>Adolf Hitler by Webster Tarpley (….YouTuuube!!!) and everything else too (….YouTuuube!!!)

>ANTIWAR.COM: ‘Gitmo Is Like Being Alive in Your Own Grave’ by Zofeen Ebrahim

>

‘Gitmo Is Like Being Alive in Your Own Grave’

by Zofeen Ebrahim

KARACHI – “Guantanamo brings images of a man in orange overalls, his face down and a soldier holding him by the neck, like a dog on a leash,” says 14-year-old Zahra Paracha. “Animals are treated better,” she tells IPS.

“What’s the point of talking to you?” she then says, her eyes clouding up. “I’m tired of telling the media that my father is innocent. In the first press conference three years ago, I poured my heart out, but that did not bring my father back. I think no one can help us, neither the government nor President Pervez Musharraf.”

“When we sold our soul and became a United States ally, we lost any bargaining power we [Pakistan] ever had,” adds Farhat Paracha, wife of Guantanamo Bay prisoner Saifullah Paracha and mother of another, Uzair Paracha.

But Muneeza Paracha, 24, her older daughter, a business graduate who has kept the family business afloat, is calmer. “I think the situation is somewhat different from what it was in 2003. I believe the Bush administration is under immense pressure to shut down Guantanamo. The media have done a lot and are still alive to the plight of the prisoners, and this alone makes me very hopeful.” She however, does not deny that life without her father has been tough.

Saifullah Paracha, 60, a successful businessman and a philanthropist based in this southern port city, has been held at the U.S. military prison in Cuba since September 2004. While on his way to a business meeting in July 2003, he was picked up at the Bangkok airport and whisked away to the Bagram airbase in Afghanistan, and, after 15 months, moved to Guantanamo.

Earlier that year, in February, 23-year old Uzair Paracha, on a business trip to the U.S., was arrested by intelligence agents and charged with terrorist conspiracy and alleged links to al-Qaeda, the terrorist group behind the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington. “My husband was such a strong person, but Uzair’s abduction broke him. The first time I saw him cry was then. He felt so helpless to be unable to help his son,” said Farhat

“I don’t know if I will live to see my son in person, that’s my greatest nightmare. He’s been sentenced to 30 years in federal prison,” says Farhat, 56, who survives on antidepressants and the 15-minute-a-month phone call from her son.

Her voice quivering with emotion, she said, “He was like any young twenty-something, with the world at his feet and a girlfriend on his arm. They were desperately in love and were just waiting for him to finish studies. She got married recently, and I don’t blame her, for she couldn’t wait endlessly.”

According to Farhat, he’s gained weight, 170 pounds, because he avoids going out for exercise, as on the way prisoners are strip-searched. “He spends time reading and has also become regular with prayers.” The only communication Farhat has had with her husband, since July 2003, was through his lawyer or e-mails from some rights organizations. She gets letters from him that are “short, hurried scribblings at the back of International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) pages.”

Not charged with any crime, the older Paracha was also suspected to have links with al-Qaeda, which he has denied. “He is alleged to have been part of a plan to smuggle explosives into the United States for al-Qaeda. He is also alleged to have spoken to Osama Bin Laden,” says the Britain-based Reprieve’s senior counsel, Zachary Katznelson, who has met Paracha twice, the last time in October 2006, and spoken to him once on the phone, in November.

“He has never hidden the fact that he met Bin Laden in 1999. In fact, he used to brag about his meeting and was quite taken in by the soft-spoken man he thought Laden was. He said he wanted to have him interviewed to give his version, for his production house,” says Farhat.

Asked if there was any link between the father and son’s abductions, Katznelson says, “The allegations for both relate to contacts they had with Majid Khan, another Pakistani prisoner in Guantanamo.” Khan, accused of being a member of al-Qaeda, has denied any links the two may have with the al-Qaeda or terrorism. He met them as Pakistani businessmen.

Paracha senior is being held in Camp-5 Delta, which, he told his wife, is “like living in your own grave.”

