Friday News Roundup - International
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2012-10-05/friday-news-roundup-international
Turkey retaliates against Syria for shelling a border town. Thousands of Iranians protest plummeting currency. And Europe's central bank keeps interest rates steady. Diane and a panel of journalists discuss the week’s top stories, what happened and why.
Guests
Moises Naim
chief international columnist for El Pais.
Elise Labott
CNN foreign affairs reporter.
David Sanger
chief Washington correspondent for The New York Times and author of the new book, "Confront and Conceal: Obama's Secret Wars and Surprising Use of American Power."
Comments
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Part-time employment is partly the result of employers unwillingness to hire full-time employees. The can hire two part-time employees for much less than one full-time person. The main reason for this difference is that full-time employees are usually provided with health insurance and part-time are not. I know many people who could afford to retire today, making room for young employees, but they cannot afford the health insurance costs until they are old enough to qualify for Medicare. Many people including my college graduate daughter work several part-time jobs. Again, if she could get a good full-time job, she would leave those part-time positions open for other workers. Obama's long-term health care plans would help solve this problem.
There are plenty of really good things that our President has done. Unfortunately, we have become a nation of shallow image and face value oriented individuals dictated to by the Media who decide who "wins" or "loses" debates. Many voting citizens follow this route as well, lending itself to elections of less than qualified candidates such as George W. Bush. If Romney wins, welcome to Amerika.
Dr. Marcy Wheeler aka Emptywheel reports that "On Saturday a march in South Wazinstan in the Federally administered Tribal areas of Pakistan" will take place. This march is being attended by Code Pink Reps, Clifford Smith an attorney for Reprieve a U.K organization and the Pakistani party Tehrik e Insaf to bring attention to U.S.drones killing innocents who are killed while the U.S. is going after alleged militants who hide out in the area.
Prior to leaving for Pakistan attorney Clifford Smith wrote a letter to President Obama asking him to not kill Smith with U.S. drones
What can your guest tell us about this march and effort to bring attention to innocents killed by U.S. drones and who are not counted by the U.S.
Please discuss this march and effort to bring attention to this critical issue
And Israel continues to illegally confiscate more Palestinian land day by day an the Diane Rehm show ignores this critical issue day by day. Way way over due for the Rehm team to do a one hour program just on illegal settlements in the West Bank and E Jerusalem continue and the option for a two state solution disappear. All due to Israel's illegal actions.
Why is it that all of Israel's illegal actions have become so normalized
And Israel continues to illegally confiscate more Palestinian land day by day an the Diane Rehm show ignores this critical issue day by day. Way way over due for the Rehm team to do a one hour program just on illegal settlements in the West Bank and E Jerusalem continue and the option for a two state solution disappear. All due to Israel's illegal actions.
Why is it that all of Israel's illegal actions have become so normalized
So Diane and her guest discuss Iran bad bad Iran. But silent on the ongoing Israeli land grab of Palestinian lands. Will Diane and the guest even whisper about this normalized and daily confiscation of more Palestinian lands in the West Bank and E Jerusalem? Sounds like it. Normalized on the Diane Rehm show. Thank goodness for the internet
Once we had a chance to see President Obama in the first debate, it was then easy to understand why Chris Stevens was doomed to be the Star Trek crew member in the red shirt.
Being President is way cool, dude, you get to go on The View and have all these old babes secretly wish you were banging them, but whoa!
All those details! Debate stuff. Leading from the front instead of from behind, where if you do all that boring stuff to protect American citizens you might end up upsetting someone anyway and then have to harsh your buzz with all those recriminations and fact checking. No way, dude. That's not what you signed up for when you were choomin' it with the homies down at the beach. Now drones, drones are cool, like WOW. Guys making stupid movies that make you job harder, though, that's not cool.
But, hey, there's that town hall coming up.
Do we know anymore about whether Al Qeada was involved with Ambassador Stevens killing? It was reported last year that former members of Al Qeada were leading the Libyan rebels.
Also a month ago the Washington Post printed an article about a Navy analyst who had outed the Cheney plan to attack Iran during the Bush administration. That story fell off the radar screen. What is up with that story. Who shut it down and why?
On the day the U.S. invaded Afghanistan 11 years ago a Code Pink delegation will join thousands of Pakistanis who strongly object to the killing of innocent people by U.S. drones. This march is taking place in Wazinstan the epicenter of the U.S. drone killings. We know the U.S. media and our military forces do not count these dead and clearly do not value their lives otherwise we would hear more about this instead of always having to turn to the internet for this information.
Will your guest discuss this march and the killing of innocent people with U.S. drones?
Ok we want accurate information about the killing of Stevens and three others killed in Benghazi. But will your guest talk about the thousands of innocent people killed by U.S. drones? Tomorrow there will be a march in Wazinstan the epicenter of U.S. drone killings tomorrow marking the day the U.S. invaded Afghanistan 11 years ago. Are your guest going to talk about this march and innocent people killed by U.S. drones?
Are you going to talk about the continued confiscation of Palestinian lands by Israel that have become so normalized that it is not even mentioned on your program or in the majority of U.S. MSm outlets?
Elise Labott is absolutely right about Susan Rice "getting the short straw." She was sacrificed by the administration because (a) she is not part of Obama's inner Chicago circle and (b) since Obama raised UN Amb back to cabinet rank, she does not answer to Hillary Clinton. No way Hillary was going to make herself look so inept by being part of this.
Susan Rice is a brilliant woman, PhD in int'l affairs from Oxford. Knows far more about international issues than either Obama or Clinton. Those two should be working for her. She did not deserve to take this hit.
De oppresso liber.
