23 December, 2005
The Struggle Against Ourselves
By George Monbiot
Ours are the most fortunate generations that have ever lived. Ours are the most fortunate generations that ever will. We inhabit the brief historical interlude between ecological constraint and ecological catastrophe
The New York City Transit Strike:
It's About Respect...And Solidarity
By Michael Hirsch
"Everybody treats us like crap all the time. We're tired of being treated like we're the garbage of the city"
Behind The Media Onslaught
On The Transit Workers
By Peter Daniels
While New York City’s striking transit workers were winning broad sympathy and support from millions of working people this week, the mass media swung into action with a predictably unanimous campaign of hysterical slanders against the strikers
Iraq: Game Over
By Robert Dreyfuss
The last hope for peace in Iraq was stomped to death this week. The victory of the Shiite religious coalition in the December 15 election hands power for the next four years to a fanatical band of fundamentalist Shiite parties backed by Iran, above all to the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI)
Force, Power Or Strength:
What Does America Have?
By Aseem Shrivastava
All the nuclear weapons in its arsenals have not allowed the US to retain much power in Iraq. Force and power are actually quite distinct things, and strength is yet another, though the three are all too easily confused with each other in our thinking these days. Let us examine them a little
War Against Terror: Rekindling Terrorism ?
By Subhash Gatade
A innocuous looking list of names of 'possible terrorists' submitted by US government recently to the European Air Industry has inadvertently opened up a lid of sorts over the effectiveness of the 'war against terror'. According to AFP the updated list contained names and other details of eighty thousand terrorist
A New Phase Of Bright Spinning Lies About Iraq
By Norman Solomon
What’s on the horizon for 2006 is that the Bush administration will strive to put any real or imagined reduction of U.S. occupation troop levels in the media spotlight. Meanwhile, the Pentagon will use massive air power in Iraq
The Farce Trial Of Saddam
By Ghali Hassan
President Saddam Hussein's “trial” before a U.S.-orchestrated Kangaroo Court is hailed as the “trial of the century”. Unfortunately, those who committed the crimes are rewarded and protected, while their victims put on a show trial. It is not Saddam who is on trial; it is the international legal system
Dishonest Brokers
By Remi Kanazi
The European Union (EU) should be ashamed of itself. It has thrown aside the principals of democracy for partisan politics and hypocrisy. In the run up to the Palestinian parliamentary elections, the EU has addressed Palestinian politics and made threats in the proces
22 December, 2005
A Risk of Total Collapse
By Dylan Evans
Is it possible that global civilization might collapse within our lifetime or that of our children? Until recently, such an idea was the preserve of lunatics and cults. In the past few years, however, an increasing number of intelligent and credible people have been warning that global collapse is a genuine possibility
Iraqis Reject Increased Fuel Costs
By Dahr Jamail and Arkan Hamed
For two days demonstrations have continued across Iraq in protest against the government's decision to raise the price of petrol, cooking and heating fuels
Unrecognised Villages In The Negev
Expose Israel's Apartheid Policies
By Bangani Ngeleza and Adri Nieuwhof
Eighty thousand Palestinian Bedouin Israelis live in unrecognised villages in the Negev desert in the south of Israel. The villages are deprived of basic services like housing, water, electricity, education and health car
Fight Them On The Beaches?
By Mahir Ali
Australia's Identity Crisis and the Sydney Riots
Iraq And The Laws Of War
By Professor Francis A. Boyle
Text of Professor Boyle's Presentation to the Perdana Global Peace Forum, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 15 December 2005
"I Believe Only In The Power Of The People"
By Evo Morales
The Bolivian indigenous leader's speech at "In Defense of Humanity" forum in Mexico City
21 December, 2005
India Steps Into Nepalese Political Crisis
By W.A. Sunil
The visit last week by Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran to Kathmandu highlights New Delhi’s growing concern over political instability in Nepal and its impact on Indian interests
Testing Drugs On India's Poor
By Scott Carney
Given the rising cost of drug research in the United States and Europe, more and more drug companies are conducting clinical trials in developing countries where government oversight is more lax and research can be done for a fraction of the cost
Iraqis Glad 2005 Over, Dim Hopes For 2006
By Dahr Jamail and Arkan Hamed
Despite the parliamentary elections last week and temporary ease in violence, Iraqis remain bitter about the outgoing year, and sceptical of 2006
Indigenous Leaders Celebrate Morales Victory
By Diego Cevallos
The election of indigenous leader Evo Morales as president of Bolivia is being hailed by native leaders from throughout the region as a "sign of hope" for all impoverished and discriminated indigenous peoples in Latin America
Climate Change Expert’s New Book On Oil Depletion
By Shepherd Bliss
British geologist Jeremy Leggett in his latest book “Half Gone” contends that “the oil topping point, otherwise known as the peak of production, will be reached in the 2006-2010 window and when the market realizes this, severe economic trauma will ensue. Second, global warming is a real, present, and fast-growing danger.”
