Wednesday, 25 January 2012

IRAN - Daily Crap from an Insane Murderous Iranian Leadership - Journalist details UK war on democracy


 
IRANS VERSION OF DEMOCRACY
As Britain builds up its warlike rhetoric on Iran, journalist and documentary filmmaker, John Pilger, sheds more light on the long history of the UK's war on democracy and its crimes against humanity.

While Britain's Defense Secretary Philip Hammond and Foreign Minister William Hague continue to threaten the Iranian nation with military threats, Pilger's description of Britain's 'ruthless nature … behind its democratic facade' receives scant attention from the mainstream media.

Hammond has threatened the Iranian nation with Britain's 'contingent capability to' increase its military presence in the Persian Gulf. Furthermore, Hague announced that the newly imposed EU sanctions on Iran were not an 'end in themselves,' but a 'means to an end.'

The British officials' saber-rattling and war rhetoric on Iran comes as their crimes against humanity have been immersed 'in an ethical bath' and they continue to demonize Iran through their propaganda campaigns using mainstream media.
 HUMAN RIGHTS IRANIAN STYLE

Britain and the US dominance of resource-rich regions in the world and western terrorism remain a taboo in the mainstream media as people are not willing to lend an ear to alternative voices.

Article 7 of the statute of the International Criminal Court clearly states that the 'deportation or forcible transfer of population' is an instance of crimes against humanity.

Pilger launches a scathing attack on Britain and the US war on democracy instantiated in the eviction of the inhabitants of the Chagos archipelago in the early 1970s and the subsequent military attacks from Diego Garcia, the largest of the Chagos Islands.

Under the rule of the Labor Prime Minister Harold Wilson, Britain gave the green light to the US so that the British colony could be 'swept' and 'sanitized' of 2,500 islanders for the US to build a military base. The base was used to launch wars on Afghanistan and Iraq.

Furthermore, Pilger reveals that Britain has been the US accomplice in almost all cases listed by the American historian William Blum including the overthrow of 'more than 50 governments, most of them democratically-elected,' gross interference 'in democratic elections in at least 30 countries,' and dropping 'bombs on the people of more than 30 countries.'

Nevertheless, all these atrocities go unpunished and, even worse, unnoticed as they remain unmentionable being a taboo subject in the western media.
 THIS IS A WESTERN TABOO !!!
What Pilger terms 'western terrorism,' whose numerous victims are Muslims, gets effectively no attention from the masses as they are deluded into considering it as 'war on terrorism.'

The media hype over Iran's nuclear program is another instance of lies spread by the mainstream media whose proprietors continue to immerse them 'in an ethical bath.'

IRAN REPORT - Chinese supertankers hired for Iran oil


Despite fresh EU sanctions against Iran's oil exports, China has shown interest in Iran's oil with hiring at least two supertankers to ship oil from the country.

Clarkson Research Services Ltd., a unit of the world's largest shipbroker, announced the two supertankers were booked to carry about 2 million barrels of crude from Iran's Khark Island to China.

Qi Lian San, a large crude carrier anchored near Singapore, was booked to load 270,000 tons of crude at Khark Island from Feb. 3 to Feb. 5 and carry the cargo to China, Clarkson said.

The Chinese oil trader, Zhuhai Zhenrong Co., also booked an unidentified ship owned by the National Iranian Tanker Co. to load 265,000 tons of crude in Khark Island on Jan. 29 and sail to the Chinese port city of Ningbo.

Two other ships, Davar and Hoda, which called at an Iranian oil terminal, are heading for China, Bloomberg reported.

Ship-tracking data show Davar is sailing to Ningbo after leaving Iran's Soroush terminal on Jan. 11, and Hoda is bound for Shui Dong. The National Iranian Tanker Co. owns both very large carriers.

Customs data also showed that China imported 2.4 million metric tons of crude from Iran last month.

On Monday, EU foreign ministers in Brussels agreed to embargo Iranian oil that involved an immediate ban on all new oil contracts with Iran.

Earlier this month, China's vice foreign minister said his government "opposes imposing pressure and sanctions."

Sanctions dodge: India to pay gold for Iran oil, China may follow


India has reportedly agreed to pay Tehran in gold for the oil it buys, in a move aimed at protecting Delhi from US-sanctions targeting countries who trade with Iran. China, another buyer of Iranian oil, may follow Delhi’s lead.

The report, by the Israeli-based news website DEBKAfile, states that Iran and India are negotiating backup alternatives with China and Russia, should the US and EU find a way to block the gold payment mechanism.

Delhi’s move is seen as surprising, as earlier India and Iran said they would switch to yen and rupees. China, another major importer of Iranian oil, may follow Delhi’s lead, the report adds.

India and China need to switch from the dollar in bilateral trade, since the US and EU have issued unilateral sanctions against the Iranian oil industry and financial institutions. The sanctions would ban any bank involved in oil trade with Iran from dealing with American and European counterparts.

