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Why Obama Rejected Peace With Iran October 24, 2014Posted by rogerhollander in Foreign Policy, Imperialism, Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan, ISIS/ISIL, Israel, Gaza & Middle East, War.
Tags: foreign policy, Iran, Iraq, isil, isis, kurds, Middle East, obama iran, permanent war, roger hollander, saudi arabia, shamus cooke, shia, shiites, sunni, Syria, turkey
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Roger's note: This is one critic's analysis of the geopolitical realities that maintain the Bush/Obama doctrine of permanent war, Middle East division. Whether or not all the players (Shia, Sunni, Isis, Isil, Kurds, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey etc.) are correctly ordered and the power relationships perfectly defined, what is true is that it is all about markets and oil. That is, the business and profit making elements of capitalist economy, backed by governments' foreign policies and military might, are what determine the course of action. The needs, desires, dreams, rights, etc. of living human beings are trumped by the capitalist Behemoth. I for one cheered when Obama was forced not to attack Syria earlier in the year (remember sarin gas?) and opened for the fist time in decades a dialogue with Iran with the possibility of resolving the nuclear issue and thereby ratcheting down the tensions between the U.S. and a major middle east power. But as it turns out, it was too good to be true. The drive to protect economic interests (read: corporate and military) wins out again.
I want to repeat something I posted yesterday from an article by Murray Dobbin about the Ottawa shootings, a quote from Zbigniew Brzezinski :
We are supposed to learn as children that actions have consequences so I suppose we are left to conclude that current leaders of the Anglo-industrialized countries (in particular) were badly neglected by their parents. A monstrous and catastrophic failure of imagination on the part of the West has led us to this point. The first failure belonged to Zbigniew Brzezinski one of the key architects of the mujahideen war against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. Before the US armed, financed and trained the then-handful of religious zealots opposed to the godless Soviets, they were a threat to no one.
In an interview that appeared in CounterPunch in 1998 Brzezinski revealed his limited imagination when asked if he regretted creating Islamic terrorists: "What is most important to the history of the world? The Taliban or the collapse of the Soviet empire? Some stirred-up Moslems or the liberation of Central Europe and the end of the cold war?"
The answer is in.
WEEKEND EDITION OCTOBER 24-26, 2014, http://www.counterpunch.org
How did Obama manage to botch U.S. foreign policy so stunningly? The promising speeches he gave in 2008 earned him the Nobel Peace Prize. But his inspiring words have since been buried in the rubble of Libya, Palestine, Iraq, and Syria. The region that once viewed Obama as a peace messiah now rejects him as a warmonger. And with every new foreign policy zigzag Obama only finds fresh "threats" while never managing to find the path to peace.
Obama would like peace in theory, but doing so requires he shake up his Middle East alliances. The U.S. stands pigeonholed in tightly-wound alliances with the most hated regimes in the world, sandwiched between the global pariah Israel and the brutal totalitarian dictatorship of Saudi Arabia. The other important U.S. ally is war-hungry expansionist Turkey, while the smaller U.S. allies are the remaining Gulf state monarchy dictatorships.
Allies like these make peace impossible. Obama recognizes that these friends restrict the ability of the U.S. to retain regional credibility. Consequently, there has been much speculation about a massive shift in U.S. alliances that hinges on peace with Iran, possibly supplemented by strengthening the alliance with Iraqi Kurds.
Americans and Iranians would celebrate a peace between nations, but this scenario now seems off the table. After "talking" peace with Iran for the first time in decades, Obama chose the warpath yet again.
This decision was finalized recently when the "ISIS deal" was struck between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, again cementing this ugly alliance. In exchange for Saudi Arabia attacking ISIS, the U.S. would commit to war against the Syrian government, which the Saudis want toppled to undermine their rival Iran. The Syrian rebels that Saudi Arabia agreed to train — with $500 million from U.S. taxpayers — will be used against the Syrian government, not to fight ISIS. The U.S. allies in the region understand the war against the Syrian government as a first step to war against Iran. Even if a nuclear deal is struck between the U.S. and Iran the path to war will have been set.
Economics is a key reason that U.S. allies want Iran destroyed. Iran stands as a competitor for markets and investment throughout the region, and the destruction of Syria and Iran would open up new markets for the vulture-like U.S. allies. The economic oil war between Saudi Arabia and Iran has recently heated up, with Saudi Arabia selling oil at extra low prices to put political pressure on Iran. This, coupled with the ongoing "economic war" that Obama is waging, has the potential to weaken Iran via internal chaos, softening it up to possible invasion if the Syrian government falls.
Iran's military is another reason the U.S. wants regime change. There are U.S. military bases scattered around the Middle East, though none in Iran, which has a powerful regional military force that patrols the strategic Strait of Hormuz, jointly controlled by Iran and Oman. It's intolerable for the U.S. and Saudi Arabia that one fifth of the world's oil production must pass through this Iranian controlled area.
Iran's regional power is bolstered by its political and religious connections throughout the Middle East. Not only does Shia Muslim Iran exert automatic authority over Shia majority Iraq, but also over Shia Hezbollah and Shia-led Syria. This region-wide dynamic is often referred to as the "Shia Crescent." There also exist sizable oppressed Shia populations in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Yemen, and Turkey that act as intrinsic political thorns in the sides of these Sunni sectarian governments, giving Iran a powerful political base in each case.
For example, when Saudi Arabia recently announced a death sentence for a popular Shia cleric, Iran responded that there would be "consequences" if the sentence were carried out, thus re-enforcing Iran's self-portrayed position as "defender of the Shia."
In Yemen there already exists a strong Shia insurgency against the pro-U.S. Sunni government that is using al-Qaeda-linked fighters against the Shia; the results of the conflict will either empower Iran or weaken it.
These regional religious tensions have been exponentially deepened by the U.S.-led coalition against the Syrian government, which has relied on systematic Sunni Islamic sectarianism to attract jihadist fighters and a flood of Sunni Gulf state donations.
The Sunni fundamentalism in Syria — loosely based on the Saudi fundamentalist version of Islam — views Shia Muslims as heretics worthy of death. The executions of Shia in Syria have reverberated throughout the Middle East, acting as an implicit threat to Shia Iran while increasing tensions in the Shia populations of Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and beyond. The regional Shia backlash against the Sunni fundamentalists have strengthened Iran's regional influence, one likely reason why Obama made the peace-killing deal with Saudi Arabia against ISIS and the Syrian government.
Saudi Arabia and Israel are adamant that the U.S. make no peace with Iran. Both sent strong messages after Obama's 2013 last minute decision not to bomb the Syrian government, and his brief flirtation with Iran. Saudi Arabia went as far as refusing a seat on the UN Security Council. Israel protested the decision too, after it had lobbied heavily in the U.S. Congress through AIPAC to ensure the bombing took place.
The Kurdish Question
Turkey has long assisted the U.S. in attempting to topple the Syrian government, and has recently been insisting on a U.S. enforced "no-fly zone" in northern Syria, which would be directed against the Syrian government, since ISIS has no air force. Turkey has no good intentions in Syria, and has long wanted to grab easy oil-rich land for itself; which happens to be where the Kurdish population in Syria resides.
The call to enforce a no-fly zone to "protect the Kurds" on Turkey's border, if achieved, will be similar to the no-fly zone in Libya — to create a "humanitarian corridor" — that was used instead to create a massive U.S.-led bombing campaign for regime change.
The Kurdish people face the same situation they've faced for hundreds of years: other nations have used the Kurds for their own self-interest. The Kurdish people want and deserve their own independent nation state, but they've been betrayed countless times in the past and the situation now seems no different. Promises are made and arms given to the "good" pro-U.S. Iraqi Kurds, while across the border in Turkey another faction of Kurds are labeled terrorists and repressed by the government.
Recently, the Kurdish Syrian town on the border of Turkey was invaded by ISIS and militarily defended by the "bad Kurds" of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) an affiliate of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) who are based in Turkey. The Turkish military watched across the border as ISIS relentlessly attacked Kobani, while the Turks used military force to prevent Turkish Kurds from crossing the border into Syria to help defend the Kurdish city.
This reinforced perceptions that ISIS was, in part, a Turkish creation, since Turkey's border has long been an uncontested point of entry for foreign jihadists to enter Syria. Turkey defended its actions by essentially equating the Kurdish PYD and PKK with ISIS, dismissing all of them as "terrorists." In Turkey, Kurdish protests erupted against the government's actions and inactions in Kobani, leaving 40 dead. Protests also occurred in other Kurdish regions including Iran.
Turkey ultimately proved that it fears the Kurds more than ISIS, and further proved that negotiations with its domestic Kurdish population will never result in an independent Kurdistan on any inch of Turkish territory. Turkey will likewise be violently opposed to any creation of an independent Kurdish state in Iraq or Syria, since it would empower the Turkish Kurds while preventing Turkey from grabbing the oil-rich regions for itself.
This dynamic acts as an impossible barrier for the Obama administration to "re-balance" its Middle East alliances by using the Kurds. No nation with a sizable Kurdish population — Iran, Turkey, Iraq, Syria — will buy in to a possible U.S. policy of Kurdish statehood, since they would lose the oil-rich territory that the Kurds live on.
Not only would the U.S. lose regional allies by advocating Kurdish independence, but if such a state were to emerge, it would be a weak nation, since the Kurds are already divided into various factions, and thus not strong enough for the U.S. to rely on to achieve regional objectives.
Consequently, Obama feels compelled to continue down the same war-torn path as his predecessors. But Obama's perspective is colored by his assumption that the United States must remain the regional power in an area thousands of miles from its border, and that U.S. corporations should dominate the oil, banking, weapons selling, and other markets in the region.
The U.S. is long past the point where it can claim that its Middle East goals are "peace, stability, and democracy," especially after invading and destroying Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and now the dirty war against Syria. The oil, minerals, and other wealth that attracts the U.S. corporations that steer U.S. foreign policy prevent any real lasting peace to be achieved. The logic of corporate America is to crush the competitor by any means necessary.
Peace with Iran and Syria could be achieved if Obama told the world the truth about the above dynamics in the region, and treated Iran and Syria with the respect that an independent nation deserves, while working to curb the power of Israel and Saudi Arabia, who both depend on U.S. financial, military, and political support.
But instead Obama has dug in his heels and re-enforced alliances that demand the continuation of the Syrian war, and after that Iran. A war-shredded region remains on the bloody path to a potentially even wider war, while the billions of U.S. tax dollars funding this genocide will remain unusable for domestic projects like job creation and climate change reduction and preparedness. During this election season both Democrats and Republicans agree on continuing Middle East war.
Shamus Cooke is a social service worker, trade unionist, and writer for Workers Action (www.workerscompass.org). He can be reached at email@example.com
The Berlin Wall: Another Cold War Myth October 23, 2014Posted by rogerhollander in Europe, Germany, History.
Tags: berlin wall, cold war, east berlin, East Germany, eastern europe, gdr, history, murray dobbin, roger hollander, soviet union, william blum
