31March, 2009
Arctic Meltdown Is A Threat To Humanity
By Fred Pearce
Arctic melting will release huge quantities of fresh water flowing into the Arctic Ocean. This can slow down or even shut down the ocean conveyor current. Even a slowdown in the conveyor could produce dramatic changes.The biggest consequence, says Buwen Dong of the Walker Institute for Climate System Research at the University of Reading, UK, is likely to be a disruption, and quite probably a complete collapse, of the Asian monsoon, causing severe droughts in south Asia
Decisions, Decisions: "Blind Spot"
Or "The Great Squeeze" ?
By Carolyn Baker
Review of two end-of-civilization-oriented documentaries, "Blind Spot" and "The Great Squeeze"
Capitalism Beyond The Crisis
By Amartya Sen
The present economic crises do not call for a "new capitalism," but they do demand a new understanding of older ideas, such as those of Adam Smith and Arthur Pigou - many of which have been sadly neglected, argues Amartya Sen
Who Is The Worse Terrorist,
Obama Or Osama?
By Gideon Polya
President Barack Obama is making the Afghan War Obama’s Afghan War. Careful analysis of UN mortality statistics reveals that 46,000 Afghans have died avoidably in the first 40 days of the Obama presidency, including 32,250 infant deaths due to US war crimes
What Do Varun Gandhi's Pronouncements Mean?
By Dr Sandeep Pandey
Whatever may be the reason behind Varun Gandhi’s pronouncements he has degraded Indian politics down to one more level. He and his party may stand to gain in the short run but the Indian politics in the long run is the loser. One only hopes that the damage caused by him will be contained and he will not become a model to be imitated by other youth in society. If his performance from political stage were to be repeated by lesser mortals in real life it could cause havoc with peace and harmony in society
Unraveling The Card Check Debate
By Shamus Cooke
If the Democrats fail to pass Card Check — the REAL Card Check and not a sell-out version — labor must dump the Democrats once and for all. It is up to rank and file union members to make sure this overdue break happens
Is the “New Middle East” Off the Table?
A Message To The Global Peace Movement
By Ali Jawad
The “New Middle East” agenda is the infrastructure upon which an imperial superstructure of hegemony, sustained by the disregard of law and rule of brute force, is raised to control this region. Human rights activists and lawyers who advocate against the innumerable abuses that have occurred so far in this “War on Terror” cannot ignore this political agenda which is in fact the origin of all ills
Pakistan’s Western Frontiers In Tumult:
Olaf Caroe’s Lengthening Shadows
By Ramtanu Maitra
By pursuing the old colonial policy towards the Baloch people and the tribal areas, Pakistani leaders have opened a floodgate to various forces in Britain, who would like the area separated from Pakistan, to form a buffer between oil- and gas-rich Central Asia
Bargaining For Nothing
By Aleem Faizee
A section of Ulema in Mumbai are demanding five seats from Cong-NCP in Maharashtra. How viable is their demand, assesses Aleem Faizee
Conditions Of Mine Workers In Pakistan
By Zia Ur Rehman
The figures on occupational accidents in the mining sector in Pakistan are very shocking. According to an estimate, more than 100 people lose their lives annually and a similar number are disabled averagely
30 March, 2009
G-20 Summit: Learning From A Frog In A Pond
By Devinder Sharma
We haven't learnt from the frog. We live on Earth, and yet we have eaten up the natural resources. In our quest for economic growth, we have destroyed the planet treating nature as an economic commodity to be sold. Is this the path we should continue to move on? Should we not learn from the frog, and try to reverse the destructive path? Should we not try to preserve the pond that we live in?
For Jobs, Against Corporate Bailout,
Thousands Protest G20 Meet
By Harsh Dobhal
So the Indian prime minister still loves Bush? From Palestine to Iraq to Europe, voices of anger, hope and resistance from across the gigantic wave of protest in London is rising like a tide each passing moment. This marks the first landmark of mass peaceful resistance in the post-Obama era
The Web Of Precariousness
By Gaither Stewart
Precariousness looms like a black cloud over the continent of Europe. The fragility of human life and of the life style generations of westerners are accustomed to today rages like a modern plague. Precariousness is a contagious disease. It leaps from worker to worker, from class to class. No wonder that life in our times has never seemed more temporary. Permanence belongs to another age
Remembering Land Day
By Jonathan Cook
Palestinians honour dead from 1976 clashes with Israeli army
Pro-Zionism: Defending The Indefensible
By Stephen Lendman
This article responds to a March 15 Los Angeles Times Judea Pearl one headlined: "Is anti-Zionism hate?" Pearl calls anti-Zionism "hate more dangerous than anti-Semitism, threatening lives and peace in the Middle East." Zionism is precisely the opposite as numerous Jewish writers, including this one, have addressed
The Obama Government: Take From The Poor
And Give To The Rich
By Ann Robertson
These past several weeks have witnessed a stunning attack on working people, with the Obama administration leading the charge
Capitalist Incarnate: My interview With A Vampire
By Jason Miller
While it’s a commonly held belief that “everyone has a nonbiological twin somewhere in the world,” I wonder if we all have an antithetical “anti-twin” as well. Because I recently met someone who could easily be mine. Ironically enough, it was at the public library, one of my favorite haunts
Obama Looks More And More Like Bush
By Timothy V. Gatto
Both the Democrats and Republicans are part of the corporacracy that enables the looting of the American treasury to continue. The government does its level best to keep us embroiled in controversy over left/right, liberal/conservative, race and anything else they can think of to keep the citizen’s eye off what is really happening. It is a shame that more people in America can’t learn to think with their heads instead of their hearts
Philippine Extra-Judicial Killings Continue,
Obama's Response In Question
By Brian McAfee
On March 23rd, Sabina Ariola, the leader of "Citizens for Excellence, Progress, Peace towards the Country's Great Future," was gunned down. She is the 992nd civilian to be killed in the ongoing spree of extra-judicial killings that have been occurring since 2001, when Gloria Macapagal Arroyo assumed the presidency. Another particularly despicable killing that occurred in March was that of Rebelyn Pitao, a 20 year old teacher in Davao, southern Philippines. She was tortured, raped, strangled and stabbed according to Alan Davis of the Philippine Human Rights Recording Project
Sri-Lanka Commits Genocide And India
Treats Injured In The Act- Providing
A Façade For Democracy
By Dr C P Thiagarajah
The NGO, War Without Witnesses estimate based on first-hand information obtained from government-run hospital authorities, police and judiciary sources in Vanni, the North East Secretariat of Human Rights, aid workers and credible media outlets confirmed more than 3546 innocent Tamils had been killed and more than 8370 injured by Sri Lankan Army (SLA) since January 1 2009
Pondering Risks Covering Conflict, Crime,
Corruption In Pakistan
By Beena Sarwar
The main issue before the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) meeting over the weekend in the central Punjab city of Faisalabad is the threat faced by journalists in this conflict-ridden South Asian country. The cold-blooded murder of yet another journalist in Rawalpindi, twin city of the capital Islamabad, on Mar. 26, underlined the gravity of the situation
Sudan: Justice Or A Poisoned Chalice?
By Steven Fake & Kevin Funk
The ICC has broken new ground in issuing its first-ever arrest warrant for a sitting head-of-state, but has no obvious way forward. How the world proceeds will determine not only the future of the Sudanese nation, but will also impact long-simmering efforts to end impunity everywhere
28 March, 2009
Number Of Chronically Hungry Tops One Billion
By Javier Blas
The number of chronically hungry in the world's low-income countries has passed the one billion mark for the first time - with high food prices leaving the poor most vulnerable to a worsening financial crisis
Goodbye, Homo Economicus
By Anatole Kaletsky
Not only have economists failed to guide the world out of the financial crisis, they were also primarily responsible for leading us into it. Either economics has to be abandoned as an academic discipline - or it must undergo an intellectual revolution, writes Anatole Kaletsky
Obama Announces Escalation Of War
In Afghanistan, Pakistan
By Alex Lantier
President Barack Obama on Friday announced a major escalation of the US war in Afghanistan and its further extension into Pakistan
The Worsening U.S. Failure
By Emily Spence
In light of overall environmental degradation, ever larger human population, ongoing major resource depletion, over-consumption of products that have been overproduced by too small a work force to involve full employment and climate change effects all increasing in their impacts, it seems likely that the worldwide economy will never completely recover and expand. Certainly cutbacks in both economic and population growth are absolutely necessary to curtail further ruin of the natural world on which all life ultimately depends for its continued survival
When The Lights Go Out
By Jim Taylor
Earth Hour is a symbolic act. And as every world religion knows, symbols have enormous power -- whether or not they produce measurable results
From Populist Rage To Revolution
By Joel S. Hirschhorn
Americans clearly are capable of being outraged. Missing, however, is a sustained, vibrant demand for deep reforms of our political and government system. You hear a lot about populist rage these days, especially connected to the AIG bonus debacle. But populist rage as a reflection of class conflict and anger about our economic meltdown does not necessarily make a political revolution. The saddest thing about Obama winning the presidency was that his change message drained what might have been sufficient national energy for true revolutionary political reforms
Tax The Rich? No, We Haven't Taxed
The Little Leaguers Yet
By Paul Buchheit
Don't penalize success. But don't skew the gains of productivity toward the rich, either. Great economists like Adam Smith, John Kenneth Galbraith, and John Maynard Keynes recognized that reasonable limits must be in place to curb abuses of the capitalist system. A progressive income tax is the best way to do this, no matter how much yelling we hear from the top
The U.S. Has 'No Moral Standing'
To Criticize Iran: Zunes
By Kourosh Ziabari
This article investigates the double standards of U.S. foreign policy about Iran and its nuclear program, and its support for the war in the Middle East
Return Of The Pink Panties: Flimsy Opposition
To Indian Fundamentalism
By Farzana Versey
On Valentine’s Day, there was the usual noise about it being against Indian culture. The liberals woke up. They decided to send lingerie to the fanatic. The pink panty became a metaphor for rebellion, thus reducing the very real threat of fundamentalism to a farce
Brand Advani: Perils Of Rebranding!