"do it by remote control" yep and Diane and her guest completely avoided talking about the innocent people that the U.S. kills "by remote control" sickening
I have a problem with some of the opinions offered by your guest, the CNN foreign affairs representative. I have ceased watching CNN when they are discussing foreign affairs. Since the lead up to and during the Iraq and Afghanastan wars CNN has been vigorously endorsed these invasions and that is not a surprise since CNN earned its place in the world of Cable news with the first Iraq war.
That being said, I will admit to a suspicion on my part regarding CNN's motives for overall coverage of any war any where and what the USA's role should be.
Your guest from CNN was strongly, and almost visciously critical about the administration's handling of the situation surrounding the death of Ambassador Stevens.
I would like to remind her about CNN's journalistic failure in their handling of the ambassador's personal diary in such a manner as to seem to be only fitting for grocery store tabloid journalism.
I would suggest to your guest and CNN that they report more objectively, assess the facts and make the quotes more complete and in context. Gottcha journalism only leads to less respect from people who like facts, like to THINK, like evidence rather than speculation and are not eager to raise personal polls at any costs.
The DR show should look elsewhere for honest commentary on the Venezuelan election than Moises Naim, who is obviously totally biased in favor of the formerly ruling oligarchy.
I don't know who I would trust more for an unbiased assessment of the Venezuelan election process than Jimmy Carter, who said:
"As a matter of fact, of the 92 elections that we've monitored, I would say that the election process in Venezuela is the best in the world."
Carter won a Nobel prize for his work through the election-monitoring Carter Center, which has observed and certified past Venezuelan elections. But because Washington has sought for more than a decade to delegitimize Venezuela's government, his viewpoint is only rarely reported. His latest comments went unreported in almost all of the US media.
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/10/04-9
John M. Morgan
Did not know Carter said that about the Venezuelan election. Thanks so much. Like so many around the world really respect Carter. The man is simply brilliant and honroable
Attributed above to Jimmy Carter, re 1992 Venezuelan election: "... I would say that the election process in Venezuela is the best in the world."
Wonder what Mr. Carter would say about the 2012 elections? Especially for the 100,000+ Venezuelans living abroad -- many of whom were forced out of the country by the Chavez government, but who proudly retain their citizenship. Chavez tried to lock out the south Florida Venezuelan expat community by closing the Miami consulate and voting center. The ~20,000 Venezuelans living in south Florida can still vote -- if they can get to New Orleans, 1700 miles from Miami.
If people are paranoid that Diane's guests are not presenting honest info on this -- and have an open mind -- you may wish to read: http://www.americasquarterly.org/node/4001 and http://miami.cbslocal.com/2012/09/30/venezuelans-flee-after-miami-consul...
De oppresso liber
Is it their Muslimness that makes these countries not amenable to American power and influence? No it is the fact that they have been disenfranchised for hundreds of years: Turks, British, French, Dictators. We do hope that they can build their own institutions and come together, rather than have militias based on family relationships.
Thanks for the link. Well said!
Thanks for the link. Well said!
Turkey seems to have gotten tired of its previous & successful policy of zero conflict in the region. How fickle can you get!
What is Turkey Doing?
http://theoriginalamed.blogspot.com/2012/10/what-is-turkey-doing.html
"SANGER
11:15:59
But at the moment that Susan Rice, nearly three weeks ago, three Sundays ago, the American ambassador to the United Nations, came out on the Sunday TV shows and said, we have no evidence that any of this was preplanned. That the sort of -- her argument was it began as a protest because of the film and then grew into something bigger and then it was exploited basically by these other elements.
SANGER
11:16:25
That didn't quite sound right to anybody even at the moment. I remember she was on "Face the Nation" and John, right, and John McCain was on at the time and I happened to be on that week and McCain said to me, you know, not many people bring an RPG, a rocket propelled grenade, to a demonstration. Well, in Libya, some people do bring RPG's to a demonstration, but the overall point was that this group came pretty well armed and knew exactly where both American sites were, Both the American consult and then this..."
Well, as usual, Sanger...
A Witness reported on the BBC that the Protesters were unarmed and when the Embassy opened fire, they went home and got their guns.
Furthermore, another Witness inspected the Building and said he saw lots of bullet holes, but no evidence of RPG or Mortar damage.
(Cont)
(Cont)
2 Weeks ago, Diane's age opened with a photo of the miserable little Semitic Rat Issa, putting on his coat so he could slink out of the Hearings, back into his filthy little hole.
He knew very well that there was nothing in the EMails and when exposed, he just dropped the whole matter. However, the little Rat Issa and his pal Rat Sanger just blew off another of the Bush/CIA/Mossad/FBI/NeoCon/GOP/Jew Media/Military/NRA/Hoover Institution/NPR/Bloomberg News/MI5-MI6 Kabal stunts of a Rogue operation that, instead of reporting to the President and the Attorney General, operated under the direction of the Traitor Bushes.
And wonderful to tell, an Arizona Agent is slaughtered by Friendly Fire, wonder what he knew about the Rogues??
But lo and behold, the little Rat and his GOP Ratpack is back again. This time to investigate the claim that the Bengahzi Station was begging for more Security which the cruel President refused them.
In spite of the determination of the Ambassador that the Station be open with plenty of contact with the Libyan People.
Then topping of the third layer of the disgusting cesspool, was the incredibly dense Media comparing the Carter-Reagan Debates and Election to the Obama-Romney ones, ignoring the theft of the Carter Team Playbook which passed through the hands of at least one of the Kabal's Media Pigs, and the outright Treason of Reagan/Bush.
Monte Haun mchaun@hotmail.com