Bill Clinton, Ron Burkle and the McDonald's scandal
EXCERPT:
Another business caught up ostensibly in the bigger scandal of which the game prizes are a tiny part, is Yucaipa Companies. Yucaipa owns 70 per cent of Golden State foods, one of McDonald's Hamburgers largest food suppliers. Yucaipa also is an investor in Simon Worldwide, Inc.
An interesting sidelight is how Rev. Jesse Jackson apparently pressured Yucaipa to reward Jesse's mistress, Karin Stanford, by paying her as a purported "consultant", ten thousand dollars per month. {See, Chicago Sun-Times, 1/26/2001.]
Some of the illicit dealings of Simon Marketing have come out in a suit where they and Coca-Cola are named defendants. The suit, pending in Chicago's federal courts also involved a fraud upon the court by Judge Blanche Manning hearing the case. The attorneys for Simon Marketing's liability carrier, referring to themselves as "attorneys for Simon Marketing", had originally stated in Court in the lawsuit, that they did not know of Cyrk. Later, the same lawyers, exposing their false prior statements, said they DID know of Cyrk.
Ohio supreme court declines to hear appeal of former GOP funraiser conviceted in coin-Beanie Babies scandal
EXCERPT:
Prosecutors said Noe used state money to pay off business loans and to fund a lavish lifestyle, including the renovation of his Florida Keys home. Noe was allotted $50 million to invest for the state injured worker insurance fund, which he put into such questionable items as rare coins, Beanie babies and other collectibles.
Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/economy/ohio-supreme-court-declines-to-hear-appeal-of-former-gop-fundraiser-convicted-in-coin-scandal-95976474.html#ixzz0s630eDiR
The Billary's connection to the Vatican
EXCERPT:
More importantly, Doug introduced him to Bill Clinton and his close personal friends, including supermarket magnate and billionaire Ron Burkle. In April 2005, Ron formed a joint venture with Raffaello, called Follieri/Yucaipa Investments, to develop unused Catholic properties
Ron Burkle breaks up with the Billarys
EXCERPT:
First of all, he was the good guy in the relationship.
"When Clinton left the Presidency he had to make money, and there were certain limits on how he could do it," says Burkle. "In that regard, having him work for Yucaipa was the right thing to do. In other ways, it was the dumbest thing I ever did."
Nice guys always finish last! Burkle knows that now.
And the idea that he might be the one who embarrassed Clinton? Well. That's pretty rich.
"If someone wanted to embarrass [Clinton], I got thrown in it, too," says Burkle. "I got all that for free."
By the way, in the end, it was his decision, not Clinton's, to end the relationship.
Why? Because he was bored. "Burkle says he and Clinton don't see much of each other anymore and explains the rupture this way: "Before, every trip with him seemed like a once in a lifetime opportunity. Now I have so many things to do."
More on Burkle-Clinton
EXCERPT:
Source Interlink was backed by billionaire Ron Burkle through The Yucaipa Companies, a Los Angeles-based private investment firm specializing in acquiring and operating companies in the retail, distribution, and logistics areas. A former grocery store bag boy, Burkle is a prominent Democratic party activist and fundraiser. He is a close friend of former President Bill Clinton, and investments in Yucaipa made by Clinton and his wife Senator Hillary Clinton have generated millions of dollars in income for them.
Ron Burkle and Bill Clinton's partnership ends
EXCERPT:
Bill Clinton Leaves Yucaipa Business Partnerships .ArticleComments (15)more in
Former President Bill Clinton has ended his high-profile business connection to his friend Ronald Burkle's Yucaipa Cos. by walking away from a final payment that was once estimated at up to $20 million.
Ron Burkle
EXCERPT:
[edit] Golden State Foods
Burkle sold his majority stake in supplier Golden State Foods to St. Louis-based Wetterau Associates for about $110 million. Golden State, one of McDonald's biggest suppliers, operates 11 distribution centers in the United States and abroad and two U.S. processing plants.[13]
[edit] Follieri and the Vati-Con scandal
On April 30, 2008, a Delaware judge dismissed Burkle's lawsuit against Raffaello Follieri, ex-boyfriend of actress Anne Hathaway, after he agreed to repay Burkle more than $1.3 million Burkle loaned him, a small amount of the money Burkle lost in the Vati-Con Scandal.[14]
Pittsburgh Penguins
He is part owner of the Pittsburgh Penguins[11] National Hockey League team, although his current share is unknown. He co-owns the franchise with Penguins legend Mario Lemieux. The Penguins won the Stanley Cup in 2009.
[edit] Wild Oats
Wild Oats Markets was an operator of natural foods stores and farmers' markets in North America. Burkle started buying Wild Oats stock in February 2005. By the time Whole Foods Market, a natural-foods grocer, agreed to pay $565 million for Wild Oats, Burkle was the largest shareholder of Wild Oats.[12]
Raphael De Niro Real Estate connecting the dots
EXCERPT:
But there's trouble brewing below Canal Street. "He has all of the good listings because of his last name!" fumes a competitor. "His father does mailings for him and gives lists of his friends' addresses. If your father is famous, you make it really quick in this business. "
Despite what his detractors say, Raphael, 32, told real estate magazine The Real Deal in 2006: "My name is a hot commodity. [But] I only use it when I can put my integrity behind it 110 percent."
Going above and beyond means assembling a client list that boasts Matt Damon, Naomi Campbell and model Carmen Kass. Recently, he's taken both Jessica Alba and Victoria's Secret mannequin Adriana Lima to check out massive apartments at the Fairchild building in Tribeca.
Following PDF is 16 pages....... (I've only put an excerpt)
Beanie Babies Fraud
EXCERPT:
PODGORPPREVISED.DOC 6/18/2001 1:04 PM
1031
ESSAYS
DO WE NEED A “BEANIE BABY”* FRAUD
STATUTE?
ELLEN S. PODGOR**
INTRODUCTION
This is not an Essay calling for the protection of “Peanuts,” the
royal blue elephant.1 Nor is this Essay concerned with the confusion
surrounding “Iggy,” the Iguana or “Rainbow,” the Chameleon.2 This
Essay does not even reflect on the ramifications of Ty, Inc.’s decision
to retire Beanie Babies on December 31, 1999,3 followed by its later
decision to continue production.4 Rather, the focus of this Essay is on
whether Congress needs to pass a specific statute to criminalize
Beanie Baby fraud.
* “Beanie Babies” are produced by Ty, Inc.
** Professor of Law, Georgia State University College of Law. Visiting Scholar, Yale
Law School, Fall 1998. B.S., 1973, Syracuse University; J.D., 1976, Indiana University
School of Law at Indianapolis; M.B.A., 1987, University of Chicago; LL.M., 1989, Temple
University School of Law. The author thanks Professor Neil Kinkopf for his research
suggestions and Professor Peter Henning for his comments on a draft of this Essay.
1. Ty, Inc., produced two different “Peanut” Beanie Babies. One is a light blue
elephant that was retired on May 1, 1998, and the other is a royal blue elephant that
was retired on October 2, 1995.
2. “Iggy” and “Rainbow’s” tags were inadvertently reversed in January, 1998. See
LES & SUE FOX, THE BEANIE BABY HANDBOOK 66 (1998).
3. See Paula Lyon & Natalie Evans, Ty to Retire Beanie Babies at Year End, CRAIN’S
CHI. BUS., Sept. 6, 1999, at 106 (reporting that Ty, Inc., announced the retirement of
all Beanie Babies as of Dec. 31, 1999); see also Claudia H. Deutsch, Ty Puts Beanie
Babies’ Fate Into the Hands of Consumers, N.Y. TIMES, Dec. 25, 1999, at B11 (discussing
Ty, Inc.’s announcement to “let the public vote on whether it should keep producing
new Beanie Babies in the new millennium”).
4. See Renee Strovsky, Beanie Babies Show Up Again, ST. LOUIS DISPATCH, May 1,
2000, at D1 (discussing Ty’s decision to continue producing Beanie Babies following
an online vote of the public supporting continued production of Beanie Babies).
PODGORPPREVISED.DOC 6/18/2001 1:04 PM
1032 AMERICAN UNIVERSITY LAW REVIEW [Vol. 49:1031
In the past, I have argued in favor of specific fraud statutes.5 The
widespread use of generic fraud statutes, such as mail fraud6 and
conspiracy to defraud,7 have allowed prosecutorial discretion to
exceed what historically would have been considered part of the
executive function.8 Prosecutors have attempted to legislate against
new forms of criminality by prosecuting illegal activity under generic
fraud statutes.9 I considered the passage of the computer fraud
statute,10 the health care fraud statute,11 and the bank fraud statute12
to be legislative advancements because these statutes offered specific
legislative definitions of what would constitute criminal conduct.13
But in calling for specific statutes, it is equally important to realize
that enacting a multitude of specific statutes to address every new
instance of fraud is absurd. Although the constant enactment of new
federal statutes may foster political careers by demonstrating a tough
stand on crime,14 adding new volumes to the criminal code for
political purposes serves little benefit in the development of criminal
law.15 The excessive number of federal statutes is well documented
and is detrimental to the development of an efficient legal process.16
Discerning the appropriate line in legislative drafting between the
5. See Ellen S. Podgor, Criminal Fraud, 48 AM. U. L. REV. 729, 735 (1999)
(advocating that “specific fraud statutes . . . offer tighter restraints which conform
more closely with the initial legislative purpose of the statute.”).
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Linda Norgrove
Sunday, June 27, 2010
To Bill Clinton from ME: "You're off your game Mr. President if you think 'WE' aren't watching." You being at the world cup during our Gulf Oil spill reminds me of BP's Tony Hayward. Enough of you playing both ends against the middle.
Katie Couric's Notebook: World Cup Fever
EXCERPT:
British soccer manager Bill Shankly once said that his sport isn't a matter of life or death. It's more important.
Bill tips a beer at World Cup
EXCERPT:
Bill Clinton is having a great time at the World Cup. The former president has extended his stay in South Africa so he can see the U.S. play Ghana at the soccer tournament. Clinton even says that he lost his voice after screaming during the Americans' epic win on Wednesday. How did he celebrate the stunning victory? By drinking with the team.
The former commander-in-chief clasped a Budweiser with shirtless American back Carlos Bocanegra. The picture originally appeared on Bocanegra's Facebook page. Scroll down for the photo.
John McCain and his Budweiser connection
EXCERPT:
Mafia Ties It's well known that John McCain is rich, because of his marriage to Cindy Hensley McCain, who inherited the biggest Budweiser distributorship in Arizona, which earns $300 million a year, from her father Jim.
What's less well known is the source of that money. Jim Hensley and his brother Eugene worked for Kemper Marley, Sr., who had cornered the Arizona liquor market after Prohibition was lifted, and assigned the Budweiser distributorship to Jim Hensley. Phoenix police named (but never charged) Marley as the man who ordered the infamous assassination of Phoenix reporter Don Bolles in 1976. The man convicted of the murder -- John Adamson -- testified that Marley ordered the hit after a Bolles story forced him to resign from the state racing commission. Bolles was investigating mob ties in Arizona -- and had written about Marley's political and business dealings -- until 6 sticks of dynamite exploded under his car, killing him. Marley sued a coalition of reporters -- formed in response to Bolles' assassination -- for libel after they reported his ties to the mob and to Bolle's murder. The jury ruled that Marley was NOT libeled.
Hensley (Cindy McCain's father) and his brother were convicted in 1948 for falsifying records to conceal illegal sales of thousands of cases of liquor at Marley's firm. Five years later, Jim Hensley was tried for falsifying tax records at Marley's firm, but -- defended by William Rehnquist, who was later Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court -- he was acquitted.
World Cup Sponsors
Clinton donors against Israel
EXCERPT:
Thursday, March 2, 2006 12:10 p.m. EST
Dubai's 'Boycott Israel' Sheik Funded Bill Clinton
Former President Bill Clinton has accepted at least $1.6 million from the United Arab Emirates, including $300,000 from a Dubai sheik who adamantly backs the country's controversial boycott of Israel.
