US Terrorizing Honduras to Keep Control Over Latin America

/

Antiwar

The tireless Dana Frank has a brand new piece up at Foreign Affairs about the Obama administration’s support of the 2009 military coup in Honduras, and how US military funding “has increased every year since” despite a dramatic increase in human rights abuses.

“Since early 2010, there have been more than 10,000 complaints of human rights abuses by [US funded and trained] state security forces,” she writes, and “in many ways, Washington is responsible for this dismal turn.”

The situation brings back haunting memories of other U.S. involvements in Latin America. Washington has a dark track record of supporting military coups against democratic governments and then funneling money to repressive regimes. In 1964, the United States backed a military coup in Brazil; in 1973, it supported a military coup headed by Augusto Pinochet in Chile; and during the 1980s, it threw millions of dollars at the leaders in El Salvador. All of these U.S.–backed governments ruled with enormous brutality. In Honduras today, the United States’ hands are already dirty: A botched drug raid in the Moskitia region on May 11, carried out by agents of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and Honduran security forces, left four civilians dead, two of whom were pregnant women.

The increased support for the abusive and corrupt military regime in Honduras has occurred in tandem with an increase in US military presence in the country and penetration by commando-style militias from the Drug Enforcement Administration. There have been a number of cases in recent months of joint US-Honduran raids and gunfights with alleged drug traffickers, but it hasn’t cracked down so much as it has made the country more dangerous. In one such incident in May, DEA agents and Honduran forces shot and killed four civilians, including two pregnant women, with total impunity beyond having to say they were sorry.

Read More

Genocidal US Led Sanctions on Iran Jeopardizing Millions of Patients

/

PressTv and Mcclatchy

A prominent political analyst says the US-led sanctions against the Islamic Republic are “jeopardizing the lives of millions of patients” in Iran by trying to achieve the “grand delusion” of installing a pro-West regime in the country. 

“The US-led sanctions against the Islamic Republic which directly and painfully target the population have created an inconceivable situation for those whose very lives depend on the medicine adversely affected by these barbaric sanctions,” Iranian author and Middle East expert Dr. Ismail Salami wrote on the Press TV website. 

“The sheer idea of imposing illegal sanctions against the Islamic Republic and jeopardizing the lives of millions of patients is indeed an act of brutality which runs counter to the very true spirit of humanity as well as to international humanitarian laws,” he added.

Citing a recent article published in a leading US daily, Salami said the West is “sharply aware of the devastating inhuman effects” of the sanctions on the sick people in Iran. 

The Washington Post article, titled ‘Iran, Sanctions Take Toll on the Sick’, details how drug shortages are particularly affecting “cancer patients and those being treated for complex disorders such as hemophilia, multiple sclerosis and thalassemia, as well as transplant and kidney dialysis patients." 

 

In a letter to the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in August, Fatemeh Hashemi, head of Iran's Charity Foundation for Special Diseases, called for UN action to prevent the sanction-induced damages to six million Iranian patients suffering from such intractable diseases as thalassemia, hemophilia, kidney conditions, multiple sclerosis (MS), cancer, etc. 

 

“Although medicine is not included in the list of the sanctions, the aftermaths of the sanctions, the impossibility of transferring money through the banks as well as the appalling atmosphere created thus has cast its cumbersome shadow upon medicine and healthcare in Iran and has austerely affected the import of medicines in the country. As the head of an institute dealing with the lives of six million patients, I hereby implore you to exert all your endeavors to champion human rights in lifting the sanctions as they are political in nature and prove to the inexcusable detriment of the patients in Iran,” Hashemi said. 

 

