Purveyor
Purveyor's JournalMike Huckabee's Reductio ad Hitlerum
Former Arkansas governor, and formerly relevant national political figure, Mike Huckabee is guilty of the latest right wing reductio ad Hitlerum fallacy. The Tea Party and right wing penchant for comparing President Obama to Hitler and Stalin is evidence not of any totalitarian tendencies on the part of Obama. Instead it is evidence that right wing contempt for science is now rivaled by contempt for learning anything about history.
Stalin and Hitler are among the most brutal murderers and dictators of the 20th, or any other, century. Most of the world knows this. To the right wing of the Republican Party, apparently, Stalinism is a system of governance where the marginal tax rate exceeds 35 percent, while the Nazi regime, according to Huckabee's newest insight, was one characterized by gun control.
Stalin and Hitler are now figures from history. As recently as 1996, the Republican Party nominated somebody who had fought and been injured fighting the Nazis. For most of the 20th century there were numerous members of Congress who had either served their country during World War II or been victims of Naziism, but that is not the case anymore. Similarly, most of the people on the far right are too young to have any personal memory of the Soviet Union. Perhaps this is why these accusations now come so much more easily to the leaders of the right wing today.
Using Communists and Nazis as a way to bludgeon one's political opponents with powerful, if poorly constructed, political arguments is nothing new, but it is seems much more frequent now, with Obama a much bigger target than any previous president. Most of the more aggressive of these attacks come not from powerful Republican politicians but from media personalities like Huckabee, Tea Party activists or people on the fringes of political life. The failure of Republicans in more senior positions to speak out against this has now become so ordinary that it is rarely remarked upon, but it is still significant.
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lincoln-mitchell/mike-huckabees-ireducto-a_b_3033369.html
Fuming at Korea, Sputtering at BRICS: US Hegemony Hitting the Wall
First, who or what is BRICS?
BRICS stands for an association of trade agreements and mutual aid between Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The BRICS association is causing major fits in the US. In fact, the Obama administration is choking with rage. But why, one may inquire. Countries form trade and mutual aid agreements all the time. The US has such associations with many countries, including some of the above. But this particular association between Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa is an association like no other. It could conceivably change the entire economic map of the world.
Bloomburg .com News (03/25/13)in bold headlines reads “BRICS NATIONS PLAN NEW BANK TO BYPASS WORLD BANK, IMF”. How about them apples? BRICS will not use the US dollar as their currency, but their own currencies. Let’s see…what might this do to the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, UN Security Council and major global international US backed banks? Consider for a moment: BRICS compose 25 per cent of global GDP and 40 per cent of the world’s population.
Might the people of these countries prefer to deposit whatever money they have with their own banks? Borrow from their own banks? Might they prefer not to be bullied or threatened or overcharged by the power of the US banks in conjunction with the IMF and World Bank? What would this mean on the global stage?
I think it would mean that the back of Western economic hegemony would be broken. Not all at once, of course, but gradually. With time there would no longer be unlimited amounts of money sucked out of poor people the world over that has enabled the US to crush other countries with death dealing “shock and awe”, or drone attacks. No more “austerity” imposed by IMF and the World Bank. No more deliberately creating recessions by The Federal Bank in the US in order to make money scarce so the wealth the banks and Wall Street hold becomes more valuable. This is why the Obama administration and military is choking with rage.
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http://www.pacificfreepress.com/opinion/12465-fuming-at-korea,-sputtering-at-brics-us-hegemony-hitting-the-wall.html
Russia Says Nuclear Talks With Iran A Step Forward
(Reuters) - Iran and six global powers failed to reach a compromise at negotiations in Kazakhstan but took a step forward, the Russian negotiator said after the talks aimed to ease concerns over Tehran's nuclear program ended on Saturday.
"Certainly, these talks were a step forward," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told reporters. But he said: "We could not reach a compromise this time," and he added that it was premature to name a date and venue for further talks.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/06/us-iran-nuclear-russia-idUSBRE93505Q20130406
South Korea Says North’s Missile Launch May Be Imminent
Source: Agence France-Presse
A top South Korean security official said Sunday that North Korea may test-launch a missile this week, as the United States delayed its own missile test due to soaring tensions on the peninsula.
Kim Jang-Soo, chief national security adviser to President Park Geun-Hye, said a test-launch or other provocation could come before or after Wednesday, the date by which the North has suggested that diplomats leave Pyongyang.
North Korea, incensed by UN sanctions following its nuclear and missile tests and by South Korean-US military drills, has issued a series of apocalyptic threats of nuclear war in recent weeks.
