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Talk Nation Radio: Carl Gibson on Shutting Down the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
https://soundcloud.com/davidcnswanson/talk-nation-radio-carl-gibson
Carl Gibson is currently engaged in a Green Jobs March from Philadelphia to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C., as part of a campaign called ShutTheChamber.org. You can join the march virtually by uploading a photo on their website, or you can join in reality at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce across from the White House at 10 a.m. Friday, May 24th. Gibson is lead organizer of ShutTheChamber and cofounder of USUncut. He discusses the damage the U.S. Chamber does to our political system pushing environmental destruction, wars, and the plutocratic concentration of wealth. Gibson says that small businesses paying dues to local chambers that themselves have little in common with the U.S. Chamber end up funding assaults on small businesses, as the local chambers fund the state chambers which fund the U.S. Chamber -- an institution that also serves to funnel vast quantities of unaccountable corporate money into politics.
Total run time: 29:00
Host: David Swanson.
Producer: David Swanson.
Music by Duke Ellington.
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Syndicated by Pacifica Network.
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Past Talk Nation Radio shows are all available free and complete at
http://davidswanson.org/talknationradio
Armed Forces Day, Graterford State Prison: Veterans and Pennsylvania's Criminal Justice System
By John Grant
PREFACE
Connecticut Advances Conversion from War to Peace Economy
The Connecticut legislature has sent to the governor to sign a bill that would create a commission to develop a plan for, among other things:
"the diversification or conversion of defense-related industries with an emphasis on encouraging environmentally-sustainable and civilian product manufacturing. On or before December 1, 2014, the commission shall submit such report to the Governor and, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a, to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to commerce."
The commission "shall Advise the General Assembly and the Department of Economic and Community Development on issues relating to the diversification or conversion of defense-related industries" among other things.
Obama's War on Free Expression
Obama's War on Free Expression
by Stephen Lendman
It's the most fundamental right. Without it all others are endangered. Obama's waging war to destroy it. He's done so throughout his tenure.
He targeted AP. He did so unjustifiably. A previous article discussed it.
Israel Heads Closer to War on Syria
Israel Heads Closer to War on Syria
by Stephen Lendman
Syria is Washington's war. It was planned years ago. It began in early 2011. No end of conflict looks near. Escalating it appears likely.
Israel's very much involved. It abhors peace and stability. Its history reflects belligerence. It’s a direct threat. It borders Syria.
Syria News May 22
Syrian and Hezbollah Fighters Push Qusayr Assault - NYTimes.com
Hezbollah sends new fighters to bloody Syria battle - Yahoo!7
Syria: Turning Point in the Battle of Qusayr - Al Akhbar English
VIDEO (Arabic): FSA Colonel: Shiite/ Alawite Villages Will be Wiped Out if Qusair Falls - YouTube
Syria: Main al-Nusra Front commander killed in Qusayr clashes - PressTV
Footage from rebels shows Iranian munitions in Syria - The Times of Israel
U.K. Pushes EU Blacklisting of Hezbollah Military Wing - WSJ.com
Tripoli braces for the worst as fighting enters fourth day - THE DAILY STAR
Baalbek residents back Hezbollah in Qusair fight - THE DAILY STAR
Israeli military chief issues stark warning after Syria, Israel trade fire across border - Fox News
Syrian army says captured Israeli Jeep is proof of aid to rebels - FRANCE 24
VIDEO: Israeli Jeep Used by FSA Terrorists Found in Qusayr by the Syrian Army - YouTube
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UN mediator: Syria government, rebels preparing for peace talks - NBC World News
Syria submits five names for possible peace talks - AFP
Syria Opposition Signals Tough Line on Peace Talks - ABC News
Syrian National Coalition to partake in 'Friends of Syria' talks - Ammon News
Iran wants in on Syria peace conference - AFP
Turkey's green light to Iran role in Syria talks a welcome step - todayszaman
Lavrov warns of hidden obstacles in upcoming conference on Syria - Russia Beyond The Headlines
Russia's Lavrov on Solving Syria through Diplomacy (Text of Interview) - Informed Comment
Armed, Bearded Syrians Flourish In Southern Turkey - al-monitor.com
Three Chemical Weapon Specialist Answer Questions About Chemical Weapons In Syria - Brown Moses Blog
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Tensions Rise as Barzani Closes Syrian-Iraqi Kurdistan Border - Al-Monitor
Barzani warns PYD over its Syria policy in deepening row - todayszaman
Border Arrests Reveal Disunity, Conflict Among Syrian Kurds - Al-Monitor
To contact Bartolo email peaceloversingle@gmail.com
Final Push for Signers & Donors for NY Times Full Page Ad
by Debra Sweet The timing could not be better for our message to appear in The New York Times. We are making a major push today for $9,703 to place the ad immediately for publication on stand-by this week. President Obama will give a major speech Thursday at the National Defense University in Washington, reportedly about drones and Guantanamo.
