Schurkenstaat

In 2003 interviewde ik voor het VPRO-radioprogramma Madiwodo de Amerikaan William Blum in zijn appartement in Washington, niet ver van het Witte Huis. Blum is een voormalig functionaris van het Amerikaanse ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken en auteur van Rogue State en Killing Hope, twee onthullende en uitgebreid gedocumenteerde boeken over de terreur van de Amerikaanse regering in vooral de Derde Wereld. De nieuwe wereldorde is een uitstekende tijd voor 'the Military-Industrial-Intelligence Complex and their global partners in crime, the World Bank and the IMF,' zei Blum tegen me. Vanochtend bericht de Independent over hem: 'Book ''endorsed'' by Bin Laden storms US chart. Oprah Winfrey's book club has boosted the careers of many an author, but in Osama bin Laden she may have an unlikely new rival. A book by an obscure American historian has shot into US best-seller lists after the elusive leader of al-Qa'ida endorsed it in an audio message aired last week. Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower by William Blum had languished below 200,000 on Amazon's top-seller list but stormed to 21 yesterday, with the online retailer struggling to meet demand. After issuing new threats to attack the US and calls for President George Bush to withdraw American troops from Iraq, Bin Laden then found time to "plug" Mr Blum's book. "If Bush decides to carry on with his lies and oppression, it would be useful for you to read the book Rogue State," he announced in his message relayed to a potential audience of billions via Arab satellite television.' Lees verder: http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article340375.ece Overigens: "Schurkenstaat" van William Blum (Rogue State) met een voorwoord van Aart Brouwer (redacteur De Groene Amsterdammer) is in het Nederlands vertaald en uitgegeven door Lemniscaat (Rotterdam) ISBN: 90 563749 66. Mijn interview met William Blum is te beluisteren via: http://www.vpro.nl/programma/madiwodo/afleveringen/14609052/ Blum's website is: http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Blum/William_Blum.html

Google Earth

Dit is een foto van de Sint Pieter in Rome, gemaakt door Google Earth http://earth.google.com/download-earth.html. Dat kunt u gratis downloaden. Via Google Earth kan ik het dakterras van ons huis in het centrum van Amsterdam zien, gemaakt door een satelliet vanuit de ruimte. Spionagesatellieten maken nog scherpere foto's. Met geavanceerde telelenzen kunnen ze zelfs objecten ter grootte van een luciferdoosje duidelijk in beeld brengen. Bovendien kunnen ze via infrarood mensen 'in the middle of nowhere' opsporen, vertelde een functionaris van een Amerikaanse inlichtingendienst mij eens vol trots. Op die manier zijn mensen door hun lichaamswarmte zelfs in de duisternis te traceren. Waarom pakken ze Osama niet op? Is het omdat de Bush regering de kip met de gouden eieren niet wil slachten? Zonder Osama geen angst, geen angst is geen oorlog, geen oorlog is geen macht, geen macht is de hel voor machthebbers. Osama is geld en macht. Wat wil een machthebber nog meer?

