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THEGLOBEANDMAIL Sunday, Oct. 03, 2010 12:10AM EDT
A defiant George Galloway says he may take another run at legal action against Immigration Minister Jason Kenney for branding him a terrorist and trying to muzzle his anti-war views.
The outspoken former British MP, who landed in Toronto Saturday, came out swinging against his political nemesis. He said he wants “redress” from Mr. Kenney, accusing the cabinet minister of putting his life at risk.
“I'm not being melodramatic,” Mr. Galloway said.
“There are crazy people in the world who — if I really was, really were the person Jason Kenney painted me as — might have thought themselves fully justified in putting a bullet in me.”
Mr. Galloway said he'll go into more details about the “searing” and “surreal” turn his life took after Mr. Kenney deemed him a security risk when he speaks Sunday in Toronto.
The speech will also focus on how the Canadian government is using anti-terrorism as an excuse to suppress legitimate political debate, he said.
By trying to keep him out of Canada, Mr. Kenney has only managed to attract more attention to his anti-war views, Mr. Galloway said.
“He's damaged Canada's reputation,” he said.
“I don't know if it's because he's a fool or a knave. I'm not sure which would be worse, but I am sure that Canada deserves better than that.”
Mr. Galloway, who cleared customs more than an hour after his plane landed, was greeted by dozens of chanting, sign-waving supporters at the airport.
He said he was quizzed at length by three immigration officials, but found them to be professional and polite.
Mr. Galloway was scheduled to speak in Canada in March, 2009, about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but aborted the tour after Ottawa said he would likely be denied entry.
The government cited his dealing with Gaza's elected Hamas government, which Canada considers a terrorist organization.
Earlier this week, a Federal Court judge found the Conservative government had acted politically to suppress his opinions.
Mr. Galloway said Kenney's terrorist allegation cost him his long-held seat in the U.K. House of Commons in May, hampered his ability to travel and created anxiety and stress for him and his family.
He abandoned a libel suit against Mr. Kenney on the grounds that it was proving too expensive to fight, but said Saturday he will consult his Canadian lawyers and examine his legal options.
“I'm very happy to be in Canada, and my presence proves that Canada remains a country governed by laws, not by ‘here today, gone tomorrow' politicians and their whims,” he said.
Brandishing signs calling Mr. Kenney the “Minister for Censorship and Deportation,” Mr. Galloway's supporters said they're outraged by the government's attempts to suppress free speech.
"All he is doing is delivering aid — ambulances, incubators, hospital supplies, wheelchairs, that kind of thing — to the people of Gaza who have been under siege and are living in deplorable conditions,” said 29-year-old student Fava Zaharuk, who volunteers with the Toronto Coalition to Stop the War.
“And it's for this that we're banning him from speaking in Canada? I don't want that kind of government.”
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HAARETZ Sat, 31 Jul 2010
What happened to the 130,000 Syrian citizens living in the Golan Heights in June 1967? According to the Israeli narrative, they all fled to Syria, but official documents and testimonies tell a different story.
The ground offensive was preceded by three days of artillery shelling and bombing from the air. Many of the Syrian outposts were hit in the bombings, as were a good number of houses, animal sheds and other civilian structures. And there were human casualties, too, of course. According to most testimony, the flight of civilians toward Damascus began then, and involved tens of thousands of people.
There is no question that many civilians joined the fleeing Syrian army forces both before and after the offensive. Many, but not all. A Syrian estimate a week after the war stated that only about 56,000 civilians had abandoned the Golan at that point.
Shalem believes the inhabitants left the villages as soon as the shelling started, but says they didn't abandon their land and apparently were waiting to return home once the battles ended: "It's a behavior pattern we'd seen in earlier conquests in the war ... Civilians flee their homes, but stay where they can maintain eye contact with the village, to see how things evolve. These were simple folks for the most part, not big politicians by any means, and in the absence of any leadership they did what was necessary to preserve their homes and property."
Shalem's account is supported by most of the testimonies of fighters interviewed for this article. Almost everyone who poked his head out of his tank or armored vehicle remembers seeing hundreds of Syrian civilians gathered outside the villages during the two days of fighting in the Golan.
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INDEPENDENT 02 Apr 2010
An Israeli journalist is in hiding in Britain, The Independent can reveal, over fears that he may face charges in the Jewish state in connection with his investigation into the killing of a Palestinian in the West Bank.
In his article for Haaretz, Mr Blau reported that one of two Islamic Jihad militants killed in Jenin in June 2007 had been targeted for assassination in apparent violation of a ruling issued six months earlier by Israel's supreme court.
The news of Mr Blau's extended absence comes just days after it emerged that another Israeli journalist, Anat Kam, has been held under house arrest for the last three months on charges that she leaked classified documents to the press while completing her military service.
She was arrested more than a year after Mr Blau's report, which was cleared by military censors at the time of publication
The move to gag Israel-based media has sparked fevered debate on Jewish blogs, which have freely reported the story. Bloggers have railed against the blackout, saying it represents a critical challenge to the freedom of the press.
"I do not believe that a citizen can be arrested and tried for suspected security offences right under our noses without anyone knowing anything about it," wrote former Haaretz editor Hanoch Marmari in an eloquent cri de coeur on the Seventh Eye website.
"Trials do not take place here in darkened dungeons, nor do we have show trials behind glass or chicken wire.
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GUARDIAN Wed, 10 Feb 2010 15:22:39 GMT
Legal principle established in 1637 banned secret talks between lawyers and courts. It was broken by the government
When the master of the rolls, Lord Neuberger, decided to retract paragraph 168 from his draft judgment in the case of Binyam Mohamed, he relied on almost 400 years of jurisprudence to assume that the parties in the case had agreed to its removal.
The case of Ship Money, brought by Oliver Cromwell's cousin John Hampden in 1637, established the principle that there should be no secret communication between lawyers and the courts in legal proceedings.
Representations from one side – in this case, the foreign secretary's barrister, Jonathan Sumption QC – should be copied to all other parties in the case, so that they have the opportunity to respond.
On that basis, when Neuberger received a letter from Sumption requesting removal of the paragraph from the court of appeal draft judgment, lawyers say he must have thought he was acting with the agreement of all parties.
Neuberger removed the paragraph from the final judgment, watering down the court's condemnation of the security services, described by Sumption as containing "exceptionally damaging criticism".
"The master of the rolls' observations … will be read as statements by the court that the security service does not in fact operate a culture that respects human rights or abjures participation in coercive interrogation techniques," says Sumption's letter, now published in full on the Guardian's website.
But other parties in the case were not consulted and are furious.
"In all the years – I was first a government lawyer and then a liberty lawyer – I have never known the draft judgment process abused in this way," said Shami Chakrabarti, director of Liberty, the human rights organisation which was a party to the case. "The purpose of using drafts is for typographical and factual corrections – minor matters such as names and dates.
"It is not to allow one party to re-run substantive arguments and tempt a court to tone down or change its judgments."
She added: "I can't believe that the Foreign Office thought they could get away with this. It shows the kind of contempt for the law that this case has always been about."
"This is anti-constitutional behaviour of the most disquieting kind," said Mark Stephens,
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DAILYRECORD Wed, 20 Jan 2010
George Galloway MP, a once fervent supporter of Obama, is one of the disillusioned.
He said: "I fell out with most of my left-wing friends by supporting him. I feel a bit foolish now.
"He has lost a huge amount of support among progressive people and the conservatives really hate him. He is walking down the middle of the road and getting knocked by both sides.
"Guantanamo is one of the factors, the deepening of the war in Afghanistan is another.
"He has thrown trillions of dollars at the banks, continued sanctions against Cuba and backs Israel 100 per cent.
"His foreign policy has been identical to Bush's. He has failed on all fronts."
Galloway believes Obama could be another one-term president, like Jimmy Carter
Clive Stafford Smith, director of Reprieve, which have campaigned for the closure of Guantanamo, said: "In some areas, all that Obama has managed to do is compromise his own beliefs in his effort to accommodate the extremists in his own country.
"This is sad and it may yet come to be his political epitaph."
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REUTERS
Climate change threatens the human rights of millions of people who are at risk of losing access to housing, food and clean water unless governments intervene early to counter its effects, experts said on Tuesday.
Michelle Leighton, director of human rights programmes at the Center for Law & Global Justice at the University of San Francisco's law school, told the conference pressures from global warming could also force would-be migrants into the hands of criminals.
Some three quarters of sub-Saharan Africa's agricultural drylands are now degraded to some degree, she said, pointing to West African countries such as Ghana, Senegal and Nigeria as most acutely vulnerable to climate change-related damage.
Many people in Somalia, Mali and Cape Verde will also have little option but to leave their lands in coming years, and many are likely to turn to human smugglers for help in accessing more prosperous countries in Europe and elsewhere, she said.
"This is a big business now," Leighton said. "If the climate change predictions come true, and we see much more pressure on agricultural lands in sub-Saharan Africa, we are likely to see an increase in illegal smuggling as well."
