Tonight's feature: Yazd Iran, uranium mine - via CNN

Call me media calloused, but when CNN prints something human about Iran, I am literally shocked. This report took me very much by surprise. A humanesque portrait of an Iranian town put in a CNN news item - must be a mistake.

But at first glance it seemed to be fair. Then I put my thinking cap on and wondered what they were selling.

This is an attempt to put a spotlight on Iran as a nuclear DANGER - this is a poison pill with a chocolate wrapper. Notice you don't see a single Iranian face so you are left with no one to relate to AND you are led to believe that they must be inferior to not want "modernization" AND you are directed to look away from the fear resting in Iranian hearts today - fear of an impending US and the Coalition of the willing attack on the indigenous peoples of Iran/Persia.

THIS IS A SUBTLE PIECE OF PURE PROPAGANDA, A PSYOPS JOB.

Shame CNN! We are not ALL stoopid. Why don't you show us the very frightened women and children in Iran at this hour? Tell us about the unique and spiritual Iranians by letting them speak, don't shove platitudes and political "agendas" in our faces. Why use the word "yellowcake" when you know that it implies WMDs - you are part of the Operation Mockingbird squad that made it that way.

A very tired-of-the-bullshit mother,
Virginia

Yazd: Welcome to the desert

YAZD, Iran (CNN) -- Deep in the desert, the oasis city of Yazd is unlike any other in Iran.

With its historic mosques, minarets and ancient clay buildings Yazd has resisted other Iranian cities' rush for modernity.

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Once an important station on the Silk Road, with its historic mosques, minarets and ancient clay buildings, Yazd has resisted other Iranian cities' rush for modernity.

It may possibly be the most beautiful desert city in the world.

The word "Yazd" means "worship" -- apt since Yazd is known in the Islamic Republic as "the City of Muslims."

Most of its half a million population follow the Islamic faith devoutly. Yet for a city renowned for its religious conservatism, Yazd is far more tolerant and open-minded than cities more accustomed to tourists such as Isfahan and Shiraz.

This may be because Yazd is also the birthplace of the Zoroastrian religion.

Very little is known about Zoroastrianism in the West but its influence is far reaching. It is uniquely important in the history of religion because of its formative links to both western and eastern beliefs.

It is considered by many to be the world's first monotheistic religion, pre-dating Islam and almost certainly influencing Judaism.

Before the Islamic conquests (633 - 656), Zoroastrianism was the state religion of the Persian empire.

"This is a very honest city because Zoroastrianism stresses the importance of truth," said one shopkeeper when asked about the legacy of the faith. "And you'll never get ripped off here!"

Yazd is place where centuries-old traditions remain contemporary, especially in the old part of the city. Vital, beautiful and vast, the old town brings to life an Iran immortalized in ancient scriptures and eloquent poems.

Centuries of history have passed through its streets and alleyways. Alexander the Great marched through Yazd on his way to India, and a dozen or so centuries later Marco Polo dropped by for a visit.

Genuinely frozen in time, unlike in Rome or other historic cities, Yazd's old neighborhood is a poor district that has retained much of its character simply because its inhabitants cannot afford to "improve" on ancient building materials and methods.

It is this sense of archaism that makes the city so unique. The streets are narrow and labyrinthine, leading one moment towards sunset and the next towards sunrise.

They take so many turns and there are so many dead-ends, small hidden squares and bazaars that you can spend hours in one part of a neighborhood and not find your way out.

The fragrance of rare spices and tropical fruits waft around every corner, the sound of laughter and argument coupled with the occasional crowing of roosters can be heard without ever seeing anyone.

Walls are adobe and mud brick, taking on a golden hue under the sunlight and blending naturally into the desert landscape. In fact, the color of clay is the color of the whole city.

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Buildings have stained glass windows which not only soften the unforgiving desert sunlight, but also deter flies from entry. Traditional heavy wooden doors grace many of the older homes. Most still have customary "male and female" knockers. These phallic-shaped knockers generate different tones when used, thus calling the correct party to the door -- remnants of a more prudent time.

The portals seem to open into a world of dark corridors and central courtyards with old trees around small reflecting pools. Most houses have curved ceilings and two entrances, one for men and one for women and the more splendid buildings boast the presence of gorgeous wind-catchers on their roofs.

