Revolution

Todays News (Most Disturbing)

US says it has right to kidnap British citizens

From The Sunday Times
December 2, 2007
David Leppard

AMERICA has told Britain that it can "kidnap" British citizens if they are wanted for crimes in the United States.

A senior lawyer for the American government has told the Court of Appeal in London that kidnapping foreign citizens is permissible under American law because the US Supreme Court has sanctioned it.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article2982640.ece


************************************************************


Twilight




Yeah it's a cold wind
I hear inside my head
It's a slow fear
Tells me that the dream is dead
We're all living in the Twilight Zone
Too many have gone mad
The good are in hiding somewhere alone
The empire now strikes back
Peace is for dreamers
War is for schemers
Atrocity? Man, I can't keep track
We're all gona fry
In an eye for an eye
Die for the wisdom we lack
I once thought I knew
What was right what was true
But I guess I was wrong
With the facts
Fact is, humankind
Is out of its mind
If it thinks it can survive
On this track
We've gotta find the peace we lost
And put it back





Endymion 2007

Kidnap British citizens? What next? Kidnap the Pope for alleged wrongdoing by his church?

Hey, Edgar - some good news for a change.





Praise for Turner jury as prize goes to war protest
By Arifa Akbar, Arts Reporter
Published: 04 December 2007

It is the country's foremost visual arts prize which never ceases to generate outrage for honouring conceptual works that are accused of bearing little relevance to real life.

But last night, Mark Wallinger won the Turner Prize by delivering a searing attack on the Iraq war with his installation, State Britain. The work, composed of 600 anti-war banners, photographs and placards, meticulously recreates the "peace camp" set up by Brian Haw in Parliament Square.

Picking up the £25,000 prize presented at Tate Liverpool by the actor and art collector Dennis Hopper, Wallinger praised Mr Haw for his campaign and called for an end to occupation in Iraq. "Brian Haw is a remarkable man who has waged a war against the folly and hubris of our government for six-and-a-half years. He is a last dissenting voice. Bring home the troops, give us back our rights, trust the people ... It's important that these freedoms are fought for and preserved," he said.

Mr Haw, who still camps outside Parliament Square and was present at the ceremony, said: "Art can't get more real than State Britain." He said he was not initially convinced by the idea when Wallinger approached him. "I politely told him to 'piss off'. I get so many people coming up to me. But we sat down to chat and I thought that he shared the same heart as I have, he cared for people," said Mr Haw.

He said Wallinger took hundreds of photographs of his 40-metre-wide protest camp, just days before it was dismantled in May last year, under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act prohibiting unauthorised demonstrations within a kilometre radius of Parliament Square.

Faithful in every detail to Mr Haw's peace camp, it reproduces everything from the makeshift tarpaulin shelter and tea-making area to hand-painted placards and teddy bears wearing T-shirts with peace slogans. In bringing a reconstruction of Mr Haw's protest back into the public domain, Wallinger was seen to be raising questions around issues of freedom of expression and the erosion of civil liberties.

It was described as "visceral and historically important" by Tate jurors and commended for putting the "viewer in the emotional field of the loneliness of protest". A Tate statement added that it " combined a bold political statement with art's ability to articulate fundamental human truths".

It will undoubtedly be welcomed by those who have criticised the prize for losing its connection with social reality over the years.

Wallinger, 48, had been the critics' choice on a shortlist that included Mike Nelson, who had previously been nominated for the prize in 2001, and whose work included the recreation of a photographer's darkroom; Nathan Coley, who focused on belief systems, and Zarina Bhimji for her footage dealing with themes of colonial history and immigration.




One of the items that were taken away by police when they mounted a massive night-time operation to dismantle Brian's display on 23 May 06. This canvas is by the well-known street artist Banksy.




Brian has been protesting in Parliament Square since 2nd June 2001.

http://www.parliament-square.org.uk/about.html

We need some good news, badly.

I was thinking we need a miracle

- then woke up today - and what do you know?
Read this on Alternet (Reuters)

"For those who have doubts about miracles, a double one occurred today. An honest National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iran's nuclear program has been issued and its Key Judgments were made public."

Intel Report Reveals Bush and Cheney's Iran Warnings as Fraudulent

http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/69591/

I now feel we may avoid an Iran War. Hail Caesar.

The News Tonight - Read (and Written) by Walter Cronkite





Published on Tuesday, December 4, 2007 by CommonDreams.org
Our Troops Must Leave Iraq
by Walter Cronkite and David Krieger

"The American people no longer support the war in Iraq. The war is being carried on by a stubborn president who, like Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon during the Vietnam War, does not want to lose. But from the beginning this has been an ill-considered and poorly prosecuted war that, like the Vietnam War, has diminished respect for America. We believe Mr. Bush would like to drag the war on long enough to hand it off to another president.

