person:mitt romney

  • The Heavy-Hitting #utah #tech Summit
    https://hackernoon.com/the-heavy-hitting-utah-tech-summit-da6e57277b90?source=rss----3a8144eabf

    Stewart Butterfield, Steve Young and Mitt Romney were among the speakers.“Avatar.” “Man of Steel.” “The Avengers.”Jarom Sidwell worked on digital visuals for each of those blockbusters and others.But he was far — far — from the only biggie to speak at the Silicon Slopes Summit 2018 in Salt Lake City, “the largest tech event in Utah history,” SS Executive Director Clint Betts said.Among others, the summit saw Ryan Smith, the CEO of Qualtrics, whose clients (numbering more than 8,500) include Microsoft, Healthcare.gov, CBS, Yahoo!, and The Washington Post; Todd Pedersen, Vivint CEO; Omar Johnson, former Beats by Dre chief marketing officer; Dave Elkington, InsideSales.com founder; Josh James, Domo CEO; Aaron Skonnard, Pluralsight CEO; and Jim Swartz and David Fialkow, investors in documentaries, (...)

    #technology #community-board #politics

  • Walid Pharès, le John Bolton’s boy par excellence ou les dérives mortifères de l’irrédentisme maronite – Salimsellami’s Blog
    https://salimsellami.wordpress.com/2018/11/07/walid-phares-le-john-boltons-boy-par-excellence-ou-les-deriv

    Une grande honorabilité bardée d’expertise. Des postes prestigieux dans la haute administration américaine républicaine : La vitrine d’exposition est parfaite, mais sous le vernis de la respectabilité, une façade lézardée, un personnage gangréné.

    Contrairement à ce que suggère son nom patronymique en arabe, Walid Pharès n’est pas le fils d’un preux chevalier, mais plutôt le parfait exemple d’un dévoiement par sectarisme. Libanais d’origine, naturalisé américain, il est en fait « UN ISRAELIEN d’ORIGINE LIBANAISE », comme l’a très justement qualifié le quotidien libanais « Al Akhbar ».

    « La propulsion de Walid Pharès au poste de conseiller du président Donald Trump ne constitue pas, loin s’en faut, une reconnaissance du savoir faire libanais encore moins un succès diplomatique pour le Liban, mais plutôt une percée majeure de la stratégie israélienne par la promotion d’un des affidés libanais de l’État Hébreu dans le cercle décisionnaire du pouvoir à Washington.(…) Preuve est faite qu’il est plus aisé pour les Forces Libanaises (milices chrétienens) de décrocher un poste regalien à Washington qu’à Beyrouth », poursuit Al Akhbar dont le portrait de l’ancien milicien se trouve sur ce lien pour le lectorat arabophone.

    http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/268049

    UN ISOLATIONNISTE VINDICATIF
    La biographie en langue française de cet isolationniste vindicatif est lisse.
    Sa biographie en langue anglaise, éditée par le site Mother Jones, est infiniment plus caustique et toxique.
    Sur ce lien : http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2011/10/walid-phares-mitt-romney-lebanese-forces

    Natif de la localité de Ghouma, district de Batroun, dans le Nord Liban, en 1957, Walid Pharès a effectué une scolarité éclectique à l’Université Saint Joseph des Pères Jésuites et à l’Université Libanaise à Beyrouth, avant de décrocher, en 1981, à 24 ans un Master en Droit International à l’Université Jean Moulin LYON III, une structure où a longtemps professé une figure de proue de l’extrême droite française Bruno Gollnisch, passé à la postérité pour avoir matraqué des journalistes avec son parapluie.

    Précoce, il publie à 22 ans, en 1979, son premier ouvrage « At Taadoudiya Fi Loubnane », « le pluralisme au Liban ». Edité par l’Université du Saint Esprit de Kaslick, le fief du militantisme des moines maronites lors la guerre civile libanaise sous le magistère du Père Charbel Kassis, ce livre paru quatre ans après le déclenchement de la guerre civile, reprend en les popularisant les thèmes des milices chrétiennes sur la spécificité chrétienne, particulièrement maronite, dans le Monde arabe.

    Considérant qu’il existe au Liban deux cultures distinctes, la culture chrétienne par essence démocratique et la culture islamo-arabe qui l’est moins ou pas du tout, l’idéologue en herbe reprend à son compte en l’amplifiant le thème « du choc des civilisations », théorisé par l’universitaire américain Samuel Huttington. Il préconise en conséquence la ségrégation entre groupes libanais et prône le développement séparé, s’inspirant de thèses de la « white supremacy », si courantes dans certains milieux du Sud des États-Unis.

    LE CORPUS IDÉOLOGIQUE DE CE SOLDAT DE LA GUERRE FROIDE
    En 1981, l’année qui précède l’invasion israélienne du Liban, il fonde une publication « La voix de l’Orient » pour poulariser ses idées et adhère au « Comité des Chrétiens du Moyen Orient » (MECHRIC), et trois ans plus tard, à l’ Union Sociale Démocratique Chrétienne (USDC). Une démarche destinée à se doter, via ce gropuscule, d’ un vernis social démocrate chrétien, afin d’atténuer quelque peu les aspérités de son personnage belliqueux animé de surcroît d’une volonté de croisade.

    Prolixe, il récidive en 1981 en publiant Hiwar Dimucrati (Le dialogue démocratique), dans une maison d’édition libanaise Dar Al Mashreq Press, conviant ses compatriotes de confession musulmane au dialogue. Une proposition de pure forme, destinée à la galerie en vue de bonifier l’image des milices chrétiennes, discréditées par leurs massacres successifs. Son idole, Bachir Gemayel dont il fut un proche collaborateur, ayant décrété qu’il existait « un peuple de trop » au Moyen orient, en pointant du doigt les Palestiniens, avait initié la première guerre d’épuration ethnique de l’époque contemporaine en ordonnant les massacres de la Quarantaine, janvier 1976, Tall El Zatar, en juillet 1976, enfin Sabra Chatila, septembre 1982 que son assassinat suscita par réflexe pavlovien.

    Sous l’effet du matraquage idéologique, ses frères d’armes miliciens chrétiens ignoreront d’ailleurs allégrement, l’année suivante, cette invitaiton au dialogue envers les musulmans, s’en donnant à cœur joie, au mépris de la tradition chrétienne de commisération, aux massacres des camps de réfugiés palestiniens de Sabra Chatila, dans la banlieue est de Beyrouth, en 1982, sous la supervision israélienne.

    Pour aller plus loin sur ce sujet :

    http://www.madaniya.info/2017/09/15/malediction-de-sabra-chatila-35-ans-apres

    Celui qui avait gouverné par l’épée périra par l’épée, dynamité dans son fief d’Achrafieh, le secteur chrétien de Beyrouth Est, à la veille de son entrée en fonction. Farouchement islamophobe et araphobe, épris d’Occident, son idéologie xénophobe et populiste irriguera naturellement la pensée de ses disciples qui en seront les apôtres sur la scène internationale :

    « Le Liban ne fait partie du Monde arabe. Le Liban est une civilisation et n’a aucun apport avec le tiers monde. Veuillez bien marquer dans vos démarches que nous n’appartenons pas au Tiers monde. Sortons de ce monde d’arriérés. Rallions le monde européen et le Monde libre de l’Amérique », lancera-t-il à ses subordonnés à peine élu président.

    Sur la pensée de Bachir Gemayel et ses méfaits :
    http://www.madaniya.info/2017/09/05/sabra-chatila-operation-salami-1-2

    http://www.madaniya.info/2017/09/10/sabra-chatila-operation-salami-2-2

    Walid Pharès appliquera à la lettre ses enseignements. C’est ainsi qu’en 1986, l’année où le Liban vivait une spirale infernale de prise d’otages occidentaux, le graphomane publie, dans le droit fil de la pensée de son idole, un opus révélant l’objet de sa fixation. Non son oeuvre majeure mais le sujet de sa vindicte publique : Al Thawra al Islamiya al Khumaynia (La Révolution de Khomeiny – Dar Al Machreq Press).

    Pour ce milicien chrétien, l’Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeiny avait eu le triple tort d’évincer le Chah d’Iran, gendarme du Golfe pour le compte de l’OTAN, grand bailleur de fonds des formations paramilitaires chrétiennes libanaises, et surtout grand allié d’Israël, parrain de ses camarades de combat.

    Thème gratifiant s’il en est en ce qu’il diabolisait la République Islamique d’Iran et exonérait de leurs turpitudes les pays occidentaux : la France de son satut de « co belligérant de l’Irak » contre l’Iran (1979-1989) et le double jeu américain à l’égard des deux belligérants, illustré par le scandale de l’Irangate et les promesses d’assistance faites simultanément à Saddam Hussein par Donald Rumsefd en personne, à l’époque secrétaire général de la Mlaison Blanche, sous la présidence Ronald Reagan et futur ministre de la défense sous présidence George Bush jr, artisan de l’invasion américaine de l’Irak, en 2003.

    Putchiste dans l’âme, nulllement légaliste, il trempera dans la conjuration visant à évincer de la présidence des Forces Libanaises, les deux successeurs de Bachir Gemayel : son Frère et successeur Amine ainsi que son ancien lieutement Elie Hobeika. Il en sera gratifié en retour d’un siège au commandement de la formation milicienne sous la présidence de Samir Geagea.

    Inconsolable de la perte de Bachir Gemayel, il quitte les milices chrétiennes en 1989 pour rallier le général Michel Aoun lors de la guerre fratricide inter chrétienne. Il demeurera fidèle jusqu’à la chute du chef du gouvernement intérimaire libanais, le 13 octobre 1990. Placé sur une liste des opposants les plus recherchés du Liban, il s’exile en même temps que son deuxième mentor. Il fuit le Liban, via Israël et s’établit aux États-Unis, obtenant sans retard la nationalité américaine.

