Abby Martin talks to activist and photojournalist Jenna Pope, about her work documenting mass protests from Occupy Wall Street to Turkey.
Visit her website: Jenna Pope Photography
Children waded through sewage submerging the streets of a central Gaza neighborhood on Thursday, a day after one of the blockaded Palestinian enclave’s largest waste water treatment plants stopped for lack of fuel.
Fetid muck, which bubbles up from manholes and overflows from the idle plant when waste goes untreated, could soon spill into the homes of tens of thousands more residents in downtown Gaza City, officials and residents said.
Egypt’s months-long crackdown on cross-border smuggling tunnels that used to bring fuel in cheaply has already forced Gaza’s only power plant to stop, meaning two weeks of daily 12-hour blackouts for the territory’s 1.8 million residents.
“This is the start of a catastrophe and unless the world listens to our cries, a real disaster may hit Gaza and its people,” Gaza municipality’s Sa’ad El-Deen Al-Tbash said.
“This is a humanitarian, not a political issue. Gaza’s children did nothing to deserve being stuck in sewage,” he told Reuters.
Gazan municipality officials said the treatment plant served 120,000 residents. They warned that other waste water facilities may soon run out of petrol to fuel generators.
Source: Reuters
Related: Israeli Security Forces Spray Skunk at Palestinian Homes
“Did Jesus Die?” is a documentary produced by Richard Denton, ex-director in the BBC, presenting a theory of crucifixion that originated with Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. The documentary asks the question as to whether Jesus in fact survived the crucifixion and whether his being seen after the crucifixion was an example of survival rather than resurrection.
The documentary then examines the question as to where Jesus disappeared after the crucifixion, by investigating various claims that he travelled to the south of France and even England. Finally, the documentary raises the evidence that Jesus travelled to India, Tibet and Nepal before dying at an old age and being buried there in the Khan Yar quarter of Srinagar, Kashmir, where his tomb is said to reside.
Also watch: Jesus in India | Jesus in Kashmir | The Secret Family of Jesus
The Texan version of the Ten Commandments by the Fraternal Order of Eagels.
Notice the Illuminati symbol (the all-seeing eye) at the top.
I always enjoy when members of Jehovah’s Witnesses come knocking on my door to teach me a little about their faith, and that’s just what happened this morning. I invited them inside for a cup of coffee and a chat, and since Xmas is fast approaching, they wanted to refresh my memory about the life of Jesus Christ. We quickly went through the well-known tale about Joseph and Mary, her pregnancy and Virgin Birth (which they didn’t bother to elaborate on), and further on to the visiting by the Three Wise Men who came all the way from the Far East. At that point I became curious and took out a map to see if we could figure out approximately where they might have come from. After some random guessing (Persia, India, Tibet and even China all seemed likely when following the old trade routes), the Witnesses suddenly changed subject and went on to talk about the Ten Commandments. Not surprisingly, I couldn’t remember all of them, so I guess I made their day by having them go through all 10 rules for me, one by one.
When the Witnesses had left, I decided to look up the Commandments on the Internet, and to my surprise I found at least 5 different versions. The various sects (Catholics, Protestants, Lutherans, Jews, Evangelicals, Mormons, etc) all have different versions of the same Commandments, and when I found a photo from a church in Texas (see above), I noticed it actually had 12 Commandments! I suppose somebody ought to ask the Pope to sort out this confusion, since the holy Bible clearly states that those fundamental laws were inscribed by the finger of the almighty God himself on a pair of stone tablets! I haven’t been able to find a photo of the original tablets, but later discovered that Moses actually smashed them in anger towards his people and was ordered to make some new copies. Anyway, here’s how the extended Texan version reads:
01. I AM the LORD thy God.
02. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
03. Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven images.
04. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
05. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
06. Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
07. Thou shalt not kill.
08. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
09. Thou shalt not steal.
10. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
11. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house.
12. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his cattle, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.
Apparently, you can just merge or leave out some of the rules to make it 10, as you see fit. For instance, I noticed the Protestant version has skipped the first Commandment and merged 11 and 12 to make it Ten. The Catholic church has left out the third Commandment, presumably because it loves to make ‘graven images’ of their holy figures. And if president Obama is a Christian of some sort, he most likely has left out the seventh Commandment in order to make allowance for his murderous drone program.
Actually, there are many more Commandments if you continue reading the holy texts. For example, Exodus 20,25 (New International Version) says: “If you make an altar of stones for me, do not build it with dressed stones, for you will defile it if you use a tool on it.” Verse 26: “And do not go up to my altar on steps, or your private parts may be exposed.”
Exodus 21,20: “Anyone who beats their male or female slave with a rod must be punished if the slave dies as a direct result, 21 but they are not to be punished if the slave recovers after a day or two, since the slave is their property.”
