"...not majority rule but just rule: All, too, will bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will, to be rightful, must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal laws must protect, and to violate would be oppression."
I was never a Muhammed Morsi fan but to uproot a democratic institution without following the normal and proper conventions of a government is just ludicrous, and it goes to show that the Egyptian military is an institution beholden NOT to the people as they Egyptian people might think, but in reality to a 'foreign' entity. The sooner the people realize this, the better they can control the outcome. The Egyptian army has always protected itself at any cost and will do the bidding of others as its strings are pulled to and fro. No matter what else occurs in Egypt in terms of a government, the military will always be there as a watchdog ready to obey it`s master`s orders. And of course, lets not forget it`s military financing and budget...that it`s wholly dependent on. Finally, what can one say about the Persian Gulf nations...no self identity whatsoever. They who hate and abhor democracy, pumped into Egypt a staggering $12 billion all in a single month, chump change when compared to what was 'given' to Cairo post-Mubarak. Its funny in retrospect when you think to President Obama`s 2009 Cairo speech, where he declared, “No system of government can or should be imposed upon one nation by another,..." Our wise Founding Father George Washington`s farewell address sums up accurately our current state of affairs concerning our diplomatic and military commitment to virtually the entire world. “Nothing is more essential,” Washington said, “than that permanent, inveterate antipathies against particular nations, and passionate attachments for others, should be excluded.” “The nation which indulges towards another a habitual hatred or a habitual fondness is in some degree a slave,” he added. “It is a slave to its animosity or to its affection, either of which is sufficient to lead it astray from its duty and its interest.” What ominous words from our founding father, who sadly is ridiculed by our government officials as being 'un-American.'
Egyptian army’s financial coup: 12 billion petrodollars from Saudi, UAE, Kuwaiti fans DEBKAfile July 10, 2013 In a dazzling display of monetary muscle, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates poured $8 billion in a single day into the coffers of Egypt’s army rulers in cash, grants, loans without interest and gifts of gas, a dizzying life-saving infusion into its tottering economy. Forking out sums on this scale in a single day – or even month - is beyond the capacity of almost every world power – even the US and Russia - in this age of economic distress. The Arab oil colossuses managed to dwarf Iran’s pretensions to the standing of regional power. Tuesday, July 9, just six days after the Egyptian army overthrew the Muslim Brotherhood president Mohamed Morsi, a UAE delegation of foreign and energy ministers and national security adviser landed in Cairo. They came carrying the gifts of $1 billion as a grant and $2 billion in long-term credit. In well-orchestrated moves, Saudi Arabia then stepped forward with a $5 billion package, of which a lump sum of $2 billion was drafted to Egypt’s state bank that day, followed by another $2 billion as a gift of Saudi gas, and a further $1 billion for propping up the sagging Egyptian currency. The delivery by two Arab governments to a third of financial assistance on this scale and on a single day is unheard of in the Middle East, or, indeed, anywhere else. As they celebrate Ramadan, 84 million Egyptians can start looking forward to a square meal at the end of their month of fasting. This river of largesse was the outcome of a development first revealed by DEBKAfile last week: The Egyptian military high command was not working alone when its operations headquarters put together the July 3 takeover of power from the Muslim Brotherhood; it was coordinated closely down to the last detail with the palaces of the Saudi and UAE rulers and the operations rooms of their intelligence services. The last DEBKA Weekly issue 594 (July 5) carried details of the military-intelligence mechanism at work between the three governments. The coming issue, out next Friday, July 12, offers further revelations of how this mechanism is designed to shore up Egypt’s post-coup regime and restore the strife-torn country, the most populous in the Arab world, to its traditional eminence. Cairo is assigned a lead role in a Sunni Muslim bloc stretching from the Gulf to Cairo (with room for quiet collaboration with Israel) to withstand the challenges posed by the alliance of Russia, Iran, Syria and the Lebanese Hizballah. The petrodollar shower for Egypt did not end with the $8 billion from Saudi Arabia and the UAE: Kuwait has pledged another $5 billion - later amended to $4 billion - in a secret communication to Riyadh. It will be released after the sheikhdom's parliamentary elections on July 27, and so raise total Gulf Arab bounty to Egypt to the staggering total of $12 billion. Friendly assistance on this scale tends to diminish the relevance of Washington’s dilemmas over the continuation of its $1.3 billion aid package to Egypt after a military coup, of which $700 million is due this year. The suggestion that US aid may be used to hasten Egypt’s “swift return to a democratically elected civilian government” loses its force when Saudi Arabia and the UAE have both guaranteed to make up any shortfalls in US aid to Egypt. On June 26, Syrian Deputy Prime Minister Kadri Jamil boasted that Moscow, Beijing and Tehran were contributing half a billion dollars per month to Syria’s war chest. “It’s not so bad to have Russia, China and Iran on your side,” he gloated. Egypt can now boast to have far outstripped Syria in foreign support - $12 billion in a single month, compared with a mere $6 billion in a year.
