Powerful Palestinian Oscar Contender

Went to a screening last night, of  a fine, understated and powerful Documentary, "5 Broken Cameras", shown by the estimable George Sandoval's Oxnard Film Society, which has an excellent program of interesting, mainly Foreign, movies. (Details at http://oxnardfilmsociety.org/)

Their blurb for "5 Broken Cameras" says,  "An extraordinary work of both cinematic and political activism, 5 Broken Cameras is a deeply personal, first-hand account of non-violent resistance in Bil'in, a West Bank village threatened by encroaching Israeli settlements. Shot almost entirely by Palestinian farmer Emad Burnat, who bought his first camera in 2005 to record the birth of his youngest son, the footage was later given to Israeli co-director Guy Davidi to edit. Structured around the violent destruction of each one of Burnat'scameras, the filmmakers' collaboration follows one family's evolution over five years of village turmoil. Burnat watches from behind the lens as olive trees are bulldozed, protests intensify, and lives are lost. "I feel like the camera protects me," he says, "but it's an illusion.""

Emad Burnat is the first Palestinian documentary filmmaker ever nominated for an Academy Award.

Guess what?  When he arrived at LAX to visit "The land of the free", he was immediately treated to some of our all-American official harassment.

Michael Moore, a governor of the Academy's documentary branch and a champion of Burnat's film,  said, “"Emad, his wife & 8-yr old son were placed in a holding area and told they didn't have the proper invitation on them to attend the Oscars," he wrote. "Although he produced the Oscar invite nominees receive, that wasn't good enough & he was threatened with being sent back to Palestine... Apparently the Immigration & Customs officers couldn't understand how a Palestinian could be an Oscar nominee.”

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/emad-burnat-detained-michael-moore-422616

I haven't seen the other Best Documentary contenders, so I don't know what the competition is like, but if this moving film wins (and the Documentary Section is about the only progressive faction in the Academy), it will send a powerful message about Israel's behavior in the Occupied Territories, and the effect on Palestinian villagers of the continued expansion of the Israeli settlements.

A couple of years ago, I read Jeremy Bowen's excellent "Six Days", on the 6-Day War in 1967.  Bowen is the BBC's  Middle East Editor, and a true expert on the Middle East.  (I also recommend writings by Robert Fisk, of the London "Independent".)

One thing Bowen's book makes vividly clear, is that the "settlements" are and have been since 1948, the vital element in Zionist expansionism.  Of course, to Americans, the word "settler" has a friendly, even inspiring connotation - of brave pioneers opening up "empty" lands to civilization, against fearsome odds.

However, in the Israeli case, the settlements are government backed, and are used as wedges to drive into Palestinian communities, steal their farmland, and divide their communities.  The settlers are recruited from the most fanatical religious groups, those loonies who actually believe that "God" would choose one tiny group of humanity and "give" them a particular piece of land, along with carte blanche to use any vile tactic to seize and hold that land.  (Nobody seems to notice that in any normal society, this would be regarded as raving madness.)

 The settlers themselves are heavily armed, but further, they receive the full protection of the Israeli "Defence" Force.  Thus, far from being peaceful farmers looking to grow food, they are actually the spearhead of a military takeover.

Ain't life grand?

Challenging Monsanto, #2

I just found a cool link to the "Indiana Farmer vs Monsanto" case, in The Atlantic, written by Andrew Cohen, a contributing editor at The Atlantic and legal analyst for 60 Minutes. 

The story takes the form of a speculation on "What Would Woody Guthrie Think?"

Read on:  http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/02/monsantos-supreme-court-seed-fight-what-would-woody-guthrie-think/266072/

American Hero stands up to Monsanto

An Indiana farmer is taking Monsanto all the way to the Supreme Court over their genetically modified FrankenSeeds....

Thanks to my partner, Robin, for contributing this.  The report is from the New York Times Business Section, so it's pretty loaded towards the Monsanto spin on the issue, but at least it gets the case out to the public - http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/16/business/supreme-court-to-hear-monsanto-seed-patent-case.html?smid=fb-share&_r=1&

If anyone has less business-slanted stories on this case, I'd be glad to hear about them - thanks!

