Seattle Joins Major US Cities to Sue Monsanto for Toxic PCB Contamination*
By Christina Sarich
The city of Seattle now adds its name to 5 other major US cities that are suing Monsanto over PCBs. Perhaps a tide of similar legal action will finally break Monsanto for good.
Activists may have a tough time shutting down Monsanto for poisoning the planet with GM foods and engaging in the corrupt chemical whirl-go-round that seems to be ruining every conceivable aspect of the natural world, but Monsanto’s karma is catching up, and quick.
Though most of us know Monsanto for creating the best-selling herbicide Round Up and contributing to the creation of Agent Orange, in this case, PCB contamination is targeted in 20,000 acres that drain to the Lower Duwamish, a federal Superfund site in Seattle, Washington.
Monsanto was a producer of PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) for commercial use in the U.S. from 1935 to 1977. The company has made millions from selling PCBs, all the while knowing that natural environments were suffering, causing harm to people, wildlife, and pets.
A majority of the people who worked for Monsanto in their PCB-making ‘glory days’ had little clue what the chemicals were doing to them. Most never thought to connect Monsanto to some of the odder features of life in places such as Anniston, Alabama – where the creek (known locally as “the ditch”) passed through town carrying water that ran red some days, purple on others, and occasionally emitted a foggy white steam.
“When the profit motive overtakes concern for the environment, this is the kind of disaster that happens,” Holmes said.
“I’m proud to hold Monsanto accountable.”
An untold amount of PCBs have contaminated Seattle’s waterways in the last few decades. Resident fish and shellfish in the Lower Duwamish Waterway are so contaminated by PCBs that the state Health Department advises there is no safe amount to eat — though people continue to fish from its waters.
No specific amount of damages have yet been named in Seattle’s lawsuit against Monsanto. These will be determined through due course as the suit progresses.
If Holmes can sue Monsanto for the city of Seattle, might not an attorney from every major city in the US do the same?
Entrapment: Iran Lifting Sanctions and Coming Betrayal*
By Tony Cartalucci
US policymakers have long conspired to broker what would be meant to appear as a historic deal with the political order in Tehran. It would be a deal almost unreasonably compromising for the United States, in order to enhance the illusion that the West sought every means to integrate Iran peacefully back into the “international community” before resorting to armed and direct military aggression.
Knowing that Iran will never exist within Washington, Wall Street, London, and Brussels’ “international order” as an obedient client state, a prescription for regime change in Tehran has long been formulated. Best summarized in the 2009 Brookings Institution paper titled, “The Path to Persia: Options for a New American Strategy toward Iran” (.pdf), this regime change formula includes absolutely everything from economic sanctions and U.S.-backed political upheaval, to the use of terrorism and proxy war to undermine and overthrow Iranian socio-political stability and eventually the Iranian state itself.
In the lengthy 220 page document, Brookings policymakers acknowledge the necessity to first neutralize Syria before moving against Iran itself. It also prescribes the delisting of U.S. State Department foreign terrorist organizations in order for the U.S. to then arm and back them in a proxy war against Tehran. Among the terrorist organizations mentioned was Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK), a terrorist organization guilty of years of violence including the kidnapping and murder of American service members and American civilians. MEK has also continued carrying out terrorist attacks against political and civilian targets in Iran up to present day.
It should be noted that these 2009 “suggestions” eventually manifested themselves as the current, ongoing conflict in Syria and Iraq where U.S., Saudi, and Turkish-backed terrorists are waging war against Syrian, Iraqi, Iranian, and Russian backed political and military fronts, as well as the eventual delisting of MEK.
It is clear then, that the Brookings paper was more than a collection of mere suggestions. It was an anthology of various operations arrayed against Tehran either ongoing or in the planning stages as of 2009.
The only scenarios that have not yet been implemented were those dealing with full-scale war by the West against Tehran predicated on either a staged provocation, or a “superb offer” the Iranians “rejected” or failed to fulfill that justified direct Western – including Israeli – aggression.
