Saturday, March 30

American Film Institute's dangerous connections

I was browsing the AFI site just to find out that without the sponsor of corporations the movie industry would have not a single party. Take a look on how stupid our favorite actors and actresses look when they are at the red carpet here.
If you did click at the link you saw the smiles and the poses celebrities, yes, they are turned into "celebrities", have to do. Just like a zoo.

These are some of the corporations:

"As part of its continuing effort to increase awareness and appreciation of American film history, AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs is supported by an AFI website, in-theater trailers and a video retail program which launches today. General Motors, Blockbuster, U.S. Postal Service, Warner Bros., Pepsi, Anheuser-Busch, 20th Century Fox, AT&T, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Paramount Pictures, Universal Studios and Walt Disney Pictures are sponsors of AFI's continuing commemoration of the centennial of American movies." (emphasis added)

I still don't know what to think. Fortunately we are having access to movies from others countries lately at the TV which is great because it makes people have other influences.

What happened to the American dream? The Clinton-Obama era turned things upside down. Sad times.
Corporations are killing the Americans and the American culture has changed.
"I am _______ and I am an AFI member." actors and actresses are saying in one of the promotional movies at the AFI site.

Wake up America!

I'm gonna watch a Carlos Saura's movie now.


Where you ever asked about the flavor of toothpastes?





I always asked myself why all toothpastes had this mint flavor that I hate so much.

I decided to buy the children's toothpastes strawberry's  flavor. We only have these two choices but I did a quick search and found out that
the industry has launched numerous flavors.

Porch flavor? No thanks. Don't they do a research before creating these things?
If so they might not have sarcasm detector because if I was asked I would come up with something like: "I would love a toothpaste that tasted like my favorite meal: beans and rice."

I just want tasteless and colorless toothpaste. The industries really think we need our senses to be activated to buy anything. The amount of artificial tastes and colors that they add to their products is astonishing. It makes the opposite effect on me. I don't buy jello because I hate those colors. They are artificial, too artificial. But now we'll have to bare processed food and vegetables genetically modified. We are far from being "pure race" and it is amazing that some people still fight and kill human beings because they are not "pure".

Haven't they received the memo?
And please, is it possible to take the fluoride from the toothpaste? Thank you!

P.S.: I would love to have my soap transparent or any color they really are. Is that too much to ask?


Friday, March 29

Being There (1979) mouse vs remote control



[Riding in a car for the first time]
Chance the Gardener: This is just like television, only you can see
much further.

Chance the Gardener: I like to watch.

At the post below Mark left a comment about "another joke like this, with a guy at the window and his hand on a computer mouse."
Instantly I thought about Peter Seller's character Chance the Gardener in the the movie Being There, the 1979 version.

He lived at his boss' house and spent his free time watching TV. After the demise of his boss he had to leave the house carrying the remote control in his hands and trying to change reality pressing the buttons.
Haven't we all felt like using the "mute" on someone from time to time?

This is a great movie and I have to watch it again. He walks on water in the end after all...


Thursday, March 28

Tuesday, March 26

Blade Runner: Intellectual's love story


I like Blade Runner but once is enough, maybe twice.
I never understood why this love story was idolized by so many intellectuals who wrote papers and essays finding hypothesis that are hard to accept.
So I'l dare say that the top scene,when Deckard finds Rachel sleeping and kiss her, is a cliché sleeping beauty situation
Next, Deckard finds the origami and remember the unicorn that appears coming like a white horse. Is he a prince?

Quotes:

Tyrell: "More human than human" is our motto.

Roy Batty: Quite an experience to live in fear, isn't it? That's what it is to be a slave.

Rachael: Are these questions testing whether I'm a replicant or a lesbian, Mr. Deckard?
Remember Deckard shaking and pushing Rachel against the wall? If you like it it is your problem but this is my advise:  "Run Rachael, run."
Did once will do it again. This was their first kiss.
Deckard is an ex-killer is said at the beginning, He kills replicants, do they count?

Sunday, March 24

Steve Wonder: Knocks me of my Feet



I love this song and I believe many people do. I feel like crying because the music goes in a crescendo that reaches my soul.
Thank you Steve Wonder for so many great songs!
Knocks me of my Feet

I see us in the park
strolling the summer days
of imaginings in my head.
And words from our hearts
told only to the winds
felt even without being said.

I don't want to bore you with my trouble
But there's something 'bout your love
that makes me weak and knocks me off my feet.
There's something 'bout your love
that makes me weak and knocks me off my feet
knocks me off my feet.
I don't want to bore you with it
oh but I love you
I love you
I love you.
I don't want to bore you with it

oh but I love you
I love you

I love you more and more.

We lay beneath the stars
under a lover's tree
that's seen through the eyes of my mind.
And I reach out for the part
of me that lives in you
that only our two hearts can find.

I don't want to bore you with my trouble
But there's something 'bout your love
that makes me weak and knocks me off my feet.
There's something 'bout your love
that makes me weak and knocks me off my feet
knocks me off my feet.
I don't want to bore you with it
but I love you
I love you
I love you.
I don't want to bore you with it

but I love you
I love you ...

"Knocks me of my Feet"is a great title, isn't it?

Update:
My friend Mark left a link to "Baby I love you" performed by B.B. King and Bonnie Raitt. I felt like sharing it too. I loved the bass line. too.

Search engineering before Google





Saturday, March 23

Blogspot urges bloggers not to use their crazy captcha








It is quite surreal. I wrote a post about how absurd Blogger's captcha has become. Instead of changing Blogger is asking us not to use captcha at their blog The Real Blogger Status. They wrote a post claiming that Blogger's captcha is a puzzle that can lead the commenter frustrated after trying more than twice to find the right letters.

They wrote as if it is a novelty to bloggers and even encourages us to comment in our own blog as a guess:
"Then ask yourself how many of your readers will have the patience, to solve a CAPTCHA, every time they wish to publish a comment?"
Am I going crazy here? They did the changes and .instead of making it easier they ask us not to use it and even suggests that captcha is not necessary.

I don't understand why Blogger change things for worse. When I started blogging it was easy and we had to write a single word. They "improved" for the actual version.
They also "improved" putting Settings/Template/Layout and other stuffs all together making it harder for us to find how to change. Sometimes I have to google where is the item I want to change.

