gang of six deficit plan

The Gang of Six plan seems to be the most likely solution to the August 2nd debt ceiling deadline. The plan doesn't seem much of a compromise to me. Yet it is very likely Obama will support it. A major tax cut would be given to the top tax bracket (from 35% to 23-29%), which, other than just after Reagan's presidency, is at it's lowest point since the great depression.

This just about sums it up:

Just about the only specific piece of the Gang of Six proposal, as explained well by Rep. Peter DeFazio above, is the move to chained CPI, a benefit cut for Social Security, veteran’s benefits and any program with a cost of living adjustment, along with a regressive tax cut.

Overall this plan will place most of the burden on the working class. It's about time we put the myth that these cuts help job creators to rest. Let's not forget the huge income inequality we have in this country.




In other news, the US claim that no civilians have been killed by drones in Pakistan is a lie. From a recent study:

Yet a detailed examination by the Bureau of 116 CIA ‘secret’ drone strikes in Pakistan since August 2010 has uncovered at least 10 individual attacks in which 45 or more civilians appear to have died.

Also an interesting read from Glenn Greenwald; the governments case for the anthrax attacks in 2001 is full of holes.

That Ivins lacked the means, ability and equipment to produce the sophisticated strain of anthrax used in the attacks -- especially to do so without detection and leaving ample traces -- has long been one of the many arguments as to why it is so unlikely that he was the culprit (or at least the sole culprit).

[...]

But, of course, in the U.S., the nation's most powerful political and financial factions -- especially those who control the National Security State -- are immune from meaningful scrutiny and investigation. As a result, President Obama -- in what I think is one his most indefensible acts -- actually threatened to veto the entire intelligence authorization bill if it included a proposed bipartisan amendment (passed by the House) that would have mandated an independent inquiry into the FBI's anthrax investigation.

On the lighter side of things, they now have fake Apple stores.

Invasion Libya

Update 1 - 3/23/11
Update 2 - 3/25/11

As I've been following what's going on in Libya closely, I thought I'd keep an ongoing post with links for those interested with some commentary. This post will be updated with new developments. Al Jazeera has great coverage including a live blog.

For some background, University of San Francisco Professor Stephen Zunes wrote this article just as US naval ships were moving into the region when fighting between rebels and Gaddafi's forces first broke out. For a perspective on Libya's role in oil production, see this piece.

Missile hits Gaddafi compound in Tripoli from Al Jazeera, 3/21/11

‎But Arab League chief Amr Moussa on Sunday condemned what he called the "bombardment of civilians" and called for an emergency meeting of the group of 22 states to discuss Libya.

He requested a report into the bombardment, which he said had "led to the deaths and injuries of many Libyan civilians".

"What is happening in Libya differs from the aim of imposing a no-fly zone, and what we want is the protection of civilians and not the bombardment of more civilians," Egypt's state news agency quoted Moussa as saying.

[...]

However, Navy Vice Admiral William E Gortney added that any of Gaddafi's ground troops advancing on pro-democracy forces are open targets for US and allied attacks.

"If they are moving on opposition forces ... yes, we will take them under attack," he told reporters.

"There has been no new air activity by the regime and we have detected no radar emissions from any of the air defence sites targeted and there's been a significant decrease in in the use of all Libyan air surveillance radars."

The drawbacks of intervention in Libya, an opinion piece from Al Jazeera, 3/20/11

The Daily Show from 3/21/11. Great commentary on the situation in Libya.

As Gaddafi Forces Launch New Attacks, Reports on the Ground from a Divided Libya - Democracy Now reporting on the situation in Libya on 3/3/11.

No-Fly Zone Enacted as U.S. and Allied Forces Launch Air Strikes on Libya Amid Growing Concerns for Civilian Safety - Democracy Now reporting as the no-fly zone is enacted on 3/21/11.

--------------------------------

Update 1

Libyan rebels form 'interim government' from Al Jazeera on 3/23/11

Libya air force 'unable to fight' from BBC on 3/23/11. US Commanders were saying this after the first day, yet there were still strikes enforcing this so called no-fly zone.

CBS Poll: 50% Approve Of Obama's Handling Of Libya - Haven't read and watched US media on this, it comes as no surprise. I'm sure most of those opposed to Obama's handling of this say he hasn't done enough.

Debating Intervention: Is U.S.-Led Military Action the Best Solution to Libya Crisis? on Democracy Now, 3/23/11

Strikes will 'antagonise' many in Arab world, says Chomsky - from the Irish Times, 3/21/11

U.S. rescue chopper shoots six Libyan villagers as they welcome pilots of downed Air Force jet - From the Daily Mail, 3/22/11

Six Libyan villagers are recovering in hospital after being shot by American soldiers coming in to rescue the U.S. pilots whose plane crash-landed in a field.

The helicopter strafed the ground as it landed in a field outside Benghazi beside the downed U.S. Air Force F-15E Eagle which ran into trouble during bombing raid last night.

