The Story of Harold Wilson: Convicted of Triple Murder, Sentenced to Die, Exonerated After 17 Years in Prison — Democracy Now!

Democracy Now!
December 20, 2005

In a Democracy Now! broadcast exclusive, we spend the hour with Harold C. Wilson. Convicted of three murders in 1989, Wilson spent more than 17 years in prison, most of that time on death row. In 1999, Wilson's death sentence was overturned due to ineffective counsel. However, his murder convictions were not - and he remained on death row. Finally, on October 31st, 2005, Wilson's final trial began. DNA evidence was presented for the first time. On November 15th, he was acquitted of all charges and set free.

Click here for video, audio and written transcript via Democracy Now!

A Humanist's Christmas Offering

The below is an exchange in response to my Postform post of December 22, posted originally to iNoodle.com.

The topic of the post was the Independent (UK) newspaper's headline story of the same day which reported that, beginning in 2006, "every journey by every car will be monitored" by the UK government via a nationwide network of CCTV cameras linked to central databases. The cameras are equipped to read registration numbers, day and night, at each point along a car's journey.

Jacques René Zammit said...

Incredible. Big brother indeed. However I still find it difficult to balance the needs of security in today's world and that of privacy. Where do we draw the line? And how?

Fri Dec 23, 09:57:33 AM CET

Sean M. Madden said...

Thanks for your comment, Jacques. Good to hear from you, as always.

This is why it is crucial that we stick to fundamental questions, to focus our energies not on the effects but on the underlying causes, the radical roots. We need more postform thinking. Otherwise, our subsequent actions are likely to be (they already are) far worse than that which we fear and use to justify our own violence and repression, directed abroad but increasingly at home, too, against the citizenry our government officials have sworn to serve.

Why are there individuals who are desperate enough in their suffering to, literally, end their own lives in order to destroy the lives of others whom they see as their oppressor? Why are there individuals who are desperate enough in their greed (suffering) for wealth and power to end not their own lives but to destroy the lives of, literally, countless others (100,000, 200,000, 300,000, ... ) whom they see as mere collateral damage?

US and UK foreign and domestic policies are the primary focal points of my political activism, inquiry and writing, not for nationalistic reasons in that I am an American living in the UK with my British wife and our British-American daughter, but because these nations wreak, and have wreaked throughout their sordid histories, so much death, destruction and suffering the world round.

No serious inquiry into Middle East terrorism, for instance, can ignore that terrorists do not attack us because of our freedoms, but because the US and UK have willfully destroyed and precluded the freedom of so many in the region.

But, in neither the US nor the UK does the media facilitate a full understanding of the situation at hand. No, the American and British publics must remain ignorant as to causes. They must learn to face, to fear, only the effects which must forever remain faceless and vague so as to haunt our darkest depths and empower our worst atrocities for ends not sought for these respective publics, for they would never dream of such ends, but for pathological politicians, their propagandists (the media) and the major corporate shareholders which they both ultimately serve.

If the US and UK governments were serious about the "war on terror" they would act immediately to undermine the causes; yet, instead, they seek to inflame them.

Let us, first, seek to relieve the suffering for which these governments are responsible. They have long failed the peoples of the world and, yes, us at home. Let us tend to the seeds of democracy in our own garden and perhaps we'll achieve it, an historical first. Let other peoples decide for themselves how best to organize their respective societies. Democracy, as many of us knew long ago, cannot be inflicted upon another; it must develop within. But, again, we must stick to the fundamentals, democracy was never meant to be, in Iraq or at home.

All people want happiness. All of us suffer. This is universal.

Let us nurture our natural sense of compassion, for ourselves and for others, and terrorism will cease to be, the problem of how to deal with it will be annulled. While this, I know, sounds idealistic, anything short of this approach, I think, is infinitely more unrealistic. On the other hand, any act of compassion will immediately bear good fruit, we need not await the fulfillment of some far-off future ideal.

Let us act rightly as individuals and organize our own rightful governments, and let us let others do the same.

Sean (iNoodle.com)

Sun Dec 25, 02:53:45 PM CET

Britain will be first country to monitor every car journey — by Steve Connor

Introduction by Sean/iNoodle.com:

WHAT?!

Where's the widespread public outrage to this obscene intrusion into our private lives?! " ... every journey by every car will be monitored"?!

*****
From 2006 Britain will be the first country where every journey by every car will be monitored

By Steve Connor, Science Editor
The Independent (UK)
22 December 2005

Britain is to become the first country in the world where the movements of all vehicles on the roads are recorded. A new national surveillance system will hold the records for at least two years.

Using a network of cameras that can automatically read every passing number plate, the plan is to build a huge database of vehicle movements so that the police and security services can analyse any journey a driver has made over several years.

The network will incorporate thousands of existing CCTV cameras which are being converted to read number plates automatically night and day to provide 24/7 coverage of all motorways and main roads, as well as towns, cities, ports and petrol-station forecourts.

By next March a central database installed alongside the Police National Computer in Hendon, north London, will store the details of 35 million number-plate "reads" per day. These will include time, date and precise location, with camera sites monitored by global positioning satellites.

Already there are plans to extend the database by increasing the storage period to five years and by linking thousands of additional cameras so that details of up to 100 million number plates can be fed each day into the central databank. [...]

Click here for the full Independent article.

The Making of the Enemy — by Manuel Valenzuela

The Making of the Enemy [Part 1 of 2]

The Making of the Enemy [Part 2 of 2]

Court rules against gov't in Padilla case — by James Vicini

By James Vicini

12/21/05 WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In a stinging rebuke to the Bush administration, a U.S. appeals court refused on Wednesday to transfer "enemy combatant" Jose Padilla from U.S. military custody to federal authorities in Florida until the Supreme Court considered his case.

The court said bringing criminal charges against Padilla in Florida after he had been held by the U.S. military for more than three years created the appearance the government may be attempting to avoid high court review of the case.

Padilla, an American citizen, was charged last month with being part of a support cell providing money and recruits for militants overseas. The Justice Department had accused Padilla after his arrest in May 2002 of plotting to set off a radioactive "dirty bomb."

The ruling came on a day the administration was struggling to get the anti-terrorism Patriot Act reauthorized, and while it is under fire in the U.S. Congress for President George W. Bush's secret order allowing domestic eavesdropping.

The appeals court also rejected the government's request that it set aside a ruling that allowed Padilla to be held as an enemy combatant without being charged. Wiping out that ruling would have made it virtually impossible for the Supreme Court to review the case.

The Bush administration, in bringing the criminal charges against Padilla, maintained that his challenge to being held by the military was moot and must be rejected by the Supreme Court.

The justices could decide as early as next month whether to hear his case.

Though U.S. officials initially said Padilla had plotted with al Qaeda to set off a radioactive "dirty bomb" in the United States and then later said he had plotted to blow up apartment buildings using natural gas. The criminal charges against him made no mention of either accusation.

The government's actions "have left ... the impression that Padilla may have been held for these years, even if justifiably, by mistake -- an impression we would have thought the government could ill afford to leave extant," Judge J. Michael Luttig wrote in the ruling.

He said the government's actions could affect the public's perception of the war on terrorism and the government's credibility in the courts.

Luttig said the government left the impression that the principle the president can detain enemy combatants who enter the United States to carry out attacks "can, in the end, yield to expediency with little or no cost to its conduct of the war against terror."