Are Japanese Bonds Signaling Trouble?
Are Japanese Bonds Signaling Trouble?
by Stephen Lendman
A previous article discussed the disconnect between soaring markets and troubled economies. Liquidity driven markets only skyrocket so long.
What can't go on forever, won't. No one's sure when. Eventually the music stops. When that happens, watch out. Signals provide clues.
Reinventing Guatemalan History
Reinventing Guatemalan History
by Stephen Lendman
History reinventors support despots. Social democrats are vilified. Crimes of war, against humanity and genocide are sanitized. They're whitewashed. They disappear in plain sight.
Wall Street Journal columnist Mary O'Grady tried reinventing Guatemalan history. She failed. More on that below.
Supreme Court Colludes with Monsanto
Supreme Court Colludes with Monsanto
by Stephen Lendman
It's no surprise. Michael Parenti calls America's High Court its "autocratic branch."
It's notoriously pro-business. It's longstanding. In Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railway (1886), it granted corporations legal personhood.
Iran War Weekly - May 20, 2013
Iran War Weekly
May 20, 2013
Hello All – It’s official. After almost a year of no progress in negotiations between “the West” and Iran about Iran’s nuclear program, last week’s meetings in Istanbul confirmed that there would be, indeed, no progress until at least after Iran’s presidential election, which will take place on June 14th. Whatever the outcome of the election, it is likely that the post-election resumption of talks (if any) will take place in an international landscape greatly altered by the fighting in Syria.
Syria News May 21
Battle in Syria Pulls Hezbollah Further Into Assad’s War - NYTimes.com
Obama voices concern to Lebanon on Hezbollah role in Syria - Reuters
Syria Says the Army Restores Security and Stability to Most of al-Qseir in Homs- SANA, Syria
Senior Hizbullah Official Killed in Syria Fighting - Israel National News
FSA: Mustafa Badreddine Leading Hizbullah Operations in Qusayr — Naharnet
Hariri slams state inaction over Hezbollah role in Syria - THE DAILY STAR
Tensions over Syria convulse Lebanese city again, 5 killed - Reuters
Attacks kill 95 in Iraq, hint of Syrian spillover - Yahoo! News
Iraqi campaign boosts Iraq-Syria border security - Al-Shorfa
Tribal and Islamist clashes in Syria reveal deep divisions - The National
Syria's Raqa opposition chief kidnapped, NGO says - afp
Video shows Syrian Islamists flogging men over illegal marriage - Yahoo! News
VIDEO: Sharia in Syria - whipping of men - LiveLeak.com
VIDEO: Evidence Of Iranian Arms Provided To Syria In The Past 18 Months - Brown Moses Blog
VIDEO: Syria crisis: 'Iraqi Shia fighters' join regime in battle - BBC News
VIDEO: Syria's makeshift oil refineries: 'It is like hell' – guardian.co.uk
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Friends of Syria to push for peace conference - AFP
Russia: Assad foes must come to Syria meeting without conditions - Reuters
Syria top priority as Saudi crown prince visits Turkey - Alarabiya.net
William Hague hints at veto of Syria arms ban - FT.com
Syrian opposition meets in Madrid over conflict - AFP
Syria, Russia, and the S-300: Military and Technical Background - canadafreepress.co
VIDEO: The coalition of peaceful change forces welcomes peace initative for Syria - YouTube
To contact Bartolo email peaceloversingle@gmail.com
CIA: An Idea Whose Time Has Gone
There's a contradiction built into every campaign promise about transparent government beyond the failure to keep the promises. Our government is, in significant portion, made up of secret operations, operations that include warmaking, kidnapping, torture, assassination, and infiltrating and overthrowing governments. A growing movement is ready to see that end.
