29 April, 2006
Gorbachev
Urges G8 To Back Solar Power,
Not Oil Or Nuclear
By Philip Thornton
Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev urged
the world's biggest industrialized nations to set up a 50-billion-dollar
(44-billion-euro) fund to support solar power, warning that oil or nuclear
energy were not viable energy sources for the future
The United States
Of Israel?
By Robert Fisk
But how many people in America are putting their
own heads above the parapet, now that Mearsheimer and Walt have launched
a missile that would fall to the ground unexploded in any other country
but which is detonating here at high speed? Not a lot
"There
Is A Fury Building Up Across India"
By Arundhati Roy & Shoma Chaudhuri
In this interview, Arundhati Roy updates her essay
on the Narmada issue, The Greater Common Good, published in 1999. It
was conducted by Shoma Chaudhuri over a period of several days in person
and on email
India'S
terrible Toll In Rural Suicides
By M. Kailash
Indebtedness, crop failure and the inability to
pay back loans due to high rates of interest have led as many as 25,000
peasants in India to commit suicide since the 1990s, according to official
figures
"It's
a BLOCKBUSTER!!, Mr. Scorsese"
By Bill Henderson
A letter to Scorses
The
Karachi Social Forum And
Its International Significance
By Rousset Pierre
The forum in Karachi was made possible by this
world expansion of the process; in return it gives it dynamism in a
country and a zone of strategic conflicts. A sole regret: that too few
organisations in Europe and Latin America took this opportunity to acquaint
themselves with the stakes in South Asia
Hamas’
Impossible Mission
By Ramzy Baroud
It should be established by now that most Western
governments are the least interested in honoring the decided democratic
choice of the Palestinian people, which elevated to power a movement
that is branded ‘terrorist’ by Israel, thus by much of the
Western hemisphere
Give Us Your
Huddled Masses -
But Not Your Battered Women
By William Fisher
Should the U.S. congress reach agreement on an
immigration bill, it is unlikely to include one of the simpler issues
in this complex debate: granting asylum to battered women
26 April, 2006
Open
Warfare Erupts In Sri Lanka
By K. Ratnayake
After weeks of escalating violence in a murky,
undeclared war in the North and East of Sri Lanka, the Colombo government
and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have resorted to open
hostilities
In Nepal,
The Saga Of Compromise
And Struggle Continues
By Pratyush Chandra
The recent protests marked a new phase in the Nepalese
struggle for democracy and self-determination. From now onwards nothing
remains consecrated in Nepal, beyond popular scrutiny and criticism.
Every section of the society is politically charged. We see democracy
in action in the streets of Nepal
GI's Beware
of Radioactive Showers!
By Irving Wesley Hall
Bush's impending, insane nuclear attack on Iran
has provoked an unprecedented rebellion within the top leadership of
the United States military. At the same time, depleted uranium (DU)
is steadily taking down our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. It's time
for the soldiers to follow the lead of their commanders in order to
end the war
Big-Mouth
Bush Told Clinton
How To Handle OPEC
By Evelyn Pringle
The high energy costs are affecting everyone, from
commuters and consumers, to public and private programs. The damage
is devastating everywhere
Open Borders
By David Howard
Here’s a two-word proposal for solving the
immigration crisis in the USA: open borders. Before you mouse-click
me into oblivion or crumple up your newspaper in disgust, hear me out
Kerry's Halfhearted
Reversal
By Joshua Frank
The search is finally over. Sen. John Kerry is
believed to have found his heroic voice. He apparently misplaced it
back in the early '70s after standing up to the U.S. war in Vietnam
upon his saluted return from battle. Now many antiwar liberals believe
Kerry is dissenting yet again
Have A Koch
And A Smile
By Jason Miller
Free Markets and Property Rights Trump Humanity
and the Environment!
Wanting
This And That
By Amrita Nandy-Joshi
Norway’s government passed an order to ensure
that in the next two years, forty percent of the board members of the
country’s large, publicly traded private companies be women. The
penalty for nonconformity is the disbandment of the defaulting corporation.
One still has to come at the price of the other. Female labour-force
participation rates might have increased while marriage and fertility
rates decreased
Gem Of
A Film Festival
By Sonia Nettnin
The Chicago Palestine Film Festival, one of the
few of its kind in North America, features films by Palestinian filmmakers
and films about Palestine. There will be 22 films playing at the Gene
Siskel Film Center (May 6 – 24)
25 April, 2006
King
Restores Parliament In Nepal
By Associated Press
Nepal's embattled King Gyanendra on Monday reinstated
the lower house of Parliament and offered solace for those killed in
weeks of pro-democracy protests, hoping to avoid a bloody showdown between
his security forces and demonstrators
U.S. Interests,
Plots, And Intrigues In Nepal
By Li Onesto
What the U.S. cannot accept is a revolution that
takes up arms in order to overthrow a regime that serves U.S. interests.