On Jan. 17, 2002, Mr. Clinton was paid $300,000 to address the Science, Technology and Arts Royal Summit in Dubai at the invitation of Crown Prince and U.A.E. Defense Minister Sheik Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
Less than three months later, Sheik Mohammad urged the United Nations to approve the use of force against Israel to halt what he called the Jewish state's "butchery" of Palestinians, according to London's Financial Times.
Mick Jagger with Bill Clinton at World Cup
EXCERPT:
An amazing picture of a guy in a red jacket
The USA's 2-1 loss to Ghana in the Word Cup on Saturday may have been a soul-crushing heartbreaker that made the flag weep stars, but at least some people were having fun! Former President Bill Clinton and wizened god of rock Mick Jagger were at the match, A-listing in an all-time celebrity box of competing generational icons. Also present: Katie Couric's legs, and Terry McAuliffe 's weirdly submissive hair. Herewith, a tour of the debauchery.
Seventeen Little Children - Karl Lang (Waco) youtube
Bill Clinton agrees with Bush about the New World Order youtube
Is Clinton for or against Israel?
EXCERPT:
He significantly deepened US involvement in Israel, which led to an increase in Israel’s dependence on America. He bolstered the status of the CIA – in addition to all of its previous activities including providing PLO members with weapons training. And finally, he made promises to Netanyahu and Barak which he ultimately failed to keep.
Food and depopulation international takeover by the UN
EXCERPT:
Cassandra Anderson
Prison Planet.com
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Part 3 of 4
Most people think that the United Nations is a noble enterprise and they don’t understand the history and malignant character of the UN.
Christina Aguilera, Drew Barrymore and Sean Penn are probably unaware, even though they are UN Ambassadors to the World Food Program (WFP), that the intent of the UN is to implement one world government (see videos below). The UN WFP, which spreads GMOs in poor countries, is just one tool used for advancing the goals of Agenda 21, the overarching blueprint for depopulation and total control.
Katie Couric's Notebook: World Cup Fever
EXCERPT:
British soccer manager Bill Shankly once said that his sport isn't a matter of life or death. It's more important.
Bill tips a beer at World Cup
EXCERPT:
Bill Clinton is having a great time at the World Cup. The former president has extended his stay in South Africa so he can see the U.S. play Ghana at the soccer tournament. Clinton even says that he lost his voice after screaming during the Americans' epic win on Wednesday. How did he celebrate the stunning victory? By drinking with the team.
The former commander-in-chief clasped a Budweiser with shirtless American back Carlos Bocanegra. The picture originally appeared on Bocanegra's Facebook page. Scroll down for the photo.
John McCain and his Budweiser connection
EXCERPT:
Mafia Ties It's well known that John McCain is rich, because of his marriage to Cindy Hensley McCain, who inherited the biggest Budweiser distributorship in Arizona, which earns $300 million a year, from her father Jim.
What's less well known is the source of that money. Jim Hensley and his brother Eugene worked for Kemper Marley, Sr., who had cornered the Arizona liquor market after Prohibition was lifted, and assigned the Budweiser distributorship to Jim Hensley. Phoenix police named (but never charged) Marley as the man who ordered the infamous assassination of Phoenix reporter Don Bolles in 1976. The man convicted of the murder -- John Adamson -- testified that Marley ordered the hit after a Bolles story forced him to resign from the state racing commission. Bolles was investigating mob ties in Arizona -- and had written about Marley's political and business dealings -- until 6 sticks of dynamite exploded under his car, killing him. Marley sued a coalition of reporters -- formed in response to Bolles' assassination -- for libel after they reported his ties to the mob and to Bolle's murder. The jury ruled that Marley was NOT libeled.
Hensley (Cindy McCain's father) and his brother were convicted in 1948 for falsifying records to conceal illegal sales of thousands of cases of liquor at Marley's firm. Five years later, Jim Hensley was tried for falsifying tax records at Marley's firm, but -- defended by William Rehnquist, who was later Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court -- he was acquitted.
World Cup Sponsors
Clinton donors against Israel
EXCERPT:
Thursday, March 2, 2006 12:10 p.m. EST
Dubai's 'Boycott Israel' Sheik Funded Bill Clinton
Former President Bill Clinton has accepted at least $1.6 million from the United Arab Emirates, including $300,000 from a Dubai sheik who adamantly backs the country's controversial boycott of Israel.
On Jan. 17, 2002, Mr. Clinton was paid $300,000 to address the Science, Technology and Arts Royal Summit in Dubai at the invitation of Crown Prince and U.A.E. Defense Minister Sheik Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
Less than three months later, Sheik Mohammad urged the United Nations to approve the use of force against Israel to halt what he called the Jewish state's "butchery" of Palestinians, according to London's Financial Times.
Mick Jagger with Bill Clinton at World Cup
EXCERPT:
An amazing picture of a guy in a red jacket
The USA's 2-1 loss to Ghana in the Word Cup on Saturday may have been a soul-crushing heartbreaker that made the flag weep stars, but at least some people were having fun! Former President Bill Clinton and wizened god of rock Mick Jagger were at the match, A-listing in an all-time celebrity box of competing generational icons. Also present: Katie Couric's legs, and Terry McAuliffe 's weirdly submissive hair. Herewith, a tour of the debauchery.
Seventeen Little Children - Karl Lang (Waco) youtube
Bill Clinton agrees with Bush about the New World Order youtube
Is Clinton for or against Israel?
EXCERPT:
He significantly deepened US involvement in Israel, which led to an increase in Israel’s dependence on America. He bolstered the status of the CIA – in addition to all of its previous activities including providing PLO members with weapons training. And finally, he made promises to Netanyahu and Barak which he ultimately failed to keep.
Food and depopulation international takeover by the UN
EXCERPT:
Cassandra Anderson
Prison Planet.com
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Part 3 of 4
Most people think that the United Nations is a noble enterprise and they don’t understand the history and malignant character of the UN.
Christina Aguilera, Drew Barrymore and Sean Penn are probably unaware, even though they are UN Ambassadors to the World Food Program (WFP), that the intent of the UN is to implement one world government (see videos below). The UN WFP, which spreads GMOs in poor countries, is just one tool used for advancing the goals of Agenda 21, the overarching blueprint for depopulation and total control.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
The US has discovered nearly 1$ trillion in untapped minerals in Afghanistan youtube
Afghanistan
Published: June 13, 2010
EXCERPT:
WASHINGTON — The United States has discovered nearly $1 trillion in untapped mineral deposits in Afghanistan, far beyond any previously known reserves and enough to fundamentally alter the Afghan economy and perhaps the Afghan war itself, according to senior American government officials.
Queen Beatrix and Afghanistan
Politics | 22.02.2010
New elections loom as Queen Beatrix meets Dutch political leaders
Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Balkenende, right, wouldn't say anything after he'd met Queen BeatrixQueen Beatrix of the Netherlands has met with leading politicians to decide whether to accept the government's weekend resignation. The monarch has the power to call early elections or appoint an interim government.
The queen met Monday with outgoing Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, who heads the Christian Democratic Party, and the leaders of the Labor Party and the smaller Christian Union, as well as the presidents of the two chambers of parliament.
Queen Beatrix's decision about whether to accept Balkenende's resignation and appoint an interim government is expected within the next few days.
The government collapsed on Saturday after 16 hours of tough negotiations when the Labor Party refused to back fellow coalition members in supporting the extension of the Dutch military presence in Afghanistan.
A defeat for both parties
“We've experienced this failure both individually and collectively as a defeat. This doesn't change anything about the facts or the conclusions we have reached,” Balkenende said.
The outgoing prime minister said he expected the Netherlands to withdraw its 2,000 soldiers from Afghanistan in August as scheduled, but he also voiced concern about the impact of the withdrawal on his country's international standing.
"The moment the Netherlands says as sole and first country we will no longer have activities at the end of 2010, it will raise questions in other countries and this really pains me," he said.
NATO urges Dutch to reconsider
In an initial reaction to the collapse of the ruling coalition, NATO on Saturday renewed its call for Dutch troops to remain in Afghanistan for an additional 12 months in a reduced capacity.
Earlier this month, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen issued a formal request for the Netherlands to assume a new training role and postpone withdrawing its troops. This new military mission would focus on the provincial reconstruction team in Uruzgan, with greater emphasis on training.
The Netherlands' military mission in Afghanistan began in August 2006, and has already been extended by two years. Twenty-one Dutch soldiers have lost their lives in Afghanistan.
svs/db/dpa/AFP
Editor: Michael Lawton
Afghanistan
Published: June 13, 2010
EXCERPT:
WASHINGTON — The United States has discovered nearly $1 trillion in untapped mineral deposits in Afghanistan, far beyond any previously known reserves and enough to fundamentally alter the Afghan economy and perhaps the Afghan war itself, according to senior American government officials.
Queen Beatrix and Afghanistan
Politics | 22.02.2010
New elections loom as Queen Beatrix meets Dutch political leaders
Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Balkenende, right, wouldn't say anything after he'd met Queen BeatrixQueen Beatrix of the Netherlands has met with leading politicians to decide whether to accept the government's weekend resignation. The monarch has the power to call early elections or appoint an interim government.
The queen met Monday with outgoing Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, who heads the Christian Democratic Party, and the leaders of the Labor Party and the smaller Christian Union, as well as the presidents of the two chambers of parliament.
Queen Beatrix's decision about whether to accept Balkenende's resignation and appoint an interim government is expected within the next few days.
The government collapsed on Saturday after 16 hours of tough negotiations when the Labor Party refused to back fellow coalition members in supporting the extension of the Dutch military presence in Afghanistan.
A defeat for both parties
“We've experienced this failure both individually and collectively as a defeat. This doesn't change anything about the facts or the conclusions we have reached,” Balkenende said.
The outgoing prime minister said he expected the Netherlands to withdraw its 2,000 soldiers from Afghanistan in August as scheduled, but he also voiced concern about the impact of the withdrawal on his country's international standing.
"The moment the Netherlands says as sole and first country we will no longer have activities at the end of 2010, it will raise questions in other countries and this really pains me," he said.
NATO urges Dutch to reconsider
In an initial reaction to the collapse of the ruling coalition, NATO on Saturday renewed its call for Dutch troops to remain in Afghanistan for an additional 12 months in a reduced capacity.
Earlier this month, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen issued a formal request for the Netherlands to assume a new training role and postpone withdrawing its troops. This new military mission would focus on the provincial reconstruction team in Uruzgan, with greater emphasis on training.
The Netherlands' military mission in Afghanistan began in August 2006, and has already been extended by two years. Twenty-one Dutch soldiers have lost their lives in Afghanistan.
svs/db/dpa/AFP
Editor: Michael Lawton
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Japan and WWII Video
PEARL HARBOR
MOTHER OF ALL CONSPIRACIES
BBC Documentary: Sacrifice at Pearl Harbor
Male white ego and Japan
Militarism and WW2 (1912 - 1945)
During the era of the weak emperor Taisho (1912-26), the political power shifted from the oligarchic clique (genro) to the parliament and the democratic parties.
In the First World War, Japan joined the Allied powers, but played only a minor role in fighting German colonial forces in East Asia. At the following Paris Peace Conference of 1919, Japan's proposal of amending a "racial equality clause" to the covenant of the League of Nations was rejected by the United States, Britain and Australia. Arrogance and racial discrimination towards the Japanese had plagued Japanese-Western relations since the forced opening of the country in the 1800s, and were again a major factor for the deterioration of relations in the decades preceeding World War 2. In 1924, for example, the US Congress passed the Exclusion Act that prohibited further immigration from Japan.
After WW1, Japan's economical situation worsened. The Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 and the world wide depression of 1929 intensified the crisis.
During the 1930s, the military established almost complete control over the government. Many political enemies were assassinated, and communists persecuted. Indoctrination and censorship in education and media were further intensified. Navy and army officers soon occupied most of the important offices, including the one of the prime minister.
