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12-11-17 OCCUPY D.C.1932. The Bonus Army. 17,000 Veterans. 26,000 Others. 500 Infantry. 4 dead, 1,017 injured. 69 Police Injured.

By Allan Wayne (about the author)     Permalink      OpEdNews Op Eds 11/14/2012 at 06:31:26

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Bonus 3 by Wikimedia Commons

The Bonus Army was the popular name of an assemblage of some 43,000 marchers--17,000 World War I veterans, their families, and affiliated groups--who gathered in Washington, D.C., in the spring and summer of 1932 to demand immediate cash-payment redemption of their service certificates. Its organizers called it the Bonus Expeditionary Force to echo the name of World War I's American Expeditionary Force, while the media called it the Bonus March. It was led by Walter W. Waters, a former Army sergeant.

Bonus Army

Many of the war veterans had been out of work since the beginning of the Great Depression. The World War Adjusted Compensation Act of 1924 had awarded them bonuses in the form of certificates they could not redeem until 1945. Each service certificate, issued to a qualified veteran soldier, bore a face value equal to the soldier's promised payment plus compound interest. The principal demand of the Bonus Army was the immediate cash payment of their certificates.

Bonus Army 2 by Wikimedia Commons

Retired Marine Corps Major General Smedley Butler, one of the most popular military figures of the time, visited their camp to back the effort and encourage them.[1] On July 28, U.S. Attorney General William D. Mitchell ordered the veterans removed from all government property. Washington police met with resistance, shots were fired and two veterans were wounded and later died. Veterans were also shot dead at other locations during the demonstration. President Herbert Hoover then ordered the army to clear the veterans' campsite. Army Chief of Staff General Douglas MacArthur commanded the infantry and cavalry supported by six tanks. The Bonus Army marchers with their wives and children were driven out, and their shelters and belongings burned.

A second, smaller Bonus March in 1933 at the start of the Roosevelt Administration was defused in May with an offer of jobs for the Civilian Conservation Corps at Fort Hunt, Virginia, which most of the group accepted. Those who chose not to work for the CCC by the May 22 deadline were given transportation home.[2] In 1936, Congress overrode President Franklin D. Roosevelt's veto and paid the veterans their bonus years early.

Bonus 4 by Wikimedia Commons

During the military operation, Major Dwight D. Eisenhower, later President of the United States, served as one of MacArthur's junior aides.[16] Believing it wrong for the Army's highest-ranking officer to lead an action against fellow American war veterans, he strongly advised MacArthur against taking any public role: "I told that dumb son-of-a-b*tch not to go down there," he said later. "I told him it was no place for the Chief of Staff."[17] Despite his misgivings, Eisenhower later wrote the Army's official incident report which endorsed MacArthur's conduct.[18] WIKI

12-11-17 10 Funniest Headlines from the Petraeus Sex Scandal

10 Funniest Headlines from the Petraeus Sex Scandal

We've assembled the media's best efforts to gin up even more controversy over the CIA sex scandals.

November 16, 2012  |  

 

America's press corps despaired at the fate of their fallen hero, General David Petreaus, when he resigned following revelations of an extra-marital affair with hagiographer Paula Broadwell. Still, they picked themselves up and performed admirably at the difficult task at hand: generating non-stop tawdry coverage as the scandal spread to include a colorful cast of characters including the incomparable Jill Kelley, her shirtless FBI suitor, and a whole different General (and America's massive surveillance state).

AlterNet has assembled 10 of the most inspired, hilarious headlines -- both inadvertently and purposefully -- of the scandal. Enjoy!

1. We hope monuments are erected to this NY Daily News cover, so the rest of the world and future generations can eternally marvel at the American genius on display: 

Click to enlarge.

