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India’s successful test of a ballistic missile with a range of more than 5,000 km, was
was uncriticised by the US.

Contrast this lack of concern with the America’s obsessive concern about a suspected or potential
nuclear programme by Iran, or to US threats over the failed rocket launch by North
Korea a few days earlier.

India has increased its military spending by 13% this fiscal year, to roughly US $38
billion, according to an April 20 article in The Independent (UK) titled, ”India’s nuclear
ambition must not be ignored”). Yet this has not raised US ire — or even US eyebrows!

India, the bully of the South Asia region, has happily announced its entry in an
exclusive club within the comity of nations, having now demonstrated the capability to
hit a target at 5,000 kilometers.

The Chinese newspaper, Global Times (Beijing), hit out at Western countries for
displaying double standards for not condemning the test firing of the Agni-V, writing:

“The West chooses to overlook India’s disregard of nuclear and missile control treaties,”
the editorial said. “The West remains silent on the fact that India’s military spending
increased by 17 percent.”

Double standards it is!

The US had no complaints when India test-launched a 5000-km nuclear-capable missile

I believe that absolutely nothing happens in a vacuum.

There is always a connection between why things happen and the something (or someone) that made it happen. All too frequently that connection is not easily apparent, and that creates problems.

I’m convinced there is a connection between the contemporary television shows like “Axe Men,” “Ice Road Truckers”, “Swamp People”, “Hillbilly Noodling”, “Sarah Palin’s Alaska” and a play entitled, “Puddin’ Head.”

The Department of Theater at Temple University in Philadelphia, staged that play – containing racist content – as its contribution to Black History Month this year.

“Puddin’ Head” is a stage-adapted version of a novel published in 1894 by Mark Twain originally entitled The Tragedy of Pudd’nhead Wilson. This work examines race, class, slavery, and rape from the perspectives of the time it was written in the 19th Century. This work uses the N-word and/or other racist stereotypes in almost every other sentence.

White singer Al Jolson in blackface

Lahore — Pakistan parliamentarians should promptly table a resolution calling for efforts to carve the state of New Mexico away from the United States and to either make it independent, or restore it to its status prior to the Mexican-American War (1846-48), when it was a part of Mexico.

With New Mexico’s population boasting the highest percentage of Latinos (estimated 46% in 2010) in the US, including descendants of Spanish Colonialists and recent immigrants from Latin America, and the highest percentage of Indigenous Americans (9.4%), US rule by the white-majority government in Washington over New Mexico may rightly be deemed as an alien, neocolonial occupation. The majority of Latinos, 83% of whom were born in New Mexico, share a Spanish and Native American ancestry, while the indigenous population is mostly Navajo, and trace their ancestry in the region back thousands of years to the pre-colonial era.

Of course, this proposal for the secession of New Mexico will be out rightly rejected by the US as an outrageous interference in American affairs and a threat to US sovereignty. The US, after all, has never believed in the motto ,”What’s sauce for the goose is also sauce for the gander.” Rather, the US acts like the proverbial elephant in a China Shop, causing horrific destruction in the name of democracy, human rights and other similar big sounding slogans. Except that this destruction has been completely selective! Not when it effects America’s own interest. Or those of her “friends”.

Two candidates for internationally-backed independence movements?

Newfane–Entergy Nuclear of Louisiana, which operates the Vermont Yankee (VY) nuclear reactor in Vernon Vermont has launched an attack on the state of Vermont with the help of the federal courts.

Vermont state law gives the state the power to decide whether to allow further operation of the reactor past March 21, 2012 (the expiration date for VY). When Entergy bought VY, they agreed to this law and swore that they would not try to abrogate it. This was an outright lie on Entergy’s part, and they sued the state as soon as it was decided that further operation of this crumbling, leaking and led-by-liars reactor would NOT be in the interests of the state and they were not given permission to continue operation past March 21.

