tagged w/ demonstrators
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Earlier today, an Israeli military sniper opened fire at demonstrators in the village of Nabi Saleh, injuring one in the thigh. The protester was hit by 0.22" caliber munitions, which military regulations forbid using in the dispersal of demonstrations. Late in 2001, Judge Advocate General, Menachem Finkelstein, reclassified 0.22” munitions as live ammunition, and specifically forbade its use as a crowd control means. The reclassification was decided upon following numerous deaths of Palestinian demonstrators, mostly children. http://www.freeturbine.com/index.php/news/recent-politic/item/live-sniper-fire-injures-protester-in-nabi-salehEarlier today, an Israeli military sniper opened fire at demonstrators in the village... more
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worrg
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added this
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1 month ago
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Police stopped protests and dispersed a small group of individuals this morning from central Seoul. The demonstration by Labour Union JEI against the G20 was quickly broken up by police and people were moved on. Seoul, South Korea. 10/11/2010Police stopped protests and dispersed a small group of individuals this morning from... more
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Clearly two Teabaggers are seen provoking a fight with peaceful demonstrators. But that's not the case in this situation.
Unfortunately, this has nothing to do with the Tea Party Movement. This was an illegal immigration rally. And the guy who struck first was "pro-immigrant". But the brawl is neat to watch.Clearly two Teabaggers are seen provoking a fight with peaceful demonstrators. But... more
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![US is climate illiterate?, Kenyan evictions, drunken Guinea soldiers kill demonstrators, misspelled political signs, and secret service on facebook poll - [current top 5]](http://i2.crtcdn1.net/images/spacer.gif)
A pretty nice list for today's top 5 on current, so curl up to your lunch (or mid-afternoon snack if you're on the East Coast), and give these stories a look. I've even included a bonus for those of you who make it all the way to #5.
The "Climate Illiterate" US could hurt Copenhagen deal, says expert
Even with growing awareness around climate change, the US trails in awareness on a global scale. It looks like this may end up costing us:
"Nobody should dream of the possibility that numbers and targets for countries will be sealed in Copenhagen," said Schellnhuber, one of the world's foremost climate scientists. "If the US doesn't move then nothing will happen."
He added: "The US in a sense is climate illiterate. It is a deeper problem in the US, if you look at global polls about what the public knows about climate change. Even in Brazil and China, you have more people who know the problem, who think that deep cuts in emissions are needed."
Read more here.
Kenya's heart stops pumping
High in the hills of Kenya's Mau forest, some 20,000 families are facing eviction from their farms - accused of contributing to an ecological disaster which has crippled the country.
The authorities are to start the process of removing them any day now. Farmers will be asked to surrender their title deeds for inspection.
If their documents are genuine, they have a chance of being resettled or compensated.
If not, they will simply be told to go.
"We are afraid. Not only me, but all of us here," says Kipkorir Ngeno, a teacher and father of six, from a village known as "Sierra Leone".
"They call us squatters - a very bad name. But this is my land. It is not illegal."
Read more here.
Also, Vanguard's Mariana van Zeller has reported from Sierra Leone several times before, covering cursed diamonds, the traditions of female circumcision, and recovering war-wounded amputees.
Drunk soldiers killing demonstrators in Guinea
Andrew Fitzgerald, online producer for Current News, posted on the blog about this disturbing story from Guinea about pro-democracy demonstrators who were killed in the streets by soldiers. He's busy gathering more information on this story as it develops, and plans to have raw video footage up this afternoon.If you have anything to contribute, or just want to comment, please head over here.
22 Misspelled Political Signs
Political signs seem to be frequently accompanied by misspellings and grammar mistakes. My theory is that people get so excited about expressing themselves that they overlook the simple gaffes made in their haste. Or, perhaps our illiteracy extends beyond mere climate change awareness.Read more here.
Secret Service investigating Facebook poll on "Killing Obama"
Facebook was the center of a stir yesterday when a user posted a poll asking other Facebook users, "Should Obama be killed?" The shocker is that 5% of the respondents actually said "yes" in response, before Facebook disabled the application used to create the poll. Now we are learning that the U.S. Secret Service is launching an investigation into the matter, in partnership with Facebook.Read more here.
BONUS ROUND
First Listen: Where The Wild Things Are Soundtrack
Unfortunately, it doesn't look like the altered-for-the-trailer version of Arcade Fire's "Wake Up" is going to be included on the soundtrack. Thanks for pointing this out, richjm.