Luttig, a staunchly conservative judge who was considered but not selected by Bush for the recent Supreme Court vacancies, said Padilla's case presented an issue of sufficient national importance to warrant high court consideration.

Donna Newman, one of Padilla's attorneys, said she hoped the ruling provided an incentive for the Supreme Court to hear the case. "I think it speaks loud and clear," she said.

Justice Department spokeswoman Tasia Scolinos expressed disappointment. "The department is in the process of reviewing the court's order and will continue to consider all options with respect to pursuing the criminal charges as expeditiously as possible," she said in a statement

Copyright Reuters

Congressman John Conyers Calls for Censure of Bush and Cheney

PRESS RELEASE FROM CONGRESSMAN CONYERS

Congressman John Conyers, Jr.
Michigan, 14th District
Ranking Member, U.S. House Judiciary Committee
Dean, Congressional Black Caucus
http://www.house.gov/judiciary_democrats/index.html

Contact: Dena Graziano 202-226-6888

CONYERS RELEASES REPORT ON MISCONDUCT OF BUSH ADMINISTRATION CONCERNING IRAQ WAR
Calls for Censure of President Bush and Vice President Cheney

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Representative John Conyers, Jr., Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, released the following statement regarding today's release of a staff report entitled "The Constitution in Crisis: The Downing Street Minutes and Deception, Manipulation, Torture, Retributions and Cover-ups in the Iraq War." The Report is my best effort to examine all of the charges of misconduct by the Bush Administration concerning the Iraq War.

Conyers Report: http://www.house.gov/judiciary_democrats/iraqrept.html

"In brief, we have found that there is substantial evidence the President, the Vice-President and other high ranking members of the Bush Administration misled Congress and the American people regarding the decision to go to war in Iraq; misstated and manipulated intelligence information regarding the justification for such war; countenanced torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment in Iraq; and permitted inappropriate retaliation against critics of their Administration. There is at least a prima facie case that these actions that federal laws have been violated - from false statements to Congress to retaliating against Administration critics.

In response to the Report, I have already taken several initial steps. First, I have introduced a resolution (H. Res. 635) creating a Select Committee with subpoena authority to investigate the misconduct of the Bush Administration with regard to the Iraq war and report on possible impeachable offenses. In addition, I have introduced Resolutions regarding both President Bush (H. Res. 636) and Vice-President Cheney (H. Res. 637) proposing that they be censured by Congress based on indisputable evidence of unaccounted for misstatements and abuse of power in the public record. There are a number of additional recommendations in the Report that I expect to be taking up in the coming weeks and months.

The Report rejects the frequent contention by the Bush Administration that there pre-war conduct has been reviewed and they have been exonerated. No entity has ever considered whether the Administration misled Americans about the decision to go to War, and the Senate Intelligence Committee has not yet conducted a review of pre-war intelligence information, while the Silberman-Robb report specifically cautioned, that intelligence manipulation "was not part of our inquiry." There has also not been any independent inquiry concerning torture and other legal violations in Iraq; nor has there been an independent review of the pattern of cover-ups and political retribution by the Bush Administration against its critics, other than the very narrow and still ongoing inquiry of Special Counsel Fitzgerald."

##JUD-109-12/20/05##

______________

Link to Congressman Conyers' site:
http://johnconyers.com/

Sign Conyers' Letter to Bush!

Bush in 2004: "Wiretap Requires A Court Order" — by Democracy Now!

Democracy Now!
Headlines for December 21, 2005

President Bush has argued eavesdropping without court-approved warrants is legal under authority granted by Congress shortly after 9/11. But in April of last year President Bush told reporters wiretaps were only conducted with court approval.

President Bush, April 20, 2004: "Now, by the way, any time you hear the United States government talking about wiretap, it requires -- a wiretap requires a court order. Nothing has changed, by the way. When we're talking about chasing down terrorists, we're talking about getting a court order before we do so."

The White House is now claiming Bush was referring only to actions taken under the Patriot Act.

Click here for the full DN! Headlines for December 21 (with video/audio links)

Surveillance Court Judge Resigns in Protest of Bush Spy Program — by Democracy Now!

Democracy Now!
Headlines for December 21, 2005

This news on the Bush administration’s domestic espionage program: the Washington Post is reporting a judge has resigned from the country’s top spy court in protest of the secret program in which the National Security Agency has eavesdropped on Americans without court-approved warrants. U.S. District Judge James Robertson, one of 11 members of the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, submitted his resignation Monday. The court is regarded as the only authority to authorize wire-taps for domestic espionage.

Click here for the full DN! Headlines for December 21 (with video/audio links)

Iraqis Reject Increased Fuel Costs — by Dahr Jamail and Arkan Hamed

Inter Press Service
Dahr Jamail and Arkan Hamed

BAGHDAD, Dec 21 (IPS) - For two days demonstrations have continued across Iraq in protest against the government's decision to raise the price of petrol, cooking and heating fuels.

With costs increased up to nine-fold, Iraq's oil minister, Ibrahim Bahr al-Uloum has threatened to resign. Yet this has done nothing to quell the outburst of anger in Iraqis towards the sudden and drastic price hike. [...]

"Are we responsible for fuelling the American occupation forces with petrol from our refineries?" asked Akram Mohamed, a consumer. "Can you believe they receive our gasoline then use it to kill our people? This is something unacceptable to every honorable Iraqi!" [...]

Ahmed Chalabi, accused of providing false information to the Bush Administration which led to the invasion of Iraq and who is now Iraq's deputy Prime Minister, justified the government's decision by stating that 330 million dollar of the funds generated by the increase would "be redistributed to poor families."

"I heard Ahmed Chalabi say that those of us who don't have cars are missing out on how the government is helping the Iraqi people," said 36 year-old Ismael Hamoudi, "To hell with that bastard for lying about helping when so many people are now suffering; this will affect everything in the market. Now all our food will be more expensive since it is brought from outside the city and who will pay for the increased transportation cost? We will, because everything will be more expensive now!" [...]

Click here for the full DahrJamailIraq.com article.

Harold Pinter, John Le Carré And The Media — by Media Lens

December 19, 2005
MEDIA ALERT: BRILLIANT FOOLS
Harold Pinter, John Le Carré And The Media
Media Lens

Introduction - Factory Labels

The most effective way to control people is to control their assumptions about the world. The task of propaganda is to apply power-friendly labels and make them stick - it is the key to everything. The labelling factory par excellence - the machine that applies the right labels in the right way over and over again - is the mass media system.

Activists have lambasted governments, corporations, whole industries for decades, but they are swimming against a relentless tide. As has been demonstrated so clearly in Iraq, governments and businesses can do pretty much what they like just so long as the media factory is on hand to label it better: to label away the crimes, the lies, the outrage, the desperate need for change.

The media are, and always have been, the supreme obstacle to change. [...]

Click here to read the full Media Lens article.

EU Was Aware of Rendition, Says Powell — by Jerome Taylor

by Jerome Taylor
The Independent
19 December 2005

European governments, including Britain's, were under growing pressure last night to reveal the extent of their involvement in controversial US "extraordinary renditions".

Colin Powell, the former US Secretary of State, said that statements of ignorance by European leaders such Jack Straw about the transport, detention and torture of suspects were not believable. [...]

