Monday, May 31, 2010
Crosspost: Sanitizing War: What would "Memorial Day" Be Without The Memories?
"We don't do body counts,"General Tommy Franks, commander of the U.S. invasions of both Afghanistan and Iraq, famously remarked, when asked about Iraqi civilian casualties. We do do body counts of our own -- though we don't talk about them much. (source)
In modified form, from Auntie Imperial's News & Blog Review
The war to liberate Southeast Asia from communism resulted in the deaths of 3.5 million Vietnamese, 2 million Laotians & Cambodians, and 58,000 Americans.
Rather than raping and pillaging the lands for its resources, the American military napalmed its jungles, carpet bombed its cities, defoliated the jungles with 20 million gallons of herbicides (including Agent Orange) and slaughtered women and children (My Lai Massacre).
It was easy to rationalize these acts when referring to the inhabitants as gooks, dinks, tunnel rats, and Uncle Ben's boys. Racism makes it easy to treat human beings as objects and dehumanize your acts of horror. ~~Jim Quinn, Charlie Don't Surf, OpEd News, February 2009
Here's a little something Auntie Imperial lashed together for Memorial Day 2010. It's Dedicated to those who have fallen, and Americans still at risk, in our ongoing IMPERIAL wars.
[Pop Out Player]
(Also See: Vietnamistan - PoP dEFECT Radio, Agitational Propaganda For A 'Failed State')
The bulk of the rest of this post is taken from Cabale News Service's Labor Day post last year titled: A 'Labor Day' Message - The Working Class And The Employing Class Have NOTHING In Common. It has been slightly edited for clarity.
Labor Day 2009...
There was a breaking story.
It revolved around an image of a dying soldier, Lance Cpl. Joshua Bernard.
As we head into Memorial Day 2010... because it's not JUST Memorial Day this weekend, it's also Trillion Dollar Day because that's what the AfPakIraq war has cost us (The direct cost of occupying Iraq and Afghanistan)... so far, with no real end in sight, just troops moved from theatre (Iraq) to theatre (Afghanistan) to theatre (See here for a list of them)I think we should all ruminate on what we're getting for that money.
Yes.
Peace?
No.
Security?
NOT!
Dead soldiers?
Absofuckinglutely!
But the Pentagon, and the other interested parties who want you to just simply play along with their murderous imperial wars like "Good Americans-cum-Germans" don't want you to think about... REALLY think about, those Absofuckinglutely dead soldiers.
Source, PoP dEFECT Radio, Courtesy of Skidmark Bob Freek Radio Santa Cruz |
To Wit, one of the headlines @ Cabale News Service, on Labor Day 2009 read:
"Not Supposed To..." Times Two:
One of the primary rules of Journalism... "The journalist IS "NOT supposed to" become part of the story..." has been broken by Associated Press, apparently not on purpose, but because they 'violated' a 'rule' of American social mores...
Associated Press has published a picture of a dying US Marine, Lance Cpl. Joshua Bernard.
Lance Cpl. Joshua Bernard is tended to by fellow U.S. Marines in Afghanistan.
Photograph: Julie Jacobson/AP
Astonishing! If you thought the pictures of soldier's caskets coming into Dover AFB raised a shitstorm, you ain't seen nuthin'.
It IS notable that it took a FEMALE photojournalist to push this limit.
What's ALSO notable is that Photobucket violated my TOS over this picture, NOT due to AP's copyright or insistence, but due to it's graphic nature, despite MANY pictures of dead and dying Iraqis and other third world folk in my album, including THIS gruesome and heartbreaking photo:
It's nice to know that PhotoBucket.com cares more about American soldiers and their privacy-in-their-dying-moments than an INNOCENT BLOOD-SPATTERED IRAQI CHILD SCREAMING IN GRIEF OVER THE MURDER BY US SOLDIERS OF HER FAMILY WHILE SHE WAS SITTING NEXT TO THEM IN THE FAMILY CAR.
Censorship is NOT Dead in America.
The Guardian UK hints that the flap over it's publication was essentially merit-less :
It is a graphic image of the harsh realities of war: the fatally wounded young marine lying crumpled in the mud, his vulnerable face turned to the camera. And it is one the US defence secretary would rather you did not see.
Lance Corporal Joshua Bernard, pictured being tended by comrades in southern Afghanistan, died of his injuries soon after. Now the release of this record of the 21-year-old's last moments has divided America, prompting furious debate over the sanitisation of war at a critical time for the military offensive. [In Full]
Whereas Tom Ricks, EX-Washington Post War Reporter, now ensconced as a pundit for CNAS (Neo-Liberal Think Tank) affiliated Foreign Policy magazine Headlined it this way:
"The dying marine: What the hell was the AP thinking?"
Yours truly responded to Mr. Ricks, as have others...
I'm just surprised... stunned really, that it made it to copy at all in the current milieu of 'embedded' reporting and "'sanitized' for the discerning media consumer who doesn't want their conscience bothered" war reporting by the majors.
.
.
.
If the Pentagon, and your peers at CNAS want to continue these worthless wars Tom... Better stop the lying, the dissuasion from the belief that we're not vulnerable to the mayhem and non-culpable for it.. and hiding our deaths (incl the mundane, such as the returning caskets @ Dover AFB) in these wars IS a particularly creepy, Big-Brotherish, semantically corrupt, way to lie to the citizens of the country.
I feel for this soldier and his family, but "War Is Hell", whether one wins OR loses, as a nation, and as an individual human.
Condolences from AP is in order... Maybe they should MAKE SURE that the soldier's family gets every single benefit due them, because the Pentagon sure won't.
But they DO NOT owe an apology.