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GUARDIAN Sun, 25 Oct 2009 20:29:40 GMT
Thousands of activists monitored on network of overlapping databases
Police are gathering the personal details of thousands of activists who attend political meetings and protests, and storing their data on a network of nationwide intelligence databases.
The hidden apparatus has been constructed to monitor "domestic extremists", the Guardian can reveal in the first of a three-day series into the policing of protests. Detailed information about the political activities of campaigners is being stored on a number of overlapping IT systems, even if they have not committed a crime.
Senior officers say domestic extremism, a term coined by police that has no legal basis, can include activists suspected of minor public order offences such as peaceful direct action and civil disobedience.
Three national police units responsible for combating domestic extremism are run by the "terrorism and allied matters" committee of the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo). In total, it receives £9m in public funding, from police forces and the Home Office, and employs a staff of 100.
An investigation by the Guardian can reveal:
• The main unit, the National Public Order Intelligence Unit (NPOIU), runs a central database which lists thousands of so-called domestic extremists. It filters intelligence supplied by police forces across England and Wales, which routinely deploy surveillance teams at protests, rallies and public meetings. The NPOIU contains detailed files on individual protesters who are searchable by name.
• Vehicles associated with protesters are being tracked via a nationwide system of automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras. One man, who has no criminal record, was stopped more than 25 times in less than three years after a "protest" marker was placed against his car after he attended a small protest against duck and pheasant shooting. ANPR "interceptor teams" are being deployed on roads leading to protests to monitor attendance.
• Police surveillance units, known as Forward Intelligence Teams (FIT) and Evidence Gatherers, record footage and take photographs of campaigners as they enter and leave openly advertised public meetings. These images are entered on force-wide databases so that police can chronicle the campaigners' political activities. The information is added to the central NPOIU.
• Surveillance officers are provided with "spotter cards" used to identify the faces of target individuals who police believe are at risk of becoming involved in domestic extremism. Targets include high-profile activists regularly seen taking part in protests. One spotter card, produced by the Met to monitor campaigners against an arms fair, includes a mugshot of the comedian Mark Thomas.
• NPOIU works in tandem with two other little-known Acpo branches, the National Extremism Tactical Coordination Unit (Netcu), which advises thousands of companies on how to manage political campaigns, and the National Domestic Extremism Team, which pools intelligence gathered by investigations into protesters across the country.
Denis O'Connor, the chief inspector of constabulary, will next month release the findings of his national review of policing of protests. He has already signalled he anticipates wide scale change. His inspectors, who were asked to review tactics in the wake of the Metropolitan police's controversial handling of the G20 protests, are considering a complete overhaul of the three Acpo units, which they have been told lack statutory accountability.
Acpo's national infrastructure for dealing with domestic extremism was set up with the backing of the Home Office in an attempt to combat animal rights activists who were committing serious crimes. Senior officers concede the criminal activity associated with these groups has receded, but the units dealing with domestic extremism have expanded their remit to incorporate campaign groups across the political spectrum, including anti-war and environmental groups that...
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AMAZON Wed, 28 Oct 2009
Vernon Coleman has long been a waspish, eccentric but incisive commentator on British (and, in this book, global) political, social and economic events. In "Gordon is a Moron", he effectively demolished the aura of success (if it still exists) which once surrounded Gordon Brown's record as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Here, he looks at broader trends, both nationally and globally. If he's right, what happens next will be very nasty indeed.
His thesis begins with the observation that a combination of inept government and greedy bankers is driving the UK into bankruptcy and obscurity. It would be hard to argue against this, with Britain teetering on the brink of a debt implosion.
Bankers get a bashing; the UK is heading for hyper-inflation (well, we are running the printing presses), and is heading also for an energy crisis (Mr Coleman is a strong believer in Peak Oil). Law and order will disintegrate as an arrogant, increasingly out-of-touch police force imposes draconian laws enacted by Labour (I certainly agree with his assessment of the rate at which individual liberties are being eroded; and the police seem to have evolved from "the long arm of the law" to "the mailed fist of the [Labour] state").
....
In his latest book Vernon Coleman continues his remorsless demolition of the "facts" of modern life in his usual iconoclastic style. Essential reading for all those who think the mass media is designed to inform. If the truth depresses then get used to depression, would seem the best advice: it will soon become the common lot, even if only half the information in this book proves true.
....
Vernon Coleman's brutally frank opinions of what has happened to Britain during the last twelve years cannot be ignored. If you value your quality of life and everything your country stood for wake up from your apathy and start making your views heard.
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TELEGRAPH Thu, 22 Oct 2009
A 10-year-old girl, Abbie Symonds, had CS gas sprayed in her face when 35 officers raided a birthday party in Somerset to make a minor arrest, her angry mother has claimed.
Her mother, Delia Symonds, 40, and her husband Nigel, 50, had organised the barbecue for 20 family and friends in their back garden last weekend.
But 35 officers in full riot gear later raided the party to arrest the couple's son, Robert, 20, for a breach of bail conditions.
The Birthday boy was also arrested for a public order offence while his father, also called Nigel, was arrested on Sunday for the same offence.
Police arrested Robert on suspicion of breaching a curfew but this was dismissed due to lack of evidence when he appeared at Bath Magistrate's Court on Monday.
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GOOGLE 17 Aug 2009
A former Big Brother contestant sent for trial for stealing a policeman's baton at an anti-war demonstration has walked free after the case was dropped. Carole Vincent, 55, who appeared on the reality TV show in 2007, had denied committing the offence on June 15, 2008. The case was dropped when the prosecution offered no evidence against her at London's Southwark Crown Court. Vincent, of Leytonstone, east London, dressed in a black jacket decorated with anti-war badges, said afterwards: "Common sense has prevailed, we have a right to protest. We won't be silenced." Veteran Labour politician Tony Benn, who was in court as a witness for Vincent, welcomed the decision. He said: "It would have been a gross injustice if she had been sentenced." Vincent said she was arrested after picking up a baton dropped by a police officer at the Parliament Square demonstration. The prosecution had accused her of theft. Vincent said she was not expecting Monday's result as she had been told there would be a trial that would last about five days. Mr Benn said he, politician George Galloway and octogenarian campaigner Walter Wolfgang had all been near Vincent when the incident occurred and had offered to make a statement when he heard she had been charged.
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www.thenational.ae Mon, 20 Jul 2009
“We have come here, in the name of the British people, to apologise for the promise of Balfour the Briton to Weizmann the Zionist,” was the message of the British humanitarian convoy known as Viva Palestina, which was led by the MP George Galloway and included other parliamentarians and human rights activists who defied the blockade on the Gaza Strip, wrote Mamdoh Taha in the UAE-based daily Al Bayane.
Now an American convoy made it into Gaza last Wednesday, led by Mr Galloway, with a similar slogan: “We have come here, in the name of the American people, to apologise for the promise of Bush the American to Sharon the Zionist.”
The American convoy includes artists, politicians, peace activists, anti-Zionist rabbis and veterans of the Vietnam War.
This global trend of solidarity mirrors the growing resolve among free peoples to champion justice and liberty in the international arena, even against the policies of their own governments, the writer commented.
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WORLDPRESSNETWORK Tuesday 28 April 2009
ORIGINAL DOWNING ST SMEARS VICTIM
RETURNS TO HAUNT NEW LABOUR
Thatcher Room
Portcullis House
Tuesday 28 April 1.45pm
Formal Evidence Session on UK Complicity in Torture
Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights
Witness: Craig Murray, former British Ambassador to Uzbekistan
(currently Rector of the University of Dundee).
In 2004, Craig Murray told us that:
• The British Government was complicit in the most vicious forms of torture
• He had been the victim of a lurid smear campaign initiated by New Labour
• The government was lying about all this
In 2004, much of the public and media was not willing to accept that the government would cooperate with torture or with false allegations against an innocent man. Many still had trust in the basic honesty and decency of government.
The evidence that Craig Murray was telling the truth about torture has now become overwhelming, including from the case of Binyam Mohammed. The UK “benefited” continually from intelligence passed on from the CIA waterboarding programme and from torture in countries including Uzbekistan, Pakistan and Egypt.
Craig Murray suffered the most high profile sacking of any British Ambassador for a century. But in 2005 the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee refused to hear him in evidence, despite allowing Jack Straw to appear and attack him.
Astonishingly, this is the first time Craig Murray will ever have been allowed to give formal evidence in the UK on his grave allegations, and be questioned on the truth of his testimony.
As the Scotland Yard investigation proceeds into MI5 and MI6 collusion in 16 cases of torture, Craig Murray will argue that it is not the security service operatives, but the Ministers who set the policy – and specifically Jack Straw – who should be facing criminal charges.