This is qualified by Katznelson. “Camp-5 is a maximum security prison. Each cell is approximately 6 feet by 8 feet. The lights are on 24 hours a day. The prisoners are allowed out of their cells only two hours per day. For a long time, the guards would vary temperatures to great extremes. One week, they would turn the air-conditioning on maximum making the prisoners freeze (they were given only a thin cotton sheet at night which was taken away early the following morning).” The next week, the guards would turn off the air-conditioning to bring up the temperatures to a stifling 35 degrees Celsius.

“Fortunately, since the start of Ramadan, the guards have stopped switching the temperatures between extremes, but rather keep it generally cool.”

The two occasions Katznelson met Paracha, he was in fetters. “When I met him the first time, it was in the prison hospital. Both arms and both legs were shackled to the bed. The second time we met, it was in a meeting room in Camp-5. He was shackled to the floor. They removed the hand shackles when I requested but not those of the leg.”

Apart from exposing prisoners to extreme temperatures, Katznelson said, for a long time, deviation from the rules was met with violence. “For instance, if a prisoner being led to a shower looked at another prisoner, or spoke to anyone, he was beaten. If the prisoner put his food tray down in the wrong place for collection, he was beaten. Any guard at any time could order a beating or that a prisoner be sent to isolation. In isolation, prisoners’ beards and heads are forcibly shaved.” But, says Katznelson, the beatings have since become fewer now that a new commander is in place.

The long years of incarceration have taken a toll on Paracha. According to Katznelson, he has “experienced severe chest pains and is at grave risk of a heart attack.”

The Guantanamo inmate recently made news when his petition to be transferred to a civilian medical center for a cardiac procedure was rejected. His wife argues that “he finds the camp facilities to carry out cardiac catheterization inadequate and risky. It’s not an emotional decision but a rational one.”

“He is not getting proper medical care. His life is at risk. The Pakistani government must intervene as soon as possible to get Mr. Paracha home,” said Katznelson.

(Inter Press Service)

SOURCE – http://www.antiwar.com/ips/ebrahim.php?articleid=10168

Peace by piecing it together…
BK

_______________________

…

Black Krishna Brand

MySpace – http://www.myspace.com/blackkrishnaverse

Philosophy – http://blackkrishna.blogspot.com/

Music – http://www.soundclick.com/bands/0/blackkrishna.htm

…

P.S. Stewart and Colbert show us they’re lying and trying to dumb us down, to find out why and help Save The World, please Google for “TerrorStorm: A History of Government Sponsored Terrorism”, “America: Freedom to Fascism” and “SaveTheInternet.com”. Also, check the daily newswires at “Infowars.com” and “PrisonPlanet.com” — and pass this info on to everybody — NOW!!!

>KING JAMES vs. KING GEORGE: "After Torture, What’s Next?" (Dave? Em?)

>

After Torture, What’s Next?

By James Abourezk; October 07, 2006, Published on ZNet

So, waterboarding is now OK. So is the suspension of one of our basic rights of freedom-the Writ of Habeas Corpus. Habeas Corpus, according to the U.S. Constitution, can only be suspended in cases of invasion or rebellion. Our Supreme Court has held, “habeas corpus is the fundamental instrument for safeguarding individual freedom against arbitrary and lawless state action.”

Abe Lincoln suspended the Writ during the Civil War, and even then it was a questionable act. And even more hopeless is that part of the law that permits President George W. Bush to interpret Common Article Three of the

1949 Geneva Conventions. Although Mr. Bush claims that the article is vague, no one before him has had any trouble understanding that torture is wrong, and in violation of international law.

But the suspension of the Writ in 2006 is not only unconstitutional because there is neither a rebellion nor have we been invaded. It is flat out wrong.

The only rebellion we were faced with was the one begun by three Republican Senators-McCain, Graham and Warner. All three had served in the military, but McCain had actually spent time as a prisoner of war in North Viet Nam .

Many of us cheered when he stood up to the President to say that if we permitted torture, which is what Bush and Cheney were trying to legalize, our own soldiers, sailors and airmen would be subject to the same brutalization as Mr. Bush was hoping to inflict on his “terror suspects.”