And a handful of locals who had come to greet the pilots were hit - among them a young boy who may have to have a leg amputated because of injuries caused by a bullet wound.

The imperialist scramble for Libya from Socialist Worker on 3/23/11. Includes comparisons to Kosovo.


--------------------------------

Update 2

Is Barack Obama's Libya intervention a flip-flop from what he said in 2007? from PolitiFact.

Savage asked Obama, "In what circumstances, if any, would the president have constitutional authority to bomb Iran without seeking a use-of-force authorization from Congress? (Specifically, what about the strategic bombing of suspected nuclear sites -- a situation that does not involve stopping an IMMINENT threat?)"

[...]

Obama said, "The president does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation."

White House: Libya fight is not war, it's 'kinetic military action' from The Washington Examiner on 3/23/11.

US remains military muscle in Libya campaign from Raw Story (AFP repost) on 3/25/11.

Mission Creep - Opinion piece from Al Jazeera on 3/25/11.

news roundup

Got no time to really write a post, so here are some worthwhile links:

US funds dry up for Iran rights watchdog - Federal funding denied for watchdog group that investigated abuses of protesters after this summer's disputed presidential election in Iran.

Price of gold soars on report of Arab states ditching dollar - The dollar will no longer be the currency tied to the price of gold.

Voices against the G20 - Report of protests and activities during the G20 Summit in Pittsburgh.

House cuts workweek to 2 1/2 days - Congress gets lazier.

Progressivism? Not so fast, folks - Dummest thing I've read all week. But it's like a train wreck, you just can't look away.

From Frontline, Obama's War - If it's like Bush's War, it's definetely worth a watch. Still haven't watched this preview.

Mom's designated driver: her 13-year-old son - And for the story that makes you go 'what the fuck?'

more suck from the Obama Administration, net nuetrality, g20, and a robbery

Obama drops demand that Israel freeze settlements

Prodding Israel and the Palestinian Authority to restart talks aimed at a permanent resolution of their decades-old conflict, President Obama dropped a demand for an Israeli settlement freeze, U.S., Israeli and Palestinian officials said.

"Simply put, it is past time to talk about starting negotiations. It is time to move forward," Obama told reporters before a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"It is time to show the flexibility and common sense and sense of compromise that is necessary to achieve our goals," Obama said.

So ask Israel to block building settlements, do absolutely nothing when they ignore you, then say its not a big deal and things should just move along anyway.


Federal Communications Commission Chairman proposes to possibly extend the agency's network neutrality principles to the mobile Internet

As expected wireless carriers are opposing the statement arguing against government interference to the Internet. The truth is that net neutrality would protect the Internet to be free and open and keep it from a corporate takeover where the highest bidder would control bandwidth. Most people are unaware of the importance of net neutrality legislation and how without it the Internet will be controlled by just a few rich companies like radio and tv are, taking the voice away from the people.


The G20 summit is in Pittsburgh this weekend and the police is prepared. It has been extremely difficult for activists to get permits for marches and rallies and they will most likely be overwhelmed by the police presence. Upward of $20 million will be spent on security while at the same time neglecting the first amendment rights of activists.


On a lighter note, thieves stole a helicopter and robbed a security firm in Stockholm and got away. This sounds good enough for a movie.

news roundup: California budget and Obama's secret guests

An agreement was made between California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and state legislators that would dramatically cut social spending and start offshore oil drilling. Part of the budget cuts include:

$6 billion from K-12 schools and community colleges over two years
$3 billion from the University of California and California State University systems
$1.3 billion from Medi-Cal, the state's healthcare program for the poor
$1.2 billion from the state prison system

Republicans warned the deal could fall through over the proposed release of prisoners of non-violent crimes (other key points of the deal can be seen in that SFGate article).

On the topic of California's budget crisis, here is a talk by Mike Davis and David Bacon at Socialism 2009.


President Obama continues President Bush's policy of keeping certain White House visitors a secret. Obama administration officials of denied requests of top health care industry executives visiting the president. Obama criticized the same types of practices by former President Bush during his presidental campaign.


Today on Democracy Now! there was a good interview with Princeton University professor Cornel West and Carl Dix of the Revolutionary Communist Party on race in the age of Obama and the social struggles that need to rise to push Obama. From Cornel West:

Lincoln supported the slave trade when he was in the House. He supported the Fugitive Slave Act. In the first inaugural lecture he gave, he supported the first proposed Thirteenth Amendment, which said there would be slavery forever in America, the unamendable amendment. That was Lincoln. If it were not for the abolitionist movement, the courageous black and white freedom fighters, from John Brown to Douglass, who put pressure on Lincoln, we would have been dealing with a white supremacist Lincoln.
Lincoln became great, because a social movement pushed him against slavery in that regard. And Obama is looking to the wrong Lincoln. And if he doesn’t understand the greatness of Lincoln was responding to the social movements of working people and poor people, he’s going to end up with a failed presidency, with a lot of symbolic gestures, but, on the ground, everyday people, those Sly Stone called “everyday people,” suffering still.