   2. Wondering what the Iranian media make of this? Eskandar Sadeghi-Boroujerdi, writing for the Al-Monitor affiliated Iran Pulse, translated one newspaper's efforts to grapple with the CIA soap opera. Looks like they had the most accurate take on the troubles facing the agency, encapsulating the mess with the following headline: When the Terrible Organization kneels before a woman! Other great excerpts from the piece:

Paula Broadwell for close to ten years cooperated with the American military forces. Even though she has a husband and two children, but she enthralled herself to militarism and was present in countries like Afghanistan following Petraeus who was at the time the American commander in Afghanistan … If we look at the course of the lives of the past leaders and managers of the CIA it can be seen to be full of these type of people in positions of power with a brutal soul.

3. Meanwhile, the right-wing hardliners at the National Review seemingly looked for guidance from the Bible, which is, to their credit, even more sexually tawdry than this scandal: "Petraeus's Bathsheba Syndrome"

Who was Bathsheba and how many generals did she screw? From the article:

David seduces Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite, and impregnates her. He later orders that Uriah be placed in the front ranks of the fighting, where Uriah is killed. Upon word of his death, David marries Bathsheba. God is displeased and sends the prophet Nathan to rebuke the king, who repents but is nonetheless punished by the death of his and Bathsheba’s child, and by the later civil war arising from the insurrection Absalom (David’s beloved third son) leads against David.

The authors are actually referencing the so-called "Bathsheba syndrome." It's when the military leaders deemed our superhuman overlords by an obseqious media self-destruct over something as small and human as getting laid, because they feel invincible.   4. Pat Robertson, meanwhile, seemed to draw inspiration from the timeless teachings of Axe commercials, saying that Petreaus shared none of the blame because 'a good-looking woman' had gone after him. Robertson's lax attitude towards sexual mores inspired the following headline from Outside the Beltway:  Pat Robertson: L’Affaire Petraeus The Fault Of That Hussy Paula Broadwell  5. The NY Post threw down the gauntlet early with this gem:  

Click to enlarge.

   6. Not to be outmatched, the Daily News brought out the big puns:  

Click to enlarge.

   7.Someone give this editor a raise!  Central infidelity agency: Petraeus' fall from grace  8. The Daily Mail brought important historical context to the controversy: 'You'll be in awe of me after my nose job': What glamorous housewife at centre of Petraeus scandal told high school friends who taunted her over he looks?"  9. And ABC brought us this exciting late-breaking development: Petraeus Paramour Paula Broadwell's Lost License Found in DC Park

Militaristic aduterers, they're just like us!

10. Let's end on a sexy note, via, again, the NY Post: 

Click to enlarge.

Tana Ganeva is AlterNet's managing editor. Follow her on Twitter or email her attana@alternet.org.

12-11-17 Silicon India: World's 10 Most Dangerous Prisons

The scientific background for this list remains unclear.  Regardless, one should note that the US ends up in the respectable 6th,7th, 8th, and 10th places.  jz

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Bangalore: ‘If you do the crime, you got to do the time,’ and the time spent in prison is not just hard, not just tough it’s rather insanely dangerous. To survive as an inmate is the real challenge and staying alive is a big deal for these prisoners. When it comes to the ten most dangerous prisons in the world each day seems like a mark of endurance. Here’s the list of most dangerous prisons in the world as reported by Heather Matthews for toptenz.net.

10. San Quentin Prison
At number 10 is the San Quentin prison in California. It was opened in 1852. It is the largest prisons in the United States. In the 1930s, corruption in the San Quentin Prison management was common and widespread. It was in 1940 after Clinton Truman Duffy was appointed the new director of the prison who employed ways to reform the appalling and brutal conditions of this prison.
Before the new system, the inmates’ were imposed to wear numbered uniforms, forced to spend solitary confinement in concrete cells with poor air supply and no light. Even now the conditions are harsh, which is incorporated to control the most violent offenders in the prison.

9. Bang Kwang Prison
At ninth spot is the Bang Kwang Prison in Thailand, also called ‘the Bangkok Hilton’. The first one month in this prison drives many prisoners insane with shackles on their feet. The prison is overcrowded and understaffed. As said by the Director Khun Nattee, “Thai prisons are tough…you don’t want to be in Bang Kwang,” as reported by topnetz.net. The prison is known for the poor medical facilities, where sick prisoners wait for their medications while chained to their bed, which they might never receive. The most dreadful of all facts is that a prisoner is informed just two hours before being executed by lethal injection.