By Subhash Gatade
It is for the first time in his nearly five year old tenure as PM that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made a stinging attack on L. K. Advani - PM in waiting as far as the Sangh Parivar is concerned. Prime Minister was candid enough to remind about the "prominent role" played by Mr Advani in the Babri Masjid demolition, or how he presided over Gujarat riots and failed to prevent terror attacks on Parliament and Red Fort as Home Minister
Maya Kodnani: Conceiving And
Aborting Career In Misdeeds
By Mustafa Khan
On February 21, 2009 the Gujarat Government submitted in the High court an affidavit in which it says “in spite of being an MLA, Kodnani was a leader of the mob instigating them to commit the crimes and in fact even fired from her pistol”. If the government of Narendra Modi said that to the High Court why did it not ask her to resign there and then? With her arrest on March 27 it is morally imperative that the Modi government should either resign or the Centre impose its rule in the state
New Tasks Ahead Of The Restored Judges
By Mehroz Siraj Sadruddin
The people of Pakistan have surely lost faith in politicians and the generals. However, considering the widespread support that the lawyer’s movement was able to garner, the judiciary should now play a leading role in restoring the confidence of the people. This can only be done when the courts start to dispense speedy justice on matters of immense public importance
27 March, 2009
Earth Hour Puts Focus On Climate Change Saturday
By AFP
Millions of people across the globe will kill their lights for one hour this Saturday, in what organisers hope will be a resounding call for tough action on climate change
Netanyahu And The ‘Future Of
The Peace Process’
By Ramzy Baroud
Overlook the names and the titles, most Israeli major party leaders are one and the same; even their language is equally archaic and confrontational. Therefore, one fails to appreciate the panic over the ‘future of the peace process.’ As far as Gaza, for example, is concerned, it matters little whether the over 1400 people killed in 22 days were blown up by a Likud Revisionist, pulverized by a Labor dove, or bombed by a Kadima peacemaker, a fact that an envoy like Blair doesn’t seem to understand
Obama's Latest No Banker Left Behind Scheme
By Stephen Lendman
The wrong choices are trillions more in handouts, reckless money creation, dollar debasing, and an eventual inflation destroying the purchasing power for millions. So far, that's where Congress and Obama's money managers are heading us, and already the bill for their actions is past due
Is The Bail Out Breeding A Bigger Crisis?
By Paul Craig Roberts
The Bush/Obama approach to the crisis in the financial sector is to monetize existing debt and to accumulate enormous new debt that will likely also require monetization. The monetization threatens inflation, high interest rates, and depreciation of the US dollar and loss of its reserve currency role. The accumulation of new public debt implies larger annual interest payments that could make future deficit reduction problematic. Clearly, the Obama administration needs to broaden its perception of the predicament to which financial deregulation and offshoring have brought the US economy
The Big Con On Iraq
By Gareth Porter
Despite President Barack Obama’s statement at Camp LeJeune, North Carolina Feb. 27 that he had "chosen a timeline that will remove our combat brigades over the next 18 months," a number of Brigade Combat Teams (BCTs), which have been the basic U.S. Army combat unit in Iraq for six years, will remain in Iraq after that date under a new non-combat label
Marxism And Finitude
By Thomas Riggins
A review of Simon's Critchley's Remarks on Quentin Meillassoux's AFTER FINITUDE
Pampering The Rich, Insuling The Poor
By Vidyadhar Date
London and New York are tackling serious problems of urban poverty. In Mumbai though poverty is on a much larger scale it is nowhere on the agenda of the ruling class. India's politicians and upper class remain obsessed with making Mumbai and other metropolises into world class cities with glamorous projects, never mind the neglect of basic needs of the people
Relevance Of Bhagat Singh In Modern India
By Shobha Shukla
During his trial in the court, Bhagat Singh said that India ’s struggle for freedom cannot be carried out in isolation. It will have to be linked and influenced by other international movements and happenings. This concept of International Solidarity is very important today, when we talk of the world as a global village. Yet our leaders are sadly lacking in ideological condemnation of anti people regimes. We tend to be guided more by economic self gains rather than by valued principles
26 March, 2009
Iraq: Let The Numbers Speak
By Dr. Souad N. Al-Azzawi
The numbers speak for themselves. Six. Six months is what it took for most Iraqis to realize no good could come of this war and occupation. Six years is what it has taken the rest of the world. Six years, six million Iraqis displaced inside and outside of Iraq- well over a million Iraqis dead or dying inside of the country
Global Investors Ponder Implications Of
US Dollar Collapse
By Alex Lantier
The world bourgeoisie is beginning to consider the consequences of the huge deficit spending and money-printing operations that the Obama administration is using to fund its bailouts of Wall Street and major banks. As these policies increasingly raise questions about the value of the US dollar, commentators are in particular pondering the desirability and implications of a diminished international role for the American currency
Economic Crisis: Why More Of The Same
Will Not Work
By Jayati Ghosh
There is no question that current "Northern" standards of life cannot be sustained if they were made accessible to everyone on this planet. This means that future economic growth in the developing world has to involve more equitable and sensible patterns of consumption and production
Avigdor Lieberman, Israel's Shame
By Neve Gordon
Thanks to Binyamin Netanyahu's overweening ambition, Israel is to be saddled with a foreign minister who is a national disgrace
Mousawi, Freeman And Galloway:
Three Musketeers Or Stooges?
By Franklin Lamb
The Israel lobby has been targeting Charles Freeman, George Galloway and Dr. Ibrahim Mousawi for character assassination for several years with the Mousawi and Freeman campaigns substantially orchestrated by the Atlantic Monthly’s Aipac legman Jeffrey Goldberg. With their Freeman victory earlier this month, the Lobby intensified it slander and libel against Mousawi decided to go after Galloway
The Zionist Crusade Against Palestinians
By Mustafa Khan
The original crusades went on for two hundred years spread over several centuries of the Middle Ages. Another such albeit inverted crusade began with the birth of Israel and its unrelenting and merciless drive against the Palestinians in order to grab their land. The Gaza aggression (2008-2009) in which nearly 1400 mostly innocent Palestinians lost their life and thousands were injured was continuation of the same
Crafting A New Praxis: The Art of Excoriating Technology For the Sake of the Natural
By Frank Smecker
Perhaps the dominant, concerted view of expedience, tools, and appliances that beguile so many will be transformed by the concept of craft into a more sustainable and pragmatic notion of our vocations and avocations; and then the concept of technology can be replaced by the practice of art; blossoming a new praxis of engagement through arts and crafts
Why Obama Backed Down Against AIG
By Shamus Cooke
It has already been pointed out by mainstream economists that it is senseless to leave in place CEO’s and shareholders who oversaw the bankruptcy of their corporations. It is equally-arguable that companies who are bailed out by the public should begin producing for the public, and not the profit of select individuals
Book Review: Islamisation of
Pakistani Social Studies Textbooks
By Yoginder Sikand
The current turbulent political scenario in Pakistan, in particular the rise of radical Islamist forces in the country, cannot be seen as inseparable from the narrow political agenda that the Pakistani state, ever since its formation, has consistently sought to pursue as is reflected in the social science textbooks that it has commissioned, and through which it has sought to impose its own ideology on its people
25 March, 2009
Toward A New Sustainable Economy
By Robert Costanza
The fallacy that economic growth can lead to improved human welfare underpins the global financial crisis. Now, we need to move beyond 'growth at all costs' and reorganise the economy based on the quality of life rather than quantity of consumption, argues Robert Costanza
Natural Adversaries
By David Kendall
Creation cannot dominate its creator. People like to worship their own creations just as dogs seem to enjoy sniffing their own feces. But at some point the human species needs to grow up and realize that Capital cannot dominate People, and People cannot dominate Nature. The model is upside-down, ladies & gentlemen. It’s time to flip it over
The War On Terra
By Hamid Golpira
Every time a military operation is carried out that leaves scores of children and other civilians dead but fails to hit the professed targets, the self-proclaimed pundits say it is another indication that the war on terror is a bungled, inefficient campaign. But is it an inefficient war on terror or a very efficient war on Terra?
