Israeli Missiles Rip Into Medics' Esprit de Corps

The world has expressed outrage at the deliberate Israeli attack on an UN observation post, killing 4 UN Observers which seems to have achieved Israels aims as the UN decares it will close all it's posts in southern Lebanon. This allows Israel to hide the war crimes being committed by them daily as in this report from the LA Times not to mention the targetting of clearly marked refugee caravans.

Writers Protest Israel's War on Lebanese

A Letter to the Press
from 18 writers - including 3 Nobel Prize recipients.

The latest chapter of the conflict between Israel and Palestine began
when Israeli forces abducted two civilians, a doctor and his brother,
from Gaza. An incident scarcely reported anywhere, except in the
Turkish press. The following day the Palestinians took an Israeli
soldier prisoner - and proposed a negotiated exchange against prisoners taken by the Israelis - there are approximately 10,000 in Israeli jails.

That this "kidnapping" was considered an outrage, whereas the illegal military occupation of the West Bank and the systematic appropriation of its natural resources - most particularly that of water - by the Israeli Defence (!) Forces is considered a regrettable but realistic fact of life, is typical of the double standards repeatedly employed by the West in face of what has befallen the Palestinians, on the land allotted to them by international agreements, during the last seventy years.

Today outrage follows outrage; makeshift missiles cross sophisticated ones. The latter usually find their target situated where the disinherited and crowded poor live, waiting for what was once called Justice. Both categories of missile rip bodies apart horribly - who but field commanders can forget this for a moment?

Each provocation and counter-provocation is contested and preached over. But the subsequent arguments, accusations and vows, all serve as a distraction in order to divert world attention from a long-term military, economic and geographic practice whose political aim is nothing less than the liquidation of the Palestinian nation.

This has to be said loud and clear for the practice, only half declared
and often covert, is advancing fast these days, and, in our opinion, it
must be unceasingly and eternally recognised for what it is and
resisted.

PS: As Juliano Mer Khamis, director of the documentary film Arna's
Children, asked: "Who is going to paint the 'Guernica' of Lebanon?"


John Berger
Noam Chomsky
Harold Pinter
Jos? Saramago
Eduardo Galeano
Arundhati Roy
Naomi Klein
Howard Zinn
Charles Glass
Richard Falk
Gore Vidal
Russell Banks
Thomas Keneally
Chris Abani
Carolyn Forche
Martin Espada
Jessica Hagedorn
Toni Morrison
[This letter has been printed in Le Monde, Paris; El Pais, Madrid, The
Independent, London, La Republica, Milan, etc. etc., including in
Israel.]
Contact
John Berger
Quincy, Mieussy
74440 TANINGES, FRANCE
TEL/FAX - 00-33-450-430 336
email: witchazel@wanadoo.fr

Grannies for Peace

A new force in opposition to the Iraq war is spreading across the US.

Racist cartoons: Why Muslims have a right to be angry

Like most western leftists I have been perplexed by the face the Muslim world often presents to the world. The fatwa threatening death against S.Rushdie and many muslim women who oppose the mysogymist treatment of women in the middle east, the recent case in Afghanistan where a christian convert was threatened by death under Sharia law.

I support the just struggle of most people under threat of the depredations of imperialism, today so represented by the US New World Order. The thirst for oil in the west has unleashed a holocaust on most peoples of the middle east and the racist and repressive actions of the Israel allie and western guard-dog to the subject Palestinian people has rubbed their faces in it.

But the damn fools keep undermining my support.

It is little recognised in the western world why so many people of color adhere to the muslim faith despite the arab traders who transported so many slaves to west african ports to be transported by European and American ships to a life of penury in the colonies.

Basically it was because the tenets of Mohammed did not have a racist base like most of Christianity. Despite the warrior expansion of crusading muslims they spared "the people of the book" christians and jews and allowed them to continue their faith. There is also a peaceful live and let live spirit among many muslims, so represented by the spiritualist Sufi sect.

It must be recognised that in the muslim world just as in the christian world that fundamentalist beliefs are not the usual interpretations of their holy books. The KKK or born-again Rapture are just as foreign to christianity as many of the fatwas of muslim fundamentalists issued by some obscure Iman.

As an atheist I defend neither and oppose both. And I am sure most muslims and christians, however mistaken I feel they are, also do the same.

Hurricane Povertina

From Left Turn: New Orleans Reports by Jordan Flaherty

As a new threat, Hurricane Rita, approaches the Gulf Coast, evacuations are once again suggested for those New Orleanians who had gradually been returning to the devastated city, and also those who had sought refuge in Houston.

In a series of stunning articles, Jordan Flaherty, a native of New Orleans, chronicles the disaster and suggests more harm was and is being done by officials and those seeking to profit from the tragedy than from Katrina.

