1. “SEC: Government Destroyed Documents Regarding Pre-9/11 Put Options”
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2010/06/sec-government-destroyed-documents.html
2. “Timing of Afghan Mineral Story Wealth Evokes Skepticism
So, the question for many observers was why the article, which dominated much of the foreign news in the network and cable broadcast media during Monday’s news cycle, was published now.
Risen himself suggested an answer in his story, noting “American and Afghan officials agreed to discuss the mineral discoveries at a difficult moment in the war in Afghanistan.”
…
In that respect, the appearance of the Times story Monday looked to many observers like part of an effort to strengthen the case for giving the counterinsurgency effort more time. “
http://original.antiwar.com/lobe/2010/06/14/timing-of-afghan-mineral-wealth-evokes-skepticism/
3. “Gangs and Violence in Jamaica and Haiti
Several political activists explained to Hallward, “In Haiti, as a rule, when you defend the interest of the people you are treated as a criminal, whether your name is Dessalines, Peralte or Wilme.” The latter was a community activist who was assassinated in July 2005 by UN soldiers; the former were two of Haiti’s historic anti-slavery and anti-colonial leaders.
The peoples of Jamaica and Haiti share a profound history. Their ancestors fought long and hard against the slave empires of the Americas, at times seeking alliances between each other. Haiti’s revolt against Spain, Britain and France was astonishingly successful. It wrote one of the most inspiring chapters in modern human history. Jamaica’s was not; the country did not gain independence from Britain until 1962.
Both countries have faced relentless, big power intervention in their internal affairs to prevent socially progressive government from gaining a foothold and expanding. Both are still waiting for a semblance of economic justice and independence.
From the Jamaican and Haitian experience, one sees that gang phenomena receive varied treatment from foreign powers and their media. Criminal gangs are tolerated so long as they abide their place and do not embarrass or encroach upon the business world of their sponsors. Sometimes, as in Jamaica, they must be curbed when the U.S. master requires a publicity show for its phony war on drugs.
Self defense efforts that arise when poor people and neighbourhoods are obliged to defend themselves against institutional violence are, however, never tolerated. What the CBC and others condemn as gang violence is in many cases the desperate effort of some of the poorest and most oppressed people in the world to protect themselves against the real perpetrators of violence, the imperial overlords of their countries.”
http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19744
4. “The Role of “Mental Imagery”: Giving a “Human Face” to Racism, Genocide and War Crimes
http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19709
5. “The media’s understanding of its role
It’s not that these media figures fail to perform their assigned function or consciously decide that they won’t. They don’t even conceive of their purpose in this way, because holding government officials accountable is not actually their purpose. With some accidental exceptions, the corporations which own these media outlets don’t choose people for these positions who want to or who will perform these accountability functions. They choose the ones who have no interest in doing so, no ability to do so, and who simply won’t — and thus don’t. Gregory and Henry don’t succeed in their corporations despite their failure to do their jobs of holding government officials accountable; they succeed because they do their job, which doesn’t include that function.
…
One other point: what Axelrod tried to explain to Gregory about accountability — “trust” and attempts to understand someone’s character are irrelevant; what matters is evidence and “mak[ing] sure that they do what they’re required to do” — is also a good guide for how citizens should think of political leaders, even (especially) their favorite ones.”
http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2010/06/15/henry/index.html
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