Click here for the full Independent article.

Sen. Reid calls US Congress 'most corrupt in history' — by Thomas Ferraro

by Thomas Ferraro
December 18, 2005

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid called the Republican-led Congress "the most corrupt in history" on Sunday, and distanced himself from lobbyist Jack Abramoff, at the center of an escalating probe. [...]

Click here for the full Reuters article.

Heck of a Job, Viveca? — by Arianna Huffington

by Arianna Huffington
The Huffington Post
December 18, 2005

Imagine that: Viveca Novak provides Bush's Brain with a possible get-out-of-jail-free card and -- just weeks after she tells Fitzgerald things Rove's lawyer desperately wants the special prosecutor to hear -- Bush nominates her hubby to the Federal Election Commission. Now I'm not saying that one is payback for the other. But it sure is convenient. It may not be a case of quid pro quo but, if you were to make a list of things that would begin to repair the damage done to the credibility of the media, this sure wouldn't be among them. This appointment is the nonverbal equivalent of "Heck of a job, Vivie." And it cries out for further investigation. [...]

Click here for the full Huffington Post article.

Spying and the Public's Right to Know — by Robert Parry

by Robert Parry
ConsortiumNews.com
December 17, 2005

The New York Times has disclosed that George W. Bush secretly waived rules restricting electronic surveillance inside the United States, allowing spying on hundreds of Americans that normally would require a court warrant. But almost as stunning was the Times admission that it had held the story for a year.

Indeed, it appears the information about Bush's secret spy order was leaked before Election 2004, but was kept from the American people because the Bush administration warned Times executives that the story's publication might endanger national security.

In finally publishing the story on Dec. 16, more than 13 months after President Bush won a second term, the Times gave few details about specifically why it withheld the story in 2004 and then decided to print it now. [...]

Some NSA officials considered the Bush-authorized spying program illegal and refused to participate, according to a former Bush administration official cited by the Times. “Before the 2004 election, the official said, some NSA personnel worried that the program might come under scrutiny by congressional or criminal investigators if Senator John Kerry, the Democratic nominee, was elected president,” the Times reported. [...]

A bigger question for American citizens, however, may be why leading U.S. news organizations, such as the New York Times and the Washington Post, seem so committed to advancing the Bush administration's foreign-policy agenda -- while also protecting its political flanks.

Click here for the full ConsortiumNews.com article.

An Incredible Day in America, Indeed—But, Will We Seize the Day, Or Let It Pass?

In a fine Huffington Post article published yesterday, Martin Garbus, a leading American trial lawyer, unequivocally states that Bush has committed an impeachable crime in authorizing domestic surveillance without a court-issued warrant, and has, in conjunction with Congress, legitimized torture for the first time in US history.

Yet, again, the corporate media has failed to inform the citizenry of the implications of these illegal acts. Indeed, the corporate media has failed to present these acts for what they are, forget the reporting of implications. Obfuscation seems the preferred practice.

Mr. Garbus says that "most of the media missed it and got it wrong." Perhaps.

But, given the complicity of the corporate media in the war crimes committed to date by the US (and UK), and their willingness to disseminate government propaganda, to keep dissenting opinion on the fringes, and to steadfastly remain uncritical of the war crimes committed thus far, why should we assume that the corporate media's failing in this instance is an honest mistake?

The New York Times is apparently doing their best again today—by way of their top story, entitled Behind Power, One Principle as Bush Pushes Prerogatives—to provide (pseudo-) intellectual cover to turn what is an impeachable crime into a debatable topic, this time concerning presidential prerogative. This, two days after the New York Times admitted that they sat for a year on this story of unlawful surveillance, after the Bush administration requested that they not report on this illegal practice.

At what point will the New York Times' reading public dismiss the newspaper as a propagandist rag which is deep in the pockets of a war-criminal administration and an anti-democratic, and thereby anti-American, corporate-political elite, whether Republican or Democratic?

At what point does creeping presidential prerogative become incipient dictatorial fascism?

Will a majority of Americans know when such a point has been reached; and, if so, will they then have the will and the power to halt fascism's progress and regain freedoms lost? Or, will they continue to deny that fascism could possibly be visited upon their complacent, apolitical and corporatized version of democracy? Or, finally, will a majority of Americans wallow in their particular breed of fascism as they have long since wallowed in their particular breed of imperialism, undaunted by world opinion or international law?

Regardless, willful ignorance will not suffice should an excuse be sought in retrospect.

A Death Toll Lower Than DC Murder Rate?NPR Swallows Bush Guestimate on Iraqi Dead

By APRIL HURLEY, M.D.

To: Scott Inskeep
National Public Radio

Dear Mr. Inskeep:

Yesterday, on your National Public Radio show, Morning Edition, you asked an "expert" to comment on G.W. Bush's evident ignorance. Your stooge pundit, Michael O'Hanlon, was satisfied with George's guestimate that 30,000 Iraqi civilians and combatants have been killed during 32 months of invasion and occupation. He suggested that G.W's figure doesn't include Iraqi crime victims. This proposes a mortality rate for Iraqis from combat alone that is lower than Washington D.C.'s homicide rate during the year of the latest stats, 2002. A war zone also safer than Baltimore, Detroit and New Orleans before Katrina. Perhaps a paid professional at NPR, who isn't busy doing the bidding of a White House propagandist, would wonder what's wrong with this picture and do some minimal investigation. Such as the most globally respected survey, an independent and heroic study on the casualties in Iraq, peer reviewed and published in The Lancet. A curious child could get those US city homicide figures and do the math!

I witnessed Shock and Awe in Baghdad and the tsunami of lies discounting those deaths. The bombing then was brutal and the occupation since has been a serial massacre. Iraq today is our massive Guernica. It is obscene that this war president continues in denial that he has, conservatively, caused the death of 150,000-200,000 Iraqi men, women and kids. And this after, conservatively again, more than 500,000 died under Clinton's promoting of UN sanctions. How can you National Public Radio people live with your complicity in hustling such horrific crimes and distortions about them.

The tangled web of deception spun by NPR must feel like a cocoon for you by now! I am another outraged listener reminding all of you. We are an internet-literate audience; we won't tolerate being brainwashed by our own public airwaves. And the drivel you choose to distract us with at these critical times will serve to secure your indictment.

Increasingly outraged,
April Hurley, MD

Source: CounterPunch

Why Arnold Killed Tookie — by Dave Zirin

This is Schwarzenegger's 'mission accomplished' moment for his right wing, pro-death base; but his 'mission' will fail.

By Dave Zirin
AlterNet
December 13, 2005

In the end, we can only assume the decision wasn't so "agonizing" after all. Last night Stan Tookie Williams was legally lynched by the state of California, at the behest of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger who denied Williams' appeal for clemency. The Governor deemed that a man who had been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize five times and brokered gang truces from Newark to South Central was not worthy to walk and breathe among us.

Stan's case for clemency was so compelling it was articulated by people from Desmond Tutu to Snoop Dogg, and yet, watching Schwarzenegger in action has been to observe the nexus of cold-hearted political calculation and cowardice. [...]

When it finally came time for Arnold to announce his personal judgment that Stan Williams should die, tragedy became farce. The Governor's office released an ugly scandalous diatribe that qualifies as nothing less than hate-speech. [...]