James Bond en bin Laden

Dit is Blofeld. Blofeld speelt de rol van bin Laden in James Bond-films. Vanuit zijn hoofdkwartier ergens boven op een berg of diep onder het wateroppervlak is hij de hele tijd bezig zich voor te bereiden op het veroveren van de macht in de wereld. Een echte schurk dus. Gelukkig wordt hij telkens door Bond verslagen, maar telkens weer duikt Blofeld weer op. Net als bin Laden. Blofeld bestaat niet, bin Laden wel. Hij is de perfecte vijand, onzichtbaar en toch kunnen zijn troepen elk moment overal ter wereld toeslaan. Hij is de perfecte rechtvaardiging om vele miljarden te besteden aan wat eufemistisch 'defensie' heet. Hoe bin Laden zijn troepen aanvoert, is een raadsel. Hoe communiceert hij? Niet met een satelliettelefoon, want dan zou hij allang gelocaliseerd en gedood zijn. Met koeriers op een muildier, denk ik. Hoe anders? En hoe komt het dat de miljarden verslindende inlichtingendiensten hem niet kunnen opsporen? Zodra hij zich verplaatst in dat onherbergzame gebied waar hij volgens politici zou zitten, moet Osama onmiddellijk getraceerd kunnen worden door spionagesatellieten die met infrarood werken. Met andere woorden: is bin Laden misschien Blofeld? Na Osama's laatste bericht aan de wereld schreef Robert Fisk in de Independent: 'We invaded Afghanistan to find Bin Laden and we fight and die in Iraq to kill his supporters - yet still he eludes us, still he threatens us, still he taunts us. How much longer can this nonsense go on? President Jacques Chirac warns that France - of all countries - might use nuclear weapons, if attacked. On whom, I wonder? America blows Pakistani children to pieces and claims it has killed five wanted men, including a bomb-maker. But there's absolutely no evidence. Bin Laden says that America will be attacked again unless it accepts a truce in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Weren't we supposed to be winning the "war on terror"? Oh no, the "experts" tell us, Bin Laden and al-Qa'ida are losing, that's why they want a truce. Some hope. It's a game. Bin Laden has no intention of calling an end to his own war and nor has George Bush and nor has Tony Blair. The Bin Laden offer, almost certainly, is intended to be rejected. He wants Bush and Blair to refuse it. Then, after the next attack, will come the next audio tape. See what happens when you reject our ceasefire? We warned you. And we'll ask: is it him? So why no video tape? Never before in history have so many wanted men sent pictures and messages and video tapes out of the dark.' Lees verder:
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/012006Y.shtml

Big Brother 8

Het ontgaat de Nederlandse pers, maar in de Verenigde Staten is een felle strijd uitgebroken over de grenzen van de presidentiele macht, een strijd over in feite de vraag wat een democratie is en hoe die vorm gegeven moet worden, en hoe de burger grondwettelijk beschermd wordt door de grondwet.Enkele voorbeelden van dit weekeinde: 'Ominous Sign: The President's Growing Disregard for the Law. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Editorial. President Bush's latest tool for disrespecting the Constitution, Congress and the American people, used more than a hundred times so far, is the presidential signing statement. That statement is normally a few words that a president says when he signs a bill passed by Congress. In the past it was an occasion for the president to congratulate legislators who had been particularly active in passing the bill and to praise the new legislation generously, even if he himself had been unsympathetic to it. There is no mention of the statement in the Constitution, nor does it have any role in how laws are passed and put into effect. Yet Mr. Bush has taken the presidential signing statement as another means of asserting his will over and above the country's laws, whatever they may say. In effect, he is trying to establish that whatever he says when he signs the bill overrides whatever the legislation itself may stipulate. Historians and presidential scholars, among others, find it alarming.' Lees verder:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06020/641039.stm Of: http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/012006K.shtml En: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/20/politics/20nsa.html?hp&ex=1137733200&en=d86245b586033379&ei=5094&partner=homepage Of: http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/012006I.shtml En:http://www.freepress.org/columns/display/7/2006/1303 Of: http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/012006O.shtml

Iran 7

Zonder commentaar. De Financial Times bericht: 'Iran Moves Foreign Assets amid Sanction Threat. Iran is moving foreign exchange out of European banks in advance of a possible referral to the United Nations Security Council and imposition of economic sanctions over its nuclear programme. Ebrahim Sheibani, Central Bank governor, told reporters on Friday that Iran would "transfer the foreign exchange reserves wherever we consider expedient" and confirmed a shift from Europe had begun. Mr Sheibani refused to give details or to say where the funds were going, although ISNA, the semi-official Iranian news agency, said the destination was south-east Asia. On the international currency markets, the dollar fell briefly on Friday against the euro and safe-haven Swiss franc on the news.' Lees verder: http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/012006L.shtml

