B’Man’s Patriot Watch: E.M. at The Grievance Project

I have developed a friendship with an attorney (it almost started out bad, thankfully I caught my assholish ways before it went too far) named E.M. at his blog called The Grievance Project. This man is a patriot in every sense of the word and knows how to fight the battles we have with justice in this country. I get emails from him regularly and subscribe to his feed at the blog. Recently, he did his thing (write a grievance) against the Alabama Bar Association and called them (in so many words) a bunch of foolish hypocrites and liars (he would never use those words… he, unlike me, is a gentleman).

I wanted to share the dialog he puts up with in the hypocritical battle with Alabama Bar sycophants, when he is only doing what is needed to fix this broken government.

I found the hypocrisy in the Alabama State Bar’s President’s (J. Mark White” <mwhite@waadlaw.com>) response to one of these grievances very telling. But more than anything, I love the way E.M. don’t take shit from these lying/complicit asshats (Mr White should be embarrassed and E.M. should given a medal). This involves the lunacy that Alberto Gonzales and Leura Canary (leura.canary@usdoj.gov) was being named to the Top Ten Prosecutors list for 2008. In order of the transmissions sent.

Subject: Alberto Gonzales and Leura Canary named to Top Ten Prosecutors list for 2008

The list – of the ten worst prosecutors – is compiled by the Bennett Law Firm.  They’ll each get a Certificate.  From my post:

In its press release, the Bennett Law Firm explained that the release of the list was delayed due to the election so the firm ”would not be accused of being “political[,]” adding that “[w]e plan not to wait as long to release the Top 10 nominees coming in 2009. Therefore, continue to send in your nominations to bbennett@bennettlawfirm.com.”  (My emphasis) (Thanks to SH for this link.)

–
E.M.

The response from Mark White:

On Sun, Dec 7, 2008 at 12:42 AM, J. Mark White <mwhite@waadlaw.com> wrote:

Please do not send additional emails to me. If you have a complaint file it with the Alabama State Bar. The process and forms are on the web site. If you feel so strongly about this matter please exhibit the courage to file a formal complaint. I assure you complaints are handled in a professional manner. Emails to a mass of people accomplish nothing. Take me off your email list.

Mark White

E.M. scathing response back to a person more interested in the status quo than doing the job he is paid to do.

Mr. White,

Thank you for replying to my e-mail.  At your request, I’ve removed your name from my general e-mail list.

Responding to allegations of unethical conduct by affirmatively requesting to receive no further information  does nothing to advance the credibility of your claim that complaints of attorney misconduct in Alabama are handled professionally.  Consider also this e-mail I received from Roger Shuler:

About three years ago, I filed a bar complaint against Bill Swatek, the lawyer who filed the bogus lawsuit that started all of my legal headaches. The Alabama State Bar didn’t even investigate it. Swatek has a 30-year history of ethical problems with the bar, including a suspension of his license.

Under bar rules, an attorney with that kind of history is supposed to be scrutinized even more heavily when new complaints arrive. Also, the fact Swatek was opposing counsel (not my attorney) is supposed to irrelevant under bar rules. He still owes a duty to the opposing side to conduct himself in an ethical manner.

When I questioned the bar about their failure to act on my Swatek complaint, one of McLain’s staff people at the time admitted that they get so many complaints that they usually don’t do anything with the ones involving opposing counsel.

Not exactly an awe-inspiring example of professionalism.  He has a more at his blog.

Mr. White, I specifically copied you on only two (2) e-mails.  I first copied you on the e-mail I sent to Tony McClain, the General Counsel of the Alabama State Bar, because he has the authority to initiate a disciplinary investigation on his his own motion based on information he receives or acquires from any source.  This e-mail regarded the unethical conduct of Leura Garrett Canary, a member of the Bar of which you are the elected President.  I then also copied you on an e-mail announcing that Leura Garrett Canary had been named one of this country’s Worst Prosecutors for the year 2008.

However, someone of your professional and personal accomplishment should realize that I didn’t just add your name to ‘a mass of people [who can] accomplish nothing.’  Check again the first e-mail you received from me.  Note that I copied you on these e-mails in your professional capacity as President of the Alabama State Bar Association.  I did this to establish that you have – at a minimum – constructive knowledge of Ms. Canary’s conduct.