Now it's up to those of us who stood with Tookie to keep on pushing. This is Schwarzenegger's "mission accomplished" moment for his right wing, pro-death base. But his "mission" will fail. He is part of a 21st century set of rulers who have repeatedly shown, whether in Baghdad or New Orleans, that they are unfit to rule. [...]

Click here for the full article at AlterNet.

The Spirit of Tookie Williams — by James Rucker

Introduction by Sean/iNoodle.com:

I awoke this morning to find the following message in my inbox. I want to share it with all of you.

*****
Dear ColorOfChange.org Member,

Last night, as I stood outside the gates of San Quentin, I tried to think of what good could come from the killing that was happening inside. I couldn't think of anything. Several times I read Gov. Schwarzenegger's statement explaining why he denied clemency to Williams, looking for a logical explanation that I could accept, even if I didn't agree with it. I couldn't find that either.

Gov. Schwarzenegger missed an opportunity, and we suffered a loss. Schwarzenegger chose to follow a line of logic that was simple and flawed, refusing to acknowledge the benefit of Williams' work and going through pains to explicitly deny it. He dismissed the fact that the black community, which has borne the brunt of the effects of gang violence, largely stood in support of Williams. More troubling, Schwarzenegger cited Williams' celebration of Angela Davis, Malcolm X, and Mumia Abu-Jamal, among others--folks who many of us regard as heroes--as evidence that he hasn't truly shunned violence. Schwarzenegger doesn't realize that these folks are our heroes--strong voices who have followed their convictions, took amazing personal risks, and who above all have worked in service of social justice and a better society. Mr. Williams became one of those people, too.

Not a single life destroyed because of gangs or Mr. Williams will be brought back--not the victims of the crimes for Mr. Williams was accused and convicted, not the gang members whose lives have been destroyed because of the choices they made. And we, as a community that is attempting to take care of itself, lost a powerful voice.

To the 3,710 ColorOfChange.org members who claimed ownership of Tookie Williams and his legacy, who engaged the complexity of the situation and stood up and made your voices heard, thank you. This is what we all hope to do--become informed, engaged, and stand up. And to those who gave the issue consideration but could not sign on, thank you too, for engaging the issue.

Our thoughts go out to those for whom Williams sought deliverance and redemption and to all those needing peace--Tookie Williams, himself, the victims of those who suffered as a result of Williams' actions or other gang activity, Tookie Williams' family, those affected by systemic injustice, and all of us. As we continue without the presence of Tookie, let's hope that each of us will do what we can to increase justice and spread peace, wherever we find ourselves--our communities, our country, our world. No doubt, it's the way Tookie would want us to support his legacy.

Thank You and Peace,

James Rucker
ColorOfChange.org
December 13th, 2005

The Corporate Begging Bowl — by George Monbiot

They bleat about the free market, then insist that we subsidise them.

By George Monbiot
Published in the Guardian
13th December 2005

Never underestimate the self-pity of the ruling classes. Since Labour took office in 1997, the Confederation of British Industry has been engaged in one long whinge. It doesn’t matter that our taxes are among the lowest and our regulations among the weakest in the developed world. It doesn’t matter that the rich are richer than they have ever been. The CBI is the monster with a thousand stomachs, that will never be satisfied. [...]

There is nothing unusual about these handouts for private companies. In his book Peverse Subsidies, published in 2001, Professor Norman Myers estimates that when you add the direct payments US corporations receive to the wider costs they oblige society to carry, you come up with a figure of $2.6 trillion, or roughly five times as much as the profits they make(8). As well as the $362 billion the OECD countries were paying for farming when his book was published (or rather, as we have seen, for activities masquerading as farming) they were shelling out some $71 billion on fossil fuels and nuclear power and a staggering $1.1 trillion on road transport. Worldwide, governments pay companies $25bn a year to destroy the earth’s fisheries, and $14bn to wreck our forests. [...]

Click here for the full article at www.Monbiot.com.

The State of California Has Executed Tookie Williams

By John Simerman and Kiley Russell
Contra Costa Times
December 13, 2005

Stanley Tookie Williams was executed by lethal injection early this morning, ending an emotionally charged campaign to spare the co-founder of the notorious Crips street gang.

Williams, 51, was pronounced dead at 12:35 a.m. after spending nearly half his life on death row.

During the process to inject him with the lethal combination of drugs, Williams appeared frustrated when the prison staff seemed to have difficulty inserting an IV into his left arm. [...]

Click here for the full Contra Costa Times article.

U.S. Internet Censorship — by Wayne Madsen

Choking the Internet:
How much longer will your favorite sites be online?

By Wayne Madsen
Axis of Logic

December 9, 2005 -- Internet censorship. It did not happen overnight but slowly came to America's shores from testing grounds in China and the Middle East.

Progressive and investigative journalist web site administrators are beginning to talk to each other about it, e-mail users are beginning to understand why their e-mail is being disrupted by it, major search engines appear to be complying with it [...]

News reports on CIA prisoner flights and secret prisons are disappearing from Google and other search engines like Alltheweb as fast as they appear. [...]

Google is systematically failing to list and link to articles that contain explosive information about the Bush administration, the war in Iraq, Al Qaeda, and U.S. political scandals. But Google is not alone in working closely to stifle Internet discourse. America On Line, Microsoft, Yahoo and others are slowly turning the Internet into an information superhighway dominated by barricades, toll booths, off-ramps that lead to dead ends, choke points, and security checks. [...]

Click here for the full Axis of Logic article.

Schwarzenegger Refuses Clemency for Tookie Williams

Dec. 12 (Bloomberg) -- California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger refused to stop tomorrow's scheduled execution of Stanley Tookie Williams, a former gang leader and convicted murderer who had won the support of celebrities and Nobel Prize nominations after he renounced violence. [...]

Click here for the full Bloomberg article.

Will "The Terminator" Terminate Tookie? [YES]

Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO With the clock ticking down to the scheduled execution of Stanley Tookie Williams, officials are making final preparations at San Quentin State Prison. Guards are watching Williams for unusual behavior and are recording his activities every 15 minutes.

The death chamber where as many as 50 people are allowed to witness executions has been cleaned. It's also been stocked with fresh supplies of medical tape, syringes and chemicals.

The California Highway Patrol is preparing security measures for outside the prison, where hundreds of people are expected to rally tonight.

Meanwhile, there's no word from the governor's office on whether he'll spare the life of Williams by granting clemency.

Williams is scheduled to be executed at one minute past midnight.

Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved.

What if you had 16 hours, 29 minutes to live?

What would you be thinking — what would you be feeling — if you had but 16 hours and 29 minutes left to live, knowing that you were not going to die of natural causes at some unspecified date and time, but knew that you were scheduled — that's right, scheduled — to die one minute after midnight, tonight, in California's San Quentin prison?

This is what Stanley Tookie Williams faces at present.

Call California Governor Schwarzenegger at (916) 445-2841 and ask him to grant clemency to Mr. Williams. From the UK, dial 001 before this telephone number.

Click here for additional information.

An Aside: Why, like Bush's US Armed Forces dead, must wrongful death be shrouded by darkness, concealed from public view via nighttime maneuvers?

