30 June, 2009
Oil And The Iraq “Withdrawal”
By James Cogan
It is fitting that today’s deadline for the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq’s cities coincides with a meeting in Baghdad to auction off some of the country’s largest oil fields to companies such as ExxonMobil, Chevron and British Petroleum. It is a reminder of the real motives for the 2003 invasion and in whose interests over one million Iraqis and 4,634 American and other Western troops have been killed. The Iraq war was, and continues to be, an imperialist war waged by the American ruling elite for control of oil and geo-strategic advantage
The Scramble For Iraq's 'Sweet Oil'
By Nicole Johnston
On June 30 major companies - including Exxon, Shell, BP and Total - will gather at Iraq's oil ministry in Baghdad for a two-day meeting to take part in the first bidding round for oil service contracts. However, what the oil companies will be entitled to if they secure a contract has become one of the most controversial elements of the bidding process
Israel's Man Of Conscience
By Ezra Nawi
The author is going to prison--for peacefully resisting settler and army violence against West Bank Palestinians and the illegal expropriation of their land
Israeli Doctors Colluding In Torture
By Jonathan Cook
Israel’s watchdog body on medical ethics has failed to investigate evidence that doctors working in detention facilities are turning a blind eye to cases of torture, according to Israeli human rights groups
America's War With Muslim Nations
By Ghali Hassan
According to U.S. leaders and their Zionist handlers, the term “extremist” is any nation or movement resisting U.S.-Israel domination and murderous ideology is defamed and deemed extremist. Whether in Afghanistan, in Iraq or in Pakistan, the extremists are part of the U.S. strategy to justify war of aggression
Investing In Durability
By Guy R. McPherson
At this point, there is no stopping the arc of history or the icons of industry. We're all hanging onto the roller-coaster ride of economic collapse, which is fueled by the flawed notion of never-ending economic growth. Unless you're planning to withdraw to an anarcho-primitivist society beyond the reach of the industrial world, there's little you can do, as an individual, to mitigate the damage to Earth or your wallet
'Hindurashtra' In Delhi
By Subhash Gatade
Protest by Hindutva organisations against construction of a mosque in Rohini Sector 16, Delhi...Prayer by the muslims not allowed by hindutva forces on 26.6.2009 and those who were coming for the NAMAJ were beaten up and chased back. .. Hooligans marched in street to look out for muslims...Women also participated in large numbers
Socialism And Obama
By Timothy V. Gatto
If you believe that you are fully aware of what the Federal Government, the media and the two major political parties are doing in regard to the economy and also our civil liberties, you needn’t read on. If you have a nagging feeling that something is definitely wrong with the direction that this country is headed, or you believe that the situation is somehow different than what’s been reported and what you have heard from the politicians and the mainstream media…read on
29 June, 2009
Betraying The Planet
By Paul Krugman
So the House passed the Waxman-Markey climate-change bill. In political terms, it was a remarkable achievement. But 212 representatives voted no. A handful of these no votes came from representatives who considered the bill too weak, but most rejected the bill because they rejected the whole notion that we have to do something about greenhouse gases
The Persecution Of Michael Jackson
By Ishmael Reed
If the reporting on Jackson’s death by the media wasn’t salacious and ignorant enough, it didn’t get any better the next day, June 26
Peak Oil And World Food Supplies
By Peter Goodchild
Only about 10 percent of the world’s land surface is arable, whereas the other 90 percent is just rock, sand, or swamp, which can never be made to produce crops, whether we use “high” or “low” technology or something in the middle. In an age with diminishing supplies of oil and other fossil fuels, this 10:90 ratio may be creating two gigantic problems that have been largely ignored
Apartheid Australia Backs Racist
Zionist Run Apartheid Israel
By Dr Gideon Polya
A team of pro-war, pro-coal, pro-Zionist, right-wing Apartheid Australian politicians from both major political parties and led by Australian Deputy PM Julia Gillard, is visiting Apartheid Israel with a attendant expressions of “mutual admiration” between Apartheid Australia and Apartheid Israel
Iran And America: The Will To Change
By Yacov Ben Efrat
Events in Iran send shock waves through all the Arab regimes that deny basic rights to their citizens. Iranian women are an example for Arab women, and Iranian workers are an example for Arab workers whose right to form unions is denied. This is the real "Iranian bomb."
Iran’s Coming Revolution:
For Civil Rights Or Beyond?
By Shamus Cooke
Simplifying the events in Iran as yet another attempt at a U.S. financed “color revolution” is shortsighted, to say the least. But this is the shallow position many on the left are taking. Fortunately, millions of people partaking in mass demonstrations cannot be reduced to “mere puppets” of Uncle Sam — they have aspirations of their own and ways to achieve them
Where Do The Two June Elections Leave Hezbollah?