"...Almost the only adversary it seemed he couldn't beat was cancer. He died Tuesday in Caracas at 4:25 local time after his prolonged illness. He was 58..." - AP News "An emotional VP Nicolas Maduro made the announcement on Tuesday evening, flanked by leading Venezuelan political and military leaders." The legacy of Hugo Chavez:
Hugo Chavez: The War On Democracy (2007), by John Pilger
'The War On Democracy' (2007) was John Pilger's first for cinema. It explores the current and past relationship of Washington with Latin American countries such as Venezuela, Bolivia and Chile. Using archive footage sourced by Michael Moore's archivist Carl Deal, the film shows how serial US intervention, overt and covert, has toppled a series of legitimate governments in the Latin American region since the 1950s. The democratically elected Chilean government of Salvador Allende, for example, was ousted by a US backed coup in 1973 and replaced by the military dictatorship of General Pinochet. Guatemala, Panama, Nicaragua, Honduras and El Salvador have all been invaded by the United States. John Pilger interviews several ex-CIA agents who took part in secret campaigns against democratic countries in the region. He investigates the School of the Americas in the US state of Georgia, where Pinochet’s torture squads were trained along with tyrants and death squad leaders in Haiti, El Salvador, Brazil and Argentina. The film unearths the real story behind the attempted overthrow of Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez in 2002 and how the people of the barrios of Caracas rose up to force his return to power. It also looks at the wider rise of populist governments across South America lead by indigenous leaders intent on loosening the shackles of Washington and a fairer redistribution of the continent's natural wealth. John Pilger says: "[The film] is about the struggle of people to free themselves from a modern form of slavery". These people, he says, "describe a world not as American presidents like to see it as useful or expendable, they describe the power of courage and humanity among people with next to nothing. They reclaim noble words like democracy, freedom, liberation, justice, and in doing so they are defending the most basic human rights of all of us in a war being waged against all of us." 'The War On Democracy' was a Youngheart Entertainment, Granada and Michael Watt production. It was released in UK cinemas on 15 June 2007 and broadcast on ITV1, 20 August 2007. Directors: John Pilger and Chris Martin. Producers: Chris Martin and Wayne Young. Editor: Joe Frost. The film was made with the support of the humanitarian financier Michael Watt. Awards: Best Documentary Award, 2008 One World Awards, London. The panel's citation read: "There are six criteria the judges are asked to use to select the winner of this award: the film's impact on public opinion, its appeal to a wide audience, its inclusion of voices from the developing world, its high journalistic or production standards, its success in conveying the impact of the actions of the world's rich on the lives of the poor and the extent to which it draws attention to possible solutions. One film met every one of these. It was the winner of the award: John Pilger's 'The War on Democracy'. Johnpilger.com
FAIR USE STATEMENT: This Video may contain copyrighted material, the use of which may not have been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. I am making this material available in an effort to advance understanding of , political, religion, human rights, economic, and social justice issues, etc This video and/or material may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in an effort to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this video and/or information is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.Fair Use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of Fair Use (Moe, AllSeeingEye). If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'Fair Use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. Digital Millennium Copyright Act- In Aug 2008, U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel of San Jose, California, ruled that copyright holders cannot order a deletion of an online file without determining whether that posting reflected "fair use" of the copyrighted material. [View the blog`s full Fair Use Copyright Disclaimer at the end of the homepage]