Dubya's Mom puts her foot in it

By E&P Staff
Published: September 05, 2005 7:25 PM ET updated 8:00 PM

Accompanying her husband, former President George
H.W.Bush, on a tour of hurricane relief centers in
Houston, Barbara Bush said today, referring to the
poor who had lost everything back home and evacuated,

"This is working very well for them."

In a segment at the top of the show on the surge of
evacuees to the Texas city, Barbara Bush said: "Almost
everyone I’ve talked to says we're going to move to
Houston."

Then she added: "What I’m hearing which is sort of
scary is they all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is
so overwhelmed by the hospitality.

"And so many of the people in the arena here, you
know, were underprivileged anyway, so this--this (she
chuckles slightly) is working very well for them."

Audio Link

Happy Anniversary Little Muddy

Damn ! A whole year went by in publishing these posts, and I even went thru a crisis of why I was doing this recently and whether I should continue. The Don Quixote complex again. But I've come through it and if YOU're reading this it's worth it to have a voice in this increasingly impersonal world.

So happy anniversary Little Muddy, and may the Great Spaghetti Monster be with you.

Another Theory of Human Origins | Bayosphere

Yes, I know, It's on the "about" Blogger link, but in case you missed it, here is some of the humour I promised. May the Flying Spaghetti Monster be with you and in your everyday thoughts. IT is king and lord and cannot stand us. Understandably.

Pat Robertson and Religious Evil

The airwaves have been full of Pat Robertsons advocating the US assassination of Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan Prezident. Of course the elimination of Chavez has been at the forground of US strategic thinking long before they engineered the "coup" that deposed him as president for 24 hours until a massive popular revolt and the support of the army placed him back in office.

His major crime was that he insisted that the bounties of oil profits should benefit the poor rather than the oligarchy. Since Venezuela is also the 3rd largest supplier of oil to the US, after Saudi Arabia and Canada this made them nervous.

Despite his many "democratic" elections since then, the Bush administration, who wants to impose US-style democracy on Iraq, has done everything it can to isolate and topple him. Unfortunately his esteem has only increased in Latin America and inspires other regions under US imperialist domination to rebel, such as Bolivia and Equador. It also doesn't increase his popularity with the US that he is chummy with Cuba's Fidel Castro and uses their donation of some 300 doctors to alleviate the suffering in the poor districts. He in turn besides using oil profits to help the poor, is also offering oil at bargain basement prices to his latin american neighbors. One of the greatest fears of the US policy analysts has to be, what if the huge country of Argentina were to be infected with this Bolivarism.

Weirdly or predictably enough, the liberal and social democratic left, view him as a despotic ruler. Their great white hope is Lulu the President of Brazil, a former union leader who will show the way (responsibly) in Latin America. His government is presently under crisis because of corrupt actions by some of his ministers. So far he's given in to almost all the demands of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund which have so castrated any efforts by poor countries to improve their situation. Usually they demand the privatisation of state-owned enterprises like energy or water supply as well as cutbacks in social assistance. Sounds to me the IMF and World Bank are purveyors of Revolution. Bless their secret souls, torn by the evident injustices.

Pat Robertson is aware of this and vocalized what Bush, Cheny, and Rumsfield think and try to implement. Their response to the issue was that individuals have a right to their own opinion. But Robertson was not simply voicing these "opinions" to his fellow workers or neighbors, he was voicing them to the multitude of the "700 club" tv audience. Surely advocating the assassination of a head of a country publically is as heinious as publicly advocating "hate crimes" and should be prosecuted by law.
Of course Robertson will not suffer anything like the fate of Dan Rather for voicing what everyone knows is true. The religious right has too much power and is also one of the last bastions of support for Bush whose approval rating now is at 40%.

Robertson likes to wrap himself in the US flag and identifies with the US founders, especially Thomas Jefferson. Here is another take on that from the mouth of Jefferson and another from Thomas Payne whose book "The Rights of Man" in response to the British conservative Edmonde Burke's condemnation of the French revolution in 1790, resulted in his imprisionment for 2 years in France. It is still an inspiring book which has been little accorded the respect it deserves, perhaps because it espouses the beliefs that Americans say they stand for.

Cindy Sheehan : No more Bushit

Cindy Sheehan' blunt, take no prisoners approach has been remarkably successful and may even spark the Iraq War's first 'tipping point'.

The Monsanto Pig (Patent pending)

One way or another, Monsanto wants to make sure no food is grown that they don't own -- and the record shows they don't care if it's safe for the environment or not. Monsanto has aggressively set out to bulldoze environmental concerns about its genetically engineered (GE) seeds at every regulatory level.