Your reply, however, also – rather amateurishly – confirmed that you actually received both of my e-mails, including the first e-mail in which I tediously detailed for you Ms. Canary’s unethical conduct as well as the specific Alabama Rules of Professional Conduct that her conduct violated.  You, therefore, also confirmed that you are “[a] lawyer possessing unprivileged knowledge of a violation of Rule 8.4” by Ms. Canary, pursuant to Rule 8.3, Reporting Professional Misconduct of the Alabama Rules of Professional Conduct, which requires that you “shall report such knowledge to a tribunal or other authority empowered to investigate or act upon such violation.” [My emphasis]  As explained in the Comments to Rule 8.3, your “failure to report a violation would itself be a professional offense.”

When you were elected President of the Alabama State Bar Association, it was reported that your theme ‘might be “justice for all.”‘  Your press release from the Alabama State Bar states that “the goals of [your] administration would be[] ‘to remove barriers to justice for Alabama’s poor, to embark on an immediate course to change the nature of state judicial elections, and to champion efforts that increase the public’s confidence in our system of justice…’[, and that key] projects will include … [a]ssisting the bench and bar in improving civility and professionalism. [My emphasis]  My hope was that you would receive my e-mail and live up to your words.  However, your reply establishes your words are without the substance of conviction.

And none of this is changed because I publish anonymously.  There are many reasons, as you know, to publish under a pseudonym not the least of which is sound tactics.  It wasn’t cowardice when Thomas Paine wrote Common Sense under the pseudonym Publius.  Since publishing his work was an act of treason punishable by death, it was self-preservation.  Thanks to men and women like Thomas Paine, the words I publish are not treason.  But even though I won’t face prosecution for treason, don’t believe that I face no threats because I choose to publish as I do.  And it’s not paranoia if they ARE out to get you.  The ounce of prevention anonymity provides me – hopefully – is just a pound of cure but it does not make me a coward.  Anyway, I don’t think that you even believe your charge of cowardice.

But it especially surprised me that a self-proclaimed champion of the integrity of the justice system who wants ‘justice for all’ would resort to calling me a coward especially while displaying true champion’s courage by asking me to leave him alone.  Although you claim to seek justice for all, you have failed to actually do anything when the cause of justice demands action.  In short, Mr. White, the question must be directed to you: where’s the courage demanded by your own words?

Please also note that I have removed you from my general e-mail list, but I will continue to send e-mails to you in your official capacity as President of the Alabama State Bar.  If you do not wish to receive these e-mails, your computer department can show you how to digitally stick your head in the sand (just ask them how to block my e-mails).  Alternatively, you could resign as President of the Alabama State Bar Association since you don’t want to fulfill your obligations to the Alabama State Bar and the public you swore to serve.

E.M.

Crossposted here at The Grievance Project and here at Oxdown Gazette.

Before The Israeli Illegal Invasion

Those pesky Gazans just don’t know how to act in a refugee camp. I think that Americans should also invade to clean up Israel’s mess, then hand it over to them. (You zioinist supporters should love that idea)

Life in Gaza: The Truth without Zionist Propaganda

This video was shot one month BEFORE the assault began:

People are taken to the brink of despair, then a momentary amount of help. Then they are taken to the brink of despair again. Over and over and over.

Israel is squeezing the life out of people because Hamas, AFTER we insisted they have elections that put Hamas in power.

We need to get our noses out of their business and STOP funding Israel. Period.

h/t BrassCheckTV

I Could Just Move To Canada

There are a few of us “Elite” rednecks out here (its been blabr’d about me recently) who were wondering why we live in America since we have so many problems with how our government runs things. Maybe from a cursory view, it appears I hate this country. But nothing could be further from the truth. I can only tell you that I love this country and once swore to protect the Constitution of the US from ALL enemies, no matter WHO it is.

I am of the opinion that we face our greatest enemy challenge from within our own government… meaning that I think that they are all either inept, stupid, crooks, liars, complicit and/or evil (with only a very few exceptions that come to mind). I believe that our leadership, especially, is of the very worst guilty, if not in deed, in their inaction to even feel about the constitution the way I do (much less actually do anything about it with their power). I believe that it will be up to us normal America-loving folk to clean up the shit for good, but to do that, you got to get rid of pigpen first.