The last so many presidential administrations INCLUDING the current regime owe his family that.
.
.
.
([Should we] Publish this picture...) To a nation full of children raised on video game and fantasy movie violence?
Whose parents who often don't let those children out of their sight to the age of majority?
A nation who's media panders them and tells them they NEED the trinkets sold them ('trinkets' often produced by what amounts to 3rd world slave labor) at behaviour controlled shopping malls where they lose the ability to socialize or empathize with anyone besides people just like them (consumers of products we destroy countries like Afghanistan to obtain the extractive resources for..)
([Should we] Publish this picture...) YES! Absolutely.
[Read what Tom Ricks had to say, and other comments, at his Blog, The Best Defense]
Friday, May 28, 2010
May 28 2010 Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: Memorial Day Musings - The 'National Guard'... All Of A Sudden Things Ain't What They Used To Be
"All The News You Never Knew You Needed To Know ...Until Now." May 28 2010 Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: Memorial Day Musings On The U.S. Military - The 'National Guard'... All Of A Sudden Things Ain't What They Used To Be [Pop Out Player? Click Here] Prefer An MP3 Playlist? It's Here: [192kbps CBR 11:15 Minutes] Other Audio Formats Available [ Here ] Twitter This Commentary |
In The News:
Thanks this morning to ChrisM, my MP3Angel, for supplying the commentary audio file.
Due to time constraints, just a quick synopsis of the news this morning...
President Obama goes to Louisiana and all we'll get is a lousy oil slick and a fix for the Deepwater/Horizon spill by BP that MAY work... ...or NOT!
Online Here.
This map's landing page (find updates) Here, or click the map.
We'll know more in a couple of days. There will allegedly be new restrictions on oil leasing and drilling in the Bering Sea (breeding grounds for the last few Right Whales), Florida, and off the coast of Virginia has been put on hold. Will the US government really risk the economic mayhem of increased oil prices at home due to reduced domestic output and global oil markets?
Congress and the Senate have A LOT of things to do before they go on an extended Memorial Day Holiday - The Don't Ask Don't Tell repeal has cleared committee and it's ready do go to the House after the break. It's attached to the Defense Appropriations bill. Expect no action until September due to various "Poison Pills" attached.
For instance "COBRA", continuation of benefits for Americans with health insurance who are now unemployed, has been eliminated from the house version of the bill (not that it ever worked correctly) along with a provision to pay state medicare fees.
The authorization bill includes $33 BILLION for the Afghanistan surge with another $6 BILLION for the State department's "Government-In-A-Box" operations. The bill will total $48 BILLION dollars because there's some pork attached, including an alternative fuel engine for the F-35 not-built-yet-but-already-obsolete jet fighter which has already been tagged by the White House as veto-bait.
Speaking of Memorial Day... and Military Appropriations...
Something's got to give!
For Students: Elective History Credits Here
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Recorded & transcribed by Da' Buffalo Amongst Wolves
Postings Da' Buffalo, Razer, and Auntie Imperial Have Done Lately Are [Here]
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In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 and The Berne Convention on Literary and Artistic Works, Article 10, the news clippings, audio, and images used in this posting are made available without profit for research and educational purposes.
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Thursday, May 27, 2010
May 27 2010 Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: Despite Criticism From The Media And Other Places It Appears The Obama Administration Is Winning
| "All The News You Never Knew You Needed To Know ...Until Now."May 27 2010 Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: Despite Criticism From The Media And Other Places It Appears The Obama Administration Is 'Winning' [Pop Out Player? Click Here] Prefer An MP3 Playlist? It's Here: [192kbps CBR 10:23 Minutes] Other Audio Formats Available [ Here ] Twitter This Commentary |
In The News:
Thanks this morning to ChrisM, my MP3Angel, for supplying the commentary audio file.
Due to time constraints, just a quick synopsis of the news this morning...
British Petroleum is not making any claims, but officials from the various oversight agencies (who were MIA last month) say BP's "Top Kill" plan for the Deepwater/Horizon drilling platform spill is working... so far.
In other environmental news important to humans, the volcano in Iceland (It HAS a name: "Eyjafjallajökull") is not spewing as much ash and smoke.
General McChrystal says Marjah Afghanistan has turned into a 'bleeding ulcer'.. In other words, it's not going well or we're losing, pick one.
The head of the Pakistani Taliban Hakimullah Mehsud, is allegedly pulling his forces out of Afghanistan.
Expect "compromise" - In congress, the passage of the Defense Appropriation bill with a rider eliminating "Don't Ask Don't Tell" is on the front burner along with unemployment, and "COBRA", to continue medical benefits for the unemployed who have health insurance. Unless action is taken they may not get home for the Memorial Day holiday.
Finally, in news of countercultural import, Willie Nelson has cut off his waist length, quarter century grown, braid....
Audio hosting courtesy of: [www.archive.org]
Travus T. Hipp's Commentary Archive Is [ Here]
Search the archive by topic [Here]
Cabale News RSS Feed Via Internet Archive
Creative Commons Copyright
Cabale New Service, KPIG Radio, and KVMR radio.
Listen to KVMR
Recorded & transcribed by Da' Buffalo Amongst Wolves
Postings Da' Buffalo, Razer, and Auntie Imperial Have Done Lately Are [Here]
The Consolidated Items Listing in RSS format [Here]
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 and The Berne Convention on Literary and Artistic Works, Article 10, the news clippings, audio, and images used in this posting are made available without profit for research and educational purposes.