Brookings’ “Superb Offer…”
Brookings policymakers themselves openly admitted in “Which Path to Persia?” that (emphasis added):
“...any military operation against Iran will likely be very unpopular around the world and require the proper international context—both to ensure the logistical support the operation would require and to minimize the blowback from it. The best way to minimize international opprobrium and maximize support (however, grudging or covert) is to strike only when there is a widespread conviction that the Iranians were given but then rejected a superb offer—one so good that only a regime determined to acquire nuclear weapons and acquire them for the wrong reasons would turn it down. Under those circumstances, the United States (or Israel) could portray its operations as taken in sorrow, not anger, and at least some in the international community would conclude that the Iranians “brought it on themselves” by refusing a very good deal.”
Considering that every other option in the Brookings paper has either been openly tried since 2009, or is in the process of being executed currently, it would be folly for readers to believe that this “superb offer” is not in reference to the “nuclear deal,” and that it is not somehow going to play out precisely as U.S. policymakers have schemed for years.
For those that do doubt the “nuclear deal” is anything but a “superb offer” US policymakers fully plan to use against Tehran in the near to intermediate future, evidence that the West has no intention of accommodating Iran’s current political order or accept its growing geopolitical influence across the Middle Eastern and North African region (MENA), can be seen in neighbouring Syria and amid the ongoing conflict still raging there. Skeptics can also consider the war in Yemen, and continued meddling by the U.S. everywhere from North Africa to Central Asia – particularly in Afghanistan which lies along Iran’s eastern border.
Syria in particular has long been acknowledge to be a proxy war between the West and Iran, and to a greater extent, between the West and Russian-Chinese influence.
“To undermine Iran, which is predominantly Shiite, the Bush Administration has decided, in effect, to reconfigure its priorities in the Middle East. In Lebanon, the Administration has coöperated with Saudi Arabia’s government, which is Sunni, in clandestine operations that are intended to weaken Hezbollah, the Shiite organization that is backed by Iran. The U.S. has also taken part in clandestine operations aimed at Iran and its ally Syria. A by-product of these activities has been the bolstering of Sunni extremist groups that espouse a militant vision of Islam and are hostile to America and sympathetic to Al Qaeda.
Continued Western involvement in the Syrian conflict is a constant affirmation of the West’s true intentions of undermining and overthrowing Iran. Rapprochement is at best a clumsy, tired ploy being used to coax Iran entirely out from behind its existing strategy and its regional alliances, as well as to split Iranian society internally with promises of wealth and prosperity in the wake of this so-called “nuclear deal.”
Other nations have been lured out into the open with such promises – nations like Libya.
The Ghosts of Libyan Rapprochement
It would be hoped that Iran understands that it is by no means “exceptional,” and that no matter how tempting the West’s “superb offer” may seem, that Tehran would prepare fully for betrayal, suddenly and completely, by those brokering it. This hope for Iranian caution would be based on the assumption that Tehran watched and understood the full process of Libya’s destruction.
Libya too was promised rapprochement with the West if only it abandoned its traditional alliances, released thousands of dangerous prisoners – members of terrorist organizations that would later be arrayed against Tripoli – and “cooperate” with the West in a variety of economic and military endeavours. With Libya lured out into the open, the West quickly armed and funded the very prisoners it convinced Tripoli to release, provided them with NATO air-cover, and systematically destroyed the nation of Libya.
In the end, Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi was cornered with the help of French and American military assets, and brutally killed at roadside by militants who would later form the foundation of the so-called “Islamic State” (ISIS) in Libya. Today, Libya as a functioning nation-state no longer exists. After genocidal purges and continued internal war, the country is divided with two “governments” and hordes of armed groups existing in anarchy.
With the nation divided and destroyed, the U.S. and its European allies are incrementally invading and occupying what is left, taking over oilfields with the intention of pilfering what is left of Libya’s once vast wealth and resources. Libya, as it exists today, will likely remain weak and subjugated by Western control for decades to come – not unlike Libya under European control (British, Italian, and French) before Libya achieved independence.
Iran too has followed a similar path – from being subjugated directly by Anglo-American interests or ruled by Western-controlled client states, to an independent nation besieged by its former colonial masters seeking to regain their lost holdings. Like Libya, Iran is being lured out into the open.
