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"The corporate news media's acquired naïveté, the learned ability not to see or hear the uncomfortable fact"

Site de Robert Newman

Merci Bryan

Un vrai conservateur

Our commercial interests and foreign policy are no longer separate...as bad as it is that average Americans are forced to subsidize such a system, we additionally are placed in greater danger because of our arrogant policy of bombing nations that do not submit to our wishes. This generates hatred directed toward America ...and exposes us to a greater threat of terrorism, since this is the only vehicle our victims can use to retaliate against a powerful military state...the cost in terms of lost liberties and unnecessary exposure to terrorism is difficult to assess, but in time, it will become apparent to all of us that foreign interventionism is of no benefit to American citizens, but instead is a threat to our liberties.

Ron Paul, membre du congrès U.S., Janvier 2000, tiré de Is America a Police State?, Ron Paul, 27 Juin 2002

Ses collègues républicains l'ont surnommé Dr. No, en raison de son historique de vote au congrès.

Merci Freedom to fascism

Un air de thérémine

Bush: 'Our Long National Nightmare Of

Peace And Prosperity Is Finally Over'

January 17, 2001

WASHINGTON, DC–Mere days from assuming the presidency and closing the door on eight years of Bill Clinton, president-elect George W. Bush assured the nation in a televised address Tuesday that "our long national nightmare of peace (sic) and prosperity is finally over."

[...]

Bush swore to do "everything in [his] power" to undo the damage wrought by Clinton's two terms in office, including selling off the national parks to developers, going into massive debt to develop expensive and impractical weapons technologies, and passing sweeping budget cuts that drive the mentally ill out of hospitals and onto the street. [...]

"You better believe we're going to mix it up with somebody at some point during my administration," said Bush, who plans a 250 percent boost in military spending. "Unlike my predecessor, I am fully committed to putting soldiers in battle situations. Otherwise, what is the point of even having a military?"

[...]

House Majority Leader Dennis Hastert (R-IL) told reporters: "Under Bush, we can all look forward to military aggression, deregulation of dangerous, greedy industries, and the defunding of vital domestic social-service programs upon which millions depend."

Merci Marty

Rires et rigolades safrans

Ah bon je me désabonne... plus tard. N'empêche que ne serait-ce de Vigile et son alléchante entête, je n'aurais pas lu ce drôlissime papier de Mario Roy de la Paresse, auquel je suis abonné.

[L']étonnante persistance ici du bon vieux pacifisme-à-papa, dont la doctrine fondatrice veut que la planète se porterait mieux sans guerres, et le pays sans armée. C'est rigoureusement exact. Mais, tant qu'on ne nous expliquera pas en détails comment en arriver là, ça n'a qu'un intérêt chansonnier.

Première étape: un soutient financier public aux médias indépendants, où, l'histoire en fait foi, hasard, tous ne sont pas 'américains' au sens propagandiste du terme.

[...]

[U]ne politique extérieure forte, possédant les moyens notamment militaires de ses ambitions, est la seule façon pour un pays de faire rayonner son indépendance.

Voir remarque précédente

[...]

obligation morale ... une modeste nation qui n'entend pas se désengager complètement du monde dans lequel elle vit.

Applaudissements

L'atout de la mobilité, Mario Roy, 29 juin 2006

In fact, the West claims what’s called a “responsibility to protect”. I think in Canada it’s even an official doctrine. The world doesn’t accept it. The UN summit last September flatly rejected it.

Entrevue Noam Chomsky, Irish Times, 24 janvier 2006

• "imperialism doesn’t stop being necessary just because it becomes politically incorrect." -Michael Ignatieff, New York Times Magazine, 28 juillet 2002



• "America’s empire is not like the empires of times past, built on colonies, conquests and the white man’s burden.... The 21st century imperium is a new invention in the annals of political science, an empire lite, a global hegemony whose grace notes are free markets, human rights, and democracy, enforced by the most awesome military power the world has ever known." -Michael Ignatieff, New York Times Magazine, 5 janvier 2003

On trouvera ces citations ici; des commentaires récents d'une grande pertinence sur Ignatieff et le futur du Canada se retrouvent sur le blogue canadien Dark Age, sous la plume de Longsword: Michael Ignatieff, Decadent (Part 1) et Michael Ignatieff, Decadent (Part 2), en gros:

In effect, however, (and this is most disturbing for the prospects of a homegrown Canadian political culture), both Harper and Ignatieff are Canada's hollow men and empty mirrors, mere echos and reflections of what is going on south of the border in mainstream American party politics, either of the New Right Republicans or the mainstream "New Democrats". And I find the implications of this quite disquieting. It casts in doubt the future independence and sovereignty of the country -- potentially transforming the country into a mere shadow and echo of what goes on in the United States.

Ai-je besoin de mentionner Boisclair, un grand fan d'Ignatieff ?

Vive la révolution!