Visitors To Razed By Wolves & Cabale News
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Wednesday, May 26, 2010
May 26 2010 Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: Taking Their Orders From The Top Or Whoever's In Charge.. The National Guard And State Militias
| "All The News You Never Knew You Needed To Know ...Until Now."May 26 2010 Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: Taking Their Orders From The 'Top'... Or Whoever's In Charge - What Has Become Of The 'National Guard' And 'State Militias' [Pop Out Player? Click Here] Prefer An MP3 Playlist? It's Here: [192kbps CBR 13:27 Minutes] Other Audio Formats Available [ Here ] Twitter This Commentary |
In The News:
Thanks this morning to ChrisM, my MP3Angel, for supplying the commentary audio file.
Due to time constraints, just a quick synopsis of the news this morning and a few things that 'crossed the wire' over the last day...
The Pentagon's "Don't Ask Don't Tell" is being planned for obsolescence by the Democrats as part of the must-pass Defense Appropriations bill and the Republicans are saying they'll vote against it (hence 'against our men and women in uniform') in the Senate and House.
Unemployment is in the news... And as of this morning the US national debt is $13 trillion dollars, and adding another trillion per year.
The Obama administration has ordered 1200 Arizona National Guard to the Arizona border, but technically the Arizona National Guard is answerable to the state. The deployment is in regard to drug running and the Border security details will still fall on the state, subject to their illegally profiling immigration "law". More history of the National Guard and state militias in the commentary.
The Atlantis space shuttle has touched down safely for the last time. More.
More News:
Just in case you were wondering... It's all under control... No assistance needed:
U.S. not accepting foreign help on oil spillHere's a history of other oil spills around the world: "How Bad Is Gulf Oil Spill? A Global Q&A on Offshore Oil Spills"
When State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley refused to tell reporters which countries have offered assistance to help respond to the BP oil spill, the State Department press corps was flabbergasted... [In Full]
Regarding Arizona's new "Law":
May I see your papers... please...
We Have A RUNNER!
(We're still deciding whether it's OK to shoot them in the back. Makes the job so much harder if you can't!)
[Pop Out Player]
The next story relates to something happening in my hometown, Santa Cruz California, right now.
Activists Mark 20th Anniversary of Earth First Car Bombing
And in Oakland, environmental activists gathered on Monday to mark the twentieth anniversary of the car bombing of Earth First members Judi Bari and Darryl Cherney. Bari and Cherney nearly died when a bomb exploded in their vehicle. They were in the midst of organizing a major Redwood Summer action that brought thousands of activists to California to protest destructive logging practices. In what many saw as a deliberate smear campaign, the FBI arrested the two and accused them of being victims of their own misfired bombs. Bari and Cherney later sued the FBI and won over $4 million in damages. Bari died before receiving justice in the case — the attack had left her nearly crippled, and she lived in constant pain before dying in 1997 of breast cancer. [In Full]
The Santa Cruz Connection... AKA "The False Flag Connection"
In August 2008 SOMEONE fire-bombed a UC Santa Cruz researcher's car and porch.
This occurred just A FEW DAYS BEFORE a California state senate vote on affording special protections to researchers engaged in lab experiments and tests using live animals. Of course the fire-bombing cemented that vote's passage. Local Animal rights activists were arrested under the new state law which granted state law linkage to the federal Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act.
Indeed, the AETA 4 were indicted and, it's notable, are currently on trial, but not for THAT crime... fire-bombing... but for demonstrating in front of a researcher's home a few months earlier.
The perpetrator of the fire-bombing, to date, has not been found, but the new law voted in because of the actions of that unknown party caused the creation of a permanent FBI liaison with UCSC, and indeed, every campus in the UC system.
Just this May 1, a celebratory 'Flash' Block Party at Downtown Santa Cruz morphs into a Daytona Beach Spring Break window smashing spree. Two are arrested. One 'druggie', one 'wino', but they were obviously NOT the vandals despite their continued incarceration.
"Anarchists" are blamed. The FBI is called in, but apparently declined to investigate leaving a local Anarchist Cafe/Community space to take the blame amongst the mass media attention and threats, up to and including death threats.
This act of simple vandalism will also prevent what should have been a monthly downtown occurence, an open block party for all residents of Santa Cruz, a la 'Critical Mass' for bicyclists, from ever occuring again without massive police presence and fear in the community... A community that was the intended future attendees of the Downtown block party.
NOW, over the week end, this bit of provacateurism occurred, single-source reported by the local newspaper, the Santa Cruz Senile... Affectionately referred to as "The Senile". A newspaper with a history of Yellow Journalism that goes back to California's Indian Wars and the forcible internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.
SANTA CRUZ - A vandal cut the brake lines on the vehicle of a UC Santa Cruz researcher late Saturday or early Sunday, and the Police Department has called in the FBI to help investigate.The FBI has been called in to investigate again, despite the fact that this UC researcher is not involved in animal research.
About seven FBI agents were at the researcher's Westside home on Monday. Some agents peered under the sport utility vehicle to inspect the damage, while others canvassed the neighborhood for witnesses.
The researcher, who wasn't identified, called police around 11 a.m. Sunday to report vandalism to the SUV, which was parked in front of the researcher's house on the 1200 block of Laurent Street, according to Santa Cruz Deputy Police Chief Rick Martinez. [In Full]
Despite the blame-placing on Animal Rights Activists, and again, the local anarchist coffee shop, it notable that once again, no one has been apprehended in this simple minded and useless act of vandalism. An act that occurred with near perfect timing, during AETA 4's trial, and against one of the basic tenets of animal rights activists which "...historically emphasized a principle of supporting only property sabotage, while tolerating no actions putting humans and other animals at risk." (source)
In all the occurrences listed above, it would be useful to recall one of the corollaries of journalism and investigative work. Corollary to "Follow The Money"... "Who Stands To Gain?".
