Web / Press / Offsite Media Updates: August 22nd -August 29th

by tom Wed Aug 25, 2004 21:22

There's an article in today's Irish News (which is a pay site) about the dangers of Sellafield being up to 300 times greater than previously thought.
The estimate comes from Doctors Richard Bramhall and Chris Busby of the Committee Examining Radiation Risks From Internal Emitters (cerrie) which has recently submitted a report to the British government.
Trevor Sargent has called on the Irish government to demand an unedited version of the Cerrie report:
http://www.greenparty.ie/pressroom/default.asp

by redjade Wed Aug 25, 2004 17:47

A Chilean judge has ordered former dictator Augusto Pinochet to testify in writing in the murder case of Chilean singer and composer Victor Jara.

Mr Jara was allegedly tortured and killed shortly after the military coup in September 1973 in a sports stadium, in the capital, Santiago.

Prosecutors hope to determine who was in charge of the stadium at the time.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3598394.stm

- - - - -

And in the world, a heart of darkness, a fire-zone
Where poets speak their heart then bleed for it

Jara sang, his song a weapon in the hands of love.
You know his blood still cries from the ground.

It runs like a river runs to the sea.
It runs like a river to the sea.

One Tree Hill, The Joshua Tree, U2
http://www.loglar.com/song.php?id=12174

by iosaf Wed Aug 25, 2004 15:07

Mark Thatcher has been detained in South Africa for his presumed part in an attempted coup d'etat in Equatorial Guinnea the "SAPA" agency has reported. and it's bouncing round.
Now you know.

by redjade Wed Aug 25, 2004 15:02

THESSALONIKI, Greece (Reuters) - Iraq's Olympic soccer coach said Monday his side should not be seen as a symbol of freedom, taking issue with a campaign commercial for President Bush.

The flags of Iraq and Afghanistan appear in a commercial as part of Bush's drive for re-election in November. A narrator says: "At this Olympics there will be two more free nations -- and two fewer terrorist regimes."

But coach Adnan Hamad said Iraq, still plagued by violence daily, remained a country under occupation.

"You cannot speak about a team that represents freedom. We do not have freedom in Iraq, we have an occupying force. This is one of our most miserable times," he said.

"Freedom is just a word for the media. We are living in hard times, under occupation."

by Nordie Wed Aug 25, 2004 15:02

http://www.axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/article_11230.shtml

by redjade Wed Aug 25, 2004 12:13

His full title is Hujjat il-Isalm al-Sayyid Moqtada Muhammad Sadeq al-Sadr, and he is 31 years old. Al-Sayyid literally translates to mister, but when conferred by clerics, as in this case, it is public recognition that the man concerned can authentically trace his lineage to the Prophet Muhammad.

Muhammad Sadeq is his father's name. Grand Ayatollah Muhammad Sadeq al-Sadr was murdered in 1999 by Saddam, because he was building bridges with Sunni clerics and becoming influential among the poor, particularly in the 2-million strong poorest district of Baghdad now known as Sadr City. His uncle Ayatollah Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr was an even more politically significant figure: he and his sister Bint-ul-Huda were tortured to death by Saddam's thugs in 1980. The pair had founded a powerful militant movement that was at the forefront of the Islamic wing of the opposition to Saddam's regime. It is reported that Saddam himself shot both of them after their torture.

Sadr often reminds his listeners of this illustrious heritage, including active involvement in the 1920 revolution against British occupation. Like his father, he often wears a white robe on top of his religious garb to indicate that he too is ready to be "a martyr in the cause of liberation and independence". When the US-led occupation forces sought to capture him "dead or alive" in April, he chose to resist rather than surrender.

