Vote Early, Vote Often

Despite being under a great big nasty bout of lurgi I recently had to rush to Stockholm to stop the Nobel committee from inaugurating a blogging prize and awarding it to me. They were pretty hard to dissuade, me being great an’ all, but eventually I managed to halt their slavering worship of my brilliance. They agreed that other bloggers need to be encouraged rather than them using their influence through awards to start a new global religion to worship me as a God. They were also impressed at how humble I was and not in any way a fibber. Anyways…two blogs from me roll are up for various 2008 Weblog Awards Inca Kola News and Madam Miaow says, you can vote once every 24 hours up to the deadline (13th Jan) so vote early and vote often.

Also American peeps the Dream Activists say-

Currently, there is an active project on CHANGE.ORG, a website that will present the top 10 ideas that it generates to the Obama administration upon its inauguration. DreamACTivist.org has presented the idea “Pass the DREAM Act Now” and it has gathered enough support to make it to the second round.

Starting January 5th, the voting polls will re-open for the second round. We will ONLY have 10 days to gather as many votes and support as possible in order to become one of the top 10 ideas that will be presented to the Obama administration.

Click here to vote.

Racist Spectacle, Class Spectacle

Evo Morales spoke out on Gaza-

Israel must change its policies and the U.S. government should not continue using a country like Israel to invade countries that are seeking liberation… The killings are not a solution in this new millennium, so Israel should stop being a tool of U.S. imperialism to humiliate the Palestinian people.

As this short compilation shows the wealthy racists of Santa Cruz are also keen on violence to achieve their ends (ht2 Otto)-

And from The Angry Arab ‘The White Man and Gaza‘-

660 Palestinian killed and 2950 injured. Of those, there are 214 Children and 89 women. And it’s smiles all round for the European elites. But how can these Israelis enjoy their picnic watching Palestinians being killed, because apart from the sheer sadism-

Prof. Shlomo Sand– “No population remains pure over a period of thousands of years. But the chances that the Palestinians are descendants of the ancient Judaic people are much greater than the chances that you or I are its descendents.”

I mean haven’t they noticed how their ruling class don’t have their luxury compounds in Sderot? Yet they are convenient when a brand is needed for a new war product-

Israel is not a state of, by and for the Jewish people. It is rather a state of, by and for a sprinkling of families, 19 in all, whose income amounts to $70 billion—88% of the national budget.

Atrocities, Nowhere to Run

Eva Bartlett In Gaza–

The Shifa director also told me that emergency medics still cannot reach the Zaytoun house that yesterday morning was bombed with inhabitants locked inside. There are two main accounts of the story, both criminal. One: Israeli soldiers rounded up the inhabitants of the multi-story house, separated the men –15, I was told–and shot them point blank in front of the women and children of the family, 20, I was told. Then, laid explosives around the house and bombed the rest of the extended family.

Two: Israeli soldiers rounded up the inhabitants of the multi-story house, locked them in one room for a day, and bombed it the following morning.

Either way, Israeli soldiers intentionally imprisoned and bombed the inhabitants of the house. And are actively preventing medics from reaching any potential survivors. The medics have tried to coordinate with the ICRC (international committee of the red cross) without success: no one can reach the house.

Also this exchange from Democracy Now! regarding the school that was attacked–

AMY GOODMAN: Is it true that the people who went into the school for protection, some of them were responding to the pamphlets dropped by the Israeli military telling them to leave their homes?
CHRISTOPHER GUNNESS: It’s very likely that that is the case. But let’s be clear here. When you get a leaflet saying “Leave your house. It’s about to be attacked. Go to safety,” there is no safety in Gaza. Your listeners must realize that there is a large fence around Gaza. In conflicts, people grab their children and flee to safety. There’s no safety in Gaza today. There is nowhere for these people to flee, which is why we echo the words of the Secretary-General: “Stop the fighting.”

TV Studios, Paramedics Targeted

Sameh A. Habeeb blogs-

Note: I migt stop reporting either if I die or I flee my home. Shells rain down beside my house now. Pray for me…Pray for Me….

Read his post Day 10 of Israeli War On Gaza and do whatever you do to hope people stay alive.

From Eva Bartlett In Gaza–

the building i was in was just bombed.  from the 10th floor news studio where i’d had an interview, a series of strikes against the building, housing numerous TV stations, threatened to bring down the walls, bring down the building.

The doctor continues the narrative. “After they were shelled, Thaer couldn’t walk. He called to Ali to carry him.” The rest goes: Ali had carried Thaer some distance when Ali was shot in the head, a bullet, shot from an unseen soldier in the direction from which they fled. Ali dead, Thaer injured, and people fleeing, the ambulance was called. When Arafa and Alaa arrived, they managed to load Thaer into the ambulance, and were working on getting Ali’s body to the clearly-marked vehicle when the shell came. Ali lost his head, killed twice. Alaa is riddled with shrapnel over his back and to his groin. Arafa’s lung came out. Arafa underwent heart surgery and doctors worked on his mutilated body. He went into shock and died an hour or so later.

Blair Gets Golden Brown Nose At Last

Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair will receive the highest civilian award in the US – the Presidential Medal of Freedom – next week.In his last week in office, President Bush will award the medal to Mr Blair, former Australian PM John Howard and Colombian President Alvaro Uribe.

Such distinguished company, reads more like a perp walk, or should. This is his second erm, honour–

Mr Blair was awarded the congressional gold medal in July 2003, shortly after the invasion of Iraq, but he has yet to collect it. There was some speculation that unease over the Iraq war and Mr Blair’s close friendship with Mr Bush made him reluctant to accept it while in office. But each medal is individually designed and minted and it was reported it was taking some time to decide on the words and images. The office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives told the Sunday Telegraph this week that Mr Blair was taking a keen interest in the medal’s design, before it was specially made by the US Federal Mint.

Now some may ask what Blair The Peace Envoy is doing with Gaza being flattened under his nose, you might also ask why Bush is sending massive resources to Darfur in his twilight days. Some victims are deemed worthy or convenient, or…AFRICOM needing a hand (shame on me for doubting George Bush’s humanitarian impulses!)-

WASHINGTON —President Bush has authorized an immediate airlift of vehicles and equipment to bolster the international peace-keeping mission in the conflict-torn Darfur region of western Sudan, the White House announced on Monday.

Because of the urgency of the situation, the president is waiving the normal 15-day period to notify Congress of his intentions “because failing to do so would pose a substantial risk to human health and welfare,” Stephen Hadley, the president’s national security adviser, said in a statement.

The airlift to aid the peace mission, formally known as the United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur, is a significant step up in American involvement in the region, even though it will not involve military action. The region has long been riven by ethnic and sectarian strife, which has claimed thousands of lives.