Sunday, January 29, 2012

New Targets Indeed; The March Toward Tehran

Thanks to Malice for the below posting, which identifies the next target clearly.
Iran is the coronated boogeyman, those scary Farsi speakers half a world away with much more to lose, and for the global power structure there is much more to gain. The blockade actions are described below accurately. I would first like to submit what a blockade is considered in legal terms(and how defined in U.S. legal theory), then to discuss the stated reasons for the blockade. Finally I will drop a few links ripped from the headlines, all providing a grim and real illustration for the potential of war with Iran.

A blockade, noted by Wikipedia(as defined by the Encyclopedia Britannica) is: "an act of war by which a belligerent prevents access to or departure from a defined part of the enemy’s coasts". In a thorough article on blockades as an act of war, author Stephen Lendman states U.S. definitions of blockades, as well as declarations that the U.S. has accepted and are binding, all pointing to blockades as being an act of war.

Similarly, there is a concept called Casus Belli which is Latin for 'justification for acts of war'.
I think some will appreciate this analogy, although one is free to make their own decision on its application. To try to find a similar action involving blockades, take Israel's experience with the Six Day War, where the "Israeli government had a short list of casī bellorum, acts that it would consider provocations justifying armed retaliation. The most important was a blockade of the Straits of Tiran leading into Eilat, Israel's only port to the Red Sea, through which Israel received much of its oil. After several border incidents between Israel and Egypt's allies Syria and Jordan, Egypt expelled UNEF peacekeepers from the Sinai Peninsula, established a military presence at Sharm el-Sheikh, and announced a blockade of the straits, prompting Israel to cite its casus belli in opening hostilities against Egypt."

Although there is a tacit  and unspoken assumption in the U.S. and Israel that we never apply the same standards to our enemies, this is an interesting situation. If we use an accepted definition in the United States for blockades being an act of war, as well as assuming Israel was justified in its conduct of starting a conflict while using blockades as a justification, then by applying the same logic, would Iran not be correct in at least stating that this is an act of war, one by which(using Israels logic) they would be justified in retaliating? Whether or not this is correct is sort of useless, as Iran would be insane to retaliate, playing exactly into its enemies hand.
At the same time, it is insane to punish a sovereign nation for moving to build nuclear power plants, an action which the IAEA is actually required to support and assist with.  This leads into the stated justifications for the blockade.


The United States and others are blockading/sanctioning Iran because they claim that there are unanswered questions about Iran pursuing Nuclear Weapons, and the Iranians are not forthcoming enough with clearing up these ambiguities. Now, I leave open the possibility that Iran might have conducted some research into the issue, although it is widely agreed on all sides that this halted in 2003. Also, much of the questions arose from the 'Smoking Laptop' provided by the M.E.K. to I believe was Israel. The M.E.K. is a U.S. designated terrorist organization. Reporting on the smoking laptop can be found here and here.

Although I don't support further access to destructive weaponry, I do not support this blatant aggression based on questionable information. Also, the IAEA has been able to continue to verify the non-diversion of nuclear material in Iran. That organization has the closest eyes on Iran's nuclear program, and should be supported in efforts to continue to keep Iran transparent. So whether or not Iran did research or testing on weapons delivery capabilities, they have not diverted any material for that purpose.

Finally, just to provide a quick context around the idea that Iran is the next target, check out the top three links right now at Antiwar.com, you can decide yourself how credible, but informative it is.


Pentagon Requests Mightier Bomb to Attack Iran
The 30,000-pound bunker-busters are designed to penetrate Iran's underground nuclear facilities
by John Glaser, January 28, 2012

Iran Finalizes Bill for Immediate Ban on Oil Exports to Europe
Iran is preempting an EU embargo on their oil, an illustration of how ineffective sanctions are
by John Glaser, January 28, 2012

Israel warns time is running out before it launches strike on Iran
Growing body of opinion suggests that Iranian response to an attack would be muted.


The flimsy justifications for war with Iraq taught me a very useful lesson. Iran is a bigger country, and the justifications may follow the same pattern. I am not willing to support an insane incursion on behalf of the United States or Israel on the current grounds, it will take a Titanic-sized amount of propaganda to sink my stance. Peace and Love.