Already earlier, Japan followed the example of Western nations and forced China into unequal economical and political treaties. Furthermore, Japan's influence over Manchuria had been steadily growing since the end of the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-05. When the Chinese Nationalists began to seriously challenge Japan's position in Manchuria in 1931, the Kwantung Army (Japanese armed forces in Manchuria) occupied Manchuria. In the following year, "Manchukuo" was declared an independent state, controlled by the Kwantung Army through a puppet government. In the same year, the Japanese air force bombarded Shanghai in order to protect Japanese residents from anti Japanese movements.
In 1933, Japan withdrew from the League of Nations since she was heavily criticized for her actions in China.
In July 1937, the second Sino-Japanese War broke out. A small incident was soon made into a full scale war by the Kwantung army which acted rather independently from a more moderate government. The Japanese forces succeeded in occupying almost the whole coast of China and committed severe war atrocities on the Chinese population, especially during the fall of the capital Nanking. However, the Chinese government never surrendered completely, and the war continued on a lower scale until 1945.
In 1940, Japan occupied French Indochina (Vietnam) upon agreement with the French Vichy government, and joined the Axis powers Germany and Italy. These actions intensified Japan's conflict with the United States and Great Britain which reacted with an oil boycott. The resulting oil shortage and failures to solve the conflict diplomatically made Japan decide to capture the oil rich Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) and to start a war with the US and Great Britain.
In December 1941, Japan attacked the Allied powers at Pearl Harbour and several other points throughout the Pacific. Japan was able to expand her control over a large territory that expanded to the border of India in the West and New Guinea in the South within the following six months.
The turning point in the Pacific War was the battle of Midway in June 1942. From then on, the Allied forces slowly won back the territories occupied by Japan. In 1944, intensive air raids started over Japan. In spring 1945, US forces invaded Okinawa in one of the war's bloodiest battles.
On July 27, 1945, the Allied powers requested Japan in the Potsdam Declaration to surrender unconditionally, or destruction would continue. However, the military did not consider surrendering under such terms, partially even after US military forces dropped two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, and the Soviet Union entered the war against Japan on August 8.
On August 14, however, Emperor Showa finally decided to surrender unconditionally.
PEARL HARBOR
MOTHER OF ALL CONSPIRACIES
BBC Documentary: Sacrifice at Pearl Harbor
Male white ego and Japan
Militarism and WW2 (1912 - 1945)
During the era of the weak emperor Taisho (1912-26), the political power shifted from the oligarchic clique (genro) to the parliament and the democratic parties.
In the First World War, Japan joined the Allied powers, but played only a minor role in fighting German colonial forces in East Asia. At the following Paris Peace Conference of 1919, Japan's proposal of amending a "racial equality clause" to the covenant of the League of Nations was rejected by the United States, Britain and Australia. Arrogance and racial discrimination towards the Japanese had plagued Japanese-Western relations since the forced opening of the country in the 1800s, and were again a major factor for the deterioration of relations in the decades preceeding World War 2. In 1924, for example, the US Congress passed the Exclusion Act that prohibited further immigration from Japan.
After WW1, Japan's economical situation worsened. The Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 and the world wide depression of 1929 intensified the crisis.
During the 1930s, the military established almost complete control over the government. Many political enemies were assassinated, and communists persecuted. Indoctrination and censorship in education and media were further intensified. Navy and army officers soon occupied most of the important offices, including the one of the prime minister.
Already earlier, Japan followed the example of Western nations and forced China into unequal economical and political treaties. Furthermore, Japan's influence over Manchuria had been steadily growing since the end of the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-05. When the Chinese Nationalists began to seriously challenge Japan's position in Manchuria in 1931, the Kwantung Army (Japanese armed forces in Manchuria) occupied Manchuria. In the following year, "Manchukuo" was declared an independent state, controlled by the Kwantung Army through a puppet government. In the same year, the Japanese air force bombarded Shanghai in order to protect Japanese residents from anti Japanese movements.
In 1933, Japan withdrew from the League of Nations since she was heavily criticized for her actions in China.
In July 1937, the second Sino-Japanese War broke out. A small incident was soon made into a full scale war by the Kwantung army which acted rather independently from a more moderate government. The Japanese forces succeeded in occupying almost the whole coast of China and committed severe war atrocities on the Chinese population, especially during the fall of the capital Nanking. However, the Chinese government never surrendered completely, and the war continued on a lower scale until 1945.
In 1940, Japan occupied French Indochina (Vietnam) upon agreement with the French Vichy government, and joined the Axis powers Germany and Italy. These actions intensified Japan's conflict with the United States and Great Britain which reacted with an oil boycott. The resulting oil shortage and failures to solve the conflict diplomatically made Japan decide to capture the oil rich Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) and to start a war with the US and Great Britain.
In December 1941, Japan attacked the Allied powers at Pearl Harbour and several other points throughout the Pacific. Japan was able to expand her control over a large territory that expanded to the border of India in the West and New Guinea in the South within the following six months.
The turning point in the Pacific War was the battle of Midway in June 1942. From then on, the Allied forces slowly won back the territories occupied by Japan. In 1944, intensive air raids started over Japan. In spring 1945, US forces invaded Okinawa in one of the war's bloodiest battles.
On July 27, 1945, the Allied powers requested Japan in the Potsdam Declaration to surrender unconditionally, or destruction would continue. However, the military did not consider surrendering under such terms, partially even after US military forces dropped two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, and the Soviet Union entered the war against Japan on August 8.
On August 14, however, Emperor Showa finally decided to surrender unconditionally.
Male white ego and Japan
Militarism and WW2 (1912 - 1945)
During the era of the weak emperor Taisho (1912-26), the political power shifted from the oligarchic clique (genro) to the parliament and the democratic parties.
In the First World War, Japan joined the Allied powers, but played only a minor role in fighting German colonial forces in East Asia. At the following Paris Peace Conference of 1919, Japan's proposal of amending a "racial equality clause" to the covenant of the League of Nations was rejected by the United States, Britain and Australia. Arrogance and racial discrimination towards the Japanese had plagued Japanese-Western relations since the forced opening of the country in the 1800s, and were again a major factor for the deterioration of relations in the decades preceeding World War 2. In 1924, for example, the US Congress passed the Exclusion Act that prohibited further immigration from Japan.
After WW1, Japan's economical situation worsened. The Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 and the world wide depression of 1929 intensified the crisis.
During the 1930s, the military established almost complete control over the government. Many political enemies were assassinated, and communists persecuted. Indoctrination and censorship in education and media were further intensified. Navy and army officers soon occupied most of the important offices, including the one of the prime minister.
Already earlier, Japan followed the example of Western nations and forced China into unequal economical and political treaties. Furthermore, Japan's influence over Manchuria had been steadily growing since the end of the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-05. When the Chinese Nationalists began to seriously challenge Japan's position in Manchuria in 1931, the Kwantung Army (Japanese armed forces in Manchuria) occupied Manchuria. In the following year, "Manchukuo" was declared an independent state, controlled by the Kwantung Army through a puppet government. In the same year, the Japanese air force bombarded Shanghai in order to protect Japanese residents from anti Japanese movements.
In 1933, Japan withdrew from the League of Nations since she was heavily criticized for her actions in China.
In July 1937, the second Sino-Japanese War broke out. A small incident was soon made into a full scale war by the Kwantung army which acted rather independently from a more moderate government. The Japanese forces succeeded in occupying almost the whole coast of China and committed severe war atrocities on the Chinese population, especially during the fall of the capital Nanking. However, the Chinese government never surrendered completely, and the war continued on a lower scale until 1945.
In 1940, Japan occupied French Indochina (Vietnam) upon agreement with the French Vichy government, and joined the Axis powers Germany and Italy. These actions intensified Japan's conflict with the United States and Great Britain which reacted with an oil boycott. The resulting oil shortage and failures to solve the conflict diplomatically made Japan decide to capture the oil rich Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) and to start a war with the US and Great Britain.
In December 1941, Japan attacked the Allied powers at Pearl Harbour and several other points throughout the Pacific. Japan was able to expand her control over a large territory that expanded to the border of India in the West and New Guinea in the South within the following six months.
The turning point in the Pacific War was the battle of Midway in June 1942. From then on, the Allied forces slowly won back the territories occupied by Japan. In 1944, intensive air raids started over Japan. In spring 1945, US forces invaded Okinawa in one of the war's bloodiest battles.
On July 27, 1945, the Allied powers requested Japan in the Potsdam Declaration to surrender unconditionally, or destruction would continue. However, the military did not consider surrendering under such terms, partially even after US military forces dropped two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, and the Soviet Union entered the war against Japan on August 8.
On August 14, however, Emperor Showa finally decided to surrender unconditionally.
Militarism and WW2 (1912 - 1945)
During the era of the weak emperor Taisho (1912-26), the political power shifted from the oligarchic clique (genro) to the parliament and the democratic parties.
In the First World War, Japan joined the Allied powers, but played only a minor role in fighting German colonial forces in East Asia. At the following Paris Peace Conference of 1919, Japan's proposal of amending a "racial equality clause" to the covenant of the League of Nations was rejected by the United States, Britain and Australia. Arrogance and racial discrimination towards the Japanese had plagued Japanese-Western relations since the forced opening of the country in the 1800s, and were again a major factor for the deterioration of relations in the decades preceeding World War 2. In 1924, for example, the US Congress passed the Exclusion Act that prohibited further immigration from Japan.
After WW1, Japan's economical situation worsened. The Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 and the world wide depression of 1929 intensified the crisis.
During the 1930s, the military established almost complete control over the government. Many political enemies were assassinated, and communists persecuted. Indoctrination and censorship in education and media were further intensified. Navy and army officers soon occupied most of the important offices, including the one of the prime minister.
Already earlier, Japan followed the example of Western nations and forced China into unequal economical and political treaties. Furthermore, Japan's influence over Manchuria had been steadily growing since the end of the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-05. When the Chinese Nationalists began to seriously challenge Japan's position in Manchuria in 1931, the Kwantung Army (Japanese armed forces in Manchuria) occupied Manchuria. In the following year, "Manchukuo" was declared an independent state, controlled by the Kwantung Army through a puppet government. In the same year, the Japanese air force bombarded Shanghai in order to protect Japanese residents from anti Japanese movements.
In 1933, Japan withdrew from the League of Nations since she was heavily criticized for her actions in China.
In July 1937, the second Sino-Japanese War broke out. A small incident was soon made into a full scale war by the Kwantung army which acted rather independently from a more moderate government. The Japanese forces succeeded in occupying almost the whole coast of China and committed severe war atrocities on the Chinese population, especially during the fall of the capital Nanking. However, the Chinese government never surrendered completely, and the war continued on a lower scale until 1945.
In 1940, Japan occupied French Indochina (Vietnam) upon agreement with the French Vichy government, and joined the Axis powers Germany and Italy. These actions intensified Japan's conflict with the United States and Great Britain which reacted with an oil boycott. The resulting oil shortage and failures to solve the conflict diplomatically made Japan decide to capture the oil rich Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) and to start a war with the US and Great Britain.
In December 1941, Japan attacked the Allied powers at Pearl Harbour and several other points throughout the Pacific. Japan was able to expand her control over a large territory that expanded to the border of India in the West and New Guinea in the South within the following six months.
The turning point in the Pacific War was the battle of Midway in June 1942. From then on, the Allied forces slowly won back the territories occupied by Japan. In 1944, intensive air raids started over Japan. In spring 1945, US forces invaded Okinawa in one of the war's bloodiest battles.
On July 27, 1945, the Allied powers requested Japan in the Potsdam Declaration to surrender unconditionally, or destruction would continue. However, the military did not consider surrendering under such terms, partially even after US military forces dropped two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, and the Soviet Union entered the war against Japan on August 8.
On August 14, however, Emperor Showa finally decided to surrender unconditionally.
