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“It isn’t bin Laden and his dyed beard that should be flashing on our screens on this tragic day, but the disgraced faces of those who exploited the tragedy of a stricken nation to inflict tragedies on others.”

By Ramzy Baroud

9/15/07

Osama bin Laden has once again managed to occupy the stage and to insist on his relevance to the story of September 11, 2001. In his most recent video message, released by Reuters a few days before the sixth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on New York and the Pentagon, bin Laden voiced some typically absurd statements, calling on Americans to embrace Islam and so forth.

What is really worth noting in bin Laden’s message, however, is not the message itself, but the underlying factors that can be deduced from it. First, bin Laden wished to convey that he is alive and well and thus the US military efforts have failed miserably.

Second, his reappearance - a first since October 2004 - will be analyzed endlessly by hundreds of “experts” who will inundate widespread audiences with every possible interpretation - the fact that he looked healthy, that he dyed his beard, that he dressed in Arab attire as opposed to a military fatigue and a Kalashnikov by his side, that he read from a paper and so on.

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Cyrano’s Journal Online and its semi-autonomous subsections (Thomas Paine’s Corner, The Greanville Journal, CJO Avenger, and VoxPop) would be delighted to periodically email you links to the most recent material and timeless classics available on our diverse and comprehensive site. If you would like to subscribe, type “CJO subscription” in the subject line and send your email to

Reacting to the decision, Finkelstein, the son of Holocaust survivors, said, “They can deny me tenure, deny me the right to teach. But they will never stop me from saying what I believe.”

[NOTICE TO OUR ESTEEMED READERS: Cyrano’s Journal Online/Thomas Paine’s Corner has weathered numerous contradictory and false accusations concerning our stance on Israel and Zionism. Some assert that we are “Jewish conspirators”; others contend we are “anti-Semitic”; and there are even those who characterize us as “Zionists.” Guess what, folks? We are none of the above!

As a declaration of our position on the highly contentious subject of Israel and the Palestinians, we are throwing our full support behind people of all races, religions, ethnicities, nationalities, and political stripes who oppose Zionism and the myriad miseries it has rained down upon the Palestinian people. We salute bold groups like Jews for a Just Peace, intrepid Jewish American academics like Norman Finkelstein, and many courageous Jewish people within the state of Israel (including much-decorated members of the IDF and Israel’s brave peace movement) who vehemently oppose the horrific crimes their state commits against the Palestinians (with the full approval and financial backing of the filthy plutocracy ruling the United States)—The editors]

06.21.2007 | www.mostlywater.org

By Yom Shamash, on behalf of
Jews for a Just Peace, Vancouver, B.C.

Vancouver, British Columbia – On the eighth of June, DePaul University in Chicago denied tenure to one of the world experts on the Israel/Palestine conflict, Norman G. Finkelstein. There’s been a great uproar on campus and worldwide because it is well known that Prof. Finkelstein’s contract was terminated as a result of intervention from outside the university, and ultimately because of the power of his ideas. In a book entitled The Holocaust Industry, Dr. Finkelstein argues that since 1967 Zionist organizations and certain Jewish leaders have capitalized on the memory of the Holocaust to generate wealth and power for themselves and to silence criticism of Israel’s [war] crimes against Palestinians. Professor Finkelstein’s ideas are dangerous, and he has paid the price, losing his position in academia despite his tremendous intellectual productivity – 5 books in 12 years.

We, Jews for a Just Peace, write this statement because we are disturbed by the events at DePaul. We have been impressed by Dr. Finkelstein’s incisive analysis and passionate defense of human rights and international law in the context of Israel/Palestine. We take this opportunity to share our thoughts about the relationship between his dismissal and the struggle to which we are committed.

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Cyrano’s Journal Online and its semi-autonomous subsections (Thomas Paine’s Corner, The Greanville Journal, CJO Avenger, and VoxPop) would be delighted to periodically email you links to the most recent material and timeless classics available on our diverse and comprehensive site. If you would like to subscribe, type “CJO subscription” in the subject line and send your email to

An Open Letter to the New Generation of Military Officers Serving and Protecting Our Nation

By Dr. Robert M. Bowman, Lt. Col., USAF, ret., National Commander, The Patriots

9/14/07

“The Nuremberg Principles says that we in the military have not only the right, but also the DUTY to refuse an illegal order. It was on this basis that we executed Nazi officers who were ‘only carrying out their orders’… The Constitution which we are sworn to uphold says that treaties entered into by the United States are the ‘highest law of the land,’ equivalent to the Constitution itself. Accordingly, we in the military are sworn to uphold treaty law, including the United Nations charter and the Geneva Convention… Based on the above, I contend that should some civilian order you to initiate a nuclear attack on Iran (for example), you are duty-bound to refuse that order. I might also suggest that you should consider whether the circumstances demand that you arrest whoever gave the order as a war criminal.”