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Roger's note: I cannot vouch for the historical credibility of this, but it rings true for me. The East German Communist government was a brutal dictatorship and its secret police, the Stasi, was known for its ruthlessness. Nevertheless, from the mainstream media and North American academic world we get a highly propagandized narrative about the Berlin Wall, and there is always another side to the story. William Blum present one here. I think this is relevant now because we are experiencing the same phenomenon with the rise of Isis/Isil in Iraq and Syria, that is, a narrative that is virtually ahistorical and free of the U.S. provocations that in fact created and armed Isis/Isil.
I came across the following this morning in an article by Murray Dobbin analyzing the attack yesterday in Ottawa:
We are supposed to learn as children that actions have consequences so I suppose we are left to conclude that current leaders of the Anglo-industrialized countries (in particular) were badly neglected by their parents. A monstrous and catastrophic failure of imagination on the part of the West has led us to this point. The first failure belonged to Zbigniew Brzezinski one of the key architects of the mujahideen war against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. Before the US armed, financed and trained the then-handful of religious zealots opposed to the godless Soviets, they were a threat to no one.
In an interview that appeared in CounterPunch in 1998 Brzezinski revealed his limited imagination when asked if he regretted creating Islamic terrorists: "What is most important to the history of the world? The Taliban or the collapse of the Soviet empire? Some stirred-up Moslems or the liberation of Central Europe and the end of the cold war?"
The answer is in.
by WILLIAM BLUM
November 9 will mark the 25th anniversary of the tearing down of the Berlin Wall. The extravagant hoopla began months ago in Berlin. In the United States we can expect all the Cold War clichés about The Free World vs. Communist Tyranny to be trotted out and the simple tale of how the wall came to be will be repeated: In 1961, the East Berlin communists built a wall to keep their oppressed citizens from escaping to West Berlin and freedom. Why? Because commies don't like people to be free, to learn the "truth". What other reason could there have been?
First of all, before the wall went up in 1961 thousands of East Germans had been commuting to the West for jobs each day and then returning to the East in the evening; many others went back and forth for shopping or other reasons. So they were clearly not being held in the East against their will. Why then was the wall built? There were two major reasons:
1) The West was bedeviling the East with a vigorous campaign of recruiting East German professionals and skilled workers, who had been educated at the expense of the Communist government. This eventually led to a serious labor and production crisis in the East. As one indication of this, the New York Times reported in 1963: "West Berlin suffered economically from the wall by the loss of about 60,000 skilled workmen who had commuted daily from their homes in East Berlin to their places of work in West Berlin."
It should be noted that in 1999, USA Today reported: "When the Berlin Wall crumbled [1989], East Germans imagined a life of freedom where consumer goods were abundant and hardships would fade. Ten years later, a remarkable 51% say they were happier with communism." Earlier polls would likely have shown even more than 51% expressing such a sentiment, for in the ten years many of those who remembered life in East Germany with some fondness had passed away; although even 10 years later, in 2009, the Washington Post could report: "Westerners [in Berlin] say they are fed up with the tendency of their eastern counterparts to wax nostalgic about communist times."
It was in the post-unification period that a new Russian and eastern Europe proverb was born: "Everything the Communists said about Communism was a lie, but everything they said about capitalism turned out to be the truth."
It should be further noted that the division of Germany into two states in 1949 – setting the stage for 40 years of Cold War hostility – was an American decision, not a Soviet one.
2) During the 1950s, American cold-warriors in West Germany instituted a crude campaign of sabotage and subversion against East Germany designed to throw that country's economic and administrative machinery out of gear. The CIA and other US intelligence and military services recruited, equipped, trained and financed German activist groups and individuals, of West and East, to carry out actions which ran the spectrum from juvenile delinquency to terrorism; anything to make life difficult for the East German people and weaken their support of the government; anything to make the commies look bad.
It was a remarkable undertaking. The United States and its agents used explosives, arson, short circuiting, and other methods to damage power stations, shipyards, canals, docks, public buildings, gas stations, public transportation, bridges, etc; they derailed freight trains, seriously injuring workers; burned 12 cars of a freight train and destroyed air pressure hoses of others; used acids to damage vital factory machinery; put sand in the turbine of a factory, bringing it to a standstill; set fire to a tile-producing factory; promoted work slow-downs in factories; killed 7,000 cows of a co-operative dairy through poisoning; added soap to powdered milk destined for East German schools; were in possession, when arrested, of a large quantity of the poison cantharidin with which it was planned to produce poisoned cigarettes to kill leading East Germans; set off stink bombs to disrupt political meetings; attempted to disrupt the World Youth Festival in East Berlin by sending out forged invitations, false promises of free bed and board, false notices of cancellations, etc.; carried out attacks on participants with explosives, firebombs, and tire-puncturing equipment; forged and distributed large quantities of food ration cards to cause confusion, shortages and resentment; sent out forged tax notices and other government directives and documents to foster disorganization and inefficiency within industry and unions … all this and much more.
The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, of Washington, DC, conservative coldwarriors, in one of their Cold War International History Project Working Papers (#58, p.9) states: "The open border in Berlin exposed the GDR [East Germany] to massive espionage and subversion and, as the two documents in the appendices show, its closure gave the Communist state greater security."
Throughout the 1950s, the East Germans and the Soviet Union repeatedly lodged complaints with the Soviets' erstwhile allies in the West and with the United Nations about specific sabotage and espionage activities and called for the closure of the offices in West Germany they claimed were responsible, and for which they provided names and addresses. Their complaints fell on deaf ears. Inevitably, the East Germans began to tighten up entry into the country from the West, leading eventually to the infamous wall. However, even after the wall was built there was regular, albeit limited, legal emigration from east to west. In 1984, for example, East Germany allowed 40,000 people to leave. In 1985, East German newspapers claimed that more than 20,000 former citizens who had settled in the West wanted to return home after becoming disillusioned with the capitalist system. The West German government said that 14,300 East Germans had gone back over the previous 10 years.
Let's also not forget that while East Germany completely denazified, in West Germany for more than a decade after the war, the highest government positions in the executive, legislative, and judicial branches contained numerous former and "former" Nazis.
Finally, it must be remembered, that Eastern Europe became communist because Hitler, with the approval of the West, used it as a highway to reach the Soviet Union to wipe out Bolshevism forever, and that the Russians in World War I and II, lost about 40 million people because the West had used this highway to invade Russia. It should not be surprising that after World War II the Soviet Union was determined to close down the highway.
For an additional and very interesting view of the Berlin Wall anniversary, see the article "Humpty Dumpty and the Fall of Berlin's Wall" by Victor Grossman. Grossman (née Steve Wechsler) fled the US Army in Germany under pressure from McCarthy-era threats and became a journalist and author during his years in the (East) German Democratic Republic. He still lives in Berlin and mails out his "Berlin Bulletin" on German developments on an irregular basis. You can subscribe to it at email@example.com. His autobiography: "Crossing the River: a Memoir of the American Left, the Cold War and Life in East Germany" was published by University of Massachusetts Press. He claims to be the only person in the world with diplomas from both Harvard University and Karl Marx University in Leipzig.
William Blum is the author of Killing Hope: U.S. Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II, Rogue State: a guide to the World's Only Super Power . His latest book is: America's Deadliest Export: Democracy. He can be reached at: firstname.lastname@example.com
The Forgotten Coup October 23, 2014Posted by rogerhollander in Australia, History, Imperialism.
Tags: australia, australia coup, australia history, gough whitlam, john pilger, marshall green, MI6, pine gap, roger hollander, sir john kerr, U.S. imperialism
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Roger's note; we don't often read or think about Australia, the country that is a continent. A quiet, compliant lap dog ally to the United States and its empire, the sleeping giant woke up for a brief period in the 1970s before it was put back to sleep (with the gentle help of the CIA). Here is the forgotten story.
by JOHN PILGER
Across the political and media elite in Australia, a silence has descended on the memory of the great, reforming prime minister Gough Whitlam, who has died. His achievements are recognised, if grudgingly, his mistakes noted in false sorrow. But a critical reason for his extraordinary political demise will, they hope, be buried with him.
Australia briefly became an independent state during the Whitlam years, 1972-75. An American commentator wrote that no country had "reversed its posture in international affairs so totally without going through a domestic revolution". Whitlam ended his nation's colonial servility. He abolished Royal patronage, moved Australia towards the Non-Aligned Movement, supported "zones of peace" and opposed nuclear weapons testing.
Although not regarded as on the left of the Labor Party, Whitlam was a maverick social democrat of principle, pride and propriety. He believed that a foreign power should not control his country's resources and dictate its economic and foreign policies. He proposed to "buy back the farm". In drafting the first Aboriginal lands rights legislation, his government raised the ghost of the greatest land grab in human history, Britain's colonisation of Australia, and the question of who owned the island-continent's vast natural wealth.
Latin Americans will recognise the audacity and danger of this "breaking free" in a country whose establishment was welded to great, external power. Australians had served every British imperial adventure since the Boxer rebellion was crushed in China. In the 1960s, Australia pleaded to join the US in its invasion of Vietnam, then provided "black teams" to be run by the CIA. US diplomatic cables published last year by WikiLeaks disclose the names of leading figures in both main parties, including a future prime minister and foreign minister, as Washington's informants during the Whitlam years.
Whitlam knew the risk he was taking. The day after his election, he ordered that his staff should not be "vetted or harassed" by the Australian security organisation, ASIO – then, as now, tied to Anglo-American intelligence. When his ministers publicly condemned the US bombing of Vietnam as "corrupt and barbaric", a CIA station officer in Saigon said: "We were told the Australians might as well be regarded as North Vietnamese collaborators."
Whitlam demanded to know if and why the CIA was running a spy base at Pine Gap near Alice Springs, a giant vacuum cleaner which, as Edward Snowden revealed recently, allows the US to spy on everyone. "Try to screw us or bounce us," the prime minister warned the US ambassador, "[and Pine Gap] will become a matter of contention".
Victor Marchetti, the CIA officer who had helped set up Pine Gap, later told me, "This threat to close Pine Gap caused apoplexy in the White House. … a kind of Chile [coup] was set in motion."
Pine Gap's top-secret messages were de-coded by a CIA contractor, TRW. One of the de-coders was Christopher Boyce, a young man troubled by the "deception and betrayal of an ally". Boyce revealed that the CIA had infiltrated the Australian political and trade union elite and referred to the Governor-General of Australia, Sir John Kerr, as "our man Kerr".
Kerr was not only the Queen's man, he had long-standing ties to Anglo-American intelligence. He was an enthusiastic member of the Australian Association for Cultural Freedom, described by Jonathan Kwitny of theWall Street Journal in his book, 'The Crimes of Patriots', as, "an elite, invitation-only group… exposed in Congress as being founded, funded and generally run by the CIA". The CIA "paid for Kerr's travel, built his prestige… Kerr continued to go to the CIA for money".
