Boycott Lowe's, Fight Islamophobia

Great Dean Baker on one of the major stupidities of modern 'economics' (0.00 / 0)

Inequality and Growth: Charles Lane Tells It Like It Isn't

http://www.cepr.net/index.php/...

For attractive lips, speak words of kindness, For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people, For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry. -- A-Hep

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by: fairleft @ Wed Dec 21, 2011 at 06:30:51 AM UTC

fight Judeaophobia (0.00 / 0)

boycott Mondofront and 3/4 of the udder websites "LJ the fake NA" has listed

==

fight Islamophobia - promote Sunni/Shia harmony. They generally despise each udder and blow each udder up quite frequently.

See Iraq yesterday, Syria today.

http://www.sana.sy/eng/337/201...

(scroll down)

Who carried out the attack in Syria? Sunni rebels? Assad himself, who's blamed it on al qaeda? Sunnis from Iraq? uber leftist aholes?

==

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by: fake noom @ Sat Dec 24, 2011 at 02:11:23 AM UTC

fight anti-arab, anti-islamic racists like fake noom (0.00 / 0)

Ya hear me, 'tale?

For attractive lips, speak words of kindness, For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people, For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry. -- A-Hep

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by: fairleft @ Sat Dec 24, 2011 at 11:22:51 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

& btw marry crhistmas to thuh 3 assholes here, Luara, (5.00 / 2)

and any random walking-by visitors. and happy quansa hannukaa etc. etc.

For attractive lips, speak words of kindness, For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people, For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry. -- A-Hep

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by: fairleft @ Sat Dec 24, 2011 at 11:34:35 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

I don't think Noomhole celebrates WhiteSupremacymas like you and Laura do, O Northpolarised one (0.00 / 0)

but the gayness of the season's jollity to you too, my snow blind friend.

Here's some more DT prescience for your Xmas, as reflected after the fact, as usual, in the MSM. I know you arent very familiar with books, but whatever.

What difference does it make if people hate the media?

People who say they distrust the media in general are more likely to consume news from partisan outlets, outlets that already agree with them, and this will reinforce their positions, whether those positions are right or wrong. I also find a good deal of evidence that when people who distrust the media confront information attributed to the media in general - a lot of the information we encounter we don't necessarily get as attributed to a single source, but we know has been reported in the media in general - these people don't absorb that information very well. They're more likely to reject new information. They form their beliefs about how the country is going, and what's going on in the world, based on their partisanship.

And this is a great political strategy, to gin up hatred of the media.

Yeah, because you know that people who are going to listen to partisan rhetoric are your supporters to a large degree. So if you criticize the press, you can make it so that your supporters are impervious to new information. For political leaders who want to maximize their amount of votes and ensure that their base is solidly behind them and won't be moved by any new developments in the real world, this would be a rational strategy - to inoculate your political base against the information by telling them to distrust information that comes from anything except ideological sources.

And don't think you can slither out on the meaning of what 'partisan' is.

You are a partisan fake leftist.

"Why Everyone Hates the Media"

http://www.salon.com/2011/12/2...

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by: donkeytale @ Sat Dec 24, 2011 at 18:52:21 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

says the anti_Jew racist hisself! (5.00 / 1)

eye'm all about Arab harmony!

fight Islamophobia - promote Sunni/Shia harmony.

but Arab racism goes much deeper.

Blacks are viewed by Arabs as racially inferior, and Arab violence against blacks has a long, turbulent record.

http://www.pffugeecamp.com/vie...

Jews were ethnically cleansed from Arab countries and I'm supposed to love them! Fuck you! Let them acknowledge their crimes one time! And still, no synogogues are allowed in Lybia even now! The dude who tried to re-open his was run out of the country!

Arabs are also misogynistic and anti-gay in most countries in the ME!

oh the poor poor uber wealthy oil rich Arabs!!!!! uber leftists feel your pain! Why do uber wealthy Arabs (and Persians) give their oil money to radical Islamists, Wahhabis, Hezbollah, Hamas, etc.  instead of investing in institutions which encourage peace and harmony!