The Central Intelligence Agency is central to our foreign policy, but there is nothing intelligent about it, and there is no good news to be found regarding it. Its drone wars are humanitarian and strategic disasters. The piles of cash it keeps delivering to Hamid Karzai fuel corruption, not democracy. Whose idea was it that secret piles of cash could create democracy? (Nobody's, of course, democracy being the furthest thing from U.S. goals.) Lavishing money on potential Russian spies and getting caught helps no one, and not getting caught would have helped no one. Even scandals that avoid mentioning the CIA, like Benghazigate, are CIA blowback and worse than we're being told.
We've moved from the war on Iraq, about which the CIA lied, and its accompanying atrocities serving as the primary recruiting tool for anti-U.S. terrorists, to the drone wars filling that role. We've moved from kidnapping and torture to kidnapping and torture under a president who, we like to fantasize, doesn't really mean it. But the slave-owners who founded this country knew very well what virtually anyone would do if you gave them power, and framed the Constitution so as not to give presidents powers like these.
There are shelves full in your local bookstore of books pointing out the CIA's outrageous incompetence. The brilliant idea to give Iran plans for a nuclear bomb in order to prevent Iran from ever developing a nuclear bomb is one of my favorites.
But books that examine the illegality, immorality, and anti-democratic nature of even what the CIA so ham-handedly intends to do are rarer. A new book called Dirty Wars, also coming out as a film in June, does a superb job. I wrote a review a while back. Another book, decades old now, might be re-titled "Dirty Wars The Prequel." I'm thinking of Douglas Valentine's The Phoenix Program. 
It you read The Phoenix Program about our (the CIA's and "special" forces') secret crimes in Eastern Asia and Dirty Wars about our secret crimes in Western Asia, and remember that similar efforts were focused on making life hell for millions of people in Latin America in between these twin catastrophes, and that some of those running Phoenix were brought away from similar sadistic pursuits in the Philippines, it becomes hard to play along with the continual pretense that each uncovered outrage is an aberration, that the ongoing focus of our government's foreign policy "isn't who we are."
Targeted murders with knives in Vietnam were justified with the same rhetoric that now justifies drone murders. The similarities include the failure of primary goals, the counterproductive blowback results, the breeding of corruption abroad and at home, the moral and political degradation, the erosion of democratic ways of thinking, and -- of course -- the racist arrogance and cultural ignorance that shape the programs and blind their participants to what they are engaged in. The primary difference between Phoenix and drone kills is that the drones don't suffer PTSD. The same, however, cannot be said for the drone pilots.
"The problem," wrote Valentine, "was one of using means which were antithetical to the desired end, of denying due process in order to create a democracy, of using terror and repression to foster freedom. When put into practice by soldiers taught to think in conventional military and moral terms, Contre Coup engendered transgressions on a massive scale. However, for those pressing the attack on VCI, the bloodbath was constructive, for indiscriminate air raids and artillery barrages obscured the shadow war being fought in urban back alleys and anonymous rural hamlets. The military shield allowed a CIA officer to sit behind a steel door in a room in the U.S. Embassy, insulated from human concern, skimming the Phoenix blacklist, selecting targets for assassination, distilling power from tragedy."
At some point, enough of us will recognize that government conducted behind a steel door can lead only to ever greater tragedy.