What the U.S. cannot allow is a revolution which aims to fundamentally
change the current economic, political, and social relations under which
the masses of Nepalese people are oppressed
Fidel Ordered
Chávez's 'Rescue'
Fidel Castro interviewed by Ignacio Ramonet
"They attempted to execute Chávez but
the firing squad refused to shoot"
The Corporate
Control Of Society
And Human Life
By Stephen Lendman
As corporations have grown in size they've gained
in power and influence. And so has the harm they cause - to communities,
nations, the great majority of the public and the planet. Today corporate
giants decide who governs and how, who serves on our courts, what laws
are enacted and even whether and when wars are fought, against whom
and for what purpose or gain
West Papua’s
Cry For Freedom
By Ghali Hassan
The Australian Federal Treasure, Senator Peter
Costello told ABC Radio recently: “West Papua has always been
part of Indonesia. Ever since Indonesia has existed as an independent
country West Papua had always been part of Indonesia whereas, East Timor,
of course was not”. Of course, it is utterly untrue and misleading.
The Australian Government thrives on deception and distortion of facts
Baghdad
Slipping Into Civil War
By Dahr Jamail and Arkan Hamed
The new clashes between Shia militiamen dressed
in Iraqi military and police uniforms and resistance fighters and residents
from the Sunni Adhamiya district of Baghdad have convinced many that
what Baghdad is witnessing is no less than a civil war
Removing America's
Blinders
By Howard Zinn
If Americans were more aware of how often our leaders
have lied in order to wage war, would anyone have believed this president's
justifications for attacking Iraq?
Chinese
President’s Visit Underscores
Washington-Beijing Tensions
By Patrick Martin
The four-day visit to the United States by Chinese
President Hu Jintao, culminating in Thursday’s White House meeting
with George W. Bush, produced little progress on any of the key issues
in dispute between the two world powers. Instead, there was evidence
of growing tension
22 April, 2006
The
Coming Nuclear Epiphany In Persia
By Chris Floyd
This potential death toll is not pacificist hyperbole;
it comes from a National Academy of Sciences study sponsored by the
Pentagon itself: three million people killed by radiation in just two
weeks, and 35 million people exposed to dangerous levels of cancer-causing
radiation in Afghanistan, Pakistan and India
A Path
To Peace With Iran
By Scott Ritter
It is said that politics makes for strange bedfellows.
If there is to be any hope of forestalling a disastrous war between
the United States and Iran, there must be an internal realignment of
the delicate Kabuki dance between capitalism and individualism in America
that seeks to sustain the American way of life, versus destroy it
Nepalese
Protesters Dismiss King's
Pledge Of Democracy
By Justin Huggler
King Gyanendra of Nepal made a desperate attempt
to save his throne as hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets
of Kathmandu yesterday calling for his overthrow
Pure
And Simple Revolutions In
Nepal And Venezuela
By Pratyush Chandra
For a decade or so, the media has been talking
about new color and flower revolutions with colorful revolutionaries
like "orange" ones in Ukraine. But, after so many sponsored,
colored and sanitized revolutions, once again we are witnessing pure-and-simple
revolutions and revolutionaries, in Latin America and Asia. Nepal and
Venezuela are two hot centers of pure-and-simple revolutions
Shiite Leader
Bows To US Demands As
Iraq Slides Further Into Civil War
By James Cogan
Shiite leader Ibrahim al-Jaafari has bowed to the
campaign against him led by the Bush administration and announced that
he is prepared to step aside as the prime ministerial candidate of the
largest bloc in the Iraqi parliament
Coke
Slammed At Shareholders Meeting
For Practices In India
By Haider Rizvi
As the level of anger and resentment against Coca
Cola touches new heights throughout India, rights activists in the U.S.
have increased pressure on the company to mend its ways of doing operations
in rural areas
The
Real Meaning Of Deporting
Hamas Members Of Parliament
By Jonathan Cook
In the wake of Monday’s suicide bombing in
Tel Aviv Olmert revoked the rights of three Hamas MPs and a Palestinian
cabinet minister, Mahmoud Abu Tir, to reside in Jerusalem. The intention
is to deport them to the West Bank.Apparently Israel is considering
extending this punishment to other members of Hamas in Jerusalem and
possibly anyone working for the Palestinian Authority
“US-India
Strategic Economic Partnership”:
Kowtowing To American Big Business
By Prasenjit Bose
The Report of the US India CEO Forum titled “US-India
Strategic Economic Partnership”, which was released during the
recent Bush visit, has not attracted much media attention in contrast
to the hype over the nuclear deal
The Real
Threat?