Well, maybe it costs money or a lot of work to change captcha like "4 + __= 6".
Ken Foster left this comment at the post I wrote about this issue:


Ken Foster said...
Hey Ana,

I hate those things - they're maddening!. A couple of years ago my whole blog was hacked/packed with Chinese advertisements so I have kept that option ticked. Is this still an issue? Is there a good workaround? I'm guessing not because I see I have to go through the same to post on your blog. Oh, and since when 1176 argalgD a word? ;)

BTW, thanks for the comments you did make!! :)

September 19, 2012 at 5:20

I have already had people complaining about it. I don't know what to do because I need captcha and moderation,
I'l talk to friends to see what they think about it.
And, of course, leave you comment. (Grrrrrrrr....)

Update:

I deactivated the captcha one hour ago. I had to delete. I'll leave it like this for 24 hours and count them.
This is the problem. I'll have to take a look at each comment to check of it is from a human being or a bot.
Me: "Do you understand the problem Blogger? The consequences of following your advice of not using captcha?"

Blogger: "Of course I do but I don't care."
When we leave a comment a their blog they don't publish it. Why don't they deactivate comments?
Maybe it's because they don't have captcha activated and it would take a lot of time to screen.

Studies prove most medical research is false

This article is so important by Eric Zit I have to share it. Please read it if you praise your health.

Studies prove most medical research is false
Sunday, March 10, 2013 by: Eric L. Zielinski

NaturalNews) For several reasons, a stigma has been placed on scientific research which has caused many people to become quite skeptical and cynical of what is being produced and published. Much of the reluctance to embrace contemporary research findings has stemmed from Ioannidis' 2005 article, "Why Most Published Research Findings are False." This article has gone viral and has been quoted by numerous websites and right-winged critics in their attempt to discredit scientific research.

Since then, Marcia Ansell, Harvard Medical lecturer and previous editor of the New England Journal of Medicine, has cast wood on the fire. Several of her articles including "Industry-Sponsored Clinical Research: A Broken System," published in the Journal of American Medicine, and "Drug Companies & Doctors: A Story of Corruption," published in The New York Review of Books, tell a story that sounds like a fiction thriller filled with conspiracy, lies, and evil. Ansell contends that because of the corruption, greed, and significant kickbacks to physicians with prescribing rights, "Children as young as two years old are being diagnosed with bipolar disorder and treated with a cocktail of powerful drugs, many of which were not approved by the Food and Drug Administration....No one knows the total amount provided by drug companies to physicians, but I estimate from the annual reports of the top nine U.S. drug companies that it comes to tens of billions of dollars a year. By such means, the pharmaceutical industry has gained enormous control over how doctors evaluate and use its own products. Its extensive ties to physicians, particularly senior faculty at prestigious medical schools, affect the results of research, the way medicine is practiced, and even the definition of what constitutes a disease."

Evidently, medical schools in the 70s and 80s did not have extensive financial dealings with the industry, and faculty investigators who carried out industry-sponsored research generally did not have other ties to their sponsors. Today, though, schools have significant ties with the industry. Bekelman et al. report that about two thirds of academic medical centers hold equity interest in companies that sponsor research within the same institution. Moreover, Campbell et al. report that two thirds of medical school department chairs receive departmental income from drug companies and three-fifths received personal income. It should be no wonder that several landmark cases continue to reach the judicial system as more and more "Big Pharma" suits cost pharmaceutical companies and executives billions in damages. The system has been proven to be false and corrupt.

Sources for this article include:

Ioannidis, JPA. Why most published research findings are false. PLoS 2005. Med 2(8): e124. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0020124
Angell, M. Industry-sponsored clinical research: a broken system. : JAMA 2008; 300(9):1069-1071.
Angell, M. Drug companies & doctors: a story of corruption [online]. The New York Review of Books 2009; 56(1). [cited Sept 2012]. Available at: http://www.nybooks.com
Bekelman JE, et al. Scope and impact of financial conflicts of interest in biomedical research: a systematic review. JAM 2003; 289(4):454-65.
Campbell, E, et al. Institutional academic industry relationships. JAMA 2007; 298(15):1779-86.
Gever J. Research fraud probe leads to criminal charge [online]. c 2012 Medpage Today. [cited Sept 2012]. Available at: http://www.medpagetoday.com/PublicHealthPolicy/Ethics/17985
Thomas K, Schmidt MS. Glaxo agrees to pay $3 billion in fraud settlement [online]. c 2012 New York Times. [cited Sept 2012]. Available at: http://www.nytimes.com
Szalavitz M. Top10 drug company settlements [online]. c 2012Time Healthland. [cited Sept 2012]. Available at: http://healthland.time.com
Harris PE, Cooper KL, Relton C, Thomas KJ. Prevalence of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use by the general population: a systematic review and update. Int J Clin Pract 2012; 66(10): 924-939.

About the author:
Eric is a peer-reviewed, published researcher. His work on heart disease and autism has been accepted internationally at various scientific conferences through organizations like the American Public Health Association and Australian-based Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute. Visit his blog. Track his work on facebook. Read Eric's other naturalnews.com articles.


American citizens medal: doing the job of the government













US citizens can nominate an American hero till March 2013.

"Last year, people like you nominated over six thousand Americans from across the country and staff at the White House reviewed every single submission. Here are just a few examples:

Mary Jo Copeland has offered a safety net for Minneapolis families since 1985 -- offering food, clothing, shelter, and medical assistance to the needy.
Adam Burke, an Iraq combat veteran, runs "Veterans Farm," a 19-acre, handicap-accessible farm that helps returning veterans.
Janice Jackson founded a Baltimore nonprofit to serve women with varying degrees of disabilities."
Source: here.

All these 2012 American heroes are working to promote health what is strange since according to the American constitution health care is a right.
But we know how health is being neglected in America and in numerous countries.
Americans, nominate your heroes!



Friday, March 22

CNN: most trusted name in news




Brazilian Propaganda manipulation: middle class= income of US$ 145.53




I have met and read numerous data about Brazil  that are not real.
Brazilian government has been doing a dirty propaganda full of lies, manipulation of data and fictitious stories. Not different from, maybe... your country?

Anyway... The phenomenon of the "New middle class" is even laughable.
This is the definition the government gives for the "new middle class":

middle class: defined as those with a monthly per capita income from R$291.00/US$ 145,00 up to R$ 1,019.00/ US$ 509.6

If you are confused we Brazilians are appalled. The minimum wage is R$ 678/US$ 339.07.
So a person that is payed less the minimum wage is considered middle class.

Can you live with US$ 145,00 a month? It doesn't pay the food. Maybe the breakfast and part of the lunch.
Middle class people like buying nice jeans. For less than R$130,00/US$ 65.01 there is not a good brand.   A real good brand costs more than R$ 200,00/US$ 100.02.
I'm ashamed of what these people are doing in this country.