By Franklin Lamb
Neither the recent elections or events in Iran appear unlikely to fundamentally affect Hezbollah. Neither inside Lebanon's new government or internationally
Color Revolutions, Old And New
By Stephen Lendman
The core issue isn't whether Iran's government is benign or repressive or if its June 12 election was fair or fraudulent. It's that (justifiable criticism aside) no country has a right to meddle in the internal affairs of another unless it commits aggression in violation of international law and the UN Security Council authorizes a response. Washington would never tolerate outside interference nor should it and neither should Iran
25 June, 2009
US Drone Strike Kills 80 Pakistanis
By Tom Eley
On Tuesday, an unmanned US Predator drone fired missiles into a funeral procession in the Pakistani region of South Waziristan, killing as many as 80 people and maiming dozens more. It was the deadliest US attack within Pakistan to date
Israeli Firms Accused Of
Profiting From The Holocaust
By Jonathan Cook
Israel’s second largest bank will be forced to defend itself in court in the coming weeks over claims it is withholding tens of millions of dollars in “lost” accounts belonging to Jews who died in the Nazi death camps
The New Economy Won't Be Like The Last One
By Sarah van Gelder
Despite the best efforts of the Obama administration, the economy is a long ways from recovery. The speculative system that created the mess remains intact, and foreclosures and unemployment continue to rise. But at the same time, a new economy is taking form. It’s built on a recognition that the only thing too big to fail is the Earth itself
America's "Bases Of Empire"
By Stephen Lendman
America's "Bases of Empire" menace world societies. Okinawan women and young girls bear testimony to how grievously
No Reason To Favor Private Health Insurers
By Joel S. Hirschhorn
In the national debate about health care reform absolutely nothing makes less sense than the positive views of much of the public about private health insurers. There is no good reason to have positive views of private health insurers, the companies that have relentlessly increased the costs for very limited health insurance
Bush Jumps Over Maine, Carter Lands In Gaza
By Rannie Amiri
There is little doubt that at their age, both former United States presidents George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter remain vigorous, energetic, spirited individuals. The activities they engaged in this past week however, could not have been more different
24 June, 2009
Displaced Sri Lankan Civilians
Denied Their Freedom
By Rohini Hensman
Throughout the gruesome finale of the civil war, the government of Sri Lanka claimed to be engaged in the largest hostage rescue mission ever, to release civilians in the Vanni who were being held against their will by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Yet the vast majority of these civilians are still not free. So what exactly has been happening?
Sri Lankan Tamil Detainees Give
Eye-Witness Accounts
By WSWS Correspondents
It is now more than one month since the Sri Lankan military detained the final batch of Tamil refugees fleeing the northern war zone on May 19. They joined more than a quarter of a million civilians already incarcerated in camps set up near Vavuniya and on the Jaffna Peninsula during the last phase of the war. About 160,000 people are interned in four units in the biggest camp, known as Manik Farm
The U.S. Federal Budget Pipeline:
Where Do The Dollars Drain?
By Emily Spence
By and large, the ongoing U.S. financial mess provides signs that, while China's rising, the USA will never gain back its former glory days that gave rise to both world dominance and a large middle class. As the country continues to lose jobs at the rate of approximately one every thirty seconds to either offshore company sites or business cutbacks, it has nowhere else to go except to sink down into increased hardship, as well as some degree of destitution, for an increasing number of Americans and the nation as a whole
The Collapse Of America's Imperial Car Industry
By Greg Grandin
The empire ends with a pull out. Not, as many supposed a few years ago, from Iraq. There, as well as in Afghanistan, we are mulishly staying the course, come what may, trapped in the biggest of all the "too-big-to-fail" boondoggles. But from Detroit
Obama's Financial Reform Proposal:
A Stealth Scheme For Global Monetary Control
By Stephen Lendman
The FSB appears to be a step closer toward global monetary control under the direction of the G-7 dominated BIS, IMF and other international lending agencies. Given its inclusion in Obama's financial reform proposal makes the entire package suspect and perhaps just cover for the above-outlined sinister scheme - as well as letting Wall Street be self-regulating
Obama And The Single-Payer Menace
By James Rothenberg
Polls consistently show overwhelming support for single-payer by the American people. When physicians are polled, the results are the same. Health cost pressures on big business are pushing even it away from the “legacy” of providing health care to employees under the current system. But Congress and the President want no part of it
Iran Turmoil And Media Propaganda
By Partha Banerjee
In the current context of Iran, it’s important to know the similarities of the various media spins and propaganda we’ve seen over the history. It’s important to find similarities between extremely rich, corrupt and abhorred-by-people puppet personalities such Chalabi of Iraq, Karzai of Afghanistan and Rafsanjani of Iran. It’s important to know what they've done before, and what connections they have had with groups both in the U.S. and elsewhere
Iran: Long On Rhetoric, Short On Memory
By Jim Miles
No, I do not support any government actions that involve killing its own citizens. At the same time I do not support any U.S. interference, regardless of rhetoric, as their actions speak much more towards geopolitical control than concerns for democracy or nuclear proliferation. My perplexity remains – how can the U.S. media not be able to see the double standards that exist within U.S. policy towards Iran, towards Palestine, towards the Middle East, towards the world?
Sacred Kerala—A Spiritual Journey
By Yoginder Sikand
Review of the book by Dominique-Sila Khan "Sacred Kerala—A Spiritual Journey"
22 June, 2009
Are The Iranian Election Protests Another
US Orchestrated ‘Color Revolution’?
By Paul Craig Roberts
Commentators are "explaining" the Iran elections based on their own illusions, delusions, emotions, and vested interests. Whether or not the poll results predicting Ahmadinejad's win are sound, there is, so far, no evidence beyond surmise that the election was stolen. However, there are credible reports that the CIA has been working for two years to destabilize the Iranian government
Iran Falling To US PSYOPS?