It has also reportedly loaded two medium-range missiles on mobile launchers and hidden them in underground facilities near its east coast, raising speculation it is preparing for a provocative launch.
Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/04/07/south-korea-says-norths-missile-launch-may-be-imminent/
Secretary Of State John Kerry Warns Iran That Time Is Running Out On Nuclear Talks
Source: Agence France-Presse
The United States’ top diplomat warned Iran on Sunday that time is running out on nuclear negotiations between the Islamic republic and world powers.
“This is not an endless process. … You can’t just talk for the sake of talking,” Secretary of State John Kerry told a news conference in Istanbul.
Iran and six world powers — the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany — have failed to break the deadlock over Tehran’s nuclear drive.
After two days of talks in Almaty, Kazakhstan, aimed at limiting Iran’s nuclear programme, chief negotiator Catherine Ashton, the European Union’s top diplomat, said on Saturday that the sides were still “far apart.”
Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/04/07/secretary-of-state-john-kerry-warns-iran-that-time-running-out-on-nuclear-talks/
NRA 500: Promoters Want April 13 NASCAR Race Focused On Racing, Not Debating Gun Control
Anna M. Tinsley
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
FORT WORTH -- April 13 will be business as usual at the Texas Motor Speedway.
The signature race that day has drawn national media attention for its new name and sponsor: the NRA 500, for the National Rifle Association gun-rights advocacy group.
But race promoters say they want America's attention focused on racing, not debating gun control.
"It's another race for us and it's just like all the others in so many ways," Eddie Gossage, president of TMS, said Friday. "It's not going to be a gun rally. It's going to be a race."
Officials announced last month that the NRA will be the title sponsor for the April 13 Sprint Cup race at TMS, igniting a firestorm of controversy among some because gun rights have been a nationwide issue since the Dec. 14 massacre in Newtown, Conn., that left 20 children and six educators dead at the Sandy Hook Elementary School.
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http://www.kansascity.com/2013/04/05/4164372/promoters-want-april-13-nascar.html
Eric Stevenson, Bronx Democratic Assemblyman, Arrested For Taking $20,000 In Bribes In Second....
Eric Stevenson, Bronx Democratic Assemblyman, arrested for taking $20,000 in bribes in second corruption case in New York this weekBy Greg B. Smith , Dareh Gregorian AND Larry Mcshane / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Would the last honest politician in Albany turn off the lights — or simply steal the bulbs?
The ever-expanding cesspool of political corruption in New York claimed a Bronx assemblyman Thursday, barely two days after a state senator and five other political figures were busted in a separate bribery scheme.
The arrest of Eric Stevenson (D-Bronx) in a bribery scandal came with an unexpected twist: The two-termer was nabbed with the cooperation of a crooked Assembly colleague who became an informant.
The secret aid of Nelson Castro, who flipped in 2009 after a perjury indictment, raised the specter of additional arrests while spooking many in the Bronx Democrat’s political orbit.
“Here we go again,” U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said after the latest criminal complaint was unsealed. “This has become something of a habit.”
--CLIP---
“Bottom line . . . if half the people up here in Albany were ever caught for what they do ... they ... would probably be (in jail),” he said during a chat this past Dec. 27. “So who are they bulls----ing?”
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/bronx-assemblyman-eric-stevenson-arrested-corruption-article-1.1307456#ixzz2PeMcUJPM
Jimmy Carter Vs. The Southern Baptist Convention: A Sea Change?
Jimmy Carter offered an open letter explaining why he is divorcing himself from the Southern Baptist Convention after six decades as a deacon and Sunday School teacher. Basically, the SBC continues to legislate gender inequity from the top-down, cherry picking select verses to serve a desired patriarchal end, to which Carter responds:
"It was, however, an unavoidable decision when the convention's leaders, quoting a few carefully selected Bible verses and claiming that Eve was created second to Adam and was responsible for original sin, ordained that women must be "subservient" to their husbands and prohibited from serving as deacons, pastors or chaplains in the military service."
It's easy, in the daily course of events, to forget how pervasive such judgments against the equality of women really are, especially as we have examples of powerful women in political office and business. But just as having a black president doesn't solve racial inequities, neither do a handful of high-profile women indicate there isn't an ongoing struggle for parity among millions of other women without such power.
Carter continues:
At its most repugnant, the belief that women must be subjugated to the wishes of men excuses slavery, violence, forced prostitution, genital mutilation and national laws that omit rape as a crime. But it also costs many millions of girls and women control over their own bodies and lives, and continues to deny them fair access to education, health, employment and influence within their own communities.
