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Rioting continued in Maputo, Mozambique’s capital city, for a third day on Friday in response to increased bread prices and the general rise in the cost of living. At least 10 people are dead, including a six-year-old girl and a 12-year-old boy, and more than 400 wounded as police have opened fired on angry demonstrators. Hundreds of people have been arrested

Obama Has Signalled His Coming Complete Surrender To Zionism And Its Lobby
By Alan Hart

So it could be that in the privacy of his own mind, Obama knows it is already too late (not to mention too dangerous) to try to push Israel’s leaders much further than they are willing to go. What, I wonder, will honest historians of the future make of what is happening right now? My guess is that they will conclude that when Obama launched his push for peace, the Zionist state was already a monster beyond control

Flying The Flag; Faking The News
By John Pilger

Two classified documents recently released by WikiLeaks express the CIA's concern that the populations of European countries, which oppose their governments' war policies, are not succumbing to the usual propaganda spun through the media. For the rulers of the world, this is a conundrum, because their unaccountable power rests on the false reality that no popular resistance works. And it does

5 Jaw-Dropping Stories In Wikileaks' Archives
Begging For National Attention
By Nick Turse

Many files, beyond the Afghan War Diary and the 'Collateral Murder' video, continue to hide in plain sight on Wikileaks’ Web site

Debt Compels Growth
By Tim Murray

Why the Numbers are Stacked Against Steady State Policies

Here We Go Again: Another Rig Explosion
By Stephen Lendman

Drilling means spilling, hundreds of annual incidents, most small, unreported, yet their cumulative effect is devastating, what the industry and nightly news won't mention or explain

Iraq War: Costs People Pay
By Farooque Chowdhury

The tragic lessons of the war will intensify people’s peaceful march that perceives revolutionary dynamics of history, a march that does not use terror as terror cannot replace political struggle and as political struggle unequivocally discards terror

03 September, 2010

Oil Rig Explodes Off The Louisiana Coast
By Kate Randall

An offshore oil rig exploded and caught fire Thursday morning off the shore of Louisiana, sending 13 workers jumping into the water to be rescued by boat. Firefighters battled the flames on the rig’s platform throughout the day and had extinguished the fire by Thursday afternoon

A World In Collapse?
Robert Jensen interviewed by Alex Doherty

Robert Jensen spoke to NLP's Alex Doherty about the threat of environmental catastrophe

Behind The Israeli Wall: A Lesson In Reality
By Ramzy Baroud

Rich Wiles’ book "Behind the Wall: Life, Love and Struggle in Palestine" is an important contribution to what I insist on referring to as a ‘People’s History of Palestine’. In order for this genre to endure and flourish, it must remain honest, and duty-bound to the truth - to reality as it is, not how we wish it to be

Reflections On Jack Kennedy
By Stephen Lendman

Though much about his background and public service warrants criticism, he also deserves praise rarely given properly, this article offering some and the writer's personal reflections on his commencement address to my June 14, 1956 graduating class, a message not heard now by US leaders - erudite, incisive and timely

Sycophants In Washington
By Timothy V. Gatto

Recently the big subject on the internet has been the Fair elections Act which calls for public financing of candidates for public office. I'm not surprised as I have been writing non-stop about this subject since 2004. I just wondered when the rest of the country was going to catch up. There is no one that could be as happy as I am that people are finally “getting it”

Supreme Court Forces The Govt To Act,
To Stop Grains Being Wasted
By Devinder Sharma

Amidst all the raging controversy and debates over wasted grains and hungry people, the Supreme Court has certainly created quite a flutter by asking the government to provide foodgrains free to the poor than to allow it to rot. This verdict, although not practically implementable, did show the urgency and in many ways reflected what an average citizen would say looking at the TV reports of rotting foodgrains in storage

Kevin Keith's Death Sentence Commuted
By Mary Shaw

Good news for all who care about true justice: On September 2, Ohio Governor Ted Strickland commuted Kevin Keith's death sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole

Torturing In Sri Lanka?
By Chandi Sinnathurai

In the light of President Rajapaksha's project of rebuilding the country as a peaceable habitation for all communities, the September 3 Australian Amnesty Report is very worrying (See Appendix). Three Sri Lankans from the Sinhala community have sought asylum in Australia but having their application rejected they were promptly returned to their country of origin. On return, as per this report, these three individuals were abused and underwent torture in Sri Lanka

Two Episodes Of “Flying While Muslim”
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali

In a charged atmosphere - fomented by the inflammatory rhetoric surrounding the New York Mosque project by anti-Islam and anti-Muslim bigots as well as Rightwing ranters - two embarrassing incidents of “Flying While Muslim” happened this week

‘We Merely Want To Raise The Curtain'
By Mohd. Noor Hasan Azad & Khalid Anis Ansari

Mohammad Noor Hasan Azad , one of the founding members of the All India Pasmanda Muslim Mahaz, discusses the contemporary lower caste movement among Indian Muslims

02 September, 2010

More War Lies
By David Swanson

Lies aren't used just to start wars, but also to escalate them, continue them, and even reduce or end them. And we got a pile of war lies from the president Tuesday evening. Obama claimed the war on Iraq was initially a war to disarm a state. Really?

