JIHAAD - We Are Fighting For Justice - Arundhati Roy

Out of the more than 1 Million people who visit this website every month and the 74,000 people who receive our newsletter each day,  98 people have provided assistance . (Thank you) The Right To Dream We Are Fighting For Justice By Arundhati Roy You have reintroduced the right to dream into a system that tried to turn everybody into zombies mesmerized into equating mindless consumerism with happiness and fulfillment.  http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article29766.htm Beyond Corporate Influence The Peoples Press - Powered By People - For People

"Pity the nation that has to silence its writers for speaking their minds... Pity the nation that needs to jail those who ask for justice while communal killers, mass murderers, corporate scamsters, looters, rapists and those who prey on the poorest of the poor, roam free." - Arundhati Roy "Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little." ~ Edmund Burke "What we think, or what we know, or what we believe is, in the end, of little consequence. The only consequence is what we do." ~ John Ruskin "It's not who you are on the inside but what you do that defines you!" ~ Darius Shah

Please Help Our Situation is Critical.  Is Justice Worth Fighting For? I need another 212 people to stand with us  Out of the more than 1Million people who visit this website every month and the 74,000 people who receive our newsletter each day,  98 people have provided assistance . (Thank you) I need another 212 readers to step forward and support this effort to ensure that an alternative source of news and information exists to inform and cut through the distortions and lies told by a manipulative Main Stream Media.   Is a FREE press worth fighting for?   I will not tell you that we can stop a war, I will not tell you that we can end suffering, I will tell you that your contribution to Information Clearing House will ensure that tomorrow and the weeks following their will exist a place where sanity, common sense and a respect for all of humanity ensures that lies do not stand and that liars do not prosper. Double Your Money     A long time supporter of Information Clearing House has generously offered to match any donation of a $100.00 or more made this month by readers like you. Your donation will be doubled by our benefactor, which will enable us to continue to publish our daily newsletter and website.   To Use your credit card or check, click here:  http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/support.htm or if you prefer to send a check or money order, Information Clearing House, PO Box 365 Imperial Beach, CA 91933. USA. Low income readers: DON'T send money, just encourage others to subscribe.  http://informationclearinghouse.info/subscribe.htm To all who have assisted in the past. Thank you. Your help is greatly appreciated. Peace and Joy. Tom Feeley

November 17, 2011