OR

I could just move to Canada

more about “Harry’s Place » A good word for McCai…“, posted with vodpod

h/t Harry’s Place

Proving That 24% of Americans Are Ignorant Asshats

h/t ThinkProgress

New Manufacturing Data Suggests Deeper Recession Coming

Folks,

It isn’t “bad” yet. It is only beginning.

From my perspective as an equipment salesman to factories, I get the leading indicator whether or not manufacturing will grow (or not). I was asked by one of my Principals to provide my monthly forecast and honestly, I don’t see a single robot selling in January (with one possible exception that has been lingering for months: which is never a good sign). People and companies are hoarding their money.

I took my mother and family to lunch at the most popular resaraunt in town (which is normally packed) and it was barren.

I drive down main street and there are hardly anyone around, much less shopping. Red Sale signs and no people to buy.

There is but two major employers in this town and both have had lay-offs with more to come (one may shut down all together).

Every machine builder and integrator I call on is basically begging me to find them business (which I do when I can). Normally, in more robust times, my phone rings constantly, but I will bet that I receive less than 5 calls THIS WEEK.

People are getting desperate and are beginning the looting and thievery, especially in the big towns (just ask my Bro, Raw Dawg).

Now, it isn’t just a redneck spouting his observations, it is backed with data:

The Wall Street Journal (1/3, Evans, Matthews) reported, “Manufacturing activity around the world fell sharply in December, suggesting that the U.S. recession will extend well into 2009, if not longer, and that unemployment will rise globally.” According to “separate surveys of manufacturing activity around the world released on Friday, the first business day of the new year, were also bleak.” The Journal continues, “The simultaneous woes of manufacturing in rich countries and poor countries are something new in the global economy. In the past, weaknesses in U.S. and European manufacturing meant a windfall for developing economies, which took up the slack. … The struggles of big steel companies are particularly troubling, because that industry’s health is considered an early indicator of how other industries are faring.”

The Washington Post (1/3, D1, Schneider, Shin) reported on the front page of its Business section, “The Institute for Supply Management’s index of industrial production slipped from 36.2 percent in November to 32.4 percent in December, the lowest level since June 1980″ and “None of the industries covered in the survey reported an expansion in their business, and the drop registered not just in the institute’s index of production, but also in the volume of new orders and raw material costs.” Meanwhile, “prices paid for raw materials fell by 7.5 percentage points to 1949 levels.” Analysts said “none of Friday’s reports bodes well for the first three months of 2009.” They said “that whether the global economy bounces back in the second half of 2009 depends on the success of government stimulus efforts.”

The Financial Times (1/3, Guha) reported, “Spanish and German companies experienced acute problems. The findings will add to pressure on the European Central Bank to cut interest rates again this month.” John Ryding and Conrad DeQuadros, at RDQ Economics, said the new data showed “the global nature of the economic contraction.” They said “the case for a massive global fiscal stimulus continues to grow.”

The Chicago Tribune (1/3, Boak) reported, “Manufacturers such as Advance Lifts Inc. have a simple resolution this year: survive. Expecting a 35 percent drop-off in annual sales, Advance Lifts Chief Executive Hank Renken recently laid off 19 of 72 workers in St. Charles who make such products as hydraulic loading docks.” In addition, “Steel mills, chemical plants, computer assembly lines and even industrial bakeries are bearing the brunt of a global recession that has struck with alarming force since October.”

AFP (1/5) reports that manufacturers were said to be “reducing inventories and shutting down capacity to offset the slower rate of activity caused by a prolonged recession. In the machinery sector, respondents to an ISM survey said Europe ‘has slowed down dramatically, while Asia — particularly China — has virtually shut down.’” Analysts said “there was no sign that the US industrial activity decline was easing, citing the new numbers.”

Bloomberg News (1/5, Chandra) reports, “Clogged credit markets, the collapse in housing and mounting job losses have hurt demand for everything from furniture and appliances to automobiles, driving General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC to the brink of bankruptcy. The ISM’s employment index decreased to 29.9 from 34.2 in November. The gauge of prices paid fell to 18, reflecting the drop in commodity costs. Economists had projected that the measure, which averaged 65 in 2007, would drop to 20.”