Bill Clinton to blame for BP leak? Video
Dick Morris argues regulations under former president forced oil companies to drill far offshore, deep underwater
Dick Morris Reno threatened Clinton w/Waco Revelation. Video
Dick Morris turns on the Billarys with a vengence
EXCERPT:
Congress should kill Clinton's pension and expense allowance after he leaves office, since the Senate is unlikely to convict him. Oh, and a $4.5 million fine might also be nice.
A "White House secret police" is trying to "dig up dirt," "viciously smear" and "annihilate those who get in the president's way," all with "a wink from the first couple."
Several House investigators are "physically afraid of retaliation" by the administration, with one telling him: "Don't you know the list of the 25 people who have died in mysterious circumstances in connection with this investigation?"
Dick Morris
EXCERPT:
More recently, Morris has emerged as a harsh critic of the Clintons and has written several books that criticize them, including Rewriting History, a rebuttal to Senator Hillary Clinton's Living History. Morris said that he would leave the United States if Hillary Clinton were elected president in 2008.
Is there something going on between US and Britain and what has it to do w/the Billarys?
EXCERPT:
Britain was denied a speaking slot at a Haiti donors’ conference in New York yesterday after it failed to come up with any new aid money for the earthquake-ravaged nation.
The British Government was upstaged by its international partners as the United States and other European nations pledged billions of dollars towards Haiti’s $5.3 billion (£3.5 billion) reconstruction plan.
About 138 nations attended the conference at the UN headquarters, with the aim of helping the shattered Caribbean country to “build back better” after the 7.0-magnitude quake on January 12 that killed at least 220,000 people and left 1.3 million homeless.
The conference was chaired by René Préval, the Haitian President, alongside Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, and her husband, Bill, the former US President, now the UN special envoy for Haiti.
Is Dick Morris's life in jeopardy?
EXCERPT:
Dick Morris continues to allude to Bill Clinton’s guilt in staging the fed’s Branch Davidian attack that killed over 70 people, including more than 20 children at Waco, Texas. Morris goes even further putting blame on Clinton for the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.
Dick Morris’ life may be in jeopardy. He has cocked a weapon that may rewrite history forever, and we have heard the rumors about the people who have coincidentally died while going against the Clinton grain. If you remember right, there were many people who came forward from the Little Rock area who told of strange happenings once they got to close to the Clintons, including just living next door to a Clinton mistress in a Little Rock Apartment building. You have to wonder if Janet Reno or Dick Morris now in jeopardy.
The Clinton body count lists the following people connected to Bill Clinton who have mysteriously died before their time.
James McDougal - Clinton's convicted Whitewater partner died of an apparent heart attack, while in solitary confinement. He was a key witness in Ken Starr's investigation. Was James McDougal Murdered In A Federal Prison To Silence Him?
Ron Brown - Secretary of Commerce and former DNC Chairman. Reported to have died by impact in a plane crash. A pathologist close to the investigation reported that there was a hole in the top of Brown's
Dick Morris argues regulations under former president forced oil companies to drill far offshore, deep underwater
Dick Morris Reno threatened Clinton w/Waco Revelation. Video
Dick Morris turns on the Billarys with a vengence
EXCERPT:
Congress should kill Clinton's pension and expense allowance after he leaves office, since the Senate is unlikely to convict him. Oh, and a $4.5 million fine might also be nice.
A "White House secret police" is trying to "dig up dirt," "viciously smear" and "annihilate those who get in the president's way," all with "a wink from the first couple."
Several House investigators are "physically afraid of retaliation" by the administration, with one telling him: "Don't you know the list of the 25 people who have died in mysterious circumstances in connection with this investigation?"
Dick Morris
EXCERPT:
More recently, Morris has emerged as a harsh critic of the Clintons and has written several books that criticize them, including Rewriting History, a rebuttal to Senator Hillary Clinton's Living History. Morris said that he would leave the United States if Hillary Clinton were elected president in 2008.
Is there something going on between US and Britain and what has it to do w/the Billarys?
EXCERPT:
Britain was denied a speaking slot at a Haiti donors’ conference in New York yesterday after it failed to come up with any new aid money for the earthquake-ravaged nation.
The British Government was upstaged by its international partners as the United States and other European nations pledged billions of dollars towards Haiti’s $5.3 billion (£3.5 billion) reconstruction plan.
About 138 nations attended the conference at the UN headquarters, with the aim of helping the shattered Caribbean country to “build back better” after the 7.0-magnitude quake on January 12 that killed at least 220,000 people and left 1.3 million homeless.
The conference was chaired by René Préval, the Haitian President, alongside Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, and her husband, Bill, the former US President, now the UN special envoy for Haiti.
Is Dick Morris's life in jeopardy?
EXCERPT:
Dick Morris continues to allude to Bill Clinton’s guilt in staging the fed’s Branch Davidian attack that killed over 70 people, including more than 20 children at Waco, Texas. Morris goes even further putting blame on Clinton for the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.
Dick Morris’ life may be in jeopardy. He has cocked a weapon that may rewrite history forever, and we have heard the rumors about the people who have coincidentally died while going against the Clinton grain. If you remember right, there were many people who came forward from the Little Rock area who told of strange happenings once they got to close to the Clintons, including just living next door to a Clinton mistress in a Little Rock Apartment building. You have to wonder if Janet Reno or Dick Morris now in jeopardy.
The Clinton body count lists the following people connected to Bill Clinton who have mysteriously died before their time.
James McDougal - Clinton's convicted Whitewater partner died of an apparent heart attack, while in solitary confinement. He was a key witness in Ken Starr's investigation. Was James McDougal Murdered In A Federal Prison To Silence Him?
Ron Brown - Secretary of Commerce and former DNC Chairman. Reported to have died by impact in a plane crash. A pathologist close to the investigation reported that there was a hole in the top of Brown's
Was US defending China when they went to war with Japan
EXCERPT:
The war was the result of a decades-long Japanese imperialist policy aiming to dominate China politically and militarily, and to secure its vast raw material reserves and other economic resources, particularly food and labor.
Teaching and Learning China v Japan
EXCERPT:
The Chinese had no time to prepare. The Japanese attacked on July 7, 1937, falsifying an attack at the Marco Polo Bridge. Japanese troops and warships poured into China, attempting to occupy the five Western provinces and create another state like Manchukuo. They occupied Peking and Shanghai. In December 1937 they took Nanjing, the Kuomintang capital. Crowded with refugees, the Nationalists abandoned Nanjing to its fate at the hands of the Japanese. Over a period of six weeks, hundreds of thousands of Chinese were killed, women were raped, and the city sacked in what became known as the “Rape of Nanjing.”
Chiang and his followers relocated to Chunking. By 1939, as war started in Europe, China had been fighting a forgotten war for eight years. There were more than 2,000,000 Chinese casualties, widespread disease and famine. The Japanese declared China conquered, but the reality was that neither side could gain an upper hand. Chiang distrusted the Communists, and sent his army against them as often as he attacked the Japanese.
Paper Cranes
EXCERPT:
American war planning at the start of the war favored China as the major area of operations to establish bases that could bomb Japan. Early on, it became clear that due to the political differences and the widespread corruption, China would be a secondary theatre of operations to the island hopping campaigns of the central and south pacific.
On August 8, 1945, the Soviet Union attacked, occupying most of Manchuria by the armistice on August 14th. The Soviets regained the rights they had lost during the first Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05. The Soviets occupied Manchuria until 1949, when the Communists took control of the country.
Anyone may place paper cranes before the Children's Peace Monument in Peace Memorial Park. If you can't go to the park yourself you can send cranes to the following address:
Peace Promotion Division
The City of Hiroshima
1-5 Nakajima-cho Naka-ku
Hiroshima 730-0811 JAPAN
You are asked to include your name, the name of your organization (if you are participating as a school or any other group), your address (or the address of the organization), your E-mail address, the number of cranes, and any message you wish to submit. This way your information can be submitted to the Paper Crane database and your desire for peace will be recorded.
History of Amphetamines
2 EXCERPTS:
Amphetamines
History Of Amphetamines
First synthesized in 1887 Germany, amphetamine was for a long time, a drug in search of a disease. Nothing much was done with the drug, from its discovery (synthesis) until the late 1920's, when it was investigated as a cure or treatment against a variety of illnesses and maladies.
Crystal Methamphetamine, more potent and easier to make than amphetamine, was first synthesized in Japan, in 1919. The crystalline powder was soluble in water, making it a perfect candidate for injection. It is still legally produced in the U.S., and sold under the trade name Desoxyn.
During World War II, amphetamines were widely used to keep the fighting men going. During the Viet Nam war, American soldiers used more amphetamines than the rest of the world did during WWII.
JFKerry's family and opium trading
EXCERPT:
The Forbes family of China and Boston, of which US Senator John Forbes Kerry and John Murray Forbes are members, amassed a huge fortune in the China trade, initially trading North American furs and manufactured goods for tea and other goods from China.
Forbes also made a considerable fortune smuggling opium during the Opium Wars. The British wanted to keep a monopoly on supplying the Chinese with opium grown in India. However, during the Opium Wars the British ships were prevented from delivering their cargoes of opium and American ship owners such as Forbes, who could sail the final miles, made great amounts of money delivering the cargoes for the British. Forbes family members later engaged in other merchant banking and railroad investment projects around the world.
John Forbes Kerry family history
Francis Blackwell Forbes (New York, August 11, 1839 - Boston, Massachusetts, May 2, 1908) was a China merchant, opium trader and botanist, son of Rev. John Murray Forbes, Rector of St. Luke's, New York (New York, May 5, 1807 – Elizabeth, New Jersey, October 11, 1885) and wife (m. December 26, 1838) Anne Howell (– July 21, 1849).
He and other members of the Forbes family were active in the Opium trade and the Old China Trade during the Opium Wars, amassing a large fortune. Due to his family's deep involvement with the opium trade and opium, Forbes developed a lifelong interest in the poppy and other plants, and in Chinese botany in general.
He married in New York City, New York on May 8, 1867 Isabel Clark, born in New York, c. 1846, daughter of William Mather Clark, a banker (Litchfield, Connecticut, May 26, 1805 – Berkley House, 5th Avenue, New York City, New York, November 21, 1878) and wife Isabella Staples (New York, c. 1805 – living 1870). She died of coronary thrombosis, with underlying arteriosclerosis in Boston, Massachusetts, on September 1, 1931 with the age estimated of 89 years and 2 months. They were the parents of William Hathaway Forbes and James Grant Forbes.
He was the grandson of James Grant Forbes I and cousin of John Murray Forbes. He is a maternal great-grandfather of 2004 US Presidential candidate John Kerry.
Dems tap John Kerry's Watergate burglar brother
http://sweetness-light.com/archive/dems-tap-kerrys-watergate-burglar-brother
John Kerry's Jewish roots
EXCERPT:
He married Rosemary Forbes, the beneficiary of the Forbes family trusts. The Forbes family amassed a huge fortune in China trade.
Richard and Rosemary had four children: Margery (1941), John (1943), Diana (1947) and Cameron (1950). John, a Massachusetts Senator, is the 2004 Democratic Nominee for President. Cameron, who married a Jewish woman and converted to Judaism in 1983, is a prominent Boston lawyer.
John Forbes Kerry
In 1997 Secretary of State Madeleine Albright learned three of her four grandparents were Jewish. Then Wesley Clark announced that his father was Jewish. And now a researcher has discovered that John Kerry is really John Kohn.
So what if John Kerry has Jewish roots? If the discovery had been made in Europe in the 1940’s, Kerry would have been sent to a Nazi concentration camp. If the discovery had been made in America in the 1950’s, Kerry’s political career would have been negatively affected. Today, however, the discovery of Kerry’s Jewish roots seems inconsequential and unlikely to affect the 2004 presidential race.
The story of Kerry’s Jewish past is of interest because it reflects the story of many European Jews who shed their Jewish heritage en route to America at the turn of the century. The story makes one wonder how many Americans today have Jewish roots of which they are unaware.