Both India and China, two major buyers of Iranian oil accounting for 22 and 13 percent of its total export respectively, have refused to join such sanctions. This means they have to establish a reliable way of paying for crude, independently of the parts of the global financial system controlled by New York and London.

Delhi’s current plan is to effect payments through two state-owned banks, India’s UCO Bank and Turkey’s Halk Bankasi, Turkey being another country refusing to join the sanction spree.

The US issued sanctions against Iran in December, aiming to put pressure on the Islamic Republic and make its controversial nuclear program more transparent. The EU joined the initiative on Monday, banning new oil contracts with Iran, but allowing current ones to be fulfilled.

Australia on Tuesday became the latest country to voice plans for such an embargo, although the move would be more symbolic than practical, considering the country’s small share in Iran’s oil export.

Japan and South Korea, two other major buyers of Iranian crude, are in talks with Washington over the issue, although both Seoul and Tokyo are worried that stopping their imports could hurt their economies.

Iran, which is highly dependent on its sales of oil, is reacting to the sanction campaign nervously. Tehran says it will not yield to pressure, and threatens to block the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil tanker route in the Persian Gulf.

­German political analyst Christoph R. Horstel told SW that amid the economic crisis the embargo on Iranian oil imports could backfire on the EU, while Iran “will do quite well even under the embargo.”

“All the present faithful customers to Iran oil are set to continue buying this oil, and they will find a way, rest assured,” he said. “This is the signal I get from Tehran.”

“I was personally present when the deputy economics minister of Iran was talking to a foreign society in Berlin,” he added. “And the gentleman said very openly to the shocked audience ‘OK. You don’t want to buy our goods. Well, the Chinese do.”

Tuesday, 24 January 2012

January 24th - On This Date - 1965: Winston Churchill dies


Sir Winston Churchill has died at the age of 90 with his wife Lady Clementine Churchill and other members of the family at his bedside.

He suffered a stroke 15 days ago and gradually slipped into a deep sleep from which he never awakened.

Sir Winston died in his London home at Hyde Park Gate.

Earlier in his illness, there had been crowds anxiously waiting for news at the top of the quiet Kensington cul-de-sac - but when the announcement finally came there was only a handful of journalists in the street.

Mourning crowds

News of his death was announced on the BBC shortly after 0800 GMT. Within half-an-hour, crowds began to gather near his home to pay homage to Britain's greatest wartime leader.

When Sir Winston fell ill, he was visited by one of the country's leading neurologists, Lord Brain, who advised on his treatment.

Since then, regular medical bulletins have been issued by Sir Winston's own doctor, Lord Moran.

Sir Winston has spent the past few days lying in the downstairs room he converted to a bedroom after a fall four years ago in which he injured his back.

Members of the family were summoned to his bedside at 0700 GMT. Lady Churchill and the couple's eldest surviving daughter, Mary Soames, have been with him throughout his illness.

Their son, Randolph Churchill was seen arriving with his son, Winston. Soon after, Sir Winston's actress daughter, Lady Sarah Audley, looking pale and drawn, arrived with her daughter, Celia Sandys.

Many television and radio programmes have been cancelled or re-scheduled to make way for tributes to Sir Winston.

Sir Winston will lie in state in Westminster Hall - an honour not accorded any English statesman since Gladstone in 1898. His body will remain there for three days, before the funeral at St Paul's cathedral on Saturday.

January 25th - On This Date - USN Submarine Service

1936 - 
PCU SHARK (SS-174) commissioned USS SHARK (SS-174) at the Electric Boat Company, Groton, CT; Lt. C. J. Carter commanding.

1937 - 
USS S-3 (SS-107) struck from the Naval Vessel Register; final disposition, sold for scrapping.

1937 - 
USS S-6 (SS-111) struck from the Naval Vessel Register and sold for scrapping.

1941 -
PCU GUDGEON (SS-211) launched at Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, CA; sponsored by Mrs. William S. Pye.

1943 - 
USS WAHOO (SS-238) sent message "Another running gun fight…Destroyer gunning …Wahoo running".

1956 -
PCU SWORDFISH (SSN-579) keel laid as SWORDFISH at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, ME
.
1968 - 
PCU GATO (SSN-615) commissioned USS GATO (SSN-615) at the Electric Boat Division, General Dynamics Corporation, Groton, CT.

1980 - 
PCU BUFFALO (SSN-715) keel laid as BUFFALO at Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Company, Newport News, VA.

1986 - 
PCU ALASKA (SSBN-732) commissioned USS ALASKA (SSBN-732) at the Electric Boat Division, General Dynamics Corporation, Groton, CT; Capt. Paul L. Callahan (BLUE) and Capt. Charles J. Chotvacs (GOLD) commanding.

2000 -
USS JEFFERSON CITY (SSN-759) navigated past Orote Point as the submarine entered Apra Harbor, Guam.
COB