Federal Judge J. Garvan Murtha, a Bill Clinton appointee to the federal bench in 1995, gave Entergy all that they wanted and denied Vermont the right to legislate on this matter. The judge misconstrued testimony and completely ignored the case presented by the state to show that the Vermont legislature acted within the purview allowed by federal law. In his decision he cites quotes referring to safety that are either unattributed or taken out of context, having been expressed outside of the actual process of crafting the legislation. Some quotes cited even fail to distinguish between legislators and advocates who were speaking in committee hearings.

This ruling goes hand in glove with current Federal policies that enrich the 1% and keep power firmly in the hands of America’s largest corporations. It affirms that corporate profits trump the interests of the citizenry. And it’s based on the laughable notion that only the Federal government can be trusted to keep us safe from radiological accidents caused by corporate malfeasance and profit-driven lax practices.

Entergy's aging Vermont Yankee nuke plant has been plagued with accidents including this 2005 fire and a cooling tower collapse

Nancy Goodman Brinker, a pioneer of “cause marketing”, founded Susan G. Komen For the Cure in 1982, reportedly as the fulfillment of a deathbed promise made to her sister, a victim of breast cancer. In 1994, Brinker founded In Your Corner, Inc., a for-profit company that markets health products and information. In 1998, Brinker sold In Your Corner to AstraZeneca, the third largest pesticide manufacturer in the world (primarily through Syngenta, a giant global agribusiness joint-venture company it owns together with Novartis).

AstraZeneca has had close ties to Brinker for many years. It gave $97,000 to Komen and its affiliates in the first 6 months of 2008 alone, and it has been a big presence at Komen’s Race for the Cure. AstraZeneca is also one of the largest contributors to Breast Cancer Awareness Month. 

The problem here is that pesticides cause breast cancer.

AstraZeneca solves the problem by no longer advertising itself as a pesticide manufacturer.  It is a “life-sciences” company. Ta da! Problem solved! Well, they still manufacture more pesticides than ever (substances that congregate in the sexual glands of mammals causing cancers, birth defects, etc., etc.,) but “life sciences” sounds so reassuring, yes? 

Susan G. Komen has created a lengthy list of risk factors for breast cancer.  Nowhere in this list can you find exposure to toxins, probably the greatest risk factor of all. 

Hey Nancy! Didn’t your sister ask you to cure breast cancer? Was her dying wish, “Please forgive them for killing me, pay yourself half a million dollars a year – and oh by the way please protect those poor pesticide manufacturers. They know not what they do.”

Pesticides like those produced by AstreZeneca and Novartis have been linked to cancer, including breast cancer

R&B pioneer Johnny Otis discovered Etta James when she was still a teenager, launching her nearly 60-year career. The two lifelong friends both died last week — just days apart — at the ages of 90 and 73, respectively.

From their first meeting in 1953, the fates of Johnny Otis and Etta James seemed almost magically entwined.

Etta James, 1955 (Michael Ochs photo)

Spunky little Jamesetta Hawkins, then 14 years old, was overheard rehearsing a song with her girl group The Creolettes in a San Francisco hotel bathroom. Outside the door, Otis’ ears perked up. “I knew instantly when I heard Etta sing in that bathroom audition that she would be a star,” Otis said decades later. “I heard the raw talent she possessed before she had developed.”

Johnny Otis – already famous for hits like “Harlem Nocturne,” “Castin’ My Spell on You,” and “Willie and the Hand Jive” – was also known as a radio disc jockey and a keen talent scout. His other discoveries included Big Mama Thornton, Johnny “Guitar” Watson, Little Richard, Esther Phillips, Sugar Pie De Santo, Jackie Wilson, and Little Willie John. Now his sights were set on Jamesetta.