Fuck you and your uber leftist cult of lies! Pure madness!

+)

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by: fake noom @ Sat Dec 24, 2011 at 19:12:00 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Putin must go! (4.00 / 1)

fairleft:

Yup, protests already fizzling.

reality:

(AP)  MOSCOW - Tens of thousands of demonstrators rallied in the Russian capital Saturday in the largest protest so far against election fraud, signaling growing outrage over Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's 12-year rule.

The demonstration in Moscow was even bigger than a similar protest two weeks ago, although rallies in other cities in the far east and Siberia earlier in the day drew much smaller crowds than on Dec. 10. The demonstrations are the largest show of discontent the nation has seen since the 1991 Soviet collapse.

Rally participants densely packed a broad avenue, which has room for nearly 100,000 people, about 1.5 miles from the Kremlin, on a snowy day. They chanted "Russia without Putin!

A stage at the end of the half-mile avenue featured placards reading "Russia will be free" and "This election Is a farce." Heavy police cordons encircled the participants, who stood within metal barriers, and a police helicopter hovered overhead.

The recent protests in Moscow and other cities have dented Putin's authority as he seeks to reclaim the presidency in a March vote. The Kremlin has responded by promising a set of political reforms that would allow more political competition in future elections.

But protest leaders say they will continue pushing for a rerun of the Dec. 4 parliamentary election and punishment for officials accused of vote fraud. They say maintaining momentum is key to forcing Putin's government to accept their demands.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-20...

hey lookit dat! They packed the jernt on a snowy (bad weather) day!

fairleft rationalizing the previous huge protest:

Weather was great

http://www.pffugeecamp.com/sho...

haha!@

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by: fake noom @ Sat Dec 24, 2011 at 19:48:05 PM UTC

"Tens of thousands" equals 500,000 (4.00 / 1)

by FailRoughner's math...

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by: donkeytale @ Sat Dec 24, 2011 at 20:07:35 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

actually for accuracy's sake (3.00 / 1)

fairleft said this:

500,000 to 1 million rally in Damascus for government (0.00 / 0)

The campaign of lies against Syria's government is as obvious as their videos are unclear and inconclusive.

http://www.pffugeecamp.com/sho...

note he goes on to defend the Syrian Assassin Assad!

who's the Arab racist again....

fairleft only foists his deep love for Arab people when they don't contradict his uber leftist dogma. These unfortunates don't rate, and in fact fairleft denies Syrian Arabs their human rights.

fairleft the fraud!

--

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by: fake noom @ Sat Dec 24, 2011 at 21:16:12 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

He does consistently favour the authoritarian police state strongmen in the ME over the people, doesn't he. (3.00 / 1)

I guess thats what happens when you get all of your talking points from authoritative authoritarian sources such as the Iranian state propaganda machine Press TV and the Putin News Network Russia Today.

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by: donkeytale @ Sat Dec 24, 2011 at 21:53:06 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

he was anti-Mubarak (4.00 / 1)

but is pro Assad.(Iran's Arab ally) He's pro Hamas (an Iranian anti_Jew war proxy), pro Hezbollah (an Iranian anti_Jew war proxy), was pro Khaddafi and is pro Iran's theocracy. And now he's pro Putin.

So, generally yer right, except in Mubarak's case.... (fl prolly also supported the protesters in Bahrain) Mubarak who was pro US, (the only reason fairleft opposed him) also kept a close alliance with the ME Jews. God forbid an Arab has close relations with ME Jews living on their native soil! (unlike uber leftist ahole cultists living in the US on NA land)

I remember fairleft bemoaning the poverty level in Egypt while ignoring the poverty level in Syria which happens to be worse! And of course the crackdown in Syria is much worse too, with hundreds of children being murdered and tortured. (oh the children! ignored by uber leftists!)