By Paul Craig Roberts
Neoconservative Kenneth Timmerman let the cat out of the bag that there was an orchestrated "color revolution" in the works. Before the election, Timmerman wrote: "there’s talk of a ‘green revolution’ in Tehran." Why would protests be organized prior to a vote and announcement of the outcome? Organized protests waiting in the wings are not spontaneous responses to a stolen election
Iran's Election And US - Iranian Relations
By Stephen Lendman
Who can say if he, Ommni, or others are right or if Washington is plotting regime change, much like before in Iran and throughout the world. Thus far, events are fast moving with no clear outcome in sight. It remains to be seen whether Iranians or imperial America will prevail, then what happens next in this volatile part of the world
Reformists Are Islamists Too
“Ya Hossein, Mir-Hossein”
By Ali Jawad
The 'Green Revolution' is underway. Iranians have put aside their greatest fears, and now carry the destiny of the nation in their own hands. We are in 1979 all over again; only that now, it is the ‘mullahs’ who have become the fleeing Shah. Tensions on the Iranian streets have boiled over to a simple equation: “whose violence threshold is higher?”
Ahmadinejad Re-elected: Israel
And Obama’s Iran Puzzle
By Ramzy Baroud
The election victory of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is likely to complicate US President Barack Obama’s new approach to his country’s conflict with Iran. The reason behind the foreseen obstacle is neither the US nor Iran’s refusal to engage in future dialogue but rather Israel’s insistence on a hard-line approach to the problem
The Iranian Conundrum: Theocracy,
Martial Law or Democracy?
By Taj Hashmi
One cannot deny that the grip of the clergy has been weakened; people have become restive and desperate for change, especially the bulk of the urban youth. In the event of a divided clergy’s failure to hold power any longer, a military takeover not people’s power or democracy seems to be the next alternative order in Iran
Chosen People: Jews or Aryans? The Deadly Irony
of the Holocaust Museum Shooting
By Irving Wesley Hall
Beneath the Holocaust Museum tragedy one can discover overlapping racist mythologies that have so far entirely escaped the commentators on the crime. Both the Aryan Nation and Zionist ideologies claim a God-given right for the Chosen People to commit genocide to redeem real estate inhabited by other people
More Than 1 Billion People Hungry
Worldwide In 2009
By Joe Kishore
Humanity will achieve the dubious distinction this year of having more than 1 billion members of its species living in hunger for the first time in history. The number of undernourished is estimated to soar by about 100 million over last year, to 1.02 billion, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Ambassador To Israel Honoured At Illegal Park
By Jonathan Cook
Canada’s chief diplomat in Israel has been honoured at an Israeli public park -- built on occupied Palestinian land in violation of international law -- as one of the donors who helped establish the park on the ruins of three Palestinian villages
Picture Yourself
By Chandi Sinnathurai
Amidst the talk of peace and reconciliation in Sri Lanka the plight of the Tamil population has hardly changed according to the British Channel 4 news report [Please see below video link]. To be fair, it must be said however, that none of the reports can be verified. Fear is looming large in the minds of the Tamils
20 June, 2009
What Really Is Going On In Lalgarh
A Fact Finding Report
From our team, therefore when we see the current violence, which many media houses are branding as ‘anarchy’, we have a different opinion. We have seen the genuine anger of the people, their tolerance, their suffering. And we have no hesitation at all in holding the police, administration and CPM responsible for the current precipitation of the situation
Gaza: Bombs, Missiles, Tanks And Bulldozers
By Jimmy Carter
Transcript of former US President Jimmy Carter's Address to the United Nations Relief Works Agency's Human Rights Graduation in Gaza
Iranian Elections: The ‘Stolen Elections’ Hoax
By James Petras
US commentators (left, right and center) who bought into the electoral fraud hoax are inadvertently providing Netanyahu and his American followers with the arguments and fabrications: Where they see religious wars, we see class wars; where they see electoral fraud, we see imperial destabilization
17 June, 2009
The Food Crisis And The Global Scramble For Farmlands
By Sam Urquhart
Governments - concerned about future food security - have been furiously signing deals with other governments across the world. Saudi Arabia has tied up 25,000 ha in Sudan to grow corn, soy and wheat, with Jordan and Syria inking similar deals. China has reportedly signed numerous deals, as in Laos , where a state rubber company has acquired 160,000 ha, and Mozambique , where 10,000 "settlers" are reportedly set to assist in the conversion of thousands of hectares to export crop production. Even tiny Mauritius has agreed a deal with Mozambique to farm 5,000 ha of land in a country where over 50 percent of the people live on less than a dollar a day
Beating And Torturing Palestinian Children
By Jonathan Cook
The rights of Palestinian children are routinely violated by Israel’s security forces, according to a new report that says beatings and torture are common. In addition, hundreds of Palestinian minors are prosecuted by Israel each year without a proper trial and are denied family visits
Afghanistan's Operation Phoenix
By Stephen Lendman
The recently appointed chief of US and NATO troops in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal is a hired gun, an assassin, a man known for committing war crime atrocities as head of the Pentagon's infamous Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) - established in 1980 and comprised of the Army's Delta Force and Navy Seals, de facto death squads writer Seymour Hersh described post-9/11 as an "executive assassination wing" operating out of Dick Cheney's office
A Civil War : Obama's Gift to Pakistan
By Liaquat Ali Khan
A civil war is brewing in Pakistan. Thanks to President Barack Obama, who is shifting the American war from Iraq to “the real enemies” operating from Afghanistan and Pakistan. Cash-strapped Pakistan could not defy Obama persuasion and decided to wage a war against its own people, the Pashtuns inhabiting the Northern Province and the tribal areas of Waziristan
Are You Ready For War With Demonized Iran?