 

 

Monday, January 23, 2012

A New Decade, A New Year, A New Target

Due to a series of unfortunate events, I have slipped into the worker-drone-hyper-sleep mode and almost let myself fall out of my place due to the "real" world calling. But I've still kept close to the news like usual and have come across something that has me royally pissed off (hence why I'm finally writing again). Within the last few hours or maybe barely a day, Iran has been stricken with an oil embargo from none other than the world's ignorant, selfish, totalitarian bully, the U.S. Due to apparent "heightened terror threats" from Iran, it has been decided that sanctions will be taken place against Iran's oil, their primary economic driver, all in attempt to "urge negotiation". As of 6:20 AM this morning, here are the current facts surrounding this sanction:


Britain has joined the United States and France in sending a flotilla of warships through the sensitive Strait of Hormuz in a pointed message to the Iranian regime. The Ministry of Defense confirmed that a Royal Navy Type 23 frigate, HMS Argyll, was part of the US-led carrier group to pass through the waterway, as tensions continued to escalate over Tehran's nuclear program. The strait, a 34-mile-wide sea passage, connects the petroleum-producing Persian Gulf states to the ocean, making it a strategic choke point on the world's economy. The EU gave preliminary approval to new sanctions against Iranian oil as of today. On the table is a total ban on European purchases of Iranian oil - a sanction that would not just hit Iran but key EU buyers including Greece, Italy and Spain. Sanctions are already expected against Iran's central bank. The full implementation of the sanctions would be delayed until July 1st, due to concerns about their impact on the European economy. The UK, Germany, France and the Netherlands had been leading calls for nothing more than a three-month delay before the sanctions bite, but Greece - which fears its economic woes will worsen if it cannot find alternative suppliers at Iran-style preferential rates - has urged a much longer phase-in to ease the pain. The embargo is yet to be formally approved by the EU nations' foreign ministers, who are meeting in Brussels. In response to the expected sanctions the Iranians have threatened to close the strait - through which 35% of the world's tanker-borne oil exports pass - in retaliation.

This sanction is starting to raise tension between the U.S. and Iran even more so and from a previous news report on this matter, it was said that if we were to continue to strong arm Iran, both China and Russia would have no choice but to intervene, possibly sparking a third world war. Foreign secretary William Hague (you know, the guy who said a peaceful way to calm down the revolutions that were taking place in Greece, Syria and Egypt throughout 2011 would be foreign interference [that dumb fuck]) is apparently urging Iran to "come to its senses" about our suppression to their way of life so they can resume negotiations on their nuclear program. Any bid by Iran to block the Strait of Hormuz at the entrance to the Gulf, through which 20% of the world's oil exports pass would be "illegal" and "unsuccessful", Hague warned....which doesn't make full sense to me considering that we are the ones causing them to do such acts due to sanctions and threats from the Royal Navy and our own and if they threaten to fight back (take a look at what Cuba did to us when we tried to replace their Communist political/economic system with our capitalistic sense of bull shit, they fought back and won, and now they are barred because we feel like since they didn't allow us to control them, they are a threat to our world domination, ha!), they will be exposed to acts of war. And us provoking the cutting off of the use of Iran's oil only spells out doom and gloom for our economy (higher gas prices etc.).

As you can probably sense in my writing I'm a little worked up about this current topic. That's because I feel like once again, the U.S. is sticking it's nose in to where it doesn't belong. Apparently these sanctions are peaceful and legitimate measures, and not about conflict, says Hague to the Huffington Post, yet I can't help but feel that we are the ones causing these problems to happen. After all, the past has painted a pretty vivid picture of America's nasty role in foreign politics. This topic is still under development (cheers for follow up articles), but I'm putting this out there to make it aware that tensions in this world are rising, and we are the ones behind it all. Maybe there is more to this topic, maybe we have to strong arm them to get them to back off, although it doesn't seem like that's the case, Iraq was never a real threat to the United States, I highly doubt Iran is. We are worried that in their closing of the Strait, the world will not be able to function off of the oil that the strait provides, mind you they are doing it in retaliation to make us and EU back off. I'll let you do the figuring.

Here's an unbiased look at this topic (after all I feel I was just ranting to blow off some steam):

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Hope Nears

Glad to hear from Moxi [dumb misspell my bad Mox!], focusing on an important point, that activism through art is not only possible but provides a strong vehicle for communicating ideas, ideals, and ideologies. Won't take anything away from the below post, browse it, internalize, then check out the videos provided. These examples truly are emblematic of some of the strongest political musicians around. I would argue that Immortal Technique especially provides more than just context and content on political issues, he went out into the world and created positive change in his own right. Thanks again for the post, below is just trying to add to the artistic side of things.

Moonlighting as a musician, Blix Fatal focuses on 'The Fukushima Amalgam'. Check the feeds. Peace and Love.



Friday, January 13, 2012

Existence Is Resistance

 Like my fellow comrade Blixfatal, I too have been slacking and putting off my efforts to contribute to this constant struggle against this putrid government. It's very unfortunate and I apologize to you all.

