Member of Greece's November17 organization publishes book

Straight from the high security facility of Korydalos prison, Savvas Xiros, one of the convicted members of the Greek November17 'terrorist organization' has published a book investigating the mathematics  of prime numbers. Currently it is only available in the Greek language and may be accessed on Scribd.com. More details will be posted as they become available.

Italian MEP on Bilderberg and Trilateral nominations for EU President and foreign minister

Mario Borghezio, Lega Nord (ITALY), Member of the European Parliament with the group 'Europe of Freedom and Democracy', questions the nominations of Bilderberg and Trilateral attendees for the posts of EU President and EU foreign minister.

Uprising in Caribbean over British direct rule

Citizens become mutinous after only 4 months of direct rule by UK. Taxes, loss of benefits and dictatorship have citizens up in arms in Turks and Caicos and Caribbean.

London imposed direct rule after a corruption scandal involving former Prime Minister Michael Misick. In response the British swept away any semblance of local democracy. Now British Governor Gordon Wetherell runs the island as a one-man dictatorship.

It was complaints from islanders that alerted the British to the corruption problems in Turks and Caicos in the first place. Initially, most people were quite pleased to see the British take back the reins, but now islanders are beginning to resent the reimposition of colonial rule.

[ ... ]

The editor of the island's oldest newspaper, The Turks and Caicos Weekly News, Blyth Duncanson, initially supported British direct rule. But now he is opposed to it. Duncanson has now said, "Many times we are just shunted aside. And we're not really getting solid information. The interim administration, which is supposed to be run by the governor with the aid of an advisory council and a consultative forum, is operating like a closed shop. It's more like a military junta."

The governor has rejected this criticism. He has made it clear that he sees his job as clearing up after incompetent locals.

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Brit officers see relationship with Yanks as: 'Akin to dealing with a group of Martians'

From: Hostility between British and American military leaders revealed

The deep hostility of Britain's senior military commanders in Iraq towards their American allies has been revealed in classified Government documents leaked to the Daily Telegraph.

In the papers, the British chief of staff in Iraq, Colonel J.K.Tanner, described his US military counterparts as “a group of Martians” for whom “dialogue is alien,” saying: “Despite our so-called 'special relationship,' I reckon we were treated no differently to the Portuguese.”

Col Tanner's boss, the top British commander in the country, Major General Andrew Stewart, told how he spent “a significant amount of my time” “evading” and “refusing” orders from his US superiors.

At least once, say the documents, General Stewart's refusal to obey an order resulted in Britain's ambassador to Washington, Sir David Manning, being summoned to the State Department for a diplomatic reprimand - of the kind more often delivered to “rogue states” such as Zimbabwe or the Sudan.

The frank statements were made in official interviews conducted by the Ministry of Defence with Army commanders who had just returned from Operations Telic 2 and 3 – the first, crucial year of “peacekeeping” operations in Iraq, from May 2003 to May 2004.

A set of classified transcripts of the interviews, along with “post-operational reports” by British commanders, has been leaked to the Daily Telegraph.

The disclosures come the day before the Chilcot inquiry is due to begin public hearings into Britain's involvement in Iraq. Among the issues it will investigate is the UK-US relationship.

The leaked documents paint a vivid picture of the clash between what General Stewart described as “war-war” American commanders and their British counterparts, who he said preferred a “jaw-jaw” approach.

General Stewart bluntly admitted that “our ability to influence US policy in Iraq seemed to be minimal.” He said that “incredibly,” there was not even a secure communication link between his headquarters in Basra and the US commander, General Rick Sanchez, in Baghdad.

Col Tanner said that General Sanchez “only visited us once in seven months.” Col Tanner also added that he only spoke to his own US counterpart, the chief of staff at the US corps headquarters in the Green Zone, once over the same period.

Top British commanders angrily described in the documents how they were not even told, let alone consulted, about major changes to US policy which had significant implications for them and their men.

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The Decade in 7 Minutes

NEWSWEEK rewinds the first 10 years of the new century, reminding you of the best, worst, and unforgettable moments.

Kate Bush - 'Army dreamers'

Politics needs poetry -- so hooray for Herman Van Rompuy

First let me say this: on balance, I would far rather that people in politics were writing poetry than not. Where are the poets in the House of Commons? So let's give Herman Van Rompuy a round of applause.

However, I am suspicious of the haiku as a form. I have read a great many over the years – it is the default form in schools, and children are always being made to write them – and have come to believe that haikus are particularly popular among those who don't have time for poetry.

At its best, the form has a delicacy to it which can be very beautiful. At its worst, a haiku is a miniature place for people who don't like poetry to hide in. When a haiku works, it has a simplicity and brevity which I like – and brevity is close to the very heart of poetry. But if you don't pull it off there is a flatness and banality to the form.

I am not sure Van Rompuy totally avoids that. There is, I'm afraid, a touch of the Basil Fotherington-Thomas in some of his work – an awful conservative, picturesque prettiness.

Some are good, though. My favourite is Water:

Puddles wait

for warmth to evaporate.

Water becomes a cloud

He captures an idea of transience here, and of cyclical return – ideas which are central to the tradition of haikus. It is a scene of quietness, but there is threat in it.

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Q&A: The Poet of Baghdad

Watch part two

In 1979, Nabeel Yasin fled his homeland with his wife Nada and three-year-old son because he had published poetry that did not conform to the views of Saddam Hussein and his regime, including the work The Poet Satirizes the King.
Branded an 'enemy of the state', Yasin faced imprisonment and likely death if he remained in Iraq. He continued to write and publish poetry from exile in the UK, his works smuggled back into Iraq where they became a popular symbol of resistance.
Now the Iraqi poet is running for the position of prime minister in the upcoming Iraqi elections.

Filmmaker Georgie Weedon tells Yasin's story in his film, The Poet of Baghdad.

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Devdutt Pattanaik: East vs. West -- the myths that mystify

Devdutt Pattanaik takes an eye-opening look at the myths of India and of the West -- and shows how these two fundamentally different sets of beliefs about God, death and heaven help us consistently misunderstand one another.

http://www.ted.com/talks/devdutt_pattanaik.html

Why are so many media conservatives so obsessed with rape?

Conservative commentators such as Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and Michael Savage frequently employ rape metaphors when discussing progressives or progressive policies. For example, Beck said that New Yorkers are "being raped by [their] government," while Limbaugh, during a discussion of health care, told his listeners: "Get ready to get gang-raped again.

http://mediamatters.org/research/200911190048