When Whitlam was re-elected for a second term, in 1974, the White House sent Marshall Green to Canberra as ambassador. Green was an imperious, sinister figure who worked in the shadows of America's "deep state". Known as the "coupmaster", he had played a central role in the 1965 coup against President Sukarno in Indonesia – which cost up to a million lives. One of his first speeches in Australia was to the Australian Institute of Directors – described by an alarmed member of the audience as "an incitement to the country's business leaders to rise against the government".
The Americans and British worked together. In 1975, Whitlam discovered that Britain's MI6 was operating against his government. "The Brits were actually de-coding secret messages coming into my foreign affairs office," he said later. One of his ministers, Clyde Cameron, told me, "We knew MI6 was bugging Cabinet meetings for the Americans." In the 1980s, senior CIA officers revealed that the "Whitlam problem" had been discussed "with urgency" by the CIA's director, William Colby, and the head of MI6, Sir Maurice Oldfield. A deputy director of the CIA said: "Kerr did what he was told to do."
On 10 November, 1975, Whitlam was shown a top secret telex message sourced to Theodore Shackley, the notorious head of the CIA's East Asia Division, who had helped run the coup against Salvador Allende in Chile two years earlier.
Shackley's message was read to Whitlam. It said that the prime minister of Australia was a security risk in his own country. The day before, Kerr had visited the headquarters of the Defence Signals Directorate, Australia's NSA where he was briefed on the "security crisis".
On 11 November – the day Whitlam was to inform Parliament about the secret CIA presence in Australia – he was summoned by Kerr. Invoking archaic vice-regal "reserve powers", Kerr sacked the democratically elected prime minister. The "Whitlam problem" was solved, and Australian politics never recovered, nor the nation its true independence.
John Pilger can be reached through his website: www.johnpilger.com
Water Shutoffs Robbing Detroit Residents of 'Dignified' Life: UN Investigators October 21, 2014Posted by rogerhollander in Detroit, Health, Human Rights, Poverty, Race, Racism, Water.
Tags: detroit, detroit bankruptcy, detroit water, human rights, poverty, racism, roger hollander, sarah lazare, water brigade, water rights
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Roger's note: few things, if any, are more necessary for human survival than water. The United States is the wealthiest nation in the world. It is a nation replete with millionaires and billionaires, and it is a nation that spends trillions of dollars on warfare. It is also a nation that operates within the dictates of capitalist economy where people who cannot "afford" to pay their water bill are cut off without this fundamental necessity. There is something very wrong with this picture.
Following two-day inquiry, UN experts release strongly worded warning condemning city's human rights violations
Detroit's "unprecedented" shutoff of water utilities to city homes condemns residents to "lives without dignity," violates human rights on a large scale, and disproportionately impacts African-Americans, United Nations investigators declared Monday following a two-day inquiry.
"Denial of access to sufficient quantity of water threatens the rights to adequate housing, life, health, adequate food, integrity of the family," wrote UN Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing Leilani Farha and UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation, Catarina de Albuquerque, in a joint statement. "It exacerbates inequalities, stigmatizes people and renders the most vulnerable even more helpless. Lack of access to water and hygiene is also a real threat to public health as certain diseases could widely spread."
The officials visited the city following appeals in June from organizations concerned with the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department's (DWSD) escalation of water shut-offs to accounts that have fallen behind on their bills, amounting to up to 3,000 disconnections a week. The increase touched off organizing efforts by residents who charge they're part of a larger plan, in keeping with Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr's bankruptcy push, to displace African-Americans and privatize water and public services.
During their investigation, the UN experts held interviews and meetings with local residents, as well as with city officials. On Sunday, hundreds of people crowded into a town hall meeting with the officials. "Once again, the international spotlight was on Detroiters trying to carve out dignified lives while being denied basic necessities of life," said Maureen Taylor, spokesperson for the Michigan Welfare Rights Organization and the Detroit People's Water Board, at the town hall meeting.
DeMeeko Williams, coordinator for the Detroit Water Brigade, told Common Dreams that it is absurd that people in the city have to appeal to the United Nations for support. "You can't get help from the city government, the state government is the main culprit, and the U.S. government is not doing anything, so what else is there to do? Who do we turn to?" he asked.
Despite a grassroots push for the Water Affordability Plan, the city has increased water rates 8.7 percent at a time of massive unemployment and poverty. Detroit is effectively passing "the increased costs of leakages due to an aging infrastructure" onto residents who can't afford it, the investigators charge.
The rapporteurs document the heavy toll the shut-offs have taken.
"We were deeply disturbed to observe the indignity people have faced and continue to live with in one of the wealthiest countries in the world and in a city that was a symbol of America's prosperity," they state. "Without water, people cannot live a life with dignity—they have no water for drinking, cooking, bathing, flushing toilets and keeping their clothes and houses clean. Despite the fact that water is essential for survival, the city has no data on how many people have been and are living without tap water, let alone information on age, disabilities, chronic illness, race or income level of the affected population."
Despite the lack of data provided by the city, information obtained by the investigators suggests the city's vulnerable and dispossessed are bearing the brunt of the crisis. "About 80 percent of the population of Detroit is African American. According to data from 2013, 40.7 percent of Detroit's population lives below the poverty level, 99 percent of the poor are African American," they write. "Twenty percent of the population is living on 800 USD or less per month, while the average monthly water bill is currently 70.67 USD."
Furthermore, they note, "thousands of households are living in fear that their water may be shut off at any time without due notice, that they may have to leave their homes and that children may be taken by child protection services as houses without water are deemed uninhabitable for children. In many cases, unpaid water bills are being attached to property taxes increasing the risk of foreclosure."
The investigators continue, "It was touching to witness mothers' courage to strive to keep their children at home, and the support people were providing to each other to live in these unbearable circumstances. And it was heartbreaking to hear of the stigmatization associated with the shut-offs—in particular the public humiliation of having a blue mark imprinted on the sidewalk in front of homes when their water was shut off due to unpaid bills."
Meanwhile, the shut-offs continue. "There is still a high number of people going without water," said Williams. "The Detroit Water Brigade is on the front-lines trying to help people get back to self-sufficiency. We need more support. The situation is not just going to go away."
31 Years After the U.S. Invasion of Grenada October 21, 2014Posted by rogerhollander in Foreign Policy, Grenada, History, Imperialism, Latin America.
Tags: grenada, grenada invasion, history, imperialism, Latin America, maurice bishop, mickey z, roger hollander, ronald reagan
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Roger's note: Having failed for decades to dislodge the thorn in its side known as Fidel Castro's Cuba, the United States in 1983 invaded a tiny island in the Caribbean which had had the audacity to form a socialist government. Following the usual paradigm for Latin America intervention (otherwise known as "send in the Marines!"), including the slaughter of civilians, it was little challenge for the United States brave army to defeat the defenders of a nation of barely one hundred thousand inhabitants.
As I'm sure everyone knows, we're fast approaching the 31st anniversary of a truly momentous American victory — a crucial military operation that not only warmed Ronald Raygun's cold, cold heart but was also deemed film-worthy by the former mayor of Carmel, California.
Yes, of course, I'm talking about the Oct. 25, 1983, "liberation" of Grenada.
Urgent Fury
In March 1979, socialist leader Maurice Bishop took over Grenada in a bloodless coup. Once deemed "a lovely piece of real estate" by U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz, Grenada is a small East Caribbean island of some 133 square miles and 110,000 inhabitants. At the time of the U.S. invasion, half of Grenada's nationals lived in the People's Republic of Brooklyn.
The United States worked to destabilize the Bishop regime but, in early October 1983, he was ultimately deposed and later murdered by a group even more to the "Left" than he. That's when America decided to risk awakening this sleeping Caribbean giant by launching a preemptive military strike.
After adding the obligatory statements about Soviet and Cuban designs on the island, the Great Communicator sent roughly 8,000 U.S. soldiers in to lead an operation called "Urgent Fury." The fighting was over in a week. Casualties included 135 Americans killed or wounded along 84 Cubans and some 400 Grenadians dead.
"Forced on Us"
"The American media rarely mentioned Grenadian casualties of U.S. aggression," explains Ramsey Clark. "It barely reported the mental hospital destroyed by a Navy jet, leaving more than 20 dead." (Sound familiar?)
Raygun declared that the invasion was "forced on us by events that have no precedent in the eastern Caribbean," leaving the United States with "no choice but to act strongly and decisively." (Sound familiar?)
By a vote of 108 to 9, the United Nations General Assembly condemned the invasion as a "flagrant violation of international law." (Sound familiar?)
A Wall Street Journal headline blared: U.S. INVADES GRENADA IN WARNING TO RUSSIA AND CUBA ABOUT EXPANSION IN THE CARIBBEAN. It was also a warning to potential critics."The invasion was already under way, so even if we opposed it, there was nothing any of us could do," Democratic House Speaker Tip O'Neil said at the time. "I had some serious reservations, and I'm sure my Democratic colleagues did as well, but I'd be damned if I was going to voice any criticism while our boys were out there." (Sound familiar?)
Let's not forget the "Grenada 17." Amnesty International's UK media director, Lesley Warner, wrote in 2003 that these 17 prisoners were "initially held without charge in cages, before being tried before an unfair, ad-hoc tribunal. They were denied access to legal counsel and to documents needed for their defense. After sentencing, the Grenada 17 were held in tiny cells with lights left permanently on." (Sound familiar?)
"Stepping on a Flea"
In October 1983, Raygun stopped short of donning a flight suit, but did make a speech on the fourth day of the invasion, which, according to William Blum, "succeeded in giving jingoism a bad name."
"The president managed to link the invasion of Grenada with the shooting down of a Korean airliner by the Soviet Union, the killing of U.S. soldiers in Lebanon, and the taking of American hostages in Iran," says Blum.
"Clearly, the invasion symbolized an end to this string of humiliations for the United States. Even Vietnam was being avenged," Blum adds. "To commemorate the American Renaissance, some 7,000 U.S. servicemen were designated heroes of the republic and decorated with medals. (Many had done no more than sit on ships near the island.) American had regained its manhood, by stepping on a flea."
It's all so familiar, but when will we learn?
Mickey Z. is the author of 12 books, most recently Occupy this Book: Mickey Z. on Activism. Until the laws are changed or the power runs out, he can be found on the Web here.
Bolivians Demand Justice for 2003 Gas War Massacre October 21, 2014Posted by rogerhollander in Latin America, Bolivia, Foreign Policy, Imperialism.
Tags: benjamin dangl, Bolivia, bolivia gas war, Bolivia Massacre, el alto bolivia, Evo Morales, foreign policy, imperialism, Latin America, roger hollander, sanchez de berzain, Sánchez de Lozada
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Roger's note: I never cease to be outraged when I think of U.S. foreign policy and actions towards Latin America, of which I have been a life-long student and aficionado. The U.S. government has never met a pro-American dictator or repressive president it didn't like, from Tierra del Fuego to Havana, Cuba (which is not to exclude the rest of the world). It is particularly offensive that, once the people have overthrown these traitors, the United States becomes an asylum for them. Almost without exception, its geopolitical objectives trump human rights, values and decency. God Bless America.
