From AGI.it:
Around 30 members of Naples' "Occupy" and "zero81" movements shocked a branch of Bnl bank with a "naked" flash mob. After hanging banners with their slogan "Occupy banks", the protesters began to undress before the incredulous bank employees and clients till both male and female protesters stood in their underwear, some wearing the Anonymous mask, then wrapped themselves in a banner which stated "the rich should be the ones who pay". . .
photo from Zero81
Saturday, June 30, 2012
"Occupy bank" flash mob in Naples, protesters in underwear
How Media Makes Reality Relative
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegory_of_the_Cave
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69F7GhASOdM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiral_of_silence
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJ7lAy7RCNg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fahrenheit_451
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nineteen_Eighty-Four
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Orwell
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Bradbury
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noam_Chomsky
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Vonnegut
Amy J - 'Double Think'
Doublethink means, according to George Orwell's dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four:
... the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them. ... To tell deliberate lies while genuinely believing in them, to forget any fact that has become inconvenient, and then, when it becomes necessary again, to draw it back from oblivion for just so long as it is needed, to deny the existence of objective reality and all the while to take account of the reality which one denies—all this is indispensably necessary. Even in using the word doublethink it is necessary to exercise doublethink. For by using the word one admits that one is tampering with reality; by a fresh act of doublethink one erases this knowledge; and so on indefinitely, with the lie always one leap ahead of the truth.
As Orwell explains in the book, the Party could not protect its iron grip on power without degrading its people and exposing them to constant propaganda. Yet knowledge of this brutality and deception, even within the Party itself could lead to disgusted collapse of the state from within, as the Soviet Union later fell in the late 20th century. For this reason, Orwell's idealized government used a complex system of "reality control". Though the novel is most famous for its pervasive surveillance of daily life, reality control meant that the population could be controlled and manipulated merely through the alteration of everyday language and thought. Newspeak was the method for controlling thought through language; Doublethink was the method of controlling thought directly.
Doublethink was a form of trained, willful blindness to contradictions in a system of beliefs. In the case of Winston Smith, Orwell's protagonist, it meant being able to work at the Ministry of Truth deleting uncomfortable facts from public records, and then believing in the new history which he himself had written.
Through doublethink, the Party was able to not only bomb its own people and tell its citizens that the bombs were sent by the enemy, but all Party members—even the ones that launched the rockets themselves—were able to believe that the bombs were launched from outside.
Additionally, Doublethink's self-deception allowed the Party to maintain both huge goals and realistic expectations: "If one is to rule, and to continue ruling, one must be able to dislocate the sense of reality. For the secret of rulership is to combine a belief in one's own infallibility with the power to learn from past mistakes". Thus, each party member could be a credulous pawn, but would never lack relevant information. The party is both fanatical and well-informed, and thus unlikely either to "ossify" or "grow soft" and collapse. "Killing the messenger" disturbed the command-and-control of the Nazi (and later the Iraqi) militaries, but would not present itself in such a system. Doublethink thus functioned as key tool of self-discipline of the Party, to complement the state-imposed discipline of propaganda and a police state. Together, these tools hid the government's evil not only from the people, but also from the government itself, but without the confusion and misinformation associated with more primitive totalitarian regimes.
Occupy DC revived
Occupy DC was one of the longest standing branches of the Occupy Wall Street movement in America until The National Park Service police bulldozed the headquarters back in early February. But now a resurgence of occupiers has begun. Tents are back in McPherson Square in the nation's capital. So is Occupy DC here to stay? RT's Abby Martin has more.
Yemenis vow to continue protests until fulfillment of revolution goals
Thousands of Yemeni protesters took to the streets in the capital Sana'a, stressing that they continue to protest until all revolution's demands are met.
Vode's electoral Speech. Presented at Ordo Ab Chao @ Camp - Back to Athens . 2012
Vode's electoral Speech. Presented at Ordo Ab Chao @ Camp - Back to Athens . 2012 from theopsy on Vimeo. VODE CAMPAIGN: Speech performed by Theopsy at Ordeabchao, curated by Myrto Boudouris
CAMP FESTIVAL "Back to Athens" , MAI 2012
Video: Zan Tot
more @ boom-wow.tumblr.com
VODE is a virtual political campaign launched by artist Theopsy in April - May 2012 during the national election in Greece.
Take the future into your own hands - AP2P interview
An interview with M1 from Dead Prez and Bonnot who are part of AP2P - all power to the people. This interview was filmed in Exarchia, Athens - Greece. They talk about global movements as well as what is happening in Greece, and the need for revolutionary struggle. This film also explores the importance of neighbourhoods which serve as a bastian of resistance, like the anarcho bohemian neighbourhood of Exarchia in Athens.
In Tokyo, Thousands Protest the Restarting of a Nuclear Power Plant
Shouting antinuclear slogans and beating drums, tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered in front of the Japanese prime minister’s residence on Friday in the largest display yet of public anger at the government’s decision to restart a nuclear power plant.
Impressions of the massive demonstration against the restart of nuclear power plants that took place in front of the official residence of Japan's Prime Minister on June 29, 2012. See photos at https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.336917429719983.78032.115812641830464
Every Friday, demonstrators protest in front of the official residence of Japan's Prime Minister against the restart of nuclear power plants. Most news programs have ignored them, but last Friday, Asahi reported on that day's protest. And the next day, several newspapers did as well.
Possibly because of the exposure, as well as the government's decision to restart two nuclear reactors in West Japan on July 1, today's protest was massive.
The organizers claim that at least 160,000 people attended, a figure that can not easily be checked. The police put the number at 17,000. Local media estimated the crowd at between 20,000 and 45,000.
At first, the police tried to keep the road open for traffic. This always makes the crowd look much smaller than it really is. But today, the crowds surged forward, albeit in a well-mannered way, and totally overpowered the police, who reluctantly gave up the road to the huge crowd of protesters.
They shouted "Saikadou Hantai! Saikadou Hanzai!" "We are Against Restarting the Nuclear Power Plants. Restarting the Nuclear Power Plants is a Crime."
