Wonkette and Washingtonsblog.com (have) reported that the Mayor of Oakland acknowledged that the Department of Homeland Security had participated in an 18-city mayor conference call advising mayors on "how to suppress" Occupy protests.
For the DHS to be on a call with mayors, the logic of its chain of command and accountability implies that congressional overseers, with the blessing of the White House, told the DHS to authorise mayors to order their police forces -- pumped up with millions of dollars of hardware and training from the DHS -- to make war on peaceful citizens.
It doesn't mean that congressional overseers had anything to do with it. DHS and its Secretary, on direction and orders of the White House, could do this all on their own.
Journalist Chris Hayes reported on a leaked memo that revealed lobbyists vying for an $850,000 (federal) contract to smear the Occupy Wall Street movement. The Guardian assumes this is because congress objected to OWS "exposing" corrupt financial dealings. However, OWS has been withering and becoming a laughingstock, not getting out any message other than filthy chaos, and its promulgators have been complaining that it lacks 'outrage photos', that would result in public anger and support for OWS, as well as considerably more public disruption. In other words, the White House created OWS, and they want results, even if some useful fools get beaten up in the process.
#2
Peaceful citizens do not shoot at the White House. They do not vandalize banks (and then deposit their funds at the same banks). They do not commit rape, and then establish "rape-free zones" for women's protection. They do not murder. They do not shove 78-year-old women down flights of stairs. They do not scream at 6-year-olds walking to school. They do not use police cars as bathrooms. They do not masturbate in public. They do not cause health hazards.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
11/25/2011 21:52 Comments ||
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#3
The useful idiots stopped being useful.
Posted by: Cincinnatus Chili ||
11/25/2011 22:36 Comments ||
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#1
The Chicago Way contaminates Washington. Time to clean house in the 2012 elections--and keep cleaning until D.C. gets straightened out--if that is possible. Whoever holds office too long gets tainted (and wealthy). D.C.; the place where potential congresscritters spend millions to obtain a $174,000 job.
People everywhere love free lunches, and American politicians also began using the redistribution of wealth to promote themselves. Lyndon Johnsons Great Society, built with Americas tax money, had the secret purpose of stitching together a pro-Democratic voting coalition needed to keep him in power. It accomplished its goal, but it shifted the U.S. budget into the red.
Lyndon Johnson opened a new American era, in which stealing tax money to build monuments to yourself has become a legal policy.
[Dawn] REPORTS of peace talks with the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistain have been surfacing in recent days. The first thing to note about them is their unreliability: various statements given to the media contradict each other and are hardly consistent with facts on the ground. On Wednesday, the Taliban spokesperson himself denied the reports and grabbed credit for an attack on a cop shoppe in South Wazoo. And even as some Taliban capos were earlier telling news hounds that talks were taking place, Hafiz Gul Bahadur was threatening the government from North Waziristan and forbidding civilians from working on army-led infrastructure projects in his area. Meanwhile, ...back at the mall, Clarissa spent the day shopping for new underwear. Tonight was going to be a special occasion... some reports said the ceasefire is limited to South Waziristan, while others claimed it is countrywide. Neither ring true. Kurram and Orakzai agencies continue to see festivities between cut-throats and security forces, and the latter were attacked in South Waziristan last month. Schools continue to be blown up in several areas of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... and Fata. Targeted killings of administration officials have not ceased; over Eid, a suicide kaboom in Swabi killed a former nazim ...small time big shot, the chief elected official of a local government in Pakistan, such as a district, tehsil, union council, or village council... belonging to the Awami National Party.
Speak to those with knowledge of how the Taliban are faring, and they will confirm that there is reason for scepticism. Despite these recent attacks, the TTP appears to be on the back foot in many tribal areas, and the Bajaur, Mohmand ... Named for the Mohmand clan of the Sarban Pahstuns, a truculent, quarrelsome lot. In Pakistain, the Mohmands infest their eponymous Agency, metastasizing as far as the plains of Beautiful Downtown Peshawar, Charsadda, and Mardan. Mohmands are also scattered throughout Pakistan in urban areas including Karachi, Lahore, and Quetta. In Afghanistan they are mainly found in Nangarhar and Kunar... and Swat ...a valley and an administrative district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistain, located 99 mi from Islamabad. It is inhabited mostly by Pashto speakers. The place has gone steadily downhill since the days when Babe Ruth was the Sultan of Swat... leaderships seem to have decamped to Afghanistan. In this context, suggestions of talks may in reality have been feelers sent out by the Taliban in light of the all-party conference resolution of Sept 29 that said the Pak administration would hold a dialogue "with our own people in the tribal areas". The fact is that the implementation of that resolution is in the very early stages; the parliamentary committee in charge of it was formed just a few days ago. But as it does move towards talks, the administration must keep in mind the long list of past failed negotiations with the Taliban. If the TTP really is on the back foot, that is a position any grinding of the peace processor must take full advantage of.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/25/2011 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] WITH almost 4,000 people killed in violent confrontations and under mounting pressure from the international community, Syria's Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Leveler of Latakia... is following in the footsteps of his former Libyan counterpart, and if he is not careful, may end up with a similar fate.