These wind-catchers or "Badgirs" are one of the city's wonders. They're designed to capture the rare desert breeze and then direct it down to the interior of the house. The trapped air is then intensified as it is blown onto interior pools, which in turn cool the air further and allow it to circulate inside via hallways and passageways to various rooms -- almost like an ancient air conditioning system.

Despite (and perhaps because of) the unmerciful adversities of living in a desert, the people of Yazd have managed to create insurmountable beauty. This is not only represented in their architecture; but also in many other products synonymous with Yazd.

The Termeh, for example, is a gorgeous hand-made silk tapestry, woven for centuries and used in everything from bed spreads to Quran covers.

Confectionery also has a long history in Yazd. Sweets are various and divine, melting on the tongue with hidden flavors of rose-water and pistachio and almonds.

Today, Yazd is also known for "yellow cake," which is not a dessert but an element in the uranium mines. "Yazd would be the first place to be bombed if there is a war," said Behzad, a young university student.

However, beyond all this wonderment and beauty one thing stands out above all others; the people of Yazd.

The kindness and hospitality of Yazdis is yet another remarkable and distinctive aspect of the city. Time spent with people of this city leaves a striking impression that lasts longer than any monument, attraction or landmark. E-mail to a friend

CNN: Why it sells war - Brasscheck TV Pass this one on!!

Why CNN sells war

"Brought to you by Lockheed Martin"

Glenn Beck - Professional Jackass

Every now and then we win.

CNN - and in this pointed case Glenn Beck - likes to paint itself as a reliable, unbiased source of news.

For an "unbiased source" then do seem to have tremendous enthusiasm for promoting wars.

Could that have anything to do with the fact that Lockheed Martin pays its bills?

Media analyst Norman Solomon sucker punches professional jackass Glenn Beck with the facts. Watch Beck squirm.

What I wouldn't pay to hear the transmission from the control room to Beck's head phones as the news director - those nameless invisible creeps who control what we see on TV news - tries impotently to blunt Solomon's point.

This is probably the last time Norman Solomon will appear live on CNN, but I say it was worth it.

Watch it, enjoy it and pass it on.

The truth made it to TV...for a few minutes as least.

Lou Dobbs

I have certain reservations about Amy Goodman these days, actually (re some 9/11 lack of disclosure) - but I think this article really should be highlighed about Lou Dobbs.

I have heard the talks by Guatemalans and Mexicos here in Toronto who know about what actually motivates people to become (at the risk of their lives) to become US illegals.

Immigration is a very complex issue - and it's another of our two-tiered "justice system" - IF you have money you can immigration lawfully. But if you are poor, well, suffer poverty in quiet. Just take a pill and gentle into "that good night".

I have written publically about my opposition to the North American Union and being forced to ally with RACISTS. I grew up in a mixed race family and find the racism I encountered exceptionally difficult to bear. I identify as NDN, maybe not 100% indigenous, but NDN.

Mr. Dobbs has long been a bugaboo of mine. I think this information must be born in mind when building up his reputation. The fact that vigilante groups is being set up in America is a true hate CRIME.

Virginia

The Dubious Mr. Dobbs

Posted on Dec 4, 2007

By Amy Goodman

Truth matters. History and context count. “You’re entitled to your own opinions. You’re not entitled to your own facts,” the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan famously observed. CNN’s Lou Dobbs has migrated to a pre-eminent position in the debate on immigration in the U.S. Since he identifies himself as a journalist, he has a special responsibility to rely on facts and to correct misstatements of fact. CNN, which purports to be a news organization, touting itself as the “Most Trusted Name in News,” has an equally strong obligation to its audience to tell the truth.

Dobbs was best known for anchoring CNN’s “Moneyline,” an early and influential program that helped create the televised financial-news genre. On “Moneyline,” Dobbs featured corporate CEOs and generally lauded them. About five years ago, Dobbs began changing his line, invoking populist rhetoric and championing the cause of the middle class. He thematically titled his coverage “War on the Middle Class” and “Broken Borders.” Dobbs’ signature issue of undocumented immigrants, or, as he calls them, illegal aliens, has tremendous influence on the debate nationally. So it matters if he is wrong.

On March 28, 2006, Dobbs said on his show, “And it’s costing us, no one knows precisely how much, to incarcerate what is about a third of our prison population who are illegal aliens.” As it turns out, the number of noncitizens incarcerated in the U.S. federal and state prisons is closer to 6 percent, not 33 percent. Note that the 6 percent includes legal immigrants as well.

