Israeli Satire: Christmas in Eurabia

Is there another place on our planet where something like this could run on television? A light to the nations.

An Open Letter from America’s Port Truck Drivers on Occupy the Ports

http://talkingunion.wordpress.com/2011/12/31/port-truck-drivers-open-letter-to-occupy/

The Second Cold War and South America: New Strategic Directions on the Part of the United States

http://upsidedownworld.org/main/international-archives-60/3378-the-second-cold-war-and-south-america-new-strategic-directions-on-the-part-of-the-united-states

And the Farmworkers are Still Poor

Haven't read this yet, but the review was interesting.

http://upsidedownworld.org/main/mexico-archives-79/3381-and-the-farmworkers-are-still-poor

The Real Meaning Of Ron Paul's Candidacy

Guns and Butter - December 28, 2011 at 1:00pm

Click to listen (or download)

Pacifica misappropriates KPFA workers’ pension money, hires new law firm

Pacifica is a corporation, and has been acting like one for decades.

http://talkingunion.wordpress.com/2011/12/30/pacifica-misappropriates/#more-13426

Whither Africa? Cold War Redux

Great piece.

http://sfbayview.com/2011/should-africa-be-an-ally-of-the-west-or-china-the-case-of-cameroon-and-cote-divoire-2/

Revolution Betrayed In Nepal

A familiar story.

http://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article23838

Crisis as Capitalist Opportunity, Interview With Ursula Huws

Nothing new here, but a good discussion of what is going on and why.

http://www.newleftproject.org/index.php/site/article_comments/crisis_as_capitalist_opportunity

Red Star Over Wukan: Where Are All These Mice Coming From?

"It doesn't matter whether it's a black cat or a white cat, so long as it catches mice." So went junta leader Deng Xiaoping's rationale for reintroducing a market economy to the PRC. With Mao still warm in his grave and the "gang" deposed, Deng, initially through his puppet Hua Guofang, began to reverse the work of the Chinese revolution. We can debate the merits of Mao's writings and rule, but what has happened since his death is nothing short of tragic.

Funny and heart-breaking at the same time, read it and weep.

.http://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article23859

Guns And Butter Interview With Webster Tarpley About His Trip To Syria

Guns and Butter - December 21, 2011 at 1:00pm

Click to listen (or download)

Journaganda Alert: Shameless Lies About OccupySeattle

Occupy protesters losing 99 percent's sympathy

You would have thought a group of protesters like this would be all about being green, protecting our lands and behaving well as a way to show the good in the world. You would have thought they'd be about small business, the antithesis of the large corporations and financial institutions targeted by the protests. You would have thought they'd demonstrate responsibility when trying to trying to call attention to the irresponsibility of mega-businesses.But the Occupy protesters have done just the opposite in too many cases. They have been uncooperative, destroyed public property and cost the working families who ultimately pay for municipal services millions of dollars for additional police work, sanitation, garbage collection and repairs to public parks where the campouts have taken place. The large clusters of largely out-of-work protesters whose hygiene habits have gone on hiatus have driven customers away from nearby family-owned business because shoppers don't want to deal with the protesters, putting those businesses in peril.

Read more here: http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2011/12/26/1766027/occupy-protesters-losing-99-percents.html#storylink=cpy

Resurrecting the ol' body odor epithet. Haven't heard this one in a while.

And JFTR: The camp actually helped local businesses due to the numbers of protesters and the sightseers they draw.

And isn't it just grand that the TCH has finally become concerned about the well-being of longshoremen and public employees! As hitherto the paper has been rather hostile to the ILWU protests and collective bargaining rights.

And even more astonishing is that TCH seems to be endorsing a consumption tax to cover budget deficits. Now this is really a surprise as in the past they have towed the Reagan/Republican anti-tax line.

Hmmmmmmmmm.

Journaganda Alert: The Liberal Media?

A private think tank my ass! Homeland Security has been orchestrating police activity from the beginning. And it's been that way for every mass movement since at least WW1.

The state is an organ of capital, and NPR is an organ of the state. Follow the link to text and audio of a psy-op.

http://www.npr.org/2011/12/26/144283217/with-occupy-protests-police-aimed-for-restraint

What to expect in January from the corporate privatizers in the state of Washington

http://seattleducation2010.wordpress.com/2011/12/26/what-to-expect-in-january-from-the-corporate-privatizers-in-the-state-of-washington/

Blogger's Note, December 25

Merry Christmas.

Sham Trial Alert: Laurent Gbagbo In The Hague

When I saw how the international media was savaging Gbagbo I knew he had to be something right. I also found it curious that the Anglophone press in CI, that which was available on the net, was universally favorable to Ouattara, and the Francophone press just the opposite. I started to research and write something about it but got sidetracked. Now that Gbagbo is on trial in the Hague, I thought I'd share what I learned. What follows is a very brief history with some notes and links.

After WW2 the French empire was in tatters and was forced to grant concessions to its colonies. One was to grant representation in the French Parliament. Cote d'Ivoire sent one Felix Houphuet-Boigny whose family had long been in collaboration with their colonizers, and had profited handsomely because of it. The Boigny family owned a considerable amount of land, very unusual for native Ivoirians, upon which they grew coffee and cocoa, CI's biggest exports.

In Paris -Boigny made important contacts with imperial interests and became a favorite of de Gaulle's government. Eventually he made his way back to Africa where he founded a putatively leftist party. When elections were held he was swept into power whereupon he did a volte-face and renounced socialism and introduced neoliberal trade policies. He also banned political parties and trade unions. In furtherance of his decision to destroy organized labor, he instituted a liberal immigration policy which flooded the country with cheap labor, from which he benefited personally as well as politically.

Needless to say -Boigny became the toast of international capital, as he followed a zealously anti-USSR, pro-West foreign policy. It is said that -Boigny was a point man for Western intelligence operations in western Africa which destabilized defiant African governments including those of Patrice Lumumba, Thomas Sankara, and Kwame Enkruma, just to name a few.

He couldn't have been more accomodating to capital, particularly French capital

His imperialist bent gave rise to an opposition movement. This was headed by Laurent Gbagbo. He was one of the beneficiaries of France's post-WW2 colonial liberalization program. After getting a bachelor's in CI, he headed to Paris getting his master's and PhD at the Sorbonne. He then returned to his native country and formed a real leftist organization known as the Ivorian Popular Front. He was arrested and imprisoned for a year or two and only freed due to favorable circumstance and an angry public's clamor for his release.

The attempts to oust -Boigny were unsuccessful in large part because CI was relatively prosperous and enjoyed low unemployment. With a global drop of coffee/cocoa prices this period of equanimity ended. Unrest followed and -Boigny was forced to grant freedom of expression, and the formation of political parties and trade unions. Eventually, after an army mutinee, he had little choice but to call an election. He then trounced Gbagbo drawing five times his challenger's tally, leaving some to wonder about the reliability of the results.

When commodity prices dropped austerity measures were instituted. The man -Boigny pegged to design and implement the new fiscal program was Allasane Ouattara, the son of immigrants.

After -Boigny's death a violent succession struggle ensued, one replete with bizarre accidents and mysterious suicides. After years of strife a new election was called and Gbagbo garnered the most votes but not a majority. The run-off was much in dispute but Robert Guei was declared the winner. Public outrage was so fulsome that Guei fled and Gbagbo assumed the presidency.

Gbagbo's tenure was rather disappointing. Whether he was hamstrung by resistant capital, or was seduced by the trappings of power, or sank into the muck of compromise, not much changed in CI. There were no nationalizations of critical industries, no redistribution of land, no significant redistribution of wealth.

So why was he toppled? Most likely three things made capital depose him:



1, Oil was discovered offshore and Gbagbo proved a tough negotiator for big oil. He ran afoul of energy giant Total. [http://www.total.com/en/about-total/news/news-940500.html&idActu=2460]

2, He arrested "Chocolate Barons" of Bollore, the French agricultural titan, for swindling the government of CI. The resulting "Chocolate Trial" was a humiliation for international capital.[http://www.notrevoie.com/a_la_uneDerHeureN.asp?id=27]

3, He sided with workers when they went on strike against the French telecom/energy company Bouygues. The latter had engaged in a fierce union-bashing campaign which precipitated the walk-out.[http://www.icem.org/en/78-ICEM-InBrief/1544-French-based-Bouygues-Creating-Union-Problems-in-Cote-d%E2%80%99Ivoire
]



These affronts caused international capital to issue genocidal sanctions. Here are some links and brief notes:

EU bans bonmd ivorian
http://www.europa-eu-un.org/articles/en/article_10899_en.htm
http://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article20980
http://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article20962
http://www.notrevoie.com/a_la_une.asp?id=39208

papal nuncio ambroise madtha condemns embargo closure of banks/schools/lack of medications
http://www.notrevoie.com/a_la_une.asp?id=39208

US sanctions
http://eliesmith.blogspot.com/2011/01/united-states-imposes-sanctions-on-cote.html
http://sanctionlaw.com/2011/01/06/ofac-issues-cote-divoire-sdn-designations/



This brings us to the election which prompted the civil war. Here's some of the evidence of Gbagbo's victory offered by his supporters:

election fraud data [pdf]
http://www.docshare.com/doc/260210/EXEMPLES-FRAUDE-ELECTORALE-COTE-D-IVOIRE-OUAT

IEC declares O winner/ counstitutional council says gbagbo
http://allafrica.com/stories/201012140623.html

French give order that election results must be released today'
IEC hides out in secret in hotel and give resulkts from there.
what media didnt tell u
http://agendia.jigsy.com/entries/africa/2010-elections-in-cote-d-ivoire-what-most-media-do-not-tell-you



It didn't matter though, capital wants Gbagbo out and their agents--the media, the UN, the Western governments etc.--launched a war against him which led to the his arrest.