As Assange awaits asylum answer, US demands separate extradition from Sweden
While the exact future of Julian Assange remains unknown to just about everyone — including Swedish prosecutors demanding his extradition, American investigators asking questions about his role with WikiLeaks, his family in Australia and the government of Ecuador where he is seeking asylum — America is already asking for Sweden to send over someone else for them to scold. David Hemler, the 49-year-old US Air Force vet who went AWOL nearly 30 years ago, might soon be sent from Sweden to the States.
Helmer made headlines earlier this month when the servicemen long-assumed dead by his biological family came clean with his whereabouts — disillusioned by America’s foreign policies, he fled the Air Force in 1984 at the age of 21 and hitchhiked to Sweden, where he has since lived comfortably under an assumed identity and has fathered three children.
Robert Mundell, evil genius of the euro
"It's very hard to fire workers in Europe," he complained. His answer: the euro.
The euro would really do its work when crises hit, Mundell explained. Removing a government's control over currency would prevent nasty little elected officials from using Keynesian monetary and fiscal juice to pull a nation out of recession.
"It puts monetary policy out of the reach of politicians," he said. "[And] without fiscal policy, the only way nations can keep jobs is by the competitive reduction of rules on business."
He cited labor laws, environmental regulations and, of course, taxes. All would be flushed away by the euro. Democracy would not be allowed to interfere with the marketplace – or the plumbing.
Top CIA Spy Accused of Being a Mafia Hitman
From Wired:
Enrique “Ricky” Prado’s resume reads like the ultimate CIA officer: veteran of the Central American wars, running the CIA’s operations in Korea, a top spy in America’s espionage programs against China, and deputy to counter-terrorist chief Cofer Black — and then a stint at Blackwater. But he’s also alleged to have started out a career as a hitman for a notorious Miami mobster, and kept working for the mob even after joining the CIA. Finally, he went on to serve as the head of the CIA’s secret assassination squad against Al-Qaida.
That’s according to journalist Evan Wright’s blockbuster story How to Get Away With Murder in America, distributed by Byliner. In it, Wright — who authored Generation Kill, the seminal story of the Iraq invasion — compiles lengthy, years-long investigations by state and federal police into a sector of Miami’s criminal underworld that ended nowhere, were sidelined by higher-ups, or cut short by light sentences. It tracks the history of Prado’s alleged Miami patron and notorious cocaine trafficker, Alberto San Pedro, and suspicions that Prado moved a secret death squad from the CIA to Blackwater.
Friday, June 29, 2012
Greece: One year after the riots of June 15, 28 & 29 2011 - Split normality
One year after the riots of June 15, 28 & 29 2011 - Split normality from Yiannis Biliris on Vimeo. Τhe legacy of December, June and Syntagma Square is still hard to assess. Future social struggles, however, are surely bound to approach it again, in order to understand and, finally, transcend it.
http://antidocs.com
UK ready to take on Israel over fate of children clapped in irons
The Foreign Office revealed last night that it would be challenging the Israelis over their treatment of Palestinian children after a report by a delegation of senior British lawyers revealed unconscionable practices, such as hooding and the use of leg irons.
In the first investigation of its kind, a team of nine senior legal figures examined how Palestinians as young as 12 were treated when arrested. Their shocking report Children in Military Custody details claims that youngsters are dragged from their beds in the middle of the night, have their wrists bound behind their backs, and are blindfolded and made to kneel or lie face down in military vehicles.
Children from the West Bank are held in conditions that could amount to torture, such as solitary confinement, with little or no access to their parents. They can be forced to stay awake before being verbally as well as physically abused and coerced into signing confessions they cannot read.
The team – led by Sir Stephen Sedley, a former Court of Appeal judge – heard that "every Palestinian child is treated like a potential terrorist". In a damning conclusion, the report points out repeated breaches of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which prohibits cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.
More...US Army, Martin Seligman "CSF Research Fails the Test"
The conclusions of the report were foreshadowed in a March 2011 Psychology Today article by Eidelson, Soldz and Mark Pilisuk, "The Dark Side of 'Comprehensive Soldier Fitness'". The PT article stressed ethical concerns with the CSF program, particularly the fact that it constituted a research program, but that soldiers were not given informed consent regarding their participation, and no Institutional Review Board had reviewed the program.
In January 2011, Jason Leopold at Truthout published an investigation describing criticism of CSF from those who found its emphasis on "spiritual fitness":
CSF is comprised of the Soldier Fitness Tracker and Global Assessment Tool, which measures soldiers’ “resilience” in five core areas: emotional, physical, family, social and spiritual. Soldiers fill out an online survey made up of more than 100 questions, and if the results fall into a red area, they are required to participate in remedial courses in a classroom or online setting to strengthen their resilience in the disciplines in which they received low scores. The test is administered every two years. More than 800,000 Army soldiers have taken it thus far and more than 100,000 soldiers have participated in the remedial training.
But for the thousands of “Foxhole Atheists” like 27-year-old Sgt. Justin Griffith, the spiritual component of the test contains questions written predominantly for soldiers who believe in God or another deity, meaning nonbelievers are guaranteed to score poorly and will be forced to participate in exercises that use religious imagery to “train” soldiers up to a satisfactory level of spirituality.
More...
DESKTOP VIEW The Soviet synthesizer that bridged occultism and electronic music
Klint Finley writes for Boing Boing:
You don't play the ANS synthesizer with a keyboard. Instead you etch images onto glass sheets covered in black putty and feed them into a machine that shines light through the etchings, trigging a wide range of tones. Etchings made low on the sheets make low tones. High etchings make high tones. The sound is generated in real-time and the tempo depends on how fast you insert the sheets.
This isn't a new Dorkbot or Maker Faire oddity. It's a nearly forgotten Russian synthesizer designed by Evgeny Murzin in 1938. The synth was named after and dedicated to the Russian experimental composer and occultist Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin (1872–1915). The name might not mean much to you, but it illuminates a long running connection between electronic music and the occult.
You can find traces of the occult throughout the history of electronic music. The occult obsessed Italian Futurist Luigi Russolo built his own mechanical instruments around 1917. The famous Moog synthesizer made an early appearance in Mick Jagger's soundtrack to Kenneth Anger's occult film Invocation of My Demon Brother in 1969. And in the late 1970s Throbbing Gristle built their own electronic instruments for their occult sound experiments, setting the stage for many of the occult themed industrial bands who followed. The witch house genre keeps this tradition alive today.
