The Largest Minority

June 24th, 2008 by D.C.

It is difficult to face the rising cost of oil prices these days, but is it really worth it to tap into oil supplies that would destroy a protected wildlife reserve? I think the preservation of the environment should be foremost in the minds of the United States government. They protected these areas for so long, and to give it up now seems to be a slap in the face to people that lobbied to have them saved in the first place.

 Besides, the oil that would be produced from this new oil source would not become available right away and would take years for the effects of the newly introduced oil to take effect. This oil crisis is making sane people act irrationally. We do not need to lose sight of the important things. It makes no sense to fix a problem in the present, but only to create a bigger problem in the future.

June 11th, 2008 by Manila Ryce

Colin Powell’s former Chief of Staff Larry Wilkerson speaks on how Cheney blocked talks with Iran. The letter Wilkerson is referring to was discussed in this post awhile back.

Iran was willing to be completely open about its nuclear program, help stabilize Iraq, end its support for Palestinian groups the US considered terrorists, and to help disarm Hezbollah. All Iran asked in return was for the US to halt further hostile actions in the region, and to be removed from the “axis of evil”.

The Bush administration refused that offer.

h/t Steve from COANews

June 11th, 2008 by Manila Ryce

Kudos to Keith for leading with this story while the rest of the corporate media is simply pretending it never happened, and kudos to Kucinich for showing once again that no one else in the entire House is fit to keep their job as he alone fights a one-man battle for the constitution. Where does the man buy pants large enough to accommodate those brass balls?

h/t Dandelion Salad

June 9th, 2008 by Manila Ryce

Bill O’Reilly sent one of his flying monkeys (producer Porter Barry) to the National Conference for Media Reform 2008 to do the dirty work he’s too scared to do himself. Barry tries to assassinate Moyer’s character by accusing him of being too scared to appear on The O’Reilly’s Factor. Moyers not only successfully disputes the “facts” of this petty man, but throws the offer back at Barry to appear on PBS. When the tool realizes he’s been defeated, he tries to escape but is given a taste of Fox journalism.

June 6th, 2008 by Manila Ryce

While Obama courageously chose not to wear an American flag lapel pin during the democratic primaries, he has decided to wear one with an Israeli flag pin for his speech to AIPAC. I’m not one to link patriotism with superficial symbols, but the reason behind Obama’s sudden 180 on the matter is clear. He’s more worried about pandering to Israelis than to Americans.

During his speech, Barack claimed that he was dedicated to a two-state solution, yet pledged to make such a solution impossible by vowing to ignore international consensus that Israel withdraw to it’s 1967 borders. In other words, more of the same. By pledging NEVER to allow East Jerusalem to become the capital of a Palestinian State and NEVER to negotiate with the democratically-elected government of the Palestinians, Obama has promised to support the continued violation of international law which makes peace in the region impossible.

Barack then goes on to rattle sabers towards Iran as well, which I’ve commented on in this post. What an asshole.

June 5th, 2008 by Manila Ryce

Illegitimate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has called for a national unity government with the isolated yet democratically-elected Hamas government in Gaza. Given Fatah’s corrupt past and personal dealings with the US to overthrow Hamas, I’d be very wary of any new-found desire by Abbas to finally work together. However, diplomacy is always a good thing, and Hamas has welcomed Fatah’s sudden desire to communicate with them.

June 4th, 2008 by Manila Ryce

By tossing out the possibility of having direct diplomacy with Iran, John McCain has shown that he is in favor of more of the same failed strategies which lead nations to war. War is not the last option to the US and AIPAC, it’s the only option. The US and Israel are committing “crimes against peace” under the UN Charter and Nuremberg Principles with rhetoric that prepares the groundwork for moving against Iran militarily. Outright lies and “what if” scenarios are irresponsibly catapulted into the public to validate imperialist dreams of nuclear annihilation.

Part 2 of this video can be found here

Outside the Western corporate media bubble, it is clear that the US and Israel have been the true threats to peace in the region by making conflict unavoidable. Despite the glaring historical failure of their policies, both countries remain in denial - consistently patting each other on the back to affirm that they’re sane while the rest of the world is unreasonable. And this intentional ignorance is not confined to just the ultra-right wing of both nations. Listen to the following excerpt from Barack Obama to AIPAC and tell me it doesn’t sound like it was lifted from John McCain’s speech.

Read the rest of this entry »

June 3rd, 2008 by Manila Ryce

Since Annapolis, Israel has issued over 17,000 new tenders for housing units in Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

The Palestinians say this is a policy that destroys any prospect of peace and renders establishing a viable Palestinian state impossible.

Israel’s Prime Minister is courting new controversy by approving the building of nearly 900 new homes in occupied East Jerusalem.

Many Palestinians are fighting to keep their land, and one farmer, Mohamed Elian, in Bethlehem has made it a life-time commitment from his cave.

For almost 4 decades, he has lived in a cave in his land in the village of Wad Fukeen to make sure his land is not lost to the expanding Israeli settlement nearby.