Exodus 22,2: “If a thief is caught breaking in at night and is struck a fatal blow, the defender is not guilty of bloodshed; 3 but if it happens after sunrise, the defender is guilty of bloodshed.”
Exodus 22,16: “If a man seduces a virgin who is not pledged to be married and sleeps with her, he must pay the bride-price, and she shall be his wife. 17 If her father absolutely refuses to give her to him, he must still pay the bride-price for virgins.”
Exodus 22,29: “Do not hold back offerings from your granaries or your vats. You must give me the firstborn of your sons. 30 Do the same with your cattle and your sheep. Let them stay with their mothers for seven days, but give them to me on the eighth day.”
Exodus 31,14: “Observe the Sabbath, because it is holy to you. Anyone who desecrates it is to be put to death; those who do any work on that day must be cut off from their people.”
Exodus 34,12: “Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land where you are going, or they will be a snare among you. 13 Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and cut down their Asherah poles. 14 Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.”
Exodus 34,15: “Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land; for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you and you will eat their sacrifices. 16 And when you choose some of their daughters as wives for your sons and those daughters prostitute themselves to their gods, they will lead your sons to do the same.”
Exodus 34,19: “The first offspring of every womb belongs to me, including all the firstborn males of your livestock, whether from herd or flock. 20 Redeem the firstborn donkey with a lamb, but if you do not redeem it, break its neck. Redeem all your firstborn sons. No one is to appear before me empty-handed.”
My goodness, what kind of God is that? I think I have a few questions to ask next time Jehovah’s Witnesses come knocking on my door. Lesson’s over for today, peace be upon you all. Oh, and don’t forget to observe the Sabbath! There’s a death penalty for breaking that law! And it’s actually on Saturdays and not Sundays, as you may have become accustomed to.
Abby Martin takes a look at a shocking statistic that puts opium production in Afghanistan at a record high, and puts into perspective the different corporate interests that could be keeping US forces in Afghanistan well beyond 2014.
Despite efforts to curb Afghan’s opium culture, cultivation has hit record levels as NATO forces prepare to exit the country. The UN warned warlords may be the biggest benefactor of the situation.
The report, the Afghanistan Opium Survey for 2013, provides little cause for optimism among countries that have witnessed a surge in incidences of heroin abuse among their populace since US-led forces started a military offensive against the Taliban on Afghan soil in 2001.
Afghanistan, long the world’s main heroin supplier, has seen its total area of poppy seed plantations explode to 516,000 acres – a 36 percent increase from 2012, according to the report, released on Wednesday.
Last year, the war-torn Central Asian country accounted for 75 percent of the world’s opium supplies; Jean-Luc Lemahieu, head of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Afghanistan, has said in the past that supplies may reach 90 percent of the global total this year.
The new data surpasses the previous record set in 2007, when 477,000 acres were cultivated, according to the UN drug watchdog. Total opium output is estimated at 5,500 tons, up 49 percent from 3,700 tons in 2012.
Source: RT News
Also see: Opium Cultivation in Afghanistan Soars to Record | UK poppy-growing program kept hush-hush
In the latest film from Al Jazeera’s Investigation’s unit, Palestinian officials admit that they had suspected poisoning as the cause of Arafat’s sudden illness in 2004, contrary to their public statements.
Senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat tells Al Jazeera that he called the US Consul General in Jerusalem and pleaded with him, “Please, President Arafat’s health is deteriorating. We suspect he was poisoned. So please, if you can contact the Israelis and get us the antidote, we will appreciate it.”
The film follows the exhumation of the Palestinian leader’s body from its resting place in Ramallah to Switzerland, where scientists found at least 18 times the normal levels of radioactive polonium in his remains. The report, was released last week.
Killing Arafat also shows how Al Jazeera’s Investigation’s team was placed under tight surveillance by Palestinian Authority security forces during the production of the documentary.
In the documentary, Yasser Arafat’s widow, Suha Arafat, calls on the Palestinian Authority to halt peace talks with Israel.
Speaking immediately after hearing the results of the Swiss report, she says, “I think the Palestinian Authority has to go till the end to know the truth about it. And I think they have to stop any kind of negotiations with Israel until they know what’s going on.”
Earlier in the film, Nasser Qudwa, Arafat’s nephew and former Palestinian Authority foreign minister, is asked why an autopsy was not performed on Arafat upon his death in 2004.
“If this had happened, I would think that it would have meant the end of the peace process as it stood at that time,”he tells Al Jazeera, “because the Palestinian people would have seen with their own eyes a huge betrayal and a big crime committed against them, a crime of killing their own leader.”
Full story at Al Jazeera
Also see: Yasser Arafat Poisoned with Polonium, Swiss Study Shows
THE CLOUD MYSTERY is a scientific detective story. It tells how a Danish scientist, Henrik Svensmark, through pioneering experiments in Copenhagen, solved the puzzle of how supernova explosions in our Galaxy and variations in the Sun govern climate changes on the Earth.