By lifting sanctions, Iranian hydrocarbons will flood international markets, further weakening Iran’s allies in Moscow and Beijing. When the time is right, the “nuclear deal” will be turned against Tehran, and without Moscow or Beijing in a position to aid Tehran, it will fall just as Libya did.
U.S. policymakers have literally penned, signed, and dated documented conspiracies to use a “superb offer” as a means not of restoring ties with Iran, but of undermining and destroying it. US policymakers have demonstrably done precisely this to both Libya, and in many ways, to Syria. The U.S. is to this day still arming, funding, and backing a terrorist army in neighbouring Syria with the intention of destroying several of Iran’s most crucial allies – not only the government in Damascus, but also Lebanon’s Hezbollah. The U.S. is still engaged in military operations along Iran’s eastern borders in Afghanistan.
In the game of geopolitics, Iran’s current predicament could not be any more obvious, nor any more dangerous. This is not the beginning of a new and hopeful chapter between Iranian and Western relations. It is but a shift in tactics and public perception that will bring with it a new array of challenges for Tehran and its allies to navigate.
Western backed terrorists surging in Syria and Iraq, form the very same dagger once aimed at Libya’s back. This “superb offer” by the U.S. seeks to take down Iran’s guard so this dagger can be sunk fully into the Iranian state.
I’m that interesting character at the restaurant, hands hovering over my food as I silently mouth a couple words and sport a slight Buddha-smirk before eating.
No, I’m not a Jesus freak or a “broccoli whisperer,” and I’m not crazy (well, maybe a little bit). As you’ll soon (re)discover, there’s a method to this madness.
Expressing gratitude, praying, saying grace and all forms of blessing food before a meal are among the most universal and ancient behaviours of humankind.
Almost every religion has some tradition of blessing food. And many religious people do it at every meal. But I’ve never come across WHY blessing food is important. (Like with most religious practices, people just do it without asking questions.)
There is, of course, a core of truth to these traditions. However, you can obtain all of the benefits of saying grace without all of the dogma attached to religious rules and regulations.
In today’s society, we tend to discredit and undervalue the unseen. If we can’t physically see changes, they must not be happening, right? Yet when we get out of our egoic minds and become more in tune with the unseen, we realize just how profound something as simple as expressing gratitude can be.
The Benefits of Blessing Food
1. Blessing food brings about a state of presence and mindfulness.
Showing gratitude over a meal forces you to stop and be present. From this state of undistracted presence, you will eat mindfully and enjoy the food more. It turns every meal into a holy communion.
If you eat mindfully, you become more in tune with the food and your body. You’ll know if what you’re eating is beneficial for you. And you’ll be unmistakably aware of the signals your body is sending you to stop eating (making it hard to mindlessly overeat).
Mindful eating also will break compulsive eating and food addictions if done consistently at every meal.
2. Blessing food heightens your senses.
Pausing with gratitude, communing with your food and being in a state of mindfulness will engage and heighten all of your senses.
“Thus, whether seeing, smelling, inhaling, or, most strongly, touching the food, changes to the person that occur during blessing of natural food include:
Salivation increases, as full attention is place on the natural food’s unique, distinct aromas
More digestive enzymes are secreted
The circulatory system routes blood to the digestive tract’s organs
Hormones benefiting metabolism are released
Breathing patterns shift from one best suited for working to one best suited for eating.
Abdominal muscle contraction changes from a tightness that supports hard work into a different, more relaxed state, which relieves pressure around the digestive tract
The brain becomes in a receptive mood ready to enjoy, experience sweet gratitude, and eagerly pay attention to the stomach’s stretching sensors, to trigger the neurotransmitters which engage peristalsis
The eye becomes aware of both the food’s beauty, which enhances digestion, as well as alert to any danger signs in the food’s appearance
The senses of smell and taste, when focused and entrained on the food about to be eaten, becomes enhanced, increasing enjoyment and sharpening the ability to notice anything “off” or spoiled in the food.
And finally, firing patterns of the enteric nervous system (the neurons lining the gut like a sheath) shift to better control the digestion and absorption of food. Technically known as the enteric nervous system, the second brain (as described by the Chair of Anatomy at Columbia University Medical Center) consists of “sheaths of neurons embedded in the walls of the long tube of our gut, or alimentary canal, which measures about nine meters end to end from the esophagus to the anus.” There are 100 million neurons in the enteric nervous system, more than in the spinal cord, and more than in all the peripheral nervous system.”