Liquid War: Postcard From Pipelineistan
By Pepe Escobar
What happens on the immense battlefield for the control of Eurasia will provide the ultimate plot line in the tumultuous rush towards a new, polycentric world order, also known as the New Great Game
Lieberman Is No Abnormality
By Nimer Sultany
The movement to the right wing within Zionism cannot be reduced to Lieberman, and what is troubling about Zionism cannot be reduced to its right-wing side only
Ottoman Archives Show Land Deeds Forged
By Jonathan Cook
A legal battle being waged by Palestinian families to stop the takeover of their neighbourhood in East Jerusalem by Jewish settlers has received a major fillip from the recent souring of relations between Israel and Turkey
Incriminating Evidence Of Israeli
War Crimes In Gaza
By Stephen Lendman
On March 19, in the first of a series of articles, Haaretz headlined: "IDF killed civilians in Gaza under loose rules of engagement." Military correspondent Amos Harel revealed Israeli soldier and pilot testimonies of being ordered to kill unarmed civilians and destroy their property
South Asian Terrorism: All Roads
Lead To The British Empire
By Ramtanu Maitra
Since none of the South Asian countries, where the terrorists are gaining ground, have, so far, shown the ability to evaluate, and thus, eliminate, the growth of this terrorism, it is necessary to know its genesis, and how it has affected the leaders of the South Asian nations to the detriment of their respective security. What is evident is that the South Asian terrorism has little to do with territorial disputes among nations, but everything to do with the past British colonial rule which poisoned the minds of the locals, so they have become disloyal to their own countries
Poverty, Rebel Groups Push Poor Farmers
To Drug Cultivation In India
By Dilnaz Boga
India’s North Eastern state of Manipur is paying a high price for its proximity to the notorious Golden Triangle. A population of 2.4 million grapples with HIV/AIDS that stems out of a heroin addiction problem directly related to local poppy cultivation. With a land area of 22, 327 sq km – roughly the size of Israel – Manipur has one of the highest per capita HIV+ patients in India. Lack of infrastructure, corrupt government agencies and poverty has pushed poor farmers to poppy cultivation on lands occupied by underground groups
Human Rights Evicted
By Jhuma Sen
A Review of the UDHR: From in‘adequate' Housing to Forced Evictions and the Myth of Adequate Housing in India
Dalai Lama: Do I Feel Guilty?
By Azad Essa
Some days ago, the Dalai Lama was refused a visa to enter South Africa. While our Presidential spokesperson denied any suggestions that the ban was a result of Chinese pressure, a Chinese official in the embassy in JHB confirmed that Beijing warned the visit could harm bilateral ties between the two countries
24 March, 2009
4 Murders At Mieh Meih Palestinian Refugee Camp
By Franklin Lamb
Who tried to kill Palestinian Ambassador Abass Zaki and why?
BJP’s IT Vision: The Discreet Charm Of
Techno-Hindutva
By Binu Karunakaran
The BJP wants to set up an independent body - Digital Security Agency exclusively for cyber warfare, cyber counter terrorism and the cyber security of national digital assets. One can understand the cyber counter-terrorism and cyber security part of the declaration. But what is cyber warfare? Did they mean to say counter-cyber warfare and suffered a Freudian keyboard slip? No sane country in the world is likely to set up a body for Cyber Warfare - the unofficial stink job of spy agencies and misguided techno-Jihadi's
CIA Has 3,000 Docs On Torture Tapes
By Jason Leopold
The CIA has about 3,000 documents related to the 92 destroyed videotapes that showed “war on terror” detainees being subjected to harsh interrogations, the Justice Department has disclosed, suggesting an extensive back-and-forth between CIA field operatives and officials of the Bush administration
"Down The Memory Hole," Alan Greenspan Style
By Stephen Lendman
He's back and in denial in a March 11 Wall Street Journal op-ed headlined: "The Fed Didn't Cause the Housing Bubble." He lied, the way he did throughout his career and for 18.5 years as Fed chairman. How else could he have kept the job, be knighted in the UK for his "contribution to global economic stability, wisdom and skill," then afterwards be extolled by the Money Trust he enriched
Land Day 2009 And BDS Global Week Of Action
Against The Crisis And War
By Eileen Fleming
The Global Week of Action; a call for BDS/Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions begins March 28th through April 4, 2009. March 30, 2009 will commemorate the 33rd annual Land Day nonviolent solidarity demonstrations and actions in Palestine and the diaspora
Water: Commodity Or Human Right?
By Mary Shaw
I am writing this on March 22, World Water Day. And I am thinking about how spoiled we Americans are. We use and abuse our natural resources without giving it a second thought. But our recklessness could soon turn around to bite us -- and the rest of the world
Water Water Everywhere, But Not A Drop To Drink
By Shobha Shukla
With every country seeking to satisfy its ever increasing water needs from shrinking and limited water resources, there could be a future of conflict. As the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon remarked recently that water scarcity is the potential fuel for wars and conflict. But cooperation, not conflict should guide us in our quest for a solution to this crisis
Climate "Skeptics" Renew War Against Science While Rome Burns
By Andrew Glikson
With carbon cap-and-trade legislation now on Washingtons agenda, companies and interest groups have been hiring lobbyists at a feverish pace. For every member of Congress, there are now four climate lobbyists, many of them hoping to derail or water down the effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
Ten Financial Principles Re-examined
By Peter Goodchild
How do we hold on to whatever money we have when protection of any sort seems to be vanishing? Money has been funny for decades, but it is now becoming quite bizarre
21 March, 2009
Iraqi Holocaust: 2.3 Million Iraqi Excess Deaths
By Gideon Polya
March 20, 2009 marks the 6th anniversary of the illegal, utterly unjustified, war criminal invasion of Iraq by US, UK and Australian forces. Post-invasion violent and non-violent excess deaths total 2.3 million and refugees total 6 million in a continuing Iraqi Holocaust and Genocide
Do GM Crops Increase Yield? The Answer Is No
By Devinder Sharma
Monsanto’s claim that GM crops increase yields is not only false, but also flawed. Please, don't try and fool the world by fabricating and distorting scientific facts, says Devinder Sharma
Intifada: A Third Chapter
By Ramzy Baroud
A third Intifada, in the eyes of many, could accomplish one vital task. It could provide the platform for the Palestinians to reclaim their unity (despite the prevailing factionalism of today) and declare that they will struggle until the day when they finally embrace freedom. If this is all that a third Intifada accomplishes, in the eyes of many Palestinians, then it is certainly a necessary and worthy endeavor
Protest In France
By Michael Galvin
Three million protest French government's response to global economic crisis in second national general strike of 2009
Only People Can End War
By James Rothenberg
Left to question is whether a war-bound government can ever marshal support without resorting to exploitation of its people, and whether people will ever become sufficiently enlightened to protect themselves from such exploitation. A step toward the latter would be a mental emancipation from authority so people did not depend on it for proof of their own existence
Torture Team
By Jim Miles
Book Review: Torture Team – Deception, Cruelty and the Compromise of Law. Philippe Sands & Allen Lane
Civil Revolution May Usher A
Constitutional Democracy In Pakistan
By Mirza A. Beg
Pakistan appears to be on the verge of emerging as a functioning Constitutional Democracy, with primacy of laws and constitution that has eluded Pakistan for 61 years of its checkered history. Three times in the span of two years the lawyers, men and women in their somber black coats defied the illegal edicts of the government and succeeded in forcing the government to back down
Is It Ethical To Provide TB Treatment
Without Quality Counselling?
By Bobby Ramakant
How ethical is it to providing treatment for anti-TB drug resistance without quality counseling? The treatment literacy, infection control, toxicity and side-effects related to the treatment, adherence and a range of other issues need to be addressed in counseling sessions, believes the activist from the West Bengal Network of people living with HIV (BNP+) in India. This indeed provides a food for thought for delegates of the 3rd Stop TB Partners Forum and the high-level ministerial meeting on drug-resistant TB
Are Islam And Democracy Compatible?
