When the global economy crashed in 2008 and their country went Bankrupt, the people of Iceland remained defiant, refusing to pay for the mistakes of a financial monopoly. They boldly rejected the European Union and IMF, with 93% of the population voting against repayment of the debt created by unregulated bankers.
Not content with just sticking it to the banks, Icelanders drafted a whole new constitution, one that would free the country from the exaggerated power of international finance and virtual money.
The mostly symbolic gesture by Icelandic parliament recognizes Palestine based on the 1967 borders and “urges Israelis and Palestinians to seek a peace agreement on the basis of international law and UN resolutions.”
Watch out, world! If you get labelled a terrorist by the government of the United States, you run the risk of spontaneously exploding. No one is safe, not even American citizens.
Why, just this week, the CIA and US Military targeted an American living in Yemen, killing him with a drone strike. His crimes? Making incendiary Youtube videos, it seems. Although he may have done much worse, we’ll never know thanks to his being terminated without a trial or due process.
It is hard to overstate the seriousness of this precedent. A government that assassinates its own population bears the markings of an authoritarian state. And should this same government declare the whole world to be a battlefield, it has given itself license to commit long distance murder, anywhere on earth, with impunity.
Corporations, bankers, and the war machine have all run amok. It is time to take to the streets and reclaim the democratic system. Enough is enough.
Yeah, right. Is that the same democracy and freedom currently being enjoyed by Iraqis and Afghans?
In all seriousness, it’s time for Americans to wake up and see what they are doing to the world. Exporting war and weapons is no way to build peace. Nor is there any honor in making a living off getting people killed.
It doesn’t matter that the bans are for a set period of time, or that they are localized to a few boroughs. Restricting the right to voice discontent, even for a single moment, in any place, is far too much!
The problem is the precedent the motion sets. The same mechanisms which ban public protests for a month can quite easily ban them indefinitely.
In the US, UK, and elsewhere, these sweeping restrictions in response to minor uprisings should not go unchallenged. Fight to stop them from taking away your civil liberties, because you will most certainly have to fight to get them back.
Be outraged! Don’t shirk your responsibility – speak out against the consistent expansion of police powers. Let your voice be heard about these and any injustices you see!
Glenn Greenwald wrote a concise exposé into the hypocrisy surrounding Bahrain and the United States. As Greenwald details, the gap between President Obama’s words and the actions of his administration is quite substantial.
Leading [Bahraini] political opposition figures have been sentenced to long prison terms, in some cases for life, solely for their role in organizing the large street protests.
[America’s] DSCA notified Congress today of a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Government of Bahrain for Armored High Mobility Multi-Purpose Wheeled Vehicles, TOW Missiles and associated equipment, parts, training and logistical support worth an estimated $53 million.
So, why on earth would the American government sell weapons to merciless thugs who will, most certainly, use them on the civilian population? Well, the answer is in the DSCA’s press release itself:
This proposed sale will … improve the security of a major non-NATO ally that has been, and continues to be, an important force for political stability and economic progress in the Middle East.
In other words, Bahrain is loyal to America and it’s largest corporations. As long as the tiny country’s corrupt regime keeps playing the game, any butt-kickings issued by Bahrain’s security forces are free to be stamped with MADE IN THE USA.
Next week, the UN is set to vote on the establishment of a recognized Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem. While the vote would be mostly symbolic, Palestinians hope the elevated stature would give them more clout in future negotiations with Israel.
Israel opposes the move, worried that their illegally occupied Palestinian territories would now be officially illegal in the eyes of the International community. Should this happen, sanctions would likely be issued by a world that opposes Israel’s incessant human rights violations.
But why? What specifically does the Conservative government hope to gain by emulating the United States? Another economic recession? A war machine running out of control? A corporately controlled electoral system? Mounting animosity from the rest of the world?
The American Empire is in decline and Israel is finding itself all alone in the world. It is a mistake to hitch our wagon to these dying horses. Come next election, Canadians will hopefully show Stephen Harper and his Conservatives the error of their ways.
Be aware. It’s trying to hide, just up ahead in the shadows. Lurking, waiting for the right moment to pounce. It’s Big Brother. Totalitarianism. The police state.
Not to be alarmist here, but the past ten years of ludicrously overpriced security theater has put our entire world on the brink of a disastrous end – enslaved by the system we created to protect us.
Take, for example, one of the blights which arose after 9/11: America’s Patriot Act. This tool for terrorism prevention has been used predominantly to enforce drug prohibition – a cause which has already proven to be lost. Of the over 1700 warrants issued under the Patriot Act, 1618 were used for drug searches, while just 15 were used to prevent actual terrorism.
Right now, the cops and feds are using these new powers to bust drug crime, which is bad enough, but what happens when dissension – the act of speaking out against power – becomes synonymous with terrorism?
Plus don’t forget the Citizens United bill, the one that gives American corporations unlimited political spending. Having been enacted nearly two years ago, one wonders what corporate lobbyists have in the works now… Walmart for President?
And this is just in the United States, leader of the Free World. All over the planet, major powers – like the UK, Canada, and India – have been systematically stripping entire populations of freedom, shifting us closer to where one of the world’s new superpowers – China – already is. And, believe me, we don’t want to deal with a Great Firewall or disappearing dissidents.
Now, please note that as an optimist, I truly believe humankind will persevere and overcome the threat of a global totalitarian demise. Our resourcefulness and cunning will prove superior to the encroaching fascist system, and we will inevitably find a way to break free from the grip of tyranny.
But that’s no reason to delay. The longer we wait to protect ourselves from Big Brother, the harder the struggle will be. So be sure to act now!
Later this month, it is expected that the United Nations will vote in Palestine as a new member nation, based on the 1967 borders. When this happens, Israel’s current occupation of Palestinian land will be officially illegal in the eyes of the international community.
In preparation, Israel’s military – the IDF – has been handing out tear gas and stun grenades to civilians, anticipating the coming demonstrations from the newly freed Palestinians. But what they should really be preparing for are the economic sanctions coming from the rest of the world in response to Israel’s decades long record of human rights violations.
But the US is waning as the world’s superpower, and without their giant ally overseas to protect them, Israel is fast finding itself alone, surrounded by enemies while facing a huge upswell of dissension from within.
It won’t be long until the State of Israel has no choice but to capitulate to mounting pressure from the globe, forever ceasing their crimes against humanity. What a glorious day this will be for the world’s peace movement.
The leaked cable provides evidence that U.S. troops executed at least 10 Iraqi civilians, including a woman in her 70s and a 5-month-old infant, and then they called in an airstrike to destroy the evidence!!! Autopsies showed that all the dead – including four woman and five children aged 5 years or younger – had been handcuffed and shot in the head.
Disgusting.
Hopefully these and other leaked documents will provide the push needed to hold the key players behind this war – Bush, Cheney, Rummy – accountable for their crimes against humanity. Then, maybe the next time a problem arises, leaders won’t be quite so eager to drop the bombs.