8. Rikers Island Prison
The eighth prison on the list is the Rikers Island in New York. The prison is known for the most brutal acts practiced by the prison guards. The prison is filled with mostly drug offenders and is popular as a hotbed of assault and aggression. In 2003 six inmates were reported of committing suicide to escape the brutality of the guards. Even the mentally ill prisoner’s receive similar treatment; they often choose suicide as a remedy instead of medical treatment and attention, which they never get.

7. ADX Florence Supermax Facility
The ADX Florence Supermax Facility located in Colorado is seventh on the list. It was built as a response to the violent attacks of the prisoners on the guards and prison staff. It is a place where the prisoners are subjected to complete isolation from the prison staff. The prisoners at the ADX are considered as ‘worst of the worst,’ they are mostly repeat offenders who have murdered or injured other inmates or guards. The prison is described by the inmates as ‘clear version of hell.’

6. Alcatraz Island Prison
The Alcatraz Island prison is sixth and is currently inactive. Alcatraz is most well known prison on the list after being popularized by movies like ‘The Rock’ and ‘Devil’s Island.’  The prisons unique design makes it impossible to escape, but efforts were made to escape.

The prison followed the ‘silence’ policy, one of the most inhumane treatments, in which the inmates are forced to give up verbal communication for a long period. As a result many went insane due to these strict prison conditions. In 1963 the prison was shut down. However its dark past still lives on as a part of its legacy.

5. La Sante Prison
The fifth spot is taken by La Sante Prison in Paris, France. ‘Sante’ which translates to ‘health’ in English stands paradoxical to the obnoxious condition in which the prisoners were forced to live. As per the former official Veronique Vasseur the whistle blower, the prisoners were forced to live in concrete cells which were full of lice and rats, resulting in the inmate’s mental breakdown. The strong prisoners enslaved the weaker ones and rapes took place on daily basis. Le Sante had an extensive level of suicide, which accounted to 122 suicides in 2002 alone and plus 73 by mid 2003.

4. Diyarbakir Prison
The Turkey Prison Diyarbakir is fourth for brutally treating its prisoners. Due to the intensive torture, inflicted both mentally and physically 34 prisoners lost their lives from 1981 to 1984 at Diyarbakir. The inhumane living condition and sexual abuse of its prisoners are common in this prison. In protest to amend the prison conditions prisoners have attempted hunger strike, set themselves on fire and even committed suicide to escape the horror.

Diyarbakir inconsiderate act of incarcerating children, sentencing them to life imprisonment adding to its list of ‘crime against humanity’ makes this prison one of the most vicious prisons in the world.

3. La Sabaneta Prison
The third spot is given to the Venezuela prison La Sabaneta. This prison along with all the brutality of violence and aggression is known to have disease out breaks. There is very little medical service, the staff is underpaid and the deficient supply of food and care adds to the list of distress.

This prison functions under such intolerable health conditions that 700 inmates were wiped out due to cholera. The inmate riots have caused appalling massacre leading to the death of 100 prisoners in 1994. It resulted due to the idealness and boredom of the prisoners who are not allowed to engage in any activities in order to vent their anxiety and tension.

2. Tadmor Prison
The Tadmor Prison in Syria takes the second place with its heinous prison conditions. The violence is merciless and gruesome. A former prisoner described the prison as ‘kingdom of death and madness.’ The vicious guards are known to butcher prisoners with axes. The political prisoners are starved by the prison administrators who eventually resemble the concentration camp malnutrition victims. In 1980, after an attempt to assassinate the President of Syria, the commandos as a ‘warning message’ butchered over 500 prisoners. The act was beyond being callous and inhumane and yet it only makes the second spot.