It's little the surprise otherworldly sounds and limitless possibilities of synthesizers and samplers would evoke the luminous. But there's more to the connection. The aim of the alchemist is not just the literal synthesis of chemicals, but also synthesis in the Hegelian sense: the combination of ideas. Solve et Coagula. From the Hermetic magi of antiquity, to Aleister Crowley's OTO to modern chaos magicians, western occultists have sought to combine traditions and customs into a single universal system of thought and practice.
Electronic music grew from similar intellectual ground, and it all started with Scriabin.
More...You could have to pay a big fine for simply clicking on the wrong link
Right now, a group of 600 industry lobbyist "advisors" and un-elected government trade representatives are scheming behind closed doors to craft an international agreement called the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
Why the secrecy? We know from leaked documents that the TPP includes what amounts to an Internet trap that would:
- Criminalize some of your everyday use of the Internet,
- Force service providers to collect and hand over your private data without privacy safeguards, and
- Give media conglomerates more power to fine you for Internet use, remove online content—including entire websites—and even terminate your access to the Internet.
- The TPP would create a parallel legal system of international tribunals that will undermine national sovereignty and allow conglomerates to sue countries for laws that infringe on their profits.
The TPP's Internet trap is secretive, extreme, and it could criminalize your daily use of the Internet. We deserve to know what will be blocked, what we and our families will be fined for.
If enough of us speak out now, we can force participating governments to come clean. Your signature will send a message to leaders of participating countries.More...
Graham Hancock on Freedom
http://www.grahamhancock.com/
Graham discusses his views on freedom and the power of the internet.
CIA Wanted 'Torture' Cage for Secret Prison: Official
See also:
UNKNOWN LOCATION:
48. James Mitchell: From The 13 people who made torture possible :
Even while Addington, Gonzales and the lawyers were beginning to build the legal framework for torture, a couple of military psychologists were laying out the techniques the military would use. James Mitchell, a retired military psychologist, had been a leading expert in the military's SERE program. In December 2001, with his partner, Bruce Jessen , Mitchell reverse-engineered SERE techniques to be used to interrogate detainees. Then, in the spring of 2002, before OLC gave official legal approval to torture, Mitchell oversaw Abu Zubaydah's interrogation. An FBI agent on the scene describes Mitchell overseeing the use of "borderline torture." And after OLC approved waterboarding, Mitchell oversaw its use in ways that exceeded the guidelines in the OLC memo. Under Mitchell's guidance, interrogators used the waterboard with "far greater frequency than initially indicated" -- a total of 183 times in a month for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and 83 times in a month for Abu Zubaydah.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Human - The film trailer 2012
Watch part 1 here- http://vimeo.com/35283208
Watch part 2 here- http://vimeo.com/35299498
Watch part 3 here- http://vimeo.com/35466859
Watch part 4 here- http://vimeo.com/35467965
OR
Watch the full film here-
http://www.veoh.com/watch/v25849868KGfXdCzx
http://www.ipolitics360.com/Videos/Humanthefilm2012-Lu-bhY0Z9No.htm
Human is a film about the system we all live and work in and how this system needs to be overhauled. We are all human and this was made for you!
The Greek Anarchists
http://submedia.tv/stimulator/2012/06/26/the-greek-anarchists
This week an exclusive interview with Antonis Vradis of Occupied London. Antonis filled us in on the history and actions of the anarchists in Greece.
UK soldiers 'beat innocent Iraqi men in black ops jails but new secret justice law means their torture will be hidden forever'
The Mail on Sunday can today reveal devastating new claims of abuse by British soldiers carried out at a secret network of illegal prisons in the Iraqi desert.
One innocent civilian victim is said to have died after being assaulted aboard an RAF helicopter, while others were hooded, stripped and beaten at a camp set up at a remote phosphate mine deep in the desert.
The whereabouts of a separate group of 64 Iraqi men who were spirited away on two RAF Chinooks to a ‘black site’ prison, located at an oil pipeline pumping station, remain unknown.
Perhaps the most shocking aspect of these alleged abuses, which appear to have been flagrant breaches of international law, is that this secret network is claimed to have been sanctioned by senior Ministry of Defence lawyers.
More...
Mighty Uke Trailer 3.0
MIghty Uke is a feature documentary that travels the world to discover why so many people are turning to the simple ukulele to express their inner music.
mightyukemovie.com
GRRRL LOVE AND REVOLUTION: RIOT GRRRL NYC
A film by Abby Moser
Throughout 1992 and 1993, sensationalized accounts of the Riot Grrrl phenomenon appeared in publications all over the country, describing a new subculture that had emerged out of the underground punk scene. Despite the intense media interest in Riot Grrrl, little video documentation of this important facet of feminist and pop culture history exists, due in part to a decision by Riot Grrrls to no longer engage with the mainstream media that sensationalized, misrepresented and co-opted them. Filmmaker Abby Moser was granted access to Riot Grrrl NYC, the New York City chapter of this international movement. She interviewed individual members of the group, and documented meetings, rock shows, marches and events. An invaluable historical document, GRRRL LOVE AND REVOLUTION glimpses how the women in Riot Grrrl NYC organized and participated in a movement that revitalized a stagnant alternative rock scene, created safe spaces for women musicians and queer punks, and created a new wave of DIY feminist politics.
For more information about this film, please visit http://www.wmm.com/filmcatalog/pages/c828.shtml
Bird Flu Paper Is Published After Debate
Some of the early alarm was fed by Dr. Fouchier speaking at conferences and giving interviews last fall in which he boasted that he had “done something really, really stupid” and had “mutated the hell out of H5N1” to create something that was “very, very bad news.” He said his team had created “probably one of the most dangerous viruses you can make.”
More...
The artist of the revolution
Asserting popular control over public spaces is what made revolutionary spaces such as Change Square possible by mirroring the larger goal of democratic control of government, public institutions and resources.
Publically [sic] displayed art makes claims; it signals that an area is in control of the people and not regulated by the government or corporate owners of private property, says Al-Ansi.
Posters of martyrs and revolutionaries such as Che Guevara are ubiquitous in the square. Al-Ansi displays several portraits of martyrs in his tent. He says he painted or drew most of them while he wept.
More...
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
MaxHeadroom - The Blanks Exposition
I am constantly amazed at how prophetic this series was. Here we see two issues; privacy and anonymous hackers.