Contact: Craig Murray on 07979 691085 or craigmurray@mail.ruTranscript of Craig Murray's formal evidence statement is at http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/ ... in_my.html
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ELECTRONICINTIFADA Fri, 10 Apr 2009
In recent years, increasing numbers of individuals around the world have begun adopting and developing an analysis of Israel as an apartheid regime. This can be seen in the ways that the global movement in support of the Palestinian anti-colonial struggle is taking on a pointedly anti-apartheid character, as evidenced by the growth of Israeli Apartheid Week ( http://apartheidweek.org/). Further, much of the recent international diplomatic support for Israel has increasingly taken on the form of denying that racial discrimination is a root cause of the oppression of Palestinians. This has taken on new levels of absurdity in Western responses to the April 2009 Durban Review Conference, a follow-up to the 2001 World Conference Against Racism held in Durban, South Africa in which Palestinians were identified as victims of racism (the US, Israel, Canada and Italy have already announced that they will not participate because of the potential for criticism of Israel).
Many of the writings stemming from this analysis work to detail levels of similarity and difference with apartheid South Africa, rather than looking at apartheid as a system that can be practiced by any state. To some extent, this strong emphasis on historical comparisons is understandable given that boycott, divestment and sanctions is the central campaign called for by Palestinian civil society for solidarity with the Palestinian liberation struggle, and is modeled on the one that helped end South African apartheid. However, an over-emphasis on similarities and differences confines the use of the term to narrow limits. With the expanding agreement that the term "apartheid" is useful in describing the level and layout of Israel's crimes, it is important that our understanding of the "apartheid label" be deepened, both as a means of informing activism in support of the Palestinian anti-colonial struggle, and in order to most effectively make use of comparisons with other struggles.
The apartheid analogy
It is perhaps understandable that some advocates of Palestinian rights look at the "apartheid label," in its comparative sense, as a politically useful tool. ....
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IMEMC Sat, 11 Apr 2009
British Legislator, George Galloway, stated on Friday that the Oslo agreements between the Palestinians and the Israelis are dead and will not lead the area to any peace.
Galloway added that what is happening now cannot be called peace talks, and that the Israelis are holding talks but are not ready to achieve justice that could lead to peace. He stated that Israel wants endless and aimless talks, and that this issue will not lead to peace but is only meant to grant Israel more time to continue its violations. Commenting on the siege on Gaza, Galloway said that this siege is unjust, cruel and inhuman. He also said that this siege violates democracy and human rights. “I hope we will be able to break it”, he added, “Egypt holds the key, it has a huge responsibility in this regard”. “We formed the Viva Palestina which was in charge of sending aid ships to Gaza”, Galloway added, “We are now preparing to send a convoy of ships from Cyprus to Gaza”.
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GUARDIAN 21 March 2009
The Canadian immigration minister Jason Kenney gazetted in the Sun yesterday morning that I was to be excluded from his country because of my views on Afghanistan. That's the way the rightwing, last-ditch dead-enders of Bushism in Ottawa conduct their business. Kenney is quite a card. A quick trawl establishes he's a gay-baiter, gung-ho armchair warrior, with an odd habit of exceeding his immigration brief. Three years ago he attacked the pro-western Lebanese prime minister, Fuad Siniora, for being ungrateful to Canada for its support of Israeli bombardment of his country. Most curiously of all, in 2006 he addressed a rally of the so-called People's Mujahideen of Iran, a Waco-style cult, banned in the European Union as a terrorist organisation. On one level being banned by such a man is like being told to sit up straight by the hunchback of Notre Dame or being lectured on due diligence by Conrad Black. On another, for a Scotsman to be excluded from Canada is like being turned away from the family home. But what are my views on Afghanistan which the Canadian government does not want its people to hear? I've never been to Afghanistan, nor have I ever met a Taliban, but my first impression into the parliamentary vellum on the subject was more than two decades ago. At the time the fathers of the Taliban were "freedom fighters", paraded at US Republican and British Tory conferences. Who knows, maybe even the Canadian right extolled these god-fearing opponents of communism. I did not, however. On the eve of their storming of Kabul I told Margaret Thatcher that she "had opened the gates to the barbarians" and that "a long, dark night would now descend upon the people of Afghanistan". With the same conviction, I say to the Canadian and other Nato governments today that your policy is equally a profound mistake. From time to time and with increased regularity it is a crime. Like the bombardment of wedding parties and even funerals or the presiding over a record opium crop, which under our noses finds its way coursing through the veins of young people from Nova Scotia to Newcastle upon Tyne. But it is worse than a crime, as Tallyrand said, it's a blunder. The Afghans have never succumbed to foreign occupation, heaven knows the British empire tried, tried and failed again. Not even Alexander the Great succeeded, and whoever else he is, minister Kenney is no Alexander the Great. Young Canadian soldiers are dying in significant numbers on Afghanistan's plains. Their families are entitled to know how many of us believe this adventure to be similarly doomed and that genuine support for troops - British, Canadian and other - means bringing them home and changing course. To ban a five-times elected British MP from addressing public events or keeping appointments with television and radio programmes is a serious matter. Kenney's "spokesman" told the Sun, "Galloway's not coming in ... end of story." Alas for him, it's not. Canada remains a free country governed by law and my friends are even now seeking a judicial review. And there are other ways I can address those Canadians who wish to hear me. More than half a century ago Paul Robeson, one of the greatest men who ever lived, was forbidden to enter Canada not by Ottawa but by Washington, which had taken away his passport. But he was still able to transfix a vast crowd of Vancouver's mill hands and miners with a 17-minute telephone concert, culminating in a rendition of the Ballad of Joe Hill. Technology has moved on since then. And so from coast to coast, minister Kenney notwithstanding, I will be heard - one way or another. • George Galloway is Respect MP for Bethnal Green and Bow gallowayg@parliament.uk
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CTV 23 March 2009
Supporters of British MP George Galloway are challenging the government's decision to ban him from Canada over his controversial views on Hamas and the war in Afghanistan.
The anti-war MP is scheduled for a four-city Canadian speaking tour beginning on March 30. He launched a U.S. tour today.
James Clark, spokesperson for the Toronto Coalition to Stop the War, said the group is "incredulous" that Citizenship and Immigration Canada has banned Galloway, and plans to launch a legal challenge in Ontario provincial court on Tuesday.
"All week we're going to be campaigning and lobbying the federal government to defend freedom of speech and reverse the ban," Clark, whose group is helping organize Galloway's tour, told CTV.ca.
If the government doesn't change its position, a group of Galloway's supporters plan to try and personally escort him across the border on March 30, Clark said.
"We will be organizing a delegation at a border crossing, likely in Quebec, where a delegation of MPs and lawyers will cross into the U.S. to meet Galloway and accompany him across the border," he said.
Galloway has spoken in Canada on a number of occasions without incident -- most recently in 2006 -- and there has never before been an objection from the federal government, Clark said.
"We think this move is politically motivated and is simply about silencing someone who has very strong views on our position on Afghanistan and other issues," Clark said.
He said Galloway has been elected five times to British parliament, has never been charged with a crime, has no criminal record, and "it's unclear just how the government sees him as a national security threat."
The groups campaigning to bring Galloway to Canada include The Council of Canadians, Canadian Civil Liberties Union, Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights, as well as anti-war coalitions, labour unions and community groups.
"One way or another, we will bring George Galloway to Canada," Laith Marouf, national branches coordinator of Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights, said in a news release.
Immigration Minister Jason Kenney has declined to intervene on Galloway's behalf.
The Canadian Press reports that Kenney's office says Galloway has expressed sympathy for the Taliban in Afghanistan and supported Hamas -- a Palestinian militant group that Canada considers to be a terrorist organization.
Galloway sits as a left-wing Respect MP, following his dismissal from Britain's Labour party in 2003.
Despite the ban, organizers of the Galloway tour are moving forward with plans, in hopes he will be allowed into the country.
He is scheduled to speak four times over the course of a few days:
- March 30 in Toronto
- March 31 in Mississauga
- April 1 in Montreal
- April 2 in Ottawa
Galloway had also been scheduled to speak today in Toronto at a news conference entitled Resisting War from Gaza to Kandahar.
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WORLDPRESSNETWORK 20 March 2009
Respect MP George Galloway today vowed to use “all means at my disposal” to challenge the decision by Canada’s pro-war, conservative immigration minister, Jason Kenny, to refuse him entry to the country to give a series of speeches.
Galloway is this afternoon exploring with organisers of his speaking tour and with legal advisors avenues to challenge the decision, which he brands “irrational, inexplicable and an affront to Canada’s good name”.
Galloway was not informed of the decision until after it had been given to journalists. The grounds provided by a spokesperson for Mr Kenny for the ban are that Galloway’s opposition to the deployment of Nato troops in Afghanistan make him “inadmissible” to Canada. Galloway says:
“This decision, gazetted in Rupert Murdoch’s Sun, is a very sad day for the Canada we have known and loved – a bastion of the freedoms that supporters of the occupation of Afghanistan claim to be defending.
“This has further vindicated the anti-war movement’s contention that unjust wars abroad will end up consuming the very liberties that make us who we are.
“This may be a rather desperate election ploy by a conservative government reaching the end of line, or by a minister who has not cottoned on to the fact that the George Bush era is over.
“All right thinking Canadians, whether they agree with me over the wisdom of sending troops to Afghanistan or not, will oppose this outrageous decision.
“On a personal note – for a Scotsman to be barred from Canada is like being told to stay away from the family home.