Mubarak should have allowed more political freedom, it would have helped Egyptian liberals and secularists. But now, the Egyptians have made their bed with Islamists and will have to dig themselves out of that mess.

That will be interesting to watch. The struggle for power between the Egyptian Military and the Islamists.

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by: fake noom @ Sat Dec 24, 2011 at 22:55:36 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

He may have been anti-Mubarak but he wasn't pro-Tahrir Sq by any means (4.00 / 1)

Arab Spring was a neo-liberal, youth oriented anti-union, Gucci loafered, Armani jacketed, Soros-IMF sponsored fake rebellion in his spun version.

Now, he is against Occupy Moscow for the same reasons he was against Tahrir Sq. and anti Syrian rebellion.Despite his weak words occasionally to the contrary, he is clearly dismissive of OWS as a political force.

But here is my question for you: Hamas has rejected Syria (and by extension Iran), and Hamas has rejected Hez. Hamas is now reaching for rapprochement with the PA.

In turn, Iran has cut off funding for Hamas, so Hamas is turning to Turkey and Qatar for support.

These moves are all clearly in response to the Arab Spring, which I predicted several months ago would be a net positive for Israel. Obviously,in the long run, the region will be uplifted through economic alliances that must include Israel. Fairloughner says that none of this true, that the MSM is spreading BS, that nothing has changed on the ground in the ME vis a vis Israel as a result of the Arab Spring.

What says noom? Do you agree with Failroughner?
 

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by: donkeytale @ Sun Dec 25, 2011 at 00:28:53 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

z (4.00 / 1)

Hamas is now reaching for rapprochement with the PA

.

RAMALLAH, West Bank, Dec. 25 (UPI) -- Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan Sunday warned joining ranks with the Palestinian Authority does not mean Hamas will change its policy toward Israel.

"Anyone who thinks Hamas has changed its positions and now accepts the Palestinian Liberation Organization's defeatist political program is living in an illusion," The Jerusalem Post quoted Hamdan telling the Quds Press agency in a weekend interview.

"Hamas cannot make the mistake of joining a process that has proved to be a failed one over the past 20 years," he said.

Hamdan was responding to a decision by the movement along with the Islamic Jihad and other radical Palestinian groups that agreed Thursday to join a PLO provisional leadership, the newspaper said.

Hamas and the Islamic Jihad are demanding the PLO denounce the Oslo Accords and the two-state solution pledged by the Palestinian Authority and Israel in a bid for peace.

The Oslo Accords signed by Israel and the Palestinian Authority in September 1993 was a framework established to resolve issues between the sides, leading to a final peace agreement.

Khalil Abu Leila, another Hamas official, told The Post that Hamas will join the PLO only if it agrees to change its political agenda. The idea of joining a provisional PLO leadership can only take place if it agrees to liberate Palestine, he said.

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Wo...

That all sounds right. Hamas isn't giving up their genocidal anti_Jew agenda anytime soon.

Ah, word has it that Iran has reduced funding or stopped it for a couple of months because Hamas wouldn't rally to support Assad in the Pal camps in Syria, but Iran has years in already, funding, training and arming Hamas. Can Hamas just turn their back on Ajad and the Mullahs after receiving all that largesse which has been inevitably leading to something larger. What has it been leading to? Iran's closing in on a nuke. Iran, IMO, will expect Hamas and Hezbollah (still vocally supporting Assad) to launch large scale missile attacks on Israel should Iran's nuke facilities come under attack from the US or Israel.

True, Haniyeh is off touring some countries, undoubtedly looking for cash. Hamas, after all, is a welfare org. They produce nothing except radicalism. But I highly doubt they've made a clean break from Iran.

Economically, Israel will be exporting natural gas in the years to come thanks to a huge find in the Med. Apple just opened a R&D center in Israel. Israel is a high tech powerhouse. I'm not sure what economic alliances will develop with the Arabs. Israel's looking for partners all over the globe these days, diversifying their portfolio so to speak.