They're Leaving As Heroes?
By William Blum

They're leaving as heroes. I want them to walk home with pride in their hearts," declared Col. John Norris, the head of a US Army brigade in Iraq. It's enough to bring tears to the eyes of an American, enough to make him choke up. Enough to make him forget. But no American should be allowed to forget that the nation of Iraq, the society of Iraq, have been destroyed, ruined, a failed state

There Is No Such Thing As “Non Combat Troops”
By Mike Ferner

A veteran’s perspective makes it clear that two major points must be made in response to President Obama’s announcement regarding combat troops leaving Iraq. First, there is no such thing as “non combat troops.” It is a contradiction in terms. It is internally inconsistent. It is illogical. It is simply not true

What’s The Difference Between
President Ahmadinejad And Rabbi Yosef?
By Alan Hart

Short answer. Iran’s President Ahmadinejad did NOT call for Israeli Jews to be annihilated. Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the spiritual leader of Israel’s Shas party, HAS called, more than once, for the Palestinians (and, in fact, all Arabs) to be exterminated

A “Moment Of Reckoning” But For Whom?
By Alan Hart

Israel’s insistence that it must have guaranteed security before peace is a political ploy. You make peace in order to have security. If you get the security you demand before peace, you don’t need peace

Claim For Native Title Threatens Jewish State
By Jonathan Cook

Nuri al Uqbi’s small cinderblock home in a ramshackle neighbourhood of Hura, a Bedouin town in Israel’s Negev desert, hardly looks like the epicentre of a legal struggle that some observers say threatens Israel’s Jewish character

Katrina's Destructive Aftermath
By Stephen Lendman

Post-Katrina, New Orleans bears testimony to a callous, uncaring nation. "America the beautiful" is for the privileged alone - no one else, especially people of color, the poor and disadvantaged, "The Big Easy" their ground zero

Continuity Of Government:
Coup d'Etat Authority In America
By Stephen Lendman

This article reviews the historical roots and America's current Continuity of Government authority, initially planned and developed by Ronald Reagan

Choosing Between America's Friendship Or Enmiy
By Gulam Mitha

In all cases but particularly those of Pakistan and Iraq, it is beyond doubt that America’s friendship is more dangerous than is its enmity because in the cases with the axis of evil --Iran, N. Korea or Syria as well as Venezuela or Cuba, America’s enemies are able to survive

Caste, Untouchability And Discrimination
Led To The Balaudi incident
Report of the fact finding team

A joint fact finding report by Dalit Mukti Morcha and PUCL Chhattisgarh

The Mainstream Terror
By Farzana Versey

It isn’t too late to show us the true colours of an India that needs to unite

An Hour Of Saffron Democracy
By Bhat iqbal

A report and some observation on a public talk on Anarchy in Kashmir organized by ABVP in JNU

1.5 Lakh People Migrated Out Of
Balangir District Of Odisha
As MGNREGA Fails To Deliver
By Pradeep Baisakh

As in earlier years, this time around about 1.5 lakh people migrated out from Balangir district of Odisha to work in brick kilns in and around Hyderabad and Chennai and other places

31 August, 2010

Global Youth Unemployment Reaches
Record Levels
By Jordan Shilton

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has issued a report documenting the severe impact of the global economic crisis on employment prospects for the world’s youth. The report, “Global Employment Trends for Youth”, presents detailed statistics on the growing number of 15-to-24-year-olds who find themselves out of work

Pakistan Floods Displace Another Million People
By Sampath Perera

More than a million additional people fled their homes in the southern Pakistani province of Sindh over the past few days as flood waters threatened further cities and towns. While authorities reported yesterday that waters were receding at least temporarily, large areas of the country are devastated and around 20 million people displaced

Oil Addiction And Identity
By Scott Brown

Whether we continue down a path of collective suicide or change course, the psyche will be intimately involved. Lasting behavioral change begins and ends with the psyche. The big question is not who holds elected office or how effective conservation programs are, both leave the basic addiction to fossil fuels intact. The question is: What are the key elements of a resilient foundation for a sustainable and life-affirming society? One critical element, I believe, is the inner resilience that only work with the psyche can bring

Hurricane Of Inhumanity: Five Years After Katrina
By Mamoon Alabbasi

Five years after hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, a natural disaster with unnatural responses, lead to the deaths of an estimated 1,800 people and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of others, the lesson has not yet been learned

Lawsuit Challenges Obama Administration's
Targeted Assassination Policy
By Stephen Lendman

