Author Archives: Lila

Helen Thomas: An Appreciation

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Paul Craig Roberts, former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan Administration, at Foreign Policy Journal, (via Counterpunch), June 16, 2010:

“The propagandists for the Israel Lobby, who occupy the Wall Street Journal editorial page while pretending to be journalists, are determined to remove Helen Thomas from the annals of journalism. In case you have already forgotten, a few days ago the distinguished career of Helen Thomas, the 89-year-old doyen of the White House Press Corps, was ended by the Israel Lobby, which made an issue about her opinion that immigrant Jews should leave Palestine and go back to their home countries. Continue reading →

Indian versus Israeli Reactions To Provocation

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The Great Bong on the difference between the Indian and the Israeli approach to provocation:

“As someone primarily interested in sub-continental politics, what is most interesting for me however, more than the role of Turkey, is the difference between India and Israel in their reactions to provocation, being in similar boats—– — democratic countries with strong militaries, surrounded by antagonistic countries on many sides, eager to provoke them to conflict over disputed territories. Continue reading →

Daily Bell: Elites Conspire Over Afghan Mineral Wealth

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The Daily Bell on the Afghan mineral discovery:

Here is what the Anglo-American brain-trust may have in mind:

1. It will invite countries into the region to “exploit” minerals, operating through the Afghan government. (And has already invited China.) Each country, once involved, will be expected to provide its own security. Continue reading →

Sauvik Chakravarti On Eco-Statism

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Sauvik Chakravarti at Antidote on human-hating environmentalism:

“Next: look at the different “utopias” of libertarians and environmentalists. Libertarians idealise the most perfect freedom. Environmentalists idealise “pristine” Nature. They are all from cities – but they love the jungle. They love beasts – the tigers and the elephants – and never consider what life must be like for someone who lives near wild elephants and tigers. These forest-dwellers are enemies of the environmentalist. Their greatest friends are the State forest guards – the very people the forest-dwellers hate. Environmentalists are therefore enemies of Man, enemies of Freedom, and friends of the State. This should always be borne in mind. They are all “watermelons”: green outside, but red inside. Continue reading →

Pre 9-11 Put Options Records Destroyed by CBOE

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From Bob Wenzel at EconomicPolicyJournal.com:

Explosive new information has broken with regard to destruction of pre-9-11 options trading records.

Just prior to 9-11, someone (or group of people) bought large amounts of put options on various airline stocks. Put options gain in value when a stock goes down. The airline stocks went down after 9-11. Continue reading →

Are You A Member Of The Libertarian Mob?

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In a piece called “Tea-Party Jacobins,” NY Times, May 27, 2010, (hat-tip to LRC blog), Mark Lilla calls Tea Party activists a “libertarian mob,” since they proclaim the belief “that they can do everything themselves if they are only left alone” and they have only one “Garbo-like thing to say, they want to be left alone.”

Hmmmm. Couldn’t have said it better m’self. Consider me now a card-carrying member of the libertarian mob. Continue reading →