by BENJAMIN DANGL
Thousands of people marched in El Alto, Bolivia on Friday, October 17th to demand justice for the 2003 massacre of over 60 people during the country's Gas War under the Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada (Goni) administration. Sanchez de Lozada is currently living freely in the US, and marchers demanded he and others in his government be brought to Bolivia to be tried for ordering the violence. October marks the anniversary of that assault on the city, and people mobilized on Friday to remember and to demand justice.
"Today we're marching to remember on the 11th anniversary of the Gas War, which was aimed at getting rid of the neoliberal government of Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada," El Alto neighborhood council member Daniel Cama said while marching down the streets of the city. "We demand justice, and we demand the extradition of Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada and [former Defense Minister] Carlos Sanchez de Berzain, because they were the ones that led the massacre against the people of El Alto. This violence left many widows, orphans and injured people that are still demanding justice. Today we are marching to celebrate and remember the dead who fought for our natural resources."
Bolivia's Gas War is largely credited for ushering in a period of progressive change marked by policies led by President Evo Morales, who was re-elected on October 12th for a third term in office. The "Martyrs of the Gas War" are often recalled as the protagonists that led to the nationalization of sectors of Bolivia's gas industry, a move which has generated funding for many popular social programs the Morales' administration has developed to alleviate poverty. (For more information, see this article on the ten year anniversary of the Gas War and this article on the case against Goni.)
On Friday, thousands of El Alto residents marched from different points in the city, converging for a rally in the city center, where social movement leaders and victims of the Gas War spoke to a large crowd. Cheers regularly broke out, including the angry cry, "We Want Goni's Head!" Many activists in the Gas War itself were present, such as the prominent participation by the city's Fejuve neighborhood organizations. In a march meant to remember those days of repression and struggle, many veterans of the conflict marched down the same streets, and under the same bridges, where the army led their attack.
There was a notable absence of politicians at the day's events, something many speakers at the rally commented on. Various marchers explained that the Morales government was moving forward with nationalization plans and progressive policies fought for in the streets of the Gas War. However, activists also complained that the Morales administration has not supported the working class city of El Alto with sufficient public projects and infrastructure.
"We're marching for those brothers and sisters who died or were injured in the Gas War," explained El Alto resident Genoveve Rodriguez. "As time has passed not even the government remembers this conflict, and they haven't created enough public projects to help out the city of El Alto."
The following photos are of the October 17th march, including the vast participation of the neighborhood councils and family members of Gas War victims, as well as the rally which ended the day's mobilization with speeches and music.
El Alto's Fejuve neighborhood organizations, key participants in the Gas War, led the march.
Family members of Gas War victims rallied for justice in El Alto.
A cross in downtown El Alto reads "11 Years of Impunity."
A Bolivian hip-hop group was among many bands performing at the rally following the march.
A commemorative mural in El Alto depicting the Gas War.
All photos by Benjamin Dangl
Benjamin Dangl has worked as a journalist throughout Latin America, covering social movements and politics in the region for over a decade. He is the author of the books Dancing with Dynamite: Social Movements and States in Latin America, and The Price of Fire: Resource Wars and Social Movements in Bolivia. Dangl is currently a doctoral candidate in Latin American History at McGill University, and edits UpsideDownWorld.org, a website on activism and politics in Latin America, and TowardFreedom.com, a progressive perspective on world events. Twitter: https://twitter.com/bendangl
My Lai Was Not An 'Incident': Seeking Full Disclosure on Vietnam October 20, 2014Posted by rogerhollander in Asia, History, Vietnam, War.
Tags: abby zimet, historical revisionism, history, my lai, roger hollander, tom hayden, veterans for peace, vietnam veterans, Vietnam War, war
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Roger's note: Nearly sixty thousand American soldiers died, god knows how many wounded physically, mentally and spiritually. Over a million Vietnamese killed, many more wounded, the countryside scorched with Agent Orange. For what? So that Lyndon Johnson would not go down as the president who "lost" Vietnam? the way Truman "lost" China? Was LBJ a misguided politician or a war criminal? Is Obama a beleaguered president or a war criminal? Don't ask me. Ask the families of the slaughtered. Where have all the flowers gone ?
Language is telling; so are facts. With the approach of the "full panoply of Orwellian forgetfulness" that is a 13-year, $65 million commemoration of the Vietnam War by the same people who started it, it's nigh on impossible to reconcile Obama's "valor of a generation that served with honor fighting heroically to protect the ideals we hold dear as Americans" with the savage years many "remember, with painful acuity, as other than glorious" – years of lies, loss, rage, trauma, protests and the deaths of millions of innocents. Seeking to "speak truth to power," Veterans For Peace are rejecting an official narrative they say sanitizes and mythologizes an unconscionable war – and likely helps legitimize further such wars – by organizing their own Peace and Justice Commemoration as part of a larger Full Disclosure Campaign. Its goal is to "truly examine what happened during those tragic and tumultuous years," and use those lessons to prevent them from happening again.
From the start, many have questioned what longtime activist Tom Hayden calls the "staggering" idea of a commemoration orchestrated by the Department of Defense. Citing the Pentagon's questionable "version of the truth" that for so long sustained an immoral war, he convincingly argues that, "If you conduct a war, you shouldn't be in charge of narrating it." Almost everything about the project, from its website full of glossy pictures of smiling veterans to its very language – its mission to "assist a grateful nation" in thanking veterans, Obama's thinking "with solemn reverence upon the valor of a generation," its initial labelling of the massacre of 500 women, children and older men at My Lai an "incident" – bears out the notion that the project's goal is largely "an ex post factojustification of the war," or to rewrite history in order to repeat it with as little opposition as possible.
In a petition for revisions that sparked their decision to hold their own commemoration, over 500 veterans and activists argued for "an honest remembrance of what actually went on in Viet Nam." They seek recognition for the "many thousands of veterans" who opposed or came to oppose the war, who refused the draft, went to jail, left the country, marched in protests; for the millions who marched, prayed, organized; for the military establishment that for years lied, propagandized, made deadly mistakes, and lied again; for the thousands of hapless soldiers thrown into a war of choice who suffered, died, anguished and then came home broken, traumatized and often abandoned – startlingly, more Vietnam veterans subsequently died by suicide than in battle; for the millions of Vietnamese civilians killed, maimed, poisoned, traumatized, driven from their homes, crippled by land mines, their children later disfigured by Agent Orange; for the rage and regret felt by so many Americans towards the war's lies and losses that a new term was created to express their weariness – the Vietnam Syndrome.
To right those wrongs and expose those truths, Veterans For Peace are now looking for stories, ideas, articles and photos for their own commemoration. "It is incumbent on us not to cede the war's memory to those who have little interest in an honest accounting, and who want to justify further acts of military adventurism," they argue. The war, they insist, is a cautionary tale: "What are the consequences of trying to control the fate of a people from afar with little understanding or interest in their history and culture…or their human desires? What are the consequences of dehumanized ideologies used to justify wars of aggression? To honor the Viet Nam generation and to inform current and future generations, we should make every effort to pass on a critical and honest history of the war."
With US-led air strikes on Isis intensifying, it's a good time to be an arms giant like Lockheed Martin October 20, 2014Posted by rogerhollander in armaments, Arms, Iraq and Afghanistan, ISIS/ISIL, War.
Tags: assad, cruise missiles, general dynamics, hellfire missiles, Iraq, isil, isis, john hanamy, kurds, lockheed martin, northrop grumman, Raytheon, robert fisk, roger hollander, Syria, tomahawk missiles
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Roger's note: There are so many things obscene about the death and destruction that the United States government and military are wreaking in various parts of the globe. One that stands out in my mind is the arms industry. The dynamic of the Bush/Obama doctrine of Permanent War is complex, but there is no question that the billion dollar profits of the blood sucking merchants of death play a major role.
Report: Senate Report on CIA Will Sidestep Look at Bush 'Torture Team' October 19, 2014Posted by rogerhollander in Constitution, Criminal Justice, Democracy, Dick Cheney, George W. Bush, Human Rights, Torture, War on Terror.
Tags: addington, alberto gonzalex, bybee, CIA torture, condoleeza rice, constitutiion, Criminal Justice, Dick Cheney, George Bush, human rights, International law, john yoo, jon queally, nuremberg, obama torture, roger hollander, rumsfeld, senate intelligence, torture, waterboarding
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Roger's note: The United States government and military violate international law on a daily basis; the Bush/Cheney torture regime, which Obama has outsourced to Bagram and god knows where else, is one of its most blatant manifestations. Obama's "we need to look forward not backward" excuse for violating his oath to defend the constitution does credit to Lewis Carroll and Franz Kafka. The next time you are before a judge accused of a crime, please remind her that it is time to look forward and not backward. Your charges are sure to be dropped.
According to sources who spoke with McClatchy, five-year inquiry into agency's torture regime ignores key role played by Bush administration officials who authorized the abuse
According to new reporting by McClatchy, the five-year investigation led by the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee into the torture program conducted by the CIA in the aftermath of September 11, 2001 will largely ignore the role played by high-level Bush administration officials, including those on the White House legal team who penned memos that ultimately paved the way for the torture's authorization.
Though President Obama has repeatedly been criticized for not conducting or allowing a full review of the torture that occured during his predecessor's tenure, the Senate report—which has been completed, but not released—has repeatedly been cited by lawmakers and the White House as the definitive examination of those policies and practices. According to those with knowledge of the report who spoke with McClatchy, however, the review has quite definite limitations.
The report, one person who was not authorized to discuss it told McClatchy, "does not look at the Bush administration's lawyers to see if they were trying to literally do an end run around justice and the law." Instead, the focus is on the actions and inations of the CIA and whether or not they fully informed Congress about those activities. "It's not about the president," the person said. "It's not about criminal liability."
Responding to comment on the reporting, legal experts and critics of the Bush torture program expressed disappointment that high-level officials in the administration were not part of the review. In addition to the president himself, Vice President Dick Cheney, National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, others considered part of what it sometimes referred to as the "Torture Team," include: Alberto Gonzales, a former White House counsel and attorney general; David Addington, former vice-president Dick Cheney's chief of staff; Douglas Feith, who was under-secretary of defence; William Haynes, formerly the Pentagon's general counsel; and John Yoo and Jay Bybee, who wrote many of the specific legal memos authorizing specific forms of abuse.