Le nouveau conseil des droits de l'homme de l'O.N.U. a comme membre fondateur Cuba, mais pas les Etats-Unis. On peut comprendre que la victime de la plus longue campagne de terrorisme de l'histoire (invisible aux journalistes) exulte... ¡Patria o Muerte! On notera aussi la présence de l'Arabie Saoudite sur le conseil... hmm hmm hmmm.

Today is a particularly symbolic day. Cuba is a founding member of the Human Rights Council and the United States is not. Cuba was elected with the overwhelming support of 135 countries, more than two-thirds of the United Nations General Assembly, while the United States did not even dare to run as a candidate. Cuba relied on the secret vote for the same reasons that the United States was afraid of it.

Cuba’s election epitomizes the victory of principles and truth; it stands as recognition of the value of our resilience. The absence of the United States is the defeat of lies; it is the moral punishment for the haughtiness of an empire.

The election entailed a demanding assessment. Each one got what they deserved. Cuba was rewarded and the United States was punished. Each one had its history and the voting countries were well aware of it.

The absence of the United States on the Human Rights Council is moral punishment for the arroganceof an empire, Felipe Perez Roque, 20 juin 2006 via-1 ZMag

Thus far, but no further 2

Plus les mois passent, plus je suis convaincu que MediaLens est une des meilleures choses qui soient arrivées à l'internet. Je considère que Noam Chomsky a entièrement raison de se concentrer sur la culture intellectuelle, contrairement à certaines critiques de notre camp:

A lot of what I have written and speak about has been devoted to particular atrocities in Vietnam, in Latin America, in the Middle East, in East Timor, things like that, and to the web of deceit that has been constructed about them. Now these are matters that have enormous human significance, but they're superficial in a sort of technical sense; that is, they are the end result of much deeper, central factors in our society and culture. The criticism is that I ought to pay more attention to the central factors and to ways of changing them, to revolutionary strategy, for example. Well, I've been resistant to that, rightly or wrongly, but I see the point, certainly. I mean, suppose that we could, say, induce the United States to stop supporting massacre and repression in East Timor. It would be very important for the Timorese, if they survive. But it would be like putting a Band-Aid on a cancer. It's just going to show up somewhere else.

To the extent that one can reach the general public on these issues -- it's very limited because the media and journals don't really permit it -- but to the extent that one can, well, East Timor or Vietnam are topics you can talk to people about in a way that is meaningful to them, whereas talking to them about institutional change and the possibility that they might play a role in changing the institutions is like talking to them about Mars. I don't know how you get to the point where those kinds of questions can be raised. Certainly not just by talk.

Entrevue avec Noam Chomsky, The Chomsky Reader, 1983

MediaLiens se consacre à la difficile mais nécessaire tâche de décortiquer les médias, et de démolir l'apparente différence entre médias dits de gauche et ceux dits de droite. Thus far, but no further était consacré au scandale de "l'entrevue" du Guardian (dit de gauche) avec Chomsky (lire Chomsky answers Guardian). Cette fois, MediaLens s'attaque à une critique du dernier livre de Chomsky, Failed States, parue dans l'Observer (dit de gauche), présentée par le rédac-en-chef comme une "superbe démolition de Chomsky". Un extrait de l'alerte média:

When it comes to smearing dissent, the difference between the Oxbridge 'liberalism' of the Guardian/Observer and the right-wing brutality of the Sun is essentially one of vocabulary. To be sure, generations of earlier journalists have done much of the spadework - the two words that hover between the lines, of course, are "loony left".

[...]

In truth, like most of his media peers, Beaumont is intellectually and ethically drowning in superficiality. It is the job of the 'liberal' press to ensure that readers who might otherwise be informed and empowered activists for progressive change do the same.

The Observer's Foreign Affairs Editor Peter Beaumont Reviews Noam Chomsky's Failed States, MediaLens, 22 juin 2006

Il faut une bonne dose de travail pour comprendre que l'ensemble des médias fait oeuvre commune de propagande, une idée qui éveille naturellement un cadre conceptuel de théorie du complot, ce qui est l'inverse de la réalité. MediaLens est un bon départ pour se faire une tête.

Robin Philpot, Jane Jacobs

Au chapitre du rattrapage, un texte de Robin Philpot paru en une sur Counterpunch sur la grande urbaniste canadienne Jane Jacobs, qui était non seulement indépendantiste, mais qui a aussi développé un argumentaire original sur la question, profondément lié à ses investigations théoriques sur le développement des villes. Robin Philpot est le prochain candidat du Parti Québécois dans la circonscription St-Henri/Ste-Anne (Sud-Ouest, Montréal), comme nous l'annoncait en primeur La Voix Populaire

Cities must relate to each other and flourish as equals according to Jane Jacobs. That explains why European cities like Paris, Copenhagen, Stockholm, and Berlin have all had important roles, because of their independence and their equal stages of development. When cities trade with each other, they require this kind of independence or else one becomes a supplier of the other and the relationship takes on some of the terrible aspects of empire, supply cities being bound to trade exclusively with the metropolitan city. That, she adds, is the logic that governs the relationship between Toronto and Montreal. That can change if Quebec separates and Montreal gains greater independence.