A pretty nice list for today's top 5 on current, so curl up to your lunch (or... more
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Italian justice took "only" nine years to sentence in the first instance two police officers and eleven policemen for the unprecedented violence of the No Global Forum, in Naples, in 2001.
It was a dress rehearsal for what happened in Genoa some months later.
http://www.inaltreparole.net/en/news/globalforumnapolisentenza220110.htmlItalian justice took "only" nine years to sentence in the first instance two... more
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Mass media and popular culture are powerful tools of manipulation when wielded by those skilled at waging way by way of deception. When shaping the opinion of an unsuspecting public, the star power of military leaders and sports heroes is routinely appropriated.
That duplicity was on display in February 2003 when Colin Powell gave false testimony to the U.N. Security Council that helped launch the U.S.-led invasion of a Muslim nation. Similar duplicity was deployed in May 2005 when Pakistani cricket icon Imran Khan launched from Islamabad a false story that provoked outrage at the U.S. in Muslim nations.
Since the “bread and circus” era of the Roman Empire, pop culture has proven a potent means to distract and misdirect. With the modern reach of mass media, pop culture can be deployed not just to manipulate the public’s mental state but also to promote for political office high-profile personalities such as astronauts, newscasters, war heroes and even well known comedians.
Those who induced the U.S. to wage war in Iraq on false pretenses used Secretary of State Colin Powell for that purpose when he was dispatched to the U.N. to vouch for phony intelligence. The Powell “brand” as a credible four-star general was appropriated by pro-Israeli war-planners to market the false impression that Iraq had mobile biological weapons laboratories.
By deploying a public official’s known integrity to obscure their duplicity, those complicit in this deceit discredited both Powell and the U.S. while also undermining the credibility of the U.N. The phony intelligence on which Powell relied was provided by George Tenet, Director of Central Intelligence, and vouched for by Paul Joyal, reportedly Tenet’s Ashkenazi Chief of Staff.
A similar power-of-association ploy emerged two years later when the pop culture celebrity of Imran Khan was appropriated to provoke violence worldwide that damaged the image of the U.S. A global crisis commenced soon after those handling public relations for this legend of the cricket world summoned reporters to a May 6, 2005 press conference in Islamabad.
As an international sports figure, Khan’s star power and his position as a Pakistani politician directed media attention to an April 30th issue of Newsweek where Ashkenazi journalist Michael Isikoff reported that U.S. interrogators had flushed a Koran down a toilet in an attempt to exert pressure on Muslim combatants in custody at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Not until May 16th did Newsweek editors publish a partial retraction along with an apology in The New York Times conceding that the widely reported story was inadequately supported by the facts. By then Isikoff’s tale of Koran desecration had gone viral.
Game Theory Warfare
The story provoked massive anti-U.S. demonstrations in Pakistan, Lebanon, Egypt, Indonesia, Palestine, Jordan, Bangladesh, Sudan and Malaysia. Though the Guantanamo inmate retracted his statement, by then the story had done lasting damage to U.S. interests throughout the Islamic world while adding plausibility to the thematic Clash of Civilizations.
In game theory terms, the results were foreseeable because the reaction was mathematically predictable; the response could be projected—within an acceptable range of probabilities.Mass media and popular culture are powerful tools of manipulation when wielded by... more
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http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ixeFBxfLzaSjs8Mb8cuFmtPOT6-wD9BOQFOG0
Tehran, Iran (CNN) -- Protesters clashed with police at a central Tehran square on Wednesday while government supporters nearby marked the 30th anniversary of the U.S. Embassy capture with chants of "Death to America."
Scenes in the Iranian capital turned ugly yet again as riot police and pro-government Basij militia turned out in force to quash anti-government sentiment.
At least 2,000 opposition supporters, sternly warned by authorities to stay home, marched defiantly at Haft-e-Tir Square, witnesses said. Many held up their hands in a V sign. Others shouted "Allahu Akbar," or "God is great," a slogan of protest. Police blocked all roads leading to the square, prompting massive traffic jams.
Witnesses described helmet-clad security personnel beating demonstrators with batons and firing tear gas at Haft-e-Tir Square and in a neighborhood a few kilometers north.
"I had never seen that many riot police and security personnel," a witness told CNN. "They were brought in by the busloads. As soon as crowds gathered somewhere, riot police were there within minutes."http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ixeFBxfLzaSjs8Mb8cuFmtPOT6-wD9BOQFOG0... more
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