Dear Comrades in Arms,

You are facing challenges in 2007 that we of previous generations never dreamed of. I’m just an old fighter pilot (101 combat missions in Vietnam , F-4 Phantom, Phu Cat, 1969-1970) who’s now a disabled veteran with terminal cancer from Agent Orange. Our mailing list (over 22,000) includes veterans from all branches of the service, all political parties, and all parts of the political spectrum. We are Republicans and Democrats, Greens and Libertarians, Constitutionists and Reformers, and a good many Independents. What unites us is our desire for a government that (1) follows the Constitution, (2) honors the truth, and (3) serves the people.

We see our government going down the wrong path, all too often ignoring military advice, and heading us toward great danger. And we look to you who still serve as the best hope for protecting our nation from disaster.

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Cyrano’s Journal Online and its semi-autonomous subsections (Thomas Paine’s Corner, The Greanville Journal, CJO Avenger, and VoxPop) would be delighted to periodically email you links to the most recent material and timeless classics available on our diverse and comprehensive site. If you would like to subscribe, type “CJO subscription” in the subject line and send your email to

Spotlighting “Earthwise Farm & Forest”

By Carolyn Baker

9/14/07

Originally published at Speaking Truth to Power

In July, 2007 I wrote an article “What To Do, What To Do? Taking Action In The Face Of Collapse” in which I offered some options for collapse preparation. Truth To Power will continue to illuminate the ugly realities of collapse-AND, it will also focus from time to time on people who are doing extraordinary things not merely in preparation for collapse, but because those activities and lifestyles give them energy and feed their souls.

This post highlights Lisa McCrory and Carl Russell in rural Vermont who operate Earthwise Farm and Forest which teaches a variety of skills for sustainable living, including the use of draft animals in raising organic crops. They are hosting Northeast Animal-Power Field Days, September 29-30 in Tunbridge, Vermont.

Their lifestyle and work model not only a broad knowledge of survival essentials, but an intimate connection with the earth and the non-human world. Here is my interview with them:

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Cyrano’s Journal Online and its semi-autonomous subsections (Thomas Paine’s Corner, The Greanville Journal, CJO Avenger, and VoxPop) would be delighted to periodically email you links to the most recent material and timeless classics available on our diverse and comprehensive site. If you would like to subscribe, type “CJO subscription” in the subject line and send your email to

WE HAVE BEEN INFORMED AND FEEL COMPELLED TO TRANSMIT TO OUR AUDIENCE WHAT IS CURRENTLY HAPPENING TO FRATERNAL SITES SUCH AS t r u t h o u t. org, A POWERFUL ASSET FOR FREETHINKERS EVERYWHERE. AT CYRANO’S JOURNAL, WE FEEL AN ATTACK ON ONE IS AN ATTACK ON ALL SITES AND CITIZEN JOURNALISTS ENGAGED IN BRINGING NEWS AND COMMENTARY FOSTERING TRUE DEMOCRACY IN A MANNER UNFETTERED BY CORPORATE LIES AND CORRUPTION.

WE ASK OUR READERS TO PASS ON THIS INFORMATION TO FRIENDS AND RELATIVES, AND TO TAKE DECISIVE AND ENERGETIC ACTION, INCLUDING CONTACTING AOL, MSN, ETC., AND FILING STRONG COMPLAINTS ABOUT THIS BALD ATTEMPT AT SILENCING DISSENT WHEN IT IS MOST NEEDED.

