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The Blood on Murdoch's Hands

David Swanson
Counterpunch
Sun, 17 Jul 2011 12:21 UTC
Nailing Rupert Murdoch for his employees' phone tapping or bribery would be a little like bringing down Al Capone for tax fraud, or George W. Bush for torture. I'd be glad to see it happen but there'd still be something perverse about it.

I remember how outraged Americans were in 2005 learning about our government's warrantless spying, or for that matter how furious some of my compatriots become when a census form expects them to reveal how many bathrooms are in their home.

I'm entirely supportive of outrage. I just have larger crimes in mind. Specifically this:
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights:
Article 20
1. Any propaganda for war shall be prohibited by law.
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Star of David

An Israeli welcome

R. Taylor
Mondoweiss
Sat, 16 Jul 2011 12:17 UTC
The episode of the 'flytilla' and the treatment meted out to those who managed to reach Ben Gurion airport brought to mind the experience of someone I first met 3 years ago.

H is from a western country and before her retirement she had a long career as a nurse. She is a firm Christian and her views on Israel/Palestine would probably have placed her very close to the Christian Zionist camp.

I met her through a mutual friend when she was visiting Bethlehem. She told me she was working, as a volunteer, in a home for elderly Holocaust survivors, somewhere in northern Israel. It was clear she had little sympathy for the Palestinian cause although it was also clear that she is a person of compassion for anyone in need.

A year later, to my surprise, I bumped into her again in Bethlehem.
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Handcuffs

British Police Arrest Rebekah Brooks in Phone Hacking

Alan Cowell and Ravi Somaiya
The New York Times
Sun, 17 Jul 2011 11:47 UTC
Brooks
© Leon Neal/Agence France-Presse - Getty Images
Rebekah Brooks, the former Chief Executive of News International,on July 1, 2011, at Wimbledon
London - The British police on Sunday arrested Rebekah Brooks, the former head of Rupert Murdoch's media operations in Britain, according to a former associate at News International, the newspaper group at the heart of a phone-hacking scandal convulsing the Murdoch empire, the British political elite and the police.

The timing, two days before a separate parliamentary inquiry into the crisis, drew a skeptical response from opposition lawmakers who said the arrest might inhibit Ms. Brooks' ability or readiness to testify before the panel while she is the subject of police inquiries.

David Wilson, a lawyer representing Ms. Brooks, said she "maintains her innocence, absolutely."
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Dollar

The size of Greece's debt


Al Jazeera
Sun, 17 Jul 2011 10:44 UTC
The Greek public debt is forecast to hit more than $500bn.

Meanwhile, plans for a second bailout for the country are being discussed by senior EU ministers.

Al Jazeera's Gerald Tan takes a look at the actual size of Greece's debt.

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USA

American Karma - The Boomerang of Death

Zen Gardner
Before It's News
Sat, 16 Jul 2011 07:31 UTC
Image
When you look at the carnage in our world..not the accidental or incidental episodes, but the state sponsored mega death rituals we continually watch, don't you wonder?

Who can stomach this kind of senseless murder and maiming of innocents? We're told there's this marauding band of super evil terrorists just waiting to inflict harm on "us innocent bystanders". (Remember, this is all according to what we're told.)

So what's the apparent response?

Inflict senseless murder and maiming of innocents as "collateral damage" to arrest this vast charge of invading murderers.

Sound fishy To You?

Yeah, obviously. But does anyone say anything anymore? And if so, who and how many? And do you even hear about it?
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Che Guevara

Activists Demonstrate in al-Quds Against Israeli Occupation

Ibrahim Husseini
Press TV
Fri, 15 Jul 2011 01:25 UTC

As many as 2000 activists showed up for a demonstration in East Jerusalem al-Quds against Israel's occupation of Palestine. The demonstration, was peaceful in nature, and the largest against the Israeli occupation in the city in many years. Some even said the largest in over two decades.

Demonstrators first gathered outside one of the western gates of the old city of Jerusalem al-Quds and then began their march towards Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood chanting along the way only free people can negotiate and together we march to liberate Palestine.
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Star of David

Palestinians Protest Construction of Separation Wall

Hanna Qassis
Press TV
Fri, 15 Jul 2011 03:10 UTC
Palestinians from the village of Bil'in in West Bank, along with international peace activists demonstrated against the construction of the separation wall and nearby settlements built on confiscated Palestinian land.


The demonstration turned into a confrontation after occupation forces fired tear gas canisters and rubber coated bullets at the demonstrators, injuring some protestors.

Palestinian young protestors said they retaliated by throwing stones at the occupation forces.
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Dollar

U.S. national debt: dancing on the brink of a world crisis

Andrei Fedyashin
RIA Novosti
Sun, 17 Jul 2011 07:24 UTC
Image
© AFP/ Nicholas Kamm
U.S. President Barack Obama
Budget and debt problems are once again racking America. Barack Obama has failed to persuade the Republican majority in Congress to raise the national debt ceiling. That much is nothing new, and similar attempts will be unlikely to succeed in the future. Since July 10, the White House has been holding daily consultations on raising the ceiling. The current ceiling of $14.3 trillion must be raised by several hundred billion, or the Department of the Treasury will run out of money by August 2.

Looming crisis

The Americans raise their debt ceiling on a regular basis. Since 1993, they have come close to defaulting 16 times. In 1995, the government even shut down for a week. In the past, the world perceived these exercises as a matter of course, whereas now the unwritten rule of the U.S. budget is increasingly becoming a sore subject.
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X

Timeline of the worst massacre in the Bosnian war: Siege of Srebrenica


BBC
Sun, 17 Jul 2011 06:11 UTC
In the summer of 1995, two years after being designated a United Nations Safe Area, the Bosnian town of Srebrenica became the scene of the worst massacre in the Bosnian war.

This is an account of the critical days leading up to the killings.

Image
© Microsoft
6 – 10 July 1995: The Bosnian Serb Army attacks Srebrenica – within a UN safe area previously held by the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Civilians taking refuge there are under the protection of Dutch forces.
6 - 8 July 1995: Bosnian Serb forces had laid siege to the Srebrenica enclave, where tens of thousands of civilians had taken refuge from earlier Serb offensives in north-eastern Bosnia.

They were under the protection of about 600 lightly armed Dutch infantry forces. Fuel was running out and no fresh food had been brought into the enclave since May.

Serb forces began shelling Srebrenica. Bosnian Muslim fighters in the town asked for the return of weapons they had surrendered to the peacekeepers but their request was refused.

The Dutch commander called UN Headquarters in Sarajevo asking for "close air support" after shells and rockets landed close to refugee centres and observation posts manned by peacekeepers.


Comment: The above article is largely NATO propaganda along the lines of "history is written by the victors (or aggressors)". For a more accurate account of what has come to be called the "Bosnian war" see the articles at this link.

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Bad Guys

Palestinians may turn directly to General Assembly to better chances for UN recognition

Barak Ravid
Harretz
Sun, 17 Jul 2011 01:10 UTC
Image
© The Associated Press
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas attends a meeting of the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah in May, 2011.
Palestinian sources and European diplomats say Palestinians will seek recognition by the General Assembly instead of Security Council in order to avoid a U.S. veto.

Wishing to avoid an American veto at the Security Council, the Palestinian Authority is considering turning directly to the United Nations General Assembly in September in order to gain international recognition of Palestinian statehood.

Palestinian sources and European diplomats say that the Palestinians will give up their effort to be accepted as a full member of the UN - a move that would require approval by the Security Council - and will seek instead recognition by the General Assembly of a Palestinian State within the 1967 borders, which will not be a full member of the organization.
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