Israeli Government Stiffs Holocaust Survivors

In his book The Holocaust Industry, Norman Finkelstein documents the disgraceful shakedown of Swiss banks in the guise of helping holocaust survivors. The Swiss ultimately forked over more than $1 billion when they may have owed something like $60 million. Math was never my strong point, but even I can say that 1 billion is a heck of a lot more than 60 million.

Now some Israeli holocaust survivors have actually moved to European countries, including Germany, where they are guaranteed generous social service benefits. The government had the gall to increase payments to elderly survivors by a mere $20 per month.

In 2007, survivors were promised $7.7 million would be deposited in a government welfare fund for their benefit. Only half that amount ever reached its destination.

By the way, "pro bono" lawyer Burt Neuborne walked away with $3 million for representing the claims of holocaust survivors. I thought pro bono meant free.

Bill Kristol and the New York Times

The New York Times confirmed that Bill Kristol will now join their stable of op-ed columnists. Here is my letter to publisher Bill Keller.

"I think it is an open question whether the Times itself should be prosecuted for this totally gratuitous revealing of an ongoing secret classified program that is part of the war on terror.”
Bill Kristol

Who is the biggest hypocrite here, you or Kristol? He either knew he was full of it when he made that statement or he decided to forget about it so he could make more money and have a platform for his pro-empire, pro-war propaganda. You and your colleagues have decided to forget that you were slandered so that you could suck up to the right wing in a first class way.

When I first read that the Times was hiring Kristol I decided that I would never read his column. I thought about it for a while and realized that response was inadequate. Instead I have decided not to pay to read your paper as long as Kristol is a columnist. Today I can save $4.00 and tip the waiter who serves my brunch. Whoever that person is deserves my cash far more than you or this blood thirsty, hateful man.

Margaret Kimberley
New York, NY

Wal-Mart Seizes Employee's Lawsuit Settlement

Just when you think that Wal-Mart, and the rest of corporate America, can't sink any lower they do just that. Deborah Shank can tell you all about it, or she could if she weren't brain damaged. Shank won a settlement after a car accident and her employer, Wal-Mart, went to court and took the cash to compensate themselves for her health care costs.

I like to think of myself as being inured to shock, but then along comes Wal-Mart to disabuse me of my arrogance. As Glen Ford said in Black Agenda Report, "Wal-Mart resists modest wage increases and decent health care for workers because it does not want its employees to think of their jobs as careers."

It is all very simple. The shanking of Shank teaches Wal-Mart employees a powerful lesson. Don't stick around Wal-Mart. Keep the turnover at fast food restaurant rates. Don't even think about working here.

Dear Andrew Young, Don't Let the Door Hit You

Isn't it bad enough that Andrew Young supports the disenfranchisement of black voters, or that he is now "a prostitute for the most rapacious corporations in the world?"

Apparently he doesn't see how low he has sunk, because he keeps sinking further. In the You Tube video posted below you can see him making an absolute ass out of himself in order to suck up to Bill and Hill.

I'm no fan of Clinton or Obama, but for Christ's sake, couldn't Young come up with a substantive reason to support Hillary Clinton? His greed and lack of principle have finally caught up with him. He doesn't even know how to pretend anymore. If Hillary should become president she ought to make Young persona non grata for insulting her and her husband so publicly. What happens to Clinton supporters when they get near a microphone? It seems they automatically say something stupid about Obama.

Bill Shaheen had to resign as co-Chair of Clinton's New Hampshire campaign after he criticized Obama's admission of youthful drug use. Not only did Shaheen have to step down, but Clinton had to personally apologize to Obama.

But I digress, back to the pathetic Andew Young. Not only was he dumb enough to remind the public about Bill Clinton's romantic past, but to raise memories of the sad history of black women's sexual exploitation. But there's more! He clearly made up a story about Bill and Hillary dancing at a party for Nelson Mandela's inauguration. Words like idiot don't begin to describe him.

What the F_ _k?

"Bill is every bit as black as Barack. He's probably gone with more black women than Barack. Ah, I'm just clowning." I'll say.

Wish I'd Said That

"The US media has no investigative capability and serves up the lies that serve short-term corporate and political interests. If it were not for the Internet that provides Americans with access to foreign news sources, Americans would live in a world of perfect disinformation."

Paul Craig Roberts

Rep. Wexler Wants Cheney Impeachment Hearings

Thank God someone does. Committee chairman John Conyers is too busy hiding behind Nancy Pelosi's skirts.