“This is not something I’m prepared to accept.”
For further information contact Kevin Ovenden: 020 7219 2874 or 07983 360 874
Ends
Notes to editors:
1) Galloway’s most recent comment on Afghanistan was to the Grimsby and Scunthorpe media group and was, “More British soldiers have now died in Afghanistan than in the whole of the disastrous war in and occupation of Iraq. And yet the Taliban are growing in strength and instability is spreading across the border into Pakistan. My heart goes out to the families of all the loved ones who have lost their lives and in particular to the families of Corporals Grahame Stiff and Dean John, the latest soldiers to lose their lives in Afghanistan. The majority of British people, the latest opinion polls show, do not understand why we have sent troops to Afghanistan. I want our troops brought home from Afghanistan now, so no more lives are lost in this pointless and unwinnable war."
2) In 2006 the President of Egypt personally apologised to Galloway after he was detained for some hours on arrival in Cairo to speak at an anti-war conference. The speaking engagement went ahead.
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WORLDPRESSNETWORK 20 March 2009
Our own Parliament needs to get involved
George Galloway does not pose a threat to anyone
The only people threatened by him are the ones that
do not want the truth to be heard
We all need to show our contempt to this ridiculous
decision please pass this on and join the cause
This story is beginning to make headlines:
News Update:
1. MP Olivia Chow, and the New Democratic Party have made a statement on Galloway's exclusion:
http://www.ndp.ca/press/harper-governme ... ree-speech2. Watch George Galloway's interview on the UK's Channel 4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NezETjHGNSM&feature3. The Toronto Star's article on today's events http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/605682(don't forget to leave a comment) 4. George Galloway on The Hour (a couple years ago): http://www.cbc.ca/thehour/videos.html?id=728665230What can YOU do? 1. Sign the petition http://petitiononline.com/galcan09/petition.html2. Contact MP Jason Kenny who is responsible for this decision and let his staff know of your outrage. Call and insist they take your information down (don't let them hand you off to a voice mail). http://www.jasonkenney.ca/EN/contact_jason/3. Contact the press and the media , write a letter to the editor.write to your MP anyone that will listen demand a response. Even if you don't agree with George Galloway's viewpoints, this is a matter of freedom of speech. 4. *** Invite your friends, and get them to invite their friends. *** http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=629650758095. write to who will listen this is taking someones freedom of speech away from them in the pretence of a ridiculous charge inflicted upon him. 6. George Galloway took on the US Senate so Jason Kenney watch out. This is critical for the success of our group. Please, please, please take 10 minutes to invite your friends (all of your friends) to this group. If you have more time, take a few minutes to get your friends who are already invited to ask them to ask their friends! To everyone, thank you for joining and supporting this cause
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BBC Wed, 18 Mar 2009 12:24:53 GMT
The Metropolitan Police has agreed to pay £60,000 damages to a man it arrested during an anti-terror raid.
The High Court heard that Babar Ahmad was subjected to "serious gratuitous prolonged unjustified violence" and "religious abuse" after his arrest.
Mr Ahmad, a 34-year-old IT support analyst, was never charged following the dawn raid at his home in Tooting, south west London, in December 2003.
He is now in jail awaiting extradition to the US on separate charges.
Mr Justice Holroyde heard that one of the unnamed officers allegedly involved will face criminal proceedings.
Phillippa Kaufmann, counsel for Mr Ahmad, told the High Court that he had been dragged by handcuffs and held by the neck.
She added his treatment at the hands of Territorial Support Group officers was intended to humiliate and debase him and make him fear for his life.
Previously, the force had denied that Mr Ahmad had been punched, stamped on and repeatedly struck with the knee in the police van.
Mr Ahmad was in court to hear lawyers for Met Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson agree to the pay-out.
Previously, he had followed proceedings by videolink from Long Lartin prison, Worcestershire.
He had been due to give evidence on Wednesday.
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BBC Fri, 20 Mar 2009 12:53:12 GMT
George Galloway, a British member of Parliament, has been banned from Canada on security grounds, the country's immigration service has confirmed.
Mr Galloway, a Respect Party MP, said the ban was "idiotic" and he would look at legal action to try to overturn it.
British media reported the decision was due to his views on Afghanistan and the presence of Canadian troops there.
The anti-war MP was expelled from the Labour Party in 2003 because of his outspoken comments on the Iraq war.
Mr Galloway said he was not prepared to accept what he described as an "inexplicable decision" and indicated he would challenge it with all means at his disposal.
"This has further vindicated the anti-war movement's contention that unjust wars abroad will end up consuming the very liberties that make us who we are," he said.
"All right-thinking Canadians, whether they agree with me or not, will oppose this outrageous decision."
A spokesman for Citizenship and Immigration Canada confirmed the MP would not be allowed into the country on national security grounds.
He said the decision had been taken by border security officials "based on a number of factors" in accordance with the country's immigration act.
Mr Galloway had been due to speak at a public forum, Resisting War from Gaza to Kandahar, in Toronto on 30 March.
In 2006 he was detained "on grounds of national security" at Cairo airport after heading to Egypt to attend a "mock trial" of then PM Tony Blair and then US President George Bush.
Mr Galloway became the figurehead for the anti-war Respect party after being expelled from Labour.
His expulsion followed comments on the Iraq war which Labour chairman Ian McCartney said "incited foreign forces to rise up against British troops".
The party acted following a number of TV interviews, including one in which Mr Galloway accused Tony Blair and President Bush of acting "like wolves" in invading Iraq.
Mr Galloway said it had been a "politically motivated kangaroo court".
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BBC Fri, 06 Mar 2009 04:18:17 GMT
The information watchdog has shut down a company which it says sold workers' confidential data, including union activities, to building firms.
A raid on The Consulting Association in Droitwich, Worcs, revealed a serious breach of the Data Protection Act, the Information Commissioner's Office said.
The ICO said a secret system was run for over 15 years enabling employers to unlawfully vet job applicants.
Action is being considered against more than 40 firms who used the service.
Past and present customers included Taylor Woodrow, Laing O'Rourke and Balfour Beatty, the ICO added.
The Consulting Association's owner would also be prosecuted, it said.
'Trouble stirrer'
Not only was the database held without the workers' consent, but the very existence of it was repeatedly denied.
Following the raid on 23 February, investigators discovered that The Consulting Association's database contained the details of some 3,213 workers, the ICO said.
Data included information concerning personal relationships, trade union activity and employment history, it added.
Comments included "lazy and a trouble stirrer", "Ex shop steward. Definite problems. No Go" and "Communist Party".
Employers paid £3,000 as an annual fee, and £2.20 for individual details, the ICO said.
Invoices to construction firms for up to £7,500 were also seized during the raid.
The ICO said it had served an Enforcement Notice ordering The Consulting Association's owner to stop using the system, and expected the company to cease trading by the end of the week.
It added that the owner had failed to notify the ICO as a data controller.
Deputy Information Commissioner David Smith said the database was "an extensive operation involving household names in the construction industry".
He added: "Trading people's personal details in this way is unlawful and we are determined to stamp out this type of activity."
Alan Ritchie, general secretary of building workers union Ucatt, said: "Take one of the issues that we have in the construction industry: we have just under two people killed every week through bad health and safety practices and if a whistleblower then raises these issues, then obviously he has found his name on this list.
"He has never had the chance to challenge it.
"He has never been able to turn around and say, 'You are classing me as lazy. How can that be?'"
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WORLDPRESSNETWORK Wed, 04 Mar 2009
"Four Palestinian human rights campaigners look set to be charged with “racially motivated conduct” after the activists welcomed the Procurator Fiscal’s motion to drop the original Breach of the Peace charge in favour of the more serious one at Edinburgh Sheriff Court today."
"The campaigners, all members of the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign (SPSC), were arrested last August after disrupting an Edinburgh Festival concert by Israeli musicians, the Jerusalem Quartet, and were due to be tried next week. Along with a fifth SPSC campaigner, Mick Napier, due to appear in court at a later date, the four stood up one at a time during the performance and made statements such as “End the Siege of Gaza”, and “Boycott Israel!”"
“We had been ready to argue that our non-violent action does not constitute Breach of the Peace because our intention was to highlight and therefore help prevent the atrocities being committed by the sponsors of the Jerusalem Quartet—the state of Israel”, said Sofiah Macleod, Secretary of the SPSC, and one of the four accused."
“However, we welcome the opportunity to fight instead the absurd charge of “racially motivated conduct”; it is the state of Israel, and Zionism, the political ideology upon which it is founded, that is racist. We will resist any attempt to de-legitimise the Palestinian struggle for justice and to criminalise the growing campaign of boycott and divestment from Israel.”
"Local Jewish writer and journalist, Marion Woolfson, is honorary president of the SPSC, an organisation that supports the right of the Palestinian people as a whole to self-determination. Before the concert, she had called on Edinburgh Festival organisers to rescind the invitation to the Israeli musicians. In a letter to the Queen’s Hall venue, she wrote, “I simply cannot understand why you should have invited the representatives of a country that practices ethnic cleansing and a form of apartheid which even those who have lived in South Africa have said is worse than anything thought up by the former rulers of their country.”