Globalresearch urges NATO and allies for a season of peace

Global Research, part of the project "The Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG)",  is one of the site I read daily and I share here some of the articles they publish. It has gathered contributors from different countries constructing an archive of in-depth analysis, news and facts that the mainstream media does not cover, on the contrary, it hides from the public.

I learned a from Global Research, created in 2001, and there is more to come.
Take a look at the "About" page of the site and you'll find all the work being done by The Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG).
I had to publish this appeal to peace because I feel the same. For some people it sounds like a dream or a impossible achievement.

It will be if we keep on doing nothing. Peace here is not opposed to war. It's been a long time that the world don't have a real war. Peace is opposed to NATO and allies  interventions in numerous countries.
Genocide, torture, raping, destruction of nation's identity is being practiced by US and allies.
It has to stop and the culprits have to answer for the crimes against humanity they are committing.

Breaking the Cycle of War: It’s Time for a Season of Peace
By Global Research
Global Research, March 21, 2013


"Worldwide, March brings about changing seasons, shifting temperatures and unpredictable weather – but the one thing we have come to count on is that March is also the month of choice for militarized intervention, armed conflict and declarations of all-out war.

As Michel Chossudovsky writes:

“With the exception of the War on Afghanistan (October 2001), all major US-NATO led military operations over a period of almost half a century – since the invasion of Vietnam by US ground forces on March 8, 1965 – have been initiated in the month of March.” (Read more in “The Pentagon’s “Ides of March”: Best Month to Go to War”)

Is this really a tradition we want to maintain? More importantly, is any time EVER the right time to go to war?

When is it appropriate to kill indiscriminately to further our own agendas?

When is it acceptable to commit unbridled, large-scale murder and label it “humanitarian intervention”?

When do we realize that no month, no season, no time is the right time to attack sovereign nations simply because they have the land we want, the resources we need and the unwillingness to hand them over merely to feed our greed?

How about… NOW?

NATO and the Pentagon have decided that March is the month of war, but the time has come for the people to put a change to that. The time has come to make March a time for PEACE, to END WAR, to enter a new season of AWARENESS."

And knowing the TRUTH about war is the first step in making this a reality.

As F. William Engdahl states:

“There are few online sites besides Global Research where we can go to find analyses of the world we live in today, with its escalating wars, conflicts, betrayal of trust. I strongly urge readers who value one of the few remaining serious sources of truthful analysis to not take that enjoyment passively but to actively support the work of Global Research by your financial contribution.”
– F. William Engdahl, author of “Seeds of Destruction” (available through Global Research) and “Myths, Lies and Oil Wars”

Help us break the cycle of war. Please scroll down to learn how you can support Global Research.



Thursday, March 21

Amnesty International to be judged on promoting crimes against humanity





No. It is not a true headline but this is the job Amnesty International and other human rights organizations are doing: warmongering.

I have already written  about Amnesty International propaganda. Human Rights Watch will also be on trial.

If you are not aware about what AI is doing take a look at these links:



"Amnesty International Propaganda Targets Russia and Syria"
by David Icke
"Amnesty International is US State Department Propaganda"

by Tony Cartalucci
"Amnesty International Propaganda Targets Russia and Syria"

Tony Cartalucci, Contrib

"Amnesty International’s Propaganda against Pakistan"
by Abdullah Mansoorutor

Search for "Amnesty International propaganda"
Image at David Icke site.

Sunday, March 17

Obama: Where is the change?






Glenn Greenwald notes that even Democratic party loyalists are getting fed up with Obama’s Bush-like actions:

Even the most loyal establishment Democrats are now harshly denouncing the president for his war on transparency ….

This secrecy has become so oppressive and extreme that even the most faithful Democratic operatives are now angrily exploding with public denunciations. (keep reading)







Hugo Chávez legacy: ‘You don’t fight terrorism with state terrorism’



It is not a surprise that the mainstream media portrays those who condemn the crimes against humanity committed by US and allies as monsters, psychopaths  and, the irony, as dictators and other evil characteristics.

Colonel Gaddafi was killed in the most criminal way and the secretary of state Hillary Clinton was in all channels smiling: "We came, we saw, he died." If this is the behavior of a politician after the destruction of a country, the slaughter of 60.000 innocent civilians, promotion of torture, rape and other barbarians and criminal methods to take control of natural resources and put an end to the danger of unity among states contrary to Washington a change in the definition of "politics" is urgent.

All the articles about Hugo Chávez at the mainstrain media are moral executions full of lies.

Globalresearch published today this article by James Petras that explains the real legacy of Hugo Chávez.
I did copy the whole article because this is a must-read.

President Hugo Chavez: A 21st Century Renaissance Man

By Prof. James Petras
Global Research, March 15, 2013


Introduction
President Hugo Chavez was unique in multiple areas of political, social and economic life. He made significant contributions to the advancement of humanity. The depth, scope and popularity of his accomplishments mark President Chavez as the ‘Renaissance President of the 21st Century’.

Many writers have noted one or another of his historic contributions highlighting his anti-poverty legislation, his success in winning popular elections with resounding majorities and his promotion of universal free public education and health coverage for all Venezuelans.

In this essay we will highlight the unique world-historic contributions that President Chavez made in the spheres of political economy, ethics and international law and in redefining relations between political leaders and citizens.  We shall start with his enduring contribution to the development of civic culture in Venezuela and beyond.

Hugo Chavez:  The Great Teacher of Civic Values

From his first days in office, Chavez was engaged in transforming the constitutional order so that political leaders and institutions would be more responsive to the popular electorate.  Through his speeches Chavez clearly and carefully informed the electorate of the measures and legislation to improve their livelihood.  He invited comments and criticism – his style was to engage in constant dialogue, especially with the poor, the unemployed and the workers.  Chavez was so successful in teaching civic responsibilities to the Venezuelan electorate that millions of citizens from the slums of Caracas rose up spontaneously to oust the US backed business-military junta which had kidnapped their president and closed the legislature.  Within seventy-two hours – record time – the civic-minded citizens restored the democratic order and the rule of law in Venezuela , thoroughly rejecting the mass media’s defense of the coup-plotters and their brief authoritarian regime.

Chavez, as all great educators, learned from this democratic intervention of the mass of citizens, that democracy’s most effective defenders were to be found among the working people – and that its worst enemies were found in the business elites and military officials linked to Miami and Washington.

Chavez civic pedagogy emphasized the importance of the historical teachings and examples of founding fathers, like Simon Bolivar, in establishing a national and Latin American identity.  His speeches raised the cultural level of millions of Venezuelans who had been raised in the alienating and servile culture of imperial Washington and the consumerist obsessions of Miami shopping malls.