    Des mésaventures des milices chrétiennes libanaises, il en tirera deux ouvrages relatant les avatars de la guerre inter-factionnelle inter-chrétienne libanaise : « Lebanese Christian Nationalism : The rise and fall of an ethnic resistance (L. Rienner Published 1995) et « The Nationalist claim and the Lebanese Christian resistance : an ethnic case study ».

    À l’heure de la mondialisation, ce chrétien issu d’une société libanaise pluriconfessionnelle prônera, non le brassage culturel et le métissage humain, mais la ségrégation, la séparation, la grande muraille de démarcation, à l’exemple du Mur d’Apartheid dressé par ses amis israéliens en Cisjordanie. Le ghetto en somme.

    Mais, faille capitale de son argumentaire, ce fervent admirateur de l’Occident occultera le fait majeur de l’histoire contemporaine, le fait que ses idoles, -l’Amérique suprématiste et puritaine et l’Europe chrétienne,- auront été les principaux fossoyeurs de la cause des chrétiens arabes, maronites ou non : De la création d’Israël, en 1948, provoquant l’exode des Palestiniens chrétiens vers la Californie, à l’expédition franco anglo israélienne contre l’Egypte, en 1956, entraînant l’exode des chrétiens égyptiens vers l’Europe et l’Amérique du Nord, à la guerre civile libanaise (1975-1990), à l’invasion américaine de l’Irak, à la guerre de Syrie, 2011, vidant quasiment le Moyen Orient de sa population chrétienne.

    Pour aller plus loin sur ce thème :
    https://www.renenaba.com/france-vatican-les-deux-francois-et-la-chretiente-d-orient

    LE PARCOURS AMÉRICAIN
    Mariée à une américaine, il atterit en Floride, le fief des anticastristes cubains, où il enseignera à l’Université Atlantique de Floride (1993-2004), qu’il quittera au lendemain de l’invasion américaine de l’Irak pour présider the « Global Policy Institute ».
    Collaborateur du « Centre Ariel de Recherches Politiques » de Jerusalem, il se livrera, en tandem avec le lobby juif américain, à un actif lobbying anti syrien en vue de faire adopter par le Congrès américain la « Syrian Accountability Act » et de criminaliser le Hezbollah libanais, via une disposition législative similaire le « Hezbollah accountabilty Act ». Via son réseau israélien, il fait parvenir aux dirigeants israéliens un vade mecum pour une nouvelle gouvernance du sud Liban à la suite de la déconfiture de leurs supplétifs libanais dans la zone frontalière libano-israélienne ; une zone à forte majorité chiite, qui deviendra par la suite le fief du Hezbollah.

    Pour aller plus loin sur ce sujet :

    https://www.renenaba.com/sous-la-syrie-le-hezbollah

    Taiseux pendant pendant les cinq premières années de l’occupation américaine de l’Irak, alors que l’armée américaine était en butte à la guerilla anti américaine tant djihadiste que baasiste, Walid Pharès retrouvera l’inspiration en 2007, -l’année qui a suivi la riposte balistique victorieuse du Hezbollah contre Israël de 2006-, pour commettre un ouvrage intitulé « The War of Ideas : Djihadisme against Democracy » (Palgrave Mac Millan).

    Mais, en bon soldat de la guerre froide, il s’attaquera aux combattants islamistes, les terroristes islamiques, ses semblables musulmans du temps où il était milicien chrétien, de surcroit « idiots utiles » de la stratégie atlantiste dans la fragmentation du Monde arabe. Amnésique, il s’abstiendra de dénoncer la connivence des pétromonarchies dans le financement du terrrorisme islamique, de même que la complaisance des États-Unis à l’égard de l’islamisme politique et de son instrumentalisation en Afghanistan et ailleurs dans une guerre de détournement du champ de bataille de la Palestine.

    Pour aller plus loin sur ce sujet :
    https://www.renenaba.com/de-l-instrumentalisation-de-l-islam-comme-arme-de-combat-politique

    Sa qualité de correspondant du Centre israélien Ariel renforce sa crédibilité dans les milieux néo conservateurs américains et le propulse au sein du cercle dirigeant du parti conservateur. Il sera ainsi tour à tour conseiller du candidat Mitt Romney pour les présidentielles américaines de 2008, puis conseiller du président Donald Trump pour le Moyen Orient et le terrorisme en 2016.
    À l’accession de Donald Trump à la présidence américaine, Walid Pharès, dévient Secrétaire général du Groupe parlementaire transatlantique sur le contre-terrorisme (TAG), une tribune destinée à asseoir son rôle prescripteur, dans un domaine de prédilection des Etats Unis, à détourner en fait l’attention de l’opinion internationale sur le rôle trouble des administrations successives américaines avec le terrorisme islamique.

    La promotion simultanée de l’ultra faucon John Bolton président de l’ultra conservateur « Gatestone Institute » au poste de conseiller de Donald Trump à la Maison Blanche et de Mike Pompeo, l’homme des ténèbres de la CIA, à la tête du Département d’état, a placé Walid Pharès dans un état de lévitation comparable à celui qu’il a vécu à l’élection de son mentor Bachir à la présidence libanaise, avant son trépassement violent. En synchronisation avec Joseph Jibeily, le dirigeant du « Centre des Renseignements du Liban », une officine des Forces Libanaises de Samir Geagea basée à Washington, il mulitiplie ses actions de lobbying au sein du Congrès américain en vue d’obtenir l’exclusion du gouvernement libanais, le Hezbollah, pourtant grand vainqueur des élections législatives libanaises de Mai 2018, et disposant de surcroït, d’une majorité relative à la chambre des députés.

    La propulsion de John Bolton à l’épicentre du pouvoir américain a renforcé la capacité de nuisance de son correspondant libanais, Samir Geagea, dont le discours souverainniste masque en fait une servilité à l’égard des Saoudiens en substitution à sa soumission aux Israéliens durant la guerre civile libanaise (1975-1990), consacrant le chef des « Forces Libanaises », l’un des plus grands criminels de la guerre comme l’un des plus grands mercenaires du personnel politique libanais.

    Sur l’équipée des milices chrétiennes particulièrement Samir Geagea, ce lien :
    https://www.madaniya.info/2017/09/15/malediction-de-sabra-chatila-35-ans-apres

    GATESTONE, JOHN BOLTON, ANNE ELIZABETH MOUTET, ET L’ÉMISSION 28 MINUTES SUR ARTE
    Présidée par le monarchiste iranien Amir Tahiri, ancien directeur du journal Keyhan sous le règne de la dynastie Pahlevi, dans la décennie 1970, la structure européenne de Gatestone est composée de Marc D’anna, aka Alexandre Del Valle, le théoricien du « patriotisme intégrateur », ainsi que de l’universitaire Guy Millière et d’Anne Elizabeth Moutet, deux « dinstinguished senior fellow » de cette instance.

    La liste des auteurs de Gatestone sur ce lien :
    https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/authors

    En dissonance toutefois avec Bernard Henry Lévy, Amir Tahéri, une fois n’est pas coutume, brisera net le délire fabulatoire du philo mondain sur les origines hitlériennes du terme Iran, lancée par le fer de lance médiatique du lobby pro israélien en Europe dans une campagne d’intoxication de l’opinion occidentale préludant à sa préparation à une intervention militaire de l’Otan contre la République Islamique d’Iran. Monarchiste revanchard, Amir Taheri ciblera dans son argumentaire de refutation les « Gardiens de la Révolution et le régime islamique, ces deux bêtes noires, mais non le fondement même de la démarche du théoricien du Botul.
    https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/12333/hitler-reza-shah

    Intervenante régulière de la chaîne franco allemande ARTE dans l’émission d’Elizabeth Quinn « 28 Minutes », la chroniqueuse du Daily Telegraph justifiera le carnage israélien des Palestiniens de Gaza (57 morts et 2.400 blessés), -le jour du transfert de l’ambassade américaine vers Jérusalem, le 14 Mai 2018-, en reprenant textuellement les « éléments de langage » de la propagande israélienne.
    Cette séquence a plongé dans la stupeur les autres participants à l’émission par la virulence de sa défense de la politique israélienne, faisant volet en éclat l’apparente objectivité qu’elle s’evertuait à afficher pour la défense de la politique atlantiste.
    L’émission a été diffusée le vendredi 17 mai sur Arte en présence des deux présentatrices du programme Elizabeth Quin et Nadia Daam, ainsi que de l’historien Pascal Blanchard et Alexis Poutin, journaliste au Monde Moderne. Elle demeurera dans les mémoires comme un morceau d’anthologie de la duplicité professionnelle, lorsqu’elle se pare de la qualité journalistique pour propager des thèses d’un think tank néo conservateur, sous l’apparence de la neutralité.

    Sur ce lien, la séquence :
    https://sites.arte.tv/28minutes/fr/le-club-28-revisite-lactualite-de-la-semaine-28minutes-75

    LE JOURNALISME MILICIEN EN FRANCE
    La reconversion des journalistes miliciens dans l’expertise contre terroriste est une pratique courante. Une forme de recyclage dans la respectabilité, qui s’est développée tant aux Etats Unis qu’en France.
    Walid Pharès a ainsi fait son apparition dans les lucarnes françaises notamment sur France 24, sous la direction de Christine Ockrent, auditrice assidue du groupe de Bilderbeg, réputé pour son atlantisme.