"Woolfson described the latest charges against her fellow campaigners as “ridiculous”, and continued, “the anti-Semitism charge is the last resort of those who try to defend the indefensible. This is the equivalent of labelling all those who criticised and boycotted the white-supremacist state of Apartheid South Africa as anti-white.”
"Campaign Chair, Mick Napier, said, “We thank the Procurator Fiscal for providing us with the forum to explain that opposition to the violent, racist state of Israel is motivated by a commitment to universal human rights. We support the Palestinian people faced with Zionist savagery and we are contemptuous of attempts to smear such a struggle for justice with the taint of racism. I hope these charges are not quietly dropped and we will have the opportunity to meet our critics in open court.”
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BBC Thu, 26 Feb 2009
Ministers have said they handed over two terror suspects to US authorities in Afghanistan, sparking claims of collusion in extraordinary rendition.
Defence secretary John Hutton said the two, detained by UK forces in Iraq in 2004, were transferred to US custody in Afghanistan where they remain.
Mr Hutton apologised for past incorrect answers given to MPs about the issue.
He said UK officials were aware that the two men, understood to be Pakistani nationals, had been transferred to the US in 2004.
Extraordinary rendition is the term used for sending terror suspects for interrogation in countries were torture is not illegal.
The UK has always denied being involved in the practice despite frequent allegations to the contrary.
They are still being held in Afghanistan, where they are classified as "unlawful enemy combatants".
Mr Hutton said "brief references" to the case had been included in papers sent to the Foreign and Home Secretaries in 2006 but its significance had not been highlighted at the time.
The Conservatives called for an inquiry into the case, saying it raised questions about the practice of extraordinary rendition.
Former home secretary David Davis said the case was the "latest in a series of issues where the government has been less than straightforward" with regard to allegations of torture.
The government admitted last year that two US flights carrying terror suspects for interrogation landed on UK territory in 2002.
The revelation comes days after Binyam Mohamed, the former Guantanamo detainee who claims UK intelligence agencies colluded in his torture, returned to the UK.
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BBC Thu, 19 Feb 2009 10:15:45 GMT
Radical preacher Abu Qatada is awarded £2,500 by the European Court of Human Rights after being held in the UK without trial.
Judges ruled that his detention without trial in the UK under anti-terrorism powers breached his human rights.
Abu Qatada has been held both in Belmarsh high security prison and under 22-hour home curfew. His lawyers have already submitted an application to the European Court appealing against his deportation.
The European Court also awarded pay-outs of between £1,500 and £3,400 to 10 other people who were detained in Britain following 9/11 on suspicion of providing support for extremists linked to al-Qaeda.
Judges said the British government had breached three articles of the European Convention on Human Rights, including the right to liberty, the right for lawfulness of detention to be decided by a court and the right to compensation for unlawful detention.
Their decision is final and the government has no right to appeal.
Where a person is arrested on the basis of "an allegedly reasonable suspicion of unlawful behaviour", they must have the opportunity to challenge those claims, they added.
Corinna Ferguson, from human rights group Liberty, said: "Liberty is a fundamental right and it's not something that can be compromised in the face of a terrorist threat."
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GUARDIAN Thu, 19 Feb 2009
I never imagined I would say this, but Stella Rimington is right. The former head of MI5 who made her career running the security service's dirtiest operations in the 1980s, against the miners' union and the IRA, has warned that the government has given terrorists the chance to find "greater justification" by making people feel they "live in fear and under a police state". Naturally, ministers described her remarks as nonsense and accused her of playing "into the hands of our enemies". But the damage is done. To have the woman once hailed as Britain's Queen of Spies accusing the government of recklessly counter-productive authoritarianism carries a special weight - and incidentally turns the traditional relationship between Labour and the secret state on its head. Rimington went further, denouncing the US for Guantánamo and torture, but reverted to type by insisting MI5 "doesn't do that". No, as we now know, it contracts out that job to others, while its officers stand by promising to arrange "more lenient treatment" if the victim co-operates. In case after case, British collaboration in the hidden crimes of the war on terror has now been laid bare. But none more so than in the seven-year ordeal of Binyam Mohamed, the last British resident in Guantánamo, the details of whose CIA kidnapping and US-orchestrated torture across four countries the foreign secretary, David Miliband, has twisted and turned to prevent being made public. As it now turns out, the US letter warning that intelligence-sharing with Britain would be damaged if the torture evidence was published - used to strong-arm the high court into suppressing it - was in fact issued at the request of the Foreign Office itself. Perhaps that's hardly surprising, when the court has already heard that MI5 officers questioned the freshly tortured Mohamed in illegal Pakistani detention under government guidelines and fed questions to CIA interrogators as he was secretly "rendered" from Pakistan to Afghanistan to Morocco. Mohamed was hung from leather straps and beaten in Pakistan, and had his genitals slashed in Morocco, while other British terror suspects questioned by MI5 had their fingernails ripped out. Mohamed ended up confessing under torture to a fantasy "dirty bomb" plot, though all charges have been dropped and he is finally due to be returned to Britain any day now. But New Labour's sins in the war on terror are catching up with it. And it's not only officials, but politicians, up to and including Tony Blair, who could be in the legal frame as a result of British collusion with torture, "extraordinary rendition" - illegal abductions to third countries - and "ghost" prisons.
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WORLDPRESSNETWORK Tue, 27 Jan 2009
Former Guantanamo prisoner Omar Deghayes, currently travelling around the UK as part of the "Two Sides: One Story" speaking tour, writes
"We have been meeting people who are on control orders so that we can report their plight and I am very saddened by what I have seen. They are raided by police on a weekly basis, their wives and chlidren are caught up in this horrible system that punishes the whole family and not just the one on a control order. The police raid them early in the morning on a weekly or more basis and the children get to witness their father being searched and humiliated. Their wives are sometimes shackled in front of their children during these searches and the police have been known to pass sexually abusive comments about them. The children as young as 3-5 years old are dragged out of their bedrooms in the early hours of the morning so that the whole house can searched which makes them psychologically scarred and have trouble at school and fear any policeman on the street. All of the households have had the internet and computers banned which affects their learning at school and further isolates them from the outside world.
Its not enough that these control orders are extra judicial and backward but that these families are raided on a regular basis and have their property confiscated is unacceptable and barbaric - sometimes the police come in with guns to intimidate and throw all their property about or take it away and not return it.
This is a huge disappointment for me by coming back from Guantanamo Bay and then seeing another Guantanamo in our back yard. Chris Arendt, the guard, was very shocked by the way the British government has treated these people and he was a guard at Guantanamo Bay."
Please write to the men under control orders, to the men awaitimg deportation to countries where they are likely to be tortured and to the other victims of the Guantanamo in our back yard.
Addresses for some of these men are at http://www.sacc.org.uk/index.php?option ... view&id=51Please show them they haven't been forgotten Omar Deghayes, Moazzam Begg and Chris Arendt will be speaking at public meetings in Scotland on Friday 30 and Saturday 31 Jan "Two Sides: One Story" Adelaides, Bath St, Glasgow at 7.30pm (doors open 7.00pm), Friday 30 Jan and Augustine Church, Geoge IV Bridge, Edinburgh at 2.30pm on Saturday 31 Jan. Full details and background about the speakers at http://www.sacc.org.uk/index.php?option ... 0&catid=33
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PALESTINIANMOTHERS Fri, 16 Jan 2009
The incursion into Gaza is not about destroying Hamas. It is not about stopping rocket fire into Israel. It is not about achieving peace. The Israeli decision to rain death and destruction on Gaza, to use the lethal weapons of the modern battlefield on a largely defenseless civilian population, is the final phase of the decades-long campaign to ethnically cleanse Palestinians. The assault on Gaza is about creating squalid, lawless and impoverished ghettos where life for Palestinians will be barely sustainable. It is about building ringed Palestinian enclaves where Israel will always have the ability to shut off movement, food, medicine and goods to perpetuate misery. The Israeli attack on Gaza is about building a hell on earth.
The refusal by political leaders from Barack Obama to nearly every member of the U.S. Congress to speak out in the major media in defense of the rule of law and fundamental human rights exposes our cowardice and hypocrisy. Those who openly condemn the Israeli crimes, including Israelis such as Yuri Avnery, Tom Segev, Ilan Pappe, Gideon Levy and Amira Hass, as well as American stalwarts Noam Chomsky, Dennis Kucinich, Norman Finkelstein and Richard Falk, are ignored or treated like lepers. They are denied a platform in the press. They are rendered nearly voiceless. Falk, the U.N. special rapporteur for human rights in the occupied territories and a former professor of international law at Princeton, was refused entry into Israel in December, detained for 20 hours and deported. Never mind that nearly all these voices are Jewish.
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BUZZFLASH 22 October 2008
The Army Times initially reported that the First Brigade would handle domestic crowd control and subduing 'unruly individuals' and that they had 'lethal and nonlethal technologies' to do so.