2. Blessing food heightens your senses.
Pausing with gratitude, communing with your food and being in a state of mindfulness will engage and heighten all of your senses.
Thus, whether seeing, smelling, inhaling, or, most strongly, touching the food, changes to the person that occur during blessing of natural food include:
Salivation increases, as full attention is place on the natural food’s unique, distinct aromas
More digestive enzymes are secreted
The circulatory system routes blood to the digestive tract’s organs
Hormones benefiting metabolism are released
Breathing patterns shift from one best suited for working to one best suited for eating.
Abdominal muscle contraction changes from a tightness that supports hard work into a different, more relaxed state, which relieves pressure around the digestive tract
The brain becomes in a receptive mood ready to enjoy, experience sweet gratitude, and eagerly pay attention to the stomach’s stretching sensors, to trigger the neurotransmitters which engage peristalsis
The eye becomes aware of both the food’s beauty, which enhances digestion, as well as alert to any danger signs in the food’s appearance
The senses of smell and taste, when focused and entrained on the food about to be eaten, becomes enhanced, increasing enjoyment and sharpening the ability to notice anything “off” or spoiled in the food.
And finally, firing patterns of the enteric nervous system (the neurons lining the gut like a sheath) shift to better control the digestion and absorption of food. Technically known as the enteric nervous system, the second brain (as described by the Chair of Anatomy at Columbia University Medical Center) consists of “sheaths of neurons embedded in the walls of the long tube of our gut, or alimentary canal, which measures about nine meters end to end from the oesophagus to the anus.” There are 100 million neurons in the enteric nervous system, more than in the spinal cord, and more than in all the peripheral nervous system.
Blessing food relaxes your digestive system.
Holding gratitude and blessing food will switch your nervous system out of sympathetic mode (fight or flight) and into parasympathetic mode (rest and digest). As a result, you will digest the food and assimilate the nutrients much more effectively than if you’re holding stress.
This concept is common sense. For example: try to eat while driving in traffic, with cars beeping all around and see how well you digest.
Blessing food infuses the food with positive energy.
This may seem a little woo-woo, but bear with me here. Food, like everything else, absorbs energy from its environment. If food is being prepared in a hectic kitchen and the chef is stressed out, the food absorbs that. If the beef your eating is from a tortured cow, it’s going to carry that energy. It’s vitally important to instill food with positive energy before eating it. And this can be done through something as simple as holding the intention of gratitude before eating.
Dr. Emoto’s water experiments beautifully demonstrate how words and music affect the molecular structure of water. All life on Planet Earth is water-based and therefore, affected by words, intentions, music and any other vibrations in the environment.
Blessing food leverages the Placebo Effect.
If you believe that the food carries good energy, it will. If you believe that the food will make you happy and healthy, it will.
The placebo effect, though overlooked by modern science, is a profoundly powerful phenomenon. It’s a testament to the power of the mind. Whatever you believe, in the depths of your heart, determines the result you’ll get.
Gratitude also opens the door to abundance. When you’re grateful for what you do have, you attract more.
Feel gratitude, and feel every aspect of your life change for the better.
A Simple Food Blessing (Do This at Every Meal)
1. Pause for a second and centre yourself.
2. Express and feel gratitude for the food in front of you.
3. Thank everyone involved in the process of getting the food to you.
It might look something like this: “Thank you to the Earth for growing this and all of the people that handled it. May it assimilate into my body with health, happiness and vitality.”
4. Send energy to the food through your hands.
Feel the tingle as energy flows from your hands into the food.
5. Feel gratitude in your heart.
6. Eat mindfully and enjoy the food.
Commune with your food. Eating is both pleasurable and necessary. Be grateful for having food on your table, enjoy every bite and reap the benefits.
Uruguay Now Generates Almost 94 Percent of Its Electricity from Renewable Sources*
By Alexa Erickson
At the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference, held in Paris this past November and December, Uruguay made quite an environmentally and economically friendly statement. The South American nation announced that it receives 94.5% of its electricity from renewable sources including wind and solar. Furthermore, they’ve managed to make ends meet without utilizing government subsidies, or even affecting consumers’ wallets by raising prices.