Read More

Dismantling Israeli Apartheid

/

Roitov

Israeli Discrimination

The assessment that Israel is a racist country is not mine in origin. On November 10, 1975, the United nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 3379, which ends with an undying truth: “…which most severely condemned Zionism as a threat to world peace and security and called upon all countries to oppose this racist and imperialist ideology, Determines that Zionism is a form of racism and racial discrimination.” Another important text appearing in this resolution is: “international co-operation and peace require the achievement of national liberation and independence, the elimination of colonialism and neo-colonialism, foreign occupation, Zionism, apartheid and racial discrimination in all its forms,…” Almost 35 years later—on October 16, 2009—the same United Nations adopted the The Goldstone Report, which condemned Israel on its brutal attack on Gaza. The report defines Israel as a terror inflicting organization (Article 1690 and others, download here the full text). The brutality of the events described there—including the illegal bombing of civilians within a hospital with white phosphorous—leaves no place for doubt: despite the cancelation of Resolution 3379 (a blackmailing precondition for the Madrid Conference, see Zion, Sex and Resolution 3379 and White September) Israel didn’t change attitude. Israel wouldn't have attacked West Bank settlers with white phosphorous, even if persecuting them. Gaza is entirely populated by Palestinians—Jewish Settlements there were dismantled in 2005—and the attack on them had clear racist implications: since the 19th century Zionism silently performs ethnic cleansing. Racism in Israel is as extreme as the South African was, but is slightly different in its machinery.

Compared to South Africa, the Israeli Administration has an easy task. Israel has no constitution; its government can legislate through the Knesset whatever law it wishes. In the 1990s, Israel’s parliament begun to create Basic Laws (note the noncasual similarity with The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, expecting them to became the basis for a future constitution. The effort failed. First, they have proven to be easily changeable whenever the largest party wishes so. Second, they were never ratified by the citizens. Third, they are incomplete because they ignore Human Rights issues. Moreover, they are often manipulated against basic rights, as the Jewish Fatherland Law has recently proven.

Since the constitutional legislative level is missing, the Israeli Administration can adopt racist procedures without the need to care about human rights. South Africa formally divided people into four races. Israeli never did that. However, its IDs clearly identify one’s ethnic group and religion, as decided by the Ministry of Interior (see The Cross of Bethlehem). This has deep implications in daily life, specifically regarding the rights and debts one has towards the state.

The Israeli parallel to the South African Group Areas Act is equally quiet. Ethnic and religious groups live in separated area. Formally, the administration claims that there are “mixed cities,” citing Jerusalem, Haifa, Jaffa, Ramle and Lod. In fact, all these feature exclusive neighborhoods; looking at this level, racism is exposed. It can’t be claimed this is done willingly by the people. Recently I reported on Tzfat’s rabbi—a government official—who violently made sure Palestinians renting houses in his town would be evicted. Moreover, in Israel: End of a Dream, I analyzed how this is done through economic means by manipulation of the properties values. Moreover, academic studies on the institutional discrimination among Jewish groups are readily available.

Finally, Israel doesn’t need the related the Reservation of Separate Amenities Act; Palestinians won’t dare entering a Jewish shopping mall. Ending the comparison to South Africa, is the Bantu Education Act. Israel doesn’t need it. In November 2002, Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics claimed that Arabs comprised approximately 7% of all students at Israeli universities. The semantics are misleading. The term “Arab” as used here refers mainly to Palestinian citizens of Israel. Yet, it includes also other minorities like Druze and Circassians who serve in the IDF and thus get a preference in university studies. Even taking this factor into account the discrimination is evident: “Arabs”—as defined by the abovementioned bureau—form 20% of the population. This analysis also ignores the quality factor; Arabs have little chance to enter elite faculties and institutions. While I was there, The Weizmann Institute of Science had only one Palestinian student; a Sabbath-Goy placed there to silence any claims of discrimination. Overall, situation in Israel and Apartheid South Africa is similar on the ground, despite minor legal differences.

Survey: 40 Percent Of Americans Have $500 Or Less In Savings

/

CBS

A survey of about 1,100 Americans finds that more than 4-in-10 respondents admit they don’t have more than $500 in readily accessible savings.

The survey is a kind of departure for CreditDonkey.com, a website that compares credit card deals. Not respondents all were poor. Some had big houses, big mortgages or 401(k)s, but still no more than five Benjamins to rub together right now.

Jill Michal, president and CEO of the United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey, reacts to the lack of liquid assets.

Fox News Echoes GOP's Misleading Definition Of Welfare

/

Media Matters for America

Fox's Eric Bolling relied on a Republican-commissioned study on federal spending for social benefit programs to claim the government spends more than $1 trillion on welfare. In fact, spending on welfare comprises less than two-tenths of a percent of the federal budget.

