Yesterday’s Pirates and Today’s, Viva Netanyahu, Iraq Redux

February 10th, 2009 - by: danny

“An old, familiar adage claims that ‘one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter’. The examples above demonstrate the battle with and against pirates can lead to empire; perhaps they also show one man’s criminal can be another’s mercenary, or adventure hero. In an interesting book titled Jewish Pirates of the Caribbean, Edward Kritzler romantically tells the story of some Jews expelled from Spain by the Inquisition who took to the seas to attack and rob from the ships of the regime that expelled them (these adventures included what was apparently the largest heist in pirates history). It’s a safe bet that in this case moral condemnation wouldn’t be universal; in fact it’s safe to say sympathy would largely be with the pirates.” READ FULL STORY HERE

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AS AUSTRALIA BURNS

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PRISON PLANET: Paul Joseph Watson

A fierce fire consumed all 44 floors of a skyscraper in Beijing today, shooting 30 foot flames into the air, but unlike the similarly-sized 47-story WTC 7, which suffered limited fires across just eight floors, the building in China did not collapse.

“The fire was burning from the ground floor to the top floor of the large building, the flames reflecting in the glass facade of the main CCTV tower next to the hotel and cultural center, reports the New York Times.

“The 241-room Mandarin Oriental hotel in the building was due to open this year. Flames were spotted around 7:45 p.m. and within 20 minutes the fire had spread throughout the building, dominating that part of the city.”

“Hundreds of firefighting vehicles and police blocked off all approaches to the building – which was also set to house a luxury hotel due to be opened in 2009 – with flames appearing to leap 20 to 30 feet into the air,” adds The London Times.

Compare images of WTC 7 with those of the skyscraper fire in Beijing. Note that the Beijing skyscraper appears to be leaning due to the unorthodox design of the building – it did not suffer any kind of collapse.

AFP: FIRE CAUSED BY FIRE CRACKERS

A huge blaze sparked by fireworks engulfed the hotel in the unfinished headquarters of Chinese state broadcaster CCTV, one of the icons of Beijing’s architectural rebirth, state media said.

The unfinished hotel was just a few hundred metres (yards) from the showpiece 234-metre (770-foot) CCTV tower designed by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, an AFP journalist at the scene said.

CCTV reported that the fire was brought under control by fire crews nearly four hours after it erupted.

The official news agency quoted a city government spokesman as saying initial reports indicated firecrackers set off to celebrate the Lunar New Year, China’s most important annual festival, has caused the fire.

Firefighters found remnants of firecrackers on the roof of the burning building, Xinhua said.

The agency had earlier quoted a witness saying the blaze appeared to have been sparked after fireworks landed on top of the hotel building.

The fire sent flames, billowing clouds of sparks and a huge column of smoke high into the night sky over the eastern portion of the Chinese capital, drawing thousands of picture-snapping spectators.

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What Has Not Changed in Iraq By Dahr Jamail

“Among things that have not changed in Iraq is one that I hope never changes. After a four-year-long absence, each of my meetings here with former friends and fresh acquaintances seems to suggest that adversity has taken its toll on everything except Iraqi hospitality and Iraqi generosity.”

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Israeli Journalist: Gideon Levy: Let Netanyahu win

Benjamin Netanyahu will apparently be Israel’s next prime minister. There is, however, something encouraging about that fact. Netanyahu’s election will free Israel from the burden of deception: If he can establish a right-wing government, the veil will be lifted and the nation’s true face revealed to its citizens and the rest of the world, including Arab countries. Together with the world, we will see which direction we are facing and who we really are. The masquerade that has gone on for several years will finally come to an end.

Netanyahu’s election is likely to bring the curtain down on the great fraud – the best show in town – the lie of “negotiations” and the injustice of the “peace process.” Israel consistently claimed these acts proved the nation was focused on peace and the end of the occupation. All the while, it did everything it could to further entrench the occupation and distance any chance of a potential agreement. READ FULL STORY HERE

Click here for exclusive Haaretz coverage of the elections in Israel.

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The International Solidarity Movement — 10,000 units of Plasma on board Lebanese ship hijacked by the Israeli military at risk

10,000 units of Plasma on board the Lebanese “Brotherhood” ship in danger of being destroyed. The rare substance that is gravely needed in Gaza was being kept refrigerated on board “the brotherhood.” Plasma can not withstand more than ten minutes without refrigeration. The Brotherhood was boarded at around 10:00 AM today by Israeli forces on their way to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza. Several people on board have reported being beaten. The passengers on the ship have been held incommunicado since.

The cargo ship carrying human rights workers and supplies set sail Tuesday from Tripoli, Lebanon en route to the Gaza Strip The Togo- flagged ship “Brotherhood” is carrying about 60 tons of medicine, food, toys, books and stationery, as well as eight human rights workers and journalists.

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Sweden: Shoe thrown at Israel’s ambassador in Stockholm The Local

Stockholm: Israel’s ambassador to Sweden, Benny Dagan, was the victim of a shoe-throwing incident at a lecture on Stockholm University on Wednesday afternoon.

The incident took place as Dagan was delivering a speech about Israel’s upcoming elections.

At the time, there were about 50 spectators in the lecture hall, which was also being guarded by police.

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FOX NEWS: WORLD BANK COVERED UP VILLAGE DESTRUCTION

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NEWSWEEK TO SCALE BACK

Newsweek is about to begin a major change in its identity, with a new design, a much smaller and, it hopes, more affluent readership, and some shifts in content. The venerable newsweekly’s ingrained role of obligatory coverage of the week’s big events will be abandoned once and for all, executives say. A deep-rooted part of the newsweekly culture has been to serve a mass audience, but that market has been shrinking, and new subscribers come at a high price in call centers, advertising and deeply discounted subscriptions. Thirteen months ago, Newsweek lowered its rate base, the circulation promised to advertisers, to 2.6 million from 3.1 million, and Tom Ascheim, Newsweek’s chief executive said that would drop to 1.9 million in July, and to 1.5 million next January. He says the magazine has a core of 1.2 million subscribers who are its best-educated, most avid consumers of news, and who have higher incomes than the average reader. ‘We would like to build our business around these people and grow that group slightly,’ he said. ‘These are our best customers. They are our best renewers, and they pay the most.’