1. Carandiru Prison
The Brazilian prison Carandiru tops the charts for being the most dangerous and worst prison in the world. In the 1992 massacre led by the police, the death toll of the general population was unbelievably high. Even the surrendered inmates were shot in there dingy prison cells. In its 46 years in service, the number of death at this prison is accounted to over 1300.In 2002 the violence inflicted by the officials was stopped, as the prison was closed. The physical violence was not the only preposterous happenings at this prison, it had also turned into a center of AIDS epidemic spreading rapidly, infecting one out of five inmates.

These prisons can easily make anybody shiver with terror just by their tales, it’s very difficult to imagine the lives of those people who have or are living in any of these prisons.

12-11-17 Florida Tampon Search...

Causeless Florida Roadside Cavity Search Produces Tampon and Lawsuit

3 August 2012. United States District Court, Middle District of Florida, Ocala. The attached Case Number 5:12-cv-434-OC-99TJC-PRL complaint (appended below) charges the Citrus County Sheriff and associates of stopping and strip-searching Leila Tarantino, a female driver, on a public byway without probable cause on 11 July 2011 in Beverly Hills, Florida. One officer stooped so low as to pluck the soggy tampon right out of Leila’s unwilling vagina while consummating a cavity search. Officers then cited Leila for violating restrictions on her driver license.

Attorneys claimed the court has jurisdiction under 28 USC 1391, 1331, and 1343, 42 USC 1983 and 1988, and CUSA Amendments 4, 9, and 14. The lawsuit cites violations of Florida Statute 901.211 which imposes duties of reasonable privacy and authority upon officers, duties they ignored.

901.211 Strip searches of persons arrested; body cavity search.—

(1) As used in this section, the term “strip search” means having an arrested person remove or arrange some or all of his or her clothing so as to permit a visual or manual inspection of the genitals; buttocks; anus; breasts, in the case of a female; or undergarments of such person.

(2) No person arrested for a traffic, regulatory, or misdemeanor offense, except in a case which is violent in nature, which involves a weapon, or which involves a controlled substance, shall be strip searched unless:

(a) There is probable cause to believe that the individual is concealing a weapon, a controlled substance, or stolen property; or

(b) A judge at first appearance has found that the person arrested cannot be released either on recognizance or bond and therefore shall be incarcerated in the county jail.

(3) Each strip search shall be performed by a person of the same gender as the arrested person and on premises where the search cannot be observed by persons not physically conducting or observing the search pursuant to this section. Any observer shall be of the same gender as the arrested person.

(4) Any body cavity search must be performed under sanitary conditions.

(5) No law enforcement officer shall order a strip search within the agency or facility without obtaining the written authorization of the supervising officer on duty.

(6) Nothing in this section shall be construed as limiting any statutory or common-law right of any person for purposes of any civil action or injunctive relief.

The lawsuit attacks the Sheriff and deputies as officials and individuals for their scurrilous pattern of behavior that invades rights and for battering and humiliating Leila, and inflicting severe emotional distress upon her. It seeks declaratory and injunctive relief requiring a change to Sheriff policies and practices, and compensatory, general, special, and exemplary damages, plus attorney fees and costs and “other relief as the court finds just and proper.” Leila seeks a jury trial.

Let us join in wishing Leila’s attorneys Michael Suchrest and Matthew Birk (352-373-5922) the best of success in prosecuting the egregious malfeasance by the Sheriff and deputies. I wonder whether they investigated Florida Statue 760.51 as a tool for obtaining relief and remedy.

760.51 Violations of constitutional rights, civil action by the Attorney General; civil penalty.—

(1) Whenever any person, whether or not acting under color of law, interferes by threats, intimidation, or coercion, or attempts to interfere by threats, intimidation, or coercion, with the exercise or enjoyment by any other person of rights secured by the State Constitution or laws of this state, the Attorney General may bring a civil or administrative action for damages, and for injunctive or other appropriate relief for violations of the rights secured. Any damages recovered under this section shall accrue to the injured person. The civil action shall be brought in the name of the state and may be brought on behalf of the injured person. The Attorney General is entitled to an award of reasonable attorney’s fees and costs if the Department of Legal Affairs prevails in an action brought under this section.