Published on Apr 20, 2012 by democracynow http://youtu.be/hfS2Op9l3nk DemocracyNow.org - National Security Agency whistleblower William Binney reveals he believes domestic surveillance has become more expansive under President Obama than President George W. Bush. He estimates the NSA has assembled 20 trillion "transactions" — phone calls, emails and other forms of data — from Americans. This likely includes copies of almost all of the emails sent and received from most people living in the United States. Binney talks about Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act and challenges NSA Director Keith Alexander's assertion that the NSA is not intercepting information about U.S. citizens. This interview is part of a 4-part special. Click here to see segment 1, 2, and 4. [includes rush transcript]
GUESTS: William Binney, served in the NSA for over 30 years, including a time as director of the NSA’s World Geopolitical and Military Analysis Reporting Group. Since retiring from the NSA in 2001, he has warned that the NSA’s data-mining program has become so vast that it could "create an Orwellian state." Jacob Appelbaum, a computer security researcher who has volunteered with WikiLeaks. He is a developer and advocate for the Tor Project, a network enabling its users to communicate anonymously on the internet. Laura Poitras, an award-winning documentary filmmaker and producer. She is working on the third part of a trilogy of films about America post-9/11. The first film was My Country, My Country," and the second was The Oath.
Copyright Disclaimer [Rubaiat`s Blog]: The use of incidental copyrighted material is covered under 'Fair Use' (Copyright Act, 1976) Title 17 U.S.C Section 107, with particular emphasis on such use for educational and non-profit purposes. Under Sec. 107 of the Copyright Act (1976), allowance is made for 'Fair Use' for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. This video and/or material may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in an effort to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this video and/or information is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.Fair Use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of Fair Use (Moe, AllSeeingEye). If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'Fair Use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. Digital Millennium Copyright Act- In Aug 2008, U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel of San Jose, California, ruled that copyright holders cannot order a deletion of an online file without determining whether that posting reflected "fair use" of the copyrighted material. [View the blog`s full Fair Use Copyright Disclaimer at the end of the homepage]
What did a foreign-backed 'revolution' brought to Libya
Photo credit: Libya SOS
1. Loss of sovereignty, all unsatisfied regions want autonomy now,borders are 'legally protected' by foreign forces [Italian and French],foreign military bases on its soil, and airspace out of domestic control. No one respects new puppet government, there are no legal police institutions, or national army, country is 'ruled' by different militias which are infighting among themselves. 2. Central bank is not independent anymore. 3. Country with NO foreign debt is now heavily indebted. 4. Infrastructure destroyed by friendly NATO bombs [schools,hospitals,roads,airports,civilians buildings,government buildings]. 5. Tens of thousands dead, and killings continue. 6. 55.000 wounded NATO-led rebels are treated outside of country, expences payed with Libyan money. 7. Thousands of tortured black prisoners in real and makeshift jails, some in cages forced to eat flag and jump like apes. 8. Rape and kidnappings became widespread occurance. 9. Drugs and weapons smuggling are widespread,sometimes as only means of income, unless you work in US NGOs which are popping up like mushrooms after the rain, in order to whitewash NATO's crimes. 10. Oil is in the hands of foreign forces.
11. Tripoli is ruled by Belhadj, former Al Qaeda commander, whose fraction is pushing for gender inequality Sharia laws. 12. Libyan Media is in the hand of Nato countries. 13. Wahabi's allowed to desecrate christian graveyards.