By Paul Craig Roberts
Consumed by its passion for hegemony, America is driven to prevail over others, morality and justice be damned. This world-threatening script will play until America bankrupts itself and has so alienated the rest of the world that it is isolated and universally despised
Peru: Blood Flows In The Amazon
By James Petras
Dozens of Indians were killed or are missing, scores have been injured and arrested and a number of Peruvian police, held hostage by the indigenous protestors were killed in the assault. President García declared martial law in the region in order to enforce his unilateral and unconstitutional fiat granting of mining exploitation rights to foreign companies, which infringed on the integrity of traditional Amazonian indigenous communal lands
No More Pretense For Health Reform
By Kevin Zeese
CBO Estimates 36 million will still be uninsured ten years from now under most robust Democratic Plan
Revisiting The Women’s Reservation Debate
By Kavita Krishnan
The need of the hour now is to pass the Women’s Bill in its present form without a moment’s further delay. If indeed experience reveals that women’s reservation is resulting in any appreciable decline in OBC representation, OBC quota in assemblies and parliament, in general as well as within the women’s quota, can be accommodated through amendment
16 June, 2009
Death Bells Ring For India's Dissident Websites
By Sevanti Ninan
Under a new proposed Bill, the government is arming itself with the power to block websites without the right to be heard. Why is no one talking about it?
Iran: Election Clashes Mount
As West Escalates Pressure
By Bill Van Auken
Mousavi’s so-called reforms were pitched largely to a relatively privileged and narrow social base. The reforms themselves consisted essentially of a toning down of the rhetoric employed by Ahmadinejad in order to smooth the way to improved relations with Washington, an easing of US-backed sanctions and the opening up of the country to foreign capital
Charting Western Omniscience
In Post-Elections Iran
By Ali Jawad
Come the Iranian elections and the unexpected landslide victory in favour of Ahmedinejad, and once again rushing to enlighten the world are the normatively 'All-Knowing' Western capitals and media pundits. Swarming the airwaves, one and all cried out ‘fraud’, ‘stolen elections’ and a ‘nation’s will silenced’
On The Pretence Of Peace
By Friends Of Lebanon
Full text and a critique of the address by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Begin-Sadat (BESA) Center for Strategic Studies, Bar-Ilan University ,Sunday 14 June 2009
The Netanyahu Speech In The Light Of
The Zionist Socio Political Culture
By Salim Nazzal
I was not disappointed at all after listening to Netanyahu speech simply because I do not believe that the Israeli society is capable in the time being of producing an Israeli De Klerk
A Sunday With Vanunu
By Eileen Fleming
A day with the Israeli dissident and whistle blower who told the world about the Israeli nukes
Lingering White Supremacy In South Africa
Sounds Much Like United States
By Robert Jensen
Apartheid is dead in South Africa, but a new version of white supremacy lives on
Development At The Cost Of Destruction
By Zafar Iqbal
Pakistan has initiated a mega power project in its administrative part of Kashmir without fulfilling mandatory environmental obligations required for development projects
15 June, 2009
Climate Change's Challenge To India
By Mira Kamdar
Climate change is a weapon of mass destruction. Mitigating global warming by whatever means necessary should be the new Indian government's priority number one. The government should make a major push to develop low-cost alternative energy technologies that don't require finite, toxic fuel sources
Iran’s Elections And The ‘Obama Effect’ Myth
By Rannie Amiri
What will happen next in Tehran in the aftermath of the election remains unknown. But as for the candidacy of Mir-Hossein Mousavi and his run for the presidency, credit should be given where credit is due. And none of it goes to President Obama
Emerging Changes In America’s Pakistan Policy
By Taj Hashmi
There seems to be some impending changes in America’s Pakistan policy or as one may put it, in its India policy. What one gets in the media and can only guess about what President Obama’s personal letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh conveys is that the US wants to play the role of an honest broker in India-Pakistan disputes, mainly over Kashmir
The Road To Revolution – Paved By
Arrogance And Greed
By Ron Forthofer
Clearly there are numerous ways of improving the financial health of the U.S. while helping most Americans. However, the financial/political elites continue to focus on programs that enrich themselves and harm most of us. So far it appears that these arrogant elites are unaware or disdainful of our anger and suffering. These elites run the risk that Americans will finally say enough at some point. Will Americans rise up? We shall see
New UN Report Denounces America's
Human Rights Record
By Stephen Lendman
On May 26, the UN Human Rights Council issued a report titled "Promotion and Protection of All Human Rights, Civil, Political, Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Including the Right to Development - Report of the Special Rapporteur (Philip Alston) on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions." Alston was damning in his criticism regarding "three areas in which significant improvement is necessary if the US Government is to match its actions to its stated commitment to human rights and the rule of law"
Bomb Blasts In Nepal: Global Dimensions Of
Hindutva Terrror
By Subhash Gatade