By Subhash Gatade
Lal Krishna Advani, ex President of BJP would not
have imagined in his wildest dreams that Sangh Parivar's own people,
would get caught in making illegal bombs just when he with his entourage
was busy sermonising all and sundry about threats before the nation
War Against
Naxals In Chhatishgarh:
Will Brahmanical Alternative Work
By V.B.Rawat
If the government wants to tackle the Naxal threat
it has to introspect on its own position. It cannot deny tribals and
Dalit their legitimate right over their resources. If the state apparatus
continue to become more brahmanical by giving huge, palatial land to
the corrupt Babas while the marginalized languish of hunger and malnutrition,
nothing will move
21 April, 2006
Peak
Oil And The Political
Economy Of Terrorism
By Mathew Maavak
Crude oil has breached the $70 psychological barrier
again. It is high noon for those prospecting for maximum oil returns.
This time, however, it will not be a one-day seduction by the stormy
Katrina. The causative culprits are aplenty. Peak Oil is forming a strategic
fit with Peak Terrorism
Nepal:
Last stand Of A Monarchy
By Justin Huggler
They came in their tens of thousands, ordinary
Nepalis who defied a curfew and shoot-to-kill warnings, and marched
through their capital to demand the King give up his power and restore
democracy. And he greeted them with bullets. Soldiers and police opened
fire on the protesters, shooting them down in the streets
The Real First
Casualty Of War
By John Pilger
This acute skepticism, this skill of reading between
the lines, is urgently needed in supposedly free societies today. Take
the reporting of state-sponsored war. The oldest cliché is that
truth is the first casualty of war. I disagree. Journalism is the first
casualty. Not only that: it has become a weapon of war
A
Case For The Palestinian Government
By Ramzy Baroud
Palestinians in the Occupied Territories are on
the brink of a humanitarian disaster, being punished for making a democratic
choice that has been deemed unacceptable from an Israeli point of view
and from its benefactors elsewhere
Anti-Terrorism
Financing Laws Unequally Applied
By William Fisher
Muslim charities in the USA are being summarily
shut down for supporting terrorist causes while giant firms such as
Halliburton are receiving the full protections of American law for allegedly
breaking U.S. government sanctions against doing business with Iran
Outing CIA
Agent - Keep It Simple
By Evelyn Pringle
For all intent and purposes, the special prosecutor’s
duty in the CIA leak case is straightforward. How the investigation
ever got so complicated is beyond me. Mr Fitzgerald needs to keep it
simple
Tackling
Terrorism - Varanasi,
Jama Masjid Show the Way
By Ram Puniyani
The Varanasi example which the Shahi Imam quoted
has become a good deal of landmark in how to respond to terror attacks
20 April, 2006
US
Greenhouse Gas Emissions Hit Record Level
By Steve Connor
The United States emitted more greenhouse gases
in 2004 than at any time in history, confirming its status as the world's
biggest polluter. Latest figures on the US contribution to global warming
show that its carbon emissions have risen sharply despite international
concerns over climate change
Global Warming
Hits Canada's
Remotest Arctic Lands
By David Ljunggren
Even in one of the remotest, coldest and most inhospitable
parts of Canada's High Arctic, you cannot escape the signs of global
warming
Hell On Earth:
The Crisis In Northern Uganda
By Joseph Grosso
A longstanding humanitarian crisis continues to
fester in northern Uganda. A corrupt, poorly disciplined army has battled
for twenty years against a vicious insurgency by the Lord’s Resistance
Army (LRA), a group made up largely of terrorized, abducted child soldiers
(some of whom are made to kill their parents under the threat of death
to ensure their loyalty), led by a man who claims to be fighting for
the Ten Commandments
The Billion-Dollar
Baghdad Embassy
By Leigh Saavedra
That's the estimate, though only half of it has
been appropriated so far, a billion dollars to build a new embassy in
Iraq. It will be the largest on the globe, the largest the world has
ever seen, the size of Vatican City in Italy
A Plan To
End The War-Dump The Democrats
By Joshua Frank
Despite the mounting opposition across the US to
the war in Iraq, not one major Democrat has endorsed an immediate unconditional
withdrawal of troops from Iraq. And what has the antiwar movement done
to punish them? Nothing
Dear Mr. Bush,
I Understand You
By Mirza A. Beg
If we attack Iran no one in the world, except Israel
would even pretend to be with us. But that is a long-term problem. It
will actually be advantageous in supplying more terrorists for you and
your successors to keep Americans scared for a long time
Sri Lankan
Peace Talks On The Verge Of Collapse
By Nanda Wickremasinghe and K. Ratnayake
The Geneva peace talks between the Sri Lankan government
and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) are on the brink of
collapse, amid escalating violence in the war zones of Sri Lanka’s
North and East
The Corporate
Hijack Of Organic
Farming Initiative In Punjab
By Umendra Dutt
The Punjab Government has leased out thousands
hectors of land to various companies especially the agri-business corporations
for Joint Ventures. Due to one or other reasons best known to government
officials no body want to share the exact figure that how much land
was given to agri-business corporations so far
19 April, 2006
Civil
War In Iraq?