(2) Any person who interferes by threats, intimidation, or coercion, or attempts to interfere by threats, intimidation, or coercion, with the exercise or enjoyment by any other person of rights secured by the State Constitution or laws of this state is liable for a civil penalty of not more than $10,000 for each violation. This penalty may be recovered in any action brought under this section by the Attorney General. A civil penalty so collected shall accrue to the state and shall be deposited as received into the General Revenue Fund unallocated.

12-11-17 Corruption of the Grand Jury instrument

The other face of the failure of the Grand Jury instrument to stem government corruption, is its implementation to suppress the People.  jz

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By Will Potter
"Do you intend to answer that for every question?" How activists should respond to a grand jury subpoaena.

Grand juries are used to threaten political activists in two ways: 1) by threatening prison time for those who refuse to talk about their political beliefs and political associations and 2) by using these threats, combined with secretive proceedings, to intimidate and disrupt the broader social movement. Here's how one activist anarchist handled it.

READ MORE:

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Do-you-intend-to-answer-t-by-Will-Potter-121112-25.html

12-11-17 US - I just don't know you anymore...

12-11-17 Bradley Manning Seeks Plea Deal

Retaliation against Truthers is the other face of tolerating lying to the People by its government.  jz

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opednews.com

Bradley Manning Seeks Plea Deal

Expect Pentagon to show him little leniency.

by Stephen Lendman

Plea bargains are sought or accepted for lesser sentences on charges faced. Innocent victims take them if offered. They know potentially what they face against hardball prosecutors wanting blood.

If convicted on all or most serious charges, Manning faces potential life in prison. In America, innocence is no defense. Thousands languish unjustifiably in gulag hell. US prisons are some of the worst.

Manning's lawyer, David Coombs notified the military court that he'll plead guilty to some charges. It's more a partial plea deal than a traditional one. More on that below.

The Bradley Manning Support Network ( BMSN)asks, "When did exposing truth become a crime in America?" It's criminalized when government rogues want uncomfortable truths kept secret.

Manning is an American hero. He's a courageous Army intelligence analyst turned whistleblower. Harry Truman once said:

"When even one American - who has done nothing wrong - is forced by fear to shut his mind and close his mouth, then all Americans are in peril."

The National Security Whistleblowers Coalition(NSWBC) is an alliance of whistleblowers. Sibel Edmonds founded it in August 2004. It's independent and nonpartisan. She serves as president.

Its members include "current or former federal employees or civilians working under contract to the United States who, to their detriment or personal risk, bring to light fraud, waste, and abuse in government operations and agencies when such improprieties compromise the national security of the United States."

At perhaps the most perilous time in world history, exposing vital truths takes on greater importance than ever. A legion of Bradley Mannings is needed.

READ MORE:

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Bradley-Manning-Seeks-Plea-by-Stephen-Lendman-121110-854.html

12-11-17 GAZA - Israel killed its subcontractor

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Haaretz daily editorial

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Israel killed its subcontractor in Gaza

The political outcome of the operation will become clear on January 22, but the strategic ramifications are more complex: Israel will have to find a new subcontractor to replace Ahmed Jabari as its border guard in the south.

By Aluf Benn | Nov.14, 2012 | 10:44 PM | 

Palestinian firefighters extinguish fire from the car of Ahmaed Jaabari, head of the military wing of the Hamas movement, the Ezzedin Qassam Brigades, Gaza, November 14, 2012. Photo by AFP

Ahmed Jabari was a subcontractor, in charge of maintaining Israel's security in Gaza. This title will no doubt sound absurd to anyone who in the past several hours has heard Jabari described as "an arch-terrorist," "the terror chief of staff" or "our Bin Laden."