"If it's the case that the report doesn't really delve into the White House role, then that's a pretty serious indictment of the report," Elizabeth Goitein, the co-director of the Brennan Center for Justice's Liberty and National Security Program at the New York University Law School, said to McClatchy. "Ideally it should come to some sort of conclusions on whether there were legal violations and if so, who was responsible."
And Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, indicated that limiting the report to just the actions of the CIA doesn't make much sense from a legal or investigative standpoint. "It doesn't take much creativity to include senior Bush officials in the Senate Intelligence Committee's jurisdiction. It's not hard to link an investigation into the CIA's torture to the senior officials who authorized it. That's not a stretch at all."
As Mclatchy's Jonathan S. Landay, Ali Watkins and Marisa Taylor report:
The narrow parameters of the inquiry apparently were structured to secure the support of the committee's minority Republicans. But the Republicans withdrew only months into the inquiry, and several experts said that the parameters were sufficiently flexible to have allowed an examination of the roles Bush, Cheney and other top administration officials played in a top-secret program that could only have been ordered by the president.
"It doesn't take much creativity to include senior Bush officials in the Senate Intelligence Committee's jurisdiction," said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. "It's not hard to link an investigation into the CIA's torture to the senior officials who authorized it. That's not a stretch at all."
It's not as if there wasn't evidence that Bush and his top national security lieutenants were directly involved in the program's creation and operation.
The Senate Armed Services Committee concluded in a 2008 report on detainee mistreatment by the Defense Department that Bush opened the way in February 2002 by denying al Qaida and Taliban detainees the protection of an international ban against torture.
White House officials also participated in discussions and reviewed specific CIA interrogation techniques in 2002 and 2003, the public version of the Senate Armed Services Committee report concluded.
Several unofficial accounts published as far back as 2008 offered greater detail.
Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld relentlessly pressured interrogators to subject detainees to harsh interrogation methods in part to find evidence of cooperation between al Qaida and the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, McClatchy reported in April 2009. Such evidence, which was non-existent, would have substantiated one of Bush's main arguments for invading Iraq in 2003.
Other accounts described how Cheney, Rumsfeld, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, Attorney General John Ashcroft, and Secretary of State Colin Powell approved specific harsh interrogation techniques. George Tenet, then the CIA director, also reportedly updated them on the results.
"Why are we talking about this in the White House? History will not judge this kindly," Ashcroft said after one of dozens of meetings on the program, ABC News reported in April 2008 in a story about the White House's direct oversight of interrogations.
News reports also chronicled the involvement of top White House and Justice Department officials in fashioning a legal rationale giving Bush the authority to override U.S. and international laws prohibiting torture. They also helped craft opinions that effectively legalized the CIA's use of waterboarding, wall-slamming and sleep deprivation.
Though President Obama casually admitted earlier this, "We tortured some folks." — what most critics and human rights experts have requested is an open and unbiased review of the full spectrum of the U.S. torture program under President Bush. And though increasingly unlikely, calls remain for those responsible for authorizing and conducting the abuse to be held accountable with indictments, trials, and if guilty, jail sentences. In addition, as a letter earlier this year signed by ten victims of the extrajudicial rendition under the Bush administration stated, the concept of full disclosure and accountability is key to restoring the credibility of the nation when it comes to human rights abuses:
Publishing the truth is not just important for the US's standing in the world. It is a necessary part of correcting America's own history. Today in America, the architects of the torture program declare on television they did the right thing. High-profile politicians tell assembled Americans that 'waterboarding' is a 'baptism' that American forces should still engage in.
These statements only breed hatred and intolerance. This is a moment when America can move away from all that, but only if her people are not sheltered from the truth.
As McClatchy notes, a redacted version of the report's summary—the only part of it expected to be released to the public—continues to be under review. Its release date remains unclear.
WHAT 'DEMOCRACY' REALLY MEANS IN U.S. AND NEW YORK TIMES JARGON: LATIN AMERICA EDITION October 19, 2014Posted by rogerhollander in Bolivia, Democracy, Foreign Policy, Imperialism, Latin America, Media, Venezuela.
Tags: Bolivia, democracy, dictatorships, egypt coup, Evo Morales, foreign policy, glenn greenwald, Hugo Chavez, imperialism, journalism, Media, new york times, roger hollander, Venezuela, venezuela coup
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Roger's note: I read the New York Times (it is the most right wing site I go to online; and, when asked how I keep up with the "other side," I reply that one absorbs it by osmosis), there is often good reporting and feature articles; but on U.S. foreign policy, the Times is as Neanderthal as Bush/Obama/Clintons.
One of the most accidentally revealing media accounts highlighting the real meaning of "democracy" in U.S. discourse is a still-remarkable 2002 New York Times Editorial on the U.S.-backed military coup in Venezuela, which temporarily removed that country's democratically elected (and very popular) president, Hugo Chávez. Rather than describe that coup as what it was by definition - a direct attack on democracy by a foreign power and domestic military which disliked the popularly elected president – the Times, in the most Orwellian fashion imaginable, literally celebrated the coup as a victory for democracy:
With yesterday's resignation of President Hugo Chávez, Venezuelan democracy is no longer threatened by a would-be dictator. Mr. Chávez, a ruinous demagogue, stepped down after the military intervened and handed power to a respected business leader, Pedro Carmona.
Thankfully, said the NYT, democracy in Venezuela was no longer in danger . . . because the democratically-elected leader was forcibly removed by the military and replaced by an unelected, pro-U.S. "business leader." The Champions of Democracy at the NYT then demanded a ruler more to their liking: "Venezuela urgently needs a leader with a strong democratic mandate to clean up the mess, encourage entrepreneurial freedom and slim down and professionalize the bureaucracy."
More amazingly still, the Times editors told their readers that Chávez's "removal was a purely Venezuelan affair," even though it was quickly and predictably revealed that neocon officials in the Bush administration played a central role. Eleven years later, upon Chávez's death, the Times editors admitted that "the Bush administration badly damaged Washington's reputation throughout Latin America when it unwisely blessed a failed 2002 military coup attempt against Mr. Chávez" [the paper forgot to mention that it, too, blessed (and misled its readers about) that coup]. The editors then also acknowledged the rather significant facts that Chávez's "redistributionist policies brought better living conditions to millions of poor Venezuelans" and "there is no denying his popularity among Venezuela's impoverished majority."
If you think The New York Times editorial page has learned any lessons from that debacle, you'd be mistaken. Today they published an editorialexpressing grave concern about the state of democracy in Latin America generally and Bolivia specifically. The proximate cause of this concern? The overwhelming election victory of Bolivian President Evo Morales (pictured above), who, as The Guardian put it, "is widely popular at home for a pragmatic economic stewardship that spread Bolivia's natural gas and mineral wealth among the masses."
The Times editors nonetheless see Morales' election to a third term not as a vindication of democracy but as a threat to it, linking his election victory to the way in which "the strength of democratic values in the region has been undermined in past years by coups and electoral irregularities." Even as they admit that "it is easy to see why many Bolivians would want to see Mr. Morales, the country's first president with indigenous roots, remain at the helm" – because "during his tenure, the economy of the country, one of the least developed in the hemisphere, grew at a healthy rate, the level of inequality shrank and the number of people living in poverty dropped significantly" - they nonetheless chide Bolivia's neighbors for endorsing his ongoing rule: "it is troubling that the stronger democracies in Latin America seem happy to condone it."
The Editors depict their concern as grounded in the lengthy tenure of Morales as well as the democratically elected leaders of Ecuador and Venezuela: "perhaps the most disquieting trend is that protégés of Mr. Chávez seem inclined to emulate his reluctance to cede power." But the real reason the NYT so vehemently dislikes these elected leaders and ironically views them as threats to "democracy" becomes crystal clear toward the end of the editorial (emphasis added):
This regional dynamic has been dismal for Washington's influence in the region. In Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador, the new generation of caudillos [sic] have staked out anti-American policies and limited the scope of engagement on development, military cooperation and drug enforcement efforts. This has damaged the prospects for trade and security cooperation.
You can't get much more blatant than that. The democratically elected leaders of these sovereign countries fail to submit to U.S. dictates, impede American imperialism, and subvert U.S. industry's neoliberal designs on the region's resources. Therefore, despite how popular they are with their own citizens and how much they've improved the lives of millions of their nations' long-oppressed and impoverished minorities, they are depicted as grave threats to "democracy."
It is, of course, true that democratically elected leaders are capable of authoritarian measures. It is, for instance, democratically elected U.S. leaders who imprison people without charges for years, build secret domestic spying systems, and even assert the power to assassinate their own citizens without due process. Elections are no guarantee against tyranny. There are legitimate criticisms to be made of each of these leaders with regard to domestic measures and civic freedoms, as there is for virtually every government on the planet.
But the very idea that the U.S. government and its media allies are motivated by those flaws is nothing short of laughable. Many of the U.S. government's closest allies are the world's worst regimes, beginning with the uniquely oppressive Saudi kingdom (which just yesterday sentenced a popular Shiite dissident to death) and the brutal military coup regime in Egypt, which, as my colleague Murtaza Hussain reports today, gets more popular in Washington as it becomes even more oppressive. And, of course, the U.S. supports Israel in every way imaginable even as its Secretary of State expressly recognizes the "apartheid" nature of its policy path.
Just as the NYT did with the Venezuelan coup regime of 2002, the U.S. government hails the Egyptian coup regime as saviors of democracy. That's because "democracy" in U.S. discourse means: "serving U.S. interests" and "obeying U.S. dictates," regardless how how the leaders gain and maintain power. Conversely, "tyranny" means "opposing the U.S. agenda" and "refusing U.S. commands," no matter how fair and free the elections are that empower the government. The most tyrannical regimes are celebrated as long as they remain subservient, while the most popular and democratic governments are condemned as despots to the extent that they exercise independence.
To see how true that is, just imagine the orgies of denunciation that would rain down if a U.S. adversary (say, Iran, or Venezuela) rather than a key U.S. ally like Saudi Arabia had just sentenced a popular dissident to death. Instead, the NYT just weeks ago uncritically quotes an Emirates ambassador lauding Saudi Arabia as one of the region's "moderate" allies because of its service to the U.S. bombing campaign in Syria. Meanwhile, the very popular, democratically elected leader of Bolivia is a grave menace to democratic values – because he's "dismal for Washington's influence in the region."
Photo: Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images
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Ta'ziya Theatre from a Constructive Approach
Rabat - Ta'ziya is a performing tradition out of many that were celebrated in the East before the appropriation of the Western model. Ta'ziya is a formulaic space resurrecting the historical memory of the martyrdom of Hussein –grandson of the prophet Muhammad (PBUH)—, his family and his companions who had refused to pledge allegiance to Yazid. I would like to maintain that this performing tradition is inco ...Read more ›