So why stop in the field? Not content to own the pesticide and the herbicide and the crop, they've made a move on the barnyard by filing two patents which would make the corporate giant the sole owner of that famous Monsanto invention: the pig.

The patent applications were published in February 2005 at the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) in Geneva. A Greenpeace researcher who monitors patent applications, Christoph Then, uncovered the fact that Monsanto is seeking patents not only on methods of breeding, but on actual breeding herds of pigs as well as the offspring that result.

"If these patents are granted, Monsanto can legally prevent breeders and farmers from breeding pigs whose characteristics are described in the patent claims, or force them to pay royalties," says Then. "It's a first step toward the same kind of corporate control of an animal line that Monsanto is aggressively pursuing with various grain and vegetable lines."

BONO, GELDORF, OXFAM, AND BLAIR - THE LIVE-8 BOONDOGGLE

Africa needs justice not charity An excellent analysis of the G8 agreement.

Casual readers of the newspaper headlines could be forgiven for believing that the leaders of the richest and most powerful countries have had a miraculous change of heart. If the papers are to be believed, the key decades-long demand of the global justice movement — debt cancellation — had been agreed to, thanks to an unlikely alliance between Tony Blair’s British Labour government, leading aid agencies and pop “legends” Bob Geldof and Bono. However, the devil is in the details, as Green Left Weekly’s Norm Dixon discovers.

“$55-billion debts write-off agreed”, declared the June 11 British Guardian. “Debtor nations freed of burdens”, the Los Angeles Times announced on June 12. “Victory for Millions”, trumpeted the June 12 British Observer. “Blair, Bono Win One for Africa”, cooed the June 13 Christian Science Monitor. “Debt deal just the beginning, says Geldof”, assured the June 13 Sydney Morning Herald.

Also:
THE G8 SUMMIT: A FRAUD AND A CIRCUS

Tony Blair's "vision for Africa" is about as patronising and exploitative as a stage full of white pop stars (with black tokens now added). By John Pilger New Statesman

The front page of the London Observer on 12 June announced, "55 billion dollar Africa debt deal 'a victory for millions'." The "victory for millions" is a quotation of Bob Geldof, who said, "Tomorrow 280 million Africans will wake up for the first time in their lives without owing you or me a penny...". The nonsense of this would be breathtaking if the reader's breath had not already been extracted by the unrelenting sophistry of Geldof, Bono, Blair, the Observer et al.

Africa's imperial plunder and tragedy have been turned into a circus for the benefit of the so-called G8 leaders due in Scotland next month and those of us willing to be distracted by the barkers of the circus: the establishment media and its "celebrities". The illusion of an anti establishment crusade led by pop stars - a cultivated, controlling image of rebellion - serves to dilute a great political movement of anger. In summit after summit, not a single significant "promise" of the G8 has been kept, and the "victory for millions" is no different. It is a fraud - actually a setback to reducing poverty in Africa. Entirely conditional on vicious, discredited economic programmes imposed by the World Bank and the IMF, the "package" will ensure that the "chosen" countries slip deeper into poverty.

Is it any surprise that this is backed by Blair and his treasurer, Gordon Brown, and George Bush; even the White House calls it a "milestone"? For them, it is an important facade, held up by the famous and the naive and the inane. Having effused about Blair, Geldof describes Bush as "passionate and sincere" about ending poverty. Bono has called Blair and Brown "the John and Paul of the global development stage". Behind this front, rapacious power can "re-order" the lives of millions in favour of totalitarian corporations and their control of the world's resources.

The Mugging of the American Dream

I seem to be posting more of Bill Moyers all the time, but he is one of the few US journalists not being simply a mouthpiece for the Bush administation.

This is from a speech he gave on June 3 at the Take Back America conference in Washington DC.

A profound transformation is occurring in America and those responsible for it don't want you to connect the dots. We are experiencing what has been described as a "fanatical drive to dismantle the political institutions, the legal and statutory canons, and the intellectual and cultural frameworks that have shaped public responsibility for social harms arising from the excesses of private power." From public land to water and other natural resources, from media with their broadcast and digital spectrums to scientific discoveries and medical breakthroughs, a broad range of America's public resources is being shifted to the control of elites and the benefit of the privileged. It all seems so clear now that we wonder how we could have ignored the warning signs at the time. Back in the early l970s President Nixon's Attorney General, John Mitchell, predicted that "this country is going to go so far to the right that you won't recognize it." A wealthy right-winger of the time, William Simon, President Nixon's Secretary of the Treasury, wrote a polemic declaring that "funds generated by business...must rush by the multimillions" to conservative causes. Said Business Week, bluntly: "Some people will obviously have to do with less...It will be a bitter pill for many Americans to swallow the idea of doing with less so that big business can have more."