To hear Lindorff, McGovern and DeBar on PressTV, click here or on the picture

The New Year's give to Americans from Obama and Congress: a police state featuring indefinite detention without trial

Having spent the better part of two months as an embedded reporter with Occupy OKC’s camp in Kerr Park (aka Poet’s Park) I have often praised both the city and police department. Oklahoma City’s occupation has so far managed to avoid the mass arrests and police brutality seen in other cities around the nation. In my opinion, this is largely due to the group’s respect for the park and city ordinances, as well as the city’s respect for the First Amendment. I frequently pointed to OKC as a model city, setting an example for how a local government and occupiers can peacefully coexist.

So imagine my surprise upon learning that the City of Oklahoma City recently refused to accept the group’s $55/day permit fee. Assistant City Manager M.T. Berry told Occupy OKC that not only were they being evicted from Poet’s Park, all city parks would be closed to them. Protesters were further informed that anyone remaining in Poet’s Park after curfew would face citation or arrest, effective immediately.

The word was blasted out in urgent text messages, Facebook posts and Twitters: “EVICTION IMMINENT! Please come to Poet’s Park NOW!”

Occupiers Jay Vehige (carrying flag) and Army veteran Jaymie Johnson rally to keep the park. Nov. 28, 2011. (photo courtesy Garrett Fisbeck, “The Vista”)

Predator Odrona is about to sign a military authorization bill [Carl Levin’s S-1867] that puts every one of us at risk of being detained by our own military. If the government decides that you are a terrorist threat, the military will be able to kidnap you and deny you the right to a trial or even the right to know why you’re being held.

The arrogant and short-sighted leaders who “govern” us have granted the government the right to detain you anywhere in the world, including inside the U.S., and there is no limit to the amount of time that they can hold you once they’ve got you.

We shouldn’t worry though, they claim, because this new law is only meant for the terrorists among us.

So just who represents a terrorist threat? Well, protesters for starts, according to a Pentagon training test, which defines protests as acts of low-level terrorism. Quaker peace meetings in Vermont and across the country have been registered as “suspicious incidents” by the Defense Department’s secretive TALON snooping system. Once your name has been entered into one of these lovely surveillance systems, you can rest assured that it will never disappear.

The muslims in America certainly know that they are perceived as potential or likely terrorists by an alarming number of law enforcement agencies across the land. Reports have documented blatant anti-muslim profiling by “experts” presenting at law enforcement terrorism training events.

And let’s not forget the right side of the spectrum. Radical back-to-the-landers who wave guns and evade taxes have long been a government favorite for keeping their kill squads sharp. Just ask Randy Weaver. Washington state recently requested an was granted the use of a military surveillance drone to lead SWAT teams, a bomb squad, the highway patrol and four counties’ worth deputy sheriffs to arrest three unarmed brothers over a six-cow dispute.

The new military authorization bill makes the US a "war zone" in the "war" on terror, and makes us all potential terrorists with no constitutional rights, while further blurring any distinction between cops and soldiers

Lahore — Ever since 9/11 and the subsequent 2001 invasion of Afghanistan by the US, Pakistan’s world has been in turmoil.

Officially America’s ally in the so-called War on Terror, Pakstan has actually been one of its biggest victims. Just recently, Pakistan was punished as the US Congress passed a bill imposing more conditions on aid,  including specifically linking receipt of that aid to Islamabad’s cooperation in the War on Terror, and to efforts to curb terrorists, including the Haqqani network.

 Myra McDonald in her recent article states:
 

 “The society which is being shaped by the Afghan war in ways which neither Pakistan’s neighbors, nor western powers, would choose.  The airstrikes, coming soon after the forced resignation of Pakistan’s ambassador to Washington Husain Haqqani for allegedly seeking American help to curb the power of the military, have added fresh oxygen to a combustible mix of anti-Americanism and religious nationalism enveloping Pakistan.”
 

So where should Pakistan go from here?

A good start would be for Pakistan to work at becoming less dependent upon the US. For while the interests of Pakistan and the US may converge on many points, including in Afghanistan, on many deeper, more vital points, they do not.

Pakistan needs to recognize that US aid is a trap. The country is better off without it says the author