis, Goddess of Justice


"Live Free or Die" has New Meaning: Stolen Elections? Not Just 2000 and 2004, But Also 2002

By Richard Power


"Live free or die," that's the motto of the state of New Hampshire.

It has new meaning now. It is not just the personal declaration of a patriot, it is also a statement of fact about democratic institutions, if the elections are not fair and free, then those democratic institutions die.

In 2002, control of the US Senate was at stake.

The polling numbers in several tight races were trending Democratic.

New Hampshire was one of them, so were Georgia and Minnesota.

When the dust cleared, Sen. Paul Wellstone (D-MN) was dead, Sen. Max Cleland (D-GA), who lost three limbs in Vietnam had lost his seat to a man who never served (Georgia was an early adopter of electronic voting machine) and yes, Jeanne Shaheen had lost in New Hampshire.

These three "victories" guaranteed that the Bush-Cheney regime would be able to operate without congressional oversight for years to come.

Does the trail of criminal activity in the 2002 New Hampshire Senate race lead to Karl Rove's political operation inside the White House? What do you think?

The educated guess, of course, is yes, or at least it would have if the DoJ had not been compromised so brazenly.

We already know Tobin made many calls to the White House during that period, we just can't seem to get the White House to confirm whose number he was calling.

As I wrote many months ago in
Hard Rain Journal 3-25-07: DoJ Purge Update: Four Blockbusters that Have Not Hit -- YET
, the real reason Rove pushed for trumped up investigations of alleged voter fraud by the Democrats was to distract attention from authentic election fraud by Republicans. It was the refusal to do so which lead to the firing of eight US attorneys, most of them from key battleground states.

The politicization of the DoJ and the theft of elections in 2000, 2002 and 2004 are both elements of what would be recognized as the greatest political scandal in US history --- if all the facts were ever brought forth.

Anyone who thinks it ends with the departure of Rove is a fool.

All of the contenders for the nomination of the Cult formerly known as the Republican Party (with the exception of Rep. Ron Paul R-TX) have embraced the most odious policies of Bush-Cheney, e.g., declaring the Bill of Rights optional, instituting a Gulag system, launching "pre-emptive" wars, denying scientific truth to pander to religious extremists, etc.

Do you think that men who identify themselves with such ugliness would not also avail themselves of the means and methods with which those who conjured such ugliness seized power and held on to it?

Here are excerpts from two important McClatchy News stories:

The prosecution of a Republican official for phone-jamming in New Hampshire was slowed by the Justice Department until after the 2004 election, an unnamed official alleges.
Senior Justice officials delayed the probe "until after the 2004 election, protecting top GOP officials from the scandal until the voting was over," writes Greg Gordon for McClatchy Newspapers.
"An official with detailed knowledge of the investigation into the 2002 Election-Day scheme said the inquiry sputtered for months," Gordon continues, "after a prosecutor sought approval to indict James Tobin, the northeast regional coordinator for the Republican National Committee."
The phone-jamming was apparently "aimed at preventing New Hampshire Democrats from rounding up voters" to participate in the Senate race between GOP Rep. John Sununu and Gov. Jeanne Shaheen (D). Sununu won, helping Republicans regain Senate control at the time.

Official reveals Justice Dept. stalled probe into NH phone-jamming, Raw Story, 12-19-07


A former GOP political operative who ran an illegal election-day scheme to jam the phone lines of New Hampshire Democrats during the state’s tight 2002 U.S. Senate election said in a new book and an interview that he believes the scandal reaches higher into the Republican Party.
Allen Raymond of Bethesda, Md., whose book Simon & Schuster will publish next month, also accused the Republican Party of trying to hang all the blame for a scandal on him as part of an “old-school cover-up.”
Raymond’s book, “How to Rig an Election: Confessions of a Republican Operative,” offers a raw, inside glimpse of the phone scandal as it unraveled and of a ruthless world in which political operatives seek to win at all costs.
McClatchy obtained an advance copy of the book.
The 2002 New Hampshire Senate race, in which GOP Rep. John Sununu edged Democratic Gov. Jeanne Shaheen by 19,000 votes, was among several targeted by Republicans seeking to win control of the U.S. Senate.
Raymond said those who’ve tried to make him the fall guy for the New Hampshire scheme failed to recognize that e-mails, phone records and other evidence documented the complicity of a top state GOP official and the Republican National Committee’s northeast regional director.
Greg Gordon, Inside a GOP Effort To Rig The 2002 New Hampshire Elections, McClatchy, 12-19-07

To follow developments in election security issues on a daily basis, I refer you to the fantastic work of both Brad Friedman (Brad Blog) and Mark Crispin Miller (Notes from the Underground).

For the Words of Power Archive of Election Security Posts, click here.