Yes, there are laws against military policing on US streets -- they are part of both the 1807 Insurrection Act and 1879's Posse Comitatus Act -- but the Defense Authorization Act of 2007 gutted them.
Congress restored some limitations on the President's ability to deploy troops to engage in military policing in 2008 -- but President Bush issued a signing statement declaring he did not feel bound by those limitations. He also can direct these troops -- and the National Guard, and Blackwater -- to engage in military policing of civilian populations simply by verbally and unilaterally declaring a national emergency of whatever kind he wishes.
Why do I insist on raising an alarm about this deployment in spite of a great deal of opposition and criticism? (Though I am grateful, too, for a great deal of support.) I insist on raising an alarm because I am aware of world events and not just blinded by American recent history.
And nothing, nothing, nothing prevents the First Brigade from being positioned around poll locations, intimidating or silencing or threatening or worse those who challenge their voting outcome or their having been purged from the rolls. This at a time when Prof. Mark Crispin Miller of NYU and Robert Kennedy and many others are documenting MILLIONS of voters being systematically purged from rolls -- overwhelmingly by Republican actions -- and early voting is already showing machines flipping selections from Democrat to Republican, and voters becoming upset.
I am having a surreal experience with the mainstream media, as well, as I try to raise questions. A source at The Philadelphia Inquirer says that nothing has appeared on the wires about the First Brigade -- so they can't cover it. A source at The New York Times says they are 'looking into it' -- but no coverage yet. "The Today Show" asked if I was a 'fear-monger' and 'paranoid' for raising alarms and reproduced NorthCom's soundbite intact about the First Brigade being here to help with communities affected by weapons of mass destruction -- but did no independent reporting of their own. I know from hearing from citizens across party lines that I am not the only American concerned about what information the Army may have about such threats to lead to this deployment now -- the first time since the Indian Wars that troops have been sent onto US soil.
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URUKNET Sun, 19 Oct 2008
Something strange has been showing up inside the Sunday newspapers of millions of Americans the past few weeks. The material being included alongside comics, coupons, and advertisement for local stores is a controversial DVD called "Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West." Some 28 million copies of this DVD have been distributed for free so far in this fashion. In some ways the scale of this campaign, and its ideological venom, are unprecedented: many newspapers state that they had never previously distributed free DVDs as inserts, certainly nothing with such a charged content. The copies were distributed not randomly across the country, but in the "swing states" (Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Colorado, etc.) that are seen as a toss-up in the November Presidential elections between McCain and Obama. Obviously, someone is trying to influence the American electorate by playing on fear-mongering and hate-mongering themes. But who? Who is behind this massive, multi-million dollar campaign?
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PRESSTV Sun, 19 Oct 2008
Former British spy Chief Dame Stella Rimington has criticized the response to the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US as overreaction.
“The response to the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US was huge overreaction,” the former British security service (MI5) chief told the Guardian in an interview.
She describes al Qaeda's attack on the US as a “terrorist incident” but not qualitatively different from any others.
“That's not how it struck me. I suppose I'd lived with terrorist events for a good part of my working life and this was as far as I was concerned another one," she says.
In common with Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller, who retired as MI5's director general last year, Rimington, who left 12 years ago, has already made it clear she abhorred "war on terror" rhetoric and the government's abandoned plans to hold terrorism suspects for 42 days without charge.
Today, she goes further by criticizing politicians, including Jacqui Smith, the home secretary, for trying to outbid each other in their opposition to terrorism and making national security a partisan issue.
Turning to Iraq, Rimington states that the invasion of the oil rich country in March 2003 influenced young men in Britain to turn to terrorism.
She challenged claims, notably made by Tony Blair, that the war in Iraq was not related to the radicalization of Muslim youth in Britain.
Rimington mentioned Guantanamo Bay, the practice of extraordinary rendition, and the invasion of Iraq-three issues which the majority in Britain's security and intelligence establishment opposed privately at the time.
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HAARETZ Fri, 17 Oct 2008
In 2006 the Check Point Software Technologies company, which specializes in protecting computer systems from hackers and data theft, wanted to acquire an American company called Sourcefire, which works in the same field. The great advantage of Sourcefire was that its clients include the American Defense Department and the National Security Agency. The U.S. administration, however, by means of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, did not approve the acquisition.
… The fear and suspicion currently is directed not only toward Check Point, but also other Israeli high-tech companies like Verint, Comverse, NICE Systems and PerSay Voice Biometrics, some of which work in data mining and engage in software development for tapping telephones, fax machines, e-mail and computer communications.
The above accusations come from journalist and writer James Bamford, whose new book, "The Shadow Factory: The Ultra-Secret NSA from 9/11 to the Eavesdropping on America" (Doubleday), came out this week in the United States. …
Bamford claims that 80 percent of all American telephone transmissions are conducted by means of the Israeli companies' technology, know-how and accessibility. Thus, Bamford believes, the American intelligence community is exposing itself to the risk that the Israeli companies will access its most secret and sensitive digital information. …
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TELEGRAPH Tue, 07 Oct 2008
Here is something the Government told us would never happen. When Britain signed up to the European Arrest Warrant (EAW) six years ago, critics pointed out that an individual could be extradited to another EU state to face prosecution for something that is not a crime in Britain and had not even been committed in the requesting country. Ministers dismissed such concerns as fanciful, but it has come to pass.
A few years ago, ministers gave an assurance that a British citizen based in the UK posting similar opinions on a website accessible in Germany could not be extradited. However, the legislation left it open to the courts to decide the location of the offence. If a foreign national can be detained in prison for something that is neither a crime in his own country nor in this, there is clearly something seriously amiss, whatever you think of the individual concerned.
When the EAW came into force, ministers maintained that Britain had similar laws to Holocaust denial, such as incitement to racial hatred, but they are not the same.
Britain has no offence of "racism", although it is unlawful to incite racial hatred in a way that could lead to a breach of public order - a law used against Islamist radicals fomenting violence on the internet. Nor is there any legal definition of "xenophobia". In this country, it has always been the case that opinions, however objectionable and offensive, as Töben's undoubtedly are, can be expressed freely provided they do not result in violence or public disorder.
This case exposes the fundamental problem with the European Arrest Warrant. It assumes the legal systems of all the signatory countries contain the same safeguards and reflect shared cultural priorities. But they don't.
Most continental jurisdictions, for instance, do not have habeas corpus; so it is possible to be extradited without any prima facie evidence that a crime has been committed, and to be held for months or years while an investigation takes place before a charge is laid. Here, that cannot happen; but under the EAW, hearings are supposed to be a formality and the requesting country does not have to present evidence of a well-founded case.
Nor is the accused even allowed to argue that he will not get a fair trial; again, the assumption is that he will. It has been a long-standing principle in English law that extradition would not be allowed to a jurisdiction where the procedures were considered unjust. This is the issue in another current case involving a 19-year-old British student called Andrew Symeou, who is wanted by the Greek authorities for questioning over the death of Jonathon Hiles, 18, from Wales.
The EAW was rushed through in the aftermath of September 11, ostensibly to make it easier to extradite terrorist suspects, but in reality to speed the creation of a common European judicial area. It is now being used as cover for the extension of thought crimes.
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DAILYNEWSCASTER Mon, 29 Sep 2008
Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX) reports from the floor of the House that the Republicans have been cut out of the process and called unpatriotic for not blindly supporting the fraudulent bailout. He says the only debate has been about what talking points to use on the American people. The most ominous revelation is when he claims the Speaker has declared martial law.
“I have been thrown out of more meetings in this capital in the last 24 hours than I ever thought possible, as a duly elected representative of 825,000 citizens of north Texas.” Said Congressman Burgess.
Burgess asks the Speaker of the House to post the bailout bill on the internet for at least 24 hours instead of passing the largest piece of legislation in US financial history in the “dark of night.” The most frightening part of Rep. Burgess’ one-minute floor speech is when he says, “Mr. Speaker I understand we are under Martial Law as declared by the speaker last night.”
The phrase “Martial Law” occurs no where in the Constitution, and as we can see from reading the site posted above, Martial Law basically breaks down to the suspension of the right of habeas corpus. The phrase “Habeas Corpus” does occur in the Constitution under Article I, Section 9,
(http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html#A1Sec1),
and further we see that only Congress has the power to suspend the writ of habeas corpus — not the President, not the Speaker of the House and no one person in any place in any branch of the Government. Thus we see that only by a majority vote can Congress declare martial law.
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NAOMIKLEIN Wed, 24 Sep 2008
I wrote The Shock Doctrine in the hopes that it would make us all better prepared for the next big shock. Well, that shock has certainly arrived, along with gloves-off attempts to use it to push through radical pro-corporate policies (which of course will further enrich the very players who created the market crisis in the first place...).
What Gingrich's wish list tells us is that the dumping of private debt into the public coffers is only stage one of the current shock. The second comes when the debt crisis currently being created by this bailout becomes the excuse to privatize social security, lower corporate taxes and cut spending on the poor. A President McCain would embrace these policies willingly. A President Obama would come under huge pressure from the think tanks and the corporate media to abandon his campaign promises and embrace austerity and "free-market stimulus."