Basically the huge gorilla is Iran's nuke program. The US recently said that they will do whatever's necessary to stop Iran from getting one. Panetta made a strong statement to that affect. But who knows if he means it. It could just be bluster to get Iran to give up the program, it could be bluster to answer the Repubs, it could be bluster to hold back Israel form attacking Iran's nuke facilities. Or maybe he means it, seeing that Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Egypt will all want one, leading to a nuclear arms race in this very volatile part of the world. Dunno. But IMO, the axis of power will shift according to what happens wrt Iran's nuke program. If they get the bomb they and radical Islamists in the region will be empowered, to Israel's detriment. If they're stopped, elements of moderation could step forward. The Mullahs will be weakened, Assad will go, Hezbollah will go or be severely weakened. Moderates, modernists and secularists will feel emboldened.

or something

+)

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by: fake noom @ Sun Dec 25, 2011 at 18:10:08 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

So, then, you and Roughner do agree, albeit from opposite poles? (0.00 / 0)

Veddy interesting.

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by: donkeytale @ Wed Dec 28, 2011 at 14:35:24 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

riotous!! (4.00 / 1)

That you still think "humor" can conceal the obvious; that even the ayrabs and the evil commiegarchs have better media than we do. Because everyone knows it, you not-old old fuck.

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by: Laura @ Tue Dec 27, 2011 at 16:22:10 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Only an idiot would think the Russian Govt is even remotely leftist or anything else besides neoliberal globalists (and not anti-American as you and your Putin fanboi dreamwish) (0.00 / 0)

But there you have it, Laura Idiotavitch. Bought and spun while all the while proclaiming everyone else is bought and spun.

Missing my point and your own at the same time.

RIOTOUS!

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by: donkeytale @ Tue Dec 27, 2011 at 20:49:48 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

So you've like, shunnned RT 4 life? (4.00 / 1)

Because of the Russian government?

Talk about missing points, you miss plots.

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by: Laura @ Tue Dec 27, 2011 at 21:00:13 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

No, in fact I like RT. (0.00 / 0)

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by: donkeytale @ Tue Dec 27, 2011 at 21:21:34 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Well that was pointless (3.00 / 1)

Off to RL...maybe some RT later.

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by: Laura @ Tue Dec 27, 2011 at 21:28:13 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Like I said above. You missed the point of my original comment. Totally. (0.00 / 0)

This is a constant of the Fake Left.

A form of evasion, which is a key element of the self-deluding process.

Have fun in RL.

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by: donkeytale @ Tue Dec 27, 2011 at 21:31:34 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Happy New Year Laura (0.00 / 0)

I hear Byron does math? I have done a fair amount of similar things. Linguistics, and this incredibly strange mathematical logic I've invented. All "amateur." But with bizarre implications!

Visit me sometime!

http://slavebook.wordpress.com...

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by: blues @ Sun Jan 01, 2012 at 10:54:20 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

fight Arab racism! (4.00 / 1)

Unesco has now withdrawn its funding from the Palestinian youth magazine Zayzafouna, following reports that it featured a story which held up Hitler as a role model. The Telegraph article quotes the editor's response:

 

 The magazine's director, Shareef Samhan, did not dispute the translation, though he said the girl was "accusing" Hitler and not praising him. He said he had not been aware of the text and noted that Unesco was not a central backer of the magazine.

   He defended the publication.

   "We depend in the content of our magazine on the participation of school students, and it's not our job to prohibit the freedom of speech," he said.

A lot of excuses there, none of them convincing.

The Telegraph also reports a PA reaction:

   A spokesman for the Palestinian Authority, Ghassan Khatib, said the article was "not acceptable."

   "We educate young people in our textbooks about the Holocaust and the massacres of Hitler against Jews and against others, and we refer to these massacres as crimes against humanity," Mr Khatib said. "This instance is exceptional, and the editor will try to be more careful in the future."

http://hurryupharry.org/2011/1...

fuckin lairs. The pals Arab imperialists indoctrinate their children in Jew hatred. How else do you explain the fact that a pro-Hitler story got published in a PA sponsored magazine!