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Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Crisis in Darfur: Aid Orgs Report UN-AU Force "Set-Up for Failure," Spielberg Writes Hu Jintao Again; As the Solstice Approaches, What Will You Do?

"This mother's three children were burned alive." -- Mia Farrow's Photo Essay, Crisis in Sudan & Eastern Chad (November 2006)


Crisis in Darfur: Aid Orgs Report UN-AU Force "Set-Up for Failure," Spielberg Writes Hu Jintao Again; As the Solstice Approaches, What Will You Do?

By Richard Power


The Solstice is approaching. In the North, it is the Winter Solstice, in the South, it is the Summer Solstice. Either way, it is a powerful time of turning, and spiritual energy. Some observe this moment as "Christmas," some observe it as "Hannukah," some observe it as "Kwanzaa." Whatever name it has for you, I urge you to tap into its power to do something for the people of Darfur.

According to a joint report issued by 35 aid organizations, the "hybrid United Nations-African Union peacekeeping force for Darfur in Sudan is "being set up to fail."

... the mission is hamstrung by Sudanese government obstruction and a lack of critical logistical support.
Khartoum has yet to agree to the deployment of non-African troops, is blocking night flights and insists on restricting the force's communications. ...
The 26,000-strong UN peacekeeping force is due to deploy in Darfur next year.
The joint report by organisations including AI and Human Rights Watch sets out five ways in which the Sudanese government is actively obstructing the deployment of the UN/AU Hybrid Mission for Darfur (Unamid):
No approval for non-African troops
No approval for night flights
Insistence on the right to block communications
No allocation of land for Unamid bases
No agreement on resources for Unamid. ...
UN member states also come in for criticism by the non-governmental organisations' report which says they urgently need to guarantee transport.
"It's also inexcusable that the international community continues to stubbornly refuse to provide the helicopters Unamid so desperately needs," said Amjad Atallah of the Save Darfur Coalition.
BBC, 12-19-07

Meanwhile, Mia Farrow reports that Steven Spielberg has written a second letter to Chinese president Hu Jintao, and she reiterates her call for Spielberg to resign from his association with the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing if the Chinese do not act in a meaningful and significant way.

It is a tragic failure of humanity's collective will and conscience that the murder, rape and displacement of the Darfuri people has been allowed to drag on for years.

I urge you to distinguish yourself from this collective failure, by supporting the humanitarian workers on the ground in Darfur and Eastern Chad:

International Rescue Committee

Medicines sans Frontiers

Oxfam International

United Nations Childrens Fund

United Nations High Commission for Refugees

The International Committee of Red Cross

Here is the full text of Spielberg's letter:

His Excellency Hu Jintao
President of the People's Republic of China
Zhongnanhai, Xichengqu, Beijing City
People’s Republic of China
November 15, 2007
Your Excellency,
It has been several months since I last wrote expressing my concerns about the human tragedy in the Darfur region of Sudan, where more than 200,000 people have died and more than 2.5 million people have been displaced. In the intervening months, I corresponded with Ambassador Zhou Wenzhong, and traveled to New York to meet privately with Special Envoy Liu Guijin. His appointment and China’s support of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1769 were hopeful and appreciated signs that China was willing to use its influence to bring an end to the genocide in the region. I, and much of the rest of the world, felt a sense of optimism and hoped it would bring a lasting peace to the region.
Unfortunately, since that time, the situation in Darfur has deteriorated and while China’s earlier efforts were encouraging, its silence in the wake of Sudan’s recent actions and the resulting chaos on the ground has been disturbing. Sudan is continuing to defy the international community, creating obstacles to the deployment of peacekeepers, increasing violent campaigns against Darfuris and expelling humanitarian officials essential to the very survival of millions of desperate citizens.
This week the United Nations warned that unless Sudan quickly accepts the hybrid peacekeeping force and key countries contribute critical equipment needed for the peacekeeping efforts, the force will not be prepared for deployment in January 2008 - already two long months away. So I write to you now with a renewed sense of urgency in the hope that China will redouble its efforts to pressure Sudan to join in a fair peace agreement and, at last, bring an end to the genocide.
China’s economic, military and diplomatic ties to the government of Sudan continue to provide you with the influence and the obligation to press for change. Please urge Sudan to accept - and rapidly facilitate - the United Nations authorized hybrid force and please join with other nations to contribute the much needed helicopters and heavy transport vehicles needed to conduct these peacekeeping missions. Without China’s insistence, I fear Sudan will simply “wait out the clock.”
I believe the decisive hour for Darfur is now. There must be meaningful and measurable progress on the ground for Darfuris within the next few weeks. The world needs China to lead here. So many lives are at stake.
Most Sincerely,
Steven Spielberg


I encourage you to follow events in Darfur on Mia Farrow's site, it is the real-time journal of a humanitarian at work; the content is compelling, insightful and fiercely independent.