Wonderful Elizabeth Warren, Senator #2

A new plea has just come in from Sen. Elizabeth Warren.  As you may know, she was the creator of the idea for a much-needed Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.  She managed to get that passed, but she was blocked by benighted Republicans from being the head of it - which is why she ran for Senate.

Now she's asking for our help: 

"The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau we worked so hard to create is pushing back on big banks, but the Senate Republicans are blocking a vote on the nomination of my friend Richard Cordray to be its permanent Director. We need to demand that Rich Cordray gets an up-or-down vote.

Why are the Senate Republicans blocking a vote on Rich Cordray? Just take a look at what the agency has done so far.

The CFPB has already forced the credit card companies to return nearly half a billion dollars that they had cheated from consumers. The agency is helping students get better information about student loans and has a hotline to help consumers get back money when they have been cheated. And the agency has put out new rules on mortgages that will protect families and level the playing field between small financial institutions like community banks and credit unions and larger ones.

In other words, the agency is starting to work.

But for two years, Senate Republicans have held Richard Cordray hostage, saying they will block any vote on Director unless the Senate Democrats agree to weaken the agency and limit its ability to hold the big banks and credit card companies accountable.

They don't want to see strong enforcement of our laws, plain and simple.

It took hundreds of thousands of people across the country fighting for an up-or-down vote to get a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau -- and now it's going to take hundreds of thousands of people fighting to get Rich Cordray confirmed.

This week, I joined Senators Tim Johnson of South Dakota, Jack Reed of Rhode Island and Sherrod Brown of Ohio to call for an up-or-down vote on Rich Cordray. I'm going to keep on fighting each and every day until he gets a vote.

Will you help us keep fighting to level the playing field for working families? Sign my petition to demand an up-or-down vote for Rich Cordray now.

Thank you for putting the wind in our sails to keep fighting. This is how we bring real change -- we do it together.

Elizabeth"

Wonderful Elizabeth Warren, Senator #1

For those who don't already know, please pay attention to the new Senator from Massachusetts, Elizabeth Warren.  She's an expert on Finance and the regulation of Financial Institutions - which is why she's been bitterly opposed by the Beltway insiders, ever since she dared to raise her head in public life.

Sometime soon, I'll post some links to interviews with Ms Warren.

Today she has a video out, in which she challenges financial "regulators" to name the last time they took a Bank to court.  (They can't, of course.) 

You can watch the video here, and there are spaces to show your support for Sen. Warren, and to report your own horror stories of tussles with the Banking bandits.  We all have them!  My own stories are trivial compared to the thousands of people who have had their homes and livelihoods taken from them, but I include them below just for yocks....

Here's the link:  

http://act.boldprogressives.org/survey/survey_warren_sec/?akid=12129.348172.eTl0KN&rd=1&source=e1-don-warr-fin&t=1

We should all be thrilled that Ms Warren is in the Senate, and on the important Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee.  Now we need another 60+ honest Senators like her!

My Bank horror story:  (They may have stopped this now, but...) WAMU would deduct all debits from my account before applying credits, so that I appeared to overdraw. Then they'd penalize me for the fake overdraft!

Credit horror:   My credit rating was wrongly downgraded: I challenged a false "ding" to my credit report, and was told twice that it had been removed from my record. But it's still there, and I still get "offers" to pay it off - Nearly 20 YEARS later! (I've written to Sen. Warren before, suggesting that she investigate the whole Credit report system, wherein Corporations are Judge, Jury and Executioner in their own cases, and the citizen has NO recourse!) Furthermore, I've been told by a banker that one's Credit Rating can be harmed by applying for credit, or for checking too often on one's credit rating!

More on Sen. Warren, one of our few genuine Washington Watchdogs, soon....

The Truth about Corporations

Senator Bernie Sanders posted this in Huffington Post:

A Choice For Corporate America: Are You With America Or The Cayman Islands?