This ahole claims freedom of speech is the reason a child's pro-Hitler sentiments were allowed to be published! What a twisted crock of shite!

And the Jews are expected to make concessions to these genocidal racists! Let these aholes renounce anti-Jew racism publicly in Arabic. Let the PA preach acceptance and tolerance in Arabic.

They are nuthin' but two faced imperialist lairs!

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by: fake noom @ Sat Dec 24, 2011 at 23:21:24 PM UTC

Merry Christmas from Islamists (0.00 / 0)

(Reuters) - Five bombs exploded on Christmas Day at churches in Nigeria, one killing at least 27 people, raising fears that Islamist militant group Boko Haram - which claimed responsibility - is trying to ignite sectarian civil war.

Boko Haram, which wants to impose Islamic sharia law across a country of 160 million split roughly between Christians and Muslims, has increased the sophistication of the explosives it uses this year and has increased the number of its attacks.

St Theresa's Catholic Church in Madala, an Abuja satellite town about 40 km (25 miles) from the centre of the capital, was packed when the bomb exploded just outside.

http://www.reuters.com/article...

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by: fake noom @ Sun Dec 25, 2011 at 20:41:21 PM UTC

who carried out the Syrian bomb attack? (0.00 / 0)

Syria's Muslim Brotherhood has denied any involvement in Friday's bomb attack in Damascus that killed 44 people, Al Arabiya reported Saturday afternoon.

The spokesman for Syria's Muslim Brotherhood, Zuhair Salem said the claim was on a fake website created by the regime.

Salem, speaking from London, said the claim was "completely fabricated under our name on the Internet."

It was "completely orchestrated by the regime, just as the attacks were," he added.

Earlier, AFP reported the Muslim Brotherhood as accepting responsibility for the attack based on a statement on its website which read: "One of our victorious Sunni brigades was able to target the state security building in Kfar Suseh in the heart of the Omayyad capital Damascus in a successful operation carried out by four of our kamikazes drawn from the best of our glorious men, leaving many dead and wounded from the ranks of the Assad gangs."

The regime of President Bashar al-Assad had said on Friday that the bombings were the work of al-Qaeda.

The opposition Syrian National Council claims that the regime had carried them out.

http://english.alarabiya.net/a...

hmmm, Assad apparently creates a fake website and blames the mubros for the attack. Assad has also blamed al Qaeda. The Syrian opposition has blamed Assad's regime.

wow!

so far the finger's bin pointed at the mubros, al-qaeda and the regime itself.

that's a win win win!

qaw qaw qaw

==

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by: fake noom @ Sun Dec 25, 2011 at 20:55:17 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

loudmouth Iranian aholes (4.00 / 1)

answered by US.

(RTTNews) - The United States warned Iran on Wednesday that it will not tolerate any disruption to the oil traffic though the strategic Strait of Hormuz, following an earlier threat by Tehran that it may stop ship movements through the key oil route if the west imposes sanctions on Iran's oil shipments.

"Anyone who threatens to disrupt freedom of navigation in an international strait is clearly outside the community of nations; any disruption will not be tolerated," said a spokeswoman for the US Fifth Fleet based in Bahrain.

Fleet spokeswoman Lt. Rebecca Rebarich added that the U.S. Navy is "always ready to counter malevolent actions to ensure freedom of navigation."

Her remarks came a day after Iranian Vice-President Mohammad Reza Rahimi threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil-trade route in the Indian Ocean, if the West imposes more sanctions on the Islamic Republic over its controversial nuclear program.

Rahimi was quoted as saying on Tuesday by the official IRNA news agency that "not a drop of oil will pass through the Strait of Hormuz" if sanctions were widened. He said: "The enemies will only drop their plots when we put them back in their place."