Obama plans to speed up judgements under a ready, fire, aim policy, murdering US citizens for their justifiable outrage, showing how low American justice has sunk, hitting rock bottom under a president who promised change - in fact, delivering it, a different kind than imagined by too many Walter Lippmann once called "the bewildered herd," out of touch and supportive. Why others have to spread enlightenment before it's too late to matter

Legislation For Greater
Agribusiness Empowerment
By Stephen Lendman

Passing S. 510 and reconciling it with HR 2749 will jeopardize food safety and make it harder to buy products consumers want from sources they prefer. Defeating S. 510 is thus crucial, now at risk by the egg salmonella scare, a large hurtle essential to overcome

Ramadan : The Month Of Self-Restraint
By Dr. Habib Siddiqui

Probably at no other time in America is this message of Ramadan more relevant

The Bull
By Rand Clifford

Whether we take the bull by the tail, or by the horns, we are at a critical time because that’s what we are running out of, time

Niyamgiri To Bellary, Polavaram To Konkan:
Stop All Destructive Projects Now
By Dipankar Bhattacharya

The cancellation of the Vedanta group’s ‘mining rights’ in the Niyamgiri hills of Odisha’s Kalahandi district surely marks a huge victory for the growing people’s movement against corporate invasion and plunder

Niyamgiri: A Temporary Reprieve
By Ranjan K Panda

The Dongria Kondh know that their battle against Vedanta and for the preservation of their sacred Niyamgiri is not over in a state where money matters, people and the environment don’t, reports Ranjan K Panda from Orissa

“This Son Of Gujarat” Owes
An Explanation To India
By Mustafa Khan

The ongoing investigation into Sohrabuddin Shaikh murder by the police of the Gujarat state is throwing up enough hints of the kind of Gujarat its chief minister Narendra Modi has created

30 August, 2010

Another Bubble Is About To Burst
By Martin Borgs

This is the story of the greatest financial crisis we will ever see... The one that is on the way. Filmmaker Martin Borgs takes a provocative look at the events leading up the Global Financial Crisis and asks if the attempts to avoid a ruinous collapse of banks and other major finance houses may set the world on the path to an even bigger meltdown

Bye Bye American Pie
By Timothy V. Gatto

This isn’t a time to do “business as usual”. We are in crisis. It’s time that we start demanding that our government starts acting responsibly. Enough is enough. We have everything on the line here. It’s time everyone realized it

Glenn Beck In Washington:
Preaching The Gospel Of Mammon And militarism
By Bill Van Auken

The Washington rally organized by right-wing Fox News TV personality Glenn Beck on Saturday offered a twisted mix of religion, potted history and the glorification of the military under the banner of “restoring honor” to the USA

Glenn Beck's Redemption Song
By Robert Jensen

Does worrying about Beck's appeal beyond the far right seem far fetched? The most important rhetorical move Beck made on Saturday was to claim the rally “has nothing to do with politics.” Many people across the ideological spectrum want desperately to escape from contemporary politics, which seems to be a source of endless frustration and heartbreak. To those people, Glenn Beck's redemption song will be seductive

Future Wars Or Future Peace?
By James A. Lucas

What will happen after the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are ended? Will there be more of the same? The answer is “Probably,” unless the American public eventually understands that both of the two major political parties, with a few individual exceptions, lead us into such tragic escapades and that we have been easily deceived by spurious excuses for deploying U.S. destructive power around the globe

How Should Progressives Respond
To The End Of The Oil Age?
By Erik Lindberg

It is highly unlikely that the cheap, easily accessed, highly portable, relatively safe and stable and, most importantly, highly dense and concentrated fossil fuels upon which we have built our entire world, can ever be reproduced by any other source

Personality Profile: Do You "Go With The Flow"
Or Do You "Stock Up" Just In Case?
By Kurt Cobb

There are people who believe that money will somehow make them immune to the breakdown of this flow. Yes, enough money might make it easier for someone to get scarce goods during such a breakdown. But, ultimately a community that fails to function won't be able to provide you with anything no matter how much money you have

Evidence That Afghan Leaders Are On CIA Payroll
By James Cogan

A series of leaks to the New York Times and the Washington Post over the past week has revealed that members of the Afghan government headed by President Hamid Karzai are paid agents and informers of the CIA

Israel Threatens War With Lebanon
By Stephen Lendman

Palestine is belligerently occupied. Threats continue against Iran and Syria as well as Lebanon, specifically Hezbollah, elected partner in the nation's unity government, bogusly designated a US State Department Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO), what Israel also calls it, repeating veiled and overt warnings, suggesting violence or an impending attack

Will Ohio Execute An Innocent Man?
By Mary Shaw

Here we go again, this time in Ohio. There, death row inmate Kevin Keith is scheduled to be executed on September 15, despite strong new evidence of his innocence. Keith was convicted in 1994 for a shooting spree that killed three people and wounded three others