EXCERPT:
The war was the result of a decades-long Japanese imperialist policy aiming to dominate China politically and militarily, and to secure its vast raw material reserves and other economic resources, particularly food and labor.
Teaching and Learning China v Japan
EXCERPT:
The Chinese had no time to prepare. The Japanese attacked on July 7, 1937, falsifying an attack at the Marco Polo Bridge. Japanese troops and warships poured into China, attempting to occupy the five Western provinces and create another state like Manchukuo. They occupied Peking and Shanghai. In December 1937 they took Nanjing, the Kuomintang capital. Crowded with refugees, the Nationalists abandoned Nanjing to its fate at the hands of the Japanese. Over a period of six weeks, hundreds of thousands of Chinese were killed, women were raped, and the city sacked in what became known as the “Rape of Nanjing.”
Chiang and his followers relocated to Chunking. By 1939, as war started in Europe, China had been fighting a forgotten war for eight years. There were more than 2,000,000 Chinese casualties, widespread disease and famine. The Japanese declared China conquered, but the reality was that neither side could gain an upper hand. Chiang distrusted the Communists, and sent his army against them as often as he attacked the Japanese.
Paper Cranes
EXCERPT:
American war planning at the start of the war favored China as the major area of operations to establish bases that could bomb Japan. Early on, it became clear that due to the political differences and the widespread corruption, China would be a secondary theatre of operations to the island hopping campaigns of the central and south pacific.
On August 8, 1945, the Soviet Union attacked, occupying most of Manchuria by the armistice on August 14th. The Soviets regained the rights they had lost during the first Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05. The Soviets occupied Manchuria until 1949, when the Communists took control of the country.
Anyone may place paper cranes before the Children's Peace Monument in Peace Memorial Park. If you can't go to the park yourself you can send cranes to the following address:
Peace Promotion Division
The City of Hiroshima
1-5 Nakajima-cho Naka-ku
Hiroshima 730-0811 JAPAN
You are asked to include your name, the name of your organization (if you are participating as a school or any other group), your address (or the address of the organization), your E-mail address, the number of cranes, and any message you wish to submit. This way your information can be submitted to the Paper Crane database and your desire for peace will be recorded.
History of Amphetamines
2 EXCERPTS:
Amphetamines
History Of Amphetamines
First synthesized in 1887 Germany, amphetamine was for a long time, a drug in search of a disease. Nothing much was done with the drug, from its discovery (synthesis) until the late 1920's, when it was investigated as a cure or treatment against a variety of illnesses and maladies.
Crystal Methamphetamine, more potent and easier to make than amphetamine, was first synthesized in Japan, in 1919. The crystalline powder was soluble in water, making it a perfect candidate for injection. It is still legally produced in the U.S., and sold under the trade name Desoxyn.
During World War II, amphetamines were widely used to keep the fighting men going. During the Viet Nam war, American soldiers used more amphetamines than the rest of the world did during WWII.
JFKerry's family and opium trading
EXCERPT:
The Forbes family of China and Boston, of which US Senator John Forbes Kerry and John Murray Forbes are members, amassed a huge fortune in the China trade, initially trading North American furs and manufactured goods for tea and other goods from China.
Forbes also made a considerable fortune smuggling opium during the Opium Wars. The British wanted to keep a monopoly on supplying the Chinese with opium grown in India. However, during the Opium Wars the British ships were prevented from delivering their cargoes of opium and American ship owners such as Forbes, who could sail the final miles, made great amounts of money delivering the cargoes for the British. Forbes family members later engaged in other merchant banking and railroad investment projects around the world.
John Forbes Kerry family history
Francis Blackwell Forbes (New York, August 11, 1839 - Boston, Massachusetts, May 2, 1908) was a China merchant, opium trader and botanist, son of Rev. John Murray Forbes, Rector of St. Luke's, New York (New York, May 5, 1807 – Elizabeth, New Jersey, October 11, 1885) and wife (m. December 26, 1838) Anne Howell (– July 21, 1849).
He and other members of the Forbes family were active in the Opium trade and the Old China Trade during the Opium Wars, amassing a large fortune. Due to his family's deep involvement with the opium trade and opium, Forbes developed a lifelong interest in the poppy and other plants, and in Chinese botany in general.
He married in New York City, New York on May 8, 1867 Isabel Clark, born in New York, c. 1846, daughter of William Mather Clark, a banker (Litchfield, Connecticut, May 26, 1805 – Berkley House, 5th Avenue, New York City, New York, November 21, 1878) and wife Isabella Staples (New York, c. 1805 – living 1870). She died of coronary thrombosis, with underlying arteriosclerosis in Boston, Massachusetts, on September 1, 1931 with the age estimated of 89 years and 2 months. They were the parents of William Hathaway Forbes and James Grant Forbes.
He was the grandson of James Grant Forbes I and cousin of John Murray Forbes. He is a maternal great-grandfather of 2004 US Presidential candidate John Kerry.
Dems tap John Kerry's Watergate burglar brother
http://sweetness-light.com/archive/dems-tap-kerrys-watergate-burglar-brother
John Kerry's Jewish roots
EXCERPT:
He married Rosemary Forbes, the beneficiary of the Forbes family trusts. The Forbes family amassed a huge fortune in China trade.
Richard and Rosemary had four children: Margery (1941), John (1943), Diana (1947) and Cameron (1950). John, a Massachusetts Senator, is the 2004 Democratic Nominee for President. Cameron, who married a Jewish woman and converted to Judaism in 1983, is a prominent Boston lawyer.
John Forbes Kerry
In 1997 Secretary of State Madeleine Albright learned three of her four grandparents were Jewish. Then Wesley Clark announced that his father was Jewish. And now a researcher has discovered that John Kerry is really John Kohn.
So what if John Kerry has Jewish roots? If the discovery had been made in Europe in the 1940’s, Kerry would have been sent to a Nazi concentration camp. If the discovery had been made in America in the 1950’s, Kerry’s political career would have been negatively affected. Today, however, the discovery of Kerry’s Jewish roots seems inconsequential and unlikely to affect the 2004 presidential race.
The story of Kerry’s Jewish past is of interest because it reflects the story of many European Jews who shed their Jewish heritage en route to America at the turn of the century. The story makes one wonder how many Americans today have Jewish roots of which they are unaware.
Middle East
EXCERPT:
Keeping It In The Family
Sunday, June 24th in politics, culture, Near East by Daniel Larison | 4 comments
This clan power is one of the main reasons why western democracy does not transplant into Arab societies. They are different. We have seen what has happened in Iraq, where the division between Shia and Sunni Muslim is also hugely important. But even in peaceful, relatively civilised Jordan, attempts to encourage political parties have largely failed because they keep splitting into smaller and smaller units, generally clan based. A Muslim Arab almost always owes far greater loyalty to his cousins than he does to any party or government. ~Peter Hitchens
EXCERPT:
Keeping It In The Family
Sunday, June 24th in politics, culture, Near East by Daniel Larison | 4 comments
This clan power is one of the main reasons why western democracy does not transplant into Arab societies. They are different. We have seen what has happened in Iraq, where the division between Shia and Sunni Muslim is also hugely important. But even in peaceful, relatively civilised Jordan, attempts to encourage political parties have largely failed because they keep splitting into smaller and smaller units, generally clan based. A Muslim Arab almost always owes far greater loyalty to his cousins than he does to any party or government. ~Peter Hitchens
Monday, June 7, 2010
Operation Infinite Reach retaliation for Embassy bombings in Tanzania (Osama Bin Laden
EXCERPT:
Cruise missile strikes on Afghanistan and Sudan (August 1998)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to:navigation, search
This article needs attention from an expert on the subject. See the talk page for details. WikiProject Military history or the Military history Portal may be able to help recruit an expert. (November 2008)
Operation Infinite Reach
Part of the Post-Cold War era
Pharmaceutical factory in Shifa, Sudan destroyed during Operation Infinite Reach
Date August 20, 1998
Location Afghanistan, Sudan
Result Disputed
Belligerents
United States Al-Qaeda
Harkat-ul-Mujahideen
National Islamic Front
Commanders
Anthony Zinni Osama Bin Laden
Strength
Around 10 warships and 5 submarines Unknown
Casualties and losses
None 6 killed,[1]
1 killed
Alleged "tens of thousands" of indirect deaths in Sudan
The August 1998 bombings of Afghanistan and Sudan (codenamed Operation Infinite Reach by the United States) were American cruise missile strikes on terrorist bases in Afghanistan and a pharmaceutical factory in Sudan on August 20, 1998. The attack was in retaliation for the bombings of American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania which killed 224 people (including 12 Americans) and injured 5,000 others.
Al Shifa pharmaceutical factory 10's of thousands in Sudan die due to retaliation
Al-Shifa pharmaceutical factory
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to:navigation, search
For the book by Cadi Ayyad ben Moussa, see Ash-Shifa.
The Al-Shifa (الشفاء, Arabic for "healing") pharmaceutical factory in Khartoum North, Sudan was constructed between 1992 and 1996 with components imported from the United States, Sweden, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, India, and Thailand.
The industrial complex was composed of around four buildings. It was the largest pharmaceutical factory in Khartoum and employed over 300 workers, producing medicine both for human and veterinary use. The factory was used primarily for the manufacture of anti-malaria medicines and veterinary products.
The factory was destroyed in 1998 by a missile attack launched by the United States government, killing one employee and wounding eleven. Critics of the attack have estimated that up to tens of thousands of Sudanese civilians died throughout Sudan as the supply of necessary drugs was cut off[1][2]. The US government stated several reasons for its attack:
Retaliation for previous attacks on US embassies in several African countries.
The alleged use of the factory for the processing of VX nerve agent.
For alleged ties between the owners of the plant and al-Qaeda.
These justifications for the bombing were disputed by the owners of the plant, the Sudanese government, and other governments.
Trent Keegan R.I.P. video
1998 US Embassy bombings
EXCERPT:
1998 U.S. embassy bombings
On August 7, 1998, the United States embassies in the East African cities of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya were severely damaged in nearly simultaneous truck bomb attacks. The bombings killed 213 people in Nairobi and a dozen in Dar es Salaam. An estimated 4000 were injured in the Kenyan capital and 85 in Dar es Salaam.
The attacks were linked to local members of the al Qaeda terrorist group, headed by Osama bin Laden. It was this terrorist incident that first brought Bin Laden and Al Qaeda to international notoriety, and led to the FBI's placing him on the agency's Ten Most Wanted List.
Tanzania FBI adventure
CODE NAME: TANBOMB
LOCATION: DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA, IN EASTERN AFRICA
MISSION: LOCATE THE PEOPLE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE UNITED STATES EMBASSY BOMBING
BRIEFING: The bombing of the Embassy in Tanzania killed eleven people, including seven Foreign Service Nationals. Another 72 people, including two Americans, were wounded in the terrorist attack. The Embassy itself sustained extensive structural damage, however since it was located outside of the most crowded area of the city, there was relatively little destruction to other nearby buildings.
The FBI immediately went to East Africa to assist in the search, rescue, and investigative efforts. The exhaustive investigation of the crime scenes, in cooperation with the host countries, included over 1,000 interviews. This investigation was the largest overseas deployment of personnel in FBI history. The FBI named the investigation in Tanzania "Tanbom," combining the words "Tanzania" and "bombing."
Thomson Safari 'corrupt'?
EXCERPT:
but the Government prefer the likes of OBC and Thomson Safaris. A parliamentary committee on investigate mission late last year (2009) conveniently found a dead elephant with missing tusks right next to the airstrip of one of these companies.
U.S. company denies ties to Tanzanian power scandal
EXCERPT:
President Jakaya Kikwete last Thursday dissolved his entire cabinet over the scandal, having already received the resignation of the prime minister and two other ministers named in the report. The following day, veteran civil servant and freshman legislator Mizengo Peter Pinda was elected as the new prime minister. The rest of the cabinet has yet to be named.