Under THAT criteria, in all of the crimes listed above, the police and city of Santa Cruz stand to gain... at least the eight more officers to be hired despite massive city budget shortfalls, due to the window smashing spree, and EVERYONE ELSE loses.
Maybe they'll actually catch the thugs committing these acts someday, but this commentator certainly doubts it.
More, at IndyMedia: During AETA trial, new Santa Cruz sabotage violates ALF principles against human targets
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Recorded & transcribed by Da' Buffalo Amongst Wolves
Postings Da' Buffalo, Razer, and Auntie Imperial Have Done Lately Are [Here]
The Consolidated Items Listing in RSS format [Here]
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 and The Berne Convention on Literary and Artistic Works, Article 10, the news clippings, audio, and images used in this posting are made available without profit for research and educational purposes.
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Tuesday, May 25, 2010
May 25 2010 Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: 'Your Brain On The News Cycle' And The BP Deepwater-Horizon Spill
| "All The News You Never Knew You Needed To Know ...Until Now."May 25 2010 Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: 'A Certain Alarmism' As A Background Of The Times - 'Your Brain On The News Cycle' And The BP Deepwater-Horizon Spill [Pop Out Player? Click Here] Prefer An MP3 Playlist? It's Here: [192kbps CBR 14:52 Minutes] Other Audio Formats Available [ Here ] Twitter This Commentary |
In The News:
Thanks this morning to ChrisM, my MP3Angel, for supplying the commentary audio file.
South Korea is closing off navigation to North Korean ships through their territorial waters and the US is going to commit to naval exercises, including anti-submarine warfare exercises, after the South accuses the North of torpedoing one of their ships. The North has accused the South of "an undisguised declaration of war", with the North saying they WILL invade the South if any action is taken against them. The United States still has 27,000 troops in the South of South Korea and the U.N. has been requested to intervene.
In Kingston Jamaica a whole section of the city has been shut down as the authorities attempt to arrest an alleged gun running drug dealer. Let it be noted the the neighbors have stepped in to support him. There is small arms fire, and other ordinances (grenades) have been heard. Other drug gangs have banded together to support the accused-under-siege as well which could very well threaten the Jamaican government.
"Don't Ask Don't Tell" may be out. The Defense Appropriations bill which HAS TO BE PASSED (do tell?) by the end of the week if America wants to continue it's ill begotten war in Afghanistan, has a rider cancelling it.
Speaking of Iraq and Afghanistan.... For the first time, there are more US troops in Afghanistan (94,000), than Iraq (92,000). Of course that does not include the literally tens of thousands of military contractors in both countries.
An example of "American Democracy" - In the "old city" of Baghdad Iraq twelve people have been killed on the "Gold Street" in an action that is extremely rare... a coordinated armed robbery of a number of gold dealers... That's right, Armed robberies are very unusual in Iraq, unlike America.
British Petroleum is preparing to implement their "Top KIll" idea to staunch the flow of oil from the Deepwater/Horizon spill. Louisiana is enraged at the Army Corp of Engineers taking their time with plans to put sand bars and other diversions in the path of the spill. The governor has made a federal request to allow the state to step in with their own contingency plan.
MORE NEWS:
Meanwhile, in the American Northwest, a federally funded state drug task force has done a particularly stupid thing...
A federally funded drug task force seized as evidence up to 200 petition signatures for marijuana legalization in Washington State in a series of early-morning raids this week. Seizing the petition signatures is bad enough. What's worse is what the task force did on its raids of a legal marijuana dispensary and its owner's home.Drug agents handcuffed a 14-year-old boy and pointed a gun at his head. Then they took $80 from a 9-year-old girl's Minnie Mouse wallet that she earned for straight A's on her report card.
Now the drug agents - funded by the US Department of Justice - say they can only find two pages of the petition. But they had time to make photocopies of the petition, keeping the names and addresses of residents who signed.
We started our own petition demanding the release of the seized signatures that we'll deliver to the task force headquarters next week.
More Here, a link to FiredogLake, and a petition demanding action.
...and finally, in the SouthWestern US, equally stupid... "Arizona Goes After Teachers With Accents"
The Arizona Department of Education recently began telling school districts that teachers whose spoken English it deems to be heavily accented or ungrammatical must be removed from classes for students still learning English.
The teacher controversy comes amid an increasingly tense debate over immigration. Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer this month signed the nation’s toughest law to crack down on illegal immigrants. Critics charge that the broader political climate has emboldened state education officials to target immigrant teachers at a time when a budget crisis has forced layoffs... [In Full]
[After the commentary the Firesign Theatre presents a short documentary: "How Governments Work" (from "We're All Bozos On This Bus"). Courtesy of the respective artists.]
Audio hosting courtesy of: [www.archive.org]
Travus T. Hipp's Commentary Archive Is [ Here]
Search the archive by topic [Here]
Cabale News RSS Feed Via Internet Archive
Creative Commons Copyright
Cabale New Service, KPIG Radio, and KVMR radio.
Listen to KVMR
Recorded & transcribed by Da' Buffalo Amongst Wolves
Postings Da' Buffalo, Razer, and Auntie Imperial Have Done Lately Are [Here]
The Consolidated Items Listing in RSS format [Here]
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 and The Berne Convention on Literary and Artistic Works, Article 10, the news clippings, audio, and images used in this posting are made available without profit for research and educational purposes.
Visitors To Razed By Wolves & Cabale News
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Monday, May 24, 2010
Action Alert: Federally Funded Drug Squad Seizes Petition For Pot Legalization In Washington State
I KNEW you could!
