by Larry Birns
Why has an admitted perjurer, a facilitator of death squads and an arms broker to Islamic terrorists just been appointed to be deputy national security adviser to President Bush?

It’s tough to think of anything more “un-American” and less reflective of traditional family values than lying to Congress about illegal U.S. arm sales to a CIA-created band of murderous rightwing terrorists known as the Contras, and sticking up for death squads. Also, can one defend selling arms to Islamic terrorists by claiming that waging the Cold War sometimes required subscribing to the thesis that the end justifies the means? Given that Elliott Abrams managed to commit all the derelictions cited above, one might think that there was sufficient reason to prevent his name from being associated with the word “democracy.” However, it appears that the Bush administration, as was the case of its appointing a known human rights violator like U.S. Ambassador to Iraq John Negroponte (when he was the ambassador to Honduras in the 1980s), rewards those who offer the White House their blood-soaked resumes.

On February 2, the White House announced that Abrams was being appointed to the number two position on the National Security Council, where he “will be responsible for pushing Bush’s strategy for advancing democracy.” In terms of the outrageous, one could compare this to appointing Pinochet or Kissinger to head the inquiry into Chile’s human rights record during the general’s dictatorial rule, or Saddam’s conversion to the Quaker faith.

A brief review of his more notorious exploits will show that no one in the president’s neocon inventory would be a less appropriate candidate than Abrams to be the overseer of global democratization and to make certain that “freedom’s on the march.”
Full Article: counterpunch.org

by Jennifer Van Bergen
In a shocking jury verdict today, a tireless watchdog for liberty was convicted of violating special administrative prison rules and of providing material support to terrorists.

Only a few weeks ago, Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony Barkow told the jury in his closing statement that Lynne Stewart “thought she could blow off the rules that apply to everyone else because she’s a lawyer, and she’s above the law. She said, ‘I think my client is more important than the law. My cause is more important that the risk to lives of innocent people.’ “

This is a complete distortion of the woman I have come to know. The woman who, when her husband became angry at a heckler during her speech at a small rally, told him the man was only exercising his rights to free speech–he had a right to disagree with her.

The woman who is as courteous to the man next to her at the podium, who is declaring that the ACLU–which, remember, stands for the American CIVIL LIBERTIES Union — is a communist organization, as to those who thank her for coming.

A woman who put herself endlessly and courageously on the front lines to defend the rights of those who were under-represented, unrepresented, disenfranchised, or disregarded: those whose voices are suppressed or silenced.

Lynne Stewart never ever thought she could blow off the rules that apply to everyone else. She never thought she was above the law. She never supported or endorsed terrorism. Nor did she ever intend to provide material support to terrorists.
Full Article: counterpunch.org

In the city of São Paulo, where Carolina Maria de Jesus (1914-77) lived and wrote, a census conducted 10 years ago indicated that nearly 20% of its residents, approximately 1,900,000 inhabitants, were living in shanty towns. Last year, the World Bank released figures revealing that poverty in Latin America had not seen any real change over the past 20 years. Millions of impoverished people inhabit a region where economic growth is failing to reduce the high levels of inequality that are the result of an extremely grave problem of income distribution.
Full Article: guardian.co.uk

The man in the hooded sweatshirt, a large gold medallion hanging from his neck, was in no mood to talk. “Turn around and cross the street,” he said. “You’re with a newspaper? Turn around and cross the street.”

The man was one of half a dozen gathered at the spot in South Los Angeles where 13-year-old Devin Brown met his death at the hands of Los Angeles Police Department just before 4am on Monday.

The boy was shot by an officer at the end of a three-minute car chase in which he was either the driver or passenger of a vehicle that may or may not have been stolen.

…Initially, police said the victim was a gang member, although they have not repeated the claim. Family members say that although the boy was having problems following the death of his father six months ago, he was not in a gang. The police also said the car was stolen, but there is no record of it being reported as stolen.
Full Article: guardian.co.uk

Violence swept Iraq yesterday as insurgents switched the focus of their attacks from the security forces to Shia civilians, killing at least 12 in a bombing outside a mosque and gunning down nine in a Baghdad bakery.

The massacres appeared designed to raise sectarian tension as the country prepared for the results from last month’s election which will cement the ascendance of the Shia majority and the political marginalisation of the Arab Sunni minority.
Full Article: guardian.co.uk

Designed by who?

The chief executive of WAL-MART on Friday will defended the retailer’s decision to close a Canadian store after its employees voted to form a union.