NGOs and Thomson Safaris
Tanzania: U.S.-Based NGO Funds Classrooms Construction
1 July 2009
Arusha — Hundreds of villagers from Karatu District gathered at Ayalabe Primary School on Sunday, July 26 to celebrate the official opening of two newly built modern classrooms and to recognize the support of numerous organisations and a safari company.
A US-based NGO, Friends of Tanzanian Communities (FOTZC), funded the construction of the new classrooms, laid the foundations for several other classrooms to be built, and expressed commitment to work with the district on numerous development projects in the future. FOTZC works closely with the safari company, Thomson Safaris, whose guests often visit schools in Tanzania and contribute to various projects.
Attending the event and visiting Ayalabe for three days on a volunteer project, a group of alumni from Stanford University contributed funds to renovate two other classrooms.
Among many distinguished guests, the honorable Karatu Member of Parliament, Dr. Wilbroad Slaa, attended the ceremony and noted the support of communities and the government in a keynote speech.
"Investment is important in Karatu and in Tanzania," said Dr. Slaa in a later interview, as translated from Swahili. "But we need investors who are transparent and who are willing to support and work with communities."
As a symbol of their support, the village and school leaders gave the honored Thomson Safaris guests from Stanford gifts, such as kitenge cloths. Leaders from Karatu District, Stanford University, Thomson Safaris, and Friends of Tanzanian Communities also made remarks.
Besides building the new classrooms, FOTZC also laid the foundations for three other classrooms. The NGO has also built a toilet facility at Ayalabe Primary School and has many other plans in development for the school. FOTZC also works with Ganako Secondary School and has other projects in the works in Karatu. Members of Stanford University alumni are involved in several development initiatives in Tanzania as well.
Official opening of modern classrooms at Ayalabe Primary School.
Thomson Safaris comment on Trents death
Thomson Safaris comment on Trent’s death- PR Fail.
Posted on June 30th, 2008 by Allan
If you're new here, you may want to keep up with new posts with my free RSS feed.
UPDATE:
•Thomson Safari’s Rick and Judi try to intimidate Brian MacCormaic
•Trent’s notes on what was happening to the Maasai
•Thomson’s shady relationship with the Tanzanian government
•The Observer on Thomson Safaris and Masai treatment
Thomson Safaris is an American-based company that’s been linked to a story that Trent Keegan was investigating before he was murdered, on the forced eviction of Maasai in Tanzania.
Karen Schwartzman, a spokeswoman for the company, had this to say in response to their name being associated with the murder:
“Obviously it’s a tragedy. But the fact this company has had its name associated with this nightmare is another tragedy.”
So according to Thomson Safaris the fact that their name has got muddied is as tragic as the brutal theft of Trent Keegan’s life, the permanent denial his family now endure of their son and brother, and the numbing grief felt around the world by the hundreds of people Trent befriended.
That attitude alone is enough for me to ask, if you’re going on safari, don’t go Thomson Safari.
UPDATE: Karen’s rhetorical flourishes continue: ‘”We have nothing to do with this,” says Karen Schwartzman, a spokesperson for Massachusetts-based Thompson Safaris. “This company continues to be victimized by a number of rumors and innuendo.”‘
Victimised. Rumours. Innuendo. Protest. Too. Much.
EXCERPT:
Cruise missile strikes on Afghanistan and Sudan (August 1998)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to:navigation, search
This article needs attention from an expert on the subject. See the talk page for details. WikiProject Military history or the Military history Portal may be able to help recruit an expert. (November 2008)
Operation Infinite Reach
Part of the Post-Cold War era
Pharmaceutical factory in Shifa, Sudan destroyed during Operation Infinite Reach
Date August 20, 1998
Location Afghanistan, Sudan
Result Disputed
Belligerents
United States Al-Qaeda
Harkat-ul-Mujahideen
National Islamic Front
Commanders
Anthony Zinni Osama Bin Laden
Strength
Around 10 warships and 5 submarines Unknown
Casualties and losses
None 6 killed,[1]
1 killed
Alleged "tens of thousands" of indirect deaths in Sudan
The August 1998 bombings of Afghanistan and Sudan (codenamed Operation Infinite Reach by the United States) were American cruise missile strikes on terrorist bases in Afghanistan and a pharmaceutical factory in Sudan on August 20, 1998. The attack was in retaliation for the bombings of American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania which killed 224 people (including 12 Americans) and injured 5,000 others.
Al Shifa pharmaceutical factory 10's of thousands in Sudan die due to retaliation
Al-Shifa pharmaceutical factory
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to:navigation, search
For the book by Cadi Ayyad ben Moussa, see Ash-Shifa.
The Al-Shifa (الشفاء, Arabic for "healing") pharmaceutical factory in Khartoum North, Sudan was constructed between 1992 and 1996 with components imported from the United States, Sweden, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, India, and Thailand.
The industrial complex was composed of around four buildings. It was the largest pharmaceutical factory in Khartoum and employed over 300 workers, producing medicine both for human and veterinary use. The factory was used primarily for the manufacture of anti-malaria medicines and veterinary products.
The factory was destroyed in 1998 by a missile attack launched by the United States government, killing one employee and wounding eleven. Critics of the attack have estimated that up to tens of thousands of Sudanese civilians died throughout Sudan as the supply of necessary drugs was cut off[1][2]. The US government stated several reasons for its attack:
Retaliation for previous attacks on US embassies in several African countries.
The alleged use of the factory for the processing of VX nerve agent.
For alleged ties between the owners of the plant and al-Qaeda.
These justifications for the bombing were disputed by the owners of the plant, the Sudanese government, and other governments.
Trent Keegan R.I.P. video
1998 US Embassy bombings
EXCERPT:
1998 U.S. embassy bombings
On August 7, 1998, the United States embassies in the East African cities of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya were severely damaged in nearly simultaneous truck bomb attacks. The bombings killed 213 people in Nairobi and a dozen in Dar es Salaam. An estimated 4000 were injured in the Kenyan capital and 85 in Dar es Salaam.
The attacks were linked to local members of the al Qaeda terrorist group, headed by Osama bin Laden. It was this terrorist incident that first brought Bin Laden and Al Qaeda to international notoriety, and led to the FBI's placing him on the agency's Ten Most Wanted List.
Tanzania FBI adventure
CODE NAME: TANBOMB
LOCATION: DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA, IN EASTERN AFRICA
MISSION: LOCATE THE PEOPLE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE UNITED STATES EMBASSY BOMBING
BRIEFING: The bombing of the Embassy in Tanzania killed eleven people, including seven Foreign Service Nationals. Another 72 people, including two Americans, were wounded in the terrorist attack. The Embassy itself sustained extensive structural damage, however since it was located outside of the most crowded area of the city, there was relatively little destruction to other nearby buildings.
The FBI immediately went to East Africa to assist in the search, rescue, and investigative efforts. The exhaustive investigation of the crime scenes, in cooperation with the host countries, included over 1,000 interviews. This investigation was the largest overseas deployment of personnel in FBI history. The FBI named the investigation in Tanzania "Tanbom," combining the words "Tanzania" and "bombing."
Thomson Safari 'corrupt'?
EXCERPT:
but the Government prefer the likes of OBC and Thomson Safaris. A parliamentary committee on investigate mission late last year (2009) conveniently found a dead elephant with missing tusks right next to the airstrip of one of these companies.
U.S. company denies ties to Tanzanian power scandal
EXCERPT:
President Jakaya Kikwete last Thursday dissolved his entire cabinet over the scandal, having already received the resignation of the prime minister and two other ministers named in the report. The following day, veteran civil servant and freshman legislator Mizengo Peter Pinda was elected as the new prime minister. The rest of the cabinet has yet to be named.
NGOs and Thomson Safaris
Tanzania: U.S.-Based NGO Funds Classrooms Construction
1 July 2009
Arusha — Hundreds of villagers from Karatu District gathered at Ayalabe Primary School on Sunday, July 26 to celebrate the official opening of two newly built modern classrooms and to recognize the support of numerous organisations and a safari company.
A US-based NGO, Friends of Tanzanian Communities (FOTZC), funded the construction of the new classrooms, laid the foundations for several other classrooms to be built, and expressed commitment to work with the district on numerous development projects in the future. FOTZC works closely with the safari company, Thomson Safaris, whose guests often visit schools in Tanzania and contribute to various projects.
Attending the event and visiting Ayalabe for three days on a volunteer project, a group of alumni from Stanford University contributed funds to renovate two other classrooms.
Among many distinguished guests, the honorable Karatu Member of Parliament, Dr. Wilbroad Slaa, attended the ceremony and noted the support of communities and the government in a keynote speech.
"Investment is important in Karatu and in Tanzania," said Dr. Slaa in a later interview, as translated from Swahili. "But we need investors who are transparent and who are willing to support and work with communities."
As a symbol of their support, the village and school leaders gave the honored Thomson Safaris guests from Stanford gifts, such as kitenge cloths. Leaders from Karatu District, Stanford University, Thomson Safaris, and Friends of Tanzanian Communities also made remarks.
Besides building the new classrooms, FOTZC also laid the foundations for three other classrooms. The NGO has also built a toilet facility at Ayalabe Primary School and has many other plans in development for the school. FOTZC also works with Ganako Secondary School and has other projects in the works in Karatu. Members of Stanford University alumni are involved in several development initiatives in Tanzania as well.
Official opening of modern classrooms at Ayalabe Primary School.
Thomson Safaris comment on Trents death
Thomson Safaris comment on Trent’s death- PR Fail.
Posted on June 30th, 2008 by Allan
If you're new here, you may want to keep up with new posts with my free RSS feed.
UPDATE:
•Thomson Safari’s Rick and Judi try to intimidate Brian MacCormaic
•Trent’s notes on what was happening to the Maasai
•Thomson’s shady relationship with the Tanzanian government
•The Observer on Thomson Safaris and Masai treatment
Thomson Safaris is an American-based company that’s been linked to a story that Trent Keegan was investigating before he was murdered, on the forced eviction of Maasai in Tanzania.
Karen Schwartzman, a spokeswoman for the company, had this to say in response to their name being associated with the murder:
“Obviously it’s a tragedy. But the fact this company has had its name associated with this nightmare is another tragedy.”
So according to Thomson Safaris the fact that their name has got muddied is as tragic as the brutal theft of Trent Keegan’s life, the permanent denial his family now endure of their son and brother, and the numbing grief felt around the world by the hundreds of people Trent befriended.
That attitude alone is enough for me to ask, if you’re going on safari, don’t go Thomson Safari.
UPDATE: Karen’s rhetorical flourishes continue: ‘”We have nothing to do with this,” says Karen Schwartzman, a spokesperson for Massachusetts-based Thompson Safaris. “This company continues to be victimized by a number of rumors and innuendo.”‘
Victimised. Rumours. Innuendo. Protest. Too. Much.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
UPDATE
UPDATE
US activist loses eye after being shot in face with tear gas canister
Posted on: May 31, 2010 | ShareThis
International Solidarity Movement
31 May 2010
US citizen Emily Henochowicz was shot directly in the face with a tear gas canister as she non-violently demonstrated against the Flotilla massacre
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
American activist loses eye after being shot in face with tear gas canister
31 May 2010: An American solidarity activist was shot in the face with a tear gas canister during a demonstration in Qalandiya, today. Emily Henochowicz is currently in Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem undergoing surgery to remove her left eye, following the demonstration that was held in protest to Israel’s murder of at least 10 civilians aboard the Gaza Freedom Flotilla in international waters this morning.
21-year old Emily Henochowicz was hit in the face with a tear gas projectile fired directly at her by an Israeli soldier during the demonstration at Qalandiya checkpoint today. Israeli occupation forces fired volleys of tear gas at unarmed Palestinian and international protesters, causing mass panic amongst the demonstrators and those queuing at the largest checkpoint separating the West Bank and Israel.
“They clearly saw us,” said Sören Johanssen, a Swedish ISM volunteer standing with Henochowicz. “They clearly saw that we were internationals and it really looked as though they were trying to hit us. They fired many canisters at us in rapid succession. One landed on either side of Emily, then the third one hit her in the face.”