An Alert, from Firedoglake:
Sensible Washington is the group whose marijuana legalization petitions were seized by the federally funded agents. The group is well on its way to let Washington State residents vote on legalization on the November ballot, but this raid can put it in jeopardy.
The intended effect of this raid is to put a chill on other citizens from signing the petition, who will fear having their names and addresses exposed to a drug task force. It's intimidation, pure and simple. And your tax dollars are paying for it.
A federally funded drug task force seized as evidence up to 200 petition signatures for marijuana legalization in Washington State in a series of early-morning raids this week. Seizing the petition signatures is bad enough. What's worse is what the task force did on its raids of a legal marijuana dispensary and its owner's home.Drug agents handcuffed a 14-year-old boy and pointed a gun at his head. Then they took $80 from a 9-year-old girl's Minnie Mouse wallet that she earned for straight A's on her report card.
Now the drug agents - funded by the US Department of Justice - say they can only find two pages of the petition. But they had time to make photocopies of the petition, keeping the names and addresses of residents who signed.
We started our own petition demanding the release of the seized signatures that we'll deliver to the task force headquarters next week.
Ironically, it's this kind of reckless waste of time and money that makes marijuana legalization a safer, smarter alternative than the failed war on drugs.
Sensible Washington is the group whose marijuana legalization petitions were seized by the federally funded agents. The group is well on its way to let Washington State residents vote on legalization on the November ballot, but this raid can put it in jeopardy.
The intended effect of this raid is to put a chill on other citizens from signing the petition, who will fear having their names and addresses exposed to a drug task force. It's intimidation, pure and simple. And your tax dollars are paying for it.
That's why it's important we speak out about this gross violation of first amendment rights. We need to make sure that not only is every petition signature returned, but any other copies must be destroyed.
The only thing these petition signatures are evidence of is an exercise in democracy.
Sign the petition HERE
Thanks for standing with us,
Jane Hamsher
Firedoglake.com
May 24 2010 Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: Where's The ACLU? On The Targeted Assassination Of American Citizens (Anwar al-Awlaki)
| "All The News You Never Knew You Needed To Know ...Until Now."May 24 2010 Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: Where's The ACLU? On The Targeted Assassination Of American Citizens (Anwar al-Awlaki) [Pop Out Player? Click Here] Prefer An MP3 Playlist? It's Here: [192kbps CBR 12:02 Minutes] Other Audio Formats Available [ Here ] Twitter This Commentary |
In The News:
Thanks this morning to ChrisM, my MP3Angel, for supplying the commentary audio file.
Due to time constraints, just a quick synopsis of the news this morning...
The Gulf oil spill continues relatively unchecked as the Obama administration creates a "Special Commission". Due to other federal ineffectualities, Louisiana has gone ahead with it's own plan for containment. More below the synopsis.
The spring Afghanistan offensive is on with the Taliban attacking our bases, Kandahar, and Bagram Air base.
They're dealin'! A US couple has been kidnapped in Yemen and the Yemeni government has been contacted by the kidnappers.
More News:
Thanks to the efforts of an organization called "No More Guantánamos,", two New England towns have voted to welcome Guantanamo detainees who have been cleared for release, and similar actions are being planned in other locations.
More information about the continuing BP Deepwater/Horizon disaster:
Online Here.
This map's landing page (find updates) Here, or click the map.
From the Miami Herald: Gulf oil spill makes landfall, blackening Louisiana beaches
The US may have plans to NUKE the Deepwater/Horizon site with a Bunker Buster , perhaps 'cauterizing' the 'leak' (perhaps not!).
There is also a Benzene hazard to everyone in the region. Benzene being highly toxic and a known carcinogen. There is allegedly a FEMA plan for the evacuation of Tampa Bay as well. More on those topics here.
The map above came from the Oil Spill Academic Task Force (OSATF) Gulf oil spill resource site. Imagery, projections, legal, ecological and economic implications.. More.
Also see this Google Earth KMZ file for a of Map of Sensitive Coastal Areas in Florida
In other environmental nightmares...
Who Speaks for the Trees? NOT Greenpeace!
Greenpeace (and the NGOs) have hung the entire native population of Canada out to dry.
See Auntie Imp's posting: 'Grudge Post' Files: Greenpeace Sold Out Canada's Forests And "Nature Conservancy" Has A 'Posse' Of Corporate Names Too (Really! This. Is. Serious. Environmentalism is Dead)
In the "Quick, look over there, the Russians repress investigative journalists!" department: Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, had his passport confiscated upon arriving in Australia recently.
Glenn Greenwald wrote earlier this week about how the founder of Wikileaks had his passport confiscated upon arriving in Australia. Julian Assange is perhaps the most noteworthy investigative journalist in the world today, and he has made a career out of dragging into the sunlight information that powerful people want to keep hidden. I personally consider this a rather noteworthy story but, as best I can tell, the US media has largely been silent.
As The Times reported:The Australian founder of the whistleblower website Wikileaks had his passport confiscated by police when he arrived in Melbourne last week.How is this the slightest bit relevant to Russia? [Find Out Here]
Julian Assange, who does not have an official home base and travels every six weeks, told the Australian current affairs program Dateline that immigration officials had said his passport was going to be cancelled because it was looking worn.
However he then received a letter from the Australian Communication Minister Steven Conroy’s office stating that the recent disclosure on Wikileaks of a blacklist of websites the Australian government is preparing to ban had been referred to the Australian Federal Police (AFP).
Last year Wikileaks published a confidential list of websites that the Australian government is preparing to ban under a proposed internet filter – which in turn caused the whistleblower site to be placed on that list.