Obama admin control over the press and more on Honduras

Columnist Helen Thomas and CBS reporter Chip Reid criticized White House press secretary Robert Gibbs on the issue of pre-selected questions about health care sent in from email and social networks.

“It feels like the concept of a town hall, I think, is to have an open public forum. And this sounds like a very tightly controlled audience and list of questions. Why do it that way?” asked Reid.

[...]

“We have never had that in the White House,” Thomas said, referring to the degree that press events are pre-scripted in the Obama administration. “I’m amazed, I’m amazed at you people who called for openness and transparency…”

Watch the video. It's dissapointing seeing this type of action from the White House since this was one of the foundations of Obama's campaign.


For more on Honduras check out this article by Socialist Worker and today's Democracy Now!

military coup in Honduras and how the US will act

Honduran president Manuel Zelaya was ousted by a military coup on June 28, 2009. President Obama has joined many leaders throughout the country condemning the ousting, although Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton held off formally calling the event a coup which would cut off millions in aid to Honduras. The US administration has not called for Zelaya to be reinstated in office. Zelaya is a close ally of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and has made a series of moves in opposition of US foreign policy, mainly highly criticizing the war on drugs. The president has said the US is responsible for drug violence in Central America and has called for legalization. In December he wrote Obama a letter outlining these points. He also raised minimum wage by 60 percent in a country where many foreign companies operate factories.

Generals Romero Vasquez and Luis Suazo who led the coup also received training by the United States at the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC), formally known as the School of the Americas. WHINSEC has trained many Latin American soldiers and policemen including generals, dictators, and armies for drug cartels, some of which have been previously involved in CIA sponsored coups.

Democracy Now's Juan Gonzalez related these events to Haiti under the Clinton administration.

[T]his reminds me very much of what happened years ago in Haiti, where you had basically a military coup against a legally elected president, Aristide, and where the—a Democratic administration, President Clinton, condemned the coup leaders, as has President Obama, at least in this in the early days here, but where the US military was playing a different role—in essence, had its own ties with the established coup leaders.

It will be interesting to not only watch what the Obama administration does during this event, but also what goes on behind the scenes.

secret prison in US holds activists, obama "stonewalling" gay marriage

Democracy Now! had a very good and frighting piece Thursday about Andrew Stepanian, an animal rights activist, who was held in a secretive prison known as Communication Management Units (CMU), also called "Little Guantanamo." Most inmates are of the Muslim faith.

In 2006, Andrew Stepanian was sentenced to three years in prison for violating a controversial law known as the Animal Enterprise Protection Act. Stepanian and six others were jailed for their role in a campaign to stop animal testing by the British scientific firm Huntingdon Life Science. They were convicted of using a website to “incite attacks” on those who did business with Huntingdon Life Science. Together, the group became known as the SHAC 7.

Andrew spent his last five-and-a-half months at a CMU in Marion, Illinois with highly restricted visitation and phone rights. He was charged with conspiracy to commit a violation of the Animal Enterprise Protection Act for setting up a website, meaning he didn't actually take any action. In Andrew's case, we was charged for being involved with others by association and none of the others comited any criminal acts either.

The greater implications of this are downright scary, where a dissident is unable to criticize or plan to act against the government or corporations in non-criminal ways. These laws, along with the patriot act, are slowly turning our country into a police state where someone who speaks out and starts gaining traction can be arrested under this horrendous laws.

[O]ne thing that came upon over and over again was listing how these individuals have support websites, how they have individuals supporting them and donating money, donating books, organizing benefit shows, doing media, going on Democracy Now!. That actually came up in Daniel McGowan’s sentencing. So it’s clear that these people are being targeted because they have a strong network of support that can get information out. And putting them in these facilities is an attempt to neutralize that.

This isn't the first time something like this has happened (protesters being arrested at the Republican National Convention under the Patriot Act comes to mind) and it certainly won't be the last. I just hope the people will be able to fight and defeat these laws before we are all arrested for trying to speak against them.


Gay Pride is in San Francisco this weekend (as well as other parts of the world) and the parade is kicking off with a political contingent. The other day's Colbert Report had a good segment on how Obama is "Stonewalling" any advancements on gay rights. In his usual manor, Colbert explains how Obama has not kept his promises to the LGBT community. On his "The Word" segment as Colbert says "you see, the president is too busy with the economy, and healthcare, and the wars to issue an executive order ending don't ask don't tell," while text on the screen reads "Would require stroke of the pen." He goes on mentioning that even though Obama extended benefits to same sex partners, those did not include health or retirement benefits.

in context

From what I can gather the general strike never took place today, but there has been talk of further planning. Hopefully if Mousavi doesn't take the lead with the strike, the people of Iran will. There is a call to flood a large market in Tehran but not purchase anything to slow the economy down. Further rallies will be announced in the week as well as days of mourning for those who have died.

