(METAPHOR) relatively transparent ruse to hide something embarrassing behind something good, or something neutral. For example, a man may attempt to hit on a woman by attempting to get her involved in bible study. The woman would ordinarily find being hit on disagreeable or even offensive, so the man conceals his intentions as something considered good.
Comes from the tradition of Renaissance artists using figleaves to conceal the genitalia of nude subjects.
Comes from the tradition of Renaissance artists using figleaves to conceal the genitalia of nude subjects.
During the lead up to the invasion of Iraq, neoconservatives used concern for the the welfare of Iraqis under Saddam's oppressive rule as a figleaf for their bloodlust.
by Primus Intra Pares July 25, 2010
specific object; explicit and sole goal. Used to describe the reason one committed a particular act, especially if the motivation is somewhat unusual.
"Disaster capitalism" sometimes takes advantage of natural disasters, such as the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. But in 1973, Pinochet and the US Central Intelligence Agency carried out a coup d'etat with the express purpose of imposing neoliberal policies against the democratic will of the Chilean people.
by Primus Intra Pares July 11, 2010
Third largest oil company in the world, by sales (behind Exxon Mobile and Royal Dutch Shell; in 2009, these were $246.1 billion.
BP is the largest oil and gas producer in the US.
Lessor of Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling platform in the Gulf of Mexico. On 20 April 2010, a fire and explosion on the Deepwater Horizon killed eleven crew members and was followed by a blowout, during which perhaps four million barrels of crude oil were poured into the ecologically sensitive area.
Company was founded in 1909 by William Knox D'Arcy as the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC), and used its ties with the hapless Qejar Dynasty ruling Iran.
In 1925, Reza Khan (formerly an employee of APOC) had himself proclaimed Shah; his ascendancy from commoner to emperor was stimulated by Iran popular anger at the way APOC was pumping billions of pounds from Iran's land to the Exchequer of the UK, while a ridiculously small amount went to Iran itself. Shah Reza promised to revise the agreement with APOC, but after 7 years of negotiating with the company, got nothing more than a name change (to Anglo-Iranian).
In 1951, Prime Minister Muhammad Mussadegh nationalize the company's assets in Iran. On behalf of AIOC, MI-5 and the CIA staged a coup d'etat that ousted the democratically elected Prime Minister in favor of absolute dictatorship by the Shah (1953).
BP is the largest oil and gas producer in the US.
Lessor of Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling platform in the Gulf of Mexico. On 20 April 2010, a fire and explosion on the Deepwater Horizon killed eleven crew members and was followed by a blowout, during which perhaps four million barrels of crude oil were poured into the ecologically sensitive area.
Company was founded in 1909 by William Knox D'Arcy as the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC), and used its ties with the hapless Qejar Dynasty ruling Iran.
In 1925, Reza Khan (formerly an employee of APOC) had himself proclaimed Shah; his ascendancy from commoner to emperor was stimulated by Iran popular anger at the way APOC was pumping billions of pounds from Iran's land to the Exchequer of the UK, while a ridiculously small amount went to Iran itself. Shah Reza promised to revise the agreement with APOC, but after 7 years of negotiating with the company, got nothing more than a name change (to Anglo-Iranian).
In 1951, Prime Minister Muhammad Mussadegh nationalize the company's assets in Iran. On behalf of AIOC, MI-5 and the CIA staged a coup d'etat that ousted the democratically elected Prime Minister in favor of absolute dictatorship by the Shah (1953).
BP, p.l.c. chief executive Tony Hayward took a day off Saturday to see his 52-foot yacht "Bob" compete in a glitzy race off England's shore, a leisure trip that further infuriated residents of the oil-stained Gulf Coast.
{AP Newswire, 19 June 2010}
{AP Newswire, 19 June 2010}
by Primus Intra Pares July 17, 2010
(GOVERNMENT) seizure of power by an armed entity, usually the army but sometimes the police.
Usually coups are perpetrated in countries with very weak governments, such as in West Africa, Bolivia, or Southwest Asia. They get progressively worse (i.e., more violent, more prolonged, and more repressive) until eventually some junta builds up protection against against the next coup. This is what happened in Iraq after 1979; it happened in Syria in 1973; it also happened in Japan in 1607. In other cases, the coup accomplishes its goals (Chile 1973) and retires as a PR move.
After a coup occurs, the military leadership is known as a junta.
Usually coups are perpetrated in countries with very weak governments, such as in West Africa, Bolivia, or Southwest Asia. They get progressively worse (i.e., more violent, more prolonged, and more repressive) until eventually some junta builds up protection against against the next coup. This is what happened in Iraq after 1979; it happened in Syria in 1973; it also happened in Japan in 1607. In other cases, the coup accomplishes its goals (Chile 1973) and retires as a PR move.
After a coup occurs, the military leadership is known as a junta.