B’Man’s Sabbath Watch: Pity For Palestinians Is “Unethical And Immoral”

Don’t pity the Palestinians

Pity worst form of patronizing, will ensure Gazans continue to whine instead of acting

Adi Dvir of Israeli Opinion

Observers worldwide have been expressing great pity for the people of Gaza, many of whom have been killed, injured, or forced to flee their homes during the ongoing IDF operation. This pity may be a natural emotional reaction, yet it is unethical and immoral.

To pity the people of Gaza is to patronize them, in essence implying that they do not control their fate, the state of their government, or their own actions. It is to assume one of two things: Either that Gazans are too stupid to oust the cancerous Hamas presence in their midst, or that they are unable to do so.

Just as a crying baby who only elicits pity will continue to cry, the citizens of Gaza will continue to cry out to the world instead of taking matters into their own hands. As long as they are told that they are helpless victims or mere pawns at the hands of terrorists, Gazans will only see their suffering prolonged…

There is more at the link, but this really explains it all, doesn’t it? Killing innocent children is “unethical and immoral” to Zionists and Israelis, I suppose. (Apparently it is thought of such in America) And even worse are the so-called Christians who support this type of behavior and wanton killing. It never ceases to amaze me how hypocritical people can be, even if they are not educated to the truth of the situation.

I am sickened by it all.

Jonathon Turley provided the link and head’s up.

‘Anything moving in the zone, even a three-year-old, needs to be killed’

Those damned Hamas terrorists are capable of recruiting 3 year olds? Simply amazing.

I think we need to double the amount of weapons we send to Israel and the money we give them in support for this fine work (thanks to Jonathon Turley for the head’s up). From Guardian UK:

Israeli officer: I was right to shoot 13-year-old child

Radio exchange contradicts army version of Gaza killing

Chris McGreal in Jerusalem

An Israeli army officer who repeatedly shot a 13-year-old Palestinian girl in Gaza dismissed a warning from another soldier that she was a child by saying he would have killed her even if she was three years old.

The officer, identified by the army only as Captain R, was charged this week with illegal use of his weapon, conduct unbecoming an officer and other relatively minor infractions after emptying all 10 bullets from his gun’s magazine into Iman al-Hams when she walked into a “security area” on the edge of Rafah refugee camp last month.

A tape recording of radio exchanges between soldiers involved in the incident, played on Israeli television, contradicts the army’s account of the events and appears to show that the captain shot the girl in cold blood.

The official account claimed that Iman was shot as she walked towards an army post with her schoolbag because soldiers feared she was carrying a bomb.

But the tape recording of the radio conversation between soldiers at the scene reveals that, from the beginning, she was identified as a child and at no point was a bomb spoken about nor was she described as a threat. Iman was also at least 100 yards from any soldier.

Instead, the tape shows that the soldiers swiftly identified her as a “girl of about 10″ who was “scared to death”.

The tape also reveals that the soldiers said Iman was headed eastwards, away from the army post and back into the refugee camp, when she was shot.

At that point, Captain R took the unusual decision to leave the post in pursuit of the girl. He shot her dead and then “confirmed the kill” by emptying his magazine into her body.

The tape recording is of a three-way conversation between the army watchtower, the army post’s operations room and the captain, who was a company commander.

The soldier in the watchtower radioed his colleagues after he saw Iman: “It’s a little girl. She’s running defensively eastward.”

Operations room: “Are we talking about a girl under the age of 10?”

Watchtower: “A girl of about 10, she’s behind the embankment, scared to death.”

A few minutes later, Iman is shot in the leg from one of the army posts.

The watchtower: “I think that one of the positions took her out.”

The company commander then moves in as Iman lies wounded and helpless.

Captain R: “I and another soldier … are going in a little nearer, forward, to confirm the kill … Receive a situation report. We fired and killed her … I also confirmed the kill. Over.”

Witnesses described how the captain shot Iman twice in the head, walked away, turned back and fired a stream of bullets into her body. Doctors at Rafah’s hospital said she had been shot at least 17 times.