Tony Lagouranis, Former US Army Interrogator: Story Update (12 Dec)

The Tony Lagouranis story continues to grow slowly while awaiting the attention the story warrants.

You may click here for the previous update and for other related posts.

The following table indicates the resulting number of hits, by date, of a Google search performed on "Tony Lagouranis":

1 DEC: 694
2 DEC: 756
3 DEC: 938
4 DEC: 10,700
5 DEC: 12,400
6 DEC: 12,600
7 DEC: 12,900
8 DEC: 12,900
9 DEC: 13,100
10 DEC: 13,300
11 DEC: 13,300
12 DEC: 13,500

This is a 1.5-percent increase in the number of hits since yesterday, or a 1,845-percent increase since December 1.

An update on iNoodle-originating Tony Lagouranis story posts follows:

* Two posts on UK Indymedia, but which originated as iNoodle.com posts, continue to be ranked #3 and #4 of the resulting 13,500 Google hits.

* Two iNoodle.com posts are presently ranked #8 and #9.

The story-breaking PBS FRONTLINE and Democracy Now! interviews continue to be ranked #1 and #2, respectively.

The hits and rankings are relevant only as incidental indicators that we're helping this story to make its way into the public realm. Let's continue to do so.

Tony Lagouranis, Former US Army Interrogator: Story Update (9 Dec)

After a brief stall, the Tony Lagouranis story continues, again, to slowly gather momentum while awaiting the attention of the corporate media.

You may click here for yesterday's update and for other related posts.

The following table indicates the resulting number of hits, by date, of a Google search performed on "Tony Lagouranis":

1 DEC: 694
2 DEC: 756
3 DEC: 938
4 DEC: 10,700
5 DEC: 12,400
6 DEC: 12,600
7 DEC: 12,900
8 DEC: 12,900
9 DEC: 13,100

This is a 1.6-percent increase in the number of hits since yesterday, or a 1,788-percent increase since December 1.

An update on iNoodle-originating Tony Lagouranis story posts follows:

* Two posts on UK Indymedia, but which originated as iNoodle.com posts, are presently ranked #3 and #4 of the resulting 13,100 Google hits.

* Two iNoodle.com posts are presently ranked #8 and #11.

The story-breaking PBS FRONTLINE and Democracy Now! interviews continue to be ranked #1 and #2, respectively.

The hits and rankings are relevant only as incidental indicators that we're helping this story to make its way into the public realm. Let's continue to do so. That these four webpages are ranked #3, #4, #8 and #11 by Google indicates their relative importance in this effort.

Harold Pinter's Nobel Lecture: "Art, Truth & Politics"

"What surrounds us therefore is a vast tapestry of lies, upon which we feed." ~Harold Pinter, 2005 Nobel Laureate, Literature

Please gather family, friends, neighbors, and fellow citizens to watch, together, this extraordinary Nobel Prize acceptance speech.

What Mr. Pinter says in this 46-minute videotaped lecture should be shouted from rooftops worldwide (particularly within the US and UK, where the message is most urgent), considered in the privacy of our own minds, researched to our heart's content, and discussed everywhere we gather: in our homes, at our workplaces, in the marketplace, in public and private gardens, in places of worship and spirituality, in cafés, bars, pubs and restaurants, on the streets, in town meetings and city halls, in university classrooms and lecture halls, in schoolrooms, on the editorial and op-ed pages of our local and national newspapers, in the blogosphere and other internet meeting places, and on community radio and television programs, until such time as the complicit corporate media is forced to speak truth to the citizenry rather than boldfaced lies on behalf of an anti-democratic corporate-political elite.

Let us carry within us, and communicate to the world, words of truth such that no dark, dank place is left for our war-criminal, corporate politicians and their propagandists to hide. Let us, then, begin to usher in true democracy, in which—for the first time in history—the citizenry, we, are self-respecting and respected, critically educated, and empowered to mature as whole human beings, unshackled, finally, from the corrupting effects of political paternalism.

Due to his presently undergoing cancer treatment, Harold Pinter's Nobel Lecture was pre-recorded, and shown on video December 7, 2005, in Börssalen at the Swedish Academy in Stockholm.

His videotaped lecture is available for both high- and low- bandwidth internet connections. The lecture is also available in text format in the following languages: English, Swedish, French and German.

Click here to access the lecture in these various formats via the official Nobel Prize website.

Sean M. Madden (iNoodle.com)

Tony Lagouranis, Former US Army Interrogator: Story Update (8 Dec)

There has been no change since yesterday in the results of a Google search performed on "Tony Lagouranis". You may click here for yesterday's update and for other related posts.

Let's continue to spread word of the importance of Tony Lagouranis's firsthand account of the torture and abuse he witnessed, and participated in, during his time in Iraq. Please also consider sending an email or letter to local and national newspaper editors as well as radio and TV producers—in the US and UK—requesting that they cover this story. Or, make this request by telephoning their offices.

The al-Jazeera revelation — by Saleh Bechir

George W Bush’s musings about bombing the leading Arab satellite TV station betray hard truths about the United States’s “war on terror”, says Saleh Bechir.

by Saleh Bechir (translated from the French by Alexandra Matine)
7 December 2005
openDemocracy

The absurdity of censorship attempts is that they usually end by exposing to the audience what they seek to hide. The reaction of the British government to the Mirror report about George W Bush and al-Jazeera is a perfect illustration. If Tony Blair’s office had wanted to confirm the newspaper’s claim – that a memo of a meeting between the United States president and the British prime minister indicated that Bush wished to bomb the Qatar-based broadcaster – it would have reacted in precisely the same way. [...]

From this point of view, and not prejudging its military or political outcome, the war is already a failure. From Guantánamo to Abu Ghraib, from the CIA “black sites” in Europe to the use of white phosphorus on the civilians of Fallujah, the American war has become unbearable. These deeds, if committed by any other “rogue state”, would be considered war crimes or crimes against humanity. True, there is no such thing as a “clean war”. But Bush’s war is self-polluted by the blatant contradictions between its claimed motivations and its reality. [...]

Click here for the full openDemocracy article.

Acts of defiance against war turned ordinary people into criminals — by Jason Bennetto and Terry Kirby

* Maya Evans, 25, convicted for reading out names of 97 British soldiers killed in Iraq at unauthorised protest.
* Douglas Barker, 72, threatened with jail for withholding part of his tax payment in protest at the Iraq conflict.
* Malcolm Kendall-Smith, a 37-year-old RAF medical officer, facing court-martial for refusing to serve in Iraq

By Jason Bennetto and Terry Kirby
The Independent
08 December 2005

In three different British courtrooms yesterday, three ordinary people stood accused of three very different crimes, but all based simply on their opposition to the war in Iraq. [...]

Click here for the full Independent article.

Tony Lagouranis, Former US Army Interrogator: Story Update (7 Dec)

Briefly, the Tony Lagouranis story continues to slowly gather momentum while awaiting widespread media attention. In the meantime, internet activists continue to spread word of the story via blogs, email, etc. in the realization that concerned citizens mustn't wait for the corporate media which is complicit in the perpetration of US and UK war crimes in Iraq to come forward, of their own accord, to present such war crimes to their public audiences.

You may click here for yesterday's update and for other related posts.