Military coups are usually motivated by the personal ambition of the perpetrator; the central figure is usually very personally corrupt, as well.
Military coups are difficult to pull off and usually are nipped in the bud. Even with foreign assistance, they are hard, because they are a form of high-speed civil war.
Inter-class violence often comes with a coup d'etat.
Military coups are difficult to pull off and usually are nipped in the bud. Even with foreign assistance, they are hard, because they are a form of high-speed civil war.
Inter-class violence often comes with a coup d'etat.
by Primus Intra Pares July 11, 2010
(UK GOVERNMENT) also spelled MI6; the Secret Intelligence Service. Under the control of the Home Secretary, along with MI-5 and General Communications Headquarters (GCHQ).
There is no simple division of labor between the two agencies; MI-5 usually is involved with domestic operations, and MI-6 is usually involved in overseas operations, but the real distinction is that one houses one group of agencies, and the other houses another. Like MI-5, the SIS/MI-6 was founded in 1909 as a joint operation between the Admiralty and the War Office.
During the Cold War, the agency was badly compromised by pro-Soviet staff (the "Cambridge Spy Ring"). It later recovered from Soviet penetration and recruited Col. Oleg Penkovsky.
There is no simple division of labor between the two agencies; MI-5 usually is involved with domestic operations, and MI-6 is usually involved in overseas operations, but the real distinction is that one houses one group of agencies, and the other houses another. Like MI-5, the SIS/MI-6 was founded in 1909 as a joint operation between the Admiralty and the War Office.
During the Cold War, the agency was badly compromised by pro-Soviet staff (the "Cambridge Spy Ring"). It later recovered from Soviet penetration and recruited Col. Oleg Penkovsky.
MI-6 was involved in several notorious schemes, such as Operation Ajax (Iran) and the ouster of Patrice Lumumba (Congo) and Jeddi Kagan (Guyana).
by Primus Intra Pares July 19, 2010
(US GOVERNMENT) Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement; agency formerly known as the Minerals Management Service (MMS). Some minor reorganization supposed to reduce incentives for corruption.
The original MMS was created in 1982 to manage offshore drilling and other forms of mineral exploitation of the ocean coastal shelf (OCS). It had every incentive to take the money of corporations and give them license to do what they wanted. In 2010, due to scandals from gross corruption and lax oversight, the White House reacted by...changing the agency's name.
The original MMS was created in 1982 to manage offshore drilling and other forms of mineral exploitation of the ocean coastal shelf (OCS). It had every incentive to take the money of corporations and give them license to do what they wanted. In 2010, due to scandals from gross corruption and lax oversight, the White House reacted by...changing the agency's name.
The BOEMRE had to change its name from the "Minerals Management Service" because its reputation was utterly ruined by constant corruption scandals.
by Primus Intra Pares July 25, 2010
(VIETNAMESE HISTORY) artificial state created by the 1954 Geneva Agreement (to end the First Indochina War). Parties to the agreement were the People's Republic of China, the USSR, and France; the Vietnamese were stuck with an agreement that perpetuated colonial rule over the majority of their population.
ROVN expected to be a clone of Republic of Korea; however, in ROK, there were a lot of nationalist leaders with a broad popular following, whereas in South Vietnam there weren't; instead, Vietnamese loyalties lay with Vietnamese nation created in May 1945 (by the Viet Minh). This had little to do with Communism, and more to do with the fact that there was nothing Vietnamese about the ROVN. It was not a republic, because there was no legitimate system of choosing the ruler, and no accountability to the people. And it wasn't Vietnamese.
Political opponents of the regime were routinely executed.
Eventually, US withdrew its support because there was an irrepressible conflict between the "realists" in the Pentagon, who understood that the approach to the war had to address widespread peonage, and the neoconservatives, who were ideological fanatics. The ROVN instantly collapsed, because it had no base of support left in the Vietnamese population.
ROVN expected to be a clone of Republic of Korea; however, in ROK, there were a lot of nationalist leaders with a broad popular following, whereas in South Vietnam there weren't; instead, Vietnamese loyalties lay with Vietnamese nation created in May 1945 (by the Viet Minh). This had little to do with Communism, and more to do with the fact that there was nothing Vietnamese about the ROVN. It was not a republic, because there was no legitimate system of choosing the ruler, and no accountability to the people. And it wasn't Vietnamese.
Political opponents of the regime were routinely executed.
Eventually, US withdrew its support because there was an irrepressible conflict between the "realists" in the Pentagon, who understood that the approach to the war had to address widespread peonage, and the neoconservatives, who were ideological fanatics. The ROVN instantly collapsed, because it had no base of support left in the Vietnamese population.
The "Republic of Vietnam" was a comic opera creation, with no legitimacy, no law, no legitimacy; no Vietnamese loved it, its army would not fight for it, its generals mainly sought power of money, and the US military was completely deceived by the whole imposture.
by Primus Intra Pares July 25, 2010