[APR-news] Weekend Edition (December 8-10, 2006)

Sun Dec 10 06:43:26 PST 2006

Alternative Press Review - Your Guide Beyond the Mainstream
www.altpr.org - Weekend Edition (December 8-10, 2006)

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http://www.altpr.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=696
How to Survive the Crash and Save the Earth
by Ran Prieur

Our little world is doomed because it's built on a foundation of taking from 
the wider world without giving back. For thousands of years we've been going 
into debt and calling it "progress," exterminating and calling it 
"development," stealing and calling it "wealth," shrinking into a world of 
our own design and calling it "evolution." We're just about done. We're not 
just running out of cheap oil -- which is used to make and move almost every 
product, and which gives the average American the energy equivalent of 200 
slaves. We're also running out of topsoil, without which we need oil-derived 
fertilizers to grow food; and forests, which stabilize climate and create 
rain by transpiring water to refill the clouds; and ground water, such as 
the Ogallala aquifer under the Great Plains, which could go dry any time 
now. We're running out of room to dump stuff in the oceans without killing 
them, and to dump stuff in the atmosphere without wrecking the climate, and 
to manufacture carcinogens without all of us getting cancer. We're coming to 
the end of global food stockpiles, and antibiotics that still work, and our 
own physical health, and our own mental health, and our grip on reality, and 
our will to keep the whole game going.

Companion piece
http://ranprieur.com/essays/dropout.html
How to Drop Out
By Ran Prieur

http://www.altpr.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=695
Don't expect U.S. to create democracy in Iraq
By Mickey Z.

When liberal Prime Minister George Papandreou was elected in 1964, it did 
not sit well in Washington. Things went from bad to worse when Greece 
further annoyed its superpower benefactor by squabbling with Turkey over 
Cyprus, and then objecting to U.S. plans to partition the island. Democrat 
Lyndon Johnson summoned the Greek ambassador for a brief-and very 
instructive-lesson on how America handles its affairs. "Fuck your parliament 
and your constitution," said LBJ.

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Other articles of interest

http://www.antiwar.com/pilger/?articleid=10127
Setting the Limits of Invasion Journalism
John Pilger, Antiwar.com

In demonstrating how censorship works in free societies and the double 
standard that props up the facade of "objectivity" and "impartiality," Roger 
Hermiston's polite profanity offers a valuable exhibit. An invasion is not 
an invasion if "we" do it, regardless of the lies that justified it and the 
contempt shown for international law. An occupation is not an occupation if 
"we" run it, no matter that the means to our "positive ends" require the 
violent deaths of hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children, and an 
unnecessary sectarian tragedy.

http://peacepalestine.blogspot.com/2006/12/is-comment-free-at-guardian-only-if.html
The politics of anti-Semitism
Gilad Atzmon, PeacePalestine

In an article published by the Guardian's Comment is Free, David Hirsh an 
ultra-Zionist academic, accused me of being "anti-Semitic" and an 
"anti-Jewish racist". Yet, even though the piece looks like it is fully 
researched, Hirsh fails to present one single argument that can support his 
accusations. On the occasions that he attempts to do so, when he seems to be 
getting close to substantiating his accusations, it is only because he takes 
my words completely out of context, crudely diverts their meaning and in 
doing so, deliberately misleads his readers. This is something you might 
expect from a politician but not from an academic.

http://www.counterpunch.org/webb12072006.html
Welcome Aboard Air Kafka ... Risk Scoring and the National Insecurity State
Maureen Webb, CounterPunch

The story which broke on Friday about a traveler risk scoring system called 
the Automated Targeting System, or "ATS," evokes an image of an Orwellian 
world in which the State compiles a secret dossier on every individual and 
sorts the population according to secret criteria, assigning each person a 
"risk score." The individual has no recourse to challenge his risk rating, 
and he has no way of correcting any false or incomplete information about 
him. In fact, he will never know what information is being used against him, 
or even the criteria on which he has been judged a risk to the State. It is 
a disturbing image, and the fact that the government has been conducting the 
ATS program in secret for four years has shocked many people. However, the 
ATS is hardly a surprise to those who have been keeping track of similar 
programs.

http://www.military.com/opinion/0,15202,120114,00.html
Boomerang Effect
William Lind, Military.com