Supporting Rahimi, Iran's Navy Chief Admiral Habibollah Sayari said closing the Strait of Hormuz would be "really easy" for the country's armed forces "or as Iranians say, easier than drinking a glass of water.

http://www.rttnews.com/Content...

==

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by: fake noom @ Wed Dec 28, 2011 at 21:37:25 PM UTC

sup ladies (5.00 / 2)

happy new year, etc.
RT is hiring in DC. http://www.journalismjobs.com/...

ABOUT YOU:

- You are an original thinker and a voracious consumer of news in all its forms

- You can place Kandahar on a map, define "net neutrality," explain quantitative easing in a way that makes sense, and are tuned in to the latest on Wall Street, Main Street and in Washington.

- You are not shy. You aren't afraid to interact with high-profile individuals and don't back down when pursuing a story or a guest.

- You are infinitely curious about the world around you and are constantly looking for the truth behind the accepted conventional wisdom.

- You are a team player who stays calm under deadline pressure.

- You are multi-media savvy and rely on a wide assortment of traditional and non-traditional news sources for story and guest ideas.

The defectors have started an underground railroad to smuggle other rebels out of hostile territory

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by: doberman pinche @ Sun Jan 01, 2012 at 23:33:38 PM UTC

Hey Dobe (3.00 / 1)

What if we only go for 5 for 6?

You are a team player who stays calm under deadline pressure.

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by: donkeytale @ Mon Jan 02, 2012 at 02:04:00 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

i guess just lie (3.00 / 1)

all successful people do it.

The defectors have started an underground railroad to smuggle other rebels out of hostile territory

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by: doberman pinche @ Mon Jan 02, 2012 at 04:45:29 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

noomie (4.00 / 1)

look at this http://www.time.com/time/world...

The defectors have started an underground railroad to smuggle other rebels out of hostile territory

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by: doberman pinche @ Mon Jan 02, 2012 at 23:20:49 PM UTC

for sale (0.00 / 0)

anyone here need a truck?

1996 Ford F-350
WikiLeaks Top Secret Mobile Information Collection Unit - Contemporary Art Truck http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...

The defectors have started an underground railroad to smuggle other rebels out of hostile territory

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by: doberman pinche @ Tue Jan 03, 2012 at 17:16:37 PM UTC

sorry, i only make my purchases at the Wiikileaks store. It's a union shop and (0.00 / 0)

Rumour has it that all monies collected go directly to the Bradley Manning Socrates Julian Assange defense fund.

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by: donkeytale @ Wed Jan 04, 2012 at 00:44:59 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

what's with these Iranian maniacs (5.00 / 1)

Iran threatens US over aircraft carrier

Iran made a fresh move to ratchet up tensions with the west on Tuesday, sending oil prices higher when it implied that it would take military action if the US Navy moves an aircraft carrier back into the Gulf.

In the latest sign of tension between Iran and the west over the future of the Strait of Hormuz, a key transit point for oil, Iran stated that it did not want to see Washington redeploying an aircraft carrier in the Gulf region.

The US responded sharply to Iran's move saying the deployment of US military assets in the Gulf region "will continue as it has for decades". In a statement, the Pentagon said of its carrier operations: "These are regularly scheduled movements in accordance with our longstanding commitments to the security and stability of the region and in support of ongoing operations."

However, diplomats and oil traders are becoming increasingly concerned about the growing military standoff in the Gulf between the US and Iran, which recently threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway through which one-third of the world's seaborne oil trade passes. The latest comments from Tehran sent Brent crude, the global benchmark, 3.5 per cent higher to $111.35 for the first time in three weeks.

Iran has threatened to close the strait in response to US and European Union plans to impose oil sanctions on Tehran because of the Iranians' failure to negotiate over their nuclear programme.

Iran's threat over the strait has forced western states to remind the Iranians that it is an international waterway that must remain open. However, Major General Ataollah Salehi, the country's army chief, stated on Tuesday that Iran could take action if the US redeploys its aircraft carrier USS John C Stennis in the Gulf.