No matter how young and politically inexperienced they were told that he was, the militant patriots of Sadr City, Najaf, Basra and beyond began to trust him and saw in him the rightful custodian of the traditions handed down by the rebellious Islamic leaders who chose martyrdom rather than obeying tyranny.

more at
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1289360,00.html

by basic psychology Wed Aug 25, 2004 08:33

there is a famous experiment that took place in the basement of stanford university in the 60s

students volunteered to take part in an experiment

half of the students were to be jailors and the other half were to be prisoners

the study found that students assumed the roles they were given TOO WELL

the jailors became so sadistic and tortured the prisoners so badly that the experiment had to be stopped before the planned end date

it showed how bad normal people can behave towards other humans when they are given a role of authority

rumsfeld should go to jail for not putting in place controls to make sure this abuse was avoided

its was a well known accident waiting to happen

by i did something Wed Aug 25, 2004 08:02 info at octavodesigns dot com

just send them an email with a big attachment

crash their server

and let them know what you think of firing someone for expressing himself

and hopefully the nazis will go out of business and die out

http://www.octavodesigns.com


sara@octavodesigns.com, john@octavodesigns.com
dave@octavodesigns.com,
bob@octavodesigns.com, mail@octavodesigns.com,
sales@octavodesigns.com, info@octavodesigns.com
sue@octavodesigns.com
sue.hough@octavodesigns.com
susan.hough@octavodesigns.com
susan@octavodesigns.com

by kerry bush - whats the difference Wed Aug 25, 2004 07:03

fuck Kerry and Bush in the ass with a big tin of Heinz baked beans

they are both full of shit and the election doesnt matter at all

its the same rich fucks behind both

so who care who wins

its pathetic when people voicing their opinions loose their jobs

by iosaf in a beret. Wed Aug 25, 2004 06:06

There almost all dead. I suspect they were the most under-acknowledged bunch of fighters ever. After all it wasn't till all the Wexford spanish civil war veterans were dead that they finally commerated them earlier this year. And not until the 80s that the refugee plaque went up in the railway stations in the pyrennees.

by iosaf - (edging into US coverage the Redjade territory) Wed Aug 25, 2004 06:01

If you'd seen the lawyer [sorry attorney] who had the guts to call the US secretary of Defence to face questioning in relation to charges of abuse at Abu Ghraib you'd know why...
As the first report is released (and it's titled the last report) on abuse in the Pentagon run prison of Abu Ghraib, it seems that the night time "sadism" was the fault of those nasty people who you saw in the photos and really had nothing to do with any memos or any connection with Camp X or anything to do with contemporary American lack of human rights values or anything like that.
at all.

there will be lots to read on this
here's the Guardian-
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1290303,00.html

by iosaf pasta ya! Wed Aug 25, 2004 05:57

the italian right wing gets really upset about levels of north african workers seeking a living in Italy.
This is probably because the Italian middle class anually go "en masse" to the south and are shocked to find more north africans and sub saharans selling them sunglasses, beaded necklaces and pirate dvds on the beach than there were last year.

by "pasha" iosaf. - D' you remember pasha? - great Xian Englishman on his white horse braving the hordes of Khartoum? no?? didn't think so. Wed Aug 25, 2004 05:53

the Sudanese government has rejected any attempt by the British to deploy troops as part of the refugee return Dharfour affair.
The Khartoum regime has also ruled at any "african joint nations" force.

by iosaf Wed Aug 25, 2004 05:46

The first due south, the second due west.
The Russian President mr Putin has ordered a FIB (the rusky FBI) investigation.

Russian government officials have as of yet not confirmed the cause of the loss of the aircraft both of whom carried eight crew and around forty passengers. No europeans were present.

This comes two days before an election is due to be held in the seperatist Chenchyan region of the Caucuses. That election was a direct result of the assasination of the last Chechnyan president a trusted protegée of Mr Putin.

The first plane is believed to have signalled a hijack. Both planes dissappeared from radar within ten minutes.

by iosaf Wed Aug 25, 2004 05:33

In what will be seen by most observers as a top level reaction to the neo-nazi attack on a jewish social centre in Paris in the last days the minister for foreign affairs of Israel has completed a short visit to France and issued with the Minister for the Exterior of France a joint statement which you may read at the link.
Relations between the Israeli and French states have been worsening steadily since earlier in the summer the Israeli prime minister Sharon called on all French jews to leave France immediately and immigrate to Israel. Anti-semite attacks in France have increased steadily to the now shocking average of one _every two days_.