Study: Federal Government Spent About $750 Billion On Social Benefit Programs In 2011

CRS Study Found That Spending On Federal Benefits and Services For People With Low IncomesTotaled $746 Billion In 2011. A Congressional Research Service study commissioned by Senate Republicans found that "federal spending for low income programs" totaled "$746 billion" in fiscal year 2011. At the request of the Budget Committee, CRS counted more than 80 social benefit programs in its analysis, but excluded programs specifically targeted to help veterans. [Congressional Research Service, 10/16/12, via The Weekly Standard]

GOP Senate Committee Used Study To Claim Total Federal Spending On Welfare Is $1.03 Trillion With State Data

GOP Senate Budget Committee: "Including Available Data On State Spending On Federal Welfare Programs, The Total Amount Spent On Federal Welfare Stands At $1.03 Trillion." A press release about the study noted that Sen. Jeff Sessions and the Republican staff of the Senate Budget Committee requested the analysis. The press release, calling the results "staggering," claimed:

The report reveals that total means-tested welfare spending is currently the single largest category of spending in the federal budget--more than Medicare, Social Security, and national defense. Including available data on state spending on federal welfare programs, the total amount spent on federal welfare stands at $1.03 trillion.

Read More

Rush Limbaugh Tells Audience if Mittens Wins "you'll be able to get some money the next day."

/

RushLimbaugh.com

RUSH: "You had an unfair shot. You had a greater opportunity 'cause you knew people! You knew somebody. Somebody was able to help you out, and that's not a fair shot for somebody else."

CALLER: (chuckling)

RUSH: Look, it may sound... That's exactly how he thinks, folks, and do not doubt me. He may not have this personal desire that you don't get a loan. But I'm telling you: When he hears a story like this, he hears success. "Nobody ought to get a loan 'cause they know somebody because not everybody can. This networking business, it's not fair. It's not a fair shot, and it isn't a fair result. You shouldn't have that advantage. Your family, so what? Not everybody has family connections. Those that don't, don't have an advantage like you do. So it's about time you found out what it's like to be said 'no' to."

CALLER: (chuckling)

RUSH: That's Obama. That's Obama economics, folks. So what are you gonna do?

CALLER: Just keep your head down and keep going. It's all you can do, you know? You don't ever fail until you actually give up, and I'll never give up.

RUSH: Well, hang in there. Hang in there, 'cause I think if Romney wins this you'll be able to get some money the next day.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH:  I was deadly serious when I was telling Steve from Defiance, Ohio, if Romney wins the election, he'll get money the next day.  If he's got the credit that he says he's got, everything else being equal, he'll be able to get the money the next week.  You watch, folks, if Romney wins this election, you watch the shackles, the invisible shackles that are gonna be removed from this economy.  Well, they're not invisible, but with the prospect of Obama gone and no more Obamaism and Romney back to the free market, in that direction, you watch.  It's gonna be one of the fastest recoveries we've ever seen.

Obama's Lead In Ohio Dwindles To 1

/

TPM

President Barack Obama's lead in Ohio is down to a point, a survey from Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling on Saturday showed.

According to the poll, Obama leads Romney among likely Buckeye State voters 49 percent to 48 percent. That's within the poll's margin of error and a dip from PPP's survey of Ohio last week, which showed the president with a 5-point edge.

The poll was conducted after Tuesday's debate, and the results suggest the town hall in Hempstead, N.Y. was not a game changer for the president, whose overall lead dropped despite a plurality of Ohio voters declaring him the winner of the debate.

"Our Ohio poll reflects the new reality of this election — every battleground state is looking like a toss up," said Dean Debnam, president of PPP, in the poll's corresponding press release. "Our most recent polls in Florida, Iowa, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia, and Wisconsin have all found the candidates within 2 points of each other."

The PollTracker Average reflects the assessment, with the roughly 1-point margin separating the candidates enough to place the state in the toss-up column on the TPM Electoral Scoreboard.

Read More

Black lawmakers, AEA urge voters to reject amendment taking Jim Crow language out of Alabama Constitution

/

BlogAl

Section 256 of the Alabama Constitution dictates that "separate schools shall be provided for white and colored children, and no child of either race shall be permitted to attend a school of the other race."

Other portions describe how poll tax revenue should be used.

The words were invalidated by the courts long ago, but they remain in the 111-year-old Alabama Constitution, a written reminder of the state's segregationist past.

Alabama voters on Nov. 6 will get a second opportunity to remove the Jim Crow language after a similar measure was defeated in 2004. But some African-American legislators, as well as the Alabama Education Association, are urging people to vote against the proposed amendment, concerned that even the new measure keeps other segregation-era language saying there is no constitutional right to an education in Alabama.