“You can’t take a store that is a struggling store anyway and add a bunch of people and a bunch of work rules that cause you to even be in worse shape,” H. Lee Scott Jr. explains in an interview set for Friday editions of the WASHINGTON POST.

Scott says WAL-MART saw no upside to the higher labor costs and refused to cede ground to the union for the sake of being “altruistic.”

“It doesn’t work that way,” he said.

WAL-MART’S decision has infuriated the United Food and Commercial Workers union, which was negotiating a contract for the Quebec store’s 190 employees. If it had succeeded, the store would have become the only WAL-MART store in North America with a union contract.

Scott says WAL-MART’S strategy for growth is to be “everywhere we are not.”

In the United States, that means edging closer to major cities, such as Los Angeles, New York and Washington, where the chain is likely to find less land, higher costs and stiffer resistance from labor unions and neighborhood activists.
Full Article: drudgereport.com

NEW YORK – CNN chief news executive Eason Jordan quit Friday amidst a furor over remarks he made in Switzerland last month about journalists killed by the U.S. military in Iraq.

Jordan said he was quitting to avoid CNN being “unfairly tarnished” by the controversy.

During a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum (news – web sites) last month, Jordan said he believed that several journalists who were killed by coalition forces in Iraq had been targeted.
Full Article: news.yahoo.com

Iraqi election officials admitted on Wednesday that the result of the country’s elections 11 days ago would be delayed to allow a recount of 300 ballot boxes from outlying regions.

The officials did not say when the final results, which had been due for release on Thursday, would be published. “It will be a little bit delayed,” said Farid Ayar, spokesman for Iraq’s independent elections commission. “We don’t know when this will finish.”

Officials said the 300 boxes to be recounted represented a “sample”, apparently to check the initial counts conducted by election centres throughout Iraq shortly after the votes were cast. Officials had hoped to publish final results for the election to the 275-seat assembly today – 11 days after the poll.
Full Article: news.ft.com

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Nestled in a quiet Sacramento neighborhood is a very loud political statement that is testing the very foundation of the right to free speech.

Hanging from a house in Land Park, a soldier’s uniform in a noose dangles from a rooftop. The words “your tax dollars at work” are scrolled across the chest.

In a community full of patriotism, this view of the war in Iraq has not gone unnoticed.

“I think it’s the ultimate sign of disrespect. We have troops dying for us,” Land Park resident Mark Cohen said.

“(I’m) annoyed and disgusted. I think if this is the way someone feels they can find a better way to vent their opinions,” Land Park resident Pete Miles said.

The homeowners behind the controversy are Steve and Virginia Pearcy. They released a statement saying, “There will always be people who are offended by political speech, and the most important forum of all … is one’s own residence. The First Amendment is meaningless unless dissent is allowed.”
 
Some neighbors agree.

“Even if you don’t agree with it, he has the right to state his opinion. I don’t find it offensive at all,” Land Park resident Cece Williams said.

The tension in the neighborhood has escalated into more than just a political feud.

The matter has been reported to the police department and to the city attorney. The city council has even heard about it, but says they can’t solve the problem.

“Unfortunately or fortunately this is protected speech by the First Amendment … so there is nothing we can do about it,” Sacramento City Councilman Rob Fong said.

KCRA 3 received a call late Wednesday morning from the homeowner saying that a group of people had torn down the display. He said that what he did was not illegal, but what was done by the people who removed the display was.
thekcrachannel.com

Things are getting real ugly real fast

RAMALLAH, West Bank – Hezbollah is emerging as the biggest threat to a fragile Israeli-Palestinian truce, with Lebanese guerrillas offering West Bank gunmen thousands of dollars to step up attacks on Israelis, the gunmen and Palestinian security officials said Wednesday.  

The Iranian-funded Lebanese guerrillas, who have hundreds of West Bank gunmen on their payroll, have stepped up pressure on them in recent weeks, the security officials said.

One retired militant told The Associated Press that a Hezbollah recruiter called him just a day before this week’s Mideast summit in Egypt, told him the cease-fire wouldn’t last and offered a generous payment if he returns to violence. A squad of five or six militants typically receives $5,000 to $8,000 a month from Hezbollah for expenses, including bullets, weapons, cell phone calling cards and spending money.

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, whose political survival depends on making the cease-fire stick, is trying to avoid confrontation with Hezbollah for the moment.
Full Article: news.yahoo.com

Here is scenario someone gave me today: A Kurdistan that comprises northern Iraq, Iran, and Syria. To the Caspian. The Turks hate it, but you throw them the EU bone. ‘A Palestinian state’ to calm and distract.