On the tape, the company commander then “clarifies” why he killed Iman: “This is commander. Anything that’s mobile, that moves in the zone, even if it’s a three-year-old, needs to be killed. Over.”

The army’s original account of the killing said that the soldiers only identified Iman as a child after she was first shot. But the tape shows that they were aware just how young the small, slight girl was before any shots were fired.

The case came to light after soldiers under the command of Captain R went to an Israeli newspaper to accuse the army of covering up the circumstances of the killing.

A subsequent investigation by the officer responsible for the Gaza strip, Major General Dan Harel, concluded that the captain had “not acted unethically”.

However, the military police launched an investigation, which resulted in charges against the unit commander.

Iman’s parents have accused the army of whitewashing the affair by filing minor charges against Captain R. They want him prosecuted for murder.

Record of a shooting

Watchtower
‘It’s a little girl. She’s running defensively eastward’
Operations room
‘Are we talking about a girl under the age of 10?’
Watchtower
‘A girl of about 10, she’s behind the embankment, scared to death’
Captain R (after killing the girl)
‘Anything moving in the zone, even a three-year-old, needs to be killed’

57% Of The Palestinian “Terrorists” Are Children

Amazing how Hamas has recruited all these women and children as terrorists, huh?

57% of those killed by Israel in 2009 were children; 428 dead since strikes began

Gaza – Ma’an – Sixteen out of the 28 killed in Israeli airstrikes since New Year’s Eve were children; nine were from the same family, nine of the adults killed were women.

The percentage of Israeli casualties that are children in 2009 is 57%.

On Friday the bodies of the Rayan family children were buried, and Palestinian medical sources confirmed the deaths of three more Palestinians under 17.

Seven Palestinians have been killed since midnight Thursday bringing the death toll to 428 and the injured to 2,220 on day seven of the Israeli operation.

WARNING: THIS VIDEO IS GRAPHIC AND INCLUDES DEATH AND MAYHEM

There is no way I want my freaking tax dollars paying for this shit, nor do I want my country to be associated with this type of killing. Barack Hussein Obama MUST stop our killing and supporting of killers. Otherwise he is another George W Bush. (I beg you to prove me wrong)

What Is The Most Dangerous Thing About Marijuana?

After my personal experiences with family and friends who have suffered of various illnesses or have died of cancer and were scared to use because of “stigma”, I have been studying this subject (for many years), truly researching the plant and following scientific research that is basically only conducted in other parts of the world (with few exceptions). I could go down the list of supposed dangerous issues derived from consuming cannabis, but my hope is to get anyone that visits to list the most dangerous thing about it, so that I can show where such a thing is unfounded and a product of propaganda.

In other words, I am willing to debate any issue regarding the substance and feel that I have enough data to back any debate detail to prove the point.

To begin with, I will list what I think is the very most dangerous aspect of the plant:

Getting Arrested

Can we now get started or perhaps you just want to watch the following:

more about “Marijuana: It’s Time for a Conversati…“, posted with vodpod

Or visit the website:

Marijuana: It’s Time for a Conversation

Better To Be Informed Than In The Dark

Economic Collapse of 2009 – Better To Be Informed Than In The Dark – Here’s Reality

Could it happen?

Every indication is that job losses are at all time highs. Loss of wealth is at all time highs.

Wall Street truly runs Washington (and have done so to the ground).

Clean House!

Jonathon Turley Blog Wins Top Spot in ABA Journal Survey

I must make note one of my favorite legal bloggers, Jonathon Turley, in his recent win (and well deserved). Note that this wasn’t ‘just’ a win, but a blow out… by huge margins. I won’t pretend to know the significance of the award, but since I began following him just after starting it about a year ago, I knew it was something worthy of an RSS feed and a close follow.

Mr Turley is seen on NBC quite often (and on other networks, as well), especially on Countdown and Rachel Maddow.

But its not just the fact that he is “famous”; I found that this guy is hilarious, quick witted, loves his family dearly and is/has fun (not the stuffy legal professor I envision). Please check him out.