By Rahil Yasin
The West generally, and the US particularly, should change their policies with regard to the repressive regimes in Muslim nations to prevent political Islam from growing as a threat to the West. To promote democracy in the Muslim world, the US and the West should increase the amount of foreign assistance; provide governments and key interest groups in Muslim societies with incentives to engage in democratic reforms. Still, basic responsibility lies with Muslim scholars who should reinterpret Islamic laws in the light of the changing needs of a modern society
20 March, 2009
Meltdown Not The Only Crisis In The World
By Catherine Makino & Muhammad Yunus
In 2008 the financial crisis began, but before it began there was another crisis which was making headlines all over and creating terror in many people’s minds -- food crisis. The food crisis didn’t disappear, it was simply overshadowed and it could get worse. And 2008 was the year when the oil crisis shot through the roof and that crisis hasn’t disappeared either. They’re just keeping their heads down, and at the next opportune moment it can come back again. There’s also global warming and it’s getting worse
A Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
By George Monbiot
If you think preventing climate change is politically difficult, look at the political problems of adapting to it
The Secret War Against American Workers
By Robert S. Eshelman
Right now there are actually two wars going on, and only one of them seems to have caught the attention of labor and business reporters. The headlines about the first read: Desperate Companies Forced to Cut Jobs. But many here seem to be experiencing a second war in which businesses are using bad times to act in ways they couldn't in the best of times
Keynes, Capitalism, And The Crisis
John Bellamy Foster Interviewed by Brian Ashley
Real solutions to the contradictions of capitalism lie not in Keynesian economics but in a revolt from below of the population, which holds out the potential for a change in the rules of the game. Joan Robinson said somewhere that a political movement strong enough to reform capitalism would also be strong enough to introduce socialism. Therein lies our hope and their fear
Our Troops And Iraqis Are Still Dying
By Iraq Veterans
An Open Letter to the Peace/Anti-War Movement from Iraq Veterans Against the War, Military Families Speak Out, and Veterans For Peace
Looking Back: The 2009 World Social Forum
By Michael Ramirez & Orion Cruz
A failing neo-liberal agenda has strengthened left-leaning governance throughout the region. WSF breeds a creed, evolves into a growing movement, while encouraging activism. Lingering questions are now more ominous than ever
US Spills Afghan War Into Pakistan
By M K Bhadrakumar
The latest reports emanating from Washington regarding the possibility of the US administration contemplating moving military operations in the tribal areas of Pakistan to its province of Balochistan will certainly inflame Pakistani opinion. The reports also speculated that the US might resort to ground operations in addition to the Predator drone attacks on the tribal areas
A Response To The LA Times Duo Of Op-Ed
Essays By Two American Jews
By Eileen Fleming
On March 15, 2008 the LA Times published a duo of op-ed essays by two American Jews with diametrically opposed views of Zionism. Here is a response by Eileen Fleming
A Tale Of Two Jews: Dr Mordechai Vanunu
And Bernard Madoff
By Mustafa Khan
Two well known men of our time have their tryst with destiny in April 2009. One will come out of the most inhuman and soul searing imprisonment while the other will enter jail as an escape and dodge from further probes and more disastrous disclosures. One has dared to expose what is true danger to his country but the country has shown disregard to him and the other has robbed his country of 65 billion dollars to help another country
Why ‘Hate Speech’?
By Ram Puniyani
The biggest challenge we face today is to propagate the inclusive ideas at social political and cultural level, the ideas and values which united Indians, cutting across religion, region and language. These values have been challenged by the practitioners of regional and communal politics. The debate needs to be broadened to reach the positive values to all the people. Then we also need laws which can ensure that the likes of Varun Gandhi, Bal-Raj Thackeray etc. do not get away despite their anti national politics and utterances
The Plight of Tamil Civilians: NO CHANGE
By Chandi Sinnathurai
There is no famine of view points or opinions on this Sri Lankan dirty war on Tamil civilians. Much ink has been spilt, and inch columns have been filled by various journalists and writers. So much have been spoken by politicians, protests by activists, government and non-Governmental agencies both local and foreign. But, one thing is constant: All of these have failed to change either the mind of the Sri Lankan state or the plight of the Tamil civilians in the North
19 March, 2009
Israeli Soldiers Expose Atrocities In Gaza
By Jerrold Kessel & Pierre Klochendler
The report includes the testimony of one NCO: "A company commander with 100 soldiers under his command saw a woman walking down a road some distance away, but close enough that you could've gunned down whoever you identified...She was an elderly woman - whether she raised any suspicion, I don't know. But what the officer did in the end was to put men on the roof and with the snipers bring her down. I felt it was simply murder in cold blood."
Israel's War Crimes
By Richard Falk
Lack of international action against Israel's war on Gaza illustrates the grand hypocracy of human rights rhetoric. But civilian groups can now use international law to show the 'legitimacy gap' of Israeli government tactics in the Palestinian territories, argues Richard Falk
Durban II: No-Show Is Slap
In Face Of Victims Of Apartheid
By Arjan El Fassed
More and more Western countries are either announcing their boycott or are threatening to boycott Durban II, a United Nations conference scheduled for April to review progress made since the World Conference Against Racism (WCAR) held in Durban, South Africa in 2001, nicknamed Durban I
Hopeful Change In El Salvador?
By Stephen Lendman
From most early signs, the power structure rests easy knowing Funes represents continuity; business as usual, not hoped for change; so Salvadorans, like Americans, soon enough will know they were fooled again. And if they need more convincing, the painful global economic collapse will be the clincher
Sons Of India
By Suroor Mander
Varun Gandhi's inflammatory speeches in last two weeks exposed the bigotry that is ingrained in his ideology. The BJP in 2004 claimed that Menaka Gandhi was the true daughter in-law of the India. She earned that right by being born in India. Her son was the given the status of prince. But Mr. Gandhi continued to live on the margins till a few days ago when he attacked everything that is essential about India. Every speech etched a deeper bruise into the surname he carries, by maligning everything that that surname stood for
Making Mockery Of The Constitution
By Gladson Dungdung
The BJP leader Varun Feroze Gandhi’s hate speech has triggered a political turmoil in India. But obviously it’s not an unexpected remark from the BJP family members. But what disturbs the nation most is the heir of Nehru-Gandhi family, the young Gandhi, who repeatedly claims of being a Gandhian has attacked secularism, slams Mahatma Gandhi’s non-violence and made mockery of the Indian Constitution by abusing, provoking and attacking to a particular community while addressing an election rally at Pilibhit in Utter Pradesh on March 5
FUTURE SCENARIOS, By David Holmgren
A Review By Carolyn Baker
Future Scenarios offers fascinating and fertile challenges for engaging Peak Oil and climate change and confronts us with the question that will not die: Will our journey to a post-petroleum world be a transition or a trauma? The longer we wait to make the profoundly radical choices necessary at this juncture of history, the greater the certainty that choices we would not prefer will be made for us
‘Traditional’ Ulema And ‘Modern’
Islamic Education In Kerala
By Yoginder Sikand
In contrast to the Jamaat-e Islami and the Kerala Nadwat ul-Mujahidin, the ‘Sunni’ ulema of Kerala, like their counterparts in north India, were slow in taking to modern education, sometimes even castigating it as ‘un-Islamic’. Numerous ‘Sunni’ ulema in fact issued fatwas against Jamaat and Nadwat leaders who encouraged Muslims to take to modern, in addition to religious, education. However, in recent years, the situation has been drastically transformed. Today, leading Kerala ‘Sunni’ ulema are actively involved in promoting modern education, including the modernization of traditional madrasa education
18 March, 2009
The Fed Did Indeed Cause
The Housing Bubble
By Catherine Austin Fitts
Alan Greenspan is a liar. The Federal Reserve and its long standing partner, the US Treasury, engineered the housing bubble, including the fraudulent inducement of America as part of a financial coup d’etat. Our bankruptcy was not an accident. It was engineered at the highest levels
Mr. Bernanke Spreads The Fire
By Michael Hudson
These neighbors were given U.S. Treasury bonds in “cash for trash” transactions. The rest of the economy will be paying interest on this debt for a century to come. This is what causes “debt deflation.” Revenue is diverted from spending on goods and services to pay interest and taxes. So the Treasury is spreading the fire, not putting it out
Latin America Hit Hard By World Crisis
By Luis Arce
Capital Economics—a leading macroeconomics research and consultancy firm that supplies analysis to institutional investors and clients across the globe—reports in its latest Latin America Chart Book that "Latin America's five-year economic boom has come to an abrupt end." The bleak figures cited by Capital Economics stand in stark contrast to the rosy picture painted by financial analysts not so long ago
Crisis, Poverty Huge Challenges For
El Salvador’s Leftist President
By Raúl Gutiérrez
The main challenges faced by El Salvador’s leftwing president-elect Mauricio Funes are forging understandings with other political sectors, adopting measures to deal with the economic crisis, and especially its effects on the poor, and strengthening the country’s institutions
We Have Seen The Enemy…
By Timothy V. Gatto
How did a nation that took so much pride in lively debate and different opinions become a nation that questions the loyalty of people who have dared to disagree with the policymakers in Washington?