For a Words of Power Archive of posts on the Crisis in Darfur, click here.

Here are other sites of importance:

Dream for Darfur

Enough: The Project to End Genocide and Mass Atrocities

Genocide Intervention Network

Divest for Darfur.

Save Darfur!

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Hard Rain Late Night: Hiromi Uehara -- Tom & Jerry Show

Hard Rain Late Night: Hiromi Uehara -- Tom & Jerry Show



Click here for Hard Rain Late Night Music Video -- Archive

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Campaign '08: Ron Paul Understands the Danger of Mike Huckabee, Do You?

Full Text of Sinclair Lewis' It Can't Happen Here


On just one day, in honor of the 234th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party, the new American revolutionaries brought in $6.04 million, another one-day record. The average donation was $102; we had 58,407 individual contributors, of whom an astounding 24,915 were first-time donors. And it was an entirely voluntary, self-organized, decentralized, independent effort on the internet. Rep. Ron Paul, 12-17-07

Campaign '08: Ron Paul Understands the Danger of Mike Huckabee, Do You?

I disagree with almost everything Rep. Ron Paul stands for, and yet, I feel it is vital to acknowledge what he is doing and urge him on in his struggle -- because what I do agree with Rep. Paul on is the most important issue of all: the rise of fascism in the USA. Indeed, it has become a truly bi-partisan concern, and that is an encouraging sign of health in the body politic. (See also Randi Rhodes Interviews Naomi Wolf -- "... the conclusion is to rise up, and to understand that we have very little time.") -- Richard Power

A new campaign ad from Republican presidential contender Mike Huckabee sounds a lot like a literary prediction about the coming of fascism, according to fellow GOP Oval Office seeker Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX).
Huckabee's ad, a Christmas message referencing the "celebration of the birth of Christ," depicts the former Arkansas governor in front of a window frame or bookshelf that appears to resemble a cross.
Asked by Fox and Friends host Steve Doocy what he thought of the TV spot, Paul minced no words.
"Well, I haven't thought about it completely, but you know, it reminds me of what Sinclair Lewis once said," Paul responded. "He says, 'When fascism comes to this country, it will be wrapped in the flag carrying a cross."
Raw Story, 12-18-07

For an archive of Words of Power posts on Campaign '08, click here.

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Monday, December 17, 2007

Steroids in Baseball? As Shocking as Gambling in Casablanca; What Would A Serious Probe Reveal About the 2000 & 2004 Elections?

Brooks Brothers Riot in Miami-Dade During Fraudia 2000


DAVE ZIRIN: ... the Mitchell report is, what I would argue, a breathtaking fraud. I mean, this is a report that took twenty months, cost $20 million, and at the end of the day, ninety players names were named, and yet George Mitchell did not touch upper management, he did not touch ownership ... And this is the problem with having George Mitchell at the front of this report. George Mitchell is on the board of directors of the Boston Red Sox. He is on the board of directors of the Walt Disney Company, which owns ESPN ... Democracy Now!Interviews Sportswriter Dave Zirin, author of Welcome to the Terrordome: The Pain, Politics and Promise of Sports, 12-14-07

Hard Rain Journal: Steroids in Baseball? As Shocking as Gambling in Casablanca; What Would A Mitchell-Style Probe Reveal about the 2000 & 2004 Elections?

By Richard Power


I don't really care about steroids in baseball.

Is it cheating?

Certainly, unless, of course, both the batter and the pitcher have been juicing (the Mitchell report does name several prominent pitchers); but if we start down that road, then all the asterisks in the record books are going to have asterisks of their own.

None of this should be a surprise. It has been obvious for some time, even to the naked eye, that many of baseball's greatest stars were juicing.

At least by mentioning Roger Clemons, Andy Petite and many others, the Mitchell report corrects the misperception that the steroid scandal is centered around the case of one controversial black superstar.

Unfortunately, as Zirin remarks, the team owners, who looked the other way, will not have to answer for their complicity.

Baseball's steriod scandal says less about integrity in professional sports than it does about the skewed priorities of the US political establishment and corporate news media.

Shoeless Joe Jackson


A healthy society concerned about cheating would have spent a lot more time probing what happened in the presidential elections of 2000 and 2004, and the implications for November 2008.

Baseball is, after all, only "America's pastime," free and fair elections are the life-blood of the nation.