    Sur ce lien le portrait de Christine Ockrent : https://www.renenaba.com/christine-ockrent-le-passe-droit-permanent

    Le journalisme milicien qu’il incarne si parfaitement a trouvé son illustration en France, sous couvert d’expertise anti terroriste, en la personne de deux libanais maronites habitués des plateaux français : Antoine Basbous, Directeur de « l’Observatoire des Pays arabes », auparavant ancien porte-parole des Forces Libanaises, l’organisation dirigée par Samir Geagea, un des plus grands criminels de la guerre libanaise et fossoyeur du leadership chrétien, et, Antoine Sfeir, Directeur des « Cahiers de l’Orient et des Pays arabes », auparavant cheville ouvrière sur le plan médiatique de la campagne pour l’élection à la présidence de la République Libanaise du chef milicien phalangiste Bachir Gemayel, en 1982, puis de son frère Amine.

    Pour aller plus loin sur ce sujet, cf ce lien : https://www.renenaba.com/les-thuriferaires-libanais-de-la-dictature-ben-ali-sur-le-grill-tunisien

    Et pour le recyclage des membres de l’« État Profond américain » dans les médias américains, sur ce lien : https://www.mondialisation.ca/des-anciens-de-letat-profond-sont-embauches-par-les-medias-grand-public/5623065

    Walid Pharès a vécu 33 ans au Liban de 1957 à 1990. Mais ses nuisances continuent à se faire encore sentir de nos jours contre sa patrie d’origine. Son retour au pays natal, il l’a accompli muni d’un passeport diplomatique américain. Doté d’une immunité et d’une impunité pour revisiter ses méfaits, comme étranger à ses forfaits comme étranger au pays qu’il a tant contribué à sinistrer.

    Le tropisme pro israélien des dirigeants maronites libanais, auquel il a grandement contribué, a conduit le président phalangiste Amine Gémayel à conclure un Traité de Paix entre le Liban et Israël, en 1983, mais la mise en œuvre de ce document a été entravée par un soulèvement de la population de Beyrouth, cas unique dans les annales diplomatiques internationales d’un traité mort-né, abrogé par la volonté populaire.

    Parfait exemple d’un dévoiement par sectarisme, Walid Pharès appartient à la cohorte des soldats perdus d’une cause perdue, sécrétée par la guerre interfactionnelle libanaise ; À l’exemple du commandant Saad Haddad, l’officier félon libanais, garde frontière d’Israël au sein de l’Armée du Sud Liban (ASL), de son successeur, le général Antoine Lahad, dont la famille a eu l’outrecuidance de vouloir enterrer au Liban mais que la vox populi l’en dissuada ; Tous vivant sans le savoir une pathologie passée dans l’histoire comme étant « le complexe des exilés de Coblence », du nom de ses exilés monarchistes français qui ont rallié les ennemis de la France pour abattre la révolution.

    Autant de manifestations des pulsions mortifères de l’irredentisme maronite qui débouchèrent sur la relégation politique du leadership maronite, désormais réduit à un rôle d’appoint ou de nuisance, non à un rôle constructif de proposition, mais à un rôle destructeur d’obstruction, au terme de quinze ans de bruits et de fureurs, de dérives et de délires.

    EPILOGUE : LE SYNDROME MARONITE
    Cadeau empoisonné de la France, le confessionnalisme constitue une négation de la démocratie en ce que la citoyenneté libanaise est conditionnée et handicapée par la naissance.

    Mur de verre invisible et infranchissable, il contribue à ce titre à la nécrose de la vie poilitique libanaise. Sur un point nommé, dans des domaines précis, la naissance confère un primat à une communauté au détriment des autres communautés par le Fait du Prince, l’arbitraire du pouvoir colonial.

    Elle prédétermine les membres d’une communauté à des fonctions indépendamment de leur compétence. Elle conforte une communauté dans un sentiment de supériorité ou de frustration.

    Les exemples sont nombreux des dérives du confessionnalisme. Le leadership maronite a ainsi assumé, par une sorte de Hold up, la direction des combats du camp chrétien lors de la guerre civile libanaise (1975-1990), à l’exclusion des autres composantes de la chrétienté libanaise, quand bien même elles en subissaient les conséquences.

    Le primat conféré par la France à la communauté maronite dans l’exercice des responsabilités suprêmes au Liban aurait dû se vivre comme une délégation de pouvoir au bénéfice de l’ensemble des communautés chrétiennes du Monde arabe et non comme la marque d’une supériorité immanente d’une communauté spécifique au détriment des autres, en ce que les Maronites constituaient la plus importante minorité des minorités chrétiennes du Liban et non la communauté chrétienne majoritaire d’un Monde arabe, majoritairement musulman.

    Pour n’avoir pas observé cette règle non écrite de la prudence politique, elle en paiera le prix par le déclassement de ses prérogatives constitutionnelles, entraînant dans sa relégation les autres composantes chrétiennes innocentes de cet emballement.
    Victimes innocentes souvent, bourreaux parfois plus que de besoin, les camps palestiniens de la quarantaine (est de Beyrouth), en 1976, et de Sabra Chatila (sud de Beyrouth), en 1982, passeront dans l’histoire comme de sanglantes illustrations pathologiques de la déraison humaine, au passif du leadership maronite, particulièrement les milices chrétiennes des Forces Libanaises.

    Par une sorte d’abus de position dominante conféré par la France en sa qualité de puissance mandataire sur le Liban et la Syrie, les Maronites ont procédé à une sorte de captation d’héritage se présentant comme les dépositaires des intérêts supérieurs de la chrétienté d’Orient, réduisant la chrétienté aux seuls intérêts de l’Eglise maronite, confondant en somme maronitisme et chrétienté, se vivant en maître incontesté du Liban.

    L’extravagante position de Camille Chamoun, président du Liban (1952-1958), se refusant seul contre l’ensemble arabe, à rompre ses relations diplomatiques avec la France, dans la foulée de l’expédition de Suez, alors que l’Egypte faisait l’objet d’une agression concertée entre la France, Israël et la Grande Bretagne (1956) et que l’Algérie ployait sous le joug des ratonnades coloniales, constituait déjà un indice prémonitoire de la psychorigidité maronite, de la cécité politique de ses dirigeants et de la serviabilité extrême dont témoignent des membres de cette communauté à l’égard des puissances occidentales particulièrement de la France et des États-Unis, se plaçant paradoxalement en situation de « dhimitude » par rapport à leurs protecteurs occidentaux, une servitude qu’il dénonçait du temps de l’époque ottomane. Le discours souverainiste des Libanais masque mal une logique de vassalité à l’ordre atlantiste.

    L’inculpation en juillet 2010 de plusieurs officiers supérieurs chrétiens de même que des cadres supérieurs exerçant des responsabilités sensibles à un poste stratégique de leur entreprise de communications pour « intelligence avec l’ennemi », au même titre que la formation d’une armée de supplétif sous commandement chrétien au service des israéliens durant la guerre civile libanaise (1975-1990), ont alimenté la suspicion sur la loyauté des chrétiens arabes à leur environnement avec ses conséquences corrosives sur le sort des chrétiens dans le monde arabe.

    L’alliance du leadership maronite avec Israël, l’ennemi officiel du Monde arabe, constituera l’un des points noirs de l’histoire de la chrétienté arabe, et les chefs de cette équipée suicidaire, Bachir Gemayel, président éphémère du Liban, et ses successeurs, Elie Hobeika et Samir Geagea, comme les plus sinistres personnages de l’histoire du Liban en termes de bilan pour la chrétienté, en ce qu’ils ont substitué la lutte pour la réalisation des droits nationaux des Palestiniens, par la recherche de l’éradication d’un peuple déjà spolié de sa patrie, les Palestiniens, en compensation des turpitudes occidentales à l’égard des Juifs européens.

    Les miliciens chrétiens ont intériorisé, ce faisant, la perversité de la logique occidentale dans un tragique dévoiement de la pensée, ne s’imaginant pas un seul instant que « le peuple de trop au Moyen orient », selon l’expression du chef phalangiste Bachir Gémayel, pourrait être un jour « le peuple chrétien arabe ».

    Pour aller plus loin sur les Maronites, ce lien :

    www.renenaba.com/france-liban-a-propos-des-maronites/

    ILLUSTRATION
    Walid Phares lecturing in front of a Lebanese Forces banner in 1986Photo courtesy of An-Nahar                                                                                                                                                           By René Naba , in Actualités Liban Moyen-Orient Portrait on 6 novembre 2018 .

  • Before the Trump Era, the “Wall” Made In Arizona as Political Performance

    “Trump’s Wall” illustrates the US obsession with ever-greater militarization of the Mexican border, independently of the actual numbers of unauthorized crossings. Yet these debates began revolving around the slogan “Build The Wall” long before the rise of Trump. Between 2010 and 2013, the activities of a coalition of activists, politicians and Arizona security experts had already legitimized recourse to a “wall”. Border-security debates thus concern more than mere control of border crossings. More crucially, they structure local and national political life in accordance with the interests and agendas of the political players whom they bring together.

    The Governors of California and Arizona reacted unevenly to President Trump’s announcement on April 4th, 2018, that National Guard soldiers were to be sent to the Mexican border1 to reinforce the Border Patrol and local police. Doug Ducey, Republican Governor of Arizona, displayed his enthusiasm: “I’m grateful today to have a federal administration that is finally taking action to secure the border for the safety of all Americans” 2. Jerry Brown, Democrat Governor of California, was more circumspect. He insisted upon the limits of such a measure: “”This will not be a mission to build a new wall […] It will not be a mission to round up women and children or detain people escaping violence and seeking a better life. […] Here are the facts: There is no massive wave of migrants pouring into California3”. These contrasting reactions illustrate the US rift over migration and border-security issues. To the anti-migrant camp, the border is insufficiently secured, and is subject to an “invasion4”. For opponents of the border’s militarization, this deployment is futile.

