Stephen Lendman

■ Khader Adnan: Israeli Prisoner of Conscience
■ Israeli Political Prisoner Khader Adnan Near Death

Adnan's a political prisoner hunger striker against gross Israeli repression and injustice. Two previous articles discussed his case and grave health condition after 55 days without food.

Irish republican/British MP Bobby Sands lasted 66 before expiring at age 27. Global marches, strikes and riots followed his death.

In France, many towns and cities named streets after him. Iran renamed Winston Churchill Street Bobby Sands Street. New Jersey's legislature passed a resolution 34 - 29 honoring his "courage and commitment."

The night he died, the Grateful Dead held a Nassau Coliseum concert on his behalf. Guitarist Bob Weir dedicated his song "He's Gone" to him.

Instead of expressing remorse, Britain's Margaret Thatcher shamelessly vilified him. The Hindustan Times condemned her, calling it unprecedented "in a civilized country" to let a fellow MP die of starvation. The New York Times contemptuously said:

"Britain's prime minister Thatcher is right in refusing to yield political status to Bobby Sands [but by appearing] unfeeling and unresponsive [she gave Sands] the crown of martyrdom."

In Adnan's own words: "My dignity is more precious than food." He is willing to die courageously defending it. West Bank, Gaza, and other protesters joined Adnan's strike supportively. Global tweets circulate on his behalf. Expect much more if he dies.

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Stephen Lendman

ACTA's worse than SOPA and PIPA. Net Neutrality and free expression are threatened. In October 2007, negotiations began secretly.

At issue is establishing a new intellectual property enforcement treaty - the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). If adopted, fundamental freedoms will be lost. Privatized online censorship will rule. Internet actors will be copyright enforcers. Offenders will face harsh criminal sanctions.

Transparency's entirely absent. So is major media coverage explaining an issue demanding headlines.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) says we've all got a "right to be furious about ACTA." Killing it's essential.

"If there's one thing....wrong with (how) government(s now function), ACTA is it," says EFF. Washington and other dominant countries drafted it. Others are pressured to comply per America's annual Special 301 process.

At issue is establishing new Internet rules, "bypass(ing) checks and balances of existing international IP norm-setting bodies, without any meaningful input from national parliaments, policymakers, or their citizens."

Moreover, the agreement creates a czar-like global "ACTA Committee." Unelected bureaucrats will oversee supranational interpretation and implementation. Arbitrary top-down rule will be imposed. In the process, democratic freedoms will be lost.

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Philip Giraldi

In case anyone thinks the figure on the left resembles the former US president, G.W. Bush (if even ever so faintly) let two things be noted here: 1. The war drums against Iran did in fact start pounding way back in time (if anyone still remembers), during the benign reign of the beloved former president, and 2. The faithful & loyal standard-bearer for the American way of life & the holy Republican cause of war, death & democracy now is none other than the esteemd Mr. Barack H. Obama, the 44th President of the United States. - The transition was seamless, and hardly anyone noted any change at all. However, the subsequent four years under the Nobel Peace Prize recipient have indeed seen some change, to be fair, though wicked lips have suggested the change may have been for the worse. These people have been dealt with accordingly. All hail the President! God bless America Israel! - The Editor

When the British Army of Lord Cornwallis boarded its ships to depart from Yorktown after being defeated by the Continental Army and the French under the command of General George Washington, a regimental band supposedly played an old ballad called “The World Turned Upside Down.” The music was intended to convey that the established order had been inverted by the American victory, with the king of England’s writ soon to be replaced by a union of states that eventually evolved into a constitutional republic.

There has been considerable press coverage during the past week that makes one think of a world turned upside down. Washington is unnaturally consumed with the Iranian Problem. Talk shows resonate over the question of what to do about Tehran’s nuclear program. There is a whole smorgasbord of things that Iran might do that are forbidden, including even having the knowledge of how to build a bomb. The negative press and commentary are being spun into a casus belli, something called the Iranian Threat writ large. The message is clear: even though Iran has a minuscule defense budget, has never attacked anyone, and is essentially a Third World country, it is nevertheless a global menace that must be dealt with by military means if all else fails. Oh yes, and brave little Israel will do the job if President Obama doesn’t have what it takes.

The only problem with all of the above is that the United States intelligence community confirms that Iran does not have a nuclear device and has not made the political decision to build one. Even Israeli intelligence agrees.

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Russell Walker

Government mandated ethanol in gasoline is causing increases in the cost of gasoline, food and the cost of living. United States Government laws mandating ethanol in gasoline as an alleged energy saving and environmental protector not only are incorrect, they are counterproductive as they actually increase energy use and help destroy the environment.

Ethanol is an inferior fuel for gasoline. Ethanol is 35% by weight of non-combustible oxygen as oxygen will not burn in spite of common misconception. Ethanol is hydroscopic meaning it attracts water which attracts oxygen and helps cause rust in any ferrous parts, carburetors and fuel lines. Aluminum, brass and bronze are also somewhat incompatible with ethanol. Ethanol has other disadvantages. The approximately 35% less energy available from ethanol compared to gasoline means that all vehicles that use gasoline need to burn more fuel and create more exhaust gases. Shipping unusable oxygen in the form of ethanol is a waste of energy and counterproductive at best.

Ethanol in the US is made from corn. The corn used to produce ethanol could instead be used to feed cows, sheep, horses, chickens and humans. Ethanol use has forced the price of corn to record highs in 2011 of about $7.50 per bushel and continues to support this historically high price currently (2012) at about $6.50/ bushel.

The land used for growing corn cannot be used for growing cotton, row crops, wheat, raising cattle or for reforestation projects. Therefore there is an interrelationship between corn and these other land uses. Cattle, horses, sheep and humans compete with ethanol for corn. While humans eat sweet corn and animals eat field corn, the allocation of corn for ethanol affects all other food consumers.

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