It's safe to say that everyone from Mark Driscoll's reformed theology cohort to the Catholic Church and even the SBC itself would stand unified in opposition to the more egregious and graphic examples of violence against women. But the more silent, insidious oppression of women through systemic roadblocks, gender bias and sexual objectification can be just as damaging, if not more so in terms of numbers of women affected.
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/christian-piatt/jimmy-carter-vs-the-southern-baptist-convention-a-sea-change_b_3015449.html
Losing My Religion For Equality…By Jimmy Carter
I HAVE been a practicing Christian all my life and a deacon and Bible teacher for many years. My faith is a source of strength and comfort to me, as religious beliefs are to hundreds of millions of people around the world. So my decision to sever my ties with the Southern Baptist Convention, after six decades, was painful and difficult. It was, however, an unavoidable decision when the convention’s leaders, quoting a few carefully selected Bible verses and claiming that Eve was created second to Adam and was responsible for original sin, ordained that women must be “subservient” to their husbands and prohibited from serving as deacons, pastors or chaplains in the military service.
This view that women are somehow inferior to men is not restricted to one religion or belief. Women are prevented from playing a full and equal role in many faiths. Nor, tragically, does its influence stop at the walls of the church, mosque, synagogue or temple. This discrimination, unjustifiably attributed to a Higher Authority, has provided a reason or excuse for the deprivation of women’s equal rights across the world for centuries.
At its most repugnant, the belief that women must be subjugated to the wishes of men excuses slavery, violence, forced prostitution, genital mutilation and national laws that omit rape as a crime. But it also costs many millions of girls and women control over their own bodies and lives, and continues to deny them fair access to education, health, employment and influence within their own communities.
The impact of these religious beliefs touches every aspect of our lives. They help explain why in many countries boys are educated before girls; why girls are told when and whom they must marry; and why many face enormous and unacceptable risks in pregnancy and childbirth because their basic health needs are not met.
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http://www.womenspress-slo.org/?p=11440
How Israel Helped a Then-Rogue State Go Nuclear
here have been rumors since the late 1970s of Israeli cooperation in South Africa's effort to become a nuclear power. A double flash over the Indian Ocean detected by a U.S. satellite in 1979, for example, was suspected (but never confirmed) to be a joint, low-yield Israeli-South African nuclear test.
South African documents that appeared to show Israel offering to sell nuclear weapons were refuted by Israeli President Shimon Peres, in 2010, as "selective interpretation." Here we show what really occurred — and how.
According to new CIA evidence, Israel proved "absolutely vital" to South Africa's apartheid regime 30 years ago in building six Hiroshima-size bombs. New details about this collaboration arose in a series of interviews I conducted with Tyler Drumheller, the former chief of CIA covert operations in Europe and, at the time of the events described here, a clandestine officer serving in Pretoria, South Africa. The interviews were conducted in Washington, D.C., in 2010.
Drumheller is an unusually credible and outspoken man. In his book, On the Brink: An Insider's Account of How the White House Compromised American Intelligence and in interviews with the CBS News program "60 Minutes," he was the most senior of former CIA officials to tell the truth about faulty intelligence in the run-up to the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
He showed how the Bush-Cheney White House had promoted intelligence it liked on Iraq — and specifically on Iraq's supposed weapons of mass destruction — while ignoring intelligence it didn't like.
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http://www.theglobalist.com/storyid.aspx?StoryId=9935
AIPAC's Legislative Agenda Dividing Members Of Congress
Public differences between members of Congress and AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) have largely been papered over in recent weeks, but there remains a palpable sense of frustration with AIPAC’s legislative policy agenda on Capitol Hill.
The unprecedented dearth of support for parts of AIPAC’s legislative agenda this year may be a sign the façade of invincibility surrounding the Israel lobby is beginning to erode. In the case of ‘The United States-Israel Strategic Partnership Act of 2013’ (S. 462, H.R. 938), members of Congress appear to have defected en masse; weeks after introduction, the Senate version has only 15 cosponsors.
Numerous public reports and off-the-record accounts from legislators and staff signaled that the brazenness and late release of the Israel lobby's legislative demands blindsided both individual members and various committees. Provisions appeared tone deaf and legally problematic, even among Israel’s strongest supporters.
One such proposal, buried within AIPAC's long list of legislative demands, was language proposing that Israel be included in the U.S. Visa Waiver Program. The seemingly innocuous provision is easy to miss among a litany of other alarming proposals, including a tripwire provision to drag the U.S. into an Israeli initiated war with Iran, an exemption of Israel's annual military aid from sequestration cuts, and a vague but certainly problematic 'strategic ally' designation.
Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/foreign-policy/292069-aipacs-legislative-agenda-dividing-members-of-congress#ixzz2PdNhYjQ2
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