SOTT.net editors attended the event, this is their report:
At least 450 dead so far (other reports put the figure closer to 500), many of them civilians, women, children, old and young, the rest policemen or Hamas officials. At least 2000 injured, many too seriously to survive or be treated in Gaza's severely blockaded hospitals. In short, in the last eight days the state of Israel has murdered approximately 500 innocent Palestinians and seriously injured 2000, and the representatives of the world's leading democracies sit virtually silent. Make no mistake and do not be fooled by the mainstream media reporting, every single Palestinian that has died or been injured as a result of the Israeli bombardment of Gaza is innocent. When a people that have been dispossessed of their land, livelihoods and homes, occupied, periodically murdered and regularly starved take action to resist and defend themselves, they are guilty of nothing but standing up for their human rights and their rights under international law.
The new year does not look very promising as the pathocrats in Israel have stolen their Christmas 'present' from the tree of humankind by force, initiating their long-planned invasion of Gaza. In the background we hear the rumble of more wars to come, poverty, hunger and riots; and all of this takes place in the context of a strange and disturbing cosmic and earthly climate that no one quite understands.
But focus we must, for economics is the 'non-violent' means by which those same forces we see at work in Palestine exert their tentacles of control across this once beautiful and bounteous planet. While F16s and GBU-39s deliver death and suffering instantly, economics and more particularly the control of economies and money deliver their payload of death and suffering with a long slow interminable inevitability; an inevitability that has become a permanent feature for most people on earth and one that is fast approaching the doorsteps of the US and Europe.
It is no coincidence that Israel's latest war crimes come during the financial crisis; for empathy and the desire to defend the helpless victims of naked aggression are quick to evaporate when people are fearful for their own safety and security.
To cut to the chase, because this news is just too good to wait until Christmas to unwrap, the anti-SLAPP motion was granted and the claims of Higher Balance Institute have been stricken. In the process, the term "horse hockey" has been enshrined in American Case Law.
We are told the reason oil is dropping so sharply is plummeting world demand. World demand is plummeting because the bottom is falling out of the world economy, which until recently was propped up by massive amounts of unsustainable debt.
The Madoff affair seems to us just too scripted and convenient to be true which leads us to speculate as to what is really going on.
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©Oregonian |
"Master" Eric J Pepin |
Yesterday, as I was working on finishing up the next installment of the Comet Series of Articles, FedEx delivered a packet of mail from our corporate registered agent in the U.S. It was "Complaint and Demand for Jury Trial" filed in the State of Oregon by Eric Pepin's Higher Balance Institute, LLC. The reason? A discussion on the SOTT Forum that begins HERE.
Well, that was entertaining enough when you think about the fact that the discussion that he objects to was centered on several newspaper articles that describe his close calls with the legal system in Oregon over charges of sex abuse.
In the same week the surreal dominated the news with US Treasuries briefly touching negative interest rates, the US automaker bailout descending into political farce, Marc Dreier the highly successful New York lawyer is caught trying to con hedge funds out of $380 million and Obama's team talk of which nations the US will leave to collapse in 2009. Of course silence echoes through the corridors of power in relation to the Israeli perpetrated holocaust in Palestine.
If we are to find a way through the webs of deceit that surround and ensnare us we need to go back to the history of resistance against despotism and tyranny. Despotism and tyranny might sound a little strange if you find yourself reading this seated comfortably in a warm and comfortable home with money in your bank, but if you are not so fortunate you will have an inkling of the appropriateness of these terms. Of course those that have the greatest understanding of despotism and tyranny are those that cannot read this essay because they are illiterate, uneducated, too poor or all of the above. Of course, there are also the many thousands who have been imprisoned without trial, often in our name.
It's not looking out in the real economy but it's all roses for the banks as the EU began approving the various European bank bailouts. Hedge Fund news is dire with many, including the once mighty Fortress, stopping or severely limiting investor withdrawals while being reported to be "crumbling".
With the crisis in the auto sector, Ford is looking to sell Volvo the Swedish carmaker it bought ten years ago in a bid to raise cash.
Comment: Oregon police say man abused teen in cult-like operation
"Two Aloha men arrested on sex-abuse charges"
Leader of Washington County Internet company acquitted of sex abuse
Sexual predators in the religious scene
Make no mistake about it: This is an attack on internet freedom and freedom of speech, plain and simple. If Eric Pepin were to win, based on the accusations in the complaint, it would set a precedent that would reverberate across the world. It would make anyone who had a different opinion or view of the world - other than that which is approved by the PTB - subject to suppression and censure. The issues of psychopathy and conspiracy are specifically named in the complaint as well as the connection between religion and making money. If this suit were to succeed, it would significantly chill further discourse about conspiracies, pathological deviance, mind control methods and real cults, including the Judao-Islamo-Christian dominator trio. It would be a disaster.
And so, I think we can begin to notice who is and is not interested in assisting us in publicizing this threat, what so-called "alternative news" sites or "conspiracy theory" sites are willing to come to our aid in facing this threat against all of us on the net.
Certainly there are people and sites that have felt the sting of our critique and we have felt theirs more than once. This is the watershed. As Martin Niemöller said: It's time for those who stand for freedom of speech, for our First Amendment Rights, to speak up or forever be silenced. Because that is what will happen if Eric Pepin and the Higher Balance Institute prevail. He will create the precedent for total suppression for the PTB masters whether that is his intention or not.