The spate of bomb blasts in Nepal raises the global dimensions of Hindutva Terror. It is high time that one dwelves deeper into Hindutva terrorisms different aspects and understand the potent threat it poses before humanity much on the lines of terrorisms brandishing names of other religions may it be Sikh, Christian or Islam
America Incorporated
By Timothy V. Gatto
Only when corporate money is removed from the political campaigns, and PAC’s and lobbyists are strictly regulated so that corporate influence is not the predominant power in government, only then will the people be once again represented by their elected officials. Corporate money is the prime funding for State and Federal election campaigns. It has been said that the business of America is business. I don’t believe however, that this is what anyone desired
13 June, 2009
Sri Lanka :Ten Actions
By Satya Sagar
Here are ten actions that are urgently required to keep local memory of the Sri Lankan genocide alive against the grave danger of global forgetting
Why March 14 Won Lebanon's Elections
By Rannie Amiri
how did March 14 do it? The reasons are multifactorial, but primarily involve heavy-handed American interference, Israeli threats and salient domestic political endorsements
MasterCard And The Extremist Settlers Of Silwan
By Eileen Fleming
Last week, holders of an Isracard and/or MasterCard credit cards in Israel received an offer for a "City of David tour" with "attractions for the entire family" - which makes no mention of the fact that the tour is to be conducted by the Elad settlers
Fear Rules
By Paul Craig Roberts
The power of irrational fear in the US is extraordinary. It ranks up there with the Israel Lobby, the military/security complex, and the financial gangsters. Indeed, fear might be the most powerful force in America
90 Years Later, Rosa Luxemburg's
Remains Are Found
By Ingo Niebel Gara
Michael Tsokas, director of Pathology at the Charité hospital in Berlin, has reported the existence of a body that could be that of communist leader Rosa Luxemburg
Readying Americans For Dangerous,
Mandatory Vaccinations
By Stephen Lendman
At least three US federal laws should concern all Americans and suggest what may be coming - mandatory vaccinations for hyped, non-existant threats, like H1N1 (Swine Flu). Vaccines and drugs like Tamiflu endanger human health but are hugely profitable to drug company manufacturers
Caste And Democracy In India
By Vidya Bhushan Rawat
Only a modern democratic theory with republican ideas as envisioned by Dr Ambedkar can be their true emancipator otherwise, caste based identities are threatening basic Dalit unity in the country and it is fast becoming a self defeating exercise
12 June, 2009
It's Official: The Era Of Cheap Oil Is Over
By Michael T. Klare
The recent release of the 2009 IEO has provided energy watchers with a feast of significant revelations. By far the most significant disclosure: the IEO predicts a sharp drop in projected future world oil output (compared to previous expectations) and a corresponding increase in reliance on what are called "unconventional fuels" -- oil sands, ultra-deep oil, shale oil, and biofuels
Israeli War Crimes Against Children
During Operation Cast Lead
By Stephen Lendman
PCHR's report bears testimony to Israel's contempt for international laws, its imperial agenda, culture of violence, disdain for peace, genocidal intentions, disparagement of Arabs and Islam, and its scorn for Palestinian lives and welfare
A Boy And An Artificial Leg: A Gaza Story
By Ramzy Baroud
Like Sobhi, disgracefully growing numbers of children forever maimed, dismembered and killed by Israel are not only somehow disregarded by the world media and therefore the world’s conscience - but to add insult to injury - they are even denied access to healthcare
The Preacher From Plains And
The Grand Ayatollah from Najaf
By Franklin Lamb
Jimmy Carter and Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah meet on Hezbollah turf for dialogue
Depraved Injustice And The Privatization Of
The Global Freshwater Commons
By Frank Joseph Smecker
Every river, stream, and brook in the continental U.S. is tainted with carcinogenic material. There are approximately 41 million Americans drinking water that has traces of pharmaceuticals in it – in India the waters contain 150 times the highest levels of pharmaceutical contamination than in the U.S. The reasons for this abuse to our watersheds and freshwaters runs deep folks, but if we want to preclude further devastation we must act now, we must engender what the residents in East Montpelier had last year, this time on a global scale
A Sociologist Critically Examines
Paul Krugman's Economics
By Kim Scipes
Krugman, who so smugly dismisses alternatives to capitalism in his first chapter, spends the rest of his book giving us considerable reasons for requiring an alternative. Capitalism has caused great misery around the globe over the past several centuries, and a small number of us (relative to the world's population) have done well over the past 100 years (give or take). Now, as this financial crisis continues, the benefits are becoming even more restricted. Not only is a better world possible, it is required
Buchenwald, D-Day, Communists,
Hitler's Backers, Capitalism And Media
By Jay Janson
Missing from Buchenwald and D-Day observances is the awareness that famous and wealthy US industrialists and bankers made enormous profit from heavily investing in Nazi Germany's rearming.And while conglomerate media presents Muslim hostility to Zionism as being virulently hateful of Jews, it buries deep the memory of the extreme anti-Semitic climate in the US before and during World War II experienced by the author
Animal Rights, Ecofeminism, And Rooster Rehab
By Mickey Z.