President Obama condemed the Iranian government's action, but a spokesman cautioned that Obama would not back calls for a general strike. I can't find the context of this, but it will be very interesting and revealing to see how the main stream media reports the general strike. Hopefully people will realize that those on top fear that concept more than the protests already happening.

Yesterday, Democracy Now had Kouross Esmaeli discussing what happened over the weekend. One of the issues discussed was Western influence in Iran.

The Western presence in Iran has been there for about 200 years, from the British and the Russian, who took parts of Iran under control up to World War II. And after World War II, it was the US that stepped in and started supporting the Shah of Iran as their favorite dictator in the Middle East. There was a coup d’état against a popularly elected prime minister that had come in to nationalize Iranian oil. And that has really remained within the Iranian consciousness ever since, ever since 1953, and Iranians harbor deep mistrust for the US, that was seen as orchestrating a coup against their popularly elected leadership. And in 1979, when the Islamic Revolution took place, the biggest sort of fear of the Iranian people was a repeat of the coup d’état. And that’s why the—that’s a large reason why the hostage crisis took place. They took hostages to make sure that the US does not come in, invade, orchestrate another coup again. And that has remained the dynamic within the Iran-US relations: mistrust on both sides.

And at this point that the US does not have diplomatic relations, it really makes no sense for any administration to get political points for seeming like they’re standing up with some demonstrators somewhere in order to score points with their constituents here. Over the weekend—and what’s amazing is the way the media in the US has been really helping spin this for the Republican right wing. I mean, there were images on CNN and Fox over the weekend of President Obama, I think, buying ice cream for his daughters while the demonstrators in Iran were fighting for their democracy. And they were likening that to President Bush when he was playing golf right after he invaded Iraq and equating the two. It was like, how heartless could Obama be, when he could be—I don’t know what he could be doing in order to support Iranians. I think he did the best thing he could do in order to support the Iranians.

The guest also discusses the different players in the power struggle for Iran.

Today's episode discussed deep packet inspection, a method the Iranian government uses to monitor everything on the Internet. It goes into how this technology is used in the U.S. and other countries as well. This is a must see. I hope the situation in Iran brings more attention to this topic.

Lastly, the Socialist Worker has a great article on Iran putting the entire situation in context. Probably one of the most complete pictures of the situation I have read.

updates from iran and article roundup

Today I've posted a handful of Twitter posts, a roundup of various articles about the situation, and a detailed update of the past few days from another source.

The doctor who helped Neda is also a friend of Paulo Coelho http://is.gd/19kHd #iranelection

Unconfirmed: Rafsanjani has votes to remove Khamenei, needs secure support of army. Regime may attack Qom. #iranelection #iranelections RT

Support frm army and Islam Guards and Mullahs for Mousavi growing NWest Iran regions and Khorasan #iranelection #neda #iranelections #gr88

Qom poised to support the ppl and condemn Khameni. Mullahs r joining protest. #iranelection #neda

Clashes today confirmed in Jaam Jam and Mellat Park - militia used tear gas - shooting heard - #Iranelection

clashes in 7 Tir Sq and Valli Asr Ave - street fires & tear gas - shooting heard - many militia #Iranelection

Democrats are urging Obama to stay out of the Iran crisis while Republicans are criticizing him for being too "timid and passive." Senator Dianne Feinstein said the reason to not get involved is due to lack on intelligence, which should be cause of concern. First, this is most likely false and second, it's easy for them to say that they do have enough intelligence if they decide to get involved. It's an easy argument to dispute. Democrat Bob Casey stated Congress should give Obama the power to impose sanctions on Iran if necessary. So as you can see, even though Democrats are being non-interventionist now, they are clearly laying the path to change their minds if they want.

Iran turmoil likely to benefit Israel. My roommate, Mollie, brought this up the other day, although in a slightly different context. Any long lasting instability in Iran will give Israel much more influence in the region. Hamas and Hizbullah will greatly be weakened and Israel may take advantage of the situation in Palestine and maybe other parts of the Middle East.

Dave Zirin comparing the Iran protests to the soccer riots Ahmadinejad called them. Mentions the role of women, minorities, and the working class to the protests.

An article by Pepe Escobar discusses the power struggle going on in Iran and how it is based on a movement by the people.

Iranian crisis widens fissure among clerics from The Seattle Times.


More details from the past two days from Tatsuma

21st of June.

Two major events happened today:

- Grand Ayatollah Montazeri went directly against Ayatollah Khamenei's wishes and declared a 3-day mourning period in Iran, while Khamenei had ordered mosques to avoid making ceremonies in the memory of the fallen victims of governmental violence.

- The Guardian Council admitted that in 50 cities, there were in fact more vote recorded than there are registered voters and said they were looking into the situation. Seeing as the GC is under direct control of Khamenei, this is very likely an attempt at damage control from people who have yet to grasp how deep the schism in Iran is. This could be an attempt to ultimately blame Ahmadinejad for the irregularities and throw him under the bus in order to save their skin, which would be a sign they don't fully realize yet what is happening.