Here are several recent stories that have received a lot less coverage than the release of the Mitchell report even though they bear directly one way or another on the potential for cheating in the 2008 election:

The results of new, unprecedented testing of e-voting machines in the state of Ohio are in, and the findings mirror the landmark results of a similar test carried out earlier this year in California.
"Ohio's electronic voting systems have 'critical security failures' which could impact the integrity of elections in the Buckeye State," says Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner in a statement which accompanied the release of the report today on the SoS' website ...
Brunner is calling for a ban on all Direct Recording Electronic (DRE, usually touch-screen) voting systems in the state, along with a ban on precinct-based optical-scan paper based systems, charging that the central counting of ballots at the county would eliminate "points of entry creating unnecessary voting system risk."
The State's bi-partisan "Evaluation & Validation of Election-Related Equipment, Standards & Testing" (EVEREST) report finds, as did California's study, as did virtually every other independent test of such systems, that violating the security and manipulating the "federal approved" electronic voting systems, is a breeze.
"To put it in every-day terms," Brunner said, "the tools needed to compromise an accurate vote count could be as simple as tampering with the paper audit trail connector or using a magnet and a personal digital assistant."
Brad Blog, 12-14-07

California Sec. of State Debra Bowen has announced a $15 million lawsuit against voting machine company ES&S for their use of uncertified AutoMARK voting systems in the state. ...
“ES&S ignored the law over and over and over again, and it got caught,” said Bowen in a press release just issued this evening. “California law is very clear on this issue. I am not going to stand on the sidelines and watch a voting system vendor come into this state, ignore the laws, and make millions of dollars from California’s taxpayers in the process.”
According to the release, ES&S seems to have simply lied about their use of the uncertified voting systems in the state of California. "The Secretary of State’s office held a public hearing on the matter on October 15, 2007. At that hearing, ES&S asserted the Secretary of State was notified about changes to the AutoMARK. However, ES&S provided no evidence before, during, or after the hearing to substantiate its claim."
Such deceptive practices are not uncommon for ES&S, as well as the other major e-voting machine companies. Diebold's touch-screen voting systems were decertified in the state in 2004, after it had been found that they had similarly deployed uncertified hardware and sofware, in violation of state law, in a number of counties in the state.
Brad Blog, 11-19-07

The Republican Party's effort to unilaterally award itself 20 or so of California's 55 Electoral College votes in next year's Presidential Election has failed to reach its fundraising goals for a second time, according to the LA Times today...
A proposed initiative that drew national attention for its potential to affect next year's presidential election will not appear on the June ballot, organizers said Thursday.
Republican backers of the measure, which could have tilted the presidential contest toward the GOP nominee by changing how California awards electoral votes, conceded that they were unable to raise sufficient funds.
Scoop, 12-10-07

Today, John Tanner resigned from his position effective immediately as chief of the Civil Rights Division's voting section. ...
With Tanner, it had seemed like a matter of not if, but when. As we reported late last month, his travel habits had angered attorneys in the voting section, leading to an investigation by the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility.
And that was after his comments about the tendency of minorities to "die first" led Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL), Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), and others to call for his removal. When he went before the House Judiciary Committee in October, he was lambasted for his tendency of "basing your conclusions on stereotypes" (like, say, claiming that African-Americans have IDs more than whites because they're always going to cash-checking businesses).
But most of all, Tanner's reign is notable for his collusion with the political appointees who oversaw the section, an ongoing effort to reverse the Civil Rights Division's traditional role in protecting minority voters, particularly African-Americans, into one of aiding thinly disguised vote suppression measures (most infamously Georgia's voter ID law). It was an effort that some career DoJ attorneys later described as "institutional sabotage."
TPM Muckracker, 12-14-07

A new legal strategy that allows states to pass repressive election laws in the name of fighting voter fraud -- even if there is scant evidence such fraud exists or threatens election outcomes -- is emerging before the 2008 election, and the Department of Justice's Voting Section appears to be its biggest champion.
In legal briefs filed at the Supreme Court before a January hearing over the constitutionality of Indiana's 2005 voter I.D. law, the Department of Justice and other defenders of the ID law are making several new arguments that, if accepted by the court, would allow states to create barriers to voting without showing these laws address real problems.
Most significantly, the Justice Department is seeking to apply the principle of "pre-emption," or acting now to offset future threats -- as the Bush Administration argued before invading Iraq -- to voting rights. When applied to elections, the Department said there does not need to be evidence of actual voter fraud, or individuals impersonating other voters, before states can pass new laws to police that possibility.
Steven Rosenfeld, Republicans Urge Supreme Court to Allow Preemptive Strikes in Elections, AlterNet, 12-13-07

Elections have consequences, as the cliche goes.

And as the last seven years have shown us, stolen elections have tragic consequences.

To follow developments in election security issues on a daily basis, I refer you to the fantastic work of both Brad Friedman (Brad Blog) and Mark Crispin Miller (Notes from the Underground).

For the Words of Power Archive of Election Security Posts, click here.

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