Obama And His Dick (Cheney)
By Mickey Z.
Obama's blood brother, Dick Cheney, happily plays his pre-ordained role in this passion play by going on national television and declaring that our (sic) president's vague pledge to possibly adhere to accepted international law—a pledge more honored in the breach—is making the US less safe
Bedouin Baby’s Power Struggle With Israel
By Jonathan Cook
Little Ashimah Abu Sbieh’s life hangs by a thread -- or more specifically, an electricity cable that runs from a noisy diesel-powered generator in the family’s backyard. Should the generator’s engine fail, she could die within minutes. The desperate plight of Ashimah’s parents is shared by thousands of other Bedouin families caring for chronically sick relatives who live in communities to which Israel refuses to supply electricity, said Wasim Abas of Physicians for Human Rights in Israel
U.S. Moment Of Truth On
Palestinian – Israeli Conflict
By Nicola Nasser
In view of a world consensus on a two – state solution for the Arab – Israeli conflict, most political analysts and commentators have concluded that the Israeli Prime Minister – designate Benjamin Netanyahu, who still refuses to affirm his commitment thereto, was to come face to face with his “moment of truth” during his recent meetings earlier this month with visiting U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, and her “presidential” envoy for peace in the Middle East, George Mitchell, but the outcome of Clinton’s first regional tour as secretary of state and Mitchell’s second tour in the region has proved vice versa
Treatment Of Imprisoned Muslims At Terre Haute's
Communications Management Unit (CMU)
By Stephen Lendman
In February 2007, it was learned that Washington had a secret new facility for so-called "high-security risk" Muslim and Middle Eastern prisoners in violation of federal law that prohibits severely limiting or cutting them off entirely from other inmates as well as outside contacts and communications. Segregating prisoners by race, national origin, or language violates the Supreme Court's February 2005 decision in Johnson v. California that affirmed 14th Amendment protection against racial discrimination. Specifically, the Court
The Solution To The World's Crisis
By Norm Lowry
Here is your invitation to freedom! In spite of the seemingly overbearing threat of worldwide destruction (which is guaranteed to come, if we don't take charge), I am inviting you to join me in a simple acknowledgment that our leaders are blind & have taken us to the edge of destruction. I'm inviting you to join me in trusting that the vision of peace that we carry deep in our hearts can be realized, if we work together to throw off the bonds of racism, poverty, oppression & murder that dominate most of our leader's thoughts
India-EU Free Trade Agreement:
Should India Open Up Banking Sector?
By Kavaljit Singh
In India, the much-touted benefits associated with European banks are yet to be materialized. The urban-centric European banks largely serve the niche market segments consisting of high-net-worth individuals and large corporations. Keeping these important developments in view, the policy makers should rethink about the benefits of opening up of banking and financial services under the framework of India-EU FTA
Upholders Of Law
By Suroor Mander
If the lawyer community in India wants to curb any loss of face or pride, it needs to introspect and make very critical choices about which values it wishes to uphold and what it wants to shed
17 March, 2009
In Search Of A Green Economic Stimulus
By Stephen Leahy
The high-level scientific climate conference that concluded last week in Copenhagen warned that humanity is rapidly approaching an irreversible, 1,000-year-long climate catastrophe
Five Days That Changed Pakistan
By Beena Sarwar
A late night meeting between Pakistan’s army chief, President and Prime Minister led to the dramatic announcement in the wee hours of Monday morning that Iftikhar Mohammed Choudhry would be restored as Chief Justice
Reading Lenin In Modern Rome
By Gaither Stewart
Reading Lenin today is to enter the realm of the overthrow of Capitalism and the transition from Capitalism to Communism. Fantasy? Not many years ago such words would have seemed like maniacal ravings. But that was before the shit hit the fan in the bourgeois capitalist world, au début right smack in its heart on Wall Street
But This Makes So Much More Sense
By Adiiti Munot
Why don’t we apply simple, basic principles and methods in our lives which will make our individual lives easier and benefit the community as a whole as well? There are small things each one of us can do in our daily lives which will help resolve the big issues faced by humanity, globally
Monetary And Fiscal Failure, Fraud,
And Fear Of What's Next
By Stephen Lendman
Even the powerful are worried with the IMF on February 7 saying advanced economies are in "depression (and) the worst cannot be ruled out." Forecasting a 2010 recovery is "very uncertain" at this time as further financial turmoil may disrupt it regardless of policies adopted, and trouble is outpacing resources to alleviate it
Message To Cathy And Repower America:
Green Power Is Not A Climate Change Solution
By Bill Henderson
I keep getting these e-mails from Cathy Zoi. They are all the same: green power is good, green power is jobs; clean electricity within 10 years; you can make a difference by joining our petition for clean cars or the green stimulus package or cap and trade, etc. But she always implies that green power, clean cars, or cap and trade are solutions to climate change and although I tried to e-mail her back asking why she is mis-educating Americans at such a crucial time she never replied
Project Life: World Orphan Rehabilitation Program
By Janet Zimmerman
Your generous donation is a step towards aiding the children of Gaza whose childhoods were stolen for a reason they never committed. They were the only losers out of this fierce and deadly war, and our humanity urges us to intervene and bring them out of this mayhem. This is your opportunity to contribute in the efforts to help save the Palestinian children. It cannot be done without you
Indian Pluralism: Jai Ho!
By Ram Puniyani
Tragically from last two decades the voices opposing the syncretism and plural cultural and life in India have become stronger, opposing Gazal concerts, destroying paintings, opposing those celebrating festivals like Valentine day, opposing inter-religious marriges and what have you. Hope we are at the end of the phase during which the communal politics created a hostile atmosphere against the plural ethos of our society
Muslim Education Society, Kerala:A Community
Initiative For Educational Empowerment
By Yoginder Sikand
One of the major factors for the high literacy rate among Kerala’s Muslims—who are among the most educated Muslim communities in India—is the vast network of educational institutions that Muslim community leaders have established across the state. Of these, the largest and one of the most influential is the Calicut-based Muslim Educational Society
16 March, 2009
Ten Ways To Save The World
By Geoffrey Lean
We get the message. The planet's doomed unless we get our act together PDQ. We even know some of the measures needed to give ourselves a chance. But which less orthodox proposals could stave off disastrous climate change?
The Freeman Affair
By Robert Dreyfuss
Here's the reality behind the Freeman debacle: Already worried over Team Obama, suffering the after-effects of the Gaza debacle, and about to be burdened with the Netanyahu-Lieberman problem, the Israel lobby is undoubtedly running scared. They succeeded in knocking off Freeman, but the true test of their strength is yet to come
Israel Lobby Humiliates Obama Administration
By Uri Avnery
Now the first skirmish has taken place, and the president of the United States has blinked first. Perhaps one should not rush to conclusions, perhaps Obama needs more time to find his bearings, but the signs are ominous for any Israeli interested in peace
China Premier Warns Of Potential Dollar Collapse
By Patrick Martin
In a public statement raising questions about the solvency of the US government, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said Friday that China, the largest holder of US treasury debt, was "concerned about the security of our assets."
The Ongoing Occupation Of Iraqi Artists
By Dahr Jamail
When Art, a crucial component that sustains the socio-cultural fabric of a society, and the Artist, who weaves this fabric, are both under assault, society tends to get frayed and fractious. As my sculptor friend Alawchi stated most succinctly, “It is dangerous for people to leave the arts. It’s dangerous, because art is the front face of the community. We now have the desertification of the art world in Iraq.”
Pakistan: Towards Theocracy?
By Pervez Amirali Hoodbhoy
I shall end this rather grim essay on an optimistic note: the forces of irrationality will surely cancel themselves out because they act in random directions, whereas reason pulls in only one. History leads us to believe that reason will triumph over unreason, and humans will continue their evolution towards a higher and better species. Ultimately, it will not matter whether we are Pakistanis, Indians, Kashmiris, or whatever. Using ways that we cannot currently anticipate, people will somehow overcome their primal impulses of territoriality, tribalism, religion and nationalism. But for now this must be just a hypothesis
Message To The Future
By Peter Chamberlin
I write to the future because it is you in the future who can see the terrible price levied against the human race and the planet itself by this evil cabal of ultra-wealthy men who have taken upon themselves to establish their mastery over the entire world. My purpose in writing you is to place in your hands the explanation for the devastation of your lives and to remove any doubts that you might have that the ones who did this to you and yours might be trying to save the species, or that it might have been a gigantic series of accidents. The old order, and all that was secured by it, were systematically destroyed, in order to stage the greatest robbery in history
Challenging The Right On National Health Care
By Mary Shaw
Whenever I advocate for universal single-payer health care for all Americans, the right-wingers flood my inbox with all the predictable myths
Will The Road Of Terror Ever End?
