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World War Two: Lessons and Warnings

THE LESSONS OF WORLD WAR 2 REMAIN UNLEARNED. WE REFUSE TO LEARN AT OUR OWN PERIL- BY NICK BEAMS The 70th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II has been met with a strange, and, one might add, almost eerie silence in view of the catastrophe that was unleashed. This was the bloodiest event of the twentieth century. It resulted in the deaths of more than 70 million people, including almost 27 million in the Soviet Union and up to 20 million in China. The war saw unspeakable horrors: the mass murder of almost 6 million European Jews, the fire-bombing of Hamburg, Dresden and Tokyo and the dropping of the atomic bomb on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, to name but a few....(PHOTO: Soviet Anti-aircraft gunners, Eastern Front, 1943.)

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What’s the Matter With Democrats?

FEBRUARY 24, 2010 The party embraced globalization while its union allies were cut down. By THOMAS FRANK It’s no secret that the tea party faithful regard the Obama administration as a Constitution-shredding tyranny. But in a profile of the movement published last week, the New York Times reported the surprising news that many of the protesters have come [...]

Asides

• The Dems' healthcare gambit backfires

  Obama was never serious about getting a real healthcare reform passed.  He wanted (and still does) to have it both ways: to convince the public that the messy, ludicrous Rube Goldberg program he has allowed his minions to advance is the best possible solution to the healthcare mess, while also cutting deals with the insurance vultures behind closed doors.

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  By Matthew Rothschild, March 3, 2010

  When Barack Obama gave his “this is it” speech on health care reform on March 3, he once again swerved out of his way to hit advocates of a single-payer system. (more...)

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• The history that “binds” the US and Haiti

  You won't hear this from Katie Couric's lips (or Diane Sawyer's!)

  In his statement on the Haitian earthquake Wednesday, President Barack Obama referred to the “long history that binds us together.” Neither he nor the US media, however, have shown any inclination to probe the history of US-Haiti relations and its bearing on present catastrophe confronting the Haitian people. [continue reading]

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• US & Colombia keep looking for a war opening with Venezuela

  Washington eyes the destabilization and takeover of Venezuela a worthwhile objective—an Iraq in the making? As usual, American media fail to warn the US public about what their ruling class is plotting

  By Jorge Rueda (CP) – 2 hours ago

  CARACAS, Venezuela — President Hugo Chavez is accusing Colombia and the United States of plotting to set up a fake rebel camp on Venezuelan soil to discredit his government.

  Chavez accused Colombia of preparing what he called a "false positive" operation, saying on Monday that it's feasible the neighbouring country could build a makeshift camp in a remote location, then plant corpses and guns to make it look like a rebel camp had been discovered.

  Colombian officials have said that leftist rebel commanders from their country are taking refuge in Venezuela. Chavez says the officials are falsely trying to portray him as being in cahoots with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, which Colombia has been battling for decades. (more...)

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• Chile confronts past with new museum

  It's dedicated to victims of Pinochet's 1973-1990 dictatorship, still a raw national wound.

  By Chris Kraul

  The Los Angeles Times

  December 28, 2009

  Reporting from Santiago, Chile

  << Pinochet, the butcher of Chile, in regalia. What they'll leave in and what they'll leave out -- that question haunts Margarita Iglesias as she considers next month's opening of the Museum of Memory and Human Rights.

  That Chile is recognizing victims of its military dictatorship in a striking new "monument to memories" is positive, said Iglesias, both a victim and a historian of Augusto Pinochet's bloody 17-year rule. As a high school student activist in Santiago in 1975, she was tortured before fleeing with her family to France.

  "It can't be just a horror show. The political movements and conditions that led to the coup and its aftermath must be explained. If not, how can you understand how state terrorism came about?" said Iglesias, 51, now a University of Chile professor. (more...)

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• Deniers the unwitting tools of megacorporations

  When I was back in eighth grade, my science teacher, Mr. Malone, a brittle old man with a shock of white hair and a stern classroom demeanor, but a sharp sense of humor, had made a banner that ran across the top of the blackboard. It read: “If you can't measure it, it doesn't exist.” (more...)

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