...and last but not least... things also get strange in the "Celebrity Industrial Complex" as Vanity Fair accuses itself of copyright infringement.
Audio hosting courtesy of: [www.archive.org]
Travus T. Hipp's Commentary Archive Is [ Here]
Search the archive by topic [Here]
Cabale News RSS Feed Via Internet Archive
Creative Commons Copyright
Cabale New Service, KPIG Radio, and KVMR radio.
Listen to KVMR
Recorded & transcribed by Da' Buffalo Amongst Wolves
Postings Da' Buffalo, Razer, and Auntie Imperial Have Done Lately Are [Here]
The Consolidated Items Listing in RSS format [Here]
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 and The Berne Convention on Literary and Artistic Works, Article 10, the news clippings, audio, and images used in this posting are made available without profit for research and educational purposes.
Visitors To Razed By Wolves & Cabale News
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Friday, May 21, 2010
May 21 2010 Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: One Big 'ClusterScrew' - An Overview Of The US "Intelligence" Community's Culture And The DNI
| "All The News You Never Knew You Needed To Know ...Until Now."May 21 2010 Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: One Big 'ClusterScrew' - An Overview Of The US "Intelligence" Community's Culture And The DNI [Pop Out Player? Click Here] Prefer An MP3 Playlist? It's Here: [192kbps CBR 15:08 Minutes] Other Audio Formats Available [ Here ] Twitter This Commentary |
In The News:
Thanks this morning to ChrisM, my MP3Angel, for supplying the commentary audio file.
The Finance Reform Bill has passed the Senate two years after Wall Street melted down. Now the bill goes to conference committee for 'modifications' just ahead of the Memorial Day recess. The Senate also passed unemployment benefit legislation.
The Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair is out after 16 months after much criticism that he's done nothing to increase "security' of the nation, and friction-from-the-start with the CIA's director Leon Panetta. Stopping our global warmongering would be a good place to start the process of increasing the national security for the long run.
The gusher of oil into the Gulf of Mexico from the BP/Horizon drilling platform disaster is now being estimated to be 100 times as large as previously thought. Oil IS washing up on the Gulf coastal islands.
Globalization IS a double edged sword... Things went wrong yesterday as rumors about Greece and Portugal's economies and the Euro caused the US markets to drop 376 points.
"Good news" on the environmental front - New fuel efficiency standards have been introduced by the White House. Also, NUMMI/Toyota and Tesla electric have reached a deal to produce electric cars at NUMMI's recently closed SF BAy area plant. The deal will also allow for the employment of 1000 people, at least until the Neodymium (motor magnets) and Lithium (batteries) supplies run out.
A note on Neodymium:
Neodymium is never found in nature as the free element; rather, it occurs in ores such as monazite and bastnäsite that contain small amounts of all the rare earth metals. The main mining areas are China, United States, Brazil, India, Sri Lanka and Australia; and reserves of neodymium are estimated at about 8 million tonnes [In Full]It currently(sic)takes 2.2 pounds of Neodymium per Prius... If my calculations are correct, that means there is supply for 8 million electric cars... Considering the number of cars in use on the planet, there will be an insignificant amount of E-cars produced before the supply of Neodymium and many of the other materials needed to produce these vehicles runs out.
...and that's only if Americans don't mind having a big ugly pit mine in THEIR collective backyard.
[After the commentary, Eddy Grant gets an invitation to a different kind of party. Courtesy of the respective artists.]
Audio hosting courtesy of: [www.archive.org]
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Recorded & transcribed by Da' Buffalo Amongst Wolves
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In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 and The Berne Convention on Literary and Artistic Works, Article 10, the news clippings, audio, and images used in this posting are made available without profit for research and educational purposes.
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Thursday, May 20, 2010
May 20 2010 Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: America's Crisis In Mass Incarceration - The US Educational System
| "All The News You Never Knew You Needed To Know ...Until Now."May 20 2010 Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: America's Crisis In Mass Incarceration - The US Educational System Is Turning Out "Dummies" And We Can't Afford To Pay For "Dummies" [Pop Out Player? Click Here] Prefer An MP3 Playlist? It's Here: [192kbps CBR 17:19 Minutes] Other Audio Formats Available [ Here ] Twitter This Commentary |
In The News:
Thanks this morning to ChrisM, my MP3Angel, for supplying the news and commentary audio file.
The Greek general strike spread to the whole country today with no one going to work, and no violence so far. More.
In Bangkok Thailand, the crowds have been dispersed and the fires extinguished. Forty five people are believed to have been killed after the "Red Shirt" leaders surrendered to the police, but the crowds didn't. The protesters were using potato cannons for armament and burned a number of buildings.
The Senate Finance Regulatory Bill failed to get cloture yesterday with both sides of the isle seeing reasons not to move it to a full vote. There will be another try today.
Arizona's response to Los Angeles' threat of a boycott due to Arizona's new immigration 'law'... Turn off LA' lights. Over one quarter of the electricity used in L.A. comes from Arizona and Arizona is threatening to 'pull the plug' over L.A.'s economic boycott threat. But it wouldn't possibly be that simple because L.A. owns interest in the generating plants.
Further, would one assume Arizona could do without the HUGE amount of revenue that electricity generation for California brings into the state coffers? They're bluffing, IF they even have any control AT ALL regarding the destination of the power generated by contract companies like Kerr-McGee (for general example) that operate these facilities.
If you thought the Hoover Institute was one of the stranger organizations at Stanford University. A Stanford research group has determined fish have emotions... But do Trout have a different personality than Tuna?
Meanwhile, in Santa Cruz California, AKA "Siicon Beach", the Santa Cruz drum circle finds a compromise location near downtown after weeks of being chased from site to site...