By Dahr Jamail
The armed wing of the Supreme Council for Islamic
Revolution in Iraq, the Badr Organization, and Muqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi
Army have been launching ongoing attacks against fighters in the neighborhood.
There is a shorter version of this description. Civil war
Stop Us Before
We Kill Again!
By Bernard Weiner
The essence of Bush&Co. strategy, from January
2001 to today, can be boiled down to this: We'll continue doing whatever
we want to do until someone stops us
Olmert The Fox
By Uri Avnery
Ehud Olmert is now the acting prime minister of
Israel, and in a few weeks hence, with the establishment of the new
coalition, he will become the head of a regular government. All this
is happening without any real debate about Olmert
Bush's Destabilizing
Nuclear Deal With India
By Ingmar Lee
It's impossible to imagine a more idiotic and disastrous
catastrophe than that which has been inflicted on South Asia by George
W. Bush
The Most
Evil People In The World
By Doug Soderstrom
I have come to the conclusion that the Christian
fundamentalists, also known as the religious right, are the most evil
people in the world. Others (such as those of various Islamic terrorist
groups) were considered, but after due consideration, the Christians
won……. hands down. In fact it was no contest
State Department
Memo:'16 Words' Were False
By Jason Leopold
Sixteen days before President Bush's January 28,
2003, State of the Union address in which he said that the US learned
from British intelligence that Iraq had attempted to acquire uranium
from Africa - an explosive claim that helped pave the way to war - the
State Department told the CIA that the intelligence the uranium claims
were based upon were forgeries, according to a newly declassified State
Department memo
Forget The
Middle East
By Jason Miller
North America harbors the world's most dangerous
terrorists
Behind The
Indian Press’s
Adulation Of Sonia Gandhi
By Sarath Kumara and Keith Jones
The extraordinary rallying of the press around
Gandhi and the fawning praise of her leadership underscore that the
most powerful sections of the Indian ruling class view that the UPA
regime—which holds powers only because of the parliamentary support
of the Left Front—currently constitutes the best vehicle for pressing
forward with their neo-liberal agenda
18 April, 2006
US
Planning Fourth Attempt To
Oust Hugho Chavez
By Stephen Lendman
Let me spell out what's happening now as the US
with 100% certainty is heading toward a fourth showdown confrontational
attempt to oust Hugo Chavez and possibly try to assassinate him this
time
Six Simple
Propositions To Solve
The Iranian Nuclear Crisis
By Behrooz Ghamari-Tabrizi
War is not inevitable, no matter how hard the both
sides try to make it so. The following six-point proposal is based on
an assumption that the most significant element compelling the Islamic
Republic to contemplate militarizing their nuclear technology is their
threat assessment
Science,
Humanity And The Iraq Holocaust
By Gideon Polya
This essay is a message of solidarity from an Australian
scientist and writer sent to the Brussells Tribunal on the occasion
of the Madrid International Seminar on the Assassination of Iraqi Academics
and Health Professionals, 22-23 April 2006
American
Support For Iraq War In Sharp Decline
By William Fisher
Only 20 per cent of Americans thinks President
George W. Bush's goal of spreading democracy to other countries is "very
important". And even among Republicans, only three out of ten favor
pursuing this goal "strongly", with most of the erosion in
Republican confidence occurring in the more religious wing of the party
Iraq - Greatest
Strategic Disaster In US History
By Evelyn Pringle
It's time for the deceptions and distortions to
end. Bush needs to explain once and for all, what he plans to do about
Iraq
Why Reservation
For OBC Is A Must
By V.B.Rawat
Let Reform mean breaking age old Brahmanical hegemony
Don’t
Damn Narmada
By Angana Chatterji
The Congress government must accede to the NBA’s
demand and halt construction of the Sardar Sarovar until the affected
are ethically rehabilitated as per the provisions of the NWDTA and Supreme
Court orders of 2000 and 2005
13 April, 2006
US
Planning Major Air Attack On Iran
By Seymour Hersh
An interview with Seymour Hersh who reported recently
in the New Yorker magazine reports that the Bush administration has
increased clandestine activities inside Iran and intensified planning
for a possible major air attack.
The war
On Iran
By Pepe Escobar
As was the case with Iraq, Iran is being sold as
a threat to world peace (it may be pursuing nuclear weapons). Bush -
at least vocally - hopes diplomacy will prevail. But the decision to
attack may have been made already, just as it was taken regarding Iraq
way before March 2003
Iraqis’
Resistance To Civil War
By Ghali Hassan
There is no civil war in Iraq. The violence in
Iraq is a US-orchestrated campaign to destroy Iraq’s nationalism
and liquidate any opposition to the Occupation
The U.S.