- Aside from that, as expected there were clashes all over Iran, but subsided since the 20th. The Iranian Government went on the offensive, kicking out a BBC correspondent and attacking Western countries for what they see as meddling in Iranian internal affairs. Tomorrow Mousavi has called for a general strike all over Iran. It seems that business activity that the already paralyzed country will be stopped completely.

From the 19th to the 20th of June. post-Khamenei speech.

If anyone doubted this is a Revolution and that this was bigger than the election, there is no such doubt anymore. While Khameini directly called for them to stop, the population took the street more numerous than ever. This is direct defiance to the Supreme Leader. Here are the major events that happened between the end of Khamenei's speech and midnight on Saturday.

- Before the protest even began, heavily armed men were waiting for the dissidents, planning to prevent them from reaching the rally point. It didn't take long for the peaceful protests to turn into full-fledged riots. Security forces had also closed off the Tehran university to prevent students from leaving to protest or entering to take shelter. Basij, some security forces and what is suspected to be members of the Revolutionary Guard assaulted the protesters. The protesters fought back while chanting "Death to Khamenei" and "Down with Khamenei". The security forces used water cannons and tear gas to try and disperse the protesters. While the tear gas was partly successful, the water cannons were mostly useless, as they were quickly over ran by the protesters.

- A lot of eyewitnesses report that the Basij now fighting appear to be barely older than teenagers, most of them between 16 and 20, taking a real pleasure in the violence. Others report that up to hundreds of both security forces and Basij were injured in the last series of clashes. The Basij forces are using pvc tubes filled with concretes, bats, even knives and are assaulting people everywhere, down to metro stations.

- A bomb exploded at the Khomeini Shrine, killing one and injuring at least two. Most believe that the government is in fact behind it. Khamenei was a major figure of the previous Revolution, and they used a similar tactics then, destroying buildings and blaming it on the Shah in order to turn the population against him. The State television is of course blaming Mousavi for it and calling for a harsher treatment of the protesters. This is also very convenient for the Regime, has Mousavi said he would take refuge there if he feared for his safety, but now all access is blocked.

- In return, the harsher the treatment of protesters by the security forces, the harsher the rhetoric and reaction of the protesters. They are calling for the death of the regime, the death of Khamenei, the death of their oppressors and that they will avenge them. Once the gun shots started, the protesters went wild, beating down security forces and basij forces they caught to a pulp, while the Basij and security forces are showing absolutely no restraint, even less than they previously had.

- There are many reports that the security forces and Basij still ever present in hospitals and clinics. Basij are kidnapping some of those injured, while the security forces is identifying those participating in the protest. In order to arrest protesters, security forces raided the Khomeini Hospital in order to arrest injured protesters. There are rumours that Basij forces have hijacked ambulances and use them as a trap to brutally assault already injured protesters seeking help, or shoot at them. Iranian journalists, Reformist intellectuals and feminists are still being arrested and rounded up to prevent from reporting the news or reaching out.

- As the protests grew, extreme measures started to used by those trying to repress the Iranians asking for freedom. Gun shots were first fired in the air, but it did not take long for them to be fired at the protesters. A liquid was dropped from helicopters, creating severe skin burns on protesters. We are unsure what the liquid was. They are also openly opening fire on the crowds, 40 to 60 people at least were killed in a single day, and scores more injured according to protesters. There are also reports that Revolutionary Guard Helicopters dropped firearms crates to 500 Basij fighters, as they are more willing than government forces to use them on civilians.

- The protesters are fighting back, taking over anti-riot trucks and burning them, attacking Basij bases and burning another one to the ground. There are report that a security forces truck was actually blown up by the protesters. In many instances, government forces have been force to fled under the constant assault of the people. Another report mentioned a security forces post was burning as well.

- The Iran Fatemiyeh Hospital in Tehran has confirmed at least 40 dead as well as 200 injured. Other sources report that hundreds of security forces and hundreds of basij fighters were injured as well.

- At night the protesters joined each others on the roofs in Tehran, shouting "Allah-u Ackbar", "Margh Bar Khamenei" and chanting "I will welcome death, I will welcome death, but no subjugation, but no subjugation". None of the rhetoric is addressed to Ahmadinejad anymore, all of it is directed to Khamenei and the regime. Many of the popular chants throughout the day were "I will kill those who killed my brother/sister", "Death to the Government", "Death to Khamenei" and "Seyed Ali Pinoshe, Iran won't be Chile".

- China has been censoring all news coming from Iran. Obama's restraint has been useless, as the Iranian government has shown a video of him with a false translation where Obama declared his support for the protesters, and that they should keep on protesting.

- Mousavi gave a speech and declared that if he is arrested, then the whole nation should strike. He also told the people that he is ready for martyrdom.