TURLEY BLOG WINS TOP SPOT IN ABA JOURNAL SURVEY

Well, the results are in and weeks of defamatory attacks on our opposing bloggers and the unrestrained use of the politics of personal destruction have paid off: the Turley blog was voted the Number One law professor blog and legal theory blog in the annual survey of the American Bar Association’s survey. Earlier, it was selected as one of the top 100 legal blogs overall. That is not bad for a blog that is only roughly a year old and it is entirely due to our regulars at the cyber bar we called the Turley blog. Your overindulgence, obsessive compulsiveness, and general lack of restraint have made us what we are today, a group of dysfunctional miscreants. But we are now the Number One dysfunctional miscreants in our category. Well done Team Turley (if I may be so bold). Not to overplay the victory, but this is the first key step to total blogosphere domination and eventual control of the time space continuum.

Here is the finishing line up:

1. JonathanTurley.org (670)
2. Mirror of Justice (256)
3. TaxProf Blog (231)
4. Professor Bainbridge (132)
5. The Faculty Blog (University of Chicago) (109)
6. The Feminist Law Professors (103)
7. The Becker-Posner Blog (92)
8. Balkinization (84)
9. Concurring Opinions (75)
10. ACS Blog (65)
10. PrawfsBlog (65)
12. The Conglomerate (63)
13. The Lessig Blog (50)
14. Law School Innovation (39)
15. Empirical Legal Studies (35)

Now for my victory speech:

“Fans, for the past two weeks you have been reading about the [the survey]. Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of this earth. I have been in [teaching for over] seventeen years and have never received anything but kindness and encouragement from you fans.

“Look at these grand men. Which of you wouldn’t consider it the highlight of his career just to associate with them for even one day? Sure, I’m lucky. Who wouldn’t consider it an honor to have known Mespo? Rafflaw, Patty C, Mike Spindell, FFLEO, Jill, Buddha is Laughing, WayneBro, Bob, Vince, Sally, Seamus, Sherry, RCampbell, Gyges, Mojo, MASkeptic, jonolan, BuelahMan, C.Everett Kook, LindyLou, Mike Appleton, . . . Sure, I’m lucky.

“When the Giants, a team you would give your right arm to beat, and vice versa, sends you a gift – that’s something. When everybody down to the groundskeepers and those boys in white coats remember you with trophies – that’s something. When you have a wonderful mother-in-law who takes sides with you in squabbles with her own daughter – that’s something. When you have a father and a mother who work all their lives so you can have an education and build your body – it’s a blessing. When you have a wife who has been a tower of strength and shown more courage than you dreamed existed – that’s the finest I know.

“So I close in saying that I may have had a tough [blog], but I have an awful lot to live for.”

Killing Palestinians Is TOO Easy: Says Israeli Leadership

I saw a video the other day where some jackass was defending Israel’s “defense” from Hamas showed some Qassam rockets being set up and fired towards Israel. In the video it shows several different footage examples of Hamas garbed men with a row of what looked to be giant roman candles (I am sure they are dangerous and can kill people). But in that same video, it showed Israel’s response with missiles and gunships and their “precision-guided” weapons and I simply could not help but think that the response is so massively “over-the-top” that surely there was something else Hamas was doing… some other weapons, cannons… SOMETHING that could justify what Israel was doing.

I can’t find it.

And before anyone wants to say I am “anti-semitic” or “pro-Palestinian” or whatever, let’s just squash that bullshit right here and now. I don’t give a rat’s ass about either of them and I am not against either of those peoples, either. This is about recognizing an obvious Killing Fields going on over Israel’s desire for more land and control. These bastards are using this for election purposes and have been purposefully starving these people for many years.

The problem lies in the fact that if you watch TV, you are only going to see the Zionistic defense, by and large. It is in their coffer’s desires and directions to do so. The only person I have seen remotely question the deal was the short CNN clip of the boat being rammed and Rachel Maddow saying something (briefly) on her show. The power structure in America doesn’t want you to know the facts and will bombard you with bullshit until you are brainwashed into believing it.

Here are a few notes regarding the facts about this “conflict” and Israel’s “self defense”. I belong to United Progressives based out of Nashville and recently received an email with the following information and links. Please consider joining:

United Progressives
44 Music Square East
#702
Nashville, TN 37203
http://www.unitedprogressives.us

Some further notes on Gaza:

In June 2008, according to an article in Middle East Online, “sixteen people in southern Israel [had] been killed by rocket or mortar fire from the Gaza Strip “since the start of the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising, in September 2000, which protested against the long and illegal Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories.”

