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POPSSpare me the tears over the white working class A very interesting article on the "poor ole" white working class in the UK, those who have moaned and whined for years instead of getting off their arses to do something for a change rather than just blaming the Government or the immigrants. I am glad UK is a multi cultural country, pity people still resident in the UK are not able to see the good that other nationalities brought into the UK. Too many live in times of British Empire still, even though it no longer exists. I wonder why they think we have no responsibilities for what is happening too in Israel, Iraq and surrounding countries, which we moved borders around on before walking away and leaving the chaos behind.
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POPSRobert Fisk: Keeping out the cameras and reporters simply doesn't work
Now the Israeli army is trying the same doomed tactic again. Ban the press. Keep the cameras out. By yesterday morning, only hours after the Israeli army went clanking into Gaza to kill more Hamas members – and, of course, more civilians – Hamas was reporting the capture of two Israeli soldiers. Reporters on the ground could have sorted out the truth or the lie about that. But without a single Western journalist in Gaza, the Israelis were left to tell the world that they didn't know if the story was true. On the other hand, the Israelis are so ruthless that the reasons for the ban on journalism may be quite easily explained: that so many Israeli soldiers are going to kill so many innocents – more than three score by last night, and that's only the ones we know about – that images of the slaughter would be too much to tolerate. Not that the Palestinians have done much to help. The kidnapping by a Palestinian mafia family of the BBC's man in Gaza – finally released by Hamas, although
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POPSGaza: The death and life of my father My grief carries no desire for revenge, which I know to be always in vain. But, in truth, as a grieving son, I am finding it hard to distinguish between what the Israelis call terrorists and the Israeli pilots and tank crews who are invading Gaza. What is the difference between the pilot who blew my father to pieces and the militant who fires a small rocket? I have no answers but, just as I am to become a father, I have lost my father.
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POPSRobert Fisk: Why bombing Ashkelon is the most tragic irony But watching the news shows, you'd think that history began yesterday, that a bunch of bearded anti-Semitic Islamist lunatics suddenly popped up in the slums of Gaza – a rubbish dump of destitute people of no origin – and began firing missiles into peace-loving, democratic Israel, only to meet with the righteous vengeance of the Israeli air force. The fact that the five sisters killed in Jabalya camp had grandparents who came from the very land whose more recent owners have now bombed them to death simply does not appear in the story. Both Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres said back in the 1990s that they wished Gaza would just go away, drop into the sea, and you can see why. The existence of Gaza is a permanent reminder of those hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who lost their homes to Israel, who fled or were driven out through fear or Israeli ethnic cleansing 60 years ago, when tidal waves of refugees had washed over Europe in the aftermath of the Second World War and when a bun
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POPSThe Big Bailout Lessons Over the past century, of course, the conflict between North and South has been between union and non-union labor. The states of the industrial Midwest and the South had common demographics (Appalachian whites and African Americans, though the Northern states also were home to Catholics of Eastern European origin) but developed two distinct economies. Residents of the unionized north enjoyed higher living standards, both from their paychecks and the higher public outlays on health and education, than did their counterparts in the union-resistant South. But, just as Lincoln predicted, the United States was bound to have one labor system prevail, and the debate over the General Motors and Chrysler bailout was really a debate over which system - the United Auto Workers' or the foreign transplant factories' - that would be. Where the parallel between periods breaks down, of course, is in partisan alignment. Today's congressional Republicans are hardly Lincoln's heirs. If an
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POPSWord on the Street Statement on Israeli Airstrikes in Gaza J Street represents Americans, primarily but not exclusively Jewish, who support Israel and its desire for security as the Jewish homeland, as well as the right of the Palestinians to a sovereign state of their own - two states living side-by-side in peace and security. We believe ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is in the best interests of Israel, the United States, the Palestinians, and the region as a whole.