By Purti Marwaha
The desired result against terrorism lies in convergence of many policies and laws, due to the varieties of terrorism. Definitely, if we work in a concrete manner and aim to end terror, we can certainly achieve our object and ensure a prosperous living for the people of this earth and then the road of terror would come to a conclusive end. What society chooses to recognize becomes important in that society. Humanism, secularism, social and economic justice, compassion towards all living creatures except dangerous animals, which threaten human extinction, must be fundamentals valid the world order
14 March, 2008
US Missiles Kill 24 In Pakistan
By Bill Van Auken
US missiles fired from a Predator drone aircraft killed at least 24 people in Pakistan's northwest tribal area of Kurram Thursday evening. The American military attack came in the midst of an intense political crisis that is calling into question the stability of the Pakistani government
Iraqi Journalist Jailed For Throwing Shoes At Bush
By James Cogan
Muntadar al-Zaidi, the 29-year-old Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at former US President George Bush during a Baghdad press conference in December, was sentenced to three years imprisonment on Thursday
‘Religion In Our Time’ In The Context Of Asia
By Chandra Muzaffar
The role of religion in Asia at this juncture of history is far more complex than what the mainstream media suggests. This complexity is related to a large extent to the re-emergence of religion as an important player in the public arena
Small, Green And Good
By Catherine Tumber
Our preference for 'bigger is better' and rapid urbanisation has led to a decline in the importance of small cities. We could use small urban dwellings as the basis for a new economy based on localised energy, sustainable food systems and simple living, argues Catherine Tumber
The Case Against Israel's "Right To Exist"
By Roger Tucker
An Open Letter to Representative David Price (D) 4th District, NC
Senator Feingold Has Constitutional Opportunity
By Joel S. Hirschhorn
So, please Senator Feingold, as a true reformer and chair of the Senate's Constitution Subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee, take the opportunity to address the disappointing and nasty illegal behavior of Congress. Even more disturbing than people becoming senators without being elected to that high office, something impermissible for House Representatives, is this violation of Article V. Please shift your attention to getting Congress to call the first Article V convention by introducing a joint resolution demanding that action
Why BJP Went Back To Ram
By Gladson Dungdung
BJP is in a do or die situation. One should not be surprised if the Congress emerged as the biggest party in the next general election and instead of UPA another alliance headed by the Congress take oath at the centre as the people need peace, security and development instead of Ram Temple. In that case, Advani will lose a chance to say Jai Shree Ram forever and might blame his party leaders or lord Ram for it
Girl Gangs With A Noble Cause
By Anjali Singh
What began as self help girl group, a unique concept taken up by UNICEF Lucknow, today is one of the most powerful tools young adolescent girls are using to protect themselves against exploitation and fight for their rights. Called 'Kishori Sabhas' or 'Samuhs' these groups are so popular that they have even managed to do away with practices like child labor and child marriage in the villages
13 March, 2008
Global Warming Even Worse
Than Previously Thought
By Michael McCarthy
Lord Stern, the economist who produced the single most influential political document on climate change, says he underestimated the risks of global warming and the damage that could result from it. The situation was worse than he had thought when he completed his review two-and-a-half years ago, he told a conference yesterday, but politicians do not yet grasp the scale of the dangers now becoming apparent
Severe Global warming Will Render Half Of
World's Inhabited Areas Unliveable
By David Adam
Severe global warming could make half the world's inhabited areas literally too hot to live in, a US scientist warned today. Parts of China, India and the eastern US could all become too warm in summer for people to lose heat by sweating - rendering such areas effectively uninhabitable
UN Warns Of Widespread Water Shortages
By Martin Mittelstaedt
The world faces a bleak future over its dwindling water supplies, with pollution, climate change and rapidly growing populations raising the possibility of widespread shortages, a new report compiled by 24 agencies of the United Nations says
Pakistan’s Government Suppresses
Opposition Protests
By Keith Jones
Pakistan's government is using antidemocratic measures akin to those employed by the former US-backed dictator General Pervez Musharraf to suppress an agitation mounted by the principal opposition party and lawyer groups
Sri Lankan Newspaper Editor Held
Without Charge
By Nanda Wickramesinghe
The detention of N. Vithyatharan, the editor of the Tamil daily Sudar Oli, is another example of the police-state methods being used by the Sri Lankan government to silence any media criticism, in particular of its criminal war against the country's Tamil minority
Updating The Militarization And
Annexation Of North America
By Stephen Lendman
The title refers to the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP), also known as the North American Union - formerly launched at a March 23, 2005 Waco, Texas meeting attended by George Bush, Mexico's President Vincente Fox, and Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin. It's for a tri-national agreement, below the radar, for greater economic, political, and security integration with secret business and government working groups devising binding policies with no public knowledge or legislative debate
Durban II: Politicizing Racism
By Ramzy Baroud
Many countries are set to participate in the Conference against Racism, scheduled to be held in Geneva, April 20-25. But the highly touted international meet is already marred with disagreement after Israel, the United States and other countries decided not to participate. Although the abstention of four or more countries is immaterial to the proceedings, the US decision in particular was meant to render the conference ‘controversial’, at best
Iran: The Propaganda Never Stops
By Timothy V. Gatto
Even though Iran has not fought a war for conquest in over two hundred years, our government, our media, our politicians and our “ally” Israel continue to beat the war drums and cast Iran in the harshest light possible. We forget that Iran gave us permission to use their airspace to engage the Taliban and Al Quaeda and provided information as to the whereabouts of their leaders. This stopped when George Bush included them in his “axis of evil”. Way to go, George
12 March, 2008
Key Obama Economic Adviser Admits
He Has No Answers
By Alex Messenger
In a sign of the panic gripping Washington's policy-makers, one of Barack Obama's key economic advisors, Paul Volcker, has warned a gathering of his leading peers that the crash of 2008 might be "the mother of all financial crises
Fate Of The Rainforest Is 'Irreversible'
By Michael McCarthy
A third of the Amazonian 'carbon sink' is doomed whether or not emissions are cut, Copenhagen conference is told
Too Many Overseas Bases
By David Vine
In the midst of an economic crisis that’s getting scarier by the day, it’s time to ask whether USA can really afford some 1,000 military bases overseas. For those unfamiliar with the issue, you read that number correctly. One thousand. One thousand U.S. military bases outside the 50 states and Washington, DC, representing the largest collection of bases in world history
Obama’s Manufactured Troop’s Withdrawal
By Ghali Hassan
On February 27, 2009, President Barack Obama announced to withdraw U.S. troops occupying Iraq by September of 2010. However, Obama’s withdrawal is nothing short of a colonial Occupation of Iraq, and a betrayal of Mr. Obama’s promise to end the U.S. war on the Iraqi people
Health Care Reform, Obama Style
By Stephen Lendman
The more people insured, the more drugs sold so providing them cheaper is good business - more volume, greater profits. The same holds for insurers if universal coverage is required - more customers, greater profits even at lower per policy premiums. Depending on whatever final plan emerges, look for health care providers to get behind this one, and if so, expect people once again to be betrayed
Feminism’s Challenge: Articulating Alternatives
To Unsustainable Hierarchies
By Robert Jensen
Although men often treat feminism as a threat, in the 20 years I have been involved in feminist projects I have come to recognize it as a gift to men who want to understand and critique not only gender but other oppressive systems. For me, feminism is a crucial part of the struggle for social justice and sustainability
French Universities Occupied
Against Neo-Liberal Reforms
By Michael Galvin
Under the rubric of "Autonomy" and "Professionalization," the Sarkozy government intends to liberalize the functioning of university administration and funding. In terms of "Autonomy" the law calls for less funding from the state while pushing universities to take ownership of their own individual properties, and create foundations through which private money can fund or develop programs
Awaiting Arrest: Offence Under
The New Zealand Electoral Act
By Anthony Ravlich
Anthony Ravlich of Human Rights Party of New Zealand faces arrest for not submitting a return of election expenses on ethical grounds
Israel-Palestine Conflict 101:
Taking Off The Blinders In The U.S.
