Pure Horror

This is truly shocking and despicable.
From the BBC link above:

"Islamists in southern Somalia have stoned a man to death for adultery but spared his pregnant girlfriend until she gives birth"

and then the article continues:

"Abas Hussein Abdirahman, 33, was killed in front of a crowd of some 300 people in the port town of Merka.

"He was screaming and blood was pouring from his head during the stoning. After seven minutes he stopped moving," an eyewitness told the BBC.

That is an example of how horrendous and criminal theocratic beliefs can be. The criminals who killed this man probably believe they were acting in "gods will".

But where it gets even more scary and chilling, is this part:

"An official from the al-Shabab group said the woman would be killed after she has had her baby."

This is pure horror. An innocent woman is waiting to be killed after she delivers her baby, in the hands of a bizarre group of criminal theocrats. What is the civilized world doing to stop this? I hope that the United Nations and groups for civil liberties will do something to save this woman.

I also hope that the Obama administration and governments of other civilized parts of the world will try to interfere to stop the completion of that horrendous crime.

Crossposted in Daily Kos .

ILLUSIONS

I finally realized what the problem of the far right is in this country: Illusions.

It is hard to understand how and why, but apparently some believe that the loss of a 100 years+ republican congressional seat is a victory !

Then there are illusions like this one. Of course, in this case there maybe some sort of a deliberate deception. Nevertheless the concept is still surrealistic and based on an illusion.

Now, beyond ridiculous, illusions can be dangerous. For instance, the illusion that Saddam Hussein was an "immediate threat" to us because of "weapons of mass destruction" was used as an excuse to start a disastrous war by the far right.

Nevertheless, the current illusions of the far right are more comical in nature than anything else. Maybe the most ridiculous illusion of the right-wingers is their sincere belief that they stand for "freedom". I only wonder how they would feel if they were able to understand what they really stand for...corporations and antidemocratic policies. A modern version of a neo-fascist ideology. That is what the "conservative", teabagging movement represents in this country. But in their illusions they see themselves as defenders of freedom, etc. etc. In a totally delusional manner.

What is going on in the Honduras? Toxic gas in the Brazilian embassy?

I really dont get it. There are dramatic developments in the Honduras, but the media almost completely ignores that story. We have the president of the country (Zelaya) in the Brazilian embassy surrounded by tanks and army sent by the fascist junta.

There have been reportedly 10 pro-democracy demonstrators that were killed over the last few days in clashes with the army. The United Nations has formally condemned the "harassment" of the Brazilian embassy by the fascist Honduran regime.

Now, it appears that the junta may be using toxic gas to poison those inside the embassy and force them out.

President Manuel Zelaya, who has taken refuge in Brazil's Embassy in Tegucigalpa, has accused the interim government of using toxic gas to poison those inside the embassy.

A doctor was seen treating people at the embassy Friday. Mr. Zelaya charged that gas caused breathing difficulties and bleeding.

The situation there is more than dramatic and it does not appear that there will be a political solution. But the media here completely ignores these events that have major implications on what will eventually happen in Latin America. They also have major implications regarding the idea of democracy as a whole these days.

Essentially the whole international community, with the exception of far right extremists here (like Fox News and Redstate) want democracy to be restored there. I hope this happens without bloodshed. I just dont understand why CNN and MSNBC completely ignore the events there. At least there is BBC and other independent european stations that have no problem covering really important events. Like this one.

Cross-posted in Daily Kos

September 11, 1973 and modern conservatism

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There was another terrible event in history that occured on September 11 that many forget. It was September 11, 1973 when a fascist dictator, Augusto Pinochet, overthrew the democratically elected President of Chile by a coup-d'etat. That day, the fascist forces of Pinochet killed the President of Chile, Salvatore Allende, and established one of the most brutal fascist regimes in history. Over 3200 Chileans died under the military junta of Pinochet, while at least 130,000 were incarcerated without trials and 30,000 tortured.

After many years of terror, torture and killings, the regime of Pinochet eventually collapsed. Pinochet though remained free, until he was arrested in London on October 16, 1998, while visiting europe. After a prolonged legal battle, he somehow escaped prosecution. Despite efforts to bring him to justice later in Chile, at the end he escaped prosecution and died from natural causes on December 2006. Prior to his death, the fascist dictator took "political responsibility" for his crimes.

I believe that there is a strong link between the events of September 11, 1973, the establishement of the fascist regime in Chile and the current conservative movement and republican party of today. For starters, it is well established that the Republican Nixon administration then, with Henry Kissinger leading the effort, helped Pinochet gain power. Kissinger also encouraged the brutal repression of Chile by the Pinochet regime then.

Although people have argued that the help that Kissinger and the Nixon administration gave to Pinochet had only to do with "efforts" to counter the influence of the "evil Soviet empire", in my opinion there are ideological similarities between the Pinochet regime and the conservative movement of today. In fact, one could argue that the ideologies of the republican party of today and of modern "conservatism", are a natural evolution of ideologies of regimes like the Pinochet regime. It is not surprising that some on the right openly still admire and approve of Pinochet's actions. They do so because they represent a more refined ideological homologue of that regime.

The ideological links between fascism and the conservative movement of today can be seen on several issues. Here are some examples:

1. Extreme nationalism. All fascist regimes in history were driven by extreme nationalism. Need to say more?

2. Many fascist regimes in history used religion as a weapon. They have been traditionally pro-religion, whether christian (like many dictatorships in the recent past in South America) or islamic fundamentalists (like the fascist theocratic regimes of the Taliban or Iran). The resemblance with many religious fundamentalists of the republican party of today who think that God drives their actions could not be more obvious.

3. Anti-abortion/ultra-conservative mentality. A classic example was the fascist regime of Mussolini in Italy that had banned abortion as a crime against the state. We all know who would love to make abortion a crime in this country these days.

4. Political illiteracy of fascist supporters through history. Traditionally the supporters of fascist regimes have been illiterate, or at least politically illiterate people who are easy to manipulate and instill hate. The similarities with the tea-baggers of today are more than obvious.

5. Anti-immigrant hysteria.

6. Bigotry, hate towards homosexuals.

7. Racism.

In summary, I believe that there is a lot of evidence that the current "conservatism" of today is in many ways the evolution of fascism from the 40s, 70s and 80s.

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Bolt again

And here is an interesting article from New York Times about Usain Bolt. And here one from Times online .

The question is what will be the next WR he will break. Will he be the first human to go below 19 in the 200 m? or touch 9 in the 100s? Amazing.

Unbelievable

Something really unbelievable has been happening in track and field. Usain Bolt recently broke both the 100 meters world record with an unbelievable 9.58 and the 200 meters world record with an also unbelievable 19.19. The videos are worth watching. What is going on? It is shocking that these records were reached. We are witnessing the impossible.

Nathalie Cardone

One of the very best

Dont believe me? Try this one then .