However, in the same period, the Israelis had killed roughly 3770 Palestinians.

That number is derived from a Palestinian Centre for Human Rights fact sheet which says that “the IOF [Israel Occupation Forces] have implemented a systematic policy of extra-judicial executions in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT).  From the beginning of the Second Intifada, in September 2000, until 30 June, 2008, the IOF carried out 348 extra-judicial execution operations in the OPT.  During these operations, a total of 754 Palestinians were executed, representing 20% of the overall number of Palestinians killed by IOF since the beginning of the Second Intifada. ”

“The victims included 521 targeted persons and 233 civilian bystanders, including 71 children and twenty women. 405 of the victims were executed in the Gaza Strip, and 350 were executed in the West Bank.  In the Gaza Strip, 248 of the victims were targeted people, and 157 were civilian bystanders.  In the West Bank, 274 of the victims were targeted persons and 76 were civilian bystanders.

“IOF claim that extra-judicially executed Palestinians are wanted by the Israeli  security services, and have been ‘targeted’ as they pose serious threats to the national security of the State of Israel.  In addition, IOF utilize a host of  rhetorical terms, such as ‘self-defence, military response, Palestinian terrorists/militants’ in order to claim these extra-judicial executions are essential preventative responses in order to ensure the continuing security of Israel.”

Although the current military campaign by Israel is being blamed on the rocket attacks by Hamas, it’s interesting to see elsewhere the speculation that it is really due to the upcoming election for Prime Minister in Israel and the need for politicians to show some resolve in dealing with Hamas.

The election, scheduled for February 10, was set up in order to fill the vacated spot created by the awkward resignation of current Prime Minister Ehud Olmert over financial scandal. It pits Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who is running on the Kadima ticket, and Defence Minister Ehud Barak, who heads the Labour Party, against Benjamin Netanyahu, of the opposition party Likud.

Chris Marsden writes in CounterCurrents.org, that  Ms. Livni “has threatened further assassinations of Hamas leaders, warning that “nobody is immune.” “Until now we have shown restraint,” she said. “But today there is no other option than a military operation.”

Defence Minister Ehud Barak, Marsden writes, “threatened a ground invasion Saturday and ruled out any possibility of a cease-fire. ‘For us to be asked to have a cease-fire with Hamas is like asking you to have a cease-fire with Al Qaeda,’” Barak told Fox News. “If boots on the ground will be needed, they will be there.”

“Netanyahu has focused his campaign on calls,” Marsden says, “for an even more aggressive ‘active policy of attack’ against Hamas, accusing the current coalition government of Kadima and Labour of being too “passive.”

“In the long term,” Netanyahu declared, “ the toppling of the Hamas regime is inevitable. In the short term…there are a wide range of possibilities, from doing nothing to doing everything, meaning to conquer Gaza.”

You can a see a lot and get a good understanding of what is happening over there by watching the Fkn News video below (beware of extreme language):

h/t DeProgram

I Call It Genocide

Bruce at Organizing Notes has an excellent blog post which explains his personal connection to the murderous travesty being conducted upon the Palestinian people. This is excellent because of that personal connection and how truth revealed itself to him about the plight of his “enemy” as it were (you have to read it to understand). But even more important to me is adding both a bit of historical perspective with the current and calling this for what it is: genocide.

Genocide with America’s blessing, backing and our weapons.

Aren’t you proud to be led by these crooks, murderers and liars?

SOME WOULD CALL IT GENOCIDE

The Israeli attack on Gaza is getting personal for me.

In 1966 while visiting my mothers family in Connecticut my Italian grandfather took me into the dining room and opened a chest of drawers. He took a bag from the chest and handed it to me and said, “These have been in the family for generations. I want you to have them.” Inside the bag were a bunch of old hand-knitted yarmulkes. It was then that I learned that his family, back in Italy, had been Jewish. At some point the family had hidden this fact and become “Northern Baptists” as a way to fit into American culture.