By Senator Bernie Sanders
February 9, 2013

When the greed, recklessness, and illegal behavior on Wall Street drove this country into the deepest recession since the 1930s, the largest financial institutions in the United States took every advantage of being American. They just loved their country - and the willingness of the American people to provide them with the largest bailout in world history. In 2008, Congress approved a $700 billion gift to Wall Street. Another $16 trillion in virtually zero interest loans and other financial assistance came from the Federal Reserve. America. What a great country.

But just two years later, as soon as these giant financial institutions started making record-breaking profits again, they suddenly lost their love for their native country. At a time when the nation was suffering from a huge deficit, largely created by the recession that Wall Street caused, the major financial institutions did everything they could to avoid paying American taxes by establishing shell corporations in the Cayman Islands and other tax havens.

In 2010, Bank of America set up more than 200 subsidiaries in the Cayman Islands (which has a corporate tax rate of 0.0 percent) to avoid paying U.S. taxes. It worked. Not only did Bank of America pay nothing in federal income taxes, but it received a rebate from the IRS worth $1.9 billion that year. They are not alone. In 2010, JP Morgan Chase operated 83 subsidiaries incorporated in offshore tax havens to avoid paying some $4.9 billion in U.S. taxes. That same year Goldman Sachs operated 39 subsidiaries in offshore tax havens to avoid an estimated $3.3 billion in U.S. taxes. Citigroup has paid no federal income taxes for the last four years after receiving a total of $2.5 trillion in financial assistance from the Federal Reserve during the financial crisis.

On and on it goes. Wall Street banks and large companies love America when they need corporate welfare. But when it comes to paying American taxes or American wages, they want nothing to do with this country. That has got to change.

Offshore tax abuse is not just limited to Wall Street. Each and every year corporations and the wealthy are avoiding more than $100 billion in U.S. taxes by sheltering their income offshore.

Pharmaceutical companies like Eli Lilly and Pfizer have fought to make it illegal for the American people to buy cheaper prescription drugs from Canada and Europe. But, during tax season, Eli Lilly and Pfizer shift drug patents and profits to the Netherlands and other offshore tax havens to avoid paying U.S. taxes.

Apple wants all of the advantages of being an American company, but it doesn't want to pay American taxes or American wages. It creates the iPad, the iPhone, the iPod, and iTunes in the United States, but manufactures most of its products in China so it doesn't have to pay American wages. Then it shifts most of its profits to Ireland, Luxembourg, the British Virgin Islands and other tax havens to avoid paying U.S. taxes. Without such maneuvers, Apple's federal tax bill in the United States would have been $2.4 billion higher in 2011.

Californians - act to Label GMOs!

From Food Democracy Now:

Dear Friend,

Let's finish what we started with Prop 37! This week a bill to label genetically engineered foods could be introduced in California and thousands of mothers, farmers and activists across the state are joining together to show their support! Citizens in more than 60 other countries enjoy the basic right of knowing if their food has been genetically engineered, but for the past 20 years Americans have been denied this basic democratic right.

Already the opposition is working behind the scenes and we need your help today! If passed, California would become the first state in the U.S. to require mandatory labeling of GMOs in our food.

Right now 13 new GMO crops are awaiting approval at the USDA, including Monsanto’s 2,4-D Agent Orange corn and the “Botox” GMO apple. At the same time, the FDA is getting ready to approve genetically engineered salmon. If approved, AquaBounty’s GMO salmon would be the first genetically engineered animal allowed on the market and it would appear on your plates unlabeled!

With your help, we can change that! Join us to help make GMO labeling a reality in California!

http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/sign/support_gmo_labeling_in_california/?referring_akid=743.198452.ncUuEr&source=taf

 

Thanks!

 

Richard.

More On Healthy Food and Obesity

Good report this morning on Al Jazeera English (of course!), about how Junk Food lobbyists are preventing America from dealing with the Obesity epidemic....  http://www.aljazeera.com/video/americas/2013/02/201321051224898175.html

Geek of the Week, #2

From a clever t-Shirt site:  http://www.snorgtees.com/?sn_prod=anything-unrelated-elephants&gclid=COOSwIaYpbUCFfRbPAodzisAQg

A Novel Recommendation

"The Night Inspector" by Frederick Busch - a powerful, creative vision of the Civil War and the brutal damage it did to one man, and by extension to America.  Having been seared by his experiences, he turns to money-making in his attempt to win meaning for his existence.  Sound familiar?