By A.M. Khan
Now that Israel’s bombardment of Gaza is off the front page and the Gazans are left to deal with the aftermath outside of world media attention, it makes sense to step back and review how the Israel-Palestine conflict is depicted in U.S. mainstream media. This depiction shapes how the U.S. public views the recent events in Gaza. It also shapes how the public understands what constitutes a just resolution to the conflict
10 March, 2009
The Martyrdom Of Mordechai Vanunu
By Eileen Fleming
Within days of the announcement of a record 205 nominations for 2009’s Nobel Peace Prize, perpetual nominee Mordechai Vanunu declined the honor in a letter to the Nobel Peace Prize Committee in Oslo: I am asking the committee to remove my name from the nominations…I cannot be part of a list of laureates that includes Simon Peres…Peres established and developed the atomic weapon program in Dimona in Israel…Peres was the man who ordered [my] kidnapping…he continues to oppose my freedom and release…WHAT I WANT IS FREEDOM AND ONLY FREEDOM….FREEDOM AND ONLY FREEDOM I NEED NOW
Selfless Side Of Humans Can Overcome Crisis
Mohammad Yunis interviewed by Tetsuo Kogure
The interlinked crises of food, finance and climate change illustrate the weaknesses of our current economic system. It is possible to integrate selflessness into a market long dominated by the selfish pursuit of profits, says Muhammad Yunus
The New Depression
By Martin Jacques
The financial crisis undermines all the ideological assumptions that have supported political discourse over the past 30 years. Now, with politicians standing 'naked', the crisis could result in profound and diverse changes to our way of structuring the economy, argues Martin Jacques
Happy Days For Prophets Of Doom
By Jim Taylor
According to the experts, Latvia, Romania, Hungary, the Ukraine, and 11 other countries may also go belly up, financially. Less than a year ago, many of these countries were praised for their economic miracles
Palestinian Villages Become Israel’s Playground
By Jonathan Cook
Several parks across Israel have been established on the ruins of Palestinian villages
U.S. Women Should Be Grateful For Obama
By Mary Shaw
The first piece of legislation that President Obama signed into law was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which removed a ridiculous loophole that allowed employers to pay women less than their male counterparts for equal work and get away with it
Four Integrity Tests For President Obama
By Joel S. Hirschhorn
A great smile does not make a truth teller. A talker of change does not define a reformer. Make no mistake, for the good of the nation I want President Obama to succeed in getting us out of the scandalous economic meltdown we are immersed in. But I do not like many of his actions, policies and strategies for accomplishing this, nor does the stock market
Guantanamo Under Obama
By Stephen Lendman
Despite Obama's EO, "conditions at Guantanamo have not improved" and continue in violation of the law. Since it opened in 2002, CCR enlisted over 500 pro bono lawyers to represent hundreds of detainees. This report is based on "direct accounts from (them) and their attorneys," as recently as January and February 2009. The results are deeply disturbing
Tilak…Nehru…Prachanda…?
By Ashok Yadav
Is the new Nepal i.e. Nepal after the abolition of monarchy and coming into power of the Maoist led coalition government as an interim government before drafting and adoption of new constitution, going the same way as India? It seems like so. Unfortunately the phrase coined by Dr Ambedkar to describe Tilak and which aptly suited Pandit Nehru may haunt Prachanda, the Maoist Prime Minister of Nepal, too, if he does not take a corrective measure
The Battle Of Azamgarh
By Amaresh Misra
Muslims say that for 44 years they tried first, the upper caste Hindu secular leadership—and then after 1991 the Backward and Dalit Hindu secular forces. All three took them for a ride. Now the current mood is to take leadership in their own hands and forge alliances with different social forces and Hindu castes. The Indian (chiefly Hindu) political class should take note as to why this is happening—isn’t it true that the story of current Muslim assertion includes the recent history of betrayal by the Indian state of its own promises given to Muslims, written as law in the Indian constitution?
The Nawaz Sharif Disqualification Case And Its
Impact On The National Political Environment
By Mehroz Siraj Sadruddin
It goes beyond any doubts, to say that the recent verdict of the Supreme Court barring the Sharif brothers from contesting for political office, could have serious negative repercussions for the political environment in Pakistan
07 March, 2009
Civilian Deaths Mount In Sri Lanka
By K. Ratnayake
The UN and international aid agencies have issued renewed warnings that the Sri Lankan army's offensive against the last pocket of territory held by the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the island's northern Wanni area is producing heavy civilian casualties and a humanitarian catastrophe
US Unemployment Rate Hits 8.1 Percent
By Andre Damon & Patrick Martin
The latest US government jobs report, released Friday, reveals an extraordinary level of suffering throughout the country. The tidal wave of layoffs is wiping out jobs that will never return and effecting a permanent restructuring of the economy
Exposing Human Rights Violations In Pakistan
By Q. Isa Daudpota
Brave women such as Mukhtar Mai and Minallah backed by women’s organizations such as Women’s Action Forum, work to highlight and undue the prejudices and help outdated and diabolical customs. PPP women such as Sherry Rahman, Shahnaz Wazir Ali, Shazia Marri, Sassui Palejo, Farzana Raja and, ace-researcher on Karo Kari, Nafisa Shah must speak out in the public forums against guilty fellow legislators and ministers. They have seriously violated the human rights and particularly that of women. To date, however, their silence is deafening
The Final Battle For The Soul Of Pakistan
By Gul Jammas Hussain
In the coming days and months, a great battle for the soul of Pakistan will be fought on its streets when thousands of lawyers and the masses in their millions take on the forces of the status quo in a final push to establish the rule of law
Pleasing Gods With Public Money
By Ram Puniyani
Karnataka’s BJP Government in its latest budget (February 2009) has allocated 130 crores of rupees for temple and mutts. The idea is to propitiate the divine forces to show mercy on Karnataka and to ward off sins committed by the previous Government. The learned CM further displays his understanding by saying that there are no rains and food production has fallen due to sins committed by various people in the past, the money is allocated so that Gods will be pleased by this money, operated through the pujaris, the clergy, and so Gods will shower mercy on the state
The Sub-Continental Terrorism
By Mustafa Khan
The terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan team is yet another reminder of how this corner of the world is wasting its energy in futility
Text Is A Verb
By Mickey Z.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in 2005, “used or unwanted electronics amounted to approximately 1.9 to 2.2 million tons. Of that, about 1.5 to 1.9 million tons were primarily discarded in landfills, and only 345,000 to 379,000 tons were recycled.” Ain't progress swell?
Kerala Madrasas: Charting A Different Course
By Yoginder Sikand
Unbeknown to many, the system of madrasa education in Kerala is markedly different from the traditional north Indian system. It is well-organised and fully integrated with the secular system of education, thereby enabling Muslim children to receive religious as well as secular education simultaneously. It also enables would-be ulema to gain a basic modicum of knowledge of modern subjects, not leaving them totally bereft of this as in the case of many traditional north Indian madrasas
06 March, 2009
Revenge Of The Rainforest
By Steve Connor
During the extreme drought of 2005, the Amazon became a net producer of carbon dioxide, releasing an estimated 3 billion tons of the greenhouse gas into the atmosphere – a net increase of 5 billion tons
Crisis For The Rich, Via Crucis For The Poor
By Jorge Majfud
Will we have really emerged from the crisis when the world returns to a five percent growth rate through the stimulation of consumption in the wealthy countries? Will we not be laying the ground for the next crisis, a real – human and ecological – crisis and not an artificial crisis like the one we have now? Will we truly realize that this one is not truly a crisis but just a warning, which is to say, an opportunity for changing our habits?
Palestine And The Post-State Era
By Cameron Hunt
Were Hamas to embrace the proposed no-state solution, they would in fact be taking the first step towards a Post-State World. They would immediately represent the World’s intellectual vanguard, declaring that the European Model of statehood does not in fact represent the best framework for the 21st Century, or beyond
Was Hamas The Work Of The Israeli Mossad?