14. Retaliation on kids and woman "from the other side" are common occurance.
15. NTC military Checkpoints around towns where people are regularly harassed, as the only mean of keeping 'democracy in order'. 16. What else?? O yes, 'revolution' has brought freedom and democracy. Please visit Libya S.O.S for all news on Libya
Syria's President Bashar al-Assad and his wife Asma vote during a referendum on a new constitution at a polling station in a Syrian TV station building in Damascus February 26, 2012. (Reuters / Sana Sana) RT news
Syria’s Interior Minister has announced that 89 per cent of those who took part in the referendum have voted in favor of a new constitution. The new law puts an end to five decades of one-party rule among other reforms put forward by President Assad. Interior Minister Ibrahim al-Shaar announced the results of the referendum at a press conference on Monday. According to the minister, out of 14,580,000 Syrians eligible to vote some 8,376,000, or about 57 per cent, actually came to the polling stations and voted, RT’s Maria Finoshina reports from Damascus.
Al-Shaar said that the opposition groups tried to hamper the vote in some troubled areas like Homs and Idlib. Armed rebels did not allow some people to get to the polling stations he said.The minister has not provided the figures on turnout in these cities.
“In Homs we are going to fight till the very end, till there are no armed groups,” he said, as cited by Finoshina.
Those who live in such troubled regions had a chance to vote at polling stations which had been set up out of areas where clashes with the armed opposition still continue. Syrians who live in neighboring countries voted at stations set up near the borders.
“We are satisfied with the results,” al-Shaar said. “The Syrian people have made their choice.” Russia’s Foreign Ministry considers the results of the referendum in Syria to be evidence of the wide public support for the government's course of reforms. "The referendum has confirmed that the course for changes is supported by the people,” the ministry’s statement said. “The influence of those opposition groups that called for boycotting the referendum is restricted and gives them no exclusive right to speak on behalf of the Syrian people."
The adopted constitution includes 14 new and 47 amended articles. The reforms put forward by President Assad are designed to stop the bloody uprising and pave the way for free elections in the country.
An unprecedented referendum on a new draft constitution took place in Syria on Sunday. Syrians took an active part in the crucial vote and the officials said turnout was very high. Despite the fact that the opposition boycotted the referendum, calling it an empty gesture, and called for mass protests, there were no public order violations in Damascus during the vote. Western politicians considered the referendum to be a farce, with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton calling it "a cynical ploy" and German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle describing it as a "sham vote."
Meanwhile, on Monday the European Union has slapped the Syrian government with its toughest set of sanctions yet. They include an asset freeze on officials, and a ban on importing precious metals and minerals from the country. More than a year since the uprising in Syria began, violence is still raging on in some parts of the country, including the flashpoint city of Homs, where dozens were reported killed during the weekend.
Shaykh Waleed Basyouni is a frequent guest speaker at Universities, Conventions, Radio Talk Shows, Television, Interfaith meetings, and community centers nationally and internationally. He is also a member of the North American Imam Federation (NAIF), Assembly of Muslim Jurists in America (AMJA)-Fatwa and Research Committee, Director of Texas Dawah Convention, and Advisor to numerous Islamic Societies/Organizations around the US. Shaykh Waleed Basyouni graduated with a Bachelors in Islamic Sciences from Al-Imam Muhammad University, KSA; did his Masters in Islamic Theology, World Religions and Modern Religious Sects from Al-Imam Muhammad University; and acquired a Doctorate in Theology. He is also an instructor at the American Open University in Alexandria, VA, USA, and serves as, the Imam of Clear Lake Islamic Center, Houston, TX, USA. Shaykh Waleed has Ijaazahs in reciting the Holy Quran and in several books of Hadeeth, awarded by various scholars. He studied under great scholars time such as Shaykh Ibn Baz, Abdul-Razzaq Afify and others.
Copyright Disclaimer [Rubaiat`s Blog]:
The use of incidental copyrighted material is covered under 'Fair Use' (Copyright Act, 1976) Title 17 U.S.C Section 107, with particular emphasis on such use for educational and non-profit purposes. Under Sec. 107 of the Copyright Act (1976), allowance is made for 'Fair Use' for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair Use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of Fair Use (Moe, AllSeeingEye). If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'Fair Use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
Digital Millennium Copyright Act-
In Aug 2008, U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel of San Jose, California, ruled that copyright holders cannot order a deletion of an online file without determining whether that posting reflected "fair use" of the copyrighted material. [View the blog`s full Fair Use Copyright Disclaimer at the end of the homepage]