    On the anti-migrant side, between 2010 and 2013, Republican state congressmen in Arizona set up a unified Committee to gather all the political players who demanded of President Obama that he increases militarization of the border5. This included Sheriffs and Arizona State ministers—but also a breeders’ organization, the border Chambers of Commerce, militiamen who patrol the desert, and Tea Party groups. In May 2011, this Committee launched a fundraising drive dubbed “Build the Border Fence”. They portrayed cross-border migration as a threat to the public, consecrated the “Fence” as a legitimate security tool, and, seeking to force the hand of the Federal Government, accused it of failing in its duty to protect. Examining this mobilization prior to Trump’s election enables illustrating how militarization and the debates around it came to acquire legitimacy—and therefore to shed light on its current crystallization around the rhetoric of the “Wall”. This article will, first, briefly describe stages in the performative militarization of the border within which this political mobilization is embedded. It then presents three stages in the legitimization of the “Wall”, drawing on pro-“Border Wall” activism in Arizona.

    #Militarization by One-Upmanship

    Parsing differences over migration debates in the United States requires situating them within the framework of the long-term political performance of militarization of the border. The process whereby the border with Mexico has become militarized has gone hand in hand with the criminalization of unauthorized immigration since the 1980s-6. In the border area, militarization is displayed through the deployment of technology and surveillance routines of transborder mobility, both by security professionals and by citizen vigilantes7. The construction of “fences”8 made the borderline visible and contributed to this policy of militarization. The Trump administration is banking on these high-profile moments of wall-construction. In doing so, it follows in the footsteps of the G.W.Bush administration through the 2006 Secure Fence Act, and California Republicans in the 1990s. This is even while the numbers of unauthorized crossings are at historically low levels9, and federal agencies’ efforts are more directed towards chasing down migrants within the US. At various stages in the development of this policy, different players, ranging from federal elected officials through members of civil society to the security sector, local elected officials and residents, have staged themselves against the backdrop of the territory that had been fenced against the “invaders”. They thereby invest the political space concerned with closing this territory,against political opponents who are considered to be in favor of its remaining open, and of welcoming migrants. The latter range from players in transborder trade to religious humanitarian and migrant rights NGOs. Border security is therefore at the core of the political and media project of portraying immigration in problematic and warlike terms. Beyond controlling migrants, the issue above all orbits around reassuring the citizenry and various political players positioning themselves within society-structuring debates.
    Why Demand “Fences”?

    First and foremost, Arizona’s pro-fence players package transborder mobility as a variety of forms of violence, deriving from interpretation, speculation and—to reprise their terms—fantasies of “invasion”. In their rhetoric, the violence in Mexico has crossed the border. This spillover thesis is based on the experience of ranchers of the Cochise County on the border, who have faced property degradations since the end of the 1990s as a result of migrants and smugglers crossing their lands. In January 2013, the representative of the Arizona Cattlemen Association struck an alarmist tone: “Our people are on the frontline and the rural areas of our border are unsecured10”. The murder of an Association member in March 2010 was cited as evidence, swiftly attributed to what was dubbed an “illegal alien11”.

    “Border security also reflects domestic political stakes.”

    Based on their personal experiences of border migration, the pro-fence camp has taken up a common discursive register concerning the national stakes tied to such mobility. As Republican State Senator Gail Griffin explains, they express a desire to restore public order over the national territory, against the “chaos” provoked by these violent intrusions:

    “People in larger communities away from the border don’t see it as we do on the border but the drugs that are coming in though my backyard are ending up in everybody’s community in the State of Arizona and in this country. So it’s just not a local issue, or a county issue or a state issue, it’s a national issue 12.”

    In their view, the threat is as much to public order as it is to national identity. These fears denote a preoccupation with the Hispanization of society and cultural shifts affecting a nation that they define as being “Anglo-Saxon”. When the Build the Border Fence fundraising drive was launched on July 27, 2011, for example, Representative Steve Smith pronounced himself “horrified” by a development that he called “Press 2 for Spanish” in telephone calls. He also condemned the lack of integration on the part of Mexican migrants:

    “If you don’t like this country with you, you wanna bring your language with you, your gangfare with you, stay where you were! Or face the consequences. But don’t make me change because you don’t want to13.”

    Finally, border security also reflects domestic political stakes. It is a variable in the political balance of power with the federal government to influence decisions on immigration policy. Arizona elected representatives condemn the federal government’s inefficiency and lay claim to migration decision-making powers at the state-level. The “fence” is also portrayed a being a common sense “popular” project against reticent decision-making elites.
    “Fences”—or Virtual Surveillance?

    Control of the border is already disconnected from the border territory itself, and virtual and tactical technologies are prioritized in order to manage entry to the US. “Fences” appear archaic compared to new surveillance technologies that enable remote control. In the 2000s, the “virtualization” of border control was favored by the Bush and Obama administrations. Since 2001-2002, it has been embedded in the strategic concept of “Smart Borders” within the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). This aims to filter authorized migration through programs that grant expedited- and preregistered-entry to US ports of entry, and through the generalization of biometric technologies. This strategy also rests upon integrating leading-edge technologies, such as the Secure Border Initiative (SBI) program that was in place from 2006 to 2011. At the time, the border area (including South-West Arizona) acquired watchtowers equipped with cameras and radar. Fences are, moreover, costly—and the financial and human costs of the construction, guarding and upkeep of these fences raise doubts over the benefits of such infrastructure. These doubts are expressed at security-technology fairs, where security professionals and industrialists gather14. There, the “fence” is ultimately understood as being a marginal control technology.

    Regardless, pro-fence activism in Arizona grants a key role to those military and police who help legitimate the recourse to “fences”. In particular, they draw on such models of securitization as the California border, that has been gradually been sealed since 1991, as well as, since 2006-07, the triple-barrier of Yuma, in South-West Arizona. Sheriff Paul Babeu, an ex-military National Guardsman who erected the “fences” in Yuma, assesses that they provide a tactical bonus for Border Patrol agents in smuggling centers, urban areas and flatlands15. Mainly, Arizona security professionals articulate their defense of the “fence” within the pursuit of personal political agendas, such as Republican sheriffs who are both security and political professionals.

    Attacking the Federal Government for Failure to Protect

    The spread of the pro-fence narrative largely rests upon widely-covered events designed to symbolize the process of militarization and to call for federal intervention. The materiality of “fences” elicits easy media coverage. The pro-fence camp are well aware of this, and regularly stage this materiality. During such public events as the 4thof July national holiday, they erect fake wooden fences on which they encourage participants to write “Secure the Border”. These pro-fence political players also seek out media coverage for their public statements.

    “Republicans consecrate Arizona as their laboratory for immigration and border security policy.”

    Such media as Fox News follow their activities to the extent of turning pro-fence events into a regular series. On August 25, 2011, on the Fox News program On The Record, presenter Greta Van Susteren invited Republican Representative Steve Smith and publicized the fundraising drive using visuals drawn from the initiative’s website 16. The presenter framed the interview by gauging that Arizona parliamentarians had “got a grip on things to get the White House’s attention”. At no point was Steve Smith really challenged on the true cost of the fence, nor on opposition to the project. This co-production between the channel’s conservative editorial line and the pro-fence narrative enables the border area to be presented as a warzone, and amplifies the critique of the federal government.

    This staging of the debate complements lobbying to set up direct contact with federal decision-makers, as well as legal actions to pressure them. Pro-barrier activists in Arizona thus set out plans to secure the border, which they try to spread among Arizona authorities and federal elected officials-17. Sheriff Paul Babeu, for instance, took part in consultations on border security conducted by Senator John McCain and Presidential candidate Mitt Romney. By passing repressive immigration laws and mobilizing Arizona legal advisors to defend these laws when they are challenged in court, Republicans consecrate Arizona as their laboratory for immigration and border security policy.
    Twists and Turns of “Build The Wall”

    Portraying transborder mobility as a “problem” on the local and, especially, the national levels; Legitimizing a security-based response by promoting the “fence” as only solution; And accusing the federal government of failing to protect its citizens. These are the three pillars of “The Fence”, the performance by pro-fence activists in the early 2010s. These moves have enabled making militarization of the border and the “Build The Wall” trope banal. Its elements are present in the current state of the discourse, when Donald Trump resorts to aggressive rhetoric towards migrants, touts his “Wall” as the solution, and stages photo-ops alongside prototypes of the wall—and when he accuses both Congress and California of refusing to secure the border. The issue here has little to do with the undocumented, or with the variables governing Central American migration. It has far more to do with point-scoring against political opponents, and with political positioning within debates that cleave US society.


    https://www.noria-research.com/before-the-trump-era-the-wall-made-in-arizona-as-political-performan
    #performance #performance_politique #spectacle #murs #barrières #barrières_frontalières #USA #Etats-Unis #Arizona #surveillance #surveillance_virtuelle #sécurité

    signalé par @reka

  • Illness as indicator

    THE first piece of news Americans woke up to on November 9th was that Donald Trump had been elected president. The second was that he owed his victory to a massive swing towards Republicans by white voters without college degrees across the north of the country, who delivered him the rustbelt states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania—all by one percentage point or less. Pundits had scoffed at Mr Trump’s plan to transform the Wall Street-friendly Republicans into a “workers’ party”, and flip the long-Democratic industrial Midwest: Hillary Clinton had led virtually every poll in these states, mostly by comfortable margins. But it was the plutocratic Donald who enjoyed the last laugh.


    http://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21710265-local-health-outcomes-predict-trumpward-swings-illness-indicator?fsrc=scn/tw_ec/illness_as_indicator
    #indicateur #maladie #santé #visualisation #graphique #élection #USA #Etats-Unis

    • In the aftermath of the stunning result, statistical analysts homed in on blue-collar whites as never before. Although pre-election polls showed Mr Trump with a 30-percentage-point advantage among whites without a college degree, exit polls revealed he actually won them by almost 40 points. Unsurprisingly, the single best predictor identified so far of the change from 2012 to 2016 in the share of each county’s eligible voters that voted Republican—in other words, the swing from Mitt Romney to Mr Trump—is the percentage of potential voters who are non-college whites. The impact of this bloc was so large that on November 15th Patrick Ruffini, a well-known pollster, offered a “challenge for data nerds” on Twitter: “Find the variable that can beat % of non-college whites in the electorate as a predictor of county swing to Trump.

