“the Suffering is Unacceptable. It is Totally Unacceptable” Bishop Desmond Tutu

Democracy Now interviews Richard Falk, the UN Human Rights inspector, granted a mandate by the United Nations to observe and evaluate the conditions in Gaza two weeks ago, who was detained, not allowed into Gaza, and sent out of the country, for the exact same reasons Israel gave for doing the exact same thing to Bishop Desmond Tutu in 2006.

When asked about the situation in Gaza, Desmond Tutu replied “The suffering is unacceptable. It is totally unacceptable.”

U.S Media Has Done A Terrible Job Covering Hamas – Israel

The Young Turk

Afghan corruption: Everything for sale

(American “democracy” brought to the Middle East: Mamon is the law, the only law, and nothing else matters.  Nothing.)

A raft of investigations has concluded that people at the highest levels of the Karzai administration, including the president’s brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai, are cooperating in the country’s opium trade, now the world’s largest. International Herald Tribune

“All the politicians in this country have acquired everything – money, lots of money,” Karzai said in a speech at a rural development conference here in November. “God knows, it is beyond the limit. The banks of the world are full of the money of our statesmen.“   International Herald Tribune

Today it is the wealthiest enclave in the country, a series of gaudy, grandiose mansions that sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Afghans refer to them as “poppy houses.” Sherpur itself is often jokingly referred to as “Char-pur,” which literally means “City of Loot.“

Yet what is perhaps most remarkable about Sherpur is that many of the homeowners are government officials...    International Herald Tribune

JINSA Blames Iran for Gaza’s Homemade Rockets?

by Scott Creighton

The propaganda wave that claims that the home-made bottle rockets that have been launched from Gaza into Israel, justify Israel’s ethnic cleansing of Gaza, has worked so well… the Israeli PR machine, JINSA,  is floating it’s extension of sorts, into another little project of theirs;  Iran.

“The role of Iran in the training and buildup of the Hamas arsenal has been regrettably overlooked by the world’s media and many of its political leaders,” said Tom Neumann, executive director of the Institute. “Hamas’s rocket attacks have become longer range and more lethal as a result of Iranian assistance and training,” he said. Yahoo

The idea that somehow Iran is pumping weapons into Gaza, the most rigorously controlled and largest open air prison on the planet,  is laughable. However, considering how other ridiculous claims are being given airtime by U.S. MSM outlets, this new PR campaign is quite disturbing.  This one may actually take root.

As William O. Beeman argued on December 29, this claim is nothing short of preposterous. “No one promulgating the theory that Hamas’s attacks on Israel are directed by Iran bothers to think much about geography. Hamas has been effectively sealed off from the world by Israel, and by Egypt,” writes Beeman. “The Israelis have essentially controlled the import of food and medical supplies. The idea of Iran shipping arms to Hamas under these conditions is patently absurd.  Prison Planet

These rockets are therefore very important to the right-wing Israeli PR machine.  They collect them, they keep them, they display them, and they hand them out to visiting dignitaries, as proof of Israels all important “victim” status.

Pictured on the left is a public official posing for a photo-op in front of his new “Proof Display”.

The New Insultingly Stupid Spin: Israel Warned Nizar Rayan Before Trying to Kill Him

by Scott Creighton

In the wake of the release of more information surrounding the Israeli attack on the apartment building Nizar Rayan lived in, Israel’s PR team has come up with yet another, unbelievably STUPID talking point; they warned Nazar before dropping a 2,000 lb bomb on his home, and Nazar CHOSE to remain in his home WITH his wives and his kids.

I shit you not. That is their story, and it’s being repeated across the U.S. MSM… as fact.

An official who did not want to be identified said Israeli intelligence knew Rayyan and his large family were in the house. The intelligence called the home and told the occupants they had minutes to leave.

Rayyan and his family had minutes to escape but the official says the Hamas leader chose to stay. ABC News

I… am… beside myself. The fact that ABC News could repeat such an inane comment on television is beyond disgusting; it is morally reprehensible.  It is spiritually offensive.

Talk about blaming the victim;  and ABC went with the story?  Based on “An official who did not want to be identified…”?    That’s how ABC presents their “news”?  I guess I wouldn’t want to be the “official” who had that ridiculous lie following me around for the rest of my career either.

This blatant propaganda, from one of our MSM news outlets, is completely unbelievable, and morally unacceptable.  I will NEVER spend one minute watching ANYTHING on ABC again.

To show you that this is part of a nation-wide propaganda attack, I found the same nugget of info in a recent CBS article as well…

In what appeared to be a new Israeli tactic, the military called at least some of the houses ahead of time to warn inhabitants of an impending attack…

Israeli defense officials said the military had called Rayan’s home and fired a warning missile before destroying the building. That was impossible to confirm. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss military tactics. CBS News

Right. Got it. the story is “impossible to confirm” and coming from a source that doesn’t want to be connected with it, on the record… so what do you do with a story like that in the modern American journalistic tradition?… You RUN WITH IT.

[Protests growing across the globe.]