But the rebellion was quickly quelled when McCain, Graham and Warner caved in and said that the compromise they worked out with the President would both preserve our morals and get valuable information from enemy combatants.

First, people who are experts in interrogation of the enemy pretty much agree that torture doesn’t work. Those being tortured will say anything they think their interrogators want to hear, just so the torture will stop.

Secondly, the information, even if true, which is rare, in virtually every case is outdated by the time the torture is finished. Certainly no enemy would continue with plans known to someone who was captured.

But even more importantly, as Former Secretary of State and famous Army general, Colin Powell, said, we lose our moral high ground if we torture prisoners. To me, that is a hundred times more powerful a statement than the repetitious rantings of George W. Bush who continually cites the mantra, “we are protecting Americans.” That phrase, of course, is born of polling that says Americans want to be protected, and delivered by the likes of Karl Rove, who, if nothing else, knows how to demagogue.

But the hottest place in political hell should be reserved for members of Congress, including the weak-kneed Democrats, who essentially went along with Mr. Bush’s “compromise.”

It did not seem to bother Senators and Representatives that the Writ of Habeas Corpus is being suspended for enemy combatants. There is now no way to learn whether or not the prisoner is indeed an enemy, or just someone who was gathered up in a sweep of foreigners in Afghanistan, because, without habeas corpus, their detention cannot be tested in a court.

Senate Democrats, who in recent years have dug in to filibuster at the slightest provocation, this time merely stood up to record their opposition, knowing full well they would lose a straight up or down vote on the Bush compromise. But instead of really trying to stop the legislation, those who opposed it were content to make a speech and vote against it so they could later brag about their principled stand.

Everyone knew that was the Bush/Rove strategy-bring it up just before the elections so you can accuse the opposition of being soft on terrorism. It worked with the Iraqi War resolution in 2002, so why not now?

My wife, who is from the Middle East, in fact from a country that tortures its prisoners, was nearly in tears when, after hearing about the legislation, told me that everyone in her home country always looked up to America as a beacon of freedom. But those who loved America as an idea would now feel completely alone.

President Bush continually says that, “they” hate us because of our freedoms. That may explain why, in this legislation and in the Patriot Act, he is, piece by piece, trying to remove our freedoms. If this is his idea of protecting Americans, we really can’t stand much more protection.

The public’s opposition to this draconian law is the only thing that will give Congress the backbone to preserve our freedoms.

—

James Abourezk served as the U.S. Congressman and Senator from South Dakota from 1973-1979. His memoir, Advise & Dissent: Memoirs of South Dakota and the U.S. Senate, was published in 1989. Abourezk founded the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee, and he is a signer of the Call from World Can’t Wait-Drive Out the Bush Regime which is holding protests in over 150 cities on October 5, 2006.

SOURCE – http://www.freespeech.org/fscm2/contentviewer.php?content_id=1472

Peace by piece…
BK

_______________________

…

Black Krishna Brand

MySpace – http://www.myspace.com/blackkrishnaverse

Philosophy – http://blackkrishna.blogspot.com/

Music – http://www.soundclick.com/bands/0/blackkrishna.htm

…

P.S. Stewart and Colbert show us they’re lying and trying to dumb us down, to find out why and help Save The World, please Google for “TerrorStorm: A History of Government Sponsored Terrorism”, “America: Freedom to Fascism” and “SaveTheInternet.com”. Also, check the daily newswires at “Infowars.com” and “PrisonPlanet.com” — and pass this info on to everybody — NOW!!!