The war in Iraq reminds us of the tragedy of the Vietnam War. Both wars began with false assertions by the president to the American people and the Congress. Like Vietnam, the Iraq War has introduced a new vocabulary: "shock and awe," "mission accomplished," "the surge." Like Vietnam, we have destroyed cities in order to save them. It is not a strategy for success.

The Bush administration has attempted to forestall ending the war by putting in more troops, but more troops will not solve the problem. We have lost the hearts and minds of most of the Iraqi people, and victory no longer seems to be even a remote possibility. It is time to end our occupation of Iraq, and bring our troops home.

This war has had only limited body counts. There are reports that more than one million Iraqis have died in the war. These reports cannot be corroborated because the US military does not make public the number of the Iraqi dead and injured. There are also reports that some four million Iraqis have been displaced and are refugees either abroad or within their own country. Iraqis with the resources to leave the country have left. They are frightened. They don't trust the US, its allies or its mercenaries to protect them and their interests.

We know more about the body counts of American soldiers in Iraq. Some 4,000 American soldiers have been killed in this war, about a third more than the number of people who died in the terrorist attacks of 9/11. And some 28,000 American soldiers have suffered debilitating injuries. Many more have been affected by the trauma of war in ways that they will have to live with for the rest of their lives - ways that will have serious effects not only on their lives and the lives of their loved ones, but on society as a whole. Due to woefully inadequate resources being provided, our injured soldiers are not receiving the medical treatment and mental health care that they deserve.

The invasion of Iraq was illegal from the start. Not only was Congress lied to in order to secure its support for the invasion of Iraq, but the war lacked the support of the United Nations Security Council and thus was an aggressive war initiated on the false pretenses of weapons of mass destruction. There were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Nor has any assertion of a relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda proven to be true. In the end, democracy has not come to Iraq. Its government is still being forced to bend to the will of the US administration.

What the war has accomplished is the undermining of US credibility throughout the world, the weakening of our military forces, and the erosion of our Bill of Rights. Nobel Laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz calculates that the war is costing American tax payers more than $1 trillion. This amount could double if we continue the war. Each minute we are spending $500,000 in Iraq. Our losses are incalculable. It is time to remove our military forces from Iraq.

We must ask ourselves whether continuing to pursue this war is benefiting the American people or weakening us. We must ask whether continuing the war is benefiting the Iraqi people or inflicting greater suffering upon them. We believe the answer to these inquiries is that both the American and Iraqi people would benefit by ending the US military presence in Iraq.

Moving forward is not complicated, but it will require courage. Step one is to proceed with the rapid withdrawal of US troops from Iraq and hand over the responsibility for the security of Iraq to Iraqi forces. Step two is to remove our military bases from Iraq and to turn Iraqi oil over to Iraqis. Step three is to provide resources to the Iraqis to rebuild the infrastructure that has been destroyed in the war.

Congress must act. Although Congress never declared war, as required by the Constitution, they did give the president the authority to invade Iraq. Congress must now withdraw that authority and cease its funding of the war.

It is not likely, however, that Congress will act unless the American people make their voices heard with unmistakable clarity. That is the way the Vietnam War was brought to an end. It is the way that the Iraq War will also be brought to an end. The only question is whether it will be now, or whether the war will drag on, with all the suffering that implies, to an even more tragic, costly and degrading defeat. We will be a better, stronger and more decent country to bring the troops home now."

Walter Cronkite is the former long-time anchor for CBS Evening News. David Krieger is President of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.


Read Comments

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/12/04/5598/

A Manifestation of Evil or Just Plain Madness?

By Alan Hart

12/03/07 "ICH " --- - Who said the following: When you're the leader "you need, um, to be able to separate yourself (pause) somewhat from the magnitude of the consequences of the decisions you are taking…"?

Was it Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Menachem Begin, Pol Pot or possibly George "Dubya" Bush?

Answer, none of the above.

Just occasionally terrestrial television comes up with a documentary that provides real and (to my way of thinking) terrifying insight into the mindest of leaders. One such documentary, actually a series of three, The Blair Years, has just ended on BBC Television


http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article18827.htm

Yeah, I Had A Dream
by Endymion



Why? I keep asking this question. Why do we do it to each other? Why do we humans have to hate one another? Why are some people without a conscience, while others seem to take on themselves the crimes of the evildoers and feel the weight of their shame for them?

When I was a child, I looked out at the world and thought - one day I'll be out there and I'll be free, I won't have to be afraid anymore.

Now I look out there and it's like looking back into that house. Where torture and the threat of violent death were done in the name of righteousness.

I wanted to die when I was a teenager - but someone got hold of me and said - give the world a chance. Do the therapy, get yourself a career, do whatever it takes to save that kid who has been waiting so long - hanging on.

So, for the kid I was, I did all that. I gave the world a chance.

What a fool I've been.