Supporters of Amendment 4 on the November ballot say a no vote sends the message that Alabama is still living in the time of segregated schools and drinking fountains.

Read More

Georgia Bending Over for White Folks, Joseph Lowery & Black Caucus Say

/

CourthouseNews

- Georgia is illegally carving out and incorporating white enclaves from minority-majority counties, empowering rich white folks and disempowering poor minorities, Georgia's Legislative Black Caucus and the Rev. Joseph Lowery claim in Federal Court.
     Seven voters from Fulton and DeKalb Counties joined the Black Caucus and Lowery in suing Gov. Nathan Deal.
     Lowery, 91, a veteran leader of the civil rights struggle, claims that Georgia has been creating predominantly white municipalities inside majority black counties, diluting the voting power and political influence of lower-income minorities.
     "During the course of the last thirty years, minorities, specifically blacks, have become the dominant racial group in Fulton County and DeKalb County," the complaint states. "These individuals have also demonstrated a cohesive political identity, as evidenced by their similar voting patterns and support for black candidates in elections. The immediate consequence of this new status as a salient population majority is that said minorities have assumed marginal control of the institutions of political power at the county level in both Fulton and DeKalb County."
     Fulton and DeKalb Counties make up a great deal of Metropolitan Atlanta. Fulton County is 40.9 percent white and 44.5 percent black, and DeKalb is 54.4 percent black and 30.1 percent white, the complaint states, citing the 2010 Census.
     "However," the plaintiffs say, "starting in 2005, and presumably to thwart this trend and to blunt the emergent political power of blacks in these counties, the defendant passed laws to establish racial enclaves within Fulton County and DeKalb County that were predominantly white, unlike the political subdivisions from which they were carved. These municipal voting districts ('MVDs') supplanted the fully functional and racially balanced county government that, for over 150 years, had provided all local government services for the citizens of Fulton County and DeKalb County."

Read More

Black PG County Cop Facing 10 Years after Beating White College Student

/

CBS

The jury has just reached a verdict in the case of two Prince George’s County police officers accused of beating a University of Maryland student. Their decision comes after several grueling hours spent deliberating.

Monique Griego has details of the split verdict and the fate of the two officers.

The state argued the police officers used excessive force. The defense called it necessary. Jurors seemed to believe part of what both sides argued.

The video shot after a 2010 basketball game shows University of Maryland student John McKenna being hit multiple times by police officers James Harrison and Reginald Baker. Both faced second-degree assault and misconduct. But after several hours of deliberations, the jury announced a split verdict.

Harrison is found guilty of assault while Baker is acquitted of all charges. 

In court, the state had argued the officers were abusing their power and beat on an innocent student celebrating a victory.

Read More

Fidel Castro suffered a stroke, Venezuelan doctor says

/

MiamiHerald

Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and his state of health is so precarious that he has trouble feeding, speaking and recognizing people, said a Venezuelan physician who assured El Nuevo Herald that he has access to firsthand sources and information.

“He suffered an embolic stroke and recognizes absolutely no one,” said José Marquina, a respected doctor who in the past has claimed to have direct information about the illness affecting President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela.

“The people with a condition of this nature have difficulty eating and, of course, they end up with total deficit in their neurologic capacities.”

Rumors about Castro’s health have circulated consistently in social networks and the media. But the speculations intensified recently, to the point that word spread that he had died and that the Cuban government would make an official announcement to that effect.

Castro was last seen in public in March, during the visit to Cuba of Pope Benedict XVI. Since June, he has not written his opinion columns, called “Reflections.” He did not send any message or congratulation to Chávez for his recent election victory.

Read More

Washington City Paper Stops Using ‘Redskins,’ Picks A New Team Name

/

ThinkProgess

Two weeks ago, the Kansas City Star drew attention when the paper’s public editor explained the paper’s long-standing policy against using “Redskins” when referring to Washington’s National Football League franchise. The name, public editor Derek Donovan wrote, is “an egregiously offensive term.”

Last week, the Washington City Paper, DC’s alt-weekly newspaper, announced that it also would no longer refer to the team as the “Redskins.” And the City Paper, which has a contentious history with the franchise and its owner Daniel Snyder, went a step farther by posting an online poll so readers could choose a name the City Paper would use to identify the team instead:

Washington City Paper is unilaterally renaming the local NFL team to avoid using its racist nickname any longer. Last week, we solicited your suggestions, and this week, you can vote on the new name. Whichever one wins, that’ll be how City Paper refers to the team from now on, in print and online.