A War On The Past, Present, And Future
By Hamid Golpira

The Iraq war is actually a war against the past, present, and future

Livelihoods And Environment: The Pnar Conflict
By Sonata G Dkhar

What mining has done to ‘these hills which we call home’ is unimaginable. The prodigious alterations caused by the extraction of coal and limestone have changed the very environmental, social and cultural precincts of the place. It has engulfed the land and slowly and stealthily whelmed in the people of Jaintia hills, a mineral rich district in the North Eastern state of Meghalaya

Kerala Media: A Macabre Dance Of Death
By K.M Sebastian

The media hunt down people even in death in Kerala in search of TRP ratings and higher circulation figures. Death becomes a double tragedy for the dear and near ones. This is called “ Macabre Dance of Death by the Kerala Media”. MN Vijayan, OV Vijayan, Lohitadas, Kamala Suraiya and many more were the victims of this “macabre dance of death.”

Peepli [Live]: Peeping Live Through
The Fake Realities On Screen
By Nishant Upadhyay

The film "Peepli [Live]" fails miserably in talking about the issues of farmer's suicide insightfully and critically

29 August, 2010

ClimateStoryTellers.org Launched
By Subhankar Banerjee

ClimateStoryTellers.org, a gathering place for stories on all things global warming has just been launched. We have wonderful activist groups like 350.org and others, we have great sites like Grist, ENN, and others for environmental news and opinions, no one place dedicated to climate stories. The objective is not to present just a story as a short news or opinion, but "in-depth", which means all stories will have a central focus perhaps a local issue, but it'll also explore the issues connection to regional, national and global relevance

238 Reasons To Be Worried
By Fidel Castro

I am coming out of the conviction that imperialism will disappear because its existence is incompatible with human life on the planet. Throughout 88 days, the elements of judgement to explain what is happening to the readers have been pulled together

Saved From Pakistan's Endless Sea
By Gethin Chamberlain

A month after floods devastated the country, small boats still rescue those strong, and lucky, enough to have survived the waters

Floods For Pakistan; Floods Of Money
For its Leader
By Tariq Ali

Nearly two thousand deaths and over 20 million people are homeless. The man-made disasters – war in Afghanistan, its spillage into Pakistan – are bad enough. Now the country faces its worst ever natural disaster. Most governments would find it difficult to cope, but the current regime is virtually paralyzed

Pakistan Floods: Clean Water Desperately Needed
By Pierluigi Testa

A month after the flooding disaster in Pakistan began, more areas are at risk of a new deluge and the humanitarian crisis continues, with clean water and medical aid desperately needed, as Medecins Sans Frontieres writes for Channel 4 News

Red And Green
By Uri Avnery

If people of goodwill want to speed up the end of the occupation, they must support the peace activists in Israel. They should build a close connection with them, break the conspiracy of silence against them in the world media and publicize their courageous actions, organize more and more international events in which Palestinian and Israeli peace activists will be present side by side

Money vs Fossil Energy: The Battle For
Control Of The World
By David Holmgren

The unfolding climate/energy/economic crisis is heating up a very old rift in global industrial politics. This rift derives from two core beliefs on what constitutes the source of wealth. Does wealth come from human creativity and innovation or is it found in the natural world? Is human capacity the source or a by-product of real power?

A Pearl River Tale, Power And Pride In China
By Rahul Goswami

For a few days last week, global news agencies pursued the peculiar story of the world's worst traffic jam, which was reported to have lasted for around nine days and stretched across about 100 kilometres of a major highway leading to Beijing. China's latest instance of leading the world, now in the scale and size of traffic jams, is a direct consequence of the modern uses and abuses of energy, as this and many other news reports have indicated

An Optimistic Diary (For Once)
By Jerome à Paris

Maybe we'll get a real leader one of these days, able to steer us away from the wall before we actually hit it and get hurt. Now believing in that would be wildly optimistic!

Veils, Boomerangs, And Goldilocks
By Asher Miller

History is littered with horrific examples of when widespread fear and uncertainty are channeled into organized rage. I'll confess a deep concern about the near- and long-term results from the collision of four realities here in the US

Yale University's Pro-Israeli,
Anti-Islamic Conference
By Stephen Lendman

On August 25, Yale University ended a three day global anti-Semitism "crisis" conference promoting the notion that Israeli criticism is "anti-Semitic," no matter how justified

UN Anti-Racism Committee Slams
Apartheid Australia Racism
By Dr Gideon Polya

Australia 's explicitly racist policies against Indigenous Australians and refugees have been slammed by a recent Report from the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) in Geneva

Endless War, Humanitarian Crisis,
And Perpetual Resistance:
U.S. Foreign Policy In The 21st Century
By Michael Schwartz