Indict The Coalition Governments
By Gideon Polya
Formal complaint sent to the International Criminal Court over Coalition war crimes in Occupied Iraq & Afghanistan
20 December, 2005
Making The Earth Our Heaven And Our Home
By Dr. Gerry Lower
Think of it, people. Think of what it would be like to LIVE IN THE SAME HUMAN WORLD AS A PEOPLE with a world full of friends who comprehend what is meant by fairness and equality. With the emergence of humankind and a direct global democracy, we will hear, for the first time on earth, the voice of the people, a distinctly human voice that will echo throughout known space and time
Free Software As A Social Movement
Justin Podur interviews Richard Stallman
Richard Stallman is one of the founders of the Free Software Movement and lead developer of the GNU Operating System. His book is 'Free Software, Free Society'.Justin Podur interviews Richard Stallman
“There Were Only Local Anaesthetics
Available To Amputate Limbs”
By Inge Van de Merlen
A young Iraqi doctor testifies on the horror in Iraq
Inside Iraq's Secret Prisons: An Iraqi Testimony
By Salam
This is now happening in Iraq, to my friends and family, on a daily basis, while you Americans are buying Christmas presents and preparing Turkey. Every Iraqi has a similar story to tell
War Crimes As ‘Democracy’
By Ghali Hassan
There is an overwhelming prima facia evidence to indict George W. Bush and his accomplices with war crimes and crime against humanity. If the American people justify the death penalty for Americans who committed murderous crimes in America, they should not ignore those who committed mass murder in Iraq
President Discusses Iraq In Address To The Nation
By Jason Miller
I know that some of my decisions have led to terrible loss, but thankfully neither my family nor I have suffered those losses. I know this war is controversial--yet being your President entails doing what is right and accepting the consequences. That is why a man like me, who has the moral fiber of a child pornographer, is truly unfit to hold this office
Trickle-Down is A Giant Again,
And The Poor Grow Poorer
By Leigh Saavedra
If ever a country's work was laid out for it, this is the time. Over Christmas dinner this year, let us all spend a moment, just a moment, thinking not only how fortunate we are to have our turkey and cranberries but how long it will be until the stretched taffy puts each of us on the other end, where all we can do is take a whiff of the masters' turkey
19 December, 2005
The End Of Cheap Oil
By Daniel Leeming
The depletion of cheap energy is giving rise to ideas of how to reduce demand, encourage alternative energy sources, rank the success of innovative approaches and educate the public so that they can make more informed choices and ask for appropriate action
Empire Of Shame
A Conversation With Jean Ziegler
Translated from the French By Siv O'Neall
Jean Ziegler, rapporteur at the UN on questions of food resources has just published a book translated in 14 languages: Empire of Shame. Here in this interview Jean Ziegler presents his work
Behind The Steel Curtain:
The Real Face Of The Occupation
By Sabah Ali
White flags on top of houses and cars, plenty of American and Iraqi military vehicles, too many check points and blocks on the road, many frightening walking patrols, curfew after sunset, heaps and heaps of destroyed houses, shops, offices, the only bridge, hospitals and medical care centers, walls covered with bullets shots, and elections posters…empty faces with bleak looks wonder in the streets. This is Al-Qaim picture after the Steel Curtain military operation which began on November 5, 2005 with 3000 thousands American and Iraqi troops participating in it
30,000 Iraqis More Or Less
By Lucinda Marshall
George's face was eerily matter-of-fact as he said it. "30,000 Iraqis more or less" have been killed so far in the 'War on Terror'. No remorse or sadness, he seemed wholly unaffected in any way by the enormity of such a loss of life, let alone that he might bear some responsibility for it happening
Iraqi Civilian Deaths Mount -- And Count
By Derrick Z. Jackson
President Bush actually acknowledged that Iraqi civilians died in his war. ''I would say 30,000, more or less, have died as a result of the initial incursion and the ongoing violence against Iraqis," Bush said to a questioner this week in Philadelphia. Up until now in Afghanistan and Iraq, Bush denied as much annihilation as possible
The Rise Of Islamophobia In ‘White Australia’
By Ghali Hassan
The racist “White Australia Policy” is not dead; it is still here hovering over Australia. What is needed is an anti-racism bill to protect marginalised Australians from the threat of racially-motivated violence, and to counter the rise of Islamophobia
Pinter’s Exposure Of US State Terrorism
By Gideon Polya
“How many people do you have to kill before you qualify as a mass murderer and a war criminal? One hundred thousand? More than enough, I would have thought”
Bush Defends Illegal Spying On Americans:
The Specter Of Presidential Dictatorship
By Barry Grey
President George Bush’s defense of his illegal authorization for the National Security Agency (NSA) to monitor phone conversations and email in the US without court approval is an assertion of unchecked executive power
17 December, 2005
The Decline Of The American Empire
By Gabriel Kolko
Defeated in Iraq, bankrupt at home, despised around the globe (and that's just the good news)
An Increasingly Aerial Occupation
By Dahr Jamail
The American media continues to ignore the increasingly devastating air war being waged in Iraq against an ever more belligerent Iraqi resistance -- and, as usual, Iraqi civilians continue to bear the largely unreported brunt of the bombing
The WTO in Hong Kong
By Mark Engler
Is market access the answer to poverty?