Gbagbo laid the blame with French capital:

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27879.htm



Gbagbo now languishes in prison, but he still has a large contingent of supporters despite Ouattara's undisguised efforts to genocide them. Of what I've read of Gbagbo, this was the most flattering:

http://www.notrevoie.com/a_la_une.asp?id=39209


I am not sure what to make of Gbagbo, as a revolutionary he leaves a bit to be desired. But what is clear is that he, like Slobodan Milosevic before him, is innocent of the maccabre charges lodged against him in the Hague. And as such is worthy of our support.

Bah Humbug Alert: Israeli Occupiers Toss Stone At Christmas Carolers Bus

BBC CHOIR BUS GOT HIT BY A ROCK FROM ISRAELI SETTLERS

Text and video.

http://www.gilad.co.uk/writings/bbc-choir-bus-got-hit-by-a-rock-from-israeli-settlers.html

Quote O' The Day, 23 Dec.

"God is dead!" Nietzsche. "God never existed!" Hitchens. "Nietzsche and Hitchens are both dead!" God.

Gilad Atzmon

A tribute to Steve Bantu Biko

This article is worth a read but I don't believe it does Biko justice. He was to anti-imperialism in Africa what Gramsci was to the development of contemporary socialist thought. He was that rare combination of brilliant theorist, canny tactician, and spiritual savant. I think it is a pity that he and Chris Hani have been largely forgotten while much less deserving South Africans enjoy international acclaim ( and great wealth ) for leadership in the anti-apartheid struggle.

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/78867

50 years later: Fanon's legacy

Nice piece.

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/78860

CNN Trying To Destroy Ron Paul

I'm no fan of remorseless capitalist Ron Paul--he wants to eliminate Social Security, environmental protections, public education, believes American business' labor costs are too high, just to name a few objections--but his ideas about disenthroning the oligarchy and giving everybody an equal chance to become parasites have the embedded plutocrats really nervous. So they have unleashed their media hounds.

Or is it all a charade like Obama? We'll know for sure it was if he wins.

CIA won't disclose involvement in crackdowns on #OWS

The Indian Land Grab In Africa

Indian companies venturing abroad is always regarded as a healthy trend, an indicator of India's new-found economic status. But little is known about how these companies are flexing their imperalistic muscles in poorer countries, grabbing the land and giving little in return. A report ‘India’s Role in the New Global Farmland Grab’ by researcher Rick Rowden brings forth these atrocities which are shockingly similar to what India used to blame rich western countires for.

http://www.countercurrents.org/goi201211.htm

Michael Parenti - The Real Causes of World War II

These videos might come as a shock to most Americans, but I believe Parenti's interpretation is much closer to the truth than the detritus taught in the schools.

Mat I recommend:

The People As Enemy: The Leaders' Hidden Agenda in World War II, by John Spritzler

Conjuring Hitler, by Guido Preparata

Race and the Occupation

Nice piece.

http://spritzlerj.blogspot.com/2011/10/race-and-occupation.html

Tariq Ali: Action and Reaction in the Arab World

Follow the link to the audio of a speech on Palestine, and the similarity between the Nazi racist tropes and the rhetoric coming from Israel today. Worth a listen, as usual TA is spot on.

http://www.againstthegrain.org/program/508/id/500927/mon-12-19-11-action-and-reaction-arab-world

Never-ending War R.I.P. Brian Arredondo

Brian Arredondo was 17 when his 20 year-old brother, Alex, a U.S. Marine, was killed in Iraq on 25 August, 2004—he was 24 this past Monday, 19 December, when he took his own life.

Recall that Carlos Arredondo, the father of Alex and Brian, his only children, was so distraught when the Marines came to tell him that his oldest son was killed, he caught their van and himself on fire, burning over 26% of his body. His recovery from his physical wounds was long and difficult, but his emotional wounds from having his son killed by the U.S. government in its illegal and immoral war in Iraq will never completely heal. However, I know since my son, Casey, was killed in Iraq only four months before Alex, that Carlos was beginning to be able to get through his days without overwhelming pain before his other son committed suicide.

http://visitor.benchmarkemail.com/c/v?e=119A85&c=1BD0F&l=B02F79&email=oApSeTf%2FIEK6lJbcuvO%2Br93Dy2vOy32N&relid=C6EC15A

Counterrevolution Alert Egypt: Ruling Class Resorts To Chemical Warfare Against The People

Deadly Gas Enters the Arab Spring

CAIRO, Dec 18, 2011 (IPS) - Activists across the Middle East are reporting a mysterious toxin, possibly a banned nerve agent, in the thick clouds of tear gas used by security forces to suppress anti-government protests in recent months.

"I felt weak and dizzy for several days, and my hands wouldn’t stop shaking," recalls Mahmoud Hassan, an Egyptian marketing executive who was hospitalised last month after inhaling tear gas during a protest against military rule in Cairo. The gas used against protesters was many times stronger than that used by security forces during the 18-day uprising that toppled Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak in February, he insists.

http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=106248

Standoff Coming in Wisconsin Against Restrictions to Protest at Capitol

New laws against dissent in Wisconsin.

http://www.jobparty.us/standoff_coming_in_wisconsin_against_restrictions_to_protest_at_capitol



And this video is worth a look:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/12/18/1046767/-Occupy-Madison-GA-Endorses-Solidarity-Sing-Along-Standoff?via=blog_571116

Journaganda Alert: Oh, for an Alexander Hamilton to save Europe!

"History is a battlefield."[1]

Over 200 years on and they are still lying to us about the American Revolution. Here even the Brits, of all people, are getting into the act. Which only goes to prove my contention that we are a world divided into classes; not races, religions or nations. They are but tools in the hands of international capital.

"Those who own the land should govern it." John Jay

The American Revolution was betrayed by a scheming cabal of treacherous "moneyed men". These had an abiding fear and contempt of the democratic ideals and aspirations of the laboring classes which had been loosed by the War of Independence. This propertied class plotted and intrigued against rank and file Americans without whom the rich merchants and landed slave-holding gentry could not have secured their independence from the like of Great Britain. Their liberty in hand, thence did the cabal connive to re-subject the American people to the same depredations as the British had, and by much the same means. The perpetrators of this infamy are known to us as the Founding Fathers.

"Gentleman, let us not be too concerned with what is fair, but let us have a government which protects our property." George Washington

The "Founders" wanted to oust the British, but didn't want a real revolution. Unfortunately for them democracy had broken out all over as a result of the war. Thus did our "Fathers" secretly concoct a state document designed specifically to throttle the ongoing revolution and re-establish the rule of money where it had been overthrown. This document is known to us as the Constitution. It criminalized rebellion, and at the same time generated for the new ruling class obscene, windfall profits from redemption of war debt; booty recovered from the collection of onerous taxes from subsistence farmers, the very same people who had fought and won the war.

"The point of government is to protect the rich from the poor." James Madison

The principal architect of this ignominy was Alexander Hamilton, upon whom the author of the cited article calls to "save" Europe. Just about everything in this FT piece is wrong, or at the very least attenuated. Not all the relevant debt was state debt; it is a gross distortion to define the dispute over whether and at what rate to redeem as regional; and the resolving agreement is equally mischaracterized.

It is of no surprise that the FT, the voice of British capital, has crafted a version of American Revolutionary history devoid of its essential element--class antagonism; and with its arch villain refashioned as hero. It is, after all, the deception taught by school, media and Hamilton's successors in government. All of the war debt was issued at deep discounts. Often wartime economic conditions (here too is Hamilton's work) were so adverse that working people were forced to sell these bonds for next to nothing to feed their families. There were cases of $100 bonds reselling for less than a dollar. Several plans for redemption were put forth by the democratic assemblies (before they were outlawed by the Constitution and state constitutions) which were quite accommodating, substantially in excess of market value averages. But they were not generous enough for Hamilton and the rest of the profiteering Founders who demanded that they be redeemed at par (face value), and whose Constitution homologated that they be payed in specie (gold, silver, i.e. not paper money). Hamilton then devised taxation and other systems by which this enormous sum could be expropriated from the people and transferred to the ruling class. This further immiserating of the laboring classes resulted in countless bankruptcies and home/farm foreclosures, and, of course, severely hampered the latter's ability to resist the moneyed men's coup. There were several attempts at rebellion, but all were put down by force of arms.

Hamilton's policies were a great political and economic swindle. And they are resurrecting his ghost to do it again.



http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/811611d6-273a-11e1-b7ec-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1h2WPci7X



[1] I cannot remember who said this. The other quotes are from memory and may not be verbatim, but I'm sure they are accurate in essence.