Also, Chris Kulczycki has researched and compiled excerpts and links concerning torture, what it is, why it is perpetrated, techniques used in Iraq, proffered justification for torture, etc. NOTE: Chris's post contains four photographs, all of which are disturbing, but some of which are particularly graphic. Beneath Chris's compilation of information are more than a hundred comments in response to his post and others' comments.

The following table indicates the resulting number of hits, by date, of a Google search performed on "Tony Lagouranis":

1 DEC: 694
2 DEC: 756
3 DEC: 938
4 DEC: 10,700
5 DEC: 12,400
6 DEC: 12,600
7 DEC: 12,900

This is a 2.4-percent increase in the number of hits since yesterday, or a 1,759-percent increase since December 1.

An update on iNoodle-originating Tony Lagouranis story posts follows:

* Two posts on UK Indymedia, but which originated as iNoodle.com posts, are presently ranked #4 and #5 of the resulting 12,900 Google hits.

* Two iNoodle.com posts are presently ranked #8 and #9.

The story-breaking PBS FRONTLINE and Democracy Now! interviews continue to be ranked #1 and #2, respectively.

The hits and rankings are relevant only as incidental indicators that we're helping this story to make its way into the public realm. Let's continue to do so. That these four webpages are ranked #4, #5, #8 and #9 by Google indicates their relative importance in this effort.

NAACP Leader Urges Clemency for Williams — Associated Press

NAACP President Urges Clemency for Death Row Convict He Sees As Anti-Gang 'Secret Weapon'

Associated Press

SACRAMENTO, Calif. Dec 6, 2005 — Calling death row inmate Stanley Tookie Williams a "secret weapon" for helping black men stay out of gangs, the head of the NAACP traveled across California on Tuesday to rally support for clemency for the convicted killer.

Bruce Gordon, president and chief executive of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said executing Williams on Dec. 13 would be a mistake.

"He is our secret weapon to help young African-Americans avoid gangs," Gordon said. "We want to save his life so he can save the lives of others." [...]

In Sacramento, Gordon delivered signed petitions from more than 56,000 people to Schwarzenegger's office, urging him to grant Williams clemency. Gordon said Schwarzenegger turned down an invitation to meet with him.

Click here for the full article.

Click here for my November 30 "Clemency Call" post and for a link to sign an online clemency petition.

Tony Lagouranis, Former US Army Interrogator: Story Update (6 Dec)

The Tony Lagouranis story continues to grow, but at a slower pace, while it (actively) awaits the attention of the complicit US and UK corporate media to give the story its due.

You may click here for yesterday's update and for other related posts.

The following table indicates the resulting number of hits, by date, of a Google search performed on "Tony Lagouranis":

1 DEC: 694
2 DEC: 756
3 DEC: 938
4 DEC: 10,700
5 DEC: 12,400
6 DEC: 12,600

The bad news: this is only a 1.6-percent increase in the number of hits since yesterday. The good news: this is a 1,716-percent increase since December 1.

The Tony Lagouranis story update which I posted to UK Indymedia (and, originally, to iNoodle.com) on December 2 continues to move up the page-rankings (#4 at present) of the first page of the resulting 12,600 Google hits.

More good news ...

Although the UK Indymedia article began as a humble iNoodle post, prior to my publishing it on UK Indymedia, two iNoodle.com updates on the Tony Lagouranis story now appear in their own right on the first page of the resulting hits, and are presently ranked #7 and #8. The story-breaking PBS FRONTLINE and Democracy Now! interviews continue to be ranked #1 and #2, respectively and deservingly.

The hits and rankings are relevant only as incidental indicators that we're helping this story to make its way into the public realm. Let's continue to do so. That these three webpages are ranked #4, #7 and #8 by Google indicates their relative importance in this effort.

Beyond its audiences in the US and UK, iNoodle.com has received visitors from Canada, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Malta, Slovakia, Japan, Thailand, Honk Kong, India, Sri Lanka, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Mexico and Cuba.

Many of these international visitors have found their way to iNoodle.com by way of the various Tony Lagouranis story updates, while others have come to us via links to our other original and third-party content.

Worse Than Fossil Fuel — by George Monbiot

Biodiesel enthusiasts have accidentally invented the most carbon-intensive fuel on earth

By George Monbiot
Published in the Guardian
6th December 2005

Over the past two years I have made an uncomfortable discovery. Like most environmentalists, I have been as blind to the constraints affecting our energy supply as my opponents have been to climate change. I now realise that I have entertained a belief in magic.

In 2003, the biologist Jeffrey Dukes calculated that the fossil fuels we burn in one year were made from organic matter “containing 44×10 to the 18 grams of carbon, which is more than 400 times the net primary productivity of the planet’s current biota.”(1) In plain English, this means that every year we use four centuries’ worth of plants and animals.

The idea that we can simply replace this fossil legacy – and the extraordinary power densities it gives us – with ambient energy is the stuff of science fiction. There is simply no substitute for cutting back. [...]

Click here for the full article at www.Monbiot.com.

The Struggle Against Ourselves — by George Monbiot

Speech to the Climate March, 3rd December 2005.

By George Monbiot
Published 5 Dec 2005
www.Monbiot.com

I want to take a moment to remind you of where we have come from.

For the first three million years of human history, we lived according to circumstance. Our lives were ruled by the happenstances of ecology. We existed, as all animals do, in fear of hunger, predation, weather and disease. [...]

I hear people talking about the carbon cuts they would like to see. I am not interested in what people would like to see. I am interesed in what the science says. And the science is clear. We need not a 20% cut by 2020; not a 60% cut by 2050, but a 90% cut by 2030. Only then do we stand a good chance of keeping carbon concentrations in the atmosphere below 430 parts per million, which means that only then do we stand a good chance of preventing some of the threatened positive feedbacks. If we let it get beyond that point there is nothing we can do. The biosphere takes over as the primary source of carbon. It is out of our hands. [...]

Click here for the full article at www.Monbiot.com.

Tony Lagouranis, Former US Army Interrogator: Story Update (5 Dec)

Happy Monday morning, iNoodlers!

In brief, the Tony Lagouranis story continues to grow. You may click here for yesterday's update and to link to other related posts.

The following table indicates the resulting number of hits, by date, of a Google search performed on "Tony Lagouranis":

1 DEC: 694
2 DEC: 756
3 DEC: 938
4 DEC: 10,700
5 DEC: 12,400

This is a 16-percent increase in the number of hits since yesterday, or a 1,687-percent increase since December 1.

The Tony Lagouranis story update which I posted to UK Indymedia (and, originally, to iNoodle.com) on December 2 has continued moving up the page-rankings of the first page of the resulting 12,400 Google hits.

Additionally, an update posted to UK Indymedia on December 3 has climbed its way to the first page of hits as well despite UK Indymedia's editorial decision, pending review, to "hide" the page as being, in essence, a repeat post; the December 4 post is presently in this status as well.

I have voiced my disagreement with this editorial decision on the grounds that the importance of the new information warrants a separate news update. Is yesterday's reported 1,041-percent increase from 938 to 10,700 hits not newsworthy given that the complicit corporate media have failed to cover this story which provides a firsthand account of war crimes which the US and UK governments deny? Would such a percentage increase in, say, a stock market index not warrant a separate article?

Regardless, the unbiased Google page-rankings make it clear that the worldwide internet public finds the updates relevant, and two of the UK Indymedia posts are presently ranked #6 and #7, with the story-breaking PBS FRONTLINE and Democracy Now! interviews being #1 and #2, respectively.