Assad's regime has been ruthless in crushing its opposition. In the past two weeks over 100 people have been killed in Homs alone, the third largest city in Syria. Four hundred people have died nationwide this month and the whole country is teetering on the brink of civil war.
Thankfully, the Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... has finally grown teeth and is using them to puncture holes in Assad's blanket authority. On Nov 2, the League put forth a set of proposals that called for the release of political prisoners, the withdrawal of security forces from the cities and permission for outside monitors to enter the country.
Assad, who freed only a few hundred prisoners, chose to ignore all other conditions, infuriating League members and instigating Syria's suspension from the League on Nov 13. To add fuel to fire, he allowed supporters to attack the missions of Jordan, Qatar, Soddy Arabia and Turkey, further alienating its members.
The Syrian regime, expecting criticism from the US and European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... , was caught off guard when its support among neighbours abruptly crumbled. The vote to suspend Syria in the 22-member Arab League was unanimous except for Leb and Yemen. Turkey, its largest neighbour to the north, openly called for reform and currently hosts Syria's political opposition, the Free Syrian Army. Algeria and Sudan, usually supportive of dictators, voted against him. King Abdullah of Jordan, known for his neutrality, and Soddy Arabia, internationally the most influential member, were both vocal in their opposition.
The Arab League on Nov 16 gave Syria three days to cooperate or face economic sanctions. The regime, expert in stalling tactics, said that "in principle" it accepted the League's proposal of sending in 500 military and civilian observers. Their insincerity became apparent when they proposed changes such as their involvement in choosing the observers.
Unsurprisingly, the League rejected the amendments on Sunday, stating that they impinged on the core of the Arab peace plan.
Though the vaporous Arab League is unlikely to impose a full trade embargo on Syria it may use targeted sanctions to further isolate the country. Syria's economy, already fragile, is projected to retract by two per cent this year. Manufacturing has been disrupted due to violence, trade has fallen and countries like Turkey have imposed sanctions. Most detrimental so far has been the EU's embargo on oil, which makes up 20 per cent of government revenue and 40 per cent of its export earnings
The Arab League has the power and resources to further squeeze the regime. With over 50 per cent of Syria's non-oil exports sold to Arab countries and hundreds of millions of dollars pouring in from Arab development funds, Assad might find himself in trouble. A ban on banking transactions and investments could help to persuade the powerful business community to abandon their support of the regime and pressure on Syria's private banks, which the regime uses for its own dealings, would make it increasingly difficult to finance its operations.
Much of the international community is backing the League's actions and condones sanctions against Syria's regime. A UN resolution that condemned violence in Syria, would have paved the way for economic sanctions had it not been for Russia and China's veto. Russia's ties to Syria, that date back to the Soviet era when it provided military aid to Damascus ...Home to a staggering array of terrorist organizations... , still hold strong -- Moscow sold $3.8bn of weapons to Syria just last year. European nations, undeterred, are now exploring another route that would condemn the current regime.
Though Assad has been spared for now, support among his powerful allies at the UN, China and Russia may be wavering. The Arab League's suspension of Syria could nudge China to reconsider its position as it would be reluctant to oppose its Arab trading partners. If China is swayed, then pressure on Russia will be immense.
Though members of the UN are seeking ways to further pressure the Syrian dictator, it is unlikely that NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... will intervene as it did in Libya. The situation is far more volatile; ethnic and sectarian tensions, underlying alliances with Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, and Hezbullies, and Syria's proximity to Israel, are very real dangers that could destabilise the region.
Without outside military intervention, the opposition will have to bear the brunt of Assad's brutality, but with mounting international pressure and economic sanctions, they could bring down the regime. It is clear that Assad's days are numbered.
"The conflict will continue, and the pressure to subjugate Syria will continue," he told a newspaper, "Syria will not bow down."
Syria may not but Assad will have to.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/25/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Syria will bow to the Russians, and then pencil neck will have his determination decided.
#2
Its a Sunni Shia thing, with Turkey's islamonazis adapting to empowered Iran. I say empowered, because the current regime is nothing but a Jimmah Carter Frankenstein. The Shah should have been given a free hand against the genocidal ayatollahs.
BHO hugged Erdogan. I wonder if he would bow to Ahmadinejad?
#3
Unfortunately, the Shah suffered from two things: ill health and a desire to let the Iranian people, after decades of hard work, enjoy the fruits of their labor--which was interpreted as weakness.
The latter problem was the same thing that had happened to Porfirio Diaz in Mexico. His program of modernization was brutal, but very effective. Even to this day, the railroad system he created is still functional, despite it being Mexico. In his day, it was world class, and the pride of the country.
But in his old age, Diaz decided to liberalize and be less authoritarian. Today he is still officially derided as a tyrant, except among those in the know, who rightly see him as evolving Mexico by hundreds of years, in a short period of time.
#4
Pencilneck and his father, on the other hand, have created little or nothing but despair. Personally, I will never forgive them for being so neglectful that they allowed the secret of the making of Damascus steel, a closely kept 2000 year old secret of several families, to die out.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Wazoo
Mohmand
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