DON’T LET THESE CORPORATE SUITS AND SHADY PROSTITUTES SHILLING FOR THE SYSTEM WIN. STAND UP FOR WHAT IS RIGHT, —WHILE YOU STILL CAN—FOR OUR FREEDOM AND OUR CONSTITUTION, AND, EQUALLY VITAL AT THIS POINT, THE COMPLETE AND UNDILUTED FREEDOM AND EGALITARIANISM OF THE INTERNET—The Editors

Thursday 13 September 2007

Currently, AOL- and Microsoft-related email providers, including
Hotmail, are preventing delivery of a range of Truthout
communications to thousands of our subscribers. Such communications
include Truthout’s regular newsletters and notifications to our
subscribers from individual workstations of Truthout administrators
informing those subscribers that they are affected.

For the most part, all other ISPs appear to be delivering
Truthout communications normally.

While AOL has been largely evasive and silent about their
reasons for blocking communications, our server logs and complaints
from subscribers illustrate a clear pattern of interference.
Microsoft-Hotmail, while not being forthcoming about their actions
to the subscribers involved, have stated to our administrators that
they are in fact, “throttling” and “blocking” our communications.
Further, the Microsoft-Hotmail administrators inform us that they
are blocking our communications to Truthout subscribers on their
systems due to what they describe as our “reputation.”

We believe that you - not your Internet Service Provider -
should decide what you will read. In an effort to restore service
and send a clear message to the ISPs involved, we ask you to do the
following:

1.) Keep us informed. Let us know if your newsletters suddenly
stop arriving. We have set up a special email address for those
complaints.

2.) It is critically important if it does become clear that you
are still on our list, and we are sending to you, that you demand
your rights. The only rights you have are the ones you exercise.

We are deeply sorry to all of you affected. But we are confident
that this problem can be addressed working hand-in-hand.

Good luck,

Marc Ash, Executive Director - t r u t h o u t

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/091307Z.shtml

Cyrano’s Journal Online and its semi-autonomous subsections (Thomas Paine’s Corner, The Greanville Journal, CJO Avenger, and VoxPop) would be delighted to periodically email you links to the most recent material and timeless classics available on our diverse and comprehensive site. If you would like to subscribe, type “CJO subscription” in the subject line and send your email to

By Emily Spence

9/13/07

What an enjoyable summer many Americans experienced! Living in their own small air conditioned bubbles, they confirmed that whatever happened in the outside environment could be of little concern. Detached from the natural world, they passed between various cool zones with relative ease and no discomfort.

So for many, did it matter, for instance, that it was the hottest July on record for Wyoming, Montana and Idaho according to the NOAA National Weather Service? Who cared that Boise, Idaho’s average high temperature, a blistering 98.6 degrees F (37 degrees C), was more than nine degrees F (five degrees C) above average so that July 2007 was Boise’s hottest month ever documented? What difference did it make that drought conditions worsened in parts of the northern Rockies, northern Plains, Midwest, and mid-Atlantic while more than 5 million parched acres burned in the contiguous U.S. by early August according to the National Interagency Fire Center? So what that August was even worse [1]? Likewise, so it goes relative to the floods, hurricanes, droughts and other weather related extremes being faced in Europe, Australia, Africa, and all other land masses. So what if countless species are slowly being destroyed in the process while a rapidly increasing amount of terrain is rendered unusable for any life [2]?

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Cyrano’s Journal Online and its semi-autonomous subsections (Thomas Paine’s Corner, The Greanville Journal, CJO Avenger, and VoxPop) would be delighted to periodically email you links to the most recent material and timeless classics available on our diverse and comprehensive site. If you would like to subscribe, type “CJO subscription” in the subject line and send your email to

The End of the World

By William M. H. Kötke, 10 July 2007

We are all looking at the end of the world as we know it. Our attention is focused on the holes in the ozone layer, planet warming, peak oil, the spread of DU weapons, the collapse of the house of credit cards, and the prospect of the planetary financial elite quickly establishing fascist control of the planet. Below this threshold of conscious awareness our biological survival systems are rapidly eroding. At this point some twenty percent of the planet’s soils erode each twenty-five year period. Each year at least two hundred thousand acres of irrigated crop-lands go out of production because of salinization or water-logging and experts say that sixty to eighty percent of all irrigated acreage is due to follow the eight to ten million acres that have historically gone into ruination from irrigation. The total drylands of the planet are 7.9 billion acres of which 61% are desertified, that is, driven by human abuse toward uselessness. Globally, 23% of all arable crop lands have been lost since 1945 through human use and experts say that all arable land on the planet will be ruined in 200 years.