08 December, 2005
2005 Costliest Year For Extreme Weather
By Jim Lobe
The world has suffered more than 200 billion dollars in economic losses as a result of weather-related natural disasters over the past year, making 2005 the costliest year on record
Hurricane Havoc: Is Global Warming To Blame?
By Norm Dixon
A debate has erupted over whether world capitalism’s unprecedented emissions of industrial carbon dioxide into the atmosphere was directly responsible for Katrina, and the record-breaking number of fierce storms during this year’s Atlantic Ocean hurricane season
Art, Truth And Politics
By Harold Pinter
The Nobel Prize lecture
The Great War For Civilization
Justin Podur interviews Robert Fisk
Robert Fisk interviewed by Justin Podur
Worse Than Fossil Fuel
By George Monbiot
Biodiesel enthusiasts have accidentally invented the most carbon-intensive fuel on earth
Young Iraqi Surgeon Testifies About
The Horrors Of The Iraq war
By Barbara Debusschere
‘Even during operations, doctors were shot at by US soldiers’
The Independence Struggle Of Hawai’i
By Amy Marsh
It is easy for people from the mainland to ignore or dismiss the history of Hawai'i, yet the illegal occupation of Hawai'i continues to have a huge detrimental effect on the people, the environment and the culture
Salam Bhimrao!
By Goldy M. George
The only way to salute Bhimrao is by truly standing against oppressive structure, for equality and justice
Breaking The Law
By Roshni Sengupta
Two years after the gruesome murder of IIT engineer Satyendra Dubey, a similar incident grabbed headlines recently – the killing of IOC Sales Officer and IIM –Lucknow graduate S Manjunath. What emerges from both these stories of courage and outrage is that the writ of the land and oil mafia runs large in UP and Bihar
06 December, 2005
Neoreality:Peak Oil And Iraq
By Bill Henderson
Peak oil is the looming reality and the Bush Admin couldn't resist the temptation to seize Iraq and American soldiers aren't leaving
On The Prospects Of Using AAA Type Batteries
As Peak Oil Mitigation Devices
By Dmitry Podborits
Furthermore, I would like to point out to all of the esteemed energy economists out there that even today, during the time of relatively cheap energy, with the economy merrily humming along, and consumer holiday shopping season being in full swing, we already have exactly the type of an energy form that fits Peter Huber's criteria: alkaline batteries
Tea For Two
By Remi Kanazi
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon—the little teapot, short and stout—is making a comeback. He ditched the outdated threads of his radical Likud to prance in the open fields of peace with favorite "doves" like Shimon Peres
War Crimes: The Posse Gathers
By Jeremy Brecher and Brendan Smith
Diverse forces are assembling to bring Bush administration officials to account for war crimes
An Invitation To A Tea Party
By Lucinda Marshall
As we stumble through the holiday season, mindlessly maxing out our credit cards, it is high time that we re-examine our own complicit spending and consuming habits. The reality is that we do have the power to commit change in the way we spend our money, not only during the holiday season, but also in the purchasing choices we make every day
Is Silence Golden?
By Mary Ann Swissler
California grassroots activists get a big win, but where was the American Cancer Society?
Cobra's (or call them tigers) Are Back
By subhash gatade
The state police department of Andhra Pradesh has engaged a criminal mafia gang called ‘Black Cobra’ . This gang has been issuing ‘death lists’ in media and brutally hacking those on the lists.' And this gang has already killed two intellectuals
The Left Conundrum
By Roshni Sengupta
Open economies moving towards liberalization regimes, such as India have more often than not, disregarded the plight of men and women labouring in multi-national corporate factories with little or no wage rights and facing a fair share of employer high-handedness.Left leaders must understand the need to create a niche for themselves by turning the tide and making privatization more labour-friendly
05 December, 2005
Mission Accomplished: Big Oil's Occupation Of Iraq
By Heather Wokusch
The Bush administration's covert plan to help energy companies steal Iraq's oil could be just weeks away from fruition, and the implications are staggering: continued price-gouging by Big Oil, increased subjugation of the Iraqi people, more US troops in Iraq, and a greater likelihood for a US invasion of Iran
Iraq And The Bipartisan Consensus
By Jeff Berg
The leadership of our world is not entirely clueless about how we can avoid smashing the whole fleet of civilization upon the rocky shoals that we have entered. But in order for them to coordinate effective policy one thing above all others will be necessary: trust
Christian Zionism: Terror In Jesus' Name
By Yoginder Sikand
Represented by literally hundreds of small denominations and churches today, particularly in America, Christian Zionism is today a formidable force and a major actor in global politics
Bhopal On My Mind
By Somnath Mukherji
The movement in Bhopal seeks justice, not as mere compensation, but to restore people's faith in the founding virtue of human society
Key Warming Ocean Current Slowing Down
By Jeremy Lovell
The Atlantic Conveyor, a life-giving ocean current that keeps northern Europe warm, is slowing down
Religious Tolerance And Secularism
By Ram Puniyani
India became secular through a struggle for democracy.India became secular through the efforts for caste and gender equality. It became secular through the effortsof those who participated in the freedom movement irrespective of their religion