Chavez succeeded in instilling a culture of solidarity and mutual support among the exploited, emphasizing ‘horizontal’ ties over vertical clientelistic dependency on the rich and powerful.  His success in creating collective consciousness decisively shifted the balance of political power away from the wealthy rulers and corrupt political party and trade union leaders toward new socialist movements and class oriented trade unions.    More than anything else Chavez’ political education of the popular majority regarding their social rights to free health care and higher education, living wages and full employment drew the hysterical ire of the wealthy Venezuelans and their undying hatred of a president who had created a sense of autonomy, dignity and ‘class empowerment’ through public education ending centuries of elite privilege and omnipotence.

Above all Chavez speeches, drawing as much from Bolivar as from Karl Marx, created a deep, generous sense of patriotism and nationalism  and a profound rejection of a  prostrate elite groveling before their Washington overlord, Wall Street bankers and oil company executives.  Chavez’ anti-imperial speeches resonated because he spoke in the language of the people and expanded their national consciousness to identification with Latin America, especially Cuba ’s fight against imperial interventions and wars.

International Relations:  The Chavez Doctrine

At the beginning of the previous decade, after 9/11/01, Washington declared a ‘War on Terror’.  This was a public declaration of unilateral military intervention and wars against sovereign nations, movements and individuals deemed as adversaries, in violation of international law.

Almost all countries submitted to this flagrant violation of the Geneva Accords, except President Chavez, who made the most profound and simple refutation against Washington:  ‘You don’t fight terrorism with state terrorism’.  In his defense of the sovereignty of nations and international jurisprudence, Chavez underlined the importance of political and economic solutions to social problems and conflicts – repudiating the use of bombs, torture and mayhem. The Chavez Doctrine emphasized south-south trade and investments and diplomatic over military resolution of disputes.  He upheld the Geneva Accords against colonial and imperial aggression while rejecting the imperial doctrine of ‘the war on terror’, defining western state terrorism as a pernicious equivalent to Al Qaeda terrorism.

Political Theory and Practice:  The Grand Synthesizer

One of the most profound and influential aspects of Chavez’ legacy is his original synthesis of three grand strands of political thought:  popular Christianity, Bolivarian nationalist and regional integration and Marxist political, social and economic thought.  Chavez’ Christianity informed his deep belief in justice and the equality of people, as well as his generosity and forgiveness of adversaries even as they engaged in a violent coup, a crippling lockout, or openly collaborated and received financing from enemy intelligence agencies.  Whereas anywhere else in the world, armed assaults against the state and coup d’états would result in long prison sentences or even executions, under Chavez most of his violent adversaries escaped prosecution and even rejoined their subversive organizations.  Chavez demonstrated a deep belief in redemption and forgiveness.  Chavez’s Christianity informed his ‘option for the poor’, the depth and breadth of his commitment to eradicating poverty and his solidarity with the poor against the rich.

Chavez deep-seated aversion and effective opposition to US and European imperialism and brutal Israeli colonialism were profoundly rooted in his reading of the writings and history of Simon Bolivar, the founding father of the Venezuelan nation.  Bolivarian ideas on national liberation long preceded any exposure to Marx, Lenin or more contemporary leftist writings on imperialism.  His powerful and unwavering support for regional integration and internationalism was deeply influenced by Simon Bolivar’s proposed ‘United States of Latin America’ and his internationalist activity in support of anti-colonial movements.

Chavez’ incorporation of Marxist ideas into his world view was adapted to his longstanding popular Christian and Bolivarian internationalist philosophy.  Chavez’ option for the poor was deepened by his recognition of the centrality of the class struggle and the reconstruction of the Bolivarian nation through the socialization of the ‘commanding heights of the economy’.  The socialist conception of self-managed factories and popular empowerment via community councils was given moral legitimacy by Chavez’ Christian faith in an egalitarian moral order.

While Chavez was respectful and carefully listened to the views of visiting leftist academics and frequently praised their writings, many failed to recognize or, worse, deliberately ignored the President’s own more original synthesis of history, religion and Marxism.  Unfortunately, as is frequently the case, some leftist academics have, in their self-indulgent posturing, presumed to be Chavez’ ‘teacher’ and advisor on all matters of ‘Marxist theory’:  This represents a style of leftist cultural colonialism, which snidely criticized Chavez for not following their ready-made prescriptions, published in their political literary journals in London, New York and Paris.

Fortunately, Chavez took what was useful from the overseas academics and NGO-funded political strategists while discarding ideas that failed to take account of the  cultural-historical, class and rentier specificities of Venezuela .

Chavez has bequeathed to the intellectuals and activists of the world a method of thinking which is global and specific, historical and theoretical, material and ethical and which encompasses class analysis, democracy and a spiritual transcendence resonating with the great mass of humanity in a language every person can understand.  Chavez’ philosophy and practice (more than any ‘discourse’ narrated by the social forum-hopping experts) demonstrated that the art of formulating complex ideas in simple language can move millions of people to ‘make history, and not only to study it’..

Toward Practical Alternatives to Neoliberalism and Imperialism

Perhaps Chavez greatest contribution in the contemporary period was to demonstrate, through practical measures and political initiatives, that many of the most challenging contemporary political and economic problems can be successfully resolved.

Radical Reform of a Rentier State

Nothing is more difficult than changing the social structure, institutions and attitudes of a rentier petro-state, with deeply entrenched clientelistic politics, endemic party-state corruption and a deeply-rooted mass psychology based on consumerism.  Yet Chavez largely succeeded where other petro-regimes failed.  The Chavez Administration first began with constitutional and institutional changes to create a new political framework; then he implemented social impact programs, which deepened political commitments among an active majority, which, in turn, bravely defended the regime from a violent US backed business-military coup d’état.  Mass mobilization and popular support, in turn, radicalized the Chavez government and made way for a deeper socialization of the economy and the implementation of radical agrarian reform.  The petrol industry was socialized; royalty and tax payments were raised to provide funds for massively expanded social expenditures benefiting the majority of Venezuelans.

Almost every day Chavez prepared clearly understandable educational speeches on social, ethical and political topics related to his regime’s redistributive policies by emphasizing social solidarity over individualistic acquisitive consumerism.  Mass organizations and community and trade union movements flourished – a new social consciousness emerged ready and willing to advance social change and confront the wealthy and powerful.  Chavez’ defeat of the US-backed coup and bosses’ lockout and his affirmation of the Bolivarian tradition and sovereign identity of Venezuela created a powerful nationalist consciousness which eroded the rentier mentality and strengthened the pursuit of a diversified ‘balanced economy’.  This new political will and national productive consciousness was a great leap forward, even as the main features of a rentier-oil dependent economy persist.  This extremely difficult transition has begun and is an ongoing process.  Overseas leftist theorists, who criticize Venezuela (‘corruption’, ‘bureaucracy’) have profoundly ignored the enormous difficulties of transitioning from a rentier state to a socialized economy and the enormous progress achieved by Chavez.