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POPS2009 - Time to wake up While 100 of millions are happily celebrating the New Years Eve with their loved ones, 100s of innocent Palestinian civilians & Hamas Freedom Fighters have been bombed by F-16s indiscriminately. 1000s of seriously injured Palestinians are desperately waiting for blood, medicine & doctors. 100,000s are trying to find a shelter to hide and protect their loved ones, food to eat and water to drink. More than 2,000,000 are hoping for an end to all misery inflicted on them during the past 60 years. Yet with all those numbers, the headlines of CNN as well as other major media corporations focus on the less than 10 injured Israelis and 2 dead Israelis. Watching Al-Jazeera and reading online news that you won't find on CNN and Fox News, one will witness a historic moment in which millions of protestors worldwide have decided to speak against the atrocities occurring in the lands of Palestine. Many holding shoes (symbolizes the shoe-thrower Hero of Iraq), many holding signs of "Stop Zionism",
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POPSSatire. Israel Attacks US President Bush noted that the American casualties from the Israeli raids were not equal to those killed in terrorist attacks on 9/11. “There is no moral equivalence between those killed in self-defense by Israeli warriors fighting for a democratically elected government and those killed by rogue terrorists who hate the freedoms we enjoy,” Bush suggested. Despite some minor collateral damage to some synagogues, traditional liberal Jewish-American leaders remained steadfast in their unwavering defense of Israel. There was far more criticism and debate of the Israeli attacks on the US in the Knesset and among the Israeli public than there was in the US Congress or the American Jewish community, respectively. Those few critics of the incursion contend that all Americans are protected by American and international law, and the strikes against the US should be construed as war crimes. US law prohibits the use of American-made weapons to be used for offensive purposes. Attor
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POPSWhy I Am a Socialist The corporation is designed to make money without regard to human life, the social good or impact on the environment. Corporate laws impose a legal duty on corporate executives to make as much money as possible for shareholders, although many have moved on to fleece shareholders as well. In the 2003 documentary film “The Corporation” the management guru Peter Drucker says: “If you find an executive who wants to take on social responsibilities, fire him. Fast.”
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POPSShort Notice: Vote for A Special Prosecutor For Busy/Cheney Today On The Obama Site VOTE FOR THE SPECIAL PROSECUTOR QUESTION NOW ON THE OBAMA SITE We all understand the historical urgency and imperative of holding Bush and Cheney accountable for their grave crimes against our own country and all of humanity. And we haven't got alot of time to move on the particular action in this alert so please go to the Obama change site TODAY (voting closes 12/31 at midnight), where there is already a question calling for a special prosecutor, and 1. Sign in at http://change.gov/openforquestions 2. Search for "Fitzgerald" 3. This will display several similar questions, so look carefully for "Bob Fertik" (who started the question) 4. Look right for the checkbox, mouseover it so it goes from white to dark, then click to cast your vote And let's all vote for the SAME question (don't start another new one) and demonstrate to our new incoming administration that letting the crimes of the past slide without retribution is NOT an option. THEN GET YOUR NEW CO
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POPSPetition for a Special Prosecutor for Bush War Crimes Petition Dear Attorney General-Designate Eric Holder, We the undersigned citizens of the United States hereby formally petition you to appoint a Special Prosecutor to investigate and prosecute any and all government officials who have participated in War Crimes. These crimes are being euphemistically referred to as "abusive interrogation techniques" by such respected figures as Senator John McCain. These are euphemisms for torture. Torture is a War Crime. Waterboarding is a War Crime. The CIA has admitted waterboarding detainees. Recently, Vice President Cheney has brazenly admitted authorizing the program that led to waterboarding, other forms of torture too numerous to list, and ultimately, the deaths by homicide of detainees. As Major General Antonio Taguba, the Army general who led the investigation into prisoner abuse at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison has stated: "After years of disclosures by government investigations, media accounts and reports from human rights org
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POPSLeaders Lie, Civilians Die, and Lessons of History are Ignored Not a whimper from Tony Blair, the peace envoy to the Middle East who's never been to Gaza in his current incarnation. Not a bloody word. Yes, Israel deserves security. But these bloodbaths will not bring it. Not since 1948 have air raids protected Israel. Israel has bombed Lebanon thousands of times since 1975 and not one has eliminated "terrorism". So what was the reaction last night? The Israelis threaten ground attacks. Hamas waits for another battle. Our Western politicians crouch in their funk holes. And somewhere to the east – in a cave? a basement? on a mountainside? – a well-known man in a turban smiles.
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