Klimaatverandering 13

Opgelet: CNN wordt wakker en heeft ontdekt dat de klimaatverandering een ramp voor de mensheid kan betekenen: 'Cloudy With a Chance of Chaos. Climate change may bring more violent weather swings -- and sooner -- than experts had thought. (FORTUNE Magazine) - A disturbing consensus is emerging among the scientists who study global warming: Climate change may bring more violent swings than they ever thought, and it may set in sooner… What if the secret behind civilization is that we've had really good weather? Humankind has prospered and multiplied during one of the most benign climate eras in the history of the planet. And the past two centuries -- which witnessed the great expansion of the Industrial Revolution, a sixfold increase in human population, the triumph of the consumer society, and the rise of the integrated global economy -- have been particularly stable. One would have to go back 115,000 years to find a time as tranquil and warm as the present.' Lees verder: http://money.cnn.com/2006/01/17/news/economy/climate_fortune/index.htm CNN doet alsof het allemaal net bekend is, terwijl al jaren geleden onder geleerden een consensus over de klimaatverandering is ontstaan. Kennelijk zijn nu de grote concerns waarvan CNN de spreekbuis is enigszins verontwust geraakt en mag over klimaatverandering bericht worden. Overigens over de onbetwistbare samenhang tussen klimaat en cultuur heeft professor Michael Cook een interessant boek geschreven: 'A Brief History of the Human Race.' De moeite waard voor de geinteresseerde. Zie: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0393052311/103-5918366-8825451?v=glance&n=283155

De Neoliberale Ideologie

De Verenigde Staten is sinds de tweede wereldoorlog ons voorland. Het neoliberale model heeft nu wereldwijd gewonnen. Waartoe deze ideologie leidt, daarover schrijft de Amerikaanse auteur Bob Burnett in Common Dreams. De rijken worden rijker en de armen armer, het geld moet immers ergens vandaan komen. Hetzelfde zien we in Nederland, waar het aantal mensen dat onder de armoedegrens leeft ondanks het feit dat men een baan heeft, blijft groeien. 'Hustling Backwards - How the Economy Fails the Working Poor. We all remember that, after Katrina, folks were abandoned in New Orleans because the system failed. That's what the documentary Waging a Living is about, Americans who work for a minimum wage and still are left behind by our economy. No matter how hard they struggle, they are "hustling backwards." Whenever the growing gap between America's rich and poor is brought up, conservatives respond that the rich do more work than the poor. Therefore, they should be compensated more. In the abstract, no one disagrees that Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computers, should be paid more than the janitors that clean up after other Apple employees go home. The question is how much more? Twenty years ago the ratio between America's highest paid and lowest paid employees was around 40 to one. Now it's 431 to one. According to a recent report, the average CEO pay is $11.8 million, while the average work pay is $27,460. "If the minimum wage had risen as fast as CEO pay since 1990, the lowest paid workers in the US would be earning $23.03 an hour today, not $5.15 an hour." Roger Weisberg's Waging a Living describes what it's like to be at the bottom of our economy. For three years, Weisberg followed four low-wage workers as they struggled to hold onto the American dream. Mary Venittelli is a waitress in New Jersey. Jerry Longoria is a security guard in San Francisco. Barbara Brooks is a recreational counselor at a home for troubled girls in New York. Jean Reynolds is a nursing assistant in a convalescent hospital in New Jersey. They're not slackers. All four of Weisberg's subjects work fulltime, and take as much overtime as they can get. Three things make their lives particularly difficult: they are on their own - they have no adult partner or family to help them, they have children, and they are relatively uneducated. Mary Venittelli is a recently divorced, middle-age woman with no previous work experience. She works as a waitress for $2.13 an hour plus tips. In her struggle to maintain her three children in the same life style they had before the divorce, she is forced to feed her kids from a food pantry. She covers the huge monthly difference between her income and her expenses by maxing out her credit cards. In the one of the documentary's most poignant scenes, Mary applies for yet another credit card. When her friend asks her if she isn't worried about identity theft, Mary quips, "What do I have to worry about, someone stealing my identity? Please! Take it."' Lees verder:
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0120-23.htm Of http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/012106G.shtml