Mickey Z. interviews Pattrice Jones
Giving Cause To Separatism
By M Shamsur Rabb Khan
What happened at Shopian two weeks ago is not the first instance of cruelty by the security forces and shows how men in uniform, instead of protecting people, continue to indulge in the serious human rights violations. Which why the Kashmir valley has once again erupted with violent protests with slogans of separatism renting the air
An Analysis Of 2009 General Election
And Some Recommendations For Secular Parties
By Dr. Satinath Choudhary
The following facts suggest a grand-coalition of all secular parties with a 5 to 10 member Chief Ministerial Council (CMC) that would have equal power vested in each of the members of CMC. It should include one or more Dalits, Upper Castes, Muslims, members of UBC (Upper of BC) and members LBC (Lower of BC) as members of the UP-CMC on the pattern of Swiss Federal Executive Council. If that happens in UP, it may become a precursor of making each of Indian states as well as India itself towards becoming a South Asian Switzerland!
11 June, 2009
Political Options For Jerusalem's Future
By Dan Lieberman
Israel's latest strategy for complicating the peace process is to delay discussions of Jerusalem's future. Steering debate to other agendas enables Israel to establish more "facts on Jerusalem ground," which consists of annexing lands, constructing bypass roads and housing and preparing for the decisive moment that will allow expansion of the Maale Adumim settlement and the development of the E1 corridor
It's All About The Children
By Eileen Fleming
Within the last ten days, 120 CODE PINK activists have made their way into Gaza through Egypt and have built three playgrounds, played with hundreds of children. Today, over forty more CODE PINK activists will converge at Erez Checkpoint with hope to build playgrounds and it's all about the children. "The fierce urgency of now" [MLK] should compel all people of conscience to petition their governments to force an end to the occupation of Palestine Gaza, in this, the final year of the UN's Decade of Creating a Culture of Nonviolence for all the children of the world
Jewish Town In Galilee Demands ‘Loyalty Oath’
By Jonathan Cook
A community in northern Israel has changed its bylaws to demand that new residents pledge support for “Zionism, Jewish heritage and settlement of the land” in a thinly veiled attempt to block Arab applicants from gaining admission
The Global Significance Of The Amazon Protest
By Sam Urquhart
The protests in Peru therefore have a global significance - both in terms of resistance against neo-colonial investment laws and in terms of environmental sustainability. The massacre at Bagua speaks to all of us
Lebanon’s Election Results
And The Age Of Resistance
By Franklin Lamb
Lebanon's pro-western coalition has won the election. But the message from Lebanon is that the age of resistance lives
Obama’s Cairo Speech -
Lies, Spin And Holocaust Denial
By Gideon Polya
Obama’s speech in Cairo was full of nice politically correct (PC) expressions of love for Islam and Muslims but dishonestly evaded the central issue of ongoing US Alliance occupation and devastation of Muslim countries and abusive mass imprisonment of the conquered populations of these Occupied Territories including Occupied Somalia (not mentioned), Occupied Palestine, Occupied Syria (not mentioned), Occupied Lebanon (not mentioned), Occupied Iraq, Occupied Afghanistan and US robot-bombed NE Provinces of Pakistan
Beyond The Soaring Rhetoric Of Obama's
Cairo Speech: A Toxic Innocence At Home
By Phil Rockstroh
Even as President Barrack Obama waxed eloquent in Cairo, Egypt, on the moral imperatives of the community of nations, public opinion polls released in the United States revealed that, by a substantial percentage, its citizens believe torture is an acceptable option for interrogation of suspects deemed terrorist by various US governmental agencies
Obama's Outreach To Muslims:
Empty Rhetoric, Same Old Policies
By Stephen Lendman
Overall, Obama proposed no concrete measures to redress decades of Palestinian grievances, nor those of Iraqis, Afghans, Pakistanis, and others in Eurasia - the region America covets for its vast energy and other resource riches
Strategic Thinking And Renouncing Of Violence
By Chandi Sinnathurai
The Tamil Diaspora could be an eloquent voice for the suffering people in the Tamil territories. But the Tamils who live through the daily post-war trauma must be given the choice and the will to elect their leaders from among themselves. To achieve this end the Diaspora must fight not usurp
Special Investigation Team (SIT) – Hope Or
Despair Of 2002 Gujarat Genocide Victims ?
By R.B.Sreekumar
Being fully confident about the proven eminence and integrity of the Chairman of the SIT, well meaning citizens are optimistic about positive move from the SIT, soon, against the planners and executioners of 2002 butchery of the innocents in Gujarat
Attack On Vanvasi Chetna Ashram In Chhattisgarh
By Fact Finding Team
Interim Report of Fact-finding Team on Developments in Chhattisgarh
06 June, 2009
America’s Violent Extremism
By Paul Craig Roberts
After the euphoric attention to idealistic rhetoric dies down, Obama will be criticized for extravagant words that create unrealizable expectations. But were the extravagant words other than a premier act of schmoozing Muslims designed to quiet the Muslim Brotherhood in our Egyptian puppet state and to get Muslims to accept US aggression in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan?