If you want to learn more about the real American Revolution, I recommend:

Taming Democracy, by Terry Bouton

A People's History of the American Revolution, by Ray Rafael

Forced Founders and Unruly Americans, by Woody Holton

And for a bean-counters view Joseph Ernst's Money and Politics in America, 1755-1775 is invaluable

Here's One For The Coincidence Theorists: Senior al-Azhar Sheikh Emad Effat shot dead during Cairo protests

The late Sheikh Effat, 52 years old, also made an extensive argument against SCAF[military authorities] after the Maspero incident where scores of Christians were killed in clashes with the military police. He called the Egyptians to unite and pressure for handing over of power from the military to civilians, and warned all Egyptians – especially Islamists – from falling into the trap of sectarianism and igniting a confrontation between Muslims and Christians in the way that extends the rule of the military.

This one might get some attention from the stocasticist-fundamentalists as the presumed assassin(s) and victim were both foreign (and as it serves the anti-Islamic meme so devoutly adhered to by our government and press). We Americans are assured 24/7/365 that there are countless eeeevildoers out there who never stop conspiring against us, and we, most of us anyway, believe it. Yet any suggestion that anyone in the American government would do the same elicits howls of rancorous protest, and the usual canard of "conspiracy theorist".

No, I don't know what happened, but we have a prestigious cleric who has criticized the military counterrevolutionary junta and cautioned all clergy to refrain from sectarianism, more specifically that variety of partisan religious strife which the junta has been zealously fomenting. In other words the Sheikh was saying precisely those things which the SCAF has been trying to suppress.

And now the Sheikh is dead.

http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2011/12/18/senior-al-azhar-sheikh-emad-effat-shot-dead-during-cairo-protests/

Revolutionary Socialists in Egypt statement about assault on Cabinet Office occupation

Thugs and soldiers in civilian clothes took over government buildings which are now effectively under military occupation, including the parliament building itself, in order to throw stones and glass at the protesters and activists who joined them in Qasr al-Aini street to express their anger at the attack on the sit-in.

Dozens of demonstrators have fallen to baton charges, water cannons, rubber bullet rounds and live ammunition.

http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=27055

TN MOVING STORIES: Transit Fare Affects School Attendance in Chicago, Singapore’s Subway Snarl

http://transportationnation.org/2011/12/16/tn-moving-stories-transit-fare-affects-school-attendance-in-chicago-singapores-subway-snarl/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+transportationnation%2FfhLV+%28Transportation+Nation+Moving+Stories+%C2%BB+Daily+Links%29&utm_content=Yahoo!+Mail

Bill Black: Dante’s Divine Comedy – Banksters Edition

Black s given to overstatement at times, but not here. It really was this craven and corrupt.

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2011/12/bill-black-dante%E2%80%99s-divine-comedy-%E2%80%93-banksters-edition.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NakedCapitalism+%28naked+capitalism%29&utm_content=Yahoo!+Mail

Christopher Hitchens (1949-2011)

Great eulogy.

http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=27053

Quote O' The Day, 15 December

R. Palme Dutt, Fascism And The Social Revolution.(Published in 1935)

The revolt against science...is not only the expression of a dying and doomed social class; it is an essential part of the campaign of reaction. This is the basis which helps prepare the ground for all quackeries and charlatanries of chauvinism, racial theories, anti-semitism, Aryan grandmothers, mystic swastikas, divine missions, strong-man saviors, and all the rest of the nonsense through which capitalism to-day can try to maintain its hold...There is method in the madness. For capitalism can no longer present any rational defence...Therefore it can only endeavor to save itself on a wave of obscurantism, holding out fantastic symbols and painted substitutes for ideals to cover the reality of the universally hated moneybags. Fascism is the final reduction of this process to a completely worked out programme.

Congressional Tyranny, White House Surrender

Paraphrasing Shakespeare, something is rotten in the state of Capitol Hill. A majority of Congress is just about to put the finishing touches on an amendment to the military budget authorization legislation that will finish off some critical American rights under our Constitution.

Here is how two retired 4 star marine generals, Charles C. Krulak and Joseph P. Hoar, described in the New York Times the stripmining of your freedom to resist tyranny in urging a veto by President Obama:

“One provision would authorize the military to indefinitely detain without charge people suspected of involvement with terrorism, including United States citizens apprehended on American soil. Due process would be a thing of the past….

“A second provision would mandate military custody for most terrorism suspects. It would force on the military responsibilities it hasn’t sought”…. "for domestic law enforcement….”

http://www.countercurrents.org/nader151211.htm

Rwanda: The Pentagon's African Holocaust

I hope, my dear visitors, you will permit me to revisit this issue even though it may appear self-congratulatory. I do not do so in triumphalist vanity, but to illustrate a point.

When the horrors were occurring in Rwanda, I made myself quite unpopular in certain circles by suggesting that the slaughter had the backing of the US. I had gone much too far even for my leftist friends, I was much too cynical. How could I believe that!

Well it began with a very mysterious plane crash, one which benefited the Hutus profoundly. And if these events were inimical to the interests of international capital the US or UN would have put a stop to them. Then the clincher--the intense media campaign on behalf of Paul Kagame, including cameos on 60 Minutes and many other official news media. A look at his background revealed he had trained here in the US, and that his forces were involved in securing valuable resources for Western capital. Hence I concluded that he was working for the Pentagon, and that the genocide and Kagame's subsequent intervention were the unfolding of a plan concocted by capital.

Well this was just too foul for many to believe, and I was called a "perverse" conspiracy theorist.

There is no longer any doubt that I was right. I mention this only to highlight that there is no depth to which the ruling class will not sink to protect their wealth and privilege; that the worst filth on the planet run the planet; and that one shouldn't be too dismissive of even the most horrifying theories. There is nothing new under the sun.

http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?llr=o8b4necab&v=001laauDGMXfkWBuIZZH5XSPszQR7reeUVAboKEDRuSp_Cp3Ptu1gPtkZNKPrMvrMCwCjWzkd-pGvia6oJE1x5jAHyi5d_4f_5NoHsC9XEfmsE4nlVmMxUvmA%3D%3D

No-Strike Clauses Hold Back Unions

http://thetrialbyfire.org/2011/12/14/no-strike-clauses-hold-back-unions/

Quote O' The Day, 12/14

"The ruling class has the schools and press under its thumb. This enables it to sway the emotions of the masses."

- -- Albert Einstein

Detainment Camps Going Live: FEMA Seeking Subcontractors to Provide “Temporary Camp Services” In All 50 States

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article29968.htm

Propaganda/Journaganda Alert: The Iran Terror Plot Reprised

The Zetas are back! When the ITP concoction was first loosed upon us I had thought that Iran was the target of the disinformation. Apparently the deception was directed as much at the Zetas as at the Mideast challenger to the Western nuclear oligopoly.

I'm not sure which is worse: this preposterous piece of criminal statecraft on the part of our government, or ProPropagandica's utterly shameless complicity.

U.S. authorities are building a politically explosive case that Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group, finances itself through a vast drug-smuggling network that links a Lebanese bank, a violent Mexican cartel and U.S. cocaine users.

So which is it? Is Hezbollah an Islamic fundamentalist organization hell bent on jihad, or drug-runners? For decades we have been hearing they are religious fanatics, now our government, with help from its mouthpieces in the media, are doing a 180 without even acknowledging this sea change, this seismic shift in propaganda.

The indictment in Virginia results from a continuing investigation by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration targeting Hezbollah, which has a bloody history of terror attacks against the United States and Israel.

Say what? Bloody history of terror attacks against Israel and the US? Could Propropagandica name one please?

There have been incidents which Israel and its allies have described as terror out of sheer embarrassment for their own failures, but, pray tell, has Hezbollah ever done to the US?

Now a powerful partner in Lebanon's government, Hezbollah presents itself as a legitimate political party and rejects allegations of terrorism. But Tuesday's case reflects increasing concern that Hezbollah and its ally, Iran's intelligence service, are expanding their presence in Latin America as conflict with the West intensifies over Iran's nuclear program.

Oh yes, Iran again.

Does ProPropagandica have any evidence to support this most unlikely claim that Hezbollah's influence in Latin America, assuming it has any, is sufficient to threaten America's vice-like, monopolistic grip on the hemisphere? Or that Hezbollah would have any desire to do so?

Hezbollah allegedly uses the cocaine trade to develop revenue and build foreign networks, according to U.S., European and Israeli officials. In October, the Justice Department charged an Iranian-American resident of Texas and two Iranian intelligence officers with plotting to hire Mexican cartel gunmen to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in Washington.

ProPropagandica resurrects the reific Iran Terror Plot. Why let a good, tax-payer-funded psy-op go to waste just because it didn't do well at the box office in its first run!

The DEA described him earlier this year as the hub of a sophisticated operation that has smuggled cocaine from South America to Africa and Europe, and laundered profits via money exchange houses, used-car businesses and other companies in the United States, Latin America, Africa and Southeast Asia.

Hezbollah Uber Alles.

Joumaa allegedly coordinated the smuggling of at least 85 tons of Colombian cocaine through Central America and Mexico in partnership with the Zetas, the brutal Mexican cartel founded by former commandos, according to the indictment. Between 1997 and 2010, Joumaa's mafia laundered hundreds of millions of dollars for the Zetas and their Colombian and Venezuelan suppliers, regularly picking up southbound bulk cash shipments of $2 million to $4 million in Mexico City, the indictment says.

Nobody moves 85 tons of coke without the CIA's say-so folks.

