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Manning, Assange and Suu Kyi

Friday, June 29, 2012

Manning, Assange and Suu Kyi

On April 5, 2010, WikiLeaks released a classified US military video of three air strikes from a US Apache helicopter last July 12, 2007 in New Baghdad, Iraq. Eighteen people were killed, including two journalists working for Reuters, Saeed Chmagh and Namir Noor-Eldeen, while two children were wounded in an incoming private van that was going to rescue one of the reporters before it was fired upon.

We know of the children because the video that showed US ground troops arriving at the area — recorded by the gunsight camera on the Apache helicopter, Crazyhorse 18 — had a soldier “running as he (carried) one of the children wounded in the attack on the van.”

Thanks to YouTube, millions of global citizens laid witness to those gruesome events. But had it not been for Private Bradley Manning, the 22-year-old intelligence analyst with the US Army in Baghdad who allegedly passed on the material to WikiLeaks, the world might still have not had any inkling of the atrocities that transpired on that fateful day.

Manning was arrested in May 2010 in Iraq on suspicion of passing classified materials to the whistleblower Web site, then charged with communicating national defense information to an unauthorized source and aiding the enemy — all of which could result in lifetime imprisonment.

Meanwhile, the other figure in this controversy, Julian Paul Assange (aged 42 today), is an Australian computer programmer, Internet political activist, publisher, and journalist, best known as the founder and editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks, a Web site that publishes information from whistle-blowers everywhere.

A hacker-activist in his youth, Assange has garnered numerous awards and nominations, including the 2009 Amnesty International Media Award, the 2010 Readers’ Choice for Time’s Person of the Year, the 2011 Sydney Peace Foundation gold medal, the 2011 Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism, and a nod for the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize. Fearing the accolades were a build-up for another “useful idiot,” I kept quiet about him; now, I’m convinced he is genuine.

In 2010, a European arrest warrant was issued for Assange on what appeared to be trumped-up charges of rape and sexual assault. He was later arrested in the UK and freed on bail after 10 days. On May 30 of this year, Assange lost his Supreme Court appeal to prevent extradition to Sweden. Then on June 19, Assange entered the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where he sought political asylum on the basis of political persecution. Ecuador granted him temporary protection pending deliberations by the Ecuadorean parliament.

Just before his asylum bid and while serving house arrest in the UK, Assange had around half a dozen episodes of his own talk show beamed over Russia Today (seen here on Destiny Cable Channel 86). Every episode and interview I had the chance to follow was always interesting and in-depth; the last one with Imran Khan of Pakistan was no exception as it exposed the US as well as the Pakistani ruling class’ corrupt politics.
The work and sacrifice of these two heroes, at a time when US imperialism is at its apogee, highlights the power of truth and modern information or — to borrow from another Internet dissident Alex Jones — the “Information War.” This “Infowar” is one that will rouse the world against the US war industry and its controlled war-coddling mainstream media all over the world.

Indeed, these are the people who deserve all the international peace and democracy awards (except for the debased Nobel Peace Prize after it was bestowed to a mother-and-child killer in the White House, now infamous for his unmanned drone terrorism all over the world).

Sadly, there is no clamor yet in the Philippines for the kind of heroism of these two whistleblower-warriors for truth and global transparency. This is perhaps because a lot of column inches are being devoted to certain darlings of Western “human rights” advocates such as Aung San Suu Kyi.

Our Tribune colleague, Ken Fuller, wrote in “A rendezvous with disappointment” a good assessment of Suu Kyi and with apologies I summarize: “US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton flew in and… met Aung Sang Suu Kyi for talks… Then, on April 13, following the NLD (Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy) by-election victories, in came UK Prime Minister David Cameron… What is happening here… is that Western leaders… are now hurrying to secure a place at the head of the line… Surely Aung San Suu Kyi would not allow them to pillage her country?… (But as) we get to socio-economic questions… what will the economy look like? Will Myanmar attempt to industrialize? What will be the balance between public and private, local and foreign enterprise?… voters were told that the NLD would ‘focus on seeking necessary international assistance for development of the nation,’ and that ‘it is required to make a shift to market economy with a right balance between freedom, stability and social justice, based on the rule of law.’  So, there will be a market economy. But that is not all. ‘It is required to closely cooperate with the International Monetary Fund…’”

