Category: World

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The Kidnapping of Haiti

On Radio New Zealand news today there was a report of violence in the street and looting in Haiti, they made it sound as if the Haitians were the problem, gang violence, terrorism even, and the US were there to help. I know this is pure twisted reporting, part of an empire building strategy that we get such news. But it is so easy to sound like a conspiracy theorist, even to myself.

Then, the following items bring a more sane perspective:
I listened to:

Democracy Now

This daily report is so valuable, and essential listening IMO for anyone wanting to know what’s happening in the world. Just excellent journalism.

I listened to Cameron Reilly doing a useful synopsis of

Haiti’s history

Looks like he will have more Podcasts coming on this theme.

I like Naomi Klein’s Shock Doctrine site.

Am editing this post – Monday, 8 February, 2010 – to add this link from socialistworker.org – jus reading it makes it clear how Orwellian the neoliberal language for imperialism is: re-construction, healing, reform. Yeah Right!

The “shock doctrine” for Haiti | SocialistWorker.org:

With its intervention in Haiti, the U.S. is sending a signal to the rest of Latin America and the Caribbean–where masses of people have rejected neoliberalism and elected reform socialist leaders like Hugo Chávez, who aim to tame the excesses of capitalism and pass reforms to address social needs.

and read this Pilger item:

ITV – John Pilger – The kidnapping of Haiti:

The theft of Haiti has been swift and crude. On 22 January, the United States secured “formal approval” from the United Nations to take over all air and sea ports in Haiti, and to “secure” roads. No Haitian signed the agreement, which has no basis in law. Power rules in an American naval blockade and the arrival of 13,000 marines, special forces, spooks and mercenaries, none with humanitarian relief training.

The airport in the capital, Port-au-Prince, is now an American military base and relief flights have been re-routed to the Dominican Republic. All flights stopped for three hours for the arrival of Hillary Clinton. Critically injured Haitians waited unaided as 800 American residents in Haiti were fed, watered and evacuated. Six days passed before the US Air Force dropped bottled water to people suffering thirst and dehydration.

Full item follows
Continue reading “The Kidnapping of Haiti”

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Scary #ACTA Threat

Steven Hodson in the Inquisitr

Scary, there are a bunch of people out there hell bent on making the world worse:

It is planned that all these secret negotiations taking place will finish in 2010 and the world will be presented with a new world wide copyright/IP treaty that has been written and bullied through all levels of individual country governments by the US entertainment industry and their trade groups around the world.

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Afghanistan – NYT with Google

Interesting page, finally New York Times has a page that makes sense online! I guess it will update as life goes on, an interesting development.  It might help both their business models but not the world.  Here is a more pertinent summary.

The War in Afghanistan:

Summary: In a major policy move, President Obama has committed 30,000 more United States troops to Afghanistan but added he would begin drawing out American forces there starting in July 2011. But administration officials have since scrambled to defend that withdrawal schedule. Some lawmakers voiced skepticism. Mr. Obama’s decision is likely to prove to be a defining one for his administration. The policy also leaves unanswered the question of whether Afghan President Hamid Karzai will met the challenge and how to respond if he does not. The strategy’s success may ultimately be determined in an unruly region that straddles the Afghan-Pakastani border.

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The Manchurian Candidate

http://www.sott.net/articles/show/198188-Barack-Obama-Manchurian-Candidate-Version-2-0

Now don’t get me wrong. I don’t think for a second that Obama is a secret Republican or a secret Al Qaeda or Chinese operative, though I know that there are right-wing Tea Baggers out there who sincerely believe the latter two scenarios (often at the same time!). I think Obama is simply another slick politician with a giant ego and a shriveled sense of principle and ethics – a man that is, not unlike most of our political class, though with better diction and smile, whose interests include himself, his family, and those who bankroll him, but certainly not you, me and the country as a whole.

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Marx

I have not listened yet, bet it is bad!

Philosophers Zone – 17 October 2009 – What would Karl Marx think?:

Commodities, capitalism and computers. At a time when the Berlin Wall has fallen but Wall Street is decidedly shaky, a self-described lapsed Marxist takes us through some of the key philosophical and practical ideas of Karl Marx and argues for what is still useful today. What is worth keeping in Marx? He had his limitations but later thinkers have built on his core concepts and used his methods to produce results that still speak to the changing nature of work in contemporary Australia.

Download Audio – 17102009

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Can the Empire survive? I doubt it!

Excellent site. Puts the whole business in perspective.

The American Empire Project:

Americans have long believed that the very notion of empire is an offense against our democratic heritage, yet in recent months, these two words — American empire — have been on everyone’s lips. At this moment of unprecedented economic and military strength, the leaders of the United States have embraced imperial ambitions openly. How did we get to this point? And what lies down the road?

Recent good article:

Is America Hooked on War? – CBS News

This is a good article too, though I wonder if addition is the right metaphor? It implies that if you went into recovery youd have a new rich life. The imperialism is more like food and water for capitalism than a drug. No imperialism, no USA as we know it. And it will come sooner than we think.

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