In neglecting to cover the process and impact of the Pakistan war, the U.S. media has ignored or recorded in a perfunctory manner (often as add-ons to Afghanistan coverage) major developments in this war, particularly the humanitarian crisis it has created

'How The Supreme Court Played Havoc
With The Ecologically Sensitive Niyamgiri Hills'
By Devinder Sharma

Following the widespread criticism of the dilution of charges by the former Chief Justice of India A H Ahmadi against the Union Carbide in the Bhopal gas tragedy case, I feel the nation is now becoming mature enough to evaluate, analyse and scrutinise the meaning and implications of court judgements. This is a welcome sign, and indicates the evolution of a healthy and vibrant democracy

Unbelievably Ridiculous!
By Anuradha Bhasin Jamwal

Events in the last few days have been particularly shocking, making a mockery of democratic practices, culminating in the resignation of J&K Bank chairman Haseeb Drabu. Drabu was forced to resign by the state government. His fault? He kept the bank open on a day that there was no hartal call by the separatists. Is that supposed to be a crime?

Color Of Terror: Saffron, Green or Black?
By Ram Puniyani

The present statement by Chidambaram is just a continuation of the popular association of the word saffron with Hindutva-RSS politics in the political arena. In the present era of monopolar World, dictated by the ambitions of US greed for oil and plunder of the global resources, politics has been given the veneer of religion. That’s why they use the word ‘Clash of Civilizations’ for their political goals. That’s why so far Islam and Muslims have been demonized. U.S. and large section of globe, India in particular are in the grip of Islamophobia. It is time we see the sanctity of religions and oppose the use of religious symbols, colors and terminologies for political goals

Did Terrorism In India Convert To Hinduism,
Or A Paradigm Shift Towards Truth?
By Ershad Abubacker

All terrorists, be that of any religion, are all fascists. To fight terror is to fight fascism. You don't fight fascism by becoming a fascist yourself. The monochrome vision of terror needs to be debunked

Labor Organizers Can Beat Army
For Exciting Existence
By Sherwood Ross

If you’re seeking an exciting career that's really fraught with risk and danger and that makes the world a better place, forget about joining the Army: become a labor organizer!

Pirates Of Puntland; A Tale Of Somali Pirates,
Ethiopia And The USA
By Thomas C. Mountain

Pirates, warlords, Marxist guerilla turned G-20 statesman and the USA, the real story of the Somali pirates in the Horn of Africa is a tale that needs telling

28 August, 2010

Checkpoint: A Video Documentary
By Yoav Shamir

Israeli filmmaker Yoav Shamir once served his army reserve duty as a checkpoint guard, which was what inspired him to make this documentary, Checkpoint. For 80 minutes, Shamir simply shows us videotape of what happens at the various checkpoints that the Israeli government operates, which are in place to regulate the travel of Palestinians, purportedly in an effort to combat terrorism

Another 500,000 Flee Indus Breaches
Taliban Threaten Aid Workers;
Global Warming Implicated
By Juan Cole

The raging, swollen Indus River abruptly breached an embankment in the Thatta district in Sindh, Pakistan, on Wednesday evening, unexpectedly sending flood waters toward the town of Thatta and several others in the district. Panicked residents tried to flee in the thousands

How Much Proof Do The Global Warming
Deniers Need?
By Johann Hari

Everything the climate scientists said would happen - with their pesky graphs and studies and computers - is coming to pass. This is proving the hottest year eve

Plotting The Coming Oil Shock
By Matthew Wild

Forecasting World Crude Oil Production Using Multicyclic Hubbert Model, written by two Kuwait University engineers and a representative of Kuwait Oil Company predicts World production will peak in 2014 at a production rate of 79 MMSTB/D, and then it will start declining to reach about 30 MMSTB/D in 2050

To Walk Is Human
By Alan Wartes

Walking is how we belong to the world. It’s how we belong to each other. It’s how we see best what’s coming—for us, not for people half-way across the country or the world—and how we know what to do about it. It’s how we begin tuning ourselves to the frequency of a post-oil world

New Work Centers And High-Tech Self-Providing
By Juliet Schor

The high tech self-providing economy is one that has a great deal of initial appeal, but also raises many questions. Is it really possible that people could go back to doing so much for themselves? Is it a viable option for the unemployed? What can be done to promote such a model?