Max Headroom 1987 Broadcast Signal Intrusion Incident
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Headroom_broadcast_signal_intrusion_incident
Anonymous Hack Cyprus Government Sites
According to Greek press reports the hacker collective Anonymous is behind the 15-hour denial-of-service attack against 47 Cypriot government websites.
In other news, Greek police arrested a 13-year-old hacker who they claim is a member of Anonymous and the Greek group 'Hacking Scene', and that he has participated in over 100 cyber attacks.
Italian court rules MMR vaccine did trigger autism
In what may be a ground-breaking decision, the Italian Court of Rimini has ruled that causation between an MMR vaccine and the resulting autism in a young child “has been established.”
The unnamed child received the vaccine in March of 2004 and on returning home immediately developed adverse symptoms. During the next year the child regressed, receiving the autism diagnosis one year later and is now 100% disabled by the disease.
The Italian court ruled that the child “has been damaged by irreversible complications due to vaccination (prophylaxis trivalent MMR)” and ordered the Ministry of Health to compensate the child with a 15 year annuity and to reimburse the parents of their court cost.
The judgement can be found in full here and the original news report in Italian appears here. A rough Google translation appears here.
The case is expected to go to appeal as authorities are concerned it may set a legal precedent.
Not the first judgement against the vaccineThis, however, is the second recent judgement to come to this conclusion. Earlier this year a US court also ruled that the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine can cause autism.
In a ruling that kept very quiet in the press, the US Court of Federal Claims has conceded that the mercury-based preservative thimerosal, which was in vaccines until 2002, caused autism in the case of one child.
Non-Lethal Weapon: Active Denial System (ADS)
(http://youtube.com/user/usforcestv)
3/9/2012 The DoD Non-Lethal Weapons Program demonstrated it's latest system to a group of Marine Corps and DoD personel. Produced by Sgt. Andrew Milner.
Handwriting may soon become a thing of past
In a world where we increasingly tap out our thoughts, messages and reminders on a keyboard or a touchscreen phone, writing notes by hand is decreasing at a faster pace, with a typical adult not having written anything for almost six weeks, the study said.
The research, commissioned by online stationer Docmail, revealed that the average time since an adult last wrote by hand was 41 days. But it also found that one in three of us has not had cause to write anything 'properly' for more than six months, the Daily Mail reportedMore...
See also:
After Long Resistance, Pynchon Allows Novels to Be Sold as E-Books
Occupy Adam's Calendar, Part I - Extraterrestrial Genetic Manipulation: Geneticist William Brown
"Occupy Adam's Calendar, Part I - ET Genetic Manipulation: Geneticist William Brown" is the first release in a multi-part film by Alfred Lambremont Webre
The film is a tour de force on the science of extraterrestrial intervention and genetic manipulation of our Earth human species as seen through the genius of University of Hawaii geneticist William Brown. The film grows out of Occupy Adam's Calendar, a 280,000 year-old Annunaki extraterrestrial site in South Africa. On November 28, 2011 international researchers including University of Hawaii geneticist William Brown joined activist and author Michael Tellinger to Occupy Adam's Calendar, break the cycle of Annunaki occupation, and reveal it to the world.
From the Introduction: "Occupy Adam's Calendar"
"280,000 years ago, Annunaki extraterrestrials in the Deep Abzu (South Africa) established a vast machine for teleporting gold to their planet.
"These Annunakl extraterrestrials also devolved our DNA from a 12-strand DNA to a 2-strand DNA.
"The Annunaki extraterrestrial occupation of Gaia and homo sapiens continues to this day.
"Queen Elizabeth Windsor is current Annunaki bloodline planetary ruler, maintaining perpetual war, Gaia exploitation (GOD = Gold, oil, drugs), and devolving homo sapiens DNA.
Her grandson, Prince William, is being groomed as planetary Annunaki bloodline King, heir to Adam's Calendar.
"On 11.11.11, the government of Deep Abzu (South Africa) closed Adam's Calendar, the Annunaki gold teleportation machine, to the public.
"Occupy Adam's Calendar
"On 11.28.11, international researchers joined activist and author Michael Tellinger to Occupy Adam's Calendar, break the cycle of Annunaki occupation, and reveal it to the world.
"'Occupy Adam's Calendar' Part I - ET Genetic Manipulation with geneticist William Brown" is the first release in this multi-part film by Alfred Lambremont Webre
The film "Occupy Adam's Calendar" is a Faculty Project of :
ExoUniversity.org: Continuing Education in ExoSciences, PsiSciences, and Exopolitics.
http://www.exouniversity.org
References:
WILLIAM BROWN: SCIENCE OF LIFE
http://williambrownscienceoflife.com/
THE HUMAN LIGHT BODY: The Light Body
Quantum Electrodynamics of the Biological System
http://williambrownscienceoflife.com/?page_id=166
EXTRATERRESTRIAL ORIGINS OF HUMANITY
http://williambrownscienceoflife.com/?page_id=201
"The Light-Encoded DNA Filament and Biomolecular Quantum Communication" by William Brown, University of Hawaii (PDF)
Download Synopsis - The Light Encoded DNA Filament and Biomolecular Quantum Communication
http://exopolitics.blogs.com/files/synopsis---the-light-encoded-dna-filament-...
ARTICLE:
http://exopolitics.blogs.com/exopolitics/2012/06/occupy-adams-calendar-part-i...
"Oh Council of Bastards" [New Edition] - by Rami Essam #Egypt
"Oh Council of Bastards", is a powerful song against the Military dictators of Egypt (known as the military council or the supreme council of armed forces, SCAF). The SCAF is responsible of several crimes committed against the civilian people of Egypt since the start of the January 25, revolution in 2011.
Finally, a Secret Court Proposal that Makes Sense
As posted on Irregular Times:
On last Friday’s BBC News Quiz, Jeremy Hardy came up with a brilliant proposal for reforms to the new secret court systems popping up all over the “free west”:
I think they should have secret courts that are so secret they just don’t arrest us at all. They’d try us and sentence us and just leave us alone so that we don’t even know we’ve been convicted, and that we’re under house arrest with a degree of leniency.