"Iran advises, recommends and warns them [the US] not to move its carrier back to the previous area in the Gulf because Iran is not used to repeating its warnings and warns just once," the semi-official Fars news agency quoted Maj Gen Salehi as saying. He said Tehran was not going to take "any unreasonable" action, but was "ready to counter any threat".

The USS John C Stennis and another vessel left Dubai last Tuesday. Some experts say the aircraft carrier is unlikely to return soon but Iran's warning that the carrier should not return is seen as a serious threat by some military experts. It comes days after Iran test fired a ground to sea cruise missile capable of hitting naval ships at medium range.

"Iran is making a very clear threat," said Simon Henderson, a fellow at the Washington Institute for near east policy. "Having seen Iran carry out missile tests in the last few days, the US must make up its mind whether to challenge Iran and risk a ship. But the strait is an international waterway of real significance and there is no way the US will accept the notion that its aircraft carrier or its naval ships can be kept out of the area."

In recent weeks, Iran has made a string of bellicose statements against the US and its allies as it awaits the imposition of sanctions that will make it harder to export Iranian oil and could therefore undermine its economy.

The sanctions are being imposed because Iran is pressing ahead with a nuclear programme which western powers believe is aimed at building an atomic bomb. Some independent experts say Iran could be less than two years away from conducting a test explosion.

The possibility of a confrontation between Iran and the west has unnerved oil traders, since the Middle Eastern state is the world's third-largest oil exporter and accounts for about 4 per cent of global output.

The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow channel which is the conduit for 17m barrels a day of oil. The US Department of Energy describes the strait as "the world's most important oil chokepoint", with an average of 14 supertankers passing through it every day, most of them heading towards Japan, South Korea, India and China.

Analysts believe that Iran would not be able to shut it down completely. But even a brief closure of the strait would have a dramatic impact on oil prices, traders believe, predicting a rise towards $150 a barrel - or beyond, if the disruption is prolonged.

"The ever-growing frequency of intense sabre-rattling and muscle flexing between Iran and the US should keep the markets jittery and vulnerable to sudden price jumps," said JBC Energy, a Vienna-based consultancy.

Mr Henderson said it was unclear whether Iran's threat over the aircraft carrier would trigger an immediate crisis. "The aircraft carrier assigned to the US Fifth Fleet spends most of its time off Pakistan," he said. "Since it went out a few days ago, there is no reason to think the US was planning to bring it back for some time."

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0...

cue Iran rant: (h/t tip soc)

these theocratic, tyrannical madmen are stirring the already hot warpot! perhaps they figger they can inflate oil prices with this sort of over the top bluster but on the udder hand they are bringing an attack ack ack against them closer to reality. The US can obliterate iran's navy in a matter of hours, can destroy their long range missiles in minutes and can incapacitate the IRG in a day. Then the US can wreak damage on iran's nuclear weapons program to their hearts content. The US has these new 30,000 pound bunker busters ready to obliterate any underground nuclear weapons facilities. Eye wonder if Obama woode take a shot at Khamenei's head. Eye wonder if Ajad and udder top officials woode remain alive. With each additional threat the odds increase that their end is nigh.  

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by: fake noom @ Tue Jan 03, 2012 at 20:24:09 PM UTC

my theory is that the Iranians have studied Socrates (4.00 / 1)

"Rope a dope" strategy against far superiour opponents and are expecting the over-confident, overly aggressive yet not terribly bright US foreign policy and military establishment to punch themselves out against Muhammad Ali's sculpted stomache.

Besides, even if they are merely bluffing they will succeed in driving up the price of earl thus assisting global oil cartels make even more rake off gas guzzling uber leftists, not to mention knotting our frilly pink panties in a wad.

Apprised of this action while standing online at a Sizzler salad bar in an undisclosed Dallas location, former President and earl patch veteran GW Bush praised Allah and reached for the muss melon.  

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by: donkeytale @ Wed Jan 04, 2012 at 00:32:23 AM UTC

[ Parent ]