Economic Crisis Without Capitalist Austerity

Throughout the crisis-wracked capitalist world, ruling labor, social democratic, liberal and conservative regimes have imposed regressive ‘austerity programs’ involving brutal reductions of social welfare, health and education expenditures and mass layoffs of workers and employees while handing our generous state subsidies and bailouts to failing banks and capitalist enterprises.  Chanting their Thacherite slogan, ‘there is no alternative’, capitalist economists justify imposing the burden of ‘capitalist recovery’ onto the working class while allowing capital to recover its profits in order to invest.

Chavez’ policy was the direct opposite: In the midst of crisis, he retained all the social programs, rejected mass firings and increased social spending.  The Venezuelan economy rode out of the worldwide crisis and recovered with a healthy 5.8% growth rate in 2012.    In other words, Chavez demonstrated that mass impoverishment was a product of the specific capitalist ‘formula’ for recovery.  He showed another, positive alternative approach to economic crisis, which taxed the rich, promoted public investments and maintained social expenditures.

Social Transformation in a ‘Globalized Economy’

Many commentators, left, right and center, have argued that the advent of a ‘globalized economy’ ruled out a radical social transformation.  Yet Venezuela , which is profoundly globalized and integrated into the world market via trade and investments, has made major advances in social reform.  What really matters in relation to a globalized economy is the nature of the political economic regime and its policies, which dictate how the gains and costs of international trade and investment are distributed.  In a word, what is decisive is the ‘class character of the regime’ managing its place in the world economy.  Chavez certainly did not ‘de-link’ from the world economy; rather he has re-linked Venezuela in a new way.  He shifted Venezuelan trade and investment toward Latin America, Asia and the Middle East – especially to countries which do not intervene or impose reactionary conditions on economic transactions.

Anti-Imperialism in a Time of an Imperialist Offensive

In a time of a virulent US—EU imperialist offensive involving ‘pre-emptive’ military invasions, mercenary interventions, torture, assassinations and drone warfare in Iraq, Mali, Syria, Yemen, Libya, and Afghanistan and brutal economic sanctions and sabotage against Iran; Israeli colonial expulsions of thousands of Palestinians financed by the US; US-backed military coups in Honduras and Paraguay and aborted revolutions via puppets in Egypt and Tunisia, President Chavez, alone, stood as the principled defender of anti-imperialist politics.  Chavez deep commitment to anti-imperialism stands in marked contrast to the capitulation of Western self-styled ‘Marxist’ intellectuals who mouthed crude justifications for their support of NATO bombing Yugoslavia and Libya, the French invasion of  Mali and the Saudi-French (‘Monarcho-Socialist’) funding and arming of Islamist mercenaries against Syria.  These same London, New York and Paris-based ‘intellectuals’ who patronized Chavez as a mere ‘populist’ or ‘nationalist’ and claimed he should have listened to their lectures and read their books, had crassly capitulated under the pressure of the capitalist state and mass media into supporting ‘humanitarian interventions’ (aka NATO bombing)… and justified their opportunism in the language of obscure leftists sects.  Chavez confronted NATO pressures and threats, as well as the destabilizing subversion of his domestic opponents and courageously articulated the most profound and significant principles of 20th and 21st Marxism:  the inviolate right to self-determination of oppressed nations and unconditional opposition to imperial wars. While Chavez spoke and acted in defense of anti-imperialist principles, many in the European and US left acquiesced in imperial wars:  There were virtually no mass protests, the ‘anti-war’ movements were co-opted or moribund, the British ‘Socialist’ Workers Party defended the massive NATO bombing of Libya, the French ‘Socialists’ invaded Mali- with the support of the ‘Anti-Capitalist’ Party.  Meanwhile, the ‘populist’ Chavez had articulated a far more profound and principled understanding of Marxist practice, certainly than his self-appointed overseas Marxist ‘tutors’.

No other political leader or for that matter, leftist academic, developed, deepened and extended the central tenets of anti-imperialist politics in the era of global imperialist warfare with greater acuity than Hugo Chavez.

Transition from a Failed Neo-Liberal to a Dynamic Welfare State

Chavez’ programmatic and comprehensive reconfiguration of Venezuela from a disastrous and failed neo-liberal regime to a dynamic welfare state stands as a landmark in 20th and 21st century political economy.  Chavez’ successful reversal of neo-liberal institutions and policies, as well as his re-nationalization of the ‘commanding heights of the economy’ demolished the reigning neo-liberal dogma derived from the Thatcher-Reagan era enshrined in the slogan: ‘There is no alternative’ to brutal neo-liberal policies, or TINA.

Chavez rejected privatization – he re-nationalized key oil related industries, socialized hundreds of capitalist firms and carried out a vast agrarian reform program, including land distribution to 300,000 families.  He encouraged trade union organizations and worker control of factories – even bucking public managers and even his own cabinet ministers.  In Latin America , Chavez led the way in defining with greater depth and with more comprehensive social changes, the post neo-liberal era.  Chavez envisioned the transition from neo-liberalism to a new socialized welfare state as an international process and provided financing and political support for new regional organizations like ALBA, PetroCaribe, and UNASUR.  He rejected the idea of building a welfare state in one country and formulated a theory of post-neo-liberal transitions based on international solidarity.  Chavez’ original ideas and policies regarding the post-neo-liberal transition escaped the armchair Marxists and the globetrotting Social Forum NGO pundits whose inconsequential ‘global alternatives’ succeeded primarily in securing  imperial foundation funding.

Chavez demonstrated through theory and practice that neo-liberalism was indeed reversible – a major political breakthrough of the 21st century.

Beyond Social Liberalism:  The Radical Definition of Post-Neo-Liberalism

The US-EU promoted neo-liberal regimes have collapsed under the weight of the deepest economic crisis since the Great Depression.  Massive unemployment led to popular uprisings, new elections and the advent of center-left regimes in most of Latin America , which rejected or at least claimed to repudiate ‘neo-liberalism’.  Most of these regimes promulgated legislation and executive directives to fund poverty programs, implement financial controls and make productive investments, while raising minimum wages and stimulating employment.  However few lucrative enterprises were actually re-nationalized.  Addressing inequalities and the concentration of wealth were not part of their agenda.  They formulated their strategy of working with Wall Street investors, local agro-mineral exporters and co-opted trade unions.

