Even a single night in jail is enough to give a taste of what it means to be under the total control of some external force.
And it hardly takes more than a day in Gaza to appreciate what it must be like to try to survive in the world’s largest open-air prison, where some 1.5 million people on a roughly 140-square-mile strip of land are subject to random terror and arbitrary punishment, with no purpose other than to humiliate and degrade.
Such cruelty is to ensure that Palestinian hopes for a decent future will be crushed, and that the overwhelming global support for a diplomatic settlement granting basic human rights will be nullified. The Israeli political leadership has dramatically illustrated this commitment in the past few days, warning that they will “go crazy” if Palestinian rights are given even limited recognition by the U.N.
Noam Chomsky: The Soul-Crushing Cruelties Perpetrated by America's Number 1 Ally
4.3 magnitude earthquake reported in Kentucky
The U.S. Geological Survey is reporting that an earthquake centered in Kentucky also rattled other nearby states.
The USGS website says the epicenter of the 4.3 magnitude earthquake on Saturday afternoon was about 10 miles (16 kilometers) west of Whitesburg. Residents in nearby Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Indiana, Ohio and Georgia also reported feeling the temblor.
TVNL Comment: Once again, earthquake activity is reported in a region where hydraulic fracfking for natural gas is taking place. The connection between fracking and earthquakes has been established by many studies. But it will take a major disaster for people to wake up.
Federal agents charge 34 white supremacists
Federal agents arrested dozens of members of the white supremacist Aryan Brotherhood of Texas on Friday and charged them with murder, kidnapping, racketeering and conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and cocaine.
A 43-page federal indictment unsealed by the Justice Department names 34 members of the violent organized crime group who have been charged, including four of its senior leaders.
Prairie2: A map of Red to hide the Blue
Drudge.com has a map on their web page that shows the US as 99% Red. The typical dim bulb who follows them will assume that somehow this means Acorn stole the election for Obama.
The reality is, of course, that most of the 'Red' counties (small in population) weren't 'red' by all that many votes, depending on the concentration of 'trailer trash'. In fact, the 'Blue' voters don't bother in areas where there isn't any point in voting. Combine that with the tens of millions who don't know what the 'left' is really saying about a 'right' that sees them only as potential dog food. Confronted with the actual 'reality,' their vote would be different.
Alex Baer: Never Look into a Street Sweeper's Ashcan
There is a bizarre irony involved for members of the clean-up crew, tracing the long street and avenue routes after a parade featuring elephants. Oddly enough, crew members find themselves shoveling the same material from the back of the parade route as the GOP politicians were shoveling onto the crowds, up front.
Figuratively, figuratively. At least, one hopes that is the case. So, please bear with us while we keep sweeping up around here, trying to get all this... this... stuff off the streets and off our agendas.
China's economy to overtake US in next four years, says OECD
China will overtake the US in the next four years to become the largest economy in the world, says a leading international thinktank.
The Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said China's economy will be larger than the combined economies of the eurozone countries by the end of this year, and will overtake the US by the end of 2016.
CIA Director David Petraeus resigns, cites extramarital affair
CIA Director David Petraeus resigned Friday, citing an extramarital affair and "extremely poor judgment."
As first reported by NBC News and in a letter released to the CIA work force on Friday afternoon, Petraeus disclosed the affair, and wrote: "Such behavior is unacceptable, both as a husband and as the leader of an organization such as ours."
Natanyahu's Tried-and-True Settlement Weapon
Today’s announcement that the Israeli government is moving full steam ahead with the construction of nearly 1300 new settlement units should surprise nobody.
The announcement paves the way for construction in Pisgat Zeev and Ramot (settlement neighborhoods of East Jerusalem), as well as in the huge and extremely controversial settlement of Ariel—a settlement located smack-dab in the middle of the northern West Bank, in a location that makes its inclusion as part of Israel under any realistic borders scenario pretty much impossible.
New Report Shows Radioactive Threat to New York if Fracking Approved
A new report issued by Grassroots Environmental Education, a New York-based non-profit organization and authored by a former staff scientist for the National Council on Radiation Protection says that horizontal hydrofracking in the Marcellus Shale region of New York State is likely to produce significantly higher amounts of radioactive waste than previously believed, putting New Yorkers in danger, and that the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has not demonstrated the ability to properly analyze the potential impact of radiation exposure or take adequate steps to protect the public.
“Once radioactive material comes up out of the ground along with the gas, the problem is what to do with it,” says Doug Wood, associate director of Grassroots Environmental Education, who edited the report. “The radioactivity lasts for thousands of years, and it is virtually impossible to eliminate or mitigate. Sooner or later, it’s going to end up in our environment and eventually our food chain. It’s a problem with no good solution—and the DEC is unequipped to handle it.”
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