Obama‘s Reception In Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley
By Franklin Lamb
The Bekaa Valley seems to like Obama, are hopeful that American will finally stop enabling Zionist colonialism in their part of the World, and will be a friend and ally for Lebanon
A Critique Of President Obama’s Speech In Cairo
By Mirza A. Beg
If he does not follow up with concrete policies, these lofty words and ideas, the critics would have been proven right, but one needs to give him some time
President Obama’s Vision For The World
By Tomichan Matheikal
Both the content and the tone of President Obama’s speech at the Cairo University differ distinctively from his predecessor’s similar exercises says Tomichan Matheikal
Holocaust Denial And Uncomfortable Truths
By Robin Davis
Throughout history Jews, like many other minorities, have indeed been persecuted, but the modern state of Israel never was the victim. Since its inception it has been the coloniser, aggressor, tormentor and oppressor. Exploiting the memory of Hitler's victims to perpetuate the myth of "victim Israel" is cynical. To do so while attacking its neighbours and inflicting Nazi-style state terrorism, apartheid and genocide on the Palestinians is cynical in the extreme
Obama Administration Targets Environmental
And Animal Rights Activists As Eco-Terrorists
By Stephen Lendman
Clearly it's the wrong time to be Muslim in America as well as an environmental or animal rights activist. It was true under George Bush and no different under Barack Obama
Is Employee Free Choice Dead?
By Adam Turl
The fight for the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) appears to be astumbling, with Corporate America increasingly confident that it will defeat the most “controversial” parts of the pro-union legislation
A Different Perspective On Women Reservation
By Ashok Yadav
Give reservation in education and job rather than in legislature
For The Sake Of Humanity
By Chandi Sinnathurai
Rajapaksha is a war president. The real test is to see how he conducts himself as a peace-builder. Will he genuinely honour the rights of the Tamils or will he simply follow the duplicitous route of all the previous Sinhala leaders?
Shivaji’s Statue In Arabian Sea
By Ram Puniyani
One hopes the Government thinks of using the public money in a better way than raising statue. The making of statue should also take into consideration the ecological factors, and if these factors permit the statue, it should come up, with a proviso that the money for the statue will be raised from people. The government money should not be spent on this
05 June, 2009
Obama In Cairo: A New Face For Imperialism
By Patrick Martin
The speech delivered by US President Barack Obama in Cairo yesterday was riddled with contradictions. He declared his opposition to the “killing of innocent men, women, and children,” but defended the ongoing US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the US proxy war in Pakistan, while remaining silent on the most recent Israeli slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza. These wars have killed at least one million Iraqis and tens of thousands in Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Palestinian territories
Obama's Speech To Muslims
By President Barack Obama
Full text of President Barack Obama's speech at Cairo University
The Grim Picture Of Obama's Middle East
By Noam Chomsky
A CNN headline, reporting Obama's plans for his June 4 Cairo address, reads 'Obama looks to reach the soul of the Muslim world.' Perhaps that captures his intent, but more significant is the content hidden in the rhetorical stance, or more accurately, omitted
Obama In Cairo: A Bush In Sheep's Clothing?
By Ali Abunimah
His speech shows little real change. In most regards his analysis maintains flawed American policies intact
Sri Lanka : Ten Myths
By Satya Sagar
Given below is a list of the top ten myths about contemporary Sri Lanka , the dispelling of each of which is indispensable to finding a lasting solution to the seemingly perpetual tragedy of its diverse population
Sri Lankan Puppets In The Hands Of
Emerging Superpowers
By Richard Dixon
We all wept when the Asian Tsunami took the lives of thousands in Sri Lanka. But the world remained silent when thousands of women and children experienced painful slow death in the killing fields of Sri Lanka
Revolutionary Haitian Priest,
Gerard Jean-Juste, Presente!
By Bill Quigley
Though Haitian priest Father Gerard Jean-Juste died May 27, 2009, at age 62, in Miami from a stroke and breathing problems, he remains present to millions. Justice-loving people world-wide mourn his death and celebrate his life. Pere Jean-Juste worked uncompromisingly for justice for Haitians and the poor, both in Haiti and in the U.S.
Muslims Are In America To Live
Their American Dream, And Not
To Dominate Or Impose Sharia Laws
By Mike Ghouse
The Neocons are fabricating and propagating the idea that Muslims are invading America to dominate and impose Sharia Laws without any substantiation. Cashing in on fears is Neocons modus operandi. They know how to scare the devil out of those few self proclaimed conservative Americans, and get them to open their check books, and the poor suckers pay the ransom
Racial Attacks In Australia: Can We Condemn?
By Dr. Shah Alam Khan
How justified are we as Indians to raise a hue and cry on these ghastly acts of prejudiced murder? Do we tow the same line when it comes to our equality records? How good are we, the brown men, in treating the brown and blacks amongst us? How fair are we, the citizens of a free and democratic country in giving justice to our own citizens? Do we fulfill the criteria to condemn these attacks? These are difficult questions with equally thorny answers
03 June, 2009
Cold-Blooded Killing Of LTTE Leaders
By Robert Stevens
The British press last week revealed that senior leaders of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were in negotiations with British and American diplomats to surrender, immediately prior to their killing by the Sri Lankan army on May 18. Also involved in the talks was the United Nations secretary general’s chief of staff, Vijay Nambiar
Tamil Detainees Kept In Appalling Conditions
By Sarath Kumara
Despite considerable international pressure, the Sri Lankan government is continuing to block free access for the media and aid agencies to the military-run internment camps where more than 275,000 Tamil civilians have been detained under shocking conditions since fleeing the military’s final offensive against the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in the country’s north
A Pause For Reflection
By Chandi Sinnathurai
After, the Leadership's seeming demise, there are some interesting explorations published by Tamilnet. Their reading is, that the oppression to Tamil nationalism is trans-national and hence the diaspora must come up with an elected trans-national government (Government in exile?) that could "negotiate" with the world (perhaps meaning the democratic Western world!)