Hey they even wrote in Venezueala for a cameo. I guess the only thing Colombians and Venezuelans can agree on is Hezbollah.

Now for the stunner:

Filed by the U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia, the indictment does not mention Hezbollah. But U.S. officials say the alliance with the Zetas was part of the already targeted network linked to the Lebanese militant group.

What? Eleven paragraphs in, after most have long since stopped reading, Pro' reveals that everything that preceded this paragraph is sheer, unsubstantiated speculation. Wow! No shame.

“The indictment does not reflect all of the information that the government has,” said a Justice Department official. “It's accurate that Treasury's previous statement connected Mr. Joumaa to Hezbollah. The investigation is ongoing.”

Uh huh.

The Shiite militia killed hundreds of people in terror strikes in the 1980s and 1990s, from the car-bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut to attacks on Jewish targets in Argentina. In recent years, though, Hezbollah has curbed attacks outside of the Middle East, focusing on its bitter military struggle with Israel and growing role in Lebanese politics. The group is seen in Lebanon, the Arab world and parts of the West as a legitimate resistance organization.

We are now fourteen paragraphs in when Pro' finally condescends to concede that Hezbollah is seen by many (that would be everybody outside Washington, Brussels, and Tel Aviv) as a defense organization. And look what precedes it within this paragraph.

First, The bombing of the Marines was not an act of terror by anyone's definition save perhaps the Pentagon's and the press they control like ProPropagandica. An armed force of occupation is a legitimate military target, nobody disputes this. The US government tried to spin it that way by risibly insisting that since the Marines killed were "off-duty" that they were not at the moment of their demise combatants, and hence it was an act of terror. This was a unique argument, and a pathetic one.

Second, Hezbollah was not responsible. Islamic Jihad was blamed, and there was some talk that AMAL was involved, but Hezbollah didn't exist in its present form at that point and were not named at the time. Nor have they ever taken responsibility for the act. If ProPropagandica has any evidence implicating Hezbollah, it needs to present it. And if Hezbollah was the perpetrator, then the US has apologies to make to those groups whom they falsely accused.

It served the imperialist agenda to blame Islamic Jihad at the time, now Hezbollah is the enemy du jour and it is now being retroactively blamed.

According to Mossad defector Viktor Ostrovsky, Islamic Jihad was responsible and the Mossad knew of the attack in advance but failed to inform the US as they believed the carnage would strengthen Israel's hand in the region.

As for the attacks in Argentina, there is much evidence pointing to the Mossad. If anyone is interested one might research the work Adrian Salbuchi has done on this. But he is by no means alone in his belief that these were false-flag affairs. The Argentine government investigated these incidents and disclosed that it had no evidence of Hezbollah's involvement.

A money exchange house in Joumaa's network used a branch of the Lebanese bank to deposit “bulk proceeds of drug sales” and then wire them to “U.S.-based used car dealers,” the document says. The cars were sold and sent to Africa in suspiciously structured transactions, U.S. officials say.

Government, as Frank Zappa noted, is the entertainment wing of the military/industrial complex. My only criticism is that he left out the media.

Infotainment at its very worst.

http://www.propublica.org/article/government-says-hezbollah-profits-from-us-cocaine-market-via-link-to-mexica

Report: Child homelessness up 33% in 3 years

http://thetrialbyfire.org/2011/12/13/report-child-homelessness-up-33-in-3-years/

An Open Letter from America's Port Truck Drivers on Occupy the Ports

...Just like Wall Street doesn’t have to abide by rules, our industry isn’t bound to regulation. So the market is run by con artists. The companies we work for call us independent contractors, as if we were our own bosses, but they boss us around. We receive Third World wages and drive sweatshops on wheels. We cannot negotiate our rates. (Usually we are not allowed to even see them.) We are paid by the load, not by the hour. So when we sit in those long lines at the terminals, or if we are stuck in traffic, we become volunteers who basically donate our time to the trucking and shipping companies. That’s the nice way to put it. We have all heard the words “modern-day slaves” at the lunch stops...

http://occupywallst.org/article/open-letter-americas-port-truck-drivers-occupy-por/

OccupySeattle March To The Port Update

Terminals 18 and 5 were shut down. Dozens were arrested.

Some people were injured, I do not know their status. There was some concern about a couple of marchers who were trampled by police on horseback. Pepper spray and flashbang grenades were used, and there was some talk of tear gas, but this is unconfirmed.

Estimates for the turnout range from 300 to 600. My guess is the lower number may be nearer the mark.

The ILWU bosses may not have supported the march but certainly the membership did. Every longshoreman I encountered was enthusiastically supportive, and grateful. The truckers even moreso.

Here's a chronology from the website:

1:25pm: Twitter reports, we have at least 350 energetic people as speakers hype up crowd!
1:30pm: Have begun the march down 4th to the Port of Seattle! Beautiful banner declaring, "Rise and Decolonize!" Beautiful people chanting, "Shut down the West Coast!" and "Whose Streets? Our Streets?"
1:45pm: Live stream reports crowd of 700 marching South on 2nd Ave.
2:00pm: Reports of choppers circling the crowd
2:10pm: Occupy Seattle Twitter reports marching passed the stadiums, taking up 4 lanes of traffic on 4th Ave: "Seahawks supporters cheering us on!"
2:40pm: KIRO tv has live chopper feed, livestream and twitter reports. Sherrif's dept. chopper, as well.
2:50 Almost to the port. King county sheriff helicopter flying right over head- "cop heli noisey. increasing volume of the people!" the energy is awesome!
3:06pm: March approaching Marginal Way! On the global livestream! Seattle Livestream reports we are 1,000 strong!
3:10pm: Port Truckers honking in solidarity! Cops on top of bridge looking down at protestors.
3:15pm: March arriving at the port with cheers and chants and Truckers sound their horns in support! Live stream reports more than a thousand people! the crowd stretches back several city blocks and a second crowd waiting for the marchers at spokane rally point!!
3:25 pm: one entrance to the port shut off, traffic blocked. Police in riot gear and bicycle cops arrive.
3:40pm: reports of 2 arrests. Mic Checks explain how to prevent the arrival of the swing shift and create a blockade for trucks.
3:45pm: second entrance blockaded. all gates to terminal 18, owned by Goldman sacks it shut down!
3:55pm: Witness reports 1 police and 2 coast guard boats.

4:00pm: police prevent worker traffic from exiting the port at end of shift, crowd chants "please let the workers go"
4:10pm: police allow workers to leave port.
4:45pm: The port gates are being blocked. The police have formed bike lines in front of the pickets. " west side of port is shut down for night"
4:50pm: No work will be done at terminal 18 tonight. we shut it down!! on to the next terminal! Contingent staying at termonal 18 to make sure it stays closed. Other group moving to T5
5:00pm car hits two protesters and drives away- witnesses report licence number. witnesses have photos.
5:00pm: witness reports pepper spray, flash bangs? (had 2 loud bangs) used on protesters at 18- some on the sidewalks. barricades and horses used by police as "tools" to control crowd. Police gave no warning before deployment of weapons. 8 -12 arrests
6:00 pm: demonstrators have moved to terminal 5. over 200 picketing, 24 blockading.
6:05pm: after mounted police, tear gas, pepper spray and flash grenades cleared terminal 18 picket is holding down terminal 5.
6:20pm: the police have left.
6:45pm: "The longshore workers are standing by at the union hall waiting for the arbitrator to decide whether they'll be sent to work here. so we need to maintain the picket line for sometime longer. Please stay if you can.
Invite friendst to pier 5 (3443 West Marginal Way SW), we have a lively picket line going there. We have the future of the worker's movement here. Everyone on the picket line is having a great time."

Today's The Big Day: The OccupySeattle March To The Port

The OccupySeattle March To The Port begins in an hour. Already helicopters are buzzing about over the city.

Please be aware that the on the march we will be confronted by opposition from within and without. The police will be a conspicuous and menacing presence, and will look for any justification to crush the demonstration. This visible challenge will be augmented by a clandestine one by agents from many branches of the state security apparatus. Their role, besides the gathering of intelligence, will be to manufacture a pretext for the police to launch an attack. There will be all manner of plain-clothes provocateurs, running all manner of subterfuges. Remember this is a big day not only for local police, Homeland Security and the FBI etc., but also for the individual saboteurs involved. It is a great opportunity for them to distinguish themselves, impress their bosses, make a name for themselves and advance their careers. There will be promotions to be had for those spooks who can effectively undermine an event of this size and import. It is their job to be dangerous, and today they will be.

So please be careful. Do what you came to do, but do not allow yourself to be provoked. If somebody accuses you of picking their pocket or groping them, just say "it wasn't me officer," and just keep doing what you were doing. Please try not to be distracted or lose your head. The authorities will not only wish to derail the march, they will be looking for a reason to demonize the marchers. Try not to give them one.

Let's make sure that the High Lords of Capital hear us today. Good luck to all
.

Here's an update from occupyca:


« #OccupySF Justin Herman Plaza Raided
West Coast Ports Shutdown
by strangecosmos

OAKLAND, California — In coordination with numerous other West Coast “occupy” groups, Occupy Oakland has blockaded the port of Oakland in an attempt to halt the flow of goods which serve to further enrich the capitalist class. These synchronized actions involve blockades in Anchorage, Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles, San Diego and solidarity protests in Hawaii, Dallas, Chicago, Boston, New York and beyond; and though the event has not been endorsed by the ILWU, it was planned in solidarity with rank-and-file dock workers struggling against grain exporter EGT, which has been trying to undermine union contracts. Read on for updates from specific cities.