We have seen this many times before, in this country and around the world. But here's the thing: these opportunistic tactics can only work if we let them. They work when we respond to crisis by regressing, wanting to believe in "strong leaders" - even if they are the same strong leaders who used the September 11 attacks to push through the Patriot Act and launch the illegal war in Iraq.
So let's be absolutely clear: there are no saviors who are going to look out for us in this crisis. Certainly not Henry Paulson, former CEO of Goldman Sachs, one of the companies that will benefit most from his proposed bailout (which is actually a stick up). The only hope of preventing another dose of shock politics is loud, organized grassroots pressure on all political parties: they have to know right now that after seven years of Bush, Americans are becoming shock resistant.
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WHATREALLYHAPPENED Fri, 19 Sep 2008
There is no freedom without the freedom to say "no". Free people can say "no". Slaves cannot.
If we are free, or at least free enough that the terrorists hate us for it, then we have the right and ability and often the moral duty to say "no". We have
the right to say "no" to being lied to. We have the right to say "no" to being lied into war. Certainly we have a right to say "no" when the government demands that we make do with less, so that the government and its favored cronies may have more.
Right now, the government is preparing to "fix" the economic mess by setting up a new Resolution Trust Corporation. For those too young to remember,
this is a repeat of the same scam used to "fix" the S&L Debacle (remember the Keating Five?) back in the 1980s. And in short it was simply going around with
a checkbook filled with taxpayer dollars and cleaning up the mess made by reckless deal making (and a little CIA drug money laundering) in a climate of relaxed regulation.
So, here we are, 20 years later, yet another Bush in the White House and a repeat of the same fiscal debacle stares us in the face. More than coincidence? Many
think so.
The mere rumor of a new RTC sent the stock market soaring. Why not? The US Government is telling the investors that they can keep the profits from any trades, but any further losses will get transferred to the taxpayers. It's like being in Las Vegas at the Blackjack table, and every time you get 21 or beat the dealer, you get to keep the winnings, but if you bust, or the dealer wins, they take the money from the bus boy cleaning the table behind you. Such a deal! What's not to like?
Unless you are that bus boy, of course.
Wall Street executives are running around and saying that the taxpayer has to pick up the tab. "Has to"? Why? Why should we be on the hook
for other peoples' bad judgments, especially when those people walked away form their bad judgments with $20 and $40 million dollar severance packages? Why is it our mess to clean up?
We cleaned up the last mess, back in the 80s. And the lesson we all learned is that no lessons were learned at all by the people whose assets we saved at great personal sacrifice.
By protecting them from their mistakes, they just went on to make bigger mistakes. And now they are saying that We the people "have" to pick up the tab again.
This isn't going to stop the greedy bastards from trying to force the taxpayers to buy up all those worthless assets that Wall Street itself refuses to touch.
Probably the only reason they have not already set up this new RTC is they are trying to figure out how to sell it to you; choose which spin, which LIE will trick you into going along with this latest financial rape of the working class American. Last time, in the 80s, it was all about saving the poor widows and pensioners and orphans on fixed income. Then we found out (after it was too late) that most of those accounts refilled with our tax dollars were numbered and brokered corporate accounts.
If you stay silent and let the greedy bastards pull this off, it will be the end of the middle class. There will be the ultra-rich with their severance packages, and everyone else will be taxed into poverty to support them.
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BBC Thu, 18 Sep 2008
The Appeal Court appoints a special defender to view confidential documents wanted by the Lockerbie bomber in his appeal, BBC Scotland understands.
It follows an extraordinary hearing held behind closed doors at which the UK Government argued that revealing the documents would compromise security.
The UK Government argued last month it should not be forced to hand over highly confidential documents wanted by Megrahi's legal team.
Foreign Secretary David Milliband said to publish the documents, sent to the government by an un-named foreign power, would compromise Britain's national security.
It will be the first time such a course has been taken in Scotland, although some English courts have appointed special defenders to examine evidence in terrorism cases.
There has been no official comment from Megrahi's legal team, although it is thought they are planning an appeal to the Privy Council, arguing the move will violate his human rights.
Dr Hans Koechler, the United Nations special envoy to the trial in the Netherlands of the two Libyans accused of the Lockerbie bombing, criticised the development as "intolerable".
In a BBC interview, Dr Koechler said it was "detrimental to the rule of law."
He said: "In no country can the situation be allowed where the accused or the appellant is not free to have his own defence team, and instead someone is imposed upon him."
It is expected the full appeal by Megrahi, who is serving his life sentence in Greenock Prison, will be heard next year.
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WORLDPRESSNETWORK Tuesday, 16 September
A resident of Erris ,in Mayo ,Ireland has entered her seventh day on hunger strike outside shells offices in the region.
Local teacher and activist Mrs Maura Harrington is protesting against the operation of a pipe laying vessel "solitaire", a ship contracted by oil giant shell to exploit Irish gas reserves on this beautiful, environmentally important area on the west coast of Ireland. So far her brave stand is falling on the deaf ears of the multinational. Mrs Harrington's Son and daughter travelled to Killybegs in donegal to appeal to the Captain of the " Solitaire", he refused to speak to them. They then boarded an Irish Navy vessel, which it seems has also been contracted by Shell, to speak to its Captain and seek an explanation to why Irish Military forces are protecting this commercial venture, he too refused to comment.
Mrs Harrington's Son was arrested at the weekend by Gardai and Shell "security" staff using, what locals claim were heavy handed tactics, in a protest to reclaim a local beach.
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CRAIGMURRAY Wed, 10 Sep 2008
I have been worrying about the serious deterioration of civil liberties in the UK for five years now, but a small incident last night convinced me we are living in a country that must be classified as "Not free". I was travelling to the theatre on the tube, and the large majority of passengers were shrouded by copies of either London Lite or the London Paper. Some thirty copies of each banner headline screamed shrilly its message of fear through the train: "Five Suicide Bombers on the Loose in London!" "Jet Terror Plot!" "Terror Jury Holiday Farce Resulted in Acquittals!"
The propaganda, which reflected uncritically the briefing the Security Services and Home Office have been manically pumping out since the non-existence of the "Bigger than 9/11" jet plot was confirmed, was so stark and so divorced from any connection to the truth, that I am convinced we are already in effect living in a totalitarian state where the government controls the population through fear with brutal efficiency and with absolutely no regard to the truth. The government had contrived to turn a major blow for its "War on Terror" scaremongering into a vehicle to ramp up that scaremongering.
The Lite told of there still being bombers around from the "Jet Terror Plot" and gave no indication whatsoever that the jury had decided the jet plot did not exist. Indeed it claimed shamelessly that the three terrorists convicted of conspiracy to murder had been planning to bring down planes - a direct lie.
The London Paper was still more worrying, because it put detail into the line the odious security service spokesman Frank "Goebbels" Gardner has been pumping out on the BBC: juries are unreliable. It said that the failure to convict in the trial was due to interruptions for a holiday for the jurors and because of an injury to a juror in a golf accident. The clear trend of the briefing coming from the government is towards the abolition of jury trials in terrorist cases: Diplock courts.
Meantime in London two men are on trial for "terrorism" because they attended a demonstration at the Uzbek Embassy against the hideous Uzbek regime, at which red paint was thrown at the Embassy to symbolise the blood of Karimov's many thousands of victims. Such protest as paint-throwing should, I think, be illegal, but given events like the Andijan massacre of many hundreds of peaceful demonstrators, I have huge sympathy for those who undertake civil disobedience in the Uzbek case. It has nothing to do with terrorism, but under the notorious Section 58 of the Terrorism Act there is real danger of conviction and heavy sentences.
These are critical times: all good men and women must fight hard against the closing in of the system upon us.
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 George Galloway thanks supporters at end of historic ban-breaking 11-city 2010 tour of Canada
YOUTUBE November 28, 2010
George Galloway thanks supporters at end of historic ban-breaking 11-city, 12-day 2010 tour of Canada. From coast to coast to coast, it was a terrific success with packed crowds in every...
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Civil Liberties in UK ? Video by cveitch
YOUTUBE 11 Jan 2010
Very funny, yet sickening view of societies "ills", and loss of liberty. Sadly the UK is a little worse off, than here in the U.S....So far.
I urge you to go to his page: His...
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Officer punches student at least 27 times in shocking display of Police Brutality
YOUTUBE 18 Oct 2009
LONDON, Ontario — Accusations of police brutality are being leveled at city police and the University of Western Ontarios campus police after a video surfaced on YouTube showing six officers...
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On the Edge with Max Keiser - First half of interview with Alex Jones
YOUTUBE 23 August 2009
Max Keiser interviews Alex Jones on civil liberties, the clamping down on the internet, the growing unrest in the USA and the crisis of confidence in the government, and the associated...
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Ahmadinejad: Those who walked out were "arrogant and selfish"
YOUTUBE 22 April 2009
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has questioned the advocates of "freedom of speech" about the sincerity of their conviction.
After Israeli advocates staged a walkout in the...