Chavez posed a profoundly different alternative to this form of ‘post-neoliberalism’.  He nationalized resource industries, excluded Wall Street speculators and limited the role of the agro-mineral elites.  He posed a socialized welfare state as an alternative to the reigning social-liberal orthodoxy of the center-left regimes, even as he worked with these regimes in promoting Latin American integration and opposing US backed coups.

Chavez was both a leader defining a more socialized alternative to social liberation and the conscience pressuring his allies to advance further.

Socialism and Democracy

Chavez opened a new and extraordinarily original and complex path to socialism based on free elections, re-educating the military to uphold democratic and constitutional principals, and the development of mass and community media.  He ended the capitalist mass media monopolies and strengthened civil society as a counter-weight to US-sponsored para-military and fifth column elites intent on destabilizing the democratic state.

No other democratic-socialist president had successfully resisted imperial destabilization campaigns – neither Jagan in Guyana , Manley in Jamaica , nor Allende in Chile .  From the very outset Chavez saw the importance of creating a solid legal-political framework to facilitate executive leadership, promote popular civil society organizations and end US penetration of the state apparatus (military and police).  Chavez implemented radical social impact programs that ensured the loyalty and active allegiance of popular majorities and weakened the economic levers of political power long held by the capitalist class.  As a result Venezuela ’s political leaders, soldiers and officers loyal to its constitution and the popular masses crushed a bloody rightwing coup, a crippling bosses’ lockout and a US-financed referendum and proceeded to implement further radical socio-economic reforms in a prolonged process of cumulative socialization.

Chavez’s originality, in part the result of trial and error, was his ‘experimental method’: His profound understanding and response to popular attitudes and behavior was deeply rooted in Venezuela ’s history of racial and class in justice and popular rebelliousness.  More than any previous socialist leader, Chavez traveled, spoke and listened to Venezuela ’s popular classes on questions of everyday life.  His ‘method’ was to translate micro based knowledge into macro programed changes.  In practice he was the anti-thesis of the overseas and local intellectual know-it-alls who literally spoke down to the people and who saw themselves as the ‘masters of the world’ …at least, in the micro-world of left academia, ingrown socialist conferences and self-centered monologues.  The death of Hugo Chavez was profoundly mourned by millions in Venezuela and hundreds of million around the world because his transition to socialism was their path; he listened to their demands and he acted upon them effectively.

Social Democracy and National Security

Chavez was a socialist president for over 13 years in the face of large-scale, long-term violent opposition and financial sabotage from Washington , the local economic elite and mass media moguls.  Chavez created the political consciousness that motivated millions of workers and secured the constitutional loyalty of the military to defeat a bloody US-backed business-military coup in 2002.  Chavez tempered social changes in accordance with a realistic assessment of what the political and legal order could support.  First and foremost, Chavez secured the loyalty of the military by ending US ‘advisory’ missions and overseas imperial indoctrination while substituting intensive courses on Venezuelan history, civic responsibility and the critical link between the popular classes and the military in a common national mission..

Chavez’ national security policies were based on democratic principles as well as a clear recognition of the serious threats to Venezuelan sovereignty.  He successfully safeguarded both national security and the democratic rights and political freedoms of its citizens, a feat which has earned Venezuela the admiration and envy of constitutional lawyers and citizens of the US and the EU.

In stark contrast, US President Obama has assumed the power to assassinate US citizens based on secret information and without trial both in and out of the US .  His Administration has murdered ‘targeted’ US citizens and their children, jailed others without trial and maintains secret ‘files’ on over 40 million Americans.  Chavez never assumed those powers and never assassinated or tortured a single Venezuelan.  In Venezuela , the dozen or so prisoners convicted of violent acts of subversion after open trials in Venezuelan courts, stand in sharp contrast to the tens of thousands of jailed and secretly framed Muslims and Latin American immigrants in the US .  Chavez rejected state terror; while Obama has special assassination teams on the ground in over 70 countries.  Obama supports arbitrary police invasions of ‘suspect’ homes and workplaces based on ‘secret evidence’ while.  Chavez even tolerated the activities of known foreign (CIA)-funded opposition parties.  In a word, Obama uses ‘national security’ to destroy democratic freedoms while Chavez upheld democratic freedoms and imposed constitutional limits on the national security apparatus.

Chavez sought peaceful diplomatic resolution of conflicts with hostile neighbors, such as Colombia which hosts seven US military bases – potential springboards for US intervention.  On the other hand, Obama has engaged in open war with at least seven countries and has been pursuing covert hostile action against dozens of others.

Conclusion

Chavez’s legacy is multi-faceted.  His contributions are original, theoretical and practical and universally relevant.  He demonstrated in ‘theory and practice’ how a small country can defend itself against imperialism, maintain democratic principles and implement advanced social programs.  His pursuit of regional integration and promotion of ethical standards in the governance of a nation – provide examples profoundly relevant in a capitalist world awash in corrupt politicians slashing living standards while enriching the plutocrats.

Chavez’ rejection of the Bush-Obama doctrine of using ‘state terror to fight terror’, his affirmation that the roots of violence are social in justice , economic pillage and political oppression and his belief that resolving these underlying issues is the road to peace, stands as the ethical-political guide for humanity’s survival.

Faced with a violent world of imperial counter-revolution, and resolved to stand with the oppressed of the world, Hugo Chavez enters world history as a complete political leader, with the stature of the most humane and multi-faceted leader of our epoch:  the Renaissance figure for the 21st century.

Articles of interest::

'Why is Hugo Chavez called a Dictator?'
by John E.Jones , January 31st 2011


'Sean Penn: Journalists who call Hugo Chávez a dictator should be jailed'
by Rory Carroll 11 March 2010




Thursday, March 14

Bankrupted after watching Dr Oz for six months and medical research is false

I don't know what to do now. I got so excited that bought everything Dr. Oz has advertised in his show.
As you can see at the picture above Dr Oz help us to get skinny which is very important for our health. The skinnier the healthier.

Anyway... My medicine cabinet is full of supplements with all those capsules Dr Oz promote and other treatments.

