A protest was recently held at the Oakland docks against an Israeli ship that was due to be unloaded there. There was wide celebration on the left that this unloading was delayed for 24 hours. While this was a success, some weaknesses were also revealed. For more, see the attached article.

While some news about the Israeli attack on the flotilla has reached the media, they are still failing to carry a real account of the chain of events on the Mavi Marmara. Here is one such account:

6. Forwarded by Greta Berlin Monday, June 07, 2010

A diary of events on the Mavi Marmara and after

Firstly I must apologise for taking so long to update my blog. The events of the past few days have been hectic to say the least, and I am still trying to come to grips with many of the things that have happened.

It was this time last week that I was on the top deck of the Mavi Marmara, and first spotted Israeli war ships in the distance, as they approached the humanitarian flotilla. Little did I know how deadly and bloody were the events that soon began to unfold.

What I will write in this entry is fact, every letter of it, none of it is opinion, none of it is analysis, and I will leave that to you, the reader.

After spotting the warships at a distance, (at roughly 11pm) the organisers called for passengers to wear their life vests and remain indoors as they monitored the situation.

“In going to war in Gaza in late 2008, Israeli military and political leaders hoped to teach Hamas a lesson. They succeeded. Hamas learned that the best way to fight Israel is to let Israel do what it has begun to do naturally: bluster, blunder, stonewall, and fume.” So wrote a columnist in the Israeli daily newspaper, Ha’aritz. He continued by attacking the stupidity (from Israel’s point of view) of its latest outrage – the boarding of the Free Gaza Flotilla meant to help break Israel’s siege of Gaza.

But from the point of view of the Israeli regime, why was this stupid?

They conducted a war against the people of Gaza in 2008-9 in which blatant acts of “crimes against humanity” were conducted, and nothing was done. They continued to steal land and water from the Palestinians in the West Bank, and aside from a little flap from US President Obama, nothing is done. They falsified passports of a series of countries in the process of murdering a Palestinian leader in Dubai, and nothing was done. They continued with their siege of Gaza with impunity.

The question is who is to do what?

To read more, see attachment

The developments in Thailand, leading up to and including the recent mass murder carried out by the regime, perfectly embody the major processes under way in world capitalism of recent decades.

During the Vietnam War and shortly thereafter, the US maintained an important air force base in Thailand. This was mainly to check Chinese communism. With the collapse of Stalinism as a world force, the base was abandoned, but the US military still maintains close ties with its Thai counterpart, including helping train the Thai air force.

Globalization and “Asian Tigers”

Perhaps more important than the military link are the developments of world capitalism, first and foremost its famous “globalization”. No region of the world was more affected and saw more economic changes from this than did the “Asian Tigers” in 1980s and early ‘90s, and Thailand perhaps more so than any of the other “Tigers”.

See attachment to read more

By John Reimann

An environmental disaster is spreading through the Gulf of Mexico and beyond. On April 20th, there was an explosion and then a fi re on the deepwater oil drilling rig the “Deepwater Horizon” operated by Transocean Ltd. under contract from British Petroleum (BP). Eleven workers lost their lives in the explosion. The rig then capsized and sank and oil started pouring out of the well, which is nearly one mile deep. BP and their public relations agent – the US government – estimate that some 5,000 barrels daily are polluting the ocean. Some scientists estimate the rate at between 25,000 to 80,000 barrels per day.

“Free” Market

From its very start, this entire calamity was caused by the basic laws of motion of capitalism, itself, and exacerbated by the “free” market policies that are so prevalent today.

The news is now reporting that a tube has been placed in the oil well that is leaking up to 80,000 barrels of crude per day into the ocean. Already, before we know how effective this tube will be, the cover up is in place. "We will not rest until BP permanently seals the wellhead, the spill is cleaned up, and the communities and natural resources of the Gulf Coast are restored and made whole," Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar said in a joint statement. But that is exactly the point: We won't know for decades if not centuries the full extent of the damage of this disaster. For instance, mile-long plumes of oil have been discovered under the surface of the water. These are drifting with the currents. As they drift, they deplete the water's oxygen supplies, thus threatening all sea life around it. And this doesn't include the toxic effects of this oil, plus the dispersant sprayed on the leak. At the time of the explosion, BP executives were on deck of the rig celebrating the fact that up to that moment they had escaped the effects of their criminal neglect and cutting of corners.

A series of studies have showed that some 80-85% of US troops in WW’s I and II intentionally avoided killing the enemy. (Source: “The Compassionate Instinct” by Keltner, Marsh & Smith) Since then, the US military has found ways to “desensitize” recruits – essentially brainwashing them into being killing machines.

• If I join the military, what sort of brainwashing/desensitization will I receive to make me more willing to kill others?

Reports have consistently shown US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan have commonly killed old people, pregnant women and children. They have done it from the ground and from the air. (For the latest report, see “collateralmurder.com”)

• If I join the military, will I end up killing innocent and possibly helpless civilians?

In recent decades, the US military has commonly used “depleted uranium” (DU) for bullet shells, bombs, tank armor. This DU burns and sends out a highly toxic nuclear dust upon impact. Horrific birth defects in Iraq have skyrocketed as have cancer rates.

It now appears the Greek debt crisis is even worse than they thought. Now, the contagion is spreading to Portugal. There, the introduction of monetary union gave that country the worst of two worlds. Portugal used to be one of the main textile exporters in the world. However, it has been unable to compete with such extreme low wage countries as China. On the other hand, due to its relative lack of development, it has been unable to compete with Germany in the field of more developed goods - heavy machinery and so on. The introduction of the euro helped mask this, and the result was a real estate boom that helped keep the economy afloat. Now this is over, and investors are realizing that the Portuguese economy is in little better shape than the Greek, so it is the next one headed for the slaughter house of international finance capital.

As if this weren't bad enough, there is talk that Spain is next. The Portuguese and Greek economies are relative pipsqueaks in the EU, but Spain is the fourth largest economy in the union.