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REPORTS FROM IWANTMEDIA.COM

Ad Age: Media Industry Jobs Slashed in Recession

The U.S. media and advertising industry cut 65,100 jobs in 2008, according to an analysis by Advertising Age. Media’s biggest loser last year: newspapers, which slashed 31,200 jobs. Broadcast TV cut 5,100 jobs. The bright spot: Internet-media companies, which added 5,400 positions.

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MarketWatch: Media Celebrities May Have ‘Less Value’

Television news execs say that a sea change is coming in how industry stars will be compensated. On-air reporters and anchors may seek long-term contracts at reduced wages. TV stations are expected to start hiring younger, less experienced news professionals as a way to keep costs down.

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YOUR LETTERS

Irene Wynne writes:

I’d be interested to know how the US only emerged from the Depression with WW2. Economists are saying “war only wipes out unemployment’. Britain was getting supplies from the US for several years, that should have stimulated the US economy.Can you write about who financed post- war Germany? Who gained? A lot of people are wondering if a new war is being ‘planned’. Food for thought, I can’t work it out myself. I’m enjoying your Dissector section and hope you will dissect this topic soon.

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Richard Wise writes:

This is a really a big story in the UK: torture but the only mention I have found in the US media is this: Why did Obama back Bush demand for British secrecy?

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The mysterious SL writes:

“When a politician says “let me be honest with you,” doesn’t that sort of imply that being honest is an exception rather than the rule?? Hmmmm”

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PRINCIPLES FOR LENDING

The U.S. is now in the early stages of a high-stakes struggle over how best to reverse the three decades of financial deregulation that led us into the most serious economic crisis since the Great Depression. So far, most attention has been focused on how best to design a regulatory system capable of preventing future financial meltdowns.

However, long before the recent financial crisis became obvious — indeed, while lenders of all sorts were reporting record profits year after year — millions of Americans were being devastated by the wide variety of abusive predatory lending products and practices that flourished in the era of deregulation. Therefore, as the struggle over financial re-regulation proceeds, it is vital that issues of consumer protection be kept front and center.

To help inform the on-going debate on these issues, Americans for Fairness in Lending (AFFIL) is offering ten principles that should guide financial regulation for consumer protection. The ten principles, are:

* Effective consumer protection isn’t just to protect consumers.
* More credit isn’t always better.
* Disclosure is not enough; substantive protections are essential.
* Laws and regulations mean little without vigorous and effective enforcement.
* Gaps in consumer protection must be eliminated.
* Incentives throughout the financial system must be aligned with consumer interests.
* Lending practices that are racially or ethnically discriminatory must not be tolerated.
* The regulatory system needs to be flexible and proactive.
* Consumers victimized by legal violations deserve their day in court.
* Pricing structures in general, and penalty charges and fees in particular, must be reasonably related to costs.

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ON RUSSIA TODAY: Not sure if I posted this. I am interviewed in a story about US spying and wiretapping on Russia Today, a satellite News Channel.

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FINALLY STIMULUS SHOCKER FROM ANDY BOROWITZ

A-Rod Backs Stimulus Says Economy Needs Shot in Arm

President Barack Obama picked up support for his stimulus package from an unexpected source today as Yankee slugger Alex Rodriguez said that he was “totally in favor of stimulus.”

“Sometimes when you have to get the job done, you need a shot in the arm,” said Mr. Rodriguez at a press conference in the parking lot of Yankee Stadium. “This stimulus sounds like it could be that injection.”

The slugger, known to his fans and detractors alike as A-Rod, said that the U.S. economy may not seem very muscular at the moment, but that “juicing the economy” could change that overnight. “Mark my words,” he said. “If the economy gets the right injection, its muscles will bulge to monstrous proportions.”

At his press conference today, Mr. Rodriguez bristled when asked questions about steroid use, at one point throwing a car at a reporter.

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After enjoying the Grammy’s Sunday night, I was surprised to hear from an old WBCN-Boston mate, Steve Crowley, aka Mono, who worked with us for several years. He wrote to remind me and other alumni from the greatest radio station of all time that I was part of a team that was nominated for a Grammy:

“When we were nominated for WBCN’s “Watergate Primer” in 1974 it was a total surprise. Losing in a category (spoken word albums) dominated by comedy was no surprise at all.”

So there you go, we were a contender. In that era, our station made radio documentaries including one in l972 after Massachusetts, with our encouragement, was the only state to support George McGovern for President. The program was titled: “Nixon 49, America 1.”

Speaking of music, I was pleased to see a NYT tribute to the jazz label Blue Note and its CEO Bruce Lundvull, a great and visionary industry exec. Missing from the article was Bruce’s role in signing, ‘Sun City, in l985 to one of his labels, Manhattan Records, when no one in the music industry had the guts to release the anti-apartheid song produced by Little Steven and Arthur Banker and featuring 54 of the world’s top artists [Bono, Miles Davis, Bob Dylan, Bonnie Raitt, Bruce Springsteen, Ringo Starr, etc.]

Lundvull got it and did it. He will always have my respect as a stand up guy when it mattered. Why am I surprised that the NY Times forgot about his courage?

FYI: Here is the new URL for the Globalvision update on our current projects. Please pass it on.

Your letters and input always welcome. Write: Dissector@mediachannel.org

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