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Op-Ed Articles Syria Targeted for Imperialist Intrigue after Arab League Suspension By Chris Marsden Wednesday's three-day deadline by the Arab League for Syria to meet its terms is a political provocation. It presents terms that the Syrian government cannot possibly accept, to allow other Middle Eastern regimes to continue an imperialist-backed intervention against Damascus. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article29761.htm Cameron of Arabia, Sarkozy of Damascus Guns Turn Towards Syria: End Violence or Else? By RussiaToday on Nov 18, 2011 Russia has again warned foreign powers against intervening in Syria's internal unrest. It comes after Jordan reportedly asked the UK to take the lead in a war of words against president Assad, in an effort to oust him from power. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article29763.htm U.S. Arms Persian Gulf Allies For Conflict With Iran By Rick Rozoff The withdrawal of American and allied troops from Iraq and the beginning of a drawdown of their counterparts in Afghanistan can also be seen in this context, as removing targets for possible retaliation should a large-scale attack be staged against Iran. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article29765.htm Israel's Secret Iran Attack Plan: Electronic Warfare By Eli Lake Any Israeli attack on hardened nuclear sites in Iran would go far beyond airstrikes from F-15 and F-16 fighter planes. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article29756.htm In Case You Don't Realise How Dangerous the Israeli Lobby Is By Gilad Atzmon Israeli paper  Israel-Ayom reports today about a new 'Congressional bill' that would require the "American administration to support Israel in a move deemed necessary to defend itself against the Iranian nuclear threat." http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article29758.htm Military Budget Cuts Will Get Us All Nuked, and 4 Other Lies By Spencer Ackerman If you haven't been following Washington's agonizing debate over the defense budget, let us summarize it for you: Cutting the Pentagon's allowance will kill your grandmother. Maybe the family dog, too. But definitely granny. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article29762.htm World Largest GDP and More Than 1 in 5 U.S. Children Poor, Census says By Reuters The number of children in the United States considered poor rose by 1 million in 2010, the U.S. Census said Thursday, with more than one in five of the youngest Americans now living in poverty. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article29760.htm The Great Awakening First Steps in Reforming the U.S. Financial and Tax System By Michael Hudson When debts reach today's proportions, a basic economic principle is at work: Debts that can't be paid; won't be. The question is, just how are they not going to be paid? http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article29764.htm The Right To Dream We Are Fighting For Justice By Arundhati Roy You have reintroduced the right to dream into a system that tried to turn everybody into zombies mesmerized into equating mindless consumerism with happiness and fulfillment. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article29766.htm Over 30,000 People Rally in New York City : November 17: Historic Day of Action for the 99% By MOD Tens of thousands took action Thursday, November 17 to demand that our political system serve all of us - not just the wealthy and powerful. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article29759.htm Rebellion in the Air: Quan's Quackery and Bloomberg's Bull*hit By Dave Lindorff The scripted excuses provided by mayors around the country to justify their police-state tactics in rousting peaceful occupation movement activists from their park-based demonstrations now stand exposed as utter nonsense. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article29757.htm