One of the things U.S. troops are learning in Iraq is how people with little 
training and few resources can fight a state. Most American troops will see 
this within the framework of counterinsurgency. But a minority will apply 
their new-found knowledge in a very different way. After they return to the 
U.S. and leave the military, they will take what they learned in Iraq back 
to the inner cities, to the ethnic groups, gangs, and other alternate 
loyalties they left when they joined the service. There, they will put their 
new knowledge to work, in wars with each other and wars against the American 
state. It will not be long before we see police squad cars getting hit with 
IEDs and other techniques employed by Iraqi insurgents, right here in the 
streets of American cities.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2006/12/05/giuliani/
Two parts hubris, one part paranoia
9/11 gave America amnesia about the real Rudy Giuliani. He's an 
authoritarian narcissist -- and we don't need another one of those in the 
White House
Cintra Wilson, Salon

It is alarming to think that the murky dealings and totalitarian tendencies 
that have marred the current administration could flourish even more under 
another control-junkie Republican. It is even more frightening to think what 
a commander in chief who already has a violent record of abusing authority 
could do with the unrestrained might of a geopolitical superpower. Given 
Giuliani's historic willingness to take Spanish Inquisition-style action 
against threats both real and imaginary, is anyone in doubt that it is every 
American's duty to keep Rudolph Giuliani as far from the White House as 
possible?

http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig7/martin-p1.html
A Young Marine Speaks Out: "I'm sick and tired of this patriotic, 
nationalistic and fascist crap"
Philip Martin, LewRockwell.com

The sad fact of the matter is that we are not fighting terrorists in Iraq. 
We are fighting the Iraqi people who feel like a conquered and occupied 
people. Personally I have a hard time believing that if I was an Iraqi that 
I wouldn't be doing everything in my power to kill and maim as many 
Americans as possible.

http://cyclone696.blogspot.com/2006/12/cyclones-real-deal.html
WHAT IS GOING TO BE THE FALLOUT?
Murph, Cyclone's Real Deal

We don't know for sure just what will trigger an economic collapse in this 
country. I suppose it is going to be some kind of composition of problems, 
or even maybe one of them being of sufficient magnitude by itself. Our 
absolutely insane economic policies fueled by corporate greed, consolidation 
and intrusion into the government sure looks like a good one. But the time 
line is kind of fuzzy. Oil depletion is also a big one. If the economy 
manages to keep running long enough, lack of energy will most certainly 
bring the economy to a grinding halt. The consequence of this is going to be 
tremendous. The problem is that few people see the problem coming, or refuse 
to deal with it. Either way, because of a lack of preparation when the fall 
comes, it is going to be far worse than it would have to be.

http://www.eugeneweekly.com/2006/12/07/news1.html
Flames of Dissent: The local spark that ignited an eco-sabotage boom - and 
bust (Part IV)
Kera Abraham, Eugene Weekly

It was spring 2001, a peak time in Eugene's eco-radical scene. The vandalism 
at the fall 1999 WTO protests, summarily blamed on "Eugene anarchists," and 
the rowdy anti-establishment protests that followed - confrontations between 
black-clad anarchists and cops, broadcast by a pulse of locally based 
radical green media - had catapulted this damp little city to international 
infamy. Some of the more extreme activists were calling for revolution 
against "Earth-raping" corporations and the government by any means 
necessary, and a surge of arsons claimed by the Earth and Animal Liberation 
Fronts told the world that they were serious.

http://www.infoshop.org/inews/article.php?story=20061207142836851
The "Green Scare" One Year and Beyond: Looking Back, Moving Forward
Infoshop News

One year ago, a nationwide sweep of arrests revealed the FBI's "Operation 
Backfire," a vast investigation and persecution of environmental and animal 
advocacy. Today, in cities throughout the world, events will mark this 
anniversary with displays of unity and firm opposition to government 
repression, Operation Backfire and the broader "Green Scare." Those arrested 
on December 7, 2005, and subsequent sweeps, were accused of property 
destruction intended to preserve the environment and animal life. Despite 
the fact that none of the arrestees were accused of injury to any human or 
animal, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and the corporate-dominated Bush 
administration described the accused as being the nation's number-one 
domestic terrorist threat. Several of those arrested entered plea deals in 
the District of Oregon to avoid sentences in excess of 1,000 years. Briana 
Waters, the mother of a young child and violin instructor, still faces trial 
in Washington federal court and asserts her innocence on all counts. Several 
individuals are currently being sought by federal law enforcement and are 
believed to be out of the country.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/120806J.shtml
A Tale of Two Frogs
Kelpie Wilson, Truthout

The Arctic, a place that few people inhabit or visit, is heating much faster 
than the rest of the planet, and devastating changes are already underway. 
Europe is another region that is feeling the heat more than most. Europe 
seems to be skipping winter this year as flowers bloom on Alpine ski slopes 
and bears find their dens too warm and soggy to hibernate in. That is one 
reason why Britain and other EU countries display a growing sense of urgency 
as they lead global efforts to reduce carbon emissions.