Paris now marks the 60th anniversary of its liberation, and I thought you'd be interested to know that the first tank which entered Paris carried veterans of the Spanish civil war. Seven republicans were chosen by the French general who as you probably know were allowed _for obvious reasons_ to enter the city before the Americans.

by redjade Tue Aug 24, 2004 18:33

I have not bothered to blog about the SwiftBoat Vets here because, well, frankly its stupid and boring - yet this Repub disinfo seems to have washed upon Irish shores as of late so....

This is all you need to know about the truth of it all:

New York Times Chart
http://graphics7.nytimes.com/images/2004/08/19/politics/campaign/20040820swift_graph.gif

The Article
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/20/politics/campaign/20swift.html
username: freenyt password: freenyt

by paul c Tue Aug 24, 2004 18:19

Mass blockade of Faslane nuclear base - Over 70 arrested! Mass disobedience!
Trident Ploughshares repost by Barry Kade, 24.08.2004 04:34

Faslane BLOCKADED 23rd August 2004!!! Over 70 Arrests at Carry On Up The Clyde!
72 people, including four members of the Scottish Parliament, have been arrested during the blockade of Faslane naval base on the Clyde.

http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2004/08/296800.html

also

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,171-1230055,00.html

by Peter Tue Aug 24, 2004 15:25

The Undemocratic Uncoordinator of Venezuela today denounced that Venezuelan weightlifter Israel Rubio's bronze medal in the Olympic Games in Athens is a gross example of another fraud committed by President Hugo Chávez. According to an exit survey by the New York polling firm Putz, Shinola & Boring for the impartial observer group, Chingate, it is statistically impossible for the Chavista Olympic team to get an Olympic medal because, as pollster Doug Shinola explains, "Venezuela hasn't won an Olympic medal in twenty years. Obviously, there was a gigantic fraud!"

(continues)

by redjade Tue Aug 24, 2004 15:23

George Bush has criticized John Kerry for having "few signature achievements" in the Senate and being weak on terrorism. But, as David Sirota and Jon Baskin point out in the Washington Monthly, Kerry's 1988 probe into the Bank of Credit and Commerce International gives him ammunition to counter both those arguments.

As part of a probe into the finances of Latin American drug cartels, Kerry eventually uncovered connections between the BCCI and numerous terrorists and other shady characters. But because prominent Washington insiders - including George W. Bush - had accounts with the bank or its joint ventures, both parties pressured Kerry to end the probe:

[quote]
"But Kerry refused to back off, and his hearings began to expose the ways in which international terrorism was financed. As Kerry's subcommittee discovered, BCCI catered to many of the most notorious tyrants and thugs of the late 20th century, including Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, the heads of the Medellin cocaine cartel, and Abu Nidal, the notorious Palestinian terrorist. According to the CIA, it also did business with those who went on to lead al Qaeda."
[/quote]

By getting BCCI shut down in multiple countries, John Kerry helped cut off a key revenue source for terrorist groups, and he showed the willingness to do the right thing despite political pressure. His campaign should do a better job telling stories like this to the public.

from
http://www.motherjones.com/news/blog/2004/08/MB_2004_35.html#2

Full Article refered to...
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2004/0409.sirota.html#byline

by redjade Tue Aug 24, 2004 15:12

Iraq's security forces, ordered to prepare for an offensive against the Mahdi Army in Najaf, have been plagued by a desertion rate that exceeded 80 percent.

A U.S. report warned that Iraqi Interior Ministry troops remain unprepared to fight Shi'ite or Sunni insurgents and could not be deemed reliable. The report, published before the current showdown in Najaf, said the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps, renamed the Iraqi National Guard, has not been trained to fight insurgents armed with rocket-propelled grenades and heavy weapons.

by Michael Hennigan - Finfacts Tue Aug 24, 2004 11:39 finfacts at finfacts dot ie 087 2474328

'When it comes to mass killing of civilians, a curious Catch-22 comes into play. If editors do not see the story on TV, they do not believe it's news; if programme makers do not read it in the newspapers, they do not believe it's news.'