Hard News Pakistan: US kills 32 people in short span of three days:  The predator planes killed as many as eighteen people when they targeted a house in Sararogha area, situated at the confluence of North and South Waziristan agencies, with a barrage of hell fire missiles. http://pakobserver.net/detailnews.asp?id=125565 Secret Pakistan-US memo: President promised to create a "new security team" favorable to Americans:  Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari was so scared of a military coup after Osama bin Laden's death that he was ready to create a "new security team" favorable to Americans and promised the US to hand over top al Qaeda and Taliban officials residing in Pakistan. http://bit.ly/rFSwqC Pakistan's army enraged: A secret memo indicated President Asif Ali Zardari's government asked for U.S. help to prevent a military coup following the Navy SEAL raid in May that killed Osama bin Laden. http://wapo.st/snlytY Two roadside explosions kill seven Afghan children:  Seven children and an elderly man were killed in two separate roadside bombings on Friday in Afghanistan, officials said. http://bit.ly/tIfREw US wants news blackout on Afghan deal:  A senior Afghan official says that Washington wants a complete media blackout over the conditions set in its strategic long-term deal with Kabul http://en.trend.az/regions/world/usa/1958547.html Iraq bombs kill eight in worst violence in weeks:  Bombings against a policeman's home and three mosques killed eight people and wounded 13 on Friday, security officials said, in the worst violence to hit Iraq in weeks. http://news.yahoo.com/iraq-bombs-kill-eight-worst-violence-weeks-001815341.html Syria 'to accept' Arab League monitoring mission:  Syria has conditionally accepted an Arab League plan to send a mission to observe the implementation of proposals aimed at ending violence, a Syrian diplomatic source has told the BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-15791532 Free Syrian Army "Deserters" Seeks No-Fly Zone, Vows to Reach Palace:  The group wants a buffer zone in the north, on the Turkish- Syrian border, and another in the south near the border with Jordan to help them bring the fight closer to Assad, Riad al As'ad, a former Syrian colonel who leads the Free Syrian Army, said in a phone interview from Turkey today. http://buswk.co/t9P6g3 Turkey, Jordan to set up safe zones in Syria: diplomats:  Turkey and Jordan, backed by Western and Arab powers, are preparing to set up two "safe zones" for civilians inside Syria, diplomats said Friday. http://bit.ly/vMuIYm Free Syrian Army (deserters) video :  The video appears to show the moment a Syrian tank is hit by what appears to be a rocket-propelled grenade as it drives through a residential neighborhood in the central city of Homs http://wapo.st/uOGOCt Report: Russia warships to enter Syria waters in bid to stem foreign intervention:  Russian warships are due to arrive at Syrian territorial waters, a Syrian news agency said on Thursday, indicating that the move represented a clear message to the West that Moscow would resist any foreign intervention in the country's civil unrest. http://bit.ly/s3xqSy Israel may target Iran civilian infrastructure as part of military strike, report says:  U.S. security sources quoted by The Daily Beast claim Israeli forces plan to use electronic warfare to shut down Iranian electrical grid, cellphone networks. http://bit.ly/sqhxgO Settlers 'attempted to kill' Israeli soldiers:  Donald Macintyre meets the reservist whose blog exposing the violence in the West Bank has shocked his country http://ind.pn/sNA5Mu The real cost of Israel's occupation of the Palestinians:  Palestinians are losing out on some $6.9 billion a year, a study shows, as restrictions on water use, resources and imports exact their toll. http://bit.ly/tYw5x0 Reverend Allan Boesak calls Israeli apartheid "more terrifying" than South Africa ever was: The Reverend Allan Aubrey Boesak is a veteran of the South African anti-apartheid struggle. He is the former president of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, and is a signatory of the South African Christian response to the Kairos Palestine Document. http://bit.ly/tJyqb5 Nixon adviser Henry Kissinger branded Jewish as self-serving 'b*******', new documents reveal:  According to transcripts released by the State Department, Mr Kissinger - deputy national security adviser at the time - said to Mr Garment: 'Is there a more self-serving group of people than the Jewish community?' Mr Garment replied: 'None in the world.' The exchange was all the more remarkable because both Mr Kissinger and Mr Garment were Jewish. http://bit.ly/uWXcbe Tens of thousands of Egyptians protest army 'dictatorship':  Tens of thousands of Egyptians rallied Friday in Cairo's Tahrir square with Islamists in the forefront to protest against what they say are attempts by the country's military rulers to designate themselves as the guardians of a new Egypt. It was one of the largest rallies in Egypt in recent months. http://usat.ly/ucG7tU Libya UN envoy says Qatar arming Islamists: -  Libya's U.N. envoy Mohammed Abdel Rahman Shalgam on Friday urged