There are a lot of reasons why people have a hard time doing things that are better for the earth and their health. From buying organic food to opting out of using fossil fuels, one of the biggest excuses is that the cost keeps them incapable of making the better choice. But this can’t be so for the 3.4 million residents of Uruguay, because the electricity prices are at an all-time low.
The naysayers might wonder about how technology or investment might play a part — two things larger economies have a hard time fathoming — but the South American country was able to make this shift without implementing any drastic measures. Of the process, Ramón Méndez, who is the National Director of Energy, explained at the conference that the components involved are simple:
“clear decision-making, a supportive regulatory environment and a strong partnership between the public and private sector.”
He continued to say that, by giving investors a secure environment, maintenance and construction costs stay low.
The formula sounds simple, and seemingly attractive. It was also achieved in just 10 years. In order to improve their carbon footprint, the windy country implemented more and more wind farms, providing foreign investors an inviting fixed state utility price over a 20-year period. Companies are lining up for it, no doubt. The country now utilizes wind energy as their main source of electricity.
The formula has permitted a great mix of renewables. Along with wind, they also utilize solar, biomass, and hydropower. The low-carbon package makes up 55% of Uruguay’s energy, including transportation fuel. Globally speaking, renewables make up a mere 12 percent.
Also announced at the summit was Uruguay’s pledge to slash carbon emission by a whopping 88% in just two years. Méndez has set his goals high, but why not? Our entire world continues to experience the repercussions of our detrimental carbon footprint, and Uruguay is simply trying to reduce their part. It’s also a financially sound system, giving countries all over the world even more reason to listen up.
“For three years we haven’t imported a single kilowatt hour,” Méndez explained.
“We used to be reliant on electricity imports from Argentina, but now we export to them. Last summer, we sold a third of our power generation to them.”
This isn’t to say that things are running perfectly in the country, however. The fact is, not all sectors of Uruguay rely heavily on renewable sources. In terms of transportation, oil still reigns king, accounting for 45 percent of the total energy mix. Nonetheless, the country’s motivation and actions have implemented positive changes, and should, if anything, inspire the rest of the world to listen up and find new, planet-friendly formulas too.
The United States supports Myanmar, despite the atrocities against its Muslim minority, in the hopes of accessing its oil reserves and putting increased pressure on China.
By Kit O’Connell
President Barack Obama holds a meeting with President Thein Sein of Burma at the Burma Parliament Building in Rangoon, Burma, Nov. 19, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
In 2012, after centuries of tension, Myanmar’s Buddhist majority began oppressing the nation’s Muslim minority, forcing them into concentration camps and carrying out widespread murder and genocidal acts.
But more than racism and bigotry have inflamed tensions in this South Asian country, as the United States and its allies like Saudi Arabia and Israel enable the atrocities through their foreign aid and military power.
In June, The Economist called the Rohingya “the most persecuted people on earth,” noting that their suffering has intensified since 2012. That year,
“140,000 Rohingyas were forced into squalid refugee camps after the local Buddhists turned on them,” and since then, “their situation has been especially dire.”
Conditions have grown so severe in the state of Rakhine, where most of the Rohingya live, that over 86,000 have attempted to flee to neighbouring countries, often falling prey to criminal refugee smugglers along the way. Many analysts and human rights experts have warned that conditions are ripe for total genocide against the Rohingya.
“Obama did use the term ‘Rohingya’ and said discrimination against them wasn’t consistent with the kind of country Myanmar wants to become. ‘Ultimately that is destabilizing to a democracy,’ he said.”
Despite these passing references to the suffering of the Muslim minority, the U.S. and powerful countries in Europe and the Middle East continue to enable these crimes through their support.
U.S and the West
In November, Nafeez Ahmed, an investigative journalist and international security scholar, accused the U.S. and the United Kingdom of encouraging investment in Myanmar in the name of “promoting democracy.” This encouragement, Ahmed argues, has continued in spite of Myanmar’s human rights violations, and despite the fact that the Rohingya have been denied the right to vote since February because they protested against their treatment.