WTF?

God bless Whoopi, trying desperately to keep her colleague from looking stupid.

Actually they all looked stupid. Did the Greeks come first or the Romans? I think the Egyptians, and Chinese came before all of them.

As for nothing predating Jesus, if Shepherd wasn't speaking metaphorically, she is in fact dumb as a post.

WTF?

God bless Whoopi, trying desperately to keep her colleague from looking stupid.

Actually they all looked stupid. Did the Greeks come first or the Romans? I think the Egyptians, and Chinese came before all of them.

As for nothing predating Jesus, if Shepherd wasn't speaking metaphorically, she is in fact dumb as a post.

Lies About Iran

"So I've told people that if you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from have the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon. " George W. Bush on October 17, 2007

It seems the Onion was right. Iran is full of atoms, and must be stopped. Oh to have been a fly on the wall when the administration realized the National Intelligence Estimate could no longer be kept hidden. Bush knew it would all come out, namely that the CIA would not be bullied into saying that Iran was making nukes. That is why he backtracked and said that knowledge alone was reason enough for Americans to kill thousands of Iranians. Proof of nuclear capability would no longer be sufficient. The very existence of atoms was a cause for war.

Of course there is still no reason to celebrate. They fall back on claiming that Iran once had designs on nukes. Maybe they did, but I won't believe it because the CIA says so.

It is also important to say that there is nothing wrong with Iran having the bomb. It is no worse than Israel having it. Actually it would be better if Israel were not the only nuclear kid on the Middle East block. If the concept of mutually assured destruction worked for the U.S. and U.S.S.R., why can't it work for Iran and Israel?

At any rate, it is good news that the Bushies have to stop telling the worst lies about Iran, but there is still cause for alarm. If Bush had pushed the issue, Congress would have caved. They had already done so by passing resolutions condemning Iran, each one more slanderous than the one before. Each one would have been used by the Democrats to help make the case for war.

The Israeli lobby made sure that Democratic presidential candidates toed the line. They all stuck with their "all options on the table" stump speech rhetoric. Biden said he would favor impeachment if Bush attacked Iran without authorization from Congress. Sounds good, until you realize that waiting for war would be too late. Biden is as toothless as the rest.

So we will never know who did what to whom that caused this information to finally come out, but we have to thank whomever is responsible. They saved the American people from looking like Germans in the 1930s.

Actually, Americans are already there. One million Iraqis are dead, one million are in exile and now there is a cholera epidemic. One genocide at a time please.

Sherri Shepherd Thinks the Earth is Flat

Sherri Shepherd is the Dumbest Person on Television

Whoopi Goldberg: Is the world flat?

Sherri Shepherd: Is the world flat? I don't know.

Whoopi Goldberg: What do you think?

Sherri Shepherd: I never thought about it Whoopi.

Barbara Walters: You never thought about whether the world is flat?

Sherri Shepherd: I can tell you that I have thought about whether I was going to feed my child, how I'm going to take care of my family.

Barbara Walters: Well you can do both.

I have a day job, so I miss daytime television. Thank God for small favors.

In the now infamous flat earth discussion, Sherri Shepherd was so intent on stating that she doesn't believe in the theory of evolution, she feared acknowledging that the earth is round. I guess she was afraid that the bible made reference to a flat world. Well, she was wrong. You can be a fundie and still acknowledge that the earth is in fact round.

Not content to have gone down in history in a memorable moment of idiocy, today Shepherd claimed, "I don't think anything pre-dated Christians." Her colleagues didn't do much better, sounding like confused high school students wondering whether the Greeks came before the Romans. But none of them claimed that no other religion existed before Christianity.

How is it possible to give her the benefit of the doubt? Did she mean that Jesus was infinite? Well she should have said so. Instead she adamantly stated that no one even existed before the followers of Christ.

After the flat earth debacle, Shepherd claimed to have misheard Whoopi's question. I wonder what she will say tomorrow.

Nooses Out of the Closet

Robert Minten napped on the job and woke up to find a noose around his neck. When he reported what can only be described as a murder attempt he was fired. His tormentors were fired too, but they should have been.

The incident took place four years ago, but Minten's law suit against the Noble Drilling company is just now making its way through the court system. Hopefully he will have some measure of justice.

Warren Police Officer Tasers Handcuffed Woman Multiple Times

Utah Highway Patrol camera, shows John Gardner being taser

"You didn't follow my instructions."