As of 8 am the port of Oakland is effectively blockaded. Crowd estimates are vague, but there are around 300 protestors at each of the half-dozen Berth entry-points. The numbers continue to swell as protestors march from the West Oakland BART station.

Many buses of riot police have been sighted arriving, but no arrests nor orders to disperse have been reported yet.

Detailed account of events at the port of Oakland: http://sfappeal.com/news/2011/12/hundreds-of-occupy-oakland-demonstrators-marching-to-block-port.php

LOS ANGELES, California — Despite uncharacteristically poor weather and a number of brutal arrests, a mass rally has caused the police to close the Port of Long Beach, which is the largest Port of entry in the United States. LBPD has announced that the demonstration is an unlawful assembly and is attempting to corral the crowd back into a near-by park (ironic, given the resources spent recently getting occupiers out of parks).

PORTLAND, Oregon — Demonstrators have been effective in shutting down two terminals of the Port of Portland, with about 400 protestors at each gate. Police are reported to be targeting specific individuals and preparing to disperse the blockade with riot gear.

Updates:

10:06AM: Arbitrators give the official word that the Oakland port is shut down.

11:04AM: Day-shift canceled in Portland.
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Tags: #OO #OccupyOakland

This entry was posted on 12 December 2011 at 9:13 am and is filed under Long Beach, Los Angeles, Oakland, Oregon, Sacramento, San Francisco, Washington State. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
No Responses to “West Coast Ports Shutdown”

Solidarity forever had a hollow sound

http://www.facebook.com/groups/32084127696/permalink/10150470240452697/

Europe’s Transition From Social Democracy to Oligarchy

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article29943.htm

The Most Important News Story of the Day/Millennium

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article29942.htm

Robert Fisk: Bankers are the dictators of the West

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-bankers-are-the-dictators-of-the-west-6275084.html

Netanyahu boasting about Manipulating America and derailing Oslo peace process

Islamophobia: Newt Being Newt

Good piece. Video of Newt sticking his tongue up Israel's ass.

http://egyptianchronicles.blogspot.com/2011/12/gingrichs-invented-people-we-are-just.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+EgyptianChronicles+%28Egyptian+chronicles%29&utm_content=Yahoo!+Mail

Bail Out The People

Support the West Coast Port Blockade

Battle lines have formed as the West Coast Occupy movements, from San Diego to Alaska, flex their collective muscle against the federally coordinated, brutal attacks targeting the Occupy movements across the country. They are organizing for blockades of West Coast ports on Dec. 12 in San Diego; Los Angeles/Long Beach; Port Hueneme, CA (central coast); Oakland; Portland, Ore.; Seattle; Tacoma, Wash.; and possibly more. Solidarity actions have been called by OWS in New York and by Occupy movements inland locations, as well.

The Occupy movement is aligning itself with labor and the working class, as the West Coast Occupy movements organize to support the struggle of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, ILWU, in Longview, WA. Longshore workers there are waging a ferocious battle against transnational EGT, controlled by Bunge Ltd., of the grain cartel that controls most of the world's trade in food products. EGT is trying to break the ILWU in an attempt to drive down wages and destroy the union.

The West Coast Occupy movements are also aligning with the struggle of port truckers, who are fighting for the right to organize for union representation. Twenty-six of them were fired in Los Angeles for wearing Teamster jackets to work. Occupy LA and Long Beach are targeting SSA, an anti-union port terminal operator, majority owned by Goldman Sachs, the notorious Wall Street investment bank. Teamster president, Jimmy Hoffa Jr., has publicly expressed support for the Occupy movement.

The West Coast Occupy movements are targeting the ports as major commercial centers, showing that they can strike at the institutions which help to aggregate the wealth of the 1 percent by disrupting Wall Street on the waterfront. It's the history of the militant ILWU which enables this attack to have teeth. The ILWU rank and file have historically supported political struggles such as the anti-apartheid movement, the anti-war movement, in defense of Palestine in the face of attacks on Gaza, in support of the Wisconsin struggle against union busting, etc.

At a December 9th Press Conference regarding the West Coast Port Blockade, rank-and-file workers from the ILWU and Teamsters, local union leaders, veterans, and occupy organizers explained plans for the upcoming West Coast Port Shut Down on December 12 called for by the Occupy Oakland General Assembly:

"Occupy Oakland called for this massive coordinated blockade as a way to strike back at the 1% after their attacks on the Occupy movement and their continued assault on working and poor people” said Boots Riley an organizer with Occupy Oakland. “Our action is aimed directly at Wall Street on the Waterfront and is in solidarity with the struggles of port workers in LA and Longview, WA.”
ILWU veterans say: "We don't cross community picket lines!"

As pressure builds for the Dec. 12 West Coast port shutdown, the port owners and their media began a battle of ideas to blunt this powerful threat to their profits and control — even for a day. The Port of Oakland launched the first volley of their assault on Dec. 4, with full-page ads in the San Francisco Chronicle and Oakland Tribune against the planned Occupy port blockade. They know all too well how powerful this movement has become, evidenced by the historic general strike call and blockade of the Port of Oakland on Nov. 2, when the Occupy movement, with the support of the ILWU rank and file and port truckers, shut down the entire port.

On Nov. 21, the leadership of the ILWU International issued a memorandum in an attempt to dissuade ILWU members from showing solidarity with the December 12th action. The memo stated that “Any public demonstration is not a ‘picketline’ under the PCL&CA [Pacific Coast Longshore & Clerk’s Agreement]. … Remember, public demonstrations are public demonstrations, not ‘picketlines.’ Only labor unions picket as referenced in the contract.”

Two ILWU members — Clarence Thomas, who is a third-generation longshoreman in Oakland, and Leo Robinson, who is now retired — responded to this memorandum. Both men have held elected office in ILWU Local 10 and have been key labor activists during their years of work in the ports. Their remarks, which clarify the relationship between longshore workers and public demonstrations, is excerpted here. (You can read the interview in its entirety at workers.org.)

Clarence Thomas: A picket line is a public demonstration — whether called by organized labor or not. It is legitimate. There are established protocols in these situations. To suggest to longshoremen that they shouldn’t follow them demands clarification. It is one thing to state for the record that the union is not involved, but another thing to erase the historical memory of ILWU’s traditions and practices included in the Ten Guiding Principles of the ILWU adopted at the 1953 biennial convention in San Francisco.

Leo Robinson: The international has taken the position somehow that the contract is more important than not only defending our interest in terms of this EGT [grain terminal jurisdictional dispute] but having a connection to the Occupy [Wall Street] movement in that when you go through the Ten Guiding Principles of the ILWU, we’re talking about labor unity. Does that include the teachers? Does that include state, county and municipal workers? Those questions need to be analyzed as to who supports whom. The Occupy movement is not separate and apart from the labor movement.

Clarence Thomas: Labor is now officially part of the Occupy movement. That has happened. The recent [New York Times] article done by Steven Greenhouse on Nov. 9 is called ‘Standing arm in arm.”

The Teamsters have been supported by the OWS against Sotheby’s auction house. OWS has been supportive of Communication Workers in its struggle with Verizon. Mary Kay Henry, International President of the Service Employees, has called for expanding the Occupy movement by taking workers to Washington, D.C., to occupy Washington particularly Congress and congressional hearings demanding 15 million jobs by Jan. 1.

Leo Robinson: There was the occupation in Madison, Wis. That was labor-led. People are trying to confuse the issue by saying we are somehow separated from the Occupy movement. More than anything else the Occupy movement is a direct challenge or raises the question of the rights of capital as opposed to the rights of the worker. I don’t understand that the contract supersedes the just demands of the labor movement. It says so right here in the 10 guiding principles of the ILWU.

Article 4 is very clear. Very clear. “To help any worker in distress” must be a daily guide in the life of every trade union and its individual members. Labor solidarity means just that. Unions have to accept the fact that solidarity of labor stands above all else, including even the so-called sanctity of the contract. We cannot adopt for ourselves the policies of union leaders who insist that because they have a contract, their members are compelled to perform work, even behind a picket line." It says picket line. It doesn’t say union picket line. It says picket line.

Clarence Thomas: Only 7.2 percent of private sector workers have union representation today, the lowest since 1900. Facing a critical moment, the labor movement has been re-energized by the Occupy Wall Street movement.

Leo Robinson: Any number of times this union [Local 10] has observed picket lines, including Easter Sunday 1977 when the community put up a picket line at Pier 27 to picket South African cargo. Longshoremen observed that picket line for two days. So I don’t understand how all of a sudden the sanctity of the contract outweighs the need to demonstrate solidarity. It just does not compute. It doesn’t make sense.

Clarence Thomas: The first action against South African apartheid was a community picket line. It was not authorized by the union. It was a community picket line from start to finish.

Leo Robinson: It was about 5,000 people out there on the Embarcadero [eastern waterfront and roadway of the Port of San Francisco] for two days running a community picket line opposing South African apartheid. Local 10 officers took the position that it was an unsafe situation and our members were not going to cross that picket line, period. It was ruled as such by the arbitrator.