Military Is In DU Denial
By Susu Jeffrey
Of the 580,000 Iraq War 1 veterans, 56 percent
have applied for disability treatment and benefits. Depleted uranium
is the sin of the father visited upon the next generation, whether it’s
parental illness, death, or birth defects and genetic damage inherited
by untold generations. Brothers, if you’re going over, bank your
sperm. Sisters, if you’re going over—have your babies first
Bush's Nemesis:
The Other Americans
By subhash Gatade
One can just go on discussing the saga of life
and struggles, of people, groups, organisations – the other Americans
- who have refused to buy the sermonising by their rulers whose own
hands are dipped in blood. They are inhabitants of the ‘other
America’ which jostles for a life of justice, peace and freedom,
amidst the warmongering voices of the Bushes, the Cheneys and the Rumsfelds
12 April, 2006
Protests
Erupt Against Nepal’s King Gyanendra
By W.A. Sunil and K. Ratnayake
Popular protests and a general strike continued
in Nepal for a sixth day yesterday as thousands of demonstrators continued
to defy a curfew and a ban on political rallies and to demand an end
to the autocratic rule of King Gyanendra
Democracy From
Below
By Rana Bose
Democracy from below is replacing democracy from
above. The world is witnessing, in Nepal and Venezuela, a phenomena
that is rare. Two different types of popular and pragmatic uprisings
in a post-doctrinal era
Imminent
Decline Of Empire?
By Ramzy Baroud
The miscalculated policies of the US administration
in the Middle East are quickly depleting the country’s ability
to sustain its once unchallenged global position. Winds of change are
blowing everywhere, and there is little that Washington’s ideologues
can do to stop it
Don't
Attack Iran
By Cindy Sheehan
In order to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear,
or "nucular" weapons, we will use tactical nuclear weapons
on them! The continued hypocrisy of this regime is absolutely breathtaking!
The American
Caesar
By Ralph Nader
In the name of fighting stateless terrorism, George
W. Bush is looming as the American Caesar running roughshod over the
civil liberties of the American people who have turned against him in
ever larger majorities
11 April, 2006
Diversity
Of Species Faces 'Catastrophe'
By Steve Connor
Tens of thousands of animals and plants could become
extinct within the coming decades as a direct result of global warming
French Government
Withdraws
“First Job Contract"
By Rick Kelly
President Jacques Chirac and Prime Minister Dominique
de Villepin announced yesterday that new legislation will be drawn up
to replace the “First Job Contract” (CPE), which sparked
a massive wave of protests and strikes in recent weeks
The War
On Immigrants
By Stephen Lendman
What's on the table being debated in the Congress
is not as extreme as Hitler's infamous Nuremberg Race Laws, but there
are some ominous comparisons
Palestinian
Health Care Conditions
Under Occupation
By Sonia Nettnin
According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health,
36 health care workers have been killed, 447 health providers have been
wounded and 129 patients have died at Israeli checkpoints. How? There
have been 375 attacks on health care centers, 383 attacks on ambulances,
with 38 ambulances destroyed altogether. Since September 28, 2000, at
least 67 women have given birth at Israeli checkpoints. As a result,
39 newborns died or they were delivered stillborn
Forgotten
People
By Joe Athialy
India's two best known struggles are waging a battle
for justice under the trees of Jantar Mantar in the capital —
the Narmada dam oustees and Bhopal gas victims. Both have a 20-year
history, albeit emerging from different contexts
And Now,
Nepalis Say- Ya Basta!!!
By Pratyush Chandra
And, today the Nepali says in her own way: YA BASTA!
Enough is enough!!! A protester told Reuters news agency, "We are
not afraid of bullets, we have to get democracy at any cost and we will
get it"
10 April, 2006
US
Considering Nuclear Strikes Against Iran
By Bill Van Auken
The Bush administration is in the advanced stages
of the planning and preparation for a full-scale air war against Iran,
including the possible use of tactical nuclear weapons against selected
targets
The Iran
Plans
By Seymour M. Hersh
The Bush Administration, while publicly advocating
diplomacy in order to stop Iran from pursuing a nuclear weapon, has
increased clandestine activities inside Iran and intensified planning
for a possible major air attack
How To Save
The World
By Dave Eriqat
Responding to my essay titled “The End of
Civilization” , some people suggested I should write about the
solutions I referred to in passing. The foregoing fiction is meant to
introduce readers of this essay to what I see as one solution to the
many crises facing humanity and our planet
Energy
Philosophy For Entropic Times
By Andrew McKillop
Waking up to basic facts of nature and existence
should be a part of the education process, but the state and religion
got there first and filled the schoolbooks with cranky logic and half-baked
slogans. Change has to come and will come, Peak Oil means we are going
somewhere else where we could or might do better. Be sure of it !