Qatar to stop meddling in his country's domestic affairs, accusing the fellow Arab nation of providing funds and weapons to Libyan Islamists. http://bit.ly/rOo7Qt Libyan militias march in capital to demand voice in forming new government:  Several thousand fighters armed with automatic weapons and accompanied by trucks mounted with mortars and heavy machine guns rallied late Thursday at Tripoli's horse track, many of them saying they must approve of the new government. http://wapo.st/sMF91E Libya's Muslim Brotherhood holds their first congress in Benghazi after 25 years:  Brotherhood officials said it was their first public meeting inside Libya in almost quarter of a century, although it met underground during Qaddafi's rule for fear of reprisals or held their congress abroad. http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/11/18/177829.html U.S. defence chief calls China, India 'threats':  "We face the threats from rising powers, China, India, others that we have to always be aware of," Panetta said. http://www.canada.com/health/defence+chief+calls+China+India+threats/5732020/story.html Pentagon's new bomb kills long before you hear it:  The US Army has tested a hypersonic missile, which travels six times faster than the speed of sound. It is part of a larger plan to have the capability to strike any place on the planet within an hour. http://rt.com/news/pentagon-new-bomb-681/ US must safeguard military's industrial base: Panetta:  "I need to be able in this country to produce our ships, to produce our submarines, to produce our planes, to produce our fighter planes, to produce our tanks, to produce what we need for the military. http://bit.ly/vRT4gY White House shooting suspect Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez says he's Jesus:  Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez, the Idaho man charged with shooting the White House and trying to kill President Obama, claims in an internet video that he is the second coming of Jesus Christ. http://bit.ly/vVGbH7 US lawmakers eye rules for terrorism prisoners:  A divided US Senate pressed ahead Friday with a sweeping military spending bill that has drawn a White House veto threat over new rules requiring suspected terrorists to be kept in military custody. http://ca.news.yahoo.com/us-lawmakers-eye-rules-terrorism-prisoners-153239722.html Spanish Banks Have $41B of 'Unsellable' Real Estate:  Spanish banks, under pressure to cut property-backed debt, hold about 30 billion euros ($41 billion) of real estate that's "unsellable," according to a risk adviser to Banco Santander SA (SAN) and five other lenders. http://bloom.bg/sKxHVl Reforms spark riots in Italy, Greece:  Student protesters took to the streets in Milan when he first unveiled the measures, clashing with riot police and throwing flares at police as they tried to reach Bocconi University, Mr Monti heads. - At least 50,000 people marched past shuttered shops in central Athens beating drums, waving red flags and chanting "EU, IMF out!". http://bit.ly/s1PmON UBS slashes jobs, cuts profit targets:  UBS said its investment bank staff would be cut to 16,500 by the end of 2013 and 16,000 by the end of 2016 from 18,000 now, with most job losses achieved by attrition and restructuring rather than redundancies. http://business.financialpost.com/2011/11/17/ubs-slashes-jobs-cuts-profit-targets/ 'Public Repossession': Occupy London protesters take over third space:  Occupy London has announced that it has taken over an abandoned office block in east London belonging to the investment bank UBS. http://www.channel4.com/news/occupy-london-protesters-take-over-third-space San Francisco police arrest 100 in Bank of America protest:  Protesters in the Occupy Wall Street movement seized a Bank of America branch in the city's financial district Wednesday, a demonstration that forced jittery customers and employees to flee and ended in nearly 100 arrests. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-sf-occupy-20111117,0,5764736.story Police cracking down on media at Occupy Wall Street :  Not only are police cracking down on the Occupy movement protesters but also on journalist. According to some reporters police have denied them access to cover the Occupy movement. In New York reporters with NYPD press passes are being physically removed from the scene and some even arrested. RT producer Lucy Kafanov is back in NYC to give us the latest. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQHDk75oChI&feature=player_embedded More on How Mayors and Police Chiefs Coordinated Crackdowns: Today, the AP has a few more details on how the mayors of 18 cities "informally" coordinated and swapped advice for clearing out those pesky Occupy tents, including warning each other that the presence of homeless, the addicted and the ill would be a "tipping point." http://bit.ly/vDdwnG Detroit mayor: 1,000 job cuts amid budget crisis:  Detroit plans to cut 1,000 jobs by early next year to help deal with the city's budget crisis and avoid the possibility of a state-appointed emergency financial manager, Mayor Dave Bing announced Friday. http://bit.ly/uADExR "Let us be peace and joy" Tom Feeley