This being said I would like to get straight to this topic. Resistance through Art. Over the past few months I have been focused heavily on a steady rise of underground Rap and Hip-Hop Artists throughout the world who have been speaking out against corruption and fighting for equality for all people. These artists, with thought provoking beats and lyrics that will open your eyes, have been hitting hard and speaking out against what most would probably dare not say, but these men, and some women, have stood solid and have kept their fists raised in the struggle against Imperialism and corrupt Capitalism.


This spotlight is on three artists who have impacted not only myself but the world around them and are leading this great army of the peoples people. London based Rap artist Lowkey, the army from Wolverhampton England, Broken Dialect and the well known but viscous guerrilla warrior of his birth place Lima, Peru and his Root town, Brooklyn New York, Immortal Technique.

Lowkey
A man who has made a huge impact this past year in 2011 when his album "Soundtrack To the Struggle" dropped on the world, Lowkey has been working harder than most to spread the word on Government, the Palestinian people and has even touched on Cuba. With such track titles like "Obama Nation" and "Long Live Palestine" Lowkey has been rising as a very controversial Rapper. Between being labeled a "Potential Nightmare" by a writer of the Jewish chronicle, feuds with other artists and even Glenn Beck throwing in his unintelligent slandering, Lowkey still finds time to not only write some of the most intelligent lyrics to date but also help the children in the middle east on a campaign entitled "Existence is Resistance" where he and 9 other artists went to Palestine to help inspire kids, teaching non-violent resistance through music and art. Being one of my favourite records of 2011 "Soundtrack To The Struggle" will inspire and help paint a picture of the struggle not only of the Palestinian people, but for people like you and me. People who live in the heart of America's corruption and are aware and wish to speak up. Lowkey is currently touring and writing material for his new album.




Broken Dialect
Following Lowkey out of the London Underground are the trio known as Broken Dialect. Independently releasing their 2 albums "Musicophillia Artists" and their most recent release in 2011 " High Scope Verity" Broken Dialect has been running around the underground streets of London tearing about its monarchy. I first heard of these gentlemen through a video of Lowkeys and the media group GlobalFaction. GlobalFaction helps film and put out videos of music with such messages ranging from Political to Social to Spiritual awareness. With songs with titles like "Songs From The Heart," "Children of War," and "Oppression" BD speak up against class struggle, equality and wrongful military action. Like most of these artists, Broken Dialect promote Left Wing ideology, namely Communism and use it intelligently to fight logically in this heated and twisted world. Aside from their group the members (Utopia, Messi Mussiah and Lyfizalie) also spend alot of side time promoting individually their artistic talents and wrongful actions in this society, such as Domestic Violence. With many collaborations with the underground Broken Dialect has become a very outspoken and diverse group ready for any slander and action the Zionist Right Wing government throw at them.




Immortal Technique
The very first words of Political awareness and resistance against a corrupted government I heard was from Immortal Technique. This man is vicious. He has openly spoke out against US Imperialism and even 9/11 as the false flag conspiracy that it is. Immortal just released a new album in 2011 entitled "The Martyr" which features previously unreleased and never before heard tracks by him. Whats good about the underground is that he has released it free here http://viperrecords.com/index.php/artists/immortal-technique
As harsh and hard as Tech can be he has a soft side that most of these government officials overlook when criticizing him. In June of 2008 Tech partnered with a Non-Profit Human Rights organization to lend his support. Profits of his "The 3rd World" album went to this project as he traveled to Kabul, Afghanistan to help build an orphanage without any cooperate or external funding. It houses over twenty orphaned children. Since the release of this album Immortal Technique is touring and also working on material for a new album in the near future.




Time for my thoughts as we draw to a close on this spotlight. My first and most prominent thought as I listen to what these Intellectuals are speaking about, be it socialism, anti-racism, oppression, poverty etc. I always ask myself. Is it really possible to speak for the opposite side? A Right Wing Rap artist. I quickly wave it out of my thoughts because Im sure it is impossible to Rap about Pro-Zionism, Corporations and  Pro-War. Just a random thought.

But as we view these three artists, their music and their ideals and charity work across the world we feel connected to them. We feel like they are one of the people here in these societies being oppressed and robbed from. And they are with us. I find it just shocking that someone like Glenn Beck or a writer for a Jewish magazine would call these men "Evil" and "Dangerous." Which is why they build orphanages and teach kids non-violent resistance to oppression and occupation.

Art is a true means of resisting an oppressive police force, military and government. Freedom of speech to speak out against these wrongful acts. Paint, write, rap, graffiti. Urban art is taking off and is a main say in political activism. Art has been used throughout history and has changed civilization.

These men help me push further against this resistance and these tracks will be anthems to our struggle. Never let your fist fall. Freedom, Equality and Brotherhood.