Alexander Tarasov: World Revolution 2 - The Return to a Global Revolutionary Strategy Based on the Experience of the 20th Century
Firstly, please note that the current crisis is the first truly global economic crisis coming after WWII. It was quite predictable: as soon as the worldwide confrontation between the two systems (the Cold War, that is the World War III which de facto forced the capitalist economy to work as a military one because of the arms race and the impact the fact of confronting the "external enemy” had upon the internal situation) came to an end, the functioning mechanisms of the capitalist economy, well known to us from the Marxist political economy classics, restarted working without distortion again.
Secondly, let me point out that the economic crisis has hit the capitalist periphery the hardest: it is where the UN and FAO have recorded 1 billion hungry people (the figure unprecedented in the world history!); it is where we have witnessed classic revolts of the hungry in Egypt, Bangladesh, Haiti, etc.; it is where the crisis has destabilized the political structures which appeared to be stable, or were successfully stabilized not so long ago (Thailand, Mauritania, Haiti, Kyrgyzstan, Honduras, Mexico, Côte d'Ivoire).
But, typically for a global economic crisis under capitalism, the current crisis started not in the periphery but in the capitalist metropolis. And it is in the metropolis (which accumulates most capital and other wealth!) where the ruling classes tried to do their best to solve the economic problems at the expense of the workers, at the expense of the wage earners. Banks and corporations on the brink of collapse were everywhere saved with cash from the budget (from budgetary funding to direct nationalization, and nobody is making a secret of the act that it is temporary nationalization), i.e. at the expense of the ordinary taxpayer unable to conceal his income by resorting to the "rightsizing" accounting techniques or placing it offshore. The next step was to introduce, under the pretext of "anti-crisis measures", aggressive neoliberal methods of "cost saving" that is to initiate a new round of counterreforms aimed at dismantling the welfare state.
So how did wage workers of the metropolis respond to this offensive? The attack on their earnings and rights was so blatant and gross, wasn’t it? One could hardly come up with a better test of the revolutionary potential of the broadest masses of workers of the First World.
If one looks through leftist periodicals, whether anarchist, Trotskyite, Maoist, Stalinist, or of smaller tendencies, published in the countries of the metropolis, overoptimism leaps to one's eye. "The workers got up for their rights!", "Mobilization unseen in many years", "General strike, the first one for... (a number of years follows)", "All trade unions were unanimous for the first time in... (a number of years again)!", "Revival of the working class spirit!", etc., etc. Though the tone is quieter and optimism contained in the countries where mass mobilizations and large-scale strikes took place not so long ago. The French left, for example, on the one hand, are boasting of their achievements but, on the other, are already looking for those responsible for the failure (although the struggle seemingly is not over).
It's clear why. General strikes (especially in the countries which hadn't seen those for decades) and multi-million demonstrations are impressive, of course, but the result is always the same: the ruling class quietly spits at them and continues their neoliberal counterreforms everywhere. We can see it in Greece, and in Italy, and in France, and in Spain, and in Portugal, and in Germany, and in Britain, and in Ireland. Elections, which do not change anything, serve as a bone tossed to the embittered people: Labour may take over from the Conservatives (in Britain), and vice versa the Conservatives (neoliberal radicals) may replace the Socialists (in Greece) that does not matter; whoever forms the government, it keeps pursuing (and even intensifying) the same policy of counterreforms despite the widest and most impressive protests of the population.
Why is it happening? Because participants of the mass protests in the metropolis, who are wage earners, representatives of the middle class, make no attempt at the founding principles of the System. These classes, which have been for decades bribed with a share of the super profit extracted by monopolies from the Third World and distributed among the general population, are quite satisfied with capitalism, and all they want is to have capitalism with a "human face". And they are completely unaware of the fact, or rather prefer not to hear about it because it is an unpleasant fact, that such a "human face" in the metropolis can be made possible only by way of looting and overexploiting the periphery. That means their protest is purely defensive (and even conservative where it comes to preserving the vanishing welfare state under capitalism), they think in terms of conformism and reformism.
All the scandalous electoral successes of the ultra-right in various countries, including the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, Austria and even Greece, go with the above-said phenomena. The successes are diverse in scale but all are thought-provoking.
Let us recall what was the first response of British workers to the crisis? It was “wildcat” strikes and pickets by energy sector workers clamouring against the employment of foreigners (i.e. their class brothers!), those protests being spontaneous, not organized and not inspired by any right-wing groups, parties, publications.
In fact it is already at this point that the British left should have asked themselves what have they been doing all these decades? Was the failure of the grandiose anti-Iraq war protests, which they were so proud of, an accident?
This is not a question of right/false ideologies, of correct/false tactics. As always in cases like this, this turn of events is rooted in economic causes. In this case, the transformation of the metropolis (the First World) into the collective exploiter of the periphery (the Third World), a collective parasite, is the cause. Exploiters and parasites don't make revolutions. And if they do, those turn out to be "conservative revolutions".
More...The Ovarian-Psycos Bicycle Brigade Make a Space for Women on the Eastside
Two months ago, when 22-year-old Bree’Anna Guzman was murdered in Lincoln Heights, the all-women bike group Ovarian-Pscyos Bicycle Brigade scrapped their previously planned ride to ride instead through the neighborhood to protest the killing.
“Whose Streets,” one woman called out.
“Our Streets” the more than 30 women riding answered.
While many recent bike groups are either bicycling for recreation, bringing awareness to bicyclists on the road, or use the bicycle for social justice movement events, the Ovarian-Psycos Bicycle Brigade is a community inspired women’s movement that does all of the above and then some.
The Julian Assange Show: Noam Chomsky & Tariq Ali
A surprise Arab drive for freedom, the West's structural crisis and new hope coming from Latin America. That's the modern world in the eyes of Noam Chomsky and Tariq Ali, two prominent thinkers and this week's guests on Julian Assange's show on RT.
See also:
Funny Money
From snopes.com:
One case of an unusual image that did not involve a misprint occurred with a series of Canadian banknotes. George VI's death in 1952 placed his daughter Elizabeth onto the British throne and thus created the need to display a likeness of the new monarch on various monies throughout the British Commonwealth. In Canada, those new bank notes (issued in 1954) featured portraits of Elizabeth II, and it didn't take long for
Canadians to notice something unusual and even seemingly sinister about the young queen's hair as depicted on their money: a grinning demon appeared to be peering out from behind her ear.