Despite all the arguments about the role of the UN last year and learning the lessons of Rwanda, the Darfur situation shows that nothing has really changed be it in the way the media covers such situations and the reactions of both politicians and people in general - the latter in particular where there isn't an American angle to fire up a response

by Peter Tue Aug 24, 2004 11:30

This has become one of the most Nationalistic US Elections in Living Memory - and it is all Kerry's Doing

by John Meehan Tue Aug 24, 2004 00:22

In 1999 Alain Krivine and Rosaline Vacchetta were elected to the European Parliament in France, standing on a joint LCR/LO ticket.

They lost their seats in the recent election.

Here's a written account of their experiences :

http://www.spectrezine.org/europe/Revolutionaries1.htm

by eeeekkkkk Mon Aug 23, 2004 23:39

But one family prevailed upon him to bury their relative there. Mr. Kareen sent an employee, Maqi Hamid, to do the job. Then catastrophe struck.
**************
"A helicopter flew over the funeral and fired at them," he says, recalling what he had been told by surviving witnesses. "There had been fighting nearby, and I refused to go, but the relatives put pressure on me, and I sent my assistant. The helicopter killed Maqi and several of the relatives of the dead man."

It took Kareen and his helpers two days to recover the bodies of the gravedigger and the relatives of the deceased. "Not even in the uprising of 1991 did I ever see such fighting or destruction," says Hassan Jilue, a gravedigger, referring to the insurgency by Iraqi Shiites after the Gulf War. Saddam Hussein threw the full force of his military against Shiite militants then, massacring them inside the Shrine of Ali itself.
**************

by redjade Mon Aug 23, 2004 17:58

The moment George Bush refused to go spill blood in Vietnam may have been the moral Everest of his life. But he has long since buried that singular act of conscience beneath a stench-heap of warped psychological projection and ethical hypocrisy. The president remains a stunted brat and a coward at the core, dodging rules he forces others to abide by with unforgiving strictness. Festooned in a flight jacket he never deserved, Bush has ordered National Guard troops into a bloody desert war he and his chickenhawk cronies launched under fabricated pretexts. Then in order to hand out tax breaks to the super-rich and billion-dollar contracts to favored arms makers, Bush scrimped on the funding of his precious war itself: too few troops, under-armed, over-worked, operating with no occupation plan and no exit strategy.

In their quest to transfer every possible federal dollar to their fatcat base, the Bush regime even went so far as to try to slash combat pay and separation allowances and increase co-payments for the treatment of those maimed in battle. Although he opted out of the Guard early, Bush has now implemented (perhaps illegally) "stop-losses" orders, a kind press-ganging by Oval Office fiat that keeps National Guard and Reserve troops in Iraq far beyond their contracted tour of duty. In essence, they are war slaves.

When the Iraqi resistance surfaced with a vengeance after Bush made his premature declaration of victory, the faux-warrior taunted them by sneering, "Bring it on." They did. And more than 700 American soldiers have perished since the delivery of that infamous sideline chant, tossed off as if the president were still a flighty cheerleader at Andover. To top it off, while Bush still refuses to attend funeral ceremonies for slain soldiers, he wasted no time in trying to slash death benefits for military families. And on and on it goes.

by redjade Mon Aug 23, 2004 17:50

A group of Americans on trial for allegedly detaining and torturing Afghans in a secret prison showed videotapes Monday designed to show they were acting with the knowledge and approval of some Afghan and foreign authorities and that the Afghans they detained at their Kabul base were terrorists.

The tapes included clips of them meeting with senior Afghan officials, questioning one man who described a bomb plot and arresting a second in the presence of Afghan troops and international peacekeepers.

[....]

Jonathan "Jack" Idema, Brent Bennett and Edward Caraballo are accused of illegally arresting, imprisoning and torturing several Afghans in a private jail as part of a self-proclaimed anti-terrorist operation. Four Afghans who worked as translators, cooks and guards for them are also facing charges.


American officials in Kabul and Washington have denied employing, authorizing or knowing anything about Idema and his operation, but U.S. military officials in Kabul have acknowledged they received one prisoner from him.

by Peter Mon Aug 23, 2004 13:51

A Lost Cause?