On April 14, 2005, Lou Dobbs opened his show by saying:

“The invasion of illegal aliens is threatening the health of many Americans. Highly contagious diseases are now crossing our borders decades after those diseases had been eradicated in this country.”

CNN correspondent Christine Romans filed a report, then told Dobbs,

“There have been 7,000 [cases of leprosy] in the past three years.” CBS’ “60 Minutes” later challenged the fact, pointing out that there had actually been 7,029 cases reported over 30 years. When Lesley Stahl confronted Dobbs on the statistic, he defended it, saying: “Well, I can tell you this. If we reported it, it’s a fact.”

Dobbs’ reporter, Romans, said her source was “Dr. Madeleine Cosman, a respected medical lawyer and medical historian.” Cosman, who died in March 2006, was a medical lawyer and staunch anti-immigrant activist. She was recorded saying publicly of Mexican men:

“Recognize that most of these bastards molest girls under age 12, some as young as age 5, others aged 3, although, of course, some specialize in boys, some specialize in nuns, some are exceedingly versatile and rape little girls aged 11 and women up to age 79.”

After I played the tape of Cosman for Dobbs, he conceded to me that his reporter’s source, Cosman, was a “whack job.”

On May 23, 2006, Dobbs aired a report on a state visit by Mexican President Vicente Fox. His correspondent, Casey Wian, called it a “Mexican military incursion” and displayed a map of the U.S. with the seven Southwest states highlighted as “Aztlan,” which, Wian reported, “some militant Latino activists ... claim rightfully belongs to Mexico.” The graphic came from the Council of Conservative Citizens, which the Southern Poverty Law Center, a group that tracks hate groups, points out is the current incarnation of the old White Citizen Councils of the 1950s and 1960s, which Thurgood Marshall referred to as “the uptown Klan.” The SPLC has reported that several of Dobbs’ guests and sources have had links to the CCC, such as Joe McCutchen of Protect Arkansas Now, part of the Minuteman vigilante movement, and Barbara Coe of the California Coalition for Immigration Reform. Another guest, Glenn Spencer, head of the anti-immigrant group American Patrol, speaks on the white-supremacist circuit. When CNN’s Wolf Blitzer had Spencer on, he told his audience that the SPLC had designated American Patrol as a hate group. When Dobbs had him on, he never identified the connection.

In our conversation with Dobbs, “Democracy Now!” co-host Juan Gonzalez raised the issue of history, of how immigrants have been scapegoated: the Irish in the 1860s, the Chinese in the 1880s and, later, Southern Europeans. Dobbs rolled his eyes, saying, “Are you holding me responsible?” No, and Dobbs knows better. But he must be held responsible for not bringing a historical context to this crucial discussion of immigration reform. The immigration issue will not be solved by vilifying a population. The SPLC has just released a report on the upsurge in anti-immigrant, anti-Latino violence in the U.S.

United Stations Radio Networks has just announced that Dobbs will soon be hosting a three-hour daily talk radio show. The Web site claims, “It’s not about what’s right and left ... it’s about what’s right and wrong.” Let’s hope that Lou Dobbs follows his own advice.

Amy Goodman is the host of “Democracy Now!,” a daily international TV/radio news hour airing on 500 stations in North America.

Project Mockingbird: Anderson Cooper

Anderson Cooper: CIA Asset - CNN's anchor went to Yale, then trained with the CIA, and now he's one of their top guys

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Operation Mockingbird: CIA Media Manipulation
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Anderson Cooper: The CIA asset?

Posted on December 2, 2007 by Lance

The gossip-news-whatever magazine Radar has found out quite a few dirty secrets recently. The most recent one, though, is probably the most interesting: Anderson Cooper, the silver haired CNN anchor, has been outed as being a former trainee in the CIA. This may not seem like huge news since he never became a full scale agent, but perhaps it is his job to infiltrate the high levels of journalism and mold public opinion? It may be a little too much of a “conspiracy theorist” and it probably isn’t his active job, but if before the debate the CIA heads told Cooper to watch out for Ron Paul, that could explain CNN’s brash and almost obvious hatred of the constitutionalist congressman.

This may not be a big story, it may be, but either way, Cooper was involved with the CIA. I recently read Murray Rothbard’s Betrayal of the American Right, and in it he said that he knew two CIA agents in the 1970’s who said

“Once a CIA agent, always a CIA agent.”