US Slashes Estimate Of Second-Quarter
Economic Growth
By Barry Grey

The Commerce Department on Friday sharply cut its estimate of US economic growth in the second quarter of 2010. The department revised downward its initial estimate, issued July 30, of a 2.4 percent increase in the gross domestic product (GDP) to the even more anemic figure of 1.6 percent

How A Hero in New Orleans After
Hurricane Katrina Was Arrested,
Labeled A Terrorist And Imprisoned
By Abdulrahman Zeitoun

Five years ago, Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans. Abdulrahman Zeitoun, a Syrian-born New Orleans building contractor, stayed in the city while his wife and children left to Baton Rouge. He paddled the flooded streets in his canoe and helped rescue many of his stranded neighbors. Days later, armed police and National Guardsmen arrested him and accused him of being a terrorist. He was held for nearly a month, most of which he was not allowed to call his wife, Kathy

In New Orleans, Kindness Trumped Chaos
By Rebecca Solnit

Lessons of dedication, solidarity, love, and recovery, five years after Katrina

Lessons From The Gulf: How Can We
Better Prepare For Disasters?
By Chris Kromm

Poverty and inequality magnified Hurricane Katrina’s effect on the Gulf. A resilient New Orleans means addressing these social issues first

An Artist's Pledge To Boycott
By Dave Lordan

I am proud to be among the many Irish and Ireland-based artists from across creative disciplines who have chosen to publicly support the growing campaign of boycott against apartheid Israel

Ramsey Muniz - Guilty Of Being Latino
And Activist In America
By Stephen Lendman

Ramiro (Ramsey) Muniz is one of the victims, imprisoned for life without parole on a bogus drug charge. Now age 67, he's been incarcerated nearly 17 years, earlier at Leavenworth, KS federal prison, the country's largest maximum security one, more recently at the US Medical Center, Springfield, MO recovering from life threatening complications from surgery

National Food Security Mission Should Be
Linked With The Proposed National
Food Security Act
By Devinder Sharma

Food and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar has turned down the Supreme Court’s suggestion asking the government to ensure free distribution of food grains to the hungry poor instead of allowing it to rot in the godowns of the Food Corporation of India

Land Nor Freedom
By Javed Iqbal

‘Nahi denge zameen!’ (we won’t give our land) – said one villager of Lohandiguda, as over 150 villagers – Sarpanches and ward members with their families, stood up, and walked out of the meeting with government officials on the 12th of May of this year. In 2005, the villagers in Lohandiguda didn’t even know their land was up for acquisition by Tata Steel – they learnt about it after they read the newspapers

Caste Census And Indian Muslims
By Khalid Anis Ansar

A rejoinder to Abusaleh Shariff

27 August, 2010
America Facing Depression And Bankruptcy
By Stephen Lendman

"Twenty countries (including America) are headed into bankruptcy and more will follow. That brings up the subject of state debt in the US. America has been in an inflationary depression for 18 months. States have been cutting back for two years," but still face huge budget gaps required to be closed....2011 will be a terrible year (with) 80% of states expect(ing) deficits of more than $200 billion. 2012 looks even worse." Most worrisome, "there is no recovery and there never has been....the US economy and financial system is comatose." The worst is yet to come and will hit hard on arrival

Could This Be A Crime? U.S. Climate Bill
Is Dead While So Much Life On
Our Earth Continues To Perish
By Subhankar Banerjee

Global warming is a crisis: for all lands, for all oceans, for all rivers, for all forests, for all humans, for all birds, for all mammals, for all little creatures that we don’t see... for all life. We need stories and actions from every part of our earth. So far, global warming communications have primarily focused on scientific information. I strongly believe that to engage the public, we need all fields of the humanities. It is to this end that I founded ClimateStoryTellers.org

Rajendra Pachauri Innocent Of Financial Misdealings But Smears Will Continue
By George Monbiot

A review of the IPCC chairman's financial relationships reveals a scrupulously honest man has been much maligned

Analysts have been warning for several years that the impacts of climate change directly relate to the national security of the U.S. and other countries, but the link has never been so clear as it is today in northwest Pakistan

Beyond Oil: Activism And Politics
By Bill McKibben

Author and climate activist Bill McKibben on the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon disaster

Death By Growth
By Keith Harrington

Despite all of our political instincts, despite all of the wise counsel of pollsters and PR gurus, we have to take the ultimate leap and start directly campaigning against the global religion, economic growth itself - the myth upon which the power of the fossil fuel gods thrive. Kill the myths, kill the dogma, and the gods die with them

Do Most Israelis And Many Other Jews
NEED To Feel Persecuted?
By Alan Hart

I have written and often say that very many if not most Jews do not want to know the truth of history as it relates to the making and sustaining of the conflict in and over Palestine that became Israel. An essential element of the truth being that Israel was created, mainly, by Zionist terrorism and ethnic cleansing

McCarthy In Israel
By Neve Gordon

While in politics nothing is predetermined, Israel is heading down a slippery slope. Israeli academe is now an arena where some of the most fundamental struggles of a society are being played out. The problem is that instead of struggling over basic human rights, we are now struggling over the right to struggle