We have never waited for the employer to declare what is safe or unsafe. It is always the union that moves first. We don’t ask the employers what is safe or unsafe. They wouldn’t give a damn one way or the other as long as they got their ship worked. If the police have to escort you in or out, that is patently saying it is unsafe. What if someone decides to throw a rock while you’re being escorted in by the police? Does it make it hurt any less? A longshoreman determines what is safe for him or her — on the job and off.

Clarence Thomas: Our members have been hurt by the police and so has the OWS movement. In 2003 when we were standing by at a picket, police shot our members with wooden bullets. In Longview, Wash., at the EGT Grain Terminal, ILWU members and their families have been hurt by the police. We don’t want the police to do anything for us.
Solidarity Of Labor Above All Else

Clarence Thomas: Our union is at an historical juncture. Our jurisdiction is being challenged up and down the coast — the issue of logs and Local 10 and use of “robotics.” There has been nothing like this since 1934. If ILWU members don’t honor the community picket lines, it will cause an irreparable breach with the community. If the ILWU can’t support the community, why should the community support the ILWU in 2014 contract negotiations or when the new grain agreement is up next year? Who knows what the employer has up their sleeve when they demanded only a one-year contract.

Clarence Thomas: These ports are the people's ports. Ports belong to the people of the Pacific Coast. The money came from the taxpayers in California, Oregon and Washington. EGT was subsidized by the Port of Longview. So the people have the right to go down there and protest how their tax dollars have been ripped off.

Fifty-one percent of Stevedoring Services of America is owned by Goldman Sachs. EGT is a multinational conglomerate trying to control the distribution of food products around the world. The face of Wall Street is in the ports.

The ILWU is not some special interest group. We are a rank-and-file militant, democratic union that has a long history of being in the vanguard of the social justice and labor movement.

We don't cross community picket lines. When people begin to do so they have completely turned their backs on the ILWU’s 10 guiding principles. Is it coincidental that Harry Bridges' name has not been asserted in relation to the OWS movement and the history of militancy? Is it an accident? How can we not talk about Harry Bridges? That is how we got what we have today.
Bail Out the People Movement

Solidarity Center
55 West 17th St 5C
New York, NY 10010
1-212-633-6646
www.bailoutpeople.org
email: bailoutpeople.org/cmnt.shtml



http://www.bailoutpeople.org/WestCoastPortShutdown.html

Lost In The Fog, An Analysis Of The OWS Movement

This is a good piece, however in the fact-checking department there are a few glitches.

It says that in September of 1920 Wall Street was bombed by "actors"; that it was undertaken in retaliation for the framing and execution of fellow anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti; and that it was the first terrorist act in American history.

Everything but the date is wrong. It was a single person (Mario Buda), not actors, who was responsible; Sacco and Vanzetti wouldn't be executed for years; and it most certainly was not the first act of terrorism in US history, not even close.

But the theoretical contribution here is pretty good and worth the time.

http://www.occupiedlondon.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Lost-in-the-Fog.-Dead-Ends-and-Potentials-of-the-Occupy-Movement-LCSC.pdf

Occupy vs. Big Labor

Great piece.

http://thetrialbyfire.org/2011/12/10/occupy-vs-big-labor/

Occupy Oakland West Coast Port Blockade Press Conference, 12/09/11: video

USA Police caught testing new City Spy Drones - Rapid Denial and Washover

PROPAGANDA ALERT: FOX News Confounds MOSCOW Protest With Athens Clashes 12/8/11

Egyptian Counterrevolution Update, Dec. 8

Egyptian generals insist on final say on new constitution

http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/index.php/news/content/view/full/112912

Egyptian Counterrevolution Update, Dec. 7

SCAF says April 6 is under investigation, the group lashes back

A6 was the group that spearheaded the revolutionand remains its most radical faction.

CAIRO: Hassan al-Rewini, a member of the Supreme Council for Armed Forces (SCAF), announced Tuesday that members of the pro-democracy group 6 of April are still under investigation over allegedly receiving foreign funds.
Rewini gave the press statements after visiting a polling station in Heliopolise on Monday, checking the status of the Egyptian run-off elections.
General Rewini accused the political group of receiving funds and armed training aboard without providing any evidence, bringing him under fire from activists and human rights groups.

This is an old reactionary trick--accuse the revolutionaries of being in cahoots with hostile foreign interests. There has hardly been a rebellion without such a charge being made.

http://bikyamasr.com/50398/scaf-says-april-6-is-under-investigation-the-group-lashes-back/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BikyaMasrNews+%28Bikya+Masr+|+Independent+news+for+the+world%29&utm_content=Yahoo!+Mail



Meanwhile the counterrevolutionary junta has been in league with hostile foreign powers.

UPDATE: Egypt imports 21 tons of tear gas from the US, port staff refuses to sign for it

CAIRO: The arrival of 7 and half tons of tear gas to Egypt’s Suez port created conflict after the responsible officials at the port refused to sign and accept it for fear it would be used to crackdown on Egyptian protesters.

And how right they are. This bodes well for Egypt. The moment critique of any revolution comes when those tasked with quelling it refuse and defect to the rebel cause. When this happens revolutions succeed, at least for a time. When the security apparatus follow orders, the revolution is doomed.

http://bikyamasr.com/49799/egypt-import-tear-gas-from-us/

Tony Blair Update: The Evil Elf Opens An Investment Bank

The consultation gig for the Rothschilds apparently just isn't making ends meet, so what's an erstwhile, out-of-work war criminal to do? Time for the salesman to collect his bonus pay.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/tony-blairs-new-bank-for-super-rich/story-e6frg6so-1225908461998

Government A Neutral Broker Between Labor And Capital?

Under Pressure From Congress, Railroad Workers Union Accepts Concessions

Tentative agreement comes nearly two months after BLET authorized strike

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Last week, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET), representing 35,000 rail employees, reached a tentative agreement with an industry association representing more than 30 railroad companies. The union, one of two railroad worker union that authorized a strike back in October, is under pressure from Congress, which has the power to enforce a contract between railroad companies and unions. BLET leaders voted to accept a contract with concessions on certain areas, although details have still not been released. The union announced today that members, who will soon vote to ratify the agreement, have been notified.

Legislation was introduced in both the Senate, by Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and in the House, by GOP House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.), that would have prevented a strike. The Senate legislation would have merely extended time for negotiations, while legislation in the House would have stopped any such strike from occurring.

http://www.inthesetimes.com/working/entry/12369/under_pressure_from_congress_railroad_workers_union_accepts_concessions/

Occupy the Hood: Fighting for Those ‘at the Bottom of the Bottom’

MILWAUKEE—The “We are the 99%” message of the Occupy movement has provided a unifying umbrella under which people of widely-varied backgrounds can connect their experience of America’s appalling economic and social inequality.

One of the most interesting offshoots of the Occupy movement has been the national emergence of the “Occupy the Hood” movement composed of young African-American and Latino activists. They have expanded the movement’s range of concerns beyond the politically-safe theme of the shrinkage and downward mobility of “the middle class,” by addressing the issues of “working-class and poor people,” explained Kahlil Coleman, 25, a leader of Milwaukee’s “Occupy the Hood” chapter.

http://www.inthesetimes.com/working/entry/12355/occupy_the_hood_fighting_for_those_atht_the_bottom_of_the_bottom/

Quote O' The Day, Dec. 6

"To love. To be loved. To never forget your own insignificance. To never get used to the unspeakable violence and the vulgar disparity of life around you. To seek joy in the saddest places. To pursue beauty to its lair. To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what is simple. To respect strength, never power. Above all, to watch. To try and understand. To never look away. And never, never, to forget. "

- Arundhati Roy

Journaganda Alert: "Former" FBI Says It's Too Hard To Prosecute Banksters

Why No Financial Crisis Prosecutions? Ex-Justice Official Says It’s Just too Hard

Here's Propropagandica slinging it far and wide again on behalf of their sponsors. This website, formed by former Wall Street Journal presstitutes, presents itself as independent, hard-hitting and edgy. It is anything but.

David Cardona, who recently left the FBI for a job at the Securities and Exchange Commission, told the Wall Street Journal that bringing financial wrongdoing to account is “better left to regulators,” who can bring civil cases. Civil cases, of course, can produce penalties from the banks -- as well as promises to be on better behavior -- but don’t put any executives behind bars. Here’s the Journal:

While at the FBI, Mr. Cardona oversaw dozens of criminal probes of large financial firms. The FBI's probes haven't led to any successful prosecutions of high-profile executives in relation to the financial crisis, despite demands from some lawmakers and angry Americans. In contrast, the SEC has filed crisis-related civil-fraud cases against 81 firms and individuals, and it has negotiated almost $2 billion in penalties in cases that have been settled.

Cardona told the Journal that the failed first attempt to charge financial players with crisis-related fraud -- the 2009 trial and eventual acquittal of two Bear Stearns Cos. hedge-fund managers -- triggered "a lot of rethinking on how we do things.” After that, he said, the federal government began to question its “ability to convince a jury that criminality has occurred” on complex and technical financial cases.

The FBI can infiltrate OWS groups but just can't seem to manage Wall Street. And in this climate there would be no difficulty in securing convictions against white-collar criminals.

http://www.propublica.org/article/why-no-financial-crisis-prosecutions-official-says-its-just-too-hard

Counterrevolution Sweeping Across The Mideast

Tunisia: Concern Over Attempts to Undermine UGTT

http://talkingunion.wordpress.com/2011/12/06/tunisia-concern-over-attempts-to-undermine-ugtt/#more-13245

Well Whaddaya know! A Rapist With A Conscience.