The final choices the paper gave readers were all derived from local landmarks or popular references. In the end, the Washington Pigskins (aka “The Hogs,” an homage to the team’s 1980s-era offensive line) won, beating out the Washington Half-Smokes, the Washington Monuments, the Washington Bammas, and my personal favorite, the Washington Washingtons, which I find so ridiculous that applying it to an actual pro football team is a perfect way to highlight the inanity of continuing to use “Redskins.”

Read More

Immigration Groups Ask Romney Campaign To Take Down Misleading Spanish-Language Ad

/

ThinkProgress

As Mitt Romney tries to moderate his immigration stances in order to win over Latino voters, his campaign released a new ad in Spanish touting the GOP candidate’s promise to fix the nation’s immigration system and to find a “permanent solution” for young undocumented immigrants. But immigrant rights groups are calling for Romney to take down the misleading ad. [HERE] 

Judge Asked to Order Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to Stop Misleading Voters About the Need for ID on Election Day

/

ACLU

The legal team challenging Pennsylvania’s voter ID law filed a petition today asking Judge Robert Simpson to order the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to stop disseminating false information about the need for photo ID on Election Day and to make it to clear to the public that ID will not be required to vote in the November 6 election. This request comes in the wake of several recent mailings by both governmental and non-governmental entities that contained outdated information about the law and have added to voter confusion.

In their petition, the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia, Advancement Project, the ACLU of Pennsylvania, and the law firm of Arnold & Porter argue that unless this misinformation is corrected, some eligible voters will stay home on Election Day because they mistakenly believe they need ID to vote in this election.

According to the petition, the Commonwealth has circulated misinformation about the voter ID law to voters. Last week, thousands of Pennsylvania seniors received a mailing from PACE/PACENET, a program administered by the Commonwealth's Department of Aging, that included a Dept. of State card about the voter ID law. The card incorrectly states: "Voters are required to show photo ID on Election Day.”

In addition, petitioners’ counsel has received dozens of complaints from people that they have heard and seen radio and TV ads that still say voters need photo ID to vote.  As recently as October 11, some PennDOT locations were still displaying outdated posters and information telling people they need ID to vote.  Pennsylvania’s voting laws prohibit dissemination of false or misleading information to the electorate about voting. 

Read More

Greg Palast on "Billionaires & Ballot Bandits: How to Steal an Election in 9 Easy Steps"

/

DemocracyNow

With just weeks until the November 6 election, we are joined by investigative journalist Greg Palast, who has been tracking voter disenfranchisement and election trickery closely over the years. He joins us now to detail how people can protect their vote this year. He is the author of the recently released New York Times bestseller, "Billionaires & Ballot Bandits: How to Steal an Election in 9 Easy Steps." 

White Man arrested for tossing voter registration forms in Virginia

/

Citizens for Legit Gov

A 31-year-old man working for the Virginia Republican party was arrested on Thursday after he was caught throwing out voter registration forms, Richmond, Va., the Rockingham County sheriff's office confirmed to CBS News. The man, Colin Small, faces 13 felony and misdemeanor counts relating to voter fraud, including one count of obstruction of justice, four counts of destruction of voter registration applications and eight counts of disclosure of voter registration applications. 

Gallup vs. the World

/

Citizens for Legitimate Government 

The Gallup national tracking poll now shows a very strong lead for Mitt Romney. As of Wednesday, he was ahead by six points among likely voters. Mr. Romney's advantage grew further, to seven points, when Gallup updated its numbers on Thursday afternoon. The Gallup poll is accounted for in the forecast model, along with all other state and national surveys. However, its results are deeply inconsistent with the results that other polling firms are showing in the presidential race, and the Gallup poll has a history of performing very poorly when that is the case... Usually, when a poll is an outlier relative to the consensus, its results turn out badly.

Black, Hispanic and Elderly Voters Hit With Deceptive Voter Suppression Calls

/

ThinkProgress

In an apparent effort to trick voters into not showing up at the polls, several Florida and Virginia voters received calls from unidentified individuals who read the voter’s name, address and party affiliation over the phone and then falsely informed the voter that they can vote by phone. The calls appear to target African-Americans, Spanish-speaking voters and the elderly.