Why Americans Should Oppose Zionism
By Steven Salaita

Americans now have all the evidence they need for a reasonable and morally-sound conclusion, that Zionism produces a cruelty and truculence that they bankroll with their taxes and legitimize with either silence or consent. As a result, I am not arguing that Americans should reassess their level of support for Israel. I am arguing that Americans should oppose Zionism altogether. Perhaps in this way we might begin the long and difficult process of redeeming our own nation of its imperial sins

One Democratic State In Palestine
By Gilad Atzmon

Democracy can also be a genuine universal call. As it happens, it is the Palestinians who are teaching us what democracy is all about, what it stands for and why we favoured it in the first place. Read the Declaration of the Movement for One Democratic State (ODS) in Palestine. I assume that moral interventionists better visit the ODS conference in October so they gather that democracy is actually a humanist call

Five Books: Stories To Shape Life
By Susan Abulhawa

Born to refugees of the 1967 Six Day War, Susan Abulhawa is the author of the novel Mornings In Jenin, the profits of which partly go to the children's charity she founded, Playgrounds for Palestine. She chooses five books about Palestine by Palestinian writers

Abbas' Position Isn't As Weak As It May Appear
By George S. Hishmeh

In short, despite the view that Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is in a weaker position than Netanyahu, primarily because of Abbas' failure to win over Hamas and other groups, his strength stems from two facts: He does not have to sign anything he cannot live with; and should he pull out of the talks it will be in US President Barack Obama's best interest to immediately seek to revive the process

Whistle Blowing Is Not A Crime
By Tommi Avicolli-Mecca

Formally charged by the military, Manning now faces a court martial and a possible 52 years in prison. The soldiers who murdered the 11 innocent people in the video are facing no charges

UN Slow To Respond To Gang Rape Of
Almost 200 Women In The Congo
By Eve Ensler

Aid groups reported last week that Rwandan and Congolese rebels took over villages in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo and gang-raped almost 200 women and five young boys. The rapes occurred between July 30 and August 3, within miles of a United Nations peacekeeping base. A joint UN human rights team has now confirmed the rapes of 154 women

Rebranding Iraq: Playing With Numbers
And Human Lives
By Ramzy Baroud

War is not about numbers and dates. It’s about people, their rights, their freedom and their future. Re-branding the army and the war will provide none of this for grief-stricken and vulnerable Iraqis. The fact is, no one has won this war. And the occupation is anything but over

The Muslim Mosque New York City
And Freedom Of Religion In America
By Jack A. Smith

The precise location in New York City of a new community center that includes a Muslim mosque is being converted into a major national campaign issue by the conservative Republican Party as the Nov. 2 Congressional and state elections in the U.S. draw closer. The Muslim world is watching this development unfold with deep interest and some anxiety

Ground Zero: Build An All-Faith Peace Center
By Partha Banerjee

Here’s a proposal for a new house of worship: What if we put our energy instead to build an all-faith peace center on that sacred ground, where all Americans would be able to come and pray for global peace, inclusion, understanding and tolerance in America, and denounce bigotry and violence of any kind?

The Emergence Of Two Faces Within Congress:
People's Voice Getting Stronger
By Devinder Sharma

In my understanding, Manmohan Singh is the prime minister only of the industry and for the industry. He is a victim of the illusion created by GDP growth. Rahul Gandhi on the other hand has made him see the ground reality a number of times, and I appreciate his (Rahul Gandhi's) role in making the prime minister do certain things that he would otherwise never do

The Phenomenon Of Saffron Terror,
Now It’s Official
By Mustafa Khan

Home Minister P Chidambrum was not addressing humdrum ‘aam aadmi’ when he talked definitely about the saffron terrorism. He was addressing the director generals of police of all the states of India. Therefore the meeting assumes importance because it will be again the venue where the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would address the following day

Responding To The Call Of Conscience….
By Jennifer Bowman

Jennifer Bowman interviews Jason Miller

Peepli [Live]- Strange Days Have Found Us
By Sahil Kureshi

The film doesn't say anything about anything. All the film maker has done, in typical TV news channel style, is picked up a sensitive issue to attract attention to the film

26 August, 2010

The Top 5 Most Ignored Humanitarian Crises
By Mark Leon Goldberg

The sluggish international response to the Pakistan floods emergency is actually not all that sluggish, at least compared to these humanitarian crises. Introducing the five most under-funded and ignored humanitarian crises

Am I An Activist For Caring About
My Grandchildren's Future? I Guess I Am
By James Hansen

Concerted action to tackle climate change will happen only if the public demands it for the sake of future generations

Fish Kills Worry Gulf Scientists,
Fishers, Environmentalists
By Dahr Jamail

Another massive fish kill, this time in Louisiana, has alarmed scientists, fishers and environmentalists who believe they are caused by oil and dispersants

The Postwar War In Iraq
By Eric Ruder

Eric Ruder explains what we should--and shouldn't--expect from the "end of combat operations" in Iraq proclaimed by the Obama administration