Scarcely audible above the noise about global warming, Svensmark has reported a new kind of aerial chemistry triggered by events in our Galaxy that shower our planet with atomic particles – the cosmic rays. This celestial mechanism determines cloudiness and temperatures on Earth. It is so powerful that we now have to re-evaluate the causes of global warming.
Source: The Cloud Mystery
Also by Henrik Svensmark: While the Sun Sleeps
Courtesy of Messianic Jewish Bible Institute
Next week, former President George W. Bush is scheduled to keynote a fundraiser in Irving, Texas, for the Messianic Jewish Bible Institute, a group that trains people in the United States, Israel, and around the world to convince Jews to accept Jesus as the Messiah. The organization’s goal: to “restore” Israel and the Jews and bring about about the second coming of Christ.
Messianic Jews have long been controversial for Jews of all major denominations, who object to their proselytizing efforts and their message that salvation by Jesus is consistent with Jewish theology. Last year, Abraham Foxman, president of the Anti-Defamation League, told Politico that former Sen. Rick Santorum’s appearance at an event hosted by another Messianic Jewish organization, the Messianic Jewish Alliance of America, was “insensitive and offensive.” And Commentary magazine, which bills itself as a “conservative American journal of politics, Judaism, social and cultural issues,” noted, “it must be understood that the visceral distaste that the overwhelming majority of Jews have for the Messianics is not to be taken lightly.” Many Messianic Jews are Christians who have adopted aspects of Jewish ritual observance; others are Jews who share the Christian belief that Jesus is the Messiah.
Full story at Mother Jones
Journalist Gideon Levy is arguably the most hated man in Israel for his reports on the occupied Palestinian territories. Gideon Levy is someone who evokes strong emotions from fellow Israelis.
The writer and journalist has made weekly visits, over the past three decades, to the occupied Palestinian territories, describing what he sees – plainly and without propaganda.
For some Israelis, he is seen as a brave disseminator of the truth. But many others condemn him as a propagandist for Hamas. And his columns for the Tel Aviv-based Haaretz newspaper have made him, arguably, one of the most hated men in Israel.
“When I joined Haaretz newspaper, I started to visit the occupied territories,” Levy says. “I immediately realised this was what I wanted to do; to understand the brutality and inhumanity of the Israeli occupation.”
“I figured out three things. First, this was the biggest drama facing the state of Israel. Second, this story was not being covered by the Israeli media. And third, this was going to be my life mission – to report about the Israeli occupation to Israeli readers who did not want to know what was really happening there.”
Over the years, Levy’s stories have shed light on the realities Palestinians face on a daily basis.
One of his earlier reports, ‘Death of a baby’ in 1996, told of an incident involving the Abu Dahouk family. They were stopped at a checkpoint on their way to a hospital. Israeli soldiers delayed the family including a heavily pregnant Fayzeh Abu Dahouk, who ended up delivering her baby in the backseat of the car.
The baby, who she hoped to name Yousef, died a couple of days later.
Levy wrote at the time: “Who the hell are they? Who are those soldiers who saw Fayzeh Abu Dahouk in pain as she delivered her baby in her brother-in-law’s car. Who are those soldiers who didn’t let her pass to reach the hospital?”
“Who are those soldiers who made Fayzeh have to wrap her baby in her clothes and walk two kilometres to reach the hospital?”
Levy’s reports have told of young Palestinians gunned down by Israeli soldiers after being accused of throwing stones; the lack of retribution against soldiers who kill Palestinians in cold blood; and the plight of Palestinian farmers, who make their livelihoods from olive trees, but who have had them burned and destroyed by settlers time and time again.
Many in Israel have criticised Levy’s reporting, saying that he and his colleagues are responsible for reinforcing anti-Semitism around the world.
But others see Levy as an individual who is courageously going against the common views of the society in which he lives.
“History has witnessed worse and more brutal occupiers than the Israelis. But I’ve never heard about an occupation that believes it is the victim. And the only victim,” he says.
“I sometimes feel ashamed of what is being done on our behalf. I feel really guilty towards the Palestinians. I think we are doing terrible things to them.”
Going Against the Grain follows Gideon Levy on one of his assignments in Hebron, and meets some of the ordinary Palestinians whose lives he has described in his regular column for Haaretz.
Source: Al Jazeera
A video just posted online by Rolling Stone shows a hogtied prisoner being whipped by Afghan security forces, as what appears to be two unidentified American military officers look on. According to investigative reporter Matthieu Aikins, the Army’s Criminal Investigation Command confirmed an ongoing investigation into the incident. Aikins says the video fits with a general pattern of recurring abuse of detainees in U.S. and Afghan custody.
Source: Democracy Now!
Also see the Rolling Stone article: Watch Highly Disturbing Footage of Detainee Abuses in Afghanistan
Against the Grain 