Posts From The Saker
by Ralph Nader Today’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission shreds the fabric of our already weakened democracy by allowing corporations to more completely dominate our corrupted electoral process. It is outrageous that corporations already attempt to influence or bribe our political candidates through their political action committees (PACs), which solicit employees and shareholders for donations. With this decision, corporations can now also
RIA-Novosti reports: Ukraine may join NATO Response Force in 2015-16 Bruessels: Ukraine has been invited to join the NATO Response Force as a partner country in 2015-16, a spokesman for the NATO military committee said Wednesday. Colonel Massimo Panizzi said Ukraine would become “the first non-NATO country to join the Response Force.” The Response Force consists of rapid deployment forces with land, air and sea components, capable of swiftly reacting
It has been three years now since I interviewed Mizgin, a pro-PKK Kurdish blogger who very kindly introduced me to the topic of the struggle of the Kurds for self-determination and my interview with her was mostly about the ‘inner’ aspects of the Kurdish struggle. Today, I am publishing another interview with a Kurd – Zerkes – but this time the interview deals mostly with the “regional picture”. The regions
by Gilad Atzmon “Spirit does not toss itself about in the external play of chance occurrences; on the contrary, it is that which determines history absolutely, and it stands firm against the chance occurrences which it dominates and exploits for its own purpose”. (Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel 1770 – 1831) PM Netanyahu was quoted by the Israeli Ynet last week saying that the “whole of Israel would be surrounded by
Ukraine’s new president — unless there is another Orange Revolution — has fashioned a comeback worthy of Nixon, marvels Eric Walberg Ukraine’s presidential elections Sunday were remarkable in more ways than one. The winner of the first round and favourite to lead Ukraine at a crucial moment in its history is the one politician observers long ago dismissed as a has-been. Viktor Yanukovich is mocked by his opponents as an
by Glenn Greewald for Salon.com Cass Sunstein has long been one of Barack Obama’s closest confidants. Often mentioned as a likely Obama nominee to the Supreme Court, Sunstein is currently Obama’s head of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs where, among other things, he is responsible for “overseeing policies relating to privacy, information quality, and statistical programs.” In 2008, while at Harvard Law School, Sunstein co-wrote a truly pernicious
by Fidel Castro Two days ago, at almost six o’clock in the evening Cuban time and when, given its geographical location, night had already fallen in Haiti, television stations began to broadcast the news that a violent earthquake – measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale – had severely struck Port-au-Prince. The seismic phenomenon originated from a tectonic fault located in the sea just 15 kilometers from the Haitian capital, a
The website of Architects & Engineers for 911 Truth (ae911truth.org) reports that 1000 architects and engineers have now signed the AE911T petition demanding of Congress a truly independent investigation (another 6158 individuals from other professions have also signed this petition as of today). I would like to extent my heartfelt congratulations and gratitude to all the folks at AE911T for having reached this milestone, in particular since their work as
In the Name of Allah, The Compassionate, The Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, The Lord of the world. Peace be on the Seal of prophets, our Master and Prophet Abi Al Qassem Mohammad and on his chaste and pure Household, chosen companions and all prophets and messengers. Peace be upon you all and Allah’s mercy and blessing. Brothers and sisters! Ladies and gentlemen! I welcome you all in the
It is truly a huge pleasure for me to publish this Q&A with David Rovics, a phenomenal artist whose music I have only recently discovered, and about whom I wrote a piece entitled “David Rovics – the beautiful voice of the American Resistance“. Three months have passed since I wrote this piece. I discovered more of David’s songs and I came to the conclusion that he is probably the most
You all heard the story: the Israelis got pissed-off at Turkey for showing a TV show which they don’t like, they decided to humiliate the Turkish envoy to Israel with some totally immature antics (sitting him on a lower chair, only putting a little Israeli flag on the table and by, quote, “not smiling” – at least on camera). This time, the customary arrogance of the “Jewish state” ended up
by Gilad Atzmon The Israeli government doesn’t think twice before it orders a genocidal attack against civilians. Israeli military leaders do not think twice before they drop bombs on one of the most densely populated places on the planet. They also do not hesitate whether to use artillery shells against a UN refugee shelter. The Israeli people do not think twice before they approve en masse their army’s inhuman tactics.
by Roger Tucker “We have met the enemy and they are us.” – Pogo Pretty much everyone nowadays rejects fascism, but nobody seems to know quite what it is. The words “fascist” and “fascism” are frequently flung about, but they seem to be applied to all sorts of different and unrelated people and things. The dictionaries and Wikipedia are no help because they all assume that the word refers to
RIA Novosti reports: Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili awarded on Monday the National Hero of Georgia title to U.S. Senator John McCain. McCain, along with Senators John Barrasso and John Thune, arrived in Georgia on Sunday. The award ceremony was held on Monday in the southwestern Georgian resort of Batumi. “The fact that a part of Georgia is free today is the achievement of our friends. It was the idea of
Iran’s Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that it has found traces of US and Israel’s involvement in the assassination of an Iranian nuclear physics scientist. “Primary investigations into the assassination revealed signs of the involvement of the Zionist regime [Israel], the US and their allies in Iran,” spokesman Ramin Mehman-Parast said. Professor Massoud Ali-Mohammadi, a lecturer at Tehran University, was killed by a booby-trapped motorbike blast in the Iranian capital earlier
By M K Bhadrakumar for The Asia Times: The inauguration of the Dauletabad-Sarakhs-Khangiran pipeline on Wednesday connecting Iran’s northern Caspian region with Turkmenistan’s vast gas field may go unnoticed amid the Western media cacophony that it is “apocalypse now” for the Islamic regime in Tehran. The event sends strong messages for regional security. Within the space of three weeks, Turkmenistan has committed its entire gas exports to China, Russia and
Ria-Novosti reports: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has announced plans for the deployment of new Russian-made tanks and combat helicopters on the border with Colombia. Ties between Venezuela and Colombia deteriorated last August after Washington signed a deal with Bogota allowing U.S. forces to run anti-drug operations from Colombian bases. Chavez has criticized the deal and called for the Venezuelan people and army to prepare for a war. “We are expecting
The Strange Case of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab by Tom Burghardt for Dissident Voice Despite some $40 billion dollars spent by the American people on airline security since 2001, allegedly to thwart attacks on the heimat, the botched attempt by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab to bring down Northwest Airlines Flight 253 over Detroit on Christmas Day was foiled, not by a bloated counterterrorist bureaucracy, but by the passengers themselves. Talk about validating