But that was the reality for the past five and a half years. Israel demanded of Hamas that it observe the truce in the south and enforce it on the multiplicity of armed organizations in the Gaza Strip. The man responsible for carrying out this policy was Ahmed Jabari.

In return for enforcing the quiet, which was never perfect, Israel funded the Hamas regime through the flow of shekels in armored trucks to banks in Gaza, and continued to supply infrastructure and medical services to the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip. Jabari was also Israel's partner in the negotiations for the release of Gilad Shalit; it was he who ensured the captive soldier's welfare and safety, and it was he who saw to Shalit's return home last fall.

Now Israel is saying that its subcontractor did not do his part and did not maintain the promised quiet on the southern border. The repeated complaint against him was that Hamas did not succeed in controlling the other organizations, even though it is not interested in escalation. After Jabari was warned openly (Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff reported here at the beginning of this week that the assassination of top Hamas people would be renewed), he was executed on Wednesday in a public assassination action, for which Israel hastened to take responsibility. The message was simple and clear: You failed - you're dead. Or, as Defense Minister Ehud Barak likes to say, "In the Middle East there is no second chance for the weak."

The assassination of Jabari will go down in history as another showy military action initiated by an outgoing government on the eve of an election.

This is what researcher Prof. Yagil Levy has called "fanning the conflict as an intra-state control strategy:" The external conflict helps a government strengthen its standing domestically because the public unites behind the army, and social and economic problems are edged off the national agenda.

This recipe is familiar from 1955, when David Ben-Gurion returned from his exile in Sde Boker and led the Israel Defense Forces to a retaliatory action in Gaza, and his party, Mapai, to victory in the election. (Barak recalled this period with nostalgia, when he spoke last week at a memorial for Moshe Dayan). Ever since, whenever the ruling party feels threatened at the ballot box, it puts its finger on the trigger. The examples are common knowledge: the launch of the Shavit 2 missile in the summer of 1961, in the midst of the Lavon affair; the bombing of the Iraqi reactor in 1981; Operation Grapes of Wrath in Lebanon in 1996, and Operation Cast Lead in Gaza on the eve of the 2009 election. In the two latter cases, the military action turned into a defeat in the election.

There is a disagreement among historians as to whether it is necessary to add the Yom Kippur War to the list. In that conflict, which broke out on the eve of the 1973 election, the Arabs fired first, but their decision to go to war was taken in the context of the increasingly extreme position of Prime Minister Golda Meir's government  which had refused Egyptian President Anwar Sadat's peace offer and declared an expansion of Israeli settlements in Sinai.

This, for example, is the opinion of researchers Prof. Motti Golani and Shoshana Ishoni-Barri.

The current operation, Pillar of Defense, belongs in the same category. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is interested in neutralizing every possible rival, and Defense Minister Ehud Barak is fighting for enough votes to return to the Knesset. A war against Hamas will wipe out the electoral aspirations of the ditherer, Ehud Olmert, whose disciples expected him to announce his candidacy this evening and it will kick off the agenda the "social and economic issue" that serves the Labor Party headed by MK Shelly Yacimovich.

When the cannons roar, we see only Netanyahu and Barak on the screen, and all the other politicians have to applaud them.

The political outcome of the operation will become clear on January 22. The strategic ramifications are more complex: Israel will have to find a new subcontractor to replace Ahmed Jabari as its border guard in the south, and it will also have to ensure that its action in Gaza does not cause the collapse of its peace treaty with Egypt under the leadership of the Muslim Brotherhood, the Hamas movement's patron.

These are not easy challenges and the results of the operation will be judged by the extent to which they are met.

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Russia Today

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Hamas chief held peace deal draft as IDF strike smashed his car - reportsPublished on Nov 16, 2012 by RussiaToday

An Israeli peace activist says the Hamas military leader Ahmed Jabari, assassinated at the start of Israel's offensive, was murdered amid talks on a long-term truce with Israel. For details, RT talks to peace activist Gershon Baskin.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTOP1wL1lSk&feature=g-all-u