Why Kashmiris Should Speak To Indians,
Not India
By Shivam Vij

People-to-people dialogue is the best way out of the Kashmir logjam

Rethinking Gandhi
By Ted Glick

Those of us who want to be effective leaders have to be prepared, have to welcome even, taking a back seat so that others can step forward to speak up and give leadership. Our organizing work has to be about working with others in such a way that they grow to become not just leaders themselves but “leadership trainers,” bringing others along just as they were

Preliminary Findings And Recommendations Of
National People’s Tribunal On Kandhamal
By The National People’s Tribunal Jury

The jury observes, with concern, the institutionalised communal and casteist bias of state agencies, and their deliberate dereliction of constitutionally mandated duties, their connivance with communal forces, participation in and support to the violence and a deliberate scuttling of processes of justice through acts of commission and omission. The state agencies have blatantly failed to extend much- needed institutional support to victim-survivors and protect them from ostracism, socio-economic boycott and subjugation by non-state actors

The Simple Future Beyond Oil: The Convergence Of
Our Economic And Ecological Futures
And The Importance Of Change
By Paul Mobbs

Change is essential, but also inevitable because we can no longer maintain our global levels of consumption and pollution. Whilst once rigidly separate, the economic and ecological world are now converging to recognise the impending restrictions on “business as usual”39. How we deal with consumption is a physical issue, but it's also a spiritual one. We can change brands, or the way we buy things, but the most important thing to change is our view of ourselves – the reason we consume in the first place

The Israeli Lobby: Declassified Documents
Expose Its Influence
By Stephen Lendman

No matter. Israel got a pass to act illegally for nearly 50 years, doing it today more aggregiously than ever. In 1962, after being ordered to register as a foreign agent, AZC transferred its responsibilities to AIPAC, "which refuses to register as (an Israeli) foreign agent" and gets away with it

Settlement Must Stop
By Khaled Amayreh

Direct negotiations might start, but Israel will continue on the ground to undermine peace, writes Khaled Amayreh in Ramallah

Israeli Military Closes Access To School For
Palestinian Children
By Maria Chiara Rioli

On the same day that Israeli human rights associations Ir Amim and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) released a report denouncing the lack of classrooms in East Jerusalem, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem announces that children of the kindergarten of Bethany (Shayyah) "can no more reach their school through the small opening in the Separation Wall, adjacent to the school."

Jordan Valley Demolitions: A History Of
Ongoing Silent Deportation
By Ahmad Jaradat & Maria Chiara Rioli

The Jordan Valley’s tormented history started after the 1967 Middle East War. Israel’s occupation policy included the declaration of the JordanValley, a region inhabited by around 25-30.000 people, as a closed military area where army training was established. That moment was the beginning of a movement of silent but continous deportation of the population in the area

The Voice Of Palestine (1)
By Reham Alhelsi

Numerous are the examples of the nature of Zionism which is pure terrorism, racism and ethnic cleansing of indigenous peoples and the theft of their land, history and culture. Numerous are the Zionist atrocities committed against the Palestinians. Numerous are the Zionist atrocities each one of us experienced, witnessed or heard of from relatives, friends and neighbours. But for the moment, here are 3 examples, with more, including personal experiences, to follow in another post

Not Only Niyamgiri:
Stop Resource-Grab Everywhere!
By NFFPFW

The NFFPFW (National Forum of Forest People and Forest Workers) welcomes Indian government's decision to deny forest clearance to the Vedanta mining project at Niyamgiri. Though much delayed , this decision is a just move, and perhaps for the first time in the history of the country the government has said ‘no’ to a large and powerful corporation on social and environmental grounds

Uttar Pradesh Farmers Latest Victims Of
Indian Business’ Land Grab
By Arun Kumar

Three protesting farmers were shot dead and more than forty others injured August 14, when police opened fire on a protest at Jikarpur, a village in the Aligarh District of Uttar Pradesh (UP).The farmers were protesting against the land expropriations being carried out by the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) state government to build a 165-kilometer highway, the Jamuna (or Yamuna) Expressway, linking India’s capital, New Delhi, with Agra, the city that is home to the Taj Mahal

Intl Humanitarian Law...
(For all intents and democratic purposes)
By Chandi Sinnathurai

People have strong opinions about the credibility of the Sri Lanka Lessons Learnt Reconciliation Commission (LLRC). In a democracy, each person is entitled to have their opinions. Both their rights and privileges are protected by the state; even for an opposing voice, advancing a contrary argument. We do not know how much of a "free country" Sri Lanka is in this sense. However, what an ex-UN Under Secy General Dhanapala has said while testifying before the LLRC is worthy of serious consideration

Karachi Residents Demand De-weaponisation
By Zia Ur Rehman

As civil society in Karachi is urging the government to de-weaponise the city, the government is devising a strategy for making the whole country gun-free, Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik has hinted

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