      With no shortage of nerds, The Economist has taken Mr Ruffini up on his challenge. Although we could not find a single factor whose explanatory power was greater than that of non-college whites, we did identify a group of them that did so collectively: an index of public-health statistics. The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington has compiled county-level data on life expectancy and the prevalence of obesity, diabetes, heavy drinking and regular physical activity (or lack thereof). Together, these variables explain 43% of Mr Trump’s gains over Mr Romney, just edging out the 41% accounted for by the share of non-college whites (see chart).

      The two categories significantly overlap: counties with a large proportion of whites without a degree also tend to fare poorly when it comes to public health. However, even after controlling for race, education, age, sex, income, marital status, immigration and employment, these figures remain highly statistically significant. Holding all other factors constant—including the share of non-college whites—the better physical shape a county’s residents are in, the worse Mr Trump did relative to Mr Romney.

      #multicolinéarité !

  • COUAC • Mitt Romney, 45e président des États-Unis | Courrier international
    http://www.courrierinternational.com/breve/2012/11/08/mitt-romney-45e-president-des-etats-unis

    « Mitt Romney élu 45ème président des Etats-Unis d’Amérique ». Voilà ce que les internautes ont pu lire dans la nuit du mardi 6 au mercredi 7 novembre sur le site de la campagne de Mitt Romney. Cette bourde de l’équipe du candidat républicain, repéré par le site Political Wire, était initialement hébergée à l’adresse romney.solutionstreamcreative.com, mais a depuis été supprimée.Sur la page d’accueil, on pouvait notamment y lire « président-élu Mitt Romney » avec un slogan où il expliquait que sa priorité était « de remettre les gens au travail » et qu’il travaillait « en ce moment avec son équipe de transition pour mettre en place une
    administration à même d’assurer un transfert du pouvoir en douceur le 20
    janvier 2013 ». Les internautes pouvaient même postuler en ligne pour un poste au sein de l’équipe présidentielle.

    #USA #Élection #Romney #WTF

  • Russian P.M. Medvedev ‘Glad’ Romney Lost

    Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said he is glad the U.S. presidential election had not been won by “someone who considers Russia enemy number one,” according to the official Russian news agency — a clear reference to Mitt Romney.

    Another top official expressed the same sentiment. Alexey Pushkov, chairman of the State Duma’s powerful international affairs committee, said on his Twitter account that it was good the White House would not be occupied by someone who regards Russia as “the enemy.”

    Obama’s victory was “better for the outside world,” he said.

    Medvedev and Pushkov were alluding to comments first made by Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney last March, when he called Russia “our number one geopolitical foe.”

    Romney at the time was criticizing Obama for suggesting to Medvedev that he would be willing to make concessions to Russia on missile defense in Europe during a second term in the White House.

    “This is my last election,” Obama told the Russian. “After my election I have more flexibility.”

    The day after Obama’s re-election, Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated him on his win, invited Obama to visit Russia next year, and “expressed his hopes for continued constructive work together,” the Kremlin said in a statement.

    The following day, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin told an international conference in Moscow: “We hope that President Obama after his re-election will be more flexible on the issue of taking into account the opinions of Russia and others regarding a future configuration of NATO’s missile defense.”

    Writing on his Facebook page in October, Garry Kasparov, former world chess champion and leader of an anti-Putin movement, said Obama’s so-called “reset” of relations with Moscow “has been a disaster, giving Putin everything he wants despite his support of the Iranian nuclear program, arming [President Hugo] Chavez in Venezuela, protecting murderous [President Bashar] Assad in Syria, and increasing crackdowns here in Russia.

    “Romney was criticized for calling Russia the U.S.’s top geopolitical adversary, but he was correct – although he should have specified it is Putin, and not the Russian people, who oppose peace and cooperation with the West.”

    • I think we can agree on the following:

      a. Romney has no knowledge of anything related to or with foreign affairs, he would have been a disaster for any representative of the US abroad!
      When Romney would have become President Elect of the USA all present developments of improving relations with countries and individual leaders would have been destroyed!

      b. Mister Kasparov is a right-wing supporter... he is wealthier then any Russian around (in Russia), and shares no interest in making Russia more open to democracy, no statement proofs his commitment to democracy, and his public support of the nationalist Romney shows that he is not pro-international cooperation!

      c. Putin is a dictator, who is interested in personal power more then improving the situations of the Russian People.

      d. Were the US wants to protect itself against attacks from the East, Middle, Far or Near, it would be wise for the US-Administration to at least start talks with for instance the European Union on installing anti-missile installations on European soil!
      The Cold War era is behind us, the European States are stronger, and European People do not want an increase of possible dangers and endangerment of the established peace and rest that presently is around the European Continent!

      e. The only so-called proof for an Iranian build of a nuclear weapon comes from the state of Israel, and the whole world knows that the state of Israel is refusing to allow the IAEA to inspect the nuclear facilities of the state of Israel.
      So, condemning Iran for not allowing inspections by the IAEA, or accusing the Iranians of not cooperating with the demands by the IAEA, is not only hypocrite, but also reason for seriously doubting the honesty and sincerity of the leaders of the state of Israel!
      (and no, I am not pro-Iran were it concerns human rights and the like, I am for the free development of civilian nuclear power by any country if it so decides! Were the state of Israel claims to have the right to develop civil nuclear power to provide electricity to its people, so has the state of Iran, or any state in that region for that matter! To deny a state the same rights based upon a religion would also mean that the USA could be denied the right to develop civil nuclear power....... Past hasn’t and present doesn’t show any good thing coming from Christianity also (blessing of wars, supporting hate, international child-abuse, protection of war-criminals, protection of child-abusers... are not things that I would qualify as positive for Christianity...)

  • Regarde les US voter | Sylvain Lapoix
    http://owni.fr/2012/11/07/regarde-les-us-voter

    Scrutés, quantifiés, sondés... des déplacements de candidats au financement de leur campagne en passant par leurs bases électorales respectives, Barack Obama et Mitt Romney ont été datavisualisés sous toutes les coutures. Petit florilège des expérimentations les plus belles et les plus pertinentes.

    #Data #Politique #Pouvoirs #Barack_Obama #Mitt_Romney #presidentielle #US2012

  • United States celebrates historic day for gay rights | Gay Star News
    http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/united-states-celebrates-historic-day-gay-rights071112

    United States celebrates historic day for gay rights
    With four marriage equality battles won and the first lesbian to be elected in the US Senate, gay rights advocates are celebrating in America
    07 November 2012 | By Joe Morgan
    President Barack Obama, the first sitting US president to back marriage equality, has been given a second term.

    The United States can now celebrate a historic day for gay rights after the first sitting president in history to back marriage equality has been given a second term.

    President Barack Obama won the election after gaining the 270 electoral votes needed.

    With only Florida’s 29 electoral votes still undecided, Obama won 303 votes to Mitt Romney’s 206.

    In three states, Maine, Maryland and Washington, gay people are now able to get married and enjoy the same legal benefits as their heterosexual peers.

    In Minnesota, people voted to stop gay marriage from being banned outright in the state.

    The Human Rights Campaign president Chad Griffin, whose organization gave $5 million to the four marriage equality battles, said these laws give thousands of loving couples the ‘opportunity to make lifelong commitments through marriage.’

    He said: ‘This is a milestone night for the simple truth that when Americans are presented with the real lives of their friends and neighbors, they have no choice but to vote for equality.’

    Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin also made history by becoming the first openly gay person to be elected to the US Senate.

    ’I am honored and humbled and grateful, and I am ready to get to work - ready to stand with Barack Obama, and ready to fight for Wisconsin’s middle class,’ Baldwin told supporters at her victory party.’

    Openly gay candidate Mark Pocan took Baldwin’s seat in the House of Representatives, meaning it is the first time a gay member of congress is succeeded by another gay member.

    In early returns, openly gay Democratic candidate Mark Takano is leading against his Republican challenger in a new California district. If he wins, he would be the first gay Asian-American in Congress.

    If they were elected, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and his running-mate Paul Ryan said they would introduce a federal state-wide ban on same-sex marriage.

    Anti-gay and anti-abortion Republican candidate Todd Akin, renowned for saying women cannot get pregnant from ‘legitimate rape’, lost his fight to become a senator of Missouri.

    Writing on Facebook before the presidential result was officially announced, he said: ‘Fox News Channel projects Barack Hussein Obama has won reelection. May God have mercy on our nation.’

    Extremist Christian conservative pundit Bryan Fischer predicted on Twitter that anti-gay Mike Pence of Indiana would win the 2016 election. He added: ‘Today was Pearl Harbor. Tomorrow we begin planning for Normandy.’

    In his victory speech, President Barack Obama said gays should be able to achieve the American dream.

    He said: ‘It doesn’t matter who you are or where you come from or what you look like or where you love.

    ‘It doesn’t matter whether you’re black or white or Hispanic or Asian or Native American or young or old or rich or pool, abled, disabled, gay or straight.