The hits and rankings are relevant only as incidental indicators that we're helping this story to make its way into the public realm. Let's continue to do so.

Why the Democrats Are NOT the Answer

Introduction by Sean/iNoodle.com:

The below article from the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) website indicates why the Democrats (or their British New Labour brethren) are not the answer, nor the solution, to US war crimes.

I subscribe to the DLC's New Dem Weekly "The View From the Vital Center" emailing so that I may keep an eye on these neocon-liberals.

*****
Democratic Leadership Council (DLC)
New Dem Dispatch
December 1, 2005

Iraq and the Vital Center

Yesterday, President Bush unveiled a "plan for victory" to shore up sagging public confidence in his Iraq policies. Though it broke little new ground, the president's speech at the U.S. Naval Academy did provoke an unfortunate reaction from House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, who endorsed Rep. John Murtha's earlier call for a swift withdrawal of U.S. troops.

We share the widespread frustration with the Bush administration's utterly inept handling of Iraq's post-conflict rebuilding. But too much is at stake in Iraq for America to simply give up and come home. What Democrats really should demand from President Bush is victory, not a hasty departure.

Click here to read the full DLC article.

Tony Lagouranis Story Update (4 Dec): 1,442% Increase in Hits in 3 Days

The story of Tony Lagouranis, the former US Army interrogator in Iraq, is beginning to take off, growing at a far more appropriate pace these past 24 hours.

The following table indicates the resulting number of hits, by date, of a Google search performed on "Tony Lagouranis":

1 DEC: 694
2 DEC: 756
3 DEC: 938
4 DEC: 10,700

This shows a 1,442-percent increase in the number of hits over the past three days, or a 1,041-percent increase since yesterday. For comparison purposes, yesterday's two-day increase was 35-percent. Such an increase demonstrates tremendous growth in interest, as the reach of this important story into the public consciousness and conscience begins to deepen.

The Tony Lagouranis story update which I posted to UK Indymedia (and, originally, to iNoodle.com) on December 2 is now appearing on the first page of the resulting 10,700 Google hits. This indicates the relative importance of this post as calculated by Google's page-ranking algorithm, which is based, in part, on the number of websites (and their relative importance) which link to a particular webpage.

The story is now on-track to reach the level of another important story, that of Deborah Davis. Yesterday, a Google search on "Deborah Davis" bus resulted in 23,800 hits. Today, the same search produces 27,800 hits; so, this story continues to grow as well, but seems to be tapering off, at least for the time being.

Let's continue to spread the word of the importance of Tony Lagouranis's firsthand account of the torture and abuse he witnessed during his time in Iraq. You may also consider sending an email or letter to local and national newspaper editors as well as radio and TV producers, in the US and UK, requesting that they cover this story. Or, telephone their offices.

When the US president continues to insist that Americans don't torture, and the British prime minister supports this president's claims, then Tony Lagouranis's firsthand account which contradicts official US and UK statements is of tremendous importance.

Let's not allow a complicit corporate media to get away with keeping this story from the public's eyes, ears and minds.

Sean M. Madden (iNoodle.com)

Tony Lagouranis, Former US Army Interrogator: Story Update (3 Dec)

The story of Tony Lagouranis, the former US Army interrogator in Iraq, continues to grow, but not quickly enough.

The following table indicates the resulting number of hits, by date, of a Google search performed on "Tony Lagouranis":

1 DEC: 694
2 DEC: 756
3 DEC: 938

This shows a 35-percent increase in the number of hits over the past two days. Such an increase demonstrates growing interest; yet, the reach of this story into the public consciousness and conscience must deepen. Consider, for example, that a Google search on "Deborah Davis" bus -- another important story -- presently results in 23,800 hits.

Let's continue to spread the word of the importance of Tony Lagouranis's firsthand account of the torture and abuse he witnessed during his time in Iraq. You may also consider sending an email or letter to local and national newspaper editors as well as radio and TV producers, in the US and UK, requesting that they cover this story. Or, telephone their offices.

When the US president continues to insist that Americans don't torture, and the British prime minister supports this president's claims, then Tony Lagouranis's firsthand account which contradicts official US and UK statements is of tremendous importance.

Let's not allow a complicit corporate media to get away with keeping this story from the public's eyes, ears and minds.

Sean M. Madden (iNoodle.com)

Refusal to present ID sparks test of rights — by Karen Abbott

Introduction by Sean/iNoodle.com:

This is the news story which is referred to in the Doris Colmes article I posted, along with an introduction, on November 30. While this case may seem relatively petty on the surface, we concerned citizens mustn't stand on the sidelines while our precious civil liberties are eroded, day by day, to the point that we may no longer have recourse to openly resist government intrusion.

*****
by Karen Abbott
Rocky Mountain News (Colorado, US)
November 29, 2005

Federal prosecutors are reviewing whether to pursue charges against an Arvada woman who refused to show identification to federal police while riding an RTD bus through the Federal Center in Lakewood.

Deborah Davis, 50, was ticketed for two petty offenses Sept. 26 by officers who commonly board the RTD bus as it passes through the Federal Center and ask passengers for identification. [...]

Davis is to appear before a magistrate judge in Colorado U.S. District Court on Dec. 9.

"We don't believe the federal government has the legal authority to put Deborah Davis in jail, or even make her pay a fine, just because she declined the government's request for identification," said Mark Silverstein, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado, which has taken up the case.

"She was commuting to her job," Silverstein said. "She wasn't doing anything wrong. She wasn't even suspected of doing anything wrong."

"Passengers aren't required to carry passports or any other identification documents in order to ride to work on a public bus," he said. [...]

Click here for the full Rocky Mountain News article.

A Thorough Going Radical

The following is an excerpt from a December 1 post by Turbulent Cleric, a Methodist minister in Devon, England (the links are mine):

[...] I also present 'iNoodle' produced by Sean who is an American living in England. Sean is a thorough going radical. I am impressed at his stand against war and in favour of human rights. Like me, Sean is concerned that in the UK and US, democracy has been eroded. We are both concerned with the question as to how we can build a real democracy rather than the plaything of corporate interests.

I recommend these sites to all readers. There are voices of hope in America and rather than divide on national grounds behind petty prejudices, we need for those who strive to keep hope alive, to dialogue on the massive questions that confront us.

Click here for the full "I Love America" post by Turbulent Cleric.

BBC broadcast fake news reports — by SpinWatch

A SpinWatch investigation has revealed that journalists working for the Services Sound and Vision Corporation (SSVC) have been commissioned to provide news reports to the BBC. The BBC has been using these reports as if they were genuine news. In fact, the SSVC is entirely funded by the Ministry of Defence as a propaganda operation, which according to its own website makes a 'considerable contribution' to the 'morale' of the armed forces. [...]

Click here for the full article via the UK Indymedia website.

Story of Former US Army Interrogator, Tony Lagouranis, Is Growing

Good news. The story of Tony Lagouranis, the former US Army interrogator, is growing. Yesterday, I posted the following paragraph:

"As an indication of how relative few inroads this story is making into the public conscience, the Google search which I just performed (1 Dec 05; 12:56pm GMT) on "Tony Lagouranis" resulted in 694 hits. For the subject of a story of such international import, this is very low."