Cost Of war

Number Of Iraqis Slaughtered In US War And Occupation Of Iraq "1,455,590"

Number of U.S. Military Personnel Sacrificed (Officially acknowledged) In America's War On Iraq: 
4,803

Number Of  International Occupation Force Troops Slaughtered In Afghanistan : 2,810

=

Cost of War in Iraq & Afghanistan
Total Cost of Wars Since 2001

  $1,279,659,625,602
http://www.costofwar.com/

The Right To Dream
We Are Fighting For Justice

“Pity the nation that has to silence its writers for speaking their minds… Pity the nation that needs to jail those who ask for justice while communal killers, mass murderers, corporate scamsters, looters, rapists and those who prey on the poorest of the poor, roam free.” - Arundhati Roy

By Arundhati Roy

November 18, 2011 "Information Clearing House" -- "The People’s University"  - Held at Judson Memorial Church 11/16/11 -
Tuesday morning, the police cleared Zuccotti Park, but today the people are back. The police should know that this protest is not a battle for territory. We're not fighting for the right to occupy a park here or there. We are fighting for justice. Justice, not just for the people of the United States, but for everybody.

What you have achieved since September 17th, when the Occupy movement began in the United States, is to introduce a new imagination, a new political language into the heart of empire. You have reintroduced the right to dream into a system that tried to turn everybody into zombies mesmerized into equating mindless consumerism with happiness and fulfillment.

As a writer, let me tell you, this is an immense achievement. And I cannot thank you enough.

We were talking about justice. Today, as we speak, the army of the United States is waging a war of occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan. US drones are killing civilians in Pakistan and beyond. Tens of thousands of US troops and death squads are moving into Africa. If spending trillions of dollars of your money to administer occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan is not enough, a war against Iran is being talked up.

Ever since the Great Depression, the manufacture of weapons and the export of war have been key ways in which the United States has stimulated its economy. Just recently, under President Obama, the United States made a $60 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia - moderate Muslims, right? It hopes to sell thousands of bunker busters to the UAE. It has sold $5 billion-worth of military aircraft to my country, India, which has more poor people than all the poorest countries of Africa put together. All these wars, from the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to Vietnam, Korea, Latin America, have claimed millions of lives – all of them fought to secure the "American way of life".

Today, we know that the "American way of life" – the model that the rest of the world is meant to aspire towards – has resulted in 400 people owning the wealth of half of the population of the United States. It has meant thousands of people being turned out of their homes and their jobs while the US government bailed out banks and corporations – American International Group (AIG) alone was given $182 billion.

The Indian government worships US economic policy. As a result of 20 years of the free market economy, today, 100 of India's richest people own assets worth one-quarter of the country's GDP while more than 80% of the people live on less than 50 cents a day; 250,000 farmers, driven into a spiral of death, have committed suicide. We call this progress, and now think of ourselves as a superpower. Like you, we are well-qualified: we have nuclear bombs and obscene inequality.

The good news is that people have had enough and are not going to take it any more. The Occupy movement has joined thousands of other resistance movements all over the world in which the poorest of people are standing up and stopping the richest corporations in their tracks. Few of us dreamed that we would see you, the people of the United States on our side, trying to do this in the heart of Empire. I don't know how to communicate the enormity of what this means.

They (the 1%) say that we don't have demands… perhaps they don't know, that our anger alone would be enough to destroy them. But here are some things – a few "pre-revolutionary" thoughts I had – for us to think about together:

We want to put a lid on this system that manufactures inequality. We want to put a cap on the unfettered accumulation of wealth and property by individuals as well as corporations. As "cap-ists" and "lid-ites", we demand:

• An end to cross-ownership in businesses. For example, weapons manufacturers cannot own TV stations; mining corporations cannot run newspapers; business houses cannot fund universities; drug companies cannot control public health funds.
• Two, natural resources and essential infrastructure – water supply, electricity, health, and education – cannot be privatized.
• Three, everybody must have the right to shelter, education and healthcare.
• Four, the children of the rich cannot inherit their parents' wealth.

This struggle has re-awakened our imagination. Somewhere along the way, capitalism reduced the idea of justice to mean just "human rights", and the idea of dreaming of equality became blasphemous. We are not fighting to just tinker with reforming a system that needs to be replaced.

As a cap-ist and a lid-ite, I salute your struggle.

Salaam and Zindabad.

Arundhati Roy won the Booker prize in 1997 for her novel, The God of Small Things. Her non-fiction work includes An Ordinary Person’s Guide to Empire, Field Notes on Democracy: Listening to Grasshoppers, and Broken Republic. An impassioned critic of neo-imperialism, military occupations, and violent models of economic ‘development’, Roy was awarded the Sydney Peace Prize in 2004.  Her consistent exposure of the Indian state’s repressive policies has led to her being variously labelled a seditionist, secessionist, Maoist and unpatriotic troublemaker.