Taking Forward The Struggle For Equality,
Justice And Democracy In Sri Lanka
By Rohini Hensman
A credible political solution would need to abolish the Executive Presidency and special place for Buddhism in the Constitution; ensure real parity for Sinhala and Tamil; put in place a Bill of Rights that rules out discrimination on any grounds whatsover in all parts of the island, and guarantees other rights like freedom of expression and association; includes the right to life, which is missing from the existing Constitution; devolves power to the Provincial Councils to a much greater degree than the 13th Amendment; and ensures greater representation of minority communities at the centre through a bicameral legislature
Goodbye, GM
By Michael Moore
Yesterday, the last surviving person from the Titanic disaster passed away. She escaped certain death that night and went on to live another 97 years. So can we survive our own Titanic in all the Flint Michigans of this country. 60% of GM is ours. I think we can do a better job
GM Bankruptcy Will Devastate Communities
By Tom Eley
In conjunction with its Monday bankruptcy filing, General Motors announced that it will shutter nine more plants and place three others on indefinite suspension. GM will also break contracts with more than 2,100 auto dealerships. The closings and layoffs were dictated and worked out in their detail by the Obama White House and its Auto Task Force
Where Are The Missing Settlers?
By Jonathan Cook
It is the duty of reporters to remind their readers of the internationally accepted understandings about the settlements. They should not forget that international law, and possibly now the White House’s vision of peace, requires the removal of 200,000 settlers in East Jerusalem too
Remembering Father Gerry
By Stephen Lendman
The Vatican hardly notices what Haitians now endure, their deep poverty and deprivation, and how oppressively Washington-backed governments treat them. Only humanitarian opposition engenders its ire, the kind no one practiced better than Fr. Gerry
Strategic Aid In Pakistan
By Dr. Yossef Ben-Meir
If the United States and international community, working with the Pakistani government to build the people’s governing capacities, can implement successful strategic development in Pakistan, the insurgency can be undermined, stability can take hold, and the people themselves will deny the return of the Taliban and Al Quaeda
Cyclone Aila Continues To Impact
The Lives Of Thousands In Bangladesh
By Brian McAfee
Reports Continue to come out of Bangladesh more than a week after cyclone Aisla struck concerning the ongoing humanitarian crisis there. The cyclone which struck on May 25 has killed at least 237 people and left tens of thousands of others homeless. According to Heather Blackwell, Oxfam's Bangladesh representative, "It's an emerging humanitarian crisis. And its getting worse every day."
Democratic Space- What Is That?
By Dr. Shah Alam Khan
As if the Chhattisgarh government was not good enough to rain destruction on a soul like Dr Binayak Sen, we now have the Madhya Pradesh government arrest Mrs. Shamim Modi, a social activist and a law graduate working among the tribals in Betul district of the state. Geographically they seem to be different states with different issues; the fact that they are ruled by the same party is uncanny. What is even more interesting is the fact that both Dr Sen and Mrs Modi were involved in raising issues of the local people; their health, their employment and very importantly their environment
01 June, 2009
2,000 Indians Protest Australian
Anti-Indian Violence
By Dr Gideon Polya
On Sunday 31 May 2009 about 2,000 Indians protested in the heart of the Melbourne Central Business District against brutal, racist violence against Indian students
UN-Based Estimates Put Sri Lankan
Civilian Death Toll At 20,000
By Sarath Kumara
The British Times newspaper and France’s Le Monde have both published articles pointing to a far higher civilian death toll in the final months of the civil war in Sri Lanka than previously reported. The reports come in the wake of a resolution sponsored by Sri Lanka at the United Nations Human Rights Council last Wednesday blocking an investigation into war crimes committed during the fighting
Copenhagen: Slipping Past A Tipping Point
By Bill Henderson
The opportunity to build a global treaty at Copenhagen in December to mitigate climate change is slipping away as the US once again refuses to recognize the seriousness of this humanity threatening problem and refuses to lead in taking necessary mitigation steps in reducing their own emissions
The Return Of The Resistance
By Dahr Jamail
At least 20 US soldiers have been killed in Iraq in May, the most since last September, along with more than 50 wounded. Iraqi casualties are, as usual - and in both categories - at least ten times that number
Defining Moments In US History
And Their Relevance Today
By Charles Sullivan
The political left, occasionally a powerful revolutionary force for change in this nation, is currently disorganized and ineffectual, but it is not dead. And because it is not dead, it is likely to rise again in response to a future crisis. Some catalyzing event, such as an economic depression and massive job loss, is likely to revive it. This is arguably the only force capable of saving the republic, and much of the world, from self-annihilation
Daniel Estulin's "True Story of The Bilderberg Group" And What They May Be Planning Now
By Stephen Lendman
For over 14 years, Daniel Estulin has investigated and researched the Bilderberg Group's far-reaching influence on business and finance, global politics, war and peace, and control of the world's resources and its money