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20061225/hayes
9/11: The Roots of Paranoia
Christopher Hayes, The Nation

The example of the Reichstag fire itself is instructive. While during and 
after the war many observers, including officials of the US government, 
suspected the fire was a Nazi plot, the consensus among historians is that 
it was, in fact, the product of a lone zealous anarchist. That fact changes 
little about the Nazi regime, or its use of the fire for its own ends. It's 
true the Nazis were the chief beneficiaries of the fire, but that doesn't 
mean they started it, and the same goes for the Bush Administration and 
9/11. The Reichstag example also holds a lesson for those who would dismiss 
the very notion of a conspiracy as necessarily absurd. It was perfectly 
reasonable to suspect the Nazis of setting the fire, so long as the evidence 
suggested that might have been the case. The problem isn't with conspiracy 
theories as such; the problem is continuing to assert the existence of a 
conspiracy even after the evidence shows it to be virtually impossible.

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NewsWire

http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/december2006/071206jailedjournalists.htm
One Third Of Jailed Journalists Are Bloggers: Increasing authoritarian 
trends as governments target Internet for regulation, censorship, control

http://www.counterpunch.org/finkelstein12082006.html
The media lynching of Jimmy Carter

http://www.beggarscanbechoosers.com/2006/12/newspapers-that-once-called-upon.html
Newspapers That Demanded Clinton Resign Are Silent On Bush

http://www.bohemian.com/bohemian/12.06.06/byrne-0649.html
U.S. Military Preparing to Conduct Operations Against Threats in Urban 
American Cities

http://www.normanfinkelstein.com/article.php?pg=11&ar=605
How MEMRI doctored Finkelstein's interview to portray him as a "holocaust 
denier"

http://www.atlantaprogressivenews.com/news/0112.html
Israeli nuclear weapons whistleblower speaks out

http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2006/dec/10/yehey/top_stories/20061210top3.html
Footloose punks become rights martyrs

http://www.counterpunch.org/lindorff12072006.html
Prosecutor Admits Mumia Had No "True Defense" -- Mumia Abu-Jamal Case Goes 
to Third Circuit

http://uprisingradio.org/home/?p=987
Interview with Hans Bennett on the 25th anniversary of Mumia's arrest

http://www.reason.com/news/show/117095.html
Violent house invasions by terrorist jackboots all too common in the USSA

http://www.greenstateproject.com/2006/12/06/12-year-study-marijuana-not-repeat-not-a-gateway-drug/
Marijuana is not a gateway drug

http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/45275/
George Will: The problem with Iraq is that they're all savages

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1208-30.htm
Baghdad Bob Was Right

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2006/dec2006/isg-d09.shtml
Iraq Study Group: a bipartisan coverup of Washington's war crimes

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/295023_ranger07.html
Army ranger claims US forces engaged in systematic war crimes -- rapes, 
homicides and political assassinations

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/A7B418CB-37BD-4A69-B55C-CBDC7D932B38.htm
Pictures confirm US terrorist strike slaughtered children

http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,72134-0.html?tw=wn_index_1
Say Hello to the Goodbye Weapon: New "Nonlethal" Micro-wave Weapon used in 
Iraq

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/120906Z.shtml
Afghan war nears "tipping point"

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15856.htm
US casts sole "no" vote against proposed treaty restricting arms trade

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/3793
Keen grasp of the obvious: A Congress of whores and pipsqueeks

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/1208-05.htm
Renowned Cancer Scientist Paid by Chemical Firm for 20 Years

http://newstandardnews.net/content/index.cfm/items/3956
Typical American diet is environmental hazard

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4584572.stm
Earth is too crowded

http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article2054652.ece
Climate change is killing the oceans' microscopic 'lungs'

http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article2054654.ece
Exxon spends millions to spin doubt on global warming

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6217148.stm
China executes dam protester

http://www.alternet.org/envirohealth/45211/
The Consequences of Damming Rivers in the Developing World

http://www.moneyweek.com/file/22805/the-us-housing-market-is-different-this-time---its-worse.html
US housing market is different this time - it's worse

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml;jsessionid=VEHLS2GMUZFMZQFIQMGSFFWAVCBQWIV0?xml=/opinion/2006/12/07/do0702.xml
Economic storm brewing in America

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/1207-02.htm
12 million suburbanites live in poverty surpassing number of inner-city poor 
for first time

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/07/AR2006120701482.html
New Orleans to demolish public housing

http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2006/12/congestion_pric.html
New York Gridlock: Bad for Business

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