You can imagine my surprise at 14 years-old to learn this story. No one had ever spoken a word about this to me or anyone else. My grandfather said nothing else about the subject. My mother would not even comment on the matter until she was near death just this past year when she finally admitted the truth. Somewhere along the way she had taken the bag of yarmulkes and hidden or destroyed them. I’ve never seen them since about 1970.

When the 1967 Arab-Israeli six-day war began I wanted to go fight for Israel. I began to read everything I could about the history of the Jewish people. I wanted to make up for lost time.

While going to school at the University of Florida some years later I got a part-time job working for a disabled woman. She was writing a book on the many forms of genocide and one day she had me go to the library and copy a page from a book. This particular page was a table called “The Caloric Reduction Intake Schedule,” one of Hitler’s occupation Army documents from the Warsaw, Poland Jewish ghetto. Hitler had a plan to reduce the amount of food that the Jews inside the ghetto would eat over a period of time knowing it would cause their premature death. Another form of genocide. I was stunned as I copied the page. Pure evil it was.

In the 1990′s, while coordinating the Florida Coalition for Peace & Justice, at that time based in Orlando, I got a phone call from the Jewish Federation Board of Directors asking me to come to their next meeting. I had no clue what they wanted. When I arrived they had me stand at a podium in front of about a dozen board members sitting behind the dais. The chairman began to yell at me telling me that the federation would never donate to the Florida Coalition again because I ran an article in the last edition of our newsletter, Just Peace, that was sympathetic to the cause of the Palestinian people. I let him rave on and didn’t say a word until he was finished. Then I calmly told him that in fact the Jewish Federation had never given the Florida Coalition a single penny and that we had always furnished the newsletter to them as a courtesy. I also told him that many of our members across the state wanted peace in the Middle East and were committed to fair treatment and justice for the Palestinian people and that position was not going to change. At that point I was escorted out of the room to shouts from the chair.

As I look at the news I see that 370 Palestinians have been killed during the last few days of Israeli bombing, unknown hundreds have been wounded. I also heard that six Israeli citizens have been killed by rockets fired by Palestinians.

I also see that recent Green Party presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney is aboard the 60-foot, pleasure boat called Dignity that was rammed earlier today by Israeli naval vessels. The Dignity was attempting to bring medical volunteers and supplies to Gaza. Those on the boat included the crew and 16 passengers — physicians from Britain, Germany and Cyprus and human rights activists. The Dignity was severely damaged in the attack.

“I would call it ramming. Let’s just call it as it is,” McKinney told CNN. “Our boat was rammed three times, twice in the front and one on the side. Our mission was a peaceful mission to deliver medical supplies and our mission was thwarted by the Israelis — the aggressiveness of the Israeli military,” she said.

Throughout my years as a peace activist there has always been pressure excerpted on our movement to stay away from the Palestinian issue. While many Jewish Americans in the peace movement show great courage and work to oppose Israel’s heavy-hand against the Palestinians, many influential Jewish citizens make it their job to block any real organizing to criticize Israel and to stop efforts by the peace movement to show any solidarity with the Palestinian people or to cut U.S. military aid to Israel.

I have come to believe that Israel’s Palestinian policy is genocidal. When we see Israel blocking food and medical shipments into Gaza it is clear that they know this will lead to the premature deaths of many people who live there. The constant state of war on the Palestinian people is an attempt to destroy their culture and shorten the life spans of the people. When I see the pain and suffering in the eyes of the Palestinian people I see the American Indians. Gaza is an Indian reservation. The Indians had bows and arrows to stand up against the U.S. cavalry’s cannons and repeating rifles. The people in Gaza fire wayward rockets and Israel uses state-of-the-art U.S. military high-tech weapons systems. It’s David vs Goliath.

The Israeli military has created a two-mile war cordon along the Gaza border and their commanders say that a ground force invasion is now a distinct possibility. The international media reports their access to Gaza is being closed off.

We know Bush will remain silent. In her CNN interview Cynthia McKinney calls on Obama to make a statement. But he is playing golf and body surfing in Hawaii and will likely also remain silent. Most American people remain silent as well because they know that to speak out on behalf of the Palestinian people means they will often be accused of being anti-Semitic.

But it is not anti-Semitic to say Israel has lost its soul. It is not wrong to stand up and say stop the genocide of the Palestinian people.