This series of paper currency came to be known as the "Devil's Head" or "Devil's Face" series, and many people continued to see the Prince of Darkness in the Queen's tresses until 1956, when the Bank of Canada ordered bank note companies to modify the existing plates by darkening the highlights in Her Majesty's hair, so concealing Ol' Scratch from view.
Who is Love 22…?
…and what does he have to do with money?
According to Love 22‘s own web site:
When I asked for ideas on another web site, one person wrote: ” I worked in a market in Narragansett. Love 22 would often pay using 2-dollar bills folded so that 2′s were side-by-side, making a ’22.’ He now prints his own 22-dollar bills.” And the thing is: people are actually dumb enough to take these $22 bills as real money.“LOVE 22″ is (A PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE), a Unique Comic Performer, and (A CHAMPION FRISBEE PLAYER) who prints up real “$22. BILLS.” He performs at (THE MALLORY SQUARE SUNSET) festival in Key West, Florida. “I.K.W.F” Using origami he entertains the crowds by fashioning (BOOTS, SHIRTS, BOW TIE & RINGS) out of the “$22. BILLS.” LOVE 22 also appears world wide at Festivals, Cruises, Commencements, Conventions, Colleges, National Events, Corporate Functions, Weddings, Birthdays, Cocktail Parties and Stage Shows. The “$22. BILLS” have been “CASHED” over 500 times in the (“22″+ YEAR HISTORY OF “$22 BILLS”).
Story of Burqa: Case of a Confused Afghan
Story of Burqa: Case of a Confused Afghan
Brishkay Ahmed, Canada, 2012, 70 mins
Occupy Tao
From Lao Tzu: Father of Taoism
Why are people starving?
Because the rulers eat up the money in taxes.
Therefore the people are starving.Why are the people rebellious?
Because the rulers interfere too much.
Therefore they are rebellious.Why do people think so little of death?
Because the rulers demand too much of life.
Therefore the people take life lightly.Having to live on, one knows better than to value life too much.
'Dead' Berlusconi artwork unveiled
In a glass case in Rome appears to lie the corpse of former Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi. The body is in fact a waxwork, the latest provocative piece by Italian artists Antonio Garullo and Mario Ottocento, which they have entitled, 'The dream of all Italians'.
How to Bring Down Modern Civilization
Today's rambling rant is on the lofty subject of "immanentizing (or is it imminentizing) the eschaton," which is a fancy way of saying "purposefully bringing about the end of the world" (otherwise known as modern civilization). If you agree with me that this is a worthy goal, and a necessary part of saving the planet from ourselves, then I offer a few tips about how you can join me in my own effort to immanentize the eschaton.
Canada: Aboriginal Women’s Overrepresentation in the Sex Trade
Women migrating from reserves often do not have the education or skills-training required to find adequate work in the city and often find themselves and their children struggling with urban life (p.151).Poverty combined with a history of colonialism, racism, and sexism has lead to an overrepresentation of Aboriginal women in the Canadian sex trade, particularly in the city of Vancouver, where, in the downtown east-side (VDES), many Aboriginal women live. This paper will explore the current realities faced by Aboriginal women in the sex trade within Vancouver’s downtown eastside, how their overrepresentation in the sex trade is linked with colonialism, and the ways in which Aboriginal women are working together for change.
See also:
Declaration from the Aboriginal Women’s Action Network
Monday, June 25, 2012
Mao's Barefoot Doctors: The Secret History of Chinese Medicine
From Skeptoid:
Today we're going to take a look at how Chinese alternative medicine spread into the Western world. Promoters of alternative medicine claim that this ancient wisdom was (and is) in common use throughout China, and the Western world is becoming aware of its value. Skeptics of this position point out that alternative medicine was only used in Chinese rural areas where conventional treatments were not available, and it became popular because it was inexpensive, not because it was effective. The actual history brings some interesting perspective onto both of these points of view.
[ ... ]
Mao's government had tried since 1949 to recruit and encourage doctors to move from the cities to the country, but this had been largely a failure. What healthcare there was had been mainly provided by traveling teams of doctors who would spend a few weeks in the outlying provinces, but would then return to their hospitals in the cities where they could receive a decent income. The problem grew more pronounced with the increasing spread of schistosomiasis, a parasitic disease that caused infection and organ damage, and is most notably characterized by swelling in the abdomen. Schistosomiasis came to be something of an iconic symbol for the lack of healthcare in China.
Mao planned a fix. In 1968, Red Flag published what was to be China's solution. Mao's experience had taught him that efforts to push healthcare out to the countryside were doomed, and so he did the opposite. Farmers were recruited from all over China, given free training, and sent back to their own villages to serve as medical professionals.
Within just a few years, some 150,000 doctors and 350,000 paramedics — half a million workers to serve over half a billion patients — were at work throughout the country. They became known as the barefoot doctors. Candidates were required to be high school graduates.See also:
Health for the Masses: China's 'Barefoot Doctors'
China’s village doctors take great strides
1975 ARC Identifier 46549 / Local Identifier 286.260. DOCUMENTARY FILM: Highlights work of Chinese paramedics in rural China. Paramedics work to provide sanitation, reduce pest problems, and care for sick animals. They also have duties related to human birth control, dentistry, tonsil removal, and minor ailments requiring herbal remedies or acupuncture. U.S. Agency for International Development. (ca. 1998 - )
Lured by a painting he saw of a barefoot doctor in a Chinese magazine, Dr Saroj Dhital moved to Shanghai to study medicine. Returning to Nepal he took the lessons he learned from China's barefoot doctors and applied them to the villages of Nepal. Over time the concept expanded to use video conferencing via the internet as a means to allow barefoot doctors to bring complicated cases to specialists in Kathmandu.
Sudan: Unshackling the Sudanese Revolution
Unlike other countries in the region, Sudan is grossly underreported, and this was ever so evident during Friday and Saturday’s street demonstrations. The Sudanese government keeps a tight grip on local media and bans journalists from reporting on issues of human rights and corruption.
This however does not justify the blatant lack of interest from international media outlets. Al Jazeera, for instance, played a prominent role in reporting the uprisings in several Arab countries, but netizens say it seems to ignore the events currently unfolding in Sudan.