    ‘You can make it here in America if you’re willing to try.’

  • Daily chart: Money, votes and imponderables | The Economist

    Elections US : hé hé intéressant la carte of The Economist... On investit massivement là où ça paye —> Floride, Ohio...

    http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2012/11/daily-chart-1?fsrc=scn/tw/te/dc/moneyvotesandimponderables

    Nov 6th 2012, 17:04 by Economist.com

    A map of swing-state campaigning

    IT IS difficult to gauge the effectiveness of advertising and campaign visits during a presidential campaign. Vast sums have been spent on TV ads, mostly cancelling each other out. Borrell Associates, a research firm, expects some $7.4 billion to be spent on television and radio advertising tied to all this year’s elections. On current showings, there will be almost 50% more ads than in 2008 in the presidential race alone, according to the Wesleyan Media Project, an academic monitoring group. The overwhelming majority of the ads are negative. As the map shows, Mitt Romney and his allies have outspent Barack Obama and friends in most of the key states. Mr Romney has also held more events in them. If the Republican nominee becomes America’s 45th president, some will argue that this edge won him the race. If he does not, it will still be possible to argue that he would have fared worse had his campaign not bought so many spots. The effectiveness of political ads remains difficult to measure, making it likely that the huge amount of money spent on them will be exceeded next time around.

    « Focus: The long and short of it

  • La cyberpropagande d’Obama et Romney | Sylvain Lapoix
    http://owni.fr/2012/11/02/la-cyberpropagande-dobama-et-romney

    Appelant ses lecteurs à partager le #mailing des deux candidats à la présidentielle américaine, le site ProPublica s’est lancé durant les derniers mois dans un projet sans précédant : prouver l’utilisation de fichiers personnels par Barack Obama et Mitt Romney.

    #Data #Politique #Pouvoirs #Barack_Obama #crowdsourcing #mail #microtargeting #Mitt_Romney #propublica #USA_2012

  • Christian preacher blames gays for Hurricane Sandy | Gay Star News
    http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/christian-preacher-blames-gays-hurricane-sandy291012

    Christian preacher blames gays for Hurricane Sandy
    Chaplain John McTernan has said God’s judgment of gays caused the hurricane nearing the east coast of the United States
    29 October 2012 | By Joe Morgan
    Chaplain John McTernan is blaming Hurricane Sandy on gay people, as well as Barack Obama and Mitt Romney’s ’support’ of gay issues.

    An anti-gay Christian preacher is already blaming Hurricane Sandy on gays.

    As the east coast of the United States prepares for the storm, which has already killed 60 people in the Caribbean, author and chaplain John McTernan has decided who is at fault.

    On his website Defend Proclaim The Faith, the preacher says the gathering storm must be God’s judgment on gays, and punishing the president Barack Obama for coming out in support of marriage equality.

    He believes ever since George Bush Sr signed the Madrid Peace Process to divide the land of Israel in 1991, ‘America has been under God’s judgment since this event.’

    McTernan said: ‘Obama is 100% behind the Muslim Brotherhood which has vowed to destroy Israel and take Jerusalem.

    ‘Both candidates are pro-homosexual and are behind the homosexual agenda. America is under political judgment and the church does not know it!’

    His reasoning for this is that it has been 21 years since the ‘perfect storm’ of October 1991.

    ’21 years breaks down to 7 x 3, which is a significant number with God. Three is perfection as the Godhead is three in one while seven is perfection,’ he said.

    McTernan had planned to host a prayer meeting tonight (29 October), which would be streamed online on his website.

    However as the storm is scheduled to go right over his house, the preacher has warned the sermons may be stopped if the power goes out.

    The online minister also blamed Hurricane Isaac, which later became a tropical storm, on homosexuals. He said gay festival Southern Decadence was to blame, as God was ‘putting an end to this city and its wickedness.’

    Thousands of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people enjoyed Southern Decadence, and nine preachers were arrested for an aggressive anti-gay demonstration.

    Tris Reid-Smith, director and editor of Gay Star News, who is in Baltimore, Maryland for LGBT workplace conference Out and Equal, said: ’So far it looks like any cancellations to events over the next few days are just going to give us more time for partying.

    ’If God is trying to punish the gays, he sure doesn’t know how to do it.’

    Sandy, dubbed a ‘Frankenstorm’, could affect up to 60 million people as several states have declared emergencies, schools have closed and transport services suspended.

  • MasterAdrian’s Weblog
    http://masteradrian.com

    Voting machines tied to the Romneys could decide the election in Ohio.

    Dear Adrian,

    Could a voting machine company with deep financial ties to the Romney family help Republicans steal the presidential election in Ohio?

    It could happen. If this year’s presidential election comes down to the electoral votes in Ohio, the deciding votes could be cast on electronic voting machines manufactured by Hart Intercivic.

    Tell the Department of Justice: Don’t let Republicans steal the election in Ohio with Romney-owned voting machines. Click here to automatically sign the petition.

    A 2007 study conducted by Ohio’s Secretary of State showed that Hart Intercivic’s touch screen voting machines could be easily corrupted. The New York Times reported:

    At polling stations, teams working on the study were able to pick locks to access memory cards and use hand-held devices to plug false vote counts into machines. At boards of election, they were able to introduce malignant software into servers.1

    Hart Intercivic is majority owned by H.I.G. Capital which controls two of the five seats on the Hart Intercivic board. An investment fund with deep ties to the Romney family and the Mitt Romney for president campaign, H.I.G. Capital was founded by Tony Tamer, a major bundler for the Romney campaign, and it is one of the largest partners of Solamere Capital, an investment fund founded by Tagg Romney and Spencer Zwick, Mitt Romney’s chief fundraiser from the 2008 presidential campaign.2 This makes the Romney family part owner of the voting machine company, through its interest in H.I.G. Capital.

    Tell the Department of Justice: Don’t let Republicans steal the election in Ohio with Romney-owned voting machines. Click here to automatically sign the petition.

    What’s more, three other H.I.G. Capital directors are major fundraisers for the Romney campaign, and H.I.G. Capital is the 11th largest contributor to the Mitt Romney campaign.3 Two of the company’s directors, Douglas Berman and Brian Schwartz, were even in attendance at the Boca Raton fundraiser4 where Romney infamously declared:

    There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what… who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it… These are people who pay no income tax…[M]y job is is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.5

    And as if the ties between Tagg Romney’s Solamere, Romney contributors at H.I.G. Capital, and Hart Intercivic weren’t astonishing enough, two members of Hart Intercivic’s 5-member board of directors made direct contributions to the Romney campaign. That’s right. Directors of the company that makes touchscreen voting machines that could decide the presidential election in Ohio, have made contributions to the Mitt Romney for President campaign.

    It is disturbing and dangerous that Hart Intercivic, the company that makes the machines that will count many of the votes in Ohio on election night has deep financial ties to family members of Mitt Romney. And that its leadership has been actively involved presidential campaign by donating and bundling hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Mitt Romney. The fact that these machines are easily corruptible touch screen voting machines makes matters even worse.

    Gov. Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama are locked in a tight election race which could very well be decided by Ohio’s 18 electoral votes. We must take action now.

    http://act.credoaction.com/r/?r=6985911&p=romney_ohio&id=49535-2099125-43oGhNx&t=10

    Thank you for all you do to protect the integrity of our Democracy.

    Becky Bond, Political Director
    CREDO Action from Working Assets

    1. Bob Driehaus, “Ohio Elections Official Calls Machines Flawed,” New York Times, December 15, 2007.
    2. Rick Ungar, “Romney Family Investment Ties To Voting Machine Company That Could Decide The Election Causing Concern,” Forbes, October 20, 2012.
    3. “Mitt Romney (R) Top Contributors.” Open Secrets, October 1, 2012.
    4. Dave Gilson, Who Was at Romney’s “47 Percent” Fundraiser?, Mother Jones, Sept. 18, 2012.
    5. MoJo News Team, “Full Transcript of the Mitt Romney Secret Video,” Mother Jones, September 19, 2012.

  • Does Romney’s Religious Devotion Make Him More, or Less, Trustworthy?
    http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/12049-does-romneys-religious-devotion-make-him-more-or-less-trustworthy

    Does Romney’s Religious Devotion Make Him More, or Less, Trustworthy?
    Sunday, 14 October 2012 07:42 By Valerie Tarico, Truthout | Op-Ed

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    Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney during a campaign event at Shawnee State University in Portsmouth, Ohio, October 13, 2012. (Photo: Jim Wilson / The New York Times) Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney during a campaign event at Shawnee State University in Portsmouth, Ohio, October 13, 2012. (Photo: Jim Wilson / The New York Times) Are the devout more likely to speak the truth, base policy on objective evidence and demonstrate integrity in public life? It turns out, many religious have nuanced definitions of integrity, and some faith leaders have used that as a license to deceive.

    Mitt Romney may be a member of a religious minority, but conservative Christians are working hard to think of him as “one of us.” Romney himself is hoping that they will take his religious devotion as a sign that he is a person of integrity, someone to be trusted even if he won’t share his tax returns or details of policy proposals. Does religion make people more trustworthy?

  • Romney’s 47% comments are exactly what wealthy conservatives think: that they are the true victims « MasterAdrian’s Weblog
    http://masteradrian.com/2012/10/10/romneys-47-comments-are-exactly-what-wealthy-conservatives-think-that-

    Romney’s 47% comments are exactly what wealthy conservatives think: that they are the true victims
    October 10, 2012

    Why the Obscenely Wealthy Whine When They Have It So Good

    Romney’s 47% comments are exactly what wealthy conservatives think: that
    they are the true victims.