Interesting, I have some concerns about it’s truth for a few reasons I won’t reveal that might spoil it for you, but rest assured you will feel more sympathetic and empathetic towards Mr. Chappelle, and rest assured that’s a good feeling – BK

::: The Chappelle Theory :::

…The story behind what REALLY happened to Dave Chappelle…

http://www.chappelletheory.com/

New Eminem Track References Wire Tapping, Political Assassinations, and 9/11

9/11 Blogger
Friday, December 1, 2006

DOWNLOAD/LISTEN NOW – Eminem – Public Enemy #1 – 2.4mb MP3

SOURCE FOR SOURCES – http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/december2006/011206Eminem.htm

A track entitled ‘Public Enemy #1’ on Eminem’s upcoming mixtape The Re-up caught my ear this afternoon. The track features a simple almost militant style beat somewhat similar in tone to his last politically motivated track Mosh. While Mosh (which New York magazine called “the most important piece of mainstream dissent since the 60s”) alluded to 9/11 via caricatures of Bush reading ‘My Pet Goat’ and newspaper clippings on 9/11 (including the infamous ‘Bush Knew’ New York Post article), this new track goes into much darker subjects.

Frames referencing 9/11 in Eminem’s ‘Mosh’ music video

The track makes references to his phones being tapped, how an FBI van might pull up and he might just disappear, or maybe get taken out by a sniper one day. He goes on to say how he is focused on writing as many tracks as he can just incase something happens, and takes it one step further saying that he has already accepted he would be killed and then painted negatively for his actions. This is the point where the track briefly references 9/11 (after mentioning tremendous tremors) before going on to talk about 2 Pac predicting his death, and JFK’s assasination – an allusion to them both being killed for being ‘public enemy #1’ in the past.

(more after the break..)

Here is a rough set of lyrics:

I sense someone’s tapping into my phones why do…
I got this feeling in my bones I might die soon…
The F.B.I might be tryin to pull my file soon…
I might be walking blind fold into a typhoon…
I might be seeing rockets light up the night sky…
Right outside of the window of my living room…
And if they do you can say goodnight and bye bye to my tunes…
If I don’t try to record as much before I do…
The plan is to have as many in the can as I can…
As I stand before you in this booth a walking deadman…
Blank stare, dead pan look as my face as I gaze into space…
As I wait to be scooped up in that van…
Mysteriously disappear into thin air…
And they gon’ say a sniper just appeared out of no where…
And I’ll go down in the history as the blood sucking leech…
Who hid behind the freedom of speech…
Tried to take the fifth amendment use it, twist it and bend it…
(???)
The business way to end this…
I can feel the tremors tremendous…
In remembrance of September 11…
Flash back to September 7th…
When Tupac was murdered in Vegas…
He said that he predicted his own death…
Let us never forget it or should we ever live to regret it…
Like the day John F Kennedy was assassinated in broad day…
By a craze lunatic with a gun…
Who just happened to work on the same block in a library book depository…
Where the President would go for a little Friday stroll…
Shots fired from the grassy knoll…
But they don’t know or do they?…
Who’s they? Touché…
We’re all vulnerable and it’s spooky…
This is about as kooky as I’ve ever felt now…
Count down to Nuclear Meltdown…
7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…
You can run you can do what you want to…
But you know you ain’t gonna do nuttin…
When its time its your time…
You are the prime target…
You have become Public Enemy Number 1…

While Eminem is not known for being a 9/11 skeptic, and he has not overtly stated that he is one, there is plenty to suggest that he is at least a questioner of the official story. Not only does this track and the Mosh track reference 9/11, but his former DJ – Green Lantern – had the track ‘Bin Laden’ by Immortal Technique (featuring Mos Def) alongside tracks by Eminem and other members of Shady Records. There are other past references to 9/11 as well such as a mockery of Bin Laden speaking to a camera, and having the backdrop fall down and reveal Dick Cheney and other members of the Bush administration. Most of these references have been scattered about so far, but perhaps that will change soon.

This is not Eminem’s new album, it is a mix tape for his label Shady Records, but it may give an idea as to what direction Eminem will go in his next solo album – or at least we can hope. One thing is for certain, if he did go down this direction further in the future he most assuredly would become ‘public enemy #1’.

Check out the song, post some thoughts, and check out our large 9/11 related hip-hop section on 911podcasts.com.

Reader Comments

SOURCE FOR SOURCES – http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/december2006/011206Eminem.htm