In this June 25, 2014 photo, Dosmeda Bibi lies on a bamboo stand as her mother Hameda Begum holds a bottle of water close to ACF medical clinic in north of Sittwe, Rakhine state, Myanmar. Born just over a year ago, Dosmeda Bibi has spent her entire short life confined to a camp for one of the world’s most persecuted religious minorities. And like a growing number of other Rohingya children who are going hungry, she’s showing the first signs of severe malnutrition
Ahmed noted that the State Department’s “Investment Climate Statement,” published in May, attempts to encourage international businesses to move into the market while attempting to minimize the government’s complicity in the anti-Rohingya hate crimes and persecution:
“Rather than acknowledging the junta’s culpability, the document makes passing reference to ‘political violence,’ characterised ‘neutrally’ as ‘anti-government insurgent activity in various locations,’ and ‘inter-communal violence… between Buddhists and Muslims.’”
Additionally, Ahmed noted that Western countries seek to tap into Myanmar’s oil reserves, which are believed to be of considerable value. He quoted Hunter Marston, a former State Department official based in Myanmar, who believes that bringing those energy resources to the West is also a key part of the U.S. strategy to reduce China’s influence over the entire region. Writing for The Diplomat in October, Marston argued:
“The U.S. aims to inhibit China’s expanding regional influence in order to preserve the status quo security architecture put in place by the U.S. and Europe in the aftermath of World War II. The security priority helps explain why the United States has refrained from criticizing Myanmar’s shortcomings in light of President Thein Sein’s efforts to push further democratic reforms. The U.S. needs a ‘good enough’ democratic partner in Myanmar to provide a bulwark on China’s strategic southern border with India. ”
China’s pipeline and Saudi Arabia’s oil support Rohingya oppression
Ahmed also reported that Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states are key backers of the Rohingya genocide through their support of the lucrative China-Myanmar oil pipeline. The pipeline is the first overland access route to China for oil and gas shipments and is capable of carrying 0.5% of global oil demand. He wrote:
“Saudi Arabia is a major player in the Myanmar pipeline. In 2011, the Saudi’s Aramco signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to supply China 200,000 barrels of crude a day through the China-Myanmar pipeline. In return, China would help develop Saudi’s Yanbu refinery on the Red Sea coast.”
He also noted that it’s “no coincidence” that major attacks on the Rohingya occurred along the pipeline’s path, most notably near the town of Kyaukpyu, Rakhine, where Muslim villages were torched in October of 2012 to make way for development by China National Petroleum Co. and South Korea’s Daewoo International, another investor in the pipeline.
Israel supplies arms and training to Myanmar’s secret police
According to an investigation from Rania Khalek, associate editor at The Electronic Intifada, a site that advocates for Palestinian freedom, Israel has a history of supporting repressive regimes from apartheid South Africa to Serbia, and Myanmar is no exception.
Israeli President Reuven Rivlin greets Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, in a photo posted to the Myanmar military leader’s Facebook page in September 2015
“For four days in September, Israel literally rolled out the red carpet for a delegation of senior officers from Myanmar’s ground, air and naval forces,” Khalek wrote. The delegation was given a guided tour of Israel’s leading aerospace and weapons companies.
The collaboration between the two nations did not begin with recent reforms, however:
“While most of the world imposed sanctions on Myanmar in the years following a bloody 1988 military coup and the annulment of democratic elections in 1990, Israel expanded investments in the country and helped modernize its arsenal.
According to a 2000 report in the London-based publication Jane’s Intelligence Review, throughout the 1990s Israel sold 9mm Uzi submachine guns and 155mm Soltam towed howitzers to Myanmar.
Meanwhile, Israel’s MOSSAD espionage and assassination agency provided training to its Myanmar counterparts and former Israeli army officers ‘provided training to Myanmar’s elite counter-terrorist squad.’ Elbit Systems upgraded Myanmar’s F-7 fighter jets.”
In May, Desmond Tutu, the retired Anglican archbishop of Capetown, South Africa, Nobel Peace Prize Winner, and renowned human rights advocate, warned that the country’s Muslims must not be overlooked in the push for democracy:
“Even as we seek to encourage the country to build on the reforms it has started, we have a responsibility to ensure that the plight of the Rohingya is not lost. We have a responsibility to hold to account those of our governments and corporations that seek to profit from new relationships with Myanmar to ensure their relationships are established on a sound ethical basis.”
