Twelfth Bough

The AEY story seemed to digest pretty quickly, and nothing happened. Nobody but a few bloggers puked up any outrage. Well, weeks have passed and now it appears that some people really do have indigestion over this story. Could be serious. Go figure. Head over to American Goy for the update .

William White of Concord Bridge Coalition has written another entry in his ongoing current events analysis . This most recent entry discusses the disinformation campaign being waged against the American people to purchase their support for yet another illegal war against yet another country which has not attacked us, Iran, and in which tens of thousands or in all likelihood many more innocent people would be killed in our names. The Bush administration and Israeli government appear to be operating a joint disinformation campaign, whose objective is to establish a media based alternative reality from which to accuse Syria/Iran of developing nuclear weapons with help from North Korea, by using a real event combined with planted stories establishing a defining narrative. This accusation in turn is augmented with stories about Iranian sponsored “Special Groups killing US troops in Iraq” and purported naval incidents the Persian Gulf, creating self-reinforcing, media based crisis. As far...

The following blog post from Opening Inner Space is reprinted in full. To my mind, this seems about right. Just last night I was talking with some enlightened people who mainly focused on the election and what might happen after that. Instead of banging my head against the wall, I suggest we focus on what’s happening right now , or it will not matter one whit who gets elected in November. The scariest thing happening right now remains our continued, stubborn failure of imagination about the consequences of striking Iran. People need to break free of the thought parameters constantly reinforced through corporate media. Believe it or not, there are way more important things to focus on than the election. Attacking Iran is not like invading Grenada, though you’d never know as long as you rely on the corporate media for news. These media shills will be our deaths and the deaths of millions. They already are. The truth about what could happen in the Middle East must be made known to ou...

I am not kidding. There's so much to deconstruct in Condi Rice's remarks to the American Jewish Committee , and I hope to get to some of that tomorrow. I don't think my stomach can handle it at the moment. For now, I will just address this nugget : I still remember my first time visiting Israel: It felt like coming home to a place that I had never been. And every time I return, and as I look upon the land where Israelis have made the desert literally bloom, and as I drive past the aging hulks of Israeli tanks, which recall the dear cost that generations of Israeli patriots have paid for their nation's survival, as I see all of these things, it is clear to me that a confident Israel can achieve things that many think impossible. Secretary Condoleezza Rice Capital Hilton Washington, DC April 29, 2008 First of all, suck up much? Second of all, confidence?!? Does she think a lack of confidence is Israel's problem ? It is to die laughing. As usual, the truth is 180 de...

A post I wrote the other day got picked up and went around the block a few times, surprising me no end. It was reprinted in a discussion group and someone had this response: why don't you discuss the suicide bombings done by the Palestinians against the Israelis? why don't you condemn the practice of some Palestinian mothers who knowlingly allow their underage children both male and female to become suicide bombers and then venerate their memories? why don't you discuss such suicide bombers and what the Koran says about killing innocent women and children? when you begin to discuss both sides, then maybe a meaningful dialogue could begin! Why don't I make this 'gentleman's' arguments? Well, dear, the reason for that is very simple. You see, the Israeli perspective has been quite adequately covered by other people, for example the people at ABC, CBS and NBC news . This study consists of a statistical examination of ABC World News Tonight, CBS Evening News, an...

The IDF says it did not know that it was firing at a TV crew when it killed Reuters journalist Fadel Shana on 4/16/08. His car had clear press markings, and his clothes had clear press markings . Israeli troops were unable to identify Reuters News cameraman Fadel Shana as a journalist before they fired at him from a tank, the Israeli army said on Wednesday, citing the preliminary results of an investigation. Shana died while filming on a road in central Gaza on April 16. Five other Palestinians also died in the attack. Shana had been traveling in a vehicle that was marked with large press and TV stickers on the front and sides and was wearing blue body amour with "Press" in large blue letters on a white fluorescent panel on the front. Responding to repeated requests for an official explanation of the incident, Israeli military spokeswoman Major Avital Leibovich said the army had not yet completed its investigation but would provide a full account as soon...