Henochowicz is an art student at the prestigious Cooper Union, located in East Village, Manhattan.
The demonstration was one of many that took place across the West Bank today in outrage over the Israeli military’s attack on the Gaza freedom flotilla and blatant violation of international law. Demonstrations also took place in inside Israel, Gaza and Jerusalem, with clashes occurring in East Jerusalem and Palestinian shopkeepers in the occupied Old City closing their businesses for the day in protest.
Henochowicz lost her left eye after being shot directly in the face with a tear gas canister
Tear gas canisters are commonly used against demonstrators in the occupied West Bank. In May 2009, the Israeli State Attorney’s Office ordered Israeli Police to review its guidelines for dispersing demonstrators, following the death of a demonstrator, Bassem Abu Rahmah from Bil’in village, caused by a high velocity tear-gas projectile. Tear-gas canisters are meant to be used as a means of crowd dispersal, to be shot indirectly at demonstrators and from a distance. However, Israeli forces frequently shoot canisters directly at protesters and are not bound by a particular distance from which they can shoot.
Israeli occupation forces boarded the Mavi Marmara, one of six ships on the Freedom Flotilla at 5 a.m. this morning, opening fire on the hundreds of unarmed civilians aboard. No-one aboard the ships were carrying weapons of any kind, including for defense against a feared Israeli attack in international waters. At least 9 aid workers aboard the ship have been confirmed dead, with dozens more injured. The assault took place 70 miles off the Gaza coast in international waters, after the flotilla was surrounded by three Israeli warships. The Freedom Flotilla, carrying 700 human rights activists from over 40 countries and 10,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid, was headed for the besieged and impoverished Gaza Strip. The Israeli blockade on Gaza, combined with the illegal buffer zone, has put a stranglehold on the territory. 42% of Gazans are unemployed, and food insecurity hovers around 60% according to figures from the Palestine Centre for Human Rights.
Updated on June 1, 2010
US activist loses eye after being shot in face with tear gas canister
Posted on: May 31, 2010 | ShareThis
International Solidarity Movement
31 May 2010
US citizen Emily Henochowicz was shot directly in the face with a tear gas canister as she non-violently demonstrated against the Flotilla massacre
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
American activist loses eye after being shot in face with tear gas canister
31 May 2010: An American solidarity activist was shot in the face with a tear gas canister during a demonstration in Qalandiya, today. Emily Henochowicz is currently in Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem undergoing surgery to remove her left eye, following the demonstration that was held in protest to Israel’s murder of at least 10 civilians aboard the Gaza Freedom Flotilla in international waters this morning.
21-year old Emily Henochowicz was hit in the face with a tear gas projectile fired directly at her by an Israeli soldier during the demonstration at Qalandiya checkpoint today. Israeli occupation forces fired volleys of tear gas at unarmed Palestinian and international protesters, causing mass panic amongst the demonstrators and those queuing at the largest checkpoint separating the West Bank and Israel.
“They clearly saw us,” said Sören Johanssen, a Swedish ISM volunteer standing with Henochowicz. “They clearly saw that we were internationals and it really looked as though they were trying to hit us. They fired many canisters at us in rapid succession. One landed on either side of Emily, then the third one hit her in the face.”
Henochowicz is an art student at the prestigious Cooper Union, located in East Village, Manhattan.
The demonstration was one of many that took place across the West Bank today in outrage over the Israeli military’s attack on the Gaza freedom flotilla and blatant violation of international law. Demonstrations also took place in inside Israel, Gaza and Jerusalem, with clashes occurring in East Jerusalem and Palestinian shopkeepers in the occupied Old City closing their businesses for the day in protest.
Henochowicz lost her left eye after being shot directly in the face with a tear gas canister
Tear gas canisters are commonly used against demonstrators in the occupied West Bank. In May 2009, the Israeli State Attorney’s Office ordered Israeli Police to review its guidelines for dispersing demonstrators, following the death of a demonstrator, Bassem Abu Rahmah from Bil’in village, caused by a high velocity tear-gas projectile. Tear-gas canisters are meant to be used as a means of crowd dispersal, to be shot indirectly at demonstrators and from a distance. However, Israeli forces frequently shoot canisters directly at protesters and are not bound by a particular distance from which they can shoot.
Israeli occupation forces boarded the Mavi Marmara, one of six ships on the Freedom Flotilla at 5 a.m. this morning, opening fire on the hundreds of unarmed civilians aboard. No-one aboard the ships were carrying weapons of any kind, including for defense against a feared Israeli attack in international waters. At least 9 aid workers aboard the ship have been confirmed dead, with dozens more injured. The assault took place 70 miles off the Gaza coast in international waters, after the flotilla was surrounded by three Israeli warships. The Freedom Flotilla, carrying 700 human rights activists from over 40 countries and 10,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid, was headed for the besieged and impoverished Gaza Strip. The Israeli blockade on Gaza, combined with the illegal buffer zone, has put a stranglehold on the territory. 42% of Gazans are unemployed, and food insecurity hovers around 60% according to figures from the Palestine Centre for Human Rights.
Updated on June 1, 2010
I speak asif I knew Rachel Corrie when I call her friend. I didn't know her when she was alive but I have known her here, there and around since then. I have read of her life, of her family and of her death and all's I can say here is I know her spirit and her soul from reading of it.
Rachel was very similar to me in her youth. She was vibrant, funny and GOOD. She inspires me and I will call her friend thru the universe. I know she looks upon her kindred spirits from where ever she is and I give of our united spirits in our work.
Good onya Rachel for all you did and all you had planned for your life and good onya for all that you left US!!!
Rachel's 5th Grade Speech, I'm here because I care
Rachel speaks out youtube
Rachel Corrie case stirs fresh pain and hope
EXCERPT:
A month after Corrie's death, Mansour was just three feet away when a British member of ISM, Tom Hurndall, was killed by an Israeli Defense Forces sniper while trying to rescue children caught in gunfire. The soldier was convicted of manslaughter and obstruction of justice and sentenced to eight years in prison, which he is currently serving. The soldier told the military tribunal that the Israeli army "fires freely in Rafah."
"I decided that nothing works to end the occupation — peaceful ways or the armed way," Mansour says. "[Israel] doesn’t respect the peaceful. They don’t respect anyone. They don’t care if Tom or Rachel are internationals. They will do whatever they want."
Tom Hurndall
EXCERPT:
While he lay dying in Tel Aviv and later in the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead, north London, his parents, Anthony and Jocelyn Hurndall, took on a heroic struggle against the Israeli army. They were determined to seek truth and accountability at all costs. They had no idea how hard this was going to be.
The Israeli army appeared to view Tom's death with indifference; there were no plans to investigate the shooting, interview witnesses or go to Gaza. Nor, at first, were they willing to meet the Hurndalls. Their claim was that their soldier had fired at an armed terrorist. Tom, dressed in an orange jacket (a known sign for peace workers), was unarmed. What's more he was shot while rescuing Palestinian children.
Rachel Corrie Foundation
EXCERPT:
Emails from Palestine
February 7 2003
Hi friends and family, and others,
I have been in Palestine for two weeks and one hour now, and I still have very few words to describe what I see. It is most difficult for me to think about what’s going on here when I sit down to write back to the United States. Something about the virtual portal into luxury. I don’t know if many of the children here have ever existed without tank-shell holes in their walls and the towers of an occupying army surveying them constantly from the near horizons. I think, although I’m not entirely sure, that even the smallest of these children understand that life is not like this everywhere. An eight-year-old was shot and killed by an Israeli tank two days before I got here, and many of the children murmur his name to me – Ali – or point at the posters of him on the walls. The children also love to get me to practice my limited Arabic by asking me, “Kaif Sharon?” “Kaif Bush?” and they laugh when I say, “Bush Majnoon”, “Sharon Majnoon” back in my limited arabic. (How is Sharon? How is Bush? Bush is crazy. Sharon is crazy.) Of course this isn’t quite what I believe, and some of the adults who have the English correct me: “Bush mish Majnoon” … Bush is a businessman. Today I tried to learn to say, “Bush is a tool,” but I don’t think it translated quite right. But anyway, there are eight-year-olds here much more aware of the workings of the global power structure than I was just a few years ago.
Nevertheless, no amount of reading, attendance at conferences, documentary viewing and word of mouth could have prepared me for the reality of the situation here. You just can’t imagine it unless you see it – and even then you are always well aware that your experience of it is not at all the reality: what with the difficulties the Israeli army would face if they shot an unarmed US citizen, and with the fact that I have money to buy water when the army destroys wells, and the fact, of course, that I have the option of leaving. Nobody in my family has been shot, driving in their car, by a rocket launcher from a tower at the end of a major street in my hometown. I have a home. I am allowed to go see the ocean. Ostensibly it is still quite difficult for me to be held for months or years on end without a trial (this because I am a white US citizen, as opposed to so many others). When I leave for school or work I can be relatively certain that there will not be a heavily armed soldier waiting halfway between Mud Bay and downtown Olympia at a checkpoint with the power to decide whether I can go about my business, and whether I can get home again when I’m done. So, if I feel outrage at arriving and entering briefly and incompletely into the world in which these children exist, I wonder conversely about how it would be for them to arrive in my world.
They know that children in the United States don‚t usually have their parents shot and they know they sometimes get to see the ocean. But once you have seen the ocean and lived in a silent place, where water is taken for granted and not stolen in the night by bulldozers, and once you have spent an evening when you haven‚t wondered if the walls of your home might suddenly fall inward waking you from your sleep, and once you‚ve met people who have never lost anyone˜once you have experienced the reality of a world that isn‚t surrounded by murderous towers, tanks, armed “settlements” and now a giant metal wall, I wonder if you can forgive the world for all the years of your childhood spent existing—just existing—in resistance to the constant stranglehold of the world‚s fourth largest military—backed by the world’s only superpower—in it‚s attempt to erase you from your home. That is something I wonder about these children. I wonder what would happen if they really knew. As an afterthought to all this rambling, I am in Rafah: a city of about 140,000 people, approximately 60% of whom are refugees – many of whom are twice or three times refugees. Rafah existed prior to 1948, but most of the people here are themselves or are descendants of people who were relocated here from their homes in historic Palestine—now Israel. Rafah was split in half when the Sinai returned to Egypt.
Currently, the Israeli army is building a fourteen-meter-high wall between Rafah in Palestine and the border, carving a no-mans land from the houses along the border. Six hundred and two homes have been completely bulldozed according to the Rafah Popular Refugee Committee. The number of homes that have been partially destroyed is greater. Rafah existed prior to 1948, but most of the people here are themselves or are descendants of people who were relocated here from their homes in historic Palestine—now Israel. Rafah was split in half when the Sinai returned to Egypt.
Currently, the Israeli army is building a fourteen-meter-high wall between Rafah in Palestine and the border, carving a no-mans land from the houses along the border. Six hundred and two homes have been completely bulldozed according to the Rafah Popular Refugee Committee. The number of homes that have been partially destroyed is greater. Today, as I walked on top of the rubble where homes once stood, Egyptian soldiers called to me from the other side of the border, “Go! Go!” because a tank was coming. And then waving and “What’s your name?”. Something disturbing about this friendly curiosity. It reminded me of how much, to some degree, we are all kids curious about other kids. Egyptian kids shouting at strange women wandering into the path of tanks. Palestinian kids shot from the tanks when they peak out from behind walls to see what’s going on. International kids standing in front of tanks with banners. Israeli kids in the tanks anonymously – occasionally shouting and also occasionally waving – many forced to be here, many just agressive – shooting into the houses as we wander away.
In addition to the constant presence of tanks along the border and in the western region between Rafah and settlements along the coast, there are more IDF towers here than I can count—along the horizon, at the end of streets. Some just army green metal. Others these strange spiral staircases draped in some kind of netting to make the activity within anonymous. Some hidden, just beneath the horizon of buildings. A new one went up the other day in the time it took us to do laundry and to cross town twice to hang banners.