ISIS and Nusra Warring in East Lebanon*
By Leith Fadel
The former Jihadist allies from the so-called “Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham” (ISIS) and Jabhat Al-Nusra (Syrian Al-Qaeda group) are now at odds with one another in eastern Lebanon after spending nearly 2 years without confronting each other inside the ‘Arsal Barrens of the Beqa’a Governorate.
On Wednesday afternoon, several fire-fights were reported between Jabhat Al-Nusra and ISIS at the villages of Wadi Hamid, Al-Zimrani, Wadi Mira, and Al-Khayl in the ‘Arsal Barrens; these clashes lasted well into the evening and forced both the Lebanese Army and Hezbollah to concentrate their forces to this mountainous region in order to make sure the fighting was not going to spread. ISIS captured several checkpoints and military posts from their former allies in the ‘Arsal Barrens, resulting in the expansion of their front-line positions to the Lebanese Army’s territory in the region.
The ISIS terrorists did not care much for civilian casualties, as they began to fire dozens of rockets into the Lebanese Army’s territory in Jaroud ‘Arsal, wounding a number of soldiers and civilians in the process. Following the exchange of rockets and mortar shells, sporadic clashes were reported between the Lebanese Army and the ISIS terrorists in Jaroud ‘Arsal, marking the first time in several months that the aforementioned terrorist group has attacked the pro-government forces.
American Muslims Raise Over $190,000 For San Bernardino Victims*
By Vandita
While Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump responded to the San Bernardino shooting by calling for a complete ban on Muslims entering the United States, a group of American Muslims set up a fundraising campaign for the victims’ families – hoping to respond to “evil with good”.
California-based neurologist and president of MiNDS Network Faisal Qazi along with Tarek El-Messidi, founder of the Muslim non-profit CelebrateMercy, set up a crowd funding campaign – Muslims United for San Bernardino – on LaunchGood, a Muslim-oriented crowd funding website, on December 3 to ease the financial burden on grieving families a day after 3 attackers went on a shooting spree at the Inland Regional Medical center in San Bernardino, California, and gunned down 14 people.
The initial goal of the united American Muslim campaign was to raise $50,000; so far, more than $180,000 had been raised online. Another $20,000 or so has been raised through the website for MiNDS and offline checks. The funds raised will go toward the immediate and short-term needs of victims and their families, which could include funeral expenses, medical expenses, rent and mortgage payments.
Qazi told Al Jazeera:
“The people that suffered are our people and it is not just an obligation but a responsibility for us to be there – to show solidarity with the victims’ families [and] be there for them in the short and long term. Frankly, the fund was actually set up before [the] name of the assailant was revealed and before we knew a Muslim was allegedly involved. The crowd sourcing campaign was started the next day [after the attack] and later on, upon requests of Muslim scholars, it was expanded to be a national campaign. The message we would like to convey is that regardless of the political rhetoric and our concerns about a backlash, for nowwe are focused on things that are important and the people that need to be taken care of.“
El-Messidi told The Huffington Post:
“I think it sends a clear message that American Muslims are here to build and not destroy. We do not want to be associated at all with extremists who are putting people in harm’s way, and we want to show this as just one example of how American Muslims are contributors to society, trying to make our society a better place… We are hoping in this time of crises, those who are Muslim and those who are not will get to know each other. Dialogue is the only way to clear up this state of confusion and tension.”
The fundraising page reads:
“We wish to respond to evil with good, as our faith instructs us, and send a powerful message of compassion through action. Our Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, said: “Have mercy to those on earth, and the One in the Heavens (God) will have mercy upon you”. And the Qur’an teaches to ‘Repel evil by that which is better’ (41:34).”
The campaign is endorsed by the Islamic Shura Council of Southern California, which represents 78 mosques and Muslim organizations. Dr Muzammil Siddiqi, chair of the Islamic Shura Council of Southern California, said,
“We are sad at the suffering of our neighbours in San Bernardino. We are with them not only with the words of sympathy and condolences; we should show the acts of kindness and compassion. Victims’ Fund is a noble idea. I urge all American Muslims to contribute to this fund.”