Like a lot of kids around the planet growing up in a dire situation (and I know I was privileged to grow up in Britain, as far as having enough to eat etc goes) I had a dream.

Yes, I had a dream. Something to aspire to - to learn from.

Mine was based on a childish perception of simply 'good over evil.' (Hollywood style).
For millions who suffer under corrupt regimes and who struggle against oppression - America was their only hope.

What's happened America?

Does George Bush have any idea how many hearts and minds he has destroyed right around the planet? How many limbs and lives have been lost? Do the American people?
All around the world, hope is dying.

I think about that kid, still hanging on. I think about him a lot. I think about him every day now. As I think about what's happening in the Supreme Court in America and prepare myself for more bad news.

http://www.able2know.org/forums/a2k-post2977023.html#2977023

I know that if America gives up on human rights, then all around the world others will feel more justified in doing the same.

Children who are in a similar or worse situation than I was as a boy, need to have a dream they can believe in - and one that will not fail them.
They need to believe that rescue is coming - that there is a responsible country out there who can morally put pressure on their governments to treat them right. Maybe their belief in good over evil is all they have. Or had. And not just them, but all sorts of people, who live lives beyond the understanding of many. Numbers of suicides are going up for good reason.

I'm at the end of waiting.
As far as I can see - people are either with the war criminals - or against them.

George Bush is a war criminal and unless he is impeached and sent to face trial at Nuremberg, I'm going to give up the dream. Quietly, and without fuss. Because what is the point hanging on to a dream that isn't real? That no longer exists?

I mean, what the hell am I hanging on for? F*cking Christmas?



***

Oh yeah - i had another dream

In it, we did not invade Iraq. Instead, British and American troops were deployed to Darfur.

Instead of millions dying in the middle east, because of greed and ego -
Millions were saved in Africa.

Instead of a holocaust of death, the 3 million ghosts on 2 continents (that do not haunt George Bush, but haunt ME) were still alive today.
The medals we were given, the friends who died, the pain we suffered - all was accepted as honourable.


Just a dream

nothing to say-except that as hard as this is to accept (in that I wish it was different, and it makes me feel empty and sad), I recognize the truth in it and I'm glad that I read it.

It reminded me of how it felt to be a child- and it must be terrifying to be a child and figure out that the adults in control have no idea what they're doing and are lacking a conscience.
I know I've said it before, but thanks for doing what you do here Endy.

Didn't mean to make anyone else feel bad.

Guess everyone has to dig down a bit deeper these days.

* * IMAGINE PEACE * *

YES!

Lennon



Hey, I was just a nipper
When someone stood up and shot ya
In the end they gotcha
Or so it seemed
Bullets shattered peaceful dreams

Back then I thought you looked like Jesus
But people said:
"He's a long-haired, commie bastard."
They said that you were dangerous
And insane

And in their shame
They labelled you a thief of common minds
And they crucified your love
With their lies

Hey, I kicked my way through life
I never thought of you
Or your witchy wife
I followed on behind their drum
Focused on seeking my station

But now it's 2000
And 7 hellish years
The planet is back in a world of tears
And the neo-insane
Are stoking up fear, once again

These days it's not the 'commies'
They want to crush
These days they're bombing
Muslims into dust

Hey, now I look at what you had to say
Defying the storm
Before you got blown away
And I try to Imagine
Your dream of Peace
No more weapons manufactured
No more unnecessary grief

And I wish that I
Could steal away
The evil
Like a thief

I wish that I could reach
Way, way down deep
And find the Peace
That we all seek




Endymion 2007

12 Dec 2007
Endymion



It's been a while since I looked at the news.
These days - if you're anything like me - it's not easy to get to grips with the state of the world.

Images often catch my eye and with the streets of Britain decked out for Christmas and shoppers spending hundreds and thousands of pounds on unwanted gifts to one another - as if those gifts symbolise our jolly good fortune - rather than any good Christian intention, an image like the one below can make me feel like a slimy hypocrite just for being born a privileged Briton.



The article that goes with the picture is called

For Some, Childhood Is Rubbish
by Sabina Zaccaro

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/12/10/5737/

You won't see it in the mainstream news, because it is anti-corporation
and the corporations own the news.

But not my news

Captain Blackadder's Lament: Imperialism Isn't Fun When The Enemy Can Shoot Back

"I did like it [soldiering] in the old days, back when the prerequisite of a British campaign was that the enemy should under no circumstances carry guns. Even spears made us think twice.... The kind of people we liked to fight were two feet tall and armed with dried grass...."

http://freedominourtime.blogspot.com/2007/12/captain-blackadders-lament-imperialism.html

Hey, he's not joking. Dried grass can be quite lethal, stuffed in all of one's orifices.

Quite. Especially when the bastards know how to rub two bits of flint together to get a spark!

THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT

http://www.newdemocracyworld.org/kids2.htm