By Stephen Gowans


George Carlin once remarked that there a lot of dumb people in the world, and then there are people who don't, at first, seem dumb, but once you get to know them, turn out to be fucking stupid, full of shit, or fucking nuts. This, I can attest, is a truer statement than anything you can read in this, the run up to the US presidential election, by Tariq Ali, David Barsamian or Michael Moore.

Dan Quayle, said Carlin, was all three: fucking stupid, full of shit, and fucking nuts. Which is what I've come to think of the socialists for Kerry, Marxists for Kerry, Communists for Kerry, progressives for Kerry, antiwar activists for Kerry and Michael Moore ditto-heads for Kerry, who've piled onto the Kerry for President bandwagon. To steal one of Carlin's other lines and adapt it to the moment, their reasoning for backing Kerry stinks so badly it could knock a buzzard off a shit-wagon. Indeed, the weakness of their arguments is surpassed only by their doggedness in crafting even more risibly weak ones whenever the last has been demolished.

(continues)

by pat c Mon Aug 23, 2004 12:22

CHARLESTON, West Virginia (AP) -- A man who heckled President Bush at a political rally was fired from his job at an advertising and design company for offending a client who provided tickets to the event.

The fired graphic designer said Saturday he won't try to get his job back.

"I'm mad less about losing the job -- I'm more mad about the reasons," said Glen Hiller, 35, of Berkeley Springs. "All I did was show up and voice my opinion."

Hiller was ushered out of Hedgesville High School on Tuesday after shouting his disagreement with Bush's comments about the war in Iraq and the search for weapons of mass destruction. The crowd had easily drowned out Hiller with its chant: "Four more years."

"He surrounds himself with people who support him," Hiller said of Bush. "Your opinion ... is viewed as right or wrong."

When he showed up for work at Octavo Designs of Frederick, Maryland, the following morning, he said he was told he'd embarrassed and offended a client who provided tickets to the event -- and that he was fired.

by 11º Mon Aug 23, 2004 00:28

Reported on the BBC site (and Wikipedia as well) I sort of feel _doubtful_ since a BBC news site with scandinavian stories was expertly faked last week. [see last wk's other media update]
Anyway the story is that Munch's Scream has been stolen by armed guards in Oslo yesterday. It's ten and half years since it was stolen the last time when after a while.

["A French radio producer who was in the museum at the time of the theft said security was not very tight. "What's strange is that in this museum, there weren't any means of protection for the paintings, no alarm bell," Francois Castang told France Inter radio, the Associated Press reported. "The paintings were simply attached by wire to the walls," he said. "All you had to do is pull on the painting hard for the cord to break loose - which is what I saw one of the thieves doing." Ms Christofferson said the guards were more concerned with protecting visitors than the paintings."]

anyway we believe Iraq and 911 and 311 so why not believe this?

by MalatestasDream - Batkogroup Sun Aug 22, 2004 05:18 batko-gruppen at socialism dot nu

DSSIDENT is a new theoretical anarchist magazine. The collective (The Batkogroup) responsible for this magazine is anarchist communists. We are undogmatic and wants to be part in and further a constructive critical debate within the anarchistmovement in Sweden. We will begin by going through what we percieve to be the "new" dominant currents; platformism, insurrectionalism and post-anarchism, among others. The first will deal with platformism. All the texts will also be available on our website eventually. We are planning to, besides working with Dissident, write books, pamphlets, hold workshops and talks and discussions to spread and develop anarchist communism in Sweden.

You can mail us at batko-gruppen@socialism.nu
DSSIDENT is a new theoretical anarchist magazine. The collective (The Batkogroup) responsible for this magazine is anarchist communists. We are undogmatic and wants to be part in and further a constructive critical debate within the anarchistmovement in Sweden. We will begin by going through what we percieve to be the "new" dominant currents; platformism, insurrectionalism and post-anarchism, among others. The first will deal with platformism. All the texts will also be available on our website eventually. We are planning to, besides working with Dissident, write books, pamphlets, hold workshops and talks and discussions to spread and develop anarchist communism in Sweden.

You can mail us at batko-gruppen@socialism.nu