14
POPSPalestine: The State History Forgot Is it a joke of history that before there was the states of Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, Syria, etc there was Palestine? Now they all exist and Palestine doesn't yet. You will read that there never was a Palestine from a certain quarter and how can you miss what you never had. How you know they are lying! They'll say that as they are all Arabs that there's enough room for them all. It's like saying that the Scots Welsh and Irish are all Celts and one state would do them all! Yes, there was a time when such thinking was regarded as valid. If we had the Age of Imperialism back then the Brits might validly have a claim on the USA and most of the rest of the world. In the present imperialism, if the existent holder of the gunboat diplomacy role, the USA, decided to sort out Palestine's present difficulties it could in a breath. Hopefully in a more honourable fashion that the last gunboat holder did.
1
POPSFreedom House: Wie frei sind die USA wirklich? Beim Kampf für Demokratie und Menschenrechte vergessen die USA ihre Probleme im eigenen Land. Das meint die Demokratieorganisation Freedom House. Die Häftlingsrate ist zehnmal so hoch wie in Westeuropa und mehr als 2000 Kinder sitzen lebenslänglich im Gefängnis. Zu den Demokratiedefiziten gehört nach Ansicht von Freedom House auch die Todesstrafe, die in den meisten anderen Demokratien längst abgeschafft ist. In den Vereinigten Staaten sitzen 3000 Menschen in der Todeszelle. Aber trotz aller Defizite ist Freedom House überzeugt, dass die Vereinigten Staaten ein freies Land mit starken Selbstkorrekturmechanismen bleiben. Schließlich würden die meisten Skandale irgendwann von der Presse aufgedeckt, Fehlentscheidungen der Regierung von Gerichten oder vom Kongress korrigiert. "Freiheit ist in Amerika ein seit über 200 Jahren andauernder Prozess", sagt Stuart Eizenstat.
0
POPSUS-America's friends? Shouldn’t Europe be more assertive in its dealing with the peoples of the Middle East, instead of sheepishly following the lead, or be under the leash, of the United States? A greater harmony would likely develop between the Muslim population throughout Europe and native European people who are hosting and/or assimilating them. If such were the case, one could foresee a greater probability of success for a quicker and long-lasting resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in which the United States has continuously served as a gully instead of a bridge. Shouldn’t Europeans try to find more common ground with next-door Russia, and try to secure stronger economic ties, instead of providing a source of friction and unnecessary confrontation by submitting to the forced military requirements of the US? he return of the prodigal European friends, as brothers , not just vassals and prostitutes . That’s what our European friends could do for America.
3
POPSNavy chaplain fired from teaching job after report exposed his anti-Islamic views
In addition to relieving Waite of his teaching duties, Morgan, the GTF president, said the school has scrapped its Military Ministries program, which Chaplain Waite presided over, in an effort to “distance ourselves profoundly from his name and his ideas.” “It has come to our attention that a "former" member of our faculty, Brian Waite, has written a book which is now withdrawn by the publisher attacking Islam!” says a copy of the email written by Morgan sent to Muslim faculty members. “Please know that we have dismissed him from our faculty and terminated our military ministries program . . . If anyone enquires of you regarding Brian Waite (a military chaplain serving in Iraq), please assure them that he was appointed to the faculty without our knowledge of his book or his feelings about Islam. Please know that the Foundation as an institution and myself as its President are deeply committed to our Islamic program, faculty, and students.”
4
POPSFrance and Germany Thwart Bush's Plans Many German papers on Wednesday questioned whether enlargement eastwards would really do anything to enhance security. US President George W. Bush seems determined to put pressure on his European allies to welcome Ukraine and Georgia into the NATO alliance, despite reluctance in Paris and Berlin to unnecessarily provoke Russia with such a move. In his keynote speech delivered hours before the 26-nation alliance meets in Bucharest on Wednesday, he said "NATO membership must remain open to all of Europe's democracies that seek it, and are ready to share the responsibilities of NATO membership." However, Moscow has made it clear that it will view any enlargement of NATO to its borders as a threat. Russia is particularly sensitive to any further loss of influence in the states it used to control. spiegel.de
1
POPSHope, change, and pissing in the wind: Of Obama, Democrats, and the power elite There are systemic contradictions at play that almost force the hand of capitalists to do what they do -- for example, they are now trying to roll back the social democratic gains of the European working class during the postwar period. Merkel, Brown, Berlusconi, and Sarkozy are no accidents. They represent the concerted effort of the European bourgeoisie, egged on by the American elites, to push back on the working class and take it all back under the pretext of “remaining competitive” and a plethora of other fraudulent reasons.
0
POPSHoward Zinn: A People's History of American Empire "Have not the justifications for empire, embedded in our culture, assaulting our good sense -- that war is necessary for security, that expansion is fundamental to civilization -- begun to lose their hold on our minds? Have we reached a point in history where we are ready to embrace a new way of living in the world, expanding not our military power, but our humanity?" Howard Zinn
5
POPSAmerica Defeated: How Terrorists Turned a Superpower's Strengths Against Itself
President Bush announced this virtual war three days after September 11, 2001, in the National Cathedral in Washington, appropriately enough, when he told Americans that "our responsibility to history is already clear: to answer these attacks and rid the world of evil." Astonishing words from a world leader -- declaring that he would "rid the world of evil." is National Security Strategy, issued a few months later, was careful to specify that "the enemy is not a single political regime or person or religion or ideology. The enemy is terrorism -- premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against innocents." Again, a remarkable statement, as many commentators were quick to point out; for declaring war on "terrorism" -- a technique of war, not an identifiable group or target -- was simply unprecedented, and, indeed, bewildering in its implications. Declaring war on terrorism is like declaring war on air power.
0
POPSNader in comitiis praesidentialibus certaturus Nader dixit in programmate televisionis NBC maiorem partem Americanorum delusos se sentire ab ambabus magnis factionibus. Nader Wasintoniam nuncupavit "terram occupatam a corporationibus (commercialibus), quae regimen urgent, ut contra bonitatem civium consilia capiat". Laudetur Ralph Nader!
8
POPSWW1 Kid Soldiers: B&W pics "After the WW2 very young boys were still able to enlist in the American services. This went on until the early fifties. Nowadays the USA is the only country where an association called Veterans of Underage Military Service (VUMS) exists. It was formed in 1991." "Buckles enlisted in the American army at age 16 in 1917. During his summer vacation from school he went to the Marine Corps recruiting office to enlist, told them he was 21, but he was turned down: too small. He tried the Navy: too flatfooted. He then went to the Army and they accepted him. "The old sergeant advised me that the Ambulance Service was the quickest way to get to France because the French were begging for ambulance services". In France he served at several locations. After Armistice Day he was assigned to a POW escort company to return prisoners back to Germany. In WW2 while working in the Philippines, the Japanese army seized him and he stayed in a POW camp for more than 3 years.
3
POPSThe National Guard Is Coming Home Five years ago, George Bush called the Guard into national service pursuant to the 2002 Authorization to Use Military Force (AUMF) against Iraq. The AUMF, passed by Congress in its rush to war, established a limited mission: First, the removal of Saddam Hussein from power; second, enforcement of preceding United Nations Security Council resolutions regarding the elimination of alleged Iraqi WMDs and ballistic missiles. The Vermont bill recognizes that those two mission objectives are complete and that the national service of the Vermont Guard is over; the bill recalls the Guard to state control.