Last week in Oslo, Suu Kyi personally received the Nobel Peace honor bestowed on her 21 years ago, getting “two standing ovations as she gave her long-delayed acceptance speech.” Before the Norwegian Nobel Committee, the King and Queen of Norway, and about 600 dignitaries, “The 66-year-old champion of political freedom praised the power of her 1991 Nobel honor both for saving her from the depths of personal despair and shining an enduring spotlight on injustices in distant Burma.”

But I wonder, notwithstanding the fact that Myanmar has never invaded other lands, what has Suu Kyi really said and done about Western imperialism and its heinous cruelties all over the world? Hasn’t she merely epitomized the hypocrisy of the West by serving as “human rights” leverage against struggling Asian and African nations?

Indeed, placing her side-by-side with the heroic Manning and Assange only reveals who the real glove-puppet of the West is.

(Watch Destiny Cable GNN’s HTL edition of Talk News TV, Saturdays, 8:15 to 9 p.m., with replay at 11:15 p.m., this week on “The Oust PiNoy Movement” with Mon Pedrosa; visit http://newkatipunero.blogspot.com for our articles plus TV and radio archives).


SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribune.net.ph/index.php/commentary/item/855-manning-assange-and-suu-kyi

A patent Noynoy solution

A patent Noynoy solution

What else but the word Noynoying exactly defines what Noynoy is doing regarding the Chinese presence in Scarborough Shoal despite that which his administration had claimed earlier as a mutual agreement reached between the sides of the Philippines and China to withdraw from the area as a means of de-escalating the conflict.

Last June 18, Noynoy ordered Philippine ships to abandon the shoal. He later claimed that he had ordered the pullout from the area to prevent the lives of government personnel from being placed in danger as a result of typhoon Butchoy then.

Strangely, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) issued a different line, saying that China and the Philippines have mutually agreed to disengage from the face off and leave the shoal area.

Either there was no agreement and the DFA is lying or China did not recognize the supposed agreement because instead of leaving the area, more Chinese ships were deployed around the disputed area while the Chinese government did not mention anything about an agreement that will require the recalling of its state-owned vessels while at the same time issuing a statement short of thanking Noynoy for “withdrawing” Philippine vessels — a statement that, in effect it said had reduced the tension in the area..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribune.net.ph/index.php/commentary/editorial/item/869-a-patent-noynoy-solution

Wrong is now right?

Wrong is now right?

During Gloria Arroyo’s term as the Malacañang tenant, Noynoy, then a senator, said it was wrong for a president to reappoint her nominees who have been bypassed by the bicameral Commission on Appointments (CA).

He even sponsored a bill to make it law, and was also pretty strict in saying that after two bypasses of the CA, the confirming power, the President, should no longer reappoint the bypassed nominee in the event Congress adjourns.

During the 14th Congress, then Senator Aquino filed Senate Bill 1719 entitled “An Act Limiting the Reappointment of Presidential Nominees Bypassed by the Commission on Appointments,” saying that “Arroyo abused her power to reappoint her bypassed Cabinet secretaries because of her consistent reappointment of her nominees who have been consecutively bypassed by the Commission on Appointments.”.... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribune.net.ph/index.php/commentary/item/868-wrong-is-now-right?

Assange rejects police request to surrender



 Assange rejects police request to surrender

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has said that he rejects the British police’s request to hand himself in and will remain in the Ecuadorean embassy and continue his appeal for asylum on grounds of political persecution.

­Earlier on Thursday, police issued an order for Assange to appear at a police station to begin the extradition process.