- There are unconfirmed reports that the Army is now refusing to follow orders and will not attack the protesters. The newest strategy from the government seems to be arming the Basij, dressing them in riot gear, team them up with IRG soldiers, and try to prevent massive rallies and keep them localized instead, as they are easier to stop spreading.

the twitter revolution

UPDATE:

Very worrying report: Supreme Leader Khameini has called for Friday Prayers where he will be present. There are fears that the IRG is going to have a massive presence and that this might be a trap, but on the other hand not attending makes the reformists enemies of Islam and worthy of the death penalty. There are also reports that other Reformist candidate Karoubi and his entire party leadership were arrested.

Nothing much has happened in the last hours aside of that. There are reports of clerics and ayatollahs meeting in the holy Shiite city of Qom in order to plan to overthrow Khameini as supreme leader, as well as a more and more pro-dissenters stance from the army, but we have nothing substantiated so far. I will yet update this tomorrow, adding further information about various other groups operating in Iran right now and relevant to this revolution.

I really am trying to cram the most relevant information and speculation only. Everything is updated as events unfold, especially the timeline and what will happen in the future. If you want to link this, here is the website, updated as the situation changes:

https://sites.google.com/site/tatsumairanupdate/

Some more updates directly from twitter:

Hezbollah & Hamas of Lebanon Helping Iranian Security forces in Tehran is what I meant, sorry for the confusion

Be careful about fake Iran security forces tweets, but don't block as it might be real tweeter Iran #Iranelection #gr88 #Iranelections

When we get new elections we must allow candidates not of approved lists. Real democracy this time. Iran #Iranelection #gr88 #Iranelections

and the rumor about Hezbolah & Hamas helping Basij, until today I never believed it but I saw them today with my own eyes

Next Ahmadinejad will turn water into wine, votes in 30 cities more than the people who live there let alon able to vote #Iranelection

can we block the airport so they can't make the foreign journalists leave? #Iranlection #gr88 #Iranlections

The Christian Science Monitor has an article explaining the inconsistancies in the Iranian election pointing toward fraud.

Results from 39.2 million handwritten ballots came much more swiftly than in previous votes, emerging within hours. Detailed election data typically released has not been made public.

Iran's Supreme Leader sanctioned Ahmadinejad's victory after a day, instead of the customary three.

Ahmadinejad made a surprisingly strong showing in wealthier cities, where he is known to have less support, and in the ethnic strongholds of his rivals. Results from cities and rural areas normally vary, but this time were remarkably consistent.

Democracy Now had Arang Keshavarzian, Associate Professor in the Department of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at New York University, on the show discussing the lead up to the election and the disputed results.

Another set of pictures showing the size of these protests. Some are graphic.



On another topic, Salon blogger and constitutional law attorney Glenn Greenwald was also on Democracy Now talking about President Obama's embracement of Bush's policies on government secrets even though it was one of the cornerstones of his campaign. A great overall view of how Obama is no different than Bush on this issue.

roundup: i wish Obama would listen to MLK

I'm going to try a more organized format for my roundups. And maybe something else to call it other than roundup.

Howard Zinn on Democracy Now: I Wish Obama Would Listen to Martin Luther King"
Some U.S. soldiers forced to ration water due to shortage
Homeless advocate caught eye of police Homeland Security coordinator
New York moves to be added to list of states cooler than California. Assembly passes gay marriage bill
Guns may be allowed back in national parks as part of credit card legislation
UCSB professor investigated for being critical of Israel

Historian and peace activist Howard Zinn is interviewed my Amy Goodman. One of the topics discussed is how Obama, like many, commends Martin Luther King on the civil rights movement, but does not take into account his ideas on peace and poverty. Zinn discusses how Martin Luther King, along with historical figures including Mark Twain and Helen Keller were radicals, yet history rarely mentions these parts.

Instead of Theodore Roosevelt, tell them about Mark Twain. Mark Twain—well, Mark Twain, everybody learns about as the author of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, but when we go to school, we don’t learn about Mark Twain as the vice president of the Anti-Imperialist League. We aren’t told that Mark Twain denounced Theodore Roosevelt for approving this massacre in the Philippines. No.

We want to give young people ideal figures like Helen Keller. And I remember learning about Helen Keller. Everybody learns about Helen Keller, you know, a disabled person who overcame her handicaps and became famous. But people don’t learn in school and young people don’t learn in school what we want them to learn when we do books like A Young People’s History of the United States, that Helen Keller was a socialist. She was a labor organizer. She refused to cross a picket line that was picketing a theater showing a play about her.

He goes on to say that presidents can't be relied upon. The people have to push leadership to get things done. On a side note, this is exactly what happened with Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the New Deal. History class would have you think he did it out of the goodness of his heart. It's true that he had more compassion to the labor movement than many other presidents, but it was organization and strikes that brought upon the New Deal. The same thing happened with the Civil Rights movement.

AMY GOODMAN: When Barack Obama was running for president, asked in the debates who would MLK endorse, who would Dr. King endorse, he said, “None of us.”