The Darwin
Award For Self-Extinction Goes To:
By Bill Henderson
Darwin Awards to all and every person who chooses
to remain willfully ignorant of who we are on this planet, our precarious
position, and our responsibilities
America’s
"Noble" Cause
By Jason Miller
Preserving its Right to Murder, Exploit, Torture,
and Impoverish with Impunity
The Lynching
Of Cynthia McKinney
By Lucinda Marshall
While most of us would agree that taking a swing
at a police officer is not a well considered thing to do, that does
not invalidate McKinney’s charges of racism and inappropriate
touching. Nor does it justify the vicious and ignorant political and
media lynching that followed
The 'Andhra
Way' Of Countering
The Naxalite ‘Menace’
By Subhash Gatade
One does not know whether all those people who
have been singing euologies to the Andhra model in curbing the ‘menace’
have ever bothered to look for themselves how ferocious it looks at
the ground level. One does not know whether they comprehend that the
mechanisms to be put in place would just be another name for instituting
death squad regime under the canopy of democracy
08 April, 2006
Bush
Approved Security Leak
By Patrick Martin
The revelation that President Bush personally approved
the release of highly classified information to retaliate against a
critic of the Iraq war is a major political event. Once again, the modus
operandi of this government is revealed: distortion, falsification,
manipulation of the media, secretive methods, dirty tricks, all to defend
its ongoing criminal enterprise, the US invasion and occupation of Iraq
The Truth About
Lewis "Scooter"
Libby's Statements
By John Dean
There will be more devastating revelations from
the Libby case. The Commander-in-Chief-can-do-no-wrong veneer is wearing
off, thankfully. For a nation that cannot hold its commander-in-chief
responsible is something other than a democracy
Why The
United States Will Attack Iran
By Dave Eriqat
There’s been a lot of speculation about whether
or not the United States will attack Iran. Roughly equal numbers of
people believe the U.S. will and will not attack. Disregarding the public
blustering from both governments, I believe the U.S. will attack Iran
in 2006. Here’s why
Debating The
Pro- Israel Lobby's Influence
On US Policy In The Mideast
By Joe American
It's obvious that Americans need a free and fair-minded
national debate that addresses at least three crucial questions (1)
Is the pro-Israel lobby a major causal factor in persuading the US government
to attack Iran; (2) If not, what are the major causal factors that are
pushing the US government to attack Iran; and (3) In either case, is
it truly in America's national interests
"Centre-Left"
Regimes In Latin America
By James Petras
New Winds from the left or hot air from a new right?
Amnesty Takes
On Rendition
By William Fisher
As U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and
her team continue to face increasingly harsh criticism from Muslim communities,
Amnesty International has issued a new report on one of the practices
they criticize most: rendition
Thompson's
Dog Wont Hunt
By Sheila Samples
When I first read the March 31 Capitol Hill Blue
headline, "9/11 conspiracy theories don't pass the smell test,"
I thought editor Doug Thompson was pulling an April Fool's joke on us
a day early
Assaulting Cynthia
McKinney
By Remi Kanazi
Joe Scarborough, political hack and host of Scarborough
Country on MSNBC, went on yet another odious rant on April 3. This time
his scurrilous remarks were aimed at six-term Congresswoman Cynthia
McKinney
The Urgent
Need To Fully Fund VAWA
By Lucinda Marshall
The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) was unanimously
reauthorized by Congress late last year. Funding for the act's various
programs, however, is far from assured. For the fifth year in a row,
President Bush's budget request did not provide full funding for existing
VAWA programs
The Miasma
Of Growth
By R Siddharth
India and China are recording phenomenal growth.
But how good is that for nature and environment?