The letter from the Metropolitan Police sent to the Ecuadorian Embassy said it "requires him to attend a police station at a date and time of our choosing. This is standard practice in extradition cases and is the first step in the removal process.".... MORE

SourceRT.com

URL: http://www.rt.com/news/assange-police-letter-extradition-987/

Divers claim 'Baltic UFO' shuts down all electronics within 200m (PHOTOS)

Divers claim 'Baltic UFO' shuts down all electronics within 200m (PHOTOS)

A strangely-shaped object at the bottom of the Baltic Sea has been interfering with the electrical devices of the Swedish diving team that is trying to film it. But critics are growing more skeptical about the long-running mystery.

­The Swedish Ocean X treasure-hunting team first discovered a mystery object reminiscent of the Star Wars spaceship Millennium Falcon last year.

But they didn’t have the resources to investigate. Now, they have returned with top-of-the-range 3D seabed scanners and a submersible – all funded by a secret sponsor..... MORE

SourceRT.com

URL: http://www.rt.com/news/ufo-baltic-millennium-falcon-901/

Cordi critiques Green Economy in World IP Conference

Cordi critiques Green Economy in World IP Conference


By CPA
Northern Dispatch

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil, 17 JUNE 2012 – The call, “Defend our inherent right to self-determination!” was resounded by 500 indigenous leaders, representatives, and advocates from different countries participating in the World Indigenous Peoples Conference on Territories, Rights and Sustainable Development, also known as Kari-Oca II, here from June 14-22 at Jacarepagu, Brazil.

“Indigenous peoples all over the world share a common struggle and aspiration – self-determination or our inherent and collective right as distinct peoples to freely determine our economic and social development and freely determine our political status.

Twenty years after the UN Conference on Environment in 1992, the indigenous peoples’ struggle for self-determined development is not only continuing but was heightened by the current global capitalist system that is gripping the world today,” CPA Chairperson Windel Bolinget said as he addressed the conference on June 17.

Kari-Oca II began June 14 with a traditional Terena ritual to welcome participants and to pray for a productive exchange and learning during the nine-day gathering of indigenous peoples from all over the world. After the opening program were discourses on indigenous peoples’ struggles, the worsening violations against indigenous peoples’ rights to territories and resources, environmental destruction, commodification of nature and indigenous peoples struggles for self-determination.

“As experienced by our fellow indigenous peoples here in Latin America and around the globe, corporate greed and State repression with impunity continue to heighten the violations of our right to self-determination in the Philippines and the rest of Asia where I come from. We are struggling against widespread militarization; plunder of our resources through mining, geothermal projects, and large hydroelectric dams; and violations of our right to Free, Prior and Informed Consent,” said Bolinget.

Kari-Oca II is a global indigenous peoples’ activity held simultaneously with the UN Conference on Sustainable Development from June 19-21. From the sharing of experiences on global indigenous peoples’ issues and concerns, Kari-Oca II drew up a declaration on the struggles of indigenous peoples and the major themes of the UNCSD – Green Economy in the Context of Sustainable Development and Poverty Eradication, and “Institutional Framework for Sustainable Development”. The declaration is to be submitted to the UNCSD..... MORE

SourceBulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2012/06/27/cordi-critiques-green-economy-in-world-ip-conference/

Boys accuse village official of torture

Boys accuse village official of torture

“When we were in the barangay hall, we were told by the barangay ex-o to undress to see if we have tattoos. When we were already undressed he electrocuted us.”
By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
Bulatlat.com

MANILA – It was just an ordinary Saturday, June 23, for Ruel, 16; Eduard, 15; Miguel, 13 and Mar, 12 (not their real names). They were looking for junk to recycle and sell when a barangay official arbitrarily arrested them in barangay Marilag in Project 4, Quezon City. The barangay executive officer accused them of stealing a bike in the said village. The young boys later said they were electrocuted and humiliated, a grave violation of children’s rights.

The barangay executive officer identified as Meniteryo Endozo denied the allegation and said that the boys were notorious thieves. He said the young boys were frequently seen in the village and residents reported incidents of robbery. However, Miguel said, Mar’s school is just nearby and they often play in the village.
The children remember their ordeal vividly. “Ex-o (executive officer) electrocuted us using a stun gun. He even threatened us that we would never see our parents again if he sees us again here in barangay Marilag,” Miguel said.