(I’m paraphrasing a bit.)

I’m far more suspicious of Mr. Cooper now than I was, but I guess we should all be watching out for the guy who withstands hurricanes at full force.

Filed under: Media, News, Politics | Tagged: 360, anderson cooper, cia, CNN, plant

Posted by CRIMES AND CORRUPTION OF THE NEW WORLD ORDER NEWS mparent7777 Marc Parent CCNWON

The TRUTH about the CNNyoutube rePUB debate from a Tom Paine commenter

There They Go Again

Submitted by Robert Borosage on November 29, 2007 - 12:32pm.

The Republican CNN/YouTube debate lasted over two hours Wednesday night. But once more, we learned nothing about what the candidates would do about the economic straits we are in.

Not a word about the housing crisis—the rising tide of foreclosures, plummeting housing prices and sales—and the credit crunch that now roils banks across the globe.

Not a word about the recession that Wall Street is now betting on.

Not a word about the stagnant wages and rising costs of food and gas and college that had two-thirds of Americans thinking we were in a recession or near it when the Bush economy was at its best.

We learned nothing about what Republican candidates would do about our broken health care system. Nothing about what they’d do about gas prices, energy dependence, global warming or trade deficits that have made our economy dependent on the kindness of strangers—primarily Chinese and Japanese central bankers and Arab princes.

We learned only that these candidates can repeat the conservative gospel. All (except Duncan Hunter in an “emergency”) vow not to raise any single tax while in office, not even the shameless tax break that has billionaire private equity barracudas taxed at half the rate of their secretaries.

With the economy slowing, all would slash domestic spending. Mitt Romney calls for capping and cutting by 1 percent a year, and promises to “go at something like our entitlements.” Fred Thompson mumbles about his plan to “save Social Security,” which does so by slashing benefits nearly in half over 60 years. Rudy Giuliani calls for “5 to 10 percent” across-the-board cuts, and cutting the federal workforce—already near record lows—by 25 percent through retirements. If the one guy named Bob who is tasked with testing toys for the Consumer Product Safety Commission retires, Giuliani will just leave it up to the Chinese to keep the lead out. John McCain fulminates about vetoing any pork-barrel spending, a Titan boasting of squashing a gnat. Ron Paul at least knows where the money is, pledging to bring the boys home and save billions out of the military budget.

No one—not one—gave any indication that cutting spending—and jobs—as the economy slows might not be such a good idea. These guys have been in campaign bubbles for so long they don’t have a clue about what is happening around them.

Asked about our collapsing infrastructure and the investments needed to make us competitive—or simply to keep bridges and roads from collapsing beneath us—Giuliani argues sensibly for an investment account that would allow for greater spending on real investments. He doesn’t bother to say how this would survive his across-the-board domestic spending cuts. Paul sensibly suggests new priorities once more, using the money we spend to blow up bridges in Iraq to build them here. McCain repairs once more to his veto pen, which might fund a bridge or two.

Only Romney offered the inklings of an economic strategy—and that, not surprisingly, was a full pander, more of the same. He pledges to “follow the pathway that Ronald Reagan blazed,” asking voters to elect “somebody who understands how jobs come and go,” etc. etc. But the Reagan model—top-end tax cuts, massive increases in military spending, corporate-oriented trade policies, cutbacks on entitlements, assault on workers—was Bush’s guide, also. In both administrations, that “pathway” racked up massive debt; squandered billions in military folly; hemorrhaged manufacturing jobs while running up record trade deficits; contributed to rising inequality and stagnant wages, and starved investments vital to our future. We’ve pretty much played out that hand, Mitt. Continuing to dig the hole we are in is not likely to get us out of it.

CNN got its headlines in the faux fight over who is tougher on immigration but gave voters no sense of what these guys would do about the straits we are in. We know that they are for “securing the border,” for outlawing abortion, for reading the Bible, for protecting guns, for cutting taxes on the wealthy and spending more on the military. We got that.

Now, could the talking heads focus on what we haven’t heard? Little things, like what they’d do about the housing crash, or the coming recession, or the broken health care system, or stagnant wages, or soaring gas prices and accelerating global warming? There might be a couple of voters interested in such things.

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Questions

Submitted by Mishka1 on November 29, 2007 - 2:35pm.

I guess all the Democrat plants decided to ask questions on other topics. Hard to have a recession when the GDP is on track for an annual 5% increase.