    October 9, 2012 |

    So, Mitt Romney now tells Sean Hannity he was “completely wrong” about
    the 47%. On the surface that looks like a typical etch-a-sketch campaign
    pivot. But I think there is more to it than a little clean up in aisle three.

    My theory is that after careful research and analysis, the smartest guys at
    1% World Headquarters reached a disturbing conclusion. They decided that
    the whole fiasco needs to be contained as much as possible because it has
    the potential for serious damage well beyond the November election.
    How? Let’s see.
    First, the setting. This is how they think and talk among themselves. It’s
    not just at fundraisers, but in their churches, country clubs and board
    rooms as well. Their servants hear them all the time. But they can’t tell for
    fear of being easily dismissed. Thanks to YouTube we now get to see and
    hear for ourselves.
    Yes, they really do believe there is something wrong with the people. What
    is it? It’s that our default preference is to be lazy moochers. As
    employers this is definitely how they think about us as workers. This is why there
    are entire schools devoted to “management”. We also hear a lot about their
    true worldview any time we start to talk about forming a union.
    The roots of this mindset run very deep. Did the job creator plantation
    owners ever want to consider there was anything wrong with the slavery system?
    Of course not. But they were very eager to talk about all the things that
    were wrong with the slaves.
    That legacy is very much with us They still don’t want anyone to think
    there is anything wrong with the system.
    For one thing, it matters greatly to their own sense of self-worth that
    they be seen as deserving of their riches and power. Most of them were born on
    third base. Real economic mobility in our society has been essentially
    frozen for decades. Nevertheless, the rich and the super-rich desperately want
    to believe that they hit a triple or a home run .
    And even if they are genuinely “self-made,” in the Horatio Alger myth
    sense, their “achievements” occur within a system. The nature of that system
    is that for every LeBron James “success” there are dashed hopes and dreams
    for bazillions of others.
    That aside, it’s even more important that we-the-people believe that the
    rich are “deserving” too. It is a critical component of the “legitimacy” of
    their rule. It’s all OK because they weren’t born into feudal era
    royalty. Theirs is a privilege of “merit.”
    The entire edifice of capitalism is wrapped around the protestant work
    ethic which compels us to be loyal, grateful and subservient to employers and
    their power. If we are poor or unemployed or not employers ourselves, it
    must be because there is something wrong with us. That is as core as core
    belief gets. According to them, to even consider that an economy organized
    differently might produce more equitable outcomes is to wallow in envy,
    resentment or worse “socialism,” (aka: anything that isn’t the status quo.)
    Confusion on issues of “dependence” is also central to the philosophical
    grip they maintain on our minds. The last thing they want is for ordinary
    citizens to be self-reliant. That would mean we wouldn’t need them. In
    particular it would mean we wouldn’t need their J.O.B. system as the means by
    which we work in order to live.
    By portraying us as lazy moochers dependent on “government,” they deflect
    attention from the reality that we are utterly dependent on them. That
    dependence is just fine in their view. In language worthy of Orwell, they call
    our dependence (on “job creators”) “personal responsibility.”
    The joke of course is that amongst themselves, the super-rich know that
    capitalism has never met the needs of all the people all the time. It never
    will. As capitalism evolves, it does so less and less.
    Consequently, for various reasons, capitalists compel the government to
    pick up some of the slack. This includes direct government hiring (job
    creation which keeps the unemployment rate down), mass incarceration (reduces the
    size of the available workforce and creates jobs in the prison-industrial
    complex) and gigantic subsidies to profit making businesses (bailouts,
    defense contracts, tax incentives etc.).
    Unemployment insurance, food stamps and other such programs also mask and
    offset the intrinsic inability of the private sector to meet the needs of
    tens of millions.
    Not that we should pay attention to any of that. To the contrary,
    exercising their god given right to whine about the moochers is one of the
    privileges that comes with their wealth and power, like private jets and country
    club memberships.
    As Steve Perlstein of the Washington Post put it recently in his brilliant
    column “ Manifesto for the Entitled
    (http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/i-am-a-job-creator-a-manifesto-for-the-entitled/2012/09/28/756f2e90-07ee-
    11e2-858a-5311df86ab04_story.

    html) :”
    I am the misunderstood superhero of American capitalism, single-handedly
    creating wealth and prosperity despite all the obstacles put in my way by
    employees, government and the media.
    I am a job creator and I am entitled.
    I am entitled to complain about the economy even when my stock price, my
    portfolio and my profits are at record levels.
    I am entitled to a healthy and well-educated workforce, a modern and
    efficient transportation system and protection for my person and property, just
    as I am entitled to demonize the government workers who provide them.
    And speaking of whiners, isn’t Mitt Romney an Ayn Rand Hall-of-Famer for
    honestly expressing the victimization of the rich at the hands of the
    moochers? Didn’t he basically say, “Isn’t it clear that they have rigged the
    election against us! And yet for only $50,000 from each of you my brothers and
    sisters I will soldier on against these moocher barbarians!”
    (Note to my fellow 99 percenters. Surely we should repent. My God what is
    wrong with us that we have no compassion for the burden we are to the Mitt
    Romney’s of the world?)
    All of which brings us to the number one reason Romney has to try to make
    it all go away.
    Forty Seven percent are lazy moochers? Forty Seven percent!
    That’s got to include a sizeable number of white people.
    Now if Romney had said 100% of the people were lazy moochers, some whites
    would still insist that he wasn’t talking about them. The people who don’t
    want the government messing with their Medicare are but one example of this
    widespread capacity for willful ignorance.
    But others are more reasonable. And indeed, you can almost see the light
    bulbs going on in the heads of white people all over the country. It shows up
    in letters to the editor, sound bites on the news and private
    conversations.
    For example, the day after 47% went viral, the Detroit Free Press quoted a
    white voter as follows:
    Daniel Pier, 54, of Warren caught the comments on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on
    Tuesday. He had been undecided and was leaning toward Romney. Now, he’s
    moved toward Obama. Pier is on Social Security disability for a bad heart.
    “I’m hearing him (Romney) talk about entitlements. … We’re depending on
    the government. I couldn’t live unless we collected that,” he said. “Every
    valve in my heart is bad.”
    Mitt thinks white people are lazy moochers? Well then what’s the point of
    being a Romney Democrat? Isn’t the whole idea that our shared resentment
    over working hard and paying taxes to take care of them is our bond with you,
    Mr. Romney.
    Being caught on tape implying that white people are lazy moochers too puts
    the whole Lee Atwater, Ronald Reagan, welfare queen, food stamp president,
    dog-whistle Republican Party franchise in jeopardy.
    Do we owe Mitt our thanks and gratitude? I think so. He has given us a gift
    that will keep on giving long after the election is over. Thanks to this
    video more of us might stop apologizing for ourselves and start questioning
    the system. As if that weren’t enough, this video might also make it harder
    for them to use race to divide and conquer.
    Surely even Sean Hannity could see that anything leading to either
    possibility, let alone both, would be “completely wrong.”

    Frank Joyce is a life long activist and author. He can heard on Dave
    Marsh’s radio program “Live from the Land of Hopes and Dreams,” on SiriusXM
    channel 127 from 1-4 Pm Eastern time.

  • ThinkProgress
    http://thinkprogress.org

    At First Debate, Mitt Romney Admits That He Would ‘Absolutely Not’ Support His Own Tax Plan

    By Travis Waldron and Jeff Spross posted from ThinkProgress Economy on Oct 4, 2012 at 11:02 am

    Mitt Romney seemingly walked back his support of his own tax plan last night at the first presidential debate, telling President Obama and the American people that he would “absolutely not” support a plan that cuts taxes on the wealthy, raises taxes on the middle class, or adds to the federal budget deficit. Independent analyses have found that it is mathematically impossible for Romney’s plan, as written, to avoid either adding to the deficit or raising taxes on the middle class. And Romney himself said at a debate in February that he was “going to cut taxes on everyone across the country by 20 percent, including the top 1 percent.”

  • Obama has made FBI and CIA gay, says family activist
    Camenker, a US family rights and pro-life activist said the FBI and CIA have gone gay and that a terrorist movement de-listed homosexuality as a mental illness
    03 October 2012 | By Dan Littauer
    Brian Camenker, a US family rights activist said the FBI and CIA have ’gone gay’

    According to Brian Camenker a family rights and pro-life activist the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) became gay and a threat to the family.

    He also said that an ‘extreme terrorist movement’ was behind the removal of homosexuality from the list of mental illnesses.

    Appearing on the Voice of Christian Youth America program Crosstalk, with host Jim Schneider, Camenker head of the MassResistance organization said: ‘It’s unbelievable. ... They have started a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender program on their careers website and they apparently have even gone from there to embracing the gay agenda, having a gay advisory committee, welcoming homosexuals as FBI agents, getting involved with pride events, but more than that going to gay pride events and encouraging homosexual activists to report hate crimes and working with them against pro-family groups.

    ‘…It is very, very frightening to see. The FBI is very powerful and they can do a lot of damage if they are out to get you.

    ‘We’ve seen that in the schools, we’ve seen that all over the place. We’re really scared about the FBI being this out homosexual organization.’

    According to Camenker even the CIA isn’t ‘safe’ anymore from the ‘gay agenda. In the old days you thought of the CIA as being this internal spy organization but now what they are doing is they are actually participating in these activities [like gay pride events]’.

    Camenker went on to lament that gays are no longer banned from serving in the CIA but instead the agency is participating in the ‘gay agenda’ adding: ‘Man, this is really, really, really bad.’

    Camenker argued on the MassResistance website that: ‘The US military and State Department aren’t the only branches of the US government to “go gay”.

    ‘Since the Obama Administration took control, the FBI and CIA, the two main federal law enforcement and surveillance organizations, have fully embraced the homosexual and transgender movements, and appear to be poised to crack down on pro-family groups and citizens who are critical.’