...but the pressure is on another organization that works to free public space and put it to good use.
guerilladrivein.org
Press Release
Free Movies in the Park Face Political Backlash
World Renowned Guerilla Drive-In Project Targeted in SCPD Efforts to Stamp Out DIY Community Events
Santa Cruz, CA, May 20th, 2010: After 8 years, 13 locations and over 150 free films to the community, Santa Cruz Guerilla Drive-In is being targeted by the Santa Cruz Police. In the wake of the May Day riots, city administrators are directing the city manager to stomp out all unpermitted community gatherings.
As the sun set Friday evening, the normally dark and dingy area under the Soquel Ave bridge was buzzing with excitement. It was a special event for the community as Guerilla Drive-In was showing the work of a local film maker, Cheri Lovedog. "The Jesus Factor" was shot in Santa Cruz and was created with a cast and crew mostly made up of locals, some of whom were sitting in lawn chairs waiting to see the film.
Earlier, Guerilla Drive-In had arrived to find the area under the bridge littered with plastic bags, dirty and unwanted clothing, and containers of partially eaten food. As the organizers and audience members gathered up this trash, they mused over the thought that they would leave this river-side space looking much better than they'd found it. Another audience member brought a large bag of popcorn and was passing it around to share with the entire group. It was a community effort, not only to create the film but now, to share it with others and transform this space under the bridge into something magical.
However, within the first 15 minutes of the film, the evening came to an abrupt halt as an officer from the Santa Cruz police department descended on the group and demanded to speak to "the person in charge." Organizers pointed out that 40 to 50 people worked to put the event on. The officer insisted that without a permit, the gathering must be halted immediately.
Earlier in the week, Santa Cruz Mayor Mike Rotkin and Vice-Mayor Ryan Coonerty told a closed Downtown Association meeting that they were now targeting individuals in an attempt to stop all unpermitted gatherings. Coonerty said, "As far as I am concerned, shame on the organizers for costing police time and funds that could be spent on preventing gang violence." Coonerty did not acknowledge however, that the crackdown on family-friendly community events is costing the city more money that it doesn't have. The city council already added 8 police officers that it had no way to pay for in emergency meetings after black-clad vandals broke windows during a May Day street party.
Liz Burchfield of the Guerilla Drive-In collective said, "Imagine a world where parks were not threatening places where drug deals went down, but rather alive with activity: families having night-time picnics, lovers holding hands, friends star-gazing. Isn't that world much better than the one that keeps us divided and afraid?"
Guerilla Drive-In has been working for years to re-envision the Santa Cruz community, bringing together neighbors in a commercial free venue, providing a safe and free event for the community, and reclaiming and cleaning up public space. GDI films have been shown in parks, downtown streets, industrial areas, and community gardens. Santa Cruz Guerilla Drive-In has been covered by the New York and Los Angeles Times and has inspired a movement that has been copied worldwide.
More:
Officers Pay Visit to Santa Cruz Anarchist Infoshop SubRosa
Wednesday May 19th, 2010 4:38 PM
The DA takes the harassment and intimidation up a notch.
Four armed deputies visited SubRosa today. They allegedly wanted to talk to SubRosa staff about "worker's comp issues."
One of them was an inspector in the Santa Cruz District Attorney's Office.
Apparently, this makes good on the DA's promise to investigate SubRosa for any connection with the May Day property destruction.
As neighbors, I feel like we have each others backs. Especially through Shitstorm 2010, we've been impressed with the level of mutual support. I know we want to represent each other well, especially in any kind of investigation, but anything you say to the police or the DA will be used against you and us. The part where you say we are awesome, community-minded, swell people will not be part of their report, guaranteed. However, they will sift through what you say for anything they can use against someone, even taking it out of context. They are looking for leverage. They have no suspects, no clues, and so they are going to go after the most convenient target, hoping they can dredge up something, anything. So...
If you are questioned by any type of law enforcement, IT IS VERY IMPORTANT NOT TO ENGAGE THEM.
Instead, DO THE FOLLOWING:
1. Ask them if they have a dated and signed search warrant
2. If not, ask them to step out on the sidewalk
3. On the sidewalk, get their business card
4. Give them the number of your/our lawyer
They are likely trying to use this as an excuse to talk to people, to further an investigation/prosecution. That said, there are powerful people who after May Day would like to shut down SubRosa.
P.S. From the State Administrative Manual at ca.gov: http://sam.dgs.ca.gov/TOC/2500/2580.3.htm
2580.3 VOLUNTEERS. By law, workers' compensation benefits for volunteers are not required. A volunteer who does not receive compensation for his or her work is not entitled to workers' compensation benefits, unless the agency for which the volunteer works chooses to provide these benefits (See Labor Code Section 3363.5). [Source]
More on the subject of dealing with "The Man":
[After the commentary, Little Stevie Vai (What a NICE little boy!) wants to play you a song he just learned. Courtesy of the respective artists. If you've never seen Steve Vai live... He grew up... to be an incredible showman and guitarist. SCHOOL'S OUT!]
Audio hosting courtesy of: [www.archive.org]
Travus T. Hipp's Commentary Archive Is [ Here]
Search the archive by topic [Here]
Cabale News RSS Feed Via Internet Archive
Creative Commons Copyright
Cabale New Service, KPIG Radio, and KVMR radio.
Listen to KVMR
Recorded & transcribed by Da' Buffalo Amongst Wolves
Postings Da' Buffalo, Razer, and Auntie Imperial Have Done Lately Are [Here]
The Consolidated Items Listing in RSS format [Here]
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 and The Berne Convention on Literary and Artistic Works, Article 10, the news clippings, audio, and images used in this posting are made available without profit for research and educational purposes.
