A few days ago, I received an email from a person named "Angus" who informed me that my article "Racism not defence at the heart of Israeli politics" was causing "quite a stir" in the UK and that he would like some details about me as he was planning to write something in response. From the beginning it was pretty clear what "Angus'" agenda was, but I decided to give the benefit of the doubt, at least to begin with. The exchange that ensued has left us with a much better insight into the minds and methods of those vociferous defenders of Israel that are doing so much in British academic circles to ensure that the Israeli government continues to enjoy immunity for its human rights abuses in Occupied Palestine.
Read on, it's a real trip!
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Every year since 2002 the University and College Union (UCU), the largest trade union and professional association for academics working in further and higher education throughout the UK, has attempted to implement some form of boycott of Israeli academic institutions that have been shown to be complicit in the ongoing persecution of the Palestinian people. And each year, amid much acrimony and cries of "anti-semitism", boycotters meet with significant resistance from pro-Israeli members of British academia, and other institutions.
This year however, lowly Sott.net has inadvertently become involved in the melee.
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| ©Gary Varvel |
There is a well-known Chinese curse: May you live in interesting times. Judging from the rapid unfoldment of "interesting" world events, it is clear that we ain't seen nothing yet and whatever providence has in store for us, it surely is going to become curiouser and curiouser.
So what went on this month, other than more bloodshed, cynical manipulation and overt war propaganda?
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| ©Matan |
Beside the daily atrocities and ongoing Palestinian genocide, it seems that there are other curious things happening lately in the land of sour milk and poisoned honey. First we had a meteorite sighting that caused quite a stir, raising hysteria that Iranians are testing their missiles with the goal to finally eliminate the bravest sons and daughters of Yahweh. And this time we have a report about a mysterious 'simultaneous sighting' on a national scale.
Coincidently, there were quite a few similar mass sightings in other areas of the world recently. But considering the history of this particular cursed place, we have to wonder what's going on and what will happen next.
The following text is a translation of the Hebrew article in Ynet describing the event.
After all there are great personal advantages to be had from aligning oneself and one's nation (whether they like it or not) with the last great empire. There is the sense of being on the "winning side" (who now can stand up to the US juggernaut?). There is immediate access to the massive resources, influence and intelligence assets of the empire through which previously impossible goals become not just possible but a matter of policy.
Up until Sarkozy's nomination as President last year, France had a 40 year long history of staunch opposition to the type of US diplomacy that has brought us the ludicrous yet deadly "war on terror". As long as there was a major world power that was still relatively independent, there was still a third option - that if small yet strategically important nations weren't "with the US" they weren't by definition "with the terrorists". They could be "with France".
Comment: The above link contained within the text "those that so deftly shunted him into the Elysee Palace" has been removed from the original Quatar Penninsula site, but is still available on archive.org. In case it ever disappears completely from the web, here are two screen-shots of the article for a more secure archive experience:
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| This citizen was Tasered for refusing to lie down, and then Tasered again for refusing to get back up.
Long live the Taser! |
I was asked to attend a Citizens Police School as part of our local police department's community outreach program. This program is held a couple times a year and lasts 12 weeks. Although this sort of thing wouldn't normally interest me, given the large amount of bad press the police are getting across the country I decided to sign up in order to learn more, in effect, to do some research. What I discovered left me with the strange urge to check if my passport was still valid.
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Update: Dry weather, fires, spontaneous combustion? As it turns out the Taurid meteor event was not a complete bust, more like a combustion:
1st of July 2008 - Witnesses across Southern California say they saw an object 'moving very fast across the northern sky' and falling near the San Bernardino Mountains. Officials have no firm answers on what it was.Now isn't it a "coincidence" that California became engulfed, at its peak, in 1,783 fires across the state, scorching over 527,000 acres, including one in the San Bernardino mountains. Firefighters are still battling over 300 fires. Yet, all the fires are being blamed on "unusual early-summer lightning storms".
From Hollywood Hills to the Nevada state line, people reported seeing a fireball streaking across the sky and falling near the San Bernardino Mountains this morning. But explanations of the mysterious object were scarce.
San Bernardino County Fire Dispatch reported receiving dozens of calls related to what was described as fireball moving at high speed and falling in northwest sky around 10:40 a.m.
"We got quite a few reports. It started with a gentlemen in the Lake Arrowhead reporting a fireball in the Meadow Bay area and then we started getting calls from all over," said San Bernardino County dispatch supervisor Tom Barnes. "Fire crews in Barstow and on I-15 near Stateline came up on the radio and reported an object in the sky moving very fast across the northern sky and described it as yellowish green in color with streaks of debris. It looked like it burned up before it hit the ground."
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| ©Reuters |
| The face of evil. |
You've probably heard the story, or at least one like it. Husband kills wife and child, seemingly without remorse, then attempts to pass it off as a murder/suicide. And, remarkably, people believe him. The latest such example is Neil Entwistle, a British computer programmer, who murdered his American wife and 9-month-old daughter in 2006. He was recently sentenced to life in prison.
The trial made for a fascinating and disturbing spectacle. Aptly described by jurors as a complete narcissist, Entwistle put on quite the display during the presentation of a video of the bloody crime scene. But before we see his reaction for ourselves, let's see what the media tells us we see.
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| ©Unknown |
During a recent visit to Montreal, I was struck by the many changes. I spent the greater part of my life in Montreal, but had not visited in several years. It is normal to find that a place you once lived has changed. Nothing stands still, however, the changes I am referring to go much deeper than the usual new buildings or housing developments.
The social fabric of a community is made up of many elements: knowing your neighbours, or at least recognizing faces on the street; communication with local merchants; places where people get together to meet and talk over a coffee or a drink; population density and the ease of circulating on foot or by bike, via public transportation, or by car. Neighbourhoods with small businesses run by people who live in the area have a different feel from ones that are rife with franchises.
Roaming through my old neighbourhood, the old haunts had disappeared. The local cafe, run by people from the neighbourhood and offering a spot to go and spend an afternoon or evening reading or talking over a coffee and a cigarette, populated with students, professors, artists, writers, and musicians, had gone, replaced by yet another chain offering a prepackaged and franchised atmosphere that could be found anywhere on the planet. The former rows of books, everything from novels, poetry, and drama to philosophy and social science, sitting on battered shelves for people to pick up and browse over a coffee had been replaced by, well, nothing. Emptiness. Mirrors reflecting back the image of the consumer to himself.
The SOTT editors receive a great deal of mail every day. A lot of those letters run on the theme of "What can I, one person, do in the face of so many problems and such overwhelming odds? It's impossible."
The SOTT News Service subscribes to the "butterfly effect", dedicating itself to continuous pushing against the pathocratic oppression we all suffer under. Small incremental efforts by many people can engender massive change, IF kept up persistently. The scope of our individual freedoms are maintained only by the collective effort of all who care about those freedoms.
The SOTT News Service subscribes to the "butterfly effect", dedicating itself to continuous pushing against the pathocratic oppression we all suffer under. Small incremental efforts by many people can engender massive change, IF kept up persistently. The scope of our individual freedoms are maintained only by the collective effort of all who care about those freedoms.
Comment: Update: Within a few hours of posting the link to the mailing list, Ms. Delich responded: Mr. Hirsh at Engage and all of the other "left-wing" anti-boycott, pro-Israeli government defamation artists were surely aware of Ms. Delich's response, yet they chose to pursue their opportunistic and scurrilous manipulation of Ms. Delich's simple mistake in their efforts to perpetuate the Israeli government's continued persecution of the Palestinian people.
By their fruits you shall know them.