    Camenker regards Barack Obama as ‘more aggressive at pushing the radical homosexual and transgender agendas than anyone could possibly have imagined.

    ‘The fact that the mainstream media (and most of the conservative media) is almost completely silent about this gives him even more cover to continue. In a second term, it would unquestionably get even worse.’

    Camenker is also concerned that the Republican candidate Mitt Romney has been recruited into the ‘gay agenda’ saying: ‘When Romney announced to a national audience that he would support ‘gay rights’ and in effect be the most pro-homosexual Republican president ever, that didn’t give us much confidence.’

    Towards the end of the program on VCY Camenker criticized California’s new law limiting the practice of harmful and discredited sexual orientation conversion therapy on minors. He claimed that ‘an extreme terrorist movement in the medical community’ was behind the removal of homosexuality from mental illness listing.

    He also claimed that conversion therapy works as ‘there is a whole world of ex-gays around’.

    He warned that the new California law will be especially bad for ‘these kids who have been preyed upon by the homosexual movement’ and that homosexuality for them should be seen as ‘just a fad.’

    • Talking about a terrorist group that is “registered” as pro-life and at the same time is promoting., endorsing and enforcing killings, murdering, torturing innocent children, denying people health-care, denying people safe-guards against life-threatening illnesses and diseases...... the Roman Catholic Church.......

      Would this man Camenker agree that that organization is also a terrorist organization?

      I doubt it!
      I think I can say in all safety that this mister Camenker will not agree with my statement and point of view, and will oppose it as perhaps blasphemic, anti-papism or perhaps even insulting a religion. but then... he’s got the right to state what he is stating..... and so has every other person... were I think that what he states is not proven and my statement and argument is proven!

      The Roman Catholic Church has denied people preservatives to protect them against HIV/AIDS, the Roman Catholic Church has protected priests who raped, tortured and abused children from prosecution by law enforcement bodies, the Roman Catholic Church has actively enabled child-abusers, child-murderers and child-torturers to continue with their horrific activities by transferring (re-locating) them to other locations without informing the people of the communities, the Roman Catholic Church actively has and is endorsing the use of deadly weapons in conflict areas and regions by blessing the fighters, their actions, and the conflicts these fighters are involved in.....

      I do refer to such an organization as a terrorist organization!

  • Web Site Editor May Face Mormon Excommunication - NYTimes.com
    http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/22/us/web-site-editor-may-face-mormon-excommunication.html?_r=3

    Mr. Twede’s situation was first reported on Friday by the Web site The Daily Beast, which suggested that Mr. Twede was being disciplined because he had posted several articles on MormonThink critical of Mr. Romney.

    “You wouldn’t be called to a disciplinary council for criticizing Mitt Romney,” he said. “You would be called for doing harm to the church.”

  • Ces illuminés font tout de même un petit peu peur, non? Romney Implies Obama Will Remove God From Coins, Obama Campaign Fires Back
    http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/romney-implies-obama-will-remove-god-from-coins

    Mitt Romney suggested Saturday in Virginia Beach that President Obama wants to remove God from coins, provoking a fierce retort from the president’s campaign.

    “I will not take God out of our platform,” the Republican nominee said after reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. “I will not take God off our coins, and I will not take God out of my heart.”

  • The US Medicare debate
    http://www.wsws.org/articles/2012/aug2012/pers-a25.shtml

    The US Medicare debate
    25 August 2012

    Much attention in the US presidential campaign has been focused of late on Medicare, the health care program relied upon by some 50 million elderly Americans. Democrat Barack Obama and his Republican opponent Mitt Romney are trading accusations about placing Medicare in jeopardy, while both parties and both candidates are in agreement that drastic cuts are required to “save” the government-run program.

    The discussion surrounding Medicare is a particularly cynical component of a highly manipulated, anti-democratic process through which the bourgeoisie is vetting its political representatives and deciding who it believes will best carry out its dictates over the next four years. The so-called Medicare debate is a façade behind which the two big business parties are preparing an unprecedented attack on not only Medicare, but Social Security and all that remains of the social welfare programs enacted since the New Deal.

    #Etats-Unis #Santé #Elections

  • ‘Rage Against the Machine’ guitarist smacks down Paul Ryan’s compliment
    http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/08/17/rage-against-the-machine-guitarist-smacks-down-paul-ryans-compliment

    The running mate of presumptive Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney told The New York Times this week that one of his favorite bands is “Rage Against the Machine.” But it’s not their lyrics that Paul Ryan likes, mind you — it’s just the music.

    In an editorial response published Friday in Rolling Stone, “Rage” guitarist Tom Morello is having approximately none of that.

    “I wonder what Ryan’s favorite Rage song is?” the rebel rocker wrote. “Is it the one where we condemn the genocide of Native Americans? The one lambasting American imperialism? Our cover of ‘Fuck the Police’? Or is it the one where we call on the people to seize the means of production? So many excellent choices to jam out to at Young Republican meetings!”

    He continues: “Don’t mistake me, I clearly see that Ryan has a whole lotta ‘rage’ in him: A rage against women, a rage against immigrants, a rage against workers, a rage against gays, a rage against the poor, a rage against the environment. Basically the only thing he’s not raging against is the privileged elite he’s groveling in front of for campaign contributions.”

    #RATM #US #Paul_Ryan #Musique

  • Très intéressante recension d’Electronic Intifada sur les fabrications d’un « journaliste » anti-palestinien et anti-libanais. Et de constater qu’après de pareilles fabrications, on peut encore parfaitement travailler. Revealed : producer of propaganda BBC report on Gaza attack has history of fabrication
    http://electronicintifada.net/content/revealed-producer-propaganda-bbc-report-gaza-attack-has-history-fabrication/11532

    In 2002, the Toronto Star quoted CBC’s Macdonald saying that Martin eventually admitted that his source for the fake Hizballah quote was Walid Phares (“Curious silence greets discredited Hezbollah tale,” 13 December 2002).

    A former top-ranking political leader of the far-right sectarian Lebanese Forces militia, Phares has reinvented himself in recent years as a “terrorism expert.” Last year he was controversially given a top job as part of US presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s team of Middle East policy advisors.

    The Canadian press caught onto the story in 2002 because the fabricated quote appeared at a time when the Canadian government was considering a ban on Hizballah’s political-social wing. The quote appeared to be decisive in the ban going through, although the government denied that was the case after the CBC exposed the quote to be false.

  • Anne Romney travaille-t-elle ? | Katha Pollitt (Les mots sont importants)
    http://lmsi.net/Anne-Romney-travaille-t-elle

    On se souvient des sorties aux relents pétainistes sur le « vrai travail » de Nicolas Sarkozy pendant la campagne présidentielle. On connaît depuis longtemps le refrain sur les devoirs et obligations de ceux, et de celles surtout, qui perçoivent des allocations et qui coûtent cher sans qu’on sache vraiment si ils et elles le méritent. Depuis janvier 2012 aux Etats Unis, le candidat à l’investiture républicaine pour l’élection présidentielle Mitt Romney, ancien gouverneur du Massachusetts, mormon, diplômé d’Harvard, homme d’affaires richissime, blanc, hétérosexuel et père de cinq enfants, contre le droit à l’avortement mais pour la peine de mort, s’est illustré en s’attaquant aux mères « assistées » qui devraient « travailler ». Dans ce contexte, la chroniqueuse au magazine The Nation et poétesse étasunienne Katha Pollitt apporte un éclairage précieux, et féministe, sur le débat suscité par la question : « la femme de Romney travaille-t-elle vraiment » ? Source : Les mots sont importants

    • Le vertueux Mitt Romney est fondateur du fonds d’investissement #Bain_Capital, actionnaire de #Samsonite au moment de la cession de l’usine française.
      L’usine a été cédée en 2005 à des repreneurs qui l’ont liquidée en 2007, envoyant au tapis 205 salarié-e-s licencié-e-s.
      Les patrons liquidateurs ont été condamnés en 2009 à des peines de prison ferme pour avoir sciemment provoqué la faillite de l’entreprise, en détournant 2,5 millions d’euros.
      Depuis, les ex-ouvrier-e-s sont déterminé-e-s à poursuivre les responsables de cette liquidation frauduleuse jusqu’aux Etats-Unis, où ils poursuivent le fondateur et ancien actionnaire de Bain Capital, Mitt Romney. Cette affaire commence à faire des vagues si l’on encroit ce clip de campagne d’#Obama sur les conséquences des activités spéculatives de Mitt Romney.
      http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/yhQlnx1NSUw?rel=0

  • Mitt Romney was a homophobic bully in high school, say former classmates - Boing Boing
    http://boingboing.net/2012/05/10/mitt-romney-was-a-homophobic-b.html

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/donkeyhotey/6250707750

    Flickr

    In the Washington Post, testimonials by prep school classmates of U.S. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney paint the former Governor of Massachusetts as a homophobic bully. So, basically— he hasn’t changed much. Snip:

    John Lauber, a soft-spoken new student one year behind Romney, was perpetually teased for his nonconformity and presumed homosexuality. Now he was walking around the all-boys school with bleached-blond hair that draped over one eye, and Romney wasn’t having it.

    “He can’t look like that. That’s wrong. Just look at him!” an incensed Romney told Matthew Friedemann, his close friend in the Stevens Hall dorm, according to Friedemann’s recollection. Mitt, the teenage son of Michigan Gov. George Romney, kept complaining about Lauber’s look, Friedemann recalled.

    With help from other bullies, the story goes, Romney then tackled Lauber, pinned him to the ground, and while the young man was weeping, cut off his hair with scissors.