Despite the fact that some of the areas nearest the border are the original Rafah with families who have lived on this land for at least a century, only the 1948 camps in the center of the city are Palestinian controlled areas under Oslo. But as far as I can tell, there are few if any places that are not within the sights of some tower or another. Certainly there is no place invulnerable to apache helicopters or to the cameras of invisible drones we hear buzzing over the city for hours at a time.
I’ve been having trouble accessing news about the outside world here, but I hear an escalation of war on Iraq is inevitable. There is a great deal of concern here about the “reoccupation of Gaza”. Gaza is reoccupied every day to various extents but I think the fear is that the tanks will enter all the streets and remain here instead of entering some of the streets and then withdrawing after some hours or days to observe and shoot from the edges of the communities. If people aren’t already thinking about the consequences of this war for the people of the entire region then I hope you will start. I also hope you‚ll come here. We’ve been wavering between five and six internationals. The neighborhoods that have asked us for some form of presence are Yibna, Tel El Sultan, Hi Salam, Brazil, Block J, Zorob, and Block O. There is also need for constant nighttime presence at a well on the outskirts of Rafah since the Israeli army destroyed the two largest wells.
According to the municipal water office the wells destroyed last week provided half of Rafah’s water supply. Many of the communities have requested internationals to be present at night to attempt to shield houses from further demolition. After about ten p.m. it is very difficult to move at night because the Israeli army treats anyone in the streets as resistance and shoots at them. So clearly we are too few.
I continue to believe that my home, Olympia, could gain a lot and offer a lot by deciding to make a commitment to Rafah in the form of a sister-community relationship. Some teachers and children’s groups have expressed interest in e-mail exchanges, but this is only the tip of the iceberg of solidarity work that might be done.
Many people want their voices to be heard, and I think we need to use some of our privilege as internationals to get those voices heard directly in the US, rather than through the filter of well-meaning internationals such as myself. I am just beginning to learn, from what I expect to be a very intense tutelage, about the ability of people to organize against all odds, and to resist against all odds.
Thanks for the news I’ve been getting from friends in the US. I just read a report back from a friend who organized a peace group in Shelton, Washington, and was able to be part of a delegation to the large January 18th protest in Washington DC.
People here watch the media, and they told me again today that there have been large protests in the United States and “problems for the government” in the UK. So thanks for allowing me to not feel like a complete Polyanna when I tentatively tell people here that many people in the United States do not support the policies of our government, and that we are learning from global examples how to resist.
My love to everyone. My love to my mom. My love to smooch. My love to fg and barnhair and sesamees and Lincoln School. My love to Olympia.
Rachel
Rachel was very similar to me in her youth. She was vibrant, funny and GOOD. She inspires me and I will call her friend thru the universe. I know she looks upon her kindred spirits from where ever she is and I give of our united spirits in our work.
Good onya Rachel for all you did and all you had planned for your life and good onya for all that you left US!!!
Rachel's 5th Grade Speech, I'm here because I care
Rachel speaks out youtube
Rachel Corrie case stirs fresh pain and hope
EXCERPT:
A month after Corrie's death, Mansour was just three feet away when a British member of ISM, Tom Hurndall, was killed by an Israeli Defense Forces sniper while trying to rescue children caught in gunfire. The soldier was convicted of manslaughter and obstruction of justice and sentenced to eight years in prison, which he is currently serving. The soldier told the military tribunal that the Israeli army "fires freely in Rafah."
"I decided that nothing works to end the occupation — peaceful ways or the armed way," Mansour says. "[Israel] doesn’t respect the peaceful. They don’t respect anyone. They don’t care if Tom or Rachel are internationals. They will do whatever they want."
Tom Hurndall
EXCERPT:
While he lay dying in Tel Aviv and later in the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead, north London, his parents, Anthony and Jocelyn Hurndall, took on a heroic struggle against the Israeli army. They were determined to seek truth and accountability at all costs. They had no idea how hard this was going to be.
The Israeli army appeared to view Tom's death with indifference; there were no plans to investigate the shooting, interview witnesses or go to Gaza. Nor, at first, were they willing to meet the Hurndalls. Their claim was that their soldier had fired at an armed terrorist. Tom, dressed in an orange jacket (a known sign for peace workers), was unarmed. What's more he was shot while rescuing Palestinian children.
Rachel Corrie Foundation
EXCERPT:
Emails from Palestine
February 7 2003
Hi friends and family, and others,
I have been in Palestine for two weeks and one hour now, and I still have very few words to describe what I see. It is most difficult for me to think about what’s going on here when I sit down to write back to the United States. Something about the virtual portal into luxury. I don’t know if many of the children here have ever existed without tank-shell holes in their walls and the towers of an occupying army surveying them constantly from the near horizons. I think, although I’m not entirely sure, that even the smallest of these children understand that life is not like this everywhere. An eight-year-old was shot and killed by an Israeli tank two days before I got here, and many of the children murmur his name to me – Ali – or point at the posters of him on the walls. The children also love to get me to practice my limited Arabic by asking me, “Kaif Sharon?” “Kaif Bush?” and they laugh when I say, “Bush Majnoon”, “Sharon Majnoon” back in my limited arabic. (How is Sharon? How is Bush? Bush is crazy. Sharon is crazy.) Of course this isn’t quite what I believe, and some of the adults who have the English correct me: “Bush mish Majnoon” … Bush is a businessman. Today I tried to learn to say, “Bush is a tool,” but I don’t think it translated quite right. But anyway, there are eight-year-olds here much more aware of the workings of the global power structure than I was just a few years ago.
Nevertheless, no amount of reading, attendance at conferences, documentary viewing and word of mouth could have prepared me for the reality of the situation here. You just can’t imagine it unless you see it – and even then you are always well aware that your experience of it is not at all the reality: what with the difficulties the Israeli army would face if they shot an unarmed US citizen, and with the fact that I have money to buy water when the army destroys wells, and the fact, of course, that I have the option of leaving. Nobody in my family has been shot, driving in their car, by a rocket launcher from a tower at the end of a major street in my hometown. I have a home. I am allowed to go see the ocean. Ostensibly it is still quite difficult for me to be held for months or years on end without a trial (this because I am a white US citizen, as opposed to so many others). When I leave for school or work I can be relatively certain that there will not be a heavily armed soldier waiting halfway between Mud Bay and downtown Olympia at a checkpoint with the power to decide whether I can go about my business, and whether I can get home again when I’m done. So, if I feel outrage at arriving and entering briefly and incompletely into the world in which these children exist, I wonder conversely about how it would be for them to arrive in my world.
They know that children in the United States don‚t usually have their parents shot and they know they sometimes get to see the ocean. But once you have seen the ocean and lived in a silent place, where water is taken for granted and not stolen in the night by bulldozers, and once you have spent an evening when you haven‚t wondered if the walls of your home might suddenly fall inward waking you from your sleep, and once you‚ve met people who have never lost anyone˜once you have experienced the reality of a world that isn‚t surrounded by murderous towers, tanks, armed “settlements” and now a giant metal wall, I wonder if you can forgive the world for all the years of your childhood spent existing—just existing—in resistance to the constant stranglehold of the world‚s fourth largest military—backed by the world’s only superpower—in it‚s attempt to erase you from your home. That is something I wonder about these children. I wonder what would happen if they really knew. As an afterthought to all this rambling, I am in Rafah: a city of about 140,000 people, approximately 60% of whom are refugees – many of whom are twice or three times refugees. Rafah existed prior to 1948, but most of the people here are themselves or are descendants of people who were relocated here from their homes in historic Palestine—now Israel. Rafah was split in half when the Sinai returned to Egypt.
Currently, the Israeli army is building a fourteen-meter-high wall between Rafah in Palestine and the border, carving a no-mans land from the houses along the border. Six hundred and two homes have been completely bulldozed according to the Rafah Popular Refugee Committee. The number of homes that have been partially destroyed is greater. Rafah existed prior to 1948, but most of the people here are themselves or are descendants of people who were relocated here from their homes in historic Palestine—now Israel. Rafah was split in half when the Sinai returned to Egypt.
Currently, the Israeli army is building a fourteen-meter-high wall between Rafah in Palestine and the border, carving a no-mans land from the houses along the border. Six hundred and two homes have been completely bulldozed according to the Rafah Popular Refugee Committee. The number of homes that have been partially destroyed is greater. Today, as I walked on top of the rubble where homes once stood, Egyptian soldiers called to me from the other side of the border, “Go! Go!” because a tank was coming. And then waving and “What’s your name?”. Something disturbing about this friendly curiosity. It reminded me of how much, to some degree, we are all kids curious about other kids. Egyptian kids shouting at strange women wandering into the path of tanks. Palestinian kids shot from the tanks when they peak out from behind walls to see what’s going on. International kids standing in front of tanks with banners. Israeli kids in the tanks anonymously – occasionally shouting and also occasionally waving – many forced to be here, many just agressive – shooting into the houses as we wander away.
In addition to the constant presence of tanks along the border and in the western region between Rafah and settlements along the coast, there are more IDF towers here than I can count—along the horizon, at the end of streets. Some just army green metal. Others these strange spiral staircases draped in some kind of netting to make the activity within anonymous. Some hidden, just beneath the horizon of buildings. A new one went up the other day in the time it took us to do laundry and to cross town twice to hang banners.
Despite the fact that some of the areas nearest the border are the original Rafah with families who have lived on this land for at least a century, only the 1948 camps in the center of the city are Palestinian controlled areas under Oslo. But as far as I can tell, there are few if any places that are not within the sights of some tower or another. Certainly there is no place invulnerable to apache helicopters or to the cameras of invisible drones we hear buzzing over the city for hours at a time.
I’ve been having trouble accessing news about the outside world here, but I hear an escalation of war on Iraq is inevitable. There is a great deal of concern here about the “reoccupation of Gaza”. Gaza is reoccupied every day to various extents but I think the fear is that the tanks will enter all the streets and remain here instead of entering some of the streets and then withdrawing after some hours or days to observe and shoot from the edges of the communities. If people aren’t already thinking about the consequences of this war for the people of the entire region then I hope you will start. I also hope you‚ll come here. We’ve been wavering between five and six internationals. The neighborhoods that have asked us for some form of presence are Yibna, Tel El Sultan, Hi Salam, Brazil, Block J, Zorob, and Block O. There is also need for constant nighttime presence at a well on the outskirts of Rafah since the Israeli army destroyed the two largest wells.
According to the municipal water office the wells destroyed last week provided half of Rafah’s water supply. Many of the communities have requested internationals to be present at night to attempt to shield houses from further demolition. After about ten p.m. it is very difficult to move at night because the Israeli army treats anyone in the streets as resistance and shoots at them. So clearly we are too few.
I continue to believe that my home, Olympia, could gain a lot and offer a lot by deciding to make a commitment to Rafah in the form of a sister-community relationship. Some teachers and children’s groups have expressed interest in e-mail exchanges, but this is only the tip of the iceberg of solidarity work that might be done.
Many people want their voices to be heard, and I think we need to use some of our privilege as internationals to get those voices heard directly in the US, rather than through the filter of well-meaning internationals such as myself. I am just beginning to learn, from what I expect to be a very intense tutelage, about the ability of people to organize against all odds, and to resist against all odds.
Thanks for the news I’ve been getting from friends in the US. I just read a report back from a friend who organized a peace group in Shelton, Washington, and was able to be part of a delegation to the large January 18th protest in Washington DC.
People here watch the media, and they told me again today that there have been large protests in the United States and “problems for the government” in the UK. So thanks for allowing me to not feel like a complete Polyanna when I tentatively tell people here that many people in the United States do not support the policies of our government, and that we are learning from global examples how to resist.
My love to everyone. My love to my mom. My love to smooch. My love to fg and barnhair and sesamees and Lincoln School. My love to Olympia.
Rachel
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)