The media coverage of recent protests in Sudan was confined to articles in Al Arabiya and Al Jazeera, including some snippets on Al Jazeera’s English Channel. Other news outlets to cover the protests include CNN, the Malaysian news outlet The Star, the New York Times, Yahoo News, ABC News, and the Chicago Tribune. Nonetheless, this has not brought enough attention to the issues on the ground, as most of these news outlets don’t have much impact in the region, say netizens.
The protests kicked off after Friday prayers in a mosque in Wad Nubawi neighborhood in Omdurman. A call for protests tagged as #SandstormFriday was made a day earlier. The demonstrations were organized to protest against rising prices and the government’s new austerity plans that were announced by Sudanese president Omar Al-Bashir and implemented last week.
More...See also:
Sudan sees rise in anti-government protests
2011–2012 Sudanese protests
The Collective Tarot: Queer-centric, Radically-Politicked Mysticism
In The Collective Tarot, wands, coins, cups and swords are replaced with magical found objects: keys, bones, bottles and feathers. The court cards (page, knight, king and queen) are replaced with the Seeker, Apprentice, Artist and Mentor. While most card names in the Major Arcana remain unchanged, all have inspired new interpretations. Certain cards that contain outdated tropes (for example, “The Hierophant” – when is the last time that metaphor was relevant to your life?) have been replaced with more relevant symbols, such as “The Code” (referencing the hanky code) and “Intermission.”
9/11 Vancouver Tribunal expected to issue Indictments in 9/11 events around Labor Day 2012
...The 9/11 Information and Indictment is expected to issue around Labor Day, 2012. The Information and Indictment will be accompanied by an Evidentiary Report, setting out the evidence of probable cause for the indictments of the Accused.
Legal implications of the 9/11 Vancouver Tribunal
Following the issuance of an Information and Indictment against specific named individuals who allegedly participated in a common plan and conspiracy in the events of 9/11, there are multiple legal venues in which the criminal charges in the Information and Indictment can be prosecuted and tried, and verdicts and judgments reached and enforced against the Accused.
A. International law - The alleged crimes of the Accused in the Information and Indictment may be found to violate the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and constitute war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity. At the 9/11 Vancouver Hearings Judge Alfred Webre stated, "The 9/11 false flag operations may qualify as a war crime, genocide, and crime against humanity, inter alia, if it can be demonstrated that the true intent of the 9/11 perpetrators was to carry out 9/11 as a pretext for invading Afghanistan, which invasion and war has been found to be genocidal because of the use of depleted uranium weapons and other reasons. So the legal chain of culpability is there, under the Nuremberg precedents of a crime against peace and stating an unjust war. The Tokyo Tribunal for War Crimes in Afghanistan, in an opinion by Judge Niloufer Bhagwat, found that U.S. President George W. Bush and his administration had committed war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity through the horrific birth defects and other widespread genetic and health damage cause to Afghan civilians through the U.S. use of depleted uranium weapons."
The 9/11 Indictment can be taken by the 9/11 Vancouver Commission to the national courts of any of the more than 100 nations, such as Germany and Spain, that are signatories to the Rome statue of the International Criminal Court (ICC) for prosecution and enforcement, as well as to the ICC itself. The chief prosecutor of the ICC, to the criticism of many throughout the world, has failed to act on over 400 complaints on war crimes in Iraq and in Afghanistan by US and UK forces, and has privately stated he will not take jurisdiction of 9/11.
B. U.S. Congress - The Indictment of the 9/11 Vancouver Tribunal can be taken by the 9/11 Vancouver Commission to the U.S. Senate and to the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee for the appointment of a Special Prosecutor to prosecute the Accused Treason under Article III of the U.S. Constitution, which provides, "Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court. The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted."
There is legal precedent for such an action. In November 2007, a Memorandum was presented to senior Congressional staff and personally to Rep John Conyers, Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee setting out sufficient prima facie evidence of Article III(3) treason in connection with the events of 9/11 by George W. Bush, Richard B. Cheney, Donald H. Rumsfeld, and other Jane and John Does. Senior Congressional staff acknowledged the seriousness of the allegations in the Memorandum. Rep. Conyers took the Memorandum home to Detroit, MI over the Thanksgiving 2007 holidays promising an answer as to whether he would move on the file after the Holidays. To this date, no answer has been forthcoming from Rep. Conyers.
C. Canadian Parliament - There are various concurrent efforts to have the Parliament of Canada investigate the 9/11 events, as NORAD is a joint Canada/USA function and 26 Canadians were killed at the World Trade Center on 9/11. The 9/11 Vancouver Indictment can be taken by the 9/11 Vancouver Commission to members of Parliament and the Senate, including the Prime Minister and the Opposition Leaders in the Parliament of Canada to appoint a Public Inquiry to investigate and report on possible criminal violations by Canadian persons or U.S. persons, including U.S. government employees or contractors/agents, and other individuals flowing out of the 9/11 events.
D. Prosecution for murder - The 9/11 Vancouver Indictment can be taken by the 9/11 Vancouver Commission to any District attorney and/or U.S. Attorneys in the United States of America, and to any Public Prosecutors in other nations whose citizens were killed in the World Trade Center or the events of 9/11. The alleged Accused, Co-conspirators and persons acting in a common plan to cause, facilitate or support the events of September 11, 2001 can each be prosecuted for murder by a U.S. attorney, by a district attorney or by public prosecutors of a nation whose citizens were killed at the World Trade Center or in any aspect of the false flag operation on September 11, 2001.
E. 9/11 Vancouver Tribunal - The 9/11 Vancouver Commission can establish a formal Tribunal for a trial of the Accused under the 9/11 Vancouver Indictment. This trial would be heard by the 9/11 Tribunal Judges, with appointed prosecutors, counsel for the Accused and due process for the Accused. A sister tribunal of conscience, the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Tribunal, has successfully tried George W. Bush, Tony Blair, Richard B. Cheney, Donald H. Rumsfeld, et al. for war crimes in Iraq...
Call for Ray Bradbury to be honoured with internet error message
Tim Bray, a fan of Bradbury's writing, is recommending to the Internet Engineering Task Force, which governs such choices, that when access to a website is denied for legal reasons the user is given the status code 451.