Son of Antiwar State Senator Becky Lourey Killed in Iraq

A poignant interview with Minnisota Senator Becky Lourey whose son died in Iraq 2 weeks ago. Senator Lourey had authored a resolution in the senate signed by 18 other state senators opposing the invasion of Iraq.

I was reminded of a black US friend of mine whose brother was killed in Viet-Nam. When I expressed my concern to her about him enlisting, that black youths were only fodder for US economic interests, she replied that she couldn't dissuade him since he was unemployed and said it would provide him with a job. Less than a year later he was killed in action. Senator Lourey and her husband had been activists in the movement against the war in Viet-Nam.

How The Right-Wing Took Over Another Medium Of Dissent

It seems that more and more I refer to Bill Moyers, one of the few remaining major journalists who hasn't succumbed to the Bush administration's shackling of the free press. Challenged by PBS in the docile corporate media coverage by most major media who obediently presented the Bush spin on events, the Republican "powers that be" moved to silence this opposition to their imperial power. Since the US hasn't yet descended to the traditional dictatorship solution of blowing up opposition offices or assassinating editors, and since the PBS is a government funded organisation, they
simply took over the funding organisation of the government.

Moyers blows the whistle on the coup and details the original hopes of public broadcasting which he helped set up. Audio and video clips can be found here

THIS IS THE WAY FREEDOM ENDS. NOT WITH A BANG BUT A WHIMPER.

The IRON HEEL's noose tightens

gatesid

The right-wing Bush administration slipped a "security measure" into a military expenditure bill which was passed by the US Senate yesterday. Naturally few Senators would be seen opposing a Bill which would benefit "our boys in Iraq"

The Bill authorises the US government to institute an internal passport reminiscent of the infamous "required papers" under the Nazi regime in Occupied Europe. It would be required by all US citizens for identification, superceding state drivers licences and any other existing methods of identification. Among other things it would have means of verifying the identity of the ID Card holder up to such things as photos,fingerprints, or retinal eye-scans. It would include such things as home address, phone number, and occupation.

Bill Gates is shown here in an example he volunteered for in a similar Belgian initiative.

Civil liberty organizations have reponded with consternation at the rapidly introduced and passed bill.

That's the way your liberty dies, not with a bang , but a whimper.

US Democracy in Action

Kevin Sites
Originally uploaded by Little Muddy.

Kevan Sites is a freelance journalist who was "embedded" with US troops attacking the insurgents in Fallujah. He originally edited his video leaving out sensitive footage which he felt could enflame the event. He now regrets that decision and has released the full video coverage.

Sites was on assignment for NBC on Nov. 13, 2004, and was following a squad into a mosque that the day before insurgents were using to fire on U.S. troops. The Marines were part of a U.S.-led offensive to clear Fallujah of its insurgent strongholds.

Sites' video shows five men wounded from the previous day's fighting lying on the floor of the mosque. One Marine can be heard shouting to others that a man was only "playing dead."

The Marine corporal in question appears to fire a round from his weapon into the Iraqi's head, and another Marine says, "Dead now."


The U.S. Marine Corps announced that it won't prosecute that Marine corporal, who was not identified, for his actions.

Don Quixote

quijote

I must confess to less than full dilligence to the duty of faithfully blogging the myriad of news items that have passed my outraged comments. I guess like life, it will go in fits and starts. The current state of affairs in the world is so depressing that it becomes difficult to single out any new hypocrisy with anything more than resignation.

Mea Culpa.

But I do continue, not even sure that I reach even as many as in my daily conversations.
And if my contests with windmills fail I can also find a princess to rescue, tho my attempts to save our local bus service was valliant but not greatly successful.


Little Muddy

The Shit Done Hit The Fan

Captains Quarter Blog

The Gomery Commission's investigation into the Liberal party's Adscam hit a new high the last few days. Jean Brault, the head of a Quebec advertising agency with close ties to the Liberals, and who is facing criminal charges, gave explosive testimony on which the Commission placed a publication ban.

A conservative US blogger managed to get ahold of the details of the testimony and published it on his US blog where the canadian ban isn't effective. Now his blog has been swamped by canadians eager to know the "juicy bits". CTV "outed" the Blog and it can easily be found with a search engine like Gooogle.

Pundits are suggesting this could bring down the liberal government. Harper Conservatives who are salivating at the prospect might find a different outcome than what they hope for. It could result in a Liberal wipe-out in Quebec, where interest is high on the adscam scandal, and many in the rest of Canada who voted for the liberals in fear of a Harper government could turn to the NDP. Another minority government would be likely.

View from the West : Canada

Loyd Axworthy, a former Foreign Minister for the Chretien government and now President of Winnipeg University takes a gutsy stand on the Bush administration's Star Wars system. It reflects the views of most canadians.