subset: commoncrawl


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2-year-old Panhandle toddler shot, killed
Officials say they are investigating the death of a 2-year-old Panhandle child as an accidental shooting.
Investigators say the toddler was shot and killed early Saturday at a Pensacola-area home.
Escambia County Sheriff's Office Spokesman Delarian Wiggins tells the Pensacola News-Journal an investigation is ongoing incident is being investigated as an accidental shooting.
Copyright 2014 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Category Archives: Get A Job
Are You Guilty?
Whether it's your first Broadway audition or your 171st, you'll most likely leave wondering whether you did everything you could … Continue reading
Small Town, Big Dreams
You know the story: a performer from Nowhere, USA, works hard her whole life and becomes a talented unknown. She … Continue reading
7 Tips to Help You Stay in Peak Performance Shape While Touring
Many dancers dream of going on tour and performing for packed houses in glamorous cities around the world, but touring … Continue reading
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I grew up dancing, and after graduating from college, I hoped to perform professionally in NYC, Las Vegas or L.A. … Continue reading
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I recently went to a party for the clothing line Juicy Couture. Only I wasn't a guest; I was working … Continue reading
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Acrobatic floorwork, video installments, avant-garde costumes: There's an endless list of ways modern troupes stretch the genre. If you've ever … Continue reading


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Category Archives: Music
Carolina Chocolate Drops 'Leaving Eden' Live at the Grand Ole Opry
Carolina Chocolate Drops Cover 'Jackson'
It's the 99th anniversary of the birth of the person we know as Billie Holliday.
April 7th ought to be a national holiday.
McKinley Morganfield
… was born 99 years ago today. We know him as Muddy Waters.
And how important was Muddy Waters to early Rock?
You've heard of The Rolling Stones, and "Like a Rolling Stone," and Rolling Stone magazine. All named for Waters' early hit, "Rollin' Stone."
Muddy Waters transformed the soul of the rural South into the sound of the city, electrifying the blues at a pivotal point in the early postwar period. His recorded legacy, particularly the wealth of sides he cut in the Fifties, is one of the great musical treasures of this century. Aside from Robert Johnson, no single figure is more important in the history and development of the blues than Waters. The real question as regards his lasting impact on popular music isn't "Who did he influence?" but – as Goldmine magazine asked in 2001 – "Who didn't he influence?"
Call March 25th What You Will
I'll call it a national holiday.
Because it is Aretha Franklin's birthday.
She's 72.
Aretha Franklin is the "Queen of Soul" and the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. She is a singer of great passion and control whose finest recordings define the term soul music in all its deep, expressive glory.
Johnny Cash
A few weeks ago I read Robert Hilburn's biography of Johnny Cash, an interesting if somewhat longish and discouraging look at the Man in Black.
Today at Open Culture there was a link to the first episode of Cash's music-variety show. The program from June 7, 1969, included guests Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell and Doug Kershaw. And the Carters, of course. Not a bad way to visit 45-year-old music history.


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Stereo Confession | 7th Street Entry | Sunday, October 12 Burgeoning Minneapolis garage rock band Stereo Confession caught our attention with their infectiously catchy single, "Video Games." The group has since signed to local label Susstones, and is set to throw a stacked record release party for t ... More >>
Benjamin Booker | Turf Club | Monday, September 29Singer and guitarist Benjamin Booker's signature "Tent City Rivival" sound is what hipsters play to their children instead of lullabies. Booker's gravelly voice evokes a chipper Tom Waits with the timeless vocal simplicity of Bruce Springsteen (had T ... More >>
There's a great scene from Shine a Light, Martin Scorsese's documentary about the Rolling Stones' 2006 performance at New York's Beacon Theatre, in which Jack White joins the band to sing and play guitar on "Loving Cup," a bluesy track off 1972's Exile on Main St. Midway through the song, White ... More >>
Station to Station with Patti Smith, Eleanor Friedberger, No Age, and White Mystery Union Depot Thursday, September 12, 2013 Although it doesn't do it complete justice, the tagline for Doug Aitken's experimental traveling circus Station to Station works as a terse summation of the evening: "A publi ... More >>
Make way for the youth of tomorrow. The three members of Minneapolis band Stereo Confession formed two years ago when they were merely 14, and while they may seem young, they are growing and quickly learning the ins and outs of what it takes to make it in the industry. Their newest album, First Comm ... More >>
MWMF Day Three With Hang 'Em High, the Ultrasounds, Neon, Reina del Cid & the Cidizens, Eli Glor, Stereo Confession, and Riflebird Winona, Minnesota Saturday, April 20, 2013 After spending much of Friday night at Mid West Music Fest pleasantly cooped up at Ed's seeing a strong cadre of established ... More >>
Country crossovers didn't begin with Taylor Swift; the genre's embraced its pop side for almost as long as folks have been laying bow to fiddle. And for that reason, today we eulogize Patti Page, the pop/country/R&B singer and onetime Benny Goodman band singer who passed away Tuesday.
MadonnaWith Paul OakenfoldXcel Energy Center, St. PaulSaturday, November 3, 2012Nothing came easy while Madonna performed at Xcel Energy Center Saturday. For anyone other than the ticket-holding masochists in the crowd, it was two hours of uncomfortable boot-licking. The few, hard-won pleasures came ... More >>
See Also:Top 20 best Minnesota SongsTop 20 best Minnesota musiciansRadiohead at Sprint Center in Kansas City, 3/11/12Earlier today Pitchfork unveiled it's grand social music experiment, The People's List, a reader generated ranking of the top albums during Pitchfork's first 15 years, 1996-2011. 27,9 ... More >>
See Also:[Slideshow] Lollapalooza 2012: The PeopleJustice at Lollapalooza, 8/5/12Ten things your Lollapalooza outfit says about youWith every year that passes, it feels like electronic dance music gains a bigger foothold in the summer festival circuit, and the climb in popularity was especially appa ... More >>
See Also:Bloodnstuff release new albumBastille Day Block Party, Red Stag Block Party lineups announcedListening to last year's Walker Fields disc, Gettin' By, you're bound to wonder why they were asked to play this weekend's Border Battle Beer Fest in Somerset on a bill that includes heavy favorite ... More >>
KasabianFirst Avenue, MinneapolisTuesday, April 3, 2012View a slideshow from the concert here.Kasabian doesn't really do small. The English sextet have taken their towering U.K. arena rock show and crammed it into the clubs on their current American tour, and on Tuesday night at First Avenue the b ... More >>
Rogue Valley's tour diaries are written by frontman Chris Koza and edited by bandmate Peter Sieve. You can read their first, second, third, and fourth installments.1/20/2012 Butte: 37 degrees. Bearmouth: 38 degrees. Missoula: 40 degrees. Since the beginning of the week, before leaving Minneapolis ... More >>
Photos by Mike MinehartMachine 22Black Box Revelation with Machine 22, Porcupine and DetourNovember 14, 20117th St. Entry, MinneapolisI arrived during of Porcupines from LaCrosse, Wisconsin, one of my favorite bands I've recently discovered. One of my favorite songs, "Rooftops" from their 7" spli ... More >>
Photos by Erik HessJapandroids September 26, 2011 7th St. Entry, Minneapolis After a long, heartfelt monologue by vocalist/guitarist Brian King, given as drummer/vocalist David Prowse worked out a few last kinks and touching on the respect he had for opening band Bass Drum Of Death, the amaz ... More >>
If it were possible to pee one's pants twice at the same time, we would.
A post-election video dump of the people, by the people, and for the people.
The usual crowd packed into the Fine Line for a sold-out show: twentysomething yuppies, college kids and the occasional (brave soul) over thirty.
Sweaty bodies, PBR, and cigarettes: My first underground punk show was everything I'd hoped
Never mistake a supergroup for a side project
Brainy kids grow up but never stop flustering adults
Here's Radio K's Top 77 albums of the year, based on listener votes. Since the email didn't distinguish between band name, title, or label, let us know if there are any errors below: 1. Broken Social Scene, Broken Social Scene (Arts & Crafts) 2. Low, The Great Destroyer (Sub Pop) 3. Gorillaz, Demon ... More >>
Rappers were hot. Smokers were cold. Rockers were on Myspace. And sometime after the last Katrina benefit, we wrote it all down for you.
Maggie Chestovich has that ineffable quality, sometimes called "presence" or "it" or "that ineffable quality," that makes you remember a performance long after the rest of the play has turned into brain ether. Originally from Falcon Heights, she's worked with most of the major theater companies in t ... More >>
Franz Ferdinand make music that girls (and winking rock stars) can dance to
The Hold Steady's high-voltage crunch happens to sound great in bars. But please don't call them a bar band.
Coachwhips' screech-punk summons the howl of a thousand dogs. So why are we calling it "Minimalist"?
Mr. Airplane man call out from Memphis, Sacred Harp Singers reclaim the bible belt, and Hootie's reputation heads south
A four-track for every factory records foil! The story of the Stills.
Bridge Club: Nice Minnesota boys, waiting to self-destruct
Opposite aesthetics would seem to spell splitsville for indie cinema's power couple
Polls and punditry for the best new bands in town
LaBute brutalizes us; Lonergan displays human kindness
Guns N' Roses: Dying hard with a vengeance?
Will this be the article that convinces you End Transmission rock out? Yes, it is.
You won't believe what Quintron and Miss Pussycat can do with a marionette
Road-tripping to Texas for South by Southwest
Katastrophy Wife Unleashes a Wail to Do Edvard Munch Proud