Alleged torture


Meniteryo Endozo, barangay executive officer of barangay Marilag in Quezon City was accused of torturing four children last June 23. News reports as of June 27 said he was already suspended from his post. (Photo by Anne Marxze D. Umil / Bulatlat.com)
“When we were in the barangay hall, we were told by the barangay ex-o to undress to see if we have tattoos. When we were already undressed he electrocuted us,” Miguel told Bulatlat.com.

He added that he and Mar was told to clean the comfort room of the barangay hall and while doing the cleaning, Endozo once again electrocuted them. Ruel and Eduard were told to sweep the premises of the barangay hall.

Miguel said he saw Endozo hit Ruel at the stomach and was repeatedly electrocuted. “He saw a policeman in the premises of the barangay hall and complained but the policeman threatened them instead and even participated in torturing them,” he said.

Eduard said the policeman took the magazine out of his firearm, removed some bullets and put some in between Ruel’s fingers and pressed it in front of them. The children were not able to identify the said policeman. He also said Endozo also threw a lighted cigarette butt at Ruel’s back..... MORE

SourceRT.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2012/06/28/boys-accuse-village-official-of-torture/

Poll chief nixes vote receipts for PCOS

Poll chief nixes vote receipts for PCOS

Despite the current automated election law that requires a voter’s receipt, Commission on Elections Chairman Sixto Brillantes appears bent on defying the law, as it was the Comelec that instructed Smartmatic not include voters’ receipts in the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines.

Smartmatic Asia president Cesar Flores, whose PCOS machines are to again be used for the 2013 elections said his machines can produce receipts but explained that it is the Comelec that does not want that function used.

Brillantes claimed that this receipt function is not necessary since past elections, done manually, did not require it and that receipt of voters will merely be used for vote-buying.

Apparently, the Comelec will again defy the automated law and do what it wants to do by way of discarding machine functions the poll commissioners want discarded..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribune.net.ph/index.php/headlines/item/878-poll-chief-nixes-vote-receipts-for-pcos

Miriam bats for JBC abolition

Miriam bats for JBC abolition

  • Written by 
  • Friday, 29 June 2012
Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago wants to abolish the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) because she thinks it has failed to fulfill its mandate.

In an interview after her speech at the Credit Manage-ment Association of the Philippines, the senator ex-pressed dissatisfaction with the JBC which is responsible for creat-ing a shortlist of nominees for the highest position in the Supreme Court vacated by former Chief Justice Renato Corona.

Santiago noted that the JBC was created to prevent politics from penetrating the high court which she said has not been prevented. Now that the process has been politicized, “I think they should turn that power to the Senate as they do in the United States,” the senator stressed.

“So I think we have experimented enough with the JBC that we have to abolish it in the Constitution,” Santiago added..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribune.net.ph/index.php/headlines/item/880-miriam-bats-for-jbc-abolition

Koko bolts UNA; LP welcomes him in slate

Goodbye to all that.

Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel yesterday announced his withdrawal  from the senatorial slate of the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) and declared that he is open for “adoption” by everybody, including the coalition that his party, Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) formed with Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) of former President Joseph Estrada.

But UNA is not likely to adopt Pimentel, even as UNA  leaders all said that they respect his decision to leave UNA.

The Liberal Party, however, has welcomed Pimentel with open arms, with party leaders saying that he is a shoo-in for inclusion in the LP senatorial slate.

But even as he has distanced himself  from UNA, Pimentel clarified that this move does not mean that he is completely severing his party’s ties with PMP in UNA, saying that it only concerns him and not the entire PDP-Laban where he is the current president..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribune.net.ph/index.php/headlines/item/879-koko-bolts-una-lp-welcomes-him-in-slate

US Navy, Coast Guard to hold sea drills with AFP

Hundreds of Filipino and American sailors, along with seven combined ships from the two militaries, are participating in next week’s annual RP-US Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (Carat) 2012 on the Mindanao Sea.

Philippine Navy (PN) spokesman Col. Omar Tonsay said 400 PN personnel and three ships are complementing the 350 US Navy servicemen during the Carat exercises which starts on July 2 in General Santos City. The Carat 2010 will run up to July 10.