It is estimated that prior to the human culture that we term civilization, one third of the planet was covered with closed canopy forest. Now forests cover 10% of the earth. In the oceans the collapse of major fish stocks is increasing. At least eight stocks have collapsed beginning with the Antarctic Blue Whale in 1935 to the Peruvian Anchovy stock collapse in the late twentieth century. Since 1984 the world fish catch has been shrinking even with greater investment and the taking of what in former times were considered “trash” fish. Of the 32 ocean fisheries, 30 are in decline and some of those are collapsing. At the same time coral reefs and mangrove swamps which are considered the “incubators” of sea life are dwindling precipitously.

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Cyrano’s Journal Online and its semi-autonomous subsections (Thomas Paine’s Corner, The Greanville Journal, CJO Avenger, and VoxPop) would be delighted to periodically email you links to the most recent material and timeless classics available on our diverse and comprehensive site. If you would like to subscribe, type “CJO subscription” in the subject line and send your email to

By Adam Engel

9/13/07

Sherman’s march of flame and slaughter. Sherman slash and burn and ruthless. “War is Hell,” Sherman Grant’s right arm. Grant and Sherman big cigars glow cities trail of ashes. Sherman’s receding hairline scraggly beard lean tough Sherman inventing Modern Warfare. Scorched earth. Prometheus gave Man fire and Sherman smeared it all over Atlanta. Lincoln in Washington and Seward, Stanton, waited for Grant and Sherman waited for it all to end. Lincoln gangly dark obscenely tall. Warm-hearted story-teller, killer. Stanton squat and cold. Abrubt. Means business: these men had work to do. Grant and Sherman’s muddy uniforms; Lincoln, Stanton’s musty suits. Orchestrating slaughter to preserve the Union and wage slavery exterminate chattel slavery the factory’s cheaper and share-croppers. Now we live in the Union they preserved. No such myths as Lincoln, Stanton. No such statues as Grant, Sherman. Once, the Yankees beat the Braves in the world series in four straight games SLAUGHTERED ‘em I felt heat of Sherman burning down Atlanta. History transmogrified to game.

Adam Engel can be reached at

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Cyrano’s Journal Online and its semi-autonomous subsections (Thomas Paine’s Corner, The Greanville Journal, CJO Avenger, and VoxPop) would be delighted to periodically email you links to the most recent material and timeless classics available on our diverse and comprehensive site. If you would like to subscribe, type “CJO subscription” in the subject line and send your email to

Read this or George W. Bush will be president the rest of your life

September 11, 2007

by William Blum

www.killinghope.org 

The world is very weary of all this and wants to laugh again

Okay, Bush ain’t gonna get out of Iraq no matter what anyone says or does short of a)impeachment, b)a lobotomy, or c)one of his daughters setting herself afire in the Oval Office as a war protest. A few days ago, upon arriving in Australia, “in a chipper mood”, he was asked by the Deputy Prime Minister about his stopover in Iraq. “We’re kicking ass,” replied the idiot king.[1] Another epigram for his tombstone.

And the Democrats ain’t gonna end the war. Ninety-nine percent of the American people protesting on the same day ain’t gonna do it either, in this democracy. (No, I’m sorry to say that I don’t think the Vietnam protesters ended the war. There were nine years of protest — 1964 to 1973 — before the US military left Vietnam. It’s a stretch to ascribe a cause and effect to that. The United States, after all, had to leave sometime.)

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Cyrano’s Journal Online and its semi-autonomous subsections (Thomas Paine’s Corner, The Greanville Journal, CJO Avenger, and VoxPop) would be delighted to periodically email you links to the most recent material and timeless classics available on our diverse and comprehensive site. If you would like to subscribe, type “CJO subscription” in the subject line and send your email to

By Brian Bogart

9/12/07

You know your country’s “democratic” leadership and rationale for war are in trouble when the anointed most-evil enemy makes more sense than they do.

Although for all we know Bin Laden’s “annual message to Americans” originated below Dick Cheney’s office where Bin Laden is living in luxury chained to a pool table, its contents ring with refreshing logic relative to what usually passes for truth in and around the White House.

Analyzing his message alongside bipartisan excuses for war—and juxtaposed with President Dwight “Ike” Eisenhower’s keep-an-eye-on-the-defense-industry speech of January 1961—only Bin Laden’s words and Eisenhower’s warnings stand up to current United States Department of Defense statistics.

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