I also bought all the food he claims that is good for our healthy. I gained a little weight but I'll follow the diet at Dr. Oz' site
I don't understand why some physicians claims that Dr Oz has no scientific proof of some of his theories because it is known that medicine is a fake science and that  "Studies prove most medical research is false".
"Marcia Ansell, Harvard Medical lecturer and previous editor of the New England Journal of Medicine, has cast wood on the fire. Several of her articles including "Industry-Sponsored Clinical Research: A Broken System," published in the Journal of American Medicine, and "Drug Companies & Doctors: A Story of Corruption," published in The New York Review of Books, tell a story that sounds like a fiction thriller filled with conspiracy, lies, and evil. Ansell contends that because of the corruption, greed, and significant kickbacks to physicians with prescribing rights, "Children as young as two years old are being diagnosed with bipolar disorder and treated with a cocktail of powerful drugs, many of which were not approved by the Food and Drug Administration.... 
No one knows the total amount provided by drug companies to physicians, but I estimate from the annual reports of the top nine U.S. drug companies that it comes to tens of billions of dollars a year. By such means, the pharmaceutical industry has gained enormous control over how doctors evaluate and use its own products. Its extensive ties to physicians, particularly senior faculty at prestigious medical schools, affect the results of research, the way medicine is practiced, and even the definition of what constitutes a disease."" (emphasis added)

My problem is that I bankrupted after watching  Dr. Oz for six months.  Now I think that I might not watch the show for  a while because I'll crave to buy all those great foods, capsules... Life is hard!

Tuesday, March 12

Born Edward Louis Severson III: who is he?






"When I was around 15 or 16... I felt all alone... I was all alone—except for music."


"A little love song I wrote on my surf board." (after singing "Oceans")

"I don't need drugs to make my life tragic."

"Do you force your kids to pay attention to what's going on, or do you let them live their lives outside of it? My hope is that my child is a strong activist. That would make me most proud."

"I think celebrities suck."

He is like many people I knew in my twenties and we have in common feeling a stranger at parent's home.
It is all gone .....!


Monday, March 11

Add your cat at the world cat map


The London Zoo created the site Cat Map where cat owners can introduce their cat to the world.
I'm sure that Holly will be at this map Susan. Nell is telling you to add Holly.She is trying to find something similar to dogs and she didn't.
This is not fair.
(click the picture to enlarge)


Sunday, March 10

Brazilian singer and thinker Caetano Veloso knows nothing about US fascist dictatorship



I tried leaving a message on Caetano Veloso's blog but we click 'comment' and there is no place to write
anything. I have to tell Caetano something in Portuguese: "Você não está entendendo nada. NADA" Now I think he can have an idea of the seriousness of it all.

Caetano Veloso,singer, composer, thinker,activist and much more, is always fighting fascism but he does not know anything about what is going on in America;
He talks about Braziilian dictatorship, he had to leave the country for some years  he talks about  Stalin and many things but strangely enough nothing about what is going on in America.

This is the first post I write to try to catch attention of Brazilian intellectuals, artists... - those who have a voice - about what is happening in America.
As I said in the post below we have to raise awareness.
US was the home of Nazism and know very well how to brutalize people.
I hope Caetano receives this memo.

Update:
Unfortunately it seems that Caetano is following Bob Dylan steps and would receive award from Obama or campaign for Amnesty International.
It's sad to see those who were once radical revolutionaries fall because they lost contact with those who
are always searching and in touch with independent media and... Jesus,

Call for action: The world does not know that US in under totalitarianism







I've been talking to members of the cultural Brazilian elite ans most of them knows nothing about the dictatorship in US. Not even about NDAA.

When I talk to people from other countries it's the same. Most Americans don't know about what is going on in America.

I ask to all for those who have a way of spreading the news to make an effort to show others the crimes US are committing against their citizens.

There are many blogs and groups that are writing daily about what US is doing against Americans and the "rest of the world". As any action seems to come from astrotufers trained by CIA - where are the Occupiers?- the virtual world is a good place to raise awareness.
Please, let's do it!


Saturday, March 9

Belief in heaven and hell? Why "Hella Heaven"?
















One of the topics I don't like to discuss is religion. I respect people's faith and I don't need anything else. Unfortunately sometimes we have to discuss religion when it interferes with politics. Religion manipulates hearts and minds very well and they do it all the time.

When the title "Hella Heaven" appeared in my mind I didn't think about the places "hell" or "heaven".
I thought about all dichotomies that these words evoke.
It also came to my mind Hell a Heaven as if I was going from a negative to a positive side.
I started my first blog in 2008 and for two years I was angry and sad because dealing with the influence of pharmaceutical industry in medicine is not easy.

I started this blog to show good things people do but it changed with time.

But I liked Hella Heaven because it has to do with a "great place".

If I believe in hell or heaven? No hell for me and  maybe yes for heaven.


Friday, March 8

"Zumbi" by Jorge Ben: Brazilian rebels slaves


Zumbi (1655 – November 20, 1695), also known as Zumbi dos Palmares (Portuguese pronunciation: [zũˈbi dus pɐwˈmaɾis]), was the last of the leaders of the Quilombo dos Palmares, in the present-day state of Alagoas, Brazil.

Quilombo dos Palmares was a self-sustaining republic of Maroons escaped from the Portuguese settlements in Brazil, "a region perhaps the size of Portugal in the hinterland of Bahia" (Braudel 1984 p 390). At its height, Palmares had a population of over 30,000. Forced to defend against repeated attacks by Portuguese colonists, many warriors of Palmares were expert in capoeira, a martial arts form that was brought to and enhanced in Brazil by African slaves at about the 16th century on.

There is more at Wikipedia but the reason I'm publishing this music is... it is amazing!

Great rhythm! Jorge Ben is one of the Brazilian geniuses musicians.
Click and listen for three seconds. Tell me if you don't feel like listening more. :)


Keep calm...



Source: Oporo.


Thursday, March 7

Bologna sauce: my version



Ingredients:


• 1 medium onion chopped
• 1 cloves of garlic
• 1 chopped carrot
•  english sauce
• Parmesan cheese (40 gr)
• sea salt
• curry (as you like)
• azafran (as you like)
• nutmeg (as you like)
• 700 ground chuck,beef
•  your favorite oil
• 1 tea spoon of sugar (secret ingredient))
• red wine

This is my version of bologna sauce. Add the all the ingredients, not the onion, to the ground chuck beef.
I believe in your feeling so you will know the amount of each ingredient. Sorry, I don't use recipes myself.
Let it rest for 20 minutes.
Put you favorite oil in a pan and put the onion. Wait till it becomes transparent.
Little by little put the meat and stir.Let the meat get brown  and add the tomatoes. Let it boil and... Voilà.
It works for me and people like it,



Wednesday, March 6

Carisoprodol: banned from Norway and UE due to numerous risks

We have to be vigilant and pay close attention to side effects of drugs doctors prescribe. I'm taking a drug that has 125 mg of Carisoprodol.