Visitors To Razed By Wolves & Cabale News
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Wednesday, May 19, 2010
May 19 2010 Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: Different American Wars, Different American Social Problems - American Society's War Wounds
| "All The News You Never Knew You Needed To Know ...Until Now."May 19 2010 Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: Different American Wars, Different American Social Problems - American Society's War Wounds [Pop Out Player? Click Here] Prefer An MP3 Playlist? It's Here: [192kbps CBR 22:22] Other Audio Formats Available [ Here ] Twitter This Commentary |
In The News:
Thanks this morning to ChrisM, my MP3Angel, for supplying the commentary audio file.
Bangkok is burning after the "Red Shirt" leaders surrender but their followers DO NOT and things 'unglue'.
More from Foreign Policy magazine:
Bangkok burns after military launches all-out assault on Red ShirtsWHY is this happening you ask?
The Thai military launched an all-out assault on the Red Shirt compound in central Bangkok today, arresting the movement's leaders but prompting rioters to turn the city's main shopping district into a flaming battleground.
After the government rejected a red-shirt ceasefire offer earlier today, the troops moved in using live ammunition to disperse the crowd. At least six protesters and an Italian news photographer were killed in the assault. The main Red Shirt leaders gave themselves up but supporters rampaged through the city setting fire to Bangkok's Stock Exchange, Electricity Authority, and largest shopping mall. Thousands of Red Shirt supporters have also reportedly attacked city halls in two provincial capitals.
The captured leaders urged their followers, to no avail, to end the demonstrations. “We cannot resist against these savages anymore,” said Jatuporn Prompan. "I beg you. We have to end this for now.” [In Full]
Thailand: Why Obama is silent on the Bangkok massacres
By Shamus Cooke
May 16, 2010 -- When the White House is quiet as protesters are butchered in the streets of Bangkok, suspicions are raised. Silence often equals complicity. One can only imagine what the US government's response would be to a Venezuelan government slaughter: the US media and US President Barack Obama would loudly condemn such an act, in contrast to the muted response to Thailand's bloodbath.
The history of US-Thailand relations explains why.... [In Full]
Been waiting for the spring offensive in Afghanistan? It's started, and the Taliban went first two days ago by attacking a convoy killing five US soldiers on the way to Kandahar. Did you know that Hamid Karzai's brother has the contract to protect convoys into Kandahar? He's been doing that, not with guns, but with payoffs... but we stopped paying him, so he stopped paying off the Taliban. There has also been an attack on the perimeter of Bagram air base killing a contractor and wounded nine soldiers.
Again from FP... and it sounds like "Vietnamistan": Taliban insurgents launched an unsuccessful assault on the U.S. base at Bagram on Wednesday, failing to breach the base's perimeter.
Another way of looking at it (via "The Vast Majority"):
Tuesday, 18 May 2010Hmmm... STILL sounds like "Vietnamistan".
Afghan rebels hit US Forces
AFGHAN rebels have staged two spectacular attacks on the US-led occupation forces.
A night-time raid on the US Bagram military base followed a car bomb attack on a NATO military convoy (pictured).
Reports Al Jazeera: "Bagram, which is near Kabul, the capital, is one of the biggest military bases in Afghanistan and mainly holds US troops as well as a detention centre where al-Qaeda-linked fighters and 'terror' suspects are held.
"Wednesday's attack follows the Taliban's announcement that they would launch a spring offensive against the Afghan government and foreign forces in Afghanistan in response to Nato's plans for a military campaign on the group's southern stronghold of Kandahar.
[In Full, With Links]
As of yesterday, May 18, 2010, 1,000 American troops have been killed in Afghanistan.
In America, some folks have been wondering where Faisal Shahzad the Times Square Bomber is, so the US produced him for a brief appearance in court and then whisked him back to Gitmo-By-The-Hudson, location unknown.
The attempts to staunch the oil flow from the sunken BP Deepwater/Horizon oil drilling platform are less than effective as tar balls and floating oil begin to wash up on beaches across the South while Senators Murkowski of Alaska and Imhofe of Oklahoma block an attempt to boost the liability cap on oil spills from the current $75 million to $10 billion.
In Yesterday's national primaries 80 year old Arlen Specter lost in Pennsylvania, but the Democrats capture John Murtha's Congressional seat and the "tea party' wins one with the installation of Rand Paul in Kentucky, in Arkansas it will go to a runoff between Blanche Lincoln and Bill Halter, and in the Oregon primary... "Oregon voters stood by their lawmakers in Tuesday's primary election, lifting state senators and representatives past challengers throughout the state".
[After the commentary, it's like the 60s, but not... welcome to Vietnamistan! An Alabama 3 remix Courtesy of Skidmark Bob @ Pop dEFECT Radio, Free Radio Santa Cruz, all Pirate, all the time]
Audio hosting courtesy of: [www.archive.org]
Travus T. Hipp's Commentary Archive Is [ Here]
Search the archive by topic [Here]
Cabale News RSS Feed Via Internet Archive
Creative Commons Copyright
Cabale New Service, KPIG Radio, and KVMR radio.
Listen to KVMR
Recorded & transcribed by Da' Buffalo Amongst Wolves
Postings Da' Buffalo, Razer, and Auntie Imperial Have Done Lately Are [Here]
The Consolidated Items Listing in RSS format [Here]
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 and The Berne Convention on Literary and Artistic Works, Article 10, the news clippings, audio, and images used in this posting are made available without profit for research and educational purposes.
Visitors To Razed By Wolves & Cabale News
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