In an email that Valentine wrote for RootsAction.org on Monday, he wrote: "Through its bottomless black bag of unaccounted-for money, much of it generated by off-the-books proprietary companies and illegal activities like drug smuggling, the CIA spreads corruption around the world. This corruption undermines our own government and public officials. And the drone killings of innocent men, women, and children generate fierce resentment.. . .Tell your representative and senators right now that the CIA is the antithesis of democracy and needs to be abolished."
America: A Modern-Day Sparta
America: A Modern-Day Sparta
by Stephen Lendman
Permanent war is longstanding policy. America deplores peace. Throughout its history, it's waged war annually at home and/or abroad. Today it does so globally.
Giving peace a chance is loathed. Direct or proxy wars rage in multiple countries.
Guantanamo Force-Feeding Constitutes Torture
Guantanamo Force-Feeding Constitutes Torture
by Stephen Lendman
Guantanamo detention constitutes torture, abuse and ill-treatment. Long-term detention compounds it.
Force-feeding increases unconscionable pain and suffering. Doing so violates core rule of law principles.
Syria News May 20
Syrian Army, Hezbollah Move Into Rebel-Held Qusayr - NYTimes.com
Benjamin Netanyahu threatens more Israeli strikes on Syria - Telegraph
Syria ready to unleash missiles on Tel Aviv if attacked by Israel - The Sunday Times
VIDEO: Syrian TV coverage of Army's Military Operations to Retake the Key City of Qusayr - YouTube
VIDEO: Rebels film Qusayr under bombardment - YouTube
VIDEO: FSA Casualties in the Battle of Al-Qusayr - YouTube
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EU decision to lift Syrian oil sanctions boosts jihadist groups - guardian.co.uk
Al-Qaeda plunders Syria's oilfields - Independent.ie
VIDEO: The Telegraph visits the oil fields of Syria - YouTube
Syria: Jabhat al-Nusra split after leader's pledge of support for al-Qaeda - Telegraph
Jabhat al-Nusra - A Strategic Briefing - quilliamfoundation.org
VIDEO: Sharia in Syria - whipping of men - LiveLeak.com
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Time limits on Syria conference ‘counterproductive’ – Lavrov - The Voice of Russia
EU more viable model for Syrian Kurds than Iraq’s Kurdistan: PYD leader Salih Muslim - ekurd
Assad says no info on journalists missing in Syria - AFP
To contact Bartolo email peaceloversingle@gmail.com
Disconnect: Soaring Markets/Troubled Economies
Disconnect: Soaring Markets/Troubled Economies
by Stephen Lendman
Forget everything you learned about markets, economics and finance. Perhaps Newton, Galileo, Copernicus, Darwin, Freud, Einstein, and other noted figures were wrong.
Central banks run today's world. Major ones matter most. Money printing madness controls everything. Love doesn't make the world go round. Liquidity-driven markets reflect the power of bankers to do it.
America Honors Its Worst
America Honors Its Worst
by Stephen Lendman
Presidential Medals of Freedom are awarded annually. They mock what they claim to represent. Many go to deplorable recipients.
Previous dishonorees include GHW Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Robert Gates, Henry Kissinger, Tony Blair, Shimon Peres, Margaret Thatcher, Alvaro Uribe, Colin Powell, Madeleine Albright, and Alan Greenspan among others.
Why Obama Can & Should Close Guantanamo NOW
by Debra Sweet While promoting the message to Close Guantanamo that we are raising funds to publish in The New York Times, we have been hearing, especially in the Twitterverse, that people think, because Obama promised to close Guantanamo, and says that Congress is not allowing him to do that, the main problem is with Congress.