I was playing card games online the other day and I felt asleep in the middle of the game. It never happened to me in my entire life. I could never sleep doing anything or at any other place other than my bed.

I'm feeling poor coordination and thought that it was due to arthrosis and that I was getting worse.
I started thinking about the day I slept during the card game and today that I woke up in the morning and felt asleep on the cough.

As this drug I'm taking also have caffeine I realized that the reason should be to influence the vigilance.
I started searching and found out that EMEA has released the following:


European Medicines Agency recommends suspension of marketing authorisations for carisoprodol-containing medicinal products


European Medicines Agency 
Press office


London, 16 November 2007 
PRESS RELEASE 
European Medicines Agency recommends suspension of marketing 
authorisations for carisoprodol-containing medicinal productsDoc. Ref. EMEA/520463/2007 


The European Medicines Agency (EMEA) has recommended the suspension of marketing 
authorisations for all medicinal products containing carisoprodol. Carisoprodol products are available in 12 Member States under prescription, mainly for the treatment of acute lower back pain.

Finalising its review, the Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) concluded that the risks of these medicines are greater than their benefits, and recommended the suspension of marketing authorisations in those Member States where the product is approved.

The review of carisoprodol-containing medicinal products was initiated in September 2007 following plans made for its withdrawal from the Norwegian market (scheduled to take effect as of May 2008), due to new information relating to an increased risk of abuse or addiction as well as intoxication and events related to psychomotor impairment. The CHMP reviewed the safety of these medicines to 
assess whether the regulatory actions taken by Norway should be implemented throughout the EU countries.

Following the assessment of the available information on the safety of carisoprodol-containing medicinal products, the CHMP concluded that there is evidence for carisoprodol-associated risk of abuse and addiction, intoxication and psychomotor impairment. In the light of these findings the CHMP considered that the risks of these medicines outweigh their benefits. The CHMP therefore 
recommended the suspension of the marketing authorisations of all carisoprodol-containing medicinal products.

Due to the risk of withdrawal symptoms, patients should not stop carisoprodol treatment before seeking advice from their doctor on other therapeutic options. Any switch to new medication should be made gradually and under medical supervision.

The CHMP opinion will now be sent to the European Commission for the adoption of a decision, applicable in all EU countries.

-- END--

Fortunately I'm not taking this drug daily but what I took was enough to make me see that it's poison.
BE ALERT! RESEARCH THE DRUGS YOU"RE PRESCRIBED


"Analyze that": Middle East solution



What kind of breakdown?
I think you had better go up there and see for yourself.

I'm treating him with Thorazine.
300 milligrams, b.i.d.
Seems to keep him pretty calm.
That would keep the Middle East pretty calm.
And he just keeps singing West Side Story songs?
"Tonight." "Maria." The balcony scene.
You should get him to do "Officer Krupke." It's really good.
- Paul?

I believe that the movie "Analyze that" is known for the vast majority of people. It was done in 2002.



Tuesday, March 5

Hugo Chavez dies













I need silence.
Hugo Chavez 1954-2013
R.I.P.



Bradley Manning Nobel Peace Prize 2013



Isn't it great? I copied it from Birgitta Jönsdóttir. She is an activist and  her blog is quite inspiring.
Let's campaign so that Manning receives this prize. Does who won the last years have done nothing to promote peace, on the contrary.
What about president Barack Obama?
The man who is responsible for numerous interventions in countries  that had and are having their population killed in the most coward way.
The man who signed NDAA on December, 31, 2011, the man who , after all, is responsible for Bradley Manning imprisonment and wants him to remain in prison: the man who....
Barack Obama deserves to be prosecuted for numerous crimes against humanity but they decided to give him the Peace Nobel prize instead..

Read Birgitta's post and the letter sent to Norwegian Nobel Committee:.


Bradley Manning Nobel Peace Prize Nomination 2013


February 1st 2013 the entire parliamentary group of The Movement in the Icelandic Parliament, the Pirates of the EU; representatives from the Swedish Pirate Party, the former Secretary of State in Tunisia for Sport & Youthnominated Private Bradley Manning for the Nobel Peace Prize. Following is the reasoning we sent to the committee explaining why we felt compelled to nominate Private Bradley Manning for this important recognition of an individual effort to have an impact for peace in our world. The lengthy personal statement to the pre-trial hearing February 28th by Bradley Manning in his own words validate that his motives were for the greater good of humankind.

Read his full statement

Our letter to the Nobel Peace Prize Committee

Reykjavík, Iceland 1st of February 2013


Dear Norwegian Nobel Committee,

We have the great honour of nominating Private First Class Bradley Manning for the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize.

Manning is a soldier in the United States army who stands accused of releasing hundreds of thousands of documents to the whistleblower website WikiLeaks. The leaked documents pointed to a long history of corruption, war crimes, and a lack of respect for the sovereignty of other democratic nations by the United States government in international dealings.

These revelations have fueled democratic uprisings around the world, including a democratic revolution in Tunisia. According to journalists, his alleged actions helped motivate the democratic Arab Spring movements, shed light on secret corporate influence on the foreign and domestic policies of European nations, and most recently contributed to the Obama Administration agreeing to withdraw all U.S.troops from the occupation in Iraq.

Bradley Manning has been incarcerated for more then 1000 days by the U.S. Government. He spent over ten months of that time period in solitary confinement, conditions which expert worldwide have criticized as torturous. Juan Mendez, the United Nations' Special Rapporteur on Torture and Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment, has repeatedly requested and been denied a private meeting with Manning to assess his conditions.

The documents made public by WikiLeaks should never have been kept from public scrutiny. The revelations - including video documentation of an incident in which American soldiers gunned down Reuters journalists in Iraq - have helped to fuel a worldwide discussion about the overseas engagements of the United States, civilian casualties of war and rules of engagement. Citizens worldwide owe a great debt to the WikiLeaks whistleblower for shedding light on these issues, and so we urge the Committee to award this prestigious prize to accused whistleblower Bradley Manning.

We can already be reasonably certain that Bradley Manning will not have a fair trial as the head of State, the USA President Mr. Barack Obama, stated over a year ago on record that Manning is guilty.

Sincerely,

Birgitta Jónsdóttir, Member of Parliament for the Movement, Iceland
Christian Engström, Member of the European Parliament for the Pirate Party, Sweden
Amelia Andersdottir, Member of the European Parliament for the Pirate Party, Sweden
Margrét Tryggvadóttir, Member of Parliament for the Movement, Iceland
Þór Saari, Member of Parliament for the Movement, Iceland
Slim Amamou, former Secretary of State for Sport & Youth (2011), Tunisia