HOWARD ZINN: Yeah, that’s true, because King believed—and this actually is one of the themes of our people’s history, is that you cannot depend on presidents, and you cannot depend on elections and voting to solve your problems. People themselves, organizing, demonstrating, clamoring, they are the only ones who can push the President and push Congress into change. And that’s what we have to do now with Obama. We have to point to what Obama said in the course of the campaign, when he said we not only have to get out of Iraq, we have to get out of the mindset that brought us into Iraq. Obama, himself, has not gotten out of that mindset yet. And I think we, the people, have to speak to him about that.

I think too many people think electing Obama was end game. They have to realize it was just an opportunity, one that has to be taken advantage of.


The reports were shocking enough when it was revealed that soldiers in Iraq had shortages of body armor and unshielded hummers, but now reports come out that some are forced to ration and steal water leading to cases of dehydration. Some have gotten sick from drinking tap water. Camps have also had issues with water, with filthy water coming out of showers and sinks. Another shocking issue mentioned in the story, but not elaborated on, is how some of these camps look more like shopping malls, where "[y]ou can eat Subway, Burger King, you can buy a $1,200 Oakley watch, but you can’t have clean water to brush your teeth with? What's the real priority here?" Is it really appropriate for corporations to be making money off soldiers that are putting their lives in danger for the country? Another example that corporatism has gone too far where these companies see these troops as simply another market.


Another example of the "War on Terror" being used to target activists. In Fresno a homeless advocate was sent a letter from a Homeland Security coordination team with the Fresno police for taking pictures around the City of Fresno Corporate Yard, where belongings of homeless people were brought after a cleanup effort. The letter advised him to contact them next time he plans on visiting the grounds.


The New York state assembly passed a same-sex marriage bill. The bill will now move to the senate for a vote. New York governor David Paterson said he would sign the bill.


The amendment is bad enough, allowing loaded guns to be taken into national parks but how could a such a thing be attached to credit card legislation, something it has nothing to do with? Just another example on what's wrong with our legislative process. Completely unrelated things like this should not be grouped together.


Professor William Robinson has been targeted by the Anti-Defamation League for criticizing Israel's position on Gaza. Noam Chomsky states, "The course structure is up to the professor. Charges of “anti-Semitism” are part of the ADL’s long-standing strategy to equate any criticism of Israel with anti-Jewish bias."

Obama won't prosecute Bush officials on torture and the reason why

White House Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel has announced that the administration will not prosecute Bush officials that authorized torture. When the torture memos were released a few weeks ago Obama stated, "it is our intention to assure those who carried out their duties relying in good faith upon legal advice from the Department of Justice that they will not be subject to prosecution." With that statement some still had a hope that those authorizing the torture would be prosecuted for breaking the law.

Now the reason for the Obama administration's hesitation comes to light. Under President Clinton, Attorney General Eric Holder authorized the CIA's rendition program as Clinton's deputy attorney general. The rendition program moved suspected terrorists from one country to another that cooperated with the U.S. If the Obama administration were to pursue criminal action on the Bush administration democrats under Clinton could easily be brought into the prosecution. Another interesting detail mentioned in that article is that Obama signed an executive order on January 22 allowing rendition despite condemnation around the world.

On another note, a prison in northeastern Poland was used as a transfer note for terrorist suspects. But this isn't a surprise since the Polish government is always sucking up to the U.S.


In another scary move, the Obama legal team is asking the Supreme Court to overrule a law that gives defendants' the right to a lawyer before police questioning. Most of the troubling decisions from the Obama administration lately have come from the Department of Justice. An explanation may be that Republicans are blocking Obama's choice for his choice for the Office of Legal Council. I don't know what the relation of the OLC to the DOJ is, but this could be part of the reason for some of the administrations decisions.


On the environmental front, the current administration is still doing things to upset activists. They have decided to stick with the Bush-era decision to not allow the Endangered Species Act to be used to impose limits on greenhouse gases. Business groups had expressed concern regarding the ESA to be used to impose the limits, so business got their way.


My friend Max posted an interesting connection relating the world of Dune to the past two administrations. In Dune, first a cruel and evil nephew gets put into power, who the people hate and detest. Then the plan is to replace him with the good, fair nephew that the people will love. Interesting thing to think about.

Obama administration says two-state solution only solution

The Obama administration has announced that a two-state solution is the only solution between Israel and Palestine. White House chief-of-staff Rahm Emanuel also told Jewish leaders in Washington that if Israel wants help defusing an Iranian threat they must get ready to evacuate settlements in the West Bank. Israel's new government has backed the two-state proposal although the new conservative Prime Minister, Benjamin Natenyah is not supportive of the idea of a Palestinian state. In a surprise to me the AIPAC, the huge Jewish lobby in Washington, which is in a large part responsible for the $2.5 billion given to Israel in aid each year, is urging members of congress to do support the two-state solution. The AIPAC has historically been a deterrent of the peace process.