Arrested For Not Eating?

Occupy Wall Street protesters on hunger strike arrested

This is why it is a misnomer to call them "law enforcement." More accurately they should just be "enforcement." Here public employees whose function is to protect and to serve are doing just that--protecting the ruling class from the democratic aspirations of the working class. Is it a crime not to eat? Should it be? The goal here is to prevent these hunger strikers from winning the sympathy of the public. Obviously Bloomberg and Wall Street don't give a damn about these people, they are trying to deny them the publicity for which the hunger strike was undertaken.

http://bikyamasr.com/50320/occupy-wall-street-protesters-on-hunger-strike-arrested/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BikyaMasrNews+%28Bikya+Masr+|+Independent+news+for+the+world%29&utm_content=Yahoo!+Mail

Why do California Unions Choose Tax Plan Backed by Brown, Corporations over Millionaires’ Tax for November 2012 ?

http://talkingunion.wordpress.com/2011/12/05/why-do-unions-choose-tax-unions-choose-tax-plan-backed-by-brown-corporations-over-millionaires-tax-for-november-2012/

Co-opt-upy Wall Street?

Great piece. If you are interested in the OWS Movement you should read this.

http://www.zcommunications.org/co-opt-upy-wall-street-by-danny-lucia



Hat tip to richgibson.com/blog

West Coast port shutdown announcement for 12/12/11

Photo O' The Day, Dec.4

[Found at richgibson.com/blog

GMAC Mugs Massachusetts for Insisting on the Rule of Law, Suspends Mortgage Lending in the State

It ended with a warning: “Standard & Poor’s will continue to monitor this and other pending predatory lending legislation.” In other words, any states that might have been considering strengthening their predatory lending laws as Georgia did should beware.

GMAC is trying to get other big banks to follow suit. I hope the state and other groups that do substantial financial business with banks (largish churches are also attractive clients) make it clear than any effort to punish the state for enforcing the law will be met by moving their accounts to smaller institutions that respect the law.

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2011/12/gmac-mugs-massachusetts-for-insisting-on-the-rule-of-law-suspends-mortgage-lending-in-the-state.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NakedCapitalism+%28naked+capitalism%29

HE U.S.: Police don't allow cold weather supplies at Boston protest

"Cops will search supplies and vehicles for what they call contraband," Kevin Maley, an Occupy Boston volunteer, said. Police maintain a 24/7 presence and don't allow cold-weather tents and other winter supplies into the camp, which is a patchwork of several dozen shelters topped with gray, green, red and blue tarps.

To get around the blockade, protestors need to be stealth. "A tent for the all-women living quarters was not allowed because it was winterized," Maley said. "We brought it in under the darkness of night."

"The next day cops staring at the tent looked annoyed," he said.

http://www.angrybearblog.com/2011/12/occupy-across-us-police-don-allow-cold.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FHzoh+%28Angry+Bear%29

Reports Of Oppression And Resistance From The IMF Franchise Formerly Known As Greece

pawnshop (loan shark) trashed in Athens

“All those who see our poverty and impoverishment as an opportunity to make a quick back, will face the wrath of the revolted. We stand side by side to one another. Solidarity is the weapon of the people”.

http://www.occupiedlondon.org/blog/2011/11/30/little-stories-from-imf-run-greece-pawnshop-loan-shark-trashed-in-athens/



Mayor of Athens destroys benches used for shelter by the homeless

http://www.occupiedlondon.org/blog/2011/11/29/little-stories-from-imf-run-greece-mayor-of-athens-destroys-benches-used-for-shelter-by-the-homeless/



The redundancies of the first 16,000 civil servants to be announced tomorrow

http://www.occupiedlondon.org/blog/2011/11/27/the-redundancies-of-the-first-16000-civil-servants-to-be-announced-tomorrow/



Linda Katehi and the neoliberal reform of Greek Higher Education

Linda Katehi has come under the spotlight because of her role as Chancellor of UC Davis, her support of an openly corporate Higher Education and her stance regarding brutal police tactics against peaceful demonstrators at UC Davis. However, there is also another aspect of Linda Katehi’s politics that must be brought forward, namely her role in implementing neoliberal reforms in Greek Higher Education.

http://www.occupiedlondon.org/blog/2011/11/26/linda-katehi-and-the-neoliberal-reform-of-greek-higher-education/



All electric power to the people! Electricity trade union occupies office for disconnection orders in Athens

...We are here because the public good of electricity cannot be used as a blackmailing leverage.

We are here because those who voted in this despicable law did not even bother to think “but how will the unemployed possibly pay? Will we also cut off their electricity?”

We are here because we refuse to become inhuman murderers of small children and of the sick

We are here because for us no co-human of ours is in abundance

We are here because there is still blood running through our veins...

http://www.occupiedlondon.org/blog/2011/11/21/the-trade-union-of-greece%E2%80%99s-public-power-corporation-genop-dei-has-occupied-and-holds-the-building-issuing-electricity-disconnection-orders-%E2%80%93-full-statement/

How Paulson Gave Hedge Funds Advance Word of Fannie Mae Rescue

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-29/how-henry-paulson-gave-hedge-funds-advance-word-of-2008-fannie-mae-rescue.html

Restrictive voting laws on rise across country

“States where restrictive laws have already passed represent 63 percent of the electoral votes needed to win the presidency,” says the Advancement Project, which tracks election laws.

The right-wing billionaire Koch brothers are big proponents of these new laws. The American Legislative Exchange Council, funded heavily by them, prepares model voter-suppression legislation.

Critics call the new laws a modern-day version of the Jim Crow-era poll taxes and literacy tests — which are no longer limited to the South or African Americans.

http://talkingunion.wordpress.com/2011/12/02/restrictive-voting-laws-on-rise-across-country/

Bombing Somalis

http://www.panafricanistinternational.org/?p=1421&mid=540

Occupy Wall Street’s anarchist roots, By David Graeber

Don't agree with everything Graeber says here (or elsewhere) about anarchism generally nor how it relates to OWS specifically, but his essays on this topic have been superb. And this is no exception.

http://thetrialbyfire.org/2011/11/30/occupy-wall-streets-anarchist-roots/

New York Fed Brownshirt Jason Barker Urges Police to Crack Skulls of #OWS

Good piece.

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2011/11/22811.html

Occupy Wall Street’s Next Steps – Part 1

But despite the real possibility that a list of demands could allow the occupations to be co-opted and pacified, a more basic point remains: real, tangible concessions from the 1% are important for protesters to strive for, not only to alleviate the everyday violence we are subjected to, but also as campaigns to empower us and attract new bodies to the occupations.

http://thetrialbyfire.org/2011/11/29/occupy-wall-streets-next-steps-part-1/

Congress Admits It Knew Stealth Bailout Was Going On Before TARP Was Approved

PS, Gregg now works for Goldman Sachs. What a coincidence, eh?

THEY OWN YOU!

http://dailybail.com/home/must-see-bernankes-stealth-bailout-for-wall-street-kept-secr.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheDailyBail+%28The+Daily+Bail%29&utm_content=Yahoo!+Mail

The Unbearable Lightness Of TARP Reporting

A new academic paper by economists from MIT and the NY Fed proves that credit markets were NOT "frozen" during the crisis.

This was a scam from the beginning. The collapse of 2008 was a controlled demolition planned and effected by the gang-bankers at the Fed. When they started paying interest on "excess" reserves that gave banks every incentive to keep its money there rather than lend. That it was capital intended.

http://dailybail.com/home/the-unbearable-lightness-of-tarp-reporting.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheDailyBail+%28The+Daily+Bail%29&utm_content=Yahoo!+Mail

Secret Fed Loans Helped Banks Net $13B

This is from Bloomberg no less.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-28/secret-fed-loans-undisclosed-to-congress-gave-banks-13-billion-in-income.html

How the Plummeting Price of Cocaine Fueled the Nationwide Drop in Violent Crime

http://www.theatlanticcities.com/jobs-and-economy/2011/11/cocaine-plummeting-price-nationwide-drop-violent-crime/474/

The Fascist Plot To Overthrow FDR

This documentary puts the best possible spin on The Ruling Class' attempt to create a dictatorship in the US. FDR was hardly a revolutionary but even his minor, insufficient reforms were too radical for them.





In the fact-checking department, J. P. Morgan was long dead by 1936. This was a very silly mistake.

For more info' read Jules Archer's The Plot To Seize The White House

Quote O' The Day, Nov. 27

What power has law where only money rules?

Petronius

Coordinated West Coast Port Shutdown 12/12

We present this call to you because we believe it is time the occupation movement begins to work together to carry through coordinated, pinpointed actions. We want to disrupt the profits of the 1% and show solidarity with those in the 99% who are under direct attack by corporate tyranny.