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Paramilitary TSG Police Officer attacked Ian Tomlinson
YOUTUBE 9 April 2009
Ken Livingstone describes his surprise that the attacker of Ian Tomlinson was a Police Officer wearing a Balaclava to hide his face. He declares the Man to be a Paramilitary Officer from the...
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PROOF that the Police LIED about the death of Ian Tomlinson
YOUTUBE 9 April 2009
The police are on tape LYING about the circumstances surrounding the Death of the G20 Victim Ian Tomlinson.
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Police Brutality: Ian Tomlinson WAS attacked by the Police BEFORE his death
YOUTUBE 8 April 2009
Video has emerged that shows the Police LIED in regard to the death of Ian Tomlinson at the G20 Protests. The Police claimed they had tried to protect Mr Tomlinson but had come under attack...
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Canada ban: Galloway faces his accusers a Jewish Defence League (JDL) on Channel 4 news
YOUTUBE 20 Mar 2009
The decision to ban George Galloway from Canada seems odd, but now it emerges that the Jewish Defence League (JDL) pressured the Canadian Government to so the action takes on sinister...
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Michelle Leighton - University of San Francisco School of Law
YOUTUBE
Are human rights a business issue?
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MSNBC Keith Olbermann on Prop 8, Marriage and more!
YOUTUBE
AMAZING!! MSNBC Keith Olbermann comments on Calif. Prop 8, gay rights, marriage, love and more.
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Burying The Truth: Burying Schapelle Corby
YOUTUBE 16-Oct-2008
Many Australians saw Schapelle Corby's human rights being trampled upon with their own eyes. They saw the nature of the show trial for themselves: the refusal to test the drugs for country ...
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U.S. Army prepares to invade U.S.
YOUTUBE 9 Oct 2008
The plans to implement martial law in America have been taking shape for decades, hidden behind "Continuity of Government" contingency planning. Now, with public outcry over the banker...
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Rep. Brad Sherman Martial Law
YOUTUBE Fri, 03 Oct 2008
Rep. Brad Sherman says Congress threatened with Martial Law if bill is not passed
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Goldman Sachs Bribed Senate To Pass Bailout Bill
YOUTUBE Fri, 03 Oct 2008
Please help spread this message before the House vote!
How much bribe money does it take to transfer $700 Billion taxpayer dollars to Wall Street's elite?
How much money did...
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Alex Jones on Ian Collins' talkSPORT radio show Thursday 19 June 2008
SPIDEREDVIDEOS 19 Jun 2008
Alex Jones on Civil Liberties, Europe, Conspiracies, Taxation, Imperialism, Globalization, Global Government, Puppet Governments, Global warming, Iraq, Afghanistan, Assassinations, Religious...
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Mike Reagan Talk Show Host Calls for Murder
INFOWARS Fri, 20 Jun 2008
Talk show host Michael Reagan files copyright infringement claim to prevent audio clip of him calling for the murder of anti-war activist from circulating the Internet
(San Diego,...
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Let Sibel Edmonds Speak
BLOGSPOT
Bilin Weekly Protest- Israeli Army Uses Live Rounds on Peaceful Protest.
F.F.J. June 13 2008- Today a young man from Bilin was shot with live rounds during the weekly Bilin Protest....
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Urgent request for Blood Donor for protestor shot by Israeli
WORLDPRESSNETWORK
Bilin Weekly Protest- Israeli Army Uses Live Rounds on Peaceful Protest.
F.F.J. June 13 2008- Today a young man from Bilin was shot with live rounds during the weekly Bilin Protest....
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Hesham Tillawi on Michelle Malkin and the Dunkin Donut scarf
YAHOO 11 June 2008
Hesham Tillawi answers Malkin and Dunkin Donuts on the Palestinian scarf in the Rachael Ray ad
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Countdown: Worst Person May 27, 2008
YOUTUBE 11 June 2008
And the winner is....Joe Lieberman for associating with extreme religious fanatics. Runners up Liz Trotta (for a comment on assassination of Osama & Obama) and Michelle Malkin (for the...
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George Galloway on the talkSPORT radio show Friday 11 July 2008 "The Mother of All Talk Shows"
SPIDEREDVIDEOS Friday 11 July 2008
Another very interesting show covering a range of topics, including civil liberties and 42 days detention without trial, as well as The Beatles band.
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David Icke - Big Brother, the Big Picture
EDGEMEDIATV July 6th 2008
David Icke speaks to the constituents of Haltemprice and Howden about the 'Big Brother'
election, forced by the resignation of David Davis, and the move towards the global
Big Brother...
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Prof. Norman Finkelstein on the use of the Holocaust to justify wars of aggression
YOUTUBE
Anas Tikriti hosts Prof. Norman Finkelstein in Al Hiwar's weekly English show "Jousor" translated as Bridges. Part 7 of 7.
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Galloway speech to Parliament on the new anti-terror bill
SHIATV April 18, 2008
George Galloways speech to the UK Parliament condemning the governments proposals to allow police to detain people for 42 days without charge
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George Galloway sums up the UK Government : "You can't trust them"
YOUTUBE
George Galloway on BBC Question Time whilst debating a DNA Database sums up the UK Government. You can't trust them!! Broadcast on 28 Feb 2008
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US cops beat Tibetans in front of the UN building
YOUTUBE Wed, 26 Mar 2008
US cops beat Tibetans in front of the UN building
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Sibel Edmonds Speaks
GOLEFT
After years of trying to fight her way to through the maze of the US court system, Sibel Edmonds finally decided to tell her story no matter the consequences and offered to do so to any...
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Sibel Edmonds: KILL THE MESSENGER
GOOGLE
A Documentary on State Secrets Privilege & U.S. Whistleblowers
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Israeli Army Uses Live Rounds on Peace-13-06-2008
YOUTUBE
Bilin Weekly Protest- Israeli Army Uses Live Rounds on Peaceful Protest.
F.F.J. June 13 2008- Today a young man from Bilin was shot with live rounds during the weekly Bilin Protest....
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The Microchip population
GOOGLE
This video documents the decline of civil rights since 911 and the arrival of biometrics as a new wave of identifying people. But is there a more sinister reason for creating a global...
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TerrorStorm Final Cut (Alex Jones)
GOOGLE
New and Updated. Has Additional 17 minutes of new footage and interviews. Watch and pass along.
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Will Bush's illegal wiretapping be made legal? - Michael Ratner: Senate vote on FISA bill could threaten basic rights
THEREALNEWS Monday January 28th, 2008
Michael Ratner is President of the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) in New York. He has taught at Yale Law School, lectured at Columbia Law School, and was President of the National...
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Freedom of Speech and H.R. 1955 pt. 1
YOUTUBE
Though the authors of H.R. 1955 would likely deny that the bill could be used to crack down on free speech and legitimate political opposition, the talking heads on the main stream networks...
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SOCPA - THE MOVIE trailer
YOUTUBE
SOCPA (Serious Organised Crime and Police Act) was a law introduced to stop protest near Parliament in England. Designed to get rid of 6-year peace protestor Brian Haw, so far it has failed....
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The Battle For America Has Begun
YOUTUBE
"We do the dirty work of democracy"
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FRONTLINE "When Kids Get Life" at pbs.org/frontline
YOUTUBE
Does the punishment fit the crime? FRONTLINE investigates "When Kids Get Life,"
The U.S. is one of the very few countries in the world that allows children under eighteen to be...
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Reckless Indifference
YOUTUBE
Emmy-winning director William Gazecki (WACO: The Rules Of Engagement) delivers a searing indictment of the American legal system in this tragic story of teens, drugs and murder. Reckless...
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Naomi Klein - The Shock Doctrine - Part 4 of 6
YOUTUBE Sat, 08 Sep 2007
Naomi Klein talks about her new book, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism. Speaking at a benefit event for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, a social justice...
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Naomi Klein - The Shock Doctrine - Part 2 of 6
YOUTUBE Sat, 08 Sep 2007
Naomi Klein talks about her new book, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism. Speaking at a benefit event for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, a social justice...
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Naomi Klein - The Shock Doctrine - Part 3 of 6
YOUTUBE Sat, 08 Sep 2007
Naomi Klein talks about her new book, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism. Speaking at a benefit event for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, a social justice...
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Naomi Klein - The Shock Doctrine - Part 6 of 6
YOUTUBE Sat, 08 Sep 2007
Naomi Klein talks about her new book, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism. Speaking at a benefit event for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, a social justice...
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Naomi Klein - The Shock Doctrine - Part 5 of 6
YOUTUBE Sat, 08 Sep 2007
Naomi Klein talks about her new book, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism. Speaking at a benefit event for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, a social justice...
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Al-Obeidi struggles to start life anew
Karzai: Afghan rape victim can stay in prison
Nine executed in Iran for drug and rape charges
Iran: Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei Supports the Military's Political Activities
Guardian Council approves reducing Iran's relations with Britain
Islamists claim election win in Morocco
Afghan rape victim sentence reduced
Massive demonstration in Cairo's Tahrir Square
Iranian reformists see free elections, not constitutional changes as way out of crisis
Banafsheh Akhlaghi: A Strong Iranian-American Candidate for Congress