Buy Nothing Day

Hallelujah! You better get saved. We are living in the end times, the financial end times that is. Don't shop this Friday, November 23rd. Just say no to temptation.

How can you be saved? It is easy. Just join the Church of Stop Shopping.

Praise the Lord!

Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act

"The Democrats have proven themselves to be entirely worthless. They will not stop or even significantly slow down the Bush administration on any issue that matters. If you still believe that voting for Democrats is an infinitesimal hedge against encroaching disaster, I offer my genuine sympathies. "
Arthur Silber, Power of Narrative, October 2006

I recently discovered the Power of Narrative, which is now one of my favorite blogs. Silber is often accused of spreading "doom and gloom." Well so what. The situation is gloomy and he always hits the nail on the head. Most of the anger directed towards him is the result of his all too correct assessment that the Democrats and Republicans are partners in crime. They all promote empire, war, racism and corporatism. The differences between them are diminishing more and more over time.

Enter Exhibit A, Congresswoman Jane Harman, Democrat of California. She recently sponsored HR 1955, the "Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act," which passed the House by a vote of 400 to 6. Qu'est-ce que c'est Homegrown Terror? Even the name is absurd and stupid. Homegrown? Sounds like peaches ready to be canned. It is tempting to laugh but this isn't the least bit funny.

I can think of instances of homegrown terrorism, such as murder threats against abortion doctors, or hate speech emanating from the KKK. Somehow I don't think that is what Harman and her colleagues had in mind. The racist right wing, Republicans and Democrats, have tried to convince us that there are fifth column "Islamofascists" hiding under every bed and they are inspired by, are you ready, the internet.

"The Internet has aided in facilitating violent radicalization, ideologically based violence, and the homegrown terrorism process in the United States by providing access to broad and constant streams of terrorist-related propaganda to United States citizens." Sounds spooky. Too bad it is all a load of crap.

H.R. 1955 calls for the formation of a commission that will investigate the extent of and no doubt find proof of Muslim and Arab terrorists on every block. But like the ginsu knife there is always more.

The Secretary of Homeland Security shall establish or designate a university-based Center of Excellence for the Study of Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism in the United States (hereinafter referred to as `Center') following the merit-review processes and procedures and other limitations that have been previously established for selecting and supporting University Programs Centers of Excellence. The Center shall assist Federal, State, local and tribal homeland security officials through training, education, and research in preventing violent radicalization and homegrown terrorism in the United States.

Center of Excellence? Harman must have held a seance and asked Orwell for the worst name imaginable. Then again, perhaps it is the best name. This is fascism, pure and simple.

Under the guise of keeping us safe from non-existent threats, our freedoms will be taken away. Dissent of all kind, including non-violent activism, will be criminalized.

Big brother is watching and he is a Democrat.

Wish I'd Said That

"I'm pro Code Pink tazing."
Brian Kilmeade, Fox News


"...don’t you think they’re going to get at the very least tazed or beaten to a pulp by somebody?"

Hmm. Is that a fear or a wish?

"Of course, many Americans -- including most notably our leading politicians -- couldn't care less about truly honoring those whose guts have been ripped out, whose limbs have been bloodily and painfully mutilated, whose minds have been destroyed. For the state and its enablers, the war dead are props used to purify and sanctify the ongoing and future campaigns of slaughter, in an endless procession of slaughters throughout history."

Lance Cpl. Isaac Gallegos is still alive, but Arthur Silber's comments still hold true in his case. What does Bush say when he meets maimed vets like Gallegos? "Sorry about your face." No, he doesn't say that. He says he appreciates their service, God bless, America loves you, keep fighting terror, blah blah and blah.

The Bushies surely screen and make sure that anyone meeting Dubya loves him, especially wounded vets who are liable to ask hard questions.

When I see Gallegos and others like him, young men who will never look normal again, I wonder what they think about. It must be too hard to admit that you are a chump who now looks like a character in a zombie movie, all because you were used by people who would never allow their children to be put at such awful risk.

Please look at all of these photos and remember that there are Iraqis who have suffered even more. Thanks to Uncle Sam, their medical system has been destroyed. They don't get medical care and when they are wounded as badly as Gallegos they usually die or they live but look even worse.

Happy Veterans Day.

Wish I'd Said That

"There are some who claim that torture is a nonissue because it never works--it only produces false information. This is simply not true, as evidenced by the many decent members of the French Resistance who, under Nazi torture, disclosed the locations of their closest friends and relatives. " - Alan Dershowitz

And the trains ran on time too.