The US Navy will be using two ships during the exercises.

Also participating in this year’s Carat are 50 Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) men on a PCG ship and 150 US Coast Guard men on one of their vessels.

Tonsay said this was the first time that both PN and PCG personnel will be jointly training with their US counterparts..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribune.net.ph/index.php/nation/item/873-us-navy-coast-guard-to-hold-sea-drills-with-afp

Palace: 4 slain witnesses declined gov’t protection

Malacañang would not allow itself to take all the blame for the killing of prosecution witnesses in the Maguindanao massacre case that saw 58 casualties, 32 of them local journalists.

At a press briefing, presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said all the four witnesses who were killed in separate instances had “politely declined” government’s offer of security.

As though to clear the government of any liability for the death of the fourth would-be-witness against the Ampatuan family of Maguindanao, Lacierda urged the remaining witnesses in the 2009 carnage to reconsider the security and protection the government had offered to them.

He said it was “unfortunate” that the witnesses who refused government protection were being murdered one after the other. “We will again offer them security. We do not want their lives threatened, or in this case, terminated,” the presidential spokesman said..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribune.net.ph/index.php/nation/item/871-palace-4-slain-witnesses-declined-gov%E2%80%99t-protection

Frustrated murder raps filed vs Gatdula, 12 others

Frustrated murder raps filed vs Gatdula, 12 others

  • Written by 
  • Friday, 29 June 2012
Photo by PNA/Daily Tribune
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) yesterday filed before the Department of Justice (DoJ) frustrated murder and illegal possession of firearms charges against former NBI Director Magtanggol Gatdula and 12 others.

The NBI, which is the Philippines’ premier investigating body, is an attached agency of the DoJ.

Aside from Gatdula, the other respondents are businessman Tyrone Ong, Perfecto Villanueva, former policeman and close-in bodyguard of Ong; Ronnie Ong, Ramoso Ramos, Alfredo Compoc, Teodoro Abendano, Ricky Dacillo, Gerry Farillon, Jose Maglalang Jr., Gino Eustaquio, Aljun  Monticlaros and Alvin Monticlaros.

They were all charged with frustrated murder with treachery, evident premeditation and use of illegal firearms in connection with the ambush staged last February against NBI Deputy Director Reynaldo Esmeralda in Paco, Manila..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribune.net.ph/index.php/metro-section/item/866-frustrated-murder-raps-filed-vs-gatdula-12-others

BI probes case of 19 OFWs believed victims of human trafficking

The Bureau of Immigration is investigating the case of 19 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) disguised as members of a religious group who were intercepted by immigration officers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) last May while trying to leave for Italy and South Korea.

Immigration Commissioner Ricardo David said on May 16  the human trafficking victims were disguised as members of a religious group who claimed that they were invited to attend the 7th World Families Meeting in Milan, Italy, a triennial international event hosted by the Vatican.

Another group of eight OFWs were intercepted on May 28. They  pretended to be tourists when actually their purpose in leaving was to work abroad.

David said the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) is now probing the case of the 19 undocumented  OFWs after they were barred from leaving the country..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribune.net.ph/index.php/metro-section/item/865-bi-probes-case-of-19-ofws-believed-victims-of-human-trafficking

An official of the Caloocan City government was shot dead by three motorcycle-riding men while his physician-wife was seriously wounded yesterday morning in Barangay Bagumbong.

This as Mayor Enrico “Recom” Echiverri, after learning of the incident, put up P200,000 cash reward for anyone who can provide the police vital information, especially on the whereabouts of the three attackers.

Senior Supt. Jude Wilson Santos, police chief, said he immediately dispatched a special crack team to go after the three gunmen who shot and killed Bobby Merrera, the officer-in-charge of the city’s Environmental Sanitation Services (ESS) at Caloocan City Hall North.

Quoting an initial report, Santos said the victim already expired before he could reach a nearby hospital due to gunshot wounds in different parts of the body..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribune.net.ph/index.php/metro-section/item/864-caloocan-city-hall-exec-slain-wife-wounded-in-ambush

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