Occupations throughout the US have been evicted through nationally coordinated police raids. It is time for us to respond with our own coordinated actions. Our aim is to shutdown the West Coast ports:

On December 12, the occupy movements in different cities will stage mass mobilizations to march on the ports, create community pickets, and effectively shutdown the hubs of commerce, in the same fashion that Occupy Oakland shut down the Port of Oakland on November 2nd, the day of our general strike. The Oakland Port Shutdown was a historic and effective action, and the memory of that night on the port lives in the hearts of people across Oakland and around the country.
The message to you from Occupy Oakland in the face of police raids and continued disruptions of workers lives by the 1% is the following: The Occupy movement will strike back and rise again! We will blockade all of the West Coast Ports on December 12th in solidarity with longshoremen, port workers and truckers in their struggle against the 1%! Together we are unstoppable! Strike while the iron is hot!


http://occupyca.wordpress.com/2011/11/27/coordinated-west-coast-port-shutdown/

Mona Eltahawy Describes Her Assault in Egypt

http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/scarce/mona-eltahawy-describes-her-assault-egypt

Still Unpopular, Mayor Villaraigosa Announces Eviction Deadline for #OccupyLA

In a closed press conference - on Black Friday - at the very end of the day (read: serious news dump) - Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa - a mayor who has presided over a May Day Melee, massive foreclosures and the arguably the worst homeless problem in the country declared Occupy LA a success for changing the national dialog.

He said in the press conference, "Occupy LA has brought needed attention to the growing disparities in our country and I look forward to its ongoing efforts to build an economy that works for everyone."

And then proceeded to tell the protesters that it's time for them to leave. More specifically, Monday morning at 12:01 am is time for them to leave. The park will be closed.

http://crooksandliars.com/tina-dupuy/still-unpopular-mayor-villaraigosa-anno

Austerity And Fascism In Greece – The Real 1% Doctrine

Which brings me back to the new Minister of Infrastructure, Makis Voridis. Before he was an ax-wielding law student, Voridis led another fascist youth group that supported the jailed leader of Greece’s 1967 military coup. Greece has been down this fascism route before, all under the guise of saving the nation and complaints about alleged parliamentary weakness. In 1967, the military overthrew democracy, imposed a fascist junta, jailed and tortured suspected leftist dissidents, and ran the country into the ground until the junta was overthrown by popular protest in 1974...That military junta—and the United States support for it (for which Clinton apologized in 1999)—is a raw and painful memory for Greeks. Most Greeks, anyway. As far as today’s Infrastructure Minister, Makis Voridis, was concerned, the only bad thing about the junta was that it was overthrown by democracy demonstrators. A fascist party was set up in the early 1980s in support of the jailed coup leader, and Voridis headed up that party’s youth wing. That’s when he earned the nickname “Hammer.” You can probably guess by now why Greece’s Infrastructure Minister was given the nickname “Hammer”: Voridis’s favorite sport was hunting down leftist youths and beating them with, yes, a hammer.

http://www.countercurrents.org/ames251111.htm

Occupy Seattle – Shopping For Handcuffs On Black Friday

http://seattleducation2010.wordpress.com/2011/11/25/occupy-seattle-shopping-for-handcuffs-on-black-friday/

Blogger's Note, Nov 24

Happy Thanksgiving.

What Is Killing the Labor Movement?

http://www.inthesetimes.com/working/entry/12320/what_is_killing_the_labor_movement/

Egypt’s second revolution confronts the counter-revolution

http://www.counterfire.org/index.php/articles/international/15203-egypts-second-revolution-confronts-the-counter-revolution-tahrir-cairo?utm_source=Counterfire+Bulletin&utm_campaign=7ca287770d-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email

Poem O' The Day, Nov 22

The law locks up the hapless felon
who steals the goose from off the common,
but lets the greater felon loose
who steals the common from the goose.

Anonymous, England, 1821

Photo O' The Day, Nov. 23: The Past Is Prologue

Labor Must Choose Between Occupy and the Democrats

http://thetrialbyfire.org/2011/11/22/labor-must-choose-between-occupy-and-the-democrats/

Palace Historian Ian Kershaw: Still Irrelevant After All These Years

'Hitler's Influence Was Fatal'

Can you believe that! This guy has won a number of awards and has been called the "dean of British historians" for coining empty phrases just like this.

Kershaw's books are utter trash. He is a distorian, a propagandist of the empire whose main contribution is to cast recent European history, particularly the WW2 era, in a light favorable to the British ruling class. His works are full of corrupt analyses employing pop psychology and credulously based on sources and testimony of dubious merit, which result in endless pages full of meaningless, anodyne prattle like the above.

Some career low-lights: He claims that the German people were "vaguely aware" of the Holocaust but were too worried about the outcome of the war to concern themselves with it. He is the author of the phrase "The road to Auschwitz was paved with indifference." To this day nobody has ever uncovered a single Nazi document ordering or even discussing the possibility of murdering ten million people, yet everybody was aware (albeit only vaguely) and didn't care.

In his survey of the historiography on the subject, The Nazi Dictatorship, he criticizes Marxist historians for seeing the Third Reich as capitalist. (Yes!) In so doing he buys into the Party's absurd claim that they represented the German working class in its opposition to plutocracy. This is a matter of no small delicacy, care must be taken when attacking a regime whose basic economic policies differ only slightly from those of Kershaw's patrons.

He also critiques Ernst Nolte's The Three Faces of Fascism. This book is quite controversial and, at the end of the day, I too disagree with its central theses, but it is groundbreaking, seminal, extremely well researched, amazingly so, and a unique perspective on the subject; on the whole a valuable contribution. Kershaw dismisses it as "apologist," which it patently isn't.

I could go on but why bother. Kershaw is a fraud. Hitler was a fatal influence eh? Brilliant, just brilliant. And there is talk he is to be knighted.

In the interview linked below Kershaw is asked when the Nazis should have realized they couldn't win the war. He says mid '44 with the landing at Normandy. One would be hard pressed to find another historian who would respond with anything but the defeat and capture of von Paulus' forces at Stalingrad. Germany lost most of its entire fighting force in that battle. Some of Hitler's military advisers urged him to sue for peace after the devastating loss. But Kershaw, ever the loyal servant, says it is when British forces arrived in Europe. Still irrelevant after all these years.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,798377,00.html

Video Of Africans Living In Italy On The Arab Spring

http://globalvoicesonline.org/2011/11/12/italytunisia-migrants-opinions-of-the-arab-spring/

Unreported Horrors – Male Rape in DR Congo

http://www.ips.org/africa/2011/11/unreported-horrors-male-rape-in-dr-congo/

Great Photos And Videos Of Egyptian Revolution

http://www.arabawy.org/blog/

Pregnant Seattle Protester Says She Miscarried After Being Kicked And Pepper Sprayed By Police

Pregnant Seattle Protester Says She Miscarried After Being Kicked And Pepper Sprayed By Police

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/pregnant-woman-may-have-miscarried-after-getting-pepper-sprayed-occupy-wall-seattle-2011-11#ixzz1eUaADweL

Newt Gingrich, Sociopath

Video of Gingrich denouncing child labor laws.

http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/11/20/372918/gingrich-calls-child-labor-laws-stupid-wants-to-replace-janitors-with-poor-kids/

U.S. & French air strikes raise human toll in Somalia

Gee I'd almost forgotten about that war, hard to keep track of them all.

http://www.workers.org/2011/world/somalia_1124/

Capital Looses Its Media Dogs On Ron Paul

I am no fan of Ron Paul, but it is clear from this video that the usually avuncular Bob Schiefer, Granpa Fluff, has been directed to undermine Paul's candidacy. Every question was designed to entrap and provide sound bites for his presidential rivals.

Watch the video here

Video O' The Day, Nov. 22: Socialism Or Barbarism?

It's your choice.

Photo O' The Day, Nov. 22

Egyptians reclaim Tahrir as revolution flares up anew

Great piece with great (but sometimes disturbing) videos. Worth a look.

http://roarmag.org/2011/11/egyptian-revolution-military-junta-tahrir/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+roarmag+%28Reflections+on+a+Revolution%29

Propaganda Alert: The American Behind India’s 9/11—And How U.S. Botched Chances to Stop Him

Here's the money shot:

An investigation by ProPublica and FRONTLINE during the past year did not find proof that Headley was working as a U.S. agent at the time of the attacks. But it did reveal new contradictions between the official version of events, Headley’s sworn testimony and detailed accounts of officials and others involved in the case. The reporting also turned up previously undisclosed opportunities for U.S. agencies to identify Headley as a terrorist threat, and new details about already-reported warnings.

Splat!

Trying to stop him? Perhaps they should have stopped paying him. They were not trying to stop him.

Note that they say they didn't find "proof". At what points evidence rises to that level is a subjective thing, but certainly there is plenty of evidence that he was US intelligent asset at the time of his involvement in the Mumbai terror attack. In fact, outside of Frontline and ProPublica it is hard to find anyone who denies it. The question is whether he was acting on orders from his handlers or on his own.

And the answer of course is the former. Otherwise one would have to believe he thought he could participate in one of the largest terror attacks in history without being exposed by the subsequent investigation. Moreover, if it were LeT who executed the attack, and assuming they are not a Western intelligence front, what need would they have for Headley? If they had a mole this far up the food chain, would they imperil him for the low-level function in the Mumbai Massacre of which he is accused? Not a chance.

ProPropagandica has been spinning this story on the government's behalf for some time now. It's classic journaganda: They pretend to be exposing government lies while reinforcing the ones that matter. The first job of government is perception management, and ProPublica is doing its part.

http://www.propublica.org/article/david-headley-homegrown-terrorist