This is hopefully a welcome change, but a two-state solution can still work favorably to Israel while keeping the West Bank and especially Gaza in a state of poverty that will further fuel violence. At that point the argument will be that the Palestinians were given their own nation yet they are still fighting and inciting violence. The United States and Israel have always stood in the way of the UN peace resolutions (wish I had a source for this, but Noam Chomsky has debated and cited this fact many times). I'm skeptical of things all of a sudden getting fixed that Obama is in town, but this is definitely a step in the right direction.

Meanwhile, violence is still prevalent in the border regions. An independent photo journalist caught these shocking photographs of the Israeli Defense Force killing Basem Abu Rahmeh while peacefully protesting. He was killed by the same type of high speed gas canister that critically injured U.S. citizen Tristan Anderson in a similar situation a month ago.

not the Obama we elected

I found a very well written article by Salon's Glenn Greenwald that addresses the things I've been covering the past few weeks with the Obama administration. It gives an all encompassing explanation of what has happened with the administration trying to invoke the "state secrets" argument regarding the NSA wiretapping cases and taking it a step further, and the prison in Bagram, Afghanistan that is becoming a worse version of Guantanamo. Please read it and pass it along. Obama was elected on the basis that he would fight these issues not embrace them. From the beginning of the article:

In the last week alone, the Obama DOJ (a) attempted to shield Bush's illegal spying programs from judicial review by (yet again) invoking the very "state secrets" argument that Democrats spent years condemning and by inventing a brand new "sovereign immunity" claim that not even the Bush administration espoused, and (b) argued that individuals abducted outside of Afghanistan by the U.S. and then "rendered" to and imprisoned in Bagram have no rights of any kind -- not even to have a hearing to contest the accusations against them -- even if they are not Afghans and were captured far away from any "battlefield." These were merely the latest -- and among the most disturbing -- in a string of episodes in which the Obama administration has explicitly claimed to possess the very presidential powers that Bush critics spent years condemning as radical, lawless and authoritarian.

The Obama administration has declined to comment on the "state secrets" legislation introduced by democrats in the Senate that would roll back the use of this argument. The administration is still embracing this argument to protect the Bush's administration illegal wiretapping program.

The administration is also considering whether to fully release details on torture methods used under the Bush administration and the ACLU fears the administration maydestroy evidence of torture under the Bush administration.

I am not aware of any campaigns that are pressing Obama to reverse the trend he's going in on these topics. If you know of one please let me know. Obama should be held accountable for holding the opposite of positions he held during the campaign.


It's not only in the the States where this shit is happening. In the UK police pre-emptively raided climate change protesters. More...

more on obama and wiretapping

The other day I mentioned that Obama was blocking challenges to Bush's wiretapping program, even though these are things he campaigned against. I came across some more discussion on the subject. Keith Olbermann did a great segment covering the issue with law professor Jonathan Turley. More great commentary from Olbermann, who is one of the very few people in the 24-hour news media who addresses these issues. I'm glad he doesn't fold over for Obama like most people do. 'It was horrendous when Bush did it, but Obama's a good person, so it's ok.' An interesting argument is presented at Sensen No Sen, a great blog I've found and have started following, saying that Obama might be trying to push illegal wiretapping so far that Congress and the Supreme Court will be forced to shut it down. Obama needs the backing of the intelligence community and this way he can play them to gain there support and at the same time stop expansion on illegal wiretapping. The blog continues that we shouldn't count on this being the case. The bottom line is that Obama is continuing the unconstitutional tactics that the Bush administration used. From the Electronics Frontier Foundation:

Sad as that is, it's the Department Of Justice's second argument that is the most pernicious. The DOJ claims that the U.S. Government is completely immune from litigation for illegal spying — that the Government can never be sued for surveillance that violates federal privacy statutes."

This is a radical assertion that is utterly unprecedented. No one — not the White House, not the Justice Department, not any member of Congress, and not the Bush Administration — has ever interpreted the law this way.


Obama may have announced closure of Guantanamo Bay but that doesn't mean his policies differ radically with the Bush administration on overseas detainees. The Bush administration used a prison camp in Bagram, Afganistan where the Supreme Court has no rule. The Obama administration has embraced Bush policies on this topic as well. From the Salon article:

Remember: these are not prisoners captured in Afghanistan on a battlefield. Many of them have nothing to do with Afghanistan and were captured far, far away from that country -- abducted from their homes and workplaces -- and then flown to Bagram to be imprisoned.

I think these issues really need to be brought to light. Too many people still have Obama fever, and even given these facts will say he has his reasoning, or he's a better person than Bush, so he'll use this power for good. The truth is he should be held to the same standard as any president.


On another note, my old roommate posted an article discussing how soy isn't as good for you as you probably think it is on his facebook. Unfermented soy which is used in soy milk, tofu, and veggie burgers is actually bad for you in quantity. Worst, this includes soy baby foods, which effect children at a crucial age in development.