While the effort was originally concentrated in Southern California, Imam Mohammed Fatiqh of the Islamic Institute of Orange County, helped make it a nationwide interfaith effort led by Muslims.
“Since 9/11, we’ve felt we need to come out of our cocoons. We’re as American as anyone else … but if society is not feeling it, it means I’m not doing enough… This is something that affects all of us; it affects us as (US) citizens. This particular incident affected us as Muslims. This is the response that everyone, especially Muslim Americans should (have) in every case, regardless of who the perpetrators are,” Fatiqh said.
The Welsh Assembly Blocks Cameron’s Trade Union Bill*
By Bex Sumner
The Welsh Assembly has just voted to block David Cameron’s trade union bill in Wales, with Assembly members saying it would undermine public services, the economy and the “constructive social partnership” between workers and employers in Wales. But instead of heeding the Welsh Assembly’s decision, David Cameron is ignoring it. Now a constitutional crisis looks set to erupt as the two governments do battle in the Supreme Court.
The showdown between the Welsh and U.K. governments over the trade union bill has been a long time brewing. While Cameron is determined to push through what some call “the biggest crackdown on trade union rights for 30 years,” Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones has promised his government will do everything in its power to stop the bill, which would severely limit the right to strike.
On Tuesday, the showdown came to a head when Welsh Labour, Plaid Cymru and Welsh Lib Dem Assembly members united to vote down the UK government’s plans by 43 to 13.
They were voting on a “legislative consent motion” (pdf) tabled by Public Services Minister Leighton Andrews. Legislative consent – basically permission – is required from the Welsh and Scottish governments when the UK government wants to pass legislation that relates to devolved areas, like on the health service and education.
The Welsh government believes the trade union bill does relate to those devolved areas. Introducing the motion, Andrews said the bill was “damaging, divisive and risks undermining public services and the economy”:
“We believe it will lead to a confrontational relationship between employers and workforce. It contrasts sharply with the constructive social partnership approach in Wales – valuing the workforce, supporting public services and encouraging enterprise.”
Therefore, says the Welsh government, the bill does require legislative consent.
That view is roundly supported by legal advice (pdf) given to Wales TUC by QC Hefin Rees:
“In our view it is strongly arguable that clauses 3, 12, 13 and 14 of the Bill relate to the following devolved subject matters: “education and training”; “fire and rescues services”; “health and health services”; “highways and transport”; “local government”; and “public administration”.
Indeed, Rees goes further, telling the U.K. government that forcing the bill onto Wales without permission from the National Assembly would be unconstitutional:
“In so far as provisions of the Bill fall within the Assembly’s legislative competence, the U.K. Government would be acting in breach of the Sewel Convention, and therefore unconstitutionally, to enact such provisions without first obtaining the consent of the Assembly.”
But that, it seems, is exactly what David Cameron is planning to do.
No sooner had the vote taken place than a U.K. government spokesperson said the bill would continue its progress through parliament because:
“The Trade Union Bill relates to employment rights, duties and industrial relations, all of which are clearly reserved matters for the U.K. Government under the Welsh devolution settlement.”
In other words, Cameron plans to disregard the Welsh Assembly’s democratic expression of the will of the Welsh people in order to push through the bill.
But the story won’t end there. The constitutional battle now looks set to go to the Supreme Court. And if the U.K. government passes the bill, First Minister Carwyn Jones has said the Welsh government will immediately seek to repeal the parts of it that relate to Wales – which, according to Hefin Rees, it will be perfectly entitled to do.
Meanwhile, in Scotland, MSPs also slammed the trade union bill on Tuesday, although their attempt to table a similar legislative motion was thwarted by Holyrood’s Presiding Officer.
David Cameron’s trade union bill has already been branded potentially illegal by his own human rights watchdog and been partly defeated by the Lords for disrupting the political balance in the UK. Now the democratically elected Welsh Assembly has refused him permission to impose it on Wales – and David Cameron, displaying his typical contempt for democracy, couldn’t care less.
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As early as 2007 – a full 4 years before the 2011 “Arab Spring” and the war in Syria would begin – Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh in his New Yorker article titled, “”
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