By Ramzy Baroud
Analysts, politicians, critics and third-parties alike can squabble about the origins and history of this movement that has among many things given a large segment of Palestinian society a sense of self-respect and feeling of leverage with their occupiers; but to advocate that Hamas was cooked up by some Israeli agents hell-bent on the demise of the Palestinians is simply hogwash
Suddenly, Home Was Gone
By Eva Bartlett
Dates in the calendar to mark the rights of women mean little to Manwa Tarrabin and her two daughters. They have lost home, and any rights to it. Until Jan. 17, they were living in a small bungalow in the Al-Amal quarter of Beit Hanoun, within 200 metres of Gaza's eastern border, in a region declared by the Israeli authorities a 'closed military zone'
Retirement Funds In Danger For
Millions Of Americans
By Mike Bryan
For millions of Americans, the deepening recession has meant a dramatic drop in funds put aside for their retirement. While many have seen the value of these accounts slashed in half, the pensions of others have been rendered virtually worthless as their employers file for bankruptcy. For others, a layoff in the family spells disaster, and saving for retirement is out of the question
Iraq: Medical Care At Last, At A Price
By Dahr Jamail
Prompt medical care is at last on offer in Iraq, for those who can find the dollars for it . Many are coughing up money for private treatment. When they have money, that is, in an economy with more than 50 percent unemployment
Obama's Failure On War, Economy
And Climate Genocide
By Gideon Polya
After 40 days in office, Obama is certainly disappointing early and disappointing often over war, occupation, racism, human rights, genocide, economy, climate disruption, global avoidable mortality, lobbyists and climate genocide
Modern Slavery In America
By Stephen Lendman
Called human trafficking or forced labor, modern slavery thrives in America, largely below the radar
Celebrity Influence In The Lok Sabha Election
By Abdullah Khan
Politics, which was once described as cesspool by none other than the Amitabh Bachchan continues to be in that frame but has, in fact, become dirtier and murkier. For the glamour world, celebrities from the world of cricket and cinema are not new to the political power circles. But with elections to the Lok Sabha round the corner, the bollywood and the cricket fraternity have suddenly become a fertile candidate outsourcing agencies for all major political parties
For The People By The People, Finally!
By Anjali Singh
Mooted by well known columnist Kuldip Nayar, People's Politics Front has been formed to build a political alternative in the country so that people's issues can be brought to center-stage
05 March, 2009
The Big Lie Of Recession Politics:
'Shared Sacrifice'
By Shamus Cooke
The point is that workers need sacrifice nothing. The last "boom" of the economy was based not only on fantasy prices for homes, but the cheap price of labor. During the boom the working class resorted to ever-more debt to maintain their standard of living, while the rich got richer than anyone had ever dreamed possible
Did Clinton Sabotage
A Palestinian Reconciliation?
By Hasan Abu Nimah & Ali Abunimah
There are many in the region who were encouraged by US President Barack Obama's appointment of former Northern Ireland mediator Senator George Mitchell as Middle East envoy. But in all other respects the new president has continued the Bush administration's disastrous policies. It is not too late to change course, for persisting in these errors will guarantee only more failure and bloodshed
Iraqi Massacre Ignored By Media
By Gideon Polya
How can Australia’s taxpayer-funded Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) continue to get it so utterly wrong over US involvement in Occupied Iraq? This is a question that should be asked by an Australian Federal Parliamentary Senate Committee of this taxpayer-funded organization and by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) of the commercially-involved Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Chomsky: No Change Coming With Obama
By Shahram Vahdany
An interview with respected American author, political analyst and world-renowned linguist, Professor Noam Chomsky
It's Time For The Madness To Stop
By Sheila Samples
How many generations of Anthony Guariscos must we lose before we realize that "support the troops" means protect the troops? Like Guarisco said, we must stand up, stand together and demand the abolition of all nuclear weapons if human beings on this planet are to survive
Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa,
Speaks Sensibly And Authoritatively
By Dan Lieberman
Regardless of the faults and impotence of the Arab League, its Secretary-General, Amr Moussa, demonstrated he is not the problem. The Secretary-General conducted himself with aplomb and intelligence in an on-the-record interview at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Human Rights In Israel And Occupied Palestine
By Stephen Lendman
For nearly 61 years and over 41 in the occupied Palestine Territories, Israel has willfully and systematically defiled human rights, so far with impunity. When will the world community take notice? When will it enforce this Declaration for the Palestinian people and Israeli Arabs? When will such gross injustice end?
Human Cruelty To Humans
By Mary Hamer
There are many examples of human violence to other humans: e.g. Hitler’s genocide of the Jews during WWII, the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima & Nagasaki, African-American slavery, the genocide of the Tibetan people & culture, the tragedy of how New World settlers treated the American Indians, etc. Rather than the large-scale violence of war, genocide, nuclear bombs, slavery, etc. I will focus on the one-on-one violence humans carry out with: Guns
Pawns With Lawns
By Mickey Z.
The single most irrigated crop in the United States is… lawn. Yep, 40 million acres of lawn exist across the Land of Denial and Americans collectively spend about $40 billion on seed, sod, and chemicals each year. And then there's all that water
Sermon From The Corporate Church
By Peter Chamberlin
Very soon it will become obvious to all that the national emergency that we have begun to enter truly threatens everything. Let capitalism pass away peacefully. Prepare to embrace a new humane economic order. If it is inevitable that the people must bailout the banks to preserve some semblance of the American way of life, then shouldn’t the people then own the banks? If, in the end, a choice must be made between a few men owning everything at the people’s expense, or the people owning their own means of production, then we all must choose to be our own masters
Ban On Indigenous Chrysotile Asbestos
Mining Lifted
By Gopal Krishna
Despite the asbestos disease epidemic in US, Europe, Australia, Japan, South Africa and elsewhere, a recent document titled " HUMAN HEALTH RISK ASSESSMENT STUDIES IN ASBESTOS BASED INDUSTRIES IN INDIA " by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Union Ministry of Environment Forests has failed to recommend ban on asbestos. The study was undertaken by the Industrial Toxicology Research Centre, Lucknow for the CPCB. The political patronage enjoyed by the industry is an open secret. It is clear from the document that the ban on indigenous chrysotile asbestos mining has been lifted
04 March, 2009
Terrorists Aim For Destabilisation Media Attention
By Beena Sarwar
Wednesday’s armed attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in the historic city of Lahore in Pakistan has sent shockwaves through a country already racked by regular suicide and other attacks. Eight Pakistani policemen died and several were injured saving the Sri Lankan cricketers, eight of whom were wounded in the attack
An Interview With Siritunga Jayasuriya
By Meena Kandasamy
Siritunga Jayasuriya, a trade unionist and leader of the United Socialist Party is best-known for being a high-profile Sinhala dissenter against the war on the Tamils in Sri Lanka. A fierce critic of the current regime and an ex-Presidential candidate, Jayasuriya has survived several attempts on his life. His unwavering voice of dissent cannot be silenced wherever he is. During a recent visit to India, he spoke to Meena Kandasamy about the situation in the war-torn island and bravely answered questions on India's role in the war
US Plans For Military Intervention In Sri Lanka
By Wije Dias
Sri Lanka's Sunday Times has revealed plans for a US-led military mission into the island's northern war zone in the guise of evacuating civilians trapped by intense fighting between the army and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
Demonizing Obama
By Akhila Raman
While Obamas has been vilified and subjected to a barrage of criticism and ridicule from both ends of the political spectrum, he has been largely supported and praised by most of the African Americans who mobilized massively in tens of millions to vote for him, who feel immensely proud of the first Black Family in the "White" House. How do we reconcile such violently opposing reactions and could we judge him by his record so far, as opposed to judging him by sound bites?
Obama's First Full Month Significant And Telling
By Brian McAfee
President Barack Obama's first full month as President will be marked as historically significant for its shift away from the fraudulent "trickle down" economic model begun by Ronald Reagan almost thirty years ago. The first significant policy vote was to approve and increase the State Children's Health Insurance Program or SCHIP
Systemic Failure: Capitalism "Lays An Egg"
By Stephen Lendman
Under Bush and Obama, banks are licensed to steal. The ("quantitative") looting of the Treasury continues, and global economies sink deeper into a black hole of depression with the public as always the big loser
GOP Hypocrisy On Health Care
By Mary Shaw
Those "Christian" Republicans would rather support the cigarette industry that kills than support the health of the American people
Copenhagen And Beyond:
Climate Change Is An Emergency
By Bill Henderson
The climate change science conference in Copenhagen next week is going to update the emerging and very concerning science since the release of the IPCC report last year
Tottering Steps Along The Rim Of
Fascism And Revolution
By Gaither Stewart
Italy seems to have regained its post-World War II and Cold War position of the weak underbelly of Europe. The terrorists of the Red Brigades of the 1970s and 80s emerged too early. Of all European countries, the atmosphere in Italy, despite the strength of the Right, seems to be pre-revolutionary. Another million lost jobs and it could explode
Dalits In 'Hindu Rashtra'
By Subhash Gatade
All over Gujarat one finds thousands and thousands of boards put at prominent places by one of the affiliates of the Sangh Parivar that 'you are entering this or that locality of Hindu Rashtra' which is completely illegal and an open proclamation of 'secession' from the rest of the society
Indian Security And MK Narayanan:
Barking Up The Wrong Tree
By Mustafa Khan
If MK Narayanan could save his head from rolling in the aftermath of the Mumbai terrorists’ attacks his career must attract scrutiny for the hidden caliber he has for emulation by others