The Rich Life of Jane Jacobs, Robin Philpot, 26 avril 2006

De la bassesse de nos ennemis musulmans

Oui, encore une fois, je suis en retard, mais c'est trop fort cette citation.

[Rear Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr., commandant de la prison de Guantanamo Bay] described them as having close ties to terrorist organizations in the Middle East and said their suicides were "not an act of desperation, but an act of asymmetric warfare against us."

Three Detainees Commit Suicide at Guantanamo, Josh White, 11 juin 2006

La vie chante

"I grabbed her little sister and put her in front of me. As the bullets began to fly, the blood sprayed from between her eyes, and then I laughed maniacally. . .I blew those little f**kers to eternity . . .They should have known they were f**king with the Marines."

[Hadji-Girl, vidéo]

'Marines' Cheer Song About Killing Iraqi Civilians, The Council on American-Islamic Relations,12 juin 2006

Merci mon à mon ami irlandais Bronx Gael!

Rattrapage Chomskyen

J'étais vraiment déconnecté. Premièrement, info importante sur le bombardement de la Yougoslavie en 1999:

Once the standard inversion of the historical record is corrected (the timing of the bombing and the anticipated atrocities), the US official justification reduces to preserving "the credibility of NATO," which of course means "credibility of the US." For the meaning of "credibility," ask your favourite Mafia Don.

We know have a more authoritative source, however. From the highest level of the Clinton administration: Strobe Talbott, now director of the Brookings Institution, who was the lead American negotiator and director of a joint National Security Council-Pentagon-State Department task force on diplomacy during the bombing. Talbott wrote the foreword to a recent book on the war by his director of communications, John Norris. In it, Talbott writes that thanks to Norris’s book, anyone interested in the war in Kosovo “will know...how events looked and felt at the time to those of us who were involved” in the war. That sounds fairly authoritative. Presenting the position of the Clinton administration, Norris writes that “it was Yugoslavia’s resistance to the broader trends of political and economic reform – not the plight of Kosovar Albanians – that best explains NATO’s war.” That had been surmised, but is now confirmed from a very high level.

NATO’s Invasion of Kosovo & Apologetics for State Violence, Noam Chomsky, 25 mai 2006

De l'info complémentaire se retrouve dans une entrevue du 25 avril accordée à un média électronique Serbe

Deuxième source Chomskyenne, cette conférence [On Just War Theory and the Invasion of Iraq, vidéo] donnée par Noam le 20 avril 2006 à des cadets de ... West Point! C-Span ne cessera de m'étonner.


Et finalement, changement de sujet, suis-je le seul à trouver que le geste courageux du magazine Rolling Stones est accueilli fort timidement (pour rester poli) ?

Was the 2004 Election Stolen?, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., 1er juin 2006


Velvet Revolution, dont c'est un sujet de prédilection, commente:

The Brad Blog was given an exclusive on this article and noted that in a sidebar to the article, Rolling Stone itself called for a complete federal investigation into the election.

Du présent blogue: Démocratie?

Zzzzzzzzzz

Et bien. Les vacances ont été plus longues que prévu... espérons que les menaces de monitorages de l'utilisation d'internet à mon travail ne sont que ça, des menaces. Je commencerai donc par un exemple d'extraordinaire lucidité, tiré de The Last Taboo, John Pilger

"Let all the self-righteous who speak of ruthless Palestinian murderers take a hard look in the mirror, [Let them ask themselves] what they would have done had they been the ones living under occupation. I can say for myself that I, Yitzhak Frankenthal, would have undoubtedly become a freedom fighter and I would have killed as many on the other side as I possibly could. It is this depraved hypocrisy that pushes the Palestinians to fight us relentlessly - our double standard that allows us to boast the highest military ethics, while the same military slays innocent children ... As much as I would like to do so, I cannot say the Palestinians are to blame for my son's death. That would be the easy way out [for] it is we who are unwilling to make peace with them. It is we who insist on maintaining our control over them. It is we who feed the cycle of violence ... I regret to say it." -Yitzhak Frankenthal, chairman du 'cercle des parents' dont le fils Arik, un soldat conscrit, a été tué par le Hamas.

Le même John Pilger donnait une conférence à la Columbia University, New York, intitulée 'War by Media', qui débute ainsi:

During the Cold War, a group of Russian journalists toured the United States. On the final day of their visit, they were asked by their hosts for their impressions. “I have to tell you,” said their spokesman, “that we were astonished to find, after reading all the newspapers and watching TV, that all the opinions on all the vital issues were, by and large, the same. To get that result in our country, we imprison people, we tear out their fingernails. Here, you don't have that. What's the secret? How do you do it?"