Will also be fascinating to fans of Herman Melville - 'nuff said!

Strongly recommended!

http://www.amazon.com/Night-Inspector-Ballantine-Readers-Circle/dp/0449006158

Add your name for the Amazon!

From Avaaz.org:

In the heart of Ecuador, a mega oil company is trying to turn the most pristine rainforest into an oil field. The Sani Isla Kichwa people are bravely resisting, and they have just asked for our help to save their home.

The community has signed a pledge never to sell their land, where jaguars roam and a single hectare can hold more diverse animal life than all of North America! But Ecuador’s government is trying to buy them off and open up 4 million hectares of the Amazon to big oil. President Correa is in an election battle right now, and he rides on a reputation of respect for the environment and indigenous peoples. If we can kick up a global stink and make the Amazon protection an election issue, we could stop the oil rush.

So far the community has courageously stood firm, but the oil men could come with their drilling gear any day now. The Kichwa are appealing for our help to save their Amazon. Sign this petition now and share it widely -- if 1 million people sign, we’ll build a media storm that forces Correa to pull back:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/oil_in_the_amazon_global_rb/?tOKNJab

After Texaco and other oil companies polluted Ecuadorian waters and irreversibly devastated precious ecosystems, Correa led his country to be the world’s first nation to recognize the rights of “Mother Earth” in its constitution. He announced Ecuador was not for sale, and in Yasuni National Park promoted an innovative initiative where other governments pay Ecuador to keep oil in the ground to protect the rainforest rather than destroy it. But now he’s on the verge of selling out.

Shockingly, the Kichwa land is partly in Yasuni National Park. But even more shocking is Correa's bigger plan -- in days government officials begin a world tour to offer foreign investors the right to drill across 4 million hectares of forest (an area larger than the Netherlands!) Ecuador, as any country, may argue it has the right to profit from its natural resources, but the constitution itself says it must respect indigenous rights and its amazing forests, which bring millions in tourist dollars every year.

Right now, Correa is in a tough fight to be reelected. It’s the perfect time to make him honour his environmental promises and make this green constitution come to life. Sign now to stand with the Kichwa people and save their forest:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/oil_in_the_amazon_global_rb/?tOKNJab

Our community has fought year after year to protect the Amazon in Brazil and Bolivia, and won many victories standing in solidarity with indigenous communities. Now it’s Ecuador’s turn -- let’s respond to this urgent call for action and save their forest.

With hope and determination,

Alex, Pedro, Alice, Laura, Marie, Ricken, Taylor, Morgan and all the Avaaz team

More Information:

Ecuadorian tribe gets reprieve from oil intrusion (The Guardian)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/jan/17/indigenous-ecuadorian-tribe-oil-intrusion

Ecuador adopts rights of nature in constitution (Rights of Nature)
http://therightsofnature.org/ecuador-rights/

How oil extraction impacts the rainforest (Amazon Watch)
http://amazonwatch.org/news/2013/0107-oil-extraction-how-oil-production-impacts-the-rainforest

Drilling for oil in Eden: initiative to save amazon rainforest in Ecuador is uncertain (Scientific American)
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/2012/03/17/drilling-for-oil-in-eden-initiative-to-save-amazon-rainforest-in-ecuador-is-uncertain/

Ecuador’s indigenous leaders oppose new oil exploration plans in Amazon region (Earth Island Journal)
http://www.earthisland.org/journal/index.php/elist/eListRead/ecuadors_indigenous_leaders_oppose_new_oil_exploration/

Would You Condemn Socrates?

The correct answer should be "I bloody well hope not!"

But apparently the people of Chicago would, at least according to an item I heard on NPR this morning!

Admittedly, I don't have all the details by a long shot, but supposedly a jury of 1,000 of our esteemed neighbors in Illinois, having listened to hot-shot lawyers make their cases for and against the idea that Socrates was a traitor to Democracy, of all things, for the crime of encouraging young people to question the way things are - found the great freethinker GUILTY!

God help us!

Valentines for the Political