06 April, 2006
The
Big Melt Coming Faster Than Expected
By Stephen Leahy
Many of the world's major cities, including Bangkok,
London, Miami and New York, could be flooded by the end of the century,
according to a new analysis of current temperatures in the Arctic region
published in the journal Science
Another
Brick In The Wall
By Robert Fisk
The wall will soon run from top to bottom of the
occupied Palestinian West Bank - and it is going to stay
Europe’s
Energy Crisis Sharpens
Antagonisms With Russia
By Fergus Michaels
The European Union is largely dependent upon external
sources for its energy supplies, particularly Russia, but also Norway
and Algeria. That dependency is set to accelerate substantially in the
coming period
Evangelicals
Rally Their Flocks Behind Israel
By Bill Berkowitz
To prevent the George W. Bush administration from
pressuring the Israelis into turning over even more land, Hagee, the
pastor of San Antonio's Cornerstone Church recently brought together
400 Christian evangelical leaders for an invitation-only "Summit
on Israel"
Ceasefire And
Democracy In Nepal
By Pratyush Chandra
The Maoists in Nepal have once again demonstrated
exemplary resilience by declaring a unilateral and indefinite ceasefire
on April 3, as proof of their commitment to their understanding with
the "democrats". They ceased all military actions in the Kathmandu
Valley considering "the requests from the seven-party alliance
and from the civic societies"
Behind The collapse
Of Ukraine’s
“Orange Revolution”
By Niall Green
Ukraine’s March 25 parliamentary elections
and the subsequent back-room deals between the main political actors
have exposed the fraudulent nature of the so-called “Orange Revolution”
of November and December 2004
Adivasis:
A Cultural Cooption
By Ram Puniyani
From 1987 Sangh (RSS) has activated its offshoot
Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram (VKA) into higher gear of activity. Adivasis,
the most neglected part of society are being wooed through newly devised
cultural mechanisms
05 April, 2006
New
Phone-Tapping Powers In Australia
By Mike Head
The Telecommunications Interception (Amendment)
Act 2006, which was pushed through both houses of parliament last week,
permits the federal police and ASIO to covertly monitor or read anyone’s
phone calls, emails, SMSs and other “stored communications”
The
Israel Lobby And Beyond
By Michael Neumann
Why then does the US support Israel? Here I do
tend to disagree with Walt and Mearsheimer. Maybe the influence of the
Israel lobby is the only logical explanation, but that doesn't mean
the explanation is right. Nations do not always behave logically
Protecting Israel:
Chomsky’s Way
By Ghali Hassan
A critique of Noam Chomsky in the light of his
observations on John Mearsheimer - Stephen Walt study
Bush And
Neocons Beating War
Drums For Attack On Iran
By Linda S. Heard
The lunatics have taken over the asylum. Even as
most rational people realize that the invasion of Iraq was oiled on
the back of fake pretexts and downright lies, the US and its allies
are beating their war drums against Iran, using exactly the same pretexts
Last
Reflections On The World Social Forum, Karachi
By Ingmar Lee
I didn't hear a whole lot of visionary discussion
at the Karachi Forum. There were countless NGO's presenting their efforts,
railing against the powers that be, but other than a sense of solidarity,
no discussion arose by which the global activist community might grow
their movement. I didn't see any "Big Picture" emerging
US
Attitude To Hamas: The Disturbing
Parallel With Nicaragua
By Ramzy Baroud
What is currently transpiring in the Occupied Territories
is by far a worst-case scenario, ironically one made possible with the
direct help of many Palestinians themselves. The democratically elected
Palestinian government is now officially isolated.The final outcome
is that turning Palestine into another Nicaragua is working
Bush's Mixed
Signals
By William Fisher
Bush Administration is sending dangerously mixed
signals to the Arab-American and other Muslim communities of USA
How Massacres
Become The Norm
By Dahr Jamail
US soldiers killing innocent civilians in Iraq
is not news. Just as it was not news that US soldiers slaughtered countless
innocent civilians in Vietnam. However, when some rare reportage of
this non news from Iraq does seep through the cracks of the corporate
media, albeit briefly, the American public seems shocked
04 April, 2006
Is
It Too Late To Stop Global Warming?
By Seth Borenstein
Many scientists are not so sure that the oncoming
train of global warming can be avoided. Temperatures are going to rise
for decades to come because the chief gas that causes global warming
lingers in the atmosphere for about a century
Pentagon Thievery
- An Interview
With Jeffrey St. Clair
By Joshua Frank
The sooner the Iraqis evict US forces from Iraq,
the better off we'll both be. Perhaps then America's imperial ambitions
will be chastened. Perhaps the federal budget will be so busted that
future forays will be curtailed and provocative and destabilizing weapon
systems will be mothballed. And, perhaps, a third party will emerge
to reclaim the banner of Jeffersonian idealism
The Price
Of Being A Woman:
Slavery In Modern India
By Justin Huggler
The desire for sons has created a severe shortage
of marriageable young women. As their value rises, unscrupulous men
are trading them around the subcontinent and beyond as if they were
a mere commodity
The
Israeli Elections - A Decisive
Vote For Apartheid
By Omar Barghouti
The Israeli majority has chosen apartheid. And
since Western governments have welcomed the result as a breakthrough
for peace, Israel's Wall and colonies can only be expected to grow more
aggressively under the pretence of "consolidation" and "separation,"
condemning the entire region to endless bloody conflict
US-British
Diktat Makes Mockery Of
“Democracy” In Iraq
By Peter Symonds
The unannounced trip by US Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice and British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw to Iraq over the past
two days has again underscored who is calling the shots in Iraq. For
all of the Bush administration’s empty rhetoric about “democracy”
in Iraq, it is the White House rather than the votes of Iraqis that
will decide the shape of the next government in Baghdad
How Capitalism
Threatens Your Health
By Julian Edney
After years of collecting health data, Ichiro Kawachi
in the U.S., Richard Wilkinson in Britain and John Lynch in the U.S.