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Fullerton News
Local news for Fullerton, CA continually updated from thousands of sources on the web.
I Racked Up $2000 Campaign Debt Fighting Fracking; Can You Help Me Retire It?
Thursday | Daily Kos | Comment?
Editorial: GOP message wins with some new messengers
Wednesday Nov 26 | The Wave | Comment?
South Bay Triumph/Triumph Performance USA Feature
Tuesday Nov 25 | Motorcycle.com | Comment?
Cannon Art Gallery's '2014 Juried Biennial Exhibition' Artist Chosen
Tuesday Nov 25 | Patch.com | Comment?
Joseph Reed Joins Shopoff Realty Investments as Vice President, Land Acquisition
Tuesday Nov 25 | GlobeNewswire | Comment?
Travelers Find the Holiday Magic of Disney at Fullerton Hotel
Monday Nov 24 | Sys-Con Media | Comment?
Man previously convicted of DUI suspected of doing it again, this time injuring Fullerton cyclist
Monday Nov 24 | Star-Progress | Comment?
Author encourages South Colby students to pursue dreams
Friday Nov 21 | Port Orchard Orchard | Comment?
10 cool things to do this weekend
Friday Nov 21 | Anaheim Hills News | Comment?
Interim University Advancement VP Appointed
Friday Nov 21 | El Observador | Comment?
86-Year-Old Releases Son of Son
Friday Nov 21 | BroadwayWorld.com | Comment?
Free holiday fun to ignite the Christmas season
Friday Nov 21 | Examiner.com | Comment?
Giving back to those who give of themselves
Thursday Nov 20 | The Wave | Comment?
Why happiness is healthy
Thursday Nov 20 | CNN | Comment?
Ocpa to Present One Good Day at Theatre Out, 12/6
Thursday Nov 20 | BroadwayWorld.com | Comment?
Lions, tigers and pols, oh my
Thursday Nov 20 | The Wave | Comment?
'Without sacrifice, there is no victory'
Thursday Nov 20 | RecordNET | Comment?
Beach Hazards Statement for Orange County was issued at November 28 at 7:01PM PST
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979 Dickinson Street,
Springfield, MA, 01108-0111
Springfield, MA, 01108-0111
Tel: (413)205-3960
The Curtis Blake Day School of American International College has been providing high quality services to language learning disabled (LLD) children since 1981 and, more recently, to children diagnosed with a nonverbal learning disability.
Our professional staff, most of whom have been with us ten years or more, continually benefit from professional development opportunities offered through the school and its parent institution, American International College.
In keeping with the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks we use organizational strategies to manage the vast quantities of data available to youngsters in the information age.
Understanding and the ability to communicate are the goals, rather than rote memorization of facts.
Using our strategic approach, our students learn how to learn.
School Overview
|School Type
|Special Education School
|School Membership(s)School Assoc.
|Council for Exceptional Children
Learning Disabilities Association of America (LDA)
|Religious Affiliation
|Grades Offered
|Grades 1 - 9
|Learning Difference Programs
|Learning Programs Supported
|Year Founded
Student Body
|Total Students
|70 students
|Student Body Type
|% Students of Color
State avg.: 21%
Academics and Faculty
|Total Classroom Teachers
|22 teachers
|Student : Teacher Ratio
National avg.: 13:1
|Average Class Size
|6 students
|Classroom Dress Code
Finances and Admission
|Admission Deadline
|None / Rolling
|Yearly Tuition Cost
|Tuition Notes
|Tuition is set by the Operational Services Division of the state of Massachusetts
|% on Financial Aid
|Average Financial Aid Grant
|Admissions Director
|Linda Gillen, M.Ed.
Nearby Schools:
All Schools | High Schools | Elementary Schools | Preschools | Public Schools
Show me:
- School Location Miles Students Grades
LongmeadowHeritage Academy
594 Converse St
Longmeadow, MA, 01106
(413)567-1517(Jewish)0.4 mi | 68 students | Gr. KG-8
LongmeadowLubavitcher Yeshiva Academy
1148 Converse St
Longmeadow, MA, 01106
(413)567-8665(Jewish)0.9 mi | 90 students | Gr. PK-8
SpringfieldTrinity Nursery And Kindergarten
361 Sumner Ave
Springfield, MA, 01108
(413)739-0028Daycare / Preschool (Methodist)1.1 mi | 7 students | Gr. PK-KG
SpringfieldHoly Name School
37 Alderman Street
Springfield, MA, 01108
(413)736-4235(Roman Catholic)1.3 mi | 250 students | Gr. PK-8
LongmeadowLongmeadow KinderCare
28 Dwight Road
Longmeadow, MA, 01106
(413)567-9264Daycare / Preschool1.3 mi | n/a students | Gr. NS-PK
Area Statistics
Recent Articles
Updated October 26, 2014
What do you do when you are dissatisfied with your local public schools? Homeschool your children? Send them to private school? Let's look at your options.
Your religion matters to you. You want your child to attend a school which will combine academics and religious education. Here is an overview of what is available together with some links to denominational web sites.
Add things up and you'll quickly find the answer- math is crucial both in academics and the real world. By following these strategies and following personal training programs, students can uncover their weaknesses and conquer math.


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Legacy Apartments
- Click to Talk
View property, WalkScore, and Driving Directions
1 and 2 bedroom apartment options available in College Park, GA. Excellent location near shopping, dining, entertainment, I-85, I-285, and I-75. Private shuttle provided with public transportation nearby. On Site laundry, management, maintenance, and great amenities. Call for special pricing!
Ask about our current AMAZING move in savings!! Limited time only!
Floorplans and Pricing
1 Bedroom
|One Bedroom
|1 Bathroom
|Check Availability
2 Bedrooms
|Two Bedroom
|1 Bathroom
|Check Availability
Features and AmenitiesBack to Top
Special Features
- FREE Shuttle to Atlanta Airport
- Management on Site
- Sparkling Swimming Pool
- Playground
- College Park Location
- Gated Entrance
- Wheelchair Access
- Variable Lease Terms
- Maintenance on Site
- Storage Space
- Great Schools
- Amazing Pricing Specials
Community Features
- Apartment
- Club House
- Controlled Access
- Courtyard
- Disability Access
- Freeway Access
- Garden Style
- Laundry Facility
- Playground
- Pool
- Public Transportation
- Standard
- Surface Lot
- View
Apartment Amenities
- Air Conditioning
- Cable or Satellite
- Carpet
- Ceiling Fan
- Dishwasher
- Extra Storage
- Microwave
- Patio or Balcony
- Window Covering
Additional Information
Apartments in Community: 699
Pet Policy
Please call with questions regarding our pet policy.
Local Schools
- North Clayton High School
- North Clayton Middle School
- Northcutt Elementary School
We believe school data to be accurate, but do not guarantee that. Please be sure to verify where your children will attend school before making your housing decision.
As you search for your perfect apartment, please keep in mind that rental rates (including specials and discounts) and availability are very fluid in the apartment industry. Based on many factors, the rental rates (including specials and discounts) and availability can actually change not just daily, but hourly, if not even more quickly. While our advertisers do take steps to keep their information current, the rental rates or availability you may find here now at ForRent.com may not be the same as when you contact the communities.


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November 26, 2014
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Hunter Pence singled in the winning run with no outs in the ninth inning to give the San Francisco Giants a 7-6 victory over the San Diego Padres on Sunday.
Francisco Peguero hit his first career home run leading off the ninth to tie it as Huston Street (2-5) blew his second save in 35 chances.
Tony Abreu followed with a single and advance to second on Street's wild pitch. Brandon Belt walked and both runners advanced on a passed ball.
After Buster Posey was intentionally walked, Pence singled to center to end the game.
Sergio Romo (5-8) pitched the ninth for the win as the Giants finished in a third place tie with the Padres, 16 games behind the NL West champion Los Angeles Dodgers.
Jedd Gyorko hit a grand slam, Nick Hundley homered for the Padres.
Copyright 2014 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Viewers with disabilities can get assistance accessing this station's FCC Public Inspection File by contacting the station with the information listed below. Questions or concerns relating to the accessibility of the FCC's online public file system should be directed to the FCC at 888-225-5322, 888-835-5322 (TTY), or email@example.com.