Syria News May 19
Syria's Assad says he won't leave before elections are held in his country - Yahoo! News
VIDEO: Interview: Bashar al-Assad on Syria and the international community – guardian.co.uk
Syrian army thwarts infiltration from Lebanon - AFP
Official: Gunmen abduct father of Syria deputy FM - AFP
Syrian opposition considers sacking its interim PM Hitto - McClatchy
Kurdish Youth Groups in Syria Blame Opposition Parties for Divisions - Rudaw
One Year After the Houla Massacre. New Report on Official vs. Real Truth - globalresearch.ca
Was The Attack In Saraqeb Chemical Weapons, Or Something Else (VIDEOS)? - Brown Moses Blog
VIDEO: Saudi cannibal rebel in Syria is interviewed, He ate the heart of a soldier - YouTube
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VIDEO: Turkish citizens blame government negligence for border town blasts - YouTube
Assad accuses Israel of providing intelligence to Syrian rebels - Haaretz Daily Newspaper
Tunisia to reopen its embassy in Syria - Medafrica Times
Lebanon arrests a network smuggling Syrian antiquities - Ya Libnan
Hackers target Saudi government websites - Al Jazeera English
To contact Bartolo email peaceloversingle@gmail.com
IRS Scandals: MoreThan Meets the Eye
IRS Scandal Headlines: More Than Meets the Eye
by Stephen Lendman
More than targeting political enemies is involved. More on than below. The practice is longstanding. Republican and Democrat administrations use the IRS abusively.
During the Coolidge administration, Republican Senator James Couzens investigated the IRS' predecessor - the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).
Putin v. Obama et al
Putin v. Obama et al
by Stephen Lendman
On May 16, the Wall Street Journal headlined "Russia Raises Stakes in Syria," saying:
Syria News May 18
Syria not a bargaining chip in relations with West : Lavrov - RT Russian politics
France opposes Syria conference if Iran to attend - Reuters
Turkey's Erdogan says U.N. must decide on any Syria no-fly zone - Reuters
Peacekeepers in Golan Abducted but Released by Rebels - NYTimes.com
Number of Syrian refugees tops 1.5 million mark, says UN agency - United Nations News Centre
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Insight: Syria's Nusra Front eclipsed by Iraq-based al Qaeda - Reuters
Jabhat al-Nusra and The Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham (VIDEOS) - Brown Moses Blog
Syrian rebels demand weapons before talks - The Washington Post
Syrian opposition to name new president in Istanbul - hurriyetdailynews.com
Syrian grain imports pick up despite worsening war - Ahram Online
Iraqis in southern city mourn 2 Shiite fighters killed in Syria - Fox News
Sectarianism in Iraq stoked by Syrian war - The Washington Post
To contact Bartolo email peaceloversingle@gmail.com
Politicalspeak: U.S. Style
It has been some time since the language of U.S. politics has been twisted so far as to render words nearly meaningless. In an effort to clarify what is actually being said in Washington, D.C., this writer offers this glossary of terms, with historical context, current usage and, at times, synonyms and antonyms.
Some of these words and terms have been around for a while; others are brand new.
Ensure That The NY Times Close Guantanamo Ad Gets Published
by Debra Sweet Yesterday, Pentagon officials claimed the president has authorization to pursue war without limits of time or space, saying the Authorization of Use of Military Force passed in 2001 means war could go on, as Dick Cheney said, "for generations."
Tsarnaev's Handwriting on the Wall
Boston Suspect’s Writing on the Wall
Editor Note: Hiding and near death, Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev reportedly scrawled on the inside of a boat that he did what he did to avenge innocent Muslims killed by U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, a rare look at the why behind “terrorism."
By Ray McGovern
Quick, somebody tell CIA Director John Brennan about the handwriting on the inside wall of the boat in which Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was hiding before Boston-area police riddled it and him with bullets. Tell Brennan that Tsarnaev’s note is in plain English and that it needs neither translation nor interpretation in solving the mystery: “why do they hate us?”
FBI Twists History: 'Terror' War Gets Stupider as Shakur is Added to the List
By Linn Washington, Jr.
Federal authorities publicly plot encouraging bounty hunters to kidnap a fugitive black radical from a foreign country for return to prison in the U.S. to achieve long-delayed justice.
This sounds like the FBI action on May 2, 2013 in placing former Black Panther and Black Liberation Army member Assata Shakur on its “Most Wanted Terrorists” list – the first female to have that dubious distinction.
Stop and Frisk: NYPD Racial Profiling
Stop and Frisk: NYPD Racial Profiling
by Stephen Lendman
The Fourth Amendment states:
"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."