and their associates have discovered that more lethal than cigarettes,
obesity, alcohol, pollution, AIDS, vehicle accidents, suicides and homicides,
is the gradient of inequality in our societies
Coca-Cola: Sucking
Communities Dry
By Joe Zacune
University campuses throughout the USA and Europe
have now voted to cancel contracts with Coca-Cola in protest at its
operations, and in solidarity with the community resistance which has
escalated in many countries across the world. It is up to us to keep
up the pressure on Coca-Cola and also send a strong message to our elected
leaders to rein in irresponsible business practises
03 April, 2006
10
Ways To Help Save The planet
By Terry Kirby and Lucy Phillips
Last week, following the launch of an all-party
inquiry into climate change, The Independent of UK asked its readers
to send in suggestions for saving the planet. The response was huge.
Here is a summary of the most popular ideas which, if put into practice,
would be potent weapons in the fight against global warming
Economic Growth-Our
Common Foe
By Neil K. Dawe
There seems to be recognition that economic growth
is the root cause of climate change along with a host of other environmental
problems
Uncle Sam's
Scientists Busy Building Insect Army
By Lynda Hurst
Defence research agency creates landmine-sniffing
bugs
A Lesson From
The Holocaust For Us All
By Robert Fisk
At a second-hand book stall in the Rue Monsieur
le Prince in Paris a few days ago, I came across the second volume of
Victor Klemperer's diaries.Reading these diaries as the RER train takes
me out to Charles de Gaulle airport - I wish President Ahmadinejad of
Iran could travel with me
Thought
Control
By Ghali Hassan
Like all imperialist forces, the US is heavily
relaying on misinformation propaganda campaign to promote and enhance
its imperialist ideology. The mass murder of Iraqi civilians by US forces
is normalised and welcomed with deafening silence. The purpose is thought
control
Locking The
Golden Door
By Jason Miller
Inculcated with the belief that they are morally
superior and endowed with an inalienable right to world domination,
the members of America’s ruling White Patriarchy and their ardent
supporters have an immigration problem. Too many “little Brown
people” are streaming across their southern border
A Bull
Market For Sensex,
Fashion Models And Farmer Suicides
By P Sainath
Farm suicides in Vidharbha crossed 400 this week.
The Sensex share index crossed the 11,000 mark. And Lakme Fashion Week
issued over 500 media passes to journalists. All three are firsts. All
happened the same week. And each captures in a brilliant if bizarre
way a sense of where India's Brave New World is headed
Democracy
In Ladakh Marginalized Women
By Stanzin Dawa
Democracy in Ladakh doesn't consider women as people,
why? Where are the women representation and their leadership in the
local democratic set up ? It's shocking that women representation in
the existing council of both Leh and Kargil absolutely does not exist
01 April, 2006
The
War Drums Are Getting Louder
By Stephen Lendman
It looks almost certain we're now headed for a
new one against Iran, and may try to "double our displeasure"
by including a "fracas in Caracas." I just learned about an
"Operation Bilbao" which appears to be blueprint to overthrow
the Chavez government and likely includes in it targeted assassinations
starting with the guy in charge
Failed States:
The Abuse Of Power
And The Assault On Democracy
By Noam Chomsky
Noam Chomsky has just released a new book titled
"Failed States: The Abuse of Power and the Assault on Democracy."
It examines how the United States is beginning to resemble a failed
state that cannot protect its citizens from violence and has a government
that regards itself as beyond the reach of domestic or international
law
The Art Of
War For The Anti-War Movement
By Scott Ritter
It's high time to recognize that we as a nation
are engaged in a life-or-death struggle of competing ideologies with
those who promote war as an American value and virtue
Iraq Is
Not In Civil War (Yet) -
Iraq Is Under Occupation
By Laith Al-Sud
The inability to talk about Iraq in an appropriate
context has been one of the greatest setbacks to the anti-war movement
here in the United States of America, and to describe Iraq solely in
terms of being in civil war contributes to this problem. Iraq is under
occupation and the current rivalry between what are indeed Iraqi factions
has to be interpreted within this context
Rachel’s
Words Live On
By Remi Kanazi
On March 22, a congregation of ardent supporters
gathered to commemorate Rachel’s life and spread her words in
the very church Martin Luther King first chastised the war in Vietnam
World Water
Forum Not The Place
To Solve Global Water Crisis
By Laura Carlsen
Water flooded Mexico City the week of March 16-22,
causing major traffic jams, provoking street confrontations, and filling
the pages of local and international newspapers. Yet nothing got wet
US, India
Alliance And Global Scenario
By Ram Puniyani
The bringing together of different countries to
face up to the onslaught of US foreign policy is a must. This alliance
of non aligned countries can come up with the Global peace movement
raising its voice against the adverse economic and political policy
of the World bully. Its time this becomes central agenda of human rights
groups