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Excellent location, minutes from Toulon/Hyeres airport, simple, clean, with welcoming owner and staff. Stayed a week. Breakfast on terrace with added bonus of locals coming in for their morning coffee and chat. Lots to see in the area - eg Nature reserve on Presqui'isle de Giens - air display by pink flamingos was spectacular, nesting avocets.....and walk round headland to... More
- Reservation Options:
- TripAdvisor is proud to partner with Booking.com, Expedia, Hotels.com, Priceline, Travelocity, HostelWorld, HostelBookers, Odigeo and Tingo so you can book your Hotel Richiardi reservations with confidence. We help millions of travelers each month to find the perfect hotel for both vacation and business trips, always with the best discounts and special offers.


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News Latest Flight Information Dart Group History Questions Flight Timetables
Your browser doesn't support i-frames, which are used to begin the Jet2.com booking
Please use our low fare FINDER to make your booking.
01st July 2011
With the festival season in the
UK in full swing, the North's leading leisure airline Jet2.com is helping holidaymakers
across the North West ensure they get a slice of the festival action when
they're away, with 2012 flights to two great city destinations going on sale
Holidaymakers travelling from
Manchester Airport can now plan their city breaks in Venice or Pisa for 2012.
Both cities have some unusual and spectacular local celebrations for holidaymakers
to experience firsthand. What's more, with
prices starting from just £29.99, there's
absolutely no reason to miss the party! In
2012 Jet2.com
flights to Pisa will operate five times a week, starting on the 3rd May while Jet2.com's
Venice service will depart six times a week, continuing from the
airline's winter flying programme.
Visitors to Venice can
experience an Easter extravaganza with a plethora of pageants, concerts and
special services while holidaymakers heading for Pisa can experience the quirky
Festa del Grillo, or Cricket Festival, where thousands of lucky model crickets
are sold on the streets. Pisa's festival marks Ascension Day, next year on the
17 May, and as well as the cricket sale, the city comes alive with musical
shows and street entertainment.
Jet2.com offers flights to
34 city, sun and ski destinations from Manchester Airport.
Posted in Announcements
July 01, 2011 at 10:29
Tagged with Festival, 2012, Italy, culture
Sign-up to our newsletter Become a fan on Facebook Latest Jet2 news via RSS


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Layoffs Watch '12: Credit Suisse (Again)By Bess Levin
More cuts at the House of Dougan, on top of the ones in Russia, were said to have gone down today.
"Another round of layoffs at Credit Suisse, this time in London IBD. Amount affected unclear but occurred at all levels."
(hidden to protect delicate sensibilities) 4 comments
Show all comments ↓
Show all comments ↓


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This dealer does not have any current reviews. The following reviews are over two years old - their ratings are not used to calculate the dealer's current aggregated ratings.
We purchased new 135i from Century in Nov., as a special order.
We received friendly negotionations and the price that we preferred, despite being an order for a new build.
We were kept appraised of status of build & transport (6 wks). Day of delivery took minimal time.
Needed rebalancing of tires b...
Read the full review
I live in Nashville and after seeing other reviews on the BMW dealership here, I decided to go elsewhere. I was visiting family for Christmas and decided to swing by Century BMW with my mother yesterday. I was greeted by a very friendly and funny salesperson. He answered all our questions and bent o...
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I have bought 2 BMW's (535 and 740 iL) and 6 Volvos (2 S80's, a S60, a C70 and 2 850's) from this dealer in the last 15 years. Their sales staff is always knowledgeable, courteous, and NOT pushy. Their service department is also top notch. Buy here, you won't be disappointed.
Read the full review


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Before Xmas Party Shot "><
Merry Xmas everyone ^^
Server 2 , AngelTales , Rainll Leader ~
Before Xmas Party Shot "><
Merry Xmas everyone ^^
Server 2 , AngelTales , Rainll Leader ~
Currently Playing:
Hiphop tales -__-" i thought a kungfu suit with on the back that says "Hungry" or "Lazy" would be more like you
Gasp! Angel, Meet me on Serv 2.
u sell too many expensive stuffs lol i think i bought one of ur 600k daggers or sumthing
as a seller , of course i will try my best to get more money offf ya lol x3
talk to me and i will lower the price for ya (when im not afk that it , quote that ur from OnRPG . . .
Last edited by AngelTales; 12-29-2007 at 02:51 PM.
Currently Playing:
Your screenie makes me wanna go on Seal...is that CS? and for 7-30 days only? if yes...then nvm.
Back to OnRPG. Add me on Skype if you got it - RotaryBoost -
Progress Report T_T
Some weirdos suddenly lvled higher than me . . . (bloody x2 exp rich guys
anyways im still happy with my guild and all x3
30.12.2007 , Happy New Year OnRPG !!!
Ah join the guild if u havent , i just upgraded so no lvl limit for you guys , though please be active (atleast show up everyday for 1~2 mins)
Dear Diary :
someone reported me for speed hackin , no date , no map , no description . . . i really want to know who he is in game
do i really hack !?!? maybe when im sleeping , my evil twin did it !?!?
Last edited by AngelTales; 12-29-2007 at 09:07 PM.
Currently Playing:
I can say i hate you right?? and new year is tomorrow >.> monday xD
whaaa, its already sunday for you guys? D:
I think Talse its going to be one of those high lv best ranking players
Back to OnRPG. Add me on Skype if you got it - RotaryBoost -


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SPRINGFIELD -- Historical preservationists have added some Christmas spirit to the Lincoln Home.
CHAMPAIGN -- It's not too early to get into the holiday spirit.
ORLAND PARK -- One haunted house is considered one of the best in the Midwest for the past 14-years.
URBANA -- Showing off Illini Spirit paid off for one hotel. The Holiday Inn was last week's winner in the Illinois Business Window Decorating Contest. It hired an artist to paint "larger than life" football players on the windows. The business, Prime Advertising, was honored at Saturday's game. Starting in November, fans will vote for their fafvorite window decoration. The winner gets a visit from Coach Beckman.


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Member Area Login
Log in to:
renew your membership;
update your profile;
use the member directory.
able to "renew."
Life in Me Like
Grass on Fire:
Love Poems
$12.95 plus S/H
Order today!
MWA 2014 Literary Contest Now Open!
We've launched the MWA 2014 Literary Contest, with the categ...
Read More
New Maryland Art Martketplace Open for Artists
In advance of launching its new Maryland Art Marketplace, th...
Read More
Call for MWA Open Board Chairs
The Maryland Writers' Association Board has the following Ch...
Read More
MWA chapter meetings are open to the public and are free to MWA members and first-time guests. Returning non-members will be asked to pay $5. Non-members wishing to join MWA may do so at meetings or here.
Events marked 'FYI' are not MWA events, and are provided as a courtesy for the benefit of members and supporters.
MWA Howard County Chapter Meeting
January 15, 2015
7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Owen Brown Community Center
6800 Cradle Rock Way
Columbia, MD 21045-4809
Web Marketing Metrics with Angela Render
View the full calendar here.


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Gippi actress Jayati Modi looked great when she was recently snapped in couture wear
Jayati, who is the niece of IPL founder Lalit Modi, made her acting debut with 'Gippi'
Jayati poses with her Gippi co-stars
Hrithik, Katrina sizzle on 'Bang Bang'...
Aditi Rao Hydari sizzles on HELLO! magazine
GQ India's 2014 Best Dressed Party!
'Humshakals' team visit 'Jhalak...


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Chief Brand Strategist + Founder of @kelseyads, lifelong student of art, business & marketing.


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Alexis Texas and Mariah Milano show off together!
Alexis Texas teases her girlfriend with those cute pink panties!
Alexis Texas can't wait to get her hands on those huge juicy tits!
Alexis Texas gropes those big tits and perfect nipples!
Alexis Texas gets those panties peeled down and shows off her ass!
Alexis Texas gets her perky little tits licked next!
Alexis Texas sticks that juicy wet pussy in her girlfriends face!
Alexis Texas and her smoking hot girlfriend Mariah Milano know just how to drive each other to the edge of insanity! Just watch as these babes lick and suck and tease each other until they can't take it anymore!
See more of Alexis Texas teasing pussy now at Alexis Texas
Posted on March 9th, 2012 by admin
Filed under: Alexis Texas pictures, Lesbians | No Comments »


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Well-Appointed Las Vegas Accommodations
Stay in one of our well-appointed Las Vegas hotel rooms, equipped with top-notch amenities such as high-speed Internet access, room service, 37" flat screen TVs, and soaking tubs. Boasting a diverse collection, from spacious standard rooms to themed suites to exhilarating Sky Villas, our Las Vegas accommodations ensure a legendary experience at an unbelievable price.
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Our mission is to create warm and inviting living spaces for families living in transitional homeless shelter apartments while they rebuild their lives.


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Some videos for today. The first one is about the Russian truck ZIL which tries to beat the river loaded with saw wood. Second one is about some guy who uses something that would you never think of to fool the other fellow drivers on the road pretending that those are police blinkers. In the next video you can see how it actually looks like on the road: Road police should be mad, but they really can't do anything with someone having a pair of baloons attached to his SUV's roof. And from the great distance it looks pretty decieving. Next two about Russian army. First
is probably how someone might perceive it. And that's how the young soldiers entertain guys whose service comes to an end. It's an old tradition, but before it was called a "Train for Grandpa". The younger ones call the longer serving soldiers "Grandpas".Now they have bikes instead the trains, but the scenery is being generated same old way. Now if in winter they used ropes for group jumping from the railway bridge, now they jump without anything. And that's it for today, ladies and gentlemen.


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Teacher/writer on meditation, chakras, energy healing, & spirituality, with emphasis on women's energetics. Also a blogger & BellaOnline Buddhism editor. Peace!