As of 9:52am GMT on December 2, the same Google search resulted in 756 hits. This is still low, but indicates growing interest.

Where People Cannot Afford Their Country — by Dahr Jamail and Harb Al-Mukhtar

Inter Press Service
Dahr Jamail and Harb Al-Mukhtar

BAGHDAD, Dec 1 (IPS) - Despite the allocation of billions of dollars of U.S. government money for "reconstruction", Iraqis are struggling to exist amidst soaring prices, unemployment, a devastated infrastructure, and cuts in services.

[...] According to Harriman's research, 6 billion dollars in assets were left over from the UN Oil for Food programme, and revenue from resumed Iraqi oil exports brought another 10 billion dollars in the year following the invasion.

Nevertheless, while the U.S. Congress voted to spend 18.4 billion dollars of U.S. taxpayers' money in Iraq on 'reconstruction', Harriman says that "by 28 June last year, when Bremer left Baghdad two days early to avoid possible attack on the way to the airport, his CPA (Coalition Provisional Authority) had spent up to 20 billion dollars of Iraqi money, compared to 300 million dollars of U.S. funds." [...]

Click here for the full article via the Dahr Jamail Iraq website.

Email to David Michael Green

Below is an email I sent to David Michael Green (1 Dec 05; 18:07 GMT) in response to his "Carpe Diem, Progressives" article, which I posted to iNoodle.com at 18:16:


Bravo, Mr. Green! I shall post your article to my blog (www.iNoodle.com/blog.html) the moment I send this email.

HOWEVER ...

"Again, it is the conservative movement of the last several decades which, unfortunately and more unfortunately still, provides the model here. They have been expert at keying into a handful of succinct, powerful and emotionally-evocative images which attract voters where they actually live – in their guts – not in their heads."

... This statement I find disturbing, as it suggests -- though perhaps I am misconstruing your true meaning or intent? -- that your idea of progressive democracy is not one in which the citizenry is respected as a partner in the governance of a nation (i.e., as in a true democracy, by definition and etymology), but that the regressive conservatives were right to speak rhetoric to be digested in the gut rather than intelligent and truthful words to be digested in the mind.

The loathsome Democrats -- which I cringe at being coupled with progressives as they seek very different ends despite occasional rhetoric to the contrary -- have become so loathed (as indicated by widespread a/political despair and perpetual low voter-turnout throughout the country) in great part because of their mimicking the Republican party's use of "succinct, powerful and emotionally-evocative images" as a means to "attract voters" rather than to govern the nation with integrity.

Such images are empty of substance, and the American public is as sick of such empty rhetoric from the Democrats as they are from the Republicans. Perpetually propagandizing the public, as both parties have done with such efficacy, and then having the gall to play to its ignorance is the epitome of a disgraceful politics.

Let us not further deteriorate the very last vestiges of hope which true progressives have for democracy by taking on the very worst of the regressive conservative tactics, the playing to "succinct, powerful and emotionally-evocative images". Let us, instead, respect the citizenry and speak truth to power and to the populace, which is us.

Please tell me that I've somehow misconstrued your meaning/intent ...

In peace,

Sean

Carpe Diem, Progressives — by David Michael Green

November 29, 2005
Common Dreams

Can you feel it? This, finally, is our moment.

We may not have spent forty years in the desert, but the twenty-five since Reagan the cardboard cowboy rode into town have been plenty long enough. And, anyway, the last five have been like five hundred for anybody with a brain or a heart.

But the good news is that today, without question, the movement of regressive politics in America (also known – wrongly – as conservatism) is crashing up against the shoals of its own inanity, and the American public is finally beginning to sober up after cutting loose on a quarter-century’s bender, fueled by the frightening fantasies of the right. Just the last two weeks alone feel like an attitudinal sea change in America. [...]

Yes, this is – finally – truly our moment. However, it is a moment to be seized, not to be passively received. For everything is at stake in how progressives handle the meltdown of the right.

What is crucial is that current developments not be recorded in the public consciousness as a failed presidency alone, but rather as a disastrously failed ideology. Progressives must make sure that what is now happening is understood – that is, framed – for what it in fact is, not for what a desperate right will try to spin it as, once they too have thrown the plummeting Bush overboard in a scramble to save their own skins. This is a once-only opportunity for us destroy the cancer of regressive conservatism in America for a generation or more, and we must not miss this train. [...]

Click here for the full article via Common Dreams.

Howard Dean Shills For AIPAC — by Joshua Frank

Democrats Forget Palestine, Again and Again...
Howard Dean’s Blunt Message
by Joshua Frank
www.dissidentvoice.org
November 30, 2005

DNC Chair Howard Dean has a fickle stance on virtually every foreign policy issue thrown his way. None, however, are more telling of his party’s incompetence than his posture on the Israeli/Palestinian issue, which is virtually identical to that of the neocons.

Recently Dean returned from a week-long jaunt to Israel sponsored by the National Jewish Democratic Council (NJDC). Shortly after his return Dean spoke to an elite crowd of American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) friends and lobbyists in Philadelphia about his trip to Israel. And the audience was pleased with what they heard. [...]

Click here for the full Dissident Voice article.

Former U.S. Army Interrogator Describes the Harsh Techniques He Used in Iraq — Democracy Now!

Introduction by Sean/iNoodle.com:

The below is an excerpt from the Democracy Now! webpage which corresponds with the segment broadcast on November 15th. Video, audio and a written transcript of this interview between Amy Goodman and Tony Lagouranis are available via this webpage.

That this interview is now more than two weeks old makes it no less relevant. Indeed, that the media has done so little with this firsthand account of a US Army interrogator in Iraq makes it all the more relevant.

As Levity stated on Daily Kos—and which I included in my post from yesterday—this story "will disappear until bloggers start talking about it. Only PBS Frontline and Democracy Now! have dared to interview U.S. interrogator Tony Lagouranis, who reports widespread torture and abuse throughout Iraq."

As an indication of how relative few inroads this story is making into the public conscience, the Google search which I just performed (1 Dec 05; 12:56pm GMT) on "Tony Lagouranis" resulted in 694 hits. For the subject of a story of such international import, this is very low.

Please help to spread word of this important story. Let neither false patriotism nor cynical resignation stand in the way of the crucial search for truth in these treacherous times.

Democracy Now!
November 15, 2005

With deep remorse, former U.S. Army interrogator Specialist Tony Lagouranis talks about his own involvement with abusing detainees in Iraq and torture carried out by the Navy Seals. He apologizes to the Iraqi people and urges U.S. soldiers to follow their conscience. Lagouranis returned from Iraq in January and until now had given no live interviews. But Lagouranis says he now feels it his duty to speak out about what he witnessed in Iraq:

* His use of harsh interrogation techniques on prisoners in Iraq including dogs, sleep deprivation, prolonged isolation and dietary manipulation.

* How Navy SEALS induced hypothermia by using ice water to lower the body temperature of prisoners.

* Serving in Fallujah and going through the clothes and pockets of some 500 dead bodies to try and identify them.

* The corpses on men, women and children in Fallujah, which had been lying in the streets for days and had been "eaten by dogs and birds and maggots," were then stacked up in a warehouse where U.S. soldiers ate and slept.

Click here for the Democracy Now! webpage.