There are already a host of HTTP status codes, from the common 404 Not Found to 504 Gateway Timeout. The 451 idea follows a blogpost from Terence Eden, who found that his ISP had been ordered to censor the Pirate Bay when he was given an HTTP 403 Forbidden message, meaning that "the server understood the request, but is refusing to fulfil it". In fact, Eden writes on his blog, it was not Pirate Bay that was preventing access but the government, after Britain's high court issued an order to ISPs to block access to the filesharing site in April, so the response was "factually incorrect", and a new code is needed to indicate "censorship".
451, Bray believes, would work nicely, as it would provide a tribute to Bradbury as well as reminding users of the dystopian future predicted by the science fiction author. Bradbury died earlier this month, leaving behind an oeuvre numbering hundreds of short stories as well as the novels Something Wicked This Way Comes, The Martian Chronicles and Fahrenheit 451, which tells of a world where books are banned and burned and fireman don't put fires out but start them.
More...
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange speaks from Ecuadorian embassy
Responding to US and Australian government claims that Washington was not interested in extraditing him to America, Assange said US legal action against him was already underway and on the “public record”.
The US Department of Justice, he said, was “playing a little game, and that little game is they refuse to confirm or deny the existence of a grand jury. And as a result, the press goes, ‘Oh well, they don’t confirm it, and therefore we can’t really write about it.’
“But that’s not true,” Assange said. “There’s public record everywhere, there’s multiple witnesses everywhere, there’s testimony in military courts about the existence of what is happening in these 48,000 pages, and that the founders and managers of WikiLeaks are amongst the subjects.”
Assange said two individuals with whom he previously worked—Jérémie Zimmermann and Smári McCarthy—had recently been detained at American airports and interrogated by FBI officials about WikiLeaks activities.
Assange added that the US was spending “vast resources” on its operations against him. He revealed that WikiLeaks had just discovered that the Department of Justice had awarded a $2 million contract to MANTEC, an IT systems company, to maintain the government’s computer system operations against WikiLeaks.
Herman Van Rompuy publishes haiku poems
According to the Guardian:
A relative unknown when he served as Belgium's prime minister for just 10 months before becoming EU president, Mr Van Rompuy has become internationally renowned not for his political achievements but for his haiku, a 17-syllable form of poetry originating in Japan.
Those looking for any insights into Mr Van Rompuy's political plans will be disappointed by his poetry and its mystical strain.
[ ... ]
Nobutake Odano, Japan's ambassador to the EU, would not comment on the literary merits of Mr Van Rompuy's haiku.
"He feels that he does not have to worry about the reaction of readers. He wants to express ideas in his own way," he said.
[ ... ]
HERMAN'S HAIKUS
On the seasons:
In a nearby ditch
toads mating passionately
inaugurate spring.
Brussels:
Different colours,
tongues, towers and gods.
I search my way.
A moment of reflection:
Birds in concert,
one sings above all others.
I don't know its name.
Mother:
Are you mute forever?
Are flesh and blood extinct?
I will be your grave.
~ ~ ~
See also:
Speech by President of the European Council Herman Van RompuyI discovered haiku poetry in the Summer of 2004. It would take too long to explain the circumstances and the reasons but it happened.
Fidel Castro leaves people guessing as he writes cryptic, Haiku-like notes
In cryptic paragraphs of never more than 65 words, the former Cuban president has written about yoga poses, edible plants, a criticism of Cuba by a Chinese leader who died 15 years ago and a former leader of communist East Germany who died even further back.
Castro’s pronouncements have sparked quizzical looks, jokes about his mental state as he approaches his 86th birthday on Aug. 13 and convoluted efforts by supporters to explain his odd words.
“I respect all religions, though I don’t believe in them. Human beings, from the dumbest to the wisest, search for an explanation for their existence. Science constantly searches for the laws that guide the universe. At this time, it is in an expansion started about 13,700 million years ago,” he wrote in a short missive published Tuesday by government websites.
Interesting ... Military Police Training to Drive Armored Vehicles on Civilian Streets
Interesting place to train,and more intersting as to why they need training of that sort. This exercise will run from June 21-28 in St. Louis. Presence of tanks will be most noticeable in the area of the sixth district.
SOURCE:
http://www.dailypaul.com/241599/dont-be-alrmed-army-trains-mps-to-drive-tanks-on-us-streets
Worldwide Militarization: NATO Expands Military Network To All Continents
By Rick Rozoff, Global Research
NATO's Allied Command Transformation, established at the 1999 fiftieth anniversary summit in Washington, D.C. and the first alliance command based in the U.S. (in Norfolk, Virginia), reported that participation came from "numerous partnership nations that came from all over the world including South America, North Africa, the South Pacific and East Asia" and that attending nations were members of the bloc's Partnership for Peace, Mediterranean Dialogue, Istanbul Cooperation Initiative and other military partnerships.
The first of the above three includes 21 nations in Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia (Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia, Finland, Georgia, Ireland, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.) The Partnership for Peace program was employed to prepare the twelve nations incorporated as full members between 1999 and 2009: Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.
Mediterranean Dialogue members are Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia. As will be seen below, Libya is scheduled to be the next partner.
Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates are members of the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative, with Saudi Arabia and Oman being groomed as new members and perhaps Iraq and Yemen behind them.
The nations in attendance at the NATO meeting in the Croatian capital of Zagreb, subtitled Current and Future Challenges, would have included what were formerly referred to as Contact Countries - Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea - and which are now included in a new category called Partners Across the Globe along with Afghanistan, Iraq, Mongolia and Pakistan.
The South American nation(s) were not identified, but NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe, Admiral James Stavridis, recently identified El Salvador in Central America and Colombia in South America, respectively, as current and future NATO partners and troop contributors in Afghanistan. This March Stavridis told Congress that Brazil and India also were potential NATO partners.
Before assuming the joint roles of NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe and commander of U.S. European Command in 2009, Stavridis was commander of U.S. Southern Command and as such in charge of American military operations and military-to- military relations in Central America, South America and the Caribbean. In 2007 the Standing NATO Maritime Group 1 conducted "presence operations" in the Caribbean Sea, the first time that alliance warships deployed there.
The inclusion of South America marks the crossing of a new threshold for NATO: It now has members and partners on all six inhabited continents, accounting for over a third of the nations in the world.
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